Part 3 of 4 Despite its advantages, OTT systems do face challenges, and these become particularly apparent when moving from the concept to implementation. As mentioned in the above section OTT services are almost considered as low/free of charge ser...

Part 4 of 4 Compared to the rest of the world, OTT regulation is fairly advanced in Europe and subject to a completely different approach in Africa and Middle East. It seems that in this part of the world, OTT services are commonly banned to protect...

Eversheds Sutherland has helped to secure Electricity Act 1989 consent from the Scottish Ministers and deemed planning permission for Limekiln Wind Farm, a 21 turbine wind farm with an estimated generation capacity of 64MW based in the Highlands. Th...

(MENAFN - CDN Newswire) The comprehensive research study on [To enable links in your articles, contact MENAFN Click here ] presents a thorough marke... ......

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will...

Russia's Red Army Choir shot a video at home playing notes from the Ottoman military band Mehter in support of Turkey's fight with the novel coronavirus.

Since tea cultivation began around 800 years ago in what’s now Shizuoka Prefecture, it has been renowned as Japan’s largest tea-producing region. Benefitea repackages the ...

by Lachlan Hyatt | Prague Daily Monitor

More than 30 years after the Fall of Communism in the Czech Republic, many of the stories of those targeted during the worst era of the regime are being forgotten as dissidents forced to work in labor camps are dying off.

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By Lauren Taylor Has there ever been a happier man on TV? Ainsley Harriott, with his broad smile and infectious laugh, was a mainstay in living rooms for years on Ready Steady Cook and Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook back in the Nineties and Noughties, and at 63 he’s as cheerful...

The post Ainsley Harriott: ‘The Med felt close to home’ appeared first on Cyprus Mail.

Rupert Grint and Georgia Groome welcomed their little bundle of joy on Thursday

In the Philippines, cloud-based technology is being used to address the financial exclusion that helps fuel poverty and inequality.

Blockchain technology offers great promise and great risk. We need to better understand how it works and how to use it safely and effectively.

Crafting small business support efforts to specific country circumstances could help save millions of livelihoods in poor communities and fortify economies against future shocks.

This brief examines the global shortage of the personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to tackle COVID-19 and suggests policy implications.

A 50-year-old maths problem has finally been solved, and it shows that even an infinitely large lottery ticket could not contain every winning solution

Strange particles observed by an experiment in Antarctica could be evidence of an alternative reality where everything is upside down

This pink manta ray, nicknamed Clouseau, has resurfaced off Australia’s coast. No one knows why it has a bubble-gum pink underside or if there are others out there

Bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, form alliances and coordinate the timing of their clicking noises to attract females and deter other males

An epic project has worked out how much carbon there is on Earth. The answer is 1.85 billion billion tonnes – and most of it is underground

There are around a hundred billion stars in the Milky Way, and most are rather humdrum – but the oddballs are so strange that they challenge our understanding of physics

Is toilet squatting really better than just sitting, or are the supposed benefits of a squatty potty just the fantasy of a rainbow-pooping unicorn?

Strange particles observed by an experiment in Antarctica could be evidence of an alternative reality where everything is upside down

Daniel Radcliffe joins a slew of celebrities to read Harry Potter at home during lockdown. Emer McCarthy reports.

Britain's Princess Charlotte, daughter of Prince William and his wife Kate, celebrates her fifth birthday on Saturday - an occasion marked by the release of four new photographs of the young royal.

It can be difficult for doctors to assess the level of consciousness in people who have had serious brain injuries, but observing their reaction to strong odours may help

Weird blasts of radio waves from space called fast radio bursts have been baffling astronomers since they were discovered, but after finding one in our galaxy we may finally know what creates them

Title: Health Tip: Spotting Signs of Urinary Tract Infection
Category: Health News
Created: 5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM

Title: Gotta Minute? Get a Good Workout
Category: Health News
Created: 4/27/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM

Extreme elongation distinguishes about one-fourth of cotton (Gossypium sp.) seed epidermal cells as "lint" fibers, useful for the textile industry, from "fuzz" fibers (<5 mm). Ligon lintless-2 (Li₂), a dominant mutation that results in no lint fiber but normal fuzz fiber, offers insight into pathways and mechanisms that differentiate spinnable cotton from its progenitors. A genetic map developed using 1,545 F2 plants showed that marker CISP15 was 0.4 cM from Li₂, and "dominant" simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers (i.e. with null alleles in the Li₂ genotype) SSR7 and SSR18 showed complete linkage with Li₂. Nonrandom distribution of markers with null alleles suggests that the Li₂ phenotype results from a 176- to 221-kb deletion of the terminal region of chromosome 18 that may have been masked in prior pooled-sample mapping strategies. The deletion includes 10 genes with putative roles in fiber development. Two Glycosyltransferase Family 1 genes showed striking expression differences during elongation of wild-type versus Li₂ fiber, and virus-induced silencing of these genes in the wild type induced Li₂-like phenotypes. Further, at least 7 of the 10 putative fiber development genes in the deletion region showed higher expression in the wild type than in Li₂ mutants during fiber development stages, suggesting coordinated regulation of processes in cell wall development and cell elongation, consistent with the hypothesis that some fiber-related quantitative trait loci comprise closely spaced groups of functionally diverse but coordinately regulated genes.

RNA viruses form a dynamic distribution of mutant swarms (termed "quasispecies") due to the accumulation of mutations in the viral genome. The genetic diversity of a viral population is affected by several factors, including a bottleneck effect. Human-to-human transmission exemplifies a bottleneck effect, in that only part of a viral population can reach the next susceptible hosts. In the present study, two lineages of the rhesus rotavirus (RRV) strain of rotavirus A were serially passaged five times at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.1 or 0.001, and three phenotypes (infectious titer, cell binding ability, and specific growth rate) were used to evaluate the impact of a bottleneck effect on the RRV population. The specific growth rate values of lineages passaged under the stronger bottleneck (MOI of 0.001) were higher after five passages. The nucleotide diversity also increased, which indicated that the mutant swarms of the lineages under the stronger bottleneck effect were expanded through the serial passages. The random distribution of synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions on rotavirus genome segments indicated that almost all mutations were selectively neutral. Simple simulations revealed that the presence of minor mutants could influence the specific growth rate of a population in a mutant frequency-dependent manner. These results indicate a stronger bottleneck effect can create more sequence spaces for minor sequences.

IMPORTANCE In this study, we investigated a bottleneck effect on an RRV population that may drastically affect the viral population structure. RRV populations were serially passaged under two levels of a bottleneck effect, which exemplified human-to-human transmission. As a result, the genetic diversity and specific growth rate of RRV populations increased under the stronger bottleneck effect, which implied that a bottleneck created a new space in a population for minor mutants originally existing in a hidden layer, which includes minor mutations that cannot be distinguished from a sequencing error. The results of this study suggest that the genetic drift caused by a bottleneck in human-to-human transmission explains the random appearance of new genetic lineages causing viral outbreaks, which can be expected according to molecular epidemiology using next-generation sequencing in which the viral genetic diversity within a viral population is investigated.

Shih-Jung Hsu and Bo Cheng

In the presence of wind or background image motion, flies are able to maintain a constant retinal slip velocity via regulating flight speed to the extent permitted by their locomotor capacity. Here we investigated the retinal slip compensation of tethered blue-bottle flies (Calliphora vomitoria) flying semi-freely along an annular corridor in a magnetically levitated flight mill enclosed by two motorized cylindrical walls. We perturbed the flies’ retinal slip via spinning the cylindrical walls, generating bilaterally averaged retinal slip perturbations from -0.3 to 0.3 m·s^–1 (or -116.4 to 116.4 deg.·s^–1) When the perturbation was less than ~0.1 m·s^–1 (38.4 deg.·s^–1), the flies successfully compensated the perturbations and maintained a retinal slip velocity by adjusting their airspeed up to 20%. However, with greater retinal slip perturbation, the flies’ compensation became saturated, as the flies’ airspeed plateaued, indicating that they were unable to further maintain a constant retinal slip velocity. The compensation gain, i.e., the ratio of airspeed compensation and retinal slip perturbation, depended on the spatial frequency of the grating patterns, being the largest at 12 m^–1 (0.04 deg.^–1).

This case study aims to identify the cubic capacity and geometry of the geological body of silt–organic sediments in the environment of a former gravel pit situated in a drainless depression of the alluvium of the Čierna voda River. It is located in the well-known geotourism locality of Slnečné Jazera in Senec, in the SW of Slovakia. To identify the body, electrical resistivity tomography was combined with the use of sonar. The research shows that this approach is appropriate for a number of activities that are subjects of engineering-geological investigations. The cubic capacity and geometry of specific aqueous engineering-geological environments must be determined in connection with the need for the management, control, quantification and extraction of selected sedimentary bodies. In addition, the management of sustainable development of reservoirs, sedimentation basins, industrial ponds, settling pits and natural pools for recreation (the subject of the case study) is important to control the limit amounts of sediments in such environments. The results of this study may be applied in analogous engineering-geological conditions. The drainless depression Slnečné Jazera contained a body of silt–organic sediments amounting to 23 000 m³ (41 Olympic-size pools of 25 m x 12.5 m x 1.8 m). The maximum thickness of the bottom sediments was about 6.3 m on the alluvium with an articulated morphology owing to the submerged digging of gravel. The proposed approach improved the control of extraction of the sedimentary body and optimized the engineering-geological conditions in this geotourism locality.

Chronic cough is a common complaint in the general population but there are no precise data on the incidence of, and prospectively examined risk factors for chronic cough in a population-based setting. Therefore, we investigated the period prevalence, incidence and risk factors for chronic cough in adult subjects.

In a prospective population-based cohort study among subjects aged ≥45 years, data on chronic cough were collected on two separate occasions using a standardised questionnaire. Chronic cough was defined as daily coughing for at least 3 months duration during the preceding 2 years. Potential risk factors were gathered by interview, physical examination and several investigations.

Of the 9824 participants in this study, 1073 (10.9%) subjects had chronic cough at baseline. The prevalence of chronic cough increased with age and peaked in the eighth decade. In subjects aged <70 years, chronic cough was more common in women. During an average follow-up of 6 years, 439 incident cases of chronic cough occurred with an overall incidence rate of 11.6 per 1000 person-years (95% CI 10.6–12.8). In current smokers, the incidence of chronic cough was higher in men. In the multivariable analysis, current smoking, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), asthma and COPD were identified as risk factors for chronic cough.

Chronic cough is common among adults and highly prevalent in the older population. Current smoking, GORD, asthma and COPD are independent risk factors for chronic cough. Individuals at risk of developing chronic cough may benefit from smoking cessation and control of the underlying disease.

