Worldwide estimates and bibliography of net primary productivity derived from pre-1982 publications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Esser, G.; Lieth, H.F.H.; Scurlock, J.M.O.

An extensive compilation of more than 700 field estimates of net primary productivity of natural and agricultural ecosystems worldwide was synthesized in Germany in the 1970s and early 1980s. Although the Osnabrueck data set has not been updated since the 1980s, it represents a wealth of information for use in model development and validation. This report documents the development of this data set, its contents, and its recent availability on the Internet from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center for Biogeochemical Dynamics. Caution is advised in using these data, which necessarily include assumptions and conversions that maymore » not be universally applicable to all sites.« less

Halal Supply Chain Management Streamlined Practices: Issues and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hijrah Abd Kadir, Muhammad; Zuraidah Raja Mohd Rasi, Raja; Omar, Siti Sarah; Manap, Zariq Imran Abdul

2016-11-01

The quickly developing worldwide halal in business sector has given a remarkable window of chance, which empowers Malaysia to the renowned halal centre in worldwide (known as Halal-hubs). Malaysia also has proactively taken a lead in halal activities, which is presently considered as the benchmark for a halal framework worldwide. Malaysia also set up the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) which driving a wide range of halal activities since the demand of halal food has increased significantly which is very crucial for a Muslim in ensuring its authenticity and integrity. Even in parallel to this developments, many studies has been conducted because there are many issues still occurs in the food industry. The issue of consumer awareness and understanding the halal principles, mixing of halal and non- halal products, halal certification and logo compliance with Shariah law and lack of regulation and enforcement need the serious attention by all parties along the supply chain. The challenges occur mainly in the halal food segregation and halal traceability of the products. The unit of analysis in this study different halal stakeholders group which are JAKIM, Halal Development Centre (HDC), Raw Material Manufacturers, Retailers and Government Agencies. This paper attempt discusses the issues and challenges occurs in the halal supply chain and faced by the practitioners as well as the relevant parties involved in the industry especially for food products manufacturers. The study would like to give a basic information about the issues and challenges in the contribution of Halal Supply Chain Management (HSCM) as well as for the future studies.

The Virtual Physiological Human - a European initiative for in silico human modelling -.

PubMed

Viceconti, Marco; Clapworthy, Gordon; Van Sint Jan, Serge

2008-12-01

The Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) is an initiative, strongly supported by the European Commission (EC), that seeks to develop an integrated model of human physiology at multiple scales from the whole body through the organ, tissue, cell and molecular levels to the genomic level. VPH had its beginnings in 2005 with informal discussions amongst like-minded scientists which led to the STEP project, a Coordination Action funded by the EC that began in early 2006. The STEP project greatly accelerated the progress of the VPH and proved to be a catalyst for wide-ranging discussions within Europe and for outreach activities designed to develop a broad international approach to the huge scientific and technological challenges involved in this area. This paper provides an overview of the VPH and the developments it has engendered in the rapidly expanding worldwide activities associated with the physiome. It then uses one particular project, the Living Human Project, to illustrate the type of advances that are taking place to further the aims of the VPH and similar initiatives worldwide.

The pandemic of physical inactivity: global action for public health.

PubMed

Kohl, Harold W; Craig, Cora Lynn; Lambert, Estelle Victoria; Inoue, Shigeru; Alkandari, Jasem Ramadan; Leetongin, Grit; Kahlmeier, Sonja

2012-07-21

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. We summarise present global efforts to counteract this problem and point the way forward to address the pandemic of physical inactivity. Although evidence for the benefits of physical activity for health has been available since the 1950s, promotion to improve the health of populations has lagged in relation to the available evidence and has only recently developed an identifiable infrastructure, including efforts in planning, policy, leadership and advocacy, workforce training and development, and monitoring and surveillance. The reasons for this late start are myriad, multifactorial, and complex. This infrastructure should continue to be formed, intersectoral approaches are essential to advance, and advocacy remains a key pillar. Although there is a need to build global capacity based on the present foundations, a systems approach that focuses on populations and the complex interactions among the correlates of physical inactivity, rather than solely a behavioural science approach focusing on individuals, is the way forward to increase physical activity worldwide.

Arid and semiarid land stewardship: A 10-year review of accomplishments and contributions of the lnternational Arid Lands Consortium

Treesearch

Peter F. Ffolliott; Jeffrey O. Dawson; James T. Fisher; Itshack Moshe; Darrell W. DeBoers; Timothy. E. Fulbright; John Tracy; Abdullah Al Musa; Carter Johnson; Jim P. M. Chamie

2001-01-01

The International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC) was established in 1990 to promote research, education, and training activities related to the development, management, and restoration or reclamation of arid and semiarid lands worldwide. The IALC, a leading international organization, supports ecological sustainability and development of arid and semiarid lands. Building...

The Impact of Occupational Socialization on Physical Education Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs about Four Important Curricular Outcomes: A Cross-Sectional Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adamakis, Manolis; Zounhia, Katerina

2016-01-01

Most national Physical Education (PE) curriculums worldwide are based on a variety of outcome goals. The most important are physical activity and fitness, self-actualization, motor skill development and social development. Capturing PE Teacher Education pre-service teachers' beliefs toward these outcomes may offer a useful insight into the process…

The Interdependence of Leisure Activity and Cultural Values.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asker, Don

Important contributors to significant changes occurring worldwide are: the emergence of a global economy; substantial political and social change; new transmigration; and enormous technological development. The effects of these changes on cultural values, both at small community and national levels, are far reaching. National boundaries are no…

Oil and Gas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyerhoff, Arthur A.

1983-01-01

Highlights worldwide oil and gas developments during 1982, focusing on production, drilling, and other activities/projects in specific countries and regional areas. Indicates that the most political actions (other than the U.S. decision not to protest further the Siberian pipeline project) were the continued Afghanistan and Iraq-Iran wars.…

Developmental programming of energy balance regulation: Is physical activity more "programmable" than food intake

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Extensive human and animal model data show that environmental influences during critical periods of prenatal and early postnatal development can cause persistent alterations in energy balance regulation. Although a potentially important factor in the worldwide obesity epidemic, the fundamental mecha...

Analysis of the protective immune response following intramuscular vaccination of calves against the intestinal parasite Cooperia oncophora

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Anthelmintic resistance in the bovine parasite Cooperia oncophora is developing and spreading rapidly worldwide. Vaccination is therefore often put forward as a cost-effective alternative for chemical drugs. Recently we reported the successful evaluation of a double domain activation-associated secr...

Biological control products for aflatoxin prevention in Italy: Commercial field evaluation of atoxigenic A.flavus active ingredients

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Since 2003, non-compliant aflatoxin concentrations have been detected in maize produced in Italy. The most successful worldwide experiments in aflatoxin prevention resulted from distribution of atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus to displace aflatoxin-producers during crop development. The disp...

40 Years of the Salmonella Mutagenicity Assay: Implications for 21st Century Toxicology

EPA Science Inventory

The Salmonella (Ames) mutagenicity assay was developed and introduced by Bruce Ames and colleagues in 1971. Since then, it has become the standard assay for hazard identification of mutagens worldwide. It is a first-tier test for mutagenic activity in the pharmaceutical and chemi...

Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Worldwide Medicines in Brunswick, New Jersey

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is located at 1 Squibb Drive in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The site has been an active pharmaceutical manufacturing and research and development facility since it began operation by E.R. Squibb and Sons, Inc. in 1907.

Potato root-associated bacteria: site/cultivar differences and associations with tuber yield and quality

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Potatoes are the fourth most important food crop in the world with consumption increasing worldwide, especially in developing nations. Breeding programs focus on potato quality for disease resistance and culinary quality; in addition, some programs are beginning to focus on anti-cancer activity of ...

The Hollin Hill Landslide Observatory - a decade of geophysical characterization and monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uhlemann, S.; Wilkinson, P. B.; Meldrum, P.; Smith, A.; Dixon, N.; Merritt, A.; Swift, R. T.; Whiteley, J.; Gunn, D.; Chambers, J. E.

2017-12-01

Landslides are major and frequent natural hazards. They shape the Earth's surface, and endanger communities and infrastructure worldwide. Within the last decade, landslides caused more than 28,000 fatalities and direct damage exceeding $1.8 billion. Climate change, causing more frequent weather extremes, is likely to increase occurrences of shallow slope failures worldwide. Thus, there is a need to improve our understanding of these shallow, rainfall-induced landslides. In this context, integrated geophysical characterization and monitoring can play a crucial role by providing volumetric data that can be linked to the hydrological and geotechnical conditions of a slope. This enables understanding of the complex hydrological processes most-often being associated with landslides. Here we present a review of a decade of characterizing and monitoring a complex, inland, clayey landslide - forming the "Hollin Hill Landslide Observatory". Within the last decade, this landslide has experienced different activity characteristics, including creep, flow, and rotational failures - thereby providing an excellent testbed for the development of geophysical and geotechnical monitoring instrumentation and methodologies. These include developments of 4D geoelectrical monitoring techniques to estimate electrode positions from the resistivity data, incorporating these into a time-lapse inversion, and imaging moisture dynamics that control the landslide behaviour. Other developments include acoustic emission monitoring, and active and passive seismic monitoring. This work is underpinned by detailed characterization of the landslide, using geomorphological and geological mapping, geotechnical investigations, and a thorough geoelectrical and seismic characterization of the landslide mass. Hence, the data gained from the Hollin Hill landslide observatory has improved our understanding of the shallow landslide dynamics in response to climate change, their mechanics and evolution. The methodological and technical developments achieved at this site are suitable and applicable for implementation on other landslides worldwide.

Antifungal potential of marine natural products.

PubMed

El-Hossary, Ebaa M; Cheng, Cheng; Hamed, Mostafa M; El-Sayed Hamed, Ashraf Nageeb; Ohlsen, Knut; Hentschel, Ute; Abdelmohsen, Usama Ramadan

2017-01-27

Fungal diseases represent an increasing threat to human health worldwide which in some cases might be associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. However, only few antifungal drugs are currently available for the treatment of life-threatening fungal infections. Furthermore, plant diseases caused by fungal pathogens represent a worldwide economic problem for the agriculture industry. The marine environment continues to provide structurally diverse and biologically active secondary metabolites, several of which have inspired the development of new classes of therapeutic agents. Among these secondary metabolites, several compounds with noteworthy antifungal activities have been isolated from marine microorganisms, invertebrates, and algae. During the last fifteen years, around 65% of marine natural products possessing antifungal activities have been isolated from sponges and bacteria. This review gives an overview of natural products from diverse marine organisms that have shown in vitro and/or in vivo potential as antifungal agents, with their mechanism of action whenever applicable. The natural products literature is covered from January 2000 until June 2015, and we are reporting the chemical structures together with their biological activities, as well as the isolation source. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Division XII: Commission 46: Education & Development of Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ros, Rosa M.; Hearnshaw, John; Stavinschi, Magda; Garcia, Beatriz; Gerbaldi, Michele; de Greve, Jean-Pierre; Guinan, Edward; Haubold, Hans; Jones, Barrie; Marshall, Laurence A.; Pasachoff, Jay

2015-08-01

C46 is a Commission of the Executive Committee of the IAU under Division XII Union-Wide Activities. Aiming at improvement of astronomy education and research at all levels worldwide (through the various projects it initiates),maintains, develops, as well as through the dissemination of information. C46 has 332 members and it was managed by the Organizing Committee, formed by the Commission President (Rosa M. Ros, from Spain), the Vice-Presiden (John Hearnshaw, from New Zealand), the Retiring President (Magda Stavinschi, from Romania), the Vice-President of the IAU (George Miley, from Netherland) and the PG chairs: • Worldwide Development of Astronomy WWDA: John Hearnshaw • Teaching Astronomy for Development TAD: Edward Guinan and Laurence A. Marshall • International Schools for Young Astronomers ISYA; chair: Jean-Pierre de Greve • Network for Astronomy School Education NASE: Rosa M. Ros and Beatriz Garcia • Public Understanding at the times of Solar Eclipses and transit Phenomena PUTSE: Jay Pasachoff • National Liaison and Newsletter: Barrie Jones • Collaborative Programs: Hans Haubold

C46 `ASTRONOMY Education and Development': a Peculiar Commission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Greve, Jean-Pierre; García, Beatriz; Gerbaldi, Michèle; Ferlet, Roger; Guinan, Edward; Hearnshaw, John; Jones, Barrie; Marschall, Laurence; Miley, George; Pasachoff, Jay; Ros, Rosa; Stavinschi, Magda; Torres-Peimbert, Silvia

2016-04-01

C46 was a Commission of the Executive Committee of the IAU under Division XII (Union-Wide Activities), then after 2012 under Division C (Education, Outreach, and Heritage). It was the only commission dealing exclusively with astronomy education; a previous Commission 38 (Exchange of Astronomers), which allocated travel grants to astronomers who needed them, and a Working Group on the Worldwide Development of Astronomy, have been absorbed by Commission 46.

Improving restoration to control plant invasions under climate change

Treesearch

Qinfeng Guo; Steve Norman

2012-01-01

Native forests and grasslands worldwide have been converted to developed lands or invaded by exotic species due to human activities. These pressures are predicted to increase with population growth and climatic stress in coming decades, escalating concerns for the viability of native species and communities that are affected. Ecological restoration is frequently...

Healthy Children/Healthy World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dean, Cynthia, Comp.; And Others

This manual presents a curriculum on the health and nutrition of children in the developing world for students in middle schools. The objectives of the curriculum are to give American students a more accurate idea of the problems related to child survival worldwide, to enable them to integreate these issues into their regular classroom activities,…

A Comparative Thematic Review of Vocational Leadership Literature from the USA, Great Britain and Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crossman, Brian; Cameron, Roslyn

2014-01-01

Vocational education and its leadership is an important sphere of economic activity worldwide and is being impacted by several trends including: the increasing significance and centrality of skills development in today's economies; economic trends associated with globalisation (internationalisation of education and emergence of global labour…

Contributions and Follow-Up Activities to CONFINTEA VI (USA)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alamprese, Judith A.

2012-01-01

CONFINTEA VI provided a unique lens through which to view adult education and literacy worldwide. Over 1,000 participants from 144 countries were convened to advance the recognition of adult learning and education as important elements of lifelong learning and crucial to the agendas for international education and development. The aim was to…

Handbook for Decentralized Education Planning. Implementing National EFA Plans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Online Submission, 2005

2005-01-01

The Dakar 2000 goal of Education For All (EFA) is at the center of UNESCO's education activities worldwide. The wide-ranging efforts to achieve EFA in many countries involve education reform, development strategies and plans. Decentralization, a major component in modernizing the public sector, is also applicable to the education sector. The…

Non-Formal Education: A Major Educational Force in the Postmodern Era

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romi, Shlomo; Schmida, Mirjam

2009-01-01

This study aims to describe the current position of non-formal education (NFE) as a major educational force in the postmodern world, and to analyze its philosophical and theoretical assumptions. Far from being "supplementary education" or "extracurricular activities", NFE has developed into a worldwide educational industry. However, it has yet to…

Is There a Latin American Model of the University?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernasconi, Andres

2008-01-01

Recently, Latin America has seen the advent of research activities to meet the call for research that long preceded them and of the full-time research faculty who engage in them. These developments have taken place as the region partakes in contemporary worldwide trends that have affected universities elsewhere: the consequences of the increased…

Worldwide Report, Nuclear Development and Proliferation

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-06-07

A 201204 JPRS-TND-84-013 7 June 1984 Worldwide Report NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND PROLIFERATION \\ y0& ^ KK0 %>$JJMXSTT JWRTF-Tnuyy...Publications Research Service, 1000 North Glebe Road, Arlington, Virginia 22201. JPRS-TND-84-013 7 June 1984 WORLDWIDE REPORT NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND...But China by no means favors nuclear proliferation by helping other countries to develop nuclear weapons, he declared. China holds, he said, that

The JRC Nanomaterials Repository: A unique facility providing representative test materials for nanoEHS research.

PubMed

Totaro, Sara; Cotogno, Giulio; Rasmussen, Kirsten; Pianella, Francesca; Roncaglia, Marco; Olsson, Heidi; Riego Sintes, Juan M; Crutzen, Hugues P

2016-11-01

The European Commission has established a Nanomaterials Repository that hosts industrially manufactured nanomaterials that are distributed world-wide for safety testing of nanomaterials. In a first instance these materials were tested in the OECD Testing Programme. They have then also been tested in several EU funded research projects. The JRC Repository of Nanomaterials has thus developed into serving the global scientific community active in the nanoEHS (regulatory) research. The unique Repository facility is a state-of-the-art installation that allows customised sub-sampling under the safest possible conditions, with traceable final sample vials distributed world-wide for research purposes. This paper describes the design of the Repository to perform a semi-automated subsampling procedure, offering high degree of flexibility and precision in the preparation of NM vials for customers, while guaranteeing the safety of the operators, and environmental protection. The JRC nanomaterials are representative for part of the world NMs market. Their wide use world-wide facilitates the generation of comparable and reliable experimental results and datasets in (regulatory) research by the scientific community, ultimately supporting the further development of the OECD regulatory test guidelines. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Worldwide Report, Nuclear Development and Proliferation

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-07-02

delegate welcomed the inclusion of a new item-disarmament and development -on the commission’s agenda. Miss Kunadi said the catalytic effects of arms...249199 JPRS-TND-84-016 2 July 1984 — """ , f L ~ tibiae iel<M99; Worldwide Report NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND PROLIFERATION mom m FBIS...Arlington, Virginia 22201. JPRS-TND-84- ■016 2 July 1984 WORLDWIDE REPORT NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND PROLIFERATION CONTENTS ASIA PEOPLE ’S REPUBLIC OF

Larrea tridentata: A novel source for anti-parasitic agents active against Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia and Naegleria fowleri.

PubMed

Bashyal, Bharat; Li, Linfeng; Bains, Trpta; Debnath, Anjan; LaBarbera, Daniel V

2017-08-01

Protozoan parasites infect and kill millions of people worldwide every year, particularly in developing countries where access to clean fresh water is limited. Among the most common are intestinal parasites, including Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica. These parasites wreak havoc on the epithelium lining the small intestines (G. lamblia) and colon (E. histolytica) causing giardiasis and amebiasis, respectively. In addition, there are less common but far more deadly pathogens such as Naegleria fowleri that thrive in warm waters and infect the central nervous systems of their victims via the nasal passages. Despite their prevalence and associated high mortality rates, there remains an unmet need to identify more effective therapeutics for people infected with these opportunistic parasites. To address this unmet need, we have surveyed plants and traditional herbal medicines known throughout the world to identify novel antiparasitic agents with activity against G. lamblia, E. histolytica, and N. fowleri. Herein, we report Larrea tridentata, known as creosote bush, as a novel source for secondary metabolites that display antiparasitic activity against all three pathogens. This report also characterizes the lignan compound classes, nordihydroguairetic acid and demethoxyisoguaiacin, as novel antiparasitic lead agents to further develop more effective drug therapy options for millions of people worldwide.

Larrea tridentata: A novel source for anti-parasitic agents active against Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia and Naegleria fowleri

PubMed Central

Bains, Trpta; Debnath, Anjan

2017-01-01

Protozoan parasites infect and kill millions of people worldwide every year, particularly in developing countries where access to clean fresh water is limited. Among the most common are intestinal parasites, including Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica. These parasites wreak havoc on the epithelium lining the small intestines (G. lamblia) and colon (E. histolytica) causing giardiasis and amebiasis, respectively. In addition, there are less common but far more deadly pathogens such as Naegleria fowleri that thrive in warm waters and infect the central nervous systems of their victims via the nasal passages. Despite their prevalence and associated high mortality rates, there remains an unmet need to identify more effective therapeutics for people infected with these opportunistic parasites. To address this unmet need, we have surveyed plants and traditional herbal medicines known throughout the world to identify novel antiparasitic agents with activity against G. lamblia, E. histolytica, and N. fowleri. Herein, we report Larrea tridentata, known as creosote bush, as a novel source for secondary metabolites that display antiparasitic activity against all three pathogens. This report also characterizes the lignan compound classes, nordihydroguairetic acid and demethoxyisoguaiacin, as novel antiparasitic lead agents to further develop more effective drug therapy options for millions of people worldwide. PMID:28793307

The Policies and Practice of Preschoolers' Outdoor Play: A Chinese Perspective on Greeting the Millennium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Bi Ying; Kong, Zhaowei; Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth

2014-01-01

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) scholars and health professionals worldwide share a common concern about the decline in children's physical development and activity due to lack of access to good quality outdoor environments. Early childhood education and care facilities across the world have been affected by trends that are limiting…

Co-Measure: Developing an Assessment for Student Collaboration in STEAM Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herro, Danielle; Quigley, Cassie; Andrews, Jessica; Delacruz, Girlie

2017-01-01

Background: The shortage of skilled workers choosing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers in the USA and worldwide has fueled a movement towards STEAM, in which the "A" addresses the arts and humanities. STEAM education has been proposed as a way to offer relevant problems to solve while drawing on creative and…

Education Today: The Newsletter of UNESCO's Education Sector. Number 16, February-May 2006

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muller, Anne, Ed.; Yahil, Edna, Ed.

2006-01-01

"Education Today" is a quarterly newsletter on trends and innovations in education, on worldwide efforts towards Education for All and on UNESCO's own education activities. The focus of this issue of "Education Today," is on Education Sustainable Development (ESD) and what it means. This simple answer is as educators, we are…

Worldwide Report, Telecommunications Policy, Research and Development, No. 283.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-10

JPRS 84082 10 August 1983 ;-yry^7S-.-•-■■:■? TT h Worldwide Report TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT No. 283 tmC...POLICY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT No, 283 CONTENTS WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS Satellite Hookup Between Moscow, California TV (Moscow Domestic Television...and mass communi- cations. One even talks about the world turning, from the viewpoint of all-permeating information, into one global village. It

A report from CPhI Worldwide 2013, Fifth Annual Pre-Connect Conference (October 22-24, 2013 - Frankfurt, Germany).

PubMed

Kuhrt, K; Gilpatrick, J

2013-11-01

A day before the start of the 2013 Conference on Pharmaceutical Ingredients (CPhI) Worldwide, the world's leading pharmaceutical networking event, a number of attendees gathered for the Fifth Annual Pre-Connect Conference to discuss trends in business development, manufacturing and regulatory arenas. Of the six modules presented at the meeting, one was dedicated to the sourcing environment in emerging markets, with special attention paid to developments in India and China. Other modules evaluated the current trends in the creation of generics and supergenerics in emerging markets. Additionally, there were updates on issues surrounding the regulatory and development hurdles that biosimilars and biobetters are facing today. Common themes for both discussions include appropriate pricing and erosion demographics for generics and biosimilars, licensing scenarios, commercialization strategies, and how to stay competitive and find novel innovations within new delivery systems, improved formulations and modifications to create better quality active pharmaceutical ingredients. Copyright 2013 Prous Science, S.A.U. or its licensors. All rights reserved.

Nutraceuticals as potential therapeutic agents for colon cancer: a review

PubMed Central

Kuppusamy, Palaniselvam; Yusoff, Mashitah M.; Maniam, Gaanty Pragas; Ichwan, Solachuddin Jauhari Arief; Soundharrajan, Ilavenil; Govindan, Natanamurugaraj

2014-01-01

Colon cancer is a world-wide health problem and the second-most dangerous type of cancer, affecting both men and women. The modern diet and lifestyles, with high meat consumption and excessive alcohol use, along with limited physical activity has led to an increasing mortality rate for colon cancer worldwide. As a result, there is a need to develop novel and environmentally benign drug therapies for colon cancer. Currently, nutraceuticals play an increasingly important role in the treatment of various chronic diseases such as colon cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer׳s disease. Nutraceuticals are derived from various natural sources such as medicinal plants, marine organisms, vegetables and fruits. Nutraceuticals have shown the potential to reduce the risk of colon cancer and slow its progression. These dietary substances target different molecular aspects of colon cancer development. Accordingly, this review briefly discusses the medicinal importance of nutraceuticals and their ability to reduce the risk of colorectal carcinogenesis. PMID:26579381

Nutraceuticals as potential therapeutic agents for colon cancer: a review.

PubMed

Kuppusamy, Palaniselvam; Yusoff, Mashitah M; Maniam, Gaanty Pragas; Ichwan, Solachuddin Jauhari Arief; Soundharrajan, Ilavenil; Govindan, Natanamurugaraj

2014-06-01

Colon cancer is a world-wide health problem and the second-most dangerous type of cancer, affecting both men and women. The modern diet and lifestyles, with high meat consumption and excessive alcohol use, along with limited physical activity has led to an increasing mortality rate for colon cancer worldwide. As a result, there is a need to develop novel and environmentally benign drug therapies for colon cancer. Currently, nutraceuticals play an increasingly important role in the treatment of various chronic diseases such as colon cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer׳s disease. Nutraceuticals are derived from various natural sources such as medicinal plants, marine organisms, vegetables and fruits. Nutraceuticals have shown the potential to reduce the risk of colon cancer and slow its progression. These dietary substances target different molecular aspects of colon cancer development. Accordingly, this review briefly discusses the medicinal importance of nutraceuticals and their ability to reduce the risk of colorectal carcinogenesis.

Effects of the new communication technologies on the structure and the flow of activities in an enterprise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Czaputa, R.

The reported investigation takes into account the developments in a large multinational company of German origin. The worldwide engagement of the company in the areas of development, manufacture, and marketing makes it necessary to maintain close contacts between people in the various branches of the organization. A utilization of all economically employable techniques is needed to satisfy the resulting intensive communication requirements. It is pointed out that the quality of the communication system can be of critical importance because an important order may be given to the firm which can provide information regarding prices and the execution of the order in a shorter time and a better form than competitive firms. Attention is given to the desirability of a further extension of the worldwide telex service, 'electronic mail' in the office, and the transmission of pictorial information.

Could viruses contribute to the worldwide epidemic of obesity?

PubMed

Atkinson, Richard L

2008-01-01

The prevalence of obesity in children increased rapidly starting about 1980 in both developed and developing countries. Studies of changes in diet and physical activity, television watching, and food advertisements on television suggest that these are not sufficient to explain the epidemic. The pattern of rapid spread is suggestive of an infectious origin. The concept of virus-induced obesity is not new. Eight viruses have been shown to cause obesity in animals and there is evidence for virus-induced obesity in humans. Recent evidence on animal and human adenoviruses suggests that these adenoviruses may infect adipocytes to alter enzymes and transcription factors resulting in accumulation of triglycerides and differentiation of preadipocytes into mature adipocytes. The E4orf1 gene of Ad-36 has been shown to be responsible for the adipogenic effect. It appears that a portion of the worldwide epidemic of obesity since 1980 could be due to infections with human adenoviruses.

Meteorite Fall Detection and Analysis via Weather Radar: Worldwide Potential for Citizen Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fries, M.; Bresky, C.; Laird, C.; Reddy, V.; Hankey, M.

2017-12-01

Meteorite falls can be detected using weather radars, facilitating rapid recovery of meteorites to minimize terrestrial alteration. Imagery from the US NEXRAD radar network reveals over two dozen meteorite falls where meteorites have been recovered, and about another dozen that remain unrecovered. Discovery of new meteorite falls is well suited to "citizen science" and similar outreach activities, as well as automation of computational components into internet-based search tools. Also, there are many more weather radars employed worldwide than those in the US NEXRAD system. Utilization of weather radars worldwide for meteorite recovery can not only expand citizen science opportunities but can also lead to significant improvement in the number of freshly-fallen meteorites available for research. We will discuss the methodologies behind locating and analyzing meteorite falls using weather radar, and how to make them available for citizen science efforts. An important example is the Aquarius Project, a Chicago-area consortium recently formed with the goal of recovering meteorites from Lake Michigan. This project has extensive student involvement geared toward development of actual hardware for recovering meteorites from the lake floor. Those meteorites were identified in weather radar imagery as they fell into the lake from a large meteor on 06 Feb 2017. Another example of public interaction is the meteor detection systems operated by the American Meteor Society (AMS). The AMS website has been developed to allow public reporting of meteors, effectively enabling citizen science to locate and describe significant meteor events worldwide.

Guidelines for Physical Activity during Pregnancy: Comparisons From Around the World

PubMed Central

Evenson, Kelly R.; Barakat, Ruben; Brown, Wendy J.; Dargent-Molina, Patricia; Haruna, Megumi; Mikkelsen, Ellen M.; Mottola, Michelle F.; Owe, Katrine M.; Rousham, Emily K.; Yeo, SeonAe

2013-01-01

Introduction Women attain numerous benefits from physical activity during pregnancy. However, due to physical changes that occur during pregnancy, special precautions are also needed. This review summarizes current guidelines for physical activity among pregnant women worldwide. Methods We searched PubMed (MedLINE) for country-specific governmental and clinical guidelines on physical activity during pregnancy through the year 2012. We cross-referenced with articles referring to guidelines, with only the most recent included. An abstraction form was used to extract key details and summarize. Results In total, 11 guidelines were identified from nine countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom, United States). Most guidelines supported moderate intensity physical activity during pregnancy (10/11) and indicated specific frequency (9/11) and duration/time (9/11) recommendations. Most guidelines provided advice on initiating an exercise program during pregnancy (10/11). Six guidelines included absolute and relative contraindications to exercise. All guidelines generally ruled-out sports with risks of falls, trauma, or collisions. Six guidelines included indications for stopping exercise during pregnancy. Conclusion This review contrasted pregnancy-related physical activity guidelines from around the world, and can help to inform new guidelines as they are created or updated, and facilitate the development of a worldwide guideline. PMID:25346651

World-wide architecture of osteoporosis research: density-equalizing mapping studies and gender analysis.

PubMed

Brüggmann, D; Mäule, L-S; Klingelhöfer, D; Schöffel, N; Gerber, A; Jaque, J M; Groneberg, D A

2016-10-01

While research activities on osteoporosis grow constantly, no concise description of the global research architecture exists. Hence, we aim to analyze and depict the world-wide scientific output on osteoporosis combining bibliometric tools, density-equalizing mapping projections and gender analysis. Using the NewQIS platform, we analyzed all osteoporosis-related publications authored from 1900 to 2012 and indexed by the Web of Science. Bibliometric details were analyzed related to quantitative and semi-qualitative aspects. The majority of 57 453 identified publications were original research articles. The USA and Western Europe dominated the field regarding cooperation activity, publication and citation performance. Asia, Africa and South America played a minimal role. Gender analysis revealed a dominance of male scientists in almost all countries except Brazil. Although the scientific performance on osteoporosis is increasing world-wide, a significant disparity in terms of research output was visible between developed and low-income countries. This finding is particularly concerning since epidemiologic evaluations of future osteoporosis prevalences predict enormous challenges for the health-care systems in low-resource countries. Hence, our study underscores the need to address these disparities by fostering future research endeavors in these nations with the aim to successfully prevent a growing global burden related to osteoporosis.

Ibuprofen Potentiates the In Vivo Antifungal Activity of Fluconazole against Candida albicans Murine Infection

PubMed Central

Miranda, Isabel M.; Silva-Dias, Ana; Silva, Ana P.; Rodrigues, Acácio G.; Pina-Vaz, Cidália

2015-01-01

Candida albicans is the most prevalent cause of fungemia worldwide. Its ability to develop resistance in patients receiving azole antifungal therapy is well documented. In a murine model of systemic infection, we show that ibuprofen potentiates fluconazole antifungal activity against a fluconazole-resistant strain, drastically reducing the fungal burden and morbidity. The therapeutic combination of fluconazole with ibuprofen may constitute a new approach for the management of antifungal therapeutics to reverse the resistance conferred by efflux pump overexpression. PMID:25845879

SEEDS: A Celebration of Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Melton, Bob

1991-01-01

The major goal of the project of Space Exposed Experiment Developed for Students (SEEDS) was to stimulate interest in science through the active involvement of all participants. Youthful investigators utilized the basic and integrated science process skills as they conducted the research necessary to complete the data reports used in the compilation of this document. Participants described many unique activities designed to promote critical thinking and problem solving. Seeds made a significant impact toward enhancing the teaching, learning, and enjoyment of science for students worldwide.

Robotics in medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, D. N.; Syryamkin, V. I.

2015-11-01

Modern technologies play a very important role in our lives. It is hard to imagine how people can get along without personal computers, and companies - without powerful computer centers. Nowadays, many devices make modern medicine more effective. Medicine is developing constantly, so introduction of robots in this sector is a very promising activity. Advances in technology have influenced medicine greatly. Robotic surgery is now actively developing worldwide. Scientists have been carrying out research and practical attempts to create robotic surgeons for more than 20 years, since the mid-80s of the last century. Robotic assistants play an important role in modern medicine. This industry is new enough and is at the early stage of development; despite this, some developments already have worldwide application; they function successfully and bring invaluable help to employees of medical institutions. Today, doctors can perform operations that seemed impossible a few years ago. Such progress in medicine is due to many factors. First, modern operating rooms are equipped with up-to-date equipment, allowing doctors to make operations more accurately and with less risk to the patient. Second, technology has enabled to improve the quality of doctors' training. Various types of robots exist now: assistants, military robots, space, household and medical, of course. Further, we should make a detailed analysis of existing types of robots and their application. The purpose of the article is to illustrate the most popular types of robots used in medicine.

As Public Relationship Application Countinability of Participated Art Projects via Distance Education Method: A Case of "Women's Are Meeting with Literature Project"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taskaya, Merih

2013-01-01

Observations of artistic activities' transformative influence in social sphere by social scientists have played an essential role in the rise of "participative art" works worldwide. Within the scope of the public relations practices performed by municipal administrations particularly in order to promote the cultural development of…

Collboard: Fostering New Media Literacies in the Classroom through Collaborative Problem Solving Supported by Digital Pens and Interactive Whiteboards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvarez, Claudio; Salavati, Sadaf; Nussbaum, Miguel; Milrad, Marcelo

2013-01-01

Education systems worldwide must strive to support the teaching of a set of New Media Literacies (NMLs). These literacies respond to the need for educating human capital within participatory cultures in a highly technologized world. In this paper, we present Collboard, a constructivist problem solving activity for fostering the development of…

A New Education Scheme for Japan: Importing Education PPP Structures from England and Scotland (Part 1)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tachioka, Hiroshi; Campbell, Joel R.

2006-01-01

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) play a very important role in the development of social, health, welfare and education worldwide. Most PPP projects have been in the social, welfare and health fields. However, in recent years, PPP projects also play more active role in education. PPP projects in education have evolved from the mere sponsoring of…

Recasting Justice and Ethics through Human Rights Education: The Nigerian Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akinbode, Olusola

2006-01-01

The United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) set in motion both formal and informal activities to promote the development of respect for human rights culture through education worldwide. It is said that knowledge is power and ignorance cannot be a defence. But the maxim that says ignorance of the law is no defence is in itself…

Inhibitory activities of venom alkaloids of Red Imported Fire Ant against Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis in vitro and the application of piperidine alkaloids to manage symptom development..

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Bacterial canker of tomato caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (CMM) is a highly destructive disease and has caused major economic losses in tomato production worldwide. There are limited methods available to manage this disease. In searching for disease management alternatives,...

Incomplete transfer of accessory loci influencing SbMATE expression underlies genetic background effects for aluminum tolerance in sorghum

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Impaired root development caused by aluminum (Al) toxicity is a major cause for grain yield reduction for crops cultivated on acid soils which are widespread worldwide. In sorghum, the major Al tolerance locus, AltSB, is due to the function of SbMATE, which is an Al-activated root citrate transporte...

Beyond Physical Activity: The Importance of Play and Nature-Based Play Spaces for Children's Health and Development.

PubMed

Herrington, Susan; Brussoni, Mariana

2015-12-01

The reduction of child obesity continues to be a challenge worldwide. Research indicates that playing outdoors, particularly in natural play spaces, boosts children's physical activity, potentially decreasing childhood obesity. We present evidence that natural play spaces also provide for more diverse forms of play for children of varying ages and competencies. This is crucial because play spaces designed expressly for physical activity may not increase physical activity among less active children. Moreover, when researchers only examine physical activity in play, they overlook the valuable contributions that play makes to other aspects of children's health and development. To enhance research on children and their play environments, we introduce the theory of play affordances. To assist in the creation of more natural play spaces, we describe the Seven Cs, an evidence-based approach for designing children's play spaces that promotes diverse play. We end with some preliminary insights from our current research using the Seven Cs to illustrate the connections between play, nature, and children's healthy development.

CDC Activities for Improving Implementation of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination, Cervical Cancer Screening, and Surveillance Worldwide.

PubMed

Senkomago, Virginia; Duran, Denise; Loharikar, Anagha; Hyde, Terri B; Markowitz, Lauri E; Unger, Elizabeth R; Saraiya, Mona

2017-12-01

Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates are high, particularly in developing countries. Most cervical cancers can be prevented by human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, screening, and timely treatment. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides global technical assistance for implementation and evaluation of HPV vaccination pilot projects and programs and laboratory-related HPV activities to assess HPV vaccines. CDC collaborates with global partners to develop global cervical cancer screening recommendations and manuals, implement screening, create standardized evaluation tools, and provide expertise to monitor outcomes. CDC also trains epidemiologists in cancer prevention through its Field Epidemiology Training Program and is working to improve cancer surveillance by supporting efforts of the World Health Organization in developing cancer registry hubs and assisting countries in estimating costs for developing population-based cancer registries. These activities contribute to the Global Health Security Agenda action packages to improve immunization, surveillance, and the public health workforce globally.

Molecular mechanisms underlying osteoarthritis development: Notch and NF-κB.

PubMed

Saito, Taku; Tanaka, Sakae

2017-05-15

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multi-factorial and highly prevalent joint disorder worldwide. Since the establishment of murine surgical knee OA models in 2005, many of the key molecules and signalling pathways responsible for OA development have been identified. Here we review the roles of two multi-functional signalling pathways in OA development: Notch and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells. Previous studies have identified various aspects of articular chondrocyte regulation by these pathways. However, comprehensive understanding of the molecular networks regulating articular cartilage homeostasis and OA pathogenesis is needed.

Nine microsatellite loci developed from the octocoral, Paragorgia arborea

USGS Publications Warehouse

Coykendall, D. Katharine; Morrison, Cheryl L.

2015-01-01

Paragorgia arborea, or bubblegum coral, occurs in continental slope habitats worldwide, which are increasingly threatened by human activities such as energy development and fisheries practices. From 101 putative loci screened, nine microsatellite markers were developed from samples taken from Baltimore canyon in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The number of alleles ranged from two to thirteen per locus and each displayed equilibrium. These nuclear resources will help further research on population connectivity in threatened coral species where mitochondrial markers are known to lack fine-scale genetic diversity.

Plant Antimicrobial Peptides as Potential Anticancer Agents

PubMed Central

Guzmán-Rodríguez, Jaquelina Julia; López-Gómez, Rodolfo

2015-01-01

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are part of the innate immune defense mechanism of many organisms and are promising candidates to treat infections caused by pathogenic bacteria to animals and humans. AMPs also display anticancer activities because of their ability to inactivate a wide range of cancer cells. Cancer remains a cause of high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, the development of methods for its control is desirable. Attractive alternatives include plant AMP thionins, defensins, and cyclotides, which have anticancer activities. Here, we provide an overview of plant AMPs anticancer activities, with an emphasis on their mode of action, their selectivity, and their efficacy. PMID:25815333

The GILDA t-Infrastructure: grid training activities in Africa and future opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ardizzone, V.; Barbera, R.; Ciuffo, L.; Giorgio, E.

2009-04-01

Scientists, educators, and students from many parts of the worlds are not able to take advantage of ICT because the digital divide is growing and prevents less developed countries to exploit its benefits. Instead of becoming more empowered and involved in worldwide developments, they are becoming increasingly marginalised as the world of education and science becomes increasingly Internet-dependent. The Grid Infn Laboratory for Dissemination Activities (GILDA) spreads since almost five years the awareness of Grid technology to a large audience, training new communities and fostering new organisations to provide resources. The knowledge dissemination process guided by the training activities is a key factor to ensure that all users can fully understand the characteristics of the Grid services offered by large existing e-Infrastructure. GILDA is becoming a "de facto" standard in training infrastructures (t-Infrastructures) and it is adopted by many grid projects worldwide. In this contribution we will report on the latest status of GILDA services and on the training activities recently carried out in sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi and South Africa). Particular care will be devoted to show how GILDA can be "cloned" to satisfy both education and research demands of African Organisations. The opportunities to benefit from GILDA in the framework of the EPIKH project as well as the plans of the European Commission on grid training and education for the 2010-2011 calls of its 7th Framework Programme will be presented and discussed.

Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) Project: Fun Presentations for Physicists to Take into Schools Worldwide (abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marks, Ann

2009-04-01

The Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) project is a joint venture initiated by the UK Women in Physics Group. A team from the University of Sheffield, with Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council funding, has developed fun presentations and novel class activities using everyday articles for physicists to take into primary schools. The objectives are to instill enthusiasm in young children-including girls-through the enjoyment and excitement of physics, and support primary school teachers with a curriculum which includes many abstract concepts. All PIPS material is free to download from the Institute of Physics website (www.iop.org/pips), providing PowerPoint presentations and detailed explanations, as well as videos of the activities in classrooms. The topics are suitable for children age 4 to 11 years. There is interest in translating the presentations into other languages as there are few words on the slides and the material is likely valuable for older age groups. The presentations therefore have the potential to be useful worldwide.

Partnerships for better mental health worldwide: WPA recommendations on best practices in working with service users and family carers

PubMed Central

WALLCRAFT, JAN; AMERING, MICHAELA; FREIDIN, JULIAN; DAVAR, BHARGAVI; FROGGATT, DIANE; JAFRI, HUSSAIN; JAVED, AFZAL; KATONTOKA, SYLVESTER; RAJA, SHOBA; RATAEMANE, SOLOMON; STEFFEN, SIGRID; TYANO, SAM; UNDERHILL, CHRISTPHER; WAHLBERG, HENRIK; WARNER, RICHARD; HERRMAN, HELEN

2011-01-01

WPA President M. Maj established the Task Force on Best Practice in Working with Service Users and Carers in 2008, chaired by H. Herrman. The Task Force had the remit to create recommendations for the international mental health community on how to develop successful partnership working. The work began with a review of literature on service user and carer involvement and partnership. This set out a range of considerations for good practice, including choice of appropriate terminology, clarifying the partnership process and identifying and reducing barriers to partnership working. Based on the literature review and on the shared knowledge in the Task Force, a set of ten recommendations for good practice was developed. These recommendations were the basis for a worldwide consultation of stakeholders with expertise as service users, families and carers, and the WPA Board and Council. The results showed a strong consensus across the international mental health community on the ten recommendations, with the strongest agreement coming from service users and carers. This general consensus gives a basis for Task Force plans to seek support for activities to promote shared work worldwide to identify best practice examples and create a resource to assist others to begin successful collaboration. PMID:21991284

[Clinical risk factors for progressive myopia].

PubMed

Schaeffel, F

2012-08-01

The average worldwide frequency of myopia is approximately 30 % and is traditionally subdivided into school myopia and pathological myopia. A further distinction is made between progressive myopia and stationary myopia. There is a high correlation between the frequency of myopia and urbanization and training. Risk factors for development of myopia are close-up work, lack of outdoor activity, biometrical variables of the eye and genetic risk factors. Development of myopia can be positively influenced by peripheral focusing, increased exposure to light and in the future possibly pharmacologically.

Killing of tumor cells: a drama in two acts.

PubMed

Giansanti, Vincenzo; Tillhon, Micol; Mazzini, Giuliano; Prosperi, Ennio; Lombardi, Paolo; Scovassi, A Ivana

2011-11-15

Cancer still represents a major health problem worldwide, which urges the development of more effective strategies. Resistance to chemotherapy, a major obstacle for cancer eradication, is mainly related to an intrinsic failure to activate the apoptotic pathways. However, a protective effect of autophagy toward cancer cells has been recently observed, thus adding further complexity to the development of an effective approach counteracting cancer cell growth and improving the response to therapy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Shipbreaking in the developing world: problems and prospects.

PubMed

Rousmaniere, Peter; Raj, Nikhil

2007-01-01

The global shipping industry relies upon the developing world to dispose of retired deep-sea vessels through the process of shipbreaking. In doing so the industry avoids the burdens of complying with developed world standards for the management of hazardous waste. Occupational and environmental health (OEH) risks associated with dismantling of beached ships, primarily in India and Bangladesh, are significant. Worldwide concerns about these risks, which arose in the late 1990s, and activism by domestic organizations appear to be gathering momentum for global and domestic OEH reforms. This article addresses recent developments in characterizing these risks and in proposals to control them.

What is a global manager?

PubMed

Bartlett, C A; Ghoshal, S

1992-01-01

To compete around the world, a company needs three strategic capabilities: global-scale efficiency, local responsiveness, and the ability to leverage learning worldwide. No single "global" manager can build these capabilities. Rather, groups of specialized managers must integrate assets, resources, and people in diverse operating units. Such managers are made, not born. And how to make them is--and must be--the foremost question for corporate managers. Drawing on their research with leading transnational corporations, Christopher Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal identify three types of global managers. They also illustrate the responsibilities each position involves through a close look at the careers of successful executives: Leif Johansson of Electrolux, Howard Gottlieb of NEC, and Wahib Zaki of Procter & Gamble. The first type is the global business or product-division manager who must build worldwide efficiency and competitiveness. These managers recognize cross-border opportunities and risks as well as link activities and capabilities around the world. The second is the country manager whose unit is the building block for worldwide operations. These managers are responsible for understanding and interpreting local markets, building local resources and capabilities, and contributing to--and participating in--the development of global strategy. Finally, there are worldwide functional specialists--the managers whose potential is least appreciated in many traditional multinational companies. To transfer expertise from one unit to another and leverage learning, these managers must scan the company for good ideas and best practice, cross-pollinate among units, and champion innovations with worldwide applications.

Microfluidics for Antibiotic Susceptibility and Toxicity Testing

PubMed Central

Dai, Jing; Hamon, Morgan; Jambovane, Sachin

2016-01-01

The recent emergence of antimicrobial resistance has become a major concern for worldwide policy makers as very few new antibiotics have been developed in the last twenty-five years. To prevent the death of millions of people worldwide, there is an urgent need for a cheap, fast and accurate set of tools and techniques that can help to discover and develop new antimicrobial drugs. In the past decade, microfluidic platforms have emerged as potential systems for conducting pharmacological studies. Recent studies have demonstrated that microfluidic platforms can perform rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests to evaluate antimicrobial drugs’ efficacy. In addition, the development of cell-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip platforms have enabled the early drug testing, providing more accurate insights into conventional cell cultures on the drug pharmacokinetics and toxicity, at the early and cheaper stage of drug development, i.e., prior to animal and human testing. In this review, we focus on the recent developments of microfluidic platforms for rapid antibiotics susceptibility testing, investigating bacterial persistence and non-growing but metabolically active (NGMA) bacteria, evaluating antibiotic effectiveness on biofilms and combinatorial effect of antibiotics, as well as microfluidic platforms that can be used for in vitro antibiotic toxicity testing. PMID:28952587

Capacity-Building Efforts by the AFHSC-GEIS Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

and equipment support was provided to over 500 field sites in 74 countries worldwide from October 2008 to September 2009. These activities allowed...and equipment support was provided to over 500 field sites in 74 countries worldwide from October 2008 to September 2009. These activities allowed...other vector-borne ill- nesses, acute diarrheal diseases, antimalarial and antimi- crobial resistance, sexually transmitted diseases, and bacterial

School Subject Paradigms and Teaching Practice in the Screen Culture: Art, Music and the Mother Tongue (Swedish) under Pressure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erixon, Per-Olof; Marner, Anders; Scheid, Manfred; Strandberg, Tommy; Ortegren, Hans

2012-01-01

There are great expectations that new digital technology will become a powerful tool for developing education activities. Like many countries in Europe and worldwide, Sweden has invested a large amount of resources in new technology and new media (hereafter called digital media), and they have become a natural and important part of school…

OpenQuake, a platform for collaborative seismic hazard and risk assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henshaw, Paul; Burton, Christopher; Butler, Lars; Crowley, Helen; Danciu, Laurentiu; Nastasi, Matteo; Monelli, Damiano; Pagani, Marco; Panzeri, Luigi; Simionato, Michele; Silva, Vitor; Vallarelli, Giuseppe; Weatherill, Graeme; Wyss, Ben

2013-04-01

Sharing of data and risk information, best practices, and approaches across the globe is key to assessing risk more effectively. Through global projects, open-source IT development and collaborations with more than 10 regions, leading experts are collaboratively developing unique global datasets, best practice, tools and models for global seismic hazard and risk assessment, within the context of the Global Earthquake Model (GEM). Guided by the needs and experiences of governments, companies and international organisations, all contributions are being integrated into OpenQuake: a web-based platform that - together with other resources - will become accessible in 2014. With OpenQuake, stakeholders worldwide will be able to calculate, visualize and investigate earthquake hazard and risk, capture new data and share findings for joint learning. The platform is envisaged as a collaborative hub for earthquake risk assessment, used at global and local scales, around which an active network of users has formed. OpenQuake will comprise both online and offline tools, many of which can also be used independently. One of the first steps in OpenQuake development was the creation of open-source software for advanced seismic hazard and risk calculations at any scale, the OpenQuake Engine. Although in continuous development, a command-line version of the software is already being test-driven and used by hundreds worldwide; from non-profits in Central Asia, seismologists in sub-Saharan Africa and companies in South Asia to the European seismic hazard harmonization programme (SHARE). In addition, several technical trainings were organized with scientists from different regions of the world (sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, Asia-Pacific) to introduce the engine and other OpenQuake tools to the community, something that will continue to happen over the coming years. Other tools that are being developed of direct interest to the hazard community are: • OpenQuake Modeller; fundamental instruments for the creation of seismogenic input models for seismic hazard assessment, a critical input to the OpenQuake Engine. OpenQuake Modeller will consist of a suite of tools (Hazard Modellers Toolkit) for characterizing the seismogenic sources of earthquakes and their models of earthquakes recurrence. An earthquake catalogue homogenization tool, for integration, statistical comparison and user-defined harmonization of multiple catalogues of earthquakes is also included in the OpenQuake modeling tools. • A data capture tool for active faults; a tool that allows geologists to draw (new) fault discoveries on a map in an intuitive GIS-environment and add details on the fault through the tool. This data, once quality checked, can then be integrated with the global active faults database, which will increase in value with every new fault insertion. Building on many ongoing efforts and the knowledge of scientists worldwide, GEM will for the first time integrate state-of-the-art data, models, results and open-source tools into a single platform. The platform will continue to increase in value, in particular for use in local contexts, through contributions from and collaborations with scientists and organisations worldwide. This presentation will showcase the OpenQuake Platform, focusing on the IT solutions that have been adopted as well as the added value that the platform will bring to scientists worldwide.

Emerging technologies for enabling proangiogenic therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha Roy, Rituparna; Roy, Bhaskar; Sengupta, Shiladitya

2011-12-01

Ischemic disease causes a large number of deaths and significant clinical problems worldwide. Therapeutic angiogenesis, strengthened by advances in growth-factor-based therapies, is a promising solution to ischemic pathologies. Major challenges in therapeutic angiogenesis are the lack of stability of native angiogenic proteins and also providing sustained delivery of biologically active proteins at the ischemic sites. This paper will discuss various protein engineering strategies to develop stabilized proangiogenic proteins and several biomaterial technologies used to amplify the angiogenic outcome by delivering biologically active growth factors in a sustained manner.

Distal impacts of aquarium trade: Exploring the emerging sandhopper (Orchestoidea tuberculata) artisanal shore gathering fishery in Chile.

PubMed

Tapia-Lewin, Sebastián; Vergara, Karina; De La Barra, Christian; Godoy, Natalio; Castilla, Juan Carlos; Gelcich, Stefan

2017-10-01

Artisanal fishery activities support the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Within these fisheries, distal global drivers can promote switching between alternative target resources. These drivers can promote the rapid development of new, unregulated and previously unexploited fisheries that pose a threat to the sustainability of ecosystems. In this paper, we describe a new artisanal shore gathering activity that targets a previously unexploited resource: the sandhopper (Orchestoidea tuberculata). The activity is driven by aquarium trade demand for food. We used mixed methods to describe the activity, assessed basic socio-economic incentives, and estimated Catches per Unit Effort. Results show that the sandhopper plays an important role for the livelihoods of shore gatherers engaged in the activity. Gatherers have adapted and developed two main extraction methods with different degrees of investment and extraction rates. Furthermore, gatherers have developed local knowledge regarding the ecology and management of the resource. Results show that economic incentives can motivate a rapid expansion of this unregulated activity. Future research gaps and management options to address the development of this fishery are discussed in light of these findings.

Diagnosis of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection: is the demise of the Mantoux test imminent?

PubMed

Rothel, James S; Andersen, Peter

2005-12-01

Tuberculosis is responsible for more then 2 million deaths worldwide each year and vies with HIV as the world's most fatal infectious disease. In many developing countries, attempts to control the spread of infection rely solely on identification and treatment of those with active disease, ignoring subclinical infection. However, in developed countries, large efforts are also expended to identify and give prophylactic drugs to people with latent tuberculosis infection. Until recently, the 100-year-old tuberculin skin test (Mantoux) has been the only available diagnostic test for latent tuberculosis infection, despite its many well-known limitations. Advances in scientific knowledge have led to the development of tests for tuberculosis that measure the production of interferon-gamma by T-cells stimulated in vitro with Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens. These interferon-gamma tests are highly specific and unaffected by prior Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccination or immune reactivity to most atypical mycobacteria. They are more sensitive than the tuberculin skin test in detecting people with active tuberculosis, and their results correlate more closely with M. tuberculosis exposure risk factors than the tuberculin skin test in people likely to have latent tuberculosis infection. Science has caught up with one of the oldest diagnostic tests still in use worldwide, and the adoption of new, tuberculosis-specific interferon-gamma-based tests should move us one step closer to better control of this insidious pathogen.

Microbiological pathogens: Live poultry considerations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Food-borne illness is a significant worldwide public health problem. Salmonella is the predominate food-borne pathogen worldwide, and poultry and poultry products are, reportedly, a prevailing vehicle for salmonellosis. More recently, population-based active surveillance by investigators of the Fo...

National policy on physical activity: the development of a policy audit tool.

PubMed

Bull, Fiona C; Milton, Karen; Kahlmeier, Sonja

2014-02-01

Physical inactivity is a leading risk factor for noncommunicable disease worldwide. Increasing physical activity requires large scale actions and relevant, supportive national policy across multiple sectors. The policy audit tool (PAT) was developed to provide a standardized instrument to assess national policy approaches to physical activity. A draft tool, based on earlier work, was developed and pilot-tested in 7 countries. After several rounds of revisions, the final PAT comprises 27 items and collects information on 1) government structure, 2) development and content of identified key policies across multiple sectors, 3) the experience of policy implementation at both the national and local level, and 4) a summary of the PAT completion process. PAT provides a standardized instrument for assessing progress of national policy on physical activity. Engaging a diverse international group of countries in the development helped ensure PAT has applicability across a wide range of countries and contexts. Experiences from the development of the PAT suggests that undertaking an audit of health enhancing physical activity (HEPA) policy can stimulate greater awareness of current policy opportunities and gaps, promote critical debate across sectors, and provide a catalyst for collaboration on policy level actions. The final tool is available online.

Pathogenesis and pharmacologic treatment of obesity: the role of energy regulatory mechanism.

PubMed

Manulu, Mangatas S M; Sutanegara, I N Dwi

2006-01-01

Obesity has become a worldwide public health problem affecting millions of people. This is a chronic, stigmatized, and costly disease, rarely curable and is increasing in prevalence to a point today where we define obesity as an epidemic disease that not only in developed but also on developing countries. The pathogenesis of obesity is largely unknown, especially about energy regulatory mechanism that involved wide area of neuroendocrinology that is very interesting but very complex and makes internists "refuse" to learn. Obesity occurs through a longstanding imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure, influenced by a complex biologic system that regulates appetite and adiposity. Obesity influences the pathogenesis of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, kidney, heart, and cerebrovascular disease. It is very wise for every internist to learn the pathogenesis and treatment of this worldwide diseases. Until now, the available treatments, including drugs, are palliative and are effective only while the treatment is being actively used; and besides so many side effects reported.

Improving Cardiometabolic Health with Diet, Physical Activity, and Breaking Up Sitting: What about Sleep?

PubMed Central

Vincent, Grace E.; Jay, Sarah M.; Sargent, Charli; Vandelanotte, Corneel; Ridgers, Nicola D.; Ferguson, Sally A.

2017-01-01

Cardiometabolic disease poses a serious health and economic burden worldwide and its prevalence is predicted to increase. Prolonged sitting, lack of physical activity, poor diet, and short sleep duration are ubiquitous behaviors in modern society, and all are independent risk factors in the development of cardiometabolic disease. Existing evidence demonstrates that breaking up prolonged periods of sitting is beneficial for cardiometabolic health, however, studies have not controlled for prior sleep duration. This article examines how prolonged sitting and short sleep duration independently contribute to cardiometabolic risk, and how breaking up sitting and obtaining adequate sleep may reduce this risk. We suggest that as prolonged sitting and short sleep duration influence the same cardiometabolic parameters, there is potential for short sleep to attenuate the positive impact of breaking up prolonged sitting with physical activity. Likewise, breaking up prolonged sitting and obtaining adequate sleep together could improve predictors of cardiometabolic disease, i.e., the combined effect may be stronger than either alone. To explore these perspectives, we propose a research agenda to investigate the relationship between breaking up prolonged sitting with physical activity and short sleep duration. This will provide an evidence-base for informing the design of interventions to reduce the burden of cardiometabolic disease on communities worldwide. PMID:29167645

Rio + 5 -- INSTRAW's activities regarding the implementation of Agenda 21.

PubMed

1997-01-01

The International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) was involved in research analysis and training activities that address women's issues on water supply, sanitation and waste management, development of new and renewable sources of energy, and natural resources since 1982. The four main thrusts of the INSTRAW program include: 1) the economic and political empowerment of the women; 2) women, media and communications; 3) women, environment and sustainable development; and 4) statistics and indicators on gender issues. These areas are approached in an integrated and holistic manner, which is crosscutting and cross disciplinary with relevant chapters Agenda 21. In addition, poverty, population growth, health, structural adjustment policies, education and training, water, energy, agriculture and forestry are addressed within the women's roles and activities context. This article presents an overview of the succeeding chapters, which focus on the programs developed and implemented to promote the well being of the women worldwide.

Investigating the activity of quinine analogues versus chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum.

PubMed

Dinio, Theresa; Gorka, Alexander P; McGinniss, Andrew; Roepe, Paul D; Morgan, Jeremy B

2012-05-15

Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malarial parasite species, has developed resistance against nearly all man-made antimalarial drugs within the past century. However, quinine (QN), the first antimalarial drug, remains efficacious worldwide. Some chloroquine resistant (CQR) P. falciparum strains or isolates show mild cross resistance to QN, but many do not. Further optimization of QN may provide a well-tolerated therapy with improved activity versus CQR malaria. Thus, using the Heck reaction, we have pursued a structure-activity relationship study, including vinyl group modifications of QN. Certain derivatives show good antiplasmodial activity in QN-resistant and QN-sensitive strains, with lower IC(50) values relative to QN. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

One target, different effects: a comparison of distinct therapeutic antibodies against the same targets.

