Landmine Clearance and Socioeconomic Development: A Study in Colombia

The HALO Trust (HALO) arrived in Colombia in 2009 and, once accredited, began operations in 2013. HALO is currently the largest civilian humanitarian demining organization in the country, operating in twenty-five municipalities across eight departments.¹ The United States has supported HALO from the outset in Colombia and remains the single biggest donor for demining in the country. In 2019, through U.S. Department of State support, HALO began an innovative study to investigate the causal link between landmine clearance and socioeconomic development in Colombia. The study focused on two municipalities in the south of Antioquia Department—Nariño and La Unión—both of which were declared landmine-free by HALO in 2016. The following article describes the methodology behind this project, challenges faced during implementation, and the ultimate results of the study. It also seeks to demonstrate, more broadly, why such studies are vital for understanding the medium- to long-term effects of landmine removal in communities previously affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW)

Exploring the appropriateness of Urban Underground Space (UUS) for sustainability improvement

Due to the dramatic rate of urbanisation worldwide, sustainability of global cities is called into question, and there is global agreement that making cities more sustainable is a key priority. Greater use of underground space is one such solution, hence wider adoption of Urban Underground Space (UUS) within the urban environment needs consideration. One way to measure the efficiency of these solutions within the urban environment is to provide sustainability credentials through sustainability indicators. However, a detailed review of the current ‘construction sector’ sustainability indicator systems (BREEAM, CEEQUAL, etc.) within this research shows that there is a substantial need for a sustainability indicator tool tailored toward UUS. Hence, a new tool, called USPeAR, is proposed, developed on the basis of the SPeAR® framework system revised and restructured for application on UUS projects. The USPeAR tool includes a series of indicators based on SPeAR®. They have been selected according to the materiality review method introduced by SPeAR® itself. In addition a panel of experts, who are experienced in terms of construction and sustainability, has been surveyed via a questionnaire to inform the development of an appropriate weighting system for the selected indicators. Lastly, a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) method has been combined with USPeAR to identify the most cost-effective solution for the sustainability improvement of a UUS project. The application of the developed tool was demonstrated through two case studies

SerumTrace Elements in Febrile Seizure: A Case-Control Study

 How to Cite This Article: Namakin K, Zardast M, Sharifzadeh Gh, Bidar T, Zargarian S. Serum Trace Elements in Febrile Seizure: A Case-Control Study. Iran J Child Neurol. Summer 2016; 10(3):57-60.  AbstractObjectiveFebrile seizure (FS) is one of the most common neurological problems during childhood.Pathogenesis of febrile convulsion is unknown. This study investigated some trace elements among children admitted with FS compared with thoseof febrile without seizure attacks.Materials & MethodsThis case-control study was conducted on48 children (6 months to 5 yr old) diagnosed with febrile seizure as the cases and 48 age-matched febrile children as the control group. Serum levels of magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, and serum zinc were measured. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS (version 15) using Student t-test.ResultsThere were no significant differences between the cases and controls in terms of gender or age. The means of serum level of zinc, sodium, calcium and magnesium in the case group was lower than those of the control group. There was no significant difference onserum potassium mean level between the case and control groups.ConclusionDeficiency of trace elements was correlated significantly with febrile convulsion, while further investigations on trace elements are required.ReferencesReferencesMartindale JL, Goldstein JN, Pallin DJ. Emergency department seizureepidemiology. Emerg Med Clin North Am 2011;29:15-27.Lee J-H, Hyun Kim J.Comparison of Serum Zinc Levels Measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry in Preschool Children with Febrile and Afebrile Seizures. Ann Lab Med 2012;32:190-193 http://dx.doi.org/10.3343/alm.2012.32.3.190.Akbayram S, Cemek M, Büyükben A, Aymelek F, Karaman S, Yilmaz F, Dogan M,Caksen H. Major and minor bio-element status in children with febrile seizure. Bratisl Lek Listy 2012; 113 (7)421 – 423.Johnston MV. Seizures in children. In: Behrman RE, JensonHB, Stanton BF, editors. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics.18thed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2008:2457-73.Salehiomran MR, Mahzari M. Zinc status in febrile seizure: a case-control study. Iran J Child Neurol 2013; 7(4):20-23.Nadkarni J, Binaykiya I, Sharma U, Dwivedi R. Role of serum sodium levels in prediction of seizure recurrence within the same febrile illness.Neurology Asia 2011; 16(3): 195–197.Ganesh R, Janakiraman L. Serum zinc levels in children with simple febrile seizure. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 2008;47:164–166.Waqar Rabbani M, Ali I, Zahid Latif H, Basit A, Rabbani MA. Serum zinc level in children presenting with febrile seizures. Pak J Med Sci 2013;29(4):1008-11.Ehsanipour F, Talebi-Taher M, Harandi N, Kani K. Serumzinc level in children with febrile convulsion and itscomparison with that of control group. Iran J Pediatr2009;65-8.Amiri M, Farzin L, Moassesi ME, Sajadi F. Serum trace element levels in febrile convulsion. Biol Trace Elem Res 2010;135(1-3):38-44.Mohamed Aly IAR, Mohamed Kmal H, Soliman DR, Hassan Mohamed M. Iron profile parameters and serum zinc & copper levels in children with febrile convulsions in Banha. J Am Sci 2014;10(7): 1-4.Gattoo I, Harish R, Quyoom Hussain S. Correlation of serum zinc level with simple febrile seizures: a hospital based prospective case control study. Int J Pediatr 2015;3(2):16-.19.Sadeghzadeh M, Nabi S, Khoshnevisasl P, Mousavinasab N. The correlation between cerebrospinal fluid and levels of serum zinc and Ca in children with febrile seizure. J Comprehens Pediatr 2013; 3(5): 179-83.Osama N. Salah, Ehab R. Abdelraou, Marwa H. Abdelhameed Ahmed A, Dawood, Adel F,Kilany HA, Suzette I. Assessment of the Level of GABA and some trace elements in blood in children who suffer from familial febrile convulsions. Macedonian JMed Sci 2014; 7(1):68-73.Heydarian F, Ashrafzadeh F, Cam S. Simple febrile seizure: the role of serum sodium levels in prediction of seizure recurrence during thefirst 24 hours. Iran J Child Neurol2009; 3(2):31-4

{2,6-Bis[(diphenyl­phosphan­yl)­oxy]phen­yl-κ3 P,C 1,P′}iodidonickel(II)

In the title complex, [Ni(C30H23O2P2)I], the divalent Ni atom is coordinated by two P atoms and one C atom from the 1,3-bis­[(diphenyl­phosphan­yl)­oxy]benzene ligand; the distorted square-planar geometry is completed by an iodide ligand. The largest distortions from ideal square-planar geometry are reflected in the P—Ni—P angle of 164.20 (2)° and the P—Ni—C angles of 82.09 (6) and 82.11 (6)°. The rather short Ni—C bond length [1.890 (2) Å] is anti­cipated in light of the much stronger trans influence of the aryl moiety compared to the iodide ligand. The P-bound phenyl rings adopt different orientations to minimize steric repulsion among themselves

[2,6-Bis(diphenyl­phosphan­yloxy)phenyl-κ3 P,C 1,P′]hydroxidonickel(II)

The mol­ecule of the title complex, [Ni(C30H23O2P2)(OH)], adopts a slightly distorted square-planar geometry around NiII defined by the coordination of the two mutually trans P atoms, the Csp 2 atom of the pincer ligand and the O atom of the hydroxide ligand. The largest distortions from ideal geometry are reflected in the smaller than usual P—Ni—P [163.95 (3)°] and P—Ni—C [82.06 (6)°] angles. The OH ligand does not form intra- or inter­molecular hydrogen bonds

Structural and dynamic characterization of the upper part of the HIV-1 cTAR DNA hairpin

First strand transfer is essential for HIV-1 reverse transcription. During this step, the TAR RNA hairpin anneals to the cTAR DNA hairpin; this annealing reaction is promoted by the nucleocapsid protein and involves an initial loop–loop interaction between the apical loops of TAR and cTAR. Using NMR and probing methods, we investigated the structural and dynamic properties of the top half of the cTAR DNA (mini-cTAR). We show that the upper stem located between the apical and the internal loops is stable, but that the lower stem of mini-cTAR is unstable. The residues of the internal loop undergo slow motions at the NMR time-scale that are consistent with conformational exchange phenomena. In contrast, residues of the apical loop undergo fast motions. The lower stem is destabilized by the slow interconversion processes in the internal loop, and thus the internal loop is responsible for asymmetric destabilization of mini-cTAR. These findings are consistent with the functions of cTAR in first strand transfer: its apical loop is suitably exposed to interact with the apical loop of TAR RNA and its lower stem is significantly destabilized to facilitate the subsequent action of the nucleocapsid protein which promotes the annealing reaction

An Unusual Helix Turn Helix Motif in the Catalytic Core of HIV-1 Integrase Binds Viral DNA and LEDGF

Background: Integrase (IN) of the type 1 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) catalyzes the integration of viral DNA into host cellular DNA. We identified a bi-helix motif (residues 149–186) in the crystal structure of the catalytic core (CC) of the IN-Phe185Lys variant that consists of the a 4 and a 5 helices connected by a 3 to 5-residue turn. The motif is embedded in a large array of interactions that stabilize the monomer and the dimer. Principal Findings: We describe the conformational and binding properties of the corresponding synthetic peptide. This displays features of the protein motif structure thanks to the mutual intramolecular interactions of the a4 and a5 helices that maintain the fold. The main properties are the binding to: 1- the processing-attachment site at the LTR (long terminal repeat) ends of virus DNA with a Kd (dissociation constant) in the sub-micromolar range; 2- the whole IN enzyme; and 3- the IN binding domain (IBD) but not the IBD-Asp366Asn variant of LEDGF (lens epidermal derived growth factor) lacking the essential Asp366 residue. In our motif, in contrast to the conventional HTH (helix-turn-helix), it is the N terminal helix (a 4) which has the role of DNA recognition helix, while the C terminal helix (a 5) would rather contribute to the motif stabilization by interactions with the a4 helix. Conclusion: The motif, termed HTHi (i, for inverted) emerges as a central piece of the IN structure and function. It coul