Investigated Time Periods Research Articles

Epidemic Characteristics and Meteorological Risk Factors of Hemorrhagic Fever With Renal Syndrome in 151 Cities in China From 2015 to 2021: Retrospective Analysis.

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) continues to pose a significant public health threat to the population in China. Previous epidemiological evidence indicates that HFRS is climate sensitive and influenced by meteorological factors. However, past studies either focused on too-narrow geographical regions or investigated time periods that were too early. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive analysis to interpret the epidemiological patterns of meteorological factors affecting the incidence of HFRS across diverse climate zones. In this study, we aimed to describe the overall epidemic characteristics of HFRS and explore the linkage between monthly HFRS cases and meteorological factors at different climate levels in China. The reported HFRS cases and meteorological data were collected from 151 cities in China during the period from 2015 to 2021. We conducted a 3-stage analysis, adopting a distributed lag nonlinear model and a generalized additive model to estimate the interactions and marginal effects of meteorological factors on HFRS. This study included a total of 63,180 cases of HFRS; the epidemic trends showed seasonal fluctuations, with patterns varying across different climate zones. Temperature had the greatest impact on the incidence of HFRS, with the maximum hysteresis effects being at 1 month (-19 ºC; relative risk [RR] 1.64, 95% CI 1.24-2.15) in the midtemperate zone, 0 months (28 ºC; RR 3.15, 95% CI 2.13-4.65) in the warm-temperate zone, and 0 months (4 ºC; RR 1.72, 95% CI 1.31-2.25) in the subtropical zone. Interactions were discovered between the average temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation in different temperature zones. Moreover, the influence of precipitation and relative humidity on the incidence of HFRS had different characteristics under different temperature layers. The hysteresis effect of meteorological factors did not end after an epidemic season, but gradually weakened in the following 1 or 2 seasons. Weather variability, especially low temperature, plays an important role in epidemics of HFRS in China. A long hysteresis effect indicates the necessity of continuous intervention following an HFRS epidemic. This finding can help public health departments guide the prevention and control of HFRS and develop strategies to cope with the impacts of climate change in specific regions.

Modeling of soil moisture and water fluxes in a maize field for the optimization of irrigation

Precision irrigation is becoming more and more important in agricultural crop production due to the limited water resources resulting from the negative effects of climate change. Modeling of irrigation can support decision makers in the maintenance of the quantitative and qualitative parameters of the cultivated crops, while improving the efficiency of water consumption. In the present paper, a 3D hydrodynamic model was created in the HYDRUS environment to support the modeling of the temporal changes and spatial variations in the water balance (WB) of a maize cultivated Hungarian study site, thereby providing inputs for irrigation scheduling and variable rate irrigation for stakeholders. Beside soil physical parameters, crop evapotranspiration (ETc) values were also considered as model inputs for the phenological crop development stages of the maize from the sowing to the harvesting. This period was between the 3rd of May and the 10th of September in 2020 and the 20th of May and 14th of September for the year 2021. The performance of the model for soil moisture conditions were validated by on-field soil moisture measurements. The overall performance (full vegetation period) of the model was good (r2 = 0.88 for 2020 and r2 = 0.91 for 2021), but slightly varied among different phenological stages. Based on the model, the water balance of the investigated area was determined without any irrigation, alongside the cumulative water fluxes (CWF) through the boundaries including the root water uptake (RWU) of the maize as well. The results revealed that the incoming precipitation was not sufficient to supplement the water content in the soil to the optimal soil moisture range, except when the precipitation level is high enough to balance it. It was concluded that the water balance was negative for the investigated time periods without any irrigation. The specific water deficit (WD) values were calculated considering the area of the study site, which is 1439 m3/ha for 2020 and 2068 m3/ha for 2021. From the obtained results, optimal irrigation schedules were presented to keep the soil moisture content in the optimal range (20.92–14.41 V/V%) in the modeled area for two different vegetation periods. It was found that due to the irrigation the crop water productivity (CWP) increased by 6% and 4% in 2020 and 2021. Overall, the model is able to cope with changing circumstances that could help to mitigate the negative effects of climate change with the reasonable use of limited water resources in the future.

