Reclaiming The Revolutionary: Harry Haywood and the African American Freedom Struggle During the Interwar Period

Communism served throughout the 20th Century as a platform for emerging,marginalized groups. Not surprisingly, African Americans often participated inCommunist activities to mutually beneficial ends. This work examines the impact ofcommunism on the African American Freedom Struggle in the southern United Statesduring the interwar period. Due to his legacy as an African American intellectual, andhis efforts to affect change in both the Soviet Union and the Black Belt South, the “BlackBolshevik” Harry Haywood is identified as a vehicle from which to analyze the AfricanAmerican intellectuals’ struggle for equality. It is clear from this work that therelationship forged between the Soviet Union and African Americans in the interwarperiod was a two way street that not only informs scholars about African Americans’struggle for equal rights in America, but also leads to new insights about how Blackintellectuals’ influenced policy

Significant Up-regulation of Mir-17 in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model

Previous work by our group has demonstrated a correlation between AD pathology and changes in epigenetic markers, including cytosine methylation of gene promoter regions. Several genes determined to have AD-related changes in methylation code for miRNA, which is known to regulate gene expression at a post-transcriptional level. Research suggests that miRNA play a key role in AD development by alteration of gene products and transcription factors, particularly in that of amyloid-ß (Aß) production and apoptosis of postmitotic neurons. This analysis shows a significant up-regulation of demonstrated epigenetically modified miR-17 in the hippocampi of transgenic AD mice when compared to that of non-AD mice. MiR-17 belongs to the polycistronic cluster miR-17-92 and is believed to be involved in normal neuronal cell proliferation and ultimately the regulation of Beclin-1, which has been shown to modulate amyloid beta accumulation in mice

Molecular dynamic simulation studies of the South African HIV-1 Integrase subtype C protein to understand the structural impact of naturally occurring polymorphisms

Masters of ScienceThe viral Integrase (IN) protein is an essential enzyme of all known retroviruses, including HIV-1. It is responsible for the insertion of viral DNA into the human genome. It is known that HIV-1 is highly diverse with a high mutation rate as evidenced by the presence of a large number of subtypes and even strains that have become resistant to antiretroviral drugs. It remains inconclusive what effect this diversity in the form of naturally occurring polymorphisms/variants exert on IN in terms of its function, structure and susceptibility to IN inhibitory antiretroviral drugs. South Africa is home to the largest HIV-1 infected population, with (group M) subtype C being the most prevalent subtype. An investigation into IN is therefore pertinent, even more so with the introduction of the IN strand-transfer inhibitor (INSTI) Dolutegravir (DTG). This study makes use of computational methods to determine any structural and DTG drug binding differences between the South African subtype C IN protein and the subtype B IN protein. The methods employed included homology modelling to predict a three-dimensional model for HIV-1C IN, calculating the change in protein stability after variant introduction and molecular dynamics simulation analysis to understand protein dynamics. Here we compared subtype C and B IN complexes without DTG and with DTG

CcNav: Understanding Compiler Optimizations in Binary Code

Program developers spend significant time on optimizing and tuning programs. During this iterative process, they apply optimizations, analyze the resulting code, and modify the compilation until they are satisfied. Understanding what the compiler did with the code is crucial to this process but is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. Users need to navigate through thousands of lines of binary code and correlate it to source code concepts to understand the results of the compilation and to identify optimizations. We present a design study in collaboration with program developers and performance analysts. Our collaborators work with various artifacts related to the program such as binary code, source code, control flow graphs, and call graphs. Through interviews, feedback, and pair-analytics sessions, we analyzed their tasks and workflow. Based on this task analysis and through a human-centric design process, we designed a visual analytics system Compilation Navigator (CcNav) to aid exploration of the effects of compiler optimizations on the program. CcNav provides a streamlined workflow and a unified context that integrates disparate artifacts. CcNav supports consistent interactions across all the artifacts making it easy to correlate binary code with source code concepts. CcNav enables users to navigate and filter large binary code to identify and summarize optimizations such as inlining, vectorization, loop unrolling, and code hoisting. We evaluate CcNav through guided sessions and semi-structured interviews. We reflect on our design process, particularly the immersive elements, and on the transferability of design studies through our experience with a previous design study on program analysis.Comment: IEEE VIS VAST 202

Aβ Alters the DNA Methylation Status of Cell-fate Genes in an Alzheimer’s Disease Model

