Eugenides\u27 The Virgin Suicides and Zuzak\u27s The Book Thief: Impossible Narration in Millennial Fiction

Analysing the development of narration in millennial fiction, particularly in Eugenides and Zuzak\u27s novels, which explores how consciousness and narration has become shaped by the advancements of technology

Sharing Vision for Shared Spaces: Mobile Immersive Planning and Community-led Design of Green Spaces in Richmond’s Southside

This plan seeks to demonstrate the potential of immersive technologies, specifically augmented reality, in strengthening public engagement and enabling the collaborative, community led design of local green spaces. Community engagement, while now a focal point of urban planning education, is still implemented in uneven strategies that often further distance the public from the process and understanding of city vision; new paradigms of outreach and community-government knowledge sharing must be explored to overcome common constraints of time, expertise, and language that prevent public participation in projects that directly impact their health. Immersive urban planning offers a way to bring people into the local process above and beyond traditional approaches by providing tools for autonomous exploration and imagination of public space, particularly neighborhood pocket parks and green spaces. In this project, one site designated for future city park development in Richmond’s South side Windsor neighborhood (currently known as “Broad Rock Creek Park”) acts as a pilot location for a mobile-based augmented reality land-use planning experiment. At the park and sites in the surrounding walk shed area, community members will be approached to use this technology to visualize, problem solve, and design their ideal future green space by overlaying virtually represented landscape features onto the physical space. Using community survey responses and an AR landscape architecture design tool, user experiences and final design outputs will be analyzed to determine perceptions of the tool and common goals for the future park. This project will serve as an important steppingstone in transforming community participation by offering a tool to facilitate design made by and for neighborhood members

Expression of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Gene by Dermal Fibroblasts in Response to Ultraviolet Irradiation or Lipopolysaccharide

To examine the effects of different wavelengths of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production, we took advantage of mice carrying a chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) reporter transgene bearing the entire TNF promoter and 3'-untranslated region. Aside from constitutive expression in the thymus, CAT activity was detected only in locally UVB- or UVC-irradiated skin. After UVB irradiation, markedly greater amounts of CAT activity were traced to the dermis rather than the epidermis; by contrast, almost all CAT activity was localized to the epidermis after UVC irradiation, Fibroblasts have not been shown previously to express the TNF gene, i.e., the TNF gene is highly methylated and inaccessible to exogenous modulation in 3T3 fibroblasts, However, the present report reveals that cultured dermal fibroblasts are capable of producing both CAT and TNF in response to treatment in vitro with either UVB irradiation, UVC irradiation, or lipopolysaccharide. These findings indicate that dermal fibroblasts may serve not only as a target for but also as a source of TNF

Novel synthetic routes to thienocarbazoles via palladium or copper catalyzed amination or amidation of arylhalides and intramolecular cyclization

Palladium or copper catalyzed aminations or amidations were performed to obtain diarylamines and diarylacetamides precursors of thienocarbazoles. The fact that an ortho-bromodiarylamine didn’t cyclize to the corresponding thienocarbazole under conditions known for carbazoles from ortho-halodiphenylamines, conducted us to a highgly efficient method of palladium-catalyzed intramolecular cyclisation with N-deprotection of ortho-halodiarylacetamides to thienocarbazoles. Other method of intramolecular cyclization of diarylamines based on the reoxidation of the Pd(0) formed by Cu(OAc)2 , avoiding the use of stoichiometric amounts of Pd(OAc)2, gave thienocarbazoles in a moderate yield, including a ring A methoxylated compound. An attempt to combine palladium and copper catalyses in a “one pot” reaction of amination and intramolecular cyclization gave as major product a N-benzo[b]thiophene substituted carbazole and the required thienocarbazole in low yield.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian - Research Incitment Programme. Escola Superior Agrária - Instituto Politécnico de Bragança

Switching to Glycerol Phenylbutyrate in 48 Patients with Urea Cycle Disorders: Clinical Experience in Spain

