As COVID-19 hit in the Spring of 2020, substantial challenges began to emerge for individuals around the world. In this empirical piece we examine the impacts of COVID-19 in the sport for development (SFD) context, as it relates to the individual participant, as well as how those individual needs impact the organization itself. This case study, explores a hybrid SFD organization, Highway of Hope (HOH) in Kenya, and the actions of local leadership in response to emergent participant needs during the onset of the pandemic. Using a case study approach, involving journal responses from program youth participants and local program leadership, along with other field and meeting notes, themes were generated to highlight the most salient challenges and experiences faced by individual participants, as well as the means of addressing those challenges by HOH. Participant journals consisted of both positive and negative thematic findings. Positive experiences included Family Time, Rest, and Practicing Better Hygiene, while negative experiences revolved around Restriction of Activity, and Difficulty at Home. The overall impact on participant lives were expressed in themes such as Socio-emotional, Physical, and Sport-Specific. Further, practical implications for grassroots and hybrid SFD programs during times of unprecedented challenge and notable turning points are highlighted.

Keywords: case study; girls sport; hybrid organizations; lifecourse theory; sport for development.

Wildlife disease surveillance and pathogen detection are fundamental for conservation, population sustainability, and public health. Detection of pathogens in snakes is often overlooked despite their essential roles as both predators and prey within their communities. Ophidiomycosis (formerly referred to as Snake Fungal Disease, SFD), an emergent disease on the North American landscape caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, poses a threat to snake population health and stability. We tested 657 individual snakes representing 58 species in 31 states from 56 military bases in the continental US and Puerto Rico for O. ophiodiicola. Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola DNA was detected in samples from 113 snakes for a prevalence of 17.2% (95% CI: 14.4-20.3%), representing 25 species from 19 states/territories, including the first reports of the pathogen in snakes in Idaho, Oklahoma, and Puerto Rico. Most animals were ophidiomycosis negative (n = 462), with Ophidiomyces detected by qPCR (n = 64), possible ophidiomycosis (n = 82), and apparent ophidiomycosis (n = 49) occurring less frequently. Adults had 2.38 times greater odds than juveniles of being diagnosed with ophidiomycosis. Snakes from Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all had greater odds of ophidiomycosis diagnosis, while snakes from Idaho were less likely to be diagnosed with ophidiomycosis. The results of this survey indicate that this pathogen is endemic in the eastern US and identified new sites that could represent emergence or improved detection of endemic sites. The direct mortality of snakes with ophidiomycosis is unknown from this study, but the presence of numerous individuals with clinical disease warrants further investigation and possible conservation action.

We present a spatial-frequency domain (SFD) fluorescence tomography (FT) for acquiring three-dimensional fluorophore distribution in turbid media. The approach uses a composited epi-illumination of multi-frequency sinusoidal patterns on a sample of semi-infinite geometry and demodulates the measured data with a generalized phase shifting scheme to calculate the modulation transfer function (MTF) at each frequency. This method results in a significantly reduced number of the optical field measurements, as compared to those with separate illumination of single-frequency sinusoidal patterns, and, thereby, achieves a fast data acquisition that is desired for a dynamic imaging application. Fluorescence yield images are recovered with the normalized Born formulated inversion of the diffusion model by simultaneously using the multi-frequency MTFs. Simulative and experimental reconstructions are performed in comparison with the single-frequency scheme to validate the proposed algorithm. The results suggest that adoption of the multi-frequency strategy to the SFD-FT can substantially improve the reconstruction quality, as well as its imaging resolution and quantitative accuracy.

OBJECTIVE

The Monte Carlo calculation algorithm in the MultiPlan (Accuray, Palo Alto, CA) treatment planning system used for CyberKnife (Accuray) robotic radiosurgery requires in-air measurements. In this study, results were compared for the impact of build-up caps using a diode detector for small field in-air measurements.

