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Sample records for rv secular acceleration

  1. Evaluating secular acceleration in geomagnetic field model GRIMM-3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lesur, V.; Wardinski, I.

    2012-12-01

    Secular acceleration of the magnetic field is the rate of change of its secular variation. One of the main results of studying magnetic data collected by the German survey satellite CHAMP was the mapping of field acceleration and its evolution in time. Questions remain about the accuracy of the modeled acceleration and the effect of the applied regularization processes. We have evaluated to what extent the regularization affects the temporal variability of the Gauss coefficients. We also obtained results of temporal variability of the Gauss coefficients where alternative approaches to the usual smoothing norms have been applied for regularization. Except for the dipole term, the secular acceleration of the Gauss coefficients is fairly well described up to spherical harmonic degree 5 or 6. There is no clear evidence from observatory data that the spectrum of this acceleration is underestimated at the Earth surface. Assuming a resistive mantle, the observed acceleration supports a characteristic time scale for the secular variation of the order of 11 years.

  2. Prediction of secular acceleration of axial rotation of Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barkin, Yu. V.

    2009-04-01

    Secular motion of the Earth pole and non-tidal acceleration of its diurnal rotation have obtained rather precise explanation with the help of simple one-point model of the directed transport of fluid masses from a southern hemisphere in northern hemisphere with the general direction, given by geocentric axis OP directed to pole P with coordinates 700N, 10403 E[1]. The another generalized model represents a system of two material points with masses m2 and m1, located on surface of the Earth at poles of geocentric axis OP. Masses are linearly changed in the time with velocities [2]: ṁ2 = 0.179 × 1015kg/yrand ṁ1 = 0.043 × 1015kg/yr. A reduction of fluid masses of the appropriate thin spherical layer of the Earth correspond to secular increasing of masses of model points. The specified model has allowed to explain values of fundamental geodynamic parameters observably and determined during decades: a direction and velocity of drift of a pole of the Earth; value of non-tidal acceleration of axial rotation; to explain a secular variations of coefficients of the second, third, fourth, sixth and eighth zonal harmonics of a geopotential; coefficients of secular changes of a surface of ocean for the last approximately 150 years; a direction of secular drift of a geocenter and other planetary phenomena [3]. The role of the angular momentum of redistributed masses of the Earth in rotation of the Earth appeared not essential at the given stage of researches. On the essence the offered model has semi-empirical character as it bases on values of velocities of change of masses of points and the given position of axis OP. For their determination and estimations the part of the observant data was used, and other parameters were designed under analytical formulas. The obtained results have precisely confirmed competency and affectivity of geodynamic model [4] about existence of secular drift of a liquid core along radial direction OP with velocity about 2.6 cm/yr in the

  3. Geomagnetic Core Field Secular Variation Models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gillet, N.; Lesur, V.; Olsen, Nils

    2010-01-01

    highlight the difficulty of resolving the time variability of the high degree secular variation coefficients (i.e. the secular acceleration), arising for instance from the challenge to properly separate sources of internal and of external origin. In addition, the regularisation process may also result...

  4. Studying of the function of expected ABC transporter Rv1458c-Rv1457c-Rv1456c in mycobacteria; Studium funkcie predpokladaneho ABC transportera Rv1458c-Rv1457c-Rv1456c v mykobakteriach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sarkan, M; Mikusova, K; Kordulakova, J [Univerzita Komenskeho v Bratislave, Prirodovedecka fakulta, Katedra biochemie, 84215 Bratislava (Slovakia)

    2012-04-25

    The bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis - the originator of tuberculosis in humans - is characterized by a complex cell wall, which is responsible for a high bacteria resistant to adverse external environmental conditions, as well as to the common antibiotics. The structure of the cell wall components and enzymes involved into its biosynthesis are relatively well described, but there is no information on the transfer of intermediate products of its biosynthetic across the plasmatic membrane. Orthologues of genes rv1459c-rv1458c-rv1457c-rv1456c of M. tuberculosis are in the same configuration in genomes of all previously sequenced mycobacterial strains. Rv1459c gene encodes a probable glycosyltransferases and genes rv1458c, rv1457c rv1456c code nucleotide binding and transmembrane subunits of expected ABC transporter. In our work we focused on the study of the function of expected ABC transporter Rv1458c-Rv1457c-Rv1456c, through analysis of phenotypes of strains M. Smegmatis. They have orthologues of genes encoding the transmembrane subunits of this transporter suspended by fragment encoding resistance to kanamycin. (authors)

  5. Secularism, secular state and religious freedom | Nweke | Journal of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The historic separation of the Church and the State, as an immediate product of secularism, informs the reality of secular state, a state without official religion. This paper attempts to understudy the extent to which secularism enhances religious freedom within the frame of secular state. With the tools of phenomenological ...

  6. Metaphysical Concept of Secularization versus Islamic Concept of Secularization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volkan ERTİT

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In early 21st century, the question “Is Turkey becoming secularized contrary to popular belief?” was one of the discussions occupying Turkish public opinion. These discussions led to the encounter of two different concepts of secularization, “theological (Islamic” and "metaphysical", and to put forward different claims using the same concept. Hence, it became evidentwas understood that a discussion was necessary to understand what secularization is and what it is not before starting any debate on Turkey's secularization. That is because the metaphysical discussion that defines secularization as the decline in the social influence of metaphysical realm (religion, religion-like mechanisms, folk religions, superstitious beliefs, etc. is overshadowed by the Islamic definition describing secularization as "irreligiousness" or "non-Islamism". Therefore, discussingTo understand the social transformation in Turkey, this article attempts to explain that metaphysical rather than theological definition of secularization is necessary for understanding the social implications of the process of modernization.

  7. Radial Velocities of Subgiant Stars and New Astrophysical Insights into RV Jitter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luhn, Jacob; Bastien, Fabienne; Wright, Jason T.

    2018-01-01

    For nearly 20 years, the California Planet Search (CPS) has simultaneously monitored precise radial velocities and chromospheric activity levels of stars from Keck observatory to search for exoplanets. This sample provides a useful set of stars to better determine the dependence of RV jitter on flicker (which traces surface gravity) first shown in Bastien et al. (2014). We expand upon this initial work by examining a much larger sample of stars covering a much wider range of stellar parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, and activity, among others). For more than 600 stars, there are enough RV measurements to distinguish this astrophysical jitter from accelerations due to orbital companions. To properly isolate RV jitter from these effects, we must first remove the RV signal due to these companions, including several previously unannounced giant planets around subgiant stars. We highlight some new results from our analysis of the CPS data. A more thorough understanding of the various sources of RV jitter and the underlying stellar phenomena that drive these intrinsic RV variations will enable more precise jitter estimates for RV follow-up targets such as those from K2 or the upcoming TESS mission.

  8. (Post Secular Discomforts: Religio-Secular Disclosures in the Indian Context

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    Goldie Osuri

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The post-secular turn at the intersection of the fields of political philosophy, anthropology, religious, postcolonial and cultural studies has highlighted theological political formations which have informed differential histories of the secular. This essay examines how debates around the secular and the post-secular play out in the Indian context. Some questions that the essay addresses are: What does a reconsideration of the secular, a probing of its discomforts, offer in the Indian context? And what are the limits of a post-secular turn—in the sense of a reconsideration of spiritual belief or theological conventions as a resource for co-existence—if we think through the forms of power generated by this turn?

  9. Humoral Responses to Rv1733c, Rv0081, Rv1735c, and Rv1737c DosR Regulon-Encoded Proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Individuals with Latent Tuberculosis Infection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon G. Kimuda

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI is evidence of immunological control of tuberculosis. Dormancy survival regulator (DosR regulon-encoded proteins may have a role in the maintenance of LTBI. T cell responses to Rv1733c, Rv0081, Rv1735c, and Rv1737c DosR regulon-encoded proteins were found to be most frequent among household contacts of TB cases from Uganda compared to other DosR proteins, but antibody responses were not described. We characterized antibody responses to these proteins in individuals from Uganda. Antibodies to Rv1733c, Rv0081, Rv1735c, and Rv1737c DosR regulon-encoded proteins were measured in 68 uninfected individuals, 62 with LTBI, and 107 with active pulmonary tuberculosis (APTB cases. There were no differences in the concentrations of antibodies to Rv0081, Rv1735c, and Rv1737c DosR regulon-encoded proteins between individuals with LTBI and APTB and those who were uninfected. LTBI was associated with higher concentrations of antibodies to Rv1733c in female participants [adjusted geometric mean ratio: 1.812, 95% confidence interval (CI: 1.105 2.973, and p=0.019] but not in males (p value for interaction = 0.060. Antibodies to the four DosR regulon-encoded proteins investigated may not serve as good biomarkers of LTBI in the general population. More of the M.tb proteome needs to be screened to identify proteins that induce strong antibody responses in LTBI.

  10. 85 SECULARISM, SECULAR STATE AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    finds that, although more feasible within secular states, religious freedom and human rights are possibilities ... and values, nor uses its powers and offices to persecute religion.” According to ... Secularism is in fact an expression of humanism.

  11. Secular Religious Establishment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lægaard, Sune

    2013-01-01

    Secularism as a political doctrine claims that religion and politics should be separated. The compatibility question is whether secularism can accept some forms of religious establishment in the form of institutional linkages between state and organised religion. I argue that the answer...... to the compatibility question is not obvious and requires a systematic analysis of secularism. Based on a distinction between a general concept and specific conceptions of secularism I offer a general structure for conceptions of secularism that incorporates both a) basic values, e.g. political equality and freedom...

  12. Secular spirituality versus secular dualism: Towards postsecular ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The term “secular spirituality” is meant to convey the contemporary phenomenon of spirituality as experienced in different spheres not associated with structured, institutionalised religion. An outline is given of the relation between secular reality (the natural realm) and religious/spiritual reality (the supernatural realm), as it ...

  13. Beyond comparing secularisms: a critique of religio-secularism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, Y.; Zuckerman, P.; Shook, J.R.

    2017-01-01

    “Religio-secularism” denotes the tendency to understand specific cultural and political conflicts in terms an opposition between religion on the one hand and secularism on the other. Religio-secularism as a cultural-political paradigm tends to obscure the intricacies of political, socioeconomic,

  14. Multiculturalism and secularism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lægaard, Sune

    2017-01-01

    . Secularism denotes what such principles imply for the relationship between politics and religion. Such formal understandings provide theoretical frameworks for specifying different conceptions of multiculturalism and secularism and for determining in precisely which respects conflicts might arise......Multiculturalism in a European context increasingly has come to denote a concern with religious minorities. Claims for multicultural accommodation of minorities therefore potentially conflict with secularist requirements of separation of politics and religion. Whether there is a conflict depends...... on the general understandings of multiculturalism and secularism. The paper therefore distinguishes and examines different general understandings. Both multiculturalism and secularism can be understood as sets of policies, or as forms of minority accommodation or views about the relationship between religion...

  15. Moderate Secularism and Multicultural Equality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lægaard, Sune

    2008-01-01

    Tariq Modood argues that European states are only ‘moderately secular' and that this kind of secularism is compatible with public accommodation of religious groups and provides a model of Muslim integration appropriate for European states. Although attention to the fact of moderate secularism...... provides a response to a prominent argument against multicultural accommodation of religious minorities, what is really at stake in discussions of multiculturalism and secularism are political principles. Modood's case for accommodation of Muslims along the lines of moderate secularism presupposes...

  16. geomagnetic secular variation and the 1969–1970 secular jerk

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

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    The plots of D rather strongly suggest the presence of a jerk around 1980 at most of the stations. Key words/phrases: Magnetic observatories, polynomial fitting, residuals, secular variation, secular jerk. INTRODUCTION. The magnetic field of the Earth has been observed to exhibit changes of remarkably wide spectral.

  17. Post-Secularism or Liberal-Democratic Constitutionalism?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    V. Bader (Veit)

    2012-01-01

    markdownabstract__Abstract__ The increasingly fashionable concept and framing of post-secularism aims to construct simplistic dichotomies and clear-cut ruptures between pre-secular, secular and post-secular ages or epochs, in order to paint generalised and homogenised pictures of societies and

  18. Post-Secularism or Liberal-Democratic Constitutionalism?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bader, V.

    2012-01-01

    The increasingly fashionable concept and framing of post-secularism aims to construct simplistic dichotomies and clear-cut ruptures between pre-secular, secular and post-secular ages or epochs, in order to paint generalised and homogenised pictures of societies and their inevitable evolution. This

  19. The church and the secular: The effect of the post-secular on Christianity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaco Beyers

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Paradigms determine relationships. During the Enlightenment period Emile Durkheim proposed a relationship between the sacred and the profane. Religion, which is concerned with the sacred, was defined in terms of being different from the profane. The profane came to denote the secular. The organic character of religion caused some scholars to predict the end of the church at the hand of modernisation and rationalisation. Some scholars instead envisaged a new form and function of the church. Some scholars anticipated the growth of Christianity. Reality shows that Christianity has not died out but seems to be growing. The new era we are currently in (identified as the postmodern has been described as the post-secular age where a process of re-sacralisation takes place. How will the post-secular influence the church? What will the relationship between the church and the secular be like under a new paradigm? This article suggests that within a postmodern paradigm, the post-secular will emphasise the place of the individual in the church. Fragmentation of society will also be the result of the post-secular. Religiosity in future will have to contend with fundamentalism and civil religion.

  20. A secular technetium–molybdenum generator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Araujo, Wagner L., E-mail: wagnerleite@ufmg.br; Campos, Tarcisio P.R., E-mail: tprcampos@pq.cnpq.br

    2015-05-11

    A compact secular molybdenium generator is subject of this paper. This generator represents a nuclear system that comprises a hydrogen-isotopes fusor, moderator, reflector and shield. Deuterium fusion reactions in a tritiated or deuterated target provide the neutron source. A moderation fluid slowdown the neutron energy which increases {sup 98}Mo(n,γ){sup 99}Mo capture reaction rates. Neutron reflection minimizes the neutron escape and the radiation shield encloses the device. The neutron yield calculation along with electromagnetic and nuclear simulations were addressed. Results revealed the accelerator equipotential surfaces ranging from −30 to 150 kV, the ion trajectories and the energy beam profile define a deuteron current of 1 A with energy of 180 keV at the target, the spatial distribution of the neutron flux, and the {sup 99}Mo and {sup 99m}Tc activities in function of transmuter operation time. The kinetics of the {sup 99m}Tc correlated to its precursor activity demonstrates a secular equilibrium providing 2 Ci in a operational time of 150 h. As conclusion, the investigated nuclear and electromagnetic features have demonstrated that such generator shall have a notable potential for feeding the {sup 99m}Tc clinical application.

  1. BLASPHEMY IN A SECULAR STATE:

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    MLR

    altogether the religious basis of secular authority'.2 Accordingly, it 'terminated the Pope's claim to universal authority and confirmed the diplomatic independence of secular rulers'.3 However, the meaning of the secular is itself in a continuous state of articulation and re-articulation, casting doubts also on its attributes.

  2. The Incidence and Management of Conflicts in Secular and Non-Secular Tertiary Institutions in South West Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayodele, Joseph Babatola; Adewumi, Joseph Olukayode

    2007-01-01

    This paper compared the incidence and management of conflicts in secular and non-secular tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The sample of this study was made of sixty staff, and two hundred and forty students randomly selected each from two secular and two non-secular tertiary institutions in south western Nigeria. A validated questionnaire was…

  3. HAS ROMANIA BECOME A SECULAR SOCIETY?

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    IRINA STAHL

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The article examines the question of secularization of Europe, and in particular of Romania, by using multiple international data sets. Secularization has been defined separation of the state government and religious authority resulting in a decrease in church attendance, a diminished trust in religious institutions, a lessening of religions’ importance in society, an increase in religious diversity with a concomitant decrease in group cohesiveness, and the rise of situational ethics and moral relativism. Several theories of secularization are explored in an effort to determine the presence of a secular continuum. Although there may be an increase of secular behaviours in member states of the European Union, a claim of growing secularism in Romania is not supported by an examination of the multiple data sets

  4. Molecular analysis of Rv0679c and Rv0180c genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from clinical isolates of pulmonary tuberculosis

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    L Rupa

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: Two novel proteins/genes Rv0679c and Rv0180c of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB H37Rv were classified as a hypothetical membrane and transmembrane proteins which might have a role in the invasion. Molecular analysis of these genes in human clinical isolates of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB patients was not well characterised. Aims: To assess the molecular diversity of Rv0679c and Rv0180c genes of MTB from clinical isolates of PTB patients. Settings and Design: DNA from 97 clinical isolates was extracted and subjected to amplification using selective primers by polymerase chain reaction (PCR. The PCR product obtained was sequenced commercially. Patients and Methods: Clinical isolates obtained from tuberculosis patients were investigated for polymorphisms in the Rv0679c and Rv0180c genes by PCR and DNA sequencing. Genomic DNA isolated by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide method was used for amplification of genes. Results: Rv0679c gene was highly conserved in 61 out of 65 clinical isolates assessed for sequence homology with wild-type H37Rv gene and was identical using ClustalW. Fifty-five out of 78 (70.5% clinical isolates assessed for Rv0180c were positive for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP at 258th position where the nucleotide G was replaced with T (G to T. In clinical isolates of untreated cases, the frequency was 54.5% for SNP at 258th position which is low compared to cases undergoing treatment where the frequency was 73.1%. Conclusions: Molecular analysis of Rv0180c in clinical isolates of PTB assessed in this study was the first report, where an SNP at 258th position G to T was identified within the gene. Rv0679c gene was highly conserved (94%, within Indian clinical isolates as compared to reports from other nations.

  5. EMTP-RV at a glance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mahseredjian, J.; Dennetiere, S. [IREQ Headquarters, PQ (Canada); Saad, O.; Khodabakhchian, B. [TransEnergie Technologies, PQ (Canada)

    2004-10-01

    A new restructured version of an electromagnetic transient program, EMTP-RV, which is a combination of the well-known EMTP and a powerful graphical interface EMTPWorks, is described. EMTP-RV provides a higher level of capabilities in the simulation of large scale electrical networks, making it possible to rapidly design, simulate and view large and complex systems, without the usual large expenditure of engineering and development time, and at the same time allowing more detailed studies on the complex phenomena of power system transients. EMTP-RV has a completely new control system solver, an optional Newton method for finding the simultaneous solution of all control system blocks, and a complex matrix-based steady-state solution, used primarily in automatic initialization of state-variables. The article also describes the highly efficient, intuitive and user-friendly graphical user interface EMTPWorks, which has an open architecture for maximized user configurability from basic user-defined model assemblies to more advanced script-based programming. The EMTP-RV package also includes an efficient data acquisition and processing software, named ScopeView and another visualization function called MPLOT. ScopeView offers multi-page and multi-column capabilities, an advanced built-in function editor, and is especially well adapted for the simultaneous viewing and mathematical post-processing of EMTP-RV. MPLOT, a compiled version of a set of m-files, is well suited for waveform viewing and statistical analysis. A one-week seminar and computer workshop on different aspects of transient system studies and analysis with EMTP-RV is provided twice a year by TransEnergie Technologies. 1 fig.

  6. Kohtujurist Ivo Raudjärv peab etteheiteid maksuametile põhjendatuiks / Ivo Raudjärv ; interv. Edith Kiilmaa

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Raudjärv, Ivo, 1976-

    2003-01-01

    Maksumaksja intervjuu juristibüroo Raudjärv & Ko UÜ juhataja Ivo Raudjärvega. Kommentaarid: Lasse Lehis (TÜ finantsõiguse dotsent, Riigikohtu halduskolleegiumi nõunik) "Ivo Raudjärv - asendamatu asjatundja", Aivar Pau (Maksuameti pressiesindaja) "Maksuameti statistika põhineb jõustunud kohtulahenditel", Jüri Allikalt (Jüri Allikaltþi õigusbüroo jurist-maksukonsultant) "Analüütiline Ivo Raudjärv". Lisatud Ivo Raudjärve CV

  7. Post-secular religious practices entering traditional religion

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    Urszula Pękala

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays we can observe complex interactions between the religious and secular spheres. Several different processes take place simultaneously: the traditionally religious elements function in the secular sphere as if they were part of secular culture; elements of the secular sphere build a specific kind of post-secular religiosity; finally, this post-secular religiosity influences traditional religions. This article focuses on the last stage of these changes. The author's purpose is to describe and interpret the practices we can observe. Because of the complexity of this issue, the analyses are limited to examples taken from the Catholic Church in Germany, where this process seems to be as popular as it is paradoxical. Catholicism realises that the post-secular forms of religiosity are very popular and that many people choose them instead of the traditional Church. It could offer them spirituality based on ages of experience. But instead of making its own spiritual tradition competitive on the spiritual market, Catholicism seems to offer Christianised post-secular goods, or its own traditional elements represented in a secularised form. It seems difficult to predict how it will all end. However, we observe an interesting encounter and interaction between an ‘old’ religion and a new religiosity, which will certainly have impact on further presence of the Church in the society.

  8. Research on meaning-making and health in secular society: Secular, spiritual and religious existential orientations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvidt, Niels Christian; La Cour, Peter

    2010-01-01

    cultural basis for research in secular society. Reviewing the literature, three main domains of existential meaning-making emerge: Secular, spiritual, and religious. In reconfirming these three domains, we propose to couple them with the three dimensions of cognition (knowing), practice (doing...

  9. Religious Globalisms in the Post-Secular Age

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilson, E.K.; B. Steger, Manfred

    2013-01-01

    This article explores the interconnections between mounting global crises and the emergence of the post-secular. Specifically, the article argues that the post-secular is both a description of and a response to shifting global realities in the twenty-first century. It describes the crisis of secular

  10. Out of time : the limits of secular critique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Randell-Moon, Holly

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available A review of Talal Asad, Wendy Brown, Judith Butler, Saba Mahmood, 'Is critique secular? Blasphemy, injury, and free speech' and Michael Warner, Jonathan Vanantwerpen, and Craig Calhoun (eds, 'Varieties of secularism in a secular age'.

  11. SECULAR CHAOS AND THE PRODUCTION OF HOT JUPITERS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Yanqin; Lithwick, Yoram

    2011-01-01

    In a planetary system with two or more well-spaced, eccentric, inclined planets, secular interactions may lead to chaos. The innermost planet may gradually become very eccentric and/or inclined as a result of the secular degrees of freedom drifting toward equipartition of angular momentum deficit. Secular chaos is known to be responsible for the eventual destabilization of Mercury in our own solar system. Here we focus on systems with three giant planets. We characterize the secular chaos and demonstrate the criterion for it to occur, but leave a detailed understanding of secular chaos to a companion paper. After an extended period of eccentricity diffusion, the inner planet's pericenter can approach the star to within a few stellar radii. Strong tidal interactions and ensuing tidal dissipation extract orbital energy from the planet and pull it inward, creating a hot Jupiter. In contrast to other proposed channels for the production of hot Jupiters, such a scenario (which we term 'secular migration') explains a range of observations: the pile-up of hot Jupiters at 3 day orbital periods, the fact that hot Jupiters are in general less massive than other radial velocity planets, that they may have misaligned inclinations with respect to stellar spin, and that they have few easily detectable companions (but may have giant companions in distant orbits). Secular migration can also explain close-in planets as low in mass as Neptune; and an aborted secular migration can explain the 'warm Jupiters' at intermediate distances. In addition, the frequency of hot Jupiters formed via secular migration increases with stellar age. We further suggest that secular chaos may be responsible for the observed eccentricities of giant planets at larger distances and that these planets could exhibit significant spin-orbit misalignment.

  12. The Coming of Secular Buddhism: a Synoptic View

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    Winton Higgins

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Secular Buddhism is coalescing today in response to two main factors. First, it rejects the incoherence of Buddhist modernism, a protean formation that accommodates elements as far afield as ancestral Buddhism and psychotherapies claiming the Buddhist brand. Second, it absorbs the cultural influence of modern secularity in the West. Historically understood, secularity has constituted a centuries-long religious development, not a victory of "science" over "religion." Today's secularity marks a further stage in the cultural decline of "enchanted" truth-claims and the intellectual eclipse of metaphysics, especially under the aegis of phenomenology. In Buddhism as in Christianity, secularity brings forth a new humanistic approach to ethical-spiritual life and creative this-worldly practices.

  13. Secular humanism and "scientific psychiatry"

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    Szasz Thomas

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The Council for Secular Humanism identifies Secular Humanism as a "way of thinking and living" committed to rejecting authoritarian beliefs and embracing "individual freedom and responsibility ... and cooperation." The paradigmatic practices of psychiatry are civil commitment and insanity defense, that is, depriving innocent persons of liberty and excusing guilty persons of their crimes: the consequences of both are confinement in institutions ostensibly devoted to the treatment of mental diseases. Black's Law Dictionary states: "Every confinement of the person is an 'imprisonment,' whether it be in a common prison, or in private house, or in the stocks, or even by forcibly detaining one in the public streets." Accordingly, I maintain that Secular Humanism is incompatible with the principles and practices of psychiatry.

  14. Secular humanism and "scientific psychiatry".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szasz, Thomas

    2006-04-25

    The Council for Secular Humanism identifies Secular Humanism as a "way of thinking and living" committed to rejecting authoritarian beliefs and embracing "individual freedom and responsibility ... and cooperation." The paradigmatic practices of psychiatry are civil commitment and insanity defense, that is, depriving innocent persons of liberty and excusing guilty persons of their crimes: the consequences of both are confinement in institutions ostensibly devoted to the treatment of mental diseases. Black's Law Dictionary states: "Every confinement of the person is an 'imprisonment,' whether it be in a common prison, or in private house, or in the stocks, or even by forcibly detaining one in the public streets." Accordingly, I maintain that Secular Humanism is incompatible with the principles and practices of psychiatry.

  15. THEORY OF SECULAR CHAOS AND MERCURY'S ORBIT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lithwick, Yoram; Wu Yanqin

    2011-01-01

    We study the chaotic orbital evolution of planetary systems, focusing on secular (i.e., orbit-averaged) interactions, which dominate on long timescales. We first focus on the evolution of a test particle that is forced by multiple planets. To linear order in eccentricity and inclination, its orbit precesses with constant frequencies. But nonlinearities modify the frequencies, and can shift them into and out of resonance with either the planets' eigenfrequencies (forming eccentricity or inclination secular resonances), or with linear combinations of those frequencies (forming mixed high-order secular resonances). The overlap of these nonlinear secular resonances drives secular chaos. We calculate the locations and widths of nonlinear secular resonances, display them together on a newly developed map (the 'map of the mean momenta'), and find good agreement between analytical and numerical results. This map also graphically demonstrates how chaos emerges from overlapping secular resonances. We then apply this newfound understanding to Mercury to elucidate the origin of its orbital chaos. We find that since Mercury's two free precession frequencies (in eccentricity and inclination) lie within ∼25% of two other eigenfrequencies in the solar system (those of the Jupiter-dominated eccentricity mode and the Venus-dominated inclination mode), secular resonances involving these four modes overlap and cause Mercury's chaos. We confirm this with N-body integrations by showing that a slew of these resonant angles alternately librate and circulate. Our new analytical understanding allows us to calculate the criterion for Mercury to become chaotic: Jupiter and Venus must have eccentricity and inclination of a few percent. The timescale for Mercury's chaotic diffusion depends sensitively on the forcing. As it is, Mercury appears to be perched on the threshold for chaos, with an instability timescale comparable to the lifetime of the solar system.

  16. Analysis on Dynamic Transmission Accuracy for RV Reducer

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    Zhang Fengshou

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available By taking rotate vector (RV reducer as the research object, the factors affecting the transmission accuracy are studied, including the machining errors of the main parts, assembly errors, clearance, micro-displacement, gear mesh stiffness and damping, bearing stiffness. Based on Newton second law, the transmission error mathematical model of RV reducer is set up. Then, the RV reducer transmission error curve is achieved by solving the mathematical model using the Runge-Kutta methods under the combined action of various error factors. Through the analysis of RV reducer transmission test, it can be found that there are similar variation trend and frequency components compared the theoretical research and experimental result. The presented method is useful to the research on dynamic transmission accuracy of RV reducer, and also applies to research the transmission accuracy of other cycloid drive systems.

  17. Fearing Secularism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sheikh, Mona Kanwal

    Secularism and Beyond - Comparative Perspectives: International og interdisciplinær konference, 29. maj-1. juni, 2007Arrangeret af Anders Berg-Sørensen for "Religion i det 21. århundrede" i samarbejde med kolleger fraKøbenhavns Universitet og universiteterne i Wien og Birmingham...

  18. Secular Evolution of Spiral Galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    2003-01-01

    recombination (z=1000). Furthermore, the BigBang nucleosynthesis model also requires a signi cantamount of non- baryonic dark matter (Primack 1999) ifthe universe...momentum (as well as energy) outward. Associ-ated with this outward angular momentum transport isan expected secular redistribution of disk matter , co...mode, a secular transfer of energy andangular momentum between the disk matter and thedensity wave. The existence of the phase shift betweenthe

  19. Secular humanism and "scientific psychiatry"

    OpenAIRE

    Szasz, Thomas

    2006-01-01

    Abstract The Council for Secular Humanism identifies Secular Humanism as a "way of thinking and living" committed to rejecting authoritarian beliefs and embracing "individual freedom and responsibility ... and cooperation." The paradigmatic practices of psychiatry are civil commitment and insanity defense, that is, depriving innocent persons of liberty and excusing guilty persons of their crimes: the consequences of both are confinement in institutions ostensibly devoted to the treatment of m...

  20. Feminist Practice and Solidarity in Secular Societies : Case Studies on Feminists Crossing Religious–Secular Divides in Politics and Practice in Antwerp, Belgium

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Brandt, H.P.

    2015-01-01

    In west European countries, public debates on migration, integration, and diversity are informed by particular understandings of secularism and the secular society. In our increasingly diverse societies, so the story goes, it is needed to implement a certain type of secularism and/or support

  1. Secular schools in Zaragoza (1885-1917

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfonso HEREDIA MANRIQUE

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This research has a very specific goal that is to know how many and which were secular schools that took place in Zaragoza city, in the period that goes from the first established at the end of the 19th century until the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923. Secular schools identified are described by the educational aspects most relevant to that appear in the scarce and scattered remains of them information, and mainly related to the urban location, organization and didactics, teachers and students. All these aspects allow us to glimpse something of how trying to implement his project of secular, rational, scientific education.

  2. Chemical Compositions of RV Tauri Stars and Related Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, S. S.; Giridhar, S.

    2014-04-01

    We have undertaken a comprehensive abundance analysis for a sample of relatively unexplored RV Tauri and RV Tauri like stars to further our understanding of post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (post-AGB) evolution. From our study based on high resolution spectra and a grid of model atmospheres, we find indications of mild s-processing for V820 Cen and IRAS 06165+3158. On the other hand, SU Gem and BT Lac exhibit the effects of mild dust-gas winnowing. We have also compiled the existing abundance data on RV Tauri objects and find that a large fraction of them are afflicted by dust-gas winnowing and aided by the present work, we find a small group of two RV Tauris showing mild s-process enhancement in our Galaxy. With two out of three reported s-process enhanced objects belonging to RV Tauri spectroscopic class C, these intrinsically metal-poor objects appear to be promising candidates to analyse the possible s-processing in RV Tauri stars.

  3. Feeding secularism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fischer, Johan

    2005-01-01

    life. He shows how Islamic organizations in Britain claim authority through halal in the interfaces of expanding markets, secularism, and the rights and demands of a growing group of Muslim consumers. These claims emerge in a society where powerful political discourses identify the veiling of Muslim...

  4. Cancellation of differential accelerations for the LISA spacecraft

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bender, Peter L

    2006-01-01

    The three spacecraft of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna will form a nearly equilateral triangle with nominal side lengths of 5 million km. However, the arm lengths and the corner angles will vary by very roughly 1% over 5-10 years. Part of this variation is due to the nature of Kepler orbits around the Sun. But Sweetser (2006 Astrodynamics 2005, Advances in the Astronautical Sciences vol 123 (San Diego, CA: Univelt Inc.) pp 693-712) has shown recently that differential secular accelerations due to the Earth for the three spacecraft prevent the minimal variations from being preserved for more than 2 or 3 years. Based on Sweetser's results, it appears possible to cancel out the differential secular acceleration due to the Earth by applying forces to the two proof masses in each spacecraft. The applied acceleration is at most 2.1 x 10 -9 m s -2 . However, the directions of the required accelerations would have substantial components along the sides of the triangle, and thus the amplitudes of the applied forces would have to have very low noise, even at frequencies down to below 0.1 mHz

  5. Unsafe Gods: Security, Secularism and Schooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Lynn

    2014-01-01

    This book makes the compelling argument that religion can be complicit in conflict and that a new secularism is vital to foster security. Using insights from complexity science, it shows how dynamic secularism can be used to accommodate diverse faiths and beliefs within worldly politics. Exploration of the interplay of religion and education in…

  6. Explaining Global Secularity: Existential Security or Education?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claude M. J. Braun

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available At the time of data analysis for this report there were 193 countries in the world. Various institutions – the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the CIA, the World Values Survey, Gallup, and many others – have performed sophisticated statistical analyses on cross-national data. The present investigation demonstrates that valid and reliable data concerning religiosity and secularity exist for most countries and that these data are comparable. Cross-national data relating to social, political, economic and cultural aspects of life were tested for correlation with religiosity/secularity. In contrast to the most widely accepted general account of secularity, the Existential Security Framework (ESF; Norris & Inglehart, 2004, secularity was not most highly related to material security, though these were highly related. Rather, secularity was most strongly related to the degree of formal education attained. Material security explained no significant variance beyond education. Thus, religion’s primary function in the world today is being replaced, not so much by the pseudo-materialistic supplication for better living conditions as posited by the ESF, but by contemporary education – extensive knowledge of contemporary cultures, philosophy, modes of thought or processes of reasoning.

  7. Constitutionalizing secularism, alternative secularisms or liberal-democratic constitutionalism?
    A critical reading of some Turkish, ECtHR and Indian Supreme Court cases on ‘secularism’

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veit Bader

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available In recent debates on the constitutional status of 'secularism' we can discern three positions. The first tries to overcome the absence of 'secularism' in most liberal-democratic constitutions by developing a more robust theory of constitutional secularism. The second develops theories of 'alternative secularisms'. The third, defended in this article, argues that we should drop secularism as a 'cacophonous' concept from our constitutional and legal language and replace it by liberal-democratic constitutionalism. I develop an analytical taxonomy of twelve different meanings of 'secularism' based on a comparative study of Turkish and Indian Supreme Court cases on secularism, and demonstrate that they are incompatible with each other and with the hard core of liberal-democratic constitutions. Next, I criticize the respective rulings in the Turkish and Indian context. Particularly in 'militant democracies', the appeal to a principle of 'secularism' turns out to be inimical to the liberal and to the democratic 'constitutional essentials'. I end with some normative recommendations on the role of constitutional review and judicial activism.

  8. Moderate Secularism, Difference Sensitivity and Contextualism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lægaard, Sune

    2009-01-01

    The article is a rejoinder to Tariq Modood's reply (Politics, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2009) to my article 'Moderate Secularism and Multicultural Equality' (Politics, Vol 28, No. 3, 2008).......The article is a rejoinder to Tariq Modood's reply (Politics, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2009) to my article 'Moderate Secularism and Multicultural Equality' (Politics, Vol 28, No. 3, 2008)....

  9. Concept and Indications of Secular State

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philina N. V.

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the elaborate analysis of the concept and indications of a secular state. The paper has the interdisciplinary character and it is written on the verge of constitutional law, theory of state administration, philosophy, political science. The comparative analysis between the constitutional indicators of a secular state and democracy realia has been conducted

  10. Craniofacial Secular Change in Recent Mexican Migrants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spradley, Katherine; Stull, Kyra E; Hefner, Joseph T

    2016-01-01

    Research by economists suggests that recent Mexican migrants are better educated and have higher socioeconomic status (SES) than previous migrants. Because factors associated with higher SES and improved education can lead to positive secular changes in overall body form, secular changes in the craniofacial complex were analyzed within a recent migrant group from Mexico. The Mexican group represents individuals in the act of migration, not yet influenced by the American environment, and thus can serve as a starting point for future studies of secular change in this population group. The excavation of a historic Hispanic cemetery in Tucson, Arizona, also allows for a comparison between historic Hispanics and recent migrants to explore craniofacial trends over a broad time period, as both groups originate from Mexico. The present research addresses two main questions: (1) Are cranial secular changes evident in recent Mexican migrants? (2) Are historic Hispanics and recent Mexican migrants similar? By studying secular changes within a migrant population group, secular trends may be detected, which will be important for understanding the biological variation of the migrants themselves and will serve as a preliminary investigation of secular change within Mexican migrants. The comparison of a sample of recent Mexican migrants with a historic Hispanic sample, predominantly of Mexican origin, allows us to explore morphological similarities and differences between early and recent Mexicans within the United States. Vault and face size and a total of 82 craniofacial interlandmark distances were used to explore secular changes within the recent Mexican migrants (females, n = 38; males, n = 178) and to explore the morphological similarities between historic Hispanics (females, n = 54; males, n = 58) and recent migrants. Sexes were separated, and multivariate adaptive regression splines and basis splines (quadratic with one knot) were used to assess the direction and magnitude

  11. Modeling the secular evolution of migrating planet pairs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michtchenko, T. A.; Rodríguez, A.

    2011-10-01

    The secular regime of motion of multi-planetary systems is universal; in contrast with the 'accidental' resonant motion, characteristic only for specific configurations of the planets, secular motion is present everywhere in phase space, even inside the resonant region. The secular behavior of a pair of planets evolving under dissipative forces is the principal subject of this study, particularly, the case when the dissipative forces affect the planetary semi-major axes and the planets move inward/outward the central star, the process known as planet migration. Based on the fundamental concepts of conservative and dissipative dynamics of the three-body problem, we develop a qualitative model of the secular evolution of the migrating planetary pair. Our approach is based on analysis of the energy and the orbital angular momentum exchange between the two-planet system and an external medium; thus no specific kind of dissipative forces is invoked. We show that, under assumption that dissipation is weak and slow, the evolutionary routes of the migrating planets are traced by the Mode I and Mode II stationary solutions of the conservative secular problem. The ultimate convergence and the evolution of the system along one of these secular modes of motion is determined uniquely by the condition that the dissipation rate is sufficiently smaller than the proper secular frequency of the system. We show that it is possible to reassemble the starting configurations and migration history of the systems on the basis of their final states and consequently to constrain the parameters of the physical processes involved.

  12. There is a Sexular Body: Introducing a Material Approach to the Secular

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelle Wiering

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This article calls for more ‘bottom-up inquiry’ into the secular, departing from the assumption that it features normative ideologies and practices that dominate current societies. I plea for collecting and analyzing manifestations of the secular, as the secular as an phenomenon in society is surprisingly unexplored. To stimulate such inquiry, I suggest a material approach to the secular, as it will provide researchers with tools to conduct empirical research on the secular in contemporary societies. Inspired by Joan Scott, Charles Hirschkind, and Talal Asad, this article explores the notion of a Dutch ‘sexular’ body: a body which affective-gestural repertoires, limited here to the context of sexuality, people in society (historically associate with the secular. I conclude by arguing that a material approach to the secular will contribute to (1 obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of the secular, including its cultural conceptualizations and manifestations, and (2 clarifying, and hence facing the normativity the secular imposes on the people living in secular societies.

  13. Overexpression of Adenylyl Cyclase Encoded by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv2212 Gene Confers Improved Fitness, Accelerated Recovery from Dormancy and Enhanced Virulence in Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Margarita O. Shleeva

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Earlier we demonstrated that the adenylyl cyclase (AC encoded by the MSMEG_4279 gene plays a key role in the resuscitation and growth of dormant Mycobacterium smegmatis and that overexpression of this gene leads to an increase in intracellular cAMP concentration and prevents the transition of M. smegmatis from active growth to dormancy in an extended stationary phase accompanied by medium acidification. We surmised that the homologous Rv2212 gene of M. tuberculosis (Mtb, the main cAMP producer, plays similar physiological roles by supporting, under these conditions, the active state and reactivation of dormant bacteria. To test this hypothesis, we established Mtb strain overexpressing Rv2212 and compared its in vitro and in vivo growth characteristics with a control strain. In vitro, the AC-overexpressing pMindRv2212 strain demonstrated faster growth in a liquid medium, prolonged capacity to form CFUs and a significant delay or even prevention of transition toward dormancy. AC-overexpressing cells exhibited easier recovery from dormancy. In vivo, AC-overexpressing bacteria demonstrated significantly higher growth rates (virulence in the lungs and spleens of infected mice compared to the control strain, and, unlike the latter, killed mice in the TB-resistant strain before month 8 of infection. Even in the absence of selecting hygromycin B, all pMindRv2212 CFUs retained the Rv2212 insert during in vivo growth, strongly suggesting that AC overexpression is beneficial for bacteria. Taken together, our results indicate that cAMP supports the maintenance of Mtb cells vitality under unfavorable conditions in vitro and their virulence in vivo.

  14. Varieties of Secularism in Asia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    of the North Atlantic rim. This anthology seeks to begin that task. It does so by suggesting that the kind of secularity described by Taylor is only one amongst others. By attending to the shifting relationship between proper religion and ‘bad faiths’; between politically valorised and embarrassing spiritual...... phenomena; between the new visibilities and silences of magic, ancestors, and religion in democratic politics, this book seeks to outline the particular formations of secularism that have become possible in Asia from China to Indonesia and from Bahrain to Timor-Leste....

  15. Transcriptional analysis of genetic region RvD1 of Mycobacterium bovis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Víctor Manuel Tibatá R.

    2004-07-01

    Full Text Available Mycobacterium bovis, shares 99.9% of genomic identity with M. tuberculosis, M. africanum and M. microti. Within this 0.1 % of difference, there are two genetic regions characteristics of M. bovis that are deleted in M. tuberculo­sis H37Rv: RvD1 and RvD2. According to bioinformatic analysis, these regions contain Open Reading Frames (ORFs. With the purpose of determining if the RvD1 region transcribes the ORFs predicted by bioinformatics (ORF1, ORF2 and Rv2024; total RNA was extracted from a culture of M. bovis BCG Pasteur, at different time points along the growth curve. The RNA samples were analyzed by Real Time Reverse Transcription - Poly-merase Chain Reaction (RTq-PCR. The findings show that ORF1, ORF2 and Rv2024, were transcribed consti-tutively, something that has not been reported previously. These results are a first step in order to determine the function of M. bovis RvD1 region, its possible role in pathogenesis and its interaction with both cattle and humans. Key words: Mycobacterium bovis, BCG, RNA, Real Time, RT-PCR, RvD1

  16. Atmospheric acceleration and Earth-expansion deceleration of the Earth rotation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenbin Shen

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies suggest that tidal friction gives rise to the secular deceleration of the Earth rotation by a quantity of about 2.25 ms/cy. Here we just consider additional contributions to the secular Earth rotation deceleration. Atmospheric solar semi-diurnal tide has a small amplitude and certain amount of phase lead. This periodic global air-mass excess distribution exerts a quasi-constant torque to accelerate the Earth's spin rotation. Using an updated atmospheric tide model, we re-estimate the amounts of this atmospheric acceleration torque and corresponding energy input, of which the associated change rate in LOD (length of day is −0.1 ms/cy. In another aspect, evidences from space-geodesy and sea level rise observations suggest that Earth expands at a rate of 0.35 mm/yr in recent decades, which gives rise to the increase of LOD at rate of 1.0 ms/cy. Hence, if the previous estimate due to the tidal friction is correct, the secular Earth rotation deceleration due to tidal friction and Earth expansion should be 3.15 ms/cy.

  17. Infection with koala retrovirus subgroup B (KoRV-B), but not KoRV-A, is associated with chlamydial disease in free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waugh, Courtney A; Hanger, Jonathan; Loader, Joanne; King, Andrew; Hobbs, Matthew; Johnson, Rebecca; Timms, Peter

    2017-03-09

    The virulence of chlamydial infection in wild koalas is highly variable between individuals. Some koalas can be infected (PCR positive) with Chlamydia for long periods but remain asymptomatic, whereas others develop clinical disease. Chlamydia in the koala has traditionally been studied without regard to coinfection with other pathogens, although koalas are usually subject to infection with koala retrovirus (KoRV). Retroviruses can be immunosuppressive, and there is evidence of an immunosuppressive effect of KoRV in vitro. Originally thought to be a single endogenous strain, a new, potentially more virulent exogenous variant (KoRV-B) was recently reported. We hypothesized that KoRV-B might significantly alter chlamydial disease outcomes in koalas, presumably via immunosuppression. By studying sub-groups of Chlamydia and KoRV infected koalas in the wild, we found that neither total KoRV load (either viraemia or proviral copies per genome), nor chlamydial infection level or strain type, was significantly associated with chlamydial disease risk. However, PCR positivity with KoRV-B was significantly associated with chlamydial disease in koalas (p = 0.02961). This represents an example of a recently evolved virus variant that may be predisposing its host (the koala) to overt clinical disease when co-infected with an otherwise asymptomatic bacterial pathogen (Chlamydia).

  18. Secular tolerance? : Anti‐Muslim sentiment in Western Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ribberink, E.C.; Achterberg, P.H.J.; Houtman, D.

    2017-01-01

    he literature about secularization proposes two distinct explanations of anti-Muslim sentiment in secularized societies. The first theory understands it in terms of religious competition between Muslims and the remaining minority of orthodox Protestants; the second understands it as resulting from

  19. Sex, secularism and religious influence in US politics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernstein, Elizabeth; Jakobsen, Janet R

    2010-01-01

    Through an analysis of alliances between secular and religious actors in US politics and a specific case study on anti-trafficking policy, we show that the intertwining of religion and politics in the US comes from two sources: 1) the secular political and cultural institutions of American public life that have developed historically out of Protestantism, and which predominantly operate by presuming Protestant norms and values; and 2) the direct influence on US politics of religious groups and organisations, particularly in the past quarter-century of lobby groups and political action committees identified with conservative evangelical Christianity. The sources of policies that promote gender and sexual inequality in the US are both secular and religious and we conclude that it is inaccurate to assume that religious influence in politics is necessarily conservative or that more secular politics will necessarily be more progressive than the religious varieties.

  20. RV-Typer: A Web Server for Typing of Rhinoviruses Using Alignment-Free Approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pandurang S Kolekar

    Full Text Available Rhinoviruses (RV are increasingly being reported to cause mild to severe infections of respiratory tract in humans. RV are antigenically the most diverse species of the genus Enterovirus and family Picornaviridae. There are three species of RV (RV-A, -B and -C, with 80, 32 and 55 serotypes/types, respectively. Antigenic variation is the main limiting factor for development of a cross-protective vaccine against RV.Serotyping of Rhinoviruses is carried out using cross-neutralization assays in cell culture. However, these assays become laborious and time-consuming for the large number of strains. Alternatively, serotyping of RV is carried out by alignment-based phylogeny of both protein and nucleotide sequences of VP1. However, serotyping of RV based on alignment-based phylogeny is a multi-step process, which needs to be repeated every time a new isolate is sequenced. In view of the growing need for serotyping of RV, an alignment-free method based on "return time distribution" (RTD of amino acid residues in VP1 protein has been developed and implemented in the form of a web server titled RV-Typer. RV-Typer accepts nucleotide or protein sequences as an input and computes return times of di-peptides (k = 2 to assign serotypes. The RV-Typer performs with 100% sensitivity and specificity. It is significantly faster than alignment-based methods. The web server is available at http://bioinfo.net.in/RV-Typer/home.html.

  1. Social Boundaries and Secularism in the Lebanese Left

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haugbølle, Sune

    2013-01-01

    This article explores the social meaning of boundaries in Lebanon through debates about secularism in and around the Lebanese Left. The aim is to elucidate the political and social meaning of ‘Left’ in a Lebanese context, and the positioning of liminal political subjectivity in a system organized...... along sectarian boundaries. Based on readings of debates about secularism in 1975 and 1976, the article proposes that the Left has since that year been forced to embrace secularism as its primary ideological marker. This experience in turn has become constitutive for what it means to be a leftist...

  2. Really not god: Secularization and pragmatism in Gamblers Anonymous.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Browne, B R

    1994-09-01

    The paper argues that despite maintaining the image of a twelve-step organization, the central theme of the history of Gamblers Anonymous (GA) in the United States is the increasing secularization of the program of the recovery. The paper documents the increasing secularization and pragmatism of Gamblers Anonymous, as reflected in key documents, despite the spiritual vision of its founding member. The author speculates on why Gamblers Anonymous took a secularized development path. Further research is called for.

  3. Secularization- the promoter of “new type of man”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Traian-Alexandru MIU

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Secularization is a phenomenon supposing major mutations on the social level. Thus, based on the principle of rationality, secularization has led to the removal of religion from the social sphere, the desacralization, aiming, ultimately, that the sacred disappear altogether from man's life. Within the globalizing-secularizing society, economics seeks to take possession of the entire social and spiritual life, helped by a policy-aggressive mercantile mentality. Secularization has led to manipulation of man so that he believes he has to build his future by abstaining from religion. The secularized man has come to the conclusion that only by his own forces helped by reason, economy and technology he can be the one who creates progress, namely perfection for himself and for the world he lives in. The hypermodern man is a man of ephemerality, a human being looking for his accomplishment in trifles, who no longer has deification as his final goal. The problems that man is facing today can be solved by taking the eternity as reference system for them.

  4. Kosovar Society through Secularism and Religion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MSc. Dritero Arifi

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper will analyze the importance and the effects of religion, in Kosovar society. A great part of the paper, will analyze the social and the political relations in Post-War Kosovo. Initially it will elaborate religion and secularism, especially in theoreticall aspect, what impact have these definitions in modern societies. In order to explain what the importance of the religion in Kosovo is, we will focus on analyzing ethnical, social and political relations within Kosovo society. A considerable component of the paper is also, the elaboration of secularism in Kosovo conditions. This implies that the formulation of the problem and the objective of this research, are the substance of the paper’s theme, which is, religion in Kosovo; its definition and the outlook of the Kosovar society on religion. Is Kosovo post-war society more or less religious? That means the elements of Religions and Secularism will be part of the analysis of developments in post-war Kosovo.

  5. Rotavirus shedding following administration of RV3-BB human neonatal rotavirus vaccine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowley, Daniel; Boniface, Karen; Bogdanovic-Sakran, Nada; Kirkwood, Carl D; Bines, Julie E

    2017-08-03

    The RV3-BB human neonatal rotavirus vaccine aims to provide protection from severe rotavirus disease from birth. A phase IIa safety and immunogenicity trial was undertaken in Dunedin, New Zealand between January 2012 and April 2014. Healthy, full-term (≥ 36 weeks gestation) babies, who were 0-5 d old were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive 3 doses of oral RV3-BB vaccine with the first dose given at 0-5 d after birth (neonatal schedule), or the first dose given at about 8 weeks after birth (infant schedule), or to receive placebo (placebo schedule). Vaccine take (serum immune response or stool shedding of vaccine virus after any dose) was detected after 3 doses of RV3-BB vaccine in >90% of participants when the first dose was administered in the neonatal and infant schedules. The aim of the current study was to characterize RV3-BB shedding and virus replication following administration of RV3-BB in a neonatal and infant vaccination schedule. Shedding was defined as detection of rotavirus by VP6 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in stool on days 3-7 after administration of RV3-BB. Shedding of rotavirus was highest following vaccination at 8 weeks of age in both neonatal and infant schedules (19/30 and 17/27, respectively). Rotavirus was detected in stool on days 3-7, after at least one dose of RV3-BB, in 70% (21/30) of neonate, 78% (21/27) of infant and 3% (1/32) placebo participants. In participants who shed RV3-BB, rotavirus was detectable in stool on day 1 following RV3-BB administration and remained positive until day 4-5 after administration. The distinct pattern of RV3-BB stool viral load demonstrated using a NSP3 quantitative qRT-PCR in participants who shed RV3-BB, suggests that detection of RV3-BB at day 3-7 was the result of replication rather than passage through the gastrointestinal tract.

  6. Periodic and secular changes in SS 433

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collins, G.W.; Newsom, G.H.

    1983-01-01

    The recent history of SS 433 is reviewed with particular attention being given to the discovery of the periodic phenomena displayed by this object. Several periods ranging from days to months are established as being present in the spectrum of the ''moving'' lines as well as in other aspects of the emission from the object. In addition evidence for secular change in some of the defining parameters of the system is presented. Although these secular changes may eventually prove to be periodic on a rather long time scale, some interpretation of both the periodic and secular phenomena is possible. It is shown that it is possible to interpret all the known periodic phenomena in terms of a processing object responding to the time-varying torques that one would expect in a binary system

  7. 1993 recreational vehicle (RV) park census in Beatty and Pahrump, Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levy, L.E.; Housel, M.D.

    1994-01-01

    This paper reports on the second annual study of seasonal nonpermanent residents in the towns of Beatty and Pahrump in southern Nye County, Nevada, situs county of the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project. The study used a census of recreational vehicle (RV) park managers to enumerate and characterize in demographic terms nonpermanent residents staying in RV parks. The questionnaire sought information from RV park managers which ordinarily would come from a household survey. The main objective was to study open-quotes snowbirdsclose quotes, the households of older couples who stay for a month or more each winter. The findings suggest that snowbirds are a majority of the seasonal influx of nonpermanent residents to RV parks in Pahrump. In contrast, a group called open-quotes seasonal travelersclose quotes, similar demographically but who stay less than a month, dominate the seasonal nonpermanent population in Beatty's RV parks. The study also tentatively identified the seasonality of nonpermanent resident occupancy. Because only RV parks were contacted, the study left unanswered the question of how many snowbirds live in other types of accommodations in Beatty and Pahrump

  8. Modelling the secular evolution of migrating planet pairs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michtchenko, T. A.; Rodríguez, A.

    2011-08-01

    The subject of this paper is the secular behaviour of a pair of planets evolving under dissipative forces. In particular, we investigate the case when dissipative forces affect the planetary semimajor axes and the planets move inwards/outwards the central star, in a process known as planet migration. To perform this investigation, we introduce fundamental concepts of conservative and dissipative dynamics of the three-body problem. Based on these concepts, we develop a qualitative model of the secular evolution of the migrating planetary pair. Our approach is based on the analysis of the energy and the orbital angular momentum exchange between the two-planet system and an external medium; thus no specific kind of dissipative forces is invoked. We show that, under the assumption that dissipation is weak and slow, the evolutionary routes of the migrating planets are traced by the Mode I and Mode II stationary solutions of the conservative secular problem. The ultimate convergence and the evolution of the system along one of these secular modes of motion are determined uniquely by the condition that the dissipation rate is sufficiently smaller than the proper secular frequency of the system. We show that it is possible to reassemble the starting configurations and the migration history of the systems on the basis of their final states and consequently to constrain the parameters of the physical processes involved.

  9. The post-secular city

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Greve, Anni

    ) elements in ritual and ceremonies. Second, emergent spaces of post-secular practices are not only connected to traditional religious sites. With Schmautz (1998) it is necessary to understand a sacred site in its original social and cultural setting, and in the present experience of it. With a point...... in research on trans-national identity making (Fortier 2002). This paper suggests a displacement of focus from trans-national to international identity making and the possible role of religious societies. It is argued that an international culture is not mainstream culture however there are (universal......’ the paper argues for a possible potential of storytelling and mutual recognition. Third, it offers an argument for detecting ‘post-secular sites’ at the urban level from two angles: From architecture (the iconic consciousness) and from performance (the sacred drama). Fourth, the paper closes with a case...

  10. Human Rights Education and the Post Secular Turn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowie, Bob

    2012-01-01

    This article questions whether human rights education (HRE) scholarship is responding adequately to the post secular turn in thinking about the place and nature of religion in society. Here the post secular turn is used to describe the discrediting of secularisation theory, the recognition of religion as an enduring and pervasive global cultural…

  11. Pilgrimage as post-secular therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisbeth Mikaelsson

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This article describes the institutionalized pilgrim role and then turns to the therapeutic discourse which is so prominent in the modern pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Both the role and the discourse can be related to the concept of post-secularity, demonstrating that complex cultural fields such as religion and therapy, become intertwined in new ways through modern pilgrimage. This article also shows that churches cooperating in this type of pilgrimage are adapting to the post-secular age, finding a new sort of raison d’être in a multi-religious, international world. Here the author refers to the Church of Norway and its role in Norwegian pilgrimage. The latter is modelled upon the Santiago example.

  12. The „Pussy riot“ case and the post-secular hybrids

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uzlaner Dmitrij

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to the analysis of the “Pussy riot” case and the peculiarities of Russian postsecularism. Special emphasis is placed on the phenomenon of post-secular hybrids, i.e. the overcoming of the situation of social differentiation between religion and other social subsystems (one of the main distinctive features of secularization. It is claimed that the materials of the trial against “Pussy riot” make evident the appearance in Russia of at least three post-secular hybrids: 1 the blending of religion and politics; 2 installation of religious norms into the public order of the secular state; 3 significance of confessional legal experts as part of the new “ideological state apparatus”.

  13. TIME VARIATION OF AV AND RV FOR TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE BEHIND INTERSTELLAR DUST

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Xiaosheng; Biederman, M.; Herger, B.; Aldering, G. S.

    2014-01-01

    TIME VARIATION OF AV AND RV FOR TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE BEHIND NON-UNIFORM INTERSTELLAR DUST ABSTRACT We investigate the time variation of the visual extinction, AV, and the total-to-selective extinction ratio, RV, resulting from interstellar dust in front of an expanding photospheric disk of a type Ia supernova (SN Ia). We simulate interstellar dust clouds according to a power law power spectrum and produce extinction maps that either follow a pseudo-Gaussian distribution or a lognormal distribution. The RV maps are produced through a correlation between AV and RV. With maps of AV and RV generated in each case (pseudo-Gaussian and lognormal), we then compute the effective AV and RV for a SN as its photospheric disk expands behind the dust screen. We find for a small percentage of SNe the AV and RV values can vary by a large factor from day to day in the first 40 days after explosion.

  14. Secularization and de-secularization processes under the light of Max Weber’s rationalization sociology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Weisz

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This article starts posing a number of problems with which the classical understanding of the end of religions in Modernity has been confronted. This allows for a framework from which Max Weber’s theory of secularization can be addressed. From 1904 onwards, this author was engaged in the understanding of the historical-universal process of rationalization, and it is in this analysis where his prospective of secularization has to be looked for. His sociology of religion is therefore deconstructed from this point of view, so as to grasp why he understood that religions were displaced in the constitution of modern life conducts. After this analysis, the article poses the importance of this author’s legacy for the understanding of different issues concerning the present process of rebirth of religions.

  15. A model for solar constant secular changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schatten, Kenneth H.

    1988-01-01

    In this paper, contrast models for solar active region and global photospheric features are used to reproduce the observed Active Cavity Radiometer and Earth Radiation Budget secular trends in reasonably good fashion. A prediction for the next decade of solar constant variations is made using the model. Secular trends in the solar constant obtained from the present model support the view that the Maunder Minimum may be related to the Little Ice Age of the 17th century.

  16. Oligomeric stability of Rapana venosa hemocyanin (RvH) and its structural subunits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolashka-Angelova, Pavlina; Schwarz, Heinz; Dolashki, Aleksandar; Stevanovic, Stefan; Fecker, Miriam; Saeed, Muhammad; Voelter, Wolfgang

    2003-03-21

    The two structural subunits RvH1 and RvH2 were separated after overnight dialysis of Rapana venosa Hc against 130 mM Gly/NaOH buffer, pH 9.6, on an ion exchange column Hiload 26/10 Sepharose Q using a fast performance liquid chromatography (FPLC) system. The reassociation characteristics of these two RvH isoforms and the native molecule were studied in buffers with different pH values and concentrations of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+). Reassociation of mixed RvH subunits was performed over a period of several days using a stabilizing buffer (SB) of pH 7.0 containing different concentrations of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) ions. After 2 days of dialysis, an RvH subunit mixture of didecamers and multidecamers was observed in the presence of 100 mM CaCl(2) and MgCl(2), though RvH1 and RvH2 are biochemically and immunologically different and have also different dissociation properties. The reassociation, performed at pH 9.6 with 2 mM CaCl(2) and MgCl(2) at 4 degrees C over a period of one to several weeks, led to the formation of decameric oligomers, while didecamers formed predominantly in the SB at pH 7.0. Higher concentrations of calcium and magnesium ions led to a more rapid reassociation of RvH1 resulting in long stable multidecamers and helical tubules, which were stable and slowly dissociated into shorter multidecamers and decamers at higher pH values. The reassociation of the RvH2 structural subunit in the same buffers processed slowly and yielded didecamers, shorter tubule polymers and long multidecamers which are less stable at higher pH values. The stability of RvH isoforms under varying ionic conditions is compared with the stability of keyhole limpet (KLH, Megathura crenulata) hemocyanin (KLH) and Haliotis tuberculata hemocyanin (HtH) isoforms. The process of dissociation and reassociation is connected with changes of the fluorescence intensity at 600 nm, which can be explained by differences in opalescence of the solutions of these two isoforms. The solutions of longer tubule

  17. The Jesuit Imaginary: Higher Education in a Secular Age

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendrickson, Daniel Scott

    2012-01-01

    The philosopher Charles Taylor argues in "A Secular Age" (2007) that people who live in secular cultures are losing the capacity to experience genuine "fullness." Described by Taylor as a philosophical-anthropological conception of human flourishing that corresponds with existential senses of meaning and purpose, fullness is…

  18. Prevention of pneumonic plague in mice, rats, guinea pigs and non-human primates with clinical grade rV10, rV10-2 or F1-V vaccines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quenee, Lauriane E.; Ciletti, Nancy A.; Elli, Derek; Hermanas, Timothy M.; Schneewind, Olaf

    2012-01-01

    Yersinia pestis causes plague, a disease with high mortality in humans that can be transmitted by fleabite or aerosol. A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-licensed plague vaccine is currently not available. Vaccine developers have focused on two subunits of Y. pestis: LcrV, a protein at the tip of type III secretion needles, and F1, the fraction 1 pilus antigen. F1-V, a hybrid generated via translational fusion of both antigens, is being developed for licensure as a plague vaccine. The rV10 vaccine is a non-toxigenic variant of LcrV lacking residues 271–300. Here we developed Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) protocols for rV10. Comparison of clinical grade rV10 with F1-V did not reveal significant differences in plague protection in mice, guinea pigs or cynomolgus macaques. We also developed cGMP protocols for rV10-2, a variant of rV10 with an altered affinity tag. Immunization with rV10-2 adsorbed to aluminum hydroxide elicited antibodies against LcrV and conferred pneumonic plague protection in mice, rats, guinea pigs, cynomolgus macaques and African Green monkeys. The data support further development of rV10-2 for FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) authorization review and clinical testing. PMID:21763383

  19. Secular Islam and the Rhetoric of Humanity

    OpenAIRE

    Kharputly, Nadeen Sh B

    2017-01-01

    Secular Islam and the Rhetoric of Humanity” examines competing notions of humanity in representations of Islam in the United States from the Civil Rights period to the present. In post-9/11 representations, Islam is rhetorically “humanized” by the dominant culture in attempts to determine Islam’s role in the United States. This humanizing framework not only presumes an inherent lack of humanity in Islam; it establishes the ideal of the human as white, rational, and secular. To critique this ...

  20. Contrasting irreligious orientation: atheism and secularity in the USA and Scandinavia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phil Zuckerman

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Atheism and secularity are not static, fixed orientations. Rather, atheism and secularity are contoured, malleable, and deeply shaped by cultural and social forces. A clear example of the degree to which atheism and secularity can be lived and expressed quite differently in different socio-cultural locations is revealed by comparing and contrasting the ways in which they are manifested in the United States and Scandinavia.

  1. Rv0004 is a new essential member of the mycobacterial DNA replication machinery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mann, Katherine M; Huang, Deborah L; Hooppaw, Anna J; Logsdon, Michelle M; Richardson, Kirill; Lee, Hark Joon; Kimmey, Jacqueline M; Aldridge, Bree B; Stallings, Christina L

    2017-11-01

    DNA replication is fundamental for life, yet a detailed understanding of bacterial DNA replication is limited outside the organisms Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Many bacteria, including mycobacteria, encode no identified homologs of helicase loaders or regulators of the initiator protein DnaA, despite these factors being essential for DNA replication in E. coli and B. subtilis. In this study we discover that a previously uncharacterized protein, Rv0004, from the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis is essential for bacterial viability and that depletion of Rv0004 leads to a block in cell cycle progression. Using a combination of genetic and biochemical approaches, we found that Rv0004 has a role in DNA replication, interacts with DNA and the replicative helicase DnaB, and affects DnaB-DnaA complex formation. We also identify a conserved domain in Rv0004 that is predicted to structurally resemble the N-terminal protein-protein interaction domain of DnaA. Mutation of a single conserved tryptophan within Rv0004's DnaA N-terminal-like domain leads to phenotypes similar to those observed upon Rv0004 depletion and can affect the association of Rv0004 with DnaB. In addition, using live cell imaging during depletion of Rv0004, we have uncovered a previously unappreciated role for DNA replication in coordinating mycobacterial cell division and cell size. Together, our data support that Rv0004 encodes a homolog of the recently identified DciA family of proteins found in most bacteria that lack the DnaC-DnaI helicase loaders in E. coli and B. subtilis. Therefore, the mechanisms of Rv0004 elucidated here likely apply to other DciA homologs and reveal insight into the diversity of bacterial strategies in even the most conserved biological processes.

  2. Rv3634c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv encodes an enzyme with UDP-Gal/Glc and UDP-GalNAc 4-epimerase activities.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peehu Pardeshi

    Full Text Available A bioinformatics study revealed that Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (Mtb contains sequence homologs of Campylobacter jejuni protein glycosylation enzymes. The ORF Rv3634c from Mtb was identified as a sequence homolog of C. jejuni UDP-Gal/GalNAc 4-epimerase. This study reports the cloning of Rv3634c and its expression as an N-terminal His-tagged protein. The recombinant protein was shown to have UDP-Gal/Glc 4-epimerase activity by GOD-POD assay and by reverse phase HPLC. This enzyme was shown to have UDP-GalNAc 4-epimerase activity also. Residues Ser121, Tyr146 and Lys150 were shown by site-directed mutagenesis to be important for enzyme activity. Mutation of Ser121 and Tyr146 to Ala and Phe, respectively, led to complete loss of activity whereas mutation of Lys150 to Arg led to partial loss of activity. There were no gross changes in the secondary structures of any of these three mutants. These results suggest that Ser121 and Tyr146 are essential for epimerase activity of Rv3634c. UDP-Gal/Glc 4-epimerases from other organisms also have a catalytic triad consisting of Ser, Tyr and Lys. The triad carries out proton transfer from nucleotide sugar to NAD+ and back, thus effecting the epimerization of the substrate. Addition of NAD+ to Lys150 significantly abrogates the loss of activity, suggesting that, as in other epimerases, NAD+ is associated with Rv3634c.

  3. SECULAR GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITY OF A DUST LAYER IN SHEAR TURBULENCE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Michikoshi, Shugo; Kokubo, Eiichiro; Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro

    2012-01-01

    We perform a linear stability analysis of a dust layer in a turbulent gas disk. Youdin investigated the secular gravitational instability (GI) of a dust layer using hydrodynamic equations with a turbulent diffusion term. We obtain essentially the same result independently of Youdin. In the present analysis, we restrict the area of interest to small dust particles, while investigating the secular GI in a more rigorous manner. We discuss the time evolution of the dust surface density distribution using a stochastic model and derive the advection-diffusion equation. The validity of the analysis by Youdin is confirmed in the strong drag limit. We demonstrate quantitatively that the finite thickness of a dust layer weakens the secular GI and that the density-dependent diffusion coefficient changes the growth rate. We apply the results obtained to the turbulence driven by the shear instability and find that the secular GI is faster than the radial drift when the gas density is three times as large as that in the minimum-mass disk model. If the dust particles are larger than chondrules, the secular GI grows within the lifetime of a protoplanetary disk.

  4. The New Secular Humanists: Ronald Dworkin and Philip Kitcher on Life without God

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles Taliaferro

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Ronald Dworkin and Philip Kitcher recognize that traditional, religious faith—especially in Christian theistic tradition—has virtues that seem to be missing in a secular worldview. To remedy this apparent deficit, they both propose that a secular worldview can provide a satisfying foundation for a flourishing, meaningful life. Moreover, Kitcher argues that secular humanism is far more justified than a religious worldview because it does not face the problem of diversity that arises in the case of religion. I argue that secular humanism faces the same problem of diversity that Kitcher proposes undermines religious belief. I further argue that Dworkin’s and Kitcher’s secular alternative to a religious worldview is problematic.

  5. rvær i pædagogisk praksis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    rvær i pædagogisk praksis handler om, hvordan lærere og pædagoger kan arbejde med mindfulness i skole og daginstitution. Målet er at give inspiration til, hvordan man kan skabe et lærings- og udviklingsmiljø, som understøtter en praksis, hvor børn får erfaringer med at være til stede i sig selv......, ligesom de giver eksempler på nærværende kunst- og musikundervisning.   Den røde tråd er ønsket om at bistå barnet i at rumme sig selv og andre og en interesse for de muligheder, som øget nærvær kan give det enkelte barn og fællesskabet....

  6. Changes in right ventricular function assessed by echocardiography in dog models of mild RV pressure overload.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morita, Tomoya; Nakamura, Kensuke; Osuga, Tatsuyuki; Yokoyama, Nozomu; Morishita, Keitaro; Sasaki, Noboru; Ohta, Hiroshi; Takiguchi, Mitsuyoshi

    2017-07-01

    The assessment of hemodynamic change by echocardiography is clinically useful in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Recently, mild elevation of the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) has been shown to be associated with increased mortality. However, changes in the echocardiographic indices of right ventricular (RV) function are still unknown. The objective of this study was to validate the relationship between echocardiographic indices of RV function and right heart catheterization variables under a mild RV pressure overload condition. Echocardiography and right heart catheterization were performed in dog models of mild RV pressure overload induced by thromboxane A 2 analog (U46619) (n=7). The mean PAP was mildly increased (19.3±1.1 mm Hg), and the cardiac index was decreased. Most echocardiographic indices of RV function were significantly impaired even under a mild RV pressure overload condition. Multivariate analysis revealed that the RV free wall longitudinal strain (RVLS), standard deviation of the time-to-peak longitudinal strain of RV six segments (RV-SD) by speckle-tracking echocardiography, and Tei index were independent echocardiographic predictors of the mean PAP (free wall RVLS, β=-0.60, P<.001; RV-SD, β=0.40, P=.011), pulmonary vascular resistance (free wall RVLS, β=-0.39, P=.020; RV-SD, β=0.47, P=.0086; Tei index, β=0.34, P=.047), and cardiac index (Tei index, β=-0.65, P<.001). Free wall RVLS, RV-SD, and Tei index are useful for assessing the hemodynamic change under a mild RV pressure overload condition. © 2017, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Hydrochemical data from R/V MIKHAIL LOMONSOV and R/V AKADEMIK VERNADSKIY in the Indian Ocean from 16 May 1966 to 01 October 1981 (NODC Accession 0000277)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Hydrochemical data were collected from R/V MIKHAIL LOMONSOV and R/V AKADEMIK VERNADSKIY in the Indian Ocean from 16 May 1966 to 01 October 1981. Data were collected...

  8. Mycobacterium tuberculosislpdC, Rv0462, induces dendritic cell maturation and Th1 polarization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heo, Deok Rim [Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Beom-eo Ri, Mulgum Eop, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 626-770 (Korea, Republic of); Shin, Sung Jae; Kim, Woo Sik [Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Munwha-Dong, Jung-Ku, Daejeon 301-747 (Korea, Republic of); Noh, Kyung Tae; Park, Jin Wook; Son, Kwang Hee [Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Beom-eo Ri, Mulgum Eop, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 626-770 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Won Sun [Department of Physiology, Kangwon National University, School of Medicine, Chuncheon 200-701 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Min-Goo [Department of Physiology, Korea University, College of Medicine, Anam-dong, Sungbuk-Gu, Seoul 136-705 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Daejin [Department of Anatomy, Chung-Ang University, College of Medicine, 221 Heuksuk-Dong, Dongjak-Ku, Seoul 156-756 (Korea, Republic of); Shin, Yong Kyoo [Department of Pharmacology, Chung-Ang University, College of Medicine, 221 Heuksuk-Dong, Dongjak-Ku, Seoul 156-756 (Korea, Republic of); Jung, In Duk, E-mail: jungid@pusan.ac.kr [Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Beom-eo Ri, Mulgum Eop, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 626-770 (Korea, Republic of); Research Institute of Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Beom-eo Ri, Mulgum Eop, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 626-770 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Yeong-Min, E-mail: immunpym@pusan.ac.kr [Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Beom-eo Ri, Mulgum Eop, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 626-770 (Korea, Republic of); Research Institute of Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Beom-eo Ri, Mulgum Eop, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 626-770 (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-08-05

    Highlights: {yields} Treatment with Rv0462 induces the expression of surface molecules and the production of cytokines in DCs. {yields} Rv0462 induces the activation of MAPKs. {yields} Rv0462-treated DCs enhances the proliferation of CD4{sup +} T cells. -- Abstract: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological factor of pulmonary tuberculosis, causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Activation of host immune responses for containment of mycobacterial infections involves participation of innate immune cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs). In this study, we demonstrated that the gene encoding lipoamide dehydrogenase C (lpdC) from M. tuberculosis, Rv0462, induce maturation and activation of DCs involved in the MAPKs signaling pathway. Moreover, Rv0462-treated DCs activated naive T cells, polarized CD4{sup +} and CD8{sup +} T cells to secrete IFN-{gamma} in syngeneic mixed lymphocyte reactions, which would be expected to contribute to Th1 polarization of the immune response. Our results suggest that Rv0462 can contribute to the innate and adaptive immune responses during tuberculosis infection, and thus modulate the clinical course of tuberculosis.

  9. Mycobacterium tuberculosislpdC, Rv0462, induces dendritic cell maturation and Th1 polarization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heo, Deok Rim; Shin, Sung Jae; Kim, Woo Sik; Noh, Kyung Tae; Park, Jin Wook; Son, Kwang Hee; Park, Won Sun; Lee, Min-Goo; Kim, Daejin; Shin, Yong Kyoo; Jung, In Duk; Park, Yeong-Min

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Treatment with Rv0462 induces the expression of surface molecules and the production of cytokines in DCs. → Rv0462 induces the activation of MAPKs. → Rv0462-treated DCs enhances the proliferation of CD4 + T cells. -- Abstract: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological factor of pulmonary tuberculosis, causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Activation of host immune responses for containment of mycobacterial infections involves participation of innate immune cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs). In this study, we demonstrated that the gene encoding lipoamide dehydrogenase C (lpdC) from M. tuberculosis, Rv0462, induce maturation and activation of DCs involved in the MAPKs signaling pathway. Moreover, Rv0462-treated DCs activated naive T cells, polarized CD4 + and CD8 + T cells to secrete IFN-γ in syngeneic mixed lymphocyte reactions, which would be expected to contribute to Th1 polarization of the immune response. Our results suggest that Rv0462 can contribute to the innate and adaptive immune responses during tuberculosis infection, and thus modulate the clinical course of tuberculosis.

  10. Tendência secular em estatura: uma revisão da literatura Secular height trend: a literature review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilberto Kac

    1999-09-01

    Full Text Available Esse trabalho constitui-se em uma revisão de literatura sobre tendência secular em estatura (TSE. Os principais tópicos abordados foram a definição do fenômeno, a utilização de dados históricos de estatura como estratégia alternativa no monitoramento de mudanças econômicas, as principais explicações teóricas sugeridas para a ocorrência do fenômeno, o início da antropometria militar, sua utilização no passado e no presente, e a magnitude da tendência em recrutas e na população infantil. Os principais achados revelaram que a TSE tem sido atribuída, sobretudo, a influências ambientais, em particular, a melhorias nas condições sanitárias, econômicas e sociais. As taxas médias de incremento variaram conforme a idade, o estrato sócio-econômico e o país considerado; portanto, deve-se ter cautela nas comparações interpopulacionais. A Segunda Guerra Mundial reduziu a tendência em diversos países, entre eles o Brasil, mas as taxas de incremento no pós-guerra foram ainda maiores do que as observadas no início do século. Constatou-se, por fim, que dados provenientes da antropometria militar são os mais utilizados para estimativas de TSE.This paper presents a literature review of secular height trends. The principal topics included were definition of the phenomenon, use of historical data sets on height as an alternative approach for monitoring economic changes, the main theoretical explanations of the phenomenon, the beginning of military anthropometry, and past and current use in measuring secular height trends in recruits and children. The most important results showed that the positive secular trend can be attributed to environmental influences, especially improvements in health, economic, and social conditions. The mean reported rates in height increases varied with age, socioeconomic status, and country, so one must exercise caution in drawing inferences. World War II slowed the trend in several countries

  11. Which is the better forecasting model? A comparison between HAR-RV and multifractality volatility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Feng; Wei, Yu; Huang, Dengshi; Chen, Yixiang

    2014-07-01

    In this paper, by taking the 5-min high frequency data of the Shanghai Composite Index as example, we compare the forecasting performance of HAR-RV and Multifractal volatility, Realized volatility, Realized Bipower Variation and their corresponding short memory model with rolling windows forecasting method and the Model Confidence Set which is proved superior to SPA test. The empirical results show that, for six loss functions, HAR-RV outperforms other models. Moreover, to make the conclusions more precise and robust, we use the MCS test to compare the performance of their logarithms form models, and find that the HAR-log(RV) has a better performance in predicting future volatility. Furthermore, by comparing the two models of HAR-RV and HAR-log(RV), we conclude that, in terms of performance forecasting, the HAR-log(RV) model is the best model among models we have discussed in this paper.

  12. Cellular and molecular basis of RV hypertrophy in congenital heart disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iacobazzi, D; Suleiman, M-S; Ghorbel, M; George, S J; Caputo, M; Tulloh, R M

    2016-01-01

    RV hypertrophy (RVH) is one of the triggers of RV failure in congenital heart disease (CHD). Therefore, improving our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of this pathology will help in developing strategic therapeutic interventions to enhance patient benefit in the future. This review describes the potential mechanisms that underlie the transition from RVH to RV failure. In particular, it addresses structural and functional remodelling that encompass contractile dysfunction, metabolic changes, shifts in gene expression and extracellular matrix remodelling. Both ischaemic stress and reactive oxygen species production are implicated in triggering these changes and will be discussed. Finally, RV remodelling in response to various CHDs as well as the potential role of biomarkers will be addressed. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  13. Non-linear development of secular gravitational instability in protoplanetary disks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tominaga, Ryosuke T.; Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro; Takahashi, Sanemichi Z.

    2018-01-01

    We perform non-linear simulation of secular gravitational instability (GI) in protoplanetary disks, which has been proposed as a mechanism of planetesimal and multiple ring formation. Since the timescale of the growth of the secular GI is much longer than the Keplerian rotation period, we develop a new numerical scheme for a long-term calculation utilizing the concept of symplectic integration. With our new scheme, we first investigate the non-linear development of the secular GI in a disk without a pressure gradient in the initial state. We find that the surface density of dust increases by more than a factor of 100 while that of gas does not increase even by a factor of 2, which results in the formation of dust-dominated rings. A line mass of the dust ring tends to be very close to the critical line mass of a self-gravitating isothermal filament. Our results indicate that the non-linear growth of the secular GI provides a powerful mechanism to concentrate the dust. We also find that the dust ring formed via the non-linear growth of the secular GI migrates inward with a low velocity, which is driven by the self-gravity of the ring. We give a semi-analytical expression for the inward migration speed of the dusty ring.

  14. Secular change in 13 metabolic phenotypes: A Chinese longitudinal twin study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Shuxia; Pang, Zengchang; Zhang, Dongfeng

    in prospective investigations. Based on Chinese twin data collected from Danish-Chinese collaboration research, we perform twin modeling on 13 metabolic phenotypes (total cholesterol; triglyceride; high density lipoprotein (HDL); low density lipoprotein (LDL); urine acid (UA); glucose; weight; body mass index...... fitted to the secular changes in each of the 13 phenotypes with best fitting model selected based on model performance. Age and sex were included as covariates in the models to adjust for their effects on secular trend. Results: Variations in secular change in 3 lipids (total cholesterol; triglyceride...

  15. Secular stability of rotating stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imamura, J.N.; Friedman, J.L.; Durisen, R.H.

    1984-01-01

    In this work, the authors calculate the secular stability limits of rotating polytropes to nonaxisymmetric perturbations of low m. Polytropic indices ranging from 1 to 3 and several angular momentum distributions are considered. Results are most conveniently presented in terms of the t-parameter, defined as the ratio of the rotational kinetic energy to the absolute value of the gravitational energy of the fluid. Previous work on polytropes considered only the m = 2 mode, which is unstable for values of the t-parameter greater than 0.14 +- 0.01 for the n values n = 1.5 and 3 and the angular momentum distributions tested (see Durisen and Imamura 1981). The GRR secular stability limit of the m - 2 mode for the Maclaurin spheroids (n = 0) was determined by Chandrasekhar (1970). GRR stability limits of higher m modes for the Maclaurin spheroids were located approximately by Comins (1979a,b) and more precisely by Friedman (1983). 16 references, 2 tables

  16. Secular stability of rotating stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imamura, J.N.; Friedman, J.L.; Durisen, R.H.

    1984-01-01

    In this work, we calculate the secular stability limits of rotating polytropes to nonaxisymmetric perturbations of low m. We consider polytropic indices ranging from 1 to 3 and several angular momentum distributions. Results are most conveniently presented in terms of the t-parameter, defined as the ratio of the rotational kinetic energy to the absolute value of the gravitational energy of the fluid. Previous work on polytropes considered only the m = 2 mode, which is unstable for values of the t-parameter greater than 0.14 +- 0.01 for the n values n = 1.5 and 3 and the angular momentum distributions tested (see Durisen and Imamura 1981). The GRR secular stability limit of the m = 2 mode for the Maclaurin spheroids (n = O) was determined by Chandrasekhar (1970). GRR stability limits of higher m modes for the Maclaurin spheroids were located approximately by Comins (1979a,b) and more precisely by Friedman (1983)

  17. Contemporary environmentalism as a current of spiritual post-secular practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Wickström

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Contemporary spirituality often bears the stamp of an eco-discourse. It is characteristic of post-spiritual practices that there is a blurring of the boundaries between the sacred and profane and in this sphere, influenced by the eco-consciousness, nature and the body can be sacralised. In this article the author looks into environmentalism as a current in spirituality. First spirituality as a concept is discussed. Second follows a section on aspects of contemporary environmentalism, dealing with new social movements, new identity and the main directions of environmentalism. After that, the distinction between environmentally motivated spirituality and spir­itually motivated environmentalism is presented. At the end there is a short discussion of post-secular issues concerning environmentalism. Worldviews are no longer necessarily either religious or secular, but may also combine elements of rational secularity with enchanted spirituality. The blurring of the boundaries between secular and religious views and motives occur, as well as the separation of mind and body, rationality and belief, and human and nature.

  18. Familial resemblance in religiousness in a secular society

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvidtjørn, Dorte; Petersen, Inge; Hjelmborg, Jacob

    2013-01-01

    generally considered more religious than the very secular northern European countries. Comparisons of the results are complicated by diverse definitions of religiousness, but several studies indicate that the influence of the family environment is most predominant in early life, whereas genetic influences...... increase with age. We performed a population-based twin study of religiousness in a secular society using data from a Web-based survey sent to 6,707 Danish twins born 1970-1989, who were identified in the Danish Twin Registry. We applied Fishman's three conceptual dimensions of religiousness: cognition...

  19. Ülemiste City kvartal Tallinnas / Mattias Agabus, Eero Endjärv, Illimar Truverk...[jt.] ; fotod: Kaido Haagen

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2008-01-01

    asendiplaan, 3 korruste plaani, 3 värv. välisvaadet, restorani Mercado sisevaade; projekteerijad: M. Agabus, E. Endjärv, I.Truverk (Agabus, Endjärv & Truverk Arhitektid); hoonete arhitektuurne osa: E. Endjärv; sisearhitektid: K. Lents, H. Kääramees, T. Aunre (restoran Mercado); konstruktorid: Ü. Suvemaa, A. Lehtla, K. Adoberg; maastikuarhitektuur: Ü. Grišakov, M. Agabus, E. Endjärv

  20. Post-religional perspective and secular Buddhism: Stephen Batchelor and the post-metaphysical religion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leandro Durazzo

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to present one of the contemporary trends on Buddhism, specially from the last decades in West, for its encounter with the globalized and dynamic context of present societies. This Buddhist trend, the progressive secularization of its traditions and practices, not to mention its increasing acceptance of historical-textual refutation, finds in Stephen Batchelor - a former monk in two different Buddhist traditions, Tibetan and Korean Zen - a catalyzer and a well-known advocate of secular perspective to the contemporary Buddhism. Here we will present the potential dialogue between the Secular Buddhism - besides the secularizing perspectives over orthodox cultural traditions - and the post-religional subject, as proposed by Marià Corbí and the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians. For the purposes of this paper we will focus on the modernizing and secular hermeneutics on Dharma practice, as defended by Stephen Batchelor and others.

  1. Technical Limitations in Merging Secular and Sacred Functions in Monumental Churches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piatkowska, Ksenia

    2017-10-01

    The abandonment of churches and their adaptation for secular purposes is a current subject in Europe and worldwide. Most cases involve objects that were desacralized and then rebuilt as a whole object for alternative functions. Thus far, the merging of secular and sacred functions in one monumental Catholic church has not raised any issues. The paper describes the case of St. Catherine’s Church in Gdansk, Poland, where sacred function exists parallel to the new secular function being implemented. The study is based on the authentic, professional experience of the author. It describes the technical limitations arising from the need to ensure destinies for the optimal conditions of both sacred and secular function, while avoiding undesirable interference between them. The author further identifies architectural solutions most relevant to current requirements for protection of sacred zones in the church, for preservation of the monument, and for optimal function of a modern science museum. Significant design issues include: the inviolability of the sacred zone, preservation of the historical value of the monument, proper operation of new secular zones in compliance with contemporary standards of safety, performance of the assumed mission and profitability. The research indicates specific areas where the highest probability of collision exists between the sacred and profane and where technical problems are likely to occur.

  2. Structure of Rv1848 (UreA), the Mycobacterium tuberculosis urease γ subunit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Habel, Jeff E.; Bursey, Evan H.; Rho, Beom-Seop; Kim, Chang-Yub; Segelke, Brent W.; Rupp, Bernhard; Park, Min S.; Terwilliger, Thomas C.; Hung, Li-Wei

    2010-01-01

    Crystal and solution structures of Rv1848 protein and their implications in the biological assembly of Mtb urease is presented. The crystal structure of the urease γ subunit (UreA) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Rv1848, has been determined at 1.8 Å resolution. The asymmetric unit contains three copies of Rv1848 arranged into a homotrimer that is similar to the UreA trimer in the structure of urease from Klebsiella aerogenes. Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments indicate that the Rv1848 protein also forms trimers in solution. The observed homotrimer and the organization of urease genes within the M. tuberculosis genome suggest that M. tuberculosis urease has the (αβγ) 3 composition observed for other bacterial ureases. The γ subunit may be of primary importance for the formation of the urease quaternary structure

  3. 1.55 Å resolution X-ray crystal structure of Rv3902c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reddy, Bharat G.; Moates, Derek B. [University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1025 18th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233 (United States); Kim, Heung-Bok [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Green, Todd J. [University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1025 18th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233 (United States); Kim, Chang-Yub; Terwilliger, Thomas C. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); DeLucas, Lawrence J., E-mail: duke2@uab.edu [University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1025 18th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233 (United States)

    2014-03-25

    The 1.55 Å resolution X-ray crystal structure of Rv3902c from M. tuberculosis reveals a novel fold. The crystallographic structure of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) protein Rv3902c (176 residues; molecular mass of 19.8 kDa) was determined at 1.55 Å resolution. The function of Rv3902c is unknown, although several TB genes involved in bacterial pathogenesis are expressed from the operon containing the Rv3902c gene. The unique structural fold of Rv3902c contains two domains, each consisting of antiparallel β-sheets and α-helices, creating a hand-like binding motif with a small binding pocket in the palm. Structural homology searches reveal that Rv3902c has an overall structure similar to that of the Salmonella virulence-factor chaperone InvB, with an r.m.s.d. for main-chain atoms of 2.3 Å along an aligned domain.

  4. 1.55 Å resolution X-ray crystal structure of Rv3902c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reddy, Bharat G.; Moates, Derek B.; Kim, Heung-Bok; Green, Todd J.; Kim, Chang-Yub; Terwilliger, Thomas C.; DeLucas, Lawrence J.

    2014-01-01

    The 1.55 Å resolution X-ray crystal structure of Rv3902c from M. tuberculosis reveals a novel fold. The crystallographic structure of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) protein Rv3902c (176 residues; molecular mass of 19.8 kDa) was determined at 1.55 Å resolution. The function of Rv3902c is unknown, although several TB genes involved in bacterial pathogenesis are expressed from the operon containing the Rv3902c gene. The unique structural fold of Rv3902c contains two domains, each consisting of antiparallel β-sheets and α-helices, creating a hand-like binding motif with a small binding pocket in the palm. Structural homology searches reveal that Rv3902c has an overall structure similar to that of the Salmonella virulence-factor chaperone InvB, with an r.m.s.d. for main-chain atoms of 2.3 Å along an aligned domain

  5. Cognitive dissonance between religious and secular social attitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marković Jelena

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available The initial finding of the study, which served as the basis for the exploration of cognitive dissonance between religious and secular behavioral norms, was revealed in a tendency of the majority of religious students to accept behavioral norms, attitudes and believes (concerning interpersonal relationships and reproduction-related ethical issues which are not supported by Orthodox Christian Church viewpoint and teachings. However, certain cognitive and value system consistency appeared to exist: the intensity of religiousness was related to lower degrees of secular norms approval. It has been found that religious and nonreligious subjects differ significantly in their preference of the strategy used to maintain balance between dissonant religious and secular attitudes- in 3 out of 4 issues considered in the study. Religious subjects most frequently chose relativism strategy, claiming that some specific exceptions from a general rule or standpoint do not necessarily depreciate it, while nonreligious subjects most frequently chose dualistic viewpoint that principally separated and restricted domains of reasoning on spiritual and worldly issues, making them psychologically irrelevant to one another.

  6. Long term stability of yttria-stabilized zirconia waste forms. Stability for secular change of partitioned TRU waste composition by disintegration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuramoto, Ken-ichi; Banba, Tsunetaka; Mitamura, Hisayoshi; Sakai, Etsuro; Uno, Masayoshi; Kinoshita, H.; Yamanaka, Shinsuke

    1999-01-01

    In this study, the stability of YSZ waste forms for secular change of partitioned TRU waste composition by disintegration, one of important terms in long-term stability, is the special concern. Designed amount of waste and YSZ powder were mixed and sintered. These TRU waste forms were submitted to tests of phase stability, chemical durability, mechanical property and compactness. The results were compared with those of another YSZ waste forms, non-radioactive Ce and/or Nd doped YSZ samples, and glass and Synroc waste forms. Experimental results show following: (1) Phase stability of (Np+Am)-, (Np+U)-, and (Np+U+Bi)-doped YSZ waste forms could be maintained of that of the initial Np+Am-doped YSZ waste form permanently even when the composition of partitioned TRU waste were changed by disintegration. (2) Secular change also accelerated volume increase of YSZ waste forms as well as alpha-decay damage. (3) Hv, E and K IC of (Np+U)- and (Np+U+Bi)-doped YSZ waste forms were independent of the secular change of the partitioned TRU waste composition by disintegration. (4) Mechanical properties of YSZ waste forms were more than those of a glass and Synroc waste forms. (5) Compactness of YSZ waste forms was good as waste forms for the partitioned TRU wastes. (J.P.N.)

  7. Secular Examination of Spirituality-Prosociality Association

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dong, Mengchen; Wu, Song; Zhu, Yijie; Jin, Shenghua; Zhang, Yanjun

    2017-01-01

    Religious beliefs in Chinese cultural background, especially in Chinese secular society, have rarely been systematically investigated. The nonreligious-based population in China endorses certain supernatural beliefs or has related transcendent experience, even though they usually claim themselves as

  8. Questioning Engelhardt's assumptions in Bioethics and Secular Humanism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmadi Nasab Emran, Shahram

    2016-06-01

    In Bioethics and Secular Humanism: The Search for a Common Morality, Tristram Engelhardt examines various possibilities of finding common ground for moral discourse among people from different traditions and concludes their futility. In this paper I will argue that many of the assumptions on which Engelhardt bases his conclusion about the impossibility of a content-full secular bioethics are problematic. By starting with the notion of moral strangers, there is no possibility, by definition, for a content-full moral discourse among moral strangers. It means that there is circularity in starting the inquiry with a definition of moral strangers, which implies that they do not share enough moral background or commitment to an authority to allow for reaching a moral agreement, and concluding that content-full morality is impossible among moral strangers. I argue that assuming traditions as solid and immutable structures that insulate people across their boundaries is problematic. Another questionable assumption in Engelhardt's work is the idea that religious and philosophical traditions provide content-full moralities. As the cardinal assumption in Engelhardt's review of the various alternatives for a content-full moral discourse among moral strangers, I analyze his foundationalist account of moral reasoning and knowledge and indicate the possibility of other ways of moral knowledge, besides the foundationalist one. Then, I examine Engelhardt's view concerning the futility of attempts at justifying a content-full secular bioethics, and indicate how the assumptions have shaped Engelhardt's critique of the alternatives for the possibility of content-full secular bioethics.

  9. Loners, Groupies, and Long-term Eccentricity (and Inclination) Behavior: Insights from Secular Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Laerhoven, Christa L.

    2015-05-01

    Considering the secular dynamics of multi-planet systems provides substantial insight into the interactions between planets in those systems. Secular interactions are those that don't involve knowing where a planet is along its orbit, and they dominate when planets are not involved in mean motion resonances. These interactions exchange angular momentum among the planets, evolving their eccentricities and inclinations. To second order in the planets' eccentricities and inclinations, the eccentricity and inclination perturbations are decoupled. Given the right variable choice, the relevant differential equations are linear and thus the eccentricity and inclination behaviors can be described as a sum of eigenmodes. Since the underlying structure of the secular eigenmodes can be calculated using only the planets' masses and semi-major axes, one can elucidate the eccentricity and inclination behavior of planets in exoplanet systems even without knowing the planets' current eccentricities and inclinations. I have calculated both the eccentricity and inclination secular eigenmodes for the population of known multi-planet systems whose planets have well determined masses and periods. Using this catalog of secular character, I will discuss the prevalence of dynamically grouped planets ('groupies') versus dynamically uncoupled planets ('loners') and how this relates to the exoplanets' long-term eccentricity and inclination behavior. I will also touch on the distribution of the secular eigenfreqiencies.

  10. Substitution or Symbiosis? Assessing the Relationship between Religious and Secular Giving

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Jonathan P.; Vaidyanathan, Brandon

    2011-01-01

    Research on philanthropy has not sufficiently examined whether charitable giving to religious causes impinges on giving to secular causes. Examining three waves of national panel data, we find that the relationship between religious and secular giving is generally not of a zero-sum nature; families that increase their religious giving also…

  11. Phase I trial of RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine: a human neonatal rotavirus vaccine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danchin, M; Kirkwood, C D; Lee, K J; Bishop, R F; Watts, E; Justice, F A; Clifford, V; Cowley, D; Buttery, J P; Bines, J E

    2013-05-28

    RV3 is a human neonatal rotavirus strain (G3P[6]) that has been associated with asymptomatic neonatal infection and replicates well in the infant gut. RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine has been developed as a rotavirus vaccine candidate for administration at birth. A single-centre, double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled Phase I study evaluated the safety and tolerability of a single oral dose of the second generation RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine (8.3×10(6)FFU/mL) in 20 adults, 20 children and 20 infants (10 vaccine and 10 placebo per age cohort). Vaccine take was defined as seroconversion (a 3-fold increase in serum anti-rotavirus IgA or serum neutralising antibody (SNA) from baseline at day 28 post-dose) or evidence of RV3-BB viral replication in the faeces by RT-PCR analysis 3-6 days post-vaccination. RV3-BB presence was confirmed by sequence analysis. The RV3-BB vaccine was well tolerated in all participants, with no pattern of adverse events shown to be associated with the study vaccine. In the infant cohort, vaccine take was demonstrated in 8/9 infants following a single dose of vaccine compared with 2/7 placebo recipients. In the infant vaccine group, 5/9 infants exhibited either IgA or SNA seroconversion and 7/9 infants had evidence of RV3-BB replication on days 3-6, compared with 2/7 infants who seroconverted and 0/10 infants with evidence of replication in the placebo group. Two infants in the placebo group had serological evidence of a rotavirus infection within the 28-day study period: one demonstrated an IgA and the other an SNA response, with wild-type virus replication detected in another infant. A single dose of RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine was well tolerated in adults, children and infants. Most infants (8/9) who received RV3-BB demonstrated vaccine take following a single dose. These data support progression of RV3-BB to Phase II immunogenicity and efficacy trials. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Teadlase eetika / Magnus Ilmjärv

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Ilmjärv, Magnus, 1961-

    2008-01-01

    Vastukaja art.: Valge, Jaak. Pätsi riigipööret ei inspireeritud väljastpoolt // Postimees (2008) 26. apr., lk. 13. President Konstantin Pätsi kohta leitud uutest arhiivimaterjalidest. Raamatu "Hääletu alistumine" autor, ajaloolane Magnus Ilmjärv peab Jaak Valge kriitikat tema suhtes põhjendamatult suureks

  13. Resurrecting Democracies : Secularity Recast in Charles Taylor, Paul Valadier, and Joseph Ratzinger

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ossewaarde-Lowtoo, Roshnee

    In this article, the alternative conception of secularity of Charles Taylor, Paul Valadier and Joseph Ratzinger (former Benedict XVI) is explored. A secularized society, which they take as an established condition, does not necessarily exclude religion, Christianity or Christian transcendence, in

  14. One Size Does Not Fit All: Complexity, Religion, Secularism and Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Lynn

    2014-01-01

    The continuing incidence of extremist acts committed in the name of religion underscores the need to examine the interplay between religion and learning. This article argues for a secular foundation in society and school to protect against religion contributing to conflict and extremism. However, this is not a hard version of secularism, but a…

  15. Institutional Confidence in the United States: Attitudes of Secular Americans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabella Kasselstrand

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The First Amendment to the United States’ Constitution addresses freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. However, the historical influence of religion in laws, policies, and political representation have left secular individuals feeling excluded. At the same time, levels of confidence in social and political institutions in the United States are at an all-time low. This begs the question: Is there a relationship between secularity and confidence in various social and political institutions (e.g. the armed forces, churches, major companies, government, police, and political parties? This question is examined using data on the United States from the World Values Survey from 1995–2011. While controlling for a range of key demographics, the findings show a negative relationship between secularity and institutional confidence. More specifically, atheists and nonreligious individuals are less likely than those who are religious to have confidence in all six institutions. Based on previous literature and the empirical evidence presented in this study, we argue that overall lower levels of institutional confidence among secular Americans is an outcome of the exclusion of such individuals from American social life. Thus, it highlights the importance of addressing the stereotypes and prejudice that this minority group faces.

  16. Rationale and design of the ranolazine PH-RV study: a multicentred randomised and placebo-controlled study of ranolazine to improve RV function in patients with non-group 2 pulmonary hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Yuchi; Forfia, Paul R; Vaidya, Anjali; Mazurek, Jeremy A; Park, Myung H; Ramani, Gautam; Chan, Stephen Y; Waxman, Aaron B

    2018-01-01

    A major determining factor on outcomes in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is right ventricular (RV) function. Ranolazine, which is currently approved for chronic stable angina, has been shown to improve RV function in an animal model and has been shown to be safe in small human studies with PAH. We aim to study the effect of ranolazine on RV function using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with pulmonary hypertension (non-group 2 patients) and monitor the effect of ranolazine on metabolism using metabolic profiling and changes of microRNA. This study is a longitudinal, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre proof-of-concept study in 24 subjects with pulmonary hypertension and RV dysfunction treated with ranolazine over 6 months. Subjects who meet the protocol definition of RV dysfunction (CMR RV ejection fraction (EF) <45%) will be randomised to ranolazine or placebo with a ratio of 2:1. Enrolled subjects will be assessed for functional class, 6 min walk test and health outcome based on SF-36 tool. Peripheral blood will be obtained for N-terminal-pro brain natriuretic peptide, metabolic profiling, and microRNA at baseline and the conclusion of the treatment period. CMR will be performed at baseline and the conclusion of the treatment period. The primary outcome is change in RVEF. The exploratory outcomes include clinical, other CMR parameters, metabolic and microRNA changes. The trial protocol was approved by Institutional Review Boards. The trial findings will be disseminated in scientific journals and meetings. NCT01839110 and NCT02829034; Pre-results.

  17. Secular Orbit Evolution in Systems with a Strong External Perturber—A Simple and Accurate Model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andrade-Ines, Eduardo [Institute de Mécanique Céleste et des Calcul des Éphémérides—Observatoire de Paris, 77 Avenue Denfert Rochereau, F-75014 Paris (France); Eggl, Siegfried, E-mail: eandrade.ines@gmail.com, E-mail: siegfried.eggl@jpl.nasa.gov [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, 91109 Pasadena, CA (United States)

    2017-04-01

    We present a semi-analytical correction to the seminal solution for the secular motion of a planet’s orbit under gravitational influence of an external perturber derived by Heppenheimer. A comparison between analytical predictions and numerical simulations allows us to determine corrective factors for the secular frequency and forced eccentricity in the coplanar restricted three-body problem. The correction is given in the form of a polynomial function of the system’s parameters that can be applied to first-order forced eccentricity and secular frequency estimates. The resulting secular equations are simple, straight forward to use, and improve the fidelity of Heppenheimers solution well beyond higher-order models. The quality and convergence of the corrected secular equations are tested for a wide range of parameters and limits of its applicability are given.

  18. Secular and Koranic Literacies in South Asia: From Colonisation to Contemporary Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maddox, Bryan

    2007-01-01

    This paper explores the distinction between "secular" and "Koranic" schooling and literacy in South Asia. It begins by tracing an archaeology of the distinction between secular "literacy" and religious "illiteracy". It locates the emergence of the distinction in the colonial census of the 19th century, in…

  19. Lunar nitrogen: Secular variation or mixing?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norris, S.J.; Wright, I.P.; Pillinger, C.T.

    1986-01-01

    The two current models to explain the nearly 40% variation of the lunar nitrogen isotopic composition are: (1) secular variation of solar wind nitrogen; and (2) a two component mixing model having a constant, heavy solar wind admixed with varying amounts of indigenous light lunar N (LLN). Both models are needed to explain the step pyrolysis extraction profile. The secular variation model proposes that the low temperature release is modern day solar wind implanted into grain surfaces, the 900 C to 1100 C release is from grain surfaces which were once exposed to the ancient solar wind but which are now trapped inside agglutinates, and the >1100 C release as spallogenic N produced by cosmic rays. The mixing model ascribes the components to solar wind, indigenous lunar N and spallogenic N respectively. An extension of either interpretation is that the light N seen in lunar breccias or deep drill cores represent conditions when more N-14 was available to the lunar surface

  20. Secular Ethics Education as an Alternative to Religious Education--Finnish Teachers' Views

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zilliacus, Harriet; Kallioniemi, Arto

    2016-01-01

    This study provides a Finnish perspective to international discussions on religious and worldviews education through the subject of secular ethics. This subject has been offered in Finland since 1985 throughout comprehensive schools and is primarily directed at students who are non-affiliated. Secular ethics education has scarcely been researched…

  1. Comments on equilibrium, transient equilibrium, and secular equilibrium in serial radioactive decay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prince, J.R.

    1979-01-01

    Equations describing serial radioactive decay are reviewed along with published descriptions or transient and secular equilibrium. It is shown that terms describing equilibrium are not used in the same way by various authors. Specific definitions are proposed; they suggest that secular equilibrium is a subset of transient equilibrium

  2. Research on the neutron flux, secular equilibrium of chlorine-36 and groundwater age of the deep quaternary sediments, Hebei plain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong Yuean; He Ming; Jiang Songsheng; Wu Shaoyong; Jiang Shan

    2001-01-01

    For the study of the neutron flux, secular equilibrium of chlorine-36 in the deep quaternary sediments of Hebei plain, the main chemical composition of water sand and confining bed was determined by neutron activation analysis. The mean neutron flux is 2.79 x 10 -5 cm -2 s -1 which was calculated by the chemical composition of the strata. The mean 36 Cl/Cl ratio in secular equilibrium is 1.27 x 10 -14 in the deep quaternary sediments, Hebei Plain. For the study of the groundwater age of the deep Quaternary sediments of Hebei Plain, the 36 Cl/Cl ratio of groundwater samples were determined by tandem accelerator mass spectrometry. The mixed groundwater 36 Cl/Cl ratio of the second and the third aquifer of Quaternary sediments in Baoding district is 247 x 10 -15 , that of the fourth aquifer in Baoding city is 224 x 10 -15 and the third aquifer in Cangzhou district is 40.5 x 10 -15 . The groundwater age of Baoding district was young and that of the third aquifer in Cangzhou was 229.2 ka

  3. Calling in Work: Secular or Sacred?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steger, Michael F.; Pickering, N. K.; Shin, J. Y.; Dik, B. J.

    2010-01-01

    Recent scholarship indicates that people who view their work as a calling are more satisfied with their work and their lives. Historically, calling has been regarded as a religious experience, although modern researchers frequently have adopted a more expansive and secular conceptualization of calling, emphasizing meaning and personal fulfillment…

  4. Secular decline in male testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin serum levels in Danish population surveys

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersson, Anna-Maria; Jensen, Tina K; Juul, Anders

    2007-01-01

    Adverse secular trends in male reproductive health have been reported to be reflected in increased testicular cancer risk and decreased semen quality in more recently born men. These secular trends may also be reflected by changes in Leydig cell function.......Adverse secular trends in male reproductive health have been reported to be reflected in increased testicular cancer risk and decreased semen quality in more recently born men. These secular trends may also be reflected by changes in Leydig cell function....

  5. Secularization and its Impact on the Jews’ Religious Life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasile Adrian

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Secularization brings forward a desacralized world, exclusively oriented to the material and concerned with the “fashion of the day” rather than with the Spirit of God. Secularism made man wander from god and ignore the religious, spiritual and moral principles found in Christianity and Judaism. Secularization caused all social, economic or political aspects be expressed outside these principles and, many times, against them. Man’s religiousness has become something personal and original that has nothing to do with community or the life of the community, thus becoming a strictly private or intimate option, and in many case even a taboo. Therefore we speak about a privatization of the religious feeling that has no connection to Christianity or Judaism. Unfortunately Judaism has been affected in some other way besides what concerns religious life. We are referring to the anti-Semite feeling that reached its peak at the beginning of the last century and tragically ended in the holocaust in which millions of Jews lost their lives.

  6. Rv2477c is an antibiotic-sensitive manganese-dependent ABC-F ATPase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, Jaiyanth; Abraham, Liz; Martin, Amanda; Pablo, Xyryl; Reyes, Shelby

    2018-01-01

    The Rv2477c protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) belongs to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) subfamily F that contains proteins with tandem nucleotide-binding domains but lacking transmembrane domains. ABC-F subfamily proteins have been implicated in diverse cellular processes such as translation, antibiotic resistance, cell growth and nutrient sensing. In order to investigate the biochemical characteristics of Rv2477c, we expressed it in Escherichia coli, purified it and characterized its enzymatic functions. We show that Rv2477c displays strong ATPase activity (V max  = 45.5 nmol/mg/min; K m  = 90.5 μM) that is sensitive to orthovanadate. The ATPase activity was maximal in the presence of Mn 2+ at pH 5.2. The Rv2477c protein was also able to hydrolyze GTP, TTP and CTP but at lower rates. Glutamate to glutamine substitutions at amino acid residues 185 and 468 in the two Walker B motifs of Rv2477c severely inhibited its ATPase activity. The antibiotics tetracycline and erythromycin, which target protein translation, were able to inhibit the ATPase activity of Rv2477c. We postulate that Rv2477c could be involved in mycobacterial protein translation and in resistance to tetracyclines and macrolides. This is the first report of the biochemical characterization of an ABC-F subfamily protein in Mtb. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Habermas and the Meaning of the Post-Secular Society: Complementary Learning Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welton, Michael R.

    2014-01-01

    This essay argues that if social justice is to prevail in our world, we must understand the post-secular nature of our globalized society as a prerequisite for moving beyond "might is right" to national and international relations that heed all voices towards evidence-based interaction. Our post-secular world and postmetaphysical…

  8. Surviving Secularization: Masking the Spirit in the Jankunu (John Canoe Festivals of the Caribbean

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenneth M. Bilby

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Jankunu (Jonkonnu, Junkanoo, an Afro-Caribbean Yuletide tradition centering on masked dance, is generally characterized as a secular festival. This article presents contemporary ethnographic evidence showing that certain older variants of the tradition remain closely connected with African-derived religious concepts and practices. On the basis of this new evidence, the author argues for a reexamination and reevaluation of the historical significance of this tradition, which even today, despite its ostensible secularity, has vaguely "spiritual" associations for many in the region—including some of those who represent it as "secular." The article interprets this apparent contradiction as the result of a historical process of secularization (in response to the stigmatization of African modes of religiosity that was only partly successful.

  9. Mycobacterium tuberculosis Universal Stress Protein Rv2623 Regulates Bacillary Growth by ATP Binding: Requirement for Establishing Chronic Persistent Infection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Drumm, J.; Mi, K; Bilder, P; Sun, M; Lim, J; Bielefeldt-Ohmann, H; Basaraba, R; So, M; Zhu, G; et. al.

    2009-01-01

    Tuberculous latency and reactivation play a significant role in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis, yet the mechanisms that regulate these processes remain unclear. The Mycobacterium tuberculosisuniversal stress protein (USP) homolog, rv2623, is among the most highly induced genes when the tubercle bacillus is subjected to hypoxia and nitrosative stress, conditions thought to promote latency. Induction of rv2623 also occurs when M. tuberculosis encounters conditions associated with growth arrest, such as the intracellular milieu of macrophages and in the lungs of mice with chronic tuberculosis. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that Rv2623 regulates tuberculosis latency. We observed that an Rv2623-deficient mutant fails to establish chronic tuberculous infection in guinea pigs and mice, exhibiting a hypervirulence phenotype associated with increased bacterial burden and mortality. Consistent with this in vivo growth-regulatory role, constitutive overexpression of rv2623 attenuates mycobacterial growth in vitro. Biochemical analysis of purified Rv2623 suggested that this mycobacterial USP binds ATP, and the 2.9-A-resolution crystal structure revealed that Rv2623 engages ATP in a novel nucleotide-binding pocket. Structure-guided mutagenesis yielded Rv2623 mutants with reduced ATP-binding capacity. Analysis of mycobacteria overexpressing these mutants revealed that the in vitro growth-inhibitory property of Rv2623 correlates with its ability to bind ATP. Together, the results indicate that i M. tuberculosis Rv2623 regulates mycobacterial growth in vitro and in vivo, and ii Rv2623 is required for the entry of the tubercle bacillus into the chronic phase of infection in the host; in addition, iii Rv2623 binds ATP; and iv the growth-regulatory attribute of this USP is dependent on its ATP-binding activity. We propose that Rv2623 may function as an ATP-dependent signaling intermediate in a pathway that promotes persistent infection.

  10. Three-dimensional models of Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins Rv1555, Rv1554 and their docking analyses with sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil drugs, suggest interference with quinol binding likely to affect protein's function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dash, Pallabini; Bala Divya, M; Guruprasad, Lalitha; Guruprasad, Kunchur

    2018-04-18

    Earlier based on bioinformatics analyses, we had predicted the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) proteins; Rv1555 and Rv1554, among the potential new tuberculosis drug targets. According to the 'TB-drugome' the Rv1555 protein is 'druggable' with sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis) and vardenafil (Levitra) drugs. In the present work, we intended to understand via computer modeling studies, how the above drugs are likely to inhibit the M.tb protein's function. The three-dimensional computer models for M.tb proteins; Rv1555 and Rv1554 constructed on the template of equivalent membrane anchor subunits of the homologous E.coli quinol fumarate reductase respiratory protein complex, followed by drug docking analyses, suggested that the binding of above drugs interferes with quinol binding sites. Also, we experimentally observed the in-vitro growth inhibition of E.coli bacteria containing the homologous M.tb protein sequences with sildenafil and tadalafil drugs. The predicted binding sites of the drugs is likely to affect the above M.tb proteins function as quinol binding is known to be essential for electron transfer function during anaerobic respiration in the homologous E.coli protein complex. Therefore, sildenafil and related drugs currently used in the treatment of male erectile dysfunction targeting the human phosphodiesterase 5 enzyme may be evaluated for their plausible role as repurposed drugs to treat human tuberculosis.

  11. Secular chaos and its application to Mercury, hot Jupiters, and the organization of planetary systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lithwick, Yoram; Wu, Yanqin

    2014-09-02

    In the inner solar system, the planets' orbits evolve chaotically, driven primarily by secular chaos. Mercury has a particularly chaotic orbit and is in danger of being lost within a few billion years. Just as secular chaos is reorganizing the solar system today, so it has likely helped organize it in the past. We suggest that extrasolar planetary systems are also organized to a large extent by secular chaos. A hot Jupiter could be the end state of a secularly chaotic planetary system reminiscent of the solar system. However, in the case of the hot Jupiter, the innermost planet was Jupiter (rather than Mercury) sized, and its chaotic evolution was terminated when it was tidally captured by its star. In this contribution, we review our recent work elucidating the physics of secular chaos and applying it to Mercury and to hot Jupiters. We also present results comparing the inclinations of hot Jupiters thus produced with observations.

  12. Secular chaos and its application to Mercury, hot Jupiters, and the organization of planetary systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lithwick, Yoram; Wu, Yanqin

    2014-01-01

    In the inner solar system, the planets’ orbits evolve chaotically, driven primarily by secular chaos. Mercury has a particularly chaotic orbit and is in danger of being lost within a few billion years. Just as secular chaos is reorganizing the solar system today, so it has likely helped organize it in the past. We suggest that extrasolar planetary systems are also organized to a large extent by secular chaos. A hot Jupiter could be the end state of a secularly chaotic planetary system reminiscent of the solar system. However, in the case of the hot Jupiter, the innermost planet was Jupiter (rather than Mercury) sized, and its chaotic evolution was terminated when it was tidally captured by its star. In this contribution, we review our recent work elucidating the physics of secular chaos and applying it to Mercury and to hot Jupiters. We also present results comparing the inclinations of hot Jupiters thus produced with observations. PMID:24367108

  13. Altered Immune Cytokine Expression Associated with KoRV B Infection and Season in Captive Koalas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higgins, Damien P.

    2016-01-01

    Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations are increasingly vulnerable and one of the main threats is chlamydial infection. Koala retrovirus (KoRV) has been proposed as an underlying cause of the koala’s susceptibility to infection with Chlamydia and high rates of lymphoid neoplasia; however, the regionally ubiquitous, endogenous nature of this virus suggests that KoRV A infection is not sufficient for immune suppression to occur. A recently discovered exogenous variant of KoRV, KoRV B, has several structural elements that cause increased pathogenicity in related retroviruses and was associated with lymphoid neoplasia in one study. The present study assesses whether KoRV B infection is associated with alterations in immune function. Cytokine gene expression by mitogen stimulated lymphocytes of KoRV B positive (n = 5–6) and negative (n = 6–7) captive koalas was evaluated by qPCR four times (April 2014-February 2015) to control for seasonal variation. Key immune genes in the Th1 pathway (IFNγ, TNFα), Th2 pathway (IL 10, IL4, IL6) and Th17 pathway (IL17A), along with CD4:CD8 ratio, were assessed. KoRV B positive koalas showed significantly increased up-regulation of IL17A and IL10 in three out of four sampling periods and IFNγ, IL6, IL4 and TNFα in two out of four. IL17A is an immune marker for chlamydial pathogenesis in the koala; increased expression of IL17A in KoRV B positive koalas, and concurrent immune dysregulation, may explain the differences in susceptibility to chlamydial infection and severity of disease seen between individuals and populations. There was also marked seasonal variation in up-regulation for most of the cytokines and the CD4:CD8 ratio. The up-regulation in both Th1 and Th2 cytokines mirrors changes associated with immune dysregulation in humans and felids as a result of retroviral infections. This is the first report of altered immune expression in koalas infected by an exogenous variant of KoRV and also the first report of

  14. Sacralizando o secular. Os movimentos etno-fundamentalistas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enzo Pace

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Os movimentos religiosos fundamentalistas encaram o Estado secular como um inimigo, porque pretendem sistematizar seu poder como se Deus não atuasse. Esses movimentos consideram sua religião como o repositório de verdade absoluta, a fonte derradeira que legitima as leis humanas. Assim, conquanto sejam pós-seculares, ao mesmo tempo tentam transformar os princípios religiosos em agendas políticas. Com efeito, os militantes agem frequentemente de acordo com princípios políticos, procurando afirmar o primado de sua própria fé sobre a dos outros. Eles se movem dentro das sociedades contemporâneas em nome de uma teologia política radical. Os principais argumentos baseiam-se em dois estudos de caso: o Bodu Bala Sena no Sri Lanka e os movimentos para o Hindutva na Índia.

  15. What Lies between the Religious and the Secular?: Education beyond the Human

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Yong-Seok

    2014-01-01

    The current age is characterised by many as secular, and a source of such a characterisation can be found in the Nietzschean claim that thoughts about there being some ultimate reality have to be jettisoned, and human existence and the world need to be embraced as they are. That claim is renewed by some secular thinkers who insist that education…

  16. Public debt, secular stagnation and functional finance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skott, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Fiscal policy and public debt may be required to maintain full employment and avoid secular stagnation. This conclusion emerges from a range of different models, including OLG specifications and stock-flow consistent (post-) Keynesian models. One of the determinants of the required long-run debt ...

  17. Distinguish natural sources out of secular equilibrium with their parents or daughters in Gamma ray spectrum analyses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mao Yahong; Liu Yigang

    2005-01-01

    Objective: To determine materials containing natural radionuclides in or out secular equilibrium with their parents or daughters. Methods: In gamma ray spectrum analyses, the activity concentration of every daughter is the same as that of its parent when the material is in secular equilibrium. The activity concentrations of daughters and their parents are different when the material is out of secular equilibrium. Results: It is different to determine whether the exposures from these materials should be exempted that materials containing natural radionuclides are in or out of secular equilibrium with their parents or daughters. Conclusion: It is important to determine materials containing natural radionuclides in or out secular equilibrium with their parents or daughters in gamma ray spectrum analyses. (authors)

  18. Secular Love number of Phobos

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bursa, M.

    1988-01-01

    The secular Love number of Phobos was estimated k s =10.4. It only deviates by one order of magnitude from that corresponding to the ideal equilibrium state. It is not in contradiction with the theory of the origin of Phobos as a result of the accretion around Mars. In its early history, the rotation period of Phobos had been estimated to be approx. 2.4 hours. (author). 1 tab., 4 refs

  19. Secular Evolution in Disk Galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kormendy, John

    2013-10-01

    Self-gravitating systems evolve toward the most tightly bound configuration that is reachable via the evolution processes that are available to them. They do this by spreading -- the inner parts shrink while the outer parts expand -- provided that some physical process efficiently transports energy or angular momentum outward. The reason is that self-gravitating systems have negative specific heats. As a result, the evolution of stars, star clusters, protostellar and protoplanetary disks, black hole accretion disks and galaxy disks are fundamentally similar. How evolution proceeds then depends on the evolution processes that are available to each kind of self-gravitating system. These processes and their consequences for galaxy disks are the subjects of my lectures and of this Canary Islands Winter School. I begin with a review of the formation, growth and death of bars. Then I review the slow (`secular') rearrangement of energy, angular momentum, and mass that results from interactions between stars or gas clouds and collective phenomena such as bars, oval disks, spiral structure and triaxial dark haloes. The `existence-proof' phase of this work is largely over: we have a good heuristic understanding of how nonaxisymmetric structures rearrange disk gas into outer rings, inner rings and stuff dumped onto the centre. The results of simulations correspond closely to the morphology of barred and oval galaxies. Gas that is transported to small radii reaches high densities. Observations confirm that many barred and oval galaxies have dense central concentrations of gas and star formation. The result is to grow, on timescales of a few Gyr, dense central components that are frequently mistaken for classical (elliptical-galaxy-like) bulges but that were grown slowly out of the disk (not made rapidly by major mergers). The resulting picture of secular galaxy evolution accounts for the richness observed in galaxy structure. We can distinguish between classical and pseudo

  20. A heuristic evaluation of long-term global sea level acceleration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spada, Giorgio; Olivieri, Marco; Galassi, Gaia

    2015-05-01

    In view of the scientific and social implications, the global mean sea level rise (GMSLR) and its possible causes and future trend have been a challenge for so long. For the twentieth century, reconstructions generally indicate a rate of GMSLR in the range of 1.5 to 2.0 mm yr-1. However, the existence of nonlinear trends is still debated, and current estimates of the secular acceleration are subject to ample uncertainties. Here we use various GMSLR estimates published on scholarly journals since the 1940s for a heuristic assessment of global sea level acceleration. The approach, alternative to sea level reconstructions, is based on simple statistical methods and exploits the principles of meta-analysis. Our results point to a global sea level acceleration of 0.54 ± 0.27 mm/yr/century (1σ) between 1898 and 1975. This supports independent estimates and suggests that a sea level acceleration since the early 1900s is more likely than currently believed.

  1. Perils of the Future: A Discussion of Marx’s Secularization Thesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clava Brodsky

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available As both a journalist and a philosopher, Karl Marx had one eye on the present and the other on the future. This dual concern is particularly clear in On the Jewish Question, where Marx persons his theory of secularization. In this article, I claim that his account of political secularization is far more convincing; while his account of human emancipation – his wish for the future – rests on a thin reading of human rights.

  2. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a novel esterase Rv0045c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Lipeng; Guo, Jiubiao; Zheng, Xiangdong; Wen, Tingyi; Sun, Fei; Liu, Siguo; Pang, Hai

    2010-01-01

    The novel esterase Rv0045c from M. tuberculosis was expressed and purified to homogeneity. The crystals of native and SeMet-labelled Rv0045c protein that were obtained diffracted to resolutions of 2.7 and 3.0 Å, respectively. The Rv0045c protein is predicted to be an esterase that is involved in lipid metabolism in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The protein was overproduced in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The Rv0045c protein crystals diffracted to a resolution of 2.7 Å using a synchrotron-radiation source and belonged to space group P3 1 or P3 2 , with unit-cell parameters a = b = 73.465, c = 48.064 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°. Purified SeMet-labelled Rv0045c protein was also crystallized and formed crystals that diffracted to a resolution of 3.0 Å using an in-house X-ray radiation source

  3. Secular Extragalactic Parallax and Geometric Distances with Gaia Proper Motions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paine, Jennie; Darling, Jeremiah K.

    2018-06-01

    The motion of the Solar System with respect to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) rest frame creates a well measured dipole in the CMB, which corresponds to a linear solar velocity of about 78 AU/yr. This motion causes relatively nearby extragalactic objects to appear to move compared to more distant objects, an effect that can be measured in the proper motions of nearby galaxies. An object at 1 Mpc and perpendicular to the CMB apex will exhibit a secular parallax, observed as a proper motion, of 78 µas/yr. The relatively large peculiar motions of galaxies make the detection of secular parallax challenging for individual objects. Instead, a statistical parallax measurement can be made for a sample of objects with proper motions, where the global parallax signal is modeled as an E-mode dipole that diminishes linearly with distance. We present preliminary results of applying this model to a sample of nearby galaxies with Gaia proper motions to detect the statistical secular parallax signal. The statistical measurement can be used to calibrate the canonical cosmological “distance ladder.”

  4. Religion, Education and the Post-Secular Child

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Robert A.