PubMed

Shim, Hyunbo

2011-10-31

To date, more than 30 antibodies have been approved worldwide for therapeutic use. While the monoclonal antibody market is rapidly growing, the clinical use of therapeutic antibodies is mostly limited to treatment of cancers and immunological disorders. Moreover, antibodies against only five targets (TNF-α, HER2, CD20, EGFR, and VEGF) account for more than 80 percent of the worldwide market of therapeutic antibodies. The shortage of novel, clinically proven targets has resulted in the development of many distinct therapeutic antibodies against a small number of proven targets, based on the premise that different antibody molecules against the same target antigen have distinct biological and clinical effects from one another. For example, four antibodies against TNF-α have been approved by the FDA -- infliximab, adalimumab, golimumab, and certolizumab pegol -- with many more in clinical and preclinical development. The situation is similar for HER2, CD20, EGFR, and VEGF, each having one or more approved antibodies and many more under development. This review discusses the different binding characteristics, mechanisms of action, and biological and clinical activities of multiple monoclonal antibodies against TNF-α, HER-2, CD20, and EGFR and provides insights into the development of therapeutic antibodies.

Community development corporations could potentially improve research on causal associations between environmental features and physical activity.

PubMed

Suminski, Richard; Wasserman, Jason A; Mayfield, Carlene A; Kubic, Micah; Porter, Julie

2014-09-01

Community development corporations (CDC) are worldwide entities that create environments facilitating physical activity. At the same time, researchers face challenges conducting cost-effective, longitudinal studies on how environmental changes affect physical activity. To provide evidence suggesting that CDC initiatives could potentially be integrated into a research framework for examining the influence of environmental improvements on physical activity. Quality of Life Plans (QLP) developed by a CDC and stakeholders from 6 lower-income neighborhoods were systematically reviewed to obtain data about environmental features targeted for change and the strategies used to bring about those changes. Strategies were deemed pro-physical activity if previous studies suggested they have the potential to affect physical activity. A total of 348 strategies were proposed of which 164 were pro-physical activity. Six environmental features were targeted including crime (57 strategies), aesthetics (39), facilities (30), walkability (17), destinations (14), and programs (5). Strategies involved implementing (90 strategies), planning (33), assessing (26), and securing funding (13). Progress reports indicated that 37.4% of the pro-physical activity strategies were implemented 1 year following the development of the QLPs. These results suggest that activities of CDCs could potentially be systematically integrated into the scientific study of environmental influences on physical activity.

Enhancing Identity Development at Senior Service Colleges

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

also act as a “ think factory” for commanders and civilian leaders at the strategic level worldwide and routinely engage in discourse and debate...current and past senior leaders, helping them bet - ter appreciate the decisions and activities those lead- ers undertook so as to ease their own...to instill “requisite values, strategic, and critical thinking skills to keep pace with the [changing] strategic environment.”78 Six DLAs were

New drugs for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: an update.

PubMed

Kumar, Krishan; Chopra, Sidharth

2013-07-01

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains a leading cause of bacterial infections worldwide, with a dwindling repertoire of effective antimicrobials active against it. This review aims to provide an update on novel anti-MRSA molecules currently under pre-clinical and clinical development, with emphasis on their mechanism of action. This review is limited to molecules that target the pathogen directly and does not detail immunomodulatory anti-infectives.

Component Analysis of Multipurpose Contact Lens Solutions To Enhance Activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

PubMed Central

Lin, Leo; Kim, Janie; Chen, Hope; Kowalski, Regis

2016-01-01

More than 125 million people wear contact lenses worldwide, and contact lens use is the single greatest risk factor for developing microbial keratitis. We tested the antibacterial activity of multipurpose contact lens solutions and their individual component preservatives against the two most common pathogens causing bacterial keratitis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The in vitro antibacterial activity of five multipurpose contact lens solutions (Opti-Free GP, Boston Simplus, Boston Advance, Menicare GP, and Lobob) was assayed by the standard broth dilution method. Synergy between the preservative components found in the top performing solutions was assayed using checkerboard and time-kill assays. The ISO 14729 criteria and the standard broth dilution method were used to define an optimized contact lens solution formulation against a clinical panel of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant P. aeruginosa and S. aureus strains. Preservatives with the biguanide function group, chlorhexidine and polyaminopropylbiguanide (PAPB), had the best antistaphylococcal activity, while EDTA was the best antipseudomonal preservative. The combination of chlorhexidine and EDTA had excellent synergy against P. aeruginosa. A solution formulation containing chlorhexidine (30 ppm), PAPB (5 ppm), and EDTA (5,000 ppm) had three to seven times more antipseudomonal activity than anything available to consumers today. A multipurpose contact lens solution containing a combination of chlorhexidine, PAPB, and EDTA could help to reduce the incidence of microbial keratitis for contact lens users worldwide. PMID:27139484

Bulletin Board Ideas: Worldwide Scientific Events

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiffman, Maurice K.

1977-01-01

Describes a bulletin board activity that identifies scientific phenomena occurring worldwide during the school year. A map of the world is marked with colored pins as students find news information of places and kind of event (e.g.; volcanoes, floods, crop failures, human epidemics). (CS)

Symposium Focuses on Women'�'s Role in Worldwide Sustainable Development

Science.gov Websites

Symposium Focuses on Women's Role in Worldwide Sustainable Development For more information contact : Kerry Masson (303) 275-4083 Golden, Colo., June 10, 1996 -- Women's role in world sustainable energy

Development of Safe and Effective Botanical Dietary Supplements

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Regulated differently than drugs or foods, the market for botanical dietary supplements continues to grow worldwide. The recently implemented U.S. FDA regulation that all botanical dietary supplements must be produced using good manufacturing practice is an important step toward enhancing the safety of these products, but additional safeguards could be implemented, and unlike drugs, there are currently no efficacy requirements. To ensure a safe and effective product, botanical dietary supplements should be developed in a manner analogous to pharmaceuticals that involves identification of mechanisms of action and active constituents, chemical standardization based on the active compounds, biological standardization based on pharmacological activity, preclinical evaluation of toxicity and potential for drug–botanical interactions, metabolism of active compounds, and finally, clinical studies of safety and efficacy. Completing these steps will enable the translation of botanicals from the field to safe human use as dietary supplements. PMID:26125082

Visiting nursery, kindergarten and after-school day care as astronomy for development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomita, Akihiko

2015-08-01

One of the frontiers of astronomy for development is astronomy education for young children. Note that it is not too-much-going-ahead education nor education for so-called gifted children. It is for all children in various situations. As an example, I present "Uchu no O-hanashi," a visiting activity which includeds slide show, story telling, and enjoying pictures on large sheets for children. Not only just for young children, but this activity also aims at intercultural understanding. Sometimes guest educator from abroad join the activity. Video letter exchange was successful even though there is a language barrier. For assessment of the activity, I have recorded the voice of children. I will present various examples of written records and their analysis of activites, at nursery, kindergarten, preschool, after-school day care for primary school children, and other sites. I hope exchanging the record will make a worldwide connection among educators for very young children.

Accelerator-based BNCT.

PubMed

Kreiner, A J; Baldo, M; Bergueiro, J R; Cartelli, D; Castell, W; Thatar Vento, V; Gomez Asoia, J; Mercuri, D; Padulo, J; Suarez Sandin, J C; Erhardt, J; Kesque, J M; Valda, A A; Debray, M E; Somacal, H R; Igarzabal, M; Minsky, D M; Herrera, M S; Capoulat, M E; Gonzalez, S J; del Grosso, M F; Gagetti, L; Suarez Anzorena, M; Gun, M; Carranza, O

2014-06-01

The activity in accelerator development for accelerator-based BNCT (AB-BNCT) both worldwide and in Argentina is described. Projects in Russia, UK, Italy, Japan, Israel, and Argentina to develop AB-BNCT around different types of accelerators are briefly presented. In particular, the present status and recent progress of the Argentine project will be reviewed. The topics will cover: intense ion sources, accelerator tubes, transport of intense beams, beam diagnostics, the (9)Be(d,n) reaction as a possible neutron source, Beam Shaping Assemblies (BSA), a treatment room, and treatment planning in realistic cases. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trends of the gully erosion development in the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medvedeva, R. A.

2018-01-01

Gully erosion is one of the most active geomorphic processes and one of the major cause of land degradation worldwide. The aim of the study was identifying the dynamics of gully erosion development in the Republic of Tatarstan. The interpretation of satellite images were used for evaluation of the modern dynamics of gullies. Two key indicators of gully erosion (length density and gully head density) were determined. Maps of modern gully erosion for a part of the Republic of Tatarstan were constructed.

Worldwide, 3-Year, Post-Marketing Surveillance Experience with Tofacitinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

PubMed

Cohen, Stanley; Curtis, Jeffrey R; DeMasi, Ryan; Chen, Yan; Fan, Haiyun; Soonasra, Arif; Fleischmann, Roy

2018-06-01

Post-marketing surveillance (PMS) is an integral part of monitoring adverse events (AEs) following approval of new drugs. Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). An analysis of PMS reports was conducted to evaluate the safety of tofacitinib in a post-marketing setting. Worldwide tofacitinib PMS data received in the Pfizer safety database from November 6, 2012 (first marketing authorization of tofacitinib) to November 5, 2015 were analyzed. Serious AEs (SAEs) of interest were reviewed and reporting rates (RRs) were calculated by dividing the number of SAEs by the estimated 100 patient-years of exposure. Patient exposure was calculated based on estimated worldwide sales and an estimated daily regimen of tofacitinib 5 mg twice daily. During the 3-year reporting period, worldwide post-marketing exposure to tofacitinib since approval was estimated to be 34,223 patient-years. In total, 9291 case reports (82.9% non-serious) were received and 25,417 AEs, 102 fatal cases, and 4352 SAEs were reported. The RRs (per 100 patient-years) for SAEs of interest by Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities System Organ Class were 2.57 for infections, 0.91 for gastrointestinal disorders, 0.60 for respiratory disorders, 0.45 for neoplasms, 0.43 for cardiac disorders, and 0.12 for hepatobiliary disorders. Although there are limitations to these data, no new safety risks were revealed in this real-world setting compared with the safety profile identified in the tofacitinib RA clinical development program. Any risks identified through the tofacitinib development program and PMS will continue to be monitored through pharmacovigilance surveillance. Pfizer Inc.

How Secure Is Your Radiology Department? Mapping Digital Radiology Adoption and Security Worldwide.

PubMed

Stites, Mark; Pianykh, Oleg S

2016-04-01

Despite the long history of digital radiology, one of its most critical aspects--information security--still remains extremely underdeveloped and poorly standardized. To study the current state of radiology security, we explored the worldwide security of medical image archives. Using the DICOM data-transmitting standard, we implemented a highly parallel application to scan the entire World Wide Web of networked computers and devices, locating open and unprotected radiology servers. We used only legal and radiology-compliant tools. Our security-probing application initiated a standard DICOM handshake to remote computer or device addresses, and then assessed their security posture on the basis of handshake replies. The scan discovered a total of 2774 unprotected radiology or DICOM servers worldwide. Of those, 719 were fully open to patient data communications. Geolocation was used to analyze and rank our findings according to country utilization. As a result, we built maps and world ranking of clinical security, suggesting that even the most radiology-advanced countries have hospitals with serious security gaps. Despite more than two decades of active development and implementation, our radiology data still remains insecure. The results provided should be applied to raise awareness and begin an earnest dialogue toward elimination of the problem. The application we designed and the novel scanning approach we developed can be used to identify security breaches and to eliminate them before they are compromised.

The Importance of Building and Enhancing Worldwide Industry Cooperation in the Areas of Radiological Protection, Waste Management and Decommissioning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saint-Pierre, S.

2006-07-01

The slow or stagnant rate of nuclear power generation development in many developed countries over the last two decades has resulted in a significant shortage in the population of mid-career nuclear industry professionals. This shortage is even more pronounced in some specific areas of expertise such as radiological protection, waste management and decommissioning. This situation has occurred at a time when the renaissance of nuclear power and the globalization of the nuclear industry are steadily gaining momentum and when the industry's involvement in international and national debates in these three fields of expertise (and the industry's impact on these debates)more » is of vital importance. This paper presents the World Nuclear Association (WNA) approach to building and enhancing worldwide industry cooperation in radiological protection, waste management and decommissioning, which is manifested through the activities of the two WNA working groups on radiological protection (RPWG) and on waste management and decommissioning (WM and DWG). This paper also briefly describes the WNA's participatory role, as of summer 2005, in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standard development committees on radiation safety (RASSC), waste safety (WASSC) and nuclear safety (NUSSC). This participation provides the worldwide nuclear industry with an opportunity to be part of IAEA's discussions on shaping changes to the control regime of IAEA safety standards. The review (and the prospect of a revision) of IAEA safety standards, which began in October 2005, makes this WNA participation and the industry ' s involvement at the national level timely and important. All of this excellent industry cooperation and team effort is done through 'collegial' exchanges between key industry experts, which help tackle important issues more effectively. The WNA is continuously looking to enhance its worldwide industry representation in these fields of expertise through the RPWG and WM and DWG. (authors)« less

Reprioritizing current research trends in medical education: a reflection on research activities in Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Obeidat, Akef S; Alhaqwi, Ali Ibrahim; Abdulghani, Hamza Mohammad

2015-04-01

There are numerous national efforts to determine and develop research priorities of medical education in Saudi Arabia. These priorities were first proposed in 2010 by "Dr Al-Khuli's Chair for Developing Medical Education in Saudi Arabia". The proposed priority domains were: curriculum, students, faculty, and quality assurance and accreditation. To investigate publications in medical education at the national and international levels in areas relating to these proposed priorities. Electronic search within PubMed database for papers relating to each domain of priority was conducted at national and international levels in the last three years, using the same keywords as the priority domains, but only confined to undergraduate medical education. Out of 3145 articles retrieved when searching with keyword as broad as "undergraduate medical curriculum" only 81 articles worldwide and 3 articles from Saudi Arabia were dealing with curriculum related issues as a whole. Further search on the sub-domains "effective strategies to manage undergraduate curriculum" and "undergraduate medical education models", resulted in the retrieval of few articles worldwide and none from Saudi Arabia. At the national level, there were 63 publications from Saudi Arabia that were either course (topic)-specific or could not be classified under the four domains specified by Dr Al-Khuli's Chair. Research activities in medical education in Saudi Arabia in the last 3 years showed diversity and lack of focus in the research priorities. Efforts of academic and research centers should continue to monitor and encourage these activities toward achieving the recommended priorities.

WHO Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations.

PubMed

2009-01-01

The Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations works towards clear, independent and practical standards and guidelines for the quality assurance of medicines. Standards are developed by the Committee through worldwide consultation and an international consensus-building process. The following new standards and guidelines were adopted and recommended for use: the current list of available International Chemical Reference Substances and International Infrared Reference Spectra; guidelines on stability testing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished pharmaceutical products; procedure for prequalification of pharmaceutical products; and the procedure for assessing the acceptability, in principle, of active pharmaceutical ingredients for use in pharmaceutical products.

Kisameet Clay Exhibits Potent Antibacterial Activity against the ESKAPE Pathogens

PubMed Central

Behroozian, Shekooh; Svensson, Sarah L.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT The ESKAPE (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) pathogens cause an increasing number of nosocomial infections worldwide since they escape the inhibitory effect of the available antibiotics and the immune response. Here, we report the broad-spectrum and potent antibacterial activity of Kisameet clay, a natural clay mineral from British Columbia, Canada, against a group of multidrug-resistant ESKAPE strains. The results suggest that this natural clay might be developed as a therapeutic option for the treatment of serious infections caused by these important pathogens. PMID:26814180

Improving human activity recognition and its application in early stroke diagnosis.

PubMed

Villar, José R; González, Silvia; Sedano, Javier; Chira, Camelia; Trejo-Gabriel-Galan, Jose M

2015-06-01

The development of efficient stroke-detection methods is of significant importance in today's society due to the effects and impact of stroke on health and economy worldwide. This study focuses on Human Activity Recognition (HAR), which is a key component in developing an early stroke-diagnosis tool. An overview of the proposed global approach able to discriminate normal resting from stroke-related paralysis is detailed. The main contributions include an extension of the Genetic Fuzzy Finite State Machine (GFFSM) method and a new hybrid feature selection (FS) algorithm involving Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a voting scheme putting the cross-validation results together. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is a well-performing HAR tool that can be successfully embedded in devices.

Src is activated by the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ in ultraviolet radiation-induced skin cancer.

PubMed

Montagner, Alexandra; Delgado, Maria B; Tallichet-Blanc, Corinne; Chan, Jeremy S K; Sng, Ming K; Mottaz, Hélén; Degueurce, Gwendoline; Lippi, Yannick; Moret, Catherine; Baruchet, Michael; Antsiferova, Maria; Werner, Sabine; Hohl, Daniel; Saati, Talal Al; Farmer, Pierre J; Tan, Nguan S; Michalik, Liliane; Wahli, Walter

2014-01-01

Although non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common human cancer and its incidence continues to rise worldwide, the mechanisms underlying its development remain incompletely understood. Here, we unveil a cascade of events involving peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) β/δ and the oncogene Src, which promotes the development of ultraviolet (UV)-induced skin cancer in mice. UV-induced PPARβ/δ activity, which directly stimulated Src expression, increased Src kinase activity and enhanced the EGFR/Erk1/2 signalling pathway, resulting in increased epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker expression. Consistent with these observations, PPARβ/δ-null mice developed fewer and smaller skin tumours, and a PPARβ/δ antagonist prevented UV-dependent Src stimulation. Furthermore, the expression of PPARβ/δ positively correlated with the expression of SRC and EMT markers in human skin squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and critically, linear models applied to several human epithelial cancers revealed an interaction between PPARβ/δ and SRC and TGFβ1 transcriptional levels. Taken together, these observations motivate the future evaluation of PPARβ/δ modulators to attenuate the development of several epithelial cancers.

Src is activated by the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ in ultraviolet radiation-induced skin cancer

PubMed Central

Montagner, Alexandra; Delgado, Maria B; Tallichet-Blanc, Corinne; Chan, Jeremy S K; Sng, Ming K; Mottaz, Hélène; Degueurce, Gwendoline; Lippi, Yannick; Moret, Catherine; Baruchet, Michael; Antsiferova, Maria; Werner, Sabine; Hohl, Daniel; Al Saati, Talal; Farmer, Pierre J; Tan, Nguan S; Michalik, Liliane; Wahli, Walter

2014-01-01

Although non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common human cancer and its incidence continues to rise worldwide, the mechanisms underlying its development remain incompletely understood. Here, we unveil a cascade of events involving peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) β/δ and the oncogene Src, which promotes the development of ultraviolet (UV)-induced skin cancer in mice. UV-induced PPARβ/δ activity, which directly stimulated Src expression, increased Src kinase activity and enhanced the EGFR/Erk1/2 signalling pathway, resulting in increased epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker expression. Consistent with these observations, PPARβ/δ-null mice developed fewer and smaller skin tumours, and a PPARβ/δ antagonist prevented UV-dependent Src stimulation. Furthermore, the expression of PPARβ/δ positively correlated with the expression of SRC and EMT markers in human skin squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and critically, linear models applied to several human epithelial cancers revealed an interaction between PPARβ/δ and SRC and TGFβ1 transcriptional levels. Taken together, these observations motivate the future evaluation of PPARβ/δ modulators to attenuate the development of several epithelial cancers. PMID:24203162

Ovine toxoplasmosis.

PubMed

Innes, Elisabeth A; Bartley, Paul M; Buxton, David; Katzer, Frank

2009-12-01

Congenital infection with Toxoplasma gondii is an important cause of abortion in sheep worldwide. The cat is the definitive host of the parasite, and infected cats may shed millions of oocysts in their faeces resulting in extensive environmental contamination and an important source of infection for grazing herbivorous animals. Studies looking at development of specific antibodies in sheep, as an indicator of exposure to T. gondii, have shown that there is an increase in seroprevalence associated with age indicating that most infections in sheep occur following birth. The stage of gestation when transplacental transmission of T. gondii to the developing foetus occurs is critical in determining the clinical outcome. The importance of endogenous transplacental transmission in persistently infected ewes and its clinical importance is a subject of current debate. Ewes infected prior to mating develop immune responses that help protect against disease in a subsequent pregnancy and also against experimental challenge administered during pregnancy. Both innate and adaptive immune responses are activated following T. gondii infection and experiments involving the chronic cannulation of peripheral lymph nodes in sheep have allowed the dynamics of the immune responses to be analysed in real time. A live vaccine, Toxovax is the only commercially available vaccine worldwide to protect against congenital toxoplasmosis.

WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors, a Year 3 Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udomprasert, Patricia S.; Goodman, A. A.; Wong, C.

2013-01-01

The WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors (WWTA) Program has a track record of inspiring middle school students and getting them excited about science. The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a stunningly beautiful and freely available data visualization environment developed by Microsoft Research in collaboration with professional astronomers. Trained volunteer Ambassadors show teachers and students how to use WWT in their classrooms to explore and learn about our Universe. Our initial study has shown that WWT increases student understanding of astrophysical concepts and interest in astronomy and science. As an example of how excited students feel about learning astronomy with WWT, one middle school boy exclaimed, “This is way cooler than Call of Duty!” Our vision is to capitalize on the demonstrated inspirational and educational potential of WWT to increase the number of students who express interest in STEM fields. In this oral presentation, we provide a status update on the WWTA program, including ongoing results from our work with over 700 middle school students to date, and preliminary results from a new NSF-funded study comparing learning and interest gains for students studying Moon phases with WWT vs with the 2-dimensional simulator activity that accompanies their textbook. More information is available at wwtambassadors.org

USAID Worldwide Education and Training Workshop (Arlington, Virginia, August 17-21, 2009)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Agency for International Development, 2009

2009-01-01

The 2009 Worldwide Education and Training Workshop brought together over 375 members of the international development community to share best practices in addressing the growing challenges in the field of education for social and economic development. This paper presents synopses of the presentations delivered during the workshop.

Curriculum Development in a Worldwide School System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Edwin R.; And Others

1994-01-01

Describes how the Department of Defense Dependent Schools developed and implemented a new K-12 physical education curriculum for schools serving American students in 19 countries worldwide. The new curriculum integrates physical fitness assessment and education at all levels. Inservice workshops and one-week summer programs were held for teachers.…

Recommendations for genetic variation data capture in developing countries to ensure a comprehensive worldwide data collection.

PubMed

Patrinos, George P; Al Aama, Jumana; Al Aqeel, Aida; Al-Mulla, Fahd; Borg, Joseph; Devereux, Andrew; Felice, Alex E; Macrae, Finlay; Marafie, Makia J; Petersen, Michael B; Qi, Ming; Ramesar, Rajkumar S; Zlotogora, Joel; Cotton, Richard G H

2011-01-01

Developing countries have significantly contributed to the elucidation of the genetic basis of both common and rare disorders, providing an invaluable resource of cases due to large family sizes, consanguinity, and potential founder effects. Moreover, the recognized depth of genomic variation in indigenous African populations, reflecting the ancient origins of humanity on the African continent, and the effect of selection pressures on the genome, will be valuable in understanding the range of both pathological and nonpathological variations. The involvement of these populations in accurately documenting the extant genetic heterogeneity is more than essential. Developing nations are regarded as key contributors to the Human Variome Project (HVP; http://www.humanvariomeproject.org), a major effort to systematically collect mutations that contribute to or cause human disease and create a cyber infrastructure to tie databases together. However, biomedical research has not been the primary focus in these countries even though such activities are likely to produce economic and health benefits for all. Here, we propose several recommendations and guidelines to facilitate participation of developing countries in genetic variation data documentation, ensuring an accurate and comprehensive worldwide data collection. We also summarize a few well-coordinated genetic data collection initiatives that would serve as paradigms for similar projects.

Training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility and assisted reproductive technologies: options and worldwide needs.

PubMed

de Ziegler, Dominique; de Ziegler, Nathalie; Sean, Sokteang; Bajouh, Osama; Meldrum, David R

2015-07-01

Standardized, high-quality training in reproductive endocrinology, infertility, and assisted reproductive technologies (REI-ART) faces challenges owing to the high-tech nature of ART and the important country-to-country differences in clinical practice and regulations overseeing training. Moreover, while the training capacity of the classical by-fellowship training platforms is shrinking, an increasing demand for REI-ART specialists is coming from emerging countries. To meet this expanding need for REI-ART specialists, we propose a novel by-network model linking a reference training center to satellite practical training sites. Simulation should be used more extensively to achieve competency before initiating live clinical experience, analogous to the highly effective training systems that have been used in aviation for decades. Large ART databases that exist because of obligations to report ART activity and results constitute unique yet so far untapped sources for developing by-scenario simulation training models. Online training materials incorporating these state-of-the-art information technology tools could be developed as a means of fulfilling training needs worldwide. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Taeniasis/cysticercosis trend worldwide and rationale for control.

PubMed

Montresor, Antonio; Palmer, Kevin

2006-01-01

Pig production has increased significantly worldwide in recent years. Small-scale pig husbandry has become a popular source of income in rural and resource-poor communities in most of developing countries. A parallel increase of human Taenia carrier and human cysticercosis is expected but detailed data are not available. However, Taenia solium is considered responsible for over 10% of acute case admission to the neurological ward of countries where it is endemic. The control strategy that seems at the moment more promising is a combination of the different tools available and includes the identification of areas at high risk and the presumptive treatment of the suspected cases and their families. This active finding and treatment of probable tapeworm carriers should be accompanied by health education and control swine cysticercosis. WHO invites all endemic countries to recognize the importance of taeniasis/cysticercosis control and to collect epidemiological data and to adopt policies and strategies for its control.

Taeniasis/cysticercosis trend worldwide and rationale for control

PubMed Central

Montresor, Antonio; Palmer, Kevin

2017-01-01

Pig production has increased significantly worldwide in the recent years. Small-scale pig husbandry has become a popular source of income in rural and resource-poor communities in most of developing countries. A parallel increase of human Taenia carrier and human cysticercosis is expected but detailed data are not available. However, Taenia solium is considered responsible of over 10% of acute case admission to the neurological ward of countries where it is endemic. The control strategy that seems at the moment more promising is a combination of the different tools available and includes the identification of areas at high risk and the presumptive treatment of the suspected cases and their families. This active finding and treatment of probable tapeworm carries should be accompanied by health education and control swine cysticercosis. WHO invite all endemic countries to recognize the importance of taeniasis/cysticercosis control and to collect epidemiological data and to adopt policies and strategies for its control. PMID:16337431

Differential proteomics reveals the hallmarks of seed development in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

PubMed

Parreira, J R; Bouraada, J; Fitzpatrick, M A; Silvestre, S; Bernardes da Silva, A; Marques da Silva, J; Almeida, A M; Fevereiro, P; Altelaar, A F M; Araújo, S S

2016-06-30

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most consumed staple foods worldwide. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms controlling seed development. This study aims to comprehensively describe proteome dynamics during seed development of common bean. A high-throughput gel-free proteomics approach (LC-MS/MS) was conducted on seeds at 10, 20, 30 and 40days after anthesis, spanning from late embryogenesis until desiccation. Of the 418 differentially accumulated proteins identified, 255 were characterized, most belonging to protein metabolism. An accumulation of proteins belonging to the MapMan functional categories of "protein", "glycolysis", "TCA", "DNA", "RNA", "cell" and "stress" were found at early seed development stages, reflecting an extensive metabolic activity. In the mid stages, accumulation of storage, signaling, starch synthesis and cell wall-related proteins stood out. In the later stages, an increase in proteins related to redox, protein degradation/modification/folding and nucleic acid metabolisms reflect that seed desiccation-resistance mechanisms were activated. Our study unveils new clues to understand the regulation of seed development mediated by post-translational modifications and maintenance of genome integrity. This knowledge enhances the understanding on seed development molecular mechanisms that may be used in the design and selection of common bean seeds with desired quality traits. Common bean (P. vulgaris) is an important source of proteins and carbohydrates worldwide. Despite the agronomic and economic importance of this pulse, knowledge on common bean seed development is limited. Herein, a gel-free high throughput methodology was used to describe the proteome changes during P. vulgaris seed development. Data obtained will enhance the knowledge on the molecular mechanisms controlling this grain legume seed development and may be used in the design and selection of common bean seeds with desired quality traits. Results may be extrapolated to other pulses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developing a public health research agenda for women with blood disorders.

PubMed

Byams, Vanessa R; Beckman, Michele G; Grant, Althea M; Parker, Christopher S

2010-07-01

Bleeding and clotting in women is an issue that directly affects the life of every woman, child, and family worldwide. This article summarizes recent activities undertaken by the Division of Blood Disorders (DBD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify risk factors through evidence-based research and surveillance to prevent complications of blood disorders in women. Specific focus is given to our efforts to improve early identification and diagnosis of blood disorders among women, improve our understanding of maternal and infant outcomes, and develop surveillance systems to monitor the prevalence and incidence of these events.

Globalization of flora: inviting worldwide ecosystem disaster.

Treesearch

Andrew B. Carey

2002-01-01

Meeting the needs of expanding human populations has changed land use worldwide and presented a biodiversity crisis. Emerging related concerns are threats to native species from homogenization of world flora and the spread of exotic species by human activities (Soule 1990, United States Congress, Office of Technology Assessment 1993, Wilcove and others 1998, Soule and...

Bringing the CMS distributed computing system into scalable operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belforte, S.; Fanfani, A.; Fisk, I.; Flix, J.; Hernández, J. M.; Kress, T.; Letts, J.; Magini, N.; Miccio, V.; Sciabà, A.

2010-04-01

Establishing efficient and scalable operations of the CMS distributed computing system critically relies on the proper integration, commissioning and scale testing of the data and workload management tools, the various computing workflows and the underlying computing infrastructure, located at more than 50 computing centres worldwide and interconnected by the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid. Computing challenges periodically undertaken by CMS in the past years with increasing scale and complexity have revealed the need for a sustained effort on computing integration and commissioning activities. The Processing and Data Access (PADA) Task Force was established at the beginning of 2008 within the CMS Computing Program with the mandate of validating the infrastructure for organized processing and user analysis including the sites and the workload and data management tools, validating the distributed production system by performing functionality, reliability and scale tests, helping sites to commission, configure and optimize the networking and storage through scale testing data transfers and data processing, and improving the efficiency of accessing data across the CMS computing system from global transfers to local access. This contribution reports on the tools and procedures developed by CMS for computing commissioning and scale testing as well as the improvements accomplished towards efficient, reliable and scalable computing operations. The activities include the development and operation of load generators for job submission and data transfers with the aim of stressing the experiment and Grid data management and workload management systems, site commissioning procedures and tools to monitor and improve site availability and reliability, as well as activities targeted to the commissioning of the distributed production, user analysis and monitoring systems.

Classification of worldwide bovine tuberculosis risk factors in cattle: a stratified approach

PubMed Central

Humblet, Marie-France; Boschiroli, Maria Laura; Saegerman, Claude

2009-01-01

The worldwide status of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) as a zoonosis remains of great concern. This article reviews the main risk factors for bTB in cattle based on a three-level classification: animal, herd and region/country level. A distinction is also made, whenever possible, between situations in developed and developing countries as the difference of context might have consequences in terms of risk of bTB. Recommendations are suggested to animal health professionals and scientists directly involved in the control and prevention of bTB in cattle. The determination of Millenium Development Goals for bTB is proposed to improve the control/eradication of the disease worldwide. PMID:19497258

Companion diagnostics for the targeted therapy of gastric cancer.

PubMed

Yoo, Changhoon; Park, Young Soo

2015-10-21

Gastric cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer and represents a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. With recent biomedical advances in our understanding of the molecular characteristics of gastric cancer, many genetic alterations have been identified as potential targets for its treatment. Multiple novel agents are currently under development as the demand for active agents that improve the survival of gastric cancer patients constantly increases. Based on lessons from previous trials of targeted agents, it is now widely accepted that the establishment of an optimal diagnostic test to select molecularly defined patients is of equal importance to the development of active agents against targetable genetic alterations. Herein, we highlight the current status and future perspectives of companion diagnostics in the treatment of gastric cancer.

Apigenin Restricts FMDV Infection and Inhibits Viral IRES Driven Translational Activity

PubMed Central

Qian, Suhong; Fan, Wenchun; Qian, Ping; Zhang, Dong; Wei, Yurong; Chen, Huanchun; Li, Xiangmin

2015-01-01

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of domestic and wild ruminants that is caused by FMD virus (FMDV). FMD outbreaks have occurred in livestock-containing regions worldwide. Apigenin, which is a flavonoid naturally existing in plant, possesses various pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant and antiviral activities. Results show that apigenin can inhibit FMDV-mediated cytopathogenic effect and FMDV replication in vitro. Further studies demonstrate the following: (i) apigenin inhibits FMDV infection at the viral post-entry stage; (ii) apigenin does not exhibit direct extracellular virucidal activity; and (iii) apigenin interferes with the translational activity of FMDV driven by internal ribosome entry site. Studies on applying apigein in vivo are required for drug development and further identification of potential drug targets against FDMV infection. PMID:25835532

Apigenin restricts FMDV infection and inhibits viral IRES driven translational activity.

PubMed

Qian, Suhong; Fan, Wenchun; Qian, Ping; Zhang, Dong; Wei, Yurong; Chen, Huanchun; Li, Xiangmin

2015-03-31

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of domestic and wild ruminants that is caused by FMD virus (FMDV). FMD outbreaks have occurred in livestock-containing regions worldwide. Apigenin, which is a flavonoid naturally existing in plant, possesses various pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant and antiviral activities. Results show that apigenin can inhibit FMDV-mediated cytopathogenic effect and FMDV replication in vitro. Further studies demonstrate the following: (i) apigenin inhibits FMDV infection at the viral post-entry stage; (ii) apigenin does not exhibit direct extracellular virucidal activity; and (iii) apigenin interferes with the translational activity of FMDV driven by internal ribosome entry site. Studies on applying apigein in vivo are required for drug development and further identification of potential drug targets against FDMV infection.

The Hawaii protocol for scientific monitoring of coffee berry borer: a model for coffee agroecosystems worldwide

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) is the most devastating insect pest for coffee crops worldwide. We developed a scientific monitoring protocol aimed at capturing and quantifying the dynamics and impact of this invasive insect pest as well as the development of its host plant across a heterogeneous landscape...

The theory of music, mood and movement to improve health outcomes

PubMed Central

Murrock, Carolyn J.; Higgins, Patricia A.

2013-01-01

Aim This paper presents a discussion of the development of a middle-range nursing theory of the effects of music on physical activity and improved health outcomes. Background Due to the high rate of physical inactivity and the associated negative health outcomes worldwide, nurses need new evidence-based theories and interventions to increase physical activity. Data sources The theory of music, mood and movement (MMM) was developed from physical activity guidelines and music theory using the principles of statement and theory synthesis. The concepts of music, physical activity and health outcomes were searched using the CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library databases covering the years 1975–2008. Discussion The theory of MMM was synthesized by combining the psychological and physiological responses of music to increase physical activity and improve health outcomes. It proposes that music alters mood, is a cue for movement, and makes physical activity more enjoyable leading to improved health outcomes of weight, blood pressure, blood sugar and cardiovascular risk factor management, and improved quality of life. Conclusion As it was developed from the physical activity guidelines, the middle-range theory is prescriptive, produces testable hypotheses, and can guide nursing research and practice. The middle-range theory needs to be tested to determine its usefulness for nurses to develop physical activity programmes to improve health outcomes across various cultures. PMID:20568327

The theory of music, mood and movement to improve health outcomes.

PubMed

Murrock, Carolyn J; Higgins, Patricia A

2009-10-01

This paper presents a discussion of the development of a middle-range nursing theory of the effects of music on physical activity and improved health outcomes. Due to the high rate of physical inactivity and the associated negative health outcomes worldwide, nurses need new evidence-based theories and interventions to increase physical activity. The theory of music, mood and movement (MMM) was developed from physical activity guidelines and music theory using the principles of statement and theory synthesis. The concepts of music, physical activity and health outcomes were searched using the CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library databases covering the years 1975-2008. The theory of MMM was synthesized by combining the psychological and physiological responses of music to increase physical activity and improve health outcomes. It proposes that music alters mood, is a cue for movement, and makes physical activity more enjoyable leading to improved health outcomes of weight, blood pressure, blood sugar and cardiovascular risk factor management, and improved quality of life. As it was developed from the physical activity guidelines, the middle-range theory is prescriptive, produces testable hypotheses, and can guide nursing research and practice. The middle-range theory needs to be tested to determine its usefulness for nurses to develop physical activity programmes to improve health outcomes across various cultures.

Climate Services - Innovation for Smart Solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacob, Daniela

2015-04-01

Living in a changing climate is becoming an increasing challenge for all kinds of human activities. Mitigation of global warming is of utmost importance to avoid further and stronger changes in our climate. At the same time, adaptation to today's and future changes is needed. To address both, a new field of activity developed within the last couple of years: climate services. They develop and deliver easy understandable and useful information for decision makers in public and private business and society as a whole. The German Climate Service Center 2.0 was one of the first institutions worldwide bridging the gap between scientific climate change knowledge and user needs. Developing prototype products and services, the Climate Service Center 2.0 orients its activities toward consultation of climate change topics and adaptation to climate change impacts. It prepares high quality and state of the art information for decision makers. What have we learned and where are we heading to? What are the roles of partners and networks? And how might a new field of expertise like climate services develop and stimulate the job market? These questions will be discussed and examples will be given.

Publishing biomedical journals on the World-Wide Web using an open architecture model.

PubMed Central

Shareck, E. P.; Greenes, R. A.

1996-01-01

BACKGROUND: In many respects, biomedical publications are ideally suited for distribution via the World-Wide Web, but economic concerns have prevented the rapid adoption of an on-line publishing model. PURPOSE: We report on our experiences with assisting biomedical journals in developing an online presence, issues that were encountered, and methods used to address these issues. Our approach is based on an open architecture that fosters adaptation and interconnection of biomedical resources. METHODS: We have worked with the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), as well as five other publishers. A set of tools and protocols was employed to develop a scalable and customizable solution for publishing journals on-line. RESULTS: In March, 1996, the New England Journal of Medicine published its first World-Wide Web issue. Explorations with other publishers have helped to generalize the model. CONCLUSIONS: Economic and technical issues play a major role in developing World-Wide Web publishing solutions. PMID:8947685

Sack Racers at Day of Play

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-10-05

From left, Mallory Doody, 5, Natalie Cambre, 3, Madison Doody, 7, and Anna Cambre, 6, get ready to compete in a sack race. The children were participants in Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play celebration at Stennis Space Center (SSC) on Oct. 1. The Worldwide Day of Play is sponsored annually by Nickelodeon television network to encourage children to be physically active.

Macro-Environmental Mapping of International Branch Campus Activities of Universities Worldwide. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.2.14

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosmützky, Anna; Krücken, Georg

2014-01-01

The paper provides an initial international comparative empirical assessment of international branch campuses (IBCs) worldwide. Building on neo-institutional theory and organizational ecology, it sheds light on the new organizational form by analyzing their founding age of the home university and IBC mortality. Furthermore the paper analyzes the…

Is plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 a physiological bottleneck bridging major depressive disorder and cardiovascular disease?

PubMed

Savoy, C; Van Lieshout, R J; Steiner, M

2017-04-01

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is estimated to affect one in twenty people worldwide. MDD is highly comorbid with cardiovascular disease (CVD), itself one of the single largest causes of mortality worldwide. A number of pathological changes observed in MDD are believed to contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease, although no single mechanism has been identified. There are also no biological markers capable of predicting the future risk of developing heart disease in depressed individuals. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is a prothrombotic plasma protein secreted by endothelial tissue and has long been implicated in CVD. An expanding body of literature has recently implicated it in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder as well. In this study, we review candidate pathways implicating MDD in CVD and consider how PAI-1 might act as a mediator by which MDD induces CVD development: chiefly through sleep disruption, adiposity, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) metabolism, systemic inflammation and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis dysregulation. As both MDD and CVD are more prevalent in women than in men, and incidence of either condition is dramatically increased during reproductive milestones, we also explore hormonal and sex-specific associations between MDD, PAI-1 and CVD. Of special interest is the role PAI-1 plays in perinatal depression and in cardiovascular complications of pregnancy. Finally, we propose a theoretical model whereby PAI-1 might serve as a useful biomarker for CVD risk in those with depression, and as a potential target for future treatments. © 2016 Scandinavian Physiological Society. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Venkatraman, A.; Walawender, W.P.; Fan, L.T.

The term, activated carbon, is a generic name for a family of carbonaceous materials with well-developed porosities and consequently, large adsorptive capacities. Activated carbons are increasingly being consumed worldwide for environmental applications such as separation of volatiles from bulk gases and purification of water and waste-water streams. The global annual production is estimated to be around 300 million kilograms, with a rate of increase of 7% each year. Activated carbons can be prepared from a variety of raw materials. Approximately, 60% of the activated carbons generated in the United States is produced from coal; 20%, from coconut shells; and themore » remaining 20% from wood and other sources of biomass. The pore structure and properties of activated carbons are influenced by the nature of the starting material and the initial physical and chemical conditioning as well as the process conditions involved in its manufacture. The porous structures of charcoals and activated carbons obtained by the carbonization of kernels have been characterized.« less

HRD Trends Worldwide: Shared Solutions To Compete in a Global Economy. Improving Human Performance Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Jack J.

This book, which is intended for individuals involved in developing, delivering, and supporting human resource development (HRD) programs, discusses worldwide HRD trends that were identified in a study of the HRD practices in 35 countries. Chapter 1 discusses the importance of the HRD trends identified and explains how they were identified.…

WHO Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations.

PubMed

2012-01-01

The Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations works towards clear, independent and practical standards and guidelines for the quality assurance of medicines. Standards are developed by the Committee through worldwide consultation and an international consensus-building process. The following new guidelines were adopted and recommended for use: Development of monographs for The International Pharmacopoeia; WHO good manufacturing practices: water for pharmaceutical use; Pharmaceutical development of multisource (generic) pharmaceutical products--points to consider; Guidelines on submission of documentation for a multisource (generic) finished pharmaceutical product for the WHO Prequalification of Medicines Programme: quality part; Development of paediatric medicines: points to consider in formulation; Recommendations for quality requirements for artemisinin as a starting material in the production of antimalarial active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Developing an evidence-based approach to Public Health Nutrition: translating evidence into policy.

PubMed

Margetts, B; Warm, D; Yngve, A; Sjöström, M

2001-12-01

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of an evidence-based approach to the development, implementation and evaluation of policies aimed at improving nutrition-related health in the population. Public Health Nutrition was established to realise a population-level approach to the prevention of the major nutrition-related health problems world-wide. The scope is broad and integrates activity from local, national, regional and international levels. The aim is to inform and develop coherent and effective policies that address the key rate-limiting steps critical to improving nutrition-related public health. This paper sets out the rationale for an evidence-based approach to Public Health Nutrition developed under the umbrella of the European Network for Public Health Nutrition.

Designing and developing suppository formulations for anti-HIV drug delivery.

PubMed

Ham, Anthony S; Buckheit, Robert W

2017-08-01

Despite a long history of use for rectal and vaginal drug delivery, the current worldwide market for suppositories is limited primarily due to a lack of user acceptability. Therefore, virtually no rational pharmaceutical development of antiviral suppositories has been performed. However, suppositories offer several advantages over other antiviral dosage forms. Current suppository designs have integrated active pharmaceutical ingredients into existing formulation designs without optimization. As such, emerging suppository development has been focused on improving upon the existing classical design to enhance drug delivery and is poised to open suppository drug delivery to a broader range of drugs, including antiretroviral products. Thus, with continuing research into rational suppository design and development, there is significant potential for antiretroviral suppository drug delivery.

Role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors gene polymorphisms in type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome

PubMed Central

Dong, Chen; Zhou, Hui; Shen, Chong; Yu, Lu-Gang; Ding, Yi; Zhang, Yong-Hong; Guo, Zhi-Rong

2015-01-01

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are the serious public health problems worldwide. Moreover, it is estimated that MetS patients have about five-fold greater risk of the T2DM development compared with people without the syndrome. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors are a subgroup of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors which play an important role in the pathogenesis of MetS and T2DM. All three members of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) nuclear receptor subfamily, PPARα, PPARβ/δ and PPARγ are critical in regulating insulin sensitivity, adipogenesis, lipid metabolism, and blood pressure. Recently, more and more studies indicated that the gene polymorphism of PPARs, such as Leu162Val and Val227Ala of PPARα, +294T > C of PPARβ/δ, Pro12Ala and C1431T of PPARγ, are significantly associated with the onset and progressing of MetS and T2DM in different population worldwide. Furthermore, a large body of evidence demonstrated that the glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism were influenced by gene-gene interaction among PPARs genes. However, given the complexity pathogenesis of metabolic disease, it is unlikely that genetic variation of a single locus would provide an adequate explanation of inter-individual differences which results in diverse clinical syndromes. Thus, gene-gene interactions and gene-environment interactions associated with T2DM and MetS need future comprehensive studies. PMID:25987964

IUD users may have higher risk of contracting PID, studies find; pill may have protective effect.

PubMed

1980-01-01

The incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can lead to serious reproductive impairment, infertility, or ectopic pregnancy, is increasing worldwide. About 500,000 women in their childbearing years contract PID for the first time each year in the U.S., and the incidence among young women appears to be increasing. Sexually transmitted diseases are responsible for many PID cases worldwide, while in developing countries postpartum and postabortion sepsis and endemic diseases such as filariasis and schistosomiasis may also be implicated. Some increase of PID is associated with legal abortion and IUD insertion, while pill use appears to protect women from PID. A worldwide review of medical literature indicates that the risk of PID is 3.5 times greater for IUD users than for nonusers, although several variables other than IUD use affect PID risk, such as age, race, socioeconomic status, and sexual activity. The risk for never pregnant IUD users in a Swedish study was 11.8 per 100 woman years, compared to 3.4 for ever-pregnant IUD users. There was no difference in relative risk for users of the pill or barrier methods, or for non-contraceptors. Another study reported a higher relative risk of PID related to duration of IUD use.

International Approaches for Nuclear Waste Disposal in Geological Formations: Geological Challenges in Radioactive Waste Isolation—Fifth Worldwide Review

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Faybishenko, Boris; Birkholzer, Jens; Sassani, David

The overall objective of the Fifth Worldwide Review (WWR-5) is to document the current state-of-the-art of major developments in a number of nations throughout the World pursuing geological disposal programs, and to summarize challenging problems and experience that have been obtained in siting, preparing and reviewing cases for the operational and long-term safety of proposed and operating nuclear waste repositories. The scope of the Review is to address current specific technical issues and challenges in safety case development along with the interplay of technical feasibility, siting, engineering design issues, and operational and post-closure safety. In particular, the chapters included inmore » the report present the following types of information: the current status of the deep geological repository programs for high level nuclear waste and low- and intermediate level nuclear waste in each country, concepts of siting and radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel management in different countries (with the emphasis of nuclear waste disposal under different climatic conditions and different geological formations), progress in repository site selection and site characterization, technology development, buffer/backfill materials studies and testing, support activities, programs, and projects, international cooperation, and future plans, as well as regulatory issues and transboundary problems.« less

'Dora' & Kids at Day of Play

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-10-05

From left, Cobie Smith, 5, and Tatume Smith, also 5, have their picture taken with 'Dora the Explorer.' The children were participants in Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play celebration at Stennis Space Center (SSC) on Oct. 1. The Worldwide Day of Play is sponsored annually by Nickelodeon television network to encourage children to be physically active. Approximately 150 children participated in the event at SSC.

'Dora' & Kids at Day of Play

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

From left, Cobie Smith, 5, and Tatume Smith, also 5, have their picture taken with 'Dora the Explorer.' The children were participants in Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play celebration at Stennis Space Center (SSC) on Oct. 1. The Worldwide Day of Play is sponsored annually by Nickelodeon television network to encourage children to be physically active. Approximately 150 children participated in the event at SSC.

Worldwide Test Reviewing at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geisinger, Kurt F.

2012-01-01

This article sets the stage for the description of a variety of approaches to test reviewing worldwide. It describes the importance of test reviewing as a protection of the public and of society and also the benefits of this activity for test users, who must choose measures to use in particular situations with particular clients at a particular…

Recent approaches in design of peptidomimetics for antimicrobial drug discovery research.

PubMed

Lohan, Sandeep; Bisht, Gopal Singh

2013-06-01

Resistant pathogenic microbial strains are emerging at a rate that far exceeds the pace of new anti-infective drug development. In order to combat resistance development, there is pressing need to develop novel class of antibiotics having different mechanism of action in comparison to existing antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been identified as ubiquitous components of innate immune system and widely regarded as a potential source of future antibiotics owing to a remarkable set of advantageous properties ranging from broad spectrum of activity to low propensity of resistance development. However, AMPs present several drawbacks that strongly limit their clinical applicability as ideal drug candidates such as; poor bioavailability, potential immunogenicity and high production cost. Thus, to overcome the limitations of native peptides, peptidomimetic becomes an important and promising approach. The different research groups worldwide engaged in antimicrobial drug discovery over the past decade have paid tremendous effort to design peptidomimetics. This review will focus on recent approaches in design of antimicrobial peptidomimetics their structure-activity relationship studies, mode of action, selectivity & toxicity.

Development, deployment and operations of ATLAS databases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaniachine, A. V.; Schmitt, J. G. v. d.

2008-07-01

In preparation for ATLAS data taking, a coordinated shift from development towards operations has occurred in ATLAS database activities. In addition to development and commissioning activities in databases, ATLAS is active in the development and deployment (in collaboration with the WLCG 3D project) of the tools that allow the worldwide distribution and installation of databases and related datasets, as well as the actual operation of this system on ATLAS multi-grid infrastructure. We describe development and commissioning of major ATLAS database applications for online and offline. We present the first scalability test results and ramp-up schedule over the initial LHC years of operations towards the nominal year of ATLAS running, when the database storage volumes are expected to reach 6.1 TB for the Tag DB and 1.0 TB for the Conditions DB. ATLAS database applications require robust operational infrastructure for data replication between online and offline at Tier-0, and for the distribution of the offline data to Tier-1 and Tier-2 computing centers. We describe ATLAS experience with Oracle Streams and other technologies for coordinated replication of databases in the framework of the WLCG 3D services.

The next generation of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as molecular therapeutic tools for the treatment of diseases with social and economic impacts.

PubMed

da Cunha, Nicolau B; Cobacho, Nicole B; Viana, Juliane F C; Lima, Loiane A; Sampaio, Kamila B O; Dohms, Stephan S M; Ferreira, Arthur C R; de la Fuente-Núñez, César; Costa, Fabrício F; Franco, Octávio L; Dias, Simoni C

2017-02-01

Anti-infective drugs have had a key role in the contemporary world, contributing to dramatically decrease mortality rates caused by infectious diseases worldwide. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are multifunctional effectors of the innate immune system of mucosal surfaces and present antimicrobial activity against a range of pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and fungi. However, the discovery and development of new antibacterial drugs is a crucial step to overcome the great challenge posed by the emergence of antibiotic resistance. In this review, we outline recent advances in the development of novel AMPs with improved antimicrobial activities that were achieved through characteristic structural design. In addition, we describe recent progress made to overcome some of the major limitations that have hindered peptide biosynthesis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The global alcohol industry: an overview.

PubMed

Jernigan, David H

2009-02-01

To describe the globalized sector of the alcoholic beverage industry, including its size, principal actors and activities. Market research firms and business journalism are the primary sources for information about the global alcohol industry, and are used to profile the size and membership of the three main industry sectors of beer, distilled spirits and wine. Branded alcoholic beverages are approximately 38% of recorded alcohol consumption world-wide. Producers of these beverages tend to be large multi-national corporations reliant on marketing for their survival. Marketing activities include traditional advertising as well as numerous other activities, such as new product development, product placement and the creation and promotion of social responsibility programs, messages and organizations. The global alcohol industry is highly concentrated and innovative. There is relatively little public health research evaluating the impact of its many marketing activities.

The role of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to facilitate the international trade in animals and animal products.

PubMed

Brückner, G K

2009-03-01

The international trade in animals and animal products has become a sensitive issue for both developed and developing countries by posing an important risk for the international spread of animal and human pathogens whilst at the same time being an essential activity to ensure world-wide food security and food safety. The OIE has since its founding in 1924, applied a democratic and transparent decision-making process to continuously develop and review international standards for animal health and zoonoses to facilitate trade in animals and animal products. The role of the OIE is also mandated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) as international reference point for standards related to animal health. In support of its overall objective of promoting animal health world-wide, the OIE has also launched several other initiatives such as the improvement of the governance of veterinary services within its member countries and territories and to enhance the availability of diagnostic and scientific expertise on a more even global geographical distribution. Several trade facilitating concepts such as country, zonal and compartment freedom from disease as well the trade in disease free commodities has been introduced to enhance the trade in animals and animal products for all its members including those from developing and transitional countries who are still in the process of enhancing to full compliance with international sanitary standards.

Recommendations for Genetic Variation Data Capture in Developing Countries to Ensure a Comprehensive Worldwide Data Collection

PubMed Central

Patrinos, George P; Al Aama, Jumana; Al Aqeel, Aida; Al-Mulla, Fahd; Borg, Joseph; Devereux, Andrew; Felice, Alex E; Macrae, Finlay; Marafie, Makia J; Petersen, Michael B; Qi, Ming; Ramesar, Rajkumar S; Zlotogora, Joel; Cotton, Richard GH

2011-01-01

Developing countries have significantly contributed to the elucidation of the genetic basis of both common and rare disorders, providing an invaluable resource of cases due to large family sizes, consanguinity, and potential founder effects. Moreover, the recognized depth of genomic variation in indigenous African populations, reflecting the ancient origins of humanity on the African continent, and the effect of selection pressures on the genome, will be valuable in understanding the range of both pathological and nonpathological variations. The involvement of these populations in accurately documenting the extant genetic heterogeneity is more than essential. Developing nations are regarded as key contributors to the Human Variome Project (HVP; http://www.humanvariomeproject.org), a major effort to systematically collect mutations that contribute to or cause human disease and create a cyber infrastructure to tie databases together. However, biomedical research has not been the primary focus in these countries even though such activities are likely to produce economic and health benefits for all. Here, we propose several recommendations and guidelines to facilitate participation of developing countries in genetic variation data documentation, ensuring an accurate and comprehensive worldwide data collection. We also summarize a few well-coordinated genetic data collection initiatives that would serve as paradigms for similar projects. Hum Mutat 31:1–8, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. PMID:21089065

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor AhR links atopic dermatitis and air pollution via induction of the neurotrophic factor artemin.

PubMed

Hidaka, Takanori; Ogawa, Eisaku; Kobayashi, Eri H; Suzuki, Takafumi; Funayama, Ryo; Nagashima, Takeshi; Fujimura, Taku; Aiba, Setsuya; Nakayama, Keiko; Okuyama, Ryuhei; Yamamoto, Masayuki

2017-01-01

Atopic dermatitis is increasing worldwide in correlation with air pollution. Various organic components of pollutants activate the transcription factor AhR (aryl hydrocarbon receptor). Through the use of AhR-CA mice, whose keratinocytes express constitutively active AhR and that develop atopic-dermatitis-like phenotypes, we identified Artn as a keratinocyte-specific AhR target gene whose product (the neurotrophic factor artemin) was responsible for epidermal hyper-innervation that led to hypersensitivity to pruritus. The activation of AhR via air pollutants induced expression of artemin, alloknesis, epidermal hyper-innervation and inflammation. AhR activation and ARTN expression were positively correlated in the epidermis of patients with atopic dermatitis. Thus, AhR in keratinocytes senses environmental stimuli and elicits an atopic-dermatitis pathology. We propose a mechanism of air-pollution-induced atopic dermatitis via activation of AhR.

Interactive pediatric emergency checklists to the palm of your hand - How the Pedi Crisis App traveled around the world.

PubMed

Gálvez, Jorge A; Lockman, Justin L; Schleelein, Laura E; Simpao, Allan F; Ahumada, Luis M; Wolf, Bryan A; Shah, Maully J; Heitmiller, Eugenie; Rehman, Mohamed

2017-08-01

Cognitive aids help clinicians manage critical events and have been shown to improve outcomes by providing critical information at the point of care. Critical event guidelines, such as the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia's Critical Events Checklists described in this article, can be distributed globally via interactive smartphone apps. From October 1, 2013 to January 1, 2014, we performed an observational study to determine the global distribution and utilization patterns of the Pedi Crisis cognitive aid app that the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia developed. We analyzed distribution and utilization metrics of individuals using Pedi Crisis on iOS (Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA) devices worldwide. We used Google Analytics software (Google Inc., Mountain View, CA) to monitor users' app activity (eg, screen views, user sessions). The primary outcome measurement was the number of user-sessions and geographic locations of Pedi Crisis user sessions. Each user was defined by the use of a unique Apple ID on an iOS device. Google Analytics correlates session activity with geographic location based on local Internet service provider logs. Pedi Crisis had 1 252 active users (both new and returning) and 4 140 sessions across 108 countries during the 3-month study period. Returning users used the app longer and viewed significantly more screens that new users (mean screen views: new users 1.3 [standard deviation +/-1.09, 95% confidence interval 1.22-1.55]; returning users 7.6 [standard deviation +/-4.19, 95% confidence interval 6.73-8.39]P<.01) CONCLUSIONS: Pedi Crisis was used worldwide within days of its release and sustained utilization beyond initial publication. The proliferation of handheld electronic devices provides a unique opportunity for professional societies to improve the worldwide dissemination of guidelines and evidence-based cognitive aids. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Physical Activity and the Prevention of Hypertension

PubMed Central

Diaz, Keith M.; Shimbo, Daichi

2013-01-01

As the worldwide prevalence of hypertension continues to increase, the primary prevention of hypertension has become an important global public health initiative. Physical activity is commonly recommended as an important lifestyle modification that may aid in the prevention of hypertension. Recent epidemiologic evidence has demonstrated a consistent, temporal, and dose-dependent relationship between physical activity and the development of hypertension. Experimental evidence from interventional studies have further confirmed a relationship between physical activity and hypertension as the favorable effects of exercise on blood pressure reduction have been well characterized in recent years. Despite the available evidence strongly supporting a role for physical activity in the prevention of hypertension, many unanswered questions regarding the protective benefits of physical activity in high-risk individuals, the factors that may moderate the relationship between physical activity and hypertension, and the optimal prescription for hypertension prevention remain. We review the most recent evidence for the role of physical activity in the prevention of hypertension and discuss recent studies that have sought to address these unanswered questions. PMID:24052212

Drug Repurposing from an Academic Perspective.

PubMed

Oprea, Tudor I; Bauman, Julie E; Bologa, Cristian G; Buranda, Tione; Chigaev, Alexandre; Edwards, Bruce S; Jarvik, Jonathan W; Gresham, Hattie D; Haynes, Mark K; Hjelle, Brian; Hromas, Robert; Hudson, Laurie; Mackenzie, Debra A; Muller, Carolyn Y; Reed, John C; Simons, Peter C; Smagley, Yelena; Strouse, Juan; Surviladze, Zurab; Thompson, Todd; Ursu, Oleg; Waller, Anna; Wandinger-Ness, Angela; Winter, Stuart S; Wu, Yang; Young, Susan M; Larson, Richard S; Willman, Cheryl; Sklar, Larry A

2011-01-01

Academia and small business research units are poised to play an increasing role in drug discovery, with drug repurposing as one of the major areas of activity. Here we summarize project status for a number of drugs or classes of drugs: raltegravir, cyclobenzaprine, benzbromarone, mometasone furoate, astemizole, R-naproxen, ketorolac, tolfenamic acid, phenothiazines, methylergonovine maleate and beta-adrenergic receptor drugs, respectively. Based on this multi-year, multi-project experience we discuss strengths and weaknesses of academic-based drug repurposing research. Translational, target and disease foci are strategic advantages fostered by close proximity and frequent interactions between basic and clinical scientists, which often result in discovering new modes of action for approved drugs. On the other hand, lack of integration with pharmaceutical sciences and toxicology, lack of appropriate intellectual coverage and issues related to dosing and safety may lead to significant drawbacks. The development of a more streamlined regulatory process world-wide, and the development of pre-competitive knowledge transfer systems such as a global healthcare database focused on regulatory and scientific information for drugs world-wide, are among the ideas proposed to improve the process of academic drug discovery and repurposing, and to overcome the "valley of death" by bridging basic to clinical sciences.

