Antimicrobial Footprints, Fairness, and Collective Harm

This chapter explores the question of whether or not individual agents are under a moral obligation to reduce their ‘antimicrobial footprint’. An agent’s antimicrobial footprint measures the extent to which her actions are causally linked to the use of antibiotics. As such, it is not necessarily a measure of her contribution to antimicrobial resistance. Talking about people’s antimicrobial footprint in a way we talk about our carbon footprint may be helpful for drawing attention to the global effects of individual behaviour and for highlighting that our choices can collectively make a real difference. But can we be morally obligated to make a contribution to resolving a collective action problem when our individual contributions by themselves make no discernible difference? I will focus on two lines of argument in favour of such obligations: whether a failure to reduce one’s antimicrobial footprint is unfair and whether it constitutes wrongdoing because it is harmful. I conclude by suggesting that the argument from collective harm is ultimately more successful

Anomalous density, sound velocity, and structure of pressure-induced amorphous quartz

The study of quartz and other silica systems under pressure is one of the most prolific domains of research over the past 50 years because of their applications in material science and fundamental relevance to planetary interiors. The characterization of the amorphous state is essential for the comprehension of pressure-induced amorphization of minerals, the metamorphism observed in shocked materials, and the study of melt structures under pressure. Here, we measured in situ, under static compression the density, sound velocities, and electronic structure of quartz as it passes through its pressure-induced amorphization transition. The transition pressure could be derived from the abrupt increase in density and sound velocity at 24 GPa, and from strong changes in the silicon L2,3 edge and oxygen K edge between 22 and 27 GPa observed in x-ray Raman scattering data, confirming previous results from x-ray diffraction. Above this pressure, our data show an anomalous behavior in density, sound velocity, and electronic fine structure compared to the cold compressed glass and other silica polymorphs. The pressure-induced amorphous quartz has a lower density relative to that of the compressed glass, consistent with the lower average coordination inferred from a different signature in the Si L2,3 and O K electronic absorption edges measured by x-ray Raman scattering spectroscopy. This behavior sheds light on the pressure limit of tetrahedral units in SiO2 components and the existence of polyamorphism in network-forming materials, and highlights the possibility to discriminate between different amorphous states with x-ray Raman scattering spectroscopy

The Chicken Yolk Sac IgY Receptor, a Mammalian Mannose Receptor Family Member, Transcytoses IgY across Polarized Epithelial Cells

In mammals the transfer of passive immunity from mother to young is mediated by the MHC-related receptor FcRn, which transports maternal IgG across epithelial cell barriers. In birds, maternal IgY in egg yolk is transferred across the yolk sac to passively immunize chicks during gestation and early independent life. The chicken yolk sac IgY receptor (FcRY) is the ortholog of the mammalian phospholipase A2 receptor, a mannose receptor family member, rather than an FcRn or MHC homolog. FcRn and FcRY both exhibit ligand binding at the acidic pH of endosomes and ligand release at the slightly basic pH of blood. Here we show that FcRY expressed in polarized mammalian epithelial cells functioned in endocytosis, bidirectional transcytosis, and recycling of chicken FcY/IgY. Confocal immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that IgY binding and endocytosis occurred at acidic but not basic pH, mimicking pH-dependent uptake of IgG by FcRn. Colocalization studies showed FcRY-mediated internalization via clathrin-coated pits and transport involving early and recycling endosomes. Disruption of microtubules partially inhibited apical-to-basolateral and basolateral-to-apical transcytosis, but not recycling, suggesting the use of different trafficking machinery. Our results represent the first cell biological evidence of functional equivalence between FcRY and FcRn and provide an intriguing example of how evolution can give rise to systems in which similar biological requirements in different species are satisfied utilizing distinct protein folds

Does the Constitution Provide More Ballot Access Protection for Presidential Elections Than for U.S. House Elections?

Both the U.S. Constitution and The Federalist Papers suggest that voters ought to have more freedom to vote for the candidate of their choice for the U.S. House of Representatives than they do for the President or the U.S. Senate. Yet, strangely, for the last thirty-three years, the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have ruled that the Constitution gives voters more freedom to vote for the candidate of their choice in presidential elections than in congressional elections. Also, state legislatures, which have been writing ballot access laws since 1888, have passed laws that make it easier for minor-party and independent candidates to get on the ballot for President than for the U.S. House. As a result, voters in virtually every state invariably have far more choices on their general election ballots for the President than they do for the House. This Article argues that the right of a voter to vote for someone other than a Democrat or a Republican for the House is just as important as a voter’s right to do so for President, and that courts should grant more ballot access protection to minor-party and independent candidates for the House

Testing the daytime oxidizing capacity of the troposphere: 1994 OH field campaign at the Izaña Observatory, Tenerife

A field campaign was carried out during May 1994 at the Izaña station, Tenerife. This campaign was part of the program Environment and Climate sponsored by the European Commission to study the influence of European emissions on the oxidizing capacity of a clean tropospheric environment. Daytime and also nighttime measurements were made, covering the OH as well as the NO3 chemistry. This paper presents the OH measurements taken with a multipass optical absorption spectrometer (MOAS) and discusses the daytime chemistry in a statistical and therefore more preliminary way. All relevant parameters influencing the OH concentration were monitored. From the data the two main contributions to the OH production can clearly be discerned and are given by the primary production following the ozone photolysis and the O(1D)-H2O reaction and by the catalytic reactions of NOx in the recycling process. The latter processes prove to contribute a dominant part to the OH concentration. The measurements of the nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) especially of the biogenics, indicate a considerable influence of the NMHC on the absolute values of the OH concentration at Tenerife.This work has been financially supported by the European Commission (grant EV5V-CT93-0321), by the DFG, and by the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, which is gratefully acknowledged

A pipeline to quantify serum and cerebrospinal fluid microRNAs for diagnosis and detection of relapse in paediatric malignant germ-cell tumours

Background:The current biomarkers alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin have limited sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing malignant germ-cell tumours (GCTs). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) from the miR-371-373 and miR-302/367 clusters are overexpressed in all malignant GCTs, and some of these miRNAs show elevated serum levels at diagnosis. Here, we developed a robust technical pipeline to quantify these miRNAs in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The pipeline was used in samples from a cohort of exclusively paediatric patients with gonadal and extragonadal malignant GCTs, compared with appropriate tumour and non-tumour control groups.Methods:We developed a method for miRNA quantification that enabled sample adequacy assessment and reliable data normalisation. We performed qRT-PCR profiling for miR-371-373 and miR-302/367 cluster miRNAs in a total of 45 serum and CSF samples, obtained from 25 paediatric patients.Results:The exogenous non-human spike-in cel-miR-39-3p and the endogenous housekeeper miR-30b-5p were optimal for obtaining robust serum and CSF qRT-PCR quantification. A four-serum miRNA panel (miR-371a-3p, miR-372-3p, miR-373-3p and miR-367-3p): (i) showed high sensitivity/specificity for diagnosing paediatric extracranial malignant GCT; (ii) allowed early detection of relapse of a testicular mixed malignant GCT; and (iii) distinguished intracranial malignant GCT from intracranial non-GCT tumours at diagnosis, using CSF and serum samples.Conclusions:The pipeline we have developed is robust, scalable and transferable. It potentially promises to improve clinical management of paediatric (and adult) malignant GCTs

Differential (2+1) Jet Event Rates and Determination of alpha_s in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

Events with a (2+1) jet topology in deep-inelastic scattering at HERA are studied in the kinematic range 200 < Q^2< 10,000 GeV^2. The rate of (2+1) jet events has been determined with the modified JADE jet algorithm as a function of the jet resolution parameter and is compared with the predictions of Monte Carlo models. In addition, the event rate is corrected for both hadronization and detector effects and is compared with next-to-leading order QCD calculations. A value of the strong coupling constant of alpha_s(M_Z^2)= 0.118+- 0.002 (stat.)^(+0.007)_(-0.008) (syst.)^(+0.007)_(-0.006) (theory) is extracted. The systematic error includes uncertainties in the calorimeter energy calibration, in the description of the data by current Monte Carlo models, and in the knowledge of the parton densities. The theoretical error is dominated by the renormalization scale ambiguity.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, submitted to Eur. Phys.