Ecosystem services inherently involve people, whose values help define the benefits of nature's services. It is thus important for researchers to involve stakeholders in ecosystem services research. However, a simple and practicable framework to guide such engagement, and in particular to help researchers anticipate and consider key issues and challenges, has not been well explored. Here, we use e

The effects of the inhalation of Cymbopogon martinii essential oil (EO) and geraniol on Wistar rats were evaluated for biochemical parameters and hepatic oxidative stress. Wistar rats were divided into three groups n = 8: G1 was control group, treated with saline solution; G2 received geraniol; and G3 received C. martinii EO by inhalation during 30 days. No significant differences were observed in

AIM: To investigate the effects of fructose consumption on the antioxidant capacity in heart and kidney, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and evaluation of these variables after its removal.METHODS: Male Wistar rats (n = 36) were divided into control group (n = 12): standard chow + water or F group: standard chow + fructose in drinking water (30%) for 15 weeks. After, F group was divided to co

Caloric restriction, defined as a reduction in calorie intake below ad libitum, without malnutrition can have beneficial effects. In this study, we evaluated the impact of caloric restriction of 30 and 60% on calorimetric parameters and oxidative stress in cardiac tissue in rats. Rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 8): G1 = control; G2 = rats exposed to dietary restriction of 30%; and G3

The kidney is an important organ in the maintenance of body homeostasis. Dietary compounds, reactive metabolites, obesity, and metabolic syndrome (MetS) can affect renal filtration and whole body homeostasis, increasing the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) development. Gamma oryzanol (γOz) is a compound with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity that has shown a positive action in the tre

A model for strategic communication management was developed in South Africa on the basis of the excellence study and relationship management theories. This normative, theoretical model has been applied as part of a project in non-profit organisations (NPOs), government institutions and small-to-medium sized companies. However, the operational reality of organisations’ communication practices has

Francois Bloemhof submitted his novel for teenagers, “Slinger-slinger” for the Sanlam competition for youth fiction in 1996. Eventually this prizewinner in the beginners’ category was published in 1997. The main theme of “Slinger-slinger” is the sexual awakening and identity of teenagers.A study was undertaken to obtain the opinions of teenage readers about the success of “Slinger-slinger” as a wh

Critical infrastructures provide society with services essential to its functioning, and extensive disruptions give rise to large societal consequences. Risk and vulnerability analyses of critical infrastructures generally focus narrowly on the infrastructure of interest and describe the consequences as nonsupplied commodities or the cost of unsupplied commodities; they rarely holistically conside

The Steyn and Puth (2000) model for strategic communication management has been applied by students and other project participants to non-profit organisations (NPOs), government institutions and small and medium enterprises in South Africa, but organisations’ communication practices have not been measured against the model. This paper reports on the strategic communication management practices of

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of the redox state via malondialdehyde (MDA) as a lipid peroxidation biomarker and hydrophilic antioxidant capacity (HAC) with dietary, anthropometric, demographic, socio-economic and clinical variables as well as the serum concentrations of vitamins in children aged 20-36 months. This cross-sectional study was conducted fr

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) is a native Andean plant rich in phenolic compounds, and its effects on dysmetabolism and cardiomyopathy in diabetic rats was evaluated. The rats (10/group) were allocated as follows: C, controls; C + Y, controls treated with Yacon leaf extract (YLE); DM, diabetic controls; and DM + Y, diabetic rats treated with YLE. Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) was induced by the admini

INTRODUCTION: Obesity is a disease in which inflammation is directly involved and can lead to impaired renal function.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of short term exposure to cafeteria diet on kidney tissue inflammation and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the rat plasma.METHODS: Male Wistar rats (10 weeks of age, weighing 350 g) were assigned to receive commercial chow diet (C; n =

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has a high prevalence around the world. Considering the components used to classify MetS, it is clear that it is closely related to obesity. These two conditions begin with an increase in abdominal adipose tissue, which is metabolically more active, containing a greater amount of resident macrophages compared to other fat deposits. Abdominal adiposity promotes inflammatio

The combustion engine, a well-known source of aerosols, has seen remarkable improvements regarding efficiency and emissions. A drawback of the conventional compression ignition (CI) engine is its requirement for a high cetane number fuel, i.e. diesel which contains long carbon chains forming particulate matter (PM) when combusted in the conventional diesel combustion (CDC) process. A previous stud

Many cities have set ambitious goals regarding the production of renewables within cities using advanced energy planning. The crux of those ambitious plans and goals is to put them into action using different legislative instruments, like a zoning plan. In this article, the experiences of an action research project with the aim to support local urban planners developing a zoning plan that creates

This paper presents a methodology for developing software systems denoted Cleanroom Software Engineering. The methodology has been developed at IBM and Software Engineering Technology (SET) in the USA, and is currently being adapted and applied to the field of telecommunications by E-P Telecom Q-Labs. The paper gives a brief introduction to Cleanroom. The main objective of Cleanroom is to introdu

Presents a method proposal for estimation of software reliability before the implementation phase. The method is based upon a formal description technique and that it is possible to develop a tool for performing dynamic analysis, i.e. locating semantic faults in the design. The analysis is performed by applying a usage profile as input as well as doing a full analysis, i.e. locating all faults tha

The testing method proposed in the Cleanroom methodology is Statistical Usage Testing. This testing technique is based on that the test cases represent theoperational profile. The failure data from testing is then used in a software reliability model to certify the reliability of the software. This paper introduces a new model for modelling the usage of the system, i.e. the operational profile. It

Software reliability is a frequently used term, but very seldom the reliability is under control during a software development project. This paper presents a method, Statistical Usage Testing (SUT), which gives the possibility to estimate and predict, and hence control the software reliability. SUT is the reliability certification method described as a part of Cleanroom software engineering. The m

In order to improve the efficiency of inspections, quantitative data on defect content have to be the basis for decisions in the inspection process. An experience-based capture-recapture method is proposed, which overcomes some problems with the basic pre-requisites of the original method. A C-code inspection experiment is conducted to evaluate the enhanced method and its applicability to software