The worldwide costs of marine protected areas

PubMed Central

Balmford, Andrew; Gravestock, Pippa; Hockley, Neal; McClean, Colin J.; Roberts, Callum M.

2004-01-01

Declines in marine harvests, wildlife, and habitats have prompted calls at both the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the 2003 World Parks Congress for the establishment of a global system of marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs that restrict fishing and other human activities conserve habitats and populations and, by exporting biomass, may sustain or increase yields of nearby fisheries. Here we provide an estimate of the costs of a global MPA network, based on a survey of the running costs of 83 MPAs worldwide. Annual running costs per unit area spanned six orders of magnitude, and were higher in MPAs that were smaller, closer to coasts, and in high-cost, developed countries. Models extrapolating these findings suggest that a global MPA network meeting the World Parks Congress target of conserving 20–30% of the world's seas might cost between $5 billion and $19 billion annually to run and would probably create around one million jobs. Although substantial, gross network costs are less than current government expenditures on harmful subsidies to industrial fisheries. They also ignore potential private gains from improved fisheries and tourism and are dwarfed by likely social gains from increasing the sustainability of fisheries and securing vital ecosystem services. PMID:15205483

Drug Repurposing from an Academic Perspective

PubMed Central

Oprea, Tudor I.; Bauman, Julie E.; Bologa, Cristian G.; Buranda, Tione; Chigaev, Alexandre; Edwards, Bruce S.; Jarvik, Jonathan W.; Gresham, Hattie D.; Haynes, Mark K.; Hjelle, Brian; Hromas, Robert; Hudson, Laurie; Mackenzie, Debra A.; Muller, Carolyn Y.; Reed, John C.; Simons, Peter C.; Smagley, Yelena; Strouse, Juan; Surviladze, Zurab; Thompson, Todd; Ursu, Oleg; Waller, Anna; Wandinger-Ness, Angela; Winter, Stuart S.; Wu, Yang; Young, Susan M.; Larson, Richard S.; Willman, Cheryl; Sklar, Larry A.

2011-01-01

Academia and small business research units are poised to play an increasing role in drug discovery, with drug repurposing as one of the major areas of activity. Here we summarize project status for a number of drugs or classes of drugs: raltegravir, cyclobenzaprine, benzbromarone, mometasone furoate, astemizole, R-naproxen, ketorolac, tolfenamic acid, phenothiazines, methylergonovine maleate and beta-adrenergic receptor drugs, respectively. Based on this multi-year, multi-project experience we discuss strengths and weaknesses of academic-based drug repurposing research. Translational, target and disease foci are strategic advantages fostered by close proximity and frequent interactions between basic and clinical scientists, which often result in discovering new modes of action for approved drugs. On the other hand, lack of integration with pharmaceutical sciences and toxicology, lack of appropriate intellectual coverage and issues related to dosing and safety may lead to significant drawbacks. The development of a more streamlined regulatory process world-wide, and the development of pre-competitive knowledge transfer systems such as a global healthcare database focused on regulatory and scientific information for drugs world-wide, are among the ideas proposed to improve the process of academic drug discovery and repurposing, and to overcome the “valley of death” by bridging basic to clinical sciences. PMID:22368688

[An Occupational Therapy Intervention for People With Dementia].

PubMed

Ke, Hung-Hsun

2018-02-01

The percentage of individuals with dementia worldwide is increasing with the continued trend toward global trend overall. As options for the medical treatment of dementia remain limited, combined, non-pharmacological interventions are necessary to maintain and slow the degeneration of functional capabilities. Additionally, there is a need to help caregivers develop better patterns of care and methods to reduce the burden of care. Therefore, occupational therapists play an important role in the dementia care team. This article introduces how occupational therapists help dementia patient maintain their functional capabilities and delay degeneration and help caregivers reduce their burden of care. Both activities are based on the concept of occupational therapy, which includes three important components: people, activities, and the environment.

Public Health Nurses' Activities for Suicide Prevention in Japan.

PubMed

Marutani, Miki; Yamamoto-Mitani, Noriko; Kodama, Shimpei

2016-07-01

Suicide is a major health issue worldwide, including in Japan. Japanese public health nurses (PHNs) play a distinctive role in suicide prevention, although few studies have delineated this role. The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual framework that elucidates PHNs' activities for suicide prevention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2012-2013 with 15 PHNs who worked in Tokyo metropolitan regions. Data were analyzed qualitatively using grounded theory, and a conceptual framework with seven categories was developed. Three phases that depict the PHNs' suicide prevention activities emerged. Phase I, Pursuing to understand suicide cases, included two categories: tracing back individual suicide cases and raising consciousness among the general public. Phase II, Spreading a web of care, included three categories: knitting a caring network, weaving regular programs into the web, and continuing to be a member of the web. Phase III, Maintaining motivation and commitment, included two categories: legitimatizing suicide prevention and cultivating continued commitment in the community. The activities of suicide prevention by PHNs included a process of developing a caring network that lead to the enhancement of the caring capacity of the community as a whole. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Recruitment and treatment practices for help-seeking "prodromal" patients.

PubMed

McGlashan, Thomas H; Addington, Jean; Cannon, Tyrone; Heinimaa, Markus; McGorry, Patrick; O'Brien, Mary; Penn, David; Perkins, Diana; Salokangas, Raimo K R; Walsh, Barbara; Woods, Scott W; Yung, Alison

2007-05-01

The prodrome of psychosis has become a target for early identification and for treatments that address both symptoms and risk for future psychosis. Interest and activity in this realm is now worldwide. Clinical trials with rigorous methodology have only just begun, making treatment guidelines premature. Despite the sparse evidence base, treatments are currently applied to patients in the new prodromal clinics, usually treatments developed for established psychosis and modified for the prodromal phase. This communication will describe representative samplings of how treatment-seeking prodromal patients are currently recruited and treated in prodromal clinics worldwide. Recruitment includes how prodromal patients are sought, initially evaluated, apprised of their high-risk status, and informed of the risks and benefits of prodromal treatments and how their mental state is monitored over time. The treatment modalities offered (and described) include engagement, supportive therapy, case management, stress management, cognitive behavioral treatment, family-based treatment, antipsychotic pharmacotherapy, and non-antipsychotic pharmacotherapy. References for details are noted.

[Status and perspectives in modern neurology. Problems of organization of neurologic services worldwide and in Croatia].

PubMed

Barac, Bosko

2002-05-01

Modern neurology has completely changed in its concepts of science and medical discipline regarding the etiologies and the capabilities in the diagnostics, management, rehabilitation and prevention of neurological diseases. Advances in neurological sciences produced a rapid growth in the number of neurologists, new subspecialties and neurological institutions worldwide, opening questions on their possible application due to financial restrictions in many countries. Neurology in Croatia followed the modern tendencies in the world: in line with its humanistic tradition its orientation to the patient early appeared. From this experience developed a care on the optimal organization of neurological services, later on initiated in the Research Group on the Organization and Delivery of Neurological Services, founded in the World Federation of Neurology. The main activities and the Recommendations related to Neurology in Public Health are described, with the proposed levels of organization of neurological services, aiming at the optimal and rational neurological care. Problems of international collaboration on cost-effectiveness in neurology are accentuated.

Genetic diversity revealed by single nucleotide polymorphism markers in a worldwide germplasm collection of durum wheat.

PubMed

Ren, Jing; Sun, Daokun; Chen, Liang; You, Frank M; Wang, Jirui; Peng, Yunliang; Nevo, Eviatar; Sun, Dongfa; Luo, Ming-Cheng; Peng, Junhua

2013-03-28

Evaluation of genetic diversity and genetic structure in crops has important implications for plant breeding programs and the conservation of genetic resources. Newly developed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers are effective in detecting genetic diversity. In the present study, a worldwide durum wheat collection consisting of 150 accessions was used. Genetic diversity and genetic structure were investigated using 946 polymorphic SNP markers covering the whole genome of tetraploid wheat. Genetic structure was greatly impacted by multiple factors, such as environmental conditions, breeding methods reflected by release periods of varieties, and gene flows via human activities. A loss of genetic diversity was observed from landraces and old cultivars to the modern cultivars released during periods of the Early Green Revolution, but an increase in cultivars released during the Post Green Revolution. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of genetic diversity among the 10 mega ecogeographical regions indicated that South America, North America, and Europe possessed the richest genetic variability, while the Middle East showed moderate levels of genetic diversity.

Recent research and development of functional food in Taiwan.

PubMed

Sun Hwang, Lucy

2007-08-01

As the living standard rises, people are more concerned with the health benefits of foods. Functional foods are, therefore, receiving increasing attention worldwide. The functional food market in Taiwan reached 1.78 billion US dollars in 2005. Only those which have been certified by the Department of Health can claim their health benefits. Until January 2007, only 88 functional foods have received the certificates. In addition to the product development in the food industry, research institutes and universities are also actively engaged in the technology development and basic research of functional foods. Many raw materials harvested in Taiwan, including edible plants, herbs, medicinal mushrooms, and sea foods, are investigated for their health benefits, bioactive components and suitable processing technologies.

Workshop on the Development of an Experimental Global Drought Information System (GDIS): Overview of Workshop Goals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schubert, Siegfried

2012-01-01

Among the key recommendations of a recent WCRP Workshop on Drought Predictability and Prediction in a Changing Climate is the development of an experimental global drought information system (GDIS). The timeliness of such an effort is evidenced by the wide aITay of relevant ongoing national and international (as well as regional and continental scale) efforts to provide drought information, including the US and North American drought monitors, and various integrating activities such as GEO and the Global Drought Portal. The workshop will review current capabilities and needs, and focus on the steps necessary to develop a GDIS that will build upon the extensive worldwide investments that have already been made in developing drought monitoring (including new space-based observations), drought risk management, and climate prediction capahilities.

The impact of the worldwide Millennium Development Goals campaign on maternal and under-five child mortality reduction: 'Where did the worldwide campaign work most effectively?'

PubMed

Cha, Seungman

2017-01-01

As the Millennium Development Goals campaign (MDGs) came to a close, clear evidence was needed on the contribution of the worldwide MDG campaign. We seek to determine the degree of difference in the reduction rate between the pre-MDG and MDG campaign periods and its statistical significance by region. Unlike the prevailing studies that measured progress in 1990-2010, this study explores by percentage how much MDG progress has been achieved during the MDG campaign period and quantifies the impact of the MDG campaign on the maternal and under-five child mortality reduction during the MDG era by comparing observed values with counterfactual values estimated on the basis of the historical trend. The low accomplishment of sub-Saharan Africa toward the MDG target mainly resulted from the debilitated progress of mortality reduction during 1990-2000, which was not related to the worldwide MDG campaign. In contrast, the other regions had already achieved substantial progress before the Millennium Declaration was proclaimed. Sub-Saharan African countries have seen the most remarkable impact of the worldwide MDG campaign on maternal and child mortality reduction across all different measurements. In sub-Saharan Africa, the MDG campaign has advanced the progress of the declining maternal mortality ratio and under-five mortality rate, respectively, by 4.29 and 4.37 years. Sub-Saharan African countries were frequently labeled as 'off-track', 'insufficient progress', or 'no progress' even though the greatest progress was achieved here during the worldwide MDG campaign period and the impact of the worldwide MDG campaign was most pronounced in this region in all respects. It is time to learn from the success stories of the sub-Saharan African countries. Erroneous and biased measurement should be avoided for the sustainable development goals to progress.

The impact of the worldwide Millennium Development Goals campaign on maternal and under-five child mortality reduction: ‘Where did the worldwide campaign work most effectively?’

PubMed Central

Cha, Seungman

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: As the Millennium Development Goals campaign (MDGs) came to a close, clear evidence was needed on the contribution of the worldwide MDG campaign. Objective: We seek to determine the degree of difference in the reduction rate between the pre-MDG and MDG campaign periods and its statistical significance by region. Design: Unlike the prevailing studies that measured progress in 1990–2010, this study explores by percentage how much MDG progress has been achieved during the MDG campaign period and quantifies the impact of the MDG campaign on the maternal and under-five child mortality reduction during the MDG era by comparing observed values with counterfactual values estimated on the basis of the historical trend. Results: The low accomplishment of sub-Saharan Africa toward the MDG target mainly resulted from the debilitated progress of mortality reduction during 1990–2000, which was not related to the worldwide MDG campaign. In contrast, the other regions had already achieved substantial progress before the Millennium Declaration was proclaimed. Sub-Saharan African countries have seen the most remarkable impact of the worldwide MDG campaign on maternal and child mortality reduction across all different measurements. In sub-Saharan Africa, the MDG campaign has advanced the progress of the declining maternal mortality ratio and under-five mortality rate, respectively, by 4.29 and 4.37 years. Conclusions: Sub-Saharan African countries were frequently labeled as ‘off-track’, ‘insufficient progress’, or ‘no progress’ even though the greatest progress was achieved here during the worldwide MDG campaign period and the impact of the worldwide MDG campaign was most pronounced in this region in all respects. It is time to learn from the success stories of the sub-Saharan African countries. Erroneous and biased measurement should be avoided for the sustainable development goals to progress. PMID:28168932

GEM1: First-year modeling and IT activities for the Global Earthquake Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, G.; Giardini, D.; Wiemer, S.

2009-04-01

GEM is a public-private partnership initiated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to build an independent standard for modeling and communicating earthquake risk worldwide. GEM is aimed at providing authoritative, open information about seismic risk and decision tools to support mitigation. GEM will also raise risk awareness and help post-disaster economic development, with the ultimate goal of reducing the toll of future earthquakes. GEM will provide a unified set of seismic hazard, risk, and loss modeling tools based on a common global IT infrastructure and consensus standards. These tools, systems, and standards will be developed in partnership with organizations around the world, with coordination by the GEM Secretariat and its Secretary General. GEM partners will develop a variety of global components, including a unified earthquake catalog, fault database, and ground motion prediction equations. To ensure broad representation and community acceptance, GEM will include local knowledge in all modeling activities, incorporate existing detailed models where possible, and independently test all resulting tools and models. When completed in five years, GEM will have a versatile, penly accessible modeling environment that can be updated as necessary, and will provide the global standard for seismic hazard, risk, and loss models to government ministers, scientists and engineers, financial institutions, and the public worldwide. GEM is now underway with key support provided by private sponsors (Munich Reinsurance Company, Zurich Financial Services, AIR Worldwide Corporation, and Willis Group Holdings); countries including Belgium, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, and Turkey; and groups such as the European Commission. The GEM Secretariat has been selected by the OECD and will be hosted at the Eucentre at the University of Pavia in Italy; the Secretariat is now formalizing the creation of the GEM Foundation. Some of GEM's global components are in the planning stages, such as the developments of a unified active fault database and earthquake catalog. The flagship activity of GEM's first year is GEM1, a focused pilot project to develop GEM's first hazard and risk modeling products and initial IT infrastructure, starting in January 2009 and ending in March 2010. GEM1 will provide core capabilities for the present and key knowledge for future development of the full GEM computing Environment and product set. We will build GEM1 largely using existing tools and datasets, connected through a unified IT infrastructure, in order to bring GEM's initial capabilities online as rapidly as possible. The Swiss Seismological Service at ETH-Zurich is leading the GEM1 effort in cooperation with partners around the world. We anticipate that GEM1's products will include: • A global compilation of regional seismic source zone models in one or more common representations • Global synthetic earthquake catalogs for use in hazard calculations • Initial set of regional and global catalogues for validation • Global hazard models in map and database forms • First compilation of global vulnerabilities and fragilities • Tools for exposure and loss assessment • Validation of results and software for existing risk assessment tools to be used in future GEM stages • Demonstration risk scenarios for target cities • First version of GEM IT infrastructure All these products will be made freely available to the greatest extent possible. For more information on GEM and GEM1, please visit http://www.globalquakemodel.org.

Damping scaling factors for elastic response spectra for shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions: "average" horizontal component

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rezaeian, Sanaz; Bozorgnia, Yousef; Idriss, I.M.; Abrahamson, Norman; Campbell, Kenneth; Silva, Walter

2014-01-01

Ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for elastic response spectra are typically developed at a 5% viscous damping ratio. In reality, however, structural and nonstructural systems can have other damping ratios. This paper develops a new model for a damping scaling factor (DSF) that can be used to adjust the 5% damped spectral ordinates predicted by a GMPE for damping ratios between 0.5% to 30%. The model is developed based on empirical data from worldwide shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions. Dependencies of the DSF on potential predictor variables, such as the damping ratio, spectral period, ground motion duration, moment magnitude, source-to-site distance, and site conditions, are examined. The strong influence of duration is captured by the inclusion of both magnitude and distance in the DSF model. Site conditions show weak influence on the DSF. The proposed damping scaling model provides functional forms for the median and logarithmic standard deviation of DSF, and is developed for both RotD50 and GMRotI50 horizontal components. A follow-up paper develops a DSF model for vertical ground motion.

The Strategic Use of the US Army Veterinary Service in HCA/TCA Operations.

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-04-01

food safety and quality assurance and prevention of zoonotic disease spread worldwide. This study traces the development and evolution of Humanitarian Civic Assistance and Traditional CINC Activities missions. The Veterinary Service’s capabilities in these type of actions and what Veterinarians can do to improve the infrastructure of a nation where they are deployed are examined. The problem of why the Veterinary Service is not routinely included in the planning process is researached. Solutions which will bring the Veterinary Service into the geographic CINC’s

A Large-Scale Internet/Computer-Based, Training Module: Dissemination of Evidence-Based Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage to Front-Line Health Care Workers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abawi, Karim; Gertiser, Lynn; Idris, Raqibat; Villar, José; Langer, Ana; Chatfield, Alison; Campana, Aldo

2017-01-01

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal mortality in most developing and low-income countries and the cause of one-quarter of maternal deaths worldwide. With appropriate and prompt care, these deaths can be prevented. With the current and rapidly developing research and worldwide access to information, a lack of knowledge of…

Impact of perinatal environmental tobacco smoke on the development of childhood allergic diseases.

PubMed

Yang, Hyeon-Jong

2016-08-01

Allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and food allergy, are most common chronic, noncommunicable diseases in childhood. In the past few decades, the prevalence has increased abruptly worldwide. There are 2 possible explanations for the rising prevalence of allergic diseases worldwide, that an increased disease-awareness of physician, patient, or caregivers, and an abrupt exposure to unknown hazards. Unfortunately, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Despite the continuing efforts worldwide, the etiologies and rising prevalence remain unclear. Thus, it is important to identify and control risk factors in the susceptible individual for the best prevention and management. Genetic susceptibility or environments may be a potential background for the development of allergic disease, however they alone cannot explain the rising prevalence worldwide. There is growing evidence that epigenetic change depends on the gene, environment, and their interactions, may induce a long-lasting altered gene expression and the consequent development of allergic diseases. In epigenetic mechanisms, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure during critical period (i.e., during pregnancy and early life) are considered as a potential cause of the development of childhood allergic diseases. However, the causal relationship is still unclear. This review aimed to highlight the impact of ETS exposure during the perinatal period on the development of childhood allergic diseases and to propose a future research direction.

5'-Monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) improves autophagic activity in diabetes and diabetic complications

PubMed Central

Yao, Fan; Zhang, Ming; Chen, Li

2015-01-01

Diabetes mellitus (DM), an endocrine disorder, will be one of the leading causes of death world-wide in about two decades. Cellular injuries and disorders of energy metabolism are two key factors in the pathogenesis of diabetes, which also become the important causes for the process of diabetic complications. AMPK is a key enzyme in maintaining metabolic homeostasis and has been implicated in the activation of autophagy in distinct tissues. An increasing number of researchers have confirmed that autophagy is a potential factor to affect or induce diabetes and its complications nowadays, which could remove cytotoxic proteins and dysfunctional organelles. This review will summarize the regulation of autophagy and AMPK in diabetes and its complications, and explore how AMPK stimulates autophagy in different diabetic syndromes. A deeper understanding of the regulation and activity of AMPK in autophagy would enhance its development as a promising therapeutic target for diabetes treatment. PMID:26904395

5'-Monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) improves autophagic activity in diabetes and diabetic complications.

PubMed

Yao, Fan; Zhang, Ming; Chen, Li

2016-01-01

Diabetes mellitus (DM), an endocrine disorder, will be one of the leading causes of death world-wide in about two decades. Cellular injuries and disorders of energy metabolism are two key factors in the pathogenesis of diabetes, which also become the important causes for the process of diabetic complications. AMPK is a key enzyme in maintaining metabolic homeostasis and has been implicated in the activation of autophagy in distinct tissues. An increasing number of researchers have confirmed that autophagy is a potential factor to affect or induce diabetes and its complications nowadays, which could remove cytotoxic proteins and dysfunctional organelles. This review will summarize the regulation of autophagy and AMPK in diabetes and its complications, and explore how AMPK stimulates autophagy in different diabetic syndromes. A deeper understanding of the regulation and activity of AMPK in autophagy would enhance its development as a promising therapeutic target for diabetes treatment.

Ganoderma lucidum for cancer treatment: we are close but still not there.

PubMed

Cheng, Shujie; Sliva, Daniel

2015-05-01

The medicinal fungus Ganoderma lucidum has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for millennia to improve health and promote longevity. The idea of using G. lucidum for cancer treatment is based on numerous laboratory and preclinical studies with cancer and immune cells as well as animal models demonstrating various biological activities in vitro and in vivo. For example, G. lucidum possesses cytotoxic, cytostatic, antimetastatic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulating activities. Limited clinical studies, including case reports and randomized controlled trials, suggest G. lucidum as an alternative adjunct therapy for stimulating the immune system in cancer patients. To confirm the efficacy of G. lucidum in cancer treatment, systematic translational research programs should be started worldwide. In addition, only standardized preclinically evaluated, biologically active G. lucidum extracts should be used in alternative treatments. This approach will lead to the development of standardized G. lucidum preparations with specific chemical fingerprint-associated anticancer activities. © The Author(s) 2015.

Experiences of women with stress-related ill health in a therapeutic gardening program.

PubMed

Eriksson, Therese; Westerberg, Yvonne; Jonsson, Hans

2011-12-01

Stress-related ill health, e.g. burnout, is of great concern worldwide. Effective rehabilitation programs need to be developed and their therapeutic aspects understood. To explore and describe how women with stress-related ill health who are on sick leave experience the rehabilitation process in a therapeutic garden and how these experiences connect to their everyday lives. This longitudinal study used methods from grounded theory. Five women completed three semi-structured interviews at three weekly intervals during rehabilitation and one interview three months after. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative approach. A secure environment facilitated engagement in activities that provided feelings of enjoyment. These experiences inspired participants to add enjoyable activities in their everyday lives, contributing to occupational balance, despite worries of not be able to continue performing enjoyable activities. Implications. Effective rehabilitation programs need to focus on enjoyable activities in a protective environment to support achievement of occupational balance.

Helleborus purpurascens-Amino Acid and Peptide Analysis Linked to the Chemical and Antiproliferative Properties of the Extracted Compounds.

PubMed

Segneanu, Adina-Elena; Grozescu, Ioan; Cziple, Florentina; Berki, Daniel; Damian, Daniel; Niculite, Cristina Mariana; Florea, Alexandru; Leabu, Mircea

2015-12-11

There is a strong drive worldwide to discover and exploit the therapeutic potential of a large variety of plants. In this work, an alcoholic extract of Helleborus purpurascens (family Ranunculaceae) was investigated for the identification of amino acids and peptides with putative antiproliferative effects. In our work, a separation strategy was developed using solvents of different polarity in order to obtain active compounds. Biochemical components were characterized through spectroscopic (mass spectroscopy) and chromatographic techniques (RP-HPLC and GC-MS). The biological activity of the obtained fractions was investigated in terms of their antiproliferative effects on HeLa cells. Through this study, we report an efficient separation of bioactive compounds (amino acids and peptides) from a plant extract dependent on solvent polarity, affording fractions with unaffected antiproliferative activities. Moreover, the two biologically tested fractions exerted a major antiproliferative effect, thereby suggesting potential anticancer therapeutic activity.

Total phenolic contents, antioxidant activities, and bioactive ingredients of juices from pomegranate cultivars worldwide.

PubMed

Kalaycıoğlu, Zeynep; Erim, F Bedia

2017-04-15

Numerous recent scientific publications investigating the health benefits of pomegranate juice have greatly increased consumer interest in this fruit. The primary cause of the positive health effect of pomegranate is the unique antioxidant activity of this fruit. As a result of the increased attention given to pomegranate, the number of countries producing pomegranate has increased and new cultivars are appearing. The purpose of this review is to quantitatively establish the antioxidant activities, the total phenolic contents which are highly correlated to antioxidant activities, and the other important ingredients of pomegranate juices obtained from cultivars of different regions. Pomegranate wine, vinegar, and sour sauce obtained directly from pomegranate juice are included in this review. Comparison of aril juices with peel and seed extracts is also given. This data could be useful to the pomegranate industry in identifying and developing cultivars having commercial value. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bridging worlds/charting new courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

This report describes the work being done within Sandia's renewable energy program. This work touches on four major disciplines. (1) Photovoltaics. The goal of this project is to develop costeffective, reliable energy system technologies for energy supplies worldwide produced by U.S. industry. It encompasses cell research and development, collector development, technology evaluation, systems engineering, domestic and international applications, and design assistance. (2) Solar Thermal. This project endeavors to develop and increase acceptance of solar thermal electric and industrial technologies as cost-competitive candidates for power generation and to promote their commercialization. Its' major activities are with dish/Stirling systems, the Solar Two power tower, design assistance to industry and users, technology development and research activities. (3) Wind. The wind project impacts domestic and international markets with commercially feasible systems for utility-scale and other applications of wind energy. The project conducts applied research in aerodynamics, structural dynamics, fatigue, materials and controls, and engineering systems, and develops cooperative work with industry. (4) Geothermal. This project is developing technology to increase proven geothermal reserves and is assisting industry in expanding geothermal power on-line. Development work is in stemhole drilling, drilling techniques, instrumentation for geothermal wells, acoustic telemetry, and drilling exploratory wells.

Lightweight Steel Solutions for Automotive Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Hong Woo; Kim, Gyosung; Park, Sung Ho

2010-06-01

Recently, improvement in fuel efficiency and safety has become the biggest issue in worldwide automotive industry. Although the regulation of environment and safety has been tightened up more and more, the majority of vehicle bodies are still manufactured from stamped steel components. This means that the optimized steel solutions enable to demonstrate its ability to reduce body weight with high crashworthiness performance instead of expensive light weight materials such as Al, Mg and composites. To provide the innovative steel solutions for automotive industry, POSCO has developed AHSS and its application technologies, which is directly connected to EVI activities. EVI is a technical cooperation program with customer covering all stages of new car project from design to mass production. Integrated light weight solutions through new forming technologies such as TWB, hydroforming and HPF are continuously developed and provided for EVI activities. This paper will discuss the detailed status of these technologies especially light weight steel solutions based on innovative technologies.

The International Heliophysical Year

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, Barbara J.

2007-01-01

In 1957 a program of international research, inspired by the International Polar Years of 1882 and 1932, was organized as the International Geophysical Year (IGY) to study global phenomena of the Earth and geospace. Fifty years later, the world s space science community will again come together for international programs of scientific collaboration: the International Heliophysical Year (IHY), the Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY), and the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007. This time, research will extend out into the Heliosphere to focus on solar-terrestrial-planetary interactions. The ambitious plans for the IHY, eGY and IPY incorporate the activities of scientists in 191 nations, as well as the IGY Gold Historical Preservation initiative, plus a series of coordinated campaigns involving more than 100 instruments and models, education and public outreach programs, a developing nations instrument development program, and opportunities for supported research worldwide. The presentation will focus on the efforts and operations which will make these activities possible.

The Nature, Scope, and Development of the Global Tobacco Control Epistemic Community

PubMed Central

Gonzalez, MariaElena; Glantz, Stanton

2011-01-01

Over the past 50 years, tobacco control has been transformed from a national to a global issue, becoming institutionalized in the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first international public health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO. The global tobacco control epistemic community, a worldwide network of professionals with a common interpretation of the science in tobacco use and control, has contributed to this transformation. We investigated the development, structure, and function of this community through interviews and archival documents. Professionals in the community are bound by values and consensual knowledge developed after years of contentious debates undergirded their activities. Although these professionals play multiple roles, they recognize that scientific evidence should inform advocacy and policy activities. Public health professionals should continue to strengthen the links between science and advocacy for policy while being vigilant against industry efforts to undermine the scientific evidence on tobacco use and control. PMID:21940926

Behavioral intervention in the treatment of obesity in children and adolescents: implications for Mexico.

PubMed

Jelalian, Elissa; Evans, E Whitney

2017-01-01

Pediatric obesity is a worldwide health epidemic affecting both developed and developing countries. Mexico ranks second to the United States in rates of pediatric obesity. Obesity among youth has immediate and long-term consequences on physical and psychosocial development, including cardiovascular, respiratory, and health-related quality of life. Eventual amelioration of this epidemic will require change at the level of the family and community, along with policy initiatives to support healthier eating and activity habits. Evidence-based interventions for overweight/obese youth include family-based lifestyle programs that incorporate attention to diet quantity and quality, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and behavioral strategies to support change. While much of this research has been conducted in the United States, several recent studies suggest the efficacy of similar approaches for youth in Mexico. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Assessment of gamma-emitting radionuclides in sediment cores from the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea.

PubMed

Ababneh, Zaid Q; Al-Omari, Husam; Rasheed, Mohamad; Al-Najjar, Tariq; Ababneh, Anas M

2010-10-01

The Gulf of Aqaba is the only seaport in Jordan which currently has intense activities such as industrial development, phosphate ore exportation, oil importation, shipping, commercial and sport fishing. Most of these activities, especially the phosphate ore exportation, could cause serious radiological effects to the marine environment. Thus, it is essential to investigate the level of the radioactivity concentrations to establish a baseline database, which is not available yet in the Gulf of Aqaba. Radioactivity concentrations of gamma-emitting radionuclides in core and beach sediments of the Gulf of Aqaba were investigated. Core sediments were collected from five representative locations for three different water column depths (5, 15 and 35 m). The results showed that the activity concentrations of 238U, 235U and 226Ra for both seafloor and beach sediments from the phosphate loading berth (PLB) location to be higher than those from other investigated locations and more than twice as high as the worldwide average; the 238U activity concentration was found to vary from 57 to 677 Bq kg(-1). The results also showed that there is little variation of radioactivity concentrations within the core length of 15 cm. The calculated mean values of the radium equivalent activity Ra(eq), the external hazard index, H(ex), the absorbed dose rate and the annual effective dose for the beach sediment in PLB location were 626 Bq kg(-1), 1.69, 263 nGy h(-1) and 614 µSv y(-1), respectively. These values are much higher than the recommended limits that impose potential health risks to the workers in this location. As for other studied locations, the corresponding values were far below the maximum recommended limit and lies within the worldwide range.

77 FR 35060 - Pfizer Therapeutic Research, Formerly Known as Warner Lambert Company, Pfizer Worldwide Research...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-12

... Research, Formerly Known as Warner Lambert Company, Pfizer Worldwide Research & Development Division, Antibacterials Research Unit, Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics and Metabolism Department, Antibacterial Chemistry... Regarding Eligibility To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance In accordance with Section 223 of the Trade...

Mapping the dengue scientific landscape worldwide: a bibliometric and network analysis.

PubMed

Mota, Fabio Batista; Fonseca, Bruna de Paula Fonseca E; Galina, Andréia Cristina; Silva, Roseli Monteiro da

2017-05-01

Despite the current global trend of reduction in the morbidity and mortality of neglected diseases, dengue's incidence has increased and occurrence areas have expanded. Dengue also persists as a scientific and technological challenge since there is no effective treatment, vaccine, vector control or public health intervention. Combining bibliometrics and social network analysis methods can support the mapping of dengue research and development (R&D) activities worldwide. The aim of this paper is to map the scientific scenario related to dengue research worldwide. We use scientific publication data from Web of Science Core Collection - articles indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) - and combine bibliometrics and social network analysis techniques to identify the most relevant journals, scientific references, research areas, countries and research organisations in the dengue scientific landscape. Our results show a significant increase of dengue publications over time; tropical medicine and virology as the most frequent research areas and biochemistry and molecular biology as the most central area in the network; USA and Brazil as the most productive countries; and Mahidol University and Fundação Oswaldo Cruz as the main research organisations and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention as the most central organisation in the collaboration network. Our findings can be used to strengthen a global knowledge platform guiding policy, planning and funding decisions as well as to providing directions to researchers and institutions. So that, by offering to the scientific community, policy makers and public health practitioners a mapping of the dengue scientific landscape, this paper has aimed to contribute to upcoming debates, decision-making and planning on dengue R&D and public health strategies worldwide.

Pediatric caries worldwide: implications for oral hygiene products.

PubMed

Edelstein, Burton L

2005-05-01

International data on pediatric caries epidemiology confirms that tooth decay remains a significant and consequential disease of childhood that is increasingly localized in a subset of at-risk children in both developing and developed countries. A conceptual schema is presented to characterize the occurrence of caries in child populations, and observations are made regarding the countervailing impact of simple sugars and fluoride in these populations. Temporal changes in caries distribution suggest that targeted dental caries management protocols are increasingly indicated to more effectively manage the particular risk and caries activity of individual children. Criteria for successful protocols are discussed in light of both caries pathogenesis and international recommendations to improve children's oral health.

Operational forecasting of human-biometeorological conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giannaros, T. M.; Lagouvardos, K.; Kotroni, V.; Matzarakis, A.

2018-03-01

This paper presents the development of an operational forecasting service focusing on human-biometeorological conditions. The service is based on the coupling of numerical weather prediction models with an advanced human-biometeorological model. Human thermal perception and stress forecasts are issued on a daily basis for Greece, in both point and gridded format. A user-friendly presentation approach is adopted for communicating the forecasts to the public via the worldwide web. The development of the presented service highlights the feasibility of replacing standard meteorological parameters and/or indices used in operational weather forecasting activities for assessing the thermal environment. This is of particular significance for providing effective, human-biometeorology-oriented, warnings for both heat waves and cold outbreaks.

PDBe: Protein Data Bank in Europe

PubMed Central

Velankar, S.; Alhroub, Y.; Best, C.; Caboche, S.; Conroy, M. J.; Dana, J. M.; Fernandez Montecelo, M. A.; van Ginkel, G.; Golovin, A.; Gore, S. P.; Gutmanas, A.; Haslam, P.; Hendrickx, P. M. S.; Heuson, E.; Hirshberg, M.; John, M.; Lagerstedt, I.; Mir, S.; Newman, L. E.; Oldfield, T. J.; Patwardhan, A.; Rinaldi, L.; Sahni, G.; Sanz-García, E.; Sen, S.; Slowley, R.; Suarez-Uruena, A.; Swaminathan, G. J.; Symmons, M. F.; Vranken, W. F.; Wainwright, M.; Kleywegt, G. J.

2012-01-01

The Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe; pdbe.org) is a partner in the Worldwide PDB organization (wwPDB; wwpdb.org) and as such actively involved in managing the single global archive of biomacromolecular structure data, the PDB. In addition, PDBe develops tools, services and resources to make structure-related data more accessible to the biomedical community. Here we describe recently developed, extended or improved services, including an animated structure-presentation widget (PDBportfolio), a widget to graphically display the coverage of any UniProt sequence in the PDB (UniPDB), chemistry- and taxonomy-based PDB-archive browsers (PDBeXplore), and a tool for interactive visualization of NMR structures, corresponding experimental data as well as validation and analysis results (Vivaldi). PMID:22110033

Helminths, hygiene hypothesis and type 2 diabetes.

PubMed

de Ruiter, K; Tahapary, D L; Sartono, E; Soewondo, P; Supali, T; Smit, J W A; Yazdanbakhsh, M

2017-05-01

Worldwide, there is little overlap between the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminths and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Helminth-induced type 2 immune responses and immune regulatory network might modulate the obesity-induced activation of inflammatory pathways that are associated with the development of insulin resistance, a strong predictor of the development of T2D. However, other factors such as helminth-associated changes in adiposity and gut microbiome might also contribute to improved metabolic outcomes. In this review, we summarize epidemiological evidence for the link between helminths and T2D and discuss the potential mechanisms, based on findings from experimental studies as well as the limited number of studies in humans. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Space activities in 2009/2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagkratis, Spyros

2011-09-01

The global financial crisis of 2008 has created an economic environment unfavourable to public and corporate economic activity alike, which could not have left space activities unaffected. However, the effects of the crisis upon the space sector have been so far less damaging than anticipated. The following paper presents recent developments in the field of space policies, institutional budgets and commercial activity worldwide, in an effort to improve the understanding of the new trends in commercial and public space activities. It particularly explores the strategies followed by space stakeholders in different countries and regions in order to pursue their planned space programmes in view of difficult financial conditions. Finally, it highlights the differences in the outlook of space activities between established and emerging space-faring nations and attempts to explore their medium-term consequences on an international level. For this purpose, it was based on research conducted in the framework of a recent ESPI report on "Space Policies, Issues and trends in 2009/2010".

Compilation of gallium resource data for bauxite deposits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schulte, Ruth F.; Foley, Nora K.

2014-01-01

Gallium (Ga) concentrations for bauxite deposits worldwide have been compiled from the literature to provide a basis for research regarding the occurrence and distribution of Ga worldwide, as well as between types of bauxite deposits. In addition, this report is an attempt to bring together reported Ga concentration data into one database to supplement ongoing U.S. Geological Survey studies of critical mineral resources. The compilation of Ga data consists of location, deposit size, bauxite type and host rock, development status, major oxide data, trace element (Ga) data and analytical method(s) used to derive the data, and tonnage values for deposits within bauxite provinces and districts worldwide. The range in Ga concentrations for bauxite deposits worldwide is

Worldwide distribution of subaquatic gas hydrates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kvenvolden, K.A.; Ginsburg, G.D.; Soloviev, V.A.

1993-01-01

Sediments containing natural gas hydrates occur worldwide on continental and insular slopes and rises of active and passive margins, on continental shelves of polar regions, and in deep-water (> 300 m) environments of inland lakes and seas. The potential amount of methane in natural gas hydrates is enormous, with current estimates at about 1019 g of methane carbon. Subaquatic gas hydrates have been recovered in 14 different areas of the world, and geophysical and geochemical evidence for them has been found in 33 other areas. The worldwide distribution of natural gas hydrates is updated here; their global importance to the chemical and physical properties of near-surface subaquatic sediments is affirmed. ?? 1993 Springer-Verlag.

Child Rights Information Network Newsletter, 1997.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Purbrick, Becky, Ed.

1997-01-01

These three newsletter issues communicate activities of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) and report on information resources and worldwide activities concerning children and child rights. The January 1997 issue profiles CRIN members in Costa Rica, Tanzania, Germany, and Switzerland; and provides updates on the activities of projects…

THE NATIONAL EXPOSURE RESEARCH LABORATORY'S COMPREHENSIVE HUMAN ACTIVITY DATABASE

EPA Science Inventory

EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) has combined data from nine U.S. studies related to human activities into one comprehensive data system that can be accessed via the world-wide web. The data system is called CHAD-Consolidated Human Activity Database-and it is ...

MicroRNA's impact on neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems: small but mighty mediators of anxiety.

PubMed

Martinetz, Stefanie

2016-06-01

Psychiatric disorders rank among the most common severe diseases worldwide, with millions of people affected worldwide every year. The symptoms are manifold, and the outcome for the patients is often unclear. As a high and yearly rising cost burden for society, anxiety disorders, depression and their related mental disorders are currently a well-researched topic in order to develop new functional pharmacological therapies as alternatives to those that are in use and bear many unpleasant side effects. Brain circuitries, such as those underlying anxiety formations, are mainly driven by the interplay of various neurotransmitter systems and the interaction of different brain loci, as well as the modulating impact of neuropeptides. Targeting those networks is a complex but promising way to regulate mood. Alterations on molecular level of the neuronal cell in response to respective receptor activation, especially at post-transcriptional level via the highly regulatory function of non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) seem to hold a promising future in the development of novel therapeutic strategies and are therefore under intensified investigation. This review focusses on the impact of miRNAs on the neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems of the central nervous system relevant for the formation of anxiety disorders and discusses the potential of miRNAs for the development of new therapeutic strategies for anxiety and mood disorders.

Millennium Development Goals: how public health professionals perceive the achievement of MDGs.

PubMed

Lomazzi, Marta; Laaser, Ulrich; Theisling, Mareike; Tapia, Leticia; Borisch, Bettina

2014-01-01

There have been various consultations on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by different groups. However, even if it is clear that the health sector has led the development success of the MDGs, only a few MDG reports consider public health experts' points of view and these are mainly government driven. The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) has executed a global survey to consult public health professionals worldwide concerning the implementation and achievements of the MDGs. The survey was conceived by WFPHA health professionals and promulgated online. Public health professionals and organisations dealing with MDGs responded to the survey. Content analysis was conducted to analyse the data. Survey participants attributed the highest importance worldwide to MDGs dealing with women, poverty and hunger reduction, and disease prevention and management. Moreover, they underlined the role of education, referring both to school children and professionals. In high and upper-middle income countries, environmental challenges also received considerable attention. Notably, respondents underlined that weak governance and unstable political situations, as well as the gap between professionals and politicians, were among the main causes that detracted from MDG achievements. The public health workforce felt it would be imperative to be included from the outset in the design and implementation of further goals. This implies that those professionals have to take an active part in the political process leading to a new and accountable framework.

Antitumoral activity of 1,2-diaminocyclohexane derivatives in breast, colon and skin human cancer cells.

PubMed

Morales, Fátima; Ramírez, Alberto; Morata-Tarifa, Cynthia; Navarro, Saúl A; Marchal, Juan A; Campos, Joaquín M; Conejo-García, Ana

2017-03-01

Cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide. Medical interest has focused on macrocyclic polyamines because of their properties as antitumor agents. Results/Methodology: We have designed and synthesized a series of 1,2-diaminocyclohexane derivatives with notable in vitro antiproliferative activities against the MCF-7, HCT-116 and A375 cancer cell lines. Cell cycle and apoptosis analyses were also carried out. Our results show that all the compounds are potent cytotoxic agents, especially against the A375 cell line. The selective activity of the macrocyclic derivative against A375, via apoptosis, supposes a great advantage for future therapeutic use. This exemplifies the potential of 1,2-diaminocyclohexane derivatives to qualify as lead structures for future anticancer drug development due to their easy syntheses and noteworthy bioactivity.

Global issues related to enteric viral infections.

PubMed

Desselberger, Ulrich

2014-01-01

Acute viral gastroenteritis is a major health issue worldwide and is associated with high annual mortality, particularly in children of developing countries. Rotaviruses, caliciviruses and astroviruses are the main causes. Accurate diagnoses are possible by recently developed molecular techniques. In many setups, zoonotic transmission is an important epidemiological factor. Treatment consists of rehydration and is otherwise symptomatic. The worldwide introduction of universal rotavirus vaccination of infants has significantly reduced rotavirus disease and mortality.

InsightSTEM Campus Ambassadors: A Global Student Network to Promote Exploration in STEM Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noel-Storr, Jacob; InsightSTEM Campus Ambassadors

2016-06-01

InsightSTEM has the mission to democratize STEM knowledge worldwide. Here, we present our InsightSTEM Campus Ambassadors program, and our growing global network of students worldwide. Our Campus Ambassadors are committed to advancing their careers in STEM fields, and in promoting exploration in STEM education -- while developing education and outreach skills that they can use during their student years, and moving forwards in their careers. We discuss the challenges of operating a remote student network worldwide, including addressing the needs of students in many different settings, on every continent. We illustrate how we can capture the passions of STEM students in allowing others to explore STEM knowledge. We explain how we deliver "profession development" for our cadre students, and leave them with education and outreach skills that move beyond "showing up and giving a PowerPoint presentation" to developing strategies to really engage multiple audiences in the exploration of STEM knowledge.

Study toward high-performance thermally driven air-conditioning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miyazaki, Takahiko; Miyawaki, Jin; Ohba, Tomonori; Yoon, Seong-Ho; Saha, Bidyut Baran; Koyama, Shigeru

2017-01-01

The Adsorption heat pump is a technology for cooling and heating by using hot water as a driving heat source. It will largely contribute to energy savings when it is driven by solar thermal energy or waste heat. The system is available in the market worldwide, and there are many examples of application to heat recovery in factories and to solar cooling systems. In the present system, silica gel and zeolite are popular adsorbents in combination with water refrigerant. Our study focused on activated carbon-ethanol pair for adsorption cooling system because of the potential to compete with conventional systems in terms of coefficient of performance. In addition, activated-ethanol pair can generally produce larger cooling effect by an adsorption-desorption cycle compared with that of the conventional pairs in terms of cooling effect per unit adsorbent mass. After the potential of a commercially available activated carbon with highest level specific surface area was evaluated, we developed a new activated carbon that has the optimum pore characteristics for the purpose of solar or waste heat driven cooling systems. In this paper, comparison of refrigerants for adsorption heat pump application is presented, and a newly developed activated carbon for ethanol adsorption heat pump is introduced.

Antibiotic Resistance in the Food Chain: A Developing Country-Perspective

PubMed Central

Founou, Luria Leslie; Founou, Raspail Carrel; Essack, Sabiha Yusuf

2016-01-01

Antibiotics are now “endangered species” facing extinction due to the worldwide emergence of antibiotic resistance (ABR). Food animals are considered as key reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria with the use of antibiotics in the food production industry having contributed to the actual global challenge of ABR. There are no geographic boundaries to impede the worldwide spread of ABR. If preventive and containment measures are not applied locally, nationally and regionally, the limited interventions in one country, continent and for instance, in the developing world, could compromise the efficacy and endanger ABR containment policies implemented in other parts of the world, the best-managed high-resource countries included. Multifaceted, comprehensive, and integrated measures complying with the One Health approach are imperative to ensure food safety and security, effectively combat infectious diseases, curb the emergence and spread of ABR, and preserve the efficacy of antibiotics for future generations. Countries should follow the World Health Organization, World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recommendations to implement national action plans encompassing human, (food) animal, and environmental sectors to improve policies, interventions and activities that address the prevention and containment of ABR from farm-to-fork. This review covers (i) the origin of antibiotic resistance, (ii) pathways by which bacteria spread to humans from farm-to-fork, (iii) differences in levels of antibiotic resistance between developed and developing countries, and (iv) prevention and containment measures of antibiotic resistance in the food chain. PMID:27933044

Haematopoietic Cell Transplants in Latin America

PubMed Central

Gale, Robert Peter; Seber, Adriana; Bonfim, Carmem; Pasquini, Marcello

2016-01-01

Haematopoietic cell transplants are done by more than 1500 transplant centres in 75 countries, mostly for life-threatening haematological disorders. However, transplant technology and access are not uniformly-distributed worldwide. Most transplants are done in predominately Europe, North America and some Asian countries. We review transplants activity in Latin America, a geographic region with a population of more than 600 million persons living in countries with diverse economic and social development levels. The data indicate a 20-40-fold lower frequency of transplants in Latin America compared with Europe and North America. We show that although economics, infrastructure and expertise are important limitations, other variables also operate. Changes in several of these variables may substantially increase transplant activity in Latin America. PMID:26999468

High therapeutic potential of Spilanthes acmella: A review

PubMed Central

Prachayasittikul, Veda; Prachayasittikul, Supaluk; Ruchirawat, Somsak; Prachayasittikul, Virapong

2013-01-01

Spilanthes acmella, a well known antitoothache plant with high medicinal usages, has been recognized as an important medicinal plant and has an increasingly high demand worldwide. From its traditional uses in health care and food, extensive phytochemical studies have been reported. This review provides an overview and general description of the plant species, bioactive metabolites and important pharmacological activities including the preparation, purification and in vitro large-scale production. Structure-activity relationships of the bioactive compounds have been discussed. Considering data from the literature, it could be demonstrated that S. acmella possesses diverse bioactive properties and immense utilization in medicine, health care, cosmetics and as health supplements. As a health food, it is enriched with high therapeutic value with high potential for further development. PMID:27092032

The Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe): bringing structure to biology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Velankar, Sameer; Kleywegt, Gerard J., E-mail: gerard@ebi.ac.uk

2011-04-01

Some future challenges for the PDB and its guardians are discussed and current and future activities in structural bioinformatics at the Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe) are described. The Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe) is the European partner in the Worldwide PDB and as such handles depositions of X-ray, NMR and EM data and structure models. PDBe also provides advanced bioinformatics services based on data from the PDB and related resources. Some of the challenges facing the PDB and its guardians are discussed, as well as some of the areas on which PDBe activities will focus in themore » future (advanced services, ligands, integration, validation and experimental data). Finally, some recent developments at PDBe are described.« less

[Interventions to prevent the development of overweight and obesity in children younger than five years].

PubMed

Bonilla, Catherine; Híjar, Gisely; Márquez, Delia; Aramburú, Adolfo; Aparco, Juan Pablo; Gutiérrez, Ericson L

2017-01-01

Childhood obesity is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide. The present study describes the interventions used to prevent overweight and obesity in children younger than 5 years. The objective of the interventions was to stimulate breastfeeding, monitor the child's growth, and promote adequate complementary feeding by means of nutritional counseling using a responsive feeding approach in different settings, including health centers and residences. The interventions included physical activity and nutritional counseling, with the active participation of the parents. The quality of evidence from most studies was high because the evidence was derived from controlled clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. All interventions were conducted or could be replicated in Peru by adequate contextualization.

Active imaging systems to see through adverse conditions: Light-scattering based models and experimental validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riviere, Nicolas; Ceolato, Romain; Hespel, Laurent

2014-10-01

Onera, the French aerospace lab, develops and models active imaging systems to understand the relevant physical phenomena affecting these systems performance. As a consequence, efforts have been done on the propagation of a pulse through the atmosphere and on target geometries and surface properties. These imaging systems must operate at night in all ambient illumination and weather conditions in order to perform strategic surveillance for various worldwide operations. We have implemented codes for 2D and 3D laser imaging systems. As we aim to image a scene in the presence of rain, snow, fog or haze, we introduce such light-scattering effects in our numerical models and compare simulated images with measurements provided by commercial laser scanners.

Human impacts on morphodynamic thresholds in estuarine systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Z. B.; Van Maren, D. S.; Ding, P. X.; Yang, S. L.; Van Prooijen, B. C.; De Vet, P. L. M.; Winterwerp, J. C.; De Vriend, H. J.; Stive, M. J. F.; He, Q.

2015-12-01

Many estuaries worldwide are modified, primarily driven by economic gain or safety. These works, combined with global climate changes heavily influence the morphologic development of estuaries. In this paper, we analyze the impact of human activities on the morphodynamic developments of the Scheldt Estuary and the Wadden Sea basins in the Netherlands and the Yangtze Estuary in China at various spatial scales, and identify mechanisms responsible for their change. Human activities in these systems include engineering works and dredging activities for improving and maintaining the navigation channels, engineering works for flood protection, and shoreline management activities such as land reclamations. The Yangtze Estuary is influenced by human activities in the upstream river basin as well, especially through the construction of many dams. The tidal basins in the Netherlands are also influenced by human activities along the adjacent coasts. Furthermore, all these systems are influenced by global changes through (accelerated) sea-level rise and changing weather patterns. We show that the cumulative impacts of these human activities and global changes may lead to exceeding thresholds beyond which the morphology of the tidal basins significantly changes, and loses its natural characteristics. A threshold is called tipping point when the changes are even irreversible. Knowledge on such thresholds or tipping points is important for the sustainable management of these systems. We have identified and quantified various examples of such thresholds and/or tipping points for the morphodynamic developments at various spatial and temporal scales. At the largest scale (mega-scale) we consider the sediment budget of a tidal basin as a whole. A smaller scale (macro-scale) is the development of channel structures in an estuary, especially the development of two competing channels. At the smallest scale (meso-scale) we analyze the developments of tidal flats and the connecting channels.

Elimination of Kala-Azar from the Southeast Asia Region.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Sujit K; Dash, Aditya Prasad

2017-04-01

AbstractVisceral leishmaniasis (VL), popularly known as kala-azar, is essentially a disease of poverty. Kala-azar is caused by a parasite, Leishmania donovani . Recent review indicates that worldwide 98 countries are endemic for kala-azar. Approximately 0.2-0.4 million new VL cases occur each year worldwide. More than 90% of global VL cases occur in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, South Sudan, and Sudan. This trend is slowly changing due to the progress in kala-azar elimination in southeast Asia, where Bangladesh has reported an average of some 600 new cases in 2014-2015. With the advancement in our knowledge about the disease and development of tools to diagnose and treat VL, it was considered that elimination of kala-azar was possible from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The three countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2005 for collaboration. Miltefosine is the first ever oral drug developed to treat VL, which was later replaced by lipid amphotericin B. The main components of the strategy are early diagnosis using rK39 strip test and complete treatment utilizing miltefosine for 28 days. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane or pyrethroids were deployed for vector control. There was much to be desired for better performance of the vector control activity. Pharmacovigilance and monitoring of drug resistance were the weakest part of the program. In the post-elimination phase, surveillance reinforced by active case finding will of a crucial factor for sustainability of the elimination. A strong political will is required to ensure elimination of kala-azar from the Indian subcontinent and its sustainability in the post-elimination phase.

Role of tissue-type plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 in psychological stress and depression.

PubMed

Tsai, Shih-Jen

2017-12-22

Major depressive disorder is a common illness worldwide, but the pathogenesis of the disorder remains incompletely understood. The tissue-type plasminogen activator-plasminogen proteolytic cascade is highly expressed in the brain regions involved in mood regulation and neuroplasticity. Accumulating evidence from animal and human studies suggests that tissue-type plasminogen activator and its chief inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, are related to stress reaction and depression. Furthermore, the neurotrophic hypothesis of depression postulates that compromised neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) function is directly involved in the pathophysiology of depression. In the brain, the proteolytic cleavage of proBDNF, a BDNF precursor, to mature BDNF through plasmin represents one mechanism that can change the direction of BDNF action. We also discuss the implications of tissue-type plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 alterations as biomarkers for major depressive disorder. Using drugs that increase tissue-type plasminogen activator or decrease plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 levels may open new avenues to develop conceptually novel therapeutic strategies for depression treatment.

The Online GVP/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report: Providing Timely Information About Worldwide Volcanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayberry, G. C.; Guffanti, M. C.; Luhr, J. F.; Venzke, E. A.; Wunderman, R. L.

2001-12-01

The awesome power and intricate inner workings of volcanoes have made them a popular subject with scientists and the general public alike. About 1500 known volcanoes have been active on Earth during the Holocene, approximately 50 of which erupt per year. With so much activity occurring around the world, often in remote locations, it can be difficult to find up-to-date information about current volcanism from a reliable source. To satisfy the desire for timely volcano-related information the Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey combined their strengths to create the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report. The Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) has developed a network of correspondents while reporting worldwide volcanism for over 30 years in their monthly Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network. The US Geological Survey's Volcano Hazards Program studies and monitors volcanoes in the United States and responds (upon invitation) to selected volcanic crises in other countries. The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is one of the most popular sites on both organization's websites. The core of the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is the brief summaries of current volcanic activity around the world. In addition to discussing various types of volcanism, the summaries also describe precursory activity (e.g. volcanic seismicity, deformation, and gas emissions), secondary activity (e.g. debris flows, mass wasting, and rockfalls), volcanic ash hazards to aviation, and preventative measures. The summaries are supplemented by links to definitions of technical terms found in the USGS photoglossary of volcano terms, links to information sources, and background information about reported volcanoes. The site also includes maps that highlight the location of reported volcanoes, an archive of weekly reports sorted by volcano and date, and links to commonly used acronyms. Since the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report's inception in November 2000, activity has been reported at over 60 volcanoes, with an average of 10 volcanoes discussed each week. Notable volcanic activity during November 2000-November 2001 included an eruption beginning on 6 February at Nyamuragira in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; it issued low-viscosity lava flows that traveled towards inhabited towns, and also produced ash clouds that adversely effected the health of residents and livestock near the volcano. Eruptions at Mayon in the Philippines on 24 June and 25 July caused local authorities to raise the alert to the highest level, close area airports, and evacuate thousands of residents near the volcano. Most recently a large flank eruption at Etna in Italy began on 17 July and gained worldwide attention as extensive lava flows threatened a small town and a tourist complex. While the information found in the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, ranging from large eruptions to small precursory events, is of interest to the general public, it has also proven to be a valuable resource to volcano observatory staff, universities, researchers, secondary schools, and the aviation community.

75 FR 38082 - Solicitation of Applications for the Research and Evaluation Program: FY 2010 Triple Bottom Line...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-01

...Pursuant to the Research and Evaluation program, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) seeks applications to research, develop, and disseminate metrics to enable policymakers and practitioners to more effectively understand how to assess the triple bottom line (economic, environmental, and social impacts) of various economic development activities. EDA's mission is to lead the Federal economic development agenda by promoting innovation and competitiveness, preparing American regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. Through its Research and Evaluation program, EDA works towards fulfilling its mission by funding research and technical assistance projects to promote competitiveness and innovation in distressed rural and urban regions throughout the United States and its territories. By working in conjunction with its research partners, EDA will help States, local governments, and community-based organizations to achieve their highest economic potential.

Replacement of SSE (Release 6) with NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) Project GIS-enabled Web Data Portal:

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-15

... effort has been developed under the Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) Project funded largely by NASA Earth Applied Sciences ... to NASA's satellite and modeling analysis for Renewable Energy, Sustainable Buildings and Agroclimatology applications.  A new POWER ...

WorldWide Web: Hypertext from CERN.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nickerson, Gord

1992-01-01

Discussion of software tools for accessing information on the Internet focuses on the WorldWideWeb (WWW) system, which was developed at the European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN) in Switzerland to build a worldwide network of hypertext links using available networking technology. Its potential for use with multimedia documents is also…

Targeting Antibiotic Resistance

PubMed Central

Chellat, Mathieu F.; Raguž, Luka

2016-01-01

Abstract Finding strategies against the development of antibiotic resistance is a major global challenge for the life sciences community and for public health. The past decades have seen a dramatic worldwide increase in human‐pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to one or multiple antibiotics. More and more infections caused by resistant microorganisms fail to respond to conventional treatment, and in some cases, even last‐resort antibiotics have lost their power. In addition, industry pipelines for the development of novel antibiotics have run dry over the past decades. A recent world health day by the World Health Organization titled “Combat drug resistance: no action today means no cure tomorrow” triggered an increase in research activity, and several promising strategies have been developed to restore treatment options against infections by resistant bacterial pathogens. PMID:27000559

Material review of Li ion battery separators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Christoph J.; Geiger, Sigrid; Falusi, Sandra; Roth, Michael

2014-06-01

Separators for Li Ion batteries have a strong impact on cell production, cell performance, life, as well as reliability and safety. The separator market volume is about 500 million m2 mainly based on consumer applications. It is expected to grow strongly over the next decade for mobile and stationary applications using large cells. At present, the market is essentially served by polyolefine membranes. Such membranes have some technological limitations, such as wettability, porosity, penetration resistance, shrinkage and meltdown. The development of a cell failure due to internal short circuit is potentially closely related to separator material properties. Consequently, advanced separators became an intense area of worldwide research and development activity in academia and industry. New separator technologies are being developed especially to address safety and reliability related property improvements.

