Disaster risk management approaches in construction and built environment: A research collaboration networks perspective

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Currently there is no analysis of the development of disaster risk management literature in the construction and built environment context, the changes in its research paradigms over time and the role of different key players in the advance of its current body of knowledge. This study aims to address that gap by investigating the longitudinal data of disaster risk management literature published over the past three decades. Design/methodology/approach: A social network analysis approach is used in this study to show the overall development of the field and specifically the impact of research collaborations between different organisations and countries on research productivity. Findings: The results indicate that the focus of disaster risk management research in the built environment context is heavily biased towards reactive strategies (response and recovery) over proactive strategies (mitigation and preparedness). The findings also demonstrate that collaboration between disaster risk management researchers has a significant influence on their research productivity. Originality/value: The findings from this study should be of value to researchers, policymakers and academic strategists. This study for the first time shows the ability of the social networks paradigm to reveal frailties in research connections in the field of disaster risk management in construction and built environment and highlights where networking strategies are needed

MIP-TFMAA-co-TRIM as Selective Adsorption of β-sitosterol

A functional monomer of trifluoromethylacrylic acid (TFMAA), a cross-linker of trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) and a template molecule of β-sitosterol have been used to produce a molecularly imprinted polymer, MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM by a polymerization process based on non-covalent interaction between the monomer and the template. After the removal of the template, we used the product of MIP as an adsorbent of β-sitosterol and determined the adsorption capacity. The adsorption-desorption process for β-sitosterol and the selectivity test for β-sitosterol and cholesterol were also studied. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and UV-vis spectrophotometry were methods for measuring the amount of .materials adsorbed. Langmuir and Freundlich equations were models used to study the adsorption isotherm of the removal of β-sitosterol. The adsorption of β-sitosterol on MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM followed the Freundlich isotherm with a capacity of 0.61 mg/g. The first and the second adsorption-desorption processes showed that the recovery percentages of β-sitosterol from MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM were 66.36 and 40.56%, respectively. The MIP was more selective for β-sitosterol than for cholesterol

Peripheral blood RNA gene expression profiling in patients with bacterial meningitis

Objectives: The aim of present study was to find genetic pathways activated during infection with bacterial meningitis (BM) and potentially influencing the course of the infection using genome-wide RNA expression profiling combined with pathway analysis and functional annotation of the differential transcription. Methods: We analyzed 21 patients with BM hospitalized in 2008. The control group consisted of 18 healthy subjects. The RNA was extracted from whole blood, globin mRNA was depleted and gene expression profiling was performed using GeneChip Human Gene 1.0 ST Arrays which can assess the transcription of 28,869 genes. Gene expression profile data were analyzed using Bioconductor packages and Bayesian modeling. Functional annotation of the enriched gene sets was used to define the altered genetic networks. We also analyzed whether gene expression profiles depend on the clinical course and outcome. In order to verify the microarray results, the expression levels of ten functionally relevant genes with high statistical significance (CD177, IL1R2, IL18R1, IL18RAP, OLFM4, TLR5, CPA3, FCER1A, IL5RA, and IL7R) were confirmed by quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR. Results: There were 8569 genes displaying differential expression at a significance level of p < 0.05. Following False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction, a total of 5500 genes remained significant at a p-value of < 0.01. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the differential expression in 10 selected genes. Functional annotation and network analysis indicated that most of the genes were related to activation of humoral and cellular immune responses (enrichment score 43). Those changes were found in both adults and in children with BM compared to the healthy controls. The gene expression profiles did not significantly depend on the clinical outcome, but there was a strong influence of the specific type of pathogen underlying BM. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that there is a very strong activation of immune response at the transcriptional level during BM and that the type of pathogen influences this transcriptional activation

Penentuan Konstanta A dan K dalam Persamaan Mark-Houwink- Sakurada (MHS) untuk Menentukan Massa Molekul Poli (Asam Laktat) Diol

