Worldwide Search Research Articles

The Consistency Between Phytotoxic Effects and the Dynamics of Allelochemicals Release from Eucalyptus globulus Leaves Used as Bioherbicide Green Manure.

In the worldwide search for new strategies in sustainable weed management, the use of allelopathic plants incorporated into the soil as green manure can help control weeds by releasing allelochemicals into the environment. In previous experiments, Eucalyptus globulus leaves incorporated into the soil as green manure were shown to have a notable potential for weed control. But, 'what was exactly happening at chemical level?' and 'which were the compounds potentially responsible for the phytotoxic effects observed during those greenhouse assays?' In the present study, in-vitro phytotoxicity bioassays and chemical analysis of eucalyptus leaves were carried out in order to explore the relationship between the temporal phytotoxic effects and the dynamics of chemical composition. For that, eucalyptus leaves were removed from soil at different sampling times during 30days and analyzed for phenolic and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by HPLC and HS-SPME/GC-MS, respectively. The phytotoxic potential of the aqueous extract and the volatile fraction was tested on the germination and early growth of Lactuca sativa. Eucalyptus leaves incorporated into the soil as green manure showed a continuous release of different phenolic and volatile compounds during a 30-day period of decomposition. Both fractions had phytotoxic effects during the time assayed; however, the target process of phytotoxicity was different: phenolic compounds being the factor causing germination inhibition and VOCs responsible for growth reduction. The dynamics of release of this cocktail of allelochemicals into the soil environment may be the responsible for the phytotoxicity observed in our previous works.

Enhanced Stability of Coated Carbon Electrode for Li–O2 Batteries and Its Limitations

The increasing demands for electric vehicles have spurred a worldwide search for next-generation rechargeable batteries with higher energy density. Among various battery systems, the lithium–oxygen (Li–O2) chemistry offers one of the highest theoretical energy densities, which can reach 3500 Wh kg−1 based on the reaction 2Li+ + O2 + 2e− = Li2O2 (E0 = 2.96 V vs. Li/Li+). The most widely used air electrodes are carbon-based materials because of their large surface areas per weight and high electrical conductivity, which are suitable for promoting the electrochemical formation of Li2O2 on the electrode, providing a high gravimetric energy density. For these reasons, carbon-based air electrodes have been intensely researched in recent years, and various types of carbon materials such as porous carbon, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphene have been reported as air electrodes. Recent studies, however, have shown that parasitic reactions involving carbon-based air electrodes could be one of the factors resulting in the deterioration of the electrochemical cycling of Li–O2 batteries.[1-3] Upon cycling, carbon can react with Li2O2, a discharge product deposited on the carbon electrode, to form insulating Li2CO3, which degrades the efficiency and cycle stability. Moreover, carbon itself can be corroded under high oxidizing potential in Li–O2 batteries and can thus be passivated with carbon-containing byproducts. The damaged carbon surface aggravates the electrolyte decomposition, resulting in the formation of additional byproducts. These byproducts from the electrolyte and carbon electrode can be partially decomposed during charge and typically lead to the evolution of CO2 gas instead of O2. As the cycle continues, insulating byproducts are gradually accumulated, which generally results in a high overpotential, low round-trip efficiency, and short cycle life. Therefore, the design of a strategy to reduce side reactions in the carbon electrode is imperative to achieve high electrochemical stability of Li–O2 batteries. Our previous work demonstrated that defect sites on carbon materials are more susceptible to reaction with discharge products and are prone to decompose more easily, serving as seeds for side reactions.[3] Thus, a carbon air electrode with higher crystallinity could exhibit more stable cycle properties. However, the preparation of highly crystalline carbon generally requires high-temperature treatment above 2000°C and substantially reduces the surface area, leading to a relatively small discharge capacity. Moreover, the complete removal of the defects in the production of large-surface carbon materials is not trivial. Instead, appropriate passivation of defect sites for a given carbon material may be a suitable approach to fabricate stable carbon-based air electrodes. Selective growth of materials specifically on the defect sites with the minimal amount of coating would be ideal to prohibit the side reactions without excessively increasing the weight of the air electrode. It was previously reported that Al2O3 and Pd could be coated on carbon using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to protect the air electrode and reduce the overpotential, resulting in enhanced cycle stability.[4] Nevertheless, the insulating nature of Al2O3 caused a large overpotential during cycling, and the high price of the noble metal remains an issue. Moreover, it is not clearly understood how and to what extent these coating materials can aid in the reduction of the side reactions and whether its effect is maintained with extended cycling. Herein, we demonstrate that the effect of coating is not limited to the protection of the carbon electrode but also remarkably suppresses the decomposition of the electrolyte. These results were analyzed using in situ differential electrochemical mass spectroscopy (DEMS) with labeled isotopic 13C air electrode in the electrolyte composed of 12C for the Li–O2 cell. In contrast to the pristine carbon electrode, the coating provided effective protection, which reduced the evolution of undesirable gases from both the electrolyte (12CO2) and carbon electrode (13CO2), with high efficiency of O2 evolution, resulting in enhanced cycle stability (>100 cycles). Nevertheless, the coating materials were gradually detached from the surface of the carbon materials because of the formation of a discharge product at the interface between the carbon and coating materials during cycling, leading to exposure of the bare carbon electrode and degradation of the Li–O2 cell. This study suggests that a method to prevent the detachment of the coating material as well as further understanding of the growth mechanism of discharge products, which affects the delamination of the coating, should be sought after in the future.

