Analysis of Farm Household Preferences in the Management of Invasive Species: The Case of Miconia in Hawaii

A major threat to Hawaii's ecosystem is the spread of invasive plant species. One such species is Miconia calvescens. Given that this plant was originally introduced to Hawaii by the horticulture industry and has negative effects on agricultural productivity, it is logical to find the farm households' preference for the control of Miconia. Using Conjoint Choice Experiment methodology, this study designed a survey to measure farm households' preferences for Miconia calvescens control program attributes. Results of the surveys indicate that the farm households are willing to support Miconia control programs if they prevent severe soil erosion and loss of biodiversity.Miconia, invasive species, Hawaii, farmers, Conjoint Choice Experiment, valuation, Crop Production/Industries,

Biofuels from Microalgae

Biofuels are the most awaited products of scientific research. The fossil fuels are being exhausted, and pollution is increasing globally. Algal biofuels are one of the promising options. They are wonderful tiny factories that yield a variety of substances that have the property to act as sources of ecofriendly fuels. More attention has been focused on microalgae-derived biomass for generating diverse renewable energy sources. The distinct features that microalgae possess include high biomass yield, abundant oil content, no requirement for land and easy cultivation in wastewaters coupled with carbon dioxide mitigation. Microalgae are tiny reservoirs of a plethora of biofuels. The diverse algal biofuels range from biodiesel, straight vegetable oil (SVO), lipids, ethanol and hydrogen. Biofuels are the need of today, and researchers around the globe are exploring the options for biological fuel production

Phycoremediation of Eutrophic Lakes Using Diatom Algae

Eutrophication as a result of human intervention has led to severe deterioration of fresh water habitats. Due to population growth, industrialization and uncontrolled use of fertilizers led to excess nutrient runoff entering into rivers and lakes; this has caused reduction in water quality and abnormal changes in ecosystem structure and function. A solution to this cultural eutrophication is an urgent necessity since nutrient accumulation renders controlling eutrophication more difficult over time. Using algae for reduction of nutrients is a unique technology, which utilizes the enormous potential of microalgae in restoring water quality. This has a huge potential in urban lakes where there is an urgent need to use such technologies in combination with existing ones to speed up the process to reduce the formation of hypereutrophic lakes and dead zones in oceans. In this book chapter, we explore the enormous potential of diatoms as cost-effective, efficient and eco-friendly remedy for complex problems related to eutrophication. We report the case studies on using diatom-based technology. This will give us a new insight into microalgae-based lake remediation strategies, which can significantly reduce the cost, manpower needed and negative environmental impacts involved in existing technologies

Multi-Omics Analyses Detail Metabolic Reprogramming in Lipids, Carnitines, and Use of Glycolytic Intermediates between Prostate Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma and Prostate Adenocarcinoma.

As the most common cancer in men, prostate cancer is molecularly heterogeneous. Contributing to this heterogeneity are the poorly understood metabolic adaptations of the two main types of prostate cancer, i.e., adenocarcinoma and small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNC), the latter being more aggressive and lethal. Using transcriptomics, untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics profiling on LASCPC-01 (prostate SCNC) and LNCAP (prostate adenocarcinoma) cell lines, we found significant differences in the cellular phenotypes of the two cell lines. Gene set enrichment analysis on the transcriptomics data showed 62 gene sets were upregulated in LASCPC-01, while 112 gene sets were upregulated in LNCAP. ChemRICH analysis on metabolomics and lipidomics data revealed a total of 25 metabolite clusters were significantly different. LASCPC-01 exhibited a higher glycolytic activity and lower levels of triglycerides, while the LNCAP cell line showed increases in one-carbon metabolism as an exit route of glycolytic intermediates and a decrease in carnitine, a mitochondrial lipid transporter. Our findings pinpoint differences in prostate neuroendocrine carcinoma versus prostate adenocarcinoma that could lead to new therapeutic targets in each type

Sensitivity analysis of a climate vulnerability index - a case study from Indian watershed development programmes

Background: This paper presents a detailed analysis of a composite Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) to examine and compare climate change vulnerability and its dimensions adaptive capacity, sensitivity and exposure. Thereby, we are mainly interested on climate change vulnerability at community-level watershed development programmes and how the different implementing agencies could help to address the problems associated with climate change in future planning and implementation. Method: The primary data used for this study was obtained from household surveys (n=215) in three watershed communities of Kerala, India. We use bootstrap sampling and a leave-one-out sensitivity analysis to compare the climate vulnerability of the three examined watersheds in detail. By introducing the bootstrapping method and sensitivity analysis into the research field of climate vulnerability, the paper describes significant differences in CVI values and the influencing indicators to the overall vulnerability at the watershed community level. Results The results show that there are significant differences in the exposure and sensitivity dimensions of vulnerability even if the overall CVI shows less variability and no significant differences among the three watersheds. The sensitivity analysis emphasizes that Livelihood Strategies and SSocial Network are the most influencing major components of vulnerability. This suggests that implementing agencies should focus on these two major components in order to improve the watershed development programmes. Conclusion The bootstrapping approach is transferable to evaluate the degree of influence of indicators on a composite index like the CVI. Moreover, it allows us to evaluate the potential effectiveness of various other climate change programmes where the evaluation is commonly done by field surveys. This thereby helps to increase the credibility in the examination of the impacts of climate change at different scales in order to find key areas for better policy planning

Whole brain resting state functional connectivity abnormalities in schizophrenia

Background Schizophrenia has been associated with disturbances in brain connectivity; however the exact nature of these disturbances is not fully understood. Measuring temporal correlations between the functional MRI time courses of spatially disparate brain regions obtained during rest has recently emerged as a popular paradigm for estimating brain connectivity. Previous resting state studies in schizophrenia explored connections related to particular clinical or cognitive symptoms (connectivity within a-priori selected networks), or connections restricted to functional networks obtained from resting state analysis. Relatively little has been done to understand global brain connectivity in schizophrenia. Methods Eighteen patients with chronic schizophrenia and 18 healthy volunteers underwent a resting state fMRI scan on a 3 T magnet. Whole brain temporal correlations have been estimated using resting-state fMRI data and free surfer cortical parcellations. A multivariate classification method was then used to indentify brain connections that distinguish schizophrenia patients from healthy controls. Results The classification procedure achieved a prediction accuracy of 75% in differentiating between groups on the basis of their functional connectivity. Relative to controls, schizophrenia patients exhibited co-existing patterns of increased connectivity between parietal and frontal regions, and decreased connectivity between parietal and temporal regions, and between the temporal cortices bilaterally. The decreased parieto-temporal connectivity was associated with the severity of patients' positive symptoms, while increased fronto-parietal connectivity was associated with patients' negative and general symptoms. Discussion Our analysis revealed two co-existing patterns of functional connectivity abnormalities in schizophrenia, each related to different clinical profiles. Such results provide further evidence that abnormalities in brain connectivity, characteristic of schizophrenia, are directly related to the clinical features of the disorder.National Alliance for Medical Image Computing (U.S.) (Grant U54 EB005149)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01 M074794)Medical Research Council of Australia (Overseas-Based Biomedical Traning Fellowship 520627

Multimode bolometer development for the PIXIE instrument

The Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) is an Explorer-class mission concept designed to measure the polarization and absolute intensity of the cosmic microwave background. In the following, we report on the design, fabrication, and performance of the multimode polarization-sensitive bolometers for PIXIE, which are based on silicon thermistors. In particular we focus on several recent advances in the detector design, including the implementation of a scheme to greatly raise the frequencies of the internal vibrational modes of the large-area, low-mass optical absorber structure consisting of a grid of micromachined, ion-implanted silicon wires. With $\sim30$ times the absorbing area of the spider-web bolometers used by Planck, the tensioning scheme enables the PIXIE bolometers to be robust in the vibrational and acoustic environment at launch of the space mission. More generally, it could be used to reduce microphonic sensitivity in other types of low temperature detectors. We also report on the performance of the PIXIE bolometers in a dark cryogenic environment.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Magnetic Calorimeter Option for the Lynx X-Ray Microcalorimeter

One option for the detector technology to implement the Lynx x-ray microcalorimeter (LXM) focal plane arrays is the metallic magnetic calorimeter (MMC). Two-dimensional imaging arrays of MMCs measure the energy of x-ray photons by using a paramagnetic sensor to detect the temperature rise in a microfabricated x-ray absorber. While small arrays of MMCs have previously been demonstrated that have energy resolution better than the 3 eV requirement for LXM, we describe LXM prototype MMC arrays that have 55,800 x-ray pixels, thermally linked to 5688 sensors in hydra configurations, and that have sensor inductance increased to avoid signal loss from the stray inductance in the large-scale arrays when the detectors are read out with microwave superconducting quantum interference device multiplexers, and that use multilevel planarized superconducting wiring to provide low-inductance, low-crosstalk connections to each pixel. We describe the features of recently tested MMC prototype devices and simulations of expected performance in designs opti- mized for the three subarray types in LXM

WebEase: Development of a Web-Based Epilepsy Self-Management Intervention

People with epilepsy must adopt many self-management behaviors, especially regarding medication adherence, stress management, and sleep quality. In response to the need for theory-based self-management programs that people with epilepsy can easily access, the WebEase Web site was created and tested for feasibility, acceptability, and usability. This article discusses the theoretical background and developmental phases of WebEase and lessons learned throughout the development process. The WebEase research team developed content for the Web site on the basis of social cognitive theory, the transtheoretical model of behavior change, and motivational interviewing. Formative research and development of the WebEase program included a literature search, computer use survey, a focus group, and review by content experts and consumers. The program has 2 main components: 1) the modules, which provide a tailored opportunity for learning, reflection, and goal setting, and 2) MyLog, a place to enter daily information

Normal Positron Emission Tomography-Computerized Tomogram in a Patient with Apparent Mesenteric Panniculitis: Biopsy Is Still the Answer

Mesenteric panniculitis (also known as sclerosing mesenteritis) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the mesenteric connective tissue. It is known to have a wide spectrum of clinical and radiological presentations. In general, biopsy is recommended for diagnosis; however, a recent study proposed that a negative positron emission tomography- computerized tomography (PET-CT) scan is accurate in differentiating benign and neoplastic mesenteric processes [Br J Radiol 2006;79:37–43]. The following case report questions the accuracy of PET-CT in this setting and confirms the requirement for biopsy to rule out the presence of mesenteric lymphoma