Boccaccio's Decameron 6.10 and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales VI.287-968: Thinking on Your Feet and the Set-Piece

Both Boccaccio, in his Decameron, and Chaucer, in The Canterbury Tales, place sermons delivered by highly skilled preachers very nearly at the centre of their story collections. Boccaccio's Fra Cipolla appears in Decameron 6.10 and Chaucer's Pardoner, in Canterbury Tales VI.287-968 ("The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale"). Boccaccio gives particular emphasis to the importance of his Cipolla by placing the master preacher in the last tale told on the sixth day of storytelling — the day when wit is the common theme of all ten tales. Chaucer's preacher appears in the tale preceding Fragment VII of the Canterbury Tales, wherein poetic language becomes a central theme. The coincidence of genre, character, theme, and placement between Boccaccio's Decameron 6.10 and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales VI.287-968 becomes especially interesting if there is even a chance that Chaucer knew the Decameron and its tale of Fra Cipolla

Short-term prospective memory deficits in chronic back pain patients

Objective: Chronic pain, particularly low back pain, is widespread. Although a great deal is known about the impact that this has on quality of life and physical activity, relatively little has been established regarding the more cognitive effects of pain. This study aims to find out whether individuals with chronic pain experience memory deficits in prospective memory (PM), the process of remembering to do things at some future point in time. Examples of PM include remembering to keep an appointment, such as a visit to a clinic, or to perform a particular task, such as paying a bill on time. Methods: The PM of 50 participants with chronic pain was compared with 50 pain-free participants. Each participant completed the Prospective Memory Questionnaire, which assesses three aspects of prospective memory (short-term habitual, long-term episodic, and internally cued), and records the use of strategies to aid remembering. Results: In comparison to those not in pain, participants with chronic pain had significantly impaired short-term prospective memory, an effect which was evident even after co-varying use of analgesics and other drugs. Conclusions: These findings provide new insights into prospective memory dysfunction in people with chronic pain. Possible mechanisms for this dysfunction are discussed and suggestions for future research given

Gender equality, resilience to climate change, and the design of livestock projects for rural livelihoods

Currently, there is growing interest in how livestock projects can contribute to resilience to the effects of climate change. In this article we recommend a shift away from gross productivity to sustainability, via the use of thrifty local breeds, with an additional emphasis on improving survival of young animals. These animals, due to their local adaptations, are more likely to be resilient to climate change. There is a gender dimension to these proposals, since smaller animals and local breeds are more likely to be perceived by communities as suitable for husbandry by women. We recommend a re-orientation towards an explicit gender-equality focus for these projects

Criminal Justice Reform Conference Panel Three: Prospects for Sentencing Reform

Sponsored by the Rappaport Center for Law & Public Policy at BC Law Moderator: Scott Harshbarger, Casner & Edwards; former Attorney General, Massachusetts Panelists: Dan Conley, District Attorney, Suffolk County Hon. Mary Beth Heffernan, Superior Court; Member, Sentencing Commission Carol Starkey, Conn Kavanaugh; President, Boston Bar Association; former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Burea

Yap1 Activation Enables Bypass of Oncogenic Kras Addiction in Pancreatic Cancer

Activating mutations in KRAS are among the most frequent events in diverse human carcinomas and are particularly prominent in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). An inducible Kras(G12D) driven mouse model of PDAC has established a critical role for sustained Kras(G12D) expression in tumor maintenance, providing a model to determine the potential for and the underlying mechanisms of Kras(G12D)-independent PDAC recurrence. Here, we show that some tumors undergo spontaneous relapse and are devoid of Kras(G12D) expression and downstream canonical MAPK signaling and instead acquire amplification and overexpression of the transcriptional coactivator Yap1. Functional studies established the role of Yap1 and the transcriptional factor Tead2 in driving Kras(G12D)-independent tumor maintenance. The Yap1/Tead2 complex acts cooperatively with E2F transcription factors to activate a cell cycle and DNA replication program. Our studies, along with corroborating evidence from human PDAC models, portend a novel mechanism of escape from oncogenic Kras addiction in PDAC