661 research outputs found
The Federal Reserve's Primary Dealer Credit Facility
No full textAs liquidity conditions in the "repo market"--the market where broker-dealers obtain financing for their securities--deteriorated following the near-bankruptcy of Bear Stearns in March 2008, the Federal Reserve took the step of creating a special facility to provide overnight loans to dealers that have a trading relationship with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Six months later, in the wake of new strains in the repo market, the Fed expanded the facility by broadening the types of collateral accepted for loans. Both initiatives were designed to help restore the orderly functioning of the market and to prevent the spillover of distress to other financial firms.Federal Reserve Bank of New York ; Loans ; Financial crises ; Brokers
Selenium toxicity to honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) pollinators: effects on behaviors and survival.
No full textWe know very little about how soil-borne pollutants such as selenium (Se) can impact pollinators, even though Se has contaminated soils and plants in areas where insect pollination can be critical to the functioning of both agricultural and natural ecosystems. Se can be biotransferred throughout the food web, but few studies have examined its effects on the insects that feed on Se-accumulating plants, particularly pollinators. In laboratory bioassays, we used proboscis extension reflex (PER) and taste perception to determine if the presence of Se affected the gustatory response of honey bee (Apis mellifera L., Hymenoptera: Apidae) foragers. Antennae and proboscises were stimulated with both organic (selenomethionine) and inorganic (selenate) forms of Se that commonly occur in Se-accumulating plants. Methionine was also tested. Each compound was dissolved in 1 M sucrose at 5 concentrations, with sucrose alone as a control. Antennal stimulation with selenomethionine and methionine reduced PER at higher concentrations. Selenate did not reduce gustatory behaviors. Two hours after being fed the treatments, bees were tested for sucrose response threshold. Bees fed selenate responded less to sucrose stimulation. Mortality was higher in bees chronically dosed with selenate compared with a single dose. Selenomethionine did not increase mortality except at the highest concentration. Methionine did not significantly impact survival. Our study has shown that bees fed selenate were less responsive to sucrose, which may lead to a reduction in incoming floral resources needed to support coworkers and larvae in the field. If honey bees forage on nectar containing Se (particularly selenate), reductions in population numbers may occur due to direct toxicity. Given that honey bees are willing to consume food resources containing Se and may not avoid Se compounds in the plant tissues on which they are foraging, they may suffer similar adverse effects as seen in other insect guilds
The role of ATF4 in hypoxia-induced cell death in cancer
No full textCancer cells survive the harsh oxygen and nutrient deprivation of the tumour microenvironment through the selection of apoptosis-resistant and glycolytic clones (Cairns et al., 2011; Graeber et al., 1996). In particular, the integrated stress response (ISR) has been shown to be pivotal in cancer cell survival in vivo and the resistance of cancer cells to therapy (Harding et al., 2003). In recent years, it has become apparent that increased autophagy is one mechanism by which the ISR can confer resistance to stress (Kroemer et al., 2010).ATF4 is a major transcriptional effector of the integrated stress response in severe hypoxia (<0.01% O₂). ATF4 is a well-established regulator of genes involved in oxidative stress, amino acid synthesis and uptake, lipid metabolism, protein folding, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Recent work has demonstrated an important role of ATF4 in promoting resistance to severe hypoxia through the transcriptional upregulation of MAP1LC3B and ATG5, essential components of the autophagy machinery (Rouschop et al., 2009b; Rzyski et al., 2010).In this work, the author describes several novel ATF4 target genes, and examines their role in the regulation of autophagy and the resistance of cancer cells to severe hypoxia. In the first part of this thesis, the author shows that three BH3-only members of the BCL-2 family of proteins--HRK, PUMA, and NOXA--are upregulated in response to severe hypoxia in an ATF4-dependent manner. In particular, the author shows that the poorly described BH3-only protein HRK is a direct target of transcriptional activation by ATF4, and that HRK induces autophagy in severe hypoxia, thereby providing the first evidence that the integrated stress response can transcriptionally trigger the autophagy process. In contrast to the previously described role of HRK in apoptosis, this thesis demonstrates that HRK can play a pro-survival role in the context of breast cancer cells.In the latter part of this thesis, the author identifies the essential autophagy gene ULK1 as an ISR target. The author shows that ULK1 expression in severe hypoxia is transcriptionally upregulated through direct activation by ATF4. The author identifies ULK1 as a crucial regulator of autophagy and mitophagy in both normoxia and severe hypoxia and shows that ULK1 plays a pivotal role in cancer cell survival. Furthermore, it is shown that human breast cancer patients with high levels of ULK1 relapse earlier than those with low levels of ULK1, thereby identifying ULK1 as a potential target for cancer therapy
South African travel writing and bias
