For long time, political scientists have cultivated the idea that a country which succeeds in achieving a democratic transition, creates stable institutions, provides a robust civil society, and has achieved a certain level of wealth, has a rather low risk of an authoritarian backlash. In other words, a consolidated democratic society would create a sort of political “antibodies” able to impede the slide towards a totalitarian regime. This assumption was corroborated by the very impressive wave of democratization that took place since 1990 and, in fact, both the number and the quality of democratic regimes increased steadily. Such has been the progress of the new democracies that it suggested a sort of democratic triumphal march.Is this still true? How should we interpret the state of democracy in light of the electoral victories of Recep Erdoğan, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orbán and, above all, Donald Trump? For the first time over the last quarter of a century, it seems that democratic regimes are no longer consolidating and, above all, that this apparent reversal transpires through procedures of the secular democratic liturgy, namely free elections. Economic stagnation and increasing income inequality, the rise of unemployment and of poverty have generated discontent and xenophobia. And, as already happened in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, the word “democracy” has for many citizens become an empty box. Where they succeeded in gaining power, populist leaders did so through the mechanism of elections and were keen on presenting themselves as the authentic representatives of the people. Even when populists have not managed to acquire electoral majorities, as Beppe Grillo in Italy, Nigel Farage in the UK, Marine Le Pen in France and Norbert Hofer in Austria, they pretend to be the genuine interpreters of the people’s wishes.Is there a risk that new elected leaders will substantially attack liberal institutions, as already happened in Europe in the inter-war period? So far, this has occurred in weak and relatively recent democracies such as Russia and Turkey, where governments have managed to attack and even imprison actual or potential opponents, limit the freedom of the press, and subdue the judicial power without losing much of their popular support.Can something similar also occur in consolidated democracies? Is there the possibility that new leaders with strong popular support will use their power to attack liberal infrastructures? Or, to phrase it differently, is there a danger that the power of the majority will be able to attack the rule of law and reduce civil, political and social liberties?Liberal systems are stable when there is a large majority of citizens that directly support democratic institutions as the only legitimate form of government \citep*{alfred1996}.  But, apparently, this is less true than it used to be. The prolonged economic stagnation faced by most Western democracies since 2007 had the adverse consequence that many material advantages provided by democracy have not been delivered. Income inequality, unemployment and poverty have increased while intergenerational mobility has decreased. It is therefore not surprising that so many citizens disappointed by what has not been delivered by traditional political parties are now supporting new forces. But can this often fully justified discontent undermine civil rights and democratic institutions? We are here wondering if the rule and the power of the people could work against the rule of law up to the point that liberal states would be transformed. It is always easy to unleash the worst attitude of the people against ethnic minorities, migrants, LGBTQ.Are the “new entrant” political factions just anti-establishment or more generally anti-democratic? New political leaders manage to acquire electoral support because they use aggressive language, denounce the wrongdoings of the incumbent politicians, and often call for scapegoats in weak and marginal social and ethnic groups. In optimistic scenarios, the new political forces become domesticated and after a while get accustomed to using parliamentary language and strategies; after having succeeded in harnessing the attention of the dissatisfied, they just become fresh contenders in the usual electoral race. But the pessimistic scenario is that they use their popular support to reduce liberties and modify the institutions that should guarantee democratic checks and balances.In Turkey, a country that for several years has struggled to consolidate its rather recent democratic structure, the government is re-writing the Constitution and there is a risk that this could be approved by popular referendum. In Russia, Putin is more than ever backed by its citizens. Brexit will also reduce the checks and balances provided by European institutions within British politics. And how the Trump administration will re-design civil and social rights, from abortion to immigrants’ entitlements, is still a mystery, even if the first signs are certainly not encouraging.Two ambitious scholars, \citet*{Foa_2016}, have provided some interesting and disconcerting data about citizens’ sentiments and perceptions toward democracy. Using data from the World Value Survey (1995-2014), the study shows that citizens in both North America and Western Europe became more critical toward democracy, and that an increased share of them no longer considered democracy as the only legitimate form of government. And to complicate the picture, it seems they began to look favourably upon non-democratic alternatives.

Political scientists have long believed that when a country succeeds in achieving a democratic transition, creating stable institutions and accomplishing a certain level of wealth, it has a rather low risk of an authoritarian backlash. There was the implicit assumption of a natural and irreversible path containing the following steps: 1) dictatorship, 2) dictablanda, 3) democradura, 4) democracy transition, 5) consolidated democracy. This assumption was valid for several decades and corroborated by the impressive wave of democratization that took place after 1990. In the last quarter of a century, in fact, both the number and the quality of democratic regimes has increased steadily, leading to what appeared to be a democratic triumphal march.But for the first time over the last quarter of a century, democratic regimes are no longer consolidating and, above all, this apparent reversal manifests itself in procedures that belong to the secular democratic liturgy, namely free elections. The outbreak of this populist infection within most western democracies challenges the idea that once consolidated democracies are immune to the possibility of experiencing a non-democratic reversal. The electoral successes of populist parties and leaders are a challenge for democratic practice and theory. Will the hypotheses regarding democratic consolidation still hold? And, most of all, what lies behind such a populist infection, and how it can be cured? Concerning the first two questions, the analysis of the data from the World Value Survey (1995-2014) carried out by two young scholars, \citet*{Foa_2016} provide some interesting and disconcerting data about citizens’ sentiments and perceptions toward democracy. The study shows that citizens within both North America and western Europe, have become more critical toward democracy, and that an increased proportion of them no longer consider democracy the only legitimate form of government. To generate further concerns, they began to look favourably upon non-democratic alternatives. According to this study, while older generations keep thinking that democracy is essential, younger generations are much more indifferent. In Europe, about 52% of citizens among the generation born in the 1930s believe that to live in a democratic country is fundamental, but only about 45% among those born in the 1980s share this opinion. In the United States, the intergenerational gap is even more heightened. 72% of citizens born in the 1930s believed democracy is essential, while only around 30% of those born in the 1980s had the same view.A similar pattern is visible regarding support for alternative, non-democratic forms of government, and in both the US and Europe, the percentage of citizens believing being ruled by the army is a “good” or a “very good” alternative steadily increases, especially among young, affluent citizens. A closer look at the original data confirms that in all countries there are still large majorities in favour of democracy. But while there are overwhelming democratic majorities, there is a strong disaffection with regard to democratic institutions, including political parties, parliamentarians and trade unions. The citizens that view a strong leader positively are still a minority, but they number more than in the past in the United States and in Spain, in Sweden and even in Germany. In both the US and Europe, the percentage of citizens believing being ruled by the army is a “good” or a “very good” alternative steadily increases, especially among young, affluent citizens.The same scholars, in a subsequent paper \citep*{Foa_2017} arrive at the claim that all these data could be a sign of the fallacy of the democratic assumption, and that they may also be a signal of a democratic deconsolidation within western democracies. Liberal systems are stable if a large majority of citizens directly support democratic institutions as the only legitimate form of government. But this is less true than it used to be. Is this disaffection undermining civil rights and democratic institutions? Is there a risk that newly elected leaders will substantially attack liberal institutions, as already happened in Europe in the inter-war period? So far, this has occurred only in weak and relatively recent democracies such as Russia and Turkey, where governments have managed to attack and even imprison actual or potential opponents, limit the freedom of the press, and subdue the judicial power without losing much of their popular support. Can something similar also occur in consolidated democracies? Is there the possibility that new leaders with strong popular support will use their power to attack liberal infrastructures, breaking the golden rule of respecting the election winner, and leading consolidated western democracies into non-democratic backlashes? Until now, these new political entrants have shown an anti-establishment rather than an anti-democratic sentiment. New political leaders have managed to acquire electoral support using aggressive language, denouncing mainly the wrongdoings of the incumbent politicians, and often calling for scapegoats in weak and marginal social and ethnic groups. But they have done it through democratic political institutions. Where they succeeded in gaining power, populist leaders did so through free and competitive elections, presenting themselves as the authentic representatives of the people. So, whether the signs highlighted by Foa and Mounk may or may not be a predictor of a possible non-democratic backlash, is far from being ascertained. We are facing two possible alternative scenarios, both plausible: in the optimistic one, the new political forces become domesticated and after a while get accustomed to using parliamentary language and strategies. Their language and policies aim to harness the attention of the dissatisfied, and they “mature” to become fresh contenders in the usual electoral race. But in the pessimistic one, they may use their popular support to reduce liberties and modify the institutions that should guarantee democratic checks and balances.Populist sentiments, more or less dormant, have always been present within western democracies as well as everywhere else in the world, and we may think they are deep feelings belonging to human nature. Can democratic politics manage to tame them? Until a few years ago, they affected only a minority of citizens. The fact that new political movements are managing, often rapidly, to increase their votes is generating a threatening race to the bottom. In all countries, established political parties have the dangerous propensity to counter this electoral wave of populism by adopting the issues and language used by them. It is a sort of infection and only a few politicians manage, at one and the same time, to resist the temptation and to be re-elected. For this reason, if it is not properly cured, the infection could end up permanently damaging the democratic system itself. The basic question we have to answer is therefore: why, over recent years, has the populist consensus so swiftly arisen? What is the basis of its success? Populist parties grew in most western democracies only after the end of the Cold War, most of them in the 1990s.To answer this question, it is useful to adopt a historical perspective. Populist parties grew in most western democracies only after the end of the Cold War, most of them in the 1990s. Despite some notable exceptions, their share of popular votes remained below ten percent for several decades. Looking at the electoral data (Figure 1), the picture then dramatically changes, and from 2007 populist parties began to gain traction consistently. Since 2007, populist party support has been growing in terms of both electoral votes and parliamentary seats.In the United States, the November 2016 electoral campaign demonstrated how two ‘outsiders’, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, tried to storm the two well-established political parties. One of them succeeded. In other countries with more pluralized and fractious political systems, such as Spain, Italy, Austria, France and Greece, the populist upsurge has coincided with the rise of new socially progressive movements. However, even in these cases populist parties have succeeded in gaining considerable electoral support. In Italy, the Movimento 5 Stelle gained 25.6 per cent of votes in 2013, being the party most voted for in what was its first parliamentary electoral race. In Greece, Syriza’s consensus moved from 4.6 percent in 2009 elections to 35.5 per cent in 2015. In Sweden, the Sverigedemokraterna (SD), a right-wing populist party, moved from 2.9 per cent of votes in 2006 to 12.9 per cent in 2014.The temporal evolution of the populists (Figure 1) indicates that the economic variable played an important role both in the affirmation and in the growth of populist parties’ consensus. In the first place, the consolidation of most populist parties in the 1990s coincided with a quite strong, even if not prolonged, economic stagnation starting in 1992/1993. In the second, their growth coincided with the prolonged economic crisis that began in 2008. In both cases, western countries experienced a steady drop in their growth rates and a significant economic stagnation (figure 2).

