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Metabolic phospholipid labeling of intact bacteria enables a fluorescence assay that detects compromised outer membranes [Research Articles]

Gram-negative bacteria possess an asymmetric outer membrane (OM) composed primarily of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on the outer leaflet and phospholipids (PLs) on the inner leaflet. Loss of this asymmetry due to mutations in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis or transport pathways causes externalization of PLs to the outer leaflet of the OM and leads to OM permeability defects. Here, we employed metabolic labeling to detect a compromised OM in intact bacteria. Phosphatidylcholine synthase (Pcs) expression in Escherichia coli allowed for incorporation of exogenous propargylcholine (PCho) into phosphatidyl(propargyl)choline (PPC) and for incorporation of exogenous 1-azidoethyl-choline (AECho) into phosphatidyl(azidoethyl)choline (AEPC) as confirmed by LC-MS analyses. A fluorescent copper-free click reagent poorly labeled AEPC in intact wild-type cells, but readily labeled AEPC from lysed cells. Fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry analyses confirmed the absence of significant AEPC labeling from intact wild-type E. coli strains, and revealed significant AEPC labeling in an E. coli LPS transport mutant (lptD4213) and an LPS biosynthesis mutant (E. coli lpxC101). Our results suggest that metabolic PL labeling with AECho is a promising tool to detect a compromised bacterial OM, reveal aberrant PL externalization, and identify or characterize novel cell-active inhibitors of LPS biosynthesis or transport.




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JDF promises 'strong' action against abusive soldiers

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) is promising "strong" action against soldiers found guilty of instructing violators of the national nightly COVID-19 curfew to engage in “corrective measures”. News of the allegations came in an...




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neoadjuvant treatment for breast cancer - not living up to the promise

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer is a new strategy that was introduced towards the end of the 20th century with the aim of reducing tumour size - rendering an otherwise inoperable tumour operable, allowing more conservative surgery, and hopefully improving overall survival. Although data indicate that the first rationale remains valid,...




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Behind the campaign promises - GP numbers, and appointment slots

A UK general election has been called - polling day is on the 12th of December, and from now until then we’re going to be bringing you a weekly election-themed podcast. We want to help you make sense of the promises and pledges, claims and counter-claims, that are being made around healthcare and the NHS out on the campaign trail. This week has...




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Behind the campaign promises - Health and social care spending

A UK general election has been called - polling day is on the 12th of December, and from now until then we’re going to be bringing you a weekly election-themed podcast. We want to help you make sense of the promises and pledges, claims and counter-claims, that are being made around healthcare and the NHS out on the campaign trail. This week...




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Behind the campaign promises - Health beyond the NHS

A UK general election has been called - polling day is on the 12th of December, and from now until then we’re going to be bringing you a weekly election-themed podcast. We want to help you make sense of the promises and pledges, claims and counter-claims, that are being made around healthcare and the NHS out on the campaign trail. This week...




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Behind the campaign promises - what the NHS means for the election

UK general election has been called - polling day is on the 12th of December, and from now until then we’re going to be bringing you a weekly election-themed podcast. We want to help you make sense of the promises and pledges, claims and counter-claims, that are being made around healthcare and the NHS out on the campaign trail. This week we're...




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Behind the campaign promises - Doctors in parliament

The UK general election is happening this week, and you’ve probably made your mind up which MP you’re voting for already - and maybe the NHS has influenced that decision. This year has seen an increase in the number of doctors running for parliament, and in this podcast we find out what motivates doctors to step away from clinical practice, and...




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Rammya Mathew: Liquid diets offer promise, but we still need upstream solutions




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Can the New European Commission Deliver on Its Promises to Africa?

4 December 2019

Fergus Kell

Projects Assistant, Africa Programme

Damir Kurtagic

Former Academy Robert Bosch Fellow, Africa Programme
Familiar promises of equal partnership must be backed by bolder action, including an expanded budget, internal reform and a rethink of its approach to trade negotiations.

2019-12-03-Urpilainen.jpg

Jutta Urpilainen, new EU commissioner for international partnerships, at the European Parliament in Brussels in October. Photo: Getty Images.

The new European Commission, headed by Ursula von der Leyen, assumed office on 1 December, and there are early signs that Africa will begin near the top of their foreign policy priorities. Policy towards Africa under the new EU administration is yet to be fully defined, but its contours are already visible in the selection of commissioners and assignment of portfolios.  

Although rumours of a dedicated commissioner for Africa were unfounded, the appointment of Jutta Urpilainen to the new role of commissioner for international partnerships – replacing the former post of development commissioner – is a strong signal of ongoing change in EU development thinking, away from bilateral aid towards trade and investment, including by the private sector. 

This may have significant consequences for the EU’s relationship with Africa. In her mission letter to Urpilainen in September, von der Leyen listed the first objective as a new ‘comprehensive strategy for Africa’. Urpilainen, Finland’s finance minister before being posted to Ethiopia as special representative on mediation, has also described her appointment as an opportunity to move on from traditional measures of aid delivery. 

Ambition or incoherence? 

However, this ambition may be at odds with other EU priorities and practices, notably managing migration and institutions and instruments for governing EU–Africa relations that remain rooted in a ‘traditional’ model of North–South development cooperation rather than equitable partnership.

Another newly created post will see Margaritis Schinas assume the role of vice-president for promoting the European way of life – formerly ‘protecting our European way of life’ before a backlash saw it changed – a reminder that migration will remain high on the EU’s foreign policy agenda. The new high representative for foreign and security policy and chief EU diplomat, Josep Borrell, has highlighted the need for bilateral partnership with countries of origin and transit, mainly in Africa. 

Negotiations also continue to stall on a replacement to the Cotonou Agreement, the 20-year partnership framework between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states, which now looks certain to be extended for at least 12 months beyond its expiry in February 2020.

Ambiguities in the EU’s negotiating approach have certainly contributed to the delay: having pushed initially for a separate regional pillar for Africa that would be opened to the North African countries (who are not ACP members) and include a loosely defined role for the African Union, this would later be abandoned in favour of a dual-track process on separate new agreements with the AU and ACP respectively.

The EU also continues to pursue controversial economic partnership agreements under the aegis of Cotonou, despite their increasing appearance of incompatibility with the pathbreaking African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – one of the clearest expressions to date of African agency.

The EU has so far attempted to gloss over this incoherence, claiming that EPAs can somehow act as the ‘building blocks’ for Africa-wide economic integration. But tensions are appearing between EU departments and within the commission, with the European External Action Service inclined to prioritize a more strategic continental relationship with the AU, while the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development remains committed to the ACP as the conduit for financial support and aid delivery.

And it is unlikely to get away with such incoherence for much longer. Change is now urgent, as numerous countries in sub-Saharan Africa continue to attract the strategic and commercial interests of the EU’s competitors: from established players such as China and potentially in future the UK, which is intent on remodelling its Africa ties post-Brexit, to emerging actors such as Turkey or Russia, which held its first Africa summit in October. 

The need for delivery

If the EU is serious about its rhetoric on equal partnership, it must therefore move beyond convoluted hybrid proposals. Delivering on the Juncker administration’s proposal to increase funding for external action by 30 per cent for 2021–27 would mark an important first step, particularly as this involves streamlining that would see the European Development Fund – the financial instrument for EU-ACP relations – incorporated into the main EU budget.

The new commission should therefore continue to exert pressure on the European Council and European Parliament to adopt this proposal, as negotiations on this financial framework have been repeatedly subject to delay and may not be resolved before the end of the year. 

Beyond this, proactive support for the AfCFTA and for structural transformation more broadly must be prioritized ahead of vague promises for a continent-to-continent free trade agreement, as held out by Juncker in his final State of the Union address in 2018. 

The significance of internal EU reforms for Africa should also not be discounted. The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, for instance, has placed the African sector at a particular disadvantage and has made it harder to compete even in domestic markets, let alone in the distant EU export markets. EU efforts to stimulate inflows of private investments into the African agricultural sector, abolish import tariffs and offer technical support for African producers to satisfy EU health and safety regulations will be of little use if they are undermined by heavy subsidies across Europe.

Ultimately, changes to job titles alone will be insufficient. The new commission’s rhetoric, while ambitious, differs little from that of the previous decade – Africa has heard the promise of a ‘partnership of equals’ and of ‘shared ownership’ since before the advent of the Joint Africa–EU Strategy in 2007. Now is the time for truly bold steps to implement this vision.




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Covid-19 is no worse in immunocompromised children, says NICE




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Firing Up Regional Brain Networks: The Promise of Brain Circulation in the ASEAN Economic Community

Given diverging demographics, rising educational attainment and wide variation in economic opportunities, countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are poised to see an expansion of both the demand for and supply of skilled migrants willing and able to move. The convergence of these megatrends represents unique opportunities for human-capital development and brain circulation, as this report explores.




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Arthritis drug shows promise against respiratory distress caused by COVID-19

Anakinra, a drug developed to treat rheumatoid arthritis might help patients who have developed acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by COVID-19, a small study published by The Lancet Rheumatology has found.




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More Than a DREAM (Act), Less Than a Promise

The first bill introduced in the 116th Congress to offer a path to legal status to DREAMers, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, could legalize nearly 2.7 million unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children, as well as those eligible for Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure, as this commentary explains.




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To make terms of compromise a rule of Court or not? That is the question : an analysis of the options available to settle estate matters / presended by Christina Flourentzou, Supreme Court of South Australia..




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The promise of happiness / Sara Ahmed.

Durham, [NC] : Duke University Press, 2010.




