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- Ultra-detailed Nathan Drake statue in production
- Insects, Vol. 4, Pages 90-103: Non-Target Effects of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-Derived Double-Stranded RNA (dsRNA-GFP) Used in Honey Bee RNA Interference (RNAi) Assays
- Insects, Vol. 4, Pages 71-89: The Effects of Pesticides on Queen Rearing and Virus Titers in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)
- Metals, Vol. 3, Pages 58-68: Synthesis and Characterization of NanocrystallineMg-7.4%Al Powders Produced by Mechanical Alloying
- Buildings, Vol. 3, Pages 1-17: Achieving Cost Benefits in Sustainable Cooperative Housing
- Games, Vol. 4, Pages 1-20: Evolutionary Exploration of the Finitely Repeated Prisoners’ Dilemma—The Effect of Out-of-Equilibrium Play
- Foods, Vol. 2, Pages 18-31: Phenolic Extracts from Wild Olive Leaves and Their Potential as Edible Oils Antioxidants
- Cells, Vol. 2, Pages 19-42: CD8+ T Lymphocyte Epitopes From The Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 ICP27, VP22 and VP13/14 Proteins To Facilitate Vaccine Design And Characterization
- Agronomy, Vol. 3, Pages 13-27: Development of a Geo-Referenced Database for Weed Mapping and Analysis of Agronomic Factors Affecting Herbicide Resistance in Apera spica-venti L. Beauv. (Silky Windgrass)
- Humanities, Vol. 2, Pages 1-19: Surprise and Uncertainty—Framing Regional Geohazards in the Theory of Complexity
- Former Taipei Assassins member forms new League of Legends team
- Societies, Vol. 3, Pages 24-42: Following Hegel’s Sovereign Beast: An Excursus on the Right of Heroes
- Sustainability, Vol. 5, Pages 90-99: Resilience of Outdoor Spaces in an Era of Climate Change: The Problem of Developing Countries
- Sustainability, Vol. 5, Pages 72-89: Tensions Between Firm Size and Sustainability Goals: Fair Trade Coffee in the United States
- Who's Enforcing Sweepstakes Ban?
- JollysFastVNC 1.44 - Fast VNC client.. (Shareware)
- Link Dump Friday
- Wreck-It Ralph hitting DVD and Blu-ray this March
- Former Counter Logic Gaming League of Legends team close to signing with Evil Geniuses
- GameSpot GamePlay Episode 24: Rubbing the Cow Gently
| Ultra-detailed Nathan Drake statue in production Posted: 04 Jan 2013 03:25 AM PST Nathan Drake's character model in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is one of the most detailed and expressive works of three-dimensional sculpture in |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST RNA interference has been frequently applied to modulate gene function in organisms where the production and maintenance of mutants is challenging, as in our model of study, the honey bee, Apis mellifera. A green fluorescent protein (GFP)-derived double-stranded RNA (dsRNA-GFP) is currently commonly used as control in honey bee RNAi experiments, since its gene does not exist in the A. mellifera genome. Although dsRNA-GFP is not expected to trigger RNAi responses in treated bees, undesirable effects on gene expression, pigmentation or developmental timing are often observed. Here, we performed three independent experiments using microarrays to examine the effect of dsRNA-GFP treatment (introduced by feeding) on global gene expression patterns in developing worker bees. Our data revealed that the expression of nearly 1,400 genes was altered in response to dsRNA-GFP, representing around 10% of known honey bee genes. Expression changes appear to be the result of both direct off-target effects and indirect downstream secondary effects; indeed, there were several instances of sequence similarity between putative siRNAs generated from the dsRNA-GFP construct and genes whose expression levels were altered. In general, the affected genes are involved in important developmental and metabolic processes associated with RNA processing and transport, hormone metabolism, immunity, response to external stimulus and to stress. These results suggest that multiple dsRNA controls should be employed in RNAi studies in honey bees. Furthermore, any RNAi studies involving these genes affected by dsRNA-GFP in our studies should use a different dsRNA control. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST The effects of sublethal pesticide exposure on queen emergence and virus titers were examined. Queen rearing colonies were fed pollen with chlorpyrifos (CPF) alone (pollen-1) and with CPF and the fungicide Pristine® (pollen-2). Fewer queens emerged when larvae from open foraging (i.e., outside) colonies were reared in colonies fed pollen-1 or 2 compared with when those larvae were reared in outside colonies. Larvae grafted from and reared in colonies fed pollen-2 had lower rates of queen emergence than pollen-1 or outside colonies. Deformed wing virus (DWV) and black queen cell virus were found in nurse bees from colonies fed pollen-1 or 2 and in outside colonies. The viruses also were detected in queen larvae. However, we did not detect virus in emerged queens grafted from and reared in outside colonies. In contrast, DWV was found in all emerged queens grafted from colonies fed pollen-1 or 2 either reared in outside hives or those fed pollen-1 or 2. The results suggest that sublethal exposure of CPF alone but especially when Pristine® is added reduces queen emergence possibly due to compromised immunity in developing queens. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST Nanocrystalline Mg-7.4%Al powder was prepared by mechanical alloying using a high-energy mill. The evolution of the various phases and their microstructure, including size and morphology of the powder particles in the course of milling and during subsequent annealing, were investigated in detail. Room temperature milling leads to a rather heterogeneous microstructure consisting of two distinct regions: Al-free Mg cores and Mg-Al intermixed areas. As a result, the material is mechanically heterogeneous with the Mg cores displaying low hardness (40–50 HV) and the Mg-Al intermixed regions showing high hardness of about 170 HV. The Mg cores disappear and the microstructure becomes (also mechanically) homogeneous after subsequent cryo-milling. Rietveld structure refinement reveals that the crystallite size of the milled powders decreases with increasing the milling time reaching a minimum value of about 30 nm. This is corroborated by transmission electron microscopy confirming an average grain size of ~25 nm. |