METHODS

Two acrylic caps custom-made for the SFD diode detector (IBA, Germany) of two thicknesses were compared against free-in-air measurements. The 1.5 and 5 cm thicknesses correspond to Dmax and a depth beyond the range of electron contamination, respectively. A Blue Phantom (IBA) was used to position the diode 80 cm SAD. Measurements were made for all 12 fixed cones ranging from 5 to 60 mm.

RESULTS

For the 5 mm cone, there is a 15.6% and 20.0% difference in the Sc factor between the 1.5 cm and 5 cm buildup caps, respectively, versus the free-in-air measurement. For the 7.5 mm cone, the difference is 6.3% and 10.4% for the 1.5 cm and 5 cm buildup caps, respectively, versus the free-in-air measurement. While generally decreasing, the Sc factor for either buildup cap does not agree within 2% to free-in-air measurements until the cone used is larger than 40 mm. Overall, the two buildup caps yield similar Sc factors and the differences observed are attributed to electron contamination.

CONCLUSIONS

The Monte Carlo calculation algorithm used by the CyberKnife planning manual does not refer to any build-up caps. This study has shown that, particularly for small fields, there are large differences in Sc factors measured with and without buildup caps. In general, for fields smaller than 10 mm, build-up caps should be carefully chosen, especially in commissioning data.

Sport is widely recognised for the contribution it can make to international development goals. More specifically, the value of sport as a tool for development gained its impetus through the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The institutionalized relationship between sport and development has mainly focussed on sport-for-development (SfD) non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This study proposed to examine the response of National Sports Associations (NSAs) towards the multisectoral approach for HIV/AIDS prevention in Zambia. The study draws on lessons learnt from how NSAs within a resource-scarce or low-income country responded to a health pandemic. While public health was previously a state and health sector preserve, the impact of HIV/AIDS pandemic influenced not only the way that a pandemic is managed but also other public health issues. A case study approach was adopted comprising of three National Sports Associations (NSAs) as units of analysis. The study utilised semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis and field observations to gain perspectives on how each NSA mainstreamed and implemented work-based health programmes. Using governance and policy network theories, the paper discusses each NSAs' role in the governance and implementation of a multisectoral approach to a health pandemic. The findings identified lack of engagement of sports agencies at strategic decision-making level, marginalisation of sport by other sectors, and variations in implementation patterns among sports agencies. Further findings indicate that lack of resources among government sport agencies or departments limited their involvement with other state or non-state actors in strategic level meetings or health policy networks. Resource-scarce conditions placed limitations on the political steer of state actors while non-state actors with foreign resources attracted collaboration from other public health policy networks.

The performance of spintronics depends on the spin polarization of the current. In this study half-metallic Co-based full-Heusler alloys and a spin filtering device (SFD) using a ferromagnetic barrier have been investigated as highly spin-polarized current sources. The multilayers were prepared by magnetron sputtering in an ultrahigh vacuum and microfabricated using photolithography and Ar ion etching. We investigated two systems of Co-based full-Heusler alloys, Co2Cr1 - x Fe x Al (CCFA(x)) and Co2FeSi1 - x Al x (CFSA(x)) and revealed the structure and magnetic and transport properties. We demonstrated giant tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of up to 220% at room temperature and 390% at 5 K for the magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) using Co2FeSi0.5Al0.5 (CFSA(0.5)) Heusler alloy electrodes. The 390% TMR corresponds to 0.81 spin polarization for CFSA(0.5) at 5 K. We also investigated the crystalline structure and local structure around Co atoms by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses, respectively, for CFSA films sputtered on a Cr-buffered MgO (001) substrate followed by post-annealing at various temperatures in an ultrahigh vacuum. The disordered structures in CFSA films were clarified by NMR measurements and the relationship between TMR and the disordered structure was discussed. We clarified that the TMR of the MTJs with CFSA(0.5) electrodes depends on the structure, and is significantly higher for L21 than B2 in the crystalline structure. The second part of this paper is devoted to a SFD using a ferromagnetic barrier. The Co ferrite is investigated as a ferromagnetic barrier because of its high Curie temperature and high resistivity. We demonstrate the strong spin filtering effect through an ultrathin insulating ferrimagnetic Co-ferrite barrier at a low temperature. The barrier was prepared by the surface plasma oxidization of a CoFe2 film deposited on a MgO (001) single crystal substrate, wherein the spinel structure of CoFe2O4 (CFO) and an epitaxial relationship of MgO(001)[100]/CoFe2 (001)]110]/CFO(001)[100] were induced. A SFD consisting of CoFe2 /CFO/Ta on a MgO (001) substrate exhibits the inverse TMR of - 124% at 10 K when the configuration of the magnetizations of CFO and CoFe2 changes from parallel to antiparallel. The inverse TMR suggests the negative spin polarization of CFO, which is consistent with the band structure of CFO obtained by first principle calculation. The - 124% TMR corresponds to the spin filtering efficiency of 77% by the CFO barrier.

