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Ethiopia’s energy demand is expected to increase sevenfold in the coming 30 years, resulting in increased variable renewable electricity (VRE) production by solar PV and wind. Energy storage acts as a buffer that mitigates the effects of over- or under-capacity in production by VRE. With 97% of global bulk energy storage, pumped hydro storage is the most widely used and mature energy storage technology. With its long operational life, high round-trip efficiency (80%) and stable cost trajectory, it is a competitive option for many VRE-rich (future) energy systems. However, barriers to pumped storage include heavy technical, site-specific restrictions, long construction times and high initial capital investment requirements.This study investigates if Ethiopia’s energy pathways benefit from adding pumped hydro storage, suitable regions for PHS, and to what extent storage would increase system resilience. The long-term energy planning tool OSeMOSYS is used, which allows for detailed investigation into system dynamics whilst parallelly minimising costs. OSeMOSYS enabled the investigation into Ethiopia by looking at an extensive host of techno-economic specifications and supply and demand dynamics from the electrification of transport and integration of variable renewables to residential cooking demands.This research studies thirteen scenarios which are separated into three main categories: Base Case (3), Emission Penalty (EMI) (6) and Varying Wind Capacity and Seasonality (WND) (6). The base case introduces pumped storage to the energy pathways, and the EMI scenario characterises three pathways for carbon pricing. In the WND scenario, wind power’s capacity factor and seasonality are altered to investigate the potential effects of using more accurate local data or prioritising some supply zones on the energy system configuration. Additionally, the most favourable locations for solar PV and wind are combined with potential PHS locations to find optimal sites for storage construction.The results of the research show that pumped hydro storage is adopted into the energy system in all scenarios, following both a diurnal and seasonal (dis)charge pattern. Variable renewable integration increases by an average of 10% from the addition of storage (78 GWh). The emission penalty increases the electrification of residential cooking demand and boosts VRE penetration but does not integrate storage integration further than the base case due to reaching the upper limit of the storage capacity set in the planning experiments.Pumped hydro storage was found to increase the resilience of the modelled energy systems to climate-driven seasonal uncertainties and prices due to fossil fuel and carbon price uncertainties by making them less dependent on fossil fuels, decreasing vulnerability for potential emission penalties, and seasonal capacity fluctuations. The introduction of PHS was also found not to increase overall system costs, making it, combined with the stable levelised cost of storage and high maturity, a prime candidate for large-scale energy storage in Ethiopia.

PDF File - (58K) - Secondary screen identified 168 GSC -effective compounds with selective inhibition profile

Glioblastoma (GBM) is among the most lethal of all cancers. GBM consist of a heterogeneous population of tumor cells among which a tumor-initiating and treatment-resistant subpopulation, here termed GBM stem cells, have been identified as primary therapeutic targets. Here, we describe a high-throughput small molecule screening approach that enables the identification and characterization of chemical compounds that are effective against GBM stem cells. The paradigm uses a tissue culture model to enrich for GBM stem cells derived from human GBM resections and combines a phenotype-based screen with gene target-specific screens for compound identification. We used 31,624 small molecules from 7 chemical libraries that we characterized and ranked based on their effect on a panel of GBM stem cell-enriched cultures and their effect on the expression of a module of genes whose expression negatively correlates with clinical outcome: MELK, ASPM, TOP2A, and FOXM1b. Of the 11 compounds meeting criteria for exerting differential effects across cell types used, 4 compounds showed selectivity by inhibiting multiple GBM stem cells-enriched cultures compared with nonenriched cultures: emetine, n-arachidonoyl dopamine, n-oleoyldopamine (OLDA), and n-palmitoyl dopamine. ChemBridge compounds #5560509 and #5256360 inhibited the expression of the 4 mitotic module genes. OLDA, emetine, and compounds #5560509 and #5256360 were chosen for more detailed study and inhibited GBM stem cells in self-renewal assays in vitro and in a xenograft model in vivo. These studies show that our screening strategy provides potential candidates and a blueprint for lead compound identification in larger scale screens or screens involving other cancer types. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(10); 1818–28. ©2011 AACR.

