Middle Passages Research Articles

Middle Passages: The Multiple Forced Migrations of Enslaved Africans

ABSTRACT This article proposes a linguistic shift for scholars of trans-Atlantic slavery regarding the quintessential term ‘the Middle Passage' to the plural ‘Middle Passages'. As a singular noun, ‘the Middle Passage' conforms with the ‘triangular trade' which represented the three-way relationship between Europe, Africa and the Americas. The term almost exclusively encompasses the North Atlantic, failing to explore South Atlantic trading routes. By changing our language, we can look deeper into the multiple forced journeys of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic world. Through application of plurality, we can better study people's multiple ‘Middle Passages' from the ancient silk roads to the slave castles and forts along the African littoral in a system of movement that does not belittle the horrors of the Atlantic oceanic passages. Indeed, multiple ‘Middle Passages' as a concept exacerbates the experiences of enslaved persons through continual uprooting and journeys. ‘The Middle Passage' is evocative of a peregrination preceded with a beginning and succeeded with an ending; while the pluralistic ‘Middle Passages’ forces us to recognize the multiple complex facets of journeys. For many enslaved persons, there existed no end to continual relocations on arrival in the Americas and people were in a constant state of flux.

Варианты хирургического лечения хронического ателектаза верхнечелюстной пазухи (синдрома молчащего синуса)

Silent sinus syndrome is a fairly rare ENT pathology. It is still not possible to explain the exact cause of this syndrome. Modern equipment and accurate diagnostics provide the opportunity to make a diagnosis and choose the right treatment and rehabilitation tactics. The authors analyzed 36 patients from 2008 to 2024 who were admitted to the ENT department with symptoms of different nature and clinical manifestations, allowing making diagnosis silent sinus syndrome, to confirm which data on the course of the disease, radiological and endoscopic characteristics of the maxillary sinus were used. For surgical access, three options for opening the maxillary sinuses were used: through the middle and lower nasal passages as well as through the canine fossa. Access through the canine fossa (micro maxillary sinusotomy) with the formation of a persistent anastomosis in the middle and lower nasal meatus turned out to be the most optimal. The choice of location for opening the sinus was determined by the degree of prolapse of the orbital contents into the lumen of the sinus and the condition of the bone walls of the orbit. The article also presents a clinical case of complete opening of the maxillary sinus, with correctly formed bone walls and normal aeration of the sinus in a patient with this syndrome, after treatment.

Middle Passages: Lessons in Racial Subjection at the Hampton Institute and Carlisle Indian Industrial School

Abstract: This essay argues that the historically Black Hampton Institute (1868) and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879) are crucial sites to investigate how US political, territorial, and economic conquest were sutured to the project of emancipation after the Civil War. Rather than focusing on these schools’ manual education, I turn to their newspapers, the Southern Workman and Indian Helper , to demonstrate how they developed techniques of discursive representation, rooted in Black fungibility, that made racial subjection appear as racial emancipation in the postbellum period. These newspapers were framed as both tool and evidence of students’ subjective transformation. Instead of providing authentic evidence of Black and Native transformation, however, they provide a glimpse into how Hampton’s and Carlisle’s representations of racial emancipation drew on discursive techniques created in the material and symbolic violence of transatlantic slavery’s Middle Passage. The essay concludes by demonstrating how a trio of boarding school stories (1900) by the Yankton Sioux author Zitkala-Ša provides a nascent critique of the ways in which Indian boarding schools produced Native fungibility as a technique of white domination in the context of postbellum US imperialism.

THE ROLE OF ENDONASAL ELECTROPHORESIS WITH DEXAMETHASONE IN THERAPY OF UVEITIS UNDER CONCOMITANT ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS

Uveitis is a severe clinical manifestation of ankylosing spondylitis, leading to the loss of vision, particularly among young and working-able individuals. This study aims at evaluating the outcomes of integrated treatment for uveitis in Bekhterev's disease using endonasal electrophoresis with dexamethasone. Materials and Methods. The study included 22 patients (23 eyes) with uveitis and underlying ankylosing spondylitis who received inpatient treatment at Acad. Z. Aliyeva National Centre of Ophthalmology between 2017 and 2022. The average age of the patients was 34 ± 8.7 years, including 5 female and 17 male patients. In the main group, consisting of 12 patients (12 eyes), endonasal electrophoresis with dexamethasone was performed in addition to general and local steroid therapy. The control group comprised 10 patients (11 eyes) who received treatment without physiotherapy. Endonasal electrophoresis was conducted using the "Potok-1" apparatus, with gauze swabs soaked in a 0.4% dexamethasone solution and inserted into the middle nasal passages. The active electrode was secured to the free ends, and the drug was administered from the cathode. A total of 10 procedures were performed, starting from 10 minutes and gradually increasing to 15 minutes. The patients received inpatient treatment for two to three weeks. Results: The patients from main and control groups demonstrated positive dynamics in terms of increased visual acuity and expanded visual fields. Inflammation signs subsided within 4-5 days since the beginning of the treatment in the main group and within 6-7 days in the control group. Clinical improvement was evident in both groups, characterized by hypopion resorption, reduced cell count in the anterior chamber, and decreased opacities in the vitreous body. In the posterior segment, perivascular infiltration, chorioretinal foci, and macular oedema also showed signs of improvement. Conclusion: The use of dexamethasone endonasal electrophoresis as part of the complex therapy for uveitis in ankylosing spondylitis demonstrated more pronounced clinical effects compared to traditional treatments. Positive dynamics were observed in clinical, functional, perimetric, and electrophysiological indicators. Dexamethasone endonasal electrophoresis proved to be well-tolerated by patients and economically viable, making it a valuable addition to the complex therapy of uveitis in ankylosing spondylitis in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Experimental investigation and analysis on the cross flow characteristics over inline tube bundles with S/D=1.875

Helical tube bundles are usually used for steam generators (SGs) and intermediate heat exchangers (IHXs) of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs). The thermal hydraulic performance of SGs/IHXs is dominated by the cross flow convection over tube bundles in the primary side. Though cross flow over tube bundles were widely investigated as a basic flow pattern, few of them focused on tube bundles with 1.4-1.6<S/D<2-2.2 (S, tube pitch, D, tube diameter). However, the designs of HTGR SGs or IHXs prefer smaller tube pitches due to the relatively low heat transfer coefficient. In present investigation, velocity distribution, surface pressure distribution and drag/lift force of cross flow over tube bundle with S/D=1.875 are measured and investigated thoroughly in a wind tunnel. The velocity fields are measured using time resolved PIV and split hot film methods. The surface pressure distribution is measured using dynamic pressure transducers. The drag and lift forces are measured using high frequency wind tunnel balance. Due to the friction drag introduced by the bounded wall, the time averaged velocity in the flow passage next to the bounded wall is smaller than those in the middle flow passages. The surface pressure distributions between the impinging point and the separation point on tubes are characterized by the acceleration effects when fluid flowing into the region between neighboring tubes in the same row. The increasingly significant pressure recovery after separation results in the decreasing tendency of flow resistance coefficient with Reynolds number (Re) increment. A main frequency corresponding to Sr=0.114 (Sr, Strouhal number) is observed in both surface pressure and velocity spectrums, indicating that the vortex shedding induces the turbulent wake swinging. The turbulent wakes after tubes in the same row swing with no phase lag, while turbulent wakes of tubes in neighboring rows swing with a phase lag around 0.33 periods. By using an improved phase average method, phase averaged turbulent statistics and instantaneous coherent structures are obtained. The main flow region swings with vortex shedding. The region with larger 〈u′u′〉 (u′, fluctuating component of stream wise velocity) mainly locates at the shear layer, swinging with the vortex shedding. The region with larger 〈v′v′〉, (v′, fluctuating component of transverse velocity) mainly locates in front of the tubes, where transverse flow sweeps the upwind side of the tubes.

REACTION OF NASAL POLYPS IN ALLERGEN-SPECIFIC IMMUNOTHERAPY WITH FUNGAL ALLERGENS IN PATIENTS WITH NASAL POLYPS ON THE BACKGROUND OF FUNGAL SENSITIZATION

