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Abstract Melanoides tuberculata is a freshwater snail native to Old World tropical areas but has invaded tropical and subtropical regions around the world. In Argentina, populations established in natural environments were reported from northeastern tropical provinces. Here we report for the first time the presence of M. tuberculata in a geothermally warmed channel in temperate Southern Pampas. We mapped its distribution in the channel, searched for its presence in five nearby basins, estimated the risk of establishment and expansion in Argentina with distribution models and analyzed shape variation through geometric morphometrics. Melanoides tuberculata was recorded exclusively in the channel in sites with temperatures between 20 and 40°C, with almost no overlap with other snails. No evidence of M. tuberculata was found in nearby basins. The distribution model predicted that only northernmost areas from Argentina are suitable for this species, where it could impact snail communities and food webs if introduction through the aquarium trade is not prevented. The absence of males indicates parthenogenetic reproduction and probably a recent invasion. Shell shape variation in this population, 15 % of which is attributable to allometry, encompasses the shapes of specimens from other South American populations, suggesting that all belong to the same lineage.

Inspired by the period-four oscillation in flash-induced oxygen evolution of photosystem II discovered by Joliot in 1969, Kok performed additional experiments and proposed a five-state kinetic model for photosynthetic oxygen evolution, known as Kok's S-state clock or cycle1,2. The model comprises four (meta)stable intermediates (S0, S1, S2 and S3) and one transient S4 state, which precedes dioxygen formation occurring in a concerted reaction from two water-derived oxygens bound at an oxo-bridged tetra manganese calcium (Mn4CaO5) cluster in the oxygen-evolving complex3-7. This reaction is coupled to the two-step reduction and protonation of the mobile plastoquinone QB at the acceptor side of PSII. Here, using serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography and simultaneous X-ray emission spectroscopy with multi-flash visible laser excitation at room temperature, we visualize all (meta)stable states of Kok's cycle as high-resolution structures (2.04-2.08 Å). In addition, we report structures of two transient states at 150 and 400 µs, revealing notable structural changes including the binding of one additional 'water', Ox, during the S2→S3 state transition. Our results suggest that one water ligand to calcium (W3) is directly involved in substrate delivery. The binding of the additional oxygen Ox in the S3 state between Ca and Mn1 supports O-O bond formation mechanisms involving O5 as one substrate, where Ox is either the other substrate oxygen or is perfectly positioned to refill the O5 position during O2 release. Thus, our results exclude peroxo-bond formation in the S3 state, and the nucleophilic attack of W3 onto W2 is unlikely.

Light-induced oxidation of water by photosystem II (PS II) in plants, algae and cyanobacteria has generated most of the dioxygen in the atmosphere. PS II, a membrane-bound multi-subunit pigment protein complex, couples the one-electron photochemistry at the reaction centre with the four-electron redox chemistry of water oxidation at the Mn4CaO5 cluster in the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC). Under illumination, the OEC cycles through five intermediate S-states (S0 to S4), in which S1 is the dark-stable state and S3 is the last semi-stable state before O-O bond formation and O2 evolution. A detailed understanding of the O-O bond formation mechanism remains a challenge, and will require elucidation of both the structures of the OEC in the different S-states and the binding of the two substrate waters to the catalytic site. Here we report the use of femtosecond pulses from an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) to obtain damage-free, room temperature structures of dark-adapted (S1), two-flash illuminated (2F; S3-enriched), and ammonia-bound two-flash illuminated (2F-NH3; S3-enriched) PS II. Although the recent 1.95 Å resolution structure of PS II at cryogenic temperature using an XFEL provided a damage-free view of the S1 state, measurements at room temperature are required to study the structural landscape of proteins under functional conditions, and also for in situ advancement of the S-states. To investigate the water-binding site(s), ammonia, a water analogue, has been used as a marker, as it binds to the Mn4CaO5 cluster in the S2 and S3 states. Since the ammonia-bound OEC is active, the ammonia-binding Mn site is not a substrate water site. This approach, together with a comparison of the native dark and 2F states, is used to discriminate between proposed O-O bond formation mechanisms.

Abstract German public pension policy has always been torn between popular service expansions and the need for fiscal consolidation. Based on the methodology of generational accounting, this work determines long-term fiscal effects of two exemplary expansive measures and introduces a measure aiming towards increased fiscal sustainability. The two measures consist of the recently introduced distortionary early retirement scheme at age 63 as well as the introduction of the supplementary basic pension scheme. Both measures increase the sustainability gap by 10% of GDP and will oppose the fundamental principles of the German social policy system. The authors introduce a dynamic life expectancy factor for automatic adjustment of the statutory retirement which could potentially reduce the pension system’s sustainability gap by half of the initial magnitude.

