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Application of FEA to Image-based Models of Electrical Trees with Uniform Conductivity. X-ray computed tomography and serial block-face SEM have provided detailed three-dimensional reconstructions of electrical trees for the first time. The application of finite element analysis (FEA) to the analysis of electrical fields in an epoxy block containing a tree is considered. Illustrations are provided by way of a number of case studies. It is shown that the limitations of FEA do not arise from the discrete nature of the meshing: rather uncertainties are more concerned with material properties in high fields on the micrometer scale, the limitations imposed by the pixel size of the imaging technique, and the discrete nature of the image reconstruction technique. For a dynamic model of tree growth space charge dynamics on the same physical scale need also to be modelled. A meshing strategy is used, calibrated against the charge simulation method, to ensure accurate but manageable computations in critical parts of a tree such as branch tips. Examples of field values are given using geometric constructs and low-field material characteristics as illustrative values. The field variation around a conducting tree structure, including the maximum field direction as a branch starts to bifurcate, is determined as an example. These yield values in excess of those expected if space charge movement was considered, but consistent with analytical calculations.
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&ITCDKL5&IT variants Improving our understanding of a rare neurologic disorder. Objective: To provide new insights into the interpretation of genetic variants in a rare neurologic disorder, CDKL5 deficiency, in the contexts of population sequencing data and an updated characterization of the CDKL5 gene.& para;& para;Methods: We analyzed all known potentially pathogenic CDKL5 variants by combining data from large-scale population sequencing studies with CDKL5 variants from new and all available clinical cohorts and combined this with computational methods to predict pathogenicity.& para;& para;Results: The study has identified several variants that can be reclassified as benign or likely benign. With the addition of novel CDKL5 variants, we confirm that pathogenic missense variants cluster in the catalytic domain of CDKL5 and reclassify a purported missense variant as having a splicing consequence. We provide further evidence that missense variants in the final 3 exons are likely to be benign and not important to disease pathology. We also describe benign splicing and nonsense variants within these exons, suggesting that isoform hCDKL5_5 is likely to have little or no neurologic significance. We also use the available data to make a preliminary estimate of minimum incidence of CDKL5 deficiency.& para;& para;Conclusions: These findings have implications for genetic diagnosis, providing evidence for the reclassification of specific variants previously thought to result in CDKL5 deficiency. Together, these analyses support the view that the predominant brain isoform in humans (hCDKL5_1) is crucial for normal neurodevelopment and that the catalytic domain is the primary functional domain.
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Addressing employability and enterprise responsibilities in the translation curriculumn. The context of the research on which the paper is based is the current conversations between HEIs and industry stakeholders. Efforts have been made to bridge the gap, but, according to recent studies, graduates still seem to be lacking certain professional service provision skills that are needed in industry. Employment has become a major concern in Higher Education as few will have a job for life given the current economic environment. Hence, graduates today are better placed if they have been encouraged to develop flexibility and adaptability. HEIs must thus now also address employability skills which, as the paper explains, have come to mean more than just finding employment. The research reported in the paper derives from an evaluation of the University of Portsmouth's Master in Translation Studies where employability and enterprise skills are embedded, and are examined critically in the light of the new context.This paper discusses' employability' in Translation Studies in the UK. After a review of current practice and developments, I suggest an adapted working framework that can be applied by Translation and Interpreting Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). I will argue that no single prescribed model can be applied to all institutions but that a holistic and collaborative approach is needed for a realistic implementation of employability practices in the curriculum.
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A comparison of dicamba absorption, translocation and metabolism in Chenopodium album populations resistant and susceptible to dicamba. Chenopodium album is a troublesome arable weed species which has evolved resistance to dicamba in New Zealand. The objective of this work was to investigate the patterns of absorption, translocation and metabolism of dicamba in resistant and susceptible C. album populations. No significant differences in absorption by the two populations were measured, with over 80% of applied herbicide entering the plants of both populations during the 5 days after application. The C-14 from dicamba was also readily translocated out of the treated leaf, with this occurring more rapidly in resistant plants than susceptible plants. The majority of the C-14 from dicamba was translocated into untreated leaves in both populations. However, by 5 days after application, 18.4% of the absorbed C-14 from dicamba was found in stem material for susceptible plants, compared with only 5.1% for resistant plants. No dicamba metabolism was detected for either population. Based on the results of this study, the mechanism of resistance to dicamba in C. album could not be adequately explained by differential patterns of absorption, translocation or metabolism, but the mechanism appears to differ from previously published cases of dicamba resistance.
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7
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Quantifying mobile ions and electronic defects in perovskite-based devices with temperature-dependent capacitance measurements: Frequency vs time domain. Perovskites have proven to be a promising candidate for highly efficient solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and x-ray detectors, overcoming limitations of inorganic semiconductors. However, they are notoriously unstable. The main reason for this instability is the migration of mobile ions through the device during operation as they are mixed ionic-electronic conductors. Here, we show how measuring the capacitance in both the frequency and the time domain can be used to study ionic dynamics within perovskite-based devices, quantifying activation energy, diffusion coefficient, sign of charge, concentration, and the length of the ionic double layer in the vicinity of the interfaces. Measuring the transient of the capacitance furthermore allows for distinguishing between ionic and electronic effects.
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The syntax of genitives in the Maori DP. This article proposes an account of genitive case marking in the Maori DP which shows how the licensing requirements for genitive depend both on thematic role distinctions and on the presence of a functional projection situated immediately below D. An investigation of ordering alternations including genitives, demonstratives, adjectives, and the lexical head indicates that the FP below D is also the location of an identifying or specifying function within the DP. The label \\'IdentP\\' is proposed as a cover term for this FP projection. It is also proposed that DPs containing nominalized verbs include a head, Nmz, that has the capacity to license additional instantiations of genitive case marking.
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Brain structural changes associated with aberrant functional responses to the Valsalva maneuver in heart failure. Heart failure (HF) patients show inability to regulate autonomic functions in response to autonomic challenges. The autonomic deficits may stem from brain tissue injury in central autonomic regulatory areas, resulting from ischemic and hypoxic processes accompanying the condition. However, the direct evaluation of correlations between brain structural injury and functional timing and magnitude of neural signal patterns within affected areas, which may lead to impaired autonomic outflow, is unclear. In this study, we evaluate neural responses to the Valsalva maneuver with blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging in 29 HF patients and 35 control subjects and brain structural changes using diffusion tensor imaging-based mean diffusivity in a subsample of 19 HF and 24 control subjects. HF showed decreased neural activation in multiple autonomic and motor control areas, including cerebellum cortices, vermis, left insular, left putamen, and bilateral postcentral gyrus. Structural brain changes emerged in similar autonomic, as well as cognitive and mood regulation areas. Functional MRI responses in cerebellum and insula in HF subjects are delayed or decreased in magnitude to the challenge. The impaired functional responses of insular and cerebellar sites are correlated with the severity of tissue changes. These results indicate that the functions of insular and cerebellar regions, sites that are involved in autonomic regulation, are compromised, and that autonomic deficits in these areas have brain structural basis for impaired functions. Our study enhanced our understanding of brain structural and functional alterations underlying impaired autonomic regulations in HF subjects.
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Dynamics and reproducibility of a moderately complex sensory-motor response in the medicinal leech. Local bending, a motor response caused by mechanical stimulation of the leech skin, has been shown to be remarkably reproducible, in its initial phase, despite the highly variable firing of motoneurons sustaining it. In this work, the reproducibility of local bending was further analyzed by monitoring it over a longer period of time and by using more intact preparations, in which muscle activation in an entire body segment was studied. Our experiments showed that local bending is a moderately complex motor response, composed of a sequence of four different phases, which were consistently identified in all leeches. During each phase, longitudinal and circular muscles in specific areas of the body segment acted synergistically, being co-activated or co-inhibited depending on their position relative to the stimulation site. Onset and duration of the first phase were reproducible across different trials and different animals as a result of the massive co-activation of excitatory motoneurons sustaining it. The other phases were produced by the inhibition of excitatory and activation of inhibitory motoneurons, and also by the intrinsic relaxation dynamics of leech muscles. As a consequence, their duration and relative timing was variable across different preparations, whereas their order of appearance was conserved. These results suggest that, during local bending, the leech neuromuscular system 1) operates a reduction of its available degrees of freedom, by simultaneously recruiting groups of otherwise antagonistic muscles and large populations of motoneurons; and 2) ensures reliability and effectiveness of this escape reflex, by guaranteeing the reproducibility of its crucial initial phase.
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New Constructions for the n-Queens Problem. Let D be a digraph, possibly with loops. A queen labeling of D is a bijective function l:V(G)& x27f6;{1,2, horizontal ellipsis ,|V(G)|} such that, for every pair of arcs in E(D), namely (u, v) and (u ',v ') we have (i) l(u)+l(v)not equal l(u ')+l(v ') and (ii) l(v)-l(u)not equal l(v ')-l(u '). Similarly, if the two conditions are satisfied modulo n=|V(G)|, we define a modular queen labeling. There is a bijection between (modular) queen labelings of 1-regular digraphs and the solutions of the (modular) n-queens problem. The circle times h-product was introduced in 2008 as a generalization of the Kronecker product and since then, many relations among labelings have been established using the circle times h-product and some particular families of graphs. In this paper, we study some families of 1-regular digraphs that admit (modular) queen labelings and present a new construction concerning to the (modular) n-queens problem in terms of the circle times h-product, which in some sense complements a previous result due to Polya.
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The medium and materials of popular music: 'Hound Dog', turntablism and muzak as situated musical practices. Popular music studies has rarely exhibited the kinds of disciplinary coherence found in closely related disciplines mostly due to the field's adoption and adaptation of methodological and theoretical innovations from a variety of disciplines, notably sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, media studies and musicology. However, many commentators continue to seek disciplinary coherence without making any critical aesthetic distinctions between the medium and materials of popular music. Distinctions and interrelationships between the literal or material aspects of popular music and the social or cultural processes of making meaning from popular music are central to the definition of a particular but not exclusive field of analysis. Through such distinctions, the very category 'popular music' can be understood as a more flexible and supple distinction based on an understanding of methods of construction, production and mediation in specific relation to the technical, contextual and sociological aspects of music. 1 use different performances of 'Hound Dog', the practices of 'turntablism', and the exigencies of Muzak as examples for analysis offering ways in which the aesthetic, material and contextual aspects of popular music can be understood in order to incorporate the actual sound of music into the analysis of its social, cultural and musical construction.
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Productive efficiency in the Middle East and North Africa. Productive efficiency and factors affecting it in 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region were evaluated over the period 1980 to 1999 using Fare's nonparametric approach. The results indicate that Oil-producing countries are more efficient in terms of production compared with non Oil-producing countries. Tobit analyses indicate that previous levels of efficiency, the degree of economic openness, consumption of domestically produced goods and the limited availability of credit have a positive impact on production efficiency. A sensitivity analysis using the bias corrected bootstrap technique shows that allocative efficiency and economic efficiency are more sensitive to the returns to scale assumption and sample size than pure technical efficiency.
