Investigating the use of forensic stylistic and stylometric techniques in the analyses of authorship on a publicly accessible social networking site (Facebook)

This research study examines the forensic application of a selection of stylistic and stylometric techniques in a simulated authorship attribution case involving texts on the social networking site, Facebook. Eight participants each submitted 2,000 words of self-authored text from their personal Facebook messages, and one of them submitted an extra 2,000 words to act as the ‘disputed text’. The texts were analysed in terms of the first 1,000 words received and then at the 2,000-word level to determine what effect text length has on the effectiveness of the chosen style markers (keywords, function words, most frequently occurring words, punctuation, use of digitally mediated communication features and spelling). It was found that despite accurately identifying the author of the disputed text at the 1,000-word level, the results were not entirely conclusive but at the 2,000-word level the results were more promising, with certain style markers being particularly effective.Linguistics and Modern LanguagesM.A. (Linguistics

Quantitative Lipoproteomics in Clostridium difficile Reveals a Role for Lipoproteins in Sporulation

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Bacterial lipoproteins are surface exposed, anchored to the membrane by S-diacylglyceryl modification of the N-terminal cysteine thiol. They play important roles in many essential cellular processes and in bacterial pathogenesis. For example, Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive anaerobe that causes severe gastrointestinal disease; however, its lipoproteome remains poorly characterized. Here we describe the application of metabolic tagging with alkyne-tagged lipid analogs, in combination with quantitative proteomics, to profile protein lipidation across diverse C. difficile strains and on inactivation of specific components of the lipoprotein biogenesis pathway. These studies provide the first comprehensive map of the C. difficile lipoproteome, demonstrate the existence of two active lipoprotein signal peptidases, and provide insights into lipoprotein function, implicating the lipoproteome in transmission of this pathogen.T.C. was funded by an EPSRC grant to the Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London. A.K.-S. was funded by a European Union Seventh Framework Program (EU MCN Grant agreement 237942)

Molecular features of lipoprotein CD0873 - a potential vaccine against the human pathogen Clostridioides difficile

This is the final version. Available on open access from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology via the DOI in this recordClostridioides difficile is the primary cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and colitis, a healthcare-associated intestinal disease resulting in a significant fatality rate. Colonization of the gut is critical for C. difficile pathogenesis, and the bacterial molecules essential for efficient colonization therefore offer great potential as vaccine candidates. Here we present findings demonstrating that the C. difficile immunogenic lipoprotein CD0873 plays a critical role in pathogen success in vivo. We found that in a dixenic colonization model, a CD0873-positive strain of C. difficile significantly outcompeted a CD0873-negative strain. Immunization of mice with recombinant CD0873 prevented long-term gut colonization and was correlated with a strong secretory IgA immune response. We further present high-resolution crystal structures of CD0873, at 1.80-2.50 Å resolutions, offering a first view of the ligand-binding pocket of CD0873 and provide evidence that this lipoprotein adhesin is part of a tyrosine import system, an amino acid key in C. difficile infection. These findings suggest that CD0873 could serve as a effective component in a vaccine against C. difficile

Testing the universality of star formation - II. Comparing separation distributions of nearby star-forming regions and the field

We have measured the multiplicity fractions and separation distributions of seven young star-forming regions using a uniform sample of young binaries. Both the multiplicity fractions and separation distributions are similar in the different regions. A tentative decline in the multiplicity fraction with increasing stellar density is apparent, even for binary systems with separations too close (19-100au) to have been dynamically processed. The separation distributions in the different regions are statistically indistinguishable over most separation ranges, and the regions with higher densities do not exhibit a lower proportion of wide (300-620au) relative to close (62-300au) binaries as might be expected from the preferential destruction of wider pairs. Only the closest (19-100au) separation range, which would be unaffected by dynamical processing, shows a possible difference in separation distributions between different regions. The combined set of young binaries, however, shows a distinct difference when compared to field binaries, with a significant excess of close (19-100au) systems among the younger binaries. Based on both the similarities and differences between individual regions, and between all seven young regions and the field, especially over separation ranges too close to be modified by dynamical processing, we conclude that multiple star formation is not universal and, by extension, the star formation process is not universal.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA

Focal Point Gallery : a new institutional model?

