Charisma and the Clinic

Here we argue that ‘charisma’, a concept widely taken up within geography and the environmental humanities, is of utility to the social studies of medicine. Charisma, we suggest, draws attention to the affective dimensions of medical work, the ways in which these affective relations are structured, and the manner in which they are intimately tied to particular material-discursive contexts. The paper differentiates this notion of charisma from Weber’s analyses of the ‘charismatic leader’ before detailing three forms of charisma - ecological (which relates to the affordances an entity has), corporeal (related to bodily interaction) and aesthetic (pertaining to an entity’s initial visual and emotional impact). Drawing on interview data we then show how this framework can be used to understand the manner in which psychologists and neuroscientists have come to see and act on autism. We conclude the article by suggesting that examining charisma within healthcare settings furthers the concept, in particular by drawing attention to the discursive features of ecologies and the ‘non-innocence’ of charisma

Regulation of microRNA biogenesis and turnover by animals and their viruses

Item does not contain fulltextMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a ubiquitous component of gene regulatory networks that modulate the precise amounts of proteins expressed in a cell. Despite their small size, miRNA genes contain various recognition elements that enable specificity in when, where and to what extent they are expressed. The importance of precise control of miRNA expression is underscored by functional studies in model organisms and by the association between miRNA mis-expression and disease. In the last decade, identification of the pathways by which miRNAs are produced, matured and turned-over has revealed many aspects of their biogenesis that are subject to regulation. Studies in viral systems have revealed a range of mechanisms by which viruses target these pathways through viral proteins or non-coding RNAs in order to regulate cellular gene expression. In parallel, a field of study has evolved around the activation and suppression of antiviral RNA interference (RNAi) by viruses. Virus encoded suppressors of RNAi can impact miRNA biogenesis in cases where miRNA and small interfering RNA pathways converge. Here we review the literature on the mechanisms by which miRNA biogenesis and turnover are regulated in animals and the diverse strategies that viruses use to subvert or inhibit these processes

Discovery of Porcine microRNAs and Profiling from Skeletal Muscle Tissues during Development

MiRNAs (microRNAs) play critical roles in many important biological processes such as growth and development in mammals. In this study, we identified hundreds of porcine miRNA candidates through in silico prediction and analyzed their expression in developing skeletal muscle using microarray. Microarray screening using RNA samples prepared from a 33-day whole embryo and an extra embryo membrane validated 296 of the predicted candidates. Comparative expression profiling across samples of longissimus muscle collected from 33-day and 65-day post-gestation fetuses, as well as adult pigs, identified 140 differentially expressed miRNAs amongst the age groups investigated. The differentially expressed miRNAs showed seven distinctive types of expression patterns, suggesting possible involvement in certain biological processes. Five of the differentially expressed miRNAs were validated using real-time PCR. In silico analysis of the miRNA-mRNA interaction sites suggested that the potential mRNA targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs may play important roles in muscle growth and development

Spiral attractor created by vector solitons

Mode-locked lasers emitting a train of femtosecond pulses called dissipative solitons are an enabling technology for metrology, high-resolution spectroscopy, fibre optic communications, nano-optics and many other fields of science and applications. Recently, the vector nature of dissipative solitons has been exploited to demonstrate mode locked lasing with both locked and rapidly evolving states of polarisation. Here, for an erbium-doped fibre laser mode locked with carbon nanotubes, we demonstrate the first experimental and theoretical evidence of a new class of slowly evolving vector solitons characterized by a double-scroll chaotic polarisation attractor substantially different from Lorenz, Rössler and Ikeda strange attractors. The underlying physics comprises a long time scale coherent coupling of two polarisation modes. The observed phenomena, apart from the fundamental interest, provide a base for advances in secure communications, trapping and manipulation of atoms and nanoparticles, control of magnetisation in data storage devices and many other areas

Polarisation dynamics of vector soliton molecules in mode locked fibre laser

Two fundamental laser physics phenomena - dissipative soliton and polarisation of light are recently merged to the concept of vector dissipative soliton (VDS), viz. train of short pulses with specific state of polarisation (SOP) and shape defined by an interplay between anisotropy, gain/loss, dispersion, and nonlinearity. Emergence of VDSs is both of the fundamental scientific interest and is also a promising technique for control of dynamic SOPs important for numerous applications from nano-optics to high capacity fibre optic communications. Using specially designed and developed fast polarimeter, we present here the first experimental results on SOP evolution of vector soliton molecules with periodic polarisation switching between two and three SOPs and superposition of polarisation switching with SOP precessing. The underlying physics presents an interplay between linear and circular birefringence of a laser cavity along with light induced anisotropy caused by polarisation hole burning