Unravelling the bioherbicide potential of Eucalyptus globulus Labill: Biochemistry and effects of its aqueous extract.

In the worldwide search for new strategies in sustainable weed management, the use of plant species able to produce and release phytotoxic compounds into the environment could be an effective alternative to synthetic herbicides. Eucalyptus globulus Labill. is known to be a source of biologically active compounds responsible for its phytotoxic and allelopathic properties. Our previous results demonstrated the bioherbicide potential of eucalyptus leaves incorporated into the soil as a green manure, probably through the release of phytotoxins into the soil solution. Thus, the aims of this study were to understand the phytotoxicity of the eucalyptus leaves aqueous extract applied in pre- and post-emergence, and to identify and quantify its potentially phytotoxic water-soluble compounds. The effects were tested on the germination and early growth of the model target species Lactuca sativa and Agrostis stolonifera, and on physiological parameters of L. sativa adult plants after watering or spraying application. Dose-response curves and ED50 and ED80 values for eucalyptus aqueous extracts revealed pre-emergence inhibitory effects on both target species, effects being comparable to the herbicide metolachlor. While spraying treatment reduced the aerial and root biomass and increased the dry weight/fresh weight ratio of lettuce adult plants, watering application reduced protein contents and chlorophyll concentrations with respect to control, reflecting different modes of action depending on the site of phytotoxin entry. Via HPLC analyses, a total of 8 phenolic compounds (chlorogenic, two ρ-coumaric derivatives, ellagic, hyperoside, rutin, quercitrin, and kaempferol 3-O-glucoside) and other 5 low weight organic acids (citric, malic, shikimic, succinic and fumaric acids) were obtained from aqueous extract, the latter being identified for the first time in E. globulus. Despite some phytotoxic effects were found on lettuce adult plants, the use of eucalyptus aqueous extract would be discarded in post-emergence, whereas it was promising as a pre-emergence bioherbicide.

