La Balena: A Weird Fiction Representation of Women’s Asylums and Emigration in Fascist Italy

This project is primarily composed of a historical fiction piece. It follows an unnamed woman as she attempts to escape fascist Italy by stowing away aboard an ocean liner to America, where a man from her village is waiting for his betrothed. As the story unfolds, she is tormented by the first mate of the ship who takes an interest in her, fascist blackshirts, and hallucinations and delusions stemming from her past traumatic experience of being committed to an asylum in Italy. The story is followed by an afterword which provides an analysis of the historical background of the piece, including the women\u27s asylums used by the Italian regime to enforce a program of patriarchy and eugenics, as well as a discussion of its literary influence, namely the weird fiction of H.P. Lovecraft and how its generic conventions can be applied to anti-fascist literature

Molecular determinants and regulation of Leishmania virulence

A Leishmania model to explain microbial virulence in chronic infectious diseases is proposed. All these diseases progress from infection to symptomatic phase to host death or recovery. The outcome of each phase is depicted to result from the interactions of a distinct group of parasite molecules with a specific host immune compartment. The first group consists of invasive/evasive determinants, which are largely parasite cell surface and secreted molecules. Their activities help parasites establish infection by overcoming host immunologic and non-immunologic barriers. These determinants do not cause disease per se, but are indispensable for infection necessary for the development of a disease-state. The second group of parasite molecules consists of "pathoantigenic" determinants – unique parasite epitopes present often within otherwise highly conserved cytoplasmic molecules. Immune response against these determinants is thought to result in immunopathology manifested as clinical signs or symptoms, namely the virulent phenotype. The third group of parasite molecules is hypothetically perceived as vaccine determinants. Their interactions with the host immune system lead to the elimination or reduction of parasites to effect a clinical cure. Differential expression of these determinants alone by parasites may alter their interactions with the hosts. Virulent phenotype is consequently presented as a spectrum of manifestations from asymptomatic infection to fatality. A secondary level of regulation lies in host genetic and environmental factors. The model suggests that different parasite determinants may be targeted by different strategies to achieve more effective control of leishmaniasis and other similar diseases

Self-Advocacy for Female Patients with Chronic Pain

A significant proportion of the population of the United States suffers from chronic pain, a category of disease that is not yet well understood by healthcare professionals. A majority of this group is made up of women; individuals who often have to convince healthcare professionals that their symptoms are real even when they come from well understood diseases. The reasons for this predicament are the lack of research on differing physiologies and anatomy between men and women, historically established stereotypes about female patients that mean they’re considered unreliable in reporting their own symptoms, and the interaction of these two problems for chronic pain. This interaction is a result of a disease that boasts few research findings and many stereotypes of patients (mostly female) that are particularly unreliable in a medical setting. Key words: chronic pain, female patients, medicin

Research support of the WETNET Program

This study examines various aspects of the Microwave Vegetation Index (MVI). MVI is a derived signal created by differencing the spectral response of the 37 GHz horizontally and vertically polarized passive microwave signals. The microwave signal employed to derive this index is thought to be primarily influenced by vegetation structure, vegetation growth, standing water, and precipitation. The state of California is the study site for this research. Imagery from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) is used for the creation of MVI datasets analyzed in this research. The object of this research is to determine whether MVI corresponds with some quantifiable vegetation parameter (such as vegetation density) or whether the index is more affected by known biogeophysical parameters such antecedent precipitation. A secondary question associated with the above is whether the vegetation attributes that MVI is employed to determine can be more easily and accurately evaluated by other remote sensing means. An important associated question to be addressed in the study is the effect of different multi-temporal composting techniques on the derived MVI dataset. This work advances our understanding of the fundamental nature of MVI by studying vegetation as a mixture of structural types, such as forest and grassland. The study further advances our understanding by creating multitemporal precipitation datasets to compare the affects of precipitation upon MVI. This work will help to lay the groundwork for the use of passive microwave spectral information either as an adjunct to visible and near infrared imagery in areas where that is feasible or for the use of passive microwave alone in areas of moderate cloud coverage. In this research, an MVI dataset, spanning the period February 15, 1989 through April 25, 1990, has been created using National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) supplied brightness temperature data. Information from the DMSP satellite 37 GHz wavelength SSM/I sensor in both horizontal and vertical polarization has been processed using the MVI algorithm. In conjunction with the MVI algorithm a multitemporal compositing technique was used to create datasets that correspond to 14 day periods. In this technical report, Section Two contains background information on the State of California and the three MVI study sites. Section Three describes the methods used to create the MVI and independent variables datasets. Section Four presents the results of the experiment. Section Five summarizes and concludes the work

Remote sensing and geographic information systems: charting Sin Nombre virus infections in deer mice.

We tested environmental data from remote sensing and geographic information system maps as indicators of Sin Nombre virus (SNV) infections in deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) populations in the Walker River Basin, Nevada and California. We determined by serologic testing the presence of SNV infections in deer mice from 144 field sites. We used remote sensing and geographic information systems data to characterize the vegetation type and density, elevation, slope, and hydrologic features of each site. The data retroactively predicted infection status of deer mice with up to 80% accuracy. If models of SNV temporal dynamics can be integrated with baseline spatial models, human risk for infection may be assessed with reasonable accuracy

A case of panuveitis with hypopyon due to presumed ocular leishmaniasis in a HIV patient.