A study was made of the results of therapy of 66 patients with maxillary cancer, of them 31 (a control group) received routine therapy by a method of summary focal dose (SFD) fractionation--60-70 Gy. In the study group (35 patients) treatment was started with large fractions at a dose of 5 Gy 2 times a week up to SFD of 20 Gy using metronidazole 2.5-3 h before each of the first 4 large fractions and continued using a course with SFD up to 52 Gy by common fractionation. Staged assessment of the results of radiotherapy was done when the summary dose reached 40 Gy in the control group and 32 Gy in the study group. Complete regression of a tumor or a decrease in its volume by more than 50% at these doses were noted in 13 (41.9%) patients of the control group and in 23 (65.7%) patients of the study group. After combined treatment of a slightly decreased tumor preirradiated in a summary dose of 40 Gy and 32 Gy the 3-year recurrence-free survival was noted in 72.2% (13 patients) in the control group and in 91.7% (11 patients) in the study group. The results obtained are indicative of a marked radiosensitizing effect of metronidazole in radical radiation and combined radiation therapy of maxillary cancer improving long-term results.

OBJECTIVE

To find out the outcome of laser photocoagulation in clinically significant macular edema (CSME) by optical coherence tomography (OCT) METHODS: It was a prospective, non-controlled, case series study enrolling 81 eyes of 64 patients with CSME between August 2008 and January 2010. All patients received modified grid photocoagulation with frequency doubled Nd: YAG laser. Each patient was evaluated in terms of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and regression or progression of maculopathy after laser therapy at 1, 3 and 6 months. Spearman's correlation test was used to show the correlation between BCVA and total macular volume (TMV). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare among groups and independent t-test was used to compare in each group.

RESULTS

There is high correlation between BCVA and TMV (P≤0.001). BCVA improved in 50.6 %, remained static in 39.5% and deteriorated in 9.9% patients after 6 month of treatment. The Baseline TMV (mean and SD) were 9.26±1.83, 10.4±2.38), 11.5±3.05), 8.89±0.75 and 9.47±1.98mm(3) for different OCT patterns, ST (sponge like thickening), CMO (cystoid macular edema), SFD (subfoveal detachment), VMIA (Vitreo macular interface abnormality) and average TMV respectively (P=0.04). After 6 months of laser treatment, the mean TMV decreased from 9.47±1.98mm(3) to 8.77±1.31mm(3) (P=0.01). In ST there was significant decrease in TMV, P=0.01, Further within these groups at 6 months, they were significantly different, P=0.01.

CONCLUSIONS

OCT showed the different morphological variant of CSME while the response of treatment is different. TMV decreased the most and hence showed the improvement in vision after 6 months of laser treatment. In the era of Anti vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs), efficacy of laser seems to be in shadow but it is still first line of treatment in developing nation like Nepal where antiVEGFs may not be easily available and affordable.

