Nell Gwyn’s many after-lives : taming ‘the Protestant Whore’ in 21st century popular fiction

Ever since her supposed self-fashioning as ‘the Protestant Whore’ in the 1660s, Nell Gwyn has become a figure of fascination, revamped and reinterpreted in a multitude of ways along the years: from the black and white films of the 1930s, the story of this Restoration orange seller turned Royal concubine continues to excite the imagination of not just film makers, but of novelists, artists and even jam makers nowadays, as much as it inflamed Restoration audiences. The aim of this paper is to analyse the discourse that lays at the basis of three modern-day reconstructions of Nell Gwyn’s figure in an attempt at drawing a connection between celebrity, pop culture and historical fiction so as to explain the reimagining of this actress as an innocent strumpet, a scheming shrew, a dignified lady and all things in between; this paper takes ideas on celebrity and historical fiction as the theoretical basis upon which to build the criticism of these revampings of Nell Gwyn to better understand the survival of her figure three centuries after her death.peer-reviewe

RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation as a tool to investigate plant miRNA processing interference by regulatory proteins of diverse origin

Background: Due to the nature of viral RNA genomes, RNA viruses depend on many RNA-binding proteins (RBP) of viral and host origin for replication, dissemination and evasion of host RNA degradation pathways. Some viruses interfere with the microRNA (miRNA) pathway to generate better fitness. The development of an adjusted, reliable and sensitive ribonucleoprotein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay is needed to study the interaction between RBP of different origin (including viral origin) and miRNA precursors. The method could be further applied to transiently expressed heterologous proteins in different plant species. Results: Here we describe a modified RIP assay applied to nuclear epitope-tagged proteins of heterologous origin and transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. The assay includes a combination of optimized steps as well as the careful selection of control samples and rigorous data analysis. It has proven efficient to detect and quantify miRNA processing intermediates associated with regulatory proteins. Conclusions: The RIP method described here provides a reliable tool to study the interaction of RBPs, such as transiently expressed regulatory proteins with lowly represented host RNA, as is the case of miRNA precursors. This modified method was efficiently adjusted to recover nuclear proteins and reduce unspecific background. The purification scheme optimized here for GFP-tagged proteins can be applied to a wide array of RBPs. The subsequent application of next-generation sequencing technologies will permit to sequence and characterize all RNA species bound in vivo by a given RBP.Fil: Marmisollé, Facundo Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Reyes Martinez, Carina Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentin

Circadian rhythms of proliferation events in two mouse carcinomas

We studied the index of DNA synthesis (DNAs) of two cellular carcinomas: the hepatocellular ES12a and the mammary TN60 of mice, throughout one circadian cycle. In the results, we observed that both tumors have circadian rhythms (CRs), but the peaks of DNAs vary. Besides, the mean of DNAs along 24 h shows significative differences, the TN60 has higher values than the ES12a. These observed CR in the DNAs index in both carcinomas mean that, at least in partly, the proliferation of cancer cells can be regulated by endocrine factor as it normally occurs in ordinary cells. The big problem we can find for the chronopharmacology is that it is impossible to know in advance the rate of proliferation of each tumor.Fil: Garcia, Marcela. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Andrini, Laura Beatríz. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Marina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Inda, Ana. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Palma, Maria Belen. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Miriuka, Santiago Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Errecalde, Ana Lia. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentin

Storage Temperature Affects Müller Glia Susceptibility to Hypoxia

Background/Objective: We conducted this project to differentiate cell susceptibility to hypoxia (low O2 level) between immortalized Müller glia (MIO-M1) stored in -80 versus liquid nitrogen. Method: MIO-M1 cells were cultured and seeded in 12 well plates at 40K/well and in 6 well plates at 75K/well until confluence. Cell culture conditions: centrifugation time and speed, neutralization, and storage temperature were varied. Cells were subjected to chemically induced hypoxia by treatment with 300 and 400uM CoCl2 for 24 and 48hours. Oxygen level was measured in cells, cells were imaged and counted. Results: Centrifugation and neutralization conditions did not affect cell survival. We found that storing MIO-M1 cell in -80 makes these cells more susceptible to death by hypoxia. First, we found that %live MIO-M1 cells stored in liquid nitrogen is near 100% compared to ~60% live cells when stored in -80. Second, cells stored in -80 showed significant susceptibility to chemically induced hypoxia compared to cells stored in liquid nitrogen that survived treated for 24 and 48 hours. Conclusion: We concluded that storage of these cells in liquid nitrogen maintain survival during hypoxic events. Cells’ susceptibility to hypoxia indicates that storage in -80 affect glycolysis efficiency in these cells to maintain survival. During hypoxia, mitochondrial is dysfunctional as they depend on O2 for ATP production during oxidative phosphorylation. Cells stored in liquid nitrogen survived hypoxic conditions, which may indicate that MIO-M1 depends on glycolysis for ATP production. Further investigation will proceed to determine Müller glia metabolism preferenc

