Autobiographies by Americans of Color 1995-2000: An Annotated Bibliography

This second of two volumes bringing together as comprehensively as possible, all autobiographical works by Americans of Color covers the years 1995-2000. In this five year period there are nearly 200 more publications than in the previous volume (1980-1994), which spanned fifteen years. 435 of the 674 entries in this volume are by African Americans. The stories of leaving the south and participation in the Civil Rights Movement, which were present in the first volume, are joined by those of musicians, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and athletes, teachers, sharecroppers, politicians, and veterans. There is a greater representation of Japanese American authors in this period of time as those who were incarcerated in the internment camps began to tell their stories. In this five year period, we also begin to see the stories of those who grew up in multiethnic or multiracial families. The introduction to the book provides more details, as well as the methodology we used for identifying the publications included

Performance of MAX-DOAS measurements of aerosols at Tsukuba, Japan: a comparison with lidar and sky radiometer measurements

International audienceGround-based Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) measurements were performed at Tsukuba, Japan (36.1° N, 140.1° E), in November?December 2006. The measured spectra of scattered sunlight are analyzed by DOAS and optimal estimation methods to retrieve the aerosol optical depth (?) and the vertical profile of the aerosol extinction coefficient (?) at 476 nm in the lower troposphere. We characterize these retrieved quantities through comparisons with coincident lidar and sky radiometer measurements. The retrieved ? values for layers of 0?1 and 1?2 km agree with lidar data to within 30% and 60%, respectively, for most cases, including partly cloudy conditions. Results similar to ? at 0?1 km are obtained for the retrieved ? values, demonstrating that MAX-DOAS provides the new, unique aerosol dataset in the lower troposphere

Embryonic Development following Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Impeded by Persisting Histone Methylation

Mammalian oocytes can reprogram somatic cells into a totipotent state enabling animal cloning through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). However, the majority of SCNT embryos fail to develop to term due to undefined reprogramming defects. Here we identify histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) of donor cell genome as a major epigenetic barrier for efficient reprogramming by SCNT. Comparative transcriptome analysis identified reprogramming resistant regions (RRRs) that are expressed normally at 2-cell mouse embryos generated by IVF but not SCNT. RRRs are enriched for H3K9me3 in donor somatic cells, and its removal by ectopic expression of the H3K9me3 demethylase Kdm4d not only reactivates the majority of RRRs, but also greatly improves SCNT efficiency. Furthermore, use of donor somatic nuclei depleted of H3K9 methyltransferases markedly improves SCNT efficiency. Our study thus identifies H3K9me3 as a critical epigenetic barrier in SCNT-mediated reprogramming and provides a promising approach for improving mammalian cloning efficiency

Effect of intersubband scattering on weak localization in 2D systems

The theory of weak localization is generalized for multilevel 2D systems taking into account intersubband scattering. It is shown that weak intersubband scattering which is negligible in a classical transport, affects strongly the weak-localization correction to conductivity. The anomalous magnetoresistance is calculated in the whole range of classically low magnetic fields. This correction to conductivity is shown to depend strongly on the ratios of occupied level concentrations. It is demonstrated that at relatively low population of the excited subband, it is necessary to use the present theory because the high-field limit asimptotics is shown to be achieved only in classical magnetic fields.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to Phys. Rev. B 6

Outside interference or Hong Kong embracing its unique identity? : The Chinese Universities Shakespeare Festival

Ongoing clashes between Hong Kong citizens and its government have foregrounded questions about outside interference in Hong Kong’s politics (largely from the government and media of People’s Public of China), as well as debate about what institutions in Hong Kong are neo-colonial, heavily inflected with nostalgia for British colonialism, or in the process of being ‘colonised’ by the People’s Republic of China. This article looks at Shakespeare in Hong Kong (and, to some extent, greater Chinese) theatre and education as one of those contested institutions, using the particular case of the now-defunct Chinese Universities Shakespeare Festival. The author probes their initial, surface impression of the festival as a simple outpouring of colonial sentiment and impulse, using its sizeable archives to realise a reading of the institution that highlights the complexities of international and intra-regional politics, culture and identity in Hong Kong and greater China. It builds on the Hong Kong literary critic Michael Ingham’s call for attention to Hong Kong’s quest – sometimes overt (as in the demonstrations of 2019), sometimes implicit (in the body of literature Ingham explores in his cultural and literary history) – for a unique, post-colonial identity that is inspired – but, critically, not confined – by its Chinese and British histories. The article briefly outlines the origins and set-up of the festival before juxtaposing the dominance of English language and culture in it with the opportunities it presents (seized by several teams) for intra-regional cooperation, competition and sharing diverse, greater Chinese cultures. The article offers a model for critically appraising other institutions and cultural products in Hong Kong in ways that resist easy binaries of British or Chinese, colonial or indigenous

Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging depicts brain activity in models of acute and chronic pain: a new window to study experimental spontaneous pain?