Gli scienziati politici hanno a lungo sostenuto che nel momento in cui un paese riesce a portare a termine una transizione democratica, creando istituzioni stabili e garantendo un certo livello di ricchezza, il rischio di una violenta reazione autoritaria sia piuttosto basso. L’assunzione implicita è la presenza di un percorso naturale e, se portato a termine, irreversibile composto dalle seguenti fasi: 1) dittatura, 2) dictablanda, 3) democradura \cite{Morlino_2009}, 4) transizione democrazia, 5) democrazia consolidata. Quest’assunzione è sembrata essere valida per diversi decenni, corroborata dall’impressionante ondata di democratizzazioni iniziata nel 1990. Nell’ultimo quarto di secolo, infatti, sia il numero che la qualità dei regimi democratici è aumentato costantemente, portando a quella che sembrava essere una marcia trionfale della democrazia.Per la prima volta nel corso dell’ultimo quarto di secolo, i regimi democratici sembrano oggi aver smesso di consolidarsi e questa apparente inversione traspare attraverso le procedure della liturgia democratica, cioè le libere elezioni. Lo scoppio dell’infezione populista, all’interno della maggior parte delle democrazie occidentali, sfida l’idea che le democrazie, una volta consolidate, siano immuni dalla possibilità di sperimentare un’inversione non democratica. I successi elettorali dei partiti e dei leader populisti rappresentano una sfida per la pratica e la teoria democratica. Le ipotesi sul consolidamento democratico possono ancora considerarsi valide? E soprattutto, quali sono le cause dell’infezione populista e come può essere curata?Per quanto riguarda la prima domanda, l’analisi dei dati del World Value Survey (1995-2014) realizzata da due giovani e ambiziosi studiosi,  \citet*{Foa_2016}, fornisce alcuni dati interessanti e allo stesso tempo sconcertanti circa i sentimenti e le percezioni dei cittadini verso la democrazia. Lo studio mostra che in Nord America e in Europa occidentale i cittadini sono diventati sempre più critici verso la democrazia e che una percentuale sempre maggiore non considera più la democrazia come l’unica forma di governo legittima. Ma soprattutto, aumenta la quota di coloro che iniziano a guardare con favore alle alternative non democratiche.Secondo lo studio, mentre le generazioni più anziane continuano a pensare che la democrazia sia essenziale, quelle più giovani sono diventate assai più indifferenti. In Europa, circa il 52% dei cittadini nati dal 1930 al 1939 ritiene che vivere in un paese democratico sia fondamentale, ma solo il 45% circa tra quelli nati dal 1980 al 1989 condivide questa opinione. Negli Stati Uniti, il divario intergenerazionale è ancora più accentuato, e il 72% dei cittadini nati dal 1930 al 1939 ritiene che la democrazia sia essenziale, mentre solo il 30% circa dei nati dal 1980 al 1989 ha mantenuto tale convinzione. Una simile evoluzione è visibile per quanto riguarda il sostegno a forme alternative di governo non democratico: sia negli Stati Uniti che in Europa la percentuale di cittadini che ritengono che essere governati dall’esercito sia un’alternativa “buona” o “molto buona” aumenta costantemente, soprattutto tra i cittadini giovani e ricchi. Uno sguardo più attento ai dati originali conferma che in tutti i paesi ci sono ancora ampie maggioranze a favore della democrazia. Ma mentre ci sono schiaccianti maggioranze democratiche, vi è anche una forte disaffezione per le istituzioni come i partiti politici, i parlamentari e i sindacati. I cittadini che vedono con favore l’eventuale avvento di un leader forte sono ancora una minoranza, ma i numeri sono molto più alti che in passato negli Stati Uniti e in Spagna, in Svezia e anche in Germania.Gli stessi studiosi, in un articolo successivo \citep*{1996} arrivano ad affermare che tutti questi dati potrebbero essere un segnale della fallacia delle assunzioni rispetto alla democrazia e che essi possono rappresentare persino un segnale di un deconsolidamento democratico all’interno delle democrazie occidentali. I sistemi liberali sono stabili se una grande maggioranza dei cittadini sostiene direttamente le istituzioni democratiche come unica forma legittima di governo, ma ciò sembra essere meno vero che in passato.È possibile che questa disaffezione possa minare le basi dei diritti civili e delle istituzioni democratiche? Esiste un rischio che i nuovi leader eletti corrodano sostanzialmente le istituzioni liberali, come già avvenuto in Europa nel periodo tra le due guerre? Finora, ciò è avvenuto solo nelle democrazie deboli e relativamente recenti, come nei casi della Russia e della Turchia, dove i governi sono riusciti a reprimere e addirittura imprigionare avversari reali o potenziali, limitare la libertà di stampa, e sottomettere il potere giudiziario, senza perdere molto del loro sostegno popolare. Può qualcosa di simile accadere anche nelle democrazie consolidate? C’è la possibilità che nuovi leader, con un forte sostegno popolare, usino il loro potere per attaccare le infrastrutture liberali, rompendo la regola d’oro del trionfo democratico, e portino le democrazie consolidate verso forme alternative di governo autoritario?Fino ad ora, i nuovi