United they stand

Community-managed programme implemen­tation is a new concept in the development arena of Bangladesh. Unlike other development agencies, NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply & Sanitation follows the community-focussed and community-managed approach instead of target group approach. In the Community­managed WatSan Programme approach of NGO Forum a Village Development Committee (VDC), formed with the participation of the respective village people, works in the focal point for ensuring the successful implementation and sustainability of WatSan services

Mediastinal mass diagnosed as a benign schwannoma

Neurogenic tumours of the mediastinum are most commonly present in the posterior mediastinal compartment. Schwannomas, being the most frequently encountered type, can be either benign or malignant, although the former is more common. They typically appear as an asymptomatic mass on radiographic imaging. These tumours with spindle-shaped cells are often asymptomatic, and are routinely detected on standard pulmonary radiography. However, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, especially for posterior mediastinal tumours, provide additional information and help to determine its possible extension to adjacent structures. Therefore, radiographic and histopathological examinations are vital diagnostic tools in the detection of these silent tumours. Complete surgical resection using video-assisted thoracic surgical technique is the mainstay of treatment, and offers an excellent prognosis

Fallout radionuclides as indicators of soil degradation and potential loss of agricultural production in Latin American and Caribbean countries

Land degradation affects about 300 million ha of land in the Latin American and Caribbean region: 51% of this is agricultural land (180 million hectares). The ARCAL Regional Strategy Profile identifies the deficient use of agricultural soil and the resulting permanent loss of productive agricultural areas as one of the most important environmental and alimentary problems in the Latin American and Caribbean continental areas (Alimentary Security, A3, PER-ARCAL, 2007-2013). In recent times, extensive natural areas have been dramatically diminished by various human interventions. In this continental context, regional or national difficulties normally present specific characteristics and relevancies and distinct intervention needs. Indicators of the present soil conservation status are essential for an assessment of national economic impact and an evaluation of social consequences.Fil: Lohaiza, Flavia Analia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis ; ArgentinaFil: Juri Ayub, J.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis ; ArgentinaFil: Velasco, H.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis ; ArgentinaFil: Dercon, G.. International Atomic Energy Agency. Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications. Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition Subprogramme; Austri

2MASS Studies of Differential Reddening Across Three Massive Globular Clusters

J, H, and K_S band data from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) are used to study the effects of differential reddening across the three massive Galactic globular clusters Omega Centauri, NGC 6388, and NGC 6441. Evidence is found that variable extinction may produce false detections of tidal tails around Omega Centauri. We also investigate what appears to be relatively strong differential reddening towards NGC 6388 and NGC 6441, and find that differential extinction may be exaggerating the need for a metallicity spread to explain the width of the red giant branches for these two clusters. Finally, we consider the implications of these results for the connection between unusual, multipopulation globular clusters and the cores of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph).Comment: 40 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in Oct. 2003 A

Ribosomes from Trypanosomatids: Unique Structural and Functional Properties

Trypanosomatids are a monophyletic group of protozoa that diverged early from the eukaryotic lineage, constituting valuable model organisms for studying variability in different highly conserved processes including protein synthesis. Moreover, several species of trypanosomatids are causing agents of endemic diseases in the third world. There are many evidences suggesting that translation in these organisms shows important differences with that of model organisms such as yeast and mammals. These unique features, which have a great potential relevance for both basic and applied research, will be discussed in this chapter.Fil: Juri Ayub, Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Lapadula, Walter Jesús. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Hoebeke, Johan. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Smulski, Cristian Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Franci

A reinforcement learning recommender system using bi-clustering and Markov Decision Process

Collaborative filtering (CF) recommender systems are static in nature and does not adapt well with changing user preferences. User preferences may change after interaction with a system or after buying a product. Conventional CF clustering algorithms only identifies the distribution of patterns and hidden correlations globally. However, the impossibility of discovering local patterns by these algorithms, headed to the popularization of bi-clustering algorithms. Bi-clustering algorithms can analyze all dataset dimensions simultaneously and consequently, discover local patterns that deliver a better understanding of the underlying hidden correlations. In this paper, we modelled the recommendation problem as a sequential decision-making problem using Markov Decision Processes (MDP). To perform state representation for MDP, we first converted user-item votings matrix to a binary matrix. Then we performed bi-clustering on this binary matrix to determine a subset of similar rows and columns. A bi-cluster merging algorithm is designed to merge similar and overlapping bi-clusters. These bi-clusters are then mapped to a squared grid (SG). RL is applied on this SG to determine best policy to give recommendation to users. Start state is determined using Improved Triangle Similarity (ITR similarity measure. Reward function is computed as grid state overlapping in terms of users and items in current and prospective next state. A thorough comparative analysis was conducted, encompassing a diverse array of methodologies, including RL-based, pure Collaborative Filtering (CF), and clustering methods. The results demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms its competitors in terms of precision, recall, and optimal policy learning

Trematode infections in cattle in Arumeru District, Tanzania are associated with irrigation

Background The relationship between the environment and infection of cattle with trematodes was studied at Arumeru District, Arusha Region, northern Tanzania. Randomly selected villages were grouped into three cattle management strata, (i) zero-grazing (ZZ) (ii) communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) and (iii) communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI). Methods Faecal samples were collected from 241 cattle, and processed using the Flukefinder® method. Snail intermediate hosts were collected with a snail scoop from the water bodies in the study villages and identified morphologically. Results The overall prevalence of F. gigantica, paramphistomes and S. bovis were 33%, 37% and 2% respectively. Prevalence for F. gigantica, paramphistomes, and S. bovis for each stratum were, zero-grazing (ZZ) (29.7%, 36.0% and 0%), communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) (6.3%, 15.0% and 3.8%) and communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI) (57.7%, 56.7% and 1.0%) respectively. The differences between strata were significant for F. gigantica (p < 0.001) and paramphistomes (p < 0.05) but not for S. bovis. Irrigation could account for the high prevalence of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZCI stratum as compared to the ZZ and ZC strata. The higher prevalences of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZZ stratum compared with the ZC stratum were unexpected and attributed to the practice of farmers in some ZZ stratum villages buying fodder for their cattle obtained from pastures in ZCI villages. Conclusion Trematode infections in cattle are prevalent in Arumeru District. Fasciola gigantica and paramphistomes are associated with grazing in areas with irrigation of crops. Zero-grazing of cattle does not necessarily prevent the risk of infection

Associations between trematode infections in cattle and freshwater snails in highland and lowland areas of Iringa Rural District, Tanzania

SUMMARYThe epidemiology of trematode infections in cattle was investigated within highland and lowland areas of Iringa Rural District, in southern Tanzania. Fecal samples were collected from 450 cattle in 15 villages at altitudes ranging from 696 to 1800 m above the sea level. Freshwater snails were collected from selected water bodies and screened for emergence of cercariae. The infection rates in cattle wereFasciola gigantica28·2%, paramphistomes 62·8% andSchistosoma bovis4·8%. Notably, prevalence of trematode infections in cattle was much higher in highland (altitude &gt; 1500 m) as compared with lowland (altitude &lt; 1500 m) areas and was statistically significant (P-value = 0·000) forF. giganticaand paramphistomes but not forS. bovis. The snails collected includedLymnaea natalensis, Bulinus africanus, Bulinus tropicus, Bulinus forskali, Biomphalaria pfeifferi, Melanoides tuberculataandBellamya constrictawith a greater proportion of highland (75%) than lowland (36%) water bodies harbouring snails. Altitude is a major factor shaping the epidemiology ofF. giganticaand paramphistomes infections in cattle in Iringa Rural District with greater emphasis upon control needed in highland areas.</jats:p

Kurdish Dialect Recognition using 1D CNN

Dialect recognition is one of the most attentive topics in the speech analysis area. Machine learning algorithms have been widely used to identify dialects. In this paper, a model that based on three&nbsp;different 1D Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) structures&nbsp;is developed for Kurdish dialect recognition. This model is evaluated, and CNN structures are compared to each other. The result shows that the proposed model has outperformed the state of the art. The model is evaluated on the experimental data that have been collected by the staff of department of computer science at the University of Halabja. Three dialects are involved in the dataset as the Kurdish language&nbsp;consists of three major dialects, namely Northern Kurdish (Badini variant), Central Kurdish (Sorani variant), and Hawrami.&nbsp;The advantage of the CNN model is not required to concern handcraft as the CNN model is featureless. According to the results, the 1 D CNN method can make predictions with an average accuracy of 95.53% on the Kurdish dialect classification. In this study, a new method is proposed to interpret the closeness of the Kurdish dialects by using a confusion matrix and a non-metric multi-dimensional visualization technique. The outcome demonstrates that it is straightforward to cluster given Kurdish dialects and linearly isolated from the neighboring dialects

HPV16 E1^E4 protein is phosphorylated by Cdk2/cyclin A and relocalizes this complex to the cytoplasm

AbstractThe human papillomavirus type 16 E1^E4 protein is expressed abundantly in cells supporting viral DNA amplification, but its expression is lost during malignant progression. In cell culture, 16E1^E4 causes G2 cell cycle arrest by associating with and preventing the nuclear entry of Cdk1/cyclin B1 complexes. Here, we show that 16E1^E4 is also able to associate with cyclin A and Cdk2 during the G2 phase of the cell cycle. Only a weak association was apparent during S-phase, and progression through S-phase appeared unaffected. As with cyclin B1, the interaction of 16E1^E4 with cyclin A is dependent on residues T22/T23 and results in the accumulation of cyclin A in the cytoplasm where it colocalizes with 16E1^E4. 16E1^E4 serine 32 was found to be phosphorylated by Cdk2/cyclin A. We hypothesize that the interaction of 16E1^E4 with cyclin A may serve to increase the efficiency with which 16E1^E4 is able to prevent mitotic entry