1. Based upon our previous work, we came to the conclusion that a decrease in placental blood volume was a possible factor behind intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) in pregnancy-induced hypertension. 2. In a second study, we used an image analysis system to measure cross-sectional areas and wall thicknesses of central blood vessels of the spiral artery, the so-called 'central artery'. 3. It was thought that one of the more basic factors behind IUGR in pregnancy-induced hypertension might possibly be narrowings and spasms of the maternal placental blood vessels. 4. In this study, we found that the three drugs we used (MgSO4 center dot 7H2O, Solcoseryl and KCl) all resulted in an enlargement of the cross-sectional areas of the maternal blood vessels, and that MgSO4 center dot 7H2O, in particular, also relaxed maternal blood vessel spasms in SHRSP placenta.

The taiga tick (Icodes persulcatus, Schulze, 1930) is the main and most epidemiologically dangerous vector of tick-born encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Borrelia in most parts of Russia's territory (Alekseev et al., 2008). The purpose of this article is to describe the incidence rate of I. persulcatus males with exoskeleton anomalies in populations of the Asiatic part of Russia. A total of 2630 taiga tick males were morphologically analyzed. They were collected in Far Eastern, Siberian and Ural Federal Districts (respectively, FEFD, SFD, UFD) in 15 geographically remote locations. It is shown that in all populations there are adult ticks with impaired exoskeleton, among which two types dominate: twin dents at the back of conscutum (P11), and uneven surface of conscutum - a "shagreen skin" (P9). The frequency of abnormalities in males from the areas with temperate monsoon and temperate continental climate (FEFD) was definitely lower (6.5 ± 1.05 %), than in individuals from the territories of SFD (29.7 ± 1.03 %) and UFD (25.8 ± 3.93 %) with continental and sharply continental climate. FEFD territory is also characterized by a less number of males having two simultaneous exoskeleton anomalies. Similar district-preconditioned differences in the frequency of recorded body distortions are also typical of females, with a higher percentage of deviant individuals in comparison with males. Thus, the identified polymorphism of exoskeleton structure of the taiga tick may reflect the natural phenogeographical variability of this trait and might not be the result of human impact.

Security breaches are a major threat in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). WSNs are increasingly used due to their broad range of important applications in both military and civilian domains. WSNs are prone to several types of security attacks. Sensor nodes have limited capacities and are often deployed in dangerous locations; therefore, they are vulnerable to different types of attacks, including wormhole, sinkhole, and selective forwarding attacks. Security attacks are classified as data traffic and routing attacks. These security attacks could affect the most significant applications of WSNs, namely, military surveillance, traffic monitoring, and healthcare. Therefore, there are different approaches to detecting security attacks on the network layer in WSNs. Reliability, energy efficiency, and scalability are strong constraints on sensor nodes that affect the security of WSNs. Because sensor nodes have limited capabilities in most of these areas, selective forwarding attacks cannot be easily detected in networks. In this paper, we propose an approach to selective forwarding detection (SFD). The approach has three layers: MAC pool IDs, rule-based processing, and anomaly detection. It maintains the safety of data transmission between a source node and base station while detecting selective forwarding attacks. Furthermore, the approach is reliable, energy efficient, and scalable.

The generic problem of extracting information on intrinsic particle properties from the whole class of interacting magnetic fine particle systems is a long standing and difficult inverse problem. As an example, the Switching Field Distribution (SFD) is an important quantity in the characterization of magnetic systems, and its determination in many technological applications, such as recording media, is especially challenging. Techniques such as the first order reversal curve (FORC) methods, were developed to extract the SFD from macroscopic measurements. However, all methods rely on separating the contributions to the measurements of the intrinsic SFD and the extrinsic effects of magnetostatic and exchange interactions. We investigate the underlying physics of the FORC method by applying it to the output predictions of a kinetic Monte-Carlo model with known input parameters. We show that the FORC method is valid only in cases of weak spatial correlation of the magnetisation and suggest a more general approach.

