A 212-nt long RNA structure in the Tobacco necrosis virus-D RNA genome is resistant to Xrn degradation

Plus-strand RNA viruses can accumulate viral RNA degradation products during infections. Some of these decay intermediates are generated by the cytosolic 5′-to-3′ exoribonuclease Xrn1 (mammals and yeast) or Xrn4 (plants) and are formed when the enzyme stalls on substrate RNAs upon encountering inhibitory RNA structures. Many Xrn-generated RNAs correspond to 3′-terminal segments within the 3′-UTR of viral genomes and perform important functions during infections. Here we have investigated a 3′-terminal small viral RNA (svRNA) generated by Xrn during infections with Tobacco necrosis virus-D (family Tombusviridae). Our results indicate that (i) unlike known stalling RNA structures that are compact and modular, the TNV-D structure encompasses the entire 212 nt of the svRNA and is not functionally transposable, (ii) at least two tertiary interactions within the RNA structure are required for effective Xrn blocking and (iii) most of the svRNA generated in infections is derived from viral polymerase-generated subgenomic mRNA1. In vitro and in vivo analyses allowed for inferences on roles for the svRNA. Our findings provide a new and distinct addition to the growing list of Xrn-resistant viral RNAs and stalling structures found associated with different plant and animal RNA viruses.York University Librarie

The Interpretation of Photoelectric Colors for Stars of Types B-F

The accumulation of photoelectric data on the Johnson-Morgan system of B - V and U - B colors makes a preliminary theoretical reconnaissance desirable The colors were predicted for atmospheres of a wide range of effective temperatures and electron pressures. The effects of the Balmer jump on the response in the U band and of the Balmer lines in the B band were included, using averages taken over spectral type and luminosity classes. Table 2 gives the predicted fluxes as compared to a black body, the corrected B - V and U - B colors, and the color temperatures The zero point is based on Code's spectral scans of two stars. The results are most useful for differential effects over small ranges of 0 and P_e; the general temperature and pressure scale derived colorimetrically seems reasonable. The large effect of lines in certain white dwarfs explains some features of the observed colors

The Stardust – a successful encounter with the remarkable comet Wild 2

On January 2, 2004 the Stardust spacecraft completed a close flyby of comet Wild2 (P81). Flying at a relative speed of 6.1 km/s within 237km of the 5 km nucleus, the spacecraft took 72 close-in images, measured the flux of impacting particles and did TOF mass spectrometry

"Engaging with birth stories in pregnancy: a hermeneutic phenomenological study of women's experiences across two generations"

BACKGROUND: The birth story has been widely understood as a crucial source of knowledge about childbirth. What has not been reported is the effect that birth stories may have on primigravid women's understandings of birth. Findings are presented from a qualitative study exploring how two generations of women came to understand birth in the milieu of other's stories. The prior assumption was that birth stories must surely have a positive or negative influence on listeners, steering them towards either medical or midwifery-led models of care. METHODS: A Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used. Twenty UK participants were purposively selected and interviewed. Findings from the initial sample of 10 women who were pregnant in 2012 indicated that virtual media was a primary source of birth stories. This led to recruitment of a second sample of 10 women who gave birth in the 1970s-1980s, to determine whether they were more able to translate information into knowledge via stories told through personal contact and not through virtual technologies RESULTS: Findings revealed the experience of 'being-in-the-world' of birth and of stories in that world. From a Heideggerian perspective, the birth story was constructed through 'idle talk' (the taken for granted assumptions of things, which come into being through language). Both oral stories and those told through technology were described as the 'modern birth story'. The first theme 'Stories are difficult like that', examines the birth story as problematic and considers how stories shape meaning. The second 'It's a generational thing', considers how women from two generations came to understand what their experience might be. The third 'Birth in the twilight of certainty,' examines women's experience of Being in a system of birth as constructed, portrayed and sustained in the stories being shared. CONCLUSIONS: The women pregnant in 2012 framed their expectations in the language of choice, whilst the women who birthed in the 1970s-1980s framed their experience in the language of safety. For both, however, the world of birth was the same; saturated with, and only legitimised by the birth of a healthy baby. Rather than creating meaningful understanding, the 'idle talk' of birth made both cohorts fearful of leaving the relative comfort of the 'system', and of claiming an alternative birth

Hydro-bio-geo-socio-chemical interactions and the sustainability of residential landscapes

Significance statement: The paper presents major new insights into the multidisciplinary controls of nitrogen export (a widespread environmental concern) from residential landscapes. We conducted biogeochemical and social survey studies to identify locations (hotspots) or times (hot moments) with a disproportionate influence on this export. Results showed high variation in the vulnerability/sensitivity of individual parcels to cause environmental damage and in the knowledge and practices of individual managers. To the extent that hotspots are the result of management choices by homeowners, there are straightforward approaches to improve outcomes, e.g. fertilizer restrictions. If, however, hotspots arise from the configuration and inherent characteristics of parcels and neighborhoods, efforts to improve outcomes may involve more intensive and complex interventions, such as conversion to alternative ecosystem type

Regulating CCTV? : We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them

Peer reviewedPostprin

The Impact of the Physical Environment on Intrapartum Maternity Care: Identification of Eight Crucial Building Spaces.

OBJECTIVES, PURPOSE, OR AIM: This article investigates whether the physical environment in which childbirth occurs impacts the intrapartum intervention rates and how this might happen. The study explores the spatial physical characteristics that can support the design of spaces to promote the health and well-being of women, their supporters, and maternity care professionals. BACKGROUND: Medical interventions during childbirth have consequences for the health of women and babies in the immediate and long term. The increase in interventions is multifactorial and may be influenced by the model of care adopted, the relationships between caregivers and the organizational culture, which is made up of many factors, including the built environment. In the field of birth architecture research, there is a gap in the description of the physical characteristics of birth environments that impact users' health. METHOD: A scoping review on the topic was performed to understand the direct and indirect impacts of the physical environment on birth intervention rates. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The findings are organized into three tables reporting the influence that the physical characteristics of a space might have on people's behaviors, experiences, practices and birth health outcomes. Eight building spaces that require further investigation and research were highlighted: unit layout configuration, midwives' hub/desk, social room, birth philosophy vectors, configuration of the birth room, size and shape of the birth room, filter, and sensory elements. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show the importance of considering the physical environment in maternity care and that further interdisciplinary studies focused on architectural design are needed to enrich the knowledge and evidence on this topic and to develop accurate recommendations for designers

Being held to account: Detainees’ perceptions of police body-worn cameras

Police organisations across the world are embracing body-worn video camera technology. The justification for this is to enhance public trust in police, provide transparency in policing activity, increase police accountability, reduce conflict between police and public, and to provide a police perspective of incidents and events. However, while the corpus of research into the efficacy and operational practicalities of police use of body-worn video cameras is developing, questions on some elements of their impact remain. The majority of scholarship has hitherto been evaluations focused on the impact of the cameras on police use of force and on the numbers of complaints against the police. Alternatively, this article explores body-worn video cameras from the perspective of police detainees, and specifically, detainees’ perceptions of the capacities of body-worn video cameras to deliver promised increased levels of accountability in policing. The article draws on a survey and research interviews with 907 police detainees across four Australian jurisdictions. While respondents largely support the use of body-worn video cameras they also identify a number of caveats. We conclude by suggesting that there are still impediments in body-worn video cameras to achieving the level of accountability promised by advocates and expected by the respondents

The formation of Encke meteoroids and dust trail

We observed comet 2P/Encke with the Infrared Space Observatory ISOCAM on July 14, 1997 from a particularly favorable viewing geometry above the comet's orbital plane and at a distance of 0.25 AU. A structured coma was observed, along with a long, straight dust trail. For the first time, we are able to observe the path of particles as they evolve from the nucleus to the trail. The particles that produce the infrared coma are large, with a radiation to gravitational force ratio betamm-sized particles). The dust trail follows the orbit of the comet across our image, with a central core that is 20,000 km wide, composed of particles with beta<1e-5 (size $\sim 5$ cm) from previous apparitions. The abundant large particles near the comet pose a significant hazard to spacecraft. There is no evidence of a classical cometary dust tail due to small particles with beta>0.001, in marked contrast to other comets like P/Halley or C/Hale-Bopp. The structure of the coma requires anisotropic emission and that the spin axis of the nucleus to be nearly parallel to the orbital plane, resulting in strong seasonal variations of the particle emission. While most of the infrared coma emission is due to dust produced during the 1997 apparition, the core of the dust trail requires emissions from previous apparitions. The total mass lost during the 1997 apparition is estimated to be 2-6e13 g. Comparing to the gas mass loss from ultraviolet observations, the dust-to-gas mass ratio is 10-30, much higher than has ever been suggested from visual light observations. Using the recently-measured nuclear diameter, we find that Encke can only last 3000-10,000 rhoN yr (where rhoN is the nuclear density in g/cc) at its present mass loss rate.Comment: manuscript in TeX, 10 figures (6 ps, 4 jpg); accepted by Icarus July 3, 200

Exploring recent developments in restorative policing in England and Wales

The evolution of the policing role over the last decade has led to 33 police forces in England and Wales integrating restorative justice practices, in one form or another, into their responses to minor crime committed for the first time by both youths and adults. Most recently, this reform dynamic has been used in response to more serious offences committed by persistent offenders and expanded to include all stages of the criminal justice process. Despite the significant positive rhetoric that surrounds the adoption and use of restorative justice, there are a number of procedural and cultural challenges that pose a threat to the extent to which restorative justice may become embedded within the policing response. This article explores these developments and highlights where potential problems for implementation may arise as well as some strategies to overcome them