Interview: Interview with Brad Gray for Personalized Medicine.

PubMed

Gray, Brad

2011-05-01

On 29 June 2010 Brad Gray became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the privately held life sciences company NanoString Technologies, WA, USA. Previously the Vice President of Product and Business Development at Genzyme Genetics, the diagnostic services division of Genzyme Corporation, Brad was in charge of developing molecular diagnostics and partnering activities. In December 2010, NanoString announced its securing of an exclusive worldwide license to develop in vitro diagnostic and research products for breast cancer intrinsic subtyping with the PAM50 gene signature. Brad Gray received a BA in Economics and Management from Oxford University, where he studied as a British Marshall Scholar, and an SB in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brad was also a management consultant in the healthcare practice of McKinsey & Company.

The IAU Office of Astronomy Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mauduit, Jean-Christophe; Govender, K.

2014-01-01

The International Astronomical Union (IAU), the largest body of professional astronomers in the world, has set up the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) in partnership with the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). The OAD is located at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town. Its mission is to realise the IAU's Strategic Plan, which aims to use astronomy as a tool for development. It focuses on the following three main areas: "Universities and Research", "Children and Schools" and "Public Outreach". Eighteen projects worldwide have been funded for 2013 and are currently under way. More will be starting in 2014. The OAD is also setting up regional nodes and language expertise centres around the world. This presentation will describe the ongoing activities of the OAD and plans for the future.

The International Year of Light 2015 and its impact on educational activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curticapean, Dan; Vauderwange, Oliver; Wozniak, Peter; Mandal, Avikarsha

2016-09-01

The International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies 2015 (IYL 2015) was celebrated around the world. Worldwide activities were organized to highlight the impact of optics and photonics on life, science, economics, arts and culture, and also in education. With most of our activities at Offenburg University of Applied Sciences (Offenburg/Germany), we reached our own students and the general population of our region: - University for Children: "The Magic of Light" winter lecture program and "Across the Universe with Relativity and Quantum Theory" summer lecture program - "Students Meet Scientists" - "A Century of General Relativity Theory" lecture program Nevertheless, with some of our activities we also engaged a worldwide audience: - IYL 2015 art poster collection (Magic of Light and No Football, Just Photonics) - Smart Interactive Projection - Twitter Wall - "Invisible Light" - Live broadcasting of the total lunar eclipse - Film Festival Merida Mexico The authors will highlight recent activities at our university dedicated to promote, celebrate, and create a legacy for the IYL 2015.

Overweight and Obesity Epidemic in Developing Countries: A Problem with Diet, Physical Activity, or Socioeconomic Status?

PubMed Central

Bhurosy, Trishnee; Jeewon, Rajesh

2014-01-01

Obesity is a significant public health concern affecting more than half a billion people worldwide. Obesity rise is not only limited to developed countries, but to developing nations as well. This paper aims to compare the mean body mass index trends in the World Health Organisation- (WHO-) categorised regions since 1980 to 2008 and secondly to appraise how socioeconomic disparities can lead to differences in obesity and physical activity level across developing nations. Taking into account past and current BMI trends, it is anticipated that obesity will continue to take a significant ascent, as observed by the sharp increase from 1999 to 2008. Gender differences in BMI will continue to be as apparent, that is, women showing a higher BMI trend than men. In the coming years, the maximum mean BMI in more developed countries might be exceeded by those in less developed ones. Rather than focusing on obesity at the individual level, the immediate environment of the obese individual to broader socioeconomic contexts should be targeted. Most importantly, incentives at several organisational levels, the media, and educational institutions along with changes in food policies will need to be provided to low-income populations. PMID:25379554

Overweight and obesity epidemic in developing countries: a problem with diet, physical activity, or socioeconomic status?

PubMed

Bhurosy, Trishnee; Jeewon, Rajesh

2014-01-01

Obesity is a significant public health concern affecting more than half a billion people worldwide. Obesity rise is not only limited to developed countries, but to developing nations as well. This paper aims to compare the mean body mass index trends in the World Health Organisation- (WHO-) categorised regions since 1980 to 2008 and secondly to appraise how socioeconomic disparities can lead to differences in obesity and physical activity level across developing nations. Taking into account past and current BMI trends, it is anticipated that obesity will continue to take a significant ascent, as observed by the sharp increase from 1999 to 2008. Gender differences in BMI will continue to be as apparent, that is, women showing a higher BMI trend than men. In the coming years, the maximum mean BMI in more developed countries might be exceeded by those in less developed ones. Rather than focusing on obesity at the individual level, the immediate environment of the obese individual to broader socioeconomic contexts should be targeted. Most importantly, incentives at several organisational levels, the media, and educational institutions along with changes in food policies will need to be provided to low-income populations.

Reflections on a boom: Perceptions of energy development impacts in the Bakken oil patch inform environmental science & policy priorities.

PubMed

McGranahan, Devan Allen; Fernando, Felix N; Kirkwood, Meghan L E

2017-12-01

Ecosystems worldwide have been subject to new or intensified energy development facilitated by technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, activity that has generated concern for air, water, biotic, and social resources. Application of these technologies in the development of the Bakken oil patch has made it one of the most productive petroleum plays in North America, causing unprecedented landscape industrialization of otherwise rural, agricultural counties in western North Dakota. The region is isolated, and development impacts have not been well-studied. To identify concerns of citizens of the Bakken and determine how research and policy might support them, we conducted a two-part study: First, we held focus groups with resource management and community leaders in three major oil-producing counties. Second, we used an outline of the major concerns expressed by focus group members as a survey for landowners and farm/ranch operators. We found little relationship between survey respondents' reported categorization of energy impacts and actual land area impacted, suggesting factors such as attitude towards development, degree of compensation, and level of disturbance are relevant. Landowners agreed with focus groups on the nature of relationships between energy companies and locals and development impacts on infrastructure and communities; those reporting greater impacts tended to agree more strongly. But many specific problems described in focus groups were not widely reported in the survey, suggesting energy-community relationships can be improved through state-level public policy and respect from energy companies for locals and their way of life. Consideration of these concerns in future energy policy-both in the Bakken and worldwide-could reduce social tension, lessen environmental impact, and increase overall social, economic, and environmental efficiency in energy development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of a Bio-Equivalent Ultraviolet Dosimeter to Monitor the Capacity for Vitamin D Synthesis of Sunlight Final Report CRADA No. TC02086.0

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, C. F.; Wood, D.

This project represents a collaborative effort between Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC as manager and operator of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Rhyolite Technology Group, Inc. (Rhyolite) to develop concepts and designs for a consumer ultraviolet (UV) biodosimeter based on the human biochemistry of Vitamin D synthesis. Rhyolite was established to engage in product development, licensing and consulting for the manufacture and supply of new products worldwide. Rhyolite worked jointly with LLNL and the Kiev Institute of Physics (KIP) in Ukraine to leverage previously developed UV sensor technologies by extending the previous work into commercially viable products. The projectmore » consisted primarily of the scientific, engineering and business activities needed to develop the UV bio-dosimeter for applications that include health and industrial measurement of ultraviolet radiation.« less

The Role of Participatory Design in Mobile Application Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamzah, Almed

2018-03-01

Mobile devices are used by people worldwide. It becomes a common equipment to complete a day-to-day activity. Inside the devices, there are numerous mobile applications that have been built for various needs. Some of these are quite successful while the other are not. The development of successful mobile application faces several challenges. In this research, we want to explore the use of participatory design method in mobile application development. Particularly, the aim of the study is to answer the question whether participatory design method has a place in the realm of mobile application development. We established two sessions of workshop to accommodate the participant to take part in the development process of mobile application. The result shows that participatory design method can determine how the user will deal with the limitations of mobile devices. It helps user to create a particular form of interaction that meets mobile devices characteristics.

Recent developments in trans-sialidase inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi.

PubMed

Kashif, Muhammad; Moreno-Herrera, Antonio; Lara-Ramirez, Edgar E; Ramírez-Moreno, Esther; Bocanegra-García, Virgilio; Ashfaq, Muhammad; Rivera, Gildardo

2017-07-01

Chagas is a lethal chronic disease that currently affects 8-10 million people worldwide, primarily in South and Central America. Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidase is an enzyme that is of vital importance for the survival of the parasite due to its key role in the transfer of sialic acid from the host to the parasite surface and it also helps the parasite combat the host's immune system. This enzyme has no equivalent human enzyme; thus, it has become an interesting target for the development of inhibitors that combat the parasite. In this review, we summarize three classes of inhibitors (acceptor, donor and unrelated) with their inhibition values and their mode of action against this enzyme. Based on molecular docking, molecular dynamics and structure-activity relationship studies, it has been discovered that the molecules with -NH 2 , -OH and -COOH groups on an aromatic ring could be used as a scaffold for the development of new and potent trans-sialidase inhibitors due to their key interaction with active enzyme sites. In particular, carboxylic acid derivatives have importance over the sugar moiety due to their ease of synthesis and unique structure-activity relationship.

Reduced Cortical Activity Impairs Development and Plasticity after Neonatal Hypoxia Ischemia

PubMed Central

Ranasinghe, Sumudu; Or, Grace; Wang, Eric Y.; Ievins, Aiva; McLean, Merritt A.; Niell, Cristopher M.; Chau, Vann; Wong, Peter K. H.; Glass, Hannah C.; Sullivan, Joseph

2015-01-01

Survivors of preterm birth are at high risk of pervasive cognitive and learning impairments, suggesting disrupted early brain development. The limits of viability for preterm birth encompass the third trimester of pregnancy, a “precritical period” of activity-dependent development characterized by the onset of spontaneous and evoked patterned electrical activity that drives neuronal maturation and formation of cortical circuits. Reduced background activity on electroencephalogram (EEG) is a sensitive marker of brain injury in human preterm infants that predicts poor neurodevelopmental outcome. We studied a rodent model of very early hypoxic–ischemic brain injury to investigate effects of injury on both general background and specific patterns of cortical activity measured with EEG. EEG background activity is depressed transiently after moderate hypoxia–ischemia with associated loss of spindle bursts. Depressed activity, in turn, is associated with delayed expression of glutamate receptor subunits and transporters. Cortical pyramidal neurons show reduced dendrite development and spine formation. Complementing previous observations in this model of impaired visual cortical plasticity, we find reduced somatosensory whisker barrel plasticity. Finally, EEG recordings from human premature newborns with brain injury demonstrate similar depressed background activity and loss of bursts in the spindle frequency band. Together, these findings suggest that abnormal development after early brain injury may result in part from disruption of specific forms of brain activity necessary for activity-dependent circuit development. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Preterm birth and term birth asphyxia result in brain injury from inadequate oxygen delivery and constitute a major and growing worldwide health problem. Poor outcomes are noted in a majority of very premature (<25 weeks gestation) newborns, resulting in death or life-long morbidity with motor, sensory, learning, behavioral, and language disabilities that limit academic achievement and well-being. Limited progress has been made to develop therapies that improve neurologic outcomes. The overall objective of this study is to understand the effect of early brain injury on activity-dependent brain development and cortical plasticity to develop new treatments that will optimize repair and recovery after brain injury. PMID:26311776

A review of the global relationship among freshwater fish, autotrophic activity, and regional climate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Deines, Andrew M.; Bunnell, David B.; Rogers, Mark W.; Beard, T. Douglas; Taylor, William W.

2015-01-01

The relationship between autotrophic activity and freshwater fish populations is an important consideration for ecologists describing trophic structure in aquatic communities, fisheries managers tasked with increasing sustainable fisheries development, and fish farmers seeking to maximize production. Previous studies of the empirical relationships of autotrophic activity and freshwater fish yield have found positive relationships but were limited by small sample sizes, small geographic scopes, and the inability to compare patterns among many types of measurement techniques. Individual studies and reviews have also lacked consistent consideration of regional climate factors which may inform relationships between fisheries and autotrophic activity. We compiled data from over 700 freshwater systems worldwide and used meta-analysis and linear models to develop a comprehensive global synthesis between multiple metrics of autotrophic activity, fisheries, and climate indicators. Our results demonstrate that multiple metrics of fish (i.e., catch per unit effort, yield, and production) increase with autotrophic activity across a variety of fisheries. At the global scale additional variation in this positive relationship can be ascribed to regional climate differences (i.e., temperature and precipitation) across systems. Our results provide a method and proof-of-concept for assessing inland fisheries production at the global scale, where current estimates are highly uncertain, and may therefore inform the continued sustainable use of global inland fishery resources.

The forensic anthropology legacy of T. Dale Stewart (1901-1997).

PubMed

Ubelaker, D H

2000-03-01

T. Dale Stewart (1901-1997) began his Smithsonian career as a temporary aide to Ales Hrdlicka (1869-1943) in 1924. At the time of his death in 1997, he was regarded world-wide as an authority who led the professional development of American forensic anthropology. He was a prodigious researcher, best known for his meticulous attention to detail, balanced scientific judgment, keen sense of research design, and ability for synthesis. Stewart's publications, extensive casework for the FBI and others, his court testimony, publications, professional contacts, and organizational activity merit him a prominent place in the history of American forensic anthropology.

WHO Expert Committee on specifications for pharmaceutical preparations.

PubMed

2010-01-01

The Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations works towards clear, independent and practical standards and guidelines for the quality assurance of medicines. Standards are developed by the Committee through worldwide consultation and an international consensus-building process. The following new guidelines were adopted and recommended for use: good practices for pharmaceutical quality control laboratories; supplementary guidelines for active pharmaceutical ingredients; good manufacturing practices for pharmaceutical products containing hazardous substances; good manufacturing practices for sterile pharmaceutical products; good distribution practices for pharmaceutical products; guidelines on the requalification of prequalified dossiers: and guidelines for the preparation of a contract research organization master file.

Connection Analysis of Different Modes in Multimodal Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Zhi; Lu, Ya Ya; Liu, Xing Hua; Jiang, Ying; Zhang, Yan Zhou

2018-06-01

As the most advanced way of transport organization, container multimodal transport provides high quality and efficient systematic logistics transportation services in a wide range of freight transport activities. So it has been widely promoted worldwide. China is in a period of sustained and rapid economic development, which needs greater support from logistics, while the rationalization of multimodal transport enables the best transport area of each transportation mode to be reflected. This paper makes an analysis of the connection between united transportation of railway and highway, rail and water transport and untied transportation of highway and water.

[New oral anticoagulant drugs].

PubMed

Berkovits, Alejandro; Aizman, Andrés; Zúñiga, Pamela; Pereira, Jaime; Mezzano, Diego

2011-10-01

Thromboembolic disease (TED) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The hallmark of oral long-term anticoagulant therapy has been the use of vitamin K antagonists, whose anticoagulant effect is exerted inhibiting vitamin K epoxide reductase. Warfarin and acenocoumarol are the most commonly used. In the last five years several new drugs for long term anticoagulation have been developed, which can inhibit single clotting factors with the purpose of improving drug therapeutic range and, ideally, minimizing bleeding risks. This review addresses the state of the art on the clinical use of inhibitors of activated factor X and thrombin.

Transitioning Roles of Post-Secondary Education and Community Colleges Worldwide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiseman, Alexander W.; Chase-Mayoral, Audree

2013-01-01

This special issue of Research in Comparative and International Education investigates the spread and development of two-year and community college institutions worldwide. While not all post-secondary education falls within the scope or definition of community colleges, both post-secondary and community college education tend to serve the needs of…

World-Wide Web: Adding Multimedia to Cyberspace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Descy, Don E.

1994-01-01

Describes the World-Wide Web (WWW), a network information resource based on hypertext. How to access WWW browsers through remote login (telnet) or though free browser software, such as Mosaic, is provided. Eight information sources that can be accessed through the WWW are listed. The address of a listserv reporting on Internet developments is…

Population-specific documentation of pharmacogenomic markers and their allelic frequencies in FINDbase.

PubMed

Georgitsi, Marianthi; Viennas, Emmanouil; Gkantouna, Vassiliki; Christodoulopoulou, Elena; Zagoriti, Zoi; Tafrali, Christina; Ntellos, Fotios; Giannakopoulou, Olga; Boulakou, Athanassia; Vlahopoulou, Panagiota; Kyriacou, Eva; Tsaknakis, John; Tsakalidis, Athanassios; Poulas, Konstantinos; Tzimas, Giannis; Patrinos, George P

2011-01-01

Population and ethnic group-specific allele frequencies of pharmacogenomic markers are poorly documented and not systematically collected in structured data repositories. We developed the Frequency of Inherited Disorders Pharmacogenomics database (FINDbase-PGx), a separate module of the FINDbase, aiming to systematically document pharmacogenomic allele frequencies in various populations and ethnic groups worldwide. We critically collected and curated 214 scientific articles reporting pharmacogenomic markers allele frequencies in various populations and ethnic groups worldwide. Subsequently, in order to host the curated data, support data visualization and data mining, we developed a website application, utilizing Microsoft™ PivotViewer software. Curated allelic frequency data pertaining to 144 pharmacogenomic markers across 14 genes, representing approximately 87,000 individuals from 150 populations worldwide, are currently included in FINDbase-PGx. A user-friendly query interface allows for easy data querying, based on numerous content criteria, such as population, ethnic group, geographical region, gene, drug and rare allele frequency. FINDbase-PGx is a comprehensive database, which, unlike other pharmacogenomic knowledgebases, fulfills the much needed requirement to systematically document pharmacogenomic allelic frequencies in various populations and ethnic groups worldwide.

Space industrialization. Volume 3: World and domestic implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The status of worldwide space industralization activities is assessed as well as the benefits to be anticipated from enhanced activities. Methods for stimulating space industralization growth are discussed with emphasis on foreign and international activities, national and world impact assessments, industry/government interfaces, legal implications, institutional implications, economics and capitalization, and implementation issues and recommendations.

Electronic theses and dissertations: a review of this valuable resource for nurse scholars worldwide.

PubMed

Goodfellow, L M

2009-06-01

A worldwide repository of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) could provide worldwide access to the most up-to-date research generated by masters and doctoral students. Until that international repository is established, it is possible to access some of these valuable knowledge resources. ETDs provide a technologically advanced medium with endless multimedia capabilities that far exceed the print and bound copies of theses and dissertations housed traditionally in individual university libraries. CURRENT USE: A growing trend exists for universities worldwide to require graduate students to submit theses or dissertations as electronic documents. However, nurse scholars underutilize ETDs, as evidenced by perusing bibliographic citation lists in many of the research journals. ETDs can be searched for and retrieved through several digital resources such as the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (http://www.ndltd.org), ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (http://www.umi.com), the Australasian Digital Theses Program (http://adt.caul.edu.au/) and through individual university web sites and online catalogues. An international repository of ETDs benefits the community of nurse scholars in many ways. The ability to access recent graduate students' research electronically from anywhere in the world is advantageous. For scholars residing in developing countries, access to these ETDs may prove to be even more valuable. In some cases, ETDs are not available for worldwide access and can only be accessed through the university library from which the student graduated. Public access to university library ETD collections is not always permitted. Nurse scholars from both developing and developed countries could benefit from ETDs.

Reaching Out to Developing Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDowell, Stirling

1984-01-01

Some Canadian teachers play a special role in developing the teaching profession internationally. They participate in helping teachers in developing countries and promoting understanding worldwide. (MD)

Comparative in vitro activity of a pharmacokinetically enhanced oral formulation of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (2000/125 mg twice daily) against 9172 respiratory isolates collected worldwide in 2000.

PubMed

Koeth, Laura M; Jacobs, Michael R; Good, Caryn E; Bajaksouzian, Saralee; Windau, Anne; Jakielaszek, Charles; Saunders, Kay A

2004-11-01

A new, pharmacokinetically enhanced, oral formulation of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid has been developed to overcome resistance in the major bacterial respiratory pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae, while maintaining excellent activity against Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis, including beta-lactamase producing strains. This study was conducted to provide in vitro susceptibility data for amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and 16 comparator agents against the key respiratory tract pathogens. Susceptibility testing was performed on 9172 isolates collected from 95 centers in North America, Europe, Australia, and Hong Kong by broth microdilution MIC determination, according to NCCLS methods, using amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and 16 comparator antimicrobial agents. Results were interpreted according to NCCLS breakpoints and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) breakpoints based on oral dosing regimens. Overall, 93.5% of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were susceptible to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid at the current susceptible breakpoint of < or =2 microg/mL and 97.3% at the PK/PD susceptible breakpoint of < or =4 microg/mL for the extended release formulation. Proportions of isolates that were penicillin intermediate and resistant were 13% and 16.5%, respectively, while 25% were macrolide resistant and 21.8% trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole resistant. 21.9% of Haemophilus influenzae were beta-lactamase producers and 16.8% trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole resistant, >99% of isolates were susceptible to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefixime, ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin at NCCLS breakpoints. The most active agents against Moraxella catarrhalis were amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, macrolides, cefixime, fluoroquinolones, and doxycycline. Overall, 13% of Streptococcus pyogenes were resistant to macrolides. The extended release formulation of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid has potential for empiric use against many respiratory tract infections worldwide due to its activity against species resistant to many agents currently in use.

Foreshock occurrence rates before large earthquakes worldwide

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reasenberg, P.A.

1999-01-01

Global rates of foreshock occurrence involving shallow M ??? 6 and M ??? 7 mainshocks and M ??? 5 foreshocks were measured, using earthquakes listed in the Harvard CMT catalog for the period 1978-1996. These rates are similar to rates ones measured in previous worldwide and regional studies when they are normalized for the ranges of magnitude difference they each span. The observed worldwide rates were compared to a generic model of earthquake clustering, which is based on patterns of small and moderate aftershocks in California, and were found to exceed the California model by a factor of approximately 2. Significant differences in foreshock rate were found among subsets of earthquakes defined by their focal mechanism and tectonic region, with the rate before thrust events higher and the rate before strike-slip events lower than the worldwide average. Among the thrust events a large majority, composed of events located in shallow subduction zones, registered a high foreshock rate, while a minority, located in continental thrust belts, measured a low rate. These differences may explain why previous surveys have revealed low foreshock rates among thrust events in California (especially southern California), while the worldwide observations suggest the opposite: California, lacking an active subduction zone in most of its territory, and including a region of mountain-building thrusts in the south, reflects the low rate apparently typical for continental thrusts, while the worldwide observations, dominated by shallow subduction zone events, are foreshock-rich.

Clinical Advancements in the Targeted Therapies against Liver Fibrosis

PubMed Central

Nagórniewicz, Beata; Prakash, Jai

2016-01-01

Hepatic fibrosis, characterized by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins leading to liver dysfunction, is a growing cause of mortality worldwide. Hepatocellular damage owing to liver injury leads to the release of profibrotic factors from infiltrating inflammatory cells that results in the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Upon activation, HSCs undergo characteristic morphological and functional changes and are transformed into proliferative and contractile ECM-producing myofibroblasts. Over recent years, a number of therapeutic strategies have been developed to inhibit hepatocyte apoptosis, inflammatory responses, and HSCs proliferation and activation. Preclinical studies have yielded numerous targets for the development of antifibrotic therapies, some of which have entered clinical trials and showed improved therapeutic efficacy and desirable safety profiles. Furthermore, advancements have been made in the development of noninvasive markers and techniques for the accurate disease assessment and therapy responses. Here, we focus on the clinical developments attained in the field of targeted antifibrotics for the treatment of liver fibrosis, for example, small molecule drugs, antibodies, and targeted drug conjugate. We further briefly highlight different noninvasive diagnostic technologies and will provide an overview about different therapeutic targets, clinical trials, endpoints, and translational efforts that have been made to halt or reverse the progression of liver fibrosis. PMID:27999454

Bibliometric analysis of worldwide publications on multi-, extensively, and totally drug - resistant tuberculosis (2006-2015).

PubMed

Sweileh, Waleed M; AbuTaha, Adham S; Sawalha, Ansam F; Al-Khalil, Suleiman; Al-Jabi, Samah W; Zyoud, Sa'ed H

2016-01-01

The year 2015 marked the end of United Nations Millennium Development Goals which was aimed at halting and reversing worldwide tuberculosis (TB). The emergence of drug resistance is a major challenge for worldwide TB control. The aim of this study was to give a bibliometric overview of publications on multi-, extensively, and totally drug-resistant TB. Scopus database was used to retrieve articles on multidrug resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and totally drug-resistant (TDR) tuberculosis for the study period (2006-2015). The number of publications, top productive countries and institutions, citation analysis, co-authorships, international collaboration, active authors, and active journals were retrieved and analyzed. A total of 2260 journal articles were retrieved. The mean ± SD citations per article was 7.04 ± 16.0. The h -index of retrieved data was 76. The number of publications showed a three - fold increase over the study period compared with less than two - fold increase in tuberculosis research during the same study period. Stratified by number of publications, the United States of America ranked first while Switzerland ranked first in productivity per 100 million people, and South Africa ranked first in productivity stratified per one trillion Gross Domestic Product. Three of the High Burden Countries (HBC) MDR-TB (India, China, and South Africa) were present in top productive countries. High percentage of international collaboration was seen among most HBC MDR-TB. Except for Plos One journal, most active journals in publishing articles on MDR, XDR, TDR-TB were in infection - related fields and in general medicine. Top 20 cited articles were published in prestigious journal such as Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine . The themes in top 20 cited articles were diverse, ranging from molecular biology, diagnostic tools, co-infection with HIV, and results of new anti-TB drugs. Publications on MDR, XDR and TDR - TB are increasing in the past decade. International collaboration was common. Many low resourced African and Asian countries will benefit from research leading to new diagnostic and screening technology of TB. The exchange of expertise, ideas and technology is of paramount importance in this field.

Multilocus microsatellite analysis of 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' associated with citrus Huanglongbing worldwide.

PubMed

Islam, Md-Sajedul; Glynn, Jonathan M; Bai, Yang; Duan, Yong-Ping; Coletta-Filho, Helvecio D; Kuruba, Gopal; Civerolo, Edwin L; Lin, Hong

2012-03-20

Huanglongbing (HLB) is one of the most destructive citrus diseases in the world. The disease is associated with the presence of a fastidious, phloem-limited α- proteobacterium, 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus', 'Ca. Liberibacter africanus' or 'Ca. Liberibacter americanus'. HLB-associated Liberibacters have spread to North America and South America in recent years. While the causal agents of HLB have been putatively identified, information regarding the worldwide population structure and epidemiological relationships for 'Ca. L. asiaticus' is limited. The availability of the 'Ca. L. asiaticus' genome sequence has facilitated development of molecular markers from this bacterium. The objectives of this study were to develop microsatellite markers and conduct genetic analyses of 'Ca. L. asiaticus' from a worldwide collection. Two hundred eighty seven isolates from USA (Florida), Brazil, China, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, and Japan were analyzed. A panel of seven polymorphic microsatellite markers was developed for 'Ca. L. asiaticus'. Microsatellite analyses across the samples showed that the genetic diversity of 'Ca. L. asiaticus' is higher in Asia than Americas. UPGMA and STRUCTURE analyses identified three major genetic groups worldwide. Isolates from India were genetically distinct. East-southeast Asian and Brazilian isolates were generally included in the same group; a few members of this group were found in Florida, but the majority of the isolates from Florida were clustered separately. eBURST analysis predicted three founder haplotypes, which may have given rise to three groups worldwide. Our results identified three major genetic groups of 'Ca. L. asiaticus' worldwide. Isolates from Brazil showed similar genetic makeup with east-southeast Asian dominant group, suggesting the possibility of a common origin. However, most of the isolates recovered from Florida were clustered in a separate group. While the sources of the dominant 'Ca. L. asiaticus' in Florida were not clearly understood, the less-pervasive groups may have been introduced directly from Asia or via Brazil. Notably, the recent outbreak of HLB in Florida probably occurred through multiple introductions. Microsatellite markers developed in this study provide adequate discriminatory power for the identification and differentiation of closely-related isolates, as well as for genetic studies of 'Ca. L. asiaticus'.

Bonus Activity Book.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Learning, 1993

1993-01-01

Elementary level activity book presents suggestions for teaching students about endangered and threatened species worldwide. Students learn about what is causing the rapid extinction rate and what needs to be done. They also discover the value of rainforests and why conservationists are fighting to save them. (SM)

Peer-review Platform for Astronomy Education Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heenatigala, Thilina; Russo, Pedro; Gomez, Edward; Strubbe, Linda

2015-08-01

Astronomy educators and teachers worldwide commonly request and search for high-quality astronomy activities to do with their students. Hundreds of astronomy education activities exist, as well as many resource repositories to find them. However, the quality of such resources is highly variable as they are not updated regularly or limited with content review. Since its launch in 2013, astroEDU has been addressing these issues and more by following a peer-review process. Each activity submitted is reviewed by an educator and a professional astronomer, balancing both the scientific and educational value of the content. Moreover, the majority of the reviewers are invited from IAU commissions related to the field of the activity, as an effort to get IAU members actively involved in the project. The website code, activities and layout design are open-access in order to make them accessible and adoptable for educators around the world. Furthermore the platform harnesses the OAD volunteer database to develop existing astronomy education activities into the astroEDU activity format. Published activities are also pushed to partner repositories and each activity is registered for DOI, allowing authors to cite their work. To further test the activities and improve the platform, astroEDU editorial team organises workshops.

Impact on the world poultry industry of the global shift to biofuels.

PubMed

Aho, P

2007-11-01

The shift to biofuels is a worldwide phenomenon, but the most notable recent development has been the rapid increase in the production of ethanol in the United States. Ethanol production in the United States enjoys a substantial subsidy, tariff protection, and mandated use. The consequence of increasing biofuels production is to raise the cost of feed and food worldwide. Those that suffer from this policy include all consumers of food, most notably the urban poor of developing countries. Those that benefit from the policy are farmers everywhere, including farmers in developing countries.

Global initiative of the special olympics movement for people with intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Myśliwiec, Andrzej; Damentko, Mariusz

2015-03-29

The mission of the Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and competition in a variety (33) of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in sharing of gifts and friendship with their families, other athletes, and their communities. The Special Olympics movement often goes beyond the sports competition formula. During the last few years, the movement has developed many new global initiatives, which expand its former sports activities. They include: Coaching excellence and the coaching modelPartnerships with international (regional) sports federationsSports Resources Teams (SRT)Extended quota for high level athletesAthletes Leadership Program (ALPS)Young Athletes ProgramYouth volunteer initiativesUnified Sports ProgramMotor Activity Training ProgramHealthy Athletes Program These initiatives fulfill and expand the existing program, which was launched in 1968 and is the largest sports organization for people with disabilities worldwide, with very important new social, marketing, and developmental aspects of life, going far beyond activities met in other sports organizations.

Chitosan-zinc oxide nanocomposite coatings for the prevention of marine biofouling.

PubMed

Al-Naamani, Laila; Dobretsov, Sergey; Dutta, Joydeep; Burgess, J Grant

2017-02-01

Marine biofouling is a worldwide problem affecting maritime industries. Global concerns about the high toxicity of antifouling paints have highlighted the need to develop less toxic antifouling coatings. Chitosan is a natural polymer with antimicrobial, antifungal and antialgal properties that is obtained from partial deacetylation of crustacean waste. In the present study, nanocomposite chitosan-zinc oxide (chitosan-ZnO) nanoparticle hybrid coatings were developed and their antifouling activity was tested. Chitosan-ZnO nanoparticle coatings showed anti-diatom activity against Navicula sp. and antibacterial activity against the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas nigrifaciens. Additional antifouling properties of the coatings were investigated in a mesocosm study using tanks containing natural sea water under controlled laboratory conditions. Each week for four weeks, biofilm was removed and analysed by flow cytometry to estimate total bacterial densities on the coated substrates. Chitosan-ZnO hybrid coatings led to better inhibition of bacterial growth in comparison to chitosan coatings alone, as determined by flow cytometry. This study demonstrates the antifouling potential of chitosan-ZnO nanocomposite hybrid coatings, which can be used for the prevention of biofouling. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global Initiative of the Special Olympics Movement for People with Intellectual Disabilities

PubMed Central

Myśliwiec, Andrzej; Damentko, Mariusz

2015-01-01

The mission of the Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and competition in a variety (33) of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in sharing of gifts and friendship with their families, other athletes, and their communities. The Special Olympics movement often goes beyond the sports competition formula. During the last few years, the movement has developed many new global initiatives, which expand its former sports activities. They include: Coaching excellence and the coaching modelPartnerships with international (regional) sports federationsSports Resources Teams (SRT)Extended quota for high level athletesAthletes Leadership Program (ALPS)Young Athletes ProgramYouth volunteer initiativesUnified Sports ProgramMotor Activity Training ProgramHealthy Athletes Program These initiatives fulfill and expand the existing program, which was launched in 1968 and is the largest sports organization for people with disabilities worldwide, with very important new social, marketing, and developmental aspects of life, going far beyond activities met in other sports organizations. PMID:25964828

Importance of iodine in pregnancy.

PubMed

Carreto-Molina, Nicolás; García-Solís, Pablo; Solís-S, Juan Carlos; Robles-Osorio, Ludivina; Hernández-Montiel, Hebert Luis; Vega-Malagón, Genaro

2012-09-01

Iodine is an essential constituent of thyroid hormones (TH). TH actively take part in critical periods of brain development during embryonic, fetal and postnatal stages. Therefore the absence of TH or iodine in these critical periods produces an irreversible brain damage. In fact, it is known that iodine deficiency is the leading cause of preventable brain damage worldwide. Because of the physiological adjustments during pregnancy iodine requirements increase significantly from 150 microg per day in non-pregnant adult women to 250 microg per day. Moreover, recent epidemiological studies around the world show that iodine intake during pregnancy is insufficient in many countries, even in developed countries like Australia, Spain and Italy. In the present work an overview of the importance of iodine nutrition during pregnancy is given.

Advances in the development of remote sensing technology for agricultural applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Powers, J. E.; Erb, R. B.; Hall, F. G.; Macdonald, R. B.

1979-01-01

The application of remote sensing technology to crop forecasting is discussed. The importance of crop forecasts to the world economy and agricultural management is explained, and the development of aerial and spaceborne remote sensing for global crop forecasting by the United States is outlined. The structure, goals and technical aspects of the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) are presented, and main findings on the accuracy, efficiency, applicability and areas for further study of the LACIE procedure are reviewed. The current status of NASA crop forecasting activities in the United States and worldwide is discussed, and the objectives and organization of the newly created Agriculture and Resources Inventory Surveys through Aerospace Remote Sensing (AgRISTARS) program are presented.

A Review: Phytochemicals Targeting JAK/STAT Signaling and IDO Expression in Cancer.

PubMed

Arumuggam, Niroshaathevi; Bhowmick, Neil A; Rupasinghe, H P Vasantha

2015-06-01

Cancer remains a major health problem worldwide. Among many other factors, two regulatory defects that are present in most cancer cells are constitutive activation of Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling pathway and the induction of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme that catalyzes tryptophan degradation, through JAK/STAT signaling. Cytokine signaling activates STAT proteins in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival through modulation of target genes. Many phytochemicals can inhibit both JAK/STAT signaling and IDO expression in antigen-presenting cells by targeting different pathways. Some of the promising phytochemicals that are discussed in this review include resveratrol, cucurbitacin, curcumin, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate, and others. It is now evident that phytochemicals play key roles in inhibition of tumor proliferation and development and provide novel means for therapeutic targeting of cancer. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Bibliometric analysis of nutrition and dietetics research activity in Arab countries using ISI Web of Science database.

PubMed

Sweileh, Waleed M; Al-Jabi, Samah W; Sawalha, Ansam F; Zyoud, Sa'ed H

2014-01-01

Reducing nutrition-related health problems in Arab countries requires an understanding of the performance of Arab countries in the field of nutrition and dietetics research. Assessment of research activity from a particular country or region could be achieved through bibliometric analysis. This study was carried out to investigate research activity in "nutrition and dietetics" in Arab countries. Original and review articles published from Arab countries in "nutrition and dietetics" Web of Science category up until 2012 were retrieved and analyzed using the ISI Web of Science database. The total number of documents published in "nutrition and dietetics" category from Arab countries was 2062. This constitutes 1% of worldwide research activity in the field. Annual research productivity showed a significant increase after 2005. Approximately 60% of published documents originated from three Arab countries, particularly Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. However, Kuwait has the highest research productivity per million inhabitants. Main research areas of published documents were in "Food Science/Technology" and "Chemistry" which constituted 75% of published documents compared with 25% for worldwide documents in nutrition and dietetics. A total of 329 (15.96%) nutrition - related diabetes or obesity or cancer documents were published from Arab countries compared with 21% for worldwide published documents. Interest in nutrition and dietetics research is relatively recent in Arab countries. Focus of nutrition research is mainly toward food technology and chemistry with lesser activity toward nutrition-related health research. International cooperation in nutrition research will definitely help Arab researchers in implementing nutrition research that will lead to better national policies regarding nutrition.

Large-scale physical activity data reveal worldwide activity inequality

PubMed Central

Althoff, Tim; Sosič, Rok; Hicks, Jennifer L.; King, Abby C.; Delp, Scott L.; Leskovec, Jure

2018-01-01

Understanding the basic principles that govern physical activity is needed to curb the global pandemic of physical inactivity1–7 and the 5.3 million deaths per year associated with in-activity2. Our knowledge, however, remains limited owing to the lack of large-scale measurements of physical activity patterns across free-living populations worldwide1, 6. Here, we leverage the wide usage of smartphones with built-in accelerometry to measure physical activity at planetary scale. We study a dataset consisting of 68 million days of physical activity for 717,527 people, giving us a window into activity in 111 countries across the globe. We find inequality in how activity is distributed within countries and that this inequality is a better predictor of obesity prevalence in the population than average activity volume. Reduced activity in females contributes to a large portion of the observed activity inequality. Aspects of the built environment, such as the walkability of a city, were associated with less gender gap in activity and activity inequality. In more walkable cities, activity is greater throughout the day and throughout the week, across age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) groups, with the greatest increases in activity for females. Our findings have implications for global public health policy and urban planning and highlight the role of activity inequality and the built environment for improving physical activity and health. PMID:28693034

Distribution trend of high-rise buildings worldwide and factor exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Shao-Qiao

2017-08-01

This paper elaborates the development phenomenon of high-rise buildings nowadays. The development trend of super high-rise buildings worldwide is analyzed based on data from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, taking the top 100 high-rise buildings in different continents and with the time development and building type as the objects. Through analysis, the trend of flourishing of UAE super high-rise buildings and stable development of European and American high-rise buildings is obtained. The reasons for different development degrees of the regions are demonstrated from the aspects of social development, economy, culture and consciousness. This paper also presents unavoidable issues of super high-rise buildings and calls for rational treatment to these buildings.

Developmental Benefits of Extracurricular Sports Participation Among Brazilian Youth.

PubMed

Reverdito, Riller S; Galatti, Larissa R; Carvalho, Humberto M; Scaglia, Alcides J; Côté, Jean; Gonçalves, Carlos E; Paes, Roberto R

2017-10-01

Youth sporting activities have been explored as a way to impact positive personal transformation and development, glaringly demonstrated by world-wide investments in public policies, programs, and projects. We studied positive effects of participation in sports on the developmental assets of 614 adolescents (13.1 ± 1.7 years) actively engaged in extracurricular sport programs targeted at socially disadvantaged youths, from five municipalities across five states of the southern, south-eastern and north-eastern regions of Brazil. Participants responded to a developmental assets questionnaire designed to capture sociodemographic and human development data. Multilevel logistic regression was used to explore associations between years of participation in sport and human development indicators, controlling for age and sex. Our results showed that the quality of the young people's support network and duration of program participation positively influenced sport participation, which, in turn, was associated with willingness to learn. A strong association was also observed between sport participation and developmental assets. Thus, we offer new evidence of a relationship between positive development and environmental factors in which individual and contextual forces can be aligned, and we provide new reference data for developing countries.

The potential of a dielectrophoresis activated cell sorter (DACS) as a next generation cell sorter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Dongkyu; Hwang, Bohyun; Kim, Byungkyu

2016-12-01

Originally introduced by H. A. Pohl in 1951, dielectrophoretic (DEP) force has been used as a striking tool for biological particle manipulation (or separation) for the last few decades. In particular, dielectrophoresis activated cell sorters (DACSes) have been developed for applications in various biomedical fields. These applications include cell replacement therapy, drug screening and medical diagnostics. Since a DACS does not require a specific bio-marker, it is able to function as a biological particle sorting tool with numerous configurations for various cells [e.g. red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), circulating tumor cells, leukemia cells, breast cancer cells, bacterial cells, yeast cells and sperm cells]. This article explores current DACS capabilities worldwide, and it also looks at recent developments intended to overcome particular limitations. First, the basic theories are reviewed. Then, representative DACSes based on DEP trapping, traveling wave DEP systems, DEP field-flow fractionation and DEP barriers are introduced, and the strong and weak points of each DACS are discussed. Finally, for the purposes of commercialization, prerequisites regarding throughput, efficiency and recovery rates are discussed in detail through comparisons with commercial cell sorters (e.g. fluorescent activated and magnetic activated cell sorters).

Reversion of antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by spiroisoxazoline SMARt-420.

PubMed

Blondiaux, Nicolas; Moune, Martin; Desroses, Matthieu; Frita, Rosangela; Flipo, Marion; Mathys, Vanessa; Soetaert, Karine; Kiass, Mehdi; Delorme, Vincent; Djaout, Kamel; Trebosc, Vincent; Kemmer, Christian; Wintjens, René; Wohlkönig, Alexandre; Antoine, Rudy; Huot, Ludovic; Hot, David; Coscolla, Mireia; Feldmann, Julia; Gagneux, Sebastien; Locht, Camille; Brodin, Priscille; Gitzinger, Marc; Déprez, Benoit; Willand, Nicolas; Baulard, Alain R

2017-03-17

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to human health globally. Alarmingly, multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis have now spread worldwide. Some key antituberculosis antibiotics are prodrugs, for which resistance mechanisms are mainly driven by mutations in the bacterial enzymatic pathway required for their bioactivation. We have developed drug-like molecules that activate a cryptic alternative bioactivation pathway of ethionamide in M. tuberculosis , circumventing the classic activation pathway in which resistance mutations have now been observed. The first-of-its-kind molecule, named SMARt-420 (Small Molecule Aborting Resistance), not only fully reverses ethionamide-acquired resistance and clears ethionamide-resistant infection in mice, it also increases the basal sensitivity of bacteria to ethionamide. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

[Developing Exercise-mimicking Drugs toward Realization of Preemptive Medicine for Lifestyle-related Diseases.

PubMed

Iwabu, Masato; Yamauchi, Toshimasa; Okada-Iwabu, Miki; Kadowaki, Takashi

Modern society is characterized by an explosion of lifestyle-related diseases that have, as their basis, obesity due to lack of exercise, which include the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. While exercise is known to be a definitive preventive or therapeutic measure against these diseases, it is clear that contemporary lifestyles tend to make exercise rather difficult to continue. Thus, there are mounting expectations worldwide for exercise-mimicking drugs that activate exercise-mediated signaling pathways. Therefore, this review discusses the mechanisms through which the adiponectin receptor(AdipoR)likely mimics exercise as a key molecule in lifestyle-related diseases, as well as the prospects for emerging small-molecule AdipoR-activating compounds that contribute toward realization of preemptive medicine for lifestyle-related diseases.

Transnational organizational considerations for sociocultural differences in ethics and virtual team functioning in laboratory animal science.

PubMed

Pritt, Stacy L; Mackta, Jayne

2010-05-01

Business models for transnational organizations include linking different geographies through common codes of conduct, policies, and virtual teams. Global companies with laboratory animal science activities (whether outsourced or performed inhouse) often see the need for these business activities in relation to animal-based research and benefit from them. Global biomedical research organizations can learn how to better foster worldwide cooperation and teamwork by understanding and working with sociocultural differences in ethics and by knowing how to facilitate appropriate virtual team actions. Associated practices include implementing codes and policies transcend cultural, ethnic, or other boundaries and equipping virtual teams with the needed technology, support, and rewards to ensure timely and productive work that ultimately promotes good science and patient safety in drug development.

Role of Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-Related Factor 2 in Diabetic Nephropathy

PubMed Central

Min, Xu; Xu, Xiaohong

2017-01-01

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is manifested as increased urinary protein level, decreased glomerular filtration rate, and final renal dysfunction. DN is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide and causes a huge societal healthcare burden. Since satisfied treatments are still limited, exploring new strategies for the treatment of this disease is urgently needed. Oxidative stress takes part in the initiation and development of DN. In addition, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) plays a key role in the cellular response to oxidative stress. Thus, activation of Nrf2 seems to be a new choice for the treatment of DN. In current review, we discussed and summarized the therapeutic effects of Nrf2 activation on DN from both basic and clinical studies. PMID:28512642

Musculoskeletal system in the old age and the demand for healthy ageing biomarkers.

PubMed

Collino, Sebastiano; Martin, François-Pierre; Karagounis, Leonidas G; Horcajada, Marie Noelle; Moco, Sofia; Franceschi, Claudio; Kussmann, Martin; Offord, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

Population ageing has emerged as a major demographic trend worldwide due to improved health and longevity. This global ageing phenomenon will have a major impact on health-care systems worldwide due to increased morbidity and greater needs for hospitalization/institutionalization. As the ageing population increases worldwide, there is an increasing awareness not only of increased longevity but also of the importance of "healthy ageing" and "quality of life". Yet, the age related chronic inflammation is believed to be pathogenic with regards to its contribution to frailty and degenerative disorders. In particular, the frailty syndrome is increasingly being considered as a key risk indicator of adverse health outcomes. In addition, elderly may be also prone to be resistant to anabolic stimuli which is likely a key factor in the loss of skeletal muscle mass with ageing. Vital to understand these key biological processes is the development of biological markers, through system biology approaches, aiding at strategies for tailored therapeutic and personalized nutritional program. Overall aim is to prevent or attenuate decline of key physiological functions required to live an active, independent life. This review focus on core indicators of health and functions in older adults, where nutrition and tailored personalized programs could exhibit preventive roles, and where the aid of metabolomics technologies are increasingly displaying potential in revealing key molecular mechanisms/targets linked to specific ageing and/or healthy ageing processes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reprint of: Musculoskeletal system in the old age and the demand for healthy ageing biomarkers.

PubMed

Collino, Sebastiano; Martin, François-Pierre; Karagounis, Leonidas G; Horcajada, Marie Noelle; Moco, Sofia; Franceschi, Claudio; Kussmann, Martin; Offord, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Population ageing has emerged as a major demographic trend worldwide due to improved health and longevity. This global ageing phenomenon will have a major impact on health-care systems worldwide due to increased morbidity and greater needs for hospitalization/institutionalization. As the ageing population increases worldwide, there is an increasing awareness not only of increased longevity but also of the importance of "healthy ageing" and "quality of life". Yet, the age related chronic inflammation is believed to be pathogenic with regards to its contribution to frailty and degenerative disorders. In particular, the frailty syndrome is increasingly being considered as a key risk indicator of adverse health outcomes. In addition, elderly may be also prone to be resistant to anabolic stimuli which is likely a key factor in the loss of skeletal muscle mass with ageing. Vital to understand these key biological processes is the development of biological markers, through system biology approaches, aiding at strategies for tailored therapeutic and personalized nutritional program. Overall aim is to prevent or attenuate decline of key physiological functions required to live an active, independent life. This review focus on core indicators of health and functions in older adults, where nutrition and tailored personalized programs could exhibit preventive roles, and where the aid of metabolomics technologies are increasingly displaying potential in revealing key molecular mechanisms/targets linked to specific ageing and/or healthy ageing processes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Worldwide survey of direct-to-listener digital audio delivery systems development since WARC-1992

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Messer, Dion D.

1993-01-01

Each country was allocated frequency band(s) for direct-to-listener digital audio broadcasting at WARC-92. These allocations were near 1500, 2300, and 2600 MHz. In addition, some countries are encouraging the development of digital audio broadcasting services for terrestrial delivery only in the VHF bands (at frequencies from roughly 50 to 300 MHz) and in the medium-wave broadcasting band (AM band) (from roughly 0.5 to 1.7 MHz). The development activity increase was explosive. Current development, as of February 1993, as it is known to the author is summarized. The information given includes the following characteristics, as appropriate, for each planned system: coverage areas, audio quality, number of audio channels, delivery via satellite/terrestrial or both, carrier frequency bands, modulation methods, source coding, and channel coding. Most proponents claim that they will be operational in 3 or 4 years.

The Changing Debate on Internationalisation of Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teichler, Ulrich

2004-01-01

"Internationalisation", the growing border-crossing activities between national systems of higher education is losing ground to "globalisation", increasing border-crossing activities of blurred national systems which is often employed to depict world-wide trends and growing global competition. This article addresses recent issues of knowledge…

"Deliberate Preparation" as an Evidence-Based Focus for Primary Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giblin, Susan; Collins, David; MacNamara, Aine; Kiely, John

2014-01-01

There is substantial scientific research suggesting the physical and psychological health benefits of a physically active lifestyle. Consequently, governments worldwide prioritize policies, finances, and resources in healthcare, education, and sports sectors to increase mass participation in physical activity. However, practices in physical…

Natural products from Cuscuta reflexa Roxb. with antiproliferation activities in HCT116 colorectal cell lines.

PubMed

Riaz, Muhammad; Bilal, Aishah; Ali, Muhammad Shaiq; Fatima, Itrat; Faisal, Amir; Sherkheli, Muhammad Azhar; Asghar, Adnan

2017-03-01

Parasitic Cuscuta reflexa Roxb. possesses many medicinal properties and is a rich source of a variety of biologically relevant natural products. Natural products are the prime source of leads, drugs, and drug templates, and many of the anticancer and antiviral drugs are either based on natural product or derived from them. Cancer is a devastating disease and one of the leading causes of death worldwide despite improvements in patient survival during the past 50 years; new and improved treatments for cancer are therefore actively sought. Colorectal cancer is the fourth most prevalent cancer worldwide and is responsible for nearly 9% of all cancer deaths. Our search for anticancer natural products from C. reflexa has yielded four natural products: Scoparone (1), p-coumaric acid (2), stigmasta-3,5-diene (3) and 1-O-p-hydroxycinnamoylglucose (4) and among them 1-O-p-hydroxycinnamoyldlucose (4) showed promising antiproliferative activities in HCT116 colorectal cell lines, whereas compounds 1-3 showed moderate activities.

Japan Environment and Children's Study: backgrounds, activities, and future directions in global perspectives.

PubMed

Ishitsuka, Kazue; Nakayama, Shoji F; Kishi, Reiko; Mori, Chisato; Yamagata, Zentaro; Ohya, Yukihiro; Kawamoto, Toshihiro; Kamijima, Michihiro

2017-07-14

There is worldwide concern about the effects of environmental factors on children's health and development. The Miami Declaration was signed at the G8 Environment Ministers Meeting in 1997 to promote children's environmental health research. The following ministerial meetings continued to emphasize the need to foster children's research. In response to such a worldwide movement, the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOE), launched a nationwide birth cohort study with 100,000 pairs of mothers and children, namely, the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS), in 2010. Other countries have also started or planned large-scale studies focusing on children's environmental health issues. The MOE initiated dialogue among those countries and groups to discuss and share the various processes, protocols, knowledge, and techniques for future harmonization and data pooling among such studies. The MOE formed the JECS International Liaison Committee in 2011, which plays a primary role in promoting the international collaboration between JECS and the other children's environmental health research projects and partnership with other countries. This review article aims to present activities that JECS has developed. As one of the committee's activities, a workshop and four international symposia were held between 2011 and 2015 in Japan. In these conferences, international researchers and government officials, including those from the World Health Organization, have made presentations on their own birth cohort studies and health policies. In 2015, the MOE hosted the International Advisory Board meeting and received constructive comments and recommendations from the board. JECS is a founding member of the Environment and Child Health International Birth Cohort Group, and has discussed harmonization of exposure and outcome measurements with member parties, which will make it possible to compare and further combine data from different studies, considering the diversity in the measurements of variables between the studies. JECS is expected to contribute to the international environmental health research community and policy-making. More international collaboration would enhance our understanding of the possible environmental causes of diseases and disabilities.

Education as a tool for addressing the extinction crisis: moving students from understanding to action.

PubMed

Moyer-Horner, Lucas; Kirby, Rebecca; Vaughan, Christopher

2010-12-01

Human activity is leading to mass species extinctions worldwide. Conservation biology (CB) courses, taught worldwide at universities, typically focus on the proximal causes of extinction without teaching students how to respond to this crisis. The Extinction of Species 360 course has been taught yearly each fall semester to several hundred students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for over two decades. In 2007 the instructor and five teaching assistants combined principles driving extinctions, based on traditional lectures and discussion sections, with action-oriented education targeting individual consumer habits, to a group of 285 students. Students learn the science underpinning conservation efforts, as evidenced by highly significant learning (< .001) gains in a 22 question survey in every measured category, and also make direct and immediate changes in their lifestyle and consumption habits. This course succeeded in each of its three primary goals: a) informed students about the value of and threats to biodiversity, similar to traditional CB courses, b) emphasized our personal role (as consumers) in perpetuating the extinction crisis and c) facilitated activities to reduce our impact and help alleviate the crisis. The results suggested students learned CB concepts and understood biodiversity's value, increased their awareness of the connection between personal consumption and extinction, and reduced their collective ecological footprints. Furthermore, students complemented their learning and multiplied the potential for consumption reduction, by participating in action-based activities. Such academic courses can provide a rigorous treatment of the direct and indirect causes of extinction while developing a student's sense of personal empowerment to help slow the extinction crisis.

Sliding U.S. Dollar Packs a Wallop to Wallets Worldwide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowman, Quinn

2008-01-01

The dollar, once one of the world's strongest currencies, has fallen dramatically in recent years--a development impacting attitudes from corporate boardrooms to the sets of music videos where artists are choosing to flash the euro over American cash. When measured against a collection of other leading worldwide currencies--like the European euro,…

The Worldwide Trend to High Participation Higher Education: Dynamics of Social Stratification in Inclusive Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marginson, Simon

2016-01-01

Worldwide participation in higher education now includes one-third of the age cohort and is growing at an unprecedented rate. The tendency to rapid growth, leading towards high participation systems (HPS), has spread to most middle-income and some low-income countries. Though expansion of higher education requires threshold development of the…

The potential of medical device industry in technological and economical context.

PubMed

Maresova, Petra; Penhaker, Marek; Selamat, Ali; Kuca, Kamil

2015-01-01

The high quality of public health improves not only healthy life expectancy, but also the productivity of labor. The most important part of the health care sector is the medical technology industry. The aim of this study is to analyze the current situation in the medical device industry in Europe, its potential strengths and weaknesses in the context of topical economic and demographic development. The contribution specifies an analysis of the economic state of the medical device industry in the context of demographic development of European Union's macroeconomic indicators and views of experts in the field of medical device development, concerning the opportunities for entities involved in the medical device market. There is fierce competition on the European market. The innovative activity is stable and well regulated by responsible authorities. Worldwide, the medical device market is expected to grow.

The development of an Ada programming support environment database: SEAD (Software Engineering and Ada Database), user's manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liaw, Morris; Evesson, Donna

1988-01-01

This is a manual for users of the Software Engineering and Ada Database (SEAD). SEAD was developed to provide an information resource to NASA and NASA contractors with respect to Ada-based resources and activities that are available or underway either in NASA or elsewhere in the worldwide Ada community. The sharing of such information will reduce the duplication of effort while improving quality in the development of future software systems. The manual describes the organization of the data in SEAD, the user interface from logging in to logging out, and concludes with a ten chapter tutorial on how to use the information in SEAD. Two appendices provide quick reference for logging into SEAD and using the keyboard of an IBM 3270 or VT100 computer terminal.

Millennium Development Goals: how public health professionals perceive the achievement of MDGs

PubMed Central

Lomazzi, Marta; Laaser, Ulrich; Theisling, Mareike; Tapia, Leticia; Borisch, Bettina

2014-01-01

Background There have been various consultations on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by different groups. However, even if it is clear that the health sector has led the development success of the MDGs, only a few MDG reports consider public health experts’ points of view and these are mainly government driven. Designs The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) has executed a global survey to consult public health professionals worldwide concerning the implementation and achievements of the MDGs. The survey was conceived by WFPHA health professionals and promulgated online. Public health professionals and organisations dealing with MDGs responded to the survey. Content analysis was conducted to analyse the data. Results Survey participants attributed the highest importance worldwide to MDGs dealing with women, poverty and hunger reduction, and disease prevention and management. Moreover, they underlined the role of education, referring both to school children and professionals. In high and upper-middle income countries, environmental challenges also received considerable attention. Notably, respondents underlined that weak governance and unstable political situations, as well as the gap between professionals and politicians, were among the main causes that detracted from MDG achievements. Conclusion The public health workforce felt it would be imperative to be included from the outset in the design and implementation of further goals. This implies that those professionals have to take an active part in the political process leading to a new and accountable framework. PMID:25249060

Epidemiology of diabetes mellitus and associated cardiovascular risk factors: focus on human immunodeficiency virus and psychiatric disorders.

PubMed

Zimmet, Paul

2005-04-01

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity have reached epidemic proportions in many developing and developed nations, leading to talk of the "twin epidemics." The latest projections from the International Diabetes Federation suggest that 190 million people worldwide currently have type 2 diabetes. In addition, > or = 300 million people worldwide have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). These statistics represent an epidemic of major proportions--possibly the largest epidemic in human history--in terms of glucose intolerance and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk because individuals with IGT are at substantially higher risk for diabetes and CVD than are members of the general population. Along with IGT, the metabolic syndrome comprises other major CVD risk factors, including insulin resistance, central obesity, and dyslipidemia; insulin resistance has been implicated as the single most common cause of the syndrome. Although the exact prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is unknown, the syndrome is widespread among adults in developed nations, becoming more prevalent with age. Epidemiologic data suggest that in patients with schizophrenia or affective disorders, both diabetes and obesity are 1.5 to 2.0 times more prevalent than in the general population. Furthermore, because adverse effects of certain therapies for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and psychiatric disorders increase the risk for developing diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome, such therapies should be carefully chosen, particularly considering CVD risk. Appropriate therapy may be determined via screening of patients for levels of fasting blood glucose and lipids, as well as other CVD risk factors, before initiating use of second-generation antipsychotic agents or highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Effect of Physically Active Academic Lessons on Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness in Primary School Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Greeff, Johannes W.; Hartman, Esther; Mullender-Wijnsma, Marijke J.; Bosker, Roel J.; Doolaard, Simone; Visscher, Chris

2016-01-01

Background: Preventing overweight and improving physical fitness in primary school children is a worldwide challenge, and physically active intervention programs usually come with the cost of academic instruction time. This study aimed to investigate effects of physically active academic lessons on body mass index (BMI) and physical fitness in…

Treatment of Obesity-Related Complications with Novel Classes of Naturally Occurring PPAR Agonists.

PubMed

Bassaganya-Riera, Josep; Guri, Amir J; Hontecillas, Raquel

2011-01-01

The prevalence of obesity and its associated comorbidities has grown to epidemic proportions in the US and worldwide. Thus, developing safe and effective therapeutic approaches against these widespread and debilitating diseases is important and timely. Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) α, γ, and δ through several classes of pharmaceuticals can prevent or treat a variety of metabolic and inflammatory diseases, including type II diabetes (T2D). Thus, PPARs represent important molecular targets for developing novel and better treatments for a wide range of debilitating and widespread obesity-related diseases and disorders. However, available PPAR γ agonistic drugs such as Avandia have significant adverse side effects, including weight gain, fluid retention, hepatotoxicity, and congestive heart failure. An alternative to synthetic agonists of PPAR γ is the discovery and development of naturally occurring and safer nutraceuticals that may be dual or pan PPAR agonists. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the health effects of three plant-derived PPAR agonists: abscisic acid (ABA), punicic acid (PUA), and catalpic acid (CAA) in the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and metabolic diseases and disorders.

