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Effects of Alcohol Exposure on Recognition Memory and Marble-Burying Tasks in Male and Female Aged Mice
No full textAlcohol consumption in aging humans is a risk factor for cognitive impairment. This experiment assessed the effects of binge-like alcohol drinking in aged mice on memory (using the object recognition memory [ORM] task) and on anxiety-and compulsive-like behavior (using the marble-burying task). Subjects were 8 female and 10 male mice, 14–15 months old, selectively bred for low alcohol preference (LAP). Mice consumed either tap water or a 20% alcohol (v/v) solution in tap water through a drinking in the dark (DID) procedure for 4 consecutive days per week, for 3 consecutive weeks. One and 11 days after DID, mice completed marble-burying tasks to assess anxiety-and compulsive-like behavior after recent and delayed termination of binge-like alcohol drinking (Han et al., 2017). Twenty-four hours after the second marble-burying test, mice underwent an ORM task that assessed the recognition of a familiar over a novel object. LAP mice drank an average of 0.41 g/kg/hour and a total average of 13.13 g/kg over the course of the drinking period. Mice buried more marbles on the second test, but alcohol exposure did not affect marble burying. Alcohol females had significantly longer latency to explore the objects as compared to control females during initial exploration. This effect was not seen in LAP males, and there were no sex differences in other tests. Results indicate aged LAP mice exhibit diminished motivation for exploration, and alcohol consumption in LAP female mice may produce increased neophobia toward novel objects
Securing the Future: Strengthening Gun Safety Laws to Protect Our Youth
No full textThis study explores the impact of child access prevention (CAP) laws on firearm-related deaths in the United States, analyzing the relationship between CAP laws and the corresponding firearm death rates by state. To evaluate the strength of each state’s CAP laws, each state was given a number from 0 (no law) to 3 (strongest protection). Firearm death rates were recorded as “n per 100,000” population. We performed a linear regression analysis that found a significant association between the strongest and moderate CAP laws and firearm deaths (strong = 3) -β = -14.0, p \u3c .01; (moderate = 2) -( β = -7.4, p \u3c .001) respectively. There was no significant difference between states with minimal protections (weak = 1) and those without CAP laws (none = 0). These results highlight that simply having a CAP law is insufficient; the strength of the law is a critical factor. This is further supported by the model, which showed that 43% of the variation in firearm deaths was directly linked to the strength of CAP laws. However, challenges such as gaps in enforcement, public awareness, and inconsistent legislation remain barriers. This paper proposes three key policy actions: (1) standardizing CAP laws nationwide, (2) requiring mandatory safe storage education for all firearm owners, and (3) expanding federal background checks to address purchase loopholes. Strengthening these areas would be a huge step toward reducing gun violence in the United States, particularly among youth
Further Validation of Using Neuromelanin-Forming Rats to Model Parkinson’s Disease and Their Implication in HAA-Induced Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity
No full textA continuum mechanical model of the brain during closed head injury
Get PDFExactly how traumatic axonal injury happens as a result of brief, intense acceleration of the head remains a mystery. The same can be said about traumatic microbleeds observed in MRI scans of people suffering concussions. This paper explores the mechanism of injury in terms of continuum biomechanics. A full-sized viscoelastic model of the human brain is developed that is subjected to impact with the rigid skull after crossing the subarachnoid space in response to brief, intense whole head acceleration, as might occur in falls or in contact sports. The brain is considered a compressible viscoelastic body of approximately uniform density, elasticity, and viscosity. Classical physics describes the propagation of compressive strain waves through the brain after initial brain-skull contact. At the point of maximal compression against the skull, the whole brain is for an instant, motionless. The local magnitude of compression varies inversely with the cross-sectional area in a plane perpendicular to strain wave propagation. For a blow to the forehead maximal deformation occurs near the site of contact with the frontal bone, becoming less in middle regions, and rising again near the occipital pole to a less than maximal level, owing to viscous energy loss. For a clearly damaging acceleration, as would happen in an adult human falling forward from higher than a standing position and striking a hard surface, the maximal compressive strain approaches 50% in the frontal lobes, 20% in the middle regions, and 30% in the occipital lobes, even in the absence of rebound and contrecoup. These compressive strains are accompanied by corresponding elongation strains from Poisson’s ratio expansion, perpendicular to the axis of acceleration, of roughly 25%, 10%, and 15%, which may be adequate in themselves to stretch axons and capillaries to their breaking points
