Cassette Systems for Creating Intergeneric Hybrid ATCases

Cassette systems for creating intergeneric hybrid ATCases were constructed. An MluI restriction enzyme site was introduced at the carbamoylphosphate binding site within the pyrB genes of both Pseudomonas putida and Escherichia coli. Two hybrids, E. coli pyrB polar domain fused with P. putida pyrB equatorial domain and P. putida pyrB polar domain fused with E. coli pyrB equatorial domain, are possible. The intergeneric E. coli-P. putida hybrid pyrB gene was constructed and found to encode an active ATCase which complemented an E. coli Pyr- strain. These hybrids are useful for kinetic and expression studies of ATCase in E. coli

Epistemic Justice and Everyday Nationalism: An Auto-Ethnography of Transnational Student Encounters in a Post-War Memory and Reconciliation Project in Kosovo

This contribution introduces an exercise in epistemic justice to the study of everyday nationalism in post-conflict, transnational (local and international) encounters. It explores how everyday nationalism, in often unexpected and hidden ways, underpinned a cocreational, educational project involving several local (Albanian) and international (British based) university students and staff collaborating on the theme of post-war memory and reconciliation in Kosovo. The set-up resembled a microcosm of transnational social encounters in project collaborations in which the problem of nationalism, typically, is associated with one side only: here, the Kosovars. Guided by Goffman's (1982) social interactionist framework, the study employs selected participants' paraethnographic and auto-ethnographic reflections of their project experiences and practices after the event in order to trace the everyday workings of mutual assumptions and constructions of a national self and other for all sides involved. In this, it explores how the project participants' asymmetric positioning within a wider, global context of unequal power relations shaped their vernacular epistemologies of belonging and identity. It thereby excavated what otherwise taken-for-granted criteria can become relevant in such local/international social encounters as reflected upon and how the enduring power imbalances underpinning these might best be redressed

Tangible Interfaces for VR Cultural Heritage Application - School House Virtual Museum

Virtual museums are an important medium for the preservation and dissemination of tangible and intangible cultural heritage as well as for education and public engagement. This is even more important now that focus is being shifted from museum exhibits to the visitors’ experience and the increased attention given to their mobility, and the plurality of voices and perspectives represented. To enhance experience and participation new techniques are being developed and multiple senses stimulated. This paper offers venues to unpack the potentials of VR as a pedagogic vehicle when creative and cross-disciplinary experimentation is employed in and around digital museums. Grounded in a particular site of memory, and co-produced with a ‘post-memory generation’, the School House Virtual Museum is associated with private and silenced memories of past civic resistance in Kosovo. Using written and orally narrated stories, images, videos and immersion within a virtually reconstructed physical space, the experience offers a means to explore spaces, narratives, and technologies relevant to a particular cultural memory and heritage. The main aim of the user study, with 37 participants presented in this work, was to investigate the design of the system, focusing on three aspects: usability, User Experience (UX) and education, and the effect of the tangible interface provided to one user group. The results are overall very positive and confirm that the UX holds potential as a learning and education tool whether in museums, schools, or when used independently

Mapping of NKp46(+) Cells in Healthy Human Lymphoid and Non-Lymphoid Tissues

Understanding Natural Killer (NK) cell anatomical distribution is key to dissect the role of these unconventional lymphocytes in physiological and disease conditions. In mouse, NK cells have been detected in various lymphoid and non-lymphoid organs, while in humans the current knowledge of NK cell distribution at steady state is mainly restricted to lym-phoid tissues. The translation to humans of findings obtained in mice is facilitated by the identification of NK cell markers conserved between these two species.The Natural Cyto-toxicity Receptor (NCR) NKp46 is a marker of the NK cell lineage evolutionary conserved in mammals. In mice, NKp46 is also present on rare T cell subsets and on a subset of gut Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILCs) expressing the retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor \u3b3t (ROR\u3b3t) transcription factor. Here, we documented the distribution and the phenotype of human NKp46+ cells in lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues isolated from healthy donors. Human NKp46+ cells were found in splenic red pulp, in lymph nodes, in lungs, and gut lamina propria, thus mirroring mouse NKp46+ cell distribution. We also identified a novel cell subset of CD56dim NKp46low cells that includes ROR\u3b3t+ ILCs with a lineage-CD-94CD-117brightCD127bright phenotype. The use of NKp46 thus contributes to establish the basis for analyzing quantitative and qualitative changes of NK cell and ILC subsets in human diseases

Virulence assessment of Portuguese isolates of potato cyst nematodes (Globodera spp.)

Identification of species and virulence groups of potato cyst nematodes (PCN), Globodera pallida and G. rostochiensis, present in field populations is important in the control of these nematodes by means of resistant cultivars. In order to characterize the virulence of Globodera spp. isolates from Portugal, 43 G. rostochiensis and three G. pallida isolates were evaluated by measuring their multiplication rates on a susceptible potato cultivar and five differential potato genotypes in a growth chamber pot experiment. Principal Component Analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis showed that the reproduction rates were different in terms of both the numbers of eggs and the numbers of cysts produced. Portuguese isolates of PCN were more virulent on genotypes derived from Solanum vernei than on genotypes derived from other Solanum resistance sources, and there was a significant nematode isolate × host genotype interaction. The virulence bioassay clearly distinguished the two PCN species but failed to differentiate isolates into pathotypes. There was a wide and continuous range of virulence to the resistant genotypes, especially in G. rostochiensis isolates

System Test of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer in the H8 Beam at the CERN SPS

An extensive system test of the ATLAS muon spectrometer has been performed in the H8 beam line at the CERN SPS during the last four years. This spectrometer will use pressurized Monitored Drift Tube (MDT) chambers and Cathode Strip Chambers (CSC) for precision tracking, Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) for triggering in the barrel and Thin Gap Chambers (TGCs) for triggering in the end-cap region. The test set-up emulates one projective tower of the barrel (six MDT chambers and six RPCs) and one end-cap octant (six MDT chambers, A CSC and three TGCs). The barrel and end-cap stands have also been equipped with optical alignment systems, aiming at a relative positioning of the precision chambers in each tower to 30-40 micrometers. In addition to the performance of the detectors and the alignment scheme, many other systems aspects of the ATLAS muon spectrometer have been tested and validated with this setup, such as the mechanical detector integration and installation, the detector control system, the data acquisition, high level trigger software and off-line event reconstruction. Measurements with muon energies ranging from 20 to 300 GeV have allowed measuring the trigger and tracking performance of this set-up, in a configuration very similar to the final spectrometer. A special bunched muon beam with 25 ns bunch spacing, emulating the LHC bunch structure, has been used to study the timing resolution and bunch identification performance of the trigger chambers. The ATLAS first-level trigger chain has been operated with muon trigger signals for the first time

Espécies de Cigarrinhas (Hemiptera, Membracoidea, Cicadellidae) Registradas no Estado do Rio De Janeiro, Brasil

A preliminary list of the species of Cicadellidae from Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil, is presented. The list, which was prepared based on a careful survey of the literature and examination of insect collections, includes 340 leafhopper species. This number represents an increase of over 150 species in comparison to a list published in 1982. The numbers of species recorded for each subfamily are as follows: Agalliinae: 31, Cicadellinae: 162, Coelidiinae: 13, Deltocephalinae: 35, Gyponinae: 63, Iassinae: 8, Idiocerinae: 1, Ledrinae: 2, Neobalinae: 3, Neocoelidiinae: 3, Nioniinae: 1, Nirvaninae: 3, Phereurhininae: 2, Typhlocybinae: 9, and Xestocephalinae: 4. The available data on the distribution of each species within the State (municipalities) are given. Most of the recorded species are from the now heavily fragmented Brazilian Atlantic Forest.Uma lista preliminar das espécies de Cicadellidae do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, sudeste do Brasil, é apresentada. A lista, preparada a partir de cuidadoso estudo da literatura e exame de coleções de insetos, inclui 340 espécies de cigarrinhas. Esse número representa o aumento de mais de 150 espécies em comparação com uma lista publicada em 1982. Os números de espécies registradas de cada subfamília são os seguintes: Agalliinae: 31, Cicadellinae: 162, Coelidiinae: 13, Deltocephalinae: 35, Gyponinae: 63, Iassinae: 8, Idiocerinae: 1, Ledrinae: 2, Neobalinae: 3, Neocoelidiinae: 3, Nioniinae: 1, Nirvaninae: 3, Phereurhininae: 2, Typhlocybinae: 9, e Xestocephalinae: 4. As informações disponíveis sobre a distribuição de cada espécie no Estado (municípios) são fornecidas. A maior parte das espécies registradas é proveniente da Mata Atlântica brasileira, que hoje se encontra intensamente fragmentada

Search for Branons at LEP

We search, in the context of extra-dimension scenarios, for the possible existence of brane fluctuations, called branons. Events with a single photon or a single Z-boson and missing energy and momentum collected with the L3 detector in e^+ e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies sqrt{s}=189-209$ GeV are analysed. No excess over the Standard Model expectations is found and a lower limit at 95% confidence level of 103 GeV is derived for the mass of branons, for a scenario with small brane tensions. Alternatively, under the assumption of a light branon, brane tensions below 180 GeV are excluded