leader politici hanno mostrato un sentimento anti-establishment piuttosto che un sentimento anti-democratico. Questi nuovi leader politici sono riusciti ad acquisire consenso elettorale usando un linguaggio aggressivo, soprattutto denunciando le malefatte dei politici in carica, e spesso trovando dei capri espiatori nei gruppi sociali ed etnici più deboli e marginali, ma lo hanno fatto attraverso le istituzioni politiche democratiche. Laddove sono riusciti a guadagnare potere, i leader populisti lo hanno fatto attraverso le elezioni libere, ricorrenti e competitive, presentandosi come i veri e autentici rappresentanti della popolazione. Quindi, la possibilità che i segnali evidenziati da Foa e Mounk possano o meno essere considerati un fattore predittivo di una possibile reazione non democratica, è ben lungi dall’essere accertata.Tuttavia, siamo di fronte a due possibili scenari alternativi, entrambi plausibili: in quello ottimista, le nuove forze politiche diventeranno addomesticate e dopo un po’ si abitueranno ad usare il linguaggio e le strategie parlamentari. Il loro linguaggio e le politiche miranti a sfruttare l’attenzione dei cittadini insoddisfatti matureranno, ed essi diventeranno nuovi contendenti nella consueta competizione elettorale. E’ quello che è successo in Italia con la Lega Nord e in Francia con il Front National. Ma nello scenario pessimistico, essi potrebbero utilizzare il loro sostegno popolare per ridurre le libertà e modificare le istituzioni che dovrebbero garantire i controlli e i contrappesi democratici.I sentimenti populisti, più o meno dormienti, sono sempre stati presenti all’interno delle democrazie occidentali, tanto quanto in tutto il resto del mondo, tanto che si potrebbe arrivare a supporre che essi siano sentimenti profondi appartenenti alla stessa natura umana. Può la democrazia riuscire a domarli? Fino a pochi anni fa, tali sentimenti sembravano riguardare solo una minoranza dei cittadini, ma il fatto che i nuovi movimenti politici riescano ad aumentare i loro voti, spesso in maniera alquanto rapida, sta generando una minacciosa corsa al ribasso. In tutti i paesi, i partiti politici tradizionali mostrano una pericolosa propensione a cercare di contrastare i successi elettorali del populismo discutendo le loro stesse questioni e utilizzando lo stesso linguaggio e la stessa retorica. Si tratta di una sorta di infezione e solo pochi politici riescono a resistere alla tentazione di seguire il popolo nei suoi istinti peggiori e, allo stesso tempo, ad essere rieletti. Per questo motivo, se non adeguatamente curata, l’infezione potrebbe finire per danneggiare in modo permanente il sistema democratico stesso.La domanda di fondo a cui dobbiamo rispondere è dunque: perché, negli ultimi anni, il consenso populista è cresciuta così tanto? E qual è la base del suo successo?Per rispondere a questa domanda, è utile adottare una prospettiva storica. I partiti populisti sono cresciuti nella maggior parte delle democrazie occidentali solo dopo la fine della guerra fredda, e la maggior parte di essi nel corso degli ultimi vent’anni. Nonostante alcune eccezioni, la loro percentuale di voti è rimasta al di sotto del dieci per cento per diversi decenni. Guardando i dati elettorali (Figura 1), il quadro cambia radicalmente, e dal 2007 i partiti populisti cominciano a guadagnare terreno. Dal 2007, il supporto ai partiti populisti è cresciuto sia in termine di voti che in termine di seggi parlamentari.Negli Stati Uniti, la campagna elettorale conclusasi lo scorso novembre 2016 ha dimostrato come due “outsiders”, Donald Trump e Bernie Sanders, hanno cercato di prendere d’assalto i due partiti politici tradizionali, quello Democratico e quello Repubblicano. E uno di loro è riuscito nell’impresa. In altri paesi con sistemi politici più pluralistici e polarizzati, come la Spagna, l’Italia, l’Austria, la Francia e la Grecia, la recrudescenza populista ha coinciso con l’ascesa di nuovi movimenti sociali progressisti. Tuttavia, anche in questi casi i partiti populisti sono riusciti ad ottenere un notevole consenso elettorale. In Italia, il Movimento 5 Stelle ha ottenuto il 25,6 per cento dei voti nel 2013, risultando il partito più votato in quella che era la sua prima competizione elettorale parlamentare. In Grecia, il consenso di Syriza è aumentato dal 4,6 per cento nelle elezioni del 2009 al 35,5 per cento in quelle del 2015. In Svezia, il Sverigedemokraterna (SD), un partito populista di destra, è passato dal 2.9 per cento nel 2006 al 12.9 per cento nel 2014.L’evoluzione temporale del populismo (figura 1) sembra indicare che la variabile economica ha giocato un ruolo importante sia nell’affermazione, che nella crescita del consenso dei partiti populisti. Da un lato, l’affermazione della maggior parte dei partiti populisti nel 1990 ha coinciso con una stagnazione economica, molto accentuata anche se non prolungata nel tempo, iniziata nel 1992/1993. D’altra parte, la loro crescita ha coinciso con la prolungata crisi economica scoppiata nel 2008. In entrambi i casi, i paesi occidentali hanno sperimentato un calo consistente dei tassi di crescita e un’importante stagnazione economica (figura 2).