In order to assess the possible influence of fetal polypeptide hormones on birth size, somatomedin-like receptor activity (SmLRA) (n = 281), prolactin (n = 158), growth hormone (n = 133) and insulin (n = 108) concentrations were measured in the cord blood of 281 singleton infants born after different complications of pregnancy. Infant sex did not significantly affect the concentration of any hormone. SmLRA concentrations appeared to rise from 25 to 38 weeks of gestation, but thereafter fell. Concentrations of prolactin, growth hormone and insulin correlated negatively with gestational age. Insulin emerged as the hormone most clearly related to fetal growth, since concentrations were high (mean +/- SD = 20.6 +/- 11.5 uU/ml) in serum from infants of diabetic mothers (IDM) and other large-for-dates infants (10.1 +/- 4.8 uU/ml), but low (5.3 +/- 0.5 uU/ml) in infants who were small-for-dates (SFD). In contrast, SmLRA concentrations were high in serum from SFD infants (0.63 +/- 0.29 U/ml) and low in IDM (0.43 +/- 0.16 U/ml). Prolactin concentrations were higher in serum from SFD infants (212 +/- 101 ng/ml) and from IDM (237 +/- 182 ng/ml) than from normal infants born at term (139 +/- 68 ng/ml). Administration of intramuscular betamethasone to pregnant women in premature labour resulted in significant elevations in the concentrations of prolactin and insulin in cord blood.

Nineteen mothers and their children, aged from 1--24 months born as "small for date" (SFD) were investigated. The lymphocytotoxicity test performed in the SFD mothers showed in comparison with the control group differences near the borderline of statistical significance. HL-A-1, or A-l with A-10 was more often found in SFD, than in control children.

Single-file diffusion (SFD) of an infinite one-dimensional chain of interacting particles has a long-time mean-square displacement ∝t(1/2), independent of the type of interparticle repulsive interaction. This behavior is also observed in finite-size chains, although only for certain intervals of time t depending on the chain length L, followed by the ∝t for t→∞, as we demonstrate for a closed circular chain of diffusing interacting particles. Here, we show that spatial correlation of noise slows down SFD and can result, depending on the amount of correlated noise, in either subdiffusive behavior ∝tα, where 0<α<1/2, or even in a total suppression of diffusion (in the limit N→∞). Spatial correlation can explain the subdiffusive behavior in recent SFD experiments in circular channels.

The IBA Razor diode supersedes the IBA SFD and is intended for use in small fields. However, its behaviour in small fields has not yet been quantified. In this work, we examine the response of the Razor diode against the air core scintillation dosimeter (FOD) and Gafchromic film in photon beams from three Varian linac beams. Fields between 4mm and 30mm in width were measured, both with and without a flattening filter and at two energies. The Razor exhibited an over-response of up to 4.5% for MLC collimated fields and 7.1% for stereotactic cone collimated fields. The presence of the flattening filter altered the over-response by up to 1.5%. The small field correction factors are tabulated and agree with the mathematical relation of Liu et al. (2014). Four samples of the Razor were used, two having received a significant prior dose. The correction factors for the four samples differed and may depend on their dose history.

The IgG, IgA and IgM levels were determined by the technique of radial immunodiffusion of Mancini et al. in 40 SFD and 30 normal control newborn infants. The mean value of IgG concentrations was found to be raised but without statistical significance when compared with control. On the contrary the increased mean amounts of IgM were statistically significant.

A patient with a family history of molecularly confirmed Sorsby fundus dystrophy (SFD) presented with 9 years of progressive, bilateral central vision loss. Specific mutation analysis of the TIMP3 gene confirmed SFD, identifying a pathogenic mutation of p.Ser204Cys:c.610A>T. Optical coherence tomography imaging revealed diffuse retinal, retinal pigment epithelium, and choroidal atrophy without evidence for choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Although SFD is classically associated with CNV and subretinal fibrosis, some cases follow an atrophic course in the absence of CNV formation. This case highlights the extent to which extensive atrophic degeneration can lead to visual disability without choroidal neovascularization in late-stage SFD. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019;50:e215-e217.].

