John Stuart Mill\u27s \u27On Liberty\u27

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we are joined by professor Dale E. Miller to discuss the life and philosophy of the English philosopher John Stuart Mill, whose 1859 essay “On Liberty” is a classic text — maybe the classic text — defending the principles of free expression. Miller is a professor and associate dean for research and graduate studies at Old Dominion University. He is the author of J.S. Mill: Moral, Social, and Political Thought

Crop wild relatives (CWR) priority in Italy: Distribution, ecology, in situ and ex situ conservation and expected actions

The study presents an updated overview of the 14 non‐endemic threatened crop wild relatives (CWR) in Italy: Aegilops biuncialis, Ae. uniaristata, Ae. ventricosa, Asparagus pastorianus, Beta macrocarpa, Brassica insularis, B. montana, Crambe hispanica subsp. hispanica, C. tataria subsp. tataria, Ipomoea sagittata, Lathyrus amphicarpos, L. palustris, Vicia cusnae and V. serinica. Geographical distri-bution, ecology (with plant communities and habitat 92/43/EEC aspects), genetics (focused on gene pools), property, and in situ and ex situ conservation were analyzed. In addition, with the aim of their protection and valorization, specific actions are recommended

IUCN red list evaluation of the orchidaceae endemic to apulia (Italy) and considerations on the application of the IUCN protocol to rare species

The conservation status of the ten taxonomically currently recognised orchid species and subspecies (eight in the genus Ophrys, and one each in the genera Epipactis and Serapias) endemic to Apulia (southeast Italy) is presented. Each taxon has been assessed against the internationally accepted IUCN criteria and categories. Of the ten taxa, eight ones are classified as threatened (Endangered or Vulnerable), one as Near Threatened and one as Least Concern. Given that nine of the ten analysed taxa were recently assessed, a comparison with the previous assessments is presented: 67% of the assessed taxa changed their IUCN category. Four taxa (Ophrys murgiana, O. oxyrrhynchos subsp. ingrassiae, O. peucetiae, O. tardans) are now assigned to a higher threat category, while two taxa (Ophrys gravinensis and O. oestrifera subsp. montis-gargani) are now assigned to a lower threat category. These category changes in such a very short time are due to the better knowledge on the number of mature individuals and on the threats affecting the species, and to the discovery of new occurring sites. The most important category change affects Ophrys tardans. The new assessment leads to the category Endangered, whereas in the previous assessment this species was indicated as Least Concern, i.e. as not threatened. Another species with a noteworthy category increase is Ophrys peucetiae, previously indicated as Least Concern and now assigned to the category Vulnerable. The authors discuss these results, highlighting that especially when assessing rare species with a small distribution range against the IUCN protocol, it should be taken into account that the assessment could be influenced (also noteworthy) by the effective knowledge on the distribution, on the population size and on the threats affecting the populations. As a consequence, field work is warmly suggested before assessing the threat category of rare taxa, given that an increased effort in field research often leads to the discovery of new sites and to a better estimation of the number of individuals and of the threats

The use of positive behaviour support plans in mental health inpatient care: a mixed methods study

An international drive is to minimise restrictive practices in mental healthcare. Positive behaviour support Plans (PBSPs) help staff prevent behaviour which would require restrictive intervention. Originating in learning disability services, data within mental healthcare are limited. To evaluate PBSPs within a mental health‐inpatient service; understand mental health nurses’ and relatives’ attitudes to them and understand the barriers and facilitators for their use in routine mental healthcare. Mixed methods ‐ quality‐ratings and interviews with relatives and nurses. PBSPs were poorly implemented. Relatives and nurses valued the potential of PBSPs to facilitate holistic care, though no relative had contributed to one and not every eligible patient had one. Barriers to their use included confusion around positive behaviour support, including how, when and for whom PBSPs should be used, and difficulties describing the function of a behaviour. The potential of PBSPs to improve mental healthcare is recognised. However, there are barriers to their use which should be addressed to ensure that PBSPs have been properly implemented before their impact on patient care can be assessed. Mental health professionals implementing PBSPs should engage with relatives and patients, gain organizational commitment and ensure that those involved understand fully the positive behaviour support approach

