Freddy Pfleiderer

Video interview with Freddy Pfleiderer. Freddy begins his oral history talking about his life in the Colombian textile industry. He started at a very early age and worked many places, gaining valuable experience. He details his work history and tells of how he, and others, came to work in the United States textile industry. Freddy first worked in the U.S. in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and he tells of his extraordinary career trajectory as a loom mechanic, travelling first to Switzerland to live, train, and work, and then working all around the world. He moved to Greenville, SC, in 1969, to work for Milliken Mill. He talks about how more Colombians arrived in Greenville after him to work in the textile industry. He shares details about their work, social life, and leisure activities. Freddy closes the oral history discussing the fall of the textile industry in the U.S.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/textile-workers/1008/thumbnail.jp

Elsie Alvarez

Video interview with Elsie Alvarez. Elsie Alvarez is from Medellín. Her father was recruited to work in the textile industry in the United States, and he brought Elsie and her family to Greenvile, SC, in 1975. In this oral history, Elsie describes how she came to the United States and her work in the textile mills. She talks about her family and work, as well as their social life, and leisure activities during her time in the textile industry. She speaks about her family ties to Colombia, and compares the textile industry in Colombia to the industry in Greenville, SC. Elsie also talks about the modernization of the textile industry over the years.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/textile-workers/1000/thumbnail.jp

Rodrigo Valencia

Video interview with Rodrigo Valencia. Rodrigo Valencia began working in the Colombian textile industry at a very young age, and he came to the United States to work in the textile industry in Rhode Island in 1963. In his oral history Rodrigo tells of bringing his family to Greenville, SC, and working in the textile industry there. He speaks about the decline of textiles in the area, and tells how laid off workers received training in other trades. He talks about his work in Colombia, and how and why he came to the United States. Rodrigo compares the working conditions in Colombia to those in the U.S., the good things and bad things, and talks about being one of the first Hispanics in the Greenville area when he moved to South Carolina.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/textile-workers/1013/thumbnail.jp

Nemesio Loaiza

Video interview with Nemesio Loaiza. Nemesio Loaiza was born in Colombia in 1934. He was a shoemaker in Colombia, and did not work in the textile industry until he came to the United States. In this oral history Nemesio tells of how he started in the textile industry in Greenville, SC, as a sweeper, but then moved up to other jobs and a long career in textiles. He details his career in the textile mill, how he came to the United States from Colombia, the working conditions for him, and the social life in Greenville. He speaks about his family, how he brought them to the United States, their life, and what they are all doing now. Nemesio dicusses the changes in Greenville over the years, immigration, and shares the good things, and the challenges of life as an immigrant, working and living in Greenville.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/textile-workers/1004/thumbnail.jp

Mercedes Gomez

Video interview with Mercedes Gomez. Mercedes Gomez came to the United States in 1969. She begins her oral history talking about her time working at Woodside Mill, in Greenville, SC. Mercedes shares the story of her time in Colombia before coming to the U.S., how she came to New York, and then later, Greenville. She speaks about the social life with other Colombians in the Greenville area, details her work in the mill, and talks about how Greenville has changed over the years since her arrival. She also compares her time in New York to her time in Greenville, shares some scary experiences, and tells how she lived in fear during some of those years before she got her visa.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/textile-workers/1002/thumbnail.jp

Sara Quintana

Video interview with Sara Quintana. Unlike many of the “pioneers,” Sara Quintana came to the U.S. in 1987, in a later wave of immigration from Colombia, propelled by the problems of insecurity and unemployment in the 1980 and 1990s in that country. She became a textile worker in Greenville, finding later employment in textile-related companies, mostly doing embroidery. Sara came to the U.S. to earn money for her daughter\u27s college tuition, and she details her journey, and the different jobs she had in the textile industry. She talks about her co-workers, the working conditions and pay, the social life for Hispanics in the area, and she shares some funny stories. Sara concludes comparing Colombia and life in Greenville, and she reflects on her overall positive experience in South Carolina.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/textile-workers/1009/thumbnail.jp

La Familia Posada

Video interview with members of the Posada family, Luis Carlos Posada, Luz María Posada, and Myriam Posada. The three siblings begin their oral history talking about their father, who worked in the textile industry in Colombia, how he came to the United States to work in textiles, and later brought them in 1975. They speak about the discrimination they faced at work in the mills, and school, in Greenville. The Posadas decribe their work in the mill, the working conditions, and factory environment, then talk about how their father brought more family from Colombia. They compare Medellín and Greenville, and speak on the topics of work and school, social life, friendships with other Colombians in the area, and their relationship with their Dad. The Posada siblings conclude their oral history talking about the decline of textiles.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/textile-workers/1001/thumbnail.jp

