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Structural Evaluation of the Spike Glycoprotein Variants on SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Immune Evasion
Get PDFFrom MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-07-07, pub-electronic 2021-07-10Publication status: PublishedFunder: Universiti Sains Malaysia; Grant(s): 1001/PPSP/8012382Abstract: The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) presents significant social, economic and political challenges worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 has caused over 3.5 million deaths since late 2019. Mutations in the spike (S) glycoprotein are of particular concern because it harbours the domain which recognises the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and is the target for neutralising antibodies. Mutations in the S protein may induce alterations in the surface spike structures, changing the conformational B-cell epitopes and leading to a potential reduction in vaccine efficacy. Here, we summarise how the more important variants of SARS-CoV-2, which include cluster 5, lineages B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant), B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (B.1.1.28/Gamma), B.1.427/B.1.429 (Epsilon), B.1.526 (Iota) and B.1.617.2 (Delta) confer mutations in their respective spike proteins which enhance viral fitness by improving binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor and lead to an increase in infectivity and transmission. We further discuss how these spike protein mutations provide resistance against immune responses, either acquired naturally or induced by vaccination. This information will be valuable in guiding the development of vaccines and other therapeutics for protection against the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic
Aridity-driven shift in biodiversity–soil multifunctionality relationships
Get PDFFrom Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-01-07, accepted 2021-08-12, registration 2021-08-25, pub-electronic 2021-09-09, online 2021-09-09, collection 2021-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001809; Grant(s): 31770430Abstract: Relationships between biodiversity and multiple ecosystem functions (that is, ecosystem multifunctionality) are context-dependent. Both plant and soil microbial diversity have been reported to regulate ecosystem multifunctionality, but how their relative importance varies along environmental gradients remains poorly understood. Here, we relate plant and microbial diversity to soil multifunctionality across 130 dryland sites along a 4,000 km aridity gradient in northern China. Our results show a strong positive association between plant species richness and soil multifunctionality in less arid regions, whereas microbial diversity, in particular of fungi, is positively associated with multifunctionality in more arid regions. This shift in the relationships between plant or microbial diversity and soil multifunctionality occur at an aridity level of ∼0.8, the boundary between semiarid and arid climates, which is predicted to advance geographically ∼28% by the end of the current century. Our study highlights that biodiversity loss of plants and soil microorganisms may have especially strong consequences under low and high aridity conditions, respectively, which calls for climate-specific biodiversity conservation strategies to mitigate the effects of aridification
Publisher Correction: Breast cancer management pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic: outcomes from the UK ‘Alert Level 4’ phase of the B-MaP-C study
Get PDFFrom Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: registration 2021-06-08, online 2021-06-23, pub-electronic 2021-06-23, pub-print 2021-09-14Publication status: Publishe
A Game Changer? The Use of Positive Action to Address Racial Disadvantage within Professional Football Coaching
Get PDFThis research considers the use of positive action to address the underrepresentation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) managers and coaches within English professional football. It focuses on the English Football League’s (EFL) Recruitment Code as an example of such a measure and explores whether the Recruitment Code can be considered an effective or
flawed form of positive action to redress the racial inequalities faced by BAME managers and coaches. Twenty-five percent of professional footballers within the English professional leagues are BAME, significantly higher than the general BAME population
within the United Kingdom of 14% (Sports People’s Think Tank ‘SPTT’, 2015). Despite this, the number of BAME managers and coaches employed within senior positions in professional football remains disproportionately low at 4.6% (SPTT, 2017). At the beginning of the 2016/17 season, the EFL introduced a positive action measure requiring clubs to interview at least one candidate from a BAME background for coaching and management positions (EFL, 2017). Whilst there exists a body of research into the experiences of BAME managers and coaches and barriers to their career progression, the issue is still largely
unexplored from an anti-discrimination law perspective (Veuthey, 2013). Further, research on the EFL’s Recruitment Code is limited. This research aims to fill this gap, by utilising a mixed-methods approach to explore stakeholder perceptions of positive action and the EFL’s Recruitment Code as a form of positive action. It considers the extent to which the Recruitment Code may fit within the legal framework and whether it may demonstrate the legislative approach of reflexive regulation working effectively.
