The rise and affirmation of the platform society reshaped production models, patterns of social, public and political life, and shared norms, values and cultural practices. The current scenario brings significant challenges for the training of citizens in the use of digital technologies. A new digital civic education should respond to very complex problems (such as hate speech, cyberbullying, sexting and the promotion of respectful behaviours online). In doing so, educators need to reorient the digital skills educational paradigms, adapting them to the new social (and socio-technical) complexity. Such a process should lead to overcome the concept of technical skills, embrace a more comprehensive vision of citizenship, foster a more deep knowledge of digital platforms mechanisms, and develop a critical awareness of the digital dimension of public life.


The purpose of the work is to study the structural features of the tripod-type parallel manipulator as well as to solve direct and inverse kinematic problems for such a manipulator. The developed algorithms and computer-generated programs for synthesis and analysis of the tripod-type parallel manipulator are useful for designing spatial mechanisms with parallel kinematics with many degrees of freedom, with an arbitrary number of edges and an arbitrary arrangement of segments with different kinematic pairs that can be used in many ways. For example, the foregoing can be used in machine processing of the inner surfaces of the cavities of complex shape, during maintenance and reclamation work in pipeline, during surgical operations in medicine etc.


The unprecedented expansion of wireless technologies and the global pandemic of 2020-2021, which forced many educational establishments out of traditional face-to-face and into online instructional environments, have created an urgency for achieving a better understanding of the various education-related uses of mobile phones, and students' attitudes toward them, worldwide. We conducted a questionnaire-based study to explore college undergraduate students' perceptions and uses of mobile phones, with a focus on instructor-student communication and classroom use, across three diverse cultural contexts: Ukraine, Oman, and the United States. Based on our findings, we suggest that conceptualizing mobile phones as cultural tools and situating their use within cultural discourses illuminates how – and explains why – mobile phones are not "the same" tools for all students. The findings offer insights into students' (developing) perspectives on uses of mobile phones, and provide grounds from which to formulate productive, and culturally appropriate, means of using them for educational purposes.


The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has been a mixed blessing for economic development. While exports to the US economy have increased, dependency may hinder economic growth if countries do not diversify or upgrade before temporary provisions expire. This article evaluates the impact of the temporary Tariff Preference Levels (TPLs) granted to Nicaragua under CAFTA and the consequences of TPL expiration. Using trade statistics, country- and firm-level data from Nicaragua's National Free Zones Commission (CNZF) and data from field research, we estimate Nicaragua's apparel sector will contract as much as 30–40% after TPLs expire. Our analysis underscores how rules of origin and firm nationality affect where and how companies do business, and in so doing, often constrain sustainable export growth.


Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process often used to build geometrically complex prototypes and parts. It is becoming more popular since it improves products by eliminating the need for high-priced equipment. Materials, printing methods, and printing variables all impact the mechanical characteristics of printed items. The process parameters of FDM affect the parts' quality and functionality. This study examines the influence of different infill patterns on test specimens made of polylactic acid (PLA) tensile strength. Total of 10 different infill patterns (IPs): Grid, Lines, Triangles, Tri-Hexagon, Cubic, Gyroid, Zig-zag, Concentric, Octet, and Cubic subdivision were taken as process variables. Samples were printed using processing parameters (speed 60 mm/s, layer height 0.1 mm, infill density 80%, extruded at 200◦C). The ASTM D638 tensile test was used to determine the tensile strength based on this printing parameter. According to tensile test results, the infill pattern significantly affects the tensile strength. The results showed that the concentric infill pattern has a higher tensile strength of 32.174 MPa, whereas the triangles infill pattern has a lower tensile strength of 20.934 MPa.


All patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) require treatment to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and to prevent progression of renal failure. ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers are widely used for cardio- and nephroprotection in patients with CKD. Sodium glucose cotransporter type 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors show significant prospects for reducing morbidity and mortality in this population. SGLT-2 inhibitors have been developed for treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, evidence from multiple randomized clinical trials suggested that these drugs have cardio- and nephroprotective effects in patients with and without diabetes. Despite a wealth of data, SGLT-2 inhibitors remain underused by nephrologists or cardiologists. This is not surprising since new therapies traditionally take decades from research to clinical implementation due to many barriers, including lack of knowledge, concern about drug side effects, lack of decision support, cost, and clinical inertia. The review article presents data from scientific studies on the renoprotective effect of SGLT-2 inhibitors and the mechanisms of this activity in CKD patients.


Four hundred forty-eight patients with laryngeal cancer were treated in our department between 1973 and 1992. There were 114 supraglottic (25.4%), 330 glottic (73.7%) and four subglottic tumors (0.9%). The male to female ratio was approximately 12 :1, and the mean age of patients was 63.4 years. According to the TNM classification of malignant tumors proposed by the UICC (1987), eight cases of supraglottic tumor (7.0%) were stage I , 29 (25.4%) stage , 26 (22.8%) stage M , and 51 (44.8%) stage IV. Fifteen cases of glottic tumor (4.6%) were stage 0, 134 (40.5%) stage I, 99 (30.0%) stage II, 60 (18.2%) stage M , and 22 (6.7%) stage IV, One case of subglottic tumor (25.0%) was stage I, and three (75.0%) stage III. The early stage cases (stage I , II) were predominant in the glottic type, while advanced stage cases (stage El , IV) were predominant in the supraglottic type. In 58 cases of supraglottic tumor (50.9%), total laryngectomy was performed, and in 197 cases of glottic tumor (59.7%), radiotherapy was chosen as the initial treatment. Laryngeal function was preserved in approximately 65% of all cases. The 5-and 10-year survival rate in supraglottic tumor were 55.7% and 50.0%. In glottic tumor, 80.7% and 75.7%. In subglottic tumor, 100.0% and 100.0% respectively. The 5-and 10-year survival rate were 75.9% and 68.7% in the entire series.


Ethylene receptors are multispanning membrane proteins that negatively regulate ethylene responses via the formation of a signaling complex with downstream elements. To better understand their biochemical functions, we investigated the membrane topology and subcellular localization of CmERS1, a melon (Cucumis melo) ethylene receptor that has three putative transmembrane domains at the N terminus. Analyses using membrane fractionation and green fluorescent protein imaging approaches indicate that CmERS1 is predominantly associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. Detergent treatments of melon microsomes showed that the receptor protein is integrally bound to the ER membrane. A protease protection assay and N-glycosylation analysis were used to determine membrane topology. The results indicate that CmERS1 spans the membrane three times, with its N terminus facing the luminal space and the large C-terminal portion lying on the cytosolic side of the ER membrane. This orientation provides a platform for interaction with the cytosolic signaling elements. The three N-terminal transmembrane segments were found to function as topogenic sequences to determine the final topology. High conservation of these topogenic sequences in all ethylene receptor homologs identified thus far suggests that these proteins may share the same membrane topology.


We report on the usefulness of three LITMUS tools in distinguishing bilingual children with SLI (Bi-SLI) from bilingual children with typical development (Bi-TD), in France: LITMUS-NWR-FR (non-word repetition), LITMUS-SR-FR (sentence repetition), and LITMUS-PABIQ (parental questionnaire). 82 bilingual children, aged 5–8, who had all been exposed to both French and either Arabic, Portuguese or Turkish, recruited both in ordinary schools and in SLP practices, were divided into Bi-TD ( n  = 61) and Bi-SLI ( n  = 21) groups based on parental questionnaire (LITMUS-PABIQ) information and standardized language scores in each language. Monolingual controls included 17 children with SLI and 37 TD children. NWR and SR significantly distinguished between the Bi-TD and the Bi-SLI children, and there was minimal impact of different factors related to bilingual development on children's performance.


Growth rate strongly influences survival and reproductive success in anurans, particularly during larval and juvenile stages. In tadpoles the availability of shelter has been linked to increased growth rates, but work on recently metamorphosed anurans has been limited. Three species (Physalaemus pustulosus, Leptodactylus fuscus and Mannophryne trinitatis) were used to examine the effects that shelters have on growth rates and behaviour in the laboratory. Shelter availability had a strong effect on growth in M. trinitatis and a weaker effect on L. fuscus and P. pustulosus. Shelter provided advantages in the trade-off between predator avoidance and resource gathering and/or osmoregulatory benefits. Osmoregulatory benefits may have had the greater impact on growth rates for three reasons: (1) the ability to burrow in L. fuscus and P. pustulosus would more likely offset the osmoregulatory benefits of having shelters available, as individuals without shelters spent significantly more time burrowing; (2) individuals with shelter available were more active than those without, but the difference was not significant; and (3) the humidity under the shelters was significantly greater than within the rest of the tank. All frogs spent a large amount of time under shelters, if available. Regardless of the causes for any accelerated growth rate, shelters should therefore be provided in any terrarium for captive breeding colonies. The substrate choice of all three species reflected their natural habitat, with M. trinitatis (the stream frog) spending the majority of time in water and the toad-like P. pustulosus spending < 5% of its time in water. L. fuscus behaviour also reflected its natural habitat preferences. Thus, careful consideration of a species' natural history must be made when selecting the substrates to be used in terraria.


