Purification of Eutrophic Hydro-Environments and the Utilization for New Biomass Forage Resources by Aquatic Plants in Asia

Water pollution, especially eutrophication, has become a serious world-wide problem in recent years. On the other hand, forage is in short supply during the dry season in Asia (especially in Southeast Asia). The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of new forage resources from among aquatic plants. In conclusion, it is suggested that three emergent plants (Zizania latifolia Turcz., Pontederia cordata L., Paspalum distichum L.) are useful as new forage species because of their absorptive ability for nitrogen and phosphorus from eutrophic water and their superior feeding value following ensiling

Developing Faculty to Provide University Students With Improved Learning Experiences

The article addresses the importance of incorporating faculty development as a key priority of higher education institutions. A literature review and some face-to-face and online interviews were conducted at various U.S. institutions, to identify common and best practices regarding this important matter. The article offers some ideas about what is done, and how it is done, to help faculty be ready for the challenging role they need to play: to be effective developers of a diverse student body that meets the evolving needs of industry and that utilizes technological tools that never existed before

Efferent Control of the Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Hair Cells in the Bullfrog's Sacculus

Background: Hair cells in the auditory, vestibular, and lateral-line systems respond to mechanical stimulation and transmit information to afferent nerve fibers. The sensitivity of mechanoelectrical transduction is modulated by the efferent pathway, whose activity usually reduces the responsiveness of hair cells. The basis of this effect remains unknown. Methodology and Principal Findings: We employed immunocytological, electrophysiological, and micromechanical approaches to characterize the anatomy of efferent innervation and the effect of efferent activity on the electrical and mechanical properties of hair cells in the bullfrog’s sacculus. We found that efferent fibers form extensive synaptic terminals on all macular and extramacular hair cells. Macular hair cells expressing the Ca 2+-buffering protein calretinin contain half as many synaptic ribbons and are innervated by twice as many efferent terminals as calretinin-negative hair cells. Efferent activity elicits inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in hair cells and thus inhibits their electrical resonance. In hair cells that exhibit spiking activity, efferent stimulation suppresses the generation of action potentials. Finally, efferent activity triggers a displacement of the hair bundle’s resting position. Conclusions and Significance: The hair cells of the bullfrog’s sacculus receive a rich efferent innervation with the heaviest projection to calretinin-containing cells. Stimulation of efferent axons desensitizes the hair cells and suppresses their spiking activity. Although efferent activation influences mechanoelectrical transduction, the mechanical effects on hair bundles ar

Electroreduction of CO2/CO to C2 products: process modeling, downstream separation, system integration, and economic analysis.

Direct electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C2 products such as ethylene is more efficient in alkaline media, but it suffers from parasitic loss of reactants due to (bi)carbonate formation. A two-step process where the CO2 is first electrochemically reduced to CO and subsequently converted to desired C2 products has the potential to overcome the limitations posed by direct CO2 electroreduction. In this study, we investigated the technical and economic feasibility of the direct and indirect CO2 conversion routes to C2 products. For the indirect route, CO2 to CO conversion in a high temperature solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) or a low temperature electrolyzer has been considered. The product distribution, conversion, selectivities, current densities, and cell potentials are different for both CO2 conversion routes, which affects the downstream processing and the economics. A detailed process design and techno-economic analysis of both CO2 conversion pathways are presented, which includes CO2 capture, CO2 (and CO) conversion, CO2 (and CO) recycling, and product separation. Our economic analysis shows that both conversion routes are not profitable under the base case scenario, but the economics can be improved significantly by reducing the cell voltage, the capital cost of the electrolyzers, and the electricity price. For both routes, a cell voltage of 2.5 V, a capital cost of $10,000/m2, and an electricity price of <$20/MWh will yield a positive net present value and payback times of less than 15 years. Overall, the high temperature (SOEC-based) two-step conversion process has a greater potential for scale-up than the direct electrochemical conversion route. Strategies for integrating the electrochemical CO2/CO conversion process into the existing gas and oil infrastructure are outlined. Current barriers for industrialization of CO2 electrolyzers and possible solutions are discussed as well

