The traction engine in Scotland

Traction engines were used in Scotland from the middle of the nineteenth century until the 1960s – for road haulage, powering threshing mills, ploughing and, in steam roller form, in road making. The book explores their history, with particular focus on National Museum Scotland’s 1907 Marshall traction engine and its construction, acquisition and restoration. The large number of extensively captioned photographs give a vivid insight into the construction and use of the machines, and the conditions of those who worked with them

The mitochondrial genome of the 'twisted-wing parasite' Mengenilla australiensis (Insecta, Strepsiptera): a comparative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Strepsiptera are an unusual group of sexually dimorphic, entomophagous parasitoids whose evolutionary origins remain elusive. The lineage leading to <it>Mengenilla australiensis </it>(Family Mengenillidae) is the sister group to all remaining extant strepsipterans. It is unique in that members of this family have retained a less derived condition, where females are free-living from pupation onwards, and are structurally much less simplified. We sequenced almost the entire mitochondrial genome of <it>M. australiensis </it>as an important comparative data point to the already available genome of its distant relative <it>Xenos vesparum </it>(Family Xenidae). This study represents the first in-depth comparative mitochondrial genomic analysis of Strepsiptera.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The partial genome of <it>M. australiensis </it>is presented as a 13421 bp fragment, across which all 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and 18 transfer RNA (tRNA) sequences are identified. Two tRNA translocations disrupt an otherwise ancestral insect mitochondrial genome order. A+T content is measured at 84.3%, C-content is also very skewed. Compared with <it>M. australiensis</it>, codon bias in <it>X. vesparum </it>is more balanced. Interestingly, the size of the protein coding genome is truncated in both strepsipterans, especially in <it>X. vesparum </it>which, uniquely, has 4.3% fewer amino acids than the average holometabolan complement. A revised assessment of mitochondrial rRNA secondary structure based on comparative structural considerations is presented for <it>M. australiensis </it>and <it>X. vesparum</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The mitochondrial genome of <it>X. vesparum </it>has undergone a series of alterations which are probably related to an extremely derived lifestyle. Although <it>M. australiensis </it>shares some of these attributes; it has retained greater signal from the hypothetical most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Strepsiptera, inviting the possibility that a shift in the mitochondrial selective environment might be related to the specialization accompanying the evolution of a small, morphologically simplified completely host-dependent lifestyle. These results provide useful insights into the nature of the evolutionary transitions that accompanied the emergence of Strepsiptera, but we emphasize the need for adequate sampling across the order in future investigations concerning the extraordinary developmental and evolutionary origins of this group.</p

Asadi: Renegade or Precursor of Who Is a Whistleblower Under the Dodd-Frank Act?

Whistleblowers have a long and honorable history. From Ralph Nader blowing the whistle on the hazards of GM’s Corvair in Unsafe at Any Speed1 in the 1960’s to Jeffrey Wigand in 1996 exposing the duplicity of the tobacco industry, whistleblowers have put conscience ahead of career and personal success to expose corporate fraud and wrongdoing. Not surprisingly, they have had to endure ridicule and ostracism as well as financial hardship. Legislation has sought to protect them from retribution, often with mixed success. The most recent legislative effort is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) that allows whistleblowers to collect a bounty for the whistleblowing and also protects the whistleblower from retaliatory acts by his or her employer. One of the challenges currently dividing the courts is determining who should come within the protection of the legislation. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Asadi v. GE Energy, interpreted the definition of “whistleblower” quite narrowly to encompass only those individuals who make information available directly to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This interpretation by the Fifth Circuit not only rejects the broader interpretation of SEC regulations, but is also inconsistent with the decisions of various district courts that have considered this question. Part I opens with a discussion of the requirements of “whistleblower” status under both the statutory language of Dodd-Frank and the accompanying SEC regulations. Part II reviews the Asadi decision and calls into question the soundness of the court’s decision to disregard SEC regulations. Part III explores the circumstances in which administrative regulations are entitled to deference and those situations in which they may be disregarded as an overreach of power. Part IV surveys several district court decisions that have interpreted the term “whistleblower” under Dodd-Frank. Part V argues that even public policy dictates that the courts should adopt a broad interpretation of “whistleblower” so as to provide maximum safeguards against fraud and abuse. The paper concludes that the Fifth Circuit in Asadi reached an incorrect result, and, therefore, that this renegade decision which advocates a narrow scope of whistleblower protection should be rejected in future judicial interpretations of who is a whistleblower