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Oral rehabilitation for compromised and elderly patients

3319761293 (electronic book)





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Cyber Criminals Conduct Business Email Compromise through Exploitation of Cloud-Based Email Services, Costing US Businesses More Than $2 Billion




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The Case for Compromise

A chemical-safety bill in the Senate shows the wisdom of “good, old-fashioned legislating.”




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Ed-Tech Supporters Promise Innovations That Can Transform Schools. Teachers Not Seeing Impact

Fewer than one-third of America's teachers say ed-tech innovations have changed their beliefs about what school should look like, according to a new Education Week survey.




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The Promise of Interactive TV Ruined Online Advertising

It's resulted in a creepy Orwellian environment where Google, Facebook, Amazon, and others have replaced Big Brother.




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Warren: 'We Are Failing on Our Country's Promise' to Children With Disabilities

A new plan from Democratic presidential candidate and former special educator Elizabeth Warren touches on some glaring issues in special education: graduation disparities, hard-to-access school buildings, and discipline practices that disproportionately affect black, Latino, and Native American stud




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Supercapacitor promises storage, high power and fast charging

A new supercapacitor based on manganese oxide could combine the storage capacity of batteries with the high power and fast charging of other supercapacitors, according to researchers at Penn State and two universities in China.




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DJI's New First-Person Drone Goggles Promise 28ms Latency

Fly your DJI drone using a first-person perspective up to a range of 2.5 miles and race with up to seven other drones using the same low-latency system.




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Bajaj Pulsar 125 Neon Review | The most affordable Pulsar is not a compromise

Bajaj has used it’s existing Pulsar 150 platform to create the smaller Pulsar 125 Neon. The design, cycle parts, features and even the engine (stroke has been shortened and swept volume reduced) is borrowed from the bigger bike. The result is a good looking bike for those on a budget. How is it to ride […]




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Force Motors T1N electric van first look: Expected range of 250km and promise of fast charging

Force T1N passenger van will go into production later this year and will be priced around Rs 25 lakh. It is an 18-seater and will be exported as well.




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IOA promises support, contribution to fight COVID-19 pandemic

In a statement posted on the body's Twitter handle, IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta said "we are deeply grateful to all the front-line workers who are risking their lives to fight this pandemic."




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Cashing the PSS Promises

A little bit of everything in the blog today: PSS is All Over As someone that was involved with UVM and PSS, both becoming Accellera standards, it is exciting to see both growing independently and together. With PSS we had a massive amount of papers ...(read more)








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From Zero Credentials To Full Domain Compromise

Whitepaper called From Zero Credentials to Full Domain Compromise. This paper covers techniques penetration testers can use in order to accomplish an initial foothold on target networks and achieve full domain compromise without executing third party applications or reusing clear text credentials.










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German clean-energy fund sees promise in US distributed solar development

Germany-based clean-energy fund Hep Kapitalverwaltung AG agreed to invest $50 million to $80 million annually in a partnership to develop small solar projects in the U.S.




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Scientists Say Blockchain ‘Delivering on Energy Promises’

One of the first unbiased, major comprehensive reviews of blockchain has concluded that the technology is “actually delivering on its promises in a number of areas directly related to energy”.




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Transmission Tweak Promises Big Cost Benefits for Offshore Wind

Offshore wind development is being pushed further out into deeper waters, emphasizing longer, higher-capacity transmission systems. Most newer offshore wind farms from Europe to the U.S. are looking at hundreds of kilometers of transmission lines: the U.K. Crown Estate's Round 3 allocations, interconnection systems from Germany's North Sea to the U.K.'s National Grid Western Link, and the proposed Atlantic Wind Connector in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic.




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The Promise of Clean Energy Student Entrepreneurs

Cleantech investing has taken quite a hit in recent years. Last year, CBS News highlighted the “cleantech crash” on U.S. primetime television, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a Bloomberg-owned energy data firm, has tracked the multi-year decline in cleantech investing. However, there are additional trends that tell another side of the cleantech story and suggest innovation and hope for a low-cost, low-carbon future are far from gone.




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The Hydroelectric Production Incentives Program shows promise to encourage hydro development

With its revival for fiscal year 2014, the Hydroelectric Production Incentives Program shows promise as a new federal revenue stream for hydro facilities.




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God’s Eternal Covenant of Promise (Galatians 3:15–18)

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.




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The Promised Arrival of the King (Daniel 9)

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.




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The Promise of Peace in a Worried World (Matthew 6:25-34)

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.




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Lawbite: Does an oral promise to pay amount to a guarantee?

Deepak Abbhi v Richard John Slade (trading as Richard Slade & Co) [2019] EWCA Civ 2175 The Court of Appeal recently unanimously held that an oral promise by a son-in-law to give money to his father-in-law to pay legal fees was an indemnity and n...




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HR e-briefing 207 - Don't be compromised!

Encouraging settlement of employment disputes outside of the courts and tribunal system remains the cornerstone of employment legislation.  It also remains the case that the vast majority of parties resolve employment disputes without the ne...