We propose a probabilistic graphical model for discriminative substrate characterization, to support geological and biological habitat mapping in aquatic environments. The model, called a fully connected conditional random field (CRF), is demonstrated using multispectral and monospectral acoustic backscatter from heterogeneous seafloors in Patricia Bay, British Columbia, and Bedford Basin, Nova Scotia. Unlike previously proposed discriminative machine learning algorithms, the CRF model considers both the relative backscatter magnitudes of different substrates and their relative proximities. The model therefore combines the statistical flexibility of a machine learning algorithm with an inherently spatial treatment of the substrate. The CRF model predicts substrates such that nearby locations with similar backscattering characteristics are likely to be in the same substrate class. The degree of proximity and allowable backscatter similarity are controlled by parameters that are learned from the data. CRF model results were evaluated against a popular generative model known as a Gaussian Mixture model that doesn't include spatial dependencies, only covariance between substrate backscattering response over different frequencies. Both models are used in conjunction with sparse bed observations/samples in a supervised classification. A detailed accuracy assessment, including a leave-one-out cross-validation analysis, was performed using both models. Using multispectral backscatter, the GMM model trained on 50% of the bed observations resulted in a 75% and 89% average accuracies in Patricia Bay and Bedford Basin, respectively. The same metrics for the CRF model were 78% and 95%. Further, the CRF model resulted in a 91% mean cross-validation accuracy across four substrate classes at Patricia Bay, and a 99.5% mean accuracy across three substrate classes at Bedford Basin, which suggest that the CRF model generalizes extremely well to new data. This analysis also showed that the CRF model was much less sensitive to the specific number and locations of bed observations than the generative model, owing to its ability to incorporate spatial autocorrelation in substrates. The CRF approach therefore may prove to be a powerful `spatially aware' alternative to other discriminative classifiers.

T-2 toxin produced by fungi of Fusarium genus is highly toxic to human and animals and has been shown to induce apoptosis in various organs/tissues. Apoptosis and autophagy are interconnected processes and these interactions are important for cellular homeostasis as well as pathogenesis. In this study, we report for the first time that T-2 toxin induced autophagy in human liver cells (L02). We showed that T-2 toxin induced the formation of acidic vesicular organelles, concordant with the time and dose-dependent alterations in LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate (LC3-II) LC3-I/II and p62/SQSTM1 suggesting an enhanced autophagic flux. The T-2 toxin-induced formation of autophagosome and lysosomal fusion was observed by expressing mRFP-GFP-LC3 in L02 cells by lentiviral transduction, and autophagosome was observed by transmission electron microcopy. We found that while T-2 toxin activated both apoptosis and autophagy, activation of autophagy appears to be a leading event reflecting the protective mechanism of cells against the insults by T-2 toxin. Activating autophagy by rapamycin (RAPA) inhibited the apoptosis while suppressing autophagy by chloroquine greatly enhanced the T-2 toxin-induced apoptosis suggesting the crosstalk of autophagy and apoptosis. In summary, our study showed that activation of autophagy protects liver cells from T-2 toxin-induced apoptosis suggesting autophagy may be targeted for prevention of the T-2 toxin-induced toxicity in human and animals.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder where both T cells and B cells are implicated in pathology. However, it remains unclear how these two distinct populations cooperate to drive disease. There is ample evidence from studies in both MS patients and mouse models that Th17, B cells, and follicular T helper (TFH) cells contribute to disease. This review article describes the literature that identifies mechanisms by which Th17, TFH, and B cells cooperatively drive disease activity in MS and EAE. The curation of this literature has identified that CNS-infiltrating TFH cells act with TH17 cell to contribute to an inflammatory B cell response in neuroinflammation. This demonstrates that TFH cells and their products are promising targets for therapies in MS.

Knowledge management gains space within the school organization and can contribute satisfactorily to the quality of teaching. In everyday life the school manager intuitively uses knowledge management practices without exploiting the potentials they offer or allow. In this context, the purpose of this work is to identify the level of implementation of knowledge management practices aimed at structuring the organizational processes used by the public school manager. The methodology adopted was exploratory, with a qualitative and quantitative approach. For data collection, an already validated instrument with twenty-seven questions was used. Respondents to the questionnaires, one hundred and eleven managers of the basic education schools that make up the public school system in a city in the northwestern region of Paraná, Southern Brazil. In analyzing the results, it was only at this point that we investigated only those practices that were related to the structuring of organizational processes. This decision is justified because of the responsibilities of the school manager in the execution of his work. The results indicated that the school in its daily life, makes use of practices of Knowledge Management related to the structuring of the organizational processes and that many are already applied by the managers.

One of the most crucial and economically beneficial tasks for energy customer is peak load curtailment. On account of the fast response of renewable energy resources (RERs) such as photovoltaic (PV) units and battery energy storage system (BESS), this task is closer to be efficiently implemented. Depends on the customer peak load demand and energy characteristics, the feasibility of this strategy may warry. When adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is exploited for forecasting, it can provide many benefits to address the above-mentioned issues and facilitate its easy implementation, with short calculating time and re-trainability. This paper introduces a data driven forecasting method based on fuzzy logic for optimized peak load reduction. First, the amount of energy generated by PV is forecasted using ANFIS which conducts output trend, and then, the BESS capacity is calculated according to the forecasted results. The trend of the load power is then decomposed in Cartesian plane into two parts, left and right from load peak, searching for BESS capacity equal. Network switching sequence over consumption is provided by a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) with respect to BESS capacity and PV energy output. Finally, to prove the effectiveness of the proposed ANFIS-based peak shaving method, offline digital time-domain simulations have been performed on a real-life practical test micro grid system in MATLAB/Simulink environment and the results have been experimentally verified by testing on a practical micro grid system with real-life data obtained from smart meter and also, compared with several previously-reported methods.

In this paper, we analyze data from the 2012 Encuesta de Integración Social y Salud (Social Integration and Health Survey) of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spanish National Institute of Statistics) to obtain profiles created by combining disability, poverty and social exclusion. We hypothesize that the probability that people will experience social exclusion increases if they have a disability, chronic illness or limitation in conducting everyday activities, and that this probability is greater for women than for men. To conduct our analysis, we constructed a social exclusion model based on a series of social determinants that acts as a dependent variable. In this context, social exclusion is understood to go beyond the concept of financial poverty. We performed bivariate analyses, in which we calculated the Odds Ratios (OR) for certain variables considered to be predictors of social exclusion. We also performed a means comparison test and an ANOVA test to observe differences between individuals with recognized disability and those without. Finally, we conducted logistic regression analysis to determine which vulnerability profiles are most likely to experience a situation of social exclusion. We also discuss the limitations of our study, and suggest areas in, which the relationships between health, social exclusion and disability can be further investigated.

Iron Doped TiO₂ nanoparticles (Fe-TiO₂) were synthesized and photocatalitically investigated under high and low fluence values of UV-radiation. The Fe-TiO₂ physical characterization was performed using X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) technique. The XPS evidenced that ferric ion (Fe³⁺) was in the lattice of TiO₂ and co-dopants no intentionally added were also present due to the precursors of the synthetic method. The Fe³⁺ concentration played a key role in the photocatalytic generation of hydroxyl radical (•OH) and estriol (E3) degradation. Fe-TiO₂ materials accomplished E3 degradation, and it was found that the catalyst with 0.3 at. % content of Fe (0.3 Fe-TiO₂) enhanced the photocatalytic activity under low UV-irradiation compared with no intentionally Fe-added TiO₂ (zero-iron TiO₂) and Aeroxide^® TiO₂ P25. Furthermore, the enhanced photocatalytic activity of 0.3 Fe-TiO₂ under low UV-irradiation may have applications when radiation intensity must be controlled, as in medical applications, or when strong UV absorbing species are present in water.

As the necessity for safety and aesthetic of nightscape have arisen, the importance of nightscapes (i.e., nighttime landscape) planning has garnered the attention of mainstream consciousness. Therefore, this study is to suggest the guideline for nightscape planning using electroencephalography (EEG) technology and survey for recognizing the characteristics of a nightscape. Furthermore, we verified the EEG method as a tool for landscape evaluation. This study analyzed the change of relative alpha power and relative beta power and self-reporting of participants in order to investigate the correlation between EEG and fear according to twelve nightscape settings. Our findings indicated the corresponding measures of fear vary accordance with whether there was people or not, and the environmental settings (Built Nightscape Images; BNI vs Natural Nightscape Images; NNI). Based on our physiological EEG experiment, we provided a new analytic view of the nightscape. The approach we utilized enables a deeper understanding of emotional perception and fear among human subjects by identifying the physical environment which impacts how they experience nightscapes.

In the paper, the author discusses and computes bounds of the sine and cosine along straight lines on the complex plane.

Prototypical functions of the chemokine receptor CCR6 include immune regulation by manoeuvring cell chemotaxis and selective delimiting of the pro-inflammatory TH17 and regulatory Treg subsets during chronic or acute systemic inflammation. Inhibition of CCR6 is proposed to attenuate disease symptoms and promote recuperation of multiple inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. Prescription medicines with pharmacodynamics involving the inhibition of the chemokine axis CCR6-CCL20 is very limited. Developing such therapeutics is still at an early experimental stage which has mostly utilized pre-clinical models and neutralizing mono or polyclonal antibodies against either partner, CCR6 or CCL20. Other methods have been constitutive use of small molecules as peptide inhibitors or small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) to interfere with transcription at the nuclear level. We in our review aim at introducing the wide array of potential CCR6-CCL20 inhibitors that have been tried to date in the research field with accent on attendant immune-modulator capacity and which are immensely promising compounds as forerunners of future curatives. 16 different tractable inhibitors of the CCR6-CCL20 duo have been identified to possess high medicinal potential to the drug developers worldwide to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. A multitude of antibody preparations are already available in the current pharmaceutical market as patented treatment for diseases in which the CCR6-CCL20 axis is operative, yet must be used only as supplements with existing routinely prescribed medication as they collectively produce adverse side effects. Novel inhibitors are needed to evaluate this invaluable therapeutic target which holds much promise in the research and development of complaisant remedies for inflammatory diseases.

The release of nanomolar concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) by endothelial cells (EC), via activation of constitutive NO synthase (eNOS), represents the pre-requisite for the vaso-protective role of vascular endothelium. On the other hand, exaggerated release of NO as a consequence of activation of inducible NO synthase (iNOS), leads to endothelial dysfunction and, at the late stages, to the development of atherothrombosis. Oxidyzed LDLs (OxyLDL) represent the major candidate to trigger biomolecular processes accompanying endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation leading to atherosclerosis development though the pathophysiological mechanism still remains to be elucidated. Here, we summarize recent evidence suggesting that oxyLDL produce significant impairment in the balance in the eNOS/iNOS machinery, downregulating eNOS via HMGB1-TLR4-Caveolin-1 pathway. On the other hand, a sustained activation of the scavenger receptor LOX-1 leads to NFkB activation which, in turn, increases iNOS, leading to EC oxidative stress. Finally, these events are associated to reduced protective autophagic response and accelerated apoptotic EC death which activates atherosclerotic development. Taken togheter, these informations shed new light into the pathophysiological mechanisms of oxy-LDL-related impairment of EC functionality and open new perspective in atherothrombosis prevention.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) processing yields ~60 million metric tons of bran annually. Rice genes producing bran metabolites of nutritional and human health importance were assessed across 17 diverse cultivars from seven countries using non-targeted metabolomics and resulted in 378-430 metabolites. Gambiaka cultivar had the highest number and Njavara had the lowest number of metabolites. The 71 rice bran compounds of significant variation by cultivar included 21 amino acids, seven carbohydrates, two metabolites from cofactors and vitamins, 33 lipids, six nucleotides, and two secondary metabolites. Tryptophan, -ketoglutarate, γ-tocopherol/β-tocopherol and γ-tocotrienol are example bran metabolites with extensive cultivar variation and genetic information. 34 rice bran components that varied between cultivars linked to 535 putative biosynthetic genes using to the OryzaCyc 4.0, Plant Metabolic Network database. Rice genes responsible for bran composition with animal and human health importance is available for rice breeding programs to utilize in crop improvement.

