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Selected AbstractsIncrease in platelet count in older, poor-risk patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome treated with valproic acid and all-trans retinoic acidCANCER, Issue 1 2005Chiara Pilatrino M.D. Abstract BACKGROUND The authors investigated the efficacy and safety of the histone deacetylase inhibitors valproic acid (VPA) and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) as differentiation agents in a cohort of older, poor-risk patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). METHODS Twenty older patients with recurrent or refractory AML or MDS were treated in a Phase II protocol with sequential VPA and ATRA therapy. VPA was started at a dose of 10 mg/kg per day and then escalated to achieve the serum concentration of 45,100 ,g/mL. ATRA was added at 45 mg/square meters (sm) per day when VPA reached the target serum concentration. Only patients treated continuously for , 2 months were considered evaluable. RESULTS Hematologic improvement, according to World Health Organization criteria, was observed in 6 of 20 patients enrolled in the protocol but in 6 of 11 considered evaluable. In five patients, a major platelet response was observed, achieving platelet transfusion independence. Three of these five patients also exhibited a minor erythroid response. A sixth patient showed both a minor erythroid response and a platelet response. The median duration of response was 189 days (range, 63,550 days). No significant reduction in the blast count was observed. Grade 3 neurocortical toxicity was observed in four patients. Severe bone pain was experienced by 4 patients (2 Grade 4 and 2 Grade 3) and was associated with an increase in the peripheral blast cell count. Treatment with ATRA did not modify the response observed with VPA alone. CONCLUSIONS Differentiation therapy with VPA was of clinical benefit in approximately 30% of elderly patients with AML and MDS of the refractory anemia with excess of blast type with unfavorable prognostic features. A striking platelet transfusion independence lasting several months may be obtained in some patients, reducing the burden of palliative care and improving the quality of life. Cancer 2005;. © 2005 American Cancer Society. [source] Experimental Assessment of Coral Reef Rehabilitation Following Blast FishingCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2005HELEN E. FOX arrecifes de Indonesia; recuperación de arrecife de coral; restauración de arrecifes Abstract:,Illegal fishing with explosives has damaged coral reefs throughout Southeast Asia. In addition to killing fish and other organisms, the blasts shatter coral skeletons, leaving fields of broken rubble that shift in the current, abrading or burying new coral recruits, and thereby slowing or preventing reef recovery. Successful restoration and rehabilitation efforts can contribute to coral reef conservation. We used field experiments to assess the effectiveness of different low-cost methods for coral reef rehabilitation in Komodo National Park (KNP), Indonesia. Our experiments were conducted at three different spatial scales. At a scale of 1 × 1 m plots, we tested three different rehabilitation methods: rock piles, cement slabs, and netting pinned to the rubble. Significantly more corals per square meter grew on rocks, followed by cement, netting, and untreated rubble, although many plots were scattered by strong water current or buried by rubble after 2.5 years. To test the benefits of the most successful treatment, rocks, at more realistic scales, we established 10 × 10 m plots of rock piles at each of our nine sites in 2000. Three years after installation, coverage by hard corals on the rocks continued to increase, although rehabilitation in high current areas remained the most difficult. In 2002 rehabilitation efforts in KNP were increased over 6000 m2 to test four rock pile designs at each of four rubble field sites. Assuming that there is an adequate larval supply, using rocks for simple, low-budget, large-scale rehabilitation appears to be a viable option for restoring the structural foundation of damaged reefs. Resumen:,La pesca ilegal con explosivos ha dañado a arrecifes de coral en el sureste de Asia. Además de matar a peces y otros organismos, las explosiones destruyen esqueletos de corales, dejando campos de escombros rotos que se mueven con la corriente, erosionando o enterrando a reclutas de coral nuevos y por lo tanto disminuyen o previenen la recuperación del coral. Esfuerzos exitosos de restauración y rehabilitación pueden contribuir a la conservación de arrecifes de coral. Usamos experimentos de campo para evaluar la efectividad de diferentes métodos de bajo costo para la rehabilitación de arrecifes de coral en el Parque Nacional Komodo (PNK), Indonesia. Desarrollamos nuestros experimentos en tres escalas espaciales diferentes. A una escala de parcelas de 1 x 1 m, probamos tres métodos de rehabilitación: pilas de rocas, losas de cemento y redes sobre el escombro. Crecieron significativamente