Evaluating the Potential of Landsat Satellite Data to Monitor the Effectiveness of Measures to Mitigate Urban Heat Islands: A Case Study for Stuttgart (Germany)

The urban heat island (UHI) effect is a serious health risk for people living in cities and thus calls for effective mitigation strategies in urban areas. Satellite data enable monitoring of the surface urban heat island (SUHI) over large areas at high spatial resolution. Here we analysed SUHI in the city of Stuttgart (Germany) based on land surface temperature (LST) data from Landsat at 30 m resolution. The overall SUHI in Stuttgart decreased by 1.4 °C between the investigated time periods 2004–2008 and 2016–2020, while the absolute LST increased by 2.5 °C. We identified local hotspots of strong warming and cooling in Stuttgart through the change in SUHI and categorised them based on the predominant land cover change occurring at the hotspot using the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat as well as visual information on land cover changes from Google Earth Pro. The establishment of green roofs, as well as albedo changes, are predominantly responsible for cooling spots, while warming spots are mostly associated with the sealing of surfaces. This highlights that vegetation has a dominant influence on SUHI development in Stuttgart. Combining satellite-based LST data with visual information thus provides an effective method to identify local warming and cooling hotspots, which allows monitoring of the success of city policies against heat stress and guides future policy.

HbA1c and Glucose Management Indicator Discordance Associated with Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in Intermittent Scanning Glucose Monitoring System.

Glucose management indicator (GMI) is frequently used as a substitute for HbA1c, especially when using telemedicine. Discordances between GMI and HbA1c were previously mostly reported in populations with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) using real-time CGM. Our aim was to investigate the accordance between GMI and HbA1c in patients with diabetes using intermittent scanning CGM (isCGM). In this retrospective cross-sectional study, patients with diabetes who used isCGM >70% of the time of the investigated time periods were included. GMI of four different time spans (between 14 and 30 days), covering a period of 3 months, reflected by the HbA1c, were investigated. The influence of clinical- and isCGM-derived parameters on the discordance was assessed. We included 278 patients (55% T1DM; 33% type 2 diabetes (T2DM)) with a mean HbA1c of 7.63%. The mean GMI of the four time periods was between 7.19% and 7.25%. On average, the absolute deviation between the four calculated GMIs and HbA1c ranged from 0.6% to 0.65%. The discordance was greater with increased BMI, a diagnosis of T2DM, and a greater difference between the most recent GMI and GMI assessed 8 to 10 weeks prior to HbA1c assessment. Our data shows that, especially in patients with increased BMI and T2DM, this difference is more pronounced and should therefore be considered when making therapeutic decisions.

Sex Differences May Exist for Performance Fatigue but Not Recovery After Single-Joint Upper-Body and Lower-Body Resistance Exercise.

Lewis, MH, Siedler, MR, Lamadrid, P, Ford, S, Smith, T, SanFilippo, G, Waddell, B, Trexler, ET, Buckner, S, and Campbell, BI. Sex differences may exist for performance fatigue but not recovery after single-joint upper-body and lower-body resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res 36(6): 1498-1505, 2022-This study evaluated sex differences in performance recovery and fatigue during dynamic exercise. Twenty-eight resistance-trained males (n = 16) and females (n = 12) completed a repeated-measures, randomized, parallel-groups design. The protocol consisted of a baseline assessment, a recovery period (4, 24, or 48 hours), and a postrecovery assessment. The assessments were identical consisting of 4 sets of 10 repetition maximum (10RM) bicep curls and 4 sets of 10RM leg extensions to failure. Recovery was quantified as the number of total repetitions completed in the postrecovery bout. Fatigue was quantified as the number of repetitions completed set to set within the session. For analysis, we set the level of significance at p ≤ 0.05. No sex differences in performance recovery were observed across any of the investigated time periods for either exercise modality. Regarding fatigue, significant effects were observed for set (p < 0.001) and sex (p = 0.031) for bicep curls. Repetitions dropped in later sets, and females generally completed a greater number of repetitions than males (8.8 ± 0.5 vs. 7.2 ± 0.5). For leg extension, a significant sex × set interaction was observed (p = 0.003), but post hoc tests revealed these sex differences as marginal. Our results suggest that in dynamic bicep curls and leg extensions, other factors unrelated to sex may be more impactful on performance recovery. To optimize an athlete's desired adaptations, it may be more important to consider other variables unrelated to sex such as volume, perceived exertion, and training history when formulating training prescriptions for single-joint exercises.

Reconstructed temperature change in late summer over the eastern Tibetan Plateau since 1867 CE and the role of anthropogenic forcing

Anthropogenic influence on the temperature change in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) since the 19th century has been rarely studied. Here we investigate the temperature change in late summer (August–September) over the eastern TP since 1867 based on a new tree-ring reconstruction. Human influence on the temperature change is explored using an optimal fingerprinting method and the model experiments from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 and 6 (CMIP5 and CMIP6). We find that there is a long-term warming trend since 1867 in the eastern TP based on the temperature reconstruction of a new tree-ring mean latewood density chronology. The reconstructed temperature explains 54.8% of the variance in observed August–September mean temperature during the calibration period 1961–2009, and shows decadal to inter-decadal variation. Compared with other reconstructed temperature series and observed gridded data, the temperature reconstruction shows similar increasing trend with most of temperature series. The new generation of climate models, including CMIP5 and CMIP6, are able to reproduce the long-term warming of the temperature, indicating a good performance of the climate models in simulating the temperature change in the eastern TP since the mid-19th century. The attribution analysis about the role of anthropogenic forcing shows that the signal of human influence can be clearly found in the long-term temperature change in the region. Anthropogenic signal can be detected in both the single- and two-signal analyses in all the investigated time periods, while the influence from natural forcing appears negligible. • There is a clear warming in late summer over the eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP) since 1867 based on a tree-ring reconstruction. • Both CMIP5 and CMIP6 models are able to reproduce long-term warming in the eastern TP since the mid-19th century. • Anthropogenic signal is the main driver for long-term temperature change in the eastern TP.

COVID-19 pandemic and eating disorders: What impact on specific and general psychopathology?

IntroductionThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting containment measures, such as “lockdown” and “social distancing”, have had important consequences on people’s mental and physical health.ObjectivesWe aimed to study the effect of social isolation and subsequent re- exposure and eventual changes in general and ED-specific psychopathology in people with Eating Disorders (EDs).MethodsThree-hundred twelve Italian people with EDs (179 Anorexia Nervosa, 83 Bulimia Nervosa, 48 Binge Eating Disorder and 22 Other Specific Feeding Eating Disorder) were asked to fill-in an online survey to explore several dimensions such as: anxiety, depression, panic, insomnia, suicide ideation, stress, post-traumatic stress and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Differences in ED specific and general symptoms among the 3 investigated time periods (before, during and after the end of lockdown) were assessed with a one-way ANOVA with repeated measures. Subsequently, ED diagnosis was introduced as covariate in the analysis in order to investigate the possible contribution on psychopathological changes.ResultsED core symptoms increased during the lockdown but most of them returned to pre-COVID19 levels at re-opening. The severity of general psychopathology also increased during the lockdown and persisted high in the following phase, except for depression and suicide ideation. None of this symptoms was affected by ED diagnosis, participants’age and illness duration.ConclusionsPeople with EDs showed worsening of both general and specific psychopathology; moreover, changes in general psychopathology persisted in the re-opening period suggesting a higher stress vulnerability in this kind of patients.DisclosureNo significant relationships.KeywordCOVID19 and Eating Disorders

Using the Particle Model to predict electrical resistivity performance of fly ash in concrete

The electrical resistivity performance of fly ash in concrete is not easy to predict due to the diverse sources of fly ash and their varying reactivity. Electrical resistivity gives direct evidence of the rate of corrosion within the concrete and provides indirect clues into the fluid transport into the material. This paper aims to develop predictive models for the electrical resistivity of fly ash concrete by applying the Particle Model. The Particle Model rapidly examines individual fly ash particles without human intervention and is used to derive predictive models for 20% and 40% fly ash replacement levels in concrete at seven different periods of hydration. The R-squared values of predictive models in the Particle Model show significant improvement over using the classification method based on Class C and F for both fly ash replacement at all investigated time periods. The derived predictive models are able to accurately estimate the electrical resistivity within +/- 10% for 80% of all measurements at 20% fly ash replacement and within +/− 10% for 75% of all measurements at 40% fly ash replacement. These investigations provide important insights into how the Particle Model can help predict the electrical resistivity of fly ash concrete even at different mixtures and hydration times.

