“The Crime Scene as Museum: The (Re)construction in the Bresciano Series of a Historical Gibraltarian Past”

The “Bresciano” series of seven historical detective novels (2010-2015) by Sam Benady and Mary Chiappe set in a period of four decades early in the British imperial history of Gibraltar from the 1780s to the 1820s provides an excellent opportunity not only for reconstructing a significant image of the historical past of the colony – and possibly also of its current status – but also for investigating a complex of critical approaches to such writing in terms of historical crime fiction, post-coloniality, and the wider ramifications of the function of cultural-historical “museumification” and its impact on the literary narrative. The present brief study should be regarded as an introductory discussion rather than a definitive analysis

Interview

John A Stotesbury interviewed Wole Soyinka at the Second Stockholm Conference for African Writers, April 1986

Terminus: A Versatile Simulator for Space-based Telescopes

Space-based telescopes offer unparalleled opportunities for characterizing exoplanets, solar system bodies, and stellar objects. However, observatories in low-Earth orbits (e.g., Hubble, CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite, Twinkle, and an ever-increasing number of cubesats) cannot always be continuously pointed at a target due to Earth obscuration. For exoplanet observations consisting of transit, or eclipse, spectroscopy, this causes gaps in the light curve, which reduces the information content and can diminish the science return of the observation. Terminus, a time-domain simulator, has been developed to model the occurrence of these gaps to predict the potential impact on future observations. The simulator is capable of radiometrically modeling exoplanet observations as well as producing light curves and spectra. Here, Terminus is baselined on the Twinkle mission, but the model can be adapted for any space-based telescope and is especially applicable to those in a low-Earth orbit. Terminus also has the capability to model observations of other targets such as asteroids or brown dwarfs

Dysregulated anti-viral innate immune cascade during aging.

Aging predisposes to increased morbidity and lethality to infectious diseases, which becomes apparent with the high mortality rates suffered by older people when infected with influenza virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). At the root of this increased susceptibility to infections, is the wide-spread deterioration of the immune system

MRI detection of brain abnormality in sickle cell disease

Introduction: Over the past decades, neuroimaging studies have clarified that a significant proportion of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have functionally significant brain abnormalities. Clinically, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences (T2, FLAIR, diffusion-weighted imaging) have been used by radiologists to diagnose chronic and acute cerebral infarction (both overt and clinically silent), while magnetic resonance angiography and venography have been used to diagnose arteriopathy and venous thrombosis. In research settings, imaging scientists are increasingly applying quantitative techniques to shine further light on underlying mechanisms. Areas covered: From a June 2020 PubMed search of ‘magnetic’ or ‘MRI’ and ‘sickle’ over the previous 5 years, we selected manuscripts on T1-based morphometric analysis, diffusion tensor imaging, arterial spin labeling, T2-oximetry, quantitative susceptibility, and connectivity. Expert Opinion: Quantitative MRI techniques are identifying structural and hemodynamic biomarkers associated with risk of neurological and neurocognitive complications. A growing body of evidence suggests that these biomarkers are sensitive to change with treatments, such as blood transfusion and hydroxyurea, indicating that they may hold promise as endpoints in future randomized clinical trials of novel approaches including hemoglobin F upregulation, reduction of polymerization, and gene therapy. With further validation, such techniques may eventually also improve neurological and neurocognitive risk stratification in this vulnerable population

The influence of schizotypal traits on attention under high perceptual load

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) are known to be characterised by abnormalities in attentional processes, but there are inconsistencies in the literature that remain unresolved. This article considers whether perceptual resource limitations play a role in moderating attentional abnormalities in SSD. According to perceptual load theory, perceptual resource limitations can lead to attenuated or superior performance on dual-task paradigms depending on whether participants are required to process, or attempt to ignore, secondary stimuli. If SSD is associated with perceptual resource limitations, and if it represents the extreme end of an otherwise normally distributed neuropsychological phenotype, schizotypal traits in the general population should lead to disproportionate performance costs on dual-task paradigms as a function of the perceptual task demands. To test this prediction, schizotypal traits were quantified via the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) in 74 healthy volunteers, who also completed a dual-task signal detection paradigm that required participants to detect central and peripheral stimuli across conditions that varied in the overall number of stimuli presented. The results confirmed decreasing performance as the perceptual load of the task increased. More importantly, significant correlations between SPQ scores and task performance confirmed that increased schizotypal traits, particularly in the cognitive-perceptual domain, are associated with greater performance decrements under increasing perceptual load. These results confirm that attentional difficulties associated with SSD extend sub-clinically into the general population and suggest that cognitive-perceptual schizotypal traits may represent a risk factor for difficulties in the regulation of attention under increasing perceptual load

The "Most Accurate, Least Factual" Writer : Hunter S. Thompson, Journalist

New Journalism, as practiced by Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, and other writers, loosened the accepted bounds of journalism in the 1960s. Embracing these unrestricted journalism practices, Hunter S. Thompson adapted the New Journalists' techniques and added some of his own to create Gonzo Journalism. A mix of satire, dark humor, and parody, Gonzo focused on the persona telling the story rather than the events that the writer on which was supposed to be reporting. Objectivity, the mainstay of traditional reporting in the 20th century, was not the goal in Gonzo. Thompson's writing more closely resembled the news writing that came before the rise of objectivity. Today, Thompson's influence on the modern media has lead the way for satirical news programming such as The Colbert Report and publications like The Onion. Thompson's writing was also the also a forbearer of the modern polarized media. People who read his reportage understood that they were getting a story from his point-of-view; similarly, shows like Fox News provide the news from a certain viewpoint.  M.A

Scaffolds for liver tissue engineering: in vitro co-culture & in vivo release

This thesis presents the development and evaluation of two applications for scaffolds in the field of liver tissue engineering. In the first study a poly (D,L lactic acid) (PDLLA) scaffold is used as a three-dimensional template for hepatocyte–hepatic stellate cell (HSC) co-culture. To enhance PDLLA ligand binding capacity scaffolds are surface modified using allylamine plasma deposition and treatment with NaOH. Primary adult rat hepatocytes and HSC are then seeded onto these scaffolds and cultured in static conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to assess mono-culture and co-culture morphology whilst synthetic and cytochrome P450 function are measured using albumin and testosterone assays. The second study explores the potential for intrahepatic growth factor and extracellular matrix (ECM) delivery from a biodegradable polymer scaffold to promote liver growth and to enhance regeneration. The study is undertaken in rats. The scaffold design and implantation technique are first piloted in a short survival study. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF)1, FGF2 and liver derived ECM (L-ECM) are then loaded into poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) + 5% poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) scaffolds and implanted into normal and partially hepatectomised liver. Implant morphology is assessed by micro-CT reconstruction. Growth factor bioactivity and release are confirmed by in vitro profiling. Liver growth and volume redistribution are assessed by liver weight analysis. Parenchymal injury and function are quantified by measuring serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) & bilirubin. 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) inclusion & MIB-5 immunohistochemistry (IHC) are used to identify hepatocyte and non-parenchymal cell proliferation. Liver-scaffold interaction is characterised by H&E and Masson’s trichrome staining. Non-parenchymal cell migration is assessed by ED-1 and desmin IHC. All histology is then subjected to image analysis

Scaffolds for liver tissue engineering: in vitro co-culture & in vivo release

This thesis presents the development and evaluation of two applications for scaffolds in the field of liver tissue engineering. In the first study a poly (D,L lactic acid) (PDLLA) scaffold is used as a three-dimensional template for hepatocyte–hepatic stellate cell (HSC) co-culture. To enhance PDLLA ligand binding capacity scaffolds are surface modified using allylamine plasma deposition and treatment with NaOH. Primary adult rat hepatocytes and HSC are then seeded onto these scaffolds and cultured in static conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to assess mono-culture and co-culture morphology whilst synthetic and cytochrome P450 function are measured using albumin and testosterone assays. The second study explores the potential for intrahepatic growth factor and extracellular matrix (ECM) delivery from a biodegradable polymer scaffold to promote liver growth and to enhance regeneration. The study is undertaken in rats. The scaffold design and implantation technique are first piloted in a short survival study. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF)1, FGF2 and liver derived ECM (L-ECM) are then loaded into poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) + 5% poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) scaffolds and implanted into normal and partially hepatectomised liver. Implant morphology is assessed by micro-CT reconstruction. Growth factor bioactivity and release are confirmed by in vitro profiling. Liver growth and volume redistribution are assessed by liver weight analysis. Parenchymal injury and function are quantified by measuring serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) & bilirubin. 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) inclusion & MIB-5 immunohistochemistry (IHC) are used to identify hepatocyte and non-parenchymal cell proliferation. Liver-scaffold interaction is characterised by H&E and Masson’s trichrome staining. Non-parenchymal cell migration is assessed by ED-1 and desmin IHC. All histology is then subjected to image analysis