(In)formalization and the civilizing process : applying the work of Norbert Elias to housing-based anti-social behaviour interventions in the UK

This paper uses Norbert Elias's theory of the civilizing process to examine trends in social conduct in the UK and to identify how problematic “anti‐social” behaviour is conceptualized and governed through housing‐based mechanisms of intervention. The paper describes how Elias's concepts of the formalization and informalization of conduct and the construction of established and outsider groups provide an analytical framework for understanding social relations. It continues by discussing how de‐civilizing processes are also evident in contemporary society, and are applied to current policy discourse around Respect and anti‐social behaviour. The paper uses the governance of “anti‐social” conduct through housing mechanisms in the UK to critique the work of Elias and concludes by arguing that a revised concept of the civilizing process provides a useful analytical framework for future studies

Long-term efficacy of imatinib mesylate in patients with advanced Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor

Tenosynovial giant cell tumors (TGCT), are rare colony stimulating factor-1(CSF-1)-driven proliferative disorders affecting joints. Diffuse-type TGCT often causes significant morbidity due to local recurrences necessitating multiple surgeries. Imatinib mesylate (IM) blocks the CSF-1 receptor. This study investigated the long term effects of IM in TGCT. We conducted an international multi-institutional retrospective study to assess the activity of IM: data was collected anonymously from individual patients with locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic TGCT. Sixty-two patients from 12 institutions across Europe, Australia and the United States were identified. Four patients with metastatic TGCT progressed rapidly on IM and were excluded for further analyses. Seventeen of 58 evaluable patients achieved complete response (CR) or partial response (PR). One- and five-year progression-free survival rates were 71% and 48%, respectively. Thirty-eight (66%) patients discontinued IM after a median of 7 (range 1-80) months. Reported adverse events in 45 (78%) patients were among other edema (48%) and fatigue (50%), mostly grade 1-2 (89%). Five patients experienced grade 3-4 toxicities. This study confirms, with additional follow-up, the efficacy of IM in TGCT. In responding cases we confirmed prolonged IM activity on TGCT symptoms even after discontinuation, but with high rates of treatment interruption and additional treatments

Consequences of intraspecific variation for the structure and function of ecological communities Part 2: linking diversity and function

A central aim in ecology is to understand the relation between organism diversity and ecosystem functioning. We investigate this relation using a generic individual-based modelling framework described in part 1, in which individuals within a community are characterised by physiological traits and interact within a spatially structured environment. We explore the effect of intraspecific variation among individuals on community-scale productivity in a range of homogeneous and heterogeneous environments. We show that diversity among individuals has a significant, and in most but not all cases positive, impact on community productivity. At low levels of resource the persisting plants giving highest productivity have slowest uptake rates and longest times to reproduction. In contrast, at high levels of resource the persisting plants giving highest productivity have highest uptake levels and shortest time to reproduction. Thus, the individuals’ trait distributions defining community functioning emerge, after many iterations of the model, from the surviving individuals. We, therefore, show that different mechanisms, as evidenced in the surviving individuals’ traits, increase community productivity in different environmental contexts, and so demonstrate the importance of accounting for diversity at the scale of the individual. Consequently, progress may be made in linking diversity and function by considering small, manageable systems and making physiological measurements on individuals

Consequences of intraspecific variation for the structure and function of ecological communities. Part 1. Model development and predicted patterns of diversity

Biodiversity is generally accepted to include both within species and between species variation. Consequently, the contribution to the functioning of ecosystems of variation among individuals should be accounted for. However, very little is known about patterns of diversity below the species level, and less still about the patterns of individual diversity and their relation to ecosystem context and community function. We present a model for the dynamics of individuals that is physiologically based and spatially explicit. Individuals are defined in terms of measurable parameters that relate environmental context to phenotype and in this sense define the genotype. Estimates for the variation in the parameter values are obtained from experiments conducted on the species Rumex acetosa. Simulations are performed to predict the form of the relative abundance distribution, and the dependence of the predicted number of coexisting genotypes on patch area (the genotype–area curve). We find that the predicted forms of the abundance distribution and genotype–area curve are indistinguishable from those measured at the species level. Furthermore, we identify the importance of physiological trade-offs at the individual level in promoting diversity and the sensitivity of genotype richness to the degree of similarity of individuals in the community. The extension of the model to include inter-species variation is discussed

A silicon carbide-based highly transparent passivating contact for crystalline silicon solar cells approaching efficiencies of 24%

A highly transparent passivating contact (TPC) as front contact for crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells could in principle combine high conductivity, excellent surface passivation and high optical transparency. However, the simultaneous optimization of these features remains challenging. Here, we present a TPC consisting of a silicon-oxide tunnel layer followed by two layers of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon carbide (nc-SiC:H(n)) deposited at different temperatures and a sputtered indium tin oxide (ITO) layer (c-Si(n)/SiO2/nc-SiC:H(n)/ITO). While the wide band gap of nc-SiC:H(n) ensures high optical transparency, the double layer design enables good passivation and high conductivity translating into an improved short-circuit current density (40.87 mA cm−2), fill factor (80.9%) and efficiency of 23.99 ± 0.29% (certified). Additionally, this contact avoids the need for additional hydrogenation or high-temperature postdeposition annealing steps. We investigate the passivation mechanism and working principle of the TPC and provide a loss analysis based on numerical simulations outlining pathways towards conversion efficiencies of 26%.Electrical Sustainable EnergyPhotovoltaic Materials and Device

The PLA2R1-JAK2 pathway upregulates ERRα and its mitochondrial program to exert tumor-suppressive action

Little is known about the biological role of the phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R1) transmembrane protein. In recent years, PLA2R1 has been shown to have an important role in regulating tumor-suppressive responses via JAK2 activation, but the underlying mechanisms are largely undeciphered. In this study, we observed that PLA2R1 increases the mitochondrial content, judged by increased levels of numerous mitochondrial proteins, of the mitochondrial structural component cardiolipin, of the mitochondrial DNA content, and of the mitochondrial DNA replication and transcription factor TFAM. This effect of PLA2R1 relies on a transcriptional program controlled by the estrogen-related receptor alpha1 (ERRα) mitochondrial master regulator. Expression of ERRα and of its nucleus-encoded mitochondrial targets is upregulated upon PLA2R1 ectopic expression, and this effect is mediated by JAK2. Conversely, downregulation of PLA2R1 decreases the level of ERRα and of its nucleus-encoded mitochondrial targets. Finally, blocking the ERRα-controlled mitochondrial program largely inhibits the PLA2R1-induced tumor-suppressive response. Together, our data document ERRα and its mitochondrial program as downstream effectors of the PLA2R1-JAK2 pathway leading to oncosuppression

Le pseudo-anévrisme du trigone fibreux aorto-mitral : une complication rare du remplacement valvulaire aortique chirurgical

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