Public Domain Research Articles

Loss of heterozygosity impacts MHC expression on the immune microenvironment in CDK12-mutated prostate cancer

BackgroundIn prostate cancer (PCa), well-established biomarkers such as MSI status, TMB high, and PDL1 expression serve as reliable indicators for favorable responses to immunotherapy. Recent studies have suggested a potential association between CDK12 mutations and immunotherapy response; however, the precise mechanisms through which CDK12 mutation may influence immune response remain unclear. A plausible explanation for immune evasion in this subset of CDK12-mutated PCa may be reduced MHC expression.ResultsUsing genomic data of CDK12-mutated PCa from 48 primary and 10 metastatic public domain samples and a retrospective cohort of 53 low-intermediate risk primary PCa, we investigated how variation in the expression of the MHC genes affected associated downstream pathways. We classified the patients based on gene expression quartiles of MHC-related genes and categorized the tumors into “High” and “Low” expression levels. CDK12-mutated tumors with higher MHC-expressed pathways were associated with the immune system and elevated PD-L1, IDO1, and TIM3 expression. Consistent with an inflamed tumor microenvironment (TME) phenotype, digital cytometric analyses identified increased CD8 + T cells, B cells, γδ T cells, and M1 Macrophages in this group. In contrast, CDK12-mutated tumors with lower MHC expression exhibited features consistent with an immune cold TME phenotype and immunoediting. Significantly, low MHC expression was also associated with chromosome 6 loss of heterozygosity (LOH) affecting the entire HLA gene cluster. These LOH events were observed in both major clonal and minor subclonal populations of tumor cells. In our retrospective study of 53 primary PCa cases from this Institute, we found a 4% (2/53) prevalence of CDK12 mutations, with the confirmation of this defect in one tumor through Sanger sequencing. In keeping with our analysis of public domain data this tumor exhibited low MHC expression at the RNA level. More extensive studies will be required to determine whether reduced HLA expression is generally associated with primary tumors or is a specific feature of CDK12 mutated PCa.ConclusionsThese data show that analysis of CDK12 alteration, in the context of MHC expression levels, and LOH status may offer improved predictive value for outcomes in this potentially actionable genomic subgroup of PCa. In addition, these findings highlight the need to explore novel therapeutic strategies to enhance MHC expression in CDK12-defective PCa to improve immunotherapy responses.

EXAMINING THE CRITICAL ROLE OF YOUTH'S PARTICIPATION AS CATALYSTS FOR SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DRIVERS OF DEVELOPMENT

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the critical role of youth participation as catalysts for sustainable social and economic drivers of development in Africa. Theoretical Reference: The study adopted the theory of Positive Youth Development to contexualise the aim of the study. The study argues that, youth workers and other service providers using a youth development approach would be able to analyze the theories in this study and determine what influences their practice, anticipate the results of their interventions, choose the best course of action at each stage of the process, and explain their actions when working with young people. Method: Through the application of qualitative research techniques, the study primarily used peer-reviewed secondary sources available within the public domain. Since they provided the researchers with a great opportunity to connect with the body of knowledge already in existence and allowed the researchers to gain insight into the thoughts and experiences of other scholars regarding the area of study. Hence advanced searches of baseline literature were used to collect qualitative data. Results and Conclusions: The literature review examined the vital role that young people play as engines for long-term social and economic development in several African. The study argued that youth involvement promotes project ownership and sustainability and increases young people's ability to meet their basic needs. Implications of Research: Unemployment has caused Africa a lot of woes as youths embrace violence rather than embarking on projects that would benefit the continent. The paper concluded that unless impediments to the actualisation are expunged, the African continent will still take its back seat in this era of unprecedented development. Originality/ Value: The study made the case that young people must be involved as advisors, collaborators, and stakeholders if development initiatives are to be effective and representative. To guarantee that young people are engaged, it is not enough to rely just on one-time conversations; there needs to be an ongoing process.

Expert Elicitation for the Resilient Design and Optimisation of Ultra-long Ore Passes for Deep Mass Mining

AbstractExtension of ore pass length has become increasingly critical for optimising energy-efficient underground mining operations. Long and ultra-long ore passes, spanning from 300 to 700 m, can significantly improve the functionality and viability of underground mass mining operations though suboptimal performance has an extremely adverse impact on production. The public domain lacks substantial information regarding the primary engineering, geological, and geotechnical risks and challenges associated with the design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of such long ore passes. Therefore, the aggregation of past experiences and the insights of experts assume paramount significance. An innovative methodology is introduced to address this evident data deficiency and to establish comprehensive guidelines for the resilient design of such lengthy ore passes — combining gap analysis with expert elicitation techniques. This equips design engineers with the necessary tools to formulate and adapt strategies for assessing the numerous challenges and uncertainties that invariably accompany their projects. Expert elicitation techniques are summarised, and a gap analysis is conducted with subject matter experts, from various countries, collating their extensive ore pass design experience, to create a comprehensive list of effective parameters and key risks that must be considered. Quantitative analysis of the survey results enabled the identification and ranking of the numerous factors affecting the design, operation, and maintenance of long and ultra-long ore passes and highlights the complex technical challenges (substantial damage from rock particle impact, increased dynamic mining stresses leading to failure, air-blasts and back blasts, dust, preferential flow, turbulent and dynamic material flow) that are uncommon in shorter ore passes. Additionally, increasing length heightens the probability of intersecting weak rock or discontinuities, leading to a higher risk of structural failure and instabilities. Faulting, folding, and large-scale structures are also critical geological factors to be considered in the design of such structures. The key geotechnical factor is also the rock type surrounding the pass. Experts highlighted the lack of clear guidelines for decision-making, resilient design, and construction so this work suggests future investigations to determine the complex interaction between the effective parameters, using approaches like the rock engineering system, discovery of cascading hazards, and optimal controls.

A probabilistic approach to chronic effects assessments for listed species in a vernal pool case study.

Ecological risk assessments for potential pesticide impacts on species listed as threatened or endangered must ensure that decisions to grant registration or establish water quality standards will not jeopardize species or their critical habitats. Pesticides are designed to affect pest species via physiological pathways that may be shared by some nontarget species for which toxicity data are usually unavailable, creating a need for robust methods to estimate acute and chronic toxicity with minimal data. We used a unique probabilistic approach to estimate the risk of chronic effects of two organophosphate (OP) pesticides on the vernal pool fairy shrimp Branchinecta lynchi. Acute toxicity estimates were derived from Monte Carlo (MC) sampling of acute toxicity distributions developed from interspecies relationships using surrogate species. Within each MC draw, acute values were divided by an acute to chronic ratio (ACR) sampled from a distribution of ACRs for OP pesticides and invertebrates, producing a distribution of chronic effects concentrations. The estimated exposure concentrations (EECs) were sampled from distributions representing different environmental conditions. Risk was characterized using probability distributions of acute toxicity, ACRs, and EECs in a probabilistic analysis, as well as partial probabilistic variations that used only some distributions whereas some variables were used deterministically. A deterministic risk quotient (RQ) was compared with the results of probabilistic methods to compare the approaches. Risk varied across exposure scenarios and the number of variables that were handled probabilistically, increasing as the number of variables drawn from distributions increased. The magnitude of RQs was not correlated with the probability that EECs would exceed chronic thresholds, and comparison of the two approaches demonstrates the limited interpretability of RQs. Our novel probabilistic approach to estimating chronic risk with minimal data incorporates uncertainty underlying both exposure and effects assessments for listed species. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;00:1-13. Published 2024. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Creative usage of Vivli’s Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Open Data through the Re-Use Data Challenge

The escalation of infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria worldwide poses a formidable challenge to global health, necessitating innovative approaches to combat this issue. In 2022, Vivli launched the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Register, a platform that consolidates antimicrobial susceptibility data from pharmaceutical industry surveillance programs. This register provides a freely available and fully searchable user-friendly repository to facilitate scientific understanding of resistance patterns and support development of innovative strategies to address AMR globally. To promote the register’s utility, raise AMR awareness and encourage further re-use of the available data, Wellcome funded the Vivli AMR Surveillance Open Data Re-Use Data Challenge in 2023. This data challenge successfully fostered diverse, impactful, and innovative solutions that leveraged the AMR Register data to contribute to resolving the AMR crisis. The outcomes of the initiative underscore the importance of access to open data in stimulating collaboration and innovation in the public health domain, particularly in combatting the growing threat of drug-resistant infections.

