184 research outputs found
Planetary stewardship in an urbanizing world: beyond city limits
Get PDFCities are rapidly increasing in importance as a major factor shaping the Earth system, and as such must take corresponding responsibility. With currently over half of the world population, cities are supported by resources originating from primarily rural regions that are often located around the world far distant from the urban loci of use. The multiple and complex environmental and social challenges the world faces require interconnected solutions and a coordinated governance approach to planetary stewardship. There is a new opportunity to conceptualize a key component of planetary stewardship as a global system of cities that develop sustainable processes and policies in concert with its non-urban areas. The potential for cities to cooperate as a system and with rural connectivity could not only increase their capacity to effect change and foster stewardship at the planetary scale but also increase their resource security
The Detection and Role of Human Endogenous Retrovirus K (HML-2) In Rheumatoid Arthritis
Get PDFA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of
Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyHuman endogenous retroviruses are the remnants of ancient retroviral infections present within our genome. These molecular fossils show similarities with present day exogenous retroviruses but act as typical Mendelian elements that are passed vertically between generations. Despite being repeatedly linked to a number of autoimmune diseases and disorders, no conclusive proof has been identified. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one such disease which has been associated with an increase in HERV expression, compared to controls. In order to elucidate a clear role for HERVs in RA pathogenesis, autoantigens implicated in disease pathogenesis were scanned for sequence homology to retroviral genes. Such epitopes would induce antibodies cross reactive with host proteins, resulting in disease. Short peptides mimicking these regions were synthesised and the prevalence of anti-HERV antibodies was determined in RA patients and disease controls. Additionally, a novel real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay was developed to accurately quantify levels of HERV-K (HML-2) gag expression, relative to normalised levels of housekeeping gene expression. Both serological and molecular assays showed significant increases in HERV-K (HML-2) activity in RA patients compared to disease controls with CD4+ lymphocytes harbouring the highest activity. The real-time assay was also used to determine whether factors within the synovium could modulate HERVs, resulting in their upregulation. Exogenous viral protein expression and pro-inflammatory cytokines were shown to exert a significant modulatory effect over HERV-K (HML-2) transcription. From this data, it is clear that RA patients have increased levels of HERV-K (HML-2) gag activity compared to controls. Despite this it is likely that factors within the synovium such as exogenous viral expression and pro-inflammatory cytokines also influence HERV-K (HML-2) transcription possibly contributing to a role of bystander activation, i.e. being influenced by external factors, rather than actively contributing to disease processes. The exact role of HERVs in RA pathology remains elusive; however this research proposes several mechanisms by which HERV-K (HML-2) may contribute to disease
The lytB gene of Escherichia coli is essential and specifies a product needed for isoprenoid biosynthesis
No full textLytB and GcpE, because they are codistributed with other pathway enzymes, have been predicted to catalyze unknown steps in the nonmevalonate pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis. We constructed a conditional Escherichia coli lytB mutant and found that LytB is essential for survival and that depletion of LytB results in cell lysis, which is consistent with a role for this protein in isoprenoid biosynthesis. Alcohols which can be converted to pathway intermediates beyond the hypothesized LytB step(s) support limited growth of E. coli lytB mutants. An informatic analysis of protein structure suggested that GcpE is a globular protein of the TIM barrel class and that LytB is also a globular protein. Possible biochemical roles for LytB and GcpE are suggested
Accelerated Growth Plate Mineralization and Foreshortened Proximal Limb Bones in Fetuin-A Knockout Mice
Get PDFPMCID: PMC3473050This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Returning culture to peacebuilding : contesting the liberal peace in Sierra Leone
