The Poetry of History: Irish National Imagination Through Mythology and Materiality

The thesis culminates in the twentieth century and yet it begins with the Ulster Cycle, a period of Irish mythological history that occurred around the first century common era. Indeed, since the time frame was before the arrival of the Gaels, Normans, or Christianity, the extent of this mythology’s relevance today is whatever extent it is conceptualized as “Irish.” As such, the first chapter locks onto an aspect that could feasibly transcend time and resonate with modern Irish society: gender. Of course, the epistemological dynamics of gender[1] in the first-century common era are vastly different than the twentieth century dynamics, but there is still more prevalent resonance in terms of gender than, say, martial exercises, cattle raids, or the intervention of minor “gods.” Most importantly, the poetic conceptualization of gender in Irish mythology is a major factor in the continued imagination of the Irish national character. Specifically, Medb is a figure of femininity (and Ireland herself) whereas Cúchulainn embodies Irish masculinity and the compulsion to fight, even against immense odds. Medb and Cúchulainn’s prevalence and the general exhortations of Irish mythologies continue well into the 20th century, as evident in Yeats’s poetry. As such, the second chapter focuses on the transition into the Irish twentieth century and is oriented primarily on Yeats. Eavan Boland is also heavily featured in this chapter, for her later work poses an essential deconstructive framework to compare against Yeats’s; conversely, Pádraig Pearse and Dwyer Joyce are also regarded due to their mystical resonance with Yeats. Yeats’s earlier poems were often more indulgent in Irish mythology and the speaker often explicitly refers to writing poetry through verse. Yeats’s later poetry is much more cautious about projecting Ireland’s future from a past fraught with mythology, especially as he cannot meaningfully register this abstracted mythology with the brutal material reality of Irish revolution and colonialism. This ambiguous uncertainly is most clearly and poignantly express in his poem “Easter, 1916.” The Easter Uprising of 1916 poses a violent interruption to the reliance on mythologized historiography, especially in the context of some Irish republicans’ belief in a mystical “blood sacrifice” for Ireland through their deaths (but not their triumphs). Ultimately, 1916 is the key factor to a contingent sequence of events: the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Civil War, and, decades later, The Troubles. As such, the third and final chapter focuses on The Troubles, and the concurrent poetry of Seamus Heaney and Eavan Boland.[2] Given the overbearing weight of violence and uncertainty during this time in Ireland, these poets augment Yeats’s feeling of uncertainty expressed in “Easter, 1916”. Providing a crucial deconstruction of many of the poetic and historical pretenses that conditioned and exacerbated sectarian beliefs, Boland and Heaney thoroughly navigate the value of Irish mythology and history. By grounding history and poetic narrative in the material and personal, they carefully reject using poetry or history as political frameworks for justifying continued violence. On the contrary, their deconstruction of Irish culture and history affords modes of understanding the personal and affective experience of colonial violence; this, in turn, spurns the kind of poetics and histories that are detached enough from material violence to perpetuate such violence, whether unknowingly or not. [1] That is, how gender is conceptualized and how gender dynamics play out. [2] Unfortunately, the day that I wrote this introduction (4/27/20) was the day in which Eavan Boland passed away in Dublin. I would just like to note my condolences to her family and loved ones, but I am certain that her supreme poetic aptitude will carry her memory indefinitely

Why Don\u27t You Wish To Remember : Why Do You Want To Forget

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/3765/thumbnail.jp

Mitochondrial DNA and temperature tolerance in lager yeasts

A growing body of research suggests that the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) is important for temperature adaptation. In the yeast genus Saccharomyces, species have diverged in temperature tolerance, driving their use in high- or low-temperature fermentations. Here, we experimentally test the role of mtDNA in temperature tolerance in synthetic and industrial hybrids (Saccharomyces cerevisiae × Saccharomyces eubayanus or Saccharomyces pastorianus), which cold-brew lager beer. We find that the relative temperature tolerances of hybrids correspond to the parent donating mtDNA, allowing us to modulate lager strain temperature preferences. The strong influence of mitotype on the temperature tolerance of otherwise identical hybrid strains provides support for the mitochondrial climactic adaptation hypothesis in yeasts and demonstrates how mitotype has influenced the world’s most commonly fermented beverage.This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Hatch project no. 1003258), the NSF (grant no. DEB-1253634), and in part by the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (DOE BER Office of Science; nos. DE-SC0018409 and DE-FC02-07ER64494). E.P.B. was supported by a Louis and Elsa Thomsen Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship. C.T.H. is a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences and a Vilas Faculty Early Career Investigator, supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Vilas Trust Estate. D.P. is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 747775). J.C.F. was supported by the NIH (no. GM080669)Peer Reviewe