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Confidence-based reasoning in stochastic constraint programming. In this work we introduce a novel approach, based on sampling, for finding assignments that are likely to be solutions to stochastic constraint satisfaction problems and constraint optimisation problems. Our approach reduces the size of the original problem being analysed; by solving this reduced problem, with a given confidence probability, we obtain assignments that satisfy the chance constraints in the original model within prescribed error tolerance thresholds. To achieve this, we blend concepts from stochastic constraint programming and statistics. We discuss both exact and approximate variants of our method. The framework we introduce can be immediately employed in concert with existing approaches for solving stochastic constraint programs. A thorough computational study on a number of stochastic combinatorial optimisation problems demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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How much have been the export products changed from homogeneous to differentiated? Evidence from China, Japan, and Korea. Many international trade theories and evidence suggest that trade in homogeneous and differentiated goods is different, and trade performance depends significantly on the extent of product differentiation. First this paper classifies the three countries' export products using Rauch's [Rauch, J. (1999). Networks versus markets in international trade. Journal of International Economics, 48, 7-35] classification scheme. This paper suggests a sophisticated technique to obtain the extent of product differentiation in a country's export, implied by Dixit and Stiglitz [Dixit, A., & Stiglitz, J. (1977). Monopolistic competition and optimum product variety. The American Economic Review, 67, 297-308] model in which the smaller is the elasticity of substitution between varieties the greater is the extent of product differentiation. This is an attempt to identify the extent of product differentiation in each country's export basket by estimates of the elasticity of substitution. The estimated elasticities of substitution vary across countries. The most interesting empirical finding is that the China's export structure has been rapidly shaped into differentiated products. However the extent of product differentiation in Japan and Korea's exports has relatively less varied. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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The effect of maternal nutrient restriction during late gestation on muscle, bone and meat parameters in five month old lambs. Twenty twin-bearing Shropshire ewes were either maintained on an adequate (H) or 60% restricted feeding level (L) during the last 6 weeks of gestation. The ewes were sired by a ram selected for either high daily growth (Growth, G) or increased cross-sectional area of m. Longissimus dorsi (LD) combined with minimal fat thickness above LD (Meat, M). The male offspring (n = 23) from these ewes were studied with regard to production, fibre type, bone parameters and meat quality traits. Maternal nutrient restriction during late gestation caused a reduced birth weight of the offspring, a low growth rate from birth to weaning, yet compensatory growth after weaning. No relation was found between maternal nutrient restriction during late gestation and meat quality in terms of proteolytic potential, myofibrillar fragmentation index or shear force measured in meat from 5 month old lambs. The data do not support the hypothesis of a long-term programming effect of maternal nutrient restriction during late gestation on meat tenderness. However, a long-term effect of maternal nutrient restriction was found for bone growth. Femur weight was significantly reduced in L-lambs and cortical bone density and mean relative wall thickness were significantly increased by maternal nutrient restriction during late gestation, suggesting that only some of the bone parameters evaluated express compensatory growth. The effects of maternal nutrition in late gestation on bone parameters have implications for the robustness of breeding stock. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Mechanisms underlying neonate-specific metabolic effects of volatile anesthetics. Volatile anesthetics (VAs) are widely used in medicine, but the mechanisms underlying their effects remain ill-defined. Though routine anesthesia is safe in healthy individuals, instances of sensitivity are well documented, and there has been significant concern regarding the impact of VAs on neonatal brain development. Evidence indicates that VAs have multiple targets, with anesthetic and non-anesthetic effects mediated by neuroreceptors, ion channels, and the mitochondrial electron transport chain. Here, we characterize an unexpected metabolic effect of VAs in neonatal mice. Neonatal blood b-hydroxybutarate (b-HB) is rapidly depleted by VAs at concentrations well below those necessary for anesthesia. b-HB in adults, including animals in dietary ketosis, is unaffected. Depletion of b-HB is mediated by citrate accumulation, malonyl-CoA production by acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and inhibition of fatty acid oxidation. Adults show similar significant changes to citrate and malonyl-CoA, but are insensitive to malonyl-CoA, displaying reduced metabolic flexibility compared to younger animals.
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Genome-based reclassification of Actinopolyspora righensis Meklat et al. 2013 as a later heterotypic synonym of Actinopolyspora lacussalsi Guan et al. 2013 and description of Actinopolyspora lacussalsi subsp. lacussalsi subsp. nov. and Actinopolyspora lacussalsi subsp. righensis subsp. nov.. A genome led phylophasic study was designed to determine the taxonomic status of a strain, DSM 45956, recovered from a Saharan desert soil. A wealth of taxonomic data, including average nucleotide identity and DNA:DNA hybridization (DDH) values, showed that the isolate and the type strains of Actinopolyspora lacussalsi and Actinopolyspora righensis belong to the same species. Consequently, it is proposed that A. righensis is a heterotypic synonym of A. lacussalsi. Similarly, DDH values and associated phenotypic data show that A. lacussalsi contains two subspecies, A. lacussalsi subsp. lacussalsi and A. lacussalsi subsp. righensis which includes isolate DSM 45956.
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Determination of structural properties of K-germanate glass by optical measurements and a polarization optical test on nanocrystallinity. The bond-charge model is used to connect optical and structural properties of glasses. Its application to Vitreous K(2)Ce(8)O(17) (v-KGO) indicates the presence of 6-fold coordinated germanium in the glass although such octahedra are absent in the crystal of the same composition. It is speculated that clusters of GeO(6/3) octahedra and even tetragonal GeO(2) nanocrystals should occur. A polarization-optical method is presented to detect optical anisotropy originating in the inhomogeneity of the sample. II is based on a comparison between spontaneous and magnetic-field induced optical ellipticities. The experimental result is discussed as evidence for the appearance of nanocrystals in a concentration of 10(-5) in v-RGO. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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Comparative myogenesis in teleosts and mammals. Skeletal myogenesis has been and is currently under extensive study in both mammals and teleosts, with the latter providing a good model for skeletal myogenesis because of their flexible and conserved genome. Parallel investigations of muscle studies using both these models have strongly accelerated the advances in the field. However, when transferring the knowledge from one model to the other, it is important to take into account both their similarities and differences. The main difficulties in comparing mammals and teleosts arise from their different temporal development. Conserved aspects can be seen for muscle developmental origin and segmentation, and for the presence of multiple myogenic waves. Among the divergences, many fish have an indeterminate growth capacity throughout their entire life span, which is absent in mammals, thus implying different post-natal growth mechanisms. This review covers the current state of the art on myogenesis, with a focus on the most conserved and divergent aspects between mammals and teleosts.
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Taking Ownership of Our Spirituality Pentecostal Leaders as Liturgical Directors. This article accentuates the need for leadership metaphors that align with an organization's ethos and suggests the liturgical director as a viable metaphor for leadership in Pentecostal worship and spirituality. Borrowing its meaning from the world of film and theatre, the director metaphor denotes a person who tells actors how to play their parts, hence emphasizing the reciprocal relationship between the director (ecciesial leader), actors (congregants), and script (Scripture). Approaching leadership from this perspective provides a starting point for discussions on collaborate sensemaking and co-constructed leadership in Pentecostal congregations and allows for analyses of influence in Pentecostal leadership beyond the taxonomies of behavioral leadership studies.
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Self-help housing and co-operation in post-war Australia. Australia experienced a self-help housing boom after World War Two which played an important part in overcoming a serious housing shortage. This paper looks at the magnitude of the boom and at the factors which made it possible. It argues that the basic factor motivating amateur builders was the absolute scarcity of accommodation rather than its high cost. There were significant regional variations in the extent of self-help activity. These are best explained by the extent of public housing provision. Where state governments invested heavily in public housing there was less self-help activity. The paper also traces the sources of finance used by owner-builders and the extent of co-operation amongst them.
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Managers' marketing strategy decision making during performance decline and the moderating influence of incentive pay. This paper focuses on managers' marketing decision making during performance decline. Drawing on the reconciliation of theories of failure-induced change and threat-rigidity by Ocasio (1995), we examine how performance decline may result in a rigid decision-making process and decision characteristics that reflect the narrowing of attention and increased risk seeking. Furthermore, drawing on managerial compensation research, we consider how incentive pay may affect the marketing decision-making process and decision characteristics of managers during performance decline. Using a simulation game with experienced Chinese managers, our results indicate that performance decline decreases marketing strategy process comprehensiveness but increases reliance on short-term marketing decisions, strategic change, and strategic risk taking. Moreover, incentive pay attenuates the rigid decision-making process of managers but accentuates their heightened risk seeking during performance decline. This paper offers unique behavioral insights into how managers make marketing decisions.
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Mycoplasma genitalium and sexually transmitted infections: evidences and figures in a tertiary hospital. Conclusions. M. genitalium is considered a STI emerging pathogen thanks to the renewal of multiplex-PCR tests although with a low incidence in our approach. Emerging from our experience and the institutional recommendations both detection of acid nucleic techniques (NAATs) and gonococcal culture might be implemented accurately and coexist to adequate prescriptions.Introduction. Mycoplasma genitalium is an emerging cause of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and has been implicated in non-gonococcal urethritis in men and cervicitis in woman. The aim of this study is determinate the incidence and pathogenicity of M. genitalium within the diagnosis of STIs detected from clinical samples in a third level hospital.Material and methods. A total of 8,473 samples from endocervix, urethra, vagina, rectum and others were processed applying Allpex STI Essential Assay. More than 190 records were reviewed to determinate M. genitalium pathogenicity.Results. M. genitalium was detected in a rate 2.8%. Co-infections were detected in 20% of the patients.
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Spin(7) compactifications and 1/4-BPS vacua in heterotic supergravity. We continue the investigation into non-maximally symmetric compactifications of the heterotic string. In particular, we consider compactifications where the internal space is allowed to depend on two or more external directions. For preservation of supersymmetry, this implies that the internal space must in general be that of a Spin(7) manifold, which leads to a 1/4-BPS four-dimensional supersymmetric perturbative vacuum breaking all but one supercharge. We find that these solutions allow for internal geometries previously excluded by the domain-wall-type solutions, and hence the resulting four-dimensional superpotential is more generic. In particular, we find an interesting resemblance to the superpotentials that appear in non-geometric flux compactifications of type II string theory. If the vacua are to be used for phenomenological applications, they must be lifted to maximal symmetry by some non-perturbative or higher-order effect.
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PREPARATION, CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE, AND REACTIVITY OF BIS(TRIS(TRIMETHYLSILYL)METHYL)MAGNESIUM. Heating of the lithium magnesate [Li(THF)2(mu-Br)2Mg(Tsi)(THF)] (Tsi = (Me3Si)3C) under vacuum gives the dialkylmagnesium compound Mg(Tsi)2, the first two-coordinate magnesium derivative to have been structurally characterized in the solid state. The compound is remarkably thermally stable, not decomposing (or melting) when heated to 350-degrees-C. It has a very low reactivity, failing to react in toluene with, for example, CO2, Me3SiCl, Me2SiHCl, MeI, BCl3 or CH3COCl, and even with neat CH3COCl at its boiling point. It does react, though fairly slowly, with I2 in toluene to give TsiI, and more rapidly with Br2 to give TsiBr, and with an excess of PhSO2Cl in toluene at 100-degrees-C to give TsiCl. It decomposes quickly in the air, and reacts readily with MeOH in toluene to give TsiH without formation of detectable amounts of the intermediate TsiMgOMe, and with O2 in toluene.
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Quantity-intensity dynamics of potassium in sunflower (Helianthus annuus)-sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) cropping sequence. An experiment was conducted during 2002 to assess quantity-intensity parameters of potassium in red sandy loam (Alfisol) soil for sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)-sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] cropping sequence under rainfied condition. Composite samples (0-15 cm depth) of soil were collected after the harvest of rainy-season (kharif) sorghum crop from inorganic and organo-inorganic combination fertilized plots of an on-going integrated nutrient-management trial since 1998. Continuous application of inorganic source of 100% recommended dose of fertilization to sunflower and sorghum crops in sequence resulted in relatively higher equilibrium activity ratio for potassium (AR(o)K) i e (8.6 x 10(3)) than the various inorganic-organic combinations. Labile k (K-L) value (0.030) was observed higher in the soil that received 100% recommended dose of fertilizer for sunflower, followed by 50% recommended dose of PK and 50% N through farmyard manure for sorghum. The AR(0)K correlated positively with shoot (0.532) and seed (0.729) K uptake and sorghum seed yield (0.679). The organo-inorganic treated soils recorded nearly optimum amount of available K comparable to that of only inorganic source of fertilization. Available K status was maintained to meet the K demand of crops over the period under organic-inorganic (50%) combination of fertilization.
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Natural inspirations for metal-ligand cooperative catalysis. In conventional homogeneous catalysis, supporting ligands act as spectators that do not interact directly with substrates. However, in metal-ligand cooperative catalysis, ligands are involved in facilitating reaction pathways that would be less favourable were they to occur solely at the metal centre. This catalysis paradigm has been known for some time, in part because it is at play in enzyme catalysis. For example, studies of hydrogenative and dehydrogenative enzymes have revealed striking details of metal-ligand cooperative catalysis that involve functional groups proximal to metal active sites. In addition to the more well-known [FeFe]-hydrogenase and [NiFe]-hydrogenase enzymes, [Fe]-hydrogenase, lactate racemase and alcohol dehydrogenase each makes use of cooperative catalysis. This Perspective highlights these enzymatic examples of metal-ligand cooperative catalysis and describes functional bioinspired molecular catalysts that also make use of these motifs. Although progress has been made in developing molecular catalysts, considerable challenges will need to be addressed before we have synthetic catalysts of practical value.
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Is justice binary? A free-will-related exploration. This article asks whether justice is binary, whether matters are either-or with respect to it. This question has been inexplicably neglected, and the elementary conceptual work has not been done. We consider this question through exploring the implications of free-will-related justice. We see that there are actually tow questions of very different scope here, and that two distinct notions of binarity need to be distinguished. In the process, the plausibility of considering justice as a binary notion is evaluated.
