Iraqi heritage restoration, grassroot interventions and post-conflict recovery: reflections from Mosul

The deliberate targeting and violent destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq’s ancient city of Mosul by the Islamic State (2014-17) has recently given way to the emergence of heritage initiatives aimed at restoring its urban character and reviving its cosmopolitan spirit. Such restoration projects invariably stir debates over timing, funding, local consultation, as well as their potential to contribute to post-war social cohesion and communal healing. This article argues that in post-conflict settings heritage restoration is always an ambivalent and contingent process, involving the selective use of emotive symbols by multiple actors to create new realities from past memories. Based on over 50 in depth interviews with a diverse section of Moslawi society and drawing on site observations from Mosul (2022-23), the article explores local perspectives and the ongoing dynamic negotiation of heritage restoration. Drawing on often-conflicting communal perceptions of large-scale internationally funded reconstruction projects, the article highlights the challenge of producing a unified and meaningful historical narrative. Additionally, the authors present some new reflections on less examined but locally championed Moslawi heritage sites – the souks, Qila’yat district and heritage homes. These civic spaces may offer greater opportunity for social recovery through economic development, cultural exchange and everyday co-existence

Resistance to Wheat streak mosaic virus generated by expression of an artificial polycistronic microRNA in wheat

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) is a persistent threat to wheat production, necessitating novel approaches for protection. We developed an artificial miRNA strategy against WSMV, incorporating five amiRNAs within one polycistronic amiRNA precursor. Using miRNA sequence and folding rules, we chose five amiRNAs targeting conserved regions of WSMV but avoiding off-targets in wheat. These replaced the natural miRNA in each of five arms of the polycistronic rice miR395, producing amiRNA precursor, FanGuard (FGmiR395), which was transformed into wheat behind a constitutive promoter. Splinted ligation detected all five amiRNAs being processed in transgenic leaves. Resistance was assessed over two generations. Three types of response were observed in T 1 plants of different transgenic families: completely immune; initially resistant with resistance breaking down over time; and initially susceptible followed by plant recovery. Deep sequencing of small RNAs from inoculated leaves allowed the virus sequence to be assembled from an immune transgenic, susceptible transgenic, and susceptible non-transgenic plant; the amiRNA targets were fully conserved in all three isolates, indicating virus replication on some transgenics was not a result of mutational escape by the virus. For resistant families, the resistance segregated with the transgene. Analysis in the T 2 generation confirmed the inheritance of immunity and gave further insights into the other phenotypes. Stable resistant lines developed no symptoms and no virus by ELISA; this resistance was classified as immunity when extracts failed to transmit from inoculated leaves to test plants. This study demonstrates the utility of a polycistronic amiRNA strategy in wheat against WSMV

War Museums in Postwar Lebanon: Memory, Violence, and Performance

This article examines three museums that address Lebanon's history of conflict: the newly opened Beit Beirut on the capital's former Green Line, the Hezbollah-run Mleeta Resistance Tourist Landmark in south Lebanon, and Umam Documentation and Research's online archive 'Memory at Work.' Each testing the parameters of what the term museum can mean in Lebanon today, these cases highlight the still-contested nature of war narratives. While many Lebanese youth express desire for a shared national history of the civil war, the affective complexities of recuperated memorial sites and the inconsistent involvement of the state suggest that the possibility of publicly staging such a history is far from secure

Childhood adversity and trauma:experiences of professionals trained to routinely enquire about childhood adversity

Research indicates that adverse childhood experiences play a causal role in the development of poor health and social outcomes in adulthood. Despite this, research suggests that such experiences go undetected since spontaneous disclosure is unlikely, and practitioners are unlikely to ask. A project was developed in which practitioners were trained to routinely enquire about adversity in their daily practice. Four pilot services took part that worked directly and indirectly with children and young people, many of whom were exposed to multiple adverse experiences. The aim of this study was to construct an understanding of the experiences of these practitioners. Seven interviews were conducted, and the data was analysed using thematic analysis. The emerging themes were:change in knowledge, perception and practice; the emotional impact of hearing and responding to disclosures; confidence in asking and responding appropriately; making sense of the impact for clients; how and when to ask. Findings indicate that participants' change toward more adverse-experience-informed formulations of clients' difficulties ensure commitment to routine enquiry and changes in referral patterns and therapeutic practice. Suggestions are made with regard to the practicalities of routine enquiry and how services can best support practitioners who are embedding this skill into their practice