Global trends in the awareness of sepsis: insights from search engine data between 2012 and 2017

BackgroundSepsis is an established global health priority with high mortality that can be curtailed through early recognition and intervention; as such, efforts to raise awareness are potentially impactful and increasingly common. We sought to characterize trends in the awareness of sepsis by examining temporal, geographic, and other changes in search engine utilization for sepsis information-seeking online.MethodsUsing time series analyses and mixed descriptive methods, we retrospectively analyzed publicly available global usage data reported by Google Trends (Google, Palo Alto, CA, USA) concerning web searches for the topic of sepsis between 24 June 2012 and 24 June 2017. Google Trends reports aggregated and de-identified usage data for its search products, including interest over time, interest by region, and details concerning the popularity of related queries where applicable. Outlying epochs of search activity were identified using autoregressive integrated moving average modeling with transfer functions. We then identified awareness campaigns and news media coverage that correlated with epochs of significantly heightened search activity.ResultsA second-order autoregressive model with transfer functions was specified following preliminary outlier analysis. Nineteen significant outlying epochs above the modeled baseline were identified in the final analysis that correlated with 14 awareness and news media events. Our model demonstrated that the baseline level of search activity increased in a nonlinear fashion. A recurrent cyclic increase in search volume beginning in 2012 was observed that correlates with World Sepsis Day. Numerous other awareness and media events were correlated with outlying epochs. The average worldwide search volume for sepsis was less than that of influenza, myocardial infarction, and stroke.ConclusionsAnalyzing aggregate search engine utilization data has promise as a mechanism to measure the impact of awareness efforts. Heightened information-seeking about sepsis occurs in close proximity to awareness events and relevant news media coverage. Future work should focus on validating this approach in other contexts and comparing its results to traditional methods of awareness campaign evaluation.

Advances in tick vaccinology in Brazil: from gene expression to immunoprotection.

Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus has substantial economic impact on the cattle breeding industry and, chemical control and tick resistance development are the major concern. There is a worldwide search for new options, and control using vaccines has been the main focus nowadays. Studies performed in Brazil found that Bm86-based immunization of bovines reduced the infestation of R. (B.) microplus of vaccinated bovines by 45% to 60%. Native Boophilusmicroplus tripsin inhibitors (BmTIs) with trypsin-, kallikrein-, and elastase-inhibiting activities have been used as immunogens in bovines reaching 72.8.% of efficacy. The reverse vaccinology approach has also been used for antigen search using transcriptome analysis to identify and characterize potential antigens. Study has generated more than 600 million sequences using RNA-seq of larvae, nymphs, salivary glands, intestines, and ovaries of the tick R. (B) microplus. Based on the set of transcripts obtained using this strategy, a total of 20,326 protein sequences have been identified. A pipeline analysis built in house identified the protein sequences that were most likely to be immunogenic based on the overall structural characteristic analysis.

Estudio de los factores que afectan la estabilidad de nanofluidos usando un diseño factorial fraccionado

A nivel mundial la búsqueda de alternativas que permitan incrementar la eficiencia energética en los procesos industriales ha estado en constante crecimiento, debido principalmente a la disminución en las reservas energéticas no renovables y a la preocupación mundial por la disminución de los gases de efecto invernadero. La mayoría de los procesos a nivel industrial, involucran producción o absorción de energía en forma de calor, estos procesos podrían tener mayores eficiencias energéticas, a partir de la sustitución de sus fluidos térmicos convencionales (agua, etilenglicol, aceite motor) por nanofluidos. Los nanofluidos son suspensiones coloidales obtenidas al dispersar nanopartículas (tamaño<100 nm) de diferentes materiales, una de sus principales aplicaciones es en transferencia de calor y se usan con el objetivo de incrementar la conductividad térmica de los fluidos convencionales utilizados en estos procesos. Sin embargo, a pesar de los numerosos estudios que se encuentran en la literatura mostrando los incrementos en la conductividad térmica y la transferencia de calor en los diferentes sistemas térmicos a escala de laboratorio, la inestabilidad de los nanofluidos ocasionada por la aglomeración y sedimentación de las nanopartículas sigue siendo un reto de investigación. Entre los factores que afectan la estabilidad de un nanofluido se encuentran el método de dispersión, la concentración de nanopartículas, el pH, tipo de nanopartícula y aditivos químicos. En este estudio, se prepararon nanofluidos de óxido de aluminio (Al2O3) y dióxido de titanio (TiO2) y se implementó un diseño factorial fraccionado 26-2 de resolución IV, con el fin de evaluar el efecto de diferentes parámetros en la estabilidad de los nanofluidos. La estabilidad se evaluó como el cambio en la conductividad térmica con el tiempo. En el estudio estadístico realizado, los factores e interacciones con un efecto significativo en la estabilidad del nanofluido fueron:el tiempo de ultrasonido y la concentración de surfactante, tipo de nanopartícula/tipo de surfactante y tipo de nanopartícula/concentración de surfactante respectivamente.

