Design of Safe Slopes After Failure During an Earthquake

Four slope slides took place, during a major earthquake, on the slopes of hill that has a paper mill complex on its top. The subsoil condition and engineering parameters for the site were evaluated at the time of construction of this complex and again after the earthquake for the purpose of designing safe slopes. However, both times the variation in the numerical values of shear parameters obtained by different tests was very wide and it was difficult to arrive at some conclusion. Therefore, on the basis of failure surface geometries, these was assessed by back analysis and design of safe slope carried out

Proizvodnja gelan gume fermentacijom, njezino izdvajanje, pročišćavanje i primjena

The microbial exopolysaccharides are water-soluble polymers secreted by microorganisms during fermentation. The biopolymer gellan gum is a relatively recent addition to the family of microbial polysaccharides that is gaining much importance in food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries due to its novel properties. It is commercially produced by C. P. Kelco in Japan and the USA. Further research and development in biopolymer technology is expected to expand its use. This article presents a critical review of the available information on the gellan gum synthesized by Sphingomonas paucimobilis with special emphasis on its fermentative production and downstream processing. Rheological behaviour of fermentation broth during fermentative production of gellan gum and problems associated with mass transfer have been addressed. Information on the biosynthetic pathway of gellan gum, enzymes and precursors involved in gellan gum production and application of metabolic engineering for enhancement of yield of gellan gum has been specified. Characteristics of gellan gum with respect to its structure, physicochemical properties, rheology of its solutions and gel formation behaviour are discussed. An attempt has also been made to review the current and potential applications of gellan gum in food, pharmaceutical and other industries.Tijekom fermentacije mikroorganizmi izlučuju egzopolisaharide, polimere topljive u vodi. Gelan guma je biopolimer odnedavno uvršten u skupinu mikrobnih polisaharida koji se zbog svojih novih svojstava sve više primjenjuje u industriji hrane te farmaceutskoj i kemijskoj industriji. Proizvodi ga tvrtka C.P. Kelco u Japanu i SAD-u. Dodatnim istraživanjem i razvojem tehnologije biopolimera proširit će se njegova primjena. U ovom je radu dan kritički osvrt na podatke o sintezi gelan gume s pomoću Sphingomonas paucimobilis, a osobito na proizvodnju fermentacijom te izdvajanje i pročišćavanje proizvoda. Opisana su i reološka svojstva medija tijekom proizvodnje te problemi vezani uz prijenos tvari. Navedeni su podaci o biosintetskom putu, enzimima i prekurzorima koji sudjeluju u njezinoj proizvodnji te primjena metaboličkog inženjeringa radi poboljšanja prinosa. Također se raspravljalo o značajkama gelan gume s obzirom na strukturu, fizičko-kemijska svojstva, reologiju otopina te ponašanje pri formiranju gela. Autori su prikazali sadašnju i buduću primjenu gelan gume u industriji hrane, farmaceutskoj industriji i ostalim industrijama

Skleroglukan: proizvodnja fermentacijom, izdvajanje, pročišćavanje i primjena

Exopolysaccharides produced by a variety of microorganisms find multifarious industrial applications in foods, pharmaceutical and other industries as emulsifiers, stabilizers, binders, gelling agents, lubricants, and thickening agents. One such exopolysaccharide is scleroglucan, produced by pure culture fermentation from filamentous fungi of genus Sclerotium. The review discusses the properties, fermentative production, downstream processing and applications of scleroglucan.Razni mikroorganizmi proizvode egzopolisaharide koji imaju višestruku primjenu u proizvodnji hrane, farmaceutskoj industriji i drugim industrijama, kao emulgatori, stabilizatori, učvršćivači, te sredstva za geliranje, podmazivanje i zgušnjavanje. Jedan takav polisaharid je skleroglukan proizveden fermentacijom s pomoću filamentoznih gljiva iz roda Sclerotium. U ovom se revijalnom prikazu raspravlja o svojstvima skleroglukana, njegovoj proizvodnji fermentacijom te izdvajanju i primjeni

