Political Attitudes towards the Bush Administration by Ethnic and Racial Groups

This project analyzes the attitudes towards political statements according to a person’s ethnic and racial groups. The statements relate to the Bush administration and some of its policies. The different responses are categorized by age, gender and location as well. It is hypothesized that Caucasians would have a more positive outlook on the administration and its policies while racial and ethnic minorities would have a less positive response to the questions. Overall, a total of 219 participants were surveyed from Minnesota State University, Mankato and from communities of southeastern Minnesota through questions asking them to indicate their political attitudes. When analyzed, a significant difference between the majority and the minority was shown in three-fifths of the questions asked. This data supports the hypothesis that the racial/ethnic majority (Caucasians) would more strongly support the Bush administration and its policies when compared to racial and ethnic minorities

Move your money? Sustainability Transitions in Regimes and Practices in the UK Retail Banking Sector

We present and test a new conceptual framework for understanding sustainable transitions in co-evolutionary sociotechnical systems. We apply this in the first study of sustainable transitions in UK retail banking. This system has suffered recently from banking crises, and links to environmentally-sensitive industries such as fossil fuels. Sustainability-focused values-based banks are a potential solution, but have had little impact on mainstream banking systems. We aim to understand the constraints on a potential transition and how to overcome them. Our new approach identifies the intersections between transitions in regimes (using the multi-level perspective MLP) and transitions in practices (using social practice theory SPT), two competing conceptual frameworks in the literature. We ask: what are the intersections between transitions in the banking regime and banking practices, and how may critical points of constraint be unlocked to become points of opportunity, thereby aiding a transition to more sustainable banking systems? We present new empirical findings from a mixed-method case study of the UK banking sector and two values-based banks in particular. Interventions for growing sustainable banking are identified and we demonstrate the added-value of the combined approach through indicating strategies for unlocking the transformative potential of sustainable innovations

Political Attitudes Towards the Bush Administration by Ethnic and Racial Groups

Political constituencies affect the federal government and its policies. In return, these constituencies are also impacted themselves by the administration and the policies it creates in a sort of political cycle (Lee, 1993). These constituents should be aware of how particular governmental policies may directly or indirectly impact them at a personal level or at a national level through their common populations. This project primarily analyzes the political responses of various ethnic and racial groups about the Bush administration and its policies, but also to a lesser extent, the different responses when examined by age and/or gender. It is hypothesized that Caucasians will have a more positive outlook on the administration and its policies while racial and ethnic minorities will be seen to have less positive responses to the questions asked. Overall, approximately 220 participants were surveyed from classrooms of the Ethnic Studies Department of Minnesota State University, Mankato and from the local communities of the researchers through questions asking them to indicate their support for the war with Iraq, certain policies that the Bush administration had made or proposed to put into action and on the Bush administration itself. When each question was analyzed singly, a significant difference was shown between the various ethnic and racial groups in two-thirds of the questions asked. This data supports the hypothesis that the racial/ethnic majority (Caucasians) would more strongly support the Bush administration and its policies when compared to racial and ethnic minorities

Dissecting the molecular pathways underpinning lifespan extension following exposure to Montmorency Tart Cherries.

Inge Vrinds, Amber van den Elzen, Terun Desai, Michael Roberts, Christien Lokman, Lindsay Bottoms, Samantha Hughes, ‘Dissecting the molecular pathways underpinning lifespan extension following exposure to Montmorency Tart Cherries’, poster presented at the 21st International C. elegans Conference, University of California, Los Angeles, USA, 21-25 June, 2017.Peer reviewe

Montmorency tart cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) acts as a calorie restriction mimetic that increases intestinal fat and lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans

Montmorency Tart Cherries, MTC, (Prunus cerasus L.) possess a high anthocyanin content as well as one of the highest oxygen radical absorbance capacities of fruits at common habitual portion sizes. MTC have been shown to contribute to reducing plasma lipids, plasma glucose and fat mass in rats and strikingly, similar effects are observed in humans. However, there is a paucity of research examining the molecular mechanisms by which such MTC effects are induced. Here, we show that when exposed to MTC, Caenorhabditis elegans display an extension of lifespan, with a corresponding increase in fat content and increase in neuromuscular function. Using RNA interference, we have confirmed that MTC is likely to function via the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor (PPAR) signalling pathway. Further, consumption of MTC alters the pharyngeal pumping rate of worms which provides encouraging evidence that MTC may be operating as a calorie restriction mimetic via metabolic pathways.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Aberrant Function of the C-Terminal Tail of HIST1H1E Accelerates Cellular Senescence and Causes Premature Aging

Histones mediate dynamic packaging of nuclear DNA in chromatin, a process that is precisely controlled to guarantee efficient compaction of the genome and proper chromosomal segregation during cell division and to accomplish DNA replication, transcription, and repair. Due to the important structural and regulatory roles played by histones, it is not surprising that histone functional dysregulation or aberrant levels of histones can have severe consequences for multiple cellular processes and ultimately might affect development or contribute to cell transformation. Recently, germline frameshift mutations involving the C-terminal tail of HIST1H1E, which is a widely expressed member of the linker histone family and facilitates higher-order chromatin folding, have been causally linked to an as-yet poorly defined syndrome that includes intellectual disability. We report that these mutations result in stable proteins that reside in the nucleus, bind to chromatin, disrupt proper compaction of DNA, and are associated with a specific methylation pattern. Cells expressing these mutant proteins have a dramatically reduced proliferation rate and competence, hardly enter into the S phase, and undergo accelerated senescence. Remarkably, clinical assessment of a relatively large cohort of subjects sharing these mutations revealed a premature aging phenotype as a previously unrecognized feature of the disorder. Our findings identify a direct link between aberrant chromatin remodeling, cellular senescence, and accelerated aging