Improved growth factor delivery and cellular activity using concentrated platelet-rich fibrin (C-PRF) when compared with traditional injectable (i-PRF) protocols.

Several studies have recently demonstrated that only marginal improvements in platelet and leukocyte concentrations are achieved following standard injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) protocols. Due to these previous findings, a novel harvesting technique was recently developed to collect higher concentrations of platelets/leukocytes specifically from the buffy coat layer (C-PRF) following faster centrifugation protocols. The aim of this study was to investigate the regenerative properties and effects on growth factor release and cellular activity of PRF collected through this novel harvesting technique compared to standard i-PRF protocols. The upper 1-ml layer collected through standard i-PRF protocols at low centrifugation speeds was compared with 1mL of C-PRF collected from the buffy coat layer following high centrifugation protocols (3000×g for 8min on a horizontal centrifuge) to specifically concentrate cells within the platelet/leukocyte-rich buffy coat layer. Thereafter, the expression of seven different growth factors, including PDGF-AA, PDGF-AB, PDGF-BB, TGF-β1, VEGF, IGF-1, and EGF, was characterized for up to 10days. Then, gingival fibroblast biocompatibility was investigated at 24h (live/dead assay); migration was investigated at 24h; proliferation was investigated at 1, 3, and 5days; and the expression of PDGF and TGF-β was investigated at 3days. Collagen 1 immunostaining was also quantified at 14days. At all investigated time periods, a significant increase in growth factor release was observed in C-PRF. In particular, the release of PDGF-AA, TGF-β1, and EGF exhibited the highest increases when compared with that in i-PRF. While both i-PRF and C-PRF exhibited high biocompatibility and induced significantly higher fibroblast migration and proliferation when compared with that of the control tissue culture plastic group, C-PRF showed the greatest potential for cell migration and proliferation. Furthermore, C-PRF induced significantly higher mRNA levels of TGF-β and PDGF levels at 3days and greater collagen 1 staining when compared with induced by i-PRF. In the present study, it was found that C-PRF collected specifically from the buffy coat layer following higher centrifugation protocols exhibited an up to a threefold increase in growth factor release when compared with that exhibited by standard i-PRF. This significantly promoted higher gingival fibroblast migration, proliferation, gene expression, and collagen I synthesis. The findings of the present study demonstrate that a more potent formulation of liquid platelet concentrate than that obtained from the upper plasma layer following a short and slow centrifugation protocol (i-PRF protocol) can be obtained for clinical use by specifically harvesting cells in the platelet- and leukocyte-rich buffy coat layer following an 8-min 3000×g centrifugation protocol (C-PRF protocol).

Hidden dangers? Investigating the impact of volcanic eruptions and skeletal fluorosis in medieval Iceland

Volcanic emissions are known to be a serious source of pollution to humans and animals. This study aimed to examine the possible health burden of fluoride (F) exposure from volcanic eruptions in the past. Osteological analyses were performed on 186 skeletons from seven sites across Iceland with the aim of identifying skeletal changes potentially associated with osteofluorosis. Additionally, ion selective electrode (ISE) was used to investigate possible correlations between skeletal lesions and bone fluoride concentrations in a subset of skeletons (n = 50) from two of these sites, Skriðuklaustur in Fljótsdalur and Skeljastaðir in Þjórsárdalur. The results showed that pathological markers or skeletal changes increased according to age across all investigated time periods and geographical regions but likely not due to significant fluoride exposure. The fluoride concentration range was 223–4370 ppm (mean = 2324 ± 1067 ppm) at Skriðuklaustur (n = 36) while at Skeljastaðir (n = 14), the range was 223–3030 ppm (mean = 1366 ± 937 ppm). The pathological changes noted in this study are thus more likely to relate to the environment, population dynamics, culturally mediated behaviours and increasing urbanisation than serious fluoride contamination. Therefore, volcanic emissions appear to have only substantially affected those living within the closest vicinity of actual eruption events. It may be vital to not only consider the severity of the immediate effects of volcanic pollution but also to reinforce socioeconomic circumstances and disaster preparation in regions with environmental hazards.

The Informational Dynamics of Mean‒Variance Relationships in Fertilizer Markets: An Entropic Investigation.

