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Some fifty years ago, Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli formally invited monks to become more involved in interreligious dialogue, arguing that monasticism is "a bridge connecting all religions." In 1995, Dom Christian de Chergé, prior of Notre Dame de l'Atlas monastery in Algeria, argued for the expansion of monastic dialogue to include Muslims, describing how monastics could benefit from and contribute to this dialogue. In addition to local Monastic-Muslim encounters for dialogue since that time, there has been an on-going dialogue of Catholic monastics with Iranian Shi'a Muslims since 2011. The future holds promise for an expansion of Monastic-Muslim dialogue in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background Pain is an often underestimated and neglected symptom in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS). Methods In a cross-sectional survey, 46 patients with ALS, 46 age- and gender matched population-based controls, and 23 diseased controls with myotonic dystrophy type 2 ( DM2) were screened for occurrence, type, distribution, and treatment of pain and cramps. Data were collected with the use of the short form brief pain inventory ( BPI). Results Pain was reported in 78% of ALS patients,79% of DM2 patients, and 54% of controls ( P < 0.05). More ALS patients than controls reported moderate to severe pain (42% vs. 20%). Pain in ALS patients interfered significantly more with daily activities than in controls (median pain interference score: 3.0 vs. 1.2, P < 0.05), especially enjoyment of life (5.0 vs. 1.0) and mood (3.0 vs. 1.0). There was no correlation between the duration of the disease and the severity of pain. Movement-induced cramps were reported in 63% of ALS patients, mostly in the distal extremities. There was no difference in the duration of ALS disease between patients reporting cramps and those who did not. Discussion Our study showed that pain was a relatively frequent symptom which had an important impact on the quality of life. Pain that requires treatment can occur at every stage of ALS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anomaly detection within non-numerical sequence data has developed into an important topic of data mining, but comparatively little research has been done regarding anomaly detection without training data (unsupervised anomaly detection). One application found in computer security is the detection of a so-called masquerade attack, which consists of an attacker abusing a regular account. This leaves only the session input, which is basically a string of non-numerical commands, for analysis. Our previous approach to this problem introduced the use of the so-called average index difference function for mapping the non-numerical symbol data to a numerical space. In the present paper, we examine the theoretical properties of the average index difference function, present an enhanced unsupervised anomaly detection algorithm based on the average index difference function, show the parameters to be theoretically inferable, and evaluate the performance using real-world data. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Largemouth bass (LMB) Micropterus salmoides fry do not accept prepared diets at first feeding. Fry are initially reared in fertilized ponds on natural live foods until large enough to be feed trained. Unpredictable weather patterns and depletion of natural forages can affect nursery pond survival. A series of experiments was conducted to investigate the use of Artemia nauplii prepared diets and optimal feeding schedules to raise LMB fry from first feeding through habituation to a commercial dry diet. In Studies 1, 2, and 3, swim-up fry were transferred to a recirculating system and stocked into either 3-L (Studies 1 and 2) or 10-L (Study 3) acrylic aquaria. Study 1 screened candidate diets to evaluate whether LMB fry could be transitioned directly to prepared diets or if they required live foods. In Study 2 the optimum duration for feeding live Artemia (1, 2, or 3 weeks) and the appropriate size of commercial diets (<200 or 200-360 μm) were evaluated. Study 3 was designed to identify the best transitional feed. Results from Study 1 indicate that fry fed Otohime-A (<200 μm) and decap-sulated Artemia cysts performed better than those fed other diets tested. However, survivals were low (6%-8%) indicating a need for live feed initially. In Trial 2, fry fed live Artemia nauplii for two weeks and then transitioned to a 200-360 [im diet (Otohime-B) performed better than other diet combinations tested. In Study 3, survival was significantly higher in treatments using decapsulated Artemia cysts or Otohime-B as transitional diets between initial live Artemia feeding and trout starter. These data indicate that LMB fry can be successfully raised from first feeding to fully habituated to a commercial trout starter by feeding live Artemia nauplii for two weeks, followed by a gradual transition to either decap-sulated Artemia cysts or Otohime-B for one week, then gradually transitioning to trout starter. Surviving fish were easily transitioned to commercial floating feed (Study 4). This protocol yielded survival rates of approximately 70% and may improve the reliability of LMB fingerling production by eliminating the outdoor nursery pond phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preliminary market research has identified an unfulfilled market potential for live freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, in urban areas of the USA and Canada. Truck transport is effective but requires shipment of large numbers of prawns to be economically feasible. Most retail markets are ill-equipped to hold large quantities for subsequent live sales. Air-freight of smaller quantities has potential but water weight limits its application. Shipping of live aquatic animals in waterless environments has been reported for some finfish and crustaceans. This project utilized biochemical characteristics of prawn hemolymph as measures of sublethal stress during simulated transport. Six trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of different variables involving preshipment holding conditions, acclimation prior to shipping, and conditions inside the shipping container. Trial 1 compared animals shipped in water with those in a non-aqueous environment. Trial 2 compared three chilling rates (slow chill, fast chill, and no chill). Trial 3 evaluated different holding protocols including fed versus unfed, reduced pH, increased water hardness, and salinity. Trial 4 evaluated the addition of ammonia scavengers to the transport containers. Trial 5 evaluated the use of carbon dioxide scavengers and an anesthetic, AQUI-S®. Trial 6 used the best results of Trials 2-5 in a combination of 'Best Management Practices' (BMP) over extended time periods. Treatments had either three or four replications using Styrofoam boxes, each packed with six individually tagged prawns. Presoaked wood-shavings and ice packs were used to keep the boxes moist and cool. The boxes were then sealed in individual oxygenated plastic bags. Trials 1-5 were conducted for 16 h and Trial 6 had separate boxes which were opened at 16, 24, and 32 h. Baseline hemolymph samples were taken prior to packing and from prawn alive at the end of all trials. Hemolymph variables included pH, pO2, pCO2, HCO3, tCO2, calcium, ammonia, osmolality, glucose, lactate, total protein, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Percent survival and weight loss were also measured. Results of Trial 1 indicated that compared to transport in water, non-aqueous environment significantly increased ( P≤ 0.05) hemolymph levels of CO2 and ammonia, and significantly reduced levels of oxygen. In Trial 2, survival in the Slow Chill treatment was significantly higher than in the No Chill treatment, although hemolymph characteristics were not impacted. In Trial 3 prawns held in tanks with added salt (17 ppt) had the highest survival and lowest hemolymph concentration of ammonia and partial pressure of CO2. The ammonia scavengers in Trial 4 had no significant impact on survival or hemolymph variables. The CO2 scavengers and anesthetic in Trial 5 had no statistically significant impact on survival. The BMP of Trial 6 consisted of, in the following order, holding in 17 ppt marine salt mix, slow chilling, anesthetic (AQUI-S) dip, and adding limewater (Ca(OH)2 + H2O) to the shipping box as a CO2 scavenger. In Trial 6, after 32 h of simulated 'waterless' transport, prawns in the BMP treatment had significantly higher survival (96%) than prawns in the Control treatment (58%). The BMP prawns also had significantly higher partial pressures of oxygen and lower partial pressures of CO2 in the hemolymph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fry of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides are typically pond reared on natural foods until they reach approximately 4-6 cm. Fish that are to be raised on pellets are typically feed trained in tanks using freeze-dried krill (FDK), which is gradually replaced with prepared diet. The cost of FDK (retail < US$40 per kg) can be a significant expense in the feed training phase. An experiment was conducted to determine whether FDK could be eliminated by simple diet amendment. The largemouth bass fingerlings (mean weight ± SD = 2.2 ± 0.3 g) were stocked in 190-L tanks at 150 fish/tank. Four treatments with four replicates each were compared: (1) fingerlings were initially fed FDK and then were gradually weaned to a commercial pellet (1.5-mm floating trout feed; control [CTL], current practice); (2) fish were offered only the dry commercial pellet throughout (DRY); (3) commercial pellets were moistened with water before use (MST); and (4) commercial pellets were top-dressed with menhaden fish oil at 10% of diet by weight initially and at a gradually reduced percentage over time (OIL). After 18 d, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the average weights of fish. However, in terms of percentage of fish that were successfully habituated to the final dry pellets, the DRY treatment resulted in a significantly lower (P < 0.05) success rate (82%) than other treatments. Training success was not significantly different (P > 0.05) among the CTL (98%), MST (93%), and OIL (92%) treatments. The best diet for feed training of largemouth bass will vary depending on the cost and availability of FDK and the economic importance of production maximization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After harvest, adult prawn are often transported for sales to live markets, such as ethnic Asian outlets, in major urban centers. Poor survival during transportation has hindered development and expansion of these markets. Methodologies to increase survival during transport could contribute to industry viability. Three independent trials were conducted. In the first trial, three biomass densities (25, 50 and 100 g/L) were evaluated in 100-L, open plastic containers aerated with pure oxygen and compressed air. Water quality analyses were performed prior to stocking. After 24 hours in the model transport containers, water quality analysis was conducted and all prawn were removed, determined to be alive or dead, and each group weighed and counted. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) for prawn survival (overall mean 98%) among the three densities. Concentrations of dissolved oxygen and nitrite were not effected by hauling density (P < 0.05). Total ammonia-nitrogen and un-ionized ammonia-nitrogen concentrations increased (P < 0.05) as biomass densities increased, though values remained within what are considered tolerable ranges. In the second trial, the effect of added substrate and temperature on transport survival was evaluated with prawns stocked at the high density (100 g/L). Two water temperatures (21° C and 26° C) with and without substrate were evaluated in a 2_2 factorial with three replicate, 100-L model transport containers per treatment combination (12 containers total). Factorial analysis indicated no significant statistical interaction (P > 0.05) between the presence of substrate and water temperature on any measured variable. The main effects of substrate and temperature were then analyzed separately. The presence or absence of substrate had no significant impact (P > 0.05) on prawn survival. However, temperature had a highly significantly impact (P < 0.01) on survival; prawn survival at 21° C averaged 97% compared to 24 % at 26° C. The third trial was a commercial verification trial in which 500 kg of live prawn were transported to New York from Kentucky. These data indicate prawn can be successfully transported at 100 g/L for 24 hours when temperatures are maintained near 21° C. Adding substrate to the transport tank appears to provide no benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]