Relative Contribution of P5 and Hap Surface Proteins to Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae Interplay with the Host Upper and Lower Airways

Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a major cause of opportunistic respiratory tract disease, and initiates infection by colonizing the nasopharynx. Bacterial surface proteins play determining roles in the NTHi-airways interplay, but their specific and relative contribution to colonization and infection of the respiratory tract has not been addressed comprehensively. In this study, we focused on the ompP5 and hap genes, present in all H. influenzae genome sequenced isolates, and encoding the P5 and Hap surface proteins, respectively. We employed isogenic single and double mutants of the ompP5 and hap genes generated in the pathogenic strain NTHi375 to evaluate P5 and Hap contribution to biofilm growth under continuous flow, to NTHi adhesion, and invasion/phagocytosis on nasal, pharyngeal, bronchial, alveolar cultured epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages, and to NTHi murine pulmonary infection. We show that P5 is not required for bacterial biofilm growth, but it is involved in NTHi interplay with respiratory cells and in mouse lung infection. Mechanistically, P5NTHi375 is not a ligand for CEACAM1 or α5 integrin receptors. Hap involvement in NTHi375-host interaction was shown to be limited, despite promoting bacterial cell adhesion when expressed in H. influenzae RdKW20. We also show that Hap does not contribute to bacterial biofilm growth, and that its absence partially restores the deficiency in lung infection observed for the ΔompP5 mutant. Altogether, this work frames the relative importance of the P5 and Hap surface proteins in NTHi virulence.

Children's use of interventions to learn causal structure

Children aged between 5 and 8 years freely intervened on a three-variable causal system, with their task being to discover whether it was a common-cause structure or one of two causal chains. From 6-7 years, children were able to use information from their interventions to correctly disambiguate the structure of a causal chain. We used a Bayesian model to examine children’s interventions on the system; this showed that with development children became more efficient in producing the interventions needed to disambiguate the causal structure and that the quality of interventions, as measured by their informativeness, improved developmentally. The latter measure was a significant predictor of children’s correct inferences about the causal structure. A second experiment showed that levels of performance were not reduced in a task in which children did not select and carry out interventions themselves, indicating no advantage for self-directed learning. However, children’s performance was not related to intervention quality in these circumstances, suggesting that children learn in a different way when they carry out interventions themselves.

Match-fixing and Money-laundering

his essay is premised on the following: a conspiracy to fix or otherwise manipulate the outcome of a sporting event for profitable purpose. That conspiracy is in turn predicated on the conspirators’ capacity to: (a) ensure that the fix takes place as pre-determined; (b) manipulate the betting markets that surround the sporting event in question; and (c) collect their winnings undetected by either the betting industry’s security systems or the attention of any national regulatory body or law enforcement agency.

Unlike many essays on this topic, this contribution does not focus on the “fix”– part (a) of the above equation. It does not seek to explain how or why a participant or sports official might facilitate a betting scam through either on-field behaviour that manipulates the outcome of a game or by presenting others with privileged inside information in advance of a game. Neither does this contribution seek to give any real insight into the second part of the above equation: how such conspirators manipulate a sports betting market by playing or laying the handicap or in-play or other offered betting odds. In fact, this contribution is not really about the mechanics of sports betting or match fixing at all; rather it is about the sometimes under explained reason why match fixing has reportedly become increasingly attractive as of late to international crime syndicates. That reason relates to the fact that given the traditional liquidity of gambling markets, sports betting can, and has long been, an attractively accessible conduit for criminal syndicates to launder the proceeds of crime. Accordingly, the term “winnings”, noted in part (c) of the above equation, takes on an altogether more nefarious meaning.

This essay’s attempt to review the possible links between match fixing in sport, gambling-related “winnings” and money laundering is presented in four parts.

First, some context will be given to what is meant by money laundering, how it is currently policed internationally and, most importantly, how the growth of online gambling presents a unique set of vulnerabilities and opportunities to launder the proceeds of crime. The globalisation of organised crime, sports betting and transnational financial services now means that money laundering opportunities have moved well beyond a flutter on the horses at your local racetrack or at the roulette table of your nearest casino. The growth of online gambling platforms means that at a click it is possible for the proceeds of crime in one jurisdiction to be placed on a betting market in another jurisdiction with the winnings drawn down and laundered in a third jurisdiction and thus the internationalisation of gambling-related money laundering threatens the integrity of sport globally.

Second, and referring back to the infamous hearings of the US Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organised Crime in Interstate Commerce of the early 1950s, (“the Kefauver Committee”), this article will begin by illustrating the long standing interest of organised crime gangs – in this instance, various Mafia families in the United States – in money laundering via sports gambling-related means.

