Connexin communication compartments and wound repair in epithelial tissue

Epithelial tissues line the lumen of tracts and ducts connecting to the external environment. They are critical in forming an interface between the internal and external environment and, following assault from environmental factors and pathogens, they must rapidly repair to maintain cellular homeostasis. These tissue networks, that range from a single cell layer, such as in airway epithelium, to highly stratified and differentiated epithelial surfaces, such as the epidermis, are held together by a junctional nexus of proteins including adherens, tight and gap junctions, often forming unique and localised communication compartments activated for localised tissue repair. This review focuses on the dynamic changes that occur in connexins, the constituent proteins of the intercellular gap junction channel, during wound-healing processes and in localised inflammation, with an emphasis on the lung and skin. Current developments in targeting connexins as corrective therapies to improve wound closure and resolve localised inflammation are also discussed. Finally, we consider the emergence of the zebrafish as a concerted whole-animal model to study, visualise and track the events of wound repair and regeneration in real-time living model systems

Post-1995 French cinema: return of the social, return of the political?

A key trend in post-1995 French cinema has been the return of the social. Analysing this trend, this article seeks to evaluate its politic impact. Using Hervé Le Roux’s Reprise (1997) and Agnès Varda’s Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse (2000) as key meta-texts, it suggests that the current wave of politically engaged cinema needs to be approached in new ways that recognise how films trace the impact of a politically unmediated, ‘raw’ real on groups or individuals. It further suggests that the withdrawal of political mediation gives the films an essential ambiguity and a melodramatic quality that, rather than mere cliché, may be a privileged way to engage with the violence of the real. Film is now not so much in the van but dans le bain of a diverse socio-political stirring

The silence of self-knowledge

Gareth Evans famously affirmed an explanatory connection between answering the question whether p and knowing whether one believes that p. This is commonly interpreted in terms of the idea that judging that p constitutes an adequate basis for the belief that one believes that p. This paper formulates and defends an alternative, more modest interpretation, which develops from the suggestion that one can know that one believes that p in judging that p

Contamination Control and Assay Results for the Majorana Demonstrator Ultra Clean Components

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is a neutrinoless double beta decay experiment utilizing enriched Ge-76 detectors in 2 separate modules inside of a common solid shield at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. The DEMONSTRATOR has utilized world leading assay sensitivities to develop clean materials and processes for producing ultra-pure copper and plastic components. This experiment is now operating, and initial data provide new insights into the success of cleaning and processing. Post production copper assays after the completion of Module 1 showed an increase in U and Th contamination in finished parts compared to starting bulk material. A revised cleaning method and additional round of surface contamination studies prior to Module 2 construction have provided evidence that more rigorous process control can reduce surface contamination. This article describes the assay results and discuss further studies to take advantage of assay capabilities for the purpose of maintaining ultra clean fabrication and process design.Comment: Proceedings of Low Radioactivity Techniques (LRT May 2017, Seoul

Low Background Materials and Fabrication Techniques for Cables and Connectors in the Majorana Demonstrator

The MAJORANA Collaboration is searching for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the nucleus Ge-76. The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is an array of germanium detectors deployed with the aim of implementing background reduction techniques suitable for a tonne scale Ge-76-based search (the LEGEND collaboration). In the DEMONSTRATOR, germanium detectors operate in an ultra-pure vacuum cryostat at 80 K. One special challenge of an ultra-pure environment is to develop reliable cables, connectors, and electronics that do not significantly contribute to the radioactive background of the experiment. This paper highlights the experimental requirements and how these requirements were met for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, including plans to upgrade the wiring for higher reliability in the summer of 2018. Also described are requirements for LEGEND R&D efforts underway to meet these additional requirements.Comment: Proceedings of LRT 201