Restrictive ID policies: implications for health equity

We wish to thank Synod Community Services for their critical work to develop, support, and implement a local government-issued ID in Washtenaw County, MI. We also thank Yousef Rabhi of the Michigan House of Representatives and Janelle Fa'aola of the Washtenaw ID Task Force, Lawrence Kestenbaum of the Washtenaw County Clerk's Office, Sherriff Jerry Clayton of the Washtenaw County Sherriff's Office, and the Washtenaw ID Task Force for their tireless commitment to developing and supporting the successful implementation of the Washtenaw ID. Additionally, we thank Vicenta Vargas and Skye Hillier for their contributions to the Washtenaw ID evaluation. We thank the Curtis Center for Research and Evaluation at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan, and the University of California-Irvine Department of Chicano/Latino Studies and Program in Public Health for their support of the Washtenaw ID community-academic research partnership. Finally, we thank the reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. (Curtis Center for Research and Evaluation at the University of Michigan School of Social Work; National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan; University of California-Irvine Department of Chicano/Latino Studies; Program in Public Health)https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10903-017-0579-3.pdfPublished versio

Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerases (immunophilins) and their roles in parasite biochemistry, host-parasite interaction and antiparasitic drug action.

Immunophilin is the collective name given to the cyclophilin and FK506-binding protein (FKBP) families. As the name suggests, these include the major binding proteins of certain immunosuppressive drugs: cyclophilins for the cyclic peptide cyclosporin A and FKBPs for the macrolactones FK506 and rapamycin. Both families, although dissimilar in sequence, possess peptidyl-prolyl <i>cis-trans</i> isomerase activity in vitro and can play roles in protein folding and transport, RNA splicing and the regulation of multiprotein complexes in cells. In addition to enzymic activity, many immunophilins act as molecular chaperones. This property may be conferred by the isomerase domain and/or by additional domains. Recent years have seen a great increase in the number of known immunophilin genes in parasitic protozoa and helminths and in many cases their products have been characterized biochemically and their temporal and spatial expression patterns have been examined. Some of these genes represent novel types: one example is a <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> gene encoding a protein with both cyclophilin and FKBP domains. Likely roles in protein folding and oligomerisation, RNA splicing and sexual differentiation have been suggested for parasite immunophilins. In addition, unexpected roles in parasite virulence (Mip FKBP of <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>) and host immuno-modulation (e.g. 18-kDa cyclophilin of <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>) have been established. Furthermore, in view of the potent antiparasitic activities of cyclosporins, macrolactones and nonimmunosuppressive derivatives of these compounds, immunophilins may mediate drug action and/or may themselves represent potential drug targets. Investigation of the mechanisms of action of these agents may lead to the design of potent and selective antimalarial and other antiparasitic drugs. This review discusses the properties of immunophilins in parasites and the 'animal model' <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> and relates these to our understanding of the roles of these proteins in cellular biochemistry, host-parasite interaction and the antiparasitic mechanisms of the drugs that bind to them

Donor/Acceptor Mixed Self-Assembled Monolayers for Realising a Multi-Redox-State Surface

Mixed molecular self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold, based on two types of electroactive molecules, that is, electron-donor (ferrocene) and electron-acceptor (anthraquinone) molecules, are prepared as an approach to realise surfaces exhibiting multiple accessible redox states. The SAMs are investigated in different electrolyte media. The nature of these media has a strong impact on the types of redox processes that take place and on the redox potentials. Under optimised conditions, surfaces with three redox states are achieved. Such states are accessible in a relatively narrow potential window in which the SAMs on gold are stable. This communication elucidates the key challenges in fabricating bicomponent SAMs as electrochemical switches.We acknowledge the financial support of the EU projects ERC StG 2012-306826 e-GAMES, ITN iSwitch (GA no. 642196) CIG (PCIG10- GA-2011-303989), ACMOL (GA no. 618082), the Networking Research Center of Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), the DGI (Spain) with project BE-WELL CTQ2013- 40480-R and the Generalitat de Catalunya with project 2014- SGR-17. The authors also acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0496). N.C acknowledges the RyC Program. J.C-M. and E.M. are enrolled in the Materials Science PhD program of UAB.Peer reviewe

Robot rights? Towards a social-relational justification of moral consideration \ud

Should we grant rights to artificially intelligent robots? Most current and near-future robots do not meet the hard criteria set by deontological and utilitarian theory. Virtue ethics can avoid this problem with its indirect approach. However, both direct and indirect arguments for moral consideration rest on ontological features of entities, an approach which incurs several problems. In response to these difficulties, this paper taps into a different conceptual resource in order to be able to grant some degree of moral consideration to some intelligent social robots: it sketches a novel argument for moral consideration based on social relations. It is shown that to further develop this argument we need to revise our existing ontological and social-political frameworks. It is suggested that we need a social ecology, which may be developed by engaging with Western ecology and Eastern worldviews. Although this relational turn raises many difficult issues and requires more work, this paper provides a rough outline of an alternative approach to moral consideration that can assist us in shaping our relations to intelligent robots and, by extension, to all artificial and biological entities that appear to us as more than instruments for our human purpose

What traits are carried on mobile genetic elements, and why?