Angry Citizens and Black Belt Employees: Cascading classifications of and around a predictive algorithm

Over past decades, predictive algorithms have been used extensively as profiling tools in the private sector, but today they are also increasingly entering public sector domains. This article builds on an ethnographic study of the development of a predictive algorithm in a debt collecting public sector organization. The algorithm was designed to profile citizens on the basis of their calculated ‘readiness to pay’ their debt and to guide employees’ case handling according to ‘type’ of citizen. The article examines how the classification of citizens produced by the algorithm was mediated by different visualizations and by organizational actors who superimposed new and different classifications (moral and emotional) onto those provided by the algorithm. The article draws on the concepts of nominal and ordinal classification to identify how intended non-hierarchical classification glides into new hierarchical valuations of both citizens and employees. Classifications were ‘cascading’ – a concept the article develops to account for how classification of and around the algorithm multiplied and had organizational ripple effects. Based on empirical insights, the study advocates an agnostic approach to how algorithmic predictions impact work, organizations, and the situation of profiled individuals. It emphasizes a dynamic and and unstable relationship between algorithms and organizational practices.

Organization of the educational process for the formation of media and information literacy based on media text

Introduction. In conditions of heterogeneity and polyphony of the media space, it is necessary to methodologically substantiate and technologically skilfully organize the educational process to develop media and information literacy of students. The source and transmitter of information, knowledge, representative of cultural and value guidelines in modern media reality is the media text. On its basis, the formation of media and information literacy is integrated into the process of spiritual and moral development of the individual. This process is carried out based on the content of media texts and within the possible context. The purpose of the study – scientific substantiation and solution of the problem of using media text in the process of formation of media and information literacy of students on the basis of axiological understanding of the information space. Materials and methods. The research uses fundamental international and Russian documents that reflect the issues of media education, the formation of media and information literacy, the national security of the Russian Federation, scientific and methodological articles, monographs by Russian and foreign authors on this issue, media texts of various types and genres that are in the public domain. Research results. The expediency of an axiological approach to the organization of the process of formation of media and information literacy is proved. Based on this approach, the principles of media text selection are defined (axiological fullness and cultural conformity, problematic, informational significance, communicative value). The educational strategy that allows to implement the axiological approach is contextualization, within the framework of which multi-level tasks for working with media text for the formation of media and information literacy are formulated. Conclusion. The results obtained outline further research objectives. Let's list them: the definition of diagnostic tools to identify the level of formation of media and information literacy, the systematization of techniques and methods for the formation of media and information literacy, the preparation of detailed recommendations for improving the organization of the process of formation of media and information literacy of students.

Drug-Leachable Interaction Product Evaluation in Prefilled Syringe of Ganirelix Acetate Injection

The concept of extractables and leachable has introduced in a new era for identifying potential impurities in drug products. Pharmaceutical packaging materials encompass a variety of polymers due to their appealing properties for storing the drug product. However, numerous chemical species may leach into the drug product from these polymers, posing significant health hazards in the public domain. Identifying such leachable is crucial for assessing safety and addressing toxicological concerns. Acrylic acids are commonly used materials for adhering needles to the barrel in pre-filled syringes. In this study, we identified acrylic acid leachable impurities in ganirelix drug products available in the market using mass spectrometry as an analytical technique. These impurities leached into the drug product during storage conditions. Characterization of the impurities was carried out through data obtained from MS and MS/MS analysis, revealing them as polyacrylic acid-ganirelix adduct impurities. This study offers valuable insights into identifying leachable and susceptible sites, providing a foundation for potential modifications in similar classes of drug products, thereby enhancing their safety and efficacy.

