Culture Shock

"The Goethe-Institut Toronto is pleased to co-present this exciting project based on former West and East German 'Westerns' together with our partners at the imagineNATIVE Festival, Vtape, and the National Gallery of Canada. We have jointly commissioned four Indigenous artists to critically view features from two collections of German “Westerns” and to create short films that reflect upon the stories and the modes of representation exhibited in these films that were primarily produced in the 1960s and 1970s." -- p. 3

Anesthesia for Non-Cardiac Surgery for the LVAD Patient

Heart failure is poorly tolerated and end stage heart failure (classified as New York Heart Association (NYHA) class IV) has a two-year survival with medical therapy that approaches 0%. Innovation in this sphere has yielded mechanical therapies, principally the left ventricular assist device (LVAD). In the last decade one-year survival rates of Left ventricular assist device patients have increased from 52–83%. As this therapy is more commonly used to treat advanced heart failure, coupled with the increase in patient survival after implantation, patients are increasingly encountered in the peri-operative arena requiring anesthesia for non-cardiac surgeries. The goal of this chapter is to provide the non-cardiac trained anesthesia provider a primer on what an LVAD is, how it functions, the physiological changes that occur with implantation, and considerations for administering anesthesia to patients with LVADs for non-cardiac surgery. Review of articles from 2018 to 2022 found from a search on PubMed and Google Scholar using the keywords: “Left Ventricular Assist Device”, “LVAD”, “anesthesia”, “non-cardiac surgery”, “Doppler blood pressure measurement”, “VAD coordinator”. Non-cardiac trained anesthesia providers can safely administer the anesthetics to LVAD patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery as long as appropriate considerations are taken

Ancient channels of the Susquehanna River beneath Chesapeake Bay and the Delmarva Peninsula

Three generations of the ancestral Susquehanna River system have been mapped beneath Chesapeake Bay and the southern Delmarva Peninsula. Closely spaced seismic reflection profiles in the bay and boreholes in the bay and on the southern Delmarva Peninsula allow detailed reconstruction of each paleochannel system. The channel systems were formed during glacial low sea-level stands, and each contains a channel-fill sequence that records the subsequent transgression. The trunk channels of each system are 2 to 4 km wide and are incised 30 to SO m into underlying strata; they have irregular longitudinal profiles and very low gradients within the Chesapeake Bay area

Divergent Protein Motifs Direct EF-P Mediated Translational Regulation in \u3cem\u3eSalmonella\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/em\u3e

Elongation factor P (EF-P) is a universally conserved bacterial translation factor homologous to eukaryotic/archaeal initiation factor 5A. In Salmonella, deletion of the efp gene results in pleiotropic phenotypes, including increased susceptibility to numerous cellular stressors. Only a limited number of proteins are affected by the loss of EF-P, and it has recently been determined that EF-P plays a critical role in rescuing ribosomes stalled at PPP and PPG peptide sequences. Here we present an unbiased in vivo investigation of the specific targets of EF-P by employing stable isotope labeling of amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) to compare the proteomes of wild-type and efp mutant Salmonella. We found that metabolic and motility genes are prominent among the subset of proteins with decreased production in the Δefp mutant. Furthermore, particular tripeptide motifs are statistically overrepresented among the proteins downregulated in efp mutant strains. These include both PPP and PPG but also additional motifs, such as APP and YIRYIR, which were confirmed to induce EF-P dependence by a translational fusion assay. Notably, we found that many proteins containing polyproline motifs are not misregulated in an EF-P-deficient background, suggesting that the factors that govern EF-P-mediated regulation are complex. Finally, we analyzed the specific region of the PoxB protein that is modulated by EF-P and found that mutation of any residue within a specific GSCGPG sequence eliminates the requirement for EF-P. This work expands the known repertoire of EF-P target motifs and implicates factors beyond polyproline motifs that are required for EF-P-mediated regulation

