Порівняльно-правові дослідження засад професійної діяльності працівників НЦБ Інтерполу в Україні

Vårt huvudsyfte har varit att utvärdera huruvida några för gymnasieungdomar tidigare kända begrepp i ämnet matematik kvalitetsmässigt förändras i olika lärandesituationer över tid. I styrdokumenten för gymnasieskolan definieras begreppet kunskap med hjälp av de fyra f:en: Fakta, kunskap som information; Förståelse, att begripa kunskap; Färdighet, kunskapens praktiska sida; Förtrogenhet, kunskap som bedömning. Vi har använt oss huvudsakligen av kvalitativ metod och teknik eftersom vi ville se vilka uppfattningar som avser begreppet ekvation som eleverna hade med sig från tidigare utbildning och hur dessa uppfattningar förändrades över tid. Den kvalitativa metoden är lämplig just för detta ändamål när vi i förväg inte vet vilka svar eleverna kommer att delge oss. Vi har använt oss av tre olika metoder för att få svar på våra frågeställningar nämligen enkät, intervju och utvärdering. Under hösten 2003 genomförde vi två olika undervisningsserier i två parallella klasser på gymnasiet. Med den ena gruppen har vi bedrivit utomhuspedagogik och den andra har undervisats på traditionellt sätt. Grupperna har mött samma problemtyper men arbetat med dem på två helt olika sätt. Det slutliga resultatet visar att majoriteten av eleverna i utegruppen ser tillämpningsmöjligheter utanför skolans värld med ekvationer emedan elever i innegruppen inte gör det utan ser ekvationer som något relaterat till skolmatematiken. Vår tolkning är att utegruppen nått en högre förtrogenhet med begreppet vi undersökt. Vår slutsats är att utomhuspedagogik kan vara en framkomlig väg att lära matematik

Towards real time automated early gear failure detection

The ability to stop a gear fatigue test before catastrophic failure has many advantages. However, today, a widely accepted approach is not available. This case study applies a vibration-based condition monitoring methodology to detect early gear failures. The gear studied takes part in an all-wheel-drive drivetrain system. Vibration signals from four run-to-failure fatigue tests at two constant torque-speed combinations were used as input to time-synchronous averaging and autoregression model generation. The applied methodology shows promising results for early failure detection, and the process is feasible for implementation in an automated environment. Real time analysis is also possible since the autoregression model generates a healthy state TSA signal during the early testing stages. However, the time to failure detection varies with operating conditions, with low sensitivity at high-speed and low-torque conditions

Our Place in the World: A New Relationship for Environmental Ethics and Law

Forty years ago, at the birth of environmental law, both legal and philosophical luminaries assumed that the new field would be closely connected with environmental ethics. Instead, the two grew dramatically apart. This article diagnoses that divorce and proposes a rapprochement. Environmental law has always grown through changes in public values: for this and other reasons, it cannot do without ethics. Law and ethics are most relevant to each other when there are large open questions in environmental politics: lawmakers act only when some ethical clarity arises; but law can itself assist in that ethical development. This is true now in a set of emerging issues: the law of food systems, animal rights, and climate change. This article draws on philosophy, history, and neuroscience to develop an account of the ethical changes that might emerge from each of these issues, and proposes legal reforms to foster that ethical development

Extracellular membrane vesicles from Limosilactobacillus reuteri strengthen the intestinal epithelial integrity, modulate cytokine responses and antagonize activation of TRPV1

Bacterial extracellular membrane vesicles (MV) are potent mediators of microbe-host signals, and they are not only important in host-pathogen interactions but also for the interactions between mutualistic bacteria and their hosts. Studies of MV derived from probiotics could enhance the understanding of these universal signal entities, and here we have studied MV derived from Limosilactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 and BG-R46. The production of MV increased with cultivation time and after oxygen stress. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics analyses revealed that the MV carried a large number of bacterial cell surface proteins, several predicted to be involved in host-bacteria interactions. A 5 '-nucleotidase, which catalyze the conversion of AMP into the signal molecule adenosine, was one of these and analysis of enzymatic activity showed that L. reuteri BG-R46 derived MV exhibited the highest activity. We also detected the TLR2 activator lipoteichoic acid on the MV. In models for host interactions, we first observed that L. reuteri MV were internalized by Caco-2/HT29-MTX epithelial cells, and in a dose-dependent manner decreased the leakage caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by up to 65%. Furthermore, the MV upregulated IL-1 beta and IL-6 from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), but also dampened IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha responses in PBMC challenged with Staphylococcus aureus. Finally, we showed that MV from the L. reuteri strains have an antagonistic effect on the pain receptor transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 in a model with primary dorsal root ganglion cells from rats. In summary, we have shown that these mobile nanometer scale MV reproduce several biological effects of L. reuteri cells and that the production parameters and selection of strain have an impact on the activity of the MV. This could potentially provide key information for development of innovative and more efficient probiotic products