Fungal flora is one of the causes of inflammation, including nasal polyposis. Therefore, researches aimed at reducing the impact of fungal sensitization (FS) on the course of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) are relevant.&#x0D; The research included 90 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps combined with fungal sensitization. The patients were divided into two groups — the first clinical group (G1) and the second clinical group (G2). Group G1 received allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) according to the scheme. Group G2 received basic treatment according to the protocol № 181 of 24.03.2009 (“Protocol for providing medical care to patients with chronic sinusitis”). Indications for allergen-specific therapy were hyperreactivity to fungi (positive allergy history of FS), the presence of specific IgE antibodies to fungal allergens, positive skin tests with fungal allergens, and high levels of total IgE. The research aimed to evaluate the effect of allergen-specific therapy on nasal polyps in patients with CRSwNP on the background of fungal sensitization. The specific oral treatment was carried out in two phases: the first — cumulative or initial, and the second — maintaining, in which the maximum tolerated dose was reached by gradually increasing the allergen concentration. The first phase duration was about 2.5–3 months. In the second phase, which lasted up to 6 months, the patient received the maximum allowable dose of the allergen to achieve a state of persistent hyposensitization. The therapeutic allergen was administered in the morning, 30 minutes before meals. The right amount of drops were dosed per teaspoon from the bottle with the allergen.&#x0D; Treatment was initiated during the period of clinical remission. ASIT was performed with basic anti-inflammatory treatment. The treatment efficiency was evaluated after 3, 6, and 12 months of treatment.&#x0D; Evaluation of the clinical efficiency of allergen-specific immunotherapy was made on the 4-point scale, where excellent results (4 points) — complete remission of the disease during the follow-up period (6-12 months); good results (3 points) — exacerbation of the disease 1-2 times per year, in mild form and removed by expectant treatment; fair results (2 points) — the number of exacerbations did not decrease, poor results (1 point) treatment is stopped due to lack of effect or the patient's symptoms constantly worsen after the introduction of an allergen. The size and distribution of nasal polyps were assessed by the results of nasal endoscopy using the IV-grade scale: I degree - polyps are not visible on endoscopic examination but present on CT scan; II degree - polyps visible in the middle nasal passages; III degree - polyps visible outside the middle nasal passages; IV - degree – nasal polyps obturate the nasal cavity.&#x0D; Improvement of nasal endoscopy picture (the number of G1 patients diagnosed with stage III of nasal polyps after 12 months decreased by 11.1%), reducing the volume of basic therapy. Satisfactory treatment results were determined in 13.8% of patients, in whom the number of exacerbations did not decrease, but the general well-being became much better than before specific immunotherapy, which indicates a stable effect after the treatment.&#x0D; Conclusions. The results conclude that the use of ASIT treatment is pathogenetically justified and significantly improves the clinical condition and quality of life in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and fungal sensitization.&#x0D; The severity of the polypous process in G1 patients was 1.6 times lower compared to G2, which contributed to the positive clinical effect of treatment in 86.1% of patients.&#x0D; The conducted research has shown high efficacy, good tolerability, and safety of the non-invasive method of treatment (ASIT) in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and fungal sensitization.

Drug metabolic activity is a critical cell-intrinsic determinant for selection of hepatocytes during long-term culture

BackgroundThe liver plays an important role in various metabolic processes, including protein synthesis, lipid and drug metabolisms and detoxifications. Primary culture of hepatocytes is used for the understanding of liver physiology as well as for the drug development. Hepatocytes are, however, hardly expandable in vitro making it difficult to secure large numbers of cells from one donor. Alternatively, systems using animal models and hepatocellular carcinoma cells have been established, but interspecies differences, variation between human cell sources and limited hepatic functions are among the challenges faced when using these models. Therefore, there is still a need for a highly stable method to purify human hepatocytes with functional sufficiency. In this study, we aimed to establish an in vitro long-term culture system that enables stable proliferation and maintenance of human hepatocytes to ensure a constant supply.MethodsWe first established a growth culture system for hepatocytes derived from patients with drug-induced liver injury using fetal mouse fibroblasts and EMUKK-05 medium. We then evaluated the morphology, proliferative capacity, chromosome stability, gene and protein expression profiles, and drug metabolic capacity of hepatocytes in early, middle and late passages with and without puromycin. In addition, hepatic maturation in 3D culture was evaluated from morphological and functional aspects.ResultsIn our culture system, the stable proliferation of human hepatocytes was achieved by co-culturing with mouse fetal fibroblasts, resulting in dedifferentiation into hepatic progenitor-like cells. We purified human hepatocytes by selection with cytocidal puromycin and cultured them for more than 60 population doublings over a span of more than 350 days. Hepatocytes with high expression of cytochrome P450 genes survived after exposure to cytocidal antibiotics because of enhanced drug-metabolizing activity.ConclusionsThese results show that this simple culture system with usage of the cytocidal antibiotics enables efficient hepatocyte proliferation and is an effective method for generating a stable supply of hepatocytes for drug discovery research at a significant cost reduction.

