Experimental determination of intrinsic permeability of limestone and concrete: Comparison between in situ and laboratory results

The study is concerned with development of the method of in situ measurement of air permeability of porous media. The method applied consists of creating a vacuum in a drilled hole and then studying the increase in pressure over time. The dimensions of the hole are small enough to consider the test as being nondestructive. The paper is composed of three parts. The first one develops the theoretical background used for interpretation of experimental results. The second part describes experimental procedure and device for in situ measurements. The parametric studies of principal factors which may influence the measurements such as the sampling frequency, the observation time and the boundary conditions were performed. The last part includes a discussion of results of the measurements of air permeability performed on large blocks of limestone and concrete. These blocks simulate in situ conditions. On the other hand, from these blocks, cylindrical samples were cored and standard gas and liquid laboratory tests were carried out. The results obtained show good agreement between intrinsic permeability obtained with the in situ device and laboratory tests, confirming the usefulness of the proposed tool.     

Lessons learned from automating tests for an operations support system

We present experience gained in automating tests for an operations support system. A major portion of the effort was devoted to extending a commercial test tool so that testers could easily manipulate graphical user interface (GUI) objects on two implementations of the application. For this purpose, we developed a test automation library as support infrastructure for writing tests. The challenges and tradeoffs are discussed such as simplicity/complexity for a tester versus a library developer, hiding/exposing window hierarchy to the tester, providing common methods for different types of GUI objects, transparently manipulating custom GUI widgets, and coping with data‐dependent test cases. We discuss the requirements of test code reusability, maintainability, and portability, and describe the solutions we found. In addition, we offer observations about benefits and pitfalls of test automation, our recommendations for maximizing return on investment, and results from automating a variety of tests. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MgF2 as a non‐conventional catalytic support. Surface and structure characterization

The paper presents results of studies on the structure of MgF₂ support, performed using various experimental methods such as XRD, IR, temperature‐programmed techniques and low‐temperature nitrogen adsorption. MgF₂ is characterized by an XRD spectrum with over 40 patterns, which enabled us to follow the changes in crystallite size and internal tension caused by the thermal treatment. TPE‐H₂O and TG allowed an estimation of the surface OH groups concentration as ∼3–4 nm^-2. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Multiresolution MUAPs decomposition and SVM-based analysis in the classification of neuromuscular disorders

This paper describes a new method for the classification of neuromuscular disorders based on the analysis of scalograms determined by the Symlet 4 wavelet technique. The approach involves isolating single motor unit action potentials (MUAPs), computing their scalograms, taking the maximum values of the scalograms in five selected scales, and averaging across MUAPs to give a single 5-dimensional feature vector per subject. After SVM analysis, the vector is reduced to a single decision parameter, called the Wavelet Index, allowing the subject to be assigned to one of three groups: myogenic, neurogenic or normal. The software implementation of the method described above created a tool supporting electromyographic (EMG) examinations. The method is characterized by a high probability for the accurate diagnosis of muscle state. The method produced 5 misclassifications out of 800 examined cases (total error of 0.6%).     

Synthesis of Novel Pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine Derivatives with 6-Fluoro-3-(4-piperidynyl)-1,2-benzisoxazole Moiety as Potential SSRI and 5-HT1A Receptor Ligands

Two series of novel 4-aryl-2H-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine (6a–i) and 4-aryl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine (7a–i) derivatives were synthesized. The chemical structures of the new compounds were confirmed by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and ESI-HRMS spectrometry. The affinities of all compounds for the 5-HT_1A receptor and serotonin transporter protein (SERT) were determined by in vitro radioligand binding assays. The test compounds demonstrated very high binding affinities for the 5-HT_1A receptor of all derivatives in the series (6a–i and 7a–i) and generally low binding affinities for the SERT protein, with the exception of compounds 6a and 7g. Extended affinity tests for the receptors D₂, 5-HT_2A, 5-HT₆ and 5-HT₇ were conducted with regard to selected compounds (6a, 7g, 6d and 7i). All four compounds demonstrated very high affinities for the D₂ and 5-HT_2A receptors. Compounds 6a and 7g also had high affinities for 5-HT₇, while 6d and 7i held moderate affinities for this receptor. Compounds 6a and 7g were also tested in vivo to identify their functional activity profiles with regard to the 5-HT_1A receptor, with 6a demonstrating the activity profile of a presynaptic agonist. Metabolic stability tests were also conducted for 6a and 6d.     

