Hybrid identity and Arab/American feminism in Diana Abu-Jaber\u27s Arabian Jazz

In her novel Arabian Jazz, Diana Abu-Jaber attempts to explore the Arab American identity as something new; as an identity that exists related to, but ultimately separate from, the Arab and American identities from which it was originally created. This thesis discusses the emergence of the depiction of the Arab American female identity in the novel, examining how the characters explore issues of race, class, imperialism, and sex within both the Arab and the American cultures as those issues shape female identity. The thesis also presents a rhetorical analysis of the speeches that allow the characters a voice with respect to how identity is shaped and reshaped throughout the novel

Gynaecological cylindroma in association with CYLD gene mutation.

Cylindroma is a benign adnexal tumour that occurs as a solitary pink-red coloured nodule and is usually found on the scalp or neck. There have been few cases reported of these lesions being found on the genitalia. They can be found in single or in multiple form, with the latter usually inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. CYLD lysine 63 deubiquitinase (CYLD) cutaneous syndrome, also known as Brooke-Spiegler syndrome, is a genetic condition characterized by the growth of multiple benign adnexal skin tumours. The most common tumours are cylindromas, spiradenomas and trichoepitheliomas. The cause of this syndrome can be attributed to mutations in the CYLD tumour suppressor gene. If both copies of this gene are mutated, the cell undergoes uncontrolled cell proliferation and division resulting in the formation of a tumour. Here, we present an unusual case of a female patient presenting with a large cylindroma over the mons pubis

CD36 Mediates the Innate Host Response to β-Amyloid

Accumulation of inflammatory microglia in Alzheimer's senile plaques is a hallmark of the innate response to β-amyloid fibrils and can initiate and propagate neurodegeneration characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The molecular mechanism whereby fibrillar β-amyloid activates the inflammatory response has not been elucidated. CD36, a class B scavenger receptor, is expressed on microglia in normal and AD brains and binds to β-amyloid fibrils in vitro. We report here that microglia and macrophages, isolated from CD36 null mice, had marked reductions in fibrillar β-amyloid–induced secretion of cytokines, chemokines, and reactive oxygen species. Intraperitoneal and stereotaxic intracerebral injection of fibrillar β-amyloid in CD36 null mice induced significantly less macrophage and microglial recruitment into the peritoneum and brain, respectively, than in wild-type mice. Our data reveal that CD36, a major pattern recognition receptor, mediates microglial and macrophage response to β-amyloid, and imply that CD36 plays a key role in the proinflammatory events associated with AD

A Comprehensive Examination of the Immediate Recovery of Children Following Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

Objectives Using multiple well-validated measures and a large sample size, the goal of this paper was to describe the immediate clinical and behavioral recovery of children following tonsillectomy with or without an adenoidectomy (T&A) during the first two weeks following surgery. Study design Observational, longitudinal study. Setting Four major pediatric hospitals in the U.S. consisting of Children\u27s Hospital of Orange County, Children\u27s Hospital of Los Angeles, Lucile Packard Children\u27s Hospital, and Children\u27s Hospital Colorado. Subjects and Methods: Participants included 827 patients between 2 and 15 years of age who underwent tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy surgery. Baseline and demographic information were gathered prior to surgery, and measures of clinical, behavioral, and physical recovery were recorded immediately following and up through two weeks after surgery. Results Pain following T&A was clinically significant through the first post-operative week and nearly resolved by the end of the second week. Negative behavioral changes were highly prevalent after surgery (75.6% of children at Day 0) through the first week (63.9% at Week 1), and over 20% of children continued to evidence new onset negative behavioral changes at two weeks post-operatively. Children were rated as experiencing significant functional impairment in the immediate three days following surgery and most children returned to baseline functioning by the end of the second week. Conclusions Results of this study suggest that children show immediate impairment in functioning and experience clinically significant pain throughout the first week following T&A, and new onset maladaptive behavioral changes persisting even up to the two-week assessment period

Health and wellbeing amongst older people research in Northamptonshire

The Ageing Research Centre of the University of Northampton (2014-current), in collaboration with the East Midlands Research into Ageing Network (EMRAN) is pleased to compile this brochure on research activity associated with older people across the county of Northamptonshire. This provides a comprehensive overview of activity that is relevant and of value to practice, identifying research outcomes that have real significance to age-related health and wellbeing. The brochure provides a summary of research activity over the last five years from academic, clinical and professional colleagues and demonstrates cross sector networks of collaboration around the common agenda of aging. Such collaboration will enhance the capacity of research understanding across the county and provide information and support for the needs of older people, their families and carers. The translation of research outcomes into practice is essential if we are to promote wellness, independence and healthy aging within the county and beyond and I would like to thank all contributors for their commitment and hard work in the production of this brochure

