A Resource Guide for Historic Sundown Town Resolutions, Zoning Code Updates, and General Plan Policies

James W. Loewen’s book Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism, released in 2005, calls out cities across the United States for their historically discriminatory practices of excluding Black and other non-white individuals from living within city borders, either through formal exclusionary policies or informal methods. Cities often enforced this exclusionary practice through violence and intimidation, leading to “all-white” communities throughout the United States. The belief was that these communities should be “sundown” or “sunset” towns, where people of color were not allowed after dark. Loewen’s book and the following movement awakened individuals, companies, and entire cities to take action to acknowledge history and rewrite the future. Sundown Towns have a long and painful history in the United States, dating back to the late 19th century and persisting well into the 20th century. Cities used these practices to enforce racial segregation and maintain white supremacy. Many cities and communities are actively working to confront and address their pasts and promote racial equity in their present and future. Today, the term Sundown Town describes any community with a history of racial exclusion and discrimination of minority groups especially after sunset. Loewen defined Sundown Towns as an organized jurisdiction that intentionally became “all white” by keeping African Americans or other groups from living there for decades (Loewen, 2018, p. 4). Sundown Towns in California, like in other states, have a long and painful history of racial exclusion and discrimination. California has a diverse population but a history of discriminatory practices against certain groups, including African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino Americans. In addition, many towns and cities in California had discriminatory practices that kept non-white individuals from living within their borders, either through formal exclusionary policies or informal rules enforced by local police power. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, many towns in California had discriminatory housing covenants that restricted who could own or rent property within their borders. Additionally, many towns had discriminatory zoning laws that restricted the building of homes for non-white individuals. There are 111 confirmed Sundown Towns in California and at least 10,000 across the United States. Many community organizations across the United States have been working hard at removing racist policies within their cities. However, redlining, racial covenants, and exclusionary zoning are discussed daily in the planning world. City officials often unwritten Sundown Town policies, but the history and trauma people experienced are real. Cities are places people call home, where people should feel safe and where people can thrive. Unfortunately, the racially exclusionary past of many cities hurts people and hinders their ability to truly call cities home, thrive, and feel safe in their cities. Taking the “acknowledge, amend, and atone approach,” cities can rewrite a better future for their city by admitting the wrongs done in their city and apologizing for what happened. However, impending policies and programs ensure that history never rewrites itself. Out of the 111 Sundown Towns identified in California, only three have worked to confront and address their pasts and promote racial equity in their present and future. Communities can acknowledge Sundown Towns by adopting Sundown Town resolutions, including diverse perspectives in the city planning and development process, and investing in programs and initiatives that promote equity and inclusion. Zero Californian cities have updated their zoning code, and zero have added policies in their general plan regarding Sundown Towns. There is more work to be done. When developing resolutions, zoning code updates, and general plan policies, planners must research standards and understand what other jurisdictions are doing. The purpose of a resource guide is to provide planners with this information all in one place. This resource guide will accomplish six main goals: 1 - Provide historical research on Sundown Towns 2 - Provide a standard procedure for confirming Sundown Towns 3 - Provide jurisdictional comparisons on resolutions, zoning code updates, and general plan updates surrounding Sundown Towns 4- Provide draft resolution “Whereas” clauses with standard language to be used in Sundown Town resolutions across the United States 5 - Discuss typical zoning code updates that need to be made to aid in amending historically racist policies 6 - Provide sample General Plan policies that can be adapted to atone Sundown Towns further This resource guide will allow cities to acknowledge themselves as Sundown Town through the development of a resolution, amend exclusionary policies through zoning code updates, and atone for their past by updating their general plan goals and programs

Assembly-dependent translation of subunits 6 (Atp6) and 9 (Atp9) of ATP synthase in yeast mitochondria

The yeast mitochondrial ATP synthase is an assembly of 28 subunits of 17 types of which 3 (subunits 6, 8, and 9) are encoded by mitochondrial genes, while the 14 others have a nuclear genetic origin. Within the membrane domain (FO) of this enzyme, the subunit 6 and a ring of 10 identical subunits 9 transport protons across the mitochondrial inner membrane coupled to ATP synthesis in the extra-membrane structure (F1) of ATP synthase. As a result of their dual genetic origin, the ATP synthase subunits are synthesized in the cytosol and inside the mitochondrion. How they are produced in the proper stoichiometry from two different cellular compartments is still poorly understood. The experiments herein reported show that the rate of translation of the subunits 9 and 6 is enhanced in strains with mutations leading to specific defects in the assembly of these proteins. These translation modifications involve assembly intermediates interacting with subunits 6 and 9 within the final enzyme and cis-regulatory sequences that control gene expression in the organelle. In addition to enabling a balanced output of the ATP synthase subunits, these assembly-dependent feedback loops are presumably important to limit the accumulation of harmful assembly intermediates that have the potential to dissipate the mitochondrial membrane electrical potential and the main source of chemical energy of the cell

