Assessment of the role of LASER-Doppler in the treatment of port-wine stains in infants.

BACKGROUND: Port-wine stains (PWS) are malformations of capillaries in 0.3% of newborn children. The treatment of choice is by pulsed dye LASER (PDL), and requires several sessions. The efficacy of this treatment is at present evaluated on the basis of clinical inspection and of digital photographs taken throughout the treatment. LASER-Doppler imaging (LDI) is a noninvasive method of imaging the perfusion of the tissues by the microcirculatory system (capillaries). The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that LDI allows a quantitative, numerical evaluation of the efficacy of the PDL treatment of PWS. METHOD: The PDL sessions were organized according to the usual scheme, every other month, from September 1, 2012, to September 30, 2013. LDI imaging was performed at the start and at the conclusion of the PDL treatment, and simultaneously on healthy skin in order to obtain reference values. The results evidenced by LDI were analyzed according to the "Wilcoxon signed-rank" test before and after each session, and in the intervals between the three PDL treatment sessions. RESULTS: Our prospective study is based on 20 new children. On average, the vascularization of the PWS was reduced by 56% after three laser sessions. Compared with healthy skin, initial vascularization of PWS was 62% higher than that of healthy skin at the start of treatment, and 6% higher after three sessions. During the 2 months between two sessions, vascularization of the capillary network increased by 27%. CONCLUSION: This study shows that LDI can demonstrate and measure the efficacy of PDL treatment of PWS in children. The figures obtained when measuring the results by LDI corroborate the clinical assessments and may allow us to refine, and perhaps even modify, our present use of PDL and thus improve the efficacy of the treatment.

Les pintures murals de la basílica paleocristiana de «Es Cap des Port» (Fornells, Menorca): materials i tècniques

[cat]El present treball ofereix una revisió de les pintures murals de la basílica de «Es Cap des Port» (Fornells, Menorca), així com un estudi de caracterització arqueomètrica deIs materials i tècniques per microscòpia òptica, tant amb lupa binocular com amb microscopi petrogràfic mitjançant làmina prima, difracció de raigs X i microscòpia electrònica de rastreig. Els resultats han permès identificar els pigments emprats, així com la seva tècnica d'aplicació. Igualment, han permès caracteritzar els morters i han desvelat l' existència de dos tipus diferents de suport. Malgrat aquestes diferències en els morters, els pigments són sempre els mateixos per a tots els conjunts pictòrics caracteritzats [eng] The present paper offers a revision of the wall paintings found at the early Christian church of 'Es Cap des Port' (Fornells, Menorca). Moreover, the materials and techniques employed have been archaeometrically studied by means of optical microscopy, both with steromicroscope and petrographic microscope by thin section, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results enable to identify the pigments used, as well as the techniques of application. It has also been possible to characterize the mortars, revealing the existence of two different types of support. In spite of these differences in the mortars, the pigments used are the same ones for all the studied wall paintings

Regulation of Port Charges in Spain: Global versus Local Competition

This article examines the determinants of traffic volumes and the revenues per tonne generated by Spain’s port authorities. The interest of the study lies on the strong differences between port authorities in a context of strict regulation but that provides some scope for price competition. We find that port charges influence the amount of traffic that a port is able to generate. Furthermore, we find clear evidence of local price competition and report mixed results for global competition. Revenues per tonne are higher in ports operating more international regular lines and with multinational terminal operators, while they are lower in ports with nearby competing facilities and where the market share of the dominant shipping firm is high.

El port romà de Barcino (Barcelona) i el praefectus orae maritimae laeetanae. Un possible portus comercial

En aquest estudi es planteja l’existència d’un port romà a Barcino (Barcelona), tot intentant esbrinar la seva ubicació i la relació amb el nucli urbà de la ciutat. S’estudia també el paper del praefectus orae maritimae laeetanae, magistrat documentat en una inscripció de Tarragona, en relació amb aquest port.

Agglomeration vs. dispersion of economic activities in the districts of Paris

The spatial distribution of economic activity has often been analysed for wide geographical areas such as regions or metropolitan areas, but it has rarely been subject to microanalysis, especially outside the U.S. In this paper we focus on what happens within a large European city (Par is), and analyse how the industrial composition of its districts differs and how these districts evolve. We also analyse suburbanization process for both residents and the workforce and provide empirical evidence about the changing roles of the core and intramuros periphery. Keywords: agglomeration, suburbanization, Paris, micropolitan analysis

El "Asilo del Port" de Barcelona

El pasado 15 de mayo de 2010, realizamos un acto de recordatorio y de homenaje, de amigos y amigas, de personas que lo valorábamos y respetábamos, de educadores y educadoras sociales que nos consideramos sus discípulos, de Toni Julià, que había muerto hacía unos meses, a comienzos del verano de 2009. Y lo hicimos en el espacio emblemático que en 1977 ocupaba 'el Asilo del Port' del ayuntamiento de Barcelona y que ahora ocupa, en parte, la escuela Bàrkeno. El Asilo del Port, nombre con el que era conocido en los años 70 por los vecinos del Barrio de la Marina del Prat Vermell, estaba situado en la calle Cisell, en lo que había sido, hasta su anexión a Barcelona,"la Marina" del municipio de Sants (3). Era un centro-institución municipal de muy larga trayectoria, entre los de la Beneficencia de la ciudad de Barcelona. Y en 1977 actuó como base de operaciones logística del nacimiento de los 'Colectivos Infantiles del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona', experiencia pionera en el proceso de renovación de la acción socioeducativa con la infancia del inicio de la democracia en España. (4) En este artículo queremos ofrecer algunos elementos que nos ayuden a ubicar, dentro de la historia de la acción social de la ciudad de Barcelona, las diferentes funciones y el recorrido de esta institución, el Asilo del Port. Y de paso, rescatar alguna anécdota relacionada con Toni Julià.

Vid frågornas port

Soitinnus: sekakuoro. (SATB)

Principals intercanvis de mercaderies entre València Port i la Xina en el període 1996-2014

La present memòria es planteja com una aportació a la comprensió de les últimes dos dècades de relacions comercials amb la Xina des del port de València, en fase d'integració amb el de Sagunt i Gandia, i el seu hinterland constituït a més de pel País Valencià per una àrea que abasta tota la zona est i central de la Península Ibèrica. La Xina és el país protagonista d'entre les economies emergents en l'actualitat, així l'estudi analitza, des d'una perspectiva eminentment valenciana, quins són els principals intercanvis de mercaderies entre València Port i els principals ports de la Xina.

Financial and Environmental Impacts of a Dry Port to Facilitate Competitiveness of Two Major Transit Seaports of Finland

Environmental problems and issues have received more and more attention during the last decades. Reasons for this are different increased external costs such as congestion, CO2 emission, noise and accident costs. Transportation sector is the only sector with increasing external costs. The EU will increase its attention in decreasing the external costs of transport. Aim of this research was to find out if a dry port solution could decrease costs of transport, especially external costs. Dry port concept is an intermodal transport system, where inland transport between port and dry port is performed by rail transport instead of traditional road transport. In addition, dry ports offer similar services as ports. Research is conducted by performing a literature review about dry port concept and costs of transport, especially external costs of transport. Financial and environmental impacts of the dry port concept are studied by comparing costs of road and rail transport by cost accounting and with a simulation model. Location of dry port is researched with gravitational models. Results of the literature review are that rail transport is environmentally friendlier mode of transport than road transport. Cost model and simulation model show that if only costs of freight movement are considered, rail transport is more inexpensive transport mode than road transport in terms of internal and external costs. Because of that dry port concept could decrease costs of transport, especially external costs. Results of gravitational models are that city of Kouvola is in a good position to be a dry port. Russian transit traffic through Finland improves location of Kouvola to be a dry port.

Choosing the optimal energy system for buildings and districts

The purpose of this master’s thesis was to develop a method to be used in the selection of an optimal energy system for buildings and districts. The term optimal energy system was defined as the energy system which best fulfils the requirements of the stakeholder on whose preferences the energy systems are evaluated. The most influential stakeholder in the process of selecting an energy system was considered to be the district developer. The selection method consisted of several steps: Definition of the district, calculating the energy consumption of the district and buildings within the district, defining suitable energy system alternatives for the district, definition of the comparing criteria, calculating the parameters of the comparing criteria for each energy system alternative and finally using a multi-criteria decision method to rank the alternatives. For the purposes of the selection method, the factors affecting the energy consumption of buildings and districts and technologies enabling the use of renewable energy were reviewed. The key element of the selection method was a multi-criteria decision making method, PROMETHEE II. In order to compare the energy system alternatives with the developed method, the comparing criteria were defined in the study. The criteria included costs, environmental impacts and technological and technical characteristics of the energy systems. Each criterion was given an importance, based on a questionnaire which was sent for the steering groups of two district development projects. The selection method was applied in two case study analyses. The results indicate that the selection method provides a viable and easy way to provide the decision makers alternatives and recommendations regarding the selection of an energy system. Since the comparison is carried out by changing the alternatives into numeric form, the presented selection method was found to exclude any unjustified preferences over certain energy systems alternatives which would affect the selection.

E-PORT. Improving efficiency of Finnish port community by intelligent systems Final report of the Mobile Port project

The management of port-related supply chains is challenging due to the complex and heterogeneous operations of the ports with several actors and processes. That is why the importance of information sharing is emphasised in the ports. However, the information exchange between different port-related actors is often cumbersome and it still involves a lot of manual work and paper. Major ports and port-related actors usually have advanced information systems in daily use but these systems are seldom interoperable with each other, which prevents economies of scale to be reached. Smaller ports and companies might not be equipped with electronic data transmission at all. This is the final report of the Mobile port (MOPO) project, which has sought ways to improve the management and control of port-related sea and inland traffic with the aid of ICT technologies. The project has studied port community systems (PCS) used worldwide, evaluated the suitability of a PCS for the Finnish port operating environment and created a pilot solution of a Finnish PCS in the port of HaminaKotka. Further, the dry port concept and its influences on the transportation system have been explored. The Mobile Port project comprised of several literature reviews, interviews of over 50 port-related logistics and/or ICT professionals, two different kinds of simulation models as well as designing and implementing of the pilot solution of the Finnish PCS. The results of these multiple studies are summarised in this report. Furthermore, recommendations for future actions and the topics for further studies are addressed in the report. The study revealed that the information sharing in a typical Finnish port-related supply chain contains several bottlenecks that cause delays in shipments and waste resources. The study showed that many of these bottlenecks could be solved by building a port community system for the Finnish port community. Almost 30 different kinds of potential services or service entities of a Finnish PCS were found out during the study. The basic requirements, structure, interfaces and operation model of the Finnish PCS were also defined in the study. On the basis of the results of the study, a pilot solution of the Finnish PCS was implemented in the port of HaminaKotka. The pilot solution includes a Portconnect portal for the Finnish port community system (available at https://www.portconnect.fi) and two pilot applications, which are a service for handling the information flows concerning the movements of railway wagons and a service for handling the information flows between Finnish ports and Finland-Russian border. The study also showed that port community systems can be used to improve the environmental aspects of logistics in two different ways: 1) PCSs can bring direct environmental benefits and 2) PCSs can be used as an environmental tool in a port community. On the basis of the study, the development of the Finnish port community system should be continued by surveying other potential applications for the Finnish PCS. It is also important to study if there is need and resources to extend the Finnish PCS to operate in several ports or even on a national level. In the long run, it could be reasonable to clarify whether there would be possibilities to connect the Finnish PCS as a part of Baltic Sea wide, European-wide or even worldwide maritime and port-related network in order to get the best benefit from the system

Occurrences of anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in sheep from four districts of Tocantins state, Brazilian Legal Amazon Region

Toxoplasmosis and neosporosis have been recognized as economically important diseases with considerable impact on the livestock industry. Little is known concerning the occurrence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in sheep from Tocantins state, Brazil. Here, we investigated antibodies against these parasites and associated factors in 182 sheep from Araguaína, Santa Terezinha do Tocantins, Arguianópolis and Palmeiras do Tocantins districts, Tocantins. Sheep sera were assayed for T. gondii and N. caninum IgG antibodies by indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT), using cut-off point at a dilution of 1:40 and 1:25 respectively. The prevalence of seropositive animal for T. gondii was 13.74% and 13.74% for N. caninum. None of the characteristics studied including reproductive problems, presence of cats, presence of dogs and veterinary care (p>0.05) was associated with occurrence of T. gondii or N. caninum infection. Only breed was identified as associated factor for the occurrence of toxoplasmosis in sheep (p<0.05). The present study is the first report on serum occurrence of T. gondii and N. caninum in sheep from the state of Tocantins, Brazil.

The Environmental Status of the Port of HaminaKotka

This study is a part of the Ecologically Friendly Port Ust-Luga (EFP) project. The purpose of this study is to examine the environmental status of the Finnish ports and, more specifically, the Port of HaminaKotka. An analysis of the environmental status is performed mainly as a literature review, because the Finnish ports must comply with Finnish and EU legislation and with the binding international regulations and conventions created by different organizations. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has done groundbreaking work in the field of maritime safety and maritime environmental protection. The MARPOL convention has a great impact on decreasing pollution from international shipping and it applies to 99% of the world’s merchant tonnage. Pollution prevention covers: Oil pollution, Chemical pollution, Air pollution and GHG Emissions, Dumping of Wasted and Other Matters, Garbage, Sewage, Port Reception Facilities, Special Areas under MARPOL and Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas. There is also Pollution Prevention for other treaties like anti-fouling systems used on ships, the transfer of alien species by ships’ ballast water and the environmentally sound recycling of ships. There are more than twenty different EU and international regulations that influence ports and port operations in Finland. In addition, there is also national legislation that has an effect on Finnish ports. For the most part, the legislation for ports is common in the EU area, but the biggest and most important difference between the legislation in Finland and other EU countries is due to the Act on Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure. The Act states that the environmental impact assessment procedure shall be applied to projects that may have significant adverse environmental impacts, due to the special features of Finland`s nature and environment. In this Act, the term environmental impact refers to the direct and indirect effects inside and outside Finnish territory of a project or operations on human health, living conditions and amenity; soil, water, air, climate, organisms, interaction between them and biodiversity; community structure, buildings, landscape, townscape and cultural heritage; utilization of natural resources. In Finland, the Environmental Permit requires that ports collect all necessary information concerning environmental effects and make required reports to the Finnish authorities, stakeholders and the public. Commonly, environmental reporting is public and environmental achievements are emphasized in reporting and in media. At the moment, the problem in environmental reporting is that it’s difficult to compare data from different ports. There is enough data concerning the environmental effects and performance, but the manner of reporting and the quality of the data varies between ports. There are differences in the units and codes used, in some cases the information is not sufficient and it can even be rather unreliable. There are also differences regarding the subjects that are emphasized in reporting.