A field study on thermal comfort in naturally - ventilated buildings located in the equatorial climatic region of Cameroon

The purpose of this research is to create a thermal comfort data base in three climatic regions in Cameroon. This will help to define guidelines for constructing more comfortable buildings in Cameroon. There is not enough data regarding comfort in residential environment in the inter tropical sub Saharan Africa. Thus experimental and subjective results of hygrometric thermal comfort conducted in 290 buildings located in three cities of the equatorial climatic zone of Cameroon is presented. An adaptive approach according to ASHRAE55/2004, ISO7730 and 10551 was adopted. A specific questionnaire has been elaborated for the investigation. 710 questionnaires in the dry season and 410 in the rainy season were distributed to inhabitants and filled while different experimental value of indoor parameters were measured. The comfortable temperature ranges for the three cities was found between 22. 1 C and 29.1 C. The 61.24 % of voters found acceptable their thermal habitat, the 13.72% considered it neutral

Procedures and types of small wastewater treatment plants

Zmes vodika in kisika, imenovana voda, je ključni in nenadomestljiv element za življenje. Najdemo jo namreč v vseh živih bitjih, omogoča delovanje vseh življenjsko pomembnih procesov v organizmu, poleg tega z njo zadovoljujemo naše fiziološke potrebe, vzdržujemo čistočo, higieno in jo uporabljamo za najrazličnejše tehnološke namene. Vsak od nas v povprečju porabi kar 150 litrov vode na dan, kar pomeni, da pride do velikih količin odpadne vode. Vso to vodo je potrebno pred ponovno uporabo, izpustom v tla ali v odprte vodotoke prečistiti. Za to poskrbi človek s pospešenim in kontroliranim procesom čiščenja s pomočjo BIOLOŠKIH ČISTILNIH NAPRAV. V prvem delu diplomske naloge so predstavljeni vsi postopki in vrste malih čistilnih naprav, ki se uporabljajo za čiščenje odpadnih voda do 2000 PE (populacijski ekvivalent). Na kratko je opisana tudi aktualna zakonodaja, ki predpisuje kako je/bo potrebno urediti čiščenje odpadnih voda. V drugem delu diplomske naloge sem v poplavi ponudnikov malih čistilnih naprav, ki jih je zaradi aktualnosti le-teh vse več, poskušal čim bolj sistematično pregledati tržišče v republiki Sloveniji. Prav tako sem pregledal tudi cenovne razrede malih čistilnih naprav 5–100 PE in poizkušal ugotoviti najbolj ekonomične rešitve za dane situacije.A mixture of hydrogen and oxygen called water is the key and irreplaceable element for life. We find it in all living creatures and it enables the activity of all vital processes in the organism. Besides, with water we satisfy our physiological needs, we keep everything clean and hygienic and we also use it for different technical purposes. Each of us spends around 150 liters of water per day, which means that there is a lot of »wastewater«. All of this water has to be cleaned before another use, release into the soil or in the open watercourses. The cleaning provides a man with an accelerated and controlled cleaning process using biological wastewater treatment plant. In the first part of my diploma there are presented all the procedures and types of small wastewater treatment plants, which are used for wastewater treatment up to 2000 PE (population equivalent). Briefly is also described the current law, which prescribes how it is or will be necessary to regulate wastewater treatment. In the second part of the diploma I tried to systematically examine the market in the Republic of Slovenia. I have also reviewed the price brackets of small wastewater treatment plants from 5-100 PE and tried to find the most economical solutions for a given situation

Ex vivo drug response profiling detects recurrent sensitivity patterns in drug-resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Drug sensitivity and resistance testing on diagnostic leukemia samples should provide important functional information to guide actionable target and biomarker discovery. We provide proof of concept data by profiling 60 drugs on 68 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) samples mostly from resistant disease in cocultures of bone marrow stromal cells. Patient-derived xenografts retained the original pattern of mutations found in the matched patient material. Stromal coculture did not prevent leukemia cell cycle activity, but a specific sensitivity profile to cell cycle-related drugs identified samples with higher cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo as leukemia xenografts. In patients with refractory relapses, individual patterns of marked drug resistance and exceptional responses to new agents of immediate clinical relevance were detected. The BCL2inhibitor venetoclax was highly active below 10 nM in B-cell precursor ALL (BCP-ALL) subsets, including MLL-AF4 and TCF3-HLF ALL, and in some T-cell ALLs (T-ALLs), predicting in vivo activity as a single agent and in combination with dexamethasone and vincristine. Unexpected sensitivity to dasatinib with half maximal inhibitory concentration values below 20 nM was detected in 2 independent T-ALL cohorts, which correlated with similar cytotoxic activity of the SRC inhibitor KX2-391 and inhibition of SRC phosphorylation. A patient with refractory T-ALL was treated with dasatinib on the basis of drug profiling information and achieved a 5-month remission. Thus, drug profiling captures disease-relevant features and unexpected sensitivity to relevant drugs, which warrants further exploration of this functional assay in the context of clinical trials to develop drug repurposing strategies for patients with urgent medical needs.Peer reviewe

Genomics and drug profiling of fatal TCF3-HLF-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia identifies recurrent mutation patterns and therapeutic options.

TCF3-HLF-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is currently incurable. Using an integrated approach, we uncovered distinct mutation, gene expression and drug response profiles in TCF3-HLF-positive and treatment-responsive TCF3-PBX1-positive ALL. We identified recurrent intragenic deletions of PAX5 or VPREB1 in constellation with the fusion of TCF3 and HLF. Moreover somatic mutations in the non-translocated allele of TCF3 and a reduction of PAX5 gene dosage in TCF3-HLF ALL suggest cooperation within a restricted genetic context. The enrichment for stem cell and myeloid features in the TCF3-HLF signature may reflect reprogramming by TCF3-HLF of a lymphoid-committed cell of origin toward a hybrid, drug-resistant hematopoietic state. Drug response profiling of matched patient-derived xenografts revealed a distinct profile for TCF3-HLF ALL with resistance to conventional chemotherapeutics but sensitivity to glucocorticoids, anthracyclines and agents in clinical development. Striking on-target sensitivity was achieved with the BCL2-specific inhibitor venetoclax (ABT-199). This integrated approach thus provides alternative treatment options for this deadly disease