Modulation of Prostanoids Profile and Counter-Regulation of SDF-1α/CXCR4 and VIP/VPAC2 Expression by Sitagliptin in Non-Diabetic Rat Model of Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effect of sitagliptin repurposed for hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) are poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate the impact of IRI and sitagliptin on the hepatic profile of eicosanoids (LC-MS/MS) and expression/concentration (RTqPCR/ELISA) of GLP-1/GLP-1R, SDF-1α/CXCR4 and VIP/VPAC1, VPAC2, and PAC1 in 36 rats. Animals were divided into four groups and subjected to ischemia (60 min) and reperfusion (24 h) with or without pretreatment with sitagliptin (5 mg/kg) (IR and SIR) or sham-operated with or without sitagliptin pretreatment (controls and sitagliptin). PGI₂, PGE₂, and 13,14-dihydro-PGE₁ were significantly upregulated in IR but not SIR, while sitagliptin upregulated PGD₂ and 15-deoxy-12,14-PGJ₂. IR and sitagliptin non-significantly upregulated GLP-1 while Glp1r expression was borderline detectable. VIP concentration and Vpac2 expression were downregulated in IR but not SIR, while Vpac1 was significantly downregulated solely in SIR. IRI upregulated both CXCR4 expression and concentration, and sitagliptin pretreatment abrogated receptor overexpression and downregulated Sdf1. In conclusion, hepatic IRI is accompanied by an elevation in proinflammatory prostanoids and overexpression of CXCR4, combined with downregulation of VIP/VPAC2. Beneficial effects of sitagliptin during hepatic IRI might be mediated by drug-induced normalization of proinflammatory prostanoids and upregulation of PGD₂ and by concomitant downregulation of SDF-1α/CXCR4 and reinstating VIP/VCAP2 signaling.     

Entwurfsprobleme bei einem Ventilationsschacht aus Stahlbeton

Design problems of RC ventilation chimney. The analyses, concerning the computational results of reinforced concrete ventilation chimney structure joined with canals supported on steel beams in a varnishing hall, are presented. The unique solution of a compressed elastic‐slidable support with disc springs and elastomer slide bearing is described. Designed and finished elements make vertical and horizontal displacements of a reinforced concrete structure possible, without the significant influence of a bearing reaction values.     

Identification of Mitochondrial DNA (NUMTs) in the Nuclear Genome of Daphnia magna

This is the first study in which the Daphnia magna (D. magna) nuclear genome (nDNA) obtained from the GenBank database was analyzed for pseudogene sequences of mitochondrial origin. To date, there is no information about pseudogenes localized in D. magna genome. This study aimed to identify NUMTs, their length, homology, and location for potential use in evolutionary studies and to check whether their occurrence causes co-amplification during mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) analyses. Bioinformatic analysis showed 1909 fragments of the mtDNA of D. magna, of which 1630 were located in ten linkage groups (LG) of the nDNA. The best-matched NUMTs covering >90% of the gene sequence have been identified for two mt-tRNA genes, and they may be functional nuclear RNA molecules. Isolating the total DNA in mtDNA studies, co-amplification of nDNA fragments is unlikely in the case of amplification of the whole tRNA genes as well as fragments of other genes. It was observed that TRNA-MET fragments had the highest level of sequence homology, thus they could be evolutionarily the youngest. The lowest homology was found in the D-loop-derived pseudogene. It may probably be the oldest NUMT incorporated into the nDNA; however, further analysis is necessary.     

Metastasis and MAPK Pathways

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. In many cases, the treatment of the disease is limited due to the metastasis of cells to distant locations of the body through the blood and lymphatic drainage. Most of the anticancer therapeutic options focus mainly on the inhibition of tumor cell growth or the induction of cell death, and do not consider the molecular basis of metastasis. The aim of this work is to provide a comprehensive review focusing on cancer metastasis and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway (ERK/JNK/P38 signaling) as a crucial modulator of this process.     

Alternative crystal field parameters for rare-earth ions obtained from various techniques: I. Reanalysis of Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of Tm3+ ions in TmBa2Cu4O8 and TmBa2Cu3O7−δ high Tc superconductors

In this series of papers, implications of two major properties of orthorhombic crystal field (CF) Hamiltonians for interpretation of CF data for rare-earth ions obtained from various experimental techniques are considered. These properties, i.e. existence of alternative (physically equivalent) CF parameter (CFP) sets and incorrectness of comparison of such alternative yet disparate CFP sets, appear not fully utilized in literature. The CFP sets for Tm³⁺ in orthorhombic high T_c superconductors TmBa₂Cu₄O₈ and TmBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ are reanalysed applying standardization and closeness of CFP sets. Correlated CFP sets are transformed to the same nominal standard axis system. Standardization transformations are used to generate alternative (standard and non-standard) CFP sets, which may be utilized in the multiple correlated fitting technique to improve reliability of final fitted CFPs. The discrepancies concerning orthorhombic CFPs, identified in Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of Tm³⁺ ion in TmBa₂Cu₄O₈, are clarified. Misinterpretations of CF and structural data arising from usage of intrinsically incomparable CFP sets for similar ion–host systems are discussed.