Regenerative medicine is in need of solid, large animal models as a link between rodents and humans to evaluate the functionality, immunogenicity, and clinical safety of stem cell-derived cell types. The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is an excellent large animal model, genetically close to humans and readily used worldwide in clinical research. Until now, only two groups showed the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from the common marmoset using integrating retroviral vectors. Therefore, we reprogrammed bone marrow-derived mesenchymal cells (MSCs) of adult marmosets in the presence of TAV, SB431542, PD0325901, and ascorbic acid via a novel, excisable lentiviral spleen focus-forming virus (SFFV)-driven quad-cistronic vector system (OCT3/4, KLF4, SOX2, C-MYC). Endogenous pluripotency markers like OCT3/4, KLF4, SOX2, C-MYC, LIN28, NANOG, and strong alkaline phosphatase signals were detected. Exogenous genes were silenced and additionally the cassette was removed with a retroviral Gag precursor system. The cell line could be cultured in absence of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and could be successfully differentiated into embryoid bodies and teratomas with presence of all three germ layers. Directed differentiation generated neural progenitors, megakaryocytes, adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteogenic cells. Thus, all criteria for fully reprogrammed bone marrow-MSCs of a nonhuman primate with a genetically sophisticated construct could be demonstrated. These cells will be a promising tool for future autologous transplantations.


In contrast to shareholder-owned organizations, worker-owned cooperative organizations foster employee wellbeing such as employee satisfaction as an important outcome by itself. Due to expansions and economic fluctuations, larger worker-owned cooperations nowadays use mixtures of employment contracts resulting in varying shares of co-owners, contracted and temporary employees in workplaces. In the current paper, we research if this situation challenges the moral commitment of worker cooperatives to their employees, which derive from the cooperative philosophy on corporate responsibility. Where previous research contrasted employee wellbeing in worker cooperatives with share- holder owner organizations, this paper describes how various shares of co-owners in workplaces change mediating processes of helping climate and workplace participation and ultimately result in different levels of employee satisfaction. Archival data combined with survey data of 5907 employees in 99 hypermarkets were tested with multivariate analyses, and indicated that the helping climate and workplace participation positively mediated the association between the share of co-owners in hypermarkets and employee satisfaction. The findings imply that traditional worker-owned cooperatives, where a majority of all workers are owners, had more success in fostering cooperative values as a strategic outcome.


Three switchgrass cultivars ('Performer', 'BoMaster', and 'Colony' switchgrass) were delignified using NaOH at varying concentrations and residence times at 121 oC for improved sugar production in enzymatic hydrolysis. Because of its greater carbohydrate/lignin ratio and the more substantial lignin reduction upon alkaline attack, 'Performer' switchgrass gave greater sugar productions under all the pretreatment conditions investigated. Maximum sugar production from 'Performer' was 425 mg/g raw biomass, which was achieved at 1% NaOH and 0.5 h. Sugar production increased with the improvement of delignification until the lignin reduction reached 30%. The more severe pretreatment conditions, which led to greater lignin reductions, did not favor the increase of sugar production because of greater solid losses. Linear models were proven effective in correlating a modified severity parameter log(Mo) to lignin reduction and sugar production of 'Performer' switchgrass.


Purpose Distant metastases are currently the main cause of treatment failure in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients. The aim of this research is to investigate a correlation between the variation of radiomics features using pre- and post-neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with 2 years distant metastasis (2yDM) rate in LARC patients. Methods and Materials Diagnostic pre- and post- nCRT MRI of LARC patients, treated in a single institution from May 2008 to June 2015 with an adequate follow-up time, were retrospectively collected. Gross tumor volumes (GTV) were contoured by an abdominal radiologist and blindly reviewed by a radiation oncologist expert in rectal cancer. The dataset was firstly randomly split into 90% training data, for features selection, and 10% testing data, for the validation. The final set of features after the selection was used to train 15 different classifiers using accuracy as target metric. The models' performance was then assessed on the testing data and the best performing classifier was then selected, maximising the confusion matrix balanced accuracy (BA). Results Data regarding 213 LARC patients (36% female, 64% male) were collected. Overall 2yDM was 17%. A total of 2,606 features extracted from the pre- and post- nCRT GTV were tested and 4 features were selected after features selection process. Among the 15 tested classifiers, logistic regression proved to be the best performing one with a testing set BA, sensitivity and specificity of 78.5%, 71.4% and 85.7%, respectively. Conclusions This study supports a possible role of delta radiomics in predicting following occurrence of distant metastasis. Further studies including a consistent external validation are needed to confirm these results and allows to translate radiomics model in clinical practice. Future integration with clinical and molecular data will be mandatory to fully personalized treatment and follow-up approaches.


Recently, bio-inspired shape memory alloy composite (BISMAC) actuators have been shown to be promising for the design of medusae rowing propulsion. BISMAC actuators were able to recreate bell deformation of Aurelia aurita by controlling shape memory alloy (SMA) deformation that allowed matching the contraction-relaxation deformation profile. In this study, we improve upon the control system and demonstrate feedback control using SMA wire resistance to decrease contraction time and power consumption. The controller requires the knowledge of threshold resistance and safe current inputs which were determined experimentally. The overheating effect of SMA wires was analyzed for BioMetal Fiber (BMF) and Flexinol 100 μm diameter wires revealing an increase in resistance as the wires overheated. The controller was first characterized on a SMA wire with bias spring system for a BMF 100 using Ihi = 0.5 A and Ilow = 0.2 A, where hi corresponds to peak current for fast actuation and low corresponds to the safe current which prevents overheating and maintains desired deformation. A contraction of 4.59% was achieved in 0.06 s using the controller and the deformation was maintained for 2 s at low current. The BISMAC actuator was operated using the controller with Ihi = 1.1 A and Ilow = 0.65 A achieving a 67% decrease in contraction time compared to using a constant driving current of Ilow = 0.2 A and a 60% decrease in energy consumption compared to using constant Ihi = 0.5 A while still exceeding the contraction requirements of the Aurelia aurita.


We aim at determining the rotational and magnetic-related activity properties of stars at different stages of evolution. We focus our attention primarily on members of young stellar associations of known ages. Specifically, we extend our previous analysis in Paper I (Messina et al. 2010, A&A 520, A15) to 3 additional young stellar associations beyond 100 pc and with ages in the range 6-40 Myr: epsilon Chamaeleontis (~6 Myr), Octans (~20 Myr), and Argus (~40 Myr). Additional rotational data of eta Chamaeleontis and IC2391 clusters are also considered. Rotational periods were determined from photometric time-series data obtained by the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) and the Wide Angle Search for Planets (SuperWASP) archives. With the present study we have completed the analysis of the rotational properties of the late-type members of all known young loose associations in the solar neighborhood. Considering also the results of Paper I, we have derived the rotation periods of 241 targets: 171 confirmed, 44 likely, 26 uncertain. The period of the remaining 50 stars known to be part of loose associations still remains unknown. This rotation period catalogue, and specifically the new information presented in this paper at ~6, 20, and 40 Myr, contributes significantly to a better observational description of the angular momentum evolution of young stars.


The possibility of uniting two or more different materials to obtain structures capable to feel and adapt to environmental alterations and operational conditions, has been leading to the development of active composites with functional properties that makes possible the control of shape, vibration, rigidity and/or structural integrity monitoring. These characteristics are very well accepted in modern technological applications. In this context, active composites were manufactured using pre-impregnated (Pre-Pregs) of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) and NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) thin wires in different conditions. The functional capacity of the obtained CFRP-NiTi smart composites was verified through detection of buckling and thermal contraction/expansion effects by electrical heating of the NiTi wires inside the CFRP matrix. Although the NiTi wires represent a minimum volumetric fraction in the CFRP-NiTi produced systems, its influence was evidenced.


In this study, 212 Acanthobrama marmid Heckel, 1843 individuals were caught at monthly periods from Keban Dam Lake between January 1997 and December 1998 and transported live to the laboratory. After haematological analysis was carried out on the blood samples taken from their hearts, total lengths and weights were measured. The sex of the fish was identified and their ages were determined from the scales. The total amounts of erythrocytes, leucocytes, thrombocytes, haemoglobin and haematocrits and MCV, MCH and MCHC parameters were determined from blood samples. The formulae of leucocytes were examined from blood preparations of each sample. The distributions of blood parameters with respect to age, length and weight groups, sex of fish, month and season were also examined.


This article explores two assumptions about constitutional law and the form of practical reasoning inherent in constitutional argument and decision that have shaped the debate over originalism. The first assumption—adopted by originalists—is that constitutional reasoning is a formalistic process. Originalism's critics tacitly describe a very different and less formalistic model. The second assumption—shared by originalists and most of its critics alike—is that the central task of constitutional decision is to interpret the Constitution. Both of these assumptions are wrong. Constitutional argument is not, and cannot be, reduced to the formal model of reasoning tacitly employed in originalism.
The critics of originalism correctly point out that constitutional argument is more complex than originalism's formal account allows. But those critics share with originalists the mistaken premise that our constitutional practice begins with interpretation. That agreement masks the substantial differences in their respective accounts of interpretation, however.
This Article demonstrates how these two assumptions have contributed to the fruitlessness of the debate. For example, if we reject the premise of the logical priority of interpretation the celebrated problem of generality dissolves. By articulating the jurisprudential foundations of the debate, this Article allows us to recognize the sterility of the debate over originalism and the likelihood that it cannot be successfully resolved by the protagonists on either side of the debate. While discarding the formalism of contemporary originalism does not compromise core originalist claims, the importance of that formalism to some of originalism's stronger claims of privilege makes such an approach less attractive to originalism. Originalism's critics, while right about constitutional reasoning, fail to discredit other important originalist claims. Thus, the protagonists in the debate may be likely to continue even after better understanding interpretation and the practice of constitutional argument. That would be a mistake. A better account of the place of interpretation and the nature of practical reasoning in constitutional reasoning also opens up the alternative of moving beyond the fruitless, stalemated debate about originalism.


