Educação à distãncia como ferramenta de promoção das atividades de alimentação e nutrição na Atenção Primária à Saúde: um estudo de caso

Pós-graduação em Enfermagem (mestrado profissional) - FMB

Transcriptional Alterations Related to Neuropathology and Clinical Manifestation of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the human population, characterized by a spectrum of neuropathological abnormalities that results in memory impairment and loss of other cognitive processes as well as the presence of non-cognitive symptoms. Transcriptomic analyses provide an important approach to elucidating the pathogenesis of complex diseases like AD, helping to figure out both pre-clinical markers to identify susceptible patients and the early pathogenic mechanisms to serve as therapeutic targets. This study provides the gene expression profile of postmortem brain tissue from subjects with clinic-pathological AD (Braak IV, V, or V and CERAD B or C; and CDR >= 1), preclinical AD (Braak IV, V, or VI and CERAD B or C; and CDR = 0), and healthy older individuals (Braak <= II and CERAD 0 or A; and CDR = 0) in order to establish genes related to both AD neuropathology and clinical emergence of dementia. Based on differential gene expression, hierarchical clustering and network analysis, genes involved in energy metabolism, oxidative stress, DNA damage/repair, senescence, and transcriptional regulation were implicated with the neuropathology of AD; a transcriptional profile related to clinical manifestation of AD could not be detected with reliability using differential gene expression analysis, although genes involved in synaptic plasticity, and cell cycle seems to have a role revealed by gene classifier. In conclusion, the present data suggest gene expression profile changes secondary to the development of AD-related pathology and some genes that appear to be related to the clinical manifestation of dementia in subjects with significant AD pathology, making necessary further investigations to better understand these transcriptional findings on the pathogenesis and clinical emergence of AD.

Phylogeography of the neotropical Anopheles triannulatus complex (Diptera: Culicidae) supports deep structure and complex patterns

Abstract Background The molecular phylogenetic relationships and population structure of the species of the Anopheles triannulatus complex: Anopheles triannulatus s.s., Anopheles halophylus and the putative species Anopheles triannulatus C were investigated. Methods The mitochondrial COI gene, the nuclear white gene and rDNA ITS2 of samples that include the known geographic distribution of these taxa were analyzed. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using Bayesian inference, Maximum parsimony and Maximum likelihood approaches. Results Each data set analyzed septely yielded a different topology but none provided evidence for the seption of An. halophylus and An. triannulatus C, consistent with the hypothesis that the two are undergoing incipient speciation. The phylogenetic analyses of the white gene found three main clades, whereas the statistical parsimony network detected only a single metapopulation of Anopheles triannulatus s.l. Seven COI lineages were detected by phylogenetic and network analysis. In contrast, the network, but not the phylogenetic analyses, strongly supported three ITS2 groups. Combined data analyses provided the best resolution of the trees, with two major clades, Amazonian (clade I) and trans-Andean + Amazon Delta (clade II). Clade I consists of multiple subclades: An. halophylus + An. triannulatus C; trans-Andean Venezuela; central Amazonia + central Bolivia; Atlantic coastal lowland; and Amazon delta. Clade II includes three subclades: Panama; cis-Andean Colombia; and cis-Venezuela. The Amazon delta specimens are in both clades, likely indicating local sympatry. Spatial and molecular variance analyses detected nine groups, corroborating some of subclades obtained in the combined data analysis. Conclusion Combination of the three molecular markers provided the best resolution for differentiation within An. triannulatus s.s. and An. halophylus and C. The latest two species seem to be very closely related and the analyses performed were not conclusive regarding species differentiation. Further studies including new molecular markers would be desirable to solve this species status question. Besides, results of the study indicate a trans-Andean origin for An. triannulatus s.l. The potential implications for malaria epidemiology remain to be investigated.