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TRANSFORMATION OF 3-PICOLINE AND 4-PICOLINE UNDER SULFATE-REDUCING CONDITIONS. A microbial population which transformed 3- and 4-picoline under sulfate-reducing conditions was isolated from a subsurface soil which had been previously exposed to different N-substituted aromatic compounds for several years. In the presence of sulfate, the microbial culture transformed 3- and 4-picoline (0.4 mM) within 30 days. From the amounts of ammonia released and of sulfide that were determined during the transformation of 3-picoline, it can be concluded that the parent compound was mineralized to carbon dioxide and ammonia. During the transformation of 4-picoline, a UV-absorbing intermediate accumulated in the culture medium. This metabolite was identified as 2-hydroxy-4-picoline by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, and its further transformation was detected only after an additional month of incubation. The small amount of sulfide produced during the oxidation of 4-picoline and the generation of the hydroxylated metabolite indicated that the initial step in the metabolic pathway of 4-picoline was a monohydroxylation at position 2 of the heterocyclic aromatic ring. The 3- and 4-picoline-degrading cultures could also transform benzoic acid; however, the other methylated pyridine derivatives, 2-picoline, dimethylpyridines, and trimethylpyridines, were not degraded.
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ReMEMBeR: Ranking Metric Embedding-Based Multicontextual Behavior Profiling for Online Banking Fraud Detection. Anomaly detection relies on individuals' behavior profiling and works by detecting any deviation from the norm. When used for online banking fraud detection, however, it mainly suffers from three disadvantages. First, for an individual, the historical behavior data are often too limited to profile his/her behavior pattern. Second, due to the heterogeneous nature of transaction data, there lacks a uniform treatment of different kinds of attribute values, which becomes a potential barrier for model development and further usage. Third, the transaction data are highly skewed, and it becomes a challenge to utilize the label information effectively. The three disadvantages result in both poor generalization and high false positive rate of anomaly detection, and we propose a ranking metric embedding based multi-contextual behavior profiling (ReMEMBeR) model to battle them effectively. We solve the original fraud detection problem as a pseudo-recommender system problem, where an individual is treated as a pseudo-user, his/her behavior as a pseudo-item, and the label as the corresponding pseudo-rating. With the idea of collaborative filtering, for an individual, information from other similar individuals can be used to establish his/her behavior profile. In order to obtain a uniform treatment of heterogeneous attributes, we turn to an embedding based method to learn both attribute embedding and individuals' behavior profiles within a common latent space simultaneously. To utilize the label information better, our model is designed to fit pseudo-users' correct preference ranking for pseudo-items. By doing so, it explicitly learns to tell the fraudulent from the legitimate. Last but not least, we propose to identify and distinguish individuals under different contexts and further generalize the behavior profiling model to be a multi-contextual one. The proposed model can, thus, integrate the multi-contextual behavior patterns and allow transactions to be examined under the different contexts. Extensive experiments on a real-world online banking transaction dataset demonstrate that our model not only outperforms benchmarks on all metrics but also can be combined with them to achieve even better performance.
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A comparison of entrance skin dose delivered by clinical angiographic c-arms using the real-time dosimeter: the MOSkin. Coronary angiography is a procedure used in the diagnosis and intervention of coronary heart disease. The procedure is often considered one of the highest dose diagnostic procedures in clinical use. Despite this, there is minimal use of dosimeters within angiographic catheterisation laboratories due to challenges resulting from their implementation. The aim of this study was to compare entrance dose delivery across locally commissioned c-arms to assess the need for real-time dosimetry solutions during angiographic procedures. The secondary aim of this study was to establish a calibration method for the MOSkin dosimeter that accurately produces entrance dose values from the clinically sampled beam qualities and energies. The MOSkin is a real-time dosimeter used to measure the skin dose delivered by external radiation beams. The suitability of the MOSkin for measurements in the angiographic catheterisation laboratory was assessed. Measurements were performed using a 30 x 30 x 30 cm(3) PMMA phantom positioned at the rotational isocenter of the c-arm gantry. The MOSkin calibration factor was established through comparison of the MOSkin response to EBT2 film response. Irradiation of the dosimeters was performed using several clinical beam qualities ranging in energy from 70 to 105 kVp. A total of four different interventional c-arm machines were surveyed and compared using the MOSkin dosimeter. The phantom was irradiated from a normal angle of incidence using clinically relevant protocols, field sizes and source to image detector distance values. The MOSkin was observed to be radiotranslucent to the c-arm beam in all clinical environments. The MOSkin response was reproducible to within 2 % of the average value across repeated measurements for each beam setting. There were large variations in entrance dose delivery to the phantom between the different c-arm machines with the highest observed cine-acquisition entrance dose rate measuring 326 % higher than the lowest measured cine-acquisition entrance dose rate and with the highest measured fluoroscopic entrance dose rate measuring 346 % higher than the lowest measured fluoroscopic entrance dose rate. This comparison of entrance dose delivery across local clinical c-arms demonstrated the disparity in entrance dose delivery across catheterisation laboratories and outlined a need for real-time dose monitoring systems for patients during angiographic procedures. Through use of our calibration method, an average MOSkin calibration of 7.37 mV/cGy was established. The calibration method allowed entrance dose to be measured across a range of beam energies and beam qualities without the input of the c-arm beam characteristics. This calibration factor was proven to reproduce entrance dose values to within 5 % value of the reference dosimeter's response, suggesting potential for further studies and utilisation of the dosimeter in this field.
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Study of Aminoglycoside Resistance Genes in Enterococcus and Salmonella Strains Isolated From Ilam and Milad Hospitals, Iran. Conclusions: Our results indicate that acetylation genes have an important role in aminoglycoside resistance of the Enterococcus isolates from clinical samples. Moreover, Salmonella strains indicate very low level of aminoglycoside resistance, and aminoglycoside resistance genes were not found in Salmonella isolates. These results indicate that other resistance mechanisms, including efflux pumps have an important role in aminoglycoside resistance of Salmonella.Background: Aminoglycosides are a group of antibiotics that have been widely used in the treatment of life-threatening infections of Gram-negative bacteria. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of aminoglycoside resistance genes in Enterococcus and Salmonella strains isolated from clinical samples by PCR.Results: Enterococcus isolates have the highest prevalence of resistance to both kanamycin and amikacin (68.4%), and Salmonella isolates have the highest prevalence of resistance against kanamycin (6.9%). Ninety-three and 26 isolates of Enterococcus and Salmonella at least were resistant against one of the aminoglycosides, respectively. Moreover, 72.04%, 66.7%, and 36.6% of the resistant strains of Enterococcus had the aac (3')-Ia, aac (3')-IIa, and acc (6')-Ib genes, respectively. None of the Salmonella isolates have the studied aminoglycoside genes.Materials and Methods: In this study, 140 and 79 isolates of Enterococcus and Salmonella were collected, respectively. After phenotypic biochemical confirmation, 117 and 77 isolates were identified as Enterococcus and Salmonella, respectively. After the biochemical identification of the isolates, antibiotic susceptibility for screening of resistance was done using the Kirby-Bauer method for gentamicin, amikacin, kanamycin, tobramycin and netilmycin. DNA was extracted from resistant strains and the presence of acc (3)-Ia, aac (3')-Ib, acc (6)-IIa,16SrRNA methylase genes (armA and rat) was detected by PCR amplification using special primers and positive controls.
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The Experience of Confident Music Improvising. Improvisation plays a substantial role within the world's musical cultures. The purpose of this research was to explore the essence of the experience of confident music improvising. In this phenomenological study, confidence was considered a psychological experience and the confidence of improvisers the phenomenon under examination. The researcher compiled experiences through stories describing the phenomenon by interviewing three confident improvisers: a bluegrass fiddler, a jazz bassist and a baroque violinist. Vignettes portrayed the lifeworlds of these instrumentalists. The stories told were reduced through imaginative variation to identify which themes were essential, that is, shared among the participants' unique experiences. The essential themes revealed were: listening, criticism-free environment, sequential experiences, passion for a style, and openness to learning. Music educators could potentially use these themes to enrich their own improvisation pedagogy.
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Probing Carbon Utilization of Cordyceps militaris by Sugar Transportome and Protein Structural Analysis. Beyond comparative genomics, we identified 85 sugar transporter genes in Cordyceps militaris, clustering into nine subfamilies as sequence- and phylogenetic-based functional classification, presuming the versatile capability of the fungal growths on a range of sugars. Further analysis of the global gene expression patterns of C. militaris showed 123 genes were significantly expressed across the sucrose, glucose, and xylose cultures. The sugar transporters specific for pentose were then identified by gene-set enrichment analysis. Of them, the putative pentose transporter, CCM_06358 gene, was highest expressed in the xylose culture, and its functional role in xylose transport was discovered by the analysis of conserved structural motifs. In addition, a battery of molecular modeling methods, including homology modeling, transport pathway analysis, residue interaction network combined with molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area simulation (MM-PBSA), was implemented for probing the structure and function of the selected pentose transporter (CCM_06358) as a representative of sugar transportome in C. militaris. Considering the network bottlenecks and structural organizations, we further identified key amino acids (Phe38 and Trp441) and their interactions with other residues, contributing the xylose transport function, as verified by binding free energy calculation. The strategy used herein generated remarkably valuable biological information, which is applicable for the study of sugar transportome and the structure engineering of targeted transporter proteins that might link to the production of bioactive compounds derived from xylose metabolism, such as cordycepin.
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Persistence of Heteroclinic Cycles Connecting Repellers in Banach Spaces. This paper is concerned with persistence of heteroclinic cycles connecting repellers in Banach spaces. It is proved that if a map with a regular and nondegenerate heteroclinic cycle connecting repellers undergoes a small perturbation, then the perturbed map can still have a regular and nondegenerate heteroclinic cycle connecting repellers. The perturbation rang is given by an explicit positive constant according to the properties of the original map. Hence, the perturbed map and the original map are simultaneously chaotic in the sense of both Devaney and Li-Yorke. Especially, the persistence of heteroclinic cycles connecting repellers is also discussed in the Euclidean space, where the repellers can expand in different norms. Finally, three examples are provided to illustrate the validity of the theoretical results.
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The bed in images of the Annunciation (14th-15th centuries): An iconographic interpretation according to Latin Patristics. The images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries often include in their scene a bed with evident prominence, which allows us to conjecture that this piece of furniture contains some symbolism of particular relevance. Given such unusual detail, this article seeks to interpret the possible doctrinal meanings that this bed could provide. In this sense, twelve Annunciations of this period, which include a bed, are analyzed first with a personal interpretation that stands against some inadequate \\'interpretations\\' proposed by other modern authors. We will try to justify our interpretations based on an abundant corpus of texts through which many Latin Fathers and theologians see the thalamus concept as two complementary metaphors: a metaphor of God the Son's incarnation in Mary's womb, and also a metaphor of Mary's virgin divine motherhood.
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OUTPUT GAP IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES USING UNOBSERVED COMPONENT METHOD: THE CASE OF CZECH REPUBLIC, ESTONIA AND KOSOVO. This paper investigates the concept and estimation of the output gap in transition economies, with special reference to the Czech Republic, Estonia and Kosovo. The motivation for investigating this phenomenon lies in the macroeconomic imbalances characterizing many transition economies, such as relatively sluggish growth, chronic balance of payments deficits and structural deficiencies, while continuously operating in the presence of relatively large underutilized resources. Given that the potential output and the corresponding output gap concepts are mainly discussed in the light of mainstream theories, the novelty of this paper stands in examining the relevance of the output gap in transition context. In order to reflect persistent underutilised resources as well as several structural breaks, the Unobserved Components model operationalized via the Kalman filter was employed as a the appropriate estimation method for transition economies. Another novelty of this study is the textual explanation of the technicalities underpinning the Kalman filtering procedure. While causing the output to fall below its potential, the results suggest that the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) had a significant but transitory impact in the Czech Republic and Estonia cases. Due to relatively low external exposure and domestically funded banking system, the GFC caused no recession in Kosovo, but rather slowed the pace of growth mainly via the external sector channels and the uncertainties perceived by the banking sector. Last, the negative relationship between inflation and output gap was informative in the case of the Czech Republic and Estonia because it suggested a presence of inflation inertia in these countries, whereas the impact of the output gap on the inflation rate in Kosovo proved insignificant.
