A Qualitative Analysis of How Individuals Utilized the Twitter Hashtags #NotOkay and #MeToo to Comment on the Perpetration of Interpersonal Violence

The present study examined how individuals describe the nature of interpersonal violence perpetrated against them using the Twitter hashtags #NotOkay and #MeToo. Iterative qualitative coding of 437 tweets resulted in four major themes (i.e., the nature of violence and tactics utilized, the identity of the perpetrator, the location of the assault, and whether the perpetrator was held accountable). Subthemes nested beneath perpetrator identity included whether the perpetrator was known, as well as perpetrator gender identity. Subthemes nested beneath perpetrator tactic included the presence of multiple perpetrators, whether the assault was a crime of opportunity, engagement in physical aggression, utilization of psychological abuse, perpetration of sexual abuse, substance use at the time of the assault (victim and/or perpetrator), whether the abuse persisted, and whether the perpetrator used a weapon. Findings contradict stereotypes that frame interpersonal violence as a single occurrence committed by a stranger who planned an attack using a weapon

Tributes to Professor Alan Hornstein

Tributes to Professor Alan Hornstein upon his retirement from the University of Maryland School of Law

Reconstruction of the lipid metabolism for the microalga Monoraphidium neglectum from its genome sequence reveals characteristics suitable for biofuel production

Bogen C, Al-Dilaimi A, Albersmeier A, et al. Reconstruction of the lipid metabolism for the microalga Monoraphidium neglectum from its genome sequence reveals characteristics suitable for biofuel production. BMC Genomics. 2013;14(1): 926.BACKGROUND: Microalgae are gaining importance as sustainable production hosts in the fields of biotechnology and bioenergy. A robust biomass accumulating strainof the genus Monoraphidium (SAG 48.87) was investigated in this work as apotential feedstock for biofuel production. The genome was sequenced, annotated, and key enzymes for triacylglycerol formation were elucidated. RESULTS: Monoraphidium neglectum was identified as an oleaginous species with favourable growth characteristics as well as a high potential for crude oil production, based on neutral lipid contents of approximately 21% (dry weight) under nitrogen starvation, composed of predominantly C18:1 and C16:0 fatty acids. Further characterization revealed growth in a relatively wide pH range and salt concentrations of up to 1.0% NaCl, in which the cells exhibited larger structures. This first full genome sequencing of a member of the Selenastraceae revealed a diploid, approximately 68 Mbp genome with a G + C content of 64.7%. The circular chloroplast genome was assembled to a 135,362 bp single contig, containing 67 protein-coding genes. The assembly of the mitochondrial genome resulted in two contigs with an approximate total size of 94 kb, the largest known mitochondrial genome within algae. 16,761 protein-coding genes were assigned to the nuclear genome. Comparison of gene sets with respect to functional categories revealed a higher gene number assigned to the category "carbohydrate metabolic process" and in "fatty acid biosynthetic process" in M. neglectum when compared to Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Nannochloropsis gaditana, indicating a higher metabolic diversity for applications in carbohydrate conversions of biotechnological relevance. CONCLUSIONS: The genome of M. neglectum, as well as the metabolic reconstruction of crucial lipid pathways, provides new insights into the diversity of the lipid metabolism in microalgae. The results of this work provide a platform to encourage the development of this strain for biotechnological applications and production concepts

Tributes to Professor Alice Brumbaugh

Tributes to Professor Alice Brumbaugh upon her retirement from the University of Maryland School of Law

Expanding the Versatility of Phage Display I: Efficient Display of Peptide-Tags on Protein VII of the Filamentous Phage

Background: Phage display is a platform for selection of specific binding molecules and this is a clear-cut motivation for increasing its performance. Polypeptides are normally displayed as fusions to the major coat protein VIII (pVIII), or the minor coat protein III (pIII). Display on other coat proteins such as pVII allows for display of heterologous peptide sequences on the virions in addition to those displayed on pIII and pVIII. In addition, pVII display is an alternative to pIII or pVIII display. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we demonstrate how standard pIII or pVIII display phagemids are complemented with a helper phage which supports production of virions that are tagged with octa FLAG, HIS6 or AviTag on pVII. The periplasmic signal sequence required for pIII and pVIII display, and which has been added to pVII in earlier studies, is omitted altogether. Conclusions/Significance: Tagging on pVII is an important and very useful add-on feature to standard pIII and pVII display. Any phagemid bearing a protein of interest on either pIII or pVIII can be tagged with any of the tags depending simply on choice of helper phage. We show in this paper how such tags may be utilized for immobilization and separation as well as purification and detection of monoclonal and polyclonal phage populations. © 2011 Wälchli et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Accounting Problems Under the Excess Profits Tax

DNA vaccines based on subunits from pathogens have several advantages over other vaccine strategies. DNA vaccines can easily be modified, they show good safety profiles, are stable and inexpensive to produce, and the immune response can be focused to the antigen of interest. However, the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines which is generally quite low needs to be improved. Electroporation and co-delivery of genetically encoded immune adjuvants are two strategies aiming at increasing the efficacy of DNA vaccines. Here, we have examined whether targeting to antigen-presenting cells (APC) could increase the immune response to surface envelope glycoprotein (Env) gp120 from Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV- 1). To target APC, we utilized a homodimeric vaccine format denoted vaccibody, which enables covalent fusion of gp120 to molecules that can target APC. Two molecules were tested for their efficiency as targeting units: the antibody-derived single chain Fragment variable (scFv) specific for the major histocompatilibility complex (MHC) class II I-E molecules, and the CC chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3). The vaccines were delivered as DNA into muscle of mice with or without electroporation. Targeting of gp120 to MHC class II molecules induced antibodies that neutralized HIV-1 and that persisted for more than a year after one single immunization with electroporation. Targeting by CCL3 significantly increased the number of HIV-1 gp120-reactive CD8(+) T cells compared to non-targeted vaccines and gp120 delivered alone in the absence of electroporation. The data suggest that chemokines are promising molecular adjuvants because small amounts can attract immune cells and promote immune responses without advanced equipment such as electroporation.Funding Agencies|Research Council of Norway; Odd Fellow</p