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CBD News: Statement by Mr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary, on the occasion of the Third Meeting on the Implementation of the Plan of Action on Sub-National Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity, Nagoya,




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CBD Press Release: Managing biodiversity data from local government: Guidance for local authorities on publishing through the GBIF network, helping preserve knowledge about biodiversity




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CBD News: The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, and the National Biodiversity Authority are hosting an International Biodiversity Film Festival and Forum in Hyderabad as part of COP-11 in association with CMS Environment. The festi




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CBD News: Statement by the CBD Executive Secretary on the occasion of the 20th Session of the International Seabed Authority Assembly, 14 to 25 July 2014, Kingston, Jamaica




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CBD News: Statement by the CBD Executive Secretary on the occasion of the 21st Session of the International Seabed Authority, 13 to 24 July 2015, Kingston, Jamaica




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God of thunder - Thor: Ragnarok

kamil.karpinski517 posted a photo:




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Interview with mathematician and book author Kit Yates

"In his new book--The Math of Life & Death: 7 Mathematical Principles that Shape Our Lives--mathematician Kit Yates makes complex mathematical concepts easily accessible to anyone, and which can improve decision making in an increasingly quantitative society. In this Q&A, Yates discusses why math is relevant to everyday life." See "Mathematician Kit Yates on Anti Vaxxer Movement, Air Travel Germs and Samoa's Measles Outbreak," by Meredith Wold Schizer, Newsweek, December 23, 2019.




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Head to head prospective comparison of quantitative lung scintigraphy and segment counting in predicting pulmonary function of lung cancer patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy

Prediction of post-operative pulmonary function in lung cancer patients before tumor resection is essential for patient selection for surgery and is conventionally done with a non-imaging segment counting method (SC) or a two-dimensional planar lung perfusion scintigraphy (PS). The purpose of this study was to compare quantitative analysis of PS to single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) and to estimate the accuracy of SC, PS and SPECT/CT in predicting post-operative pulmonary function in patients undergoing lobectomy. Methods: Seventy-five non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients planned for lobectomy were prospectively enrolled (68% males, average age 68.1±8 years ). All patients completed pre-operative forced expiratory volume capacity (FEV1), diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO), Tc99m-MAA lung perfusion scintigraphy with PS and SPECT/CT quantification. A subgroup of 60 patients underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy and measurement of post-operative FEV1 and DLCO. Relative uptake of the lung lobes estimated by PS and SPECT/CT were compared. Predicted post-operative FEV1 and DLCO were derived from SC, PS and SPECT/CT. Prediction results were compared between the different methods and the true post-operative measurements in patients who underwent lobectomy. Results: Relative uptake measurements differed significantly between PS and SPECT/CT in right lung lobes, with a mean difference of -8.2±3.8, 18.0±5.0 and -11.5±6.1 for right upper, middle and lower lobes respectively (p<0.001). The differences between the methods in the left lung lobes were minor with a mean difference of -0.4±4.4 (p>0.05) and -2.0±4.0 (p<0.001) for left upper and lower lobes respectively. No significant difference and strong correlation (R=0.6-0.76, p<0.001) were found between predicted post-operative lung function values according to SC, PS, SPECT/CT and the actual post-operative FEV1 and DLCO. Conclusion: Although lobar quantification parameters differed significantly between PS and SPECT/CT, no significant differences were found between the predicted post-operative lung function results derived from these methods and the actual post-operative results. The additional time and effort of SPECT/CT quantification may not have an added value in patient selection for surgery. SPECT/CT may be advantageous in patients planned for right lobectomies but further research is warranted.




