A tale of two capitalisms: preliminary spatial and historical comparisons of homicide rates in Western Europe and the USA

This article examines comparative homicide rates in the United States and Western Europe in an era of increasingly globalized neoliberal economics. The main finding of this preliminary analysis is that historical and spatial correlations between distinct forms of political economy and homicide rates are consistent enough to suggest that social democratic regimes are more successful at fostering the socio-cultural conditions necessary for reduced homicide rates. Thus Western Europe and all continents and nations should approach the importation of American neo-liberal economic policies with extreme caution. The article concludes by suggesting that the indirect but crucial causal connection between political economy and homicide rates, prematurely pushed into the background of criminological thought during the ‘cultural turn’, should be returned to the foreground

Dual-controlled optogenetic system for the rapid down-regulation of protein levels in mammalian cells

Abstract Optogenetic switches are emerging molecular tools for studying cellular processes as they offer higher spatiotemporal and quantitative precision than classical, chemical-based switches. Light-controllable gene expression systems designed to upregulate protein expression levels meanwhile show performances superior to their chemical-based counterparts. However, systems to reduce protein levels with similar efficiency are lagging behind. Here, we present a novel two-component, blue light-responsive optogenetic OFF switch (‘Blue-OFF’), which enables a rapid and quantitative down-regulation of a protein upon illumination. Blue-OFF combines the first light responsive repressor KRAB-EL222 with the protein degradation module B-LID (blue light-inducible degradation domain) to simultaneously control gene expression and protein stability with a single wavelength. Blue-OFF thus outperforms current optogenetic systems for controlling protein levels. The system is described by a mathematical model which aids in the choice of experimental conditions such as light intensity and illumination regime to obtain the desired outcome. This approach represents an advancement of dual-controlled optogenetic systems in which multiple photosensory modules operate synergistically. As exemplified here for the control of apoptosis in mammalian cell culture, the approach opens up novel perspectives in fundamental research and applications such as tissue engineering

Optogenetic control of gene expression in plants in the presence of ambient white light

Optogenetics is the genetic approach for controlling cellular processes with light. It provides spatiotemporal, quantitative and reversible control over biological signaling and metabolic processes, overcoming limitations of chemically inducible systems. However, optogenetics lags in plant research because ambient light required for growth leads to undesired system activation. We solved this issue by developing plant usable light-switch elements (PULSE), an optogenetic tool for reversibly controlling gene expression in plants under ambient light. PULSE combines a blue-light-regulated repressor with a red-light-inducible switch. Gene expression is only activated under red light and remains inactive under white light or in darkness. Supported by a quantitative mathematical model, we characterized PULSE in protoplasts and achieved high induction rates, and we combined it with CRISPR–Cas9-based technologies to target synthetic signaling and developmental pathways. We applied PULSE to control immune responses in plant leaves and generated Arabidopsis transgenic plants. PULSE opens broad experimental avenues in plant research and biotechnology

Pharmacoperones for misfolded gonadotropin receptors

The gonadotropin receptors (luteinising hormone receptor; LHR and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor; FSHR) are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that play an important role in the endocrine control of reproduction. Thus genetic mutations that cause impaired function of these receptors have been implicated in a number of reproductive disorders. Disease-causing genetic mutations in GPCRs frequently result in intracellular retention and degradation of the nascent protein through misfolding and subsequent recognition by cellular quality control machinery. The discovery and development of novel compounds termed pharmacological chaperones (pharmacoperones) that can stabilise misfolded receptors and restore trafficking and plasma membrane expression are therefore of great interest clinically, and promising in vitro data describing the pharmacoperone rescue of a number of intracellularly retained mutant GPCRs has provided a platform for taking these compounds into in vivo trials. Thienopyrimidine small molecule allosteric gonadotropin receptor agonists (Org 42599 and Org 41841) have been demonstrated to have pharmacoperone activity. These compounds can rescue cell surface expression and in many cases, hormone responsiveness, of a range of retained mutant gonadotropin receptors. Should gonadotropin receptor selectivity of these compounds be improved, they could offer therapeutic benefit to subsets of patients suffering from reproductive disorders attributed to defective gonadotropin receptor trafficking.https://www.springer.com/series/1642018-12-01hj2018Immunolog

The Impact of Medically-Related Experiences on Spatial Ability: Instrument Creation

In medical school, students frequently depend on spatial ability to be successful in medical school courses. For example, it is vital for medical students to be able to visualize vasculature relative to organs to be successful during anatomy. Spatial ability can be broken down into several distinct pieces including the ability to differentiate left from right, the ability to give/follow directions, and the ability to mentally manipulate objects. The aim of this study was the development of an electronic survey and a battery of spatial tests to be pilot tested on a voluntary sample of medical students at MUCOM. This descriptive study focuses on the modifications and adaptations made to both survey questions and original paper-and-pencil versions of the spatial ability tests in order to administer them in an electronic format. The survey, developed specifically for this project, is designed to collect information on past education, occupations, medical experience, and extracurricular activities. And the spatial tests assess different, sometimes overlapping, areas of spatial ability. These paper-and-pencil tests typically have low quality images and are very difficult to administer to a large population. Converting them into electronic format will provide an opportunity to enhance the image quality and reach a large sample of participants. The survey and battery of spatial tests will be administered to participant through Qualtrics survey software. The images in the spatial ability tests were modified using PDF mate PDF converter, Adobe Photoshop CS2 version 9.0, and Microsoft paint. A variety of techniques were necessary depending upon the extent of editing needed. The final instrument produced is of high quality and is currently in the pilot testing, phase. Pilot testing is scheduled to end on October 7, 2015

General Method for Regulating Protein Stability with Light

Post-translational regulation of protein abundance in cells is a powerful tool for studying protein function. Here, we describe a novel genetically encoded protein domain that is degraded upon exposure to nontoxic blue light. We demonstrate that fusion proteins containing this domain are rapidly degraded in cultured cells and in zebrafish upon illumination