Case report: Complete pathologic response with first-line immunotherapy combination in a young adult with massive liver dissemination of mismatch repair–deficient metastatic colorectal cancer: Immunological and molecular profiling

The current level of evidence for immunotherapy in previously untreated microsatellite unstable metastatic colorectal cancer is based on recent pieces of evidence of few studies that demonstrated durable response and clinical benefit, in terms of objective response rate, disease control rate, and progression-free survival in this subgroup of patients. On the basis of combinatorial immunotherapy with nivolumab plus ipilimumab, we report the exceptional case of a complete pathological response in a 21-year-old woman presenting a clinically aggressive stage IV colorectal cancer with massive nodal and liver involvement. Extensive molecular analyses based on whole genome next-generation DNA sequencing, RNA sequencing, fluorescent multiplex immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry provided a detailed description of tumoral and immunological characteristics of this noteworthy clinical case

The Gaia mission

Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by European industry. The involvement of the scientific community focusses on data processing for which the international Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) was selected in 2007. Gaia was launched on 19 December 2013 and arrived at its operating point, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, a few weeks later. The commissioning of the spacecraft and payload was completed on 19 July 2014. The nominal five-year mission started with four weeks of special, ecliptic-pole scanning and subsequently transferred into full-sky scanning mode. We recall the scientific goals of Gaia and give a description of the as-built spacecraft that is currently (mid-2016) being operated to achieve these goals. We pay special attention to the payload module, the performance of which is closely related to the scientific performance of the mission. We provide a summary of the commissioning activities and findings, followed by a description of the routine operational mode. We summarise scientific performance estimates on the basis of in-orbit operations. Several intermediate Gaia data releases are planned and the data can be retrieved from the Gaia Archive, which is available through the Gaia home page. http://www.cosmos.esa.int/gai

SARS-CoV-2 Infection and the Male Reproductive System: A Brief Review

Many studies have suggested that SARS-CoV-2, directly or indirectly, can affect the male reproductive system, although the underlined mechanisms have not been completely elucidated yet. The purpose of this review is to provide a summary of the current data concerning the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the male urogenital tract, with a particular emphasis on the testes and male fertility. The main data regarding the morphological alterations in the testes emerged from autoptic studies that revealed interstitial congestion, micro thrombosis, reduction of Sertoli, Leydig, and germinal cells, infiltrated immune cells, and atrophic seminiferous tubules consistent with orchitis. Furthermore, men with severe infection exhibit sperm parameter alterations, together with abnormalities of the hypothalamic–pituitary–testis axis, strongly suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 could increase the risk of male infertility. However, despite the inadequate number of longitudinal studies, spermatogenesis and sex hormone imbalance seem to improve after infection resolution. The yet unresolved question is whether the virus acts in a direct or/and indirect manner, as discordant data related to its presence in the testis and semen have been reported. Regardless of the direct effect, it has been postulated that the cytokine storm and the related local and systemic inflammation could strongly contribute to the onset of testis dysfunction, leading to male infertility. Therefore, multicentric and longitudinal studies involving a large number of patients are needed to understand the real impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on male reproduction

Defining the impact on yeast ATP synthase of two pathogenic human mitochondrial DNA mutations, T9185C and T9191C

Mutations in the human mitochondrial ATP6 gene encoding ATP synthase subunit a/6 (referred to as Atp6p in yeast) are at the base of neurodegenerative disorders like Neurogenic Ataxia and Retinitis Pigmentosa (NARP), Leigh syndrome (LS), CharcoteMarieeTooth (CMT), and ataxia telangiectasia. In previous studies, using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model we were able to better define how several of these mutations impact the ATP synthase. Here we report the construction of yeast models of two other ATP6 pathogenic mutations, T9185C and T9191C. The first one was reported as conferring a mild, sometimes reversible, CMT clinical phenotype; the second one has been described in a patient presenting with severe LS. We found that an equivalent of the T9185C mutation partially impaired the functioning of yeast ATP synthase, with only a 30% deficit in mitochondrial ATP production. An equivalent of the mutation T9191C had much more severe effects, with a nearly complete block in yeast Atp6p assembly and an >95% drop in the rate of ATP synthesis. These findings provide a molecular basis for the relative severities of the diseases induced by T9185C and T9191C