Poli(asam laktat) diol (PLA-OH) telah disintesis melalui reaksi polimerisasi kondensasi asam laktat dan 1,4-butanadiol. Berat molekul rata-rata (Mn, Mw, dan Mz) PLA-OH ditentukan dengan analisis menggunakan Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). Viskositas intrinsiknya diukur pada konsentrasi 0,2 g/dL dan temperatur 298 K menggunakan pelarut kloroform. Melalui metode numerik berhasil ditentukan nilai a dan K dalam persamaan Mark- Houwink-Sakurada untuk PLA-OH, yaitu [η] = 3,532 x 10-4Mv 0,628 = 3,532 x 10-4qMHS 0,628 = 3,415 x 10-4Mw 0,62

Dinamika Akumulasi Kadmium Pada Tanaman Kangkung Darat (Ipomoae reptans Poir)

J. Akta Kimia Indonesia 2(1) 2009One heavy metal, which is potential as pollutant, is cadmium that has been\ud accumulated in soil and sediment. Although, cadmium is non essential element for plants, it\ud is easily adsorbed and accumulated by various plants. The negative effect of cadmium on\ud plants is that it can prevent the absorption of nutrition so that the plant growth will be\ud inhibited and then the plant will die. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the concentration of\ud cadmium to be used as good growth media. Several methods of heavy metal accumulation,\ud such as physical, chemical and biological methods, have been used, but the three methods\ud have been considered as less effective methods. The use of plants to accumulate heavy metals\ud in polluted soil is considered as a good method because the method is a safe method and can\ud increase the soil fertility. In this research, accumulation of cadmium has been conducted by\ud using Ipomeae reptans Poir. Result showed that the highest concentration that can be\ud accumulated by I. reptans Poir was 3317.68 mg/kg of dried mass with the plantation time of\ud 21 days. The increase of concentration in the growth media increased the cadmium\ud concentration accumulated. The high accumulation of cadmium showed that I. reptans Poir is\ud a hyperaccumulator plant for cadmium. The bioconcentration value was higher than 1,\ud whereas the translocation factor was lower than 1 indicating that the accumulation\ud mechanism was phytostabilization

PEMANFAATAN KARBON AKTIF TEMPURUNG KENARI SEBAGAI ADSORBEN FENOL DAN KLOROFENOL DALAM PERAIRAN

Marina Chimica Acta 6(1) 2005Artikel ini menyajikan hasil investigasi yang dilakukan pada penghilangan fenol dan 4-klorofenol dari\ud lingkungan air dengan menggunakan karbon aktif tempurung kenari. adsorben dibuat dengan mengarangkan\ud tempurung kenari menggunakan sekam padi dan arang yang terbentuk dipanaskan pada temperatur 200 oC .\ud hasil yang diperoleh dengan ukuran 100 ??? 200 mesh diaktivasi pada suhu 500 oC. penentuan konsentrasi fenol\ud dan 4-klorofenol yang teradsorpsi pada waktu kesetimbangan adsorpsi dijadikan dasar untuk mempelajari\ud pengaruh ph dan konsentrasi awal terhadap efektivitas adsorpsi senyawa-senyawa fenol oleh karbon aktif\ud tempurung kenari. Persamaan Freundlich dan Langmuir digunakan untuk mempelajari isotermal adsorpsi.\ud hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa waktu optimum adsorpsi fenol dan 4-klorofenol oleh karbon aktif\ud berturut-turut adalah 135 dan 150 menit, adsorpsi kedua senyawa fenol memenuhi persamaan laju orde dua\ud semu dengan tetapan laju 0,082 dan 0,127 g mg-1 menit-1 berturut-turut untuk adsorpsi fenol dan 4-klorofenol.\ud isotermal adsorpsi kedua senyawa fenol memenuhi persamaan langmuir dan freundlich. kapasitas adsorpsi\ud fenol lebih besar dari kapasitas adsorpsi 4-klorofenol

Does this case hold the answer to one of the worse types of pain in medicine--that of loin pain haematuria syndrome (LPHS)

