DnaG interacts with a linker region that joins the N- and C-domains of DnaB and induces the formation of 3-fold symmetric rings

Loading of the replicative ring helicase onto the origin of replication (oriC) is the final outcome of a well coordinated series of events that collectively constitute a primosomal cascade. Once the ring helicase is loaded, it recruits the primase and signals the switch to the polymerization mode. The transient nature of the helicase-primase (DnaB-DnaG) interaction in the Escherichia coli system has hindered our efforts to elucidate its structure and function. Taking advantage of the stable DnaB-DnaG complex in Bacillus stearothermophilus, we have reviewed conflicting mutagenic data from other bacterial systems and shown that DnaG interacts with the flexible linker that connects the N- and C-terminal domains of DnaB. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging experiments show that binding of the primase to the helicase induces predominantly a 3-fold symmetric morphology to the hexameric ring. Overall, three DnaG molecules appear to interact with the hexameric ring helicase but a small number of complexes with two and even one DnaG molecule bound to DnaB were also detected. The structural/functional significance of these data is discussed and a speculative structural model for this complex is suggested.

O Litoral e a metrópole dinâmica imobiliária, turismo e expansão urbana na região metropolitana de Natal-RN

The metropolitan regions of Northeast Brazil are being gradually included in a scenario of international investments, which are motivated by the restructuring of both touristic and real-estate sectors. The new capital, real-estate developers and space configurations that result from this process indicate the need for the creation and implementation of public tools which should, at least, allow the mitigation of the urban impacts and environmental losses resulting from this situation. The effects on landscape and on the socio-spatial configuration result from the intensification caused by the dynamism of the "real estate-tourism" sector. There is a regional integration as an expression of the urban expansion of the metropolitan area of Natal. This study investigates the uniqueness of the restructuring and territorial integration of coastal areas and the strategies of the circuit of capital accumulation formed by linking the real estate to tourism. It is intended to increase the understanding about the strategies of tourism, real estate and public policy agents involved in this territorial reconfiguration and in the fund-raising needed for the investments, to understand the existing social and environmental effects and their future trends and also to understand the forms of spatial production as results from the practices of approaching the land transformation and the tourism valorization of the landscape, in a synchronous manner, first in the Northeast region and, as a focal study, in the Metropolitan Area of Natal. Likewise, it is intended to apprehend the current processes of metropolization of the eastern coast of Rio Grande do Norte, in addition to indicate its physical-territorial transformation and the types of projects/developments promoted by the market in the recent period. Based upon analysis undertaken for the Metropolitan Region of Natal RN, this piece of work presents some considerations on possible legal instruments that can be adjusted to the municipalities which are experiencing the impact of this peculiar and recent phenomenon in the region, caused by the arrival of the real estate-touristic capital. It is also intended to point out basic proposals to the forms of public intervention, in a speculative way, starting from a Metropolitan Planning project within a medium and long term

Interest rate (in)sensitivity of emerging market corporate debt : economic analysis based on 2002-2015 empirical evidence

Interest rate sensitivity assessment framework based on fixed income yield indexes is developed and applied to two types of emerging market corporate debt: investment grade and high yield exposures. Our research advances beyond the correlation analyses focused on co- movements in yields and/or spreads of risky and risk-free assets. We show that correlation- based analyses of interest rate sensitivity could appear rather inconclusive and, hence, we investigate the bottom line profit and loss of a hypothetical model portfolio of corporates. We consider historical data covering the period 2002 – 2015, which enable us to assess interest rate sensitivity of assets during the development, the apogee, and the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Based on empirical evidence, both for investment and speculative grades securities, we find that the emerging market corporates exhibit two different regimes of sensitivity to interest rate changes. We observe switching from a positive sensitivity under the normal market conditions to a negative one during distressed phases of business cycles. This research sheds light on how financial institutions may approach interest rate risk management, evidencing that even plain vanilla portfolios of emerging market corporates, which on average could appear rather insensitive to the interest rate risk in fact present a binary behavior of their interest rate sensitivities. Our findings allow banks and financial institutions for optimizing economic capital under Basel III regulatory capital rules.

Rompendo com o fascínio pelo conceito abstrato : alguns motivos práticos e teóricos na elaboração da dialética especulativa

Este artigo pretende reconstruir alguns dos motivos práticos e teóricos da dialética hegeliana. Uma introdução geral deve servir ao propósito de delinear os contornos gerais do ponto de vista da dialética especulativa, o que será tentado a partir da apropriação crítica feita por Hegel do conceito kantiano de juízo reflexionante (1). A partir disso, pretendo apresentar a versão hegeliana do projeto da “filosofia da unificação” enquanto crítica da moral kantiana (2). Em seguida, o objetivo é mostrar como Hegel antecipa, nos escritos de juventude, uma compreensão da constituição orgânica e intersubjetiva da comunidade (3). Em terceiro lugar, indicaremos como Hegel vincula a elaboração de sua noção de dialética nas linhas gerais de um diagnóstico das dificuldades de integração social na modernidade política, a serem neutralizadas pelo pensamento de uma articulação imanente entre universal e particular (4). Finalmente, pretendo concluir com uma discussão de elementos da filosofia da religião no jovem Hegel como preâmbulo da crítica à filosofia da reflexão e do nascedouro do ponto de vista dialético-especulativo (5). ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT

O acesso à habitação no Brasil em tempos de capitalismo financeirizado : uma análise do Programa Minha Casa, Minha Vida

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Serviço Social, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Política Social, 2016.

