The molecular epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in six cities in Britain and Ireland

The authors sequenced the p17 coding regions of the gag gene from 211 patients infected either through injecting drug use (IDU) or by sexual intercourse between men from six cities in Scotland, N. England, N. Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. All sequences were of subtype 5. Phylogenetic analysis revealed substantial heterogeneity in the sequences from homosexual men. In contrast, sequence from over 80% of IDUs formed a relatively tight cluster, distinct both from those of published isolates and of the gay men. There was no large-scale clustering of sequences by city in either risk group, although a number of close associations between pairs of individuals were observed. From the known date of the HIV-1 epidemic among IDUs in Edinburgh, the rate of sequence divergence at synonymous sites is estimated to be about 0.8%. On this basis it has been estimated that the date of divergence of the sequences among homosexual men to be about 1975, which may correspond to the origin of the B subtype epidemic

Economic crisis and the construction of a neo-liberal regulatory regime in Korea

A consistent theme of the literature on the ontology of the 1997 South Korean crisis is the key role played by regulatory failures and the growing weakness of the state. This paper seeks to briefly highlight both the insights and the limitations of this approach to understanding the crisis. Having done so, we shall set out the argument that the crisis created an opportunity for reformist Korean élites to advance their longstanding, but previously frustrated, project to create a comprehensive unambiguously neo-liberal regulatory regime. This paper will also seek to highlight the implications of our reading of the development of the Korean political economy for broader debates on economic liberalisation, crisis and the future of the developmental state

Palaeontology, the biogeohistory of Victoria

The broad-scale distribution of fossils within Victoria is controlled by general global patterns in the biological evolution of life on Earth, the local development and environmental evolution of habitats, and the occurrence of geological processes conducive to the preservation of fossil floras and faunas. Early Palaeozoic fossils are mostly marine in origin because of the predominance of marine sedimentary rocks in Victoria and because life on land was not significant during most of this time interval. Middle Palaeozoic sequences have both terrestrial and marine fossil records. Within Victoria, marine rocks are only very minor components of strata deposited during the late Palaeozoic, so that few marine fossils are known from this time period. A similar situation existed during most of the Mesozoic except towards the end of this era when marine conditions began to prevail in the Bass Strait region. During long intervals in the Cainozoic, large areas of Victoria were flooded by shallow-marine seas, particularly in the southern basins of Bass Strait, as well as in the northwest of the State (Murray Basin). Cainozoic sediments contain an extraordinary range of animal and plant fossils. During the Quaternary, the landscape of Victoria became, and continues to be, dominated by continental environments including, at times, extensive freshwater lake systems. Fossil floras and faunas from sediments deposited in these lake systems and from other continental sediments, as well as from Quaternary sediments deposited in marginal marine environments, collectively record a history of rapid fluctuations in climate and sea level.<br /

Implementation of a pharmacogenomics consult service to support the INGENIOUS trial

Hospital systems increasingly utilize pharmacogenomic testing to inform clinical prescribing. Successful implementation efforts have been modeled at many academic centers. In contrast, this report provides insights into the formation of a pharmacogenomics consultation service at a safety-net hospital, which predominantly serves low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable populations. The report describes the INdiana GENomics Implementation: an Opportunity for the UnderServed (INGENIOUS) trial and addresses concerns of adjudication, credentialing, and funding

Use of dispersion modelling for Environmental Impact Assessment of biological air pollution from composting: Progress, problems and prospects

© 2017 The Authors With the increase in composting as a sustainable waste management option, biological air pollution (bioaerosols) from composting facilities have become a cause of increasing concern due to their potential health impacts. Estimating community exposure to bioaerosols is problematic due to limitations in current monitoring methods. Atmospheric dispersion modelling can be used to estimate exposure concentrations, however several issues arise from the lack of appropriate bioaerosol data to use as inputs into models, and the complexity of the emission sources at composting facilities. This paper analyses current progress in using dispersion models for bioaerosols, examines the remaining problems and provides recommendations for future prospects in this area. A key finding is the urgent need for guidance for model users to ensure consistent bioaerosol modelling practices

Structural and magnetic properties of ultra-thin Fe films on metal-organic chemical vapour deposited GaN(0001)

Structural and magnetic properties of 1-10 nm thick Fe films deposited on GaN(0001) were investigated. In-situ reflecting high energy electron diffraction images indicated a α-Fe(110)/GaN(0001) growth of the 3D Volmer-Weber type. The α-Fe(110) XRD peak showed a 1° full-width at half-maximum, indicating ≈ 20 nm grain sizes. A significant reduction in Fe atomic moment from its bulk value was observed for films thinner than 4 nm. Both GaN/Fe interface roughness and Fe film coercivity increased with Fe thickness, indicating a possible deterioration of Fe crystalline quality. Magnetic anisotropy was mainly uniaxial for all films while hexagonal anisotropies appeared for thicknesses higher than 3.7 nm

The genome of the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, reveals potential mechanisms underlying reproduction, host interactions, and novel targets for pest control.

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, is a major blood-feeding pest of livestock that has near worldwide distribution, causing an annual cost of over $2 billion for control and product loss in the USA alone. Control of these flies has been limited to increased sanitary management practices and insecticide application for suppressing larval stages. Few genetic and molecular resources are available to help in developing novel methods for controlling stable flies. This study examines stable fly biology by utilizing a combination of high-quality genome sequencing and RNA-Seq analyses targeting multiple developmental stages and tissues. In conjunction, 1600 genes were manually curated to characterize genetic features related to stable fly reproduction, vector host interactions, host-microbe dynamics, and putative targets for control. Most notable was characterization of genes associated with reproduction and identification of expanded gene families with functional associations to vision, chemosensation, immunity, and metabolic detoxification pathways. The combined sequencing, assembly, and curation of the male stable fly genome followed by RNA-Seq and downstream analyses provide insights necessary to understand the biology of this important pest. These resources and new data will provide the groundwork for expanding the tools available to control stable fly infestations. The close relationship of Stomoxys to other blood-feeding (horn flies and Glossina) and non-blood-feeding flies (house flies, medflies, Drosophila) will facilitate understanding of the evolutionary processes associated with development of blood feeding among the Cyclorrhapha

System Size and Energy Dependence of Jet-Induced Hadron Pair Correlation Shapes in Cu+Cu and Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 and 62.4 GeV

We present azimuthal angle correlations of intermediate transverse momentum (1-4 GeV/c) hadrons from {dijets} in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 62.4 and 200 GeV. The away-side dijet induced azimuthal correlation is broadened, non-Gaussian, and peaked away from \Delta\phi=\pi in central and semi-central collisions in all the systems. The broadening and peak location are found to depend upon the number of participants in the collision, but not on the collision energy or beam nuclei. These results are consistent with sound or shock wave models, but pose challenges to Cherenkov gluon radiation models.Comment: 464 authors from 60 institutions, 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Physical Review Letters. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Improved Measurement of Double Helicity Asymmetry in Inclusive Midrapidity pi^0 Production for Polarized p+p Collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV

We present an improved measurement of the double helicity asymmetry for pi^0 production in polarized proton-proton scattering at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV employing the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The improvements to our previous measurement come from two main factors: Inclusion of a new data set from the 2004 RHIC run with higher beam polarizations than the earlier run and a recalibration of the beam polarization measurements, which resulted in reduced uncertainties and increased beam polarizations. The results are compared to a Next to Leading Order (NLO) perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (pQCD) calculation with a range of polarized gluon distributions.Comment: 389 authors, 4 pages, 2 tables, 1 figure. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D, Rapid Communications. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX collaboration

Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy, yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a new state of dense matter. We find that the state of matter created at RHIC cannot be described in terms of ordinary color neutral hadrons.Comment: 510 authors, 127 pages text, 56 figures, 1 tables, LaTeX. Submitted to Nuclear Physics A as a regular article; v3 has minor changes in response to referee comments. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm