221 research outputs found
Poetry Reading By Raina J. León
No full textRaina J. León is the author of two prize-wining poetry collections, Canticle of Idols, and Boogeyman Dawn. Her third book, dis(locate), will be released in 2016. She is a founding editor of The Acentos Review, an online journal devoted to Latino and Latina arts. She is a member of the Carolina African American Writers Collective, and a fellow of Cave Canem and CantoMundo. She is an assistant professor of education at Saint Mary’s College of California.This event is sponsored by Critical Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies (CRGS) Department, The HSU Diversity Program Funding, the HSU Library, and the English Department. Refreshments will be provided
Poetry Reading by Raina J. León
No full textRaina J. León is the author of two prize-wining poetry collections, Canticle of Idols, and Boogeyman Dawn. Her third book, dis(locate), will be released in 2016. She will read in the Library Fishbowl on Wednesday, March 4 at Noon. She is a founding editor of The Acentos Review, an online journal devoted to Latino and Latina arts. She is a member of the Carolina African American Writers Collective, and a fellow of Cave Canem and CantoMundo. She is an assistant professor of education at Saint Mary’s College of California.This event is sponsored by Critical Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies (CRGS) Department, The HSU Diversity Program Funding, the HSU Library, and the English Department
SMC Education Professor and Acclaimed Writer Raina Léon Named Poet in Residence at MoAD
No full textKSOE Professor Raina Léon has been named a Poet in Residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco beginning September 1. Léon is the acclaimed author of three poetry collections, Canticle of Idols, Boogeyman Dawn, and sombra :dis(locate); and the chapbook profeta without refuge. In addition, she is a Cave Canem graduate fellow and a member of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective, the national LatinX poetry workshop CantoMundo, and the socially engaged writers association Macondo. Léon said she was honored by this recognition, which she shares with Tongo Eisen-Martin, as MoAD’s inaugural Poets in Residence. “It is incredibly fulfilling to be seen as a poet and as an educator in the fullness of my life, and in that full, black experience, be fostered in flourish.” Leon will write poetry influenced by the museum’s exhibits and teach workshops to students through a partnership with Oakland’s ARISE High School
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
No full textTelgemeier, Raina. Sisters. New York: Scholastic, 2014. Print.In this graphic novel, Telgemeier tells the story of two sisters - namely herself, Raina, and her sister, Amara. Raina dreams of the day she will become a big sister but, when that day arrives, it is nothing like she imagined. Her younger sister likes to play by herself, is always cranky and does not want much interaction with anybody, including the long-lost cousins they visit. We watch as the family grows bigger in an apartment that seems to shrink. Tight quarters do not help the relationship between Raina and Amara especially when each girl wants her own privacy. In a story told over a long family road trip mixed in with memories from the past, Raina comes to see maybe having a sister, even one who is different than she expected, is maybe not so bad after all.Telgemeier’s drawing will delight readers with her characteristic colourful pictures that are easy to absorb and understand. Young readers will know when the author is in the present tense and when she is relating a story in the past as the colours of the pages turn a time-worn yellow. This makes the jumping back and forth in time a smooth transition for readers. In a story that is relatable about siblings, family life and growing up, young readers will find her humour funny and timely. This book is a must-have for every school and public library.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Shawna ManchakowskyShawna Manchakowsky recently completed her MLIS at the University of Alberta. When she is not working at Rutherford Library as a Public Service Assistant, she can be found with her husband parenting her two young girls; avoiding any kind of cooking; and reading for her two book clubs. In between book club titles, she tries to read as much teen fiction as she can get away with
Poetry Reading by Raina J. Le??n
No full textThis event is sponsored by Critical Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies (CRGS) Department, The HSU Diversity Program Funding, the HSU Library, and the English Department.Raina J. Le??n is the author of two prize-wining poetry collections, Canticle of Idols, and Boogeyman Dawn. Her third book, dis(locate), will be released in 2016. She will read in the Library Fishbowl on Wednesday, March 4 at Noon. She is a founding editor of The Acentos Review, an online journal devoted to Latino and Latina arts. She is a member of the Carolina African American Writers Collective, and a fellow of Cave Canem and CantoMundo. She is an assistant professor of education at Saint Mary???s College of California
Genistein improves viability, proliferation and mitochondrial function of cardiomyoblasts cultured in physiologic and peroxidative conditions
No full textPhytoestrogens exert protective effects on the cardiovascular system through mechanisms that have yet to be clearly demonstrated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects exerted by genistein on cardiomyoblasts (H9C2) against oxidative stress, nitric oxide (NO) release, viability, proliferation/migration and mitochondrial function. H9C2 cultured in physiological or peroxidative conditions, were treated with genistein in the absence or presence of estrogen receptors (ERs), G protein‐coupled‐estrogenic‐receptors (GPER), Akt, extracellular‐signal‐regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) and p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) blockers. Cell viability, proliferation, migration, mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial oxygen consumption and oxidant/antioxidant system, were measured by specific assays. Western blot assay was used for the analysis of NO synthase (NOS) subtypes' and expression and activation of various kinases. In all experiments 17β‐estradiol was used for comparison. The results showed that phytoestrogens and estrogens can increase cell viability, proliferation/migration and improve mitochondrial membrane potential and oxygen consumption of H9C2. Furthermore, NO release was modulated by genistein and 17β‐estradiol. These effects were reduced or abolished by the pre‐treatment with ERs, GPER, Akt, ERK1/2 and p38MAPK blockers. Finally, a reduction of reactive oxygen species production and an increase of glutathione content was found in response to the two agents. In H9C2 cultured in physiological conditions, genistein induced endothelial NOS‐dependent NO production through the involvement of estrogenic receptors and by the modulation of intracellular signalling related to Akt, ERK1/2, and p38MAPK. Moreover, estrogens and phytoestrogens protected H9C2 against oxidative stress by reducing inducible NOS expression and through the modulation of the antioxidant system and mitochondrial functioning
Effects of Genistein on Differentiation and Viability of Human Visceral Adipocytes
No full textObesity can lead to pathological growth of adipocytes by inducing inflammation and oxidative stress. Genistein could be a potential candidate for the treatment of obesity due to its antioxidant properties. Specific kits were used to examine the effects of genistein vs adiponectin on human visceral pre-adipocytes differentiation, cell viability, mitochondrial membrane potential, and oxidative stress in pre-adipocytes and in white/brown adipocytes. Western Blot was performed to examine changes in protein activation/expression. Genistein increased human visceral pre-adipocytes differentiation and browning, and caused a dose-related improvement of cell viability and mitochondrial membrane potential. Similar effects were observed in brown adipocytes and in white adipocytes, although in white cells the increase of cell viability was inversely related to the dose. Moreover, genistein potentiated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/mitofusin2 activation/expression in pre-adipocytes and white/brown adipocytes and protected them from the effects of hydrogen peroxide. The effects caused by genistein were similar to those of adiponectin. The results obtained showed that genistein increases human visceral pre-adipocytes differentiation and browning, protected against oxidative stress in pre-adipocytes and white/brown adipocytes through mechanisms related to AMPK-signalling and the keeping of mitochondrial function
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Protects Vascular Endothelial Cells from Oxidative Stress by Apoptosis Inhibition, Cell Survival Signalling Activation and Mitochondrial Function Protection
No full textBackground/Aim: Previous reports have made it hypothetically possible that human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) could protect against the onset of pregnancy-related pathological conditions by acting as an antioxidant. In the present study we planned to examine the effects of hCG against oxidative stress in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Methods: HUVEC were subjected to peroxidation by hydrogen peroxide. The modulation of nitric oxide (NO) release by hCG and its effects on cell viability, glutathione (GSH) levels, mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial transition pore opening (MPTP) were examined by specific dyes. Endothelial and inducible NO synthase (eNOS and iNOS), Akt and extracellular -signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) activation and markers of apoptosis were analyzed by Western Blot. Results: In HUVEC, hCG reduced NO release by modulating eNOS and iNOS. Moreover, hCG protected HUVEC against oxidative stress by preventing GSH reduction and apoptosis, by maintaining Akt and ERK1/2 activation and by keeping mitochondrial function. Conclusion: The present results have for the first time shown protective effects exerted by hCG on vascular endothelial function, which would be achieved by modulation of NO release, antioxidant and antiapoptotic actions and activation of cell survival signalling. These findings could have clinical implications in the management of pregnancy-related disorders
Properties of LDGM-LDPC codes with applications to secrecy coding
No full textThe ensemble of low-density generator-matrix/low-density parity-check (LDGM-LDPC) codes has been proposed in literature. In this thesis, an irregular LDGM-LDPC code is studied as a sub-code of an LDPC code with some randomly emph{punctured} output-bits. It is shown that the LDGM-LDPC codes achieve rates arbitrarily close to the channel-capacity of the binary-input symmetric-output memoryless (BISOM) channel with a finite lower-bound on the emph{complexity}. The measure of complexity is the average-degree (per information-bit) of the check-nodes for the factor-graph of the code. A lower-bound on the average degree of the check-nodes of the irregular LDGM-LDPC codes is obtained. The bound does not depend on the decoder used at the receiver. The stability condition for decoding the irregular LDGM-LDPC codes over the binary-erasure channel (BEC) under iterative-decoding with message-passing is described. The LDGM-LDPC codes are capacity achieving with bounded complexity and possess natural binning/nesting structure. These codes are applied to secrecy coding. The problem of secrecy coding for the type-II binary symmetric memoryless wiretap channel is studied. In this model, the main channel is binary-input and noiseless and the eavesdropper channel is binary-symmetric memoryless. A coding strategy based on emph{secure nested codes} is proposed. A capacity achieving length- code for the eavesdropper channel bins the space into co-sets which are used for secret messaging. The resulting co-set scheme achieves secrecy capacity of the type-II binary symmetric memoryless channel. As an example, the ensemble of capacity-achieving regular low-density generator-matrix/low-density parity-check (LDGM-LDPC) codes is studied as a basis for binning. The previous result is generalized to the case of a noisy main-channel. The problem of secrecy-coding for a specific type-I wiretap channel is studied. In the type-I wiretap channel under consideration, the main channel is a binary-input symmetric-output memoryless (BISOM) channel and the eavesdropper channel is a binary-symmetric channel (BSC). A secure-nested-code that achieves perfect-secrecy for the above type-I channel is proposed. The secure-nested-code is based on a nested regular LDGM-LDPC code construction.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Manik RainaIncludes abstrac
Online extreme challenges putting children at risk: what we know to date
No full textINTRODUCTION: Extreme online challenges consist in taking part in challenges proposed on web and sharing the results in videos posted on social media. The use of social networks is widespread among the very young, giving easy access to potentially dangerous content with consequences on health.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The aim of this literature review is to describe the most common challenges involving children and adolescents over the last 20 years. We focused on participants features (such as age, sex and psychological background) and health implications. The review included research articles and reviews published between 2000 and 2021. We used Pubmed, Scopus and Web of science as search engines.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Many types of online challenges emerged from the analysis of the literature. The most common challenges are those that lead to self-harm, which involve acts at risk of choking and challenges that potentially lead to suicide and ingestion of substances. The extreme challenge phenomenon is a public health issue that affects a vulnerable population, as it is young and susceptible to peer pressure influence. Participants often showed problematic personality traits, making them more likely to get involved in these behaviors.
CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary for parents, teachers and health workers to be aware of the spread of the online challenges, to improve prevention interventions in the age groups involved
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