    2014-01-01

    This essay endeavours to reframe current discussion of the relationship of religion to education by highlighting an often seriously neglected element of contemporary educational thought: the changing, post-secular understanding of childhood in the globalised age. Drawing upon recent ethnographies of childhood, and an older anthropological…

  5. Spirituality and secularization: nursing and the sociology of religion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paley, John

    2008-01-01

    The concept of spirituality is much discussed in the UK nursing literature, despite the fact that Britain is one of the most secular countries in the world, and steadily becoming more so. Here, I pose the following question: given this increasing secularization, what accounts for the current interest in spirituality among UK nurses? The literature on spirituality in nursing has blossomed in the last 10 years, and various attempts have been made to define 'spirituality', 'spiritual need' and 'spiritual care'. Most definitions distinguish between 'spirituality' and 'religion', acknowledging that the latter is more institutional, and theologically more restrictive, than the former; and they suggest that spirituality is universal, something which (unlike religion) all human beings share. I draw on the sociology of religion - neglected, for the most part, in the nursing literature - to establish two main points. Firstly, that the UK and the USA are at opposite ends of the religion/secularity spectrum, implying that it is a mistake to assimilate USA and UK sources. Secondly, that the concept of spirituality, as currently understood, is of very recent origin, and is still 'under construction', having become separated from its associations with Christian piety and mysticism only since the 1980s. The extension of spirituality into secular domains is part of a professionalization project in nursing, a claim to jurisdiction over a newly invented sphere of work. For the time being, it remains an academic project (in the UK) as it is not one with which many clinicians identify. Relevance to clinical practice. What counts as 'spiritual need' or 'spiritual care' may not be the same in both countries, and UK clinicians are unlikely to welcome the role of surrogate chaplain, which their USA colleagues are apparently willing to embrace.

  6. Secularities, Diversities and Pluralities: Understanding the Challenges of Religious Diversity in Latin America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edgar Zavala-Pelayo

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Latin America is experiencing today the greatest religious diversity in its entire history. However, it must also be noted that a large number of the growing religious minorities may be classified into types of Christianity with conservative overtones. In this paper we will suggest that the literature streams on multiple secularities in contemporary (Western societies and religious diversity in Latin America do offer insightful perspectives yet fail to adequately convey the challenges raised by the religious across contemporary Latin America. Addressing Latin America’s historical background, we will distinguish conceptually and empirically among different degrees of secularities, diversities and pluralities and will construct with these distinctions a descriptive-normative model that can guide future analyses of secular and religious phenomena in Latin America. It is only through a comprehensive understanding of diversities, pluralities and secularities that the debates on those human rights crucial for social inclusion—from sexual and reproductive rights to gender and religious equality—can be fruitfully conducted in and beyond Latin America.

  7. Thinking beyond Secularism: The Catholic Church and Political Practice in Rural South India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aparna Sundar

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available This article re-opens the debate on secularism in India by looking at a religion and a region that has historically been marginal to this discourse, focusing on the way in which the Catholic Church has historically mediated the relationship between individuals and the state, among the fishing communities of South India. The Catholic Church’s dominant position among the fishing communities, its minority status within India, as well as theological and other shifts that have taken place within the global Church, lead it to articulate a secular, even radical politics as its primary mode of religious engagement. Radical clergy, many from fishing backgrounds, act as both organic and traditional intellectuals in the Gramscian sense, linking the traditional religious concerns of the Church to the secular interests of their parishioners. Likewise, villagers participate in Church-generated associations spaces to secure wider political goals. The paper concludes that certain forms of religious organisation in the public sphere might indeed be compatible with democracy, citizenship, and even secularism.

  8. Geomagnetic secular variation in India-regional and local features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Srivastava, B.J.; Abbas, H.

    1977-01-01

    A study of the secular variation in the geomagnetic elements H, Z, F and D at Colaba (Bombay)-Alibag for the period 1848-1973, has been made. Fifth degree polynomials are fitted to the data of annual mean values of H, Z and F, and third degree to D, and the residuals discussed. The trends are also examined at the six Indian observatories using the data for 1960-1974. The increasing trend of Z at Alibag is found to decrease from about 1937, while that of H and F from 1965 at 20-30 nT/year, it being of the same order at Sabhawala and Hyderabad but smaller at the equatorial stations, particularly for Z component. The westward annual change in D swings eastward again around 1965 at all the Indian stations. This reversal of the secular variation trend in India after 1965 emerges as an important regional feature connected with a southward migration of the dip equator in India from 1968. The secular change in D at Alibag (+0.4'/year) is somewhat anomalous in the sense that it is reduced as compared to Hyderabad and other stations (+1.6'/year), probably due to the local magnetic anomaly of the Deccan lavas, and calls for detailed investigations. (auth.)

  9. Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of Rv3705c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Feifei; Gao, Feng; Li, Honglin; Gong, Weimin; Zhou, Lin; Bi, Lijun

    2014-01-01

    The cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of Rv3705c from M. tuberculosis are described. The conserved protein Rv3705c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method using PEG 3350 as a precipitant. The Rv3705c crystals exhibited space group P6 1 22 or P6 5 22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 198.0, c = 364.1 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°, and diffracted to a resolution of 3.3 Å

  10. Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of Rv3705c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Feifei [East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of (China); Gao, Feng [Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of (China); Li, Honglin [East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of (China); Gong, Weimin [Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of (China); Zhou, Lin, E-mail: gdtb-bg@vip.163.com [Center for Tuberculosis Control of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of (China); Bi, Lijun, E-mail: gdtb-bg@vip.163.com [East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of (China)

    2014-07-23

    The cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of Rv3705c from M. tuberculosis are described. The conserved protein Rv3705c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method using PEG 3350 as a precipitant. The Rv3705c crystals exhibited space group P6{sub 1}22 or P6{sub 5}22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 198.0, c = 364.1 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°, and diffracted to a resolution of 3.3 Å.

  11. Striking Seasonality in the Secular Warming of the Northern Continents: Structure and Mechanisms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nigam, S.; Thomas, N. P.

    2017-12-01

    The linear trend in twentieth-century surface air temperature (SAT)—a key secular warming signal— exhibits striking seasonal variations over Northern Hemisphere continents; SAT trends are pronounced in winter and spring but notably weaker in summer and fall. The SAT trends in historical twentieth-century climate simulations informing the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change's Fifth Assessment show varied (and often unrealistic) strength and structure, and markedly weaker seasonal variation. The large intra-ensemble spread of winter SAT trends in some historical simulations was surprising, especially in the context of century-long linear trends, with implications for the detection of the secular warming signal. The striking seasonality of observed secular warming over northern continents warrants an explanation and the representation of related processes in climate models. Here, the seasonality of SAT trends over North America is shown to result from land surface-hydroclimate interactions and, to an extent, also from the secular change in low-level atmospheric circulation and related thermal advection. It is argued that the winter dormancy and summer vigor of the hydrologic cycle over middle- to high-latitude continents permit different responses to the additional incident radiative energy from increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. The seasonal cycle of climate, despite its monotony, provides an expanded phase space for the exposition of the dynamical and thermodynamical processes generating secular warming, and an exceptional cost-effective opportunity for benchmarking climate projection models.

  12. Secular and Religious Social Support Better Protect Blacks than Whites against Depressive Symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Assari, Shervin; Moghani Lankarani, Maryam

    2018-05-04

    Purpose: Although the protective effect of social support against depression is well known, limited information exists on racial differences in this association. The current study examined Black-White differences in the effects of religious and secular emotional social support on depressive symptoms in a national sample of older adults in the United States. Methods: With a longitudinal prospective design, the Religion, Aging and Health Survey, 2001⁻2004, followed 1493 Black ( n = 734) and White ( n = 759) elderly individuals (age 66 and older) for three years. Race, demographics (age and gender), socio-economics (education and marital status) and frequency of church attendance were measured at baseline in 2001. Secular social support, religious social support, chronic medical conditions and depressive symptoms [8- item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (CES-D)] were measured in 2004. Multiple linear regression models were used for data analysis. In the pooled sample, secular and religious social support were both protective against depressive symptoms, net of all covariates. Race interacted with secular ( β = −0.62 for interaction) and religious ( β = −0.21 for interaction) social support on baseline depressive symptoms ( p social support on depressive symptoms was larger for Blacks ( β = −0.64) than Whites ( β = −0.16). Conclusion: We found Black—White differences in the protective effects of secular and religious social support against depressive symptoms. Blacks seem to benefit more from the same level of emotional social support, regardless of its source, compared to Whites.

  13. Post-Secularism, Religious Knowledge and Religious Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, David

    2012-01-01

    Post-secularism seems to follow in the wake of other (what are here called) "postal" perspectives--post-structuralism, postmodernism, post-empiricism, post-positivism, post-analytical philosophy, post-foundationalism and so on--in questioning or repudiating what it takes to be the epistemic assumptions of "modernism." To be sure, post-secularism…

  14. Aggregate demand, functional finance and secular stagnation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skott, Peter

    2016-01-01

    This paper makes three main points. Fiscal policy, first, may be needed in the long run to maintain full employment and avoid secular stagnation. If fiscal policy is used in this way, second, the long-run debt ratio depends (i) inversely on the rate of growth, (ii) inversely on government consump...

  15. The Role of Interreligious and Interfaith Dialogue in the Post-Secular World

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Biljana Popovska

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Today, western liberal democratic societies are secular, or in other words, religion is set apart from the state. However, the beginning of the 21st century has seen a re-politicizing of the religion. This paper argues that religion plays an important role in current global politics and events. Moreover, it has been used as tool to recruit masses for a wrong cause. Hence, Interreligious and interfaith dialog can play a role of catalysts and a future trend in cultural diplomacy. The paper provides definitions of a secular and post secular society. Then, it discusses the general concept of dialogue and explores it from an interreligious and interfaith point of view as a way to mitigate the role religion has undertaken. Finally, it provides examples of what European Union has been doing in that respect.

  16. Cardiac magnetic resonance markers of progressive RV dilation and dysfunction after tetralogy of Fallot repair

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wald, Rachel M.; Valente, Anne Marie; Gauvreau, Kimberlee; Babu-Narayan, Sonya V.; Assenza, Gabriele Egidy; Schreier, Jenna; Gatzoulis, Michael A.; Kilner, Philip J.; Koyak, Zeliha; Mulder, Barbara; Powell, Andrew J.; Geva, Tal

    2015-01-01

    Patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) are followed serially by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) for surveillance of RV dilation and dysfunction. We sought to define the prevalence of progressive RV disease and the optimal time interval between CMR evaluations. Candidates were selected

  17. Religion, Education, and Secularism in International Agencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stambach, Amy; Marshall, Katherine; Nelson, Matthew J.; Andreescu, Liviu; Kwayu, Aikande C.; Wexler, Philip; Hotam, Yotam; Fischer, Shlomo; El Bilawi, Hassan

    2011-01-01

    During the interwar years of the early twentieth century, and through at least the 1980s, education was seen by scholars, state leaders, and international agency representatives alike as a way to modernize and secularize underdeveloped communities. Arguments about the modernizing power of education did not erase or discount the presence of…

  18. The conditions of believe and unbelieve in a secular Age

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Manuel Cincunegui

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available In A Secular Age the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor offered an analytical description and a genealogy of the current conditions of belief and unbelief in the North Atlantic contemporary societies. He encouraged as well a set of similar investigations in other cultural settings that are affected by the processes of modernization. He argues about the existence of ‘alternative modernities’ each one of them facing critically the univocal sociological theories of modernity and secularization that interpreted as universal the process of disenchantment occurred in the West and the setbacks with regard to the presence of religion in the public sphere and religious practice in some contemporary Western societies

  19. AN ORIGIN OF MULTIPLE RING STRUCTURE AND HIDDEN PLANETS IN HL TAU: A UNIFIED PICTURE BY SECULAR GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Sanemichi Z.; Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro

    2016-01-01

    Recent ALMA observation has revealed multiple ring structures formed in a protoplanetary disk around HL Tau. Prior to the ALMA observation of HL Tau, theoretical analysis of secular gravitational instability (GI) described a possible formation of multiple ring structures with separations of 13 au around a radius of 100 au in protoplanetary disks under certain conditions. In this article, we reanalyze the viability of secular GI by adopting the physical values inferred from the observations. We derive the radial distributions of the most unstable wavelength and the growth timescale of secular GI and verify that secular GI can form the ring structures observed in HL Tau. When a turbulent viscosity coefficient α remains small in the inner region of the disk, secular GI grows in the whole disk. Thus, the formation of planetary mass objects should occur first in the inner region as a result of gravitational fragmentation after the nonlinear growth of secular GI. In this case, the resulting objects are expected to create gaps at r  ∼ 10 au and ∼30 au. As a result, all ring structures in HL Tau can be created by secular GI. If this scenario is realized in HL Tau, the outer region corresponds to the earlier growth phase of the most unstable mode of secular GI, and the inner region corresponds to the outcome of the nonlinear growth of secular GI. Therefore, this interpretation suggests that we are possibly witnessing both the beginning and the end of planet formation in HL Tau.

  20. AN ORIGIN OF MULTIPLE RING STRUCTURE AND HIDDEN PLANETS IN HL TAU: A UNIFIED PICTURE BY SECULAR GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takahashi, Sanemichi Z. [Astronomical Institute, Tohoku University, 6-3 Aoba, Aramaki-aza, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi (Japan); Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro, E-mail: sanemichi@astr.tohoku.ac.jp, E-mail: inutsuka@nagoya-u.jp [Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8602 (Japan)

    2016-12-01

    Recent ALMA observation has revealed multiple ring structures formed in a protoplanetary disk around HL Tau. Prior to the ALMA observation of HL Tau, theoretical analysis of secular gravitational instability (GI) described a possible formation of multiple ring structures with separations of 13 au around a radius of 100 au in protoplanetary disks under certain conditions. In this article, we reanalyze the viability of secular GI by adopting the physical values inferred from the observations. We derive the radial distributions of the most unstable wavelength and the growth timescale of secular GI and verify that secular GI can form the ring structures observed in HL Tau. When a turbulent viscosity coefficient α remains small in the inner region of the disk, secular GI grows in the whole disk. Thus, the formation of planetary mass objects should occur first in the inner region as a result of gravitational fragmentation after the nonlinear growth of secular GI. In this case, the resulting objects are expected to create gaps at r  ∼ 10 au and ∼30 au. As a result, all ring structures in HL Tau can be created by secular GI. If this scenario is realized in HL Tau, the outer region corresponds to the earlier growth phase of the most unstable mode of secular GI, and the inner region corresponds to the outcome of the nonlinear growth of secular GI. Therefore, this interpretation suggests that we are possibly witnessing both the beginning and the end of planet formation in HL Tau.

  1. "Doing the Secular": Academic Practices in the Study of Religion at Two Danish Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johansen, Birgitte Schepelern

    2011-01-01

    The academic study of religion at the public university often presents itself as a secular, non-religious, scientific endeavor. The identity of the study is thus firmly rooted within one of the central secular-religious divides, namely that between science and religion. Based on the assumption that such distinctions between religion and the…

  2. Ethics of surrogacy: a comparative study of Western secular and islamic bioethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Islam, Sharmin; Nordin, Rusli Bin; Bin Shamsuddin, Ab Rani; Mohd Nor, Hanapi Bin; Al-Mahmood, Abu Kholdun

    2012-01-01

    The comparative approach regarding the ethics of surrogacy from the Western secular and Islamic bioethical view reveals both commensurable and incommensurable relationship. Both are eager to achieve the welfare of the mother, child and society as a whole but the approaches are not always the same. Islamic bioethics is straightforward in prohibiting surrogacy by highlighting the lineage problem and also other social chaos and anarchy. Western secular bioethics is relative and mostly follows a utilitarian approach.

  3. Ethics of Surrogacy: A Comparative Study of Western Secular and Islamic Bioethics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Islam, Sharmin; Nordin, Rusli Bin; Bin Shamsuddin, Ab Rani; Mohd Nor, Hanapi Bin; Al-Mahmood, Abu Kholdun

    2012-01-01

    The comparative approach regarding the ethics of surrogacy from the Western secular and Islamic bioethical view reveals both commensurable and incommensurable relationship. Both are eager to achieve the welfare of the mother, child and society as a whole but the approaches are not always the same. Islamic bioethics is straightforward in prohibiting surrogacy by highlighting the lineage problem and also other social chaos and anarchy. Western secular bioethics is relative and mostly follows a utilitarian approach. PMID:23864994

  4. Registration of cytoplasmic male-sterile oilseed sunflower genetic stocks CMS GIG2 and CMS GIG2-RV, and fertility restoration lines RF GIG2-MAX 1631 and RF GIG2-MAX 1631-RV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Two cytoplasmic male-sterile (CMS) oilseed sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) genetic stocks, CMS GIG2 (Reg. No. xxx, PI xxxx), and CMS GIG2-RV (Reg. No. xxx, PI xxxx), and corresponding fertility restoration lines RF GIG2-MAX 1631 (Reg. No. xxx, PI xxxx) and RF GIG2-MAX 1631-RV (Reg. No. xxx, PI xxx...

  5. Secular change of LOD caused by core evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denis, C.; Rybicki, K. R.; Varga, P.

    2003-04-01

    Fossils and tidal deposits suggest that, on the average, the Earth's despinning rate had been five times less in the Proterozoic than in the Phanerozoic. This difference is probably due, for the major part, to the existence of a Proterozoic supercontinent. Nevertheless, core formation and core evolution should have compensated to some extent the effect of tidal friction, by diminishing the Earth's inertia moment. We have investigated quantitatively this contribution of the evolving core to the change of LOD. For the present epoch, we find that the solidification of the inner core causes a relative secular decrease of LOD of approximately 3 μs per century, whereas the macrodiffusion of iron oxides and sulfides from the D" into the outer core across the CMB (inasfar as Majewski's theory holds) leads to a relative secular decrease of LOD by about 15 μs per century. On the other hand, the theory of slow core formation developped by Runcorn in the early 1960s as a by-product of his theory of mantle-wide convection, leads to a relative secular decrease of LOD during most of the Proterozoic of about 0.25 ms per century. Although core formation is now widely assumed to have been a thermal run-away process that occurred shortly after the Earth itself had formed, Runcorn's theory of the growing core would nicely explain the observed palaeo-LOD curve. In any case, formation of the core implies, all in all, a relative decrease of LOD of typically 3 hours.

  6. Toroidal deuteron accelerator for Mo-98 neutron activation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Araujo, Wagner L., E-mail: wagner.leite@ifnmg.edu.br, E-mail: tprcampos@pq.cnpq.br [Instituto Federal do Norte de Minas Gerais (IFN-MG), Montes Claros, MG (Brazil); Campos, Tarcisio P.R. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear

    2017-07-01

    The radionuclide Tc-{sup 99m} is the most useful radioisotope in nuclear medicine. It can be produced by the Mo-99 beta minus decay. Mo-99 has often been produced in a high- flux nuclear reactor through radioactive neutron capture reactions on Mo-98. The present paper provides a preliminary design of a toroidal transmutation system (TTS) based on a toroidal compact deuteron accelerator, which can provide the Mo-98 transmutation into Mo-99. This system is essentially composed of a multi-aperture plasma electrode and a target, submitted to 180 kV, where a positive deuteron beam is accelerated toward a titanium-target loaded with deuterium in which nuclear d-d fusion reactions are induced. The Particle Studio package of the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software was applied to design, simulate and optimize the deuteron beam on the target. MCNP code provided to neutronic analysis. Based on electromagnetic and neutronic simulations, the neutron yield and reaction rates were estimated. The simulated data allowed appraising the Mo-99 activity. A TTS, in a specific configuration, could produce a total deuterium current of 1.6 A at the target and a neutron yield of 10{sup 13} n.s{sup -1}. In a arrangement of 30 column samples, TTS provides 230 mCi s{sup -1} Mo{sup 99} in each column, which represents 80% of Tc-99m in secular equilibrium. As conclusion, the system holds potential for generating Mo-99 and Tc-99m in a suitable activity in secular equilibrium. (author)

  7. Toroidal deuteron accelerator for Mo-98 neutron activation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Araujo, Wagner L.; Campos, Tarcisio P.R. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

    2017-01-01

    The radionuclide Tc- 99m is the most useful radioisotope in nuclear medicine. It can be produced by the Mo-99 beta minus decay. Mo-99 has often been produced in a high- flux nuclear reactor through radioactive neutron capture reactions on Mo-98. The present paper provides a preliminary design of a toroidal transmutation system (TTS) based on a toroidal compact deuteron accelerator, which can provide the Mo-98 transmutation into Mo-99. This system is essentially composed of a multi-aperture plasma electrode and a target, submitted to 180 kV, where a positive deuteron beam is accelerated toward a titanium-target loaded with deuterium in which nuclear d-d fusion reactions are induced. The Particle Studio package of the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software was applied to design, simulate and optimize the deuteron beam on the target. MCNP code provided to neutronic analysis. Based on electromagnetic and neutronic simulations, the neutron yield and reaction rates were estimated. The simulated data allowed appraising the Mo-99 activity. A TTS, in a specific configuration, could produce a total deuterium current of 1.6 A at the target and a neutron yield of 10 13 n.s -1 . In a arrangement of 30 column samples, TTS provides 230 mCi s -1 Mo 99 in each column, which represents 80% of Tc-99m in secular equilibrium. As conclusion, the system holds potential for generating Mo-99 and Tc-99m in a suitable activity in secular equilibrium. (author)

  8. Cloning, overexpression, purification and preliminary X-ray analysis of a feast/famine regulatory protein (Rv2779c) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dey, Abhishek; Ramachandran, Ravishankar

    2014-01-01

    Rv2779c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a feast/famine regulatory protein. This class of proteins are also known as the leucine-responsive regulatory protein/asparagine synthase C family (Lrp/AsnC) of transcriptional regulators and are known to be involved in various metabolic processes in bacteria and fungi. They contain a RAM (regulator of amino-acid metabolism) domain that is rarely found in humans and acts as the oligomerization domain. Since the oligomeric status is often linked to the particular functional role in these proteins, binding of ligands to the domain can elicit specific functional responses. Full-length Rv2779c corresponding to a molecular mass of 19.8 kDa and 179 residues was cloned and purified to homogeneity following transformation into Escherichia coli C41 (DE3) cells. Crystals were grown by vapour diffusion using the hanging-drop method. Diffraction data extending to 2.8 Å resolution were collected from a single crystal that belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = 99.6, b = 146.0, c = 49.9 Å. Matthews coefficient (VM) calculations suggest that four molecules are present in the asymmetric unit, corresponding to a solvent content of ∼46%. Molecular-replacement calculations using the crystal structure of a homologue, Rv3291c, as the search model gave an unambiguous solution corresponding to four subunits in the asymmetric unit.

  9. Sacred Spaces: Religious and Secular Coping and Family Relationships in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brelsford, Gina M; Ramirez, Joshua; Veneman, Kristin; Doheny, Kim K

    2016-08-01

    Preterm birth is an unanticipated and stressful event for parents. In addition, the unfamiliar setting of the intensive care nursery necessitates strategies for coping. The primary study objective of this descriptive study was to determine whether secular and religious coping strategies were related to family functioning in the neonatal intensive care unit. Fifty-two parents of preterm (25-35 weeks' gestation) infants completed the Brief COPE (secular coping), the Brief RCOPE (religious coping), and the Family Environment Scale within 1 week of their infant's hospital admission. This descriptive study found that parents' religious and secular coping was significant in relation to family relationship functioning. Specifically, negative religious coping (ie, feeling abandoned or angry at God) was related to poorer family cohesion and use of denial. These findings have relevance for interventions focused toward enhancing effective coping for families. Further study of religious and secular coping strategies for neonatal intensive care unit families is warranted in a larger more diverse sample of family members.

  10. Avastatud maa-alune järv võib lõpetada Darfuri kodusõja / Karin Volmer

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Volmer, Karin

    2007-01-01

    Ilmunud ka: Postimees : na russkom jazõke, 23. juuli 2007, lk. 6. Teadlaste hinnangul võib Darfuri konflikti lõpetada Darfuris avastatud maa-alune järv, sest kodusõda araablastest karjakasvatajate ja põlluharijatest põliselanike vahel võib tingitud olla veepuudusest. Kaart: Darfuri maa-alune järv. Lisa: Darfuri konflikt

  11. The Norwood procedure: in favor of the RV-PA conduit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barron, David J

    2013-01-01

    Evolution of the Norwood procedure has culminated in there currently being three treatment strategies available for initial management: the 'classical' Norwood (utilizing a Blalock-Taussig shunt), the Norwood with right-ventricle to pulmonary artery (RV-PA) conduit, and the 'hybrid' Norwood procedure utilizing bilateral pulmonary artery banding and ductal stenting. Each variant has its potential advantages and disadvantages, and this paper looks to examine the evidence in favor of each strategy, with emphasis on the supportive data for the RV-PA conduit. The 'classical' procedure has the benefit of the greatest accumulated surgical experience and avoids any incision into the ventricle. However, the diastolic run-off of the Blalock-Taussig shunt can cause hemodynamic instability and unpredictable coronary steal phenomenon. The RV-PA conduit has the advantage of maintaining diastolic pressure with a more stable postoperative course, but at the cost of a ventriculotomy that may have detrimental long-term sequelae. The 'hybrid' procedure has the advantage of avoiding cardiopulmonary bypass, but does not always secure coronary blood flow and has a high inter-stage morbidity and reintervention rate. The evidence shows that each technique may have its place in future management, and that treatment algorithms could emerge that direct the choice of procedure for specific patient groups. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Internal and environmental secular evolution of disk galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kormendy, John

    2015-03-01

    This Special Session is devoted to the secular evolution of disk galaxies. Here `secular' means `slow' i.e., evolution on time scales that are generally much longer than the galaxy crossing or rotation time. Internal and environmentally driven evolution both are covered. I am indebted to Albert Bosma for reminding me at the 2011 Canary Islands Winter School on Secular Evolution that our subject first appeared in print in a comment made by Ivan King (1977) in his introductory talk at the Yale University meeting on The Evolution of Galaxies and Stellar Populations: `John Kormendy would like us to consider the possibility that a galaxy can interact with itself.. . . I'm not at all convinced, but John can show you some interesting pictures.' Two of the earliest papers that followed were Kormendy (1979a, b); the first discusses the interaction of galaxy components with each other, and the second studies these phenomena in the context of a morphological survey of barred galaxies. The earliest modeling paper that we still use regularly is Combes & Sanders (1981), which introduces the now well known idea that box-shaped bulges in edge-on galaxies are side-on, vertically thickened bars. It is gratifying to see how this subject has grown since that time. Hundreds of papers have been written, and the topic features prominently at many meetings (e.g., Block et al. 2004; Falcoń-Barroso & Knapen 2012, and this Special Session). My talk here introduces both internal and environmental secular evolution; a brief abstract follows. My Canary Islands Winter School review covers both subjects in more detail (Kormendy 2012). Kormendy & Kennicutt (2004) is a comprehensive review of internal secular evolution, and Kormendy & Bender (2012) covers environmental evolution. Both of these subject make significant progress at this meeting. Secular evolution happens because self-gravitating systems evolve toward the most tightly bound configuration that is reachable by the evolution processes

  13. Radial velocity variations of photometrically quiet, chromospherically inactive Kepler stars: A link between RV jitter and photometric flicker

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bastien, Fabienne A.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Pepper, Joshua [Physics and Astronomy Department, Vanderbilt University, 1807 Station B, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States); Wright, Jason T. [Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, 525 Davey Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16803 (United States); Aigrain, Suzanne [Sub-department of Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Basri, Gibor [Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Johnson, John A. [Department of Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, MC 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Howard, Andrew W. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Walkowicz, Lucianne M. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

    2014-02-01

    We compare stellar photometric variability, as measured from Kepler light curves by Basri et al., with measurements of radial velocity (RV) rms variations of all California Planet Search overlap stars. We newly derive rotation periods from the Kepler light curves for all of the stars in our study sample. The RV variations reported herein range from less than 4 to 135 m s{sup –1}, yet the stars all have amplitudes of photometric variability less than 3 mmag, reflecting the preference of the RV program for chromospherically 'quiet' stars. Despite the small size of our sample, we find with high statistical significance that the RV rms manifests strongly in the Fourier power spectrum of the light curve: stars that are noisier in RV have a greater number of frequency components in the light curve. We also find that spot models of the observed light curves systematically underpredict the observed RV variations by factors of ∼2-1000, likely because the low-level photometric variations in our sample are driven by processes not included in simple spot models. The stars best fit by these models tend to have simpler light curves, dominated by a single relatively high-amplitude component of variability. Finally, we demonstrate that the RV rms behavior of our sample can be explained in the context of the photometric variability evolutionary diagram introduced by Bastien et al. We use this diagram to derive the surface gravities of the stars in our sample, revealing many of them to have moved off the main sequence. More generally, we find that the stars with the largest RV rms are those that have evolved onto the 'flicker floor' sequence in that diagram, characterized by relatively low amplitude but highly complex photometric variations which grow as the stars evolve to become subgiants.

  14. Mutation of Rv2887, a marR-like gene, confers Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to an imidazopyridine-based agent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winglee, Kathryn; Lun, Shichun; Pieroni, Marco; Kozikowski, Alan; Bishai, William

    2015-11-01

    Drug resistance is a major problem in Mycobacterium tuberculosis control, and it is critical to identify novel drug targets and new antimycobacterial compounds. We have previously identified an imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-4-carbonitrile-based agent, MP-III-71, with strong activity against M. tuberculosis. In this study, we evaluated mechanisms of resistance to MP-III-71. We derived three independent M. tuberculosis mutants resistant to MP-III-71 and conducted whole-genome sequencing of these mutants. Loss-of-function mutations in Rv2887 were common to all three MP-III-71-resistant mutants, and we confirmed the role of Rv2887 as a gene required for MP-III-71 susceptibility using complementation. The Rv2887 protein was previously unannotated, but domain and homology analyses suggested it to be a transcriptional regulator in the MarR (multiple antibiotic resistance repressor) family, a group of proteins first identified in Escherichia coli to negatively regulate efflux pumps and other mechanisms of multidrug resistance. We found that two efflux pump inhibitors, verapamil and chlorpromazine, potentiate the action of MP-III-71 and that mutation of Rv2887 abrogates their activity. We also used transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) to identify genes which are differentially expressed in the presence and absence of a functional Rv2887 protein. We found that genes involved in benzoquinone and menaquinone biosynthesis were repressed by functional Rv2887. Thus, inactivating mutations of Rv2887, encoding a putative MarR-like transcriptional regulator, confer resistance to MP-III-71, an effective antimycobacterial compound that shows no cross-resistance to existing antituberculosis drugs. The mechanism of resistance of M. tuberculosis Rv2887 mutants may involve efflux pump upregulation and also drug methylation. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  15. Secular decline in male testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin serum levels in Danish population surveys

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersson, Anna-Maria; Jensen, Tina Kold; Juul, Anders

    2007-01-01

    Adverse secular trends in male reproductive health have been reported to be reflected in increased testicular cancer risk and decreased semen quality in more recently born men. These secular trends may also be reflected by changes in Leydig cell function....

  16. Archive of Digitized Analog Boomer and Minisparker Seismic Reflection Data Collected from the Alabama-Mississippi-Louisiana Shelf During Cruises Onboard the R/V Carancahua and R/V Gyre, April and July, 1981

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanford, Jordan M.; Harrison, Arnell S.; Wiese, Dana S.; Flocks, James G.

    2009-01-01

    In April and July of 1981, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the shallow geologic framework of the Alabama-Mississippi-Louisiana Shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Work was conducted onboard the Texas A&M University R/V Carancahua and the R/V Gyre to develop a geologic understanding of the study area and to locate potential hazards related to offshore oil and gas production. While the R/V Carancahua only collected boomer data, the R/V Gyre used a 400-Joule minisparker, 3.5-kilohertz (kHz) subbottom profiler, 12-kHz precision depth recorder, and two air guns. The authors selected the minisparker data set because, unlike with the boomer data, it provided the most complete record. This report is part of a series to digitally archive the legacy analog data collected from the Mississippi-Alabama SHelf (MASH). The MASH data rescue project is a cooperative effort by the USGS and the Minerals Management Service (MMS). This report serves as an archive of high-resolution scanned Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) and Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) images of the original boomer and minisparker paper records, navigation files, trackline maps, Geographic Information System (GIS) files, cruise logs, and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata.

  17. Evidence in the auroral record for secular solar variability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sicoe, G.L.

    1980-01-01

    The historial record of aurorae is continuous and usefully dense for at least the 2000 years. Revival of interest in the secular variability in solar activity motivates a review of the auroral record. The existence of secular variations in the auroral occurrence frequency has been known since the early 1700's, including the existence of a significant attenuation of auroral activity during the Maunder Minimum. Investigation of secular variations prior to the Maunder Minimum is now possible based on six auroral catalogs that have been published within the last 20 years. The catalogs cover the time period from the fifth century B.C. to the seventeenth century A.D. and combine both oriental and European obsertions. Features corresponding to the previously recognized Medieval Minimum, Medieval Maximum, and the Spoerer Minimum are clearly evident in both oriental and European records. The global synchronicity of anomalies in the auroral occurrence frequency is used to argue that they are caused by changes in the level or state of solar activity. The combined catalogs provide a sufficient number of events in the Middle Ages to resolve a quasi-80-year periodicity in the recorded auroral occurrence frequency. Also in the unusually rich intervals of the Middle Ages, clear quasi-10-year periodicities appear in the recorded occurrence frequency wave from. These are most reasonably interpreted as manifestations of the 11-year solar cycle and indicate that the solar cycle was then operative

  18. An instance of secularization? The Finnish online discussion of the issue of same-sex marriages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenni Hokka

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In October 2010 one of Finland’s four national TV channels aired a panel discussion dealing with gay and lesbian rights in society. Among the debaters were members of parliament from various parties, well-known actors and other public figures, as well as a priest, a bishop and other religious spokespeople. Afterwards, a great number of people publicly expressed their views on same-sex marriages. The ways the Lutheran Church treated the same-sex couples, as well as the reasons and outcomes of a vast number of resignations from the Church were discussed, particularly in the online discussion forums. The public discussion spread rapidly, especially through the social media. Resignations from the Church are often perceived as a clear sign of the decline of religious beliefs and practices, which is an integral aspect of the secularization process. But lately the whole notion of a secularization of society has been questioned and a growing number of researchers have stated that the concepts of resacralization, desecularization, or a resurgence of religion would actually better describe the current situation than the theory of secularization. The aim of this article is to examine whether the concept of secularization still has some explanatory power at least in the Nordic countries. Another aim is to contemplate what kind of knowledge this special case has to offer when rethinking secularization.

  19. Kosovar Society through Secularism and Religion

    OpenAIRE

    MSc. Dritero Arifi; Dr.Sc. Ylber Sela

    2013-01-01

    This paper will analyze the importance and the effects of religion, in Kosovar society. A great part of the paper, will analyze the social and the political relations in Post-War Kosovo. Initially it will elaborate religion and secularism, especially in theoreticall aspect, what impact have these definitions in modern societies. In order to explain what the importance of the religion in Kosovo is, we will focus on analyzing ethnical, social and political relations within Kosovo society. A...

  20. Proper Elements and Secular Resonances for Irregular Satellites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaugé, C.; Nesvorný, D.

    2007-06-01

    We present results of an analytical study of proper elements and secular resonances for the irregular satellites of the outer planets. In the case of the Jovian system we identify three satellite families, two of them previously known (Carme and Ananke), plus a new agglomeration of four bodies that includes Pasiphae as its largest member. While the distribution of proper elements for Saturn's moons seems to be more random, a small cluster was found for the direct moons formed by Albiorix, Erriapo, and 2004 S1, slightly different from the so-called Gaulish cluster. No significant families are detected in the present study for the Uranian or Neptunian satellite systems. For each satellite system we determine the location of several secular resonances in the proper element space. Apart from the well-known resonance locks of Pasiphae, Sinope, and Siarnaq, a comparison between the resonance locations and proper elements shows that Saturn's satellite Narvi also exhibits temporary librations in the ϖ-ϖsolar resonance. However, unlike the resonant Jovian moons that are located in the same configuration, Narvi's critical argument librates alternately around values near 90° and 270°. Neither the Uranian nor Neptunian systems seem to have resonant moons. The resonant dynamics of the real satellites in the vicinity of ϖ˙-ϖ˙solar=0 is studied with a simple model for secular resonances based on the restricted three-body problem. Depending on the initial conditions, we show the existence of one or two modes of libration that can occur at different values of the critical angle, showing a good correspondence with the observed behavior of all the resonant moons. Finally, we discuss the global distribution of the real satellites with respect to the secular resonances, as compared with synthetic populations of bodies drawn solely from stability conditions. For Saturn, we find that the present satellite population appears compatible with simple random distributions. Although

  1. Religiousness and religious coping in a secular society: the gender perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hvidtjørn, Dorte; Hjelmborg, Jacob; Skytthe, Axel; Christensen, Kaare; Hvidt, Niels Christian

    2014-10-01

    Women are found to be more religious than men and more likely to use religious coping. Only few studies have explored religious gender differences in more secular societies. This population-based study comprised 3,000 Danish men and women (response rate 45 %) between 20 and 40 years of age. Information about demographics, religiousness and religious coping was obtained through a web-based questionnaire. We organized religiousness in the three dimensions: Cognition, Practice and Importance, and we assessed religious coping using the brief RCOPE questionnaire. We found substantial gender differences in both religiousness and religious coping. Nearly, 60 % of the women believed in some sort of spirit or in God compared to 40 % of the men. Generally, both men and women scored low on the RCOPE scale. However, for respondents reporting high levels of religiousness, the proportion of men who scored high in the RCOPE exceeded the proportion of women in using positive and especially negative coping strategies. Also, in a secular society, women are found to be more religious than men, but in a subset of the most religious respondents, men were more inclined to use religious coping. Further studies on religious coping in secular societies are required.

  2. Stringent DDI-based prediction of H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv protein-protein interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Hufeng; Rezaei, Javad; Hugo, Willy; Gao, Shangzhi; Jin, Jingjing; Fan, Mengyuan; Yong, Chern-Han; Wozniak, Michal; Wong, Limsoon

    2013-01-01

    H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv protein-protein interaction (PPI) data are very important information to illuminate the infection mechanism of M. tuberculosis H37Rv. But current H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPI data are very scarce. This seriously limits the study of the interaction between this important pathogen and its host H. sapiens. Computational prediction of H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPIs is an important strategy to fill in the gap. Domain-domain interaction (DDI) based prediction is one of the frequently used computational approaches in predicting both intra-species and inter-species PPIs. However, the performance of DDI-based host-pathogen PPI prediction has been rather limited. We develop a stringent DDI-based prediction approach with emphasis on (i) differences between the specific domain sequences on annotated regions of proteins under the same domain ID and (ii) calculation of the interaction strength of predicted PPIs based on the interacting residues in their interaction interfaces. We compare our stringent DDI-based approach to a conventional DDI-based approach for predicting PPIs based on gold standard intra-species PPIs and coherent informative Gene Ontology terms assessment. The assessment results show that our stringent DDI-based approach achieves much better performance in predicting PPIs than the conventional approach. Using our stringent DDI-based approach, we have predicted a small set of reliable H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPIs which could be very useful for a variety of related studies. We also analyze the H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPIs predicted by our stringent DDI-based approach using cellular compartment distribution analysis, functional category enrichment analysis and pathway enrichment analysis. The analyses support the validity of our prediction result. Also, based on an analysis of the H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPI network predicted by our stringent DDI-based approach, we have discovered some

  3. SPIRITUALITY IN A SECULAR AGE: FROM CHARLES TAYLOR TO ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    the secular is ignored or where exclusive humanism is seen as the inevitable conclusion of a .... responsible for ordinary events in the world. Various .... immanent frame is dependent on and open to a transcendent source while for others, the ...

  4. A novel vaccine p846 encoding Rv3615c, Mtb10.4, and Rv2660c elicits robust immune response and alleviates lung injury induced by Mycobacterium infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kong, Hongmei; Dong, Chunsheng; Xiong, Sidong

    2014-01-01

    Development of effective anti-tuberculosis (TB) vaccines is one of the important steps to improve control of TB. Cell-mediated immune response significantly affects the control of M. tuberculosis infection. Thus, vaccines able to elicit strong cellular immune response hold special advantages against TB. In this study, three well-defined mycobacterial antigens (Rv3615c, Mtb10.4 [Rv0228], and Rv2660c) were engineered as a novel triple-antigen fusion DNA vaccine p846. The p846 vaccine consists of a high density of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell epitopes. Intramuscular immunization of p846 induced robust T cells mediated immune response comparable to that of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination but more effective than that of individual antigen vaccination. After mycobacterial challenge, p846 immunization decreased bacterial burden at least 15-fold compared with individual antigen-based vaccination. Notably, the lungs of mice immunized with p846 exhibited fewer inflammatory cell infiltrates and less damage than those of control group mice. Our data demonstrate that the potential of p846 vaccine to protect against TB and the feasibility of this design strategy for further TB vaccine development.

  5. Fuzzy Law and the Boundaries of Secularism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W Menski

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The author delivered a speech at a Religare Conference. Showing his distaste for fuzzy law, he argues that "moderate secularism" is not merely another fuzzy concept, but it is "super-fuzzy", and that lawyers claiming to love certainty "have a tendency to sit in judgment over matters and even pre-judge things they know little about, including legal pluralism" leading to much irritation.

  6. PEDIATRIC FITNESS: SECULAR TRENDS AND GEOGRAPHIC VARIABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grant R. Tomkinson

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available DESCRIPTION This book describes and discusses children's physical capacity in terms of aerobic and anaerobic power generation according to secular trends and geographic variability. PURPOSE To discuss the controversial issue of whether present day's children and adolescents are fitter than their equals of the past and whether they are fitter if they live in the more prosperous countries. AUDIENCE Pediatricians, medical practitioners, physical educators, exercise and/or sport scientists, exercise physiologists, personal trainers and graduate students in relevant fields will find this book helpful when dealing with contemporary trends and geographic variability in pediatric fitness. FEATURES The volume starts by examining the general picture on children fitness by the editors. The individual chapter's authors discuses the data gathered since the late 1950s on secular trends and geographic changeability in aerobic and anaerobic pediatric fitness performances of children and adolescents from 23 countries in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. There are chapters proposing that there is proof that there has been a world-wide decline in pediatric aerobic performance in recent decades, relative stability in anaerobic performance, and that the best performing children come from northern and central Europe. In final chapters possible causes to that end are considered, including whether weakening in aerobic performance are the result of distributional or widespread declines, and whether increases in obesity alone can explain the failure in aerobic performance. ASSESSMENT The editors have assembled a volume of Medicine and Sports Science that is necessary and essential reading for all who are interested in understanding and improving the fitness of children. The readers will find useful information in this book on secular trends and geographic variability in pediatric fitness. I believe, the book will serve as a first

  7. Imunogenicidade da cepa avirulenta RV194-2 do vírus rábico em camundongos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rugimar Marcovistz

    1996-12-01

    Full Text Available O vírus rábico RV194-2, uma variante avirulenta da cepa CVS (Challenge Vírus Standard, produz uma infecção inaparente quando inoculado intracerebralmente em camundongos adultos. Sugerindo que a resposta imunológica do hospedeiro permite a eliminação do vírus do sistema nervoso central. Por esta razão foram estudadas a indução de interferon e a resposta imune humoral em camundongos BALB/c inoculados com vírus RV194-2. Durante a infecção, estes camundongos apresentaram elevados níveis de interferon no plasma e no cérebro com altos títulos de anticorpos neutralizantes anti-rábicos. A 2-5A sintetase. um marcador da ação dos interferons,foi também analisada no cérebro destes animais. Sua atividade, aumentou, paralelamente, á produção de interferon, demonstrando que este interferon é bioquímicamente ativo. O vírus RV194-2 também induziu, 45 dias após sua inoculação, proteção aos animais quando desafiados com a cepa virulenta CVS. Estes resultados demonstram que a cepa RV194-2possui um alto nível imunogênico.RV194-2 rabies virus, an avirulent mutant of CVS strain, induces an inapparent infection limited to the central nervous system (CNS in adult mice inoculated intracerebrally. This fact suggest that immune response of the host is able to eliminate the virus in CNS. For this reason, we have studied the induction of interferon and the humoral immune responses in BALB/c mice after RV194-2 inoculation. These mice presented high levels of interferon in the plasma and in the brain, with elevated levels of neutralizing antirabies antibodies. The 2-5A synthetase, an enzyme marker of interferon action, was analyzed in the brain of inoculated animals. Its enhancement in parallel to the interferon production in the brain, showed biochemical evidence that this interferon is active. Forty five days after RV194-2 virus inoculation, mice were protected against a challenge with the CVS virulent strain. The results presented

  8. The Problems of Teaching the Basics of Secular Ethics to Pedagogic Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. V. Shcheglova

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper looks at the specialists training for teaching the Basics of Secular Ethics course in the secondary school. In author’s opinion, the above course is entitled to develop children’s moral consciousness. The subject is practical rather than descriptive, focused on the spiritual work, and teaching how to live in harmony with themselves and the surrounding world. The author emphasizes the difference between the secular and religious ethics related to the specificity of moral consciousness - based either on the principle of personal moral autonomy or theonomy in case of the religious ethics. The problematic task of developing the morally independent personality in the modern society is complicated by the confusion of ethics and etiquette, wide spread ideas of pluralism, relativism, infantilism and sense gratification. The challenges and inner contradictions of the given educational module are revealed in dealing with such concepts as the mercy and moral ideal. In conclusion, the author points out the significance of active positions of teachers and students alike in pursuing the Secular Ethics course. 

  9. Crustal concealing of small-scale core-field secular variation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hulot, G.; Olsen, Nils; Thebault, E.

    2009-01-01

    of internal origin happen to be detectable now in spherical harmonic degrees up to, perhaps, 16. All of these changes are usually attributed to changes in the core field itself, the secular variation, on the ground that the lithospheric magnetization cannot produce such signals. It has, however, been pointed...... out, on empirical grounds, that temporal changes in the field of internal origin produced by the induced part of the lithospheric magnetization could dominate the core field signal beyond degree 22. This short note revisits this issue by taking advantage of our improved knowledge of the small...... cause of the observed changes in the field of internal origin up to some critical degree, N-C, is indeed likely to be the secular variation of the core field, but that the signal produced by the time-varying lithospheric field is bound to dominate and conceal the time-varying core signal beyond...

  10. Tendência secular da altura na idade adulta de crianças nascidas na cidade de São Paulo entre 1950 e 1976 Secular trends in the adult height of children born in S. Paulo city, Brazil, from 1950 to 1976

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan França Júnior

    2000-12-01

    increased 3.42 centimeters during the 27 years covered by the study (1.26 cm/decade. The trend was not linear: in the 50s, there was a statistically significant increase (0.84 cm/decade; in the 60s, a smaller but non-significant increase (0,5 cm/decade was seen; in the period of 1970-76, a greater increase in heights (2,9 cm/decade was observed. The secular change rate observed was comparable to the rate seen in other countries. The most recent birth cohorts (1975 and 1976 achieved the higher statures in the study (~175 cm. Despite these height increments, deficits of 1.8 e 6.2 cm were seen when the taller cohorts of the study were compared to American young males born in 1961 (NCHS and Dutch men born in 1972. If there won't be any changes in the accelerated rates of the 70s, young people of São Paulo may overcome these deficits in about one or three decades.

  11. Structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv2714, a representative of a duplicated gene family in Actinobacteria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graña, Martin; Bellinzoni, Marco; Miras, Isabelle; Fiez-Vandal, Cedric; Haouz, Ahmed; Shepard, William; Buschiazzo, Alejandro; Alzari, Pedro M.

    2009-01-01

    The crystal structure of Rv2714, a protein of unknown function from M. tuberculosis, has been determined at 2.6 Å resolution using single-wavelength anomalous diffraction methods. The gene Rv2714 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which codes for a hypothetical protein of unknown function, is a representative member of a gene family that is largely confined to the order Actinomycetales of Actinobacteria. Sequence analysis indicates the presence of two paralogous genes in most mycobacterial genomes and suggests that gene duplication was an ancient event in bacterial evolution. The crystal structure of Rv2714 has been determined at 2.6 Å resolution, revealing a trimer in which the topology of the protomer core is similar to that observed in a functionally diverse set of enzymes, including purine nucleoside phosphorylases, some carboxypeptidases, bacterial peptidyl-tRNA hydrolases and even the plastidic form of an intron splicing factor. However, some structural elements, such as a β-hairpin insertion involved in protein oligomerization and a C-terminal α-helical domain that serves as a lid to the putative substrate-binding (or ligand-binding) site, are only found in Rv2714 bacterial homologues and represent specific signatures of this protein family

  12. Structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv2714, a representative of a duplicated gene family in Actinobacteria

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Graña, Martin; Bellinzoni, Marco [Institut Pasteur, Unité de Biochimie Structurale, URA CNRS 2185, 25 Rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris (France); Miras, Isabelle; Fiez-Vandal, Cedric; Haouz, Ahmed; Shepard, William [Institut Pasteur, Plate-forme de Cristallogenèse et Diffraction des Rayons X, 25 Rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris (France); Buschiazzo, Alejandro; Alzari, Pedro M., E-mail: alzari@pasteur.fr [Institut Pasteur, Unité de Biochimie Structurale, URA CNRS 2185, 25 Rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris (France)

    2009-10-01

    The crystal structure of Rv2714, a protein of unknown function from M. tuberculosis, has been determined at 2.6 Å resolution using single-wavelength anomalous diffraction methods. The gene Rv2714 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which codes for a hypothetical protein of unknown function, is a representative member of a gene family that is largely confined to the order Actinomycetales of Actinobacteria. Sequence analysis indicates the presence of two paralogous genes in most mycobacterial genomes and suggests that gene duplication was an ancient event in bacterial evolution. The crystal structure of Rv2714 has been determined at 2.6 Å resolution, revealing a trimer in which the topology of the protomer core is similar to that observed in a functionally diverse set of enzymes, including purine nucleoside phosphorylases, some carboxypeptidases, bacterial peptidyl-tRNA hydrolases and even the plastidic form of an intron splicing factor. However, some structural elements, such as a β-hairpin insertion involved in protein oligomerization and a C-terminal α-helical domain that serves as a lid to the putative substrate-binding (or ligand-binding) site, are only found in Rv2714 bacterial homologues and represent specific signatures of this protein family.

  13. Secularism in Nigeria: An Assessment | Ogoloma | AFRREV IJAH ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Secularism is not the absence of religions in the state. Rather, it is the absence of a state sponsored religion where everyone will be made to choose a religion of their choice. People are free to follow which religious tenets they like without any fear, intimidation, victimization or favour. The central and state administrations ...

  14. Why religion deserves a place in secular medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biggar, Nigel

    2015-03-01

    As a science and practice transcending metaphysical and ethical disagreements, 'secular' medicine should not exist. 'Secularity' should be understood in an Augustinian sense, not a secularist one: not as a space that is universally rational because it is religion-free, but as a forum for the negotiation of rival reasonings. Religion deserves a place here, because it is not simply or uniquely irrational. However, in assuming his rightful place, the religious believer commits himself to eschewing sheer appeals to religious authorities, and to adopting reasonable means of persuasion. This can come quite naturally. For example, Christianity (theo)logically obliges liberal manners in negotiating ethical controversies in medicine. It also offers reasoned views of human being and ethics that bear upon medicine and are not universally held-for example, a humanist view of human dignity, the bounding of individual autonomy by social obligation, and a special concern for the weak. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  15. Paracelsus, Paracelsianism, and the secularization of the worldview.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webster, Charles

    2002-03-01

    This paper examines Paracelsus and Paracelsianism in the light of the ideas of Max Weber concerning the social consequences of the Reformation, with special reference to his theories of Entzauberung and secularization. He linked these tendencies both to the rise of capitalism and the growth of experimental science. The detailed case study of Paracelsus' account of diseases linked with saints, in common with his interpretation of many other conditions, demonstrates that he self-consciously extended the boundaries of medicine and eroded the role of magic and witchcraft associated with the church. On the other hand, Paracelsus adopted the Neoplatonic worldview, was immersed in popular magic, and evolved a system of medicine that self-consciously revolved around magic. These factors seem to place a distinct limit on his role in the demystification of knowledge. However, the magic of Paracelsus entailed a decisive break with the entrenched elitist and esoteric tradition of the occultists and hermeticists. It is argued that this reconstructed magic re-establishes the credentials of Paracelsus as a significant contributor to the disenchantment and secularization of the worldview.

  16. Study of secular equilibrium reinstatement on UO2 pellets manufactured by AUC route

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carnaval, João Paulo R.; Beltran, Dalton J.M.C.; Oliveira, Carlos A.

    2017-01-01

    The fuel assemblies manufactured by INB for Angra-1 power plant has axial blanket fuel rods which must be inspected due the columns formed by different enrichment pellets. The equipment used for inspection is built with a group of BGO scintillators detectors which measurement principle is based on the absorption of gamma rays emitted from Uranium decay. The commercial grade UF 6 used by INB is stored into cylinders type 30B. The uranium inside these cylinders is in secular equilibrium before the processing. It has been found that the AUC route causes the loss of that equilibrium because the UF 6 is volatilized from the cylinder and the uranium daughters remain in the container. As AUC is converted to powder and pellets, the secular equilibrium is restored through time. The purpose of this work is to present a study of the secular equilibrium reinstatement on UO 2 pellets manufactured by AUC route before being inspected on Rod Scanner. (author)

  17. Secular trends in menarcheal age in India-evidence from the Indian human development survey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Praveen Kumar Pathak

    Full Text Available Evidence from a number of countries in Europe and North America point towards the secular declining trend in menarcheal age with considerable spatial variations over the past two centuries. Similar trends were reported in several developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America. However, data corroborating any secular trend in the menarcheal age of the Indian population remained sparse and inadequately verified.We examined secular trends, regional heterogeneity and association of socioeconomic, anthropometric and contextual factors with menarcheal age among ever-married women (15-49 years in India. Using the pseudo cohort data approach, we fit multiple linear regression models to estimate secular trends in menarcheal age of 91394 ever-married women using the Indian Human Development Survey.The mean age at menarche among Indian women was 13.76 years (95 % CI: 13.75, 13.77 in 2005. It declined by three months from 13.83 years (95% CI: 13.81, 13.85 among women born prior to 1955-1964, to nearly 13.62 years (95% CI: 13.58, 13.67 among women born during late 1985-1989. However, these aggregate national figures mask extensive spatial heterogeneity as mean age at menarche varied from 15.0 years in Himachal Pradesh during 1955-1964 (95% CI: 14.89-15.11 to about 12.1 years in Assam (95% CI: 11.63-12.56 during 1985-1989.The regression analysis established a reduction of nearly one month per decade, suggesting a secular decline in age at menarche among Indian women. Notably, the menarcheal age was significantly associated with the area of residence, geographic region, linguistic groups, educational attainment, wealth status, caste and religious affiliations among Indian women.

  18. Karakterisasi Klon Rekombinan pGEMT-Rv1984c Sebagai Antigen untuk Imunodiagnostik Tuberkulosis Laten

    OpenAIRE

    Baharaeni, Wa Ode

    2017-01-01

    The research about "Characterization of Recombinant Clones pGEMT-Rv1984c as Antigen for Latent Tuberculosis Immunodiagnostic" has been done. Rv1984c gene is the gene that is owned by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and encodes a protein formation CFP21 which serve as antigen candidate for latent tuberculosis immunodiagnostic through gene cloning. The result of transformation of gene cloning still has the possibility of failure of the process of transformation and ligation, so we need a character...

  19. Technological Progress, Globalization, and Secular Stagnation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Popović Milenko

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available After the 2008 crisis, despite economic recovery that started in 2009, the world economy has experienced a downward shift of its growth path and a consequent decline. As shown at the beginning of this paper, this shift and growth rate stagnation are totally attributable to the economic dynamics in developed economies, the USA and the EU. Explanations of this phenomenon can be divided into two large groups: explanations that belong to the demand side and those that belong to the supply side. The aim of this paper is to give a critical survey of the most important explanations for the ongoing growth stagnation in developed countries and consequently in the entire world economy. This ongoing prolonged stagnation can only be explained by looking at both, the demand and supply sides of the explanation, and particularly by taking a closer look at the interaction between aggregate demand and aggregate supply. In other words, secular stagnation manifests itself as a problem of the limitation of long run growth of aggregate demand. However, in order to explain the causes of those demand limitations, we have to undertake a careful analysis of the supply side dynamics, especially the dynamics of innovations, which bring us to circular and cumulative causation. In order to explain the numerous consequences of this stagnation and to solve some important puzzles, like the productivity paradox for example, a special emphasis is given to the analysis of deindustrialization and the consequent strange reoccurrence of a dual economy within most developed countries during the period of the IT revolution and hyper-globalization. It will also be shown that this new dual economy presents serious limitations for further technological advancement and economic development, quite contrary to the old dualism which contributed to an acceleration of economic growth.

  20. SECULAR GROWTH AND MATURATION CHANGES IN HUNGARY IN RELATION TO SOCIOECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodzsar, Eva B; Zsakai, Annamaria; Mascie-Taylor, Nicholas

    2016-03-01

    This paper analyses the secular changes in the body development patterns of Hungarian children between the 1910s and the beginning of the 2000s in relation to socioeconomic and demographic changes in the country. Individual growth data of children were available from two national growth studies (1983-86, 2003-06), while sample-size weighted means of children's body dimensions were collected through regional studies between the 1920s and 1970s. Gross domestic product, Gini index, life expectancy at birth and under-5 mortality rate were used to assess the changes in economic status, income inequalities of the society and the population's general health status, respectively. Secular changes in food consumption habits were also examined. The positive Hungarian secular changes in socioeconomic status were associated with a continuous increase in children's body dimensions. The negative socioeconomic changes reflected only in wartime and post-war periods of children's growth, and the considerable socioeconomic changes at the beginning of the 1990s did not appear to influence the positive trend in children's growth. The positive secular trend in stature and body mass did not level off at the beginning of the 2000s: the socioeconomic conditions that support optimal growth and maturation could improve in Hungary.

  1. Identification of novel adhesins of M. tuberculosis H37Rv using integrated approach of multiple computational algorithms and experimental analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanjiv Kumar

    Full Text Available Pathogenic bacteria interacting with eukaryotic host express adhesins on their surface. These adhesins aid in bacterial attachment to the host cell receptors during colonization. A few adhesins such as Heparin binding hemagglutinin adhesin (HBHA, Apa, Malate Synthase of M. tuberculosis have been identified using specific experimental interaction models based on the biological knowledge of the pathogen. In the present work, we carried out computational screening for adhesins of M. tuberculosis. We used an integrated computational approach using SPAAN for predicting adhesins, PSORTb, SubLoc and LocTree for extracellular localization, and BLAST for verifying non-similarity to human proteins. These steps are among the first of reverse vaccinology. Multiple claims and attacks from different algorithms were processed through argumentative approach. Additional filtration criteria included selection for proteins with low molecular weights and absence of literature reports. We examined binding potential of the selected proteins using an image based ELISA. The protein Rv2599 (membrane protein binds to human fibronectin, laminin and collagen. Rv3717 (N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase and Rv0309 (L,D-transpeptidase bind to fibronectin and laminin. We report Rv2599 (membrane protein, Rv0309 and Rv3717 as novel adhesins of M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Our results expand the number of known adhesins of M. tuberculosis and suggest their regulated expression in different stages.

  2. Stringent homology-based prediction of H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv protein-protein interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Hufeng; Gao, Shangzhi; Nguyen, Nam Ninh; Fan, Mengyuan; Jin, Jingjing; Liu, Bing; Zhao, Liang; Xiong, Geng; Tan, Min; Li, Shijun; Wong, Limsoon

    2014-04-08

    H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv protein-protein interaction (PPI) data are essential for understanding the infection mechanism of the formidable pathogen M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Computational prediction is an important strategy to fill the gap in experimental H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPI data. Homology-based prediction is frequently used in predicting both intra-species and inter-species PPIs. However, some limitations are not properly resolved in several published works that predict eukaryote-prokaryote inter-species PPIs using intra-species template PPIs. We develop a stringent homology-based prediction approach by taking into account (i) differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic proteins and (ii) differences between inter-species and intra-species PPI interfaces. We compare our stringent homology-based approach to a conventional homology-based approach for predicting host-pathogen PPIs, based on cellular compartment distribution analysis, disease gene list enrichment analysis, pathway enrichment analysis and functional category enrichment analysis. These analyses support the validity of our prediction result, and clearly show that our approach has better performance in predicting H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPIs. Using our stringent homology-based approach, we have predicted a set of highly plausible H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPIs which might be useful for many of related studies. Based on our analysis of the H. sapiens-M. tuberculosis H37Rv PPI network predicted by our stringent homology-based approach, we have discovered several interesting properties which are reported here for the first time. We find that both host proteins and pathogen proteins involved in the host-pathogen PPIs tend to be hubs in their own intra-species PPI network. Also, both host and pathogen proteins involved in host-pathogen PPIs tend to have longer primary sequence, tend to have more domains, tend to be more hydrophilic, etc. And the protein domains from both

  3. Secularity and religiosity: keystones of Turkish national identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey V. Olyunin

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available According to many experts Turkish National Federation experiences crisis of its national identity. The article concerns the problem of secular and religious balance in Turkish nationalism. Special attention is attached to Turkey as a project and Turkey as a process, war factor in a birth of the nation, national idea reproduction, Islam nationalization and nationalism Islamisation.

  4. Forkhead-associated (FHA) Domain Containing ABC Transporter Rv1747 Is Positively Regulated by Ser/Thr Phosphorylation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spivey, Vicky L.; Molle, Virginie; Whalan, Rachael H.; Rodgers, Angela; Leiba, Jade; Stach, Lasse; Walker, K. Barry; Smerdon, Stephen J.; Buxton, Roger S.

    2011-01-01

    One major signaling method employed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, is through reversible phosphorylation of proteins mediated by protein kinases and phosphatases. This study concerns one of these enzymes, the serine/threonine protein kinase PknF, that is encoded in an operon with Rv1747, an ABC transporter that is necessary for growth of M. tuberculosis in vivo and contains two forkhead-associated (FHA) domains. FHA domains are phosphopeptide recognition motifs that specifically recognize phosphothreonine-containing epitopes. Experiments to determine how PknF regulates the function of Rv1747 demonstrated that phosphorylation occurs on two specific threonine residues, Thr-150 and Thr-208. To determine the in vivo consequences of phosphorylation, infection experiments were performed in bone marrow-derived macrophages and in mice using threonine-to-alanine mutants of Rv1747 that prevent specific phosphorylation and revealed that phosphorylation positively modulates Rv1747 function in vivo. The role of the FHA domains in this regulation was further demonstrated by isothermal titration calorimetry, using peptides containing both phosphothreonine residues. FHA-1 domain mutation resulted in attenuation in macrophages highlighting the critical role of this domain in Rv1747 function. A mutant deleted for pknF did not, however, have a growth phenotype in an infection, suggesting that other kinases can fulfill its role when it is absent. This study provides the first information on the molecular mechanism(s) regulating Rv1747 through PknF-dependent phosphorylation but also indicates that phosphorylation activates Rv1747, which may have important consequences in regulating growth of M. tuberculosis. PMID:21622570

  5. The use of MAGSAT data to determine secular variation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cain, J.C.; Frayser, J.; Muth, L.; Schmitz, D.

