Biodigital publics: personal genomes as digital media artifacts

The recent proliferation of personal genomics and direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomics has attracted much attention and publicity. Concern around these developments has mainly focused on issues of biomedical regulation and hinged on questions of how people understand genomic information as biomedical and what meaning they make of it. However, this publicity amplifies genome sequences which are also made as internet texts and, as such, they generate new reading publics. The practices around the generation, circulation and reading of genome scans do not just raise questions about biomedical regulation, they also provide the focus for an exploration of how contemporary public participation in genomics works. These issues around the public features of DTC genomic testing can be pursued through a close examination of the modes of one of the best known providers—23andMe. In fact, genome sequences circulate as digital artefacts and, hence, people are addressed by them. They are read as texts, annotated and written about in browsers, blogs and wikis. This activity also yields content for media coverage which addresses an indefinite public in line with Michael Warner’s conceptualisation of publics. Digital genomic texts promise empowerment, personalisation and community, but this promise may obscure the compliance and proscription associated with these forms. The kinds of interaction here can be compared to those analysed by Andrew Barry. Direct-to-consumer genetics companies are part of a network providing an infrastructure for genomic reading publics and this network can be mapped and examined to demonstrate the ways in which this formation both exacerbates inequalities and offers possibilities for participation in biodigital culture

Digital Intimacies and LGBT+ Youth: Celebration, Equity and Safety

“Digital Intimacies and LGBT+ youth” was commissioned by Brook, the wellbeing and sexual health charity for under-25s. It builds on the insights of its earlier report Digital Romance (McGeeney and Hanson 2017) which researched young people’s digital intimacy practices. For this report, we revisited survey and focus group data specifically from LGBT+ participants in that research. Additionally, we reviewed academic literature and gathered new data from LGBT+ youth groups, youth work practitioners and teachers, and parents / carers. Our research took place during the period of lockdowns due to Covid-19. These induced rapid shifts in perceptions of the online and in youth work practices, which have shaped our analysis here. The report summarises its findings under the headings of: // Celebration: We acknowledge the positive experiences that LGBT+ youth have online. We recognise LGBT+ youth as engaged creatively in diverse practices of community-building across many digital and offline spaces. Although there may be some (real and imagined) generational gaps in appreciating the value of digital cultures, we describe how youth work professionals rapidly and flexibly adapted their work with young people to online spaces under lockdown. Evidence that youth work practices were in turn able to positively impact some young people’s online relationship-building shows the value and vitality of cross-generational work and spaces. // Equity: We acknowledge the particular challenges faced by LGBT+ youth in a heteronormative world, which require specific resources to ameliorate. Some of these resources – especially for LGBT+ friendly youth services and other provision – are inadequate and / or under threat. Young people in our research looked particularly to schools to create safe and inclusive spaces including through relationships and sexuality education. We also draw attention to the responsibilities of platform providers, since many features of internet architecture prioritise commercial imperatives above privacy, preventing online harassment, or access to information. // Safety: We acknowledge the particular issues faced by LGBT+ youth in forging relationships and identities and their need for support. These intersect with many different aspects of identity. However we argue that an overemphasis on risk can be alienating and counterproductive, especially if it comes at the expense of more positive representations. Risk-taking is a necessary part of growing and learning. Managing risk should be seen as a lifelong project for all of us, constantly revisited, rather than something that can be avoided entirely or achieved at a single point in time. We conclude by offering a set of recommendations for practice relevant to funding bodies, campaigners, youth work professionals, schools, families and carers. These relate to: • Inclusive Relationships and Sex(uality) Education • Inclusive online safety • Resourcing anti-harassment strategies • Demanding more from digital media providers • Actively supporting parents and carers • Creating and networking safe spaces • Supporting youth community spaces • Supporting creativity/world-making • Outreach and exchang

Peliosis Hepatis With Intrahepatic Hemorrhage: Successful Embolization of the Hepatic Artery

Peliosis hepatis is defined as the appearance of blood filled lakes in the hepatic parenchyma. It has been associated with various pharmacological agents and infections. Treatment has been primarily symptomatic and includes discontinuation of offending medications, partial hepatectomy or occasionally liver transplantation. We report a 58 year old white female on hormone replacement therapy who developed symptomatic peliosis hepatis and underwent successful superselective hepatic artery embolization with control of bleeding

Effect of floor type on performance, lying time and dirt scores of finishing beef cattle: A meta-analysis

peer-reviewedData from individual studies evaluating the effect of housing systems on performance, lying time and dirt scores of finishing beef cattle are conflicting. The objective of this study was to collate the data from previous animal housing studies and quantify, through meta-analysis, the effect of floor type on animal performance, lying time and dirt scores. From 38 peer-reviewed articles, published between 1969 and 2017, 18 were determined to be eligible for meta-analysis. Papers were included in the study if they contained information on the effect of floor surface on animal performance (average daily liveweight gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and carcass weight), lying behaviour or animal cleanliness. There was no difference (P > 0.10) in ADG, FCR or carcass weight between concrete slatted floors (CSF) and CSF overlaid with rubber mats (RM). Using RM had no effect (P > 0.10) on lying duration or dirt scores of cattle. There was no difference (P > 0.10) in the ADG, FCR, carcass weight, lying duration or cleanliness of cattle housed on CSF or straw bedding. It was concluded that using RM or straw instead of CSF had no effect on performance, lying time or dirt scores

Metabolic Regulation of Neuronal Plasticity by the Energy Sensor AMPK

Long Term Potentiation (LTP) is a leading candidate mechanism for learning and memory and is also thought to play a role in the progression of seizures to intractable epilepsy. Maintenance of LTP requires RNA transcription, protein translation and signaling through the mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. In peripheral tissue, the energy sensor AMP-activated Protein Kinase (AMPK) negatively regulates the mTOR cascade upon glycolytic inhibition and cellular energy stress. We recently demonstrated that the glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) alters plasticity to retard epileptogenesis in the kindling model of epilepsy. Reduced kindling progression was associated with increased recruitment of the nuclear metabolic sensor CtBP to NRSF at the BDNF promoter. Given that energy metabolism controls mTOR through AMPK in peripheral tissue and the role of mTOR in LTP in neurons, we asked whether energy metabolism and AMPK control LTP. Using a combination of biochemical approaches and field-recordings in mouse hippocampal slices, we show that the master regulator of energy homeostasis, AMPK couples energy metabolism to LTP expression. Administration of the glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) or the mitochondrial toxin and anti-Type II Diabetes drug, metformin, or AMP mimetic AICAR results in activation of AMPK, repression of the mTOR pathway and prevents maintenance of Late-Phase LTP (L-LTP). Inhibition of AMPK by either compound-C or the ATP mimetic ara-A rescues the suppression of L-LTP by energy stress. We also show that enhanced LTP via AMPK inhibition requires mTOR signaling. These results directly link energy metabolism to plasticity in the mammalian brain and demonstrate that AMPK is a modulator of LTP. Our work opens up the possibility of using modulators of energy metabolism to control neuronal plasticity in diseases and conditions of aberrant plasticity such as epilepsy