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by neurofibrillary tangles and extracellular amyloid-β plaques (Aβ). Despite ongoing research, some ambiguity remains surrounding the role of Aβ in the pathogenesis of this neurodegenerative disease. While several studies have focused on the mutations associated with AD, our understanding of the epigenetic contributions to the disease remains less clear. To that end, we determined the changes in DNA methylation in differentiated human neurons with and without Aβ treatment. We isolated the DNA from neurons treated with Aβ or vehicle, and digested the two samples with either a methylation-sensitive (HpaII) or a methylation-insensitive (MspI) restriction endonuclease. The fragments were amplified and co- hybridized to a commercial promoter microarray. Data analysis revealed a subset of genomic loci that shows a significant change in DNA methylation following Aβ treatment in comparison to the control group. After mapping these loci to nearby genes, we discovered high enrichment for cell-fate genes that control apoptosis and neuronal differentiation. Finally, we incorporated three of those genes in a possible model suggesting the means by which Aβ contributes to the brain shrinkage and memory loss seen in AD

Prospectus, October 21, 1991

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1991/1015/thumbnail.jp

Retention of technetium-99 by grout and backfill cements: Implications for the safe disposal of radioactive waste

Technetium-99 (99Tc) is an important radionuclide when considering the disposal of nuclear wastes owing to its long half-life and environmental mobility in the pertechnetate (Tc(VII)) redox state. Its behaviour in a range of potential cement encapsulants and backfill materials has been studied by analysing uptake onto pure cement phases and hardened cement pastes. Preferential, but limited, uptake of pertechnetate was observed on iron-free, calcium silicate hydrates (C–S–H) and aluminate ferrite monosulphate (AFm) phases with no significant adsorption onto ettringite or calcium aluminates. Diffusion of 99Tc through cured monolithic samples, representative of cements being considered for use in geological disposal facilities across Europe, revealed markedly diverse migration behaviour, primarily due to chemical interactions with the cement matrix rather than differential permeability or other physical factors. A backfill cement, developed specifically for the purpose of radionuclide retention, gave the poorest performance of all formulations studied in terms of both transport rates and overall technetium retention. Two of the matrices, pulverised fuel ash: ordinary Portland cement (PFA:OPC) and a low-pH blend incorporating fly ash, effectively retarded 99Tc migration via precipitation in narrow, reactive zones. These findings have important implications when choosing cementitious grouts and/or backfill for Tc-containing radioactive wastes

Uptake of the multi-arm multi-stage (MAMS) adaptive platform approach: a trial-registry review of late-phase randomised clinical trials

BACKGROUND: For medical conditions with numerous interventions worthy of investigation, there are many advantages of a multi-arm multi-stage (MAMS) platform trial approach. However, there is currently limited knowledge on uptake of the MAMS design, especially in the late-phase setting. We sought to examine uptake and characteristics of late-phase MAMS platform trials, to enable better planning for teams considering future use of this approach. DESIGN: We examined uptake of registered, late-phase MAMS platforms in the EU clinical trials register, Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry, Pan African Clinical Trials Registry, WHO International Clinical Trial Registry Platform and databases: PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, Global Health Library and EMBASE. Searching was performed and review data frozen on 1 April 2021. MAMS platforms were defined as requiring two or more comparison arms, with two or more trial stages, with an interim analysis allowing for stopping of recruitment to arms and typically the ability to add new intervention arms. RESULTS: 62 late-phase clinical trials using an MAMS approach were included. Overall, the number of late-phase trials using the MAMS design has been increasing since 2001 and been accelerated by COVID-19. The majority of current MAMS platforms were either targeting infectious diseases (52%) or cancers (29%) and all identified trials were for treatment interventions. 89% (55/62) of MAMS platforms were evaluating medications, with 45% (28/62) of the MAMS platforms having at least one or more repurposed medication as a comparison arm. CONCLUSIONS: Historically, late-phase trials have adhered to long-established standard (two-arm) designs. However, the number of late-phase MAMS platform trials is increasing, across a range of different disease areas. This study highlights the potential scope of MAMS platform trials and may assist research teams considering use of this approach in the late-phase randomised clinical trial setting. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019153910

Pediatric positional sitting dermatitis: a new form of pediatric contact dermatitis

We report on four pediatric patients who presented with localized dermatitis in areas subject to repetitive friction due to their sitting positions. We propose that the cause of the eruption was irritant contact dermatitis due to frequently sitting in a crossed-leg sitting position, an entity for which we have coined the term pediatric positional sitting dermatitis (PPSD). The goal of this report is to raise clinicians' awareness of PPSD, which to our knowledge has not been previously described, and to discuss management of these patients

Prospectus, April 15, 1991

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1991/1006/thumbnail.jp