An azaphenothiazine derivative, 6-chloroethylureidoethyldiquino[3,2-b;2’,3’-e][1,4]thiazine (DQT) has recently been shown to exhibit immunosuppressive activities in mouse models. It also inhibited the expression of CXCL10 at the protein level, at non-toxic concentrations, in the culture of KERTr cells treated with double-stranded RNA, poly(I:C). In this report, we demonstrated that DQT inhibits the transcription of the CXCL10 gene. Although CXCL10 is an IFNγ-inducible protein, we found that the CXCL10 protein was induced without the detectable release of IFNγ or IκB degradation. Hence, we concluded that IFNγ or NFκB were not involved in the regulation of the CXCL10 gene in KERTr cells transfected with poly(I:C) as well as in the inhibitory activity of DQT. On the other hand, we found that IFNβ was induced under the same conditions and its expression was inhibited by DQT. Kinetic analysis showed that an increase in IFNβ concentrations occurred 4-8 h after poly(I:C) treatment, while the concentration of CXCL10 was undetectable at that time and started to increase later, when IFNβ reached high levels. Therefore, DQT may be regarded as a new promising inhibitor of IFNβ expression and IFNβ-dependent downstream genes and proteins, e.g., CXCL10 chemokine, which is implicated in pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are thought to be potential incubators of antibiotic resistance. Persistence of commonly used antibiotics in wastewater may increase the potential for selection of resistance genes transferred between bacterial populations, some of which may pose a threat to human health. In this study, we measured the concentrations of ten antibiotics in wastewater plant influents and effluents, and in surface waters up- and downstream from two Charlotte area treatment facilities. We performed Illumina shotgun sequencing to assay the microbial community and resistome compositions at each site across four time points from late winter to mid-summer of 2016. Antibiotics are present throughout wastewater treatment, and elevated concentrations of multiple antibiotics are maintained in moving stream water downstream of effluent release. While some human gut and activated sludge associated taxa are detectable downstream, these seem to attenuate with distance while the core microbial community of the stream remains fairly consistent. We observe slight suppression of functional pathways in the downstream microbial communities, including amino acid, carbohydrate and nucleic acid metabolism as well as nucleotide and amino acid scavenging. Nearly all antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and potentially pathogenic taxa are removed in the treatment process, though a few ARG markers are elevated downstream of effluent release. Taken together, these results represent baseline measurements which future studies can utilize to help to determine which factors control the movement of antibiotics and resistance genes through aquatic urban ecosystems before, during and after wastewater treatment.

In modern Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) multicore systems, cores can produce several simultaneous memory requests. The processing of such requests over the memory controller negatively impacts the interference delay triggered by running parallel tasks on the platform. In this paper, we propose a software-based testing approach for analyzing memory interference delay, when cores are exposed to extensive read/write requests that access in parallel their Cache Coherent Interconnect. The hardware targeted in this work is the well-known LayerScape QorIQ LS2085A, which can be approached as a potential successor to the Freescale QorIQ P4080. The test analysis was conducted based on a bare-metal operating system that we developed to guarantee a deterministic execution environment at all time points. Our testing was accomplished using a set of carefully designed synthetic benchmarks as well as TACLeBench benchmarks.

Phosphate (Pi) deficiency reduces nodule formation and development in different legume species including common bean. Despite the significant progress in the understanding of the genetic responses underlying the adaptation of nodules to Pi deficiency, it is still unclear whether this nutritional deficiency interferes with the molecular dialog between legumes and rhizobia, if so, what part of the molecular dialog is impaired? In this study, we provide evidence demonstrating that Pi deficiency negatively affects critical early molecular and physiological responses required for a successful symbiosis between common bean and rhizobia. We demonstrated that the infection thread formation and the expression of PvNSP2, PvNIN, and PvFLOT2, genes controlling the nodulation process, were significantly reduced in Pi-deficient common bean seedlings. Further transcriptional analysis revealed that the expression of hormones-related genes is compromised in Pi-deficient seedlings inoculated with rhizobia. Additionally, we showed that regardless of the presence or absence of rhizobia, the expression of PvRIC1 and PvRIC2, two genes participating in the autoregulation of nodule number, was higher in Pi-deficient seedlings than in control seedlings. The data presented in this study shed light on the understanding of how Pi deficiency impacts the early steps of the symbiosis between common bean and rhizobia.

This study explores the effect of seasonality on soil carbon efflux and pasture growth based on field and lysimeter experiments during summer-fall and winter-spring in two years. Focus is also pointed on irrigation strategies to alleviate the crop response to seasonal fluctuations in precipitation and surface temperatures. Soil respiration, soil and air temperature, leaf photosynthesis, plant dry weight and leaf area index were quantified and analyzed. It has been found significant differences in the CO₂ efflux between the two growing season. Emission of soil CO₂ allowed to characterize and to prioritize the temperature and rain influence in seasonal brachiaria response. During the seasons, the transient variation of CO₂ efflux was highly correlated with rainfall (r = 0.87, P < 0.05), and poorly correlated with soil temperatures (r = 0.5, P < 0.05). The CO₂ efflux and plant response to different level of reposition of evapotranspiration demonstrated that irrigation during fall mitigates the reduction of growth conditioned by drying soil and the lower temperatures. The lower temperatures are limiting only when the soil moisture is below 32% of the field capacity. Thus, we propose to keep the soil moisture around 50% during the fall as a key practices for mitigating the effect of seasonality and its intensification with the climate change, even more if added to management routine practices the soil and water conservation.

The objective of the prototype is to eliminate the polluting contamination of water sources, due to the leak of industrial waste without any kind of treatment, mainly generated by the industries and home sector. In this project, a prototype of water purification by plasma technology has been designed. The prototype will convert contaminated water into the plasma stream and eliminate the pathogens from the water by exposing it to ultraviolet radiation and plasma sterilisation. The polluted water will be accelerated at high speed using a water pump in order to convert it into a liquid-gas mixture for ease plasma generation. This process will be achieved when the electric supply from a source of alternating current (AC) is applied to the water by means of high voltage electrodes. After which, the mixture slows down to return into liquid form and the clean water is obtained. The whole process takes place without significantly raising the temperature also knows as non-thermal plasma. The device also has an automatic flow and pressure control system. Finally, a short feasibility study has been conducted on the water samples collected and report obtained from Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewage boards are reported. It has been concluded that this new plasma-based water treatment system will be more efficient and cheaper than the current wastewater treatment techniques and can be used in the future as the replacement of current secondary and tertiary treatments of industrial wastewater.

Imaging living cells by atomic force microscopy (AFM) promises not only high-resolution topographical data, but additionally, mechanical contrast, which are not obtainable with other microscopy techniques. Such imaging is however challenging, as cells need to be measured with low interaction forces to prevent either deformation or detachment from the surface. Off-resonance modes which periodically probe the surface have been shown to be advantageous, as they provide excellent force control combined with large amplitudes, which help reduce lateral force interactions. However, the low actuation frequency in traditional off-resonance techniques limits the imaging speed significantly. Using photothermal actuation, we probe the surface by directly actuating the cantilever. Due to the much smaller mass that needs to be actuated, the achievable measurement frequency is increased by two orders of magnitude. Additionally, photothermal off-resonance tapping retains the precise force control of conventional off-resonance modes and is therefore well suited to gentle imaging. Here we show how photothermal off-resonance tapping can be used to study live cells by AFM. As an example of imaging mammalian cells, the initial attachment, as well as long term detachment of a human thrombocytes are presented. The membrane disrupting effect of the antimicrobial peptide CM-15 is shown on the cell wall of E. coli. Finally, the dissolution of the cell wall of B. subtilis by lysozyme is shown. Taken together, these evolutionarily disparate forms of life exemplify the usefulness of PORT for live cell imaging in a multitude of biological disciplines.

Double burden of malnutrition (DBM) and anaemia is a growing concern in developing countries. 5,763 mother-child pairs were selected from a cross-sectional study (Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey, 2011) to examine DBM and anaemia in households. Overweight mothers had stunted (24.5%), underweight (19.8%), wasted (9.3%) and anaemic (51.7%) children. Region and drinking water were positively associated with both DBM and anaemia (p < 0.001). Father’s occupation and wealth index were positively associated with DBM (p <0.001) only. More policies and awareness programmes are needed to address the coexistence of child undernutrition and maternal overweight/obesity and anaemia in the same household.

Terpenoids are toxic compounds produced by plants as a defense strategy against insect herbivores. We tested the effect of Origanum vulgare terpenoids on the generalist herbivore Spodoptera littoralis and the response of the plant to herbivory. Terpenoids were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS and quantitative gene expression (qPCR) was evaluated on selected plant genes involved in both terpene biosynthesis. The insect detoxification response to terpenes was evaluated by monitoring antioxidant enzymes activity and expression of insect genes involved in terpene detoxification. O. vulgare terpenoid biosynthesis and gene expression was modulated by S. littoralis feeding. The herbivore-induced increased level of terpenoids (particularly carvacrol and p-cymene) interacted with the herbivore by decreasing larval survival and growth rate. The assimilation by S. littoralis of more than 50% of ingested terpenes correlated with the possible toxic effects of O. vulgare terpenoids. In choice test experiments, carvacrol and γ-terpinene mediated the larval feeding preferences, wherease the prolonged feeding on O. vulgare terpenoids (particularly on γ-terpinene) exerted relevant antinutritional effects on larvae. S. littoralis was found to react to O. vulgare terpenoids by increasing its antioxidant enzymes activities and gene expression, although this was not sufficient to sustain the toxicity of O. vulgare terpenoids.

Infectious diarrhoea such as shigellosis causes considerable morbidity and mortality, especially in infants, immune-compromised individuals and those living with HIV/AIDS. It is endemic in developing countries and in Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, where diarrhoeal disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. This study was undertaken to establish incidences of Shigella, its serotype and resistant pattern of isolates from human faeces from residence of Johannesburg, South Africa. All stools received between January to April from the private healthcare system were cultured on Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate and MacConkey Agar and Shigella was confirmed by standard biochemical reactions and a serological method. An antimicrobial sensitivity test was used. A total of 11 009 samples from patients between 22 days to 94 years old yielded 110 Shigella isolates, of which 47 (43%) were S. flexneri, 61 (55%) were S. sonnei, 1 (1%) was S. dysenteriae and 1 (1 %) was S. boydii. The majority of patients were children between < 1 to 5 years, 76 (69%), followed by those between 6 to 10 years 13 (12%). In children up to 10 years, S. sonnei was confirmed in 52 cases (59%) and S. flexneri in 36 cases (41%). Overall, 53 (48%) males and 57 (52%) females were infected.

Controlling surface-protein interaction during wastewater treatment is the key motivation for developing functionally modified membranes. A new biocatalytic thermo-responsive poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)/nylon-6,6/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(PNIPAAm) ultrafiltration membrane was fabricated to achieve dual functionality of protein-digestion and thermo-responsive self-cleaning. The PVDF/nylon-6,6/PNIPAAm composite membranes were constructed by integrating a hydrophobic PVDF cast layer and hydrophilic nylon-6,6/PNIPAAm nanofiber layer where trypsin enzymes were covalently immobilized. The immobilization density of enzymes on the membrane surface decreased with increasing PNIPAAm concentration, due to the decreased number of amine functional sites. Through a ultrafiltration study using a model solution containing BSA/NaCl/CaCl₂, the PNIPAAm containing biocatalytic membranes demonstrated a combined effect of enzymatic and thermo-switchable self-cleaning. The membrane without PNIPAAm revealed superior fouling resistance and self-cleaning with an R_PD of 22%, compared to membranes with 2 and 4 wt% PNIPAAm with 26% and 33% R_PD, respectively, after an intermediate temperature cleaning at 50°C, indicating that higher enzyme density offers more efficient self-cleaning than the combined effect of enzyme and PNIPAAm at low concentration. The conformational volume phase transition of PNIPAAm did not affect the stability of immobilized trypsin on membrane surface. Such novel surface engineering design offer a promising route to severe surface-protein contamination remediation in food and wastewater applications.

This review paper is intended to exhibit the interplays between environmental change and rapid population growth in developing countries. In the course of discussion, the impacts of rapidly population growing on the environment have been discussed, and evidence, from various parts of the world have been traced. Studies on the impacts of population pressure on environment have been critically reviewed. It is revealed that all across the developing countries, farm size is shrinking as farmers continue to subdivide holdings among their children. In countries such as Malawi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Haiti, Nepal and Bangladesh, population growth rates are high, and the non-farm sector is still in its early stages of development. Demographic pressure, land scarcity, and land fragmentation drive greater rural vulnerability and poverty, marked by decreased food security, inadequate response to such natural disasters such as drought or pest infestations, weakened resilience to shocks, and poor health. It is not just the supply of food, fodder, and fuel wood but the resource base itself and the lives that depend upon it are being affected. The evidences pinpoints that man through his non-sustainable production and consumption patterns, is placed at the heart of environmental changes. However, contradictory view, and practices are also in place that the population growth has positive impacts environmental restoration and improvements, while other evidences show insignificant effect of population on the environment. This contradicting scenario puts scholars in argument, and still need further research. Hence, it would be a blind generalization to draw conclusion from this relationship alone, rather, another factor that acts beyond population pressure must also be considered to justify the impact of population on environmental changes.

Aim: In a human pilot case, we used a root formed temporary prosthetical device (Intra-alveolar Device - IAD), to investigate the effect of mechanical stimulation on hard tissue clinically and radiographically. Background: The extraction of a tooth determines the resorption of the alveolar bone. This determines challenge to place an implant and to integrate the prosthesis in soft tissue. Mechanical stimulation is fundamental for bone tropism but is not understood the effect of mechanical stimulation on post-extraction site. Case presentation: A 24 years old woman was enrolled. The IAD’s were used as expected by protocol. Clinical healing was uneventfully. Vertical radiographical bone resorption measured on CBCT was -0,14mm (5,6%) while horizontal bone resorption was -0,21mm (12,36%). Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed model. We need clinical prospectical studies enrolling more patients

Objective: To determine demographic predictors and comorbidities in hospitalized children with conduct disorder. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2012–2014). All patients were ≤18 years and cases with primary diagnosis of conduct disorder (N = 32345) and a comparison group with another psychiatric diagnosis (N = 410,479) were identified using ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes. A logistic regression model was used to generate the Odds Ratio (OR) between both groups. Results: Children <11 years old have five times greater chances of admission for conduct disorder than adolescent (OR 5.339). African American males are more likely to be admitted for conduct disorder. Children with conduct disorder from low-income families have a 1.5 times higher likelihood for inpatient admission compared to high-income families. These children have about eleven times higher odds of comorbid psychosis (OR 11.810) and seven times for depression (OR 7.093) compared to the comparison group. Conclusion: Conduct disorders are more debilitating for children and families than many providers realize. African American male under 11 years is at the highest risk for inpatient management for conduct disorder. These patients have a higher risk of comorbid psychosis and depression which may further deteriorate the severity of illness and require acute inpatient care.

This study evaluates eight-year ownership costs for battery electric vehicles (BEV) versus non-plugin hybrid vehicles using forecasting to estimate future electricity and conventional gasoline prices and incorporating these in a multiple design of experiments simulation. Results suggest that while electric vehicles are statistically dominant in terms of variable costs over an 8-year life-span, high-performance hybrid non-plugins achieve variable fuel costs nearly as good as low-performing electric vehicles (those attaining only 3 miles per kilowatt hour) and that these hybrid acquisition costs are (on average) lower yet the vehicles retain higher residual values. In general, the six smallest ownership costs are split evenly between hybrid and electric vehicles; however, inflation for conventional regular gasoline is estimated to outstrip inflation per kilowatt hour. Thus, non-plugin hybrid cars are likely to require considerably more advanced engineering to keep pace.

The monitoring of sick newborns is a challenging task that health care providers in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) must contend with each day. Conventionally, newborns are monitored via probes that are affixed to their skin and attached to processing monitors (Fig.1). However, an alternative exists in contactless imaging to record such physiological signals (Physio-Markers), surface changes and internal structures which can be used independently of, or in conjunction with conventional monitors. Advantages of contactless monitoring methods include: i) quick data generation; ii) lack of contact with skin, which reduces skin breakdown and decreases risk of infection; and iii) minimizing the number of probes and monitors affixed to the skin, which allows greater body surface-area for other care. This paper is an attempt to build a foundation for and to provide a vision of the potential neonatal clinical applications of technologies that use non-contact modalities such as Visible Light Imaging (VLI), Near InfraRed Spectrum (NIRS), and Thermal Imaging (TI) using InfraRed Spectrum (IRS).

Here is shown method for the hydraulic solution of a looped gas-pipeline networks. Calculation of presented network is done according to principles of Hardy Cross method. The optimization was carried out by iteration of the pipes diameters, node consumptions are known and flow velocities through pipes have to stand below certain values. Accent is on determination of appropriate friction factor, and on selection of representative equation for natural gas flow under presented conditions in the network. Inappropriate usage of friction factor, equally as inappropriate usage of gas flow equation can lead to inaccurate final results. Here is shown new facts in comparison to previous calculation of gas distribution network in Kragujevac, Serbia which is done in 1994. After the implementation, measurements in situ have performed, and real measured values deviate from calculated. Causes for these errors are investigated, and improved and more accurate procedure is shown.

In 2013, thirty-eight treadle pumps (TPs) were installed as low-cost technology introduction for small-scale irrigation in eastern Ethiopia. This pilot project also trained six farmers on tube well excavation, installation and maintenance of pumps. In June 2015, researchers visited nine of the 38 TP villages, and found only two functional TPs. The rest were replaced with a new technology developed by the trained farmers. Adopters of the new technology stated that the limited water output and high labor demand of the conventional TP did not optimally fulfil their irrigation water requirements. The new technology had spread quickly to more than one hundred households due to three key factors. First, farmers’ innovative modifications of the initial excavation technique addressed the discharge limitations of the conventional TP by excavating boreholes with wider diameter. Second, local ownership of the new technology, including skills used in well drilling and manufacturing excavation implement, made the new irrigation technology affordable and accessible to the majority of households. Third, this innovation spread organically without any external support, confirming its sustainability. Farmers, empowered by training, gained more control in developing technology options tailored to local needs and conditions of their communities.

Many wounds are unresponsive to current available treatment techniques and therefore there is an immense need to explore suitable materials including biomaterials, which are being considered as the crucial factor to accelerate the healing cascade. In this study, we fabricated polyhydroxyalkanoate based antibacterial mats via electrospun technique. One-pot green synthesized graphene decorated silver nanoparticles (GAg) were incorporated into the fibres of poly-3 hydroxybutarate-co-12 mol% hydroxyhexanoate (P3HB-co-12mol% HHx), a co-polymer of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) family which is highly biocompatible, biodegradable and flexible in nature. The synthesised PHA/GAg biomaterial was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), elemental mapping, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In-vitro antibacterial analysis were performed to investigate the efficacy of PHA/GAg against gram positive Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) strain 12600 ATCC and gram negative Escherichia coli (E.coli) strain 8739 ATCC. The results indicated that the PHA/GAg demonstrated significant reduction of Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus strain 12600 ATCC) and Escherichia coli (E.coli strain 8739 ATCC) as compared to bare PHA or PHA-rGO in 2 hours of time. The P value (P< 0.05) was obtained by using 2 sample T-test distribution.

Epidemiological studies indicate an increased risk of cancer from the consumption of very hot foods and beverages. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has already recommended threshold values for the maximum drinking temperature of very hot beverages. The contact time and the contact temperature are decisive for the risk of injury when hot media come into contact with human skin. However, measuring the contact temperature is not easily possible in practice. In the present study, a numerical simulation based on the solution of the heat conduction equation was initially used to investigate whether and for what period of time a constant contact temperature is to be expected under oral conditions. For small circular 3-cm food samples (e.g., cooked potatoes) with 2.5 mm thickness in contact with the tongue, the simulation results in a constant contact temperature of 10 s before cooling. With a thickness of 0.5 mm, the contact temperature is only maintained 1 s. Hot beverages, which spread as a thin film and thereby increase their surface area, can therefore be consumed at higher temperatures than solid foods. Furthermore, a simple test technique with a "measuring spoon" was developed. A hot sample is placed on the tongue. Orientating measurements were used to determine which contact temperature was considered to be just comfortable for any period > 10 s and for which period of less than 10 s it was still just bearable. The contact temperature, which was still perceived as tolerable for periods > 10 s, was 46.5 °C. The time spans for the higher contact temperature 48 °C were between 2 and 4 s and for 49 °C between 1 and 2 s. The course of the contact temperatures determined in the experiment over time allows to calculate the corresponding threshold values of consumption temperatures for various foods. Consumption temperatures of about 56 °C for potatoes and 60 °C for cheese are still perceived as tolerable. In view of the fact that the contact temperature is obviously the determining factor for the risk of injury from burns in the oral cavity in addition to the contact time, it makes sense to reference threshold values to the contact temperature rather than to the surface or consumption temperature of a food product, which is current customary practice. If this contact temperature is defined as a threshold value, the surface or consumption temperature for any other food can be calculated.

Cloud robot is becoming popular and security of cloud robot is important. However, the researches of cloud robot safety are a few. This work develops a security policy to defense DDoS attack of cloud robot. In this policy, complex, but accurate calculation models are deployed on the cloud, simple but efficient calculation models are deployed on the robot. In the cloud, there are master server and standby server. The master server transfers parameters of complex but accurate models to the standby server periodically and the master executes the start-stop backup policy. Specifically, this work proposes and proves an algorithm to dynamically adjust the interval of parameter transfer. According to a PDRA feature of Netflow, when DDoS attacks, the master server sends warning signals to the robot and standby server. The robot runs local models to avoid stopping work until it is connected to the standby server. Then, standby server provides service to the robot until the master server recover. Finally, this work implemented a gesture recognition cloud robot based on convolutional neural network, hidden Markov model and PDRA feature of Netflow to verify the policy. Experiment shows that the security policy to defense DDoS attack for cloud robot is effective.

In this work, an algorithm was developed to measure the respiration rate for an embedded device that can be used by a field robot for relief operation. With this algorithm, the rate measurement was calculated based on direct influences of respiratory-induced intensity variation (RIIV) on blood flow in cardiovascular pathways. For that, a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor was used to determine changes in heartbeat frequencies. The PPG sensor readings were filtered using an Information Filter and a Fast Fourier transform (FFT) to determine the state of RIIV. With a relatively light initialization, the information filter can estimate unknown variables based on a series of measurements containing noise and other inaccuraties. Therefore, this filter is suitable for application on an embedded device. For faster calculation time in the implementation, the FFT analysis was calculated only for a major peak in the frequency domain. Test and measurement of respiration rate was conducted based on the device algorithm and spirometer. Heartbeat measurement was also evaluated by comparing the heartbeat data of the PPG sensor and the medical tool kit. Based on the test, the implemented algorithm can measure respiration rate with about 80% accuracy compared with the spirometer.

Preliminaries Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) applications have recently emerged in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems focusing mostly on vibration analysis. However, the SHM literature shows clearly that there is a lack of application regarding the combination of PZT (Lead Zirconate Titanate) based method and CNN. Likewise, applications using CNN along with the Electromechanical Impedance (EMI) technique applied to SHM systems are rare. To encourage this combination, an innovative SHM solution through the combination of the EMI-PZT and CNN is presented here. To accomplish this, the EMI signature is split into several parts followed by computing the Euclidean distances among them to form a RGB (red, green and blue) frame. As a result, we introduce a dataset formed from the EMI-PZT signals of 720 frames, encompassing a total of 4 types of structural conditions for each PZT. In a case study, the CNN-based method was experimentally evaluated using three PZTs glued onto an aluminum plate. The results reveal an effective pattern classification; yielding a 100% hit rate which outperforms other SHM approaches. Furthermore, the method needs only a small dataset for training the CNN, providing several advantages for industrial applications.

The practice of collecting, treating and management of solid waste prior to disposal has become a necessity in developing and modern societies. Over the years, it is known that most wastes that are disposed have a second hand value. However, the construction cost for conventional Material Recovery Facility(s) (MRFs) has been a major barrier for implementation. These technologies require considerable technical expertise, which is often not available in developing nations to successfully operate the MRFs. Covenant University; a private mission institution through her waste to wealth scheme is focused on managing and processing used materials to reusable products. These include Pet bottles, Paper wastes, Food wastes from cafeteria, plastic food packs, nylon, tin cans and others. Specific areas chosen for the Survey include the residential areas for staff and students and the two cafeterias. The waste generated was characterized based on the waste stream so as to quantify the amount of recyclable waste generated and most occurring. The survey involved the use of structured questionnaires, on-site observations and measurements. The study reveals an average amount of recyclable waste generated per day in the institution as 13.46% pet bottles, 4.03% paper, 55.56% food waste, 12.64% plastic, 9.63% nylon and 4.68% tin cans. The study established that adequate waste characterization is a requirement for effective integrated solid waste management which would boost resource recovery, reuse and recycling.

