Real Folks

During the Great Depression, people from across the political spectrum sought to ground American identity in the rural know-how of “the folk.” At the same time, certain writers, filmmakers, and intellectuals combined documentary and satire into a hybrid genre that revealed the folk as an anxious product of corporate capitalism, rather than an antidote to commercial culture. In Real Folks, Sonnet Retman analyzes the invention of the folk as figures of authenticity in the political culture of the 1930s, as well as the critiques that emerged in response. Diverse artists and intellectuals—including the novelists George Schuyler and Nathanael West, the filmmaker Preston Sturges, and the anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston—illuminated the fabrication and exploitation of folk authenticity in New Deal and commercial narratives. They skewered the racist populisms that prevented interracial working-class solidarity, prophesized the patriotic function of the folk for the nation-state in crisis, and made their readers and viewers feel self-conscious about the desire for authenticity. By illuminating the subversive satirical energy of the 1930s, Retman identifies a rich cultural tradition overshadowed until now by the scholarly focus on Depression-era social realism

Protection of early phase hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury by cholinergic agonists

BACKGROUND: Cytokine production is critical in ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury. Acetylcholine binds to macrophages and inhibits cytokine synthesis, through the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. This study examined the role of the cholinergic pathway in cytokine production and hepatic IR- injury. METHODS: Adult male mice underwent 90-min of partial liver ischemia followed by reperfusion. The AChR agonists (1,1-dimethyl-4-phenyl-L-pioperazinium-iodide [DMPP], and nicotine) or saline-vehicle were administered i.p. before ischemia. Plasma cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, macrophage inflammatory protein-2, and Interleukin-6 were measured. Liver injury was assessed by plasma alanine transaminase (ALT) and liver histopathology. RESULTS: A reperfusion time-dependent hepatocellular injury occurred as was indicated by increased plasma-ALT and histopathology. The injury was associated with marked elevation of plasma cytokines/chemokines. Pre-ischemic treatment of mice with DMPP or nicotine significantly decreased plasma-ALT and cytokines after 3 h of reperfusion. After 6 h of reperfusion, the protective effect of DMPP decreased and reached a negligible level by 24 h of reperfusion, despite significantly low levels of plasma cytokines. Histopathology showed markedly diminished hepatocellular injury in DMPP- and nicotine-pretreated mice during the early-phase of hepatic-IR, which reached a level comparable to saline-treated mice at late-phase of IR. CONCLUSION: Pharmacological modulation of the cholinergic pathway provides a means to modulate cytokine production and to delay IR-induced heaptocellular injury

Real Folks

During the Great Depression, people from across the political spectrum sought to ground American identity in the rural know-how of “the folk.” At the same time, certain writers, filmmakers, and intellectuals combined documentary and satire into a hybrid genre that revealed the folk as an anxious product of corporate capitalism, rather than an antidote to commercial culture. In Real Folks, Sonnet Retman analyzes the invention of the folk as figures of authenticity in the political culture of the 1930s, as well as the critiques that emerged in response. Diverse artists and intellectuals—including the novelists George Schuyler and Nathanael West, the filmmaker Preston Sturges, and the anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston—illuminated the fabrication and exploitation of folk authenticity in New Deal and commercial narratives. They skewered the racist populisms that prevented interracial working-class solidarity, prophesized the patriotic function of the folk for the nation-state in crisis, and made their readers and viewers feel self-conscious about the desire for authenticity. By illuminating the subversive satirical energy of the 1930s, Retman identifies a rich cultural tradition overshadowed until now by the scholarly focus on Depression-era social realism

Notes on Women Who Rock: Making Scenes, Building Communities: Participatory Research, Community Engagement, and Archival Practice

Since 2011, Women Who Rock (WWR) has brought together scholars, archivists, musicians, media-makers, performers, artists, and activists to explore the role of women and popular music in the creation of cultural scenes and social justice movements in the Americas and beyond. The project promotes generative dialogue and documentation by “encompassing several interwoven components: project-based coursework at the graduate and undergraduate levels; an annual participant-driven conference and film festival; and an oral history archive hosted by the University of Washington Libraries Digital Initiatives Program that ties the various components together” (Bartha 8). In our courses, programming, and archive, we examine the politics of performance, social identity, and material access in music scenes, cultures, and industries. Performance studies scholar Daphne Brooks argues that the “confluence of cultural studies, rock studies, and third wave feminist critical studies makes it possible now more than ever to continue to critique and re-interrogate the form and content of popular music histories” (58). WWR implements this approach, asking how particular stories of popular music determine a performer, band, or scene’s “legendary” status or excision from the official annals of memory. WWR reshapes conventional understandings of popular music studies by initiating collective methods of participatory research, as well as community collaboration and dialogue. By way of WWR, we seek to transform traditional models of popular music studies, instigating new convergences between academic disciplines and critical approaches that create alternative histories and new forms of knowledge

Computational model of cardiovascular response to centrifugation and lower body cycling exercise