| Buildings, Vol. 3, Pages 1-17: Achieving Cost Benefits in Sustainable Cooperative Housing Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST The cooperative housing sector is directed at low and medium income residents who cannot afford to buy their homes in the regular private market. Due to social housing legislation, it is possible to build cooperative housing below regular market costs and use tax benefits, therefore providing affordable dwellings to their owners. Traditional cooperative housing used to provide less comfort and higher running costs in indoor and domestic hot water heating than in standard construction. However, cooperative housing has started to change its method of traditional construction towards sustainable construction, in order to benefit from the savings on energy consumption and domestic water as well as to provide an improvement as far as the comfort of its residents is concerned. Therefore, in this article, the savings in electricity and natural gas in different building settlements, calculated for Madalena building—sustainable construction—and for Azenha de Cima building—traditional construction—will be presented, according to two different criteria of calculation: efficiency of dwellings at a pre-determined standard level of indoor comfort opposed to real consumptions made by residents. For each building under analysis, an energy audit and further monitoring were brought in, in order to issue an energy evaluation according to the Portuguese energy agency rules. Results showed an expected decrease of the operational costs of natural gas and electricity, obtained by the use of efficient building systems and equipment, as well as a decrease of the payback period for each situation. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST The finitely repeated Prisoners’ Dilemma is a good illustration of the discrepancy between the strategic behaviour suggested by a game-theoretic analysis and the behaviour often observed among human players, where cooperation is maintained through most of the game. A game-theoretic reasoning based on backward induction eliminates strategies step by step until defection from the first round is the only remaining choice, reflecting the Nash equilibrium of the game. We investigate the Nash equilibrium solution for two different sets of strategies in an evolutionary context, using replicator-mutation dynamics. The first set consists of conditional cooperators, up to a certain round, while the second set in addition to these contains two strategy types that react differently on the first round action: The ”Convincer” strategies insist with two rounds of initial cooperation, trying to establish more cooperative play in the game, while the ”Follower” strategies, although being first round defectors, have the capability to respond to an invite in the first round. For both of these strategy sets, iterated elimination of strategies shows that the only Nash equilibria are given by defection from the first round. We show that the evolutionary dynamics of the first set is always characterised by a stable fixed point, corresponding to the Nash equilibrium, if the mutation rate is sufficiently small (but still positive). The second strategy set is numerically investigated, and we find that there are regions of parameter space where fixed points become unstable and the dynamics exhibits cycles of different strategy compositions. The results indicate that, even in the limit of very small mutation rate, the replicator-mutation dynamics does not necessarily bring the system with Convincers and Followers to the fixed point corresponding to the Nash equilibrium of the game. We also perform a detailed analysis of how the evolutionary behaviour depends on payoffs, game length, and mutation rate. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST The kinetics solid-liquid extraction of phenolics from wild olive leaves was elaborated using different mathematical models (Peleg, second order, Elovich, and power law model). As solvents, methanol, ethanol, ethanol:water 1:1, n-propanol, isopropanol and ethyl acetate were used. The second order model best described the solvent extraction process, followed by the Elovich model. The most effective solvent was ethanol with optimum phenol extraction conditions 180 min, solvent to sample ratio 5:1 v/w and pH 2. Ethanol extract exhibited the highest antiradical activity among solvent and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) extracts, which in addition showed the highest antioxidant capacity compared to synthetic and natural food antioxidants such as BHT, ascorbyl palmitate and vitamin E. Antioxidant potential of SFE extract was quite high, although its phenolic potential was not. Leaf extracts were proven to be good protectors for olive and sunflower oils at levels of 150 ppm. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST CD8+ T cells have the potential to control HSV-2 infection. However, limited information has been available on CD8+ T cell epitopes or the functionality of antigen specific T cells during infection or following immunization with experimental vaccines. Peptide panels from HSV-2 proteins ICP27, VP22 and VP13/14 were selected from in silico predictions of binding to human HLA-A*0201 and mouse H-2Kd, Ld and Dd molecules. Nine previously uncharacterized CD8+ T cell epitopes were identified from HSV-2 infected BALB/c mice. HSV-2 specific peptide sequences stabilized HLA-A*02 surface expression with intermediate or high affinity binding. Peptide specific CD8+ human T cell lines from peripheral blood lymphocytes were generated from a HLA-A*02+ donor. High frequencies of peptide specific CD8+ T cell responses were elicited in mice by DNA vaccination with ICP27, VP22 and VP13/14, as demonstrated by CD107a mobilization. Vaccine driven T cell responses displayed a more focused immune response than those induced by viral infection. Furthermore, vaccination with ICP27 reduced viral shedding and reduced the clinical impact of disease. In conclusion, this study describes novel HSV-2 epitopes eliciting strong CD8+ T cell responses that may facilitate epitope based vaccine design and aid immunomonitoring of antigen specific T cell frequencies in preclinical and clinical settings. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST In this work, we evaluate the role of agronomic factors in the selection for herbicide resistance in Apera spica-venti L. Beauv. (silky windgrass). During a period of three years, populations were collected in more than 250 conventional fields across Europe and tested for resistance in the greenhouse. After recording the field history of locations, a geo-referenced database has been developed to map the distribution of herbicide-resistant A. spica-venti populations in Europe. A Logistic Regression Model was used to assess whether and to what extent agricultural and biological factors (crop rotation, soil tillage, sowing date, soil texture and weed density) affect the probability of resistance selection apart from the selection pressure due to herbicide application. Our results revealed that rotation management and soil tillage are the factors that have the greatest influence on the model. In addition, first order interactions between these two variables were highly significant. Under conventional tillage, a percentage of winter crops in the rotation exceeding 75% resulted in a 1280-times higher risk of resistance selection compared to rotations with less than 50% of winter crops. Under conservation tillage, the adoption of >75% of winter crops increased the risk of resistance 13-times compared to rotations with less than 50% of winter crops. Finally, early sowing and high weed density significantly increased the risk of resistance compared to the reference categories (later sowing and low weed density, respectively). Soil texture had no significant influence. The developed model can find application in management programs aimed at preventing the evolution and spread of herbicide resistance in weed populations. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST The paper analyzes the concepts of uncertainty and surprise as key variables of a socio-ecological system’s behavior in the context of the theory of complexity. Experiences from the past have shown that living with uncertainty is part of our daily life and surprises are only surprising because our perspective of system trajectories is basically linear and non-dynamic. The future of humanity is dependent on the understanding of the system’s behavior and needs a change in perspective of linearity to non-linearity and from the planning imperative to a management hedging uncertainty and surprise. In the context of humanity’s future, the theory of complexity offers a new perspective on system trajectories and their understanding of surprises and uncertainty. There is a need for a Gestaltwechsel—a change in perception—which helps to see things differently and fosters the search for new answers to emerging questions at the human-nature interface. Drawing on the case study of hazard management the paper will explain the necessity of analysis system’s behavior and the taking into account of multi-agent behavior on the micro level which led to emergent behavior on the macro-level of the system. Regional geohazards are explained as the regional impact of an uncontrolled risk based on a state of a natural feature that has a direct impact on a regional population being affected by the appearance of a hazard and its development into damage. By acting in space, time and connectivity, people construct hazardscapes and change risk into regional geohazards. This concept shows relevance for future mitigation and adaptation measures. The theory of complexity can help in engendering the necessary shift in perspective. What is non-linear dynamic thinking as suggested by the theory of complexity? Why is the consideration of the system’s behavior crucial and not just the number of system’s elements? What is the role of agents in these systems? In addition, there are practical implications too: What does this shift in perspective mean for future hazard management and the future of humanity? |
| Former Taipei Assassins member forms new League of Legends team Posted: 03 Jan 2013 09:57 PM PST Sister team of LoL Season 2 champions will be called Taiper Snipers; team will be under same management.