    1983-01-01

    A combined spatial and secular variation model of the geomagnetic field, labeled M061581, is derived from a selection of MAGSAT data. Secular variation (SV) data computed from linear fits to midnight hourly values from 19 magnetic observatories were also included in the analysis but were seen to have little effect on the model. The SV patterns from this new model are compared with those from the 1980 IGRF and with those for 1970 computed by the DGRF and with the 1960 patterns computed using the GSFC(12/66) model. Most of the features of the M061581 are identical in location and level with those of the 1980 IGRF. Together they confirm that the reversals in sign of field change seen over Asia and North America between 1965 and 1975 are reverting to the pre-1965 states. The M061581 model gives -32 nT/yr for the dipole decay rate, larger than the 70% increase already reported since 1965. -Authors

  6. Secular Feminisms and Attitudes towards Religion in the Context of a West-European Society – Flanders, Belgium

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Brandt, H.P.

    2014-01-01

    Ideologies and politics of humanism and secularism in Western Europe historically have a tensioned relationship with religion as well as with feminism and the women's movement. In this article, I aim to demonstrate the multiplicity and complexity of several recent secular feminist responses to

  7. Benthic data from bottom grabs from Prince William Sound in support of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Project from the R/V DAVIDSON and R/V BIG VALLEY from 03 July 1990 to 25 June of 1991 (NODC Accession 0000447)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Benthic samples and other data were collected from the R/V DAVIDSON and R/V BIG VALLEY from the Prince William Sound from 03 July 1990 to 25 June of 1991 . Data were...

  8. The Role of Secularism of State on the Relationship Between Catholic Identity, Political Orientation, and Gay Rights Issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hichy, Zira; Gerges, Mina Halim Helmy; Platania, Silvia; Santisi, Giuseppe

    2015-01-01

    In discussions of regulations governing same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians, the issue of state secularism is often called into question. This study aims to test the mediating effects of state secularism on the relationship between Catholic identity, political orientation, and gay civil rights. Participants were Catholic Italians who completed a questionnaire measuring the constructs under investigation. Results showed that state secularism mediates the effects of Catholic identity and political orientation on attitudes toward same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians.

  9. The development of remote controlled linear guide and mast vertical guide of repair robot for RV head CRDM nozzle region in NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Seung Ho; Seo, Yong Chil; Shin, Ho Cheol; Lee, Sung Uk; Jung, Kyung Min

    2006-11-01

    Reactor vessel which is core instrument in NPP must maintains integrity in the high temperature, high pressure and high radiation environment. Therefore RV must be inspected periodically. If there is defect, the RV must be repaired. A remote controlled linear guide and a vertical guide were developed for a welding repair robot of the RV head CRDM nozzle region. During inspection/maintenance, the RV head is placed RV head storage which is a double circled concrete structure. A linear guide was developed to provide a linear motion to the repair robot, which locates the robot under the RV head. The linear guide also provides a strong support to the robot not to overturn when the robot repairs the RV head. The robot needs lifting about 2m to reach the CRDM nozzle, therefore a vertical guide was developed. For easy traveling, the linear guide is designed 4 parts and the vertical guide is designed 3 parts. A control system was developed to remotely control the guide system which is composed of a connecter box, cables, control box, a computer and a control program. A monitoring system was developed to monitor operation of the guide system

  10. The development of remote controlled linear guide and mast vertical guide of repair robot for RV head CRDM nozzle region in NPP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Seung Ho; Seo, Yong Chil; Shin, Ho Cheol; Lee, Sung Uk; Jung, Kyung Min

    2006-11-15

    Reactor vessel which is core instrument in NPP must maintains integrity in the high temperature, high pressure and high radiation environment. Therefore RV must be inspected periodically. If there is defect, the RV must be repaired. A remote controlled linear guide and a vertical guide were developed for a welding repair robot of the RV head CRDM nozzle region. During inspection/maintenance, the RV head is placed RV head storage which is a double circled concrete structure. A linear guide was developed to provide a linear motion to the repair robot, which locates the robot under the RV head. The linear guide also provides a strong support to the robot not to overturn when the robot repairs the RV head. The robot needs lifting about 2m to reach the CRDM nozzle, therefore a vertical guide was developed. For easy traveling, the linear guide is designed 4 parts and the vertical guide is designed 3 parts. A control system was developed to remotely control the guide system which is composed of a connecter box, cables, control box, a computer and a control program. A monitoring system was developed to monitor operation of the guide system.

  11. Measurement of Secular Motion Frequency in Miniature Paul Trap to Ascertain the Stability Parameters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bin, Guo; Hua, Guan; Qu, Liu; Yao, Huang; Xue-Ren, Huang; Ke-Lin, Gao

    2010-01-01

    40 Ca + ions are trapped and laser cooled in a miniature Paul trap. The secular motion was observed by the radio-frequency resonance of the ion cloud and Zeeman profile sidebands of a single ion experimentally. The trap stability parameters a and q are determined with an uncertainty under 1 % by the secular motion frequency measurement. The trap efficiency is 0.75. A practicable suggestion is given for the benefits of a new trap design. (atomic and molecular physics)

  12. Predicting Precession Rates from Secular Dynamics for Extra-solar Multi-planet Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Laerhoven, Christa

    2015-12-01

    Considering the secular dynamics of multi-planet systems provides substantial insight into the interactions between planets in those systems. Secular interactions are those that don't involve knowing where a planet is along its orbit, and they dominate when planets are not involved in mean motion resonances. These interactions exchange angular momentum among the planets, evolving their eccentricities and inclinations. To second order in the planets' eccentricities and inclinations, the eccentricity and inclination perturbations are decoupled. Given the right variable choice, the relevant differential equations are linear and thus the eccentricity and inclination behaviors can be described as a sum of eigenmodes. Since the underlying structure of the secular eigenmodes can be calculated using only the planets' masses and semi-major axes, one can elucidate the eccentricity and inclination behavior of planets in exoplanet systems even without knowing the planets' current eccentricities and inclinations. I have calculated both the eccentricity and inclination secular eigenmodes for the population of known multi-planet systems whose planets have well determined masses and periods and have used this to predict what range of pericenter precession (and nodal regression) rates the planets may have. One might have assumed that in any given system the planets with shorter periods would have faster precession rates, but I show that this is not necessarily the case. Planets that are 'loners' have narrow ranges of possible precession rates, while planets that are 'groupies' can have a wider range of possible precession rates. Several planets are expected to undergo significant precession on few-year timescales and many planets (though not the majority of planets) will undergo significant precession on decade timescales.

  13. RELIGIOUS QUESTION AND SECULAR STATE: CRISIS OF REGULATION BY DANI LE HERVIEU-L GER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. V. Trophimov

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The proposed paper outlines concepts of the Religious individualism in modern Western society analyzed by the French sociologist Danièle Hervieu-Léger in “Religion in movement (1999”. Author proposes an assessment of the religious situation in the French society at the end of the XX century and discuss some examples. Particular attention is given to crisis of secular regulation of the religious in the modern society. The weakening of the regulatory capacity of religious institutions leads to a weakening of the secular state. Religious institutions should be able to implement the regime of the truth of faith, which makes the institutional power of the superior guarantor of common faith principles shared by all believers of the denomination. The system of “copying” the structures of the Catholic Church of the XVIII century adopted by the secular state, today is not more correspond nor religious organizations in general, neither even the modern structures of the organization of the Catholic Church in France, that become a problem for a state-confessional relation. Modern institutional disorganization in the religious field, contributing to the destabilization of the French model of secularism, weakened by political cultural and economic liberalization that undermine its principles values that historically based secular system itself. Institutional crisis of the truths of faith approval favours an increase in the number of belief systems of individual communities. The problem can not be solved a priori, legally separating the traditional, “recognized by law” and other religions. The changing religious situation the state must find a new model of interaction with religious groups and organizations. The material is useful for comparative studies of the religious situation in Russia and Western Europe.

  14. Performances of cutting fluids in turning. Vegetable based oil - RV

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Axinte, Dragos Aurelian; Belluco, Walter

    1999-01-01

    Scope of the present measurement campaign is the evaluation of the cutting fluid performance. The report presents the standard routine and the results obtained when turning stainless steel and brass with a commercial vegetable based oil called RV. The methods were developed to be applicable...

  15. When Science Replaces Religion: Science as a Secular Authority Bolsters Moral Sensitivity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Onurcan Yilmaz

    Full Text Available Scientific and religious thinking compete with each other on several levels. For example, activating one generally weakens the other. Since priming religion is known to increase moral behaviour and moral sensitivity, priming science might be expected to have the opposite effect. However, it was recently demonstrated that, on the contrary, science priming increases moral sensitivity as well. The present set of studies sought to replicate this effect and test two explanations for it. Study 1 used a sentence unscrambling task for implicitly priming the concept of science but failed to replicate its effect on moral sensitivity, presumably due to a ceiling effect. Study 2 replicated the effect with a new measure of moral sensitivity. Study 3 tested whether science-related words create this effect by activating the idea of secular authority or by activating analytic thinking. It was demonstrated that words related to secular authority, but not words related to analytic thinking, produced a similar increase in moral sensitivity. Religiosity level of the participants did not influence this basic finding. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that science as a secular institution has overtaken some of the functions of religion in modern societies.

  16. When Science Replaces Religion: Science as a Secular Authority Bolsters Moral Sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yilmaz, Onurcan; Bahçekapili, Hasan G

    2015-01-01

    Scientific and religious thinking compete with each other on several levels. For example, activating one generally weakens the other. Since priming religion is known to increase moral behaviour and moral sensitivity, priming science might be expected to have the opposite effect. However, it was recently demonstrated that, on the contrary, science priming increases moral sensitivity as well. The present set of studies sought to replicate this effect and test two explanations for it. Study 1 used a sentence unscrambling task for implicitly priming the concept of science but failed to replicate its effect on moral sensitivity, presumably due to a ceiling effect. Study 2 replicated the effect with a new measure of moral sensitivity. Study 3 tested whether science-related words create this effect by activating the idea of secular authority or by activating analytic thinking. It was demonstrated that words related to secular authority, but not words related to analytic thinking, produced a similar increase in moral sensitivity. Religiosity level of the participants did not influence this basic finding. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that science as a secular institution has overtaken some of the functions of religion in modern societies.

  17. The equations of motion of a secularly precessing elliptical orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casotto, S.; Bardella, M.

    2013-01-01

    The equations of motion of a secularly precessing ellipse are developed using time as the independent variable. The equations are useful when integrating numerically the perturbations about a reference trajectory which is subject to secular perturbations in the node, the argument of pericentre and the mean motion. Usually this is done in connection with Encke's method to ensure minimal rectification frequency. Similar equations are already available in the literature, but they are either given based on the true anomaly as the independent variable or in mixed mode with respect to time through the use of a supporting equation to track the anomaly. The equations developed here form a complete and independent set of six equations in time. Reformulations both of Escobal's and Kyner and Bennett's equations are also provided which lead to a more concise form.

  18. Nutrients and physical data from the R/V Thomas Washington and the R/V Oshoru Maru using bottle and CTD casts as part of the Inner Shelf Transport and Recycling (ISHTAR) project from 12 June 1986 to 19 October 1988 (NODC Accession 0000333)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Nutrients and physical data were collected from the R/V THOMAS WASHINGTON and R/V OSHORU MARU from June 12, 1986 to October 19, 1988. Data were submitted by...

  19. Secular stagnation or stagnation policy? Steindl after Summers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eckhard Hein

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The debate on secular stagnation suffers from vagueness and several shortcomings, which affect its economic policy implications. In this work we provide an alternative view on the advanced economies’ tendencies to stagnation, based on Josef Steindl’s contributions. Steindl’s pioneering 1952 book in particular is not prone to several problems that affect the current debate on secular stagnation. It does not rely on the dubious notion of an equilibrium real interest rate as the equilibrating force of saving and investment at full employment levels. Rather, it is based on the notion that modern capitalist economies face aggregate demand constraints, and that saving adjusts to investment through income growth and changes in capacity utilisation in the long run. Steindl’s treatment allows for potential growth to become endogenous to actual demand, and it seriously considers the role of institutions and power relationships for long-run growth. In illustrating Steindl’s contributions on this topic, the article presents an original model synthetizing the main points in particular concerning long run growth and stagnation. JEL codes: B22, E11, E12, E65, O11

  20. Study of secular equilibrium reinstatement on UO{sub 2} pellets manufactured by AUC route

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carnaval, João Paulo R.; Beltran, Dalton J.M.C.; Oliveira, Carlos A., E-mail: joaocarnaval@inb.gov.br, E-mail: daltonbeltran@inb.gov.br, E-mail: carlossilva@inb.gov.br [Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil S.A. (INB), Resende, RJ (Brazil)

    2017-07-01

    The fuel assemblies manufactured by INB for Angra-1 power plant has axial blanket fuel rods which must be inspected due the columns formed by different enrichment pellets. The equipment used for inspection is built with a group of BGO scintillators detectors which measurement principle is based on the absorption of gamma rays emitted from Uranium decay. The commercial grade UF{sub 6} used by INB is stored into cylinders type 30B. The uranium inside these cylinders is in secular equilibrium before the processing. It has been found that the AUC route causes the loss of that equilibrium because the UF{sub 6} is volatilized from the cylinder and the uranium daughters remain in the container. As AUC is converted to powder and pellets, the secular equilibrium is restored through time. The purpose of this work is to present a study of the secular equilibrium reinstatement on UO{sub 2} pellets manufactured by AUC route before being inspected on Rod Scanner. (author)

  1. Novel mechanism of gene regulation: the protein Rv1222 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis inhibits transcription by anchoring the RNA polymerase onto DNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudra, Paulami; Prajapati, Ranjit Kumar; Banerjee, Rajdeep; Sengupta, Shreya; Mukhopadhyay, Jayanta

    2015-07-13

    We propose a novel mechanism of gene regulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis where the protein Rv1222 inhibits transcription by anchoring RNA polymerase (RNAP) onto DNA. In contrast to our existing knowledge that transcriptional repressors function either by binding to DNA at specific sequences or by binding to RNAP, we show that Rv1222-mediated transcription inhibition requires simultaneous binding of the protein to both RNAP and DNA. We demonstrate that the positively charged C-terminus tail of Rv1222 is responsible for anchoring RNAP on DNA, hence the protein slows down the movement of RNAP along the DNA during transcription elongation. The interaction between Rv1222 and DNA is electrostatic, thus the protein could inhibit transcription from any gene. As Rv1222 slows down the RNA synthesis, upon expression of the protein in Mycobacterium smegmatis or Escherichia coli, the growth rate of the bacteria is severely impaired. The protein does not possess any significant affinity for DNA polymerase, thus, is unable to inhibit DNA synthesis. The proposed mechanism by which Rv1222 inhibits transcription reveals a new repertoire of prokaryotic gene regulation. © Crown copyright 2015.

  2. A functional role of Rv1738 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis persistence suggested by racemic protein crystallography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bunker, Richard D; Mandal, Kalyaneswar; Bashiri, Ghader; Chaston, Jessica J; Pentelute, Bradley L; Lott, J Shaun; Kent, Stephen B H; Baker, Edward N

    2015-04-07

    Protein 3D structure can be a powerful predictor of function, but it often faces a critical roadblock at the crystallization step. Rv1738, a protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is strongly implicated in the onset of nonreplicating persistence, and thereby latent tuberculosis, resisted extensive attempts at crystallization. Chemical synthesis of the L- and D-enantiomeric forms of Rv1738 enabled facile crystallization of the D/L-racemic mixture. The structure was solved by an ab initio approach that took advantage of the quantized phases characteristic of diffraction by centrosymmetric crystals. The structure, containing L- and D-dimers in a centrosymmetric space group, revealed unexpected homology with bacterial hibernation-promoting factors that bind to ribosomes and suppress translation. This suggests that the functional role of Rv1738 is to contribute to the shutdown of ribosomal protein synthesis during the onset of nonreplicating persistence of M. tuberculosis.

  3. The ORF59 DNA polymerase processivity factor homologs of Old World primate RV2 rhadinoviruses are highly conserved nuclear antigens expressed in differentiated epithelium in infected macaques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Burnside Kellie L

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background ORF59 DNA polymerase processivity factor of the human rhadinovirus, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, is required for efficient copying of the genome during virus replication. KSHV ORF59 is antigenic in the infected host and is used as a marker for virus activation and replication. Results We cloned, sequenced and expressed the genes encoding related ORF59 proteins from the RV1 rhadinovirus homologs of KSHV from chimpanzee (PtrRV1 and three species of macaques (RFHVMm, RFHVMn and RFHVMf, and have compared them with ORF59 proteins obtained from members of the more distantly-related RV2 rhadinovirus lineage infecting the same non-human primate species (PtrRV2, RRV, MneRV2, and MfaRV2, respectively. We found that ORF59 homologs of the RV1 and RV2 Old World primate rhadinoviruses are highly conserved with distinct phylogenetic clustering of the two rhadinovirus lineages. RV1 and RV2 ORF59 C-terminal domains exhibit a strong lineage-specific conservation. Rabbit antiserum was developed against a C-terminal polypeptide that is highly conserved between the macaque RV2 ORF59 sequences. This anti-serum showed strong reactivity towards ORF59 encoded by the macaque RV2 rhadinoviruses, RRV (rhesus and MneRV2 (pig-tail, with no cross reaction to human or macaque RV1 ORF59 proteins. Using this antiserum and RT-qPCR, we determined that RRV ORF59 is expressed early after permissive infection of both rhesus primary fetal fibroblasts and African green monkey kidney epithelial cells (Vero in vitro. RRV- and MneRV2-infected foci showed strong nuclear expression of ORF59 that correlated with production of infectious progeny virus. Immunohistochemical studies of an MneRV2-infected macaque revealed strong nuclear expression of ORF59 in infected cells within the differentiating layer of epidermis corroborating previous observations that differentiated epithelial cells are permissive for replication of KSHV-like rhadinoviruses

  4. Integrity evaluation of Alloy 600 RV head penetration tubes in Korean PWR plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Young Hwan; Park, Sung Ho; Hong, Sung Yull; Choi, Kwang Hee

    1995-01-01

    The structural integrity assessment of Alloy 600 RV head penetration tubes has been an important issue for the economical and reliable operation of power plants. In this paper, an overview of the integrity evaluation program for the RV head penetration tubes in Korean nuclear power plants is presented. Since the crack growth mechanism of the penetration tube is due to the primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) which is mainly related to the stress at the tube, the present paper consists of three primary activities: the stress evaluation, the flaw evaluation, and data generation through material and mechanical tests. (author). 5 refs, 2 figs, 1 tab

  5. On the side of Barrabas or on the side of Christ. The harassment again the secular private schools in Spain, 1880-1910

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Miguel LÁZARO LORENTE

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The introduction of secular education in Spain from the eighties in the nineteenth century will come from the hand of associations linked to freethinking and masonry, of Republican groups, and of anarchist groups. Since its inception, its development was extremely difficult. Funding was not readily available for premises, nor was for teachers or appropriate textbooks. But, above all, proponents of the secular school will soon have to face systematic harassment by the Spanish Church, social groups and the Conservatives who, at all levels, will oppose a fierce resistance to the timid and limited attempts of secularization in the Spanish social life. In that effort, the secular school should have played an important role, which will, in fact, be severely limited by the small number of secular schools put in place in Spain.

  6. Zero Secular Torque on Asteroids from Impinging Solar Photons in the YORP Effect: A Simple Proof

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubincam, David Perry; Paddack, Stephen J.

    2010-01-01

    YORP torques, where "YORP" stands for "Yarokovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack." arise mainly from sun light reflected off a Solar System object and the infrared radiation emi tted by it. We show here, through the most elementary demonstration that we Can devise, that secular torques from impinging solar photons are generally negligible and thus cause little secular evolution of an asteroid's obliquity or spin rate.

  7. Gravitational dynamos and the low-frequency geomagnetic secular variation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, P

    2007-12-18

    Self-sustaining numerical dynamos are used to infer the sources of low-frequency secular variation of the geomagnetic field. Gravitational dynamo models powered by compositional convection in an electrically conducting, rotating fluid shell exhibit several regimes of magnetic field behavior with an increasing Rayleigh number of the convection, including nearly steady dipoles, chaotic nonreversing dipoles, and chaotic reversing dipoles. The time average dipole strength and dipolarity of the magnetic field decrease, whereas the dipole variability, average dipole tilt angle, and frequency of polarity reversals increase with Rayleigh number. Chaotic gravitational dynamos have large-amplitude dipole secular variation with maximum power at frequencies corresponding to a few cycles per million years on Earth. Their external magnetic field structure, dipole statistics, low-frequency power spectra, and polarity reversal frequency are comparable to the geomagnetic field. The magnetic variability is driven by the Lorentz force and is characterized by an inverse correlation between dynamo magnetic and kinetic energy fluctuations. A constant energy dissipation theory accounts for this inverse energy correlation, which is shown to produce conditions favorable for dipole drift, polarity reversals, and excursions.

  8. Celebrating the Secular

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amanda Lohrey

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available On 4 November 2004 I read a report in the Sydney Morning Herald that I found genuinely shocking, a statement by Cardinal George Pell, of the Catholic diocese of Sydney, on what’s wrong with democracy. This report was of a speech given to the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in the United States. In it, Dr Pell told his audience that liberal democracy is a world of ‘empty secularism’ that is over-focused on ‘individual autonomy’. The problem with democracy, said the Cardinal, quoting John Paul II, is that it is not a good thing in itself; its value depends on the moral vision that it serves, and a secular democracy is lacking in moral vision. If democracy is not a good thing in and of itself, then why have we sent troops to Iraq to enable it? And what about the principle of equality before the law? Freedom of conscience? Freedom of speech and of action? Responsibility for community? Sounds like a moral vision to me.

  9. Rapid separation of pure 144Ce fraction from fuel dissolver solution for demonstration experiment on secular equilibrium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ashok Kumar, G.V.S.; Kumar, R.; Venkata Subramani, C.R.

    2015-01-01

    Radioactive equilibrium is a condition in which the activity ratio of parent to its daughter is maintained constant with time which occurs only when the parent half-life is greater than daughter half-life. It is transient equilibrium in the case of the ratio of their half-lives of parent to daughter being less than an order whereas it becomes secular equilibrium when it is more than an order. In the case of secular equilibrium, the ratio of the activities becomes unity whereas the same depends on the decay constants of the parent and daughter nuclide for the transient equilibrium. 144 Ce- 144 Pr pair is a good example for the demonstration of secular equilibrium

  10. Mycothiol acetyltransferase (Rv0819) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a potential biomarker for direct diagnosis of tuberculosis using patient serum specimens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeitoun, H; Bahey-El-Din, M; Kassem, M A; Aboushleib, H M

    2017-12-01

    Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection constitutes a global threat that results in significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Efficient and early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is of paramount importance for successful treatment. The aim of the current study is to investigate the mycobacterial mycothiol acetyltransferase Rv0819 as a potential novel biomarker for the diagnosis of active TB infection. The gene encoding Rv0819 was cloned and successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant Rv0819 was purified using metal affinity chromatography and was used to raise murine polyclonal antibodies against Rv0819. The raised antibodies were employed for direct detection of Rv0819 in patient serum samples using dot blot assay and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum samples were obtained from 68 confirmed new TB patients and 35 healthy volunteers as negative controls. The dot blot assay showed sensitivity of 64·7% and specificity of 100%, whereas the competitive ELISA assay showed lower sensitivity (54·4%) and specificity (88·57%). The overall sensitivity of the combined results of the two tests was found to be 89·7%. Overall, the mycobacterial Rv0819 is a potential TB serum biomarker that can be exploited, in combination with other TB biomarkers, for efficient and reliable diagnosis of active TB infection. The early and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis infection is of paramount importance for initiating treatment and avoiding clinical complications. Most current diagnostic tests have poor sensitivity and/or specificity and in many cases they are too expensive for routine diagnostic testing in resource-limited settings. In the current study, we examined a novel mycobacterial serum biomarker, namely mycothiol acetyltransferase Rv0819. The antigen was detectable in serum specimens of a significant number of tuberculosis patients. This article proves the importance of Rv0819 and paves the way towards its future use as a useful

  11. The Possibility of Religion in a Scientific and Secular Culture ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... anthropological arguments in the modern period, to a contemporary argument from interpersonal relationships, a deepening insight into human nature produces an evermore comprehensive conception of a god, one that is not incompatible with a scientific worldview, or the secular rejection of the supernatural in the name ...

  12. Secular Life Philosophy as a Subject in Schools in Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horn, Kristian

    1981-01-01

    In Norway changes in legislation in recent years have loosened the firm hold of Christian philosophy in the schools and given room for alternative secular philosophy. This article presents background information and an outline of the basic plan for life philosophy as a school subject. (Author/SJL)

  13. Identification of Rv0222 from RD4 as a novel serodiagnostic target for tuberculosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rosenkrands, Ida; Aagaard, Claus; Weldingh, Karin

    2008-01-01

    tuberculosis patients and healthy controls led to identification of Rv0222 as the most promising serodiagnostic antigen. Recognition of the Rv0222 was compared with the 38 kDa protein and a fusion protein of the RD1 proteins ESAT-6 and CFP10 in a serum panel from pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients from......Forty-seven Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes from the 'regions of difference' RD2-7, RD9-13 and RD15 were cloned and expressed, and the purified recombinant proteins were screened for their serodiagnostic potential. Evaluation of six selected proteins in serum samples from Danish resident...

  14. Det Digitale Nærvær

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heilesen, Simon

    Computer-medieret kommunikation (CMC – via intranet- og internet, ”allestedsnærværende computing” mm. ), er grundlaget for det informations- og videnssamfund, der begynder at tage form i disse år. CMC er blevet kolossalt udbredt de seneste 10 – 15 år og har forandret den måde vi udsender og søger...... information, kommunikerer med hinanden både privat og i organisationer, samarbejder, underviser og tilegner os viden. Denne bog går tæt på tre udvalgte områder inden for den computer-medierede kommunikation: · Videndeling i formelle og uformelle organisationer, · Netbaseret samarbejde og læring, · Design af...

  15. Religion and modernity in a secular city: A public theology of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2011-07-20

    Jul 20, 2011 ... The theme of the conference,1 'Religion and Modernity in a Secular City', brings together old enemies who ...... and Habermas seek it, but a language of pure mathematics, .... 236–252, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

  16. Crystal Structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv AldR (Rv2779c), a Regulator of the ald Gene: DNA BINDING AND IDENTIFICATION OF SMALL MOLECULE INHIBITORS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dey, Abhishek; Shree, Sonal; Pandey, Sarvesh Kumar; Tripathi, Rama Pati; Ramachandran, Ravishankar

    2016-06-03

    Here we report the crystal structure of M. tuberculosis AldR (Rv2779c) showing that the N-terminal DNA-binding domains are swapped, forming a dimer, and four dimers are assembled into an octamer through crystal symmetry. The C-terminal domain is involved in oligomeric interactions that stabilize the oligomer, and it contains the effector-binding sites. The latter sites are 30-60% larger compared with homologs like MtbFFRP (Rv3291c) and can consequently accommodate larger molecules. MtbAldR binds to the region upstream to the ald gene that is highly up-regulated in nutrient-starved tuberculosis models and codes for l-alanine dehydrogenase (MtbAld; Rv2780). Further, the MtbAldR-DNA complex is inhibited upon binding of Ala, Tyr, Trp and Asp to the protein. Studies involving a ligand-binding site G131T mutant show that the mutant forms a DNA complex that cannot be inhibited by adding the amino acids. Comparative studies suggest that binding of the amino acids changes the relative spatial disposition of the DNA-binding domains and thereby disrupt the protein-DNA complex. Finally, we identified small molecules, including a tetrahydroquinoline carbonitrile derivative (S010-0261), that inhibit the MtbAldR-DNA complex. The latter molecules represent the very first inhibitors of a feast/famine regulatory protein from any source and set the stage for exploring MtbAldR as a potential anti-tuberculosis target. © 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  17. Teaching about Religion in History Classes: Sacred and Secular History.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abrahamson, Brant; Smith, Fred

    In teaching about religion there is the fundamental distinction between secular history, which is restricted to natural cause and effect relationships, and sacred histories, which assume that a spirit world exists and that human/divine interaction has taken place. In the United States, the academically approved way of dealing with these…

  18. Dosimetry using Gafchromic XR-RV2 radiochromic films in interventional radiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neocleous, A.; Yakoumakis, E.; Gialousis, G.; Dimitriadis, A.; Yakoumakis, N.; Georgiou, E.

    2011-01-01

    Patient dose measurements of local entrance dose to the skin have been carried out using radiochromic film (Gafchromic XR-RV2) in a sample of interventional procedures. The major aim of the work was to measure patient entrance dose from such examinations using Gafchromic XR-RV2. Forty-five various interventional procedures (including nephrostomies and urinary stenting, biliary stenting and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) and aorta stent grafting) were evaluated. Maximum entrance doses were 537±119 mGy in nephrostomies, 943±631 mGy in biliary stenting and PTBD and 2425±569 mGy in aorta stent grafting. Results indicate that all patients undergoing aorta stent grafting received skin dose above 1500 mGy, which means that there is an increasing potential to suffer radiation-induced skin injuries. The film provides dose mapping, the position of the skin area with highest dose and can be used for immediate qualitative and as well as for quantitative assessment of patient skin dose. (authors)

  19. Potential Mechanism of Action of meso-Dihydroguaiaretic Acid on Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aldo F. Clemente-Soto

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The isolation and characterization of the lignan meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid (MDGA from Larrea tridentata and its activity against Mycobacterial tuberculosis has been demonstrated, but no information regarding its mechanism of action has been documented. Therefore, in this study we carry out the gene expression from total RNA obtained from M. tuberculosis H37Rv treated with MDGA using microarray technology, which was validated by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. Results showed that the alpha subunit of coenzyme A transferase of M. tuberculosis H37Rv is present in both geraniol and 1-and 2-methylnaphthalene degradation pathways, which are targeted by MDGA. This assumption was supported by molecular docking which showed stable interaction between MDGA with the active site of the enzyme. We propose that inhibition of coenzyme A transferase of M. tuberculosis H37Rv results in the accumulation of geraniol and 1-and 2-methylnaphtalene inside bacteria, causing membrane destabilization and death of the pathogen. The natural product MDGA is thus an attractive template to develop new anti-tuberculosis drugs, because its target is different from those of known anti-tubercular agents.

  20. The sacred, the secular, and the profane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tsinovoi, Alexei

    2017-01-01

    types of power relations, which can provide a basis for critical re-formulation of the concepts of securitisation and desecuritisation. The article illustrates the analytical purchase of these ideal types through an analysis of the politics of Israel’s natural gas discoveries. Due to neoliberal reforms......In security studies, the dichotomy between ‘security’ and ‘regular’ politics has been effectively challenged in recent years, both theoretically and empirically. To address this challenge, the article develops Giorgio Agamben’s concepts of the sacred, the profane and the secular into three ideal...

  1. Statistical study of overvoltages by maneuvering in switches in high voltage using EMTP-RV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dominguez Herrera, Diego Armando

    2013-01-01

    The transient overvoltages produced by maneuvering of switches are studied in a statistical way and through a variation the sequential closing times of switches in networks larger than 230 kV. This study is performed according to time delays and typical deviation ranges, using the tool EMTP- RV (ElectroMagnetic Trasient Program Restructured Version). A conceptual framework related with the electromagnetic transients by maneuver is developed in triphasic switches installed in nominal voltages higher than 230 kV. The methodology established for the execution of statistical studies of overvoltages by switch maneuver is reviewed and evaluated by simulating two fictitious cases in EMTP-RV [es

  2. The practice of mindfulness: from Buddhism to secular mainstream in a post-secular society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liselotte Frisk

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The article focuses on the practice of mindfulness, which has migrated from being part of a religion, Buddhism, to being an integral part of Western psychology. Mindfulness is especially used in cognitive behavioural therapy, but also in, e.g., dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT. In Sweden several doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists use and recommend mindfulness for therapeutic purposes. Mindfulness is used today in many segments of mainstream medical and therapeutic care. Mindfulness is also used outside the mainstream medical and therapeutic sector, in the area of personal development or spirituality, as well as in more traditional Buddhist groups and innovative Buddhist groups such as vipassana groups. This paper investigates the migration of mindfulness from a religious to a secular sphere, and discusses whether mindfulness is a religious practice or not.

  3. Human neonatal rotavirus vaccine (RV3-BB) targets rotavirus from birth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thobari, Jarir At; Satria, Cahya Dewi; Handley, Amanda; Watts, Emma; Cowley, Daniel; Nirwati, Hera; Ackland, James; Standish, Jane; Justice, Frances; Byars, Gabrielle; Lee, Katherine J.; Barnes, Graeme L.; Bachtiar, Novilia S.; Icanervilia, Ajeng Viska; Boniface, Karen; Bogdanovic-Sakran, Nada; Pavlic, Daniel; Bishop, Ruth F.; Kirkwood, Carl D.; Buttery, Jim P.; Soenarto, Yati

    2018-01-01

    Background A birth dose strategy using a neonatal rotavirus vaccine to target early prevention of rotavirus disease may address remaining barriers to global vaccine implementation. Methods We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in Indonesia to evaluate the efficacy of an oral human neonatal rotavirus vaccine (RV3-BB) to prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis. Healthy newborns received three doses of RV3-BB administered in a neonatal schedule at 0-5 days, 8 and 14 weeks or infant schedule at 8, 14 and 18 weeks, or placebo. Laboratory-confirmed rotavirus gastroenteritis was graded using a modified Vesikari score. The primary analysis was efficacy against severe rotavirus gastroenteritis from two weeks after all doses to 18 months in the combined vaccine group (neonatal and infant schedule) compared with placebo. Results Vaccine efficacy against severe rotavirus gastroenteritis to 18 months was 63% in the combined vaccine group (95% CI 34, 80; p<0.001), 75% in the neonatal vaccine group (95% confidence interval [CI] 44, 91; p<0.001) and 51% in the infant vaccine group (95% CI 7, 76; p=0.03) in the per protocol analysis, with similar results in the intention-to-treat analysis. Vaccine efficacy to 12 months was 94% in the neonatal vaccine group (95%CI 56, 99; p=0.006). Vaccine take occurred in 78/83 (94%) in the neonatal vaccine group and 83/84 (99%) in the infant vaccine group. The vaccine was well tolerated, with similar incidence of adverse events in vaccine and placebo recipients. Conclusion RV3-BB was efficacious, immunogenic and well-tolerated when administered in a neonatal or infant schedule in Indonesia. PMID:29466164

  4. Secular trends of growth and pubertal maturation of school children in Southern Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaruratanasirikul, Somchit; Sriplung, Hutcha

    2015-01-01

    In Thailand, studies of growth date back to 1975, but there have been no studies examining any trends in increasing/decreasing growth. To determine if there have been any secular trends of increasing/decreasing growth and/or ages at puberty in Thai children. In 2012, a cross-sectional study of growth was conducted in 3460 children. The median heights and weights and the ages of pubertal maturation were compared with previous studies. Correlations between the secular trends and the health statistics indicators were calculated. From 1975-2012, the median final height of boys and girls had increased by 1.32 and 0.86 cm/decade and weight by 2.49 and 1.76 kg/decade, respectively. In girls, the age at thelarche and menarche had declined by 0.39 and 0.12 years/decade, respectively. In boys, the age at testicular enlargement Tanner II had declined by 0.15 years/decade. Increased physical growth was positively correlated to life expectancy, per capita income and prevalence of overweight/obesity was negatively correlated to prevalence of malnutrition and under-five mortality rate. The positive secular trend towards an increase in growth and a decline in the age at onset of puberty of Thai children is correlated with improvements in overall living conditions in Thailand.

  5. Overview of errors in the reference sequence and annotation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, and variation amongst its isolates

    KAUST Repository

    Köser, Claudio U.

    2012-06-01

    Since its publication in 1998, the genome sequence of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv laboratory strain has acted as the cornerstone for the study of tuberculosis. In this review we address some of the practical aspects that have come to light relating to the use of H37Rv throughout the past decade which are of relevance for the ongoing genomic and laboratory studies of this pathogen. These include errors in the genome reference sequence and its annotation, as well as the recently detected variation amongst isolates of H37Rv from different laboratories. © 2011 Elsevier B.V..

  6. Formation of the Russian Federation as a secular state (XVII century - beginning of the XXI century: historical and theoretical aspects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor Pibaev

    2015-10-01

     Abstract: The article examines main stages of formation of the secular state in the Russian Federation. The author provides historical and legal overview of the development of secularism in Russia in the period starting from 1701 to the present days.

  7. SDSS-III MARVELS Planet Candidate RV Follow-up

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ge, Jian; Thomas, Neil; Ma, Bo; Li, Rui; SIthajan, Sirinrat

    2014-02-01

    Planetary systems, discovered by the radial velocity (RV) surveys, reveal strong correlations between the planet frequency and stellar properties, such as metallicity and mass, and a greater diversity in planets than found in the solar system. However, due to the sample sizes of extant surveys (~100 to a few hundreds of stars) and their heterogeneity, many key questions remained to be addressed: Do metal poor stars obey the same trends for planet occurrence as metal rich stars? What is the distribution of giant planets around intermediate- mass stars and binaries? Is the ``planet desert'' within 0.6 AU in the planet orbital distribution of intermediate-mass stars real? The MARVELS survey has produced the largest homogeneous RV measurements of 3300 V=7.6-12 FGK stars. The latest data pipeline effort at UF has been able to remove long term systematic errors suffered in the earlier data pipeline. 18 high confident giant planet candidates have been identified among newly processed data. We propose to follow up these giant planet candidates with the KPNO EXPERT instrument to confirm the detection and also characterize their orbits. The confirmed planets will be used to measure occurrence rates, distributions and multiplicity of giants planets around F,G,K stars with a broad range of mass (~0.6-2.5 M_⊙) and metallicity ([Fe/H]~-1.5-0.5). The well defined MARVELS survey cadence allows robust determinations of completeness limits for rigorously testing giant planet formation theories and constraining models.

  8. Secular trends in the geologic record and the supercontinent cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradley, Dwight C.

    2011-01-01

    Geologic secular trends are used to refine the timetable of supercontinent assembly, tenure, and breakup. The analysis rests on what is meant by the term supercontinent, which here is defined broadly as a grouping of formerly dispersed continents. To avoid the artificial pitfall of an all-or-nothing definition, quantitative measures of “supercontinentality” are presented: the number of continents, and the area of the largest continent, which both can be gleaned from global paleogeographic maps for the Phanerozoic. For the secular trends approach to be viable in the deep past when the very existence of supercontinents is debatable and reconstructions are fraught with problems, it must first be calibrated in the Phanerozoic against the well-constrained Pangea supercontinent cycle. The most informative geologic variables covering both the Phanerozoic and Precambrian are the abundances of passive margins and of detrital zircons. Both fluctuated with size of the largest continent during the Pangea supercontinent cycle and can be quantified back to the Neoarchean. The tenure of Pangea was a time represented in the rock record by few zircons and few passive margins. Thus, previously documented minima in the abundance of detrital zircons (and orogenic granites) during the Precambrian (Condie et al., 2009a, Gondwana Research 15, 228–242) now can be more confidently interpreted as marking the tenures of supercontinents. The occurrences of carbonatites, granulites, eclogites, and greenstone-belt deformation events also appear to bear the imprint of Precambrian supercontinent cyclicity. Together, these secular records are consistent with the following scenario. The Neoarchean continental assemblies of Superia and Sclavia broke up at ca. 2300 and ca. 2090 Ma, respectively. Some of their fragments collided to form Nuna by about 1750 Ma; Nuna then grew by lateral accretion of juvenile arcs during the Mesoproterozoic, and was involved in a series of collisions at ca. 1000 Ma

  9. Secular variations of radon in metropolitan Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghomshei, M.M.; Slawson, W.F.

    1990-01-01

    In this paper sampling of radon within the soil from three sites in metropolitan Vancouver is reported. Alpha trace bi-weekly measurements during a period of 4 years show secular variations with a period of 8-15 months. There are low-radon and high-radon episodes enduring several months to a year. Average radon level during the high-radon episodes reaches 5-10 times that of the low-radon periods. During high-radon episodes the high-frequency variations show very high amplitudes. After filtering of the high-frequency fluctuations, the data from different sites demonstrate remarkably similar trends. It is suggested that along with hydrogeological events, stress relaxation in rocks, earthquake, and magma emplacement may contribute to the sources of secular variations of radon. Because of long-term variations, radon level in urban areas should be monitored on a continuous basis. Single measurements, even those integrating radiation over a period of few months, may sample a low-radon episode, and provide a false assurance, or occur during a high-radon episode and give a false alarm

  10. Secular trends in Cherokee cranial morphology: Eastern vs Western bands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutphin, Rebecca; Ross, Ann H; Jantz, Richard L

    2014-01-01

    The research objective was to examine if secular trends can be identified for cranial data commissioned by Boas in 1892, specifically for cranial breadth and cranial length of the Eastern and Western band Cherokee who experienced environmental hardships. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the degree of relationship between each of the cranial measures: cranial length, cranial breadth and cephalic index, along with predictor variables (year-of-birth, location, sex, admixture); the model revealed a significant difference for all craniometric variables. Additional regression analysis was performed with smoothing Loess plots to observe cranial length and cranial breadth change over time (year-of-birth) separately for Eastern and Western Cherokee band females and males born between 1783-1874. This revealed the Western and Eastern bands show a decrease in cranial length over time. Eastern band individuals maintain a relatively constant head breadth, while Western Band individuals show a sharp decline beginning around 1860. These findings support negative secular trend occurring for both Cherokee bands where the environment made a detrimental impact; this is especially marked with the Western Cherokee band.

  11. Mycobacterium tuberculosis Latent Antigen Rv2029c from the Multistage DNA Vaccine A39 Drives TH1 Responses via TLR-mediated Macrophage Activation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haibo Su

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Targeting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB latent antigens comprises a crucial strategy for the development of alternative tuberculosis (TB vaccine(s that protects against TB reactivation. Here, we generated a multistage DNA vaccine, A39, containing the early antigens Ag85A and Rv3425 as well as the latency-associated protein Rv2029c, which conferred protective immunity in a pre-exposure mouse model. Moreover, administration of the A39 vaccination after MTB exposure inhibited reactivation and resulted in significantly lower bacterial loads in the lungs and spleen of mice, compared to those in the control population. Subsequently, we investigated the effect of Rv2029c on innate immunity and characterized the molecular details of the interaction of this protein with the host via iTRAQ proteomic and biochemical assay analyses. Rv2029c activated macrophages, triggered the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and promoted toll-like receptor/mitogen-activated protein kinase (TLR/MAPK-dependent macrophage apoptosis. Furthermore, Rv2029c treatment enhanced the ability of Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG-infected macrophages to present antigens to CD4+ T cells in vitro, which correlated with an increase in MHC-II expression. Lastly, Rv2029c-treated macrophages activated T cells, effectively polarized CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to secrete IFN-γ and IL-2, and specifically expanded a population of CD44highCD62LlowCD4+/CD8+ effector/memory cells, indicating that Rv2029c, as a specific recall antigen, contributes to Th1 polarization in T cell immunity. These results suggest that Rv2029c and A39 comprise promising targets for the development of next-generation clinical TB therapeutic vaccines.

  12. Measuring mental health in the clinical setting: what is important to service users? The Mini-Service user Recovery Evaluation scale (Mini-SeRvE).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Joanna M; Parsons, Helen; Wilson, Carol A; Cook, Christopher C H

    2017-12-01

    Since 2001, a policy of positive mental health recovery has been promoted in the UK, with service user involvement. This has not been easy to implement in the clinical setting. To develop and validate a brief self-report, service user-designed, outcome measure (Mini-SeRvE), for clinical use, including spiritual and religious issues. From the previously developed Service user Recovery Evaluation scale (SeRvE), 15 questions were selected for Mini-SeRvE which was self-completed by 207 people; 100 service users and, for comparison, 107 staff. Results were analysed using SPSS software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Mini-SeRvE is reliable, Cronbach's alpha 0.852. Correlation with another recovery scale, Mental Health Recovery Measure, was high, r = 0.819. Three reliable subscales emerged; existential well-being (EWB), mental ill-being (MIB) and religious well-being (RWB). Scores of the EWB and MIB subscales were higher for staff, consistent with higher mental well-being. Religious well-being scores were higher in service users, who also rated religion as more important to them. Mini-SeRvE is a valid measure of service user recovery. The importance of religion/spiritual belief for our users is highlighted, this being reflected in the subject matter of Mini-SeRvE. Mini-SeRvE assessments could show individual priorities, evaluate therapy and aid clinical decision-making.

  13. Geomagnetic secular variation at the African observatories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haile, T.

    2002-10-01

    Geomagnetic data from ten observatories in the African continent with time series data length of more than three decades have been analysed. All-day annual mean values of the D, H and Z components were used to study secular variations in the African region. The residuals in D, H and Z components obtained after removing polynomial fits have been examined in relation to the sunspot cycle. The occurrence of the 1969-1970 worldwide geomagnetic impulse in each observatory is studied. It is found that the secular variation in the field can be represented for most of the observatories with polynomials of second or third degree. Departures from these trends are observed over the Southern African region where strong local magnetic anomalies have been observed. The residuals in the geomagnetic field components have been shown to exhibit parallelism with the periods corresponding to double solar cycle for some of the stations. A clear latitudinal distribution in the geomagnetic component that exhibits the 1969-70 jerk is shown. The jerk appears in the plots of the first differences in H for the southern most observatories of Hermanus, Hartebeesthoek, and Tsuemb, while the Z plots show the jerk for near equatorial and equatorial stations of Antananarivo, Luanda Belas, Bangui and Addis Ababa. There is some indication for this jerk in the first difference plots of D for the northern stations of M'Bour and Tamanrasset. The plots of D rather strongly suggest the presence of a jerk around 1980 at most of the stations. (author)

  14. Access to abortion and secular liberties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Arriada Lorea

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available In Brazil, facing an issue like abortion requires a secular perspective since the freedom of conscience assured by the Federal Constitution places upon the State the need to regard not only different viewpoints of different religions, but more specifically assure the right to diversity existing within a same religion, as well as the right to exercise different views from those of the hierarchy of his/her own religion. As such, there is no legal barrier for the decriminalization of abortion in the country. It is up to legislators to reform the present law and decriminalize abortion, assuming the commitments Brazil has assumed with international human-rights organizations, thus assuring the efficacy of civil liberties.

  15. Secular trends on traditional ecological knowledge: An analysis of different domains of knowledge among Tsimane' men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes-García, Victoria; Luz, Ana C; Gueze, Maximilien; Paneque-Gálvez, Jaime; Macía, Manuel J; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Pino, Joan

    2013-10-01

    Empirical research provides contradictory evidence of the loss of traditional ecological knowledge across societies. Researchers have argued that culture, methodological differences, and site-specific conditions are responsible for such contradictory evidences. We advance and test a third explanation: the adaptive nature of traditional ecological knowledge systems. Specifically, we test whether different domains of traditional ecological knowledge experience different secular changes and analyze trends in the context of other changes in livelihoods. We use data collected among 651 Tsimane' men (Bolivian Amazon). Our findings indicate that different domains of knowledge follow different secular trends. Among the domains of knowledge analyzed, medicinal and wild edible knowledge appear as the most vulnerable; canoe building and firewood knowledge seem to remain constant across generations; whereas house building knowledge seems to experience a slight secular increase. Our analysis reflects on the adaptive nature of traditional ecological knowledge, highlighting how changes in this knowledge system respond to the particular needs of a society in a given point of time.

  16. [Civic religion, civil religion, secular religion. a historiographical investigation].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boucheron, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    Because of its conceptual plasiticity, the term civic religion is now widely used by historians, particularly historians of the Middle Ages. Yet, as this article suggests, historians would do well to interrogate the relationships (which can be hidden) that this term bears to similar concepts such as Greek Roman civic religion, Enlightenment civil religion or even the secular religion that emerged in the work of 20(th) century thinkers.

  17. Molecular characterization of tlyA gene product, Rv1694 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: A non-conventional hemolysin and a ribosomal RNA methyl transferase

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed Neesar

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a virulent bacillus causing tuberculosis, a disease responsible for million deaths each year worldwide. In order to understand its mechanism of pathogenesis in humans and to help control tuberculosis, functions of numerous Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes are being characterized. In this study we report the dual functionality of tlyA gene product of Mycobacterium tuberculosis annotated as Rv1694, a 268 amino acid long basic protein. Results The recombinant purified Rv1694 protein was found to exhibit hemolytic activity in vitro. It showed concentration and time-dependent hemolysis of rabbit and human erythrocytes. Multiple oligomeric forms (dimers to heptamers of this protein were seen on the membranes of the lysed erythrocytes. Like the oligomers of conventional, well-known, pore-forming toxins, the oligomers of Rv1694 were found to be resistant to heat and SDS, but were susceptible to reducing agents like β-mercaptoethanol as it had abolished the hemolytic activity of Rv1694 indicating the role of disulfide bond(s. The Rv1694 generated de novo by in vitro transcription and translation also exhibited unambiguous hemolysis confirming the self assembly and oligomerization properties of this protein. Limited proteolytic digestion of this protein has revealed that the amino terminus is susceptible while in solution but is protected in presence of membrane. Striking feature of Rv1694 is its presence on the cell wall of E. coli as visualized by confocal microscopy. The surface expression is consistent with the contact dependent haemolytic ability of E. coli expressing this protein. Also, immune serum specific to this protein inhibits the contact dependent hemolysis. Moreover, Rv1694 protein binds to and forms stable oligomers on the macrophage phagosomal membranes. In addition to all these properties, E. coli expressing Rv1694 was found to be susceptible to the antibiotic capreomycin as its growth

  18. Bottom-up control of geomagnetic secular variation by the Earth's inner core

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aubert, Julien; Finlay, Chris; Fournier, Alexandre

    2013-01-01

    of geomagnetic secular variation. Here we show that it can be reproduced provided that two mechanisms relying on the inner core are jointly considered. First, gravitational coupling5 aligns the inner core with the mantle, forcing the flow of liquid metal in the outer core into a giant, westward drifting, sheet...... release in the outer core which in turn distorts the gyre, forcing it to become eccentric, in agreement with recent core flow inversions6, 10, 11. This bottom-up heterogeneous driving of core convection dominates top-down driving from mantle thermal heterogeneities, and localizes magnetic variations......Temporal changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, known as geomagnetic secular variation, occur most prominently at low latitudes in the Atlantic hemisphere1, 2 (that is, from −90 degrees east to 90 degrees east), whereas in the Pacific hemisphere there is comparatively little activity...

  19. Aging Baby Boomers and the Rising Cost of Chronic Back Pain: Secular Trend Analysis of Longitudinal Medical Expenditures Panel Survey Data for Years 2000 to 2007

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Monica; Davis, Matthew A.; Stano, Miron; Whedon, James M.

    2013-01-01

    Objectives The purposes of this study were to analyze data from the longitudinal Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS) to evaluate the impact of an aging population on secular trends in back pain and chronicity and to provide estimates of treatment costs for patients who used only ambulatory services. Methods Using the MEPS 2-year longitudinal data for years 2000 to 2007, we analyzed data from all adult respondents. Of the total number of MEPS respondent records analyzed (N = 71 838), we identified 12 104 respondents with back pain and further categorized 3842 as chronic cases and 8262 as nonchronic cases. Results Secular trends from the MEPS data indicate that the prevalence of back pain has increased by 29%, whereas chronic back pain increased by 64%. The average age among all adults with back pain increased from 45.9 to 48.2 years; the average age among adults with chronic back pain increased from 48.5 to 52.2 years. Inflation-adjusted (to 2010 dollars) biennial expenditures on ambulatory services for chronic back pain increased by 129% over the same period, from $15.6 billion in 2000 to 2001 to $35.7 billion in 2006 to 2007. Conclusion The prevalence of back pain, especially chronic back pain, is increasing. To the extent that the growth in chronic back pain is caused, in part, by an aging population, the growth will likely continue or accelerate. With relatively high cost per adult with chronic back pain, total expenditures associated with back pain will correspondingly accelerate under existing treatment patterns. This carries implications for prioritizing health policy, clinical practice, and research efforts to improve care outcomes, costs, and cost-effectiveness and for health workforce planning. PMID:23380209

  20. SU-E-T-599: Patient Safety Enhancements Through a Study of R&V System Override Data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hendrickson, K; Vimolchalao, S [University of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: Record and verify (R&V) software systems include safety checks that compare actual machine parameters with prescribed values for a patient’s treatment, such as treatment couch position, linac, energy, and MUs. The therapist is warned of a mismatch with a pop-up and prompted to approve an override in order to continue without changes. Override approval is often legitimate, but the pop-up can also genuinely indicate a problem that would Result in the wrong treatment. When there are numerous pop-up warnings, human nature leads us to approve any override without careful reading, undermining the effectiveness of the safety mechanism. Methods: Override data was collected from our R&V system for all patients treated between October 8 and 29, 2012, on four linacs and entered into a spreadsheet. Additional data collected included treatment technique, disease site, immobilization, time, linac, and whether localization images were obtained. Data were analyzed using spreadsheet tools to reveal trends, patterns and associations that might suggest appropriate process changes that could decrease the total number of overrides. Results: 76 out of 113 patients had overrides. Out of the 944 treatments, 599 override items were generated. The majority were due to couch positions. 74 of the 84 overrides on a linac equipped with a 6D couch were due to the use of the rotational corrections and the fact that the 6D couch control does not communicate with the R&V system; translations required to rotate the couch appear to the R&V system as translations outside the tolerance range. Conclusion: Many findings were interesting but did not suggest a process change. Proposed process changes include creating site-specific instead of just technique-specific tolerance tables for couch shifts. Proposed improvements to the vendor are to facilitate direct communication between the 6D couch and the R&V system to eliminate those override warnings related to lack of communication.

  1. Physical and chemical data collected by bottle and CTD in the Gulf of Mexico from the R/V Gyre and R/V Pelican, April 2004 - July 2009 to help resolve the dominant oceanographic processes that control the timing, duration, and severity of hypoxia of the region (NODC Accession 0088164)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Physical and chemical oceanographic observational data collected by bottle and CTD in the Gulf of Mexico from the R/V Gyre and R/V Pelican, April 2004 - July 2009....

  2. Current meter and other data collected using current meter casts from R/V RESEARCHER and R/V CALANUS in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean as part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean Circulation Study (EPOCS) and Subtropical Atlantic Current Study (STACS), 23 March 1983 - 19 November 1986 (NODC Accession 8700226)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Current meter and other data were collected using current meter casts from R/V RESEARCHER and R/V CALANUS in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean from March 23, 1983 to...

  3. The Universal Constitutionalism in an Age of Religious Diversity. Western Secularism Tested by “New” Cultural Conflicts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Alicino

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available An abridged version of this article (reported by Prof. Nicola Colaianni, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” was presented at the Seminar on “Secularism and Liberal Constitutionalism”, held at the University of LUISS “Guido Carli” (Rome on 6th July 2010.This article is due to be published in the International Review of Sociology, in 2011. SUMMARY: 1. Introduction – 2. Relation-Collaboration between the State and Churches in Constitutional Democracies – 3. The laicité à la française Tested by a Deprivatised Religious Process – 3.1. The French Rigid Secularism. Freedom (of Religion through the State – 4. Canada’s Open Secularism. The  question of Religious-Based Family Law Disputes – 4.1 Reasonable Accommodation and “New” Religious Nomoi Groups – 5. Collaboration-Relation between the State and Churches in Italy – 5.1. The Italian Secularism Tested by the New “Religious Geography” – 6. Conclusion. Abstract Under the pressing process of immigration and globalisation many Western constitutional democracies have moved from a number of religions, sharing a common culture, to today's age of diversity. As opposed to the past, the current democracies are facing the lack of overlapping consensus over the basic constitutional laws: namely, the meaning and the scope of freedom of religion, secularism, the separation Church-State, equal treatment and the rule of law. This is because individuals often come to adopt their basic values by very different ways. The nature, scope and force of such values are likely to be affected by competing and, sometimes, contested fundamental values and worldviews. From here stems the pressing tension – or dilemma – between “unity” and “diversity”. This essay starts with general considerations about the freedom of religion principle, strictly related with the “separation” as well as “collaboration” between secular States and Churches; then the author analyses three case

  4. Zeno dynamics and high-temperature master equations beyond secular approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Militello, B; Messina, A; Scala, M

    2013-01-01

    Complete positivity of a class of maps generated by master equations derived beyond the secular approximation is discussed. The connection between such a class of evolutions and the physical properties of the system is analyzed in depth. It is also shown that under suitable hypotheses a Zeno dynamics can be induced because of the high temperature of the bath. (paper)

  5. PEMBUATAN PROGRAM INTERFACE UNTUK PENGONTROLAN RV-M1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Endra Endra

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available Article explores the making of interface of RV-M1 hand robot control that replaced the cosiprog program,a program that is able to help student in Mecatronica-1 Practice, and able to control the hand robot by localnetwork by two user or more. The used methods were literature study, and field study, that is design method. Theresearch result are control of hand robot on X,Y,Z axis and point to point, the use of local network to control thehand robot, save certain position, and use several user to control the robot.Keywords: interface program, robot, local network

  6. Millisele õpetajale kingiksite imerohu? / Karl Martin Sinijärv, Vahur Keller, Kaarel Tarand ... [jt.

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2010-01-01

    Küsimusele vastavad: Eesti kirjanike liidu esimees Karl Martin Sinijärv, nuku- ja noorsooteatri lavastaja Vahur Keller, Sirbi peatoimetaja Kaarel Tarand, kirjanik Andrus Kivirähk, ajakirjanik Juhani Püttsepp

  7. Leo Tolstoy’s Anticlericalism in Its Context and Beyond: A Case against Churches and Clerics, Religious and Secular

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandre Christoyannopoulos

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In the last thirty years of his life, Leo Tolstoy wrote numerous books, essays and pamphlets expounding his newly-articulated views on violence, the state, the church, and on how to improve the human condition. Since then, these “Christian anarchist” views have often been dismissed as utopian or naive, and, despite inspiring many activists and intellectuals, often forgotten or ignored. Some of those views and arguments, however, arguably remain apposite today—and can in some cases be applied to broader phenomena than those he identified. This article focuses on one of the aspects of his Christian anarchist thought: his anticlericalism. The first Section recounts the evolution of Tolstoy’s views on religion and the church, and briefly describes Tolstoy’s peculiar metaphysics. The second outlines his main charges against the church, discusses some common objections to it, and considers the continuing relevance of his anticlericalism. The third seeks to secularise his anticlerical arguments by applying them beyond the church, against secular preachers and institutions, and does so by reflecting on the quality of debate in the contemporary public sphere, on the hypocritical distance between the morality preached by secular “clerics” and their practice, and on the steady process of ossification and betrayal which befalls secular political ideals. The article thus contributes to the literature firstly by summarising, discussing and reflecting upon the anticlericalism of a famous writer who also espoused controversial religious and political views; secondly by succinctly outlining his idiosyncratic metaphysics, including his peculiar reinterpretation of traditional Christian referents; and thirdly by applying the arguments that informed his criticisms of the church to a broader variety of religious and secular secular institutions.

  8. Secular and religious: the intrinsic doubleness of analytical psychology and the hegemony of naturalism in the social sciences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Main, Roderick

    2013-06-01

    In recent years a number of prominent social theorists, including Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor, have voiced concern about the hegemony of naturalistic, secular assumptions in the social sciences, and in their different ways have sought to address this by establishing greater parity between secular and religious perspectives. This paper suggests that C.G. Jung's analytical psychology, which hitherto has been largely ignored by social theory, may have something to contribute on this issue as it can be understood coherently both empirically, without reference to transcendent reality, and metaphysically, with reference to transcendent reality. It is argued that, despite his denials of any metaphysical intent, Jung does in fact engage in metaphysics and that together the empirical and metaphysical vectors of his thought result in a rich and distinctive double perspective. This dual secular and religious perspective can be seen as part of Jung's own critique of the hegemony of naturalism and secularism, which for Jung has profound social as well as clinical relevance. The concern and approach that Habermas and Taylor share with Jung on this issue may provide some grounds for increased dialogue between analytical psychology and the social sciences. © 2013, The Society of Analytical Psychology.

  9. Infection with koala retrovirus subgroup B (KoRV-B), but not KoRV-A, is associated with chlamydial disease in free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

    OpenAIRE

    Waugh, Courtney A.; Hanger, Jonathan; Loader, Joanne; King, Andrew; Hobbs, Matthew; Johnson, Rebecca; Timms, Peter

    2017-01-01

    The virulence of chlamydial infection in wild koalas is highly variable between individuals. Some koalas can be infected (PCR positive) with Chlamydia for long periods but remain asymptomatic, whereas others develop clinical disease. Chlamydia in the koala has traditionally been studied without regard to coinfection with other pathogens, although koalas are usually subject to infection with koala retrovirus (KoRV). Retroviruses can be immunosuppressive, and there is evidence of an immunosuppr...

  10. Secular Trends in the Incidence of Dementia in a Multi-Ethnic Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noble, James M; Schupf, Nicole; Manly, Jennifer J; Andrews, Howard; Tang, Ming-Xin; Mayeux, Richard

    2017-10-03

    Determination of secular trends in cognitive aging is important for prioritization of resources, services, and research in aging populations. Prior studies have identified declining dementia incidence associated with changes in cardiovascular risk factors and increased educational attainment. However, few studies have examined these factors in multi-ethnic cohorts. To identify secular trends in the incidence rate of dementia in an elderly population. Participants in this study were drawn from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project, a multi-ethnic cohort study of northern Manhattan residents aged 65 years and older. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine differences in the incidence of dementia in cohorts recruited in 1992 and 1999, with age at dementia or age at last follow-up visit as the "time-to-event" variable. Overall, there was a 41% reduction in the hazard ratio for dementia among participants in the 1999 cohort compared with those in the 1992 cohort, adjusting for age, sex, race, and baseline memory complaints (HR = 0.59). The reduction in incidence was greatest among non-Hispanic Whites and African-Americans and lowest among Hispanic participants (HRs = 0.60, 0.52 and 0.64, respectively), and was associated with increases in level of educational attainment, especially among African-Americans. Reduction in incidence of dementia was also greater among persons 75 years or older than among younger participants (HR = 0.52 versus HR = 0.69). Our results support previous findings that secular trends in dementia incidence are changing, including in aging minority populations.

