Addressing the challenge of neonatal mortality.

Reducing neonatal mortality remains a challenge with an estimated 3.0 million neonatal deaths in 2011, three-quarters of these in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. The leading causes of neonatal death globally are complications of preterm birth, intrapartum-related causes and infections. While post-neonatal, under-5 deaths fell by 47% between 1990 and 2011, neonatal deaths only fell by 32% and they now account for 43% of all under-5 child deaths. This article reviews the progress in reducing neonatal deaths in high-burden countries and presents an overview of known effective interventions to reduce neonatal mortality and the challenges faced in implementing these in high-burden settings. Effective action is possible to reduce neonatal mortality, but innovative approaches to implementation will be required if these preventable deaths are to be avoided

Enhancing Jewish Learning & Engagement in Preschool Life: Documenting the JRS Model

The Jewish Resource Specialist (JRS) Initiative, designed in 2008 by the Early Childhood Education Initiative (ECEI) of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties (the Federation), in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation, positions the early childhood years as a gateway into Jewish life for children and their families. It is a response to several catalyzing factors. First, preschool is a critical time for young families. Children are eager to learn and are developing socially, emotionally, cognitively and spiritually. For parents, at no other moment will they be so involved in their children's schooling. They are also choosing how they spend their time and with whom they spend it. The JRS Initiative came about to leverage this unique time for families.Second, the JRS Initiative also addresses the dearth of leaders working to build the field of Jewish early childhood education (ECE). Those who want to focus on Jewish ECE and build communities of engaged Jewish families with preschool-aged children are challenged to find the support, mentors and professional development opportunities they need to craft a career path. The JRS Initiative seeks to meet these field-wide demands by developing the skills and Jewish knowledge of the JRS educators who then bring ideas and guidance to their schools

The Drained Strength of Bentonite Enhanced Sand

INTRODUCTION Barriers with a low hydraulic conductivity are used as part of waste containment systems to prevent groundwater contamination by liquids from the waste. Commonly barriers are either a geomembrane (usually an HDPE sheet), a mineral layer or a combination of the two. Recently there has been increasing interest in the use of bentonite±sand mixtures as the mineral layer, in both land®ll liners and vertical cut-off walls, partly because they are less susceptible to frost damage and desiccation cracking than compacted clay (Dixon et al., 1985; Kraus et al., 1997). Currently there is uncertainty about the strength and bearing capacity of these materials. This note reports drained strength data for bentonite±sand mixtures and proposes that trends in these data are mainly the result of variations in the relative density of the sand

Igneous Rock Associations 11. The Geology and Petrology of Seafloor Volcanic Rocks of the Northeastern Pacific Ocean, Offshore Canada

The seafloor within Canada’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the northeastern Pacific Ocean features examples of three kinds of volcanic activity: mid-ocean ridge, near-ridge seamount, and intraplate seamount volcanism. Volcanism on the northern Juan de Fuca and Explorer ridges, at inter-transform pull-apart rifts, and at near-ridge seamounts close to the Juan de Fuca and Explorer ridges, produces lavas with unusually variable geochemical compositions. Lavas incorporate variable contributions from both trace-element-depleted upper mantle and trace-element-enriched veins, blobs or streaks embedded in the depleted upper mantle. The latter may have originated as dispersed parts of ancient mantle plumes similar to a modern plume responsible for the formation of the intraplate Bowie Seamount. SOMMAIRE Les fonds océaniques de la Zone économique exclusive du Canada de la région nord-est du Pacifique montrent des exemples de trois types d’activité volcanique : volcanisme de dorsale médio-océanique, de monts sousmarins de dorsale, et de monts sousmarins d’intra-plaque. Le volcanisme de la dorsale Explorer et de la portion nord de la dorsale de Juan de Fuca, au droit des rifts d’extension de failles inter-transformantes, et non loin des monts sous-marins jouxtant la dorsale Explorer et celle de Juan de Fuca produisent des laves de composition géochimique anormalement variable. Les laves renferment des quantités variables de matériaux du manteau supérieur appauvris en éléments traces mais aussi de filons enrichis en éléments traces, en amas ou traînées ennoyés dans le manteau supérieur. Ces derniers peuvent provenir de reliquats d’anciens panaches mantelliques similaires aux panaches modernes à l’origine de la formation du mont sous-marin de Bowie

Register for our roundtable event: are fast books the future of academic publishing?