Sleep in children with type 1 diabetes and their parents in the T1D Exchange

Objectives Sleep has physiological and behavioral impacts on diabetes outcomes, yet little is known about the impact of sleep disturbances in children with type 1 diabetes. The current study sought to characterize sleep in children with type 1 diabetes and in their parents and to examine the associations between child sleep, glycemic control and adherence, parent sleep and well-being, parental fear of hypoglycemia, and nocturnal caregiving behavior. Methods Surveys were emailed to parents of 2- to 12-year-old participants in the Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Exchange clinic registry. Clinical data were obtained from the registry for the 515 respondents. Results In our sample, 67% of children met criteria for poor sleep quality. Child sleep quality was related to glycemic control (HbA1c of 7.9% [63 mmol/mol] in children with poor sleep quality vs 7.6% [60 mmol/mol] in children with non-poor sleep quality; P < 0.001) but not mean frequency of blood glucose monitoring (BGM) (7.6 times/day vs 7.4 in poor/non-poor quality; P = 0.56). Associations were similar for sleep duration. Children with poor sleep quality were more likely to experience severe hypoglycemia (4% in children with poor sleep quality vs 1% in children with non-poor sleep quality; P = 0.05) and more likely to experience DKA (7% vs 4%, respectively; P < 0.001). Poorer child sleep quality was associated with poorer parental sleep quality, parental well-being, and fear of hypoglycemia (P < 0.001 for all). Child sleep was not related to the use of diabetes-related technology (CGM, insulin pump). Conclusions Sleep may be a modifiable factor to improve glycemic control and reduce parental distress

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) : the large-scale structure of galaxies and comparison to mock universes

MA acknowledges funding from the University of St Andrews and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research. ASGR is supported by funding from a UWA Fellowship. PN acknowledges the support of the Royal Society through the award of a University Research Fellowship and the European Research Council, through receipt of a Starting Grant (DEGAS-259586). MJIB acknowledges the financial support of the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship 100100280. TMR acknowledges support from a European Research Council Starting Grant (DEGAS-259586).From a volume-limited sample of 45 542 galaxies and 6000 groups with z ≤ 0.213, we use an adapted minimal spanning tree algorithm to identify and classify large-scale structures within the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. Using galaxy groups, we identify 643 filaments across the three equatorial GAMA fields that span up to 200 h−1 Mpc in length, each with an average of eight groups within them. By analysing galaxies not belonging to groups, we identify a secondary population of smaller coherent structures composed entirely of galaxies, dubbed ‘tendrils’ that appear to link filaments together, or penetrate into voids, generally measuring around 10 h−1 Mpc in length and containing on average six galaxies. Finally, we are also able to identify a population of isolated void galaxies. By running this algorithm on GAMA mock galaxy catalogues, we compare the characteristics of large-scale structure between observed and mock data, finding that mock filaments reproduce observed ones extremely well. This provides a probe of higher order distribution statistics not captured by the popularly used two-point correlation function.Peer reviewe

Differential transcriptomic responses to heat stress in surface and subterranean diving beetles

Subterranean habitats are generally very stable environments, and as such evolutionary transitions of organisms from surface to subterranean lifestyles may cause considerable shifts in physiology, particularly with respect to thermal tolerance. In this study we compared responses to heat shock at the molecular level in a geographically widespread, surface-dwelling water beetle to a congeneric subterranean species restricted to a single aquifer (Dytiscidae: Hydroporinae). The obligate subterranean beetle Paroster macrosturtensis is known to have a lower thermal tolerance compared to surface lineages (CTmax 38°C cf. 42–46°C), but the genetic basis of this physiological difference has not been characterized. We experimentally manipulated the thermal environment of 24 individuals to demonstrate that both species can mount a heat shock response at high temperatures (35°C), as determined by comparative transcriptomics. However, genes involved in these responses differ between species and a far greater number were differentially expressed in the surface taxon, suggesting it can mount a more robust heat shock response; these data may underpin its higher thermal tolerance compared to subterranean relatives. In contrast, the subterranean species examined not only differentially expressed fewer genes in response to increasing temperatures, but also in the presence of the experimental setup employed here alone. Our results suggest P. macrosturtensis may be comparatively poorly equipped to respond to both thermally induced stress and environmental disturbances more broadly. The molecular findings presented here have conservation implications for P. macrosturtensis and contribute to a growing narrative concerning weakened thermal tolerances in obligate subterranean organisms at the molecular level

American Cancer Society guidelines for breast cancer screening: update 2003

In 2003, the American Cancer Society updated its guidelines for early detection of breast cancer based on recommendations from a formal review of evidence and a recent workshop. The new screening recommendations address screening mammography, physical examination, screening older women and women with comorbid conditions, screening women at high risk, and new screening technologies

THE COST STRUCTURE OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS IN EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Microfinance institutions are important, particularly in developing countries, because they expand the frontier of financial intermediation by providing loans to those traditionally excluded from formal financial markets. This paper presents the first systematic statistical examination of the performance of MFIs operating in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. A cost function is estimated for MFIs in the region from 1999-2004. First, the presence of subsidies is found to be associated with higher MFI costs. When output is measured as the number of loans made, we find that MFIs become more efficient over time and that MFIs involved in the provision of group loans and loans to women have lower costs. However, when output is measured as volume of loans rather than their number, this last finding is reversed. This may be due to the fact that such loans are smaller in size; thus for a given volume more loans must be made.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40195/3/wp809.pd