Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

'Vernacular Voices: Black British Poetry'

ABSTRACT Black British poetry is the province of experimenting with voice and recording rhythms beyond the iambic pentameter. Not only in performance poetry and through the spoken word, but also on the page, black British poetry constitutes and preserves a sound archive of distinct linguistic varieties. In Slave Song (1984) and Coolie Odyssey (1988), David Dabydeen employs a form of Guyanese Creole in order to linguistically render and thus commemorate the experience of slaves and indentured labourers, respectively, with the earlier collection providing annotated translations into Standard English. James Berry, Louise Bennett, and Valerie Bloom adapt Jamaican Patois to celebrate Jamaican folk culture and at times to represent and record experiences and linguistic interactions in the postcolonial metropolis. Grace Nichols and John Agard use modified forms of Guyanese Creole, with Nichols frequently constructing gendered voices whilst Agard often celebrates linguistic playfulness. The borders between linguistic varieties are by no means absolute or static, as the emergence and marked growth of ‘London Jamaican’ (Mark Sebba) indicates. Asian British writer Daljit Nagra takes liberties with English for different reasons. Rather than having recourse to established Creole languages, and blending them with Standard English, his heteroglot poems frequently emulate ‘Punglish’, the English of migrants whose first language is Punjabi. Whilst it is the language prestige of London Jamaican that has been significantly enhanced since the 1990s, a fact not only confirmed by linguistic research but also by its transethnic uses both in the streets and on the page, Nagra’s substantial success and the mainstream attention he receives also indicate the clout of vernacular voices in poetry. They have the potential to connect with oral traditions and cultural memories, to record linguistic varieties, and to endow ‘street cred’ to authors and texts. In this chapter, these double-voiced poetic languages are also read as signs of resistance against residual monologic ideologies of Englishness. © Book proposal (02/2016): The Cambridge History of Black and Asian British Writing p. 27 of 4

Forging connections: anthologies, arts collectives, and the politics of inclusion

The changing social and political landscape of twentieth-century Britain catalysed a remarkable rise in collaborative activity by artists and activists of black and Asian heritage. Creative communities began to gather in both local and regional contexts, with the aim of sharing resources and securing an audience. This chapter records some of these many activities, tracing the groups’ genesis, manifest objectives, and key contributions. It argues that anthologising should be understood as a specifically motivated activity. Literary anthologies of poetry and fiction served to showcase the diversity of contemporary writing, while also suggesting its coherence. Drawing on the concept of “strategic essentialism” elucidated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, I show that the anthology acts to ensure the visibility of a group, bannered as a unified and singly-titled selection of texts, while also insisting on the differences within: the heterogeneous multiplicity of black and Asian British experiences and creative practices

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Tearing city & bodies on the ground: a photogrammetric experiment

International audienc

"Brochette de Putes": une contre-appropriation manquée

International audienceOn 14 November 2022, the Jacob-Bellecombette campus of the Université Savoie Mont Blanc was targeted by offensive tags targeting women on several of its walls. This act of discrimination and misogyny sparked outrage within the university community and was quickly covered by the press. Despite the aims of the activist collective ‘Brochette de Putes’, the action failed to achieve its objective. By attempting to highlight the abusive messages received online, the collective reproduced the verbal violence present on social networks in the university environment. Although the initiative was intended to reappropriate offensive words, it failed to transform their pejorative meaning. The action was neither collectively accepted nor perceived as an act of reparation and resistance by the university community. To analyse this action, it is necessary to explore its mediatisation and the experience it offers, considering its scripto-visual, political, corporeal, digital and spatial aspects. The concept of gender is mobilised to understand this attempt to counter-appropriate discriminatory discourse online. On rereading my argument and the title of my presentation, it seems more appropriate to speak of a failed 'recontextualisation' - which has more to do with the public's reception - than of a 'counter-appropriation', which has more to do with the collective's approach and lived experience.Le 14 novembre 2022, le campus Jacob-Bellecombette de l’Université Savoie Mont Blanc est marqué par des tags injurieux visant les femmes sur plusieurs de ses murs. Cette manifestation de discrimination et de misogynie suscite l'indignation au sein de la communauté universitaire et est rapidement relayée par la presse. Malgré les intentions du collectif militant "Brochette de Putes", cette action ne parvient pas à atteindre son objectif. En tentant de mettre en lumière les messages injurieux reçus en ligne, le collectif reproduit dans l'espace universitaire la violence verbale présente sur les réseaux sociaux. Cette initiative, bien que voulue comme une réappropriation des mots blessants, échoue à transformer leur sens péjoratif. L'action n'est ni acceptée collectivement ni perçue comme un acte de réparation et de résistance par la communauté universitaire. Pour analyser cette action, il est nécessaire d'explorer sa médiatisation et l'expérience qu'elle propose, en considérant ses aspects scripto-visuels, politiques, corporels, numériques et spatiaux. Le concept de genre est mobilisé pour comprendre cette tentative de contre-appropriation des discours discriminatoires en ligne. À la relecture de mon argumentation et du titre de ma présentation, il me semble davantage pertinent de parler d’une « recontextualisation » manquée - qui concerne davantage la réception par le public, que d’une « contre-appropriation » qui concerne davantage la démarche et le vécu dudit collectif

: Les corps oubliés

International audienc

Enquêter les potentialités queers: méthodologie de recherche

International audienceLes corps queers sont engagés dans des perspectives politiques qui impliquent des formes pouvant être autant de questionnements et instances de déconstruction des processus de signification et d'identification sociale. Ces derniers sont toutefois en friction avec des perspectives marchandes au sein d'un espace social où chacun est amené à cultiver une expression de soi en termes de design personnel. Dans cette communication je détaille ma méthodologie d'investigation ethnographique filmée au sein d'espaces sociaux minoritaires, couplée à la création de cartographies numériques

A look at the stranger to oneself: queer(ing) the gaze in multi-site ethnography

Panel with Margot Weiss, Jen Hughes and Elias AlexanderInternational audiencePanel with Margot Weiss, Jen Hughes and Elias Alexander