Model of the W3(OH) environment based on data for both maser and 'quasi-thermal' methanol lines

In studies of the environment of massive young stellar objects, recent progress in both observations and theory allows a unified treatment of data for maser and 'quasi-thermal' lines. Interferometric maser images provide information on the distribution and kinematics of masing gas on small spatial scales. Observations of multiple masing transitions provide constraints on the physical parameters. Interferometric data on 'quasi-thermal' molecular lines permits an investigation of the overall distribution and kinematics of the molecular gas in the vicinity of young stellar objects, including those which are deeply embedded. Using multiple transitions of different molecules, one can obtain good constraints on the physical and chemical parameters. Combining these data enables the construction of unified models, which take into account spatial scales differing by orders of magnitude. Here we present such a combined analysis of the environment around the ultracompact HII region in W3(OH). This includes the structure of the methanol masing region, physical structure of the near vicinity of W3(OH), detection of new masers in the large-scale shock front and embedded sources in the vicinity of the TW young stellar object.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the 2004 European Workshop: "Dense Molecular Gas around Protostars and in Galactic Nuclei", Eds. Y.Hagiwara, W.A.Baan, H.J. van Langevelde, 2004, a special issue of ApSS, Kluwe

Parameters of the attenuated schistosome vaccine evaluated in the olive baboon

Five exposures of baboons to the attenuated schistosome vaccine gave greater protection than three exposures, but this attenuation was not sustained when challenge was delayed. Within the scope of the data collected, fecal egg counts and circulating antigen levels did not accurately predict the observed worm burdens. Levels of immunoglobulin G at challenge correlated best with protection, but there was little evidence of a recall response

Holonomy Transformation in the FRW Metric

In this work we investigate loop variables in Friedman-Robertson-Walker spacetime. We analyze the parallel transport of vectors and spinors in several paths in this spacetime in order to classify its global properties. The band holonomy invariance is analysed in this background.Comment: 8 page

Characterisation of Kenana cattle at Um Banein, Sudan

Results of a study carried on the reproductive performance, herd management, weight & growth, milk production & mortality of Kenana cattle at Um Banein Livestock Research Station (Sudan)

UPGRO Hidden Crisis Research consortium: unravelling past failures for future success in rural water supply: initial project approach for assessing rural water supply functionality and levels of performance

The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set a much stronger focus on sustainability and performance of water services, and have highly ambitious goals to achieve universal access to safe and reliable water for all by 2030 (UN 2013 ). Poor functionality of water points threatens to undermine progress, and a lack of knowledge for the reasons behind this make it difficult to recommend improvements and take corrective action. As a first step it is necessary to be able to reliably monitor current rates of functionality and to have a clear benchmark as to what constitutes a functional water point. Currently, there is no single accepted definition for functionality, although organisations are working towards this as a means of tracking progress towards the SDGs. This report sets out the initial work by the Hidden Crisis project to develop a framework approach to assess functionality in terms of different levels of performance, and a set of standard indicators which can be used to assess functionality. The report presents the results of a literature review examining the following questions: (1) what are the current approaches to defining functionality of hand-pump boreholes; and (2) what are the robust standards by which the functionality of a HPB, or population of HPB’s, can be assessed. From analyses of the literature we have developed preliminary guidelines and applied these to develop a preliminary framework

ENERGY ACQUISITION AND ALLOCATION IN PLANTS AND INSECTS: A HYPOTHESIS FOR THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF HORMONES IN INSECT FEEDING PATTERNS

A distributed delay age structure model is presented for plants and insects that describes the dynamics of per capita energy (dry matter) acquisition and allocation patterns, and the within-organism subunit (e.g. leaves, fruit, ova) number dynamics that occur during growth, reproduction, and development. Four species of plants (common bean, cassava, cotton, and tomato) and two species of insects (pea aphid and a ladybird beetle) are modeled. A common acquisition (i.e. functional response) submodel is used to estimate the daily photosynthetic rates in plants and consumption rates in pea aphid and the ladybird beetle. The focus of this work is to capture the essence of the common attributes between trophic levels across this wide range of taxa. The models are compared with field or laboratory data. A hypothesis is proposed for the observed patterns of reproduction in pea aphid and in a ladybird beetl

Learning and Forgetting with Local Information of New Objects

The performance of supervised learners depends on the presence of a relatively large labeled sample. This paper proposes an automatic ongoing learning system, which is able to incorporate new knowledge from the experience obtained when classifying new objects and correspondingly, to improve the efficiency of the system. We employ a stochastic rule for classifying and editing, along with a condensing algorithm based on local density to forget superfluous data (and control the sample size). The effectiveness of the algorithm is experimentally evaluated using a number of data sets taken from the UCI Machine Learning Database Repository

Immune checkpoint inhibitors: new strategies to checkmate cancer

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte-Associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) or Programmed cell Death protein 1 (PD-1) receptors have demonstrated remarkable efficacy in subsets of patients with malignant disease. This emerging treatment modality holds great promise for future cancer treatment and has engaged pharmaceutical research interests in tumour immunology. While ICIs can induce rapid and durable responses in some patients, identifying predictive factors for effective clinical responses has proven challenging. This review summarises the mechanisms of action of ICIs and outlines important pre-clinical work that contributed to their development. We explore clinical data that has led to disease-specific drug licensing, and highlight key clinical trials that have revealed ICI efficacy across a range of malignancies. We describe how ICIs have been used as part of combination therapies, and explore their future prospects in this area. We conclude by discussing the incorporation of these new immunotherapeutics into precision approaches to cancer therapy

Quantum phase transition in a two-channel-Kondo quantum dot device

We develop a theory of electron transport in a double quantum dot device recently proposed for the observation of the two-channel Kondo effect. Our theory provides a strategy for tuning the device to the non-Fermi-liquid fixed point, which is a quantum critical point in the space of device parameters. We explore the corresponding quantum phase transition, and make explicit predictions for behavior of the differential conductance in the vicinity of the quantum critical point