The Cross of Micronesia

The Cross of Micronesia. In the summer of 1970 the Congress of Mircronesia rejected a U.S, offer of commonwealth status; that would have enabled Micronesians to obtain U.S. citizenship easily and permitted an indefinite continuation of funds for the economically poor Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Achondroplasia manifesting as enchondromatosis and ossification of the spinal ligaments: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>A girl presented with achondroplasia manifested as mild knee pain associated with stiffness of her back. A skeletal survey showed enchondroma-like metaphyseal dysplasia and ossification of the spinal ligaments. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine further clarified the pathological composites.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 7-year-old girl presented with the classical phenotypic features of achondroplasia. Radiographic documentation showed the co-existence of metaphyseal enchondromatosis and development of spinal bony ankylosis. Magnetic resonance imaging showed extensive ossification of the anterior and posterior spinal ligaments. Additional features revealed by magnetic resonance imaging included calcification of the peripheral vertebral bodies associated with anterior end-plate irregularities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Enchondromas are metabolically active and may continue to grow and evolve throughout the patient's lifetime; thus, progressive calcification over a period of years is not unusual. Ossification of the spinal ligaments has a specific site of predilection and often occurs in combination with senile ankylosing vertebral hyperostosis. Nevertheless, ossification of the spinal ligaments has been encountered in children with syndromic malformation complex. It is a multifactorial disease in which complex genetic and environmental factors interact, potentially leading to chronic pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots with subsequent development of myeloradiculopathy. Our patient presented with a combination of achondroplasia, enchondroma-like metaphyseal dysplasia and calcification of the spinal ligaments. We suggest that the development of heterotopic bone formation along the spinal ligaments had occurred through an abnormal ossified enchondral mechanism. We postulate that ossification of the spinal ligaments and metaphyseal enchondromatous changes are related to each other and represent impaired terminal differentiation of chondrocytes in this particular case. Standard radiographic examination showed spinal bony ankylosis only. The pathological composites of the vertebrae have been clarified using scanning technology. Extensive spinal ligament ossification associated with calcification of the peripheral vertebral bodies and anterior end-plate irregularities were notable. We report what may be a novel spinal and extraspinal malformation complex in a girl with achondroplasia.</p

Forest fire analysis and classification based on a Serbian case study

A recent forest fire in the Republic of Serbia is discussed concerning classification, legislative framework and fire management, giving a detailed analysis of the forest fire occurrence. Analysing past and predicting future fires are crucial for policy development and forest management practices to prevent and mitigate fires. Fire hazard is discussed through several fire protection and prevention legislative documents. The nonparametric Mann-Kendall test was used to analyse resent forest fire data in an attempt to find causality in occurrences and frequency. The meteorological data and fire statistics provided by the Serbian Hydro-meteorological Service and the Ministry of Interior/Sector for Emergency Management of the Republic of Serbia were used to calculate the Forest Fire Weather Indices, along with deficit or surplus of precipitation for the case study of Tara Mountain. The paper highlights the need for better hierarchical classification of fire hazards and its harmonisation along with standardisations presented by leading international research institutions. A significant correlation between meteorological parameters and forest fire occurrence was found. This opens a possibility for further investigation and analysis of geophysical and anthropogenic driven factors that can influence disaster occurrence

Solid-state reference electrodes based on carbon nanotubes and polyacrylate membranes

A novel potentiometric solid-state reference electrode containing single-walled carbon nanotubes as the transducer layer between a polyacrylate membrane and the conductor is reported here. Single-walled carbon nanotubes act as an efficient transducer of the constant potentiometric signal originating from the reference membrane containing the Ag/AgCl/Cl− ions system, and they are needed to obtain a stable reference potentiometric signal. Furthermore, we have taken advantage of the light insensitivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes to improve the analytical performance characteristics of previously reported solid-state reference electrodes. Four different polyacrylate polymers have been selected in order to identify the most efficient reservoir for the Ag/AgCl system. Finally, two different arrangements have been assessed: (1) a solid-state reference electrode using photo-polymerised n-butyl acrylate polymer and (2) a thermo-polymerised methyl methacrylate:n-butyl acrylate (1:10) polymer. The sensitivity to various salts, pH and light, as well as time of response and stability, has been tested: the best results were obtained using single-walled carbon nanotubes and photo-polymerised n-butyl acrylate polymer. Water transport plays an important role in the potentiometric performance of acrylate membranes, so a new screening test method has been developed to qualitatively assess the difference in water percolation between the polyacrylic membranes studied. The results presented here open the way for the true miniaturisation of potentiometric systems using the excellent properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Computational Models for Prediction of Yeast Strain Potential for Winemaking from Phenotypic Profiles

Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains from diverse natural habitats harbour a vast amount of phenotypic diversity, driven by interactions between yeast and the respective environment. In grape juice fermentations, strains are exposed to a wide array of biotic and abiotic stressors, which may lead to strain selection and generate naturally arising strain diversity. Certain phenotypes are of particular interest for the winemaking industry and could be identified by screening of large number of different strains. The objective of the present work was to use data mining approaches to identify those phenotypic tests that are most useful to predict a strain's potential for winemaking. We have constituted a S. cerevisiae collection comprising 172 strains of worldwide geographical origins or technological applications. Their phenotype was screened by considering 30 physiological traits that are important from an oenological point of view. Growth in the presence of potassium bisulphite, growth at 40 degrees C, and resistance to ethanol were mostly contributing to strain variability, as shown by the principal component analysis. In the hierarchical clustering of phenotypic profiles the strains isolated from the same wines and vineyards were scattered throughout all clusters, whereas commercial winemaking strains tended to co-cluster. Mann-Whitney test revealed significant associations between phenotypic results and strain's technological application or origin. Naive Bayesian classifier identified 3 of the 30 phenotypic tests of growth in iprodion (0.05 mg/mL), cycloheximide (0.1 mu g/mL) and potassium bisulphite (150 mg/mL) that provided most information for the assignment of a strain to the group of commercial strains. The probability of a strain to be assigned to this group was 27% using the entire phenotypic profile and increased to 95%, when only results from the three tests were considered. Results show the usefulness of computational approaches to simplify strain selection procedures.Ines Mendes and Ricardo Franco-Duarte are recipients of a fellowship from the Portuguese Science Foundation, FCT (SFRH/BD/74798/2010, SFRH/BD/48591/2008, respectively) and Joao Drumonde-Neves is recipient of a fellowship from the Azores government (M3.1.2/F/006/2008 (DRCT)). Financial support was obtained from FEDER funds through the program COMPETE and by national funds through FCT by the projects FCOMP-01-0124-008775 (PTDC/AGR-ALI/103392/2008) and PTDC/AGR-ALI/121062/2010. Lan Umek and Blaz Zupan acknowledge financial support from Slovene Research Agency (P2-0209). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector in Europe

Key messages:Climate change has an impact on European agriculture in a number of ways. Climate change has already negatively affected the agriculture sector in Europe, and this will continue in the future. Future climate change might also have some positive effects on the sector due to longer growing seasons and more suitable crop conditions. However, the number of climate extreme events negatively affecting agriculture in Europe is projected to increase. A cascade of impacts from climate change outside Europe may affect the price, quantity and quality of products, and consequently trade patterns, which in turn may affect agricultural income in Europe. Although fodder and food security in the EU will probably not be an issue, the increase in food demand could exert pressure on food prices in the coming decades.The EU strategy on adaptation to climate change and the common agricultural policy have enabled adaptation actions in the agriculture sector. The new proposed common agricultural policy for 2021-2027 has adaptation as a clear objective, which could lead to EU Member States having to increase their financing of adaptation measures in the sector.The EU Member States have defined the agriculture sector as a priority in their national adaptation strategies or national adaptation plans. Measures at national or regional levels include awareness raising, practical measures to decrease the impacts and risks of extreme weather events, or risk-sharing strategies, and developing and implementing infrastructure for irrigation and flood protection.There are opportunities for implementing a wide variety of existing measures at farm level that aim to improve the management of soils and water, which can provide benefits for adaptation, mitigation, the environment and the economy. However, adaptation at the farm level, in many cases, does not take place because of a lack of, among other things, resources for investment, policy initiatives to adapt, institutional capacity and access to adaptation knowledge. <br/