The effects of cultivation methods and planting season on biomass yield of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) under rainfed conditions in the northeast region of Thailand

The worldwide search for carbon dioxide neutral biomass for the conversion into bio-energy as alternative to fossil fuels has promoted Napier grass for cropping in warm climates due to high yields even under less-than-ideal management. Our objectives were to evaluate the effects of cutting types (setts, 60-cm and 120-cm stem sections and terminal cuttings), planting methods of setts (vertical insertion or horizontal burial), and planting date (rainy or dry season) of Napier grass for dry matter yield (DMY) in a field experiment under low-fertile conditions carried out and repeated in two consecutive years in northeast region of Thailand.Terminal cuttings produced up to 16.14MgDMha−1 and also showed the best planted-to-produced biomass ratio, followed by long stems but the setts produced the smallest yields. It was observed that the organogenesis of stem-section cuttings was slower than terminal cuttings which, consequently, produced more DMY. In fact, terminal cuttings appeared most suitable for the direct propagation in the field for the highest biomass production. Non-significant differences between DMY were observed between planting methods of vertical insertion or horizontal burial of setts as what prefers their handling in the field. Furthermore, an unclear pattern was found for the planting date of setts when more biomass was produced in the dry season from 2012 to 2013, and vice versa during second year of the experiment. Nevertheless, the non-significant differences of planting date showed that Napier grass could improve land-use efficiency and bear additional income, if cropped during the dry season.

Genome Sequence and Composition of a Tolyporphin-Producing Cyanobacterium-Microbial Community

The cyanobacterial culture HT-58-2 was originally described as a strain of Tolypothrix nodosa with the ability to produce tolyporphins, which comprise a family of distinct tetrapyrrole macrocycles with reported efflux pump inhibition properties. Upon reviving the culture from what was thought to be a nonextant collection, studies of culture conditions, strain characterization, phylogeny, and genomics have been undertaken. Here, HT-58-2 was shown by 16S rRNA analysis to closely align with Brasilonema strains and not with Tolypothrix isolates. Light, fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy revealed cyanobacterium filaments that are decorated with attached bacteria and associated with free bacteria. Metagenomic surveys of HT-58-2 cultures revealed a diversity of bacteria dominated by Erythrobacteraceae, 97% of which are Porphyrobacter species. A dimethyl sulfoxide washing procedure was found to yield enriched cyanobacterial DNA (presumably by removing community bacteria) and sequence data sufficient for genome assembly. The finished, closed HT-58-2Cyano genome consists of 7.85 Mbp (42.6% G+C) and contains 6,581 genes. All genes for biosynthesis of tetrapyrroles (e.g., heme, chlorophyll a, and phycocyanobilin) and almost all for cobalamin were identified dispersed throughout the chromosome. Among the 6,177 protein-encoding genes, coding sequences (CDSs) for all but two of the eight enzymes for conversion of glutamic acid to protoporphyrinogen IX also were found within one major gene cluster. The cluster also includes 10 putative genes (and one hypothetical gene) encoding proteins with domains for a glycosyltransferase, two cytochrome P450 enzymes, and a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-binding protein. The composition of the gene cluster suggests a possible role in tolyporphin biosynthesis.IMPORTANCE A worldwide search more than 25 years ago for cyanobacterial natural products with anticancer activity identified a culture (HT-58-2) from Micronesia that produces tolyporphins. Tolyporphins are tetrapyrroles, like chlorophylls, but have several profound structural differences that reside outside the bounds of known biosynthetic pathways. To begin probing the biosynthetic origin and biological function of tolyporphins, our research has focused on studying the cyanobacterial strain, about which almost nothing has been previously reported. We find that the HT-58-2 culture is composed of the cyanobacterium and a community of associated bacteria, complicating the question of which organisms make tolyporphins. Elucidation of the cyanobacterial genome revealed an intriguing gene cluster that contains tetrapyrrole biosynthesis genes and a collection of unknown genes, suggesting that the cluster may be responsible for tolyporphin production. Knowledge of the genome and the gene cluster sharply focuses research to identify related cyanobacterial producers of tolyporphins and delineate the tolyporphin biosynthetic pathway.

