Mapping the sites of latency and reactivation by bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV-5) and a thymidine kinase-deleted BoHV-5 in lambs

A thymidine kinase (tk)-deleted bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV-5tkΔ) was previously shown to establish latent infection and reactivate - even poorly - in a sheep model (Cadore et al. 2013). As TK-negative alphaherpesviruses are unlike to reactivate in neural tissue, this study investigated the sites of latency and reactivation by this recombinant in lambs. For this, groups of lambs were inoculated intranasally with the parental BoHV-5 strain (SV-507/99) or with the recombinant BoHV-5tkΔ. During latent infection (40 days post-inoculation, pi), the distribution of recombinant virus DNA in neural and non-neural tissues was similar to that of the parental virus. Parental and recombinant virus DNA was consistently detected by PCR in trigeminal ganglia (TGs); frequently in palatine and pharyngeal tonsils and, less frequently in the retropharyngeal lymph nodes. In addition, latent DNA of both viruses was detected in several areas of the brain. After dexamethasone (Dx) administration (day 40pi), the recombinant virus was barely detected in nasal secretions contrasting with marked shedding of the parental virus. In tissues of lambs euthanized at day 3 post-Dx treatment (pDx), reverse-transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) for a late viral mRNA (glycoprotein D gene) demonstrated reactivation of parental virus in neural (TGs) and lymphoid tissues (tonsils, lymph node). In contrast, recombinant virus mRNA was detected only in lymphoid tissues. These results demonstrate that BoHV-5 and the recombinant BoHV-5tkΔ do establish latent infection in neural and non-neural sites. Reactivation of the recombinant BoHV-5tkΔ, however, appeared to occur only in non-neural sites. In anyway, the ability of a tk-deleted strain to reactivate latent infection deserves attention in the context of vaccine safety.

In The Circle : jazz Griots and the Mapping of African American Cultural Memory in Poetry

Ma thèse de doctorat, In the Circle: Jazz Griots and the Mapping of African American Cultural History in Poetry, étudie la façon dont les poètes afro-américains des années 1960 et 1970, Langston Hughes, David Henderson, Sonia Sanchez, et Amiri Baraka, emploient le jazz afin d’ancrer leur poésie dans la tradition de performance. Ce faisant, chacun de ces poètes démontre comment la culture noire, en conceptualisant à travers la performance des modes de résistance, fût utilisée par les peuples de descendance africaine pour contrer le racisme institutionnalisé et les discours discriminatoires. Donc, pour les fins de cette thèse, je me concentre sur quatre poètes engagés dans des dialogues poétiques avec la musicologie, l’esthétique, et la politique afro-américaines des années 1960 et 1970. Ces poètes affirment la centralité de la performativité littéraire noire afin d’assurer la survie et la continuité de la mémoire culturelle collective des afro-américains. De plus, mon argument est que la théorisation de l’art afro-américain comme engagement politique devient un élément central à l’élaboration d’une esthétique noire basée sur la performance. Ma thèse de doctorat propose donc une analyse originale des ces quatre poètes qui infusent leur poèmes avec des références au jazz et à la politique dans le but de rééduquer les générations des années 2000 en ce qui concerne leur mémoire collective.

Conceptual blending and the mapping of the inner recesses of the mind in Virginia Woolf's The Waves

Cette étude offre une lecture de The Waves de Virginia Woolf en tant qu’une représentation fictive des “formes exactes de la pensée.” Elle établit le lien entre le récit de The Waves et l’expérience personnelle de l’auteur avec “les voix” qui hantaient son esprit, en raison de sa maladie maniaco-dépressive. La présente étude propose également une analyse du roman inspirée par la théorie de la “fusion conceptuelle:” cette approche narrative a pour but de (1) souligner “la fusion” de l’imagination, des émotions, et de la perception qui constitue l’essence du récit de The Waves, (2) mettre l’accent sur les “configurations mentales” subtilement développées par/entre les voix du récit, en vue de diminuer le semblant de la désorganisation et de l’éparpillement des pensées généré par la représentation de la conscience, (3) permettre au lecteur d’accéder à la configuration subjective et identitaire des différentes voix du récit en traçant l’éventail de leurs pensées “fusionnées.” L’argument de cette dissertation est subdivisé en trois chapitres: le premier chapitre emploie la théorie de la fusion conceptuelle afin de souligner les processus mentaux menant à la création de “moments de vision.” Il décrit la manière dont la fusion des pensées intérieures et de la perception dans les “moments de vision” pourrait servir de tremplin à la configuration subjective des voix du récit. La deuxième section interprète l’ensemble des voix du roman en tant qu’une “société de soi-mêmes.” À l’aide de la théorie de la fusion conceptuelle, elle met l’accent sur les formes de pensée entrelacées entre les différentes voix du récit, ce qui permet aux protagonistes de développer une identité interrelationnelle, placée au plein centre des différentes subjectivités. Le troisième chapitre trace les processus mentaux permettant aux différentes voix du roman de développer une forme de subjectivité cohérente et intégrée. Dans ce chapitre, l’idée de la fusion des différents aspects de l’identité proposée par Fauconnier et Turner est employée pour décrire l’intégration des éléments de la subjectivité des protagonistes en une seule configuration identitaire. D’ailleurs, ce chapitre propose une interprétation du triste suicide de Rhoda qui met en relief son inaptitude à intégrer les fragments de sa subjectivité en une identité cohérente et “fusionnée.”

