The Beauties and Beasts of Nineteenth-century French fiction

For a number of years prior to commencing the research for this dissertation, the author of this study worked with ethnographic appropriations of popular motifs from fairy tales and myths. It was here that she first discovered the unique renderings of certain themes from one generation to the other and from one century into another. The investigation described in the pages that follow are but one facet of the author\u27s interest in textual poachings, reader response, and horizons of expectation in literature, film, theater, and the fine arts applied to certain works of nineteenth-century French fiction.In this study of The Beauties and the Beasts of Nineteenth-CenturyFrench Fiction, she has applied ethnographic research methodology to ascertain how the patriarchy reappropriated the Beauty and the Beast motif after theFrench Revolution as a tool of subversion and introspection. The techniques used by ethnography have been applied to those works of Victor Hugo, Jules Barbeyd\u27Aurevilly, Prosper Merimee, Henri de Regnier, Edmond Rostand, and GastonLeroux that used the theme to suggest alternative visions of the dominant ideology of the century and to portray plausible solutions to the problems inherent in a bourgeois society that embraced conformism and materialism over individualism and natural selection. Of particular interest to the researcher have been the artistic renderings of the authors\u27 popular visions of the Beauties and the Beasts of the nineteenth century and their continued reappropriation during the twentieth century. These cultural artifacts represent the critical space between text and the enframing media of expression, permitting the researcher to explore the reception of greater and lesser works that used the Beauty and the Beast motif

Inhibition of HIV-1 infection by aqueous extracts of Prunella vulgaris L.

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The mint family (Lamiaceae) produces a wide variety of constituents with medicinal properties. Several family members have been reported to have antiviral activity, including lemon balm (<it>Melissa officinalis </it>L.), sage (<it>Salvia </it>spp.), peppermint (<it>Mentha </it>× <it>piperita </it>L.), hyssop (<it>Hyssopus officinalis </it>L.), basil (<it>Ocimum </it>spp.) and self-heal (<it>Prunell</it>a <it>vulgaris </it>L.). To further characterize the anti-lentiviral activities of <it>Prunella vulgaris</it>, water and ethanol extracts were tested for their ability to inhibit HIV-1 infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Aqueous extracts contained more anti-viral activity than did ethanol extracts, displaying potent antiviral activity against HIV-1 at sub μg/mL concentrations with little to no cellular cytotoxicity at concentrations more than 100-fold higher. Time-of-addition studies demonstrated that aqueous extracts were effective when added during the first five hours following initiation of infection, suggesting that the botanical constituents were targeting entry events. Further analysis revealed that extracts inhibited both virus/cell interactions and post-binding events. While only 40% inhibition was maximally achieved in our virus/cell interaction studies, extract effectively blocked post-binding events at concentrations similar to those that blocked infection, suggesting that it was targeting of these latter steps that was most important for mediating inhibition of virus infectivity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We demonstrate that aqueous <it>P. vulgaris </it>extracts inhibited HIV-1 infectivity. Our studies suggest that inhibition occurs primarily by interference of early, post-virion binding events. The ability of aqueous extracts to inhibit early events within the HIV life cycle suggests that these extracts, or purified constituents responsible for the antiviral activity, are promising microbicides and/or antivirals against HIV-1.</p

Inhibition of lentivirus replication by aqueous extracts of Prunella vulgaris

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Various members of the mint family have been used historically in Chinese and Native American medicine. Many of these same family members, including <it>Prunella vulgaris</it>, have been reported to have anti-viral activities. To further characterize the anti-lentiviral activities of <it>P. vulgaris</it>, water and ethanol extractions were tested for their ability to inhibit equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) replication.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Aqueous extracts contained more anti-viral activity than did ethanol extracts, displaying potent anti-lentiviral activity against virus in cell lines as well as in primary cell cultures with little to no cellular cytotoxicity. Time-of-addition studies demonstrated that the extracts were effective when added during the first four h of the viral life cycle, suggesting that the botanical constituents were targeting the virion itself or early entry events. Further analysis revealed that the extracts did not destroy EIAV virion integrity, but prevented viral particles from binding to the surface of permissive cells. Modest levels of anti-EIAV activity were also detected when the cells were treated with the extracts prior to infection, indicating that anti-EIAV botanical constituents could interact with both viral particles and permissive cells to interfere with infectivity. Size fractionation of the extract demonstrated that eight of the nine fractions generated from aqueous extracts displayed anti-viral activity. Separation of ethanol soluble and insoluble compounds in the eight active fractions revealed that ethanol-soluble constituents were responsible for the anti-viral activity in one fraction whereas ethanol-insoluble constituents were important for the anti-viral activity in two of the other fractions. In three of the five fractions that lost activity upon sub-fractionation, anti-viral activity was restored upon reconstitution of the fractions, indicating that synergistic anti-viral activity is present in several of the fractions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings indicate that multiple <it>Prunella </it>constituents have profound anti-viral activity against EIAV, providing additional evidence of the broad anti-viral abilities of these extracts. The ability of the aqueous extracts to prevent entry of viral particles into permissive cells suggests that these extracts may function as promising microbicides against lentiviruses.</p

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Applying Machine Translation Metrics to Student-Written Translations

This paper discusses preliminary work investigating the application of Machine Translation (MT) metrics toward the evaluation of translations written by human novice (student) translators. We describe a study in which we apply the metric TERp (Translation Edit Rate Plus) to a corpus of student-written translations from Spanish to English and compare the judgments of TERp against assessments provided by a translation instructor