Water stress assessment of natural vegetation plays a key role in water management of desert ecosystems. It allows scientists and managers to relate water extraction rates to changes in vegetation water condition, and consequently to define safe water extraction rates for maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Previous research has shown that optical remote sensing constitutes a powerful tool for assessing vegetation water stress due to its capability of quantitatively estimating important parameters of vegetation such as leaf area index (LAI), green canopy fraction (GCF), and canopy water content (CWC). However, the estimation of these parameters using remote sensing can be challenging in the case of desert vegetation. Desert plants have to cope with high solar irradiation and limited water. In order to maintain an adequate water balance and to avoid photoinhibition, desert plants have evolved different adaptations. A common one is heliotropism or 'solar tracking', an ability of many desert species to move their leaves to avoid facing direct high solar irradiation levels during the day and season. This adaptation (paraheliotropism) can have an important effect on the canopy spectral reflectance measured by satellites as well as on vegetation indices such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). In this thesis, I propose a remote sensing based approach to assess water stress of desert vegetation, exemplified in the case of the Tamarugo (Prosopis tamarugo Phil) tree in the Atacama Desert (Northern Chile), a 'solar tracker' species, which is threatened by groundwater overexploitation. In the first chapter of this thesis (general introduction), I explained the motivation of the PhD project and elaborated four research questions, which are later discussed in chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5. The thesis concluded with chapter 6, where I provide a synthesis of the main results, general conclusions and a final reflection and outlook. In the second chapter, I studied the effects of water stress on Tamarugo plants under laboratory conditions and modelled the light-canopy interaction using the Soil-Leaf-Canopy radiative transfer model. I described for the first time pulvinar movement of Tamarugo and quantified its effects on canopy spectral reflectance with and without stress. I showed that different spectral indices have potential to assess water stress of Tamarugo by means of LAI and CWC. In the third chapter, I measured the effects of pulvinar movements on canopy reflectance for Tamarugos under field conditions and used high spatial resolution images to assess water stress at the tree level. I developed an automated process to first identify single trees and delineate their crowns, and secondly, to estimate LAI and GCF using spectral vegetation indices. These indices (NDVI and chlorophyll red-edge index) were negatively correlated to diurnal values of solar irradiation as a consequence of leaf pulvinar movements. For this reason, higher values of both vegetation indices are expected to occur in the morning and in winter (low solar radiation) than at midday or summer. In the fourth chapter I studied the effects of diurnal pulvinar movements on NDVI time series from the MODIS-Terra satellite (acquired in the morning) and the MODIS-Aqua satellite (acquired at midday) for the period 2003-2012 and the seasonal effects of pulvinar movements on NDVI time series of Landsat images for the period 1998-2012 for Tamarugo areas with and without water stress. NDVI values measured by MODIS-Terra (morning) were higher than the NDVI values measured by MODIS-Aqua (afternoon) and the difference between the two, the ΔNDVImo-mi, showed good potential as water stress indicator. In a similar way, I observed a strong seasonal effect on the Landsat NDVI signal, attributed to pulvinar movements, and the difference between winter and summer, the ΔNDVIW-S, also showed good potential for detecting and quantifying water stress. The ΔNDVImo-mi, the ΔNDVIW-S and the NDVI itself measured systematically in winter time (NDVIW) were negatively correlated with in situ groundwater depth measurements. In chapter five I used a dense NDVI time series of Landsat images for the period 1989-2013, combined with high spatial resolution satellite imagery and hydrogeological records, to provide a quantitative assessment of the water status of Tamarugo vegetation after 50 years of increasing groundwater extraction. The results showed that the NDVIW and ΔNDVIW-S of the Tamarugo vegetation declined 19% and 51%, respectively, as groundwater depleted (3 meters on average) for the period 1989-2013. Both variables were negatively correlated to groundwater depth both temporally and spatially. About 730.000 Tamarugo trees remained in the study area by 2011, from which 5.2% showed a GCF The main conclusions of this PhD thesis are summarized as follows: Heliotropism or leaf 'solar tracking', a common adaptation among desert plants, has an important impact on canopy spectral reflectance. As shown in the case of the Tamarugo trees, widely used vegetation indices such as the NDVI were negatively correlated to solar irradiation (the stimulus for leaf solar tracking), showing a distinct diurnal and seasonal cycle.An early symptom of water stress in paraheliotropic plants (leaves facing away the sun) is the decline of the amplitude of the diurnal and seasonal NDVI cycles. Thus, remote sensing estimations of this amplitude (e.g. the NDVI difference between winter and summer or the difference between midday and morning) can be used to detect and map early water stress of paraheliotropic vegetation.At the tree level, very high spatial resolution images combined with object based image analysis and in-situ data provided accurate estimations of the water status of small desert vegetation features, such as isolated trees. For monitoring purposes, careful consideration of the time during the day and the season at which the images are taken needs to be taken to avoid misleading interpretations.Time series analysis of historical satellite images combined with very high spatial resolution images and hydrogeological records can provide a quantitative spatio-temporal assessment of the effects of long-term groundwater extraction on desert vegetation.


We demonstrate Rapsai, a visual programming platform that aims to streamline the rapid and iterative development of end-to-end machine learning (ML)-based multimedia applications. Rapsai features a node-graph editor that enables interactive characterization and visualization of ML model performance, which facilitates the understanding of how the model behaves in different scenarios. Moreover, the platform streamlines end-to-end prototyping by providing interactive data augmentation and model comparison capabilities within a no-coding environment. Our demonstration showcases the versatility of Rapsai through several use cases, including virtual background, visual effects with depth estimation, and audio denoising. The implementation of Rapsai is intended to support ML practitioners in streamlining their workflow, making data-driven decisions, and comprehensively evaluating model behavior with real-world input.


This study examines the readiness of higher education and research institutions in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia, in establishing inter-and-trans-disciplinary (ITD) trainings/research. Specifically, the study looks at the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat variables that could promote or impede the establishment of responsive trainings and researches which are relevant to smallholder farmers. The study draws on the data gathered using structured questionnaire conducted in the higher education's (Bahir Dar and Gonder Universities) and research institutions (Amhara Region Agriculture Research Institute [ARARI] and Gonder Agriculture Research Center) in the Amhara Region. Sample sizes of 90 respondents were selected using purposive and stratified sampling techniques. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences version 17 (SPSS-17). Results of the SWOT analysis indicates that concerned institutions should capitalize on their strength to exhaust opportunities and work on their weaknesses to convert threats to opportunities, so that their system will be responsive to the needs of smallholder farmers. Therefore, to respond to the complex needs of the society in the face of the rapidly changing environment the higher education and research institutions in the Amhara region should work on the development of ITD training/research. The study came up with many conclusions which includes: higher education institutions should work on creating environs that promote accountability, strong relationship with stakeholders and good research culture; better resource utilization or fund rising scheme should be employed to alleviate infrastructure/facility supply gap; local higher education institution instructors should be capacitated through the provision of on job training so as to alleviate quality problem; the government should play a great role in creating awareness on the side of students starting from primary school level by mainstreaming agricultural related contents in the curriculum so as to increase student's interest to join agricultural academic programs at the university level; and the government should work on promoting agricultural related private investments to absorb unemployed professionals.


Considering the practical problems of gear noise and vibration, this work focuses on the gearbox of the electric vehicle as the research object to analyse the impact of gear micro-tooth modification. First of all, the effort centres itself on minimising the contact stress and making the load distribution better by implementing the tooth modification on both upper and central speed phases. The procedural analysis of gear tooth modification is executed to make the contact pattern better, so edge contact has been avoided and the load is distributed over a wide area of the tooth for both upper and central gear sets. The contact pattern is positioned in the centre of teeth and contact stress is lowered by 20% to 837 MPA. Then, the peak to peak transmission error is decreased under three proposed modification approaches. Also, contact and bending safety factors are improved as a result of tooth modification. Meanwhile, it was noticed by performing dynamic analysis that right bearings of both upper and central phases have a higher radial response for first two orders which is further decreased to an optimum level as a result of micro-tooth modification strategies.


The evolution of temperature and velocity fields during laser spot welding of 304 stainless steel was studied using a transient, heat transfer and fluid flow model based on the solution of the equations of conservation of mass, momentum and energy in the weld pool. The weld pool geometry, weld thermal cycles and various solidification parameters were calculated. The fusion zone geometry, calculated from the transient heat transfer and fluid flow model, was in good agreement with the corresponding experimentally measured values for various welding conditions. Dimensional analysis was used to understand the importance of heat transfer by conduction and convection and the roles of various driving forces for convection in the weld pool. During solidification, the mushy zone grew at a rapid rate and the maximum size of the mushy zone was reached when the pure liquid region vanished. The solidification rate of the mushy zone/liquid interface was shown to increase while the temperature gradient in the liquid zone at this interface decreased as solidification of the weld pool progressed. The heating and cooling rates, temperature gradient and the solidification rate at the mushy zone/liquid interface for laser spot welding were much higher than those for the moving and spot gas tungsten arc welding.


