546 research outputs found
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The effects of cold stress during hypoxia on Aplysia californica
No full textThe California sea hare, Aplysia californica, is a commonly used animal model in behavioral and neurophysiological studies. Aplysia is known to inhabit intertidal regions, where it is commonly exposed to air for hours at a time. This feature of its habitat has resulted in adaptations that allow these animals to withstand prolonged periods of hypoxia. This study aimed to see if the addition of a cold stressor to prolonged hypoxia would result in behavioral and physiological impairments in the animals, compared to animals that underwent hypoxia at ambient temperature, and no-hypoxia controls. Hypoxia of any kind significantly slowed reflex behavior times directly following hypoxia. Cold hypoxia animals did not show a return to normal reflex behavior times 48 hours after hypoxia and continued to exhibit abnormal behaviors, whereas ambient hypoxia animals were observed to be fully recovered 48 hours after hypoxic exposure. Cold hypoxia increases time needed to recover from hypoxia and interferes with the ability of the animals to perform normal behaviors and reflexes
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The effects of chronic hypoxia on Aplysia californica
No full textThe value of Aplysia californica as a model for neurological research has been known for the last several decades, and many aspects of its biology and behavior have therefore been intensely studied. However, no data yet exists on the effects of chronic hypoxia on the physiology and neurological processes of A. californica. Understanding the effects of hypoxia on A. californica would have great potential to advance understanding of how lack of oxygen impacts essential functions in a variety of biological organisms. To study the effects of chronic hypoxia, a cohort of sibling A. californica animals was exposed to weekly hypoxia for a period of six weeks. Two reflex behaviors, the righting reflex and the tail withdrawal reflex, were performed on the animals to observe the effects of chronic hypoxia on the animals. These reflex behaviors were performed before hypoxic exposure, immediately afterwards, and the following morning to observe how the animals were affected by this stress. It was observed that hypoxia did negatively impact the animals’ neurological functions as the study progressed. It was also concluded that response to hypoxia was highly individualistic, and certain individual animals were able to adapt and respond to it much more effectively than others
The effects of chronic hypoxia on Aplysia californica
No full textThe value of Aplysia californica as a model for neurological research has been known for the last several decades, and many aspects of its biology and behavior have therefore been intensely studied. However, no data yet exists on the effects of chronic hypoxia on the physiology and neurological processes of A. californica. Understanding the effects of hypoxia on A. californica would have great potential to advance understanding of how lack of oxygen impacts essential functions in a variety of biological organisms. To study the effects of chronic hypoxia, a cohort of sibling A. californica animals was exposed to weekly hypoxia for a period of six weeks. Two reflex behaviors, the righting reflex and the tail withdrawal reflex, were performed on the animals to observe the effects of chronic hypoxia on the animals. These reflex behaviors were performed before hypoxic exposure, immediately afterwards, and the following morning to observe how the animals were affected by this stress. It was observed that hypoxia did negatively impact the animals’ neurological functions as the study progressed. It was also concluded that response to hypoxia was highly individualistic, and certain individual animals were able to adapt and respond to it much more effectively than others
Palindromic richness
No full textIn this paper, we study combinatorial and structural properties of a new class of finite and infinite words that are 'rich' in palindromes in the utmost sense. A characteristic property of the so-called rich words is that all complete returns to any palindromic factor are themselves palindromes. These words encompass the well-known episturmian words, originally introduced by the second author together with Droubay and Pirillo in 2001 [X. Droubay, J. Justin, G. Pirillo, Episturmian words and some constructions of de Luca and Rauzy, Theoret. Comput. Sci. 255 (2001) 539-553]. Other examples of rich words have appeared in many different contexts. Here we present the first unified approach to the study of this intriguing family of words. Amongst our main results, we give an explicit description of the periodic rich infinite words and show that the recurrent balanced rich infinite words coincide with the balanced episturmian words. We also consider two wider classes of infinite words, namely weakly rich words and almost rich words (both strictly contain all rich words, but neither one is contained in the other). In particular, we classify all recurrent balanced weakly rich words. As a consequence, we show that any such word on at least three letters is necessarily episturmian; hence weakly rich words obey Fraenkel's conjecture. Likewise, we prove that a certain class of almost rich words obeys Fraenkel's conjecture by showing that the recurrent balanced ones are episturmian or contain at least two distinct letters with the same frequency. Lastly, we study the action of morphisms on (almost) rich words with particular interest in morphisms that preserve (almost) richness. Such morphisms belong to the class of P-morphisms that was introduced by Hof, Knill, and Simon in 1995 [A. Hof, O. Knill, B. Simon, Singular continuous spectrum for palindromic Schrödinger operators, Comm. Math. Phys. 174 (1995) 149-159]
China's economic reforms : pointers for other economies in transition?