Background: In spinal cord injury, radical treatment is still a persistent hope for patients and clinicians. Our study aimed to determine the different histological changes in central, cranial and caudal sites of compressed spinal cord as a result of neuroectodermal stem cells (NESCs) transplantation in rats. Material and methods: For extraction of NESCs, future brains were extracted from mice embryos (10-days old) and cultured. Eighty, male rats were divided randomly into control, sham (20 rats each); while 40 rats were subjected to compressed spinal cord injury (CSCI). Seven days after spinal cord injury, rats were subdivided into 2 groups (20 rats each); an untreated and treated with NESCs injected cranial and caudal to the site of the spinal cord injury. Rats were sacrificed 4 weeks after transplantations of NESCs and specimens from the spinal cord at the central, cranial and caudal to site of spinal cord injury were proceeded to be stained with haematoxylin & eosin, osmic acid and Immunohistochemistry of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Results: Sections of CSCI revealed areas of hemorrhages, necrosis and cavitation limited by reactive astrocytosis, with upregulation of GFAP expression. Evidence of remyelination and mitigation of histopathological features, reactive astrocytosis in CSCI sections were more pronounced in cranial than in caudal region. Conclusions: NESCs transplantation ameliorated the pathological changes, promoted remyelination.

3D bioprinting holds great promise in the field of regenerative medicine as it can create complex structures in a layer-by-layer manner using cell-laden bioinks, making it possible to imitate native tissues. Current bioinks lack both the high printability and the biocompatibility required in this respect. Hence, the development of bioinks that are capable of both properties is needed. In our previous study, a furfuryl-gelatin based bioink, crosslinkable by visible light, was used for creating mouse mesenchymal stem cell-laden structures with high fidelity. In this study, lattice mesh geometries were printed in a comparative study to test against the properties of a traditional rectangular-sheet. After 3D printing and crosslinking, both structures were analysed for swelling and rheological properties, and their porosity estimated using scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that the lattice structure was relatively more porous but sturdy and exhibited a lower degradation rate compared to the rectangular-sheet. Further, the lattice allowed encapsulation of a greater number of cells, allowing them to proliferate to a greater extent compared to the rectangular-sheet that retained a lesser number of cells initially. All of these results collectively affirmed that the lattice poses as a superior scaffold design for tissue engineering applications.

Bamboo plastic composites have become a hot research topic and a key focus of research. However, the many strong, polar, hydrophilic hydroxyl groups in bamboo flour (BF) results in poor interfacial compatibility between BF and hydrophobic polymers. Maleic anhydride-esterified (MAH-e-BF) and lactic acid-esterified bamboo flour (LA-e-BF) were prepared using an in situ solid-phase esterification method with BF as the raw material and maleic anhydride or lactic acid as the esterifying agent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results confirmed that BF esterification with maleic anhydride and lactic acid was successful, with the esterification degrees of MAH-e-BF and LA-e-BF at 21.04 and 14.36%%, respectively. Esterified BF was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, contact angle testing, X-ray diffractometry, and thermogravimetric analysis. The results demonstrated that esterified BF surfaces were covered with graft polymer and the surface roughness and bonding degree of MAH-e-BF clearly larger than those of LA-e-BF. The hydrophobicity of esterified BF was significantly higher than BF and the hydrophobicity of MAH-e-BF better than LA-e-BF. The crystalline structure of esterified BF showed some damage, with MAH-e-BF exhibiting a greater decrease in crystallinity than LA-e-BF. Overall, the esterification reaction improved BF thermoplasticity, with the thermoplasticity of MAH-e-BF appearing better than LA-e-BF.

We review the state of dynamical downscaling with scale-constrained regional and global models. The methodology, in particular spectral nudging, has become a routine and well-researched tool for hindcasting climatologies of sub-synoptic atmospheric disturbances in coastal regions. At present, the spectrum of applications is expanding to other phenomena, but also to ocean dynamics and to extended forecasting. Also new diagnostic challenges are appearing such as spatial characteristics of small-scale phenomena such as Low Level Jets.

Uganda’s agriculture depends mainly on rainwater. As farmers are trying to increase on the food output to match the demands of a fast growing population, they are susceptible to make losses due to fluctuating weather patterns which are being caused by the global climate change. Therefore, it is necessary to explore ways of improving water use efficiency in rainfed agricultural systems to save farmers labour and input costs in situations where the grain harvest would be zero due to crop failure. The water driven FAO AquaCrop model is used as a support tool for making informed decisions during planning and situation analysis. In this study, AquaCrop model was evaluated for prediction of maize growth and yields at MUARIK in Uganda, for rainfed agriculture in three growing seasons. The model efficiency (E) and root mean square value (RMSE) for the maize canopy simulation during the September–December 2015 season was 0.945 and 7.24 respectively. The deviation of the simulated final biomass from measured data ranged from −15.4 to 11.6%, while the deviation of the final yield ranged from −2.8 to 2.0. The results suggest that the model can be used in the prediction of rainfed agricultural outputs, hence helping in guiding on management practices to increase food production.

Growth hormone (GH) deficiency affects up to 1 in 4,000 children and is usually treated with daily injections of GH whilst the child is still growing. With children typically diagnosed around 5 years old, this can mean over 10 years of therapy, which can place a considerable burden on the child and parent. Over three-quarters of children are estimated to be not fully compliant with therapy, which can compromise their chances of attaining their target height. In recent years, interactive mobile health (smart phone or tablet) interventions using game-like concepts, so called ‘gamification’, have increased in popularity and have demonstrated success in promoting positive self-management behaviour in children with chronic conditions, such as diabetes. The application of gamified interventions has the potential to support adherence to therapy and positive behaviour in children with GH deficiency in a number of ways: 1) By providing education in a format that the child understands and accepts (e.g. using behavioural constructs to facilitate explaining why adherence is important); 2) By providing a mechanism to reduce the anxiety and stress associated with administering the injection (e.g. diversion with a virtual pet); and 3) By providing feedback to encourage on-going engagement (e.g. rewards, progression through levels).

It is important for researchers in material domain to reconstruct and visualize the microstructure of alloy, which helps discover morphologies and properties that can only be found in three dimensional and microscopic space. However, because of the limitation of state-of-the-art sensors, the internal microstructure of the material is not easy to obtain. In this paper, a novel automatic 3D reconstruction method is proposed using diffraction contrast tomography technology to capture the 3D microstructure of Al-La alloy. The pipeline of the proposed method starts from the imaging of Al-La alloy with the LabDCT technique from Carl Zeiss AG, which produces a sequence of 2D microstructure sections. Then, a segmentation algorithm based on superpixel and lifted multicut is proposed to extract the 2D microstructure in an image section. Finally, 2D segmentations are joined together to reconstruct and visulize the 3D microstructure. As a result, a novel morphology of Al-La alloy is recovered with both dendrite and lamellar morphologies. The proposed method has the advantage of the ability to losslessly recover the internal microstructure.

In this work, we propose an easy and a low cost method for the synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene NDG and its silver nanowires NW functionalization NWGN. The synthesis was performed using the improved graphene oxide method, chemical reduction of graphene oxide in the presence of caffeine as green nitrogen source and the subsequently the silver nanowires growth in the surface, by the chemical reductions salts in the presence of NG. Achieving a homogeneous growing (coating) of graphene sheets. The samples were analyzed using conventional characterization techniques: SEM-EDX, XRD, FT-IR, RAMAN, TEM, HRTEM, STEM and XPS.

1) Background: The objective was to evaluate the corrosion resistance of different commercially pure ultrafine-grained (UFG) titanium and its alloys with acid etched surface processed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP); 2) Methods: Coarse-grained and UFG titanium samples were investigated using polarization resistance technique. Surface characteristics of the native oxidized layer were evaluated by TEM and XRD. Electrochemical tests were under physiological electrolyte at a rate of 1 and 10 mV/s. Weight loss tests were performed after immersion into HCl solution for up to 3 years; 3) Results: UFG titanium was less susceptible to corrosion which was identified under lower rates and at higher polarization resistance than its coarse grain counterparts. Titanium Grade 2 and Grade 4 demonstrated similar corrosion susceptibility. Titanium Grade 5 revealed a thin and tightly adhered native oxide layer with adequate corrosion resistance; 4) Conclusions: ECAP process imposed a more compact and adhered oxidized layer. Surface etching techniques delivered a thicker native TiO₂ layer, being both grain refinement and surface etching techniques responsible for the improved corrosion resistance of Titanium samples under physiological environment after 3 years of observation.

The tissue micro environment or milieu consists of a highly dynamic population of cellular and non-cellular components which constitute a complex regulatory network aimed at maintaining the organ homeostasis. In the modern medicine the discovery of miRNAs is undoubtedly a promising field of research and they are essential in orchestrating immune system logic and their release in the gut micro milieu can directly affect bacterial gene expression. Here, we briefly review the role of microRNAs, focuses on their role on immune system components in physiological and pathophysiological gut micro milieu.

Morphological parameters like cotton height, branches, Leaf Area Index and biomass are mainly affected by the vegetation water content (VWC). Periodical assessment of the VWC and crop parameters is required for timely management of the crop for maximizing yield. The study aimed at using both optical and microwave remotely sensed data to assess cotton crop condition based on the above mentioned traits. Vegetation indices (VI) derived from ground based measurements (5 narrow band and 2 broad band VIs) as well as satellite derived reflectance (2 broad band VIs) were assessed. Regression models were derived for estimating LAI, biomass and plant water content using the ground based indices and applied to the satellite derived spectral index (from LISS-III) map to estimate the respective parameters. HH and HV polarization from RISAT-1 were used to derive Radar Vegetation Index (RVI). The coefficient of determination of the model for estimating LAI, biomass and vegetation water content of cotton with optical vegetation index as input parameter were found to be 0.42, 0.51 and 0.52, respectively. The correlation between RVI and plant height, date of planting in terms of the age of the crop and vegetation water content were found to range between 0.4 to 0.6. The fresh biomass from RVI showed spatial variability from 100 gm-2 to 4000 gm-2 while the dry biomass map derived from NDVI showed spatial variability of 50 to 950 g m-2 for the study area. Plant water content in the district varied from 65 to 85%. The correlation between optical vegetation index and RVI was not significant. Hence a multiple linear regression model using both optical index (NDVI and LSWI) and SAR index (RVI) was developed to assess the LAI, biomass and plant water content. The model showed a R2 of 0.5 for LAI estimation but not significant for biomass and water content. This study show cased the use of combined optical and microwave (C band) remote sensing for cotton condition assessment.

A potassium bromide KBr material, which has been widely used as the key element in the Fourier spectrometers and as the output window of the IR-lasers, has been studied with good advantage via applying the carbon nanotubes in order to modify the potassium bromide surface. The laser oriented deposition method has been used to place the carbon nanotubes at the matrix material surface in the vertical position at the different electric field varied from 100 to 600 V×cm-1. The main idea of the improvement of the spectral properties of the potassium bromide structure is connected with the fact that the refractive index of the carbon nanotubes is substantially less than the refractive index of the studied material, and the small diameter of the carbon nanotubes allows one to embed these nano-objects in the voids of the lattice of the model matrix systems. Moreover, the mechanical characteristics and wetting features of the potassium bromide structures have been investigated under the condition mentioned above. Analytical and quantum-chemical simulations have supported the experimental results.

Background: Osteoclastic bone resorption in the compression zone of periodontal ligament (PDL) plays a role in orthodontic tooth movement, and is regulated by the balance of RANKL and OPG. Compression downregulates OPG, conversely, tension upregulates OPG in PDL cells. However, the regulatory mechanism of OPG expression in PDL cells under different mechanical stresses remains unclear. Methods: To study microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles, compression (2g/cm²) or tension (15%-elongation) was applied to immortalized human PDL (HPL) cells, and miRNA was extracted. The miRNA expression was analyzed using a human miRNA microarray, and the changes of the miRNA expression were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. In addition, miR-3198-mimic and -inhibitor were transfected into HPL cells to understand the resulting OPG expression and production. Results: Certain miRNAs were expressed differentially under compression and tension. Some miRNAs including miR-3198 were upregulated only by compression. Real-time RT-PCR confirmed that compression induced miR-3198, but tension reduced it, in HPL cells. miR-3198-inhibitor upregulated and miR-3198-mimic reduced OPG in HPL cells. miR-3198-inhibitor rescued the compression-mediated downregulation of OPG. On the other hand, miR-3198-mimic reduced OPG expression under tension. Conclusion: We conclude that miR-3198 is upregulated by compression and is downregulated by tension, suggesting that miR-3198 downregulates OPG in response to mechanical stress.