Hierarchical multi-label classification using local neural networks

Hierarchical multi-label classification is a complex classification task where the classes involved in the problem are hierarchically structured and each example may simultaneously belong to more than one class in each hierarchical level. In this paper, we extend our previous works, where we investigated a new local-based classification method that incrementally trains a multi-layer perceptron for each level of the classification hierarchy. Predictions made by a neural network in a given level are used as inputs to the neural network responsible for the prediction in the next level. We compare the proposed method with one state-of-the-art decision-tree induction method and two decision-tree induction methods, using several hierarchical multi-label classification datasets. We perform a thorough experimental analysis, showing that our method obtains competitive results to a robust global method regarding both precision and recall evaluation measures.

A control and automation system for wave basins

This paper presents the new active absorption wave basin, named Hydrodynamic Calibrator (HC), constructed at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the Laboratory facilities of the Numerical Offshore Tank (TPN). The square (14 m 14 m) tank is able to generate and absorb waves from 0.5 Hz to 2.0 Hz, by means of 148 active hinged flap wave makers. An independent mechanical system drives each flap by means of a 1HP servo-motor and a ball-screw based transmission system. A customized ultrasonic wave probe is installed in each flap, and is responsible for measuring wave elevation in the flap. A complex automation architecture was implemented, with three Programmable Logic Computers (PLCs), and a low-level software is responsible for all the interlocks and maintenance functions of the tank. Furthermore, all the control algorithms for the generation and absorption are implemented using higher level software (MATLAB /Simulink block diagrams). These algorithms calculate the motions of the wave makers both to generate and absorb the required wave field by taking into account the layout of the flaps and the limits of wave generation. The experimental transfer function that relates the flap amplitude to the wave elevation amplitude is used for the calculation of the motion of each flap. This paper describes the main features of the tank, followed by a detailed presentation of the whole automation system. It includes the measuring devices, signal conditioning, PLC and network architecture, real-time and synchronizing software and motor control loop. Finally, a validation of the whole automation system is presented, by means of the experimental analysis of the transfer function of the waves generated and the calculation of all the delays introduced by the automation system.

Gestión de vídeo distribuido

[ES] El principal objetivo de este Trabajo Final de Grado (TFG) fue la creación de un sistema de gestión de vídeo distribuido utilizando cámaras de videovigilancia IP. Esta propuesta surgió a partir de la idea de ofrecer un acceso simultáneo, tanto online como offline, a las secuencias de vídeo generadas por una red de cámaras IP en un entorno dado. El resultado obtenido fue una infraestructura software ampliable  que ofrece al usuario una serie de funcionalidades con cámaras de red, abstrayéndolo de detalles internos. El trabajo está compuesto por tres elementos claramente diferenciados: integración de cámaras IP, almacenamiento en vídeo y creación del sistema de vídeo distribuido. La integración de cámaras IP tiene como objetivo comunicar al equipo con la cámara de red para la obtención del flujo de imágenes que transmite. Dicha comunicación se establece vía HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) gracias a la interfaz de programación (API) de la que disponen estos dispositivos. El segundo elemento, el almacenamiento en vídeo, tiene como función guardar las imágenes de la cámara IP en archivos de vídeo. De esta manera se ofrece su posterior visualización en diferido. Finalmente, el sistema de vídeo distribuido permite la reproducción simultánea de múltiples vídeos grabados por la red de cámaras IP. Adicionalmente, vídeos grabados por otros dispositivos también son admitidos. El material desarrollado dispone del potencial necesario para convertirse en una herramienta libre de amplio uso en sistemas UNIX para cámaras IP, así como suponer la base de futuros proyectos relacionados con estos dispositivos.

