Microbiological, environmental and proteolytic aspects in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis

Chronic rhinosinusitis is one of the most common chronic respiratory tract diseases affecting up to 15% of the adult population in the Western world. It may be perpetuated by factors predisposing to sinus ostial obstruction together with inflammatory changes in the sinus mucosa. Chronic rhinosinusitis is associated with asthma, and it may represent the same disease process. Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) and asthma share also the characteristic inflammatory features and histopathologic feature of airway remodelling. Remodelling is considered as a key event in the pathogenesis of asthma. It is controlled by a delicate balance between the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their regulators. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the microbiological findings, inflammatory features and MMP and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) expression in CRSwNP. The results were related to the patient history, exposure to moisture and clinical outcome in order to find out possible explanations for the etiology and chronicity of CRSwNP. Bacterial culture results were similar in patients and in controls and do not explain the chronic course of CRSwNP. The presence of fungi seems to be more common in CRSwNP than chronic rhinosinusitis in general, and they should be actively searched for using microbiological as well as histological methods. Typical outdoor fungal species were found in nasal lavage samples taken from controls in the autumn but not in the winter, reflecting environmental exposure. Exposure to moisture was reported by 46% of the CRSwNP patients, which is in accordance to the Finnish general population. Exposed patients did not differ significantly from non-exposed subjects with regards to microbiological findings, tissue eosinophilia and clinical outcome. Significantly elevated levels of collagenase-2 (MMP-8) and interleukin (IL)-8 but not tumour necrosis factor-α were found in CRSwNP patients. In particular, the activation of mesenchymal-type MMP-8 but not polymorphonuclear-type MMP-8 was associated with elevated IL-8 levels. IL-8 and MMP-8 may form an inductive cytokine-proteinase cascade in CRSwNP pathogenesis and provide a target for novel therapies and a diagnostic tool for monitoring CRSwNP treatment. The proteolytic spectrum is different in eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic CRSwNP with the up-regulation of MMP-8 and MMP-9 in non-eosinophilic CRSwNP, suggesting different pathophysiology in these subgroups. The lack of MMP up-regulation was associated with a poor prognostic factor and worse clinical outcome, representing a possible synergic anti-inflammatory function of MMP-8 and MMP-9 in CRSwNP. This study provides new information about possible immunologic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP. The recently discovered anti-inflammatory/ defensive properties of MMP-8 and MMP-9 in animal models are reported for the first time in a clinical setting in human inflammatory diseases.

Agricultural expansion and climate change in the Taita Hills, Kenya: an assessment of potential environmental impacts

The indigenous cloud forests in the Taita Hills have suffered substantial degradation for several centuries due to agricultural expansion. Currently, only 1% of the original forested area remains preserved in this region. Furthermore, climate change imposes an imminent threat for local economy and environmental sustainability. In such circumstances, elaborating tools to conciliate socioeconomic growth and natural resources conservation is an enormous challenge. This dissertation tackles essential aspects for understanding the ongoing agricultural activities in the Taita Hills and their potential environmental consequences in the future. Initially, alternative methods were designed to improve our understanding of the ongoing agricultural activities. Namely, methods for agricultural survey planning and to estimate evapotranspiration were evaluated, taking into account a number of limitations regarding data and resources availability. Next, this dissertation evaluates how upcoming agricultural expansion, together with climate change, will affect the natural resources in the Taita Hills up to the year 2030. The driving forces of agricultural expansion in the region were identified as aiming to delineate future landscape scenarios and evaluate potential impacts from the soil and water conservation point of view. In order to investigate these issues and answer the research questions, this dissertation combined state of the art modelling tools with renowned statistical methods. The results indicate that, if current trends persist, agricultural areas will occupy roughly 60% of the study area by 2030. Although the simulated land use changes will certainly increase soil erosion figures, new croplands are likely to come up predominantly in the lowlands, which comprise areas with lower soil erosion potential. By 2030, rainfall erosivity is likely to increase during April and November due to climate change. Finally, this thesis addressed the potential impacts of agricultural expansion and climate changes on Irrigation Water Requirements (IWR), which is considered another major issue in the context of the relations between land use and climate. Although the simulations indicate that climate change will likely increase annual volumes of rainfall during the following decades, IWR will continue to increase due to agricultural expansion. By 2030, new cropland areas may cause an increase of approximately 40% in the annual volume of water necessary for irrigation.

Biomass to liquid transportation fuel via Fischer Tropsch synthesis - Technology review and current scenario

Current global energy scenario and the environmental deterioration aspect motivates substituting fossil fuel with a renewable energy resource - especially transport fuel. This paper reviews the current status of trending biomass to liquid (BTL) conversion processes and focuses on the technological developments in Fischer Tropsch (FT) process. FT catalysts in use, and recent understanding of FT kinetics are explored. Liquid fuels produced via FT process from biomass derived syngas promises an attractive, clean, carbon neutral and sustainable energy source for the transportation sector. Performance of the FT process with various catalysts, operating conditions and its influence on the FT products are also presented. Experience from large scale commercial installations of FT plants, primarily utilizing coal based gasifiers, are discussed. Though biomass gasification plants exist for power generation via gas engines with power output of about 2 MWe; there are only a few equivalent sized FT plants for biomass derived syngas. This paper discusses the recent developments in conversion of biomass to liquid (BTL) transportation fuels via FT reaction and worldwide attempts to commercialize this process. All the data presented and analysed here have been consolidated from research experiences at laboratory scale as well as from industrial systems. Economic aspects of BTL are reviewed and compared. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lengua y derecho a la educación en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco : reflexiones jurídicas sobre el tránsito hacia un nuevo modelo