PDF File - (32K) - GSC-enriched GBM samples form tumors after transplantation into immunodeficient mice

PDF File - (874K) - A - Representative images demonstrating tumor formation success in an animal transplanted with serum (I) and sphere (II) derived GBM146 Ki67 and Human Nuclei (HuNu) immunostaining shows that virtually all transplanted cells died off in the animal transplanted with serum derived cells while an infiltrating tumor mass is visible in the animal transplanted with sphere derived cells of the same GBM sample (i - injection site, V- ventricle, SVZ - subventricular zone). B - Immunohistological sections for Human Nuclei (HuNu) and Ki67 demonstrating good survival of transplanted cells in animals that were sacrificed on the same day as well as 48h after transplantation (IT- injection tract, ST-striatum).

PDF File - (67K) - Effects of OLDA, PALDA and NADA are not mediated via cannabinoid, vanilloid or dopamine receptors A - Exposure of GSC -enriched GBM 157 cells to CB1, CB2, TRPV1 receptor agonists or their combination, does not reproduce the phenotype seen after exposure to OLDA, PALDA or NADA. Graph showing ATP level expressed as % of DMSO treated controls. B - Exposure of OLDA, PALDA or NADA-pretreated GSC -enriched GBM 157 cells (at IC50 concentration) to antagonists of CB, TRPV and D receptors does not rescue the phenotype caused by OLDA, PALDA or NADA (B, C and D, respectively). The graphs are showing ATP levels expressed as % of the DMSO treated controls (100%). SE shown.

PDF File - (61K) - OLDA, Emetine, 5256360 and 5560509 decrease clonal sphere formation in low passage GBM312 Graphs show a concentration-dependent reduction of clonal neurosphere size, neurosphere number as well as total cell mass. Error bars represent SEM.

PDF File - (39K) - Limiting dilution transplantation of GBM157 cells treated with OLDA, 5256360 or 5560509 shows decreased tumor formation frequency

PDF File - (523K) - OLDA, Emetine, 5256360 and 5560509 inhibit proliferation of sphere cultured GBM312 cells, using CFSE (carboxyfluorescein diacetate, succinimidyl ester) cell tracing experiments Proliferative inhibition is graphically represented by an increase in fluorescence or a shift to the right, away from that of the control. A proliferation index (PI) is a numerical value generated for each sample that measures the total increase in cell number divided by the original parent number. PI's are expressed as a percent of control: Emetine (0.2�M)- 18.6%, OLDA (4�M)- 16.0%, Compound 33 (2�M)- 31%, and Compound 62 (2�M)- 24.3%.

PDF File - (40K) - Growth kinetics of serum and sphere derived cells in screening (sphere) media reveals only minor differences in the degree of growth/proliferation between sphere and serum derived cultures of the same cell type Graph shows results of an ATP-based proliferation assay as measured 3 days after cell plating. Error bars depict SEM.

PDF File - (55K) - Sensitivity of GBM cells to OLDA, PALDA and NADA changes as a function of time, for which the cells were cultured in GSC -enriching media GBM107 cells were exposed to GSC -enriching media for increasing amounts of time and were then screened for sensitivity to dopaminergic cannabinoid compounds. While screening in serum-containing media requires a higher compound concentration due to the protective effect of serum in general, serum-derived cells become more and more sensitive towards GSC -specific compounds over time after transfer into sphere media (A, B, C). Such a difference is not present using non-GSC selective chemotherapeutics (D) or non-GBM control cells (E, F). ('ser in ser': serum derived cells screened in serum media; 'ser in sph': serum derived cells screened in sphere media; '1d sph': serum derived cells were cultured in sphere media for one day before the screen, etc.)

