Review: Purposeful Memoir as a Quest for a Thriving Future: Inspiration for Writers and Seekers by Jennifer Browdy

Book Review: Jennifer Browdy’s Purposeful Memoir as a Guest for a Thriving Future: Inspiration for Writers and Thinkers (Green Fire Press, 2021), a guidebook for writers seeking to heal through the study of the self. Browdy is Professor of Cmparative Literature and Media Arts at Bard College at Simon\u27s Rock

Editor\u27s Note

Editor\u27s Note, Early College Folio, Volume 1, Issue 2 (May 2022

Transpiration and transporters: teasing apart passive and active transport of plant silicon

All plants contain some silicon (Si), but some species take it up passively through the transpiration stream while others additionally actively accumulate Si by producing transporters. Here, we review the literature, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to investigate the importance of transpiration for Si uptake across diverse plant groups with different accumulation capacities. We will use variation among species in terms of phylogeny, habitat (e.g. aquatic vs. terrestrial), and environmental conditions (e.g. water or nutrient stress) to tease apart the roles of transporters and transpiration in controlling rates of Si accumulation, and make use of published manipulative experiments to explore how Si availability impacts the importance of these two uptake mechanisms

“Digital by Necessity”: An Interview with Dr. Jane Wanninger

In the summer of 2020, Dr. Jane Wanninger participated in a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute hosted by Agnes Scott College to learn about implementing digital storytelling in the classroom, which ironically, had to be completed digitally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her experience was the inspiration for this issue of Early College Folio as she pitched her ideas using the phrase “digital by necessity.” Issue Editor Julia Carey Arendell interviewed Jane, captured here, on all that she learned to think more deeply about using the virtual tool of digital storytelling as a teacher, a student, and a medium

Beyond Banglatown: continuity, change and new urban economies in Brick Lane

As part of a two-year research project focusing on Brick Lane’s restaurant and retail sectors, the report highlights the unique contribution of the Bangladeshi community to Brick Lane and its world-renowned curry restaurants. Beyond Banglatown analyses Brick Lane’s rapid gentrification over the last 15 years and the impact of its new economies on the UK curry capital, and the Bangladeshi community that has been excluded and displaced by this process of regeneration. The report highlights a steep decline in Brick Lane’s curry restaurants, with a decrease of 62% in just 15 years - in the mid-2000s there were 60 outlets compared to just 23 in early-2020. While hipster cafés, vintage clothes shops, delicatessens and boutique chocolatiers have boomed on Brick Lane (also known as ‘Banglatown’ because of its status as the heartland of the Bangladeshi community in Britain), Bangladeshi-run curry restaurants have plummeted. Beyond Banglatown outlines broader challenges these restaurants have faced including, rising costs (rents, business rates); shortage of trained chefs because of visa constraints; lack of support from business and regeneration agencies; decline in the area’s night-time economy; and the reluctance of the new generation of British Bangladeshis to work in the restaurant trade. A dramatic reduction in footfall due to the Covid-19 pandemic has severely exacerbated the situation and threatens the existence of many of Brick Lane's curry restaurants. The report authors call for a range of measures to help the restaurants to survive and evolve, such as government support to weather the Covid-19 crisis, investment and training for restaurateurs and formal recognition of the Bangladeshi community to the history of Brick Lane, and global London

