Elusive Peace: A Comparative Analysis of Civil Wars and Conflict Resolution in El Salvador and Colombia

This study compares the historical contexts of the rise of civil wars and their modem trajectories in Colombia and El Salvador. Through an analysis of the successful negotiation of peace in the Salvadoran case via a United Nations peacekeeping mission, it makes conclusions about the relevancy of such an operation for obtaining peace in Colombia. After a brief discussion of the United Nations evolving peacekeeping mandate and recent literature about this type of peace negotiation, this thesis examines each country’s history and its war’s termination (in the case of El Salvador) and transformation (in the case of Colombia). Recent literature supports multi-dimensional peacekeeping operations undertaken by organizations such as the United Nations and uses El Salvador as a model for the successful implementation of such missions. This study concludes that such an outlook is too optimistic and that particular historicalpolitical factors played a larger role in achieving peace in El Salvador which do not exist in Colombia. Furthermore, there are several major obstacles with which the United Nations has never contended but that it would have to confront in developing a peacekeeping mandate for Colombi

Optimization of bisguaiacol F Synthesis via Microwave Assistance

Bisphenol A (BPA, 4-[1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-methylethyl]phenol) is a monomer utilized to produce epoxy resins and in thermal printing processes. Two primary problems are posed by the production of BPA: It is environmentally and toxicologically damaging. If a molecule that mimicked the properties and structure of BPA yet lacked its toxicologically damaging effects could be manufactured from renewable sources these concerns could be greatly reduced. One such monomer is bisguaiacol F (BGF, 4-[(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-2-methoxyphenol). While BGF mimics BPA, typical reaction mechanisms require a laborious workup resulting in diminished yield and purity. We hypothesize that utilizing microwave assistance in the synthesis of BGF will ultimately increase the efficiency and renewability of the reaction, as well as the purity of the product. BGF was synthesized by electrophilic aromatic coupling of vanillyl alcohol and guaiacol. In preliminary experiments, Amberlyst resin was used as the acidic catalyst in water. Reactions run at 65° C and 100° C resulted in moderate yields (40-60%) of a mixture of p,p’ and o,p’ isomers following laborious workup and purification. An additional reaction was run using ethanol as a solvent and sulfuric acid as a catalyst and produced low yields (15.6%) of BGF. Current conclusions indicate that reaction conditions of water and Amberlyst resin reacted at higher temperatures produce higher yields of BGF. Future work involves utilization of microwave assisted synthesis to optimize the synthesis BGF. Water and Amberlyst resin will be used to establish baseline conditions concerning optimal time, temperature, and heating rate. Once determined, solvent (i.e. DMF, ethanol, DME) and catalyst (i. e. Amberlyst resin, sulfuric acid, functionalized silica gel) will be varied to determine which combination produces the greatest yield and purity of p,p’ BGF. Simplification of reaction workup and purification will be investigated throughout the project

Optimization of bisguaiacol F Synthesis via Microwave Assistance

Bisphenol A (BPA, 4-[1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-methylethyl]phenol) is a monomer utilized to produce epoxy resins and in thermal printing processes. Two primary problems are posed by the production of BPA: It is environmentally and toxicologically damaging. If a molecule that mimicked the properties and structure of BPA yet lacked its toxicologically damaging effects could be manufactured from renewable sources these concerns could be greatly reduced. One such monomer is bisguaiacol F (BGF, 4-[(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-2-methoxyphenol). While BGF mimics BPA, typical reaction mechanisms require a laborious workup resulting in diminished yield and purity. We hypothesize that utilizing microwave assistance in the synthesis of BGF will ultimately increase the efficiency and renewability of the reaction, as well as the purity of the product. BGF was synthesized by electrophilic aromatic coupling of vanillyl alcohol and guaiacol. In preliminary experiments, Amberlyst resin was used as the acidic catalyst in water. Reactions run at 65° C and 100° C resulted in moderate yields (40-60%) of a mixture of p,p’ and o,p’ isomers following laborious workup and purification. An additional reaction was run using ethanol as a solvent and sulfuric acid as a catalyst and produced low yields (15.6%) of BGF. Current conclusions indicate that reaction conditions of water and Amberlyst resin reacted at higher temperatures produce higher yields of BGF. Future work involves utilization of microwave assisted synthesis to optimize the synthesis BGF. Water and Amberlyst resin will be used to establish baseline conditions concerning optimal time, temperature, and heating rate. Once determined, solvent (i.e. DMF, ethanol, DME) and catalyst (i. e. Amberlyst resin, sulfuric acid, functionalized silica gel) will be varied to determine which combination produces the greatest yield and purity of p,p’ BGF. Simplification of reaction workup and purification will be investigated throughout the project

Chromatin Compaction and Genome Reorganization During Spermatogenesis in M. Musculus and Sporulation in S. Cerevisiae

Gametogenesis is a complex process that results in a highly differentiated gamete capable of transmitting genetic and epigenetic information to the next generation. In the cases of mammalian spermatogenesis and yeast sporulation, an extreme post-meiotic compaction of the genome is key to gamete function. While genome compaction in sperm is reliant upon a histone-to-protamine transition, yeast spores accomplish compaction with a full complement of histones. Although the mechanisms behind such striking chromatin dynamics are largely unknown, several histone variants and post-translational modifications, especially acetylation of histone H4, have been implicated in these processes. The following studies elucidate the roles of two proteins, BRD4 and the linker histone (Hho1), in chromatin compaction during mouse spermatogenesis and yeast sporulation, respectively. In the post-meiotic phase of mouse spermatogenesis, BRD4 forms a ring structure around the haploid nucleus at the cytoskeletal base of the developing acrosome, which has been implicated in nuclear compaction and shaping. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry and sequencing in post-meiotic cells revealed that BRD4, a bromodomain-containing protein, binds to acetylated histone H4 and is enriched in intergenic regions of the genome where histone replacement by protamines is most predominant in mature sperm. Thus, BRD4 may provide a structural link between the contractile force of acrosome formation and the removal of acetylated histones from the genome. In contrast to sperm, spores must use a histone-based chromatin compaction mechanism. During sporulation, Hho1 plays a dual role: transcriptional repression and nuclear compaction. Hho1 is depleted during meiosis and enriched in post-meiotic spore chromatin. Moreover, Hho1 shows a high genome-wide binding correlation with Ume6, the master repressor of meiotic genes. Meiotic depletion of both of these proteins may lead to the activation of key sporulation genes. In addition, knockout of HHO1 revealed its necessity in meiotic progression and post-meiotic genome compaction. These data provide support to the interesting hypothesis that protamines are evolutionarily derived from linker histones: Hho1 may play the role of protamines in yeast. Taken together, these studies in mouse and yeast highlight the complexity of mechanisms developed in diverse eukaryotic systems to facilitate the compaction of the gamete genome

Right Under Their Noses: Helping Patrons Identify the Resources at Their Fingertips

A concern of all academic Interlibrary Loan Departments is having faculty/ staff & students request materials already owned by their home library. Jessica Garner, Jessica Williams, Fred Smith, and Jermaine Bryant conducted a qualitative research study with IRB approval to explore this concern. In this session, the presenters will describe how data suggest a more streamlined approach to redirecting searches originating in the library for outside sources to assets already physically (or electronically) stored in the library

Social Media Ethos: Raising Awareness about Communication Center Programs and Outreach through the Use of Twitter

Communication centers often develop a social media presence to engage with audiences about services, programs, and strategies. Twitter, as a popular social media platform, has been adopted by many communication centers. In this article, researchers from the Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Noel Studio for Academic Creativity share strategies, best practices, and analysis for using Twitter tags, hashtags, and geotags to engage with different publics.

Extinction Learning as a Potential Mechanism Linking High Vagal Tone with Lower PTSD Symptoms among Abused Youth

Childhood abuse is a potent risk factor for psychopathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research has shown high resting vagal tone, a measure of parasympathetic nervous system function, protects abused youth from developing internalizing psychopathology, but potential mechanisms explaining this effect are unknown. We explored fear extinction learning as a possible mechanism underlying the protective effect of vagal tone on PTSD symptoms among abused youth. We measured resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance responses (SCR) during a fear conditioning and extinction task in youth with variability in abuse exposure (N = 94; aged 6–18 years). High RSA predicted lower PTSD symptoms and enhanced extinction learning among abused youths. In a moderated-mediation model, extinction learning mediated the association of abuse with PTSD symptoms only among youth with high RSA. These findings highlight extinction learning as a possible mechanism linking high vagal tone to decreased risk for PTSD symptoms among abused youth

Community transcriptomics reveals universal patterns of protein sequence conservation in natural microbial communities

Background Combined metagenomic and metatranscriptomic datasets make it possible to study the molecular evolution of diverse microbial species recovered from their native habitats. The link between gene expression level and sequence conservation was examined using shotgun pyrosequencing of microbial community DNA and RNA from diverse marine environments, and from forest soil. Results Across all samples, expressed genes with transcripts in the RNA sample were significantly more conserved than non-expressed gene sets relative to best matches in reference databases. This discrepancy, observed for many diverse individual genomes and across entire communities, coincided with a shift in amino acid usage between these gene fractions. Expressed genes trended toward GC-enriched amino acids, consistent with a hypothesis of higher levels of functional constraint in this gene pool. Highly expressed genes were significantly more likely to fall within an orthologous gene set shared between closely related taxa (core genes). However, non-core genes, when expressed above the level of detection, were, on average, significantly more highly expressed than core genes based on transcript abundance normalized to gene abundance. Finally, expressed genes showed broad similarities in function across samples, being relatively enriched in genes of energy metabolism and underrepresented by genes of cell growth. Conclusions These patterns support the hypothesis, predicated on studies of model organisms, that gene expression level is a primary correlate of evolutionary rate across diverse microbial taxa from natural environments. Despite their complexity, meta-omic datasets can reveal broad evolutionary patterns across taxonomically, functionally, and environmentally diverse communities.Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationAgouron InstituteNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Educatio

World netball cardiac screening guidelines

Sudden cardiac adverse events remain an area of concern in sport. The precise risk for netball athletes is unknown but the annual incidence of sudden cardiac death in sports is reported at 0.5-2 cases in 100 000 young competitive athletes between the ages of 12-35 years. Cardiac screening in the sport and exercise medicine context aims at identifying pathologies associated with catastrophic events when combined with physical activity. There is an ongoing debate relating to the standardisation of the pre-participatory medical assessment (PPMA). World Netball (WN) commissioned a cardiac screening policy (13 March 2022). The minimum PPMA recommended by World Netball is a history, physical examination, and a resting 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). ECGs should be interpreted in accordance with athletespecific ECG interpretation criteria. Expansion of sports cardiology experience and infrastructure, in combination with universal emergency response planning for sudden cardiac arrest, is intended to safeguard athlete health and player welfare in WN.