Third, and using the seminal 2009 report “Money Laundering through the Football Sector” by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF, an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system), this essay seeks to assess the vulnerabilities of international sport to match fixing, as motivated in part by the associated secondary criminality of tax evasion and transnational economic crime.

The fourth and concluding parts of the essay spin from problems to possible solutions. The underlying premise here is that heretofore there has been an insularity to the way that sports organisations have both conceptualised and sought to address the match fixing threat e.g., if we (in sport) initiate player education programmes; establish integrity units; enforce codes of conduct and sanctions strictly; then our integrity or brand should be protected. This essay argues that, although these initiatives are important, the source and process of match fixing is beyond sport’s current capacity, as are the possible solutions.

Characterisation and modelling of the thermorheological properties of pharmaceutical polymers and their blends using capillary rheometry: Implications for hot melt processing of dosage forms.

Given the growing interest in thermal processing methods, this study describes the use of an advanced rheological technique, capillary rheometry, to accurately determine the thermorheological properties of two pharmaceutical polymers, Eudragit E100 (E100) and hydroxypropylcellulose JF (HPC) and their blends, both in the presence and absence of a model therapeutic agent (quinine, as the base and hydrochloride salt). Furthermore, the glass transition temperatures (Tg) of the cooled extrudates produced using capillary rheometry were characterised using Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA) thereby enabling correlations to be drawn between the information derived from capillary rheometry and the glass transition properties of the extrudates. The shear viscosities of E100 and HPC (and their blends) decreased as functions of increasing temperature and shear rates, with the shear viscosity of E100 being significantly greater than that of HPC at all temperatures and shear rates. All platforms were readily processed at shear rates relevant to extrusion (approximately 200–300 s−1) and injection moulding (approximately 900 s−1). Quinine base was observed to lower the shear viscosities of E100 and E100/HPC blends during processing and the Tg of extrudates, indicative of plasticisation at processing temperatures and when cooled (i.e. in the solid state). Quinine hydrochloride (20% w/w) increased the shear viscosities of E100 and HPC and their blends during processing and did not affect the Tg of the parent polymer. However, the shear viscosities of these systems were not prohibitive to processing at shear rates relevant to extrusion and injection moulding. As the ratio of E100:HPC increased within the polymer blends the effects of quinine base on the lowering of both shear viscosity and Tg of the polymer blends increased, reflecting the greater solubility of quinine within E100. In conclusion, this study has highlighted the importance of capillary rheometry in identifying processing conditions, polymer miscibility and plasticisation phenomena.

Electrochemical promotion of catalysis controlled by chemical potential difference across a mixed ionic-electronic conducting ceramic membrane - An example of wireless NEMCA

A La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2F_0.8O₃ mixed ionic electronic conducting (MIEC) membrane was used in a dual chamber reactor for the promotion of the catalytic activity of a platinum catalyst for ethylene oxidation. By controlling the oxygen chemical potential difference across the membrane, a driving force for oxygen ions to migrate across the membrane and backspillover onto the catalyst surface is established. The reaction is then promoted by the formation of a double layer of oxide anions on the catalyst surface. Thelectronic conductivity of the membrane material eliminates the need for an external circuit to pump the promoting oxide ion species through the membrane and onto the catalyst surface. This renders this "wireless" system simpler and more amenable for large-scale practical application. Preliminary experiments show that the reaction rate of ethylene oxidation can indeed be promoted by almost one order of magnitude upon exposure to an oxygen atmosphere on the sweep side of the membrane reactor, and thus inducing an oxygen chemical potential difference across the membrane, as compared to the rate under an inert sweep gas. Moreover, the rate does not return to its initial unpromoted value upon cessation of the oxygen flow on the sweep side, but remains permanently promoted. A number of comparisons are drawn between the classical electrochemical promotion that utilises an external circuit and the "wireless" system that utilises chemical potential differences. In addition a 'surface oxygen capture' model is proposed to explain the permanent promotion of the catalyst activity. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Exploiting evidence from unstructured data to enhance master data management

Master data management (MDM) integrates data from multiple
structured data sources and builds a consolidated 360-
degree view of business entities such as customers and products.
Today’s MDM systems are not prepared to integrate
information from unstructured data sources, such as news
reports, emails, call-center transcripts, and chat logs. However,
those unstructured data sources may contain valuable
information about the same entities known to MDM from
the structured data sources. Integrating information from
unstructured data into MDM is challenging as textual references
to existing MDM entities are often incomplete and
imprecise and the additional entity information extracted
from text should not impact the trustworthiness of MDM
data.
In this paper, we present an architecture for making MDM
text-aware and showcase its implementation as IBM InfoSphere
MDM Extension for Unstructured Text Correlation,
an add-on to IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management
Standard Edition. We highlight how MDM benefits from
additional evidence found in documents when doing entity
resolution and relationship discovery. We experimentally
demonstrate the feasibility of integrating information from
unstructured data sources into MDM.

