“Would you decide to keep the power?”: reflexivity on the interviewer–interpreter–interviewee triad in interviews with female punjabi rheumatoid arthritis patients

This article presents methodological reflections on the different streams of knowledge that are drawn upon during interpreted interviews and the shifts of power between (1) the interviewer, (2) the interpreter/co-researcher, and (3) the interviewee. Interpreters are increasingly seen as active agents in the interview process, and they act as cultural brokers.Interpretation by a nurse researcher introduces further challenges and benefits to the interview dynamic, which was explored through reflexive discussions with an independentresearcher. These challenges include conducting interviews in a clinical setting, where the health professional–patient relationship remains active. A modified discourse analysis was used to examine the subject positioning in the interview situation and the power negotiationsthat ensued. The main conclusion that can be drawn from these reflexive accounts is that the use of different streams of knowledge (experiential, clinical, cultural, and academic)enhanced the interview interaction, and power relations were successfully negotiated to facilitate rapport and data collection. Reflexivity provides an important tool for identifying,and learning from, the challenges and benefits of working with an interpreter, who is also a co-researcher with multiple professional roles

Corpus-Guided Contrast Sets for Morphosyntactic Feature Detection in Low-Resource English Varieties

The study of language variation examines how language varies between and within different groups of speakers, shedding light on how we use language to construct identities and how social contexts affect language use. A common method is to identify instances of a certain linguistic feature - say, the zero copula construction - in a corpus, and analyze the feature's distribution across speakers, topics, and other variables, to either gain a qualitative understanding of the feature's function or systematically measure variation. In this paper, we explore the challenging task of automatic morphosyntactic feature detection in low-resource English varieties. We present a human-in-the-loop approach to generate and filter effective contrast sets via corpus-guided edits. We show that our approach improves feature detection for both Indian English and African American English, demonstrate how it can assist linguistic research, and release our fine-tuned models for use by other researchers.Comment: Field Matters Workshop at COLING 202

RNA-Sequencing Reveals Direct Targets of Tumor Suppressor miR-203 in Human Mammary Epithelial Cells

Background: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women worldwide. Since a significant portion of cases present with or progress to metastatic disease, furthering our understanding of metastasis is critical to develop better treatments. Epithelial cells maintain contact with the extracellular matrix (ECM) predominantly via integrin engagement, a process required for tissue integrity and barrier function. In non-transformed cells, loss of ECM adhesion promotes a specialized form of programmed cell death, anoikis. In order for efficient metastasis to occur, breast tumor cells must evade anoikis. miR-203, known to be down-regulated in several cancers, was found by our lab to be induced ten-fold 24 hours following detachment in breast epithelial cells, but not invasive triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells, suggesting that miR-203 may participate in promoting anoikis. Interestingly, more invasive breast cancer cell lines have been shown to express miR-203 at significantly lower levels than those of less invasive lines. Objectives: Since restoration of miR-203 expression ectopically is not feasible in a clinical setting, we sought to identify and characterize miR-203 target genes in order to provide a pharmaceutical platform for restoration of anoikis sensitivity in metastatic breast cancer. Methods: We performed traditional RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) coupled with immunoprecipitation of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC; Ago2 RIP-Seq) in MCF-10A, an immortalized, but non-transformed breast epithelial cell line, overexpressing precursor miR-203 or an empty vector control. MDA-MB-231, triple negative ductal carcinoma cells, were used as our invasive comparison cell line. Results: Here we show that miR-203 induction in detached MCF-10A cells is due to loss of integrin signaling. Our coupled RNA-Seq and Ago2 RIP-Seq approach revealed 72 potential candidates, 42 of which were predicted miR-203 targets based on the TargetScan algorithm. We subjected the candidates to stringent characterization and found 9 bona-fide miR-203 targets that promote cell death when inhibited. Among these, WDR69, PRKAB1, PRPS2, and HBEGF were significantly elevated in TNBC tumor samples, as determined by RNA-Seq analysis in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Conclusion: Understanding the mechanisms by which cells evade anoikis during tumor dissemination is crucial to developing more effective therapies in breast cancer. miR-203, which is expressed at very low levels in more invasive breast cancers, is a positive regulator of anoikis that is upregulated in response to loss of contact with the ECM. Our combined RNA-sequencing screen revealed 42 direct miR-203 targets. Inhibition of 9 bona-fide targets promoted cell death, suggesting that they are negative regulators of anoikis. WDR69, PRKAB1, PRPS2, and HBEGF were all significantly elevated in TNBC tumor samples relative to less invasive samples, likely a consequence of low miR-203 expression. The identified genes represent potential pharmaceutical targets for novel breast cancer therapies