Although similar to any other organism, prokaryotes can transfer genes vertically from mother cell to daughter cell, they can also exchange certain genes horizontally. Genes can move within and between genomes at fast rates because of mobile genetic elements (MGEs). Although mobile elements are fundamentally self-interested entities, and thus replicate for their own gain, they frequently carry genes beneficial for their hosts and/or the neighbours of their hosts. Many genes that are carried by mobile elements code for traits that are expressed outside of the cell. Such traits are involved in bacterial sociality, such as the production of public goods, which benefit a cell's neighbours, or the production of bacteriocins, which harm a cell's neighbours. In this study we review the patterns that are emerging in the types of genes carried by mobile elements, and discuss the evolutionary and ecological conditions under which mobile elements evolve to carry their peculiar mix of parasitic, beneficial and cooperative genes

Vulvar cancer in high-income countries: Increasing burden of disease

The aim of this study was to assess trends in the age-specific incidence of vulvar cancer in 13 high-income countries satisfying a priori conditions regarding the availability of cancer registry data over a 20-year period; these were Canada, the United States, nine European countries, Australia and Japan. Five-yearly incidence and population at risk were obtained from the International Agency for Research on Cancer's Cancer Incidence in Five Continents for the years 1988-1992 (Volume 7) to 2003-2007 (Volume 10). The 5-yearly average percent change (AvPC) over the period and standardised rate ratios (SRRs) for 2003-2007 versus 1988-1992 were used to assess changes in the age-standardised incidence rates of vulvar cancer for all ages, and for <60 years and 60+ years. During the study period, the 5-yearly AvPC across the 13 countries increased by 4.6% (p = 0.005) in women of all ages, and 11.6% (p = 0.02) in those <60 years. No change was observed in women aged 60+ years (5-yearly AvPC = 0.1%, p = 0.94). The SRR for 2003-2007 versus 1988-1992 was significantly elevated in women <60 years of age (SRR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.30-1.46), but not in women of 60+ years (SRR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.97-1.05). The increase in incidence in women <60 years of age drove a significant increase in the overall SRR in women of all ages (SRR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.11-1.18). Some differences in the specific findings at the individual country level were observed. The findings are consistent with changing sexual behaviours and increasing levels of exposure to human papillomavirus (HPV) in cohorts born around/after about 1950, but younger cohorts offered HPV vaccination are likely to receive some protection against developing vulvar cancer in the future

Seismic evidence for thermal runaway during intermediate-depth earthquake rupture

Intermediate-depth earthquakes occur at depths where temperatures and pressures exceed those at which brittle failure is expected. There are two leading candidates for the physical mechanism behind these earthquakes: dehydration embrittlement and self-localizing thermal shear runaway. A complete energy budget for a range of earthquake sizes can help constrain whether either of these mechanisms might play a role in intermediate-depth earthquake rupture. The combination of high stress drop and low radiation efficiency that we observe for M[subscript w] 4–5 earthquakes in the Bucaramanga Nest implies a temperature increase of 600–1000°C for a centimeter-scale layer during earthquake failure. This suggests that substantial shear heating, and possibly partial melting, occurs during intermediate-depth earthquake failure. Our observations support thermal shear runaway as the mechanism for intermediate-depth earthquakes, which would help explain differences in their behavior compared to shallow earthquakes.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant EAR-1045684

Colour relationalism and the real deliverances of introspection

Colour relationalism holds that the colours are constituted by relations to subjects. Anti-relationalists have claimed that this view stands in stark contrast to our phenomenally-informed, pre-theoretic intuitions. Is this claim right? Cohen and Nichols’ recent empirical study suggests not, as about half of their participants seemed to be relationalists about colour. Despite Cohen and Nichols’ study, we think that the anti-relationalist’s claim is correct. We explain why there are good reasons to suspect that Cohen and Nichols’ experimental design skewed their results in favour of relationalism. We then run an improved study and find that most of our participants seem to be anti-relationalists. We find some other interesting things too. Our results suggest that the majority of ordinary people find it no less intuitive that colours are objective than that shapes are objective. We also find some evidence that when those with little philosophical training are asked about the colours of objects, their intuitions about colour and shape cases are similar, but when asked about people’s colour ascriptions, their intuitions about colour and shape cases differ

Synthesis and Characterization of Thermally and Chemically Gelling Injectable Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering

Novel, injectable hydrogels were developed that solidify through a dual-gelation, physical and chemical, mechanism upon preparation and elevation of temperature to 37°C. A thermogelling, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based macromer with pendant epoxy rings and a hydrolyticallydegradable polyamidoamine-based diamine crosslinker were synthesized, characterized, and combined to produce in situ forming hydrogel constructs. Network formation through the epoxyamine reaction was shown to be rapid and facile, and the progressive incorporation of the hydrophilic polyamidoamine crosslinker into the hydrogel was shown to mitigate the often problematic tendency of thermogelling materials to undergo significant post-formation gel syneresis. The results suggest that this novel class of injectable hydrogels may be attractive substrates for tissue engineering applications due to the synthetic versatility of the component materials and beneficial hydrogel gelation kinetics and stability

PathogenFinder - Distinguishing Friend from Foe Using Bacterial Whole Genome Sequence Data.

Although the majority of bacteria are harmless or even beneficial to their host, others are highly virulent and can cause serious diseases, and even death. Due to the constantly decreasing cost of high-throughput sequencing there are now many completely sequenced genomes available from both human pathogenic and innocuous strains. The data can be used to identify gene families that correlate with pathogenicity and to develop tools to predict the pathogenicity of newly sequenced strains, investigations that previously were mainly done by means of more expensive and time consuming experimental approaches. We describe PathogenFinde