Impacts of Informal STEM Summer Camps on Middle School Student STEM Identity
Get PDFInformal or out of school STEM spaces have been documented as sites of positive STEM identity development for youth historically marginalized in formal STEM spaces (Çolakoğlu et al., 2023). To increase the number of students who develop positive STEM identities during the critical juncture of middle school, Indiana GEAR UP offered summer camps to rising 7th and 8th grade students at selected middle schools across the state. Longitudinal interviews with students indicate the importance of informal STEM spaces, like summer camps, in fostering positive STEM identity development
Indiana STEM Teachers’ Perceptions of the Shift from In-Person to Virtual Training during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic brought uncertainty to Indiana teachers in 2020. School closings caused disruptions to teachers’ classroom settings, ongoing training, and social and mental well-being (Pozo-Rico et al., 2020). Indiana GEAR UP’s commitment to teacher professional development for STEM educators led to a shift from their in-person summer teacher training sessions to virtual, just months after the school shutdowns in spring 2020. Participant evaluations showed that teachers appreciated the virtual training options and were able to learn new strategies to apply to their new virtual learning spaces. The online training sessions also had drawbacks. This research brief describes recommendations to schools offering virtual training to support ongoing STEM teacher development
Indiana Interstate Speed Profiles 2020-2024
Get PDFThis report presents a graphical summary of monthly mile-hours of congestion across the 8 Indiana interstates (I-64, I-65, I-69, I-70, I-74, I-94, I-465, and I-469) and the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) analyzed longitudinally over the last five years from January 2020 to December 2024. It is a continuation of speed profile summaries that are published in previous years. Such systemwide interstate performance measures provide important information for decision makers to plan capital projects and assess operations.
Hours of operation by speed bins (0 to 14 mph, 15 mph to 24 mph, 25 mph to 34 mph, 35 mph to 44 mph, 45 mph to 54 mph, 55 mph to 64 mph, more than 65 mph) for every 0.1 mile of the interstate by direction across a month were tabulated for every hour of every day during the month. The quantities of those six different speed bins are plotted as a stacked bar plot from lower to higher speeds by mile marker for each month. The vertical axis shows the mile marker of the interstate. Horizontally, these stacked bars are cropped at maximum of 250 hours (a little more than 10 days) per month to focus on the lower speeds.
To produce these plots, more than 60 billion records from INRIX across 5 years were analyzed. These speed profiles help identify areas with congestion at system level as well as regions impacted by severe winter storms and construction projects
Prison as a Living Being: ‘Assad’s Syria’ as a model for the Imprisonment State
Get PDFThe Syrian Assad regime used prisons as tools of domination. As such, prisons had the power not only of active repression but also as places of detention and disappearance for Syrians. The expansion of political detention in Syria over fifty years transformed prison into a living being in the sense that prison became a part not just of Syrians\u27 political life, but also of their social identity. One can recognize it in voices, attitudes, lifestyles, and even written and oral culture. Syrian cities are full of weapons since a large area of the urban space is inhabited by the buildings of military, civil and secret prisons. This object, defined as the prison, cast its shadow over Syria and its people in many ways. It occupied significant urban space and was anticipated across vast geographical areas in the heart of cities and on the outskirts of villages. The cars of the state’s security service were symbols of political arrest and embodied a form of prison that circulated across Syrian geography, both urban and rural. Another life of prison, outside the institutional walls, was formed by the acts of security and intelligence personnel in daily Syrian life. They appeared in civilian clothing and brandished their weapons in universities, markets, public institutions, and even bakeries
The Indispensability of Human Paralegals in the Era of Advancing AI
Get PDFThe rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is causing ripples in all areas of life. The legal field is not immune, and concerns about AI replacing legal professionals abound. This manuscript explores the role of paralegals in the legal field from the inception of legal assistants to today and beyond. It examines research on the importance of the human paralegals’ expertise in navigating complex legal processes efficiently and accurately while providing emotional support for clients. This manuscript describes how human paralegals will remain indispensable thanks to their technological capabilities and emotional intelligence. Emphasizing the American Bar Association’s (ABA) mandate on technological competence, this study advocates for the continued utilization of paralegals to benefit legal AI, lawyers, and their clients