Intrigue and potential of space exploration

A brief history of astronomy is presented. A chronology of events in the space program is summarized. The possibilities of interplanetary exploration are postulated. The accomplishments of astronomy in pointing the way to manned spaceflight and improved understanding of the solar system are examined

Identifying Subunit Organization and Function of the Nuclear RNA Exosome Machinery

IDENTIFYING SUBUNIT ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTION OF THE NUCLEAR RNA EXOSOME MACHINERY Jillian Strother Losh, A.S., B.S. The eukaryotic RNA exosome processes and degrades many classes of RNA. It is present in the nucleus and the cytoplasm, highly evolutionarily conserved, and essential for viability. Since the RNA exosome is such a significant component of the RNA degradation machinery, it is unsurprising that even single point mutations in a few of its subunits have been linked to human disease. For example, at least eight point mutations in a single subunit of the RNA exosome have been linked to pontocerebellar hypoplasia subtype 1b (PCH1b). My work has included the development of a laboratory model system to assess the specific effects of these mutations on the structure and function of the RNA exosome. My collaborators and I have employed the common model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae for this work since both the RNA exosome and other components of RNA degradation machinery are conserved throughout eukaryotes. Our research has shown that at least one PCH1b-associated mutation negatively affects the stability of the RNA exosome, although it remains functional. The effect of this mutation is conserved between yeast and mouse cells. The RNA exosome requires various cofactors in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm for substrate delivery. The other half of my work focuses on a nuclear cofactor of the RNA exosome, the TRAMP complex. This complex is comprised of an RNA helicase and a poly(A) polymerase, as well as an RNA-binding subunit. However, it is currently unclear how the TRAMP complex is specifically assembled and moreover, if it is essential for life. The poly(A) polymerase subunit consists of a catalytic domain, as well as disordered regions that are required for protein interactions. My work has shown that the catalytic core of the TRAMP complex is necessary and sufficient for its essential functions, although a specific interaction between the two enzymatic subunits is required for snoRNA biogenesis and possibly other cellular functions. These and future studies will help define the role of the TRAMP complex in the RNA degradation process and determine its importance for cellular viability

What Can the Digital Humanities Learn from Feminist Game Studies?

When game studies became an area for scholarly inquiry in the academy, feminist game studies soon followed. The first generation of feminist theory in game studies built on the work of Sherry Turkle, Brenda Laurel, and Janet Murray, although some might argue that the legacy of challenging gender norms in game studies goes back even earlier. Now feminist game scholars organize international conferences, edit journals and scholarly collections, and shape trends in the profession, much as their counterparts in the digital humanities attempt to do, but critics in feminist game studies have been able to take advantage of what is seen as a relatively long trajectory of feminist theoretical inquiry and field development. Articulating a need for a feminist corrective in the digital humanities has come at a much slower pace, perhaps because the instrumentalism of a “tool” seems much less blatantly anti-feminist than the instrumentalism of a gun. Furthermore, calls to action from more radicalized forms of feminist approaches to science and technology studies have been noticeably absent in the literature around digital information retrieval in the humanities. This issue of DHQ indicates that a sea change may finally be taking place

Wear and Care Feminisms at a Long Maker Table

Although there is a deep history of feminist engagement with technology, the FemTechNet initiative (a feminist collective of which we are both a part) argues that such history is often hidden and that feminist thinkers are frequently siloed. At the same time, initiatives to promote critical making, acts of “shared construction” in which makers work to understand both the technologies and their social environments, often exclude women and girls from hacker/makerspaces that require both explicit permissions and access to implicit reserves of tacit knowledge. Even attempts to provide superficial hospitality can inflict microagressions on those who feel excluded from the sites of technology. When these bastions for tinkering under the hood promote “pinkification” with hyper-feminized projects and materials empha - sizing servility, consumerism, or beauty culture, the results are often counterproductive. Take, for example, Google’s recent “Made with Code” effort, which emphasized accessories and selfies as projects appropriate for girls. Even the otherwise admirable “Girls Who Code” site tends to rely on the default design schemes of stereotypical gender typing, including a curling cursive script for section heads, a color palette dominated by a rose-pink, and the iconography of sisterhood and empowerment in the graphics and scrolling images.https://scholarworks.wm.edu/asbookchapters/1004/thumbnail.jp

Rhetoric and Digital Media

Critics of computational media can often be seen as being allied with one of two genealogies, that of Marshall McLuhan or that of Friedrich Kittler. McLuhan famously declared that the medium is the message (1964: 7) and expanded the range of cultural messages worth celebrating to include media that might seem to resist interpretation, such as lighting and clothing. McLuhan also distinguished between hot media, such as film, which supposedly provide an audience experience of deep immersion through sequential, linear, and logical arrangements, and cool media, such as comics, which require perception of abstract patterning and a simultaneous decoding of all parts. Like Vannevar Bush, who viewed the computer largely as a storage and retrieval device, McLuhan saw the computer as a research and communication instrument 1995: 295) and compared it to print genres like the encyclopedia or print storage systems like the library.https://scholarworks.wm.edu/asbookchapters/1005/thumbnail.jp

The State Department of Education\u27s Role in Creating Safe Schools

The authority for public education in the United States does not stem from the Constitution, but rather is a reserved power remaining with the states. It originates from the Tenth Amendment, which reserves to the states those powers neither expressly given the national government nor denied to the state governments. However, most states have not exercised their authority for public education directly until recent decades. Education is a state function that is largely locally administered (AIkin, Linden, Noel, & Ray, 1992). Each state exercises it education function completely or in part through a state department of education that has varying degrees of responsibility. The state educational authority gains its powers and responsibilities specifically from the state\u27s constitution and statutes (Deighton, 1971). Violence prevention activities vary from state to state. Since the study described in this chapter was conducted at the beginning of the first school year (1995-1996) in which federal funds were available for violence prevention efforts under the new regulations of P.L. 103-382, respondents typically first identified issues reflecting the funding of programs (i.e., allocation formula, eligibility, criteria for selection). The individuals interviewed identified areas in which they were receiving questions from school districts; state department staffs needed expertise about funding, program options, and promising practices. State departments also provide a conduit or connection to information not easily available at the local district level. Often this information is shared with districts via conferences/workshops, curriculum materials, on-site visits, phone assistance, and networks of expertise. Local districts develop or adopt programs to serve students. These programs arc, or can be, tailored to meet the unique needs of students in each school building. Assistance in learning about violence prevention programs and resources is sought through a variety of sources, depending on the structure of the state department. From our survey, it is apparent that state departments are an important source for connecting local school district staff with resources