Mapping fibre orientation in complex-shaped biological systems with micrometre resolution by scanning X-ray microdiffraction

A fully automated procedure to extract and to image local fibre orientation in biological tissues from scanning X-ray diffraction is presented. The preferred chitin fibre orientation in the flow sensing system of crickets is determined with high spatial resolution by applying synchrotron radiation based X-ray microbeam diffraction in conjunction with advanced sample sectioning using a UV micro-laser. The data analysis is based on an automated detection of azimuthal diffraction maxima after 2D convolution filtering (smoothing) of the 2D diffraction patterns. Under the assumption of crystallographic fibre symmetry around the morphological fibre axis, the evaluation method allows mapping the three-dimensional orientation of the fibre axes in space. The resulting two-dimensional maps of the local fibre orientations - together with the complex shape of the flow sensing system - may be useful for a better understanding of the mechanical optimization of such tissues.

Unpacking the mechanism by which psychological ownership manifests at the level of the individual: a dynamic model of identity and self

Increasing prominence of the psychological ownership (PO) construct in management studies raises questions about how PO manifests at the level of the individual. In this article, we unpack the mechanism by which individuals use PO to express aspects of their identity and explore how PO manifestations can display congruence as well as incongruence between layers of self. As a conceptual foundation, we develop a dynamic model of individual identity that differentiates between four layers of self, namely, the “core self,” “learned self,” “lived self,” and “perceived self.” We then bring identity and PO literatures together to suggest a framework of PO manifestation and expression viewed through the lens of the four presented layers of self. In exploring our framework, we develop a number of propositions that lay the foundation for future empirical and conceptual work and discuss implications for theory and practice.

Mapping low- and high-density clouds in astrophysical nebulae by imaging forbidden line emission

Emission line ratios have been essential for determining physical parameters such as gas temperature and density in astrophysical gaseous nebulae. With the advent of panoramic spectroscopic devices, images of regions with emission lines related to these physical parameters can, in principle, also be produced. We show that, with observations from modern instruments, it is possible to transform images taken from density-sensitive forbidden lines into images of emission from high- and low-density clouds by applying a transformation matrix. In order to achieve this, images of the pairs of density-sensitive lines as well as the adjacent continuum have to be observed and combined. We have computed the critical densities for a series of pairs of lines in the infrared, optical, ultraviolet and X-rays bands, and calculated the pair line intensity ratios in the high- and low-density limit using a four- and five-level atom approximation. In order to illustrate the method, we applied it to Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) Integral Field Unit (GMOS-IFU) data of two galactic nuclei. We conclude that this method provides new information of astrophysical interest, especially for mapping low- and high-density clouds; for this reason, we call it `the ld/hd imaging method`.

Gamma Knife(A (R)) 3-D Dose Distribution Mapping by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In medical processes where ionizing radiation is used, dose planning and dose delivery are the key elements to patient safety and treatment success, particularly, when the delivered dose in a single session of treatment can be an order of magnitude higher than the regular doses of radiotherapy. Therefore, the radiation dose should be well defined and precisely delivered to the target while minimizing radiation exposure to surrounding normal tissues [1]. Several methods have been proposed to obtain three-dimensional (3-D) dose distribution [2, 3]. In this paper, we propose an alternative method, which can be easily implemented in any stereotactic radiosurgery center with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility. A phantom with or without scattering centers filled with Fricke gel solution is irradiated with Gamma Knife(A (R)) system at a chosen spot. The phantom can be a replica of a human organ such as head, breast or any other organ. It can even be constructed from a real 3-D MR image of an organ of a patient using a computer-aided construction and irradiated at a specific region corresponding to the tumor position determined by MRI. The spin-lattice relaxation time T (1) of different parts of the irradiated phantom is determined by localized spectroscopy. The T (1)-weighted phantom images are used to correlate the image pixels intensity to the absorbed dose and consequently a 3-D dose distribution with a high resolution is obtained.

Molecular mapping of the viral determinants of systemic wilting induced by a Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV) isolate in some lettuce cultivars

The isolate AF199 of Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV, genus Potyvirus) causes local lesions followed by systemic wilting and plant death in the lettuce cultivars Ithaca and Vanguard 75. Analysis of the phenotype of virus chimeras revealed that a region within the PI protein coding region (nucleotides 112-386 in the viral genome) and/or another one within the CI protein coding region (nucleoticles 5496-5855) are sufficient together to cause the lethal wilting in Ithaca, but not in Vanguard 75. This indicates that the determinants of this particular symptom are different in these two lettuce cultivars. The wilting phenotype was not directly correlated with differences in the deduced amino acid sequence of these two regions. Furthermore, transient expression of the LMV-AF 199 proteins, separately or in combination, did not induce local necrosis or any other visible reaction in the plants. Together, these results Suggest that the systemic wilting reaction might be Clue to RNA rather than protein sequences. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.