Aon

About: Aon is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Schwarzschild radius & Space (mathematics). The organization has 66 authors who have published 81 publications receiving 360 citations.

Monitoring Behavioral Responses to the Heavy Metal Cadmium in the Marine Shrimp Hippolyte inermis Leach (Crustacea: Decapoda) with Video Imaging

Abstract: In this study, the subacute toxicity of the heavy metal cadmium to Hippolyte inermis Leach was investigated. Subacute effects were evaluated using changes in the locomotory behavior (i.e., moving velocity and moving distance) as indicators. The locomotory activity was analyzed by means of real-time image analysis, using a video camera and a Pentium PC equipped with a standard low-cost frame grabber. For a sequence of 3000 images per treatment, where 10 shrimp were moving simultaneously, the trajectories were reconstructed as binary image sequences. The locomotory activity of the test organisms was analyzed under normal conditions (without heavy metal stress) and after application of a subacute Cd stress. Test animals were stressed by Cd of the following 3 concentrations: 1 (C1), 2 (C2), and 3.5 ppm (C3). Shrimp were exposed to the heavy metal concentrations for 12 h under static conditions. At initiation (0 h) of Cd exposure, the test animals showed a significant (p ≤ 0.05) decrease in the average swimming velocity at C3. After 3 h of Cd exposure, the median moving velocity was for the first time highly significantly (p ≤ 0.01) reduced with the 1 ppm Cd treatment.

Impact of wind power plants on black grouse, Lyrurus tetrix in Alpine regions

Abstract: In Styria (Austria) the highest located windpark within Europe was built between 1 800 and 1 900 m a.s.l. at a lek site of black grouse in 2002. After five years monitoring data show a strong decline of the local black grouse population. Collisions of the birds with the towers are recorded, disturbance because of wind park maintenance, infrastructure and tourism are difficult to evaluate. On another mountain ridge in Styria with two windparks and a skilift the same drastic population decline was registered. Within the province of Styria between 30 and 40 locations for windparks were discussed from different points of view (technology, energy, ecology). Locations for windpower plants in alpine regions overlap with lek sites of black grouse to a very high percentage.

Ultrasonic piezotome surgery: is it a benefit for our patients and does it extend surgery time? A retrospective comparative study on the removal of 100 impacted mandibular 3rd molars

Abstract: Aim of the study was to evaluate if there is a constant and significant reduction in traumaticity when mas- sively traumatic oral surgical procedures such as the removal of third molars are conducted with only ul- trasonic surgical devices (Piezotomes) expressed in a reduction of postsurgical pain and swelling on the patient’s side since such clinical experiences by the authors suggested this. Since oral surgeons criticize a higher time consumption for surgeries with Piezoto- mes also the objective time consumption was evalu- ated and compared to the traditional methods. Mate- rial and Methods: 56 female and male patients were selected that already underwent a removal of an im- pacted third mandibular molar on one side with rota- ry instruments by bone destructive burring with a still persisting comparable third mandibular molar on the contralateral side complaining about recur- rent pain episodes and were already documented for pain and swelling before. The ultrasonic surgical re- moval with the Piezotome was conducted with a buc- cal osteotomy of the compacta lateral to the impacted third molar, preservation of the resected compacta in saline solution, removal of the third molar by single or multiple dentotomy and full anatomical restitution of the surgical site with the preserved buccal com- pacta. The swelling was documented by kephalome- try 24/48/72 hours and 1 week post surgery, the pain index by the total consumption of ibuprofen-400 mg—tablets. Lesions of the mandible nerve were documented. Netto surgery time was taken from the first incision to the last suture of the procedure. Re-sults: 6 patients had to be excluded from evaluation due to incomplete post surgical follow up. A signify-cant (***, p > 0.999) decrease in pain and swelling of 50% was detected both for the parameters swelling and pain with Piezotome-surgery. No lesions of the mandible nerve were detected with Piezotome sur- gery whereas surgery with rotary instruments re- sulted in 16% hypesthesia at least up to one week. Although netto surgery time was approximately 50% longer when done with the Piezotome at the begin-ning the time consumption normalized with the growing experience of the surgeons back to the time schedule when surgery was performed with rotary instruments revealing no significant differences (-, p < 0.73). Conclusions: The results of this retrospective study suggest that Piezotome-surgery is superior in atraumaticity and soft-tissue safety compared to tra- ditional procedures with burs and grants the patients significantly less post surgical pain and swelling. Al- though—as it is with all new surgical tools and pro- tocols—surgery time is longer at the beginning when purely working with ultrasonic surgical devices time consumption reduces to normal values after a learn- ing curve.

Age-related reduction of cerebral ischemic preconditioning: myth or reality?

Abstract: Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in industrialized countries for people older than 65 years of age. The reasons are still unclear. A reduction of endogenous mechanisms against ischemic insults has been proposed to explain this phenomenon. The "cerebral" ischemic preconditioning mechanism is characterized by a brief episode of ischemia that renders the brain more resistant against subsequent longer ischemic events. This ischemic tolerance has been shown in numerous experimental models of cerebral ischemia. This protective mechanism seems to be reduced with aging both in experimental and clinical studies. Alterations of mediators released and/or intracellular pathways may be responsible for age-related ischemic preconditioning reduction. Agents able to mimic the "cerebral" preconditioning effect may represent a new powerful tool for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke in the elderly. In this article, animal and human cerebral ischemic preconditioning, its age-related difference, and its potential therapeutical applications are discussed.

Treatability of refractory wood species after fungal pre-treatment

Abstract: The permeability of many wood species including Douglas fir, Norway spruce, Sitka spruce and fir can be reduced to 1-5% of that of green timber when dried, resulting in a radial penetration of chemical solutions of only a few millimetres . Exploitation of these wood species is not therefore possible for applications where full sapwood impregnation is needed. Additionally 6 mm lateral penetration into exposed heartwood is required for sawn wood in ground contact. Pit closure upon drying is considered to be the reason for loss of penetrability / permeability. The main technologies currently in use to overcome the problem of pit closure are oscillating pressure methods and incising. A novel patented biotechnological method to make refractory wood species treatable, based on the pre-treatment of wood with fungi selected from a wide array of strains, has been developed by LIGNOCELL Wood-Biotechnology GmbH (Austria) and the University of Abertay (Dundee, Scotland). Scaling–up of the pre-treatment method for round wood led to a very simple and successful process, based on spraying the wood with a suspension of fungal spores in a nutrient solution onto non-decontaminated wood. It is also shown in this paper that the method can be extended to heartwood when certain strains of Basidiomycetes are used for pre-treatment which will broaden the field of application of this technology . One very promising result is the pre-treatment effect achieved after acetylation of spruce heartwood. It shows that the pre-treatment method is not only restricted to wood preservatives but can also be used in combination with modern methods to improve the properties of wood. The key to success when using the pre-treatment method is the use of selected fungal strains together with a cheap nutrient solution. The advantage of using fungi compared to enzymes to improve penetrability is that these organisms can be sprayed as relatively cheap spore suspension onto the wood and will act as production and transport system of a broad mixture of enzymes into the wood leading to prevention of pit closure.