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Rhythms in Barriers and Fluids: Circadian Clock Regulation in the Aging Neurovascular Unit
Get PDFThe neurovascular unit is where two very distinct physiological systems meet: The central nervous system (CNS) and the blood. The permeability of the barriers separating these systems is regulated by time, including both the 24 h circadian clock and the longer processes of aging. An endogenous circadian rhythm regulates the transport of molecules across the blood-brain barrier and the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid and the glymphatic system. These fluid dynamics change with time of day, and with age, and especially in the context of neurodegeneration. Factors may differ depending on brain region, as can be highlighted by consideration of circadian regulation of the neurovascular niche in white matter. As an example of a potential target for clinical applications, we highlight chaperone-mediated autophagy as one mechanism at the intersection of circadian dysregulation, aging and neurodegenerative disease. In this review we emphasize key areas for future research
Attending to the Cultures of Data Science Work
Get PDFThis essay reflects on the shifting attention to the “social” and the “cultural” in data science communities. While recently the “social” and the “cultural” have been prioritized in data science discourse, social and cultural concerns that get raised in data science are almost always outwardly focused – applying to the communities that data scientists seek to support more so than more computationally-focused data science communities. I argue that data science communities have a responsibility to attend not only to the cultures that orient the work of domain communities, but also to the cultures that orient their own work. I describe how ethnographic frameworks such as thick description can be enlisted to encourage more reflexive data science work, and I conclude with recommendations for documenting the cultural provenance of data policy and infrastructure
The Power of Chinese Narrative – interview with Sabina Knight
No full textWhen reading and translating, I’ve often wondered about Chinese narrative. I knew from reading with my own children how important storytelling is for credibility and engagement, even at a very young age. How do English and Chinese narrative styles impact on us, consciously or sub-consciously? How does narrative style affect our reading and appreciation of translations? Sabina Knight is Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature, Program in World Literatures, at Smith College, and an expert on Chinese narrative. We are delighted that she agreed to an interview with us
An Apology for Philosophy
No full textJay L. Garfield defends the practice of philosophy as a political and aesthetic enterprise
Single-Cell Transcriptomics Supports Presence of Cryptic Species and Reveals Low Levels of Population Genetic Diversity in Two Testate Amoebae Morphospecies with Large Population Sizes
No full textThe enormous population sizes and wide biogeographical distribution of many microbial eukaryotes set the expectation of high levels of intraspecific genetic variation. However, studies investigating protist populations remain scarce, mostly due to limited ‘omics data. Instead, most genetics studies of microeukaryotes have thus far relied on single loci, which can be misleading and do not easily allow for detection of recombination, a hallmark of sexual reproduction. Here, we analyze \u3e40 genes from 72 single-cell transcriptomes from two morphospecies—Hyalosphenia papilio and Hyalosphenia elegans—of testate amoebae (Arcellinida, Amoebozoa) to assess genetic diversity in samples collected over four years from New England bogs. We confirm the existence of cryptic species based on our multilocus dataset, which provides evidence of recombination within and high levels of divergence between the cryptic species. At the same time, total levels of genetic diversity within cryptic species are low, suggesting that these abundant organisms have small effective population sizes, perhaps due to extinction and repopulation events coupled with efficient modes of dispersal. This study is one of the first to investigate population genetics in uncultivable heterotrophic protists using transcriptomics data and contributes towards understanding cryptic species of nonmodel microeukaryotes
Positive Effects of Mycorrhizal Inoculum from Widespread Kalmia latifolia on Seed Germination and Performance of Endemic Rhododendron carolinianum (Ericaceae): Implications for Climate Change Migration and ex-situ Conservation
No full textClimate change poses a major threat to biodiversity, especially for small-ranged endemic plants that might have limited ability to migrate. These challenges could be compounded for species with specialized mutualisms; if key partners are absent in new regions, range shifts could be slowed or halted. Many plant species in the Ericaceae family benefit from mutualisms with ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) fungi, which can enhance their ability to grow on acidic, nutrient-poor soils; however, the level of specialization and exclusivity in these partnerships is not well known. This experimental study explored whether small-ranged Rhododendron carolinianum (Ericaceae), an endemic restricted to the southern Appalachian Mountains, can successfully partner with ERM fungal inoculum associated with a widespread and abundant confamilial plant, Kalmia latifolia. Using a series of mesocosm experiments, we tested seed germination and seedling growth rates of both R. carolinianum and K. latifolia with and without ERM-containing inoculum from K. latifolia populations in Massachusetts, ~1000 km north of the native range of R. carolinianum. Twenty mesocosms per treatment were used, each containing ~500 mL of a bulk 50:50 mixture of coarse sand and soil organic horizon material from a forest area lacking ericaceous plants; to half of these containers, ~30 mL of ERM-containing inoculum from the base of K. latifolia was added (~6% of total volume). Mean germination of R. carolinianum seed was greater in mesocosms treated with K. latifolia ERM inoculum vs. controls in both trials to date, significantly so in the spring 2022 trial (69% vs. 53%, p \u3c 0.01). Seed germination of K. latifolia also increased in mesocosms with its own ERM inoculum, significantly so in the fall 2022 trial (33% vs. 21%, p \u3c 0.01). Effects on seedling growth rates were less clear, although R. carolinianum seedlings tended to show larger leaf sizes in mesocosms inoculated with soil containing ERM from K. latifolia. These findings suggest that 3 the early life stages of R. carolinianum can benefit from interactions with novel inoculum, likely containing ERM, hosted by its widespread confamilial K. latifolia. The results raise the possibility of indirect facilitation of establishment for endemic R. carolinianum in new regions where confamilials are already present and hosting ERM fungi. The findings are also relevant for planning ex-situ conservation collections or future assisted migration efforts
An Innovative Alliance between Gays and Lesbians: Contract Marriage, Reproductive Intention, and Internalized Heteronormativity
No full textFunctional Network Reconfiguration Supporting Memory-Guided Attention
Get PDFStudies have identified several brain regions whose activations facilitate attentional deployment via long-term memories. We analyzed task-based functional connectivity at the network and node-specific level to characterize large-scale communication between brain regions underlying long-term memory guided attention. We predicted default mode, cognitive control, and dorsal attention subnetworks would contribute differentially to long-term memory guided attention, such that network-level connectivity would shift based on attentional demands, requiring contribution of memory-specific nodes within default mode and cognitive control subnetworks. We expected that these nodes would increase connectivity with one another and with dorsal attention subnetworks during long-term memory guided attention. Additionally, we hypothesized connectivity between cognitive control and dorsal attention subnetworks facilitating external attentional demands. Our results identified both network-based and node-specific interactions that facilitate different components of LTM-guided attention, suggesting a crucial role across the posterior precuneus and restrosplenial cortex, acting independently from the divisions of default mode and cognitive control subnetworks. We found a gradient of precuneus connectivity, with dorsal precuneus connecting to cognitive control and dorsal attention regions, and ventral precuneus connecting across all subnetworks. Additionally, retrosplenial cortex showed increased connectivity across subnetworks. We suggest that connectivity from dorsal posterior midline regions is critical for the integration of external information with internal memory that facilitates long-term memory guided attention
Sustainability and the Philosophy of Science
No full textThis book demonstrates how the philosophy of science can enhance our understanding of sustainability and the practices we use to enact it. Examining assumptions about concepts, theories, evidence, and the moral ideals of sustainability can better orient us as we pursue this urgent and important goal. The book applies perspectives and tools from the philosophy of science - construed broadly to include portions of science and technology studies, history of science, and philosophy more generally - to sustainability discourse. It argues that widely-held assumptions regarding the meaning of concepts, methods of theorizing and inferential practice, evidential structure, and ethics limit our understanding and practice of sustainability. It offers philosophical alternatives that capture more fully the confusing, wicked nature of sustainability challenges. The alternatives draw attention to existing, but often undervalued, frameworks in sustainability discourse. This book is aimed towards academics, researchers, and post-graduates working in sustainability, as well as philosophers of science and environmental philosophers interested in the philosophical issues raised by the pursuit of sustainability. Source: Publisherhttps://scholarworks.smith.edu/phi_books/1006/thumbnail.jp
Each Luminous Thing
No full textFrom the boreal woods of Vermont to the coastal canyons of Southern California, Stacie Cassarino\u27s highly anticipated second collection of poetry maps the parallel tracks of walking through shifting terrains and becoming a mother. Cassarino patiently explores the physical cadences of landscapes as they are superimposed with internal and linguistic navigations of desire, longing, loss, and love. Stepping into the natural world with a lens on earthly objects encountered through the seasons, Cassarino holds both sorrow and praise for their ephemerality, and for the fragility of human connection, and in doing so reconciles her own sense of home. These are quiet, resilient poems, reflective of the urgent grasp to preserve and fill the silences that live around and within us; they affirm the presence of beauty through solid facets of nature and through the enthralled body that announces its love, even as things come in and out of focus. Source: Publisherhttps://scholarworks.smith.edu/eng_books/1017/thumbnail.jp