Detailed Assessment of Nasal Inter-Chamber Anatomical Variations and Its Effect on Flow Apportionment and Inhalation Exposure Patterns

Although many parametric studies have been conducted in developing standardized nasal geometry and analysing associated airflow dynamics, most of them are based on symmetrical nasal chambers assumption, while the inter-chamber variations due to the morphological asymmetry of the two nasal chambers are much less investigated. To address this issue, this paper presents an inter-chamber anatomical variability study by developing a shape comparison method to quantify inter-chamber anatomical differences. Then the anatomical deviation is correlated with the flow apportionment and the associated nanoparticle deposition patterns using CFD method. Results show that noticeable inter-chamber difference is observed especially in the inferior and middle passages where most inhaled flow is distributed to. Additionally, the shape of vestibule notch and septum deviation contributes to the discrepancy flow behaviour between two chambers. Consequently, these differences lead to variations in regional nanoparticle deposition, especially for 1 nm particles in the olfactory region, where the inter-chamber differences can reach up to 400%. Our results suggest that the inter-chamber anatomical variation should be considered when developing standardized nasal models.

Flow quality improvement of the wind tunnel testing for a highly-loaded compressor cascade at high incidence

Abstract To obtain reliable and accurate experimental data in cascade testing, the influencing factors and the improving method of the flow quality of a highly-loaded compressor cascade under high incidence were investigated through a series of numerical simulations and experiments. The numerical method was validated by experimental data and agreed well at both incidence angles of 0° and 6°. Under the original upper end wall, both experimental and numerical results indicated an unsatisfactory flow quality of the cascade with an obvious nonuniformity of inlet Mach number, and the incidence of the central blade is 3.6° larger than the theoretical value. Using a small curved upper wall can reduce the severe flow separation on the upper wall and achieve a maximum improvement in flow quality under the critical installation angle, where the incidence deviation of the central blade was reduced to 2.1°. Using the combination of adjustable tailboards and a small curved upper end wall can further improve the cascade flow quality. Under the optimal angle of the tailboards, both the inflow uniformity and the outflow periodicity of the three middle blade passages the test requirements, and the incidence deviation of the central blade is reduced to 0.2°.

Classicisms in the Black Atlantic ed. by Ian Moyer, Adam Lecznar and Heidi Morse

Reviewed by: Classicisms in the Black Atlantic ed. by Ian Moyer, Adam Lecznar and Heidi Morse Ronald Charles Classicisms in the Black Atlantic. Edited by Ian Moyer, Adam Lecznar, and Heidi Morse. Classical Presences. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp xiv + 338. Hardback, $150. ISBN 0198814127 This volume is a groundbreaking study of how Classical texts, tropes, figures, art, myths and history have been received, used, deployed and interpreted within the Black Atlantic. The book aims to show how artists and intellectuals in the Black Atlantic have excavated the classical texts, images, narratives and practices in order to imagine new possibilities. The essays emphasize the outcomes of slavery's aftermaths by way of various geographical (dis)location and cultural connections. The volume is divided into three parts: 1) Wakes, 2) Journeys and 3) Tales. The editors grace the book with a programmatic Introduction in which they lay out the aims and contours of the project. Paul Gilroy's famous work on the Black Atlantic provides the broad conceptual framework for these analyses of the reception of the classics in the diasporic world. Part I : Wakes The first chapter is by Emily Greenwood, "Middle Passages: Mediating Classics and Radical Philology in Marlene NourbeSe Philip and Derek Walcott." This chapter explores the use of classical texts and figures as mediating elements in the historical and representational space the Middle Passage plays in the work of Marlene NourbeSe Philip and Derek Walcott. The Middle Passage remains a site of memory or, as the author identifies it, "a zone of translation based on the physical transportation and translation of bodies" (31). Both NourbeSe and Walcott use classical texts as tools of resistance and radical rewriting. Greenwood shows how the notion of critical memory is used in a creative way in Walcott's works, pointing [End Page 356] out his recurring evocation of bones as poetic touchstone. NourbeSe's goal, Greenwood highlights, is to dismember the Classics, that is, to challenge certain Eurocentric readings of the classical texts and to make them serve her own purpose of remembering the fate and the story of her Black ancestors. Playing with languages and with texts, she engages in reading the classical texts, such as the Aeneid, subversively: "While Philip may not find common cause with Derek Walcott, both poets are engaged in a profound philological project because they ceaselessly address the question of how to love a conflicted language that bears the traces of a colonial history, as well as the question of how to express Caribbean experience within this language" (54). The second chapter in this section of the book, "Nero, the mustard!: The Ironies of Classical Slave Names in the British Caribbean," was authored by Margaret Williamson. The author demonstrates how slaveholders took names (place names, literary and classical names) from a wide classical stock of names and imposed them on to the Black slaves. The point was to ridicule the slaves, and to differentiate "slaves as a group from free whites by means of nomenclature and to assert the primacy of European culture" (63). Williamson also shows how this naming of slaves participated in the overall violence exercised against the slave's body and psyche. The classical names were also used for animals (domestic pets and working animals), thus obliterating in the minds of the slaveholders the difference between slaves and animals. As the author states, "Those who named their slaves Homer, Virgil, Pindar or Sappho were not offering any commentary on those individuals' poetic prowess. Rather, they were boasting of their own fluency in the language of power" (78). The third chapter is a fascinating contribution by Dan-el Padilla Peralta, "Athens and Sparta of the New World: The Classical Passions of Santo Domingo." He shows how classical tropes, figures and myths have been at the core of Santo Domingo's claims to racial purity and ethnic identity throughout its history. This particular way of presenting the DR, as the Athens of the New World, is placed within a clear racialized anti-Haitianism propagated by the Dominican Republic's dominant classes. This racist attitude, or this deep-seated desire to be seen by others as a...

