Management system requirements for wireless systems beyond 3G

This paper presents a comprehensive description of various management system requirements for systems beyond 3G, which have been identified as a result of the Software Based Systems activities within the Mobile VCE Core 2 program. Specific requirements for systems beyond 3G are discussed and potential technologies to address them proposed. The analysis has been carried out from network, service and security viewpoints

Stakeholders’ Perception on the Freeness of Fee-Free Education in Ordinary Secondary Schools: A Case of Rombo District, Tanzania

This study sought to establish stakeholders’ perception on the freeness of Fee-Free Education among Ordinary Secondary Schools in Rombo District, Tanzania through the mixed research design where both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed concurrently. The population of the study included teachers, heads of schools and parents as they are directly responsible to day to day implementation of fee free education. The study established a need for financial contributions from parents and the community at large because the amount of fund that is allocated by the government is not sufficient. Parents indicated financial difficulties and that the contributions were too high. Therefore there is a need to create a better way of involving parents and the community in supporting education financially. The study further established that politicians kept on interfering with the success of the contributions from parents and the community for them to gain popularity on the argument that education is free, hence parents should not contribute anything. The study recommends that the government needs to establish a proper involvement mechanism that will be a guide to finance basic education

An ontology based approach to teach computational thinking

This paper is focused on the teaching/learning process of Computational Thinking at primary and secondary schools. It is generally accepted that Programming is a complex task that requires a long learning process. Theoretical knowledge about fundamentals on algorithms and data structures, as well as, on programming languages are required but are not enough; practicing a lot is also necessary. However, teaching Computer Programming is a hard job, most of the times unsuccessful. To overcome all the difficulties, felt by teachers and students, an increasingly bigger community of researchers in Computer Science is defending the importance of teaching Computational Thinking to young students to train them, since very earlier, in logic and abstract reasoning for problem solving. Our starting point to approach this topic relies on the use of an Ontology (OntoCnE) that describes in detail the concepts 'Computational Thinking' and 'Programming', and maps those concepts to different education levels, starting with the first year. We believe that a person just acquires a new way of thinking, or a new way of behaving, if he is trained with the appropriate learning resources. So a main investment to educate people in Computational Thinking is on the choice/creation of those convenient resources. In particular we intended to investigate the impact of Augmented Reality in the usefulness of the referred resources. In that direction we will also discuss the development of a Web Platform to help on collecting and classifying (according to the referred ontology) learning resources to be used by teachers in computing classes. On the other hand, the platform will help on the retrieval, from that repository, of the most adequate resources to teach a specific subject to a specific level.This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: “UID/CEC/00319/2019”. The authors want to thank our M. Sc. student Ana Azevedo for the development of Micas

Gene deficiency in activating Fcγ receptors influences the macrophage phenotypic balance and reduces atherosclerosis in mice

Immunity contributes to arterial inflammation during atherosclerosis. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins induce an autoimmune response characterized by specific antibodies and immune complexes in atherosclerotic patients. We hypothesize that specific Fcγ receptors for IgG constant region participate in atherogenesis by regulating the inflammatory state of lesional macrophages. In vivo we examined the role of activating Fcγ receptors in atherosclerosis progression using bone marrow transplantation from mice deficient in γ-chain (the common signaling subunit of activating Fcγ receptors) to hyperlipidemic mice. Hematopoietic deficiency of Fcγ receptors significantly reduced atherosclerotic lesion size, which was associated with decreased number of macrophages and T lymphocytes, and increased T regulatory cell function. Lesions of Fcγ receptor deficient mice exhibited increased plaque stability, as evidenced by higher collagen and smooth muscle cell content and decreased apoptosis. These effects were independent of changes in serum lipids and antibody response to oxidized low-density lipoproteins. Activating Fcγ receptor deficiency reduced pro-inflammatory gene expression, nuclear factor-κB activity, and M1 macrophages at the lesion site, while increasing anti-inflammatory genes and M2 macrophages. The decreased inflammation in the lesions was mirrored by a reduced number of classical inflammatory monocytes in blood. In vitro, lack of activating Fcγ receptors attenuated foam cell formation, oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory gene expression, and increased M2-associated genes in murine macrophages. Our study demonstrates that activating Fcγ receptors influence the macrophage phenotypic balance in the artery wall of atherosclerotic mice and suggests that modulation of Fcγ receptor-mediated inflammatory responses could effectively suppress atherosclerosis

Multinet : enabler for next generation enterprise wireless services

Wireless communications are currently experiencing a fast migration toward the beyond third-generation (B3G)/fourth generation (4G) era. This represents a generational change in wireless systems: new capabilities related to mobility and new services support is required and new concepts as individual-centric, user-centric or ambient-aware communications are included. One of the main restrictions associated to wireless technology is mobility management, this feature was not considered in the design phase; for this reason, a complete solution is not already found, although different solutions are proposed and are being proposed. In MULTINET project, features as mobility and multihoming are applied to wireless network to provide the necessary network and application functionality enhancements for seamless data communication mobility considering end-user scenario and preferences. The aim of this paper is to show the benefits of these functionalities from the Service Providers and final User point of view