The article analyzes the legal regime of Euskara in the education system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (capv). In the capv, the legislation recognizes the right to choose the language of study during the educational cycle. The students are separated into different classrooms based on their language preference. This system of separation (of language models) has made it possible to make great strides, although its implementation also suggests aspects which, from the perspective of a pluralistic Basque society on its way towards greater social, political and language integration, call for further reflection The general model for language planning in the capv was fashioned in the eighties as a model characterized by the guarantee of spaces of language freedom, and the educational system was charged with making the learning of the region’s autochthonous language more widespread. At this point, we already have a fair degree of evidence on which to base an analysis of the system of language models and we are in a position to conclude that perhaps the educational system was given too heavy a burden. Official studies on language performance of Basque schoolchildren show (in a way that is now fully verified) that not all the students who finish their mandatory period of schooling achieve the level of knowledge of Euskara required by the regulations. When faced with this reality, it becomes necessary for us to articulate some alternative to the current configuration of the system of language models, one that will make it possible in the future to have a Basque society that is linguistically more integrated, thereby avoiding having the knowledge or lack of knowledge of one of the official languages become a language barrier between two communities. Many sides have urged a reconsideration of the system of language models. The Basque Parliament itself has requested the Department of Education to design a new system. This article analyzes the legal foundations on which the current system is built and explores the potential avenues for legal cooperation that would make it possible to move towards a new system aimed at guaranteeing higher rates of bilingualism. The system would be sufficiently flexible so as to be able to respond to and accommodate the different sociolinguistic realities of the region.

Diseño, implementación y evaluación de material didáctico para Educación Primaria en relación a una visita a una explotación agropecuaria

105 p. : il. - Ilustraciones de Oscar Mardones Ruiz

International Support of Climate Change Policies in Developing Countries: Strategic, Moral and Fairness Aspects

33 p.

La cerámica de la Segunda Edad del Hierro en el País Vasco: Estudio tecnológico, funcional y social

670 p. Capítulos de introducción, metodología, discusión y conclusiones en castellano e inglés.

A review of current biological and recent environmental research on Lake Baikal from a British perspective

In 1990, "BICER" or the Baikal International Centre for Ecological Research was created to foster collaborative research on Lake Baikal. The British effort in BICER was initiated and is administered by the Royal Society, London. Much of the on-going research effort is now focussed on environmental change, as there is increasing concern about recent changes in the lake's unique ecosystem that could be linked with the effects of water pollution from catchment effluents. Monitoring studies of the phytoplankton in Lake Baikal's southern basin indicate that several species have increased in abundance since the mid-70's. Diatoms in Lake Baikal sediments are also being studied.

The impact of molecular biology on assessment of water quality: advantages and limitations of current techniques

The advent of molecular biology has had a dramatic impact on all aspects of biology, not least applied microbial ecology. Microbiological testing of water has traditionally depended largely on culture techniques. Growing understanding that only a small proportion of microbial species are culturable, and that many microorganisms may attain a viable but non-culturable state, has promoted the development of novel approaches to monitoring pathogens in the environment. This has been paralleled by an increased awareness of the surprising genetic diversity of natural microbial populations. By targeting gene sequences that are specific for particular microorganisms, for example genes that encode diagnostic enzymes, or species-specific domains of conserved genes such as 16S ribosomal RNA coding sequences (rrn genes), the problems of culture can be avoided. Technical developments, notably in the area of in vitro amplification of DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), now permit routine detection and identification of specific microorganisms, even when present in very low numbers. Although the techniques of molecular biology have provided some very powerful tools for environmental microbiology, it should not be forgotten that these have their own drawbacks and biases in sampling. For example, molecular techniques are dependent on efficient lysis and recovery of nucleic acids from both vegetative forms and spores of microbial species that may differ radically when growing in the laboratory compared with the natural environment. Furthermore, PCR amplification can introduce its own bias depending on the nature of the oligonucleotide primers utilised. However, despite these potential caveats, it seems likely that a molecular biological approach, particularly with its potential for automation, will provide the mainstay of diagnostic technology for the foreseeable future.

Environmental taxes and the Double dividend hypothesis

In this End of Degree Dissertation I built a basic economic model, where two perfectly competitive markets interact, as a tool to understand, illustrate and evaluate environmentalfiscal reforms that have already been implemented or have been announced in many developed countries. Thus, in this dissertation I try to explain as simply as possible the theorical aspects of the “double dividend” hyphotesis and provide a numerical example with illustrative purpose.

Effect of environmental conditions on the distribution of Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus) larvae in the California Current system

We modeled the probability of capturing Pacif ic mackerel (Scomber japonicus) larvae as a function of environmental variables for the Southern California Bight (SCB) most years from 1951 through 2008 and Mexican waters offshore of Baja California from 1951 through 1984. The model exhibited acceptable fit, as indicated by the area under a receiver-operating-characteristic curve of 0.80 but was inconsistent with the zero catches that occurred frequently in the 2000s. Two types of spawners overlapped spatially within the survey area: those that exhibited peak spawning during April in the SCB at about 15.5°C and a smaller group that exhibited peak spawning in August near Punta Eugenia, Mexico, at 20°C or greater. The SCB generally had greater zooplankton than Mexican waters but less appropriate (lower) geostrophic f lows. Mexican waters generally exhibited greater predicted habitat quality than the SCB in cold years. Predicted quality of the habitat in the SCB was greater from the 1980s to 2008 than in the earlier years of the survey primarily because temperatures and geostrophic flows were more appropriate for larvae. However, stock size the previous year had a larger effect on predictions than any environmental variable, indicating that larval Pacific mackerel did not fully occupy the suitable habitat during most years.