Nuclear Architecture Disruption During Aging Causes Misexpression of Genes Lacking CpG Islands

Global disorganization of chromatin architecture, characterized by disrupted nuclear lamina and associated heterochromatin, is commonly observed in various aging contexts, including premature aging diseases, cellular senescence, and normative aging. Although these conserved structural changes have been reported for over two decades, their impact on transcription and contribution to age-related degenerative changes remain unclear. Here we show that genes not associated with CpG islands (CGI- genes), which form heterochromatin when transcriptionally silent, are globally misexpressed in aged nuclei with disrupted chromatin architectures. Our data also show that CGI- gene misexpression is a direct outcome of nuclear architecture disruption. Notably, CGI- gene misexpression explains the molecular basis of various defects observed during aging, including loss of cellular identity and increased noises in transcription. We also show that uncontrolled secretory phenotypes commonly observed during aging are largely attributable to CGI- gene misexpression, which drives disruption of intercellular communication and fuel chronic inflammation in aged tissues. Our large-scale meta-analysis further demonstrates that CGI- gene misexpression is a common feature of mammalian aging and age-associated diseases. Interestingly, CGI- gene misexpression can be suppressed by anti-aging interventions. Our study suggests that age-associated CGI- gene misexpression is a novel biomarker of physiological aging which offers an effective therapeutic target for delaying or ameliorating degenerative changes associated with aging.

Lay Expertise, Botanical Science, and Botanic Gardens as “Contact Zones”

Botanic gardens came into existence in the late 1500s to document, study, and preserve plants originating from all over the world. The scientific field of botany was a direct outcome of these developments. From the 1600s onward, botanic gardens also paid key roles in acclimatizing plants across distinct ecosystems and respective climate zones. This often entailed the appropriation of Indigenous systems of plant expertise that were then used without recognition within the parameters of scientific botanical expertise. As such, botanic gardens operated as contact zones of unequal power dynamics between European and Indigenous knowledge systems. Botanic gardens were intimately embroiled with the global expansion of European colonialism and processes of empire building. They helped facilitate the establishment of cash-crop systems around the world, which effectively amounted to the extractive systems of plant wealth accumulation that characterize the modern European colonial enterprise. In the mid-20th century, botanic gardens began to take on leading roles in the conservation of plant biodiversity while also attending to issues of social equity and sustainable development. Relationships between lay expertise and scientific knowledge acquired renewed significance in this context, as did discussions of the knowledge politics that these interactions entailed. As a consequence of these transformations, former colonial exchanges within the botanical garden world between Indigenous knowledge practices and their appropriation by science came under scrutiny in the final decades of the 20th century. Efforts to decolonize botanic gardens and their knowledge practices emerged in the second decade of the 20th century.

Evaluating the Damage Content of Karbandi Using Frequency Domain Analysis (Case Study: Timche Haj-Mohammad-Qoli of Tabriz Historic Bazaar)

In this study, an alternate method of evaluating structural systems, especially for the sensitive structures with historical importance by applying Fourier Transform (FT) to the damage ratio of time history outcome in the frequency domain has been introduced. The concept of damage content (DC) regarding the mechanical characteristics of the used material, including plastic strain, failure plane, and ultimate load-bearing capacity, along with drift value, record selection criteria, and architectural aspects, have been employed. Due to its valuable aesthetic and architectural view, Timche Haj-Mohammad-Qoli of Tabriz Historic Bazaar, one of the traditional covered spaces with the complicated configuration of spatial masonry intersecting arches, was selected for the assessment in the current study. The required experimental samples for obtaining the mechanical properties and relevant geometrical measurements to prepare the numerical model of the structure obtained. The strong ground motions according to seismological and geological characteristics of the construction site selected. The records with different durations were merged by Fourier Transform (FT) and Damage Content (DC) analysis. According to the outcomes, the damage state of the structure due to the imposed strong motion at every stage of the lateral loading from the failure initiation to the final collapse was observable. As a direct outcome of this study, the vulnerability concerning the near-field earthquakes is more tangible than far-field earthquakes. The provided methodology could have proper use in future similar studies for evaluating the performance of the structures.

Use of recurrent selection in middle late synthetic maize populations. results of the first cycle in synthetic “1/2017”

The present study shows the results of a completed first cycle of recurrent selection in a middle late synthetic population “1/2017” and the inbred lines PAU 1617 and B 113 are used as a recurrent parents. The aim of the improving selection is to obtain from the synthetic inbred lines which are later to be used as parental forms for receiving hybrids of this maturity group. The experimental work was carried out in the period 2017 – 2019 when two hundred and ten testcrosses were tested. After the data was analyzed, eighty even inbred progeny variants displaying the best results have been included for crosspollination and a new cycle of breeding. The genetic variability in the synthetic has been preserved as the selected progeny represent 41,4 % of the initially chosen ones. The index of variability after recurrent selection is 12,2 % which allows for efficient testing in the subsequent stages of the improving selection. As a direct outcome of the research, thirteen crosses have been pointed out – B 113 x 37/1, B 113 x 25/5, PAU 1617 x 71/3, B 113 x 29/1, B 113 x 33/1, PAU 1617 x 97/3, PAU 1617 x 85/3, B 113 x 71/5, B 113 x 71/6, B 113 x 53/1, B 113 x 55/1, B 113 x 77/3 and B 113 x 43/1. They exceed in grain yield the foreign standard in the maturity group respectively with 25.2, 20.0, 16.9, 16.6, 15.1, 15.0, 13.1, 12.5, 10.5, 9.0, 8.8, 8.8 and 8.2%. They are still tested in varietal and ecological trials.

Exploring excellence in Indigenous education in Queensland secondary schools

In the national and international landscape, there is very limited exploration of cultural constructs of excellence, in particular, in Indigenous contexts. This pilot study aimed to centre the voices of Indigenous people in conceptualising excellence in Indigenous education, as well as to share understandings between Indigenous and non-Indigenous practitioners. Qualitative data collection methods were used including collaborative yarning, storying, and semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using cross-case analysis to examine the views of educators across three school sites. Indigenous participants highlighted the importance of nurturing culture and identity; building up young people; and, building a culture of inclusivity and belonging. Supportive leadership was also identified as an enabler for enacting excellence in schools. A direct outcome of this project was a whole-school policy that builds on a strengths perspective and forefronts the embedding of Indigenous knowledges and perspectives, supporting the wellbeing of Indigenous students, affirming the identities of Indigenous students and having specific strategies to engage with local Indigenous communities.

Bahrain's transnational Arab Spring: repression, oil and human rights activism

Studies of the Middle East following the Arab Spring have concluded that ‘repression works’, especially in the oil- and gas-rich countries of the Gulf. Drawing on primary materials collected during fieldwork trips to Bahrain, the United States and Britain, this article nuances the ‘repression effect’ by tracing the emergence of a transnational Bahraini opposition, mapping the relationships and joint activities between domestic and exiled Bahraini groups, international NGOs and western policy-makers. It finds that even in the context of domestic repression and continuing ideological divides within Bahrain's opposition, transnational networks have not only sustained opposition organizations, but also maintained access to foreign policy-makers, producing repeated criticisms of the Bahraini regime and legal challenges to ruling elites who visit western states. The successes of this advocacy are modest: while it has not drastically reshaped the domestic state–society relationship, it has created significant costs for the Bahraini regime and damaged Bahrain's international brand. As a result, state and opposition networks now compete for influence over western policy-makers: international ‘arenas of advocacy’—such as the UK parliament, US Congress, UNHRC and European Parliament—have now become ‘arenas of contestation’, as state and opposition narratives of Bahraini politics, filtered through western policy-makers, play out during debates over foreign policy towards Bahrain. The article positions transnational activism as a direct outcome of the ‘repression effect’, highlighting ongoing contests for influence between state and society occurring in international and transnational spaces, even as the domestic scope for opposition mobilization remains highly restricted.