Based on the quality survey of the working procedure of interior hole grinding of the ceramic shaft bush parts, this paper analyzes and studies it by the quality control tools such as Pareto diagram and Cause and effect diagram, and finds out the main deficiency indicator. The main influencing factor is that the verticality of the interior hole is Ultra-poor in the Process quality deficiencies. A series of the testing data of this deficiency indicator has been analyzed in order to obtain the factors influencing the deficiency indicator. Finally, comparison is made between the quality status before and after implementing improvement measures and measures of adjusting processes are taken to greatly improve the effect and the product qualified rate, which can provide reference for enterprises to improve the quality in the production process.


Pavement management systems (PMS) have historically relied on distress (e.g., cracking, and rutting) and roughness (e.g., International Roughness Index or IRI) as key pavement performance indicators in the decisions-making process. Both are important indicators that merit emphasis within the PMS process, but they are not the only ones. Structural adequacy, for example, is another important pavement performance indicator that is critical to making rational pavement rehabilitation decisions. And indeed, more and more highway agencies in the USA are incorporating deflection testing as part of their routine PMS activities. Deflection testing for the structural evaluation of pavements has been around for decades. Falling Weight Deflectometers (FWDs) represent the state-of-the-practice in pavement deflection testing; however, FWD testing is a stop-and-go operation that requires lane closures (hence can cause traffic disruptions and create a safety hazard) and that has limited production rates. To overcome these shortcomings, a number of organizations have developed moving pavement deflection testing devices. Recognizing the potential benefits of these devices, the Federal Highway Administration commissioned Fugro Consultants, Inc., to undertake a study to determine whether the current devices can be put to good practical use and, if so, how best to utilize the devices. This paper presents the results of the study. Highlights from a state-of-the-technology review into moving pavement deflection measurements are presented; three devices were identified as viable. Findings and conclusions from a technology assessment of the three viable devices are also presented, including the best uses for these devices.


Dermatophagoides farinae group 2 (Der f2) is a highly polymorphic allergen that shows a distinct pattern of sequence divergence. The effect of the variants on antibody and T cell responses has not been compared. The aim of the present study was to evaluate IgE binding, transcription and translations for IL-5, IFN-γ and TGF-β induced by mite allergens. Sera from 24 HDM-allergic patients and 20 non-allergic subjects were measured for IgE reactivity by ELISA. PBMC was cultured with mite allergens (Df, rDerf2) and mitogen (PHA). The supernatants and cell pellet obtained were evaluated for cytokine production by ELISA and cytokine gene expression by RT-PCR, respectively. Four patients showed IgE reactivity to both allergens. Five patients showed IgE reactivity to Df. Other allergic patients and all non-allergic subjects did not show IgE reactivity to mite allergens. Both allergens showed similar levels of IL-5 and IFN-γ transcriptions in allergic patients and non-allergic subjects. The rDer f2 induced IL-5 protein from allergic patients higher than non-allergic subjects, while Df showed IL-5 protein from allergic patients similar to non-allergic subjects. Df induced IFN-protein from allergic patients higher than non-allergic subjects whereas rDer f2 induced IFN-protein from allergic patients similar to non-allergic subjects. The ratio of IFN-γ to IL-5 production after stimulation with rDer f2 was higher in non-allergic subjects than in allergic patients. Our data demonstrated that the changes in the sequence of rDer f2 compared with native Df had effect on cytokine production in both allergic patients and non-allergic subjects.


An optimal subband bit allocation technique for optimal distribution of bits among the subbands is presented. The proposed technique is based on a new rate-distortion model, which switches between two types of models at lower and higher bit rates. Based on this model, it is possible to select the best R-D strategy among the lower bit rate model, the higher bit rate model and the average between them. The Lagrangian optimisation method is then used to minimise this distortion model for a given bit budget and to obtain an optimum bit distribution among the subbands. The proposed optimal bit allocation framework is implemented on the motion-compensated 2D subband/DCT scalable video codec, which provides quality signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scalability. The results show that the proposed bit allocation method outperforms the uniform allocation of bits over a wide range of target bit rates. Moreover, simulation results show that the performance of the presented scalable video coding is slightly inferior to the single layer H.264/AVC but outperforms the SNR scalability supported in joint scalable video model (JSVM), the state-of-the-art scalable video coding standard, that achieves its gain through the hierarchical B-pictures.


A variety of optimization models have been developed in the last decades to solve complex problems in water resources management. Thought that some of these methods are unreliable and do not improve the water resources management problem in reality, it is thus essential to investigate and compare the capabilities of these models. One of the most general and well-known optimization problems in water resources is the Dynamic Programming (DP) which can be solved using continuous and/or discrete solution approaches. Since the discrete solution techniques is computationally burden and inefficient in complex problems, the continuous solution techniques takes much attention recently. In this paper a continuous solution of dynamic programming model, called Constraint State (CS) method is adopted to solve a problem related to reservoir operation and its results are compared with those obtained from two different discrete solution methods, called DP and SDP methods. The reliability of these techniques for reservoir operation is investigated using a set of reliability indices. The results show that the CS solution method can even improve the reliability of system, as a comparison with the SDP method.


We report on magnetoresistance (MR) studies on Co/AlOX/Au and Co/AlOX/Ni/Au magnetic tunnel junctions. In spite of the fact that the difference between the two samples is merely a 3 nm thick Ni layer, there is a sharp contrast in MR behavior indicating that the electronic structure at the interface between the ferromagnetic electrodes and the insulating barrier dominates the MR signal. The former sample exhibits a clear tunneling anisotropic MR (TAMR), with the characteristic correlation between resistance and current direction, in contrast to the latter sample which displays a conventional tunneling MR (TMR) dominated by the relative orientation between the magnetization directions of the two electrodes. In addition, the TAMR has a much stronger temperature dependence than the TMR, indicating a much faster drop-off of the tunneling density of states anisotropy than the tunneling electron spin polarization with increasing temperature. Finally, we propose a possible simple way to distinguish TAMR from normal TMR by measuring the resistance of the device at different angles of the external magnetic field.


User mobility prediction in wireless network is being investigated from various angles to improve performance of the network. Access to user's movement information such as time, direction, speed etc provides an opportunity for wireless networks to effectively manage resources to satisfy user needs. A next location prediction technique is required for transferring the existing connections of user to the next Access Point (AP) beforehand to ensure better Quality of Service (QoS) of the network. There are several techniques for next location prediction of mobile users in Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) which include Indoor Next Location Prediction with Wi-Fi model, Extended Mobility Markov Chain Model, Hidden Markov Model and Mixed Membership Stochastic Blockmodel. In the Indoor Next Location Prediction with Wi-Fi model the area of prediction is fixed and small which makes this approach inefficient when the number of locations traversed by the mobile user is large. The paper addresses the issue of predicting the next location of mobile users in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) when the area of prediction is vast. In this paper an intelligent clustering technique i.e., the K-Medoids clustering algorithm has been implemented on the indoor next location prediction, which is based on a Markov-chain model, for predicting the next location of a user when the number of locations traversed by the user is vast. The accuracy of prediction of mobile user's next location by the proposed K-Medoids clustering based next location prediction technique ranges from 67% to 97%.


A new and practical method is proposed to compensate for the mutual coupling effect in a dipole array deployed for direction finding. This method does not require either the current distributions on the antenna elements or the elevation angles of the incoming signals to be known. A new definition of mutual impedance is introduced to characterize the effect due to mutual coupling between dipole elements. The new mutual impedances are calculated based on an estimated current distribution. It is shown that the current method has a significantly better ability to compensate for the mutual coupling effect than previous methods. Computer simulations using the MUSIC algorithm are provided to demonstrate this method.


Recurrent neural networks are effective models to process sequences. However, they are unable to learn long-term dependencies because of their inherent sequential nature. As a solution, Vaswani et al. introduced the Transformer, a model solely based on the attention mechanism that is able to relate any two positions of the input sequence, hence modelling arbitrary long dependencies. The Transformer has improved the state-of-the-art across numerous sequence modelling tasks. However, its effectiveness comes at the expense of a quadratic computational and memory complexity with respect to the sequence length, hindering its adoption. Fortunately, the deep learning community has always been interested in improving the models' efficiency, leading to a plethora of solutions such as parameter sharing, pruning, mixed-precision, and knowledge distillation. Recently, researchers have directly addressed the Transformer's limitation by designing lower-complexity alternatives such as the Longformer, Reformer, Linformer, and Performer. However, due to the wide range of solutions, it has become challenging for researchers and practitioners to determine which methods to apply in practice to meet the desired tradeoff between capacity, computation, and memory. This survey addresses this issue by investigating popular approaches to make Transformers faster and lighter and by providing a comprehensive explanation of the methods' strengths, limitations, and underlying assumptions.


