A dispute between the US and China scuttled a proposed UN resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, after Beijing insisted on support for the World Health Organization and Washington vetoed it.
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Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on why he chose to write about Indira Gandhi and Nehru, and the reason NDA govt’s NPR is different from UPA’s; says there is no vacancy for Cong president as of now; and warns against the lack of political outreach in Kashmir.

Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Ashwin Vasavada said that it is the first time that NASA has dedicated its operations to capture a 360-degree panorama.

Lenders will get an update on the progress of transaction audit report by Grant Thornton on May 12, as per the agenda of the meeting.

Report on Resolution Regime for Financial Institutions submitted to RBI

After a 15-year study, an international team of astronomers has unveiled a map with the highest resolution to date of the spiral structure of the Milky Way, offering clear proof that it is a barred spiral

Alternative forms of dispute resolution are becoming ever more common. Encouraged by the courts and increasingly favoured by parties, options such as mediation, arbitration and adjudication are becoming more widely used. But what are the differences...

Jonathan Davidson, Executive Director of Supervision, Retail and Authorisations at the FCA, has written to CEOs of insurers concerning non-financial misconduct in wholesale general insurance firms. Davidson reminds firms of the FCA’s clear exp...

The United States prevented a vote Friday in the UN Security Council on a resolution on the coronavirus pandemic, apparently because it made implicit mention of the World Health Organization, diplomats said.

ABSTRACT

A bioinformatics approach was employed to identify transcriptome alterations in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of well-characterized human subjects who were diagnosed with early disseminated Lyme disease (LD) based on stringent microbiological and clinical criteria. Transcriptomes were assessed at the time of presentation and also at approximately 1 month (early convalescence) and 6 months (late convalescence) after initiation of an appropriate antibiotic regimen. Comparative transcriptomics identified 335 transcripts, representing 233 unique genes, with significant alterations of at least 2-fold expression in acute- or convalescent-phase blood samples from LD subjects relative to healthy donors. Acute-phase blood samples from LD subjects had the largest number of differentially expressed transcripts (187 induced, 54 repressed). This transcriptional profile, which was dominated by interferon-regulated genes, was sustained during early convalescence. 6 months after antibiotic treatment the transcriptome of LD subjects was indistinguishable from that of healthy controls based on two separate methods of analysis. Return of the LD expression profile to levels found in control subjects was concordant with disease outcome; 82% of subjects with LD experienced at least one symptom at the baseline visit compared to 43% at the early convalescence time point and only a single patient (9%) at the 6-month convalescence time point. Using the random forest machine learning algorithm, we developed an efficient computational framework to identify sets of 20 classifier genes that discriminated LD from other bacterial and viral infections. These novel LD biomarkers not only differentiated subjects with acute disseminated LD from healthy controls with 96% accuracy but also distinguished between subjects with acute and resolved (late convalescent) disease with 97% accuracy.

IMPORTANCE Lyme disease (LD), caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common tick-borne infectious disease in the United States. We examined gene expression patterns in the blood of individuals with early disseminated LD at the time of diagnosis (acute) and also at approximately 1 month and 6 months following antibiotic treatment. A distinct acute LD profile was observed that was sustained during early convalescence (1 month) but returned to control levels 6 months after treatment. Using a computer learning algorithm, we identified sets of 20 classifier genes that discriminate LD from other bacterial and viral infections. In addition, these novel LD biomarkers are highly accurate in distinguishing patients with acute LD from healthy subjects and in discriminating between individuals with active and resolved infection. This computational approach offers the potential for more accurate diagnosis of early disseminated Lyme disease. It may also allow improved monitoring of treatment efficacy and disease resolution.

The Lower and Middle Ordovician of the Yangtze Platform, China, is characterized by a sedimentary succession dominated by carbonate rocks. Three sections spanning the Nantsinkuan/Lunshan, Fenhsiang, Hunghuayuan, and Dawan/Zitai formations, corresponding to the Tremadocian–Dapingian in age, have been sampled for high-resolution ¹³C chemostratigraphy (542 samples in total). Our new ¹³C data reveal five tie-points with the potential for global correlation: (1) a positive ¹³C excursion in the lower Nantsinkuan Formation within the Tremadocian Rossodus manitouensis Zone; (2) an excursion with two peaks roughly within the late Tremadocian Paltodus ‘deltifer’ Zone; (3) a positive ¹³C shift in the lower Hunghuayuan Formation, within the early Floian Serratognathus diversus Zone; (4) a gradual positive ¹³C shift in the late Floian, ranging from the uppermost S. diversus Zone to the basal Oepikodus evae Zone; (5) a minor negative shift in the lower Dawan/Zitai Formation, within the early Dapingian Baltoniodus triangularis Zone. These excursions are herein used for correlation of the Yangtze Platform strata with successions from South China, North China, the Argentine Precordillera, North America and Baltica. From a palaeogeographical perspective the Gudongkou, Xiangshuidong and Daling sections represent depositional environments along an inner to outer ramp profile. ¹³C data from these sections show successively heavier (higher) ¹³C values with increasing depositional depth. This is interpreted as due to remineralization of organic carbon within the carbonate rocks.

