Assessment of tree registration in Leyte and Biliran Islands

Staff in six Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices (CENROs) − four in Leyte Province, three in Southern Leyte Province and one in Biliran − were interviewed to establish baseline information on tree registration. In general, the rate of tree registration was found to be low, except in CENRO Maasin, where during 1997 to 2006 a total of 2799 tree farms were registered, covering an aggregate area of 2807 ha and with 1,292,495 trees registered. The highest number of tree farms registered in CENRO Maasin took place in 2004, when a total of 531 were registered, covering an area of 373 ha. Measures and strategies practiced by this CENRO to promote tree registration include: conducting an information, education and communication (IEC) campaign including distribution of extension materials; establishing a link between farmers and buyers in marketing products; and encouraging barangay officials to disseminate tree registration information. Factors leading to the low tree registration rate in Leyte and Biliran CENROs include: long distance between farms and CENR offices; weak tenure (farms under timberland status); inefficient processing of the registration documents; absence of the officer-in-charge of tree registration during farmer visits to Department of Environment and Natural Resources offices; land under common ownership; and farmers unaware about the tree registration process. Suggestions by respondents to improve tree registration include: regularly conducting IEC activities including distribution of extension material, supported by necessary funding; hiring of additional personnel for this purpose, to be assigned in every municipality; enhancing the timber market network; deputizing barangay officials as Environment and Natural Resources Officers (ENROs) to conduct tree inventory, authorized by municipal officials to collect Tree Inventory Certification. Keywords: ,

Assessment of tree registration in Leyte and Biliran Islands

Staff in six Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices (CENROs) − four in Leyte Province, three in Southern Leyte Province and one in Biliran − were interviewed to establish baseline information on tree registration. In general, the rate of tree registration was found to be low, except in CENRO Maasin, where during 1997 to 2006 a total of 2799 tree farms were registered, covering an aggregate area of 2807 ha and with 1,292,495 trees registered. The highest number of tree farms registered in CENRO Maasin took place in 2004, when a total of 531 were registered, covering an area of 373.03 ha. Measures and strategies practiced by this CENRO to promote tree registration include: conducting an information, education and communication (IEC) campaign including distribution of extension materials; establishing a link between farmers and buyers in marketing products; and barangay officials were encouraged to disseminate tree registration information. Factors leading to the low tree registration rate in Leyte and Biliran CENROs include: long distance between farms and CENR offices; weak tenure (farms under timberland status); inefficient processing of the registration documents; absence of the officer-in-charge of tree registration during farmer visits to DENR Offices; land under common ownership; and farmers unaware about the tree registration process. Suggestions by respondents to improve tree registration include: regular conducting of IEC activities including distribution of extension material, supported by necessary funding; hiring of additional personnel for this purpose, to be assigned in every municipality; enhancing the timber market network; deputizing barangay officials as Environment and Natural Resources Officers (ENROs) to conduct tree inventory, authorized by municipal officials to collect Tree Inventory Certification

Visualization of poly(ADP-ribose) bound to PARG reveals inherent balance between exo- and endo-glycohydrolase activities

Poly-ADP-ribosylation is a post-translational modification that regulates processes involved in genome stability. Breakdown of the poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) polymer is catalysed by poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG), whose endo-glycohydrolase activity generates PAR fragments. Here we present the crystal structure of PARG incorporating the PAR substrate. The two terminal ADP-ribose units of the polymeric substrate are bound in exo-mode. Biochemical and modelling studies reveal that PARG acts predominantly as an exo-glycohydrolase. This preference is linked to Phe902 (human numbering), which is responsible for low-affinity binding of the substrate in endo-mode. Our data reveal the mechanism of poly-ADP-ribosylation reversal, with ADP-ribose as the dominant product, and suggest that the release of apoptotic PAR fragments occurs at unusual PAR/PARG ratios

The Design of a Best Execution Market

The notion of best execution on securities markets is manifold. Best execution has different meanings to different market participants, therefore, it is difficult to find a unique market structure that meets this requirements for all the participants. Traditional market structures are either static or flexible, meaning that an individual market participant has no influence regarding the concrete market structure’s characteristics, like e. g. the price discovery mechanism, trading frequency or the market transparency. Traditional market structures are either static or flexible, meaning that an individual market participant has no influence regarding the Focussing on customer orientation, we propose a new type of market structure: the dynamic market model, where participants individually choose the characteristics of the market structure for each transaction they perform. Furthermore, this paper offers an approach to design dynamic market models from scratch. We briefly sketch the necessary steps towards a dynamic market model. Traditional market structures are either static or flexible, meaning that an individual market participant has no influence regarding the Finally, we present AMTRAS; the prototype of an electronic trading system that was conceived and implemented following the aforementioned approach. AMTRAS is an software-agent based bond trading system designed for the need of institutional investors. It implements a dynamic market model, a sophisticated product- and partner matching scheme as well as an innovative price discovery approach

Distribution of COL9A2 and COL9A3 Gene Polymorphism in Male Chinese Singaporean - A Pilot Observational Study

The association between allelic variants and lumbar disc degenerative disease (DDD) has been investigated in Europe and Northern Asia. However, this has not been investigated in Southeast Asia. This observational study aims to compare the distribution of COL9A2 and COL9A3 gene polymorphism among male Chinese Singaporeans with and without lumbar DDD. COL9A2 gene polymorphism was investigated in p326 (tryptophan 2, Trp2 and glutamine 2, Gln2, alleles) and p335 (valine 2 or Val2 allele). COL9A3 gene polymorphism was investigated in p17 (glycine 3 or Gly3 allele) and p103 (tryptophan 3 or Trp3 allele). The Val2 allele was significantly decreased in the group with lumbar DDD (p < 0.05). No significant difference in allelic distributions of Trp2, Gln2 and Gly3 was found. The Trp3 allele was absent from all the subjects. The presence of at least one Val2 allele appears to have a protective effect against DDD. However, these should be interpreted with caution, given the limitations. Further investigations are warranted in order to verify such genetic predisposition prior to the potential development of preventative or therapeutic strategies in the near future

