A Novel Preclinical Model for Chronic Thrombo-Embolic Pulmonary Hypertension development, validation and characterization

Since the disease chronic thrombo-embolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), which is caused by an abnormal increase in blood pressure in the lungs due to obstructions, is still incompletely understood, therapeutic interventions are limited, and a curative medicine is still not available for CTEPH, we aim to unravel some mechanisms of this disease in this dissertation. To establish this, we developed a large animal model for CTEPH in which chronic catheters in and around the heart enable serial and awake measurements of blood pressures, cardiac output and oxygen metabolism both at rest and during exercise. The research in this thesis provides an insight in some of the underlying mechanisms which cause remodeling of the pulmonary vasculature and the heart in this disease. Our results indicate that specific research in global signaling pathways such as the vasodilator nitric oxide, the vasoconstrictor endothelin and Rho-kinase are very important for the development of more effective CTEPH treatment. In addition, we show the importance of exercise testing in PH, especially in the early stages to provide earlier diagnosis. All together we provided a lot of information on the pathophysiology of CTEPH with the help of a novel large animal model. Although we gathered all this information, future studies need to be conducted before the ideal, curative therapy will reach the patient

ARE THERE INDIVIDUAL AND/OR ROOST SIGNATURES IN THE ECHOLOCATION CALLS OF WILD BIG BROWN BATS (EPTESICUS FUSCUS)?

Unique individual vocal signatures are widespread among animals living in colonies such as the maternity roosts of Eptesicusfuscus. Such individual signatures have been identified in the echolocation calls of E. fuscus in the laboratory, but have not been demonstrated in the wild. By recording known wild E. fuscus as they emerged from their roosts at dusk, I tested the hypothesis that individual and/or roost signatures exist in the echolocation calls of wild E. fuscus. Analyses of calls of 176 individuals recorded at six different locations indicate that temporal and spectral features appear to contain sufficient variation to identify both roost and individual vocal signatures. Overall, bats were correctly associated with their roosts 48%, and with individual identity 14-37%, of the time. The incidence of such signatures may be significant to wild E. fuscus population dynamics

Зведений словопокажчик української лексики

У статті обґрунтовано доцільність створення "Зведеного словопокажчика української лексики" (далі – ЗС), підкреслено його реєстраційно-довідковий характер і важливість не тільки для лексикографії, а й для мовознавства в цілому. Викладено деякі положення, що стосуються завдань та принципів укладання ЗС, а також уточнень і доповнень до Інструкції. Стаття містить перелік словників-джерел Зведеного словопокажчика зі скороченням їхніх назв

How does learning drive sustainability transitions?: Perspectives, problems and prospects from a systematic literature review

Learning has been put forward as a critical aspect to achieve sustainable transformation of societal systems. However, there is a lack of a systematic review of empirical evidence on how learning is related to sustainability transitions. To bridge this gap, we systematically reviewed 113 empirical papers that addressed the role of learning in transitions. Our results show that the complexity of the relationship between learning and transitions is not deeply analysed and that there is a need to distinguish more precisely between learning processes and learning outcomes. Further, there is a need to shift the focus towards analysing regime-level learning to increase our understanding of how learning contributes to system transformation. Finally, networks, trust, disagreement, and power are key aspects related to learning that will require further examination, especially in terms of how they play out dynamically in learning for sustainability transitions

Reaching the hydrodynamic regime in a Bose-Einstein condensate by suppression of avalanche

We report the realization of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in the hydrodynamic regime. The hydrodynamic regime is reached by evaporative cooling at a relative low density suppressing the effect of avalanches. With the suppression of avalanches a BEC containing 120.10^6 atoms is produced. The collisional opacity can be tuned from the collisionless regime to a collisional opacity of more than 3 by compressing the trap after condensation. In the collisional opaque regime a significant heating of the cloud at time scales shorter than half of the radial trap period is measured. This is direct proof that the BEC is hydrodynamic.Comment: Article submitted for Phys. Rev. Letters, 6 figure

Cross-linguistic views of gesture usage

People have stereotypes about gesture usage. For instance, speakers in East Asia are not supposed to gesticulate, and it is believed that Italians gesticulate more than the British. Despite the prevalence of such views, studies that investigate these stereotypes are scarce. The present study examined peopleÕs views on spontaneous gestures by collecting data from five different countries. A total of 363 undergraduate students from five countries (France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and USA) participated in this study. Data were collected through a two-part questionnaire. Part 1 asked participants to rate two characteristics of gesture: frequency and size of gesture for 13 different languages. Part 2 asked them about their views on factors that might affect the production of gestures. The results showed that most participants in this study believe that Italian, Spanish, and American English speakers produce larger gestures more frequently than other language speakers. They also showed that each culture group, even within Europe, put weight on a slightly different aspect of gestures