P.049 Seasonal variations in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: revisiting the myth using google trends

Background: Results of previous studies examining seasonal variation in the incidence of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) are conflicting. The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a seasonal effect in online search queries for SAH that may reflect an association between meteorological factors and aneurysm rupture. Methods: We utilized the Google Trends data service to analyze the volume of internet queries for SAH on Google’s search engine from January 1, 2004 to November 2016. We used comprehensive search terms and collected data from: USA, Canada, Finland, and Japan, as well as worldwide search volume. Potential seasonal variations in the data were assessed by comparative non-parametric tests and curve-fit regression model. Results: Our analyses revealed that USA had the highest median search scores (115 vs. 86, 46, 46 for Finland, Canada and Japan, respectively). The term “brain aneurysm” was the commonly used search term among countries, followed by “cerebral aneurysm”. There was no evidence of seasonality in any of the countries studied on both univariate tests and regression time-adjusted analysis. Conclusions: There are no seasonal variations in internet search query volume for SAH. Further studies are needed to explore whether online search volumes correlate with the actual incidence of SAH.

COMPOSTED MUNICIPAL WASTE AS A SUBSTITUTE TO FURADAN IN THE MANAGEMENT OF Meloidogyne incognita INFECTION ON COWPEA

There is a worldwide search for alternatives to synthetic pesticides in management of Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita Kofoid and White 1919, Chitwood, 1949). Screen-house studies were conducted to compare effects of composted municipal waste (CMW) and furadan on Root-knot nematode infection on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp), var. Ife brown. Treatment significantly reduced the number of M. incognita in the soil with furadan being the most effective followed by CMW. Growth and yield of cowpea was improved in all treatments compared with untreated plants. Plants treated with CMW produced the best growth and highest yield. Use of CMW may be a viable soil amendment for management of Root-knot nematode.

Internet search volumes in brain aneurysms and subarachnoid hemorrhage: Is there evidence of seasonality?

ObjectiveResults of previous studies examining seasonal variation in the incidence of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) are conflicting. The aim of this brief report is to investigate whether there is a seasonal effect in online search queries for SAH that may reflect an association between meteorological factors and aneurysm rupture. Patients and methodsWe used the Google Trends data service to analyze the volume of internet queries for SAH on Google’s search engine from January 1, 2004 to November 2016. We used comprehensive search terms and collected data from: USA, Canada, and countries known for their high prevalence of SAH (Finland, and Japan), as well as worldwide search volume. Potential seasonal variations in the data were assessed by comparative non-parametric tests and curve-fit regression model. ResultsOur analyses revealed that USA had the highest median value in cumulative search scores (115 vs. 86, 46, 46 for Finland, Canada and Japan, respectively). The term “brain aneurysm” was the commonly used search term among countries, followed by “cerebral aneurysm”. There was no evidence of seasonality in any of the countries studied on both univariate tests and regression time-adjusted analysis. ConclusionsThere are no seasonal variations in internet search query volume for SAH. Further studies are needed to explore whether online search volumes correlate with the actual incidence of SAH.

