Combining interactive GIS tools and expert knowledge in validation of tree species models

Poster presented at XIII Congreso Forestal Mundial. FAO, Buenos Aires (Argentina). 18-25 Oct 200

Best Practices and Policy Gaps in the Partnership between Cooperatives and Local Government Units in Negros Oriental, Philippines

This study determined the best practices and policy gaps in the partnerships between the cooperatives and the local government units in Negros Oriental. Relative to this, it determined the profile of the cooperatives with noteworthy characteristics and achievements, the extent of assistance extended by local government units to cooperatives in terms of financial, trainings, and other support. The partnership primarily centered on the provision of financial, training and other support services. The best practices were examined in five areas. These were: (a) technology improvement; (b) enhancement in the performance of functions of officers and members; (c) expansion in membership; (d) enhancement of systems and procedures, and (e) increased in logistics. The findings revealed that the policy gaps were influenced by some limitations, as: (a) no common interpretation of the guidelines issued by the Commission on Audit regarding financial assistance to cooperatives; (b) delayed implementation of approved projects that led the cooperatives to allocate additional budget; (c) most policy makers were not grounded on the privileges granted by law to cooperatives; (d) some LGU officials used cooperatives in their political activities; and (e) difficulty in complying with the requirements for financial assistance. In view of the results, it is concluded that public- private partnership between cooperatives and the local government units played a supplemental role in the improvement of the quality of life of the people. Thus, this study recommends strengthening the partnerships between the cooperatives and the local government units and broadening their base of cooperation

Best Practices and Policy Gaps in the Partnership between Cooperatives and Local Government Units in Negros Oriental, Philippines

This study determined the best practices and policy gaps in the partnerships between the cooperatives and the local government units in Negros Oriental. Relative to this, it determined the profile of the cooperatives with noteworthy characteristics and achievements, the extent of assistance extended by local government units to cooperatives in terms of financial, trainings, and other support. The partnership primarily centered on the provision of financial, training and other support services. The best practices were examined in five areas. These were: (a) technology improvement; (b) enhancement in the performance of functions of officers and members; (c) expansion in membership; (d) enhancement of systems and procedures, and (e) increased in logistics. The findings revealed that the policy gaps were influenced by some limitations, as: (a) no common interpretation of the guidelines issued by the Commission on Audit regarding financial assistance to cooperatives; (b) delayed implementation of approved projects that led the cooperatives to allocate additional budget; (c) most policy makers were not grounded on the privileges granted by law to cooperatives; (d) some LGU officials used cooperatives in their political activities; and (e) difficulty in complying with the requirements for financial assistance. In view of the results, it is concluded that public- private partnership between cooperatives and the local government units played a supplemental role in the improvement of the quality of life of the people. Thus, this study recommends strengthening the partnerships between the cooperatives and the local government units and broadening their base of cooperation

Scattering in Multilayered Structures: Diffraction from a Nanohole

The spectral expansion of the Green's tensor for a planar multilayered structure allows us to semi analytically obtain the angular spectrum representation of the field scattered by an arbitrary dielectric perturbation present in the structure. In this paper we present a method to find the expansion coefficients of the scattered field, given that the electric field inside the perturbation is available. The method uses a complete set of orthogonal vector wave functions to solve the structure's vector wave equation. In the two semi-infinite bottom and top media, those vector wave functions coincide with the plane-wave basis vectors, including both propagating and evanescent components. The technique is used to obtain the complete angular spectrum of the field scattered by a nanohole in a metallic film under Gaussian illumination. We also show how the obtained formalism can easily be extended to spherically and cylindrically multilayered media. In those cases, the expansion coefficients would multiply the spherical and cylindrical vector wave functions.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Proliferation tracing with single-cell mass cytometry optimizes generation of stem cell memory-like T cells.