Resource-aware whole-cell model of division of labour in a two-strain consortium for complex substrate degradation

Background Low-cost sustainable feedstocks are essential for commercially viable biotechnologies. These feedstocks, often derived from plant or food waste, contain a multitude of different complex biomolecules which require multiple enzymes to hydrolyse and metabolise. Current standard biotechnology uses monocultures in which a single host expresses all the proteins required for the consolidated bioprocess. However, these hosts have limited capacity for expressing proteins before growth is impacted. This limitation may be overcome by utilising division of labour (DOL) in a consortium, where each member expresses a single protein of a longer degradation pathway. Results Here, we model a two-strain consortium, with one strain expressing an endohydrolase and a second strain expressing an exohydrolase, for cooperative degradation of a complex substrate. Our results suggest that there is a balance between increasing expression to enhance degradation versus the burden that higher expression causes. Once a threshold of burden is reached, the consortium will consistently perform better than an equivalent single-cell monoculture. Conclusions We demonstrate that resource-aware whole-cell models can be used to predict the benefits and limitations of using consortia systems to overcome burden. Our model predicts the region of expression where DOL would be beneficial for growth on starch, which will assist in making informed design choices for this, and other, complex-substrate degradation pathways

Effects of balloon injury on neointimal hyperplasia in steptozotocin-induced diabetes and in hyperinsulinemic nondiabetic pancreatic islet-transplanted rats.

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms of increased neointimal hyperplasia after coronary interventions in diabetic patients are still unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: Glucose and insulin effects on in vitro vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and migration were assessed. The effect of balloon injury on neointimal hyperplasia was studied in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats with or without adjunct insulin therapy. To study the effect of balloon injury in nondiabetic rats with hyperinsulinemia, pancreatic islets were transplanted under the kidney capsule in normal rats. Glucose did not increase VSMC proliferation and migration in vitro. In contrast, insulin induced a significant increase in VSMC proliferation and migration in cell cultures. Furthermore, in VSMC culture, insulin increased MAPK activation. A reduction in neointimal hyperplasia was consistently documented after vascular injury in hyperglycemic streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Insulin therapy significantly increased neointimal hyperplasia in these rats. This effect of hyperinsulinemia was totally abolished by transfection on the arterial wall of the N17H-ras-negative mutant gene. Finally, after experimental balloon angioplasty in hyperinsulinemic nondiabetic islet-transplanted rats, a significant increase in neointimal hyperplasia was observed. CONCLUSIONS: In rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes, balloon injury was not associated with an increase in neointimal formation. Exogenous insulin administration in diabetic rats and islet transplantation in nondiabetic rats increased both blood insulin levels and neointimal hyperplasia after balloon injury. Hyperinsulinemia through activation of the ras/MAPK pathway, rather than hyperglycemia per se, seems to be of crucial importance in determining the exaggerated neointimal hyperplasia after balloon angioplasty in diabetic animals

ATLAS RPC Quality Assurance results at INFN Lecce

The main results of the quality assurance tests performed on the Resistive Plate Chamber used by the ATLAS experiment at LHC as muon trigger chambers are reported and discussed. Since July 2004, about 270 RPC units has been certified at INFN Lecce site and delivered to CERN, for being integrated in the final muon station of the ATLAS barrel region. We show the key RPC characteristics which qualify the performance of this detector technology as muon trigger chamber in the harsh LHC enviroments. These are dark current, chamber efficiency, noise rate, gas volume tomography, and gas leakage.Comment: Comments: 6 pages, 1 table, 9 figures Proceedings of XXV Physics in Collision-Prague, Czech Republic, 6-9 July 200