EXAM-S: an Analysis tool for Multi-Domain Policy Sets

As distributed collaborative applications and architectures are adopting policy based management for tasks such as access control, network security and data privacy, the management and consolidation of a large number of policies is becoming a crucial component of such policy based systems. In large-scale distributed collaborative applications like web services, there is the need of analyzing policy interactions and integrating policies. In this thesis, we propose and implement EXAM-S, a comprehensive environment for policy analysis and management, which can be used to perform a variety of functions such as policy property analyses, policy similarity analysis, policy integration etc. As part of this environment, we have proposed and implemented new techniques for the analysis of policies that rely on a deep study of state of the art techniques. Moreover, we propose an approach for solving heterogeneity problems that usually arise when considering the analysis of policies belonging to different domains. Our work focuses on analysis of access control policies written in the dialect of XACML (Extensible Access Control Markup Language). We consider XACML policies because XACML is a rich language which can represent many policies of interest to real world applications and is gaining widespread adoption in the industry.

"Water users must be efficient producers". Women's access to and use of land in Chókwè irrigation scheme, Mozambique

The irrigation scheme Eduardo Mondlane, situated in Chókwè District - in the Southern part of the Gaza province and within the Limpopo River Basin - is the largest in the country, covering approximately 30,000 hectares of land. Built by the Portuguese colonial administration in the 1950s to exploit the agricultural potential of the area through cash-cropping, after Independence it became one of Frelimo’s flagship projects aiming at the “socialization of the countryside” and at agricultural economic development through the creation of a state farm and of several cooperatives. The failure of Frelimo’s economic reforms, several infrastructural constraints and local farmers resistance to collective forms of production led to scheme to a state of severe degradation aggravated by the floods of the year 2000. A project of technical rehabilitation initiated after the floods is currently accompanied by a strong “efficiency” discourse from the managing institution that strongly opposes the use of irrigated land for subsistence agriculture, historically a major livelihood strategy for smallfarmers, particularly for women. In fact, the area has been characterized, since the end of the XIX century, by a stable pattern of male migration towards South African mines, that has resulted in an a steady increase of women-headed households (both de jure and de facto). The relationship between land reform, agricultural development, poverty alleviation and gender equality in Southern Africa is long debated in academic literature. Within this debate, the role of agricultural activities in irrigation schemes is particularly interesting considering that, in a drought-prone area, having access to water for irrigation means increased possibilities of improving food and livelihood security, and income levels. In the case of Chókwè, local governments institutions are endorsing the development of commercial agriculture through initiatives such as partnerships with international cooperation agencies or joint-ventures with private investors. While these business models can sometimes lead to positive outcomes in terms of poverty alleviation, it is important to recognize that decentralization and neoliberal reforms occur in the context of financial and political crisis of the State that lacks the resources to efficiently manage infrastructures such as irrigation systems. This kind of institutional and economic reforms risk accelerating processes of social and economic marginalisation, including landlessness, in particular for poor rural women that mainly use irrigated land for subsistence production. The study combines an analysis of the historical and geographical context with the study of relevant literature and original fieldwork. Fieldwork was conducted between February and June 2007 (where I mainly collected secondary data, maps and statistics and conducted preliminary visit to Chókwè) and from October 2007 to March 2008. Fieldwork methodology was qualitative and used semi-structured interviews with central and local Government officials, technical experts of the irrigation scheme, civil society organisations, international NGOs, rural extensionists, and water users from the irrigation scheme, in particular those women smallfarmers members of local farmers’ associations. Thanks to the collaboration with the Union of Farmers’ Associations of Chókwè, she has been able to participate to members’ meeting, to education and training activities addressed to women farmers members of the Union and to organize a group discussion. In Chókwè irrigation scheme, women account for the 32% of water users of the familiar sector (comprising plot-holders with less than 5 hectares of land) and for just 5% of the private sector. If one considers farmers’ associations of the familiar sector (a legacy of Frelimo’s cooperatives), women are 84% of total members. However, the security given to them by the land title that they have acquired through occupation is severely endangered by the use that they make of land, that is considered as “non efficient” by the irrigation scheme authority. Due to a reduced access to marketing possibilities and to inputs, training, information and credit women, in actual fact, risk to see their right to access land and water revoked because they are not able to sustain the increasing cost of the water fee. The myth of the “efficient producer” does not take into consideration the characteristics of inequality and gender discrimination of the neo-liberal market. Expecting small-farmers, and in particular women, to be able to compete in the globalized agricultural market seems unrealistic, and can perpetuate unequal gendered access to resources such as land and water.