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Ixodes ricinus infestation in free-ranging cervids in Norway-A study based upon ear examinations of hunted animals. Prevalence, abundance and instar composition of Ixodes ricinus as found on one ear collected from 1019 moose (Alces alces), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), shot during hunting (August December) 2001-2003, are reported. The animals originated from 15 coastal municipalities (CM), seven municipalities bordering to coastal municipalities (BCM) and four inland municipalities (IM), in Norway, between latitudes 58-66 degrees N. I. ricinus occurred endemically in all CM and BCM up to 63 degrees 30' N, whereas it was non-endemic further north and in the IM. This geographical distribution of the tick along the coast of southern Norway was largely in accordance with that reported as far back as the 1940s. Our results therefore did not indicate any large scale northwards expansion of I. ricinus in Norway during the 60 year-period between the two studies. However, the prevalence of infestation and tick abundance were significantly higher in CM as compared to BCM. The prevalence and abundance by month were highest during August and September, gradually decreasing towards December. The considerable prevalence of ticks in November, as well as findings in December, would seem to indicate a prolonged tick season as compared with the studies carried out 60 years ago.Other grossly detected ectoparasites included the lice Solenopotes burmeisteri in red deer and Damalinia meyeri in roe deer, and the deer ked fly, Lipoptena cervi, in moose and roe deer. This is believed to be the first systematic study on the instar composition by I. ricinus infestation in free-ranging cervids. The examination of ears from hunted cervids should be recognized as a rational way of obtaining data on the geographical distribution and abundance of this tick in nature. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.A total of 8920 ticks were isolated from 439 of the 603 animals examined in endemic municipalities, and the maximum number of ticks found on one single ear was 204. Attached adult ticks were primarily found among the long hairs at base of the ear, whereas nymphs and larvae were seen all over the outer surface of the pinna, for larvae especially at the edge and tip of the ear. Nymphs were the dominant instar, constituting 74% of the total tick count. The proportion of larvae and adult ticks was 13% and 12%. A significantly higher proportion of adult ticks and lower proportion of immature stages were found in moose, as compared to red deer and roe deer. The same apparently size-associated preference of adult ticks was also found for adult animals (all species) as compared to calves.
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17,
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Improvement process of partially cooked corn grit (PCCG) preparation. Steamed corn grits, or nasi jagung, is an indigenous, corn-based product, which is usually used to substitute rice, particularly in the central part of Java and Madura regions, Indonesia. However, there is limited information regarding the preparation of partially cooked corn grits (PCCG). The objective of the present work was therefore to compare the preparation of PCCG in terms of characteristics and time of preparation using optimised initial moisture content in the traditional process with optimised corn particle size, initial moisture content and processing temperature of the improved process. Water absorption index (WAI), water solubility index (WSI), yellowness index (YI), and resistant starch (RS) of dried PCCG, as well as textural properties of rehydrated PCCG, were compared between optimised PCCG prepared using traditional and improved processes to obtain the best PCCG. Results showed that the optimum initial moisture content to prepare PCCG by the traditional process was approximately 40%. The optimum conditions to prepare PCCG by the improved process were 300 mu m corn particle size, 52.33% initial moisture content and 123.67 degrees C processing temperature. PCCG prepared using the improved process had higher values of YI (99.51) and RS (3.65 g/100 g) but lower WAI value (3.74) than YI (95.78), RS (1.96 g/100 g) and WAI (3.96) of PCCG prepared using the traditional process. The textural properties of rehydrated PCCG, except for adhesiveness and cohesiveness, prepared using the improved process were not different from those of PCCG prepared using the traditional process. The improved process also had a shorter preparation time of PCCG, which was 4-6 h as compared to normally 3-4 d in the traditional process. Therefore, a more rapid process with more consistent qualities for preparing PCCG will be of benefit to the target population. (C) All Rights Reserved
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CRANIAL PNEUMATIC ANATOMY OF ORNITHOMIMUS EDMONTONICUS (ORNITHOMIMIDAE: THEROPODA). Modern archosaurs have extensive pneumatic diverticula originating from paranasal and tympanic sinuses. This complex anatomy is present in many fossil archosaurs, but few descriptions of the complete cranial pneumatic system exist. The cranial pneumatic morphology of birds and non-avian theropods are the best studied, but complete description of this anatomy for an ornithomimid was lacking. We describe the cranial pneumaticity of a well-preserved ornithomimid theropod dinosaur, Ornithomimus edmontonicus (RTMP 95.110.1), from computed tomography (CT) scan data and computer-aided reconstruction with quantitative measurements. New details for ornithomimids include an internal promaxillary recess, an internal palatine recess, pneumatic communications between the supraoccipital recess and posterior tympanic recess, and a complex basioccipital recess that connects to the anterior tympanic recess and median pharyngeal system. The pneumatic morphology of the quadrate is similar to modern birds, which have a complete siphoneal duct. We interpret the jugal diverticulum of non-avian theropods to be homologous or at least morphologically related to the avian suborbital diverticulum. Cranial pneumatic morphologies present in Ornithomimus and tyrannosaurids include an extensive internal palatine recesses and a pneumatic articular that is likely derived from a separate siphoneal diverticulum similar to modern birds. Recent phylogenetic hypotheses of theropods imply two equally most parsimonious solutions: that these shared morphologies are either independently derived in each taxon or diagnose Coelurosauria.
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Synthesis and characterization of phosphonate and aromatic-based polynorbornene polymers derived from the ring opening metathesis polymerization method and investigation of their thermal properties. In the present study, phosphonate ester, phosphonic acid, and aromatic (phenyl, naphthalene, anthracene) groups containing polymers were synthesized by the ROMP method to analyze thermal properties of these polymers. Thermal stability of the synthesized polymers is tested by thermal gravimetric analysis under nitrogen, air, and microscale combustion calorimetry analysis. Analysis shows that thermal behavior is directly related to the phosphorus level in the copolymer series. All the polymers are thermally stable under nitrogen and air up to 900 degrees C. Synergistic charring effect under air was observed between aromatic groups and phosphonic acid functionality in the copolymer series. Anthracene units have a greater potential to form carbonaceous char than the naphthalene and phenyl units. Phosphonate ester and naphthalene units bearing copolymers (P3A) gave 8.13% char yield at 900 degrees C under air. Phosphonic acid derivatives of this polymer, P3D, gave a highest char residue of 17.15% under the same condition. The introduction of phosphonate and phosphonic acid in each copolymer series is also beneficial in reducing the peak heat release rate (PHRR). Cleavage of the phosphonate ester bearing homopolymer (P4) to phosphonic acid (P4A) causes a sharp decrease in the PHRR ratio from 274 to 28.2 W/g. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47085.
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Effects of different management practices on Portulaca oleracea emergence in soyabean. Portulaca oleracea (common purslane) is a summer annual weed with wide geographic distribution and is problematic in many crops worldwide. Field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of different management practices on P. oleracea emergence in soyabean fields. Two tillage systems [conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT)], three soyabean seeding rates (SR) (200 000, 300 000 and 400 000 seeds ha(-1)) and three imazethapyr doses (0, 50, and 100 g a.i. ha(-1) applied pre-emergence) were considered as experimental factors. Portulaca oleracea emergence was affected by management practices including tillage system, soyabean SR and imazethapyr dose. Conventional tillage required a thermal time (TT) of 195.95 and 221.30 d degrees C to reach 50% emergence in 2016 and 2017, respectively, while for NT, the respective TT requirements were 182.34 and 203.32 d degrees C. On increasing soyabean SR from 200 000 to 400 000 seeds ha(-1), the TT requirements for 50% emergence (T-50) of P. oleracea also increased. The T-50 at the herbicide dose of 100 g a.i. ha(-1) was 193.05 and 220.67 d degrees C in 2016 and 2017, respectively, while for the non-herbicide treatment, the respective TT requirements were 165.98 and 202.94 d degrees C. From an integrated weed management perspective, a combination of CT with a SR of 400 000 seeds ha(-1) and a 100 g a.i. ha(-1) imazethapyr dose not only resulted in the lowest P. oleracea seedling density m(-2) but also caused the longest delay in the time to reach the T-50. Findings from our study may facilitate the development of effective P. oleracea management strategies.
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Polyribosome-Dependent Clustering of Membrane-Anchored RNA Degradosomes To Form Sites of mRNA Degradation in Escherichia coli. The essential endoribonuclease RNase E, which is a component of the Escherichia coli multienzyme RNA degradosome, has a global role in RNA processing and degradation. RNase E localizes to the inner cytoplasmic membrane in small, short-lived clusters (puncta). Rifampin, which arrests transcription, inhibits RNase E clustering and increases its rate of diffusion. Here, we show that inhibition of clustering is due to the arrest of transcription using a rifampin-resistant control strain. Two components of the RNA degradosome, the 39 exoribonuclease polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase) and the DEAD box RNA helicase RhlB, colocalize with RNase E in puncta. Clustering of PNPase and RhlB is inhibited by rifampin, and their diffusion rates increase, as evidenced by in vivo photobleaching measurements. Results with rifampin treatment reported here show that RNA degradosome diffusion is constrained by interaction with RNA substrate. Kasugamycin, which arrests translation initiation, inhibits formation of puncta and increases RNA degradosome diffusion rates. Since kasugamycin treatment results in continued synthesis and turnover of ribosome-free mRNA but inhibits polyribosome formation, RNA degradosome clustering is therefore polyribosome dependent. Chloramphenicol, which arrests translation elongation, results in formation of large clusters (foci) of RNA degradosomes that are distinct from puncta. Since chloramphenicol-treated ribosomes are stable, the formation of RNA degradosome foci could be part of a stress response that protects inactive polyribosomes from degradation. Our results strongly suggest that puncta are sites where translationally active polyribosomes are captured by membrane-associated RNA degradosomes. These sites could be part of a scanning process that is an initial step in mRNA degradation.IMPORTANCE Here, we show that RNase E, RhlB, and PNPase act together as components of the multienzyme RNA degradosome in polyribosome-dependent clustering to form puncta on the inner cytoplasmic membrane. Our results support the hypothesis that RNA degradosome puncta are sites of mRNA degradation. We propose that clustering of RNA degradosomes is a pre-RNase E cleavage step in which polyribosomes are scanned in a search for ribosome-free mRNA. This work is part of an emerging view that posttranscriptional events such as tRNA maturation, late steps in ribosome assembly, and mRNA degradation are membrane associated and partitioned from translation in the cytoplasm and transcription in the nucleoid. This separation could protect newly synthesized transcripts from premature destructive interactions with the RNA degradosome. The scanning of ribosomes and polyribosomes could be part of a general mechanism in which defective stable RNA or ribosome free mRNA is targeted for destruction by the RNA degradosome.
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Competition and political organization: Together or alone in lobbying for trade policy?. This paper employs a novel data set on lobbying expenditures to measure the degree of within-sector political organization and to explore the determinants of the mode of lobbying and political organization across U.S. industries. The data show that sectors characterized by a higher degree of competition tend to lobby more together (through a sector-wide trade association), while sectors with higher concentration and more differentiated products lobby more individually. The paper proposes a theoretical model to interpret the empirical evidence. In an oligopolistic market, firms can benefit from an increase in their product-specific protection measure, if they can raise prices and profits. They find it less profitable to do so in a competitive market where attempts to raise prices are more likely to reduce profits. In competitive markets firms are therefore more likely to lobby together, thereby simultaneously raising tariffs on all products in the sector. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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A Biblical Aramaic Pastiche from the Cairo Geniza. Two fragments in the Cambridge Genizah Collections preserve an odd specimen of Aramaic liturgical poetry in two copies. The poem is a pastiche from Biblical Aramaic phrases, recycled with occasional later Aramaic or Hebrew supplements and supplemented with Biblical Hebrew citations. The biblical lexemes were lifted out of their original co-text and rearranged as an acrostic. The poem celebrates the reconstruction of the Temple and the city walls in the face of fierce opposition, a theme markedly enriched with eschatological motifs. It is quite difficult to date this specimen of mixed Aramaic poetry, but the dialect admixture and some dialect features suggest a relative date in the last quarter of the second millennium CE.
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Leadership Variables and Business Performance: Mediating and Interaction Effects (Retracted Article). Despite evidence that emotion-based leadership enhances firm performance, little is known about the variables mediating those effects. Adopting a multistakeholder, multimeasure approach, we examined the effects of three mediators (communicating/sharing a vision, organizational climate, and leader-follower trust) on the leadership-performance relationship and their interactive effects on performance in small professional service firms. Using four employee-perceived leadership paradigms (classical, transactional, visionary, and organic), we measured staff and customer satisfaction and financial performance. Findings confirm that the effects of the mediating variables on all performance measures vary with the prevailing leadership paradigm, and interactions between all variables strengthen their effects on performance.
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Clonal variation of sexual morph production in response to temperature and photoperiod in soybean aphid, Aphis glycines (Hemiptera: Aphididae). The life cycle of Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae) has been recognized as holocyclic. This study examined photoperiod and temperature effects on fecundity and sexual morph production using six A. glycines clones collected in northern, eastern, western, and southern Japan. Results showed that the six clones included anholocyclic and intermediate ones. Low temperature and short photoperiod negatively affected fecundity, except for one clone with anholocyclic life cycle. Possible mechanisms for the year-round parthenogenetic production of the anholocyclic clone are discussed.