Guidance of Autonomous Amphibious Vehicles for Flood Rescue Support

We develop a path-planning algorithm to guide autonomous amphibious vehicles (AAVs) for flood rescue support missions. Specifically, we develop an algorithm to control multiple AAVs to reach/rescue multiple victims (also called targets) in a flood scenario in 2D, where the flood water flows across the scene and the targets move (drifted by the flood water) along the flood stream. A target is said to be rescued if an AAV lies within a circular region of a certain radius around the target. The goal is to control the AAVs such that each target gets rescued while optimizing a certain performance objective. The algorithm design is based on the theory of partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP). In practice, POMDP problems are hard to solve exactly, so we use an approximation method called nominal belief-state optimization (NBO). We compare the performance of the NBO approach with a greedy approach

Prescribing patterns of low doses of antipsychotic medications in older Asian patients with schizophrenia, 2001-2009

Background: This study examined the use of low doses of antipsychotic medications (300mg/day CPZeq or less) in older Asian patients with schizophrenia and its demographic and clinical correlates. Methods: Information on hospitalized patients with schizophrenia, aged 55 years or older, was extracted from the database of the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns (REAP) study (2001-2009). Data on 1,452 patients in eight Asian countries and territories including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, India, and Malaysia were analyzed. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and antipsychotic prescriptions were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure. Results: The prescription frequency for low doses of antipsychotic medications was 40.9% in the pooled sample. Multiple logistic regression analysis of the whole sample showed that patients on low doses of antipsychotic medications were more likely to be female, have an older age, a shorter length of illness, and less positive symptoms. Of patients in the six countries and territories that participated in all the surveys between 2001 and 2009, those in Japan were less likely to receive low doses of antipsychotics. Conclusion: Low doses of antipsychotic medications were only applied in less than half of older Asian patients with schizophreni

ANALISIS SWOT DAN ALTERNATIF STRATEGI BISNIS RAJA ANUGERAH PRINTING

Permasalahan pada Raja Anugerah Printing adalah penurunan penjualan yang terjadi akibat persaingan bisnis. Adanya kondisi ini membuat Raja Anugerah Printing perlu untuk mempertimbangkan sejumlah alternatif strategi baru untuk meningkatkan kinerja bisnisnya secara keseluruhan. Tujuan dilakukannya penelitian ini adalah untuk merancang alternatif strategi yang dapat dilakukan Raja Anugerah Printing untuk meningkatkan kinerja bisnis dengan metode SWOT. Perumusan alternatif strategi untuk mengembangkan bisnis Tenun Aliza dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode analisis Matriks SWOT. Sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah 2 orang pemilik, dan 1 orang karyawan Raja Anugerah Printing serta observasi langsung ke obyek penelitian. Berdasarkan Matriks Internal – Eksternal (I-E), nilai IFAS 3,50 dan EFAS sebesar 3,19 menunjukkan bahwa posisi dari Tenun Batik Aliza ada pada kuadran 1 yaitu dengan strategi tumbuh dan bangun (growth and build). Berdasarkan matriks SWOT akan menghasilkan strategi SO, WO, ST, dan WT sebagai alternative strategi dengan alternatif strategi yaitu kontrak ekslusif dengan café, desain baru cup kekinian, penetapan tier harga dan penggunaan tinta impor sebagai substitusi

miR-155 in the progression of lung fibrosis in systemic sclerosis

Background\ud MicroRNA (miRNA) control key elements of mRNA stability and likely contribute to the dysregulated lung gene expression observed in systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD). We analyzed the miRNA gene expression of tissue and cells from patients with SSc-ILD. A chronic lung fibrotic murine model was used.\ud \ud Methods\ud RNA was isolated from lung tissue of 12 patients with SSc-ILD and 5 controls. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was performed at baseline and 2–3 years after treatment. Lung fibroblasts and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from healthy controls and patients with SSc-ILD. miRNA and mRNA were analyzed by microarray, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and/or Nanostring; pathway analysis was performed by DNA Intelligent Analysis (DIANA)-miRPath v2.0 software. Wild-type and miR-155 deficient (miR-155ko) mice were exposed to bleomycin.\ud \ud Results\ud Lung miRNA microarray data distinguished patients with SSc-ILD from healthy controls with 185 miRNA differentially expressed (q < 0.25). DIANA-miRPath revealed 57 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways related to the most dysregulated miRNA. miR-155 and miR-143 were strongly correlated with progression of the HRCT score. Lung fibroblasts only mildly expressed miR-155/miR-21 after several stimuli. miR-155 PBMC expression strongly correlated with lung function tests in SSc-ILD. miR-155ko mice developed milder lung fibrosis, survived longer, and weaker lung induction of several genes after bleomycin exposure compared to wild-type mice.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud miRNA are dysregulated in the lungs and PBMC of patients with SSc-ILD. Based on mRNA-miRNA interaction analysis and pathway tools, miRNA may play a role in the progression of the disease. Our findings suggest that targeting miR-155 might provide a novel therapeutic strategy for SSc-ILD