531 research outputs found
Pigs vs people: the use of pigs as analogues for humans in forensic entomology and taphonomy research
Most studies of decomposition in forensic entomology and taphonomy have used non-human cadavers. Following the recommendation of using domestic pig cadavers as analogues for humans in forensic entomology in the 1980s, pigs became the most frequently used model cadavers in forensic sciences. They have shaped our understanding of how large vertebrate cadavers decompose in, for example, various environments, seasons and after various ante- or postmortem cadaver modifications. They have also been used to demonstrate the feasibility of several new or well-established forensic techniques. The advent of outdoor human taphonomy facilities enabled experimental comparisons of decomposition between pig and human cadavers. Recent comparisons challenged the pig-as-analogue claim in entomology and taphonomy research. In this review, we discuss in a broad methodological context the advantages and disadvantages of pig and human cadavers for forensic research and rebut the critique of pigs as analogues for humans. We conclude that experiments using human cadaver analogues (i.e. pig carcasses) are easier to replicate and more practical for controlling confounding factors than studies based solely on humans and, therefore, are likely to remain our primary epistemic source of forensic knowledge for the immediate future. We supplement these considerations with new guidelines for model cadaver choice in forensic science research.Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made
The relationship between Higher Education and labour market in Greece : the weakest link?
The high level of graduate unemployment, even though it is acknowledged as one of the most distinctive characteristics of the Greek labour market, it has not attracted enough attention in the academic literature. This paper utilizes micro-data from the Labour Force Survey in order to investigate how the employment situation of young (aged 35 and below) graduates varies across fields of study. The findings suggest that graduates of disciplines that have high levels of private sector employment, such as Polytechnics and Computer Science, are in general better off in the Greek labour market. On the other hand, graduates of disciplines that are traditionally related to the needs of the public sector, such as Sociology and Humanities, face poor employment prospects. The findings of this study highlight the need for drastic reforms of the Higher Education system
Plasmonically Enhanced Reflectance of Heat Radiation from Low-Bandgap Semiconductor Microinclusions
Increased reflectance from the inclusion of highly scattering particles at
low volume fractions in an insulating dielectric offers a promising way to
reduce radiative thermal losses at high temperatures. Here, we investigate
plasmonic resonance driven enhanced scattering from microinclusions of
low-bandgap semiconductors (InP, Si, Ge, PbS, InAs and Te) in an insulating
composite to tailor its infrared reflectance for minimizing thermal losses from
radiative transfer. To this end, we compute the spectral properties of the
microcomposites using Monte Carlo modeling and compare them with results from
Fresnel equations. The role of particle size-dependent Mie scattering and
absorption efficiencies, and, scattering anisotropy are studied to identify the
optimal microinclusion size and material parameters for maximizing the
reflectance of the thermal radiation. For composites with Si and Ge
microinclusions we obtain reflectance efficiencies of 57 - 65% for the incident
blackbody radiation from sources at temperatures in the range 400 - 1600
{\deg}C. Furthermore, we observe a broadbanding of the reflectance spectra from
the plasmonic resonances due to charge carriers generated from defect states
within the semiconductor bandgap. Our results thus open up the possibility of
developing efficient high-temperature thermal insulators through use of the
low-bandgap semiconductor microinclusions in insulating dielectrics.Comment: Main article (8 Figures and 2 Tables) + Supporting Information (8
Figures
DNA resection in eukaryotes: deciding how to fix the break
DNA double-strand breaks are repaired by different mechanisms, including homologous
recombination and nonhomologous end-joining. DNA-end resection, the first step in
recombination, is a key step that contributes to the choice of DSB repair. Resection, an
evolutionarily conserved process that generates single-stranded DNA, is linked to checkpoint
activation and is critical for survival. Failure to regulate and execute this process results in
defective recombination and can contribute to human disease. Here, I review recent findings on
the mechanisms of resection in eukaryotes, from yeast to vertebrates, provide insights into the
regulatory strategies that control it, and highlight the consequences of both its impairment and its
deregulation
Vitellogenin Underwent Subfunctionalization to Acquire Caste and Behavioral Specific Expression in the Harvester Ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus
PMCID: PMC3744404This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication
Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set
We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s
using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays
in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at
production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton
collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment
at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity.
We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the
B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2,
-1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in
agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model
value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +-
0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +-
0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by
other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012
Involvement of Iron in Biofilm Formation by Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen that forms biofilm on catheters and medical implants. The authors' earlier study established that 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucopyranose (PGG) inhibits biofilm formation by S. aureus by preventing the initial attachment of the cells to a solid surface and reducing the production of polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA). Our cDNA microarray and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric studies demonstrate that PGG treatment causes the expression of genes and proteins that are normally expressed under iron-limiting conditions. A chemical assay using ferrozine verifies that PGG is a strong iron chelator that depletes iron from the culture medium. This study finds that adding FeSO4 to a medium that contains PGG restores the biofilm formation and the production of PIA by S. aureus SA113. The requirement of iron for biofilm formation by S. aureus SA113 can also be verified using a semi-defined medium, BM, that contains an iron chelating agent, 2, 2′-dipyridyl (2-DP). Similar to the effect of PGG, the addition of 2-DP to BM medium inhibits biofilm formation and adding FeSO4 to BM medium that contains 2-DP restores biofilm formation. This study reveals an important mechanism of biofilm formation by S. aureus SA113
- …