Covid-19: When Species and Data Meet

This article explores how species meet, in particular humans and the Covid-19 virus. It also draws attention to the digital world through the lens of contact-tracing apps. Here, I examine human-virus-data relations, with humans, Covid-19, and data meeting and intra-acting. This article examines what has led us to this situation with Covid-19 and the role data is currently playing. The article offers an answer to two questions. How do humans, Covid-19, and Covid-19 contact-tracing apps meet and intra-act? What are the social justice issues and problems associated with contact-tracing apps? This article examines how species meet and intra-act, as well as how the Anthropocene has contributed to the current situation. The article also discusses contact-tracing apps and what these apps mean for society. Finally, the article shows how entanglements are not only constrained to those which are multispecies but also stretch out to the digital. These postdigital hybrid assemblages enable the coming together of humans, biological-more-than-human-worlds, and the digital. Postdigital hybrid assemblages enable us to push beyond boundaries, helping us understand Covid-19 and its impacts on society. Hopefully, this discussion about the postdigital hybrid assemblage will contribute to discussions in the future, and long after Covid-19, about how we are living our lives, and who and what we are living our lives with

Evaluation of a new high-dimensional miRNA profiling platform

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of approximately 22 nucleotide long, widely expressed RNA molecules that play important regulatory roles in eukaryotes. To investigate miRNA function, it is essential that methods to quantify their expression levels be available.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluated a new miRNA profiling platform that utilizes Illumina's existing robust DASL chemistry as the basis for the assay. Using total RNA from five colon cancer patients and four cell lines, we evaluated the reproducibility of miRNA expression levels across replicates and with varying amounts of input RNA. The beta test version was comprised of 735 miRNA targets of Illumina's miRNA profiling application.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Reproducibility between sample replicates within a plate was good (Spearman's correlation 0.91 to 0.98) as was the plate-to-plate reproducibility replicates run on different days (Spearman's correlation 0.84 to 0.98). To determine whether quality data could be obtained from a broad range of input RNA, data obtained from amounts ranging from 25 ng to 800 ng were compared to those obtained at 200 ng. No effect across the range of RNA input was observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate that very small amounts of starting material are sufficient to allow sensitive miRNA profiling using the Illumina miRNA high-dimensional platform. Nonlinear biases were observed between replicates, indicating the need for abundance-dependent normalization. Overall, the performance characteristics of the Illumina miRNA profiling system were excellent.</p

The Quantum Mind: Alternative Ways of Reasoning with Uncertainty

© 2018, Ontario Institute for Educational Studies (OISE). Human reasoning about and with uncertainty is often at odds with the principles of classical probability. Order effects, conjunction biases, and sure-thing inclinations suggest that an entirely different set of probability axioms could be developed and indeed may be needed to describe such habits. Recent work in diverse fields, including cognitive science, economics, and information theory, explores alternative approaches to decision theory. This work considers more expansive theories of reasoning with uncertainty while continuing to recognize the value of classical probability. In this paper, we discuss one such alternative approach, called quantum probability, and explore its applications within decision theory. Quantum probability is designed to formalize uncertainty as an ontological feature of the state of affairs, offering a mathematical model for entanglement, de/coherence, and interference, which are all concepts with unique onto-epistemological relevance for social theorists working in new and trans-materialisms. In this paper, we suggest that this work be considered part of the quantum turn in the social sciences and humanities. Our aim is to explore different models and formalizations of decision theory that attend to the situatedness of judgment. We suggest that the alternative models of reasoning explored in this article might be better suited to queries about entangled mathematical concepts and, thus, be helpful in rethinking both curriculum and learning theory

Phosphodiesterase Inhibition Increases CREB Phosphorylation and Restores Orientation Selectivity in a Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are the leading cause of mental retardation in the western world and children with FASD present altered somatosensory, auditory and visual processing. There is growing evidence that some of these sensory processing problems may be related to altered cortical maps caused by impaired developmental neuronal plasticity. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we show that the primary visual cortex of ferrets exposed to alcohol during the third trimester equivalent of human gestation have decreased CREB phosphorylation and poor orientation selectivity revealed by western blotting, optical imaging of intrinsic signals and single-unit extracellular recording techniques. Treating animals several days after the period of alcohol exposure with a phosphodiesterase type 1 inhibitor (Vinpocetine) increased CREB phosphorylation and restored orientation selectivity columns and neuronal orientation tuning. Conclusions/Significance: These findings suggest that CREB function is important for the maturation of orientation selectivity and that plasticity enhancement by vinpocetine may play a role in the treatment of sensory problems in FASD