Averaging method and two-sided bounded solutions on the axis of systems with impulsive effects at non-fixed times

The averaging method, originally offered by Krylov and Bogolyubov for ordinary differential equations, is one of the most widespread and effective methods for the analysis of nonlinear dynamical systems. Further, the averaging method was developed and applied for investigating of various problems. Impulsive systems of differential equations supply as mathematical models of objects that, during their evolution, they are subjected to the action of short-term forces. Many researches have been devoted to non-fixed impulse problems. For these problems, the existence, stability, and other asymptotic properties of solutions were studied and boundary value problems for impulsive systems were considered. Questions of the existence of periodic and almost periodic solutions to impulsive systems also were examined. In this paper, the averaging method is used to study the existence of two-sided solutions bounding on the axis of impulse systems of differential equations with non-fixed times. It is shown that a one-sided, bounding, asymptotically stable solution to the averaged system generates a two-sided solution to the exact system. The closeness of the corresponding solutions of the exact and averaged systems both on finite and infinite time intervals is substantiated by the first and second theorems of N.N. Bogolyubov.

Closing an Eye for the Reliability of Orbital Tightening in Pain Detection: A Model-Specific Simplification of the Mouse Grimace Scale

Despite its long establishment and its applicability in pain detection in mice, the Mouse Grimace Scale still seems to be underused in terms of acute pain detection during chronic experiments. However, a broadening of its applicability can identify possible refinement approaches such as cumulative severity and habituation to painful stimuli. Therefore, this study focuses on two main aspects: First, five composite MGS criteria were evaluated with two independent methods (the MoBPs algorithm and a penalized least squares regression) and ranked for their relative importance. The most important variable was used in a second analysis to specifically evaluate the context of pain after an i.p. injection (intervention) in two treatment groups (CCl4 and oil (control)) at fixed times throughout four weeks in 24 male C57BL/6N mice. One hour before and after each intervention, video recordings were taken and the MGS assessment was performed. In this study, the results indicate orbital tightening as the most important criterion. In this experimental setup, a highly significant difference after treatment between week 0 and 1 was found in the CCl4 group, resulting in a medium-sized effect (W = 62.5, p-value <0.0001, rCCl4= 0.64). The oil group showed no significant difference (week 0 vs 1, W = 291.5, p-value = 0.7875, rcontrol= 0.04). Therefore, the study showed that the pain caused by i.p. injections was only dependent on the applied substance and no significant cumulation or habituation occurred due to the intervention. Further, the results indicated that the MGS system can be simplified.

Trace determination of isoniazid at micro level using kinetic spectrophotometric method

An effective and fairly inexpensive spectrophotometric method for trace determination of isoniazid INH in pure form as well as in pharmaceutical formulations has been developed through ligand substitution reaction between INH and aquapentacyanoruthenate (II) ion ([Ru(CN)5OH2]3-) in aqueous medium at ?max = 502 nm. The fixed time procedure has been employed under optimum reaction conditions. The calibration equations, relating absorbance measured at 502 nm at fixed times (tn = 2, 5 and 7 min) and cINH in linear range (1.37 - 27.43) ?g mL-1, were used for trace determination of INH has been reported in the present investigation which are in agreement with official and reported methods. The percentage recovery has been calculated and found to be within the range of (99 - 101 %) in the analysis of different pharmaceutical samples. The results reveal that the use of common recipients as additives do not produce any type of interference in proposed method. The validity of the proposed method was also checked by statistical analysis which agreed with the results obtained using official method. The present method is very simple, reproducible, sensitive and it can be adopted for trace determination of INH in different samples without using extracting agent.

Education in Virtual Environments

The bricks-and-mortar schools contemplated by American education law and regulation are discrete, bureaucratic institutions, where children interact in person with one another, and with adults who supervise them, inside fixed physical borders at fixed times. Their governance is likewise defined geographically. Virtual schooling, by contrast, is untethered from geography, is ubiquitously asynchronous, and involves the interaction of machine representations of people rather than of people themselves. Virtuality privileges the consumer over the bureaucrat, encourages the disaggregation and recombination of educational components on a bespoke basis, and brings different economies of scale and competitive features to the educational marketplace. The education law we have—the law of the traditional, embodied school—fits virtual technology poorly in critical respects. Virtuality demands fundamentally new legal approaches to areas as diverse as curriculum, attendance, student health and safety, privacy, parental responsibility, disability, student rights, discipline, governance, and equity. Responding to these demands provides occasion to see the law afresh, to reassess and redirect, to align principle and practice more closely, and ultimately to transform educational regulation in the service of equity and learning. This is an opportunity of a kind that has not presented itself since the beginning of the Progressive Era.

Combined Effects of Compost and Medicago Sativa in Recovery a PCB Contaminated Soil

The effectiveness of adding compost and the plant Medicago sativa in improving the quality of a soil historically contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was tested in greenhouse microcosms. Plant pots, containing soil samples from an area contaminated by PCBs, were treated with the compost and the plant, separately or together. Moreover, un-treated and un-planted microcosms were used as controls. At fixed times (1, 133 and 224 days), PCBs were analysed and the structure (cell abundance, phylogenetic characterization) and functioning (cell viability, dehydrogenase activity) of the natural microbial community were also measured. The results showed the effectiveness of the compost and plant in increasing the microbial activity, cell viability, and bacteria/fungi ratio, and in decreasing the amount of higher-chlorinated PCBs. Moreover, a higher number of α-Proteobacteria, one of the main bacterial groups involved in the degradation of PCBs, was found in the compost and plant co-presence.