The nationalism of business is a crucial issue in the history of British-ruled Palestine (1917-1947) and post-1948 Israel. The importation of Jewish private capital into Palestine was a key factor in shaping the economic development of the Zionist settler project, and in creating an advantage over the Arab community. The Zionism of the Jewish firms was an essential aspect of the political consensus in the Jewish polity and its state-building aspirations. Moreover, the participation of companies in World War II, the war of 1948, and in the establishment of Israel was an essential resource that was mobilized for the Zionist economic expansion and triggered the absorption of Holocaust survivors and Jewish immigrants from Arab and North African countries. These national expressions of private firms harbour a complexity. They illustrate political and cultural beliefs, and an active affiliation to a national movement. At the same time, they are instrumental in the sense that firms benefitted materially and culturally from this association. Furthermore—and particularly relevant to states that have emerged from a colonial past—these practices do not evolve only from the businesses themselves but also from the impact of statist structures on the nationalism of firms. These aspects are discussed through the prism of chocolate manufacturing and the diamond-cutting industry.

Background The aim of this study is to assess the current status of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors amongst adolescents in Bangladesh. We also critically reviewed the existing policy responses to NCD risk among adolescents in Bangladesh. Methods This study used a mixed method approach. To quantify the NCD risk burden, we used data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey conducted in Bangladesh. To understand policy response, we reviewed NCD-related policy documents introduced by the Government of Bangladesh between 1971 and 2018 using the WHO recommended NCD Action Plan 2013–2020as study framework. Information from the policy documents was extracted using a matrix, mapping each document against the six objectives of the WHO 2013–2020 Action Plan. Results Almost all adolescents in Bangladesh had at least one NCD risk factor, and there was a high prevalence of concurrent multiple NCD risk factors; 14% had one NCD risk factor while 22% had two, 29% had three, 34% had four or more NCD risk factors. Out of 38 policy documents, eight (21.1%) were related to research and/or surveys, eight (21.1%) were on established policies, and eleven (29%) were on legislation acts. Three policy documents (7.9%) were related to NCD guidelines and eight (21.1%) were strategic planning which were introduced by the government and non-government agencies/institutes in Bangladesh. Conclusions The findings emphasize the needs for strengthening NCD risk factors surveillance and introducing appropriate intervention strategies targeted to adolescents. Despite the Government of Bangladesh introducing several NCD-related policies and programs, the government also needs more focus on clear planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation approaches to preventing NCD risk factors among the adolescents in Bangladesh.

Combinatorial reactive co-sputtering using Al, Si and Sm targets in an Ar þ O2 atmosphere, resulted in Sm doped SiAlO thin films with a wide Sm concentration- and Si:Al composition gradient. By combining position dependent EDX spectra and laser excited emission spectra, ternary phase diagrams were constructed that directly show the relation between Sm emission intensity, index of refraction, thickness and composition. Using this approach, the Sm2þ and Sm3þ emission intensity ratio was controlled towards films with predominantly Sm2þ emission, which is most favorable for luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) applications. The optimum Sm2þ efficiency was reached when the Al content was about equal to the Sm content. When the Si:Al ratio decreases, the Sm2þ emission intensity strongly drops to almost zero. However, sputtering without Al resulted in no Sm2þ emission intensity at all. The excitation and emission properties of Sm2þ in the optimized thin films, especially the ratio between the 4f→4f and 5d→4f emission that is sensitively susceptible to the co-ordination polyhedron, closely resembles that of Sm2þ doped crystalline powders with the same composition. This strongly suggest that the Sm2þ ions in our amorphous films are coordinated in the same way. A homogeneous thin film on float glass clearly shows the light concentration effect of the red Sm2þ emission. Due to an unexplained low Sm2þ absorption of our films, even the optimized thin films do not luminesce brightly.

