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Everything in and on the Earth - mineral, animal and vegetable - is made from one, or generally some combination of, the natural chemical elements occurring in the rocks of the Earth’s crust and the surficial materials derived from them. Everything that is grown, or made, depends upon the availability of the appropriate elements. The existence, quality and survival of life depends upon the availability of elements in the correct proportions and combinations. Because natural processes and human activities are continuously modifying the chemical composition of our environment, it is important to determine the present abundance and spatial distribution of the elements across the Earth’s surface in a much more systematic manner than has been attempted hitherto” (Darnley et al., 1995). Although such a global database is urgently needed for multi-purpose use, the systematic attempt is still in its infancy because of the non-existence of a manual of comprehensive and standardised methods of sampling and other supporting procedures. The current ‘International Union of Geological Sciences Manual of Standard Methods for Establishing the Global Geochemical Reference Network’ fills this gap. The Manual follows the concept of 7356 Global Terrestrial Network grid cells of 160x160 km, covering the land surface of Earth, with five random sites within each grid cell for the collection of samples. This allows the establishment of the standardised Global Geochemical Reference Network with respect to rock, residual soil, humus, overbank sediment, stream water, stream sediment and floodplain sediment. Apart from the instructions for the collection of samples, the Manual covers sample preparation and storage, development of reference materials, geoanalytical methods, quality control procedures, geodetic and parametric levelling of existing geochemical data sets, data conditioning for the generation of time-independent geochemical data, management of data and map production, and finally project management. The methods described herein, apart from their use for Establishing the Global Geochemical Reference Network, can be used in other geochemical surveys at any mapping scale.

Pathogens are imminent threats to crop production. Among the management tools available to protect crops from diseases, the use of host-plant resistance had been hindered by a lack of tools and resources to identify resistance genes (R-genes). Genomic technologies have empowered acquisition of a new level and quality of information on plant-pathogen interactions. Next generation sequencing, differential transcriptome analysis, gene editing, and use of bioinformatics have greatly expanded the numbers of R-genes identified, enriched understanding of R-avirulence gene interactions, and disease diagnosis. In this review, we highlight the application of genomic technologies to identification of pathogen machinery for future improvement of host plant resistance. Made available in DSpace on 2020-01-14T18:12:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Hostpathogenwars.pdf: 352779 bytes, checksum: 5ee70c598b4652f917fe3f8e5f2abaca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) remains the only potentially curative treatment option for relapsed follicular lymphoma (FL), yet questions remain about the optimal timing. This study analyzed long-term outcomes and associated factors among recipients of allo-HCT with FL.Patients with relapsed FL who underwent allo-HCT from 2001 to 2011 with a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donor were included. Outcome analyses for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), transplant-related mortality (TRM), and disease relapse/progression were calculated. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine factors associated with outcomes, and a prognostic score for treatment failure was developed in a subset analysis of patients.In all, 1567 patients with relapsed FL were included; the median follow-up was 55 months. The 5-year probabilities of OS and PFS were 61% and 52%, respectively. The 5-year cumulative incidences of disease progression/relapse and TRM were 29% and 19%, respectively. Chemoresistant disease, older age, heavy pretreatment, poor performance status (PS), and myeloablative protocols were predictors for worse survival. The prognostic score, using age, lines of prior therapy, disease status, and PS, stratified patients into 3 groups-low, intermediate, and high risk-with 5-year PFS rates of 68%, 53%, and 46%, respectively, and 5-year OS rates of 80%, 62%, and 50%, respectively.Allo-HCT should be considered for patients with relapsed FL and available HLA-matched donors. Outcomes are better in earlier phases of the disease, and reduced-intensity conditioning should be preferred. The prognostic score presented here can assist in counseling patients and determining the time to proceed to transplantation. Cancer 2018;124:1733-42. © 2018 American Cancer Society.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a psychological, family-based intervention to improve diabetes-related outcomes in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This study was a randomized controlled trial of a psychological family-based intervention targeted at individuals with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. Recruitment and follow-up occurred at specialist diabetes clinics. Patients were randomly allocated to an intervention group (n=60) or a control group (n=61). Poor control was defined as at least 2 of the patient's last 3 glycated hemoglobin (A1C) readings at >8.0%. The intervention consisted of 2 sessions delivered by a health psychologist to the patient and a family member in the patient's home, with a third session involving a 15-minute follow-up telephone call. RESULTS: At 6-month follow-up, the intervention group reported significantly lower mean A1C levels than the control group (8.4% [SD=0.99%] vs 8.8% [SD=1.36%]; P=.04). The intervention was most effective in those with the poorest control at baseline (A1C>9.5%) (intervention 8.7% [SD=1.16%, n=15] vs control 9.9% [SD=1.31%, n=15]; P=.01). The intervention group also reported statistically significant improvements in beliefs about diabetes, psychological well-being, diet, exercise, and family support. CONCLUSIONS: After participating in a family-based intervention targeting negative and/or inaccurate illness perceptions, patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes showed improvements in A1C levels and other outcomes. Our results suggest that adding a psychological, family-based component to usual diabetes care may help improve diabetes management.