Pain and the biochemistry of fibromyalgia: patterns of peripheral cytokines and chemokines contribute to the differentiation between fibromyalgia and controls and are associated with pain, fat infiltration and content

ObjectivesThis explorative study analyses interrelationships between peripheral compounds in saliva, plasma, and muscles together with body composition variables in healthy subjects and in fibromyalgia patients (FM). There is a need to better understand the extent cytokines and chemokines are associated with body composition and which cytokines and chemokines differentiate FM from healthy controls.MethodsHere, 32 female FM patients and 30 age-matched female healthy controls underwent a clinical examination that included blood sample, saliva samples, and pain threshold tests. In addition, the subjects completed a health questionnaire. From these blood and saliva samples, a panel of 68 mainly cytokines and chemokines were determined. Microdialysis of trapezius and erector spinae muscles, phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy of erector spinae muscle, and whole-body magnetic resonance imaging for determination of body composition (BC)—i.e., muscle volume, fat content and infiltration—were also performed.ResultsAfter standardizing BC measurements to remove the confounding effect of Body Mass Index, fat infiltration and content are generally increased, and fat-free muscle volume is decreased in FM. Mainly saliva proteins differentiated FM from controls. When including all investigated compounds and BC variables, fat infiltration and content variables were most important, followed by muscle compounds and cytokines and chemokines from saliva and plasma. Various plasma proteins correlated positively with pain intensity in FM and negatively with pain thresholds in all subjects taken together. A mix of increased plasma cytokines and chemokines correlated with an index covering fat infiltration and content in different tissues. When muscle compounds were included in the analysis, several of these were identified as the most important regressors, although many plasma and saliva proteins remained significant.DiscussionPeripheral factors were important for group differentiation between FM and controls. In saliva (but not plasma), cytokines and chemokines were significantly associated with group membership as saliva compounds were increased in FM. The importance of peripheral factors for group differentiation increased when muscle compounds and body composition variables were also included. Plasma proteins were important for pain intensity and sensitivity. Cytokines and chemokines mainly from plasma were also significantly and positively associated with a fat infiltration and content index.ConclusionOur findings of associations between cytokines and chemokines and fat infiltration and content in different tissues confirm that inflammation and immune factors are secreted from adipose tissue. FM is clearly characterized by complex interactions between peripheral tissues and the peripheral and central nervous systems, including nociceptive, immune, and neuroendocrine processes

Comprehensive Antigen Screening Identifies Moraxella catarrhalis Proteins That Induce Protection in a Mouse Pulmonary Clearance Model

Moraxella catarrhalis is one of the three most common causative bacterial pathogens of otitis media, however no effective vaccine against M. catarrhalis has been developed so far. To identify M. catarrhalis vaccine candidate antigens, we used carefully selected sera from children with otitis media and healthy individuals to screen small-fragment genomic libraries that are expressed to display frame-selected peptides on a bacterial cell surface. This ANTIGENome technology led to the identification of 214 antigens, 23 of which were selected by in vitro or in vivo studies for additional characterization. Eight of the 23 candidates were tested in a Moraxella mouse pulmonary clearance model, and 3 of these antigens induced significantly faster bacterial clearance compared to adjuvant or to the previously characterized antigen OmpCD. The most significant protection data were obtained with the antigen MCR_1416 (Msp22), which was further investigated for its biological function by in vitro studies suggesting that Msp22 is a heme binding protein. This study comprises one of the most exhaustive studies to identify potential vaccine candidate antigens against the bacterial pathogen M. catarrhalis