No full textThis thesis investigates the advantages and limitations of applying culture to the analysis of violent conflict and peacebuilding, with a particular focus on liberal peacebuilding in Sierra Leone. While fully aware of the critique of the concept of culture in terms of its uses for the production of difference and ‘otherness,’ it also seeks to respond to the critique of liberal peacebuilding on the account of its low sensitivity towards local culture, which allegedly undermines the peace effort. After a careful examination of the terms of discussion about culture enabled by theoretical approaches to conflict in Chapter 2, the thesis presents a theoretical framework for the analysis of cultural aspects of conflict and peace based on the processes and effects of meaning-generation (Chapter 3), developing the conceptual apparatus and vocabulary for the subsequent empirical study. Instead of bracketing out the recursive nature of cultural theorising, the developed approach embraces the recursive dynamics which arise as a result of cultural ‘embeddedness’ of the analyst and the processes which s/he seeks to elucidate, mirroring similar dynamics in the cultural production of meaning and knowledge. The framework of ‘embedded cultural enquiry’ is then used to analyse the practices of liberal peacebuilding as a particular culture, which shapes the interaction of the liberal peace with its ‘subjects’ and critics as well as framing its reception of the cultural problematic generally (Chapter 4). The application of the analytical framework to the case study investigates the interaction between the liberal peace and ‘local culture,’ offering an alternative reading of the conflict and peace process in Sierra Leone (Chapter 5). The study concludes that a greater attention to cultural meaning-making offers a largely untapped potential for peacebuilding, although any decisions with regard to its deployment will inevitably be made from within an inherently biased cultural perspective
Enhanced electrical and optical properties of room temperature deposited Aluminium doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) thin films by excimer laser annealing
No full textHigh quality transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) often require a high thermal budget fabrication process. In this study, Excimer Laser Annealing (ELA) at a wavelength of 248 nm has been explored as a processing mechanism to facilitate low thermal budget fabrication of high quality aluminium doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films. 180 nm thick AZO films were prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at room temperature on fused silica substrates. The effects of the applied RF power and the sputtering pressure on the outcome of ELA at different laser energy densities and number of pulses have been investigated. AZO films deposited with no intentional heating at 180 W, and at 2 mTorr of 0.2% oxygen in argon were selected as the optimum as-deposited films in this work, with a resistivity of 1×10−3 Ω.cm, and an average visible transmission of 85%. ELA was found to result in noticeably reduced resistivity of 5×10−4 Ω.cm, and enhancing the average visible transmission to 90% when AZO is processed with 5 pulses at 125 mJ/cm2. Therefore, the combination of RF magnetron sputtering and ELA, both low thermal budget and scalable techniques, can provide a viable fabrication route of high quality AZO films for use as transparent electrodes
Nucleoside/nucleotide analogues in the treatment of chronic hepatitis b
No full textThe current available agents for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) include immunomodulatory agents, such as interferon-α and pegylated interferon-α, and oral nucleoside/nucleotide analogues (NAs), including lamivudine, adefovir, telbivudine, entecavir and tenofovir. The NAs work mainly by inhibiting hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA polymerase activity and thus suppress HBV replication. Oral NAs have become the mainstay of CHB treatment, mainly due to their profound viral suppressive effects and also due in part to the ease of single daily dosing and lack of significant side effects. One major drawback of NA therapy is the development of drug resistance mutations with long-term treatment. Lamivudine, the first oral NA approved for CHB patients, is associated with high rates of drug resistance, with resultant virological relapse and biochemical flare. Fortunately, newer and more potent NAs, such as entecavir and tenofovir, have very low resistance rates, with potent and durable viral suppression. This review is aimed at the current developments in NAs for CHB treatment, detailing the mechanisms of antiviral activity of the different agents, the efficacy of viral suppression, the achievement of treatment endpoints, the development of drug resistance and the optimal strategies for using these drugs. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.link_to_OA_fulltex
Ecological and acoustic investigations of jellyfish (Scyphozoa and Hydrozoa)