Rna Interference As A Gene Silencing Tool To Control Tuta Absoluta In Tomato (solanum Lycopersicum)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)RNA interference (RNAi), a gene-silencing mechanism that involves providing double stranded RNA molecules that match a specific target gene sequence, is now widely used in ftinctional genetic studies. The potential application of RNAi-mediated control of agricultural insect pests has rapidly become evident. The production of transgenic plants expressing dsRNA molecules that target essential insect genes could provide a means of specific gene silencing in larvae that feed on these plants, resulting in larval phenotypes that range from loss of appetite to death, In this report, we show that the tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta) a major threat to commercial tomato production, can be targeted by RNAi. We selected two target genes ( Vacuolar ATPase-A and Arginine kinase) based on the RNAi response reported for these genes in other pest species. In view of the lack of an artificial diet for T. absoluta, we used two approaches to deliver dsRNA into tomato leaflets. The first approach was based on the uptake of dsRNA by leaflets and the second was based on "in planta-induced transient gene silencing" (PITGS), a well-established method for silencing plant genes, used here for the first time to deliver in planta-transcribed dsRNA to target insect genes. Tuta absoluta larvae that fed on leaves containing dsRNA of the target genes showed an similar to 60% reduction in target gene transcript accumulation, an increase in larval mortality and less leaf damage. We then generated transgenic `Micro-Tom' tomato plants that expressed hairpin sequences for both genes and observed a reduction in foliar damage by T absoluta in these plants. Our results demonstrate the feasibilityof RNAi as an alternative method for controlling this critical tomato pest.4Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo - FAPESP [2011/12869-6, 2010/11313-1]CAPES fellowshipCNPq (Brazilian National Research Council)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Rapid real-time PCR detection of Listeria monocytogenes in enriched food samples based on the ssrA gene, a novel diagnostic target

A real-time PCR assay was designed to detect a 162-bp fragment of the ssrA gene in Listeria monocytogenes. The specificity of the assay for L. monocytogenes was confirmed against a panel of 6 Listeria species and 26 other bacterial species. A detection limit of 1-10 genome equivalents was determined for the assay. Application of the assay in natural and artificially contaminated culture enriched foods, including soft cheese, meat, milk, vegetables and fish, enabled detection of 1-5 CFU L. monocytogenes per 25g/ml of food sample in 30h. The performance of the assay was compared with the Roche Diagnostics 'LightCycler foodproof Listeria monocytogenes Detection Kit'. Both methods detected L. monocytogenes in all artificially contaminated retail samples (n=27) and L. monocytogenes was not detected by either system in 27 natural retail food samples. The method developed in this study has the potential to enable the specific detection of L. monocytogenes in a variety of food types in a time-frame considerably faster than current standard methods. The potential of the ssrA gene as a nucleic acid diagnostic (NAD) target has been demonstrated in L. monocytogenes. We are currently developing NAD tests based on the ssrA gene for a range of common foodborne and clinically relevant bacterial pathogens

Universa Theologia Thomistica cum propiis fontibus en ancilla philosophia...publicae offert comertationi P. Fr. Emmanuel Lazaro...adsistente...Casimiro Ignacio Ibañez...ann. MDCCLXXXIV

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Label-free characterization and real-time monitoring of cell uptake of extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have the ability to function as molecular vehicles and could therefore be harnessed to deliver drugs to target cells in diseases such as cancer. The composition of EVs determines their function as well as their interactions with cells, which consequently affects the cell uptake efficacy of EVs. In this study, we present two novel label-free approaches for studying EVs; characterization of EV composition by time-gated surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TG-SERS) and monitoring the kinetics and amount of cellular uptake of EVs by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in real-time. Using these methods, we characterized the most abundant EVs of human blood, red blood cell (RBC)- and platelet (PLT)-derived EVs and studied their interactions with prostate cancer cells. Complementary studies were performed with nanoparticle tracking analysis for concentration and size determinations of EVs, zeta potential measurements for surface charge analysis, and fluorophore-based confocal imaging and flow cytometry to confirm EV uptake. Our results revealed distinct biochemical features between the studied EVs and demonstrated that PLT-derived EVs were more efficiently internalized by PC-3 cells than RBC-derived EVs. The two novel label-free techniques introduced in this study were found to efficiently complement conventional techniques and paves the way for further use of TG-SERS and SPR in EV studies.Peer reviewe

Using the stated preference method for the calculation of social discount rate

The aim of this paper is to build the stated preference method into the social discount rate methodology. The first part of the paper presents the results of a survey about stated time preferences through pair-choice decision situations for various topics and time horizons. It is assumed that stated time preferences differ from calculated time preferences and that the extent of stated rates depends on the time period, and on how much respondents are financially and emotionally involved in the transactions. A significant question remains: how can the gap between the calculation and the results of surveys be resolved, and how can the real time preferences of individuals be interpreted using a social time preference rate. The second part of the paper estimates the social time preference rate for Hungary using the results of the survey, while paying special attention to the pure time preference component. The results suggest that the current method of calculation of the pure time preference rate does not reflect the real attitudes of individuals towards future generations