On Norman Rush

Norman Rush, author of Whites, Mating, and Mortals, is one of the finest American writers now working, and, given his achievement, one of the most grievously neglected. The essay below (of which this is the first part) aims to justify the initial claim in the preceding sentence and to explore the reasons for the second. A close examination of Rush\u27s work will make apparent its quality; the neglect of that work may be accounted for by the long gaps between Rush\u27s books, the years he spent living outside America, and his concern with things other than the American experience

Characterization of sine oculis, eyes absent and dachshund Mutant Phenotypes and the Search for Novel Regulators

The complexity of the Drosophila compound eye is under the control of eight “master control” genes. These genes are known to interact genetically and biochemically. Documentation of various gene expressions in various eye gene mutants is reported here as well as preliminary results from a deficiency screen to find novel regulators of the eye gene dachshund. Interestingly, in addition to the varying effects of eye genes on one another, we report alternate functions for which sine oculis, eyes absent and dachshund are critical such as gut formation and nervous system development. We also propose slight modifications to the current model of genetic pathways patterning the eye to reflect the abilities of sine oculis and eyes absent to independently activate their downstream target dachshund and their independence of positive feedback from dachshund as well

A Transposon Mutagenesis Screen for Heterocyst Production in a \u3cem\u3e∆HETP\u3c/em\u3e Strain of the Cyanobacterium \u3cem\u3eAnabaena\u3c/em\u3e

Poster presentation abstract

Elucidating a Mechanism of Growth Cessation in Heterocysts of (\u3cem\u3eAnabaena\u3c/em\u3e)

Oral presentation abstract

A Review of ∆-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol’s Effect on the Hippocampus and Evaluation of Behavioral Memory Impairment in Acute and Chronic Cannabis Users

49 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Human Physiology and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Science, Fall 2016.The history of marijuana use for clinical and recreational purposes dates back centuries, but its legalization in the United States by several states has produced record sales. Therefore, there is also a record amount of people who are experiencing the acute, and potentially chronic, effects of ∆-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the psychoactive cannabinoid found in marijuana. The toxicity of THC to various brain regions has been underestimated for quite some time, and thus, this review seeks to evaluate the current scientific consensus on the dangers of THC neurotoxicity to hippocampal cells; another goal is to investigate the resultant impairment to memory that repeated endocannabinoid activation may proliferate. The results of this evaluative review indicate that chronically cannabis-dependent users do show poorer performance on behavioral memory tasks in comparison to light/non-users of marijuana. This is backed up by evidence in animal studies that found THC to produce decreased viability of hippocampal neurons. Although, while clinical trials may demonstrate inhibited performance on memory tasks in response to chronic THC exposure, the day-to-day effect of marijuana to an individual’s memory may vary greatly depending on the total volume of marijuana that is consumed, and how often the brain is being insulted. In conclusion, increased chronic exposure to THC is associated with an increased risk for developing impairments to memory and deficits to optimal cognitive functioning

The hetZ Gene Regulates Heterocyst Formation in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120

To form a complex multicellular organism, stem cells must differentiate into each cell/tissue type along proper spatiotemporal scales. The study of differentiation and organismal development has historically been conducted in prokaryotes due to their genetic and morphological simplicity. Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 is a multicellular filamentous cyanobacterium that differentiates a morphologically distinct secondary cell type, the heterocyst, in response to a lack of combined environmental nitrogen. Heterocysts are regularly spaced along filaments and fix atmospheric dinitrogen to maintain organismal viability in its absence. Previous work suggested that the hetZ gene is involved in heterocyst differentiation, but the insertional mutants created produced inconsistent phenotypes, so a specific role was not assigned. In this work, a clean hetZ mutant incapable of heterocyst differentiation was generated and the mutation was complemented with the reintroduction of hetZ alone. Overexpression of hetZ bypassed a mutation of hetR, the master regulator of heterocyst differentiation that controls biological pattern formation, but not a mutation of hetP, a regulator of commitment to a differentiated cell fate, which places hetZ roughly between these processes. A protein-protein interaction study showed that HetZ interacts with both HetR and itself. Assessment of transcriptional fusions between the hetZ, hetR, hetP, and patS (an inhibitor of HetR) promoter regions and GFP, and overexpression of HetR in a hetZ mutant resulted in the differentiation of heterocyst-like cells, together indicated that HetZ may act in concert with HetR as an early regulator of development. Taken together, these data describe a non-linear pathway of regulation leading to heterocyst development governed by both HetR and HetZ

Montaigne...Silliman. Delany: On Some Lines of "Shadow and Ash"

Abstract Theodor Adorno has noted that an essay "obtains its contour from its content." If one studies Samuel R.Delany\u27s essay, "Shadow and Ash," in which, among other things, he considers the work of poet Ron Silliman, it begins to appear that this idiosyncratic essay obtains its contour from its content: Silliman\u27s work. Just as Silliman\u27s Alphabet is made up of a series of sentences which do not, in any simple way, follow one from another, so Delany\u27s essay is made up of discrete numbered sections which are not, in any simple way, connected. To suggest that the form of Delany\u27s essay was influenced by the form of its subject, Silliman\u27s Alphabet, is only speculation, but that Delany\u27s essay leaves us speculating about this and about other things is a sign of its success. A good essay is not about coming to an understanding, but about trying to understand, and this trying, this essaying, should not end when the last page is turned

Economy of Operon Formation: Cotranscription Minimizes Shortfall in Protein Complexes

Genes of prokaryotes and Archaea are often organized in cotranscribed groups, or operons. In contrast, eukaryotic genes are generally transcribed independently. Here we show that there is a substantial economic gain for the cell to cotranscribe genes encoding protein complexes because it synchronizes the fluctuations, or noise, in the levels of the different components. This correlation substantially reduces the shortfall in production of the complex. This benefit is relatively large in small cells such as bacterial cells, in which there are few mRNAs and proteins per cell, and is diminished in larger cells such as eukaryotic cells