Bauhinia Rhapsody : the literary journal of Lingnan University 2018-2019

Editor\u27s Note The Lingnan Literary Journal itself, the book you have now in your hands, is a work of Lingnan University students. That which we write and leave behind is how we communicate with the future, and it is in this way that the students of Lingnan, here during the 2018-2019 academic year, will continue to have impact long after they have left the campus here in Tuen Mun, nestled against the foothills of Hong Kong’s mountains. The work you see here is that of my own students, from either of my two classes, Arts, Creative Writing & Journalism, taught in the Fall and Spring of my time here, and Journalism Principles & Social Media, taught only in the Spring. Save for Mary Garcia who designed the covers, the editorial team came from my Fall class. There is also the writing and visual efforts of students I have never met in person, but which spoke to all of us. Others I met along the way at numerous events on campus, engaging them in conversation and asking them to submit their work. The team also recruited, through passive means like posters, and through setting up tables on campus. Still other constributions came from Professor Ingham’s class, gifting us with interesting intertextual work based on songs and poems, a favorite method of his for inspiring his students’ creativity. Mike’s deep desire to engage with his students, in and out of the classroom, was also something that inspired me to always try to give more and reach out to students across the spectrum at Lingnan. I believe through my efforts and the efforts of so many others, the journal as you see it now represents a broad range of Lingnan’s diverse student body, locals and exchange students alike.https://commons.ln.edu.hk/eng_studentjournal/1003/thumbnail.jp

Communication Biophysics

Contains reports on six research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 PO1 NS13126)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS18682)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS20322)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS20269)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 T32NS 07047)Symbion, Inc.National Science Foundation (Grant BNS 83-19874)National Science Foundation (Grant BNS 83-19887)National Institutes of Health (Grant 6 RO1 NS 12846)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 RO1 NS 21322

Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018.

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field

Structural Repertoire of HIV-1-Neutralizing Antibodies Targeting the CD4 Supersite in 14 Donors

The site on the HIV-1 gp120 glycoprotein that binds the CD4 receptor is recognized by broadly reactive antibodies, several of which neutralize over 90% of HIV-1 strains. To understand how antibodies achieve such neutralization, we isolated CD4-binding-site (CD4bs) antibodies and analyzed 16 co-crystal structures –8 determined here– of CD4bs antibodies from 14 donors. The 16 antibodies segregated by recognition mode and developmental ontogeny into two types: CDR H3-dominated and VH-gene-restricted. Both could achieve greater than 80% neutralization breadth, and both could develop in the same donor. Although paratope chemistries differed, all 16 gp120-CD4bs antibody complexes showed geometric similarity, with antibody-neutralization breadth correlating with antibody-angle of approach relative to the most effective antibody of each type. The repertoire for effective recognition of the CD4 supersite thus comprises antibodies with distinct paratopes arrayed about two optimal geometric orientations, one achieved by CDR H3 ontogenies and the other achieved by VH-gene-restricted ontogenies

Meeting Popes, presidents and princesses : a cross-continental life of writing, glamour and adventure

In this talk, Michael gives advice to students and shows images from his travels across the globe, demonstrating how he has built a life of adventure that has taken him to 100 countries and all seven continents. Speaker Michael T. Luongo is the Writer-In-Residence for the English Department of Lingnan University, teaching the course Arts, Creative Writing and Journalism and advising the student literary journal. He is an American freelance journalist and photographer, best known for travel journalism, who has visited 100 countries and all seven continents whose publication credits include 16 books, primarily on travel and a novel, along with articles for the New York Times, CNN, Bloomberg News, National Geographic Traveler, Out Traveler and many others, covering travel, LGBT issues, war & conflict reporting from Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations and other topics. His work has put him in contact with some of the most powerful and famous people in the world, from Pope Francis, to Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Queen Rania of Jordan, Duchess Sarah Ferguson, actress Sophia Loren and many others. He has taught writing, journalism and photography at New York University, the University of Michigan, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and lectured at the Smithsonian, New York Public Library and other institutions and is a frequent conference circuit speaker. He was the North American Travel Journalists Association’s Journalist of the Year twice, for 2010 and 2014, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association’s 2013 Journalist of the Year, among other writing honors and fellowships, and has a B.A. in Communications and a Master’s in Urban Planning, both from Rutgers University. Photo Album: https://gallery.ln.edu.hk/lib/Life_of_Writing_Glamour_and_Adventure_05-Dec-2018

Genetic dissection of differential signaling threshold requirements for the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in vivo

Contributions of null and hypomorphic alleles of Apc in mice produce both developmental and pathophysiological phenotypes. To ascribe the resulting genotype-to-phenotype relationship unambiguously to the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, we challenged the allele combinations by genetically restricting intracellular beta-catenin expression in the corresponding compound mutant mice. Subsequent evaluation of the extent of resulting Tcf4-reporter activity in mouse embryo fibroblasts enabled genetic measurement of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in the form of an allelic series of mouse mutants. Different permissive Wnt signaling thresholds appear to be required for the embryonic development of head structures, adult intestinal polyposis, hepatocellular carcinomas, liver zonation, and the development of natural killer cells. Furthermore, we identify a homozygous Apc allele combination with Wnt/beta-catenin signaling capacity similar to that in the germline of the Apc(min) mice, where somatic Apc loss-of-heterozygosity triggers intestinal polyposis, to distinguish whether co-morbidities in Apc(min) mice arise independently of intestinal tumorigenesis. Together, the present genotype phenotype analysis suggests tissue-specific response levels for the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway that regulate both physiological and pathophysiological conditions.</p

Continent-wide tree fecundity driven by indirect climate effects

Indirect climate effects on tree fecundity that come through variation in size and growth (climate-condition interactions) are not currently part of models used to predict future forests. Trends in species abundances predicted from meta-analyses and species distribution models will be misleading if they depend on the conditions of individuals. Here we find from a synthesis of tree species in North America that climate-condition interactions dominate responses through two pathways, i) effects of growth that depend on climate, and ii) effects of climate that depend on tree size. Because tree fecundity first increases and then declines with size, climate change that stimulates growth promotes a shift of small trees to more fecund sizes, but the opposite can be true for large sizes. Change the depresses growth also affects fecundity. We find a biogeographic divide, with these interactions reducing fecundity in the West and increasing it in the East. Continental-scale responses of these forests are thus driven largely by indirect effects, recommending management for climate change that considers multiple demographic rates.ISSN:2041-172