No full textAs the biomass of jellyfish (medusae of the Scyphozoa and Hydrozoa) has risen in numerous locations worldwide, awareness of their potential to exert a controlling influence on marine ecosystems and hinder the recruitment of fish stocks has increased. Medusae are capable of intensive, size–selective, predation on zooplankton, which may alter the composition of the plankton community. Jellyfish are often found in dense layers, up to hundreds of metres thick, which can extend horizontally for hundreds of kilometres. Such aggregations may benefit specialist feeders, such as turtles, that rely upon jellyfish for food and those fish that are able to find refuge under the jellyfish umbrellas. Nonetheless, the predominance of jellyfish in pelagic ecosystems is not generally viewed as desirable; in fact, this situation has been portrayed as the result of pollution and overexploitation of otherwise productive seas. However, jellyfish are sensitive indicators of environmental change, and their populations appear to respond to climatic fluctuations, so jellyfish warrant study for their intrinsic ecosystem role particularly given present concerns over climate change. With growing acceptance that fishery management should take an holistic ‘ecosystem approach’, knowledge of the interactions between jellyfish, fisheries and climate may be vital in progression towards the goal of ecosystem–based sustainable management of fisheries. Unfortunately, due to their gelatinous nature, medusae are difficult to sample using conventional netting techniques and data on changes in distribution and abundance are consequently sparse. Recent studies have demonstrated that medusae can be detected acoustically and that this technique could provide a rapid and cost–effective estimate of their biomass and distribution. This thesis reports my endeavour to demonstrate the ecosystem role of medusae and to develop acoustic techniques to monitor their biomass. Through regession analyses, I link the abundance of medusae (Aurelia aurita, Cyanea lamarckii, and Cyanea capillata) in regions of the North Sea to climatic fluctuations, as quantified by the North Atlantic Oscillation Index, and show that medusae may be important indicators of regional ecosystem change. The mechanisms linking climatic fluctuations to ecosystem changes are explored via a correlative modelling approach using General Additive Models; I show that the mechanisms are location dependent and explainable in terms of direct, rapidly responding (intra–annual) influences (surface warming, river run–off, and wind–driven mixing and advection) and longer–term (interannual) oceanographic responses (changes in circulation currents i.e. the northward extent of the gulf stream and relative strength of inflow into the North Sea of the North Atlantic current, Continental Shelf Jet and Arctic waters). I present correlative evidence for a detrimental impact by Aurelia aurita on herring 0–group recruitment, once the influence of interannual change in herring spewing stock biomass on recruitment is factored out through modelling with a Ricker stock–recruitment relationship. Similarly, a commensal relationship between whiting and Cyanea spp. medusae is shown to improve North Sea whiting survival to the 1–group. In progress towards the automated acoustic identification of species, I have developed an in situ discrimination tool that can distinguish between echoes from: Aequorea aequorea; Chrysaora hysoscella; clupeid fish (sardine, anchovy and round herring); and horse mackerel/Cape hake. The technique relies upon characteristic differences in echo strength between frequencies, which are determined for each jellyfish species and finfish group using combined multifrequency acoustic and pelagic trawl samples. This method has facilitated the world’s first acoustic–based estimate of jellyfish biomass in the Namibian Benguela Sea. The 12.2 million tonnes of biomass of medusae (Aequorea aequorea and Chrysaora hysoscella) in the Namibian Benguela Sea was found to be greater than the combined biomass, 3.6 million tonnes, of commercially important fish (horse mackerel, Cape hake, sardines, anchovy, and round herring) in the same area. These results suggest that medusae may have an important role in the Benguela ecosystem that has previously been overlooked and that their biomass should be monitored
Transverse single spin asymmetries of forward neutrons in p+p , p+Al , and p+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN } }=200 GeV as a function of transverse and longitudinal momenta
No full textIn 2015 the PHENIX collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider recorded +, +Al, and +Au collision data at center of mass energies of √=200 GeV with the proton beam(s) transversely polarized. At very forward rapidities >6.8 relative to the polarized proton beam, neutrons were detected either inclusively or in (anti)correlation with detector activity related to hard collisions. The resulting single spin asymmetries, that were previously reported, have now been extracted as a function of the transverse momentum of the neutron as well as its longitudinal momentum fraction . The explicit kinematic dependence, combined with the correlation information allows for a closer look at the interplay of different mechanisms suggested to describe these asymmetries, such as hadronic interactions or electromagnetic interactions in ultraperipheral collisions, UPC. Events that are correlated with a hard collision indeed display a mostly negative asymmetry that increases in magnitude as a function of transverse momentum with only little dependence on . In contrast, events that are not likely to have emerged from a hard collision display positive asymmetries for the nuclear collisions with a kinematic dependence that resembles that of a UPC based model. Because the UPC interaction depends strongly on the charge of the nucleus, those effects are very small for + collisions, moderate for +Al collisions, and large for +Au collisions.【The members of PHENIX Collaboration not shown at the author section】
U. A. Acharya, C. Aidala, Y. Akiba, M. Alfred, V. Andrieux, N. Apadula, H. Asano, B. Azmoun, V. Babintsev, N. S. Bandara, K. N. Barish, S. Bathe, A. Bazilevsky, M. Beaumier, R. Belmont, A. Berdnikov, Y. Berdnikov, L. Bichon, B. Blankenship, D. S. Blau, J. S. Bok, V. Borisov, M. L. Brooks, J. Bryslawskyj, V. Bumazhnov, S. Campbell, V. Canoa Roman, R. Cervantes, M. Chiu, C.Y. Chi, I.J. Choi, J.B. Choi, Citron, M. Connors, R. Corliss, N. Cronin, T. Csörgő, M. Csanád, T. W. Danley, M. S. Daugherity, G. David, K. DeBlasio, K. Dehmelt, A. Denisov, A. Deshpande, E. J. Desmond, A. Dion, D. Dixit, J. H. Do, A. Drees, K. A. Drees, J. M. Durham, A. Durum, H. En'yo, A. Enokizono, R. Esha, S. Esumi, B. Fadem, W. Fan, N. Feege, D.E. Fields, M. Finger, Jr., M. Finger, D. Fitzgerald, S. L. Fokin, J. E. Frantz, A. Franz, A. D. Frawley, Y. Fukuda, P. Gallus, C. Gal, P. Garg, H. Ge, M. Giles, F. Giordano, Y. Goto, N. Grau, S.V. Greene, M. Grosse Perdekamp, T. Gunji, H. Guragain, T. Hachiya, J. S. Haggerty, K. I. Hahn, H. Hamagaki, H.F. Hamilton, J. Hanks, S. Y. Han, M. Harvey, S. Hasegawa, T. O. S. Haseler, T. K. Hemmick, X. He, J.C. Hill, K. Hill,11 A. Hodges, R.S. Hollis, K. Homma, B. Hong, T. Hoshino, N. Hotvedt, J. Huang, K. Imai, M. Inaba, A. Iordanova, D. Isenhower, D. Ivanishchev, B. V. Jacak, M. Jezghani, X. Jiang, Z. Ji, B. M. Johnson , D. Jouan, D. S. Jumper, J. H. Kang, D. Kapukchyan, S. Karthas, D. Kawall, A. V. Kazantsev, V. Khachatryan, A. Khanzadeev, A. Khatiwada, C. Kim, E.-J. Kim, M. Kim, T. Kim, D. Kincses, A. Kingan, E. Kistenev, J. Klatsky, P. Kline, T. Koblesky, D. Kotov, L. Kovacs, Kudo, K. Kurita, Y. Kwon, J. G. Lajoie, D. Larionova, A. Lebedev, S. Lee, S. H. Lee, M.J. Leitch, Y. H. Leung, N.A. Lewis, S.H. Lim, M. X. Liu, X. Li, V.-R. Loggins, D.A. Loomis, K. Lovasz, Lynch, S. Lökös, T. Majoros, Y. I. Makdisi, M. Makek, V. I. Manko, E. Mannel, M. McCumber, P. L. McGaughey, D. McGlinchey, C. McKinney, M. Mendoza, A.C. Mignerey, A. Milov, D.K. Mishra, J. T. Mitchell, M. Mitrankova, Iu. Mitrankov, G. Mitsuka, S. Miyasaka, S. Mizuno, M. M. Mondal, P. Montuenga, T. Moon, D. P. Morrison, B. Mulilo, T. Murakami, J. Murata, K. Nagai, K. Nagashima, T. Nagashima, J. L. Nagle, M.I. Nagy, I. Nakagawa, K. Nakano, C. Nattrass, S. Nelson, T. Niida, R. Nouicer, T. Novák, N. Novitzky, G. Nukazuka, A. S. Nyanin, E. O’Brien, C. A. Ogilvie, J. D. Orjuela Koop, J. D. Osborn, A. Oskarsson, G. J. Ottino, K. Ozawa, V. Pantuev, V. Papavassiliou, J. S. Park, S. Park, M. Patel, S. F. Pate, W. Peng, D. V. Perepelitsa, G. D. N. Perera, D. Yu. Peressounko, C. E. PerezLara, J. Perry, R. Petti, M. Phipps, C. Pinkenburg, R. P. Pisani, M. Potekhin, A. Pun, M.L. Purschke, P. V. Radzevich, N. Ramasubramanian, K. F. Read, D. Reynolds, V. Riabov, Y. Riabov, D. Richford, T. Rinn, S. D. Rolnick, M. Rosati, Z. Rowan, J. Runchey, A. S. Safonov, T. Sakaguchi, H. Sako, V. Samsonov, M. Sarsour, S. Sato, B. Schaefer, B. K. Schmoll, K. Sedgwick, R. Seidl, A. Sen, R. Seto, A. Sexton, D. Sharma, I. Shein, T.-A. Shibata, K. Shigaki, M. Shimomura, T. Shioya, P. Shukla, A. Sickles, C. L. Silva, D. Silvermyr, B. K. Singh, C. P. Singh, V. Singh, M. Slunečka, K.L. Smith, M. Snowball, R.A. Soltz, W.E. Sondheim, S.P. Sorensen, I. V. Sourikova, P. W. Stankus, S. P. Stoll, T. Sugitate, A. Sukhanov, T. Sumita, J. Sun, Z. Sun, J. Sziklai, K. Tanida, M. J. Tannenbaum, S. Tarafdar, A. Taranenko, G. Tarnai, R. Tieulent, A. Timilsina, T. Todoroki, M. Tomášek, C. L. Towell, R.S. Towell, I. Tserruya, Y. Ueda, B. Ujvari, H. W. van Hecke, J. Velkovska, M. Virius, V. Vrba, N. Vukman, X. R. Wang, Y. S. Watanabe, C. P. Wong, C. L. Woody, L. Xue, C. Xu, Q. Xu, S. Yalcin, Y. L. Yamaguchi, H. Yamamoto, A. Yanovich, I. Yoon, J. H. Yoo, I.E. Yushmanov, H. Yu, W.A. Zajc, A. Zelenski, S. Zharko, and L. Zoujournal articl
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