Selective differentiation of naive T cells into multipotent T cells is of great interest clinically for the generation of cell-based cancer immunotherapies. Cellular differentiation depends crucially on division state and time. Here we adapt a dye dilution assay for tracking cell proliferative history through mass cytometry and uncouple division, time and regulatory protein expression in single naive human T cells during their activation and expansion in a complex ex vivo milieu. Using 23 markers, we defined groups of proteins controlled predominantly by division state or time and found that undivided cells account for the majority of phenotypic diversity. We next built a map of cell state changes during naive T-cell expansion. By examining cell signaling on this map, we rationally selected ibrutinib, a BTK and ITK inhibitor, and administered it before T cell activation to direct differentiation toward a T stem cell memory (TSCM)-like phenotype. This method for tracing cell fate across division states and time can be broadly applied for directing cellular differentiation

Interaction of Physical Activity and Body Mass Index with Age at Menarche : Interaksi Aktivitas Fisik dan Indeks Massa Tubuh dengan Usia Menarche

Objective: To investigate the interaction of physical activity and body mass index with age at menarche in Babun Najah Junior High School.Methods: This was a cross sectional study. The sampling technique in this study is non-probability sampling by a total sampling.Results: The results of the study were processed using the Chi-Square statistical test on 142 samples, obtained p-value = 0.748 (p>0.05) for the relationship between physical activity and age at menarche, p-value = 0.048 (p<0.05) for relationship between body mass index with age at menarche, and p-value > 0.05 for the interaction of physical activity and body mass index with age at menarche.Conclusions: There is no interaction of physical activity and body mass index with age at menarche in Babun Najah Junior High School.Keywords:   body mass index,  interaction, menarche age,  physical activity.   Abstrak Tujuan: Mengetahui interaksi aktivitas fisik dan indeks massa tubuh dengan usia menarche di Madrasah Tsanawiyah Swasta Babun Najah.Metode: Jenis penelitian ini adalah observasional analitik dengan desain penelitian potong lintang. Teknik pengambilan sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah pengambilan sampel non probabilitas dengan metode total sampling.Hasil: Terdapat hubungan antara indeks massa tubuh dengan usia menarche (p-value = 0,048) , tidak terdapat hubungan antara aktivitas fisik dengan usia menarche (p-value = 0,784) serta tidak terdapat interaksi antara aktivitas fisik dan indeks massa tubuh dengan usia menarche (p-value > 0,05).Kesimpulan: Tidak terdapat interaksi aktivitas fisik dan indeks massa tubuh dengan usia menarche di Madrasah Tsanawiyah Swasta Babun Najah.Kata kunci: aktivitas fisik, indeks massa tubuh, , interaksi, usia menarch

Intermediate-mass black holes in Globular Clusters

For a sample of nine Galactic globular clusters we measured the inner kinematic profiles with integral-field spectroscopy that we combined with existing outer kinematic measurements and HST luminosity profiles. With this information we are able to detect the crucial rise in the velocity-dispersion profile which indicates the presence of a central black hole. In addition, N-body simulations compared to our data will give us a deeper insight in the properties of clusters with black holes and stronger selection criteria for further studies. For the first time, we obtain a homogeneous sample of globular cluster integral- field spectroscopy which allows a direct comparison between clusters with and without an intermediate-mass black hole.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the conference proceedings "Reading the book of globular clusters with the lens of stellar evolution", Mem. S. A. It. Eds. P. Ventura, C. Charbonnel, M. Castellani and M. Di Criscienz

High-velocity stars in the cores of globular clusters: The illustrative case of NGC 2808

We report the detection of five high-velocity stars in the core of the globular cluster NGC 2808. The stars lie on the the red giant branch and show total velocities between 40 and 45 km/s. For a core velocity dispersion sigma_c = 13.4 km/s, this corresponds to up to 3.4 sigma_c. These velocities are close to the estimated escape velocity (~ 50 km/s) and suggest an ejection from the core. Two of these stars have been confirmed in our recent integral field spectroscopy data and we will discuss them in more detail here. These two red giants are located at a projected distance of ~ 0.3 pc from the center. According to their positions on the color magnitude diagram, both stars are cluster members. We investigate several possible origins for the high velocities of the stars and conceivable ejection mechanisms. Since the velocities are close to the escape velocity, it is not obvious whether the stars are bound or unbound to the cluster. We therefore consider both cases in our analysis. We perform numerical simulations of three-body dynamical encounters between binaries and single stars and compare the resulting velocity distributions of escapers with the velocities of our stars. We compare the predictions for a single dynamical encounter with a compact object with those of a sequence of two-body encounters due to relaxation. If the stars are unbound, the encounter must have taken place recently, when the stars were already in the giant phase. After including binary fractions and black-hole retention fractions, projection effects, and detection probabilities from Monte-Carlo simulations, we estimate the expected numbers of detections for all the different scenarios. Based on these numbers, we conclude that the most likely scenario is that the stars are bound and were accelerated by a single encounter between a binary of main-sequence stars and a ~ 10 M_sun black hole.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in A&