In recent years, the demographic change in conjunction with a lack of professional caregivers led to retirement homes reaching capacity. The Alzheimer Disease International stated that over 50 million people suffered from dementia in 2019 worldwide and twice the amount will presumably be effected in 2030. The field of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) tackles this problem by facilitating technical system-aided everyday life. AUXILIA is such an AAL system and does not only support elderly people with dementia in an early phase, but also monitors their activities to provide behaviour analysis results for care attendants, relatives and physicians. Moreover, the system is capable of recognizing emergency situations like human falls. Furthermore, sleep quality estimation is employed to be able to draw conclusions about the current behaviour of an affected person. This article presents the current development state of AUXILIA.

To increase the use of fiber reinforced lightweight structural components in the automotive industry, their manufacturing processes have to obtain demanding economic requirements. One possibility is to use Compression Resin Transfer Molding (CRTM), which is fast and can be highly automated. One disadvantage can be the very high cavity pressure during injection. To avoid this disadvantage, a pressure-controlled RTM (PC-RTM) process was developed. PC-RTM uses a variable mold gap height and an embedded pressure sensor to control the cavity pressure actively during mold filling. In this work, we investigate this process by experiments and simulations with varying initial mold gap and controlled cavity pressure. We show that PC-RTM is a viable manufacturing process with short cycle times and high robustness. Furthermore, the simulations are validated by comparison to the experiments and show the same process characteristics.

Although demographic statistics show that populations around the world are rapidly ageing, this rising life expectancy is accompanied by an increase in the number of people living with age-related chronic conditions, such as frailty, cognitive decline, depression, or sexual dysfunction. In men, a progressive decline in androgens occurs with increasing age, and low androgen levels are associated with age-related chronic conditions. However, androgen administration studies are inconclusive, showing differing results according to the androgen used (testosterone [T], dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA]), the group of men examined (younger vs. older; eugonadal vs. hypogonadal) and the conditions studied (frailty, cognitive decline, depression, sexual dysfunction). In this review, the current state for the use of T and DHEA therapy in men for the age-related conditions is examined. Due to the progressive age-related decline in androgens leading to a higher rate of older men having low androgen levels, the effects of androgen treatment in elderly males will be of particular interest in this review. Doseresponse relationships, the role of potential moderators, and the androgen treatment-related risk for adverse events will be discussed. Studies have suggested that T treatment – more so than DHEA treatment – may be an effective therapy against agerelated chronic conditions in men with low T levels; especially older men. Such conditions include frailty, depression, or sexual dysfunction. However, T treatment does not emerge as an effective therapy against cognitive decline. Nevertheless, more high-quality, randomised controlled trials using T treatment for age-related chronic conditions are necessary if further conclusions are to be made.

To manufacture a high-performance structure made of continuous fiber reinforced plastics, Liquid Composite Molding processes are used, where a liquid resin infiltrates the dry fibers. For a good infiltration quality without dry spots, it is important to predict the resin flow correctly. Knowledge of the local permeability is an essential precondition for mold-filling simulations. In our approach, the intra-bundle permeability parallel and transverse to the fibers is characterized via periodic fluid dynamic simulations of micro-scale volume elements (VE). We evaluate and compare two approaches: First, an approach to generate VEs based on a statistical distribution of the fibers and fiber diameters. Second, an approach based on micrograph images of samples manufactured with Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP) using the measured fiber distribution. The micrograph images show a higher heterogeneity of the distribution than the statistically generated VEs, which is characterized by large resin areas. This heterogeneity leads to a significantly different permeability compared to the stochastic approach. In conclusion, a pure stochastic approach needs to contain the large heterogeneity of the fiber distribution to predict correct permeability values.

Tailored fiber placement (TFP) is a preform manufacturing process in which rovings made of fibrous material are stitched onto a base material, increasing the freedom for the placement of fibers. Due to the particular kinematics of the process, the infiltration of TFP preforms with resin transfer molding (RTM) is sensitive to multiple processes and material parameters, such as injection pressure, resin viscosity, and fiber architecture. An experimental study is conducted to investigate the influence of TFP manufacturing parameters on the infiltration process. A transparent RTM tool that enables visual tracking of the resin flow front was developed and constructed. Microsection evaluations were produced to observe the thickness of each part of the composite and evaluate the fiber volume content of that part. Qualitative results have shown that the infiltration process in TFP structures is strongly influenced by a top and bottom flow layer. The stitching points and the yarn also create channels for the resin to flow. Furthermore, the stitching creates some eye-like regions, which are resin-rich zones and are normally not taken into account during the infusion of TFP parts.