Clinical practice; Glycerol phenylbutyrate; Urea cycle disordersPráctica clinica; Fenilbutirato de glicerol; Trastornos del ciclo de la ureaPràctica clínica; Fenilbutirat de glicerol; Trastorns del cicle de la ureaBackground and objectives: Glycerol phenylbutyrate (GPB) has demonstrated safety and efficacy in patients with urea cycle disorders (UCDs) by means of its clinical trial program, but there are limited data in clinical practice. In order to analyze the efficacy and safety of GPB in clinical practice, here we present a national Spanish experience after direct switching from another nitrogen scavenger to GPB. Methods: This observational, retrospective, multicenter study was performed in 48 UCD patients (age 11.7 ± 8.2 years) switching to GPB in 13 centers from nine Spanish regions. Clinical, biochemical, and nutritional data were collected at three different times: prior to GPB introduction, at first follow-up assessment, and after one year of GPB treatment. Number of related adverse effects and hyperammonemic crisis 12 months before and after GPB introduction were recorded. Results: GPB was administered at a 247.8 ± 102.1 mg/kg/day dose, compared to 262.6 ± 126.1 mg/kg/day of previous scavenger (46/48 Na-phenylbutyrate). At first follow-up (79 ± 59 days), a statistically significant reduction in ammonia (from 40.2 ± 17.3 to 32.6 ± 13.9 μmol/L, p < 0.001) and glutamine levels (from 791.4 ± 289.8 to 648.6 ± 247.41 μmol/L, p < 0.001) was observed. After one year of GPB treatment (411 ± 92 days), we observed an improved metabolic control (maintenance of ammonia and glutamine reduction, with improved branched chain amino acids profile), and a reduction in hyperammonemic crisis rate (from 0.3 ± 0.7 to less than 0.1 ± 0.3 crisis/patients/year, p = 0.02) and related adverse effects (RAE, from 0.5 to less than 0.1 RAEs/patients/year p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study demonstrates the safety of direct switching from other nitrogen scavengers to GPB in clinical practice, which improves efficacy, metabolic control, and RAE compared to previous treatments.This study was funded by AECOM (Spanish Association for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism). Immedica Pharma Spain funded medical writing support and article processing charges

The Grizzly, November 20, 2003

Can I Kiss You? • Grade Your Professors Today: Website Spotlight • Did Veterans Day Pass you by? • Opinions: Celebrity Couples: Do we Really Care That Much?; GSA Forum Celebrates the Essence of a Liberal Arts Education; Search for the Right Search Engine; Concerning the Residential Village • All American Cafe • Ursinus College Presents: The Love of the Nightingale; Meet the Director • Come Support Jazz and Concert Bands • Men\u27s Basketball Season Looks Promising • Women\u27s Basketball Team Young, yet Optimistichttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1549/thumbnail.jp

The transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS3) mutated in deafness DFNB8/10 activates the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) in vitro

TMPRSS3 encodes a transmembrane serine protease that contains both LDLRA and SRCR domains and is mutated in non-syndromic autosomal recessive deafness (DFNB8/10). To study its function, we cloned the mouse ortholog which maps to Mmu17, which is structurally similar to the human gene and encodes a polypeptide with 88% identity to the human protein. RT-PCR and RNA in situ hybridization on rat and mouse cochlea revealed that Tmprss3 is expressed in the spiral ganglion, the cells supporting the organ of Corti and the stria vascularis. RT-PCR on mouse tissues showed expression in the thymus, stomach, testis and E19 embryos. Transient expression of wild-type or tagged TMPRSS3 protein showed a primary localization in the endoplasmic reticulum. The epithelial amiloride-sensitive sodium channel (ENaC), which is expressed in many sodium-reabsorbing tissues including the inner ear and is regulated by membrane-bound channel activating serine proteases (CAPs), is a potential substrate of TMPRSS3. In the Xenopus oocyte expression system, proteolytic processing of TMPRSS3 was associated with increased ENaC mediated currents. In contrast, 6 TMPRSS3 mutants (D103G, R109W, C194F, W251C, P404L, C407R) causing deafness and a mutant in the catalytic triad of TMPRSS3 (S401A), failed to undergo proteolytic cleavage and activate ENaC. These data indicate that important signaling pathways in the inner ear are controlled by proteolytic cleavage and suggest: (i) the existence of an auto-catalytic processing by which TMPRSS3 would become active, and (ii) that ENaC could be a substrate of TMPRSS3 in the inner ea