The convergence of new and old technologies is not only changing the way we communicate but is influencing the mobility and speed of information exchange as well as the devices and users themselves. This paper will address the relationship between humans and technology (especially communication devices and the technologies which enable them to be connected) and the mobility of information between people and devices. This combination, I argue, is not separable and that humans render technology as part of the 'social' rather than part of the 'technical' in which they are normally positioned. Technologies influence behaviour and humans influence how technologies are used, this combination of technology, users and mobility of information between them, I propose, forms a behavioural 'technoscape'.

Imaging measurements of a bright wave event in the nighttime mesosphere were made on 14 November 1999 at two sites separated by over 500 km in the southwestern United States. The event was characterized by a sharp onset of a series of extensive wavefronts that propagated across the entire sky. The waves were easily visible to the naked eye, and the entire event was observed for at least 5 1 2 hours. The event was observed using three wide-angle imaging systems located at the Boston University field station at McDonald Observatory (MDO), Fort Davis, Texas, and the Starfire Optical Range (SOR), Albuquerque, New Mexico. The spaced imaging measurements provided a unique opportunity to estimate the physical extent and time history of the disturbance. Simultaneous radar neutral wind measurements in the 82 to 98 km altitude region were also made at the SOR which indicated that a strong vertical wind shear of 19.5 ms1km1 occurred between 80 and 95 km just prior to the appearance of the disturbance. Simultaneous lidar temperature and density measurements made at Fort Collins, Colorado, 1100 km north of MDO, show the presence of a large (50 K) temperature inversion layer at the time of the wave event. The observations indicated that the event was most probably due to an undular mesospheric bore, a relatively uncommon disturbance which has only recently been reported [Taylor et al., 1995a]. Evidence is also shown to suggest that a large east-west tropospheric frontal system lying over the northern United States was the origin of the disturbance.

Online surveys in the United States and Belgium were conducted to cross-culturally validate the Internet shopper lifestyle scale [S.M. Smith, W.R. Swinyard, The identification of shopping behaviors among Internet users. World Marketing Congress, Cardiff Business School, 2001]. Special attention was devoted to sample, construct, and measurement equivalence. In both countries, the same six basic dimensions were found to underlie the scale: Internet convenience, perceived self-inefficacy, Internet logistics, Internet distrust, Internet offer, and Internet window-shopping. Except from having the same basic meaning and structure in Belgium as in the United States, the Web-usage-related lifestyle scale also led to the same segments in both countries. Four online shopping segments (tentative shoppers, suspicious learners, shopping lovers, and business users) and four online nonshopping segments (fearful browsers, positive technology muddlers, negative technology muddlers, and adventurous browsers) are profiled with regard to their Web-usage-related lifestyle, themes of Internet Usage, Internet attitude, psychographic, and demographic characteristics.

The activity of NADP + -dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH, EC 1.1.1.42) was investigated during the post-germinative growth of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Marketmore) seedlings. Isoelectric focusing showed the presence of several isoenzymes, two of which represented 70-80% of the total NADP + -ICDH activity in cotyledons of seedlings grown in the dark. They had pI values between 4.8 and 5.8. The isoenzyme with higher pI was purified to homogeneity by hydrophobic interaction, affinity, hydroxylapatite and anion exchange chromatography. The purified isoenzyme is a dimeric protein, consisting of two apparently identical 43-kDa subunits. It is specific for NADP + , inhibited by ATP and by 2-oxoglutarate, whereas it is not inhibited by citrate, succinate, and glyoxylate. The data indicate that NADP + -ICDH from cucumber is structurally similar to ICDHs from other plants, but it shows some peculiar biochemical characteristics.

This report covers the development, in three phases, of a set of rules for the proposed AUVS Student International Unmanned Undersea Robotics Competition. The intent of the competition and the rationale behind the selection of tasks, restrictions, scheme for awarding points, etc. are discussed in detail. Part 1 of this report outlines several scenarios that arise from the real-world applications of unmanned underwater avehicles. These include navigation and obstacle avoidance, search and rescue and locating a source of pollution. Part 2 is the document entitled 'Proposed Rules for an Unmanned Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition in the NRCC-IMD Offshore Engineeering Basin'. Part 3 is the document entitled 'Student Underwater Vehicle Competition: Proposal to the AUVS Board of Directors'.

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Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AutoHCT) is a potentially curative treatment modality for relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). However, no large studies have evaluated pre-transplant factors predictive of outcomes of AutoHCT in children, adolescents and young adults (CAYA, age