The majority of mitochondrial DNA replication events are terminated prematurely. The nascent DNA remains stably associated with the template, forming a triple-stranded displacement loop (D-loop) ...structure. However, the function of the D-loop region of the mitochondrial genome remains poorly understood. Using a comparative genomics approach we here identify two closely related 15 nt sequence motifs of the D-loop, strongly conserved among vertebrates. One motif is at the D-loop 5'-end and is part of the conserved sequence block 1 (CSB1). The other motif, here denoted coreTAS, is at the D-loop 3'-end. Both these sequences may prevent transcription across the D-loop region, since light and heavy strand transcription is terminated at CSB1 and coreTAS, respectively. Interestingly, the replication of the nascent D-loop strand, occurring in a direction opposite to that of heavy strand transcription, is also terminated at coreTAS, suggesting that coreTAS is involved in termination of both transcription and replication. Finally, we demonstrate that the loading of the helicase TWINKLE at coreTAS is reversible, implying that this site is a crucial component of a switch between D-loop formation and full-length mitochondrial DNA replication.
This article proposes a novel Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) index based on a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. Acknowledging the argument that companies might favour those CSR dimensions ...that provide strategic competitive advantages, we argue that the index can capture companies' strategic approach to CSR. Furthermore, our findings reveal a neutral relationship between this strategic CSR index and economic performance as measured by Return on Assets (ROA) and Tobin's Q, when controlling for firm unobserved heterogeneity and past economic performance. By contrast, an equally-weighted index of the same CSR indicators is found to be negatively related with ROA, which reinforces our claim that this specific DEA-based index is a measure of strategic CSR.
Common among moths is a mate-finding system in which females emit a pheromone that induces males to fly upwind along the pheromone plume. Since the chemical pheromone of the domesticated silk moth ...was identified in 1959, a steady increase in the number of moth species whose pheromone attractants have been identified now results in a rich base for review and synthesis.Pheromone Communication in Mothssummarizes moth pheromone biology, covering the chemical structures used by the various lineages, signal production and perception, the genetic control of moth pheromone traits, interactions of pheromones with host-plant volatiles, pheromone dispersal and orientation, male pheromones and courtship, and the evolutionary forces that have likely shaped pheromone signals and their role in sexual selection. Also included are chapters on practical applications in the control and monitoring of pest species as well as case studies that address pheromone systems in a number of species and groups of closely allied species.Pheromone Communication in Mothsis an invaluable resource for entomologists, chemical ecologists, pest-management scientists, and professionals who study pheromone communication and pest management.
Supplier development plays a significant role in the cost, quality and delivery improvements of construction projects. However, there is limited research on analytical methods of categorizing and ...prioritizing a high number of suppliers for effective allocation of scarce development resources. This research aims to develop an objective model to categorize a general contractor's suppliers. To do so, we use three concepts from different research backgrounds - recency, frequency and monetary value (RFM); data envelopment analysis (DEA); and the customer pyramid - and add the number of projects (P) shared with each supplier as a context-related variable to build a novel RFMP model. The model categorizes suppliers into four levels of the supplier pyramid, utilizing historical data on supplier-contractor transactions. To test the model in practice, we adopt a case study of an international construction company in Finland. The results reveal that a supplier's RFMP score reflects its contribution to the contractor's business; therefore, development investments should vary, based on a supplier's position in the supplier pyramid. This research contributes to the knowledge on supply chain management in construction by combining three approaches - RFM, DEA and the customer pyramid - into a single objective model to categorize suppliers for effective development investments.
This 11th volume in the World Catalogue of Insects comprises 4415 species in 532 genera of Notodontidae & Oenosandridae (Lepidoptera), which is about 1000 species more than ever before provided in ...any catalogue. Altogether 7434 names of taxonomic entities are included.
Micro‐interaction dynamics of affective sanctioning have been widely acknowledged but rarely related to the emergence of social phenomena. This paper aims to highlight the constitutive force of ...interaction activity by critically analysing two sociological models, Bourdieu's theory of practice and Barnes's Performative Theory of Social Institutions (PTSI). Such a comparison allows me to reveal two differing models of social phenomena currently operating in sociological debates: an extrinsic structuralist model which tacitly conveys macro‐structural phenomena as prior and determinant of individuals and their micro‐interactions, and an intrinsic structuralism model which prioritizes individuals’ interactions and conceives them as constituting both the individual and the structural. I argue that the latter's emphasis on the dynamics of mutual susceptibility to affective sanctioning as underpinning consensus among inherently heterogeneous individuals provides a platform to further support the tenets of Interactionism and helps to expose Bourdieu's over‐deterministic methodological individualism prevalent in most sociological theory. I conclude that by conceiving emotions as causal, rather than the effect of social forces, sociological theory can provide an explanation of both individual practices and systemic phenomena which resolves macro‐structural tensions. In doing so, I suggest an ontological understanding of the “social” which supports the Interactionist central tenet that the local takes priority over wider structural phenomena.