Chitinase-3-like 1 protein (CHI3L1) locus influences cerebrospinal fluid levels of YKL-40

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology appears several years before clinical symptoms, so identifying ways to detect individuals in the preclinical stage is imperative. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Tau/Aβ(42) ratio is currently the best known predictor of AD status and cognitive decline, and the ratio of CSF levels of chitinase-3-like 1 protein (CHI3L1, YKL-40) and amyloid beta (Aβ(42)) were reported as predictive, but individual variability and group overlap inhibits their utility for individual diagnosis making it necessary to find ways to improve sensitivity of these biomarkers. METHODS: We used linear regression to identify genetic loci associated with CSF YKL-40 levels in 379 individuals (80 cognitively impaired and 299 cognitively normal) from the Charles F and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. We tested correlations between YKL-40 and CSF Tau/Aβ(42) ratio, Aβ(42), tau, and phosphorylated tau (ptau(181)). We used studentized residuals from a linear regression model of the log-transformed, standardized protein levels and the additive reference allele counts from the most significant locus to adjust YKL-40 values and tested the differences in correlations with CSF Tau/Aβ(42) ratio, Aβ(42), tau, and ptau(181). RESULTS: We found that genetic variants on the CH13L1 locus were significantly associated with CSF YKL-40 levels, but not AD risk, age at onset, or disease progression. The most significant variant is a reported expression quantitative trait locus for CHI3L1, the gene which encodes YKL-40, and explained 12.74 % of the variance in CSF YKL-40 in our study. YKL-40 was positively correlated with ptau(181) (r = 0.521) and the strength of the correlation significantly increased with the addition of genetic information (r = 0.573, p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: CSF YKL-40 levels are likely a biomarker for AD, but we found no evidence that they are an AD endophenotype. YKL-40 levels are highly regulated by genetic variation, and by including genetic information the strength of the correlation between YKL-40 and ptau(181) levels is significantly improved. Our results suggest that studies of potential biomarkers may benefit from including genetic information. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12883-016-0742-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

First bounds on the high-energy emission from isolated Wolf-Rayet binary systems

High-energy gamma-ray emission is theoretically expected to arise in tight binary star systems (with high mass loss and high velocity winds), although the evidence of this relationship has proven to be elusive so far. Here we present the first bounds on this putative emission from isolated Wolf-Rayet (WR) star binaries, WR 147 and WR 146, obtained from observations with the MAGIC telescope.Comment: (Authors are the MAGIC Collaboration.) Manuscript in press at The Astrophysical Journal Letter

Improved detection of fluorescently labeled microspheres and vessel architecture with an imaging cryomicrotome

Due to spectral overlap, the number of fluorescent labels for imaging cryomicrotome detection was limited to 4. The aim of this study was to increase the separation of fluorescent labels. In the new imaging cryomicrotome, the sample is cut in slices of 40 μm. Six images are taken for each cutting plane. Correction for spectral overlap is based on linear combinations of fluorescent images. Locations of microspheres are determined by using the system point spread function. Five differently colored microspheres were injected in vivo distributed over two major coronaries, the left anterior descending and left circumflex artery. Under absence of collateral flow, microspheres outside of target perfusion territories were not found and the procedure did not generate false positive detection when spectral overlap was relevant. In silico-generated microspheres were used to test the effect of background image, transparency correction, and color separation. The percentage of microspheres undetected was 2.3 ± 0.8% in the presence and 1.5 ± 0.4% in the absence of background structures with a density of 900 microspheres per color per cm3. The image analysis method presented here, allows for an increased number of experimental conditions that can be investigated in studies of regional myocardial perfusion