Economic and environmental benefits of thermal insulation of building external walls

Thermal modernization is viewed by its users in Poland mainly in terms of economic benefits. Nevertheless, it does not reduce the significant role of thermal modernization in lowering the environmental impact at the phase of a building use. The paper presents economic and environmental benefits due to thermal insulation of building external walls.     

Synaptic Alterations in a Transgenic Model of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: Relevance to Autism Spectrum Disorders

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare, multi-system genetic disease with serious neurological and mental symptoms, including autism. Mutations in the TSC1/TSC2 genes lead to the overactivation of mTOR signalling, which is also linked to nonsyndromic autism. Our aim was to analyse synaptic pathology in a transgenic model of TSC: two-month-old male B6;129S4-Tsc2^tm1Djk/J mice with Tsc2 haploinsufficiency. Significant brain-region-dependent alterations in the expression of several synaptic proteins were identified. The most prominent changes were observed in the immunoreactivity of presynaptic VAMP1/2 (ca. 50% increase) and phospho-synapsin-1 (Ser62/67) (ca. 80% increase). Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated serious ultrastructural abnormalities in synapses such as a blurred structure of synaptic density and a significantly increased number of synaptic vesicles. The impairment of synaptic mitochondrial ultrastructure was represented by excessive elongation, swelling, and blurred crista contours. Polyribosomes in the cytoplasm and swollen Golgi apparatus suggest possible impairment of protein metabolism. Moreover, the delamination of myelin and the presence of vacuolar structures in the cell nucleus were observed. We also report that Tsc2^+/− mice displayed increased brain weights and sizes. The behavioural analysis demonstrated the impairment of memory function, as established in the novel object recognition test. To summarise, our data indicate serious synaptic impairment in the brains of male Tsc2^+/− mice.     

Noninertial particle transfer to the rotating disc under an external force field (laminar flow)

A theoretical analysis of fine particle deposition kinetics on the rotating disc surface is presented, in the case when short-range surface interactions occur (electrical double-layer and London-van der Waals force). The results of the numerical evaluation of the particle transfer Sh number are compared with those obtained by adopting the surface-force boundary layer approximation, in the case when primary and secondary energy minima occur It was shown that this approximation may be used for the Péclet number smaller than about 10^?2 and if the energy barrier is higher than 5 kT (provided that the secondary minimum is absent).     

Input-output nonlinearities and time delays increase tracking errors in hand grasp neuroprostheses

The inhibition of the activity of bovine xanthine oxidase (XO) by divalent mercury and other metal ions has been investigated by optical spectroscopy and stop-flow kinetic measurements. The study shows that Hg2+ ion completely inhibits the activity of XO, while other metal ions such as Zn2+, Mg2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ inhibit the activity only marginally (approximately 10%). The inhibition by the Hg2+ ion was found to be monophasic and noncompetitive with strong affinity for binding to XO. The pH-dependent study of the inhibition indicates that at least two ionizing groups of XO are involved in the binding of the Hg2+ ion.     

Rheological Model for Simulation of Hot rolling of New Generation Steel Strips for Automotive Applications

The main objective of this paper is the development of a rheological model for automotive steels for the conditions of hot strip rolling and implementation of this model in a finite element program is. Three types of steels were investigated, IF, dual phase and TRIP steel. Plastometric tests were performed on a Gleeble 3800 simulator for the temperature range 850‐1200°C and strain rates 3‐150 s^?1. Inverse analysis was applied to eliminate the influence of disturbances occurring in the plastometric tests and to determine the real flow stress of the material. The coefficients in the flow stress equation were evaluated and this equation was implemented in the FEM code as the constitutive law. The model was validated by comparison of measured and calculated loads in the compression tests and by strip rolling experiments conducted in the laboratory mill. Validation confirmed a good predictive capability of the rheological model.