My Pencil is my Friend/I Keep Him to the End-- -The First Graderand the Social Narrative of Literacy, Agency and Ageing in Postcolonial Kenya

Ecological theories of ageing suggest that a unique combination of factors such as personal competence and environmental characteristics influence an older adult s sense of autonomy and optimal level of functioning in society One does not usually factor in possibilities of acquiring literacy as a crucial aspect of the environmental resources necessary for supporting an older adult s aspirations Through a close reading of James Chadwick s film The First Grader 2010 which narrates Kimani Ng ang a Maruge s struggle for acquiring literacy through attending primary school amidst much socio-political resistance I shall be seeking an appropriate heuristic for comprehending an older adult s desire for literacy and the possibilities of an environment reengineered to provide the same by the older adult himself My study shall also endeavour to identify the little narratives Beth Daniells 1999 in the film that critique the grand narrative of literacy promoted by the postcolonial state of Kenya to highlight inherent ageist assumptions that often unthinkingly exclude the aged from state narratives of progress for al

Impulsive Control on Seasonally Perturbed General Holling Type Two-Prey One-Predator Model

We investigate the dynamical behaviors of two-prey one-predator model with general Holling type functional responses. The effect of seasonal perturbation on the model has been discussed analytically as well as numerically. The periodic fluctuation is considered in prey growth rate and the predator mortality rate of the model. The impulsive effects involving biological and chemical control strategy, periodic releasing of natural enemies, and spraying pesticide at different fixed times are introduced in the model with seasonal perturbation. We derive the conditions of stability for impulsive system using Floquet theory, small amplitude perturbation skills. A local asymptotically stable prey (pest) eradicated periodic solution is obtained when the impulsive period is less than some critical value. Numerical simulations of the model with and without seasonal disturbances exhibit different dynamics. Also we simulate numerically the model involving seasonal perturbations without impulse and with impulse. Finally, concluding remarks are given

Faster Placer for Island-style FPGAs

In this paper, we propose a placement method for islandstyle FPGAs, based on fast yet very good initial placement followed by refinement using ultra-low temperature Simulated Annealing. The initial placement is the keystone of the method and the steps to obtain it are: top down coarse partitioning, allocation of partitions to regions on FPGA array, placement of logic blocks within each region and finally the IOs. The solutions thus obtained require 66% fewer moves i.e. about 3x speed-up during final iterative refinement by simulated annealing, whereas the quality of solution is on the average within 2 % of optimal. The critical path length obtained after routing does not degrade for the set of 9 benchmark circuits

Structural Alterations of Lamin A Protein in Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Lamin A protein, encoded by the <i>LMNA</i> gene, belongs to the type V intermediate filament protein family and is a major nuclear protein component of higher metazoan organisms, including humans. Lamin A along with B-type lamins impart structural rigidity to the nucleus by forming a lamina that is closely apposed to the inner nuclear membrane and is also present as a filamentous network in the interior of the nucleus. A vast number of mutations that lead to a diverse array of at least 11 diseases in humans, collectively termed laminopathies, are being gradually uncovered in the <i>LMNA</i> gene. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one such laminopathy in which ventricular dilation leads to an increase in systolic and diastolic volumes, resulting in cardiac arrhythmia and ultimately myocardial infarction. The point mutations in lamin A protein span the entire length of the protein, with a slight preponderance in the central α-helical coiled-coil forming domain. In this work, we have focused on three such important mutations that had been previously observed in DCM-afflicted patients producing severe symptoms. This is the first report to show that these mutations entail significant alterations in the secondary and tertiary structure of the protein, hence perturbing the intrinsic self-association behavior of lamin A protein. Comparison of the enthalpy changes accompanying the deoligomerization process for the wild type and the mutants suggests a difference in the energetics of their self-association. This is further corroborated by the formation of the aggregates of different size and distribution formed inside the nuclei of transfected cells

Cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of pseudo death-effector domain of HIPPI, a molecular partner of Huntingtin-interacting protein HIP-1

A pseudo death-effector domain (pDED) of HIPPI, a partner of Huntingtin-interacting protein HIP1, has been cloned, overexpressed and crystallized. The crystals of pDED-HIPPI diffracted to 2.2 Å

