789 research outputs found
Birds surveyed in the harvested and unharvested areas of a reduced-impact logged forestry concession, located in the lowland subtropical humid forests of the Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
As part of a larger study of reduced-impactlogging effects on bird community composition,we surveyed birds from December to Februaryduring the 2003-2004 wet-season within harvestedand unharvested blocks of the La Chonta forestryconcession, Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.The logged forest was harvested using reduced-impactlogging techniques between one and fouryears previously. During point count surveys, weidentified 5062 individual birds, belonging to 155species, and 33 families. We provide a list of birdspecies found within the harvested andunharvested blocks of the concession for thebenefit of other researchers assessing theresponses of Neotropical avifauna to disturbance,and to facilitate increased understanding of thediverse bird assemblages found within thelowland subtropical humid forests of Bolivia
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Realisms and idealisms in Italian culture, 1300-2017
This special issue of the Italianist collects ten essays that consider the multiple manifestations of realism and idealism in Italy from the Trecento to the present day. Notions of the ‘real Italy’ (and of ‘Italian realism’) remain fundamental for scholars working in various disciplines, while the exploration of the ideal Italies constructed throughout history continues to inspire innovative work on virtually every period of Italian culture. Rather than accepting the many assertions of realism and the many projections of idealism that have characterized Italian culture from its beginnings, this volume aims for a critical and multi-focal assessment of manifestations of realism and idealism in Italy
DichroMatch: a website for similarity searching of circular dichroism spectra
Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is a widely used method for examining the structure, folding and conformational changes of proteins. A new online CD analysis server (DichroMatch) has been developed for identifying proteins with similar spectral characteristics by detecting possible structurally and functionally related proteins and homologues. DichroMatch includes six different methods for determining the spectral nearest neighbours to a query protein spectrum and provides metrics of how similar these spectra are and, if corresponding crystal structures are available for the closest matched proteins, information on their secondary structures and fold classifications. By default, DichroMatch uses all the entries in the Protein Circular Dichroism Data Bank (PCDDB) for its comparison set, providing the broadest range of publicly available protein spectra to match with the unknown protein. Alternatively, users can download or create their own specialized data sets, thereby enabling comparisons between the structures of related proteins such as wild-type versus mutants or homologues or a series of spectra of the same protein under different conditions. The DichroMatch server is freely available at http://dichromatch.cryst.bbk.ac.uk
Patterns of genomic loss of heterozygosity predict homologous recombination repair defects in epithelial ovarian cancer
Background:
Defects in BRCA1, BRCA2, and other members of the homologous recombination pathway have potential therapeutic relevance when used to support agents that introduce or exploit double-stranded DNA breaks. This study examines the association between homologous recombination defects and genomic patterns of loss of heterozygosity (LOH). Methods:
Ovarian tumours from two independent data sets were characterised for defects in BRCA1,BRCA2, and RAD51C, and LOH profiles were generated. Publically available data were downloaded for a third independent data set. The same analyses were performed on 57 cancer cell lines. Results:
Loss of heterozygosity regions of intermediate size were observed more frequently in tumours with defective BRCA1 or BRCA2 (P=10−11). The homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) score was defined as the number of these regions observed in a tumour sample. The association between HRD score and BRCA deficiency was validated in two independent ovarian cancer data sets (P=10−5 and 10−29), and identified breast and pancreatic cell lines with BRCA defects. Conclusion:
The HRD score appears capable of detecting homologous recombination defects regardless of aetiology or mechanism. This score could facilitate the use of PARP inhibitors and platinum in breast, ovarian, and other cancers
Call Me Caitlyn: Making and making over the 'authentic' transgender body in Anglo-American popular culture
A conception of transgender identity as an ‘authentic’ gendered core ‘trapped’ within a mismatched corporeality, and made tangible through corporeal transformations, has attained unprecedented legibility in contemporary Anglo-American media. Whilst pop-cultural articulations of this discourse have received some scholarly attention, the question of why this 'wrong body' paradigm has solidified as the normative explanation for gender transition within the popular media remains underexplored. This paper argues that this discourse has attained cultural pre-eminence through its convergence with a broader media and commercial zeitgeist, in which corporeal alteration and maintenance are perceived as means of accessing one’s ‘authentic’ self. I analyse the media representations of two transgender celebrities: Caitlyn Jenner and Nadia Almada, alongside the reality TV show TRANSform Me, exploring how these women’s gender transitions have been discursively aligned with a cultural imperative for all women, cisgender or trans, to display their authentic femininity through bodily work. This demonstrates how established tropes of authenticity-via-bodily transformation, have enabled transgender to become culturally legible through the wrong body trope. Problematically, I argue, this process has worked to demarcate ideals of ‘acceptable’ transgender subjectivity: self-sufficient, normatively feminine, and eager to embrace the possibilities for happiness and social integration provided by the commercial domain
Political Contestability and Public Contract Rigidity: An Analysis of Procurement Contracts
Are public contracts less adaptable than private contracts? Using a comprehensive set of contracts for a standard product, we compare procurement contracts in which the procurer is either a public administration or a private corporation. We find that public-to-private contracts feature more rigidity clauses than private-to-private contracts and that the use of rigidity clauses in public contracts rises when political risks are more salient. We argue that a significant part of the increased rigidity of public contracts is a contractual adaptation to limit political hazards from political opponents and interested third parties
High intensity variable stepping training in persons with motor incomplete spinal cord injury: a case series
Background and Purpose:
Previous data suggest that large amounts of high intensity stepping training in variable contexts (tasks and environments) may improve locomotor function, aerobic capacity and treadmill gait kinematics in individuals post-stroke. Whether similar training strategies are tolerated and efficacious for patients with other acute-onset neurological diagnoses, such as motor incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) is unknown, particularly with potentially greater, bilateral impairments. This case series evaluated the feasibility and preliminary short and long-term efficacy of high intensity variable stepping practice in ambulatory participants >1 year post-iSCI.
Case Series Description:
Four participants with iSCI (neurological levels C5-T3) completed up to 40 1-hr sessions over 3–4 months. Stepping training in variable contexts was performed at up to 85% maximum predicted heart rate, with feasibility measures of patient tolerance, total steps/session, and intensity of training. Clinical measures of locomotor function, balance, peak metabolic capacity and gait kinematics during graded treadmill assessments were performed at baseline and post-training, with >1 year follow-up.
Outcomes:
Participants completed 24–40 sessions over 8–15 weeks, averaging 2222±653 steps/session, with primary adverse events of fatigue and muscle soreness.
Modest improvements in locomotor capacity where observed at post-training, with variable changes in lower extremity kinematics during treadmill walking.
Discussion:
High intensity, variable stepping training was feasible and tolerated by participants with iSCI although only modest gains in gait function or quality were observed. The utility of this intervention in patients with more profound impairments may be limited
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Red gaming in support of the war on terrorism : Sandia Red Game report.
The Advanced Concepts Group (ACG) at Sandia National Laboratories is exploring the use of Red Teaming to help intelligence analysts with two key processes: determining what a piece or pieces of information might imply and deciding what other pieces of information need to be found to support or refute hypotheses about what actions a suspected terrorist organization might be pursuing. In support of this effort, the ACG hosted a terrorism red gaming event in Albuquerque on July 22-24, 2003. The game involved two 'red teams' playing the roles of two terrorist cells - one focused on implementing an RDD attack on the DC subway system and one focused on a bio attack against the same target - and two 'black teams' playing the role of the intelligence collection system and of intelligence analysts trying to decide what plans the red teams might be pursuing. This exercise successfully engaged human experts to seed a proposed compute engine with detailed operational plans for hypothetical terrorist scenarios
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