Suchergebnisse

Abstract
The XBB.1.5 subvariant has garnered significant attention due to its exceptional immune evasion and transmissibility. Significantly, the evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 has shown continual progression, with a recent global shift observed from XBB to BA.2.86, exemplified by the emergence of the predominant JN.1 subvariant. This phenomenon highlights the need for vaccines that can provide broad-spectrum antigenic coverage. In this study, we utilized a NS1-deleted (dNS1) influenza viral vector to engineer an updated live-attenuated vectored vaccine called dNS1-XBB-RBD. This vaccine encodes the receptor-binding domain (RBD) protein of the XBB.1.5 strain. Our findings demonstrate that the dNS1-XBB-RBD vaccine elicits a similar systemic and mucosal immune response compared to its prototypic form, dNS1-RBD. In hamsters, the dNS1-XBB-RBD vaccine provided robust protection against the SARS-CoV-2 immune-evasive strains XBB.1.9.2.1 and Beta. Remarkably, nasal vaccination with dNS1-RBD, which encodes the ancestor RBD gene, also effectively protected hamsters against both the XBB.1.9.2.1 and Beta strains. These results provide valuable insights about nasal influenza-vectored vaccine and present a promising strategy for the development of a broad-spectrum vaccine against COVID-19 in the future.

The object of the ACMA's Five-year spectrum outlook (FYSO) is to outline the fundamental issues that affect spectrum requirements and management over the next five years. It outlines the ACMA's proposed actions to address these issues, while also highlighting the spectrum issues that could arise for radiocommunications services beyond the issue year of the FYSO. The FYSO is an annual update that assists the ACMA to improve its performance of its spectrum management functions. Stakeholders can use the FYSO to identify when the ACMA expects a particular work program to commence, and to understand the priority applied to particular activities by the ACMA. Within this context, this FYSO is provided in three parts. Part 1 articulates, at a high level, the ACMA's decision-making framework, and how evidence informs the FYSO and the ACMA in developing its work programs. Also, within the context of the external environment, the FYSO provides an overview of the year ahead by addressing some of the significant issues that may affect spectrum management in Australia. Some of these include Australia's preparation for the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva and an overview of broader communications policy initiatives, including the government's decision to implement the three main recommendations of the Spectrum Review. A key issue will be how the outcome of the review will affect the ACMA's spectrum management activities into the future. This part also addresses the ACMA's response to the year ahead are by outlining some of the key tools the ACMA uses to address the demand on spectrum, such as: the spectrum research program, which is a vital element of the ACMA's analysis of the broader spectrum management environment the importance of spectrum as an input for driving economic growth and discussion on the economics of spectrum management highlighting the ACMA's work on the mobile broadband strategy how the current legislative basis impacts upon how the ACMA manages access to the radiofrequency spectrum outlining ...

The "spectrum" has become the dominant metaphor for conceptualizing autism, with fundamental consequences for notions of disability, diversity, and normality. In this article, we draw on ethnographic research with autistic communities to explore how the notion of the autism spectrum has become a focus of explicit identification, reflection, and contestation. To further this inquiry, we place these debates into conversation with earlier debates regarding another spectrum—the Kinsey Scale, a "spectrum" for conceptualizing sexual orientation that first appeared in 1948 but has been critiqued since the 1970s. How might responses to the Kinsey Scale (like the Klein Grid) contribute to rethinking the autism spectrum? This is a question about the cultural and political implications of metaphors and conceptual models. It is of broad importance because the spectrum metaphor is being extended to a range of conditions beyond autism itself. Our goal is thus to build on insights from sexuality studies as well as the insights of autistic persons, advocates, and researchers who wish to forestall the naturalization of "the spectrum." In doing so, we seek to contribute to a discussion of what alternative frameworks might bring to questions of social justice, ability, and human flourishing.

The development of broad-spectrum antibiotics to control multidrug-resistant bacteria is an outdated business model. This strategy has led to the introduction of highly effective antibiotics, but their widespread use has contributed to the emergence of even broader antibiotic resistance. In a strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance, we believe that the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics should be promoted. This should involve both the repositioning of old antibiotics and the reorientation of research and development towards new narrow-spectrum antibiotics with a low ecological impact. These antibiotics could be prescribed for common conditions such as sore throats and cystitis, which account for the bulk of antibiotic use in humans. Narrow-spectrum, targeted, microbiome-sparing antibiotics could help control antibiotic resistance while being economically sustainable. Their development and production should be supported by governments, which would ultimately benefit from reduced health care costs.

This comprehensive and richly illustrated volume provides up-to-date material on Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA). SSA is a well-known methodology for the analysis and forecasting of time series. Since quite recently, SSA is also being used to analyze digital images and other objects that are not necessarily of planar or rectangular form and may contain gaps. SSA is multi-purpose and naturally combines both model-free and parametric techniques, which makes it a very special and attractive methodology for solving a wide range of problems arising in diverse areas, most notably those associated with time series and digital images. An effective, comfortable and accessible implementation of SSA is provided by the R-package Rssa, which is available from CRAN and reviewed in this book. Written by prominent statisticians who have extensive experience with SSA, the book (a) presents the up-to-date SSA methodology, including multidimensional extensions, in language accessible to a large circle of users, (b) combines different versions of SSA into a single tool, (c) shows the diverse tasks that SSA can be used for, (d) formally describes the main SSA methods and algorithms, and (e) provides tutorials on the Rssa package and the use of SSA. The book offers a valuable resource for a very wide readership, including professional statisticians, specialists in signal and image processing, as well as specialists in numerous applied disciplines interested in using statistical methods for time series analysis, forecasting, signal and image processing. The book is written on a level accessible to a broad audience and includes a wealth of examples; hence it can also be used as a textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on time series analysis and signal processing.

This paper offers an overview and evaluation of Ireland's changing media landscape through the prism of the recent policy contestation surrounding the future use of the UHF spectrum and it's implications for the medium of television broadcasting. The article brings into focus current policy and governance developments and their interplay with market and technological change and how they are shaping a small open European state's adaptation to the increasingly complex national/global hybrid media ecosystem. It examines the contexts surrounding the competition for spectrum resources and its implications for the role of free to air broadcasting and mobile broadband technologies in the future delivery of media and communication services. It takes a political economy and institutionalist perspective to evaluate the extent to which the evolution of the Irish institutional framework regarding broadcasting and broadband development and the allocation of spectrum frequencies is shaped by broader political economic and political/institutional dynamics and what this means for broadcasting within the evolving digital media ecology.

Running parallel to the groundbreaking and historic advancement of LGBTQ rights over the past decade has been the rise in the prominence and public discourse of queer conservative thinking. From the Log Cabin Republicans to far-right nationalistic politics, queer conservatives underscore both diverging ideologies within the modern American conservative tradition and the increase of far-right politics in Western societies. This study argues that queer conservatism, while traditionally less explored in the broader context of sexuality politics, is consequential to an understanding of the LGBTQ community and queer politics. Thus, an exploration of queer conservatism as a political ideology is explored, in addition to novel quantitative analyses of this community. Additionally, theories are offered to explain the rise of far-right nationalistic views within queer conservatism after the 9/11 and Pulse nightclub terrorist attacks. This study concludes that, while queer conservatism is a subset of the LGBTQ community, its foundations, legacies, and implications are critical to broader discussions of intersections of sexuality, heteronormativity, race, and post-9/11 politics.

Commentary:Since the 1990s, the media landscape has broadened in New Caledonia, with new magazines and websites across the political spectrum. New Caledonia's FLNKS independence movement has long been supported by the community station Radio Djiido, which has expanded into live broadcasting and streaming on the web. But over the last decade, there has been an increase in opportunities for journalists to work with a range of new magazines, covering politics, culture, environment and economics. There is also increasing interest in the web among the young, with the beginning of internet blogging.