In the 1920s José Ortega y Gasset, an educated and conservative Spanish thinker, observed with increasing concern that liberal regimes, in spite of the fact that they extended suffrage and increased political and social rights, were losing control over their political systems and that the masses were inclined to support extremist political forces \citep{j1929}. The populist upsurge we have witnessed in the last years could be the symptom, to use Ortega’s term, of a new revolt of the masses. The rebellion is directed not so much towards the very essence of the democratic form of government, but rather towards those elites that have failed to share advantages with the people.

José R. Gregório, Clarice C. Leite, Bárbara C. Leal, William K. Nitschke, Fernanda R. S. Pederzolli, Katiúscia M. Nobre, Marcus V. B. de Fraga e Cláudia B. da SilvaInstituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Emails: jrg@ufrgs.br, portalclarice@yahoo.com.br, barbara.leal@ufrgs.br, william.kn@gmail.com, fernanda.pederzolli@ufrgs.br, katiusciamn@gmail.com, marcusfraga3@yahoo.com.br, claudiabritto.silva@gmail.comResumo: A evasão e a retenção universitária vêm se impondo, ao longo do tempo, como uma realidade cada vez mais ostensiva no âmbito do ensino de graduação dos cursos de ciências exatas. Com o intuito de oferecer alternativas para erradicar este problema, ações que visam à democratização e à permanência dos estudantes de ensino superior vêm sendo adotadas em algumas instituições de ensino federal brasileiras. Neste artigo descreve-se a contribuição do programa PAG-Química (Programa de Apoio à Graduação em Química), proposto pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) no âmbito do programa REUNI (Reestruturação das Universidades Federais), que tem por objetivo a busca de sanar esta dificuldade, ajudando estudantes que necessitam de apoio no processo ensino-aprendizagem em Química (é também oferecido apoio em Cálculo, Física, Português, Inglês e Produção de Textos Acadêmicos e Científicos), através de aulas de reforço proporcionadas pelo professor tutor desta disciplina e por alunos do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Química e em Ciência dos Materiais da UFRGS.Palavras-chave: química geral, evasão, programa de apoio.Title: The Undergraduate Support Program in Chemistry (PAG-Chemistry) – Contribution to the democratization and permanence of students in higher educationAbstract: The dropout and university retention are becoming a reality within undergraduate sciences courses. In order to offer alternatives to eradicate this problem, actions aimed to the democratization and permanence of higher education students are being adopted in some Brazilian federal educational institutions. In this article we describe the contribution of the PAG-Chemistry Program (Undergraduate Support Program in Chemistry), proposed by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) as part of the REUNI (Restructuration of Federal Universities) program, which aims to search to face this difficulty, helping students who need support in the process of teaching and learning in Chemistry (there is also support in Calculus, Physics, Portuguese, English, and Production of Academic and Scientific Texts) through reinforcement courses provided by the tutor of this course and students of the Graduate Programs in Chemistry and in Materials Science from UFRGS.Keywords : general chemistry; dropout; support program

A document by José Ribeiro Gregório. Click on the document to view its contents.

IntroductionIn this report we will discuss how the Navier-Stokes momentum equation for incompressible flows can be adapted to a numerical solution so that analysis of fluid flow around a fixed object can be made. We will discuss a simplification of the Navier-Stokes equation by a change of variable from velocity to vorticity, the curl of velocity, and the stream function who's spatial derivatives will return the components of our velocity for each section of flow. As well we will examine what boundary conditions are necessary in order to create a flow through our domain and other conditions which will define the boundaries of our object. Finally we will discuss some of the limitations of this examination.MathIn our derivation we began with the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation of the form,

A common standard for reporting results in astrophysics (and likely much of science) is flawed. When reporting a distribution we often assume it is distributed as a Gaussian and report the position of the 16th, 50th and 84th percentile of the data. This is a useful _summary statistic_ - it tells us concrete information about the general form of the distribution. However, it can be misleading if read as a _result_ - something that gives a representative reporting of the distribution. If a distribution is asymmetric then the three stated percentiles have no direct relevance to the data, and it is not possible to recreate an approximation to the distribution from them. This is of particular concern when one author quotes _results_ from another (particularly if they are actually repurposing _summary statistics_) to use for meta-data analysis or as priors for their own work. Asymmetric extensions of the Gaussian normal exist, but are rarely used, because their parameters need to be estimated via costly methods (whilst computing the mean or the median is a direct and efficient calculation). In this paper I show a method for calculating the 3 parameters that define the _split normal_ directly and robustly. I suggest that this could become the new minimal standard for _pragmatic_ result reporting - encoding a more representative approximate distribution without any extra overhead and allowing authors to be more definite in separating _summary statistics_ and the reporting of usable _results_.

Econetwork sustainability under desertification pressure in deltaic ecosystems of arid regionsN.Mamutov, P.Reymov, M.Reymov, V.Statov, Ya.Khudaybergenov Karakalpak State University Transformation of the deltaic and riparian ecosystems in the arid regions is a great challenge for the environment protection and biodiversity conservation. There is a set of impacts that causes tremendous changes in ecosystem functions, including anthropic pressure, desertification, soil erosion and drought.  To preserve vulnerable and unique plant communities and habitat for endangered species one need to manage land use with a especial emphasis to support existing econetwork. We mad an analysis of the main components of this econetwork for the Northern part of Amudarya delta and every part of the ecosytem could be presented as a separate compartment with specific edaphic parameters, spatial location and site-specific interaction with other components of the ecosystem. The model is compatible with satellite imaging after calculation of spectral indexes to correct input data. This model had been arranged as dynamic map with joined geoinformatic tools for spatial analysis and expert support. This conception develops idea of geoecologic map as a base for a spatial decision support system, combining snapshot of the ecosystem and a scheme of a feedback and interactions between part of the natural complex. The model can forecast changes in a spatial structure of the deltaic ecosystems for the various  climatic and watering scenarios.

A classical model is presented that, due to electric field, when a particle is passing double slits, a self induced force can arise so that the particle is impacted by both slits simultaneously to form concentration varying patterns. While this model may not precisely account for the interference fringes, it raises a question on the origin of the diffraction patterns and imposes restrictions on wave-particle duality.

AUTHORS:Ellen K.W. Brennan1,2*, Shyam Kumar Sudhakar1*, Izabela Jedrasiak-Cape1 &Omar J. Ahmed1,2,3,4,5

AUTHORS:William M. Sheeran1,6,7 and Omar J. Ahmed1,2,3,4,5 1Department of Psychology,2Department of Biomedical Engineering,3Neuroscience Graduate Program,4Kresge Hearing Research Institute,5Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care,6Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology,University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 481057Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045CORRESPONDENCE: Omar J. Ahmed 4040 East Hall, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 ojahmed@umich.edu

MODELAGEM DO CAMPO GRAVITACIONAL DE UM CORPO COM DISTRIBUIÇÃO DE MASSA IRREGULAR Marcelo Lisboa Mota \({}^{1}\), Evandro Marconi Rocco\({}^{2}\)\({}^{1}\)Instituto Federal de Educação\({}^{2}\)Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas EspaciaisO objetivo deste trabalho é estabelecer um modelo analítico que reproduza com maior precisão o campo gravitacional em torno de um corpo não esférico, com densidade constante, pois, em razão da irregularidade de sua distribuição de massa, seu potencial apresenta uma perturbação em relação ao campo central. A partir de sua decomposição em elementos tetraédricos e utilizando o método da expansão do potencial em série, obtém-se seu potencial total aproximado, somando os potenciais relativos a cada tetraedro gerado. Tendo em vista verificar a validade desse procedimento, modelou-se o campo gravitacional de um cubo homogêneo unitário utilizando esse método, confrontando os resultados obtidos, com aqueles apresentados pelo modelo exato desse hexaedro, além de compará-los, também, com os resultados obtidos pelo modelo das concentrações de massa. Dessa maneira, comprovou-se a consistência do modelo concebido pelo método da expansão do potencial em série, o qual apresenta a vantagem de expressar o potencial gravitacional por meio de uma função polinomial homogênea, e, portanto, contínua e de fácil manipulação algébrica. De fato, o estudo apresentado aqui, possibilita aplicar esta técnica em corpos com distribuições de massas irregulares, tais como, os asteroides, fornecendo subsídios às análises mais complexas, tais como o estudo de órbitas periódicas ao redor de corpos celestes não esféricos, verificações de suas estabilidades, assim como na trajetória de pouso suave de um veículo espacial.

Toxic and radioactive metals left over from the nuclear fuel cycle are of primary concern to the health of humans and the environment.  Why?  Because as the uranium from the reactor core 'burns', it decays to other elements, and leaving a pile of toxic material.  Most of these remaining elements are still radioactive, and of particular concern are cesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr), which have the highest level of radioactivity in the waste.  Check out this HBO show by John Oliver, in a hilariously disturbing portrayal of America's nuclear waste problem, he accurately points out many issues that never seem to go away.  I am deeply concerned by the nation's nuclear waste problem, and I spent a great deal of my career finding ways to safely separate highly radioactive elements, and securely store them for as long as thousands of years.  A recent paper I published looks into how the mineral gaidonnayite (pronounced: gay-don-NAY-ite), a hydrated sodium zirconium silicate, is surprisingly good at absorbing those toxic metals.

To use the actual template to write an Article, please use this link: https://authorea.com/templates/article_template_for_genetics_genomics_nextSubmissions should be made via the online manuscript tracking system.  For technical help with the submission system, please contact the journal. Initial submission does not need to be formatted to this journal's style  For ease of evaluation and submission, the journal recommends an editable Word .docx or Authorea text document and a single merged PDF that includes all parts of main text and high-resolution figures embedded into the file.  A suitable PDF will be constructed by uploading text and figures using the online manuscript tracking system.  This journal does not impose word count and figure limits.  Table 1 contains the journal’s suggestions so that the manuscript is respectful of reader time and are readable by specialist and generalist alike.AcknowledgementsAuthors should list all funding sources here, please check Open Funder Registry. Contributions and material support from anyone not listed as an author should be acknowledged here, with permission from the contributor. Thanks to anonymous reviewers are not allowed.Conflict of Interest StatementAll authors are required to declare if they have potential conflicts of interest related to the submission, or none. This declaration shall be published. Submitting authors shall confirm all co-authors agree with the final statement.AbstractWhat is known in the field, for a general readership. Define the area and knowledge for a specialist.Explain the motivation and need for the research defined by the gap in existing knowledge.State your main claim or finding . Support that with evidence, statistics and detail, mentioning essential methods and analytical techniques that provided the evidence.State the meaning and significance of your new results for research in the field.End by suggesting realistic immediate implications and uses of your findings in your field and more broadly.IntroductionGive credit to and cite all the primary research publications that lay the background to this work including those to be discussed in the Discussion. Give context as to whether these are essential methods and analytic strategies or experimental findings. Ensure that causation, correlation and conjectureResults Make the main claims in logical order, supported by display items and methodsDiscussion Summarize and evaluate the robustness and meaning of the main findings in light of existing publications. Be skeptical and discuss any limitations of the study and conditions where the results may or may not be applicableMaterials and MethodsMethods and materials transparencyOffer methods used in the analysis, and materials used to conduct the research to any researcher for purposes of reproducing the results or replicating the procedure.  Indicate any restrictions on analytic methods including software, and tools and study materials available to other researchers. Specify how, where and when that material will be available.  If an existing method or tool is used in the research, the authors are responsible for checking the license and state confirmation of permission.To obtain Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs): Use the Resource Identification Portal .Design and analysis transparencyAuthors are encouraged to review standards for disclosing key aspects of the research design and data analysis at http://www.equator-network.org/ and use those that are relevant for their research. Research reporting standards are widely adopted in our field, and exceeding their evolving requirements is essential to sustain the impact of genetics and genomics for research and for society.  Here is the current list of reporting standards, vocabularies, models, schemas and databases that we recommend we recommend at FAIRsharing.org.Human studies and research participantsIdentify the ethics committee that approved the human study, and that the study conforms to recognized standards, for example: Declaration of Helsinki; US Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects; or European Medicines Agency Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice. If no formal ethics committee is available, state that the research was carried out in accordance with recognized standards (e.g. the Declaration of Helsinki, as revised in 2013).Images and information from individual participants, including participants from patient registries and databases, will only be published where the authors have obtained the individual's free prior informed consent. Authors do not need to provide a copy of consent forms to the publisher but, in signing the author license to publish, authors are required to confirm that specific informed consent to publish the image has been obtained. Wiley has a standard patient consent form available for authors to use if required. This requirement to obtained informed consent applies whether or not patients are identifiable from the information presented in the submission.Animal studiesFor submissions involving animal studies, state the protocol and procedures employed were ethically reviewed and approved, and the name of the organization giving approval. State whether experiments were performed in accordance with relevant institutional and national guidelines and regulations for the care and use of laboratory animals:US authors should cite compliance with the US National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, the US Public Health Service's Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.UK authors should conform to UK legislation under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Amendment Regulations (SI 2012/3039).EU authors should conform to Directive 2010/63/EU.Cell line authentication Declare where the cells were obtained, whether the cell lines have been tested and authenticated and the method by which the cells were tested. If cells were obtained directly from a cell bank that performs cell line characterizations and passaged in the user’s laboratory for fewer than 6 months after receipt or resuscitation, re-authentication is not required. Data Availability StatementPlease choose text from Table 3 and provide a citation to available data in the References list. These sequence data have been submitted to the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession number XXXXX  Gene expression data (derived from microarrays or sequencing) has been deposited to a MIAME- or MINSEQE-compliant public repository like the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) with accession XXXXXProtein Sequence Data should be submitted to UniProt with accession XXXXXReferences [terms in brackets will be removed before publication]1. [article] Wood WG, Eckert GP, Igbavboa U, Muller WE. Statins and neuroprotection: a prescription to move the field forward. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2010; 1199:69-76. 2. [book] Hoppert, M. Microscopic techniques in biotechnology. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH; 2003.3. [dataset]Authors; Year; Dataset title; Data repository or archive; Version (if any); Persistent identifier (e.g. DOI)4. [URI, GWAS summary statistics] Savage, J.E. et al. Genome-wide association meta-analysis in 269,867      individuals identifies new genetic and functional links to intelligence      https://www.ebi.ac.uk/gwas/studies/GCST006250 (2018)5. [supplementary data] Jagadeesan, A. et al. MDS/PCA plots within West Africa    https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5640931 (2017)Tables (each table complete with title and footnotes)      