Influence of World Thrombosis Day on digital information seeking on venous thrombosis: a Google Trends study

Background World Thrombosis Day (WTD) was launched in 2014 and is to be held every year to increase global awareness of venous thrombosis. Measuring the impact of health awareness days is challenging; however, use of internet-based data seems promising. Methods Google Trends data were used to quantify digital searches for 'venous thrombosis' worldwide and 'trombose' in the Netherlands. The relative search volume (RSV), which is the proportion of the term of interest amongst all Google searches for a specific region and timeframe was used. Mean differences for 4 weeks surrounding WTD (period of interest) and the remaining weeks of the year (control period) were estimated with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). This was done for 2014, 2015 and 2009-2013 (control years). Results and discussion Mean differences in RSV for worldwide searches were 2.9 (95% CI, -8.2, 14.1) in 2014 and 10.5 (95% CI, 0.4, 20.5) in 2015. These figures were 15.3 (95% CI, 4.7, 25.8) and 15.9 (95% CI, 7.8, 24.1) for the Netherlands, respectively. Relatively, this corresponds to an increase in RSV of 3.9% and 13.9% for 2014 and 2015 worldwide and a 21.9% and 23.3% increase for 2014 and 2015 in the Netherlands. There was one control year with an increase in RSV in the WTD period. Conclusion In 2014 and 2015 WTD was associated with an increase in digital information seeking on venous thrombosis worldwide. This association was more pronounced in 2015 than in 2014.

Guest Editorial, Petr Zuman 90th Birthday Issue

Guest Editorial, Petr Zuman 90th Birthday Issue

Good practice case studies in the advancement of women in policing

Research shows that increasing the number of female officers is beneficial to policing. However, women remain a minority in police departments throughout the world, and the better performing departments have, on the whole, achieved female representation at only 25%, with senior women at 10%. There is also very little research on effective strategies for making large improvements. Consequently, this study aimed to identify and explain above average achievements in the status of women in policing. Following a worldwide search, five cases were identified: one involved female recruits (North Wales), two involved officer numbers (Cumbria and Surrey), and two involved women in senior ranks (Hertfordshire and South Africa). Efforts to identify possible influences were limited by a lack of information about strategies, including in response to requests for information. However, there were indicators that outcomes were related to senior management commitment, explicit targets, monitoring, flexible employment and a range of support mechanisms such as mentoring and leadership programmes. The findings emphasize the need for more research on what works in optimizing women’s participation in police work.

Transmission of dental data on a microdotted paper-based dental chart from a digital pen – trial operations at disaster exercise sites and at a landslide disaster at Hiroshima City

ABSTRACTIn Japan, dental charting following a disaster is performed by handwriting the information on a paper-based dental chart before manual input into a computer database. Even if available, radiographic facial or intraoral images, regardless of whether they are analogue or digital, must be stored separately from the dental chart. To create a comprehensive and more permanent database accessible worldwide, we developed a system employing digital pens with image microprocessors. This system digitizes and records characters and drawings as they are being handwritten on a microdotted-paper-based post-mortem dental chart. Data stored in the built-in memory of the digital pen are transferred to a computer or tablet via Bluetooth. Using a cognitive wireless router, the information is relayed to a remote data centre. Radiographic and other images are also transferred into the same folder under a unique ID number. After several practical field tests, the system was employed at a landslide disaster in Hiroshima City. Data transfer was excellent, confirming the efficacy of the new system. This system enables data in any language to be quickly stored in the database, facilitating worldwide searches for missing persons by matching with ante-mortem dental records. The new system saves labour, helps prevent misidentification, and significantly expedites identification processes following a mass disaster.

Enhanced ReP-ETD Anti-Spamming Technique

The Internet is a widely used paradigm where sharing of multimedia content is a major task. Spam image (an image that contains obscure or irrelevant content) is often discovered in web data available in servers and worldwide search engines. Techniques for spam filtering and finding or detecting obscure content in multimedia data (such as .JPEG, .png format of images) are available in the literature. This paper reviews different existing techniques to deal with obscure images and presents an enhanced ReP-ETD (Repetitive Pre-processing technique for Embedded Text Detection) technique in order to detect the obscured content in image data. The technique proposed in this paper first preprocess the multimedia image data using a Linux image script and further on OCR (Optical Character Reader) is used for the spamming image detection and depth analysis. The main contribution of this paper is to discover and perform spam word extraction from the embedded obscured image.

