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Retinoic acid (RA) has been shown to improve epithelial and endothelial barrier function and development and even suppress damage inflicted by inflammation on these barriers through regulating immune cell activity. This paper thus sought to determine whether RA could improve baseline barrier function and attenuate TNF-α-induced barrier leak in the human bronchial epithelial cell culture model, 16HBE14o- (16HBE). We show for the first time that RA increases baseline barrier function of these cell layers indicated by an 89% increase in transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and 22% decrease in 14 C-mannitol flux. A simultaneous, RA-induced 70% increase in claudin-4 attests to RA affecting the tight junctional (TJ) complex itself. RA was also effective in alleviating TNF-α-induced 16HBE barrier leak, attenuating 60% of the TNF-α-induced leak to 14 C-mannitol and 80% of the leak to 14 C-inulin. Interleukin-6-induced barrier leak was also reduced by RA. Treatment of 16HBE cell layers with TNF-α resulted in dramatic decrease in immunostaining for occludin and claudin-4, as well as a downward “band-shift” in occludin Western immunoblots. The presence of RA partially reversed TNF-α’s effects on these select TJ proteins. Lastly, RA completely abrogated the TNF-α-induced increase in ERK-1,2 phosphorylation without significantly decreasing the TNF-driven increase in total ERK-1,2. This study suggests RA could be effective as a prophylactic agent in minimizing airway barrier leak and as a therapeutic in preventing leak triggered by inflammatory cascades. Given the growing literature suggesting a “cytokine storm” may be related to COVID-19 morbidity, RA may be a useful adjuvant for use with anti-viral therapies.

Retinoic acid (RA) has been shown to improve epithelial and endothelial barrier function and development and even suppress damage inflicted by inflammation on these barriers through regulating immune cell activity. This paper thus sought to determine whether RA could improve baseline barrier function and attenuate TNF-[alpha]-induced barrier leak in the human bronchial epithelial cell culture model, 16HBE14o- (16HBE). We show for the first time that RA increases baseline barrier function of these cell layers indicated by an 89% increase in transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and 22% decrease in .sup.14 C-mannitol flux. A simultaneous, RA-induced 70% increase in claudin-4 attests to RA affecting the tight junctional (TJ) complex itself. RA was also effective in alleviating TNF-[alpha]-induced 16HBE barrier leak, attenuating 60% of the TNF-[alpha]-induced leak to .sup.14 C-mannitol and 80% of the leak to .sup.14 C-inulin. Interleukin-6-induced barrier leak was also reduced by RA. Treatment of 16HBE cell layers with TNF-[alpha] resulted in dramatic decrease in immunostaining for occludin and claudin-4, as well as a downward \"band-shift\" in occludin Western immunoblots. The presence of RA partially reversed TNF-[alpha]'s effects on these select TJ proteins. Lastly, RA completely abrogated the TNF-[alpha]-induced increase in ERK-1,2 phosphorylation without significantly decreasing the TNF-driven increase in total ERK-1,2. This study suggests RA could be effective as a prophylactic agent in minimizing airway barrier leak and as a therapeutic in preventing leak triggered by inflammatory cascades. Given the growing literature suggesting a \"cytokine storm\" may be related to COVID-19 morbidity, RA may be a useful adjuvant for use with anti-viral therapies.

Ēriks Ešenvalds is an early twenty-first century composer who has been commissioned to compose works for some of the most noteworthy ensembles in the world. Having written over 100 compositions to date, 72 of which are choral pieces, Ešenvalds is quickly becoming one of the most prolific and significant composers of his time. He currently works as a full-time composer out of Riga, Latvia. Ešenvalds’s choral works are primarily unaccompanied, while some include brass band, saxophone quartet, percussion, or orchestral accompaniment. Textures vary from three to twelve voice parts. His oratorio Passion and Resurrection (2005), written for soprano solo, SATB quartet, SATB chorus, SS soli, and strings, is an amalgamation of compositional techniques drawn from all eras of music history. This project identifies characteristics of Roman Catholic and Byzantine chant that are imitated throughout Passion and Resurrection. A succinct history of both styles is presented along with a detailing of Ešenvalds’s compositional technique and an overview of his oratorio. Aspects of form, melody, text, rhythm, harmony, and texture present in each movement are also discussed. This study provides conductors with insight into the chant-like aspects of Ešenvalds’s work and any influences on performance. Listings of notable Passion settings and Ešenvalds’s choral output are also included.

Among the essential components of the IBM System z10(TM) platform is the hardware management console (HMC) and the IBM System z(TM) support element (SE). Both the SE and the HMC are closed fixed-function computer systems that include an operating system, many middleware open-source packages, and millions of lines of C, C++, and Java(TM) application code developed by IBM. The code on the SE and HMC is required to remain operational without a restart or reboot over long periods of time. In the first step toward the autonomic computing goal of continuous operation, an integrated, automatic software resource monitoring program has been implemented and integrated in the SE and HMC to look for resource, performance, and operational problems, and, when appropriate, initiate recovery actions. This paper describes the embedded resource monitoring program in detail. Included are the types of resources being monitored, the algorithms and frequency used for the monitoring, the information that is collected when a resource problem is detected, and actions executed as a result. It also covers the types of problems the resource monitoring program has detected so far and improvements that have been made on the basis of empirical evidence. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Robert Mason Lee wrote \"The deafening silence from Manitoba began with the closing of The Winnipeg Tribune by an absentee landlord in 1980. It was a callous and greedy thing to do, but then avaricious capitalism will do what it does best\" (The West -- April 1).

THERE is a touching vulnerability to Alberta Premier Don Getty. Charisma is not his strong suit.

IF letters to the editors of daily newspapers are the barometer by which we forecast political weather, there is a storm raging that rivals the flood that set Noah and his ark adrift.

IF you can overlook the guns, the masks, the sheer bloody-minded perversify of armed Mohawks bringing Vietnam jungle tactics to a quiet, cheese-making rural backwater of Quebec, then the kindest thing you can say is that it is totally frustrating being a friend of the aboriginals.