A history of Stickelberger's theorem

This thesis is a history of Stickelberger's theorem, from Gauss' sixth proof of quadratic reciprocity to Stickelberger's landmark paper.No embarg

To End This Day of Strife : Churchwomen and the Campaign for Integration, 1920-1970

\u27To End This Day of Strife\u27: Churchwomen and the Campaign for Integration, 1920-1970, explores the development and significance of a race relations agenda within a national interdenominational and interracial organization of women, known today as Church Women United (CWU). This project examines the role the organization played in the expansion of a moral language of race that reached across region, race and denomination. The keys to this expansion were twofold: First, the participation of African American churchwomen in the organization from its beginnings stimulated dialogue and action; and second, the missionary legacy of white churchwomen, which, despite its initial imperialist assumptions, introduced churchwomen to a religious idiom and intellectual experience that embraced cultural diversity. Black churchwomen pursued membership in CWU as a potential avenue to a more fully integrated American society. As they did, they challenged white churchwomen to take moral responsibility for race relations and supplanted the prominent black stereotypes held by white America. Using primarily the organization\u27s national papers housed at the General Commission on Archives and History at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, this project contributes to recent scholarship on the civil rights movement. It explores the more intimate aspects of its unknown players and expands the periodization of the struggle as well as the limited literature on women\u27s role in the movement. To End this Day of Strife examines the multiple interpretations of racial integration for various groups of citizens. In particular, it considers the moments when white and African American churchwomen\u27s pursuit of racial integration conflicted and coalesced with each other. The participation by CWU in the antecedents of as well as what is considered the actual civil rights movement provides a valuable context to understand better the place of religion in twentieth century American history

The Molecular Characterization Of Human Monoclonal Antiplatelet Autoantibodies

Autoimmune thrombocytopenia occurs in a number of clinical settings including idiopathic or autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and the lupus anticoagulant (LAC) syndrome. The etiology of the disease, the scope of the autoantigens targeted, and the epitopes involved in autoimmune thrombocytopenia are largely unknown. ITP has the hallmark of the presence of \u27pathogenic\u27 autoantibodies targeting platelet glycoproteins (GP) IIb/IIIa and GP Ib/IX. Associated with the thrombocytopenia in the LAC syndrome is the presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies (approximately 95% of cases). The detection of autoantibodies to a variety of self antigens in non-autoimmune individuals prompted this study to determine if normal lymphocytes have the potential to produce antiplatelet autoantibodies.;IgM antibodies to platelets were produced after somatic cell hybridization of tonsil lymphocytes from a non-thrombocytopenic male child to the lymphoblastoid fusion partner GM 4672. These autoantibodies appeared to segregate into two groups; those reactive to platelet proteins (8/13) as demonstrated by radioimmunoprecipitation and immunoblotting and those negative using these assays but reactive with DNA and anionic phospholipids (5/13). One hybridoma, termed STO 171, reacted to platelet GP IIb.;The immunoglobulin variable (Ig V) regions of two of these hybridoma monoclonal antiplatelet antibodies, representative of the two groups of autoreactivity and similar in specificity to autoantibodies from the two disease states, were sequenced at the nucleotide level. Both of these antibodies were generally comprised of unmutated VH, JH, VK and JK germline genes. STO 103 reactive to anionic phospholipids uses the VH4 V71-2 germline gene and a truncated JH4 germline gene. The light chain showed closest homology with the VK4 K18 (99.6% homologous) and JK2 germline genes. STO 171 showed closest homology with the VH4.18 germline gene (98.5% homologous) and a JH6 germline gene. The light chain of STO 171 uses the VK3 Humvk325 germline and a JK4 gene. However, both antibodies had unique diversity (D) regions with evidence of N-nucleotide additions and showed somatic mutation at the VK-JK junctional regions.;Sequence comparisons of these two antiplatelet antibodies to other autoantibodies have revealed that these antibodies are encoded by germline elements that have been used for autoantibodies derived from autoimmune patients and for allotypic antibodies to blood cell antigens. The relationship between the antiplatelet autoantibodies and other pathogenic antibodies and antibodies to foreign antigens remains to be determined

Maternal Control of Genomic Imprinting: Effects of Infertility and Ovarian Stimulation in a Mouse Model

Gametogenesis and early embryogenesis are important stages in which genome-wide epigenetic transitions required for early mammalian development are orchestrated. This is exemplified by the occurrence of genomic imprinting, where epigenetic mechanisms lead to the monoallelic expression of a subset of genes. Parental-specific DNA methylation in the gametes results in the distinct nonequivalence of the parental genomes in the early embryo. Changes from normal gamete and embryo development by impaired fertility or assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) may disrupt the processes of imprint acquisition and imprint maintenance. My hypothesis is that aberrant imprinted methylation arises from impaired maternal fertility or ovarian stimulation (superovulation), and that maternal effect factors involved in imprint regulation are disrupted by ARTs. To evaluate this, I developed a single cell methylation assay to determine DNA methylation patterns in individual oocytes and preimplantation embryos. I used this technique to examine the effects of compromised maternal fertility on imprint acquisition at three imprinted genes in growing oocytes, revealing that Peg1 DNA methylation acquisition was arrested in CX37-null oocytes, but not Snrpn or Peg3. I also used this technique to assess the effects of superovulation on imprint acquisition at four imprinted genes in MII oocytes, showing that imprint acquisition was unaffected at Snrpn, Kcnq1ot1, Peg3 and H19. Finally, I determined the effects of superovulation on the maternal effect factor, ZFP57, during preimplantation development. Mislocalization away from the nucleus and increased protein levels preceded a decrease in protein enrichment at five imprinted domains, Snrpn, Kcnq1ot1, Peg3, Peg1 and H19, proposing a possible mechanism for imprint methylation maintenance loss following ARTs. Data presented in this thesis suggest that infertility can predispose the oocyte to imprinting errors, but imprint acquisition is a relatively robust process and is unaffected by ARTs. Instead, superovulation disrupts one or more key maternal effects factors, including ZFP57, necessary for imprint maintenance during early embryogenesis. Future studies defining additional factors involved in the regulation of genomic imprinting, and improving current ARTs techniques to minimize effects on this pathway, will lead to a reduced incidence of disease in children born under impaired fertility and through assisted reproduction

Decolonizing influence : an exploration of queer sexuality in the film Stryker

Through an analysis of Noam Gonick’s independent Canadian film Stryker (2004) as public pedagogy, and in comparison to real life narratives, the authors illustrate how queer sexualities and genders are constructed according to Western hetero-colonial tropes that either silence Indigenous Two-Spirit people or position them as an exotic ‘other’ in queer and non-queer Canadian contexts. Through this comparison the authors shed light on problematic (mis)representations of Indigenous Two-Spirit people in cinema and how this may impact ‘real life’ encounters and assumptions about Two-Spirit people, and suggests some implications for decolonizing Western influence on Indigenous sexuality and gender identity.peer-reviewe

A Label-Free Biosensor for Heat Shock Protein 70 Using Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is an important health related biomarker, being implicated as an early stage cancer marker and as an indicator of cardiac health. It also has important implications in wildlife environmental monitoring, as its levels can be affected by food deprivation, elevated temperatures, and pollution. Therefore, the use of HSP70 as a biomarker is highly desirable, yet the current methods of quantifying HSP70 are time consuming, expensive, and require dedicated labs. In order to facilitate widespread use of the HSP70 biomarker, a quantification tool that can be used at the point-of-care is needed. This implies the development of a simple and inexpensive HSP70 biosensing technique that is highly sensitive and selective. Therefore, in this work a label-free HSP70 biosensor has been designed based on the optical properties of gold nanoparticles (NPs). Gold NPs exhibit a large absorbance peak in the visible spectrum due to localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). The peak position is dependent on the local refractive index, which can be employed as a biosensor by selectively capturing the target analyte to the NP surface. To design an LSPR HSP70 sensor, optical and fluidic simulations were developed to determine optimal NP geometries and microchannel dimensions. The results showed optimal response when using 100nmx5nm gold nanotriangles inside of a 100μmx100μm microchannel. Simulations of the sensor performance showed HSP70 detection from 0.92-4000ng/ml with a resolution of 1.1ng/ml, all of which satisfied the design requirements. An LSPR sensor was experimentally tested at the benchtop scale to prove the concept. Gold NPs were fabricated by electron beam lithography and enclosed in a polymer flow cell. For initial testing of the LSPR sensor, the NPs were functionalized with biotin for selective capture of streptavidin. Streptavidin was detected in real time over the range 55-500,000ng/ml. The use of bovine serum albumin (BSA) was shown to be necessary to block non-specific binding sites to ensure a streptavidin-specific response. The LSPR sensor was then demonstrated to detect salmon HSP70 at 4600ng/ml using its synthetic antibody. Overall, these results demonstrate that LSPR can be used to realize an HSP70 biosensor suitable for point-of-care applications

Application of the Implicit Association Test to a study on deception

Version of RecordThree experiments were conducted to find out whether the standard Implicit Association Test (IAT) could be used to distinguish truthful and deceitful witnesses. We anticipated that IAT effects would be greater after lying. Participants were asked to answer questions with incorrect answers (i.e., the lie condition) or correct answers (i.e., the truthful condition). A third group of participants were not interviewed (a control group). Participants then took the IAT, in which they were asked to associate correct and incorrect answers with positive or negative attributes. Results demonstrate that standard IAT effects are greater after lying than after truth telling, but only when attribute labels were clearly and explicitly linked to positive and negative affect. Theoretical implications are considered.Frost, P., Adie, M., Denomme, R., Lahaie, A., Sibley, A., & Smith, E.. (2010). Application of the Implicit Association Test to a Study on Deception. The American Journal of Psychology, 123(2), 221-230. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/amerjpsyc.123.2.022