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The health among men and women with same-sex sexuality experience, i.e. attraction to and/or sexual relations with someone of the same sex, in Sub-Saharan Africa is an increasing public health concern. Prior research on men who have sex with men (MSM) has demonstrated that their healthcare utilisation is limited due to stigma and discrimination. However, little is known about the extent to which t

Second-generation ethanol from lignocellulose is a sustainable alternative that can partially replace fossil fuels. To be competitive with first generation ethanol from sugar and starch crops and fossil fuels, the conversion efficiency and ethanol yields of second-generation ethanol conversion processes must be improved. Improving the performance of the fermenting microorganism and efficiently con

Although genotype-by-environment interaction has long been used to unveil the genetic variation that affects Darwinian fitness, the mechanisms underlying the interaction usually remain unknown. Genetic variation at the dimeric glycolytic enzyme phosphoglucoisomerase (Pgi) has been observed to interact with temperature to explain the variation in the individual performance of the butterfly Melitaea

This article presents some results from a large monitoring campaign performed in 22 buildings around the world as part of International Energy Agency (IEA) Task 50 “Advanced lighting solutions for retrofitting buildings”. This article mainly addresses the work of Subtask D, which aims to demonstrate sound lighting retrofit solutions in a selection of representative, typical Case Studies. In order

In whey ultrafiltration (UF) production, two main problems are whey protein recovery and membrane fouling. In this study, membrane coupling protein transglutaminase (TG) catalysis protein cross-linking was investigated under different conditions to find out the best treatment. We found that the optimal conditions for protein recovery involved catalyzing whey protein cross-linking with TG (40 U/g w

Failure of the human heart to maintain sufficient output of blood for the demands of the body, heart failure, is a common condition with high mortality even with modern therapeutic alternatives. To identify molecular determinants of mortality in patients with new-onset heart failure, we performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies and follow-up genotyping in independent populations

For quite some time, the governance of municipal corporations has been criticized on the grounds of its lack of transparency and its weak mechanisms of accountability. However, despite the fact that municipal ownership of corporations has become an increasingly controversial issue, the number of municipal corporations has grown, as has also the extent to which they are perceived as a source of unfFor quite some time, the governance of municipal corporations has been criticized on the grounds of its lack of transparency and its weak mechanisms of accountability. However, despite the fact that municipal ownership of corporations has become an increasingly controversial issue, the number of municipal corporations has grown, as has also the extent to which they are perceived as a source of unf

Future manufacturing systems need to be more flexible, to embrace tougher and constantly changing market demands. They need to make better use of plant data, ideally utilising all data from the entire plant. Low-level data should be refined toreal-time information for decision-making, to facilitate competitiveness through informed and timely decisions. The Line Information System Architecture (LIS

This paper presents the results of a production experiment in which downstep in Tokyo Japanese was re-examined. There are three major assumptions that have been widely adopted in the literature: (1) the Major Phrase (MaP) is the domain of downstep; (2) a syntactic boundary blocks downstep, as a result of the insertion of a MaP boundary; and (3) focus blocks downstep, as a result of the insertion o

We demonstrate experimentally and theoretically a controllable way of shifting the frequency of an optical pulse by using a combination of spectral hole burning, slow light effect, and linear Stark effect in a rare-earth-ion-doped crystal. We claim that the solid angle of acceptance of a frequency shift structure can be close to 2π, which means that the frequency shifter could work not only for op

This article contributes to the growing literature on colonial legacies influencing long-term development. It focuses on Botswana, a case where the post-independence diamond-led economy has been considered an economic success story, despite its high levels of inequality. Here it is argued that this pathway of rapid resource-driven growth combined with increasing socio-economic inequality had alrea

The Status of Law in World Society by Friedrich Kratochwil is a sophisticated attempt to reassert the importance of international law in a globalised world by grounding it in the actual practices of legal reasoning. Yet this attempt to ground normativity in practice strikes me as problematic. As I shall argue, what law is cannot be determined with reference to legal practices only, but will depend

The competitiveness of timber as structural material in large structures is often governed by the cost of structural joints. Tests indicate that the new joint concept presented herein using glued wood-to-steel plate joints can possibly reduce the cost by matching joint strength to member strength. The design is inspired by two previously proposed designs using a single large dowel and using a rubb

The particle-assisted epitaxial growth of antimonide-based nanowires has mainly been realized using gold as the seed material. However, the Au-seeded epitaxial growth of antimonide-based nanowires such as GaSb nanowires presents several challenges such as for example direct nucleation issues and crystal structure tuning. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand the role of seed material

Despite increasing access to antiretroviral treatment (ART) in low-income countries, HIV-related mortality is high, especially in the first months following ART initiation. We aimed to evaluate the impact of TB coinfection on early mortality and to assess gender-specific predictors of mortality in a cohort of Ethiopian adults subjected to intensified casefinding for active TB before starting ART.

Summary: The ability of macrophages to eradicate intracellular pathogens is normally greatly enhanced by IFNγ, a cytokine produced mainly after onset of adaptive immunity. However, adaptive immunity is unable to provide sterilizing immunity against mycobacteria, suggesting that mycobacteria have evolved virulence strategies to inhibit the bactericidal effect of IFNγ-signalling in macrophages. Stil

At a full-scale wastewater treatment plant, raw municipal wastewater from the sand trap outlet was mechanically and physicochemically pre-treated before microfiltration (MF) in a large pilot-scale study. MF was performed using a low transmembrane pressure (0.03 bar) without backflushing for up to 159 h (∼6.6 d). Pre-filtration ensured stable MF operation compared with the direct application of raw

Water scarcity issues associated with inadequate access to clean water and sanitation is a ubiquitous problem occurring globally. Addressing future challenges will require a combination of new technological development in water purification and environmental remediation technology with suitable conservation policies. In this scenario, new bioinspired materials will play a pivotal role in the devel