The forest for the trees: the "umwelt", the holobiont, and metaphor in Richard Powers’ "The Overstory" and Shakespeare’s "Macbeth"

This work of ecocritical narrative scholarship weaves analysis of Richard Powers’ "The Overstory"—specifically its invocation of Shakespeare’s "Macbeth"—with a discussion of biosemiotics, metaphor, emergence, and the narrative of my own family’s pandemic-inspired move to a national park in the mountains outside of Madrid. The essay investigates the juncture between the human holobiont—the space in and around the human body that constitutes shared habitats for symbionts—, the holobiont of pine trees, and the human "umwelt". In other words, this piece focuses on the spaces in which bacteria, fungi, and the biological origins of semiosis and language converge. I seek to present a clearer perception of the natural world rooted in narratives of emergence that foreground connections—literary, natural, metaphorical, and material. The form of this paper—the latticework that emerges from the interweaving of literary analysis, biosemiotic and ecocritical theory, and personal narrative—is also part of its content. Through its focus on the intersection of narrative, biosemiotics and material ecocriticism, this work calls into question the very nature of literary metaphor and investigates how the material of literature literally ties us to our environment. Through an exploration of the phenomenological parallel between textual motion in literature, viral motion in nature, and the movement of people through natural and social environments, this document challenges the very idea of metaphor, proposing in its stead an insistence that story, consciousness, and organisms converge in the same material space creating patterns of resemblance that speak to the kinship of all biological systems.Este trabajo de narrativa ecocrítica y académica entrelaza el análisis de la obra "The Overstory" de Richard Powers—específicamente su invocación del "Macbeth" de Shakespeare—con una discusión sobre biosemiótica, metáfora, emergencia y la narrativa de la mudanza de mi propia familia, inspirada por la pandemia, a un parque nacional en las montañas de las afueras de Madrid. El ensayo investiga la coyuntura entre el holobionte humano—el espacio dentro y alrededor del cuerpo humano que constituye hábitats compartidos por simbiontes—, el holobionte de los pinos y el "umwelt" humano. En otras palabras, esta obra se centra en los espacios en los que convergen las bacterias, los hongos y los orígenes biológicos de la semiosis y el lenguaje. Trato de presentar una percepción más clara del mundo natural enraizada en las narrativas de la emergencia que ponen en primer plano las conexiones—literarias, naturales, metafóricas y materiales. La forma de este artículo—el entramado que surge del entrelazar el análisis literario, la teoría biosemiótica y ecocrítica y la narrativa personal—es también parte de su contenido. Al centrarse en la intersección de la narrativa, la biosemiótica y la ecocrítica material, este trabajo cuestiona la naturaleza misma de la metáfora literaria e investiga cómo el material de la literatura nos ata literalmente a nuestro entorno. A través de una exploración del paralelismo fenomenológico entre el movimiento textual en la literatura, el movimiento viral en la naturaleza y el movimiento de las personas a través de los entornos naturales y sociales, este documento desafía la idea misma de metáfora, proponiendo en su lugar una insistencia en que la historia, la conciencia y los organismos convergen en el mismo espacio material creando patrones de semejanza que hablan del parentesco de todos los sistemas biológicos

Harvester Guidance Control System

A guidance control system for a harvester or like machinery includes a steering linkage operatively connected to at least one ground engaging wheel. Harvester steering is controlled through the linkage by either an operator controlled steering wheel or a sensor responsive self-steering mechanism. The sensor responsive self-steering mechanism includes a guide assembly pivotally mounted to the harvester. The guide assembly includes a pair of laterally spaced, cooperating tines that define a path therebetween for plants being harvested. A sensor positioned on each tine senses the position of plants as they are harvested. A control circuit is responsive to the sensors to selectively impart movement to the steering linkage to self-steer the harvester. The control circuit includes a main valve controlled by the operator controlled steering wheel and a secondary valve controlled by the sensors. An auxiliary feed line leads from the main valve to the secondary valve. When the operator utilizes the steering wheel control, an interrupter blocks hydraulic flow through the auxiliary line from the main valve to the secondary valve. Thus, operator controlled steering input overrides the sensor responsive self-steering for maximum safety. The guidance control system also eliminates harvester wander back and forth across a row by substantially preventing overcompensation by the sensor responsive self-steering

Resilience and Trauma in Maltreated Youth

Research into resilience represents a theoretical shift from the medical model in contemporary psychology to a focus on adaptation (Poulou, 2007). The relationship however between resilience and the development and PTSD in children remains unclear. The purpose of this present study is to expand on this research by investigating resilience and adaptability with respect to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms across maltreated youth of different ethnicities at risk for PTSD. Participants will be recruited from a Department of Family Services (DFS)-affiliated clinic in the Las Vegas area and administered the Children\u27s PTSD Inventory (CPTSD-I), Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Parent Rating Scales (BASC-2 PRS), and Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA). Multiple regression will be used to analyze the relationship between specific PTSD symptoms, ethnicity, and BASC-2 PRS and RSCA Resiliency Subscales. Implications are discussed

Examining Resilience In Relation to PTSD Symptomatology In Maltreated Youth

Resilience following exposure to adverse life situations is an ongoing process that reduces the impact of traumatic experiences and opens potential for posttraumatic growth (Fincham, Altes, Stein, & Seedat, 2009; Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000). The relationship between resilience and risk for PTSD in maltreated youth, however, remains unclear. This study sought to explore this relationship by examining a sense of mastery, a sense of relation to others, and emotional reactivity in youth endorsing a history of maltreatment related trauma. Participants were recruited from a Las Vegas Department of Family Services affiliated clinic and were administered the Children’s PTSD Inventory (CPTSD-I) and the Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA). A demographic questionnaire was also administered. Youth reporting high levels of the RSCA resource score reported lower symptoms of PTSD. A significant inverse relationship was also found between a sense of mastery and PTSD symptoms for all maltreatment types. Trauma type and the number of trauma exposures did not significantly moderate the relationship between the resource score and PTSD symptoms. Youth with higher levels of emotional reactivity reported increased PTSD symptoms compared to youth with lower levels of emotional reactivity. Implications are discussed

The NCBO OBOF to OWL Mapping

Two of the most significant formats for biomedical ontologies are the Open Biomedical Ontologies Format (OBOF) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL). To make it possible to translate ontologies between these two representation formats, the National Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) has developed a mapping between the OBOF and OWL formats as well as inter-conversion software. The goal was to allow the sharing of tools, ontologies, and associated data between the OBOF and Semantic Web communities.

