Discussion of “clustering on dissimilarity Representations for detecting mislabelled Seismic signals at Nevado del Ruiz Volcano” by Mauricio Orozco-Alzate, and César Germán Castellanos-Domínguez

The authors are to be congratulated for a systematic investigationof the accurate and non subjective classifying approach in seismic research. The authors have conducted several clustering algorithms to the seismic event records from Volcanological and SeismologicalObservatory at Manizales. Their objective was to improve the grouping of seismic data (i.e., volcano-tectonic earthquakes, long-period earthquakes and icequakes) digitized at 100.16 Hz sampling frequency.Their study seems adding new approach to their previous work of Langer et al. (2006) who applied different classification techniques to seismic data

The role of space in the security and defence policy of Turkey. A change in outlook: Security in space versus security from space

Space and security domains are strongly related with each other. Nowadays, space is an indispensable part of security and defence policy, and it is increasingly becoming a critical infrastructure for strategic Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems. However, space is vulnerable itself to the new space threats. This study reviews the current and near future space role in Turkey's security and defence policy and aims to address the threats against space based capabilities. To provide security from space, space based systems shall themselves need to be secure in space to warrant the security. The concept of security from space starts with space security, in other words the security in space. This paper also highlights the emerging technological opportunities for these space threats to be secure in space in order to provide the security from space. According to the relevant taxonomy, a categorized opportunity proposal for more robust and resilient space/satellite projects' architecture is proposed for Turkey

Hydrologic homogeneous regions using monthly Streamflow in Turkey

Cluster analysis of gauged streamflow records into homogeneous and robust regions is an important tool for the characterization of hydrologic systems. In this paper we applied the hierarchical cluster analysis to the task of objectively classifying streamflow data into regions encompassing similar streamflow patterns over Turkey. The performance of three standardization techniques was also tested, and standardizing by range was found better than standardizing with zero mean and unit variance. Clustering was carried out using Ward’s minimum variance method which became prominent in managing water resources with squared Euclidean dissimilarity measures on 80 streamflow stations. The stations have natural flow regimes where no intensive river regulation had occurred. A general conclusion drawn is that the zones having similar streamflow pattern were not be overlapped well with the conventional climate zones of Turkey; however, they are coherent with the climate zones of Turkey recently redefined by the cluster analysis to total precipitation data as well as homogenous streamflow zones of Turkey determined by the rotated principal component analysis. The regional streamflow information in this study can significantly improve the accuracy of flow predictions in ungauged watersheds

Business Sophomore Students’ Perceptions of the Accounting Profession: Evidence for Any Changesin Two Decades

This study examines and tests whether if the business college students’ thoughts and perceptions of the accounting profession have changed within the current environment of a knowledge-based society Early studies argued that the accounting profession had a negative image and reputations around the world prior to the innovation of smartphone technologies. Many of those concluded that the accounting profession is stereotyped as being conformist, cold, submissive, and lacking in social skills. This study first scans and summarizes certain previous studies on the matters that were realized before smartphone technologies first appeared, and then, through the use of a survey, explored business college students’ thoughts and perceptions in order to achieve the goal of the study. As such, this study looks to provide updated information about the business college students’ thoughts and perceptions of the accounting profession, and states any changes occurred

Anti-cancer efficiency of natural killer cells differentiated from human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells and transfected with miRNA150

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of miR150 transfection on NK-like cells differentiated from adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs). Methods: NK-like cells were differentiated from AD-MSCs and activated by miR150 transfection. Transfected/non-transfected NK-like cells were characterized by immunohistochemical and RTPCR analyzes. Apoptotic efficiency of the transfected/non-transfected NK-like cells on pancreatic cancer cells PANC1 were determined by TUNEL and RT-PCR. Results: In miR150-transfected cells, the increased expression of NK cell-specific genes such as GZMB, KIR2DL2, CD16, CD56, NKG2D, NKp46 and increased immunoreactivity of NK cell-specific surface marker CD314 (NKG2D) were evident. TUNEL assays showed that NK-like cells with/without transfection induced apoptosis in PANC1 cells in the same manner. The decrease in oncogene expression and the increase in the tumor suppressor gene expression in PANC1 cells upon co-culture with NK-like cells differentiated from AD-MSCs were more prominent following miRNA150 transfection. Conclusion: It was shown in vitro that NK-like cells could be obtained by differentiation from AD-MSCs and their efficiency could be increased via miR150 transfection. The results are encouraging for further clinical studies in improvement of immunotherapeutic approaches for cancer therapy

Smart thinking on co-creation and engagement: Searchlight on underground built heritage

This paper aims to explore public participation for activating underground built heritage (UBH). It describes and analyses practices of stakeholders’ engagement in different UBH assets, based on experiences gathered in the scope of the European COST Action ‘Underground4value’. It brings together five inspiring cases from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, in which digital and mobile technologies were used as tools to improve community experiences in UBH. Thus, the paper discusses ‘smartness’ from the perspective of people and communities around cultural assets, where ‘smartness’ becomes a new connotation and a pathway to advance (local) knowledge and know-how. Therefore, this paper takes on the challenge to define a smart city as an ecosystem for people’s empowerment and participation, and, in particular, to explore social tools for creating new values in heritage placemaking—where sharing knowledge becomes a fundamental principle.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evidence of threat to European economy and biodiversity following the introduction of an alien pathogen on the fungal–animal boundary

Recent years have seen a global and rapid resurgence of fungal diseases with direct impact on biodiversity and local extinctions of amphibian, coral, or bat populations. Despite similar evidence of population extinction in European fish populations and the associated risk of food aquaculture due to the emerging rosette agent Sphaerothecum destruens, an emerging infectious eukaryotic intracellular pathogen on the fungal–animal boundary, our understanding of current threats remained limited. Long-term monitoring of population decline for the 8-year post-introduction of the fungal pathogen was coupled with seasonal molecular analyses of the 18S rDNA and histological work of native fish species organs. A phylogenetic relationship between the existing EU and US strains using the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer sequences was also carried out. Here, we provide evidence that this emerging parasite has now been introduced via Pseudorasbora parva to sea bass farms, an industry that represents over 400 M€ annually in a Mediterranean region that is already economically vulnerable. We also provide for the first time evidence linking S. destruens to disease and severe declines in International Union for Conservation of Nature threatened European endemic freshwater fishes (i.e. 80% to 90 % mortalities). Our findings are thus of major economic and conservation importance

Mineral-doped poly(L-lactide) acid scaffolds enriched with exosomes improve osteogenic commitment of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells are extracellular vesicles released to facilitate cell communication and function. Recently, polylactic acid (PLA), calcium silicates (CaSi), and dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD) have been used to produce bioresorbable functional mineral-doped porous scaffolds-through thermally induced phase separation technique, as materials for bone regeneration. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mineral-doped PLA-based porous scaffolds enriched with exosome vesicles (EVs) on osteogenic commitment of human adipose mesenchymal stem cells (hAD-MSCs). Two different mineral-doped scaffolds were produced: PLA-10CaSi-10DCPD and PLA-5CaSi-5DCPD. Scaffolds surface micromorphology was investigated by ESEM-EDX before and after 28 days immersion in simulated body fluid (HBSS). Exosomes were deposited on the surface of the scaffolds and the effect of exosome-enriched scaffolds on osteogenic commitment of hAD-MSCs cultured in proximity of the scaffolds has been evaluated by real time PCR. In addition, the biocompatibility was evaluated by direct-contact seeding hAD-MSCs on scaffolds surface-using MTT viability test. In both formulations, ESEM showed pores similar in shape (circular and elliptic) and size (from 10\u201330 \ub5m diameter). The porosity of the scaffolds decreased after 28 days immersion in simulated body fluid. Mineral-doped scaffolds showed a dynamic surface and created a suitable bone-forming microenvironment. The presence of the mineral fillers increased the osteogenic commitment of hAD-MSCs. Exosomes were easily entrapped on the surface of the scaffolds and their presence improved gene expression of major markers of osteogenesis such as collagen type I, osteopontin, osteonectin, osteocalcin. The experimental scaffolds enriched with exosomes, in particular PLA-10CaSi-10DCPD, increased the osteogenic commitment of MSCs. In conclusion, the enrichment of bioresorbable functional scaffolds with exosomes is confirmed as a potential strategy to improve bone regeneration procedures

Diffusion limited reactions in confined environments

We study the effect of confinement on diffusion limited bimolecular reactions within a lattice model where a small number of reactants diffuse amongst a much larger number of inert particles. When the number of inert particles is held constant the rate of the reaction is slow for small reaction volumes due to limited mobility from crowding, and for large reaction volumes due to the reduced concentration of the reactants. The reaction rate proceeds fastest at an intermediate confinement corresponding to volume fraction near 1/2 and 1/3 in two and three dimensions, respectively. We generalize the model to off-lattice systems with hydrodynamic coupling and predict that the optimal reaction rate for monodisperse colloidal systems occurs when the volume fraction is ~0.18. Finally, we discuss the application of our model to bimolecular reactions inside cells as well as the dynamics of confined polymers.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure