Predicting drug-target interactions through integrative analysis of chemogenetic assays in yeast

Peer reviewe

Contemporary (2001) and ‘Little Ice Age’ glacier extents in the Buordakh Massif, Cherskiy Range, north east Siberia

The Buordakh Massif of the Cherskiy Range of sub-arctic north east Siberia, Russia has a cold continental climate and supports over 80 glaciers. Despite previous research in the region, a georeferenced map of the glaciers has only recently been completed and an enhanced version of it is reproduced in colour here. The mountains of this region reach heights in excess of 3,000 m and the glaciers on their slopes range in size from 0.1 to 10.4 km2. The mapping has been compiled through the interpretation of Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery from August 2001 which has been augmented by data from a field campaign undertaken at the same time. The glaciers of the region are of the cold, ‘firn-less’ continental type and their mass balance relies heavily on the formation of superimposed ice. Moraines which lie in front of the glaciers by up to a few kilometres are believed to date from the Little Ice Age (ca. 1550-1850 AD). Over half of the glaciers mapped have shown marked retreat from these moraines

Developing LCA-based benchmarks for sustainable consumption - for and with users

This article presents the development process of a consumer-oriented, illustrative benchmarking tool enabling consumers to use the results of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) to make informed decisions. Active and environmentally conscious consumers and environmental communicators were identified as key target groups for this type of information. A brochure presenting the benchmarking tool was developed as an participatory, iterative process involving consumer focus groups, stakeholder workshops and questionnaire-based feedback. In addition to learning what works and what does not, detailed suggestions on improved wording and figures were obtained, as well as a wealth of ideas for future applications

Electronic structure of triangular, hexagonal and round graphene flakes near the Fermi level

The electronic shell structure of triangular, hexagonal and round graphene quantum dots (flakes) near the Fermi level has been studied using a tight-binding method. The results show that close to the Fermi level the shell structure of a triangular flake is that of free massless particles, and that triangles with an armchair edge show an additional sequence of levels ("ghost states"). These levels result from the graphene band structure and the plane wave solution of the wave equation, and they are absent for triangles with an zigzag edge. All zigzag triangles exhibit a prominent edge state at the Fermi level, and few low-energy conduction electron states occur both in triangular and hexagonal flakes due to symmetry reasons. Armchair triangles can be used as building blocks for other types of flakes that support the ghost states. Edge roughness has only a small effect on the level structure of the triangular flakes, but the effect is considerably enhanced in the other types of flakes. In round flakes, the states near the Fermi level depend strongly on the flake radius, and they are always localized on the zigzag parts of the edge

Poliittinen henkilöbrändi ja sen rakentuminen

Tiivistelmä. Poliittinen henkilöbrändäys on kasvattanut suosiotaan viimeisten vuosien aikana ja poliittisten henkilöbrändien uskottavuus on lisääntynyt tutkimuksen myötä. Aiheeseen liittyvä tutkimus on kuitenkin pääasiassa kansainvälistä, joten poliittisesta henkilöbrändäyksestä tehty tutkimus suomeksi on tarpeellista ja ajankohtaista. Tutkielmalla on yhteiskunnallista tilausta ja vaikutusta. Tämän tutkielman tavoite on lisätä ymmärrystä henkilöbrändin rakentumisesta poliittisille toimijoille. Vielä tarkemmin, tutkimusongelma on, että miten uransa alussa olevat poliitikot voivat rakentaa henkilöbrändinsä niin, että he panostavat oikeisiin tekijöihin alusta alkaen, rakentaen henkilöbrändistään mahdollisimman hyvän. Tutkimuskysymys ja siihen vastaaminen auttavat osaltaan tämän ratkaisun löytymistä. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys perustuu aiempaan tutkimukseen henkilöbrändäyksestä ja poliittisesta henkilöbrändäyksestä. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen pohjalta on luotu synteesi, jossa poliittisen henkilöbrändin rakentumista tarkastellaan seitsemän tekijän kautta, nämä tekijät ovat: arvot, motivaatio, identiteetti, imago, viestintä, verkostot ja kohderyhmä. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään näiden tekijöiden vaikuttavuutta poliittisen henkilöbrändin eri vaiheissa: nollavaihe, ensivaiheet ja jatkovaihe. Tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty laadullista tutkimusta, aineistonkeruumenetelmänä on kenttätutkimus ja aineistoa on kerätty haastatteluin, jonka muotona on teemahaastattelu. Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin kahdeksaa poliittisen uransa alussa olevaa henkilöä. Tämä tutkielma tuotti uutta tietoa henkilöbrändin rakentumisesta paitsi poliittisista, niin myös suomalaisista lähtökohdista. Tutkimuksen keskeiset johtopäätökset ovat, että uransa alkuvaiheessa olevat poliitikot nostavat seitsemän eri tekijää tärkeiksi tekijöiksi poliittisen henkilöbrändin rakentumisen näkökulmasta. Näiden tekijöiden merkitys syvenee sitä mukaa, mitä pidemmälle poliittinen henkilöbrändi rakentuu. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa on tarkasteltu poliittisen henkilöbrändin eri vaiheita. Poliittinen henkilöbrändi rakentuu eri vaiheissa aina aiemmin opitun päälle, hyödyntäen ainakin niitä tekijöitä, jotka tässä tutkimuksessa on havaittu. Henkilöbrändäystä on tutkittu sekä Suomessa, että kansainvälisesti ennenkin, mutta ilmeisesti rajausta poliittisen henkilöbrändin rakentumiseen erityisesti tekijöiden ja eri vaiheiden näkökulmasta ei ole aiemmin tehty. Näin ollen tälle tutkimukselle on selkeä tutkimusaukko. Tutkimuksen tuloksia voivat hyödyntää yksityishenkilöt ja yritykset, jotka ovat kiinnostuneita poliittisesta henkilöbrändäyksestä. Tutkimuksen löydösten avulla on mahdollista rakentaa merkittävää lisäarvoa poliittiselle henkilöbrändille