Abstract Background ADAMTS aggrecanases play a major role in cartilage degeneration during degenerative and inflammatory arthritis. The cartilage-specific secreted protein Upper zone of growth plate and cartilage matrix associated protein (Ucma) has been shown to block ADAMTS-triggered aggrecanolysis in experimental osteoarthritis. Here we aimed to investigate whether and how Ucma may affect cartilage destruction and osteophyte formation in the context of inflammatory arthritis. Methods Ucma–ADAMTS5 protein interactions were studied using slot blot and solid phase binding assays. Chondrocyte cultures were stimulated with ADAMTS5 or IL-1β in the presence or absence of Ucma and aggrecanolysis was assessed by neoepitope formation. Arthritis was induced by transfer of K/BxN serum into wild-type (WT), Ucma-deficient and WT mice treated with recombinant Ucma. Cartilage proteoglycan loss and cartilage damage was assessed by safranin-O stain, aggrecanase-induced neoepitope formation and histomorphometry, respectively. Osteophytes were assessed by histomorphometry, micro-computed tomography, RNA in-situ hybridisation for collagen10a1 and osteocalcin, and staining for TRAP activity. Gene expression analyses were performed using real-time RT-PCR. Results Ucma physically interacted with ADAMTS5 and blocked its aggrecanase activity in chondrocyte cultures. Ucma was highly expressed in the articular cartilage and in osteophytes during arthritis. Ucma had no effect on inflammation and bone erosion. In contrast, Ucma-deficient mice developed significantly more severe cartilage proteoglycan loss and cartilage destruction. Conversely, treatment with Ucma inhibited cartilage degeneration in arthritis. Ucma effectively inhibited ADAMTS5-triggered or IL-1β-triggered aggrecanolysis in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, osteophyte formation was reduced in Ucma-deficient mice. Conclusions These results indicate that Ucma inhibits aggrecanolysis by physical interaction with ADAMTS5 and protects from cartilage degeneration in inflammatory arthritis. Ucma therefore represents an interesting novel and specific target for preventing cartilage degradation in the context of inflammatory arthritis.

This work focuses on the development of a numerical mold filling simulation for the rotational molding process. In the rotational molding process, a dry fiber preform is placed in a mold and impregnated with a thermoset matrix under rotation. Additionally, metallic load introduction elements can be inserted into the mold and joined with co-curing or form-fit, resulting in hybrid drive shafts or tie rods. The numerical model can be used to simulate the impregnation of the preform. Based on the resin transfer molding process, an OpenFOAM solver is extended for the rotational molding process. Permeability, kinetic and curing models are selected and adapted to the materials used. A wireless measurement solution with a capacitive sensor is developed to validate the model. Comparisons between measurements and numerically calculated impregnation times to reach the capacitive sensor with the matrix show good quality of the developed model. The average deviation between calculated result and measured mean values in the experiment is 43.8% the maximum deviation is 65.8% . The model can therefore be used to predict the impregnation progress and the curing state.

This special issue of the Onati Socio-legal Series analyses legal and economic inequality, and policies of austerity after the global financial crisis (GFC) at the intersections of gender and sexuality. Each of the articles included in this issue speak to one or more of these themes. Collectively, the articles place questions of gender and sexuality at the centre of an analysis of reforms motivated by ‘economic rationalisation’ and austerity measures. They highlight the political economy of policies that differentially impact women, indigenous populations and socially or economically marginalised groups. Este número especial de la Oñati Socio-legal Series analiza la desigualdad legal y económica, y las políticas de austeridad después de la crisis financiera global (CFG) en las intersecciones entre género y sexualidad. Cada uno de los artículos de este número tratan sobre uno o más de estos temas. De forma colectiva, los artículos plantean cuestiones sobre género y sexualidad en el centro de un análisis de las reformas motivadas por la “racionalización económica” y las medidas de austeridad. Destacan la política economía de las políticas que impactan de forma diferente en mujeres, población indígena y grupos marginados social o económicamente. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2736309

Light-weight structural components are increasingly made of continuous fiber reinforced plastics (CoFRP), but their mass production is still very expensive. Because of its high automation potential, especially the Compression Resin Transfer Molding (CRTM) process gains more and more attention. Numerical mold filling simulations help to optimize this process and can avoid expensive experimental studies. Here, we present a new method to simulate mold filling in CRTM using a full three-dimensional finite-volume (FV) method. In comparison to known finite-element (FE) methods, it contains a compressible two-phase/Volume-of-Fluid description of the air- and resin-phase. This approach is combined with a moving mesh to account for the change of cavity height during the process, which results in a change of fiber volume fractions and thus permeabilities. We verify the method by comparison to analytic solutions of the Darcy equation and to solutions of state-of-the-art mold filling simulation software. The presented method enables CRTM mold filling simulation of complex parts, which is shown in two application examples. Furthermore, this shows the potential of using FV-based tools to simulate mold filling in RTM process variants containing non-constant cavity geometries.

