367 research outputs found
New Guinea: nature and culture of Earth's grandest island/ Bruce M. Beehler ; photography by Tim Laman ; Geoffrey S. Hope, technical editor.
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (pages 359-366) and index.An enthralling exploration of the biologically richest island on Earth, featuring more than 200 spectacular color images by award-winning National Geographic photographer Tim Laman In this beautiful book, Bruce Beehler, a renowned author and expert on New Guinea, and award-winning National Geographic photographer Tim Laman take the reader on an unforgettable journey through the natural and cultural wonders of the world's grandest island. Skillfully combining a wealth of information, a descriptive and story-filled narrative, and more than 200 stunning color photographs, the book unlocks New Guinea's remarkable secrets like never before. Lying between the Equator and Australia's north coast, and surrounded by the richest coral reefs on Earth, New Guinea is the world's largest, highest, and most environmentally complex tropical island-home to rainforests with showy rhododendrons, strange and colorful orchids, tree-kangaroos, spiny anteaters, ingenious bowerbirds, and spectacular birds of paradise. New Guinea is also home to more than a thousand traditional human societies, each with its own language and lifestyle, and many of these tribes still live in isolated villages and serve as stewards of the rainforests they inhabit. Accessible and authoritative, New Guinea provides a comprehensive introduction to the island's environment, animals, plants, and traditional rainforest cultures. Individual chapters cover the island's history of exploration ; geology ; climate and weather ; biogeography ; plant life ; insects, spiders, and other invertebrates ; freshwater fishes ; snakes, lizards, and frogs ; bird life ; mammals ; paleontology ; paleoanthropology ; cultural and linguistic diversity ; surrounding islands and reefs ; the pristine forest of the Foja Mountains ; village life ; and future sustainability. Complete with informative illustrations and a large, detailed map, New Guinea offers an enchanting account of the island's unequalled natural and cultural treasures.--Abbreviations and terms -- Map -- 1. Overview -- 2. History -- 3. Geology -- 4. Climatology -- 5. Biogeography -- 6. Botany -- 7. Invertebrate life -- 8. Ichthyology -- 9. Herpetology -- 10. Ornithology -- 11. Mammalogy -- 12. Paleontology -- 13. Paleoanthropology -- 14. People -- 15. Coastal marine -- 16. In the field -- 17. In the village -- 18. The future -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Index -- Author and principal photographer's biographies.1 online resource (375 pages
Understanding amyloidogenesis through computer simulations: Tackling the sampling problem by using replica exchange umbrella sampling and hydrogen bond biasing potentials
No full textApplied Science
Laman xiao ying yin qi de zi xuan-gui dao ou he leng bo se yuan zi zhi you guan ke ti
No full textCheung, Chi Man = 拉曼效應引起的自旋-軌道耦合冷玻色原子之有關課題 / 張智敏.Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2014.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-66).Abstracts also in Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on 20, December, 2016).Cheung, Chi Man = Laman xiao ying yin qi de zi xuan-gui dao ou he leng bo se yuan zi zhi you guan ke ti / Zhang Zhimin
Televisiodokumentin tekeminen omakohtaisesta aiheesta : Laman lapset -dokumentin tuottamisen haasteet
No full textOpinnäytetyö on toiminnallinen opinnäytetyö, joka koostuu televisiodokumentista ja kirjallisesta tutkielmasta. Tutkielmassa käsittelen omakohtaisen televisiodokumentin tekemisen haasteita, kun kyseessä on sukupolvikuvaus: kuinka tehdä mahdollisimman autenttinen dokumentti, kun itse on osa kuvattavaa sukupolvea? Näitä haasteita pohdin dokumentin tuottajan näkökulmasta. Tutkielman pohjaan omakohtaisia dokumenttielokuvia tehneiden dokumenttiohjaajien haastatteluihin, dokumenttielokuvaa käsittelevään kirjallisuuteen, omiin kokemuksiini omakohtaisen dokumentin tuottajana sekä sukupolvia ja sukupolvikuvausta käsittelevään aineistoon. Toiminnallisen opinnäytetyön teososa on Laman lapset -televisiodokumentti, joka käsittelee 1990-luvun alun lamaa Suomessa ja sitä, miten se vaikutti sen ajan kouluikäisiin lapsiin – nykypäivän nuoriin aikuisiin. Dokumentti kertoo haastattelujen kautta yhden sukupolven muistoja lamasta, kuinka lama näkyi kouluikäisen lapsen elämässä ja miten lapsi ympärillään tapahtuvat asiat käsitti. Omat voimakkaat lamamuistoni toivat dokumentin tuotantoprosessin alusta asti tuottajan työhöni haastetta, eräänlaisen sisäisen ristiriidan. Samanaikaisesti, pyrkiessäni kohti autenttista dokumentaarista sukupolvikuvausta, tunsin tarvetta käsitellä omia lamakokemuksiani ja pelkäsin tuovani liikaa itsestäni kameran takaa kameran eteen. Ammattimaisen ja vastuullisen dokumentaristin tulisi pyrkiä esittämään sellaista, mikä pitää paikkansa. Vaikka dokumentti on tekijänsä näkemys, dokumentissa kuvattavien tapahtumien tahallinen vääristely tai katsojan harhaanjohtaminen ei enää ole dokumentointia. Tässä asiassa dokumentin tekijän on tärkeää tiedostaa oma valtansa ja vastuunsa. Vastuu ja pelko omien tunteiden näkymisestä ovat kuitenkin kaksi eri asiaa. Dokumentti voi olla autenttinen ja samalla kuvastaa tekijänsä tunteita. Koska dokumentti on tekijänsä näkemys totuudesta, on tekijä aina jollain lailla näkyvissä dokumentissaan, halusi tai ei.The thesis consists of two parts: a television documentary