The risk‒return trade-off is a fundamental relationship that has received a large amount of attention in financial and economic analysis. Indeed, it has important implications for understanding linear dynamics in price returns and active quantitative portfolio optimization. The main contributions of this work include, firstly, examining such a relationship in five major fertilizer markets through different time periods: a period of low variability in returns and a period of high variability such as that during which the recent global financial crisis occurred. Secondly, we explore how entropy in those markets varies during the investigated time periods. This requires us to assess their inherent informational dynamics. The empirical results show that higher volatility is associated with a larger return in diammonium phosphate, potassium chloride, triple super phosphate, and urea market, but not rock phosphate. In addition, the magnitude of this relationship is low during a period of high variability. It is concluded that key statistical patterns of return and the relationship between return and volatility are affected during high variability periods. Our findings indicate that entropy in return and volatility series of each fertilizer market increase significantly during time periods of high variability.

The traffic emission-dispersion model for a Central-European city agrees with measured black carbon apportioned to traffic

The bottom-up traffic emission model EMISENS is used to calculate hourly black carbon (BC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission rates on an average workday in Maribor (Slovenia), using emission factors that were previously determined with the on-road chasing measurements in Slovenia. From modeled NOx emission rates and in-situ NOx measurements we empirically determined the hourly dispersion of traffic emissions and applied it to model BC concentrations using BC emission rates. We compared the modeled BC concentrations with in-situ BC concentration measurements over three periods in winters 2011–2012 and 2012–2013, a total of 67 workdays. Measured BC concentrations were first apportioned to traffic using the top-down Aethalometer model. We found that the bottom-up modeled BC concentrations overestimated the top-down apportioned values by only 19%, 32% and 6% in each of the three investigated time periods, respectively. We did not find any influence of meteorology on the performance of the model. This is the first time that BC source apportionment results were used to evaluate traffic emissions calculated using the bottom-up modeling approach. We demonstrate that the two independent approaches yield similar results. We use thus validated emission inventory for evaluating different emission reduction scenarios. We show that excluding 10% of vehicles that are highest BC or NOx emitters would reduce the total BC or NOx emissions from traffic in Maribor by 39% and 33% respectively.

The uterine fibroid/myoma tumour: analysis of the global research architecture using density-equalizing mapping.

Uterine fibroids can severely impact a woman's quality of life, result in significant morbidity and are a leading indication for hysterectomy. Many aspects of the disease remain largely obscure. Despite these knowledge gaps, no detailed maps of the global fibroid research architecture have yet been generated. This study used the NewQIS approach to assess worldwide research productivity, encompassing numerous aspects of the scientific output, quality and socioeconomic features. Regression analysis indicated an increase in fibroid research activity in the investigated time periods. Global research output was dominated by leading Western countries, with the USA at the forefront, but also by East Asian countries. Socioeconomic benchmarking revealed that Taiwan had the highest fibroid research activity per GDP, with a calculated average of 279.46 fibroid-related publications per 1000 billion USD GDP. Finland was the most active country with respect to research activity per population size. Subject area analyses revealed major differences in research focuses, for example 'Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging' was assigned to 29.92% of South Korean and to only 10.38% of US-American publications. In conclusion, this analysis of global fibroid research activity illustrates a multitude of important features ranging from quantitative and semi-qualitative fibroid research aspects to socioeconomic benchmarking.

Frequency Analysis as a Way of Uncovering News Foci: Evidence from the Guardian and the New York Times

Institutions or people can express their political stances or attitudes toward a specific topic if they keep using some words rather than others repetitively and consistently. This study uses the corpus linguistic technique of frequency to examine the influence of the country where the newspaper is published on its agenda and coverage using a corpus of about 7 million words of news articles about Libya and Qaddafi in the Guardian (Britain) and the New York Times (the U.S.) from 2009 to 2013. The compiled corpus is divided into three time periods, namely: before, during, and after the 2011 Arab uprisings. The analysis shows that the two newspapers had different news foci/themes in the three investigated time periods, and that they are influenced by the stock of ideas circulating in the culture in which they are working. Both newspapers covered more news of events that draw the attention of the people of the countries where they are located and published. The paper concludes that there is a strong relationship between media and politics where media is a central arena for viewing the political events.

