Digital Technologies and the Violent Surveillance of Nonbinary Gender

The enforcement of the gender binary is a root cause of gender-based violence for trans people. Disrupting gender-based violence requires we ensure “gender” is not presumed synonymous with white cisgender womanhood. Transfeminists suggest that attaining gender equity requires confronting all forms of oppression that police people and their bodies, including white supremacy, colonialism, and capitalism (Silva & Ornat, 2016; Simpkins, 2016). Part of this project, we argue, includes confronting the structures of gender-based violence embedded within digital technologies that are increasingly part of our everyday lives. Informed by transfeminist theory (Koyama, 2003; Simpkins, 2016; Stryker & Bettcher, 2016; Weerawardhana, 2018), we interrogate the ways in which digital technologies naturalize and reinforce gender-based violence against bodies marked as divergent. We examine the subtler ways that digital technology can fortify binary gender as a mechanism of power and control. We highlight how gendered forms of data violence cannot be disentangled from digital technologies that surveil, police, or punish on the basis of race, nationhood, and citizenship, particularly in relation to predictive policing practices. We conclude with recommendations to guide technological development to reduce the violence enacted upon trans people and those whose gender presentations transgress society’s normative criteria for what constitutes a compliant (read: appropriately gendered) citizen

A GIS Tool for Optimal Forage Species Selection

To determine appropriate forage species for US ecoregions, geographic information technologies (GIS) are being used to create climatic and soil factor maps. Excel spreadsheets and RStudio are used to create response functions of forage species to minimum and maximum temperature, annual precipitation, soil pH, soil salinity, and salinity. National forage data and expert opinion will evaluate quantitative tolerances, seasonal yield profiles, and pollinator suitability. These maps and agronomic and livestock use information will be shared with forage specialists and farmers to provide alternatives for improved perenniality, increased diversity, and system circularity. Future work will include development and evaluation of climate change scenarios for temperature and precipitation. Anticipated outcomes include improved species selection and decision making to develop and manage sustainable agricultural systems, improved national policies to provide incentives for agroecologically-matched agricultural systems, and improved likelihood of long-term agricultural production sustainability based on agroecological principles

Method and system for aligning fibers during electrospinning

A method and system are provided for aligning fibers in an electrospinning process. A jet of a fiberizable material is directed towards an uncharged collector from a dispensing location that is spaced apart from the collector. While the fiberizable material is directed towards the collector, an elliptical electric field is generated via the electrically charged dispenser and an oppositely-charged control location. The field spans between the dispensing location and the control location that is within line-of-sight of the dispensing location, and impinges upon at least a portion of the collector. Various combinations of numbers and geometries of dispensers, collectors, and electrodes can be used

Electric Field Effects on Fiber Alignment Using an Auxiliary Electrode during Electrospinning

This viewgraph presentation reviews auxiliary and electric field effects on fiber alignment during the process of electrospinning. The contents include: 1) Electrospinning Overview; 2) Experimental Set-up; 3) Jet Exit; 4) Auxiliary Electrode Effects; 5) Electrospinning High Speed Video; 6) Effect of Auxiliary Electrode Position; 7) Micro & Nano Fibers Produced; 8) Micro and Nano Fibrous Mats; 9) Field Effect on Fiber Distribution; 10) Modeling; 11) Calculated trajectories: 5, 10, 15 & 20cm electrode spacing; 12) Off Axis Auxiliary Electrode; 13) Field Strength Effects; and 14) Potential Applications

The impact of vaccination on incidence and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with kidney failure in Scotland

Background: Patients with kidney failure requiring kidney replacement therapy (KRT) are at high risk of complications and death following SARS-CoV-2 infection with variable antibody responses to vaccination reported. We investigated the effects of COVID-19 vaccination on incidence of infection, hospitalization and death of COVID-19 infection. Methods: Study design was an observational data linkage cohort study. Multiple healthcare datasets were linked to ascertain all SARS-CoV-2 testing, vaccination, hospitalization, and mortality data for all patients treated with KRT in Scotland, from the start of the pandemic over a period of 20 months. Descriptive statistics, survival analyses, and vaccine effectiveness were calculated. Results: As of 19th September 2021, 93% (n=5281) of the established KRT population in Scotland had received two doses of an approved SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Over the study period, there were 814 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection (15.1% of the KRT population). Vaccine effectiveness against infection and hospitalization was 33% (95% CI 0-52) and 38% (95% CI 0-57) respectively. 9.2% of fully vaccinated individuals died within 28 days of a SARS-CoV-2 positive PCR test (7% dialysis patients and 10% kidney transplant recipients). This compares to <0.1% of the vaccinated Scottish population being admitted to hospital or dying death due to COVID19 during that period. Conclusions: These data demonstrate a primary vaccine course of two doses has limited impact on COVID-19 infection and its complications in patients treated with KRT. Adjunctive strategies to reduce risk of both COVID-19 infection and its complications in this population are urgently required

Collecting and utilising crowdsourced data for numerical weather prediction: propositions from the meeting held in Copenhagen, 4–December 5, 2018

In December 2018, the Danish Meteorological Institute organised an international meeting on the subject of crowdsourced data in numerical weather prediction (NWP) and weather forecasting. The meeting, spanning 2 days, gathered experts on crowdsourced data from both meteorological institutes and universities from Europe and the United States. Scientific presentations highlighted a vast array of possibilities and progress being made globally. Subjects include data from vehicles, smartphones, and private weather stations. Two groups were created to discuss open questions regarding the collection and use of crowdsourced data from different observing platforms. Common challenges were identified and potential solutions were discussed. While most of the work presented was preliminary, the results shared suggested that crowdsourced observations have the potential to enhance NWP. A common platform for sharing expertise, data, and results would help crowdsourced data realise this potential

Nitrogen addition alters soil fungal communities, but root fungal communities are resistant to change

Plants are colonized by numerous microorganisms serving important symbiotic functions that are vital to plant growth and success. Understanding and harnessing these interactions will be useful in both managed and natural ecosystems faced with global change, but it is still unclear how variation in environmental conditions and soils influence the trajectory of these interactions. In this study, we examine how nitrogen addition alters plant-fungal interactions within two species of Populus - Populus deltoides and P. trichocarpa. In this experiment, we manipulated plant host, starting soil (native vs. away for each tree species), and nitrogen addition in a fully factorial replicated design. After ~10 weeks of growth, we destructively harvested the plants and characterized plant growth factors and the soil and root endosphere fungal communities using targeted amplicon sequencing of the ITS2 gene region. Overall, we found nitrogen addition altered plant growth factors, e.g., plant height, chlorophyll density, and plant N content. Interestingly, nitrogen addition resulted in a lower fungal alpha diversity in soils but not plant roots. Further, there was an interactive effect of tree species, soil origin, and nitrogen addition on soil fungal community composition. Starting soils collected from Oregon and West Virginia were dominated by the ectomycorrhizal fungi Inocybe (55.8% relative abundance), but interestingly when P. deltoides was grown in its native West Virginia soil, the roots selected for a high abundance of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Rhizophagus. These results highlight the importance of soil origin and plant species on establishing plant-fungal interactions

A genome-wide library of CB4856/N2 introgression lines of Caenorhabditis elegans

Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from Caenorhabditis elegans wild-type N2 and CB4856 are increasingly being used for mapping genes underlying complex traits. To speed up mapping and gene discovery, introgression lines (ILs) offer a powerful tool for more efficient QTL identification. We constructed a library of 90 ILs, each carrying a single homozygous CB4856 genomic segment introgressed into the genetic background of N2. The ILs were genotyped by 123 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The proportion of the CB4856 segments in most lines does not exceed 3%, and together the introgressions cover 96% of the CB4856 genome. The value of the IL library was demonstrated by identifying novel loci underlying natural variation in two ageing-related traits, i.e. lifespan and pharyngeal pumping rate. Bin mapping of lifespan resulted in six QTLs, which all have a lifespan-shortening effect on the CB4856 allele. We found five QTLs for the decrease in pumping rate, of which four colocated with QTLs found for average lifespan. This suggests pleiotropic or closely linked QTL associated with lifespan and pumping rate. Overall, the presented IL library provides a versatile resource toward easier and efficient fine mapping and functional analyses of loci and genes underlying complex traits in C. elegans

Auditory conflict and congruence in frontotemporal dementia.

Impaired analysis of signal conflict and congruence may contribute to diverse socio-emotional symptoms in frontotemporal dementias, however the underlying mechanisms have not been defined. Here we addressed this issue in patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD; n = 19) and semantic dementia (SD; n = 10) relative to healthy older individuals (n = 20). We created auditory scenes in which semantic and emotional congruity of constituent sounds were independently probed; associated tasks controlled for auditory perceptual similarity, scene parsing and semantic competence. Neuroanatomical correlates of auditory congruity processing were assessed using voxel-based morphometry. Relative to healthy controls, both the bvFTD and SD groups had impaired semantic and emotional congruity processing (after taking auditory control task performance into account) and reduced affective integration of sounds into scenes. Grey matter correlates of auditory semantic congruity processing were identified in distributed regions encompassing prefrontal, parieto-temporal and insular areas and correlates of auditory emotional congruity in partly overlapping temporal, insular and striatal regions. Our findings suggest that decoding of auditory signal relatedness may probe a generic cognitive mechanism and neural architecture underpinning frontotemporal dementia syndromes

The ocean sampling day consortium

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits