Letter from David Phips to Colonel Jonathan Snelling regarding escort of Governor Hutchinson to Harvard Commencement, 1773 July 12

David Phips wrote this letter to Colonel Jonathan Snelling from Cambridge on July 12, 1773, to inform him that Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson had requested the accompaniment of guards during his travels from Milton to Cambridge on July 21, 1773, to attend the Harvard College Commencement exercises. In the letter, Phips informs Snelling that he has issued warrants to the guards, instructing them to congregate at the Sign of the Grey Hound in Roxbury, Massachusetts at eight o'clock on the morning of the 21st. He explains that twelve other men will march, under the command of Sub-Brigadier Sumner, to the Governor's home in Milton to escort him to Roxbury, where the larger party will assemble. These heightened security measures were certainly prompted by political unrest, although this is not stated explicitly in the letter. Phips concludes by saying: "I shall order a dinner for us at Bradish's, where I hope to have the pleasure to dine with you."

Letter from Thomas Hollis to the Curators of Harvard College, 1762 July 21

Thomas Hollis V (1720-1774), widely known as Thomas Hollis of Lincoln’s Inn, was a very generous donor to Harvard College, particularly its library. This letter, which appears to have accompanied a package, demonstrates that he also donated prints to the College. Hollis wrote: "N.B. the Ludlow, Sydney, Marvell, & Cleopatra are struck on paper made from white & colored silk rags, the produce of premiums of the Society, the noble Society for promoting arts & commerce."

Notebook of John Allen, 1772

Paper-covered notebook containing handwritten poems and verse by Harvard graduate John Allen. Some of the poems refer to Allen’s illnesses in October 1772. The notebook also contains a short list titled “The Gentleman that I wrote diplomas for," with a list of sixteen individuals who received degrees from Harvard. The inside cover includes the inscription: “John Allen – November 4, 1772. Poetic Composition.” “Dr. T. C. Gilman” is stamped on cover.

Student essay composed by Thomas Mason, 1796

Three-page folio-sized handwritten student essay composed by Thomas Mason as a Harvard undergraduate. The verso of the last page is inscribed "Mason February 1796." A quotation from Edward Young appears at the top of the first page: "Heaven gives us friends to bless the present science; / Resumes them, to prepare us for the rest." The essay discusses friendship and the death of friends, and begins, "The author of our nature has so constituted it, that pleasure is unknown without the intervention of pain."

Student compositions of Washington Allston, 1799

Handwritten essay about procrastination and a poem celebrating spring composed by Washington Allston while he was an undergraduate at Harvard. The essay uses a story about a young Italian named Bernardo to discuss the consequences of procrastination. The essay is labeled “Allston Novem. ’99" and is titled with a quote from Edward Young's poem "The Complaint," “Procrastination is Theif [sic] of time.” Allston’s poem celebrates spring and incorporates Phillida and Corydon, two characters from Nicholas Breton’s poem “Phillida and Cordion.” The poem is titled with the verses, “Chief, lovely spring, in thee, and thy soft scenes, / The smiling God is seen” from James Thompson's poem “Spring.” The poem is labeled "Allston July 10, 1799."

What Cameron should have known: Q &A. CEPS Commentary, 4 November 2014

The surprise revelation that the UK would be paying a surcharge to the EU budget of €2.1 billion sent Prime Minister Cameron into a rampage. How could this misunderstanding have arisen, as the resources mechanism of the EU budget uses a rather rigid method of calculation agreed by all member states? In this Commentary, CEPS budget specialist Jorge Núñez Ferrer has adopted a Q&A format to provide a straightforward technical explanation of how the surcharge came about in an attempt to dispel the Machiavellian phantasies it has inspired in journalists and eurosceptics alike.

Britain’s Future in Europe: The known Plan A to remain or the unknown Plan B to leave. CEPS Paperback 2nd Ed., March 2016

Following the agreement made by Prime Minister David Cameron with the EU on 18-19 February 2016, the day for the referendum for the UK to remain in or leave the EU is set for 23 June 2016. This will be the most important decision taken by the British people in half a century, and whose consequences will live on for another half century. The first edition of this book, published in March 2015, laid the foundations for any objective assessment of the workings of the EU and the UK’s place in it. It was widely acclaimed and rated as “a myth-breaking exercise of the best kind”. This second edition adds a substantial new chapter following Cameron’s agreement with the EU and announcement of the referendum. It reviews both the ‘Plan A’, namely the status quo for the UK in the EU as amended by the new agreement, and three variants of a ‘Plan B’ for secession. The key point is that the ‘leave’ camp have not done their homework or ‘due diligence’ to specify the post-secession scenario, or how the British government would face up to the challenges that this would bring. The authors therefore do the ‘leave’ camp’s homework for them, setting out three Plan Bs more concretely and in more depth than the ‘leave’ camp have been able or wanted to do, or any other source has done. The book is therefore unique and essential reading for anyone concerned with the fateful choice that lies soon ahead.

Lethal chondrodysplasia in a family of Holstein cattle is associated with a de novo splice site variant of COL2A1

Background Lethal chondrodysplasia (bulldog syndrome) is a well-known congenital syndrome in cattle and occurs sporadically in many breeds. In 2015, it was noticed that about 12 % of the offspring of the phenotypically normal Danish Holstein sire VH Cadiz Captivo showed chondrodysplasia resembling previously reported bulldog calves. Pedigree analysis of affected calves did not display obvious inbreeding to a common ancestor, suggesting the causative allele was not a rare recessive. The normal phenotype of the sire suggested a dominant inheritance with incomplete penetrance or a mosaic mutation. Results Three malformed calves were examined by necropsy, histopathology, radiology, and computed tomography scanning. These calves were morphologically similar and displayed severe disproportionate dwarfism and reduced body weight. The syndrome was characterized by shortening and compression of the body due to reduced length of the spine and the long bones of the limbs. The vicerocranium had severe dysplasia and palatoschisis. The bones had small irregular diaphyses and enlarged epiphyses consisting only of chondroid tissue. The sire and a total of four affected half-sib offspring and their dams were genotyped with the BovineHD SNP array to map the defect in the genome. Significant genetic linkage was obtained for several regions of the bovine genome including chromosome 5 where whole genome sequencing of an affected calf revealed a COL2A1 point mutation (g.32473300 G > A). This private sequence variant was predicted to affect splicing as it altered the conserved splice donor sequence GT at the 5’-end of COL2A1 intron 36, which was changed to AT. All five available cases carried the mutant allele in heterozygous state and all five dams were homozygous wild type. The sire VH Cadiz Captivo was shown to be a gonadal and somatic mosaic as assessed by the presence of the mutant allele at levels of about 5 % in peripheral blood and 15 % in semen. Conclusions The phenotypic and genetic findings are comparable to a previously reported COL2A1 missense mutation underlying lethal chondrodysplasia in the offspring of a mosaic French Holstein sire (Igale Masc). The identified independent spontaneous splice site variant in COL2A1 most likely caused chondrodysplasia and must have occurred during the early foetal development of the sire. This study provides a first example of a dominant COL2A1 splice site variant as candidate causal mutation of a severe lethal chondrodysplasia phenotype. Germline mosaicism is a relatively frequent mechanism in the origin of genetic disorders and explains the prevalence of a certain fraction of affected offspring. Paternal dominant de novo mutations are a risk in cattle breeding, especially because the ratio of defective offspring may be very high and be associated with significant animal welfare problems.

The private sector, the public sector, and donor assistance in economic development : an interpretive essay /

"PN-AAL-007"--Cover.