Development of new drugs for an old target: the penicillin binding proteins.

PubMed

Zervosen, Astrid; Sauvage, Eric; Frère, Jean-Marie; Charlier, Paulette; Luxen, André

2012-10-24

The widespread use of β-lactam antibiotics has led to the worldwide appearance of drug-resistant strains. Bacteria have developed resistance to β-lactams by two main mechanisms: the production of β-lactamases, sometimes accompanied by a decrease of outer membrane permeability, and the production of low-affinity, drug resistant Penicillin Binding Proteins (PBPs). PBPs remain attractive targets for developing new antibiotic agents because they catalyse the last steps of the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan, which is unique to bacteria, and lies outside the cytoplasmic membrane. Here we summarize the “current state of the art” of non-β-lactam inhibitors of PBPs, which have being developed in an attempt to counter the emergence of β-lactam resistance. These molecules are not susceptible to hydrolysis by β-lactamases and thus present a real alternative to β-lactams. We present transition state analogs such as boronic acids, which can covalently bind to the active serine residue in the catalytic site. Molecules containing ring structures different from the β-lactam-ring like lactivicin are able to acylate the active serine residue. High throughput screening methods, in combination with virtual screening methods and structure based design, have allowed the development of new molecules. Some of these novel inhibitors are active against major pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and thus open avenues new for the discovery of novel antibiotics.

Epidemiology of skin cancer.

PubMed

Leiter, Ulrike; Eigentler, Thomas; Garbe, Claus

2014-01-01

Melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) are now the most common types of cancer in white populations. Both tumor entities show an increasing incidence rate worldwide but a stable or decreasing mortality rate. NMSC is the most common cancer in white-skinned individuals with a worldwide increasing incidence. NMSC is an increasing problem for health care services worldwide which causes significant morbidity. The rising incidence rates of NMSC are probably caused by a combination of increased exposure to ultraviolet (UV) or sun light, increased outdoor activities, changes in clothing style, increased longevity, ozone depletion, genetics and in some cases, immune suppression. An intensive UV exposure in childhood and adolescence was causative for the development of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) whereas for the etiology of SCC a chronic UV exposure in the earlier decades was accused. Cutaneous melanoma is the most rapidly increasing cancer in white populations, in the last 3 decades incidence rates have risen up to 5-fold. In 2008 melanoma was on place 5 in women and on place 8 in men of the most common solid tumor entities in Germany. The frequency of its occurrence is closely associated with the constitutive color of the skin, and the geographical zone. Changes in outdoor activities and exposure to sunlight during the past 50 years are an important factor for the increasing incidence of melanoma. Mortality rates of melanoma show a stabilization in the USA, Australia and also in European countries. In contrast to SCC, melanoma risk seems to be associated with an intermittent exposure to sunlight. Prevention campaigns aim on reducing incidence and achieving earlier diagnosis, which resulted in an ongoing trend toward thin melanoma since the last two decades. However, the impact of primary prevention measures on incidence rates of melanoma is unlikely to be seen in the near future, rather increasing incidence rates to 40-50/100,000 inhabitants/year should be expected in Europe in the next decades.

Identification of a New Class of Antifungals Targeting the Synthesis of Fungal Sphingolipids.

PubMed

Mor, Visesato; Rella, Antonella; Farnoud, Amir M; Singh, Ashutosh; Munshi, Mansa; Bryan, Arielle; Naseem, Shamoon; Konopka, James B; Ojima, Iwao; Bullesbach, Erika; Ashbaugh, Alan; Linke, Michael J; Cushion, Melanie; Collins, Margaret; Ananthula, Hari Krishna; Sallans, Larry; Desai, Pankaj B; Wiederhold, Nathan P; Fothergill, Annette W; Kirkpatrick, William R; Patterson, Thomas; Wong, Lai Hong; Sinha, Sunita; Giaever, Guri; Nislow, Corey; Flaherty, Patrick; Pan, Xuewen; Cesar, Gabriele Vargas; de Melo Tavares, Patricia; Frases, Susana; Miranda, Kildare; Rodrigues, Marcio L; Luberto, Chiara; Nimrichter, Leonardo; Del Poeta, Maurizio

2015-06-23

Recent estimates suggest that >300 million people are afflicted by serious fungal infections worldwide. Current antifungal drugs are static and toxic and/or have a narrow spectrum of activity. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of new antifungal drugs. The fungal sphingolipid glucosylceramide (GlcCer) is critical in promoting virulence of a variety of human-pathogenic fungi. In this study, we screened a synthetic drug library for compounds that target the synthesis of fungal, but not mammalian, GlcCer and found two compounds [N'-(3-bromo-4-hydroxybenzylidene)-2-methylbenzohydrazide (BHBM) and its derivative, 3-bromo-N'-(3-bromo-4-hydroxybenzylidene) benzohydrazide (D0)] that were highly effective in vitro and in vivo against several pathogenic fungi. BHBM and D0 were well tolerated in animals and are highly synergistic or additive to current antifungals. BHBM and D0 significantly affected fungal cell morphology and resulted in the accumulation of intracellular vesicles. Deep-sequencing analysis of drug-resistant mutants revealed that four protein products, encoded by genes APL5, COS111, MKK1, and STE2, which are involved in vesicular transport and cell cycle progression, are targeted by BHBM. Fungal infections are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current antifungal drugs suffer from various drawbacks, including toxicity, drug resistance, and narrow spectrum of activity. In this study, we have demonstrated that pharmaceutical inhibition of fungal glucosylceramide presents a new opportunity to treat cryptococcosis and various other fungal infections. In addition to being effective against pathogenic fungi, the compounds discovered in this study were well tolerated by animals and additive to current antifungals. These findings suggest that these drugs might pave the way for the development of a new class of antifungals. Copyright © 2015 Mor et al.

RTEMS CENTRE- RTEMS Improvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Helder; Constantino, Alexandre; Freitas, Daniel; Coutinho, Manuel; Faustino, Sergio; Sousa, Jose; Dias, Luis; Zulianello, Marco

2010-08-01

During the last two years, EDISOFT's RTEMS CENTRE team [1], jointly with the European Space Agency and with the support of the worldwide RTEMS community [2], have been developing an activity to facilitate the qualification of the real-time operating system RTEMS (Real-Time Operating System for Multiprocessor Systems). This paper intends to give a high level visibility of the progress and the results obtained in the RTEMS Improvement [3] activity. The primary objective [4] of the project is to improve the RTEMS product, its documentation and to facilitate the qualification of RTEMS for future space missions, taking into consideration the specific operational requirements. The sections below provide a brief overview of the RTEMS operating system and the activities performed in the RTEMS Improvement project, which includes the selection of API managers to be qualified, the tailoring process, the requirements analysis, the reverse engineering and design of the RTEMS, the quality assurance process, the ISVV activities, the test campaign, the results obtained, the criticality analysis and the facilitation of qualification process.

Fabrication Processes to Generate Concentration Gradients in Polymer Solar Cell Active Layers

PubMed Central

Inaba, Shusei; Vohra, Varun

2017-01-01

Polymer solar cells (PSCs) are considered as one of the most promising low-cost alternatives for renewable energy production with devices now reaching power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) above the milestone value of 10%. These enhanced performances were achieved by developing new electron-donor (ED) and electron-acceptor (EA) materials as well as finding the adequate morphologies in either bulk heterojunction or sequentially deposited active layers. In particular, producing adequate vertical concentration gradients with higher concentrations of ED and EA close to the anode and cathode, respectively, results in an improved charge collection and consequently higher photovoltaic parameters such as the fill factor. In this review, we relate processes to generate active layers with ED–EA vertical concentration gradients. After summarizing the formation of such concentration gradients in single layer active layers through processes such as annealing or additives, we will verify that sequential deposition of multilayered active layers can be an efficient approach to remarkably increase the fill factor and PCE of PSCs. In fact, applying this challenging approach to fabricate inverted architecture PSCs has the potential to generate low-cost, high efficiency and stable devices, which may revolutionize worldwide energy demand and/or help develop next generation devices such as semi-transparent photovoltaic windows. PMID:28772878

Monocarbonyl analogs of curcumin inhibit growth of antibiotic sensitive and resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

PubMed Central

Baldwin, Patrick R.; Reeves, Analise Z.; Powell, Kimberly R.; Napier, Ruth J.; Swimm, Alyson I.; Sun, Aiming; Giesler, Kyle; Bommarius, Bettina; Shinnick, Thomas M.; Snyder, James P.; Liotta, Dennis C.; Kalman, Daniel

2016-01-01

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health concern worldwide with over 2 billion people currently infected. The rise of strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that are resistant to some or all first and second line antibiotics, including multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug resistant (XDR) and totally drug resistant (TDR) strains, is of particular concern and new anti-TB drugs are urgently needed. Curcumin, a natural product used in traditional medicine in India, exhibits anti-microbial activity that includes Mtb, however it is relatively unstable and suffers from poor bioavailability. To improve activity and bioavailability, mono-carbonyl analogs of curcumin were synthesized and screened for their capacity to inhibit the growth of Mtb and the related Mycobacterium marinum (Mm). Using disk diffusion and liquid culture assays, we found several analogs that inhibit in vitro growth of Mm and Mtb, including rifampicin-resistant strains. Structure activity analysis of the analogs indicated that Michael acceptor properties are critical for inhibitory activity. However, no synergistic effects were evident between the monocarbonyl analogs and rifampicin on inhibiting growth. Together, these data provide a structural basis for the development of analogs of curcumin with pronounced anti-mycobacterial activity and provide a roadmap to develop additional structural analogs that exhibit more favorable interactions with other anti-TB drugs. PMID:25618016

Fabrication Processes to Generate Concentration Gradients in Polymer Solar Cell Active Layers.

PubMed

Inaba, Shusei; Vohra, Varun

2017-05-09

Polymer solar cells (PSCs) are considered as one of the most promising low-cost alternatives for renewable energy production with devices now reaching power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) above the milestone value of 10%. These enhanced performances were achieved by developing new electron-donor (ED) and electron-acceptor (EA) materials as well as finding the adequate morphologies in either bulk heterojunction or sequentially deposited active layers. In particular, producing adequate vertical concentration gradients with higher concentrations of ED and EA close to the anode and cathode, respectively, results in an improved charge collection and consequently higher photovoltaic parameters such as the fill factor. In this review, we relate processes to generate active layers with ED-EA vertical concentration gradients. After summarizing the formation of such concentration gradients in single layer active layers through processes such as annealing or additives, we will verify that sequential deposition of multilayered active layers can be an efficient approach to remarkably increase the fill factor and PCE of PSCs. In fact, applying this challenging approach to fabricate inverted architecture PSCs has the potential to generate low-cost, high efficiency and stable devices, which may revolutionize worldwide energy demand and/or help develop next generation devices such as semi-transparent photovoltaic windows.

The Role of Organelle Stresses in Diabetes Mellitus and Obesity: Implication for Treatment

PubMed Central

Chang, Yi-Cheng; Hee, Siow-Wey; Hsieh, Meng-Lun; Chuang, Lee-Ming

2015-01-01

The type 2 diabetes pandemic in recent decades is a huge global health threat. This pandemic is primarily attributed to the surplus of nutrients and the increased prevalence of obesity worldwide. In contrast, calorie restriction and weight reduction can drastically prevent type 2 diabetes, indicating a central role of nutrient excess in the development of diabetes. Recently, the molecular links between excessive nutrients, organelle stress, and development of metabolic disease have been extensively studied. Specifically, excessive nutrients trigger endoplasmic reticulum stress and increase the production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, leading to activation of stress signaling pathway, inflammatory response, lipogenesis, and pancreatic beta-cell death. Autophagy is required for clearance of hepatic lipid clearance, alleviation of pancreatic beta-cell stress, and white adipocyte differentiation. ROS scavengers, chemical chaperones, and autophagy activators have demonstrated promising effects for the treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes in preclinical models. Further results from clinical trials are eagerly awaited. PMID:26613076

Transition Metal Intercalators as Anticancer Agents—Recent Advances

PubMed Central

Deo, Krishant M.; Pages, Benjamin J.; Ang, Dale L.; Gordon, Christopher P.; Aldrich-Wright, Janice R.

2016-01-01

The diverse anticancer utility of cisplatin has stimulated significant interest in the development of additional platinum-based therapies, resulting in several analogues receiving clinical approval worldwide. However, due to structural and mechanistic similarities, the effectiveness of platinum-based therapies is countered by severe side-effects, narrow spectrum of activity and the development of resistance. Nonetheless, metal complexes offer unique characteristics and exceptional versatility, with the ability to alter their pharmacology through facile modifications of geometry and coordination number. This has prompted the search for metal-based complexes with distinctly different structural motifs and non-covalent modes of binding with a primary aim of circumventing current clinical limitations. This review discusses recent advances in platinum and other transition metal-based complexes with mechanisms of action involving intercalation. This mode of DNA binding is distinct from cisplatin and its derivatives. The metals focused on in this review include Pt, Ru and Cu along with examples of Au, Ni, Zn and Fe complexes; these complexes are capable of DNA intercalation and are highly biologically active. PMID:27809241

Lightweight Steel Solutions for Automotive Industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Hong Woo; Kim, Gyosung; Park, Sung Ho

2010-06-15

Recently, improvement in fuel efficiency and safety has become the biggest issue in worldwide automotive industry. Although the regulation of environment and safety has been tightened up more and more, the majority of vehicle bodies are still manufactured from stamped steel components. This means that the optimized steel solutions enable to demonstrate its ability to reduce body weight with high crashworthiness performance instead of expensive light weight materials such as Al, Mg and composites. To provide the innovative steel solutions for automotive industry, POSCO has developed AHSS and its application technologies, which is directly connected to EVI activities. EVI ismore » a technical cooperation program with customer covering all stages of new car project from design to mass production. Integrated light weight solutions through new forming technologies such as TWB, hydroforming and HPF are continuously developed and provided for EVI activities. This paper will discuss the detailed status of these technologies especially light weight steel solutions based on innovative technologies.« less

Alpha-lipoic acid: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential in diabetes.

PubMed

Rochette, Luc; Ghibu, Steliana; Muresan, Adriana; Vergely, Catherine

2015-12-01

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease with a high prevalence worldwide. Diabetes and insulin resistance are associated with the development of cardiovascular and nervous diseases. The development of these disorders reflects complex pathological processes in which the oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) plays a pivotal role. It is widely accepted that diabetes impairs endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity and increases the production of ROS, thus resulting in diminished NO bioavailability and increased oxidative stress. Alpha-lipoic acid (LA) possesses beneficial effects both in the prevention and in the treatment of diabetes. LA is a potent antioxidant with insulin-mimetic and anti-inflammatory activity. LA in the diet is quickly absorbed, transported to the intracellular compartments, and reduced to dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) under the action of enzymes. LA, which plays an essential role in mitochondrial bioenergetic reactions, has drawn considerable attention as an antioxidant for use in managing diabetic complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy and other vascular diseases.

Creating Successful Scientist-Teacher-Student Collaborations: Examples From the GLOBE Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geary, E.; Wright, E.; Yule, S.; Randolph, G.; Larsen, J.; Smith, D.

2007-12-01

Actively engaging students in research on the environment at local, regional, and globe scales is a primary objective of the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program. During the past 18 months, GLOBE, an international education and science program in 109 countries and tens of thousands of schools worldwide, has been working with four NSF-funded Earth System Science Projects to involve K-12 students, teachers, and scientists in collaborative research investigations of Seasons and Biomes, the Carbon Cycle, Local and Extreme Environments, and Watersheds. This talk will discuss progress to date in each of these investigation areas and highlight successes and challenges in creating effective partnerships between diverse scientific and educational stakeholders. More specifically we will discuss lessons learned in the following areas: (a) mutual goal and responsibility setting, (b) resource allocation, (c) development of adaptable learning activities, tools, and services, (d) creation of scientist and school networks, and (e) development of evaluation metrics, all in support of student research.

75 FR 28856 - Agency Information Collection (IRIS) Activities Under OMB Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-24

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0619] Agency Information Collection (IRIS... Information System (IRIS). OMB Control Number: 2900-0619. Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved... veterans, dependents, and active duty personnel worldwide. IRIS allows a customer to submit questions...

International Approaches for Nuclear Waste Disposal in Geological Formations: Report on Fifth Worldwide Review

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Faybishenko, Boris; Birkholzer, Jens; Persoff, Peter

2016-09-01

The goal of the Fifth Worldwide Review is to document evolution in the state-of-the-art of approaches for nuclear waste disposal in geological formations since the Fourth Worldwide Review that was released in 2006. The last ten years since the previous Worldwide Review has seen major developments in a number of nations throughout the world pursuing geological disposal programs, both in preparing and reviewing safety cases for the operational and long-term safety of proposed and operating repositories. The countries that are approaching implementation of geological disposal will increasingly focus on the feasibility of safely constructing and operating their repositories in short-more » and long terms on the basis existing regulations. The WWR-5 will also address a number of specific technical issues in safety case development along with the interplay among stakeholder concerns, technical feasibility, engineering design issues, and operational and post-closure safety. Preparation and publication of the Fifth Worldwide Review on nuclear waste disposal facilitates assessing the lessons learned and developing future cooperation between the countries. The Report provides scientific and technical experiences on preparing for and developing scientific and technical bases for nuclear waste disposal in deep geologic repositories in terms of requirements, societal expectations and the adequacy of cases for long-term repository safety. The Chapters include potential issues that may arise as repository programs mature, and identify techniques that demonstrate the safety cases and aid in promoting and gaining societal confidence. The report will also be used to exchange experience with other fields of industry and technology, in which concepts similar to the design and safety cases are applied, as well to facilitate the public perception and understanding of the safety of the disposal approaches relative to risks that may increase over long times frames in the absence of a successful implementation of final dispositioning.« less

Bio-mining the microbial treasures of the ocean: new natural products.

PubMed

Imhoff, Johannes F; Labes, Antje; Wiese, Jutta

2011-01-01

The biological resources of the oceans have been exploited since ancient human history, mainly by catching fish and harvesting algae. Research on natural products with special emphasis on marine animals and also algae during the last decades of the 20th century has revealed the importance of marine organisms as producers of substances useful for the treatment of human diseases. Though a large number of bioactive substances have been identified, some many years ago, only recently the first drugs from the oceans were approved. Quite astonishingly, the immense diversity of microbes in the marine environments and their almost untouched capacity to produce natural products and therefore the importance of microbes for marine biotechnology was realized on a broad basis by the scientific communities only recently. This has strengthened worldwide research activities dealing with the exploration of marine microorganisms for biotechnological applications, which comprise the production of bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical use, as well as the development of other valuable products, such as enzymes, nutraceuticals and cosmetics. While the focus in these fields was mainly on marine bacteria, also marine fungi now receive growing attention. Although culture-dependent studies continue to provide interesting new chemical structures with biological activities at a high rate and represent highly promising approaches for the search of new drugs, exploration and use of genomic and metagenomic resources are considered to further increase this potential. Many efforts are made for the sustainable exploration of marine microbial resources. Large culture collections specifically of marine bacteria and marine fungi are available. Compound libraries of marine natural products, even of highly purified substances, were established. The expectations into the commercial exploitation of marine microbial resources has given rise to numerous institutions worldwide, basic research facilities as well as companies. In Europe, recent activities have initiated a dynamic development in marine biotechnology, though concentrated efforts on marine natural product research are rare. One of these activities is represented by the Kieler Wirkstoff-Zentrum KiWiZ, which was founded in 2005 in Kiel (Germany). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

WOVOdat as a worldwide resource to improve eruption forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widiwijayanti, Christina; Costa, Fidel; Zar Win Nang, Thin; Tan, Karine; Newhall, Chris; Ratdomopurbo, Antonius

2015-04-01

During periods of volcanic unrest, volcanologists need to interpret signs of unrest to be able to forecast whether an eruption is likely to occur. Some volcanic eruptions display signs of impending eruption such as seismic activity, surface deformation, or gas emissions; but not all will give signs and not all signs are necessarily followed by an eruption. Volcanoes behave differently. Precursory signs of an eruption are sometimes very short, less than an hour, but can be also weeks, months, or even years. Some volcanoes are regularly active and closely monitored, while other aren't. Often, the record of precursors to historical eruptions of a volcano isn't enough to allow a forecast of its future activity. Therefore, volcanologists must refer to monitoring data of unrest and eruptions at similar volcanoes. WOVOdat is the World Organization of Volcano Observatories' Database of volcanic unrest - an international effort to develop common standards for compiling and storing data on volcanic unrests in a centralized database and freely web-accessible for reference during volcanic crises, comparative studies, and basic research on pre-eruption processes. WOVOdat will be to volcanology as an epidemiological database is to medicine. We have up to now incorporated about 15% of worldwide unrest data into WOVOdat, covering more than 100 eruption episodes, which includes: volcanic background data, eruptive histories, monitoring data (seismic, deformation, gas, hydrology, thermal, fields, and meteorology), monitoring metadata, and supporting data such as reports, images, maps and videos. Nearly all data in WOVOdat are time-stamped and geo-referenced. Along with creating a database on volcanic unrest, WOVOdat also developing web-tools to help users to query, visualize, and compare data, which further can be used for probabilistic eruption forecasting. Reference to WOVOdat will be especially helpful at volcanoes that have not erupted in historical or 'instrumental' time and thus for which no previous data exist. The more data in WOVOdat, the more useful it will be. We actively solicit relevant data contributions from volcano observatories, other institutions, and individual researchers. Detailed information and documentation about the database and how to use it can be found at www.wovodat.org.

Foreshock occurrence before large earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reasenberg, P.A.

1999-01-01

Rates of foreshock occurrence involving shallow M ??? 6 and M ??? 7 mainshocks and M ??? 5 foreshocks were measured in two worldwide catalogs over ???20-year intervals. The overall rates observed are similar to ones measured in previous worldwide and regional studies when they are normalized for the ranges of magnitude difference they each span. The observed worldwide rates were compared to a generic model of earthquake clustering based on patterns of small and moderate aftershocks in California. The aftershock model was extended to the case of moderate foreshocks preceding large mainshocks. Overall, the observed worldwide foreshock rates exceed the extended California generic model by a factor of ???2. Significant differences in foreshock rate were found among subsets of earthquakes defined by their focal mechanism and tectonic region, with the rate before thrust events higher and the rate before strike-slip events lower than the worldwide average. Among the thrust events, a large majority, composed of events located in shallow subduction zones, had a high foreshock rate, while a minority, located in continental thrust belts, had a low rate. These differences may explain why previous surveys have found low foreshock rates among thrust events in California (especially southern California), while the worldwide observations suggests the opposite: California, lacking an active subduction zone in most of its territory, and including a region of mountain-building thrusts in the south, reflects the low rate apparently typical for continental thrusts, while the worldwide observations, dominated by shallow subduction zone events, are foreshock-rich. If this is so, then the California generic model may significantly underestimate the conditional probability for a very large (M ??? 8) earthquake following a potential (M ??? 7) foreshock in Cascadia. The magnitude differences among the identified foreshock-mainshock pairs in the Harvard catalog are consistent with a uniform distribution over the range of observation.

Systems Engineering Research Needs and Workforce Development Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-01-31

Workforce Issues ................................................................................................................. 23 Survey Results... survey on this topic to all the INCOSE Fellows – worldwide (approximately 30% of all Fellows responded to the survey ). Here is the list of these 24...Worldwide Survey 20. ARDEC – Picatinny Arsenal 21. NAVSEA – SPAWAR 22. NAVSEA 05T 23. PEO – Aviation 24. AMRDEC – NASA (Marshall) – Joint Visit The

Automated MeSH indexing of the World-Wide Web.

PubMed Central

Fowler, J.; Kouramajian, V.; Maram, S.; Devadhar, V.

1995-01-01

To facilitate networked discovery and information retrieval in the biomedical domain, we have designed a system for automatic assignment of Medical Subject Headings to documents retrieved from the World-Wide Web. Our prototype implementations show significant promise. We describe our methods and discuss the further development of a completely automated indexing tool called the "Web-MeSH Medibot." PMID:8563421

The worldwide epidemiology of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease

PubMed Central

Seckeler, Michael D; Hoke, Tracey R

2011-01-01

Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) are significant public health concerns around the world. Despite decreasing incidence, there is still a significant disease burden, especially in developing nations. This review provides background on the history of ARF, its pathology and treatment, and the current reported worldwide incidence of ARF and prevalence of RHD. PMID:21386976

Idiopathic inflammatory myositis.

PubMed

Tieu, Joanna; Lundberg, Ingrid E; Limaye, Vidya

2016-02-01

Knowledge on idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) has evolved with the identification of myositis-associated and myositis-specific antibodies, development of histopathological classification and the recognition of how these correlate with clinical phenotype and response to therapy. In this paper, we outline key advances in diagnosis and histopathology, including the more recent identification of antibodies associated with immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM) and inclusion body myositis (IBM). Ongoing longitudinal observational cohorts allow further classification of these patients with IIM, their predicted clinical course and response to specific therapies. Registries have been developed worldwide for this purpose. A challenging aspect in IIM, a multisystem disease with multiple clinical subtypes, has been defining disease status and clinically relevant improvement. Tools for assessing activity and damage are now recognised to be important in determining disease activity and guiding therapeutic decision-making. The International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies (IMACS) group has developed such tools for use in research and clinical settings. There is limited evidence for specific treatment strategies in IIM. With significant development in the understanding of IIM and improved classification, longitudinal observational cohorts and trials using validated outcome measures are necessary, to provide important information for evidence-based care in the clinical setting. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Linguistic Human Rights Discourse in Deaf Community Activism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Joseph J.

2015-01-01

The past three decades of activism for linguistic human rights (Skutnabb-Kangas 2000) have witnessed examples of language planning by various national and supranational actors in national and international spaces, with an exchange of ideas and strategies employed by national, regional, and worldwide organizations. In many countries a key goal of…

Approaches for predicting effects of unintended environmental exposure to an endocrine active pharmaceutical, tamoxifen

EPA Science Inventory

Tamoxifen is an endocrine-active pharmaceutical (EAP) that is used world-wide. Because tamoxifen is a ubiquitous pharmaceutical and interacts with estrogen receptors, a case study was conducted with this compound to (1) determine effects on reproductive endpoints in a nontarget s...

Accommodating Students with Disabilities in Soil Science Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langley-Turnbaugh, S. J.; Murphy, Kate; Levin, E.

2004-01-01

Soil science education is lacking in terms of accommodations for persons with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities are often excluded from soil science activities in school, and from soil science careers. GLOBE (Global Learning Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on primary and secondary school-based education and…

Interleukin 2 secretion by T cells for detection of biologically active Staphylococcal enterotoxin type E

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Staphylococcus aureus is a significant worldwide source of clinical infections and foodborne illnesses acting through the synthesis of a group of enterotoxins (SEs) which cause gastroenteritis and also function as superantigens that activate T cells resulting in massive cytokine production yielding ...

Prescribed fire effects on activity and movement of cattle in mesic sagebrush steppe

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Prescribed fire has long been used worldwide for livestock and wildlife management. The efficacy of prescribed fire for manipulating grazing animal distribution and diet quality has been well studied in many ecosystems but prescribed-fire effects on activity budgets and movement path characteristic...

Child Rights Information Network Newsletter, 2000-2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khan, Andrea, Ed.; Greenwood, Laura, Ed.

These five newsletter issues communicate activities of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) and report on information resources and world-wide activities concerning children and child rights. The March 2000 issue focuses on children's right to education, assessing the matter form a range of differing perspectives, at international and…

A long-term forecast analysis on worldwide land uses.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenjun; Qi, Yanhong; Zhang, Zhiguo

2006-08-01

More and more lands worldwide are being cultivated for food production while forests are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. This paper aims to make a long-term forecast on land uses worldwide and provide the public, researchers, and government officials with a clear profile for land uses in the future. Data of land uses since 1961 were used to fit historical trajectories and make the forecast. The results show that trajectories of land areas can be well fitted with univariate linear regressions. The forecasts of land uses during the coming 25 years were given in detail. Areas of agricultural land, arable land, and permanent pasture land worldwide would increase by 6.6%, 7.2%, and 6.3% respectively in the year 2030 as compared to the current areas. Permanent crops land area all over the world is forecasted to increase 0.64% by 2030. By the year 2030 the areas of forests and woodland, nonarable and nonpermanent land worldwide would decrease by 2.4% and 0.9% against the current areas. All other land area in the world would dramatically decline by 6.4% by the year 2030. Overall the land area related to agriculture would tend to decrease in developed countries, industrialized countries, Europe, and North and Central America. The agriculture related land area would considerably increase in developing countries, least developed countries, low-income countries, Asia, Africa, South America, etc. Developing countries hold larger total land area than developed countries. Dramatic and continuous growth in agricultural land area of developing countries would largely contribute to the expected growth of world agricultural land area in the coming years. Population explosion, food shortage and poverty in the world, especially in developing countries, together caused the excessive cultivation of land for agricultural uses in the past years. Increasing agricultural land area exacerbates the climate changes and degradation of environment. How to limit the growth of human population is a key problem for reducing agricultural land expansion. Development and use of high-yielding and high-quality crop and animal varieties, diversification of human food sources, and technical and financial assistance to developing countries from developed countries, should also be implemented and strengthened in the future in order to slow down or even reverse the increase trend of agricultural land area. Sustainable agriculture is the effective way to stabilize the agricultural land area without food shortage. Through various techniques and measures, sustainable agriculture may meet the food production goals with minimum environmental risk. Public awareness and interest in sustainable agriculture will help realize and ease the increasing stress from agricultural land expansion.

International Education Opportunities during the IHY: Bridging the Geographic, Cultural and Linguistic Divide between Participating IHY Nations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, B.J.; Morrow, C.A.; Rabello-Soares, M.C.; Smith, R.W.

2006-01-01

Currently there are over 70 U.N. Member States participating in the International Heliophysical Year (IHY 2007- 8), and most of these nations do not use English as their primary language. The IHY contains four main program elements: Science, Observatory Development, Outreach, and History. For these elements to be successful, each requires successful communication within and adaptation for the individual member states. The IHY Outreach program contains many educational activities targeting a wide range of languages and contexts. The other three program elements, however, offer a means to extend the impact of the educational programs and reinforce educational activities. IHY's scientific activities involve partnerships with institutions and observatories, many of which have outreach activities in their local communities. Scientists and participation programs from around the world have begun translating materials into their local languages and adapting educational tools for use in their communities. IHY's Observatory Development program, which began deploying instrumentation worldwide in 2004, encourages a strong educational component to each new observatory site as a means of ensuring long-lasting viability of the research program. The history program gathers important information and educates the public about the development of space science. This presentation will discuss efforts occurring within the IHY program that support cross-cultural communication and education and present opportunities to reach new audiences.

International Education Opportunities During the IHY: Bridging the Geographic, Cultural and Linguistic Divide Between Participating IHY Nations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, B. J.; Morrow, C. A.; Rabello-Soares, M. C.; Smith, R. W.

2006-12-01

Currently there are over 70 U.N. Member States participating in the International Heliophysical Year (IHY 2007- 8), and most of these nations do not use English as their primary language. The IHY contains four main program elements: Science, Observatory Development, Outreach, and History. For these elements to be successful, each requires successful communication within and adaptation for the individual member states. The IHY Outreach program contains many educational activities targetting a wide range of languages and contexts. The other three program elements, however, offer a means to extend the impact of the educational programs and reinforce educational activities. IHY's scientific activities involve partnerships with institutions and observatories, many of which have outreach activities in their local communities. Scientists and participation programs from around the world have begun translating materials into their local languages and adapting educational tools for use in their communities. IHY's Observatory Development program, which began deploying instrumentation worldwide in 2004, encourages a strong educational component to each new observatory site as a means of ensuring long-lasting viability of the research program. The history program gathers important information and educates the public about the development of space science. This presentation will discuss efforts occurring within the IHY program that support cross-cultural communication and education and present opportunities to reach new audiences.

International strategy for Nanotechnology Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roco, M. C.

2001-12-01

The worldwide nanotechnology research and development (R&D) investment reported by government organizations has increased by a factor of 3.5 between 1997 and 2001, and the highest rate of 90% is in 2001. At least 30 countries have initiated or are beginning national activities in this field. Scientists have opened a broad net of discoveries that does not leave any major research area untouched in physical, biological, and engineering sciences. Industry has gained confidence that nanotechnology will bring competitive advantages. The worldwide annual industrial production is estimated to exceed 1 trillion in 10-15 years from now, which would require about 2 million nanotechnology workers. U.S. has initiated a multidisciplinary strategy for development of science and engineering fundamentals through the National Nanotechnology Initiative. Japan and Europe have broad programs, and their current plans look ahead to four to five years. Other countries have encouraged their own areas of strength, several of them focusing on fields of the potential markets. Differences among countries are observed in the research domain they are aiming for, the level of program integration into various industrial sectors, and in the time scale of their R & D targets. Nanotechnology is growing in an environment where international interactions accelerate in science, education and industrial R & D. A global strategy of mutual interest is envisioned by connecting individual programs of contributing countries, professional communities, and international organizations.

Characterisation of worldwide Helicobacter pylori strains reveals genetic conservation and essentiality of serine protease HtrA

PubMed Central

Tegtmeyer, Nicole; Moodley, Yoshan; Yamaoka, Yoshio; Pernitzsch, Sandy Ramona; Schmidt, Vanessa; Traverso, Francisco Rivas; Schmidt, Thomas P.; Rad, Roland; Yeoh, Khay Guan; Bow, Ho; Torres, Javier; Gerhard, Markus; Schneider, Gisbert; Wessler, Silja

2015-01-01

Summary HtrA proteases and chaperones exhibit important roles in periplasmic protein quality control and stress responses. The genetic inactivation of htrA has been described for many bacterial pathogens. However, in some cases such as the gastric pathogen H elicobacter pylori, HtrA is secreted where it cleaves the tumour‐suppressor E‐cadherin interfering with gastric disease development, but the generation of htrA mutants is still lacking. Here, we show that the htrA gene locus is highly conserved in worldwide strains. HtrA presence was confirmed in 992 H . pylori isolates in gastric biopsy material from infected patients. Differential RNA‐sequencing (dRNA‐seq) indicated that htrA is encoded in an operon with two subsequent genes, HP1020 and HP1021. Genetic mutagenesis and complementation studies revealed that HP1020 and HP1021, but not htrA, can be mutated. In addition, we demonstrate that suppression of HtrA proteolytic activity with a newly developed inhibitor is sufficient to effectively kill H . pylori, but not other bacteria. We show that H elicobacter  htrA is an essential bifunctional gene with crucial intracellular and extracellular functions. Thus, we describe here the first microbe in which htrA is an indispensable gene, a situation unique in the bacterial kingdom. HtrA can therefore be considered a promising new target for anti‐bacterial therapy. PMID:26568477

Enhancing lifestyle for individuals with haemophilia through physical activity and exercise: the role of physiotherapy.

PubMed

Wittmeier, K; Mulder, K

2007-09-01

For individuals with haemophilia, the benefits of many forms of physical activity outweigh their risks. Although activities with significant trauma risk should be avoided, persons who have haemophilia can participate in, enjoy and even excel in a variety of physical activities and sports. Both the National Hemophilia Foundation and the World Foundation of Hemophilia have produced documents to guide individuals with haemophilia and their healthcare professionals, coaches and parents in developing physical activity programmes and participation in sports. Physical activity guidelines for promoting health benefits exist worldwide and can be incorporated into individualized exercise programmes to ensure that a person with haemophilia is not only choosing appropriate activities, but also improving overall health and preparing the body to manage haemophilia better. Physiotherapy treatment is paramount in helping individuals prevent, manage and optimally recover from bleeds. Furthermore, the physical therapist, along with the haemophilia care team, can assist in preparing an individual to begin or progress to a physical activity programme that enhances fitness level, body composition and overall well-being. This article presents the unique role of the physiotherapist in facilitating safe participation in quality physical activity in the context of risks, benefits and activity recommendations. Participation in physical activity from an early age is ideal to facilitate the development of body awareness and capability and to foster the adoption of a physically active lifestyle; however, it is never too late to start. Consistent participation in quality physical activity beginning at any age is central to managing haemophilia and, equally important, to achieving overall health and well-being.

A Summary of Worldwide National Activities in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Testing

PubMed Central

Ruiz-Arenas, Roberto; Sierra-Amor, Rosa; Seccombe, David; Raymondo, Stella; Graziani, Maria Stella; Panteghini, Mauro; Adedeji, Tewogbade A.; Kamatham, Shanthi Naidu

2017-01-01

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health issue worldwide and is associated with adverse health outcomes, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In a cash limited healthcare system, guidelines that improve the efficiency of health care free up resources needed for other healthcare services. This short review presents some examples from national acitivities in CKD testing, including countries throughout the globe: Mexico in North America, Uruguay in South America, Italy in Europe, Nigeria in Africa and India in Asia. Considering the fact that treatment of CKD is cost-effective and improves outcomes, this observation argue in favor of including CKD in national guidelines and noncommunicable chronic disease (NCD) programs. This diverse example of national activities fullfil the very first step in achieving this goal. PMID:29333149

Regulation and policy: International trends and issues

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Griffin, W S

As offshore oil and gas resources become exhausted, the associated production platforms and facilities will be decommissioned. The world-wide oil and gas industry is strictly regulated by global, regional and national guidelines which have been developed by governments to find the most responsible framework to perform the decommissioning. In the summer of 1995, the Brent Spar incident brought uncertainty to decommissioning world-wide. In June of 1995, a moratorium prohibiting sea disposal within the North East Atlantic was imposed by the Oslo Commission, and an unsuccessful attempt was made in December of 1995 to impose a world-wide moratorium on sea disposalmore » at the London Convention.« less

DNA and histone methylation in gastric carcinogenesis

PubMed Central

Calcagno, Danielle Queiroz; Gigek, Carolina Oliveira; Chen, Elizabeth Suchi; Burbano, Rommel Rodriguez; Smith, Marília de Arruda Cardoso

2013-01-01

Epigenetic alterations contribute significantly to the development and progression of gastric cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Epigenetics refers to the number of modifications of the chromatin structure that affect gene expression without altering the primary sequence of DNA, and these changes lead to transcriptional activation or silencing of the gene. Over the years, the study of epigenetic processes has increased, and novel therapeutic approaches that target DNA methylation and histone modifications have emerged. A greater understanding of epigenetics and the therapeutic potential of manipulating these processes is necessary for gastric cancer treatment. Here, we review recent research on the effects of aberrant DNA and histone methylation on the onset and progression of gastric tumors and the development of compounds that target enzymes that regulate the epigenome. PMID:23482412

Combinatorial nanomedicines for colon cancer therapy.

PubMed

Anitha, A; Maya, S; Sivaram, Amal J; Mony, U; Jayakumar, R

2016-01-01

Colon cancer is one of the major causes of cancer deaths worldwide. Even after surgical resection and aggressive chemotherapy, 50% of colorectal carcinoma patients develop recurrent disease. Thus, the rationale of developing new therapeutic approaches to improve the current chemotherapeutic regimen would be highly recommended. There are reports on the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in colon cancer and it has been practiced in clinics for long time. These approaches are associated with toxic side effects. Later, the drug delivery research had shown the potential of nanoencapsulation techniques and active targeting as an effective method to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy with less toxicity. This current focus article provides a brief analysis of the ongoing research in the colon cancer area using the combinatorial nanomedicines and its outcome. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN WORKSHOP ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF RADIOACTIVE SOURCE PHYSICAL PROTECTION UPGRADES HOSTED IN GUATEMALA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenberg, Raymond; Watson, Erica E.; Morris, Frederic A.

2009-10-07

The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) reduces and protects vulnerable nuclear and radiological material located at civilian sites worldwide. The GTRI program has worked successfully to remove and protect nuclear and radioactive materials, including orphaned and disused high-activity sources, and is now working to ensure sustainability. Internationally, over 40 countries are cooperating with GTRI to enhance the security of radiological materials. GTRI is now seeking to develop and enhance sustainability by coordinating its resources with those of the partner country, other donor countries, and international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Space - It's not just for governments anymore

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Barbara A.; Kleber, Peter

1992-01-01

Space initiatives have traditionally been in the exclusive domain of national government. Over the last decades, this has begun to change dramatically as commercial development of space has attracted increasing international attention. Businesses in at least 20 countries worldwide now engage in some form of space commerce. These businesses, which range from strictly entrepreneurial to government corporations, are seeking to do business in every commercial space sector. This paper details the current status and prospects for the future of space commerce in the United States and Europe, focusing on the programs of France, Germany, and Italy. Included are analyses of representative successes and failures of these activities.

Can Diabetes Be Controlled by Lifestyle Activities?

PubMed

Reddy, P Hemachandra

2017-03-01

Diabetes is a complex disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Diabetes is a metabolic disease, in which increased blood glucose levels ultimately lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, foot ulcers, and damage to the eyes. Current prevalence rates of diabetes are extremely high in countries throughout the world. Multiple forms of diabetes have been identified, including type 1, type 2, type 3, neonatal and gestational. The purpose of this article is to discuss recent developments in diabetes research, including prevalence, morbidity and mortality rates, and lifestyle factors that are associated with diabetes onset and progression. This article also discusses how lifestyle factors delay and/or prevent diabetes.

Bioremediation of Industrial Waste Through Enzyme Producing Marine Microorganisms.

PubMed

Sivaperumal, P; Kamala, K; Rajaram, R

Bioremediation process using microorganisms is a kind of nature-friendly and cost-effective clean green technology. Recently, biodegradation of industrial wastes using enzymes from marine microorganisms has been reported worldwide. The prospectus research activity in remediation area would contribute toward the development of advanced bioprocess technology. To minimize industrial wastes, marine enzymes could constitute a novel alternative in terms of waste treatment. Nowadays, the evidence on the mechanisms of bioremediation-related enzymes from marine microorganisms has been extensively studied. This review also will provide information about enzymes from various marine microorganisms and their complexity in the biodegradation of comprehensive range of industrial wastes. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

'Shooting at the sun god Apollo': the Apollonian-Dionysian balance of the TimeSlips Storytelling Project.

PubMed

George, Daniel R

2013-09-01

In The Birth of Tragedy, Friedrich Nietzsche celebrated the dueling forces of reason and emotion as personified by the ancient Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus. A subtle Apollonian-Dionysian balance can be observed in TimeSlips, a group-based creative storytelling activity developed in the 1990s and increasingly used in dementia care settings worldwide. This article explains how the Apollonion-Dionysian aspects of TimeSlips are beneficial not only for persons with dementia, but also for their carers. Narrative data from medical students at Penn State College of Medicine who participated in TimeSlips at a local retirement community are shared.

The antibacterial peptide ABP-CM4: the current state of its production and applications.

PubMed

Li, Jian Feng; Zhang, Jie; Xu, Xing Zhou; Han, Yang Yang; Cui, Xian Wei; Chen, Yu Qing; Zhang, Shuang Quan

2012-06-01

The increasing resistance of bacteria and fungi to currently available antibiotics is a major concern worldwide, leading to enormous efforts to develop new antibiotics with new modes of actions. Antibacterial peptide CM4 (ABP-CM4) is a small cationic peptide with broad-spectrum activities against bacteria, fungi, and tumor cells, which may possibly be used as a promising candidate for a new antibiotic. For pharmaceutical applications, a large quantity of antimicrobial peptides needs to be produced economically. In this communication, the progress in the structural characteristics, heterologous production, and biological evaluation of ABP-CM4 are reviewed.

Green related practices for construction procurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bidin, Z. A.; Bohari, A. A. M.; Rais, S. L. A.; Saferi, M. M.

2018-04-01

Environment degradation issue has been a worldwide problem and various efforts have been done to minimise the problem. Construction sectors are pointed as one of the major contributors to its construction activities. Green-oriented procurement [GP] is considered as an environmental strategy to integrate the environmental practices into the construction delivery. Thus, this paper reviews the concept of GP and the practices related to it. The outcome of this research findings provides a basis for understanding the concept of GP and the further development of GP. The listed GP practices identified from this paper can serve as guidelines for industry practitioners to design, implement, and benchmarking the green practices in their procurement delivery.

Physical activity text messaging interventions in adults: a systematic review.

PubMed

Buchholz, Susan Weber; Wilbur, JoEllen; Ingram, Diana; Fogg, Louis

2013-08-01

Physical inactivity is a leading health risk factor for mortality worldwide. Researchers are examining innovative techniques including the use of mobile technology to promote physical activity. One such technology, text messaging, is emerging internationally as a method to communicate with and motivate individuals to engage in healthy behaviors, including physical activity. Review the existing scientific literature on adult physical activity text messaging interventions. This systematic review examined research papers that addressed physical activity text messaging intervention studies in adults. Using multiple databases, the search strategy included published English language studies through October 1, 2011. An author-developed data collection tool was used independently by two reviewers to extract and examine the selected study variables. The initial search resulted in the identification of 200 publications. Eleven publications representing 10 studies were included in the final review. Studies were conducted in seven countries with over half the studies being randomized controlled trials. Participants of the studies were predominantly young to middle aged women. Physical activity data were mainly obtained by self-report although three studies used pedometers or accelerometers. Interventions ranged from only sending out text messages to combining text messages with educational materials, staff support, and/or Internet technology. Minimal information was given regarding development or number of text messages used. The median effect size for the studies was 0.50. To date, using text messaging as a method to promote physical activity has only been studied by a small group of researchers. Current physical activity text messaging literature is characterized by small sample sizes, heterogeneous but positive effect sizes, and a lack of specificity as to the development of the text messages used in these studies. Further research in this area is imperative to facilitate the expansion of mobile technology to promote physical activity. © 2013 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Music Therapy Practice Status and Trends Worldwide: An International Survey Study.

PubMed

Kern, Petra; Tague, Daniel B

2017-11-01

The field of music therapy is growing worldwide. While there is a wealth of country-specific information available, only a few have databased workforce censuses. Currently, little to no descriptive data exists about the global development of the profession. The purpose of this study was to obtain descriptive data about current demographics, practice status, and clinical trends to inform worldwide advocacy efforts, training needs, and the sustainable development of the field. Music therapists (N = 2,495) who were professional members of organizations affiliated with the World Federation of Music Therapy (WFMT) served as a sample for this international cross-sectional survey study. A 30-item online questionnaire was designed, pilot tested by key partners, and translated into seven languages. Researchers and key partners distributed the online survey through e-mail invitations and social media announcements. Professional music therapists worldwide are well-educated, mature professionals with adequate work experience, who are confident in providing high-quality services primarily in mental health, school, and geriatric settings. Due to ongoing challenges related to recognition and government regulation of the field as an evidence-based and well-funded healthcare profession, most individuals work part-time music therapy jobs and feel underpaid. Yet, many music therapists have a positive outlook on the field's future. Continued research and advocacy efforts, as well as collaborations with lobbyists, business consultants, and credentialing/licensure experts to develop progressive strategies, will be crucial for global development and sustainability of the field. © the American Music Therapy Association 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Active Tuberculosis in HIV-Exposed Tanzanian Children up to 2 years of Age: Early-Life Nutrition, Multivitamin Supplementation and Other Potential Risk Factors

PubMed Central

Liu, Enju; Manji, Karim P.; Danaei, Goodarz; Duggan, Christopher; Aboud, Said; Spiegelman, Donna; Fawzi, Wafaie W.

2016-01-01

Background: Over half a million children worldwide develop active tuberculosis (TB) each year. Early-life nutritional exposures have rarely been examined in relation to pediatric TB among HIV-exposed children. We therefore investigated independent associations of early-life nutritional exposures with active TB among HIV-exposed children up to 2 years of age. Methods: Participants were children from a randomized controlled multivitamin supplementation trial conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from August 2004 to May 2008, who received daily multivitamin supplements or placebo for 24 months. Results: Lower mean corpuscular volumes [relative risks (RR): 0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.27, 0.87] and higher birth weights (RR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.99) were protective against active TB, whereas multivitamin supplementation was not associated with TB risk (RR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.65, 1.16). Conclusions: Knowledge of nutrition-related risk and protective factors for TB in HIV-exposed children could enhance preventive and case-finding activities in this population, contributing to efforts to reduce the global TB burden. PMID:26494727

Rosmarinus officinalis L.: an update review of its phytochemistry and biological activity

PubMed Central

Andrade, Joana M; Faustino, Célia; Garcia, Catarina; Ladeiras, Diogo; Reis, Catarina P; Rijo, Patrícia

2018-01-01

The worldwide interest in the use of medicinal plants has been growing, and its beneficial effects being rediscovered for the development of new drugs. Based on their vast ethnopharmacological applications, which inspired current research in drug discovery, natural products can provide new and important leads against various pharmacological targets. This work pioneers an extensive and an updated literature review on the current state of research on Rosmarinus officinalis L., elucidating which compounds and biological activities are the most relevant. Therefore, a search was made in the databases PubMed, ScienceDirect and Web of Science with the terms ‘rosemary’, ‘Rosmarinus officinalis’, ‘rosmarinic acid’ ‘carnosol’ and ‘carnosic acid’, which included 286 articles published since 1990 about rosemary's pharmacological activities and their isolated compounds. According to these references, there has been an increasing interest in the therapeutic properties of this plant, regarding carnosic acid, carnosol, rosmarinic acid and the essential oil. The present manuscript provides an updated review upon the most reported activities on R. officinalis and its active constituents. PMID:29682318

Comparison of Dietary Intake and Physical Activity between Women with and without Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Review12

PubMed Central

Lin, Annie W.; Lujan, Marla E.

2014-01-01

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent endocrine disorder affecting women of reproductive age worldwide. In addition to deleterious effects on fertility imparted by PCOS, women with PCOS are at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and certain cancers. Hormonal and metabolic aberrations in PCOS have the potential to influence dietary intake and physical activity levels. There are emerging global data that women with PCOS have different baseline dietary energy intakes compared with women without PCOS. These alterations in diet may exacerbate clinical symptoms and compound risk of chronic disease in patients. Few studies have compared baseline physical activity levels between women with and without PCOS. Although comparisons between studies are confounded by several factors, the data point to no differences in activity levels among PCOS and non-PCOS groups. This review provides an assessment of the current literature on baseline dietary intake and physical activity levels in women with PCOS. Future recommendations to strengthen research in this area are provided, given the implications to aid in the development of effective nutrition-focused interventions for PCOS. PMID:25469380

Immune responses to Helicobacter pylori infection

PubMed Central

Moyat, Mati; Velin, Dominique

2014-01-01

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common infections in human beings worldwide. H. pylori express lipopolysaccharides and flagellin that do not activate efficiently Toll-like receptors and express dedicated effectors, such as γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, vacuolating cytotoxin (vacA), arginase, that actively induce tolerogenic signals. In this perspective, H. pylori can be considered as a commensal bacteria belonging to the stomach microbiota. However, when present in the stomach, H. pylori reduce the overall diversity of the gastric microbiota and promote gastric inflammation by inducing Nod1-dependent pro-inflammatory program and by activating neutrophils through the production of a neutrophil activating protein. The maintenance of a chronic inflammation in the gastric mucosa and the direct action of virulence factors (vacA and cytotoxin-associated gene A) confer pro-carcinogenic activities to H. pylori. Hence, H. pylori cannot be considered as symbiotic bacteria but rather as part of the pathobiont. The development of a H. pylori vaccine will bring health benefits for individuals infected with antibiotic resistant H. pylori strains and population of underdeveloped countries. PMID:24914318

Science and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auger, Pierre

1973-01-01

The relation between science and socioeconomic development in both developed and developing countries is discussed. The interdependence of pure and applied science, technology and finance, knowledge and tradition, and national, regional, and world-wide efforts in behalf of progress are characterized. (BL)

Suicide policy in Canada: lessons from history.

PubMed

Spiwak, Rae; Elias, Brenda; Bolton, James M; Martens, Patricia J; Sareen, Jitender

2012-07-18

In Canada, suicide has transitioned from being a criminal activity with much associated stigma, to being a public health concern that needs to be managed by governments and clinicians in a culturally sensitive manner. In Canada and worldwide, the social attitudes toward and legal interpretation of suicide have been dynamic. Much has been proposed in the development of suicide policy in Canada, however Canada is unique in that it remains one of the only industrialized countries without a national suicide prevention strategy. The current article provides a critical review of the history of suicide in Canada, as well as an appraisal of Canadian suicide prevention policies and key government and political milestones that have impacted suicide policy. Current activity regarding a national suicide prevention strategy in Canada is discussed, as well as potential options for clinician involvement.

Immune Responses to HCV and Other Hepatitis Viruses

PubMed Central

Park, Su-Hyung; Rehermann, Barbara

2014-01-01

Summary Five human hepatitis viruses cause most acute and chronic liver disease worldwide. Over the past 25 years hepatitis C virus (HCV) in particular has received much interest because of its ability to persist in most immunocompetent adults and the lack of a protective vaccine. Here we examine innate and adaptive immune responses to HCV infection. Although HCV activates an innate immune response, it employs an elaborate set of mechanisms to evade interferon (IFN)-based antiviral immunity. By comparing innate and adaptive immune responses to HCV with those to hepatitis A and B viruses, we suggest that prolonged innate immune activation impairs the development of successful adaptive immune responses. Comparative immunology furthermore provides insights into the maintenance of immune protection. We conclude by discussing prospects for an HCV vaccine and future research needs for the hepatitis viruses. PMID:24439265

Antibiotic reimbursement in a model delinked from sales: a benchmark-based worldwide approach.

PubMed

Rex, John H; Outterson, Kevin

2016-04-01

Despite the life-saving ability of antibiotics and their importance as a key enabler of all of modern health care, their effectiveness is now threatened by a rising tide of resistance. Unfortunately, the antibiotic pipeline does not match health needs because of challenges in discovery and development, as well as the poor economics of antibiotics. Discovery and development are being addressed by a range of public-private partnerships; however, correcting the poor economics of antibiotics will need an overhaul of the present business model on a worldwide scale. Discussions are now converging on delinking reward from antibiotic sales through prizes, milestone payments, or insurance-like models in which innovation is rewarded with a fixed series of payments of a predictable size. Rewarding all drugs with the same payments could create perverse incentives to produce drugs that provide the least possible innovation. Thus, we propose a payment model using a graded array of benchmarked rewards designed to encourage the development of antibiotics with the greatest societal value, together with appropriate worldwide access to antibiotics to maximise human health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Activation of farnesoid X receptor attenuates hepatic injury in a murine model of alcoholic liver disease

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Weibin; Institutes of Biomedical Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032; Zhu, Bo

2014-01-03

Highlights: •FXR activity was impaired by chronic ethanol ingestion in a murine model of ALD. •Activation of FXR attenuated alcohol-induced liver injury and steatosis. •Activation of FXR attenuated cholestasis and oxidative stress in mouse liver. -- Abstract: Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a common cause of advanced liver disease, and considered as a major risk factor of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Hepatic cholestasis is a pathophysiological feature observed in all stages of ALD. The farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, and plays an essential role in the regulation of bile acid, lipid andmore » glucose homeostasis. However, the role of FXR in the pathogenesis and progression of ALD remains largely unknown. Mice were fed Lieber-DeCarli ethanol diet or an isocaloric control diet. We used a specific agonist of FXR WAY-362450 to study the effect of pharmacological activation of FXR in alcoholic liver disease. In this study, we demonstrated that FXR activity was impaired by chronic ethanol ingestion in a murine model of ALD. Activation of FXR by specific agonist WAY-362450 protected mice from the development of ALD. We also found that WAY-362450 treatment rescued FXR activity, suppressed ethanol-induced Cyp2e1 up-regulation and attenuated oxidative stress in liver. Our results highlight a key role of FXR in the modulation of ALD development, and propose specific FXR agonists for the treatment of ALD patients.« less

Cell based assays for anti-Plasmodium activity evaluation.

PubMed

Mokgethi-Morule, Thabang; N'Da, David D

2016-03-10

Malaria remains one of the most common and deadly infectious diseases worldwide. The severity of this global public health challenge is reflected by the approximately 198 million people, who were reportedly infected in 2013 and by the more than 584,000 related deaths in that same year. The rising emergence of drug resistance towards the once effective artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) has become a serious concern and warrants more robust drug development strategies, with the objective of eradicating malaria infections. The intricate biology and life cycle of Plasmodium parasites complicate the understanding of the disease in such a way that would enhance the development of more effective chemotherapies that would achieve radical clinical cure and that would prevent disease relapse. Phenotypic cell based assays have for long been a valuable approach and involve the screening and analysis of diverse compounds with regards to their activities towards whole Plasmodium parasites in vitro. To achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of malaria eradication by 2020, new generation drugs that are active against all parasite stages (erythrocytic (blood), exo-erythrocytic (liver stages and gametocytes)) are needed. Significant advances are being made in assay development to overcome some of the practical challenges of assessing drug efficacy, particularly in the liver and transmission stage Plasmodium models. This review discusses primary screening models and the fundamental progress being made in whole cell based efficacy screens of anti-malarial activity. Ongoing challenges and some opportunities for improvements in assay development that would assist in the discovery of effective, safe and affordable drugs for malaria treatments are also discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The potential of medical device industry in technological and economical context

PubMed Central

Maresova, Petra; Penhaker, Marek; Selamat, Ali; Kuca, Kamil

2015-01-01

The high quality of public health improves not only healthy life expectancy, but also the productivity of labor. The most important part of the health care sector is the medical technology industry. The aim of this study is to analyze the current situation in the medical device industry in Europe, its potential strengths and weaknesses in the context of topical economic and demographic development. The contribution specifies an analysis of the economic state of the medical device industry in the context of demographic development of European Union’s macroeconomic indicators and views of experts in the field of medical device development, concerning the opportunities for entities involved in the medical device market. There is fierce competition on the European market. The innovative activity is stable and well regulated by responsible authorities. Worldwide, the medical device market is expected to grow. PMID:26491337

The French Armed Forces Virology Unit: A Chronological Record of Ongoing Research on Orthopoxvirus

PubMed Central

Delaune, Déborah; Iseni, Frédéric; Ferrier-Rembert, Audrey; Peyrefitte, Christophe N.; Ferraris, Olivier

2017-01-01

Since the official declaration of smallpox eradication in 1980, the general population vaccination has ceased worldwide. Therefore, people under 40 year old are generally not vaccinated against smallpox and have no cross protection against orthopoxvirus infections. This naïve population may be exposed to natural or intentional orthopoxvirus emergences. The virology unit of the Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (France) has developed research programs on orthopoxviruses since 2000. Its missions were conceived to improve the diagnosis capabilities, to foster vaccine development, and to develop antivirals targeting specific viral proteins. The role of the virology unit was asserted in 2012 when the responsibility of the National Reference Center for the Orthopoxviruses was given to the unit. This article presents the evolution of the unit activity since 2000, and the past and current research focusing on orthopoxviruses. PMID:29295488

Sustainable energy, economic growth and public health.

PubMed

Haines, A

2001-01-01

Dramatic economic growth over the last 50 years has been accompanied by widening inequalities world-wide in wealth and energy consumption, diminished life expectancy in some countries, and deteriorating indices of environmental sustainability including loss of bio-diversity. Raised output of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases due to increased economic and industrial activity is causing progressive climate change, leading in turn to direct and indirect adverse effects on health. Emissions of greenhouse gases can be lowered by increased use of renewable energy sources, for example, wind power in the United Kingdom (UK), greater energy efficiency and other measures to promote sustainability. The experience of some developing countries shows that favourable indicators of health and development can accompany a low output of greenhouse gases. It is unclear whether contemporary political and social systems can deliver improved human development without increased use of fossil fuels and other resources.

Molecular mechanisms of chemopreventive phytochemicals against gastroenterological cancer development

PubMed Central

Chung, Min-Yu; Lim, Tae Gyu; Lee, Ki Won

2013-01-01

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Commonly used cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy, often have side effects and a complete cure is sometimes impossible. Therefore, prevention, suppression, and/or delaying the onset of the disease are important. The onset of gastroenterological cancers is closely associated with an individual’s lifestyle. Thus, changing lifestyle, specifically the consumption of fruits and vegetables, can help to protect against the development of gastroenterological cancers. In particular, naturally occurring bioactive compounds, including curcumin, resveratrol, isothiocyanates, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate and sulforaphane, are regarded as promising chemopreventive agents. Hence, regular consumption of these natural bioactive compounds found in foods can contribute to prevention, suppression, and/or delay of gastroenterological cancer development. In this review, we will summarize natural phytochemicals possessing potential antioxidant and/or anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic activities, which are exerted by regulating or targeting specific molecules against gastroenterological cancers, including esophageal, gastric and colon cancers. PMID:23467658

Vaccination Against Dengue: Challenges and Current Developments.

PubMed

Guy, Bruno; Lang, Jean; Saville, Melanie; Jackson, Nicholas

2016-01-01

Dengue is a growing threat worldwide, and the development of a vaccine is a public health priority. The completion of the active phase of two pivotal efficacy studies conducted in Asia and Latin America by Sanofi Pasteur has constituted an important step. Several other approaches are under development, and whichever technology is used, vaccine developers face several challenges linked to the particular nature and etiology of dengue disease. We start our review by defining questions and potential issues linked to dengue pathology and presenting the main types of vaccine approaches that have explored these questions; some of these candidates are in a late stage of clinical development. In the second part of the review, we focus on the Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine candidate, describing the steps from research to phase III efficacy studies. Finally, we discuss what could be the next steps, before and after vaccine introduction, to ensure that the vaccine will provide the best benefit with an acceptable safety profile to the identified target populations.

Space Weather Research in Armenia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chilingarian, A. A.

DVIN for ASEC (Data Visualization interactive Network for Aragats Space Environmental Center) is product for accessing and analysis the on-line data from Solar Monitors located at high altitude research station on Mt. Aragats in Armenia. Data from ASEC monitors is used worldwide for scientific purposes and for monitoring of severe solar storms in progress. Alert service, based on the automatic analysis of variations of the different species of cosmic ray particles is available for subscribers. DVIN advantages: DVIN is strategically important as a scientific application to help develop space science and to foster global collaboration in forecasting potential hazards of solar storms. It precisely fits with the goals of the new evolving information society to provide long-term monitoring and collection of high quality scientific data, and enables adequate dialogue between scientists, decision makers, and civil society. The system is highly interactive and exceptional information is easily accessible online. Data can be monitored and analyzed for desired time spans in a fast and reliable manner. The ASEC activity is an example of a balance between the scientific independence of fundamental research and the needs of civil society. DVIN is also an example of how scientific institutions can apply the newest powerful methods of information technologies, such as multivariate data analysis, to their data and also how information technologies can provide convenient and reliable access to this data and to new knowledge for the world-wide scientific community. DVIN provides very wide possibilities for sharing data and sending warnings and alerts to scientists and other entities world-wide, which have fundamental and practical interest in knowing the space weather conditions.

The Climate Services Partnership (CSP): Working Together to Improve Climate Services Worldwide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zebiak, S.; Brasseur, G.; Members of the CSP Coordinating Group

2012-04-01

Throughout the world, climate services are required to address urgent needs for climate-informed decision-making, policy and planning. These needs were explored in detail at the first International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS), held in New York in October 2011. After lengthy discussions of needs and capabilities, the conference culminated in the creation of the Climate Services Partnership (CSP). The CSP is an informal interdisciplinary network of climate information users, providers, donors and researchers interested in improving the provision and development of climate services worldwide. Members of the Climate Services Partnership work together to share knowledge, accelerate learning, develop new capacities, and establish good practices. These collaborative efforts will inform and support the evolution and implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services. The Climate Services Partnership focuses its efforts on three levels. These include: 1. encouraging and sustaining connections between climate information providers, users, donors, and researchers 2. gathering, synthesizing and disseminating current knowledge on climate services by way of an online knowledge management platform 3. generating new knowledge on critical topics in climate service development and provision, through the creation of focused working groups on specific topics To date, the Climate Services Partnership has made progress on all three fronts. Connections have been fostered through outreach at major international conferences and professional societies. The CSP also maintains a website and a monthly newsletter, which serves as a resource for those interested in climate services. The second International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS2) will be held in Berlin in September. The CSP has also created a knowledge capture system that gathers and disseminates a wide range of information related to the development and provision of climate services. This includes an online-searchable database that allows users to see what climate services activities are underway in what locations, to gather and analyze information. As part of the knowledge capture system, more than 10 CSP members are currently developing case studies to describe specific climate services activities; in a few cases, this involves in-depth evaluations of the service in question. Finally, the Economics Working Group of the Climate Services Partnership is analyzing previous methods to economically value climate services in hopes of generating knew knowledge regarding the methods are best suited to assessing the benefits associated with various climate services. Other groups are working to develop guidance materials for the development and use of climate information to support decision and policy-making. The Climate Services Partnership is an open, informal network that builds on activities that are already underway and works to create synergies to improve the provision and development for climate services. Its members currently number more than 50 organizations; it seeks new participants and new initiatives.

Improving Fishing Pattern Detection from Satellite AIS Using Data Mining and Machine Learning.

PubMed

de Souza, Erico N; Boerder, Kristina; Matwin, Stan; Worm, Boris

2016-01-01

A key challenge in contemporary ecology and conservation is the accurate tracking of the spatial distribution of various human impacts, such as fishing. While coastal fisheries in national waters are closely monitored in some countries, existing maps of fishing effort elsewhere are fraught with uncertainty, especially in remote areas and the High Seas. Better understanding of the behavior of the global fishing fleets is required in order to prioritize and enforce fisheries management and conservation measures worldwide. Satellite-based Automatic Information Systems (S-AIS) are now commonly installed on most ocean-going vessels and have been proposed as a novel tool to explore the movements of fishing fleets in near real time. Here we present approaches to identify fishing activity from S-AIS data for three dominant fishing gear types: trawl, longline and purse seine. Using a large dataset containing worldwide fishing vessel tracks from 2011-2015, we developed three methods to detect and map fishing activities: for trawlers we produced a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) using vessel speed as observation variable. For longliners we have designed a Data Mining (DM) approach using an algorithm inspired from studies on animal movement. For purse seiners a multi-layered filtering strategy based on vessel speed and operation time was implemented. Validation against expert-labeled datasets showed average detection accuracies of 83% for trawler and longliner, and 97% for purse seiner. Our study represents the first comprehensive approach to detect and identify potential fishing behavior for three major gear types operating on a global scale. We hope that this work will enable new efforts to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of global fishing effort and make global fisheries activities transparent to ocean scientists, managers and the public.

What makes people talk about antibiotics on social media? A retrospective analysis of Twitter use.

PubMed

Dyar, Oliver J; Castro-Sánchez, Enrique; Holmes, Alison H

2014-09-01

Social media has reshaped individual and institutional communication. The unrestricted access to spontaneous views and opinions of society can enrich the evaluation of healthcare interventions. Antimicrobial resistance has been identified as a global threat to health requiring collaboration between clinicians and healthcare users. We sought to explore events and individuals influencing the discourse about antibiotics on Twitter. A web-based tool (www.topsy.com) was used to detect daily occurrences of the word 'antibiotic' from 24 September 2012 to 23 September 2013 in worldwide Tweets. Activity peaks (message frequency over three times that of baseline) were analysed to identify events leading to the increase. Of 135 billion messages posted during the study period, 243000 (0.000002%) referred to 'antibiotic'. The greatest activity increases appeared after: (i) the UK Chief Medical Officer's (CMO's) declaration of antimicrobial resistance as a national risk (January 2013 and March 2013); (ii) the release of the US CDC's report on antimicrobial resistance (September 2013); and (iii) the US FDA announcement on azithromycin safety concerns (March 2013). The CMO report in March reached an estimated worldwide audience of 20 million users in a single day. However, the frequency of antibiotic Tweets returned to basal levels within 48 h of all four peaks in activity. Institutional events can rapidly amplify antibiotic discussions on social media, but their short lifespan may hinder their public impact. Multipronged strategies may be required to prolong responses. Developing methods to refine social media monitoring to evaluate the impact and sustainability of societal engagement in the antimicrobial resistance agenda remains essential. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Improving Fishing Pattern Detection from Satellite AIS Using Data Mining and Machine Learning

PubMed Central

Matwin, Stan; Worm, Boris

2016-01-01

A key challenge in contemporary ecology and conservation is the accurate tracking of the spatial distribution of various human impacts, such as fishing. While coastal fisheries in national waters are closely monitored in some countries, existing maps of fishing effort elsewhere are fraught with uncertainty, especially in remote areas and the High Seas. Better understanding of the behavior of the global fishing fleets is required in order to prioritize and enforce fisheries management and conservation measures worldwide. Satellite-based Automatic Information Systems (S-AIS) are now commonly installed on most ocean-going vessels and have been proposed as a novel tool to explore the movements of fishing fleets in near real time. Here we present approaches to identify fishing activity from S-AIS data for three dominant fishing gear types: trawl, longline and purse seine. Using a large dataset containing worldwide fishing vessel tracks from 2011–2015, we developed three methods to detect and map fishing activities: for trawlers we produced a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) using vessel speed as observation variable. For longliners we have designed a Data Mining (DM) approach using an algorithm inspired from studies on animal movement. For purse seiners a multi-layered filtering strategy based on vessel speed and operation time was implemented. Validation against expert-labeled datasets showed average detection accuracies of 83% for trawler and longliner, and 97% for purse seiner. Our study represents the first comprehensive approach to detect and identify potential fishing behavior for three major gear types operating on a global scale. We hope that this work will enable new efforts to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of global fishing effort and make global fisheries activities transparent to ocean scientists, managers and the public. PMID:27367425

[Present and future of antithrombotic therapy in acute coronary syndromes].

PubMed

Antman, Elliott M

2003-02-01

Antithrombotic therapy in the management of an acute coronary syndrome is designed to inhibit both the coagulation cascade and platelet activation, thus preventing the development of the pathophysiological consequences of these processes. The main therapeutic approaches used for this purpose are unfractionated heparin, low-molecular-weight heparins, or direct antithrombins, all of them being molecules that interfere with the formation of a thrombin clot. Numerous clinical studies have investigated the advantages and disadvantages of each of these strategies and the benefits and risks of combined therapy with these drugs or their association with platelet inhibitors. The difficulty of establishing the relative benefits of different therapeutic approaches is due in part to the enormous number of possible combinations and the different clinical situations in which they can be used. In addition, the need for antithrombotic agents with a more specific inhibitor activity and a broader therapeutic range is motivating active investigation in laboratories worldwide. This has lead to the design of recombinant molecules and monoclonal antibodies that interrupt the activation of the coagulation cascade in several strategically important points. The relation between the clinical benefits obtained from this new generation of molecules and the increased health care costs generated by their design and development remains to be seen.

Quality improvement activities associated with organisational capacity in general practice.

PubMed

Amoroso, Cheryl; Proudfoot, Judy; Bubner, Tanya; Swan, Edward; Espinel, Paola; Barton, Christopher; Beilby, Justin; Harris, Mark

2007-01-01

Clinical audit is recognised worldwide as a useful tool for quality improvement. A feedback report profiling capacity for chronic disease care was sent to 97 general practices. These practices were invited to complete a clinical audit activity based on that feedback. Data were analysed quantitatively and case studies were developed based on the free text responses. Eighty-two (33%) of 247 general practitioners participated in the clinical audit process, representing 57 (59%) of 97 general practices. From the data in their feedback report, 37 (65%) of the 57 practices recognised the area most in need of improvement. This was most likely where the need related to clinical practice or teamwork, and least likely where the need related to linkages with other services, and business and finance. Only 25 practices (46%) developed an action plan related to their recognised area for improvement, and 22 (39%) practices implemented their chosen activity. Participating GPs judged that change activity focused on teamwork was most successful. The clinical audit process offered participating GPs and practices an opportunity to reflect on their performance across a number of key areas and to implement change to enhance the practice's capacity for quality chronic disease care. The relationship between need and action was weak, suggesting a need for greater support to overcome barriers.

High-throughput testing in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma identifies agents with preferential activity in human papillomavirus-positive or negative cell lines.

PubMed

Ghasemi, Farhad; Black, Morgan; Sun, Ren X; Vizeacoumar, Frederick; Pinto, Nicole; Ruicci, Kara M; Yoo, John; Fung, Kevin; MacNeil, Danielle; Palma, David A; Winquist, Eric; Mymryk, Joe S; Ailles, Laurie A; Datti, Alessandro; Barrett, John W; Boutros, Paul C; Nichols, Anthony C

2018-05-25

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common cancer diagnosis worldwide. Despite advances in treatment, HNSCC has very poor survival outcomes, emphasizing an ongoing need for development of improved therapeutic options. The distinct tumor characteristics of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive vs . HPV-negative disease necessitate development of treatment strategies tailored to tumor HPV-status. High-throughput robotic screening of 1,433 biologically and pharmacologically relevant compounds at a single dose (4 μM) was carried out against 6 HPV-positive and 20 HPV-negative HNSCC cell lines for preliminary identification of therapeutically relevant compounds. Statistical analysis was further carried out to differentiate compounds with preferential activity against cell lines stratified by the HPV-status. These analyses yielded 57 compounds with higher activity in HPV-negative cell lines, and 34 with higher-activity in HPV-positive ones. Multi-point dose-response curves were generated for six of these compounds (Ryuvidine, MK-1775, SNS-032, Flavopiridol, AZD-7762 and ARP-101), confirming Ryuvidine to have preferential potency against HPV-negative cell lines, and MK-1775 to have preferential potency against HPV-positive cell lines. These data comprise a valuable resource for further investigation of compounds with therapeutic potential in the HNSCC.

Potential Mechanism of Action of 3'-Demethoxy-6-O-demethyl-isoguaiacin on Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

PubMed

Favela-Hernández, Juan Manuel J; Clemente-Soto, Aldo F; Balderas-Rentería, Isaías; Garza-González, Elvira; Camacho-Corona, María del Rayo

2015-07-08

Bacterial infections represent one of the main threats to global public health. One of the major causative agents associated with high morbidity and mortality infections in hospitals worldwide is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, there is a need to develop new antibacterial agents to treat these infections, and natural products are a rich source of them. In previous studies, we reported that lignan 3'-demethoxy-6-O-demethylisoguaiacin, isolated and characterized from Larrea tridentate, showed the best activity towards methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the potential molecular mechanism of the antibacterial activity of 3'-demethoxy-6-O-demethylisoguaiacin against methicillin-resistant S. aureus using microarray technology. Results of microarray genome expression were validated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The genetic profile expression results showed that lignan 3'-demethoxy-6-O-demethylisoguaiacin had activity on cell membrane affecting proteins of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transport system causing bacteria death. This molecular mechanism is not present in any antibacterial commercial drug and could be a new target for the development of novel antibacterial agents.

Potential mechanism of action of 3'-demethoxy-6-O-demethyl-isoguaiacin on methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

PubMed

Favela-Hernández, Juan Manuel J; Clemente-Soto, Aldo F; Balderas-Rentería, Isaías; Garza-González, Elvira; Camacho-Corona, María Del Rayo

2015-07-08

Bacterial infections represent one of the main threats to global public health. One of the major causative agents associated with high morbidity and mortality infections in hospitals worldwide is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, there is a need to develop new antibacterial agents to treat these infections, and natural products are a rich source of them. In previous studies, we reported that lignan 3'-demethoxy-6-O-demethylisoguaiacin, isolated and characterized from Larrea tridentate, showed the best activity towards methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the potential molecular mechanism of the antibacterial activity of 3'-demethoxy-6-O-demethylisoguaiacin against methicillin-resistant S. aureus using microarray technology. Results of microarray genome expression were validated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The genetic profile expression results showed that lignan 3'-demethoxy-6-O-demethylisoguaiacin had activity on cell membrane affecting proteins of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transport system causing bacteria death. This molecular mechanism is not present in any antibacterial commercial drug and could be a new target for the development of novel antibacterial agents.

Integrated cable vibration control system using wireless sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Seunghoo; Cho, Soojin; Sim, Sung-Han

2017-04-01

As the number of long-span bridges is increasing worldwide, maintaining their structural integrity and safety become an important issue. Because the stay cable is a critical member in most long-span bridges and vulnerable to wind-induced vibrations, vibration mitigation has been of interest both in academia and practice. While active and semi-active control schemes are known to be quite effective in vibration reduction compared to the passive control, requirements for equipment including data acquisition, control devices, and power supply prevent a widespread adoption in real-world applications. This study develops an integrated system for vibration control of stay-cables using wireless sensors implementing a semi-active control. Arduino, a low-cost single board system, is employed with a MEMS digital accelerometer and a Zigbee wireless communication module to build the wireless sensor. The magneto-rheological (MR) damper is selected as a damping device, controlled by an optimal control algorithm implemented on the Arduino sensing system. The developed integrated system is tested in a laboratory environment using a cable to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system on vibration reduction. The proposed system is shown to reduce the vibration of stay-cables with low operating power effectively.

Perspective of Use of Antiviral Peptides against Influenza Virus

PubMed Central

Skalickova, Sylvie; Heger, Zbynek; Krejcova, Ludmila; Pekarik, Vladimir; Bastl, Karel; Janda, Jozef; Kostolansky, Frantisek; Vareckova, Eva; Zitka, Ondrej; Adam, Vojtech; Kizek, Rene

2015-01-01

The threat of a worldwide influenza pandemic has greatly increased over the past decade with the emergence of highly virulent avian influenza strains. The increased frequency of drug-resistant influenza strains against currently available antiviral drugs requires urgent development of new strategies for antiviral therapy, too. The research in the field of therapeutic peptides began to develop extensively in the second half of the 20th century. Since then, the mechanisms of action for several peptides and their antiviral prospect received large attention due to the global threat posed by viruses. Here, we discussed the therapeutic properties of peptides used in influenza treatment. Peptides with antiviral activity against influenza can be divided into three main groups. First, entry blocker peptides such as a Flupep that interact with influenza hemagglutinin, block its binding to host cells and prevent viral fusion. Second, several peptides display virucidal activity, disrupting viral envelopes, e.g., Melittin. Finally, a third set of peptides interacts with the viral polymerase complex and act as viral replication inhibitors such as PB1 derived peptides. Here, we present a review of the current literature describing the antiviral activity, mechanism and future therapeutic potential of these influenza antiviral peptides. PMID:26492266

International ITS Program Assessment

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-08-01

THIS PAPER ATTEMPTS TO MAKE AN UPDATED COMPARISON OF WORLDWIDE ACTIVITIES IN INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS) AND TO RECOMMEND A STRATEGY FOR CONTINUING INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM ASSESSMENT FOR DISCUSSION AT THE BENEFITS, EVALUATION AND COSTS (BE...

Comprehensive taxonomy and worldwide trends in pharmaceutical policies in relation to country income status.

PubMed

Maniadakis, N; Kourlaba, G; Shen, J; Holtorf, A

2017-05-25

Rapidly evolving socioeconomic and technological trends make it challenging to improve access, effectiveness and efficiency in the use of pharmaceuticals. This paper identifies and systematically classifies the prevailing pharmaceutical policies worldwide in relation to a country's income status. A literature search was undertaken to identify and taxonomize prevailing policies worldwide. Countries that apply those policies and those that do not were then grouped by income status. Pharmaceutical policies are linked to a country's socioeconomics. Developed countries have universal coverage and control pharmaceuticals with external and internal price referencing systems, and indirect price-cost controls; they carry out health technology assessments and demand utilization controls. Price-volume and risk-sharing agreements are also evolving. Developing countries are underperforming in terms of coverage and they rely mostly on restrictive state controls to regulate prices and expenditure. There are significant disparities worldwide in the access to pharmaceuticals, their use, and the reimbursement of costs. The challenge in high-income countries is to maintain access to care whilst dealing with trends in technology and aging. Essential drugs should be available to all; however, many low- and middle-income countries still provide most of their population with only poor access to medicines. As economies grow, there should be greater investment in pharmaceutical care, looking to the policies of high-income countries to increase efficiency. Pharmaceutical companies could also develop special access schemes with low prices to facilitate coverage in low-income countries.

[The history and perspective of gender-specific medicine in Japan].

PubMed

Shimokawa, Hiroaki

2015-04-01

The history of gender-specific medicine started when Barbara Seaman, a female American journalist, started the women's health movement in 1957. Since then, the National Institutes of Health(NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) have promoted gender-specific medicine in USA, including the Women's Health Initiative(WHI) by NIH in 1991 and the Office on Women's Health(OWH) by FDA in 1995. In Japan, being stimulated by the movements in USA, Dr. Chuwa Tei founded Japan' s first women' s clinic in Kagoshima University in 2001, and Dr. Keiko Amano founded the Association for Gender-Specific Medicine in 2004. These activities developed into the establishment of the Japanese Association for Gender-Specific Medicine in 2008, for which Dr.Tei served as the first president for 4 years, followed by Hiroaki Shimokawa since 2012. Furthermore, the importance of gender-specific medicine has been emerging worldwide, resulting in the establishment of International Society of Gender Medicine in 2012. Indeed, the history of gender-specific medicine is 60 years worldwide and is only 15 years in Japan. However, gender-specific medicine will become more and more important not only in medicine but also in the whole society.

Systems and WBANs for Controlling Obesity

PubMed Central

Mohammed, Maali Said; Sendra, Sandra

2018-01-01

According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimations, one out of five adults worldwide will be obese by 2025. Worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980. In fact, more than 1.9 billion adults (39%) of 18 years and older were overweight and over 600 million (13%) of these were obese in 2014. 42 million children under the age of five were overweight or obese in 2014. Obesity is a top public health problem due to its associated morbidity and mortality. This paper reviews the main techniques to measure the level of obesity and body fat percentage, and explains the complications that can carry to the individual's quality of life, longevity and the significant cost of healthcare systems. Researchers and developers are adapting the existing technology, as intelligent phones or some wearable gadgets to be used for controlling obesity. They include the promoting of healthy eating culture and adopting the physical activity lifestyle. The paper also shows a comprehensive study of the most used mobile applications and Wireless Body Area Networks focused on controlling the obesity and overweight. Finally, this paper proposes an intelligent architecture that takes into account both, physiological and cognitive aspects to reduce the degree of obesity and overweight. PMID:29599941

Systems and WBANs for Controlling Obesity.

PubMed

Mohammed, Maali Said; Sendra, Sandra; Lloret, Jaime; Bosch, Ignacio

2018-01-01

According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimations, one out of five adults worldwide will be obese by 2025. Worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980. In fact, more than 1.9 billion adults (39%) of 18 years and older were overweight and over 600 million (13%) of these were obese in 2014. 42 million children under the age of five were overweight or obese in 2014. Obesity is a top public health problem due to its associated morbidity and mortality. This paper reviews the main techniques to measure the level of obesity and body fat percentage, and explains the complications that can carry to the individual's quality of life, longevity and the significant cost of healthcare systems. Researchers and developers are adapting the existing technology, as intelligent phones or some wearable gadgets to be used for controlling obesity. They include the promoting of healthy eating culture and adopting the physical activity lifestyle. The paper also shows a comprehensive study of the most used mobile applications and Wireless Body Area Networks focused on controlling the obesity and overweight. Finally, this paper proposes an intelligent architecture that takes into account both, physiological and cognitive aspects to reduce the degree of obesity and overweight.

Role of Adiposity-Driven Inflammation in Depressive Morbidity

PubMed Central

Capuron, Lucile; Lasselin, Julie; Castanon, Nathalie

2017-01-01

Depression and metabolic disorders, including overweight and obesity, appear tightly interrelated. The prevalence of these conditions is concurrently growing worldwide, and both depression and overweight/obesity represent substantial risk factors for multiple medical complications. Moreover, there is now multiple evidence for a bidirectional relationship between depression and increased adiposity, with overweight/obesity being associated with an increased prevalence of depression, and in turn, depression augmenting the risk of weight gain and obesity. Although the reasons for this intricate link between depression and increased adiposity remain unclear, converging clinical and preclinical evidence points to a critical role for inflammatory processes and related alterations of brain functions. In support of this notion, increased adiposity leads to a chronic low-grade activation of inflammatory processes, which have been shown elsewhere to have a potent role in the pathophysiology of depression. It is therefore highly possible that adiposity-driven inflammation contributes to the development of depressive disorders and their growing prevalence worldwide. This review will present recent evidence in support of this hypothesis and will discuss the underlying mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets. Altogether, findings presented here should help to better understand the mechanisms linking adiposity to depression and facilitate the identification of new preventive and/or therapeutic strategies. PMID:27402495

Chemical features of Ganoderma polysaccharides with antioxidant, antitumor and antimicrobial activities.

PubMed

Ferreira, Isabel C F R; Heleno, Sandrina A; Reis, Filipa S; Stojkovic, Dejan; Queiroz, Maria João R P; Vasconcelos, M Helena; Sokovic, Marina

2015-06-01

Ganoderma genus comprises one of the most commonly studied species worldwide, Ganoderma lucidum. However, other Ganoderma species have been also reported as important sources of bioactive compounds. Polysaccharides are important contributors to the medicinal properties reported for Ganoderma species, as demonstrated by the numerous publications, including reviews, on this matter. Yet, what are the chemical features of Ganoderma polysaccharides that have bioactivity? In the present manuscript, the chemical features of Ganoderma polysaccharides with reported antioxidant, antitumor and antimicrobial activities (the most studied worldwide) are analyzed in detail. The composition of sugars (homo- versus hetero-glucans and other polysaccharides), type of glycosidic linkages, branching patterns, and linkage to proteins are discussed. Methods for extraction, isolation and identification are evaluated and, finally, the bioactivity of polysaccharidic extracts and purified compounds are discussed. The integration of data allows deduction of structure-activity relationships and gives clues to the chemical aspects involved in Ganoderma bioactivity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mobile Health Devices as Tools for Worldwide Cardiovascular Risk Reduction and Disease Management

PubMed Central

Piette, John D.; List, Justin; Rana, Gurpreet K.; Townsend, Whitney; Striplin, Dana; Heisler, Michele

2015-01-01

We examined evidence on whether mobile health (mHealth) tools, including Interactive Voice Response (IVR) calls, short message service (SMS) or text messaging, and smartphones, can improve lifestyle behaviors and management related to cardiovascular diseases throughout the world. We conducted a state-of-the-art review and literature synthesis of peer-reviewed and grey literature published since 2004. The review prioritized randomized trials and studies focused on cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, but included other reports when they represented the best available evidence. The search emphasized reports on the potential benefits of mHealth interventions implemented in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). IVR and SMS interventions can improve cardiovascular preventive care in developed countries by addressing risk factors including weight, smoking, and physical activity. IVR and SMS-based interventions for cardiovascular disease management also have shown benefits with respect to hypertension management, hospital readmissions, and diabetic glycemic control. Multi-modal interventions including web-based communication with clinicians and mHealth-enabled clinical monitoring with feedback also have shown benefits. The evidence regarding the potential benefits of interventions using smartphones and social media is still developing. Studies of mHealth interventions have been conducted in more than 30 LMICs, and evidence to date suggests that programs are feasible and may improve medication adherence and disease outcomes. Emerging evidence suggests that mHealth interventions may improve cardiovascular-related lifestyle behaviors and disease management. Next generation mHealth programs developed worldwide should be based on evidence-based behavioral theories and incorporate advances in artificial intelligence for adapting systems automatically to patients’ unique and changing needs. PMID:25690685

Mobile Health Devices as Tools for Worldwide Cardiovascular Risk Reduction and Disease Management

PubMed Central

Piette, John D.; List, Justin; Rana, Gurpreet K.; Townsend, Whitney; Striplin, Dana; Heisler, Michele

2016-01-01

We examined evidence on whether mobile health (mHealth) tools, including Interactive Voice Response (IVR) calls, short message service (SMS) or text messaging, and smartphones, can improve lifestyle behaviors and management related to cardiovascular diseases throughout the world. We conducted a state-of-the-art review and literature synthesis of peer-reviewed and grey literature published since 2004. The review prioritized randomized trials and studies focused on cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, but included other reports when they represented the best available evidence. The search emphasized reports on the potential benefits of mHealth interventions implemented in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). IVR and SMS interventions can improve cardiovascular preventive care in developed countries by addressing risk factors including weight, smoking, and physical activity. IVR and SMS-based interventions for cardiovascular disease management also have shown benefits with respect to hypertension management, hospital readmissions, and diabetic glycemic control. Multi-modal interventions including web-based communication with clinicians and mHealth-enabled clinical monitoring with feedback also have shown benefits. The evidence regarding the potential benefits of interventions using smartphones and social media is still developing. Studies of mHealth interventions have been conducted in more than 30 LMICs, and evidence to date suggests that programs are feasible and may improve medication adherence and disease outcomes. Emerging evidence suggests that mHealth interventions may improve cardiovascular-related lifestyle behaviors and disease management. Next generation mHealth programs developed worldwide should be based on evidence-based behavioral theories and incorporate advances in artificial intelligence for adapting systems automatically to patients’ unique and changing needs. PMID:26596977

Immigration: analysis, trends and outlook on the global research activity

PubMed Central

Trost, Matthias; Wanke, Eileen M; Ohlendorf, Daniela; Klingelhöfer, Doris; Braun, Markus; Bauer, Jan; Groneberg, David A; Quarcoo, David; Brüggmann, Dörthe

2018-01-01

Background Immigration has a strong impact on the development of health systems, medicine and science worldwide. Therefore, this article provides a descriptive study on the overall research output. Methods Utilizing the scientific database Web of Science, data research was performed. The gathered bibliometric data was analyzed using the established platform NewQIS, a benchmarking system to visualize research quantity and quality indices. Findings Between 1900 and 2016 a total of 6763 articles on immigration were retrieved and analyzed. 86 different countries participated in the publications. Quantitatively the United States followed by Canada and Spain were prominent regarding the article numbers. On comparing by additionally taking the population size into account, Israel followed by Sweden and Norway showed the highest performance. The main releasing journals are the Public Health Reports, the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health and Social Science & Medicine. Over the decades, an increasing number of Public, Environmental & Occupational Health articles can be recognized which finally forms the mainly used subject area. Conclusion Considerably increasing scientific work on immigration cannot only be explained by the general increase of scientific work but is also owed to the latest development with increased mobility, worldwide crises and the need of flight and migration. Especially countries with a good economic situation are highly affected by immigrants and prominent in their publication output on immigration, since the countries’ publication effort is connected with the appointed expenditures for research and development. Remarkable numbers of immigrants throughout Europe compel medical professionals to consider neglected diseases, requires the public health system to restructure itself and finally promotes science. PMID:29713462

Immigration: analysis, trends and outlook on the global research activity.

PubMed

Trost, Matthias; Wanke, Eileen M; Ohlendorf, Daniela; Klingelhöfer, Doris; Braun, Markus; Bauer, Jan; Groneberg, David A; Quarcoo, David; Brüggmann, Dörthe

2018-06-01

Immigration has a strong impact on the development of health systems, medicine and science worldwide. Therefore, this article provides a descriptive study on the overall research output. Utilizing the scientific database Web of Science, data research was performed. The gathered bibliometric data was analyzed using the established platform NewQIS, a benchmarking system to visualize research quantity and quality indices. Between 1900 and 2016 a total of 6763 articles on immigration were retrieved and analyzed. 86 different countries participated in the publications. Quantitatively the United States followed by Canada and Spain were prominent regarding the article numbers. On comparing by additionally taking the population size into account, Israel followed by Sweden and Norway showed the highest performance. The main releasing journals are the Public Health Reports, the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health and Social Science & Medicine. Over the decades, an increasing number of Public, Environmental & Occupational Health articles can be recognized which finally forms the mainly used subject area. Considerably increasing scientific work on immigration cannot only be explained by the general increase of scientific work but is also owed to the latest development with increased mobility, worldwide crises and the need of flight and migration. Especially countries with a good economic situation are highly affected by immigrants and prominent in their publication output on immigration, since the countries' publication effort is connected with the appointed expenditures for research and development. Remarkable numbers of immigrants throughout Europe compel medical professionals to consider neglected diseases, requires the public health system to restructure itself and finally promotes science.

Moderate daily exercise activates metabolic flexibility to prevent prenatally induced obesity.

PubMed

Miles, Jennifer L; Huber, Korinna; Thompson, Nichola M; Davison, Michael; Breier, Bernhard H

2009-01-01

Obesity and its associated comorbidities are of major worldwide concern. It is now recognized that there are a number of metabolically distinct pathways of obesity development. The present paper investigates the effect of moderate daily exercise on the underlying mechanisms of one such pathway to obesity, through interrogation of metabolic flexibility. Pregnant Wistar rats were either fed chow ad libitum or undernourished throughout pregnancy, generating control or intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) offspring, respectively. At 250 d of age, dual-emission x-ray absorptiometry scans and plasma analyses showed that moderate daily exercise, in the form of a measured amount of wheel running (56 m/d), prevented the development of obesity consistently observed in nonexercised IUGR offspring. Increased plasma C-peptide and hepatic atypical protein kinase Czeta levels explained increased glucose uptake and increased hepatic glycogen storage in IUGR offspring. Importantly, whereas circulating levels of retinol binding protein 4 were elevated in obese, nonexercised IUGR offspring, indicative of glucose sparing without exercise, retinol binding protein 4 levels were normalized in the exercised IUGR group. These data suggest that IUGR offspring have increased flexibility of energy storage and use and that moderate daily exercise prevents obesity development through activation of distinct pathways of energy use. Thus, despite a predisposition to develop obesity under sedentary conditions, obesity development was prevented in IUGR offspring when exercise was available. These results emphasize the importance of tailored lifestyle changes that activate distinct pathways of metabolic flexibility for obesity prevention.

Single Cell Cytochemistry Illustrated by the Demonstration of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency in Erythrocytes.

PubMed

Peters, Anna L; van Noorden, Cornelis J F

2017-01-01

Cytochemistry is the discipline that is applied to visualize specific molecules in individual cells and has become an essential tool in life sciences. Immunocytochemistry was developed in the sixties of last century and is the most frequently used cytochemical application. However, metabolic mapping is the oldest cytochemical approach to localize activity of specific enzymes, but in the last decades of the previous century and the first decade of the present century it almost became obsolete. The popularity of this approach revived in the past few years. Metabolism gained interest as player in chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and vascular diseases and both enzyme cytochemistry and metabolic mapping have become important tools in life sciences.In this chapter, we present glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, the most prevalent enzyme deficiency worldwide, to illustrate recent developments in enzyme cytochemistry or metabolic mapping. The first assays which were developed quantified enzyme activity but were unreliable for single cell evaluation. The field has expanded with the development of cytochemical single cell assays and DNA testing. Still, all assays-from the earliest developed tests up to the most recently developed tests-have their place in investigations on G6PD activity. Recently, nanoscopy has become available for light and fluorescence microscopy at the nanoscale. For nanoscopy, cytochemistry is an essential tool to visualize intracellular molecular processes. The ultimate goal in the coming years will be nanoscopy of living cells so that the molecular dynamics can be studied. Cytochemistry will undoubtedly play a critical role in these developments.

77 FR 56630 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-13

... public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the Internet at http://www.... Decentralized locations: DISA Field Activities World-wide. Official mailing addresses are published as an...

48 CFR 752.7035 - Public notices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... activities. The contractor is encouraged to give public notice of the receipt of this contract and, from time... countries worldwide.” The contractor may call on USAID's Legislative and Public Affairs (LPA) for advice...

InsightSTEM Campus Ambassadors: Welcoming, Including, and Supporting All in STEM Careers Worldwide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noel-Storr, J.

2016-12-01

Definitions of genders and, races, ethnicities, abilities and sexualities tend to exist on a binary scale (e.g. male/female, black/white) both for inclusiveness and evaluation of programs. This has the potential to be a schism for individuals who are choosing to enter STEM fields when if their self-identity does not fit this these predefined multi-polar templates. At InsightSTEM, in our Campus Ambassadors program (which has over 290 grassroots members in over 25 countries) we have been striving to nullify this effect... For example, on our application, we choose to not ask for any demographic data, in any spectrum, because those data make no sense on a global stage. We question that if race, gender, sexuality and ethnicity are all on a spectrum: is any program devoted to a particular group appropriate? Instead we deliver professional development to students worldwide to train them to become aware and inclusive STEM educators, involving everyone in their programs no matter what their background. We will present the ways we work with our Campus Ambassadors to create programs that, rather than focusing on particular groups, are truly inclusive, in developing their skills and empowering them to create inclusive programs worldwide for all. InsightSTEM Campus Ambassadors: Welcoming, Including, and & Supporting All in STEM Careers Worldwide

A simplified interventional mapping system (SIMS) for the selection of combinations of targeted treatments in non-small cell lung cancer

PubMed Central

Lazar, Vladimir; Martini, Jean-François; Gomez-Navarro, Jesus; Yver, Antoine; Kan, Zhengyin; Dry, Jonathan R.; Kehren, Jeanne; Validire, Pierre; Rodon, Jordi; Vielh, Philippe; Ducreux, Michel; Galbraith, Susan; Lehnert, Manfred; Onn, Amir; Berger, Raanan; Pierotti, Marco A.; Porgador, Angel; Pramesh, CS; Ye, Ding-wei; Carvalho, Andre L.; Batist, Gerald; Le Chevalier, Thierry; Morice, Philippe; Besse, Benjamin; Vassal, Gilles; Mortlock, Andrew; Hansson, Johan; Berindan-Neagoe, Ioana; Dann, Robert; Haspel, Joel; Irimie, Alexandru; Laderman, Steve; Nechushtan, Hovav; Al Omari, Amal S.; Haywood, Trent; Bresson, Catherine; Soo, Khee Chee; Osman, Iman; Mata, Hilario; Lee, Jack J.; Jhaveri, Komal; Meurice, Guillaume; Palmer, Gary; Lacroix, Ludovic; Koscielny, Serge; Eterovic, Karina Agda; Blay, Jean-Yves; Buller, Richard; Eggermont, Alexander; Schilsky, Richard L.; Mendelsohn, John; Soria, Jean-Charles; Rothenberg, Mace

2015-01-01

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Targeted monotherapies produce high regression rates, albeit for limited patient subgroups, who inevitably succumb. We present a novel strategy for identifying customized combinations of triplets of targeted agents, utilizing a simplified interventional mapping system (SIMS) that merges knowledge about existent drugs and their impact on the hallmarks of cancer. Based on interrogation of matched lung tumor and normal tissue using targeted genomic sequencing, copy number variation, transcriptomics, and miRNA expression, the activation status of 24 interventional nodes was elucidated. An algorithm was developed to create a scoring system that enables ranking of the activated interventional nodes for each patient. Based on the trends of co-activation at interventional points, combinations of drug triplets were defined in order to overcome resistance. This methodology will inform a prospective trial to be conducted by the WIN consortium, aiming to significantly impact survival in metastatic NSCLC and other malignancies. PMID:25944621

[Advances in research of chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of common used spices].

PubMed

Sun, Chao-nan; Zhu, Yuan; Xu, Xi-ming; Yu, Jiang-nan

2014-11-01

Spices have enjoyed a long history and a worldwide application. Of particular interest is the pharmaceutical value of spices in addition to its basic seasoning function in cooking. Concretely, equipped with complex chemical compositions, spices are of significant importance in pharmacologic actions, like antioxidant, antibacterial, antitumor, as well as therapeutical effects in gastrointestinal disorders and cardiovascular disease. Although increasing evidences in support of its distinct role in the medical field has recently reported, little information is available for substantive, thorough and sophisticated researches on its chemical constituents and pharmacological activities, especially mechanism of these actions. Therefore, in popular wave of studies directed at a single spice, this review presents systematic studies on the chemical constituents and pharmacological activities associated with common used spices, together with current typical individual studies on functional mechanism, in order to pave the way for the exploitation and development of new medicines derived from the chemical compounds of spice (such as, piperine, curcumin, geniposide, cinnamaldehyde, cinnamic acid, linalool, estragole, perillaldehyde, syringic acid, crocin).

Topical MMP beacon enabled fluorescence-guided resection of oral carcinoma

PubMed Central

Burgess, Laura; Chen, Juan; Wolter, Nikolaus E.; Wilson, Brian; Zheng, Gang

2016-01-01

Each year almost 300,000 individuals worldwide are diagnosed with oral cancer, more than 90% of these being oral carcinoma [N. Engl. J. Med. 328, 184 19938417385]. Surgical resection is the standard of care, but accurate delineation of the tumor boundaries is challenging, resulting in either under-resection with risk of local recurrence or over-resection with increased functional loss and negative impact on quality of life. This study evaluates, in two pre-clinical in vivo tumor models, the potential of fluorescence-guided resection using molecular beacons activated by metalloproteinases, which are frequently upregulated in human oral cancer. In both models there was rapid (<15 min) beacon activation upon local application, allowing clear fluoresecence imaging in vivo and confirmed by ex vivo fluorescence microscopy and HPLC, with minimal activation in normal oral tissues. Although the tissue penetration was limited using topical application, these findings support further development of this approach towards translation to first-in-human trials. PMID:27231609

Crotoxin and phospholipases A₂ from Crotalus durissus terrificus showed antiviral activity against dengue and yellow fever viruses.

PubMed

Muller, Vanessa Danielle Menjon; Russo, Raquel Rinaldi; Cintra, Adelia Cristina Oliveira; Sartim, Marco Aurélio; Alves-Paiva, Raquel De Melo; Figueiredo, Luiz Tadeu Moraes; Sampaio, Suely Vilela; Aquino, Victor Hugo

2012-03-15

Dengue is the most important arbovirus in the world with an estimated of 50 million dengue infections occurring annually and approximately 2.5 billion people living in dengue endemic countries. Yellow fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever with high mortality that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Effective vaccines against yellow fever have been available for almost 70 years and are responsible for a significant reduction of occurrences of the disease worldwide; however, approximately 200,000 cases of yellow fever still occur annually, principally in Africa. Therefore, it is a public health priority to develop antiviral agents for treatment of these virus infections. Crotalus durissus terrificus snake, a South American rattlesnake, presents venom with several biologically actives molecules. In this study, we evaluated the antiviral activity of crude venom and isolated toxins from Crotalus durissus terrificus and found that phospholipases A₂ showed a high inhibition of Yellow fever and dengue viruses in VERO E6 cells. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Augmented multivariate image analysis applied to quantitative structure-activity relationship modeling of the phytotoxicities of benzoxazinone herbicides and related compounds on problematic weeds.

PubMed

Freitas, Mirlaine R; Matias, Stella V B G; Macedo, Renato L G; Freitas, Matheus P; Venturin, Nelson

2013-09-11

Two of major weeds affecting cereal crops worldwide are Avena fatua L. (wild oat) and Lolium rigidum Gaud. (rigid ryegrass). Thus, development of new herbicides against these weeds is required; in line with this, benzoxazinones, their degradation products, and analogues have been shown to be important allelochemicals and natural herbicides. Despite earlier structure-activity studies demonstrating that hydrophobicity (log P) of aminophenoxazines correlates to phytotoxicity, our findings for a series of benzoxazinone derivatives do not show any relationship between phytotoxicity and log P nor with other two usual molecular descriptors. On the other hand, a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis based on molecular graphs representing structural shape, atomic sizes, and colors to encode other atomic properties performed very accurately for the prediction of phytotoxicities of these compounds against wild oat and rigid ryegrass. Therefore, these QSAR models can be used to estimate the phytotoxicity of new congeners of benzoxazinone herbicides toward A. fatua L. and L. rigidum Gaud.

Space and energy. [space systems for energy generation, distribution and control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bekey, I.

1976-01-01

Potential contributions of space to energy-related activities are discussed. Advanced concepts presented include worldwide energy distribution to substation-sized users using low-altitude space reflectors; powering large numbers of large aircraft worldwide using laser beams reflected from space mirror complexes; providing night illumination via sunlight-reflecting space mirrors; fine-scale power programming and monitoring in transmission networks by monitoring millions of network points from space; prevention of undetected hijacking of nuclear reactor fuels by space tracking of signals from tagging transmitters on all such materials; and disposal of nuclear power plant radioactive wastes in space.

Use of IMS data and its potential for research through global noble gases concentration maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terzi, Lucrezia; Kalinowski, Martin; Gueibe, Christophe; Camps, Johan; Gheddou, Abdelhakim; Kusmierczyk-Michulec, Jolanta; Schoeppner, Michael

2017-04-01

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) established for verification purposes a global monitoring system for atmospheric radioisotopes and noble gas radioactivity. Daily activity concentrations have been collected worldwide for over 15 years providing unique data sets with long term time series that can be used for atmospheric circulation dynamics analysis. In this study, we want to emphasize the value of worldwide noble gas data by reconstructing global xenon concentration maps and comparing these observations with ATM simulations. By creating a residual plot, we can improve our understanding of our source estimation level for each region.

Meropenem-Vaborbactam Tested against Contemporary Gram-Negative Isolates Collected Worldwide during 2014, Including Carbapenem-Resistant, KPC-Producing, Multidrug-Resistant, and Extensively Drug-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae.

PubMed

Castanheira, Mariana; Huband, Michael D; Mendes, Rodrigo E; Flamm, Robert K

2017-09-01

We evaluated the activity of meropenem-vaborbactam against contemporary nonfastidious Gram-negative clinical isolates, including Enterobacteriaceae isolates with resistance phenotypes and carbapenemase genotypes. Meropenem-vaborbactam (inhibitor at 8 μg/ml) and comparators were susceptibility tested by reference broth microdilution methods against 14,304 Gram-negative clinical isolates collected worldwide during 2014. Carbapenemase-encoding genes were screened by PCR and sequencing. Meropenem-vaborbactam (MIC 50/90 , ≤0.015/0.06 μg/ml) inhibited 99.1 and 99.3% of the 10,426 Enterobacteriaceae isolates tested at ≤1 and ≤2 μg/ml, respectively. Meropenem inhibited 97.3 and 97.7% of these isolates at the same concentrations. Against Enterobacteriaceae isolates displaying carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) ( n = 265), multidrug-resistant (MDR) ( n = 1,210), and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) ( n = 161) phenotypes, meropenem-vaborbactam displayed MIC 50/90 values of 0.5/32, 0.03/1, and 0.5/32 μg/ml, respectively, whereas meropenem activities were 16/>32, 0.06/32, and 0.5/32 μg/ml, respectively. Among all geographic regions, the highest meropenem-vaborbactam activities were observed for CRE and MDR isolates from the United States (MIC 50/90 , 0.03/1 and 0.03/0.12 μg/ml, respectively). Meropenem-vaborbactam was very active against 135 KPC producers, and all isolates were inhibited by concentrations of ≤8 μg/ml (133 isolates by concentrations of ≤2 μg/ml). This combination had limited activity against isolates producing metallo-β-lactamases (including 25 NDM-1 and 16 VIM producers) and/or oxacillinases (27 OXA-48/OXA-163 producers) that were detected mainly in Asia-Pacific and some European countries. The activity of meropenem-vaborbactam was similar to that of meropenem alone against Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Acinetobacter spp., and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Meropenem-vaborbactam was active against contemporary Enterobacteriaceae isolates collected worldwide, and this combination demonstrated enhanced activity compared to those of meropenem and most comparator agents against CRE isolates and KPC producers, the latter of which are often MDR. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Japanese Encephalitis—A Pathological and Clinical Perspective

PubMed Central

Ghosh, Debapriya; Basu, Anirban

2009-01-01

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the leading form of viral encephalitis in Asia. It is caused by the JE virus (JEV), which belongs to the family Flaviviridae. JEV is endemic to many parts of Asia, where periodic outbreaks take hundreds of lives. Despite the catastrophes it causes, JE has remained a tropical disease uncommon in the West. With rapid globalization and climatic shift, JEV has started to emerge in areas where the threat was previously unknown. Scientific evidence predicts that JEV will soon become a global pathogen and cause of worldwide pandemics. Although some research documents JEV pathogenesis and drug discovery, worldwide awareness of the need for extensive research to deal with JE is still lacking. This review focuses on the exigency of developing a worldwide effort to acknowledge the prime importance of performing an extensive study of this thus far neglected tropical viral disease. This review also outlines the pathogenesis, the scientific efforts channeled into develop a therapy, and the outlook for a possible future breakthrough addressing this killer disease. PMID:19787040

BACTERICIDAL COATINGS ON TEXTILES FOR REMEDIATION OF INTERMICROBE ACTIVITY (BaCTeRIA) SUMMARY REPORT

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-07

Activity by Bacillus sp. P11” Food Bioprocess Technol. 4:822- 828. (2011) Levy, S.B and Marshal,l B.; “ Antibacterial resistance worldwide: causes...TEXTILES FOR REMEDIATION OF INTERMICROBE ACTIVITY (BaCTeRIA) SUMMARY REPORT by Tobyn A. Branck Courtney M. Cowell Jennifer M. Rego and...October 2011 – September 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE BACTERICIDAL COATINGS ON TEXTILES FOR REMEDIATION OF INTERMICROBE ACTIVITY (BaCTeRIA) SUMMARY REPORT

Treatment of Obesity-Related Complications with Novel Classes of Naturally Occurring PPAR Agonists

PubMed Central

Bassaganya-Riera, Josep; Guri, Amir J.; Hontecillas, Raquel

2011-01-01

The prevalence of obesity and its associated comorbidities has grown to epidemic proportions in the US and worldwide. Thus, developing safe and effective therapeutic approaches against these widespread and debilitating diseases is important and timely. Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) α, γ, and δ through several classes of pharmaceuticals can prevent or treat a variety of metabolic and inflammatory diseases, including type II diabetes (T2D). Thus, PPARs represent important molecular targets for developing novel and better treatments for a wide range of debilitating and widespread obesity-related diseases and disorders. However, available PPAR γ agonistic drugs such as Avandia have significant adverse side effects, including weight gain, fluid retention, hepatotoxicity, and congestive heart failure. An alternative to synthetic agonists of PPAR γ is the discovery and development of naturally occurring and safer nutraceuticals that may be dual or pan PPAR agonists. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the health effects of three plant-derived PPAR agonists: abscisic acid (ABA), punicic acid (PUA), and catalpic acid (CAA) in the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and metabolic diseases and disorders. PMID:21253508

Pancreatic Cancer-Critical Examination of the Global Research Architecture and Recent Scientific Developments.

PubMed

Schöffel, Norman; Krempel, Meike; Bundschuh, Matthias; Bendels, Michael H; Brüggmann, Dörthe; Groneberg, David A

2016-11-01

Despite decades of effort, the 5-year overall survival rate of pancreatic cancer (PC) remains at only approximately 5%. Until now, no detailed knowledge regarding the worldwide research architecture of PC has yet been established. Hence, we conducted this scientometric analysis to quantify the global research activity in this field. The total research productivity was screened and research output of countries, categories, individual institutions, authors, and their collaborative networks were analyzed by the new quality and quantity indices in science platform. Results were visualized via state-of-the-art density equalizing mapping projections. The results indicated that Japan, Germany, and the United States played a leading role regarding output activity, multilateral, and bilateral cooperations. Within the past decades, the topic PC has developed into a scientific field covering many subject areas. Recently published studies predict that the scientific progress will be mainly depending on international cooperations; we can confirm that development by now. We conclude that the field of PC is constantly progressing in which the influence of international cooperations on the scientific progress is of increasing importance. Nevertheless, research in the field of PC still needs to be strengthened to reduce morbidity and mortality in the future.

Progress on adenovirus-vectored universal influenza vaccines.

PubMed

Xiang, Kui; Ying, Guan; Yan, Zhou; Shanshan, Yan; Lei, Zhang; Hongjun, Li; Maosheng, Sun

2015-01-01

Influenza virus (IFV) infection causes serious health problems and heavy financial burdens each year worldwide. The classical inactivated influenza virus vaccine (IIVV) and live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) must be updated regularly to match the new strains that evolve due to antigenic drift and antigenic shift. However, with the discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies that recognize conserved antigens, and the CD8(+) T cell responses targeting viral internal proteins nucleoprotein (NP), matrix protein 1 (M1) and polymerase basic 1 (PB1), it is possible to develop a universal influenza vaccine based on the conserved hemagglutinin (HA) stem, NP, and matrix proteins. Recombinant adenovirus (rAd) is an ideal influenza vaccine vector because it has an ideal stability and safety profile, induces balanced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses due to activation of innate immunity, provides 'self-adjuvanting' activity, can mimic natural IFV infection, and confers seamless protection against mucosal pathogens. Moreover, this vector can be developed as a low-cost, rapid-response vaccine that can be quickly manufactured. Therefore, an adenovirus vector encoding conserved influenza antigens holds promise in the development of a universal influenza vaccine. This review will summarize the progress in adenovirus-vectored universal flu vaccines and discuss future novel approaches.

LDCs face another kind of health problem.

PubMed

Kaufman, H

1977-10-06

Early childbearing is increasing worldwide, in both the developed and the developing countries. In 1975, 13 million young women became mothers before their 18th birthday. Such early childbearing causes major health, economic, social, and demographic problems. The disadvantages are felt by the young women, their sexual partners, the babies born to these women, and society in general. Reasons why adolescents are engaging in earlier sexual activity and experiencing more early pregnancies are enumerated. The 1st Interhemispheric Conference on Adolescent Fertility, sponsored by the Agency for International Development and other involved organizations, was held in 1976. The Conference participants made recommendations concerned with the legal, educational, and social aspects of early childbearing. Many youth education programs have been established since the Conference. Research projects have been launched to study the social consequences of adolescent pregnancy. Many more family life education and family planning services must be offered. A significant hindrance to such developments is the reluctance of adults around the world to recognize and deal with the problem.

The Millennium Development Goals: experiences, achievements and what's next

PubMed Central

Lomazzi, Marta; Borisch, Bettina; Laaser, Ulrich

2014-01-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals to be achieved by 2015 addressing poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, communicable disease, education, gender inequality, environmental damage and the global partnership. Most activities worldwide have focused on maternal and child health and communicable diseases, while less attention has been paid to environmental sustainability and the development of a global partnership. Up to now, several targets have been at least partially achieved: hunger reduction is on track, poverty has been reduced by half, living conditions of 200 million deprived people enhanced, maternal and child mortality as well as communicable diseases diminished and education improved. Nevertheless, some goals will not be met, particularly in the poorest regions, due to different challenges (e.g. the lack of synergies among the goals, the economic crisis, etc.). The post-2015 agenda is now under discussion. The new targets, whatever they will be called, should reflect today's political situation, health and environmental challenges, and an all-inclusive, intersectoral and accountable approach should be adopted. PMID:24560268

Number theoretical foundations in cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atan, Kamel Ariffin Mohd

2017-08-01

In recent times the hazards in relationships among entities in different establishments worldwide have generated exciting developments in cryptography. Central to this is the theory of numbers. This area of mathematics provides very rich source of fundamental materials for constructing secret codes. Some number theoretical concepts that have been very actively used in designing crypto systems will be highlighted in this presentation. This paper will begin with introduction to basic number theoretical concepts which for many years have been thought to have no practical applications. This will include several theoretical assertions that were discovered much earlier in the historical development of number theory. This will be followed by discussion on the "hidden" properties of these assertions that were later exploited by designers of cryptosystems in their quest for developing secret codes. This paper also highlights some earlier and existing cryptosystems and the role played by number theoretical concepts in their constructions. The role played by cryptanalysts in detecting weaknesses in the systems developed by cryptographers concludes this presentation.

The Millennium Development Goals: experiences, achievements and what's next.

PubMed

Lomazzi, Marta; Borisch, Bettina; Laaser, Ulrich

2014-01-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals to be achieved by 2015 addressing poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, communicable disease, education, gender inequality, environmental damage and the global partnership. Most activities worldwide have focused on maternal and child health and communicable diseases, while less attention has been paid to environmental sustainability and the development of a global partnership. Up to now, several targets have been at least partially achieved: hunger reduction is on track, poverty has been reduced by half, living conditions of 200 million deprived people enhanced, maternal and child mortality as well as communicable diseases diminished and education improved. Nevertheless, some goals will not be met, particularly in the poorest regions, due to different challenges (e.g. the lack of synergies among the goals, the economic crisis, etc.). The post-2015 agenda is now under discussion. The new targets, whatever they will be called, should reflect today's political situation, health and environmental challenges, and an all-inclusive, intersectoral and accountable approach should be adopted.

Mig6 Puts the Brakes on Mutant EGFR-Driven Lung Cancer | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. These cancers are often induced by mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), resulting in constitutive activation of the protein’s tyrosine kinase domain. Lung cancers expressing these EGFR mutants are initially sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as erlotinib, but often become resistant by developing compensatory mutations in EGFR or other growth-promoting pathways. To better understand how mutant EGFR initiates and maintains tumor growth in the hopes of identifying novel targets for drug development, Udayan Guha, M.D., Ph.D., of CCR’s Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Oncology Branch, and his colleagues examined the landscape of proteins phosphorylated in EGFR wild type and mutant cells. One protein hyper-phosphorylated in mutant EGFR cells was Mig6, a putative tumor suppressor.

Global Antimicrobial Stewardship: A Closer Look at the Formidable Implementation Challenges

PubMed Central

Tiong, John J. L.; Loo, Jason S. E.; Mai, Chun-Wai

2016-01-01

Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) has been touted as one of the key strategies required in tackling worldwide escalation of antibiotic resistance. Although AMS has optimized antibiotic usage and reduced the incidence of resistance development in some regions, its full global potential has been curtailed by various AMS-impeding factors. This article seeks to highlight in a detailed perspective, the key challenges that hamper global AMS endeavors, some of which include the paucity of effective implementation strategies that cater for the challenging settings of developing nations, the slow response of governments, uncoordinated AMS activities as well as implementation fragmentation across different sectors and countries. The authors of this article call upon all stakeholders to pay attention to these seemingly obvious but often under-addressed problems. If left unresolved, this may render all current and future AMS initiatives pointless. PMID:27899924

Protection of Dietary Polyphenols against Oral Cancer

PubMed Central

Ding, Yijian; Yao, Hua; Yao, Yanan; Yenwong Fai, Leonard; Zhang, Zhuo

2013-01-01

Oral cancer represents a health burden worldwide with approximate 275,000 new cases diagnosed annually. Its poor prognosis is due to local tumor invasion and frequent lymph node metastasis. Better understanding and development of novel treatments and chemo-preventive approaches for the preventive and therapeutic intervention of this type of cancer are necessary. Recent development of dietary polyphenols as cancer preventives and therapeutic agents is of great interest due to their antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic activities. Polyphenols may inhibit carcinogenesis in the stage of initiation, promotion, or progression. In particular, dietary polyphenols decrease incidence of carcinomas and exert protection against oral cancer by induction of cell death and inhibition of tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. In this review, we discuss current progress of dietary polyphenols against oral cancers in vitro, in vivo, and at population levels. PMID:23771133

Technology Prospecting on Enzymes: Application, Marketing and Engineering

PubMed Central

Li, Shuang; Yang, Xiaofeng; Yang, Shuai; Zhu, Muzi; Wang, Xiaoning

2012-01-01

Enzymes are protein molecules functioning as specialized catalysts for chemical reactions. They have contributed greatly to the traditional and modern chemical industry by improving existing processes. In this article, we first give a survey of representative industrial applications of enzymes, focusing on the technical applications, feed industry, food processing and cosmetic products. The recent important developments and applications of enzymes in industry are reviewed. Then large efforts are dedicated to the worldwide enzyme market from the demand and production perspectives. Special attention is laid on the Chinese enzyme market. Although enzyme applications are being developed in full swing, breakthroughs are needed to overcome their weaknesses in maintaining activities during the catalytic processes. Strategies of metagomic analysis, cell surface display technology and cell-free system might give valuable solutions in novel enzyme exploiting and enzyme engineering. PMID:24688658

Signatures support program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawley, Chadwick T.

2009-05-01

The Signatures Support Program (SSP) leverages the full spectrum of signature-related activities (collections, processing, development, storage, maintenance, and dissemination) within the Department of Defense (DOD), the intelligence community (IC), other Federal agencies, and civil institutions. The Enterprise encompasses acoustic, seismic, radio frequency, infrared, radar, nuclear radiation, and electro-optical signatures. The SSP serves the war fighter, the IC, and civil institutions by supporting military operations, intelligence operations, homeland defense, disaster relief, acquisitions, and research and development. Data centers host and maintain signature holdings, collectively forming the national signatures pool. The geographically distributed organizations are the authoritative sources and repositories for signature data; the centers are responsible for data content and quality. The SSP proactively engages DOD, IC, other Federal entities, academia, and industry to locate signatures for inclusion in the distributed national signatures pool and provides world-wide 24/7 access via the SSP application.

Movement-Based Mathematics: Enjoyment and Engagement without Compromising Learning through the EASY Minds Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riley, Nicholas; Lubans, David; Holmes, Kathryn; Hansen, Vibeke; Gore, Jennifer; Morgan, Philip

2017-01-01

There has been a worldwide decline in interest and achievement in mathematics in young people. Despite the extensive benefits of physical activity, the majority of children are not sufficiently active. Schools have the potential to arrest both concerns through innovative teaching that challenges and complements traditional approaches. The aim of…

Comparing soil carbon of short rotation poplar plantations with agricultural crops and woodlots in north central United States

Treesearch

Mark D. Coleman; J.G. Isebrands; David N. Tolsted; Virginia R. Tolbert

2004-01-01

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has increased dramatically since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution as a result of human activities (Keeling and others 1995, Houghton and others 2001). The primary cause of CO2 increases are worldwide fossil fuel burning, biomass burning, and cement manufacturing. These activities...

Mechanism of removal of undesirable residual amylase, insoluble starch, and select colorants from refinery streams by powdered activated carbons

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There is a need in the world-wide sugar industry to find a practical and economical solution to remove or inactivate residual alpha-amylases that are high temperature stable from factory or refinery streams. A survey of refineries that used amylase and had activated carbon systems for decolorization...

Understanding Impediments and Enablers to Physical Activity among African American Adults: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siddiqi, Zoveen; Tiro, Jasmin A.; Shuval, Kerem

2011-01-01

Physical inactivity is a leading cause of premature death, disability and numerous chronic diseases. Minority and underserved populations in the United States and worldwide have a higher prevalence of physical inactivity affecting their morbidity and mortality rates. In the United States, African Americans are less physically active and have a…

48 CFR 47.301-3 - Using the Defense Transportation System (DTS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... implemented on a world-wide basis. (b) Contracting activities are responsible for (1) ensuring that the... directly to a military air or water port terminal without authorization from the designated contract...

A landscape-based reconnaissance survey of estrogenic activity in streams of the upper Potomac, upper James, and Shenandoah Rivers, USA.

PubMed

Young, John; Iwanowicz, Luke; Sperry, Adam; Blazer, Vicki

2014-09-01

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) are becoming of increasing concern in waterways of the USA and worldwide. What remains poorly understood, however, is how prevalent these emerging contaminants are in the environment and what methods are best able to determine landscape sources of EDCs. We describe the development of a spatially structured sampling design and a reconnaissance survey of estrogenic activity along gradients of land use within sub-watersheds. We present this example as a useful approach for state and federal agencies with an interest in identifying locations potentially impacted by EDCs that warrant more intensive, focused research. Our study confirms the importance of agricultural activities on levels of a measured estrogenic equivalent (E2Eq) and also highlights the importance of other potential sources of E2Eq in areas where intensive agriculture is not the dominant land use. Through application of readily available geographic information system (GIS) data, coupled with spatial statistical analysis, we demonstrate the correlation of specific land use types to levels of estrogenic activity across a large area in a consistent and unbiased manner.

Nature is the best source of anticancer drugs: Indexing natural products for their anticancer bioactivity

PubMed Central

Rayan, Anwar; Raiyn, Jamal

2017-01-01

Cancer is considered one of the primary diseases that cause morbidity and mortality in millions of people worldwide and due to its prevalence, there is undoubtedly an unmet need to discover novel anticancer drugs. However, the traditional process of drug discovery and development is lengthy and expensive, so the application of in silico techniques and optimization algorithms in drug discovery projects can provide a solution, saving time and costs. A set of 617 approved anticancer drugs, constituting the active domain, and a set of 2,892 natural products, constituting the inactive domain, were employed to build predictive models and to index natural products for their anticancer bioactivity. Using the iterative stochastic elimination optimization technique, we obtained a highly discriminative and robust model, with an area under the curve of 0.95. Twelve natural products that scored highly as potential anticancer drug candidates are disclosed. Searching the scientific literature revealed that few of those molecules (Neoechinulin, Colchicine, and Piperolactam) have already been experimentally screened for their anticancer activity and found active. The other phytochemicals await evaluation for their anticancerous activity in wet lab. PMID:29121120

Nature is the best source of anticancer drugs: Indexing natural products for their anticancer bioactivity.

PubMed

Rayan, Anwar; Raiyn, Jamal; Falah, Mizied

2017-01-01

Cancer is considered one of the primary diseases that cause morbidity and mortality in millions of people worldwide and due to its prevalence, there is undoubtedly an unmet need to discover novel anticancer drugs. However, the traditional process of drug discovery and development is lengthy and expensive, so the application of in silico techniques and optimization algorithms in drug discovery projects can provide a solution, saving time and costs. A set of 617 approved anticancer drugs, constituting the active domain, and a set of 2,892 natural products, constituting the inactive domain, were employed to build predictive models and to index natural products for their anticancer bioactivity. Using the iterative stochastic elimination optimization technique, we obtained a highly discriminative and robust model, with an area under the curve of 0.95. Twelve natural products that scored highly as potential anticancer drug candidates are disclosed. Searching the scientific literature revealed that few of those molecules (Neoechinulin, Colchicine, and Piperolactam) have already been experimentally screened for their anticancer activity and found active. The other phytochemicals await evaluation for their anticancerous activity in wet lab.

Tivantinib (ARQ-197) exhibits anti-tumor activity with down-regulation of FAK in oral squamous cell carcinoma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xi, Wei-Hong; Yang, Li-Yun; Cao, Zhong-Yi, E-mail: m18070383032@163.com

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide and the 5 years survival rate of the patients is about 60% in the USA, due to acquired chemotherapeutic resistance and metastasis of the disease. In this study, we found that tivantinib, a selective MET inhibitor, suppresses OCSS cell proliferation and colony formation, however, anti-tumor activities induced by tivantinib are independent of the inhibition of MET signaling pathway. In addition, tivantinib cause G2/M cell cycle arrest and caspases-dependent apoptosis in OSCC cell lines. We also found that tivantinib dose-dependently suppressed the activation and expression of FAK. Inmore » all, these data suggested that tivantinib may be developed as a chemotherapeutic agent to effectively treat certain cancers including OSCC. - Highlights: • Tivantinib suppresses OSCC cell growth independent of the inhibition of HGF/MET signaling pathway. • Tivantinib blocks cell cycle and induces caspases-mediated apoptosis. • Tivantinib elicits its anti-tumor activity with the inhibition of FAK signaling pathway.« less

Recent Research in Antihypertensive Activity of Food Protein-derived Hydrolyzates and Peptides.

PubMed

Saleh, Ahmed S M; Zhang, Qing; Shen, Qun

2016-01-01

Year to year obesity prevalence, reduced physical activities, bad habits/or stressful lifestyle, and other environmental and physiological impacts lead to increase in diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension worldwide. Hypertension is considered as one of the most common serious chronic diseases; however, discovery of medications with high efficacy and without side effects for treatment of patients remains a challenge for scientists. Recent trends in functional foods have evidenced that food bioactive proteins play a major role in the concepts of illness and curing; therefore, nutritionists, biomedical scientists, and food scientists are working together to develop improved systems for the discovery of peptides with increased potency and therapeutic benefits. This review presents a recent research carried out to date for the purpose of isolation and identification of bioactive hydrolyzates and peptides with angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitory activity and antihypertensive effect from animal, marine, microbial, and plant food proteins. Effects of food processing and hydrolyzation conditions as well as some other impacts on formation, activity, and stability of these hydrolyzates and peptides are also presented.

Boosting physics education through mobile augmented reality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crǎciun, Dana; Bunoiu, Mǎdǎlin

2017-12-01

The integration of collaborative applications, based on modern learning technologies and the Internet, of various visualization techniques and digital strategies in open, flexible modern learning environments which facilitate access to resources, represents a challenge for physics teachers in Romania in general, and for novice teachers in particular. Although large efforts have been made worldwide to invest in educational technologies, their impact on the students' learning outcomes is quite modest. In this paper, we describe and analyze various curricular and extracurricular activities specifically designed for and undertaken by pre-service physics teachers. These activities employ new educational technologies, mobile augmented reality (MAR) and are based on modern teaching and learning theories. MAR is an extension for mobile devices of augmented reality, an interactive and in real time combination, of real and virtual objects overlaid in the real environment. The obtained results show that pre-service physics teachers are confident in using MAR in their teaching and learning activities, and consider that the activities performed helped them develop the skills necessary for science teachers in a technology-based society and to reflect upon the role of technology in the current Romanian educational context.

Highly efficient temperature-induced visible light photocatalytic hydrogen production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Bing

Photocatalysis is the acceleration of photoreaction in presence of a photocatalyst. Semiconductor photocatalysis has obtained much attention as a potential solution to the worldwide energy storage due to its promising ability to directly convert solar energy into chemical fuels. This dissertation research mainly employ three approaches to enhance photocatalytic activities, which includes (I) Modifying semiconductor nanomaterials for visible and near-IR light absorption; (II) Synthesis of light-diffuse-reflection-surface of SiO2 substrate to utilize scattered light; and (III) design of a hybrid system that combines light and heat to enhance visible light photocatalytic activity. Those approaches were applied to two systems: (1) hydrogen production from water; (2) carbon dioxide reforming of methane. The activity of noble metals such as platinum were investigated as co-catalysts and cheap earth abundant catalysts as alternatives to reduce cost were also developed. Stability, selectivity, mechanism were investigated. Great enhancement of visible light activity over a series of semiconductors/heterostructures were observed. Such extraordinary performance of artificial photosynthetic hydrogen production system would provide a novel approach for the utilization of solar energy for chemical fuel production.

Historical perspectives on the concept of ecosystem degradation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Halvorson, W.L.

2004-01-01

The concept of environmental degradation has evolved with the development of human society and settlement. In early human development, tribes went through a series of cycles of taming or developing mastery over the environment, to utilizing the resources of that environment until they could no longer support the population, which lead to moving on to do it again in a new area. There seems to have been little sense that human activity was causing any degradation, it was only that there was no longer enough food. This sense of the concept of degradation can even be seen as late as the 16th and 17th centuries in North America as Europeans "tamed" the land from the south, east, and north. For the Europeans, this taming of the "dangerous" and "inhospitable" lands even included the indigenous peoples. World-wide, as humans gathered into towns and cities, the impacts on the environment became increasingly widespread. Goods had to be brought to the people from further and further away. While agriculture and herd management were being developed, there was still the sense that these activities were improvements. It is a rather modern social understanding that human activities can and do damage and degrade natural ecosystems. The concept began to dawn when society began to understand that some activities caused degraded human health. Only recently has society begun to understand the need for generally healthy natural ecosystems and this understanding has brought with it a whole host of legal and political actions to make it happpen. ?? International Scientific Publications, New Delhi.

Targeting Pin1 by inhibitor API-1 regulates microRNA biogenesis and suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma development.

PubMed

Pu, Wenchen; Li, Jiao; Zheng, Yuanyuan; Shen, Xianyan; Fan, Xin; Zhou, Jian-Kang; He, Juan; Deng, Yulan; Liu, Xuesha; Wang, Chun; Yang, Shengyong; Chen, Qiang; Liu, Lunxu; Zhang, Guolin; Wei, Yu-Quan; Peng, Yong

2018-01-30

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, but there are few effective treatments. Aberrant microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis is correlated with HCC development. We previously demonstrated that peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase NIMA-interacting 1 (Pin1) participates in miRNA biogenesis and is a potential HCC treatment target. However, how Pin1 modulates miRNA biogenesis remains obscure. Here, we present in vivo evidence that Pin1 overexpression is directly linked to the development of HCC. Administration with the Pin1 inhibitor (API-1), a specific small molecule targeting Pin1 peptidyl-prolyl isomerase domain and inhibiting Pin1 cis-trans isomerizing activity, suppresses in vitro cell proliferation and migration of HCC cells. But API-1-induced Pin1 inhibition is insensitive to HCC cells with low Pin1 expression and/or low exportin-5 (XPO5) phosphorylation. Mechanistically, Pin1 recognizes and isomerizes the phosphorylated serine-proline motif of phosphorylated XPO5 and passivates phosphorylated XPO5. Pin1 inhibition by API-1 maintains the active conformation of phosphorylated XPO5 and restores XPO5-driven precursor miRNA nuclear-to-cytoplasm export, activating anticancer miRNA biogenesis and leading to both in vitro HCC suppression and HCC suppression in xenograft mice. Experimental evidence suggests that Pin1 inhibition by API-1 up-regulates miRNA biogenesis by retaining active XPO5 conformation and suppresses HCC development, revealing the mechanism of Pin1-mediated miRNA biogenesis and unequivocally supporting API-1 as a drug candidate for HCC therapy, especially for Pin1-overexpressing, extracellular signal-regulated kinase-activated HCC. (Hepatology 2018). © 2018 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Chemical genetics of Plasmodium falciparum

PubMed Central

Guiguemde, W. Armand; Shelat, Anang A.; Bouck, David; Duffy, Sandra; Crowther, Gregory J.; Davis, Paul H.; Smithson, David C.; Connelly, Michele; Clark, Julie; Zhu, Fangyi; Jiménez-Díaz, María B; Martinez, María S; Wilson, Emily B.; Tripathi, Abhai K.; Gut, Jiri; Sharlow, Elizabeth R.; Bathurst, Ian; El Mazouni, Farah; Fowble, Joseph W; Forquer, Isaac; McGinley, Paula L; Castro, Steve; Angulo-Barturen, Iñigo; Ferrer, Santiago; Rosenthal, Philip J.; DeRisi, Joseph L; Sullivan, David J.; Lazo, John S.; Roos, David S.; Riscoe, Michael K.; Phillips, Margaret A.; Rathod, Pradipsinh K.; Van Voorhis, Wesley C.; Avery, Vicky M; Guy, R. Kiplin

2010-01-01

Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum is a catastrophic disease worldwide (880,000 deaths yearly). Vaccine development has proved difficult and resistance has emerged for most antimalarials. In order to discover new antimalarial chemotypes, we have employed a phenotypic forward chemical genetic approach to assay 309,474 chemicals. Here we disclose structures and biological activity of the entire library, many of which exhibited potent in vitro activity against drug resistant strains, and detailed profiling of 172 representative candidates. A reverse chemical genetic study identified 19 new inhibitors of 4 validated drug targets and 15 novel binders among 61 malarial proteins. Phylochemogenetic profiling in multiple organisms revealed similarities between Toxoplasma gondii and mammalian cell lines and dissimilarities between P. falciparum and related protozoans. One exemplar compound displayed efficacy in a murine model. Overall, our findings provide the scientific community with new starting points for malaria drug discovery. PMID:20485428

Human seizures couple across spatial scales through travelling wave dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinet, L.-E.; Fiddyment, G.; Madsen, J. R.; Eskandar, E. N.; Truccolo, W.; Eden, U. T.; Cash, S. S.; Kramer, M. A.

2017-04-01

Epilepsy--the propensity toward recurrent, unprovoked seizures--is a devastating disease affecting 65 million people worldwide. Understanding and treating this disease remains a challenge, as seizures manifest through mechanisms and features that span spatial and temporal scales. Here we address this challenge through the analysis and modelling of human brain voltage activity recorded simultaneously across microscopic and macroscopic spatial scales. We show that during seizure large-scale neural populations spanning centimetres of cortex coordinate with small neural groups spanning cortical columns, and provide evidence that rapidly propagating waves of activity underlie this increased inter-scale coupling. We develop a corresponding computational model to propose specific mechanisms--namely, the effects of an increased extracellular potassium concentration diffusing in space--that support the observed spatiotemporal dynamics. Understanding the multi-scale, spatiotemporal dynamics of human seizures--and connecting these dynamics to specific biological mechanisms--promises new insights to treat this devastating disease.

Dapsone-induced agranulocytosis-possible involvement of low-activity N-acetyltransferase 2.

PubMed

Potočnjak, Ines; Likić, Robert; Šimić, Iveta; Juričić Nahal, Danica; Čegec, Ivana; Ganoci, Lana; Božina, Nada

2017-10-01

Dapsone-induced agranulocytosis is a rare but potentially fatal adverse drug reaction (ADR). A 45-year-old male Caucasian patient developed agranulocytosis caused by dapsone (diamino-diphenyl sulfone), which he was prescribed for leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Patient's treatment consisted of termination of dapsone, antibiotic therapy, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor leading to prompt improvement of symptoms and normalization of laboratory blood values. Diagnostic evaluation revealed methemoglobinemia and excluded glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Pharmacogenetics testing showed that he was a carrier of NAT2 *5/*6 genotype, predisposing to low activity of the N-acetyltransferase 2 enzyme. This was the first and only ADR to dapsone reported in Croatia. In total, there have been 73 ADR to dapsone recorded worldwide, including only four cases of agranulocytosis. © 2017 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

BitPredator: A Discovery Algorithm for BitTorrent Initial Seeders and Peers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Borges, Raymond; Patton, Robert M; Kettani, Houssain

2011-01-01

There is a large amount of illegal content being replicated through peer-to-peer (P2P) networks where BitTorrent is dominant; therefore, a framework to profile and police it is needed. The goal of this work is to explore the behavior of initial seeds and highly active peers to develop techniques to correctly identify them. We intend to establish a new methodology and software framework for profiling BitTorrent peers. This involves three steps: crawling torrent indexers for keywords in recently added torrents using Really Simple Syndication protocol (RSS), querying torrent trackers for peer list data and verifying Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from peermore » lists. We verify IPs using active monitoring methods. Peer behavior is evaluated and modeled using bitfield message responses. We also design a tool to profile worldwide file distribution by mapping IP-to-geolocation and linking to WHOIS server information in Google Earth.« less

Potential Antiosteoporotic Agents from Plants: A Comprehensive Review

PubMed Central

Jia, Min; Nie, Yan; Cao, Da-Peng; Xue, Yun-Yun; Wang, Jie-Si; Zhao, Lu; Rahman, Khalid; Zhang, Qiao-Yan; Qin, Lu-Ping

2012-01-01

Osteoporosis is a major health hazard and is a disease of old age; it is a silent epidemic affecting more than 200 million people worldwide in recent years. Based on a large number of chemical and pharmacological research many plants and their compounds have been shown to possess antiosteoporosis activity. This paper reviews the medicinal plants displaying antiosteoporosis properties including their origin, active constituents, and pharmacological data. The plants reported here are the ones which are commonly used in traditional medical systems and have demonstrated clinical effectiveness against osteoporosis. Although many plants have the potential to prevent and treat osteoporosis, so far, only a fraction of these plants have been thoroughly investigated for their physiological and pharmacological properties including their mechanism of action. An attempt should be made to highlight plant species with possible antiosteoporosis properties and they should be investigated further to help with future drug development for treating this disease. PMID:23365596

Analyzing pERK Activation During Planarian Regeneration.

PubMed

Fraguas, Susanna; Umesono, Yoshihiko; Agata, Kiyokazu; Cebrià, Francesc

2017-01-01

Planarians are an ideal model in which to study stem cell-based regeneration. After amputation, planarian pluripotent stem cells surrounding the wound proliferate to produce the regenerative blastema, in which they differentiate into the missing tissues and structures. Recent independent studies in planarians have shown that Smed-egfr-3, a gene encoding a homologue of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors, and DjerkA, which encodes an extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), may control cell differentiation and blastema growth. However, because these studies were carried in two different planarian species, the relationship between these two genes remains unclear. We have optimized anti-pERK immunostaining in Schmidtea mediterranea using the original protocol developed in Dugesia japonica. Both protocols are reported here as most laboratories worldwide work with one of these two species. Using this protocol we have determined that Smed-egfr-3 appears to be necessary for pERK activation during planarian regeneration.

Low temperature embrittlement behaviour of different ferritic-martensitic alloys for fusion applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieth, M.; Dafferner, B.

1996-10-01

In the last few years a lot of different low activation CrWVTa steels have been developed world-wide. Without irradiation some of these alloys show clearly a better low temperature embrittlement behaviour than commercial CrNiMoV(Nb) alloys. Within the MANITU project a study was carried out to compare, prior to the irradiation program, the embrittlement behaviour of different alloys in the unirradiated condition performing instrumented Charpy impact bending tests with sub-size specimens. The low activation materials (LAM) considered were different OPTIFER alloys (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe), F82H (JAERI), 9Cr2WVTa (ORNL), and GA3X (PNL). The modified commercial 10-11% CrNiMoVNb steels were MANET and OPTIMAR. A meaningful comparison between these alloys could be drawn, since the specimens of all materials were manufactured and tested under the same conditions.

Discovery of Multitarget Agents Active as Broad-Spectrum Antivirals and Correctors of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator for Associated Pulmonary Diseases.

PubMed

Tassini, Sabrina; Sun, Liang; Lanko, Kristina; Crespan, Emmanuele; Langron, Emily; Falchi, Federico; Kissova, Miroslava; Armijos-Rivera, Jorge I; Delang, Leen; Mirabelli, Carmen; Neyts, Johan; Pieroni, Marco; Cavalli, Andrea; Costantino, Gabriele; Maga, Giovanni; Vergani, Paola; Leyssen, Pieter; Radi, Marco

2017-02-23

Enteroviruses (EVs) are among the most frequent infectious agents in humans worldwide and represent the leading cause of upper respiratory tract infections. No drugs for the treatment of EV infections are currently available. Recent studies have also linked EV infection with pulmonary exacerbations, especially in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, and the importance of this link is probably underestimated. The aim of this work was to develop a new class of multitarget agents active both as broad-spectrum antivirals and as correctors of the F508del-cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) folding defect responsible for >90% of CF cases. We report herein the discovery of the first small molecules able to simultaneously act as correctors of the F508del-CFTR folding defect and as broad-spectrum antivirals against a panel of EVs representative of all major species.

Processing of the WLCG monitoring data using NoSQL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreeva, J.; Beche, A.; Belov, S.; Dzhunov, I.; Kadochnikov, I.; Karavakis, E.; Saiz, P.; Schovancova, J.; Tuckett, D.

2014-06-01

The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) today includes more than 150 computing centres where more than 2 million jobs are being executed daily and petabytes of data are transferred between sites. Monitoring the computing activities of the LHC experiments, over such a huge heterogeneous infrastructure, is extremely demanding in terms of computation, performance and reliability. Furthermore, the generated monitoring flow is constantly increasing, which represents another challenge for the monitoring systems. While existing solutions are traditionally based on Oracle for data storage and processing, recent developments evaluate NoSQL for processing large-scale monitoring datasets. NoSQL databases are getting increasingly popular for processing datasets at the terabyte and petabyte scale using commodity hardware. In this contribution, the integration of NoSQL data processing in the Experiment Dashboard framework is described along with first experiences of using this technology for monitoring the LHC computing activities.

Phytochemicals and Biogenic Metallic Nanoparticles as Anticancer Agents

PubMed Central

Rao, Pasupuleti Visweswara; Nallappan, Devi; Madhavi, Kondeti; Rahman, Shafiqur; Jun Wei, Lim; Gan, Siew Hua

2016-01-01

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Several classes of drugs are available to treat different types of cancer. Currently, researchers are paying significant attention to the development of drugs at the nanoscale level to increase their target specificity and to reduce their concentrations. Nanotechnology is a promising and growing field with multiple subdisciplines, such as nanostructures, nanomaterials, and nanoparticles. These materials have gained prominence in science due to their size, shape, and potential efficacy. Nanomedicine is an important field involving the use of various types of nanoparticles to treat cancer and cancerous cells. Synthesis of nanoparticles targeting biological pathways has become tremendously prominent due to the higher efficacy and fewer side effects of nanodrugs compared to other commercial cancer drugs. In this review, different medicinal plants and their active compounds, as well as green-synthesized metallic nanoparticles from medicinal plants, are discussed in relation to their anticancer activities. PMID:27057273

Biosynthesis, structural architecture and biotechnological potential of bacterial tannase: a molecular advancement.

PubMed

Jana, Arijit; Halder, Suman Kumar; Banerjee, Amrita; Paul, Tanmay; Pati, Bikash Ranjan; Mondal, Keshab Chandra; Das Mohapatra, Pradeep Kumar

2014-04-01

Tannin-rich materials are abundantly generated as wastes from several agroindustrial activities. Therefore, tannase is an interesting hydrolase, for bioconversion of tannin-rich materials into value added products by catalyzing the hydrolysis of ester and depside bonds and unlocked a new prospect in different industrial sectors like food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, etc. Microorganisms, particularly bacteria are one of the major sources of tannase. In the last decade, cloning and heterologous expression of novel tannase genes and structural study has gained momentum. In this article, we have emphasized critically on bacterial tannase that have gained worldwide research interest for their diverse properties. The present paper delineate the developments that have taken place in understanding the role of tannase action, microbial sources, various cultivation aspects, downstream processing, salient biochemical properties, structure and active sites, immobilization, efforts in cloning and overexpression and with special emphasis on recent molecular and biotechnological achievements. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gelled-electrolyte batteries for electric vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuphorn, Hans

Increasing problems of air pollution have pushed activities of electric vehicle projects worldwide and in spite of projects for developing new battery systems for high energy densities, today lead/acid batteries are almost the single system, ready for technical usage in this application. Valve-regulated lead/acid batteries with gelled electrolyte have the advantage that no maintenance is required and because the gel system does not cause problems with electrolyte stratification, no additional appliances for central filling or acid addition are required, which makes the system simple. Those batteries with high density active masses indicate high endurance results and field tests with 40 VW-CityStromers, equipped with 96 V/160 A h gel batteries with thermal management show good results during four years. In addition, gelled lead/acid batteries possess superior high rate performance compared with conventional lead/acid batteries, which guarantees good acceleration results of the car and which makes the system recommendable for application in electric vehicles.

The evolution of recombinant thrombolytics: Current status and future directions

PubMed Central

Adivitiya; Khasa, Yogender Pal

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Cardiovascular disorders are on the rise worldwide due to alcohol abuse, obesity, hypertension, raised blood lipids, diabetes and age-related risks. The use of classical antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapies combined with surgical intervention helped to clear blood clots during the inceptive years. However, the discovery of streptokinase and urokinase ushered the way of using these enzymes as thrombolytic agents to degrade the fibrin network with an issue of systemic hemorrhage. The development of second generation plasminogen activators like anistreplase and tissue plasminogen activator partially controlled this problem. The third generation molecules, majorly t-PA variants, showed desirable properties of improved stability, safety and efficacy with enhanced fibrin specificity. Plasmin variants are produced as direct fibrinolytic agents as a futuristic approach with targeted delivery of these drugs using liposome technlogy. The novel molecules from microbial, plant and animal origin present the future of direct thrombolytics due to their safety and ease of administration. PMID:27696935

Active imaging systems to perform the strategic surveillance of an aircraft environment in bad weather conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riviere, Nicolas; Hespel, Laurent; Ceolato, Romain; Drouet, Florence

2011-11-01

Onera, the French Aerospace Lab, develops and models active imaging systems to understand the relevant physical phenomena impacting on their performances. As a consequence, efforts have been done both on the propagation of a pulse through the atmosphere (scintillation and turbulence effects) and, on target geometries and their surface properties (radiometric and speckle effects). But these imaging systems must operate at night in all ambient illuminations and weather conditions in order to perform the strategic surveillance of the environment for various worldwide operations or to perform the enhanced navigation of an aircraft. Onera has implemented codes for 2D and 3D laser imaging systems. As we aim to image a scene even in the presence of rain, snow, fog or haze, Onera introduces such meteorological effects in these numerical models and compares simulated images with measurements provided by commercial imaging systems.

Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of N-Oxide-Containing Heterocycles with in Vivo Sterilizing Antitubercular Activity

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is the infectious disease responsible for the highest number of deaths worldwide. Herein, 22 new N-oxide-containing compounds were synthesized followed by in vitro and in vivo evaluation of their antitubercular potential against Mtb. Compound 8 was found to be the most promising compound, with MIC90 values of 1.10 and 6.62 μM against active and nonreplicating Mtb, respectively. Additionally, we carried out in vivo experiments to confirm the safety and efficacy of compound 8; the compound was found to be orally bioavailable and highly effective, leading to a reduction of Mtb to undetectable levels in a mouse model of infection. Microarray-based initial studies on the mechanism of action suggest that compound 8 blocks translation. Altogether, these results indicate that benzofuroxan derivative 8 is a promising lead compound for the development of a novel chemical class of antitubercular drugs. PMID:28968083

Improvements in Empirical Modelling of the World-Wide Ionosphere

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-10-31

The fact that the world-wide distribution of the basic inputs is far from being uniform forced Gallet and Jones to develop . a special procedure for...made the result more reasonable, it had a disappointing effect on the latitudinal variation over the oceans. Feeling that shifting along circles of...range. Ano- ther vertical profile model is used in the Bent-model4 which is applied in NASA practice for computing the different effects of

Assessing the cumulative environmental effects of marine renewable energy developments: Establishing common ground.

PubMed

Willsteed, Edward; Gill, Andrew B; Birchenough, Silvana N R; Jude, Simon

2017-01-15

Assessing and managing the cumulative impacts of human activities on the environment remains a major challenge to sustainable development. This challenge is highlighted by the worldwide expansion of marine renewable energy developments (MREDs) in areas already subject to multiple activities and climate change. Cumulative effects assessments in theory provide decision makers with adequate information about how the environment will respond to the incremental effects of licensed activities and are a legal requirement in many nations. In practise, however, such assessments are beset by uncertainties resulting in substantial delays during the licensing process that reduce MRED investor confidence and limit progress towards meeting climate change targets. In light of these targets and ambitions to manage the marine environment sustainably, reducing the uncertainty surrounding MRED effects and cumulative effects assessment are timely and vital. This review investigates the origins and evolution of cumulative effects assessment to identify why the multitude of approaches and pertinent research have emerged, and discusses key considerations and challenges relevant to assessing the cumulative effects of MREDs and other activities on ecosystems. The review recommends a shift away from the current reliance on disparate environmental impact assessments and limited strategic environmental assessments, and a move towards establishing a common system of coordinated data and research relative to ecologically meaningful areas, focussed on the needs of decision makers tasked with protecting and conserving marine ecosystems and services. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

On AIPS++, a new astronomical information processing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Croes, G. A.

1992-01-01

The AIPS system that has served the needs of the radio astronomical community remarkably well during the last 15 years is showing signs of age and is being replaced by a more modern system, AIPS++. As the name implies, AIPS++ will be developed in a object oriented fashion and will use C++ as its main programming language. The work is being done by a consortium of seven organizations, with coordinated activities worldwide. After a review of the history of the project to this date from management, astronomical and technical viewpoints, and the current state of the project, the paper concentrates on the tradeoffs implied by the choice of implementation style and the lessons we have learned, good and bad.

Exploring Hawaiian volcanism

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poland, Michael P.; Okubo, Paul G.; Hon, Ken

2013-01-01

In 1912 the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) was established by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Thomas A. Jaggar Jr. on the island of Hawaii. Driven by the devastation he observed while investigating the volcanic disasters of 1902 at Montagne Pelée in the Caribbean, Jaggar conducted a worldwide search and decided that Hawai‘i provided an excellent natural laboratory for systematic study of earthquake and volcano processes toward better understanding of seismic and volcanic hazards. In the 100 years since HVO’s founding, surveillance and investigation of Hawaiian volcanoes have spurred advances in volcano and seismic monitoring techniques, extended scientists’ understanding of eruptive activity and processes, and contributed to development of global theories about hot spots and mantle plumes.

Electronic access to ONREUR/ONRAISIA S and T reports

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccluskey, William

1994-01-01

The Office of Naval Research maintains two foreign field offices in London, England and in Tokyo, Japan. These offices survey world-wide findings, trends and achievements in science and technology. These offices maintain liaison between U.S. Navy and foreign scientific research and development organizations conducting programs of naval interest. Expert personnel survey foreign scientific and technical activities, identify new directions and progress of potential interest, and report their findings. Report topics cover a broad range of basic scientific thrusts in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, and oceanography, as well as advances in technologies such as electronics, materials, optics, and robotics. These unclassified reports will be made available via the Internet in 1995, replacing hard-copy publication.

[Study of the effect of thiosemicarbazones against Toxoplasma gondii].

PubMed

Gomes, Marco Antônio G B; Carreira, Gabriela M; Souza, Daniela P V; Nogueira, Paulo Marcos R; de Melo, Edésio J T; Maria, Edmilson J

2013-04-01

Toxoplasmosis is a neglected disease, with an estimated occurrence of one-third of the population worldwide. Research in medicinal chemistry has for some years been pursuing the development of new drugs against toxoplasmosis, because current treatments cause serious side effects in the patient. The use of thiosemicarbazones as an alternative option for the treatment of various diseases has been published in recent years, due to their, among others, anticancer, antimalarial, antitrypanosomal, antibacterial, and antitoxoplasmosis activities, the latter being the subject of this study, which is based upon biological analyses and tests of the response of Toxoplasma gondii in the presence of thiosemicarbazones. Copyright © 2013 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive List of Cancer-Related Genetic Variations of the NCI-60 Panel | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

The NCI-60 cell lines are the most frequently studied human tumor cell lines in cancer research. The panel of cell lines represents nine different types of cancer: breast, ovary, prostate, colon, lung, kidney, brain, leukemia, and melanoma. Originally developed to screen anticancer compounds by the NCI Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP), the NCI-60 panel has generated the most extensive cancer pharmacology database worldwide. The 60 cell lines have also been extensively analyzed for their gene and microRNA expression levels, DNA mutation status, and DNA copy number variations. These findings have provided the groundwork for research centered on increasing our understanding of tumor biology and drug activity.

Is nursing ready for WebQuests?

PubMed

Lahaie, Ulysses David

2008-12-01

Based on an inquiry-oriented framework, WebQuests facilitate the construction of effective learning activities. Developed by Bernie Dodge and Tom March in 1995 at the San Diego State University, WebQuests have gained worldwide popularity among educators in the kindergarten through grade 12 educational sector. However, their application at the college and university levels is not well documented. WebQuests enhance and promote higher order-thinking skills, are consistent with Bloom's Taxonomy, and reflect a learner-centered instructional methodology (constructivism). They are based on solid theoretical foundations and promote critical thinking, inquiry, and problem solving. There is a role for WebQuests in nursing education. A WebQuest example is described in this article.

Exploring Hawaiian Volcanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poland, Michael P.; Okubo, Paul G.; Hon, Ken

2013-02-01

In 1912 the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) was established by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Thomas A. Jaggar Jr. on the island of Hawaii. Driven by the devastation he observed while investigating the volcanic disasters of 1902 at Montagne Pelée in the Caribbean, Jaggar conducted a worldwide search and decided that Hawai`i provided an excellent natural laboratory for systematic study of earthquake and volcano processes toward better understanding of seismic and volcanic hazards. In the 100 years since HVO's founding, surveillance and investigation of Hawaiian volcanoes have spurred advances in volcano and seismic monitoring techniques, extended scientists' understanding of eruptive activity and processes, and contributed to development of global theories about hot spots and mantle plumes.

Enzymatic trends of fructooligosaccharides production by microorganisms.

PubMed

Ganaie, Mohd Anis; Lateef, Agbaje; Gupta, Uma Shanker

2014-02-01

Fructooligosaccharides are influential prebiotics that affect various physiological functions in such a way that they promote positive impact to health. They occur naturally in many fruits and vegetables in trace amounts. However, they are mainly produced commercially by the reaction of microbial enzymes with di- or polysaccharides, such as sucrose or inulin as a substrate. For maximum production of fructooligosaccharides on an industrial level, development of more enzymes with high activity and stability is required. This has attracted the attention of biotechnologists and microbiologists worldwide. This study aims to discuss the new trends in the production of fructooligosaccharide and its effect on numerous health qualities through which it creates great demand in the sugar market.

[Smallpox preparedness in Denmark].

PubMed

Heegaard, Erik Deichmann; Fomsgaard, Anders

2005-09-05

Although the likelihood of a deliberate release is considered to be minor, smallpox virus poses a worldwide terrorism security risk because it (1) can easily be disseminated and transmitted from person to person; (2) results in high mortality rates and has the potential to create a major public health impact; (3) might cause public panic and social disruption; and (4) requires special action for public health preparedness. Consequently, Statens Serum Institute and the National Board of Health have developed a Danish smallpox preparedness plan. This article discusses critical aspects of the plan, including risk analysis and a multi-tiered action plan, vaccination, analysis of clinical specimens, the establishment of active surveillance teams and generic contingency elements.

Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution in Developing Countries.

PubMed

Mannucci, Pier Mannuccio; Franchini, Massimo

2017-09-12

The deleterious effects of ambient air pollution on human health have been consistently documented by many epidemiologic studies worldwide, and it has been calculated that globally at least seven million deaths are annually attributable to the effects of air pollution. The major air pollutants emitted into the atmosphere by a number of natural processes and human activities include nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter. In addition to the poor ambient air quality, there is increasing evidence that indoor air pollution also poses a serious threat to human health, especially in low-income countries that still use biomass fuels as an energy resource. This review summarizes the current knowledge on ambient air pollution in financially deprived populations.

Animal Venom Peptides: Potential for New Antimicrobial Agents.

PubMed

Primon-Barros, Muriel; José Macedo, Alexandre

2017-01-01

Microbial infections affect people worldwide, causing diseases with significant impact on public health, indicating the need for research and development of new antimicrobial agents. Animal venoms represent a vast and largely unexploited source of biologically active molecules with attractive candidates for the development of novel therapeutics. Venoms consist of complex mixtures of molecules, including antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Since the discovery of AMPs, they have been studied as promising new antimicrobial drugs. Amongst the remarkable sources of AMPs with known antimicrobial activities are ants, bees, centipedes, cone snails, scorpions, snakes, spiders, and wasps. The antimicrobial tests against bacteria, protozoans, fungi and viruses using 170 different peptides isolated directly from crude venoms or cDNA libraries of venom glands are listed and discussed in this review, as well as hemolytic ativity. The potential of venoms as source of new compounds, including AMPs, is extensively discussed. Currently, there are six FDA-approved drugs and many others are undergoing preclinical and clinical trials. The search for antimicrobial "weapons" makes the AMPs from venoms promising candidates. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Antimicrobial edible films and coatings for fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables: a review.

PubMed

Valencia-Chamorro, Silvia A; Palou, Lluís; Del Río, Miguel A; Pérez-Gago, María B

2011-01-01

The use of edible films and coatings is an environmentally friendly technology that offers substantial advantages for shelf-life increase of many food products including fruits and vegetables. The development of new natural edible films and coatings with the addition of antimicrobial compounds to preserve fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables is a technological challenge for the industry and a very active research field worldwide. Antimicrobial agents have been successfully added to edible composite films and coatings based on polysaccharides or proteins such as starch, cellulose derivatives, chitosan, alginate, fruit puree, whey protein isolated, soy protein, egg albumen, wheat gluten, or sodium caseinate. This paper reviews the development of edible films and coatings with antimicrobial activity, typically through the incorporation of antimicrobial food additives as ingredients, the effect of these edible films on the control of target microorganisms, the influence of antimicrobial agents on mechanical and barrier properties of stand-alone edible films, and the effect of the application of antimicrobial edible coatings on the quality of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables.

Umbilical cord blood banking in the worldwide hematopoietic stem cell transplantation system: perspectives for Ukraine.

PubMed

Kalynychenko, T O

2017-09-01

Significant progress in the promotion of procedural technologies associated with the transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells caused a rapid increase in activity. The exchange of hematopoietic stem cells for unrelated donor transplantations is now much easier due to the relevant international professional structures and organizations established to support cooperation and standard setting, as well as rules for the functioning of both national donor registries and cord blood banks. These processes are increasing every year and are contributing to the outpacing rates of development in this area. Products within their country should be regulated by the competent government authorities. This study analyzes the work of international and national levels of support for transplantation activity in the field of unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the standardization order of technologies, as well as data that justify the need to create a network of donated umbilical cord blood banks in Ukraine as a factor in the development of allogeneic transplantation. This will promote the accessibility of international standards for the treatment of serious diseases for Ukrainian citizens.

[ARIA 2016 executive summary: Integrated care pathways for predictive medicine throughout the life cycle in Argentina].

PubMed

Ivancevich, Juan Carlos; Neffen, Hugo; Zernotti, Mario E; Asayag, Estrella; Blua, Ariel; Cicerán, Alberto; Jares, Edgardo J; Lavrut, Alberto J; Máspero, Jorge F; Agache, Ioana; Bachert, Claus; Bedbrook, Anna; Canonica, Giorgio W; Casale, Thomas B; Cruz, Álvaro A; Fokkens, Wytske J; Hellings, Peter W; Samolinski, Boleslaw; Bousquet, Jean

2017-01-01

The ARIA initiative was started during a World Health Organization workshop in 1999. The initial goals were to propose a new classification for allergic rhinitis, to promote the concept of multi-morbidity in asthma and rhinitis and to develop guidelines with stakeholders for world-wide use. ARIA is now focused on the implementation of emerging technologies for individualized and predictive medicine. MASK: MACVIA-Aria Sentinel Network uses mobile technology to develop care pathways that enable management by a multidisciplinary group or by patients themselves. An App for iOS and Android uses a visual analogue scale to assess symptom control and work productivity, as well as a clinical decision support system; it is associated with an interoperable tablet for health professionals. The escalation strategy uses recommendations of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. The aim of ARIA's new approach is to provide an active and healthy life to people affected by rhinitis, regardless of age, gender or socioeconomic status, in order to reduce social and health inequalities caused by the disease.

New hydrazides derivatives of isoniazid against Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Higher potency and lower hepatocytotoxicity.

PubMed

Castelo-Branco, Frederico Silva; de Lima, Evanoel Crizanto; Domingos, Jorge Luiz de Oliveira; Pinto, Angelo C; Lourenço, Maria Cristina S; Gomes, Karen Machado; Costa-Lima, Mariana Marques; Araujo-Lima, Carlos Fernando; Aiub, Claudia Alessandra Fortes; Felzenszwalb, Israel; Costa, Thadeu Estevam M M; Penido, Carmen; Henriques, Maria G; Boechat, Nubia

2018-02-25

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The emergence of multi-drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and TB-HIV co-infection are major public health challenges. The anti-TB drugs of first choice were developed more than 4 decades ago and present several adverse effects, making the treatment of TB even more complicated and the development of new chemotherapeutics for this disease imperative. In this work, we synthesized two series of new acylhydrazides and evaluated their activity against different strains of Mtb. Derivatives of isoniazid (INH) showed important anti-Mtb activity, some being more potent than all anti-TB drugs of first choice. Moreover, three compounds proved to be more potent than INH against resistant Mtb. The Ames test showed favorable results for two of these substances compared to INH, one of which presented expressly lower toxicity to HepG2 cells than that of INH. This result shows that this compound has the potential to overcome one of the main adverse effects of this drug. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

The structure-activity relationship in herbicidal monosubstituted sulfonylureas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Zheng-Ming; Ma, Yi; Guddat, Luke

The herbicide sulfonylurea (SU) belongs to one of the most important class of herbicides worldwide. It is well known for its ecofriendly, extreme low toxicity towards mammals and ultralow dosage application. The original inventor, G Levitt, set out structure-activity relationship (SAR) guidelines for SU structural design to attain superhigh bioactivity. A new approach to SU molecular design has been developed. After the analysis of scores of SU products by X-ray diffraction methodology and after greenhouse herbicidal screening of 900 novel SU structures synthesized in the authors laboratory, it was found that several SU structures containing a monosubstituted pyrimidine moiety retainmore » excellent herbicidal characteristics, which has led to partial revision of the Levitt guidelines. Among the novel SU molecules, monosulfuron and monosulfuron-ester have been developed into two new herbicides that have been officially approved for field application and applied in millet and wheat fields in China. A systematic structural study of the new substrate-target complex and the relative mode of action in comparison with conventional SU has been carried out. A new mode of action has been postulated.« less

GEIA's Vision for Improved Emissions Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frost, G. J.; Granier, C.; Tarrason, L.; Middleton, P.

2014-12-01

Accurate, timely, and accessible emissions information is critical for understanding and making predictions about the atmosphere. We will present recent progress of the Global Emissions InitiAtive (GEIA, http://www.geiacenter.org/), a community-driven joint activity of IGAC, iLEAPS, and AIMES within the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme. Since 1990, GEIA has served as a forum for the exchange of expertise and information on anthropogenic and natural emissions of trace gases and aerosols. GEIA supports a worldwide network of emissions data developers and users, providing a solid scientific foundation for atmospheric chemistry research. By the year 2020, GEIA envisions being a bridge between the environmental science, regulatory, assessment, policy, and operational communities. GEIA's core activities include 1) facilitating analysis that improves the scientific basis for emissions data, 2) enhancing access to emissions information, and 3) strengthening linkages within the international emissions community. We will highlight GEIA's current work distributing emissions data, organizing the development of new emissions datasets, facilitating regional emissions studies, and initiating analyses aimed at improving emissions information. GEIA welcomes new partnerships that advance emissions knowledge for the future.

Evaluation of robenidine analog NCL195 as a novel broad-spectrum antibacterial agent.

PubMed

Ogunniyi, Abiodun D; Khazandi, Manouchehr; Stevens, Andrew J; Sims, Sarah K; Page, Stephen W; Garg, Sanjay; Venter, Henrietta; Powell, Andrew; White, Karen; Petrovski, Kiro R; Laven-Law, Geraldine; Tótoli, Eliane G; Salgado, Hérida R; Pi, Hongfei; Coombs, Geoffrey W; Shinabarger, Dean L; Turnidge, John D; Paton, James C; McCluskey, Adam; Trott, Darren J

2017-01-01

The spread of multidrug resistance among bacterial pathogens poses a serious threat to public health worldwide. Recent approaches towards combating antimicrobial resistance include repurposing old compounds with known safety and development pathways as new antibacterial classes with novel mechanisms of action. Here we show that an analog of the anticoccidial drug robenidine (4,6-bis(2-((E)-4-methylbenzylidene)hydrazinyl)pyrimidin-2-amine; NCL195) displays potent bactericidal activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus by disrupting the cell membrane potential. NCL195 was less cytotoxic to mammalian cell lines than the parent compound, showed low metabolic degradation rates by human and mouse liver microsomes, and exhibited high plasma concentration and low plasma clearance rates in mice. NCL195 was bactericidal against Acinetobacter spp and Neisseria meningitidis and also demonstrated potent activity against A. baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter spp. in the presence of sub-inhibitory concentrations of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and polymyxin B. These findings demonstrate that NCL195 represents a new chemical lead for further medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical development to enhance potency, solubility and selectivity against serious bacterial pathogens.

Children with Obesity Prioritize Social Support against Stigma: A Qualitative Study for Development of an Obesity Prevention Intervention

PubMed Central

Amini, Maryam; Djazayery, Abolghassem; Majdzadeh, Reza; Taghdisi, Mohammad-Hossein; Sadrzadeh-Yeganeh, Haleh; Eslami-Amirabadi, Maryam

2014-01-01

Background: Childhood obesity is a world-wide health problem and development of interventions to prevent or control it is a priority. Obesity is prevalent and on the increase among school-students in Iran, too. As the first step for development of an intervention, the current study was designed to complete our understanding of ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and preferences of primary school children in Tehran, Iran. Methods: Twenty-seven primary school-students (11 boys, 16 girls) in grade-five, most of whom were overweight or obese, participated in four focus-group discussions (FGDs). All FGD notes were analyzed to find the main themes. Results: Nine themes in three main categories emerged after analysis. The themes in the category of barriers of losing weight included environmental, psychological and physiological barriers. Category of intervention components included nutrition improvement, physical activity promotion, social support and education. Setting and deliverer of the intervention were included in the intervention conditions category. The children proposed a multi-component approach for development of an intervention. They mentioned nutrition and physical activity improvement, social support and education as the main elements of an effective intervention. Conclusions: The findings indicate that obese children need to be supported against different barriers of losing weight, mainly social barriers, especially humiliation by the community. PMID:25489443

Obstacles and Enablers on the Way towards Integrated Physical Activity Policies for Childhood Obesity Prevention: An Exploration of Local Policy Officials' Views

PubMed Central

Habraken, Jolanda M.; Kremers, Stef P. J.; van Oers, Hans; Schuit, Albertine J.

2016-01-01

Background. Limited physical activity (PA) is a risk factor for childhood obesity. In Netherlands, as in many other countries worldwide, local policy officials bear responsibility for integrated PA policies, involving both health and nonhealth domains. In practice, its development seems hampered. We explore which obstacles local policy officials perceive in their effort. Methods. Fifteen semistructured interviews were held with policy officials from health and nonhealth policy domains, working at strategic, tactic, and operational level, in three relatively large municipalities. Questions focused on exploring perceived barriers for integrated PA policies. The interviews were deductively coded by applying the Behavior Change Ball framework. Findings. Childhood obesity prevention appeared on the governmental agenda and all officials understood the multicausal nature. However, operational officials had not yet developed a tradition to develop integrated PA policies due to insufficient boundary-spanning skills and structural and cultural differences between the domains. Tactical level officials did not sufficiently support intersectoral collaboration and strategic level officials mainly focused on public-private partnerships. Conclusion. Developing integrated PA policies is a bottom-up innovation process that needs to be supported by governmental leaders through better guiding organizational processes leading to such policies. Operational level officials can assist in this by making progress in intersectoral collaboration visible. PMID:27668255

Obstacles and Enablers on the Way towards Integrated Physical Activity Policies for Childhood Obesity Prevention: An Exploration of Local Policy Officials' Views.

PubMed

Hendriks, Anna-Marie; Habraken, Jolanda M; Kremers, Stef P J; Jansen, Maria W J; van Oers, Hans; Schuit, Albertine J

Background . Limited physical activity (PA) is a risk factor for childhood obesity. In Netherlands, as in many other countries worldwide, local policy officials bear responsibility for integrated PA policies, involving both health and nonhealth domains. In practice, its development seems hampered. We explore which obstacles local policy officials perceive in their effort. Methods . Fifteen semistructured interviews were held with policy officials from health and nonhealth policy domains, working at strategic, tactic, and operational level, in three relatively large municipalities. Questions focused on exploring perceived barriers for integrated PA policies. The interviews were deductively coded by applying the Behavior Change Ball framework. Findings . Childhood obesity prevention appeared on the governmental agenda and all officials understood the multicausal nature. However, operational officials had not yet developed a tradition to develop integrated PA policies due to insufficient boundary-spanning skills and structural and cultural differences between the domains. Tactical level officials did not sufficiently support intersectoral collaboration and strategic level officials mainly focused on public-private partnerships. Conclusion . Developing integrated PA policies is a bottom-up innovation process that needs to be supported by governmental leaders through better guiding organizational processes leading to such policies. Operational level officials can assist in this by making progress in intersectoral collaboration visible.

Parents' Attitudes towards Science and Their Children's Science Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perera, Liyanage Devangi H.

2014-01-01

Although countries worldwide are emphasizing the importance of science education for technological development and global economic competition, comparative findings from standardized international student assessments reveal a huge gap in science scores between developed and developing countries. Certain developed economies too have made little…

Epidemiology of Tropical Neglected Diseases in Ecuador in the Last 20 Years

PubMed Central

Cartelle Gestal, Monica; Holban, Alina Maria; Escalante, Santiago; Cevallos, Marcelo

2015-01-01

Background Tropical and zoonotic diseases are major problems in developing countries like Ecuador. Poorly designed houses, the high proportion of isolated indigenous population and under developed infrastructure represent a fertile environment for vectors to proliferate. Control campaigns in Ecuador over the years have had varying success, depending on the disease and vectors targeted. Aims In our study we analyse the current situation of some neglected diseases in Ecuador and the efficiency of the control campaigns (by measuring changes in numbers of cases reported) that the Ecuadorian government has been running to limit the spread of these infectious and parasitic diseases. Results Our study reveals that Brucellosis, Chagas Disease, Rabies and Onchocerciasis have been controlled, but small outbreaks are still detected in endemic areas. Leptospirosis and Echinococcosis have been increasing steadily in recent years in Ecuador since the first records. The same increase has been reported world-wide also. Better diagnosis has resulted in a higher number of cases being identified, particularly with regard to the linking of outdoor activities and contact with farm animals as contributing vectors. Improvements in diagnosis are due to regular professional training, implementation of automatized systems, establishing diagnosis protocols and the creation of an epidemiological vigilance network that acts as soon as a case is reported. Conclusion Control campaigns performed in Ecuador have been successful in recent years, although natural phenomena limit their efficiency. Leptospirosis and Echinococcosis infections remain a growing problem in Ecuador as it is worldwide. PMID:26394405

Epidemiology of Tropical Neglected Diseases in Ecuador in the Last 20 Years.

PubMed

Cartelle Gestal, Monica; Holban, Alina Maria; Escalante, Santiago; Cevallos, Marcelo

2015-01-01

Tropical and zoonotic diseases are major problems in developing countries like Ecuador. Poorly designed houses, the high proportion of isolated indigenous population and under developed infrastructure represent a fertile environment for vectors to proliferate. Control campaigns in Ecuador over the years have had varying success, depending on the disease and vectors targeted. In our study we analyse the current situation of some neglected diseases in Ecuador and the efficiency of the control campaigns (by measuring changes in numbers of cases reported) that the Ecuadorian government has been running to limit the spread of these infectious and parasitic diseases. Our study reveals that Brucellosis, Chagas Disease, Rabies and Onchocerciasis have been controlled, but small outbreaks are still detected in endemic areas. Leptospirosis and Echinococcosis have been increasing steadily in recent years in Ecuador since the first records. The same increase has been reported world-wide also. Better diagnosis has resulted in a higher number of cases being identified, particularly with regard to the linking of outdoor activities and contact with farm animals as contributing vectors. Improvements in diagnosis are due to regular professional training, implementation of automatized systems, establishing diagnosis protocols and the creation of an epidemiological vigilance network that acts as soon as a case is reported. Control campaigns performed in Ecuador have been successful in recent years, although natural phenomena limit their efficiency. Leptospirosis and Echinococcosis infections remain a growing problem in Ecuador as it is worldwide.

A Reprofiled Drug, Auranofin, Is Effective against Metronidazole-Resistant Giardia lamblia

PubMed Central

Tejman-Yarden, Noa; Miyamoto, Yukiko; Leitsch, David; Santini, Jennifer; Debnath, Anjan; Gut, Jiri; McKerrow, James H.; Reed, Sharon L.

2013-01-01

Giardiasis is one of the most common causes of diarrheal disease worldwide. Treatment is primarily with 5-nitro antimicrobials, particularly metronidazole. Resistance to metronidazole has been described, and treatment failures can occur in up to 20% of cases, making development of alternative antigiardials an important goal. To this end, we have screened a chemical library of 746 approved human drugs and 164 additional bioactive compounds for activity against Giardia lamblia. We identified 56 compounds that caused significant inhibition of G. lamblia growth and attachment. Of these, 15 were previously reported to have antigiardial activity, 20 were bioactive but not approved for human use, and 21 were drugs approved for human use for other indications. One notable compound of the last group was the antirheumatic drug auranofin. Further testing revealed that auranofin was active in the low (4 to 6)-micromolar range against a range of divergent G. lamblia isolates representing both human-pathogenic assemblages A and B. Most importantly, auranofin was active against multiple metronidazole-resistant strains. Mechanistically, auranofin blocked the activity of giardial thioredoxin oxidoreductase, a critical enzyme involved in maintaining normal protein function and combating oxidative damage, suggesting that this inhibition contributes to the antigiardial activity. Furthermore, auranofin was efficacious in vivo, as it eradicated infection with different G. lamblia isolates in different rodent models. These results indicate that the approved human drug auranofin could be developed as a novel agent in the armamentarium of antigiardial drugs, particularly against metronidazole-resistant strains. PMID:23403423

Atypical regulators of Wnt/β-catenin signaling as potential therapeutic targets in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

PubMed

Chen, Jianxiang; Rajasekaran, Muthukumar; Hui, Kam M

2017-06-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma development depends on the inhibition and activation of multiple vital pathways, including the Wnt signaling pathway. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway lies at the center of various signaling pathways that regulate embryonic development, tissue homeostasis and cancers. Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway has been observed frequently in hepatocellular carcinoma. However, activating mutations in β-catenin, Axin and Adenomatous Polyposis Coli only contribute to a portion of the Wnt signaling hyper-activation observed in hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, besides mutations in the canonical Wnt components, there must be additional atypical regulation or regulators during Wnt signaling activation that promote liver carcinogenesis. In this mini-review, we have tried to summarize some of these well-established factors and to highlight some recently identified novel factors in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma. Impact statement Early recurrence of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a frequent cause of poor survival after potentially curative liver resection. Among the deregulated signaling cascades in HCC, evidence indicates that alterations in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway play key roles in hepatocarcinogenesis. In this review, we summarize the potential molecular mechanisms how the microtubule-associated Protein regulator of cytokinesis 1 (PRC1), a direct Wnt signaling target previously identified in our laboratory to be up-regulated in HCC, in promoting cancer proliferation, stemness, metastasis and tumorigenesis through a complex regulatory circuitry of Wnt3a activities.

International organizations to enable world-wide mobile satellite services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anglin, Richard L., Jr.

1993-01-01

Numbers of systems exist or have been proposed to provide world-wide mobile satellite services (MSS). Developers of these systems have formulated institutional structures they consider most appropriate for profitable delivery of these services. MSS systems provide niche services and complement traditional telecommunications networks; they are not integrated into world-wide networks. To be successful, MSS system operators must be able to provide an integrated suite of services to support the increasing globalization, interconnectivity, and mobility of business. The critical issue to enabling 'universal roaming' is securing authority to provide MSS in all of the nations of the world. Such authority must be secured in the context of evolving trends in international telecommunications, and must specifically address issues of standardization, regulation and organization. Today, only one existing organization has such world-wide authority. The question is how proponents of new MSS systems and services can gain similar authority. Securing the appropriate authorizations requires that these new organizations reflect the objectives of the nations in which services are to be delivered.

A modelling framework to predict bat activity patterns on wind farms: An outline of possible applications on mountain ridges of North Portugal.