Strong degradation of palsas and peat plateaus in northern Norway during the last 60 years

Abstract. Palsas and peat plateaus are permafrost landforms occurring in subarctic mires which constitute sensitive ecosystems with strong significance for vegetation, wildlife, hydrology and carbon cycle. Firstly, we have systematically mapped the occurrence of palsas and peat plateaus in the northernmost county of Norway (Finnmark, ∼ 50 000 km2) by manual interpretation of aerial images from 2005 to 2014 at a spatial resolution of 250 m. At this resolution, mires and wetlands with palsas or peat plateaus occur in about 850 km2 of Finnmark, with the actual palsas and peat plateaus underlain by permafrost covering a surface area of approximately 110 km2. Secondly, we have quantified the lateral changes of the extent of palsas and peat plateaus for four study areas located along a NW–SE transect through Finnmark by utilizing repeat aerial imagery from the 1950s to the 2010s. The results of the lateral changes reveal a total decrease of 33–71 % in the areal extent of palsas and peat plateaus during the study period, with the largest lateral change rates observed in the last decade. However, the results indicate that degradation of palsas and peat plateaus in northern Norway has been a consistent process during the second half of the 20th century and possibly even earlier. Significant rates of areal change are observed in all investigated time periods since the 1950s, and thermokarst landforms observed on aerial images from the 1950s suggest that lateral degradation was already an ongoing process at this time. The results of this study show that lateral erosion of palsas and peat plateaus is an important pathway for permafrost degradation in the sporadic permafrost zone in northern Scandinavia. While the environmental factors governing the rate of erosion are not yet fully understood, we note a moderate increase in air temperature, precipitation and snow depth during the last few decades in the region.

Giving forensic veterinary opinions on conflict situations regarding poultry

The specific nature of poultry production requires conflicts in poultry breeding and husbandry issues to be resolved with the input of veterinarians called to provide expert opinions. The objective of this paper is to analyze veterinary opinions and to determine the most common sources of conflicts related to poultry production. This study was carried out on 147 expert opinions issued by the Department of Forensics and Veterinary Administration at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in 1995 – 2015 for clients from all over Poland. The analysis was performed by dividing the study material into two groups: the years 1995 – 2005 (100 expert opinions) and 2006 – 2015 (47 expert opinions). It was demonstrated that for both periods the civil courts were the most common ordering party, followed by private persons and insurance companies. It was discovered that chicken broilers were the most conflicting issue (71 expert opinions) in the first of the investigated time periods, with turkey and layer hens constituting the topic of 66 expert opinions. In the second time period, turkey issues were predominant, with an increase in the issued opinions by one-third. A comparison of the results for both decades revealed a nearly four-fold reduction in the expert opinions on chicken broilers and an over three-fold decrease in the number of opinions related to layer hens and geese. This fact, together with a reduced demand (by over 50%) for the opinions included in the second group, indicates that poultry production (rearing) has become less conflicted, especially in chicken broiler, layer hen and geese production. However, the number of expert opinions on turkeys has increased by over 35%. In 51.0% of the analyzed cases, microorganisms and their toxins were the conflicting issues in poultry breeding and rearing, while the composition and physical conditions of feed mixtures also gave rise to conflict situations in 26.5% of cases. Errors relating to incubation and hatching technologies were the subject of 15 expert opinions (10.2%), whereas medical (veterinary) errors and producer mistakes were listed in 7 (4.8%) and 5 (3.4%) cases, respectively. There is a downward tendency in cases with microorganisms and their toxins as the source of conflicts and they are being replaced by other conflicting issues.

Optimal management proposal for hybrid water heating system

Abstract This paper presents the dynamic modeling of a domestic hybrid water heating system. The system is composed of a solar collector, a heat pump water heater, a wind turbine, a battery and a hot water storage tank. Both air-source and geothermal-heat pumps are investigated. Detailed mathematical dynamic models of the individual components are presented and validated. Simulations for typical days in summer and winter for Beirut and Cedars, two Lebanese locations with different meteorological and demographic conditions, are conducted using Matlab software. A renewable coverage factor (RCF) is defined, representing the renewable energy share with respect to the total delivered energy. Results reveal that the proposed hybrid system is capable of securing all hot water needs in all case studies and RCF is always above 63%. Furthermore, an energetic, economic optimal management model is developed for the proposed hybrid system. It is applied to the considered case studies, where results illustrate the optimum size of each of the system components as well as the optimum energy-flow distributions among them over two investigated time periods, five and ten years. It is noticed that the initial cost of the hybrid system is acceptable and important annual savings are obtained.

Cytotoxic effects of Agrimonia eupatoria L. against cancer cell lines in vitro

The study was conducted to evaluate anti-tumor (human cervical cancer; HeLa and Rhabdomyosarcoma; RD cell lines and a primary cell culture; mouse embryo fibroblast; MEF) potentials of Agrimonia eupatoria L. extracts (aqueous and methanol). Five concentrations (6.0, 12.0, 24.0, 48.0 and 96.0μg/ml) of each plant extract were assessed through either three incubation time periods (24, 48 and 72h) for HeLa and RD cell lines, or one incubation time period (48h) for MEF cells. The results revealed that the five concentrations of plant extracts showed anti-tumor properties in a concentration-dependent manner, and the methanol extract recorded better values of percentage of growth inhibition (PGI) than aqueous extract in HeLa and RD cell lines, while, less PGI values were recorded in the MEF cells. Among these concentrations, 96.0μg/ml was the most effective in producing PGI in RD and HeLa cancer cell lines for the three investigated time periods.

Unrestricted Access to Sugammadex: Impact on Neuromuscular Blocking Agent Choice, Reversal Practice and Associated Healthcare Costs

Sugammadex is known to rapidly and completely reverse the effects of amino-steroidal neuromuscular blocking agents. However, the high costs of sugammadex have so far prevented its introduction as the standard reversal agent in most healthcare systems. At the Royal Perth Hospital, sugammadex was recently introduced as an unrestricted alternative to neostigmine for the reversal of amino-steroidal neuromuscular blocking agents. The aim of this retrospective observational audit was to investigate the impact of this change on clinical practice and associated healthcare costs. Data from all patients intubated during a one-month period in April to May 2010 and for a similar period in 2011 were retrospectively collected and the use of neuromuscular blocking agents and reversal agents were identified and the associated costs were calculated. More steroidal neuromuscular blocking agents and sugammadex (+743%), but less glycopyrrolate and neostigmine (-48%) were used in 2011. Using the manufacturer's list price, muscle relaxation and reversal costs increased from about A$42 per case to about A$127 per case. Between the investigated time periods no differences were found for anaesthesia time, operating time or time spent in the post anaesthesia care unit. However, there was a statistically significant decrease in the time between surgery and discharge (median 2.0 vs 2.2 days). While the design of the audit was such that no inferences can be made about the cause of this change, this is an interesting observation worthy of further investigation.

Synthesis of a novel nanostructured ion-imprinted polymer for very fast and highly selective recognition of copper(II) ions in aqueous media

This work reports the preparation of a new Cu 2+-imprinted polymeric (IIP) nanoparticles, using 1,4-dihydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone (quinizarin; QZ) as a ligand. The Cu 2+ ion found to form a stable 1:1 complex with QZ in dimethylsulfoxide solution. The resulting Cu 2+–QZ complex was polymerized with ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate, as a cross-linking monomer, via precipitation polymerization method. The imprint copper ion was removed from the polymeric matrix using 0.1 M HNO 3. The Cu 2+-imprinted polymeric nanoparticles were characterized by IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N 2 adsorption–desorption isotherms and elemental analysis. The SEM micrographs showed colloidal nanoparticles of 60–110 nm in diameter and slightly irregular in shape. Optimum pH for maximum sorption was 7.0. Sorption and desorption of Cu 2+ ion on the IIP nanoparticles were quite fast and achieved completely over entire investigated time periods of 2–30 min. Maximum sorbent capacity and enrichment factor for Cu 2+ were 346.3 μmol g −1 and 18.4, respectively. The relative standard deviation and detection limit (3 σ) of the method were evaluated as 0.97% and 0.3 ng mL −1, respectively. It was found that imprinting results in increased affinity of the material toward Cu 2+ ion over other competitor metal ions with the same charge and close ionic radius. The prepared IIP was repeatedly used and regenerated for 12 times without a significant decrease in polymer binding affinity.