The seroprevalence and salivary shedding of herpesviruses in Behcet's syndrome and recurrent aphthous stomatitis

This journal is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported licens

Gondwana Project for Christchurch Botanic Gardens

In February 2001 David Given completed a Scoping Report for the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, which gave details of a Gondwana Project [Appendix Three]. This outlined the proposals for an area of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens for a Gondwana Section linking, particularly, the plants of the former southern continent. Money has been set aside for the development of this area [shown in Appendix 1]. The final project will involve many completely new plantings and the moving of several other plants, some earthworks, a long time frame and new information displays. After an initial discussion with Jeremy Hawker, Operations Manager, Christchurch Botanic Gardens and with Angus Allen, Plant Curator, we decided on some practical, achievable goals to continue with the work of the late David Given. The aim of this project is to set up some educational aspects for this Gondwana Project which can be incorporated in the final display, taking into account that this will be a major project for the Botanic Gardens. In particular it was decided to try and link different aspects of Gondwana and to try and make the information available at different levels to the whole public as it is also near the Children’s Playground. It is desired that children and adults gain knowledge and information as they go through the Gondwana area display, as well as it being an interesting area with a wide variety of different plants and displays. Gondwana (“Land of the Gons” – a tribe in India 3 ) was first named by Eduard Suess, an Austrian geologist, describing some of the formations in central India which show typical developments of shared geological features. This concept was further developed by a German scientist, Alfred Wegener 1 . He envisioned a single great land mass Pangaea, consisting of a Southern land mass Gondwana to the South and Laurasia to the north1 2 . His work was partly based on the physical shape of the different continents “fitting” together, with western Africa fitting against eastern South America. The more recent evidence linking the different parts of the former Gondwana has come from geological features, flora fossils and fauna fossils. I have initially described some of these in the next three different chapters. As the Botanic Gardens Gondwana plan is not yet designed or laid out, I cannot describe the illustration methods and links for the different part of the project. These must be done with a common system for all plants, materials and links when the project is more advanced. The whole project should have a brochure with a map for people to follow and gain further knowledge, if they wish. The material set out here is available to be inserted in the brochure when further details of plantings, pathways and features are decided upon. I have set out background knowledge, some of which will be transferred to the project brochure, in sections 1, 2 and 3, followed by my suggestions for specific parts of the project. In each case I have set these up electronically so they can be transferred to information boards, or smaller information posts like the fossil connections and the botanic origins connections. The aim was to create a series of such ideas, in consultation with Jeremy Hawker, that could be used directly in the Gondwana project

The ATHENA Project: Using Formal Concept Analysis to Facilitate the Actions of Responders in a Crisis Situation

The ATHENA project brings together major user communities with world leading experts in crisis management and experts and technology developers of mobile and social media use and development. The goal of the ATHENA project is to deliver outputs that will enable and encourage users of new media to contribute to the security of citizens in crisis situations and for search and rescue actions. ATHENA is a system of software tools to enhance the ability of LEAs, police, first responders and citizens in their use of mobile and smart devices in crisis situations. An emerging semantic technology called Formal Concept Analysis will be used to capture meaning and key facts from the large amount of communication data created during a crisis

Distance-Sensitive Planar Point Location

Let $\mathcal{S}$ be a connected planar polygonal subdivision with $n$ edges that we want to preprocess for point-location queries, and where we are given the probability $\gamma_i$ that the query point lies in a polygon $P_i$ of $\mathcal{S}$. We show how to preprocess $\mathcal{S}$ such that the query time for a point~$p\in P_i$ depends on~$\gamma_i$ and, in addition, on the distance from $p$ to the boundary of~$P_i$---the further away from the boundary, the faster the query. More precisely, we show that a point-location query can be answered in time $O\left(\min \left(\log n, 1 + \log \frac{\mathrm{area}(P_i)}{\gamma_i \Delta_{p}^2}\right)\right)$, where $\Delta_{p}$ is the shortest Euclidean distance of the query point~$p$ to the boundary of $P_i$. Our structure uses $O(n)$ space and $O(n \log n)$ preprocessing time. It is based on a decomposition of the regions of $\mathcal{S}$ into convex quadrilaterals and triangles with the following property: for any point $p\in P_i$, the quadrilateral or triangle containing~$p$ has area $\Omega(\Delta_{p}^2)$. For the special case where $\mathcal{S}$ is a subdivision of the unit square and $\gamma_i=\mathrm{area}(P_i)$, we present a simpler solution that achieves a query time of $O\left(\min \left(\log n, \log \frac{1}{\Delta_{p}^2}\right)\right)$. The latter solution can be extended to convex subdivisions in three dimensions

The EMPRISES pan-European Framework:

There is a need for further integration of information systems globally for tackling Serious Organised Economic Crime (SOEC). Taking Europe as the illustration, and levering existing pan-EU (European Union) systems such as Europol's SIENA and the FIU.NET as well as national systems, further steps can be taken to provide a more coherent and coordinated approach for detecting and deterring SOEC. This aim is achievable through the EMPRISES framework, which adds value to national, SIENA and FIU.NET systems by increasing the effectiveness of communication across Europe. EMPRISES would introduce an agreed common language (taxonomy) of SOEC, including multi-lingual support. Moreover, by enriching the taxonomy with current business tools and analysis techniques through the SOEC Architecture that EMPRISES embodies, the illegitimate businesses of SOEC can be monitored and combatted

Using Multi-Objective Optimization To Maximize Multiple Benefits For Sustainable Drainage Design

For many years, drainage design was mainly about providing sufficient network capacity. This traditional approach had been successful with the aid of computer software and technical guidance. However, the drainage design criteria had been evolving due to rapid population growth, urbanisation, climate change and increasing sustainability awareness. Sustainable drainage systems that bring benefits in addition to water management have been recommended as better alternatives to conventional pipes and storages. Although the concepts and good practice guidance had already been communicated to decision makers and public for years, network capacity still remains a key design focus in many circumstances while the additional benefits are generally considered secondary only. Yet, the picture is changing. The industry begins to realise that delivering multiple benefits should be given the top priority while the drainage service can be considered a secondary benefit instead. The shift in focus means the industry has to adapt to new design challenges. New guidance and computer software are needed to assist decision makers. For this purpose, we developed a new decision support system. The system consists of two main components – a multi-criteria evaluation framework for drainage systems and a multi-objective optimisation tool. Users can systematically quantify the performance, life-cycle costs and benefits of different drainage systems using the evaluation framework. The optimisation tool can assist users to determine combinations of design parameters such as the sizes, order and type of drainage components that maximise multiple benefits. In this paper, we will focus on the optimisation component of the decision support framework. The optimisation problem formation, parameters and general configuration will be discussed. We will also look at the sensitivity of individual variables and the benchmark results obtained using common multi-objective optimisation algorithms. The work described here is the output of an EngD project funded by EPSRC and XP Solutions

Leadership Challenges among Undergraduate Students: Case Study of Dominion University, Ibadan

Student leadership is critical too for the smooth running of the University. Unlike other areas of human endeavor, leadership challenges among undergraduate students are a phenomenon. It is against this background; this chapter examined the leadership challenges among students of Dominion University, Ibadan, Nigeria. It is an empirical study. It is a qualitative study. Data; were gathered through in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. The study also made use of non-participant observation. Data; were gathered from 100 L, 200 L, 300 L students and staff of the University. Data were zanalyzed using content analyzed and using the narrative style. Findings show that Dominion University has the mandate of producing; value-based education. Leadership challenges undergraduate students include lack of support for selected leaders, lack of respect, and the wrong perception. The chapter concludes that with the right kind of training, Dominion University leadership skills acquisition can transform the plethora of challenges facing undergraduate leaders in Dominion University

Evaluating And Optimizing Sustainable Drainage Design To Maximize Multiple Benefits: Case Studies In China

In the past, the focus of drainage design was on sizing pipes and storages in order to provide sufficient network capacity. This traditional approach, together with computer software and technical guidance, had been successful for many years. However, due to rapid population growth and urbanisation, the requirements of a “good” drainage design have also changed significantly. In addition to water management, other aspects such as environmental impacts, amenity values and carbon footprint have to be considered during the design process. Going forward, we need to address the key sustainability issues carefully and practically. The key challenge of moving from simple objectives (e.g. capacity and costs) to complicated objectives (e.g. capacity, flood risk, environment, amenity etc) is the difficulty to strike a balance between various objectives and to justify potential benefits and compromises. In order to assist decision makers, we developed a new decision support system for drainage design. The system consists of two main components – a multi-criteria evaluation framework for drainage systems and a multi-objective optimisation tool. The evaluation framework is used for the quantification of performance, life-cycle costs and benefits of different drainage systems. The optimisation tool can search for feasible combinations of design parameters such as the sizes, order and type of drainage components that maximise multiple benefits. In this paper, we will discuss real-world application of the decision support system. A number of case studies have been developed based on recent drainage projects in China. We will use the case studies to illustrate how the evaluation framework highlights and compares the pros and cons of various design options. We will also discuss how the design parameters can be optimised based on the preferences of decision makers. The work described here is the output of an EngD project funded by EPSRC and XP Solutions

Diagnostic tool or screening programme? Asymptomatic testing for SARS-CoV-2 needs clear goals and protocols.

Background: Drug-resistant enteric fever is increasingly common in the Indian subcontinent. Correctly determining azithromycin resistance matters where drug-resistant enteric fever is common and oral therapy necessary. Case report: In two patients returning from Pakistan to the UK with cephalosporin-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, gradient strip testing erroneously indicated azithromycin resistance; the errors were detected by repeat testing and confirmed by whole genome sequencing. Results: Both patients were treated with meropenem and, when revised susceptibility results were known, with azithromycin, allowing a switch to oral therapy. Conclusion: As cephalosporin resistance becomes more common, azithromycin will be key for treating enteric fever and optimizing practice in susceptibility testing will be crucial. Practitioners should be aware of key steps to minimize error in azithromycin susceptibility testing, and should be alert for possible errors when reported azithromycin resistance is discordant with known prevalence of resistance.Mason Medical Research Foundatio

N/P ratio in the PEI2-GNP-DNA complex affects transgene delivery in the human cornea in vitro

Recently, we discovered that polyethylenimine-conjugated gold nanoparticles (PEI2- GNP) could be used as gene therapy vector for the cornea. It was hypothesized that DNA concentration, incubation timing and PEI monomer amount in transfection solution affect gene transfer efficiency and toxicity. The aims of this study were to test whether molar ratio of PEI2 nitrogen (N) and phosphate (P) of DNA in PEI2-GNP transfection solution regulates transgene delivery in human corneal fibroblasts in vitro, and examine PEI2-GNP toxicity, uptake and clearance for the cornea in vivo."National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda for RO1EY017294 (RRM), Diversity (RRM) and Veteran Health Affairs Merit (RRM) grants and Unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, New York