In Europe we can see a change in the social structure in the last period. Average life expectancy has increased dramatically over the last 50 years. Because of the improved life situation and advanced level of health care, older people are slower. With advancing age, the likelihood of experiencing a variety of constraints such as visual impairment, reduced hearing or physical ability increases. In such a life stage tenants are often forced to leave their long-term living space because these homes can not serve "new" individual needs and the resulting personal protection goal. This transition from the privacy of their home to the new environment often appears to be a painful change. They will take their familiar and well-known surroundings, because their homes can not be adapted to serve new needs. It must be the policy’s role to create a new inclusive social space and the requirement for architects and designers to create new goals for the design of an adaptable environment. This is a comprehensive approach to the design of the outer and inner space that could serve people even if there is an unexpected situation and changes in movement and physiological limitations of older people. The contribution shows the results of the survey conducted in Germany and Slovakia. In the survey respondents expressed their opinion on what they considered important in creating an adaptive environment. Results are processed graphically with explanation. The results were mainly for designers and developers of the indoor environment. Based on the results of the questionnaire survey, studies of possible modifications in the interior of the flats were then prepared. The contribution yielded these results in three age groups of respondents; i. people aged 35, 50 and over 50.

Conyza canadensis is a species invading large agricultural areas throughout the world, mainly to its ability to evolve herbicide resistance. Specifically, in Hungary, extensive areas have been infested by this species due to the difficulty in controlling it with glyphosate. To corroborate this fact as resistance and not as an incorrect herbicide application, eight suspicious glyphosate-resistant C. canadensis populations from different Hungarian regions were studied. In dose-response assays with glyphosate, the LD50 and GR50 values indicated that populations 1 to 5 were resistant to this herbicide (H-5 population the most resistant). Besides, the shikimic acid accumulation tests corroborated the results observed in the dose-response assays. 11 alternative herbicides from 6 different mode of action (MOA) were applied at field doses as control alternatives on populations H-5 and H-6 (both in the same regions). The H-5 population showed an unexpected resistance to flazasulfuron (ALS-inhibitor). The ALS enzyme activity studies indicated that the I50 for H-5 was 63.3 fold higher compared to its correspondent susceptible population (H-6). Therefore, the H-5 population exhibited multiple-resistance to flazasulfuron and glyphosate, being the first case reported in Europe for this two MOA. For that reason, the other herbicides with different MOA have to be tested here.

It is widely believed that the dramatic transformation of the spherical outflows of AGB stars into the extreme aspherical geometries seen during the planetary nebula (PN) phase is linked to binarity and driven by the associated production of fast jets and central disks/torii. The key to understanding the engines that produce these jets and the jet-shaping mechanisms lies in the study of objects in transition between the AGB and PN phases. I discuss the results of our recent studies with high-angular-resolution (with ALMA & HST) and at high-energies (with GALEX, XMM-Newton & Chandra) of several such objects, which reveal new details of close binary interactions and high-speed outflows. These include two PPNe (the Boomerang Nebula and IRAS16342-3814), and the late carbon star, V Hya. The Boomerang is notable for a massive, high-speed outflow that has cooled below the microwave background temperature, making it the coldest object in the Universe. IRAS16342 is the prime example of the class of water-fountain PPNe (very young PPNe with high-velocity H₂O masers) and shows the signature of a precessing jet. V Hya ejects high-speed bullets every 8.5 years associated with the periastron passage of a companion in an eccentric orbit. I discuss our work on AGB stars with strongly-variable high-energy (FUV, X-ray) emission, suggesting that these objects are in the early stages of binary interactions that result in the formation of accretion disks and jets.

The aim of this work is evaluation of corrosion behavior of SS 304 coated through TIG process. In this work, Ti tube cored with graphite powder was applied. Experimental processes were shown that the optimum parameters for coating procedure are voltage of 15V, current density of 120A and the speed of 2.1mm/s. Investigations on corrosion resistance of coating are shown that not only this composite coating can improve the tribological behavior of this type of stainless steel, but also there is an improvement in its deteriorative property. Moreover, it is observed that mass reduction in coating is 5 times lower than the base metal.

In this article, a critical reflection is made that involves questioning the notion of historic urban landscapes profiled in the Memorandum of Vienna (UNESCO, 2005) and the Paris Recommendation (UNESCO, 2011) as a conceptual paradigm on which to base urban conservation in the 21st century. Its limited methodological development and the assumption of change as an inherent part of the urban condition constitutes the source of many of the problems and difficulties posed by management and protection of contemporary cities, since there is no consensus as to what the acceptable limits of change should be in historic urban landscapes - difficulties that become ever more apparent, given the background of Weberian administrative doctrines present in current governance models. Likewise, the concept of Buffer Zones as a landscape management tool is analyzed, with the aim of establishing new methodological proposals that enable spatial organization to be regulated by defining areas of harmonization that are made up of flexible and multifunctional spaces for cooperation where territorial scale comes into contact with modernization of the historical fabric.

The relationship between economic growth, growth volatility and financial sector development continues to attract attention in the theoretical and empirical literature. Over time, some studies hypothesize that finance has a causal linear relationship with growth. Recently several other authors contradict this claim and argue that the relationship that exists between finance and growth is nonlinear. We investigate these claims for Nigeria for the period between 1970 and 2015, using semi-parametric econometric methods, Hansen sample splitting techniques and threshold estimator. We observed no evidence of ‘Too much finance’ as claimed by many researchers in recent times. We show that the relationship between financial development and economic growth is U-shaped. This is equally true for the relationship between financial development and growth volatility. We also discuss policy implications of our findings and recommend financial innovations and decentralization of stock exchanges to boost access to financial services, in addition, improved regulation to enhance financial market efficiency.

For condensed systems, the incorporation of quantum chemical solvent effects into molecular dynamics simulations has been a major concern. To this end, quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) techniques are popular and powerful options to treat gigantic systems. However, they cannot be directly applied because of temporal and spatial discontinuity problems. To overcome these problems, in a previous study, we proposed a corrective QM/MM method, size-consistent multipartitioning (SCMP) QM/MM, and successfully demonstrated that, using SCMP, it is possible to perform stable molecular dynamics simulations by effectively taking into account solvent quantum chemical effects. The SCMP method is characterized by two original features: size-consistency of a QM region among all QM/MM partitioning and partitioning update. However, in our previous study, the performance was not fully elicited compared to the theoretical upper bound, and the optimal partitioning update protocol and parameters were not fully verified. To elicit the potential performance, in the present study, we simplified the theoretical framework and modified the partitioning protocol.

Polymer-based piezoelectric biomaterials have already proven their relevance for tissue engineering applications. Further, the morphology of the scaffolds plays also an important role in cell proliferation and differentiation. The present work reports on poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), a biocompatible, biodegradable and piezoelectric biopolymer that has been processed in different morphologies, including films, fibres, microspheres and 3D scaffolds. Further, the corresponding magnetically active PHBV-based composites were also produced. The effect of the morphology on physico-chemical, thermal, magnetic and mechanical properties of pristine and composites samples was evaluated, as well as their cytotoxicity. It was observed that the morphology does not strongly affect the properties of the pristine samples but the introduction of cobalt ferrites induces changes in the degree of crystallinity that could affect the applicability of prepared biomaterials. Young modulus is dependent of the morphology and also increases with the addition of cobalt ferrites. Both, pristine and PHBV/cobalt ferrite composite samples are no cytotoxic, indicating their suitability for tissue engineering applications.

The separator membrane is an essential component of lithium-ion batteries, separating the anode and cathode and controlling the number and mobility of the lithium ions. Among the polymer matrices most investigated for battery separators are poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE), poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP), and poly(vinylidene fluoride-cochlorotrifluoroethylene) (PVDF-CTFE), due to their excellent properties such as high polarity and the possibility of controlling the porosity of the materials through binary and ternary polymer/solvent systems, among others. This review presents the recent advances on battery separators based on poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers for lithium-ion batteries. It is divided in the following sections: single polymer and co-polymers, surface modification, composites and polymer blends. Further, a critical comparison between those membranes and other separator membranes is presented, as well as the future trends on this area.

Emergence of more virulent forms of human pathogenic bacteria with multi drug resistance is a serious global issue and requires alternative control strategies. The current study was focused to investigate the antibacterial and antibiofilm potential of ferulic acid grafted chitosan (CFA) against Listeria monocytogenes (LM), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), and Staphylococcus aureus (SA). The present result showed that CFA at 64 µg/mL concentration exhibit bactericidal action against LM and SA (>4 log reduction) and bacteriostatic action against PA (<2 log CFU) within 24 h of incubation. Further studies based on propidium iodide uptake assay, measurement of material released from the cell, and electron microscopic analysis revealed that the bactericidal action of CFA was due to the altered membrane integrity and permeability. CFA dose-dependently inhibited biofilm formation (52-89% range), its metabolic activity (30.8-75.1% range) and eradicated mature biofilms, and reduced viability (71-82% range) of the test bacteria. Also, the swarming motility of LM was differentially affected at sub-MIC concentration of CFA. In the present study, the ability of CFA to kill and alter the virulence production in human pathogenic bacteria will insight a new scope for the application of these biomaterials in healthcare to effectively treat bacterial infections.

Dynamic hedging has been adopted by many insurance companies to mitigate the financial risks associated with variable annuity guarantees. In order to simulate the performance of dynamic hedging for variable annuity products, insurance companies rely on nested stochastic projections, which is highly computationally intensive and often prohibitive for large variable annuity portfolios. Metamodeling techniques have recently been proposed to address the computational issues. However, it is difficult for researchers to obtain real datasets from insurance companies to test metamodeling techniques and publish the results in academic journals. In this paper, we create synthetic datasets that can be used for the purpose of addressing the computational issues associated with the nested stochastic valuation of large variable annuity portfolios. The runtime used to create these synthetic datasets would be about 3 years if a single CPU were used. These datasets are readily available to researchers and practitioners so that they can focus on testing metamodeling techniques.

The pleiotropic biochemical and antioxidant functions of Vitamin C (Vit C) have recently sparked interest in its application in intensive care. Vit C protects important organ systems such as the cardiovascular, neurologic and renal system during inflammation and oxidative stress. Vit C also influences the systems of coagulation and inflammation and its application might prevent the development of organ damage. The current evidence of Vit C’s effect on the pathophysiological reactions during various acute stress events, such as sepsis, shock, trauma, burn and ischemia-reperfusion injury imposes the question, if the application of Vit C might be especially beneficial for cardiac surgery patients, who are routinely exposed to ischemia/reperfusion and subsequent inflammation, systematically affecting different organ systems. This review covers current knowledge about the role of Vit C in cardiac surgery patients with focus on its influence on organ dysfunctions. The relationships between Vit C and clinical health outcomes are reviewed with special emphasis on its application in cardiac surgery. Additionally, this review pragmatically discusses evidence regarding the administration of Vitamin C in every day clinical practice, tackling the issues of safety, monitoring, dosage and most the appropriate application strategy.

Findings from studies of prenatal exposure to pesticides and adverse birth outcomes have been equivocal so far. We examined prenatal exposure to agricultural pesticides in relation to preterm birth and term low birthweight, respectively, in children born between 1998 and 2010 randomly selected from California birth records. We estimated residential exposures to agriculturally applied pesticides within 2 km of residential addresses at birth by pregnancy trimester for 17 individual pesticides and 3 chemical classes (organophosphates, pyrethroids, and carbamates). Among maternal addresses located within 2 km of any agricultural pesticide application, we identified 24,693 preterm and 220,297 term births, and 4,412 term low birthweight and 194,732 term normal birthweight infants. First or second trimester exposures to individual pesticides (e.g., glyphosates, paraquat, imidacloprid) or exposures to 2+ pesticides in the three chemical classes were associated with small increases (3-7%) in risk for preterm birth; associations were stronger for female offspring. We did not find associations between term low birthweight and exposures to pesticides other than for myclobutanil (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.04-1.20) and possibly pyrethroids as a class. Our improved exposure assessment revealed that first and second trimester exposures to pesticides were associated with preterm delivery but few affected term low birthweight.

