2,663 research outputs found
Conceptuality in Relation: Sarah Franklin in Conversation with Silvia Posocco, Paul Boyce, and EJ Gonzalez-Polledo
Sarah Franklin in conversation with Silvia Posocco, Paul Boyce, and EJ Gonzalez-Polledo. In a conversation held in Cambridge in March 2018, Sarah Franklin reflects on the inspiration/influence that Marilyn Strathernâs work has exerted over her research trajectory and career at the intersections between anthropology, sociology, science studies and gender theory. This relation extends from their encounter at the University of Manchester in the late 1980s to Franklinâs editorial work on Strathernâs âlost manuscriptâ originally written in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, in 1974 and published as Before and After Gender in 2016. In the interview, Franklin unpacks how her engagement with Marilyn Strathern shaped her ethnographic approach to scientistsâ work in the field of reproduction, notably assisted conception technologies as well as cloning, and, more recently human embryonic stem cell derivation. Franklinâs project has consistently focused on exploring the multiple dimensions of conception as this process is recontextualised through ethnographic practices of re-description. Franklin argues that conception is queer in the sense that it does not fit into normative narratives of what reproduction is like, but rather reveals genealogy as a normative fiction in social and scientific practice
Cationic carbosilane dendrimers and oligonucleotide binding: an energetic affair
GENERATION 2 CATIONIC CARBOSILANE DENDRIMERS HOLD GREAT PROMISE AS INTERNALIZING AGENTS FOR GENE THERAPY AS THEY PRESENT LOW TOXICITY AND RETAIN AND INTERNALIZE GENETIC MATERIAL AS OLIGONUCLEOTIDE OR SIRNA. IN THIS WORK WE CARRIED OUT A COMPLETE IN SILICO STRUCTURAL AND ENERGETICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE INTERACTIONS OF A SET OF 2G CARBOSILANE DENDRIMERS, SHOWING DIFFERENT AFFINITY TOWARDS TWO SINGLE STRAND OLIGONUCLEOTIDE (ODN) SEQUENCES IN VITRO. OUR SIMULATIONS PREDICT THAT THESE FOUR DENDRIMERS AND THE RELEVANT ODN COMPLEXES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY SIMILAR SIZE AND SHAPE, AND THAT THE MOLECULE-SPECIFIC ODN BINDING ABILITY CAN BE RATIONALIZED ONLY CONSIDERING A CRITICAL MOLECULAR DESIGN PARAMETER: THE NORMALIZED EFFECTIVE BINDING ENERGY \u394GBIND,EFF/NEFF I.E., THE PERFORMANCE OF EACH ACTIVE INDIVIDUAL DENDRIMER BRANCH DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN A BINDING INTERACTIO
Electrostatic binding of polyanions using self-assembled multivalent (SAMul) ligand displays-structure-activity effects on DNA/heparin binding
This paper reports that modifying the ligands in self-assembled multivalent (SAMul) displays has an impact on apparent binding selectivity towards two nanoscale biological polyanions-heparin and DNA. For the nanostructures assayed here, spermidine ligands are optimal for heparin binding but spermine ligands are preferred for DNA. Probing subtle differences in such nanoscale binding interfaces is a significant challenge, and as such, several experimental binding assays-competition assays and isothermal calorimetry-are employed to confirm differences in affinity and provide thermodynamic insights. Given the dynamic nature and hierarchical binding processes involved in SAMul systems, we employed multiscale modelling to propose reasons for the origins of polyanion selectivity differences. The modelling results, when expressed in thermodynamic terms and compared with the experimental data, suggest that DNA is a shape-persistent polyanion, and selectivity originates only from ligand preferences, whereas heparin is more flexible and adaptive, and as such, actively reinforces ligand preferences. As such, this study suggests that inherent differences between polyanions may underpin subtle binding selectivity differences, and that even simple electrostatic interfaces such as these can have a degree of tunability, which has implications for biological control and regulation on the nanoscale
Emergence of highly-ordered hierarchical nanoscale aggregates on electrostatic binding of self-assembled multivalent (SAMul) cationic micelles with polyanionic heparin
We report three surfactants, with cationic N,N-di-(3-aminopropyl)-N-methylamine (DAPMA) head groups and aliphatic chains connected via an amide linkage, and investigate their ability to self-assemble and bind polyanionic heparin â a process of potential clinical importance in coagulation control. Modifying the hydrophobic chain length tunes the self-assembly event, with C16-DAPMA having the lowest critical micelle concentration and also being the optimal heparin binder. Remarkably highly structured hierarchical nanoscale aggregates are formed on binding between the spherical cationic micelles and linear polyanionic heparin. C14-DAPMA and C16-DAPMA yield organized polycrystalline assemblies as observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), predicted in solution by mesoscale simulations and characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). This confirms that the micelles remain intact during the hierarchical assembly process and become packed in a face-centered cubic manner. The nanoscale assembly formed by C16-DAPMA showed the highest degree of order. Importantly, these studies indicate the impact of hydrophobic modification on self-assembly and heparin binding, demonstrate remarkably high stability of these self-assembled micelles even when forming strong electrostatic interactions with heparin, and provide structural insights into nanoscale hierarchical electrostatic assemblies
Light driven water oxidation by a single site cobalt salophen catalyst
A salophen cobalt(II) complex enables water oxidation at neutral pH
in photoactivated sacrificial cycles under visible light, thus confirming
the high appeal of earth abundant single site catalysis for artificial
photosynthesis
Introduction: anthropology's queer sensibilities
This special issue addresses vital epistemological, methodological, ethical and political issues at the intersections of queer theory and anthropology as they speak to the study of sexual and gender diversity in the contemporary world. The special issue centres on explorations of anthropologyâs queer sensibilities, that is, experimental thinking in ethnographically informed investigations of gender and sexual difference, and related connections, disjunctures and tensions in their situated and abstract dimensions. The articles consider the possibilities and challenges of anthropologyâs queer sensibilities that anthropologise queer theory whilst queering anthropology in ethnographically informed analyses. Contributors focus on anthropologising queer theory in research on same-sex desire in the Congo; LGBT migrant and asylum experience in the UK and France; same-sex intimacies within opposite gender oriented sexualities in Kenya and Ghana; secret and ambiguous intimacies and sensibilities beyond an identifiable âqueer subjectâ of rights and recognition in India; migrant imaginings of home in Indonesian lesbian relationships in Hong Kong; and cross-generational perspectives on âcoming outâ in Taiwan and their implications for theories of kinship and relatedness. An extensive interview with Esther Newton, the prominent figure in gay and lesbian and queer anthropology concludes the collection
Measurement of Branching Fractions and Rate Asymmetries in the Rare Decays B -> K(*) l+ l-
In a sample of 471 million BB events collected with the BABAR detector at the
PEP-II e+e- collider we study the rare decays B -> K(*) l+ l-, where l+ l- is
either e+e- or mu+mu-. We report results on partial branching fractions and
isospin asymmetries in seven bins of di-lepton mass-squared. We further present
CP and lepton-flavor asymmetries for di-lepton masses below and above the J/psi
resonance. We find no evidence for CP or lepton-flavor violation. The partial
branching fractions and isospin asymmetries are consistent with the Standard
Model predictions and with results from other experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.
Recommended from our members
Measurement of B(B-->X_s {\gamma}), the B-->X_s {\gamma} photon energy spectrum, and the direct CP asymmetry in B-->X_{s+d} {\gamma} decays
The photon spectrum in B --> X_s {\gamma} decay, where X_s is any strange
hadronic state, is studied using a data sample of (382.8\pm 4.2) \times 10^6
e^+ e^- --> \Upsilon(4S) --> BBbar events collected by the BABAR experiment at
the PEP-II collider. The spectrum is used to measure the branching fraction B(B
--> X_s \gamma) = (3.21 \pm 0.15 \pm 0.29 \pm 0.08)\times 10^{-4} and the
first, second, and third moments = 2.267 \pm 0.019 \pm 0.032 \pm
0.003 GeV,, )^2> = 0.0484 \pm 0.0053 \pm 0.0077 \pm
0.0005 GeV^2, and )^3> = -0.0048 \pm 0.0011 \pm 0.0011
\pm 0.0004 GeV^3, for the range E_\gamma > 1.8 GeV, where E_{\gamma} is the
photon energy in the B-meson rest frame. Results are also presented for
narrower E_{\gamma} ranges. In addition, the direct CP asymmetry A_{CP}(B -->
X_{s+d} \gamma) is measured to be 0.057 \pm 0.063. The spectrum itself is also
unfolded to the B-meson rest frame; that is the frame in which theoretical
predictions for its shape are made.Comment: 37 pages, 19 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D. No
analysis or results have changed from previous version. Some changes to
improve clarity based on interactions with Phys. Rev. D referees, including
one new Figure (Fig. 13), and some minor wording/punctuation/spelling
mistakes fixe
Measurement of CP Asymmetries and Branching Fractions in Charmless Two-Body B-Meson Decays to Pions and Kaons
We present improved measurements of CP-violation parameters in the decays
, , and , and of
the branching fractions for and . The
results are obtained with the full data set collected at the
resonance by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy factory
at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, corresponding to
million pairs. We find the CP-violation parameter values and
branching fractions where in each case, the first uncertainties are statistical
and the second are systematic. We observe CP violation with a significance of
6.7 standard deviations for and 6.1 standard deviations for
, including systematic uncertainties. Constraints on the
Unitarity Triangle angle are determined from the isospin relations
among the rates and asymmetries. Considering only the solution
preferred by the Standard Model, we find to be in the range
at the 68% confidence level.Comment: 18 pages, 11 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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