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Early partial portal venous contrast enhancement in canine CT-Angiography. Early partial portal vein contrast enhancement (EPoVE) during the late arterial phase is seen in CT angiography of dogs. Previously, it has been a finding attributed to arterioportal vascular anomalies. However, EPoVE may be a normal feature of venous return from abdominal organs. This prospective, descriptive study investigated the origin of EPoVE using four-dimensional CT (4D-CT). Sixteen dogs undergoing 4D-CT for disease of the cranial abdomen were prospectively collected. Regions of interest were placed in the hepatic artery (HA), gastroduodenal vein (GV), extrahepatic portal vein (EHPV) cranial and caudal to the GV, and splenic vein (SV) caudal to its EHPV entry. Times to earliest, partial, full, and maximal vascular enhancement were recorded. A mixed model analysis of variance was used to compare time-to-contrast enhancement between vessels. The number, origin, and time of EPoVE were recorded if visible. A total of 24 EPoVE areas were observed in all dogs. Most dogs had either one (10/16) or two (5/16) areas of EPoVE. The origin of EPoVE was identified in 14 of 24 areas: the GV in five areas, cranial mesenteric vein in four areas, pancreatic branch of SV in three areas, and SV in two areas. The time-to-contrast-enhancement was significantly different for the individual veins compared to the HA. EPoVE during the late arterial phase is a common phenomenon of early portal venous drainage of abdominal organs; it should not be interpreted as pathognomonic for arterioportal vascular anomalies, which should be diagnosed based on additional criteria.
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The Violence Risk Scale Second Edition (VRS-2) as a predictor of institutional violence in a British forensic inpatient sample. This Study examined the utility of The Violence Risk Scale 2nd Edition (VRS-2) [Wong, S., Gordon, A., 1999. Manual for the Violence Risk Scale. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada] as all instiutional violence risk predictor. The VRS-2 and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV) were rated independently from pre-admission/admission case records in 147 patients in a medium security facility. Inpatient aggression post-admission was recorded by an independent researcher. Aggressive patients had significantly higher scores oil both measures. The VRS-2 and the PCL: SV were only modest predictors of inpatient aggression. The VRS-2 putative \\'dynamic\\' items showed the highest predictive accuracy. The results tentatively support the use of the VRS-2 as a predictor of inpatient violence in mentally ill patients in medium security settings, with the dynamic component of this instrument showing most promise. Further studies validating this instrument are required before it is adopted into routine clinical practice. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Synthesis and structure of novel closo-dodecaborate-based glycerols. The reactions of oxonium derivatives of [B(12)H(12)](2) with different glycerol-based nucleophiles were studied. A series of novel closo-dodecaborate- based glycerols with different net charges on the molecules were prepared. A structure of {2-[2-(4-(2, 3-dihydroxypropyl)-dipiperazinium-1-yl)-ethoxy]-ethoxy}-undecahydro-closo-dodecaborate was determined and the existence of different intermolecular H-bonds was shown. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Electrochemical and anodic behaviors of MnO2/Pb nanocomposite in zinc electrowinning. In this study, the electrochemical and anodic behaviors of MnO2/Pb anodes in electrowinning process were investigated. An accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) method was applied to fabricate MnO2/Pb nanocomposites. The electrochemical properties of the produced anodes were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, electrowinning tests, and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that the ARB-process is an appropriate method to develop MnO2/Pb anodes. The produced anodes (Pb-0.5%MnO2-10pass samples) showed a 102% increase in current density compared to pure lead anode. The results of electrowinning tests revealed that Pb-0.5%MnO2-10pass samples had the best anodic performance with a significantly lower corrosion rate, product and electrolyte contamination, slime formation, energy consumption, and a higher current efficiency and consequently, a higher Zn deposition in cathode.[GRAPHICS].
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Relationship of Ureaplasma urealyticum biovars to the presence or absence of bacterial vaginosis in pregnant women and to the time of delivery. In a nested case-control study, the occurrence of Ureaplasma urealyticum in cervical specimens from 84 women with idiopathic preterm delivery and from 400 women delivering at term was investigated. The two potential risk factors for preterm delivery, colonization with Ureaplasma urenlyticum and bacterial vaginosis, were found to be interdependent variables. The association between these factors and preterm delivery was assessed by regression analysis. Neither colonization with Ureaplasma urealyticum (odds ratio [OR] 0.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.4-1.2) nor bacterial vaginosis (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.3-1.8) was associated with preterm delivery. In women who delivered preterm, biovar 2 was found significantly more often in those with the clinical diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis (43%) than in those without (5%) (OR 15, 95% CI 1.2-209).
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Dance in education: the Greek reality. This is a viewpoint that discusses the criteria applied for an objective, academic assessment of dance education and comments upon the status of dance education both in secondary education schools and professional dance schools in Greece today. The viewpoint concludes by proposing the need for an independent undergraduate dance degree to be established by the Greek Ministry of Education within the School of Fine Arts, University of Athens. If this materializes, it may allow further development and establish the subject of dance, both as a performing art and as an academic discipline in its own right. Furthermore, it may lead to a review of the current dance curricula in secondary education schools.
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Loss aversion and a kinked demand curve: evidence from contingent behaviour analysis of seafood consumers. Several laboratory experiments and market-based research in the fields of psychology, economics and marketing have provided increasing evidence of individuals exhibiting loss aversion tendencies, with decision-making based on a pre-existing reference point. This creates an S-shaped value function and associated kink in the demand curve. This research provides contingent behaviour analysis of 1790 seafood consumers across the Mid-Atlantic region. A survey is specifically designed to elicit respondents' change in consumption from their reference point when faced with price variations in the seafood market. Results from a Tobit model with random effects provide empirical support of consumers behaving in a manner consistent with loss aversion theory, revealing a kinked demand curve for seafood meals at the respondents' reference point.
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Making inroads into improving treatment of bacterial vaginosis - striving for long-term cure. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the great enigmas in women's health, a common condition of unknown aetiology, which is associated with significant morbidity and unacceptably high recurrence rates. While it remains unclear whether BV recurrence is predominantly due to failure of current antibiotic regimens to eradicate BV-associated bacteria (BVAB) and biofilm, a failure of some women to re-establish a resilient Lactobacillus-dominant vaginal microbiota, reinfection from sexual partners, or a combination of these factors, it is inherently challenging to make significant inroads towards this goal. In this review, we will outline why BV is such a clinical and epidemiologic conundrum, and focus on several key approaches that we believe merit discussion and clinical research, including strategies to: i) prevent reinfection (partner treatment trials), ii) boost favourable vaginal Lactobacillus species and promote a Lactobacillus-dominant vaginal microbiome (hormonal contraceptive and probiotic trials) and iii) disrupt vaginal BV-associated biofilm.
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Thermodynamic modeling of the dissociation conditions of hydrogen sulfide clathrate hydrate in the presence of aqueous solution of inhibitor (alcohol, salt or ethylene glycol). Hydrate dissociation conditions of hydrogen sulfide in the presence of aqueous solution of thermodynamic inhibitor (methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, NaCl, KCl and CaCl2) is modeled in this communication. A thermodynamic model is developed to correlate the hydrate dissociation conditions for the systems of H2S + water + salt (single and mixed salts of NaCl, KCl and CaCl2), H2S + water + alcohol (methanol or ethanol), H2S + water + ethylene glycol and H2S + water + mixed salt, and methanol/ethylene glycol. Extended-UNIQUAC (e-UNIQUAC) approach is used for modeling of the activity coefficient of water in aqueous phase. The structural parameters of e-UNIQUAC model are extracted from literature but interaction parameters of this model are obtained by fitting the model with experimental data. The results of the present model are in satisfactory agreement with experimental data. (C) 2014 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Comparative petrology, geochemistry, and petrogenesis of evolved, low-Ti lunar mare basalt meteorites from the LaPaz Icefield, Antarctica. New data is presented for five evolved, low-Ti lunar mare basalt meteorites from the LaPaz Icefield, Antarctica, LAP 02205, LAP 02224, LAP 02226, LAP 02436, and LAP 03632. These basalts have nearly identical mineralogies, textures, and geochemical compositions, and are therefore considered to be paired. The LaPaz basalts contain olivine (Fo(64-2)) and pyroxene (Fs(32)Wo(8)En(60) to Fs(84-86)Wo(15)En(2-0)) crystals that record extreme chemical fractionation to Fe-enrichment at the rims, and evidence for silicate liquid immiscibility and incompatible element enrichment in the mesostasis. The basalts also contain FeNi metals with unusually high Co and Ni contents, similar to some Apollo 12 basalts, and a single-phase network of melt veins and fusion crusts. The fusion crust has similar chemical characteristics to the whole rock for the LaPaz basalts, whereas the melt veins represent localized melting of the basalt and have an endogenous origin. The crystallization conditions and evolved nature of the LaPaz basalts are consistent with fractionation of olivine and chromite from a parental liquid similar in composition to some olivine-phyric Apollo 12 and Apollo 15 basalts or lunar low-Ti pyroclastic glasses. However, the young reported ages for the LaPaz mare basalts (similar to 2.9 Ga) and their relative incompatible element enrichment compared to Apollo mare basalts and pyroclastic glasses indicate they cannot be directly related. Instead, the LaPaz mare basalts may represent fractionated melts from a magmatic system fed by similar degrees of partial melting of a mantle source similar to that of the low-Ti Apollo mare basalts or pyroclastic glasses, but which possessed greater incompatible element enrichment. Despite textural differences, the LaPaz basalts and mare basalt meteorite NWA 032 have similar ages and compositions and may originate from the same magmatic system on the Moon. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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A Model Incorporating Potential Skewed X-Inactivation in MZ girls Suggests that X-Linked QTLs Exist for Several Social Behaviours Including Autism Spectrum Disorder. Sex differences in the frequency and patterns of behaviours are frequently observed and largely unexplained. We have investigated the possible role of X-linked genes in the aetiology of social behaviour problems, including those involved in autistic spectrum disorders. A novel approach has been implemented. This is based on predictions following from stochastic patterns of X-inactivation of lower concordance of monozygous female (MZF) twins than MZM twins for behaviours underpinned by X-linked QTLs and the converse that DZF twins are expected to correlate more strongly for X-linked traits than DZM twins because unlike males, females always have at least one X chromosome in common. These expectations were tested in an ongoing longitudinal cohort study in which all twins born in England and Wales between 1994 and 1996 were invited to take part. 1000 each of MZF, MZM, DZF and DZM pairs from TEDS were tested at 7 and 8 years of age. The results suggest the persistent influence of X-linked genes on cognition and social behaviour problems, including those involved in autistic spectrum disorders, from early to middle childhood. This emphasises the potential importance of X-linked genes in the developmental trajectories of behaviour and mental health and the need to stratify genetic analysis of behaviours by gender.
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Invited review: Genomic evaluation of cattle in a multi-breed context. In order to obtain accurate genomic breeding values a large number of reference animals with both phenotype and genotype data are needed. This poses a challenge for breeds with small reference populations. One option to overcome this obstacle is to use a multibreed reference population. However, combining populations across breeds is not straightforward due to differences in linkage disequilibrium structure and weak relationships between breeds. This study offers a review of the available literature on the use of reference populations compiled from different cattle breeds. Results show that the effect of multi-breed reference populations on the accuracy of genomic prediction is highly affected by the genetic distance between breeds. When combining populations of the same breeds from different countries, large increases in accuracy are seen, whereas for admixed populations with some exchange of sires, substantial but smaller gains are found. Little or no benefit is found when combining distantly related breeds such as Holstein and Jersey and using the widely used genomic BLUP model. By using more sophisticated Bayesian variable selection models that put more focus on genomic markers in strong linkage disequilibrium with causative variants in combination with denser markers sets or functional subsets of markers, it is however possible to utilize information across distantly related breeds to increase the accuracy of genomic prediction. The further development of multi-breed genomic prediction models offers not only increases in the accuracy of genomic breeding values for small breeds, but will also give a stronger persistence of the accuracy over generations within larger breeds. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Household balance sheet channels of monetary policy: A back of the envelope calculation for the euro area. This paper formulates a back of the envelope approach to study the effects of monetary policy on household consumption expenditures. We analyze several transmission mechanisms operating through direct, partial equilibrium channels-intertemporal substitution and net interest rate exposure-and indirect, general equilibrium channels-net nominal exposure, as well as wealth, collateral and labor income channels. The strength of these forces varies across households depending on their marginal propensities to consume, their balance sheet composition, the sensitivity of their own earnings to fluctuations in aggregate labor income, and the responsiveness of aggregate earnings, asset prices and inflation to monetary policy shocks. We quantify all these channels in the euro area by combining micro data from the HFCS and the EU-LFS with structural VARs estimated on aggregate time series. We find that the indirect labor income channel and the housing wealth effect are strong drivers of the aggregate consumption response to monetary policy and explain the cross-country heterogeneity in these responses. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Bifunctional transfer-messenger RNA. Transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA) is a bifunctional RNA that has properties of a tRNA and an mRNA. tmRNA uses these two functions to release ribosomes stalled during translation and target the nascent polypeptides for degradation. This concerted reaction, known as trans-translation, contributes to translational quality control and regulation of gene expression in bacteria. tmRNA is conserved throughout bacteria, and is one of the most abundant RNAs in the cell, suggesting that trans-translation is of fundamental importance for bacterial fitness. Mutants lacking tmRNA activity typically have severe phenotypes, including defects in viability, virulence, and responses to environmental stresses. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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A Weapon of the Weak? Shareholding, Property Rights and Villager Empowerment in China. As urbanization continues to fuel land and property conflicts in rural China, shareholding has been promoted as a reform in property rights that would enhance bottom-up control in the governance of collective assets. The recent proliferation of community-based shareholding companies has been credited for giving villagers new identities as shareholders, which entitle them to vote, receive their share of collective profits, and elect the managers of their wealth. This paper critically appraises these reforms and offers a contrarian perspective to singular narratives of villager empowerment. While shareholding clarifies villagers' rights of control, income and transfer in collective property, the effective exercise of such powers is often forestalled on the ground by the concentration of power in elite hands. To the extent that formal and informal constraints on cadre power remain tenuous, shareholding could function as a vehicle for the powerful to appropriate collective wealth rather than as a weapon of the weak.