AbstrAct. - Avian and mammalian predators play a key role in the Kerguelen Plateau ecosystem, both with respect to
structuring the marine community and its response to anthropogenic influences, such as climate change and commercial
fisheries. A powerful way to determine regions of particular ecological importance is to identify Areas of Ecological
Significance (AES): regions that are utilized by multiple predator species. Such concentrations of foraging activity are
indicative of enhanced primary and/or secondary productivity. These are regions that require specialised management
efforts, and which are of considerable importance in the development of ecological models and climate monitoring systems.
This study integrates tracking and diving data from a suite of predator species collected as part of both the French and
Australian Antarctic programs at Kerguelen Islands and Heard Island respectively. Tracking and/or dive data for Macaroni
and King penguins, southern Elephant seals, Antarctic fur seals and Black-browed albatross were analysed. The estimated
path for each animal was derived using state-space models, which also allocated each location to either "transit" or "search"
behavioural modes. For diving species, dive depth data were temporally allocated along the path, providing information on
three-dimensional habitat use. Areas of Ecological Significance for each species and for the combined suite of predators
were identified using Kernel Density analysis. The role of bathymetry, ocean circulation and other environmental factors
underlying the AES were established using deterministic models, which can be used to predict predator foraging habitats
across the entire plateau.


We found when L-type calcium current (ICa-L) was recorded with the perforated patch-clamp method in rat ventricular myocytes that bath application of phenylephrine (with propranolol) evoked a biphasic response characterized by an initial transient suppression followed by a sustained potentiation. The transient suppression occurred 30-60 s after phenylephrine perfusion and reached peak inhibition at approximately 2 min. The biphasic modulation of ICa-L was also elicited by methoxamine, and the effects of phenylephrine were blocked by prazosin, indicating that the responses were mediated through alpha1-adrenoceptors. Pretreatment of cells with H7 (100 micromol/L), a broad-spectrum protein kinase inhibitor that inhibits both protein kinase C and A, eliminated potentiation but did not affect transient suppression. The transient suppression occurred concurrently with the acceleration of the fast component of ICa-L inactivation. Depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores by ryanodine plus caffeine or thapsigargin eliminated the transient suppression. When ICa-L was recorded with whole-cell patch-clamp and with 0.05 mmol/L EGTA in the pipette solution to allow intracellular Ca2+ to fluctuate, phenylephrine evoked a transient suppression as in the perforated patch recordings. Heparin, a specific blocker of IP3 (inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate) receptors, eliminated the phenylephrine-induced transient suppression of ICa-L when added to the pipette solution. Intensive chelation of intracellular Ca2+ by 5 mmol/L BAPTA (1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid) in the pipette solution also eliminated the phenylephrine-induced transient suppression of ICa-L. We conclude that transient increase in the concentration of intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) caused by Ca2+ release from intracellular stores underlies the transient suppression of ICa-L, whereas the potentiation of ICa-L is a result of activation of protein kinases.


Engineering related research, such as research on worst-case execution time, uses experimentation to evaluate ideas. For these experiments we need example programs. Furthermore, to make the research experimentation repeatable those programs shall be made publicly available.

We collected open-source programs, adapted them to a common coding style, and provide the collection in open-source. The benchmark collection is called TACLeBench and is available from GitHub in version 1.9 at the publication date of this paper. One of the main features of TACLeBench is that all programs are self-contained without any dependencies on standard libraries or an operating system.


Five hundred herds were examined to determine the prevalence of subclinical mastitis in the British dairy herd. The prevalences of the various infections recorded were Streptococcus agalactiae 3.4 per cent of quarters, S dysgalactiae 1.1 per cent, S uberis 1.5 per cent and Staphylococcus pyogenes 8.1 per cent. There were regional differences in the prevalence of some of these pathogens. The national prevalence of subclinical mastitis as defined by the International Dairy Federation was 9.6 per cent of all quarters. Udder infections were less prevalent in herds where mastitis control measures were being used. The prevalence of infection also declined as the size of herd increased. However, as the uptake of mastitis control measures was greater in the larger herds it seems likely that the widespread use of control measures was the most important factor responsible for the relatively low prevalence of subclinical mastitis.


Participants in cryptocurrency markets are in constant communication with each other about the latest coins and news releases. Do these conversations build hype through the contagiousness of excitement, help the community process information, or play some other role? Using a novel dataset from a major cryptocurrency forum, we conduct an exploratory study of the characteristics of online discussion around cryptocurrencies. Through a regression analysis, we find that coins with more information available and higher levels of technical innovation are associated with higher quality discussion. People who talk about "serious" coins tend to participate in discussion displaying signatures of collective intelligence and information processing, while people who talk about "less serious" coins tend to display signatures of hype and naïvety. Interviews with experienced forum members also confirm these quantitative findings. These results highlight the varied roles of discussion in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and suggest that discussion of serious coins may be oriented towards earnest, perhaps more accurate, attempts at discovering which coins are likely to succeed.


This qualitative study examines how female patients in rural communities in the Midwest, who experienced at least one miscarriage, perceived their experience of pregnancy loss. Qualitative data were collected from 10 women who did experience at least one loss in addition to 10 participants who were providers or partners of the women were interviewed. The Socio-Ecological model informed the methodology and thematic analysis. Open-ended qualitative interviews provided the basis for the analysis. Transcribed narrative data were analyzed using standard coding procedures and MAXQDA software. Women who experienced miscarriage discussed how they made meaning of the experience within the context of care and their perceptions of risk given certain socio-environmental factors. Providers, public health professionals and family studies professionals can use the study results to better inform best practices in maternity care particularly in under-served, resource-poor locations. Citation: Upton RL (2019) A Qualitative Study of the Experience of Miscarriage from Patients and Providers in the Rural U.S. J Comm Pub Health Nursing 5: 224. doi:10.4172/2471-9846.1000224


Network aware applications react to changing network conditions, offering potential quality of service differentiation without network support. We describe an application level approach to designing a low priority service — one that is 'lower than best-effort' in the context of the Internet. Such applications are appropriate for background file transfers, such as OS updates. We use a receive window control to limit the transfer rate of the application, and the optimal rate is determined by detecting a change-point. We motivate this joint control-estimation problem by considering a fluid-based optimisation framework, and describe practical solutions, based on stochastic approximation and binary search techniques. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.


The Nabaztag rabbit is an ambient digital device with customized functions. It was advertised as an ambient display, using strong product images suggesting that it is a pet alternative. However, after early interest, the popularity of this product did not last long. In this paper, we demonstrate interaction criticism as an approach to design research, exploring and proposing reasons for the product's decline. Specifically, we argue that the rabbit is difficult to connect with emotionally and explore several reasons this might be true. Our approach is phenomenological and hermeneutic in nature: we engaged in product usage for over twelve months, and practice a theoretically informed interpretive analysis. Using a combination of critical theories and affect research from robotics, we argue the Nabaztag product identity is confusing, which might be related to the manufactures' multiple intentions, and the gap between ideal and real users. We continue with an account of two genres of functions in the Nabaztag, revealing how they polarize of interpretation; moments when Nabaztag acted in unexpected ways; and the increased, rather than decreased, difficulty in interpreting Nabaztag the longer we used it. Interpretively understanding Nabaztag's experiential failures helps cultivate relevant design sensitivities and even implications for future designs.


The aim of the study was to investigate the respondents' opinion about the quality of hotel services as a factor conditioning the trust of customers occupying accommodation facilities in the province of Silesia. The study was conducted in late May and June 2013 among 100 respondents. In order to establish a statistically significant correlation between the answers and the factors differentiating Chi2 test was used using Statistica software v.10.0. The strength of the correlation between responses and factors differentiating the study group established by the designation factor V Cramer. The analysis found that the preferences and behavior of guests occupying accommodations in Silesia are not dependent on gender, age, education or place of (permanent/ temporary) residence of respondents. Hotel guests occupying accommodations in Silesia are characterized by high awareness on the categorization of hotels, which is based on frequent use of hotel services for tourism, mainly accommodation of individual or group trips. The main determinants of the choice of accommodation facilities in Silesia by hotel guests proved to be the location of the property but also the price and the comfort of its rooms and the quality of services offered, including the quality of the work of the staff and the quality of additional services.


Since 2008, E-PRTR is the European Emissions and Transfer Register of Pollutants, which was set to accomplish the UNECE Aarhus Convention about the information, public participation in decisions and access to the judgement in environmental issues. This pollutants emissions inventory follows a methodology based in the imperative declaration of emissions into the atmosphere and to water by the potential sources, included in the Directive 96/61/CE. As a consequence, the accuracy of this inventory depends on the information declared by the sources. In this work, a systematic methodology to validate the declared emissions was designed and applied to the Galician region. This methodology is based in a data structure of plant/activity-process-sourcepollutant, that is, a flowsheeting analysis of every plant was developed in order to associate each process to each source (i.e. chimney) at the same plant; with this approach, estimation of the pollutants emissions from every source is obtained by the calculation of emissions by process, based in different emissions factors. Of course, complementary data from the processes (i.e. fuel consumption, energy production, ...) is required. Results of the E-PRTR for 2008 and 2010 years at Galicia show significant differences between the emissions distribution by sector, depending on the pollutant; this can be explained by changes in the processes technologies and performance. About the validation, in a first stage less than 50% of the sources provided acceptable emissions with the complementary information for


Potential sources of errors in 3H-thymidine use in cell proliferation studies are reviewed. Many factors affect the uptake of this agent into newly synthesized DNA: predominance of denovo and salvage pathways of thymidilate biosynthesis, activity of certain enzymes, size of thymidilate and TTP endogenous pools, differences in 3H-thymidine utilization rate during S-period, its catabolism in cell and tissue culture systems, degradation by bacteria, its reutilization in vivo and in vitro, effects of the isotope activity, of the exposition time of autoradiographs and of the beta-particles absorbance in the specimen. Practical recommendations are given to avoid these errors.


The cuticle is a waxy composite that protects the aerial organs of land plans from non-stomatal water loss. The chemical make-up of the cuticular wax mixture plays a central role in defining the water barrier, but structure-function relationships have not been established so far, in part due to gaps in our understanding of wax structures and biosynthesis. While wax compounds with saturated, linear hydrocarbon tails have been investigated in detail, very little is known about compounds with modified aliphatic tails, which comprise substantial portions of some plant wax mixtures. This study aimed to investigate the structures, abundances and biosynthesis of branched compounds on the species for which wax biosynthesis is best understood: Arabidopsis thaliana. Microscale derivatization, mass spectral interpretation and organic synthesis identified homologous series of iso-alkanes and iso-alcohols on flowers and leaves, respectively. These comprised approximately 10-15% of wild type wax mixtures. The abundances of both branched wax constituents and accompanying unbranched compounds were reduced on the cer6, cer3 and cer1 mutants but not cer4, indicating that branched compounds are in part synthesized by the same machinery as unbranched compounds. In contrast, the abundances of unbranched, but not branched, wax constituents were reduced on the cer2 and cer26 mutants, suggesting that the pathways to both types of compounds deviate in later steps of chain elongation. Finally, the abundances of branched, but not unbranched, wax compounds were reduced on the cer16 mutant, and the (uncharacterized) CER16 protein may therefore be controlling the relative abundances of iso-alkanes and iso-alcohols on Arabidopsis surfaces.


We use the two-country model of the euro area developed by Quint and Rabanal (2014) to study policymaking in the European Monetary Union (EMU). In particular, we focus on strategic interactions: 1) between monetary policy and a common macroprudential authority, and; 2) between an EMU-level monetary authority and regional macroprudential authorities. In the first case, price stability and financial stability are pursued at the EMU level, while in the second case each macroprudential authority adopts region-specific objectives. We compare cooperative equilibria in the simultaneous-move and leadership solutions, each obtained assuming policy discretion. Further, we assess the effects on policy performance of assigning shared objectives across policymakers and of altering the level of importance attached to various policy objectives.


This article examines the implications of widowhood practices for the enjoyment of women's fundamental rights and freedoms in Nigeria. The article discusses the effects of socio-cultural and legal structures of Nigeria for gender equality. It argues that the plural legal system in the country, which encourages the application of statutory law side by side with customary law, can potentially undermine women's fundamental rights. The article then discusses specific human rights of women, particularly the rights to dignity and non-discrimination that are threatened by widowhood practices. In conclusion, it is argued that since Nigeria has ratified international and regional human rights instruments such as the Convention on Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women (African Women's Protocol), it is obligated to take appropriate steps and measures to eradicate harmful cultural practices that may violate women's rights.


Abstract In this article, we propose a new method for constructing supersaturated designs that is based on the Kronecker product of two carefully chosen matrices. The construction method leads to a partitioning of the factors of the design such that the factors within a group are correlated to the others within the same group, but are orthogonal to any factor in any other group. We refer to the resulting designs as group-orthogonal supersaturated designs. We leverage this group structure to obtain an unbiased estimate of the error variance, and to develop an effective, design-based model selection procedure. Simulation results show that the use of these designs, in conjunction with our model selection procedure enables the identification of larger numbers of active main effects than have previously been reported for supersaturated designs. The designs can also be used in group screening; however, unlike previous group-screening procedures, with our designs, main effects in a group are not confounded. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.


Current EU regulations allow 5% of feed for organic poultry to come from non-organic production. This is due to concerns about a 100% organic diet meeting the requirements for specific amino acids such as methionine. This exception is due to end on 31st December 2017. While this may match consumer expectations, protein sourced from global organic production may have a negative impact on perceptions of organic poultry in other ways. Soybean is a commonly used ingredient in poultry feed but soybean production has negative environmental and social impacts. Consumers may also prefer organic poultry to have been fed on locally produced feed and, indeed, this would be in line with organic principles. Preliminary feasibility feed trials were carried out during a summer and a winter season using organic broilers in the UK to test three 100% organic feeds: a control diet with globally sourced ingredients including soybean expeller, a diet based on locally sourced (i.e. within Europe) organic ingredients, and a diet based on locally sourced organic ingredients and algae (a good source of methionine). The results of the summer feed trial showed that there were no significant differences in broiler weight gains. In the winter feed trial differences were found. There was a significant difference ( P = 0.034) in weight gain between the local feed (lower weight gain) and the local feed with algae but no significant difference between the control diet with soybean and the two local diets. These preliminary feed trials indicate that there is no significant impact on broiler performance or animal welfare parameters when replacing soybean with European protein sources, possibly including algae, suggesting that, although the research is still at a very early stage, such feeds may be a viable option for 100% organic poultry feed in the future.


(Bolukbasi et al., 2016) demonstrated that pretrained word embeddings can inherit gender bias from the data they were trained on. We investigate how this bias affects downstream classification tasks, using the case study of occupation classification (De-Arteaga et al., 2019). We show that traditional techniques for debiasing embeddings can actually worsen the bias of the downstream classifier by providing a less noisy channel for communicating gender information. With a relatively minor adjustment, however, we show how these same techniques can be used to simultaneously reduce bias and maintain high classification accuracy.


OBJECTIVE: to analyze nursing care provided to cancer patients with oral mucositis based on the Nursing Process (NP). METHOD: this exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study was conducted with 213 patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy in two cancer facilities: one philanthropic and one private service. RESULTS: the participants were mainly female, aged 45.8 years old on average, with up to 11 years of schooling and income of up to one times the minimum wage. Severe mucositis was related to chemotherapy associated with radiotherapy. Only 25.3% of the patients reported having received guidance from nurses during their treatment concerning self-care. The perceptions of patients regarding quality of care did not significantly differ between the private and public facilities. The basic human needs mainly affected were comfort, eating, and hygiene. Based on this finding, one NP was established listing the diagnoses, interventions and expected results to establish an ideal, though individualized, standard of nursing care to be provided to these patients. CONCLUSION: to understand oral mucositis is crucial to establish nursing care that includes prevention based on the implementation of an oral care plan.


Abstract Being a non-NPT state with advanced nuclear capability, India's contributions to the non-proliferation movement have often been scrutinized. India was for long treated as part of the 'proliferation problem'. Since the 1998 tests, there is a steady process of integrating India with the international nuclear community. However, India is reluctant to assimilate with many of the US-promoted counter-proliferation initiatives though it has largely adopted the normative standards of the NPT system. This paper analyses India's rendezvous with the non-proliferation regime and examines the likely direction of India's approach towards anti-proliferation after the July 2005 India–US nuclear cooperation agreement.


The wild boar control trials were conducted in rice fields in the districts of Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Gujrat, covering an overall area of 3000 hectares. Zinc phosphide encapsulated bait was used resulting in 80-100% reductions in wild boar activity. In addition, the impact of the boar control work on the crop productivity was evaluated by interviewing 391 farmers selected randomly from the trial areas. The average farm size of the sampled farmers was 426.30 hectares. The average yield loss due to wild boars was estimated at 22.75%. By applying newly developed zinc phosphide capsular technology, 502.17 mt. of rice was saved.


Marbofloxacin is one of the fluoroquinolones developed exclusively for veterinary medicine. The primary aim of the present study is to identify and assess evidence for marbofloxacin's clinical efficacy in the treatment of urinary tract infections in small animal practice. The study included 118 dogs and 123 cats that were referred to the Internal Medicine Department with lower urinary tract symptoms. We excluded animals that had received antimicrobial or anti-inflammatory therapy in the previous 15 days. Diagnosis was confirmed by clinical findings, urinalysis, and imaging. Rectal temperature, appetite, urinary signs, and abdominal pain were monitored during two visits (day 0 and 14). The timetable depended on the diagnosis of the following: two urinalyses, two bacterial examinations, and antibacterial susceptibility testing were performed for each case. Bacterial UTI were confirmed in 36 dogs and 28 cats. Urine samples were collected on day 0, which demonstrated the presence of various bacteria, with a marked predominance of P. mirabilis and coagulase-positive Staphylococci in canine and feline urine samples, respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility test results revealed 25 (65.7%) of dog isolates and 24 (85.7%) of cat isolates were susceptible to marbofloxacin. Treatment of UTIs is generally challenging for the small animal practitioner. Because of the need for long-term antimicrobials, bacterial culture and susceptibility tests are especially important for successful treatment. Marbofloxacin can be part of an effective treatment of UTIs in dogs and cats.


Despite procedural modifications and advanced technology instrumentation, instrument approach phase accidents continue to be an issue in general aviation. This exploratory study details an analysis of instrument approach phase accidents that occurred between 2002 and 2012. Particular attention was focused on instrument proficiency check (IPC) currency for pilots involved in accidents during the approach phase of flight. An analysis suggests that more than half of instrument approach accidents evaluated during this study happened within three and half months of the last IPC. A leading cause of these accidents was failure to control the aircraft. Instrument training issues and potential follow-on studies are addressed.


Background Ischaemic mitral regurgitation (MR) is a known complication of ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). There is a paucity of evidence on the impact of acutely revascularised STEMI on the mitral valve. The current ESC and ACC guidelines do not specifically advise a management strategy in this cohort. The aim of this study is to delineate the effect of STEMI on the mitral valve, identify predictors of MR and compare mortality between these groups. Methods In this observational registry study, we analysed 1122 consecutive patients presenting with STEMI who underwent primary PCI between April 2014 and April 2016. We identified predictors of significant MR (moderate or severe) and compared the mortality risk in MR group vs no MR group. Statistical analysis was done on SPSS. Results Of the 1122 patients identified at baseline (mean age 64±13 years, and 76% male), 94 were excluded due to missing echo data. 62 patients (6%) were found to have significant MR. Patients' with significant MR were on average 10 years older than patients with no MR (95% CI =6.7 –−13.13; p<0.001). 18% of patients with LVEF <40% had significant MR compared to 3% with EF >40% (p<0.001). Although 76% of the sample population were male, females were shown to have a proportionally higher prevalence of MR and higher all-cause mortality (p=0.0179; p=0.0048 ) compared with males. All-cause mortality at the time of data collection was 19% in MR group vs 5% in no MR group. On a multivariate analysis; age, LV ejection fraction, renal impairment and non-smoker status were all shown to be significant predictors for ischaemic MR. Over a mean follow up of 2.3 years, 8% of the patients died, with significantly higher mortality in moderate-severe MR group compared with no MR group (Log rank 13.4, p<0.001). (Kaplan Meier graph). Conclusion Acute MR was found to be a significant predictor of mortality following STEMI. 3% of patients with LVEF >40% were found to have significant MR and may benefit from a repeat echocardiogram at follow-up thereby guiding future management. Prospective multicenter trials are warranted to confirm the finding. Abstract 79 Figure 1


Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Heart rate variability (HRV) has been proven to be a non-invasive marker of the autonomic modulation of the heart. Nonlinear analyses of HRV signals have shown that the HRV is reduced significantly in patients with CAD. Therefore, in this work, we extracted nonlinear features from the HRV signals using the following techniques: recurrence plots (RP), Poincare plots, and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). We also extracted three types of entropy, namely, Shannon entropy (ShanEn), approximation entropy (ApEn), and sample entropy (SampEn). These features were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA). The significant principal components were evaluated using eight classification techniques, and the performances of these techniques were evaluated to determine which presented the highest accuracy in classifying normal and CAD classes. We observed that the multilayer perceptron (MLP) method resulted in the highest classification accuracy (89.5%) using our proposed technique.


Structural design of ships against collision requires prediction of the extent of damage to stiffened plates subjected to impact. In ship structures, stiffened plates are furnished with vertical or horizontal stiffeners to sustain conventional loads such as shearing, bending and local buckling. The consideration of collision in ship structural design is especially important for tankers where accidents may cause serious environmental pollution. In predicting the extent of collision damage, FE modeling of stiffened plates using ABAQUS software is applied to demonstrate different collision scenario. Typical stiffened plates of tankers in service with different configurations of stiffeners are used to examine absorbed energy in each case. The aim of this paper is to examine the stiffener shape that absorbs more deformation energy.


Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is intended to address the expressed needs of patients, clinicians, and other stakeholders. Representatives of 54 stakeholder groups with an interest in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) participated in workshops convened by the COPD Outcomes-based Network for Clinical Effectiveness and Research Translation (CONCERT) over a 2-year period. Year 1 focused on chronic care and care coordination. Year 2 focused on acute care and transitions in care between healthcare settings. Discussions and provisional voting were conducted via teleconferences and e-mail exchanges before the workshop. Final prioritization votes occurred after in-person discussions at the workshop. We used a modified Delphi approach to facilitate discussions and consensus building. To more easily quantify preferences and to evaluate the internal consistency of rankings, the Analytic Hierarchy Process was incorporated in Year 2. Results of preworkshop and final workshop voting often differed, suggesting that prioritization efforts relying solely on requests for topics from stakeholder groups without in-person discussion may provide different research priorities. Research priorities varied across stakeholder groups, but generally focused on studies to evaluate different approaches to healthcare delivery (e.g., spirometry for diagnosis and treatment, integrated healthcare strategies during transitions in care) rather than head-to-head comparisons of medications. This research agenda may help to inform groups intending to respond to CER funding opportunities in COPD. The methodologies used, detailed in the online supplement, may also help to inform prioritization efforts for CER in other health conditions.


CONTEXT
The diagnosis of prostate adenocarcinoma in needle core biopsy specimens is based on multiple diagnostic criteria and supportive features, most of which have been defined mainly from observations in transurethral resection and prostatectomy specimens. There is little information on the frequency with which diagnostic and supportive features of prostate cancer occur within benign glands. The few reports dealing with diagnostic criteria of cancer in needle biopsies have been largely confined to analysis of selected cases that posed particular diagnostic difficulty.

OBJECTIVE
To analyze the frequency with which numerous diagnostic or supportive features of prostate cancer occur in an unselected, consecutively performed series of 18-gauge prostate needle biopsy specimens.

DESIGN
Two hundred fifty consecutive 18-gauge prostate needle biopsy specimens (150 malignant and 100 benign) were evaluated, using hematoxylin-eosin-stained histologic sections.

RESULTS
The frequency of the histologic features in malignant and benign glands was as follows: prominent nucleoli (94% and 25% of malignant and benign specimens, respectively), marginated nucleoli (88% and 7%), multiple nucleoli (64% and 0%), blue-tinged mucinous secretions (52% and 0%), intraluminal crystalloids (40.6% and 1%), intraluminal amorphous eosinophilic material (86.7% and 2%), collagenous micronodules (2% and 0%), glomerulations (15.3% and 0%), perineural invasion (22% and 0%), retraction clefting (38.6% and 7%), and invasion of fat (0.7% and 0%).

CONCLUSIONS
Since not all diagnostic or supportive features of cancer are evident in any single case of cancer, particularly in needle biopsy specimens in which sampling is limited, awareness of these data would be helpful in the assessment of small foci of atypical glands being considered for cancer.


The paper seeks to redesign the disciplines of sustainable development by establishing a new ethical-ecological order based on value pluralism and environmental ethics. The argument begins with identifying the failure of the Brundtland Report in addressing the fundamental premise for sustainability which is the need to adopt non-anthropocentric attitudes towards nature. It then moves for restoring an ethical human relationship with the non-human natural world. Citing empirical evidence from research conducted in the forests of Borneo, the paper concludes that for sustainable development to be a useful concept, it must embrace the ethical dimension of sustainability rather than merely targeting its classical aim of meeting "the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Key words: Brundtland Report, intergenerational equity, environmental sustainability, environmental ethics


Thumb adduction is an abnormal pattern typically noted in children with spastic cerebral palsy. This abnormal pattern can limit hand function , specifically in the type and quality of prehension pattern used and in the coordination of release. This ABAB single-subject research was designed to examine the effects of short thumb opponens splint on hand function in cerebral palsy. The subject was a 4 years and 8 months old boy with right upper extremity spasticity. The child was fitted with a short thumb opponens sp Ii nt , which was worn for 8 hours per day during the daytime. Two different measures were used: (a) prehension component scores; (b) Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency. Data was collected three times a week for 10 weeks. VisuaI analysis of data indicate that after the application of a short thumb opponens splint , improvements were noted in the prehension pattern and fine motor functional tas k. The results of this study suggest that short thumb opponens splint may prove efficaciousness in the treatment of the child with cerebral palsy.


There is a growing demand for a silicon-based light emitters generating a light with a wavelength in of 1.3-1.6 μm range, which can be integrated into silicon chips and used for in-chip opto-electronic interconnects. Among other possibilities, the D1 luminescence at about 1.55 m, caused by dislocations in Si, can be a suitable candidate for such in-chip light emitters. Here we present a brief review of today knowledge about electronic properties of dislocations in silicon and dislocation-related luminescence in connection with possible application of this luminescence for silicon infrared light-emitting diodes (Si-LEDs).


