The dead man's son.

The Dead Man's Son is a short novel about Abel Saracen, a twenty-something male who attends the funeral of his father whom he has never met. Strange events begin to move the story after Abel inherits a mysterious antique revolver. The novel draws on many genre elements from the Western to Supernatural fantasy and is set in the Oklahoma panhandle over the course of one day, the day of Abel's absent father's funeral. Though the plot moves quickly, the focus of the novel is on character and the father-son dynamic is the strongest element in the story. It is this element that readers will relate to and sympathize with the protagonist even despite his faults.--Abstract

Solving the mystery of human sleep schedules one mutation at a time.

Sleep behavior remains one of the most enigmatic areas of life. The unanswered questions range from "why do we sleep?" to "how we can improve sleep in today's society?" Identification of mutations responsible for altered circadian regulation of human sleep lead to unique opportunities for probing these territories. In this review, we summarize causative circadian mutations found from familial genetic studies to date. We also describe how these mutations mechanistically affect circadian function and lead to altered sleep behaviors, including shifted or shortening of sleep patterns. In addition, we discuss how the investigation of mutations can not only expand our understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating the circadian clock and sleep duration, but also bridge the pathways between clock/sleep and other human physiological conditions and ailments such as metabolic regulation and migraine headaches

DEMONSTRATION: MONSTROUS OPERATIONS IN SCULPTURAL PRODUCTION AND DISPLAY

Sculpture is an equivocal medium, at once occupying the abstract space of representation and the real space of the viewer. This dual nature often produces an uncanny or monstrous experience for the viewer who feels drawn into the space of the work, and who is met by its disruptive, but evasive presence. This monstrous condition is revealed in modem and contemporary sculptural practices that have sought to complicate the dynamics of the relationship that sculpture has had with the furniture used in its production and display. Manipulations of the pedestal and the workbench, in various degrees of integration with the work, demonstrate (a word connected to revealing and monstrosity) this monstrous condition by providing both a transition and a barrier at the borders of meaning. In fulfillment of the Project-Based Stream of the PhD in Art and Visual Culture, the material in this thesis consists of three parts. The first part is a written thesis that utilizes an image from the 1931 film version of Frankenstein as a model for looking at sculptural practices and the furniture of its production and display. The second is a record of my studio research, which is based in sculpture and is directly engaged in the questions described here. Workbench forms used to produce sculptural artifacts are then used as ‘pedestals’ in the context of an exhibition. This work culminates in an exhibition at the McIntosh Gallery, in London Ontario. The third part documents Parker Branch, an ongoing collaborative curatorial project of which I am a part. The project consists of a small museum space that mounts a rotating exhibition program of found objects, with an emphasis on lateral diversions in meaning engendered by manipulations of traditional taxonomic systems. What is shared among these projects is an engagement with material artifacts and the mechanisms by which they are displayed. Each project explores the ways in which those mechanisms shape the production of meaning through various corruptions in linear development

The long and short of it: The role of telomeres in fetal origins of adult disease

Placental insufficiency, maternal malnutrition, and other causes of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) can significantly affect short-term growth and long-term health. Following IUGR, there is an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 Diabetes. The etiology of these diseases is beginning to be elucidated, and premature aging or cellular senescence through increased oxidative stress and DNA damage to telomeric ends may be initiators of these disease processes. This paper will explore the areas where telomere and telomerase biology can have significant effects on various tissues in the body in IUGR outcomes. © 2012 Stephanie E. Hallows et al

Securitisation and the Role of the State in Delivering UK Cyber Security in a New-Medieval Cyberspace

