Empowerment, Resistance and the Birth Control Pill: A Feminist Analysis of Contraception in the Developing World

The vast majority of literature on the use of contraception focuses on its frequently documented connection to socioeconomic development. Thus, contraception has become a favored programmatic element of western organizations that deliver it to women in the developing world. I analyze discourse from transnational organizations that advocate for women’s use of birth control in the developing world, as well as deliver contraceptive services themselves, in order to uncover the dominance of liberal, capitalist assumptions therein. A primary consequence of this discourse is the reconstruction of colonial relations between the global north and global south. My alternative analysis, informed by a variety of feminist theories, suggests the use of contraception must be viewed as women’s assertion of autonomy over their reproduction, and therefore as an act of resistance in a patriarchal society. Informed by postcolonial feminist theory, along with insights of other feminist theories which have enriched and evolved postcolonial feminist thought, I argue that discourse around contraceptive use in the developing world must construct women as active subjects and include a discussion of women’s individual agency to resist cultural norms in the choice to use contraception

Evidence for DNA-mediated nuclear compartmentalization distinct from phase separation.

RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) and transcription factors form concentrated hubs in cells via multivalent protein-protein interactions, often mediated by proteins with intrinsically disordered regions. During Herpes Simplex Virus infection, viral replication compartments (RCs) efficiently enrich host Pol II into membraneless domains, reminiscent of liquid-liquid phase separation. Despite sharing several properties with phase-separated condensates, we show that RCs operate via a distinct mechanism wherein unrestricted nonspecific protein-DNA interactions efficiently outcompete host chromatin, profoundly influencing the way DNA-binding proteins explore RCs. We find that the viral genome remains largely nucleosome-free, and this increase in accessibility allows Pol II and other DNA-binding proteins to repeatedly visit nearby DNA binding sites. This anisotropic behavior creates local accumulations of protein factors despite their unrestricted diffusion across RC boundaries. Our results reveal underappreciated consequences of nonspecific DNA binding in shaping gene activity, and suggest additional roles for chromatin in modulating nuclear function and organization

Gastrointestinal-projecting neurones in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus exhibit direct and viscerotopically organized sensitivity to orexin

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65136/1/jphysiol.2002.029546.pd

Massive Stars In The W33 Giant Molecular Complex

Rich in H II regions, giant molecular clouds are natural laboratories to study massive stars and sequential star formation. The Galactic star-forming complex W33 is located at = ∼ ◦ l 12.8 and at a distance of 2.4 kpc and has a size of ≈10 pc and a total mass of ≈(0.8−8.0) × 105 M⊙. The integrated radio and IR luminosity of W33—when combined with the direct detection of methanol masers, the protostellar object W33A, and the protocluster embedded within the radio source W33 main—mark the region as a site of vigorous ongoing star formation. In order to assess the long-term star formation history, we performed an infrared spectroscopic search for massive stars, detecting for the first time 14 early-type stars, including one WN6 star and four O4–7 stars. The distribution of spectral types suggests that this population formed during the past ∼2–4 Myr, while the absence of red supergiants precludes extensive star formation at ages 6–30 Myr. This activity appears distributed throughout the region and does not appear to have yielded the dense stellar clusters that characterize other star-forming complexes such as Carina and G305. Instead, we anticipate that W33 will eventually evolve into a loose stellar aggregate, with Cyg OB2 serving as a useful, albeit richer and more massive, comparator. Given recent distance estimates, and despite a remarkably similar stellar population, the rich cluster Cl 1813–178 located on the northwest edge of W33 does not appear to be physically associated with W33

Divergent amino acid and sphingolipid metabolism in patients with inherited neuro-retinal disease

OBJECTIVES: The non-essential amino acids serine, glycine, and alanine, as well as diverse sphingolipid species, are implicated in inherited neuro-retinal disorders and are metabolically linked by serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), a key enzyme in membrane lipid biogenesis. To gain insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms linking these pathways to neuro-retinal diseases we compared patients diagnosed with two metabolically intertwined diseases: macular telangiectasia type II (MacTel), hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy type 1 (HSAN1), or both. METHODS: We performed targeted metabolomic analyses of amino acids and broad sphingolipids in sera from a cohort of MacTel (205), HSAN1 (25) and Control (151) participants. RESULTS: MacTel patients exhibited broad alterations of amino acids, including changes in serine, glycine, alanine, glutamate, and branched-chain amino acids reminiscent of diabetes. MacTel patients had elevated 1-deoxysphingolipids but reduced levels of complex sphingolipids in circulation. A mouse model of retinopathy indicates dietary serine and glycine restriction can drive this depletion in complex sphingolipids. HSAN1 patients exhibited elevated serine, lower alanine, and a reduction in canonical ceramides and sphingomyelins compared to controls. Those patients diagnosed with both HSAN1 and MacTel showed the most significant decrease in circulating sphingomyelins. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight metabolic distinctions between MacTel and HSAN1, emphasize the importance of membrane lipids in the progression of MacTel, and suggest distinct therapeutic approaches for these two neurodegenerative diseases

Brain type carnosinase in dementia: a pilot study

Research articl

Glucose effects on gastric motility and tone evoked from the rat dorsal vagal complex

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66102/1/j.1469-7793.2001.t01-1-00141.x.pd

Elucidation of the ebola virus VP24 cellular interactome and disruption of virus biology through targeted inhibition of host-cell protein function

Viral pathogenesis in the infected cell is a balance between antiviral responses and subversion of host-cell processes. Many viral proteins specifically interact with host-cell proteins to promote virus biology. Understanding these interactions can lead to knowledge gains about infection and provide potential targets for antiviral therapy. One such virus is Ebola, which has profound consequences for human health and causes viral hemorrhagic fever where case fatality rates can approach 90%. The Ebola virus VP24 protein plays a critical role in the evasion of the host immune response and is likely to interact with multiple cellular proteins. To map these interactions and better understand the potential functions of VP24, label-free quantitative proteomics was used to identify cellular proteins that had a high probability of forming the VP24 cellular interactome. Several known interactions were confirmed, thus placing confidence in the technique, but new interactions were also discovered including one with ATP1A1, which is involved in osmoregulation and cell signaling. Disrupting the activity of ATP1A1 in Ebola-virus-infected cells with a small molecule inhibitor resulted in a decrease in progeny virus, thus illustrating how quantitative proteomics can be used to identify potential therapeutic targets

Legalised non-consensual sterilisation - eugenics put into practice before 1945, and the aftermath. Part 1: USA, Japan, Canada and Mexico.

In the late 19th century, eugenics, a pseudo-scientific doctrine based on an erroneous interpretation of the laws of heredity, swept across the industrialised world. Academics and other influential figures who promoted it convinced political stakeholders to enact laws authorising the sterilisation of people seen as ‘social misfits’. The earliest sterilisation Act was enforced in Indiana, in 1907; most States in the USA followed suit and so did several countries, with dissimilar political regimes. The end of the Second World War saw the suspension of Nazi legislation in Germany, including that regulating coerced sterilisation. The year 1945 should have been the endpoint of these inhuman practices but, in the early post-war period, the existing sterilisation Acts were suspended solely in Germany and Austria. Only much later did certain countries concerned – not Japan so far - officially acknowledge the human rights violations committed, issue apologies, and develop reparation schemes for the victims’ benefit