This report maps the African landscape of Open Science – with a focus on Open Data as a sub-set of Open Science. Data to inform the landscape study were collected through a variety of methods, including surveys, desk research, engagement with a community of practice, networking with stakeholders, participation in conferences, case study presentations, and workshops hosted. Although the majority of African countries (35 of 54) demonstrates commitment to science through its investment in research and development (R&D), academies of science, ministries of science and technology, policies, recognition of research, and participation in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), the following countries demonstrate the highest commitment and political willingness to invest in science: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition to existing policies in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), the following countries have made progress towards Open Data policies: Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda. Only two African countries (Kenya and South Africa) at this stage contribute 0.8% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to R&D (Research and Development), which is the closest to the AU's (African Union's) suggested 1%. Countries such as Lesotho and Madagascar ranked as 0%, while the R&D expenditure for 24 African countries is unknown. In addition to this, science globally has become fully dependent on stable ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) infrastructure, which includes connectivity/bandwidth, high performance computing facilities and data services. This is especially applicable since countries globally are finding themselves in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is not only "about" data, but which "is" data. According to an article1 by Alan Marcus (2015) (Senior Director, Head of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum), "At its core, data represents a post-industrial opportunity. Its uses have unprecedented complexity, velocity and global reach. As digital communications become ubiquitous, data will rule in a world where nearly everyone and everything is connected in real time. That will require a highly reliable, secure and available infrastructure at its core, and innovation at the edge." Every industry is affected as part of this revolution – also science. An important component of the digital transformation is "trust" – people must be able to trust that governments and all other industries (including the science sector), adequately handle and protect their data. This requires accountability on a global level, and digital industries must embrace the change and go for a higher standard of protection. "This will reassure consumers and citizens, benefitting the whole digital economy", says Marcus. A stable and secure information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure – currently provided by the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) – is key to advance collaboration in science. The AfricaConnect2 project (AfricaConnect (2012–2014) and AfricaConnect2 (2016–2018)) through establishing connectivity between National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), is planning to roll out AfricaConnect3 by the end of 2019. The concern however is that selected African governments (with the exception of a few countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and others) have low awareness of the impact the Internet has today on all societal levels, how much ICT (and the 4th Industrial Revolution) have affected research, and the added value an NREN can bring to higher education and research in addressing the respective needs, which is far more complex than simply providing connectivity. Apart from more commitment and investment in R&D, African governments – to become and remain part of the 4th Industrial Revolution – have no option other than to acknowledge and commit to the role NRENs play in advancing science towards addressing the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). For successful collaboration and direction, it is fundamental that policies within one country are aligned with one another. Alignment on continental level is crucial for the future Pan-African African Open Science Platform to be successful. Both the HIPSSA ((Harmonization of ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa)3 project and WATRA (the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly)4, have made progress towards the regulation of the telecom sector, and in particular of bottlenecks which curb the development of competition among ISPs. A study under HIPSSA identified potential bottlenecks in access at an affordable price to the international capacity of submarine cables and suggested means and tools used by regulators to remedy them. Work on the recommended measures and making them operational continues in collaboration with WATRA. In addition to sufficient bandwidth and connectivity, high-performance computing facilities and services in support of data sharing are also required. The South African National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System5 (NICIS) has made great progress in planning and setting up a cyberinfrastructure ecosystem in support of collaborative science and data sharing. The regional Southern African Development Community6 (SADC) Cyber-infrastructure Framework provides a valuable roadmap towards high-speed Internet, developing human capacity and skills in ICT technologies, high- performance computing and more. The following countries have been identified as having high-performance computing facilities, some as a result of the Square Kilometre Array7 (SKA) partnership: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia. More and more NRENs – especially the Level 6 NRENs 8 (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and recently Zambia) – are exploring offering additional services; also in support of data sharing and transfer. The following NRENs already allow for running data-intensive applications and sharing of high-end computing assets, bio-modelling and computation on high-performance/ supercomputers: KENET (Kenya), TENET (South Africa), RENU (Uganda), ZAMREN (Zambia), EUN (Egypt) and ARN (Algeria). Fifteen higher education training institutions from eight African countries (Botswana, Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania) have been identified as offering formal courses on data science. In addition to formal degrees, a number of international short courses have been developed and free international online courses are also available as an option to build capacity and integrate as part of curricula. The small number of higher education or research intensive institutions offering data science is however insufficient, and there is a desperate need for more training in data science. The CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science aim at addressing the continental need for foundational data skills across all disciplines, along with training conducted by The Carpentries 9 programme (specifically Data Carpentry 10 ). Thus far, CODATA-RDA schools in collaboration with AOSP, integrating content from Data Carpentry, were presented in Rwanda (in 2018), and during17-29 June 2019, in Ethiopia. Awareness regarding Open Science (including Open Data) is evident through the 12 Open Science-related Open Access/Open Data/Open Science declarations and agreements endorsed or signed by African governments; 200 Open Access journals from Africa registered on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); 174 Open Access institutional research repositories registered on openDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories); 33 Open Access/Open Science policies registered on ROARMAP (Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies); 24 data repositories registered with the Registry of Data Repositories (re3data.org) (although the pilot project identified 66 research data repositories); and one data repository assigned the CoreTrustSeal. Although this is a start, far more needs to be done to align African data curation and research practices with global standards. Funding to conduct research remains a challenge. African researchers mostly fund their own research, and there are little incentives for them to make their research and accompanying data sets openly accessible. Funding and peer recognition, along with an enabling research environment conducive for research, are regarded as major incentives. The landscape report concludes with a number of concerns towards sharing research data openly, as well as challenges in terms of Open Data policy, ICT infrastructure supportive of data sharing, capacity building, lack of skills, and the need for incentives. Although great progress has been made in terms of Open Science and Open Data practices, more awareness needs to be created and further advocacy efforts are required for buy-in from African governments. A federated African Open Science Platform (AOSP) will not only encourage more collaboration among researchers in addressing the SDGs, but it will also benefit the many stakeholders identified as part of the pilot phase. The time is now, for governments in Africa, to acknowledge the important role of science in general, but specifically Open Science and Open Data, through developing and aligning the relevant policies, investing in an ICT infrastructure conducive for data sharing through committing funding to making NRENs financially sustainable, incentivising open research practices by scientists, and creating opportunities for more scientists and stakeholders across all disciplines to be trained in data management.


: A significant elevation of blood levels of exciting amino acids aspartate and glutamate as well as taurine was found. There was a strong association between the levels of these mediator amino acids and neurological deficit severity, progressive course of the disease and predominant damage of supraspinal and spinal descending motor systems. The data obtained suggest an important role of excitotoxicity in the mechanisms of autoimmune demyelinisation and development of progressive neurodegenerative changes. The results of the study emphasize the significance of neurotransmitters in development of motor functions, first of all spastic paresis. In this connection, the normalization of functional activity of neurotransmitter systems involved in the nerve tissue damage and responsible, along with immunomodulation and activation of remyelination, for motor behavior is considered as an important approach to multiple sclerosis treatment and reduction of disability caused by the disease progression.


Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle (Simaroubaceae), the tree of heaven, is a highly invasive tree species containing phytochemicals with a range of biological activities. Exposure to novel chemistry from invasive plant species may result in changes to established Lepidopteran behaviors, including feeding or oviposition. However, the impact of A. altissima chemistry on insect behavior has not been extensively explored. Therefore, A. altissima extract was tested for oviposition deterrence effects against Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Noctuidae). Oviposition substrates were treated with water-soluble extractions of Zea mays (L), A. altissima , or a combination of both. Moths were then placed in chambers containing different substrate treatments and allowed to oviposit. Given choice, S. frugiperda demonstrated a higher percentage of egg deposition on Z. mays treated substrate compared to water treated substrate or A. altissima treated substrate. Significantly, when Z. mays treated substrate was subsequently treated with A. altissima extract, S. frugiperda was deterred from laying eggs on its preferred substrate ( Z. mays ) in a concentration-dependent manner. This observed change in behavior suggests that the deterrent properties of A. altissima phytochemicals may have economically important crop protection applications in controlling pest species like S. frugiperda.


Concrete is a mixture of cement, water, sand and other aggregates in adequate proportions. Its high tensile strength and ability to withstand a vast range of environmental changes makes it the first choice for construction material. One of the major problems associated with concrete is its permeability because penetration of gases and/or liquids from the surrounding environment into the concrete, followed by physical and/or chemical reactions within its internal structure/s leads to irreversible damages. Although cement has autonomous capacity to heal, however cracks <0.2mm width can only self-heal. Biomineralization is one of the best ecofriendly techniques to tackle the problem of cracks in concrete structures. Biologically induced self-healing is beneficial in addressing all the drawbacks of concrete matrix. The most promising technology for producing crack resistant/highly self healing concrete in near future seems to be "BacillaFilla": genetically modified version of Bacillus subtilis, is a "custom –designed" bacteria to embed deep into the cracks in concrete where they produce a mix of calcium carbonate and a special bacteria glue that hardens to the same strength as of the surrounding concrete. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v1i3.8582 Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol. 1(3) 2013 : 85-89


Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most common viral infection complicating stem cell transplantation, and if untreated frequently results in a fatal outcome. In order to identify the main risk factors for HCMV infection, a retrospective study of all allogeneic stem cell transplants performed over a five year period at a single centre was undertaken. The main risk factors for HCMV infection following transplantation were identified as a HCMV seropositive donor and/or recipient and in-vivo use of the monoclonal antibody, anti-CD52 (alemtuzumab). A prospective study of HCMV viral loads determined by real time PCR using a Taqman probe was undertaken, and the viral load dynamics of 57 patients were analysed. Despite the use of aciclovir prophylaxis, PCR monitoring and pre-emptive therapy, the peak viral load, viral replication rate and the total duration of viraemia remain significant risk factors for symptomatic HCMV infection. Peak viral load was the most significant predictor of time to viral clearance. A prospective longtitudinal study of the reconstitution of the HCMV specific immune response following allogeneic stem cell transplantation was performed in 20 patients using intracellular interferon gamma staining and flow cytometry. HCMV infection was associated with a significantly reduced HCMV specific CD4+ T cell response. Furthermore, in patients receiving in-vivo anti-CD52, HCMV specific CD4+ T cell immune recovery was significantly delayed. An HLA class II epitope mapping study was undertaken in stem cell transplant recipients and healthy controls using peptide pools consisting of 15 mer overlapping peptides spanning the entire amino acid sequence of the HCMV proteins, pp65 and IE1. Using intracellular cytokine detection in CD4+ T cells, a number of novel HCMV specific class II epitopes were identified. Transplant recipients responded to a broader range of epitopes than HCMV seropositive controls. These results have important implications for HCMV specific immunotherapy in allogeneic stem cell transplantation.