film and a written study. The study examines the challenges of making a television documentary about the experiences of a generation, one that the film-maker herself is a part of. How to make a documentary as authentic as possible in these circumstances? These challenges are reflected on from the producer's point of view. The study is based on interviews of documentary directors, who have made films about subjective topics, documentary film literature, the author's own experiences as a producer. The themes also entail examining of generations and generation portrayals. Laman lapset [Children of Recession] is a television documentary film which depicts the early 1990's recession in Finland and how it affected the school children of that time – namely today's young adults. The documentary deals with the memories of one generation through interviews: how the recession reflected on the life of school children and how children comprehended the things happening around them. The author's personal childhood memories of the recession made the producing of Laman lapset challenging. Throughout the production, the author felt a conflict between making a portrayal of a generation as authentic as possible and the need to process her own experiences. A professional and responsible documentary maker should strive for the truth. Although a documentary always arises from the point of view of its maker, distorting the events portrayed in the documentary film or misleading the viewer is no longer documentary. It is important for a documentary maker to recognize the responsibilities and the power concerning the documentary film-making. Responsibility and fear, however, are two different things. A documentary can reflect the thoughts and feelings of its maker and still be authentic. Being its maker's view of reality, a documentary always somehow portrays the documentary maker, it is inevitable
Enabling yeast replication in extreme cold and heat
No full textOpen questions are whether life can be enabled in uninhabitable environments, and whether there is a limit to howmuch one can tune the speed of proliferation. Answering such questions has broad implications. It may reveal whether we can live in unforeseen habitats, whether we can slow down aging, and whether there are limits to lifespan. In this dissertation, we explore such questions for the budding yeast by changing the temperature. We will use temperature, a physical parameter, as a knob to tune the speed of cellular life. Temperature affects all organisms and habitats, and is of contemporary interest in light of climate change. Indeed, cells of microbes, plants and cold-blooded animals often endure temperatures that can be considered extreme. For reference, budding yeast lives comfortably at 30 ◦C and has a doubling time of roughly 1.5 hours – the time a cell needs to grow and divide into two cells. During our studies, we will elucidate the common principles that govern the life of yeast at extreme temperatures – how a cell survives, grows, replicates, ages, and dies. We combine models, experiments and measurements of single cells and at amolecular level, and integrate these into a systems-level view of the life of yeast at extreme temperatures..BN/BionanoscienceBN/Greg Bokinsky La
Protecting global health partnerships in the era of destructive nationalism
No full text"Article signat per xx autors/es: Maya Adam ,Desiree LaBeaud,Nokwanele Mbewu,Jennifer Gates,Randall Waechter,Mercy J. Borbor-Cordova,Lydiah Kibe,Sonia Alvarez,Annie Dori,Anil S. Bilimale,Meggie Mwoka,Jessica Deffler,Michele Spring,Avriel R. Diaz,Rachael Farquhar,Willy Dunbar,Comfort R. Phiri,Valerie A. Luzadis,Nicole Redvers,Cristina Alonso,Rosemary Rochford,Rachel Lowe,Kareem Coomansingh,Moses Laman,Rebeca Sultana,Sadie Ryan,Amaya L. Bustinduy,Anita S. Hargrave-Bouagnon,Shazia N. Ruybal-Pesántez,Zebedee Kerry,Trevor Kelebi,Samuel McEwen,Leanne Robinson,Maritza Salazar Campo,Till Bärnighausen"Postprint (author's final draft
Chloroquine and its derivatives exacerbate B19V-associated anemia by promoting viral replication
No full textBackground: An unexpectedly high seroprevalence and pathogenic potential of human parvovirus B19 (B19V) have been observed in certain malaria-endemic countries in parallel with local use of chloroquine (CQ) as first-line treatment for malaria. The aims of this study were to assess the effect of CQ and other common antimalarial drugs on B19V infection in vitro and the possible epidemiological consequences for children from Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Methodology/principal findings: Viral RNA, DNA and proteins were analyzed in different cell types following infection with B19V in the presence of a range of antimalarial drugs. Relationships between B19V infection status, prior 4-aminoquinoline use and anemia were assessed in 200 PNG children <10 years of age participating in a case-control study of severe infections. In CQ-treated cells, the synthesis of viral RNA, DNA and proteins was significantly higher and occurred earlier than in control cells. CQ facilitates B19V infection by minimizing intracellular degradation of incoming particles. Only amodiaquine amongst other antimalarial drugs had a similar effect. B19V IgM seropositivity was more frequent in 111 children with severe anemia (hemoglobin <50 g/L) than in 89 healthy controls (15.3% vs 3.4%; P = 0.008). In children who were either B19V IgM or PCR positive, 4-aminoquinoline use was associated with a significantly lower admission hemoglobin concentration.