Synthesis and characterization of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles obtained in porous alumina template under confinement conditions

En este trabajo se reporta la síntesis y caracterización de nanopartículas magnéticas de CoFe2O4 que crecen en condiciones de confinamiento. Estas condiciones se logran al infiltrar una solución acuosa con los iones precursores de interés en una plantilla de alúmina anódica nanoporosa. Se estudian la morfología, composición química, estructura cristalina y las propiedades magnéticas del material sintetizado. Los resultados obtenidos revelan la formación de nanopartículas magnéticas aglomeradas con forma elipsoidal dentro y en la superficie del sustrato poroso. Debido al efecto de confinamiento, las fases sintetizadas dentro de los poros son diferentes de aquellas obtenidas en condiciones ambiente. Una comparación cuantitativa entre las anisotropías magnetocristalina y la de forma permite entender la invariancia de las curvas de histéresis respecto a la dirección como se aplica el campo magnético. El comportamiento superparamagnético de los aglomerados de nanopartículas se analiza por medio de curvas M vs. T a diferentes campos aplicados.In this paper the synthesis and characterization of magnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles growing under confinement conditions is reported. These conditions are achieved by infiltrating an aqueous solution with the precursor ions of interest in a nanoporous anodic alumina template. Morphology, chemical composition, crystal structure and magnetic properties of the synthesized material are studied. The results show the formation of agglomerated magnetic nanoparticles with ellipsoidal shape within and on the surface of the porous substrate. Due to the confinement effect, the phases synthesized into the pores are different of those obtained at room conditions. A quantitative comparison between magnetocrystalline and shape anisotropies allow to understand the invariance of the hysteresis curves to the direction as the magnetic field is applied. The superparamagnetic behavior of the agglomerates of nanoparticles is analyzed by curve M vs. T applied to different fields.Fil: Londoño Calderon, Cesar Leandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Menchaca Nal, Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Pampillo, Laura Gabriela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Sólidos Amorfos; ArgentinaFil: Martinez Garcia, Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Formosa. Facultad de Recursos Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Synthesis and magnetic properties of cobalt-iron/cobalt-ferrite soft/hard magnetic core/shell nanowires

A straightforward method for the synthesis of CoFe2.7/CoFe2O4 core/shell nanowires is described. The proposed method starts with a conventional pulsed electrodeposition procedure on alumina nanoporous template. The obtained CoFe2.7 nanowires are released from the template and allowed to oxidize at room conditions over several weeks. The effects of partial oxidation on the structural and magnetic properties were studied by x-ray spectrometry, magnetometry, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that the final nanowires are composed of 5 nm iron-cobalt alloy nanoparticles. Releasing the nanowires at room conditions promoted surface oxidation of the nanoparticles and created a CoFe2O4 shell spinel-like structure. The shell avoids internal oxidation and promotes the formation of bi-magnetic soft/hard magnetic core/shell nanowires. The magnetic properties of both the initial single-phase CoFe2.7 nanowires and the final core/shell nanowires, reveal that the changes in the properties from the array are due to the oxidation more than effects associated with released processes (disorder and agglomeration).Fil: Londoño Calderon, Cesar Leandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Moscoso Londoño, Oscar. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Muraca, Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil. Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials. Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory; BrasilFil: Arzuza, Luis. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Carvalho, Peterson. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Pirota, Kleber Roberto. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Knobel, Marcelo. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Pampillo, Laura Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long"; ArgentinaFil: Martinez Garcia, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Formosa. Facultad de Recursos Naturales; Argentin

Conservación del elemento boreo-alpino del sistema central: Microrreserva de los circos de Cerezuelo y Buitrera

