The Art of Struggle and the Struggle for Art: Let SCA Stay and the fight against the neoliberal university

Student movements are popularly considered as phenomena of the past. The history of Let SCA Stay, 2016, lays waste to this pessimistic stereotype and announces a developing history of student struggles against neoliberal universities. The campaign’s record-breaking 65-day occupation and associated student strikes at the University of Sydney reveal the reality of radical student movements in a post-Voluntary Student Unionism era. This thesis suggests that students’ embodied learning in the struggle elucidated potentialities for education beyond neoliberal universities. This history behoves historians to understand emerging student movements and involve themselves directly in the development of liberation struggles

Limitations of variable number of tandem repeat typing identified through whole genome sequencing of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis on a national and herd level

Background: Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), the causative bacterium of Johne’s disease in dairy cattle, is widespread in the Canadian dairy industry and has significant economic and animal welfare implications. An understanding of the population dynamics of MAP can be used to identify introduction events, improve control efforts and target transmission pathways, although this requires an adequate understanding of MAP diversity and distribution between herds and across the country. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) offers a detailed assessment of the SNP-level diversity and genetic relationship of isolates, whereas several molecular typing techniques used to investigate the molecular epidemiology of MAP, such as variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) typing, target relatively unstable repetitive elements in the genome that may be too unpredictable to draw accurate conclusions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diversity of bovine MAP isolates in Canadian dairy herds using WGS and then determine if VNTR typing can distinguish truly related and unrelated isolates.<p></p> Results: Phylogenetic analysis based on 3,039 SNPs identified through WGS of 124 MAP isolates identified eight genetically distinct subtypes in dairy herds from seven Canadian provinces, with the dominant type including over 80% of MAP isolates. VNTR typing of 527 MAP isolates identified 12 types, including “bison type” isolates, from seven different herds. At a national level, MAP isolates differed from each other by 1–2 to 239–240 SNPs, regardless of whether they belonged to the same or different VNTR types. A herd-level analysis of MAP isolates demonstrated that VNTR typing may both over-estimate and under-estimate the relatedness of MAP isolates found within a single herd.<p></p> Conclusions: The presence of multiple MAP subtypes in Canada suggests multiple introductions into the country including what has now become one dominant type, an important finding for Johne’s disease control. VNTR typing often failed to identify closely and distantly related isolates, limiting the applicability of using this typing scheme to study the molecular epidemiology of MAP at a national and herd-level.<p></p&gt

Structure of the icosahedral Ti-Zr-Ni quasicrystal

The atomic structure of the icosahedral Ti-Zr-Ni quasicrystal is determined by invoking similarities to periodic crystalline phases, diffraction data and the results from ab initio calculations. The structure is modeled by decorations of the canonical cell tiling geometry. The initial decoration model is based on the structure of the Frank-Kasper phase W-TiZrNi, the 1/1 approximant structure of the quasicrystal. The decoration model is optimized using a new method of structural analysis combining a least-squares refinement of diffraction data with results from ab initio calculations. The resulting structural model of icosahedral Ti-Zr-Ni is interpreted as a simple decoration rule and structural details are discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Comparing league formats with respect to match importance in Belgian football

Recently, most clubs in the highest Belgian football division have become convinced that the format of their league should be changed. Moreover, the TV station that broadcasts the league is pleading for a more attractive competition. However, the clubs have not been able to agree on a new league format, mainly because they have conflicting interests. In this paper, we compare the current league format, and three other formats that have been considered by the Royal Belgian Football Association. We simulate the course of each of these league formats, based on historical match results. We assume that the attractiveness of a format is determined by the importance of its games; our importance measure for a game is based on the number of teams for which this game can be decisive to reach a given goal. Furthermore, we provide an overview of how each league format aligns with the expectations and interests of each type of club

Phase-field-crystal models for condensed matter dynamics on atomic length and diffusive time scales: an overview

Here, we review the basic concepts and applications of the phase-field-crystal (PFC) method, which is one of the latest simulation methodologies in materials science for problems, where atomic- and microscales are tightly coupled. The PFC method operates on atomic length and diffusive time scales, and thus constitutes a computationally efficient alternative to molecular simulation methods. Its intense development in materials science started fairly recently following the work by Elder et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002), p. 245701]. Since these initial studies, dynamical density functional theory and thermodynamic concepts have been linked to the PFC approach to serve as further theoretical fundaments for the latter. In this review, we summarize these methodological development steps as well as the most important applications of the PFC method with a special focus on the interaction of development steps taken in hard and soft matter physics, respectively. Doing so, we hope to present today's state of the art in PFC modelling as well as the potential, which might still arise from this method in physics and materials science in the nearby future.Comment: 95 pages, 48 figure

Genetic Algorithm for Variable and Samples Selection in Multivariate Calibration Problems

One of the main problems of quantitative analytical chemistry is to estimate the concentration of one or more species from the values of certain physicochemical properties of the system of interest. For this it is necessary to construct a calibration model, i.e., to determine the relationship between measured properties and concentrations. The multivariate calibration is one of the most successful combinations of statistical methods to chemical data, both in analytical chemistry and in theoretical chemistry. Among used methods can cite Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), the Nonlinear Partial Least Squares (N-PLS), Principal Components Regression (PCR) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). In addition of multivariate calibration methods algorithms of samples selection are used. These algorithms choose a subset of samples to be used in training set covering adequately the space of the samples. In other hand, a large spectrum of a sample is typically measured by modern scanning instruments generating hundreds of variables. Search algorithms have been used to identify variables which contribute useful information about the dependent variable in the model. This paper proposes a Genetic Algorithm based on Double Chromosome (GADC) to do these tasks simultaneously, the sample and variable selection. The obtained results were compared with the well-known algorithms for samples and variable selection Kennard-Stone, Partial Least Square and Successive Projection Algorithm. We showed that the proposed algorithm can obtain better calibrations models in a case study involving the determination of content protein in wheat samples

Fermenta??o alco?lica de hidrolisado hemicelul?sico de torta de girassol por Galactomyces geotrichum UFVJM-R10 e Candida akabanensis UFVJM-R131

The use of the hemicellulosic fraction of plants for the production of second generation bioethanol depends on microorganisms capable to ferment pentoses. Two yeast strains habile to xylose fermenting in synthetic medium,?Candida akabanensis?UFVJM-R131 and?Galactomyces geotrichum?UFVJM-R10, not yet registered in the literature for the production of bioethanol, were evaluated here in the alcoholic fermentation of the hemicellulosic hydrolyzate from sunflower cake. The biomass hydrolysis was performed by 38 minutes at 120 ?C / 1 atm with 6% H2SO4?solution and solid / liquid ratio of 1:3.2. Chromatographic characterization of the hemicellulosic hydrolyzate showed the presence of glucose (7.57 g L-1), xylose (19.53 g L-1) and arabinose (8.85 g L-1), besides 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (0.71 g L-1), furfural (0.05 g L-1) and acetic acid (5.27 g L-1). Both yeasts were able to produce ethanol from the acid hydrolyzate from sunflower cake. The fermentation carried out with?G. geotrichum?UFVJM-R10 and?C. akabanensis?UFVJM-R131 presented YP/S?values of 0.29 and 0.27 g?ethanol?g-1sugars, respectively. The amounts of the inhibitors identified in the hydrolyzate did not affect the efficiency of the alcoholic fermentation. The supplementation of the hydrolyzate with nitrogen and mineral sources increased the rate of consumption of xylose and arabinose