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‘MI in Dentistry’. Talking To Change – A Motivational Interviewing Podcast
No full textNo abstract available
Financial Petroleum Cultures: Narrating Volatile Futures, 1973–2050
No full textFinancial Petroleum Cultures draws upon literature, film, architecture, photography, infrastructure, advertisements, and financial reports to explore how financial narratives shape the future of energy and climate. Using frameworks from the energy, environmental, and economic humanities, the book argues that financial representations dominate contemporary petroleum cultures. It focuses on the competing narratives of finance, celebratory and critical, determining how energy is perceived, imagined, and used. Encompassing critiques of ideology and infrastructure, this book offers a new understanding of the political visions enabled and constrained by the financial sector in an increasingly volatile world
Revisiting the genus Bolbosoma Porta, 1908 (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae): host specificity, phylogeny, and species synonymization
Get PDFBackground:
Acanthocephalans of the genus Bolbosoma Porta, 1908 are trophically transmitted parasites that infect marine mammals (mostly cetaceans and less frequently pinnipeds) worldwide. There are 12 species currently considered as valid; however, most records lack information on the maturity stage of the specimens. This, coupled with the scarce phylogenetic information available, hinders a correct understanding of their patterns of host specificity, evolutionary history, and taxonomy. A particularly intriguing case is that of Bolbosoma vasculosum (Rudolphi, 1819), which has been frequently reported in odontocetes but rarely as an adult, having been suggested to be synonymous with Bolbosoma capitatum (von Linstow, 1880).
Methods:
We used a comprehensive approach to investigate the concept of Bolbosoma . First, we conducted a bibliographic review of records of Bolbosoma spp. to clarify which are the final hosts for each species. We paid particular attention to B. vasculosum , using morphological and molecular analyses to compare it with B. capitatum . Second, we characterized the complete mitochondrial genome of Bolbosoma balaenae (Gmelin, 1790), Bolbosoma turbinella (Diesing, 1851), B. capitatum , and B. vasculosum . Then, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of Bolbosoma spp. and related taxa using full mitochondrial genomes (or only cox1 when full mitogenomes were unavailable) and nuclear ribosomal genes (18S and 28S).
Results:
Bolbosoma spp. exhibit high specificity for cetaceans, with no confirmed records of adult specimens in other host groups. Within this genus, B. vasculosum appears to be conspecific with B. capitatum based on both morphological and molecular evidence. This species shows high affinity to odontocetes, while the remaining species are specific to mysticetes. Phylogenetic analyses showed strong support for the monophyly of Bolbosoma spp., which appeared as sister taxa to Corynosoma spp. and Andracantha spp.. The resulting topology aligns with the patterns of specificity indicated by host records, revealing two distinct clades for species specific to odontocetes and mysticetes, respectively.
Conclusions:
The phylogenetic relationships obtained support the hypothesis that the association of Bolbosoma spp. with cetaceans originated through a host-switching event from aquatic birds
KidneyGenAfrica, a pan-African partnership to deliver research and training excellence in genomics of kidney disease
No full textDespite Africa’s vast genetic diversity, its populations are underrepresented in global genomic datasets. Here we describe the vision of the KidneyGenAfrica, a pan-African initiative launched to address this inequity, and call for more inclusive genomics research that recognizes Africa’s key role in genetic variation and potential to generate insights in chronic
kidney disease
Capacity management
No full textIn this entry we define capacity management, discuss its origins and limitations, and present several possible applications in manufacturing and service contexts. Readers will have the opportunity to practice using insights from capacity management in various manufacturing and service contexts
MRI-based genetic studies reveal specific genetic variants and disease risks associated with fat distribution across anatomical sites
Get PDFObjective: To investigate the genetic determinants of fat distribution across anatomical sites and their implications for health outcomes.
Methods: We analyzed neck-to-knee MRI data from the UK Biobank (n = 37,589) to measure fat at various locations and used Mendelian randomization to assess effects on 26 obesity-related diseases and 94 biomarkers from FinnGen and other consortia.
Result: We identified genetic loci associated with 10 fat depots: abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (n = 2 loci), thigh subcutaneous adipose tissue (25), thigh intermuscular adipose tissue (15), visceral adipose tissue (7), liver proton density fat fraction (PDFF) (8), pancreas PDFF (11), paraspinal adipose tissue (9), pelvic bone marrow fat (28), thigh bone marrow fat (27), and vertebrae bone marrow fat (5). Genetically higher abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue was associated with an adverse metabolic profile and higher risks of Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular outcomes. Conversely, higher thigh subcutaneous adipose tissue was associated with a favorable profile and lower risks of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular outcomes. Higher visceral adipose tissue was associated with gallstones; higher liver PDFF was associated with elevated tyrosine levels, higher Type 2 diabetes risk, and fatty liver disease; pancreas PDFF was associated with thrombotic events; and thigh bone marrow fat was associated with osteoporosis.
