\u3ci\u3eThe Old Drake\u3c/i\u3e

Weary, the Old Drake rises On an icy breeze

\u3ci\u3eA Fair Tourney\u3c/i\u3e

It was his second day in the forest that Sir Alarik met Sir Urens, knight of the keep of Thorn

Just Deserts: Losing Origen and Gaining Retributive Judgment in the Hagiographical Literature of the Early Byzantine World

The rise in production and distribution of Christian Hagiography in the Early Byzantine Empire points towards a unique moment in Christian History. The role of the saint was moved from the margins to a central and dynamic position within the church hierarchy and broader religious landscape. Meeting the pagan claims of power and prestige, hagiographers crafted a saint that was more retributive than the earlier martyrologies and histories. The ascetic took on a role that was more akin to God's agent than suffering stranger. The deserts of Syria, Palestine and Egypt become the territory of struggle against a world that had fallen out of step with God's will, but was slowly being corrected. This research looks for reasons as to why this prominent form of literature became more deliberately retributive through its progression toward the sixth century. A major focus of the argument will be the influence that Origen had on Christian theological interpretation. Beginning with a section on Origen, this research will move on through the five most prominent hagiographical compilations in late antiquity. In the end, it will show that each of these hagiographers' relationship with Origen's teaching and subsequent communities yielded a particular flavor of hagiography on a spectrum of retributive justice. Finally, it will take into account the influence that the development of a structured system of law under Justinian had on the religious outlook of various later works

Production of Microbial Leather from Culled Sweet Potato Sugars via Kombucha Culture

The sweet potato industry is confronted during most growing seasons with an abundance of potatoes that are not appealing to consumers for use as table stock or fresh produce. These process grade roots do not garner as high a value as premium grade sweet potatoes. The purpose of this investigation was to extract sucrose from culled sweet potatoes and using a modification of available recipes, manipulate the kombucha culture to create a bio-based microbial leather.While the production of grow your own leather is not a new concept, approaching the process from a chemical and biological engineering perspective provides potential for a sustainable leather product. Additionally, the value loss for sweet potato farmers with higher percentages of culled crop can be devastating

The effect of antiretroviral therapy provision on all-cause, AIDS and non-AIDS mortality at the population level--a comparative analysis of data from four settings in Southern and East Africa.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a broad and up-to-date picture of the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) provision on population-level mortality in Southern and East Africa. METHODS: Data on all-cause, AIDS and non-AIDS mortality among 15-59 year olds were analysed from demographic surveillance sites (DSS) in Karonga (Malawi), Kisesa (Tanzania), Masaka (Uganda) and the Africa Centre (South Africa), using Poisson regression. Trends over time from up to 5 years prior to ART roll-out, to 4-6 years afterwards, are presented, overall and by age and sex. For Masaka and Kisesa, trends are analysed separately for HIV-negative and HIV-positive individuals. For Karonga and the Africa Centre, trends in AIDS and non-AIDS mortality are analysed using verbal autopsy data. RESULTS: For all-cause mortality, overall rate ratios (RRs) comparing the period 2-6 years following ART roll-out with the pre-ART period were 0.58 (5.9 vs. 10.2 deaths per 1000 person-years) in Karonga, 0.79 (7.2 vs. 9.1 deaths per 1000 person-years) in Kisesa, 0.61 (6.7 compared with 11.0 deaths per 1000 person-years) in Masaka and 0.79 (14.8 compared with 18.6 deaths per 1000 person-years) in the Africa Centre DSS. The mortality decline was seen only in HIV-positive individuals/AIDS mortality, with no decline in HIV-negative individuals/non-AIDS mortality. Less difference was seen in Kisesa where ART uptake was lower. CONCLUSIONS: Falls in all-cause mortality are consistent with ART uptake. The largest falls occurred where ART provision has been decentralised or available locally, suggesting that this is important

Fibronectin and Cyclic Strain Improve Cardiac Progenitor Cell Regenerative Potential In Vitro.

Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) have rapidly advanced to clinical trials, yet little is known regarding their interaction with the microenvironment. Signaling cues present in the microenvironment change with development and disease. This work aims to assess the influence of two distinct signaling moieties on CPCs: cyclic biaxial strain and extracellular matrix. We evaluate four endpoints for improving CPC therapy: paracrine signaling, proliferation, connexin43 expression, and alignment. Vascular endothelial growth factor A (about 900 pg/mL) was secreted by CPCs cultured on fibronectin and collagen I. The application of mechanical strain increased vascular endothelial growth factor A secretion 2-4-fold for CPCs cultured on poly-L-lysine, laminin, or a naturally derived cardiac extracellular matrix. CPC proliferation was at least 25% higher on fibronectin than that on other matrices, especially for lower strain magnitudes. At 5% strain, connexin43 expression was highest on fibronectin. With increasing strain magnitude, connexin43 expression decreased by as much as 60% in CPCs cultured on collagen I and a naturally derived cardiac extracellular matrix. Cyclic mechanical strain induced the strongest CPC alignment when cultured on fibronectin or collagen I. This study demonstrates that culturing CPCs on fibronectin with 5% strain magnitude is optimal for their vascular endothelial growth factor A secretion, proliferation, connexin43 expression, and alignment

Rotational Reconstruction of Sapphire (0001)

The structure of the $(\sqrt{31}\times \sqrt{31})R\pm9^\circ$ reconstructed phase on sapphire (0001) surface is investigated by means of a simulation based on the energy minimization. The interaction between Al adatoms is described with the semi-empirical many-body Sutton-Chen potential, corrected for the charge transfer between the metallic overlayer and the substrate. The interactions between the Al adatoms and sapphire substrate are described with a simple three-dimensional potential field which has the hexagonal periodicity of sapphire surface. Our energy analysis gave evidence that the structure which is observed at room temperature is in fact a frozen high-temperature structure. In accordance with the X-ray scattering, a hexagonal domain pattern separated by domain walls has been found. The Al adatoms, distributed in two monolayers, are ordered and isomorphic to metallic Al(111) in the domains and disordered in the domain walls. The main reason for the rotational reconstruction is the lattice misfit between the metallic Al and sapphire.Comment: 15 pages with 4 eps figures in text. Uses psfig and elsart.cls (ELSEVIER Science). Submitted to Surf. Sc

Type three secretion system-mediated escape of Burkholderia pseudomallei into the host cytosol is critical for the activation of NFκB.

BackgroundBurkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, a potentially fatal disease endemic in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. This Gram-negative pathogen possesses numerous virulence factors including three "injection type" type three secretion systems (T3SSs). B. pseudomallei has been shown to activate NFκB in HEK293T cells in a Toll-like receptor and MyD88 independent manner that requires T3SS gene cluster 3 (T3SS3 or T3SSBsa). However, the mechanism of how T3SS3 contributes to NFκB activation is unknown.ResultsKnown T3SS3 effectors are not responsible for NFκB activation. Furthermore, T3SS3-null mutants are able to activate NFκB almost to the same extent as wildtype bacteria at late time points of infection, corresponding to delayed escape into the cytosol. NFκB activation also occurs when bacteria are delivered directly into the cytosol by photothermal nanoblade injection.ConclusionsT3SS3 does not directly activate NFκB but facilitates bacterial escape into the cytosol where the host is able to sense the presence of the pathogen through cytosolic sensors leading to NFκB activation

Hurricane Impact on Emergency Services and Use of Telehealth to Support Prehospital Care

The impact of hurricanes on emergency services is well-known. Recent history demonstrates the need for prehospital and emergency department coordination to serve communities during evacuation, storm duration, and cleanup. The use of telehealth applications may enhance this coordination while lessening the impact on health-care systems. These applications can address triage, stabilization, and diversion and may be provided in collaboration with state and local emergency management operations through various shelters, as well as during other emergency medical responses