415 research outputs found
Developing Identity: Exploring The History Of Indonesian Nationalism
This thesis examines the history of Indonesian nationalism over the course of the twentieth century. In this thesis, I argue that the country’s two main political leaders of the twentieth century, Presidents Sukarno (1945-1967) and Suharto (1967-1998) manipulated nationalist ideology to enhance and extend their executive powers. The thesis begins by looking at the ways that the nationalist movement originated during the final years of the Dutch East Indies colonial period. The first section highlights how the nationalist movement was disunified in its attempts to gain political autonomy from Dutch colonial control. It moves on to talk about the impact of the Japanese occupation period (1942-1945) on the nationalist movement, detailing how Sukarno was able to unify the various nationalist groups by presenting his form of Indonesian ideology, Pancasila. The paper briefly touches on the Indonesian Revolutionary War (1945-1949) before discussing the impact of Sukarno’s gradual move towards communist and anti-Western sentiments. The paper examines several speeches given by Sukarno during this period to emphasize the ways by which he directed national ideology in his favor. The narrative continues to explain the Indonesian public’s backlash against communism, briefly detailing the Communist Massacre of 1965-1966 and explaining how Suharto grabbed power in the ensuing chaos. An analysis of Suharto’s early speeches reveals the ways that Suharto was able to appropriate Sukarno’s Pancasila to fit his own political goals. The thesis moves on to discuss the Pancasila indoctrination programs which Suharto enacts during the late 1970s and into the 1980s and how the Suharto regime became associated with repression and state violence. The thesis concludes by examining the similarities and differences between Sukarno’s and Suharto’s manipulation of ideology to enhance their political agendas
cDNA-RNA subtractive hybridization reveals increased expression of mycocerosic acid synthase in intracellular Mycobacterium bovis BCG.
Identifying genes that are differentially expressed by Mycobacterium bovis BCG after phagocytosis by macrophages will facilitate the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of host cell-intracellular pathogen interactions. To identify such genes a cDNA-total RNA subtractive hybridization strategy has been used that circumvents the problems both of limited availability of bacterial RNA from models of infection and the high rRNA backgrounds in total bacterial RNA. The subtraction products were used to screen a high-density gridded Mycobacterium tuberculosis genomic library. Sequence data were obtained from 19 differential clones, five of which contained overlapping sequences for the gene encoding mycocerosic acid synthase (mas). Mas is an enzyme involved in the synthesis of multi-methylated long-chain fatty acids that are part of phthiocerol dimycocerosate, a major component of the complex mycobacterial cell wall. Northern blotting and primer extension data confirmed up-regulation of mas in intracellular mycobacteria and also revealed a putative extended -10 promoter structure and a long untranslated upstream region 5' of the mas transcripts, containing predicted double-stranded structures. Furthermore, clones containing overlapping sequences for furB, groEL-2, rplE and fadD28 were identified and the up-regulation of these genes was confirmed by Northern blot analysis. The cDNA-RNA subtractive hybridization enrichment and high density gridded library screening, combined with selective extraction of bacterial mRNA represents a valuable approach to the identification of genes expressed during intra-macrophage residence for bacteria such as M. bovis BCG and the pathogenic mycobacterium, M. tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis Expresses a Novel Ph-Dependent Divalent Cation Transporter Belonging to the Nramp Family
Mammalian natural resistance–associated macrophage protein (Nramp) homologues are important determinants of susceptibility to infection by diverse intracellular pathogens including mycobacteria. Eukaryotic Nramp homologues transport divalent cations such as Fe2+, Mn2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+. Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis (bacillus Calmette-Guérin [BCG]) also encode an Nramp homologue (Mramp)
Searching in HI for Massive Low Surface Brightness Galaxies: Samples from HyperLeda and the UGC
A search has been made for 21 cm HI line emission in a total of 350 unique
galaxies from two samples whose optical properties indicate they may be massive
The first consists of 241 low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies of
morphological type Sb and later selected from the HyperLeda database and the
the second consists of 119 LSB galaxies from the UGC with morphological types
Sd-m and later. Of the 350 unique galaxies, 239 were observed at the Nancay
Radio Telescope, 161 at the Green Bank Telescope, and 66 at the Arecibo
telescope. A total of 295 (84.3%) were detected, of which 253 (72.3%) appear to
be uncontaminated by any other galaxies within the telescope beam. Finally, of
the total detected, uncontaminated galaxies, at least 31 appear to be massive
LSB galaxies, with a total HI mass 10 M, for H = 70
km/s/Mpc. If we expand the definition to also include galaxies with significant
total (rather than just gas) mass, i.e., those with inclination-corrected HI
line width W,cor > 500 km/s, this bring the total number of massive LSB
galaxies to 41. There are no obvious trends between the various measured global
galaxy properties, particularly between mean surface brightness and galaxy
mass.Comment: 71 pages, including all tables and figures; Accepted by A
4,7-DichloroÂquinoline
The two molÂecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C9H5Cl2N, are both essentially planar (r.m.s. deviations for all non-H atoms = 0.014 and 0.026 Å). There are no close C—H⋯Cl contacts
A systematic literature review on the global epidemiology of Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: Prevalence, incidence, diagnosis, and mortality
Dravet syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) are rare developmental and epileptic encephalopathies associated with seizure and nonseizure symptoms. A comprehensive understanding of how many individuals are affected globally, the diagnostic journey they face, and the extent of mortality associated with these conditions is lacking. Here, we summarize and evaluate published data on the epidemiology of DS and LGS in terms of prevalence, incidence, diagnosis, genetic mutations, and mortality and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) rates. The full study protocol is registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022316930). After screening 2172 deduplicated records, 91 unique records were included; 67 provided data on DS only, 17 provided data on LGS only, and seven provided data on both. Case definitions varied considerably across studies, particularly for LGS. Incidence and prevalence estimates per 100 000 individuals were generally higher for LGS than for DS (LGS: incidence proportion = 14.5-28, prevalence = 5.8-60.8; DS: incidence proportion = 2.2-6.5, prevalence = 1.2-6.5). Diagnostic delay was frequently reported for LGS, with a wider age range at diagnosis reported than for DS (DS, 1.6-9.2 years; LGS, 2-15 years). Genetic screening data were reported by 63 studies; all screened for SCN1A variants, and only one study specifically focused on individuals with LGS. Individuals with DS had a higher mortality estimate per 1000 person-years than individuals with LGS (DS, 15.84; LGS, 6.12) and a lower median age at death. SUDEP was the most frequently reported cause of death for individuals with DS. Only four studies reported mortality information for LGS, none of which included SUDEP. This systematic review highlights the paucity of epidemiological data available for DS and especially LGS, demonstrating the need for further research and adoption of standardized diagnostic criteria
A comprehensive systematic literature review of the burden of illness of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome on patients, caregivers, and society
Fully elucidating the burden that Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) places on individuals with the disease and their caregivers is critical to improving outcomes and quality of life (QoL). This systematic literature review evaluated the global burden of illness of LGS, including clinical symptom burden, care requirements, QoL, comorbidities, caregiver burden, economic burden, and treatment burden (PROSPERO ID: CRD42022317413). MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for articles that met predetermined criteria. After screening 1442 deduplicated articles and supplementary manual searches, 113 articles were included for review. A high clinical symptom burden of LGS was identified, with high seizure frequency and nonseizure symptoms (including developmental delay and intellectual disability) leading to low QoL and substantial care requirements for individuals with LGS, with the latter including daily function assistance for mobility, eating, and toileting. Multiple comorbidities were identified, with intellectual disorders having the highest prevalence. Although based on few studies, a high caregiver burden was also identified, which was associated with physical problems (including fatigue and sleep disturbances), social isolation, poor mental health, and financial difficulties. Most economic analyses focused on the high direct costs of LGS, which arose predominantly from medically treated seizure events, inpatient costs, and medication requirements. Pharmacoresistance was common, and many individuals required polytherapy and treatment changes over time. Few studies focused on the humanistic burden. Quality concerns were noted for sample representativeness, disease and outcome measures, and reporting clarity. In summary, a high burden of LGS on individuals, caregivers, and health care systems was identified, which may be alleviated by reducing the clinical symptom burden. These findings highlight the need for a greater understanding of and better definitions for the broad spectrum of LGS symptoms and development of treatments to alleviate nonseizure symptoms
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Tunable and Transferable Diamond Membranes for Integrated Quantum Technologies
Color centers in diamond are widely explored as qubits in quantum technologies. However, challenges remain in the effective and efficient integration of these diamond-hosted qubits in device heterostructures. Here, nanoscale-thick uniform diamond membranes are synthesized via "smart-cut" and isotopically (12C) purified overgrowth. These membranes have tunable thicknesses (demonstrated 50 to 250 nm), are deterministically transferable, have bilaterally atomically flat surfaces (Rq ≤ 0.3 nm), and bulk-diamond-like crystallinity. Color centers are synthesized via both implantation and in situ overgrowth incorporation. Within 110-nm-thick membranes, individual germanium-vacancy (GeV-) centers exhibit stable photoluminescence at 5.4 K and average optical transition line widths as low as 125 MHz. The room temperature spin coherence of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) centers shows Ramsey spin dephasing times (T2*) and Hahn echo times (T2) as long as 150 and 400 μs, respectively. This platform enables the straightforward integration of diamond membranes that host coherent color centers into quantum technologies
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