2,676 research outputs found
The suicide narratives of Silius Italicus
Get PDFIn this dissertation, I examine the theme of suicide in Silius Italicusâ Punica through the following case studies: Saguntum (Punica 2), Capua (Punica 11, 13), Hannibal (Punica 2, 13, 17), Scipio (Punica 4), and Solimus (Punica 9). I analyse recurrent literary features and motifs âcivil war, human/object/divine agency, bodily disfigurement, elemental imagery in loci horridi, exile, haunting memory, fides, and pietasâ and their connections to Siliusâ suicide ideology. I use frameworks provided by Narrative Exposure Therapy to connect these features with textual allusions to Siliusâ contemporary Rome and other Latin epics. I observe that Silius portrays suicide as a powerful weapon and instrument for moral action, a form of internal civil war, a form of escape and exile, and a transformative boundary threshold. I conclude that Silius presents an epic ideology of suicide that enabled readers to contemplate the emotional experiences of suicide, and the effects of suicide on oneâs physical/cultural identity and environment. These reveal a duality of Silian suicides as desperate acts amid uncontrollable and impossible situations, and as means of reclaiming personal power and control of oneâs fate
The Rapid Outbursting Star GM Cep: An EX-or in Tr 37?
Full text linkWe present optical, IR and millimeter observations of the solar-type star
13-277, also known as GM Cep, in the 4 Myr-old cluster Tr 37. GM Cep
experiences rapid magnitude variations of more than 2 mag at optical
wavelengths. We explore the causes of the variability, which seem to be
dominated by strong increases in the accretion, being similar to EX-or
episodes. The star shows high, variable accretion rates (up to ~10
Msun/yr), signs of powerful winds, and it is a very fast rotator (Vsini~43
km/s). Its strong mid-IR excesses reveal a very flared disk and/or a remnant
envelope, most likely out of hydrostatic equilibrium. The 1.3 millimeter fluxes
suggest a relatively massive disk (Mdisk~0.1 Msun). Nevertheless, the
millimeter mass is not enough to sustain increased accretion episodes over
large timescales, unless the mass is underestimated due to significant grain
growth. We finally explore the possibility of GM Cep having a binary companion,
which could trigger disk instabilities producing the enhanced accretion
episodes.Comment: 43 pages, including 10 figures, ApJ in pres
The Genetic Basis of Natural Variation in Caenorhabditis elegans Telomere Length
Get PDFTelomeres are involved in the maintenance of chromosomes and the prevention of genome instability. Despite this central importance, significant variation in telomere length has been observed in a variety of organisms. The genetic determinants of telomere-length variation and their effects on organismal fitness are largely unexplored. Here, we describe natural variation in telomere length across the Caenorhabditis elegans species. We identify a large-effect variant that contributes to differences in telomere length. The variant alters the conserved oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding fold of protection of telomeres 2 (POT-2), a homolog of a human telomere-capping shelterin complex subunit. Mutations within this domain likely reduce the ability of POT-2 to bind telomeric DNA, thereby increasing telomere length. We find that telomere-length variation does not correlate with offspring production or longevity in C. elegans wild isolates, suggesting that naturally long telomeres play a limited role in modifying fitness phenotypes in C. elegans
The MINERA Data Acquisition System and Infrastructure
Full text linkMINERA (Main INjector ExpeRiment -A) is a new few-GeV neutrino
cross section experiment that began taking data in the FNAL NuMI (Fermi
National Accelerator Laboratory Neutrinos at the Main Injector) beam-line in
March of 2010. MINERA employs a fine-grained scintillator detector capable
of complete kinematic characterization of neutrino interactions. This paper
describes the MINERA data acquisition system (DAQ) including the read-out
electronics, software, and computing architecture.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figure
Effects of Lumacaftor/Ivacaftor on Cystic Fibrosis Disease Progression in Children 2 through 5 Years of Age Homozygous for F508del-CFTR: A Phase 2 Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial.
Get PDFRATIONALE
Lumacaftor/ivacaftor (LUM/IVA) was shown to be safe and well tolerated in children 2 through 5 years of age with cystic fibrosis (CF) homozygous for F508del-CFTR in a phase 3 open-label study. Improvements in sweat chloride concentration, markers of pancreatic function, and lung clearance index2.5 (LCI2.5), along with increases in growth parameters, suggested the potential for early disease modification with LUM/IVA treatment.