Patient-specific CFD simulation of aerodynamics for nasal pathology: a combined computational and experimental study

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to develop and verify a personalised approach for simulating the aerodynamic flow patterns using patient-specific data of a severe form of nasal obstruction during inspiration. The reconstruction of the 3D geometry of the nasal cavity based on the computer images of a patient diagnosed with the unilateral nasal valve collapse and S-shaped septum deviation was used to perform the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of airflow. A comparative study of the airflow with standard data (SD) and personal input data (PD) of mass flow rate was carried out. In both cases, the air streamlines went straight along the lower and middle nasal passages on the non-deviated septum side. The peak velocity increased in two cavities, mostly on the septum deviation side, while the peak pressure inversely dropped. . With personal data, the peak velocity and pressure values varied greatly in different parts of the nasal cavity, depending on the particular local anatomy. In a patient with unilateral nasal valve collapse and S-shaped septum deviation, the use of personal data does not have an impact on the streamline’s direction, longitudinal velocity, and pressure distributions but it significantly changed the local velocity and pressure in the nasal cavity.

The spatial cognition of a forest landscape and its relationship with tourist viewing intention in different walking passage stages

BackgroundUnderstanding which types of landscapes are attractive to tourists during forest walking and which factors affect tourists' viewing intentions, plays a significant role in the drafts by forest landscape planners and designers. Main purposeTo clarify the spatial cognition characteristics and differences when tourists appreciation the forest landscape and explore the factors that affect tourists' viewing intentions at different walking passage stages. MethodsThis study used one-way ANOVA and Spearman's rho correlation analysis to statistically analyze the data and performed a multiple linear regression analysis in SPSS 23.0 to establish a model of tourists' viewing intention for each walking passage. Main results1. There are differences, at different walking passage stages, in the spatial cognition of forest landscapes and the spatial cognition of different types of forest landscapes by tourists gradually changes. 2. There are differences in the factors that affect tourists' viewing intentions of forest landscapes in different walking passage stages. Even with the same spatial cognition parameters, the contribution of tourists' viewing intention differs in different walking passage. In different walking passages, visitors' viewing intentions of broad-leaved forest space are significantly lower than those of other landscape spaces, especially in the early and middle walking passages. 3. As the forest walking experience unfolds, tourists' experience in the "middle passage" and "late passage" stages of the forest landscape have a greater impact on their overall viewing intention.Through the above analysis, we suggest that in the planning and design of forest walking spaces, landscape elements or landscape facilities should be properly matched according to the spatial cognitive characteristics of the scenes in the different walking passages. The above suggestions will improve tourists' viewing intentions of scenes, especially in-forest landscape spaces with a background of forest elements.

The Slave Ship ‘Maria da Gloria’ and the Bare Life of Blackness in the Age of Emancipation

ABSTRACT This article investigates the legal case to emancipate 423 enslaved Africans from the Maria da Gloria, a slaver which was adjudicated in Rio de Janeiro and Sierra Leone in 1833-1834. The arbitration of the Maria da Gloria on both sides of the Atlantic and its triple middle passages constitute one of the most remarkable episodes of the British campaign to end human trafficking in the nineteenth century. It resulted in the restoration of the vessel with its human cargo in 1834 and the death of at least 114 captives under the gaze of authorities who wielded the power of the law – the anti-slavery treaties and domestic law – to emancipate its enslaved men, women, and children from the traffic. Calling for critical inquiry into the mortuary archives of restored vessels, the article argues that registers of liberated Africans, containment policies, and disposal strategies to govern the re-captives after emancipation constitute artifacts of black lives as bare life. It theorises the necropolitics of statelessness and racialised citizenship through a case specific discussion of one means of liberation for enslaved Africans in the Atlantic World.

