The Anthropocene monument:on relating geological and human time

In the Parthenon frieze, the time of mortals and the time of gods seem to merge. Dipesh Chakrabarty has argued that with the advent of the Anthropocene the times of human history and of the Earth are similarly coming together. Are humans entering the ‘monumental time’ of the Earth, to stand alongside the Olympian gods of the other geological forces? In this paper I first look at the cultural shifts leading to the modern idea of separate human and Earth histories. I examine the changing use of monuments to mediate between human and other temporalities. I explore the use of ‘stratigraphic sections’ as natural monuments to mark transitions between the major time units of Earth history, and the erection of intentional monuments nearby. I suggest that the Anthropocene, as a geological epoch-in-the-making, may challenge the whole system of monumental semiotics used to stabilise our way of thinking about deep time

Light Chain– dependent Regulation of Kinesin's Interaction with Microtubules

We have investigated the mechanism by which conventional kinesin is prevented from binding to microtubules (MTs) when not transporting cargo. Kinesin heavy chain (HC) was expressed in COS cells either alone or with kinesin light chain (LC). Immunofluorescence microscopy and MT cosedimentation experiments demonstrate that the binding of HC to MTs is inhibited by coexpression of LC. Association between the chains involves the LC NH2-terminal domain, including the heptad repeats, and requires a region of HC that includes the conserved region of the stalk domain and the NH2 terminus of the tail domain. Inhibition of MT binding requires in addition the COOH-terminal 64 amino acids of HC. Interaction between the tail and the motor domains of HC is supported by sedimentation experiments that indicate that kinesin is in a folded conformation. A pH shift from 7.2 to 6.8 releases inhibition of kinesin without changing its sedimentation behavior. Endogenous kinesin in COS cells also shows pH-sensitive inhibition of MT binding. Taken together, our results provide evidence that a function of LC is to keep kinesin in an inactive ground state by inducing an interaction between the tail and motor domains of HC; activation for cargo transport may be triggered by a small conformational change that releases the inhibition of the motor domain for MT binding

A Novel Collaboration to Reduce the Travel-Related Cost of Residency Interviewing

Introduction: Interviewing for residency is a complicated and often expensive endeavor. Literature has estimated interview costs of $4,000 to$15,000 per applicant, mostly attributable to travel and lodging. The authors sought to reduce these costs and improve the applicant interview experience by coordinating interview dates between two residency programs in .Methods: Two emergency medicine residency programs scheduled contiguous interview dates for the 2015-2016 interview season. A survey was used to assess applicant experiences interviewing in and attitudes regarding coordinated scheduling. Data on utilization of coordinated dates were obtained from interview scheduling software. The target group for this intervention consisted of applicants from medical schools outside that completed interviews at both programs.Results: Of the 158 applicants invited to both programs, 84 (53%) responded to the survey. Scheduling data was available for all applicants. The total estimated cost savings for target applicants coordinating interview dates was $18,600. The majority of target applicants reported that this intervention increased the ease of scheduling (84%), made them less likely to cancel the interview (82%) and saved them money (71%).Conclusions: Coordinated scheduling of interview dates was associated with significant estimated cost savings and was reviewed favorably by applicants across all measures of experience. Expanding use of this practice geographically and across specialties may further reduce the cost of interviewing for applicants

Um breve guia para as Humanidades Digitais

As digital methodologies, tools and skills become increasingly central to working in the humanities, questions concerning the foundations, project outcomes, evaluation and design have become urgent. The specifications provide a set of criteria to guide those actually working in the Digital Humanities, as well as those who are asked to evaluate and fund Digital Humanities researchers, projects, and initiatives

Novel loss-of-function variants in CDC14A are associated with recessive sensorineural hearing loss in Iranian and Pakistani patients

CDC14A encodes the Cell Division Cycle 14A protein and has been associated with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (DFNB32), as well as hearing impairment and infertile male syndrome (HIIMS) since 2016. To date, only nine variants have been associated in patients whose initial symptoms included moderate-to-profound hearing impairment. Exome analysis of Iranian and Pakistani probands who both showed bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss revealed a novel splice site variant (c.1421+2T>C, p.?) that disrupts the splice donor site and a novel frameshift variant (c.1041dup, p.Ser348Glnfs*2) in the gene CDC14A, respectively. To evaluate the pathogenicity of both loss-of-function variants, we analyzed the effects of both variants on the RNA-level. The splice variant was characterized using a minigene assay. Altered expression levels due to the c.1041dup variant were assessed using RT-qPCR. In summary, cDNA analysis confirmed that the c.1421+2T>C variant activates a cryptic splice site, resulting in a truncated transcript (c.1414_1421del, p.Val472Leufs*20) and the c.1041dup variant results in a defective transcript that is likely degraded by nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. The present study functionally characterizes two variants and provides further confirmatory evidence that CDC14A is associated with a rare form of hereditary hearing loss

Las realizaciones de lo «arcaico» en el mundo ibérico

This joint paper presents the preliminar report of a French-Spanish team working on the implications of the so called «archaism» in the lberian Culture: concepts, historiagraphy and relationship with other Mediterranean areas. Outstanding topics are considered: Greek and Iberian bronzes, Orientalizing jewellery, local sculpture, pottery, iconography. etc. Different exchange and trade techniques between the Península and the East Mediterranean during the Orientalizing period is also analysed. Additional publications will be further preseniedSe presenta el informe preliminar elaborado por un equipo hispanofrancés sobre las implicaciones de lo llamado «arcaico» en la cultura ibérica: su concepto, su historiografia y su relación con otras columnas mediterráneas. Se tratan aspectos particulares: bronces griegos e ibéricos, joycria orientalizante, escultura local, cerámica, problemas iconográficos, etc. Se analizan también diferentes formas de comercio en época temprana con las áreas mediterráneas. El trabajo en equipo se desarrollará en el futuro