From gene mutation to protein characterization

A seven-week “gene to protein” laboratory sequence is described for an undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course. Student pairs were given the task of introducing a point mutation of their choosing into the well studied protein, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). After conducting literature searches, each student group chose the mutation they wanted to introduce into EGFP. Students designed their sequence-specific mutagenic primers and constructed their desired mutation. The resulting EGFP mutant proteins were expressed in E. coli, purified and characterized. This laboratory sequence connected the major concepts of molecular biology and biochemistry, while incorporating the thrill of novel discovery in an undergraduate-level biochemistry laboratory course

The Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment—A Plan for Integrated, Large Fire–Atmosphere Field Campaigns

The Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE) is designed to collect integrated observations from large wildland fires and provide evaluation datasets for new models and operational systems. Wildland fire, smoke dispersion, and atmospheric chemistry models have become more sophisticated, and next-generation operational models will require evaluation datasets that are coordinated and comprehensive for their evaluation and advancement. Integrated measurements are required, including ground-based observations of fuels and fire behavior, estimates of fire-emitted heat and emissions fluxes, and observations of near-source micrometeorology, plume properties, smoke dispersion, and atmospheric chemistry. To address these requirements the FASMEE campaign design includes a study plan to guide the suite of required measurements in forested sites representative of many prescribed burning programs in the southeastern United States and increasingly common high-intensity fires in the western United States. Here we provide an overview of the proposed experiment and recommendations for key measurements. The FASMEE study provides a template for additional large-scale experimental campaigns to advance fire science and operational fire and smoke models

A systematic review and narrative synthesis of mental imagery tasks in people with an intellectual disability : implications for psychological therapies [search strategy]

Review question What do we understand about the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities to engage with mental imagery (the generation, maintenance, inspection, and transformation of mental images)? What do we understand about the phenomenology of mental images in people with intellectual disabilities? Searches Sources that will be used to identify studies for the systematic review: Bibliographic databases: AMED, BNI, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials will also be searched. Unpublished studies will be sought and the grey literature included as part of my search strategy: - ETHoS (UK research theses) - Google Scholar will be searched and the first 100 links examined for relevance to this study - Conference Proceedings Index (via Web of Science) - GreyNet The order in which these platforms will be searched is as follows: 1. Bibliographic databases 2. ETHoS 3. Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) 4. Google Scholar 5. Conference Proceedings Index (via Web of Science) 6. GreyNet The reference lists of eligible studies and review articles, key journals, conference proceedings and trials registers will also be searched. Key authors and experts within the field will be proactively contacted to identify any unpublished or prospective studies meeting inclusion criteria. No restrictions on language will be made Search dates 1 January 1980 to present. Searches will be re-run prior to the final analysis Types of study to be included All types of studies will be included. This includes randomised-control trials, qualitative studies, cohort studies, case control studies, cross sectional studies, case reports and series, reviews, opinions, editorial and letters. Condition or domain being studied Intellectual disability or learning disability. For the purposes of this review, the British Psychological Society (2015) definition of intellectual disability will be used: • A significant impairment of intellectual functioning (generally an IQ score of less than 70) • A significant impairment of adaptive behaviour • Onset before adulthood (18 years

Does the magnetization transfer effect bias chemical exchange saturation transfer effects? Quantifying chemical exchange saturation transfer in the presence of magnetization transfer

Purpose Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is an MRI technique sensitive to the presence of low‐concentration solute protons exchanging with water. However, magnetization transfer (MT) effects also arise when large semisolid molecules interact with water, which biases CEST parameter estimates if quantitative models do not account for macromolecular effects. This study establishes under what conditions this bias is significant and demonstrates how using an appropriate model provides more accurate quantitative CEST measurements. Methods CEST and MT data were acquired in phantoms containing bovine serum albumin and agarose. Several quantitative CEST and MT models were used with the phantom data to demonstrate how underfitting can influence estimates of the CEST effect. CEST and MT data were acquired in healthy volunteers, and a two‐pool model was fit in vivo and in vitro, whereas removing increasing amounts of CEST data to show biases in the CEST analysis also corrupts MT parameter estimates. Results When all significant CEST/MT effects were included, the derived parameter estimates for each CEST/MT pool significantly correlated (P < .05) with bovine serum albumin/agarose concentration; minimal or negative correlations were found with underfitted data. Additionally, a bootstrap analysis demonstrated that significant biases occur in MT parameter estimates (P < .001) when unmodeled CEST data are included in the analysis. Conclusions These results indicate that current practices of simultaneously fitting both CEST and MT effects in model‐based analyses can lead to significant bias in all parameter estimates unless a sufficiently detailed model is utilized. Therefore, care must be taken when quantifying CEST and MT effects in vivo by properly modeling data to minimize these biases