bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Risky calculations
Authors: Thimbleby Harold
Published: November 2021

Drug doses and other forms of patient treatment require detailed calculations. Calculation errors are one of the most common types of error and they could be reduced in many ways. Calculators ignore errors, and should be fixed if they are going to be used in healthcare.
Regulation needs fixing
Authors: Thimbleby Harold
Published: November 2021

Digital healthcare needs much better regulation — and regulation needs to keep up with the unique issues of digital healthcare. Better regulation is a Safety Two approach: regulate for better processes to stop things going wrong.
Planes are safer
Authors: Thimbleby Harold
Published: November 2021

Aviation safety relies on getting very complex engineering right, and it’s getting safer and safer. What can digital healthcare learn from aviation and aviation engineering?
Stories for developers
Authors: Thimbleby Harold
Published: November 2021

We should program better so that digital healthcare gets safer — again, this is a Safety Two approach. Formal Methods is widely used in “safety critical” industries, but not often in healthcare. Here’s why it’s needed and how it works.
Finding bugs
Authors: Thimbleby Harold
Published: November 2021

Formal methods isn’t enough on its own. Thorough testing is essential to ensure things really work well, especially when things are going to be used in complex environments like healthcare.
Civil Liability in Australia for International Human Rights Violations
Authors: Cashman Peter
Published: November 2021

Peter Cashman reviews the current state of play in Australia regarding the imposition of civil liability on multinationals for human rights abuses and environmental damage occurring overseas. He considers cases based on a direct tort law-based duty of care and the relevance in that regard of developments in English law and also environmental damage associated with the operations of Australian multinationals, in particular the historic OK Tedi litigation against BHP Billiton and the recent class action trial of the claim by Indonesian seaweed farmers arising from the Montara oil spill. Important aspects of the law on jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, and choice of law and the opt-out class action regime in federal and State courts are outlined. The rules relating to the running of cases by private law firms and third party litigation funders on the basis of contingency fee agreements are explained
Human Rights Litigation against Multinational Companies in France
Authors: Cossart Sandra , Chatelain Lucie
Published: November 2021

Sandra Cossart and Lucie Chatelain review strategic human rights and environmental cases against multinationals in France. By reference to actual cases they outline the legal bases, jurisdiction, and procedure for corporate criminal liability for offences overseas. They discuss cases arising from consumer complaints for misrepresentations by multinationals about human rights standards in supply chains. Regarding tort law, they explain the corporate veil and other hurdles and the potential for claims against parent companies and attempts made to utilise French labour law by employees of foreign subsidiaries. They explain the ground-breaking Law on the Duty of Vigilance of parent and instructing companies, the potential for civil liability in the event of failure to comply with the requirements for a vigilance plan, and judicial enforcement mechanisms. They outline procedural barriers to claims against multinationals, including with regard to access to evidence, collective actions, legal standing of NGOs, and costs rules.
Judgment, Res Judicata and Lis Pendens
Authors: Law European
Published: November 2021

This chapter discusses judgments and judicial settlements. For the purpose of the European Rules of Civil Procedure, a judgment is a decision, which finally resolves the matter by deciding the claim on either the merits, dismisses the proceedings on procedural grounds, or which decides a preliminary procedural issue or a specific legal issue on the merits. A decision finally resolves the matter if proceedings in which the decision was rendered cannot continue before the court where they have been instituted. This includes judgments that finally resolve the matter with respect to a part of the claim for relief or one or more of several, but not all claims for relief brought in one and the same proceeding. It does not encompass case management orders or orders that regulate evidence-taking. It is, however, a matter of the court's discretion whether to render a judgment on specific procedural issues or on specific legal issues on the merits that finally determine particularly important incidental issues, which may then be subject to the appellate process. The chapter also considers the goals of the Rules relating to lispendens and to res judicata.
Provisional and Protective Measures
Authors: Law European
Published: November 2021

This chapter focuses on provisional and protective measures, which are important both in domestic and cross-border litigation to secure effective enforcement or to otherwise preserve rights and prevent (further) harm prior to the commencement of proceedings or pending final judgment. Part X of the European Rules of Civil Procedure consists of three Parts: a General Part (Section 1), which includes rules that apply to all types of measures, unless otherwise provided; a Special Part (Section 2), which includes rules on Asset Preservation, Regulatory Measures, Evidence Preservation, and Interim Payments; and a Cross-Border Part (Section 3), which primarily refers to existing legislation. Section 3 further provides a minimal number of general rules as it is not intended to provide a set of rules on the complex and multifaceted issue of cross-border provisional and protective measures. Principle 8 of the ALI/UNIDROIT Principles was the starting point for the development of Rules concerning provisional and protective measures. This Principle includes three basic rules: on function and proportionality (8.1); ex parte measures; (8.2); and compensation and security (8.3).
Collective Proceedings
Authors: Law European
Published: November 2021