BACKGROUND: Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis is a well-known immunologic cutaneous reaction. There are few case reports of ocular leishmaniasis. It is a sight-threatening condition that needs to be rapidly recognized and treated to avoid permanent visual loss. Ocular leishmaniasis panuveitis can present with severe inflammation in patients with highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART)-induced immune reconstitution syndrome. FINDINGS: A case of a 40-year-old man, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive on HAART, with a presumed diagnosis of ocular leishmaniasis, is presented. He had a past history of visceral leishmaniasis and was referred to the uveitis service with rapidly worsening panuveitis and counting fingers vision in both eyes. On empirical anti-leishmania therapy and systemic steroids, the visual acuity of the left eye improved to 6/9 but remained poor in the right eye. Based on the medical history, improvement with therapy and the exclusion of other common infections, a presumed diagnosis of ocular leishmaniasis-related panuveitis was made. CONCLUSIONS: A major immune reaction against lingering parasites may play a key role in the pathogenesis of this sight-threatening and rapidly progressive condition. Both the infection and the immune reaction should be treated

Ocellatin-PT antimicrobial peptides: high-resolution microscopy studies in antileishmania models and interactions with mimetic membrane systems

Although the mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is not clear, they can interact electrostatically with the cell membranes of microorganisms. New ocellatin-PT peptides were recently isolated from the skin secretion of Leptodactylus pustulatus. The secondary structure of these AMPs and their effect on Leishmania infantum cells, and on different lipid surface models was characterized in this work. The results showed that all ocellatin-PT peptides have an -helix structure and five of them (PT3, PT4, PT6 to PT8) have leishmanicidal activity; PT1 and PT2 affected the cellular morphology of the parasites and showed greater affinity for leishmania and bacteria-mimicking lipid membranes than for those of mammals. The results show selectivity of ocellatin-PTs to the membranes of microorganisms and the applicability of biophysical methods to clarify the interaction of AMPs with cell membranes.This work was partially supported by grants from INCT Nanobiotecnologia and PVE Project (MCT/CNPq), the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas (CONICET), and the Agencia Nacional de Promocion Científica y Tecnologica (ANPCyT). M.M.M.is a researcher at CONICET. This work has also been supported through project UID/MULTI/04378/2013-POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007728 with financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020. Scanning electron microscopy was carried out at Centro de Materiais da Universidade do Porto, CEMUP. Peter Eaton is supported by a Ciência sem Fronteiras grant via CNPq, and his lab work is supported by financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the partnership agreement PT2020. Alexandra Pl acido and Ana Georgina Gomes-Alves are grateful to FCT for their grants SFRH/BD/97995/2013 and SFRH/BD/93766/2013, financed by POPH–QREN–Tipologia 4.1–Formação Avançada, subsidized by Fundo Social Europeu and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior. Nuno Vale thanks Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2) and Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto (FCUP) for co-funding refurbishment of the Porto Peptide Synthesis Facility (POPUP) through operation NORTE-07-0162-FEDER000111. NV thanks Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER (European Union) for funding through project grant IF/00092/2014. Work in AMT laboratory was supported by Project “NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000002-Host-Pathogen Interactions” cofunded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte under QREN, through FEDER and FCT. None of the funding bodies were involved in study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication

The WAIS Divide deep ice core WD2014 chronology - Part 2: Annual-layer counting (0-31 ka BP)

International audienceWe present the WD2014 chronology for the upper part (0–2850 m; 31.2 ka BP) of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide (WD) ice core. The chronology is based on counting of annual layers observed in the chemical, dust and electrical conductivity records. These layers are caused by seasonal changes in the source, transport, and deposi-tion of aerosols. The measurements were interpreted manually and with the aid of two automated methods. We validated the chronology by comparing to two high-accuracy, absolutely dated chronologies. For the Holocene, the cos-mogenic isotope records of 10 Be from WAIS Divide and 14 C for IntCal13 demonstrated that WD2014 was consistently accurate to better than 0.5 % of the age. For the glacial period, comparisons to the Hulu Cave chronology demonstrated that WD2014 had an accuracy of better than 1 % of the age at three abrupt climate change events between 27 and 31 ka. WD2014 has consistently younger ages than Green-land ice core chronologies during most of the Holocene. For Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 770 M. Sigl et al.: The WAIS Divide deep ice core WD2014 chronology the Younger Dryas–Preboreal transition (11.595 ka; 24 years younger) and the Bølling–Allerød Warming (14.621 ka; 7 years younger), WD2014 ages are within the combined uncertainties of the timescales. Given its high accuracy, WD2014 can become a reference chronology for the Southern Hemisphere, with synchronization to other chronologies feasible using high-quality proxies of volcanism, solar activity , atmospheric mineral dust, and atmospheric methane concentrations