Discusses the history and advantages of home schooling. Reviews available curricula. Emphasizes immediate feedback, character development shaped by family values and religious beliefs, and low per-pupil costs. (FMW)

I wish to focus on developments in feminist epistemology, or theories of knowledge and knowledge creation, and how they relate to teaching. I will first discuss the feminist epistemologies that have influenced my teaching. Then I will focus on how feminist epistemology influenced the design, the substance and the methods of teaching a law-in-context Jurisprudence course at the University of Waikato. As the title suggests, mine is a New Zealand experience, and the perspective of an American who has been in New Zealand for four years. This essay is an attempt to think through some of my experiences in New Zealand in light of my North American theoretical background. I hope that presenting my experiences will stimulate thinking from Australian perspectives.

Australia's National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, launched in 2010, has emphasised the need for integrated responses across government agencies, specialist domestic and family violence services and the justice system. This article presents an evaluation of an integrated, community-based domestic and family violence response service that uses a rare model of co-location in a police station, and assesses its suitability as a model service for the future. The evaluation reveals that there are many positive aspects of such co-location and the authors argue that this model should be more widely trialled in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consent in this way functions as a sign of legitimate subordination. i [5] I [A]n "affirmative consent" standard is the least-bad standard available for sexual assault law, compared to "force", "resistance", or nonconsent standards. And if we cannot jettison consent from our sexual justice politics altogether, we should i ... I [release] consent's capture of our imaginations in order to invite more-promising values, norms and concepts into our efforts for building a safer, more democratically hedonic culture. i [6] 1.0 Introduction Current debates on consent in law often focus on sexual violence and intimacy, where consent may be taken for granted as the conceptual pivot between the legitimate and illegitimate. For feminists analysing consent in law, such as in relation to sexual assault, it is important to recognise these embedded, sedimented limitations of the concept of consent in liberal democracies, and not to make assumptions that consent is or can be easily redefined, or tinkered with, to make it look like agreement between equals. This consent does not bring relationships of obligation into existence, but is "to" an existing situation: When consent is given, the object of consent already exists; consent is given to something. [Extracted from the article]

In this article we analyse the regulation of female genital surgery in Australia with a focus on New South Wales. We argue that the categorisation of some surgeries as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and others as Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery (FGCS) participates in the production of a constellation of gendered legal subjects, produced in language and law, that contribute to maintaining the raced and gendered status quo in Australia. Our analysis demonstrates that there is not one legal subject (or object) position for women produced through these laws; a range of legal subject positions are produced in and through this specific set of legal provisions, and these subject positions may shift over time. We analyse three legal subjects, produced relationally. First, anti-FGM feminists and female parliamentarians, who, through campaigning for and participating in passing these laws, enter into a partnership across gender with male lawmakers, become authors of law and full legal subjects of western liberal democracies in that process. Necessary to the emergence of these women as full legal subjects and authors of the law are those subjected to these legal provisions. The creation and prohibition of the category of FGM, through the definition of a wide range of varying cultural practices of female genital cutting, or female circumcision, as 'mutilation', creates the image of the 'mutilated (brown) female' as subjected to the law. Finally, a new subject of FGCS also emerges through these laws: the figure of a relatively privileged (white) woman who is saturated with sexuality and defined through the decision to mutilate her body in the pursuit of sexual pleasure. This figure, which we call the 'new hysteric', is the third gendered legal subject that we discuss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of fossil and relict soils as indicators of past climates or periods differs greatly. It is rather high when we want to reconstruct former climates, of which we can often find out the general type and partly also the approximate amount of temperature and precipitation. On the other hand reliable statements on the time which fossil soils take for their development are largely confined to relative data, which we can only get under very favourable circumstances. Absolute estimates of time can always be done only approximately. These results, however, are only useful, if the state of development of the fossil soils under discussion can be determined with sufficient reliability. Beyond all factors which influence the exactness of our statements we must keep in mind the principle, that fossil climates can only be reconstructed out of climax soils, whereas the estimation of the duration of soil development is only possible with immature soils.