Antecedents and consequences of individual flexibility in project-based organizations

In the last decades, the increasing significance of “projectivization” (Lundin & Steinthórsson, 2003) has stimulated considerable interest in project-based organizations as new economic actors able to introduce a new logic of organizing work and weakening boundaries in favour of networks of collaborations. In these contexts, work is often delegated to project teams. Deciding whom to put on a project team is one of the biggest challenges faced by a project manager; in particular which characteristics rely on to compose and match effective teams. We address this issue, focusing on the individual flexibility (Raudsepp, 1990), as team composition variable that affects project team performance. Thus, the research question investigated is: Is it better to compose project teams with flexible team members or not flexible project team members to achieve higher levels of project performance? The temporary nature of PBOs involves that after achieving the purpose for which team members are enrolled, they are disbanded but their relationships remain, allowing them to be involved in future projects (Starkey, Barnatt & Tempest, 2000). Pre-existing relationships together with the current relationships create a network of relationships that yields some implications for project teams as well as for team members. We address this issue, exploring the following research question: To what extent is the individual flexibility influenced by the network structure? The conceptual framework is used to articulate the research questions investigated with respect to the Television drama serials production. Their project-team organizing combined with their capacity to dissolve and recreate over time make it an interesting field to develop. We contribute to the organizational literature, providing a clear operationalization of individual flexibility construct and its role on affecting project performance. Second, we contribute to the organizational network literature addressing the effects yielded by the network structure-structural holes and network closure- on the individual flexibility.

Topological aspects of the human protein interaction network

It is currently widely accepted that the understanding of complex cell functions depends on an integrated network theoretical approach and not on an isolated view of the different molecular agents. Aim of this thesis was the examination of topological properties that mirror known biological aspects by depicting the human protein network with methods from graph- and network theory. The presented network is a partial human interactome of 9222 proteins and 36324 interactions, consisting of single interactions reliably extracted from peer-reviewed scientific publications. In general, one can focus on intra- or intermodular characteristics, where a functional module is defined as "a discrete entity whose function is separable from those of other modules". It is found that the presented human network is also scale-free and hierarchically organised, as shown for yeast networks before. The interactome also exhibits proteins with high betweenness and low connectivity which are biologically analyzed and interpreted here as shuttling proteins between organelles (e.g. ER to Golgi, internal ER protein translocation, peroxisomal import, nuclear pores import/export) for the first time. As an optimisation for finding proteins that connect modules, a new method is developed here based on proteins located between highly clustered regions, rather than regarding highly connected regions. As a proof of principle, the Mediator complex is found in first place, the prime example for a connector complex. Focusing on intramodular aspects, the measurement of k-clique communities discriminates overlapping modules very well. Twenty of the largest identified modules are analysed in detail and annotated to known biological structures (e.g. proteasome, the NFκB-, TGF-β complex). Additionally, two large and highly interconnected modules for signal transducer and transcription factor proteins are revealed, separated by known shuttling proteins. These proteins yield also the highest number of redundant shortcuts (by calculating the skeleton), exhibit the highest numbers of interactions and might constitute highly interconnected but spatially separated rich-clubs either for signal transduction or for transcription factors. This design principle allows manifold regulatory events for signal transduction and enables a high diversity of transcription events in the nucleus by a limited set of proteins. Altogether, biological aspects are mirrored by pure topological features, leading to a new view and to new methods that assist the annotation of proteins to biological functions, structures and subcellular localisations. As the human protein network is one of the most complex networks at all, these results will be fruitful for other fields of network theory and will help understanding complex network functions in general.