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Intrachromosomal triplication of distal 7p. A female infant who died at 2 years of age with growth and psychomotor retardation, wide anterior fontanelle, downward slanting palpebral fissures, large, simple ears, joint dislocation/contractures, recurrent infections, and severe pulmonary hypertension was found to have a de novo 7p+ chromosome. The G banding pattern was suggestive of a triplication of 7p21.3 and 7p22; results of fluorescence in situ hybridisation studies using a chromosome 7 specific Library, a subtelomeric 7p repeat (109A6), and yeast artificial chromosome clones 786g1 and 850al, which are respectively associated with the (CA)n repeat markers D7S517 and D7S513, supported the cytogenetic interpretation and showed that the middle repeat was inverted. The patient's phenotype was consistent with the 7p duplication syndrome, allowing for the effects of the extra burden introduced by the partial tetrasomy. The present rearrangement may have resulted from several meiotic events occurring at the four chromatid stage, namely an unequal crossover or interhomologue translocation with points of exchange at 7p22 and 7p15 followed by the inverted insertion of 7p21.3-->p21.2 at the former breakpoint junction; moreover, a further duplication including D7S517 within the terminal 7p22 band is also required.
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Structural stability of slender aerospace vehicles: Part I Mathematical modeling. A detailed mechanics based model is developed to analyze the problem of structural instability in slender aerospace vehicles. Coupling among the rigid-body modes, the longitudinal vibrational modes and the transverse vibrational modes due to asymmetric lifting-body cross-section are considered. The model also incorporates the effects of aerodynamic pressure and the propulsive thrust of the vehicle. The model is one-dimensional, and it can be employed to idealized slender vehicles with complex shapes. Condition under which a flexible body with internal stress waves behaves like a perfect rigid body is derived. Two methods are developed for finite element discretization of the system: (1) A time-frequency Fourier spectral finite element method and (2) h-p finite element method. Numerical results using the above methods are presented in Part II of this paper. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Samuel Lysons and His Circle: Art, Science and the Remains of Roman Britain. This paper critically evaluates the social and intellectual influences which shaped Samuel Lysons' (1763-1819) interests in the archaeological remains of Roman Britain, and assesses the extent to which his work was innovative. While Romano-British archaeologists have long admired his achievements, there has been no detailed examination of the factors influencing the development of his interests and approach. This paper will outline how Lysons' social networks, his genuine concern for preserving and recording Romano-British remains, his broad scholarly interests, and the support of an intellectual elite involved with the expansion of national institutions during a period characterized by intense international rivalry, resulted in his exemplary approach to the excavation and publication of the remains of Roman Britain. Scrutiny of newspaper reports, diaries, correspondence, and the previously unpublished contents of his personal library, and an examination of his publications in relation to contemporary Classical and scientific scholarship, shows how and why his work was at the forefront of archaeological scholarship in this period. The results of this study support his reputation as a founding father of Romano-British archaeology and show that both he and his associates deserve far wider recognition of their contributions to the development of archaeology as a whole.
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Social disorder, mass repression, and the NKVD during the 1930s. This paper examines the evolution of Soviet policies of mass repression during the 1930s. In the early 1930s, party and OGPU officials directed campaigns of mass repression against what were considered hostile social classes, especially small-holding rural inhabitants. During collectivization and de-kulakization mass repression was employed as part of a class war to establish Soviet power and the dictatorship of the proletariat. Ironically, the \\'victory\\' of socialism in 1933 and 1934 not only marked the end of class war; it also ended any pretense to class-specific forms of repression. During the middle years of the decade, mass repression became the primary way authorities dealt with problems of crime and social disorder, and then the perceived dangers of ethnic and national contamination. In the process, mass repression became one of the main ways the regime redistributed the Soviet population, constructed politically acceptable national identities, protected the country's borders, and imposed social and economic discipline on Soviet society. These various aspects of mass repression policies coalesced in 1937 and 1938 and, fueled by fear of internal political opposition and coming war, gave the Great Purges of those years their peculiar character and virulence.
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SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF: IDENTIFYING KEY ELEMENTS IN THE NLA .AU DOMAIN HARVEST. In 2005 and 2006 the National Library of Australia (NLA) carried out two whole-domain web harvests which complement the selective web archiving approach taken by PANDORA. Web harvests of this size pose significant challenges to their use. Despite these challenges, such harvests present fascinating research opportunities. The NLA has provided Charles Sturt University's POA (Preservation for Ongoing Accessibility) research group with access to these web harvests and associated keyword indexes. This paper describes the 2006 harvest and uses the example of blogs to address how to identify material within the harvest and determine issues that need further investigation. AARL September 2008 vol 39 no 3 pp 137-148.
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Evaluation of phenylpropanolamine in the treatment of urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence in the bitch. In a multicentre, blinded, placebo-controlled trial, 50 dogs were treated for 28 days with either phenylpropanolamine or a placebo control. Each was given at a dose of one drop per 2 kg orally three times daily, equivalent to 1 mg/kg three times daily of phenylpropanolamine. Dogs that presented with clinical signs consistent with urinary sphincter mechanism incontinence were included in the study. They were examined on three occasions by the investigating veterinary surgeon. The frequency and volume of unconscious urination were scored by veterinary surgeons according to a pre-established scoring system. Phenylpropanolamine proved to be more effective than the placebo in regard to several parameters. At day 28, 85.7 per cent of phenylpropanolamine-treated cases had no episodes of unconscious urination compared with 33.3 per cent of placebo-treated cases. This was statistically significant. Few, mild side effects were seen in either group.
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How accurately can the SZ effect measure peculiar cluster velocities and bulk flows?. The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect is a powerful tool for cosmology that can be used to measure the radial peculiar velocities of galaxy clusters, and thus to test, and constrain theories of structure formation and evolution. This requires, in principle, an accurate measurement of the effect, a good separation between the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich components, and a good understanding of the sources contributing to the signal and their effect on the measured velocity. In this study, we evaluate the error in the individual radial peculiar velocities determined with Sunyaev-Zel'dovich measurements. We estimate, for three cosmological models, the errors induced by the major contributing signals (primary Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect due to the background cluster population, residuals from component separation and instrumental noise). We generalise our results to estimate the error in the bulk velocity on large scales. In this context, we investigate the limitation due to the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich source (or spatial) confusion in a Planck-like instrumental configuration. Finally, we propose a strategy based on the future all-sky Sunyaev-Zel'dovich survey, that will be provided by the Planck mission, to measure accurately the bulk velocities on large scales up to redshift 1, or more.
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COMPARISON OF THE CAPSID PROTEIN CISTRON FROM SEROLOGICALLY DISTINCT STRAINS OF SWEET-POTATO FEATHERY MOTTLE VIRUS (SPFMV). Complementary DNA clones corresponding to the 3' terminus of sweetpotato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) strains RC and C were synthesized and sequenced. An open reading frame followed by a 3' terminal non-coding region of 222 nucleotides and a terminal polyadenylation track was present in clones from both strains. Putative N-terminal capsid protein cleavage sites were identified for both strains 945 nucleotides 5' of the first stop codon. Sequence comparisons of these strains show 98% nucleic acid identity in the last 351 nucleotides of the capsid protein cistron and 100% in the corresponding amino acids. This relatively short homologous sequence element near the C terminus is responsible for the wide spectrum hybridization among SPFMV strains using in vitro transcribed antiviral RNA probes (riboprobes). The sequence similarity in the remaining N terminal 645 nucleotides is only 62% and 65% for their predicted amino acids. A tendency of decreasing nucleotide mismatches in the alignment from 5' to 3' end of both capsid protein cistrons was detected. Although the alignment of the predicted amino acid sequence of the SPFMV-RC capsid protein with those of other potyviruses showed significant homology, hybridization with riboprobes from both the 5' and 3' regions of the capsid protein cistron of SPFMV was virus-specific.
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No more jokes: Comic complexity, Adult Swim and a political aesthetic model of humour. For such a complex cultural form, the politics of humour have historically been understood in highly reductive terms: either as an abstract political function (e.g. carnival or ridicule) or as a simple formal flourish that can be pressed into the service of any cause. Drawing on the work of Raymond Williams and Jacques Ranciere, I argue instead for a 'political aesthetic' model that grasps humour as a cultural formation, the politics of which cannot be determined in advance or in the abstract but only understood in relation to the political, economic and social elements of a wider conjuncture. This political aesthetic approach will be illustrated through a case study of the historical development of the internationally distributed Adult Swim programming block: an example of how shifts in economic and technological context can lead to shifts in the political meaning of a persistent comic aesthetic. At the forefront of an emergent comic formation in the early 2000s, Adult Swim's once niche comic aesthetic now informs dominant models of online humour in ways that threaten to mitigate, or even reverse, the critical cultural politics of its earlier iterations.
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Vertical relations, pass-through, and market definition: Evidence from grocery retailing. We examine how different pass-through rates from input prices to retail prices and different vertical contracts affect upstream market definition. Simple theoretical considerations suggest that vertical restraints induce higher pass-through rates and thus lead to a larger upstream market definition when compared to linear wholesale pricing, given that contracts with linear pricing are associated with lower pass-through rates under imperfect competition. Data from grocery retailing is used to quantify the empirical implications of our theoretical assertion. We find that resale price maintenance leads to larger upstream market definitions than linear pricing. We therefore advise competition authorities to carefully model vertical market structures, whenever they expect incomplete pass-through to be important. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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CONSTRUCTING AN ICON: The Self-Referentiality and Framing of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. This article examines the ways in which Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz's rhetorical self-representations, especially in her portrait poems, coincide with and challenge two visual representations of her that accompanied volumes of her work published in Spain. Because of her unique subjectivity as a nun from colonial Mexico, who is also a prominent figure in the canon of Spanish Golden Age literature, Sor Juana has become an icon of both Hispanic and female authorship. The consideration of both the metaphorical and the visual personae of Sor Juana offers distinct approaches to the complicated issue of self-fashioning in the early modern Hispanic context.
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Molecular orientational distribution function of a chiral de Vries smectic liquid crystal from birefringence measurements. An alternative method for determining the orientational distribution function and the order parameter from the electric field-induced birefringence measurements of a chiral liquid crystal compound in its Smectic A* is being introduced. A chiral mesogen based on a 5-phenyl-pyrimidine benzoate core terminated by a trisiloxane group on one side and the chiral alkyloxy chain on its opposite side is designed and synthesized to exhibit the \\'de Vries\\' smectic characteristics. The compound exhibits first order Smectic A*-Smectic C* phase transition, evidenced by the results of differential scanning calorimetry. The material is being investigated by electro-optical experiment in its smectic phases. We present a model that incorporates the generalised Langevin-Debye model which includes the Maier-Saupe effective mean-field potential term in order to explain the change in birefringence with the electric field. A good agreement between the experimental results and the predictions from the model leads to the determination of the molecular orientational distribution function in Smectic A phase. Furthermore, the temperature dependency of the Saupe orientational order parameter < P-2 > is obtained using the parameters of the model. Based on the experimental and theoretical results, we show that de Vries Smectic A* phase exhibits a broad volcano-like tilt angle distribution with the two maxima occurring at finite tilt angles closer to the Smectic A*-Smectic C* transition temperature, and a sugarloaf-like distribution occurs in the tilt for temperatures close to the Isotropic-Smectic A* phase transition. Published under license by AIP Publishing.
