On the exposure to mobile phone radiation in trains

This report presents theoretical estimates of the Power Density levels which may be reached inside trains. Two possible sources of high levels of radiation are discussed. The first one arises since the walls of the wagons are metallic and therefore bounce back almost all radiation impinging on them. The second is due to the simultaneous emission of a seemingly large number of nearby telephones. The theoretical study presented here shows that Power Densities stay at values below reference levels always.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Status report of the baseline collimation system of CLIC. Part II

Important efforts have recently been dedicated to the characterisation and improvement of the design of the post-linac collimation system of the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC). This system consists of two sections: one dedicated to the collimation of off-energy particles and another one for betatron collimation. The energy collimation system is further conceived as protection system against damage by errant beams. In this respect, special attention is paid to the optimisation of the energy collimator design. The material and the physical parameters of the energy collimators are selected to withstand the impact of an entire bunch train. Concerning the betatron collimation section, different aspects of the design have been optimised: the transverse collimation depths have been recalculated in order to reduce the collimator wakefield effects while maintaining a good efficiency in cleaning the undesired beam halo; the geometric design of the spoilers has been reviewed to minimise wakefields; in addition, the optics design has been optimised to improve the collimation efficiency. This report presents the current status of the the post-linac collimation system of CLIC. Part II is mainly dedicated to the study of the betatron collimation system and collimator wakefield effects.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figure

Assessment of a-priori and dynamic extended learner profiling for accommodative learning

Undergraduates often have experiences during their period of study that can have adverse effects on their ability to complete a particular course. This paper describes the use of an online questionnaire to integrate an exploration of learning styles, as presented by Felder and Silverman in 1988, with an investigation of additional student risk factors. The report demonstrates the complexity of marking and evaluating the validity of such studies, be they online, or in paper formats. It also investigates a method of evaluating the data before committing the evaluation technique to software. The learning styles utilised are; Visual/Verbal/Kinaesthetic and Global/Sequential. The information gathered about learning styles can inform and stimulate tutor reflection on suitable teaching styles. The risk factors considered include; academic expectations, subject interest, ability to understand, examination nervousness, mathematical ability and age. The ability to define referred learning styles and learner risk factors results in the creation of individual Learner Profile. Information stored on an online database as the questionnaire responses are uploaded. It also gives an overall impression of the learning styles and the risk factors of the individual and of the cohort. Risk factors can also be considered as support requirement indicators. The investigation reported in this paper forms part of a continuing philosophy of student support which has been successfully employed within the School of Engineering Science and Design at Glasgow Caledonian University for some time. This process of support, known as the ‘Triple C’ model (standing for care, control and consistency) has dramatically increased the retention and progression of first year undergraduates to second year over the last three academic years

Design and Implementation of the E-government system of the administrative regional integration

随着我国国民经济以及社会各领域的快速发展，信息化已经成为各级政府部门增强治国理政能力、提高社会管理水平、拓宽公共服务渠道的重要手段，电子政务成为国家发展的重要的领域之一。我国电子政务建设虽然起步晚，但是发展迅速，取得了一系列的成绩。同时，由于缺乏相应的顶层设计和总体规划，数据共享、业务协同难等问题导致发展过程中遇到了诸多阻碍。 本文着重以政务信息资源的整合共享等为着力点，建设公共基础信息资源库和业务专题信息资源库。通过三个基础支撑平台,即业务基础软件平台、共享交换平台、GIS地理信息平台。支撑实现六大应用系统，包括社会管理系统、行政审批系统、协同办公和电子公文交换系统、效能监察系统、辅助决策...With the continuous development of China's national economy and all areas of society, informational has become the government departments’ tool to enhance the governing ability。It not only raise the level of public administration, and also become an important means of widening public service channels. E-government has become one of the most important part of national development. Although China’s ...学位：工程硕士院系专业：软件学院_工程硕士(软件工程)学号：X201223001

Magnetic properties of ZnO nanoparticles

We experimentally show that it is possible to induce room-temperature ferromagnetic-like behavior in ZnO nanoparticles without doping with magnetic impurities but simply inducing an alteration of their electronic configuration. Capping ZnO nanoparticles (similar to 10 nm size) with different organic molecules produces an alteration of their electronic configuration that depends on the particular molecule, as evidenced by photoluminescence and X-ray absorption spectroscopies and altering their magnetic properties that varies from diamagnetic to ferromagnetic-like behavior

Pilot survey of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from the asexual blood stages of Plasmodium vivax in human patients

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium vivax is the most widely distributed human malaria, responsible for 70–80 million clinical cases each year and large socio-economical burdens for countries such as Brazil where it is the most prevalent species. Unfortunately, due to the impossibility of growing this parasite in continuous in vitro culture, research on P. vivax remains largely neglected. METHODS: A pilot survey of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from the asexual blood stages of P. vivax was performed. To do so, 1,184 clones from a cDNA library constructed with parasites obtained from 10 different human patients in the Brazilian Amazon were sequenced. Sequences were automatedly processed to remove contaminants and low quality reads. A total of 806 sequences with an average length of 586 bp met such criteria and their clustering revealed 666 distinct events. The consensus sequence of each cluster and the unique sequences of the singlets were used in similarity searches against different databases that included P. vivax, Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium yoelii, Plasmodium knowlesi, Apicomplexa and the GenBank non-redundant database. An E-value of <10(-30 )was used to define a significant database match. ESTs were manually assigned a gene ontology (GO) terminology RESULTS: A total of 769 ESTs could be assigned a putative identity based upon sequence similarity to known proteins in GenBank. Moreover, 292 ESTs were annotated and a GO terminology was assigned to 164 of them. CONCLUSION: These are the first ESTs reported for P. vivax and, as such, they represent a valuable resource to assist in the annotation of the P. vivax genome currently being sequenced. Moreover, since the GC-content of the P. vivax genome is strikingly different from that of P. falciparum, these ESTs will help in the validation of gene predictions for P. vivax and to create a gene index of this malaria parasite

Naturally-acquired humoral immune responses against the N- and C-termini of the Plasmodium vivax MSP1 protein in endemic regions of Brazil and Papua New Guinea using a multiplex assay

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Progress towards the development of a malaria vaccine against <it>Plasmodium vivax</it>, the most widely distributed human malaria parasite, will require a better understanding of the immune responses that confer clinical protection to patients in regions where malaria is endemic.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Glutathione <it>S</it>-transferase (GST) and GST-fusion proteins representing the N- terminus of the merozoite surface protein 1 of <it>P. vivax</it>, PvMSP1-N, and the C-terminus, PvMSP1-C, were covalently coupled to BioPlex carboxylated beads. Recombinant proteins and coupled beads were used, respectively, in ELISA and Bioplex assays using immune sera of <it>P. vivax </it>patients from Brazil and PNG to determine IgG and subclass responses. Concordances between the two methods in the seropositivity responses were evaluated using the Kappa statistic and the Spearman's rank correlation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results using this methodology were compared with the classical microtitre enzyme-linked immnosorbent assay (ELISA), showing that the assay was sensitive, reproducible and had good concordance with ELISA; yet, further research into different statistical analyses seems desirable before claiming conclusive results exclusively based on multiplex assays. As expected, results demonstrated that PvMSP1 was immunogenic in natural infections of patients from different endemic regions of Brazil and Papua New Guinea (PNG), and that age correlated only with antibodies against the C-terminus part of the molecule. Furthermore, the IgG subclass profiles were different in these endemic regions having IgG3 predominantly recognizing PvMSP1 in Brazil and IgG1 predominantly recognizing PvMSP1 in PNG.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study validates the use of the multiplex assay to measure naturally-acquired IgG antibodies against the merozoite surface protein 1 of <it>P. vivax</it>.</p

Autonomic nervous system assessment in critically ill patients undergoing a cognitive rehabilitation therapy

Recent clinical and electrophysiological studies reveal a high incidence of autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction in patients treated in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Cognitive rehabilitation (CR) is a behavioral therapy that has proven to be effective improving cognitive deficits in clinical populations with abnormalities in brain activation patterns. A total of 17 critically ill patients received CR aimed to improve the ANS status, which was quantified in terms of HRV. The CR included cognitive exercises aimed to improve prefrontal activation. HRV was obtained during pre-CR, CR and post-CR. Power in the low (PLF) and high (PHF) frequency bands related to sympathetic and parasympathetic systems was computed. PHF was obtained within a band centered at respiratory rate. Comparing with baseline values, 7 patients showed an increased PHF in post-CR, suggesting an increase of parasympathetic activity

Genetic deficiency or pharmacological inhibition of miR-33 protects from kidney fibrosis

Previous work has reported the important links between cellular bioenergetics and the development of chronic kidney disease, highlighting the potential for targeting metabolic functions to regulate disease progression. More recently, it has been shown that alterations in fatty acid oxidation (FAO) can have an important impact on the progression of kidney disease. In this work, we demonstrate that loss of miR-33, an important regulator of lipid metabolism, can partially prevent the repression of FAO in fibrotic kidneys and reduce lipid accumulation. These changes were associated with a dramatic reduction in the extent of fibrosis induced in 2 mouse models of kidney disease. These effects were not related to changes in circulating leukocytes because bone marrow transplants from miR-33–deficient animals did not have a similar impact on disease progression. Most important, targeted delivery of miR-33 peptide nucleic acid inhibitors to the kidney and other acidic microenvironments was accomplished using pH low insertion peptides as a carrier. This was effective at both increasing the expression of factors involved in FAO and reducing the development of fibrosis. Together, these findings suggest that miR-33 may be an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of chronic kidney disease