OBOF does not have a formal grammar, so the NCBO had to capture its intended semantics to map it to OWL.

This official NCBO mapping was used to make all OBO Foundry ontologies available in OWL. 

Availability: This mapping functionality can be embedded into OBO-Edit and Protégé-OWL ontology editors. This software is available at: http://bioontology.org/wiki/index.php/OboInOwl:Main_Pag

A Comprehensive Rehabilitation Program for Treating Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy

Scapular muscle weakness in patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy is an identified impairment and is part of a multimodal rehabilitation approach. The published literature provides little information regarding specific rehabilitation guidelines that address both the proximal scapular muscle weakness and local elbow/ wrist dysfunctions common in patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy. The purpose of this clinical commentary is to describe a comprehensive rehabilitation strategy for individuals with lateral elbow tendinopathy. This program emphasizes a phased therapeutic strategy that addresses proximal and local dysfunction along the kinetic chain. This clinical protocol is currently being tested for efficacy as part of a randomized controlled trial. The information in this commentary is intended to provide clinicians with sufficient detail to comprehensively guide the rehabilitation of a patient with lateral elbow tendinopathy. Level of Evidence:

Imbuing Aqueous Solubility to Amphotericin B and Nystatin with a Vitamin

Aqueous solubilities of many drugs in current clinical use are very low, necessitating formulations that often present problems for parenteral administration, including toxicities due to the excipients used. Recognizing that pharmacologically active compounds frequently possess amines, we asked whether pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), an inoccuous, water-soluble vitamin, could be utilized to form prodrug-like complexes via the formation of imine or iminium adducts, and whether the vitamin would impart solubilizing properties to such complexes. Direct spectroscopic and crystallographic data obtained using model primary and secondary amines showed that PLP forms stable imine adducts with primary amines under entirely aqueous conditions and at physiologic pH, while no reaction was observed for secondary amines; the basis of the exceptional stability appears to be a consequence of favorable H-bond interactions of the imine nitrogen with the 5-OH group of PLP. Amphotericin B and nystatin in their native forms display marked aqueous insolubility, and possess lone primary amines. We were able to utilize PLP in achieving excellent solubilization of both these antifungal agents, surpassing aqueous solubilities of 100 mg/mL. In in vitro bioassays, both polyenes in their PLP-adducted form display attenuated antifungal potencies which is attributable to ‘prodrug-like’ complexes. These results point to the utility of excipient-free, entirely aqueous formulations of amphotericin B for parenteral use, and may also be extended to other primary amine-bearing compounds exhibiting poor aqueous solubility

Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling in Mesenchymal Progenitors Controls Osteoblast and Chondrocyte Differentiation during Vertebrate Skeletogenesis

SummaryChondrocytes and osteoblasts are two primary cell types in the skeletal system that are differentiated from common mesenchymal progenitors. It is believed that osteoblast differentiation is controlled by distinct mechanisms in intramembranous and endochondral ossification. We have found that ectopic canonical Wnt signaling leads to enhanced ossification and suppression of chondrocyte formation. Conversely, genetic inactivation of β-catenin, an essential component transducing the canonical Wnt signaling, causes ectopic formation of chondrocytes at the expense of osteoblast differentiation during both intramembranous and endochondral ossification. Moreover, inactivation of β-catenin in mesenchymal progenitor cells in vitro causes chondrocyte differentiation under conditions allowing only osteoblasts to form. Our results demonstrate that β-catenin is essential in determining whether mesenchymal progenitors will become osteoblasts or chondrocytes regardless of regional locations or ossification mechanisms. Controlling Wnt/β-catenin signaling is a common molecular mechanism underlying chondrocyte and osteoblast differentiation and specification of intramembranous and endochondral ossification

A constitutively active G protein-coupled acetylcholine receptor regulates motility of larval Schistosoma mansoni

The neuromuscular system of helminths controls a variety of essential biological processes and therefore represents a good source of novel drug targets. The neuroactive substance, acetylcholine controls movement of Schistosoma mansoni but the mode of action is poorly understood. Here, we present first evidence of a functional G protein-coupled acetylcholine receptor in S. mansoni, which we have named SmGAR. A bioinformatics analysis indicated that SmGAR belongs to a clade of invertebrate GAR-like receptors and is related to vertebrate muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Functional expression studies in yeast showed that SmGAR is constitutively active but can be further activated by acetylcholine and, to a lesser extent, the cholinergic agonist, carbachol. Anti-cholinergic drugs, atropine and promethazine, were found to have inverse agonist activity towards SmGAR, causing a significant decrease in the receptor’s basal activity. An RNAi phenotypic assay revealed that suppression of SmGAR activity in early-stage larval schistosomulae leads to a drastic reduction in larval motility. In sum, our results provide the first molecular evidence that cholinergic GAR -like receptors are present in schistosomes and are required for proper motor control in the larvae. The results further identify SmGAR as a possible candidate for antiparasitic drug targeting