  11. Neo-Hindu Fundamentalism Challenging the Secular and Pluralistic Indian State

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gino Battaglia

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Secularism seems to require separation between religion and State. Regarding India, it would be better to speak of ‘equidistance’ between State and religious denominations. Nonetheless a ‘balanced treatment’ towards the religions leaves the question open as to what form that equidistance should take. This is the reason of some contradictions in today’s Indian social and political life. It is likely that without the Moghul and British domination Hinduism would not have acquired a militant identity. It was the ‘epiphany’ of well-armed, powerful ‘Others’ (Muslim, Christian or secular which generated frustration and fear to such an extent that a religious nationalism (Hindutva was born. Nehru and the Left of the Congress Party leadership thought that modernity would overcome religion, which is a remnant of the past. They were confident that a political culture based on pluralism and tolerance would become the foundations of the new society. This is exactly what Hindu Nationalism takes issue with: the ‘pseudo-seculars’ project of building the national identity without Hinduism or against Hinduism. Hindutva asserts that Hinduism is the basis of the Indian civilization. The Hindu ethos is the soul of the nation.

  12. Heat Flow Data Cruise MD72 RV Marion Dufresne over the Mascarene Ridge

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Data were gathered by the R/V Marion Dufresne in May and June of 1992 over the Mascarene Ridge in the Indian Ocean on cruise MD72/MASCAFLUX. Heat flow measurements...

  13. New methods for deriving cometary secular light curves: C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Womack, Maria; Lastra, Nathan; Harrington, Olga; Curtis, Anthony; Wierzchos, Kacper; Ruffini, Nicholas; Charles, Mentzer; Rabson, David; Cox, Timothy; Rivera, Isabel; Micciche, Anthony

    2017-10-01

    We present an algorithm for reducing scatter and increasing precision in a comet light curve. As a demonstration, we processed apparent magnitudes of comet Hale-Bopp from 16 highly experienced observers (archived with the International Comet Quarterly), correcting for distance from Earth and phase angle. Different observers tend to agree on the difference in magnitudes of an object at different distances, but the magnitude reported by observer is shifted relative to that of another for an object at a fixed distance. We estimated the shifts using a self-consistent statistical approach, leading to a sharper light curve and improving the precision of the measured slopes. The final secular lightcurve for comet Hale-Bopp ranges from -7 au (pre-perihelion) to +8 au (post-perihelion) and is the best secular light curve produced to date for this “great” comet. We discuss Hale-Bopp’s lightcurve evolution and possibly related physical implications, and potential usefulness of this light curve for comparisons with other future bright comets. We also assess the appropriateness of using secular lightcurves to characterize dust production rates in Hale-Bopp and other dust-rich comets. M.W. acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-1615917.

  14. The Prognostic Impact of the Evolution of RV Function in Idiopathic DCM.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merlo, Marco; Gobbo, Marco; Stolfo, Davide; Losurdo, Pasquale; Ramani, Federica; Barbati, Giulia; Pivetta, Alberto; Di Lenarda, Andrea; Anzini, Marco; Gigli, Marta; Pinamonti, Bruno; Sinagra, Gianfranco

    2016-09-01

    In this study, the authors analyzed the prognostic role of right ventricular systolic function (RVF) longitudinal trends in a large cohort of patients affected by dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). RVF is a known prognostic predictor in DCM; however, whether RVF changes over time to better predict the long-term disease progression has not been investigated. From 1993 to 2008, we analyzed 512 patients with DCM (46 years of age [36 to 55 years of age], left ventricular ejection fraction 32% [25% to 41%]) with a potential follow-up of ≥72 months and available data at baseline and at least 1 pre-specified follow-up evaluation (i.e., 6, 24, 48, or 72 months). RV dysfunction was defined as RV fractional area change model, RVF revaluation over time maintained an independent predictive value (hazard ratio: 2.83; 95% CI: 1.57 to 5.11; p = 0.0006). Patients with DCM frequently present RV dysfunction at first evaluation. However, a complete RVF recovery is largely observed early after optimization of medical therapy and predates subsequent left ventricular reverse remodeling. Systematic revaluation of patients including RVF throughout regular follow-up conferred additive long-term prognostic value to the baseline evaluation. Copyright © 2016 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Effects of Antipsychotics on Secular Mortality Trends in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, René Ernst; Valentin, Jan B; Lolk, Annette

    2018-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate secular changes in mortality rates between patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the general population as well as changes in antipsychotic drug treatment and the association between drug treatment and mortality in patients with AD in Denmark during a 12-year study...

  16. A Multi-Disciplinary Inquiry of Secular and Christian Approaches to Sex Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Chong Ho; Lee, Hyun Seo

    2018-01-01

    Secular scholars have criticized Christian education and counseling on sex as restrictive, ineffective, and outdated. The authors of the current study explored both common non-Christian and Christian approaches to human sexuality with reference to overarching domains of religion, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Secular…

  17. Rv2131c gene product: An unconventional enzyme that is both inositol monophosphatase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu Xiaoling; Chen Mao; Shen Hongbo; Jiang Xin; Huang Yishu; Wang Honghai

    2006-01-01

    Inositol monophosphatase is an enzyme in the biosynthesis of myo-inostiol, a crucial substrate for the synthesis of phosphatidylinositol, which has been demonstrated to be an essential component of mycobacteria. In this study, the Rv2131c gene from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was cloned into the pET28a vector and the recombinant plasmid was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) strain, allowing the expression of the enzyme in fusion with a histidine-rich peptide on the N-terminal. The fusion protein was purified from the soluble fraction of the lysed cells under native conditions by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). The purified Rv2131c gene product showed inositol monophosphatase activity but with substrate specificity that was broader than those of several bacterial and eukaryotic inositol monophosphatases, and it also acted as fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. The dimeric enzyme exhibited dual activities of IMPase and FBPase, with K m of 0.22 ± 0.03 mM for inositol-1-phosphate and K m of 0.45 ± 0.05 mM for fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. To better understand the relationship between the function and structure of the Rv2131c enzyme, we constructed D40N, L71A, and D94N mutants and purified these corresponding proteins. Mutations of D40N and D94N caused the proteins to almost completely lose both the inositol monophosphatase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase activities. However, L71A mutant did not cause loss either of the activities, but the activity toward the inositol was 12-fold more resistant to inhibition by lithium (IC 5 ∼ 60 mM). Based on the substrate specificity and presence of conserved sequence motifs of the M. tuberculosis Rv2131c, we proposed that the enzyme belonged to class IV fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase IV)

  18. Religious, Secular, and Spiritual Identities Convergence: Introduction to the Special Issue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Small, Jenny L.; Bowman, Nicholas A.

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this special issue is to share the best research, theory, practice, and perspectives from presenters at the 2017 Religious, Secular, and Spiritual Identities Convergence conference, alongside the new writing of scholars and practitioners who were inspired by the themes of the conference. Readers will have access both to the best of…

  19. The European Court of Human Rights, Secular Education and Public Schooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arthur, James; Holdsworth, Michael

    2012-01-01

    Since 9/11 the European Court of Human Rights (the European Court) has raised anew the question of the relationship between religion and public education. In its reasoning, the European Court has had to consider competing normative accounts of the secular, either to accept or deny claims to religious liberty within Europe's public education…

  20. Secular Trends in the Physical Fitness of American Youth, Young Adults and Army Recruits

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Knapik, Joseph

    2004-01-01

    This paper reviews the literature and existing databases for information on secular trends in the physical fitness of young Americans and describes changes in fitness during Basic Combat Training (BCT...

  1. Inhibition of apoptosis by Rv2456c through nuclear factor-κB extends the survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristen L. Jurcic Smith

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, is an intracellular pathogen with several survival mechanisms aimed at subverting the host immune system. Apoptosis has been shown to be mycobactericidal, to activate CD8+ T cells, and to be modulated by mycobacterial proteins. Since few mycobacterial proteins have so far been directly implicated in the interactions between M. Tuberculosis and host cell apoptosis, we screened M. Tuberculosis H37Rv transposon mutants to identify mutants that fail to inhibit cell death (FID. One of these FID mutants, FID19, had a transposon insertion in Rv2456c and is important for survival in host cells. The lack of the protein resulted in enhanced caspase-3 mediated apoptosis, which is probably due to an inability to activate nuclear factor-κB. Additionally, FID19 infection enhanced polyfunctional CD8+ T cells and induced a higher frequency of interferon-γ secreting immune cells in a murine model. Taken together, our data suggest that Rv2456c is important for the survival of H37Rv by subduing the innate and ultimately adaptive immune responses of its host by preventing apoptosis of the infected cell. Better understanding of the host-mycobacterial interactions may be beneficial to develop novel drug targets and engineer more efficacious vaccine strains against tuberculosis.

  2. Transit Duration Variations due to Secular Interactions in Systems with Tightly-packed Inner Planets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boley, Aaron; Van Laerhoven, Christa; Granados Contreras, A. Paula

    2018-04-01

    Secular interactions among planets in multi-planet systems will lead to variations in orbital inclinations and to the precession of orbital nodes. Taking known system architectures at face value, we calculate orbital precession rates for planets in tightly-packed systems using classical second-order secular theory, in which the orientation of the orbits can be described as a vector sum of eigenmodes and the eigenstructure is determined only by the masses and semi-major axes of the planets. Using this framework, we identify systems that have fast precession frequencies, and use those systems to explore the range of transit duration variation that could occur using amplitudes that are consistent with tightly-packed planetary systems. We then further assess how transit duration variations could be used in practice.

  3. Spatial patterns and secular trends in human leishmaniasis incidence in Morocco between 2003 and 2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadeq, Mina

    2016-05-11

    Few studies on spatial patterns or secular trends in human leishmanias have been conducted in Morocco. This study aimed to examine spatial patterns and trends associated with the human leishmaniasis incidence rate (HLIR) at the province/prefecture level between 2003 and 2013 in Morocco. Only the available published country data on the HLIR between 2003 and 2013, from the open access files of the Ministry of Health, were used. Secular trends were examined using Kendall's rank correlation. An exploratory spatial data analysis was also conducted to examine the spatial autocorrelation (Global Moran's I and local indicator of spatial association [LISA]), and spatial diffusion at the province/prefecture level. The influence of various covariates (poverty rate, vulnerability rate, population density, and urbanization) on the HLIR was tested via spatial regression (ordinary least squares regression). At the country level, no secular variation was observed. Poisson annual incidence rate estimates were 13 per 100 000 population (95 % CI = 12.9-13.1) for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and 0.4 per 100 000 population (95 % CI = 0.4-0.5) for visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The available data on HLIR were based on combined CL and VL cases, however, as the CL cases totally outnumbered the VL ones, HLIR may be considered as CL incidence rate. At the provincial level, a secular increase in the incidence rate was observed in Al Hoceima (P = 0.008), Taounate (P = 0.04), Larache (P = 0.002), Tétouan (P = 0.0003), Khenifra (P = 0.008), Meknes (P = 0.03), and El Kelaa (P = 0.0007), whereas a secular decrease was observed only in the Chichaoua province (P = 0.006). Even though increased or decreased rate was evident in these provinces, none of them showed clustering of leishmaniasis incidence. Significant spatial clusters of high leishmaniasis incidence were located in the northeastern part of Morocco, while spatial clusters of low leishmaniasis

  4. Secular trend of the leading causes of death in China from 2003 to ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Secular trend of the leading causes of death in China from 2003 to 2013. ... African Health Sciences ... respiratory, and digestive system diseases in urban areas and genito-urinary system diseases in rural areas decreased during this period ...

  5. The steady part of the secular variation of the Earth's magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloxham, Jeremy

    1992-01-01

    The secular variation of the Earth's magnetic field results from the effects of magnetic induction in the fluid outer core and from the effects of magnetic diffusion in the core and the mantle. Adequate observations to map the magnetic field at the core-mantle boundary extend back over three centuries, providing a model of the secular variation at the core-mantle boundary. Here we consider how best to analyze this time-dependent part of the field. To calculate steady core flow over long time periods, we introduce an adaptation of our earlier method of calculating the flow in order to achieve greater numerical stability. We perform this procedure for the periods 1840-1990 and 1690-1840 and find that well over 90 percent of the variance of the time-dependent field can be explained by simple steady core flow. The core flows obtained for the two intervals are broadly similar to each other and to flows determined over much shorter recent intervals.

  6. A few more comments on secularly growing loop corrections in strong electric fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akhmedov, E.T.; Popov, F.K.

    2015-01-01

    We extend the observations of our previous paper http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2014)071 [http://arxiv.org/abs/1405.5285]. particular, we show that the secular growth of the loop corrections to the two-point correlation functions is gauge independent: we observe the same growth in the case of the static gauge for the constant background electric field. Furthermore we solve the kinetic equation describing photon production from the background fields, which was derived in our previous paper and allows one to sum up leading secularly growing corrections from all loops. Finally, we show that in the constant electric field background the one-loop correction to the current of the produced pairs is not zero: it also grows with time and violates time translational and reversal invariance of QED on the constant electric field background.

  7. Examination of US puberty-timing data from 1940 to 1994 for secular trends

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Euling, Susan Y; Herman-Giddens, Marcia E; Lee, Peter A

    2008-01-01

    or girls. A majority of the panelists agreed that data are sufficient to suggest a trend toward an earlier breast development onset and menarche in girls but not for other female pubertal markers. A minority of panelists concluded that the current data on girls' puberty timing for any marker...... are insufficient. Almost all panelists concluded, on the basis of few studies and reliability issues of some male puberty markers, that current data for boys are insufficient to evaluate secular trends in male pubertal development. The panel agreed that altered puberty timing should be considered an adverse effect......Whether children, especially girls, are entering and progressing through puberty earlier today than in the mid-1900s has been debated. Secular trend analysis, based on available data, is limited by data comparability among studies in different populations, in different periods of time, and using...

  8. Debating Modernity as Secular Religion: Hans Kelsen’s futile exchange with Eric Voegelin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomassen, Bjørn

    2014-01-01

    This article reviews the mysterious and recently published last book by Hans Kelsen, “Secular Religion. A Polemic Against the Misinterpretation of Modern Social Philosophy, Science and Politics as ‘New Religions’”, contextualizing it with reference to the little known dialogue between Hans Kelsen...... and Eric Voegelin. The confrontation between Kelsen and Voegelin, two of the most illustrious émigré scholars who found in America their new home, is important to revisit because it touches upon several axes of debate of crucial importance to postwar intellectual history: the religion/secularity debate......, the positivist/anti-positivist debates, and the controversy that also led to the famous Voegelin/Arendt debate: how to read the horrors of totalitarianism into a historical trajectory of modernity. Although the Kelsen/Voegelin exchange ended in failure and bitterness its substance matter goes to the heart...

  9. Secular changes in Earth's shape and surface mass loading derived from combinations of reprocessed global GPS networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Booker, David; Clarke, Peter J.; Lavallée, David A.

    2014-09-01

    The changing distribution of surface mass (oceans, atmospheric pressure, continental water storage, groundwater, lakes, snow and ice) causes detectable changes in the shape of the solid Earth, on time scales ranging from hours to millennia. Transient changes in the Earth's shape can, regardless of cause, be readily separated from steady secular variation in surface mass loading, but other secular changes due to plate tectonics and glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) cannot. We estimate secular station velocities from almost 11 years of high quality combined GPS position solutions (GPS weeks 1,000-1,570) submitted as part of the first international global navigation satellite system service reprocessing campaign. Individual station velocities are estimated as a linear fit, paying careful attention to outliers and offsets. We remove a suite of a priori GIA models, each with an associated set of plate tectonic Euler vectors estimated by us; the latter are shown to be insensitive to the a priori GIA model. From the coordinate time series residuals after removing the GIA models and corresponding plate tectonic velocities, we use mass-conserving continental basis functions to estimate surface mass loading including the secular term. The different GIA models lead to significant differences in the estimates of loading in selected regions. Although our loading estimates are broadly comparable with independent estimates from other satellite missions, their range highlights the need for better, more robust GIA models that incorporate 3D Earth structure and accurately represent 3D surface displacements.

  10. Puberty as an accelerator for diabetes complications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Yoon Hi; Craig, Maria E; Donaghue, Kim C

    2014-02-01

    Much is written about how difficult it is to deal with diabetes during adolescence, and rightly so. Less is understood as to how puberty may be an accelerator of vascular complications. With the increase in childhood diabetes, complication risks need to be revisited in relation to puberty and the secular increase in adiposity. Recent data suggest greater risk for severe vascular complications in those with diabetes during puberty, compared with young people who develop diabetes after puberty. It is also widely recognized that higher hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) results are often seen during the pubertal period. This article will review complication outcomes in relation to puberty and examine mechanisms by which puberty may modify risk above glycemic exposure, and possible gender disparities in the risk of complications in the adolescent period. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. SECULAR EVOLUTION OF COMPACT BINARIES NEAR MASSIVE BLACK HOLES: GRAVITATIONAL WAVE SOURCES AND OTHER EXOTICA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Antonini, Fabio; Perets, Hagai B.

    2012-01-01

    The environment near supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei contains a large number of stars and compact objects. A fraction of these are likely to be members of binaries. Here we discuss the binary population of stellar black holes and neutron stars near SMBHs and focus on the secular evolution of such binaries, due to the perturbation by the SMBH. Binaries with highly inclined orbits with respect to their orbit around the SMBH are strongly affected by secular Kozai processes, which periodically change their eccentricities and inclinations (Kozai cycles). During periapsis approach, at the highest eccentricities during the Kozai cycles, gravitational wave (GW) emission becomes highly efficient. Some binaries in this environment can inspiral and coalesce at timescales much shorter than a Hubble time and much shorter than similar binaries that do not reside near an SMBH. The close environment of SMBHs could therefore serve as a catalyst for the inspiral and coalescence of binaries and strongly affect their orbital properties. Such compact binaries would be detectable as GW sources by the next generation of GW detectors (e.g., advanced-LIGO). Our analysis shows that ∼0.5% of such nuclear merging binaries will enter the LIGO observational window while on orbits that are still very eccentric (e ∼> 0.5). The efficient GW analysis for such systems would therefore require the use of eccentric templates. We also find that binaries very close to the SMBH could evolve through a complex dynamical (non-secular) evolution, leading to emission of several GW pulses during only a few years (though these are likely to be rare). Finally, we note that the formation of close stellar binaries, X-ray binaries, and their merger products could be induced by similar secular processes, combined with tidal friction rather than GW emission as in the case of compact object binaries.

  12. Contemplative Science and Secular Ethics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brendan Ozawa-de Silva

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This article argues that the emerging project of contemplative science will be best served if it is informed by two perspectives. First, attention should be paid not only to non-analytical and/or mindfulness-based practices, but to a fuller range of contemplative practices, including analytical styles of meditation. Second, the issue of ethics must be addressed as a framework within which to understand contemplative practice: both theoretically in order to understand better the practices themselves and the traditions they come from, and practically in order to understand the ways in which contemplative practices are deployed in contemporary societies. The Tibetan Buddhist Lojong (blo sbyong tradition and secularized practices derived from it, which are now an area of study in contemplative science, are examined as a kind of case study in order to make these two points and illustrate their importance and relevance for the future of this emerging field.

  13. Between Christianity and secularity: counselling and psychotherapy provision in Scotland

    OpenAIRE

    Bondi, Liz

    2013-01-01

    Counselling and psychotherapy services have become increasingly prominent within modern urban welfare. Although often perceived to be intrinsically secular, since psychoanalytic thinking and practice arrived in Scotland it has been shaped by the Christian culture it encountered. Early Scottish-born contributors to psychoanalytic theory, including Ian Suttie and W.R.D. Fairbairn, reframed Freud’s ideas in ways that incorporated Scottish Presbyterian understandings of what it is to be human. A ...

  14. Der Peipussee/Peipsi järv Fischereiche Ostgrenze der EU / Arne von Maydell

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Maydell, Arne von

    2012-01-01

    Mööda Peipsi järve kulgeb alates 1. maist 2004 Euroopa Liidu ja Venemaa vaheline piir. Suur siseeveekogu on üks suuremaid järvi Euroopas. Järv on väga kalarikas. Nii vene kui eesti kultuuris on Peipsi järvel oma koht

  15. Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv3402c enhances mycobacterial survival within macrophages and modulates the host pro-inflammatory cytokines production via NF-kappa B/ERK/p38 signaling.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wu Li

    Full Text Available Intracellular survival plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a process which depends on an array of virulence factors to colonize and replicate within the host. The M. tuberculosis iron regulated open reading frame (ORF rv3402c, encoding a conserved hypothetical protein, was shown to be up-regulated upon infection in both human and mice macrophages. To explore the function of this ORF, we heterologously expressed the rv3402c gene in the non-pathogenic fast-growing Mycobacterium smegmatis strain, and demonstrated that Rv3402c, a cell envelope-associated protein, was able to enhance the intracellular survival of recombinant M. smegmatis. Enhanced growth was not found to be the result of an increased resistance to intracellular stresses, as growth of the Rv3402c expressing strain was unaffected by iron depletion, H2O2 exposure, or acidic conditions. Colonization of macrophages by M. smegmatis expressing Rv3402c was associated with substantial cell death and significantly greater amount of TNF-α and IL-1β compared with controls. Rv3402c-induced TNF-α and IL-1β production was found to be mediated by NF-κB, ERK and p38 pathway in macrophages. In summary, our study suggests that Rv3402c delivered in a live M. smegmatis vehicle can modify the cytokines profile of macrophage, promote host cell death and enhance the persistence of mycobacterium within host cells.

  16. Defining and Distinguishing Secular and Religious Terrorism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heather S. Gregg

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Religious terrorism is typically characterised as acts of unrestrained, irrational and indiscriminant violence, thus offering few if any policy options for counterterrorism measures. This assumption about religious terrorism stems from two challenges in the literature: disproportionate attention to apocalyptic terrorism, and a lack of distinction between religious terrorism and its secular counterpart. This article, therefore, aims to do four things: define and differentiate religiously motivated terrorism from traditional terrorism; investigate three goals of religious terrorism (fomenting the apocalypse, creating a religious government, and establishing a religiously pure state; consider the role of leadership and target selection of religious terrorists; and, finally, suggest a range of counterterrorism strategies based on these observations.

  17. Sedimentary record of heavy metals in Lake Rõuge Liinjärv, southern Estonia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lepane, Viia

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Anthropogenic impact on Lake Liinjärv (Rõuge, southern Estonia was studied back to the mid-19th century on the basis of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Hg and geochemical parameters of a short sediment core dated by 210Pb isotopes. The development of the lake and its sediment composition are heavily influenced by the inflow of saturated calcareous waters that cause precipitation of calcium carbonates. The concentrations of most of the metals started to increase at the end of the 1970s. This is most clearly observable for Zn, Cu, and Pb. At the same time the distribution pattern of Mn seems to be controlled mainly by the redox conditions in the hypolimneon. The main sources of pollutants in Lake Liinjärv, due to its large catchment area, are the influence of agricultural activity and atmospheric input. Organic matter is the main factor affecting heavy metal (Pb, Hg, Cu, and Zn distribution in lake sediments.

  18. Variaciones seculares de período en las RR Lyrae de ω~Centauri

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marraco, H. G.; Milesi, G. E.

    Utilizando 689 observaciones de 35 estrellas RR Lyrae del cúmulo globular ω Centauri hemos obtenido nuevas determinaciones de sus períodos y sus correspondientes variaciones seculares. Las observaciones fueron obtenidas de la literatura con la excepción de un grupo 66 determinaciones que se presentan por vez primera aquí. Utilizando el parámetro testigo σ descripto en Marraco & Muzzio (Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 92, 700, 1980), hemos realizado un ajuste bidimensional en P y β (donde β es la variación secular del período). Con este fin la totalidad de las 689 observaciones fueron llevadas a un sistema fotométrico común. Para esto se realizó un cuidadoso análisis de los numerosos errores en la identificación de las estrellas de las series de comparación. Los resultados de los ajustes bidimensionales fueron analizados utilizando técnicas de procesamiento de imágenes. Con este fin el parámetro de ajuste σ fue representado como función de P y β. En las imágenes resultantes se buscaron los mínimos y al menor de ellos se lo aceptó como período instantáneo verdadero y su variación secular β. La determinación precisa de cada parámetro se realizó mediante ajuste de gaussianas y se determinaron sus errores. A modo de ejemplo la variable #8 fue analizada en una matriz de 501 × 501 elementos representando el parámetro σ para valores comprendidos entre 0,521034 son P = 0,5212859±0,0000001 días y β 14,012±,010×10-10 días/día respectivamente. Con estos valores el parámetro testigo resulta σ= 0,127 . Si no se tiene en cuenta la variación secular del período y se busca aquél de mejor ajuste para β = 0, se obtiene P = 0,5212960 días, pero entonces el parámetro de ajuste resulta tan alto como σ = 0,23 .

  19. Reference frame access under the effects of great earthquakes: a least squares collocation approach for non-secular post-seismic evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez, D. D.; Piñón, D. A.; Smalley, R.; Bevis, M.; Cimbaro, S. R.; Lenzano, L. E.; Barón, J.

    2016-03-01

    The 2010, (Mw 8.8) Maule, Chile, earthquake produced large co-seismic displacements and non-secular, post-seismic deformation, within latitudes 28°S-40°S extending from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans. Although these effects are easily resolvable by fitting geodetic extended trajectory models (ETM) to continuous GPS (CGPS) time series, the co- and post-seismic deformation cannot be determined at locations without CGPS (e.g., on passive geodetic benchmarks). To estimate the trajectories of passive geodetic benchmarks, we used CGPS time series to fit an ETM that includes the secular South American plate motion and plate boundary deformation, the co-seismic discontinuity, and the non-secular, logarithmic post-seismic transient produced by the earthquake in the Posiciones Geodésicas Argentinas 2007 (POSGAR07) reference frame (RF). We then used least squares collocation (LSC) to model both the background secular inter-seismic and the non-secular post-seismic components of the ETM at the locations without CGPS. We tested the LSC modeled trajectories using campaign and CGPS data that was not used to generate the model and found standard deviations (95 % confidence level) for position estimates for the north and east components of 3.8 and 5.5 mm, respectively, indicating that the model predicts the post-seismic deformation field very well. Finally, we added the co-seismic displacement field, estimated using an elastic finite element model. The final, trajectory model allows accessing the POSGAR07 RF using post-Maule earthquake coordinates within 5 cm for ˜ 91 % of the passive test benchmarks.

  20. Assessment of right ventricular longitudinal strain by 2D speckle tracking imaging compared with RV function and hemodynamics in pulmonary hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yidan; Wang, Yidan; Meng, Xiangli; Zhu, Weiwei; Lu, Xiuzhang

    2017-11-01

    The right ventricular longitudinal strain (RVLS) of pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients and its relationship with RV function parameters measured by echocardiography and hemodynamic parameters measured by right heart catheterization was investigated. According to the WHO functional class (FC), 66 PH patients were divided into FC I/II (group 1) and III/IV (group 2). RV function parameters were measured by echocardiographic examinations. Hemodynamic parameters were obtained by right heart catheterization. Patients in group 2 had higher systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP; P good sensitivity and specificity. Evidence has shown that RVLS measurement can provide the much-needed and reliable information on RV function and hemodynamics. Therefore, this qualifies as a patient-friendly approach for the clinical management of PH patients.

  1. Tendencia secular da amamentacao no Brasil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonia Isoyama Venancio

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Com o objetivo de documentar a tendência secular da amamentação no Brasil, foram reanalisadas as bases de dados de sete pesquisas nacionais realizadas de 1975 a 2008. Para obter dados comparáveis entre os diferentes inquéritos, foram analisadas as mesmas faixas etárias e indicadores, e utilizadas as mesmas técnicas estatísticas. A duração mediana da amamentação aumentou de 2,5 para 11,3 meses e a prevalência da amamentação exclusiva em menores de seis meses passou de 3,1% para 41,0% no período. Os resultados apontam importantes desafios no sentido de acelerar o ritmo de crescimento dessa prática no País, rumo às recomendações internacionais.

  2. The ABC transporter Rv1272c of Mycobacterium tuberculosis enhances the import of long-chain fatty acids in Escherichia coli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Audrey; Daniel, Jaiyanth

    2018-02-05

    Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), which causes tuberculosis, is capable of accumulating triacylglycerol (TAG) by utilizing fatty acids from host cells. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are involved in transport processes in all organisms. Among the classical ABC transporters in Mtb none have been implicated in fatty acid import. Since the transport of fatty acids from the host cell is important for dormancy-associated TAG synthesis in the pathogen, mycobacterial ABC transporter(s) could potentially be involved in this process. Based on sequence identities with a bacterial ABC transporter that mediates fatty acid import for TAG synthesis, we identified Rv1272c, a hitherto uncharacterized ABC-transporter in Mtb that also shows sequence identities with a plant ABC transporter involved in fatty acid transport. We expressed Rv1272c in E. coli and show that it enhances the import of radiolabeled fatty acids. We also show that Rv1272c causes a significant increase in the metabolic incorporation of radiolabeled long-chain fatty acids into cardiolipin, a tetra-acylated phospholipid, and phosphatidylglycerol in E. coli. This is the first report on the function of Rv1272c showing that it displays a long-chain fatty acid transport function. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Explanation of observable secular variations of gravity and alternative methods of determination of drift of the center of mass of the Earth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barkin, Yury

    2010-05-01

    The summary. On the basis of geodynamic model of the forced relative displacement of the centers of mass of the core and the mantle of the Earth the secular variations of a gravity and heights of some gravimetry stations on a surface of the Earth have ben studied. At the account of secular drift of the center of mass of the Earth which on our geodynamic model is caused by the unidirectional drift of the core of the Earth relatively to the mantle, the full explanation is given to observable secular variations of a gravity at stations Ny-Alesund (Norway), Churchill (Canada), Medicine (Italy), Sayowa (Antarctica), Strastburg (France), Membach (Belgium), Wuhan (China) and Metsahovi (Finland). Two new methods of determination of secular drift of the center of mass of the Earth, alternative to classical method of a space geodesy are offered: 1) on the basis of gravimetry data about secular trends of a gravity at the stations located on all basic regions of the Earth; 2) on the basis of the comparative analysis of altimetry and coastal data about secular changes of sea level also in basic regions of ocean. 1. Secular drift of the center of mass of the core and the center of mass of the Earth. A secular drift of the center of mass of the Earth to the North relatively to special center O on an axis of rotation of the Earth for which the coefficient of third zonal harmonic J3' = 0, has been predicted in the author work [1]. A drift in a direction to a geographical point (pole P) 70°0 N and 104°3 E has been established for the first time theoretically - as a result of the analysis of the global directed redistribution of masses of the Earth, explaining the observed secular drift of the pole of an axis of rotation of the Earth and not tidal acceleration of its axial rotation [2]. In [1] velocity of drift it has been estimated in 1-2 cm/yr. For specified center O the figure of a planet is as though deprived of pure-shaped form (J3' = 0). And in this sense the point O can be

  4. Comprehensive sieve analysis of breakthrough HIV-1 sequences in the RV144 vaccine efficacy trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul T Edlefsen

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The RV144 clinical trial showed the partial efficacy of a vaccine regimen with an estimated vaccine efficacy (VE of 31% for protecting low-risk Thai volunteers against acquisition of HIV-1. The impact of vaccine-induced immune responses can be investigated through sieve analysis of HIV-1 breakthrough infections (infected vaccine and placebo recipients. A V1/V2-targeted comparison of the genomes of HIV-1 breakthrough viruses identified two V2 amino acid sites that differed between the vaccine and placebo groups. Here we extended the V1/V2 analysis to the entire HIV-1 genome using an array of methods based on individual sites, k-mers and genes/proteins. We identified 56 amino acid sites or "signatures" and 119 k-mers that differed between the vaccine and placebo groups. Of those, 19 sites and 38 k-mers were located in the regions comprising the RV144 vaccine (Env-gp120, Gag, and Pro. The nine signature sites in Env-gp120 were significantly enriched for known antibody-associated sites (p = 0.0021. In particular, site 317 in the third variable loop (V3 overlapped with a hotspot of antibody recognition, and sites 369 and 424 were linked to CD4 binding site neutralization. The identified signature sites significantly covaried with other sites across the genome (mean = 32.1 more than did non-signature sites (mean = 0.9 (p < 0.0001, suggesting functional and/or structural relevance of the signature sites. Since signature sites were not preferentially restricted to the vaccine immunogens and because most of the associations were insignificant following correction for multiple testing, we predict that few of the genetic differences are strongly linked to the RV144 vaccine-induced immune pressure. In addition to presenting results of the first complete-genome analysis of the breakthrough infections in the RV144 trial, this work describes a set of statistical methods and tools applicable to analysis of breakthrough infection genomes in general vaccine

  5. Mechanisms of the multi-secular atmospheric corrosion of ferrous alloys: The case of the Metz cathedral reinforcements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bouchar, Marie

    2015-01-01

    The study of the mechanisms of the multi-secular atmospheric corrosion of ferrous alloys has various applications, from the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage metals, to the evaluation of their long term behaviour, specifically when they are used for the storage containers surrounding nuclear wastes. The study of the corrosion product layers (CPL) developed during 5 centuries on the Metz cathedral reinforcements brings new results for a better understanding of the complex processes involved in the formation of the atmospheric CPL. The phases and chemical elements constituting the CPL of these reinforcements were characterized at the micrometric scale (μDRX, Raman μ-spectroscopy (μRS), SEM-EDS). Results specifically showed that these CPL differ from other multi-secular systems previously studied by their very high content in ferri-hydrite (5Fe 2 O 3 , 9H 2 O). This very reactive phase is distributed in the whole CPL and mixed at the microscopic scale with goethite (a-FeOOH) and lepidocrocite (g-FeOOH). Diffusion experiments of bromide ions followed by in situ X-ray μ-fluorescence allowed a better understanding of the transport of dissolved species in the porous network of the CPL. Furthermore, a test of the corrosion system behavior in conditions simulating the wetting stage of the RH cycle of atmospheric corrosion, also followed in situ by μRS, highlighted the reduction of ferri-hydrite at the metal/CPL interface. These results allowed to verify for the first time a fundamental hypothesis about the mechanisms of very long term atmospheric corrosion. Finally, re-corrosion experiments of the corrosion system were monitored in a climatic chamber simulating accelerated atmospheric cycles in an 18 O-labelled environment. Then the detection of the 18 O isotope linked to the precipitated phases, by nuclear reaction analysis using a nuclear microprobe, allowed to localise the formation sites of the new corrosion products. All these results improve the

  6. The Shi'ites, the West and the Future of Democracy: Reframing Political Change in a Religio-secular World

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John A Rees

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available The present article critically reviews Paul McGeough’s important analysis of the most recent Iraq war within a broader consideration of secular-religious relations in international affairs. The thesis of Mission Impossible: The Sheikhs, the US and the Future of Iraq (2004 can be summarised around two ideas: that the US strategy in Iraq was flawed because it wilfully bypassed the traditional power structures of Iraqi society; and that these structures, formed around the tribe and the mosque, are anti-democratic thus rendering attempts at democratisation impossible. The article affirms McGeough’s argument concerning the inadequacy of the US strategy, but critically examines the author’s fatalism toward the democratic capacity of Iraqi structures, notably the structure of the mosque. By broadening the notion of democracy to include religious actors and agendas, and by an introductory interpretation of the Shi’ite community as vital players in an emerging Iraqi democracy, the article attempts to deconstruct the author’s secularist view that the world of the mosque exists in a ‘parallel universe’ to the liberal democratic West. Reframing the Shi’ites as essential actors in the democratic project thus situates political discourse in a ‘religio-secular world’ and brings the ‘other worlds’ of religion and secularism together in a sphere of interdependence. Such an approach emphasises the importance of post-secular structures in the discourses on democratic change.

  7. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization of phosphoglucose isomerase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mathur, Divya; Anand, Kanchan; Mathur, Deepika; Jagadish, Nirmala; Suri, Anil; Garg, Lalit C.

    2007-01-01

    The phosphoglucose isomerase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was crystallized and diffraction data were collected to 2.8 Å resolution. Phosphoglucose isomerase is a ubiquitous enzyme that catalyzes the isomerization of d-glucopyranose-6-phosphate to d-fructofuranose-6-phosphate. The present investigation reports the expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of the phosphoglucose isomerase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, which shares 46% sequence identity with that of its human host. The recombinant protein, which was prepared using an Escherichia coli expression system, was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals diffracted to a resolution of 2.8 Å and belonged to the orthorhombic space group I2 1 2 1 2 1 , with unit-cell parameters a = 109.0, b = 119.8, c = 138.9 Å

  8. ORF73 LANA homologs of RRV and MneRV2 contain an extended RGG/RG-rich nuclear and nucleolar localization signal that interacts directly with importin β1 for non-classical nuclear import.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Kellie; Cherezova, Lidia; DeMaster, Laura K; Rose, Timothy M

    2017-11-01

    The latency-associated nuclear antigens (LANA) of KSHV and macaque RFHVMn, members of the RV1 rhadinovirus lineage, are closely related with conservation of complex nuclear localization signals (NLS) containing bipartite KR-rich motifs and RG-rich domains, which interact distinctly with importins α and ß1 for nuclear import via classical and non-classical pathways, respectively. RV1 LANAs are expressed in the nucleus of latently-infected cells where they inhibit replication and establish a dominant RV1 latency. Here we show that LANA homologs of macaque RRV and MneRV2 from the more distantly-related RV2 lineage, lack the KR-rich NLS, and instead have a large RG-rich NLS with multiple RG dipeptides and a conserved RGG motif. The RG-NLS interacts uniquely with importin β1, which mediates nuclear import and accumulation of RV2 LANA in the nucleolus. The alternative nuclear import and localization of RV2 LANA homologs may contribute to the dominant RV2 lytic replication phenotype. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  9. Bactericidal impact of Ag, ZnO and mixed AgZnO colloidal nanoparticles on H37Rv Mycobacterium tuberculosis phagocytized by THP-1 cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jafari, Alireza; Mosavari, Nader; Movahedzadeh, Farahnaz; Nodooshan, Saeedeh Jafari; Safarkar, Roya; Moro, Rossella; Kamalzadeh, Morteza; Majidpour, Ali; Boustanshenas, Mina; Mosavi, Tahereh

    2017-09-01

    The purpose of this research project was to infection of human macrophages (THP-1) cell lines by H 37 Rv strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H 37 RvMTB) and find out the ratio/dilution of mixture silver (Ag NPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) whose ability to eliminate phagocytized bacteria compared to rifampicin. The colloidal Ag NPs and ZnO NPs were synthesized and their characteristics were evaluated. The THP-1 cell lines were infected with different concentration of H 37 RvMTB. Next, the infected cells were treated with different ratios/dilutions of Ag NPs, ZnO NPs and rifampicin. The THP-1 were lysed and were cultured in Lowenstein-Jensen agar medium, for eight weeks. The TEM and AFM images of NPs and H 37 RvMTB were supplied. It is observed that Ag NPs, 2 Ag :8 ZnO and 8 Ag :2 ZnO did not have any anti-tubercular effects on phagocytized H 37 RvMTB. Conversely, ZnO NPs somehow eliminated 18.7 × 10 4  CFU ml -1 of H 37 RvMTB in concentration of ∼ 0.468 ppm. To compare with 40 ppm of rifampicin, ∼ 0.663 ppm of 5 Ag :5 ZnO had the ability to kill of H 37 RvMTB, too. Based on previous research, ZnO NPs had strong anti-tubercular impact against H 37 RvMTB to in-vitro condition, but it was toxic in concentration of ∼ 0.468 ppm to both of THP-1 and normal lung (MRC-5) cell lines. It also seems that 5 Ag :5 ZnO is justified because in concentration of ∼ 0.663 ppm of 5 Ag :5 ZnO , phagocytized H 37 RvMTB into the THP-1 had died without any toxicity effects against THP-1 and also MRC-5 cell lines. It is obvious that the mixture of colloidal silver and zinc oxide NPs with ratio of 5 Ag :5 ZnO would be trustworthy options as anti-tubercular nano-drugs in future researches. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  10. Secular trends in hip fractures worldwide: opposing trends East versus West.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballane, Ghada; Cauley, Jane A; Luckey, Marjorie M; Fuleihan, Ghada El-Hajj

    2014-08-01

    Despite wide variations in hip rates fractures worldwide, reasons for such differences are not clear. Furthermore, secular trends in the age-specific hip fracture rates are changing the world map of this devastating disease, with the highest rise projected to occur in developing countries. The aim of our investigation is to systematically characterize secular trends in hip fractures worldwide, examine new data for various ethnic groups in the United States, evidence for divergent temporal patterns, and investigate potential contributing factors for the observed change in their epidemiology. All studies retrieved through a complex Medline Ovid search between 1966 and 2013 were examined. For each selected study, we calculated the percent annual change in age-standardized hip fracture rates de-novo. Although occurring at different time points, trend breaks in hip fracture incidence occurred in most Western countries and Oceania. After a steep rise in age-adjusted rates in these regions, a decrease became evident sometimes between the mid-seventies and nineties, depending on the country. Conversely, the data is scarce in Asia and South America, with evidence for a continuous rise in hip fracture rates, with the exception of Hong-Kong and Taiwan that seem to follow Western trends. The etiologies of these secular patterns in both the developed and the developing countries have not been fully elucidated, but the impact of urbanization is at least one plausible explanation. Data presented here show close parallels between rising rates of urbanization and hip fractures across disparate geographic locations and cultures. Once the proportion of the urban population stabilized, hip fracture rates also stabilize or begin to decrease perhaps due to the influence of other factors such as birth cohort effects, changes in bone mineral density and BMI, osteoporosis medication use and/or lifestyle interventions such as smoking cessation, improvement in nutritional status and fall

  11. Secular Volunteerism among Texan Emerging Adults: Exploring Pathways of Childhood and Adulthood Religiosity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reed T. DeAngelis

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Prior research suggests that religiosity, especially public religious participation, is related to greater volunteerism. However, less is known about religious transmission across the life course, in particular whether and how religiosity in childhood is linked to later life volunteerism. This study investigates a sample of emerging adults in South Texas (n = 701 with a high percent of Hispanic Americans (53 percent. Specifically, we examine pathways of childhood and emerging adulthood religiosity leading to secular volunteerism. Findings indicate that both childhood and emerging adulthood religiosity are associated with greater volunteerism, but the effects of childhood religiosity on emerging adulthood volunteerism are mediated through emerging adulthood religiosity. These findings provide further confirmation of the importance of childhood religiosity only insofar as religiousness persists into adulthood. In other words, we find that it is emerging adulthood religiosity that transmits childhood religiosity into greater secular volunteerism in later life. Furthermore, emerging adulthood public religiosity has the most robust direct effects on volunteerism.

  12. Long-Term Seafloor Electromagnetic Observation in the Northwest Pacific May Detect the Vector Geomagnetic Secular Variation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H Toh

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Sea Floor ElectroMagnetic Stations (SFEMSs are now operating at two deep seafloor sites called the 'WPB' and the 'NWP' in the West Philippine Basin and the Northwest Pacific Basin, respectively. One of the main objectives of the SFEMSs is to detect the geomagnetic secular variations on the deep seafloor where long-term geomagnetic observations have not so far been achieved. SFEMSs can measure the absolute geomagnetic total force as well as the geomagnetic vector field with precise attitude monitoring systems. The vector geomagnetic time-series that was observed for more than 5 years revealed that the westward drift of the equatorial dipole dominates in the geomagnetic secular variation at the NWP.

  13. Conserved hypothetical protein Rv1977 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains contains sequence polymorphisms and might be involved in ongoing immune evasion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Yi; Liu, Haican; Wang, Xuezhi; Li, Guilian; Qiu, Yan; Dou, Xiangfeng; Wan, Kanglin

    2015-01-01

    Host immune pressure and associated parasite immune evasion are key features of host-pathogen co-evolution. A previous study showed that human T cell epitopes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are evolutionarily hyperconserved and thus it was deduced that M. tuberculosis lacks antigenic variation and immune evasion. Here, we selected 151 clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from China, amplified gene encoding Rv1977 and compared the sequences. The results showed that Rv1977, a conserved hypothetical protein, is not conserved in M. tuberculosis strains and there are polymorphisms existed in the protein. Some mutations, especially one frameshift mutation, occurred in the antigen Rv1977, which is uncommon in M.tb strains and may lead to the protein function altering. Mutations and deletion in the gene all affect one of three T cell epitopes and the changed T cell epitope contained more than one variable position, which may suggest ongoing immune evasion.

  14. Religious and territorial identities in a cosmopolitan and secular city: youth in Amsterdam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mamadouh, V.; van der Welle, I.; Brunn, S.D.

    2015-01-01

    Religion is a much contested issue in Dutch politics and more specifically in Amsterdam. We investigate whether and how religion works as an obstacle or a vehicle for integration for youth in the secular and cosmopolitan Amsterdam. First, we describe the role religion played in the process of nation

  15. Secular Trends in Meal and Snack Patterns among Adolescents from 1999 to 2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Nicole; Story, Mary; Eisenberg, Marla E; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

    2016-02-01

    Linkages between snack patterns, diet, and obesity in adolescents likely depend on the consumption of main meals, how often snacks are prepared away from home, and whether energy-dense, nutrient-poor snack foods and sugary drinks are frequently consumed. Nutrition-based interventions need to be informed by an understanding of how secular changes in the contribution of snacks to dietary intake may be related to changes in meal frequency as well as how these trends differ by sociodemographic characteristics. To examine secular trends from 1999 to 2010 in meal and snack patterns among adolescents. A repeated cross-sectional design was used. Participants from Minneapolis/St Paul, MN, secondary schools completed classroom-administered surveys and food frequency questionnaires in 1999 (n=2,598) and 2010 (n=2,540). Weekly meal frequencies; number of snacks consumed on school and vacation/weekend days; frequent consumption of snacks prepared away from home (≥3 times/week); and daily servings of energy-dense, nutrient-poor food/drinks that are commonly consumed at snack occasions. Trends from 1999 to 2010 were examined using inverse probability weighting to control for differences in sociodemographic characteristics in the two samples. Mean frequencies of breakfast and lunch increased modestly in the overall population (both P values snacks consumed on schools days (Psnacks prepared away from home, there was a secular decrease in energy-dense, nutrient-poor food/drink consumption (Psnack trends among adolescents suggests the need for targeted efforts to ensure public health messages reach low-income and ethnic/racial minority population subgroups most vulnerable to poor nutrition and the development of obesity. Copyright © 2016 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. A Study on the Marketing Strategy of RV Travel in China%国内房车旅游营销策略研究

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    梁磊

    2011-01-01

    With the advent of experience economy, RV travel is increasingly welcomed as a fashionable way to travel. At present, the domestic RV tourism development is far behind the developed countries, and there exist such problems as delayed construction of camping and related facilities, the inadequate consumption capacity, the inadequate RV tourism marketing and delayed tourism facilities and services. To solve these problems, this paper puts forward some marketing strategies, including carrying out camp marketing, subdividing RV tourism market, strengthening cooperation among related industries and enterprises, improving ways and means of RV tourism information dissemination, and promoting the construction of RV rental network.%随着体验经济时代的到来,房车旅游作为一种时尚的旅游方式日益受到人们的青睐。当前,国内房车旅游发展远远落后于发达国家,并存在露营地及相关设施建设滞后、居民消费能力不足、房车旅游营销力度不够和房车旅游设施及服务滞后的问题,针对这些问题,提出开展营地营销、细分房车旅游市场、加强房车旅游相关行业企业之间的合作、优化房车旅游信息传播方式和手段、加强房车租赁网络建设的房车旅游具体营销策略。

  17. Examination of US puberty-timing data from 1940 to 1994 for secular trends

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Euling, Susan Y; Herman-Giddens, Marcia E; Lee, Peter A

    2008-01-01

    different methods. As a result, conclusions from data comparisons have not been consistent. An expert panel was asked to evaluate the weight of evidence for whether the data, collected from 1940 to 1994, are sufficient to suggest or establish a secular trend in the timing of puberty markers in US boys...

  18. Secular variation of cosmic ray intensity recorded in the radiocarbon concentration of tree rings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kigoshi, K.

    1978-01-01

    Study of the secular variations of cosmic ray intensity on the basis of the secular variations of atmospheric radiocarbon concentration in 8000 years is considered. The data on the radiocarbon concentration is received by three laboratories using the dendrochronologically dated tree ring samples. In order to use the data the variations due to geochemical process must be eliminated. From this point of view the climatic effect on the atmospheric radiocarbon concenttration is estimated using the data on sunspot number and global surface temperature during 1650-1800 y. The barge influence of climate on the atmospheric radiocarbon concentration syggests the small contribution of change of radiocarbon production rate to the short-period fluctuations in the atmospheric radiocarbon concentration. Elimination of variations caused by climate and sunspot activities from the variations in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration gives a long-term scale of its concentration which agrees well to the observed paleo-geomagnetic data

  19. A good social work: women's clubs, libraries, and the construction of a secular society in Utah, 1890-1920.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stauffer, Suzanne M

    2011-01-01

    After the renunciation of polygamy, Mormon women formed secular women's clubs as a means of collaborating with non-Mormon women in the construction of a shared secular society. Their common goal was the establishment and maintenance of the mainstream American social order. Activity in these clubs extended women's sphere into the public realm through socially acceptable public activities such as the temperance cause, civic improvements, political reform movements, and child welfare. The women campaigned for public support of libraries as institutions that would construct, preserve, and transmit American culture, educate the young, strengthen the home and family, and reform society.

  20. Secular trends of body sizes in Korean children and adolescents: from 1965 to 2010

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Soo Moon

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available An anthropometric survey is one of the most important approaches to use when evaluating the health status of children. Secular trends in body sizes, such as height, weight, head circumference, chest circumference, and body mass index showed significant changes over 40 years in Korea. A series of periodic surveys were conducted in 1967, 1975, 1985, 1997, and 2005 by the Korean Pediatric Society and Ministry of Health and Welfare. The quality of data from school health examinations and the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey has improved, so we can use them now as resources for anthropometric analysis. The final height differences between 1965 and 1997 were 4.5 cm both in boys (168.9 cm in 1965; 173.4 cm in 1997 and girls (155.9 cm in 1965; 160.4 cm in 1997. The differences between 1997 and 2005 were 0.9 cm in boys (174.3cm in 2005 and 0.8 cm in girls (161.2 cm in 2005. There was no difference in final height measurements between 2005 and 2010. An increase in body size at earlier teen ages was pronounced during these decades compared to the previous generation; however, little change has been identified more recently. Body size has been increasing, and obesity has become more prevalent. Systems that gather data should be updated in order to cope with these secular trends. In an upcoming era of secular trends that would be in a slow transition, several surveys that include body measurements should be prepared to meet future needs.

  1. Observations of secular changes in the kinematic model of SS433

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collins, G.W. II; Newsom, G.H.

    1982-01-01

    In this paper the authors present evidence that several of the defining parameters of the Kinematic Model for SS433 are not constant but rather exhibit long term systematic changes. Recent data confirm the existence of the previously reported decrease in the precessional period. The value for this period change, when combined with the observed change in the period of the synodic spectral variations, implies that the orbital period is not significantly changing on a time scale less than 1000 years. In addition they find mounting evidence for a statistically significant (4sigma) secular change in the cone angle theta at a rate of about -1.5 x 10 -3 deg/day. However, the surprisingly short time scales implied by the observed values of dP/dt and dtheta/dt when combined with estimates of the system age suggest the possible existence of detectable higher time derivatives. This view is supported by the most recent data which suggest a value for d 2 P/dt 2 approximately 10 -5 (days) -1 . It is possible to understand these secular changes in terms of the motions to be expected from an object exhibiting classical precession in response to an external torque. (Auth.)

  2. Geographical localisation of the geomagnetic secular variation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aubert, Julien; Finlay, Chris; Olsen, Nils

    2013-01-01

    the model and geomagnetic data previously processed in the same way. Our results suggest that conservation of angular momentum and heterogeneous thermochemical boundary control in the coupled inner core / outer core / mantle system are central to understanding how Earth’s magnetic field currently evolves......., westward moving, magnetic flux patches at the core surface. Despite its successes in explaining the main morphological properties of Earth’s magnetic field, self-consistent numerical modelling of the geodynamo has so far failed to reproduce this field variation pattern. Furthermore its magnetohydrodynamic...... control from either, or both, the inner-core boundary and the core-mantle boundary. In addition to presenting an Earth-like magnetic field morphology, these new numerical models also reproduce the morphology and localization of geomagnetic secular variation. In our models, the conservation of the angular...

  3. [Adolphe Quetelet and biopolitics as secularized theology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pich, Santiago

    2013-01-01

    The article recaptures the work of an author who has been forgotten by the contemporary social sciences, that is, the Belgium polymath Adolphe Quetelet. Focusing on his main work, Sur l'homme et le développement de ses facultés, ou Essai de physique sociale, the study underscores how the secularization of theological principles within the realm of science was important to the construction of Quetelet's work. His dual engagement in science and politics is pertinent here, as he was the main nineteenth-century force behind the incorporation of statistics as a science essential to the State's ability to govern its people. He also played a relevant role in the realization of the hegemonic political project of modernity, biopolitics, and its influence in the field of biomedicine in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

  4. Peculiarities of component interaction in {Gd, Er}-V-Sn Ternary systems at 870 K and crystal structure of RV6Sn6 stannides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Romaka, L.; Stadnyk, Yu.; Romaka, V.V.; Demchenko, P.; Stadnyshyn, M.; Konyk, M.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → {Gd, Er}-V-Sn ternary systems at 870 K are characterized by formation of stannides with general compositions RV 6 Sn 6 . → Isostructural RV 6 Sn 6 compounds were also found with Y, Dy, Ho, Tm, and Lu. → The crystal structure of RV 6 Sn 6 compounds was determined by powder diffraction method. → Structural analysis showed that RV 6 Sn 6 compounds (R = Gd, Dy-Tm, Lu) are disordered; YV 6 Sn 6 is characterized by structure ordering. - Abstract: The phase equilibria in the Gd-V-Sn and Er-V-Sn ternary systems were studied at 870 K by means of X-ray and metallographic analyses in the whole concentration range. Both Gd-V-Sn and Er-V-Sn systems are characterized by formation of one ternary compound at investigated temperature, with stoichiometry RV 6 Sn 6 (SmMn 6 Sn 6 -type, space group P6/mmm, a = 0.55322(3) nm, c = 0.91949(7) nm for Gd, a = 0.55191(2) nm, c = 0.91869(8) nm for Er). Solubility of the third component in the binary compounds was not observed. Compounds with the SmMn 6 Sn 6 -type were also found with Dy, Ho, Tm, and Lu, while YV 6 Sn 6 compound crystallizes in HfFe 6 Ge 6 structure type. All investigated compounds are the first ternary stannides with rare earth elements and vanadium.

  5. Religious and secular volunteering: A comparison between immigrants and non-immigrants in the Netherlands.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Carabain, C.L.; Bekkers, R.H.F.P.

    2011-01-01

    Using new survey data from the Netherlands, we find that non-immigrants are more likely to volunteer for secular organisations than guest worker immigrants and postcolonial citizen immigrants. In contrast, non-immigrants are less likely to engage in religious volunteering than both immigrant groups.

  6. Development of Deterministic and Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Analysis Code PROFAS-RV for Reactor Pressure Vessel - Progress of the Work

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jong Min; Lee, Bong Sang [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    In this study, a deterministic/probabilistic fracture mechanics analysis program for reactor pressure vessel, PROFAS-RV, is developed. This program can evaluate failure probability of RPV using recent radiation embrittlement model of 10CFR50.61a and stress intensity factor calculation method of RCC-MRx code as well as the required basic functions of PFM program. Applications of some new radiation embrittlement model, material database, calculation method of stress intensity factors, and others which can improve fracture mechanics assessment of RPV are introduced. The purpose of this study is to develop a probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) analysis program for RPV considering above modification and application of newly developed models and calculation methods. In this paper, it deals with the development progress of the PFM analysis program for RPV, PROFAS-RV. The PROFAS-RV is being tested with other codes, and it is expected to revise and upgrade by reflecting the latest model and calculation method continuously. These efforts can minimize the uncertainty of the integrity evaluation for the reactor pressure vessel.

  7. Rotavirus specific maternal antibodies and immune response to RV3-BB neonatal rotavirus vaccine in New Zealand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Mee-Yew; Kirkwood, Carl D.; Bines, Julie; Cowley, Daniel; Pavlic, Daniel; Lee, Katherine J.; Orsini, Francesca; Watts, Emma; Barnes, Graeme; Danchin, Margaret

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Background: Maternal antibodies, acquired passively via placenta and/or breast milk, may contribute to the reduced efficacy of oral rotavirus vaccines observed in children in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of rotavirus specific maternal antibodies on the serum IgA response or stool excretion of vaccine virus after any dose of an oral rotavirus vaccine, RV3-BB, in parallel to a Phase IIa clinical trial conducted at Dunedin Hospital, New Zealand. At the time of the study rotavirus vaccines had not been introduced in New Zealand and the burden of rotavirus disease was evident. Methods: Rotavirus specific IgG and serum neutralizing antibody (SNA) levels in cord blood and IgA levels in colostrum and breast milk samples collected ∼4 weeks, ∼20 weeks and ∼28 weeks after birth were measured. Infants were randomized to receive the first dose of vaccine at 0–5 d (neonatal schedule) or 8 weeks (infant schedule). Breast feeding was with-held for 30 minutes before and after vaccine administration. The relationship between rotavirus specific IgG and SNA levels in cord blood and IgA in colostrum and breast milk at the time of first active dose of RV3-BB vaccine and level of IgA response and stool excretion after 3 doses of vaccine was assessed using linear and logistic regression. Results: Forty infants received 3 doses of RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine and were included in the analysis of the neonatal and infant groups. Rotavirus specific IgA in colostrum (neonatal schedule group) and breast milk at 4 weeks (infant schedule group) was identified in 14/21 (67%) and 14/17 (82%) of infants respectively. There was little evidence of an association between IgA in colostrum or breast milk IgA at 4 weeks, or between cord IgG or SNA level, and IgA response or stool excretion after 3 doses of RV3-BB, or after one dose (neonatal schedule) (all p>0.05). Conclusions: The level of IgA in colostrum or breast milk and level of placental Ig

  8. Rotavirus specific maternal antibodies and immune response to RV3-BB neonatal rotavirus vaccine in New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Mee-Yew; Kirkwood, Carl D; Bines, Julie; Cowley, Daniel; Pavlic, Daniel; Lee, Katherine J; Orsini, Francesca; Watts, Emma; Barnes, Graeme; Danchin, Margaret

    2017-05-04

    Maternal antibodies, acquired passively via placenta and/or breast milk, may contribute to the reduced efficacy of oral rotavirus vaccines observed in children in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of rotavirus specific maternal antibodies on the serum IgA response or stool excretion of vaccine virus after any dose of an oral rotavirus vaccine, RV3-BB, in parallel to a Phase IIa clinical trial conducted at Dunedin Hospital, New Zealand. At the time of the study rotavirus vaccines had not been introduced in New Zealand and the burden of rotavirus disease was evident. Rotavirus specific IgG and serum neutralizing antibody (SNA) levels in cord blood and IgA levels in colostrum and breast milk samples collected ∼4 weeks, ∼20 weeks and ∼28 weeks after birth were measured. Infants were randomized to receive the first dose of vaccine at 0-5 d (neonatal schedule) or 8 weeks (infant schedule). Breast feeding was with-held for 30 minutes before and after vaccine administration. The relationship between rotavirus specific IgG and SNA levels in cord blood and IgA in colostrum and breast milk at the time of first active dose of RV3-BB vaccine and level of IgA response and stool excretion after 3 doses of vaccine was assessed using linear and logistic regression. Forty infants received 3 doses of RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine and were included in the analysis of the neonatal and infant groups. Rotavirus specific IgA in colostrum (neonatal schedule group) and breast milk at 4 weeks (infant schedule group) was identified in 14/21 (67%) and 14/17 (82%) of infants respectively. There was little evidence of an association between IgA in colostrum or breast milk IgA at 4 weeks, or between cord IgG or SNA level, and IgA response or stool excretion after 3 doses of RV3-BB, or after one dose (neonatal schedule) (all p>0.05). The level of IgA in colostrum or breast milk and level of placental IgG and SNA did not impact on the serum IgA response or

  9. Secular dynamics of hierarchical multiple systems composed of nested binaries, with an arbitrary number of bodies and arbitrary hierarchical structure - II. External perturbations: flybys and supernovae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamers, Adrian S.

    2018-05-01

    We extend the formalism of a previous paper to include the effects of flybys and instantaneous perturbations such as supernovae on the long-term secular evolution of hierarchical multiple systems with an arbitrary number of bodies and hierarchy, provided that the system is composed of nested binary orbits. To model secular encounters, we expand the Hamiltonian in terms of the ratio of the separation of the perturber with respect to the barycentre of the multiple system, to the separation of the widest orbit. Subsequently, we integrate over the perturber orbit numerically or analytically. We verify our method for secular encounters and illustrate it with an example. Furthermore, we describe a method to compute instantaneous orbital changes to multiple systems, such as asymmetric supernovae and impulsive encounters. The secular code, with implementation of the extensions described in this paper, is publicly available within AMUSE, and we provide a number of simple example scripts to illustrate its usage for secular and impulsive encounters and asymmetric supernovae. The extensions presented in this paper are a next step towards efficiently modelling the evolution of complex multiple systems embedded in star clusters.

  10. Traditional vs. secular values and work-life well being across Europe

    OpenAIRE

    Georgellis, Y; Lange, T

    2007-01-01

    This paper examines how culture, defined in our analysis by reference to traditional versus secular values, affects the work-life balance across Europe. Specifically, we focus on the factors that affect the propensity of individuals across 30 European countries to exhibit behavioural patterns in the work and life domains consistent with the segmentation, spillover or compensation hypotheses. Testing the latter assertions, our empirical analysis replicates the study by Judge and Watanabe (1994...

