Climate Changes and Atmospheric Pollution

The objective of this chapter is to present the central concepts, parameters, and methods for the monitoring of climate changes, with a focus on air pollution, and the possible global and regional impacts of climate changes as well. There are plant species used as bioindicators that have a high sensitivity or ability to accumulate environmental pollutants. Another method that this chapter will present is the use of receiver models that employ both mathematical and statistical approaches to quantify the individual contribution of a given number of emission sources in the composition of a sample. The data presented in this chapter will provide reliable bases and methodologies for environmental control, supporting the adoption of more restrictive policies.

The Distinct Roles of Sialyltransferases in Cancer Biology and Onco-Immunology

Aberrant glycosylation is a key feature of malignant transformation. Hypersialylation, the enhanced expression of sialic acid-terminated glycoconjugates on the cell surface, has been linked to immune evasion and metastatic spread, eventually by interaction with sialoglycan-binding lectins, including Siglecs and selectins. The biosynthesis of tumor-associated sialoglycans involves sialyltransferases, which are differentially expressed in cancer cells. In this review article, we provide an overview of the twenty human sialyltransferases and their roles in cancer biology and immunity. A better understanding of the individual contribution of select sialyltransferases to the tumor sialome may lead to more personalized strategies for the treatment of cancer.

Tribological studies of different bioimplant materials for orthopedic application using Taguchi experimental design

In this research ball on disc wear tests have been carried out with ASTM G-99 standard at room temperature in simulated body fluid. The tribological property such as the coefficient of friction and wear weight loss was studied by using the Taguchi design of experiments. The design of the experiment was done using L8 orthogonal array to determine the collective contribution of the wear parameters. An analysis of variance demonstrated that the individual contribution of type of material factor was 97.15% and 66.66% for the coefficient of friction and wear weight loss respectively, which is the highest individual contribution as compared to other factors. It was concluded that the coefficient of friction and wear weight loss is mainly influenced by type of material factor. The analysis of the signal-to-noise ratio shows that the optimal coefficient of friction and wear weight loss was obtained with CoCrMo material at an applied normal load of 5 N with a sliding velocity of 0.05 m/s for a track diameter of 30 mm. To check the accuracy of results a confirmation test was carried out which indicates that predicted values are very close to the experimental values and the model is significant to predict the coefficient of friction. The results showed that the coefficient of friction and wear weight loss increases with increasing the applied load and sliding velocity. The microstructure of all substrates materials was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope. Wear track study showed that adhesive dominant wear mechanism for all four different substrate materials.

Desmosome dualism: most of the junction is stable but a plakophilin moiety is persistently dynamic

Desmosomes, strong cell-cell junctions of epithelia and cardiac muscle, link intermediate filaments to cell membranes and mechanically integrate cells across tissues, dissipating mechanical stress. They comprise five major protein classes – desmocollins and desmogleins (the desmosomal cadherins), plakoglobin, plakophilins and desmoplakin - whose individual contribution to the structure and turnover of desmosomes is poorly understood. Using live-cell imaging together with FRAP and FLAP we show that desmosomes consist of two contrasting protein moieties or modules: a very stable moiety of desmosomal cadherins, desmoplakin and plakoglobin, and a highly mobile plakophilin (Pkp2a). As desmosomes mature from calcium-dependence to calcium-independent hyper-adhesion, their stability increases, but Pkp2a remains highly mobile. We show that desmosome down-regulation during growth-factor-induced cell scattering proceeds by internalisation of whole desmosomes, which still retain a stable moiety and highly mobile Pkp2a. This molecular mobility of Pkp2a suggests a transient and probably regulatory role for Pkp2a in desmosomes.

Social Loafing On Students Of Muhammadiyah University Sidoarjo

This problem is motivated by the phenomenon of social loafing among students of the Muhammadiyah University of Sidoarjo. Social loafing is a lack of individual effort when working simultaneosly compared to when perfoming individual tasks. The purpose of this study was to determine the description of social loafing and the factors that cause students of the University of Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo to do descriptive quantitative social loafing. The population in this study were 9469 students of the University of Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo who were involved in the social loafing response at the University of Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo. The sample used was 355 students based on an error rate of 5% in the table developed by Isacc and Michael. The data collection technique in this study uses a psychological scale, which is a social loafing scale in the form of a used scale. Based on the results of the validity test 15 valid items from the 44 compiled items. The reliability test showed a value of (r = 0.919). Based on the results of the analysis showed that the high category of social loafing (15.5%), medium (68.4%) and low (16.1). Most of the factors that influence social learning are no evaluation or assessment of group performance. The social loafing factor is obtained when there is no individual contribution between groups and the unclear division of responsibilities.

Economics of Waste Prevention: Second-Hand Products in Germany

Reuse is still seen as a “niche phenomenon” and consumers seem to waste economic opportunities linked to buying and selling second-hand products. For this reason, this paper focuses on incentives and barriers to sell and buy second-hand products, as indicated in the literature, and applies a theoretical framework of transaction costs to explain the existing consumption patterns. For this paper, a representative online survey was conducted in which 1023 consumers in Germany participated, age 16 and older. The data were analyzed for statistically significant deviations between different groups of economic actors selling or buying second-hand products. Results show that valuable unused products exist in households, but barriers such as uncertainties about the reliability of the buyer or the quality of the product hinder the transition into sustainable consumption. Different forms of transaction costs are important explanatory variables to explain why consumers nevertheless predominantly buy new products, although they are aware that second-hand would save money and make an individual contribution to climate protection.

Unraveling the Balance between Genes, Microbes, Lifestyle and the Environment to Improve Healthy Reproduction

Humans’ health is the result of a complex and balanced interplay between genetic factors, environmental stimuli, lifestyle habits, and the microbiota composition. The knowledge about their single contributions, as well as the complex network linking each to the others, is pivotal to understand the mechanisms underlying the onset of many diseases and can provide key information for their prevention, diagnosis and therapy. This applies also to reproduction. Reproduction, involving almost 10% of our genetic code, is one of the most critical human’s functions and is a key element to assess the well-being of a population. The last decades revealed a progressive decline of reproductive outcomes worldwide. As a consequence, there is a growing interest in unveiling the role of the different factors involved in human reproduction and great efforts have been carried out to improve its outcomes. As for many other diseases, it is now clear that the interplay between the underlying genetics, our commensal microbiome, the lifestyle habits and the environment we live in can either exacerbate the outcome or mitigate the adverse effects. Here, we aim to analyze how each of these factors contribute to reproduction highlighting their individual contribution and providing supporting evidence of how to modify their impact and overall contribution to a healthy reproductive status.

Methodological Approach to Evaluation of Individual Contribution of Specialists in Implementation of Administrative Consulting Projects

The article discusses the task of assessing the contribution of individual specialists working in the consulting services group. To date, such problems are solved mainly using the expert method. The article proposes a quantitative solution to this problem, based on the application of the mathematical apparatus of the theory of cooperative games and the theory of fuzzy sets