Borate Minerals Stabilize Ribose Ricardo, A.; Carrigan, M. A.; Olcott, A. N. ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
01/2004, Letnik:
303, Številka:
5655
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Evidence for an RNA world, an episode of life on Earth during RNA was the only genetically encoded component of biological catalyst, is found in the ribosome catalytic RNA molecules, and contemporary ...metabolism. Ricardo et al suggest that the formation of pentoses appears to be the natural outcome of the chemical transformation of organic molecules present in the nebula that form stars and planets in the presence of borate minerals.
Computing is highly segregated and stratified by gender. While there is abundant scholarship investigating this problem, emerging evidence suggests that a hierarchy of value exists between the social ...and technical dimensions of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) and this plays a role in the underrepresentation of women in the field. This ethnographic study of women's experiences in computing offers evidence of a systemic preference for the technical dimensions of computing over the social and a correlation between gender and social aspirations. Additionally, it suggests there is a gap between the exaltation of computing's social contributions and the realities of them. My participants expressed a yearning to contribute to the collective well-being of society using their computing skills. I trace moments of rupture in my participants' stories, moments when they felt these aspirations were in conflict with the cultural values in their organizations. I interpret these ruptures within a consideration of yearning, a need my participants had to contribute meaningfully to society that remained unfulfilled. The yearning to align one's altruistic values with one's careers aspirations in CSE illuminates an area for greater exploration on the path to realizing gender equity in computing. I argue that before a case can be made that careers in computing do indeed contribute to social and civil engagements, we must first address the meaning of the social within the values, ideologies and practices of CSE institutions and next, develop ways to measure and evaluate the field's contributions to society.
We report on the expected sensitivity of dedicated scintillator-based detectors at the LHC for elementary particles with charges much smaller than the electron charge. The dataset provided by a ...prototype scintillator-based detector is used to characterize the performance of the detector and provide an accurate background projection. Detector designs, including a novel slab detector configuration, are considered for the data taking period of the LHC to start in 2022 (Run 3) and for the high luminosity LHC. With the Run 3 dataset, the existence of new particles with masses between 10 MeV and 45 GeV could be excluded at 95% confidence level for charges between 0.003 e and 0.3 e, depending on their mass. With the high luminosity LHC dataset, the expected limits would reach between 10 MeV and 80 GeV for charges between 0.0018 e and 0.3 e, depending on their mass.
INTRODUCTIONThe COVID-19 pandemic has prompted governments internationally to consider strengthening their public health systems. To support the work of Ireland's Public Health Reform Expert Advisory ...Group, the Health Information and Quality Authority, an independent governmental agency, was asked to describe the lessons learnt regarding the public health response to COVID-19 internationally and the applicability of this response for future pandemic preparedness.METHODSSemi-structured interviews with key public health representatives from nine countries were conducted. Interviews were conducted in March and April 2022 remotely via Zoom and were recorded. Notes were taken by two researchers, and a thematic analysis undertaken.RESULTSLessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic related to three main themes: 1) setting policy; 2) delivering public health interventions; and 3) providing effective communication. Real-time surveillance, evidence synthesis, and cross-sectoral collaboration were reported as essential for policy setting; it was noted that having these functions established prior to the pandemic would lead to a more efficient implementation in a health emergency. Delivering public health interventions such as testing, contact tracing, and vaccination were key to limiting and or mitigating the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, a number of challenges were highlighted such as staff capacity and burnout, delays in vaccination procurement, and reduced delivery of regular healthcare services. Clear, consistent, and regular communication of the scientific evidence was key to engaging citizens with mitigation strategies. However, these communication strategies had to compete with an infodemic of information being circulated, particularly through social media.CONCLUSIONSOverall, functions relating to policy setting, public health interventions, and communication are key to pandemic response. Ideally, these should be established in the preparedness phase so that they can be rapidly scaled-up during a pandemic.
•Linguistic structure develops in homesign gesture systems developed without a linguistic model.•Homesigners’ parents and siblings show poor comprehension of homesign productions.•Structure emerges ...in homesign despite relatively poor comprehension by family members.•Communicative problem solving & target matching cannot explain linguistic structure in homesign.•The role of communication in constructivist accounts of language development must be reevaluated.