Comparative Analysis of European Examples of Freight Electric Vehicles Schemes—A Systematic Case Study Approach with Examples from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.

E-Mobility is a hot topic, in the public policy area as well as in business and scientific communities. Literature on electric freight transport is still relatively scarce. Urban freight transport is considered as one of the most promising fields of application of vehicle electrification, and there are on-going demonstration projects. This paper will discuss case study examples of electric freight vehicle initiatives in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK and identify enablers and barriers for common trends

Investigating Morphosyntactic Variation in African American English on Twitter

Early work on African American English (AAE) perpetuated myths that the language variety was uniform across regions and that it was spoken primarily by working class men, due to being conducted in inner city areas and examining a specific set of linguistic features. These sociolinguistic myths negatively impacted not only the field of linguistics but also how the public viewed AAE. Since then studies have looked at a broader range of geographical areas and demonstrated distinct local differences. Here we build on this line of research by analyzing relative incidences of 18 morphosyntactic features in relationship to geographic and social factors, at scale. Our data is a corpus of 224M geotagged tweets, which is five orders of magnitude larger than previous social media studies of AAE. We use machine learning methods to automatically detect linguistic features and to identify common patterns of variation across the features. Our results show that, contrary to sociolinguistic myths of uniformity, there is clear variation in AAE across both geographic and social dimensions. Regionally, we see a distinct spatially contiguous southern core which aligns with national-level phonological and lexical variation in AAE, although it is less variable. Across social groups, there is higher AAE usage in the rural south and in Black-Hispanic contact communities – both of which are groups currently underrepresented in the literature. This work provides a significant advance in descriptive work on AAE morphosyntax, presenting the first national-level description and analysis of overall grammatical variation in AAE in order to answer key questions about variation in AAE. More broadly, our methods demonstrate how machine learning tools can be applied to large-scale real-world data to help us gain a more representative understanding of language in marginalized communities

A double ovulation protocol for Xenopus laevis produces doubled fertilisation yield and moderately transiently elevated corticosterone levels without loss of egg quality

The African claw-toed frog, Xenopus laevis, is a well-established laboratory model for the biology of vertebrate oogenesis, fertilisation, and development at embryonic, larval, and metamorphic stages. For ovulation, X. laevis females are usually injected with chorionic gonadotropin, whereupon they lay typically hundreds to thousands of eggs in a day. After being rested for a minimum of three months, animals are re-used. The literature suggests that adult females can lay much larger numbers of eggs in a short period. Here, we compared the standard “single ovulation” protocol with a “double ovulation” protocol, in which females were ovulated, then re-ovulated after seven days and then rested for three months before re-use. We quantified egg number, fertilisation rate (development to cleavage stage), and corticosterone secretion rate as a measure of stress response for the two protocol groups over seven 3-month cycles. We found no differences in egg number-per-ovulation or egg quality between the groups and no long-term changes in any measures over the 21-month trial period. Corticosterone secretion was elevated by ovulation, similarly for the single ovulation as for the first ovulation in the double-ovulation protocol, but more highly for the second ovulation (to a level comparable to that seen following shipment) in the latter. However, both groups exhibited the same baseline secretion rates by the time of the subsequent cycle. Double ovulation is thus transiently more stressful/demanding than single ovulation but within the levels routinely experienced by laboratory X. laevis. Noting that “stress hormone” corticosterone/cortisol secretion is linked to physiological processes, such as ovulation, that are not necessarily harmful to the individual, we suggest that the benefits of a doubling in egg yield-per-cycle per animal without loss of egg quality or signs of acute or long-term harm may outweigh the relatively modest and transient corticosterone elevation we observed. The double ovulation protocol therefore represents a potential new standard practice for promoting the “3Rs” (animal use reduction, refinement and replacement) mission for Xenopus research

