Studies on Verticillium lecanii and Bacillus thuringiensis for the control of selected arthropod pests

Imperial Users onl

Community based management of small scale fisheries in Asia: Bridging the gap between fish supply and demand

Community-based management and co-management are feasible alternative approaches to bridging the gap between supply and demand. They have brought together various stakeholders to achieve improved resource and socioeconomic conditions; although clarity on the government's role, political will and a legal framework were still needed to sustain the institutions developed under these approaches.Fishery management, Socioeconomic aspects

Fishing for a Future: Women in Community Based Fisheries Management

This is the story of women in the Community Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) project in Bangladesh. In rural Asia (Southern)-Bangladesh; many women are involved in inland fisheries and fish farming activities, yet annual statistics fail to capture their importance. Year after year these women continue to be essential in improving nutrition, increasing the production and distribution of food and enhancing the living conditions of their families. Yet, fisher-women remain among the poorest and most vulnerable in this part of the world. This is the story of many women, who through CBFM, have improved and will continue to improve the livelihood of their family. They are the women fishers of Bangladesh. This is their story

Study of the impact of WHSC1 and CEP55 genes silencing in myxofibrosarcoma cells

Myxofibrosarcoma is one of the most common soft tissue sarcomas, contributing to more than 5% of all adult sarcomas. This neoplasm most often develops in the dermis or subcutaneous tissue of the extremities. However, it may also be deep-seated and arise in other locations such as the head, neck or trunk (1,2). Although adult sarcomas have received more attention in recent years, myxofibrosarcoma remains vastly understudied (about 400 articles referenced on PubMed since the 1950s). Therefore, further knowledge about the tumour-initiating capacity of primary myxofibrosarcoma tumour cells is greatly needed to identify targets that could be susceptible for specific treatments. By using gene expression microarrays, two genes (WHSC1 and CEP55) were found to be overexpressed in the more aggressive and metastatic primary myxofibrosarcoma cell population “SpA”, as compared to the non-metastatic cell population “DMEM” derived from the same primary myxofibrosarcoma tumour. The present study was aimed at assessing the importance of these two genes for the survival of primary myxofibrosarcoma cells. These genes were silenced using the short hairpin RNA (shRNA) technique in two cell populations, cultured in different conditions (DMEM and SpA). Cell cultures with stable WHSC1 or CEP55 depletion were then injected into the renal capsule of mice to evaluate their tumorigenic capability. Although tumour formation in vivo was decreased to some extent in shRNA-treated cells, as compared to control cells, the tumour-forming ability was not abolished. As it could be partly due to residual protein expression, we designed a complete gene knockout by utilizing another silencing technique, the genome editing CRISPR CAS9 system. To date, these constructs targeting WHSC1 and CEP55, respectively, have not yet been evaluated in the target cells. This study may open the way to a better understanding of the tumorigenesis of myxofibrosarcoma, as well as the role of WHSC1 and CEP55 genes, by studying the impact of their silencing both in vitro and in vivo

Mathematical and computational aspects of the enhanced strain finite element method

Bibliography: pages 102-107.This thesis deals with further investigations of the enhanced strain finite element method, with particular attention given to the analysis of the method for isoparametric elements. It is shown that the results established earlier by B D Reddy and J C Simo for affine-equivalent meshes carry over to the case of isoparameric elements. That is, the method is stable and convergent provided that a set of three conditions are met, and convergence is at the same rate as in the standard method. The three conditions differ in some respects, though, from their counterparts for the affine case. A procedure for recovering the stress is shown to lead to an approximate stress which converges at the optimal rate to the actual stress. The concept of the equivalent parallelogram associated with a quadrilateral is introduced. The quadrilateral may be regarded as a perturbation of this parallelogram, which is most conveniently described by making use of properties of the isoparametric map which defines the quadrilateral. The equivalent parallelogram generates a natural means of defining a regular family of quadrilaterals; this definition is used together with other properties to obtain in a relatively simple manner estimates, in appropriate seminorms or norms, of the isoparametric map and it's Jacobian, for use in the determination of finite element interpolation error estimates, with regard to computations, a new basis for enhanced strains is introduced, and various examples have been tested. The results obtained are compared with those obtained using other bases, and with those found from an assumed stress approach. Favourable comparisons are obtained in most cases, with the present basis exhibiting an improvement over existing bases. Convergence of the finite element results are verified; it is observed numerically that the improvement of results due to enhancement is as a result of a smaller constant appearing in the error estimates

Comparative study of orthopantomograph & cone beam computed tomography as pre-operative diagnostic tools for lower third molar surgery

