Young and Intermediate-age Distance Indicators

Distance measurements beyond geometrical and semi-geometrical methods, rely mainly on standard candles. As the name suggests, these objects have known luminosities by virtue of their intrinsic proprieties and play a major role in our understanding of modern cosmology. The main caveats associated with standard candles are their absolute calibration, contamination of the sample from other sources and systematic uncertainties. The absolute calibration mainly depends on their chemical composition and age. To understand the impact of these effects on the distance scale, it is essential to develop methods based on different sample of standard candles. Here we review the fundamental properties of young and intermediate-age distance indicators such as Cepheids, Mira variables and Red Clump stars and the recent developments in their application as distance indicators.Comment: Review article, 63 pages (28 figures), Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews (Chapter 3 of a special collection resulting from the May 2016 ISSI-BJ workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age

Enterprise resource planning adoption: structural equation modeling analysis of antecedents

This study identifies the key antecedent factors for accomplishing the adoption stage of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Five potential antecedent factors of adoption were derived from the literature, including that on innovation theories, and data were obtained from a sample of 217 organizations across Australia. A structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to examine the complex relationships between antecedents and the adoption decision. We found that there were three positive drivers of a successful outcome of the ERP adoption stage. Prior findings have shown that system quality is a key enabler for innovation adoption by individuals, and we found that system quality is also an important driver for organizational adoption of ERP. It was also indicated that organizations consider adopting ERP when the market and customer patterns are relatively stable rather than in turbulent environments.Jiwat Ram, David Corkindale and Ming-Lu Wuhttp://www.iacis.org/jcis/jcis_toc.php?volume=54&issue=

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

A Critical Review of India’s Urban Governance Reforms and Its Impact on Transport Sector: Case Studies of Bangalore and Jaipur

Transport is central to the development of urban areas because it directly affects the economic efficiency of the cities and the well-being of inhabitants. In the context of rapid urbanization processes, increasing travel demand, growing congestion, negative environmental impacts, the large size of investments, and the impacts of transport on daily human life, it is essential to formulate policies and strategies that enable the sustainable development of the transport sector in the cities. The redesign of the urban mobility governance system has played a pivotal role in seeking to promote more equitable, desirable, economically efficient, and environmentally sustainable cities in India. Recently, the Government of India implemented the Smart Cities Mission, to address sustainable development challenges in parts of 100 cities. This paper focuses on the implementation of the Smart City Mission to fulfil a threefold purpose (a) to examine the various governance reform initiatives implemented over the past few years to determine their impact on long-term infrastructure development projects and to identify those that could not be implemented (b) to give a detailed review of Smart Cities Mission and (c) to build a stakeholder map by conducting workshops with stakeholders, to understand the relationships between local actors, public officials, Non-Governmental Organizations, and institutions involved in sustainable transport infrastructure initiatives in Bangalore and Jaipur, and their connection to the new Smart City Mission initiative and delivery