Review of \u3ci\u3eEarly Women Filmmakers 1911–1940\u3c/i\u3e

After more than a half century of neglect, pioneering women filmmakers are finally getting some of the attention they deserve. Foremost among these women is the figure of Alice Guy Blaché—also known simply as Alice Guy, before she married Herbert Blaché in 1907—who was responsible for numerous “firsts” in cinema history: the first film with narrative La Fée aux Choux (The Cabbage Patch Fairy; 1896), as well as early experiments with color dye processes, synchronized sound recording, multi-reel films, and other cinematic advances. Gaumont put out a set of her French films for that company—she was the head of production for Gaumont between 1896 and 1907—in a superb DVD in 2009 entitled Gaumont Treasures Volume 1 (1897–1913), but this compilation necessarily did not deal with her subsequent work in America, where she founded her own production company, Solax, and set about making a series of energetic films in every possible genre. But Alice Guy was far from the only woman filmmaker of the era, as documented in Kino’s excellent Blu-ray collection Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers, released in 2018, featuring films by Grace Cunard, Dorothy Davenport Reid, Alice Guy-Blaché, Zora Neale Hurston, Ruth Ann Baldwin, Mable Normand, Lois Weber, Elsie Jane Wilson, Marion Wong, Gene Gauntier, Cleo Madison, Nell Shipman, Ida May Park, Frances Marion, Lule Warrenton and many others. I have long argued that women were not only making films during the formative years of the cinema—they were, in fact, the central driving force behind film production, long before D.W. Griffith ever stepped behind a camera to direct. Yet women have been consistently written out of film history because of sexism, laziness, and creation of a male filmic canon in the early 1920s that effectively marginalized these remarkable artists. In reviewing this latest offering from the British Film Institute, it is important to note that there are more comprehensive collections available, but this set serves as a sort of “sampler” of what is out there, and does contain several titles that have been overlooked in the previously mentioned sets, including Olga Preobrazhenskaya’s feature-length film The Peasant Women of Ryazan (USSR, 1927), and Marie Louise Iribe’s haunting fairy-tale featurette, Le Roi des Aulnes (The Erl King, 1929), one of the earliest sound films produced in France, based on a text by Goethe. So, what is included here? First off, a generous sampling of Alice Guy’s American Solax shorts, including the heartbreaking Falling Leaves (1912); the immigration drama Making An American Citizen; the gambling melodrama The Girl in The Arm Chair; the Gold Rush themed Greater Love Hath No Man; and Algie, The Miner, an early queer film set in the “Wild West,” in which the titular character helps a drunken prospector regain his sobriety. All these films—all one-reel shorts, running about 10 minutes each, and all were made in 1912—give one some indication of what a veritable factory Solax was, churning out films at a furious pace

The latent structure of Acute Stress Disorder symptoms in trauma-exposed children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: The revision of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) in the DSM-5 (DSM-5, 2013) proposes a cluster-free model of ASD symptoms in both adults and youth. Published evaluations of competing models of ASD clustering in youth have rarely been examined. METHODS: We used Confirmatory Factor Analysis (combined with multigroup invariance tests) to explore the latent structure of ASD symptoms in a trauma-exposed sample of children and young people (N = 594). The DSM-5 structure was compared with the previous DSM-IV conceptualization (4-factor), and two alternative models proposed in the literature (3-factor; 5-factor). Model fit was examined using goodness-of-fit indices. We also established DSM-5 ASD prevalence rates relative to DSM-IV ASD, and the ability of these models to classify children impaired by their symptoms. RESULTS: Based on both the Bayesian Information Criterion, the interfactor correlations and invariance testing, the 3-factor model best accounted for the profile of ASD symptoms. DSM-5 ASD led to slightly higher prevalence rates than DSM-IV ASD and performed similarly to DSM-IV with respect to categorising children impaired by their symptoms. Modifying the DSM-5 ASD algorithm to a 3+ or 4+ symptom requirement was the strongest predictor of impairment. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a uni-factorial general-distress model is not the optimal model of capturing the latent structure of ASD symptom profiles in youth and that modifying the current DSM-5 9+ symptom algorithm could potentially lead to a more developmentally sensitive conceptualization

LMDA Review, volume 11, issue 2

Contents include: A Letter to the Membership from the LMDA Board Chair, Dixon to the Guthrie, Office Update, Technology Notes, News from CEAD Montreal, LMDA Affiliates with ATHE, ATHE 2001 Practice, Theory, Technology and the New Student, Report on Canadian Caucus, Note to the Editor, The Experiment Tradition, Community and the Development of Scripts for Stage and Screen, A Collaborative Workshop, An Intern on Internships, Spotlight on Early Career Dramaturgs, Exciting News from the West Coast, Coming this Way, and Playscripts.com.https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdareview/1021/thumbnail.jp

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Novel suppressors of α-synuclein toxicity identified using yeast

The mechanism by which the Parkinson’s disease-related protein α-synuclein (α-syn) causes neurodegeneration has not been elucidated. To determine the genes that protect cells from α-syn, we used a genetic screen to identify suppressors of the super sensitivity of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing α-syn to killing by hydrogen peroxide. Forty genes in ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolism, protein biosynthesis, vesicle trafficking and the response to stress were identified. Five of the forty genes—ENT3, IDP3, JEM1, ARG2 and HSP82—ranked highest in their ability to block α-syn-induced reactive oxygen species accumulation, and these five genes were characterized in more detail. The deletion of any of these five genes enhanced the toxicity of α-syn as judged by growth defects compared with wild-type cells expressing α-syn, which indicates that these genes protect cells from α-syn. Strikingly, four of the five genes are specific for α-syn in that they fail to protect cells from the toxicity of the two inherited mutants A30P or A53T. This finding suggests that α-syn causes toxicity to cells through a different pathway than these two inherited mutants. Lastly, overexpression of Ent3p, which is a clathrin adapter protein involved in protein transport between the Golgi and the vacuole, causes α-syn to redistribute from the plasma membrane into cytoplasmic vesicular structures. Our interpretation is that Ent3p mediates the transport of α-syn to the vacuole for proteolytic degradation. A similar clathrin adaptor protein, epsinR, exists in humans

Prospects for K+→π+ννˉK^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar{ \nu } at CERN in NA62

The NA62 experiment will begin taking data in 2015. Its primary purpose is a 10% measurement of the branching ratio of the ultrarare kaon decay $K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar{ \nu }$, using the decay in flight of kaons in an unseparated beam with momentum 75 GeV/c.The detector and analysis technique are described here.Comment: 8 pages for proceedings of 50 Years of CP

Proterozoic sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposits and links to evolving global ocean chemistry

Sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) Zn-Pb-sulfi de mineralization fi rst occurred on a large scale during the late Paleoproterozoic. Metal sulfi des in most Proterozoic deposits have yielded broad ranges of predominantly positive d34S values traditionally attributed to bacterial sulfate reduction. Heavy isotopic signatures are often ascribed to fractionation within closed or partly closed local reservoirs isolated from the global ocean by rifting before, during, and after the formation of Rodinia. Although such conditions likely played a central role, we argue here that the fi rst appearance of signifi cant SEDEX mineralization during the Proterozoic and the isotopic properties of those deposits are also strongly coupled to temporal evolution of the amount of sulfate in seawater. The ubiquity of 34S-enriched sulfi de in ore bodies and shales and the widespread stratigraphic patterns of rapid d34S variability expressed in both sulfate and sulfi de data are among the principal evidence for global seawater sulfate that was increasing during the Proterozoic but remained substantially lower than today. Because sulfate is produced mostly through weathering of the continents in the presence of oxygen, low Proterozoic concentrations imply that levels of atmospheric oxygen fell between the abundances of the Phanerozoic and the defi ciencies of the Archean, which are also indicated by the Precambrian sulfur isotope record. Given the limited availability of atmospheric oxygen, deep-water anoxia may have persisted well into the Proterozoic in the presence of a growing sulfate reservoir, which promoted prevalent euxinia. Collectively, these observations suggest that the mid-Proterozoic maximum in SEDEX mineralization and the absence of Archean deposits refl ect a critical threshold in the accumulation of oceanic sulfate and thus sulfi de within anoxic bottom waters and pore fluids-conditions that favored both the production and preservation of sulfi de mineralization at or just below the seafl oor. Consistent with these evolving global conditions, the appearance of voluminous SEDEX mineralization ca. 1800 Ma coincides generally with the disappearance of banded iron formations-marking the transition from an early iron-dominated ocean to one more strongly influenced by sulfi de availability. In further agreement with this conceptual model, Proterozoic SEDEX deposits in northern Australian formed from relatively oxidized fl uids that required reduced conditions at the site of mineralization. By contrast, the generally more oxygenated Phanerozoic ocean may have only locally and intermittently favored the formation and preservation of exhalative mineralization, and most Phanerozoic deposits formed from reduced fluids that carried some sulfide to the site of ore precipitation

Incompatibilities Involving Yeast Mismatch Repair Genes: A Role for Genetic Modifiers and Implications for Disease Penetrance and Variation in Genomic Mutation Rates

Genetic background effects underlie the penetrance of most genetically determined phenotypes, including human diseases. To explore how such effects can modify a mutant phenotype in a genetically tractable system, we examined an incompatibility involving the MLH1 and PMS1 mismatch repair genes using a large population sample of geographically and ecologically diverse Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The mismatch repair incompatibility segregates into naturally occurring yeast strains, with no strain bearing the deleterious combination. In assays measuring the mutator phenotype conferred by different combinations of MLH1 and PMS1 from these strains, we observed a mutator phenotype only in combinations predicted to be incompatible. Surprisingly, intragenic modifiers could be mapped that specifically altered the strength of the incompatibility over a 20-fold range. Together, these observations provide a powerful model in which to understand the basis of disease penetrance and how such genetic variation, created through mating, could result in new mutations that could be the raw material of adaptive evolution in yeast populations

Differential Cerebral Cortex Transcriptomes of Baboon Neonates Consuming Moderate and High Docosahexaenoic Acid Formulas

BACKGROUND: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6) are the major long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) of the central nervous system (CNS). These nutrients are present in most infant formulas at modest levels, intended to support visual and neural development. There are no investigations in primates of the biological consequences of dietary DHA at levels above those present in formulas but within normal breastmilk levels. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Twelve baboons were divided into three formula groups: Control, with no DHA-ARA; “L”, LCPUFA, with 0.33%DHA-0.67%ARA; “L3”, LCPUFA, with 1.00%DHA-0.67%ARA. All the samples are from the precentral gyrus of cerebral cortex brain regions. At 12 weeks of age, changes in gene expression were detected in 1,108 of 54,000 probe sets (2.05%), with most showing <2-fold change. Gene ontology analysis assigns them to diverse biological functions, notably lipid metabolism and transport, G-protein and signal transduction, development, visual perception, cytoskeleton, peptidases, stress response, transcription regulation, and 400 transcripts having no defined function. PLA2G6, a phospholipase recently associated with infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy, was downregulated in both LCPUFA groups. ELOVL5, a PUFA elongase, was the only LCPUFA biosynthetic enzyme that was differentially expressed. Mitochondrial fatty acid carrier, CPT2, was among several genes associated with mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation to be downregulated by high DHA, while the mitochondrial proton carrier, UCP2, was upregulated. TIMM8A, also known as deafness/dystonia peptide 1, was among several differentially expressed neural development genes. LUM and TIMP3, associated with corneal structure and age-related macular degeneration, respectively, were among visual perception genes influenced by LCPUFA. TIA1, a silencer of COX2 gene translation, is upregulated by high DHA. Ingenuity pathway analysis identified a highly significant nervous system network, with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as the outstanding interaction partner. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that LCPUFA concentrations within the normal range of human breastmilk induce global changes in gene expression across a wide array of processes, in addition to changes in visual and neural function normally associated with formula LCPUFA

Externalities and the nucleolus

In most economic applications, externalities prevail: the worth of a coalition depends on how the other players are organized. We show that there is a unique natural way of extending the nucleolus from (coalitional) games without externalities to games with externalities. This is in contrast to the Shapley value and the core for which many different extensions have been proposed