Amplification of useful vibration using on-off damping

This paper points out how much useful vibration can be extracted from a base-excited oscillator, which is controlled by the on-off electrical damping. We study the class of on-off electrical damping controller, which switches the damping level from high to low and back at fixed times every quarter of period. The problem reduces to the maximization of a single-variable function. This result can open the new direction to amplify the useful vibration using controllable dampings.

„Sztuka parkowania” – wykorzystanie parkingów Kampusu 600-lecia Odnowienia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w kontekście polityki zrównoważonej mobilności

“The art of parking” – using the car parks of the Campus of the 600th Anniversary of the Jagiellonian University Revival in the context of sustainable mobility policy Sustainable mobility is one of the most current challenges of contemporary spatial planning, which focuses also on parking policy. Keeping balance between the demand and supply of parking space as well as using those in public space is under debate in many cities. The goal of the research was to evaluate the efficiency of parking policy on the 3rd Jagiellonian University Campus in Krakow. For five days, at three fixed times, the occupancy level of parking spaces was measured, and the obtained results were analyzed, which helped Authors to propose a number of spatial and organizational solutions. For a better understanding of the source of the problems, photographical documentation was made and unstructured interviewing was conducted. The Authors came to a conclusion that the parking space resources are used ineffectively despite the fact that the number of parking spots exceeds the demand of users. The obtain ed results were discussed in relation to the experiences of other universities in the country and in the world. The main idea of the article is to look at the university as an institution with special social responsibility in the implementation of solutions ensuring sustainable mobility. Zarys treści: Zrównoważona mobilność jest aktualnym wyzwaniem współczesnego gospodarowania przestrzenią, którego jednym z elementów jest polityka parkingowa. W wielu miastach prowadzone są debaty na temat zachowania równowagi między popytem na miejsca postojowe a ich podażą oraz udziałem tych miejsc w przestrzeni publicznej. Celem badania była ocena efektywności polityki parkingowej na obszarze III Kampusu Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w Krakowie. Przez pięć dni, o trzech stałych porach, dokonano pomiaru zapełnienia miejsc parkingowych, a otrzymane wyniki poddano analizie, co umożliwiło zaproponowanie szeregu rozwiązań przestrzennych i organizacyjnych. Ponadto, przeprowadzono w terenie dokumentację fotograficzną i kilka nieustrukturyzowanych wywiadów, dzięki czemu możliwe było lepsze zrozumienie przyczyn problemów. Najważniejszym wnioskiem badań jest nieefektywne wykorzystanie zaplecza parkingowego, pomimo posiadania zasobów znacznie przekraczających zapotrzebowanie użytkowników. Otrzymane rezultaty omawiane są w odniesieniu do doświadczeń innych szkół wyższych w kraju i na świecie. Myślą przewodnią artykułu jest spojrzenie na uczelnię jako instytucję o szczególnej odpowiedzialności społecznej w zakresie wprowadzania rozwiązań zapewniających zrównoważoną mobilność.

P096 Specific plasma micro-RNA profiles for prediction of recurrence in Crohn’s disease in pre-surgery and established recurrence scenarios

Background Crohn’s disease (CD) patients who undergo ileocolonic resection are at high risk of postoperative recurrence (POR). Both environmental and genetic factors are known to influence CD pathogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRs) are important epigenetic regulators in CD, but their role in the progression to POR is still unknown. Thus, we aimed to identify differential miRs profiles and their potential use to predict POR in CD patients. Methods A cohort of 33 CD patients who underwent a resection was consecutively and prospectively followed for at least 1 year. Patients were classified according to the presence or absence of POR during the follow-up. POR was assessed by ileocolonoscopy (Rutgeerts’ index ≥ i2b) or MRI enterography within 6–12 months after surgery. Patients received postoperative therapy to prevent POR (thiopurines 47%; anti-TNFα 25%; mesalamine 9%; combination therapy 3%; none 16%). Peripheral blood samples were taken at fixed times. Total RNA was obtained from miRNeasy Serum/Plasma Advanced Kit (Qiagen) and run on the miRCURY LNAtm Universal RT microRNA PCR with a miRs panel selection (32) based on previous experiments. The predictive accuracy of the possible predictors was assessed by using receiver operating characteristic curves with the R software. Results MicroRNAs profiles were studied at two different times: presurgery (PS) and at the time of the morphological POR or, in those who remained in remission, 1 year after surgery (1 year). The miRs whose fluorescent signal did not differ from background noise were excluded from the analysis [8 in PS (25%); 5 in 1 year (16%)]. Using elastic net regression, five miRs (hsa.miR.191.5p, hsa.miR.15b.5p, hsa.miR.106b.5p, hsa.miR.451a and hsa.miR.93.5p) were selected for discriminating the two patient groups at the time pre-surgery. Seven miRs (hsa.miR.15b.5p, hsa.miR.126.3p, hsa.miR.451a, hsa.let.7b.5p, hsa.miR.93.5p, hsa.miR.423.5p and hsa.miR.125b.5p) were selected for discriminating the two patient groups at the time of 1 year. Using a predictive model with these miRs, an overall AUC of 0.86 (95% confidence interval, 0.75–0.97) was achieved for PS, and 0.96 (0.92–1.0) for 1 year. Conclusion This study shows that plasma microRNAs are useful biomarkers in the POR scenario. When recurrence is already established, a group of plasma miRs is also specifically expressed, thus assessing them could prevent patients from receiving and endoscopic procedure for POR evaluation. Furthermore, microRNA assessment PS could predict which patients will develop recurrence within 1 year of surgery. This could also have an impact on clinical management, selecting patients who can avoid immunosuppressive treatment and the ones who may need more intensive therapeutic strategies.