A new sister team to the League of Legends Season 2 world championship victors, the Taipei Assassins, has just been unveiled. According to the Taipei Assassin's official site (via Gosu Gamer), the team is called the Taipei Snipers and will be led by former Taipei Assassins member and leader MiSTakE. This is due to the fact that the team felt that their overall performance was beginning to slip after their victory in the LoL Season 2 tournament. Next to MiSTakE, whose role is the team's support, the Taipei Snipers' roster consists of Zonda (top laner), OhReal (jungler), NeXAbc (AP carry), and GodJJ (AD carry). Replacing MiSTakE's position in the Taipei Assassins is Hong-Wei 'Dinter' Xue. The new leader is a member named ToyZ. For more information on League of Legends, check out GameSpot's recent guide to the game. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot "Former Taipei Assassins member forms new League of Legends team" was posted by Jonathan Toyad on Thu, 03 Jan 2013 21:57:23 -0800 |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST In The Beast and the Sovereign, Derrida addresses an association that is as paradoxical as it is common. On the one hand, it seems as if the sovereign is, or at least should be, the furthest from the beast. And yet, as soon as we consult the various archives of political mythology––myth, theology, philosophy, art, etc.––we find them together, inseparable despite their distance. The seminar itself is a continuation of his previous explorations of the host concepts and figures that populate the political and philosophical history of sovereignty. The course takes him through a series of texts that stretches from Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Rousseau, to Freud, Heidegger, Lacan and Schmitt, among others, but his engagement with Hegel is limited. The few times that Hegel’s name does appear, it is almost exclusively a reference or aside within other more substantial engagements (Lacan and Heidegger, in particular). This absence is at least somewhat curious given the extent of Derrida’s previous engagements with Hegel’s corpus. I am not suggesting that this absence constitutes some essential oversight; rather, it is an opportunity to set out on an excursion from the course of The Beast and the Sovereign without leaving its territory. After all, Hegel also has an account of the origins of law. He, too, has a character that is set apart by his (almost) animal quality. This figure arrives on stage before history begins. His role––and indeed his “right”––is to found the most basic elements of the state. We are told that his “right” is absolute. He is no Lord. He is not driven by a desire for the recognition of the other. However, who confers this “absolute” right? If his actions are not bound by any measure or proportion, how do we distinguish between the hero and the criminal? |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST This paper recommends expanding research on the interrelations between climate change, cities, culture and the way climate change influences participants’ thermal, emotional and perceptual well-being in public spaces as a key step in developing contextual design codes for outdoor public spaces. Proposing a general framework to address climate challenges in developing countries, the paper advocates focusing on the developing world, where outdoor spaces are extremely vulnerable and available studies are scarce. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST Sustainability marketing trends have typically been led by smaller, more mission-driven firms, but are increasingly attracting larger, more profit-driven firms. Studying the strategies of firms that are moving away from these two poles (i.e., mission-driven but larger firms, and profit-driven firms that are more committed to sustainability) may help us to better understand the potential to resolve tensions between firm size and sustainability goals. We used this approach to analyze a case study of the U.S. fair trade coffee industry, employing the methods of data visualization and media content analysis. We identified three firms that account for the highest proportion of U.S. fair trade coffee purchases (Equal Exchange, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Starbucks) and analyzed their strategies, including reactions to recent changes in U.S. fair trade standards. We found an inverse relationship between firm size and demonstrated commitment to sustainability ideals, and the two larger firms were much less likely to acknowledge conflicts between size and sustainability in their public discourse. We conclude that similar efforts to increase sustainability marketing for other products and services should be more skeptical of approaches that rely on primarily on the participation of large, profit-driven firms. |
| Who's Enforcing Sweepstakes Ban? Posted: 03 Jan 2013 11:39 PM PST North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper told News 2 that it's up to local agencies and district attorneys to enforce the sweepstakes ban law, but the Guilford County District Attorney and the Greensboro Police Department are waiting for guidelines from the Attorney General. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| JollysFastVNC 1.44 - Fast VNC client.. (Shareware) Posted: 03 Jan 2013 08:59 PM PST  JollysFastVNC is a VNC client which aims to become the best VNC client on the Mac. When I started ScreenRecycler I thought that there are enough VNC clients out there to support it. When the program started to get useful I realized that the VNC clients available on the Mac were pretty slow and people were complaining about the speed of ScreenRecycler. I was using VNCThing at the time which proved to be acceptable on PPC Macs but does not run on Intel Macs. Without a proper viewer people can't access ScreenRecycler in a way I imagined. So I started programming JollysFastVNC to enable people using ScreenRecycler. As I got a few mails about the VNC capabilities of JollysFastVNC I decided to enhance the program to be a fully functional VNC client. It's still in the early stages of development, even though somewhat usable and fast. Use the applications about box to mail me problem as I do not read the comments here. Version 1.44:
OS X 10.7 or later Download Now This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2013 02:20 PM PST  Games featured this week: Hotline Miami; Dreadline; Fez; Dungelot — Coming up in 2013. A game with a hat the Doctor would approve of, and monstrous time-traveling mayhem... that the Doctor probably would NOT approve of, but he's not here right now, is he? Also: Hotline Miami gets evidence as to why it could never have been a text adventure, and an effortlessly addictive free casual roguelike gets an update. Tagged as: blog, linkdump, news, previews |
| Wreck-It Ralph hitting DVD and Blu-ray this March Posted: 03 Jan 2013 07:41 PM PST Disney-animated film available for download in HD Digital and HD Digital 3D; physical version to come with two-disc and four-disc ultimate collector's edition.