A patient with loin pain haematuria syndrome suffering chronic throbbing pulsing pain overlaid with prolonged periods of incapacitating colic and overnight vomiting was presented 10 months following diagnosis. Ultrasound was normal. No renal or ureteral stones, or filling defects were seen on CT. At cytoscopy, bladder and urethra were normal, and bloody urine effluxed from the left ureteric orifice. The ureters were normal at diagnosis, and developed new abutting non‐penetrating calcifications by 8 months. Pain episodes of complete incapacitating intensity of 2–4 h duration were reduced to 10 min with 5 mg crushed tadalafil administered at onset. If tadalafil was delayed to after onset, the original course of agony resulted. Daily tadalafil reduced loin pain intensity, but not the exacerbations. Tadalafil efficacy may indicate that the pain exacerbations are due to spasm of ureter smooth muscle. 5 mg tadalafil taken at onset alleviated severe loin pain exacerbations in this case of loin pain haematuria syndrome

Effect of biofunctionalized implant surface on osseointegration: a histomorphometric study in dogs

Among the different properties that influence bone apposition around implants, the chemical or biochemical composition of implant surface may interfere on its acceptance by the surrounding bone. The aim of this study was to investigate if a biofunctionalization of implant surface influences the bone apposition in a dog model and to compare it with other surfaces, such as a microstructured created by the grit-blasting/acid-etching process. Eight young adult male mongrel dogs had the bilateral mandibular premolars extracted and each one received 6 implants after 12 weeks, totaling 48 implants in the experiment. Four groups of implants were formed with the same microrough topography with or without some kind of biofunctionalization treatment. After histomorphometric analysis, it was observed that the modified microstructured surface with a "low concentration of the bioactive peptide" provided a higher adjacent bone density (54.6%) when compared to the other groups (microstructured + HA coating = 46.0%, microstructured only = 45.3% and microstructured + "high concentration of the bioactive peptide" = 40.7%), but this difference was not statistically significant. In conclusion, biofunctionalization of the implant surface might interfere in the bone apposition around implants, especially in terms of bone density. Different concentrations of bioactive peptide lead to different results.Entre as diferentes propriedades de uma superfície capazes de influenciar a deposição óssea ao redor de implantes, a composição química e bioquímica pode atuar no reconhecimento do tecido ósseo circundante. O presente trabalho investigou a influência da biofuncionalização de superfícies de implante na deposição óssea ao redor dos mesmos em um modelo animal, comparando-as com outras superfícies, como a microtexturizada obtida pelo processo de jateamento e ataque ácido. Metodologicamente, os pré-molares mandibulares bilaterais de 8 cães foram extraídos e após 12 semanas foram instalados 6 implantes em cada cão, constituindo uma amostra de 48 implantes. Dos 4 grupos experimentais de diferentes superfícies, todos continham a mesma microtopografia rugosa, porém possuindo ou não alguma biofuncionalização. A análise histomorfométrica revelou que a superfície microtexturizada modificada pela adição de baixa concentração peptídica obteve uma maior densidade óssea adjacente (54,6%) quando comparada aos outros grupos (microtexturizada + HA = 46%, somente microtexturizada = 45,3% e microtexturizada com adição de alta concentração peptídica = 40,7%), no entanto estas diferenças numéricas não foram estatisticamente significantes. Dentro deste contexto, conclui-se que a biofuncionalização da superfície de implantes pode interferir na aposição óssea, em particular na densidade óssea, e que diferentes concentrações peptídicas podem conduzir a diferentes resultados.FAPES

Analysis of repetitive element expression in the blood and skin of patients with Parkinson’s disease identifies differential expression of satellite elements

Repetitive elements (RE) constitute the majority of the human genome and have a range of functions both structural and regulatory on genomic function and gene expression. RE overexpression has been observed in several neurodegenerative diseases, consistent with the observation of aberrant expression of RE posing a mutagenic threat. Despite reports that associate RE expression with PD no study has comprehensively analysed the role of these elements in the disease. This study presents the first genome-wide analysis of RE expression in PD to date. Analysis of RNA-sequencing data of 12 PD patients and 12 healthy controls identified tissue-specific expression differences and more significantly, differential expression of four satellite elements; two simple satellite III (repName = CATTC_n and _GAATG_n) a high-copy satellite II (HSATII) and a centromeric satellite (ALR_Alpha) in the blood of PD patients. In support of the growing body of recent evidence associating REs with neurodegenerative disease, this study highlights the potential importance of characterization of RE expression in such diseases