  11. Accelerated sea level rise and Florida Current transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Park

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The Florida Current is the headwater of the Gulf Stream and is a component of the North Atlantic western boundary current from which a geostrophic balance between sea surface height and mass transport directly influence coastal sea levels along the Florida Straits. A linear regression of daily Florida Current transport estimates does not find a significant change in transport over the last decade; however, a nonlinear trend extracted from empirical mode decomposition (EMD suggests a 3 Sv decline in mean transport. This decline is consistent with observed tide gauge records in Florida Bay and the straits exhibiting an acceleration of mean sea level (MSL rise over the decade. It is not known whether this recent change represents natural variability or the onset of the anticipated secular decline in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC; nonetheless, such changes have direct impacts on the sensitive ecological systems of the Everglades as well as the climate of western Europe and eastern North America.

  12. American medicine as religious practice: care of the sick as a sacred obligation and the unholy descent into secularization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wardlaw, Margaret P

    2011-03-01

    Modern medicine serves a religious function for modern Americans as a conduit through which science can be applied directly to the human body. The first half of this paper will focus on the theoretical foundations for viewing medicine as a religious practice arguing that just as a hierarchical structured authoritarian church historically mediated access to God, contemporary Western medicine provides a conduit by which the universalizable truths of science can be applied to the human being thereby functioning as a new established religion. I will then illustrate the many parallels between medicine and religion through an analysis of rituals and symbols surrounding and embedded within the modern practice of medicine. This analysis will pay special attention to the primacy placed on secret interior knowledge of the human body. I will end by responding to the hope for a "secularization of American medicine," exploring some of the negative consequences of secularization, and arguing that, rather than seeking to secularize, American medicine should strive to use its religious features to offer hope and healing to the sick, in keeping with its historically religious legacy.

  13. Ancient Ephesus: Processions as Media of Religious and Secular Propaganda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lilian Portefaix

    1993-01-01

    Full Text Available The significance of religious rituals often reaches beyond their strict religious intentions. Specifically a procession, performed in front of the public, is a most effective instrument of disseminating a message to the crowds. Consequently, this ritual, as is well known, has often been used not only in religious but also in secular contexts; a procession under the cloak of religion can even become a politically useful medium to avoid popular disturbances on peaceful terms. This was the case in ancient Ephesus, where Roman power conflicted with Greek culture from the middle of the first century B.C. onwards. In the beginning of the second century A.D. the public religious life in the city of Ephesus was to a great extent characterized by processions relating to the cult of Artemis Ephesia. The one traditionally performed on the birthday of the goddess called to mind the Greek origin of the city; it was strictly associated with the religious sphere bringing about a close relationship between the goddess and her adherents. The other, artificially created by a Roman, was entirely secular, and spread its message every fortnight in the streets of Ephesus. It referred to the political field of action and intended to strengthen the Roman rule over the city. The Greek origin of Ephesian culture was later included in the message of the procession, reminding the Greeks not to rebel against Roman rule.

  14. Situational influences of religious VS. secular symbols on cognition in Nigeria

    OpenAIRE

    Iruayenama, Mark, Abiye

    2016-01-01

    This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London. Nigeria is constitutionally a secular country but its citizens are rated among the most religious in the world by several surveys. Religious symbolism is conspicuous in Nigeria, littered from educational institutions to work environments and market places. Semiotics and semantics have a rich history of the study of symbols, however, symbols are also utilized as primes in psycholog...

  15. Shelley’s Unknown Eros: Post-Secular Love in Epipsychidion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Tomko

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Whether Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Epipsychidion—a Platonic poem on love addressed to the patriarchally imprisoned Theresa Viviani or “Emily”—receives praise or blame has generally been determined by two focal passages: a secular sermon on free love and a planetary allegorical thinly veiling his own imbroglio. This essay re-reads Shelley’s 1821 work drawing on two recent arguments: Stuart Curran’s Dantean call to take the poem’s Florentine narrator seriously as a character, not just as an autobiographical cypher, and Colin Jager’s outline of Shelley’s move beyond the assumptions of his professed atheism after 1816. Based on the poem’s structure and imagery, the paper argues that Epipsychidion critiques the false sense of revolutionary ascent and dualistic escape offered to Emily, who is commodified and erased by the narrator’s egocentric, “counterfeit divinization of eros” (Benedict XVI. Turning from this Radical Enlightenment Platonism, the poem momentarily realizes an embodied, hylomorphic romantic union akin to the Christian nuptial mystery of two becoming “one flesh” (Mark 10:8. This ideal, however, collapses back into solipsism when the narrator cannot understand or accept love as a “unity in duality” (Benedict XVI. This paper thus claims Epipsychidion as a post-secular inquiry into the problem of love whose philosophic limits and theological horizons are both surprising and instructive. It also reclaims Shelley as a phenomenological poet who can open up the world to Christian and non-Christian readers, one whose Platonic and Dantean formation lend him an openness to transcendence and one whose countercultural path through life makes him wary of inhumane appropriations of religion.

  16. Medical Image of the Week: Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings of Severe RV Failure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wickstrom K

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. A 56-year-old man with history a of alcohol abuse presents with progressive shortness of breath on exertion, bilateral lower extremity swelling and 12-pound weight gain over two weeks. His transthoracic echocardiography (Figure 1 demonstrated severely increased global right ventricle (RV size, severely dilated right atrium (RA, severe pulmonary artery (PA dilation, moderate tricuspid regurgitation (TR and right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP estimated at 85 + central venous pressure (CVP in the context of severely reduced RV systolic function. Right heart catheterization (RHC showed PA pressure (systolic/diastolic, mean of 94/28, 51 mmHg with a PA occlusion pressure of 12 mmHg. After extensive evaluation, our patient’s presentation of right heart failure seemed to be a manifestation of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. Our patient subsequently had cardiac MRI (cMRI with findings shown above (Figure 2. CMRI is a valuable, three-dimensional imaging modality that provides detailed morphology of the cardiac chambers along with accurate …

  17. Machine learning methods enable predictive modeling of antibody feature:function relationships in RV144 vaccinees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Ickwon; Chung, Amy W; Suscovich, Todd J; Rerks-Ngarm, Supachai; Pitisuttithum, Punnee; Nitayaphan, Sorachai; Kaewkungwal, Jaranit; O'Connell, Robert J; Francis, Donald; Robb, Merlin L; Michael, Nelson L; Kim, Jerome H; Alter, Galit; Ackerman, Margaret E; Bailey-Kellogg, Chris

    2015-04-01

    The adaptive immune response to vaccination or infection can lead to the production of specific antibodies to neutralize the pathogen or recruit innate immune effector cells for help. The non-neutralizing role of antibodies in stimulating effector cell responses may have been a key mechanism of the protection observed in the RV144 HIV vaccine trial. In an extensive investigation of a rich set of data collected from RV144 vaccine recipients, we here employ machine learning methods to identify and model associations between antibody features (IgG subclass and antigen specificity) and effector function activities (antibody dependent cellular phagocytosis, cellular cytotoxicity, and cytokine release). We demonstrate via cross-validation that classification and regression approaches can effectively use the antibody features to robustly predict qualitative and quantitative functional outcomes. This integration of antibody feature and function data within a machine learning framework provides a new, objective approach to discovering and assessing multivariate immune correlates.

  18. Machine learning methods enable predictive modeling of antibody feature:function relationships in RV144 vaccinees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ickwon Choi

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The adaptive immune response to vaccination or infection can lead to the production of specific antibodies to neutralize the pathogen or recruit innate immune effector cells for help. The non-neutralizing role of antibodies in stimulating effector cell responses may have been a key mechanism of the protection observed in the RV144 HIV vaccine trial. In an extensive investigation of a rich set of data collected from RV144 vaccine recipients, we here employ machine learning methods to identify and model associations between antibody features (IgG subclass and antigen specificity and effector function activities (antibody dependent cellular phagocytosis, cellular cytotoxicity, and cytokine release. We demonstrate via cross-validation that classification and regression approaches can effectively use the antibody features to robustly predict qualitative and quantitative functional outcomes. This integration of antibody feature and function data within a machine learning framework provides a new, objective approach to discovering and assessing multivariate immune correlates.

  19. The secular rise in IQs in the Netherlands: Is the Flynn Effect on g?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    te Nijenhuis, J.; van der Flier, H.

    2007-01-01

    IQ scores have been increasing over the last half century, a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect. In this study, we focused on the question to what extent these secular gains are on the g factor. Two IQ batteries: the Interest-School achievement-Intelligence Test (ISI) and the Groningen Final

  20. Religion, secular medicine and utilitarianism: a response to Biggar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Kevin R

    2015-11-01

    Nigel Biggar has argued that religion ought to be given a seat at the negotiating table of medical ethics. I respond in broadly utilitarian terms, arguing that the flawed empirical basis, lack of rationality and non-universality inherent in religion disqualify it from ethical discourse. I conclude that while it would be unacceptable to attempt to debar religious individuals from the negotiating table, an exclusively secular approach is required for ethical decision making in medicine. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  1. Hydrogen production by co-cultures of Lactobacillus and a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides RV

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asada, Yasuo; Ishimi, Katsuhiro [Department of General Education, College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, Narashinodai, Chiba 274-8501 (Japan); Tokumoto, Masaru; Aihara, Yasuyuki; Oku, Masayo; Kohno, Hideki [Department of Applied Molecular Chemistry, College of Industrial Technology, Nihon University, Izumi-cho, Chiba 275-8575 (Japan); Wakayama, Tatsuki; Miyake, Jun [Research Institute for Cell Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Nakoji, Amagasaki, Hyogo 661-0974 (Japan); Tomiyama, Masamitsu [Genetic Diversity Department, National Institute of Agrobiological Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8602 (Japan)

    2006-09-15

    Hydrogen production with glucose by using co-immobilized cultures of a lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus delbrueckii NBRC13953, and a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides RV, in agar gels was studied. Glucose was converted to hydrogen gas in a yield of 7.1mol of hydrogen per mole of glucose at a maximum under illuminated conditions. (author)

  2. Comprehensive sieve analysis of breakthrough HIV-1 sequences in the RV144 vaccine efficacy trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edlefsen, Paul T; Rolland, Morgane; Hertz, Tomer; Tovanabutra, Sodsai; Gartland, Andrew J; deCamp, Allan C; Magaret, Craig A; Ahmed, Hasan; Gottardo, Raphael; Juraska, Michal; McCoy, Connor; Larsen, Brendan B; Sanders-Buell, Eric; Carrico, Chris; Menis, Sergey; Kijak, Gustavo H; Bose, Meera; Arroyo, Miguel A; O'Connell, Robert J; Nitayaphan, Sorachai; Pitisuttithum, Punnee; Kaewkungwal, Jaranit; Rerks-Ngarm, Supachai; Robb, Merlin L; Kirys, Tatsiana; Georgiev, Ivelin S; Kwong, Peter D; Scheffler, Konrad; Pond, Sergei L Kosakovsky; Carlson, Jonathan M; Michael, Nelson L; Schief, William R; Mullins, James I; Kim, Jerome H; Gilbert, Peter B

    2015-02-01

    The RV144 clinical trial showed the partial efficacy of a vaccine regimen with an estimated vaccine efficacy (VE) of 31% for protecting low-risk Thai volunteers against acquisition of HIV-1. The impact of vaccine-induced immune responses can be investigated through sieve analysis of HIV-1 breakthrough infections (infected vaccine and placebo recipients). A V1/V2-targeted comparison of the genomes of HIV-1 breakthrough viruses identified two V2 amino acid sites that differed between the vaccine and placebo groups. Here we extended the V1/V2 analysis to the entire HIV-1 genome using an array of methods based on individual sites, k-mers and genes/proteins. We identified 56 amino acid sites or "signatures" and 119 k-mers that differed between the vaccine and placebo groups. Of those, 19 sites and 38 k-mers were located in the regions comprising the RV144 vaccine (Env-gp120, Gag, and Pro). The nine signature sites in Env-gp120 were significantly enriched for known antibody-associated sites (p = 0.0021). In particular, site 317 in the third variable loop (V3) overlapped with a hotspot of antibody recognition, and sites 369 and 424 were linked to CD4 binding site neutralization. The identified signature sites significantly covaried with other sites across the genome (mean = 32.1) more than did non-signature sites (mean = 0.9) (p analysis of the breakthrough infections in the RV144 trial, this work describes a set of statistical methods and tools applicable to analysis of breakthrough infection genomes in general vaccine efficacy trials for diverse pathogens.

  3. Extracellular Sphingomyelinase Rv0888 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Contributes to Pathological Lung Injury of Mycobacterium smegmatis in Mice via Inducing Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dang, Guanghui; Cui, Yingying; Wang, Lei; Li, Tiantian; Cui, Ziyin; Song, Ningning; Chen, Liping; Pang, Hai; Liu, Siguo

    2018-01-01

    Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), which mainly causes pulmonary injury and tubercles. Although macrophages are generally considered to harbor the main cells of M. tuberculosis , new evidence suggests that neutrophils are rapidly recruited to the infected lung. M. tuberculosis itself, or its early secreted antigenic target protein 6 (ESAT-6), can induce formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). However, NETs trap mycobacteria but are unable to kill them. The role of NETs' formation in the pathogenesis of mycobacteria remains unclear. Here, we report a new M. tuberculosis extracellular factor, bifunctional enzyme Rv0888, with both nuclease and sphingomyelinase activities. Rv0888 sphingomyelinase activity can induce NETs' formation in vitro and in the lung of the mice and enhance the colonization ability of Mycobacterium smegmatis in the lungs of mice. Mice infected by M. smegmatis harboring Rv0888 sphingomyelinase induced pathological injury and inflammation of the lung, which was mainly mediated by NETs, induced by Rv0888 sphingomyelinase, associated protein (myeloperoxidase) triggered caspase-3. In summary, the study sheds new light on the pathogenesis of mycobacteria and reveals a novel target for TB treatment.

  4. Exploring the determinants of secular decreases in dental caries among Korean children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hye-Ju; Han, Dong-Hun

    2015-08-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the contributions of sealant and water fluoridation to the time trends in dental caries from 2003 to 2010. Data were from three waves of the Korean National Oral Health Surveys between 2003 and 2010, including a total of 23 059 children (11 889 boys and 11 170 girls) aged 8, 10, and 12 years. The impacts of sealant and water fluoridation on dental caries were obtained by logistic regression for each age group of children. The contributions of sealant and water fluoridation to the time trends in the prevalence of dental caries were examined by a series of logistic regression models, and changes in the adjusted odds ratios for each survey year were also calculated. Over the past 7 years, the prevalence of dental caries decreased dramatically. Although sealant had a significant impact on dental caries in each survey year, remarkable decreases in dental caries from 2003 to 2010 were not explained by the secular changes in the dental sealant or water fluoridation factor. We observed important population declines in dental caries in Korea in children aged 8-12 years; however, the likely causes for these secular trends remain to be determined. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Importance of selecting archaeomagnetic data for geomagnetic modelling: example of the new Western Europe directional and intensity secular variation curves from 1500 BC to 200 AD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herve, Gwenael; Chauvin, Annick; Lanos, Philippe

    2014-05-01

    At the regional scale, the dispersion between archaeomagnetic data and especially archaeointensities suggests that some of them may be biased. As a consequence, it appears necessary to perform a selection of available data before to compute mean regional secular variation curves or geomagnetic models. However the definition of suitable selection criteria is not obvious and we need to know how to manage "old" data acquired during the 60-70s. The Western Europe directional and intensity data set from 1500 BC to 200 AD allows to discuss these issues. It has recently been enhanced by 39 new archaeodirections and 23 new archaeointensities (Hervé et al., 2013a and 2013b data sets and 5 unpublished data). First, the whole Western Europe data set was selected but the strong dispersion restricted the accuracy and the reliability of the new Western Europe secular variation curves at Paris. The causes of the dispersion appear different between archaeodirections and archaeointensities. In the directional data set, the main problem comes from some age errors in the oldest published data. Since their publication their archaeological dating may have changed of 50 years or more. For intensity data that were acquired much more recently, the dispersion mainly results from the use of unreliable archaeointensity protocols. We propose a weighting approach based on the number of specimens and the use of pTRM-checks, anisotropy and cooling rate corrections. Only 63% of available archaeodirections and 32% of archaeointensities were used to build the new Western Europe secular variation curves from 1500 BC to 200 AD. These curves reveal that selecting the reference data avoids wrong estimations of the shape of the secular variation curves, the secular variation rate, the dating of archaeomagnetic jerks... Finally, it is worth pointing out that current geomagnetic global models take into account almost all the data that we decided to reject. It could partly explain why their predictions at

  6. Dehalogenation of Haloalkanes by Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and Other Mycobacteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jesenská, Andrea; Sedlác̆ek, Ivo; Damborský, Jir̆í

    2000-01-01

    Haloalkane dehalogenases convert haloalkanes to their corresponding alcohols by a hydrolytic mechanism. To date, various haloalkane dehalogenases have been isolated from bacteria colonizing environments that are contaminated with halogenated compounds. A search of current databases with the sequences of these known haloalkane dehalogenases revealed the presence of three different genes encoding putative haloalkane dehalogenases in the genome of the human parasite Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The ability of M. tuberculosis and several other mycobacterial strains to dehalogenate haloaliphatic compounds was therefore studied. Intact cells of M. tuberculosis H37Rv were found to dehalogenate 1-chlorobutane, 1-chlorodecane, 1-bromobutane, and 1,2-dibromoethane. Nine isolates of mycobacteria from clinical material and four strains from a collection of microorganisms were found to be capable of dehalogenating 1,2-dibromoethane. Crude extracts prepared from two of these strains, Mycobacterium avium MU1 and Mycobacterium smegmatis CCM 4622, showed broad substrate specificity toward a number of halogenated substrates. Dehalogenase activity in the absence of oxygen and the identification of primary alcohols as the products of the reaction suggest a hydrolytic dehalogenation mechanism. The presence of dehalogenases in bacterial isolates from clinical material, including the species colonizing both animal tissues and free environment, indicates a possible role of parasitic microorganisms in the distribution of degradation genes in the environment. PMID:10618227

  7. An upper limit to the secular variation of the gravitational constant from white dwarf stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    García-Berro, Enrique; Lorén-Aguilar, Pablo; Torres, Santiago [Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, c/Esteve Terrades, 5, 08860 Castelldefels (Spain); Althaus, Leandro G. [Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, (1900) La Plata (Argentina); Isern, Jordi, E-mail: garcia@fa.upc.edu, E-mail: loren@fa.upc.edu, E-mail: santi@fa.upc.edu, E-mail: althaus@fcaglp.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar, E-mail: isern@ieec.cat [Institut de Ciències de l' Espai (CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Spain)

    2011-05-01

    A variation of the gravitational constant over cosmological ages modifies the main sequence lifetimes and white dwarf cooling ages. Using an state-of-the-art stellar evolutionary code we compute the effects of a secularly varying G on the main sequence ages and, employing white dwarf cooling ages computed taking into account the effects of a running G, we place constraints on the rate of variation of Newton's constant. This is done using the white dwarf luminosity function and the distance of the well studied open Galactic cluster NGC 6791. We derive an upper bound Ġ/G ∼ −1.8 × 10{sup −12} yr{sup −1}. This upper limit for the secular variation of the gravitational constant compares favorably with those obtained using other stellar evolutionary properties, and can be easily improved if deep images of the cluster allow to obtain an improved white dwarf luminosity function.

  8. Secular painting in the Ionian islands and Italian art: Aspects of a multi-faceted relationship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aphrodite Kouria

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The contribution of Italian art, especially Venetian, was decisive to the secularisation of art in the Ionian Islands and the shaping of the so-called Ionian School, in the context of a broader Western influence affecting all aspects of life and culture, especially on the islands of Zakynthos and Corfu. Italian influences, mainly of Renaissance, Mannerism and Baroque art, can be identified both on the iconographic and the stylistic level of artworks, with theoretical support. This article explores facets of the dialogue of secular painting in the Ionian with Italian art in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, focussing on works and artists that highlight significant aspects of this multilayered phenomenon and also through secondary channels that expand the horizon of analysis. Procession paintings, with their various connotations, and portraiture, which flourished in secular Ionian art, offer the most interesting material as regards the selection, reception and management of Italian models and points of reference.

  9. Secularization versus religious revival in Eastern Europe: Church institutional resilience, state repression and divergent paths.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Northmore-Ball, Ksenia; Evans, Geoffrey

    2016-05-01

    Despite continuing for over two decades, the debate about the nature of the trends in religiosity in post-Communist Eastern Europe remains unresolved: some arguing that these countries are undergoing the same process of secularization as the West, while others insist that the entire region is experiencing a religious revival. Using national sample surveys from the early 1990s to 2007 to examine the change in demographic predictors of religiosity, we show that Catholic and Orthodox countries are experiencing different trends, the first group displaying evidence of secularization and the second of revival, and that these two different trends are likely to derive from the legacies of state repression and the differing abilities of the churches to resist such repression. We argue that the current literature has thus taken a mistakenly general approach, and that the post-Communist region consists of at least two distinct groups of societies with different trends in religiosity. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  10. Mindfulness og nærværende opmærksomhed i skole og daginstitution

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Anne Maj; Herskind, Mia

    Mindfulness og nærværende opmærksomhed i skole og daginstitution Vi præsenterer resultater fra undersøgelser af, hvordan lærere og pædagoger lærer mindfulness og hvordan det får betydning for deres praksis og forholdemåder i pædagogik og undervisning. Undersøgelserne er kvalitative og i...

  11. Secularism e post-modernità: qualche eco da oltreoceano

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandro Ferrari

    2018-01-01

    ABSTRACT: The paper focuses on the works of six North American authors stemming from the conviction that the end of the ‘modern world’ is nigh and we are locked into the irreversible entropy of a secularism understood as a wall of separation between politics and religion. These convictions, together with a strong criticism towards legal positivism, imply the idea of the porousness of the borders between the sacred and profane, and a resulting reciprocal adjustment, an osmosis between the political and the religious spheres. In this paper, I would like to concentrate on the new approaches proposed by these authors and on the historical end epistemological connotations of the posited osmosis between the political and religious spheres.

  12. The sociology of late secularization: social divisions and religiosity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruce, Steve

    2016-12-01

    At the start of the twentieth century the religious differed from the religiously indifferent largely in being religious. Now they differ in a number of other social and demographic characteristics that reduce interaction between the two populations further than simple numbers would require. That some of the main carriers of religion are immigrants or adherents of recently imported faiths reinforces the sense that religion is what other people do. In the context of the stock of religious knowledge being depleted and religion-taken-too-seriously being unpopular, the narrow demographic base of the religious makes conversion unlikely and thus makes the reversal of secularization unlikely. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2016.

  13. The 22Rv1 prostate cancer cell line carries mixed genetic ancestry: Implications for prostate cancer health disparities research using pre-clinical models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woods-Burnham, Leanne; Basu, Anamika; Cajigas-Du Ross, Christina K; Love, Arthur; Yates, Clayton; De Leon, Marino; Roy, Sourav; Casiano, Carlos A

    2017-12-01

    Understanding how biological factors contribute to prostate cancer (PCa) health disparities requires mechanistic functional analysis of specific genes or pathways in pre-clinical cellular and animal models of this malignancy. The 22Rv1 human prostatic carcinoma cell line was originally derived from the parental CWR22R cell line. Although 22Rv1 has been well characterized and used in numerous mechanistic studies, no racial identifier has ever been disclosed for this cell line. In accordance with the need for racial diversity in cancer biospecimens and recent guidelines by the NIH on authentication of key biological resources, we sought to determine the ancestry of 22RV1 and authenticate previously reported racial identifications for four other PCa cell lines. We used 29 established Ancestry Informative Marker (AIM) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to conduct DNA ancestry analysis and assign ancestral proportions to a panel of five PCa cell lines that included 22Rv1, PC3, DU145, MDA-PCa-2b, and RC-77T/E. We found that 22Rv1 carries mixed genetic ancestry. The main ancestry proportions for this cell line were 0.41 West African (AFR) and 0.42 European (EUR). In addition, we verified the previously reported racial identifications for PC3 (0.73 EUR), DU145 (0.63 EUR), MDA-PCa-2b (0.73 AFR), and RC-77T/E (0.74 AFR) cell lines. Considering the mortality disparities associated with PCa, which disproportionately affect African American men, there remains a burden on the scientific community to diversify the availability of biospecimens, including cell lines, for mechanistic studies on potential biological mediators of these disparities. This study is beneficial by identifying another PCa cell line that carries substantial AFR ancestry. This finding may also open the door to new perspectives on previously published studies using this cell line. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Familial resemblance in religiousness in a secular society: a twin study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hvidtjørn, Dorte; Petersen, Inge; Hjelmborg, Jacob; Skytthe, Axel; Christensen, Kaare; Hvidt, Niels C

    2013-04-01

    It is well known that human behavior and individual psychological traits are moderately to substantially heritable. Over the past decade, an increasing number of studies have explored the genetic and environmental influence on religiousness. These studies originate predominantly from countries generally considered more religious than the very secular northern European countries. Comparisons of the results are complicated by diverse definitions of religiousness, but several studies indicate that the influence of the family environment is most predominant in early life, whereas genetic influences increase with age. We performed a population-based twin study of religiousness in a secular society using data from a Web-based survey sent to 6,707 Danish twins born 1970-1989, who were identified in the Danish Twin Registry. We applied Fishman's three conceptual dimensions of religiousness: cognition, practice, and importance. In all polygenic models and biometric analyses, we controlled for gender and age. The study sample comprised 2,237 same sex twins, a response rate of 45%. We found high correlations within both monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs in most items of religiousness, indicating a large influence from shared environmental factors. Personal religiousness such as praying to God, believing in God, and finding strength and comfort in religion were more influenced by genetic factors than were social forms of religiousness such as church attendance. We found a small tendency for increasing genetic influence with increasing age for some religious items, but not for all.

  15. The Post-Secular Transformation of the Relation between Religion and Rationality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Miguel Gómez Rincón

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The article examines the idea of a direct link between modernization and the loss of plausibility of religious belief, explores the contemporary image of the relation between religion and rationality, and shows why it is not possible to say that the advance of science leads to secularization. In view of the question regarding whether postsecularization entails the mutual exclusion of religion and rationality, it examines the proposals of J. Habermas and N. Wolterstorff, in a search for normative criteria for the dialogue between religious and non-religious rationalities.

  16. Selgusid kirjanduse aastapreemiate saajad / Rein Veidemann ; komment. Karl Martin Sinijärv, Viivi Luik

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Veidemann, Rein, 1946-

    2006-01-01

    Eesti Kultuurkapitali aastapreemiad: Kristiina Ehini luulekogu "Kaitseala" ja Jürgen Rooste luulekogu "Ilusaks inimeseks", Piret Raud "Sanna ja salakütid", Merle Karusoo näidend "Misjonärid", Madis Kõivu artiklikogumik "Luhta-minek". Tõlkepreemiad tõlkijatele Anu Saluäär, Heili Einasto, Lembi Loigu, Veronika Kivisilla, Risto Järv. Vabaauhind Käbi Laretei. Artiklipreemia Aare Pilv. Venekeelse autori kirjandusauhind Gohar Markosjan-Käsper, Svetlan Semenenko

  17. Religious law versus secular law
    The example of the get refusal in Dutch, English and Israeli law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthijs de Blois

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The tension between religious law and secular law in modern democracies is illustrated in this article by a discussion of the different approaches to the get (a bill of divorce refusal (based on Jewish law under Dutch, English and Israeli law. These legal orders share many characteristics, but also display important differences as to the role of religion and religious law in the public realm. The Dutch system is the most secular of the three; it does not recognize a role for religious law within the secular system as such. The English legislation provides for means that to a certain extent facilitate the effectuation of a religious divorce. In Israel, finally, the law of marriage and divorce is as such governed by the religious law of the parties concerned; for the majority of the population that is Jewish law. An evaluation of the different approaches in the framework of human rights law reveals the complexities of the collision of the underlying values in terms of equality, religious freedom and minority rights, also having regard to the diversity of opinions within religious communities.

  18. Secular gains in fluid intelligence: evidence from the Culture-Fair intelligence test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colom, Roberto; García-López, Oscar

    2003-01-01

    There is no doubt about the reality of the secular increase in cognitive test scores. However, there is disagreement about a key issue: does the observed increase reflect a genuine upward trend in intelligence? Evidence from the Raven test is clear, although there are some doubts about its adequacy as a fine-grained measure of fluid intelligence. Evidence from the so-called 'method of correlated vectors' is much less clear. When a crystallized battery is considered, the results leave little doubt: the increase does not reflect gains in general intelligence. However, when a fluid battery is analysed, the increase does reflect gains in general intelligence. The present study uses one of the best available measures of fluid intelligence (the Culture-Fair intelligence test) to provide new evidence for the secular increase in fluid intelligence, beyond the findings from the Raven test and the method of correlated vectors. A total of 4498 Spanish high school students and high school graduates were tested within a time interval of 20 and 23 years, respectively. The results show that there is a clear upward trend in intelligence. Moreover, students show an average increase equivalent to 6 IQ points, while graduates show an average increase of 4 IQ points. Therefore, more selected people (graduates) show a smaller increase than less selected people (students). Some implications are discussed.

  19. Human Neonatal Rotavirus Vaccine (RV3-BB) to Target Rotavirus from Birth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bines, Julie E; At Thobari, Jarir; Satria, Cahya Dewi; Handley, Amanda; Watts, Emma; Cowley, Daniel; Nirwati, Hera; Ackland, James; Standish, Jane; Justice, Frances; Byars, Gabrielle; Lee, Katherine J; Barnes, Graeme L; Bachtiar, Novilia S; Viska Icanervilia, Ajeng; Boniface, Karen; Bogdanovic-Sakran, Nada; Pavlic, Daniel; Bishop, Ruth F; Kirkwood, Carl D; Buttery, Jim P; Soenarto, Yati

    2018-02-22

    A strategy of administering a neonatal rotavirus vaccine at birth to target early prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis may address some of the barriers to global implementation of a rotavirus vaccine. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in Indonesia to evaluate the efficacy of an oral human neonatal rotavirus vaccine (RV3-BB) in preventing rotavirus gastroenteritis. Healthy newborns received three doses of RV3-BB, administered according to a neonatal schedule (0 to 5 days, 8 weeks, and 14 weeks of age) or an infant schedule (8 weeks, 14 weeks, and 18 weeks of age), or placebo. The primary analysis was conducted in the per-protocol population, which included only participants who received all four doses of vaccine or placebo within the visit windows, with secondary analyses performed in the intention-to-treat population, which included all participants who underwent randomization. Among the 1513 participants in the per-protocol population, severe rotavirus gastroenteritis occurred up to the age of 18 months in 5.6% of the participants in the placebo group (28 of 504 babies), in 1.4% in the neonatal-schedule vaccine group (7 of 498), and in 2.7% in the infant-schedule vaccine group (14 of 511). This resulted in a vaccine efficacy of 75% (95% confidence interval [CI], 44 to 91) in the neonatal-schedule group (PBill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others; Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12612001282875 .).

  20. Religiousness and religious coping in a secular society

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvidtjørn, Dorte; Hjelmborg, Jacob; Skytthe, Axel

    2014-01-01

    Women are found to be more religious than men and more likely to use religious coping. Only few studies have explored religious gender differences in more secular societies. This population-based study comprised 3,000 Danish men and women (response rate 45 %) between 20 and 40 years of age....... Information about demographics, religiousness and religious coping was obtained through a web-based questionnaire. We organized religiousness in the three dimensions: Cognition, Practice and Importance, and we assessed religious coping using the brief RCOPE questionnaire. We found substantial gender...... differences in both religiousness and religious coping. Nearly, 60 % of the women believed in some sort of spirit or in God compared to 40 % of the men. Generally, both men and women scored low on the RCOPE scale. However, for respondents reporting high levels of religiousness, the proportion of men who...

  1. Christian Resistance to Gay-Proselytism in a Secular Nigeria: Anathema or Social Heroism?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Endong Floribert

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The criminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria has partially been inspired and acclaimed by a number of religious schools of thought, including Christian opinion leaders. Such an influence of religion on politics has been seriously questioned. Using observations and literary sources, this paper underlines the unconstitutionality of Christian antigay proselytism at the political sphere of the Nigerian State, anchoring its claim on the constitutional provision stipulating the secular character of Nigeria. It however interprets such a move (the “influential” Christian anti-gay proselytism as an inevitable expression of the religious character of Nigeria’s social and cultural spheres. Furthermore, the paper argues that the Nigerian Federation is “fully secular” only on paper and not in practice. Secularity is partially observed at the political sphere of the State. Religion and populism continue to shape major socio-political schemes (as seen in the criminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria. With such a socio-political influence of religion, legislative projects such as the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition Act and political strategies such as the Nigerian Government’s resistance against western gay-proselytism can only be massively celebrated. In line with this, (Christian anti-gay proselytism at the Nigeria’s political sphere is logically viewed less as an anathema, and more as socio-political heroism.

  2. The contribution of radioisotopes in secular equilibrium in the transport index of fissile uranium compounds in different enrichments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, Teresinha de Moraes da; Sordi, Gian M.A.A.

    2008-01-01

    Full text: This work shows the contribution of radioisotopes in secular equilibrium in the transport index (TI) of some fissile uranium compounds: uranium oxides UO 2 , U 3 O 8 and uranium silicide U 3 Si 2 , taking into account the different enrichment grades.The range of enrichment (E%) studied was 3,4,5,7,10,20,30,40,50,93 and 100. Initially, the cell of optimum moderation ratio was built, since it represents the most reactive of the system (consisting of uranium), with maximum infinitive multiplication factor k∞, in certain concentration of uranium for each enrichment. This was made using the computer program Gamtec II. The critical radius of a sphere was calculated for a cell of optimum moderation ratio, in order to calculate the critical mass of the uranium compound or of the uranium element for each specific enrichment. For this the program Citation was used. In this study it was calculated the smallest critical mass of the uranium compound or the smallest critical mass of the uranium element. The objective was to match the largest mass of the uranium with each specific enrichment. The largest safety mass corresponds to 45% the critical mass the compound uranium or uranium element. Then, we calculated the uranium element safety mass, which it related to a fifth of this mass to the value 50, which corresponds to criticality safety index (CSI). That is, 20% of the safety mass is the value where the transport is carried out with subcritical mass, going in favor of the security. From the uranium element safety mass (USM) was determined for each enrichment , and it was calculated the mass of 235 U, activity 235 U and dose rate of 235 U, the same items were calculated for the isotope 238 U. The total dose rate was calculated for two isotopes, and applying the transport index definition as the gamma dose rate for the distance of 1 m from the packed, it was determined the TI for 20% of the safety mass for each enrichment of the compound studied. The study of

  3. Secular instabilities of Keplerian stellar discs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaur, Karamveer; Kazandjian, Mher V.; Sridhar, S.; Touma, Jihad R.

    2018-05-01

    We present idealized models of a razor-thin, axisymmetric, Keplerian stellar disc around a massive black hole, and study non-axisymmetric secular instabilities in the absence of either counter-rotation or loss cones. These discs are prograde mono-energetic waterbags, whose phase-space distribution functions are constant for orbits within a range of eccentricities (e) and zero outside this range. The linear normal modes of waterbags are composed of sinusoidal disturbances of the edges of distribution function in phase space. Waterbags that include circular orbits (polarcaps) have one stable linear normal mode for each azimuthal wavenumber m. The m = 1 mode always has positive pattern speed and, for polarcaps consisting of orbits with e normal modes for each m, which can be stable or unstable. We derive analytical expressions for the instability condition, pattern speeds, growth rates, and normal mode structure. Narrow bands are unstable to modes with a wide range in m. Numerical simulations confirm linear theory and follow the non-linear evolution of instabilities. Long-time integration suggests that instabilities of different m grow, interact non-linearly, and relax collisionlessly to a coarse-grained equilibrium with a wide range of eccentricities.

  4. Medical Image of the Week: Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings of Severe RV Failure

    OpenAIRE

    Wickstrom K; Ateeli H; Chaudhary S

    2018-01-01

    No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. A 56-year-old man with history a of alcohol abuse presents with progressive shortness of breath on exertion, bilateral lower extremity swelling and 12-pound weight gain over two weeks. His transthoracic echocardiography (Figure 1) demonstrated severely increased global right ventricle (RV) size, severely dilated right atrium (RA), severe pulmonary artery (PA) dilation, moderate tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and right ventricular systo...

  5. Secular Trends in Habitual Physical Activities of Mozambican Children and Adolescents from Maputo City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernanda Karina dos Santos

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Social and economic changes occurring in the last two decades in Mozambique may have induced lifestyle changes among youth. This study aimed to document secular changes in habitual physical activities of Mozambican youth between 1992, 1999 and 2012. A total of 3393 youth (eight–15 years, were measured in three different time periods (1992, 1999, 2012. Habitual physical activity (PA was estimated with a questionnaire, including items related to household chores, sport participation, traditional games and walking activities. Biological maturation was assessed. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA was used to compare mean differences in PA across the years. Significant decreases between 1992–1999 and 1992–2012 were observed for boys in household chores, games and walking, and a significant decline between 1999 and 2012 was found in sport participation. Among girls, a significant and consistent decline (1992 > 1999 > 2012 was observed for household chores, a decline between 1992–1999 and 1992–2012 for games and walking, and a significant increase between 1992 and 1999 in sport participation. In general, a negative secular trend was found in habitual PA among Mozambican youth. Interventions aimed at increasing PA represent important educational and public health opportunities.

  6. Geomagnetic secular variation from recent lake sediments, ancient fireplaces and historical measurements in southeastern Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barton, C. E.; Barbetti, Mike

    1982-07-01

    Compilations of historical observations, archaeomagnetic data from ancient fireplaces and palaemagetic results from short cores of sediment from lakes in southeastern Australia, particularly Lake Keilambete, provide a detailed record of the geomagnetic secular variation during the last 3000 years. The independent sets of data are in good agreement if the radiocarbon time scale for the lacustrine record is about 450 years too old. The error is attributed to systematic incorporation of ancient carbon into the lake floor sediments, mainly through erosion of sediment on the crater walls at times of low water level. A significant lag between deposition and the acquisition of stable magnetic remanence is ruled out. Inclination has been abnormally steep during the last 500 years but remained fairly close to the axial dipole field value prior to that. During the last 1000 years the predominant sense of looping of the magnetic vector corresponds to westward drift of the nondipole field. Secular variations on a time scale of ˜ 100 years can be resolved by the lacustrine record.

  7. Research Vessel R/V Sikuliaq: Joining the UNOLS Fleet in 2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitledge, T. E.

    2013-12-01

    The global class research vessel R/V Sikuliaq is being constructed on behalf of the NSF to support future scientific studies in high latitude waters. The 261 foot vessel will be capable of breaking 2.5 foot thick ice at 2 knots with an endurance of 45 days at sea and cruising at 11 knots. The R/V Sikuliaq has a beam of 52 feet and a draft of 18.9 feet that will carry 26 scientists and a crew of 20. Berthing accommodations are a combination of single/double rooms with one stateroom and the common areas of the vessel are designed for ADA access and accommodations. The total laboratory space (main, analytical, electronics, wet, upper, and Baltic room are 2100 square feet. The 4360 square foot working deck that is approximately 70 feet in length will accommodate 2-4 vans and multiple science operations. The vessel design strives to have the lowest possible environmental impact, including a low underwater-radiated noise signature. The science systems are prescribed to be state-of-the-art for bottom mapping, over-the-side 'hands free' gear handling, broad band communications and scientific walk-in freezer and environmental chamber. More details and photos of the construction progress are available on the website at www.sfos.uaf.edu/arrv. The vessel was launched in October 2012 and delivery to the University of Alaska Fairbanks is scheduled for November 2013. Scientific operations following testing and science sea trials are planned to start in summer of 2014. Questions about the science systems or vessel capabilities should be directed to Terry Whitledge (terry@ims.uaf.edu).

  8. Characterization of GafChromic XR-RV2 film and comparator strip using a flatbed scanner in reflection mode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mendoza-Moctezuma, A. I.; Aguilar, J. Garcia; Garcia-Garduno, O. A.

    2010-01-01

    Interventional cardiology procedures are an effective alternative for the reestablishment of correct sanguineous circulation in the heart. However, this kind of procedures exposes to the patients to a relatively high radiation doses. Usually, the surface peak skin dose is evaluated using a visual scale with a comparator strip, nevertheless, even if the comparator strip provides a simple and quick method for estimating the dose it has an uncertainty of ±25%. For this reason, a better evaluation method is needed. The objective of our project is to determine the surface peak skin dose of interventional cardiology procedures using GafChromic XR-RV2 film together with a commercial flatbed scanner in reflection mode. Here we report a protocol to handle GafChromic XR-RV2 film using a commercial flat bed scanner in reflection mode aiming at an uncertainty of ±3%.

  9. Longitudinal and secular trends in adolescent whole-grain consumption, 1999-2004.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgess-Champoux, Teri L; Larson, Nicole I; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne R; Hannan, Peter J; Story, Mary T

    2010-01-01

    The replacement of refined grains in the diet with whole grains may help prevent chronic disease and excess weight gain, but intakes in adolescents are often lower than recommended. This study aimed to examine demographic disparities and 5-y longitudinal and secular trends (1999-2004) in whole-grain intake among 2 cohorts of Minnesota adolescents. Whole-grain intake was examined among 996 adolescent males and 1222 adolescent females who were Project EAT (Eating Among Teens) participants in 1999 and 2004. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine demographic differences in whole-grain intake. Mixed linear regression models were used to estimate 1) longitudinal trends among 2 cohorts of adolescents during developmental transitions and 2) age-matched secular trends between the cohorts at middle adolescence. In 1999, 11% of adolescent males and 13% of adolescent females reported that they consumed more than one daily serving of whole grains. Whole-grain intake was lowest among youth of the Native American and white races and among youth of high socioeconomic status. During the transition from middle to late adolescence, whole-grain intake increased by a mean of 0.14 daily servings among adolescent males and 0.09 daily servings among adolescent females. No significant changes in whole-grain intake were shown among either sex during the transition from early to middle adolescence. Yeast breads, popcorn, and ready-to-eat breakfast cereals were major sources of whole grains in 1999 and 2004. Findings suggest the need to advance efforts that target improvements in the amount of whole-grain foods selected by adolescents.

  10. A model of the geomagnetic field and its secular variation for epoch 2000 estimated from Orsted data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Nils

    2002-01-01

    as measured simultaneously by globally distributed geomagnetic observatories. In addition, the observatory data are used to constrain secular variation. The model is estimated using an iteratively reweighted least-squares method with Huber weights to account for the non-Gaussian data error distribution...

  11. On the Existence and Uniqueness of Rv-Generalized Solution for Dirichlet Problem with Singularity on All Boundary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Rukavishnikov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The existence and uniqueness of the Rv-generalized solution for the first boundary value problem and a second order elliptic equation with coordinated and uncoordinated degeneracy of input data and with strong singularity solution on all boundary of a two-dimensional domain are established.

  12. The Role of Interreligious and Interfaith Dialogue in the Post-Secular World

    OpenAIRE

    Biljana Popovska; Zhanet Ristoska; Pablo Payet

    2017-01-01

    Today, western liberal democratic societies are secular, or in other words, religion is set apart from the state. However, the beginning of the 21st century has seen a re-politicizing of the religion. This paper argues that religion plays an important role in current global politics and events. Moreover, it has been used as tool to recruit masses for a wrong cause. Hence, Interreligious and interfaith dialog can play a role of catalysts and a future trend in cultural diplomacy. The paper prov...

  13. Rv2969c, essential for optimal growth in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a DsbA-like enzyme that interacts with VKOR-derived peptides and has atypical features of DsbA-like disulfide oxidases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Premkumar, Lakshmanane; Heras, Begoña; Duprez, Wilko; Walden, Patricia; Halili, Maria; Kurth, Fabian; Fairlie, David P.; Martin, Jennifer L.

    2013-01-01

    The gene product of M. tuberculosis Rv2969c is shown to be a disulfide oxidase enzyme that has a canonical DsbA-like fold with novel structural and functional characteristics. The bacterial disulfide machinery is an attractive molecular target for developing new antibacterials because it is required for the production of multiple virulence factors. The archetypal disulfide oxidase proteins in Escherichia coli (Ec) are DsbA and DsbB, which together form a functional unit: DsbA introduces disulfides into folding proteins and DsbB reoxidizes DsbA to maintain it in the active form. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), no DsbB homologue is encoded but a functionally similar but structurally divergent protein, MtbVKOR, has been identified. Here, the Mtb protein Rv2969c is investigated and it is shown that it is the DsbA-like partner protein of MtbVKOR. It is found that it has the characteristic redox features of a DsbA-like protein: a highly acidic catalytic cysteine, a highly oxidizing potential and a destabilizing active-site disulfide bond. Rv2969c also has peptide-oxidizing activity and recognizes peptide segments derived from the periplasmic loops of MtbVKOR. Unlike the archetypal EcDsbA enzyme, Rv2969c has little or no activity in disulfide-reducing and disulfide-isomerase assays. The crystal structure of Rv2969c reveals a canonical DsbA fold comprising a thioredoxin domain with an embedded helical domain. However, Rv2969c diverges considerably from other DsbAs, including having an additional C-terminal helix (H8) that may restrain the mobility of the catalytic helix H1. The enzyme is also characterized by a very shallow hydrophobic binding surface and a negative electrostatic surface potential surrounding the catalytic cysteine. The structure of Rv2969c was also used to model the structure of a paralogous DsbA-like domain of the Ser/Thr protein kinase PknE. Together, these results show that Rv2969c is a DsbA-like protein with unique properties and a limited

  14. Rv2969c, essential for optimal growth in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a DsbA-like enzyme that interacts with VKOR-derived peptides and has atypical features of DsbA-like disulfide oxidases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Premkumar, Lakshmanane, E-mail: p.lakshmanane@imb.uq.edu.au; Heras, Begoña; Duprez, Wilko; Walden, Patricia; Halili, Maria; Kurth, Fabian; Fairlie, David P.; Martin, Jennifer L., E-mail: p.lakshmanane@imb.uq.edu.au [University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4067 (Australia)

    2013-10-01

    The gene product of M. tuberculosis Rv2969c is shown to be a disulfide oxidase enzyme that has a canonical DsbA-like fold with novel structural and functional characteristics. The bacterial disulfide machinery is an attractive molecular target for developing new antibacterials because it is required for the production of multiple virulence factors. The archetypal disulfide oxidase proteins in Escherichia coli (Ec) are DsbA and DsbB, which together form a functional unit: DsbA introduces disulfides into folding proteins and DsbB reoxidizes DsbA to maintain it in the active form. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), no DsbB homologue is encoded but a functionally similar but structurally divergent protein, MtbVKOR, has been identified. Here, the Mtb protein Rv2969c is investigated and it is shown that it is the DsbA-like partner protein of MtbVKOR. It is found that it has the characteristic redox features of a DsbA-like protein: a highly acidic catalytic cysteine, a highly oxidizing potential and a destabilizing active-site disulfide bond. Rv2969c also has peptide-oxidizing activity and recognizes peptide segments derived from the periplasmic loops of MtbVKOR. Unlike the archetypal EcDsbA enzyme, Rv2969c has little or no activity in disulfide-reducing and disulfide-isomerase assays. The crystal structure of Rv2969c reveals a canonical DsbA fold comprising a thioredoxin domain with an embedded helical domain. However, Rv2969c diverges considerably from other DsbAs, including having an additional C-terminal helix (H8) that may restrain the mobility of the catalytic helix H1. The enzyme is also characterized by a very shallow hydrophobic binding surface and a negative electrostatic surface potential surrounding the catalytic cysteine. The structure of Rv2969c was also used to model the structure of a paralogous DsbA-like domain of the Ser/Thr protein kinase PknE. Together, these results show that Rv2969c is a DsbA-like protein with unique properties and a limited

  15. Treatment of marine sewage pumpout and RV park pumpout wastewater containing high strength concentrations of formaldehyde

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salonich, J.

    2002-01-01

    'Full text:' A consortium of companies has developed an integrated 'on-site' wastewater treatment technology that is capable of handling and degrading RV Park and Marine Sewage Pumpout Wastes which contain formaldehyde [35 - 80 mg/L]. Boat and RV owners add formaldehyde to their toilets to eliminate odors. When these materials are pumped out they are high in solids content and have high concentrations of HCHO, which makes them difficult to degrade at POTWs. At the heart of this process is 1. An aeration tank with a Venturi Aerator totally external to the tank and 2. The addition of a blend of cultured bacteria that have selected for their ability to degrade formaldehyde. For a complete 'on-site' treatment system Bioclere Trickling Filters can follow this aeration/bacterial treatment system. This is an ideal system configuration for remote locations (RV Parks) or for fresh water lake Marinas looking to reduce their disposal costs and for groundwater discharge with no adverse effect on water quality. Until the development of the formaldehyde degrading bacteria for an industrial wastewater process there were no cultures commercially available specifically for degrading formaldehyde. The most commonly used bacteria were pseudomonas strains for carbohydrate or hydrocarbon wastewater extracted from activated sludge plants. And since formaldehyde is infinitely soluble in a liquid it is difficult to degrade or mineralize. The process in an activated sludge WWTP plant took over 72 hours. With the newly selected consortia of cultures, HCHO can be degraded in 12-14 hours on a batch basis. This is accomplished in a uniquely configured aeration tank where the 'environment' of the tank is constantly conditioned by a Venturi Aerator which strips carbon dioxide generated by the aerobes to maintain a neutral pH, and provide high levels of DO (>5.0 mg/L) to keep the process aerobic. (author)

  16. PSEUDOBULGE FORMATION AS A DYNAMICAL RATHER THAN A SECULAR PROCESS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guedes, Javiera; Mayer, Lucio; Carollo, Marcella [Institute for Astronomy, ETH Zuerich, Wolgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Madau, Piero [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)

    2013-07-20

    We investigate the formation and evolution of the pseudobulge in 'Eris', a high-resolution N-body + smoothed particle hydrodynamic cosmological simulation that successfully reproduces a Milky-Way-like massive late-type spiral in an cold dark matter universe. At the present epoch, Eris has a virial mass M{sub vir} {approx_equal} 8 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 11} M{sub Sun }, a photometric stellar mass M{sub *} = 3.2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 10} M{sub Sun }, a bulge-to-total ratio B/T = 0.26, and a weak nuclear bar. We find that the bulk of the pseudobulge forms quickly at high redshift via a combination of non-axisymmetric disk instabilities and tidal interactions or mergers, both occurring on dynamical timescales, not through slow secular processes at lower redshift. Its subsequent evolution is not strictly secular either, and is closely intertwined with the evolution of the stellar bar. In fact, the structure that we recognize as a pseudobulge today evolved from a stellar bar that formed at high redshift due to tidal interactions with satellites, was destroyed by minor mergers at z {approx} 3, re-formed shortly after, and weakened again following a steady gas inflow at z {approx}< 1. The gradual dissolution of the bar ensued at z {approx} 1 and continues until the present without increasing the stellar velocity dispersion in the inner regions. In this scenario, the pseudobulge is not a separate component from the inner disk in terms of formation path; rather, it is the first step in the inside-out formation of the baryonic disk, in agreement with the fact that pseudobulges of massive spiral galaxies typically have a dominant old stellar population. If our simulations do indeed reproduce the formation mechanisms of massive spirals, then the progenitors of late-type galaxies should have strong bars and small photometric pseudobulges at high redshift.

  17. WATER TEMPERATURE and Other Data from R.V. MADIDIHANG and Other Platforms from 19780722 to 19780726 (NODC Accession 9700129)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Zooplankton, temperature, hydrochemical, and other data were collected from bottle and nets casts in the South China Sea from the R/V Madidihang and other platforms...

  18. Constitutional legitimacy: Sharia Law, Secularism and the Social Compact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zia Akhtar

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available This article considers the general points relating to the application of Sharia law which challenges legislators in the political instability of a number of Middle Eastern countries. The question explored is how governments of these countries who are facing discontent can work towards constitutional governance. As an example comparison is made between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Indonesia with the largest Muslim populations. In Pakistan an inherited Westminster Parliamentary system with a common law codified dated at the time of the British rule is supplemented by criminal penalties as present in the Hudood ordinances. These codes enforce punishments for some crimes and these were promulgated in the early 1980s during the reign of the Pakistani conservative military government. These different layers of jurisprudence do not accord with a uniform legal precedence and creates a clash between liberals and the fundamentalists who want an all pervasive Sharia law. The Pakistani legal canon of Islamic law has been restricted by the secular ideology of the state which has parallels in other Asian countries with a Muslim majority. However, there is an issue of compatibility of a secular ideology and the application of Sharia. It needs an exposition of thought that takes account of the enlightenment in Europe which led to the social contract theory in the 18th century. This theory rejects the narrow interpretation of divine authority and presents the jurist with a challenge to make modernize the laws. In recent times Muslim academics have adopted a critical approach against the tenets of conservatism in temporal Islam and called them unrepresentative of the true spirit of the Sharia. The present turmoil in the Arab countries has raised the question of legitimacy and the need arises to evaluate the principles of the Compact of Medina, which was proclaimed by the first Islamic state, and secondly, to enquire if the adoption of Sharia can be made

  19. On the univocity of rationality: a response to Nigel Biggar's 'Why religion deserves a place in secular medicine'.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Symons, Xavier

    2015-11-01

    Nigel Biggar (2015) argues that religion deserves a place in secular medicine. Biggar suggests we abandon the standard rationalistic conception of the secular realm and see it rather as "a forum for the negotiation of rival reasonings". Religious reasoning is one among a number of ways of thinking that must vie for acceptance. Medical ethics, says Biggar, is characterised by "spiritual and moral mixture and ambiguity". We acknowledge this uncertainty by recognising rival viewpoints and agreeing to provisional compromises.In this response, I object to Biggar's characterisation of medical ethics as "morally ambiguous" and "provisional". I argue that Biggar has failed to provide adequate support for his conception of ethics as a "forum for negotiation and compromise". I criticise Biggar's attempt to 'pluralise' rationality, and assert that if religion is to play a role in secular medicine, it must be ready to defend itself against a universal standard of reason. In the second section of my response, I argue that 'theistic natural law' gives us the resources to defend using reason alone ostensibly faith-based positions in healthcare ethics. In doing so, we retain a univocal conception of rationality, while at the same time leaving space for 'theism' in healthcare ethics. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  20. rvärmning av tilluften med återvunnen värme

    OpenAIRE

    Kader, Aza; Yousif, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Idag är det vanligt för fjärrvärmebolagen att basera sin taxa på effektbehovet för fastigheten. Effekttaxeringsmetod skiljer sig mellan olika fjärrvärmeleverantörer. Dock är toppeffektbehoven för fastigheterna en gemensam nämnare för bolagen när debiteringsunderlag beslutas.I Sverige finns det idag befintlig teknik som sänker effektbehovet genom förvärmning av uteluft, vilket reducerar frostbildning i värmeväxlaren och förbättras dess verkningsgrad. Denna teknik utnyttjar geoenergi som värmek...

  1. Secular Variation and Physical Characteristics Determination of the HADS Star EH Lib

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pena, J. H.; Villarreal, C.; Pina, D. S.; Renteria, A.; Soni, A., Guillen, J. Calderon, J.

    2017-12-01

    Physical parameters of EH Lib have been determined based on observations carried out in 2015 with photometry. They have also served, along with samples from the years 1969 and 1986, to analyse the frequency content of EH Lib with Fourier Transforms. Recent CCD observations increased the times of maximum with twelve new times which helped us study the secular variation of the period with a method based on the minimization of the standard deviation of the O-C residuals. It is concluded that there may be a long-term period change.

  2. Secular evolution of galaxies and galaxy clusters in decaying dark matter cosmology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrer, Francesc; Nipoti, Carlo; Ettori, Stefano

    2009-01-01

    If the dark matter sector in the Universe is composed by metastable particles, galaxies and galaxy clusters are expected to undergo significant secular evolution from high to low redshift. We show that the decay of dark matter, with a lifetime compatible with cosmological constraints, can be at the origin of the observed evolution of the Tully-Fisher relation of disk galaxies and alleviate the problem of the size evolution of elliptical galaxies, while being consistent with the current observational constraints on the gas fraction of clusters of galaxies.

  3. On the problem of secular variability in the stellar initial mass function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meusinger, H.

    1987-01-01

    The hypothesis of secular variations in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is studied. It is found that neither the present-day mass function of the nearby main sequence field stars nor the velocity distribution of these stars are contradictory with this hypothesis. The luminosity functions of unbiased kinematically defined age-groups of the nearby stars also provide no strong constraints. Simple evoluion models with time-dependent IMF and star formation rate enable to fit the data of blue irregular galaxies. Some problems with an universal IMF are pointed out. (author)

  4. The R/V Folger a Floating Laboratory: Teaching Marine Science Skills on Lake Champlain (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manley, P.; Manley, T.

    2013-12-01

    Undergraduate senior work has been required at Middlebury College as far back as 1960's and hands-on experiential learning was and still is the mode for our geology courses. The history of Middlebury College having a research vessel started in the 1970's when Dave Folger started the marine component of our curriculum and obtained the first Middlebury College's research vessel - a coast guard rescue surf boat (Bruno Schmidt). The second Middlebury College research vessel, the R/V Baldwin was purchased in 1985 and was used exclusively in a river-like setting due to its open cockpit and minimal research equipment. In 1990, Middlebury College received a grant from NSF-MRI to upgrade the vessel, to a then state-of the-art small oceanographic vessel including new equipment (CTD, side-scan sonar, ROV, met station, coring devices, computers and navigation). Middlebury College contributed monies to enclose the wheelhouse, install safer diesel engines, as well as a winch and an A-frame to haul in equipment. Over 600+ students used the Baldwin in a variety of geology courses; mainly Oceanography and Marine Geology. In 2010, Middlebury College received an NSF -ARRA grant (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) to replace the ailing R/V Baldwin with a floating state-of-the art laboratory with the specific goals of increasing 1) access to lake research for Middlebury faculty and students in the biological, chemical, and environmental sciences, 2) the scope of lake research by reducing transit times over this 100km long lake, 3) stability for broad-lake research, 4) improve and expand research capabilities on Lake Champlain, 5) the carrying capacity (both equipment and people), and 6) instructional capability and overnight capabilities. The newly built R/V Folger is a sophisticated research vessel with advanced capabilities that provides a greater capacity to the research infrastructure on Lake Champlain, enhancing interdisciplinary inquiry not only for Middlebury College, but

  5. Tendência secular de crescimento em escolares de Paulínia, São Paulo-Brasil (1979/80 - 1993/94 Secular trends of growth of schoolchildren from Paulínia, São Paulo - Brazil (1979/80 - 1993/94

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise Barbieri Marmo

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Avaliar a tendência secular de altura, peso e da relação peso/altura em escolares de Paulínia, São Paulo, Brasil, entre 1979/80 e 1993/94. MÉTODOS: Medidas antropométricas de peso (P e altura (A e da relação P/A de 1.903 crianças de 6,5 a 12,5 anos (51,5% M e 48,5% F de escolas públicas de Paulínia foram comparadas com dados de estudo anterior realizado na mesma cidade, com intervalo de 15 anos. Calculou-se o incremento por década e alisou-se os dados pela técnica de médias e medianas móveis (3H3H3. RESULTADOS: As médias de altura e peso foram sempre superiores às do estudo anterior, com incrementos positivos. Os incrementos para a altura variaram de 1,13 a 5 cm no sexo masculino e 1,2 a 4,33 cm nas meninas, já para o peso a variação foi de 0,53 a 4,13 kg nos meninos e 0,87 a 3,0 kg nas meninas. Para a relação P/A, as médias dos dois estudos foram muito semelhantes em ambos os sexos. CONCLUSÕES: A tendência secular positiva da estatura e do peso neste período deve-se principalmente ao desenvolvimento econômico, de saneamento básico, de habitação, de educação e na área de saúde ocorrido na cidade de Paulínia. A tendência secular positiva encontrada foi semelhante à observada em países desenvolvidos após a II Guerra Mundial e de outros trabalhos brasileiros.BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the secular trends in height, weight and weight/height of schoolchildren from the city of Paulínia, São Paulo, Brazil between 1979/80 and 1993/94. METHODS: Anthropometric measurements (height, weight and weight/height of 1,903 children (6.5-12.5y; 51.5% M: 48.5% F, from Paulínia public schools were compared with data from a previous study carried out in the same city 15 years earlier. Decade increments were calculated and data was smoothed by the technique of means and medians (3H3H3. RESULTS: Height and weight mean values were always greater than those of the previous study, with positive

  6. Mapping structural influences on sex and HIV education in church and secular schools in Zimbabwe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mpofu, Elias; Mutepfa, Magen Mhaka; Hallfors, Denise Dion

    2012-09-01

    The authors used state-of-the-art concept mapping approaches to examine structural institutional effects of church and secular high schools on the types of sexual and HIV-prevention education messages transmitted to learners in Zimbabwe. Participants were school teachers (n = 26), school counselors (n = 28), and pastors involved in student pastoral care (n = 14; males = 27, females = 41). They reported on messages perceived to influence sexual decisions of learners in their school setting. The self-report data were clustered into message types using concept mapping and contrasted for consistency of content and structure both between and within type of school. The authors also engaged in curriculum document study with member checks in the participant schools to determine convergence of the evidence on school-type effects of the messages transmitted to students. Church schools prioritized faith-informed sexual and HIV-prevention messages, whereas both types of schools prioritized Life skills education and a future focus. Secular schools prioritized sex and HIV messages in the context of community norms. Facts about HIV and AIDS were relatively underemphasized by church schools. The implicit knowledge values that differentiate types of schools influence learner access to information important for their sexual decisions.

  7. Religious law versus secular law The example of the get refusal in Dutch, English and Israeli law

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blois, M. de

    2010-01-01

    The tension between religious law and secular law in modern democracies is illustrated in this article by a discussion of the different approaches to the get (a bill of divorce) refusal (based on Jewish law) under Dutch, English and Israeli law. These legal orders share many characteristics, but

  8. Die Versprachlichung des Sakralen: The Transformation of the Authority of the Sacred into Secular Political Deliberation in Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Øjvind Larsen

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available bermas claims in connection with his development of the theory of communicative action that the sacred is transformed in a positive way and can take the form of free deliberation in society, the so called Versprachlichung des Sakralen. The thesis is that the authority which could be found in religion and which is of fundamental significance for the integration of pre-modern societies is taken over by modern societies in forms of deliberation. Habermas develops his thesis in a discussion of Durkheim’s religious-sociological considerations. Habermas presents his thesis about the linguistic transformation of the sacred as a harmonious theory of secularization. However, if we follow Weber in his religious-sociological considerations of modernity, we reach a tragic theory of secularization which poses the real problem that modernity’s connection to the sacred has been dissolved. Cornelius Castoriadis’ theory of the imaginary institution and Claude Lefort’s theory of the empty place of the political as a new insecure moral ground for modern society are presented together as an alternative theory of secularization which can serve as a new framework for Habermas’ theory of communicative ethics and deliberative politics in modern society.

  9. Multimodal actions of the phytochemical sulforaphane suppress both AR and AR-V7 in 22Rv1 cells: Advocating a potent pharmaceutical combination against castration-resistant prostate cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khurana, Namrata; Kim, Hogyoung; Chandra, Partha K; Talwar, Sudha; Sharma, Pankaj; Abdel-Mageed, Asim B; Sikka, Suresh C; Mondal, Debasis

    2017-11-01

    Prostate cancer (PCa) cells expressing full-length androgen receptor (AR-FL) are susceptible to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). However, outgrowth of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) can occur due to the expression of constitutively active (ligand-independent) AR splice variants, particularly AR-V7. We previously demonstrated that sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate phytochemical, can decrease AR-FL levels in the PCa cell lines, LNCaP and C4-2B. Here, we examined the efficacy of SFN in targeting both AR-FL and AR-V7 in the CRPC cell line, CWR22Rv1 (22Rv1). MTT cell viability, wound-heal assay, and colony forming unit (CFU) measurements revealed that 22Rv1 cells are resistant to the anti-androgen, enzalutamide (ENZ). However, co-exposure to SFN sensitized these cells to the potent anticancer effects of ENZ (PAR-FL and AR-V7 levels, and immunofluorescence microscopy (IFM) depicted decreased AR in both cytoplasm and nucleus with SFN treatment. SFN increased both ubiquitination and proteasomal activity in 22Rv1 cells. Studies using a protein synthesis inhibitor (cycloheximide) or a proteasomal inhibitor (MG132) indicated that SFN increases both ubiquitin-mediated aggregation and subsequent proteasomal-degradation of AR proteins. Previous studies reported that SFN inhibits the chaperone activity of heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and induces the nuclear factor erythroid-2-like 2 (Nrf2) transcription factor. Therefore, we investigated whether the Hsp90 inhibitor, ganetespib (G) or the Nrf2 activator, bardoxolone methyl (BM) can similarly suppress AR levels in 22Rv1 cells. Low doses of G and BM, alone or in combination, decreased both AR-FL and AR-V7 levels, and combined exposure to G+BM sensitized 22Rv1 cells to ENZ. Therefore, adjunct treatment with the phytochemical SFN or a safe pharmaceutical combination of G+BM may be effective against CRPC cells, especially those expressing AR-V7.

  10. Extending religion-health research to secular minorities: issues and concerns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Karen; Hammer, Joseph H; Cragun, Ryan T

    2011-09-01

    Claims about religion's beneficial effects on physical and psychological health have received substantial attention in popular media, but empirical support for these claims is mixed. Many of these claims are tenuous because they fail to address basic methodological issues relating to construct validity, sampling methods or analytical problems. A more conceptual problem has to do with the near universal lack of atheist control samples. While many studies include samples of individuals classified as "low spirituality" or religious "nones", these groups are heterogeneous and contain only a fraction of members who would be considered truly secular. We illustrate the importance of including an atheist control group whenever possible in the religiosity/spirituality and health research and discuss areas for further investigation.

  11. Religion and survival in a secular region. A twenty year follow-up of 734 Danish adults born in 1914.

    Science.gov (United States)

    la Cour, Peter; Avlund, Kirsten; Schultz-Larsen, Kirsten

    2006-01-01

    The aim of the study was to analyse associations of religiosity and mortality in a secular region. The sample consisted of 734 Danish, community dwelling elderly persons, living in a secular culture, and all aged 70 when primary data were collected. Secondary data consisted of a 20 year follow-up on vital status or exact age of death. The study was designed to be highly comparable to studies conducted in more religious environments in order to compare results. Three variables of religion were investigated in relation to survival: importance of affiliation, church attendance and listening to religious media. Relative hazards (RH) of dying were controlled in models including gender, education, medical and mental health, social relations, help given and received, and health behaviour. The results showed significant and positive associations between claiming religious affiliation important and survival (relative hazard of dying=RH .70; 95% CI .58-.85) and church attendance and survival (RH .73; 95% CI .64-.87). Results decreased and only stayed significant regarding church attendance when controlled for covariates. Nearly all significant effects were seen in women, but not in men. The effect size of the full sample is less than in more religious environments in United States samples. Although the positive overall RHs are comparable to those of other studies, the mediating variables and pathways of effects seem dissimilar in this sample from a secular environment. Receiving and especially giving help to others are suggested as variables of explanatory value.

  12. The impact of a religious opera on a secular audience : The existential and religious importance of art

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zock, T.H.; Alma, H.

    2005-01-01

    What role does art play in the life of contemporary, secularized people who are looking for existential and spiritual meaning? This was the leading question in our empirical research on the opera ‘‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’’ by the French composer, Francis Poulenc. First, we will sketch the

  13. Research Vessel R/V Sikuliaq: A New Asset For The UNOLS Fleet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitledge, T. E.

    2012-12-01

    The research vessel R/V Sikuliaq is currently being constructed on behalf of the NSF to support future scientific studies in high latitude waters. The 261 foot global class vessel will be capable of breaking 2.5 foot thick ice at 2 knots with an endurance of 45 days at sea and cruising at 11 knots. The R/V Sikuliaq will have a beam of 52 feet and a draft of 18.9 feet that will carry 26 scientists and a crew of 20. Berthing accommodations are a combination of single/double rooms with one stateroom and the common areas of the vessel are designed for ADA access and accommodations. The total laboratory space (main, analytical, electronics, wet, upper, and Baltic room will be 2100 square feet. The 4360 square foot working deck that is approximately 70 feet in length will accommodate 2-4 vans and multiple science operations. The vessel design strives to have the lowest possible environmental impact, including a low underwater-radiated noise signature. The science systems are prescribed to be state-of-the-art for bottom mapping, over-the-side "hands free" gear handling, broad band communications and scientific walk-in freezer and environmental chamber. More details and photos of the construction progress are available on the website at www.sfos.uaf.edu/arrv. The shipyard schedule has a launch date of October 2012 and delivery to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in July 2013. Scientific operations following trials and testing is planned to start in January 2014. Questions about the science systems or vessel capabilities should be directed to Terry Whitledge (terry@ims.uaf.edu).;

  14. Eco RV RFLP at the insulin-like growth factor I (IGF I) locus on chromosome 12

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schneid, H; Noguiez, P; Girard, F; Binoux, M; Le Bouc, Y [INSERM U 142, Paris (France)

    1988-09-26

    The human liver IFG I cDNA insert from the {lambda}TG03 (1) was subcloned in PGEM4 (pTG 3906). The 660 bp Eco RI-Bam HI fragment containing the 5{prime} untranslated, the coding and the 3{prime} untranslated region of the IGF IA gene (exons 1, 2, 3 and 5) was used. Eco RV digestion of genomic DNA and hybridization with the IGF I probe reveals invariant fragments of 20; 8, 7 and 5 kb and polymorphic fragments of 13 kb (allele 1) and 11, 5 kb (allele 2). The frequency of alleles was studied in 51 unrelated European Caucasians. Co-dominant segregation was observed in 2 European families (9 individuals). Hind III and Pvu II digestions show previous described RFLP. Allelic frequencies however were: Hind III (5, 2 kb allele = 0, 14 and 4, 9 kb allele = 0, 86) and Pvu II (5 kb allele = 0, 14 and 4, 7 kb allele = 0, 86). Hind III and Pvu II RFLPs are linked. Among the DNA of the 14 individuals, where Eco RV RFLP was found, only one exhibited Hind III and Pvu II RFLPs.

  15. ASIAEX, East China Sea, Cruise Report of the Activities of the R/V Melville, 29 May to 9 June 2001

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Dahl, Peter

    2001-01-01

    Science teams from APL-UW, MPL-SIO, and URI deployed a constellation of instruments from the R/V Melville to measure acoustic propagation and scattering over a broad frequency range (100 Hz to 20 kHz...

  16. An accelerating high-latitude jet in Earth's core

    Science.gov (United States)

    Livermore, P. W.; Finlay, C. C.; Hollerbach, R.

    2017-12-01

    Observations of the change in Earth's magnetic field, the secular variation, provide information on the motion of liquid metal within the core that is responsible for its generation. The very latest high-resolution observations from ESA's Swarm satellite mission show intense field change at high-latitude localised in a distinctive circular daisy-chain configuration centred on the north geographic pole. Here we explain this feature with a localised, nonaxisymmetric, westwards jet of 420 km width on the tangent cylinder, the cylinder of fluid within the core that is aligned with the rotation axis and tangent to the solid inner core. We find that the jet has increased in magnitude by a factor of three over the period 2000-2016 to about 40 km/yr, and is now much stronger than typical large-scale flows inferred for the core. The current accelerating phase may be a part of a longer term fluctuation of the jet causing both eastwards and westwards movement of magnetic features over historical periods, and may contribute to recent changes in torsional wave activity and the rotation direction of the inner core.

  17. Tendência secular do peso ao nascer na cidade de São Paulo (1976-1998 Secular trends in birth weight in S. Paulo city, Brazil (1976-1998

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Augusto Monteiro

    2000-12-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Resgatar a tendência secular da distribuição do peso ao nascer na cidade de São Paulo, SP, bem como examinar suas possíveis causas, com base em dados coletados por dois inquéritos domiciliares sobre condições de saúde na infância realizados em 1984/85 e em 1995/96, complementados por informações procedentes de levantamento de prontuários de maternidades e por informações do Sistema Estadual de Declarações de Nascidos Vivos. MÉTODOS: Os inquéritos domiciliares estudaram amostras probabilísticas da população infantil de São Paulo com idade inferior a cinco anos (n=1.016 em 1984/85; n=1.280 em 1995/96. O levantamento de prontuários estudou uma amostra probabilística dos partos ocorridos nas maternidades da cidade no ano de 1976 (n=5.734. As declarações de nascidos vivos referem-se às coortes de crianças nascidas na cidade entre 1993 e 1998 (cerca de 200 mil crianças por ano. O estudo da distribuição social do peso ao nascer levou em conta a renda familiar per capita e a escolaridade materna. A estratégia analítica para estudar os determinantes da tendência secular do peso ao nascer empregou modelos hierárquicos de causalidade, análises multivariadas de regressão e procedimentos análogos aos utilizados para calcular riscos atribuíveis populacionais. RESULTADOS/CONCLUSÕES: A distribuição do peso ao nascer na cidade de São Paulo (média de 3.160 g com 8,9% de pesos OBJECTIVE: Data from two household surveys on infant and child health status undertaken in the mid-80s and mid-90s, complemented with previous data collected from maternity hospitals records and more recent data provided by the state system on birth registries, allowed to characterize and analyse secular trends in birth weight in the city of S. Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: The household surveys included random samples of children under 5 years old (n=1,016 children in 1984-85 and n=1,280 children in 1995-96. A random sample of births that

  18. Secular trends of salted fish consumption and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a multi-jurisdiction ecological study in 8 regions from 3 continents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lau, Hiu-Ying; Leung, Chit-Ming; Chan, Yap-Hang; Lee, Anne Wing-Mui; Kwong, Dora Lai-Wan; Lung, Maria Li; Lam, Tai-Hing

    2013-01-01

    Despite salted fish being a classical risk factor of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC), whether secular trends in salted fish consumption worldwide accounted for changes in NPC rates were unknown. The relationship between vegetable and cigarette consumption to NPC risk worldwide were also largely uncertain. We investigated the longitudinal trends in standardised NPC incidence/mortality rates across 8 regions and their associations with secular trends in salted fish, vegetable and tobacco consumptions. Age standardised mortality rate (ASMR) and age standardised incidence rate (ASIR) of NPC were obtained from the WHO cancer mortality database and Hong Kong Cancer Registry. Per capita consumption of salted fish, tobacco and vegetables in Hong Kong and 7 countries (China, Finland, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States) were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) and Hong Kong Trade and Census Statistics. Pearson correlation and multivariate analysis were performed to examine both crude and adjusted associations. There were markedly decreasing trends of NPC ASIR and ASMR in Hong Kong over the past three decades, which were correlated with corresponding secular changes in salted fish consumption per capita (Pearson r for 10 cumulative years : ASIR = 0.729 (male), 0.674 (female); ASMR = 0.943 (male), 0.622 (female), all p < 0.05 except for female ASMR). However such associations no longer correlated with adjustments for decreasing tobacco and increasing vegetable consumption per capita (Pearson r for 10 cumulative years: ASIR = 2.007 (male), 0.339 (female), ASMR = 0.289 (male), 1.992 (female), all p > 0.05). However, there were no clear or consistent patterns in relations between NPC ASIR and ASMR with salted fish consumption across 7 regions in 3 continents. Our results do not support the notion that changes in salted fish consumption had played an important role in explaining secular trends of NPC rates in Hong

  19. Secular trends of salted fish consumption and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a multi-jurisdiction ecological study in 8 regions from 3 continents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lau, Hiu-Ying; Leung, Chit-Ming; Chan, Yap-Hang; Lee, Anne Wing-Mui; Kwong, Dora Lai-Wan; Lung, Maria Li; Lam, Tai-Hing

    2013-06-19

    Despite salted fish being a classical risk factor of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC), whether secular trends in salted fish consumption worldwide accounted for changes in NPC rates were unknown. The relationship between vegetable and cigarette consumption to NPC risk worldwide were also largely uncertain. We investigated the longitudinal trends in standardised NPC incidence/mortality rates across 8 regions and their associations with secular trends in salted fish, vegetable and tobacco consumptions. Age standardised mortality rate (ASMR) and age standardised incidence rate (ASIR) of NPC were obtained from the WHO cancer mortality database and Hong Kong Cancer Registry. Per capita consumption of salted fish, tobacco and vegetables in Hong Kong and 7 countries (China, Finland, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States) were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) and Hong Kong Trade and Census Statistics. Pearson correlation and multivariate analysis were performed to examine both crude and adjusted associations. There were markedly decreasing trends of NPC ASIR and ASMR in Hong Kong over the past three decades, which were correlated with corresponding secular changes in salted fish consumption per capita (Pearson r for 10 cumulative years : ASIR = 0.729 (male), 0.674 (female); ASMR = 0.943 (male), 0.622 (female), all p ASMR). However such associations no longer correlated with adjustments for decreasing tobacco and increasing vegetable consumption per capita (Pearson r for 10 cumulative years: ASIR = 2.007 (male), 0.339 (female), ASMR = 0.289 (male), 1.992 (female), all p > 0.05). However, there were no clear or consistent patterns in relations between NPC ASIR and ASMR with salted fish consumption across 7 regions in 3 continents. Our results do not support the notion that changes in salted fish consumption had played an important role in explaining secular trends of NPC rates in Hong

  20. Secular changes of LOD associated with a growth of the inner core

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denis, C.; Rybicki, K. R.; Varga, P.

    2006-05-01

    From recent estimates of the age of the inner core based on the theory of thermal evolution of the core, we estimate that nowadays the growth of the inner core may perhaps contribute to the observed overall secular increase of LOD caused mainly by tidal friction (i.e., 1.72 ms per century) by a relative decrease of 2 to 7 μs per century. Another, albeit much less plausible, hypothesis is that crystallization of the inner core does not produce any change of LOD, but makes the inner core rotate differentially with respect to the outer core and mantle.

  1. The Secularization of Russian Orthodoxy in the Late Russian Empire, 1860–1910: the Indoctrination and De-Institutionalization (Problem Statement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrey Yu. Mikhailov

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available This article is based on the methodology of intellectual history examines the process of secularization of Orthodoxy in the late Russian Empire 1860 – 1910-ies. The focus of the formulation of a scientific problem: consideration of secularization as indoctrination Orthodoxy and de-institutionalization of the Synod Church. Under the first attempt to synthesize the doctrine Orthodoxy with modernist ideologies (socialism, nationalism, secularism (laicism, under the second – the erosion of the church as an institution by dividing into various inner-group. As a consequence of early modern rationalization to 1830–1840 there are three ways of indoctrination orthodoxy as synthesis with modern ideology. Firstly, synthesis with a modernist nationalism in its evolution from the "civilian" to the "political". The concept of late imperial political nationalism (N.P. Ignatiev, A.A. Kireev, tied to version of neoslavyanofily (new slavyanofily (N.P. Aksakov, D.A. Khomyakov and civilizational theory (L. Leontiev, N.I. Danilevsky tried synthesize Orthodoxy and nationalism in the spirit of religious interpretation of the nation and society. Secondly, with social theories of modern European socialism and positivism. (archimandrite Fedor (Bukharev, S.N. Bulgakov, archimandrite Michael (Semenov, and others.. Thirdly, with a modernist secularism (laicism and liberalism: P.V. Valuev, D.A. Tolstoy, K.P. Pobedonostsev. De-institutionalization of the Synodal Church took place in the following ways. In the period of early modernity (1700–1840, konfessionaliztion (die Konfessionalisierung, happened embedding religious institution in the state organism (nationalization on the practical and theoretical level. The evolution from the early modernity to late modernity (1830–1860 itself has raise the question of the "internal" secularization as activation of layman or parishioner. Theory A.S. Khomyakov (new criteria and the nature of the Church as a divine

  2. Deep down: Isopod biodiversity of the Kuril-Kamchatka abyssal area including a comparison with data of previous expeditions of the RV Vityaz

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elsner, Nikolaus O.; Malyutina, Marina V.; Golovan, Olga A.; Brenke, Nils; Riehl, Torben; Brandt, Angelika

    2015-01-01

    This study focusses on the isopod biodiversity in the abyssal area southeast of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. The KuramBio (Kuril-Kamchatka Biodiversity Studies) expedition in summer 2012 collected altogether 10,169 isopods from 21 C-EBS hauls at 12 stations, belonging to 19 families, 73 genera and 207 species from the depth range between 4830 and 5780 m. Munnopsidae and Desmosomatidae were the most abundant and species-rich families, Eurycope (Munnopsidae) and Macrostylis (Macrostylidae) the most abundant genera. An nMDS plot on the basis of the Cosine similarity index reveals no clear pattern and all hauls to be different from each other. We compared our data with 12 stations from the same depth range sampled by the Russian RV Vityaz about 50 years ago and were able to identify several species collected by the RV Vityaz. The identified isopod species belonged to the families Munnopsidae, Macrostylidae, Haploniscidae, Desmosomatidae, Ischnomesidae and Nannoniscidae. Of the 333 individuals collected by the RV Vityaz, Haploniscidae and Munnopsidae were the most abundant families. Desmosomatidae were only represented by rarefaction curves of both the KuramBio and the Vityaz samples are not approaching an asymptote, indicating that even after repeated sampling just a part of the local fauna has been recorded so far.

  3. Optimized R functions for analysis of ecological community data using the R virtual laboratory (RvLab).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varsos, Constantinos; Patkos, Theodore; Oulas, Anastasis; Pavloudi, Christina; Gougousis, Alexandros; Ijaz, Umer Zeeshan; Filiopoulou, Irene; Pattakos, Nikolaos; Vanden Berghe, Edward; Fernández-Guerra, Antonio; Faulwetter, Sarah; Chatzinikolaou, Eva; Pafilis, Evangelos; Bekiari, Chryssoula; Doerr, Martin; Arvanitidis, Christos

    2016-01-01

    Parallel data manipulation using R has previously been addressed by members of the R community, however most of these studies produce ad hoc solutions that are not readily available to the average R user. Our targeted users, ranging from the expert ecologist/microbiologists to computational biologists, often experience difficulties in finding optimal ways to exploit the full capacity of their computational resources. In addition, improving performance of commonly used R scripts becomes increasingly difficult especially with large datasets. Furthermore, the implementations described here can be of significant interest to expert bioinformaticians or R developers. Therefore, our goals can be summarized as: (i) description of a complete methodology for the analysis of large datasets by combining capabilities of diverse R packages, (ii) presentation of their application through a virtual R laboratory (RvLab) that makes execution of complex functions and visualization of results easy and readily available to the end-user. In this paper, the novelty stems from implementations of parallel methodologies which rely on the processing of data on different levels of abstraction and the availability of these processes through an integrated portal. Parallel implementation R packages, such as the pbdMPI (Programming with Big Data - Interface to MPI) package, are used to implement Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) parallelization on primitive mathematical operations, allowing for interplay with functions of the vegan package. The dplyr and RPostgreSQL R packages are further integrated offering connections to dataframe like objects (databases) as secondary storage solutions whenever memory demands exceed available RAM resources. The RvLab is running on a PC cluster, using version 3.1.2 (2014-10-31) on a x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit) platform, and offers an intuitive virtual environmet interface enabling users to perform analysis of ecological and microbial communities based on

  4. Parental age and offspring mortality: Negative effects of reproductive ageing may be counterbalanced by secular increases in longevity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barclay, Kieron; Myrskylä, Mikko

    2018-07-01

    As parental ages at birth continue to rise, concerns about the effects of fertility postponement on offspring are increasing. Due to reproductive ageing, advanced parental ages have been associated with negative health outcomes for offspring, including decreased longevity. The literature, however, has neglected to examine the potential benefits of being born at a later date. Secular declines in mortality mean that later birth cohorts are living longer. We analyse mortality over ages 30-74 among 1.9 million Swedish men and women born 1938-60, and use a sibling comparison design that accounts for all time-invariant factors shared by the siblings. When incorporating cohort improvements in mortality, we find that those born to older mothers do not suffer any significant mortality disadvantage, and that those born to older fathers have lower mortality. These findings are likely to be explained by secular declines in mortality counterbalancing the negative effects of reproductive ageing.

  5. CTD data from R/V Kilo Moana Cruise KM1123 during 2011-08 north of Hawaii (NODC Accession 0125443)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Profiles were taken with a Sea-Bird SBE-911 plus CTD from the R/V Kilo Moana on cruise KM1123 2011-08-11 to 2011-08-25 in the vicinity of Station ALOHA, the Hawaii...

  6. Peculiarities of component interaction in {l_brace}Gd, Er{r_brace}-V-Sn Ternary systems at 870 K and crystal structure of RV{sub 6}Sn{sub 6} stannides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Romaka, L., E-mail: romakal@franko.lviv.ua [Inorganic Chemistry Department, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, Kyryla and Mefodiya str. 6, 79005 Lviv (Ukraine); Stadnyk, Yu. [Inorganic Chemistry Department, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, Kyryla and Mefodiya str. 6, 79005 Lviv (Ukraine); Romaka, V.V. [Department of Materials Engineering and Applied Physics, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ustyyanovycha Str. 5, 79013 Lviv (Ukraine); Demchenko, P.; Stadnyshyn, M.; Konyk, M. [Inorganic Chemistry Department, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, Kyryla and Mefodiya str. 6, 79005 Lviv (Ukraine)

    2011-09-08

    Highlights: > {l_brace}Gd, Er{r_brace}-V-Sn ternary systems at 870 K are characterized by formation of stannides with general compositions RV{sub 6}Sn{sub 6}. > Isostructural RV{sub 6}Sn{sub 6} compounds were also found with Y, Dy, Ho, Tm, and Lu. > The crystal structure of RV{sub 6}Sn{sub 6} compounds was determined by powder diffraction method. > Structural analysis showed that RV{sub 6}Sn{sub 6} compounds (R = Gd, Dy-Tm, Lu) are disordered; YV{sub 6}Sn{sub 6} is characterized by structure ordering. - Abstract: The phase equilibria in the Gd-V-Sn and Er-V-Sn ternary systems were studied at 870 K by means of X-ray and metallographic analyses in the whole concentration range. Both Gd-V-Sn and Er-V-Sn systems are characterized by formation of one ternary compound at investigated temperature, with stoichiometry RV{sub 6}Sn{sub 6} (SmMn{sub 6}Sn{sub 6}-type, space group P6/mmm, a = 0.55322(3) nm, c = 0.91949(7) nm for Gd, a = 0.55191(2) nm, c = 0.91869(8) nm for Er). Solubility of the third component in the binary compounds was not observed. Compounds with the SmMn{sub 6}Sn{sub 6}-type were also found with Dy, Ho, Tm, and Lu, while YV{sub 6}Sn{sub 6} compound crystallizes in HfFe{sub 6}Ge{sub 6} structure type. All investigated compounds are the first ternary stannides with rare earth elements and vanadium.

  7. Revisiting host preference in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex: experimental infection shows M. tuberculosis H37Rv to be avirulent in cattle.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam O Whelan

    Full Text Available Experiments in the late 19th century sought to define the host specificity of the causative agents of tuberculosis in mammals. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the human tubercle bacillus, was independently shown by Smith, Koch, and von Behring to be avirulent in cattle. This finding was erroneously used by Koch to argue the converse, namely that Mycobacterium bovis, the agent of bovine tuberculosis, was avirulent for man, a view that was subsequently discredited. However, reports in the literature of M. tuberculosis isolation from cattle with tuberculoid lesions suggests that the virulence of M. tuberculosis for cattle needs to be readdressed. We used an experimental bovine infection model to test the virulence of well-characterized strains of M. tuberculosis and M. bovis in cattle, choosing the genome-sequenced strains M. tuberculosis H37Rv and M. bovis 2122/97. Cattle were infected with approximately 10(6 CFU of M. tuberculosis H37Rv or M. bovis 2122/97, and sacrificed 17 weeks post-infection. IFN-gamma and tuberculin skin tests indicated that both M. bovis 2122 and M. tuberculosis H37Rv were equally infective and triggered strong cell-mediated immune responses, albeit with some indication of differential antigen-specific responses. Postmortem examination revealed that while M. bovis 2122/97-infected animals all showed clear pathology indicative of bovine tuberculosis, the M. tuberculosis-infected animals showed no pathology. Culturing of infected tissues revealed that M. tuberculosis was able to persist in the majority of animals, albeit at relatively low bacillary loads. In revisiting the early work on host preference across the M. tuberculosis complex, we have shown M. tuberculosis H37Rv is avirulent for cattle, and propose that the immune status of the animal, or genotype of the infecting bacillus, may have significant bearing on the virulence of a strain for cattle. This work will serve as a baseline for future studies into the genetic basis

  8. Antigenicity and Immunogenicity of RV144 Vaccine AIDSVAX Clade E Envelope Immunogen Is Enhanced by a gp120 N-Terminal Deletion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Hua-Xin; Tomaras, Georgia D.; Bonsignori, Mattia; Tsao, Chun-Yen; Hwang, Kwan-Ki; Chen, Haiyan; Lloyd, Krissey E.; Bowman, Cindy; Sutherland, Laura; Jeffries, Thomas L.; Kozink, Daniel M.; Stewart, Shelley; Anasti, Kara; Jaeger, Frederick H.; Parks, Robert; Yates, Nicole L.; Overman, R. Glenn; Sinangil, Faruk; Berman, Phillip W.; Pitisuttithum, Punnee; Kaewkungwal, Jaranit; Nitayaphan, Sorachai; Karasavva, Nicos; Rerks-Ngarm, Supachai; Kim, Jerome H.; Michael, Nelson L.; Zolla-Pazner, Susan; Santra, Sampa; Letvin, Norman L.; Harrison, Stephen C.

    2013-01-01

    An immune correlates analysis of the RV144 HIV-1 vaccine trial revealed that antibody responses to the gp120 V1/V2 region correlated inversely with infection risk. The RV144 protein immunogens (A244-rp120 and MN-rgp120) were modified by an N-terminal 11-amino-acid deletion (Δ11) and addition of a herpes simplex virus (HSV) gD protein-derived tag (gD). We investigated the effects of these modifications on gp120 expression, antigenicity, and immunogenicity by comparing unmodified A244 gp120 with both Δ11 deletion and gD tag and with Δ11 only. Analysis of A244 gp120, with or without Δ11 or gD, demonstrated that the Δ11 deletion, without the addition of gD, was sufficient for enhanced antigenicity to gp120 C1 region, conformational V2, and V1/V2 gp120 conformational epitopes. RV144 vaccinee serum IgGs bound more avidly to A244 gp120 Δ11 than to the unmodified gp120, and their binding was blocked by C1, V2, and V1/V2 antibodies. Rhesus macaques immunized with the three different forms of A244 gp120 proteins gave similar levels of gp120 antibody titers, although higher antibody titers developed earlier in A244 Δ11 gp120-immunized animals. Conformational V1/V2 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) gave significantly higher levels of blocking of plasma IgG from A244 Δ11 gp120-immunized animals than IgG from animals immunized with unmodified A244 gp120, thus indicating a qualitative difference in the V1/V2 antibodies induced by A244 Δ11 gp120. These results demonstrate that deletion of N-terminal residues in the RV144 A244 gp120 immunogen improves both envelope antigenicity and immunogenicity. PMID:23175357

  9. Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE44 (Rv2770c) is involved in response to multiple stresses and promotes the macrophage expression of IL-12 p40 and IL-6 via the p38, ERK, and NF-κB signaling axis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Zhaoxiao; Zhang, Chenhui; Zhou, Mingliang; Li, Qiming; Li, Hui; Duan, Wei; Li, Xue; Feng, Yonghong; Xie, Jianping

    2017-09-01

    Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, remains a formidable threat to global public health. The successful intracellular persistence of M. tuberculosis significantly contributes to the intractability of tuberculosis. Proline-glutamic acid (PE) and proline-proline-glutamic acid (PPE) are mycobacterial exclusive protein families that widely reported to be involved in the bacterial virulence, physiology and interaction with host. Rv2770c (PPE44), a predicted virulence factor, was up-regulated upon the infected guinea pig lungs. To investigate the role of Rv2770c, we heterologously expressed the PPE44 in the nonpathogenic fast-growing M. smegmatis strain. Subcellular location analysis demonstrated that Rv2770c is a cell wall associated protein, suggestive of a potential candidate involved in host-pathogen interaction. The Rv2770c can enhance M. smegmatis survival within macrophages and under stresses such as H 2 O 2 , SDS, diamide exposure, and low pH condition. M. smegmatis expressing Rv2770c is more virulent as testified by the increased death of macrophages and the increased expression of interlukin-6 (IL-6) and interlukin-12p40 (IL-12p40). Moreover, Rv2770c altered the secretion of IL-6 and IL-12p40 of macrophages via NF-κB, ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK axis. Taken together, this study implicated that Rv2770c was a virulent factor actively engaged in the interaction with host macrophage. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  10. Geomagnetic Secular Variation and Its Applications to the Core

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jackson, Andrew; Finlay, Chris

    2015-01-01

    the mathematical models of the field’s evolution that can be derived from them. We discussthe prominent features of the field’s evolution, both at the Earth’s surface and at the surface of theliquid core. The final section concerns itself with a discussion of the interpretation of the field’sevolution, in terms......We review the observational constraints on the morphology and evolution of the magnetic field of the Earth over the last few centuries; these changes are referred to as the secular variation.Starting with a description of the available sources of original observations of the field, we thendiscuss...... of physical core processes. These divide themselves into processes associatedwith movement of core fluid, which is capable of advecting the field, and processes associated withthe finite resistivity of the core, commonly termed diffusive processes. We lay the foundations for some of the more theoretical...

  11. Structural and Biophysical Characterization of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Protein Rv0577, a Protein Associated with Neutral Red Staining of Virulent Tuberculosis Strains and Homologue of the Streptomyces coelicolor Protein KbpA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buchko, Garry W.; Echols, Nathaniel; Flynn, E. M.; Ng, Ho-Leung; Stephenson, Sam; Kim, Heungbok; Myler, Peter J.; Terwilliger, Thomas C.; Alber, Tom; Kim, Chang Y.

    2017-07-25

    The 261-residue Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein Rv0577 is a prominent antigen in tuberculosis patients, the responsible component for neutral red staining of virulent strains of M. tuberculosis, a putative component in a methylglyoxal detoxification pathway, and an agonist of toll-like receptor 2. It also has 36% sequence identity to AfsK-binding protein A (KbpA), a component in the complex secondary metabolite pathways in the Streptomycetes genus from which many commercial antibiotics are derived. To gain insight into the biological function of Rv0577 and the family of KpbA kinase regulators, the crystal structure for Rv0577 was determined to a resolution of 1.75 Å (3OXH), binding properties with neutral red and deoxyadenosine (Ado) surveyed, backbone dynamics measured, and thermal stability assayed by CD spectroscopy. The protein is composed of four approximate repeats with an topology arranged radially in consecutive pairs to form two continuous eight-strand -sheets capped on both ends with an -helix. The two -sheets intersect in the center at roughly a right angle and form an asymmetric deep “saddle” on both sides of the protein, saddle one (P11 to A129) and saddle two (L143 to A258), that may serve to bind ligands. NMR chemical shift perturbation experiments show that neutral red binds to Rv0577, further cementing the role of Rv0577 in the neutral red staining of virulent strains of M. tuberculosis. Similar experiments show that adenosine also bind to Rv0577, although less tightly, with estimated dissociation constants of 4.1 ± 0.3 mM for saddle one and > 1 M for saddle two. Heteronuclear steady-state {1H}-15N NOE, T1, and T2 values were generally uniform through-out the sequence with only a few modest pockets of differences suggestive of slightly different motion in loops between -strands in saddle 1. Circular dichroism spectroscopy characterization of the thermal stability of Rv0577 indicated irreversible unfolding upon heating with an estimated

  12. Survey of secular change for the buildings of nuclear fuel facility in JNC Tokai Works

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uryu, Mitsuru; Kyue, Tadashi; Satoko, Hiroyuki; Yamazaki, Toshihiko

    2002-06-01

    Some nuclear facilities of JNC such as Tokai Reprocessing Plant or Tokai Plutonium Fuel plant have been operating over 20 years since their completion. These facilities' buildings are constructed near the seaside, so we are that, we are surveying the secular change, estimating the tendency and counterplan to operate the facilities stably. In this paper, we report the abstract of the result of the survey, and the maintenance stage of the diagnostic techniques etc. (author)

  13. Overview of errors in the reference sequence and annotation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, and variation amongst its isolates

    KAUST Repository

    Kö ser, Claudio U.; Niemann, Stefan; Summers, David K.; Archer, John A.C.

    2012-01-01

    Since its publication in 1998, the genome sequence of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv laboratory strain has acted as the cornerstone for the study of tuberculosis. In this review we address some of the practical aspects that have come to light

  14. Secular trends of body mass index in North Indian children with Type 1 diabetes do not support the Accelerator Hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dayal, Devi; Samprathi, Madhusudan; Jayaraman, Dhaarani; Kohat, Dilesh; Bhalla, Anil Kumar

    2016-03-01

    The accelerator hypothesis, which proposes a link between Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and Type 2 diabetes (T2D) through weight-related insulin resistance, remains untested in developing countries with increasing rates of childhood obesity and T1D, and different ethnicities. We aimed to test the accelerator hypothesis in the context of a significant increase in T1D at our centre. Medical records of children diagnosed with T1D between January 2005 and December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. The body mass index (BMI) standard deviation scores (SDSs) were calculated using height and weight measurements recorded 1-2 months after diagnosis of T1D and compared with age-matched anthropometric data. The rate of change in BMI SDSs over time was calculated. Analysis of BMI data was undertaken for the three age categories: 10 and >10 years. The mean age at diagnosis of 467 children with T1D was 7·27 ± 0·32 years and showed no change over the study period. There was a yearly increase of 14·11% in patient numbers; this increase was similar in the three age categories (22·7%, 17·0%, 16·3%, respectively, P = 1·0). Comparison of patient numbers between the two time periods of 5 years each showed a marked increase during 2010-2014 (148 vs 319, % increase 115·5%). The mean BMI SDSs at diagnosis in the three age categories were similar (P = 1·0) and showed a yearly change of -0·36; the mean change in the three age categories was also similar (-0·35, -0·27, -0·46, respectively, P = 1·0). No correlation was found between age at diagnosis and BMI SDSs (correlation coefficient 0·010, P = 0·82). The mean BMI SDS in patients was significantly lower compared to controls (-0·54 vs -0·02, P = 0·001). There was no association between BMI SDS and age at diagnosis in children with new onset T1D. Further studies are needed to test whether the accelerator hypothesis is relevant in developing countries. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Clonal analysis of the T-cell response to in vivo expressed Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein Rv2034, using a CD154 expression based T-cell cloning method.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susanna Commandeur

    Full Text Available Tuberculosis (TB, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb, remains a leading cause of death worldwide. A better understanding of the role of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, which are both important to TB protection, is essential to unravel the mechanisms of protection and to identify the key antigens seen by these T cells. We have recently identified a set of in vivo expressed Mtb genes (IVE-TB which is expressed during in vivo pulmonary infection in mice, and shown that their encoded antigens are potently recognized by polyclonal T cells from tuberculin skin test-positive, in vitro ESAT-6/CFP10-responsive individuals. Here we have cloned T cells specific for one of these newly identified in vivo expressed Mtb (IVE-TB antigens, Rv2034. T cells were enriched based on the expression of CD154 (CD40L, which represents a new method for selecting antigen-specific (low frequency T cells independent of their specific function. An Rv2034-specific CD4+ T-cell clone expressed the Th1 markers T-bet, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2 and the cytotoxicity related markers granzyme B and CD107a as measured by flow cytometry. The clone specifically recognized Rv2034 protein, Rv2034 peptide p81-100 and Mtb lysate. Remarkably, while the recognition of the dominant p81-100 epitope was HLA-DR restricted, the T-cell clone also recognized a neighboring epitope (p88-107 in an HLA-DR- as well as HLA-DQ1-restricted fashion. Importantly, the T-cell clone was able to inhibit Mtb outgrowth from infected monocytes significantly. The characterization of the polyfunctional and Mtb inhibitory T-cell response to IVE-TB Rv2034 at the clonal level provides detailed further insights into the potential of IVE-TB antigens as new vaccine candidate antigens in TB. Our new approach allowed the identification of T-cell subsets that likely play a significant role in controlling Mtb infection, and can be applied to the analysis of T-cell responses in patient populations.

  16. 2002 EM1002 and EM120 Multibeam Sonar Data from Cruise R/V Kilo Moana KM-02-06 - Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — EM1002 and EM120 multibeam Data were collected in October/November 2002 aboard R/V Kilo Moana between Kauai Island and Lisianski Island in the Northwestern Hawaiian...

  17. An accelerating high-latitude jet in Earth’s core

    Science.gov (United States)

    Livermore, Philip W.; Hollerbach, Rainer; Finlay, Christopher C.

    2017-01-01

    Observations of the change in Earth’s magnetic field--the secular variation--provide information about the motion of liquid metal within the core that is responsible for the magnetic field’s generation. High-resolution observations from the European Space Agency’s Swarm satellite mission show intense field change at high latitude, localized in a distinctive circular daisy-chain configuration centred on the north geographic pole. Here we show that this feature can be explained by a localized, non-axisymmetric, westward jet of 420 km width on the tangent cylinder, the cylinder of fluid within the core that is aligned with the rotation axis and tangent to the solid inner core. We find that the jet has increased in magnitude by a factor of three over the period 2000-2016 to about 40 km yr-1, and is now much stronger than typical large-scale flows inferred for the core. We suggest that the current accelerating phase may be part of a longer-term fluctuation of the jet causing both eastward and westward movement of magnetic features over historical periods, and may contribute to recent changes in torsional-wave activity and the rotation direction of the inner core.

  18. Composition of 12-18th century window glass in Belgium: Non-figurative windows in secular buildings and stained-glass windows in religious buildings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schalm, Olivier; Janssens, Koen; Wouters, Hilde; Caluwe, Danielle

    2007-01-01

    A set of ca. 500 window glass fragments originating from different historical sites in Belgium and covering the period 12 th -18 th century was analyzed by means of electron probe microanalysis. Most samples are archaeological finds deriving from non-figurative windows in secular buildings. However, the analyzed set also contains glass sampled from still existing non-figurative windows in secular buildings and stained-glass windows in religious buildings. A sudden compositional change at the end of the 14 th century can be noticed among the series of glass compositions that were obtained. These changes could be related to the use of different glassmaker recipes and to the introduction of new raw materials for glass making

  19. Composition of 12-18 th century window glass in Belgium: Non-figurative windows in secular buildings and stained-glass windows in religious buildings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schalm, Olivier; Janssens, Koen; Wouters, Hilde; Caluwé, Danielle

    2007-07-01

    A set of ca. 500 window glass fragments originating from different historical sites in Belgium and covering the period 12 th-18 th century was analyzed by means of electron probe microanalysis. Most samples are archaeological finds deriving from non-figurative windows in secular buildings. However, the analyzed set also contains glass sampled from still existing non-figurative windows in secular buildings and stained-glass windows in religious buildings. A sudden compositional change at the end of the 14 th century can be noticed among the series of glass compositions that were obtained. These changes could be related to the use of different glassmaker recipes and to the introduction of new raw materials for glass making.

  20. Secular trends in dietary intake in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briefel, Ronette R; Johnson, Clifford L

    2004-01-01

    This review focuses on dietary intake and dietary supplement use among the U.S. population age 1-74 based on four National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys conducted in 1971-74, 1976-80, 1988-94, and 1999-2000. Secular trends in intake of energy, macronutrients, cholesterol, sodium, calcium, iron, folate, zinc, vitamins A and C, fruits, vegetables, and grain products are summarized. During the 30-year period, mean energy intake increased among adults, and changed little among children age 1-19, except for an increase among adolescent females. Factors contributing to increases in energy intake include increases in the percentage of the population eating away from home (particularly at fast-food restaurants), larger portion sizes of foods and beverages, increased consumption of sweetened beverages, changes in snacking habits, and improved dietary methodology. Dietary supplement use increased among adult men and women, decreased among children age 1-5, and was stable for children age 6-11 and adolescents.

  1. Secular effects on inflation from one-loop quantum gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cabrer, J.A.; Espriu, D.

    2008-01-01

    In this Letter we revisit and extend a previous analysis where the possible relevance of quantum gravity effects in a cosmological setup was studied. The object of interest are non-local (logarithmic) terms generated in the effective action of gravity due to the exchange in loops of massless modes (such as photons or the gravitons themselves). We correct one mistake existing in the previous work and discuss the issue in a more general setting in different cosmological scenarios. We obtain the one-loop quantum-corrected evolution equations for the cosmological scale factor up to a given order in a derivative expansion in two particular cases: a matter dominated universe with vanishing cosmological constant, and in a de Sitter universe. We show that the quantum corrections, albeit tiny, may have a secular effect that eventually modifies the expansion rate. For a de Sitter universe they tend to slow down the rate of the expansion, while the effect may be the opposite in a matter dominated universe

  2. Proper Motion and Secular Variations of Keplerian Orbital Elements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexey G. Butkevich

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available High-precision observations require accurate modeling of secular changes in the orbital elements in order to extrapolate measurements over long time intervals, and to detect deviation from pure Keplerian motion caused, for example, by other bodies or relativistic effects. We consider the evolution of the Keplerian elements resulting from the gradual change of the apparent orbit orientation due to proper motion. We present rigorous formulae for the transformation of the orbit inclination, longitude of the ascending node and argument of the pericenter from one epoch to another, assuming uniform stellar motion and taking radial velocity into account. An approximate treatment, accurate to the second-order terms in time, is also given. The proper motion effects may be significant for long-period transiting planets. These theoretical results are applicable to the modeling of planetary transits and precise Doppler measurements as well as analysis of pulsar and eclipsing binary timing observations.

  3. Use of GRACE determined secular gravity rates for glacial isostatic adjustment studies in North-America

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Wal, Wouter; Wu, Patrick; Sideris, Michael G.; Shum, C. K.

    2008-10-01

    Monthly geopotential spherical harmonic coefficients from the GRACE satellite mission are used to determine their usefulness and limitations for studying glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) in North-America. Secular gravity rates are estimated by unweighted least-squares estimation using release 4 coefficients from August 2002 to August 2007 provided by the Center for Space Research (CSR), University of Texas. Smoothing is required to suppress short wavelength noise, in addition to filtering to diminish geographically correlated errors, as shown in previous studies. Optimal cut-off degrees and orders are determined for the destriping filter to maximize the signal to noise ratio. The halfwidth of the Gaussian filter is shown to significantly affect the sensitivity of the GRACE data (with respect to upper mantle viscosity and ice loading history). Therefore, the halfwidth should be selected based on the desired sensitivity. It is shown that increase in water storage in an area south west of Hudson Bay, from the summer of 2003 to the summer of 2006, contributes up to half of the maximum estimated gravity rate. Hydrology models differ in the predictions of the secular change in water storage, therefore even 4-year trend estimates are influenced by the uncertainty in water storage changes. Land ice melting in Greenland and Alaska has a non-negligible contribution, up to one-fourth of the maximum gravity rate. The estimated secular gravity rate shows two distinct peaks that can possibly be due to two domes in the former Pleistocene ice cover: west and south east of Hudson Bay. With a limited number of models, a better fit is obtained with models that use the ICE-3G model compared to the ICE-5G model. However, the uncertainty in interannual variations in hydrology models is too large to constrain the ice loading history with the current data span. For future work in which GRACE will be used to constrain ice loading history and the Earth's radial viscosity profile, it is

  4. Effects of socioeconomic factors on secular trends in suicide in Japan, 1953-86.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motohashi, Y

    1991-04-01

    The effects of socioeconomic factors on secular trends in suicide rates in Japan for the periods 1953-72 and 1973-86 were investigated using twelve socioeconomic indicators. Multiple regression analysis showed that the socioeconomic indicators affecting suicide rates were not identical in the two periods. The rates in both sexes in 1953-72 were closely related to unemployment rate and the labour force but between 1973 and 1986, divorce rate and the proportion in tertiary industry were most influential. The changes reflect the socioeconomic changes in industrial structure in Japan in transition from an industrial to a service economy.

  5. Efficacy and safety of a pentavalent live human-bovine reassortant rotavirus vaccine (RV5) in healthy Chinese infants: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mo, Zhaojun; Mo, Yi; Li, Mingqiang; Tao, Junhui; Yang, Xu; Kong, Jilian; Wei, Dingkai; Fu, Botao; Liao, Xueyan; Chu, Jianli; Qiu, Yuanzheng; Hille, Darcy A; Nelson, Micki; Kaplan, Susan S

    2017-10-13

    A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial was conducted in healthy Chinese infants to assess the efficacy and safety of a pentavalent live human-bovine reassortant rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq™, RV5) against rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE). 4040 participants aged 6-12weeks were enrolled and randomly assigned to either 3 oral doses of RV5 (n=2020) or placebo (n=2020), administered ∼4weeks apart. The participants also received OPV and DTaP in a concomitant or staggered fashion. The primary objective was to evaluate vaccine efficacy (VE) against naturally-occurring RVGE at least 14days following the third dose. Key secondary objectives included: VE against naturally-occurring severe RVGE and VE against severe and any-severity RVGE caused by rotavirus serotypes contained in the vaccine, occurring at least 14days after the third dose. All adverse events (AEs) were collected for 30days following each dose. Serious AEs (SAEs) and intussusception cases were collected during the entire study. (ClinicalTrials.gov registry: NCT02062385). VE against RVGE of any-severity caused by any serotype was 69.3% (95% CI: 54.5, 79.7). The secondary efficacy analysis showed an efficacy of: 78.9% (95% CI: 59.1, 90.1) against severe RVGE caused by any serotype; 69.9% (95% CI: 55.2, 80.3) and 78.9% (95% CI: 59.1, 90.1) against any-severity and severe RVGE caused by serotypes contained in the vaccine, respectively. Within 30days following any vaccination, 53.5% (1079/2015) and 53.3% (1077/2019) of participants reported at least one AE, and 5.8% (116/2015) and 5.7% (116/2019) reported SAEs in the vaccine and placebo groups, respectively. No SAEs were considered vaccine-related in recipients of RV5. Two intussusception cases were reported in recipients of RV5 who recovered after receiving treatment. Neither was considered vaccine-related. In Chinese infants, RV5 was efficacious against any-severity and severe RVGE caused by any serotype and generally well

  6. Influence of secular trends and sample size on reference equations for lung function tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quanjer, P H; Stocks, J; Cole, T J; Hall, G L; Stanojevic, S

    2011-03-01

    The aim of our study was to determine the contribution of secular trends and sample size to lung function reference equations, and establish the number of local subjects required to validate published reference values. 30 spirometry datasets collected between 1978 and 2009 provided data on healthy, white subjects: 19,291 males and 23,741 females aged 2.5-95 yrs. The best fit for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV(1)/FVC as functions of age, height and sex were derived from the entire dataset using GAMLSS. Mean z-scores were calculated for individual datasets to determine inter-centre differences. This was repeated by subdividing one large dataset (3,683 males and 4,759 females) into 36 smaller subsets (comprising 18-227 individuals) to preclude differences due to population/technique. No secular trends were observed and differences between datasets comprising >1,000 subjects were small (maximum difference in FEV(1) and FVC from overall mean: 0.30- -0.22 z-scores). Subdividing one large dataset into smaller subsets reproduced the above sample size-related differences and revealed that at least 150 males and 150 females would be necessary to validate reference values to avoid spurious differences due to sampling error. Use of local controls to validate reference equations will rarely be practical due to the numbers required. Reference equations derived from large or collated datasets are recommended.

  7. SECULAR EVOLUTION OF BINARIES NEAR MASSIVE BLACK HOLES: FORMATION OF COMPACT BINARIES, MERGER/COLLISION PRODUCTS AND G2-LIKE OBJECTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prodan, Snezana; Antonini, Fabio; Perets, Hagai B.

    2015-01-01

    Here we discuss the evolution of binaries around massive black holes (MBHs) in nuclear stellar clusters. We focus on their secular evolution due to the perturbation by the MBHs, while simplistically accounting for their collisional evolution. Binaries with highly inclined orbits with respect to their orbits around MBHs are strongly affected by secular processes, which periodically change their eccentricities and inclinations (e.g., Kozai-Lidov cycles). During periapsis approach, dissipative processes such as tidal friction may become highly efficient, and may lead to shrinkage of a binary orbit and even to its merger. Binaries in this environment can therefore significantly change their orbital evolution due to the MBH third-body perturbative effects. Such orbital evolution may impinge on their later stellar evolution. Here we follow the secular dynamics of such binaries and its coupling to tidal evolution, as well as the stellar evolution of such binaries on longer timescales. We find that stellar binaries in the central parts of nuclear stellar clusters (NSCs) are highly likely to evolve into eccentric and/or short-period binaries, and become strongly interacting binaries either on the main sequence (at which point they may even merge), or through their later binary stellar evolution. The central parts of NSCs therefore catalyze the formation and evolution of strongly interacting binaries, and lead to the enhanced formation of blue stragglers, X-ray binaries, gravitational wave sources, and possible supernova progenitors. Induced mergers/collisions may also lead to the formation of G2-like cloud-like objects such as the one recently observed in the Galactic center

  8. The field of the sociology of religion: secularization versus the “God’s revenge”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabiana Luci de Oliveira

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The manuscript discusses the field of the Sociology of Religion, focusing on the debate “secularization versus non-secularization”; decline/ mercantilization/ privatization of religion versus the “God’s revenge” (phenomenon of explosion of new religious movements. The discussion gives attention to authors like Weber, Durkheim, Tocqueville, Pierucci, Campbell, Woodhead e Heelas. The argument presented here is that religion had reappeared as a new kind of moral, meaning not a traditional moral, but new values, a new ethics that critically opposes to reason and science.

  9. The visible spectrum of Pluto: secular and longitudinal variation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenzi, Vania; Pinilla-Alonso, Noemí; Emery, Joshua P.; Licandro, Javier; Cruikshank, Dale P.; Grundy, Will; Binzel, Richard P.

    2015-11-01

    Continuous near-infrared spectroscopic observations during the last 30 years enabled the characterization of the Pluto's surface and the study of its variability. Nevertheless, only few data are available in the visible range, where the nature of the complex-organics can be studied.For this reason, we started an observational campaign to obtain the Pluto's relative reflectance in the visible range, with the aim of characterizing the different components of its surface, and providing ground based observations in support of the New Horizons mission. We observed Pluto on six nights in 2014, with the imager/spectrograph ACAM@WHT (La Palma, Spain). We obtained six spectra in the 0.40 - 0.93 µm range, that covered a whole Pluto's rotational period (6.4 days).To study longitudinal variations, we computed for all the spectra the spectral slope, and the position and the depth of the methane ice absorption bands. Also, to search for secular or seasonal variations we compared our data with previously published results.All the spectra present a red slope, indicating the presence of complex organics on Pluto's surface, and show the methane ice absorption bands between 0.73 and 0.90 μm. We also report the detection of the CH4 absorption band at 0.62 μm, already detected in the spectra of Makemake and Eris. The measurement of the band depth at 0.62 μm in the new spectra of Pluto, and in the spectra of Makemake and Eris, permits us to estimate the Lambert coefficient, not measured yet at this wavelength, at a temperature of 30 K and 40 K.We find that all the CH4 bands present a blue shift. This shift is minimum at the Charon-facing hemisphere, where the CH4 is also more abundant, indicating a higher degree of saturation of CH4 in the CH4:N2 dilution at this hemisphere.Comparing with data in the literature, we found that the longitudinal and secular variations of the parameters measured in our spectra are in accordance with previous results and with the distribution of the dark

  10. Secular Orbit and Spin Variations of Asteroid (16) Psyche

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bills, B. G.; Park, R. S.; Scott, B.

    2016-12-01

    The obliquity, or angular separation between spin and orbit poles, of asteroid (16) Psyche is currently 95 degrees. We are interested in knowing how much that angular separation varies, on time scales of 104 to 106 years. To answer that question, we have done several related analyses. On short time scales, the orbital element variations of Psyche are dominated by perturbations from Jupiter. Jupiter's dominance has two basic causes: first is the large mass and relatively close position of Jupiter, and second is a 19:8 mean motion resonance. Jupiter completes 8 orbits in 94.9009 years, while Psyche takes 94.9107 years to complete 19 orbits. As a result of this, all of the orbital elements of Psyche exhibit significant periodic variations, with a 94.9 year period dominating. There are also significant variations at the synodic period, which is 8.628 years, or 1/11 of the resonant period. Over a 1000 year time span, centered on the present, the eccentricity varies from 0.133 to 0.140, and the inclination varies from 2.961 to 3.229 degrees. On longer time scales, the orbital elements of Psyche vary considerably more than that, due to secular perturbations from the planets. The secular variations are modeled as the response of interacting mass rings, rather than point masses. Again, Jupiter is the main perturbing influence on Psyche. The eccentricity and inclination both oscillate, with dominant periods of 18.667 kyr. The range of values seen over a million year time span, is 0.057 to 0.147 for eccentricity, and 0.384 to 4.777 degrees for inclination. Using a recent shape model, and assumption of uniform density, to constrain relevant moments of inertia, we estimate the spin pole precession rate parameter to be 8.53 arcsec/year. The current spin pole is at ecliptic {lon, lat} = { 32, -7} deg, whereas the orbit pole is at {lon, lat} = {60.47, 86.91} deg. The current obliquity is thus 94.3 degree. Using nominal values of the input parameters, the recovered spin pole

  11. Religious morality (and secular humanism) in Western civilization as precursors to medical ethics: A historic perspective

    OpenAIRE

    Miguel A Faria

    2015-01-01

    In discussing bioethics and the formulation of neuroethics, the question has arisen as to whether secular humanism should be the sole philosophical guiding light, to the exclusion of any discussion (or even mention) of religious morality, in professional medical ethics. In addition, the question has arisen as to whether freedom or censorship should be part of medical (and neuroscience) journalism. Should independent medical journals abstain from discussing certain issues, or should only the m...

  12. WAHHABISM, IDENTITY AND SECULAR RITUAL: Graduation at an Indonesian High School

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inayah Rohmaniyah

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper concerns the social and ritual construction of social identities at Pondok Pesantren Madrasah Wathoniyah Islamiyah (PPMWI, a theologically Wahhabi oriented pesantren (traditional Islamic school in Central Java, Indonesia. We focus on the inter-play of religious and secular symbols in the school’s graduation ceremonies (wisuda for secondary school students and the ways it contributes to the construction of individual and social identities. Our analysis builds on Turner’s studies of the processual logic of rites of passage, Moore and Meyerhoff’s distinction between religious and secular ritual and Tambiah’s application of the Piercian concept of indexical symbols to the analysis of ritual. Theoretically we will be concerned with ritual, cognitive and social processes involved in the construction of religious identities. Empirically, we critique the common assumption that Salafi, and more specifically, Wahhabi, religious teachings contribute to the construction of exclusivist identities, social conflict and violence. In the case we are concerned with, religious tolerance and non-violence are among the defining features of Wahhabi identity.[Tulisan membahas konstruksi identitas ritual dan sosial pada sebuah pesantren yang berorientasi teologi Wahhabi, yaitu Pondok Pesantren Madrasah Wathoniyah Islamiyah (PPMWI. Diskusi akan difokuskan pada saling silang simbol-simbol agama dan sekuler dalam peringatan wisuda siswa menengah pertama serta signifikansinya dalam konstruksi identitas sosial dan individual. Analisis tulisan ini berdasarkan studi Turner mengenai logika proses dalam daur ritus (the processual logic of rites of passage, pembagian ritual agama dan sekuler oleh Moore dan Meyerhoff serta konsep Piercian mengenai indek simbolis dalam ritual oleh Tambiah. Secara teoritis, artikel ini akan mendiskusikan ritual, kognisi, dan proses sosial yang menjadi bagian dalam konstruksi identitas agama. Selain itu, penulis juga melakukan

  13. Construction Progress and Science Planning for the New Research Vessel R/V Sikuliaq

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitledge, T. E.

    2011-12-01

    The research vessel R/V Sikuliaq (pronounced [see-KOO-lee-auk]) is currently being constructed on behalf of the NSF to support future scientific studies in high latitude waters. The 261 foot global class vessel will be capable of breaking 2.5 foot thick ice at 2 knots with an endurance of 45 days at sea and cruising at 11 knots. The R/V Sikuliaq will have a beam of 52 feet and a draft of 18.9 feet that will carry 26 scientists and a crew of 20. Berthing accommodations are a combination of single/double rooms with one stateroom and the common areas of the vessel are designed for ADA access and accommodations. The total laboratory space (main, analytical, electronics, wet, upper, and Baltic room will be 2100 square feet. The 4360 square foot working deck that is approximately 70 feet in length will accommodate 2-4 vans and multiple science operations. The vessel design strives to have the lowest possible environmental impact, including a low underwater-radiated noise signature. The science systems are prescribed to be state-of-the-art for bottom mapping, over-the-side "hands free" gear handling, broad band communications and scientific walk-in freezer and environmental chamber. More details and photos of the construction progress are available on the website at www.sfos.uaf.edu/arrv. The tentative shipyard schedule has a launch date of June 2012 and delivery to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in June 2013. Scientific operations following trials and testing is planned to start in January 2014. A Sikuliaq science planning workshop has been arranged for 18-19 February 2012 in Salt Lake City, UT just prior to the 2012 Ocean Sciences meeting. Interested participants should contact Terry Whitledge (terry@ims.uaf.edu).

  14. Conservation in gene encoding Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen Rv2660 and a high predicted population coverage of H56 multistage vaccine in South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez-Martinez, Angy P; Ong, Edison; Zhang, Lixin; Marrs, Carl F; He, Yongqun; Yang, Zhenhua

    2017-11-01

    H56/AERAS-456+IC31 (H56), composed of two early secretion proteins, Ag85B and ESAT-6, and a latency associated protein, Rv2660, and the IC31 Intercell adjuvant, is a new fusion subunit vaccine candidate designed to induce immunity against both new infection and reactivation of latent tuberculosis infection. Efficacy of subunit vaccines may be affected by the diversity of vaccine antigens among clinical strains and the extent of recognition by the diverse HLA molecules in the recipient population. Although a previous study showed the conservative nature of Ag85B- and ESAT-6-encoding genes, genetic diversity of Rv2660c that encodes RV2660 is largely unknown. The population coverage of H56 as a whole yet remains to be assessed. The present study was conducted to address these important knowledge gaps. DNA sequence analysis of Rv2660c found no variation among 83 of the 84 investigated clinical strains belonging to four genetic lineages. H56 was predicted to have as high as 99.6% population coverage in the South Africa population using the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) Population Coverage Tool. Further comparison of H56 population coverage between South African Blacks and Caucasians based on the phenotypic frequencies of binding MHC Class I and Class II supertype alleles found that all of the nine MHC-I and six of eight MHC-II human leukocyte antigen (HLA) supertype alleles analyzed were significantly differentially expressed between the two subpopulations. This finding suggests the presence of race-specific functional binding motifs of MHC-I and MHC-II HLA alleles, which, in turn, highlights the importance of including diverse populations in vaccine clinical evaluation. In conclusion, H56 vaccine is predicted to have a promising population coverage in South Africa; this study demonstrates the utility of integrating comparative genomics and bioinformatics in bridging animal and clinical studies of novel TB vaccines. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Human rights and faith: a ‘world-wide secular religion’?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henri Féron

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available While human rights are meant to represent a secular morality, there are surprising parallels to be drawn with religions. Perhaps most striking is the realization that human rights are actually based on faith, as was already recognized at the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This dependence on faith has deep implications for the way we understand and propagate them, because it puts rights in situations of epistemological stalemate vis-à-vis other cultural, religious, or ideological moral systems. This paper proposes to compare human rights doctrine to a religion to identify potential threats to its long-term credibility, and how to address them. In particular, it explains why coercive propagation of rights risks degenerating into a form of self-contradictory fundamentalism. Ultimately, the article argues for a return to the values of tolerance and mutual respect that rights actually stand for.

  16. Secular trends in overweight and obesity among Icelandic adolescents: do parental education levels and family structure play a part?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eidsdóttir, Sigridur Þ; Kristjánsson, Álfgeir l; Sigfúsdóttir, Inga D; Garber, Carol E; Allegrante, John P

    2013-06-01

    To investigate whether the secular trend in the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among 16- to 20-year-old adolescents in Iceland varied by levels of parental education and family structure. Odds ratios were calculated from repeated population-based, cross-sectional surveys comprising cohorts of 16- to 20-year-old Icelandic adolescents attending junior colleges in 1992 (n=4,922), 2004 (n=11,031), 2007 (n=11,229), and 2010 (n=11,388). Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from self-reported weight and height and categorised as normal weight or overweight and obese, and examined in relation to parental education level and family structure. The odds of being overweight increased by 2.62 and 1.71 for boys and girls respectively over each of the survey time points. The prevalence of overweight and obesity increased across all three subgroups (low, medium, and high) of parental education level. The probability of overweight across all years were consistently the highest for youths with parents in the low-education category followed by middle-educated and high-educated parental background (peducation backgrounds increased over time and was generally explained more by the fathers' education than by the mothers' education (pFamily structure was not associated with the prevalence of overweight and obesity in our data. Differences in parental levels of education are associated with accelerating trends in prevalence of overweight and obesity among 16- to 20-year-old adolescents in Iceland.