Constructivist accounts of language acquisition maintain that the language learner aims to match a target provided by mature users. Communicative problem solving in the context of social interaction and matching a linguistic target or model are presented as primary mechanisms driving the language development process. However, research on the development of homesign gesture systems by deaf individuals who have no access to a linguistic model suggests that aspects of language can develop even when typical input is unavailable. In four studies, we examined the role of communication in the genesis of homesign systems by assessing how well homesigners’ family members comprehend homesign productions. In Study 1, homesigners’ mothers showed poorer comprehension of homesign descriptions produced by their now-adult deaf child than of spoken Spanish descriptions of the same events produced by one of their adult hearing children. Study 2 found that the younger a family member was when they first interacted with their deaf relative, the better they understood the homesigner. Despite this, no family member comprehended homesign productions at levels that would be expected if family members co-generated homesign systems with their deaf relative via communicative interactions. Study 3 found that mothers’ poor or incomplete comprehension of homesign was not a result of incomplete homesign descriptions. In Study 4 we demonstrated that Deaf native users of American Sign Language, who had no previous experience with the homesigners or their homesign systems, nevertheless comprehended homesign productions out of context better than the homesigners’ mothers. This suggests that homesign has comprehensible structure, to which mothers and other family members are not fully sensitive. Taken together, these studies show that communicative problem solving is not responsible for the development of structure in homesign systems. The role of this mechanism must therefore be re-evaluated in constructivist theories of language development.
This study addresses unresolved questions about cocaine withdrawal by prospectively assessing monitored cocaine abstinence over 28 days in a sample of 24 male and female cocaine-dependent ...outpatients. Based on results from urine drug screens and self-reported substance use, it is likely that these patients were abstinent from cocaine during the assessment period. Abstinence-related symptoms were monitored at 2, 5, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days following last cocaine use. For patients who were known to relapse, assessments began again after the last day of cocaine use. Consistent with findings from inpatient studies of cocaine abstinence, linear improvements in negative affect, low cocaine craving, and increases in cognitive skills were reported over the 28 days. Also consistent with inpatient studies of cocaine withdrawal, a phasic withdrawal syndrome was not observed in this outpatient sample. Unlike inpatient studies, no disturbances in sleep were reported.
There is significant debate as to where to draw the line between undertreating older rectal cancer patients and minimising treatment risks. This study sought to examine the use of radical rectal ...cancer treatments and associated outcomes in relation to age across the English NHS.
Patient, tumour and treatment characteristics for all patients diagnosed with a first primary rectal cancer in England between 1st April 2009 and 31st December 2014 were obtained from the CORECT-R data repository. Descriptive analyses and adjusted logistic regression models were undertaken to examine any association between age and the use of major resection and post-surgical outcomes. Funnel plots were used to show variation in adjusted rates of major resection.
The proportion of patients who underwent a major surgical resection fell from 66.5% to 31.7%, amongst those aged <70 and aged ≥80 respectively. After adjustment, 30-day post-operative mortality, failure to rescue and prolonged length of stay were significantly higher among the oldest group when compared to the youngest. Patient reported outcomes were not significantly worse amongst older patients. Significant variation was observed in adjusted surgical resection rates in the oldest patients between NHS Trusts. The probability of death due to cancer was comparable across all age groups.
Older patients who are selected for surgery have good outcomes, often comparable to their younger counterparts. Significant variation in the treatment of older patients could not be explained by differences in measured characteristics and required further investigation.
The present study explores the processability and properties of poly(furfuryl alcohol) (PFA)-based composites and draws comparisons with the industry-standard epoxy resin matrices used in printed ...circuit board applications. A poly(furfuryl alcohol)-based fiberglass prepreg was used to manufacture composite cores laminated with copper foil, which were then integrated in situ into printed circuit board prototypes through industry-typical manufacturing and assembly processes. Both copper cores and printed boards were tested to characterize the electrical properties and overall quality of the prototypes. The fabrication of the copper cores and manufacturing methods of the printed boards are described, alongside the results from the characterization of the cores and the testing of the printed boards. The inherent advantages and disadvantages of the material are highlighted, and areas of improvement for the processability of the material and reliability of the technology are discussed.
Purpose
The advancement of equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education is dependent on institutional culture changes in academia. Faculty equity, diversity and inclusion efforts must engage ...departmental leadership. The purpose of this paper is to describe the growth and expansion of the ADVANCE leadership program at the University of Washington (UW) for department chairs that was designed to provide department chairs the skills, community and information needed to be agents of change within the academy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper chronicles the program’s growth from a campus-based workshop program to national workshops (LEAD) to a web-based toolkit (LiY!) to support institutions in running their own UW ADVANCE-inspired leadership workshops.
Findings
The paper demonstrates the success of each growth stage and the expansion of program impact.
Practical implications
The paper offers recommendations for growing a model from a local to national scale and adapting the described leadership development model at other institutions.
Originality/value
The paper shares a successful model for equipping department chairs to be advocates of gender equity, diversity and inclusion in STEM and to be change agents in higher education.
We report on a search for elementary particles with charges much smaller than the electron charge using a data sample of proton-proton collisions provided by the CERN Large Hadron Collider in 2018, ...corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 37.5 fb−1 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. A prototype scintillator-based detector is deployed to conduct the first search at a hadron collider sensitive to particles with charges ≤ 0.1 e . The existence of new particles with masses between 20 and 4700 MeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for charges between 0.006 e and 0.3 e , depending on their mass. New sensitivity is achieved for masses larger than 700 MeV.
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