3D CT stereoscopic imaging: an improved anatomical understanding of the anterior ethmoid sinus and frontal sinus drainage pathway

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this presentation is to display a series of new anatomical concepts and terms regarding the frontal si- nus, its drainage pathway and cells vs. spaces of the anterior ethmoid, based on Three-Dimensional Computer X-ray Tomography Stereoscopic Imaging (3DCTSI) and contrast these concepts to those reported in the current literature. METHODS: Given the new anatomic observations provided by 3DCTSI, and the widespread anatomic variations a small sample was initially selected to describe our observations. Six exemplary cases according to the “Classification of Fronto-Ethmoidal cells” by Kuhn, Bent et al., Lee et al., expanded by Wormald et al., and adopted by Ramakrishnan et al., Huang et al., and Void et al. (1-7) were chosen to illustrate our detailed anatomic observations. Additional observations and data of prevalence identified in a larger series will follow. RESULTS and CONCLUSION: Conceptually, the anterior ethmoid “cells” are in essence “spaces” with openings that communicate with the middle meatus and/or the ethmoidal infundibulum. The frontal sinus and frontal recess are a united and continuous three-dimensional, irregularly shaped space, the Frontal Sinus/Recess Space (FSRS). The uncinate process has two segments: the Ethmoidal Uncinate Process (EUP), which encompasses the Infundibular Space of the EUP (IS-EUP), currently known as the Agger Nasi cell; and the Turbinal Uncinate Process (TUP), which borders the Turbinal Infundibulum (TI) medially. The superior attach- ment of the EUP will be detailed in each of the six cases (Table 2). The middle meatus and infundibular passages are the drainage pathways from the frontal sinus and maxillary sinus to the nasal cavity.

Abstract A52: Serially passaging ovarian cancer spheroids as an in situ model for emergence of chemoresistance and enrichment of cancer stem cells

Abstract Introduction: Epithelial ovarian cancer comprises approximately 90% of all cases of ovarian cancer and is the leading gynecologic cause of death in Western societies. Ovarian cancer patients typically respond well to first-line platinum and taxane-based chemotherapies; however, approximately 80% of these patients relapse and succumb to more chemoresistant disease. Relapse and development of chemoresistance is linked to the presence of a rare population of chemoresistant cells, termed cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), which are enriched in spheroids in the malignant ascites. Despite the high levels of chemoresistance and relapse observed in ovarian cancers, there are no in vitro models to understand the development of chemoresistance in situ. Here we implement a 3D model of the development of chemoresistance in ovarian cancer to investigate the functional and genetic changes that occur as chemoresistance develops. Using this model to gain insight into the development of chemoresistance in ovarian cancer will facilitate the development of more effective treatments. Methods: To investigate the development of chemoresistance in ovarian cancer, we utilized an in vitro model using the 3D hanging drop spheroid platform with an ovarian cancer cell line, two primary patient samples. In our model, spheroids were serially passaged every 7 days and evaluated for proliferation and response to treatment with cisplatin and a novel ALDH1A inhibitor. Concomitantly, the expression CSC markers ALDH and CD133 as well as tumor initiating capacity were analyzed. RNA-sequencing and qRT-PCR was performed on spheroids from early (P0), middle (P3), and late (P6) passages for two patient samples to establish gene signatures associated with the evolution of stemness, tumorigenicity, and chemoresistance. Lastly, a mathematical model was developed to predict the emergence of CSCs during serial passaging of ovarian cancer spheroids. Results: Our serial passage model demonstrated increased cell proliferation, enriched CSCs, and emergence of a platinum-resistant phenotype with passaging. Contrarily, serial passaged spheroids were enriched for ALDH and consequently exhibited greater sensitivity to ALDH1A inhibitor. Furthermore, in vivo tumor xenograft assays indicated that later passage spheroids were significantly more tumorigenic with higher CSC proportions, compared to early passage spheroids, validating the increased proliferative capacity predicted by our in vitro serial passage platform. RNA-sequencing revealed several gene signatures supporting the emergence of CSCs, chemoresistance, and malignant phenotypes, with links to poor clinical prognosis. Finally, our mathematical model predicted the emergence of CSC populations within serially passaged spheroids, concurring with experimental data. Conclusions: Our integrated approach illustrates the utility of the serial passage spheroid model for examining the emergence of chemoresistance in ovarian cancer in a controllable and reproducible format. Citation Format: Pooja Mehta, Micheal Bregenzer, Maria Ward Rashidi, Shreya Raghavan, Elyse Fleck, Eric Horst, Zainab Harissa, Visweswaran Ravikumar, Samuel Brady, Andrea Bild, Arvind Rao, Ronald Buckanovich, Geeta Mehta. Serially passaging ovarian cancer spheroids as an in situ model for emergence of chemoresistance and enrichment of cancer stem cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research; 2019 Sep 13-16, 2019; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(13_Suppl):Abstract nr A52.

A Caribbean Reading of American Cultural Idealism Kamau Brathwaite’s Poetry Meets Claudia Rankine’s Lyricism

In Middle Passages, Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s poetic discourse propels the reader through the landscape of a postmodern American society where the cultural achievements, despite the historical suffering of modern African American people, are regathered and offered through the poetic lens of re-memory as an American artifact of excelling cultural value. In this paper, Brathwaite’s poetic discourse joins that of Claudia Rankine, whose Don’t Let Me Be Lonely offers a contemporary poetic confrontation between the American media’s distillation of history and the poetic re-memory of those events, through the eyes of the Black community. The collections maintain strong political overtones in their historicizing of the suffering that African peoples have endured wherever they are in the black diaspora. Read together, they challenge the mythological depictions of mainstream America as a nation that embraces cultural difference, while upholding the need for continuing a discourse that contests mainstream representations of the status quo of the black American community.

Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State by Ira Dworkin

Reviewed by: Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State by Ira Dworkin Eric M. Washington CONGO LOVE SONG: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State. By Ira Dworkin. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2017. In Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State, Ira Dworkin, assistant professor of English at Texas A&M University, presents a rich text about Black transnationalism building upon the important theoretical contribution of Paul Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic (1993). In this well-structured and well-argued book, Dworkin argues that African-American anti-colonialism found a straight channel to the Congo that also flowed to criticism of the whole of European colonialism during the twentieth century. The work begins with the writings of historian George Washington Williams and Presbyterian missionary William Sheppard, who both arrived in the Congo in 1890, thirteen years after Leopold II of Belgium claimed the Congo as his own personal real estate. Both men wrote of the atrocities committed under Leopold’s personal rule, namely the extraction of rubber using cruel means and punishment: chopping off of Congolese hands. The writings of Williams and Sheppard are the origins of African-American anti-colonial writing on the Congo. From this starting point, Dworkin masterfully analyzes Booker T. Washington’s protests of colonialism in the Congo, the translation work of missionary Edith Edmiston, the literature of Pauline E. Hopkins, the poetry of Langston Hughes, the African-American publication of the writings of Patrice Lumumba, and the speeches, interviews, and letters of Malcolm X. These sources all substantiate his argument that African Americans possessed transnational sensibilities when it came to protesting against colonialism in the Congo, and even the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in early 1961. One weakness in this study is Dworkin’s tentative engagement with Ethiopianism. In his chapter on Pauline E Hopkins, Dworkin discusses her use of the Ethiopian trope that reflects a tradition in African-American writing dating from the middle of the nineteenth century. Dworkin fails to define this literary tradition, though he relies somewhat on Wilson Jeremiah Moses’ The Golden Age of Black Nationalism, which includes a robust discussion of Ethiopiansim. The strengths of this work far outweigh the weakness. Quite significant is Dworkin’s treatment of Washington’s transnationalism. Not only did Washington write in protest to the atrocities committed in the Congo, but he envisioned the expansion of the “Tuskegee Model” there. These insights challenge recent scholarship that has argued that Washington’s interest in Africa was “secondary” to his Southern concerns. Dworkin provides convincing evidence that Washington’s Southern commitments and African concerns worked symbiotically. Another strength of the book is the chapter on Langston Hughes that centers on his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” Dworkin painstakingly engages a rich trove of evidence that leads to the conclusion that this famous poem contains anti-colonial references. This work adds to existing scholarship on African-American connections to Africa such as Campbell’s Songs of Zion and Middle Passages, and Kevin Gaines’ African Americans in Ghana. What this work does that is different from those historical monographs is that Dworkin is able to construct a corpus of African-American writings dedicated to the Congo crisis. This work should spark more scholarship on African-American discourse, both cultural and political, on Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. [End Page 120] Eric M. Washington Calvin College Copyright © 2019 Mid-America American Studies Association

