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"Wilson, Alexandra"
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Opera in the jazz age : cultural politics in 1920s Britain
Jazz, the Charleston, nightclubs, cocktails, cinema, and musical theatre: 1920s British nightlife was vibrant and exhilarating. But where did opera fit into this fashionable new entertainment world? Opera in the Jazz Age: Cultural Politics in 1920s Britain explores the interaction between opera and popular culture at a key historical moment when there was a growing imperative to categorize art forms as \"highbrow,\" \"middlebrow,\" or \"lowbrow.\" Literary studies of the so-called \"battle of the brows\" have been numerous, but this is the first book to consider the place of opera in interwar debates about high and low culture. This study by Alexandra Wilson argues that opera was extremely difficult to pigeonhole: although some contemporary commentators believed it to be too highbrow, others thought it not highbrow enough. 0Opera in the Jazz Age paints a lively and engaging picture of 1920s operatic culture, and introduces a charismatic cast of early twentieth-century critics, conductors, and celebrity singers. Opera was performed during this period to socially mixed audiences in a variety of spaces beyond the conventional opera house: music halls, cinemas, cafes and schools. Performance and production standards were not always high - often quite the reverse - but opera-going was evidently great fun.0Office boys whistled operatic tunes they had heard on the gramophone and there was a genuine sense that opera was for everyone. In this provocative and timely study, Wilson considers how the opera debate of the 1920s continues to shape the ways in which we discuss the art form, and draws connections between the battle of the brows and present-day discussions about elitism. The book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the cultural politics of twentieth-century Britain and is essential reading for anybody interested in the history of opera, the battle of the brows, or simply the perennially fascinating decade that was the 1920s. -- Book jacket.
Book
Congenital cervical neuroblastoma presenting with spontaneous tumour lysis syndrome and severe neonatal airway compromise
A term male neonate was delivered at 37 weeks and 3 days gestation in April 2025 via urgent caesarean section due to non-reassuring fetal heart tones. At birth, an unanticipated large right-sided cervical mass caused immediate respiratory distress, necessitating emergent endotracheal intubation. Within the first 24 hours of life, the infant developed spontaneous tumour lysis syndrome (TLS) with severe electrolyte derangements, metabolic acidosis and profound cardiac dysfunction, a phenomenon that has been rarely described in neonates with congenital malignancies. Imaging revealed a cervical mass with mediastinal extension and hepatic metastases. Core biopsy confirmed International Neuroblastoma Risk Group stage MS neuroblastoma, corresponding to historic International Neuroblastoma Staging System stage 4S, MYCN non-amplified, with favourable histology. Multidisciplinary management included airway stabilisation, TLS–directed therapy and early chemotherapy, resulting in rapid metabolic stabilisation and tumour regression. The infant was discharged on day 44 with improving respiratory status and ongoing outpatient oncology follow-up. This case emphasises the need for rapid recognition of TLS in congenital malignancies and coordinated airway and oncological care.
Journal Article
Nuancing the double and triple nexus: analyzing the potential for unintended, negative consequences
International and national actors are increasingly calling for a double or triple nexus approach to humanitarian, development, and peace activities to improve the flexibility of programming, particularly in complex crises. The double or triple nexus approach can, however, also replicate or create new challenges. To avoid this, the double and triple nexus requires more nuance. We explore how the double and triple nexus raises concerns about (1) control and decision-making, (2) the potential to cause harm, and (3) impositions that create inefficiencies, aspects of the double and triple nexus that are rarely considered. As actors seek to integrate and align activities via double and triple nexus approaches, they must proactively set in place policies to avoid negative consequences through localization to avoid replicating unequal control and decision-making. To ensure 'do no harm' is upheld, actors must consider the pace and scale of double and triple nexus implementation. As actors tend to have specific capacities, double or triple nexus impositions may create inefficiencies in operationalization which coordination and collaboration can reduce with significant investment.
Journal Article
Modelling the pyrenoid-based CO2-concentrating mechanism provides insights into its operating principles and a roadmap for its engineering into crops
Many eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms enhance their carbon uptake by supplying concentrated CO2 to the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco in an organelle called the pyrenoid. Ongoing efforts seek to engineer this pyrenoid-based CO2-concentrating mechanism (PCCM) into crops to increase yields. Here we develop a computational model for a PCCM on the basis of the postulated mechanism in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Our model recapitulates all Chlamydomonas PCCM-deficient mutant phenotypes and yields general biophysical principles underlying the PCCM. We show that an effective and energetically efficient PCCM requires a physical barrier to reduce pyrenoid CO2 leakage, as well as proper enzyme localization to reduce futile cycling between CO2 and HCO3−. Importantly, our model demonstrates the feasibility of a purely passive CO2 uptake strategy at air-level CO2, while active HCO3− uptake proves advantageous at lower CO2 levels. We propose a four-step engineering path to increase the rate of CO2 fixation in the plant chloroplast up to threefold at a theoretical cost of only 1.3 ATP per CO2 fixed, thereby offering a framework to guide the engineering of a PCCM into land plants.To enhance CO2 fixation, algae concentrate CO2 in an organelle called the pyrenoid. A biophysical model provides systematic analysis of the mechanism and determines the minimal steps for its engineering into crops to enhance yields.
Journal Article
microRNA-92a regulates the expression of aphid bacteriocyte-specific secreted protein 1
Objective
Aphids harbor a nutritional obligate endosymbiont in specialized cells called bacteriocytes, which aggregate to form an organ known as the bacteriome. Aphid bacteriomes display distinct gene expression profiles that facilitate the symbiotic relationship. Currently, the mechanisms that regulate these patterns of gene expression are unknown. Recently using computational pipelines, we identified miRNAs that are conserved in expression in the bacteriomes of two aphid species and proposed that they function as important regulators of bacteriocyte gene expression. Here using a dual luciferase assay in mouse NIH/3T3 cell culture, we aimed to experimentally validate the computationally predicted interaction between
Myzus persicae
miR-92a and the predicted target region of
M. persicae
bacteriocyte-specific secreted protein 1 (SP1) mRNA.
Results
In the dual luciferase assay, miR-92a interacted with the
SP1
target region resulting in a significant downregulation of the luciferase signal. Our results demonstrate that miR-92a interacts with
SP1
to alter expression in a heterologous expression system, thereby supporting our earlier assertion that miRNAs are regulators of the aphid/
Buchnera
symbiotic interaction.
Journal Article
Uukuniemi virus infection causes a pervasive remodelling of the RNA-binding proteome in tick cells
Cellular RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are pivotal for the viral lifecycle, mediating key host-virus interactions that promote or repress virus infection. While these interactions have been largely studied in the vertebrate host, no comprehensive analyses of protein-RNA interactions occurring in cells of arbovirus vectors, in particular ticks, have been performed to date. Here we systematically identified the responses of the RNA-binding proteome (RBPome) to infection with a prototype bunyavirus (Uukuniemi virus; UUKV) in tick cells and discovered changes in RNA-binding activity for 283 proteins. In an orthogonal approach, we analysed the composition of the viral ribonucleoprotein by immunoprecipitation of UUKV nucleocapsid protein (N) in infected cells. We found many tick RBPs that are regulated by UUKV infection and associate with viral nucleocapsid protein complexes, and we confirmed experimentally that they impact UUKV infection. This includes the tick homolog of topoisomerase 3B (TOP3B), a protein able to manipulate the topology of RNA, which particularly affected viral particle production. Our data thus reveals the first protein-RNA interaction map for infected tick cells.
Journal Article
Prospectively evaluating maternal and fetal outcomes in the era of CFTR modulators: the MAYFLOWERS observational clinical trial study design
IntroductionTherapeutic advances have markedly increased life expectancy for those with cystic fibrosis (CF), resulting in a median predicted survival over 50 years. Consequently, people with CF (pwCF) are living through their reproductive years and the rate of pregnancy is rapidly rising. Despite the increased relevance of this topic, multicentre studies investigating the association between maternal health and choices made during pregnancy on maternal and fetal outcomes do not exist. Furthermore, there are very limited data on the outcomes following CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulator use during pregnancy and lactation.Methods and analysisMaternal and Fetal Outcomes in the Era of Modulators (MAYFLOWERS) is a prospective, multicentre observational clinical trial which will enrol approximately 285 pregnant pwCF including those who are modulator ineligible and those who choose to continue or discontinue CFTR modulator therapy during pregnancy and lactation. The primary aim of this 35-month study is to assess whether lung function changes during pregnancy differ based on the continued use of modulators or other factors such as pre-existing comorbid conditions. Secondary objectives include evaluation of pregnancy related and obstetrical complications and changes in mental health.Ethics and disseminationThe design of this study required special consideration of study burden on pregnant and lactating people with chronic illness in the setting of a substantial number of unanswered questions under these conditions. MAYFLOWERS is the first prospective clinical trial examining pregnancy in CF; the outcomes will guide providers on pregnancy management in pwCF and others with chronic respiratory disease.
Journal Article
Stromal Hedgehog pathway activation by IHH suppresses lung adenocarcinoma growth and metastasis by limiting reactive oxygen species
Activation of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway by mutations within its components drives the growth of several cancers. However, the role of Hh pathway activation in lung cancers has been controversial. Here, we demonstrate that the canonical Hh signaling pathway is activated in lung stroma by Hh ligands secreted from transformed lung epithelia. Genetic deletion of Shh, the primary Hh ligand expressed in the lung, in KrasG12D/+;Trp53fl/fl autochthonous murine lung adenocarcinoma had no effect on survival. Early abrogation of the pathway by an anti-SHH/IHH antibody 5E1 led to significantly worse survival with increased tumor and metastatic burden. Loss of IHH, another Hh ligand, by in vivo CRISPR led to more aggressive tumor growth suggesting that IHH, rather than SHH, activates the pathway in stroma to drive its tumor suppressive effects—a novel role for IHH in the lung. Tumors from mice treated with 5E1 had decreased blood vessel density and increased DNA damage suggestive of reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity. Treatment of KrasG12D/+;Trp53fl/fl mice with 5E1 and N-acetylcysteine, as a ROS scavenger, decreased tumor DNA damage, inhibited tumor growth and prolonged mouse survival. Thus, IHH induces stromal activation of the canonical Hh signaling pathway to suppress tumor growth and metastases, in part, by limiting ROS activity.
Journal Article