The histone H3K9 demethylase KDM3A promotes anoikis by transcriptionally activating pro-apoptotic genes BNIP3 and BNIP3L

Epithelial cells that lose attachment to the extracellular matrix undergo a specialized form of apoptosis called anoikis. Here, using large-scale RNA interference (RNAi) screening, we find that KDM3A, a histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) mono- and di-demethylase, plays a pivotal role in anoikis induction. In attached breast epithelial cells, KDM3A expression is maintained at low levels by integrin signaling. Following detachment, integrin signaling is decreased resulting in increased KDM3A expression. RNAi-mediated knockdown of KDM3A substantially reduces apoptosis following detachment and, conversely, ectopic expression of KDM3A induces cell death in attached cells. We find that KDM3A promotes anoikis through transcriptional activation of BNIP3 and BNIP3L, which encode pro-apoptotic proteins. Using mouse models of breast cancer metastasis we show that knockdown of Kdm3a enhances metastatic potential. Finally, we find defective KDM3A expression in human breast cancer cell lines and tumors. Collectively, our results reveal a novel transcriptional regulatory program that mediates anoikis

Performance of Polyethylene Vapor Barrier Systems in Temperate Climates

The performance of nine different vapor barrier systems comprising polyethylene (PE) membranes were assessed. The vapor barrier systems comprised membranes of virgin PE, 100% new PE, regenerated PE and multilayered virgin and regenerated PE. Membranes were joined either with tape suited to the individual system or an adhesive base on butyl rubber. The vapor barrier systems were evaluated and compared using standard laboratory tests. Chemical analytical techniques and physicomechanical tests were used. Mechanical properties were assessed using laboratory tests recommended by the harmonized standard EN 1385. Chemical analyses followed standard laboratory protocols performed with specialized equipment and visual examination. Chemical and mechanical properties were determined before and after exposure to an aging regime comprising 168 days at 70 °C in total. The chemical stability of the plastic present in each membrane was further evaluated after an additional exposure to an aging regime comprising 50 days followed by another 30 days at 70 °C. Additional aging indicated chemical changes in the membrane material with time. However, it was not possible to distinguish between aging properties for membranes containing virgin PE, 100% new PE, regenerated PE or multilayered virgin and regenerated PE

Towards an Understanding of Changing-Look Quasars: An Archival Spectroscopic Search in SDSS

The uncertain origin of the recently-discovered `changing-looking' quasar phenomenon -- in which a luminous quasar dims significantly to a quiescent state in repeat spectroscopy over ~10 year timescales -- may present unexpected challenges to our understanding of quasar accretion. To better understand this phenomenon, we take a first step to building a sample of changing-look quasars with a systematic but simple archival search for these objects in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12. By leveraging the >10 year baselines for objects with repeat spectroscopy, we uncover two new changing-look quasars, and a third discovered previously. Decomposition of the multi-epoch spectra and analysis of the broad emission lines suggest that the quasar accretion disk emission dims due to rapidly decreasing accretion rates (by factors of >2.5), while disfavoring changes in intrinsic dust extinction for the two objects where these analyses are possible. Broad emission line energetics also support intrinsic dimming of quasar emission as the origin for this phenomenon rather than transient tidal disruption events or supernovae. Although our search criteria included quasars at all redshifts and transitions from either quasar-like to galaxy-like states or the reverse, all of the clear cases of changing-look quasars discovered were at relatively low-redshift (z ~ 0.2 - 0.3) and only exhibit quasar-like to galaxy-like transitions.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. Updated to accepted versio