As part of the series, there was a virtual roundtable featuring Professor Joshua Gans (Economics in the Age of COVID-19, MIT Press), in conversation with Richard Horton (The COVID-19 Catastrophe, Polity Press and Editor of The Lancet), Victoria Pittman (Bristol University Press) and Qudsiya Ahmed (Cambridge University Press, India

Ultra-low voltage electrowetting

Electrowetting, the manipulation of surface wettability with an electric field, is an emerging technology used in next generation displays and cameras. This has been made possible by the development of ‘electrowetting -on- die lectric’ by Berge in 1993. Howev er, such a system operates on large voltages poorly suited to portable devices. In recent years, theoretical and experimental results have suggested that electrowetting using the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) may provide a solution to this problem. By applying less than 1 V to such a system, it is possible to induce substantial changes in the wettability — and hence the shape — of liquid droplets. However, there is a large degree of hysteresis in such a system meaning that there is a poor correlation between droplet shape and applied potential. Furthermore, the stability of the ITIES over long periods is of concern. This thesis attempts to address the current problems with ITIES electrowetting highlighted above. By moving to smoother and more lubricated surfaces, a substantial reduction in hysteresis was seen. These surfaces were produced by template stripping. In addition, several other surfaces were prepared as potential electrowetting substrates. These involved surface functionalisation by plasma treatment or the reduction of diazonium compounds; preparation of ultra smooth glassy carbon and preparation of a hydrophobic conducting polymer. The potential range over which an ITIES is stable was also improved with the use of a novel mixed organic solvent phase. By optimising the electrode and electrolyte compositions, an electrowetting system operating on less than 1 V with a contact angle range of 53 o and a gap of only 100 mV between forward and reverse scans was possible. Other electrowetting systems with no hysteresis were also developed, although these did not operate within the potential limits defined by the onset of Faradaic processes.Open Acces

Reassessment of the invasion history of two species of Cakile (Brassicaceae) in Australia

In this paper we revisit the invasion history of two species of Cakile in Australia. Cakile edentula subsp. edentula arrived in the mid 19th Century and spread into coastal strandline habitat from the southeast towards the west and to the north; Cakile maritima arrived in the late 19th Century and has replaced Cakile edentula over much of the range. While Cakile edentula is morphologically quite uniform, the great variation within Cakile maritima has confused field ecologists. Using herbarium records we update previous accounts of the spread of the species and report on field surveys that determined their current geographic overlap in Tasmania and in northern New South Wales/southern Queensland. We examine regional morphological variation within Cakile maritima using the national herbaria collections and variation within new population samples. We support previous interpretations that Cakile maritima has been introduced on more than one occasion from morphologically distinct races, resulting in regional variation within Australia and high variability within populations in the south-east. Western Australian populations appear distinct and probably did not initiate those in the east; we consider that eastern populations are likely to be a mix of Cakile maritima subsp. maritima from the Mediterranean and Cakile maritima subsp. integrifolia from Atlantic Europe. Although introgression from Cakile edentula into Cakile maritima cannot be discounted from our results, it is not required to explain the levels of variation in the latter species observed in Australia. Cakile maritima continues to spread southwards in Tasmania and northwards in NSW; in Queenland, a recent occurrence has proliferated in Moreton Bay, spreading slowly to the north but not appreciably southwards

Membrane fusion and the transmembrane envelope glycoprotein of maedi visna virus

The transmembrane envelope glycoprotein, gp46 of maedi visna virus (MVV) was proposed to mediate membrane fusion between the virus and cell and between infected and uninfected cells on the basis of analogy with other viruses.In order to look at the relationship between fusion and gp46, which is difficult to purify in quantity from virus preparations, recombinant gp46 (rgp46) was made. This first required cloning of the part of the MVV (strain EV1) env gene which encodes gp46. Sequence comparison with other viruses showed that gp46 is a typical transmembrane fusion protein, with a hydrophobic N-terminal fusion peptide. This putative fusion peptide was highly conserved between different MVV isolates although gp46 as a whole was only about 80% conserved.rgp46 was expressed as fusion proteins in yeast and in bacteria, but could only be prepared at low yield and purity principally due to its toxicity to host cells. Immunised animals raised antibodies to rgp46 and sera from MVV-infected sheep specifically reacted with rgp46, whereas serum from uninfected sheep did not.A fusion assay was developed using MVV to determine the effect of serum on MVV-mediated fusion. A significant difference was shown between the activity of sera from MVV-infected and uninfected sheep in the fusion assay: Serum from uninfected sheep generally enhanced fusion at low dilutions of serum (<1:64) and had no effect at higher dilutions, whereas serum from MVV infected animals tended to inhibit fusion at low serum dilutions (< 1:16) and enhance at higher dilutionsThe effect of serum in the fusion assay was shown to be principally mediated by IgG and correlated with serum ELISA activity against a rgp46 preparation. This suggested a relationship between the presence of antibodies to gp46 and fusion modulatory activity.These results may have important implications in consideration of potential vaccines and also in understanding how the virus can continue to replicate and eventually cause disease in the face of an apparently normal specific immune response

THE DELEGATION OF FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE POWER TO EXECUTIVE OFFICIALS

It will be the purpose of this article to attempt (1) a chronological survey of the previous Supreme Court cases relating to alleged delegations of legislative power, and (2) an analysis and discussion of the Panama Refining Co. decision in the light of this background. No discrimination is made between delegations of state and of federal legislative power, as the Supreme Court makes no such discrimination