Conclusion: These results further suggest a unique contribution of fat deposition in different anatomical locations to disease risk, emphasizing the potential, beyond weight loss per se, for future research into depot-specific therapeutic strategies
Shaping a reinvigorated cultural landscape: exploring museum education practices and perspectives in the Middle East
No full textIn the past decade, the Middle East has witnessed an extraordinary development of its museum culture and infrastructure that reflects an evolving cultural outlook. Many of the new museums and restructured spaces within museums have led to a revisiting of educational strategies and concepts, resulting in the design of new, participatory approaches that encourage immersive, learner-centred visitor experiences. This chapter explores some of these new and emerging practices and their underpinning drivers through problem-centred interviews with Sarah Louise Nunn, Head of Education and Public Programming at Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Tha'er Marian, Programme and Events Coordinator at Al Shindagha Museum, Dubai. The interviews, covering seven key questions, delve into the representation and interpretation of a pluralist cultural society, learner-centred education approaches, and a legacy of post-COVID-19 challenges. The contributions of Sarah and Tha'er highlight the importance of preserving and enriching living heritage across a vast geographical region for diverse visitor groups. Both Sarah and Tha'er support the empowering of communities as curious, inclusive, multi-faceted entities by incorporating aspects of diverse heritage culture into museum collections and narratives to facilitate unique identities and prepare for future challenges. This study offers authentic perspectives from Middle Eastern Museum educators, paving the way for further exploration and understanding of the evolving role of museum education in the region
Allelic diversity, de novo CAG expansions and intergenerational instability at the HTT locus in a sample from India
No full textBackground:
Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited, neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of an unstable CAG repeat sequence in the Huntingtin (HTT) gene. The prevalence of HD, allelic diversity, rate of novel expansions and the clinical correlates vary across populations.
Objective:
We analyzed the diversity of alleles and their clinical correlates and examined the inheritance patterns and the pattern of instability of CAG repeats in a few families.
Methods:
Clinical history and pedigree structure were collected from records or through interviews between 2016 and 2019. Genetic testing at the HD locus was done on clinical suspicion, or relatedness, after counseling. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were used.
Results:
Expanded repeats were detected in 239 individuals, including 232 who were symptomatic and 7 presymptomatic relatives. The number of CAG repeats (mean = 45.6) and age at onset (mean = 39.2 years) showed a strong inverse correlation (r = -0.67). We found atypical alleles such as 8 intermediate alleles (IA), 12 reduced penetrance alleles and 14 large (>60) expansion alleles corresponding to juvenile HD. Three individuals carried biallelic expansions. Paternal inheritance was more common, and the mean increase in repeats in the available parent-child pairs was 14. Thirty-seven individuals had no family history of HD, with de novo expansion confirmed in three cases.
Conclusions:
Novel mutations at the HTT locus may not be rare in India. A lack of family history should not exclude appropriate testing. The prevalence of IA and incidence of de novo expansions suggest that there may be a reservoir of alleles prone to expansion
Hot flare precursor events in GOES 1-s data: filament eruptions
No full textSolar flares exhibit precursor soft X-ray emission at high temperatures (the Hot Onset Precursor Event, here HOPE for short). This phenomenon is readily seen for events at or above the GOES C-class, but at present we do not know whether or not a “pure” filament-eruption event, such as one coming from the polar-crown filament zone, also exhibits this property. We study this question using both older and more modern GOES/XRS soft X-ray data. The currently operating GOES-R spacecraft (GOES-16 through GOES-19) have different sensor technology and also higher cadence than in the earlier satellites in the series, and so we devote an Appendix to describing these data from the point of view of a user interested in the detection of faint sources; most GOES/XRS users focus on flare observations, rather than the quiet Sun. Because the HOPE signatures appear at the very beginning of the development of a flare, they require study at the lowest flux levels. Our searches both with GOES-R and earlier data do not detect HOPE in purely filament-eruption events. At a representative HOPE temperature of 10 MK, the emission measure for any HOPE source must be less than about 1046 cm-3
Data sources:
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