Lexis and grammar of mitochondrial RNA processing in Trypanosomes

Trypanosoma brucei spp. cause African human and animal trypanosomiasis, a burden on health and economy in Africa. These hemoflagellates are distinguished by a kinetoplast nucleoid containing mitochondrial DNAs of two kinds: maxicircles encoding ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and proteins and minicircles bearing guide RNAs (gRNAs) for mRNA editing. All RNAs are produced by a phage-type RNA polymerase as 3' extended precursors, which undergo exonucleolytic trimming. Most pre-mRNAs proceed through 3' adenylation, uridine insertion/deletion editing, and 3' A/U-tailing. The rRNAs and gRNAs are 3' uridylated. Historically, RNA editing has attracted major research effort, and recently essential pre- and postediting processing events have been discovered. Here, we classify the key players that transform primary transcripts into mature molecules and regulate their function and turnover

Den viktorianska guvernanten -En komparativ karaktärsstudie av tre guvernanter

Den här studien undersöker tre guvernanter ur den viktorianska guvernantgenren, som även kan förstås som den viktorianska guvernantromanen: Jane i Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë, 2014), Den okända kvinnan i När skruven dras åt (Henry James, 2013) och Martha Leigh i Guvernanten på Mellyn (Victoria Holt, 2018). Syftet med studien är att studera hur respektive guvernant förstår sitt psykiska och fysiska välmående. Detta görs från både ett tidigt och ett senare skede i verket, i syfte att studera guvernanternas utveckling från början till slutet. Dessa analyser jämförs sedan mellan de olika verken: Jane Eyre (Brontë, 2014), När skruven dras åt (James, 2013) och Guvernanten på Mellyn (Holt, 2018), för att studera verkans eventuella likheter och skillnader eftersom de tillhör samma genre – den viktorianska guvernantromanen. Dessutom berör denna studie även ett didaktiskt perspektiv på hur studien kan bli relevant för svenskundervisningen på gymnasieskolan. Studien utgår från teorin Epikanalys (Claes-Göran Holmberg & Anders Ohlsson, 1999) och nyttjar metoden komparation av karaktärer genom intertextualitet från kapitlet ”Intertextualitet, komparation och reception” (Anders Olsson, 2002). Studien visar att det finns såväl likheter som skillnader mellan hur guvernanterna: Jane (Brontë, 2014), Den okända kvinnan (James, 2013) och Martha (Holt, 2018) uppfattar sig själva både psykiskt och fysiskt. Studien kommer även fram till att den kan nyttjas i svenskundervisningen i gymnasieskolan för att skapa förutsättningar för elever att utveckla en mer vidgad syn på deras uppfattning om omvärlden

Examining Judgements of Ambiguous Extradyadic Behaviours Using a Policy Capturing Method

Ambiguous extradyadic behaviours such as buying/receiving gifts or talking on the phone can be perceived as infidelity under certain circumstances and therefore cause distress and conflicts in romantic relationships. The research presented here used a policy capturing method to illuminate the relative role of contextual factors (secrecy, frequency of the behaviour, and familiarity with the rival) in perceiving whether an ambiguous act crosses the line from benign to infidelity. In two sessions, 43 participants completed individual difference measures and rated 30 different vignettes in which the ambiguous behaviour (i.e., direct messaging on social media) was kept constant, but levels of contextual factors varied. Multilevel modelling revealed that participants perceived secrecy as the most important contextual factor in deciding whether an ambiguous behaviour was infidelity. Keeping a behaviour secret breaches important relational rules such as honesty and trust and indicates an awareness of guilt. Frequency of the behaviour was the second most influential contextual factor. High frequency of engaging in an extradyadic behaviour can signal an interest and investment in the extradyadic relationship. Familiarity was the least important contextual factor, suggesting its effect might depend on other contextual factors such as the rival’s attractiveness. Reactive jealousy and attachment avoidance as individual difference variables partially predicted participants’ judgements; however, such results need to be replicated in a bigger sample. The findings have implications for couples discussing the boundaries of their relationship and recognizing the source of emotional distress in the occurrence of ambiguous behaviours. Future research can benefit from investigating other contextual factors and responses to the perceived threat following an ambiguous behaviour

Trainee-Associated Factors and Proficiency at Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) is a complicated procedure for urology trainees. This study was designed to investigate the effect of trainees’ ages and previous experience, as well as the number of operated cases, on proficiency at PNL by using patient outcomes. A cross sectional observational study was designed during a five-year period. Trainees in PNL fellowship programs were included. At the end of the program, the trainees’ performance in PNL was assessed regarding five competencies and scored 1-5. If the overall score was 4 or above, the trainee was considered as proficient. The trainees’ age at the beginning of the program and the years passed from their residency graduation were asked and recorded. Also, the number of PNL cases operated by each trainee was obtained via their logbooks. The age, years passed from graduation, and number of operated cases were compared between two groups of proficient and non-proficient trainees. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was applied to estimate the effect of aforementioned variables on the occurrence of the proficiency. Forty-two trainees were included in the study. The mean and standard deviation for the overall score were 3.40 (out of 5) and 0.67, respectively. Eleven trainees (26.2%) recognized as proficient in performing PNL. Univariate regression analysis indicated that each of three variables (age, years passed from graduation and number of operated cases) had statistically significant effect on proficiency. However, the multivariate regression analysis revealed that just the number of cases had significant effect on achieving proficiency. Although it might be assumed that trainees’ age negatively correlates with their scores, in fact, it is their amount of practice that makes a difference. A certain number of cases is required to be operated by a trainee in order to reach the desired competency in PNL

perception of COVID-19 and psychological wellbeing

We will investigate the association between distress tolerance and psychological wellbeing during the first quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada (April 27, 2020 to July 30, 2020). We will also investigate whether perceptions of the COVID-19 illness mediate the association between distress tolerance and psychological wellbeing. We will further investigate whether perceived social support moderates the indirect effect of distress tolerance on psychological wellbeing through perceptions of COVID-19 (specifically, whether social support moderates the path from perceptions of COVID-19 to outcome variables). Finally, we will examine whether the interaction between social support and perceptions of COVID-19 predicts psychological wellbeing

An emission inventory update for Tehran : the difference between air pollution and greenhouse gas source contributions

Many highly populated cities are still struggling to reach clean air targets, while the zero greenhouse gas emission objectives may accelerate the path toward healthy air for all. Still, there is a fine line between intensive electrification's impact on greenhouse gas emissions and criteria air contaminants depending on the source of the electricity. In this study, the previous version of the emission inventory for Tehran was evaluated and recalculated in a detailed bottom-up approach to provide the most updated data on the contribution of stationary sources derived by power plants vs. mobile sources. The objectives were to update the emission inventory for improved policymaking, study the impact of changes in emissions in 4 years, provide a detailed methodology for cities highly impacted by transportation emissions, and exercise a simple yet effective modelling task for emission inventory evaluation. The study included all possible sources in the mobile sector with eight categories of fleet composition, industries, power plants, house heating, and point sources related to transportation such as terminals and gas stations. It also included exhaust, non-exhaust, and evaporative emissions for mobile sources. An intensive data collection campaign was launched to collect activity data. The traffic information was obtained from a travel-demand model and validated by traffic counting. The license plate registration database provided detailed fleet composition based on vehicle technology, fuel, age, and state of maintenance. The emission inventory calculated annual emissions of 478 kt for CO, 103 kt for NOx, 91 kt for VOCs, and 19 kt for SOx. TSP was estimated at 10.4 kt. NOx emissions were significantly increased from 87 to 102.6 ktonnes per year (17% increase) and were confirmed by an increase in the annual mean concentration of NO2 from 39.4 to 53.4 ppb (35% increase) between 2013 and 2017. A notable observation was the impact of house heating on CO2,eq emissions. More than 30% of CO2,eq emissions were from house heating (natural gas, predominantly methane) in a city where total air contaminant emissions are highly driven by the transportation sector. The result clearly shows the differences between zero-emission target paths for the two objectives of greenhouse gas emissions and air quality. An integrated approach is needed to develop policies that will lead o zero-emission GHG targets while keeping the air clean