INTRODUCTION The genus Moringa consists of 13 species worldwide and few of them are well known for their medicinal properties. Moringa oleifera, also known as Moringa/Horseradish tree/Drumstick tree is a fast growing tree native to Asia (Okuda et al., 1999; Lalas and Tsaknis, 2002). These species are widely cultivated in various tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world, because of their popularity as a source of food (Marrufo et al., 2013; Fahey, 2005). Moringa is an effective remedy for malnutrition and contains essential phytochemicals in its leaves, pods, roots, stems and seeds. It is a multipurpose shrub beneficial for both human and animal consumptions (Marrufo et al., 2013). This plant is also known to exhibit antimicrobial, antifungal and anticancer properties. The objective of this study is to determine and compare the phytochemical composition of leaves, stems, seeds, pods and roots of Moringa oleifera grown in Texas. Moringa plants contain nutritional components which benefit human health. The hypothesis is that moringa leaves contain higher nutritional value than other parts of the moringa plant. \int_a^bu{dx^2}\,dx =\left.u{dx}\right|_a^b -\int_a^b{dx}{dx}\,dx.

Authors:Allison M. Ahrens1 & Omar J. Ahmed1,2,3,4,5

As an office worker, you are likely to spend extended periods at your desk, staring at a computer screen. For those of us who have been in the game for a long time, this way of working might stretch all the way back to university and beyond. Unsurprisingly, research has shown that sedentary working habits can have an adverse effect on our health in the long term. In a number of white-collar industries, many of us are expected to work an 80-hour week mainly at our desks. If you want to ensure you stay healthy while working an office job, here are a few tips to help you on your way.Cycle or Walk to WorkHealthy work habits can begin with your commute. One of the best ways to keep yourself fit and save money/the environment in the long term is to cycle to work where possible. Many cities are evolving to become more cycle-friendly, and the government’s cycle to work scheme can help you to get a bike through work at a discounted rate. While not all of us will live close enough for this to be a viable option, you could even look at taking public transport part of the way there, keeping you and your bank balance healthy. Keep a Healthy Office DietIn the UK, we have problems with eating properly at lunchtime. There is a work culture across many places that frowns upon people taking extended breaks, and it expects people to work through their lunch, at their desk. This often means a quick lunch consisting of a pre-made sandwich or some other kind of fast food. Take the time to make yourself a nutritious lunch and stay away from the pre-made stuff that is often an unhealthy option. Many offices now offer staff free fruit, so make sure you’re taking full advantage of this and staying away from the chocolate and crisps in the vending machine.Sit Properly At Your DeskIn recent years, a great deal of research has been undertaken into the physical effects of working at a desk in the long term. In terms of proper posture and desk height, you should make sure you always sit upright at your computer and have your computer monitors right in your eye line. There are useful guides on preventing back pain that can help you to set up your desk properly. Spending long periods working at a computer can also hurt your eyesight. If your monitors are poorly adjusted or your office is dark, you can be doing yourself real damage in the long term without knowing it. Have a read up on the recommended settings to ensure you aren’t doing yourself any harm. We are increasingly finding ourselves in jobs that require us to be sedentary for extended periods of time. As humans, we are not built to work this way day-in-day-out, so it is vital that we take steps to remain healthy in our jobs. Sometimes doing something as simple as getting up from your desk once an hour for a wander around the office will do you a world of good. Making these little habits part of your routine will help you to maintain a healthy lifestyle in the long-term.

