Bishopness

The publication of Edgar Allen Poe & the Juke-Box modifies Elizabeth Bishop’s established oeuvre in ways that demonstrate the anxiety throughout her work regarding the concealment of sexual difference—a concealment she often takes part in. As the poems reveal, by putting emphasis on particular kinds of clothing, Bishop emphasizes the necessary—but flawed—methods for that concealment. Black stockings, gloves, sailors hats, and other garments of traditional gender representation work as useful metaphors, symbolically engaging the construction of the literary image accepted in the academy which has produced the unified notion of “Bishopness” some critics still wish to uphold. When themes of gender and sexuality are most at crisis, articles of clothing such as stockings become important signs of what Bishop deemed necessary to put on—both figuratively and literally—in order to uphold the “style” and “poise” she continues to be celebrated for

Connecting Through Summer Camp: Youth with Visual Impairments Find a Sense of Community

The social meaning of a one-week residential summer sports camp to young people with visual impairments is described. The experiences of 13 youths (7 females and 6 males) with visual impairments (3 B1, 1 B2, and 9 B3) between 9 and 15 years of age were gathered using the phenomenological methods of focus groups, conversational interviews, and field notes. The thematic analysis revealed three themes: connected, reaching out, and resisting and acquiescing. Experiences of group membership and shared emotional connection to others with visual impairments surfaced in a supportive sport context although resistance to others\u27 assumptions of ability was evident. The theory of psychological sense of community (McMillan & Chivas, 1986) provided the conceptual framework for interpreting the findings

ADAD1 and ADAD2, testis-specific adenosine deaminase domain-containing proteins, are required for male fertility.

Adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing, a fundamental RNA modification, is regulated by adenosine deaminase (AD) domain containing proteins. Within the testis, RNA editing is catalyzed by ADARB1 and is regulated in a cell-type dependent manner. This study examined the role of two testis-specific AD domain proteins, ADAD1 and ADAD2, on testis RNA editing and male germ cell differentiation. ADAD1, previously shown to localize to round spermatids, and ADAD2 had distinct localization patterns with ADAD2 expressed predominantly in mid- to late-pachytene spermatocytes suggesting a role for both in meiotic and post-meiotic germ cell RNA editing. AD domain analysis showed the AD domain of both ADADs was likely catalytically inactive, similar to known negative regulators of RNA editing. To assess the impact of Adad mutation on male germ cell RNA editing, CRISPR-induced alleles of each were generated in mouse. Mutation of either Adad resulted in complete male sterility with Adad1 mutants displaying severe teratospermia and Adad2 mutant germ cells unable to progress beyond round spermatid. However, mutation of neither Adad1 nor Adad2 impacted RNA editing efficiency or site selection. Taken together, these results demonstrate ADAD1 and ADAD2 are essential regulators of male germ cell differentiation with molecular functions unrelated to A-to-I RNA editing

Variation of Muscle Quality Parameters within the Longissimus Muscle

Results of this study indicate that significant variation exists for muscle quality traits within the longissimus muscle. It is important to follow a rigidly standardized protocol when obtaining samples for use in pork quality research. The decision on which section to use as an estimate of the composite is not as important as is procedure. Relationships among sections with composite values are high for most quality traits

Performance and Body Composition of Gilts from Differing Genetic Lines as Affected by Nutritional Program

Gilts restricted fed a high-protein ration were slower growing (P\u3c.05) than gilts ad libitum fed a high- and moderate-protein diet. Gilts ad libitum fed a moderateprotein diet with added fat had significantly (P\u3c.05) more fat accretion than gilts ad libitum fed and restricted fed a high-protein diet. A genetic line by diet interaction (P\u3c.05) was observed for average daily gain. Also, gilts with the presence of a terminal breed in their ancestry were leaner and heavier muscled (P\u3c.05) than gilts with no presence of a terminal breed in their ancestry

Verbal learning impairment in euthymic bipolar disorder: BDI v BDII

AbstractObjectivesCognitive impairment is known to occur in bipolar disorder (BD), even in euthymic patients, with largest effect sizes often seen in Verbal Learning and Memory Tasks (VLT). However, comparisons between BD Type-I and Type-II have produced inconsistent results partly due to low sample sizes.MethodsThis study compared the performance of 183 BDI with 96 BDII out-patients on an adapted version of the Rey Verbal Learning Task. Gender, age, years of education, mood scores and age at onset were all used as covariates. Current medication and a variety of illness variables were also investigated for potential effects on VLT performance.ResultsBDI patients were significantly impaired relative to BDII patients on all five VLT outcome measures after controlling for the other variables [Effect Sizes=.13–.17]. The impairments seem to be unrelated to drug treatment and largely unrelated to illness variables, although age of onset affected performance on three outcome measures and number of episodes of mood elevation affected performance on one.LimitationsThis study used historical healthy controls. Analysis of potential drug effects was limited by insufficient participants not being drug free. Cross-sectional nature of the study limited the analysis of the potential effect of illness variables.ConclusionsThis study replicates earlier findings of increased verbal learning impairment in BDI patients relative to BDII in a substantially larger sample. Such performance cannot be wholly explained by medication effects or illness variables. Thus, the cognitive impairment is likely to reflect a phenotypic difference between bipolar sub-types

A novel human iPSC model of COL4A1/A2 small vessel disease unveils a key pathogenic role of matrix metalloproteinases

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) affects the small vessels in the brain and is a leading cause of stroke and dementia. Emerging evidence supports a role of the extracellular matrix (ECM), at the interface between blood and brain, in the progression of SVD pathology, but this remains poorly characterized. To address ECM role in SVD, we developed a co-culture model of mural and endothelial cells using human induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with COL4A1/A2 SVD-related mutations. This model revealed that these mutations induce apoptosis, migration defects, ECM remodeling, and transcriptome changes in mural cells. Importantly, these mural cell defects exert a detrimental effect on endothelial cell tight junctions through paracrine actions. COL4A1/A2 models also express high levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and inhibiting MMP activity partially rescues the ECM abnormalities and mural cell phenotypic changes. These data provide a basis for targeting MMP as a therapeutic opportunity in SVD.</p

Facile Synthesis of Functionalised Hyperbranched Polymers for Application as Novel, Low Viscosity Lubricant Formulation Components

A novel, previously unreported, method for synthesising hyperbranched (HB) materials is detailed. Their use as additives to produce lubricant formulations that exhibit enhanced levels of wear protection and improved low-temperature oil viscosity and flow is also reported. The lubricant formulations containing HB additives were found to exhibit both significantly lower viscosities and improved in-use film-forming properties than the current industry standard formulations. To achieve this, alkyl methacrylate oligomers (predominantly dimers and trimers) were synthesised using catalytic chain transfer polymerisation. These were then used as functional chain transfer agents (CTA) to control the polymerisation of divinyl benzene (DVB) monomers to generate highly soluble, high polydispersity HB polymers. The level of dimer/trimer purification applied was varied to define its influence on both these HB resultant structures and the resultant HB additives’ performance as a lubricant additive. It was shown that, while the DVB acted as the backbone of the HB, the base oil solubility of the additive was imparted by the presence of the alkyl chains included in the structure via the use of the oligomeric CTAs