Role of Visible Light-Activated Photocatalyst on the Reduction of Anthrax Spore-Induced Mortality in Mice

BACKGROUND: Photocatalysis of titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) substrates is primarily induced by ultraviolet light irradiation. Anion-doped TiO(2) substrates were shown to exhibit photocatalytic activities under visible-light illumination, relative environmentally-friendly materials. Their anti-spore activity against Bacillus anthracis, however, remains to be investigated. We evaluated these visible-light activated photocatalysts on the reduction of anthrax spore-induced pathogenesis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Standard plating method was used to determine the inactivation of anthrax spore by visible light-induced photocatalysis. Mouse models were further employed to investigate the suppressive effects of the photocatalysis on anthrax toxin- and spore-mediated mortality. We found that anti-spore activities of visible light illuminated nitrogen- or carbon-doped titania thin films significantly reduced viability of anthrax spores. Even though the spore-killing efficiency is only approximately 25%, our data indicate that spores from photocatalyzed groups but not untreated groups have a less survival rate after macrophage clearance. In addition, the photocatalysis could directly inactivate lethal toxin, the major virulence factor of B. anthracis. In agreement with these results, we found that the photocatalyzed spores have tenfold less potency to induce mortality in mice. These data suggest that the photocatalysis might injury the spores through inactivating spore components. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Photocatalysis induced injuries of the spores might be more important than direct killing of spores to reduce pathogenicity in the host

TRIM5α Modulates Immunodeficiency Virus Control in Rhesus Monkeys

The cytoplasmic TRIM5α proteins of certain mammalian lineages efficiently recognize the incoming capsids of particular retroviruses and potently restrict infection in a species-specific manner. Successful retroviruses have evolved capsids that are less efficiently recognized by the TRIM5α proteins of the natural hosts. To address whether TRIM5α contributes to the outcome of retroviral infection in a susceptible host species, we investigated the impact of TRIM5 polymorphisms in rhesus monkeys on the course of a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. Full-length TRIM5α cDNAs were derived from each of 79 outbred monkeys and sequenced. Associations were explored between the expression of particular TRIM5 alleles and both the permissiveness of cells to SIV infection in vitro and clinical sequelae of SIV infection in vivo. Natural variation in the TRIM5α B30.2(SPRY) domain influenced the efficiency of SIVmac capsid binding and the in vitro susceptibility of cells from the monkeys to SIVmac infection. We also show the importance in vivo of the interaction of SIVmac with different allelic forms of TRIM5, demonstrating that particular alleles are associated with as much as 1.3 median log difference in set-point viral loads in SIVmac-infected rhesus monkeys. Moreover, these allelic forms of TRIM5 were associated with the extent of loss of central memory (CM) CD4+ T cells and the rate of progression to AIDS in the infected monkeys. These findings demonstrate a central role for TRIM5α in limiting the replication of an immunodeficiency virus infection in a primate host

Event-horizon-scale structure in the supermassive black hole candidate at the Galactic Centre

The cores of most galaxies are thought to harbour supermassive black holes, which power galactic nuclei by converting the gravitational energy of accreting matter into radiation (ref 1). Sagittarius A*, the compact source of radio, infrared and X-ray emission at the centre of the Milky Way, is the closest example of this phenomenon, with an estimated black hole mass that is 4 million times that of the Sun (refs. 2,3). A long-standing astronomical goal is to resolve structures in the innermost accretion flow surrounding Sgr A* where strong gravitational fields will distort the appearance of radiation emitted near the black hole. Radio observations at wavelengths of 3.5 mm and 7 mm have detected intrinsic structure in Sgr A*, but the spatial resolution of observations at these wavelengths is limited by interstellar scattering (refs. 4-7). Here we report observations at a wavelength of 1.3 mm that set a size of 37 (+16, -10; 3-sigma) microarcseconds on the intrinsic diameter of Sgr A*. This is less than the expected apparent size of the event horizon of the presumed black hole, suggesting that the bulk of SgrA* emission may not be not centred on the black hole, but arises in the surrounding accretion flow.Comment: 12 pages including 2 figure