PubMed

Silva, Carmen; Cabral, João Alexandre; Hughes, Samantha Jane; Santos, Mário

2017-03-01

Worldwide ecological impact assessments of wind farms have gathered relevant information on bat activity patterns. Since conventional bat study methods require intensive field work, the prediction of bat activity might prove useful by anticipating activity patterns and estimating attractiveness concomitant with the wind farm location. A novel framework was developed, based on the stochastic dynamic methodology (StDM) principles, to predict bat activity on mountain ridges with wind farms. We illustrate the framework application using regional data from North Portugal by merging information from several environmental monitoring programmes associated with diverse wind energy facilities that enable integrating the multifactorial influences of meteorological conditions, land cover and geographical variables on bat activity patterns. Output from this innovative methodology can anticipate episodes of exceptional bat activity, which, if correlated with collision probability, can be used to guide wind farm management strategy such as halting wind turbines during hazardous periods. If properly calibrated with regional gradients of environmental variables from mountain ridges with windfarms, the proposed methodology can be used as a complementary tool in environmental impact assessments and ecological monitoring, using predicted bat activity to assist decision making concerning the future location of wind farms and the implementation of effective mitigation measures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exoskeletons for industrial application and their potential effects on physical work load.

PubMed

de Looze, Michiel P; Bosch, Tim; Krause, Frank; Stadler, Konrad S; O'Sullivan, Leonard W

2016-05-01

The aim of this review was to provide an overview of assistive exoskeletons that have specifically been developed for industrial purposes and to assess the potential effect of these exoskeletons on reduction of physical loading on the body. The search resulted in 40 papers describing 26 different industrial exoskeletons, of which 19 were active (actuated) and 7 were passive (non-actuated). For 13 exoskeletons, the effect on physical loading has been evaluated, mainly in terms of muscle activity. All passive exoskeletons retrieved were aimed to support the low back. Ten-forty per cent reductions in back muscle activity during dynamic lifting and static holding have been reported. Both lower body, trunk and upper body regions could benefit from active exoskeletons. Muscle activity reductions up to 80% have been reported as an effect of active exoskeletons. Exoskeletons have the potential to considerably reduce the underlying factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal injury. Practitioner Summary: Worldwide, a significant interest in industrial exoskeletons does exist, but a lack of specific safety standards and several technical issues hinder mainstay practical use of exoskeletons in industry. Specific issues include discomfort (for passive and active exoskeletons), weight of device, alignment with human anatomy and kinematics, and detection of human intention to enable smooth movement (for active exoskeletons).

Brain drain from developing countries: how can brain drain be converted into wisdom gain?

PubMed Central

Dodani, Sunita; LaPorte, Ronald E

2005-01-01

Brain drain is defined as the migration of health personnel in search of the better standard of living and quality of life, higher salaries, access to advanced technology and more stable political conditions in different places worldwide. This migration of health professionals for better opportunities, both within countries and across international borders, is of growing concern worldwide because of its impact on health systems in developing countries. Why do talented people leave their countries and go abroad? What are the consequences of such migrations especially on the educational sector? What policies can be adopted to stem such movements from developing countries to developed countries? This article seeks to raise questions, identify key issues and provide solutions which would enable immigrant health professionals to share their knowledge, skills and innovative capacities and thereby enhancing the economic development of their countries. PMID:16260795

Beyond the Condom: Frontiers in Male Contraception

PubMed Central

Roth, Mara Y.; Amory, John K.

2016-01-01

Nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide are unplanned, despite numerous contraceptive options available. No new contraceptive method has been developed for men since the invention of condom. Nevertheless, more than 25% of contraception worldwide relies on male methods. Therefore, novel effective methods of male contraception are of interest. Herein we review the physiologic basis for both male hormonal and nonhormonal methods of contraception. We review the history of male hormonal contraception development, current hormonal agents in development, as well as the potential risks and benefits of male hormonal contraception options for men. Nonhormonal methods reviewed will include both pharmacological and mechanical approaches in development, with specific focus on methods which inhibit the testicular retinoic acid synthesis and action. Multiple hormonal and nonhormonal methods of male contraception are in the drug development pathway, with the hope that a reversible, reliable, safe method of male contraception will be available to couples in the not too distant future. PMID:26947703

Significant acceleration of emergency response using smartphone geolocation data and a worldwide emergency call support system.

PubMed

Weinlich, Michael; Kurz, Peter; Blau, Melissa B; Walcher, Felix; Piatek, Stefan

2018-01-01

When patients are disorientated or experience language barriers, it is impossible to activate the emergency response system. In these cases, the delay for receiving appropriate help can extend to several hours. A worldwide emergency call support system (ECSS), including geolocation of modern smartphones (GPS, WLAN and LBS), was established referring to E911 and eCall systems. The system was tested for relevance in quickly forwarding abroad emergency calls to emergency medical services (EMS). To verify that geolocation data from smartphones are exact enough to be used for emergency cases, the accuracy of GPS (global positioning system), Wi-Fi (wireless LAN network) and LBS (location based system) was tested in eleven different countries and compared to actual location. The main objective was analyzed by simulation of emergencies in different countries. The time delay in receiving help in unsuccessful emergency call cases by using the worldwide emergency call support system (ECSS) was measured. GPS is the gold standard to locate patients with an average accuracy of 2.0 ± 3.3 m. Wi-Fi can be used within buildings with an accuracy of 7.0 ± 24.1 m. Using ECSS, the emergency call leads to a successful activation of EMS in 22.8 ± 10.8 min (Median 21 min). The use of a simple app with one button to touch did never cause any delay. The worldwide emergency call support system (ECSS) significantly improves the emergency response in cases of disorientated patients or language barriers. Under circumstances without ECSS, help can be delayed by 2 or more hours and might have relevant lifesaving effects. This is the first time that Wi-Fi geolocation could prove to be a useful improvement in emergencies to enhance GPS, especially within or close to buildings.

From Thoughts To Action - Linking Practice, Science, Policy And Decision Making: Dissemination Activities Of The Global Risk Forum, GRF Davos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stal, Marc; Sutter, Corina; Ammann, Walter

2010-05-01

The world's growing population in combination with expanding urbanisation, globalisation and climate change has greatly aggravated the risk potential to all communities and nations. These increasing risks imply the intensification of worldwide disasters, hence collaborations and worldwide knowledge exchange to mitigate these negative impacts is mandatory. How can these exchange and collaboration activities take place? The Global Risk Forum, GRF Davos addresses the variety of risks that face communities with a special focus on climate change, natural hazards, environmental degradation as well as technical, biological risks, pandemics and terrorism - all across different political institutions, national and international organisations, countries and business sectors. One of GRF's main goals is to bridge the gap between science and practice and to promote and accelerate the worldwide exchange of know-how and experience. GRF Davos aims at targeting solutions and promoting good practice in integral risk management and climate change adaptation.. The Forum also provides and manages a network for decision-makers, practitioners and experts from politics, government, IGOs, business, science, NGOs, media and the public and works on maintaining and expanding these networks constantly to enable the dissemination of disaster and risk reduction techniques. In order to link practice, science, policy and decision making, GRF Davos has three pillars, the Risk Academy, the International Disaster and Risk Conferences and Workshops (IDRC) as well as the online Platform for Networks. With its pillars, the GRFs aims at reducing vulnerability for all types of risks and disasters to protect life, property, environment, critical infrastructure and all means of business for the worldwide community on a sustainable basis.

Anethum graveolens (dill) - A medicinal herb induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in HepG2 cell line.

PubMed

Mohammed, Furkhan Ahmed; Elkady, Ayman I; Syed, Fareeduddin Quadri; Mirza, Muqtadir Baig; Hakeem, Khalid Rehman; Alkarim, Saleh

2018-06-12

The medicinal herb, Anethum graveolens L. (dill) is one of the potent culinary herbs used as an alternative form of medicine worldwide. The unguent topical Oil from the aerial parts of A. graveolens was found to be effective in the management of uterus cancer in ethnomedicine has been reported. The incidence and mortality rates of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are steadily rising worldwide, especially, in underdeveloped and developing countries. Moreover, HCC develops rapidly in patients with chronic cirrhosis or hepatitis, where the solid tumours/malignancies coexist with the inflammation. Recent studies have shown that the medicinal herb, Anethum graveolens, holds anticancer potential, which could be a promising approach for the treatment of various tumours. In the current study, we have analysed the antiproliferative effect of ethyl acetate fraction of Dill Seeds (EAFD) on HepG2 cell line. Cell viability and proliferation were observed by MTT assay; Morphological changes were studied using fluorescent stains like Hoechst 33342, acridine orange/ethidium bromide and JC-1 dye. Further, the pro-apoptotic activity was demonstrated through Annexin-V-FITC/ PI assay and cell cycle analysis. Different concentrations (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 mg/ml) of EAFD were studied. EAFD markedly suppressed the proliferation of HepG2 cells in a dose and time-dependent manner. The phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy revealed the morphological alterations like disruption, shrinkage, detachment and blebbing of cell membrane accompanied by nuclear condensation after exposure to EAFD. Radical scavenging activity was evidenced by measurement of ROS levels post-treatment. Modulation of mitochondrial membrane potential was exhibited leading to the activation of caspases 3/7 and 9 which is a committed step towards apoptosis. Annexin V-FITC/ PI assay and cell cycle, later confirmed the apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in 'G2/M' phase through flow cytometric analysis. In conclusion, a significant apoptogenic effect was exhibited by EAFD against HepG2 cells in inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Our findings indicate that the medicinal herb- Anethum graveolens, holds potential in treating hepatocellular carcinoma effectively. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Malaria vaccines: high-throughput tools for antigens discovery with potential for their development

PubMed Central

Céspedes, Nora; Vallejo, Andrés; Arévalo-Herrera, Myriam

2013-01-01

Malaria is a disease induced by parasites of the Plasmodium genus, which are transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes and represents a great socio-economic burden Worldwide. Plasmodium vivax is the second species of malaria Worldwide, but it is the most prevalent in Latin America and other regions of the planet. It is currently considered that vaccines represent a cost-effective strategy for controlling transmissible diseases and could complement other malaria control measures; however, the chemical and immunological complexity of the parasite has hindered development of effective vaccines. Recent availability of several genomes of Plasmodium species, as well as bioinformatic tools are allowing the selection of large numbers of proteins and analysis of their immune potential. Herein, we review recently developed strategies for discovery of novel antigens with potential for malaria vaccine development. PMID:24892459

CORAL REEF BIOCRITERIA

EPA Science Inventory

Coral reefs worldwide are experiencing the greatest decline of their known existence and few tools are available to offset the growing impacts of human coastal and watershed activities. Biocriteria are a potentially effective means to evaluate and restore impaired waters, but are...

Astronomers Without Borders: A Global Astronomy Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simmons, M.

2011-10-01

Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) brings together astronomy enthusiasts of all types - amateur astronomers, educators, professionals and "armchair" astronomers for a variety of online and physicalworld programs. The AWB web site provides social networking and a base for online programs that engage people worldwide in astronomy activities that transcend geopolitical and cultural borders. There is universal interest in astronomy, which has been present in all cultures throughout recorded history. Astronomy is also among the most accessible of sciences with the natural laboratory of the sky being available to people worldwide. There are few other interests for which people widely separated geographically can engage in activities involving the same objects. AWB builds on those advantages to bring people together. AWB also provides a platform where projects can reach a global audience. AWB also provides unique opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration in EPO programs. Several programs including The World at Night, Global Astronomy Month and others will be described along with lessons learned.

Obesity and Obese-related Chronic Low-grade Inflammation in Promotion of Colorectal Cancer Development.

PubMed

Pietrzyk, Lukasz; Torres, Anna; Maciejewski, Ryszard; Torres, Kamil

2015-01-01

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a worldwide health problem, being the third most commonly detected cancer in males and the second in females. Rising CRC incidence trends are mainly regarded as a part of the rapid 'Westernization' of life-style and are associated with calorically excessive high-fat/low-fibre diet, consumption of refined products, lack of physical activity, and obesity. Most recent epidemiological and clinical investigations have consistently evidenced a significant relationship between obesity-driven inflammation in particular steps of colorectal cancer development, including initiation, promotion, progression, and metastasis. Inflammation in obesity occurs by several mechanisms. Roles of imbalanced metabolism (MetS), distinct immune cells, cytokines, and other immune mediators have been suggested in the inflammatory processes. Critical mechanisms are accounted to proinflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-1, IL-6, IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). These molecules are secreted by macrophages and are considered as major agents in the transition between acute and chronic inflammation and inflammation-related CRC. The second factor promoting the CRC development in obese individuals is altered adipokine concentrations (leptin and adiponectin). The role of leptin and adiponectin in cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis is attributable to the activation of several signal transduction pathways (JAK/STAT, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K), mTOR, and 5'AMPK signaling pathways) and multiple dysregulation (COX-2 downregulation, mRNA expression).

The Vital Program: Transforming ICT Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradshaw, Pete; Twining, Peter; Walsh, Christopher S.

2012-01-01

Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers remains a significant obstacle for many governments worldwide. This article describes the development and evolution of Vital--a CPD program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and…

Seeking worldwide professional consensus on the principles of end-of-life care for the critically ill. The Consensus for Worldwide End-of-Life Practice for Patients in Intensive Care Units (WELPICUS) study.

PubMed

Sprung, Charles L; Truog, Robert D; Curtis, J Randall; Joynt, Gavin M; Baras, Mario; Michalsen, Andrej; Briegel, Josef; Kesecioglu, Jozef; Efferen, Linda; De Robertis, Edoardo; Bulpa, Pierre; Metnitz, Philipp; Patil, Namrata; Hawryluck, Laura; Manthous, Constantine; Moreno, Rui; Leonard, Sara; Hill, Nicholas S; Wennberg, Elisabet; McDermid, Robert C; Mikstacki, Adam; Mularski, Richard A; Hartog, Christiane S; Avidan, Alexander

2014-10-15

Great differences in end-of-life practices in treating the critically ill around the world warrant agreement regarding the major ethical principles. This analysis determines the extent of worldwide consensus for end-of-life practices, delineates where there is and is not consensus, and analyzes reasons for lack of consensus. Critical care societies worldwide were invited to participate. Country coordinators were identified and draft statements were developed for major end-of-life issues and translated into six languages. Multidisciplinary responses using a web-based survey assessed agreement or disagreement with definitions and statements linked to anonymous demographic information. Consensus was prospectively defined as >80% agreement. Definitions and statements not obtaining consensus were revised based on comments of respondents, and then translated and redistributed. Of the initial 1,283 responses from 32 countries, consensus was found for 66 (81%) of the 81 definitions and statements; 26 (32%) had >90% agreement. With 83 additional responses to the original questionnaire (1,366 total) and 604 responses to the revised statements, consensus could be obtained for another 11 of the 15 statements. Consensus was obtained for informed consent, withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, legal requirements, intensive care unit therapies, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, shared decision making, medical and nursing consensus, brain death, and palliative care. Consensus was obtained for 77 of 81 (95%) statements. Worldwide consensus could be developed for the majority of definitions and statements about end-of-life practices. Statements achieving consensus provide standards of practice for end-of-life care; statements without consensus identify important areas for future research.

Professional development for primary science teaching in Thailand: Knowledge, orientations, and practices of professional developers and professional development participants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musikul, Kusalin

The purpose of this study was to examine an entire PD project as a case to understand the dynamic nature of science PD in a holistic manner. I used a pedagogical content knowledge model by Magnusson, Krajcik, and Borko (1999) as my theoretical framework in examining the professional developers' and teacher participants' knowledge, orientation, and practice for professional development and elementary science teaching. The case study is my research tradition; I used grounded theory for data analysis. The primary data sources were interview, card sort activity, and observation field notes collected during the PD and subsequently in teacher participants' classrooms. Secondary data sources were documents and artifacts that I collected from the professional developers and teachers. An analysis of the data led me to interpret the following findings: (a) the professional developers displayed multiple orientations. These orientations included activity-driven, didactic, discovery, and pedagogy-driven orientations. The orientations that were found among the professional developers deviated from the reformed Thai Science Education Standards; (b) the professional developers had limited PCK for PD, which were knowledge of teachers' learning, knowledge of PD strategies, knowledge of PD curriculum, and knowledge of assessment.; (c) the professional developers' knowledge and orientations influenced their decisions in selecting PD activities and teaching approaches; (d) their orientations and PCK as well as the time factor influenced the design and implementation of the professional development; (e) the elementary teachers displayed didactic, activity-driven, and academic rigor orientations. The orientations that the teachers displayed deviated from the reformed Thai Science Education Standards; and (f) the elementary teachers exhibited limited PCK. It is evident that the limitation of one type of knowledge resulted in an ineffective use of other components of PCK. This study demonstrates the nature of PD in the context of Thailand in a holistic view to understand knowledge, orientation, and implementation of professional developers and professional development participants. Furthermore, the findings have implications for professional development and professional developers in Thailand and include worldwide with respect to promoting sustain and intensive professional development and developing professional developers.

Indoor fuel exposure and the lung in both developing and developed countries: An update

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Synopsis Almost 3 billion people worldwide burn solid fuels indoors. These fuels include biomass and coal. Although indoor solid fuel smoke is likely a greater problem in developing countries, wood burning populations in developed countries may also be at risk from these exposures. Despite the large population at risk worldwide, the effect of exposure to indoor solid fuel smoke has not been adequately studied. Indoor air pollution from solid fuel use is strongly associated with COPD (both emphysema and chronic bronchitis), acute respiratory tract infections, and lung cancer (primarily coal use) and weakly associated with asthma, tuberculosis, and interstitial lung disease. Tobacco use further potentiates the development of respiratory disease among subjects exposed to solid fuel smoke. There is a need to perform additional interventional studies in this field. It is also important to increase awareness about the health effects of solid fuel smoke inhalation among physicians and patients as well as trigger preventive actions through education, research, and policy change in both developing and developed countries. PMID:23153607

The Internationalization of Educational and Research Activities of Japanese University Academic Staff: Present Conditions and Determinants. RIHE International Seminar Reports. No. 23

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daizen, Tsukasa

2015-01-01

The globalization of economic activities progresses worldwide. The internationalization of higher education institutions is required to adapt itself to the situation. Particularly, the top universities of each country are expected to produce very significant research achievements and to recruit and educate excellent students from all over the…

Alternative Fuels and Hybrid Technology: A Classroom Activity Designed to Evaluate a Contemporary Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roy MacArthur, Amy H.; Copper, Christine L.

2009-01-01

As petroleum reserves are being depleted worldwide and energy costs are increasing, the use of alternative fuels is being more widely considered as a solution to the impending energy crisis. In this classroom activity students are presented with a real-world problem in which they must evaluate the properties and environmental impacts of a variety…

What serious video games can offer child obesity prevention.

PubMed

Thompson, Debbe

2014-07-16

Childhood obesity is a worldwide issue, and effective methods encouraging children to adopt healthy diet and physical activity behaviors are needed. This viewpoint addresses the promise of serious video games, and why they may offer one method for helping children eat healthier and become more physically active. Lessons learned are provided, as well as examples gleaned from personal experiences.

Characterization of the Protease Activity of Detergents: Laboratory Practicals for Studying the Protease Profile and Activity of Various Commercial Detergents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valls, Cristina; Pujadas, Gerard; Garcia-Vallve, Santi; Mulero, Miquel

2011-01-01

Detergent enzymes account for about 30% of the total worldwide production of enzymes and are one of the largest and most successful applications of modern industrial biotechnology. Proteases can improve the wash performance of household, industrial, and institutional laundry detergents used to remove protein-based stains such as blood, grass, body…

Active Tuberculosis in HIV-Exposed Tanzanian Children up to 2 years of Age: Early-Life Nutrition, Multivitamin Supplementation and Other Potential Risk Factors.

PubMed

Olofin, Ibironke O; Liu, Enju; Manji, Karim P; Danaei, Goodarz; Duggan, Christopher; Aboud, Said; Spiegelman, Donna; Fawzi, Wafaie W

2016-02-01

Over half a million children worldwide develop active tuberculosis (TB) each year. Early-life nutritional exposures have rarely been examined in relation to pediatric TB among HIV-exposed children. We therefore investigated independent associations of early-life nutritional exposures with active TB among HIV-exposed children up to 2 years of age. Participants were children from a randomized controlled multivitamin supplementation trial conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from August 2004 to May 2008, who received daily multivitamin supplements or placebo for 24 months. Lower mean corpuscular volumes [relative risks (RR): 0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.27, 0.87] and higher birth weights (RR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.99) were protective against active TB, whereas multivitamin supplementation was not associated with TB risk (RR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.65, 1.16). Knowledge of nutrition-related risk and protective factors for TB in HIV-exposed children could enhance preventive and case-finding activities in this population, contributing to efforts to reduce the global TB burden. © The Author [2015]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

THE BURDEN OF DENGUE AND CHIKUNGUNYA WORLDWIDE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES AND CALIFORNIA

PubMed Central

Fredericks, Anthony C.; Fernandez-Sesma, Ana

2015-01-01

Dengue virus (DENV) spreads to humans through the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito and is a growing public health threat to both industrialized and developing nations worldwide. Outbreaks of autochthonous dengue in the United States occurred extensively in the past but over the past three decades have again taken place in Florida, Hawai’i, and Texas as well as in American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. As the Aedes vectors spread worldwide it is anticipated that DENV as well as other viruses also transmitted by these vectors, such as Chikungunya virus (CHKV), will invade new areas of the world, including the US. In this review, we describe the current burden of dengue disease worldwide and the potential introduction of DENV and CHKV into different areas of the US. Of these areas, the state of California saw the arrival and spread of the Aedes aegypti vector beginning in 2013. This invasion presents a developing situation when considering the state’s number of imported dengue cases and proximity to northern Mexico as well as the rising specter of chikungunya in the Western hemisphere. The distribution of Aedes vectors in California as well as a discussion of several factors contributing to the risk of dengue importation are discussed and evaluated. PMID:25960096

Developing a Global Green Freight Action Plan

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) presentation gives an overview of the Global Green Freight Action Plan to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of freight operations worldwide along with developing an action plan.

Arthroplasty for Unreconstructable Acute Fractures and Failed Fracture Fixation About the Hip and Knee in the Active Elderly: A New Paradigm.

PubMed

Kyle, Richard F; Duwelius, Paul J; Haidukewych, George J; Schmidt, Andrew H

2017-02-15

The techniques, materials, and designs for total joint arthroplasty underwent major improvements in the past 30 years. During this time, trauma surgeons classified the severity of fractures as well as identified certain articular fractures that do not have good outcomes and have a high rate of failure after internal fixation. Advanced improvements in arthroplasty have increased its reliability and longevity. Total joint arthroplasty is becoming a standard of care for some acute articular fractures, particularly displaced femoral neck fractures in the active elderly. Total joint arthroplasty also has become the standard of care after failed internal fixation in patients who have very complicated fractures about the knee, hip, and shoulder. As the population ages, fractures worldwide continue to rapidly increase. Elderly patients have a high risk for fractures that result from falls because of their poor bone quality. The current active elderly population participates in higher risk activities than previous elderly populations, which places them at risk for more injuries. This has become both a worldwide healthcare problem and an economic problem. Surgeons need to manage fractures in the active elderly with the latest advancements in technology and patient selection to ensure rapid recovery and the reduction of complications.

Analysis of a unique global public-private partnership to promote oral health.

PubMed

Pine, Cynthia M; Dugdill, Lindsey

2011-08-01

Partnerships for health promotion are between two or more partners to work co-operatively towards a set of shared health outcomes; few public-private partnerships in oral health promotion have been established. To undertake a detailed analysis of a unique global public-private partnership to promote oral health between a global company, Unilever and the Féderation Dentaire International (FDI), a membership organisation representing more than one million dentists worldwide. Qualitative and quantitative, including: collating and analysing a wide range of partnership documents (n =164); reviewing film and pictorial records; undertaking structured interviews (n=34) with people who had a critical role in establishing and delivering the aims of the partnership, and external experts; and site visits to selected global projects active at the time of the evaluation. Over 1 million people have been reached directly through their engagement with 39 projects in 36 countries; an oral health message about the benefits of twice daily tooth brushing has appeared with the authority of the FDI logo on billions of packs of Unilever Oral Care's toothpastes worldwide; many individual members of National Dental Associations have participated in health promotion activities within their communities for the first time; some organisational challenges during the development and delivery of the partnership were recognised by both partners. The first phase of this unique global partnership has been successful in making major progress towards achieving its goals; lessons learned have ensured that the next phase of the partnership has significant potential to contribute to improving oral health globally. © 2011 FDI World Dental Federation.

Effects of methyl mercury exposure on pancreatic beta cell development and function.

PubMed

Schumacher, Lauren; Abbott, Louise C

2017-01-01

Methyl mercury is an environmental contaminant of worldwide concern. Since the discovery of methyl mercury exposure due to eating contaminated fish as the underlying cause of the Minamata disaster, the scientific community has known about the sensitivity of the developing central nervous system to mercury toxicity. Warnings are given to pregnant women and young children to limit consumption of foods containing methyl mercury to protect the embryonic, fetal and postnatally developing central nervous system. However, evidence also suggests that exposure to methyl mercury or various forms of inorganic mercury may also affect development and function of other organs. Numerous reports indicate a worldwide increase in diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes. Quite recently, methyl mercury has been shown to have adverse effects on pancreatic beta (β) cell development and function, resulting in insulin resistance and hyperglycemia and may even lead to the development of diabetes. This review discusses possible mechanisms by which methyl mercury exposure may adversely affect pancreatic β cell development and function, and the role that methyl mercury exposure may have in the reported worldwide increase in diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes. While additional information is needed regarding associations between mercury exposure and specific mechanisms of the pathogenesis of diabetes in the human population, methyl mercury's adverse effects on the body's natural sources of antioxidants suggest that one possible therapeutic strategy could involve supplementation with antioxidants. Thus, it is important that additional investigation be undertaken into the role of methyl mercury exposure and reduced pancreatic β cell function. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Activity of Novel Synthetic Peptides against Candida albicans

PubMed Central

Lum, Kah Yean; Tay, Sun Tee; Le, Cheng Foh; Lee, Vannajan Sanghiran; Sabri, Nadia Hanim; Velayuthan, Rukumani Devi; Hassan, Hamimah; Sekaran, Shamala Devi

2015-01-01

Candida spp. are the most common causes of fungal infections worldwide. Among the Candida species, Candida albicans remains the predominant species that causes invasive candidiasis in most countries. In this study, we used two peptides, KABT-AMP and uperin 3.6 as templates to develop novel antifungal peptides. Their anticandidal activity was assessed using a combination of MIC, time-killing assay and biofilm reduction assay. Hybrid peptides, KU2 and KU3 containing a mixed backbone of KABT-AMP and Uperin 3.6 demonstrated the most potent anticandidal activity with MIC values ranging from 8–16 mg/L. The number of Trp residues and the amphipathic structure of peptides probably enhanced the anticandidal activity of peptides. Increasing the cationicity of the uperin 3.6 analogues resulted in reduced MIC from the range of 64–128 mg/L to 16–64 mg/L and this was also correlated with the antibiofilm activity and killing kinetics of the peptides. Peptides showed synergistic effects when used in combination with conventional antifungals. Peptides demonstrated low haemolytic activity but significant toxicity on two normal human epithelial cell lines. This study provides us with a better understanding on the structure-activity relationship and the balance between cationicity and hydrophobicity of the peptides although the therapeutic application of the peptides is limited. PMID:25965506

Activity of Novel Synthetic Peptides against Candida albicans.

PubMed

Lum, Kah Yean; Tay, Sun Tee; Le, Cheng Foh; Lee, Vannajan Sanghiran; Sabri, Nadia Hanim; Velayuthan, Rukumani Devi; Hassan, Hamimah; Sekaran, Shamala Devi

2015-05-12

Candida spp. are the most common causes of fungal infections worldwide. Among the Candida species, Candida albicans remains the predominant species that causes invasive candidiasis in most countries. In this study, we used two peptides, KABT-AMP and uperin 3.6 as templates to develop novel antifungal peptides. Their anticandidal activity was assessed using a combination of MIC, time-killing assay and biofilm reduction assay. Hybrid peptides, KU2 and KU3 containing a mixed backbone of KABT-AMP and Uperin 3.6 demonstrated the most potent anticandidal activity with MIC values ranging from 8-16 mg/L. The number of Trp residues and the amphipathic structure of peptides probably enhanced the anticandidal activity of peptides. Increasing the cationicity of the uperin 3.6 analogues resulted in reduced MIC from the range of 64-128 mg/L to 16-64 mg/L and this was also correlated with the antibiofilm activity and killing kinetics of the peptides. Peptides showed synergistic effects when used in combination with conventional antifungals. Peptides demonstrated low haemolytic activity but significant toxicity on two normal human epithelial cell lines. This study provides us with a better understanding on the structure-activity relationship and the balance between cationicity and hydrophobicity of the peptides although the therapeutic application of the peptides is limited.

Tracking and data system support for the Viking 1975 mission to Mars. Volume 2: Launch through landing of Viking 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mudgway, D. J.; Traxler, M. R.

1977-01-01

Problems inherent in the deployment and management of a worldwide tracking and data acquisition network to support the two Viking Orbiters and two Viking Landers simultaneously over 320 million kilometers (200 million miles) of deep space are discussed. Activities described include tracking coverage of the launch phase, the deep space operations during the long cruise phase that occupied approximately 11 months, and the implementation of the a vast worldwide network of tracking sttions and global communications systems. The performance of the personnel, hardware, and software involved in this vast undertaking are evaluated.

Assistive Technology Developments in Puerto Rico.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lizama, Mauricio A.; Mendez, Hector L.

Recent efforts to develop Spanish-based adaptations for alternate computer input devices are considered, as are their implications for Hispanics with disabilities and for the development of language sensitive devices worldwide. Emphasis is placed on the particular need to develop low-cost high technology devices for Puerto Rico and Latin America…

Educating the girl child in rural areas.

PubMed

Tandon, S

1995-01-01

This article discusses the importance of educating female children in India. There is ample evidence worldwide that improvements in girls' education benefit the status of the family and empower women. The World Declaration of Education for All was adopted in Jomtein, Thailand in 1990. It urged access to and improvement in the quality of education of girls and women to remove obstacles that hamper active participation. 1990 was the Year of Literacy and the Year of the Girl Child. Girls lag in education worldwide. The gender gap is widest in India in levels of literacy, school enrollment, school dropouts, and opportunities for vocational training. There is a need to educate the public, particularly mothers, about the value of girls. In rural and backward areas of India, there is fear of educating girls that is related to prevalent practices of exploitation and violence against women. Education and vocational training should be linked with anti-poverty programs. Adult literacy should be linked with girls' education. The National Policy on Education in 1986 targeted removal of sex stereotyping from school curricula and promoted diversified curricula and access of girls to vocational and professional training programs. The policy recommended integrated child care services and primary education. The national action plan for the 1990s focuses on protection, survival, and development of the girl child in India. Special schools for developing skills in nutrition, cooking, sewing, home economics, and child development should be set up in villages for girls 12-20 years old. The gap in girls' education is attributed to apathy and resistance of parents, unfavorable attitudes toward coeducation, poverty of parents, shortages of schools, and poor quality instruction. Girls' continuing education should be ensured by incentives, such as free books and clothes; time tables conducive to work; support systems; and work schemes.

The niche reduction approach: an opportunity for optimal control of infectious diseases in low-income countries?

PubMed

Roche, Benjamin; Broutin, Hélène; Choisy, Marc; Godreuil, Sylvain; de Magny, Guillaume Constantin; Chevaleyre, Yann; Zucker, Jean-Daniel; Breban, Romulus; Cazelles, Bernard; Simard, Frédéric

2014-07-25

During the last century, WHO led public health interventions that resulted in spectacular achievements such as the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the elimination of malaria from the Western world. However, besides major successes achieved worldwide in infectious diseases control, most elimination/control programs remain frustrating in many tropical countries where specific biological and socio-economical features prevented implementation of disease control over broad spatial and temporal scales. Emblematic examples include malaria, yellow fever, measles and HIV. There is consequently an urgent need to develop affordable and sustainable disease control strategies that can target the core of infectious diseases transmission in highly endemic areas. Meanwhile, although most pathogens appear so difficult to eradicate, it is surprising to realize that human activities are major drivers of the current high rate of extinction among upper organisms through alteration of their ecology and evolution, i.e., their "niche". During the last decades, the accumulation of ecological and evolutionary studies focused on infectious diseases has shown that the niche of a pathogen holds more dimensions than just the immune system targeted by vaccination and treatment. Indeed, it is situated at various intra- and inter- host levels involved on very different spatial and temporal scales. After developing a precise definition of the niche of a pathogen, we detail how major advances in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology of infectious diseases can enlighten the planning and implementation of infectious diseases control in tropical countries with challenging economic constraints. We develop how the approach could translate into applied cases, explore its expected benefits and constraints, and we conclude on the necessity of such approach for pathogen control in low-income countries.

Mobile Health Devices as Tools for Worldwide Cardiovascular Risk Reduction and Disease Management.

PubMed

Piette, John D; List, Justin; Rana, Gurpreet K; Townsend, Whitney; Striplin, Dana; Heisler, Michele

2015-11-24

We examined evidence on whether mobile health (mHealth) tools, including interactive voice response calls, short message service, or text messaging, and smartphones, can improve lifestyle behaviors and management related to cardiovascular diseases throughout the world. We conducted a state-of-the-art review and literature synthesis of peer-reviewed and gray literature published since 2004. The review prioritized randomized trials and studies focused on cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, but included other reports when they represented the best available evidence. The search emphasized reports on the potential benefits of mHealth interventions implemented in low- and middle-income countries. Interactive voice response and short message service interventions can improve cardiovascular preventive care in developed countries by addressing risk factors including weight, smoking, and physical activity. Interactive voice response and short message service-based interventions for cardiovascular disease management also have shown benefits with respect to hypertension management, hospital readmissions, and diabetic glycemic control. Multimodal interventions including Web-based communication with clinicians and mHealth-enabled clinical monitoring with feedback also have shown benefits. The evidence regarding the potential benefits of interventions using smartphones and social media is still developing. Studies of mHealth interventions have been conducted in >30 low- and middle-income countries, and evidence to date suggests that programs are feasible and may improve medication adherence and disease outcomes. Emerging evidence suggests that mHealth interventions may improve cardiovascular-related lifestyle behaviors and disease management. Next-generation mHealth programs developed worldwide should be based on evidence-based behavioral theories and incorporate advances in artificial intelligence for adapting systems automatically to patients' unique and changing needs. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Global genetic analyses reveal strong inter-ethnic variability in the loss of activity of the organic cation transporter OCT1.

PubMed

Seitz, Tina; Stalmann, Robert; Dalila, Nawar; Chen, Jiayin; Pojar, Sherin; Dos Santos Pereira, Joao N; Krätzner, Ralph; Brockmöller, Jürgen; Tzvetkov, Mladen V

2015-01-01

The organic cation transporter OCT1 (SLC22A1) mediates the uptake of vitamin B1, cationic drugs, and xenobiotics into hepatocytes. Nine percent of Caucasians lack or have very low OCT1 activity due to loss-of-function polymorphisms in OCT1 gene. Here we analyzed the global genetic variability in OCT1 to estimate the therapeutic relevance of OCT1 polymorphisms in populations beyond Caucasians and to identify evolutionary patterns of the common loss of OCT1 activity in humans. We applied massively parallel sequencing to screen for coding polymorphisms in 1,079 unrelated individuals from 53 populations worldwide. The obtained data was combined with the existing 1000 Genomes data comprising an additional 1,092 individuals from 14 populations. The identified OCT1 variants were characterized in vitro regarding their cellular localization and their ability to transport 10 known OCT1 substrates. Both the population genetics data and transport data were used in tandem to generate a world map of loss of OCT1 activity. We identified 16 amino acid substitutions potentially causing loss of OCT1 function and analyzed them together with five amino acid substitutions that were not expected to affect OCT1 function. The variants constituted 16 major alleles and 14 sub-alleles. Six major alleles showed improper subcellular localization leading to substrate-wide loss in activity. Five major alleles showed correct subcellular localization, but substrate-specific loss of activity. Striking differences were observed in the frequency of loss of OCT1 activity worldwide. While most East Asian and Oceanian individuals had completely functional OCT1, 80 % of native South American Indians lacked functional OCT1 alleles. In East Asia and Oceania the average nucleotide diversity of the loss-of-function variants was much lower than that of the variants that do not affect OCT1 function (ratio of 0.03) and was significantly lower than the theoretically expected heterozygosity (Tajima's D = -1.64, P < 0.01). Comprehensive genetic analyses showed strong global variations in the frequency of loss of OCT1 activity with selection pressure for maintaining OCT1 activity in East Asia and Oceania. These results not only enable pharmacogenetically-based optimization of drug treatment worldwide, but may help elucidate the functional role of human OCT1.

The development of an internet-based knowledge exchange platform for pediatric critical care clinicians worldwide*.

PubMed

Wolbrink, Traci A; Kissoon, Niranjan; Burns, Jeffrey P

2014-03-01

Advances in Internet technology now enable unprecedented global collaboration and collective knowledge exchange. Up to this time, there have been limited efforts to use these technologies to actively promote knowledge exchange across the global pediatric critical care community. To develop an open-access, peer-reviewed, not-for-profit Internet-based learning application, OPENPediatrics, a collaborative effort with the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies, was designed to promote postgraduate educational knowledge exchange for physicians, nurses, and others caring for critically ill children worldwide. Description of program development. International multicenter tertiary pediatric critical care units across six continents. Multidisciplinary pediatric critical care providers. A software application, providing information on demand, curricular pathways, and videoconferencing, downloaded to a local computer. In 2010, a survey assessing postgraduate educational needs was distributed through World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies to constituent societies. Four hundred and twenty-nine critical care providers from 49 countries responded to the single e-mail survey request. Respondents included 68% physicians and 28% nurses who care for critically ill children. Fifty-two percent of respondents reported accessing the Internet at least weekly to obtain professional educational information. The five highest requests were for educational content on respiratory care [mechanical ventilation] (48% [38%]), sepsis (28%), neurology (25%), cardiology (14%), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (10%), and ethics (8%). Based on these findings, and in collaboration with researchers in adult learning and online courseware, an application was developed and is currently being used by 770 registered users in 60 countries. We describe here the development and implementation of an Internet-based application which is among the first efforts designed to promote global knowledge exchange for physicians and nurses caring for critically ill children. This application has the potential to evolve new methods in postgraduate education. Ongoing assessment of the efficacy of Internet-based learning platforms will be necessary.

The discovery of new and more potent chloropyramine (C4) analogues for the potential treatment of invasive breast cancer.

PubMed

Kandil, Sahar; Prencipe, Filippo; Jones, Samuel; Hiscox, Stephen; Westwell, Andrew D

2018-01-01

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 25% of all female cancers. Although the survival rate has increased significantly in the past few decades, patients who develop secondary site metastasis as well as those diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer still represent a real unmet medical challenge. Previous studies have shown that chloropyramine (C4) inhibits FAK-VEGFR3 signalling. More recently, C4 is reported to have SASH1 inducing properties. However, C4 exerts its antitumour and antiangiogenic effects at high micromolar concentrations (>100 μm) that would not be compatible with further drug development against invasive breast cancer driven by FAK signalling. In this study, molecular modelling guided structural modifications have been introduced to the chloropyramine C4 scaffold to improve its activity in breast cancer cell lines. Seventeen compounds were designed and synthesized, and their antiproliferative activity was evaluated against three human breast cancer lines (MDA-MB-231, BT474 and T47D). Compound 5c was identified to display an average activity of IC 50  = 23.5-31.3 μm, which represents a significant improvement of C4 activity in the same assay model. Molecular modelling and pharmacokinetic studies provided more promising insights into the mechanistic features of this new series. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Killing of Mycobacterium avium by Lactoferricin Peptides: Improved Activity of Arginine- and d-Amino-Acid-Containing Molecules

PubMed Central

Silva, Tânia; Magalhães, Bárbara; Maia, Sílvia; Gomes, Paula; Nazmi, Kamran; Bolscher, Jan G. M.; Rodrigues, Pedro N.; Bastos, Margarida

2014-01-01

Mycobacterium avium causes respiratory disease in susceptible individuals, as well as disseminated infections in immunocompromised hosts, being an important cause of morbidity and mortality among these populations. Current therapies consist of a combination of antibiotics taken for at least 6 months, with no more than 60% overall clinical success. Furthermore, mycobacterial antibiotic resistance is increasing worldwide, urging the need to develop novel classes of antimicrobial drugs. One potential and interesting alternative strategy is the use of antimicrobial peptides (AMP). These are present in almost all living organisms as part of their immune system, acting as a first barrier against invading pathogens. In this context, we investigated the effect of several lactoferrin-derived AMP against M. avium. Short peptide sequences from both human and bovine lactoferricins, namely, hLFcin1-11 and LFcin17-30, as well as variants obtained by specific amino acid substitutions, were evaluated. All tested peptides significantly inhibited the axenic growth of M. avium, the bovine peptides being more active than the human. Arginine residues were found to be crucial for the display of antimycobacterial activity, whereas the all-d-amino-acid analogue of the bovine sequence displayed the highest mycobactericidal activity. These findings reveal the promising potential of lactoferricins against mycobacteria, thus opening the way for further research on their development and use as a new weapon against mycobacterial infections. PMID:24709266

Gully annealing by aeolian sediment: field and remote-sensing investigation of aeolian-hillslope-fluvial interactions, Colorado River corridor, Arizona, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sankey, Joel B.; Draut, Amy E.

2014-01-01

Processes contributing to development of ephemeral gully channels are of great importance to landscapes worldwide, and particularly in dryland regions where soil loss and land degradation from gully erosion pose long-term land-management problems. Whereas gully formation has been relatively well studied, much less is known of the processes that anneal gullies and impede their growth. This study of gully annealing by aeolian sediment, spanning 95 km along the Colorado River corridor in Glen, Marble, and Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, employed field and remote sensing observations, including digital topographic modelling. Results indicate that aeolian sediment activity can be locally effective at counteracting gully erosion. Gullies are less prevalent in areas where surficial sediment undergoes active aeolian transport, and have a greater tendency to terminate in active aeolian sand. Although not common, examples exist in the record of historical imagery of gullies that underwent infilling by aeolian sediment in past decades and evidently were effectively annealed. We thus provide new evidence for a potentially important interaction of aeolian–hillslope–fluvial processes, which could affect dryland regions substantially in ways not widely recognized. Moreover, because the biologic soil crust plays an important role in determining aeolian sand activity, and so in turn the extent of gully development, this study highlights a critical role of geomorphic–ecologic interactions in determining arid-landscape evolution.

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute's education and public outreach program: Working toward a global 21st century space exploration society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacLeish, Marlene Y.; Thomson, William A.; Moreno, Nancy P.

2011-05-01

Space Exploration educators worldwide are confronting challenges and embracing opportunities to prepare students for the global 21st century workforce. The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), established in 1997 through a NASA competition, is a 12-university consortium dedicated to space life science research and education. NSBRI's Education and Public Outreach Program (EPOP) is advancing the Institute's mission by responding to global educational challenges through activities that: provide teacher professional development; develop curricula that teach students to communicate with their peers across the globe; provide women and minority US populations with greater access to, and awareness of science careers; and promote international science education partnerships. A recent National Research Council (NRC) Space Studies Board Report, America's Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Program with National Needs, acknowledges that "a capable workforce for the 21st century is a key strategic objective for the US space program… (and that) US problems requiring best efforts to understand and resolve…are global in nature and must be addressed through mutual worldwide action". [1] This sentiment has gained new momentum through a recent National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) report, which recommends that the life of the International Space Station be extended beyond the planned 2016 termination. [2] The two principles of globalization and ISS utility have elevated NSBRI EPOP efforts to design and disseminate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational materials that prepare students for full participation in a globalized, high technology society; promote and provide teacher professional development; create research opportunities for women and underserved populations; and build international educational partnerships. This paper describes select EPOP projects and makes the case for using innovative, emerging information technologies to transfer space exploration knowledge to students, engage educators from across the globe in discourse about science curricula, and foster multimedia collaborations that inform citizens about the benefits of space exploration for life on Earth. Special references are made to educational activities conducted at professional meetings in Austria, Canada, France, China, Greece, Italy, Russia, Scotland and Spain.

Veterinary Public Health in Italy: From Healthy Animals to Healthy Food, Contribution to Improve Economy in Developing Countries.

PubMed

Cacaci, Margherita; Lelli, Rossella Colomba

2018-01-01

The role of the veterinarian as a public health officer is intrinsic to the history and the culture of veterinary organization in Italy. The Veterinary service being part of the Health administration since the birth of the Italian State in the XIX Century. In the second half of the last century the birth of the Italian National Health Service confirmed that the function of the Italian veterinary service was to analyze and reduce the risks for the human population connected to the relationship man-animal-environment, animal health, food safety and security. The Italian Veterinary Medicine School curricula, reflected this "model" of veterinarian as well. In the majority of countries in the world, Veterinary Services are organized within the Agriculture Administration with the main function to assure animal health and wellbeing. After the so-called "Mad-cow crisis" the awareness of the direct and essential role of veterinary services in the prevention of human illness has been officially recognized and in the third millennium the old concept of "one health" and "human-animal interface" has gained popularity worldwide.The concept of Veterinary Public Health, has evolved at International level and has incorporated the more than a century old vision of the Italian Veterinary medicine and it is defined as "the sum of the contributions to the physical, mental and social development of people through the knowledge and application of veterinary science" (WHO, Future trends in veterinary public health. Gruppo di lavoro OMS: TE, Italy, 1999, Available from: http://www.who.int/zoonoses/vph/en/ . Last visited 16 Feb 2016, 1999).On the subject of Cooperation, Sustainability and Public Health, the EXPO 2015 event and the activities of international organizations WHO, FAO and World Organization for Animal Health are refocusing at present their worldwide mandate to protect human health and the economy of both the poorest Countries and the developed countries, according to the "new" concept of Veterinary Public Health.Focus of Italian Veterinary Services activity is connected to research, diagnosis and epidemiological analysis of infectious diseases, including zoonosis, food safety as well as food security.

ASM LabCap's contributions to disease surveillance and the International Health Regulations (2005).

PubMed

Specter, Steven; Schuermann, Lily; Hakiruwizera, Celestin; Sow, Mah-Séré Keita

2010-12-03

The revised International Health Regulations [IHR(2005)], which requires the Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop core capacities to detect, assess, report, and respond to public health threats, is bringing new challenges for national and international surveillance systems. As more countries move toward implementation and/or strengthening of their infectious disease surveillance programs, the strengthening of clinical microbiology laboratories becomes increasingly important because they serve as the first line responders to detect new and emerging microbial threats, re-emerging infectious diseases, the spread of antibiotic resistance, and the possibility of bioterrorism. In fact, IHR(2005) Core Capacity #8, "Laboratory", requires that laboratory services be a part of every phase of alert and response.Public health laboratories in many resource-constrained countries require financial and technical assistance to build their capacity. In recognition of this, in 2006, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) established an International Laboratory Capacity Building Program, LabCap, housed under the ASM International Board. ASM LabCap utilizes ASM's vast resources and its membership's expertise-40,000 microbiologists worldwide-to strengthen clinical and public health laboratory systems in low and low-middle income countries. ASM LabCap's program activities align with HR(2005) by building the capability of resource-constrained countries to develop quality-assured, laboratory-based information which is critical to disease surveillance and the rapid detection of disease outbreaks, whether they stem from natural, deliberate or accidental causes.ASM LabCap helps build laboratory capacity under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and under a sub-contract with the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Successful activities of ASM LabCap have occurred throughout Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean. In addition, ASM LabCap coordinates efforts with international agencies such as the WHO in order to maximize resources and ensure a unified response, with the intended goal to help build integrated disease surveillance and response capabilities worldwide in compliance with HR(2005)'s requirements.

Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC): Using innovative tools and services to support worldwide space weather scientific communities and networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendoza, A. M.; Bakshi, S.; Berrios, D.; Chulaki, A.; Evans, R. M.; Kuznetsova, M. M.; Lee, H.; MacNeice, P. J.; Maddox, M. M.; Mays, M. L.; Mullinix, R. E.; Ngwira, C. M.; Patel, K.; Pulkkinen, A.; Rastaetter, L.; Shim, J.; Taktakishvili, A.; Zheng, Y.

2012-12-01

Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) was established to enhance basic solar terrestrial research and to aid in the development of models for specifying and forecasting conditions in the space environment. In achieving this goal, CCMC has developed and provides a set of innovative tools varying from: Integrated Space Weather Analysis (iSWA) web -based dissemination system for space weather information, Runs-On-Request System providing access to unique collection of state-of-the-art solar and space physics models (unmatched anywhere in the world), Advanced Online Visualization and Analysis tools for more accurate interpretation of model results, Standard Data formats for Simulation Data downloads, and recently Mobile apps (iPhone/Android) to view space weather data anywhere to the scientific community. The number of runs requested and the number of resulting scientific publications and presentations from the research community has not only been an indication of the broad scientific usage of the CCMC and effective participation by space scientists and researchers, but also guarantees active collaboration and coordination amongst the space weather research community. Arising from the course of CCMC activities, CCMC also supports community-wide model validation challenges and research focus group projects for a broad range of programs such as the multi-agency National Space Weather Program, NSF's CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions), GEM (Geospace Environment Modeling) and Shine (Solar Heliospheric and INterplanetary Environment) programs. In addition to performing research and model development, CCMC also supports space science education by hosting summer students through local universities; through the provision of simulations in support of classroom programs such as Heliophysics Summer School (with student research contest) and CCMC Workshops; training next generation of junior scientists in space weather forecasting; and educating the general public about the importance and impacts of space weather effects. Although CCMC is organizationally comprised of United States federal agencies, CCMC services are open to members of the international science community and encourages interagency and international collaboration. In this poster, we provide an overview of using Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) tools and services to support worldwide space weather scientific communities and networks.;

Prototype to product—developing a commercially viable neural prosthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seligman, Peter

2009-12-01

The Cochlear implant or 'Bionic ear' is a device that enables people who do not get sufficient benefit from a hearing aid to communicate with the hearing world. The Cochlear implant is not an amplifier, but a device that electrically stimulates the auditory nerve in a way that crudely mimics normal hearing, thus providing a hearing percept. Many recipients are able to understand running speech without the help of lipreading. Cochlear implants have reached a stage of maturity where there are now 170 000 recipients implanted worldwide. The commercial development of these devices has occurred over the last 30 years. This development has been multidisciplinary, including audiologists, engineers, both mechanical and electrical, histologists, materials scientists, physiologists, surgeons and speech pathologists. This paper will trace the development of the device we have today, from the engineering perspective. The special challenges of designing an active device that will work in the human body for a lifetime will be outlined. These challenges include biocompatibility, extreme reliability, safety, patient fitting and surgical issues. It is emphasized that the successful development of a neural prosthesis requires the partnership of academia and industry.

Prototype to product-developing a commercially viable neural prosthesis.

PubMed

Seligman, Peter

2009-12-01

The Cochlear implant or 'Bionic ear' is a device that enables people who do not get sufficient benefit from a hearing aid to communicate with the hearing world. The Cochlear implant is not an amplifier, but a device that electrically stimulates the auditory nerve in a way that crudely mimics normal hearing, thus providing a hearing percept. Many recipients are able to understand running speech without the help of lipreading. Cochlear implants have reached a stage of maturity where there are now 170 000 recipients implanted worldwide. The commercial development of these devices has occurred over the last 30 years. This development has been multidisciplinary, including audiologists, engineers, both mechanical and electrical, histologists, materials scientists, physiologists, surgeons and speech pathologists. This paper will trace the development of the device we have today, from the engineering perspective. The special challenges of designing an active device that will work in the human body for a lifetime will be outlined. These challenges include biocompatibility, extreme reliability, safety, patient fitting and surgical issues. It is emphasized that the successful development of a neural prosthesis requires the partnership of academia and industry.

STAT3 targeting by polyphenols: Novel therapeutic strategy for melanoma.

PubMed

Momtaz, Saeideh; Niaz, Kamal; Maqbool, Faheem; Abdollahi, Mohammad; Rastrelli, Luca; Nabavi, Seyed Mohammad

2017-05-06

Melanoma or malignant melanocytes appear with the low incidence rate, but very high mortality rate worldwide. Epidemiological studies suggest that polyphenolic compounds contribute for prevention or treatment of several cancers particularly melanoma. Such findings motivate to dig out novel therapeutic strategies against melanoma, including research toward the development of new chemotherapeutic and biologic agents that can target the tumor cells by different mechanisms. Recently, it has been found that signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is activated in many cancer cases surprisingly. Different evidences supply the aspect that STAT3 activation plays a vital role in the metastasis, including proliferation of cells, survival, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis. This significant feature plays a vital role in various cellular processes, such as cell proliferation and survival. Here, we reviewed the mechanisms of the STAT3 pathway regulation and their role in promoting melanoma. Also, we have evaluated the emerging data on polyphenols (PPs) specifically their contribution in melanoma therapies with an emphasis on their regulatory/inhibitory actions in relation to STAT3 pathway and current progress in the development of phytochemical therapeutic techniques. An understanding of targeting STAT3 by PPs brings an opportunity to melanoma therapy. © 2016 BioFactors, 43(3):347-370, 2017. © 2016 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The mechanism of phloem loading in rice (Oryza sativa).

PubMed

Eom, Joon-Seob; Choi, Sang-Bong; Ward, John M; Jeon, Jong-Seong

2012-05-01

Carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, that are synthesized in source organs are transported to sink organs to support growth and development. Phloem loading of sucrose is a crucial step that drives long-distance transport by elevating hydrostatic pressure in the phloem. Three phloem loading strategies have been identified, two active mechanisms, apoplastic loading via sucrose transporters and symplastic polymer trapping, and one passive mechanism. The first two active loading mechanisms require metabolic energy, carbohydrate is loaded into the phloem against a concentration gradient. The passive process, diffusion, involves equilibration of sucrose and other metabolites between cells through plasmodesmata. Many higher plant species including Arabidopsis utilize the active loading mechanisms to increase carbohydrate in the phloem to higher concentrations than that in mesophyll cells. In contrast, recent data revealed that a large number of plants, especially woody species, load sucrose passively by maintaining a high concentration in mesophyll cells. However, it still remains to be determined how the worldwide important cereal crop, rice, loads sucrose into the phloem in source organs. Based on the literature and our results, we propose a potential strategy of phloem loading in rice. Elucidation of the phloem loading mechanism should improve our understanding of rice development and facilitate its manipulation towards the increase of crop productivity.

Primary analysis of the Mandarin-speaking sub-study within the Sydney diabetes prevention program.

PubMed

Taing, Cecilia Y; Gibson, Alice A; Colagiuri, Stephen; Vita, Philip; Cardona-Morrell, Magnolia; Bauman, Adrian; Moore, Michael; Williams, Mandy; Milat, Andrew; Hony, Jacky; Lin, Sophia; Gwizd, Melissa; Fiatarone Singh, Maria A

2017-10-01

There is strong and consistent evidence from large scale randomised controlled trials that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed through lifestyle modification which improves diet quality, increases physical activity and achieves weight loss in people at risk. Worldwide, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing in individuals of Chinese descent. Culturally tailored programs are required to address the risk in the Chinese population. This paper analyses effectiveness of a culturally tailored community-based lifestyle modification program (Sydney Diabetes Prevention Program (SDPP)) targeting Mandarin speakers. The SDPP was a 12 month translational study aiming to promote increased physical activity and dietary changes. Effectiveness was assessed through the improvement of anthropometric, metabolic, physical activity and dietary outcomes and number of goals met. Seventy-eight Mandarin-speaking participants at a high risk (Australian Diabetes Risk, AUSDRISK≥15) of developing diabetes were recruited for this study. In this cohort, waist circumference, total cholesterol and fat intake significantly improved at the 12-month review. In comparison to the English-speaking stream, the Mandarin-speaking stream achieved fewer improvements in outcomes and goals. The SDPP was not effective in reducing the risk factors associated with developing type 2 diabetes in this cohort of high risk Mandarin-speaking individuals living in Sydney. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Antimicrobial activity of coriander oil and its effectiveness as food preservative.

PubMed

Silva, Filomena; Domingues, Fernanda C

2017-01-02

ABTRACT Foodborne illness represents a major economic burden worldwide and a serious public health threat, with around 48 million people affected and 3,000 death each year only in the USA. One of the possible strategies to reduce foodborne infections is the development of effective preservation strategies capable of eradicating microbial contamination of foods. Over the last years, new challenges for the food industry have arisen such as the increase of antimicrobial resistance of foodborne pathogens to common preservatives and consumers demand for naturally based products. In order to overcome this, new approaches using natural or bio-based products as food preservatives need to be investigated. Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is a well-known herb widely used as spice, or in folk medicine, and in the pharmacy and food industries. Coriander seed oil is the world's second most relevant essential oil, exhibiting antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, some yeasts, dermatophytes and filamentous fungi. This review highlights coriander oil antimicrobial activity and possible mechanisms of action in microbial cells and discusses the ability of coriander oil usage as a food preservative, pointing out possible paths for the successful evolution for these strategies towards a successful development of a food preservation strategy using coriander oil.

Atomic complex: a worldwide political history of nuclear energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goldschmidt, B.

The author presents a personal memoir of the effort to harness energy from the atom as well as telling the story of worldwide development, from its military use in the 1940s to its peaceful use of generating electricity in the world's 263 operating nuclear power plants. As a scientist turned statesman, Goldsmith reviews nearly half a century of worldwide political moves, countermoves, international intrigue, and manipulation. His perspective is portrayed against the personal backdrop of world leaders. Taking a pragmatic look at the nuclear world of today, he describes how the mistakes of the past set the tone for today'smore » nuclear problems. Goldsmith balances the terror due to nuclear weapons with the benefits nuclear energy can bring to an economically troubled and energy-starved population.« less

Homeopathy in the treatment of tubercular lymphadenitis (TBLN)--an Indian experience.

PubMed

Chand, S Kusum; Manchanda, R K; Batra, Sudhir; Mittal, Renu

2011-07-01

Tuberculosis (TB) has been known since antiquity. In spite of effective antibiotic treatment, it is still a major worldwide public health problem. Endogenous factors are important in the development of active disease. Homeopathic medicines have the potential for immune-modulation and hence to influence endogenous factors in disease. In India, patients with tubercular lymphadenitis (TBLN) often consult homeopaths but such cases are seldom documented. The objective of the present study is to document such experience. A retrospective exploratory study of 25 positively diagnosed cases of TBLN has lead to the development of a homeopathic regime consisting of a patient specific constitutional medicine, one disease specific biotherapy (Tuberculinum) and Silicea 6x as supportive medicine. Homeopathy can be used as a complement to conventional anti tubercular treatment (ATT) with beneficial results. Further validation in controlled trials with immunological markers is required. Copyright © 2011 The Faculty of Homeopathy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

HIV-1, Reactive Oxygen Species and Vascular Complications

PubMed Central

Porter, Kristi M.; Sutliff, Roy L.

2012-01-01

Over 1 million people in the United States and 33 million individuals worldwide suffer from HIV/AIDS. Since its discovery, HIV/AIDS has been associated with an increased susceptibility to opportunistic infection due to immune dysfunction. Highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) restore immune function and, as a result, people infected with HIV-1 are living longer. This improved survival of HIV-1 patients has revealed a previously unrecognized risk of developing vascular complications, such as atherosclerosis and pulmonary hypertension. The mechanisms underlying these HIV-associated vascular disorders are poorly understood. However, HIV-induced elevations in reactive oxygen species, including superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, may contribute to vascular disease development and progression by altering cell function and redox-sensitive signaling pathways. In this review, we summarize the clinical and experimental evidence demonstrating HIV- and HIV antiretroviral therapy-induced alterations in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and how these effects likely contribute to vascular dysfunction and disease. PMID:22564529