Mrs. Lincoln Goes Shopping

Analysis of the Old Clothes Scandal of 1867, and Mrs. Lincoln's "shopping mania."

Protein kinase B/Akt activity is involved in renal TGF-beta 1-driven epithelial-mesenchymal transition in vitro and in vivo

The molecular pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN), the leading cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide, is complex and not fully understood. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta1) plays a critical role in many fibrotic disorders, including DN. In this study, we report protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) activation as a downstream event contributing to the pathophysiology of DN. We investigated the potential of PKB/Akt to mediate the profibrotic bioactions of TGF-beta1 in kidney. Treatment of normal rat kidney epithelial cells (NRK52E) with TGF-beta1 resulted in activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and PKB/Akt as evidenced by increased Ser473 phosphorylation and GSK-3beta phosphorylation. TGF-beta1 also stimulated increased Smad3 phosphorylation in these cells, a response that was insensitive to inhibition of PI3K or PKB/Akt. NRK52E cells displayed a loss of zona occludins 1 and E-cadherin and a gain in vimentin and alpha-smooth muscle actin expression, consistent with the fibrotic actions of TGF-beta1. These effects were blocked with inhibitors of PI3K and PKB/Akt. Furthermore, overexpression of PTEN, the lipid phosphatase regulator of PKB/Akt activation, inhibited TGF-beta1-induced PKB/Akt activation. Interestingly, in the Goto-Kakizaki rat model of type 2 diabetes, we also detected increased phosphorylation of PKB/Akt and its downstream target, GSK-3beta, in the tubules, relative to that in control Wistar rats. Elevated Smad3 phosphorylation was also detected in kidney extracts from Goto-Kakizaki rats with chronic diabetes. Together, these data suggest that TGF-beta1-mediated PKB/Akt activation may be important in renal fibrosis during diabetic nephropathy.

Breit-Pauli R-matrix calculation of fine-structure effective collision strengths for the electron impact excitation of Mg V

Context. Electron-impact excitation collision strengths are required for the analysis and interpretation of stellar observations.
Aims. This calculation aims to provide effective collision strengths for the Mg V ion for a larger number of transitions and for a greater temperature range than previously available, using collision strength data that include contributions from resonances.
Methods. A 19-state Breit-Pauli R-matrix calculation was performed. The target states are represented by configuration interaction wavefunctions and consist of the 19 lowest LS states, having configurations 2s22p4, 2s2p5, 2p6, 2s22p33s, and 2s22p33p. These target states give rise to 37 fine-structure levels and 666 possible transitions. The effective collision strengths were calculated by averaging the electron collision strengths over a Maxwellian distribution of electron velocities.
Results. The non-zero effective collision strengths for transitions between the fine-structure levels are given for electron temperatures in the range = 3.0 - 7.0. Data for transitions among the 5 fine-structure levels arising from the 2s22p4 ground state configurations, seen in the UV range, are discussed in the paper, along with transitions in the EUV range – transitions from the ground state 3P levels to 2s2p5?3P levels. The 2s22p4?1D–2s2p5?1P transition is also noted. Data for the remaining transitions are available at the CDS.

Political Discourse and Conflict Resolution:Debating peace in Northern Ireland

This book offers new insights into the close relationship between political discourses and conflict resolution through critical analysis of the role of discursive change in a peace process.

Just as a peace process has many dimensions and stakeholders, so the discourses considered here come from a wide range of sources and actors. The book contains in-depth analyses of official discourses used to present the peace process, the discourses of political party leaders engaging (or otherwise) with it, the discourses of community-level activists responding to it, and the discourses of the media and the academy commenting on it. These discourses reflect varying levels of support for the peace process – from obstruction to promotion – and the role of language in moving across this spectrum according to issue and occasion. Common to all these analyses is the conviction that the language used by political protagonists and cultural stakeholders has a profound effect on progression towards peace.

Bringing together leading experts on Northern Ireland’s peace process from a range of academic disciplines, including political science, sociology, linguistics, history, geography, law, and peace studies, this book offers new insights into the discursive dynamics of violent political conflict and its resolution.