Hypoxia in rodents and humans is associated with a reduction of body fat on the one hand, and with enhanced expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), the main inhibitor of the fibrinolytic system, on the other hand. It was the objective of this study to investigate whether impairment of adipose tissue development by hypoxia may be mediated by PAI-1. Five week old male wild-type (WT) C57Bl/6 mice were fed a standard (SFD) or high fat (HFD) diet and kept under normoxic or hypoxic (10% O(2)) conditions. In addition, PAI-1 deficient mice and WT littermates were kept on HFD under normoxia or hypoxia. In vitro, the effect of hypoxia (2% O(2)) was investigated on differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes. Hypoxia induced a significant reduction of weight gain in WT mice on either SFD or HFD, accompanied by lower weights of subcutaneous (SC) and gonadal (GON) fat. Under hypoxic conditions, adipocytes in the adipose tissues were significantly smaller, whereas blood vessel size and density were larger. Serum PAI-1 levels were enhanced in hypoxic mice on SFD but not on HFD, and overall did not correlate with the observed changes in adipose tissue composition. Furthermore, the effects of hypoxia on adipose tissue in mice on HFD were not affected by deficiency of PAI-1. The inhibiting effect of hypoxia on in vitro preadipocyte differentiation was not mediated by PAI-1 activity. In conclusion, impairment of in vivo adipose tissue development and in vitro differentiation of preadipocytes by hypoxia is not mediated by PAI-1.

Female sexuality is a controversial issue due to its embarrassment and to paucity of literature publications. The neuroanatomy and neuromediators involved in female sexuality are important but not so fundamental as in men. There are three sexual female dysfunctions (SFD): primary, secondary, tertiary. In the primary one, the sexual dysfunction (SD) is correlated to the neurological disease, in the secondary the SD derives from the symptoms of the neurological disease, in the tertiary the SD is the psychological reaction to the effects of the disease. We analyse the FSD in neurological diseases, as the outcome of medulla trauma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Alzheimer, Parkinson, diabetes, outcome of pelvic surgery. Female sexuality (FS) is difficult and complex compared to male sexuality. Women with medulla lesion feel some discomfort when having to go and speak to their doctor: they are afraid of pregnancy, sexual intercourses, bladder and rectal functions. In women with newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis, there is a tertiary sexual dysfunction. Medical therapy worsens female sexuality as in case of epilepsy. Emotional and behavioural disorders involve sexual dysfunctions in women with Alzheimer. In Parkinson, reduction of sexual desire involves break of sexual intercourses. SD are more frequent in complicated diabetes. In pelvic surgery, pelvic autonomic dysfunction and depression correlated to the oncology disease, contribute to the FSD. Sexual counselling, especially in young women with medulla lesion or multiple sclerosis, is the best therapy, and learning erotic extragenital areas able to make sensations similar to the orgasms.

To determine whether axillary temperature could be used as an alternative to rectal temperature, 45 neonates were subjected to simultaneous rectal temperature and axillary temperature recordings. Each baby had an average of 10 recordings over the first 72 hours. The mean of these readings was taken and subjected to regression analysis and the 't' paired test. The overall mean difference between the rectal and axillary temperature was 0.3 degrees F. The mean difference was least in preterm small for date (SFD) babies (0.2 degrees F) and most in preterm appropriate for date (AFD) babies (0.5 degrees F). The mean difference was less in incubator babies (0.2 degrees F) compared to those in warmer cradles (0.4 degrees F). The regression analysis showed that the correlation was good in all groups except the term small for date babies. We conclude that axillary temperature could be used as an alternative to rectal temperature in neonates.