Short-radius centrifugation combined with exercise has been suggested as a potential countermeasure against spaceflight deconditioning. Both the long-term and acute physiological responses to such a combination are incompletely understood. We developed and validated a computational model to study the acute cardiovascular response to centrifugation combined with lower body ergometer exercise. The model consisted of 21 compartments, including the upper body, renal, splanchnic, and leg circulation, as well as a four-chamber heart and pulmonary circulation. It also included the effects of gravity gradient and ergometer exercise. Centrifugation and exercise profiles were simulated and compared with experimental data gathered on 12 subjects exposed to a range of gravitational levels (1 and 1.4G measured at the feet) and workload intensities (25–100 W). The model was capable of reproducing cardiovascular changes (within ± 1 SD from the group-averaged behavior) due to both centrifugation and exercise, including dynamic responses during transitions between the different phases of the protocol. The model was then used to simulate the hemodynamic response of hypovolemic subjects (blood volume reduced by 5–15%) subjected to similar gravitational stress and exercise profiles, providing insights into the physiological responses of experimental conditions not tested before. Hypovolemic results are in agreement with the limited available data and the expected responses based on physiological principles, although additional experimental data are warranted to further validate our predictions, especially during the exercise phases. The model captures the cardiovascular response for a range of centrifugation and exercise profiles, and it shows promise in simulating additional conditions where data collection is difficult, expensive, or infeasible.NASA (Grant NCC 9-58

Complex of Barley Leaf Spots in Ukraine

Barley is one of the most important cereal crops globally. In Ukraine, it is grown on an area of 2.4–2.8 million hectares annually and is the second largest grain crop in Ukraine after wheat. Barley grain export is about 4.3 million tons p.a. At the same time, one of the limiting factors for obtaining a high-quality yield is diseases, in particular leaf spots. In recent decades, there have been significant changes in the technology of cultivation, the composition of varieties and the pathogenic complex. Net blotch (Pyrenophora teres Drechsler) in net and spot forms and spot blotch (Bipolaris sorokiniana Shoem.) remain the most common among the diseases of barley leaves. They occur in all regions where barley is grown. Barley scald (Rhynchosporium secalis (Oudem.) Davis) is distributed mainly in the forest zone and western part of the forest-steppe zone and has become more widespread in recent years with rainy summers. Outbreaks of stripe spot (Pyrenophora graminea S. Ito & Kurib.) occur sporadically. Ascochyta leaf spot (Ascochyta spp.) was found in the Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk regions in 2020, and in the Lviv, Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions in 2021. In the field, spots can be misdiagnosed as barley scald, so their prevalence may be much higher. In 2021, during the seed ripening period, ramularia leaf spot was found in the Kherson and Vinnytsia regions. The disease was diagnosed in the laboratory by obtaining a typical conidial sporulation of the fungus Ramularia collo-cygni B. Sutton & J.M. Waller on affected tissues (wet chamber). Therefore, in recent years, the composition of the barley leaf spot pathogens has become wider and requires further investigation

Obszary perspektywiczne i prognostyczne rud cynku i ołowiu w Górnośląskim Okręgu Rud Zn-Pb

Największego przyrostu zasobów rud cynku i ołowiu w Polsce możemy spodziewać się w obszarze śląsko-krakowskim, gdzie w utworach węglanowych, głównie triasu środkowego oraz dewonu, występuje mineralizacja siarczkowa Zn-Pb typu Mississippi Valley Type. W regionie olkuskim szacunkowe zasoby prognostyczne wynoszą około 50 mln t rud Zn-Pb, a w regionie zawierciańskim około 15 milionów t rud Zn-Pb. W sumie zasoby prognostyczne siarczkowych rud Zn-Pb stanowią obecnie 76–84,3% zasobów bilansowych rud Zn-Pb w udokumentowanych złożach. Zasoby rud siarczkowych Zn-Pb zostały zweryfikowane według kryteriów bilansowości z 2007 r. i oszacowane metodą autokorelacji wokół otworów z mineralizacją bilansową. W strefach wystąpień udokumentowanych złóż można liczyć na znaczny przyrost zasobów rud, ponieważ dotychczasowe rozpoznanie niejednokrotnie było oparte na zbyt rzadkiej siatce wierceń. Celowe jest przeprowadzenie szczegółowych prac geofizycznych (np. metodą IP). W przypadku pozytywnych wyników należałoby dokonać rozpoznania płytkimi wierceniami. Zasoby tlenowych rud Zn (galmanów) wynoszą w złożach około 51,19 mln t, a w zwałach kopalnianych około 9,64 mln t i są o około 30% mniejsze od zasobów udokumentowanych rud siarczkowych w tym regionie. Galmany występujące na obszarze śląsko-krakowskim z powodu niskiej jakości, zaostrzenia przepisów środowiskowych oraz konfliktowej lokalizacji w odniesieniu do gospodarki przestrzennej nie są obecnie przedmiotem eksploatacji. Zasoby rud galmanowych wymagają weryfikacji zgodnie z nowymi kryteriami bilansowości.The largest perspective of zinc and lead ore resource are located in the area of Upper Silesia District, where in the Middle Triassic and Devonian carbonate rocks occurs Zn-Pb sulfide ore mineralization of the Mississippi Valley Type (MVT). Prognostic amounts of Zn-Pb ores resources estimated in the Olkusz region are close to 50 million tons, and in the Zawiercie region 15 million tons. Actually, a total of prognostic resources of sulfide Zn-Pb ores represent 76–84.3% of all economic documented deposits. Zn-Pb sulfide ores resources have been verified according to the criteria from 2007 and their quantity evaluation based on autocorrelation around the boreholes locating economic mineralisation. In the zones of documented deposits a significant increase of resources is expected, because the actual data are based on too rare drilling grid. It is appropriate to carry out further geophysical works (e.g. IP – Inductive Polarization method) and, anomalous areas should be explored by drilling. Oxidized Zn ore resources (galman) in the deposits are 51.19 million t and in mining wastes 9.64 million t and are ca. 30% less than the Zn-Pb sulfide ore resources in documented deposits. The galmans occurring in the Upper Silesian district due to low quality, environmental laws and conflicts with the spatial economy are not currently the subject of exploitation. The galman ore resources in undeveloped deposits require verification of resources in accordance with the new economic criteria