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Thorough Performance Evaluation of 213 nm Ultraviolet Photodissociation for Top-down Proteomics [Technological Innovation and Resources]

Top-down proteomics studies intact proteoform mixtures and offers important advantages over more common bottom-up proteomics technologies, as it avoids the protein inference problem. However, achieving complete molecular characterization of investigated proteoforms using existing technologies remains a fundamental challenge for top-down proteomics. Here, we benchmark the performance of ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) using 213 nm photons generated by a solid-state laser applied to the study of intact proteoforms from three organisms. Notably, the described UVPD setup applies multiple laser pulses to induce ion dissociation, and this feature can be used to optimize the fragmentation outcome based on the molecular weight of the analyzed biomolecule. When applied to complex proteoform mixtures in high-throughput top-down proteomics, 213 nm UVPD demonstrated a high degree of complementarity with the most employed fragmentation method in proteomics studies, higher-energy collisional dissociation (HCD). UVPD at 213 nm offered higher average proteoform sequence coverage and degree of proteoform characterization (including localization of post-translational modifications) than HCD. However, previous studies have shown limitations in applying database search strategies developed for HCD fragmentation to UVPD spectra which contains up to nine fragment ion types. We therefore performed an analysis of the different UVPD product ion type frequencies. From these data, we developed an ad hoc fragment matching strategy and determined the influence of each possible ion type on search outcomes. By paring down the number of ion types considered in high-throughput UVPD searches from all types down to the four most abundant, we were ultimately able to achieve deeper proteome characterization with UVPD. Lastly, our detailed product ion analysis also revealed UVPD cleavage propensities and determined the presence of a product ion produced specifically by 213 nm photons. All together, these observations could be used to better elucidate UVPD dissociation mechanisms and improve the utility of the technique for proteomic applications.




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Iran Crisis: How Far Does Trump’s Authority Go?

10 January 2020

Dr Leslie Vinjamuri

Dean, Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs; Director, US and the Americas Programme
The legal and political boundaries of presidential power are being redefined, but the president may still be attentive to some constraints.

2020-01-10-Trump.jpg

Donald Trump arrives for a rally in Toledo, Ohio on 9 January. Photo: Getty Images.

On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution affirming its authority under the War Powers Resolution Act, and reminding the president, the American people and the world that when it comes to the use of military force, Congress must be taken into account. 

President Donald Trump replied by retweeting John Bolton, his former national security advisor, who tweeted that the War Powers Act was ‘unconstitutional’, effectively dismissing Congressional efforts to rein in the president.

This round of legal Twitter diplomacy came days after the president tweeted that ‘legal notice (to Congress) is not required, but it is given nevertheless’ and that ‘should Iran strike any US person or target, the United States will quickly and fully strike back, and perhaps in a disproportionate manner.’ 

President Trump’s overt attacks on Congressional authority and disregard for the law are not normal for a US president, but legal constraints over the president’s authority to use military force have been eroding for several years.

In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act, requiring the president to report to Congress and acquire Congressional approval for continued overseas troop deployments. But Congressional authority over the use of military force has continued to diminish, especially since the 9/11 attacks. 

Now, Congress is pushing back – a resolution similar to that passed by the House is likely to be voted on by the Senate soon. Given the intense frustration of some senators over the president’s handling of the current conflict, this resolution may pass, though the president is still likely to veto. 

The bigger problem, of which this is one part, is the expansion of executive authority, and it predates this presidency. Many argue that executive power is greatest on matters of foreign policy, and that in this domain the US president is unconstrained. As partisanship has increased and the demands on Congress have made it harder for its members to cultivate foreign policy expertise, the power of the president has grown.

So the fact that Congress is taking active steps to check the president’s power not only on the question of impeachment, but also on foreign policy, is significant, even if the law is not likely to restrain President Trump. But Congress is also playing a long game. And its growing determination to assert its authority matters not only for this presidency, but also for the future.

Political constraints

In the short term, other constraints matter more. Even if President Trump rejects legal restraints – and shuns diplomatic pressure that might have mattered to other presidents – he is not impervious to political restraint.

Already there are signs that Trump listens to his key Republican allies in Congress. When Senator Lindsay Graham pushed back against the president’s threat to attack cultural heritage sites in Iran, and the Pentagon failed to shore up the president’s threat, the president changed his position. The threats also provoked an overwhelming response in Europe, and across the Middle East, but the president has shown that he is willing to disregard international admonishment. Not so for domestic allies.

Nor is this the first time that Senator Graham’s views have mattered. When the president announced his decision to pull troops from northeast Syria, effectively abandoning the Kurds, a key partner to the US in its fight against ISIS, Senator Graham and Senator Mitch McConnell pushed back and it mattered. 

Public opinion also matters to the president, especially Republican public opinion, and this is likely to affect the president’s next steps. Recent polls suggest that Americans feel less safe as a result of the killing of General Qassem Soleimani by a considerable margin of 55% to 24%.

But the same survey also shows that a majority of Americans support the decision to kill Soleimani. Already Vice President Mike Pence has spoken at a rally in Ohio designed to bolster support for this Presidential action.  

So what might change public opinion and will this alter the president’s future steps?

Americans are very reluctant to support further deployments of troops overseas. President Trump knows this and he has consistently stated that he seeks to pull US troops out of the Middle East.

In fact, the opposite has happened. And once again, the decision to kill General Soleimani is pulling the US further into the Middle East and putting into stark light the inconsistency of Trump’s foreign policy ambitions. In recent days, the United States has committed to sending thousands of troops to the region.

Continued US troop deployments may not play well with Trump’s base, though they currently support his Iran policy. But absent an obvious justification, this could change, so it is not surprising that this has become a rallying point for Vice President Pence.

An even greater political risk, and one that will matter to the president, is the risk to US military personnel and civilians overseas. Public support for the killing of Soleimani and increased US presence in the region is bound to dissipate if Americans are killed.

But it isn’t clear how the president will respond, and already the death of one American in the militia attack on 27 December seems to have been a critical factor in Trump’s decision to authorize the assassination of General Soleimani.  

So far, Iran’s response appears to be calibrated to avoid this kind of public backlash, and keep the door open to some sort of managed resolution of the current crisis.

But the considerable risk of miscalculation and mistakes has already been born out. A week after the killing of Soleimani, the world is tuning in to the tragic news that a civilian airliner departing Iran for Ukraine appears to have been accidentally shot down by an Iranian missile, resulting in the deaths of all 176 people on board, including 82 Iranians and 63 Canadians.

Whether the US president is constrained is a critical question for Americans, for US democracy and for the rest of the world. Trump is different, but he is not unconstrained. Steps taken by Congress along with diplomatic and political pressure mean he is still operating within boundaries. But it is clear that these boundaries are being redefined.




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thor's hammer

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  • Computer and Technology

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Thoroughly and deliberately targeted; Doctors in Syria

As Syria enters its ninth year of conflict, doctors are struggling to provide health care to a badly damaged country. While dealing with medicine shortages, mass casualties and everything that comes with working in a warzone, healthcare facilities and their staff are also facing an unprecedented number of targeted and often repeated attacks....




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An older man with thoracic back pain




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A Profile of U.S. Children with Unauthorized Immigrant Parents

Growing up with unauthorized immigrant parents puts children—nearly 80 percent of whom were born in the United States—at a disadvantage, with lower preschool enrollment, reduced socioeconomic progress, and higher rates of linguistic isolation and poverty. This fact sheet examines the number, characteristics, and socioeconomic status of children, both U.S.-citizen and noncitizen, who have unauthorized immigrant parents.




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How Many Unauthorized Immigrants Graduate from U.S. High Schools Annually?

A high school diploma has been a core requirement of proposed DREAM Act legislation and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Yet a fresh estimate of the number of unauthorized immigrants graduating annually from U.S. high schools has long been missing from the debate. This fact sheet provides up-to-date estimates for the United States and top 15 states, estimating 98,000 such students graduate yearly.




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A Tightening Grip Abroad: Authoritarian Regimes Target Their Emigrant and Diaspora Communities

Authoritarian states have long attempted to restrict citizens’ movement. But what happens when their reach extends beyond their borders? The October 2018 assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi brought into sharp relief the long arm of these regimes in reaching citizens abroad. This phenomenon, “transnational authoritarianism,” further shows that the relationship between migration and authoritarianism is becoming more complex.




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ADA Board authorizes two national searches for editors of JADA, JADA Open

The ADA Board of Trustees has authorized the searches for the next editor of The Journal of the American Dental Association and the founding editor of JADA Open, a new peer-reviewed, open-access journal spanning basic and clinical sciences to advance research in oral health.




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ADA antibiotics guideline authors to discuss C. diff infections in dentistry during Peggy Lillis Foundation conference

Two of the authors of the American Dental Association's antibiotics guideline will discuss C. diff infections and antibiotic stewardship in dentistry April 21 as part of a free, online conference organized by the Peggy Lillis Foundation.




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Protecting the DREAM: The Potential Impact of Different Legislative Scenarios for Unauthorized Youth

With the Trump administration having announced the end of the DACA program, Congress is facing growing calls to protect unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. This fact sheet examines DREAM Act bills introduced in Congress as of mid-2017, offering estimates of who might earn conditional legal status—and ultimately legal permanent residence—based on educational, professional, and other requirements in the legislation.




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Differing DREAMs: Estimating the Unauthorized Populations That Could Benefit under Different Legalization Bills

2017 saw the introduction of several bills—two of them by Senate Republicans in the weeks following the Trump administration’s announcement that it would terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—that would provide a pathway to conditional and then legal permanent residence to unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children, if they meet a range of educational, professional, and other criteria.




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Settling In: A Profile of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population in the United States

This fact sheet and accompanying interactive data tools provide characteristics of the estimated 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, using a unique MPI methodology that assigns legal status to U.S. Census Bureau data. The fact sheet and tools offer statistics on these immigrants’ origins, U.S. destinations, educational attainment, English proficiency, employment, income, home ownership, and more.





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Thorpe bombs out in Beijing

In a sobering reality check, Ian Thorpe has failed to qualify for the 100 metres freestyle final at the FINA World Cup short course meet in Beijing.




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Thor's Ranked UDFA Signings by Position

Thor Nystrom ranks the top UDFA signings by position, plus CFL draft picks and the best available unsigned prospects. (Getty Images)




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Basin-wide environmental watering strategy / Murray‒Darling Basin Authority.




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Review of the Basin-wide environmental watering strategy : Office of Science and Knowledge / Murray‒Darling Basin Authority.




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Interim technical report : project 3.1 : lower cost, more effective 3D seismic exploration for hard rock environments : seismic exploration for mineral deposits case study summary table / authors: Milovan Urosevic, Andrej Bona.

"This document is intended to summarise the current state, understanding and the use of seismic reflection method for mineral exploration. Its primary objective is to provide a point of reference, based on actual case studies, for mineral explorers interested in the application of seismic methods to their project. It provides summary information (including the purpose of the survey, acquisition methods, geometry and cost, processing procedures and key findings) that are intended to provide the reader with an objective means of assessing the cost effectiveness of the technique with respect to exploration objectives. It is also aimed at exchange of information between DETCRC sponsors, affiliates and researchers. Finally we hope that this table will help in shaping future research efforts and direction within Project 3.1, regarding the application of seismic for mineral exploration.This is only initial work and it is hoped that it will evolve into a document or a catalogue that will be extensively used by the mineral industry to achieve their exploration objectives in more efficient and effective way" -- Executive summary.




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2018-21 strategic workforce plan / Australian Maritime Safety Authority.




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Diversity and inclusion plan 2019-2022 / Australian Maritime Safety Authority.




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Winx : the authorised biography / Andrew Rule.

