The Use of Bakhtin\u27s Polyphony to Analyze Peer Relationships

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine how resident assistants integrate training on leadership and ethics with their personal beliefs in their roles as resident assistants (RAs). Data for this study was gathered using an electronic survey. Participants who have between one and four years of RA experience were to participate in this study. An announcement of the study with a link to the survey was sent to the resident director of all dorms on the UA campus with the request that the announcement be forwarded to the RAs. The survey included six questions that provided basic demographic information and training experience. Then the demographics was followed by four scenarios, each having four multiple choice options and two open ended questions about leadership and ethical action. It took approximately 10-20 minutes to complete the survey. Results were analyzed descriptively

Cervical Cancer-Associated Human Papillomavirus 16 E7 Oncoprotein Inhibits Induction of Anti-Cancer Immunity by a CD4+ T Cell Dependent Mechanism

Attempts to develop therapeutic vaccines against cervical cancer have been proven difficult. One of the major causes of the failure is due to the use of the wrong mouse models based on transplantable tumours in testing the efficacy of vaccines. Now that a transgenic epithelial mouse model has been developed to closely mimic cervical cancer, the mechanisms needed to eliminate this type of cancer could be studied. The E7 oncoprotein of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most expressed HPV protein in cervical cancers and its continuous production is essential to maintain the cancerous state and therefore the obvious target in the development of vaccines. Skin grafts expressing the HPV 16 E7 protein (E7 autografts) are not spontaneously rejected from an MHC matched immunocompetent host. Interestingly, simultaneous placement of an MHC mismatched skin (allograft) next to an E7 autograft results in the E7 autograft rejection. However when the allograft also expresses E7, the E7 autograft is rejected more slowly. Autograft rejection requires CD8+ T cells, and is accelerated by removal of CD4+ T cells after placement of the E7 expressing allograft, suggesting induction of an E7 specific CD4+ regulatory T cell population by the E7 expressing allograft. This observation may have implications in designing effective vaccines and immunotherapy against cervical cancers in women

Internal Rotation of Disilane and Related Molecules:a Density Functional Study

DFT calculations performed on Si_2H_6, Si_2F_6, Si_2Cl_6, and Si_2Br_6 are reported. The evolution of the energy, the chemical potential and the molecular hardness, as a function of torsion angle, is studied. Results at the DFT-B3LYP/6-311++G** level show that the molecules always favor the stable staggered conformations, with low but significant energy barriers that hinder internal rotation. The chemical potential and hardness of Si_2H_6 remains quite constant as the sylil groups rotate around the Si-Si axis, whereas the other systems exhibit different degrees of rearrangement of the electronic density as a function of the torsion angle. A qualitative analysis of the frontier orbitals shows that the effect of torsional motion on electrophilic attack is negligible, whereas this internal rotation may generate different specific mechanisms for nucleophilic attack.Comment: LATeX file, 7 figures, uses elsart.cls, natbib, graphic

The Good, the Badge, and the Ugly: Takeaways from Creating an Information Literacy Badge

Digital badges are micro-certifications that indicate competence in particular skills. At Columbia College, we combined coursework on information literacy skills with a Wikipedia editing project to create a digital “Research Badge” administered through the campus learning management system. Our poster at SCLA 2019 shared project successes and areas for improvement

Genomanalyse von Prodiamesa olivacea

In this work, with the help of high-throughput sequencing, a partial analysis of the ~113 Mb-sized Prodiames olivacea genome was achieved. About ~74Mb (~ 14000 genes) could be covered in the process. Aside from highly and moderately repetitive DNA sequences such as satellite-DNA and histone- or hemoglobin genes, homologous genes from the sex determination cascade of Drosophila melanogaster were analyzed. Only one of the genes, the gene doublesex (dsx), has a probable role in the sex determination process. The in-frame-intron of the dsx-homologous gene represents a special case. This intron which has been identified as mosquito-specific, has also been found in P. olivacea and Chironomus -species. After analyzing the splice acceptor- and donor-sites, a splicing mechanism of dsx in P. olivacea as well as Anopheles gambiae is most probable. Additionally, an orthologous dsx-gene could be identified in P. olivacea. Previously, this could only be achieved for the three species of mosquito, as well as in some sub-species such as Chironomus. Since a Southern-analysis found no duplication for the gene fs(1)K10-like in P. olivacea male, as <was the case for male C. thummi/piger/luridus, a participation of homologous genes from the sex determining region of C. thummi in P. olivacea in sex determination is rather unlikely. Via the localization of 20 contigs in P. olivacea and 18 contigs in C. thummi/piger, a mapping of the chromosome arms 1L = F‘, 1R = D‘ and 2R = B‘ in P. olivacea could be achieved.In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde mittels NGS-Sequenzierungen von P. olivacea-DNA bzw. RNA eine partielle Analyse des ~113 Mb großem P. olivacea-Genoms durch geführt. Das hier sequenzierte Genom deckt davon ~74 Mb ab und umfasst ~14.000 Gene. Der Anteil an hochrepetitiver Sat-DNA kann grob auf 3 % geschätzt werden. Die Sat-DNA umfasst eine 168 bp-lange Sequenz mit 64 % AT-Gehalt, welche überwiegend oder auch vollständig mit ~14.000 Kopien in den Zentromerregionen der Chromosomen lokalisiert ist. Es konnten 10 intronhaltige Hämoglobin-Gene an drei chromosomalen Loci identifiziert werden Nach Analyse der abgeleiteten AS-Sequenz, der Einteilung der Helices A bis H und der möglichen 3D-Struktur wird angenommen, dass fünf der zehn abgeleiteten Hämoglobinproteine eine Rolle im Sauerstofftransport/-speicherung spielen. Allerdings trägt keins der Polypeptide am N-Terminus das 16-AS-lange Signalpepitd, welches die Sekretion des Hämoglobins aus den Hämoglobin-synthetisierenden “Fettzellen“ ermöglichen könnte. Die AS-Sequenz-Analyse ergab weiter, dass es sich bei den P. olivacea-Hämoglobinen um Monomere handeln muss. Vier der sechs in P. olivacea-Hämoglobinen vorkommenden Intronpositionen stimmen nicht mit den aus anderen Dipteren zuvor identifizierten Positionen überein und unterstützen somit die Hypothese von Intronintegrationsereignissen. Die identifizierten Histon-Cluster-Gene zeigen wie erwartet hochkonservierte Organisation und Sequenzen. Daneben konnten zwei Orphon-H3-Varianten identifiziert werden, jedoch keine Orphon-H1-Variante wie in C. thummi. Die Orphon-H3-Variante 1 zeigt große Übereinstimmung zur in D. melanogaster identifizierten H3.3-Variante, wogegen für die H3-Variante 2 eine homologe Variante in C. thummi identifiziert werden konnte. Die Analyse von homologen Genen aus der Geschlechtsbestimmungskaskade aus D. melanogaster ergab für 13 von 17 Genen (inklu. Sxl und tra-2) homologe Gene in P. olivacea. Dabei ist nur für das Gen dsx eine Rolle in der Geschlechtsbestimmung wahrscheinlich. Dies wird durch die larvalen Transkriptom-Daten von P. olivacea-Weibchen bzw. –Männchen unterstützt. Darüber hinaus konnte ein orthologes dsx-Gen in P. olivacea identifiziert werden. Dies erfolgte bereits für die Moskito-Arten A. aegypti, A. gambiae und C. quinquefasciatus sowie in Chironomus (thummi, piger, luridus, annularius). Eine weitere Besonderheit stellt ein in-frame-Intron des dsx-Homologen dar, welches zuvor als Moskito-spezifisch identifiziert wurde. Dies ist ebenfalls in P. olivacea und C. thummi/piger zu finden. Nach der Analyse der Spleiß-Akzeptor und -Donorstellen ist ein Spleißmechanismus von dsx in P. olivacea wie in A. gambiae am wahrscheinlichsten. Für die homologen Gene aus der SDR von C. thummi konnten 10 Homologe identifiziert werden. Eine Southern-Analyse ergab für das Gen fs(1)K10-like keine Duplikation in P. olivacea-Männchen wie es in C. thummi/piger/luridus-Männchen der Fall ist. Somit ist eine Beteiligung der homologen Gene aus der SDR von C. thummi in P. olivacea an der Geschlechtsbestimmung eher unwahrscheinlich. Über die Lokalisation von 20 Genen bzw. Contigs in P. olivacea und 18 Genen/Contigs in C. thummi/piger konnte eine Kartierung der P. olivacea-Chromosomenarme 1L = F‘, 1R = D‘ und 2R = B‘ erreicht werden.vii, 155 Blätte

Fighting "the Evil Scourge of Terrorism": From 'Jewish Terrorism' to 'Islamic Terrorism' in the United States, 1940-2017

This dissertation investigates how four central discursive agents – the U.S. government, academia, news journalism, and cultural productions – framed and conceptualized ‘terrorism’ from the 1940s onward. It shows how these four agents influenced each other, gradually spreading an understanding of ‘terrorism’ as a serious threat to national security further into American mainstream society. Beginning in the 1940s, the dissertation demonstrates that earlier conceptualizations of ‘terrorism’ understood the perpetrators as inherently rational actors with a clear political agenda and framed it as one minor aspect in larger issues of revolutions, rebellions, and guerrilla warfare. The project then investigates how the marginal status of ‘terrorism’ slowly changed in the 1970s when several high-profile incidents were increasingly understood as acts of ‘terrorism’ instead of, e.g., air piracy or simply hostage taking. In contrast to previous conceptualizations, the term also acquired an inherently negative connotation. From the 1980s onward, ‘terrorism’ dominated the political scene as various administrations vowed to fight it through war. Perpetrators were also increasingly identified based on ethnic and religious affiliation while references to political grievances decreased in importance. The dissertation then shows how framings of 9/11 and the ensuing ‘War on Terror’ as ‘Islamic terrorism’ targeting the United States for its superior democratic values were the result of a particular conceptualization of ‘terrorism’ which focused on Islam as an explanation for violence and postulated that ‘terrorism’ could only be fought through war. Another relevant finding of the project is that the Middle East, both the geographical region and the way it is imagined in American culture and politics, is central to notions about ‘terrorism’ in the United States. Negotiations of what ‘terrorism’ means at a particular point in time and to whom and why play out against the backdrop of American relations to the Middle East. Hence, while early framings of the issue focused on Jewish groups active in Palestine (and, eventually, Israel), in later years, analyses of ‘terrorism’ overwhelmingly focused on Arab groups and, more recently, Islamic perpetrators as main ‘terrorist’ threats – a construction which has only become cemented since the attacks of September 11, 2001. The dissertation thus also charts American engagement in the Middle East as a region which seemingly produced ‘terrorism’ against the United States while also analyzing how these ideas about ‘terrorism’ constructed the Middle East in the American cultural imaginary in return