Hermes in the Anthropocene: A dogologue

In this dogologue, a writer and the dog who sits near her desk as she works speak. The dog is concerned about the fate of the world in the hands of humans. His urgent questions send the writer into the world of her own memories when she was a child alone with a horse in nature

Measuring the impact of the Italian CFL programme on the job opportunities for the youths

The CFL programme has been introduced in 1985 to improve the youths occupational chances. It provides the employers some incentive to recruit young workers by reducing both the labour and the firing costs relative to those they would bear by recruiting older workers. Following the literature, the expected impact of the programme is to increase the eligibles chance to work during the eligibility period as well as to improve their chance to work after the eligibility period thanks to the longer work experience obtained during the eligibility period. A substitution effect might emerge since as subjects get out of eligibility employers might find convenient to replace them by younger still eligible workers. To measure the impact of the programme we exploit the variation over time and across geographical areas of the incentive to hire eligible workers induced by several reforms of the programme as well as its interaction with other incentive schemes.targeted wage subsidy, firing costs, substitution effect

Sail Structural Analysis. G.U. Aero Report 9820

While a sailboat is sailing, aerodynamic and hydrodynamic forces are developed due to the interaction between the air flow and the sail plane and between the waves and hull, respectively. Because the sail is so flexible that it can easily be deformed by aerodynamic pressure the aeroelasticity is essential in this context. In fact, on one side the flow around the sail depends upon its shape, but, on the other side, the pressure resulting from the flow determines the shape of the sail. This means that the dynamic and the aerodynamic analysis have to be solved simultaneously. The aim of the present report is to develop the structure analysis of a simple sail configuration composed of a jib, mast and its rig. For each element the structural analysis is developed using the finite element method. The analysis for the sails and the wires of the rig will be non linear due to their large displacements, while for the mast the linear structural analysis will be considered enough

Sail Structural Analysis. G.U. Aero Report 9820

While a sailboat is sailing, aerodynamic and hydrodynamic forces are developed due to the interaction between the air flow and the sail plane and between the waves and hull, respectively. Because the sail is so flexible that it can easily be deformed by aerodynamic pressure the aeroelasticity is essential in this context. In fact, on one side the flow around the sail depends upon its shape, but, on the other side, the pressure resulting from the flow determines the shape of the sail. This means that the dynamic and the aerodynamic analysis have to be solved simultaneously. The aim of the present report is to develop the structure analysis of a simple sail configuration composed of a jib, mast and its rig. For each element the structural analysis is developed using the finite element method. The analysis for the sails and the wires of the rig will be non linear due to their large displacements, while for the mast the linear structural analysis will be considered enough

Molecular Mechanisms of Plasmodium Red Blood Cell Invasion

The malaria parasite Plasmodium utilizes specialized proteins for adherence to cellular receptors in its mosquito vector and human host. Adherence is critical for parasite development, host cell traversal and invasion, and protection from vector and host immune mechanisms. These vital roles have identified several adhesins as vaccine candidates. A deficiency in current adhesin-based vaccines is induction of antibodies targeting non-conserved, non-functional, and decoy epitopes due to the use of full length proteins or binding domains. To alleviate the elicitation of non-inhibitory antibodies, conserved functional regions of proteins must be identified and exploited. Structural biology provides the tools necessary to achieve this goal, and has succeeded in defining biologically functional receptor binding and oligomerization interfaces for a number of promising malaria vaccine candidates. A critical step in the Plasmodium life cycle is adhesion to and invasion of erythrocytes by the merozoite during blood stage growth. The invasion process requires the formation of a tight junction between parasite adhesive proteins and red cell receptors. Formation of this junction allows the merozoite to engage and enter the red cell to form the parasitophorous vacuole. The Erythrocyte-binding-like (EBL) family of cellular adhesion proteins is implicated in the formation of this essential tight junction. Receptor binding by the EBL family of invasion ligands has been localized to a specific portion of each EBL protein designated Region II (RII). This region is composed of the Duffy- binding-like (DBL) domain, unique to Plasmodium species. The two Plasmodium species responsible for the majority of malaria disease in humans are P. falciparum and P. vivax. There are four identified EBL members in P. falciparum that contain two tandem DBL domains in RII. This organization contrasts the single DBL domain in RII of the only characterized EBL member of P. vivax, Duffy-binding Protein (PvDBP). Using a combination of structural, biophysical, and cellular interaction methods we examined the binding mode for these two Plasmodium EBL family members to define the molecular and mechanistic basis of unique red cell invasion routes. Specifically, we sought to enhance our understanding of the molecular and mechanistic details of invasion by Plasmodium EBL ligands with the ultimate goal of identifying novel targets for rational vaccination efforts. We examined receptor interactions of a P. falciparum EBL member, Erythrocyte-binding-antigen 140 (PfEBA-140) and P. vivax DBP to provide insight into invasion by both species of parasite. Our work identified unique interfaces on the DBL domain that provide specific recognition of each ligand\u27s unique red blood cell receptor. Additionally, studies examining oligomeric state identified distinct mechanistic parameters for the two EBL ligands, and contrasted with the mechanism observed for another P. falciparum member, PfEBA-175

Lockdown measures and air quality: evidence from Italian provinces

The aim of this short communication is to estimate the effects of the implementation of more restrictive lockdown measures on pollution levels in Italy. Using a time series of weekly concentrations of PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 for the period 2016-2020 across 71 provinces, we find that the introduction of lockdown measures reduced the air concentration levels of PM10 and NO2 by 17-18%, while their effect on PM2.5 remains unclear. These results indicate that the lockdown had a significant positive impact in terms of lives saved and improved air quality

John Malpede with Dillon de Give

John Malpede with Dillon de Give profiles Malpede\u27s individual works as well as the long term activities of the Los Angeles Poverty Department, a theater group partly composed of homeless and transient residents of LA\u27s Skid Row. The book is a formatted exchange between an established and an emerging artist. This book is part of the Reference Points series published through Portland State University Art and Social Practice MFA Program. The series is an evolving pedagogical framework in which graduate students formulate and research a significant topic or practitioner(s) related to socially engaged art. Because the series is designed to shift and respond to the concerns of the program\u27s current students and faculty, mode, structure, and content are open-ended.https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/reference_points/1007/thumbnail.jp

Mosquitoes and Potatoes: How Local Climatic Conditions Impede Development

The historical diffusion of the potato in the Old World serves as an example of the contribution of technological innovations to socio-economic growth and development (Nunn and Qian in Q J Econ 126(2):593–650, 2011). Climate-related diseases, on the other hand, might offset some of these benefits. Here we examine the long-term impact of malaria on the potato-driven growth of the population and urbanization in the Old World during the 18th and 19th centuries. We exploit local variations in environmental suitability both for potato and for malaria transmission to estimate and compare the impact of potato cultivation on population and urbanization in highly endemic to non-endemic areas at a high level of spatial disaggregation. We show that local climate conditions ideal for malaria transmission counteracted the potential benefits of introducing the potato to the Old World, which are conversely found to be strong and positive in non-endemic regions. These results highlight the interplay between technological change, public health, and development outcomes