Determining the lon-exchange Mechanism of Strontium into a Niobium Doped Titanosilicate

A 25% niobium substituted sitinakite was exchanged with strontium as time resolved X-ray diffraction data was collected. The structural modeling of this data by Rietveld method1 has lead to the determination of the atomic positions of the ions and unit cell parameters as strontium occupancy increases. The starting material of the exchange experiment is the protonated phase, H2Nb0.67Ti1.33SiO7·1.9 H2O, with space group P42/mcm2,3. Once strontium (Sr2+) enters the unit cell, extra-framework H2O molecules shift to provide the necessary hydration coordination. These new positions of H2O result in a lowering of symmetry to the P-42m space group, and it is thought that the new hydrogen bonding network serves to enhance strontium ion diffusion into the channels of sitinakite. Exchange of strontium into the microporous material reaches a maximum fractional occupancy of 21% when a 10.0 mM strontium ion solution is forced over the powdered material. Sequestration of strontium into this material has contributed valuable information to the study of microporous materials and ion exchange chemistries

Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a National Campaign to Deliver 18 Million Free Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets to Uncovered Sleeping Spaces in Tanzania.

Since 2004, the Tanzanian National Voucher Scheme has increased availability and accessibility of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to pregnant women and infants by subsidizing the cost of nets purchased. From 2008 to 2010, a mass distribution campaign delivered nine million long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) free-of-charge to children under-five years of age in Tanzania mainland. In 2010 and 2011, a Universal Coverage Campaign (UCC) led by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) was implemented to cover all sleeping spaces not yet reached through previous initiatives. The UCC was coordinated through a unit within the National Malaria Control Programme. Partners were contracted by the MoHSW to implement different activities in collaboration with local government authorities. Volunteers registered the number of uncovered sleeping spaces in every household in the country. On this basis, LLINs were ordered and delivered to village level, where they were issued over a three-day period in each zone (three regions). Household surveys were conducted in seven districts immediately after the campaign to assess net ownership and use. The UCC was chiefly financed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria with important contributions from the US President's Malaria Initiative. A total of 18.2 million LLINs were delivered at an average cost of USD 5.30 per LLIN. Overall, 83% of the expenses were used for LLIN procurement and delivery and 17% for campaign associated activities. Preliminary results of the latest Tanzania HIV Malaria Indicator Survey (2011-12) show that household ownership of at least one ITN increased to 91.5%. ITN use, among children under-five years of age, improved to 72.7% after the campaign. ITN ownership and use data post-campaign indicated high equity across wealth quintiles. Close collaboration among the MoHSW, donors, contracted partners, local government authorities and volunteers made it possible to carry out one of the largest LLIN distribution campaigns conducted in Africa to date. Through the strong increase of ITN use, the recent activities of the national ITN programme will likely result in further decline in child mortality rates in Tanzania, helping to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 6

Congruences modulo prime powers of Hecke eigenvalues in level 11

We continue the study of strong, weak, and $dc$-weak eigenforms introduced by Chen, Kiming, and Wiese. We completely determine all systems of Hecke eigenvalues of level $1$ modulo $128$, showing there are finitely many. This extends results of Hatada and can be considered as evidence for the more general conjecture formulated by the author together with Kiming and Wiese on finiteness of systems of Hecke eigenvalues modulo prime powers at any fixed level. We also discuss the finiteness of systems of Hecke eigenvalues of level $1$ modulo $9$, reducing the question to the finiteness of a single eigenvalue. Furthermore, we answer the question of comparing weak and $dc$-weak eigenforms and provide the first known examples of non-weak $dc$-weak eigenforms.Comment: 28 pages; Minor revisio

Predictors of breastfeeding duration among women in Kuwait: results of a prospective cohort study