Expression and purification of the Green Fluorescent Protein via immobilized metal ion affinity.Olga D. SieluzyckaSchool of Biological and Chemical Sciences (Fogg Building)Queen Mary University of London Mile End RoadLondon E14NS UKABSTRACT: The aim of the experiment is to express and purify recombinant His-tagged Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) protein inEscherichia coli (E.coli) using metal affinity chromatography. GFP is an excellent trafficking tool in modern biochemistry. The protein was expressed in E.Coli and introduced to the required organism by a plasmid transformation. Plasmid containing the GFP was controlled by the T7 promoter had ampicillin resistance and had an N-terminal His6 tag fusion to facilitate the process of purification in the later stages of experiment. The expression of proteins was confirmed by the SDS gel by comparing the bands widths. The goal of experiment was not fully met.Introduction: The main objective of the experiment is to express and purify recombinant His tagged, Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). GFP is a protein native to a jellyfish, Aequorea Victoriaand due to its remarkable fluorescence it has a vast amount of applications in modern biochemistry such as in vivo labelling and visualization of cells structures. Since the GFPs fluorescence disturbed by unfavorable conditions can recover in the correct pH and temperature it is incredibly useful in molecular biology and its ability to track “real time” changes in cells with a “naked eye” captured the attention of various researchers. (Wu et al., 2008) Another big advantage of using GFP over other molecular trackers is that it does not require any substrates or cofactors has a low toxicity towards examined cells and does not alter the localization of its fusion partner. (Kumar et al., 2016)

Introduction.Large organizations like IKEA would equally face challenges like those faced by smaller market players especially when attempting to penetrate new markets. More so when the language, culture and legal requirements are very different from where she comes from or origin. The opportunities and challenges in the new country determine managerial and marketing strategies that must be employed by any company on the growth journey.In the sections that follow, first, an attempt is made to analyze the opportunities and challenges for IKEA in their market operations in China, an emerging market as well as Japan which was a more advanced economy. The entry strategies are also being analyzed, key considerations and strategies for market entries are presented. IKEA’s product, pricing, marketing communication and distribution decisions and how the selected options addressed the identified challenges is discussed.Finally, my opinion on what would be IKEA’s marketing strategy in future in order to gain and sustain market shares thereby increasing shareholder value is presented.

Using a free image editing software, GIMP, by applying edge filters we show a possible real shape of the nearly region of the event horizon, what could actually be in contact with the ergosphere of M87 Supermassive Black Hole; images  are in high quality from Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration on april 11th 2019 papers.

SummaryThis is the editor’s review of manuscript CiSESI-2018-02-0016: “CoRR — The Cloud of Reproducible Records,” submitted to Computing in Science and Engineering Reproducible Research (RR) Track. We requested via email to the corresponding author that a preprint be made available on arXiv or an equivalent service, but did not receive a reply. It is policy of the RR Track to require a preprint; see our launch editorial \citep*{Barba_2017}.

Chronic inflammation has been associated with numerous diseases, and many old people suffer from chronic inflammatory illnesses; however, the connections between age and inflammation are still obscure.Aging is marked by an overall decline of tissue and cellular functions. At the cellular level, it is accompanied with damages to DNA, RNA, and impairments of protein functions. Organisms can detect these damages and elicit innate immune responses to remove aged, dying or dead cells, and cell debris from tissues. However, as the cells of innate immunity age, their reduced energy production may hinder the clearance processes, which require energy, thus, the persistence of this debris in tissues, resulting in subsequent inflammatory responses. Cytokines accumulated during inflammation could further deteriorate local tissues and accelerate the aging process.Benayoun et al. \cite{Benayoun_2019} used machine learning that is capable of data-training, self-improvement, and prediction to investigate epigenomic (three histone marks) and transcriptomic landscapes in mice during the aging process and generated by far the largest datasets, using multiple tissues such as heart, liver, cerebellum, olfactory bulb, and primary culture of neural stem cells from young, middle-aged, and old mice. The researchers determined epigenomic states that could predict transcriptional changes at specific genomic loci during aging. They found that, in all examined tissues, the interferon response pathway was robustly activated, perhaps to detect DNA damages and the expression of retrovirus-like transposons, and that multiple innate immune pathways were also upregulated significantly. These results strongly supported the conclusion that inflammation is a commonly shared hallmark for vertebrate aging tissues.If we can reduce or prevent the inflammation process, aged tissues may be rejuvenated and prolonged for their normal functions. These transcription factors provide potential targets for pharmaceutical development and therapeutic strategies for healthy aging.Author ORCiDAlison Liu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0171-6441

A new method  \cite{Ludwig_2019} traces the cellular relationship and hierarchies (the “pedigrees”) of human cells within the body by reading the DNA sequences of hundreds to thousands of mitochondria extracted from single cells.Various genetic labeling techniques have been developed for lineage tracing in other model organisms. However, the above techniques are not applicable in intact humans. Cell lineage tracing is the most direct way to understand the development of complex cell types and their relationships in an organism, and an important method to trace abnormal cells over time to monitor developmental mosaicism, as demonstrated in C. elegans . In mammals, cell lineage tracing is particularly important for tracing cancer cells and their migration because cancers present special difficulties due to fast-paced proliferation and sequential genetic mutations. Lineage tracing can also determine if transplantation is successful and transplanted cells or tissues are on the correct site.The researchers showed that single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and transposase accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) methods could be used in combination to trace the inheritance of mitochondrial mutations, chromosomal states, and gene expressions at the same time, in multiple human cell colonies obtained from cultured cells, multiple human tissues, tumor cells, and transplanted cells.  ATAC-seq detects the regions of chromosomes that are not wrapped into nucleosomes by histone proteins, thus defining cellular or chromosomal states.  Using this method, they identified large numbers of mitochondrial DNA mutations and heteroplasmy (the presence of different types of mitochondrial genomes) that were associated with specific cell populations, tissues, or individuals. These experiments led to an important conclusion that mitochondrial mutations were inherited in the cellular colonies with extensive divisions stably and without being affected by cellular or chromosomal state, and the high mutation rate in mitochondrial DNA allows cellular sub-colonies to be traced with high resolution.Thus, the single-cell sequencing of mitochondrial DNA mutations provides a method that is much more accurate, stable, and affordable than a single-cell genome sequencing method to study clonal architecture in human health and diseases.Author ORCiDAlison Liu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0171-6441