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MODULAR TERMINATION OF R-CONSISTENT AND LEFT-LINEAR TERM REWRITING-SYSTEMS. A modular property of term rewriting systems is one that holds for the direct sum of two disjoint term rewriting systems iff it holds for every involved term rewriting system. A term rewriting system is r-consistent iff there is no term that can be rewritten to two different variables. We show that the subclass of left-linear and r-consistent term rewriting systems has the modular termination property. This subclass may also contain nonconfluent term rewriting systems. Since confluence implies r-consistency, this constitutes a generalisation of the theorem of Toyama, Klop, and Barendregt on the modularity of termination for confluent and left-linear term rewriting systems.
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Successfully Treating Nicotine Dependence. The Alliance Scholar address briefly reviews nicotine, the biology of addiction, and the association of nicotine, depression, and the endocannabinoid system to tobacco dependence. Moreover, the latest management options for treating nicotine dependence are reviewed which include the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approved nicotine replacement therapies (i.e., nicotine polacrilex (2 mg and 4 mg), nicotine transdermal patch, the nicotine nasal spray, the nicotine oral inhaler, and the nicotine lozenge). In addition, the only non-nicotine smoking management option approved by the FDA is also discussed (i.e., bupropion SR, an anti-depressant). Finally, two investigational drugs (rimonabant and varenicline) currently being evaluated for treating nicotine dependence are briefly reviewed.
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Adding Value to Aquaculture Products: Kati Farms (Uganda) Ltd.. Kati Farms (U) Ltd is a fish agro-processing enterprise led by Lovin Kobusingye, a young entrepreneur linking Ugandan fish farmers with markets. Because fish farmers were having trouble finding marketing outlets for fresh farmed fish, Lovin started adding value to fish. Her breakthrough came when she thought of making sausages from fish. Lovin went through the process of developing her and her suppliers' capacities and finding markets for her innovative products with the support of Ugandan government institutions. Kati Farms and her fish suppliers now reliably deliver processed fish products to 30 local supermarkets and 23 hotels, in addition to many low-income consumers through street vendors.
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Comparative study of the power transferred from satellite-magnetosphere interactions to auroral emissions. Io's interaction with the Jovian magnetosphere generates a power of about 1012 W which propagates as Alfven waves along the magnetic field lines and is partly transferred to electrons, resulting in intense auroral emissions. A recent study of the power transmission along the Io flux tube and of the electron acceleration at high latitudes showed that the power of the observed emissions is well explained by assuming filamentation of the Alfven waves in the torus and the acceleration of the electrons at high latitude. At Jupiter, UV footprints related to Europa and Ganymede have also been observed. At Saturn recent observations revealed a weak UV footprint of Enceladus. We apply the Io interaction model to the Europa and Enceladus interactions. We show that the Alfven wave filamentation leads to a precipitating electron power consistent with the power of the observed UV footprints.
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Tolerance of southern highbush blueberry to 2,4-D choline postemergence-directed. Field studies were conducted on southern highbush blueberry in Elizabethtown and Rocky Point, NC, in 2019, 2020, and 2021 to determine tolerance to 2,4-D choline as a postemergence-directed application. In separate trials for younger and older bearing blueberry bushes, both 2,4-D choline rates and application timing were evaluated. Treatments included 2,4-D choline at 0, 0.53, 1.06, 1.60, and 2.13 kg ae ha(-1) applied alone in winter during dormancy, and sequential treatments at 0.53 kg ae ha(-1) followed by (fb) 0.53, 1.06 fb 1.06, 1.6 fb 1.6, or 2.13 fb 2.13 kg ae ha(-1). The first application of the sequential treatments was applied in winter followed by another application in spring during early green fruit. Injury to blueberry from 2,4-D choline treatments was not observed for either maturity stage, and fruit yield was not affected by any of the treatments. Differences among treatments were not observed for fruit soluble solid content (SSC) in older bushes, or for fruit pH, SSC, and titratable acidity (TA) in younger bushes. In older bushes, fruit pH and TA had rate-by-timing interactions, and TA had a farm-year interaction with differences at Rocky Point in 2019 and Elizabethtown in 2020, but biologically no pattern was observed from the treatments.
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Pseudomonas fildesensis sp. nov., a psychrotolerant bacterium isolated from Antarctic soil of King George Island, South Shetland Islands. The strain KG01(T) was isolated from a soil sample from King George Island, Antarctica. Cells of KG01(T) are rod-shaped and motile by means of multiple polar flagella. The absence of arginine dihydrolase activity could be a key feature to readily distinguish KG01(T) from its closest phylogenetic relative species. The main fatty acids of the strain include summed feature 3 (C-16:1 omega 7c and/or C-15:0 iso 2-OH), C-16:0 and C-18:1 omega 7c. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence and on a multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) using housekeeping genes (16S rRNA, rpoB, rpoD, gyrB) were carried out. These analyses allowed us to include the strain within the Pseudomonas fluorescens group, presenting the highest similarity of multilocus sequence with Pseudomonas veronii LMG 17761(T) (96.67%). The genome of KG01(T) was sequenced and in silico compared with genomes of the most closely related species of the P. fluorescens group. The average nucleotide identity (ANIb) and average amino acid identity (AAI) values of the species phylogenetically closest to KG01(T) were less than 95-96%, threshold currently accepted to define strain as belonging to a bacterial species, the highest scores being those to Pseudomonas veronii LMG 17761(T) (87.98%) and Pseudomonas marginalis ICMP 3553(T) (91.90%). Therefore, the phenotypic and genotypic analyses results, allow us to propose that KG01(T) represents a member of a novel species of the genus Pseudomonas, for which the name Pseudomonas fildesensis is proposed, and KG01(T) (=CECT 9084(T);=DSM 102036(T)) is established as the type strain.
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SAVED BY LABELL: LOCAL TAXATION OF VIDEO STREAMING SERVICES. Different cities and states have taken distinctive approaches to taxing these services. Certain jurisdictions tax them in line with traditional pay-TV providers under utility taxes, while other jurisdictions tax them under sales or amusement taxes. This Note considers these different approaches, with a focus on Labell v. City of Chicago, a 2018 case upholding Chicago's application of its amusement tax to Netflix and other video streaming services.Over the last few years, Netflix and other video streaming services have erupted to become a preeminent form of entertainment for millennials and the public at large. With traditional forms of entertainment waning, video streaming services represent a novel source of revenue for cities. Local governments currently have numerous tax approaches that may be used to cover these services.Recognizing the various constraints that state and federal laws place on local taxation, this Note outlines the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches and highlights the challenges that cities should consider when issuing interpretive rulings to bring video streaming services into their tax bases. This Note suggests that other cities should draw on Labell and follow Chicago's lead in taxing these services under existing amusement tax laws where possible, given the easier procedural hurdles, strong theoretical backing, and recent supporting precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Suitability of the cranial portion of the vagina as a site for measurement of intra-abdominal pressure variations in dogs. Objective-To determine whether the cranial portion of the vagina of dogs is a suitable site for measuring intra-abdominal pressure during cystometry.Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-The rectum was the better site for measuring intra-abdominal pressure changes in female dogs. Measurement of intra-abdominal pressure with concomitant measurement of intravesical pressure to determine detrusor pressure during cystometry in female dogs is more reliably detected from the rectum than the cranial portion of the vagina.Results-Intra-abdominal pressure variations were detected with greater magnitude in the rectum than the cranial portion of the vagina; regardless of type of catheter used and reproductive status (sexually intact vs spayed) of the dogs.Procedure-2 types of vaginal catheters were used to measure intra-abdominal pressure changes in anesthetized dogs. Catheters were inserted in the rectum and cranial portion of the vagina.Animals-16 bitches (8 sexually intact and 8 spayed).
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Debris Disks: Structure, Composition, and Variability. Debris disks are tenuous, dust-dominated disks commonly observed around stars over a wide range of ages. Those around main sequence stars are analogous to the Solar System's Kuiper Belt and zodiacal light. The dust in debris disks is believed to be continuously regenerated, originating primarily with collisions of planetesimals. Observations of debris disks provide insight into the evolution of planetary systems; and the composition of dust, comets, and planetesimals outside the Solar System; as well as placing constraints on the orbital architecture and potentially the masses of exoplanets that are not otherwise detectable. This review highlights recent advances in multi-wavelength, high-resolution scattered light and thermal imaging that have revealed a complex and intricate diversity of structures in debris disks and discusses how modeling methods are evolving with the breadth and depth of the available observations. Two rapidly advancing subfields highlighted in this review include observations of atomic and molecular gas around main sequence stars and variations in emission from debris disks on very short (days to years) timescales, providing evidence of non-steady-state collisional evolution particularly in young debris disks.
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Writing and interacting in the discourse community of engineering. In this paper, the author looks at text production from a social perspective, drawing on concepts of social interaction and discourse community. The discourse community in question is that of engineering. The texts analyzed here are products of a group of Danish consulting engineers working together to develop an energy concept for a German municipality. The paper mainly aims to show writing as a social action in a discourse community, which is constructed by the interactive work of its members. Important aspects of this work occur in the processes of text production, feedback, and text revision. Three examples of qualitative revision analyses illustrate the interplay of participating in current chains of communication with manifesting membership in a discourse community. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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Trypanosomes contain two highly different isoforms of peroxin PEX13 involved in glycosome biogenesis. We previously identified the peroxin PEX13 in Trypanosoma brucei. Although lacking some features considered typical of PEX13s, it appeared functional in the biogenesis of glycosomes, the peroxisome-like organelles of trypanosomatids. Here we report the identification of a very different trypanosomatid PEX13, not containing the commonly encountered PEX13 SH3 domain but having other typical features. It is readily detected with the jackhmmer database search program, but not with PSI-BLAST. This is the first time different PEX13 isoforms are reported in a single organism. We show that this PEX13.2, like the PEX13.1 previously described, is associated with glycosomes and that its depletion by RNA interference affects the biogenesis of the organelles and viability of trypanosomes. The features considered typical of PEX13s are discussed.
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Comparison of two methods for measurement of equine adrenocorticotropin. Accurate measurement of equine adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) is important for the diagnosis of equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID). Several radioimmunoassays (RIAs) and chemiluminescent immunoassays (CIAs) are used for measurement of ACTH concentration in horses; whether these methods yield similar results across a range of concentrations is not determined. We evaluated agreement between a commercial RIA and CIA. Archived plasma samples (n = 633) were measured with both assays. Correlation between the 2 methods was moderate (r = 0.49, p < 0.001). Bland-Altman analysis revealed poor agreement, with a proportional bias and widening limits of agreement with increasing values. Poor agreement between assays was also observed when evaluating plasma samples with concentrations at or below the recommended diagnostic cutoff value for PPID testing. The lack of agreement suggests that measurements obtained should not be considered interchangeable between methods.
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[
0,
10
] |
Genetic variance of mating frequency in the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.). The genetic variance of queen mating frequency was studied in honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica). Worker offspring (N = 966) of 28 naturally mated half sister-queens (r = 0.25) from seven unrelated breeding lines were genotyped at four DNA microsatellites. The mating frequencies of the queens were derived from the offspring genotypes. The number of observed matings per queen ranged from 10 to 28 with an average of 17.32 +/- 1.10 (number of estimated matings: 24.94 +/- 2.5 1; number of effective matings: 20.09 +/- 1.73). Half-sib analyses of the breeding lines were used to estimate heritability. Heritability was h(2) = 0.449 +/- 0.135 for the estimated number of matings and h(2) = 0.262 +/- 0.103 for the number of effective males, which are both significantly different from zero. We conclude that a high genetic variance for polyandry in honeybees can be favored by balanced selection between individual queen and colony level.
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[
4,
41
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Cell-free Protein Synthesis from a Release Factor 1 Deficient Escherichia coli Activates Efficient and Multiple Site-specific Nonstandard Amino Acid Incorporation. Site-specific incorporation of nonstandard amino acids (NSAAs) into proteins enables the creation of biopolymers, proteins, and enzymes with new chemical properties, new structures, and new functions. To achieve this, amber (TAG codon) suppression has been widely applied. However, the suppression efficiency is limited due to the competition with translation termination by release factor 1 (RF1), which leads to truncated products. Recently, we constructed a genomically recoded Escherichia coli strain lacking RF1 where 13 occurrences of the amber stop codon have been reassigned to the synonymous TAA codon (rEc.E13.ApdA). Here, we assessed and characterized cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) in crude S30 cell lysates derived from this strain. We observed the synthesis of 190 +/- 20 mu g/mL of modified soluble superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP) containing a single p-propargyloxy-L-phenylalanine (pPaF) or p-acetyl-L-phenylalanine. As compared to the parent rEc.EI3 strain with RF1, this results in a modified sfGFP synthesis improvement of more than 250%. Beyond introducing a single NSAA, we further demonstrated benefits of CFPS from the RF1-cle.ficient strains for incorporating prar at two- and five-sites per sfGFP protein. Finally, we compared our crude S30 extract system to the PURE translation system lacking RF1. We observed that our S30 extract based approach is more cost-effective and high yielding than the PURE translation system lacking RF1, 1000 times on a milligram protein produced/$ basis. Looking forward, using RF1-deficient strains for extract-based CFPS will aid in the synthesis of proteins and biopolymers with site-specifically incorporated NSAAs.