Background: Coronary tortuosity is a common angiographic finding. Scarce data is available on clinical profile of patients with coronary tortuosity (CT) and its relation with coronary artery disease (CAD). Method: A total 224 patients undergoing angiography for suspected CAD were included in the study. CT was defined by the presence of ≥3 consecutive bends of > 45 degree measured at end-diastole in an epicardial artery ≥2 mm in diameter. CT was present in 45(20.08%) patients in the study and another 45 patients without CT was randomly selected as control (NCT group). Clinical profile of CT and NCT group was compared. Results: Incidence of CT was significantly higher in females (p=0.000) and hypertensives (p=0.001) patients. CT was most commonly seen in Left circumflex coronary artery. Incidence of CAD was significantly lower in CT group as compare to NCT group (0.02). Risk factors for CAD was associated with reduced incidence of CT. Majority (88.46%) patient with CT without CAD presented with chronic stable angina out of which (65.21%) had an objective evidence of myocardial ischemia. Conclusion: CT is more commonly seen females and hypertensive patients. It has negative correlation with CAD. Risk factors of CAD do not predict CT. CT itself can lead to myocardial ischemia.

The consumption of alcohol and drugs of abuse among pregnant women has experienced a significant increase in the last decades. Optimal maternal nutritional status is of great importance for proper fetal development, yet is often altered with alcohol or drugs consumption. There is a lack of information on the effects of alcohol and drugs on maternal nutritional status, so the focus of this review was to provide an overview on nutrional status of mother and fetus in abusers pregnant women. Alcohol and drugs consumption can adversely affect the quality and quantity of proper nutrient supply and energy intake, resulting in malnutrition especially of micronutrients (vitamins, omega-3, folic acid, zinc, choline, iron, copper, selenium). When maternal nutritional status is compromised by alcohol and drugs essential nutrients are not available for the fetus, this can result in suboptimal outcomes like Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). It is critical to determine a means to resolve and reduce the physical and neurological malformations that develop in the fetus as a result of prenatal alcohol and drugs exposure combined with poor maternal nutrition. Prenatal nutrition interventions are required that may prevent or alleviate the development of such abnormalities.

Over the last decade, advances in our understanding about the genetic architecture of complex traits and common diseases, have increased our ability to perform susceptibility genetic testing for diseases in asymptomatic individuals. These technological developments raise complex ethical, legal and social considerations. Here we discuss a series of ethical issues associated with susceptibility genetic testing for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. These include, amongst others, informed consent, disclosure of results and unexpected findings, mandatory screening, privacy and confidentiality, and stigma and genetic discrimination. As knowledge of the genetic basis of these diseases continues growing, and as genetic testing becomes more widespread, we anticipate that it will become increasingly important for scientists and clinicians to engage in the conversation about the ethical, social and policy implications of these technologies.

This study addresses the latent construct of attitudes towards environmental conservation based on study participant’s responses. We measured and evaluated the latent scale based on an 18-item scale instrument, over four experimental strata (N=945) in the US Virgin Islands and the Caribbean. We estimated the latent scale reliability and validity. We further fitted multiple alternative two-parameter logistic (2PL) and graded response models (GRM) from Item-Response Theory. We finally constructed and fitted equivalent structural and generalized structural equation models (SEM/GSEM) for the attitudinal latent scale. All scale measures (composite, alpha-based, IRT-based and SEM-based) were consistently and reliably valid measures of the study participants’ latent attitudes toward conservation. We found statistically significant differences among participant’s attributes relating to socio-demographic, physical and core environmental characteristics of participants. We assert that the nature of relationship between cognitive attitudes and individual as well as social behavior related to environmental conservation.

We investigated the structural evolution of the two-phase blends of polycarbonate (PC) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) at various blend compositions by simultaneous biaxial stretching using optical microscopy and SEM observation. The spherical PMMA domains and PC matrix in 30/70 PC/PMMA were enlarged uniformly at all in-plane direction, while the anisotropic-shaped co-continuous structure in 50/50 PC/PMMA was deformed to crosshatched one by in-plane bimodal orientation. In 70/30 PC/PMMA, the phase inversion was found to occur by simultaneous biaxial stretching; i.e., the spherical PMMA domains were changed to crosshatched matrix by in-plane bimodal orientation due to coalescence of the PMMA domains during the stretching. Owing to the phase inversion, the surface hardness estimated by pencil hardness test became harder from 2B to 2H with increasing the strain from 1.0 to 2.0.

Lean is one of the systematic approach to achieve higher value for organizations through eliminate non-value-added activities. It is an integrated set of tools, techniques, and principles designed to optimize cost, quality and delivery while improving safety. In Vietnam, industry waste management and treatment has become serious issue. The aim of this research is to present the effective of Lean application for industrial wastes collecting and delivery improvement. Through a case study, this paper showed the way of Lean tools and principles applied for wastes management and treatment such as Value Stream Mapping, Pull system, Visual Control, and Andon.... to get benefit on both economic and environment. In addition, the results introduced a good experience for Vietnamese enterprises in cost saving and sustainable development in waste management.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is often resistant to conventional and targeted therapeutics. ERBB4 is expressed throughout normal brain and is an oncogene in several pediatric brain cancers; therefore, we investigated ERBB4 as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in GBM. Using RT-qPCR, we quantified mRNA encoding total ERBB4 and known ERBB4 variants in GBM and non-neoplastic normal brain (NNB) samples. Using immunohistochemistry, we characterized the localization of total and phosphorylated ERBB4 (p-ERBB4) and EGFR protein in archived GBM samples and assessed their association with patient survival. Furthermore, we evaluated the effect of ERBB4 phosphorylation on angiogenesis and tumorigenicity in GBM xenograft models. Total ERBB4 mRNA was significantly lower in GBM than NNB samples, with the JM-a and CYT-2 variants predominating. ERBB4 protein was ubiquitously expressed in GBM but was not associated with patient survival. However, high p-ERBB4 in 11% of archived GBM samples, independent of p-EGFR, was associated with shorter patient survival (12.0±3.2 months) than was no p-ERBB4 (22.5±9.5 months). Increased ERBB4 activation was also associated with increased proliferation, angiogenesis, tumorigenicity and reduced sensitivity to anti-EGFR treatment in xenograft models. Despite low ERBB4 mRNA in GBM, the functional effects of increased ERBB4 activation identify ERBB4 as a potential prognostic and therapeutic target.

The pharmacokinetics of salicylic acid (SA) in sheep was evaluated following intravenous (IV) and oral administration of sodium salicylate (sodium salt of salicylic acid) at different doses. Six healthy sheep were administered sodium salicylate (SS) IV at doses of 10, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight and another six sheep were drenched with 100 and 200 mg/kg of SS orally. Both studies were randomised crossover trials. A one-week washout period between each treatment was allowed in both studies. Blood samples were collected at 0, 15, 30 minutes and 1, 2, 4 and 6 hours after IV and oral SS administrations. Plasma SA concentrations were determined using high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection method. Pharmacokinetic variables were calculated in a non-compartmental model. The elimination half-life (T_{1/2 el}) of SA after IV administration of 200 mg/kg SS was 1.16 ± 0.32 hours. Mean bioavailability of SA was 64%, and mean T_{1/2 el} was 1.90 ± 0.35 hours, after 200 mg/kg of oral SS. The minimum plasma SA concentration (16.8 µg/mL) required to produce analgesia in humans was achieved after IV administration of 100 and 200 mg/kg SS in sheep for about 0.17 hour in this study. Experiments on pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamics modelling are required to determine the actual effective plasma concentration range of SA in sheep.

Both fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver are the end results of most kinds of chronic liver damage and present a common but difficult clinical challenge throughout the world. The inhibition of the fibrogenic, proliferative, and migratory effects of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) has become an experimental therapy for preventing and even reversing hepatic fibrosis. Furthermore, a complete understanding of the function of non-coding RNA-mediated epigenetic mechanisms in HSC activation may improve our perception of liver fibrosis pathogenesis. This review focuses on an evolving view of molecular mechanisms in which HSC activation by miR-29a signaling may moderate their profibrogenic phenotype, thus supporting the use of miR-29a agonists as a potential therapy for treating liver fibrosis in the future.

Muscle mass, strength and physical function are known to decline with age. This is associated with the development of geriatric syndromes including sarcopenia and frailty. These conditions are associated with disability, falls, longer hospital stay, higher readmission rates, institutionalisation, osteoporosis, and death. Moreover, they are associated with reduced quality of life, as well as substantial costs to health services around the world. Dietary protein is essential for skeletal muscle function. Older adults have shown evidence of anabolic resistance, where greater amounts of protein are required to stimulate muscle protein synthesis and therefore require higher daily amounts of dietary protein. Research shows that resistance exercise has the most beneficial effect on preserving skeletal muscle. A synergistic effect has been noted when this is combined with dietary protein, yet studies in this area lack consistency. This is due, in part, to the variation that exists within dietary protein, in terms of dose, quality, source, amino acid composition and timing. Research has targeted participants that are replete in dietary protein with negative results. Inconsistent measures of muscle mass, muscle function, physical activity and diet are used. This review attempts to summarise these issues, as well as introduce the possible role of the gut microbiome and its metabolome in this area.

A study is reported on the electrochemical alloying-dealloying properties of Mg₂Sn intermetallic compounds. ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectra of β-Sn powder, thermally alloyed cubic-Mg₂Sn and an intermediate MgSn nominal composition are used as references. The discharge of a Mg/micro-Sn half-cell led to significant changes in spectra line shape that are explained by a multiphase mechanism involving the coexistence of c-Mg₂Sn, distorted Mg_2-δSn and Mg-doped β-Sn. Capacities and capacity retention were improved by using nanoparticulate tin electrodes. This material reduces significantly the diffusion lengths for magnesium and contains surface SnO and SnO₂, which are partially electroactive. The half-cell potentials were suitable to be combined versus MgMn₂O₄ cathodes. Energy density and cycling properties of the resulting full Mg-ion cells are also scrutinized.

Biomass is a widely distributed and renewable source of carbon. The main objective of this work is to produce an activated carbon from coconut shells with suitable characteristics to separate CO2 from biogas. The textural characterization of the adsorbent has been determined. Pure component adsorption isotherms of CO2 and CH4 at 30, 50 and 70 °C have been measured. Moreover, the performance of the produced activated carbon, as potential adsorbent for CO2 capture from a CO2/CH4 gas mixture has been evaluated under dynamic conditions in a purpose-built fixed-bed setup.

Community peer review is a method that extends the ethics of consent into scientific practices. It gives communities affected by scientific research the ability to determine whether research may cause them harm and be part of determining how knowledge should best circulate to reduce or eliminate that harm. This paper introduces the method of community peer review by first looking at the concepts of consent and refusal, then outlining the steps to community peer review, using a case study of community meetings on a study of plastic ingestion by fish to elucidate the details of each step. Steps include: hiring a community member to the team; researching the social, cultural, and economic contexts of the community; identify the community; ensure skills for community conversation are in place; call the community meeting; conduct the community meeting; and analyze feedback for consent and refusal. Community peer review is premised on the idea that research is not inherently good and can cause harm, and that the best people to know whether and what kinds of harms are likely to occur are community members rather than researchers. The second premise is that the researcher’s “right” to research never supersedes a community’s right to not be harmed.

The Baculoviridae, a family of insect-specific large DNA viruses, is widely used in both biotechnology and biological control. Its applied value stems from millions of years of evolution influenced by interactions with their hosts and the environment. To understand how ecological interactions, have shaped baculovirus diversification, we reconstructed a robust molecular phylogeny using 217 complete genomes and ~580 isolates for which at least one of four lepidopteran core genes was available. We then used a phylogenetic-concept-based approach (mPTP) to delimit 165 baculovirus species, including 38 species derived from new genetic data. Phylogenetic optimization of ecological characters revealed a general pattern of host conservatism punctuated by occasional shifts between closely related hosts and major shifts between lepidopteran superfamilies. Moreover, we found significant phylogenetic conservatism between baculoviruses and the type of plant growth (woody or herbaceous) associated with their insect hosts. In addition, we found that colonization of new ecological niches sometimes led to viral radiation. These macroevolutionary patterns show that besides selection during the infection process, baculovirus diversification was influenced by tritrophic interactions, explained by their persistence on plants and interactions in the midgut during horizontal transmission. This complete eco-evolutionary framework highlights the potential innovations that could still be harnessed from the diversity of baculoviruses.