The purposes of this paper are to report the prevalence of breastfeeding to six months among women in Kuwait and to determine the factors that are associated with the duration of breastfeeding. A cohort of 373 women recruited from maternity wards in four hospitals in Kuwait city were followed from birth to 26 weeks postpartum. The association of any and full breastfeeding duration and predictor variables were explored using multivariate Cox’s proportional hazards models. At six months, 39% of all infants were receiving some breast milk and only 2% of infants had been fully breastfed to 26 weeks. Women born in other Arab countries were less likely to discontinue breastfeeding than women born in Kuwait. Other factors positively associated with breastfeeding duration were level of maternal education, higher parity, infant being demand fed in hospital and a preference for breastfeeding on the part of the infant’s father and maternal grandmother. The introduction of a pacifier before four weeks of age and the mother intending to return to work by six months were negatively associated with duration. These findings present a number of opportunities for prolonging breastfeeding duration in Kuwait

Applications and limitations of electron correlation microscopy to study relaxation dynamics in supercooled liquids

Electron correlation microscopy (ECM) is a way to measure structural relaxation times, τ, of liquids with nanometer-scale spatial resolution using coherent electron scattering equivalent of photon correlation spectroscopy. We have applied ECM with a 3.5 nm diameter probe to Pt57.5Cu14.7Ni5.3P22.5 amorphous nanorods and Pd40Ni40P20 bulk metallic glass (BMG) heated inside the STEM into the supercooled liquid region. These data demonstrate that the ECM technique is limited by the characteristics of the time series, which must be at least 40τ to obtain a well-converged correlation function g2(t), and the time per frame, which must be less than 0.1τ to obtain sufficient sampling. A high-speed direct electron camera enables fast acquisition and affords reliable g2(t) data even with low signal per frame

‘I was Tagged on a Picture: There was a Girl on it and she was Naked’: The Necessity of Visual Competence and Digital Sovereignty

Für Jugendliche sind (digitale) Bilder omnipräsent. Dabei werden sie auch mit sexualisiertem visuellem Material konfrontiert, welches in besonderer Weise einen kompetenten, sicheren und selbstbestimmten Umgang erfordert. Der Beitrag geht vor diesem Hintergrund der Frage nach, wie Jugendliche diese Handlungszusammenhänge wahrnehmen und welche Faktoren zu einer souveränen Praxis im Zuge ihres Sozialisationsprozesses beitragen. Nach einer thematischen Hinführung zum Feld der medienpädagogischen Jugendforschung werden hierzu die Ansätze der visuellen Kompetenz und der Digitalen Souveränität erläutert. Anschliessend wird anhand empirischen Datenmaterials aus einer explorativen Gruppendiskussions-Studie mit 7- und 8-Klässlerinnen und -klässlern illustriert, dass eine theoretische Sensibilisierung in diese beiden Richtungen fruchtbar ist, um das jugendliche Agieren in visualisierten, sexualisierten und datafizierten Medienumgebungen zu verstehen. Das Potenzial der konzeptionellen Verknüpfung visueller Kompetenz und Digitaler Souveränität wird abschliessend reflektiert und hierbei für ein Theorieverständnis plädiert, das sowohl bildtheoretische Prämissen als auch die Relationalität der Theoriebildung integriert. Ziel des Beitrags ist, auf empirischer und theoretischer Ebene ein Verständnis für das Aufwachsen in einer tiefgreifend mediatisierten Gesellschaft zu entwickeln, wobei vor dem Hintergrund der beschriebenen Relevanzen der Umgang mit Visualität und Sexualität in Social-Media-Kontexten im Zentrum steht.For young people, (digital) images are omnipresent. They are also confronted with sexualised visual material, which requires competent, safe and self-determined handling in a special way. Against this background, the article explores the question of how young people perceive these contexts of action and which factors contribute to a sovereign practice in the course of their socialisation process. After a thematic introduction to the field of media pedagogical youth research, the approaches of visual competence and digital sovereignty are explained. Subsequently, empirical data from an explorative group discussion study with 7th and 8th graders will be used to illustrate that a theoretical sensitisation in these two directions is fruitful in order to understand adolescent acting in visualised, sexualised and datafied media environments. Finally, the potential of conceptually linking visual competence and digital sovereignty is reflected, arguing for an understanding of theory that integrates both image-theoretical premises and the relationality of theory formation. The aim of the article is to develop an understanding of growing up in a mediatised society on an empirical and theoretical level. The focus lies on dealing with visuality and sexuality in social media contexts against the backdrop of the described relevancies

Peripheral Innate Immune Activation Correlates With Disease Severity in GRN Haploinsufficiency.

Objective: To investigate associations between peripheral innate immune activation and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) in progranulin gene (GRN) haploinsufficiency. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, ELISA was used to measure six markers of innate immunity (sCD163, CCL18, LBP, sCD14, IL-18, and CRP) in plasma from 30 GRN mutation carriers (17 asymptomatic, 13 symptomatic) and 29 controls. Voxel based morphometry was used to model associations between marker levels and brain atrophy in mutation carriers relative to controls. Linear regression was used to model relationships between plasma marker levels with mean frontal white matter integrity [fractional anisotropy (FA)] and the FTLD modified Clinical Dementia Rating Scale sum of boxes score (FTLD-CDR SB). Results: Plasma sCD163 was higher in symptomatic GRN carriers [mean 321 ng/ml (SD 125)] compared to controls [mean 248 ng/ml (SD 58); p < 0.05]. Plasma CCL18 was higher in symptomatic GRN carriers [mean 56.9 pg/ml (SD 19)] compared to controls [mean 40.5 pg/ml (SD 14); p < 0.05]. Elevation of plasma LBP was associated with white matter atrophy in the right frontal pole and left inferior frontal gyrus (p FWE corrected <0.05) in all mutation carriers relative to controls. Plasma LBP levels inversely correlated with bilateral frontal white matter FA (R2 = 0.59, p = 0.009) in mutation carriers. Elevation in plasma was positively correlated with CDR-FTLD SB (b = 2.27 CDR units/μg LBP/ml plasma, R2 = 0.76, p = 0.003) in symptomatic carriers. Conclusion: FTLD-GRN is associated with elevations in peripheral biomarkers of macrophage-mediated innate immunity, including sCD163 and CCL18. Clinical disease severity and white matter integrity are correlated with blood LBP, suggesting a role for peripheral immune activation in FTLD-GRN

Creating an "enabling environment" for taking insecticide treated nets to national scale: the Tanzanian experience

INTRODUCTION: Malaria is the largest cause of health services attendance, hospital admissions and child deaths in Tanzania. At the Abuja Summit in April 2000 Tanzania committed itself to protect 60% of its population at high risk of malaria by 2005. The country is, therefore, determined to ensure that sustainable malaria control using insecticide-treated nets is carried out on a national scale. CASE DESCRIPTION: Tanzania has been involved for two decades in the research process for developing insecticide-treated nets as a malaria control tool, from testing insecticides and net types, to assessing their efficacy and effectiveness, and exploring new ways of distribution. Since 2000, the emphasis has changed from a project approach to that of a concerted multi-stakeholder action for taking insecticide-treated nets to national scale (NATNETS). This means creating conditions that make insecticide-treated nets accessible and affordable to all those at risk of malaria in the country. This paper describes Tanzania's experience in (1) creating an enabling environment for insecticide-treated nets scale-up, (2) promoting the development of a commercial sector for insecticide-treated nets, and (3) targeting pregnant women with highly subsidized insecticide-treated nets through a national voucher scheme. As a result, nearly 2 million insecticide-treated nets and 2.2 million re-treatment kits were distributed in 2004. CONCLUSION: National upscaling of insecticide-treated nets is possible when the programme is well designed, coordinated and supported by committed stakeholders; the Abuja target of protecting 60% of those at high risk is feasible, even for large endemic countries