más corales por metro cuadrado sobre rocas, seguido por el cemento, redes y escombro sin tratamiento, aunque muchas parcelas fueron dispersadas por la fuerte corriente de agua o enterradas por escombros después de 2.5 años. Para probar los beneficios del tratamiento más exitoso, rocas, a escalas más realistas, en 2000 establecimos parcelas de 10 x10 m con pilas de rocas en cada unos de nuestros nueve sitios. Tres años después, la cobertura de corales duros sobre las rocas continuó incrementando, aunque la rehabilitación en áreas con corrientes fuertes fue la más difícil. En 2002, los esfuerzos de rehabilitación en PNK se incrementaron a 6000 m2 para probar cuatro diseños de pilas de rocas en cada uno de los cuatro sitios con escombros. Asumiendo que hay una adecuada existencia de larvas, la utilización de rocas para rehabilitación simple, de bajo costo y gran escala parece ser una opción viable para la restauración de la base estructural de arrecifes dañados. [source] Ecological Consequences of Ground Water Discharge to Delaware Bay, United StatesGROUND WATER, Issue 7 2004Douglas C. Miller Submarine ground water discharge to the ocean has the potential to create estuarine conditions near the point of discharge, thereby dramatically altering local benthic habitats and ecology. Aerial thermal infrared imaging along the southwestern margin of Delaware Bay indicated abundant discharge at Cape Henlopen, Delaware, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. On the sandflat there, we have documented low salinity in sedimentary pore waters within 20 m of the beachface that are associated with dense assemblages (in thousands per square meter) of a deep, burrow-dwelling polychaete worm, Marenzelleria viridis, otherwise regarded as a species characteristic of fresher, oligohaline conditions. Where present, M. viridis is a numerical and biomass dominant in a benthic community strikingly different from that in nearby nonseep locations. At Cape Henlopen, the ecological role of the ground water discharge appears to be a multifaceted one. Seeps are localized regions of significantly reduced salinity, stabilized temperature, increased nutrient flux, high microalgal abundance, and enhanced sediment stability. M. viridis feeds on sediment diatoms and may provide an important trophic linkage between microalgal growth fueled by nutrients associated with the discharging ground water and worm-feeding predators such as bottom fish or shorebirds common on the Cape Henlopen sandflat. Calculations based on our sampling suggest that nutrients supplied by the ground water substantially exceed what is needed to support benthic biomass and productivity estimated for this site. [source] Runoff and suspended sediment yields from an unpaved road segment, St John, US Virgin IslandsHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 1 2007Carlos E. Ramos-Scharrón Abstract Unpaved roads are believed to be the primary source of terrigenous sediments being delivered to marine ecosystems around the island of St John in the eastern Caribbean. The objectives of this study were to: (1) measure runoff and suspended sediment yields from a road segment; (2) develop and test two event-based runoff and sediment prediction models; and (3) compare the predicted sediment yields against measured values from an empirical road erosion model and from a sediment trap. The runoff models use the Green,Ampt infiltration equation to predict excess precipitation and then use either an empirically derived unit hydrograph or a kinematic wave to generate runoff hydrographs. Precipitation, runoff, and suspended sediment data were collected from a 230 m long, mostly unpaved road segment over an 8-month period. Only 3,5 mm of rainfall was sufficient to initiate runoff from the road surface. Both models simulated similar hydrographs. Model performance was poor for storms with less than 1 cm of rainfall, but improved for larger events. The largest source of error was the inability to predict initial infiltration rates. The two runoff models were coupled with empirical sediment rating curves, and the predicted sediment yields were approximately 0·11 kg per square meter of road surface per centimetre of precipitation. The sediment trap data indicated a road erosion rate of 0·27 kg m,2 cm,1. The difference in sediment production between these two methods can be attributed to the fact that the suspended sediment samples were predominantly sand and silt, whereas the sediment trap yielded mostly sand and gravel. The combination of these data sets yields a road surface erosion rate of 0·31 kg m,2 cm,1, or approximately 36 kg m,2 year,1. This is four orders of magnitude higher than the measured erosion rate from undisturbed hillslopes. The results confirm the importance of unpaved roads in altering runoff and erosion rates in a tropical setting, provide insights into the controlling processes, and provide guidance for predicting runoff and sediment yields at the road-segment scale. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Application of sandy bed solar collector system for water extraction from airINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 6 2006A. E. KabeelArticle first published online: 13 JAN 200 Abstract Extracting water from air by using sandy bed solar collector system is explored in the current paper. The system is studied theoretically and experimentally to evaluate the performance of the sandy bed impregnated with 30% concentration CaCl2 to produce water from moist air. In addition, the system was investigated at three different tilt angles: 15°, 20° and 25°. The theoretical model was constructed to study the effect of various parameters including solution concentration, and solar radiation intensity on the amount of collected water. Results show that sandy bed is effective for collecting water from moist air. The system can provide up to about 1.2-l fresh water per square meter of glass cover per day. A reasonable agreement between theoretical results and experimental measurements is achieved. Results show also that a slight increase in the system productivity can be generated for 25° inclination angle. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Ausstattung von Klassenräumen mit Einrichtungen zum Temperieren, Lüften und BelichtenBAUPHYSIK, Issue 3 2009Gruppenleiterin Raumklimaqualität Runa Tabea Hellwig Dr.-Ing. Bauphysik allgemein; Energieeinsparung Abstract Fast alle Schulräume werden in Deutschland ausschließlich über Fenster mit Außenluft versorgt. Messungen haben gezeigt, dass die Belüftung der Schulräume vor allem in der kalten Jahreszeit unzureichend ist. Hybride Lüftungssysteme mit einer automatischen Unterstützung der Fensterlüftung könnten eine Möglichkeit bieten, die Häufigkeit schlechter Innenluftqualität in Schulen zu minimieren. Hierbei ist die Anordnung der dezentralen Zuluftöffnungen in den Fassaden eine der kritischsten Systemkomponenten, und es besteht gerade bei Schulgebäuden weiterer Untersuchungs- und Optimierungsbedarf. Im Rahmen des vom Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie geförderten Verbund- projektes "Heizenergieeinsparung, thermische Behaglichkeit und gute Luftqualität in Schulgebäuden durch hybride Lüftungstechnik" werden die Eigenschaften von Klassenräumen im Landkreis Miesbach bezüglich der Temperierung, Belüftung und Belichtung aufgenommen. Die Begehung von 22 Schulen im Landkreis Miesbach ermöglicht für einen gesamten Landkreis die Bewertung der baulichen Gegebenheiten, welche die raumklimatischen Verhältnisse entscheidend beeinflussen. Die Belegungsdichte der Klassenräume im Landkreis Miesbach ist eher als normal bis gering einzustufen, da in ca. 80 % der Räume der Mindestwert von 2 m2 je Schüler eingehalten wird. 88 % der untersuchten Räume weisen eine mittlere bis hohe thermische Masse auf. Die meisten Klassenräume im Landkreis haben einen Fensterflächenanteil von 30 bis 60 %. Etwa 50 % der Räume besitzen keinen Sonnenschutz. Der bauliche sommerliche Wärmeschutz muss überwiegend als unzureichend bewertet werden. Etwa zwei Drittel der Klassenräume weisen eine gute bis mittlere Tageslichtversorgung auf. Die Klassenräume werden über Fenster belüftet. Die Fassaden besitzen vielfältige Öffnungsmöglichkeiten, wobei Drehkippflügel und Schwingflügel am häufigsten angetroffen werden. Equipment of classrooms with systems for maintaining temperature, for ventilation and for illumination. Most German classrooms are not equipped with mechanical ventilation systems. Natural ventilation controlled by the occupants opening the windows is the main way to provide fresh air. Measurements in real classrooms showed that the ventilation especially in cold season is insufficient. Hydrid ventilation systems with automatically controlled windows might reduce the prevalence of high carbon dioxide concentration inside the classrooms. The position of the air supply opening in the façade is the most sensible design task. There is still a big potential for optimization. In the frame of the project "Energy saving, thermal comfort and good indoor air quality in schools using hybrid ventilation" supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Technology the properties of classrooms in the county Miesbach/Germany regarding thermal comfort, ventilation and illumination were collected. In sum data of 106 classrooms in 22 schools were collected. The density of persons is normal to low. Approximately 80% of the rooms offer at least 2 or more square meter per pupil. 88% of the investigated classrooms are built with medium or high thermal mass. The glazed facade area is between 30 and 60% for most of the classrooms. 50% of the classrooms do not have any sun shading device. The summer overheating protection by passive means is insufficient. Two thirds of the classrooms offer a good to acceptable daylight condition. The classrooms are ventilated by opening the windows. There are different opening types of the windows and several combinations of the types in the façades. Tilt and turn windows and the horizontally pivot-hung type are the most prevalent types. [source] | ||||||||||