Summary Background Bullying victimisation is a global public health problem that has been predominantly studied in high income countries. This study aimed to estimate the population level prevalence of bullying victimisation and its association with peer and parental supports amongst adolescents across low and middle income to high income countries (LMIC HICs). Methods Data were drawn from the Global School-based Student Health Survey of school children aged 12–17 years, between 2003 and 2015, in 83 LMIC HICs in the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions. We estimated the weighted prevalence of bullying victimisation at country, region and global level. We used multiple binary logistic regression models to estimate the adjusted association of age, gender, socioeconomic status, and parental support and peer support, and country level variables (GDP and government expenditure on education) with adolescent bullying victimisation. Findings Of the 317,869 adolescents studied, 151,036 (48%) were males, and 166,833 (52%) females. The pooled prevalence of bullying victimisation on one or more days in the past 30 days amongst adolescents aged 12–17 years was 30·5% (95% CI: 30·2–31·0%). The highest prevalence was observed in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (45·1%, 44·3–46·0%) and African region (43·5%, 43·0–44·3%), and the lowest in Europe (8·4%, 8·0–9·0%). Bullying victimisation was associated with male gender (OR: 1·21; 1·11–1·32), below average socio-economic status (OR: 1·47, 1·35–1·61), and younger age (OR: 1·11, 1·0–1·24). Higher levels of peer support (0·51, 0·46–0·57), higher levels of parental support (e.g., understanding children's problems (OR: 0·85, 0·77–0·95), and knowing the importance of free time spent with children (OR: 0·77, 0·70–0·85)), were significantly associated with a reduced risk of bullying victimisation. Interpretations Bullying victimisation is prevalent amongst adolescents globally, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean and African regions. Parental and peer supports are protective factors against bullying victimisation. A reduction in bullying victimisation may be facilitated by family and peer based interventions aimed at increasing social connectedness of adolescents.

Although business historiography has demonstrated a variety of impediments placed on women’s entry to entrepreneurship and business, the negotiated mechanisms that constructed the gendered selection has been understudied. Based on an analysis of loan applications by Jewish women in British-ruled Palestine before 1948, this article shows how material considerations to approve the loans and facilitate entry to business activity were based not merely on gender-oriented perceptions on the legitimacy of doing business, but also on a mosaic of normative constructions of family, community, and nation building.

Spin-orbit interaction is investigated in a dual gated InAs/GaSb quantum well. Using an electric field the quantum well can be tuned between a single carrier regime with exclusively electrons as carriers and a two-carriers regime where electrons and holes coexist. Spin-orbit interaction in both regimes manifests itself as a beating in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. In the single carrier regime the linear Dresselhaus strength is characterized by $\beta =$ 28.5 meV$\AA$ and the Rashba coefficient $\alpha$ is tuned from 75 to 53 meV$\AA$ by changing the electric field. In the two-carriers regime the spin splitting shows a nonmonotonic behavior with gate voltage, which is consistent with our band structure calculations.

This integrated collaborative care protocol was created for a research study that looked at ways to implement medication-assisted and behavioral treatment for patients with opioid and alcohol use disorders in a community health clinic. The project helped the clinic implement universal screening and brief intervention procedures and evaluated whether a collaborative care intervention helped patients get the treatment they needed.

Los comites de empresa israelies se estan adaptando a la economia neoliberal y a las transformaciones laborales concomitantes con una doble postura: por un lado tratan de hacer frente a esta reformulacion del capitalismo para salvaguardar los derechos de los trabajadores, y por otro aceptan cada vez mas las formas atipicas de empleo. Esta contradiccion los situa en un estadio de «liminalidad» permanente, en el que sus funciones se reducen a una mera busqueda de compromisos y soluciones ad hoc. Como consecuencia, su lucha contra los efectos adversos del empleo atipico sigue siendo puntual y fragmentada, lo que contribuye a consolidar estas modalidades de empleo.