Both the 2010 and the 2015 UK National Security Strategies identified threats from cyberspace as being among the most significant ‘Tier One’ threats to UK national security. These threats have been constructed as a threat to the state, a threat to the country’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), a threat to future economic success and a threat to businesses and individual citizens. As a result, the response to this threat has historically been seen as being a shared responsibility with most potential victims of cyber-attack responsible for their own security and the UK state agencies operating as a source of advice and guidance to promote best practice in the private sector. A range of government departments, including the Cabinet Office, MI5 and GCHQ among others, have been responsible for the government’s own cyber security. However, despite a budget allocation of £860 million for the 2010 – 2015 period, progress on reducing the frequency and cost of cyber-attacks was limited and the 2010 strategy for dealing with cyber security was widely seen as having failed. This led to a new National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) in 2016 which indicated a significant change in approach, in particular with a more proactive role for the state through the formation of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and a £1.6 billion budget for cyber security between 2016 and 2021. However, cyber-attacks remain a significant issue for many organisations in both the public and private sector, and attacks such as the Wannacry ransomware/wiper attack, UK specific data breaches such as those witnessed in 2017 at Debenhams, Three, Wonga and ABTA, and breaches outside the UK that impacted UK citizens such as Equifax show that the frequency and impact of cyber security issues remain significant. The underlying cause of the insecurity of cyberspace is reflected in the metaphorical description of cyberspace as the wild-west or as an ungoverned space. This is a result of cyberspace features such as anonymity, problematic attribution and a transnational nature that can limit the effective reach of law enforcement agencies. When these features are combined with an increasing societal and economic dependence on information technology and mediated data, this increases the potential economic impact of disruption to these systems and enhances the value of the data for both legitimate and illegitimate purposes. This thesis argues that cyberspace is not ungoverned, and that it is more accurate to consider cyberspace to be a New Medieval environment with multiple overlapping authorities. In fact, cyberspace has always been far from ungoverned, it is just differently governed from a realspace Westphalian nation state system. The thesis also argues that cyberspace is currently experiencing a ‘Westphalian transformation’ with the UK state (among many others) engaged in a process designed to assert its authority and impose state primacy in cyberspace. This assertion of state authority is being driven by an identifiable process of securitisation in response to the constructed existential threat posed by unchecked cyberattacks by nation states and criminal enterprises. The Copenhagen School’s securitisation theory has been used to inform an original analysis of key speech acts by state securitising actors that has highlighted the key elements of the securitisation processes at work. This has clearly shown the development of the securitisation discourse, and the importance of referent objects and audience in asserting the state’s authority through the securitisation process. Original qualitative data collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with elite members of the cyber security community has provided insights to the key issues in cyber security that support the view that cyberspace has New Medieval characteristics. The interview data has also allowed for the construction of a view of the complexities of the cyberspace environment, the overlapping authorities of state and private sector organisations and some of the key issues that arise. These issues are identified as being characteristic of a particularly complex form of policy problem referred to as a ‘wicked problem’. An understanding of cyber security as a wicked problem may aid in the identification of future possible policy approaches for cyber security policy in the UK

Visible light photon counters (VLPCs) for high rate tracking medical imaging and particle astrophysics

The Carroll College Chapter of Engineers Without Borders USA is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people in developing communities worldwide through sustainable community development projects, and preparing future leaders who are well equipped to solve the world\u27s most pressing problems. Current student projects include strengthening a school building against earthquakes in a Mayan community in Guatemala, developing more productive farming at an orphanage in Mexico, improving the domestic water system at a home for the elderly in St. Lucia, and providing clean safe water for a small village in Uganda. Engineers Without Borders at Carroll Engineering at Carroll College Explore Majors At Carroll Collegehttps://scholars.carroll.edu/ewb_images_guatemala_2016/1070/thumbnail.jp

Casein kinase iδ mutations in familial migraine and advanced sleep phase.

Migraine is a common disabling disorder with a significant genetic component, characterized by severe headache and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and light sensitivity. We identified two families, each with a distinct missense mutation in the gene encoding casein kinase Iδ (CKIδ), in which the mutation cosegregated with both the presence of migraine and advanced sleep phase. The resulting alterations (T44A and H46R) occurred in the conserved catalytic domain of CKIδ, where they caused reduced enzyme activity. Mice engineered to carry the CKIδ-T44A allele were more sensitive to pain after treatment with the migraine trigger nitroglycerin. CKIδ-T44A mice also exhibited a reduced threshold for cortical spreading depression (believed to be the physiological analog of migraine aura) and greater arterial dilation during cortical spreading depression. Astrocytes from CKIδ-T44A mice showed increased spontaneous and evoked calcium signaling. These genetic, cellular, physiological, and behavioral analyses suggest that decreases in CKIδ activity can contribute to the pathogenesis of migraine