  17. The geomagnetic jerk of 2003.5-characterisation with regional observatory secular variation data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Yan; Holme, Richard; Cox, Grace Alexandra; Jiang, Yi

    2018-05-01

    The 2003.5 geomagnetic jerk was identified in geomagnetic records from satellite data, and a matching feature reported in variations in length-of-day (ΔLOD), but detailed study has been hampered by lack of geomagnetic observatory data where it appears strongest. Here we examine secular variation (annual differences of monthly means) based on a new resource of 43 Chinese observatory records for 1998 until the present, focusing on 10 series of particularly high quality and consistency. To obtain a clean series, we calculate the covariance matrix of residuals between measurements and a state-of-the-art field model, CHAOS-6, and use eigenvalue analysis to remove noisy contributions from the uncorrected data. The magnitude of the most significant eigenvector correlates well with Dcx (corrected, extended Dst), suggesting the noise originates from unmodelled external magnetic field. Removal of this noise eliminates much coherent misfit around 2003-2005; nevertheless, the 2003.5 jerk is seen clearly in the first time derivative of the East component in Chinese data, and is also seen in the first time derivative of the vertical component in European data. Estimates of the jerk time are centred on 2003.5, but with some spatial variation; this variation can be eliminated if we allow a discontinuity in the secular variation as well as its temporal gradient. Both regions also provide evidence for a jerk around 2014, although less clearly than 2003.5. We create a new field model based on new data and CHAOS-6 to further examine the regional signals. The new model is close to CHAOS-6, but better fits Chinese data, although modelling also identifies some data features as unphysical.

  18. Underway pCO2 Measurements in Surface Waters and the Atmosphere During the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer 2016 Expeditions (NCEI Accession 0166630)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NCEI Accession 0166630 includes Surface underway data collected from R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer in the South Pacific Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, Southern Oceans from...

  19. Underway pCO2 Measurements in Surface Waters and the Atmosphere During the R/V Laurence M. Gould 2016 Expeditions (NCEI Accession 0166525)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NCEI Accession 0166525 includes Surface underway data collected from R/V Laurence M. Gould in the South Atlantic Ocean, South Pacific Ocean and Southern Oceans from...

  20. Towards an exact theory of linear absorbance and circular dichroism of pigment-protein complexes: Importance of non-secular contributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dinh, Thanh-Chung; Renger, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    A challenge for the theory of optical spectra of pigment-protein complexes is the equal strength of the pigment-pigment and the pigment-protein couplings. Treating both on an equal footing so far can only be managed by numerically costly approaches. Here, we exploit recent results on a normal mode analysis derived spectral density that revealed the dominance of the diagonal matrix elements of the exciton-vibrational coupling in the exciton state representation. We use a cumulant expansion technique that treats the diagonal parts exactly, includes an infinite summation of the off-diagonal parts in secular and Markov approximations, and provides a systematic perturbative way to include non-secular and non-Markov corrections. The theory is applied to a model dimer and to chlorophyll (Chl) a and Chl b homodimers of the reconstituted water-soluble chlorophyll-binding protein (WSCP) from cauliflower. The model calculations reveal that the non-secular/non-Markov effects redistribute oscillator strength from the strong to the weak exciton transition in absorbance and they diminish the rotational strength of the exciton transitions in circular dichroism. The magnitude of these corrections is in a few percent range of the overall signal, providing a quantitative explanation of the success of time-local convolution-less density matrix theory applied earlier. A close examination of the optical spectra of Chl a and Chl b homodimers in WSCP suggests that the opening angle between Q y transition dipole moments in Chl b homodimers is larger by about 9 ∘ than for Chl a homodimers for which a crystal structure of a related WSCP complex exists. It remains to be investigated whether this change is due to a different mutual geometry of the pigments or due to the different electronic structures of Chl a and Chl b

  1. Towards an exact theory of linear absorbance and circular dichroism of pigment-protein complexes: Importance of non-secular contributions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dinh, Thanh-Chung; Renger, Thomas, E-mail: thomas.renger@jku.at [Institut für Theoretische Physik, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Str. 69, 4040 Linz (Austria)

    2015-01-21

    A challenge for the theory of optical spectra of pigment-protein complexes is the equal strength of the pigment-pigment and the pigment-protein couplings. Treating both on an equal footing so far can only be managed by numerically costly approaches. Here, we exploit recent results on a normal mode analysis derived spectral density that revealed the dominance of the diagonal matrix elements of the exciton-vibrational coupling in the exciton state representation. We use a cumulant expansion technique that treats the diagonal parts exactly, includes an infinite summation of the off-diagonal parts in secular and Markov approximations, and provides a systematic perturbative way to include non-secular and non-Markov corrections. The theory is applied to a model dimer and to chlorophyll (Chl) a and Chl b homodimers of the reconstituted water-soluble chlorophyll-binding protein (WSCP) from cauliflower. The model calculations reveal that the non-secular/non-Markov effects redistribute oscillator strength from the strong to the weak exciton transition in absorbance and they diminish the rotational strength of the exciton transitions in circular dichroism. The magnitude of these corrections is in a few percent range of the overall signal, providing a quantitative explanation of the success of time-local convolution-less density matrix theory applied earlier. A close examination of the optical spectra of Chl a and Chl b homodimers in WSCP suggests that the opening angle between Q{sub y} transition dipole moments in Chl b homodimers is larger by about 9{sup ∘} than for Chl a homodimers for which a crystal structure of a related WSCP complex exists. It remains to be investigated whether this change is due to a different mutual geometry of the pigments or due to the different electronic structures of Chl a and Chl b.

  2. Archeointensities in Greece during the Neolithic period: New insights into material selection and secular variation curve

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fanjat, G.; Aidona, E.; Kondopoulou, D.; Camps, P.; Rathossi, C.; Poidras, T.

    2013-02-01

    Numerous archeomagnetic studies have provided high quality data for both the direction and the intensity of the geomagnetic field, essentially in Europe for the last 10 millennia. In particular, Greece supplies a lot of archeological materials due to its impressive cultural heritage and volcanic activity, so that numerous data have been obtained from burnt clays or historical lava flows. The most recent Greek secular variation curves are available for the last 8 millennia for the intensity and the last 6 millennia for the direction. Nevertheless, the coverage still presents several gaps for periods older than 2500 BC. In an effort to complete the Greek curve and extend it to older times, we present the archeointensity results from three Neolithic settlements in Northern Greece. The samples are of two different natures: burnt structures from Avgi (5250 ± 150 BC) and Vasili (4800 ± 200 BC), as well as ceramics from Dikili Tash (4830 ± 80 BC) and Vasili (4750 ± 250 BC). The samples have been subjected to standard rock magnetic analyses in order to estimate the thermal stability and the domain state of the magnetic carriers before archeointensity measurements. Surprisingly, very few ceramic samples provided reliable archeointensities whereas samples from burnt structures presented a very good success rate. Complementary studies showed that a detailed examination of the matrix color, following archeological information and classification standards can be a decisive test for pre-selection of sherds. In spite of these unsuccessful measurements from ceramics, we obtained an intensity value of 73.5 ± 1.1 μT for Dikili Tash, a higher value than the other data obtained in the same area, during the same period. However we do not have evidences for a technical artefact during the experiment. The burnt structures yielded two reliable archeointensities of 36.1 ± 1.8 μT and 46.6 ± 3.4 μT for Avgi and Vasili, respectively. Finally, we achieved a new archeomagnetic dating

  3. Imagining Exodus for Israel-Palestine: Reading the Secular and the Sacred, Diaspora and Homeland, in Edward Said and David Grossman

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Hartnell

    2005-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper takes as its starting point Edward Said's distinction between 'religious' and 'secular' modes of cultural affiliation. As these simultaneously diverging and converging modes also trammel the particular grounds of thinking that have been Said's natural target of criticism - Zionism - his work speaks particularly powerfully to the debate surrounding the religious genealogy of Jewish identity. This paper argues that Said's interventions on Zionism highlight as problematic the position whereby the 'Ingathering of the Exiles' is promoted as coexisting with a 'diasporic consciousness' nurtured by Judaism during exile; messianic hopes of religious Jews cannot be reconciled with physical return to the Promised Land; identity circumscribed by ethnicity and place cannot stand in as exemplary for the exiled, unsettled and ultimately homeless identity trumpeted by discourses of the 'post', as many contemporary theorists would have it. And yet through an exploration of the writings of David Grossman, whose construction of Jewish identity is envisaged through the regulating, competing and collaborating tropes of Zionism and Diaspora, I argue that this position is crucial for the elaboration of Israeli identity. I also argue that in fact there is room within Said's thinking both for the anti-essentialist elaboration of 'homeless' identities as well as 'the permission to narrate' an identity politics, and that his own distinction between the 'secular' and the 'religious' begins to disassemble. I explore this blurring of the sacred and the secular through the prism of Exodus - as both concept and narrative. This paper suggests that it is precisely Said's achievement to embody these tensions between religion and its other, divine providence and human agency, historical materialism and postmodernism, alienation and its perennially tempting opposite: home.

  4. SigG Does Not Control Gene Expression in Response to DNA Damage in Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv ▿ §

    OpenAIRE

    Smollett, Katherine L.; Dawson, Lisa F.; Davis, Elaine O.

    2010-01-01

    Expression of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigG sigma factor was induced by a variety of DNA-damaging agents, but inactivation of sigG did not affect induction of gene expression or bacterial survival under these conditions. Therefore, SigG does not control the DNA repair response of M. tuberculosis H37Rv.

  5. Theoretical study of a novel refrigeration compressor - Part II: Performance of a rotating discharge valve in the revolving vane (RV) compressor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Teh, Y.L.; Ooi, K.T. [Thermal and Fluids Engineering Division, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, S639798 (Singapore); Djamari, D. Wibowo [Engineering Mechanics Division, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, S639798 (Singapore)

    2009-08-15

    A new refrigeration compressor, named 'Revolving Vane (RV) compressor', has been introduced in Part I of this paper series. For a first time in refrigeration compressors, a rotating discharge valve is employed in the RV compressor mainly due to the rotation of the entire cylinder. This paper presents a theoretical investigation on the dynamic behavior of a reed-type discharge valve undergoing rotatory motion, with the primary objective of elucidating the applicability of such valves in refrigeration compressors. Under the application of the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, a mathematical model of the rotating valve is formulated and the transient response of the valve under centrifugal loads in addition to pressure forces is analyzed. Results have shown that under careful design considerations, the performance as well as the reliability of the rotating discharge valve can be enhanced as compared to a non-rotating valve that has been used in all refrigeration compressors currently. (author)

  6. The period analysis of V418 AQL, SU BOO, RV CVn, CR CAS, GV CYG, V432 PER, and BD+42 2782

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zasche, P.; Wolf, M.; Kučáková, H.; Uhlař, R.

    2014-01-01

    The minimum timings of eclipsing binaries V418 Aql, SU Boo, RV CVn, CR Cas, GV Cyg, V432 Per, and BD+42 2782 were collected and analyzed. Their long-term behavior was studied via period analysis, revealing a periodic term in eclipse times. We derived 576 new times of minimum. Hence, to describe the periodic variation, a third-body hypothesis was proposed and the resulting orbital periods are as follows: 70, 7.4, 53, 37, 27, 53, and 18 yr, respectively. For the system V432 Per an additional 9.5 yr variation was also found. The predicted minimum masses of these distant bodies were calculated and their detectability discussed. The light curves of SU Boo and RV CVn were analyzed using the PHOEBE program, resulting in physical parameters of the components. New variable stars in the field of V418 Aql were discovered.

  7. Implantación de un Controlador para la Cinemática Inversa del Brazo Robot Mitsubishi RV-2AJ a través de una Tarjeta ARM y MatLab

    OpenAIRE

    Cajamarca Peñafiel, Jorge Andres; Portilla Vargas, Alexis David

    2016-01-01

    The project involves the design and construction of a controller for handling the inverse and forward kinematics of the robot Mitsubishi RV-2AJ arm, it is located in the laboratories of the Salesian University in order to create a direct communication through an external card ARM and MatLab software. This driver allows the user to manipulate the robot arm Mitsubishi RV-2AJ in two categories, by joints and coordinates, with a compact hardware and easy to use interface, the autonomy is given...

  8. Accelerator lyfter forskningen

    CERN Multimedia

    Frankel, Göran

    2004-01-01

    "Geologerna i Lund har under hösten byggt upp och testat en ny anläggning för $^{14}$C-datering med s.k. AMS - Acceleratormasspektrometri. AMS - Metodenär inte ny men just den här teknologinär det - det här är den första anläggningen i shitt slag i världen och förvänt-ningarna på vad den ska kunna åstad komma är stora" (1 page)

  9. Secular trends in salt and soy sauce intake among Chinese adults, 1997-2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Lianlong; Li, Suyun; Zhao, Jinshan; Zhang, Junli; Wang, Liansen; Wang, Kebo

    2018-03-01

    Salt and soy sauce are the main ways of sodium intake in Chinese dietary. In this study, we used the data of the China Health and Nutrition Surveys to describe the secular trends of salt and soy sauce intake among Chinese adults from 1997 to 2011. Trends were tested by multiple linear regression models. During the past 14 years, the consumption of sodium, salt and soy sauce intake values decreased significantly across the six study periods (p sauce intake values decreased by 9.0 g/d among men and 7.3 g/d among women. Similar significant trends were observed in all age groups, activity levels and regions (p < .0001).

  10. Visiting Ground Zero: sacred echoes in secular rites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard C. Martin

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available For the past several years since September 11, 2001, large numbers of people from across the continent and around the world have visited the site of the devastated World Trade Center in New York. Scholars in religious studies and the social sciences have noticed that there were and continue to be (though less so over time religious aspects to the observances and performances of visitors to ‘Ground Zero’, as the site of the former World Trade Center almost immediately came to be called. A central argument of this article is that the ongoing stream of visitors to Ground Zero, strictly speaking, does not qualify this phenomenon as a pilgrimage in the traditional religious sense; it is more akin to the growing phenomenon of religious tourism, although it is not exactly that either. Nonetheless the event of 9/11 generated many ritualized activities; the article will also address the pro­cess scholars call ‘ritualization’ and related terms in ritual studies. Although ritualized performances at Ground Zero do not amount to a pilgrimage in the narrow sense that historians of religion mean when they analyse traditional pilgrimages, such as the Hajj to Mecca, or following the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, visiting Ground Zero has taken on both secular and religious elements.

  11. Secular trend of menarche in Zagreb (Croatia) adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veček, Nenad; Veček, Andrea; Zajc Petranović, Matea; Tomas, Zeljka; Arch-Veček, Branka; Skarić-Jurić, Tatjana; Miličić, Jasna

    2012-01-01

    To study the secular trend of menarche in high-school urban adolescent girls (Zagreb, Croatia) over the last two decades, and to evaluate the possible impact of worsening of socio-economic conditions on age at menarche during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995). Three surveys of female adolescents aged 15-19 years: (a) 523 girls interviewed in 1990, (b) 888 girls interviewed in 1997, and (c) 399 girls interviewed in 2010. Self-reported age at menarche (in decimal years) was presented by age groups and year of interview. Differences in mean age at menarche between adolescent age groups as well as between surveys were tested using One-way ANOVA. The mean age at menarche was 12.82 years in 1990, 12.92 years in 1997 and 12.31 years in 2010. It increased by 0.10 years from 1990 to 1997 (p=0.290) and then declined by 0.61 years from 1997 to 2010 (pZagreb adolescents continued to decline significantly from 1990 to 2010 (p<0.001), in spite of a statistically insignificant initial increase between 1990 and 1997. When put in broader context, age at menarche mirrored socio-economic changes in the war period. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. The role of religious faith, spirituality and existential considerations among heart patients in a secular society: relation to depressive symptoms 6 months post acute coronary syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bekke-Hansen, Sidsel; Pedersen, Christina G; Thygesen, Kristian; Christensen, Søren; Waelde, Lynn C; Zachariae, Robert

    2014-06-01

    We explored the significance of religious faith/coping and spirituality and existential considerations reported during hospitalisation on depressive symptoms at 6-month follow-up and addressed patients' perceived influence of their faith among 97 consecutive acute coronary syndrome patients (72.2% male patients; mean age, 60.6 years) in a secular society. All faith variables were found unrelated to depressive symptoms. Having unambiguous religious or spiritual faith at follow-up was associated with a perceived positive influence of this faith on quality of life and the disease itself compared to patients with ambiguous faith. These findings underscore the importance of examining degrees of faith in secular settings. © The Author(s) 2013.

  13. Robustness of the healthcare utilization results from the Rotavirus Efficacy and Safety Trial (REST evaluating the human-bovine (WC3 reassortant pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Van Damme Pierre

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Rotavirus Efficacy and Safety Trial was a placebo-controlled Phase III study that evaluated the safety and efficacy of a three-dose pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5 including its effect on healthcare utilization for rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE. The per-protocol (PP analyses, which counted events occurring 14 days after dose 3 among infants without protocol violations, have already been published. This paper evaluates the consistency of the healthcare utilization results based on the modified intention to treat (MITT analyses with the PP analyses. The MITT analyses include all infants receiving at least one dose of vaccine or placebo and follow-up begins after dose 1. The paper also explores the consistency of the results for different subgroups of the study population with different types of surveillance. Methods Data on healthcare utilization for acute gastroenteritis were collected via telephone interviews after administration of the first dose. Parents were either contacted every 6 weeks or every 2 weeks depending on the substudy in which they were enrolled. Those contacted every 2 weeks were also asked to complete symptom diaries. Poisson regression was used to evaluate the effect of RV5 on the rates of RVGE-associated healthcare encounters in all of the analyses. Results In the first 2 years after vaccination, RV5 reduced the combined rate of hospitalizations and emergency department (ED visits 88.9% (95% CI: 84.9, 91.9 for all RVGE regardless of serotype in the MITT analysis compared with a 94.5% (95% CI: 91.2, 96.6 reduction based on the G1-G4 PP analysis. By type of surveillance, the rate reductions for the G1-G4 PP analysis were 91.0% (95% CI: 81.7, 95.5 and 95.9% (95% CI: 92.2, 97.8 among parents contacted every 2 weeks (number evaluable = 4,451 and every 6 weeks (number evaluable = 52,683 respectively. Conclusions Our analyses demonstrated that the effect of RV5 on reducing the rate of hospitalizations

  14. Rotavirus specific maternal antibodies and immune response to RV3-BB neonatal rotavirus vaccine in New Zealand

    OpenAIRE

    Chen, Mee-Yew; Kirkwood, Carl D.; Bines, Julie; Cowley, Daniel; Pavlic, Daniel; Lee, Katherine J.; Orsini, Francesca; Watts, Emma; Barnes, Graeme; Danchin, Margaret

    2017-01-01

    Background: Maternal antibodies, acquired passively via placenta and/or breast milk, may contribute to the reduced efficacy of oral rotavirus vaccines observed in children in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of rotavirus specific maternal antibodies on the serum IgA response or stool excretion of vaccine virus after any dose of an oral rotavirus vaccine, RV3-BB, in parallel to a Phase IIa clinical trial conducted at Dunedin Hospital, New Zealand. At the time o...

  15. Gandhi on Religion, Faith and Conversion: Secular Blueprint Relevant Today*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Ajai R.; Singh, Shakuntala A.

    2004-01-01

    symbols could not be made into a fetish to prove the superiority of one religion over another. In a multi-religious secular polity like that of India, Gandhi's ideas on religion and attitude toward other religions could serve as a secular blueprint to ponder over and implement. PMID:22815610

  16. Talla final de mujeres de Córdoba, Argentina, y exploración de la tendencia secular (1978­1988) Full adult height of women in Cordoba, Argentina, and an exploration of secular trends 1978­1988

    OpenAIRE

    Fernando Agrelo; Laura Rosa Pascual; Beatriz Lobo; Jacobo Sabulsky

    1999-01-01

    Este trabajo tuvo por objeto aportar datos locales sobre la talla final de mujeres de Córdoba, Argentina, y explorar la posibilidad de una tendencia secular en su crecimiento. Se examinaron 513 mujeres de 18 a 40 años de edad, madres de niños incluidos en el estudio CLACYD (Córdoba: lactancia, alimentación, crecimiento y desarrollo). Las mediciones se realizaron según técnicas estandarizadas, durante mayo y junio de 1994. Usando como normas de referencia datos del Centro Nacional de Estadísti...

  17. Facing suffering and death: alternative therapy as post-secular religious practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Kalvig

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The idea of religious practice being ‘post-secular’ raises questions concerning secularisation, sacralisation and the various meanings of the prefix ‘post’. This paper investigates a kind of practice that is ever increasing in late modern, Western societies and elsewhere; namely, the practice of alternative therapy and the conceptualisations and world-views pertaining to it. The focus is on the themes of suffering and death in relation to alternative spirituality and therapy. Some answers are given to the following questions: is alternative therapy a kind of post-secular religious practice? If so, what kinds of answers or consolations does alternative therapy offer in the face of suffering and death? How do possible ‘alternative theodicies’ relate to holism as a paradigmatic principle? To what extent does, for example, ‘reincarnationism’ seem to function as explanatory model regarding suffering, evil and death?

  18. Perspective on sequence evolution of microsatellite locus (CCGn in Rv0050 gene from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Ruiliang

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The mycobacterial genome is inclined to polymerase slippage and a high mutation rate in microsatellite regions due to high GC content and absence of a mismatch repair system. However, the exact molecular mechanisms underlying microsatellite variation have not been fully elucidated. Here, we investigated mutation events in the hyper-variable trinucleotide microsatellite locus MML0050 located in the Rv0050 gene of W-Beijing and non-W-Beijing Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in order to gain insight into the genomic structure and activity of repeated regions. Results Size analysis indicated the presence of five alleles that differed in length by three base pairs. Moreover, nucleotide gains occurred more frequently than loses in this trinucleotide microsatellite. Mutation frequency was not completely related with the total length, though the relative frequency in the longest allele was remarkably higher than that in the shortest. Sequence analysis was able to detect seven alleles and revealed that point mutations enhanced the level of locus variation. Introduction of an interruptive motif correlated with the total allele length and genetic lineage, rather than the length of the longest stretch of perfect repeats. Finally, the level of locus variation was drastically different between the two genetic lineages. Conclusion The Rv0050 locus encodes the bifunctional penicillin-binding protein ponA1 and is essential to mycobacterial survival. Our investigations of this particularly dynamic genomic region provide insights into the overall mode of microsatellite evolution. Specifically, replication slippage was implicated in the mutational process of this microsatellite and a sequence-based genetic analysis was necessary to determine that point mutation events acted to maintain microsatellite size integrity while providing genomic diversity.

  19. Short-term secular change in height, body mass and Tanner-Whitehouse 3 skeletal maturity of Madeira youth, Portugal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freitas, Duarte; Malina, Robert M; Maia, José; Lefevre, Johan; Stasinopoulos, Mikis; Gouveia, Élvio; Claessens, Albrecht; Thomis, Martine; Lausen, Berthold

    2012-05-01

    Secular trends in height and weight are reasonably well documented in Europe. Corresponding observations for skeletal maturation are lacking. To assess secular trends in height, body mass and skeletal maturity of Portuguese children and adolescents and to provide updated reference values for skeletal maturity scores (SMSs). Data for 2856 children and adolescents of 4-17 years, 1412 boys and 1444 girls, from The 'Madeira Growth Study' (MGS; 1996-1998) and from the'Healthy Growth of Madeira Children Study' (CRES; 2006) were used. Height and body mass were measured. Skeletal maturity was assessed with the Tanner-Whitehouse 2 and 3 methods. Children from CRES were taller and heavier than peers from MGS. Differences in height reached 5.8 cm in boys and 5.5 cm in girls. RUS SMSs did not differ consistently between surveys boys, while higher RUS scores were observed in CRES girls. Adult RUS SMSs for MGS and CRES combined were attained at 15.8 years in boys and 14.8 years in girls. Corresponding ages for adult Carpal SMSs were 14.4 and 14.0, respectively. The short-term trends for height and mass were not entirely consistent with the trends in RUS and Carpal SMSs and SAs.

  20. Conductivity, temperature, depth, water quality and pigment data from R/V Bellows cruise BE-1311, 2012-12-12 to 2012-12-14 (NCEI Accession 0159411)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains conductivity, temperature, and depth data collected during R/V Bellows cruise BE-1311 of the offshore shelf of the Florida Panhandle Bight at...

  1. Cohorts based on decade of death: no evidence for secular trends favoring later cohorts in cognitive aging and terminal decline in the AHEAD study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hülür, Gizem; Infurna, Frank J; Ram, Nilam; Gerstorf, Denis

    2013-03-01

    Studies of birth-year cohorts examined over the same age range often report secular trends favoring later-born cohorts, who are cognitively fitter and show less steep cognitive declines than earlier-born cohorts. However, there is initial evidence that those advantages of later-born cohorts do not carry into the last years of life, suggesting that pervasive mortality-related processes minimize differences that were apparent earlier in life. Elaborating this work from an alternative perspective on cohort differences, we compared rates of cognitive aging and terminal decline in episodic memory between cohorts based on the year participants had died, earlier (between 1993 and 1999) or later in historical time (between 2000 and 2010). Specifically, we compared trajectories of cognitive decline in 2 death-year cohorts of participants in the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old study that were matched on age at death and education and controlled for a variety of additional covariates. Results revealed little evidence of secular trends favoring later cohorts. To the contrary, the cohort that died in the 2000s showed a less favorable trajectory of age-related memory decline than the cohort that died in the 1990s. In examinations of change in relation to time to death, the cohort dying in the 2000s experienced even steeper terminal declines than the cohort dying in the 1990s. We suggest that secular increases in "manufacturing" survival may exacerbate age- and mortality-related cognitive declines among the oldest old.

  2. ULTRA-LOW AMPLITUDE VARIABLES IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD-CLASSICAL CEPHEIDS, POP. II CEPHEIDS, RV TAU STARS, AND BINARY VARIABLES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robert Buchler, J.; Wood, Peter R.; Soszynski, Igor

    2009-01-01

    A search for variable stars with ultra-low amplitudes (ULAs), in the millimagnitude range, has been made in the combined MACHO and OGLE databases in the broad vicinity of the Cepheid instability strip in the HR diagram. A total of 25 singly periodic and 4 multiply periodic ULA objects have been uncovered. Our analysis does not allow us to distinguish between pulsational and ellipsoidal (binary) variabilities, nor between Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and foreground objects. However, the objects are strongly clustered and appear to be associated with the pulsational instability strips of LMC Pop. I and II variables. When combined with the ULA variables of Buchler et al., a total of 20 objects fall close to the classical Cepheid instability strip. However, they appear to fall on parallel period-magnitude (PM) relations that are shifted to slightly higher magnitude which would confer them a different evolutionary status. Low-amplitude RV Tauri and Pop. II Cepheids have been uncovered that do not appear in the MACHO or OGLE catalogs. Interestingly, a set of binaries seem to lie on a PM relation that is essentially parallel to that of the RV Tauri/Pop. II Cepheids.

  3. ‘Culture’ as a discursive resource in newspaper articles from Le Monde about secularism : Constructing ‘us’ through strategic oppositions with religion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. Sommier (Mélodine)

    2018-01-01

    markdownabstractBuilding on research highlighting the complex webs of relations between secularism, culture, and religion, this study investigates how the concept of culture was utilized in discourses of laïcité from the newspaper _le Monde_. Articles (_N_ = 76) published between 2011 and 2014 were

  4. WOMEN, CRIME AND THE SECULAR COURT IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CLUJ

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Fehér

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this presentation is to address the issue of female criminality in early modern Cluj, and to analyze women’s position before the law. Our investigation is based on the records of the secular Court from the town Cluj, where we have identified more than 250 cases of women accused of fornication, adultery, witchcraft, infanticide, theft and drunkenness, poisoning, swearing and slander. There were a significant number of female convictions during the century, from which most ended with light sentences, such as banishment, corporal punishments, stigmatizations with hot iron, mutilations and only occasionally death. We would like to analyze in detail the types of crime and their punishments presenting the legal background, the jurisdiction and the habitual practices of the Court. We would also like to underline the importance of the narrative strategies used in these inquisitorial trials, since our documents reveal female criminality from a male perspective, as in these times men ran the legal system, consequently the Court records, in our reading contain moral, legal and sexual elements of a male discourse on female crime.

  5. Euroopa Sotsiaalfondi vahendid Eesti noortekeskustes - kasutus, tulemused ja mõju noortekeskustele ning ühiskonnale / Heidi Paabort ; kommenteerinud Kerli Kõiv, Tiina Sinijärv, Aire Pruus

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Paabort, Heidi

    2013-01-01

    ESFi programmide tulemusel toimunud muutusi noorsootöös kommenteerivad Rõuge vallavalitsuse noorsootöö spetsialist Kerli Kõiv, Keila ANK ja Keila Noortekeskuse juhataja Tiina Sinijärv ja Nursi noorsootöös osaleja Aire Pruus

  6. Secular trends in consultations for asthma in early childhood, the 16 administrative regions of Morocco, 2004-2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadeq, Mina; Abouqal, Redouane; ElMarnissi, Abdelilah

    2015-09-17

    Little is known about asthma trend in Morocco, particularly in early childhood. Furthermore, when dealing with asthma related environmental risk factors in Morocco, decision-making focus is in one region R9, while 16 regions make up the country. This work aims at studying 9-year trends in consultations for asthma in under-5 children in the 16 individual regions with respect to area and age group. Direct method use, based on the only available national data from the open access files of the ministry of health, standardizing data for three age groups (0-11 ; 12-23 and 24-59 months). We compared age-adjusted rates, stratified by area (urban and rural areas) within each region (Wilcoxon's signed ranks test), and between all regions emphasizing on R9. Secular trends are examined (Kendall's rank correlation test). We also compared directly standardized rates as a rate ratio for two study populations (that of R9 and any region with highest rates). We finally compared rates by age group in selected regions. Secular increase in prevalence rates was shown in both urban and rural Morocco, particularly in urban areas of R10, R14, R16 and R5, and in rural areas of R14 and R16. In urban area of R10 (the highest age-adjusted prevalence rates area) the rates showed secular increase from 6.82 at 95 % CI = [6.44 to 7.19] per 1000 childhood population in 2004 to 20.91 at 95 % CI = [20.26 to 21.56] per 1000 childhood population in 2012 (P = 0.001). Rates were higher in urban than rural Morocco, particularly in R8, R9, R10, R14, R15 ; R6 was an exception. Rates in R10 were 1.63 higher than that in R9 in 2004 and rose to be 2.55 higher in 2012 ; rates in urban area of R14, about 3 times lower than that in R9 in 2004, increased to be similar in 2012. The highest-prevalence age group varied according to region and area. The regions that worth decision making attention are the urban areas of R10 (the highest prevalence rates Moroccan area, showing continuous increase), of R9, of R14

  7. A secular carbon debt from atmospheric high temperature combustion of stem wood?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Czeskleba-Dupont, Rolf

    2012-01-01

    ' approach for smokestack emissions that was propagated within the Kyoto process, the first phase of which is terminating in 2012. Otherwise, it is tolerated that the substitution of wood pellets for coal or other fossil fuels creates long lasting extra emissions of carbon dioxide – a mistake of climate......Basically, combustion of woody biomass in high temperature processes that react with atmospheric air results in a long lasting addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. When harvesting large extra amounts of stem tree for energetic use, a global as well as secular time frame is needed to assess...... overall consequences with due attention given to biosphere processes, including the complex productivity of whole ecosystems. Analytically, a time dependent variable of carbon neutralization can be traced by a simple carbon neutrality or CN factor. Using the forgotten Marland approach, project managers...

  8. Sacred Torrents in Modernity: German Jewish Philosophers and the Legacy of Secularization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roemer Nils

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article investigates the ongoing interaction between the Jewish sacred past and its modern interpreters. Jewish thinkers from the eighteenth century reclaimed these ideals instead of dismissing them. Sacred traditions and modern secular thought existed in their mutual constitutive interdependence and not in opposition. When the optimism in historical progress and faith in reason unraveled in the fin de siècle, it engendered a new critical response by Jewish historians and philosophers of the twentieth century. These critical voices emerged within the fault lines of nineteenth and early twentieth century Jewish anti-historicist responses. What separated twentieth-century Jewish thinkers such as Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, and Gershom Scholem from their nineteenth-century forerunners was not their embrace of religion but their critical stance toward reason and their crumbling faith in historical progress.

  9. Émile Durkheim: from secular ideologist to forerunner of postsecular theories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raquel Weiss

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents and articulates three points that, taken together, suggest a reinterpretations of Durkheim’s concept of religion, allowing us to take the arguments of his late writings as a key ground to postsecular theories. The first point inserts the author in his historical environments, highlighting his commitment to the principle of laicité, part of the moral ideals of the Third Republic. The second point builds a narrative where the idea religion and its relationship with morality undergoes a transformation along his career. The thesis is that in The Elemental Forms of Religious Life (DURKHEIM, 1912 he presents a concept of religion fully compatible with the idea of post-secularization both as a diagnostic of the present times and as a normative horizon for late modernity. In the third and last point I take a stand in defending the idea of postsecular as the best way to encourage religious and axiological pluralism.

  10. SECULAR STELLAR DYNAMICS NEAR A MASSIVE BLACK HOLE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Madigan, Ann-Marie; Hopman, Clovis; Levin, Yuri

    2011-01-01

    The angular momentum evolution of stars close to massive black holes (MBHs) is driven by secular torques. In contrast to two-body relaxation, where interactions between stars are incoherent, the resulting resonant relaxation (RR) process is characterized by coherence times of hundreds of orbital periods. In this paper, we show that all the statistical properties of RR can be reproduced in an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model. We use the ARMA model, calibrated with extensive N-body simulations, to analyze the long-term evolution of stellar systems around MBHs with Monte Carlo simulations. We show that for a single-mass system in steady state, a depression is carved out near an MBH as a result of tidal disruptions. Using Galactic center parameters, the extent of the depression is about 0.1 pc, of similar order to but less than the size of the observed 'hole' in the distribution of bright late-type stars. We also find that the velocity vectors of stars around an MBH are locally not isotropic. In a second application, we evolve the highly eccentric orbits that result from the tidal disruption of binary stars, which are considered to be plausible precursors of the 'S-stars' in the Galactic center. We find that RR predicts more highly eccentric (e > 0.9) S-star orbits than have been observed to date.

  11. Secular Stellar Dynamics near a Massive Black Hole

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madigan, Ann-Marie; Hopman, Clovis; Levin, Yuri

    2011-09-01

    The angular momentum evolution of stars close to massive black holes (MBHs) is driven by secular torques. In contrast to two-body relaxation, where interactions between stars are incoherent, the resulting resonant relaxation (RR) process is characterized by coherence times of hundreds of orbital periods. In this paper, we show that all the statistical properties of RR can be reproduced in an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model. We use the ARMA model, calibrated with extensive N-body simulations, to analyze the long-term evolution of stellar systems around MBHs with Monte Carlo simulations. We show that for a single-mass system in steady state, a depression is carved out near an MBH as a result of tidal disruptions. Using Galactic center parameters, the extent of the depression is about 0.1 pc, of similar order to but less than the size of the observed "hole" in the distribution of bright late-type stars. We also find that the velocity vectors of stars around an MBH are locally not isotropic. In a second application, we evolve the highly eccentric orbits that result from the tidal disruption of binary stars, which are considered to be plausible precursors of the "S-stars" in the Galactic center. We find that RR predicts more highly eccentric (e > 0.9) S-star orbits than have been observed to date.

  12. Galaxy Zoo: Observing secular evolution through bars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheung, Edmond; Faber, S. M.; Koo, David C.; Athanassoula, E.; Bosma, A.; Masters, Karen L.; Nichol, Robert C.; Melvin, Thomas; Bell, Eric F.; Lintott, Chris; Schawinski, Kevin; Skibba, Ramin A.; Willett, Kyle W.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we use the Galaxy Zoo 2 data set to study the behavior of bars in disk galaxies as a function of specific star formation rate (SSFR) and bulge prominence. Our sample consists of 13,295 disk galaxies, with an overall (strong) bar fraction of 23.6% ± 0.4%, of which 1154 barred galaxies also have bar length (BL) measurements. These samples are the largest ever used to study the role of bars in galaxy evolution. We find that the likelihood of a galaxy hosting a bar is anticorrelated with SSFR, regardless of stellar mass or bulge prominence. We find that the trends of bar likelihood and BL with bulge prominence are bimodal with SSFR. We interpret these observations using state-of-the-art simulations of bar evolution that include live halos and the effects of gas and star formation. We suggest our observed trends of bar likelihood with SSFR are driven by the gas fraction of the disks, a factor demonstrated to significantly retard both bar formation and evolution in models. We interpret the bimodal relationship between bulge prominence and bar properties as being due to the complicated effects of classical bulges and central mass concentrations on bar evolution and also to the growth of disky pseudobulges by bar evolution. These results represent empirical evidence for secular evolution driven by bars in disk galaxies. This work suggests that bars are not stagnant structures within disk galaxies but are a critical evolutionary driver of their host galaxies in the local universe (z < 1).

  13. Rotary Valve & Beamline Highlights for Fiscal Year 2017

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fitsos, P [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2017-09-21

    This Fiscal Year (FY) work was divided between continued testing and characterization work of the Rotary Valve (RV) and mechanical engineering support for the beamline hardware stands. This configuration is more like the final setup with the accelerator firing deuterons down the evacuated beamline toward the RV for interaction with the deuterium and neutron production. The beamline cells were part of an experiment to reduce the impact that RV gas would have on the beamline vacuum. This work will be reported separately from this report. Previous testing had been with the beamline at atmospheric pressure and now the goal was to get test results of the RV with it connected to a beamline that’s running at some level of vacuum.

  14. Preparing for Science at Sea - a Chief Scientists Training Cruise on Board the RV Sikuliaq

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coakley, B.; Pockalny, R. A.

    2017-12-01

    As part of their education, marine geology and geophysics students spend time at sea, collecting, processing and interpreting data to earn their degrees. While this is a critical component of their preparation, it is an incomplete introduction to the process of doing science at sea. Most students are unfamiliar with the proposal process. Many students spend their time at sea performing assigned tasks without responsibility or participation in cruise planning and execution. In December 2016, we conducted a two-week-long, NSF-funded "Chief Scientist Training Cruise" aboard the R/V Sikuliaq designed to complete their introduction to seagoing science by giving the students the opportunity to plan and execute surveys based hypotheses they formulated. The educational process began with applicants responding to a request for proposals (RFP), which provided a framework for the scientific potential of the cruise. This process continued training through two days of workshops and presentations at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics. The students used existing data to define hypotheses, plan surveys, and collect/analyze data to test their hypothesis. The survey design was subject to the time constraints imposed by the ship schedule and the physical constraints imposed by the ship's equipment. The training and sea time made it possible to address all of steps of the scientific process, including proposal writing. Once underway, the combination of conducting the planned surveys and attending daily presentations helped familiarize the students with at-sea operations, the equipment on board the RV Sikuliaq, and the process of writing proposals to NSF for sea-going science. Questionnaires conducted prior to the cruise and in the final days before arriving in port document the success of this training program for developing the abilities and confidence in identifying significant scientific problems, preparing proposals to secure funding, and planning and directing ship surveys.

  15. Post-Newtonian templates for binary black-hole inspirals: the effect of the horizon fluxes and the secular change in the black-hole masses and spins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isoyama, Soichiro; Nakano, Hiroyuki

    2018-01-01

    Black holes (BHs) in an inspiraling compact binary system absorb the gravitational-wave (GW) energy and angular-momentum fluxes across their event horizons and this leads to the secular change in their masses and spins during the inspiral phase. The goal of this paper is to present ready-to-use, 3.5 post-Newtonian (PN) template families for spinning, non-precessing, binary BH inspirals in quasicircular orbits, including the 2.5 PN and 3.5 PN horizon-flux contributions as well as the correction due to the secular change in the BH masses and spins through 3.5 PN order, respectively, in phase. We show that, for binary BHs observable by Advanced LIGO with high mass ratios (larger than  ∼10) and large aligned-spins (larger than  ∼ 0.7 ), the mismatch between the frequency-domain template with and without the horizon-flux contribution is typically above the 3% mark. For (supermassive) binary BHs observed by LISA, even a moderate mass-ratios and spins can produce a similar level of the mismatch. Meanwhile, the mismatch due to the secular time variations of the BH masses and spins is well below the 1% mark in both cases, hence this is truly negligible. We also point out that neglecting the cubic-in-spin, point-particle phase term at 3.5 PN order would deteriorate the effect of BH absorption in the template.

  16. Harry and Sally Revisited: The Influence of Spirituality and Education on Sexual Tension in Cross-Sex Friendships in Secular and Christian Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Darren; Adalikwu-Obisike, Justina; Boyko, Jesse; Johnson, Jay; Boscanin, Alex

    2014-01-01

    A sample of 406 subjects completed a questionnaire testing the influence of personal spirituality, education and several other factors on sexual tension in cross-sex friendships (CSF Tension). The subjects included 143 students from a Christian university (CU), 137 from a secular junior college (JC), and 127 non-students (NS). The primary…

  17. WATER TEMPERATURE, Depth, and SALINITY collected from RV Walton Smith in Gulf of Mexico from 2012-07-01 to 2012-08-01 (NCEI Accession 0156594)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — 59 CTD casts made from small boats launched by the RV Walton Smith in the northern Gulf of Mexico near DeSoto Canyon in July 2012 as part of the Grand Lagrangian...

  18. Water Temperature, Conductivity, and others collected from RV Walton Smith in Gulf of Mexico from 2012-07-21 to 2012-08-01 (NCEI Accession 0156586)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains 43 CTD casts made from the RV Walton Smith in the northern Gulf of Mexico near DeSoto Canyon in July-August 2012 as part of the Grand...

  19. Fighting Rage with Fear: The “Faces of Muhammad” and the Limits of Secular Rationality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shirin S. Deylami

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, a number of incidents have pitted Islam against secularism and liberal democracy. This essay examines the Danish publication of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons in order to examine the deployment of rationality as a litmus test for political membership. It argues that Western media and political analysis of the protests surrounding the cartoons constructed Muslims as anti-rational and thus unfit for democratic citizenship. Such a deployment of rationality inhibits the possibility of and demands for political pluralism. The essay then looks to two disparate theorists of affective reason, Abdulkarim Soroush and William Connolly, to offer an alternative model of reason that encourages pluralist political engagement.

  20. Plasma accelerators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bingham, R.; Angelis, U. de; Johnston, T.W.

    1991-01-01

    Recently attention has focused on charged particle acceleration in a plasma by a fast, large amplitude, longitudinal electron plasma wave. The plasma beat wave and plasma wakefield accelerators are two efficient ways of producing ultra-high accelerating gradients. Starting with the plasma beat wave accelerator (PBWA) and laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) schemes and the plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) steady progress has been made in theory, simulations and experiments. Computations are presented for the study of LWFA. (author)

  1. Fundamental movement skills in adolescents: Secular trends from 2003 to 2010 and associations with physical activity and BMI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huotari, P; Heikinaro-Johansson, P; Watt, A; Jaakkola, T

    2018-03-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the secular trends in fundamental movement skills (FMS) among 15- to 16-year-old adolescents at 2 assessment points scheduled in 2003 and 2010 and to investigate the associations between FMS, physical activity (PA), and body mass index (BMI). In 2003, self-reported PA, weight and height, and objective FMS scores were collected from 2390 students, and in 2010, similar data were generated from a second sample of 1346 students. FMS were assessed during both assessment phases using 3 identical objective FMS tests that were figure 8 dribbling, jumping laterally, and coordination track tests. This study indicated that the sum index of FMS did not change among the boys and the girls between 2 data collection points. However, findings demonstrated a secular decline in coordination test scores in both gender groups between 2 measurement points but an improvement in girls' object control skills between 2003 and 2010. The results also showed that FMS had a significant main effect on BMI in both gender groups, whereas the main effect of PA on BMI was not significant for either gender group. Results also demonstrated that there was no significant interaction effect between FMS and PA on BMI in either of the girls' or the boys' groups. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Secular Changes in the Solar Semidiurnal Tide of the Western North Atlantic Ocean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ray, Richard D.

    2009-01-01

    An analysis of twentieth century tide gauge records reveals that the solar semidiurnal tide S, has been decreasing in amplitude along the eastern coast of North America and at the mid-ocean site Bermuda. In relative terms the observed rates are unusually large, of order 10% per century. Periods of greatest change, however, are inconsistent among the stations, and roughly half the stations show increasing amplitude since the late 1990s. Excepting the Gulf of Maine, lunar tides are either static or slightly increasing in amplitude; a few stations show decreases. Large changes in solar, but not lunar, tides suggest causes related to variable radiational forcing, but the hypothesis is at present unproven. Citation: Ray, R. D. (2009), Secular changes in the solar semidiurnal tide of the western North Atlantic Ocean

  3. From Religious Education to Secular Education in the Official Curriculum of Primary Education in Mexico (1821-1917

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adelina Arredondo

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The history of the curriculum is a window to observe the changes and permanences of the school and of the educational system as a whole and for understanding social transformations. The aim of this article is to explain how the curriculum of the primary school (Mexico of the nineteenth century was changed from one centred on Catholic formation towards a secular curriculum. The school curriculum was one of the spearheads to build the state and society projects imagined by the different groups fighting for the control of power. I described how religious education was officially promoted, notwithstanding the political ups and downs that led to differentiate educational policies in federal systems and centralist regimes. Later, I explain how religious education was omitted from the official curriculum, replacing the space with courses of laic morals, with the consequent difficulty of introducing a new subject. Then I analyse how political circumstances led to a radicalization of liberal positions and to the prohibition not only of religious content, but also of symbols, rites and persons linked with religious vows. Finally, secular education, understood in a complex way, began to be demanded not only in public schools but also in private schools. Due to the nature of this article and the spatial limitations I have privileged the follow-up of the legislative history of education, based on primary sources and secondary sources for the understanding of the different contexts that determine this long journey.

  4. Updated and standardized genome-scale reconstruction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, iEK1011, simulates flux states indicative of physiological conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kavvas, Erol S.; Seif, Yara; Yurkovich, James T.

    2018-01-01

    previous M. tuberculosis H37Rv genome-scale reconstructions. We functionally assess iEK1011 against previous models and show that the model increases correct gene essentiality predictions on two different experimental datasets by 6% (53% to 60%) and 18% (60% to 71%), respectively. We compared simulations...

  5. Hydrostatic pressure, water temperature, and others collected from R/V Pelican in Gulf of Mexico from 2012-11-28 to 2012-12-20 (NCEI Accession 0156587)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data was collected during the GISR G03 cruise aboard R/V Pelican held from 28 November to 20 December 2012. This data set includes vertical profiles of...

  6. CONDUCTIVITY, WATER TEMPERATURE, and others collected from R/V Weatherbird II in Gulf of Mexico from 2013-06-24 to 2013-06-30 (NCEI Accession 0156593)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset reports conductivity, temperature and depth data collected in the Northern Gulf of Mexico during the R/V Weatherbird II cruise WB-1318 from June 24-30th...

  7. First muon acceleration using a radio-frequency accelerator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Bae

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Muons have been accelerated by using a radio-frequency accelerator for the first time. Negative muonium atoms (Mu^{-}, which are bound states of positive muons (μ^{+} and two electrons, are generated from μ^{+}’s through the electron capture process in an aluminum degrader. The generated Mu^{-}’s are initially electrostatically accelerated and injected into a radio-frequency quadrupole linac (RFQ. In the RFQ, the Mu^{-}’s are accelerated to 89 keV. The accelerated Mu^{-}’s are identified by momentum measurement and time of flight. This compact muon linac opens the door to various muon accelerator applications including particle physics measurements and the construction of a transmission muon microscope.

  8. Acceleration Modes and Transitions in Pulsed Plasma Accelerators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polzin, Kurt A.; Greve, Christine M.

    2018-01-01

    Pulsed plasma accelerators typically operate by storing energy in a capacitor bank and then discharging this energy through a gas, ionizing and accelerating it through the Lorentz body force. Two plasma accelerator types employing this general scheme have typically been studied: the gas-fed pulsed plasma thruster and the quasi-steady magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) accelerator. The gas-fed pulsed plasma accelerator is generally represented as a completely transient device discharging in approximately 1-10 microseconds. When the capacitor bank is discharged through the gas, a current sheet forms at the breech of the thruster and propagates forward under a j (current density) by B (magnetic field) body force, entraining propellant it encounters. This process is sometimes referred to as detonation-mode acceleration because the current sheet representation approximates that of a strong shock propagating through the gas. Acceleration of the initial current sheet ceases when either the current sheet reaches the end of the device and is ejected or when the current in the circuit reverses, striking a new current sheet at the breech and depriving the initial sheet of additional acceleration. In the quasi-steady MPD accelerator, the pulse is lengthened to approximately 1 millisecond or longer and maintained at an approximately constant level during discharge. The time over which the transient phenomena experienced during startup typically occur is short relative to the overall discharge time, which is now long enough for the plasma to assume a relatively steady-state configuration. The ionized gas flows through a stationary current channel in a manner that is sometimes referred to as the deflagration-mode of operation. The plasma experiences electromagnetic acceleration as it flows through the current channel towards the exit of the device. A device that had a short pulse length but appeared to operate in a plasma acceleration regime different from the gas-fed pulsed plasma

  9. Accelerator development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1975-01-01

    Because the use of accelerated heavy ions would provide many opportunities for new and important studies in nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, as well as other disciplines, both the Chemistry and Physics Divisions are supporting the development of a heavy-ion accelerator. The design of greatest current interest includes a tandem accelerator with a terminal voltage of approximately 25 MV injecting into a linear accelerator with rf superconducting resonators. This combined accelerator facility would be capable of accelerating ions of masses ranging over the entire periodic table to an energy corresponding to approximately 10 MeV/nucleon. This approach, as compared to other concepts, has the advantages of lower construction costs, lower operating power, 100 percent duty factor, and high beam quality (good energy resolution, good timing resolution, small beam size, and small beam divergence). The included sections describe the concept of the proposed heavy-ion accelerator, and the development program aiming at: (1) investigation of the individual questions concerning the superconducting accelerating resonators; (2) construction and testing of prototype accelerator systems; and (3) search for economical solutions to engineering problems. (U.S.)

  10. An accelerating high-latitude jet in Earth’s core

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    W. Livermore, Philip; Hollerbach, Rainer; Finlay, Chris

    2016-01-01

    Observations of the change in Earth’s magnetic field—the secular variation—provide information about the motion of liquid metal within the core that is responsible for the magnetic field’s generation. High-resolution observations from the European Space Agency’s Swarm satellite mission show intense...

  11. Accelerator Technology: Geodesy and Alignment for Particle Accelerators

    CERN Document Server

    Missiaen, D

    2013-01-01

    This document is part of Subvolume C 'Accelerators and Colliders' of Volume 21 'Elementary Particles' of Landolt-Börnstein - Group I 'Elementary Particles, Nuclei and Atoms'. It contains the the Section '8.9 Geodesy and Alignment for Particle Accelerators' of the Chapter '8 Accelerator Technology' with the content: 8.9 Geodesy and Alignment for Particle Accelerators 8.9.1 Introduction 8.9.2 Reference and Co-ordinate Systems 8.9.3 Definition of the Beam Line on the Accelerator Site 8.9.4 Geodetic Network 8.9.5 Tunnel Preliminary Works 8.9.6 The Alignment References 8.9.7 Alignment of Accelerator Components 8.9.8 Permanent Monitoring and Remote Alignment of Low Beta Quadrupoles 8.9.9 Alignment of Detector Components

  12. Secular trends in new childhood epidemics: insights from evolutionary medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brüne, Martin; Hochberg, Ze'ev

    2013-10-21

    In the last few decades, pediatric medicine has observed a dramatic increase in the prevalence of hitherto rare illnesses, among which obesity, diabetes, allergies and other autoimmune diseases stand out. In addition, secular trends towards earlier onset of puberty and sexual activity contribute to the psychological problems of youth and adolescents. All this has occurred in spite of the improved health care provision for children, yet traditional concepts of medicine have failed to explain these new "epidemics". A recent conference and science school of the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) in Acre, Israel, has taken up this challenge. Experts across disciplines including medicine, anthropology and developmental psychology discussed potential causes of childhood ill-health from an evolutionary point-of-view. Seen from an evolutionary vantage point, the "epidemics" of childhood obesity, diabetes and psychological dysfunction appear, in part, to be related to a mismatch between ancestral adaptations and novel environmental contingencies. These include changing exposures to pathogens, which impact on the function of the immune system, as well as changing patterns of parenting, which influence the timing of puberty and the risk for developing psychopathology.

  13. The Vertigo of Secularization: the innovative Notion of Political Authority

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Pía Lara Zavala

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available El artículo aborda la relación entre religión y política, centrándose en el problema de la autoridad política. La expresión “vértigo de la secularización” se emplea aquí para describir los temores que experimentamos al afrontar el problema de pensar nuestras propias normas políticas. La autora examina tres modelos distintos de autoridad política: el que representa la tradición religiosa cívica (Maquiavelo, Hobbes y Rousseau; el modelo puramente secular (Weber y un modelo muy original e innovador (Hannah Arendt. A continuación, muestra cómo al traducir los contenidos de la religión al ámbito político, empleándolos también para configurar nuevos espacios políticos, nos encontramos con una idea innovadora de autoridad. En su opinión, la ejemplar noción de autoridad política de Hannah Arendt es la que se adapta mejor a la que la autora denomina idea innovadora de autoridad.

  14. Safety and immunogenicity of RV3-BB human neonatal rotavirus vaccine administered at birth or in infancy: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bines, Julie E; Danchin, Margaret; Jackson, Pamela; Handley, Amanda; Watts, Emma; Lee, Katherine J; West, Amanda; Cowley, Daniel; Chen, Mee-Yew; Barnes, Graeme L; Justice, Frances; Buttery, Jim P; Carlin, John B; Bishop, Ruth F; Taylor, Barry; Kirkwood, Carl D

    2015-12-01

    Despite the success of rotavirus vaccines, suboptimal vaccine efficacy in regions with a high burden of disease continues to present a challenge to worldwide implementation. A birth dose strategy with a vaccine developed from an asymptomatic neonatal rotavirus strain has the potential to address this challenge and provide protection from severe rotavirus disease from birth. This phase 2a randomised, double-blind, three-arm, placebo-controlled safety and immunogenicity trial was undertaken at a single centre in New Zealand between Jan 13, 2012, and April 17, 2014. Healthy, full-term (≥36 weeks gestation) babies, who weighed at least 2500 g, and were 0-5 days old at the time of randomisation were randomly assigned (1:1:1; computer-generated; telephone central allocation) according to a concealed block randomisation schedule to oral RV3-BB vaccine with the first dose given at 0-5 days after birth (neonatal schedule), to vaccine with the first dose given at about 8 weeks after birth (infant schedule), or to placebo. The primary endpoint was cumulative vaccine take (serum immune response or stool shedding of vaccine virus after any dose) after three doses. The immunogenicity analysis included all randomised participants with available outcome data. This trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611001212943. 95 eligible participants were randomised, of whom 89 were included in the primary analysis. A cumulative vaccine take was detected in 27 (90%) of 30 participants in the neonatal schedule group after three doses of RV3-BB vaccine compared with four (13%) of 32 participants in the placebo group (difference in proportions 0·78, 95% CI 0·55-0·88; pvaccine take after three doses compared with eight (25%) of 32 participants in the placebo group (difference in proportions 0·68, 0·44-0·81; pvaccine was not associated with an increased frequency of fever or gastrointestinal symptoms compared with placebo. RV3-BB vaccine was

  15. SECULAR TRENDS AND LATITUDE GRADIENTS IN SEX RATIOS AT BIRTH IN THE FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victor Grech

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The male-female ratio at birth (M/F: male births divided by total births, which is anticipated to approximate 0.515, has been shown to exhibit latitude gradients and secular trends. Methods: Annual national data for male and female live births for the 15 countries that comprise the former Soviet Union were obtained from the World Health Organisation for the period 1980–2009 (115,167,569 total live births and analysed with contingency tables. Spearman correlation was also carried out to compare percentage annual gross domestic product growth (GDP% – downloaded from the World Bank and M/F. In this context, GDP% is used as a measure for economic hardship or wellbeing within the populace. Results: There have been overall highly significant secular increases in M/F (p < 0.0001 in the countries and regions investigated. M/F is significantly lower in the three more northern regions (Russian Federation, Baltic States and Central Asia. M/F 0.51324, 0.51335-0.51314 than the two more southern regions (Southern Caucasus and Eastern Europe. M/F 0.51654, 0.51635-0.51672. There was a male excess of 113,818 live births.There was a significant positive correlation between GDP% and M/F for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. There was a significant negative correlation in Estonia. Conclusion: Previous studies have shown that improving socioeconomic conditions increase M/F, and the converse has also been demonstrated. This is a potential influence in this geographical area since this region has relatively recently emerged from communist rule and experienced an overall economic upturn, but is only partially supported using GDP%. Another factor may be the selective termination of female pregnancies. The latitude gradient parallels that of neighbouring Europe but no theory has been put forward to convincingly explain this finding to date.

  16. Prevalence of osteoporosis and incidence of hip fracture in women - secular trends over 30 years

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sernbo Ingemar

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The number of hip fractures during recent decades has been reported to be increasing, partly because of an increasing proportion of elderly women in the society. However, whether changes in hip fracture annual incidence in women are attributable to secular changes in the prevalence of osteoporosis is unclear. Methods Bone mineral density was evaluated by single-photon absorptiometry at the distal radius in 456 women aged 50 years or above and living in the same city. The measurements were obtained by the same densitometer during three separate time periods: 1970-74 (n = 106, 1987-93 (n = 175 and 1998-1999 (n = 178, and the age-adjusted prevalence of osteoporosis in these three cohorts was calculated. Additionally, all hip fractures sustained in the target population of women aged 50 years or above between 1967 and 2001 were registered, whereupon the crude and the age-adjusted annual incidence of hip fractures were calculated. Results There was no significant difference in the age-adjusted prevalence of osteoporosis when the three cohorts were compared (P = 1.00. The crude annual incidence (per 10,000 women of hip fracture in the target population increased by 110% from 40 in 1967 to 84 in 2001. The overall trend in the crude incidence between 1967 and 2001 was increasing (1.58 per 10,000 women per year; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.17 to 1.99, whereas the age-adjusted incidence was stable over the same period (0.22 per 10,000 women per year; 95 percent confidence interval, -0.16 to 0.60. Conclusions The increased number of hip fracture in elderly women is more likely to be attributable to demographic changes in the population than to secular increase in the prevalence of osteoporosis.

  17. 2014 CERN Accelerator Schools: Plasma Wake Acceleration

    CERN Multimedia

    2014-01-01

    A specialised school on Plasma Wake Acceleration will be held at CERN, Switzerland from 23-29 November, 2014.   This course will be of interest to staff and students in accelerator laboratories, university departments and companies working in or having an interest in the field of new acceleration techniques. Following introductory lectures on plasma and laser physics, the course will cover the different components of a plasma wake accelerator and plasma beam systems. An overview of the experimental studies, diagnostic tools and state of the art wake acceleration facilities, both present and planned, will complement the theoretical part. Topical seminars and a visit of CERN will complete the programme. Further information can be found at: http://cas.web.cern.ch/cas/PlasmaWake2014/CERN-advert.html http://indico.cern.ch/event/285444/

  18. Virtual Accelerator for Accelerator Optics Improvement

    CERN Document Server

    Yan Yi Ton; Decker, Franz Josef; Ecklund, Stanley; Irwin, John; Seeman, John; Sullivan, Michael K; Turner, J L; Wienands, Ulrich

    2005-01-01

    Through determination of all quadrupole strengths and sextupole feed-downs by fitting quantities derivable from precision orbit measurement, one can establish a virtual accelerator that matches the real accelerator optics. These quantities (the phase advances, the Green's functions, and the coupling eigen-plane ellipses tilt angles and axis ratios) are obtained by analyzing turn-by-turn Beam Position Monitor (BPM) data with a model-independent analysis (MIA). Instead of trying to identify magnet errors, a limited number of quadrupoles are chosen for optimized strength adjustment to improve the virtual accelerator optics and then applied to the real accelerator accordingly. These processes have been successfully applied to PEP-II rings for beta beating fixes, phase and working tune adjustments, and linear coupling reduction to improve PEP-II luminosity.

  19. The secular and the supernatural: madness and psychiatry in the short stories of Muriel Spark.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beveridge, A W

    2015-01-01

    Edinburgh-born Muriel Spark is one of modern Scotland's greatest writers. Examination of her work reveals that the subjects of madness and psychiatry are recurrent themes in her writing. She herself had a mental breakdown when she was a young woman and she took an interest in the world of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. In her short stories, Spark approaches the subject of madness in a variety of ways: she relates it to the supernatural; to writing fiction; and to religion. She frequently juxtaposes secular and supernatural explanations of mental disturbance. Spark adopts a sceptical and, at times, mocking view of psychiatrists and psychiatric treatment. Both psychoanalysis and pills are seen as problematic.

  20. Social structure, infectious diseases, disasters, secularism, and cultural change in America.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossmann, Igor; Varnum, Michael E W

    2015-03-01

    Why do cultures change? The present work examined cultural change in eight cultural-level markers, or correlates, of individualism in the United States, all of which increased over the course of the 20th century: frequency of individualist themes in books, preference for uniqueness in baby naming, frequency of single-child relative to multichild families, frequency of single-generation relative to multigeneration households, percentage of adults and percentage of older adults living alone, small family size, and divorce rates (relative to marriage rates). We tested five key hypotheses regarding cultural change in individualism-collectivism. As predicted by previous theories, changes in socioeconomic structure, pathogen prevalence, and secularism accompanied changes in individualism averaged across all measures. The relationship with changes in individualism was less robust for urbanization. Contrary to previous theories, changes in individualism were positively (as opposed to negatively) related to the frequency of disasters. Time-lagged analyses suggested that only socioeconomic structure had a robust effect on individualism; changes in socioeconomic structure preceded changes in individualism. Implications for anthropology, psychology, and sociology are discussed. © The Author(s) 2015.