Reinterpreting the Genevan Psalter: an examination of Psalm 128 as set by Goudimel, Sweelinck and Schütz

The popularity of Psalm setting in the time of the Protestant Reformation is a topic that has seldom been explored in depth. By analyzing the Genevan Psalter, this thesis exposes the investigation of the inspiration veiled behind the masterpieces of Psalm 128 as set by three composers; Claude Goudimel, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, and Heinrich Schütz. This music of the late Renaissance or early Baroque has been affected by outside incentives such as religion, culture, nationality, and the nature of the Reformation itself. By exploring the history of Psalmody during the Reformation, the experiences that each of these composers faced during their lifetimes, and by comparing their 128th Psalm settings, it can be determined why the fashion of Psalm setting evolved during this era and whether or not the music has withstood the test of time

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: FAMILIAL EXPECTATIONS IN THREE MULTICULTURAL NOVELS

By using the commonality of family, this cross-cultural investigation hopes to highlight some of the similarities and differences among three vastly different cultures with the hope that readers discover the ways in which their cultures are alike and different from those represented in this paper. The paper begins with an overview of how academics have defined family as well as how family is defined within more general populations. Working under the assumption that literature is an artistic representation of life and it can provide insight into cultures that are different from our own, this investigation into the inner workings of family is anchored in one novel per culture including Elif Shafak's Honour, Louise Erdrich's The Round House, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus. Because not all people within the cultures these three novels represent are the same, this paper serves as point of origin for readers interested in multicultural literature or cross-cultural studies rather than a definitive representation of familial expectations within these cultures

Gas/Solid Carbon Branching Ratios in Surface Mediated Reactions and the Incorporation of Carbonaceous Material into Planetesimals

We report the ratio of the initial carbon available as CO that forms gas-phase compounds compared to the fraction that deposits as a carbonaceous solid (the gas solid branching ratio) as a function of time and temperature for iron, magnetite, and amorphous iron silicate smoke catalysts during surface-mediated reactions in an excess of hydrogen and in the presence of N2. This fraction varies from more than 99 for an amorphous iron silicate smoke at 673 K to less than 40% for a magnetite catalyst at 873 K. The CO not converted into solids primarily forms methane, ethane, water, and CO2, as well as a very wide range of organic molecules at very low concentration. Carbon deposits do not form continuous coatings on the catalytic surfaces, but instead form extremely high surface area per unit volume filamentous structures. While these structures will likely form more slowly but over much longer times in protostellar nebulae than in our experiments due to the much lower partial pressure of CO, such fluffy coatings on the surfaces of chondrules or calcium aluminum inclusions could promote grain-grain sticking during low-velocity collisions

Biogenesis, inheritance and 3D ultrastructure of the microsporidian mitosome

Funding: This work was supported by a European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grant (ERC-2010-AdG-268701) to T.M.E., and a Wellcome Trust Programme Grant (Number 045404) to T.M.E. and J.M.L.During the reductive evolution of obligate intracellular parasites called microsporidia, a tiny remnant mitochondrion (mitosome) lost its typical cristae, organellar genome, and most canonical functions. Here, we combine electron tomography, stereology, immunofluorescence microscopy, and bioinformatics to characterise mechanisms of growth, division, and inheritance of this minimal mitochondrion in two microsporidia species (grown within a mammalian RK13 culture-cell host). Mitosomes of Encephalitozoon cuniculi (2–12/cell) and Trachipleistophora hominis (14–18/nucleus) displayed incremental/non-phasic growth and division and were closely associated with an organelle identified as equivalent to the fungal microtubule-organising centre (microsporidian spindle pole body; mSPB). The mitosome–mSPB association was resistant to treatment with microtubule-depolymerising drugs nocodazole and albendazole. Dynamin inhibitors (dynasore and Mdivi-1) arrested mitosome division but not growth, whereas bioinformatics revealed putative dynamins Drp-1 and Vps-1, of which, Vps-1 rescued mitochondrial constriction in dynamin-deficient yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe). Thus, microsporidian mitosomes undergo incremental growth and dynamin-mediated division and are maintained through ordered inheritance, likely mediated via binding to the microsporidian centrosome (mSPB).Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Defective Presynaptic Choline Transport Underlies Hereditary Motor Neuropathy

The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a specialized synapse with a complex molecular architecture that provides for reliable transmission between the nerve terminal and muscle fiber. Using linkage analysis and whole-exome sequencing of DNA samples from subjects with distal hereditary motor neuropathy type VII, we identified a mutation in SLC5A7, which encodes the presynaptic choline transporter (CHT), a critical determinant of synaptic acetylcholine synthesis and release at the NMJ. This dominantly segregating SLC5A7 mutation truncates the encoded product just beyond the final transmembrane domain, eliminating cytosolic-C-terminus sequences known to regulate surface transporter trafficking. Choline-transport assays in both transfected cells and monocytes from affected individuals revealed significant reductions in hemicholinium-3-sensitive choline uptake, a finding consistent with a dominant-negative mode of action. The discovery of CHT dysfunction underlying motor neuropathy identifies a biological basis for this group of conditions and widens the spectrum of disorders that derive from impaired NMJ transmission. Our findings compel consideration of mutations in SLC5A7 or its functional partners in relation to unexplained motor neuronopathies

Retrospective Determination of Prognostic Factors in BRAF-V600E Melanoma Brain Metastases​

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Influenza D Virus Infection in Feral Swine Populations, United States

Influenza D virus (IDV) has been identified in domestic cattle, swine, camelid, and small ruminant populations across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. Our study investigated seroprevalence and transmissibility of IDV in feral swine. During 2012–2013, we evaluated feral swine populations in 4 US states; of 256 swine tested, 57 (19.1%) were IDV seropositive. Among 96 archived influenza A virus–seropositive feral swine samples collected from 16 US states during 2010–2013, 41 (42.7%) were IDV seropositive. Infection studies demonstrated that IDV-inoculated feral swine shed virus 3–5 days postinoculation and seroconverted at 21 days postinoculation; 50% of in-contact naive feral swine shed virus, seroconverted, or both. Immunohistochemical staining showed viral antigen within epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, including trachea, soft palate, and lungs. Our findings suggest that feral swine might serve an important role in the ecology of IDV

Nuclear Localization of Huntingtin mRNA Is Specific to Cells of Neuronal Origin

Huntington\u27s disease (HD) is a monogenic neurodegenerative disorder representing an ideal candidate for gene silencing with oligonucleotide therapeutics (i.e., antisense oligonucleotides [ASOs] and small interfering RNAs [siRNAs]). Using an ultra-sensitive branched fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method, we show that approximately 50% of wild-type HTT mRNA localizes to the nucleus and that its nuclear localization is observed only in neuronal cells. In mouse brain sections, we detect Htt mRNA predominantly in neurons, with a wide range of Htt foci observed per cell. We further show that siRNAs and ASOs efficiently eliminate cytoplasmic HTT mRNA and HTT protein, but only ASOs induce a partial but significant reduction of nuclear HTT mRNA. We speculate that, like other mRNAs, HTT mRNA subcellular localization might play a role in important neuronal regulatory mechanisms