The hit animated movie Wreck-It Ralph will be out in digital and physical DVD and Blu-ray form early this year. According to Disney Home Video, the digital version will be out on February 12 and will be available in HD digital and HD digital 3D formats. The physical versions will be out on March 5. In addition to a standalone DVD release with no extra features, Disney will release a two-disc collecter's edition and a four-disc ultimate collector's edition. The former set contains the DVD and Blu-ray versions while the latter edition contains both aforementioned formats as well as the Blu-ray 3D and digital copy. The digital, collector's edition and ultimate collector's edition will come with bonuses such as the "making of" feature called "Bit by Bit: Creating the Worlds of Wreck-It Ralph", alternate and deleted scenes, video game commercials for the titles created for the movie, and the animated short called Paperman that was shown before the film in its theater run. The Blu-ray copy will also have a video feature which points out the many video game references in Wreck-It Ralph, hosted by stand-up comedian Chris Hardwick. For more information on Wreck-It Ralph, check out the previous story on the video game-themed film. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot "Wreck-It Ralph hitting DVD and Blu-ray this March" was posted by Jonathan Toyad on Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:41:36 -0800 |
| Former Counter Logic Gaming League of Legends team close to signing with Evil Geniuses Posted: 03 Jan 2013 06:50 PM PST Sources say that the deal between both teams will be done soon; this will be the first time Evil Geniuses has picked up a League of Legends team.
The former Counter Logic Gaming European League of Legends squad is close to signing a new contract to be Evil Geniuses' first League of Legends team, according to team sources. Consisting of star players Stephen 'Snoopeh' Ellis, Henrik 'Froggen' Hansen, Peter 'Yellowpete' Wüppen, Mitch 'Krepo' Voorspoels and Mike 'Wickd' Petersen, the deal is said to be done soon, with Evil Geniuses outbidding Azubu in the final stages. This would mark the first time Evil Geniuses have picked up a League of Legends team. Counter Logic Gaming is one of six teams automatically qualified into Season 3 of the League of Legends Championship Series. The five had a breakout year in 2012 under CLG. The team came no worse than 5th at any event all year, winning DreamHack Summer 2012, placing second at the Azubu Champions Summer 2012, and third at the Riot Season 2 World Championships. On December 28, it was announced that the European Squad would not be re-signing to CLG and wanted to explore free agency in 2013. As of a month ago, it wasn't confirmed that Evil Geniuses would be signing any League of Legends teams. EG Owner Alex Garfield spoke to PCGamesN at the fifth IGN ProLeague event in Las Vegas, and said that he was unsure if the team would venture into the game at the this time. 'Obviously the numbers are impressive, and the passion of the community is impressive,' Garfield said. 'I think the challenge for me is just to find the right brand representatives for EG. So I've been perfectly happy to wait and sit on the sidelines and let some of those guys grow up a little bit.' Counter Logic Gaming will move into a house in Cologne, Germany, soon to prepare for the Season 3 Championship Series. The qualifiers for Season 3 kick-off on January 11 with North America up first, and then on January 25 for the European qualifiers. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot "Former Counter Logic Gaming League of Legends team close to signing with Evil Geniuses " was posted by Rod \'Slasher\' Breslau on Thu, 03 Jan 2013 18:50:57 -0800 |
| GameSpot GamePlay Episode 24: Rubbing the Cow Gently Posted: 03 Jan 2013 04:13 PM PST Kevin VanOrd hosts an overstuffed, post-holiday crew of Tom, Carolyn, Peter, and Tyler, who all agree that caressing is better than clicking.
Get the full article at GameSpot "GameSpot GamePlay Episode 24: Rubbing the Cow Gently" was posted by Kevin VanOrd on Thu, 03 Jan 2013 16:13:32 -0800 |
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