Two large
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s=6.6 earthquakes occurred on June 17 and 21, 2000 in the South Iceland Seismic Zone. The roughly E–W trending zone is undergoing left-lateral shear. However, most known surface rupture ...has been along north-striking, right-lateral strike-slip faults. Rupture associated with the June 2000 events follows a similar pattern. Although the two earthquakes had similar magnitude, fault plane solutions, and overall rupture lengths of 15 to 20 km, the pattern of rupture from each was notably different in character. The June 17 event ruptured along a series of NNE-trending, left-stepping segments, giving the fault as a whole an almost due north trend. At the largest scale rupture is relatively straight and continuous. At the smallest scale, rupture style seems to vary with small-scale topography and ground texture. Rupture from the June 21 event is more complex and can be divided into five discrete segments. To the north, deformation is distributed across two zones of left-stepping fractures, along which widening and subsidence have occurred. The central segment consists of right-stepping fractures defining a 2 km long, ENE trending zone. Sense of shear is clearly left-lateral strike slip. The two southernmost segments define an NNE trend. In several places along the rupture zones of both earthquakes it can be verified that the ruptures occurred along pre-existing faults. The observed faulting structures are similar to those of earlier earthquakes in South Iceland, both with regard to style and spatial arrangement. However, our observations suggest that some of the historical earthquakes may have been larger than the June 2000 events.
Using enterprise-level data from China's Northeast-Inner Mongolia state-owned forest area for the year 2004, this paper investigates the technical efficiency of forest product processing mills and ...the relationship between institutional and managerial practices and efficiency. A two-stage procedure proposed by Simar and Wilson (2007) is adopted. In the first stage, a bootstrapped data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is used to compute the efficiency scores. In the second stage, the bootstrapped DEA scores are estimated over a set of mills’ institutional and managerial systems and other characteristics with a bootstrapped truncated regression. The results show that there is a wide dispersion in the technical efficiency among mills. Private ownership, autonomy and mill size have statistically significant positive impacts on efficiency. These results provide support for the ongoing reform and implications for future development of this area.
Two major earthquakes (M
S=6.6) occurred on June 17th and 21st, 2000 in southern Iceland. This paper presents mapping and measurements of representative segments along their surface fault traces: the ...Árnes Fault (June 17th) and the Hestfjall Fault (June 21st). The rupture trace of the Árnes Fault at Mykjunes shows a conjugate strike-slip pattern with a N30°E-trending right-lateral fault and a N60°E-trending left-lateral fault. Each of these faults is formed by en-échelon arrays of fractures and push-ups. The compression observed in the push-ups is inferred to represent the lateral displacement across the fault, which can be quantified by treating the push-ups as a shortening problem. Thus the mapped push-ups indicate an average strike-slip offset of 0.22 m for both these faults. The surface trace of the Hestfjall fault near Bitra reveals a N50°–60°E trending left-lateral strike-slip fault including large open fractures, N25°–35°E-trending en-échelon fractures and some push-ups indicating a left-lateral offset of 0.50–0.60 m along the Bitra fault segment. Two other fault segments on the Hestfjall Fault, near Eyvik and near Torfagil, show association of open fractures and normal faults. The most characteristic feature of the June 2000 fault traces is the en-échelon arrangement of fractures and push-ups. The 2000 rupture traces are compared with some historical seismic fault traces of the South Iceland Seismic Zone in terms of scale hierarchy of fracture traces. According to our observations at Bitra and Mykjunes, the general fault map of the
Orkustofnun (National Energy Authority in Iceland) is interpreted as a conjugate system of strike-slip faults. A deformation model is proposed, aiming at reconciling the simple velocity boundary conditions imposed by plate kinematics along the left-lateral, E–W-trending transform zone, and the brittle deformation inside the South Iceland Seismic Zone. The observations made along the Árnes and Hestfjall Faults show that the actual earthquake-related fault pattern is not restricted to the N–S-trending dextral strike-slip revealed by focal mechanisms and N–S alignment of aftershocks, but includes conjugate systems consistent with the structural pattern of the South Iceland Seismic Zone.
Removal of mutagen precursors from wastewaters was investigated. Removal extent of mutagen precursor was evaluated by the mutagen formation potential (MFP) which is mutagenicity of pollutants capable ...of forming mutagens when chlorinated under the conditions of water purification processes. 77% of the MFP reduction extent for a wastewater from a university was achieved by activated sludge treatment. However, no significant reduction of the MFP was observed for wastewater from food industry, a landfill leachate and mold extract. The Fenton oxidation treatment and ozone treatment are able to remove mutagen precursors from the mold extract and the wastewater from a university, respectively. 90% of the MFP reduction extent was achieved for the mold extract by the Fenton treatment. 54% of the MFP reduction extent was achieved for a sewage by the ozone treatment. Using the oxidation treatments, biodegradability of mutagen precursors in the mold extract and sewage was improved. From the viewpoint of treatment cost, the oxidation treatments should be oriented to the improvement of biodegradability.
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