The objectives for the first part of this thesis were to describe changes in oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate (HR) in newly born infants in the delivery room (DR) and to illustrate the changes using centile reference charts. The objective of the second part of the thesis was to investigate whether infants < 29 weeks gestation who receive positive pressure ventilation (PPV), immediately after birth with a T-piece have higher SpO2 measurements at five minutes than infants ventilated with a self inflating bag (SIB). / Study Design. A prospective observational study was used to achieve the first objectives. For the second part of the thesis I coordinated a randomised, controlled trial of two devices used for resuscitation of extremely preterm infants in the DR where the primary outcome measure was SpO2. / Patients and methods. In all studies a Masimo Radical pulse oximeter (PO) was placed on the infant’s right hand/wrist immediately after birth. PO data (oxygen saturation, HR and signal quality) were downloaded every 2 sec and analysed only when the signal had no alarm messages (low IQ signal, low perfusion, sensor off, ambient light). / Results. Observational studies: The dataset to develop the reference range charts included 61,650 data points from 468 infants. Infants had a mean (range) gestational age of 38 (25-42) weeks and birthweight 2970 (625-5135) g. For all 468 infants at one minute the 3rd, 10th, 50th, 90th and 97th centiles were 29%, 39%, 66%, 87% and 92%; at two minutes 34%, 46%, 73%, 91% and 95% and at five minutes 59%, 73%, 89%, 97% and 98%. It took a median of 7.9 (IQR 5.0 to 10) minutes to reach a SpO2 > 90%. SpO2 of preterm infants rose more slowly than that of term infants. At one min the median (IQR) HR was 82 (66 to 138) bpm rising at two min and five min to 151 (112 to 169) bpm and 166 (148 to 176) bpm respectively. In preterm infants, the SpO2 and HR rose more slowly than term infants. / Randomised trial: Forty nine infants were randomly allocated to the T-piece and 50 to the SIB. Ten infants did not receive PPV, 4 (8%) in the T-piece group and 6 (12%) in the SIB group and were not included in the analysis. Forty-one infants received PPV with a T-piece and 39 with a SIB. At 5 minutes after birth there was no significant difference between the mean (SD) SpO2 in the T-piece and SIB groups [50 (31)% vs. 53 (25)%, (p=0.73)]. More T-piece infants received oxygen during DR resuscitation (100% vs. 90%, p=0.04). There was no significant difference between the groups in the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP); endotracheal intubation or administration of surfactant in the DR. Fewer of the T-piece group who left the DR on CPAP were intubated in the first 24 hrs after birth. (7% vs. 23%, p=0.05). / Conclusion. The centile charts developed in this thesis provide a reference range for SpO2 and HR in the first 10 minutes after birth for preterm and term infants. In the randomised trial there was no significant difference in SpO2 at five minutes after birth in extremely preterm infants given PPV with a T-piece or a SIB.

Fertilizer phosphorus (P) can become unavailable to crops due to immobilization of P in acidic soils through forming chemical bonds with iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) amorphous oxides.  Organic chelating agents form strong bonds with metals in soil and may reduce P binding with Fe and Al.  Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), hydroxyethyl ethylenediamine triacetic acid (HEEDTA), gluconic acid (GA), and citric acid (CA) were tested to determine their influence on water-soluble P (WSP), Mehlich-1 P and Mehlich-3 P in Loam and Sand soils fertilized with P and incubated for 49 days.  Soil P sorption capacity (PSC) was estimated from an oxalate extraction of Fe and Al, and chelates were applied at rates of 90 percent of the PSC.  The EDTA, HEEDTA, and CA significantly (P<0.05) reduced P sorption in the Loam and Sand when measured by WSP.  In soils without P fertilizer added, EDTA and HEEDTA significantly increased WSP, Mehlich-1, and Mehlich-3 P concentrations.  EDTA and HEEDTA were also applied at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 percent PSC to produce a rate response curve for WSP in a second soil incubation.  With increasing chelating rate, there was a linear increase in WSP for both soils, thus indicating higher rates of chelating agents were most efficient at decreasing P sorption. EDTA and HEEDTA were also tested in a 4-week greenhouse study for efficiency at increasing plant available P to corn (Zea mays L.) in two soils.  Phosphorus was added with and without the addition of chelating agents to the center of the pot, simulating a starter band of P.  After 4weeks, soils were analyzed for WSP, Mehlich-1, and Mehlich-3 P and corn above- and below-ground biomass was quantified and analyzed for total P concentration.  Without the presence of chelating agents, concentrations of WSP, Mehlich-1 P, Mehlich-3 P, above- and below-ground biomass, and TKP increased linearly as P fertilizer rates increased at 0, 9.6, 19.3, 28.9, and 38.5 kg P ha-1.  Decreased P sorption using chelating agents was not observed in this experiment.  However, with the results from the soil incubation, chelating agents do show potential for increasing plant available P, but the application and incorporation method needs to be further studied. / Master of Science

Thesis (Ph.D.); Submitted to Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (US); 12 Dec 2003. / Published through the Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information. "IS-T 1995" Wang-Chi Vincent Yeh. 12/12/2003. Report is also available in paper and microfiche from NTIS.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wyoming, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 10, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

v anglickom jazyku Charles University in Prague Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Biophysics and Physical Chemistry Student: František Lach Supervisor: Mgr. Pavel Bárta, PhD Consultant: Mgr. Lucie Hyršová Title of diploma thesis: In vitro saturation study of 99m Tc-HYNIC-ramucirumab on PC-3 cell line The number of malignant tumours in the population has increased in recent years. Due to the frequent serious sides effects of chemotherapeutic drugs on the whole organism, targeted antitumor therapy is at the forefront. Due to its specific effect on the regulatory and signal pathways of protein structures, monoclonal antibodies are used for the target anti-tumour therapy. The basic properties of the growing tumour include vasculogenesis (the ability to build new blood vessels from the endothelial precursors) and angiogenesis (the process of self-inducing formation of blood vessels). Endothelial tumour progenitors include vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF activates its biological activity by binding to its transmembrane tyrosine-kinase receptors VEGFR. Indeed, the inhibition of the vascular endothelial factor receptors is the target of some monoclonal antibodies. Ramucirumab is a monoclonal antibody that selectively inhibits VEGF receptor type 2 (VEGFR-2) and thereby...

Neste trabalho usamos o Interacting glúon Model (IGM), um modelo que descreve bem o fluxo de energia em colisões hadrônicas, para estudar o espectro de partícula dominante quando são incluídos os efeitos da saturação dos glúons. Os espectros de partícula dominante são obtidos para várias energias do centro de massa (s^1/2), usando funções de distribuição dos glúons com e sem efeitos de saturação. Verificamos que, em qualquer caso, há um \"amolecimento\"do espectro, mas os espectros obtidos com saturação variam mais suavemente com a energia do que os que não incluem saturação. Comparamos nossos resultados com outras estimativas feitas na literatura. / In this work we use the Interacting Gluon Model (IGM), a model that describes quite well the energy flow in hadronic collisions, to study the leading particle spectrum when gluon saturation effects are included. The leading particle spectrum is calculated for several center of mass energies (s^1/2), using gluon distribution functions with and without saturation effects. In both cases the resulting spectrum becomes softer for increasing energies. With saturation the softening is less pronounced than without.

Neste trabalho estudamos a influência dos efeitos da saturação de pártons nas seções de choque totais próton-próton e próton--antipróton ($pp(\\bar{p})$), a seção de choque inelástica próton-Ar ($p-Ar$) e fazemos uma previsão para as seções de choque total e inelástica próton-chumbo ($p-Pb$). Para todos estes cálculos e previsões utilizamos duas abordagens completamente distintas onde os efeitos da saturação ou são incluidos nas distribuições de pártons da componente perturbativa de um modelo de minijatos eiconalizado ou são introduzidos através de modelos fenomenológicos com inspiração não-perturbativa, em uma região de momento transversal abaixo da chamada escala de saturação. Embora em cada uma das abordagens utilizadas os resultados não sejam muito distintos, podemos verificar que os efeitos da saturação de pártons conduzem a um crescimento dessas seções de choque mais moderado com a energia da reação e que a inclusão desses efeitos permite uma descrição bastante satisfatória e simultânea dos dados experimentais existentes em colisões próton-próton e próton-Ar. Essas são as principais conclusões deste trabalho. / In this work we study the influence of the parton saturation effects on the proton-proton and proton-antiproton ($pp(\\bar{p})$) total cross sections, the inelastic proton-Air ($p-Air$) cross section and we make a prediction for the proton-Plumbum ($p-Pb$) total and inelastic cross sections. For all these calculus and predictions we use two completely distinct approaches, where the parton saturation effects or are included in the parton distribution functions on the perturbative component of a eikonalized minijet model or are included through of phenomenologic models with non-perturbative inspiration in a region of transversal momentum below of the called saturation scale. Although in each of the approaches used the results aren\'t very distincts, we can verify which the parton saturation effects leads to a more moderated rise of these cross sections with the reaction\'s energy and which the inclusion of these effects permit a very satisfactory and simultaneous description of the experimental data of the proton-proton and proton-Air collisions. These are the main conclusions of this work.

The ability of a lubricating oil to reduce friction in mechanical surfaces which are in relative sliding motion depends on the base oil behaviour. Previous studies have demonstrated that temperature has a significant influence on the friction behaviour of mineral and synthetic base oils by using a laboratory based friction testing machine. However, the effect of a constantly changing load under different temperature conditions has not been explored fully. In this study, the effect of an increasing load on the friction behaviour of four six different mineral base oils and a polyalphaolefin (PAO) base oil were studied using the SRV4® tribometer. The sliding surfaces were AISI 52100 steel ball and disc. The average loads (range: 50 – 250 N), temperatures (range: 40 – 120 oC), relative humidity of 20 % and a sliding speed of 0.2 m.s-1 were selected as the test conditions. The seven base oils were selected from four API base oil groups. Stribeck curves were used as a tool to characterize the friction behaviour of the base oils. The results show that for all the base oils, the coefficient of friction and the Stribeck parameter decrease gradually with the increase in applied normal load under constant temperature conditions. The increase in temperature increased the coefficient of friction and decreased the Stribeck parameter at each load stage. The external friction mechanisms dominated the friction behaviour under all test conditions. Viscosity showed a strong influence on the film forming characteristics of the seven base oils only at 40 and 60 oC. Between 80 and 120 oC, the oil-surface interactions were predominant. The results further demonstrated that effect of an increasing temperature on the coefficient of friction was bigger between 80 and 100 oC for all Group III base oils and was consistent between 40 and 120 oC for the Group III+ and PAO base oil. The highly saturated (PAO and Group III+) base oils have demonstrated good thermal stability and less reactivity compared to the less saturated base oils (GI and GIII) under all test conditions. The friction behaviour of the PAO base oil was the most affected by the presence of dissolved water. The presence of water proved to increase the friction at the sliding steel interfaces. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Chemical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

The aim of this diploma thesis is to restore awareness of the Czech sugar industry tradition. For this intention I chose Nymburk sugar factory in an era, when one of the most important personas of Czech sugar industry Hanuš Karlík was its director. The thesis consists of a brief introduction to the history of Czech sugar industry, where the establishment of Nymburk sugar factory is set, followed by a description of the period when Hanuš Karlík was the director and how his administration influenced both Nymburk sugar factory and sugar industry in general. In the conclusion, there is a view on the sugar factory after Karlík left and the fate of the sugar factory that led to an infamous end. The work is primarly based on local archival sources, memoirs and newspappers. Several books about the history of Nymburk and about common history of sugar industry are used to set the topic in a wider historical context.

The severely obese patient has varying degrees of intrinsic reduction of expiratory flow rates and lung volumes. Thus, the severely obese patient is predisposed to postoperative atelectasis, ineffective clearing of respiratory secretions, and other pulmonary complications. This study evaluated the effect of bi-level positive airway pressure (Bi-PAP) on pulmonary function in obese patients following open gastric bypass surgery. Patients with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 40 kg/m2 who were undergoing elective gastric bypass were eligible to be randomized to receive either BiPAP during the first 24 h postoperatively or conventional postoperative care. Patients with significant cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases were excluded from the study. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1.0), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), and percent hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SpO2) were measured preoperatively, and on postoperative days 1, 2, and 3. Twenty-seven patients were entered in the study, 14 received BiPAP and 13 received conventional postoperative care. There was no significant difference preoperatively between the study and control groups in regards to age, BMI, FVC, FEV1.0, PEFR or SpO2. Postoperatively, expiratory flow was decreased in both groups. However, the FVC and FEV1.0 were significantly higher on each of the three consecutive postoperative days in the patients who received BiPAP therapy. The SpO2 was significantly decreased in the control group over the same time period. Prophylactic BiPAP during the first 12--24 h postoperatively resulted in significantly higher measures of pulmonary function in severely obese patients who had undergone elective gastric bypass surgery. These improved measures of pulmonary function, however, did not translate into fewer hospital days or a lower complication rate in our study population of other wise healthy obese patients. Further study is necessary to determine if BiPAP therapy in the first 24 postoperative hours would be of benefit in severely obese patients with comorbid illnesses who have undergone elective gastric bypass.