Differentiation Potential of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Osteoblast Cell in Early, Middle and Late Passages

Stem cell-based regenerative therapies are an exciting and emerging field in medicine and dentistry. Since the 1960s, stem cell therapies have been successfully performed and approved in the form of bone marrow transplants and more recently, in skin and corneal grafting. However, the field of regenerative cell therapy has somewhat come to a halt due to safety, ethical and legal concerns associated with medical and scientific practices. In Australia, stem cell therapies, besides those mentioned above, are permitted provided that they are autologous in nature and that the procedure is performed by or under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner in a single treatment. However, the medical practitioner requires no formal stem cell training. We have identified this deficiency in optimal patient care and propose that education in the safe, legal and ethical delivery of stem cell treatments be part of a mandatory training course for medical/dental practitioners and the scientific team prior to the clinical use of stem cell therapies in Australia, and arguably, on a global scale. This involves the scientific and medical team having a sound understanding of the biology of stem cells, their appropriate applications and basic validation and laboratory techniques in order to provide effective and safe treatment for improved patient outcomes. As such, this article aims to propose a frame-work of scientific guidelines for dental and medical practitioners to undertake stem cell therapies.

Особливості клітинного циклу мезенхімальних стовбурових клітин з жирової тканини собаки за різних пасажів культивування

The features of the cell cycle of culture of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells from the for different cultivating passages were studied. Mesenchymal stem cells were obtained from the adipose tissue of the dog under a laminar flow hood by an explant method in our modification. Cell cultivation was carried out at 37 °C, 100% moisture and 5% CO2 in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1% antibiotic-antimycotic. The culture medium was changed 2–3 times per week and the cells were selected by their capacity to attach to the flask surface. When culture flasks became 80% confluence, cells were detached with 0.25% trypsin containing 1 mmol/L EDTA and subsequently replayed at a concentration of 104 cells/cm2 for next passaging. A cells culture of adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells was obtained on the 2nd, 7th and 12th passages. The method of flow cytometry determined the level of aneuploid cells and the distribution in the cell cycle phases. The morphology of cells of different passages was studied using an inverted microscope Axiovert 40. It was investigated that the culture of mesenchymal stem cells from adipose tissue in the 2nd passage contains a significant number of the proliferative pool (S + G2/M) cells and it was 29.51 ± 3.56% of the total number of diploid cells. The number of aneuploid cells was 1.55 ± 0.43%. All cells had fibroblast-like morphology. It was established that in the middle passages (7th) in the culture of mesenchymal stem cells from the adipose tissue of the dog no significant changes were found in the distribution of cells in the phases of the cell cycle. The number of diploid cells of the proliferative pool S + G2/M and the G0/G1 pre-synthetic period remains unchanged. The level of aneuploidy increases only within the tendency. Morphologically, cells had fibroblast-like form. It was determined on 12th passage of cultivation, a significant decrease in the number of cells of the proliferative pool (S+G2/M), which was 18.93 ± 0.66% of the total number of diploid cells compared to the 2nd passage. The number of aneuploid cells increased and it was 3.49 ± 0.38%. Morphologically, separate cells had processes. The indicator of the effect of cells cultivation on the content of diploid cells of the proliferative pool (S+G2/M) in culture is ɳ2x = 70% (P &lt; 0.05). So, first characteristic properties of the aging of the culture of canine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells appear on the 12th passage of cultivation.

The effect of the nasal cavity form on air flow distribution during inhalation

The authors performed numerical modeling of convective air flow in three 3D-models of the nasal cavity during inhalation. The models of the nasal cavity had lepto-, meso- and platicavital forms. The simulation results revealed the specific features of aerodynamics of various forms of the nasal cavity. Platicavital nasal cavity is characterized by more turbulent air flow and leptocavital one – by more laminar. For all nasal cavity forms air flow rate reaches its maximum value in the lower two thirds of the front and middle part of nose. The same trend is observed in posterior part of plati- and mezocavital nasal cavities, and in leptocavital one the maximum values of the air flow rate are observed in the upper two thirds of the nasal cavity. In the direction from the nostrils to the choanas, pressure profile equalizes, and subsequently goes down. The highest pressure values during inhalation were observed in the lower and middle nasal passages. In the front part of the common nasal passage the maximum pressure value is observed in the upper two thirds of the cross-section for platicavital model form and in the lower two thirds of the cross-section for the meso- and leptocavital forms. During inhalation the greatest pressure values are observed in the upper third of the middle and posterior part for all the nasal cavity forms.