Introduction Lower third molar surgery is a common and relatively uncomplicated procedure. Commonly indicated where there is infection, bony pathology, soft tissue pathology or damage to the adjacent tooth. Difficult surgical challenges and unpredictable surgical outcomes can be caused by wide variations in the position and anatomy of the mandibular third molar roots, and relationship of these roots to the mandibular canal containing the Inferior Alveolar Nerve (IAN) may at times present the surgeon with inadvertent crush injury, stretch injury or even severing of the inferior alveolar nerve. Appropriate imaging and treatment planning results in predictable surgical outcome. The relative relationship and proximidity of the mandibular third molar roots to the inferior alveolar canal can be predicted by several radiographic signs displayed on an orthopantomograph (OPG), including darkening of the roots, deflection of the roots, narrowing of the roots, dark and bifid roots, interruption of white line(s), diversion of the inferior alveolar canal and narrowing of the inferior alveolar canal. An OPG is however limited by depth of view, superimposed structures and distorted structures with positioning errors. Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) is a radiographic imaging method which may provide the ability to predict more accurately the relationship of the root(s) to the inferior alveolar canal, and therefore a more predictable and favourable outcome. CBCT has been in use at Sydney’s Westmead Centre for Oral Health (WCOH) since 2006. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether OPG alone or utilisation of OPG and CBCT together provides the more predictable outcome following surgery where there has been a close relationship of the roots to the inferior alveolar canal. Methods A retrospective study was performed of lower third molar cases that were managed at Westmead Centre for Oral Health, Westmead NSW, between November 2005 to August 2006 prior to CBCT (Group one) and November 2010 to August 2011 following CBCT (Group two). The study involved examination of de-identified pre-operative, operative and post-operative written records, as well as the OPG and relevant CBCT records. Relevant data was tabulated along with any associated complications in an excel spreadsheet. The variables within the data and the two groups were crosstabulated and analysed with a statistic software (SPSS). Results Total of 590 surgical cases were included in the study, with 265 in group one and 325 in group two. Post-operative complications totalled 9, where group one had 6 and group two had 3. Numbers with no post-operative complications totalled 581, with 259 for group one and 322 for group two. Discussion A two by two risk calculation demonstrated reduction of IAN complication by 50% with CBCT, with a risk ratio of 2.45 and risk difference of 0.0134. The numbers needed to be treated were calculated from there as 75. With CBCT, the superimposed structures can be eliminated and distortions minimised, via the mode of image scanning and digital software manipulation of the DICOM data set, so providing more depth of view and allowing a more accurate measurement of relative position between the roots of lower third molar teeth and inferior alveolar nerve. Coronal, sagittal, axial and panoramic views obtained from CBCT allow three-dimensional evaluation of the relationship between the roots of lower third molar teeth and inferior alveolar nerve. This may influence surgical techniques to provide more accurate and safer surgery or influence an alternative treatment plan such as coronectomy or leaving the impacted tooth in-situ. Safer outcome would not only benefit the patient and the surgeon, but may reduce costs to the institution, the community and the profession in terms of medico-legal liability and indemnity. One disadvantage of CBCT include the higher radiation dosage that the patient is exposed to when compared to OPG, but relatively lower radiation dosage than helical beam CT. Another disadvantage of CBCT is the high initial cost, as well as maintenance and replacement cost of each unit, whilst that of OPG remains relatively low. The cost effectiveness of CBCT needs to be considered, whereby an institution such as WCOH receives high numbers of external and internal referrals, which may justify these associated costs when weighted against the benefits to the patient and the surgeon by the 50% reduction in complications. Conclusion It can be concluded from the results that seventy five lower third molar surgeries are needed to be performed utilising CBCT as pre-operative diagnostic tools in order to reduce the incidence of inferior alveolar nerve complication by one. This study has been a retrospective study. A randomised prospective study would be the next step to verify the accuracy and demonstrate the benefits of CBCT

Governance and institutional changes in fisheries : issues and priorities for research

Policy, Fishery policy, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Malawi, Mozambique,

Engineering education down under : distance teaching at Deakin University, Australia

Deakin University in Australia is one of the leading providers of distance education in the South Pacific region. The School of Engineering offers four-year professional engineering-degree programs and three-year technologist programs. The over 600 total students studying engineering at Deakin fall into four categories:&bull; 18-19 year-old students fresh from high school, who largely study on-campus,&bull; older students in the technical workforce, seeking a university degree to upgrade their qualifications,&bull; industry-based students studying in university-industry partnership programs,&bull; overseas students studying either on-campus, or off-campus through education partners in Malaysia and Singapore.Geographically these students form a very wide student base. The study programs are designed to produce multi-skilled, broadly focused engineers and technologists with multi-disciplinary technical competence, and the ability to take a systems approach to design and operational performance. A team of around 25 academic staff deliver courses in seven different majors in the general fields of manufacturing, environmental engineering, mechatronics, and computer systems. We discuss here the history of the School, its teaching philosophy, and its unique methods in delivering engineering education to a widely scattered student body.<br /