Structure of the Human FANCL RING-Ube2T Complex Reveals Determinants of Cognate E3-E2 Selection

The combination of an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme with an E3 ubiquitin-ligase is essential for ubiquitin modification of a substrate. Moreover, the pairing dictates both the substrate choice and the modification type. The molecular details of generic E3-E2 interactions are well established. Nevertheless, the determinants of selective, specific E3-E2 recognition are not understood. There are ~40 E2s and ~600 E3s giving rise to a possible ~24,000 E3-E2 pairs. Using the Fanconi Anemia pathway exclusive E3-E2 pair, FANCL-Ube2T, we report the atomic structure of the FANCL RING-Ube2T complex, revealing a specific and extensive network of additional electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. Furthermore, we show that these specific interactions are required for selection of Ube2T over other E2s by FANCL

Unhappiness after Hurricane Katrina

In August, September and October of 2005, the Monthly Surveys of Consumers fielded by the University of Michigan included questions about the happiness of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. The date of each interview is known. Looking at the data week by week, reported happiness dipped significantly in the first week of September, after the seriousness of the damage done by Katrina became clear. The impulse response of happiness is especially strong in the South Central region, closest to the devastation of Katrina. The dip in happiness lasted two or three weeks in the South Central region; in the rest of the country, reported happiness returned to normal after one or two weeks. In addition to the reaction to Katrina, happiness dipped significantly after the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. These results illustrate the potential of high-frequency happiness data to yield information about preferences over regional, national and international conditions by indicating the magnitude of the good or bad news conveyed by events.

A Wide Area Multiview Static Crowd Estimation System Using UAV and 3D Training Simulator

Crowd size estimation is a challenging problem, especially when the crowd is spread over a significant geographical area. It has applications in monitoring of rallies and demonstrations and in calculating the assistance requirements in humanitarian disasters. Therefore, accomplishing a crowd surveillance system for large crowds constitutes a significant issue. UAV-based techniques are an appealing choice for crowd estimation over a large region, but they present a variety of interesting challenges, such as integrating per-frame estimates through a video without counting individuals twice. Large quantities of annotated training data are required to design, train, and test such a system. In this paper, we have first reviewed several crowd estimation techniques, existing crowd simulators and data sets available for crowd analysis. Later, we have described a simulation system to provide such data, avoiding the need for tedious and error-prone manual annotation. Then, we have evaluated synthetic video from the simulator using various existing single-frame crowd estimation techniques. Our findings show that the simulated data can be used to train and test crowd estimation, thereby providing a suitable platform to develop such techniques. We also propose an automated UAV-based 3D crowd estimation system that can be used for approximately static or slow-moving crowds, such as public events, political rallies, and natural or man-made disasters. We evaluate the results by applying our new framework to a variety of scenarios with varying crowd sizes. The proposed system gives promising results using widely accepted metrics including MAE, RMSE, Precision, Recall, and F1 score to validate the results

Insecticide resistance in Australian Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) and development of testing procedures for resistance surveillance

Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is a highly invasive noctuid pest first reported in northern Australia during early 2020. To document current status of resistance in S. frugiperda in Australia, insecticide toxicity was tested in field populations collected during the first year of establishment, between March 2020 and March 2021. Dose-response was measured by larval bioassay in 11 populations of S. frugiperda and a susceptible laboratory strain of Helicoverpa armigera. Emamectin benzoate was the most efficacious insecticide (LC50 0.023μg/ml) followed by chlorantraniliprole (LC50 0.055μg/ml), spinetoram (LC50 0.098μg/ml), spinosad (LC50 0.526μg/ml), and methoxyfenozide (1.413μg/ml). Indoxacarb was the least toxic selective insecticide on S. frugiperda (LC50 3.789μg/ml). Emamectin benzoate, chlorantraniliprole and methoxyfenozide were 2- to 7-fold less toxic on S. frugiperda compared with H. armigera while spinosyns were equally toxic on both species. Indoxacarb was 28-fold less toxic on S. frugiperda compared with H. armigera. There was decreased sensitivity to Group 1 insecticides and synthetic pyrethroids in S. frugiperda compared with H. armigera: toxicity was reduced up to 11-fold for methomyl, 56 to 199-fold for cyhalothrin, and 44 to 132-fold for alpha cypermethrin. Synergism bioassays with metabolic inhibitors suggest involvement of mixed function oxidase in pyrethroid resistance. Recommended diagnostic doses for emamectin benzoate, chlorantraniliprole, spinetoram, spinosad, methoxyfenozide and indoxacarb are 0.19, 1.0, 0.75, 6, 12 and 48μg/μl, respectively

Personal Carbon Trading and fuel price increases in the transport sector: an exploratory study of public response in the UK

Large reductions of greenhouse gas emissions are required in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Road transport is a significant contributor to UK CO2 emissions, with the majority arising from personal road transport. This paper analyses Personal Carbon Trading (PCT) as a potentially powerful climate change policy tool and presents findings from an exploratory survey of public opinion. A working model of a PCT scheme with a fixed carbon cap was designed to achieve a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions from personal road transport by 2050. A proportion of the annual carbon budget would be given to individuals as a free carbon permit allocation. There is an opportunity to sell unused permits. Fuel price increases (FPI) were recognised as having the potential to achieve an identical emissions target at a much lower cost. A series of individual interviews were conducted to explore opinions related to the impacts, effectiveness, fairness and acceptability of both measures. Bespoke software was used to record behavioural response. The findings indicate that certain design aspects of the PCT scheme led to it being preferred to the FPI and suggest that the potential behavioural response to PCT may be greater than for a FPI. However, given that the sample was small and biased towards the highly educated and those with above average incomes, the findings should be considered as preliminary indications. Further detailed research is required

Constructing justice in an island community: honorary police and the parish hall enquiry system in the Channel Island of Jersey.

This thesis describes and evaluates an alternative to formal Court processing that is in regular everyday use in the Island of Jersey. The Parish Hall Enquiry system is of great antiquity and like the Honorary Police system upon which it depends, its origins lie in very long-established forms of communal organisation. Presided over by a Centenier (an elected, unpaid, parish official) in the local parish hall, the current system has evolved through 800 years of customary practice. The system operates within an open model that means almost anything and everything is possible when it comes to dealing with dispute resolution. Enquiries have no basis in statute law and sanctions levied at Parish Hall are not considered to be criminal convictions. As part of a prosecution process, the Centenier is empowered to enquire into the circumstances surrounding any offence committed within the boundaries of the parish, consider the facts presented, and either charge an offender to appear before an examining magistrate or propose an alternative sanction at parish level. The research suggests that Centeniers are able both to engage parties in serious and realistic discussion about offending and possible remedies and to encourage most offenders to take responsibility for their actions. Observation of the process provides evidence of considerable communication skills, and of reintegrative outcomes. Although sometimes criticised as an anachronism, the Parish Hall Enquiry has retained a high degree of resilience and support and a significant level of use as Jersey society has changed. It offers a very rare example of a traditional form of non-Court-based justice operating routinely in a modern context, and avoiding some of the problems associated with the formal criminal justice process