OBJECTIVE
To further assess the effects of LUM/IVA on CF disease progression in children 2 through 5 years of age using chest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
METHODS
This phase 2 study had two parts: a 48-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled treatment period in which children 2 through 5 years of age with CF homozygous for F508del-CFTR received either LUM/IVA or placebo (Part 1) followed by an open-label period in which all children received LUM/IVA for an additional 48 weeks (Part 2). We report results from Part 1. The primary endpoint was absolute change from baseline in chest MRI global score at Week 48. Secondary endpoints included absolute change in LCI2.5 through Week 48 and absolute changes in weight-for-age, stature-for-age, and body mass index-for-age z-scores at Week 48. Additional endpoints included absolute changes in sweat chloride concentration, fecal elastase-1 levels, serum immunoreactive trypsinogen, and fecal calprotectin through Week 48. The primary endpoint was analyzed using Bayesian methods, where the actual Bayesian posterior probability of LUM/IVA being superior to placebo in the MRI global chest score at Week 48 was calculated using a vague normal prior distribution; secondary and additional endpoints were analyzed using descriptive summary statistics.
RESULTS
Fifty-one children were enrolled and received LUM/IVA (n=35) or placebo (n=16). For the change in MRI global chest score at Week 48, the Bayesian posterior probability of LUM/IVA being better than placebo (treatment difference <0; higher score indicating greater abnormality) was 76%; the mean treatment difference was -1.5 (95% credible interval, -5.5 to 2.6). Treatment with LUM/IVA also led to within-group numerical improvements in LCI2.5, growth parameters, and biomarkers of pancreatic function as well as greater decreases in sweat chloride concentration compared with placebo from baseline through Week 48. Safety data were consistent with the established safety profile of LUM/IVA.
CONCLUSIONS
This placebo-controlled study suggests the potential for early disease modification with LUM/IVA treatment, including that assessed by chest MRI, in children as young as 2 years. Clinical trial registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03625466)
Measurement of Muon Antineutrino Quasi-Elastic Scattering on a Hydrocarbon Target at E_{\nu} ~ 3.5 GeV
Full text linkWe have isolated muon anti-neutrino charged-current quasi-elastic
interactions occurring in the segmented scintillator tracking region of the
MINERvA detector running in the NuMI neutrino beam at Fermilab. We measure the
flux-averaged differential cross-section, d{\sigma}/dQ^2, and compare to
several theoretical models of quasi-elastic scattering. Good agreement is
obtained with a model where the nucleon axial mass, M_A, is set to 0.99 GeV/c^2
but the nucleon vector form factors are modified to account for the observed
enhancement, relative to the free nucleon case, of the cross-section for the
exchange of transversely polarized photons in electron-nucleus scattering. Our
data at higher Q^2 favor this interpretation over an alternative in which the
axial mass is increased.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Added correlation between neutrino and
anti-neutrino results in ancillary text files (CSV
Transgenic expression of the dicotyledonous pattern recognition receptor EFR in rice leads to ligand-dependent activation of defense responses
Get PDFPlant plasma membrane localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) detect extracellular pathogen-associated molecules. PRRs such as Arabidopsis EFR and rice XA21 are taxonomically restricted and are absent from most plant genomes. Here we show that rice plants expressing EFR or the chimeric receptor EFR::XA21, containing the EFR ectodomain and the XA21 intracellular domain, sense both Escherichia coli- and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo)-derived elf18 peptides at sub-nanomolar concentrations. Treatment of EFR and EFR::XA21 rice leaf tissue with elf18 leads to MAP kinase activation, reactive oxygen production and defense gene expression. Although expression of EFR does not lead to robust enhanced resistance to fully virulent Xoo isolates, it does lead to quantitatively enhanced resistance to weakly virulent Xoo isolates. EFR interacts with OsSERK2 and the XA21 binding protein 24 (XB24), two key components of the rice XA21-mediated immune response. Rice-EFR plants silenced for OsSERK2, or overexpressing rice XB24 are compromised in elf18-induced reactive oxygen production and defense gene expression indicating that these proteins are also important for EFR-mediated signaling in transgenic rice. Taken together, our results demonstrate the potential feasibility of enhancing disease resistance in rice and possibly other monocotyledonous crop species by expression of dicotyledonous PRRs. Our results also suggest that Arabidopsis EFR utilizes at least a subset of the known endogenous rice XA21 signaling components
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