Advances in metal additive manufacturing: A review of common processes, industrial applications, and current challenges

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. In recent years, Additive Manufacturing (AM), also called 3D printing, has been expanding into several industrial sectors due to the technology providing opportunities in terms of improved functionality, productivity, and competitiveness. While metal AM technologies have almost unlimited potential, and the range of applications has increased in recent years, industries have faced challenges in the adoption of these technologies and coping with a turbulent market. Despite the extensive work that has been completed on the properties of metal AM materials, there is still a need of a robust understanding of processes, challenges, application‐specific needs, and considerations associated with these technologies. Therefore, the goal of this study is to present a comprehen-sive review of the most common metal AM technologies, an exploration of metal AM advancements, and industrial applications for the different AM technologies across various industry sectors. This study also outlines current limitations and challenges, which prevent industries to fully benefit from the metal AM opportunities, including production volume, standards compliance, post processing, product quality, maintenance, and materials range. Overall, this paper provides a survey as the benchmark for future industrial applications and research and development projects, in order to assist industries in selecting a suitable AM technology for their application

Investigating prostate cancer tumour-stroma interactions - clinical and biological insights from an evolutionary game

BACKGROUND: Tumours are made up of a mixed population of different types of cells that include normal structures as well as ones associated with the malignancy, and there are multiple interactions between the malignant cells and the local microenvironment. These intercellular interactions, modulated by the microenvironment, effect tumour progression and represent a largely under appreciated therapeutic target. We use observations of primary tumor biology from prostate cancer to extrapolate a mathematical model: specifically; it has been observed that in prostate cancer three disparate cellular outcomes predominate: (i) the tumour remains well differentiated and clinically indolent - in this case the local stromal cells may act to restrain the growth of the cancer; (ii) early in its genesis the tumour acquires a highly malignant phenotype, growing rapidly and displacing the original stromal population (often referred to as small cell prostate cancer) - these less common aggressive tumours are relatively independent of the local microenvironment; and, (iii) the tumour co-opts the local stroma - taking on a classic stromagenic phenotype where interactions with the local microenvironment are critical to the cancer growth. METHODS: We present an evolutionary game theoretical construct that models the influence of tumour-stroma interactions in driving these outcomes. We consider three characteristic and distinct cellular populations: stromal cells, tumour cells that are self-reliant in terms of microenvironmental factors and tumour cells that depend on the environment for resources but can also co-opt stroma. &#xd;&#xa;RESULTS: Using evolutionary game theory we explore a number of different scenarios that elucidate the impact of tumour-stromal interactions on the dynamics of prostate cancer growth and progression and how different treatments in the metastatic setting can affect different types of tumors.&#xd;&#xa;CONCLUSIONS: The tumour microenvironment plays a crucial role selecting the traits of the tumour cells that will determine prostate cancer progression. Equally important, treatments like hormone therapy affect the selection of these cancer phenotypes making it very important to understand how they impact prostate cancer&#x2019;s somatic evolution

Comparative support for the expensive tissue hypothesis: big brains are correlated with smaller gut and greater parental investment in Lake Tanganyika cichlids.

The brain is one of the most energetically expensive organs in the vertebrate body. Consequently, the energetic requirements of encephalization are suggested to impose considerable constraints on brain size evolution. Three main hypotheses concerning how energetic constraints might affect brain evolution predict covariation between brain investment and i) investment into other costly tissues, ii) overall metabolic rate, and iii) reproductive investment. To date, these hypotheses have mainly been tested in homeothermic animals and the existing data are inconclusive. However, there are good reasons to believe that energetic limitations might play a role in large-scale patterns of brain size evolution also in ectothermic vertebrates. Here we test these hypotheses in a group of ectothermic vertebrates, the Lake Tanganyika cichlid fishes. After controlling for the effect of shared ancestry and confounding ecological variables, we find a negative association between brain size and gut size. Furthermore, we find that the evolution of a larger brain is accompanied by increased reproductive investment into egg size and parental care. Our results indicate that the energetic costs of encephalization may be an important general factor involved in the evolution of brain size also in ectothermic vertebrates. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

The effects of local stellar radiation and dust depletion on non-equilibrium interstellar chemistry

Interstellar chemistry is important for galaxy formation, as it determines the rate at which gas can cool, and enables us to make predictions for observable spectroscopic lines from ions and molecules. We explore two central aspects of modelling the chemistry of the interstellar medium (ISM): (1) the effects of local stellar radiation, which ionizes and heats the gas, and (2) the depletion of metals on to dust grains, which reduces the abundance of metals in the gas phase. We run high-resolution (400 M⊙ per baryonic particle) simulations of isolated disc galaxies, from dwarfs to Milky Way-mass, using the FIRE galaxy formation models together with the CHIMES non-equilibrium chemistry and cooling module. In our fiducial model, we couple the chemistry to the stellar fluxes calculated from star particles using an approximate radiative transfer scheme; and we implement an empirical density-dependent prescription for metal depletion. For comparison, we also run simulations with a spatially uniform radiation field, and without metal depletion. Our fiducial model broadly reproduces observed trends in H I and H2 mass with stellar mass, and in line luminosity versus star formation rate for [C II] 158μm , [O I] 63μm , [O III] 88μm , [N II] 122μm , and H α6563Å. Our simulations with a uniform radiation field predict fainter luminosities, by up to an order of magnitude for [O III] 88μm and H α6563Å, while ignoring metal depletion increases the luminosity of carbon and oxygen lines by a factor ~2. However, the overall evolution of the galaxy is not strongly affected by local stellar fluxes or metal depletion, except in dwarf galaxies where the inclusion of local fluxes leads to weaker outflows and hence higher gas fractions

Respiratory tract infection-related healthcare utilisation in children with Down's syndrome

Purpose: Children with Down’s syndrome (DS) are prone to respiratory tract infections (RTIs) due to anatomical variation, immune system immaturity and comorbidities. However, evidence on RTI-related healthcare utilisation, especially in primary care, is incomplete. In this retrospective cohort study, we use routinely collected primary and secondary care data to quantify RTI-related healthcare utilisation in children with DS and matched controls without DS. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 992 children with DS and 4874 matched controls attending English general practices and hospitals as identified in Clinical disease research using LInked Bespoke studies and Electronic health Records (CALIBER) from 1997 to 2010. Poisson regression was used to calculate consultation, hospitalisation and prescription rates, and rate ratios. Wald test was used to compare risk of admission following consultation. The Wilcoxon rank–sum test was used to compare length of stay by RTI type and time-to-hospitalisation. Results: RTI-related healthcare utilisation is significantly higher in children with DS than in controls in terms of GP consultations (adjusted RR 1.73; 95% CI 1.62–1.84), hospitalisations (adjusted RR 5.70; 95% CI 4.82–6.73), and antibiotic prescribing (adjusted RR 2.34; 95% CI 2.19–2.49). Two percent of children with DS presenting for an RTI-related GP consultation were subsequently admitted for an RTI-related hospitalisation, compared to 0.7% in controls. Conclusions: Children with DS have higher rates of GP consultations, hospitalisations and antibiotic prescribing compared to controls. This poses a significant burden on families. Further research is recommended to characterise healthcare behaviours and clinical decision-making, to optimise care for this at risk group

Effect of antibiotics in preventing hospitalizations from respiratory tract infections in children with Down syndrome

BACKGROUND: Children with Down Syndrome (DS) are at high risk of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) due to anatomical variations, comorbidities and immune system immaturity. Evidence on interventions to reduce this risk is incomplete. This study aims to quantify the effect of antibiotics prescribed for RTIs in primary care on the subsequent risk of RTI-related hospitalisation for children with DS versus controls. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 992 children with DS and 4,874 controls managed by UK National Health Service (NHS) General Practitioners (GPs) and hospitals as identified in CALIBER (Clinical disease research using LInked Bespoke studies and Electronic health Records), 1997-2010. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were undertaken. RESULTS: In children with DS, the prescription of antibiotics following an RTI-related GP consultation did not significantly reduce the risk of RTI-related hospitalisation in the subsequent 28 days (Risk with antibiotics 1.8%; without 2.5%; Risk Ratio (RR) 0.699, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.471-1.036). Subgroup analyses showed a risk reduction only in infants with DS, after adjustment for covariates. There was no reduction in risk for controls, overall or across subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, whilst prescription of antibiotics following RTI-related GP consultations were effective for infants with DS in reducing subsequent RTI-related hospitalisation, this was not the case for older children with DS. We would encourage further high-quality cohort and randomised controlled trials to interrogate this finding, and to examine the impact of antibiotics on other endpoints, including symptom duration. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved