48 research outputs found
The conserved role of alanine in sleep and neurodegeneration across flies and humans
No full textAlzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by beta-amyloid plaques and tau protein aggregation, leading to neuronal degeneration and memory loss. Affecting over 24 million people worldwide, there is currently no cure, and treatments offer only temporary relief. Sleep disturbances are linked to AD progression, impairing the brain’s clearance of toxic proteins and promoting neuroinflammation. Changes in blood metabolites may provide new therapeutic targets and biomarkers. This study used the Drosophila melanogaster AD “tau” model to test the ability of a candidate metabolite to rescue dementia-associated phenotypes. The metabolite was supplemented in the ad libitum (AL) diet of our diseased fruit fly model to test for improved sleep and amelioration of neurodegenerative phenotypes. Lifespan assays, healthspan assays (such as activity to evaluate neuromuscular health), and sleep assays were employed. The results showed that the metabolite improves sleep by up to 60% and extends lifespan
The history and politics of liberation archives at Fort Hare
No full textIncludes bibliographical references.This thesis, the first of its kind on liberation historiography, seeks to put the liberation movements archives housed at the University of Fort Hare in context. The thesis focuses mainly on the 1990s, when the repatriation of struggle material by Fort Hare working hand in glove with the liberation movements, mainly the African National Congress ANC), the Pan Africanist Congress(PAC) and the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), was at its height
Beyond #TheNew10--The Case for a Citizens Currency Advisory Committee
No full textOn April 20, 2016, ten months after promising to place a woman’s portrait on the 20 bill
Protection of the environment in times of armed conflict under international law
No full textThe thesis is concerned with the international obligations of States towards the environment during armed conflict. At the outset, the author analyses in what ways warfare may damage the environment, drawing inter alia from the examples of the first Gulf War, the Vietnam War, and the Kosovo conflict. Against this factual background, the next chapter investigates whether the law of armed conflict or humanitarian law submit belligerent States to environmental duties. It is concluded that the law of armed conflict recognizes the environment as an interest worthy of protection, but that the prohibitions are largely devoid of practical applicability, due to their extremely high threshold of application and wide justifications for military necessity. Even the indirect protection of the environment through humanitarian provisions is found not sufficiently effective. This leads the author to the question whether more stringent restrictions could be derived from other bodies of international law. To that avail, the next chapters investigate, how human rights and international criminal law could, directly or indirectly, protect the environment during hostilities. The last chapter finally takes on the perspective of international environmental law (IEL). At the beginning of this chapter, the obligations arising from IEL on warfare itself are scrutinized. The main problem is however, whether IEL applies in situations of armed conflict. After examining the scholarly literature and the State practice on the issue, the focus turns to the Draft Articles on the effects of armed conflict on treaties, which were recently presented by the International Law Commission (ILC) to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and contain a rebuttable presumption that environmental treaties retain full effectiveness between the belligerents and third parties. The thesis concludes that the protection of the environment during armed conflict has improved during the last century but that it remains too fragmented to provide adequate and effective protection. Given the rising public concern for the environment and the recent interest of the ILC and the UN Environment Programme in the issue, the case for adding environmental provisions to the law of armed conflict is expected to grow stronger.Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung,(Friedrich Ebert Foundation), Bonn, German
'Beyond, both the Old World, and the New': Authority and Knowledge in the works of Francis Bacon, with special reference to the New Atlantis
No full textPhDThis study investigates the role of authority in the works of Francis Bacon,
arguing that the issue of authority provides not only an interpretation of New
Atlantis, but an important structural component of his body of works. From
the first manifestation of his philosophical project to his last works of natural
history, authority is an all-pervasive issue - the authority of nature, of
scripture, of the named author, and how authority functions in the
dissemination of natural knowledge. Chapter one argues that the publication
of New Atlantis alongside Sylva sylvarum in 1626/7 was more the result of
William Rawley's need to assert his own authority as the protector and
disseminator of Bacon's textual legacy than an appreciation of the work's own
qualities. Chapter two considers Bacon's views of history and time,
suggesting that Bacon not only conceived of a new, progressive mode of
historical time which would allow for the assertion of a textual authority based
on the records of a civilisation unbroken by the vicissitudes of time, but that
he figured these theories in New Atlantis. Chapter three argues that Bacon
used theology both as defence and imperative to his intellectual programme,
while his attempt to move beyond the deterministic, Calvinist world-view to
allow for multiple possible futures, or `chance': Bacon could then present
experiment as the way of eliminating chance, in order to accelerate the rate of
new discovery. Chapter four investigates Bacon's manipulations of textual
authority, from the early rehearsals of the Instauratio magna to the
performance of reliability in print in Sylva sylvarum. Finally, the afterword
seeks to suggest that the New Atlantis hinges on the issues of authority with
which Bacon engaged throughout his career and writings: in the issue of
authority, Francis Bacon found the beginning and the end of his philosophy
The Appeal of Exodus: The Characters God, Moses and Israel in the Rhetoric of the Book of Exodus
No full textThe present thesis offers a reading of the book of Exodus as a literary artifact. This is
accomplished through the investigation of its main literary characters Yhwh, Moses and
Israel. The text is understood to be part of a communicative situation between author and
reader. This hermeneutical claim and the nature of Exodus itself entail certain consequences
with regard to the method of enquiry. The method applied is a modified form of
rhetorical criticism, which is understood to provide an interpretive perspective on the text.
The particular focus is on the functional aspects of the text which direct the reading process
and thus guide the reader. Given the difficulties in determining the circumstances of
the origin of Exodus and the paucity of secured knowledge about early Israelite history, the
`implied reader' is introduced as a key-term. It is assumed that this implied reader informed
the inventio and dispositio of the book. Because of the book's central themes - identity
and relationship -a careful investigation of the characters is a worthy avenue to pursue.
Three characters have been chosen on account of their continuous involvement in the
plot. The introduction of each character into the plot receives special attention. The developing
portrayal of each character is closely linked to its paradigmatic qualities and to its influence
on the reader. First, the portrait of God is discussed, especially in relation to the
contributions of the narrative, poetic and legal parts of Exodus. The very important but
often neglected legal characterisation of Yhwh in Exodus is a topic of special interest. Although
the legal collections say much about their recipients, they also reveal deep insights
into the law-giver's nature and concerns. Yhwh is identified as the king who justly claims
obedience and service. A further focus is the possibility of the relationship between Israel
and their king, Yhwh. Second, with regard to Moses there is a significant difference between
his first appearance in Exod 2-5 and his later development. This remarkable tension
in the Mosaic portrayal reveals interesting insights into the implied reader's preconceptions.
Here we trace closely the argumentative strategy of the author in his attempts to convince
this reader. Furthermore, it is necessary to discuss the paradigmatic qualities of the character
Moses. Third, reader-identification is at the heart of the construction of Israel. Here the
historical gulf between the Israel of the narrative and the one of the implied reader is
bridged. The complexity of Israel is a central aspect of Exodus' rhetoric, urging its readers
to comply with the ideal which the author sought to communicate in his book.
The results of this study provide insights into the specific poetics of Exodus and its
management of the reading process. Because of the proposed unity of form and content, it
is possible to specify the message of the entire book by taking into account its intriguing
mixture of different genres. An abstraction from modern reading-conventions in the
encounter of ancient Hebrew texts is shown, and the possibility of reading the text on its
own terms is explored
The Oakland Post 2009-10-14
No full textCAMPUS ; SCENE ; LOCAL ; THIS WEEK ; Sharing bikes proves to be a challenge ; BLUNDERGRADS ; CORRECTIONS CORNER ; GLBT equality: the dialogue is far from finished ; Noble intentions Nobel Peace Prize worthy ; Police seek vaccine vandals ; Students try to revive Promise scholarship ; MBT presents 'Sleepy Hollow' ; Campus Briefs ; Hourly unions reject final offer: CMT; PSA contract extensions terminated by university after 15 months of bargaining ; New program offers support to student veterans ; CAS explores religion and society ; POLICE FILES ; Activists seek students' help ; Zaslow and pilot co-author book ; Celebrations Mix it up this week: Week of Champions ; National Coming Out Week ; Greek Week ; A jump to the next level: Freshmen student athletes share their early college experiences ; Grizzlies split pair of matches ; Keeping OU atop the Summit ; THE SPORTING BLITZ ; Men's soccer ; Tigers exceed expectations; but leave fans disappointed ; GRIZZ OF THE WEEK ; Nostalgia runs high at historic theater ; My adventures in "Zombieland" ; Will Gitmo move to Michigan? ; Lansing: stimulus saved or created 19,500 jobs ; Local news briefs: Police step up patrol after 11 Detroit arsons ; MDOT seeks public comment on High-speed rail plan ; Obama? Nobel; what the hell?: Read about the peace prize surprise before this article wins an award ; Jurors at Atlantic City corruption trial watch sex-tape ; UCLA student charged with attempted murder ; Cuba won't let blogger go to US to receive award ; Ohio boy; 7; hit by deer while playing football ; NY dad sues over son's hazing drinking deat
Public worship and practical theology in the work of Benjamin Keach (1640-1704)
No full textThe late seventeenth century was a critical and fruitful period
for the Particular Baptists of England. Severely persecuted following
the Restoration, toleration in 1689 brought its own perils.
Particular Baptists were fortunate in having several strong leaders,
especially the London trio of Hanserd Knollys, William Kiffin, and
Benjamin Keach. Such a small and severely persecuted group as the
Baptists could afford little time for academic pursuits, thus of
necessity most of their theology was practical in nature.
Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) was the most outstanding practical
theologian among the English Particular Baptists of the late
seventeenth century. This dissertation is a study of Keach, in
particular his writings on public worship and practical theology.
Although Keach was a prolific author, he has been almost completely
neglected by scholars.
After a biographical sketch of Keach, this study considers his
writings on public worship and practical theology. In the area of
worship, Keach made two outstanding contributions: First, he was the
most vocal apologist for Baptist views on Baptism of his period.
Secondly, and more importantly, his hymn writing and defense of hymn
singing broke new ground, not just for Baptists, but for English
Protestantism, in general. In addition to his contributions in these
areas, he also dealt with the laying on of hands and the sabbath day
worship controversy.
Keach's contributions to practical theology fall into two main
groups: his writings that concern religious education and those that
deal with polity. In addition to these, Keach's vigorous advocacy of
a high Calvinist soteriology are also considered under the rubric of
practical theology. Keach's most important (although not his most
positive) contribution in this area were his soteriological writings.
Although well within the bounds of orthodoxy, some of the tendencies
in Keach's soteriology were taken up by the following generation of
Baptist leaders and developed into a stultifying hyper-Calvinism that
handicapped Baptist evangelism and missions.
In the conclusion, Keach's contributions to a theory of practical
theology are considered
A systematic review of evidence on malignant spinal metastases : natural history and technologies for identifying patients at high risk of vertebral fracture and spinal cord compression
No full textBackground: Spinal metastases can lead to significant morbidity and reduction in quality of life due to spinal cord compression (SCC). Between 5% and 20% of patients with spinal metastases develop metastatic spinal cord compression during the course of their disease. An early study estimated average survival for patients with SCC to be between 3 and 7 months, with a 36% probability of survival to 12 months. An understanding of the natural history and early diagnosis of spinal metastases and prediction of collapse of the metastatic vertebrae are important.
Objective: To undertake a systematic review to examine the natural history of metastatic spinal lesions and to identify patients at high risk of vertebral fracture and SCC.
Data sources: The search strategy covered the concepts of metastasis, the spine and adults. Searches were undertaken from inception to June 2011 in 13 electronic databases [MEDLINE; MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations; EMBASE; Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), HTA databases (NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination); Science Citation Index and Conference Proceedings (Web of Science); UK Clinical Research Network (UKCRN) Portfolio Database; Current Controlled Trials; ClinicalTrials.gov].
Review methods: Titles and abstracts of retrieved studies were assessed by two reviewers independently. Disagreement was resolved by consensus agreement. Full data were extracted independently by one reviewer. All included studies were reviewed by a second researcher with disagreements resolved by discussion. A quality assessment instrument was used to assess bias in six domains: study population, attrition, prognostic factor measurement, outcome measurement, confounding measurement and account, and analysis. Data were tabulated and discussed in a narrative review. Each tumour type was looked at separately.
Results: In all, 2425 potentially relevant articles were identified, of which 31 met the inclusion criteria. No study examined natural history alone. Seventeen studies reported retrospective data, 10 were prospective studies, and three were other study designs. There was one systematic review. There were no randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Approximately 5782 participants were included. Sample sizes ranged from 41 to 859. The age of participants ranged between 7 and 92 years. Types of cancers reported on were lung alone (n= 3), prostate alone (n= 6), breast alone (n= 7), mixed cancers (n= 13) and unclear (n= 1). A total of 93 prognostic factors were identified as potentially significant in predicting risk of SCC or collapse. Overall findings indicated that the more spinal metastases present and the longer a patient was at risk, the greater the reported likelihood of development of SCC and collapse. There was an increased risk of developing SCC if a cancer had already spread to the bones. In the prostate cancer studies, tumour grade, metastatic load and time on hormone therapy were associated with increased risk of SCC. In one study, risk of SCC before death was 24%, and 2.37 times greater with a Gleason score 7 than with a score of < 7 (p= 0.003). Other research found that patients with six or more bone lesions were at greater risk of SCC than those with fewer than six lesions [odds ratio (OR) 2.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.012 to 8.35, p= 0.047]. For breast cancer patients who received a computerised tomography (CT) scan for suspected SCC, multiple logistic regression in one study identified four independent variables predictive of a positive test: bone metastases 2 years (OR 3.0 95% CI 1.2 to 7.6; p= 0.02); metastatic disease at initial diagnosis (OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.0 to 11.4; p= 0.05); objective weakness (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.5 to 9.5; p= 0.005); and vertebral compression fracture on spine radiograph (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.0 to 6.5; p= 0.05). A further study on mixed cancers, among patients who received surgery for SCC, reported that vertebral body compression fractures were associated with presurgery chemotherapy (OR 2.283, 95% CI 1.064 to 4.898; p= 0.03), cancer type [primary breast cancer (OR 4.179, 95% CI 1.457 to 11.983; p= 0.008)], thoracic involvement (OR 3.505, 95% CI 1.343 to 9.143; p= 0.01) and anterior cord compression (OR 3.213, 95% CI 1.416 to 7.293; p= 0.005).
Limitations: Many of the included studies provided limited information about patient populations and selection criteria and they varied in methodological quality, rigour and transparency. Several studies identified type of cancer (e.g. breast, lung or prostate cancer) as a significant factor in predicting SCC, but it remains difficult to determine the risk differential partly because of residual bias. Consideration of quantitative results from the studies does not easily allow generation of a coherent numerical summary, studies were heterogeneous especially with regard to population, results were not consistent between studies, and study results almost universally lacked corroboration from other independent studies.
Conclusion: No studies were found which examined natural history. Overall burden of metastatic disease, confirmed metastatic bone involvement and immediate symptomatology suggestive of spinal column involvement are already well known as factors for metastatic SCC, vertebral collapse or progression of vertebral collapse. Although we identified a large number of additional possible prognostic factors, those which currently offer the most potential are unclear. Current clinical consensus favours magnetic resonance imaging and CT imaging modalities for the investigation of SCC and vertebral fracture. Future research should concentrate on: (1) prospective randomised designs to establish clinical and quality-of-life outcomes and cost-effectiveness of identification and treatment of patients at high risk of vertebral collapse and SCC; (2) Service Delivery and Organisation research on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and scanning (in tandem with research studies on use of MRI to monitor progression) in order to understand best methods for maximising use of MRI scanners; and (3) investigation of prognostic algorithms to calculate probability of a specified event using high-quality prospective studies, involving defined populations, randomly selected and clearly identified samples, and with blinding of investigators
Author Correction:Positive functional synergy of structurally integrated artificial protein dimers assembled by Click chemistry (Communications Chemistry, (2019), 2, 1, (83), 10.1038/s42004-019-0185-5)
No full textAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.</p
