Reversing Progress: The Trafficking of Cuban Baseball Players Continues After Cancellation of MLB-FCB Agreement 103

In December of 2018, Major League Baseball (“MLB”) signed an agreement with the Cuban Baseball Federation that would forever change how the MLB acquires its Cuban talent. The agreement established a formal process of immigration from Cuba to the United States for professional baseball players, replacing the decades-old practice of smuggling players into the United States with the help of dangerous human trafficking organizations. In April of 2019, during its decision to revert back to the traditional foreign policy strategy with Cuba, the Trump Administration scrapped the deal in its entirety, bringing the process back to square one. This Note tracks the political history between the United States and Cuban since the Cuban Revolution, and expounds on its effect on America’s pastime. While the agreement has been nullified, the groundwork has been laid to finally do away with the archaic process of Cuban defection. However, until lawmakers in Washington D.C. decide to address the human rights abuses that ultimately put Cuban baseball stars in America’s stadiums, the status quo will remain

Gregory the Great: Ascetic, Pastor, and First Man of Rome. By George E. Demacopoulos. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. 2015. viii + 236 pp. $28. ISBN 978026802621;9.

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142135/1/emed12254.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142135/2/emed12254_am.pd

The demand for money in developing countries: Assessing the role of financial innovation

Traditional specifications of money demand have been commonly plagued by persistent overprediction, implausible parameter estimates, and highly autocorrelated errors. This paper argues that some of those problems stem from the failure to account for the impact of financial innovation. We estimate money demand for ten developing countries employing various proxies for the innovation process and provide an assessment of the relative importance of this variable. We find that financial innovation plays an important role in determining money demand and its fluctuations, and that the importance of this role increases with the rate of inflation.money demand inflation currency substitution dollarization financial innovation

T Cell Integrin Dependent, MKK3/p38 Mapk-Mediated Stabilization of Labile Cytokine mRNAs

The goal of this project is to elucidate the signaling pathway involved in the T cell integrin lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) engagement-mediated, HuR nuclear-to-cytoplasmic translocation and subsequent mRNA stabilization. To examine the pathway transducing LFA-1 engagement-mediated mRNA stabilization, we employed quantitative, real time RT-PCR in the presence of a transcriptional inhibitor to examine the half-life of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) mRNA, a labile cytokine transcript. We used immunofluorescence to observe the nuclear-to-cytoplasmic tranlocation of HuR, an mRNA-binding and stabilizing protein. We also used Western blot analysis to analyze the activity levels of specific mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) upon LFA-1 engagement. These techniques were performed using murine splenocyte-derived T cells from wild type as well as transgenic mice lacking one or both copies of the MAPK kinase MKK3 gene. They were also performed in the presence of MAPK pharmacologic inhibitors, RNA interference for HuR, and transfection vectors for constitutively active Rho-GTPases and MAPKs. Our data show that, in murine wild type T cells, LFA-1 engagement by its ligand, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), causes both HuR translocation and an increased half-life of IFN-γ mRNA transcripts. This mRNA stabilization is HuR-dependent: a decrease in HuR expression in T cells by RNA interference abrogates the LFA-1 induced IFN-γ mRNA stabilization. To examine the pathway responsible for LFA-1 engagement-mediated mRNA stabilization, we looked at MAPKs since T cell integrin engagement triggers mitogenesis. LFA-1 engagement activates both c-jun NH2 terminal protein kinase (JNK), and stress activated protein kinase (SAPK) (also known as the p38 MAPK). Pharmacologic inhibition of JNK, however, causes no decrease in HuR translocation or IFN-γ mRNA stabilization upon T cell integrin engagement, while pharmacologic inhibition of p38 MAPK inhibits both events. Interruption of the p38 MAPK pathway by using T cells lacking the p38 MAPK kinase MKK3 also causes a loss of HuR translocation and subsequent IFN-γ mRNA stabilization upon LFA-1 engagement. Activation of the p38 MAPK pathway alone via a constitutively active p38 MAPK kinase MKK6, however, was not sufficient to obtain IFN-γ mRNA stabilization. From these data, we conclude that T cells utilize LFA-1 engagement by ICAM-1 to modulate the stability of labile mRNA transcripts encoding proinflammatory cytokines. Modulation of the RNA binding molecule HuR is required for this mRNA stabilization. Furthermore, the MKK3/p38 MAPK pathway is necessary for LFA-1 engagement-mediated mRNA stabilization. Activation of the p38 MAPK pathway alone, however, is not sufficient to generate the stabilization of labile, proinflammatory cytokine transcripts