El entorno del Pico del Lobo es uno de los enclaves del Sistema Central con una mayor diversidad de taxones eurosiberianos y boreo-alpinos, presentando además diversos hábitats de carácter atlántico y orófilo bien conservados. La presencia en la zona de dos especies del Catálogo de Flora Protegida regional,Swertia perennis L. y Huperzia selago (L.) Bernh. ex Schrank & Mart .subsp. selago y en el marco del Decreto 63/2007 de la Junta de Castilla y León, se propone la creación de la presente Microrreserva de Flora

Genetic variability and structure of an isolated population of Ambystoma altamirani, a mole salamander that lives in the mountains of one of the largest urban areas in the world

Amphibians are globally threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation; species within the order Ambystoma are not the exception, as there are 18 species of mole salamanders in México, of which 16 are endemic and all species are under some national or international status of protection. The mole salamander, Ambystoma altamirani is a microendemic species, which is distributed in central México, within the trans-Mexican volcanic belt, and is one of the most threatened species due to habitat destruction and the introduction of exotic species. Nine microsatellite markers were used to determine the genetic structure, genetic variability, effective population size, presence of bottlenecks and inbreeding coefficient of one population of A. altamirani to generate information which might help to protect and conserve this threatened species. We found two genetic subpopulations with significant level of genetic structure (FST = 0.005) and high levels of genetic variability (Ho = 0.883; He = 0.621); we also found a small population size (Ne = 8.8), the presence of historical (M = 0.486) and recent bottlenecks under IAM and TPM models, with a low, but significant coefficient of inbreeding (FIS = −0.451). This information will help us to raise conservation strategies of this microendemic mole salamander species

Prefrontal gray matter and motivation for treatment in cocaine dependent individuals with and without personality disorders

Addiction treatment is a long-term goal and therefore prefrontal–striatal regions regulating goal-directed behavior are to be associated with individual differences on treatment motivation. We aimed at examining the association between gray matter volumes in prefrontal cortices and striatum and readiness to change at treatment onset in cocaine users with and without personality disorders. Participants included 17 cocaine users without psychiatric comorbidities, 17 cocaine users with Cluster B disorders, and 12 cocaine users with Cluster C disorders. They completed the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment Scale, which measures four stages of treatment change (precontemplation, contemplation, action, and maintenance) and overall readiness to change, and were scanned in a 3 T MRI scanner. We defined three regions of interest (ROIs): the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (including medial orbitofrontal cortex and subgenual and rostral anterior cingulate cortex), the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (i.e., superior medial frontal cortex), and the neostriatum (caudate and putamen). We found that readiness to change correlated with different aspects of ventromedial prefrontal gray matter as a function of diagnosis. In cocaine users with Cluster C comorbidities, readiness to change positively correlated with gyrus rectus gray matter, whereas in cocaine users without comorbidities it negatively correlated with rostral anterior cingulate cortex gray matter. Moreover, maintenance scores positively correlated with dorsomedial prefrontal gray matter in cocaine users with Cluster C comorbidities, but negatively correlated with this region in cocaine users with Cluster B and cocaine users without comorbidities. Maintenance scores also negatively correlated with dorsal striatum gray matter in cocaine users with Cluster C comorbidities. We conclude that the link between prefrontal–striatal gray matter and treatment motivation is modulated by co-existence of personality disorders

They Choose to Attend Academic Summer Camps? A Mixed Methods Study Exploring the Impact of a NASA Academic Summer Pre-Engineering Camp On Middle School Students in a Latino Community

Early exposure to engineering and mathematics career opportunities has been indicated to influence students’ decisions regarding their academic majors and career goals. This study utilized mixed methods to analyze how changes in middle school students’ affective characteristics might be linked to their future career decision-making, following participation in an integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics summer camp. As part of the summer camp, rising sixth- through eighth-grade students attended a weeklong learning experience based on a specific engineering context. Each grade level cohort participated with their same grade peers in a 36-hour, 6-day event focused on sparking their interest in engineering careers and developing their content knowledge in select science and mathematics content areas. Pre-post testing was conducted with 65 students of diverse backgrounds in grades six through eight to measure their self-reported engineering-related self-efficacy, knowledge of engineering careers, and motivation to pursue future engineering classes and careers. In addition, interviews were conducted to examine any changes in middle school camp participants’ affective characteristics of motivation, self-efficacy, and self-determination