SELF-INFLICTED FIREARM INJURIES AS COMPARED TO THE ACCIDENTAL FIREARM INJURY; A COMPARATIVE ANALYTICAL STUDY TO DETERMINE THE COMMONEST SITE OF NON-SUICIDAL SELF-INFLICTED INJURIES

Objective: To determine the commonest site of non-suicidal self-inflicted firearm wound in comparison with accidental firearm wounds. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospitals Jhelum, Bannu & Kharian, from Nov 2014 to Nov 2018. Methodology: Sixty-four patients with firearm injuries were observed. All the participants were males between the ages of 18- 60 years. The injuries were determined to be either self-inflicted or accidental by an independent committee. The participants’ replies and responses were assessed by dividing them into five main domains by using quantitative software SPSS version 20. Variables involving demographic characteristics of participants such as age, occupation, marital and socioeconomic status, were associated with mental health variables such as psychological stress, previous history of self-harm and clinical psychiatric illness. Result: Fifteen subjects were found to have self-inflicted injuries and 50 had accidental injuries. There was a marked preference for left foot and left lower limb as a site for non-suicidal self-inflicted injuries (94.6%) as compared to other sites (left upper extremity 1.8%, chest 1.8% and right lower extremity 1.8%). Conclusions: Left lower limb and left foot was a more common site for self-injury as compared to the other sites.

Autoinhibition and regulation by phosphoinositides of ATP8B1, a human lipid flippase associated with intrahepatic cholestatic disorders

P-type ATPases from the P4 subfamily (P4-ATPases) are primary active transporters that maintain lipid asymmetry in eukaryotic cell membranes by flipping lipids from the exoplasmic to the cytosolic leaflet. Mutations in several human P4-ATPase genes are associated with severe diseases. For instance, mutations in the ATP8B1 gene result in progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, a rare inherited disorder that usually progresses toward liver failure. ATP8B1 forms a binary complex with CDC50A and displays a broad specificity to glycerophospholipids, but regulatory mechanisms are unknown. Here, we report the cryo-EM structure of the human lipid flippase ATP8B1-CDC50A at 3.1 angstrom resolution. The lipid flippase complex is autoinhibited by the N- and C-termini of ATP8B1, which in concert form extensive interactions with the catalytic sites and flexible domain interfaces of ATP8B1. Consistently, ATP hydrolysis by the ATP8B1-CDC50A complex requires truncation of its C-terminus as well as the presence of phosphoinositides, with a marked preference for phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-phosphate (PI(3,4,5)P3), and removal of both N- and C-termini results in full activation. Restored inhibition of ATP8B1 truncation constructs with a synthetic peptide mimicking the C-terminus further suggests molecular communication between N- and C-termini in the autoinhibition process and demonstrates that the regulatory mechanism can be interfered with by exogenous compounds. A conserved (G/A)(Y/F)AFS motif in the C-termini of several P4-ATPase subfamilies suggests that this mechanism is employed widely across P4-ATPase lipid flippases, including both plasma membrane and endomembrane P4-ATPases.

Actualisation des connaissances sur l’abeille Megachile sculpturalis SMITH, 1853 en France et en Europe (Hymenoptera : Megachilidae)

Update of knowledge on the bee Megachile sculpturalis SMITH, 1853 in France and Europe (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). - Megachile sculpturalis is a bee native to eastern Asia that is now also present in North America and Europe. This article follows the first synthesis on the ecology and geographical distribution in Europe of this species published in this same journal in 2018 and updates their knowledge. Megachile sculpturalis has been observed in 13 European countries. Its range now extends from the French Atlantic coast in the west to the Crimean Peninsula in the east. It has also been recorded on two Mediterranean islands, Elba (Italy) and Mallorca (Spain). In France, between 2008 and 2020, it was observed in 259 communes in 46 departments. The most northerly French observation was made in 2020 near Reims in the Marne department. Concerning feeding behaviour, new pollen analyses corroborate the results of previous ones which suggested a polylectic diet with a marked preference for shrubs of Asian origin (especially Sophora japonica and Ligustrum sp.). Regarding nesting behaviour, M. sculpturalis makes extensive use of bee hotels. However, a range of diameters (holes in logs or sections of plant stems) between 4 and 8 mm is suitable for the main native species likely to nest in the hotels, while limiting the establishment of M. sculpturalis. New observations have confirmed the tendency of M. sculpturalis to empty the nests of other species in order to establish its own larval cells. In addition, in Switzerland, a female was observed killing a bee of the genus Heriades. Such events, if frequent, could have negative impacts on native bees, but data are currently insufficient to quantify these impacts on populations.

Postbaccalaureate terminal degree and career choices of students who performed undergraduate research

This study analyzed terminal degree and career choices of students who performed undergraduate research. In one analysis, the study compared terminal degree and career choices between a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) and traditional non-course-based undergraduate research experiences at one primarily undergraduate institution (PUI). Students who pursued postbaccalaureate programs chose terminal degrees at levels exceeding 75%, with no significant difference between a CURE experience and a traditional research experience. Analysis of terminal degree and career choices at four PUIs providing traditional research experiences showed a marked difference in the number of students pursuing terminal degrees. Two PUIs showed rates > 75%, whereas students at the other two PUIs pursued terminal degrees <50% of the time. The majority of students not pursuing terminal degrees chose M.S. degrees in education and healthcare. An analysis was also performed among students participating in traditional summer undergraduate research on a research-intensive university (RIU) campus with a medical school. Students were accepted from two programs, an NIH IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program recruiting students from the RIU and an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program recruiting undergraduates from rural PUIs and minority-serving institutions, particularly tribal colleges. Analysis showed that >70% of the students who pursued postbaccalaureate programs chose terminal degrees. INBRE undergraduates displayed a marked preference for the M.D. degree (73.9% vs. 17.4%), whereas the REU students chose the Ph.D. degree (75.0% vs. 22.9%). American Indian students were also analyzed separately for career choice and showed an equal preference for the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees when pursuing postbaccalaureate education. Overall, the results provide evidence that undergraduate student research stimulates student careers in areas needed by the nation’s citizen stakeholders.

Designing Effective and Acceptable Road Pricing Schemes: Evidence from the Geneva Congestion Charge

While instruments to price congestion exist since the 1970s, less than a dozen cities around the world have a cordon or zone pricing scheme. Geneva, Switzerland, may be soon joining them. This paper builds on a detailed review of the existing schemes to identify a set of plausible design options for the Geneva congestion charge. In turn, it analyzes their acceptability, leveraging a large survey of residents of both Geneva and the surrounding areas of Switzerland and France. Our original approach combines a discrete choice experiment with randomized informational treatments. We consider an extensive set of attributes, such as perimeter, price and price modulation, use of revenues, and exemption levels and beneficiaries. The informational treatments address potential biased beliefs concerning the charge’s expected effects on congestion and pollution. We find that public support depends crucially on the policy design. We identify an important demand for exemptions, which, albeit frequently used in the design of environmental taxation, is underexplored in the analysis of public support. This demand for exemptions is not motivated by efficiency reasons. It comes mostly by local residents, for local residents. Further, people show a marked preference for constant prices, even if efficiency would point to dynamic pricing based on external costs. Hence, we highlight a clear trade-off between efficiency and acceptability. However, we also show, causally, that this gap can in part be closed, with information provision. Analyzing heterogeneity, we show that preferences vary substantially with where people live and how they commute. Even so, we identify several designs that reach majority support.

Phosphorylation of Guar Gum/Magnetite/Chitosan Nanocomposites for Uranium (VI) Sorption and Antibacterial Applications

The development of new materials is needed to address the environmental challenges of wastewater treatment. The phosphorylation of guar gum combined with its association to chitosan allows preparing an efficient sorbent for the removal of U(VI) from slightly acidic solutions. The incorporation of magnetite nanoparticles enhances solid/liquid. Functional groups are characterized by FTIR spectroscopy while textural properties are qualified by N2 adsorption. The optimum pH is close to 4 (deprotonation of amine and phosphonate groups). Uptake kinetics are fast (60 min of contact), fitted by a pseudo-first order rate equation. Maximum sorption capacities are close to 1.28 and 1.16 mmol U g−1 (non-magnetic and magnetic, respectively), while the sorption isotherms are fitted by Langmuir equation. Uranyl desorption (using 0.2 M HCl solutions) is achieved within 20–30 min; the sorbents can be recycled for at least five cycles (5–6% loss in sorption performance, complete desorption). In multi-component solutions, the sorbents show marked preference for U(VI) and Nd(III) over alkali-earth metals and Si(IV). The zone of exclusion method shows that magnetic sorbent has antibacterial effects against both Gram+ and Gram- bacteria, contrary to non-magnetic material (only Gram+ bacteria). The magnetic composite is highly promising as antimicrobial support and for recovery of valuable metals.

Backchannels in video-mediated ELF conversations: a case study

There are few studies on backchannels in ELF and none concerns computer-mediated conversations. Backchannelling has been associated with good listenership and enhanced cooperativeness, an intrinsic feature of ELF. They would also play a key role in computer-mediated communication, maintaining a sense of affective equilibrium among participants and compensating for medium-related limitations. We analyze backchanneling in an ELF conversation between a Spanish female and a German male student from the Corpus of Video-Mediated English as a Lingua Franca Conversations (ViMELF). Backchanneling seems to be particularly intense in the opening and closing sections of the exchange, where interpersonal work is the most needed. While significant idiolectal differences are observed between the two participants, both show a marked preference for and a tendency to concentrate realizations on a few weak backchanneling forms, conferring the exchange a general impression of monotony and emotional flatness. Some backchanneling features in the exchange may be described as typical of ELF: backchannels tend to occur in moments when speakers sense that understanding may be compromised and are frequently complemented by supportive material reinforcing the speaker’s point. The analysis also reveals some characteristic awkward usage, with tokens which are clearly “overdone,” while others are too weak and disappointing or behave disruptively by occurring in unexpected positions and interrupting the flow of the conversation. Research on ELF video conversations is particularly timely given the recent surge in videoconferencing propitiated by the COVID pandemic, a tendency which is likely to stay in post-pandemic times.

Taxonomic position of the two sympatric forms of Chondracanthus chamissoi (f. lessonii and f. chauvinii) (Rhodophyta, Gigartinaceae) by using two molecular markers

The red seaweed Chondracanthus chamissoi shows high morphological variability. Initially, three species were identified based on the width of the main axis of their blades. Later, all of them were included in a single species with two morphological groups. Recently, quantitative studies demonstrated the existence of two forms in C. chamissoi: f. lessonii and f. chauvinii. It was also shown that these two forms occur in sympatry, growing side by side. These forms were not associated with either a life cycle phase or the sex of the blades. This study aimed to determine whether the two forms could represent different species. We evaluated the forms' taxonomic position using COI and rbcL markers, including samples from three localities in southern Chile. All specimens shared a single rbcL haplotype, whereas the two COI haplotypes differed by four base pairs and were present in blades of both forms and life cycle phases. The two morphological types correspond to intraspecific forms. This species is of commercial importance, and its main market is aimed at human consumption with a marked preference for f. lessonii.

Sousse Attacks: A New Perspective on Soft Target Defense and Modern-Day Terrorism Threat

The Sousse attacks embody the main characteristics of terrorism and insurgency as pursued by ISIS. They are presented here as overarching examples of the underlying themes examined in this paper. In the first section, we give an outline of the facts that occurred in Sousse, Tunisia, highlighting features that mark the importance of the events in themselves and in the broader context of terrorism studies. In the second section, we offer a qualitative analysis of the traits of modern-day terrorism threat in the post-ISIS era—in particular, a marked preference for soft targets, all-around enemification of nonconformers, loose ties with perpetrators, massive use of communication technologies and propaganda, dissemination of paramilitary and insurgency know-how, and training. In the third and final section, we discuss the lessons that can be drawn from the events of Sousse, with a specific focus on soft target defense, as relevant for future challenges emerging from the rise and fall of ISIS as a pseudo-state entity and the dissemination of its personnel, ideology, and knowledge outside the territories it once occupied. In particular, we propose a departure from the model of soft target protection to one of defense.

La traducción del teatro áureo en Italia, desde el siglo XIX hasta nuestros días Constantes y variables en la formación de un canon

This essay aims to provide an overview of the Italian translations of Spanish Golden Age theatre from the 19th century to the present, identifying above all the differences in the approach to Spanish texts compared to previous centuries and the distinctive features of each historical-cultural period within this long span of time. Romantic translations (a period marked by the great collections of theatrical texts by Monti and La Cecilia) were characterised by their marked preference for religious and honour-based dramas and for the works of Calderón; while the 20th century saw a general reworking of the corpus of translated texts, with a stable presence of Calderón and the recovery of the dramas on peasant honour by Lope de Vega. The emergence and affirmation of the poetic translation is highlighted, from the early experiments of the 1920s to the general acceptance of our days, and the role hispanists and writers played in this choice. An analysis of the corpus of translation collections in the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as of the many individual translations, also shows how the canon of the Spanish Golden Age theatre has changed both on the academic and editorial side.