Race horses -- Australia -- History.




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The tyranny of metrics / Jerry Z. Muller ; with a new preface by the author.

Organizational effectiveness -- Measurement.




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The Pokémon Go phenomenon : essays on public play in contested spaces / edited by Jamie Henthorn, Andrew Kulak, Kristopher Purzycki and Stephanie Vie.

Pokémon Go (Game) -- Social aspects.




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A dictionary of applied chemistry / by T.E. Thorpe ; assisted by eminent contributors.

London : Longmans, Green, 1890-1893.




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A dictionary of applied chemistry / by Sir Edward Thorpe ; assisted by eminent contributors.

London : Longmans, Green, 1912-1913.




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Diphtheria : its natural hstory and prevention being the Milroy Lectures delivered before the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1891 / by R. Thorne Thorne.

London : Macmillan, 1891.




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Diseases of women : a handbook for physicians and students / by F. Winckel ; authorized translation by J.H. Williamson, under the supervision and with an introduction by Theophilus Parvin.

Edinburgh : Young J. Pentland, 1887.




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Electric waves : being researches on the propagation of electric action with finite velocity through space / by Heinrich Hertz ; authorised English translation by D.E. Jones ; with a preface by Lord Kelvin.

London : Macmillan, 1893.




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An elementary description of the anatomy and physiology of the brain, viscera of the thorax, abdomen, &c. ... / by W. Simpson.

London, 1826.




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Elementary treatise on physics, experimental and applied : for the use of colleges and schools / translated and edited from Ganot's Éléments de physique (with the author's sanction) by E. Atkinson.

London : Longmans, Green, 1868.




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Elements of pharmacology / by Oswald Schmiedeberg ; translated under the author's supervision by Thomas Dixson.

Edinburgh : Young J. Pentland, 1887.




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Elements of the comparative anatomy of vertebrates / adapted from the German of Robert Wiedersheim by W. Newton Parker ; with additions by the author and translator.

London : Macmillan, 1886.




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An enquiry into the medical properties of iodine, more particularly in dropsy : also an account of the utility of local-bloodletting, in hydrothorax and bronchitis / partly translated from the Latin of T.L.C. Schroeder van der Kolk by C.J.B. Aldis.

London : printed for the author, 1832.




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Charli Turner Thorne drops by 'Pac-12 Playlist' to surprise former player Dr. Michelle Tom

Pac-12 Networks' Ashley Adamson speaks with former Arizona State women's basketball player Michelle Tom, who is now a doctor treating COVID-19 patients in Winslow, Arizona.




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InBios receives Emergency Use Authorization for its Smart Detect...

InBios International, Inc. announces the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for its diagnostic test that can be used immediately by CLIA...

(PRWeb April 08, 2020)

Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/inbios_receives_emergency_use_authorization_for_its_smart_detect_sars_cov_2_rrt_pcr_kit_for_detection_of_the_virus_causing_covid_19/prweb17036897.htm




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Children's Book Author and Illustrator Tomie dePaola Dies at 85

Over his five-decade-plus career, the "Strega Nona" author contributed to more than 270 books




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Authorities Recover 19,000 Artifacts in International Antiquities Trafficking Sting

Items recovered include fossils, paintings, ancient coins, ceramics and jewelry




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At a Kentucky Farm, Champion Thoroughbreds Live Out Their Retirements

Steeds who made headlines for winning races now get to enjoy their final years at a slower pace




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a las 3 de la mañana cuando bajo la marea tome 4 fotos verticales y las uni, uso de tripode




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The Thorny Road to the 19th Amendment

Historian Ellen Carol DuBois chronicles the twists and turns of the 75-year-path to securing the vote for women in her new book




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CPMI and IOSCO share authorities´ experiences in cooperation to increase FMI safety and efficiency

Press release: CPMI and IOSCO share authorities´ experiences in cooperation to increase FMI safety and efficiency, 10 December 2019