10 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
The Right to the Sustainable Smart City
Environmental concerns have driven an interest in sustainable smart cities, through the monitoring and optimisation of networked infrastructures. At the same time, there are concerns about who these interventions and services are for, and who benefits. HCI researchers and designers interested in civic life have started to call for the democratisation of urban space through resistance and political action to challenge state and corporate claims. This paper contributes to an emerging body of work that seeks to involve citizens in the design of sustainable smart cities, particularly in the context of marginalised and culturally diverse urban communities. We present a study involving co- designing Internet of Things with urban agricultural communities and discuss three ways in which design can participate in the right to the sustainable smart city through designing for the commons, care, and biocultural diversity
Low-Energy Signatures of Semi-perturbative Unification
We consider the low-energy signatures of, and high-energy motivations for,
scenarios of semi-perturbative gauge coupling unification. Such scenarios can
leave striking imprints on the low-energy sparticle spectrum, including novel
gaugino mass ratios (including ), substantial compression of
the intra-generational squark-to-slepton mass ratios, and an overall lifting of
scalar masses relative to the gauginos. We also demonstrate that the
unification scale can be raised to GeV while still
in the perturbative regime -- close to the 1-loop heterotic string scale. We
employ a 3-loop calculation of the running of the gauge couplings as a test of
the perturbativity of the high-scale theory.Comment: 21 pages in LaTeX with 4 embedded figure
Siglec-7 engagement by GBS ÎČ-protein suppresses pyroptotic cell death of natural killer cells
Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune lymphocytes that recognize and destroy abnormal host cells, such as tumor cells or those infected by viral pathogens. To safely accomplish these functions, NK cells display activating receptors that detect stress molecules or viral ligands displayed at the cell surface, balanced by inhibitory receptors that bind to self-molecules. To date, such activating and inhibitory receptors on NK cells are not known to recognize bacterial determinants. Moreover, NK cell responses to direct interactions with extracellular bacteria are poorly explored. In this study, we observed the human neonatal pathogen group B Streptococcus (GBS) can directly engage human NK cells. The interaction was mediated through the B6N segment of streptococcal ÎČ-protein, binding to the inhibitory receptor Siglec-7 via its amino-terminal V-set domain. Unlike classical Siglec binding, the interaction is also independent of its sialic acid recognition property. In contrast to WT GBS, mutants lacking ÎČ-protein induced efficient pyroptosis of NK cells through the NLRP3 inflammasome, with production and secretion of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1ÎČ and dissemination of the cytotoxic molecule granzyme B. We postulate that GBS evolved ÎČ-protein engagement of inhibitory human Siglec-7 to suppress the pyroptotic response of NK cells and thereby block recruitment of a broader innate immune response, i.e., by "silencing the sentinel.
O mundo muçulmano em uma era global: a proteção dos direitos das mulheres The muslim world in a global age: protecting women's ights
As mulheres muçulmanas enfrentam, simultaneamente, trĂȘs desafios. Em primeiro lugar, elas representam uma identidade islĂąmica que, com freqĂŒĂȘncia, estĂĄ em conflito com regimes polĂticos modernos e com as elites dos Estados. Em segundo lugar, elas devem lutar contra os fundamentalistas islĂąmicos, cujas idĂ©ias, instituiçÔes e objetivos sĂŁo por elas rejeitados com veemĂȘncia. Por fim, e tĂŁo importante quanto os outros desafios, elas enfrentam no dia-a-dia a cultura patriarcal dominante nos lugares onde vivem. As questĂ”es relacionadas aos direitos das mulheres sĂŁo agravadas pelas dificuldades que as mulheres muçulmanas encontram em uma cultura patriarcal na qual a mulher Ă© geralmente caracterizada por estereĂłtipos. Se, por um lado, a "solidariedade sem fronteiras" possibilitou a promoção de direitos das mulheres dentro e atravĂ©s das culturas, por outro, ela tambĂ©m se depara com questĂ”es sociais mais amplas e mais complexas. Embora essa solidariedade global sofra resistĂȘncia em muitas partes do mundo muçulmano, o empowerment das mulheres Ă© visto como o antĂdoto mais eficaz contra o extremismo no mundo muçulmano. Este trabalho pretende contextualizar a anĂĄlise de gĂȘnero nos Ăąmbitos cultural, econĂŽmico e polĂtico, de modo a lidar com trĂȘs questĂ”es: (1) por que as mulheres muçulmanas se tornaram agentes de mudança, reforma e democratização no mundo globalizado? (2) qual o impacto da globalização sobre as mulheres muçulmanas e sobre a ascensĂŁo do feminismo islĂąmico? (3) de que maneira as mulheres muçulmanas podem respeitar a integridade de sua cultura, ao mesmo tempo que se mantĂȘm receptivas a valores, idĂ©ias e instituiçÔes universais?<br>Muslim women encounter three fronts simultaneously. First, they represent an Islamic identity that more often than not is in conflict with modern political regimes and state elites. Secondly, they must fight against Islamic fundamentalists, whose ideas, institutions, and goals they vehemently reject. And finally, and just as importantly, they face a mundane confrontation with a prevailing patriarchal culture within which they live. Questions of women's rights are exacerbated by difficulties Muslim women encounter in a patriarchal culture in which women are often characterized by stereotypes. The "borderless solidarity" has led to the promotion of women's rights across and within cultures, but it stands in a problematic relationship to broader, more complex social issues. Although this global solidarity is resisted in many parts of the Muslim world, women's empowerment is seen as the most effective antidote to extremism in the Muslim world. This paper attempts to contextualize gender analysis in the cultural, economic, and political domains, while addressing three questions: (1) why have Muslim women become the agents of change, reform, and democratization in a globalizing world? (2) what impact has globalization on Muslim women and the rise of Islamic feminism? (3) how could Muslim women maintain the integrity of their culture while at the same time remain receptive to universal values, ideas, and institutions