This chapter assesses the mechanisms for collective redress under the European Rules of Civil Procedure. Part XI of the Rules adopts a broad, non-sectoral approach, which is consistent with approaches across many European jurisdictions and was the approach by the European Commission in 2013. It is, however, broadly consistent in approach with that taken by the European Union in 2013 and 2018. This Part is divided into four sections, each of which deals with different mass harm situations. The first concerns collective injunctive relief (Collective Interest Injunctions); the second concerns collective proceedings for the recovery of damages or for declaratory relief (Collective Proceedings); the third provides a mechanism to declare binding a collective settlement entered into by the parties to a pending collective proceeding; and finally, a mechanism to declare a collective settlement entered into outside of collective proceedings binding.
A Social Archaeology of Roman and Late Antique Egypt
Authors: Swift Ellen , Stoner Jo , Pudsey April
Published: November 2021

The first in-depth study of the society and culture of Roman and late antique Egypt that uses everyday artefacts as its principal source of evidence, this book transforms our understanding of many aspects of its society and culture. It represents a fundamental reference work for scholars, with much new and essential information on a wide range of artefacts, many of which are found not only in Egypt, but also in the wider Roman and late antique world. It also sets out a new interpretation of everyday life and aspects of social relations in Egypt in the period under study. By taking a social archaeology approach, it contributes substantial insights into everyday practices and their social meanings in the past. Artefacts from UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology are the principal source of evidence. Most of these objects have not been the subject of any previous research. The book integrates the close study of artefact features with other sources of evidence, including papyri and visual material. There are two principal parts to the book, Part I: ‘Exploring the Social Functions of Dress Objects’, and Part II: ‘The Domestic Realm and Everyday Experience’. An important theme is the life course, and how both dress-related artefacts and ordinary functional objects construct age and gender-related status, and facilitate appropriate social relations and activities. There is also a particular focus on wider social experience in the domestic context. Other topics covered include economic and social changes across the period studied.
Sound-Making Objects
Authors: Swift Ellen , Stoner Jo , Pudsey April
Published: November 2021

The chapter investigates a specific functional category of objects of everyday life: sound-producing objects, with a focus on ordinary, simple items such as bells, clappers, and rattles, and their social function and contribution to everyday experience. After an initial overview of the types of artefacts studied and their dating, evidence from a close examination of the objects themselves is set alongside wider knowledge of their use and social context available from visual and textual sources, and historical and anthropological studies that shed light on the social function of sound-making objects. An innovative aspect of this chapter is the use of evidence from artefact replicas regarding likely notes played, and the volume of the sound produced. This directly inform understanding of the possible roles played by particular types of instruments within everyday social experience in Roman and late antique Egypt, for instance whether they were suited to public performance, more individual entertainment and play, or wider social functions such as the production of alarm sounds, and their audibility to different social groups with discrepant hearing capacity, such as young children, or elderly people. Drawing on experimental recording data including the recreation of the acoustic environment within a Romano-Egyptian house, the final section examines how the sounds produced by the objects may have contributed more widely to the creation of ambient environments and collective experiences.
Egypt in the Roman and Late Antique World
Authors: Swift Ellen , Stoner Jo , Pudsey April
Published: November 2021

Following a short section summarizing the interpretative contributions of the book as a whole, this chapter takes a wider perspective, drawing on the material studied in the preceding chapters to first compare Egypt to the wider Roman world, and, second, examine the transition from the Roman to late antique period and beyond in Egypt. First, the overall contribution of the book is emphasized: a new interpretation which takes a social archaeology approach to everyday life. The point is also made that the work is grounded in a careful re-evaluation of object dating, and informed by neglected archive information. In addition to providing a secure foundation for the book, this fundamental research provides an important resource for future studies. Next, evidence for both similarities and differences to wider Roman culture is presented, and the multiple ways in which Roman-style material culture may have functioned within the social context of Egypt are examined. Finally, the relationship between the objects studied and wider social changes is investigated; the transition from the Roman to the late antique period, and beyond. This includes a consideration of the impact of Christianity, and wider evidence, through dress objects, of shared culture across the Byzantine Christian world, as well as evidence of economic change at the end of the Byzantine period in Egypt. Some aspects of continuity and change into the early Islamic period, as reflected through the material studied, are also briefly considered.
Chemistry in Quantitative Language
Authors: Oriakhi Christopher O.
Published: November 2021

Chemistry in Quantitative Language is an invaluable guide to solving chemical equations and calculations. It provides readers with intuitive and systematic strategies to carry out the many kinds of calculations they will meet in general chemistry. Each chapter introduces the basic theories and concepts of a particular topic, focusing on relevant equations. Worked examples illuminate each type of problem, with carefully explained step-by-step solutions. Since chemistry problems can be presented in a number of ways, the examples include several versions of each question. To help students understand and retain the procedures, the solutions discuss not only what steps to carry out to reach solutions, but why. Additional problems, with answers, are included at the end of each chapter. The book is intended as a companion to a standard chemistry textbook, but can also be used on its own for review. Its primary audience is students in first-year college and university chemistry classes; it can also help in preparing for GCE Advanced Level, GRE subject test, AP Chemistry, MCAT and similar tests.
Chemical Formulas and Nomenclature
Authors: Oriakhi Christopher O.
Published: November 2021

Chemical Formula and Nomenclature explains the rules for writing chemical formulas and naming compounds. The concept of oxidation number and how to determine it within a molecule or a polyatomic ion is described. Rules for writing and naming ionic and molecular compounds are discussed.
Chemical Kinetics
Authors: Oriakhi Christopher O.
Published: November 2021

Chemical Kinetics discusses the rate at which chemical reactions occur and how these rates can be expressed mathematically, with a review of the factors which affect reaction rates. Topics presented with a numerical focus include reaction rate measurements, rate laws and their components including rate constants, determination of reaction orders from integrated rate laws, and effects of temperature on rates. Reaction half life and its determination are discussed. Collision theory, which forms the basis of the rate law, is presented with emphasis on the effect of temperature on the rate constant and the rate. The Arrhenius equation and the concept of activation energy are discussed with illustrative calculations for determining the energy of activation.
Ionic Equilibria and pH
Authors: Oriakhi Christopher O.
Published: November 2021

Ionic Equilibria and pH reviews the quantitative aspects of aqueous acid-base chemistry. Definitions and concepts are presented and appropriate worked examples illustrate calculations of concentration, pH and ionization constants. Acid-base properties of salts (salt hydrolysis) is introduced and explained along with the common-ion effect and calculation of hydrolysis constants. Equilibria of acid-base buffers with respect to buffer preparation, calculating the pH of a buffer solution and application of the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation, buffer range and buffer capacity is discussed. Determining the pH during acid-base titrations, selecting the appropriate acid-base indicators, and generating pH titration curves are explained.
Solubility and Complex-Ion Equilibria
Authors: Oriakhi Christopher O.
Published: November 2021

Solubility and Complex-Ion Equilibria broadens the previous chapter’s coverage of equilibria to include aqueous systems containing two or more solutes of slightly soluble ionic compounds and the formation of metal complexes in solution. Solubility equilibria which allow quantitative predictions of how much of a compound will dissolve under given conditions are covered. The meaning of the solubility product constant (Ksp) and how to calculate it from molar solubility values is presented. Also discussed is determination of molar solubility from Ksp. Calculations demonstrate how to predict the formation of a precipitate by comparing the ion product or solubility quotient (Q) with Ksp. Formation constants of complex ions and calculations involving complex ion equilibria are explained.
Writing the Women’s Part
Authors: Mugglestone Lynda
Published: November 2021

This chapter documents Clark’s dedicated pursuit of the words, and meanings, by which women’s participation in World War One was to be expressed. As Clark observed, women, as war workers, arguably claimed a new linguistic visibility in war-time, evident in a diverse array of gender-marked neologisms alongside other gender-specific and transferred forms of use. This was another part of the language of war effort and doing one’s bit, in which Clark’s interest in minuteness (and ephemerality) proved rewarding — as did his attention to the complex undercurrents of meaning that such forms could reveal. This was, as he explored, nevertheless perhaps best seen as another form of language ‘for the duration’ – profoundly resonant of time and change, it was also strikingly time-bound, and characterised by its own forms of ephemerality and incipient obsolescence.
Written on the Body
Authors: Mugglestone Lynda
Published: November 2021

This chapter examines the language of illness, sickness, and death in war-time use – in a domain which offered its own conflicted spaces of both erasure and over-lexicalisation, and euphemism alongside dysphemism. As Clark’s ‘Words in War-Time’, records, popular discourses of health readily appropriated military metaphors in ways that evoked other synergies between Home and active fronts (‘If your line of health is “weakly held” strengthen your forces with Bovril’, as advertising in the Scotsman announced in March 1915). In contrast, human vulnerabilities as embedded in trench warfare as literal rather than metaphorical process yielded a rapidly expanding lexicon, evident in the shifting understanding of trench foot, trench fever, and frostbite, or the reorientation of the diction of nerves and nerviness in which shellshock (and raid-shock on the Home Front) can remain prominent legacies.
British Banks and Their Aesop’s Fables
Authors: Barnes Victoria , Newton Lucy
Published: November 2021

Using the framework developed by Scranton and Fridenson, this chapter explores the way British banks invested in their active learning memory, focusing on the visual cues used to remember stories about managerial behaviour and the narrative surrounding images of individual bankers, in particular, general managers of joint stock banks. What do artefacts tell us about the way banks remembered their past and the lessons of past crises? What stories are told through them about the person and the bank’s past performance, failure, and financial crisis? What morals or lessons about governance can be found in them? We draw upon the printed and archival literature to reveal the nature of the exchanges that were had over these objects and about these characters. We examine two key individuals and how they were remembered, in particular their role in steering their respective organizations through crisis.
The Modern British Party System
Authors: Webb Paul , Bale Tim
Published: November 2021

This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview and account of the changing nature of party politics in Britain today. It draws on models of comparative politics to conduct a wealth of new empirical analysis to map and explain the ways in which the party system has evolved and the parties adapted to a changing political environment. Themes covered include the nature and extent of party competition, the internal life and organizational development of parties, the varieties of party system found across the UK, and the roles played by parties within the wider political system. The book also addresses the crisis of popular legitimacy confronting the parties, as well as assessing the scope for potential reform. While parties remain central to the functioning of Britain’s democracy, public disaffection with them is as high as it has ever been; reform of the system of representation and party funding is warranted, but there are unlikely to be any panaceas.
The Beauty of Deep Structure
Authors: Harris Randy Allen
Published: November 2021

This chapter charts the rise of Noam Chomsky’s Transformational-Generative Grammar, from its cornerstone role in the cognitive revolution up to its widely heralded realization in Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. That realization featured the development of an evocative concept, Deep Structure, a brilliant nexus of meaning and structure that integrates seamlessly with Chomsky’s companion idea, Universal Grammar, the notion that all languages share a critical, genetically encoded core. At a technical level, Deep Structure concentrated meaning because of the Katz-Postal Principle, stipulating that transformations cannot change meaning. Transformations rearrange structure while keeping meaning stable. The appeal of Deep Structure and Universal Grammar helped Transformational Grammar propagate rapidly into language classrooms, literary studies, stylistics, and computer science, gave massive impetus to the emergence of psycholinguistics, attracted substantial military and educational funding, and featured prominently in Chomsky’s meteoric intellectual stardom.
Generative Semantics 1: The Model
Authors: Harris Randy Allen
Published: November 2021

This chapter follows the emergence of Generative Semantics from the Transformational Grammar developments codified in Noam Chomsky’s Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. It was on George Lakoff’s mind from before Aspects but it only achieved the rhetorical, sociological, and theoretical conditions to thrive with that codification. Generative Semantics looked like a natural extension of Transformational Grammar, rooting itself in the semantic subsoil of Deep Structure and aligning closely with Universal Grammar. But that subsoil quickly proved to be less fertile than it had seemed, so Generative Semantics imported concepts from logic and philosophy of language; and Universal Grammar proved less substantial than it had seemed, so Generative Semantics solidified it with a Universal Base hypothesis. The resulting model was an extraordinarily elegant theory in which language passed through a homogeneous system of rules from thought and meaning to structure and expression, but it contained multiple seeds, both attitudinal and technical, of a challenge to Chomsky’s work.
Generative Semantics 3: The Ethos
Authors: Harris Randy Allen
Published: November 2021

This chapter describes the distinctive ethos of Generative Semantics, which permeated the field from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, exactly when the counterculture (“the hippies”) were flourishing as a broad cultural movement. While there were many personal motivations in the development of this ethos, a broad generalization holds that just as the counterculture was rooted in rejecting establishment values, the Generative Semantics ethos was rooted in a rejection of perceived Chomskyan values. Their intellectual style embraced humor (Chomsky epitomizes seriousness), political engagement (Chomsky was a forceful activist but segregated his political and linguistic work sharply), and a veneration of data for the sake of data (Chomsky’s data was always highly constrained, in direct service to his theoretical claims; Generative Semanticists eagerly pursued data even when it undermined their theories).
Generative Semantics 4: The Collapse
Authors: Harris Randy Allen
Published: November 2021

This chapter traces the collapse of Generative Semantics, which ultimately became a movement away from Noam Chomsky’s view of linguistics, more than a movement toward a unifying vision of language or linguistics. The leaders all went in various directions. Paul Postal and Jim McCawley retained their commitments to formal modeling, but Postal developed a new, non-Transformational framework with David Perlmutter, Relational Grammar, while McCawley continued to ply an increasingly idiosyncratic Transformational model he eventually called Unsyntax. Robin Lakoff led the expansion of linguistic pragmatics and founded feminist linguistics. George Lakoff and Haj Ross took overlapping but distinct forays into non-discrete linguistics. Meanwhile, the Generative Semantics ethos was losing whatever appeal it may have had. Linguists outside the movement, and some within, found the style irritating. Meanwhile, too, Chomsky’s innovations were proving very fruitful and attracting adherents under the label, the Extended Standard Theory. Chomsky’s framework emerged from the brief Generative Semantics eclipse and now seemed the clear winner of the Linguistics Wars.
Law, Bureaucracy, and the Practice of Government and Rule
Authors: Humfress Caroline
Published: November 2021

This chapter explores the “logic of empire” in relation to law, bureaucracy, and the practice of government, from the Ancient world to the present. Beginning with the complex example of Haile Selassie I and the Ethiopian Empire, the chapter analyzes the many universalisms of law and empire, before moving on to a survey of different “repertories” of imperial rule. The chapter then examines the numerous ways in which empires put law “to work,” facilitating the development of multiple, normative orders and institutions far beyond the jurisdiction of their own imperial officials. The final section of the chapter briefly introduces (post)colonial legal scholarship and the concept of “legalism from below,” with a specific focus on recent archival research in courtroom records.
Empire and Religion
Authors: Bennison Amira K.
Published: November 2021

This chapter explores the relationship between religion and empire, focusing on the empires of the Islamic world while also alluding to Sasanian Persia, the Byzantine Empire, Latin Christendom, and the European colonial empires which occupied the same geographic space in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. After exploring the notions of “empire” and “religion,” it will consider associations between power and the sacred, expressed in many societies via cosmologies in which rulers were assumed to play a pivotal role in maintaining a harmonious social order. It will then explore the status rulers held in relation to dominant beliefs or confessional faiths, ranging from headship of a religious community to divine rights to rule, and how this was supported from the material and ideological perspectives in urban centers and across the countryside. The chapter concludes with a brief look at religious movements as a form of resistance to such hegemonic imperial structures.
Literature of Empire
Authors: Majeed Javed
Published: November 2021

This chapter considers the role of imperial and anti-imperial literatures in the representation and subversion of cultural, linguistic, and racial differences within empires. It discusses the place of poetry in the training of imperial elites in parts of the ancient and medieval world, the representation of barbarianism in imperial and anti-imperial literatures, and the importance of an idea of “classical” texts in imperial perceptions. The second half of the chapter discusses how the multilingualism of empires created linguistic choices for writers. By bringing together cultures, languages, and literatures, empires produced distinctive cosmopolitanisms which straddled the colonial-nationalist divide in the modern era and led to the authoring of texts that were simultaneously nationalist and cosmopolitan. While empires were politically and economically oppressive, they also made available a range of literary traditions, aesthetic possibilities, and creative opportunities for authors and poets (both imperial and colonized) to work with.
Belief Revision
Authors: Huber Franz
Published: November 2021

This chapter first introduces the AGM theory of belief revision. Then it focuses on the problem of iterated belief revisions.
Conditional Belief
Authors: Huber Franz
Published: November 2021

This chapter first presents the static and dynamic rules of ranking theory. Then it shows how ranking theory solves the problem of iterated belief revisions.
Why Should I?
Authors: Huber Franz
Published: November 2021

This chapter first answers the question of why conditional beliefs should obey the axioms and update rule of ranking theory. This includes a defense of the conditional theory of conditional belief that characterizes conditional belief in terms of belief and counterfactuals. Then the instrumentalist view of rationality, or normativity, underlying this answer is discussed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of conditional obligation and conditional belief.
Speaking in Her Language: Cameron, Thatcher and Deficit Reduction under the Coalition Government, 2010–2015
Authors: Evans Stephen
Published: November 2021

During the time he led the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition Government, David Cameron used, in a highly selective and contestable manner, the kind of Thatcherite language with regard to deficit reduction which those on the right of the Conservative Party could relate to, and he did so in the interests of party unity. This argument is framed within the context of the limits of modernisation under Cameron’s leadership, and it emphasises the role which rhetoric can play in politics. The primary source is a selection of Cameron’s speeches as Coalition Prime Minister, particularly those geared towards audiences in his own party.
Understanding Cash Flow Risk
Authors: Gryglewicz Sebastian , Mancini Loriano , Morellec Erwan , Schroth Enrique , Valta Philip
Published: November 2021

Theory has recently shown that corporate policies should depend on firms’ exposure to short- and long-lived cash flow shocks and the correlation between these shocks. We provide granular estimates of these parameters for Compustat firms using a new filter that uses only cash flow data and the theoretical restrictions of a canonical cash flow model. As predicted by theory, we find that the estimated parameters are strongly related to corporate liquidity and financing choices, that firms with a higher estimated correlation between shocks implement riskier policies, and that the sign of this correlation determines the cash flow sensitivity of cash.

Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.
Increase in gunshot wounds at a level 1 trauma center following the COVID19 pandemic
Authors: Padubidri Anokha A. , Rushing Amy , Ochenjele George , Sontich John , Napora Joshua , Osborne Ashli , Delozier Sarah , Wetzel Robert
Published: November 2021

Objectives:

To compare the number of patients with gunshot wounds presenting to our level 1 trauma center before and during the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on volume trends after the lifting of stay-at-home directives through August 2020.

Design:

Retrospective.

Setting:

Level 1 trauma center.

Patients/Participants:

Seven hundred six gunshot wound patients between 2016 and 2020 (months March to September only).

Intervention:

COVID-19 pandemic and resultant stay at home directives.

Main Outcome Measurements:

Number of patients presenting with gunshot wounds per time period.

Results:

The number of patients with gunshot wounds presenting to our institution increased by 11.7% in March–April 2020 and by 67% in May–August 2020 when compared to previous years. Length of stay significantly decreased in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019. In 2020, significantly fewer patients had orthopaedic procedures than in 2018.

Conclusions:

Patients presenting with gunshot wounds increased during the initial “stay-at-home” portion of the pandemic in March to April and increased significantly more after the restrictions were relaxed during May to August.

Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III
Dormant plasticity of rotifer diapausing eggs in response to predator kairomones
Authors: Yin Xuwang , Zhao Yuecen , Tian Shuang , Li Xiaochun
Published: November 2021

In freshwater ecosystems, hatching strategy of diapausing eggs (DEs) under predation risk has important ecological implication for zooplankters. Although kairomones released by predators can induce phenotypic responses of prey, hatching patterns of DEs in response to kairomones have received contradictory conclusions in zooplankters. Maternal environment may also affect hatching strategy of DEs during predator–prey interactions. We used classical
Brachionus calyciflorus
–
Asplanchna
models to determine the timing and proportion of DE hatching in association with parental and embryonic exposure to kairomones. Results obtained from two
Brachionus
clones supported the hypothesis that DEs could detect
Asplanchna
kairomones and adjust hatching patterns. DEs showed early and synchronous hatching patterns in the environment with kairomones. Data also supported the prediction that DEs could gain information about predators from maternal environments and adjusted their hatching pattern in response to the presence of kairomones. Compared with DEs from
Brachionus
mothers not exposed to kairomones, DEs produced by mothers that were experienced with kairomones attained a higher hatching rate when both of them hatched in the environment either with or without kairomones. Our results suggest that DEs of
B
.
calyciflorus
possess dormant plasticity to defend against predation from
Asplanchna
, which may be regulated by maternal environmental effects during sexual life cycles.
Early intervention is the key to success in COVID-19 control
Authors: Binny Rachelle N. , Baker Michael G. , Hendy Shaun C. , James Alex , Lustig Audrey , Plank Michael J. , Ridings Kannan M. , Steyn Nicholas
Published: November 2021

New Zealand responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a combination of border restrictions and an Alert Level (AL) system that included strict stay-at-home orders. These interventions were successful in containing an outbreak and ultimately eliminating community transmission of COVID-19 in June 2020. The timing of interventions is crucial to their success. Delaying interventions may reduce their effectiveness and mean that they need to be maintained for a longer period. We use a stochastic branching process model of COVID-19 transmission and control to simulate the epidemic trajectory in New Zealand's March–April 2020 outbreak and the effect of its interventions. We calculate key measures, including the number of reported cases and deaths, and the probability of elimination within a specified time frame. By comparing these measures under alternative timings of interventions, we show that changing the timing of AL4 (the strictest level of restrictions) has a far greater impact than the timing of border measures. Delaying AL4 restrictions results in considerably worse outcomes. Implementing border measures alone, without AL4 restrictions, is insufficient to control the outbreak. We conclude that the early introduction of stay-at-home orders was crucial in reducing the number of cases and deaths, enabling elimination.
True colours or red herrings?: colour maps for finite-element analysis in palaeontological studies to enhance interpretation and accessibility
Authors: Lautenschlager Stephan
Published: November 2021

Accessibility is a key aspect for the presentation of research data. In palaeontology, new data is routinely obtained with computational techniques, such as finite-element analysis (FEA). FEA is used to calculate stress and deformation in objects when subjected to external forces. Results are displayed using contour plots in which colour information is used to convey the underlying biomechanical data. TheRainbowcolour map is nearly exclusively used for these contour plots in palaeontological studies. However, numerous studies in other disciplines have shown theRainbowmap to be problematic due to uneven colour representation and its inaccessibility for those with colour vision deficiencies. Here, different colour maps were tested for their accuracy in representing values of FEA models. Differences in stress magnitudes (ΔS) and colour values (ΔE) of subsequent points from the FEA models were compared and their correlation was used as a measure of accuracy. The results confirm that theRainbowcolour map is not well suited to represent the underlying stress distribution of FEA models with other colour maps showing a higher discriminative power. As the performance of the colour maps varied with tested scenarios/stress types, it is recommended to use different colour maps for specific purposes.
Whole set of constitutive promoters for RpoN sigma factor and the regulatory role of its enhancer protein NtrC in Escherichia coli K-12
Authors: Shimada Tomohiro , Furuhata Shun , Ishihama Akira
Published: November 2021