The Portal Theory Supported by Venous Drainage–Selective Fat Transplantation

OBJECTIVE The "portal hypothesis" proposes that the liver is directly exposed to free fatty acids and cytokines increasingly released from visceral fat tissue into the portal vein of obese subjects, thus rendering visceral fat accumulation particularly hazardous for the development of hepatic insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. In the present study, we used a fat transplantation paradigm to (artificially) increase intra-abdominal fat mass to test the hypothesis that venous drainage of fat tissue determines its impact on glucose homeostasis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Epididymal fat pads of C57Bl6/J donor mice were transplanted into littermates, either to the parietal peritoneum (caval/systemic venous drainage) or, by using a novel approach, to the mesenterium, which confers portal venous drainage. RESULTS Only mice receiving the portal drained fat transplant developed impaired glucose tolerance and hepatic insulin resistance. mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines was increased in both portally and systemically transplanted fat pads. However, portal vein (but not systemic) plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-6 were elevated only in mice receiving a portal fat transplant. Intriguingly, mice receiving portal drained transplants from IL-6 knockout mice showed normal glucose tolerance. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that the metabolic fate of intra-abdominal fat tissue transplantation is determined by the delivery of inflammatory cytokines to the liver specifically via the portal system, providing direct evidence in support of the portal hypothesis

HIV-1 envelope vaccine production with improved yields and glycosylation profile through mannose supplementation

A long-standing goal of the HIV field has been to develop a vaccine; however, there has been limited success in this pursuit, to date. The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) is the only HIV viral protein known to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) and as such Env is the only candidate molecule for vaccine design. Recent advances have been made for stable expression of this recombinant protein in its closed, pre-fusion native viral surface conformation, with the current work focusing on the BG505-DS-SOSIP.664 construct developed at the NIH. The HIV-1 Env is a trimeric construct containing approximately 90 N-linked glycans accounting for over 50% of the protein mass. This glycan profile is an essential determinant for viral infection, with Env having a predominantly oligomannose glycan composition. Specific glycans are utilized for the binding epitopes of several bNAbs, indicating the importance of the glycosylation profile in a potential vaccine candidate. Utilizing DoE principles, a media supplement screen was carried out in shake flasks and ambr®15 micro bioreactors to investigate magnesium and manganese cations, monosaccharides, and higher nutrient supplementation on the Env glycosylation profile. These screens identified that supplementation with mannose could significantly improve the quantity and quality of the recombinant protein, but other nutrient feeds and hexose sugars, such as glucose or fructose, did not provide a similar benefit. Glycan profile analysis confirmed that the benefit of mannose can be attributed to the shift in the glycan profile to increased oligomannose species. Additional studies are planned to optimize the mannose and other monosaccharide supplementations with the ultimate goal to incorporate the results into a GMP manufacturing process. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

HIV provider and patient perspectives on the Development of a Health Department “Data to Care” Program: a qualitative study

Abstract Background U.S. health departments have not historically used HIV surveillance data for disease control interventions with individuals, but advances in HIV treatment and surveillance are changing public health practice. Many U.S. health departments are in the early stages of implementing “Data to Care” programs to assists persons living with HIV (PLWH) with engaging in care, based on information collected for HIV surveillance. Stakeholder engagement is a critical first step for development of these programs. In Seattle-King County, Washington, the health department conducted interviews with HIV medical care providers and PLWH to inform its Data to Care program. This paper describes the key themes of these interviews and traces the evolution of the resulting program. Methods Disease intervention specialists conducted individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 PLWH randomly selected from HIV surveillance who had HIV RNA levels >10,000 copies/mL in 2009–2010. A physician investigator conducted key informant interviews with 15 HIV medical care providers. Investigators analyzed de-identified interview transcripts, developed a codebook of themes, independently coded the interviews, and identified codes used most frequently as well as illustrative quotes for these key themes. We also trace the evolution of the program from 2010 to 2015. Results PLWH generally accepted the idea of the health department helping PLWH engage in care, and described how hearing about the treatment experiences of HIV seropositive peers would assist them with engagement in care. Although many physicians were supportive of the Data to Care concept, others expressed concern about potential health department intrusion on patient privacy and the patient-physician relationship. Providers emphasized the need for the health department to coordinate with existing efforts to improve patient engagement. As a result of the interviews, the Data to Care program in Seattle-King County was designed to incorporate an HIV-positive peer component and to ensure coordination with HIV care providers in the process of relinking patients to care. Conclusions Health departments can build support for Data to Care efforts by gathering input of key stakeholders, such as HIV medical and social service providers, and coordinating with clinic-based efforts to re-engage patients in care