Dominick DeGregorio Oral History Interview

Born in Cervinara, Italy, Dominick DeGregorio came with his brother to the US in 1954. Immediately, he started working in his Uncle’s grocery store in New York City. At 18, DeGregorio started his Union career by joining the Mason Tenders Local #37 in Brooklyn. After transferring his book to Local 6A Concrete Workers Union, he became a power buggy operator transporting concrete to build numerous skyscrapers in the New York City skyline. In 1974, DeGregorio moved to Albuquerque and joined LIUNA Local #16 with his first job working as General Foreman at University Heights Hospital. Assuming the position of Training Director for the NM Laborers’ Training Trust Fund, DeGregorio started with a small trailer and drove all over New Mexico training members. In 1980, LIUNA Local #16 purchased land in Edgewood, NM and built a permanent training facility that opened in 1983. DeGregorio worked his entire career promoting union membership with all its benefits. He proclaimed in his interview, “when I came to this country, I thought the streets were paved in gold. What I discovered was not gold, but opportunity for a career that I have loved for so many years.” The attached file contains photos from the photo board displayed in the video.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/wphnm/1070/thumbnail.jp

Reconfigurable, Bi-Directional Flexfet Level Shifter for Low-Power, Rad-Hard Integration

Two prototype Reconfigurable, Bi-directional Flexfet Level Shifters (ReBiLS) have been developed, where one version is a stand-alone component designed to interface between external low voltage and high voltage, and the other version is an embedded integrated circuit (IC) for interface between internal low-voltage logic and external high-voltage components. Targeting stand-alone and embedded circuits separately allows optimization for these distinct applications. Both ReBiLS designs use the commercially available 180-nm Flex fet Independently Double-Gated (IDG) SOI CMOS (silicon on insulator, complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technology. Embedded ReBiLS circuits were integrated with a Reed-Solomon (RS) encoder using CMOS Ultra-Low-Power Radiation Tolerant (CULPRiT) double-gated digital logic circuits. The scope of the project includes: creation of a new high-voltage process, development of ReBiLS circuit designs, and adjustment of the designs to maximize performance through simulation, layout, and manufacture of prototypes. The primary technical objectives were to develop a high-voltage, thick oxide option for the 180-nm Flexfet process, and to develop a stand-alone ReBiLS IC with two 8-channel I/O busses, 1.8 2.5 I/O on the low-voltage pins, 5.0-V-tolerant input and 3.3-V output I/O on the high-voltage pins, and 100-MHz minimum operation with 10-pF external loads. Another objective was to develop an embedded, rad-hard ReBiLS I/O cell with 0.5-V low-voltage operation for interface with core logic, 5.0-V-tolerant input and 3.3-V output I/O pins, and 100-MHz minimum operation with 10- pF external loads. A third objective was to develop a 0.5- V Reed-Solomon Encoder with embedded ReBilS I/O: Transfer the existing CULPRiT RS encoder from a 0.35-micron bulk-CMOS process to the ASI 180-nm Flexfet, rad-hard SOI Process. 0.5-V low-voltage core logic. 5.0-V-tolerant input and 3.3-V output I/O pins. 100-MHz minimum operation with 10- pF external loads. The stand-alone ReBiLS chip will allow system designers to provide efficient bi-directional communication between components operating at different voltages. Embedding the ReBiLS cells into the proven Reed-Solomon encoder will demonstrate the ability to support new product development in a commercially viable, rad-hard, scalable 180-nm SOI CMOS process

Lessons from My Grandmother’s Garden: Intergenerational Learning and Managing Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is one of the major health crises of the 21st century; the number of people struggling with this debilitating illness is skyrocketing. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States [1]. There are many causes of type 2 diabetes; however, food intake plays a crucial role in the development and management of the illness. Although the role of grandmother has been well documented over time and across cultures, one important contemporary contribution of grandmothers that has not been fully explored is related to intergenerational sharing of gardening practices, growing and cooking healthy organic foods, and the role of food in maintaining cultural values and norms, promoting well-being, and managing chronic illnesses, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Exploring the relationship between the role of grandmothers in families, particularly related to food practices, and the management of chronic illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes. This essay explores the role grandmothers can play in the intergenerational learning of health promotion, as it relates to the transmission of practices such as food preparation and the management of type 2 diabetes

When Grade Schools Stage Musicals, It’s Broadway or Bust ...

St. Ephrem School, located in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, just introduced its drama program in Fall 2016. After much success with last year’s first-ever production of Disney’s “Aladdin JR., the St. Ephrem students put on “Elf the Musical JR.” in time for the winter holiday season in December 2017. But it’s not your mediocre school drama club, putting on simple pageants. It’s more like Broadway Lite – and it’s part of a cross-country wave of professionalization hitting grade-school plays. Project can be found at http://erindegregorio.com/grade-school-productions.htm