Reproduction of Klunzinger mullet, Liza klunzingeri, in coastal waters of Khuzestan Province (Persian Gulf)

Some reproduction characteristics of keeled mullet, Liza klunzingeri, were studied during Apr. 2003 to Feb. 2004 in Khuzestan waters of the Persian Gulf. A total of 836 samples were monthly collected from two fish landings of Bahrekan and Hendijan; 727 specimens were studied from point of sex determination, and 60 specimens were studied from the fecundity point of view. This species was found to have more abundance in autumn (esp. Oct-Nov). The samples composed of 89 (12.2%) male, 467 (64.2%) female and 171 (23.6%) immature; the sex ratio was M:F = 1:5. The advanced stages of maturity (4th & 5th) were found in October onward. The highest Gonadosomatic Index was in December and the lowest was in June. The maximum absolute and relative fecundities were 183040 and 2232, respectively; the minimum absolute and relative fecundities were 44700 and 582, respectively. The minimum and maximum egg diameter was 0.04mm (stage 2nd) and 0.75mm (stage 6th)

The effect of backpacking load carriage on ground reaction forces in children

Carrying heavy loads over unpredictable terrain for long distances is a requirement common to military personnel, various types of workers and recreational hikers, as well as school children. Backpacks share the load between the shoulders and the hips, they restrict the free movement of shoulders and hips and they always cause a forward lean with a corresponding pulling back force on the shoulders. It is suggested that backpack loads for children should be restricted to no more than 15% body weight for walks of up to 20 min duration to avoid muscle fatigue (Hong et ai, 2008). Liu and Chou (2004) also compared three carriage modalities (backpack, satchel and handbag) and found that backpack carriage of loads equivalent to 10% body weight incurred the lowest physiological cost while walking at 6.4 km/h. Previous biomechanical studies have generally been restricted to loads of 20% and 40% of bodyweight in adults, usually carried in the backpack alone. Sixteen Iranian male children (age = 9 years, mass = 31.7 ± 3.2 kg height = 130.0 ± 6.5 cm,) performed 20-min walking trials on platform with different backpack loads (0%, 100/0, 15% and 20% body weight). Results showed that only load added from 15% to 20% body weight increments elicited a proportional increase in vertical and anteroposterior ground reaction force (GRF) parameters. These effects may be the result of changes to the vertical and horizontal position of the body's centre of mass, caused by the restriction of natural arm swing patterns. Increased GRFs, particularly in the vertical axis, have been positively linked to overuse injuries. Therefore, the biomechanical analysis of load carriage is important in aiding our understanding of injuries associated with backpacking load carriage in children

Stock assessment of zobaidy, Pampus argenteus, in the north of Persian Gulf

The project “Stock Assessment of Zobaidy, Pampus argenteus, in the North of Persian Gulf” started in April 2003 and completed by the end of April 2006 as a cooperative research project to assess the valuable stock of zobaidy shared between Kuwait and Iran in the North of Persian Gulf. The main objectives were to investigate and determine the basic biological parameters, the standing biomass, seasonal abundance, and the impact of regional fishery activities. These studies are necessary to recommend practical management policies and measures for long-term sustainability of the zobaidy stock. The sampling of fisheries data (catch, effort, fish length distributions, and biological data) was started in May 2003 and ended December 2006. Monthly length frequencies data were collected from both the drift gill net and shrimp trawl fisheries. Age determination was based on otolith sectioning, polishing, etching, and staining method. The age groups ranged from 0 to 10 yrs but the dominant age groups were 1-3 years and the estimated parameters for both sexes were L_∞ = 32.0-36.0 cm FL and K = 0.26-0.30 yr^-1, females grow faster than males. Sea survey on board of two dhow boats was carried out using swept area method. Higher abundance was always obtained in Kuwait Bay rather than the other areas surveyed in Kuwait and Khuzestan waters. The total estimated stock biomass in the surveyed areas varied from 42 t in January 2004 to 2,633 t in November 2004, while the Iranian biomass varied from as low as 19 t in October 2005 to 295 t in November 2003. The data indicated that Ras Al-Gaid, Bubiyan Island is the main nursery area in Kuwait waters, while Lifah, Busaif, and Bahrakan are important nursery areas in the Khuzestan waters. Kuwait Bay and Khor Musa are considered important spawning grounds and should be protected. Yield per recruit analysis showed that higher yield could be gained with increasing fish effort, which is not recommended under the present status of high exploitation rate. In contrast, virtual population analysis indicated that future catches will reduce if the fishery continues with present level fishing effort. A reduction of 50% would be required to maintain the present level of catches as well as to enhance the stock biomass. Formulation of a joint advisory management committee would be advisable approach to manage and monitor the zobaidy stock in the region. This will need commitment from the three countries in the region for data collection on regular basis on length frequency, statistics, and biological data. Copepods with high occurence of 64% - 88% is considered as the main item in the Pomfret fish, while jelly fish and other decapods crustaceans are considered as minor items. Observation of pre- flexion stage larvae of pampus genus among the specimens collected from Khuzestan coast water could be considered as an evidence for the spawning of this fish in this region. The occurrence of pampus larvae in Khuzestan coast during the months of June to October has been reported for several times. Examination of 101 specimens (38 from Kuwait, 63 from Iran) for molecular survey does not show any significant differences between Kuwait and Iran water stocks for this fish, so it is possible to hypothesize a unit population for zobidy stock in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea as whole

Community assessment to advance computational prediction of cancer drug combinations in a pharmacogenomic screen

The effectiveness of most cancer targeted therapies is short-lived. Tumors often develop resistance that might be overcome with drug combinations. However, the number of possible combinations is vast, necessitating data-driven approaches to find optimal patient-specific treatments. Here we report AstraZeneca’s large drug combination dataset, consisting of 11,576 experiments from 910 combinations across 85 molecularly characterized cancer cell lines, and results of a DREAM Challenge to evaluate computational strategies for predicting synergistic drug pairs and biomarkers. 160 teams participated to provide a comprehensive methodological development and benchmarking. Winning methods incorporate prior knowledge of drug-target interactions. Synergy is predicted with an accuracy matching biological replicates for >60% of combinations. However, 20% of drug combinations are poorly predicted by all methods. Genomic rationale for synergy predictions are identified, including ADAM17 inhibitor antagonism when combined with PIK3CB/D inhibition contrasting to synergy when combined with other PI3K-pathway inhibitors in PIK3CA mutant cells.Peer reviewe

Robustness Assessment of a Low Poly Modeling Strategy for Performance Simulation of Double-Skin Green Facades

Performance simulation of building vegetal envelope can be very resource intensive and time consuming when made with a high number of polygons. The aim of this study is to assess the robustness of a low poly modeling strategy based on raster image sampling, with the scope of reducing the simulation burden of natural illumination performance, in several scenarios of operation. The image-based approach is implemented for the geometric reconstruction of vegetation, starting from an ivy (Hedera Helix L.) leaf, to model a double skin green facade. Due to the high influence of foliage density on natural lighting performance of green walls and its variability in real cases, the strategy behavior is evaluated for the variation of this parameter, addressed as Wall Coverage Ratio (WCR). Five scenarios of WCR are taken into account to perform the analysis of several levels of detail of the low poly mesh geometries, obtained with different sample densities of the raster image. The strategy appears to be reliable and delivers a 21% decrease of the simulation time, compared to the duration of a high level of detail simulation, with an acceptable performance deviation and the result is robust across the analyzed scenarios. A peak 39% decrease is obtained too, but with a considerable performance deviation. The outcomes also show a high dependency of the performance deviation on WCR, especially for simulations with very few polygons. Useful insights on calibration of green modeling accuracy for lighting performance simulation can be drawn from the results of this work

Machine learning and feature selection for drug response prediction in precision oncology applications

In-depth modeling of the complex interplay among multiple omics data measured from cancer cell lines or patient tumors is providing new opportunities toward identification of tailored therapies for individual cancer patients. Supervised machine learning algorithms are increasingly being applied to the omics profiles as they enable integrative analyses among the high-dimensional data sets, as well as personalized predictions of therapy responses using multi-omics panels of response-predictive biomarkers identified through feature selection and cross-validation. However, technical variability and frequent missingness in input “big data” require the application of dedicated data preprocessing pipelines that often lead to some loss of information and compressed view of the biological signal. We describe here the state-of-the-art machine learning methods for anti-cancer drug response modeling and prediction and give our perspective on further opportunities to make better use of high-dimensional multi-omics profiles along with knowledge about cancer pathways targeted by anti-cancer compounds when predicting their phenotypic responses.Peer reviewe