A description is given of how Focal Point Gallery’s (FPG) new building (in Southend-on-Sea, Essex) was conceived in terms of its practical effectiveness in addressing tensions between local and global, utopian, social and political thought, through the commissioning of permanent and temporary artworks – by Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Scott King, Mike Nelson, Elizabeth Price, Allen Rupperberg, Tris Vonna-Michell and Lawrence Weiner – via an ethical curatorial approach involving affirmative modes of criticality. This includes an account of distribution strategies used for FPG’s printed publicity as an artistic program in its own right, and the various platforms, channels and spaces of editorial circulation that informed this curatorial approach

The necessity of historical inquiry in educational research: the case of Religious Education

publication-status: PublishedThis is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article whose final and definitive form, the Version of Record, has been published in the British Journal of Religious Education, July 2010. Available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/ or DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2010.498612This article explores the mixed fortunes of historical inquiry as a method in educational studies and exposes evidence for the neglect of this method in religious education research in particular. It argues that historical inquiry, as a counterpart to other research methods, can add depth and range to our understanding of education, including religious education, and can illuminate important longer‐term, broader and philosophical issues. The article also argues that many historical voices have remained silent in the existing historiography of religious education because such historiography is too generalised and too biased towards the development of national policy and curriculum and pedagogical theory. To address this limitation in educational research, this article promotes rigorous historical studies that are more substantially grounded in the appropriate historiographical literature and utilise a wide range of original primary sources. Finally, the article explores a specific example of the way in which a historical approach may be fruitfully applied to a particular contemporary debate concerning the nature and purpose of religious education

Stationary Black Holes: Uniqueness and Beyond

The spectrum of known black-hole solutions to the stationary Einstein equations has been steadily increasing, sometimes in unexpected ways. In particular, it has turned out that not all black-hole-equilibrium configurations are characterized by their mass, angular momentum and global charges. Moreover, the high degree of symmetry displayed by vacuum and electro-vacuum black-hole spacetimes ceases to exist in self-gravitating non-linear field theories. This text aims to review some developments in the subject and to discuss them in light of the uniqueness theorem for the Einstein-Maxwell system.Comment: Major update of the original version by Markus Heusler from 1998. Piotr T. Chru\'sciel and Jo\~ao Lopes Costa succeeded to this review's authorship. Significantly restructured and updated all sections; changes are too numerous to be usefully described here. The number of references increased from 186 to 32

Dysregulation of ubiquitin homeostasis and β-catenin signaling promote spinal muscular atrophy

Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Nils Lindstrom and members of the Gillingwater laboratory for advice and assistance with this study and helpful comments on the manuscript; Neil Cashman for the NSC-34 cell line; and Ji-Long Liu for the DrosophilasmnA and smnB lines. This work was supported by grants from the SMA Trust (to T.H. Gillingwater, P.J. Young, and R. Morse), BDF Newlife (to T.H. Gillingwater and S.H. Parson), the Anatomical Society (to T.H. Gillingwater and S.H. Parson), the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (to T.H. Gillingwater), the Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (to H.R. Fuller), the Muscular Dystrophy Association (to G.E. Morris), the Vandervell Foundation (to P.J. Young), the Medical Research Council (GO82208 to I.M. Robinson), Roslin Institute Strategic Grant funding from the BBSRC (to T.M. Wishart), the BBSRC (to C.G. Becker), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and EU FP7/2007-2013 (grant no. 2012-305121, NeurOmics, to B. Wirth), the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (to B. Wirth and M. Hammerschmidt), and SMA Europe (to M.M. Reissland). We would also like to acknowledge financial support to the Gillingwater lab generated through donations to the SMASHSMA campaign.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

pH Modulation of Efflux Pump Activity of Multi-Drug Resistant Escherichia coli: Protection During Its Passage and Eventual Colonization of the Colon

BACKGROUND:Resistance Nodulation Division (RND) efflux pumps of Escherichia coli extrude antibiotics and toxic substances before they reach their intended targets. Whereas these pumps obtain their energy directly from the proton motive force (PMF), ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters, which can also extrude antibiotics, obtain energy from the hydrolysis of ATP. Because E. coli must pass through two pH distinct environments of the gastrointestinal system of the host, it must be able to extrude toxic agents at very acidic and at near neutral pH (bile salts in duodenum and colon for example). The herein described study examines the effect of pH on the extrusion of ethidium bromide (EB). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:E. coli AG100 and its tetracycline induced progeny AG100(TET) that over-expresses the acrAB efflux pump were evaluated for their ability to extrude EB at pH 5 and 8, by our recently developed semi-automated fluorometric method. At pH 5 the organism extrudes EB without the need for metabolic energy (glucose), whereas at pH 8 extrusion of EB is dependent upon metabolic energy. Phe-Arg beta-naphtylamide (PAbetaN), a commonly assumed inhibitor of RND efflux pumps has no effect on the extrusion of EB as others claim. However, it does cause accumulation of EB. Competition between EB and PAbetaN was demonstrated and suggested that PAbetaN was preferentially extruded. A K(m) representing competition between PAbetaN and EB has been calculated. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The results suggest that E. coli has two general efflux systems (not to be confused with a distinct efflux pump) that are activated at low and high pH, respectively, and that the one at high pH is probably a putative ABC transporter coded by msbA, which has significant homology to the ABC transporter coded by efrAB of Enterococcus faecalis, an organism that faces similar challenges as it makes its way through the toxic intestinal system of the host