Editorial

‘Welcome to Columbus College. Is this all your gear?’ ‘It’s all I was allowed without paying excess.’ Victoria arrives at the University of Space, Jupiter Moon ‘You're right, Johnny. You know, there are a lot of other kids who feel just the same way you do. They're confused and afraid, but they don't have to be. The problem isn't that other kids don't like you, it's that they don't understand you, but we do. You're special. You're a latent telepath about to come into full bloom.’ ‘My Johnny, a telepath?’ ‘Probably, but to be sure, take him down to the Psi‐Corps Testing Centre first thing tomorrow.’ ‘How do I find them?’ ‘We're everywhere, for your convenience.’ Psi Corps Advertisement, Babylon 5 Victoria was joining the Ilea ‐ a science station in geostationary orbit above a human colony on Callisto, the outermost of the Galilean moons of Jupiter. Jupiter Moon, which aired in the 1990s, followed the lives of the crew of the space station and the students and staff of the Columbus College of the University of Space. As a drama serial, it combined elaborate science with the mundanity of baggage allowances and spaced‐up new‐romantic fashion. At around the same time, the visually and conceptually much more sophisticated Babylon 5 took us further into the future in a five‐mile‐long Babylon 5 space station, a centre for trade and diplomacy between colonies in the Earth Alliance and beyond, with the Psi Corps responsible for the wellbeing and also the control of telepathic individuals by whom those without extraordinary psychic powers are identified as ‘mundanes’. The same term was used recently in a study, publicized in Times Higher Education, of the benefits of technology identified by students, citing one of the co‐authors of the study as saying that there was ‘considerable evidence’ that technology was aiding learning but that it was not always ‘the cutting edge or headline use of technologies but often the more prosaic or mundane’ uses associated with the organization and management of study time and place (Parr 2015). The findings echo those of Francis (2010), whose ethnographic study also finds that students’ technology use focuses on forming and maintaining context – physical as well as online. But Francis’s conclusions are far‐reaching. He describes the university as ‘decentred’ by this shift towards learner appropriation of technology toolsets and collaborative networks to the shape and use of which they, and not we, are central. Nothing mundane about that, either for pedagogy or for institutional strategy. How did we not notice it happening

Thiol-reactive analogues of galanthamine, codeine and morphine as potential probes to interrogate allosteric binding within nAChRs

Alkaloids including galanthamine (1) and codeine (2) are reported to be positive allosteric modulators of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) but the binding sites responsible for this activity are not known with certainty. Analogues of galanthamine (1), codeine (2) and morphine (3) with reactivity towards cysteine thiols were synthesised including conjugated enone derivatives of the three alkaloids 4-6 and two chloro-alkane derivatives of codeine 7 and 8. The stability of the enones was deemed sufficient for use in buffered aqueous solutions and their reactivity towards thiols was assessed by determining the kinetics of reaction with a cysteine derivative. All three enone derivatives were of sufficient reactivity and stability to be used in covalent trapping, an extension of the substituted cysteine accessibility method (SCAM), to elucidate the allosteric binding sites of galanthamine and codeine at nAChRs

Conflicts of interest in translational research

Translational research requires a team approach to scientific inquiry and product development. Translational research teams consist of basic and clinical scientists who can be members of both academic and industrial communities. The conception, pre-clinical testing, and clinical evaluation of a diagnostic or therapeutic approach demands an intense interaction between investigators with diverse backgrounds. As the barriers between industry and academia are removed, issues of potential conflict of interest become more complex. Translational researchers must become aware of the situations which constitute conflict of interest and understand how such conflicts can impact their research programs. Finally, the translational research community must participate in the dialogue ongoing in the public and private sectors and help shape the rules that will govern conflicts that arise during the evolution of their research programs

Clues on syntenic relationship among some species of Oryzomyini and Akodontini Tribes (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae)