Biological Roles of the Podospora anserina Mitochondrial Lon Protease and the Importance of Its N-Domain

Mitochondria have their own ATP-dependent proteases that maintain the functional state of the organelle. All multicellular eukaryotes, including filamentous fungi, possess the same set of mitochondrial proteases, unlike in unicellular yeasts, where ClpXP, one of the two matricial proteases, is absent. Despite the presence of ClpXP in the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina, deletion of the gene encoding the other matricial protease, PaLon1, leads to lethality at high and low temperatures, indicating that PaLON1 plays a main role in protein quality control. Under normal physiological conditions, the PaLon1 deletion is viable but decreases life span. PaLon1 deletion also leads to defects in two steps during development, ascospore germination and sexual reproduction, which suggests that PaLON1 ensures important regulatory functions during fungal development. Mitochondrial Lon proteases are composed of a central ATPase domain flanked by a large non-catalytic N-domain and a C-terminal protease domain. We found that three mutations in the N-domain of PaLON1 affected fungal life cycle, PaLON1 protein expression and mitochondrial proteolytic activity, which reveals the functional importance of the N-domain of the mitochondrial Lon protease. All PaLon1 mutations affected the C-terminal part of the N-domain. Considering that the C-terminal part is predicted to have an α helical arrangement in which the number, length and position of the helices are conserved with the solved structure of its bacterial homologs, we propose that this all-helical structure participates in Lon substrate interaction

Ligation of Macrophage Fcγ Receptors Recapitulates the Gene Expression Pattern of Vulnerable Human Carotid Plaques

Stroke is a leading cause of death in the United States. As ∼60% of strokes result from carotid plaque rupture, elucidating the mechanisms that underlie vulnerability is critical for therapeutic intervention. We tested the hypothesis that stable and vulnerable human plaques differentially express genes associated with matrix degradation. Examination established that femoral, and the distal region of carotid, plaques were histologically stable while the proximal carotid plaque regions were vulnerable. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to compare expression of 22 genes among these tissues. Distal carotid and femoral gene expression was not significantly different, permitting the distal carotid segments to be used as a paired control for their corresponding proximal regions. Analysis of the paired plaques revealed differences in 16 genes that impact plaque stability: matrix metalloproteinases (MMP, higher in vulnerable), MMP modulators (inhibitors: lower, activators: higher in vulnerable), activating Fc receptors (FcγR, higher in vulnerable) and FcγR signaling molecules (higher in vulnerable). Surprisingly, the relative expression of smooth muscle cell and macrophage markers in the three plaque types was not significantly different, suggesting that macrophage distribution and/or activation state correlates with (in)stability. Immunohistochemistry revealed that macrophages and smooth muscle cells localize to distinct and non-overlapping regions in all plaques. MMP protein localized to macrophage-rich regions. In vitro, treatment of macrophages with immune complexes, but not oxidized low density lipoprotein, C-reactive protein, or TNF-α, induced a gene expression profile similar to that of the vulnerable plaques. That ligation of FcγR recapitulates the pattern of gene expression in vulnerable plaques suggests that the FcγR → macrophage activation pathway may play a greater role in human plaque vulnerability than previously appreciated

Genetically Programmed Differences in Epidermal Host Defense between Psoriasis and Atopic Dermatitis Patients

In the past decades, chronic inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, asthma, Crohn’s disease and celiac disease were generally regarded as immune-mediated conditions involving activated T-cells and proinflammatory cytokines produced by these cells. This paradigm has recently been challenged by the finding that mutations and polymorphisms in epithelium-expressed genes involved in physical barrier function or innate immunity, are risk factors of these conditions. We used a functional genomics approach to analyze cultured keratinocytes from patients with psoriasis or atopic dermatitis and healthy controls. First passage primary cells derived from non-lesional skin were stimulated with pro-inflammatory cytokines, and expression of a panel of 55 genes associated with epidermal differentiation and cutaneous inflammation was measured by quantitative PCR. A subset of these genes was analyzed at the protein level. Using cluster analysis and multivariate analysis of variance we identified groups of genes that were differentially expressed, and could, depending on the stimulus, provide a disease-specific gene expression signature. We found particularly large differences in expression levels of innate immunity genes between keratinocytes from psoriasis patients and atopic dermatitis patients. Our findings indicate that cell-autonomous differences exist between cultured keratinocytes of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients, which we interpret to be genetically determined. We hypothesize that polymorphisms of innate immunity genes both with signaling and effector functions are coadapted, each with balancing advantages and disadvantages. In the case of psoriasis, high expression levels of antimicrobial proteins genes putatively confer increased protection against microbial infection, but the biological cost could be a beneficial system gone awry, leading to overt inflammatory disease