The role of mucosal immunity in the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most devastating gastrointestinal disease of prematurity. Although the precise cause is not well understood, the main risk factors thought to contribute to NEC include prematurity, formula feeding, and bacterial colonization. Recent evidence suggests that NEC develops as a consequence of intestinal hyper-responsiveness to microbial ligands upon bacterial colonization in the preterm infant, initiating a cascade of aberrant signaling events, and a robust pro-inflammatory mucosal immune response. We now have a greater understanding of important mechanisms of disease pathogenesis, such as the role of cytokines, immunoglobulins, and immune cells in NEC. In this review, we will provide an overview of the mucosal immunity of the intestine and the relationship between components of the mucosal immune system involved in the pathogenesis of NEC, while highlighting recent advances in the field that have promise as potential therapeutic targets. First, we will describe the cellular components of the intestinal epithelium and mucosal immune system and their relationship to NEC. We will then discuss the relationship between the gut microbiota and cell signaling that underpins disease pathogenesis. We will conclude our discussion by highlighting notable therapeutic advancements in NEC that target the intestinal mucosal immunity

Fuzzy to Random Uncertainty Alignment

The objective of this paper is to present new and simple mathematical approach to deal with uncertainty alignment between fuzzy and random data. In particular we present a method to describe fuzzy (possibilistic) distribution in terms of a pair (or more) of related random (probabilistic) events, both fixed and variable. Our approach uses basic properties of both fuzzy and random distributions. We show that the data fuzziness can be viewed as a non uniqueness of related random events. We also show how fuzzy-random consistancy principle can be given precise mathemtaical meaning. Various types of fuzzy distributions are examined, special cases considered, and several numerical examples presented

Adjudication of Gender Based Crimes against Women in International Criminal Courts and Tribunals

Sexual crimes against women have always been a part of war and have occurred in virtually every armed conflict throughout human history. For a very long time, and still today in some cultures, women were not seen as equal to men. Thus, gender based crimes against women were almost invisible to international criminal law. While these crimes were largely ignored after World War I and II, things have recently started changing for the better. This change started in the 1990’s with the establishment of the ICTY and ICTR, as the first international criminal tribunals which had a mission to also punish crimes against women. These tribunals were the first ones that explicitly included rape as a crime against humanity in their statutes and their jurisprudence is of crucial importance for the prosecution of gender based crimes against women. The ICTR in Akayesu provided the first definition of rape in international criminal law and set the precedent that rape could constitute genocide. The ICTY in Kunarac expanded the definition of rape and also became the first international criminal tribunal to convict a perpetrator for enslavement for sexual reasons (sexual slavery). The ICC further continued the work of the ad hoc tribunals and expanded the list of gender based crimes against women by including in its statute several crimes that had never before been explicitly criminalized. Similarly, the SCSL became the first international criminal tribunal to explicitly recognize forced marriage as a crime against humanity. This thesis aims to widen the knowledge of this issue and provide an overview and analysis of the treatment of gender based crimes against women in international criminal law

Title Grey Predictor Reference Model For Assisting Particle Swarm Optimization

This paper proposes an approach of forming the average performance by Grey Modeling, GM, and use an average performance as reference model for doing evolutionary computation with error type performance index. The idea of the approach is to construct the reference model based on the performance of unknown systems when users apply evolutionary computation to fine-tuning the control systems with error type performance index. We apply this approach to particle swarm optimization for searching the optimal gains of baseline PI controller of wind turbines operating at the certain set point in Region 3. In the numerical simulation part, the corresponding results demonstrate the effectiveness of Grey Modeling

TRPINav: A System for Terrain, Route, Points of Interest, and Navigation

Maps are as fundamental to society as language and the written word. Maps are an abstraction of reality that help people to better understand the world around them. Route maps, specifically, depict a path from one place to another. Many route maps generated today contain excessive information making it difficult for people to process visually. Previous work has been done in generating routes, searching for nearby points of interest, and path generalization. This thesis proposes a system, TRPINav, that will integrate terrain data, route data, points of interest, and navigation in a cartographic visualization. This prototype navigation application includes a system designed to unify data from various sources, such as Yelp, Google Maps, and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) into a single coordinate frame for useful navigation and reference. This system presents a model to handle data acquisition and unification of these data sources and render them in a simplified and pleasing representation to the user. The prototype includes simple rendering techniques and a user study to validate which features are appealing and useful to the user. Analysis shows that users are generally pleased with features of the system, and that the system can help answer some geographic questions. The results of this analysis are used to determine future iterations of the system

Some Extensions to Classic Lotka-Volterra Modeling For Predator Prey Applications

In this paper we present some specific cases of the classic Nonlinear Lotka-Volterra (NLV) approach to modeling predator-prey dynamic systems [1,5], and propose to implement them using "mathematical" (Matlab) approach as well as "ad-hoc" approach using Agent Based Modeling (implemented using NetLogo modeling environment), [6].   Examples of various scenarios are introduced in a gradual way, from simpler to more complex ones. The emphasis is given to gaining insight into predator-prey relationship, as well as some structural results [2,3] as applied to classic complex systems modeling and control, as well as understanding stability in multispecies communities. The paper sets the scene for further research using NLV (mathematical) and ABM (ad-hoc) models. With this "parallel" approach we hope to address some classic problems such as Gause's Law and Paradox of the Plankton,  Paradox of Enrichment (system level instability), Oksanen's description and trophic level numbers,  and other current Complex Systems paradigms such as adaptivity, emergence, etc.

Perhaps Discomfort is the Answer: Refusing Liberal Feminism and Imperial Cartographies of Thinking/Feeling

The Twilight of Cutting: African Activism and Life after NGOs is an unsettling feminist ethnography that traces the movements of three objects: the endings of female genital cutting in Ghana, their relationship to anti-cutting campaigns and the forms of governance they instantiate, and the role anthropology and feminism have played in this governance since colonial rule. It makes the case that the three objects must be studied together: namely, that we need to understand the practice of female genital cutting alongside its endings; that cutting does not exist outside of anti-cutting campaigns; and that anti-cutting campaigns are entangled with both feminism and anthropology and do not exist outside them. It invites the reader to encounter the life worlds of Ghanaian women who have experienced female genital cutting and invested themselves in ending it, as well as Ghanaian activists and civil servants who worked to bring about this change and in so doing, reckoned with their own complicity with injurious forms of governance

Knowledge spillovers and employment growth in Great Britain

Dit rapport beschrijft, aan de hand van enkele modellen, de impact van kennisoverdracht tussen bedrijven in de diverse sectoren in Groot-Brittannië in de periode 1981-1998.