The characteristics of biogenic aerosols in urban area were explored by determining the composition, temporal distribution of saccharides in PM_2.5 in Shanghai. The total saccharides showed a wide range of 15.2 ng/m³ to 1752.8 ng/m³, with the averaged concentrations were 169.8 ng/m³，300.5 ng/m³，288.4 ng/m³，688 ng/m³ in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. The concerned saccharides include anhydrosaccharides (levoglucosan and mannosan), which were higher in cold seasons due to the increased biomass burning, saccharide alcohols (mannitol, arabitol, sorbitol) and monosaccharides (fructose, glucose), which showed more abundant in warm seasons attributed to the biological emissions. By PMF analysis, four emission sources of saccharides were demonstrated, including biomass burning, fungal spores, soil suspension and plant pollens. Resolution of backward trajectory and fire points showed a process of high concentrations of levoglucosan. We found that concentrations of anhydrosaccharides showed relatively stable under different pollution levels while saccharide alcohols exhibited an obvious decrease, indicated that biomass burning was not the core reason of the heavy haze pollution, however, and high level PM_2.5 pollution might inhibit effects of biological activities.

The article examines church architecture in modern Russia. The historical processes of the development of church architecture are analyzed and systematized not only from the point of view of formal stylistic but also global significance. For this purpose, for the first time, a wide range of sources containing information on the sacred component of church art and on the monuments of temple architecture was studied. At the same time, many fragments of sources were first translated into English. The article uses historical and retrospective research methods that allowed to study the theoretical legacy of the modern period in the history of Russia and at the same time to generalize the place of Russian church architecture in the general context of European architectural development.

Health literacy describes skills and competencies that enable people to gain access to, understand and apply health information to positively influence their own health and the health of those in the social environment. In an increasingly media saturated and digitized world, these skill sets are necessary for accessing and navigating sources of health information and tools, such as television, the Internet, and mobile apps. The concepts of Media Health Literacy (MHL) and eHealth Literacy (eHL) describe the specific competencies such tasks require. This article introduces the two concepts, and then reviews findings on the associations of MHL and eHL with several contextual variables in the social environment such as socio-demographics, social support, and system complexity, as a structural variable. As eHL and MHL are crucial for empowering people to actively engage in their own health, a growing body of literature reports of the potential and the effectiveness of intervention initiatives to positively influence these competencies. From an ethical standpoint, equity is emphasized, stressing the importance of accessible media environments for all - including those at risk of exclusion from (digital) media sources. Alignment of micro and macro contextual spheres will ultimately facilitate both non-digital and digital media to effectively support and promote public health.

In the lightning rods categorized as ESE an intermittent voltage impulse is applied to the lightning rod to modulate the electric field at its tip in an attempt to speed up the initiation of a connecting leader from the lightning rod when it is under the influence of a down coming stepped leader. In this paper it is shown that due to the stepping nature of the down coming stepped leader, there is a natural modulation of the electric field at the tip of any lightning rod exposed to the lightning stepped leaders and this modulation is much more intense than any artificial modulation that is possible under practical conditions. Based on the results it is claimed that artificial modulation of the electric field at the tip of lightning rods by applying voltage pulses to it is an unnecessary endeavor because the nature itself has endowed the tip of the lightning rod with a modulating electric field. Thus, as far as the effectiveness of artificial modulation of the tip electric field is concerned, there could be no difference in the lightning attachment efficiency between ESE and Franklin lightning rods.

Rhotekin is an effector protein for small GTPase Rho. This protein consists of a Rho binding domain (RBD), a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain, proline-rich regions and a C-terminal PDZ-binding motif. We and other groups have identified various binding partners for Rhotekin and proposed their possible physiological roles. However, functions of Rhotekin per se are largely unknown and information about its physiological roles are fragmentary. In this review, we summarize known features of Rhotekin in neuronal tissues and cancer cells. We also describe characteristics of binding partners for Rhotekin and predicted roles of their interaction.

Background: Gut-Brain-Axis provides bidirectional communicational route; imbalance of which can have pathophysiological consequences. It is a frontier in autism research, affects 85% of autistic children (NIH report). Their microbiome has few overall microbes and smaller number of health promising microbes than their neurotypical peers. We hypothesize autism gut might play a role in manifestation of autism behaviours and on treatment, can revert back to normal behaviour considerably. The aim is to better understand to what degree gut microbiota of autism subjects differs from controls and identify bacterial species present exclusively in autism. Materials and Methods: 16s-rRNA-sequence of autism-subjects were retrieved from the American Gut Project Archive. Taxonomic assignment was inferred by similarity based methods using Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology (QIIME). Species abundance was characterized and co-occurrence network was built to infer species interaction using measures of diversity. Statistical parameters were considered to validate the findings. Result: A total of 206 (1.8%) of American Gut Project datasets onstituted of autistic samples. Various bacteria such as Akkermansia sp., and Prevotella sp., were harboured in higher abundance in autistic children with statistical significance than in controls. Conclusion: These findings indicate connecting-link between gut-microbiome-brain-axis and autistic behaviour which can result in improved management

Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, this study examines the socioeconomic characteristics of Internet users, as well as the relationships between the dynamics of different forms of online activities and the subjective well-being of urbanites and rural migrants in urban China. The study finds that online behaviour may clearly reflect differences in individuals’ personal traits and socioeconomic positions. Patterns of the association between online activities and subjective well-being tend to differ among rural migrants and urbanites, especially in terms of depression. A difference-in-differences model is employed to estimate the impact of intensified engagement in online activities on depression and life satisfaction from 2010 to 2016. The results show that increased frequency of online entertainment exhibits a comparatively positive effect on depression and life satisfaction. Spending more time on online social networking has a similar impact on rural migrants, but not on urbanites. These findings suggest that the rapid development of urban China’s online community has important implications for residents’ subjective well-being.

Automobile proving ground is important for the research of vehicles which is used for the vehicle dynamics, durability testing, braking testing, etc. However, the roads in automobile proving ground will inevitably be damaged with the extension of the service life. In most previous researches, equipment similar to laser cross-section was used to detect pavement quality, the principle of which was to reflect pavement quality by detecting road surface roughness. This method ignores the elastic deformation of the roads itself when the vehicle is traveling on it and hardly compensate for the amendment. Therefore, this article presents a new method based on force sensor to reduce the impact of elastic deformation such as wheel tyre deformation, pavement deformation, and wheel rim deformation. In which, force sensors mounted on the wheels collect the three-dimensional dynamic load of the wheel.The presented method has been tested with two sets of cobblestone road load data, and the results show that The　incentives imposed by the test vehicle on the target road are 88.3%, 91.0%, and 92.05% of the incentives imposed by the test vehicle on the standard road in three dimensions, respectively. It is clear that the proposed method has strong potential effectiveness to be applied for lose detection of the special road application.

Miscarriage due to blastocyst implantation failure occurs in up to two-thirds of all miscarriage cases in human. The calcium ion has been shown to be involved in many cellular signal transduction pathways as well as in the regulation of cell adhesion, which is necessary for the embryo implantation process. Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDs) during early gestation results in disruption of intrauterine implantation and uterine reception, leading to implantation failure. In this study, ovarian estrogen (E2), bisphenol A (BPA), or 4-tert-octylphenol (OP), with or without ICI 182,780 (ICI) were injected subcutaneously from gestation day 1 to gestation day 3 post-coitus. The expression levels of the calcium transport genes were assessed in maternal uteri and implantation sites. The number of implantation sites was significantly low in the OP group, and implantation sites were absent in the E2 and EDs+ICI groups. There were different calcium transient transport channel expression levels in uterus and implantation site samples. The levels of TRPV5 and TRPV6 gene expression were significantly increased by EDs with/without ICI treatment in uterus. Whereas, TRPV5 and TRPV6 gene expression were significantly lower in implantation sites samples. NCX1 and PMCA1 mRNA levels were significantly decreased by OP and BPA in the implantation site samples. Compared to vehicle treatment in uterus, both the MUC1 mRNA and protein levels were markedly high in all but the BPA group. Taken together, these results suggest that both BPA and OP can impair embryo implantation through alteration of calcium transport gene expressions and by affecting uterine receptivity.

Mercury is a neurotoxin, with certain organic forms of the element being particularly harmful to humans. The Minamata Convention was adopted to reduce the intentional use and emission of mercury. Because mercury is an element, it cannot be decomposed. Mercury-containing products and mercury used for various processes will eventually enter the waste stream, and landfill sites will become a mercury sink. While landfill sites can be a source of mercury pollution, the behavior of mercury in solid waste within a landfill site is still not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the depth profile of mercury, the levels of methyl mercury (MeHg), and the factors controlling methylation in an old landfill site that received waste for over 30 years. Three sampling cores were selected, and boring sampling was conducted to a maximum depth of 18 m, which reached the bottom layer of the landfill. Total mercury (THg) and MeHg were measured in the samples to determine the characteristics of mercury at different depths. Bacterial species were identified by 16S rRNA amplification and sequencing, because the methylation process is promoted by a series of genes. It was found that the THg concentration was 19–975 ng/g, with a geometric mean of 298 ng/g, which was slightly less than the 400 ng/g concentration recorded 30 years previously. In some samples, MeHg accounted for up to 15–20% of THg, which is far greater than the general level in soils and sediments, although the source of MeHg was unclear. The genetic data indicated that hgcA was present mostly in the upper and lower layers of the three cores, merA was almost as much as hgcA, while the level of merB was hundreds of times less than those of the other two genes. A significant correlation was found between THg and MeHg as well as between MeHg and MeHg/THg. In addition a negative correlation was found between THg and merA. The coexistence of the three genes indicated that both methylation and demethylation processes could occur, but the lack of merB was a barrier for demethylation.

In this article/review, the selective interactions of several berberine and palmatine derivatives with various DNA G-quadruplex structures are reported. These derivatives were constructed starting from two natural compounds, berberine and palamatine, through specific synthetic passages following two different schemes for each of them and using several substituents. The details of these synthesis are also described. Indeed, the study of the interactions of these derivative compounds with various G-quadruplex forming sequences was carried out by means of various structural and biochemical techniques. The results show that the presence of suitable side chains are very useful to improve the interaction of the ligands with G-quadruplex structures. Thus, since G-quadruplex formation is promoted by these compounds, which have never been reported before, these may be tested as potential anticancer drugs.

We extended the usage of the expansion method based on Sine-Gordon equation to the two dimensional Fisher equation. The relation between the trigonometric and hyperbolic functions are derived from the Sine-Gordon equation dened in two space dimension. The complex-valued traveling wave solutions to the two dimensional Fisher and Nagumo equations are set in forms a nite series of multiplications of powers of sech(.) and tanh(.) functions.

Background: Drug incorporated in hair are exposed to the environment and to cosmetic and chemical treatments, with possible decrease of their content. Knowledge concerning the effect of sun light on drug content in hair can be helpful to the forensic toxicologist, in particular when investigating on drug concentrations above or below pre-determined cut-offs. Materials and Methods: Twenty authentic positive hair samples were selected that had previously tested positive for amphetamines and/or ketamine. Washed hairs were divided into two identical strands: the former was exposed at 765 W/m² (310–800 nm spectrum of irradiance) for 48 hours in a solar simulator, the latter was kept in the dark. Hair samples were extracted and analyzed by LC-HRMS detection. The percent photodegradation was calculated for each analyte (amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylendioxyamphetamine methylendioxymethamphetamine, ketamine, norketamine). In parallel, photodegradation processes of standard molecules dissolved in aqueous and organic solutions were studied. Results: In 20 hair samples positive for the targeted analytes, exposure to artificial sun light induced an appreciable decrease of drug concentrations. The concentration ranges in the non-irradiated hair samples were 0.01–24 ng/mg; 65% of samples exhibited a decrease in post-irradiation samples, with reduction from 3% to 100%. When more drugs were present in the same hair sample (e.g, MDMA and ketamine) the degradation yields were compound dependent. A degradation product induced by irradiation of ketamine in aqueous and methanol solutions was identified; it was also found to be present in a true positive hair sample after irradiation. Conclusions: Ketamine, amphetamines and their metabolites incorporated in hair of drug users undergo degradation when irradiated by artificial sunlight. Only for ketamine a photoproduct was identified in irradiated standard solutions and in true positive irradiated hair. When decisional cut-offs are applied to hair analysis, photodegradation must be taken into account since sunlight may produce false negative results. Moreover, new markers could be investigated as evidence of illicit drug use.