Supplementary material: Carbon and oxygen isotope data are available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4767080

Select agents (SA) pose unique challenges for licensing vaccines and therapies. In the case of toxin-mediated diseases, HHS assigns guidelines for SA use, oversees vaccine and therapy development, and approves animal models and approaches to identify mechanisms for toxin neutralization. In this commentary, we discuss next-generation vaccines and therapies against ricin toxin and botulinum toxin, which are regulated SA toxins that utilize structure-based approaches for countermeasures to guide rapid response to future biothreats.

We previously produced a heavy-chain-only antibody (Ab) VH domain (V_HH)-displayed phage library from two alpacas that had been immunized with ricin toxoid and nontoxic mixtures of the enzymatic ricin toxin A subunit (RTA) and binding ricin toxin B subunit (RTB) (D. J. Vance, J. M. Tremblay, N. J. Mantis, and C. B. Shoemaker, J Biol Chem 288:36538–36547, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M113.519207). Initial and subsequent screens of that library by direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) yielded more than two dozen unique RTA- and RTB-specific V_HHs, including 10 whose structures were subsequently solved in complex with RTA. To generate a more complete antigenic map of ricin toxin and to define the epitopes associated with toxin-neutralizing activity, we subjected the V_HH-displayed phage library to additional "pannings" on both receptor-bound ricin and antibody-captured ricin. We now report the full-length DNA sequences, binding affinities, and neutralizing activities of 68 unique V_HHs: 31 against RTA, 33 against RTB, and 4 against ricin holotoxin. Epitope positioning was achieved through cross-competition ELISAs performed with a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and verified, in some instances, with hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry. The 68 V_HHs grouped into more than 20 different competition bins. The RTA-specific V_HHs with strong toxin-neutralizing activities were confined to bins that overlapped two previously identified neutralizing hot spots, termed clusters I and II. The four RTB-specific V_HHs with potent toxin-neutralizing activity grouped within three adjacent bins situated at the RTA-RTB interface near cluster II. These results provide important insights into epitope interrelationships on the surface of ricin and delineate regions of vulnerability that can be exploited for the purpose of vaccine and therapeutic development.

Infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are present worldwide and represent a major public health concern. The capability of PCR followed by high-resolution melt (HRM) curve analysis for the detection of community-associated and livestock-associated MRSA strains and the identification of staphylococcal protein A (spa) locus was evaluated in 74 MRSA samples which were isolated from the environment, humans, and pigs on a single piggery. PCR-HRM curve analysis identified four spa types among MRSA samples and differentiated MRSA strains accordingly. A nonsubjective differentiation model was developed according to genetic confidence percentage values produced by tested samples, which did not require visual interpretation of HRM curve results. The test was carried out at different settings, and result data were reanalyzed and confirmed with DNA sequencing. PCR-HRM curve analysis proved to be a robust and reliable test for spa typing and can be used as a tool in epidemiological studies.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Not all tandem occlusions diagnosed on traditional vascular imaging modalities, such as MRA, represent actual complete ICA occlusion. This study aimed to explore the utility of high-resolution vessel wall imaging in identifying true ICA tandem occlusions and screening patients for their suitability for endovascular recanalization.

Neuroscientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science have released the third version of their Allen Mouse Brain Common Coordinate Framework (CCFv3). A mouse brain contains approximately 100 million cells across hundreds of different regions. As neuroscience datasets grow larger and more complex, a common spatial map of the brain becomes more critical, as does [...]

The U.S. Senate failed on Thursday to override President Donald Trump's veto of a resolution that would have reined in his ability to wage war against Iran by requiring him to obtain congressional authorization for military action.

A manually constructed 3D atlas offers a cellular-level view of the entire mouse brain. This reference brain, called the Allen Mouse Brain Common Coordinate Framework (CCFv3), is derived from serial two-photon tomography images of 1,675 mice.