Skleroglukan: proizvodnja fermentacijom, izdvajanje, pročišćavanje i primjena

Exopolysaccharides produced by a variety of microorganisms find multifarious industrial applications in foods, pharmaceutical and other industries as emulsifiers, stabilizers, binders, gelling agents, lubricants, and thickening agents. One such exopolysaccharide is scleroglucan, produced by pure culture fermentation from filamentous fungi of genus Sclerotium. The review discusses the properties, fermentative production, downstream processing and applications of scleroglucan.Razni mikroorganizmi proizvode egzopolisaharide koji imaju višestruku primjenu u proizvodnji hrane, farmaceutskoj industriji i drugim industrijama, kao emulgatori, stabilizatori, učvršćivači, te sredstva za geliranje, podmazivanje i zgušnjavanje. Jedan takav polisaharid je skleroglukan proizveden fermentacijom s pomoću filamentoznih gljiva iz roda Sclerotium. U ovom se revijalnom prikazu raspravlja o svojstvima skleroglukana, njegovoj proizvodnji fermentacijom te izdvajanju i primjeni

Early Life Socioeconomic Circumstance and Late Life Brain Hyperintensities : A Population Based Cohort Study

Funding: Image acquisition and image analysis for this study was funded by the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the participants of the Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort (ABC36), without whom this research would not have been possible.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Diffusion tensor and volumetric magnetic resonance imaging using an MR-compatible hand-induced robotic device suggests training-induced neuroplasticity in patients with chronic stroke

Stroke is the third leading cause of mortality and a frequent cause of long-term adult impairment. Improved strategies to enhance motor function in individuals with chronic disability from stroke are thus required. Post-stroke therapy may improve rehabilitation and reduce long-term disability; however, objective methods for evaluating the specific impact of rehabilitation are rare. Brain imaging studies on patients with chronic stroke have shown evidence for reorganization of areas showing functional plasticity after a stroke. In this study, we hypothesized that brain mapping using a novel magnetic resonance (MR)-compatible hand device in conjunction with state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can serve as a novel biomarker for brain plasticity induced by rehabilitative motor training in patients with chronic stroke. This hypothesis is based on the premises that robotic devices, by stimulating brain plasticity, can assist in restoring movement compromised by stroke-induced pathological changes in the brain and that these changes can then be monitored by advanced MRI. We serially examined 15 healthy controls and 4 patients with chronic stroke. We employed a combination of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and volumetric MRI using a 3-tesla (3T) MRI system using a 12-channel Siemens Tim coil and a novel MR-compatible hand-induced robotic device. DTI data revealed that the number of fibers and the average tract length significantly increased after 8 weeks of hand training by 110% and 64%, respectively (p<0.001). New corticospinal tract (CST) fibers projecting progressively closer to the motor cortex appeared during training. Volumetric data analysis showed a statistically significant increase in the cortical thickness of the ventral postcentral gyrus areas of patients after training relative to pre-training cortical thickness (p<0.001). We suggest that rehabilitation is possible for a longer period of time after stroke than previously thought, showing that structural plasticity is possible even after 6 months due to retained neuroplasticity. Our study is an example of personalized medicine using advanced neuroimaging methods in conjunction with robotics in the molecular medicine era

Functional MRI of Rehabilitation in Chronic Stroke Patients Using Novel MR-Compatible Hand Robots

We monitored brain activation after chronic stroke by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a novel MR-compatible, hand-induced, robotic device (MR_CHIROD). We evaluated 60 fMRI datasets on a 3 T MR system from five right-handed patients with left-sided stroke ≥6 months prior and mild to moderate hemiparesis. Patients trained the paretic right hand at approximately 75% of maximum strength with an exercise ball for 1 hour/day, 3 days/week for 4 weeks. Multi-level fMRI data were acquired before, during training, upon completion of training, and after a non-training period using parallel imaging employing GeneRalized Autocalibrating Partially Parallel Acquisitions (GRAPPA) while the participant used the MR_CHIROD. Training increased the number of activated sensorimotor cortical voxels, indicating functional cortical plasticity in chronic stroke patients. The effect persisted four weeks after training completion, indicating the potential of rehabilitation in inducing cortical plasticity in chronic stroke patients