IMPlementing IMProved Asthma self-management as RouTine (IMP2ART) in primary care: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled implementation trial.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a common long-term condition and major public health problem. Supported self-management for asthma that includes a written personalised asthma action plan, supported by regular professional review, reduces unscheduled consultations and improves asthma outcomes and quality of life. However, despite unequivocal inter/national guideline recommendations, supported self-management is poorly implemented in practice. The IMPlementing IMProved Asthma self-management as RouTine (IMP2ART) implementation strategy has been developed to address this challenge. The aim of this implementation trial is to determine whether facilitated delivery of the IMP2ART strategy increases the provision of asthma action plans and reduces unscheduled care in the context of routine UK primary care. METHODS: IMP2ART is a parallel group, cluster randomised controlled hybrid II implementation trial. One hundred forty-four general practices will be randomly assigned to either the IMP2ART implementation strategy or control group. Following a facilitation workshop, implementation group practices will receive organisational resources to help them prioritise supported self-management (including audit and feedback; an IMP2ART asthma review template), training for professionals and resources to support patients to self-manage their asthma. The control group will continue with usual asthma care. The primary clinical outcome is the between-group difference in unscheduled care in the second year after randomisation (i.e. between 12 and 24 months post-randomisation) assessed from routine data. Additionally, a primary implementation outcome of asthma action plan ownership at 12 months will be assessed by questionnaire to a random sub-group of people with asthma. Secondary outcomes include the number of asthma reviews conducted, prescribing outcomes (reliever medication and oral steroids), asthma symptom control, patients' confidence in self-management and professional support and resource use. A health economic analysis will assess cost-effectiveness, and a mixed methods process evaluation will explore implementation, fidelity and adaptation. DISCUSSION: The evidence for supported asthma self-management is overwhelming. This study will add to the literature regarding strategies that can effectively implement supported self-management in primary care to reduce unscheduled consultations and improve asthma outcomes and quality of life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN15448074. Registered on 2 December 2019

How have ART treatment programmes changed the patterns of excess mortality in people living with HIV? Estimates from four countries in East and Southern Africa

Background: Substantial falls in the mortality of people living with HIV (PLWH) have been observed since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa. However, access and uptake of ART have been variable in many countries. We report the excess deaths observed in PLWH before and after the introduction of ART. We use data from five longitudinal studies in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, members of the network for Analysing Longitudinal Population-based HIV/AIDS data on Africa (ALPHA). Methods: Individual data from five demographic surveillance sites that conduct HIV testing were used to estimate mortality attributable to HIV, calculated as the difference between the mortality rates in PLWH and HIV-negative people. Excess deaths in PLWH were standardized for age and sex differences and summarized over periods before and after ART became generally available. An exponential regression model was used to explore differences in the impact of ART over the different sites. Results: 127,585 adults across the five sites contributed a total of 487,242 person years. Before the introduction of ART, HIV-attributable mortality ranged from 45 to 88 deaths per 1,000 person years. Following ART availability, this reduced to 14–46 deaths per 1,000 person years. Exponential regression modeling showed a reduction of more than 50% (HR =0.43, 95% CI: 0.32–0.58), compared to the period before ART was available, in mortality at ages 15–54 across all five sites. Discussion: Excess mortality in adults living with HIV has reduced by over 50% in five communities in sub-Saharan Africa since the advent of ART. However, mortality rates in adults living with HIV are still 10 times higher than in HIV-negative people, indicating that substantial improvements can be made to reduce mortality further. This analysis shows differences in the impact across the sites, and contrasts with developed countries where mortality among PLWH on ART can be similar to that of the general population. Further research is urgently needed to establish why the different impacts on mortality were observed and how the care and treatment programmes in these countries can be more effective in reducing mortality further

Accurate reconstruction of insertion-deletion histories by statistical phylogenetics

The Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) is a computational abstraction that represents a partial summary either of indel history, or of structural similarity. Taking the former view (indel history), it is possible to use formal automata theory to generalize the phylogenetic likelihood framework for finite substitution models (Dayhoff's probability matrices and Felsenstein's pruning algorithm) to arbitrary-length sequences. In this paper, we report results of a simulation-based benchmark of several methods for reconstruction of indel history. The methods tested include a relatively new algorithm for statistical marginalization of MSAs that sums over a stochastically-sampled ensemble of the most probable evolutionary histories. For mammalian evolutionary parameters on several different trees, the single most likely history sampled by our algorithm appears less biased than histories reconstructed by other MSA methods. The algorithm can also be used for alignment-free inference, where the MSA is explicitly summed out of the analysis. As an illustration of our method, we discuss reconstruction of the evolutionary histories of human protein-coding genes.Comment: 28 pages, 15 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1103.434

How community ART delivery may improve HIV treatment outcomes: Qualitative inquiry into mechanisms of effect in a randomized trial of community-based ART initiation, monitoring and re-supply (DO ART) in South Africa and Uganda

INTRODUCTION: UNAIDS fast track targets for ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 call for viral suppression in 95% of people using antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat HIV infection. Difficulties in linking to care following a positive HIV test have impeded progress towards meeting treatment targets. Community-based HIV services may reduce linkage barriers and have been associated with high retention and favourable clinical outcomes. We use qualitative data from The Delivery Optimization of Antiretroviral Therapy (DO ART) Study, a three-arm randomized trial of community ART initiation, monitoring and re-supply conducted in western Uganda and KwaZulu-Natal South Africa, to identify mechanisms through which community ART delivery may improve treatment outcomes, defined as viral suppression in people living with HIV (PLHIV). METHODS: We conducted open-ended interviews with a purposeful sample of 150 DO ART participants across study arms and study sites, from October 2016 to November 2019. Interviews covered experiences of: (1) HIV testing; (2) initiating and refilling ART; and (3) participating in the DO ART Study. A combined inductive content analytic and thematic approach was used to characterize mechanisms through which community delivery of ART may have contributed to viral suppression in the DO ART trial. RESULTS: The analysis yielded four potential mechanisms drawn from qualitative data representing the perspectives and priorities of DO ART participants. Empowering participants to schedule, re-schedule and select the locations of community-based visits via easy phone contact with clinical staff is characterized as flexibility. Integration refers to combining the components of clinic-based visits into single interaction with a healthcare provider. Providers" willingness to talk at length with participants during visits, addressing non-HIV as well as HIV-related concerns, is termed "a slower pace". Finally, increased efficiency denotes the time savings and increased income-generating opportunities for participants brought about by delivering services in the community. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the mechanisms through which HIV service delivery innovations produce an effect is key to transferability and potential scale-up. The perspectives and priorities of PLHIV can indicate actionable changes for HIV care programs that may increase engagement in care and improve treatment outcomes

Pedagogical Agents for Fostering Question-Asking Skills in Children

Question asking is an important tool for constructing academic knowledge, and a self-reinforcing driver of curiosity. However, research has found that question asking is infrequent in the classroom and children's questions are often superficial, lacking deep reasoning. In this work, we developed a pedagogical agent that encourages children to ask divergent-thinking questions, a more complex form of questions that is associated with curiosity. We conducted a study with 95 fifth grade students, who interacted with an agent that encourages either convergent-thinking or divergent-thinking questions. Results showed that both interventions increased the number of divergent-thinking questions and the fluency of question asking, while they did not significantly alter children's perception of curiosity despite their high intrinsic motivation scores. In addition, children's curiosity trait has a mediating effect on question asking under the divergent-thinking agent, suggesting that question-asking interventions must be personalized to each student based on their tendency to be curious.Comment: Accepted at CHI 202