Do Aid Agencies Have an Ethical Duty to Comply with Researchers? A Response to Rennie.

Medical AID organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières receive several requests from individuals and international academic institutions to conduct research at their implementation sites in Africa. Do AID agencies have an ethical duty to comply with research requests? In this paper we respond to the views and constructed theories (albeit unfounded) of one such researcher, whose request to conduct research at one of our sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo was turned down

Resonant backward scattering of light by a two-side-open subwavelength metallic slit

The backward scattering of TM-polarized light by a two-side-open subwavelength slit in a metal film is analyzed. We show that the reflection coefficient versus wavelength possesses a Fabry-Perot-like dependence that is similar to the anomalous behavior of transmission reported in the study [Y. Takakura, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{86}, 5601 (2001)]. The open slit totally reflects the light at the near-to-resonance wavelengths. In addition, we show that the interference of incident and resonantly backward-scattered light produces in the near-field diffraction zone a spatially localized wave whose intensity is 10-10$^3$ times greater than the incident wave, but one order of magnitude smaller than the intra-cavity intensity. The amplitude and phase of the resonant wave at the slit entrance and exit are different from that of a Fabry-Perot cavity.Comment: 5 figure

Multilingual higher education in European regions

Although English is often conceived as the dominant language of international and transnational communication in higher education, it is not the only medium of communication in the academic community. National, regional and local languages remain important, in some European countries more than in others. In Janssens, Mamadouh and Marácz (2011) we have argued that too little attention is paid to languages in the realm between the local and the global domain: what we called languages of regional communication, that can be used in multilingual and in border regions. Here we focus on multilingualism in higher education in regions where global and regional languages are in contact or compete with each other for hegemony. Will the languages - in the 20th century quite often national languages - of higher education be replaced by English or will there be developing a more balanced situation where next to English also national, regional and local languages play a role in higher education. We will conclude in this paper that the rise of English in the higher education in the context of national, regional and local languages is impressive but that the non-global languages have a robust position in higher education that is rooted in history and connected to the identity of its speakers. The case studies presents evidence from regions where multilingualism does not necessary mean Englishization. Flanders with the role of French, Dutch and English, Hungary and the Carpathian Basin with Hungarian as a national and minority language, and universities on the border between Romance and Germanic languages

Systematics of heavy-ion fusion hindrance at extreme sub-barrier energies

The recent discovery of hindrance in heavy-ion induced fusion reactions at extreme sub-barrier energies represents a challenge for theoretical models. Previously, it has been shown that in medium-heavy systems, the onset of fusion hindrance depends strongly on the "stiffness" of the nuclei in the entrance channel. In this work, we explore its dependence on the total mass and the $Q$-value of the fusing systems and find that the fusion hindrance depends in a systematic way on the entrance channel properties over a wide range of systems.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett., 5 pages, 3 figure

Effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy in HIV-positive children: evaluation at 12 months in a routine program in Cambodia.

OBJECTIVE: Increasing access to highly active antiretroviral therapy to reach all those in need in developing countries (scale up) is slowly expanding to HIV-positive children, but documented experience remains limited. We aimed to describe the clinical, immunologic, and virologic outcomes of pediatric patients with >12 months of highly active antiretroviral therapy in 2 routine programs in Cambodia. METHODS: Between June 2003 and March 2005, 212 children who were younger than 13 years started highly active antiretroviral therapy. Most patients started a standard first-line regimen of lamivudine, stavudine, and nevirapine, using split adult fixed-dosage combinations. CD4 percentage and body weight were monitored routinely. A cross-sectional virologic analysis was conducted in January 2006; genotype resistance testing was performed for patients with a detectable viral load. RESULTS: Mean age of the subjects was 6 years. Median CD4 percentage at baseline was 6. Survival was 92% at 12 months and 91% at 24 months; 13 patients died, and 4 were lost to follow-up. A total of 81% of all patients had an undetectable viral load. Among the patients with a detectable viral load, most mutations were associated with resistance to lamivudine and non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor drugs. Five patients had developed extensive antiretroviral resistance. Being an orphan was found to be a predictor of virologic failure. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides additional evidence of the effectiveness of integrating HIV/AIDS care with highly active antiretroviral therapy for children in a routine setting, with good virologic suppression and immunologic recovery achieved by using split adult fixed-dosage combinations. Viral load monitoring and HIV genotyping are valuable tools for the clinical follow-up of the patients. Orphans should receive careful follow-up and extra support

The Last (Koy-Yukon) Interglaciation in the Northern Yukon: Evidence from Unit 4 at Ch’ijee’s Bluff, Bluefish Basin

The effects of predicted anthropogenic warming can be assessed in part by documenting responses to past warming events. One of the most pronounced warmings was the last interglaciation - stage 5 of the marine isotope record. A large multinational and multidisciplinary project (CELIA) was launched recently in order to gain detailed knowledge of the climate during stage 5. Several key exposures were identified by CELIA; one of them is Ch'ijee's Bluff on the Porcupine River, northern Yukon. Pollen, plant and insect macrofossils and stratigraphie evidence from Ch'ijee's Bluff show that the part of Ch'ijee's Unit 4 that is above and younger than Old Crow tephra (OCt) was deposited during an interval of climate warmer than present. When OCt was dated at 85 ka BP, the subsequent warming interval was presumed to be correlative with the early part of marine isotope stage 3. New dates on OCt show it to be 140-150 ka BP, and this means that the warm interval discussed here is more likely of stage 5 than stage 3 age. We apply the informal epithet, "Koy-Yukon interglaciation", to it and compare the Ch'ijee's Bluff Unit 4 sequence with other east Beringian sites that contain both Old Crow tephra and putative interglacial deposits.Les conséquences du réchauffement anthropique attendu pourraient en partie être évaluées à partir de nos connaissances sur les réchauffements climatiques antérieurs. Le réchauffement climatique le plus important s'est produit au cours du dernier interglaciaire (stade isotopique 5). Dans le but d'acquérir une meilleure connaissance du climat durant le stade 5, on a créé un important projet multidisciplinaire et multinational (CELIA). On a identifié plusieurs coupes clés dont celle de Ch'ijee's Bluff, de la Porcupine River, dans le nord du Yukon. Les indices fournis par le pollen, les végétaux, les macrofossiles d'insectes et la stratigraphie de Ch'ijee's Bluff démontrent que la partie de l'unité n 4 plus jeune que le tephra de Old Crow et située au-dessus a été déposée durant un intervalle plus chaud qu'aujourd'hui. Quand on a daté à 85 ka BP le tephra de Old Crow, on présumait que l'intervalle de réchauffement subséquent était corrélatif au stade isotopique 3, Les nouvelles dates le font maintenant remonter à 140-150 ka BP, ce qui signifie que le réchauffement climatique appartient plutôt au stade 5. On lui a attribué le nom informel de « interglaciaire de Koy-Yukon ». On a comparé la séquence de l'unité n 4 avec celle d'autres sites de Béringie qui renferment à la fois le tephra de Old Crow et des dépôts considérés comme étant interglaciaires.Die Auswirkungen einer erwarteten anthropogenen Erwàrmung kann man teilweise abschâtzen, indem man die Ergebnisse vergangener klimatischer Erwârmungen dokumentiert. Eine der herausragendsten klimatischen Erwârmungen war die letzte Interglazialzeit - Stadium 5 des marinen Isotop-Belegs. Kùrzlich hat man ein breitangelegtes multinationales und multidisziplinàres Projekt (CELIA) gestartet, um detaillierte Kenntnis ùber das Klima wàhrend des Stadium 5 zu erhalten. CELIA hat mehrere Schlussel-Schnitte identifiziert; einer davon ist Ch'ijee's Bluff am Porcupine River, nôrdliches Yukon. Die von Pollen, Pflanzen, Insektenmakrofossilen und Stratigraphie von Ch'ijee's Bluff gelieferten Anhaltspunkte zeigen, dass der Teil der Ch'ijee's-Einheit 4, der ùber Old Crow Tephra (OCt) liegt und jùnger ist, wâhrend eines klimatischen Intervalls. das warmer war als gengewârtig, abgelagert wurde. AIs man OCt auf 85 ka v. u. Z. datierte. nahm man an. dass das folgende Erwàrmungs-lntervall mit dem frùhen Teil des marinen Isotop-Stadiums 3 korrelierte. Neue Daten auf OCt zeigen, dass dieses 140-150 ka v. u. Z. ait ist, und das bedeutet, dass das warme Intervall, von dem hier die Rede ist. wohl eher dem Stadium 5 als dem Stadium 3 zugehôrt. Wir benutzen die informelle Bezeichnung "Koy-Yukon Interglazialzeit" und vergleichen die Ch'ijee's Bluff 4-Sequenz mit anderen Plâtzen von Ost-Bering, die sowohl Old Crow Tephra enthalten wie auch Ablagerungen, die man fur interglaziale Ablagerungen hait

Lifetime measurements of Triaxial Strongly Deformed bands in 163^{163}Tm

With the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method, quadrupole transition moments, $Q_t$, were determined for the two recently proposed Triaxial Strongly Deformed (TSD) bands in $^{163}$Tm. The measured $Q_t$ moments indicate that the deformation of these bands is larger than that of the yrast, signature partners. However, the measured values are smaller than those predicted by theory. This observation appears to be valid for TSD bands in several nuclei of the regionComment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Physical Review

Diversity in genomic organisation, developmental regulation and distribution of the murine PR72/B" subunits of protein phosphatase 2A

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a serine/threonine-specific phosphatase displaying vital functions in growth and development through its role in various signalling pathways. PP2A holoenzymes comprise a core dimer composed of a catalytic C and a structural A subunit, which can associate with a variable B-type subunit. The importance of the B-type subunits for PP2A regulation cannot be overestimated as they determine holoenzyme localisation, activity and substrate specificity. Three B-type subunit families have been identified: PR55/B, PR61/B' and PR72/B", of which the latter is currently the least characterised.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We deduced the sequences and genomic organisation of the different murine PR72/B" isoforms: three genes encode nine isoforms, five of which are abundantly expressed and give rise to genuine PP2A subunits. Thereby, one novel subunit was identified. Using Northern blotting, we examined the tissue-specific and developmental expression of these subunits. All subunits are highly expressed in heart, suggesting an important cardiac function. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed a striated expression pattern of PR72 and PR130 in heart and skeletal muscle, but not in bladder smooth muscle. The subcellular localisation and cell cycle regulatory ability of several PR72/B" isoforms were determined, demonstrating differences as well as similarities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In contrast to PR55/B and PR61/B', the PR72/B" family seems evolutionary more divergent, as only two of the murine genes have a human orthologue. We have integrated these results in a more consistent nomenclature of both human and murine PR72/B" genes and their transcripts/proteins. Our results provide a platform for the future generation of PR72/B" knockout mice.</p