The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito‐transmitted alphavirus, which has infected millions of people in Africa, Asia, Americas, and Europe since it remerged in India and Indian Ocean regions in 2005–2006. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity and evolutionary changes in CHIKV from 2016 to 2018 in Pakistan. Blood specimens were collected and processed following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Trioplex Protocol. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of complete coding sequence of representative isolates from the CHIKV outbreak was carried out during December 2016 to July 2018, a total of 1549 samples were received, out of which 50% (n = 774) were found positive for CHIKV RNA. Mean age of chikungunya positive patients was 31.8 ± 15.7 years and most affected were between 21 and 40 years of age. The Pakistan CHIKV strains clustered with the Indian Ocean sublineage of East/Central/South African with cocirculation of some variants In the structural proteins region, two noteworthy changes (A226V and D284E) were observed in the membrane fusion glycoprotein E1. Key substitutions in the neutralizing epitopes site and a few changes indicative of adaptive to other insect cells were also detected in Pakistani strains. This study provides the emerging trend of CHIKV in the country for early identification of potential variants of high virulence and preventive measures for vector borne disease especially in the endemic areas.

This paper analyzes the impact of multimedia content on success in learning to write and read the letters of the alphabet. For the research purpose and according to the ADDIE model of instructional design, a multimedia application was created for learning to write and read the letters of the alphabet. This paper describes the application interface display, which presents the functions and the parts of the program code. In the focus of the research are the technical possibilities for the use of multimedia application, as well as the impact of its use on the awareness of pupils and teachers on the importance of the introduction of multimedia teaching content. The main research was focused on the effectiveness of learning to write and read the letters of the alphabet and was carried out by comparing the performance of pupils at the end of the school year in two primary schools.Keywords: application; e-learning; education; improving learning. --- U ovom radu ispituje se utjecaj multimedijskoga sadržaja na učenje čitanja i pisanja slova. U svrhu istraživanja izrađena je multimedijska aplikacija za učenje čitanja i pisanja slova, prema ADDIE modelu instrukcijskoga dizajna. U radu je opisana aplikacija prikazom aplikacijskoga sučelja, opisom funkcija i dijelova koda. Istražene su tehničke mogućnosti korištenja multimedijske aplikacije kao i utjecaj njezine uporabe na svijest učenika i nastavnika o važnosti uvođenja multimedijskih nastavnih sadržaja. Glavno se istraživanje odnosi na uspjeh učenja čitanja i pisanja slova, a provedeno je usporedbom postignuća učenika na kraju školske godine u dvije osnovne škole.Ključne riječi: aplikacija; e-učenje; obrazovanje; poboljšavanje nastave.  

O hiperestrogenismo em cães tem várias etiologias, dentre elas, o resultado da excessiva produção de estrógeno por tumores testiculares ou ovarianos. É descrito também que pode ter origem devido a um desequilíbrio entre os hormônios andrógenos e estrógenos. Como resultado do hiperestrogenismo, manifestam-se dermatoses clínicas como, alopecia bilateral simétrica, pelagem rarefeita, facilmente destacáveis, hiperpigmentação variável. O diagnóstico é baseado no histórico, anamnese, sinais clínicos, ultrassonografia testicular, dosagem hormonal de estrógenos séricos e realização de exame histopatológico. O tratamento de eleição é a orquiectomia. O objetivo do presente estudo é relatar a ocorrência de uma dermatose secundária ao hiperestrogenismo em um cão jovem.

Excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture in order to increase yields has proved unnecessary because a large part of them remain unused and have negative effects on the environment and human health. Therefore, it is a great challenge for farmers to replace the application of pesticides and fertilizers with nanopesticides and nanofertilizers, with the aim of reducing the use of mineral fertilizers and increasing yields, as well as supporting agricultural development. This review provides a detailed overview of the classification of pesticides, commonly used nanoparticles in agriculture and their function, as well as impact of nanopesticides and nanofertilizers on the environment. The application of nanopesticides and nanofertilizers and new delivery mechanisms to improve crop productivity are reviewed and described. Particularly, the advantage of the nanoencapsulation process is emphasized for both pesticides and fertilizers. For hydrophobic pesticides, it may be a tool to provide greater stability, dispersion in aqueous media, and allowing a controlled release of the active compound, which increases its effectiveness. In nanofertilizers, micro- or macronutrients can be encapsulated by nanomaterials which allow to release of nutrients into the soil gradually and in a controlled way maintaining soil fertility, thus preventing eutrophication and pollution of water resources. Risks assessment of application of nanopesticides and nanofertilizers in agriculture are required for their correct and safe application.

Enabling System-of-Systems (SoS) security is an important activity when engineering SoS solutions like autonomous vehicles, provided that they are also highly safety-critical. An early analysis of such solutions caters for proper security architecture decisions, preventing potential high impact attacks and ensuring people's safety. However, SoS characteristics such as emergent behavior, makes security decision-making at the architectural level a challenging task. To tackle this challenge, it is essential to first address known vulnerabilities related to each CS, that an adversary may exploit to realize his attacks within the unknown SoS environment. In this paper we investigate how to use Game Theory (GT) approaches to guide the architect in choosing an appropriate security solution. We formulate a game with three players and their corresponding strategies and payoffs. The proposal is illustrated on an autonomous quarry example showing its usefulness in supporting a security architect to choose the the most suitable security strategy.

Abstract For years, sustainable tourism has commanded the attention of academics and practitioners given its achievement through participatory planning. However, much research in the area has neglected to consider all voices of those (i.e., children) affected by tourism. This study, employing a post-test only experimental design, addresses this gap by including the voices of 498 children from six diverse European destinations concerning perceptions of tourism. Results show that children are willing to express their opinions given the opportunity. Moreover, their attitude towards tourists is negative, while they perceive locals to hold a subordinate position to tourists. In general, this study offers insight into children’s attitudes to tourism from the host perspective, demonstrating that there is a unique insider’s perspective that needs further research.