The Uighur Riots in China: What do Facebook groups say?

In July  2009, China witnessed its worst ethnic clashes in decades, excluding those in Tibet, when  protests by Uighurs in Urumqi, capital of the western Xinjiang province, turned violent after police intervention. The protest started after two Uighur workers in the southern district of Guangdong had been killed as a result of racial violence. Soon afterwards, individuals belonging to the majority Han ethnicity, who represent about 92% of the Chinese population, but only 40% of the population of Xinjiang, attacked Uighur targets and individuals. The death toll rose to at least 150 individuals, although the racial breakdown of the deceased is still not quite clear. The government moved quickly to round up suspects and threatened to execute those directly involved in the violent incidents. Hundreds of Uighurs were detained by police

A comprehensive resource for induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with primary tauopathies

Primary tauopathies are characterized neuropathologically by inclusions containing abnormal forms of the microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) and clinically by diverse neuropsychiatric, cognitive, and motor impairments. Autosomal dominant mutations in the MAPT gene cause heterogeneous forms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with tauopathy (FTLD-Tau). Common and rare variants in the MAPT gene increase the risk for sporadic FTLD-Tau, including progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). We generated a collection of fibroblasts from 140 MAPT mutation/risk variant carriers, PSP, CBD, and cognitively normal controls; 31 induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from MAPT mutation carriers, non-carrier family members, and autopsy-confirmed PSP patients; 33 genome engineered iPSCs that were corrected or mutagenized; and forebrain neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Here, we present a resource of fibroblasts, iPSCs, and NPCs with comprehensive clinical histories that can be accessed by the scientific community for disease modeling and development of novel therapeutics for tauopathies

Joint Contour Net Analysis for Feature Detection in Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics Data

In this paper we demonstrate the use of multivariate topological algorithms to analyse and interpret Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) data. Lattice QCD is a long established field of theoretical physics research in the pursuit of understanding the strong nuclear force. Complex computer simulations model interactions between quarks and gluons to test theories regarding the behaviour of matter in a range of extreme environments. Data sets are typically generated using Monte Carlo methods, providing an ensemble of configurations, from which observable averages must be computed. This presents issues with regard to visualisation and analysis of the data as a typical ensemble study can generate hundreds or thousands of unique configurations. We show how multivariate topological methods, such as the Joint Contour Net, can assist physicists in the detection and tracking of important features within their data in a temporal setting. This enables them to focus upon the structure and distribution of the core observables by identifying them within the surrounding data. These techniques also demonstrate how quantitative approaches can help understand the lifetime of objects in a dynamic system.Comment: 30 pages, 19 figures, 4 table

Carbonaceous and nitrogenous disinfection by-product formation from algal organic matter

Seasonal algal blooms in drinking water sources release intracellular and extracellular algal organic matter (AOM) in significant concentrations into the water. This organic matter provides precursors for disinfection by-products (DBPs) formed when the water is subsequently chlorinated at the final disinfection stage of the potable water treatment process. This paper presents results of AOM characterisation from five algal species (three cyanobacteria, one diatom and one green) alongside the measurement of the DBP formation potential from the AOM of six algal species (an additional diatom). The character was explored in terms of hydrophilicity, charge and protein and carbohydrate content. 18 DBPs were measured following chlorination of the AOM samples: the four trihalomethanes (THMs), nine haloacetic acids (HAAs), four haloacetonitriles (HANs) and one halonitromethane (HNM). The AOM was found to be mainly hydrophilic (52 and 81%) in nature. Yields of up to 92.4 μg mg−1 C carbonaceous DBPs were measured, with few consistent trends between DBP formation propensity and either the specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) or the chemical characteristics. The AOM from diatomaceous algae formed significant amounts of nitrogenous DBPs (up to 1.7 μg mg−1 C). The weak trends in DBPFP may be attributable to the hydrophilic nature of AOM, which also makes it more challenging to remove by conventional water treatment processes

The environmental security debate and its significance for climate change

Policymakers, military strategists and academics all increasingly hail climate change as a security issue. This article revisits the (comparatively) long-standing “environmental security debate” and asks what lessons that earlier debate holds for the push towards making climate change a security issue. Two important claims are made. First, the emerging climate security debate is in many ways a re-run of the earlier dispute. It features many of the same proponents and many of the same disagreements. These disagreements concern, amongst other things, the nature of the threat, the referent object of security and the appropriate policy responses. Second, given its many different interpretations, from an environmentalist perspective, securitisation of the climate is not necessarily a positive development

Plasmodium vivax Malaria Endemicity in Indonesia in 2010

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium vivax imposes substantial morbidity and mortality burdens in endemic zones. Detailed understanding of the contemporary spatial distribution of this parasite is needed to combat it. We used model based geostatistics (MBG) techniques to generate a contemporary map of risk of Plasmodium vivax malaria in Indonesia in 2010. METHODS: Plasmodium vivax Annual Parasite Incidence data (2006-2008) and temperature masks were used to map P. vivax transmission limits. A total of 4,658 community surveys of P. vivax parasite rate (PvPR) were identified (1985-2010) for mapping quantitative estimates of contemporary endemicity within those limits. After error-checking a total of 4,457 points were included into a national database of age-standardized 1-99 year old PvPR data. A Bayesian MBG procedure created a predicted PvPR(1-99) endemicity surface with uncertainty estimates. Population at risk estimates were derived with reference to a 2010 human population surface. RESULTS: We estimated 129.6 million people in Indonesia lived at risk of P. vivax transmission in 2010. Among these, 79.3% inhabited unstable transmission areas and 20.7% resided in stable transmission areas. In western Indonesia, the predicted P. vivax prevalence was uniformly low. Over 70% of the population at risk in this region lived on Java and Bali islands, where little malaria transmission occurs. High predicted prevalence areas were observed in the Lesser Sundas, Maluku and Papua. In general, prediction uncertainty was relatively low in the west and high in the east. CONCLUSION: Most Indonesians living with endemic P. vivax experience relatively low risk of infection. However, blood surveys for this parasite are likely relatively insensitive and certainly do not detect the dormant liver stage reservoir of infection. The prospects for P. vivax elimination would be improved with deeper understanding of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PDd) distribution, anti-relapse therapy practices and manageability of P. vivax importation risk, especially in Java and Bali