Evaluation of the Serum Catalase and Myeloperoxidase Activities in Chronic Arsenic-exposed Individuals and Concomitant Cytogenetic damage

Chronic arsenic exposure through contaminated drinking water is a major environmental health issue. Chronic arsenic exposure is known to exert its toxic effects by a variety of mechanisms, of which generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the most important. A high level of ROS, in turn, leads to DNA damage that might ultimately culminate in cancer. In order to keep the level of ROS in balance, an array of enzymes is present, of which catalase (CAT) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) are important members. Hence, in this study, we determined the activities of these two enzymes in the sera and chromosomal aberrations (CA) in peripheral blood lymphocytes in individuals exposed and unexposed to arsenic in drinking water. Arsenic in drinking water and in urine was used as a measure of exposure. Our results show that individuals chronically exposed to arsenic have significantly higher CAT and MPO activities and higher incidence of CA. We found moderate positive correlations between CAT and MPO activities, induction of CA and arsenic in urine and water. These results indicate that chronic arsenic exposure causes higher CAT and MPO activities in serum that correlates with induction of genetic damage. We conclude that the serum levels of these enzymes might be used as biomarkers of early arsenic exposure induced disease much before the classical dermatological symptoms of arsenicosis begin to appear

Viscoelastic Behavior of Human Lamin A Proteins in the Context of Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Lamins are intermediate filament proteins of type V constituting a nuclear lamina or filamentous meshwork which lines the nucleoplasmic side of the inner nuclear membrane. This protein mesh provides a supporting scaffold for the nuclear envelope and tethers interphase chromosome to the nuclear periphery. Mutations of mainly A-type lamins are found to be causative for at least 11 human diseases collectively termed as laminopathies majority of which are characterised by aberrant nuclei with altered structural rigidity, deformability and poor mechanotransduction behaviour. But the investigation of viscoelastic behavior of lamin A continues to elude the field. In order to address this problem, we hereby present the very first report on viscoelastic properties of wild type human lamin A and some of its mutants linked with Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) using quantitative rheological measurements. We observed a dramatic strain-softening effect on lamin A network as an outcome of the strain amplitude sweep measurements which could arise from the large compliance of the quasi-cross-links in the network or that of the lamin A rods. In addition, the drastic stiffening of the differential elastic moduli on superposition of rotational and oscillatory shear stress reflect the increase in the stiffness of the laterally associated lamin A rods. These findings present a preliminary insight into distinct biomechanical properties of wild type lamin A protein and its mutants which in turn revealed interesting differences

Increased Chromosome Aberration Frequencies in the Bowen’s Patients Compared to Non-Cancerous Skin Lesions Individuals Exposed to Arsenic

Cytogenetic biomarkers are essential for assessing environmental exposure that can predict adverse human health effects such as cellular damage. Chromosomal aberrations are the most important cytogenetic end-points successfully used for the cancer risk assessment of populations occupationally or environmentally exposed to different toxic chemicals. Previous reports suggest that, increased frequency of chromosomal aberration (CA), in peripheral blood lymphocytes, is a predictor of cancer. Arsenic is a paradoxical human carcinogen, clastogen and aneugen. Despite of exposure at similar extent, only 15–20% of individuals show arsenic induced skin lesions including Bowen’s disease (BD). Previously we have reported the significant increase in CA in the individuals with arsenic induced skin lesions when compared to individuals without any skin lesions, drinking arsenic contaminated water at similar extent. Presently, a matched case-control study was performed to examine whether biomarkers such as chromosomal aberrations can predict the development of arsenic induced Bowen’s (in situ carcinoma) diseases. Chromosomal aberrations (both chromosome and chromatid types) and mitotic index were analyzed from the lymphocytes of 25 cases of Bowen’s patient which was compared to matched control from the individuals with arsenic induced non-cancerous skin lesions such as raindrop pigmentation, keratosis of palm and sole, hypo and hyper pigmentation. Chromosomal aberrations/cell, chromosome type aberrations and total percentage of aberrant cells were significantly higher in cases compared to control (p < 0.01). These results suggest that chromosomal aberrations can be used for cancer risk assessment of the population exposed to arsenic through drinking water