Sigmodontinae rodents represent one of the most diverse and complex components of the mammalian fauna of South America. Among them most species belongs to Oryzomyini and Akodontini tribes. The highly specific diversification observed in both tribes is characterized by diploid complements, which vary from 2n=10 to 86. Given this diversity, a consistent hypothesis about the origin and evolution of chromosomes depends on the correct establishment of synteny analyzed in a suitable phylogenetic framework. The chromosome painting technique has been particularly useful for identifying chromosomal synteny. In order to extend our knowledge of the homeological relationships between Akodontini and Oryzomyini species, we analyzed the species Akodon montensis (2n=24) and Thaptomys nigrita (2n=52) both from the tribe Akodontini, with chromosome probes of Hylaeamys megacephalus (2n=54) of the tribe Oryzomyini. The results indicate that at least 12 of the 26 autosomes of H. megacephalus show conserved synteny in A. montensis and 14 in T. nigrita. The karyotype of Akodon montensis, as well as some species of the Akodon cursor species group, results from many chromosomal fusions and therefore the syntenic associations observed probably represent synapomorphies. Our finding of a set of such associations revealed by H. megacephalus chromosome probes (6/21; 3/25; 11/16/17; and, 14/19) provides phylogenetic information for both tribes. An extension of these observations to other members of Akodontini and Oryzomyini tribes should improve our knowledge about chromosome evolution in both these groups.Fil: Suarez, Pablo. Universidad Federal de Pará; BrasilFil: Nagamachi, Cleusa Yoshiko. Universidad Federal de Pará; BrasilFil: Lanzone, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales. Departamento de Genética. Laboratorio de Genética Evolutiva y Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Malleret, Matias Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales. Departamento de Genética. Laboratorio de Genética Evolutiva y Molecular; ArgentinaFil: O'Brien, Patricia Caroline Mary. University of Cambridge; Reino UnidoFil: Ferguson Smith, Malcolm Andrew. University of Cambridge; Reino UnidoFil: Pieczarka, Julio Cesar. Universidad Federal de Pará; Brasi

Nuclear transcriptional changes in hypothalamus of Pomc enhancer knockout mice after excessive alcohol drinking

Persistent alterations of proopiomelanocortin (Pomc) and mu‐opioid receptor (Oprm1) activity and stress responses after alcohol are critically involved in vulnerability to alcohol dependency. Gene transcriptional regulation altered by alcohol may play important roles. Mice with genome‐wide deletion of neuronal Pomc enhancer1 (nPE1−/−), had hypothalamic‐specific partial reductions of beta‐endorphin and displayed lower alcohol consumption, compared to wildtype littermates (nPE1+/+). We used RNA‐Seq to measure steady‐state nuclear mRNA transcripts of opioid and stress genes in hypothalamus of nPE1+/+ and nPE1−/− mice after 1‐day acute withdrawal from chronic excessive alcohol drinking or after water. nPE1−/− had lower basal Pomc and Pdyn (prodynorphin) levels compared to nPE1+/+, coupled with increased basal Oprm1 and Oprk1 (kappa‐opioid receptor) levels, and low alcohol drinking increased Pomc and Pdyn to the basal levels of nPE1+/+ in the water group, without significant effects on Oprm1 and Oprk1. In nPE1+/+, excessive alcohol intake increased Pomc and Oprm1, with no effect on Pdyn or Oprk1. For stress genes, nPE1−/− had lowered basal Oxt (oxytocin) and Avp (arginine vasopressin) that were restored by low alcohol intake to basal levels of nPE1+/+. In nPE1+/+, excessive alcohol intake decreased Oxt and Avpi1 (AVP‐induced protein1). Functionally examining the effect of pharmacological blockade of mu‐opioid receptor, we found that naltrexone reduced excessive alcohol intake in nPE1+/+, but not nPE1−/−. Our results provide evidence relevant to the transcriptional profiling of the critical genes in mouse hypothalamus: enhanced opioid and reduced stress gene transcripts after acute withdrawal from excessive alcohol may contribute to altered reward and stress responses.Transcriptional profiling of the critical genes in mouse hypothalamus: enhanced opioid and reduced stress gene transcripts after acute withdrawal from excessive alcohol may contribute to altered reward and stress responses.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152013/1/gbb12600.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152013/2/gbb12600_am.pd

The Ursinus Weekly, October 15, 1928

Campus activities to be reorganized under three major groups • Patsy to be given on dad\u27s day, November 10 • Poverty day a feature for old timers\u27 Saturday • Hoover is Ursinus choice in Weekly\u27s straw vote • Frosh hold Muhlenberg yearlings to 0-0 score • Grizzlies claw F. & M. 12-0 • The college announces two chapel speakers • Celebrate bears\u27 victory at first council dance • Vaudeville & parade were indexes of student pep • Woman\u27s Club to sponsor novel dorm fund plan • Senior girls to be guests at luncheon Saturday • Alumni Athletic Club meets Saturday • Card party and dance • Lost Lake hike • MSGA revised constitution • High school puts up stiff fight in hockey game • Y.M.C.A. holds reorganization smoker • Organ concert next Sunday • Frosh to play Keystone Academyhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/2160/thumbnail.jp