Songs Not Silenced: Music Forbidden in the Holocaust

Kennesaw State University School of Music presents this special performance, Songs Not Silenced: Music Forbidden in the Holocaust, featuring Jana Young, soprano, Oral Moses, bass-baritone, Judy Cole, piano, and commentary by program coordinator Dr. Laurence Sherr along with David Green.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1900/thumbnail.jp

Direct Assessment of Cumulative Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Agonist Activity in Sera from Experimentally Exposed Mice and Environmentally Exposed Humans

Background: Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligands adversely affect many biological processes. However, assessment of the significance of human exposures is hampered by an incomplete understanding of how complex mixtures affect AhR activation/inactivation. Objectives: These studies used biological readouts to provide a broader context for estimating human risk than that obtained with serum extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS)-based assays alone. Methods: AhR agonist activity was quantified in sera from dioxin-treated mice, commercial human sources, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)–exposed Faroe Islanders using an AhR-driven reporter cell line. To validate relationships between serum AhR agonist levels and biological outcomes, AhR agonist activity in mouse sera correlated with toxic end points. AhR agonist activity in unmanipulated (“neat”) human sera was compared with these biologically relevant doses and with GC/MS-assayed PCB levels. Results: Mouse serum AhR agonist activity correlated with injected dioxin dose, thymic atrophy, and heptomegaly, validating the use of neat serum to assess AhR agonist activity. AhR agonist activity in sera from Faroe Islanders varied widely, was associated with the frequency of recent pilot whale dinners, but did not correlate with levels of PCBs quantified by GC/MS. Surprisingly, significant “baseline” AhR activity was found in commercial human sera. Conclusions: An AhR reporter assay revealed cumulative levels of AhR activation potential in neat serum, whereas extraction may preclude detection of important non-dioxin-like biological activity. Significant levels of AhR agonist activity in commercial sera and in Faroe Islander sera, compared with that from experimentally exposed mice, suggest human exposures that are biologically relevant in both populations

Donor data vacuuming

In this essay, we seek to understand how the stunning rise of data vacuuming, necessitated by the pretense of ‘partnership’ within global health, has fundamentally altered how routine health data in poor countries is collected, analyzed, prioritized, and used to inform management and policy. Writing as a team of authors with experiences on multiple sides of global health partnerships in the United States, Mozambique, Nepal, Lesotho, Kenya, and Cote d’Ivoire, we argue that solidarity-based partnership between donor and recipient countries is impossible when evidence production and management is effectively outsourced to external organizations to meet the criteria of donor partners. Specifically, to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, equity-oriented strategies are critically needed to create data collection, analysis, and use activities that are mutually beneficial and sustainable

Oceanic Protists

Protists are microscopic eukaryotic microbes that are ubiquitous, diverse, and major participants in oceanic food webs and in marine biogeochemical cycles. The study and characterization of protists has a long and distinguished tradition. Even with this history, the extraordinary species diversity and variety of interactions of protists in the sea are only now being fully appreciated

The Grizzly, February 7, 2013

Trustees Plan the Future of Ursinus • Forum Changes Time, Place • Graduation Speakers Selected • Writing Center to Expand Resources • New Exhibit at Berman Museum of Art • Summer Internship Profile • Students Set to Perform Noises Off on February 20 • Students Discuss Queer Life on Liberal Arts Campus • Opinion: U.S. Gun Legislation Needs to be Amended; Our Reliance on Technology is Changing the Way we Think • February 1 Banner Day for Spring Athletes • Swimming Sweeps WAChttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1874/thumbnail.jp

Environmental chemical-induced bone marrow B cell apoptosis: Death receptor-independent activation of a caspase-3 to caspase-8 pathway

ABSTRACT Programmed cell death is a critical process in B lymphocyte development. Premature apoptosis in developing B cells could affect the repertoire and number of mature B cells produced. Of particular concern is the ability of environmentally ubiquitous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to induce B cell apoptosis within the bone marrow microenvironment in a clonally nonspecific way. Here, models of bone marrow B cell development were used to assess the role of the "extrinsic" apoptosis pathway in PAH-induced apoptosis and to compare PAH-induced apoptosis with that induced during clonal deletion. A

The Grizzly, September 6, 2012

Ursinus Welcomes New Dean • Wismer Changes • Orientation Update • Dr. Heinzl Lecture • Gary Hodgson\u27s Tenure as Campus Safety Officer • Meet Mike Mullin, New R.D. • Gender-Neutral Bathrooms Arrive on UC Campus • Residence Life Offers Support for the Class of 2016 • Opinion: Athletes Frustrated by Dining Changes; Senator Rubio Would Have Been a Better V.P. Choice for the GOP • Field Hockey Looks to Keep Tradition • Under New Coach, Volleyball Begins 2012 Season • Lofty Expectations for Bears Footballhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1861/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, September 13, 2012

UC Remembers Lindsay Budnick • Greek Recruitment Changes • UC Fringe Returns • Film Fest to Celebrate Cultures • Bear Bucks Defined • CIE Fellows Aid CIE Students • CAB Welcomes New Executive Board and Events • Tree Planting Efforts Along the Perkiomen Creek • Opinion: New Allowances Limit SPINT Events; DNC Speakers Successfully Promote Obama • Season Preview: Women\u27s Soccer • Coach Profile: Kelly Wakeman, Women\u27s Soccer • Men\u27s Soccer Goes Young for Successhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1862/thumbnail.jp

Strengthening research capacity through the medical education partnership initiative: the Mozambique experience

BACKGROUND: Since Mozambique’s independence, the major emphasis of its higher educational institutions has been on didactic education. Because of fiscal and human resource constraints, basic and applied research activities have been relatively modest in scope, and priorities have often been set primarily by external collaborators. These factors have compromised the scope and the relevance of locally conducted research and have limited the impact of Mozambique’s universities as major catalysts for national development. CASE DESCRIPTION: We developed a multi-institutional partnership to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the research environment at Mozambique’s major public universities to identify factors that have served as barriers to the development of a robust research enterprise. Based on this analysis, we developed a multifaceted plan to reduce the impact of these barriers and to enhance research capacity within Mozambique. INTERVENTIONS: On the basis of our needs assessment, we have implemented a number of major initiatives within participating institutions to facilitate basic and applied research activities. These have included specialized training programmes, a reorganization of the research administration infrastructure, the development of multiple collaborative research projects that have emphasized local research priorities and a substantial investment in bioinformatics. We have established a research support centre that provides grant development and management services to Mozambique’s public universities and have developed an independent Institutional Review Board for the review of research involving human research subjects. Multiple research projects involving both communicable and non-communicable diseases have been developed and substantial external research support has been obtained to undertake these projects. A sizable investment in biomedical informatics has enhanced both connectivity and access to digital reference material. Active engagement with relevant entities within the Government of Mozambique has aligned institutional development with national priorities. CONCLUSIONS: Although multiple challenges remain, over the past 3 years significant progress has been made towards establishing conditions within which a broad range of basic, translational and clinical and public health research can be undertaken. Ongoing development of this research enterprise will enhance capacity to address critical locally relevant research questions and will leverage resources to accelerate the development of Mozambique’s national universities