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This section presents the NetSyMoD approach- where NetSyMoD stands for Network Analysis - Creative System Modelling - Decision Support. It represents the outcome of several years of research at FEEM in the field of natural resources management, environmental evaluation and decision-making, within the Natural Resources Management Research Programme. NetSyMoD is a flexible and comprehensive methodological framework, which uses a suite of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) tools, aimed at facilitating the involvement of stakeholders or experts in policy- or decision-making processes (P/DMP). A generic P/DMP is formalised in NetSyMoD as a sequence of six main phases: (i) Actors analysis; (ii) Problem analysis; (iii) Creative System Modelling; (iv) DSS design; (v) Analysis of Options; and (vi) Action taking and monitoring. Several variants of the NetSyMoD approach have been applied so far in different contexts: integrated water resources management, agri-environmental policy, coastal management, etc. The various applications of NetSyMoD share the same approach for problem analysis and communication within the group of actors, based upon the use of creative thinking techniques, the formalisation of human-environment relationships through the DPSIR framework, and the use of multi-criteria analysis through the DSS software. The NetSyMoD framework was devised to tackle problems commonly encountered under integrated water management, as it originated from a series of European research projects in support of the EU Water Framework Directive. Experiences showed that the framework can be applied more broadly to any other field of environmental modelling and decision making, in which an integrated approach is needed, in a public participation context. Keywords: social network, integrated analysis, participatory modelling, decision support [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citron-K (CIT-K) is a target molecule for activated Rho which is expressed at high levels in the proliferating areas of the CNS from E10.5 to E16. CIT-K -/- mice display severe defects in neurogenesis, due to altered cytokinesis and aptoptosis: these cellular alterations result in severe microencephaly and in death of the animal due to fatal seizures between the 2nd and the 3rd week of age. We have analysed the development of somatosensory cortex in the CIT-K -/- mice, showing i) a decrease in the barrelfield area and in the size of single whisker-related barrels, ii) a decrease in the cortical thickness, especially in supragranular layers, iii) a decrease in the density of myelinated fibers. We also report cellular changes in cortical neurons: i) both pyramidal neurons and interneurons show altered dendritic development and frequent polyploidy, and ii) the distribution of interneurons is affected by CITK deletion. CIT-K -/- mice are a useful tool to study the role of this molecule in the cellular development of cerebral cortex in vivo, and the development and plasticity of cortical areas and connections in a microencephalic animal. Moreover, they represent an interesting model of neonatal epilepsy, in which to study the role of changes in cellular morphology and interneuron distribution in the genesis of epileptic seizures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exited states in 134Pr were populated in the fusion-evaporation reaction 119Sn(19F; 4n)134Pr. Recoil distance Doppler-shift and Doppler-shift attenuation measurements using the Euroball spectrometer, in conjunction with the inner BGO ball and the Cologne plunger were performed at beam energies of 87MeV and 83MeV, respectively. The measured B(E2) values within the two chiral candidates bands are not identical while the corresponding B(M1) values have a similar behaviour within the experimental uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]