Burrowing apparatus

A soil burrowing mole is described in which a housing has an auger blade wound around a front portion. This portion is rotatable about a housing longitudinal axis relative to an externally finned housing rear portion upon operation of driving means to cause an advance through soil and the like. The housing carries a sensor sensitive to deviation from a predetermined path and to which is coupled means for steering the housing to maintain the path

Peptide Electrophoretic Patterns of Cucumoviruses

The peptide electrophoretic patterns of several cucumovirus isolates were compared using 15% polyacrylamide slab-gels. Both Staphylococcus aureus VB protease and a.-chymotrypsin partially digested the protein subunits of these virllies into peptides which produced different patterns when electrophoresed though the gels. Major differences were observed among peptide electrophoretic patterns of cucumber mosaic, peanut stunt and tomato aspermy viruses. Differences, if they do exist, among strains of the same virus were either in apparent or minor

Does Campaigning on Social Media Make a Difference? Evidence from candidate use of Twitter during the 2015 and 2017 UK Elections

Social media are now a routine part of political campaigns all over the world. However, studies of the impact of campaigning on social platform have thus far been limited to cross-sectional datasets from one election period which are vulnerable to unobserved variable bias. Hence empirical evidence on the effectiveness of political social media activity is thin. We address this deficit by analysing a novel panel dataset of political Twitter activity in the 2015 and 2017 elections in the United Kingdom. We find that Twitter based campaigning does seem to help win votes, a finding which is consistent across a variety of different model specifications including a first difference regression. The impact of Twitter use is small in absolute terms, though comparable with that of campaign spending. Our data also support the idea that effects are mediated through other communication channels, hence challenging the relevance of engaging in an interactive fashion

‘Silence is the sentence’: adult learners’ experiences of a co-created curriculum constructed through free writing tasks

This paper outlines the pedagogical approaches taken on a University Access course, teaching predominantly mature students on a 12-week ‘inclusion in education’ module. The methods aimed to validate and develop literacy and academic skills for students undertaking undergraduate courses. Practice on the programme of study, replicated over three years, is informed by transformative learning theories. We outline how our developing praxis situates students’ self-concepts in confronting past biographical experiences of education and empowers them to improved literacy and purpose. We further propose that such andragogical approaches to teaching and learning can potentially serve as a model for improved literacy practices in post-compulsory education in England – a curriculum and qualification regime in radical need of overhaul and replacement.&nbsp

The pharmacokinetics of nebulized nanocrystal budesonide suspension in healthy volunteers.

Nanocrystal budesonide (nanobudesonide) is a suspension for nebulization in patients with steroid-responsive pulmonary diseases such as asthma. The pharmacokinetics and safety of the product were compared to those of Pulmicort Respules. Sixteen healthy volunteers were administered nanobudesonide 0.5 and 1.0 mg, Pulmicort Respules 0.5 mg, and placebo in a four-way, randomized crossover design. All nebulized formulations were well tolerated, with no evidence of bronchospasm. Nebulization times were significantly shorter for nanobudesonide compared to Pulmicort Respules. Because of a low oral bioavailability, plasma concentration of budesonide is a good marker of lung-delivered dose. The pharmacokinetics of nanobudesonide 0.5 and 1.0 mg were approximately dose proportional with respect to Cmax, AUC(0-t), and AUC(0-infinity). Nanobudesonide 0.5 mg and Pulmicort Respules 0.5 mg exhibited similar AUCs, suggesting a similar extent of pulmonary absorption. A higher Cmax was noted with nanobudesonide 0.5 mg, and the tmax was significantly different, suggesting a more rapid rate of drug delivery of nanobudesonide 0.5 mg than Pulmicort Respules. In conclusion, nebulized nanobudesonide 0.5 mg was safe in healthy volunteers, with a similar extent of absorption as Pulmicort Respules

Playful Tarot: Adaptations of Tarot In, Through, and Across Games.