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 92-96).This thesis spotlights the travel and leisure magazine industry within South Africa. It contends that the travel writing genre is susceptible to a number of biases, both past and present, which ultimately affect the way its overall content is produced and presented to the public. This work was substantiated through a set of qualitative interviews with key professionals within the South African travel and leisure magazine industry, as well as through a theme- based content analysis of a number of local travel writing publications. This study adds to a rather extensive line of research written on the topic of travel writing regarding a number of older criticisms of bias including 'othering', escapism, and gendering. However, it also focuses on a number of more modem biases such as direct advertising, advertorial usage, as well as the acceptance of 'freebies' and barter agreements, none of which has been given much attention in previous research. The sheer existence of these and other biases within the modem South African travel and leisure magazine industry exhibits an absolute necessity of examination into such a topic, especially given the importance and overall influence that the travel writing industry has on a country's economic standing and overall image
Probing the relationship between electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves and plasmaspheric plumes near geosynchronous orbit
No full textPlasmaspheric plumes created during disturbed geomagnetic conditions have been suggested as a major cause of increased occurrences of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves at these times. We have catalogued occurrences of strong Pc1 EMIC waves from 1996 through 2003 at three automated geophysical observatories operated by the British Antarctic Survey at auroral zone latitudes in Antarctica (L = 6.28, 7.68, and 8.07) and have compared them to the occurrence of plasmaspheric plumes in space, using simultaneous data from the Magnetospheric Plasma Analyzer on the Los Alamos National Laboratory 1990-095 spacecraft, in geosynchronous orbit at the same magnetic longitude. A superposed epoch analysis of these data was conducted for several categories of disturbed geomagnetic conditions, including magnetic storms, high-speed streams, and storm sudden commencements. We found only a weak correspondence between the occurrence of strong Pc1 waves observed on the ground and either plasmaspheric plumes or intervals of extended plasmasphere at geosynchronous orbit before, during, or after the onset of any of these categories. Strong Pc1 activity peaked near or slightly after local noon during all storm phases, consistent with equatorial observations by the Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers/Charge Composition Explorer satellite at these L shells. The highest Pc1 occurrence probability was at or 1-2 days before storm onset and during the late recovery phase. Occurrence was lowest during the early recovery phase, consistent with the decrease in solar wind pressure often seen at this time. The peak at onset is consistent with earlier observations of waves in the outer magnetosphere stimulated by sudden impulses and magnetospheric compressions
Vocational secondary schooling, occupational choice, and earnings in Brazil
No full textEmpirical studies on the efficacy of vocational education, mainly in developing countries - a literature now comprising dozens of evaluation studies - have been fairly unanimous in recording a negative verdict on the costs and benefits of vocational secondary education, particularly compared with traditional academic school. The authors, in this study set in Brazil, reach a different conclusion. Like a number of recent evaluation studies (for Hong Kong, Israel, and the United States), this one challenges the established orthodoxy by reporting findings far more supportive of vocational schooling. Unlike traditional approaches, it focuses on the relationship between field of vocational study and subsequent occupation. The authors report that students who complete vocational school and work in related fields have significant earnings advantages over students who do not work in fields related to what they studied and over students who complete academic school.Education Reform and Management,Primary Education,Gender and Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning
Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis
No full textMultiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis
ocean-tracking-network/biologging_standardization: Sequeira et al 2021
No full textA release snapshot to accompany publication of the companion paper to this repository. Full author list for the paper in question:
Ana M.M. Sequeira1, Malcolm O’Toole1, Theresa R. Keates2, Laura H. McDonnell3, Camrin D. Braun4,5, Xavier Hoenner6, Fabrice R. A. Jaine7,8, Ian D. Jonsen8, Peggy Newman9, Jonathan Pye10, Steven J. Bograd11, Graeme C. Hays12, Elliott L Hazen11, Melinda Holland13, Vardis Tsontos14, Clint Blight15, Francesca Cagnacci16, Sarah C. Davidson17,18, Holger Dettki19, Carlos M. Duarte20, Daniel C. Dunn21, Victor M. Eguíluz22, Michael Fedak15, Adrian C. Gleiss23, Neil Hammerschlag3,24, Mark A. Hindell25, Kim Holland26, Ivica Janekovic27, Megan K. McKinzie28, 29, Mônica M.C.Muelbert25,30, Chari Pattiaratchi27, Christian Rutz31, David W. Sims32,33,34, Samantha E. Simmons35, Brendal Townsend10, Frederick Whoriskey10, Bill Woodward29, Daniel P. Costa36, Michelle R. Heupel37, Clive R. McMahon7, 25, Rob Harcourt8, Michael Weise3
Remodelling of lace plant leaves: antioxidants and ROS are key regulators of programmed cell death
No full textTheodor W. Adorno e il concetto di seconda natura nel Doktor Faustus di Thomas Mann
No full text“Doktor Faustus” of Thomas Mann, as explained by its author, is a novel on German civilization in which music plays the role of paradigm. Nevertheless the author grasps a lot of quotations from different disciplines and topics, ― e.g., theology, policy, philosophy, music, chemistry ― with the aim of depicting the creation of a second nature in music according the rules of twelve-note composition established by Arnold Schoenberg. The starting point of this complicated narrative is the reinterpretation of Theodor W. Adorno’s “Philosophie der neuen Musik”, a book that inspired Mann in tracing the idea of “second nature” created by the composer Adrian Leverkühn. The article focuses on some keywords used in the famous novel, and taken from inorganic chemistry and geology, working as metaphors on the thin line between nature and nurture. This analogy is retraceable in the biography of Adrian Leverkühn, whose music is the result of a demiurgic, daemonic power he gained after his deal with the devil
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