Evaluation of the photosynthetic efficiency of sweet sorghum under drought and cold conditions

Sweet sorghum, a C4 crop of tropical origin, is gaining momentum as a multipurpose feedstock to tackle the growing environmental, food and energy security demands. Under temperate climates sweet sorghum is considered as a potential bioethanol feedstock, however, being a relatively new crop in such areas its physiological and metabolic adaptability has to be evaluated; especially to the more frequent and severe drought spells occurring throughout the growing season and to the cold temperatures during the establishment period of the crop. The objective of this thesis was to evaluate some adaptive photosynthetic traits of sweet sorghum to drought and cold stress, both under field and controlled conditions. To meet such goal, a series of experiments were carried out. A new cold-tolerant sweet sorghum genotype was sown in rhizotrons of 1 m3 in order to evaluate its tolerance to progressive drought until plant death at young and mature stages. Young plants were able to retain high photosynthetic rate for 10 days longer than mature plants. Such response was associated to the efficient PSII down-regulation capacity mediated by light energy dissipation, closure of reaction centers (JIP-test parameters), and accumulation of glucose and sucrose. On the other hand, when sweet sorghum plants went into blooming stage, neither energy dissipation nor sugar accumulation counteracted the negative effect of drought. Two hybrids with contrastable cold tolerance, selected from an early sowing field trial were subjected to chilling temperatures under controlled growth conditions to evaluate in deep their physiological and metabolic cold adaptation mechanisms. The hybrid which poorly performed under field conditions (ICSSH31), showed earlier metabolic changes (Chl a + b, xanthophyll cycle) and greater inhibition of enzymatic activity (Rubisco and PEPcase activity) than the cold tolerant hybrid (Bulldozer). Important insights on the potential adaptability of sweet sorghum to temperate climates are given.

The secret life of software applications

One of the most undervalued problems by smartphone users is the security of data on their mobile devices. Today smartphones and tablets are used to send messages and photos and especially to stay connected with social networks, forums and other platforms. These devices contain a lot of private information like passwords, phone numbers, private photos, emails, etc. and an attacker may choose to steal or destroy this information. The main topic of this thesis is the security of the applications present on the most popular stores (App Store for iOS and Play Store for Android) and of their mechanisms for the management of security. The analysis is focused on how the architecture of the two systems protects users from threats and highlights the real presence of malware and spyware in their respective application stores. The work described in subsequent chapters explains the study of the behavior of 50 Android applications and 50 iOS applications performed using network analysis software. Furthermore, this thesis presents some statistics about malware and spyware present on the respective stores and the permissions they require. At the end the reader will be able to understand how to recognize malicious applications and which of the two systems is more suitable for him. This is how this thesis is structured. The first chapter introduces the security mechanisms of the Android and iOS platform architectures and the security mechanisms of their respective application stores. The Second chapter explains the work done, what, why and how we have chosen the tools needed to complete our analysis. The third chapter discusses about the execution of tests, the protocol followed and the approach to assess the “level of danger” of each application that has been checked. The fourth chapter explains the results of the tests and introduces some statistics on the presence of malicious applications on Play Store and App Store. The fifth chapter is devoted to the study of the users, what they think about and how they might avoid malicious applications. The sixth chapter seeks to establish, following our methodology, what application store is safer. In the end, the seventh chapter concludes the thesis.

Welche Typen von Autokratien sind leistungsfähiger und warum? : eine empirische Analyse auf Grundlage der Selektoratstheorie = Which type of autocracy performs better, and why?

Performanzunterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Autokratietypen wie Monarchien, Militär-, Ein-Parteien- und begrenzten Mehr-Parteien-Regimen sind bis auf wenige Ausnahmen bisher relativ unerforscht. Deshalb widmet sich diese Arbeit folgenden Forschungsfragen: Gibt es Performanzunterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Autokratietypen? Wenn ja, wie gestalten sich diese und wie lassen sie sich erklären? Auf Grundlage der Selektoratstheorie von Bueno de Mesquite et al. wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass die Performanz politischer Regime mit der Größe der Winning Coalition steigt. Da verschiedene Autokratietypen unterschiedlich große Winning Coalitions haben, wird angenommen, dass es deutliche Performanzunterschiede zwischen diesen Typen gibt. Als Performanzkriterien dienen in dieser Arbeit wirtschaftlicher Wohlstand, soziale Sicherheit und ökologische Nachhaltigkeit. Aus diesen drei Kriterien wird zusätzlich ein Indikator allgemeiner Performanz gebildet. Die empirische Untersuchung erfolgt mit den Daten des Quality-of-Governement-Datensatzes und erstreckt sich über 140 autokratische Länder im Zeitraum von 1972 bis 2010. Die Daten werden mittels Time-Series-Cross-Section-Regressionen analysiert. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen entsprechen nur teilweise den Erwartungen. Die Größe der Winning Coalition wirkt positiv auf die wirtschaftliche Wohlfahrt und die soziale Sicherheit und damit auch auf die allgemeine Performanz aus. Entgegen den Erwartungen sinkt die ökologische Performanz jedoch mit steigender Größe der Winning Coalition. Auch die Befunde bezüglich der Performanz verschiedener Autokratietypen entsprechen nicht den Erwartungen. So sind Ein-Parteien-Regime insgesamt leistungsfähiger als Mehr-Parteien-Regime, Militär-Regime und Monarchien. Militär-Regime sind leistungsfähiger als Monarchien und tendenziell auch als Mehr-Parteien-Regime.