Global Dietary Data Availability: Results of a Systematic Worldwide Search for Data on Dietary Intakes of 55 Foods and Nutrients

IntroductionQuantification of dietary intakes of key foods and nutrients across the lifecourse in all regions of the world is foundational to developing/targeting population‐based dietary policies and interventions to improve both maternal/child health and reduce chronic disease burdens. Yet currently, comprehensive/comparable data on dietary intakes around the world remains sparse in low/ middle‐income countries (LMIC), many of which currently bear dual burdens of under‐ and over‐nutrition characteristic of rapid nutrition transition.ObjectiveTo systematically search for and assess the availability/quality of nationally or subnationally‐representative dietary intake data in 188 countries around the world, with particular focus on children and pregnant women in LMIC.MethodsTo identify, assess, and harmonize dietary data from around the world, we established the Global Dietary Database (GDD) Consortium, a global collaborative effort to compile individual‐level data on dietary intakes of 55 foods and nutrients between 1990 and 2015 stratified by age, sex, urban vs. rural residence, and level of education. We systematically searched databases of published literature to identify contacts for national or subnational data, as well as databases of publically available microdata. Our current data searches focus on eight world regions that encompass most LMIC : Sub‐Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Oceania, Latin America, and the Caribbean. We contacted the corresponding authors of relevant publications, inviting them to become members of the GDD Consortium and contribute dietary intake data. For countries in which no data source was identified through either PubMed searches, personal contact with experts, or searches for public data, we have launched searches of region‐specific databases. To identify publically‐available data, we have searched large databases such as WHO Global Health Observatory data repository, the Harvard Dataverse, the Inter‐university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), as well as country ministry of health website. Identified data is currently being graded for quality of both dietary assessment and survey sampling methodology.ResultsTo‐date, we have completed systematic searches of PubMed, screening a total of 2,878 articles and identifying ~600 unique data owners around the world. Thus far, we have identified 139 country‐specific surveys through personal contact with data owners. Overall, 36% of these data are nationally representative, 33% are based on multiple 24 hr recall, 53% are based on food‐frequency questionnaires, 38% include data on pregnant/nursing women, and 66% include data on children and adolescents. Additionally, we have identified over 800 publically‐available country‐year‐specific surveys that may have relevant data on dietary intakes or biomarkers, and we are in the process of assessing these surveys for relevance and quality (Figure).ConclusionsThrough systematic global data searches, we have identified numerous surveys on dietary intakes of key foods and nutrients. These data, once harmonized, will provide comprehensive estimates of dietary intakes of key foods and nutrients in countries around the world, crucial for understanding diet in poor and vulnerable populations and for characterizing epidemiologic transition in LMIC.Support or Funding InformationThis work was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Antimicrobial constituents of Hypocrea virens, an endophyte of the mangrove-associate plant Premna serratifolia L.

Emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms has prompted a worldwide search for new antibiotics from various sources. Endophytic fungi from unique habitats are considered as potential sources of novel bioactive compounds. Sri Lankan mangrove ecosystem is such a distinctive and unexploited resource for the discovery of structurally diverse and biologically active metabolites including antimicrobials. Nine endophytic fungi were isolated from the leaves and twigs of Premna serratifolia L . from a mangrove habitat in the Negombo lagoon and the antimicrobial activities of their laboratory cultures were evaluated. The most promising antimicrobial activity was exhibited by the endophytic fungus Hypocrea virens . Bioassay guided fractionation of the organic extract of this fungus led to the isolation of two known metabolites; the antimicrobial epidithiodioxopiperazine, gliotoxin (1), and the closely related but less active bisdethiobis(methylthio)gliotxin (2). The chemical structures of the two compounds were determined by spectroscopy and confirmed by comparison of mass and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral data with the reported values for these molecules. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values obtained for gliotoxin (1) in the current study are 0.13 μg mL-1 for Bacillus subtilis , 16 μg mL-1 for Staphylococcus aureus , 32 μg mL-1 for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli , 64 μg mL-1 for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans fungus. This is the first study to report the isolation of endophytic fungi from P. serratifolia and their antimicrobial activities.