W orkers' committees in Israel are adapting to the neoliberal economy, and the resulting changes in the labour market, by increasingly accepting various non-standard forms of employment. At the same time, however, they are resisting this reconfiguration of the capitalist economy, in an effort to safeguard workers' rights. Torn between the two positions, workers' committees find themselves in a state of permanent "liminality", their role reduced to merely seeking compromises and ad hoc solutions. As a result, opposition to the adverse effects of non-stand- ard employment remains localized and fragmented, thereby consolidating such employment arrangements.

Resume En Israel, les comites d'entreprise s'adaptent a l'economie neoliberale et aux evolutions qui en decoulent sur le marche du travail en admettant de plus en plus le recours aux emplois atypiques, tout en essayant de lutter contre ce nouvel avatar de l'economie capitaliste pour proteger les droits des travailleurs. Tirailles entre ces deux positions, ils sont pris dans un transitoire qui dure, une «liminalite» permanente, qui reduit leur role a la recherche de compromis et de solutions circonstancielles. La resistance aux effets pervers des formes d'emploi atypiques reste donc circonscrite et dispersee, ce qui conforte encore les pratiques en question.

“No one writing on the industrial possibilities of Palestine,” wrote Sir John Hope-Simpson in his famous 1930 commission’s report, “could by any logical course of reasoning arrive at the apparently fantastic conclusion that Palestine is a country particularly suited to the manufacture of artificial teeth.”2 Hope-Simpson, the British Vice-Chairman of the League of Nations Refugee Settlement Commission in Greece, based his amazement on the curious advance of a single firm industry—the “American Porcelain Tooth Company”—in a country that lacked the relevant raw materials for its dental production. Four years since its arrival from Philadelphia in Tel Aviv in 1926, the factory was producing close to 20,000 teeth a day and exporting most of them to almost dozens of market destinations across the world. As a politician and land settlement expert Hope-Simpson knew well the difficulties expecting an industry in moving across the globe, the systems of power and authority such an industry needed to accommodate, and the variety of local politics to which it had to adapt. Indeed, was the role false teeth making played during the Mandate period a demonstration only of the industrial build-up in which Jews engaged in conflict-ridden Palestine? Or, as will be argued below, did this highly skilled industry involve also some weighty political issues?

Transgender women are disproportionately affected by high rates of depression and suicide attempts. It is therefore important to identify factors that influence suicidal risk, particularly in the Middle East where little research has examined the mental health of transgender women. We examined risk factors associated with suicide attempts among 54 trans feminine individuals in Beirut, Lebanon. Data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires and analyzed using bivariate statistics. Twenty-five (46%) participants reported having ever attempted suicide. Among them, only one participant received some kind of counseling in response to the attempted suicide. Low general social support, low social integration, and low support from peers were significantly associated with a history of attempted suicide, as were being more open about transgender identity in public and any hormone use (past or current). These findings suggest that progression in gender transition can have unintended consequences related to mental health and suicide risk, while social support systems can mitigate the impact of mental health problems. Some of these findings mirror other contexts around the globe and can inform mental health services for trans feminine individuals in Lebanon, the greater Middle East region, and other international settings.

This tool reviews the approach that primary care providers should take in discussing alcohol or opioid dependence with their patients; offers a step-by-step guide to treating alcohol-dependent patients with extended-release, injectable naltrexone in primary care settings; and provides a reference guide for primary care practitioners administering buprenorphine/naloxone to patients with opioid dependence.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is among the most lethal of all cancers. GBM consist of a heterogeneous population of tumor cells among which a tumor-initiating and treatment-resistant subpopulation, here termed GBM stem cells, have been identified as primary therapeutic targets. Here, we describe a high-throughput small molecule screening approach that enables the identification and characterization of chemical compounds that are effective against GBM stem cells. The paradigm uses a tissue culture model to enrich for GBM stem cells derived from human GBM resections and combines a phenotype-based screen with gene target-specific screens for compound identification. We used 31,624 small molecules from 7 chemical libraries that we characterized and ranked based on their effect on a panel of GBM stem cell-enriched cultures and their effect on the expression of a module of genes whose expression negatively correlates with clinical outcome: MELK, ASPM, TOP2A, and FOXM1b. Of the 11 compounds meeting criteria for exerting differential effects across cell types used, 4 compounds showed selectivity by inhibiting multiple GBM stem cells-enriched cultures compared with nonenriched cultures: emetine, n-arachidonoyl dopamine, n-oleoyldopamine (OLDA), and n-palmitoyl dopamine. ChemBridge compounds #5560509 and #5256360 inhibited the expression of the 4 mitotic module genes. OLDA, emetine, and compounds #5560509 and #5256360 were chosen for more detailed study and inhibited GBM stem cells in self-renewal assays in vitro and in a xenograft model in vivo. These studies show that our screening strategy provides potential candidates and a blueprint for lead compound identification in larger scale screens or screens involving other cancer types. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(10); 1818–28. ©2011 AACR.

This study examines the autonomous goals of state actors and their administrative and cultural capacities to pursue them. Analyzing qualitative and quantitative data from Palestine/Israel during the years 1940–1960, we study the diffusion of joint productivity councils that use scientific management principles (scientific JPCs). We assess explanations for the diffusion of managerial models offered by theories of state autonomy, efficiency, labor control, and professionalization. We demonstrate that the actions of state leaders interested in stabilizing the economy and financing nation-building projects were a necessary condition for the diffusion of scientific JPCs, which were initially rejected by labor, capital, and industrial engineers. State actors used public policy to foster national and plant-level agreements between labor and capital and launched a moral discourse that framed productivity as a precondition for national survival. This case study brings insights from political sociology and the framing literature to organizational research and offers a new set of factors for understanding the nexus between the state, the labor process, and the diffusion of managerial models.

Polarimetry was performed on presumed amyloid beta deposits (thioflavin S positive) in human postmortem retinas of those with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Mueller matrix properties and polarization contrast show promise as a non-invasive diagnostic.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will greatly increase coverage for treatment of substance use disorders. To realize the benefits of this opportunity, it is critical to invest in the development of reliable, valid and feasible measures of quality to ensure that treatment is accessible and of high-quality. The authors review the availability of current quality measures for substance use disorder treatment and conclude there is a pressing need for additional measure development, validation and use. While there are unique challenges to developing and using quality measures for substance use disorders, the authors provide specific recommendations for research and policy changes which will increase the likelihood that patients, families and society will benefit from the increased coverage provided by the ACA.

Historians have long recognized post-war Palestine as a society in a state of destabilization. Increasing tension between the population and the Palestine Mandatory government was reflected in political opposition and violence. This was accompanied by the growing role of the United States in the intensive debate on the future of relations between Arabs and Jews, as reflected in the decision in late 1945 to convene the Anglo-American Committee. The transition from a war economy to a period of reconstruction produced immense economic and social problems that added to increasing British debts, which was partly reflected in difficulties in absorbing former servicemen in to Palestine's economy and increasing unemployment of both Arabs and Jews. Destabilization was also made evident by increasing industrial unrest, focusing significantly on the state sector of the economy—the government bureaucracy, the railways, and the military camps. This post-war militancy was part of the economic and social impact of the war, the associated cycle of wartime labor strikes, and the increasing cooperation between Arab and Jewish workers in labor protest against the government.

This study of twenty workers’ committees in Israel’s private sector sheds light on the adaptive mindset accompanying labor’s decline. Using ethnographic methodology, the article exposes varied dimensions of reception of neo-liberalism among its potential contestants. We found that the committee’s activists, accepting the fundamentals of neo-liberalism, rhetorically reproduce the notions of the determinism of the laws of the free market and their presumed inferiority in the workplace, and that their defensive strategies often mimic management tactics. While these de-politicized tactics allow the survival of the committees and their ongoing provision of services to workers, they forgo any ambition to reshape employment relations or to thwart the decline of organized work.