Variant-to-function analysis of the childhood obesity chr12q13 locus implicates rs7132908 as a causal variant within the 3′ UTR of FAIM2

The ch12q13 locus is among the most significant childhood obesity loci identified in genome-wide association studies. This locus resides in a non-coding region within FAIM2; thus, the underlying causal variant(s) presumably influence disease susceptibility via cis-regulation. We implicated rs7132908 as a putative causal variant by leveraging our in-house 3D genomic data and public domain datasets. Using a luciferase reporter assay, we observed allele-specific cis-regulatory activity of the immediate region harboring rs7132908. We generated isogenic human embryonic stem cell lines homozygous for either rs7132908 allele to assess changes in gene expression and chromatin accessibility throughout a differentiation to hypothalamic neurons, a key cell type known to regulate feeding behavior. The rs7132908 obesity risk allele influenced expression of FAIM2 and other genes and decreased the proportion of neurons produced by differentiation. We have functionally validated rs7132908 as a causal obesity variant that temporally regulates nearby effector genes and influences neurodevelopment and survival.

Can you patent the sun? Towards a sui generis inclusive right to manage the relationship between intellectual property and Commons

Abstract This paper, by adopting the Covid-19 vaccine as a case study, argues that some pharmaceutical drugs should be considered as Commons, ie goods that are managed and owned by the public at large, and not as private property—exclusivity—of pharmaceutical companies. The reasons of such a strong argument are, on the one side, the conspicuous public-funding contribution to develop Covid-19 vaccines and other essential life-saving treatments, and, on the other side, the search for a human and equity-oriented Global Health Security. It is true that, from a legal perspective, vaccines can be patented, leading to questionable practices in the pharmaceutical industry, such as patent thickets. However, an alternative and fairer path, which would result in the theorization of a Commons for the vaccine, can be pursued. In particular, the actual types of Commons in the IP law field—the public domain, exceptions/limitations to patents and open innovation instruments such as IP pledges—present some issues in relation to enforceability. By forwarding the concept of ‘negative spaces’ to the patent realm, these spaces should not only claim to not enforce IP but also be able to ‘enforce that non-enforcement’. Therefore, this paper, by building on the work of the author Dusollier, advances the idea that from the inclusivity, which is the typical feature of every Commons, a sui generis inclusive right can be envisaged and applied in the context of the vaccine, by rethinking the relationship between IP and Commons.

A Comprehensive Dataset of the Aerodynamic and Geometric Coefficients of Airfoils in the Public Domain

This study presents an extensive collection of data on the aerodynamic behavior at a low Reynolds number and geometric coefficients for 2900 airfoils obtained through the class shape transformation (CST) method. By employing a verified OpenFOAM-based CFD simulation framework, lift and drag coefficients were determined at a Reynolds number of 105. Considering the limited availability of data on low Reynolds number airfoils, this dataset is invaluable for a wide range of applications, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and wind turbines. Additionally, the study offers a method for automating CFD simulations that could be applied to obtain aerodynamic coefficients at higher Reynolds numbers. The breadth of this dataset also supports the enhancement and creation of machine learning (ML) models, further advancing research into the aerodynamics of airfoils and lifting surfaces.

The Politics of Electric Vehicle Subsidies in Indonesia: Actors, Agenda, and Issues

In light of the worldwide determination to address the consequences of climate change, the Indonesian government has established a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2060. The transportation sector in Indonesia is a significant source of carbon emissions due to its extensive reliance on fossil fuel consumption. In response to this challenge, the Indonesian government has implemented measures to expedite the motor vehicle electrification program by introducing a subsidy policy aimed at facilitating the public’s acquisition of electric vehicles. The formulation of this strategy initiated a sequence of discussions within the public domain. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the many actors involved and the process of discourse formation within the discussion, this study has undertaken the collection of 198 stakeholder statements as presented in articles published by national mass media outlets throughout the period spanning from January 2023 to June 2023. This statement mapped with the Discourse Coalition Framework (DCF) theory to find the network of discourse and ideas as the data that was subsequently subjected to analysis utilizing the Discourse Network Analysis. The findings of this study indicate that the discourse surrounding the subsidy program for electric vehicles gave rise to actor network groups that advocated investment and concerns related to environmental sustainability. The author examines the limitations to the interconnections between theoretical frameworks empirical evidence in shaping the discourse surrounding the dynamics of network politics in relation to electric vehicle subsidies in Indonesia.

Upotreba istorije, poricanje zločina i koncept nekažnjivosti u Republici Srpskoj (1992–2022)

The article analyzes how Republika Srpska publicly articulated its stance regarding the July 1992 massacre in Srebrenica, which the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia both classified as genocide. It assesses how this Bosnian entity grapples with and communicates its response to this internationally recognized atrocity within the public domain. The conflicting conclusions of three reports on Srebrenica—issued by the Bureau of the RS Government for Relations with the Hague Tribunal of the Government of Republika Srpska (2002), the Commission for the Investigation of Events in and around Srebrenica from July 10 to 19, 1995 (2004), and the Independent International Commission for Research on the Suffering of All Peoples in the Srebrenica Region in the Period 1992–1995 (2021) — illustrate the ongoing initiatives of local communities to memorialize the 1992–1995 war and reflect shifts in official political discourse.

Methylmercury Effects on Birds: A Review, Meta-Analysis, and Development of Toxicity Reference Values for Injury Assessment Based on Tissue Residues and Diet.

Birds are used as bioindicators of environmental mercury (Hg) contamination, and toxicity reference values are needed for injury assessments. We conducted a comprehensive review, summarized data from 168 studies, performed a series of Bayesian hierarchical meta-analyses, and developed new toxicity reference values for the effects of methylmercury (MeHg) on birds using a benchmark dose analysis framework. Lethal and sublethal effects of MeHg on birds were categorized into nine biologically relevant endpoint categories and three age classes. Effective Hg concentrations where there was a 10% reduction (EC10) in the production of juvenile offspring (0.55 µg/g wet wt adult blood-equivalent Hg concentrations, 80% credible interval: [0.33, 0.85]), histology endpoints (0.49 [0.15, 0.96] and 0.61 [0.09, 2.48]), and biochemical markers (0.77 [<0.25, 2.12] and 0.57 [0.35, 0.92]) were substantially lower than those for survival (2.97 [2.10, 4.73] and 5.24 [3.30, 9.55]) and behavior (6.23 [1.84, >13.42] and 3.11 [2.10, 4.64]) of juveniles and adults, respectively. Within the egg age class, survival was the most sensitive endpoint (EC10 = 2.02 µg/g wet wt adult blood-equivalent Hg concentrations [1.39, 2.94] or 1.17 µg/g fresh wet wt egg-equivalent Hg concentrations [0.80, 1.70]). Body morphology was not particularly sensitive to Hg. We developed toxicity reference values using a combined survival and reproduction endpoints category for juveniles, because juveniles were more sensitive to Hg toxicity than eggs or adults. Adult blood-equivalent Hg concentrations (µg/g wet wt) and egg-equivalent Hg concentrations (µg/g fresh wet wt) caused low injury to birds (EC1) at 0.09 [0.04, 0.17] and 0.04 [0.01, 0.08], moderate injury (EC5) at 0.6 [0.37, 0.84] and 0.3 [0.17, 0.44], high injury (EC10) at 1.3 [0.94, 1.89] and 0.7 [0.49, 1.02], and severe injury (EC20) at 3.2 [2.24, 4.78] and 1.8 [1.28, 2.79], respectively. Maternal dietary Hg (µg/g dry wt) caused low injury to juveniles at 0.16 [0.05, 0.38], moderate injury at 0.6 [0.29, 1.03], high injury at 1.1 [0.63, 1.87], and severe injury at 2.4 [1.42, 4.13]. We found few substantial differences in Hg toxicity among avian taxonomic orders, including for controlled laboratory studies that injected Hg into eggs. Our results can be used to quantify injury to birds caused by Hg pollution. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;00:1-52. Published 2024. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

РАССМОТРЕНИЕ УСТРОЙСТВ И СПОСОБОВ УПРОЧНЕНИЯ ГАЛТЕЛЕЙ ТЕЛ ВРАЩЕНИЯ ППД, ИХ КЛАССИФИКАЦИЯ И РАЗРАБОТКА РЕКОМЕНДАЦИЙ ПО СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЮ

The service life of heavily loaded shafts is largely determined by the degree of stress in the transition area from one diameter to another. There are a fairly large number of methods for reducing the stress concentration of these areas, but a special place in this case is occupied by strengthening the surfaces of non-profile, heavily loaded shafts. First of all, their fillets are subjected to hardening, which leads to the formation of uniformly distributed compressive stresses in the technological zone and, accordingly, an increase in the fatigue strength of such parts. The method has become especially widespread when hardening crankshafts. Along with this, surface hardening is applied to the abovementioned part to eliminate its bending. This technological process is especially important in the case of restoration of rotating parts. Meanwhile, existing work in this area does not solve existing issues. In this regard, it is necessary to give a critical analysis of the methods and designs for PPD fillets with the development of appropriate proposals, which determines the relevance of the work. The purpose of the study is to consider devices and methods for strengthening fillets of bodies of rotation of PPD, their classification and development of recommendations for improvement. To reveal the goal, the authors conducted a comprehensive review of the information available in the public domain regarding the strengthening of fillets by cold hardening. This made it possible to identify their advantages and disadvantages. First of all, this is the lack of a unified classification system, as well as methods for preventing the formation of a “wave of deformation”. Based on the analysis, a classification is proposed based on the factors that determine the properties of the shafts and the quality of their surface layers and the functional purpose of the processing. A proprietary scheme for processing SPD surfaces is proposed, which ensures the prevention of a “wave of deformation” in one pass of the working tool, which is based on the well-known principles of the theory of the introduction of a ball indenter into a solid.

A novel self-supervised representation learning framework based on time-frequency alignment and interaction for mechanical fault diagnosis

Recently, supervised learning methods for intelligent mechanical fault diagnosis have achieved considerable advancements, while they heavily rely on labeled information and neglect massive unlabeled signals. Consequently, some self-supervised research has emerged and employs contrastive learning to mine general knowledge from unlabeled samples. However, these methods emphasize independent feature extraction and lack deep feature interaction, which limits better representation learning. Furthermore, it also restricts the performance improvement of fault diagnosis. To fill this gap, a novel self-supervised representation learning framework based on time-frequency alignment and interaction (TFAI) is proposed to improve the diagnosis reliability under limited labeled data. Comprising a dual encoder and a cross-modal encoder based on Transformers, the proposed TFAI model takes paired time-frequency data as input for self-supervised pretraining. Two self-supervised learning strategies, namely time-frequency alignment and time-frequency interaction, are proposed to enable the model to gain valuable knowledge from unlabeled data. The former leverages a time-frequency contrastive loss to drive the dual encoder to extract profound features from unlabeled data. The latter involves utilizing a time-frequency matching loss to guide the cross-modal encoder to perform deep feature fusion in an unsupervised manner. The well pretrained TFAI model can learn informative representations and can be fine-tuned for specific downstream fault diagnosis tasks to improve the diagnosis accuracy. By conducting three experimental cases on an axial flow pump system and a public gearbox platform system, the effectiveness, generalizability, and domain adaptability of the proposed method are validated.

Распознавание дорожных знаков российского образца с использованием нейронных сетей

The problem of creating a model for recognizing objects in images and possible ways to solve it is considered using the example of working with Russian road signs according to ISS R 52290-2004. The analysis of methods for constructing predictive models of image recognition and existing solutions in the public domain is carried out. A convolutional neural network is used as the basic model. A road sign recognition model based on the YOLOv7 transfer network has been developed as a result of training on a dataset from the Russian RTSD road sign image database. The metrics for evaluating the quality of the created model are analyzed and described. The created model meets the quality requirements for objective metrics, allows you to make forecasts taking into account specific situations in different weather conditions and at different times of the day for 146 different predefined classes. The characteristic of the class is the number of the sign according to ISS R 52290-2004. The model has a prediction accuracy of 0.847 with a prediction completeness of 0.811. The average average prediction accuracy of the model is 0.884 when tested on 493 images from the test sample. The test sample does not overlap with the training sample, which consists of 1,842 images. The developed model is published in the public domain both for use for scientific purposes and for further further education. This provides an opportunity for researchers in this field to familiarize themselves with a practical example of the implementation of the model, to supplement or improve it if necessary. The method described in this paper will allow researchers in various subject areas to find a solution that allows them to overcome resource constraints when creating a high-performance and high-quality predictive recognition model.

The production of Asian public space: the role of the transnational developer

ABSTRACT Accounts of projects generally credit design vision to the landscape architect or architect, relegating the role of the developer to the client. This essay offers an alternative perspective, arguing for the recognition of the Asian developer as an agent of transnational design innovation. While there has been ample discussion of the wealth to be made in the Asian property market, little attention has been paid to the developer’s motives and ambitions beyond economic gain. Through the discussion of two transnational development companies, CapitaLand and Swire Properties, we demonstrate the role these Asian-based developers have played in establishing an emerging urban public domain in some dense Asian cities.

Digitization of the Broadcast Industry in Nigeria: An Appraisal of the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State

Media Practitioners view the concept of new advancement in the industry from different lenses, thus, it may be as a result of how they perceive development in the society, which involves negative or positive aspects. Since the partial introduction of digitisation in 2012 in Nigeria, broadcast media organisations have been witnessing changes in their organisations both in texts, pictures and in sound. Impressingly, the sort of timely information that is being found in the public domain today for the satisfaction of people can't be over-emphasised which is termed as a precursor of digitisation. digitisation of media organisations entails the concept of converting texts, pictures or sounds in a computerised form which would be processed faster than the analogue method. Transmission to digitisation by many media organisations which the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State is involved with, gives room for quick generation of data, fast delivery and quality sound and picture presentations as well as multi participation in the Communication flow. The major objectives of this study would be to determine the extent of digitisation of the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State and examine the level of exposure of the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia people towards digitisation. The study would also aim at ascertaining the effects of digitisation of Broadcasting Corporation of Abia. Hence, to unravel the challenges that are associated with the digitisation of the organisation, preferable ways of redressing the challenges would also be considered pertinent. Thus, the study would be anchored on the technological determinism theory. However, the study shall adopt the survey design and also select 10 Staff from BCA in order to get their responses on the subject matter when it is the right time to get to the field for data collection.

Ecological aspects and relationships of the emblematic Vachellia spp. exposed to anthropic pressures and parasitism in natural hyper-arid ecosystems: ethnobotanical elements, morphology, and biological nitrogen fixation

Main conclusionEmblematic Vachellia spp. naturally exposed to hyper-arid conditions, intensive grazing, and parasitism maintain a high nitrogen content and functional mutualistic nitrogen-fixing symbioses.AlUla region in Saudi Arabia has a rich history regarding mankind, local wildlife, and fertility islands suitable for leguminous species, such as the emblematic Vachellia spp. desert trees. In this region, we investigated the characteristics of desert legumes in two nature reserves (Sharaan and Madakhil), at one archaeological site (Hegra), and in open public domains at Al. Ward and Jabal Abu Oud. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), isotopes, and N and C contents were investigated through multiple lenses, including parasitism, plant tissues, species identification, plant maturity, health status, and plant growth. The average BNF rates of 19 Vachellia gerrardii and 21 Vachellia tortilis trees were respectively 39 and 67%, with low signs of inner N content fluctuations (2.10–2.63% N) compared to other co-occurring plants. The BNF of 23 R. raetam was just as high, with an average of 65% and steady inner N contents of 2.25 ± 0.30%. Regarding parasitism, infected Vachellia trees were unfazed compared to uninfected trees, thereby challenging the commonly accepted detrimental role of parasites. Overall, these results suggest that Vachellia trees and R. raetam shrubs exploit BNF in hyper-arid environments to maintain a high N content when exposed to parasitism and grazing. These findings underline the pivotal role of plant-bacteria mutualistic symbioses in desert environments. All ecological traits and relationships mentioned are further arguments in favor of these legumes serving as keystone species for ecological restoration and agro-silvo-pastoralism in the AlUla region.Graphical abstract