The magical practice of divination through tarot emanates from the sacred, ritualistic power of play. Long before tarot accretes esoteric symbolism as a divinatory tool, Italians played it as the parlour game tarrochi. Extending this history, many games implement tarot as a mechanical framework and a source of visual imagery. Yet, not all implementations of tarot are equally successful artistically and spiritually. Ludic tarot is often mechanistic (just another way to think about buffs and stats) or superficially thematic (visual imagery without underlying semiotic content). In this paper, we will unravel the intertwined history of games and tarot, exploring its relationship to other cartomantic practices, including the dark Gnostic “Game of Saturn” decoded by Peter Mark Adams in the Sola-Busca deck, the pragmatically cryptic Lenormand deck, and the divinatory use of standard 52-card playing decks in folk witchcraft. Building upon this historical insight, we will then analyse three related tabletop games as case studies: Chalice (in which tarot generates narratives of a failed Grail quest), Alas Vegas (which resolves conflict and generates narrative through tarot-driven blackjack), and Invisible Sun (which reinvents tarot through the circular Sooth deck driving its magic system). All three of these games weave resonant connections between the imagery and mechanics of cards and fictional gameworlds, thereby investing tarot with an eerie sense of meaningful coincidence or synchronicity. Understanding the techniques that create a more resonant experience of tarot can open the way for a deeper implementation of tarot in game development, as well as enable playful reflection and insight within the magical practice. Specifically, insights into non-digital ludic implementations of tarot can pave the way for richer and more resonant digital tarot applications, building upon and deepening the recent use of tarot in videogames (such as Tanya X. Short’s Cartomancy anthology and Adam Malone’s VR tarot)

Serological detection and identification of rice blast

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) useful in the serological detection and identification of rice blast were produced by hybridoma cells formed from fusions of myeloma cells with splenocytes from BALB/c mice immunized with an extract of a liquid culture fluid of an isolate of Pyricularia grisea race IB-49. These MAbs reacted similarly with the antigens in various serological techniques used, and did not cross react with any unrelated fungal isolates representing 11 genera, but reacted positively with all 20 races or isolates of P. grisea. The MAbs could detect homologous antigen at about 60 ng fungal protein/ml and a 5-fold dilution of the extracts of infected rice tissue by ELISA. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, hybridoma lines secreting antibodies positive for the immunogen and negative for healthy rice tissue were selected from three independent fusions of NS-1 myeloma cells with splenocytes from mice immunized with crushed conidial suspensions of P. grisea race IB-49. MAbs secreted from cell line 4G11, deposited with ATCC as HB11178, reacted strongly with conidial antigen. In cross-reaction tests with ELISA, MAb 4G11 reacted negatively with isolates representing 11 fungal genera and reacted positively with 11 and 12 isolates of P. grisea in ELISA and IFA, respectively. MAb 4G11 could detect homologous conidial antigen at 14-70 ng/ml, 10-20 conidia/well, and the fungal antigen in infected rice tissue in ELISA

X‐ray Powder Diffraction Structural Phase‐Transition Study Of La(Cr1‐xMnx)O3 (x = 0 To 0.25) Using The Rietveld Method Of Analysis

The La(Cr1‐xMnx)O3 (x = 0 to 0.25) system exhibited a displacive phase transformation from an orthorhombic to a rhombohedral structure at temperatures ranging from about 256°C at x= 0 to 305°C at x= 0.25. The Rietveld method of X‐ray analysis was used to determine structural characteristics and to assay phase concentrations when multiple phases were present. Indications were that the Mn ions on the B site affected the transition temperature through an ionic size effect; i.e., Mn3+, with a larger ionic size than Cr3+, increased the transition temperature while the presence of the smaller Mn4+ ions reduced it. A hysteresis was also observed with respect to the phase transformation as a function of temperature. The phase transformation was associated with a change in the rotation of the oxygen octahedra from an antiphase to an in‐phase tilt sequence. Copyright © 1992, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserve