47 research outputs found
“Semba Dilema”: On Transatlantic Musical Flows between Angola and Brazil
No full textIn the song “Semba Dilema”, Dom Caetano traces the intimate musical connection between Angola and Brazil back to the dramatic experience of the slave trade. To do so, the Angolan singer recalls an old and lively debate about the origins of samba, according to which the Brazilian genre would have originated from the Angolan musical style known as semba. Taking a cue from this song and a dialogue with its composer, the article explores some of the real and imagined, historical and contemporary affinities between semba and samba. It thus resorts to historical resources and theories, and ethnographic materials that the author collected in Luanda in June and July 2018, in an attempt to eventually suggest new questions and research avenues on the study of music in the Atlantic Lusophone world.In the song “Semba Dilema”, Dom Caetano traces the intimate musical connection between Angola and Brazil back to the dramatic experience of the slave trade. To do so, the Angolan singer recalls an old and lively debate about the origins of samba, according to which the Brazilian genre would have originated from the Angolan musical style known as semba. Taking a cue from this song and a dialogue with its composer, the article explores some of the real and imagined, historical and contemporary affinities between semba and samba. It thus resorts to historical resources and theories, and ethnographic materials that the author collected in Luanda in June and July 2018, in an attempt to eventually suggest new questions and research avenues on the study of music in the Atlantic Lusophone world.In the song “Semba Dilema”, Dom Caetano traces the intimate musical connection between Angola and Brazil back to the dramatic experience of the slave trade. To do so, the Angolan singer recalls an old and lively debate about the origins of samba, according to which the Brazilian genre would have originated from the Angolan musical style known as semba. Taking a cue from this song and a dialogue with its composer, the article explores some of the real and imagined, historical and contemporary affinities between semba and samba. It thus resorts to historical resources and theories, and ethnographic materials that the author collected in Luanda in June and July 2018, in an attempt to eventually suggest new questions and research avenues on the study of music in the Atlantic Lusophone world
POT1a deficiency in mesenchymal niches perturbs B-lymphopoiesis
No full textAbstract Protection of telomeres 1a (POT1a) is a telomere binding protein. A decrease of POT1a is related to myeloid-skewed haematopoiesis with ageing, suggesting that protection of telomeres is essential to sustain multi-potency. Since mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a constituent of the hematopoietic niche in bone marrow, their dysfunction is associated with haematopoietic failure. However, the importance of telomere protection in MSCs has yet to be elucidated. Here, we show that genetic deletion of POT1a in MSCs leads to intracellular accumulation of fatty acids and excessive ROS and DNA damage, resulting in impaired osteogenic-differentiation. Furthermore, MSC-specific POT1a deficient mice exhibited skeletal retardation due to reduction of IL-7 producing bone lining osteoblasts. Single-cell gene expression profiling of bone marrow from POT1a deficient mice revealed that B-lymphopoiesis was selectively impaired. These results demonstrate that bone marrow microenvironments composed of POT1a deficient MSCs fail to support B-lymphopoiesis, which may underpin age-related myeloid-bias in haematopoiesis
Transfer learning efficiently maps bone marrow cell types from mouse to human using single-cell RNA sequencing
No full textBiomedical research often involves conducting experiments on model organisms in the anticipation that the biology learnt will transfer to humans. Previous comparative studies of mouse and human tissues were limited by the use of bulk-cell material. Here we show that transfer learning—the branch of machine learning that concerns passing information from one domain to another—can be used to efficiently map bone marrow biology between species, using data obtained from single-cell RNA sequencing. We first trained a multiclass logistic regression model to recognize different cell types in mouse bone marrow achieving equivalent performance to more complex artificial neural networks. Furthermore, it was able to identify individual human bone marrow cells with 83% overall accuracy. However, some human cell types were not easily identified, indicating important differences in biology. When re-training the mouse classifier using data from human, less than 10 human cells of a given type were needed to accurately learn its representation. In some cases, human cell identities could be inferred directly from the mouse classifier via zero-shot learning. These results show how simple machine learning models can be used to reconstruct complex biology from limited data, with broad implications for biomedical research
A Trial of the Effect of Micronutrient Supplementation on Treatment Outcome, T Cell Counts, Morbidity, and Mortality in Adults with Pulmonary Tuberculosis.
No full textTuberculosis (TB) often coincides with nutritional deficiencies. The effects of micronutrient supplementation on TB treatment outcomes, clinical complications, and mortality are uncertain. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of micronutrients (vitamins A, B complex, C, and E, as well as selenium) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We enrolled 471 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and 416 HIV-negative adults with pulmonary TB at the time of initiating chemotherapy and monitored them for a median of 43 months. Micronutrients decreased the risk ofTB recurrence by 45% overall (95% confidence interval [CI], 7% to 67%; P = .02) and by 63% in HIV-infected patients (95% CI, 8% to 85%; P = .02). There were no significant effects on mortality overall; however, we noted a marginally significant 64% reduction of deaths in HIV-negative subjects (95% CI, -14% to 88%; P = .08). Supplementation increased CD3+ and CD4+ cell counts and decreased the incidence of extrapulmonary TB and genital ulcers in HIV-negative patients. Micronutrients reduced the incidence of peripheral neuropathy by 57% (95% CI, 41% to 69%; P < .001), irrespective of HIV status. There were no significant effects on weight gain, body composition, anemia, or HIV load. Micronutrient supplementation could improve the outcome in patients undergoing TB chemotherapy in Tanzania
“Mimi-udon”.Japanese home-made cuisine of the next generation in Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture
No full textThe purpose of this study is to examine the origins and present of local udon noodles as they have been passed down in Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture. Mimi-udon is a local dish that has been handed down in the Semba area, of Sano City. The Semba area is a district in which the inhabitants did not eat rice cakes during the New Year, and instead Mimi-udon was mainly served as a New Year’s event food.
There are various theories about the origin of the name. One claims that it comes from trimmings of udon noodles (called“ mimi”). Another theory claims it is from old lore regarding“ mimifusagi-mochi,” the folk belief that“ if one eats ear-shaped food during the New Year, they will not hear anything bad all year round”.
It is widely believed that Mimi-udon began to be made sometime between the middle Edo period and the Meiji period. Since its cooking method is similar to "Mimi" in Yamanashi Prefecture, Mimi-udon is thought to have been inspired from the area.
In recent years, while handing down the tradition, its development has been continued for new uses such as pasta and Japanese sweets. The author concludes that this local area and wishes for this cuisine to be inherited in the next generations' community.departmental bulletin pape
Chd2 regulates chromatin for proper gene expression toward differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells
No full textChromatin reorganization is necessary for pluripotent stem cells, including embryonic stem cells (ESCs), to acquire lineage potential. However, it remains unclear how ESCs maintain their characteristic chromatin state for appropriate gene expression upon differentiation. Here, we demonstrate that chromodomain helicase DNA-binding domain 2 (Chd2) is required to maintain the differentiation potential of mouse ESCs. Chd2-depleted ESCs showed suppressed expression of developmentally regulated genes upon differentiation and subsequent differentiation defects without affecting gene expression in the undifferentiated state. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing revealed alterations in the nucleosome occupancy of the histone variant H3.3 for developmentally regulated genes in Chd2-depleted ESCs, which in turn led to elevated trimethylation of the histone H3 lysine 27. These results suggest that Chd2 is essential in preventing suppressive chromatin formation for developmentally regulated genes and determines subsequent effects on developmental processes in the undifferentiated state
Where the Lithuanian language leads
No full textReikšminiai žodžiai: Baltų gentys; Baltų kalbos; Istorija; Jotvingiai; Lenkų kalba; Prūsija; Prūsų gentys; History; Polish language; Prussian; Prussian tribes; The Baltic languages; The Baltic tribes; Yotvingian; YotvingiansThe author presents the similarities of the Lithuanian language to Polish as well as to other Slavic languages. There are a number of common words: Lithuanian mama, Polish mama, Russian mama, Lithuanian nosis, Polish nos, Russian nos, etc. All these languages have the identical cases in the declension of nouns, moreover, some cases have the same endings; for example: (the masculine dative case of plural) Lithuanian stogams, Polish dachom, Russian krišam. The languages have two grammatical numbers: plural and singular and two genders: masculine and feminine. Slavic languages preserved neuter gender which does not exist in Lithuanian. The author provides a number of examples to prove the archaic character of the Lithuanian language, for example Polish miód and Russian miod are related to Lithuanian medus, however it is impossible to establish the etymology using data from Slavic languages. Lithuanian word medus is closely related to the word medis, showing the place where bees stocked up honey. Russian word medviedj (a bear) - means an animal which knows where honey is (wiedatj- to know). The author presents the Prussian and Yotvingian tribes as well as the etymology of their place names, such as Skalva, Nadruva, Semba, Notanga, Barta, Varmė, Sasna, Pagudė (Polish Pogezania), Pamedė (Polish Pomezania), Galinda, Liubavas territory, Kulmas territory, Dainava, Palenkė (Polish Podlasie) and Sūduva. The author polemicizes with the opinion that most of Prussians and Yotvigians became Lithuanianised. He thinks that this was the natural process of the unification of the Baltic tribes and cannot be compared to Germanization or Polonization
Effect of gender on 28-day survival rates and transfusion volume in severe trauma patients : a multicenter observational study
No full textBackground: This study clarified the relationship between sex with survival and transfusion volume in severe trauma cases. Methods: A multicenter, collaborative post hoc analysis of patients with trauma in Japan was conducted. Patients aged >= 18 years with severe trauma indicated by an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 16 or higher were enrolled. Patients were matched and analyzed by gender based on propensity score with factors determined at the time of injury. Subgroup analysis was performed on patients younger than 50 years and older than 50 years. The significance level was defined as P < 0.05. Results: The 1,189 patients included in this registry were divided into adjusted groups of 226 male and female patients each. In the main analysis, 28-day survival rates in females were significantly higher than those in males (P = 0.046). In the subgroup analyses, there was no statistically significant prognostic effect of gender. Secondary outcomes, including transfusion volume, showed no significant gender-based variations. Logistic regression analyses consistently demonstrated that female sex was a significant favorable prognostic factor in all ages. This was true for the over-50 group on subgroup analysis, but no significant gender-prognosis relationship was identified in the under-50 age group. High ISSs were associated with poorer outcomes across all age groups. Conclusion: In severe trauma, survival at 28 days was significantly lower in males. However, this trend was not observed in patients aged <50 years. Factors other than sex hormones may be responsible for differences in posttraumatic outcomes by gender
Scalable quantum computation architecture using always-on Ising interactions via quantum feedforward
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