TerraEx – a GeoWeb app for world-wide content-based search and distribution of elevation and landforms data

GIScience 2016 Short Paper Proceedings TerraEx – a GeoWeb app for world-wide content-based search and distribution of elevation and landforms data P. Netzel 1 , J. Jasiewicz 1,2 , T. F. Stepinski 1 Space Infromatics Lab, University of Cincinnati, 401 Braunstein Hall, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0131, US Email: {netzelpl; stepintz}@mail.uc.edu Instititute of Geoecology and Geoinformation, Adam Mickiewicz University, Dziegielowa 27, Poznan, Poland Email: jarekj@amu.edu.pl Abstract Terrain Explorer (TerraEx) is the first world-wide content-based search application for landscapes. Using 3 resolution world-wide DEM as an input it finds and displays, in the form of a similarity map, locations in the world where landscapes are similar to a user-selected query. TerraEx is a freely available, full service GeoWeb application. It also doubles as the most convenient distributor of global 3 DEM data, the global map of geomorphons, and the global map of terrain relief. TerraEx opens a possibility to utilize publicly available DEM archives in their entireties for world-wide exploration through content-based search. 1. Introduction Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is one of the most useful data types in geosciences with applications in multiple disciplines from geomorphology through civil engineering to virtual reality and entertainment. Popularity and broad adoption of DEMs follows in part from the fact that medium and low resolution DEMs are freely available for download; examples include the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) world-wide DEM and US-wide National Elevation Dataset (NED). Users can access DEMs by selected region, coordinates, or administrative regions. However, until now, these vast resources could not be explored in their entirety due to the lack of search tools for content-based retrieval of topographic information. In this paper we report on development of Terrain Explorer (TerraEx) – the first application for content-based retrieval of topographic information. TerraEx is a GeoWeb application (http://sil.uc.edu/webapps/terraex) that enables the world-wide search for topographic landscapes similar to a user-selected query landscape. It uses a world-wide 3 (90m) DEM (see next section for details) for elevation data. The search is not performed directly on the DEM; instead it is performed on the DEM classified into the ten landform elements using the geomorphon method (Jasiewicz and Stepinski 2013a). TerraEx also doubles as the most convenient source of world- wide, geographically registered topographic data. A user can navigate to a location of interest (with or without a prior exploration using the search) and download (in GeoTIFF format) a 3 resolution DEM, a map of geomorphons, and a map of terrain relief. In the process of constructing TerraEx we developed the following new products and concepts: (a) a new, adaptively smoothed version of world-wide, 3 DEM that removes artifacts in the flat areas, and (b) a methodology for comparison of spatial patterns in a globe geometry

An Update on the IDEOM (International Dermatology Outcome Measures) Initiative to Restructure Current Psoriasis Outcome Assessment Measures to a Globally Uniform Set of Patient-Centric Outcome Measures for Use in Clinical Trials and Clinical Practice

The International Dermatology Outcome Measures (IDEOM) group was created with the goal of establishing improved, as well as patient-centered, outcome measures. The effort involves the worldwide participation of those involved in the treatment of psoriasis, including dermatologists, rheumatologists, pharmaceutical and device company medical officers, payors, regulatory officers, patient advocacy groups including the National Psoriasis Foundation, and patients themselves. This review will outline the work done to date, the methodology utilized, and future planned action, including a worldwide search for patient representatives to this endeavor.