A Broadband Monitoring System for Electromagnetic-Radiation Assessment

A broadband monitoring system for measuring the total electric field radiated from broadcasting (radio, TV) and communications (mobile telephony, TETRA, WLAN) systems is presented. The system has been implemented for recording the field on a 24-hour basis. It has an omnidirectional sensor antenna and the appropriate electronic circuits. The heart of the system is a low-power, eight-bit RISC Microchip microcontroller, running at 10 MHz. Various digital and analog peripherals are connected to the microcontroller. The system can send the data to a personal computer through a USB interface, and can communicate through a GSM modem. Low cost and high reliability render the system inexpensive for the deployment of electromagnetic radiation-monitoring networks, and make it trustworthy for the public. Several tests of the sensor's pattern, the linearity of the response, and the frequency response have shown that the system can be successfully compared with commercially available systems.     

An Econometric Analysis of Residential Water Demand in Cyprus

This paper analyses econometrically residential water demand in the three major urban areas of Cyprus, a semi-arid country with medium to high income levels. Water demand turns out to be inelastic, but not insensitive, to prices; price elasticity is less than unity in absolute terms, but significantly different from zero. The analysis further shows that periodic interruptions in household water supply, which were applied as an urgent water saving measure in 2008–2009, did not encourage water conservation among the population. The paper discusses these results, pointing at the need for appropriate water pricing policies and long-term planning in order to move towards sustainable water resource management.     

Design of Monolithic Concrete Ground Floors

It is known that the slabs on soil constitute one of the most difficult types of structures despite their apparent simplicity. The objective of this paper is to give a general survey of the design of ground supported slabs with the interposition of a suitable subbase. A solution is proposed with the following characteristics： （1） complete suppression of joints; （2） conventional reinforcement with meshes in the upper and lower fiber of the slab in order to confront and distribute cracking that is caused by hindrance of free contractions and expansions; （3） effective confrontation of problems of bulging. The proposal is in effect on one hand for industrial floorings and on the other hand for concrete pavings with large durability requirement.     

Characterizing the Influence of Water on Charging and Layering at Electrified Ionic‐Liquid/Solid Interfaces

The importance of water on molecular ion structuring and charging mechanism of solid interfaces in room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) is unclear and has been largely ignored. Water may alter structures, charging characteristics, and hence performance at electrified solid/RTIL interfaces and is utilized in various fields including energy storage, conversion, or catalysis. Here, atomic force microscopy and surface forces apparatus experiments are utilized to directly measure how water alters the interfacial structuring and charging characteristics of [C₂mim][Tf₂N] on mica and electrified gold surfaces. On hydrophilic and ionophobic mica surfaces, water‐saturated [C₂mim][Tf₂N] dissolves surface‐bound cations, which leads to high surface charging and strong layering. In contrast, layering of dry RTIL at weakly charged mica surfaces is weakly structured. At electrified, hydrophobic, and ionophilic gold electrodes, significant water effects are found only at positive applied electrochemical potentials. Here, the influence of water is limited to interactions within the RTIL layers, and is not related to a direct electrosorption of water on the polarized electrode. More generally, the results suggest that effects of water on interfacial structuring of RTIL strongly depend on both (1) surface charging mechanism and (2) interfacial wetting properties. This may greatly impact utilization/design of RTILs and surfaces for interface‐dominated processes.     

Dapagliflozin Prevents High-Glucose-Induced Cellular Senescence in Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells

Gliflozins are a new class of antidiabetic drugs with renoprotective properties. In cultures of primary human renal tubular epithelial cells (RPTECs) subjected to high-glucose conditions in the presence or absence of dapagliflozin, we evaluated cellular senescence pathways. High glucose increased sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) expression and glucose consumption, enhancing reactive oxygen species production. The latter induced DNA damage, ataxia telangiectasia mutated kinase (ATM), and p53 phosphorylation. Stabilized p53 increased the cell cycle inhibitor p21, resulting in cell cycle arrest and increasing the cellular senescence marker beta-galactosidase (GLB-1). RPTECs under high glucose acquired a senescence-associated secretory phenotype, which was detected by the production of IL-1β, IL-8, and TGF-β1. By decreasing SGLT-2 expression and glucose consumption, dapagliflozin inhibited the above pathway and prevented RPTEC senescence. In addition, dapagliflozin reduced the cell cycle inhibitor p16 independently of the glucose conditions. Neither glucose concentration nor dapagliflozin affected the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition when assessed with α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Thus, high glucose induces p21-dependent RPTEC senescence, whereas dapagliflozin prevents it. Since cellular senescence contributes to the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy, delineating the related molecular mechanisms and the effects of the widely used gliflozins on them is of particular interest and may lead to novel therapeutic approaches.     

On the baseline evolution of automobile fuel economy in Europe

‘Business as usual’ scenarios in long-term energy forecasts are crucial for scenario-based policy analyses. This article focuses on fuel economy of passenger cars and light trucks, a long-disputed issue with serious implications for worldwide energy use and CO₂ emissions. The current status in Europe is explained and future developments are analysed with the aid of historical data of the last three decades from the United States and Europe. As a result of this analysis, fuel economy values are proposed for use as assumptions in baseline energy/transport scenarios in the 15 ‘old’ European Union Member States. Proposed values are given for new gasoline and diesel cars and for the years 2010, 2020 and 2030. The increasing discrepancy between vehicle fuel consumption measured under test conditions and that in the real world is also considered. One main conclusion is that the European Commission's voluntary agreement with the automobile industry should not be assumed to fully achieve its target under baseline conditions, nor should it be regarded as a major stimulus for autonomous vehicle efficiency improvements after 2010. A second conclusion is that three very recent studies enjoying authority across the EU tend to be overly optimistic as regards the technical progress for conventional and alternative vehicle propulsion technologies under ‘business as usual’ conditions.     

Variability in upper motor neurone-type dysarthria: an examination of five cases with dysarthria following cerebrovascular accident

The degree of diversity in the nature and extent of the physiological deficits which occur in subjects with dysarthria with similar neurological damage is demonstrated through the individual assessment profiles of five subjects with dysarthria following upper motor neurone (UMN) damage. The perceptual profiles of each subject were compiled using perceptual ratings of deviant speech parameters, intelligibility ratings from the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech (ASSIDS), and perceptual judgements of subsystem function determined from the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment (FDA). For each individual, the perceptual profile of their speech impairments was compared and contrasted with the objective results of spirometric and kinematic assessments of respiratory function aerodynamic and electroglottographic evaluations of laryngeal function, pressure and strain gauge evaluations of articulatory function, and nasal accelerometric assessments of nasality. The outcomes of the individual perceptual and physiological profiles are discussed with respect to the presence of differential subsystem impairments both within each subject and between subjects with similar underlying pathophysiological deficits. The importance of interpreting the instrumental findings with respect to the interdependency of each of the motor speech subsystems, the limitations of perceptual assessments, and the advantages of utilising both perceptual and physiological analyses in the process of identifying treatment goals is discussed.