The promoter selectivity of

Escherichia coli

RNA polymerase (RNAP) is determined by its promoter-recognition sigma subunit. The model prokaryote

E. coli

K-12 contains seven species of the sigma subunit, each recognizing a specific set of promoters. Using genomic SELEX (gSELEX) screening in vitro, we identified the whole set of ‘constitutive’ promoters recognized by the reconstituted RNAP holoenzyme alone, containing RpoD (σ70), RpoS (σ38), RpoH (σ32), RpoF (σ28) or RpoE (σ24), in the absence of other supporting regulatory factors. In contrast, RpoN sigma (σ54), involved in expression of nitrogen-related genes and also other cellular functions, requires an enhancer (or activator) protein, such as NtrC, for transcription initiation. In this study, a series of gSELEX screenings were performed to search for promoters recognized by the RpoN RNAP holoenzyme in the presence and absence of the major nitrogen response enhancer NtrC, the best-characterized enhancer. Based on the RpoN holoenzyme-binding sites, a total of 44 to 61 putative promoters were identified, which were recognized by the RpoN holoenzyme alone. In the presence of the enhancer NtrC, the recognition target increased to 61–81 promoters. Consensus sequences of promoters recognized by RpoN holoenzyme in the absence and presence of NtrC were determined. The promoter activity of a set of NtrC-dependent and -independent RpoN promoters was verified in vivo under nitrogen starvation, in the presence and absence of RpoN and/or NtrC. The promoter activity of some RpoN-recognized promoters increased in the absence of RpoN or NtrC, supporting the concept that the promoter-bound NtrC-enhanced RpoN holoenzyme functions as a repressor against RpoD holoenzyme. Based on our findings, we propose a model in which the RpoN holoenzyme fulfils the dual role of repressor and transcriptase for the same set of genes. We also propose that the promoter recognized by RpoN holoenzyme in the absence of enhancers is the ‘repressive’ promoter. The presence of high-level RpoN sigma in growing

E. coli

K-12 in rich medium may be related to the repression role of a set of genes needed for the utilization of ammonia as a nitrogen source in poor media. The list of newly identified regulatory targets of RpoN provides insight into

E. coli

survival under nitrogen-depleted conditions in nature.
Rigid DNA nanotube tethers suppress high frequency noise in dual-trap optical tweezers systems
Authors: Shaw Alan , Satija Rohit , de Mayolo De la Matta Eduardo Antunez , Marqusee Susan , Bustamante Carlos
Published: November 2021

Dual trap optical tweezers are a powerful tool to trap and characterize the biophysical properties of single biomolecules such as the folding pathways of proteins and nucleic acids, and the chemomechanical activity of molecular motors. Despite its vastly successful application, noise from drift and fluctuation of the optics, and Brownian motion of the trapped beads still hinder the technique’s ability to directly visualize folding of small biomolecules or the single nucleotide stepping of polymerases, especially at low forces (<10 pN) and sub-millisecond timescales. Rigid DNA nanotubes have been used to replace the conventional dsDNA linker to reduce optical tweezers noise in the low force range. However, optical tweezers are used to study a wide range of biophysical events, with timescales ranging from microseconds to seconds, and length changes ranging from sub nanometers to tens of nanometers. In this study, we systematically evaluate how noise is distributed across different frequencies in dual trap optical tweezers systems–and show that rigid DNA nanotube tethers suppress only high frequency noise (kHz), while the low frequency noise remains the same when compared to that of dsDNA tethers.
Plasmodium-encoded murine IL-6 impairs liver stage infection and elicits long-lasting sterilizing immunity
Authors: Belhimeur Selma , Briquet Sylvie , Peronet Roger , Pham Jennifer , Commere Pierre-Henri , Formaglio Pauline , Amino Rogerio , Scherf Artur , Silvie Olivier , Mecheri Salaheddine
Published: November 2021

Plasmodiumsporozoites inoculated byAnophelesmosquitoes into the skin of the mammalian host migrate to the liver before infecting hepatocytes. Previous work demonstrated that early production of IL-6 in the liver is detrimental for the parasite growth, contributing to the acquisition of a long-lasting immune protection after immunization with live attenuated parasites. Considering that IL-6 ais a critical pro-inflammatory signal, we explored a novel approach whereby the parasite itself encodes for the murine IL-6 gene. We generated transgenicP. bergheiparasites that express murine IL-6 during liver stage development. Though IL-6 transgenic sporozoites develop into exo-erythrocytic forms in cultured hepatocytesin vitroandin vivo, these parasites were not capable of inducing a blood stage infection in mice. Furthermore, immunization of mice with transgenic IL-6-expressingP. bergheisporozoites elicited a long-lasting CD8+T cell-mediated protective immunity against a subsequent infectious sporozoite challenge. Collectively, this study demonstrates that parasite-encoded IL-6 attenuates parasite virulence with abortive liver stage ofPlasmodiuminfection, forming the basis of a novel suicide vaccine strategy to elicit protective antimalarial immunity.

