Appropriate strategies for designing contemporary art museums with the aim of attracting more people in sociocultural spaces of the country ( case study: Sari, Mazandaran)

Museums that are brimful of precious cultural treasures and indicate the identity of a society reflect human thought and artistic creativity during different generations and can convey concepts to visitors through its public displays. Withthe assumptionthatthe museumscanenrich the culture of a country youngcommunity, this study has triedtotargetitsresearchtoinvestigateways toimprove the design ofthe contemporary art museumin Mazandaran. Therefore,using theSPSS softwaresample size was estimated 384 based on Morgan table, among which55.7% were men and 44.3% were women. According tothesignificance level that wasless than 0.05, the frequencydifferencebetween the two groups of responses turned out to be significantat 99%. So the assumption that qualitative factors such as (aesthetic style designed for the set, easy access to the collections and availability of educational facilities) compared to individual and social factors such as (users' cultural and social conditions, visitors' economic situation, the sense of peace created by the presence of people in the building, etc.) have a greater impact on the category of visiting a museum is accepted.Keywords: museum, contemporary art, cultural interaction, public place

Investigation of the Variations of Soil Factors under Haloxylon aphyllum Cultivation

Determination of the relationships between soil and plant cover indispensible in the in planning and managementof the arid regions, the aim being to revitalize plant cover, conserve soil and to combat desertification. Among factorsaffecting plant cover, particularly in arid and semiarid areas are soil traits. During the present study, the effect ofHaloxylon aphyllum Cultivation on soil physiochemical properties (at different depths) was investigated. A split plotdesign was employedin the study, in which cultivated and non-cultivated areas were considered as inter-relatedfactors, whereas soil depths of(0-10), (10-30) and (30-60) cm as intra- related factors. Soil texture, EC, pH, nitrogen,phosphorous and organic matter was assessed. Soluble salts of Na, Ca, Mg, Cl, K, carbonate and bicarbonate weremeasured. Haloxylon aphyllum has led to a significant difference between Ca, Mg and bicarbonate in the first layer ascompared with the third. A significant difference has been observed between nitrogen in the first soil layer incomparison with that in the second layer. Significant differences were also observed among all Haloxylon aphyllumcultivated soil layers as to the contents of Soluble K, absorbable K as well as phosphorous

Prediction of Spark Ignition Performance in an Industrial Gas Turbine Combustor

Abstract Spark ignition performance of an annular combustor has been analyzed using computational modeling approach. Main steps of this approach include: (1) LES of the combustor non-reacting flow field, (2) using time-averaged LES results in a stochastic code in order to identify probable propagation behavior of the flame front using Lagrangian particle tracking, and (3) repeating the computations by an engineering approach and prediction of the combustor lean light-off (LLO) limit. By using this approach, effects of the ignition system location and specifications, fuel type and composition, and operating conditions on the gas turbine ignition performance can be evaluated effectively. Corresponding author: [email protected] Proceedings of the European Combustion Meeting 2015 Introduction Ignition is the process of transferring a flammable mixture from the non-reacting state to the selfsustaining combustion. Ignition is a transient phenomenon in which a complex interaction of chemical and physical processes occurs. Ignition in a flammable environment can be achieved by two general methods: forced ignition and self-ignition. During the forced ignition, a small volume of the mixture is ignited by an external force and the flame spreads across the whole system if the flame propagation conditions exist. In self-ignition or auto-ignition process, there is no local ignition source and the whole mixture ignites simultaneously Currently, practical gas turbine engine ignition systems include spark ignition (electrical spark and laser-induced spark or LIS) and torch systems (including both flame and plasma torches) Different studies have shown that the spark ignition in an annular gas turbine combustor is conducted at three phases. At the first phase, with starting discharge process and through breakdown, arc discharge, and glow discharge stages a flame kernel with sufficient size and temperature forms. At the second phase, this flame core spreads and the continuous spread of the flame from this kernel fills the primary combustion zone o

Detection of antibacterial activity of essential oil components by TLC-bioautography using luminescent bacteria

The aim of the present study was the chemical characterization of some medically relevant essential oils (tea tree, clove, cinnamon bark, thyme and eucalyptus) and the investigation of antibacterial effect of the components of these oils by use of a direct bioautographic method. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was combined with biological detection in this process. The chemical composition of the oils was determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Eucalyptol (84.2%) was the main component of the essential oil of eucalyptus, eugenol (83.7%) of clove oil, and trans-cinnamic aldehyde (73.2%), thymol (49.9%) and terpinen-4-ol (45.8%) of cinnamon bark, thyme and tea tree oils, respectively. Antibacterial activity of the separated components of these oils, as well as their pure main components (eucalyptol, eugenol, trans-cinnamic aldehyde and thymol) was observed against the Gram-negative luminescence tagged plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola (Psmlux) and the Gram-negative, naturally luminescent marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri. On the whole, the antibacterial activity of the essential oils could be related to their main components, but the minor constituents may be involved in this process. Trans-cinnamic aldehyde and eugenol were the most active compounds in TLC-bioautography. The sensitivity of TLC-bioautographic method can be improved with using luminescent test bacteria. This method is more cost-effective and provides more reliable results in comparison with conventional microbiological methods, e.g. disc-diffusion technique

Peste des petits ruminants in large ruminants, camels and unusual hosts

Since its first report in 1942, peste-des-petits-ruminants virus (PPRV) has caused several epidemics in a wide range of susceptible hosts around the world. In the last 30 years, the evidence of natural and experimental infections and virus isolation were reported from novel but unusual hosts such as camel, cattle, buffalo, dogs, Asiatic lion and pigs. In addition, PPRV in a potential vector, biting midges (Culicoides imicola), has been reported. Either presented as clinical and/or subclinical infections, the presence of the virus in an extended range of susceptible hosts highlights the cross-species transmission and supports the hypothesis of an endemic circulation of PPRV among susceptible hosts. However, the potential role of large ruminants, camels and unusual hosts for PPRV epidemiology is still obscure. Therefore, there is a need for molecular and epidemiological investigations of the disease among usual and unusual hosts to achieve the goals of disease control and eradication programmes initiated by national and international organisations, such as the FAO and OIE. This review is the first to summarise the scattered data on PPR in large ruminants, camels and unusual hosts to obtain the global scientific communities' attention for further research on epidemiological aspects, not only in its native hosts, but also in large ruminants, camels and other unusual hosts

A novel Fontan Y-graft for interrupted inferior vena cava and azygos continuation

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the hemodynamicdynamic advantage of a new Fontan surgical template that is intended for complex single-ventricle patients with interrupted inferior vena cava-azygos and hemi-azygos continuation. The new technique has emerged from a comprehensive pre-surgical simulation campaign conducted to facilitate a balanced hepatic flow and somatic Fontan pathway growth after Kawashima procedure. METHODS For 9 patients, aged 2 to18 years, majority having poor preoperative oxygen saturation, a pre-surgical computational fluid dynamics customization is conducted. Both the traditional Fontan pathways and the proposed novel Y-graft templates are considered. Numerical model was validated against in vivo phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging data and in vitro experiments. RESULTS The proposed template is selected and executed for 6 out of the 9 patients based on its predicted superior hemodynamic performance. Pre-surgical simulations performed for this cohort indicated that flow from the hepatic veins (HEP) do not reach to the desired lung. The novel Y-graft template, customized via a right- or left-sided displacement of the total cavopulmonary connection anastomosis location resulted a drastic increase in HEP flow to the desired lung. Orientation of HEP to azygos direct shunt is found to be important as it can alter the flow pattern from 38% in the caudally located direct shunt to 3% in the cranial configuration with significantly reversed flow. The postoperative measurements prove that oxygen saturation increased significantly (P-value = 0.00009) to normal levels in 1 year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS The new Y-graft template, if customized for the individual patient, is a viable alternative to the traditional surgical pathways. This template addresses the competing hemodynamic design factors of low physiological venous pressure, high postoperative oxygen saturation, low energy loss and balanced hepatic growth factor distribution possibly assuring adequate lung development. Date and number of IRB approval 25 October 2019, 280011928-604.01.01

Antioxidant activity of twenty wild Spanish Thymus mastichina L. populations and its relation with their chemical composition

The antioxidant activity and chemical composition of essential oils and methanolic extracts of twenty Spanish Thymus mastichina L. populations were studied. Both essential oils and methanolic extracts possessed antioxidant properties. However, the total phenol contents of the methanolic extracts varied between 2.90 and 9.15mg GAE/g extract and the EC 25 values of DPPH free radical scavenging activity between 0.90 and 3.45mg/mL for the methanolic extracts and 78-241mg/mL for essential oils, these showing low antioxidant potential. Actually, in essential oils the main compound determined was the 1,8-cineole (56.8-69.6%), whereas thymol, γ-terpinene, terpinolene and geraniol (species with considerable DPPH scavenging activity) were observed in low amounts. Concerning methanolic extracts, rosmarinic acid was the most abundant polyphenol (1.70-9.85mg/g), followed by methoxysalicylic acid, apigenin, kaempferol and luteolin.The authors are grateful to the POCTEPePrograma Cooperação Transfronteiriça España-Portugal 2007 e 2013 for financial support through the project “Mejora de la competitividad del sector agrario de Castilla y León y Norte de Portugal a través de la innovación y el desarrollo de productos diferenciados de alto valor”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Uncoupling the excitatory amino acid transporter 2 from its C-terminal interactome restores synaptic glutamate clearance at corticostriatal synapses and alleviates mutant huntingtin-induced hypokinesia

Rapid removal of glutamate from the sites of glutamate release is an essential step in excitatory synaptic transmission. However, despite many years of research, the molecular mechanisms underlying the intracellular regulation of glutamate transport at tripartite synapses have not been fully uncovered. This limits the options for pharmacological treatment of glutamate-related motor disorders, including Huntington’s disease (HD). We therefore investigated the possible binding partners of transgenic EAAT2 and their alterations under the influence of mutant huntingtin (mHTT). Mass spectrometry analysis after pull-down of striatal YFP-EAAT2 from wild-type (WT) mice and heterozygote (HET) Q175 mHTT-knock-in mice identified a total of 148 significant (FDR < 0.05) binders to full-length EAAT2. Of them 58 proteins exhibited mHTT-related differences. Most important, in 26 of the 58 mHTT-sensitive cases, protein abundance changed back toward WT levels when the mice expressed a C-terminal-truncated instead of full-length variant of EAAT2. These findings motivated new attempts to clarify the role of astrocytic EAAT2 regulation in cortico-basal movement control. Striatal astrocytes of Q175 HET mice were targeted by a PHP.B vector encoding EAAT2 with different degree of C-terminal modification, i.e., EAAT2-S506X (truncation at S506), EAAT2-4KR (4 lysine to arginine substitutions) or EAAT2 (full-length). The results were compared to HET and WT injected with a tag-only vector (CTRL). It was found that the presence of a C-terminal-modified EAAT2 transgene (i) increased the level of native EAAT2 protein in striatal lysates and perisynaptic astrocyte processes, (ii) enhanced the glutamate uptake of transduced astrocytes, (iii) stimulated glutamate clearance at individual corticostriatal synapses, (iv) increased the glutamate uptake of striatal astrocytes and (iv) alleviated the mHTT-related hypokinesia (open field indicators of movement initiation). In contrast, over-expression of full-length EAAT2 neither facilitated glutamate uptake nor locomotion. Together, our results support the new hypothesis that preventing abnormal protein-protein interactions at the C-terminal of EAAT2 could eliminate the mHTT-related deficits in corticostriatal synaptic glutamate clearance and movement initiation