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[
4,
39
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The Sabbath as The Seventh day of the Week and a Day of Rest: Since When?. The objective of this note is to reevaluate the terminus post quem for the concept of Sabbath as the last day of the week and the day of rest. Until now scholars based their evaluation of the problem on biblical material exclusively. In this note I use extrabiblical material that was not used previously and that allows for a new evaluation of the problem.
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[
3,
30
] |
Kinetics of crystallization of Ge30-xSe70Sbx (x=15, 20, 25) chalcogenide glasses. The kinetics of crystallization of Ge30-xSe70Sbx (x = 15, 20, 25) chalcogenide glasses has been investigated using differential scanning calorimetery at different heating rates under non-isothermal conditions. The kinetic analysis of crystallization has been discussed using different theoretical approaches such as Ozawa model, Augis and Bennet model, Matusita model and Gao-Wang model. It is evident from this study that the activation energy of crystallization E-c is composition dependent. The activation energy decreases with increasing Sb content due to the increasing of rate of crystallization. The minimum value of the frequency factor K-o, which is defined as the number of attempts made by the nuclei per second to overcome the energy barrier, confirms the fact that glass is more stable. It has been found that Ge15Se70Sb15 glass is more stable compared to the other compositions.
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[
1,
11
] |
Tribological characteristics of materials based on bronze for small friction assemblies. The effect of the fineness of atomized nonspherical bronze powder and compaction pressure on the porosity and pore size of sintered materials is studied. The optimum sintering temperature for achieving the maximum strength and porosity of bronze carcasses is determined. The effect of bronze original porosity and powder particle size on the wear resistance and friction coefficient of sintered carcasses impregnated with polymer and oil under dry friction conditions and a self-lubricating regime is established.
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[
1,
11,
13
] |
Voicing language dominance Acquiring Spanish by British English/Spanish bilingual children. This paper investigates the linguistic performance of a group of English-Spanish-bilingual children (N = 44, age range: 10-14) with different degrees of language dominance in their use of the Spanish preposition 'a' using a completion task which measures the different conditions that relate to the distribution of a personal (Torrego 1998; Zagona 2002). The children's performance was compared to a group of monolingual Spanish children of similar age (n = 10, age range: 12-15). All participants had also to complete an ethno-linguistic task which elicits data to address the impact of some external factors (e. g., language dominance and language choices) in language performance. Results revealed that bilingual children were less accurate than monolingual children in the use of the preposition 'a', but the two groups showed a similar pattern of errors regardless of their grade of bilingualism. More importantly, their linguistic performance does not seem to be related to any of the external factors included in this study. In line with previous research in the field, we also claim that phenomena involving the syntax-semantics interface are vulnerable in bilingual children irrespective of the grade of bilingualism and external factors (i.e., language dominance and language choice).
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[
3,
25
] |
MChip, a low density microarray, differentiates among seasonal human H1N1, North American swine H1N1, and the 2009 pandemic H1N1. Conclusions The current study demonstrates the MChip has the capability to differentiate the genetic variations among influenza viruses with appropriate ANN training. Further selective enrichment of the ANN will improve its ability to rapidly and reliably characterize influenza viruses of unknown origin.Objectives The work presented here represents an effort to expand and test the capabilities of the MChip to differentiate influenza A/H1N1 of various species origin. Methods The MChip ANN was trained to recognize fluorescence image patterns of a variety of known influenza A viruses, including examples of human H1N1, human H3N2, swine H1N1, 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1, and a wide variety of avian, equine, canine, and swine influenza viruses. Robustness of the MChip ANN was evaluated using 296 blinded isolates.Results Training of the ANN was expanded by the addition of 71 well-characterized influenza A isolates and yielded relatively high accuracy (little misclassification) in distinguishing unique H1N1 strains: nine human A/H1N1 (88.9% correct), 35 human A/H3N2 (97.1% correct), 31 North American swine A/H1N1 (80.6% correct), 14 2009 pandemic A/H1N1 (87.7% correct), and 23 negative samples (91.3% correct). Genetic diversity among the swine H1N1 isolates may have contributed to the lower success rate for these viruses.Background The MChip uses data from the hybridization of amplified viral RNA to 15 distinct oligonucleotides that target the influenza A matrix ( M) gene segment. An artificial neural network (ANN) automates the interpretation of subtle differences in fluorescence intensity patterns from the microarray. The complete process from clinical specimen to identification including amplification of viral RNA can be completed in <8 hours for under US$10.
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[
2,
24,
20
] |
Leafy and semi-leafless field pea competition with winter wild oat as affected by weed density. A 2-year field study was conducted in northern Greece using one leafy, long vine length ('Olympus') and one semi-leafless, short vine length ('Hardy') field pea (Pisum sativum L) cultivars to determine their ability to compete with winter wild oat (or animated oat) [Avena sterilis spp. ludoviciana (Durieu) Gill & Magne]. Winter wild oat stems and dry biomass were increased with increasing weed density from 35 to 210 plants/m(2). Stem number and dry biomass of both field pea cultivars were decreased by 19-55% due to the competition of winter wild oat. However, the cv. 'Olympus' provided greater ability to compete and ability to withstand competition of winter wild oat than the cv. 'Hardy'. In particular, stem number and dry biomass of winter wild oat grown in competition with the cv. 'Olympus' were 16-46% lower than those in competition with the cv. 'Hardy'. In weed-free treatments, seed yield of cv. 'Hardy' was by 37% greater than that of cv. 'Olympus'. However, in weedy treatments, pod number or seed yield losses of cv. 'Olympus' were up to 20% or 26%, respectively, lower than those of cv. 'Hardy'. The results indicated that winter wild oat was a strong competitor against field pea. However, leafy, long vine length field pea had greater ability to suppress winter wild oat and should be used in sustainable production fields infected by this weed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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[
0,
7
] |
The classification of self-dual modular codes. A classification method of self-dual codes over Z(m) is given. If m = rs with relatively prime integers r and s, then the classification can be accomplished by double coset decompositions of S-n by automorphism groups of self-dual codes over Z(r) and Z(s). We classify self-dual codes of length 4 over Z(p) for all primes p in terms of their automorphism groups and then apply our method to classify self-dual codes over Z(m) for arbitrary integer m. Self-dual codes of length 8 are also classified over Z(pq) for p,q = 2, 3, 5, 7. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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[
4,
38
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Genomic characterization of grapevine virus J, a novel virus identified in grapevine. This paper describes the nucleotide sequence and genome organization of a novel RNA virus detected in grapevine (Vitis vinifera) cultivar 'Kizil Sapak' by high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and tentatively named \\'grapevine virus J\\' (GVJ). The full genome of GVJ is 7,390 nucleotides in length, which comprises five open reading frames (ORFs), including a 20K ORF (ORF 2) between the replicase (ORF 1) and the movement protein (ORF 3) genes. According to the level of sequence homology and phylogenetics, GVJ is proposed as a new member of the genus Vitivirus (subfamily Trivirinae; family Betaflexiviridae), with the closest characterized virus being grapevine virus D (GVD).
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[
2,
20
] |
Journey through the ?Gate of Zion?: British policy, Jewish refugees and the La Spezia Affair, 1946. This article explores the case of ?illegal? immigration at the end of the Second World War and, specifically, the events that unfolded at the Italian port of La Spezia. In April 1946, 1014 visa-less Jewish refugees, who were attempting to reach the British Mandate of Palestine, were detained on a vessel by Italian authorities under the instruction of the British. Rather than conceding to Whitehall?s rejection of entry visas, the Spezia refugees remained defiant, threatening collective mass-suicide and staging hunger strikes until passage was finally granted. The Spezia narrative has, however, remained on the periphery of academic scholarship, with the case of the ship Exodus 1947, which set sail the following year, dominating historiographical accounts. This article demonstrates the impact of the La Spezia Affair on post-war migratory movements and, most notably, the importance of refugee agency within the context of forced migration. Analysing the events at La Spezia from the port itself recasts the narrative through a ?local? lens, recovering the role of the refugees which has been largely overshadowed by state-level responses. In so doing, traditional perspectives from ?above? are confronted with those from ?below?, reconfiguring our historical understanding of refugees and transnational migration in the twentieth century.
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[
3,
28
] |
Effect of different aqueous solutions of pure salts and salt mixtures in reverse electrodialysis systems for closed-loop applications. Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) in a closed-loop arrangement is a viable way to convert low-grade heat into electric power. The present work experimentally investigates the use of pure salt-and equimolar two salts-water solutions as feeds in a lab-scale RED unit. RED performances were analysed in terms of Open Circuit Voltage (OCV), stack resistance and corrected power density. The pure salts and the mixtures employed were chosen via a computational analysis. Effect of feed solution velocity and concentration was investigated. Results concerning the pure salt-water experiments show that NH4Cl is the most performing salt in the concentration range probed, while higher power density values are expected with the use of LiCl at larger concentrations. As regards the salt binary mixtures, in some cases, the measured stack electrical resistance was found lower than both the two values measured for the corresponding pure salts, thus resulting into higher power density values for the mixtures. This surprising experimental evidence suggests that it is possible to increase the power produced by a conventional RED unit by adding an equivalent molar quantity of another suitable salt. Finally, among the mixtures tested, the NH4Cl-LiCl mixture appears as the most promising, thanks to the combination of the favorable properties of these two salts.
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[
1,
4,
16,
33
] |
Evaluation of two novel enzyme immunoassays using recombinant antigens to detect cytomegalovirus-specific immunoglobulin M in sera from pregnant women. Results: Relative sensitivity, relative specificity and overall agreement differed according to the reference assay. The Cobas Core CMV EIA recomb showed much higher agreement with the ELISA consensus, and the IMx CMV IgM 2.0 with the immunoblot.Background: Two novel enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) (Abbott IMx CMV IgM 2.0, and Cobas Core CMV IgM EIA recomb, research version) which use recombinant antigens to detect cytomegalovirus (CMV)specific IgM antibodies were evaluated.Objectives: A new ELISA is normally evaluated against a gold standard commercial kit, which in this case does not exist. We therefore evaluated the two novel recombinant ELISA against four conventional ELISAs and a recently developed CMV IgM immunoblot containing four purified viral and four recombinant proteins.Study design: A total of 280 sera from pregnant women and 42 potentially cross-reactive sera were investigated using the six ELISAs, including 101 sera which were also tested using the new IgM immunoblot.Conclusion: The evaluation of these new IgM assays in terms of their agreement with either commercial ELISA kits or the IgM immunoblot demonstrates that the question 'which reference method?' is still open. However the recombinant IgM assays may improve the diagnosis of CMV infection in pregnancy since the recombinant technology offers helpful tools for identifying diagnostically relevant proteins and allows the use of standardized pure Preparations of antigens. For serological diagnosis of CMV infection in pregnancy two IgM assays that can be relied upon should be performed. IgM positive sera should be tested with supplementary assays to differentiate primary from non-primary infection. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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[
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20
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Language variation in source texts and their translations The case of L3 in film translation. In addition to the two languages essentially involved in translation, that of the source text (L1) and that of the target text (L2), we propose a third language (L3) to refer to any other language(s) found either or both texts. L3 may appear in the source text (ST) or the target text (TT), actually appearing more frequently in STs in our case studies. We present a range of combinations for the convergence and divergence of L1, L2 and L3, for the case of feature films and their translations using examples from dubbed and subtitled versions of films, but we are hopeful that our tentative conclusions may be relevant to other modalities of translation, audiovisual and otherwise. When L3 appears in an audiovisual ST, we find a variety of solutions whereby L3 is deleted from or adapted to the TT. In the latter case, L3 might be rendered in a number of ways, depending on factors such as the audience's familiarity with L3, and the possibility that L3 in the ST is an invented language.
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[
3,
25
] |
Effect of the simultaneous application of a high static magnetic field and a low alternating current on grain structure and grain boundary of pure aluminum. Effect of the simultaneous application of a high static magnetic field and a low alternating electric current on the solidification structure of pure aluminum has been investigated. Results show that the refinement of the solidification structure is enhanced by the electric current under a certain magnetic field. However, when the magnetic field intensity exceeds a certain value, the refinement is impaired under a certain electric current. The observation by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) shows the complex fields have led to the increase of the low angle boundaries with the refinement. Moreover, the application of the static gradient magnetic field is capable of modifying the distribution of the refined grains. The above results may be attributed to the formation of the cavities during the electromagnetic vibration process and the high magnetic field. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.
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[
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