In patients with cancer-associated venous thromboembolism, knowledge of the estimated rate of recurrent events is important for clinical decision-making regarding anticoagulant therapy. The Ottawa score is a clinical prediction rule designed for this purpose, stratifying patients according to their risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism during the first six months of anticoagulation. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies validating either the Ottawa score in its original or modified versions. Two investigators independently reviewed the relevant articles published from 1st June 2012 to 15th December 2018 and indexed in MEDLINE and EMBASE. Nine eligible studies were identified; these included a total of 14,963 patients. The original score classified 49.3% of the patients as high-risk, with a sensitivity of 0.7 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.6-0.8], a 6-month pooled rate of recurrent venous thromboembolism of 18.6% (95%CI: 13.9-23.9). In the low-risk group, the recurrence rate was 7.4% (95%CI: 3.4-12.5). The modified score classified 19.8% of the patients as low-risk, with a sensitivity of 0.9 (95%CI: 0.4-1.0) and a 6-month pooled rate of recurrent venous thromboembolism of 2.2% (95%CI: 1.6-2.9). In the high-risk group, recurrence rate was 10.2% (95%CI: 6.4-14.6). Limitations of our analysis included type and dosing of anticoagulant therapy. We conclude that new therapeutic strategies are needed in patients at high risk for recurrent cancer-associated venous thromboembolism. Low-risk patients, as per the modified score, could be good candidates for oral anticoagulation. (This systematic review was registered with the International Prospective Registry of Systematic Reviews as: PROSPERO CRD42018099506).

Tottenham will need to be creative in the transfer market this summer.

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, set to launch on 7 February, will give us our first clear views of the sun’s poles and help unravel the mystery of the solar wind

Strange, powerful blasts of radio waves from space called fast radio bursts sometimes flash repeatedly, but never with any discernible pattern – until now

Exoplanet WASP-76b, which is about 390 light years from the solar system, has a strange iron signature in its atmosphere, suggesting the metal is raining down on the planet's night side

Strange particles observed by an experiment in Antarctica could be evidence of an alternative reality where everything is upside down

An explosion 4.6 billion light years away has released 10 times more energy than the sun will put out in its lifetime, making it the most extreme supernova ever found

Weird blasts of radio waves from space called fast radio bursts have been baffling astronomers since they were discovered, but after finding one in our galaxy we may finally know what creates them

There is something deeply unsettling about the lionization of Andrew Cuomo and his handling of the epidemic, especially in the light of the raw statistics

Because with enough time spent at home you can accomplish anything, no matter how incredibly inconsequential, this is a video of a guy with a dog bed full of golf tees successfully flipping one into a bottle's pour spout. I wonder how many tries it really took. And, wait -- is that olive oil? It's not even liquor?! So let me get this straight -- you're spending quarantine trying to flip golf tees into a bottle pour spout sober? Well thank God we didn't get trapped in the same house when the rona hit. "Why's that, GW?" You can't get drunk on olive oil. "Nope, no matter how much you drink." Or balsamic vinegar, I've tried. Keep going for the actual video (with a much more respectable frame rate), complete with "Let's go! Let's go!" celebration, although I'm fairly certain this guy isn't actually going anywhere.

Just in time for Mother's Day/continued at-home quarantine comes this 750mL 'My Personal Bottomless Mimosa' glass from BigMouth, Inc and available on Amazons. The surprisingly all-glass drinkware (but still hand-wash only on account of the decorations) combines the shape of a champagne bottle with a mimosa glass to holds 8 (read: 2-3) servings, and is perfect for letting the rest of your family know you're not to be bothered for the rest of the day because it may still be early here but, dammit, it's 5 o'clock somewhere that's nine and half hours ahead. Thanks to Tracey H, who informed me she can't count the number of times she's been asked to leave a bottomless brunch for really putting its bottomlessness to the test. Heck yeah, that's called doing God's work.

This is a video of musician and Instagrammer nathanleighsays performing Saria's Song (the Lost Woods theme) from The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time on 24 partially empty wine bottles. How about that! Of course this would never work at my aunt's house on account of the bottles all playing the same note because they're empty. And the cats! Soooooo many cats. Keep going for the performance as well as a clip of Link learning Saria's song from the actual game.

This is the end of an era. No longer will we be able to look forward to episode 420. You could say our ambitions have...

Chris is merely a man. If you prick him, does he not bleed? If you give him two awkwardly full bottles of soda, does he not spill them on his laptop and require an expensive repair? And if you give him a cup of coffee after that repair, does not his cat spill it on the same laptop and break it again? What? Oh, those last two aren't normal? Oh, I guess he is an idiot then.