"September 28, 1999." ; Shipping list no.: 2000-0025-P. ; Distributed to some depository libraries in microfiche. ; "Referred to the Committee on International Relations." ; Mode of access: Internet.

We present magnetic field induced modulation of the optical response of slit plasmonic metasurfaces fabricated out of giant magnetoresistance/spintronic materials in the 2–17 μm spectral range of the spectrum. The modulation of the slit plasmonic modes is due to the modification of the electrical resistivity (and, in turn, of the optical constants) induced by the application of an external magnetic field. This modulation is found to continuously increase both with the slit concentration and with the slit resonance wavelength, with a prospective further increase for wavelengths of up to 60–80 μm. The direct fabrication and implementation of the modulation setup opens a competitive route for the development of active plasmonic metasurfaces in a wide spectral range. ; We acknowledge financial support from MINECO through projects AMES (MAT2014-58860-P), Quantum Spin Plasmonics (FIS2015-72035-EXP), PlasmoQuanta (FIS2016-80174-P), MIRRAS (MAT2017-84009-R), and Comunidad de Madrid through project SINOXPHOSCM (S2018/BAA-4403). LB, NZ, and JA acknowledge support from the Department of Education of the Basque Government under project IT1164-19, and the Department of Industry of the Basque Government under Elkartek project KK-2018/00001. We acknowledge the service from the MiNa Laboratory at IMN and funding from MINECO under project CSIC13-4E-1794 and from CM under project S2018/NMT-4291 TEC2SPACE, both with support from EU (FEDER, FSE). ; Peer reviewed

In this work, the possibility of a switchable metamaterial absorber is proposed to control absorption bandwidth in the WiMAX/LTE (worldwide interoperability for microwave access/long term evolution) band, by taking advantage of the low cost and myriad structural configurations afforded by water-based metamaterials. By exploiting truncated cone-type resonators, the fractional bandwidth of 27.6% of absorption spectrum can be adjusted flexibly to be 7.4% of the narrow-band absorption depending on the volume of injected water, in both simulation and experiment at room temperature. In particular, this control method can be applied stably for different temperature of injected water. We describe a dynamic mechanism for broadband MA, as well as a principle for controlling the absorption characteristics utilizing a combination of magnetic resonance and perfect impedance matching. These results are a stepping-stone towards the realization of smart electronics integrated with multi-functional metamaterials in military, biomedical, communication and other fields.

Background: Growing rates of antibiotic resistance, caused by increasing antibiotic use, pose a threat by making antibiotics less effective in treating infections. Objective: We aimed to study whether physicians working at privately and publicly owned health centres differed in the likelihood of prescribing antibiotics and choosing broad-spectrum over narrow-spectrum antibiotics. Methods: To estimate the effect of ownership on the probability of a prescribed drug being an antibiotic, we analysed all 4.5 million prescriptions issued from 2011 to 2015 at primary health centres in Västerbotten, Sweden. We controlled for patient age, sex, number of prescriptions per patient, and month of prescription, and used a maximum likelihood logit estimator. We then analysed how ownership affected the likelihood of a prescribed antibiotic being broad spectrum. We also used aggregated data to estimate the impact of the number of private health centres on the number of antibiotic prescriptions per inhabitant and the proportion of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Results: Holding other factors constant, private physicians were 6% more likely to prescribe antibiotics and 9% more likely to choose broad-spectrum antibiotics. An increase by one additional private health centre was positively associated with an increase in the number of antibiotic prescriptions per inhabitant and a higher proportion, although not significant, of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescriptions. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that private physicians prescribe more antibiotics, especially broad-spectrum antibiotics, than public physicians. Therefore, it is crucial to provide health centres with incentives to follow guidelines for antibiotic prescription, especially when the level of private provision of primary healthcare is high.