Khwaam Jam : Memory

Khwaam Jam is an introspective installation of works that explore the perceptions of identity based on memory. Created through the exploration of my past and present, the works of Khwaam Jam utilize the principles and techniques of textile design and production while involving mixed media and new materials in a site-specific installation. This installation is intended to represent my memory on a large scale. The hanging pieces are the focal point of the exhibition and are the physical manifestation of my perception of the categorization and storage of my memories. Memories are the vessels through which we create our identity. An individual’s identity is not only created from the personal experiences of the individual, but also from the experiences of those linked to the individual, whether on an intimate or social level. This overlap of memories is what connects us and helps create both individual and social identities through a series of shared memories

EFFICACY TEST PROTOCOLS FOR EVALUATION OF ULTRASONIC RODENT REPELLENT DEVICES

Controlled laboratory and field test protocols were developed to assess the repellent efficacies of six commercially manufactured ultrasonic rodent repellent devices. The laboratory test structure (68.7 sq m) was divided into two rooms (32.5 sq m each) with a central harborage area (3.5 sq m) containing a colony of 12 wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). For each test, a single ultrasonic device was attached to the far end of one room and rat activity measures (oat consumption, packet damage, photocell counts) were taken during 1-week baseline and 2-1/2-week test periods. Field test structures varied in floor area (6.5 to 197 sq m) and were of either metal or wood construction. All contained existing Norway rat, house mouse (Mus musculus), or field mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) infestations. No rodent control was conducted at these sites other than the application of selected ultrasonic devices. Rodent activity (packet damage, food consumption, rodent tracks) was measured twice per week during three successive 3-week intervals with devices operating only during the second interval. Repeated measures analysis of variance and chi square were used to statistically evaluate the reliability of ultrasound effects

Does depression moderate the relationship between pain and suicidality in adolescence? A moderated network analysis

BACKGROUND: Whilst growing research suggests that pain is associated with suicidality in adolescence, it remains unclear whether this relationship is moderated by co-morbid depressive symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate whether the pain-suicidality association is moderated by depressive symptoms. METHODS: We performed secondary analyses on cross-sectional, pre-intervention data from the ‘My Resilience in Adolescence’ [MYRIAD] trial (ISRCTN ref: 86619085; N=8072, 11-15 years). Using odds ratio tests and (moderated) network analyses, we investigated the relationship between pain and suicidality, after controlling for depression, anxiety, inhibitory control deficits and peer problems. We investigated whether depression moderates this relationship and explored gender differences. RESULTS: Overall, 20% of adolescents reported suicidality and 22% reported pain, whilst nine percent of adolescents reported both. The experience of pain was associated with a four-fold increased risk of suicidality and vice versa (OR=4.00, 95%-CI=[3.54;4.51]), with no gender differences. This cross-sectional association remained significant after accounting for depression, anxiety, inhibitory control deficits and peer problems (aOR=1.39). Depression did not moderate the pain-suicidality association. LIMITATIONS: The item-based, cross-sectional assessment of pain and suicidality precludes any conclusions about the direction of the effects and which aspects of suicidality and pain may drive this association. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underscore the need to consider pain as an independent risk correlate of suicidality in adolescents. Longitudinal research should examine how this relationship develops during adolescence. Clinically, our findings emphasise the need to assess and address suicidality in adolescents with pain, even in the absence of depressive symptoms

From Autocracy to Democracy: The Effort to Establish Market Democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan Conference

The conference focused the legal, political, economic, and security issues facing post-war Iraq and Afghanistan

Using Data Linkage to Investigate Inconsistent Reporting of Self-Harm and Questionnaire Non-Response

The objective of this study was to examine agreement between self-reported and medically recorded self-harm, and investigate whether the prevalence of self-harm differs in questionnaire responders vs. non-responders. A total of 4,810 participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) completed a self-harm questionnaire at age 16 years. Data from consenting participants were linked to medical records (number available for analyses ranges from 205-3,027). The prevalence of self-harm leading to hospital admission was somewhat higher in questionnaire non-responders than responders (2.0 vs. 1.2%). Hospital attendance with self-harm was under-reported on the questionnaire. One third reported self-harm inconsistently over time; inconsistent reporters were less likely to have depression and fewer had self-harmed with suicidal intent. Self-harm prevalence estimates derived from self-report may be underestimated; more accurate figures may come from combining data from multiple sources

Senataxin modulates resistance to cisplatin through an R-loop mediated mechanism in HPV-associated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

AbstractIntroductionOropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC) is a site defined subtype of head and neck cancer with two distinct clinical subtypes: HPV-associated (HPV+) and HPV-independent (HPV-); both of which are commonly treated with chemoradiotherapy involving cisplatin. Cisplatin creates DNA crosslinks, which lead to eventual cell death via apoptosis. Clinical outcomes in HPV-OPSCC are poor and although HPV+ has an improved response to therapy, a subset of patients suffer from distant metastases, with a poor prognosis. Therefore, there is a need to understand the molecular basis underlying treatment resistance. A common mechanism of chemotherapy resistance is upregulation of DNA repair, and a major source of endogenous DNA damage are DNA/RNA hybrids, known as R-loops. R-loops are three stranded DNA/RNA hybrids formed in the genome as a by- product of transcription and are normally transient; however, they can persist and become a source of genomic instability. The contribution of R-loops to the development of cisplatin resistance in OPSCC is unknown.MethodsHPV+ and HPV- cisplatin resistant cell lines were developed, and RNA-sequencing was used to investigate changes in gene expression. Changes in R-loop dynamics were explored using slot blots and DRIP-qPCR. The effect of depleting known R-loop regulators on cisplatin sensitivity was assessed using siRNA. R-loop burden in a cohort of HPV+ and HPV- OPSCC tumours was explored using S9.6 immunohistochemistry.ResultsDevelopment of cisplatin resistant clones led to changes in gene expression consistent with resistance, alongside alterations in the expression of known R-loop regulators. Both HPV+ and HPV- resistant cells had elevated global R-loop levels and in HPV+ resistant cells there was a corresponding upregulation of the R-loop resolving protein, senataxin, which was not observed in HPV- resistant cells. Depletion of senataxin led to increased sensitivity to cisplatin in both HPV+ and HPV- resistant cells, however, the effect was greater in HPV+ cells. Quantification of R-loop levels by S9.6 immunohistochemistry revealed that HPV+ tumours and tumours with bone metastases had a higher R-loop burden.ConclusionR-loops are involved in modulating sensitivity to cisplatin and may represent a potential therapeutic target.</jats:sec

The role of icIL-1RA in keratinocyte senescence and development of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype

There is compelling evidence that senescent cells, through the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), can promote malignant transformation and invasion. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a key mediator of this cytokine network, but the control of its activity in the senescence programme has not been elucidated. IL-1 signalling is regulated by IL-1RA, which has four variants. Here, we show that expression of intracellular IL-1RA type 1 (icIL-1RA1), which competitively inhibits binding of IL-1 to its receptor, is progressively lost during oral carcinogenesis ex vivo and that the pattern of expression is associated with keratinocyte replicative fate in vitro. We demonstrate that icIL-1RA1 is an important regulator of the SASP in mortal cells, as CRISPR/Cas9-mediated icIL-1RA1 knockdown in normal and mortal dysplastic oral keratinocytes is followed by increased IL-6 and IL-8 secretion, and rapid senescence following release from RhoA-activated kinase inhibition. Thus, we suggest that downregulation of icIL-1RA1 in early stages of the carcinogenesis process can enable the development of a premature and deregulated SASP, creating a pro-inflammatory state in which cancer is more likely to arise.A scholarship from Becas Chile, Comisión Nacional de Investigación Cientı́fica y Tecnológicahttps://journals.biologists.com/jcsam2022Oral Pathology and Oral Biolog

Manacled to Identity: Cosmopolitanism, Class, and ‘The Culture Concept’ in Stephen Crane

This article begins with a close reading of Stephen Crane’s short story ‘Manacled’ from 1900, which situates this rarely considered short work within the context of contemporary debates about realism. I then proceed to argue that many of the debates raised by the tale have an afterlife in our own era of American literary studies, which has frequently focused on questions of ‘identity’ and ‘culture’ in its reading of realism and naturalism to the exclusion of the importance of cosmopolitan discourses of diffusion and exchange across national borders. I then offer a brief reading of Crane’s novel George’s Mother, which follows Walter Benn Michaels in suggesting that the recent critical attention paid to particularities of cultural difference in American studies have come to conflate ideas of class and social position with ideas of culture in ways that have ultimately obscured the presence of genuine historical inequalities in US society. In order to challenge this critical commonplace, I situate Crane’s work within a history of transatlantic cosmopolitanism associated with the ideas of Franz Boas and Matthew Arnold to demonstrate the ways in which Crane’s narratives sought out an experience of the universal within their treatments of the particular

Clinical and social outcomes of adolescent self harm:population based birth cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the mental health, substance use, educational, and occupational outcomes of adolescents who self harm in a general population sample, and to examine whether these outcomes differ according to self reported suicidal intent. DESIGN: Population based birth cohort study. SETTING: Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a UK birth cohort of children born in 1991-92. PARTICIPANTS: Data on lifetime history of self harm with and without suicidal intent were available for 4799 respondents who completed a detailed self harm questionnaire at age 16 years. Multiple imputation was used to account for missing data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mental health problems (depression and anxiety disorder), assessed using the clinical interview schedule-revised at age 18 years, self reported substance use (alcohol, cannabis, cigarette smoking, and illicit drugs) at age 18 years, educational attainment at age 16 and 19 years, occupational outcomes at age 19 years, and self harm at age 21 years. RESULTS: Participants who self harmed with and without suicidal intent at age 16 years were at increased risk of developing mental health problems, future self harm, and problem substance misuse, with stronger associations for suicidal self harm than for non-suicidal self harm. For example, in models adjusted for confounders the odds ratio for depression at age 18 years was 2.21 (95% confidence interval 1.55 to 3.15) in participants who had self harmed without suicidal intent at age 16 years and 3.94 (2.67 to 5.83) in those who had self harmed with suicidal intent. Suicidal self harm, but not self harm without suicidal intent, was also associated with poorer educational and employment outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents who self harm seem to be vulnerable to a range of adverse outcomes in early adulthood. Risks were generally stronger in those who had self harmed with suicidal intent, but outcomes were also poor among those who had self harmed without suicidal intent. These findings emphasise the need for early identification and treatment of adolescents who self harm