When I Send You A Picture Of Berlin : You\u27ll Know It\u27s Over, Over There, I\u27m Coming Home

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/2678/thumbnail.jp

Interactions between FGF18 and retinoic acid regulate differentiation of chick embryo limb myoblasts

During limb development Pax3 positive myoblasts delaminate from the hypaxial dermomyotome of limb level somites and migrate into the limb bud where they form the dorsal and ventral muscle masses. Only then do they begin to differentiate and express markers of myogenic commitment and determination such as Myf5 and MyoD. However the signals regulating this process remain poorly characterised. We show that FGF18, which is expressed in the distal mesenchyme of the limb bud, induces premature expression of both Myf5 and MyoD and that blocking FGF signalling also inhibits endogenous MyoD expression. This expression is mediated by ERK MAP kinase but not PI3K signalling. We also show that retinoic acid (RA) can inhibit the myogenic activity of FGF18 and that blocking RA signalling allows premature induction of MyoD by FGF18 at HH19. We propose a model where interactions between FGF18 in the distal limb and retinoic acid in the proximal limb regulate the timing of myogenic gene expression during limb bud development

Altered expression of caspases-4 and -5 during inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer : diagnostic and therapeutic potential

Caspases are a group of proteolytic enzymes involved in the co-ordination of cellular processes, including cellular homeostasis, inflammation and apoptosis. Altered activity of caspases, particularly caspase-1, has been implicated in the development of intestinal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the involvement of two related inflammatory caspase members, caspases-4 and -5, during intestinal homeostasis and disease has not yet been established. This study demonstrates that caspases-4 and -5 are involved in IBD-associated intestinal inflammation. Furthermore, we found a clear correlation between stromal caspase-4 and -5 expression levels, inflammation and disease activity in ulcerative colitis patients. Deregulated intestinal inflammation in IBD patients is associated with an increased risk of developing CRC. We found robust expression of caspases-4 and -5 within intestinal epithelial cells, exclusively within neoplastic tissue, of colorectal tumours. An examination of adjacent normal, inflamed and tumour tissue from patients with colitis-associated CRC confirmed that stromal expression of caspases-4 and -5 is increased in inflamed and dysplastic tissue, while epithelial expression is restricted to neoplastic tissue. In addition to identifying caspases-4 and -5 as potential targets for limiting intestinal inflammation, this study has identified epithelial-expressed caspases-4 and -5 as biomarkers with diagnostic and therapeutic potential in CRC

Innate Immunity Driven by Incoming Viral Polymerase

Faculty Adviser: Dr. Ryan LangloisThis research was supported by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

When I Send You A Picture of Berlin

Photograph of a soldier; Illustration of soldiers on horses with American flagshttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/5600/thumbnail.jp

Adenovirus E4orf4 Induces HPV-16 Late L1 mRNA Production

The adenovirus E4orf4 protein regulates the switch from early to late gene expression during the adenoviral replication cycle. Here we report that overexpression of adenovirus E4orf4 induces human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) late gene expression from subgenomic expression plasmids. E4orf4 specifically overcomes the negative effects of two splicing silencers at the two late HPV-16 splice sites SD3632 and SA5639. This results in the production of HPV-16 spliced L1 mRNAs. We show that the interaction of E4orf4 with protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is necessary for induction of HPV-16 late gene expression. Also an E4orf4 mutant that fails to bind the cellular splicing factor ASF/SF2 fails to induce L1 mRNA production. Collectively, these results suggest that dephosphorylation of SR proteins by E4orf4 activates HPV-16 late gene expression. Indeed, a mutant ASF/SF2 protein in which the RS-domain had been deleted could itself induce HPV-16 late gene expression, whereas wild type ASF/SF2 could not

Isotropisation of Bianchi class A models with curvature for a minimally coupled scalar tensor theory

We look for necessary isotropisation conditions of Bianchi class $A$ models with curvature in presence of a massive and minimally coupled scalar field when a function $\ell$ of the scalar field tends to a constant, diverges monotonically or with sufficiently small oscillations. Isotropisation leads the metric functions to tend to a power or exponential law of the proper time $t$ and the potential respectively to vanish as $t^{-2}$ or to a constant. Moreover, isotropisation always requires late time accelerated expansion and flatness of the Universe.Comment: 20 page