Science and scientists in Victorian and Edwardian literary novels: insights into the emergence of a new profession

Literary fiction has seldom been seriously considered as a mode of science communication. Here, I review novels from the 19th century canon of English literature in which characters either have, or aspire to have, substantive professional scientific roles to see what insights they provide into the practice of science in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. They reflect the historical transition of science from an intellectual hobby to a paid occupation, but also reveal that while a career in science became possible for a wider range of people, it seldom allowed these new entrants to undertake fundamental scientific research

Global analysis of gene expression reveals mRNA superinduction is required for the inducible immune response to a bacterial pathogen.

The inducible innate immune response to infection requires a concerted process of gene expression that is regulated at multiple levels. Most global analyses of the innate immune response have focused on transcription induced by defined immunostimulatory ligands, such as lipopolysaccharide. However, the response to pathogens involves additional complexity, as pathogens interfere with virtually every step of gene expression. How cells respond to pathogen-mediated disruption of gene expression to nevertheless initiate protective responses remains unclear. We previously discovered that a pathogen-mediated blockade of host protein synthesis provokes the production of specific pro-inflammatory cytokines. It remains unclear how these cytokines are produced despite the global pathogen-induced block of translation. We addressed this question by using parallel RNAseq and ribosome profiling to characterize the response of macrophages to infection with the intracellular bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Our results reveal that mRNA superinduction is required for the inducible immune response to a bacterial pathogen

Direct dialling of Haar random unitary matrices

Random unitary matrices find a number of applications in quantum information science, and are central to the recently defined boson sampling algorithm for photons in linear optics. We describe an operationally simple method to directly implement Haar random unitary matrices in optical circuits, with no requirement for prior or explicit matrix calculations. Our physically-motivated and compact representation directly maps independent probability density functions for parameters in Haar random unitary matrices, to optical circuit components. We go on to extend the results to the case of random unitaries for qubits

A transient Markov chain with finitely many cutpoints

We give an example of a transient reversible Markov chain that almost surely has only a finite number of cutpoints. We explain how this is relevant to a conjecture of Diaconis and Freedman and a question of Kaimanovich. We also answer Kaimanovich's question when the Markov chain is a nearest-neighbor random walk on a tree.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/193940307000000365 the IMS Collections (http://www.imstat.org/publications/imscollections.htm) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Heme Oxygenase 1 expression after traumatic brain injury and effect of pharmacological manipulation on functional recovery.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is an increasingly diagnosed constellation of injuries derived from acute mechanical trauma to the brain. With the rise of advanced neuroimaging techniques recent focus has oriented primarily towards the mild-moderate range of TBI which previously was missed diagnostically. Characteristically, these advances have shown increasing areas of micro-hemorrhage in susceptible areas of the brain and to date there are no treatment modalities targeting micro-hemorrhages or their sequelae. This dissertation explores the effects of the resulting heme processing response in the days following injury with a particular focus on inducing early heme clearance from the parenchyma using a rat central fluid percussion injury model in the mild-moderate injury range. Since heme is released ~24-48 hours post-injury and is known to be cytotoxic we observed there may be a critical window for treatment to clear heme before it is spontaneously released and to increase the buffering capacity of the tissue. We targeted heme clearance by using drugs known to increased expression of Nrf2, an upstream transcriptional regulator of the canonical heme processing protein heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), and tracking expression of HO-1, the iron sequestration/storage proteins Lipocalin 2 (LCN2) and Ferritin (FTL), as well as the activity of matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 (MMP2, MMP9). We examined both tissue known to be frankly hemorrhagic (the neocortex) as well as tissue lacking any identifiable bleed (the hippocampus). We demonstrated that using the HO-1 inducers Hemin and Sulforaphane in a single dose paradigm given 1 hour post-injury heme clearance was accelerated in the neocortex with the majority of heme pigment processed by 24 hours post-injury. Further there was significant attenuation of protein expression in HO-1 and ferritin as well as the enzyme activity of MMP2 and MMP9 in both the neocortex and the hippocampus. Behavioral attenuation was also seen in both rotarod and Morris water maze tests. While we intended to target hemorrhagic processing after injury, and indeed demonstrated improved clearance of heme from post-injury hemorrhagic regions of the brain, in both tissues studied we observed remarkably similar responses to the drugs utilized in protein expression, enzyme activity, and behavioral improvement which may suggest a globally improved pathologic state or that there are unidentified pathologic micro-hemorrhages or leaky vessels which extend further into the brain parenchyma than currently identified

To Be Thus is Nothing, But To Be Safely Thus: Applying the Michael Chekhov Technique to the Character and Fight Direction of Macbeth

This thesis is an exploration of the Michael Chekhov technique as it was applied to the role of Macbeth, as well as the Fight Direction of the play. This production of Macbeth ran from February 1, 2019 to February 10, 2019 at the Global Campus Theatre at the University of Arkansas in downtown Fayetteville; this thesis includes documentation of the show. Additionally, this thesis includes documentation on my self-created one-person show, Forte and Foible, my headshot and resume, and link to my website

Autonomous Cyber Weapons and Command Responsibility

Autonomous cyber weapons have made their way onto the battlefield, raising the question of whether commanders can be held criminally responsible under command responsibility when war crimes are committed. The doctrine of command responsibility has a long history in international criminal law and comprises three core elements: the existence of a superior-subordinate relationship, the commander’s knowledge of the crime, and the commander’s failure to prevent or repress the subordinate’s criminal actions. This article unpacks the content of these elements and applies them to autonomous cyber weapons by treating them as being analogous to soldiers since they operate within an organized system of command and control. The article goes on to address the important question of whether autonomous cyber weapons as subordinates can commit crimes and then examines the element of causality for the purposes of command responsibility. This article also explains the nature of command responsibility and offers conclusions as to its utility in establishing accountability when war crimes are committed by autonomous cyber weapons