Rectangular quantum dots in high magnetic fields

We use density-functional methods to study the effects of an external magnetic field on two-dimensional quantum dots with a rectangular hard-wall confining potential. The increasing magnetic field leads to spin polarization and formation of a highly inhomogeneous maximum-density droplet at the predicted magnetic field strength. At higher fields, we find an oscillating behavior in the electron density and in the magnetization of the dot. We identify a rich variety of phenomena behind the periodicity and analyze the complicated many-electron dynamics, which is shown to be highly dependent on the shape of the quantum dot.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Hybridization may aid evolutionary rescue of an endangered East African passerine

Introgressive hybridization is a process that enables gene flow across species barriers through the backcrossing of hybrids into a parent population. This may make genetic material, potentially including relevant environmental adaptations, rapidly available in a gene pool. Consequently, it has been postulated to be an important mechanism for enabling evolutionary rescue, that is the recovery of threatened populations through rapid evolutionary adaptation to novel environments. However, predicting the likelihood of such evolutionary rescue for individual species remains challenging. Here, we use the example of Zosterops silvanus, an endangered East African highland bird species suffering from severe habitat loss and fragmentation, to investigate whether hybridization with its congener Zosterops flavilateralis might enable evolutionary rescue of its Taita Hills population. To do so, we employ an empirically parameterized individual-based model to simulate the species' behaviour, physiology and genetics. We test the population's response to different assumptions of mating behaviour and multiple scenarios of habitat change. We show that as long as hybridization does take place, evolutionary rescue of Z. silvanus is likely. Intermediate hybridization rates enable the greatest long-term population growth, due to trade-offs between adaptive and maladaptive introgressed alleles. Habitat change did not have a strong effect on population growth rates, as Z. silvanus is a strong disperser and landscape configuration is therefore not the limiting factor for hybridization. Our results show that targeted gene flow may be a promising avenue to help accelerate the adaptation of endangered species to novel environments, and demonstrate how to combine empirical research and mechanistic modelling to deliver species-specific predictions for conservation planning.Peer reviewe

Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents : an in vitro study

Adenosine acting in the basal forebrain is a key mediator of sleep homeostasis. Extracellular adenosine concentrations increase during wakefulness, especially during prolonged wakefulness and lead to increased sleep pressure and subsequent rebound sleep. The release of endogenous adenosine during the sleep-wake cycle has mainly been studied in vivo with microdialysis techniques. The biochemical changes that accompany sleep-wake status may be preserved in vitro. We have therefore used adenosine-sensitive biosensors in slices of the basal forebrain (BFB) to study both depolarization-evoked adenosine release and the steady state adenosine tone in rats, mice and hamsters. Adenosine release was evoked by high K+, AMPA, NMDA and mGlu receptor agonists, but not by other transmitters associated with wakefulness such as orexin, histamine or neurotensin. Evoked and basal adenosine release in the BFB in vitro exhibited three key features: the magnitude of each varied systematically with the diurnal time at which the animal was sacrificed; sleep deprivation prior to sacrifice greatly increased both evoked adenosine release and the basal tone; and the enhancement of evoked adenosine release and basal tone resulting from sleep deprivation was reversed by the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitor, 1400 W. These data indicate that characteristics of adenosine release recorded in the BFB in vitro reflect those that have been linked in vivo to the homeostatic control of sleep. Our results provide methodologically independent support for a key role for induction of iNOS as a trigger for enhanced adenosine release following sleep deprivation and suggest that this induction may constitute a biochemical memory of this state

Men, masculinities and young people: north–south dialogues

Dialoguing across national borders and specifically global North-South centres and margins has increasingly been viewed as a way to enhance critical and feminist studies and engagement with men and masculinities. This article draws on narratives levels, both in interpersonal and intergroup relations, as well as in public representation of collaborative work. generated by a group of researchers in South Africa and Finland who have been engaged in a transnational research project that included a strong focus on young men, masculinities and gender and sexual justice. The piece provides an account of the nuanced and complex experiences and dynamics involved in transnational research collaboration, particularly within the framework on historical and continued inequalities between the global North and South. While obvious benefits are raised, this experience also foregrounds a range of challenges and constraints involved in transnational research collaboration within this field and possibly many others. Key learnings gleaned from this analysis of reported experiences and thoughts include the importance of careful, considered and critical reflexivity at all moments and at al