Is risk reporting a possible link between financial and management accounting in private firms?

This study represents a theoretical analysis with the purpose to continue the discussion on the relationship between management accounting (MA) and financial accounting (FA), by concentrating on the role of risk reporting as a possible manifestation of their convergence. Moreover, the analysis focuses on the private-firm sector as private firms represent the backbone of the economic system of several countries and little is known about financial and non-financial reporting. Drawing on the neo- Durkheimian institutional theory, this paper develops a conceptual framing that considers risk as an embedded element of the business domain and risk reporting as a direct outcome of the convergence between MA and FA in private firms. Furthermore, the neo-Durkheimian institutional theory emphasizes that the owners and managers' risk attitude is a crucial element affecting risk disclosure, especially in private firms.

Not merely the absence of disease: A genealogy of the WHO’s positive health definition

The 1948 constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. It was a bold and revolutionary health idea to gain international consensus in a period characterized by fervent anti-communism. This article explores the genealogy of the health definition and demonstrates how it was possible to expand the scope of health, redefine it as ‘well-being’, and overcome ideological resistance to progressive and international health approaches. The first part of the article demonstrates how the health definition was composed through a trajectory of draft ideas from scholars in the history of medicine, as well as political actors working to promote national health insurance. The definition was authored by League of Nations veteran Raymond Gautier, but secretly drew heavily on medical historian Henry E. Sigerist’s controversial book Socialized Medicine in the Soviet Union (1937). The second part analyses how it was possible to resist the ideological pushback against the WHO and secure US ratification. The WHO’s progressive constitution was not simply a deviation from dominant health ideas, but a direct outcome of the entrenched health conflict. The genealogy is based on original archival material from international organizations and US government archives. The article contributes to understandings of the political controversies surrounding the WHO and to scholarship on understandings of health. It also illustrates how influential health ideas cross the boundaries between politics and health sciences, as well as the boundaries between domestic health policy and global health.

Soil moisture in forest island and adjacent ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Region

Forest islands are widely distributed throughout West Africa savanna landscape. Stated as direct outcome of anthropogenic activity, these mosaics are often found around villages and are known for their unique and luxuriant characteristics of tropical rainforest. Althought significant studies focus on their ecology, works on edaphic factors that govern their establishment are very scare. The objective of the current study was to evaluate soil moisture dynamics in forest islands compared to that of surrounding savannas and farmlands at five sites located along a precipation gradient in Burkina Faso. For two years, from 2016 to 2017, soil moisture was monitored at a depth of 0-80 cm using a neutron probe. The results highlighted a seasonal pattern ranging from 42±2% during the heavy rainy month (August) to 16±1% during the dry season (October-November). Significant differences in soil moisture content soil water profile and water stock at depth 0 to 80 cm were recorded between locations and land use patterns. In general, soil moisture was on average 58% less in forest island than in croplands across sites. Soil moisture content was lower in topsoil (0-20 cm) compared to deeper soil (40-80 cm). The Study demonstrated evident link of soil moisture dynamic with rainfall and the vegetation pattern.

Understanding water institutions and their impact on the performance of the water sector in India

The water crisis in India is no more restricted to a few states or areas. It has started affecting all forms of life, industry, and livelihood, and therefore it emerges as one of the biggest challenges. The water crisis is a direct outcome of the governance and analysis of water institutions, playing a central role in understanding the state of water governance. This study aims to understand the water institutions and their ultimate impact on various aspects of water sector performance in India. A survey was administered to collect information on the perception of water experts on the role and importance of various institutional aspects including water law, policy, and administration in improving water sector performance in India. Factor analysis and multiple linear regression methods were used to find the significant factors of water institutions and their effect on the different aspects of water sector performance in India. The analysis shows that the most important factors for improving the water sector performance are (a) legal accountability provisions, (b) water transfer policies, and (c) use of science and technology application along with reliable data. The level of importance of these significant institutional variables also varies within various performance aspects.