Empathy in the legal profession and its role in shaping my career

The incorporation of empathy skills in a legal setting has gained a considerable amount of traction in recent years and is deemed to be a core legal competency required as part of legal training.This reflection aims to critique the use of empathy in a legal context and reflect on how my experience of working in the Student Law Office (SLO) has helped to deepen my understanding of both the role of empathy and requirement of using empathy as a tool to use in legal practice

Lin28A induces energetic switching to glycolytic metabolism in human embryonic kidney cells

Background: Loss of a cell’s capacity to generate sufficient energy for cellular functions is a key hallmark of the ageing process and ultimately leads to a variety of important age-related pathologies such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease and atherosclerosis. Regenerative medicine has sought to reverse these pathologies by reprogramming somatic cells to a more juvenile energetic state using a variety of stem cell factors. One of these factors, Lin28, is considered a candidate for modification in the reprogramming of cellular energetics to ameliorate the ageing process while retaining cell phenotype. Results: Over-expression of Lin28A resulted in key changes to cellular metabolism not observed in wild-type controls. Extracellular pH flux analysis indicated that Lin28A over expression significantly increased the rate of glycolysis, whilst high resolution oxygen respirometry demonstrated a reduced oxygen consumption. Western blot and real-time PCR analysis identified Hexokinase II as one of the key modulators of glycolysis in these cells which was further confirmed by increased glucose transport. A metabolic switching effect was further emphasised by Western blot analysis where the oxygen consuming mitochondrial complex IV was significantly reduced after Lin28A over expression. Conclusions: Results from this study confirm that Lin28A expression promotes metabolic switching to a phenotype that relies predominantly on glycolysis as an energy source, while compromising oxidative phosphorylation. Mechanisms to augment regulated Lin28A in age related pathologies that are characterised by mitochondria dysfunction or in differentiated and aged post-mitotic cells is the future goal of this work

Analysis of the root system architecture of Arabidopsis provides a quantitative readout of crosstalk between nutritional signals

As plant roots forage the soil for food and water, they translate a multifactorial input of environmental stimuli into a multifactorial developmental output that manifests itself as root system architecture (RSA). Our current understanding of the underlying regulatory network is limited because root responses have traditionally been studied separately for individual nutrient deficiencies. In this study, we quantified 13 RSA parameters of Arabidopsis thaliana in 32 binary combinations of N, P, K, S, and light. Analysis of variance showed that each RSA parameter was determined by a typical pattern of environmental signals and their interactions. P caused the most important single-nutrient effects, while N-effects were strongly light dependent. Effects of K and S occurred mostly through nutrient interactions in paired or multiple combinations. Several RSA parameters were selected for further analysis through mutant phenotyping, which revealed combinations of transporters, receptors, and kinases acting as signaling modules in K–N interactions. Furthermore, nutrient response profiles of individual RSA features across NPK combinations could be assigned to transcriptionally coregulated clusters of nutrient-responsive genes in the roots and to ionome patterns in the shoots. The obtained data set provides a quantitative basis for understanding how plants integrate multiple nutritional stimuli into complex developmental programs

The metal tolerance profile of Thlaspi goesingense is mimicked in Arabidopsis thaliana heterologously expressing serine acetyl-transferase

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Small arms, small data : small arms shooting accuracy and the small data problem

This paper explores how small-arms aiming errors appear to vary with range. In particular it investigates the question of whether a “proximity effect” exists, reducing accuracy at close range. Data on small-arms hitting rates is sparse. The paper analyses nineteen sources of data, giving 83 data points; combat data is augmented with data from police shootings, range trials, OR models and qualification scores. The paper explains the assumptions made in order to compensate for gaps in the data, such as target size. Data points are reduced to a common basis of angular error, which would produce the observed hitting rate if shooting at a visible static rectangular target at the stated known range. This subsumes all errors normally included in ballistic error budgets, plus the uncertainty of target location if firing at targets not clearly visible. The data available indicates that the accuracy of small-arms fire decreases with proximity to the target, so that the hitting rate does not increase as much as would otherwise be expected at closer ranges. The effect seems to apply across different types of data source, weapon, and fire, up to about 100 metres. The paper discusses possible explanations for the effect: prevalence of close terrain in the combat sample, restricted visibility, targets reducing their exposure time close to the enemy, uncertainty as to true target position, psychological stress due to enemy proximity, and a transition to pointed rather than aimed shooting. Each may be a contributory factor, but it is tentatively concluded that a hastier shooting style arising from psychological stress provides most of the explanation. Finally the paper suggests some directions for future work, the most important of which is clearly to add to the data available on this subject

Mapping of ionomic traits in Mimulus guttatus reveals Mo and Cd QTLs that colocalize with MOT1 homologues

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High-resolution genome-wide scan of genes, gene-networks and cellular systems impacting the yeast ionome

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Genome-wide association studies identify heavy metal ATPase3 as the primary determinant of natural variation in leaf cadmium in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Single-kernel ionomic profiles are highly heritable indicators of genetic and environmental influences on elemental accumulation in maize grain (Zea mays)

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