The time course of conflict on the Cognitive Reflection Test

Reasoning that is deliberative and reflective often requires the inhibition of intuitive responses. The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) is designed to assess people’s ability to suppress incorrect heuristic responses in favour of deliberation. Correct responding on the CRT predicts performance on a range of tasks in which intuitive processes lead to incorrect responses, suggesting indirectly that CRT performance is related to cognitive control. Yet little is known about the cognitive processes underlying performance on the CRT. In the current research, we employed a novel mouse tracking mjavascript:void(0);ethodology to capture the time-course of reasoning on the CRT. Analysis of mouse cursor trajectories revealed that participants were initially drawn towards the incorrect (i.e., intuitive) option even when the correct (deliberative) option was ultimately chosen. Conversely, participants were not attracted to the correct option when they ultimately chose the incorrect intuitive one. We conclude that intuitive processes are activated automatically on the CRT and must be inhibited in order to respond correctly. When participants responded intuitively, there was no evidence that deliberative reasoning had become engaged.

Exposure to children and risk of active trachoma in Tanzanian women

The authors surveyed the trachoma status of 515 women aged 18-60 years and 527 children aged 1-7 years in the trachoma hyperendemic region of Kongwa, Tanzania, in 1989 to further describe the importance of exposure to young children as a risk factor for active trachoma in women. The women were identified as caretakers, who currently cared for children aged 1-7 years; noncaretakers, who lived with, but did not care for, children aged 1-7; or those without children aged 1-7 in the household. The age-adjusted odds ratios for active trachoma seemed to rise with greater exposure to young children, from 1.00 for women without such children, to 1.63 for noncaretakers and 2.43 for caretakers (trend test, p = 0.08). Among those who lived in households with young children, the prevalence of active trachoma in women increased with the total number of young children cared for and with the number of infected children cared for. The prevalence of active trachoma was 40% (6 of 15) for caretakers of three or more infected children, compared with 0 (0 of 88) for caretakers with no infected children (p < 0.0001). Caring for infected children also appeared to be associated with signs of chronic trachoma in caretakers. Noncaretakers who lived with infected children were not at a significantly increased risk for trachoma compared with noncaretakers who were not exposed to such children (5.4% (three of 56) vs. 5.6% (one of 18); p > 0.4). None of the facial signs observed in the children (flies on the face, nasal discharge, etc.) appeared to increase the odds ratio of active trachoma in caretakers beyond the increase associated with trachoma alone in the child. These data support the hypothesis that active disease in women is associated with direct caretaking of young children with active disease. Strategies that interrupt household transmission may affect the binding sequelae of trachoma in women.

'"To have its cake and eat it too:" US policy toward South Africa during the Kennedy administration

The assumption that US policy toward Africa was characterized by continuity during the cold war has recently been challenged by scholars who argue that President John F. Kennedy embarked on an African policy that was distinct from his predecessors. This may be true for black Africa, but Kennedy’s support for African nationalism did not extend to South Africa. This article reveals that Kennedy’s cold war priorities ensured continuity in US policy toward the apartheid state and, in some cases, additional cooperation as cold war crises increased the perceived importance of South Africa as an ideological and strategic ally and bastion against communism on a rapidly changing continent. This article also explores the role South Africa’s apartheid government played in this cold war alliance. The ruling National Party recognized its importance to US foreign policy goals and used this to stave off serious American criticism of its racial policies, deflect attention in the United Nations, and ensure continued economic and military cooperation with the United States.

Logic Brightens My Day: Evidence for Implicit Sensitivity to Logical Validity.

A key assumption of dual process theory is that reasoning is an explicit, effortful, deliberative process. The present study offers evidence for an implicit, possibly intuitive component of reasoning. Participants were shown sentences embedded in logically valid or invalid arguments. Participants were not asked to reason but instead rated the sentences for liking (Experiment 1) and physical brightness (Experiments 2-3). Sentences that followed logically from preceding sentences were judged to be more likable and brighter. Two other factors thought to be linked to implicit processing-sentence believability and facial expression-had similar effects on liking and brightness ratings. The authors conclude that sensitivity to logical structure was implicit, occurring potentially automatically and outside of awareness. They discuss the results within a fluency misattribution framework and make reference to the literature on discourse comprehension.