Activation of σ28-dependent transcription inEscherichia coliby the cyclic AMP receptor protein requires an unusual promoter organization

The Escherichia coli aer regulatory region contains a single promoter that is recognized by RNA polymerase containing the flagellar sigma factor, σ28. Expression from this promoter is dependent on direct activation by the cyclic AMP receptor protein, which binds to a target centred 49.5 base pairs upstream from the transcript start. Activator-dependent transcription from the aer promoter was reconstituted in vitro, and a tethered inorganic nuclease was used to find the position of the C-terminal domains of the RNA polymerase α subunits in transcriptionally competent open complexes. We report that the ternary activator-RNA polymerase-aer promoter open complex is organized differently from complexes at previously characterized promoters. Among other E. coli promoters recognized by RNA polymerase containing σ28, only the trg promoter is activated directly by the cyclic AMP receptor protein. The organization of the different promoter elements and the activator binding site at the trg promoter is the same as at the aer promoter, suggesting a common activation mechanism

Do electric vehicles need subsidies in the UK?

We analyse the total cost of ownership of petrol, diesel, hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles in the UK over 2017-2029. We do this for large, medium and small cars, under assumptions of 0%, 6%, 30% and 60% discount rates. We find that some electric car models from mass market brands are close to reaching cost parity with their petrol, diesel and hybrid counterparts, but subsidies would accelerate their uptake, especially for impatient consumers with high discount rates. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are not worth the effort because although relatively low, their CO2 emissions are non-zero. A subsidy of £4,500 or an exemption from the 20% VAT, perhaps capped at £4,500, would accelerate mass market penetration of battery electric vehicles in the UK. If decarbonising road transport were not as urgent as it is, the market for battery electric vehicles could be left to develop on its own, without government intervention. However, because the cost of batteries is not falling fast enough, subsidies are needed in the short term

Is the Donnan effect sufficient to explain swelling in brain tissue slices?

Brain tissue swelling is a dangerous consequence of traumatic injury and is associated with raised intracranial pressure and restricted blood flow. We consider the mechanical effects that drive swelling of brain tissue slices in an ionic solution bath, motivated by recent experimental results that showed that the volume change of tissue slices depends on the ionic concentration of the bathing solution. This result was attributed to the presence of large charged molecules that induce ion concentration gradients to ensure electroneutrality (the Donnan effect), leading to osmotic pressures and water accumulation. We use a mathematical triphasic model for soft tissue to characterize the underlying processes that could lead to the volume changes observed experimentally. We suggest that swelling is caused by an osmotic pressure increase driven by both non-permeating solutes released by necrotic cells, in addition to the Donnan effect. Both effects are necessary to explain the dependence of the tissue slice volume on the ionic bath concentration that was observed experimentally

Biomechanical evaluation of the push-up exercise of the upper extremities from various starting points

The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the push-up exercise of the upper extremities in respect of biomechanics, to compare the muscle function, while changing the position of performance and to examine the torso's inclination during the exercise. The result is that the activation of the muscles, apart from the triceps brachii muscle, does not differentiate significantly in any of the positions. Moreover, the elevating the hands above the feet position is not recommended in protocols where the aim is to improve the muscle force because it displays the lowest mean value of vertical force and a low RFD. On the other hand, the standard push-up position is considered to be the most appropriate when the aim is to improve the triceps brachii muscle's force because it displays the highest RFD and the highest activation of this muscle. Finally, the correct body position during this exercise prevents from incorrect and damaging inclinations of the torso. © JPES

From the street to the store. The formalization of street vendors in Quito, Ecuador

__Abstract__ With the support of local and international organisations, the municipality of Quito, Ecuador, relocated approximately 6000 street vendors from the streets to eleven Popular Commercial Centres. The research examines the extent to which formalisation has al-tered their working and living conditions from the perspective of the decent work framework. Fieldwork was carried out in one of the commercial centres through surveys and interviews with the relocated vendors, representatives of their associations, and lo-cal government officials. The study found that it is not obvious that the working and living conditions will automatically improve with formalisation. While some aspects have improved (i.e. labour, employment, work and skills use and upgrading), others have worsened (i.e. jobs, income and representation)

Urbanization affects how people perceive and benefit from ecosystem service bundles in coastal communities of the Global South

Urbanization profoundly transforms ecosystems and the bundles of services they provide to people. The relationship between urbanization and how ecosystem services are produced together to form bundles has received increased research interest. However, there is limited understanding of how people’s perceptions of the benefits they receive from ecosystem service bundles change with urbanization, particularly in the Global South. Addressing this research gap is critical given perceptions influence how people relate to, use and manage their environment. We used a paired sampling design to contrast urban and rural dwellers’ perceptions of ecosystem service bundles associated with local ecosystems in the Solomon Islands, a rapidly urbanizing Small Island Developing State. Interviews from 200 households revealed that urbanization simplified the composition of perceived ecosystem service bundles. Contributions of provisioning and some cultural ecosystem services were reduced in bundles in urban areas, indicating a decrease in the diversity of experiences of nature and ecosystems providing those experiences. Examining changes in perceived ecosystem service bundles offers a valuable perspective on the implications of social-ecological change for ecosystem service demand and human wellbeing. Our approach presents a novel and simple way to identify and analyse bundles, providing insights into how and where people benefit from nature

Individual differences in face and voice matching abilities: The relationship between accuracy and consistency

Deciding whether two different face photographs or voice samples are from the same person represent fundamental challenges within applied settings. To date, most research has focussed on average performance in these tests, failing to consider individual differences and within‐person consistency in responses. Here, participants completed the same face (Experiment 1) or voice matching test (Experiment 2) on two separate occasions, allowing comparison of overall accuracy across the two timepoints as well as consistency in trial‐level responses. In both experiments, participants were highly consistent in their performances. In addition, we demonstrated a large association between consistency and accuracy, with the most accurate participants also tending to be the most consistent. This is an important result for applied settings in which organisational groups of super‐matchers are deployed in real‐world contexts. Being able to reliably identify these high performers based upon only a single test informs regarding recruitment for law enforcement agencies worldwide

Multilocus sequence typing of Cronobacter sakazakii and Cronobacter malonaticus reveals stable clonal structures with clinical significance which do not correlate with biotypes

Background: The Cronobacter genus (Enterobacter sakazakii) has come to prominence due to its association with infant infections, and the ingestion of contaminated reconstituted infant formula. C. sakazakii and C. malonaticus are closely related, and are defined according their biotype. Due to the ubiquitous nature of the organism, and the high severity of infection for the immunocompromised, a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme has been developed for the fast and reliable identification and discrimination of C. sakazakii and C. malonaticus strains. It was applied to 60 strains of C. sakazakii and 16 strains of C. malonaticus, including the index strains used to define the biotypes. The strains were from clinical and non-clinical sources between 1951 and 2008 in USA, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the Far East. Results: This scheme uses 7 loci; atpD, fusA, glnS, gltB, gyrB, infB, and pps. There were 12 sequence types (ST) identified in C. sakazakii, and 3 in C. malonaticus. A third (22/60) of C. sakazakii strains were in ST4, which had almost equal numbers of clinical and infant formula isolates from 1951 to 2008. ST8 may represent a particularly virulent grouping of C. sakazakii as 7/8 strains were clinical in origin which had been isolated between 1977 - 2006, from four countries. C. malonaticus divided into three STs. The previous Cronobacter biotyping scheme did not clearly correspond with STs nor with species. Conclusion: In conclusion, MLST is a more robust means of identifying and discriminating between C. sakazakii and C. malonaticus than biotyping. The MLST database for these organisms is available online at http://pubmlst.org/cronobacter