IL-6 was shown to controlPlasmodiumparasite development in the liver. Here, Belhimeur et al. generated a murine IL-6 transgenicPlasmodium berghei. These parasites show an arrest in hepatocyte development and protect mice against homologous and heterologous parasite challenge in a CD8-dependent manner.
Full-state modeling and nonlinear control of balloon supported unmanned aerial vehicle
Authors: Mazhar Naveed , Malik Fahad Mumtaz , Azim Raja Amer , Raza Abid , Khan Rameez , Khan Qasim Umar
Published: November 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide the full-state mathematical model and devise a nonlinear controller for a balloon-supported unmanned aerial vehicle (BUAV).

Design/methodology/approach

Newtonian mechanics is used to establish the nonlinear mathematical model of the proposed vehicle assembly which incorporates the dynamics of both balloon and quadrotor UAV. A controllable form of the nine degrees of freedom model is derived. Backstepping control is designed for the proposed model and simulations are performed to assess the tracking performance of the proposed control.

Findings

The results show that the proposed methodology works well for smooth trajectories in presence of wind gusts. Moreover, the final mathematical model is affine and various nonlinear control techniques can be used in the future for improved system performance.

Originality/value

Multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAVs) are equipped with controllers but are constrained by smaller flight endurance and payload carrying capability. On the contrary, lighter than air (LTA) aerial vehicles have longer flight times but have poor control performance for outdoor operations. One of the solutions to achieve better flight endurance and payload carrying capability is to augment the LTA balloon to MUAV. The novelty of this research lies in full-order mathematical modeling along with transformation to controllable form for the BUAV assembly.
Going virtual with practical chemistry amidst the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: significance, constraints and implications for future
Authors: Wijenayaka Lahiru A. , Iqbal Sithy S.
Published: November 2021

Purpose

Although technology is a defining characteristic of distance education, assessment of the applicability of such resources in knowledge dissemination is greatly warranted to ensure effectivity. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the viability of a novel tool in teaching practical chemistry online.

Design/methodology/approach

Here, a resource named “virtual chemistry lab space” (VCLS), which allowed the learners to virtually engage in practical activities, was administered among learners enrolled in a practical chemistry course at the Open University of Sri Lanka and feedback was collected to ascertain the learner perception on the resource.

Findings

In total, 76% of respondents indicated familiarity with the VCLS, while 59% indicated that they were interested in engaging in activities provided through this resource during the pandemic lockdown. Also, 70% indicated that the VCLS was helpful to understand the course content during the pandemic period, while 82% indicated that they are likely to use it in the future.

Research limitations/implications

The prevalent problems related to using the VCLS were lack of Internet access, physical interactions and time. However, the overall opinion on the VCLS was notably positive, while a majority indicated that flexibility to the learners, access to learning resources and use of technology in education will improve due to the use of this novel tool.

Originality/value

Online course delivery has been greatly restricted to areas of education where distant delivery could be easily adopted while it is seldom found in areas such as practical chemistry. Hence, the study indicates novelty and notable originality within the ODL system.
Educational use of free and open source software (FOSS): international development and its implications for higher education
Authors: Duan Chenggui , Lee Tracy K.
Published: November 2021

Purpose

Free and open-source software (FOSS) has been used worldwide because of the advantages of user control, cost-saving, flexibility, openness, freedom, more security and better stability. The purpose of this study is to explore the status quo of educational application of FOSS and the trends from international perspectives and its implications for higher education in Hong Kong.

Design/methodology/approach

The method of cluster analysis was used in this study. The Web of Science database was used as the data source and all relevant literature for the year 2010–2020 on the theme of “FOSS” was collected for analysis. The information visualization software CiteSpace was used for citation visualization analysis, revealing the research results of FOSS worldwide, including hot spots and development trends.

Findings

This paper found that FOSS has become an important research area and is playing an important role in the reform and development of education. Meanwhile, the development and application of FOSS have regional imbalances and strong differentiation, including the educational sector. The paper also found that although FOSS has entered the stage of interdisciplinary development, the research and development of FOSS in the field of education is insufficient, which poses a huge challenge to decision-makers, teachers and students.

Originality/value

Implications for higher education in Hong Kong including: attach importance to and vigorously promote FOSS research and practice to benefit more teachers and students; teachers and students need to be trained for acquiring the awareness and skills of FOSS applications and formulate different strategies; the government should provide greater support to formulate and implement a short and middle-term development plan to facilitate the application of FOSS; and Hong Kong higher education institutions may strengthen exchanges and cooperation with counterparts around the world to jointly promote the development of FOSS. It is hoped that the findings will provide a reference for the study and application of FOSS in higher education in Hong Kong.