Life Cycle of Deccan Trap Magma Chambers: A Crystal Scale Elemental and Strontium Isotopic Investigation

The Deccan Trap basalts are the remnants of a massive series of lava flows that erupted at the K/T boundary and covered 1-2 million km2 of west-central India. This eruptive event is of global interest because of its possible link to the major mass extinction event, and there is much debate about the duration of this massive volcanic event. In contrast to isotopic or paleomagnetic dating methods, I explore an alternative approach to determine the lifecycle of the magma chambers that supplied the lavas, and extend the concept to obtain a tighter constraint on Deccan’s duration. My method relies on extracting time information from elemental and isotopic diffusion across zone boundary in an individual crystal. I determined elemental and Sr-isotopic variations across abnormally large (2-5 cm) plagioclase crystals from the Thalghat and Kashele “Giant Plagioclase Basalts” from the lowermost Jawhar and Igatpuri Formations respectively in the thickest Western Ghats section near Mumbai. I also obtained bulk rock major, trace and rare earth element chemistry of each lava flow from the two formations. Thalghat flows contain only 12% zoned crystals, with 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7096 in the core and 0.7106 in the rim, separated by a sharp boundary. In contrast, all Kashele crystals have a wider range of 87Sr/86Sr values, with multiple zones. Geochemical modeling of the data suggests that the two types of crystals grew in distinct magmatic environments. Modeling intracrystalline diffusive equilibration between the core and rim of Thalghat crystals led me to obtain a crystal growth rate of 2.03x10-10 cm/s and a residence time of 780 years for the crystals in the magma chamber(s). Employing some assumptions based on field and geochronologic evidence, I extrapolated this residence time to the entire Western Ghats and obtained an estimate of 25,000 – 35,000 years for the duration of Western Ghats volcanism. This gave an eruptive rate of 30 – 40 km3/yr, which is much higher than any presently erupting volcano. This result will remain speculative until a similarly detailed analytical-modeling study is performed for the rest of the Western Ghats formations.

Metabolically healthy obesity across the life course: epidemiology, determinants and implications

In recent years, different subphenotypes of obesity have been described, including metabolically healthy obesity (MHO), in which a proportion of obese individuals, despite excess body fat, remain free of metabolic abnormalities and increased cardiometabolic risk. In the absence of a universally accepted set of criteria to classify MHO, the reported prevalence estimates vary widely. Our understanding of the determinants and stability of MHO over time and the associated cardiometabolic and mortality risks is improving, but many questions remain. For example, whether MHO is truly benign is debatable, and whether risk stratification of obese individuals on the basis of their metabolic health status may offer new opportunities for more personalized approaches in diagnosis, intervention, and treatment of diabetes remains speculative. Furthermore, as most of the research to date has focused on MHO in adults, little is known about childhood MHO. In this review, we focus on the epidemiology, determinants, stability, and health implications of MHO across the life course.

PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission): an extended white paper

PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) was proposed to ESA in May 2013 as a large-class mission for investigating within the framework of the ESA Cosmic Vision program a set of important scientific questions that require high res- olution, high sensitivity, full-sky observations of the sky emission at wavelengths ranging from millimeter-wave to the far-infrared. PRISM’s main objective is to explore the distant universe, probing cosmic history from very early times until now as well as the structures, distribution of matter, and velocity flows throughout our Hubble volume. PRISM will survey the full sky in a large number of frequency bands in both intensity and polarization and will measure the absolute spectrum of sky emission more than three orders of magnitude bet- ter than COBE FIRAS. The data obtained will allow us to precisely measure the absolute sky brightness and polarization of all the components of the sky emission in the observed frequency range, separating the primordial and extragalactic components cleanly from the galactic and zodiacal light emissions. The aim of this Extended White Paper is to provide a more detailed overview of the highlights of the new science that will be made possible by PRISM, which include: (1) the ultimate galaxy cluster survey using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) e↵ect, detecting approximately 106 clusters extending to large redshift, including a char- acterization of the gas temperature of the brightest ones (through the relativistic corrections to the classic SZ template) as well as a peculiar velocity survey using the kinetic SZ e↵ect that comprises our entire Hubble volume; (2) a detailed characterization of the properties and evolution of dusty galaxies, where the most of the star formation in the universe took place, the faintest population of which constitute the di↵use CIB (Cosmic Infrared Background); (3) a characterization of the B modes from primordial gravity waves generated during inflation and from gravitational lensing, as well as the ultimate search for primordial non-Gaussianity using CMB polarization, which is less contaminated by foregrounds on small scales than thetemperature anisotropies; (4) a search for distortions from a perfect blackbody spectrum, which include some nearly certain signals and others that are more speculative but more informative; and (5) a study of the role of the magnetic field in star formation and its inter- action with other components of the interstellar medium of our Galaxy. These are but a few of the highlights presented here along with a description of the proposed instrument.

ALGUNOS FACTORES QUE INCIDEN EN LA VALORACION DEL SUELO URBANO

Este ensayo tuvo como finalidad primordial señalar la importancia que encierra, para fines planificadores, el conocimiento de la distribución de los valores del suelo dentro de un área urbana determinada. Asi tomada como el area de estudio; el distrito 1 o el Carmen, y localizada en la porción noroeste de la ciudad capital de Costa Rica, toda una serie de factores o variables que presentan gran relevancia en la fijación de valores para su suelo, fuero fijados y analizados, una vez caracterizada el area bajo análisis. En búsqueda de un modelo que se adapte a tal situación, se realizo una revisión bibliográfica y los principios modelo sobre el valor del suelo fueron presentados. Con los datos e informaciones recibidos en las diferentes instituciones mencionadas a lo largo del trabajo, y con el material recopilado en el campo, se llevo a cabo una cuantificación de los mismos, principalmente mediante el uso de un sistema de clasificación del dato esencial (valor del suelo) y, posteriormente, una serie de correlaciones –regresiones, simples y múltiples-, fue realizada con el fin de comprobarlas hipótesis planteadas y  con ello llegar a un análisis de los resultados obtenidos que permitiese brindar algunas recomendaciones al respecto. Otra finalidad de este consiste en demostrar la importancia del trabajo del geógrafo en el proceso  de la fijación de los valores para el terreno, sea urbano, sea rural, y cualquiera sea el fin que persiga: valores fiscales, valores reales, comerciales y, por qué no, hasta especulativos. SUMARY The main objetive of this investigation is to demonstrate the importance of the distribution of land values in an urban area in regards to the planning process. The chosen study area is the first district (Carmen) located in the northeast section of  the capital city of San José. Once the study area had been chosen, a series of factors and variables relavant to the fixation of land values, were chosen and analyzed. In the search for a model that could be adapted to the situation, a bibliographic revision was made concerning the topic of land values, and a list of possible land values, and a list of possible land value models was presented. In was possible to quantify the data information obtained from the different institutions mentioned in the investigation as well as from the material collected in the field; principally by means of a classification system of essential data ( land values), and later, series of simple and multiple correlation regressions were applied with the primary purpose being to confirm  the main hypothesis and then, arrive at an analysis of the obtained results that permit respective recommendations. Another purpose of the investigation consisted in demonstrating the importance of the geographer in the process of determining urban and rural land values and even for speculative purposes.

Progettare l'incompiuto. Il nuovo centro civico del QT8

Nel contesto socio-economico dei primi anni del secondo dopoguerra, caratterizzato dal bisogno di ricostruire una città profondamente danneggiata dai bombardamenti, la Triennale di Milano contribuì in modo preponderante nel tracciare le linee guida per la ricostruzione di una porzione di città. In tale contesto, l’architetto Piero Bottoni, in qualità di Commissario straordinario dell’Ente Autonomo Triennale, impostò l’”Ottava Triennale di Milano – Esposizione internazionale di arti decorative e industriali moderne e dell’architettura moderna” attorno al tema dell’abitare e concepì il Quartiere Triennale 8 come una esposizione permanente di nuovi tipi edilizi, di sistemi costruttivi e arredi innovativi, ma anche e soprattutto come un esempio sperimentale di una nuova spazialità urbana. Nel progetto del QT8 vennero messi sullo stesso piano casa, quartiere e città come tre aspetti inscindibili dello stesso problema, ma, sebbene la maggior parte del piano venne portato a termine, questa porzione di città non potè sfuggire alla realtà economica ed alle logiche speculative di quel tempo; infatti quello che si nota effettivamente arrivando nel quartiere è la mancanza del suo cuore, luogo di connessione funzionale e spaziale, di quella piazza porticata progettata, ma mai realizzata, sulla quale si sarebbero dovuti affacciare negozi, uffici pubblici, ristoranti, una casa collettiva, un cinema-teatro ed il mercato coperto. Da queste osservazioni, dalla necessità di offrire alla comunità dei residenti, e non solo, un fulcro pubblico dove instaurare relazioni sociali e nel quale poter usufruire dei servizi necessari, nasce l’idea di questo progetto di tesi.