A Periodically-Forced Mathematical Model for the Seasonal Dynamics of Malaria in Mosquitoes

We describe and analyze a periodically-forced difference equation model for malaria in mosquitoes that captures the effects of seasonality and allows the mosquitoes to feed on a heterogeneous population of hosts. We numerically show the existence of a unique globally asymptotically stable periodic orbit and calculate periodic orbits of field-measurable quantities that measure malaria transmission. We integrate this model with an individual-based stochastic simulation model for malaria in humans to compare the effects of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) in reducing malaria transmission, prevalence, and incidence. We show that ITNs are more effective than IRS in reducing transmission and prevalence though IRS would achieve its maximal effects within 2 years while ITNs would need two mass distribution campaigns over several years to do so. Furthermore, the combination of both interventions is more effective than either intervention alone. However, although these interventions reduce transmission and prevalence, they can lead to increased clinical malaria; and all three malaria indicators return to preintervention levels within 3 years after the interventions are withdraw

DSpace Discovery: Unifying DSpace Search and Browse with Solr

One key innovation long awaited by the DSpace community is a more intuitive and unified search and browse experience. NESCent and @mire NV have collaborated to create a new Faceted Search and Browse experience for NESCent's DSpace repository, Dryad. DSpace Discovery is a modular Add-on for DSpace XMLUI that replaces DSpace search and browse with Solr. The implementation of Discovery's Services utilize the DSpace Services API originally developed for DSpace 2.0 and back-ported for use within the recent release of DSpace 1.6.0. Thus, DSpace Discovery represents the next stage in @mire's DSpace 2.0 development initiative

DSpace Discovery: Unifying DSpace Search and Browse with Solr

One key innovation long awaited by the DSpace community is a more intuitive and unified search and browse experience. NESCent and @mire NV have collaborated to create a new Faceted Search and Browse experience for NESCent's DSpace repository, Dryad. DSpace Discovery is a modular Add-on for DSpace XMLUI that replaces DSpace search and browse with Solr. The implementation of Discovery's Services utilize the DSpace Services API originally developed for DSpace 2.0 and back-ported for use within the recent release of DSpace 1.6.0. Thus, DSpace Discovery represents the next stage in @mire's DSpace 2.0 development initiative

Linked independent junior schools : an investigation into what head teachers perceive to be the influence of autonomy on school effectiveness, in terms of shared leadership and management

The provision of junior school education in the independent sector includes junior schools that are attached, or 'linked', to 'senior' schools (i. e. secondary schools). Within pairs of linked schools, a key issue to emerge is the degree of autonomy granted to the junior school head teacher and how this is thought to influence the effectiveness of his or her school. Head teachers sometimes use different criteria in judging junior school effectiveness and have different understandings of the concept of autonomy. Therefore they may not share the same expectation of how much, or what kind of, autonomy should be given. However, pairs of head teachers have to develop ways of sharing power and leadership through their organisational structures, as they interpret their concepts of autonomy in a mutually dependent relationship, whilst seeking to understand and support each other's aims for improving the effectiveness of the junior school. The research used a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews to assess, from the perspective of a head teacher, how autonomy is thought to influence the effectiveness of the junior school. The main survey findings, partly validated using triangulation with interview data, showed that head teachers generally understood a high degree of autonomy to mean having decision-making power over appointing staff, setting budgets, allocating resources, selecting pupils and controlling capital development. The findings from questionnaire and interview data showed that junior and senior school head teachers sometimes used different criteria when judging junior school effectiveness but there was a good mutual understanding between the two groups. Furthermore, there was general agreement that for a junior school to be considered effective it had to have professional leadership promoting a shared vision, with good inter-personal relations operating within a well-resourced learning community that sets high expectations. In relation to these understandings of the terms autonomy and school effectiveness and within the context of this study, there was strong evidence to support the view that all head teachers surveyed generally thought that junior schools benefit from increased autonomy by becoming more effective. No significant evidence directly linked autonomy or effectiveness with particular organisational structures, but the way in which heads operated within a given structure was seen as important. With regard to professional practice, in cases of a high degree of autonomy operating, there was evidence of pairs of head teachers having a shared approach to leadership, with a collaborative and participative approach to decision-making and managemen

Measurement of the cosmic ray hadron spectrum up to 30 TeV at mountain altitude: the primary proton spectrum

The flux of cosmic ray hadrons at the atmospheric depth of 820 g/cm^2 has been measured by means of the EAS-TOP hadron calorimeter (Campo Imperatore, National Gran Sasso Laboratories, 2005 m a.s.l.). The hadron spectrum is well described by a single power law : S(E_h) = (2.25 +- 0.21 +- 0.34(sys)) 10^(-7)(E_h/1000)^(-2.79 +- 0.05) m^(-2) s^(-1) sr^(-1) GeV^(-1) over the energy range 30 GeV-30 TeV. The procedure and the accuracy of the measurement are discussed. The primary proton spectrum is derived from the data by using the CORSIKA/QGSJET code to compute the local hadron flux as a function of the primary proton spectrum and to calculate and subtract the heavy nuclei contribution (basing on direct measurements). Over a wide energy range E_0 = 0.5-50 TeV its best fit is given by a single power law : S(E_0) = (9.8 +- 1.1 +- 1.6(sys)) 10^(-5) (E_0/1000)^(-2.80 +- 0.06) m^(-2) s^(-1) sr^(-1) GeV^(-1). The validity of the CORSIKA/QGSJET code for such application has been checked using the EAS-TOP and KASCADE experimental data by reproducing the ratio of the measured hadron fluxes at the two experimental depths (820 and 1030 g/cm^2 respectively) at better than 10% in the considered energy range.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Precise Measurements of Atmospheric Muon Fluxes with the BESS Spectrometer

The vertical absolute fluxes of atmospheric muons and muon charge ratio have been measured precisely at different geomagnetic locations by using the BESS spectrometer. The observations had been performed at sea level (30 m above sea level) in Tsukuba, Japan, and at 360 m above sea level in Lynn Lake, Canada. The vertical cutoff rigidities in Tsukuba (36.2 N, 140.1 E) and in Lynn Lake (56.5 N, 101.0 W) are 11.4 GV and 0.4 GV, respectively. We have obtained vertical fluxes of positive and negative muons in a momentum range from 0.6 to 20 GeV/c with systematic errors less than 3 % in both measurements. By comparing the data collected at two different geomagnetic latitudes, we have seen an effect of cutoff rigidity. The dependence on the atmospheric pressure and temperature, and the solar modulation effect have been also clearly observed. We also clearly observed the decrease of charge ratio of muons at low momentum side with at higher cutoff rigidity region.Comment: 35 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Astroparticle Physic

Inflammatory fibroid polyp of the oesophagus

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory fibroid polyp of the oesophagus is an uncommon lesion and very rarely it grows rapidly. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a patient with a rapidly growing inflammatory fibroid polyp (IFP) of the oesophagus, which showed up within five months after a normal endoscopy. CONCLUSION: The treatment of IFP is by surgical excision, either open or endoscopic. Laser or other form of ablative treatment like thermo cautery can also be tried