The Combined Elevation Test (CET) is a musculoskeletal screening technique (MST) replicates the streamline position in swimming and is commonly used in various sports. Although the CET is widely used, no normative data exist within an adolescent population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a normative data set for the CET within an adolescent population and to evaluate the influence various demographic and anthropometric variables. Data was collected for 416 participants aged between 8 and 18 years old. Age and arm span showed a significant correlation with CET scores (arm span r_s (105) = .478, p = .000, age r_s (416) = .238 p = .000). Regression analysis further quantified the influence of arm span and age on CET scores accounting for 23.1% and 5.3% of variability respectively. These results can be used as a reference point for clinicians and coaches who are using the CET within their assessment.

MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ calculations were carried out for the ZFH₃-B complexes (Z = C, Si, Ge, Sn and Pb; B = C₂H₂, C₂H₄, C₆H₆ and C₅H₅^-; relativistic effects were taken into account for Ge, Sn and Pb elements). These calculations are supported by other approaches; the decomposition of the energy of interaction, Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) and Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) method. The results show that tetrel bonds with π-electrons as Lewis bases are classified as Z…C links between single centers (C is an atom of the π-electron system) or as Z…π interactions where F-Z bond is directed to the mid-point (or nearly so) of the CC bond of the Lewis base. The analogues systems with Z…C/π interactions were found in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). It was found that the strength of interaction increases with the increase of the atomic number of the tetrel element and that for heavier tetrel elements the ZFH₃ tetrahedral structure is more deformed towards the structure with the planar ZH₃ fragment. The results of calculations show that the tetrel bond is sometimes accompanied by the Z-H…C hydrogen bond or even sometimes the ZFH₃-B complexes are linked only by the hydrogen bond interaction.

Crowdsourced Data (CSD) generated by citizens is becoming more popular as its potential utilisation in many applications is increasing due to its currency and availability. However, the quality of CSD, including its relevance, is often questioned as the data is not generated by professionals nor follows standard data collection procedures. The quality of CSD can be assessed according to a range of attributes including its relevance. Information relevance has been explored through using in Geographic Information Retrieval (GIR) techniques to identify relevant information. This research tested a relevance assessment approach for CSD by adapting relevance assessment techniques available in the GIR domain. The thematic and geographic relevance were assessed using the Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF), Vector Space Model (VSM) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques. The thematic and geographic specificities of the queries were calculated as 0.44 and 0.67 respectively, which indicates the queries used were more geographically specific than thematically specific. The Spearman's rho value of 0.62 indicated that the final ranked relevance lists showed reasonable agreement with a manually classified list and confirmed the potential of the approach for CSD relevance assessment for other possible crowdsourced data analysis.

In this article, bio-composites derived from starch-glycerol biodegradable matrix reinforced with jute fibers have been fabricated using the wet hand lay-up and compression moulding techniques. Samples having different weight percentages of jute fiber in the starch matrix have been analysed. The fibers surface was chemically treated by alkaline sodium hydroxide for improving the interphase bonding between fiber and matrix. Tensile test for the composites were done and the sample with highest tensile strength was selected for further tests that included water absorption, scanning electron microscopy and thermal analysis. It has been concluded that the ultimate tensile strength was found to be maximum for the composition of 15% fiber by weight composite as 7.547 MPa without epoxy coating and 10.43 MPa with epoxy coating. The major disadvantage of bio-composite is its high water absorption property, which in this study has been inhibited by the epoxy resin layer. Herein, the results of various tests done disclose a noteworthy improvement in the overall properties of bio-composite, in comparison to the neat biodegradable starch matrix.

There is a continuous growth of heat pump installations in residential buildings in Germany. The heat pumps were not only used for space heating and domestic hot water consumption but also to offer flexibility to the grid. the high coefficient of performance and the low cost of heat storages made the heat pumps an optimal candidate for the power to heat applications. Thus, several questions are raised about the optimal integration and control of the heat pump system with buffer storages to maximize its operation efficiency and minimize the operation costs. In this paper, an experimental investigation is performed to study the performance of a ground source heat pump (GSHP) with a combi-storage under several configurations and control factors. The experiments were performed on an innovative modular testbed that is capable of emulating a ground source to provide the heat pump with different temperature levels at different times of the day. Moreover, it can emulate the different building loads such as the space heating load and the domestic hot water consumption in real-time. The data gathered from the testbed and different experimental studies were used to develop a simulation model based on Modelica that can accurately simulate the dynamics of a GSHP in a building. The model was validated based on different metrics. Energetically, the difference between the developed model and the measured values was only 3.08\% and 4.18\% for the heat generation and electricity consumption, respectively.

This paper establishes methods that quantify the structure of statistical interactions within a given data set using the characterization of information theory in cohomology by finite methods, and provides their expression in terms of statistical physic and machine learning. Following [1–3], we show directly that k multivariate mutual-informations (I_k) are k-coboundaries. The k-cocycles are given by I_k = 0, which generalize statistical independence to arbitrary dimension k. The topological approach allows to investigate Shannon’s information in the multivariate case without the assumptions of independent identically distributed variables. We develop the computationally tractable subcase of simplicial information cohomology represented by entropy H_k and information I_k landscapes. The I₁ component defines a self-internal energy functional U_k, and (−1)^k I_k,k≥2 components define the contribution to a free energy functional G_k of the k-body interactions. The set of information paths in simplicial structures is in bijection with the symmetric group and random processes, provides a topological expression of the 2nd law and points toward a discrete Noether theorem (1st law). The local minima of free-energy, related to conditional information negativity and the non-Shannonian cone of Yeung [4], characterize a minimum free energy complex. This complex formalizes the minimum free-energy principle in topology, provides a definition of a complex system, and characterizes a multiplicity of local minima that quantifies the diversity observed in biology. Finite data size effects and estimation bias severely constrain the effective computation of the information topology on data, and we provide simple statistical tests for the undersampling bias and for the k-dependences following [5]. We give an example of application of these methods to genetic expression and cell-type classification. The maximal positive I_k identifies the variables that co-vary the most in the population, whereas the minimal negative I_k identifies clusters and the variables that differentiate-segregate the most. The methods unravel biologically relevant I₁₀ with a sample size of 41. It establishes generic methods to quantify the epigenetic information storage and a unified epigenetic unsupervised learning formalism.

Genus Clematis is one of the largest within Ranunculaceae. Here we report the chloroplast genome of two Clematis species, C. brachyura and C. trichotoma endemic to Korea. The chloroplast genome lengths of C. brachyura and C. trichotoma are 159,532 bp and 159,170 bp, respectively. Gene contents in the complete chloroplast genomes of these two Clematis species are identical to that of most Ranunculaceae and other angiosperms. However, our data results demonstrated that genus Clematis has inversion and rearrangement events concerning gene rps4 gene, rps16 to trnH region, and trnL to ndhC region, and IR regions expansion. Comparison of IR regions among Ranunculaceae species revealed that Clematis species contained six protein coding genes (infA, rps8, rpl14, rpl16, rps3, and rpl22) usually found in the long single copy (LSC) region of other species. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that genus Clematis is closely related to genus Ranunculus. Differences in repeat structure, substitution rates, and IR expansion in genera Clematis and Ranunculus, explained their relationship. Clematis species showed slightly higher tandem repeats content than Ranunculus species. The six protein-coding genes showed lower synonymous substitution rates in the IR of Clematis species than in the LSC of Ranunculus species. Overall, the chloroplast genomes and results presented here provide important information on the evolution of Ranunculaceae.

Oilfield produced water (OPW) is used to boost freshwater sources for crop irrigation in California's agriculturally important Central Valley. OPW is known to contain salts, metals, hydrocarbons, alkylphenols, naturally radioactive materials, biocides, and other compounds from drilling and production processes. Less is known about the potential uptake and accumulation of these compounds in crops and soil irrigated with OPW. In this study 23 potted mandarin orange plants were irrigated 2-3 times weekly (depending on season) with water containing three different concentrations of the known OPW heavy metals barium, chromium, lead, and silver. Seven sets of samples of soil and leaves and all fruits were collected and processed using microwave-assisted digestion (EPA Method 3051A). Processed samples were analyzed using ICP-OES. ANOVA, ANCOVA, and Tukey’s honest significant difference test were used to examine the effects of metal concentrations in the irrigation water, sample number, and number of watering days on the metal concentrations in the soil, leaf, and fruit samples. Accumulation of barium in soil and leaves was strongly positively associated with sample and number of watering days, increasing nearly 2,000-fold. Lead also showed an upward trend, increasing up to 560-fold over baseline level. Chromium showed an increase in the soil that tapered off, but less consistent results in the leaves and fruit. The silver results were more volatile, but also indicated at least some level of accumulation in the tested media. The smallest absolute accumulation was observed for chromium. Concentrations in the fruit were highest in the peel, followed by pith and juice. Accumulation of all heavy metals was generally highest in the soil and plants that received the highest irrigation water concentration. Considering the potential for adverse human health effects associated with ingesting soluble barium contained in food and drinking water, and to a lesser extent chromium and lead, the study signals that it is important to conduct further research into whether OPW contaminants can enter the food chain and pose risks to consumers.

Population based studies have associated poor living conditions with the persistent disparity in the health of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. This project assesses the applicability of the Health Community Assessment Tool and its role in improving the environment of a small community in the Midwest of WA. The action research cycles started with the initial reflection on the suitability of the HCAT version 2 for the local community context and whether it was fit-for-purpose. The researcher provided ‘critical companionship’, while the participants of the study were invited to be co-researchers (the Assessors) who critically examined the HCAT and assess the community. The relevant domains to the serviced town (an outer regional community) were pest control and animal management; healthy housing; food supply; community vibrancy, pride and safety; reducing environmental tobacco smoke; and promoting physical activity. The Assessors found the HCAT descriptors mostly aligned with their community context but found some of the items difficult to apply. Based on participant’s suggestions, some of the original scoring scales were reformatted. School attendance and illicit drug use were identified as a key outcome indicator for youth but were missing from the HCAT. The HCAT domains applied helped streamlining core business of agencies in the local community. The face validity of HCAT items were confirmed in this research with minor adjustments to reflect local context. Youth engagement to education is of high community concern and the development of an item would create similar interagency collaborative dialogues.

This study aimed to demonstrate the existence of antiviral RNA silencing mechanisms in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum by probing wild-type and RNA-silencing-deficient strains of the fungus with an RNA virus and a circular DNA virus. Key silencing-related genes, specifically dicers, were disrupted in order to dissect the RNA silencing pathway and provide useful information on fungal control. Dicers Dcl-1, Dcl-2, and both Dcl-1/Dcl-2- genes were displaced by selective marker(s). Disruption mutants were then compared for changes in phenotype, virulence, susceptibility to viral infection, and small RNA accumulation compared to the wild-type strain. Disruption of Dcl-1 or Dcl-2 resulted in no changes in phenotype compared to wild-type S. sclerotiorum; however, the double dicer mutant strain exhibited slower growth. To examine the effect of viral infection on strains containing null-mutations of Dcl-1, Dcl-2 or both genes, mutants were transfected with full-length RNA transcripts of a hypovirus SsHV2L and copies of a single-stranded DNA mycovirus- SsHADV-1 as a synthetic virus. Results indicate that the ΔDcl-1/Dcl-2 double mutant which was slow growing without virus infection exhibited much more severe debilitation following virus infection. Altered colony morphology including: reduced pigmentation, significantly slower growth, and delayed sclerotial formation. Additionally, there is an absence of virus-derived small RNAs in the virus-infected ∆Dcl-1/Dcl-2 mutant compared to the virus-infected wild-type strain which displays a high percentage of virus-derived small RNA. The findings of these studies suggest that if both dicers are silenced, invasive nucleic acids which include mycoviruses ubiquitous in nature- can greatly debilitate the virulence of fungal plant pathogens.

Ever since the Cadastre and Land Registry have existed in Spain, they have been completely separate organisations with very different objectives, which influence the real-estate reality. Their coordination is essential to better identify buildings and to more suitably render services to citizens and Administrations. To this end, Law 13/2015 was passed in 2015 for this desirable and pressing Cadastre-Land Registry coordination to come about. This law came into force on 1 November 2015, and coincided with the development of the technical aspects of the graphical information exchange among the Cadastre, Land Registries and Notaries. Several ministries and different organisations, like the Cadastre personnel, jurists, technicians, and even citizens, are implied in this law. Among the technical aspects, georeferenced graphical representations and GML exchange files adapted to the European INSPIRE directives stand out. Such technical aspects are a genuine revolution as they were transferred to the legal world. After more than 2 years after its application, it is still in its initial and adaptation stages because it is a long-standing law that allows land registry units-cadastral parcels to be coordinated while they are incorporated into real-estate trade.