Conclusions/significance: Our data strongly suggest that 4-aminoquinoline drugs and their metabolites exacerbate B19V-associated anemia by promoting B19V replication. Consideration should be given for choosing a non-4-aminoquinoline drug to partner artemisinin compounds in combination antimalarial therapy
Mass drug administration of ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine, plus albendazole compared with diethylcarbamazine plus albendazole for reduction of lymphatic filariasis endemicity in Papua New Guinea: A cluster-randomised trial
No full textBACKGROUND: A single co-administered dose of a triple-drug regimen (ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine, and albendazole) has been shown to be safe and more efficacious for clearing Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae than the standard two-drug regimen of diethylcarbamazine plus albendazole in clinical trials. However, the effectiveness of mass drug administration with the triple-drug regimen compared with the two-drug regimen is unknown. We compared the effectiveness of mass drug administration with the triple-drug and two-drug regimens for reducing microfilariae prevalence to less than 1% and circulating filarial antigen prevalence to less than 2%, levels that are unlikely to sustain transmission of lymphatic filariasis, in Papua New Guinea.
METHODS: This open-label, cluster-randomised study was done in 24 villages in a district endemic for lymphatic filariasis in Papua New Guinea. Villages paired by population size were randomly assigned to receive mass drug administration with a single dose of the triple-drug oral regimen of ivermectin (200 μg per kg of bodyweight) plus diethylcarbamazine (6 mg per kg of bodyweight) plus albendazole (400 mg) or a single dose of the two-drug oral regimen of diethylcarbamazine (6 mg per kg of bodyweight) plus albendazole (400 mg). This is a follow-on study of a previously reported safety study (ClinicalTrials.govNCT02899936). All residents aged 5 years or older and non-pregnant women were asked to participate. After cross-sectional night blood microfilariae and circulating filarial antigen surveys, mass drug administration was provided at baseline and repeated 12 months later. The primary outcomes were mean prevalence of microfilariae and circulating filarial antigen at 12 months and 24 months, assessed in all residents willing to participate at each timepoint. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03352206.
FINDINGS: Between Nov 18, 2016, and May 26, 2017, 4563 individuals were enrolled in 24 clusters; 12 clusters (2382 participants) were assigned to the triple-drug regimen and 12 clusters (2181 participants) to the two-drug regimen. Mean drug ingestion rates (of residents aged ≥5 years) were 66·1% at baseline and 63·2% at 12 months in communities assigned to the triple-drug regimen and 65·9% at baseline and 54·9% at 12 months in communities assigned to the two-drug regimen. Microfilariae prevalence in the triple-drug regimen group decreased from 105 (4·4%) of 2382 participants (95% CI 3·6-5·3) at baseline to nine (0·4%) of 2319 (0·1-0·7) at 12 months and four (0·2%) of 2086 (0·1-0·5) at 24 months. In the two-drug regimen group, microfilariae prevalence decreased from 93 (4·3%) of 2181 participants (95% CI 3·5-5·2) at baseline to 29 (1·5%) of 1963 (1·0-2·1) at 12 months and eight (0·4%) of 1844 (0·2-0·9) at 24 months (adjusted estimated risk ratio 4·5, 95% CI 1·4-13·8, p=0·0087, at 12 months; 2·9, 95% CI 1·0-8·8, p=0·058, at 24 months). The prevalence of circulating filarial antigen decreased from 523 (22·0%) of 2382 participants (95% CI 20·3-23·6) at baseline to 378 (16·3%) of 2319 (14·9-17·9) at 12 months and 156 (7·5%) of 2086 (6·4-8·7) at 24 months in the triple-drug regimen group and from 489 (22·6%) of 2168 participants (20·7-24·2) at baseline to 358 (18·2%) of 1963 (16·7-20·1) at 12 months and 184 (10·0%) of 1840 (8·7-11·5) at 24 months in the two-drug regimen group; after adjustment, differences between groups were not significant.
INTERPRETATION: Mass administration of the triple-drug regimen was more effective than the two-drug regimen in reducing microfilariae prevalence in communities to less than the target level of 1%, but did not reduce circulating filarial antigen prevalence to less than 2%. These results support the use of mass drug administration with the triple-drug regimen to accelerate elimination of lymphatic filariasis.
FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Computing Rigid Components of Pseudo-Triangulation Mechanisms in Linear Time
No full textWe investigate the problem of detecting rigid components (maximal Laman subgraphs) in a pseudotriangulation mechanism and in arbitrary pointed planar frameworks.F or general Laman graphs with some missing edges, it is known that rigid components can be computed in O(n2) time.Here we make substantial use of the special geometry of pointed pseudo-triangulation mechanisms to achieve linear time. The main application is a more robust implementation and a substantial reduction in numerical computations for the solution to the Carpenter\u27s Rule problem given by the second author
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