This research identified several barriers to BAME manager and coach career progression, including higher standards, extra pressure, lack of role models, the recruitment practices used, and the specificity of football. It found that whilst most participants within this research supported the use of positive action, they perceived significant confusion between positive action and positive discrimination amongst the general public. On the EFL’s Recruitment Code, participants pointed to a lack of transparency and a general lack of understanding, believing the Code would not succeed in isolation and should form part of a package of measures. When considered in light of reflexive regulation, participants also pointed to factors including a perceived lack of consultation, monitoring and enforcement that suggest that features of successful reflexive regulation, as outlined by Hepple (2011), are missing. However, some participants commended the EFL for implementing the measure in light of this perceived lack of understanding of, and support for, positive action. This thesis provides Pointers for Action at Micro (Club), Meso (Sector) and Macro (National Policy) Levels, including the need for greater education and awareness, transparent monitoring and senior buy-in, as well as a need to rephrase the concept of positive action. The thesis outlines how the EFL’s Recruitment Code has the potential to be successful if introduced as part of a holistic life cycle approach to addressing underrepresentation, but in its current format can be considered a flawed form of positive action that is unlikely to redress the racial disadvantage that BAME managers and coaches face. It concludes by detailing the impact that a successful positive action measure within such a high-profile arena could have on both football and the use of positive action generally, if the EFL’s Recruitment Code is adapted in line with the suggested implications and pointers for action
Assessment of sodium and iodine intake among university students in Casablanca, Morocco
Get PDFIntroduction. – Iodine deficiency is still a matter of public health concern despite salt fortification andespecially with global recommendations to lower salt intake, this is mainly due to dietary habits. Uni-versity students have a diet based on street food high in sodium and low in other micronutrients (i.e.iodine and potassium). In this study, we aim to measure sodium and iodine levels in university studentsto assess their risk of developing complications later in life.Methodology. – A sample of 120 students aged between 18 and 25 years old was recruited and asked tocollect their 24-hours urine samples in special containers containing. Samples were stored then analyzedfor sodium, potassium, iodine and creatinine levels.Results. – The average urinary excretion of sodium was 3066.8 ± 1196.0 mg/day. Overall, 72.6% of par-ticipants consume more than 2 g/day of sodium. Average potassium intake is 1805.9 ± 559.4 mg/day,and all participants consume less than the adequate amount. Daily urinary excretion of iodine is135.6 ± 88.9 mg/day, and 69.2% of participants consume less than the recommended amount. Sodium,potassium and iodine intakes were higher in male participants (P-values = 0.008; 0.044 and 0.003, respec-tively). The lowest average iodine intake was observed in underweight participants (119.4 ± 31.4) with87.5% of underweight participants and 80% of female participants below the recommended intake.Conclusion. – Sodium intake is high while iodine intake is low in this studied population, especially inwomen
Kinetic and hybrid modeling for yeast astaxanthin production under uncertainty
Get PDFFrom Wiley via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-03-22, rev-recd 2021-09-29, accepted 2021-09-30, pub-electronic 2021-10-12Article version: VoRPublication status: PublishedAbstract: Astaxanthin is a high‐value compound commercially synthesized through Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous fermentation. Using mixed sugars decomposed from biowastes for yeast fermentation provides a promising option to improve process sustainability. However, little effort has been made to investigate the effects of multiple sugars on X. dendrorhous biomass growth and astaxanthin production. Furthermore, the construction of a high‐fidelity model is challenging due to the system's variability, also known as batch‐to‐batch variation. Two innovations are proposed in this study to address these challenges. First, a kinetic model was developed to compare process kinetics between the single sugar (glucose) based and the mixed sugar (glucose and sucrose) based fermentation methods. Then, the kinetic model parameters were modeled themselves as Gaussian processes, a probabilistic machine learning technique, to improve the accuracy and robustness of model predictions. We conclude that although the presence of sucrose does not affect the biomass growth kinetics, it introduces a competitive inhibitory mechanism that enhances astaxanthin accumulation by inducing adverse environmental conditions such as osmotic gradients. Moreover, the hybrid model was able to greatly reduce model simulation error and was particularly robust to uncertainty propagation. This study suggests the advantage of mixed sugar‐based fermentation and provides a novel approach for bioprocess dynamic modeling
Understanding the structural diversity of chitins as a versatile biomaterial
Get PDFFrom The Royal Society via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-06-08, pub-electronic 2021-08-02, pub-print 2021-09-20Article version: VoRPublication status: PublishedChitin is one of the most abundant biopolymers, and it has adopted many different structural conformations using a combination of different natural processes like biopolymerization, crystallization and non-equilibrium self-assembly. This leads to a number of striking physical effects like complex light scattering and polarization as well as unique mechanical properties. In doing so, chitin uses a fine balance between the highly ordered chain conformations in the nanofibrils and random disordered structures. In this opinion piece, we discuss the structural hierarchy of chitin, its crystalline states and the natural biosynthesis processes to create such specific structures and diversity. Among the examples we explored, the unified question arises from the generation of completely different bioarchitectures like the Christmas tree-like nanostructures, gyroids or helicoidal geometries using similar dynamic non-equilibrium growth processes. Understanding the in vivo development of such structures from gene expressions, enzymatic activities as well as the chemical matrix employed in different stages of the biosynthesis will allow us to shift the material design paradigms. Certainly, the complexity of the biology requires a collaborative and multi-disciplinary research effort. For the future's advanced technologies, using chitin will ultimately drive many innovations and alternatives using biomimicry in materials science. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bio-derived and bioinspired sustainable advanced materials for emerging technologies (part 1)'
Southern actors and the governance of labour standards in global production networks: The case of South African fruit and wine
Get PDFFrom SAGE Publishing via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2021-08-05Publication status: PublishedRecent studies highlight the emergence of standards, including multi-stakeholder initiatives developed and applied within the global South where supplier firms are usually based. This trend has created a complex ethical terrain whereby transnational standards flow through global production networks and intersect with domestic initiatives at places of production. The paper complements global production network analysis with the concepts of ‘space of flows’ and ‘space of places’ and insights from relational economic geography, to examine how some multi-stakeholder initiatives in the global South can shape the broader governance of labour standards in global production networks. The following questions are addressed: How is the governance of labour standards in global production networks shaped by dynamic spatial interactions between actors? What role have diverse Southern multi-stakeholder initiatives played in influencing the governance of South African fruit and wine? We draw on research conducted over seven years into two standards in South Africa, the Wine and Agriculture Ethical Trade Association and Sustainability Initiative of South Africa. Our analysis shows that these two Southern-based multi-stakeholder initiatives contributed to shaping the broader governance of labour standards through dynamic non-linear waves of interaction over time, involving both collaborative and contested exchanges between actors across space of flows and places. We further argue that despite the development of multi-stakeholder initiatives by Southern actors, commercial power asymmetries in global production networks limit their ability to promote significant improvements for producers and workers
Book Review: Handbook of intellectual disabilities: Integrating theory, research and practice. Matson, J.L. (Ed.) Springer, 2019, ISBN: 978-3-030-20842-4. £131-50 (HB); £96-50 (PB)
Get PDFThis is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Chapman, H. M. (2022). Handbook of intellectual disabilities: Integrating theory, research and practice. [Review of the book Handbook of intellectual disabilities: Integrating theory, research and practice, by J. L. Matson]. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(4), 588, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12439. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-ArchivingBook Revie
Biocrusts and catchment asymmetry in Tabernas Desert (Almeria, Spain)
Get PDFCatchment asymmetry is a fairly frequent phenomenon on a global scale but the main causes leading to its formation are still not well understood. Where the intervention of structural or tectonic causes is not relevant, asymmetry seems to result from differential erosion between opposite slopes that flow into the same channel, which is frequently associated with contrasted biocrust and/or vegetation covers. Biocrusts are known to be important surface stabilizing agents. However, their geomorphological consequences at the landscape scale are little known. In this study we combined field measurements with digital elevation models and image analysis to determine whether catchment asymmetry in the Tabernas Desert (semi-arid SE of Spain) is a local or general phenomenon, and to explore the main factors determining asymmetry occurrence, magnitude and direction. We pay special attention to the role of biocrusts. We found that catchment asymmetry is a very common phenomenon in the area; only 25% of the catchments are symmetrical, while approximately 40% present asymmetry with the relatively shady hillslope having a lower gradient, and 35% with that hillslope being the steeper. Solar radiation reaching the soil, surface area and channel gradient in the considered catchment stretch, as well as the total catchment area upstream from the lower point of the considered stretch were the main abiotic factors controlling the formation of the asymmetry. Microclimatic differentiation due to differences in radiation input caused by the uneven topography favoured the relative stabilization of the shadier hillslope and its colonization by biocrusts and later by plants. The effect of the biocrusts and vegetation protection against water erosion on shadier hillslopes is often stronger than that of the set of abiotic factors and gives rise to asymmetries with lower gradients in the shady hillslope by promoting lateral displacement of the channel. We hypothesised that the opposite pattern, with the sunnier hillslope having a lower gradient, occurs when abiotic factors control the development of asymmetry formation. In these conditions, the effect of biocrusts and plants would act in the opposite direction. We propose a conceptual model of feedbacks generating catchment asymmetry, with biocrust playing a crucial role
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