A Structural Etiology of the U.S. Constitution

This article offers an interpretation of the problems addressed by and the eventual purpose of the United States government. Simultaneously, it seeks to analyze and explain the continued three-part structure of the United States federal government as outlined in the Constitution. Subsequently I define the three parts of the federal government—judiciary, executive, and legislative—as explained through the lens of the Platonic paradigm of (logos = word = law), (thymos = external driving spirit = executive), and (eros = general welfare = legislative) extrapolated from Plato’s dialogues. First, the article establishes Plato’s theory of the three-part Platonic soul as a major premise, as in a syllogism. Second, the article lays out the generally accepted division of the U.S. Constitution as creating three parts to the federal government as a minor premise. Third, the syllogism completes by weaving in the major premise of Plato’s soul into the three parts of the United States federal government. This third step of application suggests possible future evolution of the structure. This article fits into the wider issue of the functionally efficient and naturally adaptive structure of the U.S. federal government. Providing a historical and philosophical context to this structural analysis will serve as a framework for future research on the operation of the federal government. When the branches of the federal government step out of their roles, the balance of the structure of the federal government becomes disrupted occurring in liminal periods of paradigmatic change

A Structural Etiology of the U.S. Constitution

This article offers an interpretation of the problems addressed by and the eventual purpose of the United States government. Simultaneously, it seeks to analyze and explain the continued three-part structure of the United States federal government as outlined in the Constitution. Subsequently I define the three parts of the federal government—judiciary, executive, and legislative—as explained through the lens of the Platonic paradigm of (logos = word = law), (thymos = external driving spirit = executive), and (eros = general welfare = legislative) extrapolated from Plato’s dialogues. First, the article establishes Plato’s theory of the three-part Platonic soul as a major premise, as in a syllogism. Second, the article lays out the generally accepted division of the U.S. Constitution as creating three parts to the federal government as a minor premise. Third, the syllogism completes by weaving in the major premise of Plato’s soul into the three parts of the United States federal government. This third step of application suggests possible future evolution of the structure. This article fits into the wider issue of the functionally efficient and naturally adaptive structure of the U.S. federal government. Providing a historical and philosophical context to this structural analysis will serve as a framework for future research on the operation of the federal government. When the branches of the federal government step out of their roles, the balance of the structure of the federal government becomes disrupted occurring in liminal periods of paradigmatic change

PROTEOMIC APPROACHES TO IDENTIFY UNIQUE AND SHARED SUBSTRATES AMONG KINASE FAMILY MEMBERS

Protein phosphorylation is a reversible post-translational modification that is a critical component of almost all signaling pathways. Kinases regulate substrate proteins through phosphorylation, and nearly all proteins are phosphorylated to some extent. Crucially, breakdown in phosphorylation signaling is an underlying factor in many diseases, including cancer. Understanding how phosphorylation signaling mediates cellular pathways is crucial for understanding cell biology and human disease. Targeted protein degradation (TPD) is a strategy to rapidly deplete a protein of interest (POI) and is applicable to any gene that is amenable to CRISPR-Cas9 editing. One TPD approach is the auxin-inducible degron (AID) system, which relies on the expression of an AID fusion protein and the F-box protein Tir1. Addition of auxin drives binding of the AID-POI and Tir1, resulting in rapid ubiquitination and degradation. Recently, we demonstrated that this approach can be used to study kinase-substrate relationships in a manner analogous to small-molecule inhibition using the kinase Plk1 as a proof-of-concept. Based on the results of this study, we applied AID-Tir1 protein degradation to interrogate kinase-substrate relationships for the Polo-like kinase (Plk), p21-activated kinase (PAK), and Aurora kinase families. Additionally, we made significant improvements to the CRISPR-Cas9 workflow and improved efficiency of AID-Tir1 cell line generation for kinases of interest. Targeted degradation of PAK1 revealed low PAK1 activity in HEK293 cells. Follow-up experiments showed that, while many phosphorylation sites are regulated by the group 1 PAKs, PAK1 does not regulate these pathways alone and likely has overlapping functions with the closely related kinase, PAK2. We applied AID-Tir1 to Aurora B and observed high correlation between Aurora B degradation and inhibition by the Aurora B inhibitor AZD1152, demonstrating that protein degradation is a selective approach to identify direct Aurora B substrates. We identified an uncharacterized truncated Aurora B isoform that is sufficient for Aurora B signaling in the absence of full-length Aurora B. Finally, we used fluorescent reporter proteins and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) to greatly improve the efficiency of AID-Tir1 cell line generation for kinases of interest. These improvements make strides towards widespread implementation of targeted degradation as a tool to study kinase-substrate relationships

The Black Muslims in the United States

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University Includes bibliographical references (leaves 384-390). Abstract: leaves [1-4]. Vita. Microfilm. sThe slow and painful progress of desegregation in America when seen in contrast with the dramatic successes the non-white peoples of Asia and Africa have experienced since World War II in their determination to be free of white supremacy, has markedly increased the frustrations and anxieties of America's Negro minority. There is a developing apprehension that it may come to pass that the American Negro will be the only people in the world still demeaned by racial subordination. The Black Muslims represent one organized reaction to continuing patterns of discrimination in the United States and to the white man's tendency to deprecate all non-white races and cultures. They also represent an extreme protest against Christianity for its failure to treat black and white Christians with equanimity. The study is designed: (1) to survey some characteristic defenses against the effects of race prejudice and discrimination in order to provide a perspective from which to evaluate the Muslim Movement; (2) to examine in detail the Black Muslims as a particular form of reaction to prejudice and discrimination in America; and (3) to assess the response-patterns of other Negro organizations and institutions towards the Muslim Movement and its modus vivendi. The data was collected over a span of four years by means of: (1) interviews with Muslim leaders and laymen, and with Negro leaders outside the Movement such as ministers, businessmen, politicians and educators; (2) participant observation involving hundreds of hours at Muslim temples, homes, lectures, etc.; (3) reports from interested persons and institutions across the country; (4) newspaper and magazine articles by and about Muslims; (5) tape recordings of Muslim speeches and addresses; (6) Muslim pamphlets, booklets, brochures, etc.; (7) Muslim dramatic productions, pageants and phonograph records. There are probably 100,000 Black Muslims in the United States, and the Movement is growing. There is a good deal of sympathy in the general Negro community for the Muslims, but only a relatively small number of Negroes are willing to abandon Christianity to become Muslims. Non-Muslims sympathetic to the Movement tend to concur in the belief that the white man is incapable of justice toward non-whites, and that he will never of his own accord live in a situation of equality with non-whites. Again, there is wide agreement that the white man has deliberately "written the Negro out of history"--refusing to recognize his contributions to Afro-Asian civilization and to the development of America. Negro intellectuals are least sympathetic to the Movement, and tend to discount it as a social force of any importance. Muslims are ambivalent toward the intellectuals. believing them to be most vulnerable to the white man's blandishments. The Movements is essentially an expression of the Negro lower class. A few college students are Muslims, and some Muslim ministers were formerly Christian pastors. Temples are located in the large industrial cities from Boston to San Diego and from San Francisco to Miami. Converts come from a wide variety of religious backgrounds--the Methodist, Catholic, Episcopal, Baptist and Congregational churches are all represented, as are various sects and cults. Many ex-Garveyites are Muslims. There is no apparent delinquency problem among Muslim children. The father is restored as head of the family. Notable success in rehabilitating ex-convicts, alcoholics and narcotic addicts is reported. Parochial schools are maintained by some temples. The Muslims anticipate the eventual destruction of the white man, and the re-establishment of the Black Man's civilization. They advocate non-violence except in self-defense, when the lex talionis is held to apply. Complete separation of the races--and a "United Front of Black Men" are fundamental precepts. The Black Muslims probably constitute a Moslem sect in spit of their doctrinal deviations. Some Muslim leaders have made the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca

Effective Josephson dynamics in resonantly driven Bose-Einstein condensates

We show that the orbital Josephson effect appears in a wide range of driven atomic Bose-Einstein condensed systems, including quantum ratchets, double wells and box potentials. We use three separate numerical methods: Gross-Pitaevskii equation, exact diagonalization of the few-mode problem, and the Multi-Configurational Time-Dependent Hartree for Bosons algorithm. We establish the limits of mean-field and few-mode descriptions, demonstrating that they represent the full many-body dynamics to high accuracy in the weak driving limit. Among other quantum measures, we compute the instantaneous particle current and the occupation of natural orbitals. We explore four separate dynamical regimes, the Rabi limit, chaos, the critical point, and self-trapping; a favorable comparison is found even in the regimes of dynamical instabilities or macroscopic quantum self-trapping. Finally, we present an extension of the (t,t')-formalism to general time-periodic equations of motion, which permits a systematic description of the long-time dynamics of resonantly driven many-body systems, including those relevant to the orbital Josephson effect.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Aristotle and Animal Law: The Case for Habeas Corpus for Animals

This article is divided into three substantive sections. Section I delineates Aristotle’s theory of the soul as laid out in De Anima. Section II defines habeas corpus as a legal concept and demonstrates under what circumstances it should be granted. Section III applies Aristotle’s theory of the soul as a structure whereby animals could be granted habeas corpus rights.<br/

Aristotle and Animal Law: The Case for Habeas Corpus for Animals

This article is divided into three substantive sections. Section I delineates Aristotle’s theory of the soul as laid out in De Anima. Section II defines habeas corpus as a legal concept and demonstrates under what circumstances it should be granted. Section III applies Aristotle’s theory of the soul as a structure whereby animals could be granted habeas corpus rights.<br/