HOW TO LIVE LIFE ALL THE WAY UP LEARNING LIFE SKILLS FROM LITERARY CHARACTERS

In this essay, using the theories of psychiatrist, Eric Berne and his script theory; psychoanalyst, Carl Jung and his archetypes and mandalas; as well as the Native American Medicine Wheel; and the Hindu notion of the kundalini, I analyze the psychological development of Adele Quested of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India (1924) and Anna Wulf of Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook (1962). Adela Quested goes to India seeking the real India and while engaging the archetype of the Lover discovers her real Self. While in India she metaphorically walks the Medicine Wheel and discovers that to be whole she must balance her ability to think with her ability to feel. Anna Wulf’s psychological development requires her to walk the Medicine Wheel and discover that her idealistic thinking must be balanced by realistic thinking and her femininity with her masculinity. This is an arduous task for Anna and requires the help of the Destroyer archetype. By the end of the novels both women have rewritten their scripts and become individuated and whole

Outsiders at School: The Prevalence of Bullying and its Relation with Social Status

This article examines the prevalence of bullying on a group (school-class) level, the impact of data sources (self vs. other nominations) on victim identification, and the relation between bullying and rejection by peers in two samples from different types of schools (n = 930). I found that each school class typically contained one or two victims, who were best identified by peer reports, which proved to be highly consensual and distinct, and correlated closely with teacher reports. The simultaneous use of peer and self-reports allowed me to identify `defensive' as well as `sensitive' victims, i. e. individuals who were nominated via one data source only. Finally, a positive correlation between rejection and bullying was found, reflecting the fact that almost all bullied students were simultaneously rejected. In contrast, not all rejected students were victimized. That is, two subgroups of rejected individuals were identified: `Victimized-Rejected' and `Nonvictimized-Rejected'. The findings are discussed with respect to the possibility of generalizing insights from the sociometric literature to the phenomenon of bullying

Spectroscopic Evidence for an Oxazolone Structure in Anionic b-Type Peptide Fragments

Infrared spectra of anionic b-type fragments generated by collision induced dissociation (CID) from deprotonated peptides are reported. Spectra of the b2 fragments of deprotonated AlaAlaAla and AlaTyrAla have been recorded over the 800–1800 cm–1 spectral range by multiple-photon dissociation (MPD) spectroscopy using an FTICR mass spectrometer in combination with the free electron laser FELIX. Structural characterization of the b-type fragments is accomplished by comparison with density functional theory calculated spectra at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level for different isomeric structures. Although diketopiperazine structures represent the energetically lowest isomers, the IR spectra suggest an oxazolone structure for the b2 fragments of both peptides. Deprotonation is shown to occur on the oxazolone α-carbon, which leads to a conjugated structure in which the negative charge is practically delocalized over the entire oxazolone ring, providing enhanced gas-phase stability

Compartment-Restricted Biotinylation Reveals Novel Features of Prion Protein Metabolism in Vivo

A selective tagging method for detecting minor alternatively-localized populations of a protein is used to study a disease-associated transmembrane form of prion protein. The analysis reveals key features of transmembrane prion protein metabolism and one way this is altered by human disease-causing mutants

In vitro and in vivo mRNA delivery using lipid-enveloped pHresponsive polymer nanoparticles

Biodegradable core−shell structured nanoparticles with a poly(β-amino ester) (PBAE) core enveloped by a phospholipid bilayer shell were developed for in vivo mRNA delivery with a view toward delivery of mRNA-based vaccines. The pH-responsive PBAE component was chosen to promote endosome disruption, while the lipid surface layer was selected to minimize toxicity of the polycation core. Messenger RNA was efficiently adsorbed via electrostatic interactions onto the surface of these net positively charged nanoparticles. In vitro, mRNA-loaded particle uptake by dendritic cells led to mRNA delivery into the cytosol with low cytotoxicity, followed by translation of the encoded protein in these difficult-to-transfect cells at a frequency of 30%. Particles loaded with mRNA administered intranasally (i.n.) in mice led to the expression of the reporter protein luciferase in vivo as soon as 6 h after administration, a time point when naked mRNA given i.n. showed no expression. At later time points, luciferase expression was detected in naked mRNA-treated mice, but this group showed a wide variation in levels of transfection, compared to particle-treated mice. This system may thus be promising for noninvasive delivery of mRNA-based vaccines.United States. Dept. of Defense (Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology, contract W911NF-07-D-0004)Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and HarvardSingapore. Agency for Science, Technology and ResearchHoward Hughes Medical Institute (Investigator

Deep Sequencing the Transcriptome Reveals Seasonal Adaptive Mechanisms in a Hibernating Mammal

Mammalian hibernation is a complex phenotype involving metabolic rate reduction, bradycardia, profound hypothermia, and a reliance on stored fat that allows the animal to survive for months without food in a state of suspended animation. To determine the genes responsible for this phenotype in the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) we used the Roche 454 platform to sequence mRNA isolated at six points throughout the year from three key tissues: heart, skeletal muscle, and white adipose tissue (WAT). Deep sequencing generated approximately 3.7 million cDNA reads from 18 samples (6 time points ×3 tissues) with a mean read length of 335 bases. Of these, 3,125,337 reads were assembled into 140,703 contigs. Approximately 90% of all sequences were matched to proteins in the human UniProt database. The total number of distinct human proteins matched by ground squirrel transcripts was 13,637 for heart, 12,496 for skeletal muscle, and 14,351 for WAT. Extensive mitochondrial RNA sequences enabled a novel approach of using the transcriptome to construct the complete mitochondrial genome for I. tridecemlineatus. Seasonal and activity-specific changes in mRNA levels that met our stringent false discovery rate cutoff (1.0×10−11) were used to identify patterns of gene expression involving various aspects of the hibernation phenotype. Among these patterns are differentially expressed genes encoding heart proteins AT1A1, NAC1 and RYR2 controlling ion transport required for contraction and relaxation at low body temperatures. Abundant RNAs in skeletal muscle coding ubiquitin pathway proteins ASB2, UBC and DDB1 peak in October, suggesting an increase in muscle proteolysis. Finally, genes in WAT that encode proteins involved in lipogenesis (ACOD, FABP4) are highly expressed in August, but gradually decline in expression during the seasonal transition to lipolysis

An update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on systemic insecticides. Part 2: impacts on organisms and ecosystems

New information on the lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on organisms is presented in this review, complementing the previous WIA in 2015. The high toxicity of these systemic insecticides to invertebrates has been confirmed and expanded to include more species and compounds. Most of the recent research has focused on bees and the sublethal and ecological impacts these insecticides have on pollinators. Toxic effects on other invertebrate taxa also covered predatory and parasitoid natural enemies and aquatic arthropods. Little, while not much new information has been gathered on soil organisms. The impact on marine coastal ecosystems is still largely uncharted. The chronic lethality of neonicotinoids to insects and crustaceans, and the strengthened evidence that these chemicals also impair the immune system and reproduction, highlights the dangers of this particular insecticidal classneonicotinoids and fipronil. , withContinued large scale – mostly prophylactic – use of these persistent organochlorine pesticides has the potential to greatly decreasecompletely eliminate populations of arthropods in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Sublethal effects on fish, reptiles, frogs, birds and mammals are also reported, showing a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity of these insecticides in vertebrates, and their deleterious impacts on growth, reproduction and neurobehaviour of most of the species tested. This review concludes with a summary of impacts on the ecosystem services and functioning, particularly on pollination, soil biota and aquatic invertebrate communities, thus reinforcing the previous WIA conclusions (van der Sluijs et al. 2015)

An overlooked connection: serotonergic mediation of estrogen-related physiology and pathology

BACKGROUND: In humans, serotonin has typically been investigated as a neurotransmitter. However, serotonin also functions as a hormone across animal phyla, including those lacking an organized central nervous system. This hormonal action allows serotonin to have physiological consequences in systems outside the central nervous system. Fluctuations in estrogen levels over the lifespan and during ovarian cycles cause predictable changes in serotonin systems in female mammals. DISCUSSION: We hypothesize that some of the physiological effects attributed to estrogen may be a consequence of estrogen-related changes in serotonin efficacy and receptor distribution. Here, we integrate data from endocrinology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and epidemiology to propose that serotonin may mediate the effects of estrogen. In the central nervous system, estrogen influences pain transmission, headache, dizziness, nausea, and depression, all of which are known to be a consequence of serotonergic signaling. Outside of the central nervous system, estrogen produces changes in bone density, vascular function, and immune cell self-recognition and activation that are consistent with serotonin's effects. For breast cancer risk, our hypothesis predicts heretofore unexplained observations of the opposing effects of obesity pre- and post-menopause and the increase following treatment with hormone replacement therapy using medroxyprogesterone. SUMMARY: Serotonergic mediation of estrogen has important clinical implications and warrants further evaluation