The United States on Friday objected to a proposed U.N. resolution on the coronavirus pandemic after diplomats said it had agreed to compromise language with China that didn’t directly mention the World Health Organization, an issue of growing dispute between the world’s two major economic powers. The U.S. objection to the Security Council resolution drafted by France and Tunisia reflects rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. It also leaves the U.N.’s most powerful body impotent on reacting to the greatest crisis facing the world — and unable to back Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ March 23 call for global cease-fires to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, which diplomats said all 15 Security Council members agree on and is the main point of the resolution.

"The U.S. financial system is built on trust and transparency. Our banks must know what payments they are processing and for whom. Credit Suisse’s decades-long scheme to flout the rules that govern our financial institutions robbed our system of the legitimacy that is fundamental to it success."

"For the first time, this crime is being commemorated as ‘National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month,’ instead of a week. This is no small feat, and I commend the Senate for its unanimous passage," said Associate Attorney General Perrelli.

The U.S. Trustee Program has successfully resolved litigation against Countrywide Home Loans Inc. in its ongoing efforts to protect homeowners in bankruptcy.

The Justice Department announced that the state of Delaware has fully complied with the parties’ amended memorandum of agreement (MOA) which was reached after an investigation of three Delaware state prisons. The MOA, which includes reforms in mental health care, medical care and suicide prevention, was entered into after an investigation of the conditions at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution and the Sussex Correctional Institution.

The United States announced today that the Orange County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) has successfully implemented an agreement on the use of electronic control weapons, commonly referred to as Tasers.

Today, we announce significant developments in a securities fraud investigation involving the large-scale theft of client funds by a global brokerage and trading firm.

The Justice Department today announced the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan’s termination of the consent judgment relating to the Detroit Police Department’s (DPD) use of force and arrest and witness detention practices. The Justice Department and the city of Detroit jointly sought the termination of the consent judgment and approval of a Transition Agreement maintaining federal oversight of the DPD for an additional 18 months. The transition agreement starts a new chapter of reform and accountability for the DPD as it works in collaboration with the Justice Department to better ensure constitutional policing, promote community confidence, and improve public safety in the city of Detroit. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan have worked cooperatively throughout the duration of this matter

Arab nomads in Darfur have organized interlocking conflict resolution networks to address local disputes before they escalate. Their work could help bring lasting peace to a region plagued by violence. But it requires stronger international support to fulfill its promise.

The current crisis reveals two major flaws in the world’s crisis-resolution mechanisms: (i) funds available to launch credible rescue operations are insufficient, and (ii) national crisis responses have negative spillovers. One solution is to emulate the EU’s enhanced cooperation solution at the global level, with the IMF ensuring that the rules are respected. Big global…

Beating out New York City, the small Tennessee town of Signal Mountain is the first in the nation to pass a Green Food Resolution. But, just what does a Green Food Resolution mean for farmers, consumers, and

This coming Sunday would've been Silent Spring author and environmental hero Rachel Carson's 100th birthday. In recognition of Carson's contributions to the creation of the modern environmental movement, Sen. Benjanmin L. Cardin (D-MD) has announced his

Reducing your carbon footprint and building community go hand-in-hand toward creating a better planet.

Resolve to make these simple changes month by month as a graceful way to ease into a more sustainable lifestyle.

The new map was created from a study of over a decade's worth of Landsat satellite images and is the first to show in fine detail land use changes around the globe.

[To be published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i)] Government of India Ministry of Finance

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed what he called a "very insulting" congressional resolution seeking to limit his war powers in Iran.

The United States on Friday stunned other members of the UN Security Council by preventing a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world to help troubled nations better fight the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats said.

India's Central Board of Direct Taxation announced on June 7, 2018, that during the first two months of June tax officials have been tasked with resolving disputes with taxpayers.

The OECD has requested stakeholders' input on the dispute resolution processes in place in Andorra, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Faroe Islands, Macau (China), Morocco, and Tunisia.

The OECD is seeking input from taxpayers on dispute resolution mechanisms in place in Aruba, Bahrain, Barbados, Gibraltar, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Oman, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam, as part of follow-up work under BEPS Action Plan Action 14.

The OECD has launched a review of dispute resolution mechanisms in place in Aruba, Bahrain, Barbados, Gibraltar, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Oman, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam, as part of follow-up work under BEPS Action Plan Action 14.

The OECD on March 12 released a third round of peer reviews of countries' efforts to implement the BEPS minimum standard on improving tax dispute resolution mechanisms.

The OECD has released new stage two peer reviews on seven countries' implementation of the BEPS Action 14 minimum standard, on improving tax dispute resolution, covering Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Sweden.

Want to make a healthy New Year's resolution? Then, try getting enough sleep! Having a good night's sleep can boost your health and performance. So, hurry