Climate change in Libya and desertification of Jifara Plain

The study was arranged to manifest its objectives through preceding it with an intro-duction. Particular attention was paid in the second part to detect the physical settings of the study area, together with an attempt to show the climatic characteristics in Libya. In the third part, observed temporal and spatial climate change in Libya was investigated through the trends of temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and cloud amount over the peri-ods (1946-2000), (1946-1975), and (1976-2000), comparing the results with the global scales. The forth part detected the natural and human causes of climate change concentrat-ing on the greenhouse effect. The potential impacts of climate change on Libya were ex-amined in the fifth chapter. As a case study, desertification of Jifara Plain was studied in the sixth part. In the seventh chapter, projections and mitigations of climate change and desertification were discussed. Ultimately, the main results and recommendations of the study were summarized. In order to carry through the objectives outlined above, the following methods and approaches were used: a simple linear regression analysis was computed to detect the trends of climatic parameters over time; a trend test based on a trend-to-noise-ratio was applied for detecting linear or non-linear trends; the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test for trend was used to reveal the behavior of the trends and their significance; PCA was applied to construct the all-Libya climatic parameters trends; aridity index after Walter-Lieth was shown for computing humid respectively arid months in Libya; correlation coefficient, (after Pearson) for detecting the teleconnection between sun spot numbers, NAOI, SOI, GHGs, and global warming, climate changes in Libya; aridity index, after De Martonne, to elaborate the trends of aridity in Jifara Plain; Geographical Information System and Re-mote Sensing techniques were applied to clarify the illustrations and to monitor desertifi-cation of Jifara Plain using the available satellite images MSS, TM, ETM+ and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The results are explained by 88 tables, 96 figures and 10 photos. Temporal and spatial temperature changes in Libya indicated remarkably different an-nual and seasonal trends over the long observation period 1946-2000 and the short obser-vation periods 1946-1975 and 1976-2000. Trends of mean annual temperature were posi-tive at all study stations except at one from 1946-2000, negative trends prevailed at most stations from 1946-1975, while strongly positive trends were computed at all study stations from 1976-2000 corresponding with the global warming trend. Positive trends of mean minimum temperatures were observed at all reference stations from 1946-2000 and 1976-2000, while negative trends prevailed at most stations over the period 1946-1975. For mean maximum temperature, positive trends were shown from 1946-2000 and from 1976-2000 at most stations, while most trends were negative from 1946-1975. Minimum tem-peratures increased at nearly more than twice the rate of maximum temperatures at most stations. In respect of seasonal temperature, warming mostly occurred in summer and au-tumn in contrast to the global observations identifying warming mostly in winter and spring in both study periods. Precipitation across Libya is characterized by scanty and sporadically totals, as well as high intensities and very high spatial and temporal variabilities. From 1946-2000, large inter-annual and intra-annual variabilities were observed. Positive trends of annual precipi-tation totals have been observed from 1946-2000, negative trends from 1976-2000 at most stations. Variabilities of seasonal precipitation over Libya are more strikingly experienced from 1976-2000 than from 1951-1975 indicating a growing magnitude of climate change in more recent times. Negative trends of mean annual relative humidity were computed at eight stations, while positive trends prevailed at seven stations from 1946-2000. For the short observation period 1976-2000, positive trends were computed at most stations. Annual cloud amount totals decreased at most study stations in Libya over both long and short periods. Re-markably large spatial variations of climate changes were observed from north to south over Libya. Causes of climate change were discussed showing high correlation between tempera-ture increasing over Libya and CO2 emissions; weakly positive correlation between pre-cipitation and North Atlantic Oscillation index; negative correlation between temperature and sunspot numbers; negative correlation between precipitation over Libya and Southern Oscillation Index. The years 1992 and 1993 were shown as the coldest in the 1990s result-ing from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, 1991. Libya is affected by climate change in many ways, in particular, crop production and food security, water resources, human health, population settlement and biodiversity. But the effects of climate change depend on its magnitude and the rate with which it occurs. Jifara Plain, located in northwestern Libya, has been seriously exposed to desertifica-tion as a result of climate change, landforms, overgrazing, over-cultivation and population growth. Soils have been degraded, vegetation cover disappeared and the groundwater wells were getting dry in many parts. The effect of desertification on Jifara Plain appears through reducing soil fertility and crop productivity, leading to long-term declines in agri-cultural yields, livestock yields, plant standing biomass, and plant biodiversity. Desertifi-cation has also significant implications on livestock industry and the national economy. Desertification accelerates migration from rural and nomadic areas to urban areas as the land cannot support the original inhabitants. In the absence of major shifts in policy, economic growth, energy prices, and con-sumer trends, climate change in Libya and desertification of Jifara Plain are expected to continue in the future. Libya cooperated with United Nations and other international organizations. It has signed and ratified a number of international and regional agreements which effectively established a policy framework for actions to mitigate climate change and combat deserti-fication. Libya has implemented several laws and legislative acts, with a number of ancil-lary and supplementary rules to regulate. Despite the current efforts and ongoing projects being undertaken in Libya in the field of climate change and desertification, urgent actions and projects are needed to mitigate climate change and combat desertification in the near future.

Optimized quantitative magnetic resonance spectroscopy for clinical routine

Several practical obstacles in data handling and evaluation complicate the use of quantitative localized magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qMRS) in clinical routine MR examinations. To overcome these obstacles, a clinically feasible MR pulse sequence protocol based on standard available MR pulse sequences for qMRS has been implemented along with newly added functionalities to the free software package jMRUI-v5.0 to make qMRS attractive for clinical routine. This enables (a) easy and fast DICOM data transfer from the MR console and the qMRS-computer, (b) visualization of combined MR spectroscopy and imaging, (c) creation and network transfer of spectroscopy reports in DICOM format, (d) integration of advanced water reference models for absolute quantification, and (e) setup of databases containing normal metabolite concentrations of healthy subjects. To demonstrate the work-flow of qMRS using these implementations, databases for normal metabolite concentration in different regions of brain tissue were created using spectroscopic data acquired in 55 normal subjects (age range 6-61 years) using 1.5T and 3T MR systems, and illustrated in one clinical case of typical brain tumor (primitive neuroectodermal tumor). The MR pulse sequence protocol and newly implemented software functionalities facilitate the incorporation of qMRS and reference to normal value metabolite concentration data in daily clinical routine. Magn Reson Med, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.