Crusade for Justice and the Question of Authenticity in African American Autobiography

This article aims at investigating the concept of authenticity and its connections with authority and cultural dominance in Ida B. Wells\ub4s Crusade for Justice. Set in the Reconstruction period, Wells\u2019s autobiography incorporates authenticating strategies typical of slave narratives and post-Emancipation political memoirs, therefore it can be analyzed as a work of transition that embodies the profound shift in authenticating issues occurring after Emancipation

Political Dynasties

We study political dynasties in the United States Congress since its inception in 1789. We document historic and geographic patterns in the evolution and profile of political dynasties, study the extent of dynastic bias in legislative politics versus other occupations, and analyze the connection between political dynasties and political competition. We also study the self-perpetuation of political elites. We find that legislators who enjoy longer tenures are significantly more likely to have relatives entering Congress later. Using instrumental variables methods, we establish that this relationship is causal: a longer period in power increases the chance that a person may start (or continue) a political dynasty. Therefore, dynastic political power is self-perpetuating in that a positive exogenous shock to a person's political power has persistent effects through posterior dynastic attainment. In politics, power begets power.

Yunis Varon Syndrome

We have reported a case of Yunis-Varon syndrome which is a rare, autosomal recessive syndrome characterized by growth retardation, defective growth of the cranial bones, characteristic facial features, abnormalities of the fingers and/or toes & cleidocranial dysplasia. Additional features in this case were patent ductus arteriosus, CT brain findings suggestive of ischemic changes, CSF examination suggestive of pyogenic meningitis & cystic changes in right adrenal gland

CLP-based protein fragment assembly

The paper investigates a novel approach, based on Constraint Logic Programming (CLP), to predict the 3D conformation of a protein via fragments assembly. The fragments are extracted by a preprocessor-also developed for this work- from a database of known protein structures that clusters and classifies the fragments according to similarity and frequency. The problem of assembling fragments into a complete conformation is mapped to a constraint solving problem and solved using CLP. The constraint-based model uses a medium discretization degree Ca-side chain centroid protein model that offers efficiency and a good approximation for space filling. The approach adapts existing energy models to the protein representation used and applies a large neighboring search strategy. The results shows the feasibility and efficiency of the method. The declarative nature of the solution allows to include future extensions, e.g., different size fragments for better accuracy.Comment: special issue dedicated to ICLP 201

Berardinelli-Seip Syndrome

We have reported two cases of Berardinelli-syndrome in a family which is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of the adipose tissue, originally described by Berardinelli and Seip, has been reported in approximately 120 patients of various ethnic origins. Assuming that only 1 in 4 patients is reported.Patients present with acanthosis nigricans (dark velvety pigmentation of the skin) in the axilla, neck or groin, severe insulin resistance, high levels of serum insulin and serum triglycerides.The other clinical features consist of enlarged hands, feet and prominent mandible (acromegaloid features), increased sweating, umbilical hernia and lytic lesions (bone appear to be eaten-up on X-rays) in long bones of the upper and lower extremities (arms, forearm, hands, thigh, calf, legs and feet) such as humerus, femur, etc. Hepatomegaly from fatty liver is almost universal and may ultimately lead to cirrhosis. Splenomegaly is common. Nearly all patients have a prominent umbilicus or frank umbilical hernia. Females present with enlarged clitoris, increased body hair, absence of or irregular menstrual cycles, and polycystic ovaries (enlarged ovaries). Only a few affected women have had successful pregnancies, whereas affected men have normal fertilit