Application of functional imaging techniques to animal models is vital to understand pain mechanisms, but is often confounded by the need to limit movement artefacts with anaesthesia, and a focus on evoked responses rather than clinically relevant spontaneous pain and related hyperalgesia. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI) to measure neural responses during on-going pain that underpins hyperalgesia in pre-clinical models of nociception. As a proof of concept that MEMRI is sensitive to the neural activity of spontaneous, intermittent behaviour, we studied a separate positive control group undergoing a voluntary running wheel experiment. In the pain models, pain behaviour (weight bearing asymmetry and hindpaw withdrawal thresholds (PWTs)) was measured at baseline and following either intra-articular injection of nerve growth factor (NGF, 10 µg/50 µl; acute pain model, n=4 rats per group), or the chondrocyte toxin monosodium iodoacetate (MIA, 1 mg/50 µl; chronic model, n=8 rats per group), or control injection. Separate groups of rats underwent a voluntary wheel running protocol (n=8 rats per group). Rats were administered with paramagnetic ion Mn2+ as soluble MnCl2 over seven days (subcutaneous osmotic pump) to allow cumulative activity-dependent neural accumulation in the models of pain, or over a period of running. T1-weighted MR imaging at 7 T was performed under isoflurane anaesthesia using a receive-only rat head coil in combination with a 72 mm volume coil for excitation. The pain models resulted in weight bearing asymmetry (NGF: 20.0 ± 5.2%, MIA: 15 ± 3%), and a reduction in PWT in the MIA model (8.3 ± 1.5 g) on the final day of assessment before undergoing MR imaging. Voxel-wise and region-based analysis of MEMRI data did not identify group differences in T1 signal. However, MnCl2 accumulation in the VTA, right Ce amygdala, and left cingulate was negatively correlated with pain responses (greater differences in weight bearing), similarly MnCl2 accumulation was reduced in the VTA in line with hyperalgesia (lower PWTs), which suggests reduced regional activation as a result of the intensity and duration of pain experienced during the 7 days of MnCl2 exposure. Motor cortex T1-weighted signal increase was associated with the distance ran in the wheel running study, while no between group difference was seen. Our data suggest that on-going pain related signal changes identified using MEMRI offers a new window to study the neural underpinnings of spontaneous pain in rats

Low immunogenicity of LNP allows repeated administrations of CRISPR-Cas9 mRNA into skeletal muscle in mice

筋ジストロフィーのゲノム編集治療を目指したLNP-mRNA輸送システムの開発. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-12-08.Nanotechnology for genome editing in multiple muscles simultaneously. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-12-08.Genome editing therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) holds great promise, however, one major obstacle is delivery of the CRISPR-Cas9/sgRNA system to skeletal muscle tissues. In general, AAV vectors are used for in vivo delivery, but AAV injections cannot be repeated because of neutralization antibodies. Here we report a chemically defined lipid nanoparticle (LNP) system which is able to deliver Cas9 mRNA and sgRNA into skeletal muscle by repeated intramuscular injections. Although the expressions of Cas9 protein and sgRNA were transient, our LNP system could induce stable genomic exon skipping and restore dystrophin protein in a DMD mouse model that harbors a humanized exon sequence. Furthermore, administration of our LNP via limb perfusion method enables to target multiple muscle groups. The repeated administration and low immunogenicity of our LNP system are promising features for a delivery vehicle of CRISPR-Cas9 to treat skeletal muscle disorders

TP53-binding protein variants and breast cancer risk: a case-control study

INTRODUCTION: The TP53-binding protein (53BP1) has been shown to influence TP53-mediated transcriptional activation, thus playing a pivotal role in DNA damage signalling. Genetic aberrations in TP53 and in ATM and CHEK2 predispose to cancer. We have therefore examined the effects of 53BP1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (D353E, G412S, and K1136Q) and the novel 53BP1 6bp deletion (1347_1352delTATCCC) on breast cancer risk. METHODS: Allelic discrimination was performed to investigate the frequencies of 53BP1 D353E, G412S, and K1136Q and of 1347_1352delTATCCC in 353 patients with breast cancer and 960 control individuals. RESULTS: No significant association of 53BP1 D353E, G412S, or K1136Q with breast cancer risk was detected. 53BP1 1347_1352delTATCCC, leading to the loss of an isoleucine and a proline residue, showed a nonsignificant inverse association with breast cancer risk (odds ratio = 0.61, 95% confidence interval = 0.22 to 1.68, P = 0.34). CONCLUSION: The lack of association casts doubt on the putative effects of D353E, G412S, and K1136Q on breast cancer risk. Investigating a larger study cohort might elucidate the influence of the 6bp deletion 1347_1352delTATCCC. Studying the functional effect and the impact of this variant on the risk of other cancers may be revealing