Faith, Politics, and Power: The Politics of Faith-Based Initiatives

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Hair today, gone tomorrow: the degradation and conservation of archaeological hair fibers

The research of this work describes the degradation and conservation of archaeological hair fibers. Chapter I will be a brief overview, with Chapter II following with a literary review and definition of terms. Chapter III focuses on research centered on the structure of hair fibers and their physical and chemical attributes. It will also focus on the archaeological and historical evidence of hair fiber use by humans. This research will help form the backbone of the paper and experiments performed. The next chapter focuses on the degradation of hair fibers in different environments. Hair fibers left in underwater, open air, burial, and arid environments are monitored for degree of degradation and brittleness. The hair fiber types used are four commonly found hair fibers types: coarse wool, fine wool, mohair, and human hair. After deposition, conservation using silicone oil treatment is tested on the degraded hair fibers. When silicone oil treatment proves to be a viable conservation method, the technique is then be applied to two artifacts. The two artifacts used are a Victorian era watch fob made from human hair and hair fibers mixed with tar from the excavation of Kittern in Bulgaria. Chapter VII deals with the conclusions of the experiments as a whole. The degradation of the fibers in different environmental conditions show that burial in acidic sandy clay is the most detrimental to hair fibers, while hair fibers from arid, dry environments are brittle, but well preserved aesthetically. The silicone oil treatments are shown to be viable treatment methods with positive results for all of the fibers tested, including two artifacts, a Victorian watch fob made from human hair fibers and hair fibers mixed with a tar-like substance from the shipwreck Kittern in Bulgaria

Systems over Service: Changing Systems of Inequality through Congregational Political Engagement

The role of religious groups in changing inequality has usually been a bottom up approach. Whether it was serving meals to the needy or sheltering the homeless, the vast majority of religious groups have addressed problems of inequality, not by addressing the causes of hunger and homelessness, but rather by offering assistance to those already in need. Rarely have religious groups become engaged in explicitly political activities that challenge structures that create large scale inequality. In this article, I examine the first state level efforts by LA Voice, a congregation-based community group that has worked to ameliorate inequality through political organizing with churches in largely poor minority communities throughout Los Angeles. Drawing on extensive qualitative data from field research and interviews during their first campaign season in 2012, I examine how these religious groups organized around a controversial political issue—an important move away from their traditional community-based organizing—and how their understandings of faith informed this work. Specifically, LA Voice helped pass a state-level initiative that directly challenged systems of inequality; Proposition 30, which raised taxes on the wealthy to fund public education. This political work highlighted long known internal struggles between congregation members who fought these actions and those who recognized the need in their communities and enthusiastically took up this work. This article ends with a discussion of how these early efforts resulted in further engagement by other member congregations

Hair today, gone tomorrow: the degradation and conservation of archaeological hair fibers

The research of this work describes the degradation and conservation of archaeological hair fibers. Chapter I will be a brief overview, with Chapter II following with a literary review and definition of terms. Chapter III focuses on research centered on the structure of hair fibers and their physical and chemical attributes. It will also focus on the archaeological and historical evidence of hair fiber use by humans. This research will help form the backbone of the paper and experiments performed. The next chapter focuses on the degradation of hair fibers in different environments. Hair fibers left in underwater, open air, burial, and arid environments are monitored for degree of degradation and brittleness. The hair fiber types used are four commonly found hair fibers types: coarse wool, fine wool, mohair, and human hair. After deposition, conservation using silicone oil treatment is tested on the degraded hair fibers. When silicone oil treatment proves to be a viable conservation method, the technique is then be applied to two artifacts. The two artifacts used are a Victorian era watch fob made from human hair and hair fibers mixed with tar from the excavation of Kittern in Bulgaria. Chapter VII deals with the conclusions of the experiments as a whole. The degradation of the fibers in different environmental conditions show that burial in acidic sandy clay is the most detrimental to hair fibers, while hair fibers from arid, dry environments are brittle, but well preserved aesthetically. The silicone oil treatments are shown to be viable treatment methods with positive results for all of the fibers tested, including two artifacts, a Victorian watch fob made from human hair fibers and hair fibers mixed with a tar-like substance from the shipwreck Kittern in Bulgaria

Recognizing and integrating wildlife as Elwha restoration agents

Ecosystem restoration involving large dam removal spans large spatial extents, long time scales, and diverse societal constituencies. Restoration success requires collaboration among partner organizations. Success also can be facilitated by integrating components and processes of the ecosystem itself in restoration planning and practice. We review early and future roles of wildlife in restoration of valleys flooded by Elwha dams, with implications for dam removals on other rivers. Detecting early wildlife responses depended on baseline inventories prior to dam removal, followed by monitoring during and after dam removal. Pre-removal studies revealed patterns of small and mid-sized mammal occupancy, bear movement, amphibian occupancy, and avian distributions and species composition. In the few years since dam removal, wildlife colonization of exposed reservoir beds has been rapid, dominated by early successional and mobile species. Wildlife also perform important restoration functions, and contribute to all nine attributes defining restored ecosystems. This early in Elwha restoration, conspicuous wildlife functions include native seed dispersal to restoration sites, herbivore effects on revegetation, and organic matter dispersal to nutrient-poor sediments. In future decades, diverse wildlife also will help restore terrestrial-aquatic connections by dispersing nutrients from increasing salmon runs to riparian and terrestrial areas. Each of these wildlife roles is influenced by spatial distributions of pre-dam structural legacies and structures placed during active restoration efforts, particularly large woody debris. By placing these structures in locations and configurations that support wildlife functions, restoration planning and practice more effectively integrate wildlife in restoration. Benefits include increasing the rate of restoration progress and directing it along more desirable trajectories. In this way, the collaborative interdisciplinary approach in Elwha restoration can be expanded in future restoration projects to encompass active collaboration with the ecosystem itself

Archaeological Investigations Under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4925 for the Texas Department of Transportation, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Harris Counties, Texas

In May 2008, PBSJ (now Atkins North America, Inc.), was contracted by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), to conduct archaeological impact evaluations and surveys for the Houston and Beaumont Districts under Contract 578-XX-SA004. This contract was for on-demand services, with specific work defined by individual work authorizations. However, all investigations were subsumed under a single Texas Antiquities Permit (No. 4925) for the contract, with Michael Nash serving as Principal Investigator during fieldwork. Four work authorizations were issued, but only three surveys were conducted due to a refusal of Right-of-Entry on one job. All fieldwork was conducted between October 2008 and April 2010. Projects were located in Fort Bend, Galveston, and Harris Counties. Following completion of the fieldwork and the majority of reporting, the permit was transferred to TxDOT, with James T. Abbott serving as Principal Investigator. Final preparation of this report was performed by Abbott, based upon a draft provided by Atkins. WA 1 authorized survey of a planned detention pond adjacent to Farm to Market Road (FM) 2978, between 0.065 and 0.145 south of Bogs Road in Harris County. An intensive survey of the 4.13-acre site was conducted on October 2, 2008 by Rebecca Sager and Ephriam McDowell. Four shovel tests were excavated during the survey, all of which were negative for cultural material. No cultural resources were encountered during the survey, and Atkins recommended that no further investigations were warranted and the project receive archaeological clearance. WA 2 authorized a survey prior to construction of beach stabilization structures along a 4.7- mile length of SH 87 in Galveston County. The archaeological project area designated in the scope of work consisted of 35 acres of existing right-of-way (ROW) within an overall 70.0 acres of existing ROW. A visual inspection of the project area and excavation of one shovel test was conducted on February 4 and 5, 2009, by Damon Burden and Joe Craig. No cultural resources encountered during the survey, the survey area was found to be heavily disturbed, and Atkins recommended that no further investigations were warranted. WA 3 was a proposed realignment of Conroe-Hufsmith Road at FM 2978 in Montgomery County. The project would have required 2.0 acres of new ROW, and the APE would have included the new ROW as well as any existing ROW along the project length. However, permission to conduct archaeological investigations was denied by the affected landowner, and the Work Authorization was cancelled. WA 4 was issued for an intensive survey in advance of improvements to FM 1464 at New Home Cemetery in Fort Bend County. An initial survey was conducted at the location, but due to a contractual dispute between Atkins and TxDOT regarding the scope of services, not all work associated with the project was completed by Atkins. This report describes the work that was completed under this permit

Mutation of the co-chaperone Tsc1 in bladder cancer diminishes Hsp90 acetylation and reduces drug sensitivity and selectivity

The molecular chaperone Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is essential for the folding, stability, and activity of several drivers of oncogenesis. Hsp90 inhibitors are currently under clinical evaluation for cancer treatment, however their efficacy is limited by lack of biomarkers to optimize patient selection. We have recently identified the tumor suppressor tuberous sclerosis complex 1 (Tsc1) as a new co-chaperone of Hsp90 that affects Hsp90 binding to its inhibitors. Highly variable mutations of TSC1 have been previously identified in bladder cancer and correlate with sensitivity to the Hsp90 inhibitors. Here we showed loss of TSC1 leads to hypoacetylation of Hsp90-K407/K419 and subsequent decreased binding to the Hsp90 inhibitor ganetespib. Pharmacologic inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) restores acetylation of Hsp90 and sensitizes Tsc1-mutant bladder cancer cells to ganetespib, resulting in apoptosis. Our findings suggest that TSC1 status may predict response to Hsp90 inhibitors in patients with bladder cancer, and co-targeting HDACs can sensitize tumors with Tsc1 mutations to Hsp90 inhibitors

Supercritical fluid extraction-supercritical fluid chromatography of saliva: Single-quadrupole mass spectrometry monitoring of caffeine for gastric emptying studies†

Saliva is an attractive sampling matrix for measuring various endogenous and exogeneous substances but requires sample treatment prior to chromatographic analysis. Exploiting supercritical CO2 for both extraction and chromatography simplifies sample preparation, reduces organic solvent consumption, and minimizes exposure to potentially infectious samples, but has not yet been applied to oral fluid. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of online supercritical fluid extraction coupled to supercritical fluid chromatography and single-quadrupole mass spectrometry for monitoring the model salivary tracer caffeine. A comparison of 13C- and 32S-labeled internal standards with external standard calibration confirmed the superiority of stable isotope-labeled caffeine over nonanalogous internal standards. As proof of concept, the validated method was applied to saliva from a magnetic resonance imaging study of gastric emptying. After administration of 35 mg caffeine via ice capsule, salivary levels correlated with magnetic resonance imaging data, corroborating caffeine's usefulness as tracer of gastric emptying (R2 = 0.945). In contrast to off-line methods, online quantification required only minute amounts of organic solvents and a single manual operation prior to online bioanalysis of saliva, thus demonstrating the usefulness of CO2-based extraction and separation techniques for potentially infective biomatrices

Supercritical fluid extraction–supercritical fluid chromatography of saliva: Single‐quadrupole mass spectrometry monitoring of caffeine for gastric emptying studies †

Abstract Saliva is an attractive sampling matrix for measuring various endogenous and exogeneous substances but requires sample treatment prior to chromatographic analysis. Exploiting supercritical CO 2 for both extraction and chromatography simplifies sample preparation, reduces organic solvent consumption, and minimizes exposure to potentially infectious samples, but has not yet been applied to oral fluid. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of online supercritical fluid extraction coupled to supercritical fluid chromatography and single‐quadrupole mass spectrometry for monitoring the model salivary tracer caffeine. A comparison of 13 C‐ and 32 S‐labeled internal standards with external standard calibration confirmed the superiority of stable isotope‐labeled caffeine over nonanalogous internal standards. As proof of concept, the validated method was applied to saliva from a magnetic resonance imaging study of gastric emptying. After administration of 35 mg caffeine via ice capsule, salivary levels correlated with magnetic resonance imaging data, corroborating caffeine's usefulness as tracer of gastric emptying ( R 2 = 0.945). In contrast to off‐line methods, online quantification required only minute amounts of organic solvents and a single manual operation prior to online bioanalysis of saliva, thus demonstrating the usefulness of CO 2 ‐based extraction and separation techniques for potentially infective biomatrices

Re‐programming and optimization of a L‐proline cis‐4‐hydroxylase for the cis‐3‐halogenation of its native substrate

Non-heme iron/ α -ketoglutarate dependent halogenases acting on freestanding substrates catalyze the regio- and stereoselective halogenation of inactivated C(sp 3 )-H bonds. Yet, with only a handful of these halogenases characterized, the biosynthetic potential of enzymatic radical halogenation remains limited. Herein, we describe the remodeling of L -proline cis -4-hydroxylase from Sinorhizobium meliloti into a halogenase by introduction of a single point mutation ( D108G) into the enzyme’s active site. The re-programmed halogenase displays a striking regio-divergent reaction chemistry: While halogenation of L -proline exclusively occurs at the C3-position, the retained hydroxylation activity leads to derivatization at the C-4 position, corresponding to the regioselectivity of the wildtype enzyme. By employing several rounds of directed evolution, an optimized halogenase variant with 98-fold improved apparent k cat / K m for chlorination of L -proline compared to the parental enzyme SmP4H ( D108G) was identified. The development and optimization of this novel halogenation biocatalyst highlights the possibility to rationally harness the chemical versatility of non-heme Fe/ α KG dependent dioxygenases for C-H functionalization