No full textChina's two main economic problems before reform were low incentives to workers and the misallocation of resources among sectors. These problems were theresult of a development strategy oriented toward heavy industry. By improving material incentives, China's reforms created a flow of new resources and allowed them to be allocated to sectors suppressed under pre-reform strategies. The onset of reform in China was not allowed to disrupt production from existing resources. Instead, the newly created resources were permitted to accrue and to flow into the more productive, often light industrial sectors, thus stimulating continuous growth of the national economy during reform. Low incentives and the suppression of nonpriority sectors are common features of the legacy of economies in transition from central planning that based their development on the rapid growth of heavy industry. China's approach may be of interest to them. Among lessons China learned are that: (a) Autonomy must be granted to micromanagement units and preserved to improve the incentive structure and create a new flow of resources. (b) While maintaining essential minimum levels of production in the pre-reform priority sectors, autonomous enterprises must be permitted and encouraged to allocate new incremental resource flows to the previously suppressed sectors. (c) In parallel, the distorted policy environment and planned-allocation system must be progressively reformed to bring them into line with the new system of incentives and modus operandi of autonomous enterprises.Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Water and Industry,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies
A Recording, Performance Guide, and Composer Interviews: Six New Original Works for Trios Involving Saxophone, Commissioned for the Rogue Trio and Lotus
No full textabstract: This project includes a recording, composer biographies, performance guides, and composer questionnaires for seven original works commissioned for either the Rogue Trio or Lotus. The members of the Rogue Trio are violinist Kathleen Strahm, saxophonist Justin Rollefson, and pianist Mary Cota. Lotus’s members include Samuel Detweiler, Justin Rollefson, and Kristen Zelenak on saxophone. Both ensembles are based in Tempe, Arizona. All seven original compositions were recorded at Tempest Recording in February of 2018.
The first piece, Four Impersonations (2016), was commissioned by the Rogue Trio and written by Theo Chandler (b.1992) for violin, soprano saxophone and piano. The second piece was written by Spencer Arias (b. 1990) titled He Said There Was No Sound (2015) for violin, alto saxophone, and piano. The final work is titled Cabinet Meeting (2017), composed by Zachary Green (b. 1993) for violin, alto and tenor saxophone, and piano.
The first piece commissioned by Lotus and composed by Spencer Arias is titled As I escape, the water calms (2017) for soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, and tenor saxophone. The second piece was composed by Graham Cohen (b. 1999), titled Introduction and Toccata (2017), written for soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones. The third piece, titled Everything that rises, was written by David “Clay” Mettens (b. 1990) in 2014 for three soprano saxophones. Samuel Detweiler, Justin Rollefson and Tyler Flowers originally commissioned this piece. The final piece commissioned by Lotus was written by Matthew Kennedy (b. 1987) titled Triceratops: tasty grooves for saxophone trio (2017) for alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.Dissertation/ThesisFour Impersonations, Movement I: An outwardly-confident adolescent demanding recognition - Theo ChandlerFour Impersonations, Movement II: A grumpy hermit ignoring the attention of a suitor - Theo ChandlerFour Impersonations, Movement III: A skinny, shy boy standing in the rain - Theo ChandlerFour Impersonations, Movement IV: Subordinates mocking an authority figure - Theo ChandlerHe Said There Was No Sound - Spencer AriasCabinet Meeting, Movement I: Introduction - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement II: Jared Kushner, mysterious robot - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement III: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, lonesome cowboy - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement IV: Anthony "The Mooch" Scaramucci, in candid conversation with the New Yorker - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement V: Betsy DeVos Secretary of Education - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement VI: Ben Carson Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement VII: Attorney General Jeff Sessions, responding to questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee - Zachary GreenAs I escape, the water calms - Spencer AriasIntroduction and Toccata - Graham CohenEverything that rises - David “Clay” MettensTriceratops - Matthew KennedyDoctoral Dissertation Music 201
KDS2010, a Newly Developed Reversible MAO-B Inhibitor, as an Effective Therapeutic Candidate for Parkinson’s Disease
No full text© 2021, The Author(s).Monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) is a well-established therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease (PD); however, previous clinical studies on currently available irreversible MAO-B inhibitors have yielded disappointing neuroprotective effects. Here, we tested the therapeutic potential of KDS2010, a recently synthesized potent, selective, and reversible MAO-B inhibitor in multiple animal models of PD. We designed and synthesized a series of α-aminoamide derivatives and found that derivative KDS2010 exhibited the highest potency, specificity, reversibility, and bioavailability (> 100%). In addition, KDS2010 demonstrated significant neuroprotective and anti-neuroinflammatory efficacy against nigrostriatal pathway destruction in the mouse MPTP model of parkinsonism. Treatment with KDS2010 also alleviated parkinsonian motor dysfunction in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced and A53T mutant α-synuclein overexpression rat models of PD. Moreover, KDS2010 showed virtually no toxicity or side effects in non-human primates. KDS2010 could be a next-generation therapeutic candidate for PD.11Nsciescopu
Constraining Inflationary B-modes with the BICEP/Keck Array Telescopes
No full textUniversity of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.November 2019. Major: Physics. Advisor: Clement Pryke. 1 computer file (PDF); xiv, 250 pages.The standard cosmological model is an impressive theory that explains well the observed evolution and structure of the Universe, but we know the theory has to be incomplete since it does not explain the initial conditions of the Big Bang. Inflation is an extension to the model that hypothesizes an incredibly brief period of accelerating expansion in the first moments after the Big Bang to explain how the required initial conditions were met. Most theories of Inflation predict a stochastic background of gravitational waves would have been produced, which would have imprinted a characteristic curl-like B-mode pattern into the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and finding these B-modes would provide direct evidence for Inflation, opening a new window into the high-energy physics of the early Universe. The BICEP/Keck Array telescopes are a series of small aperture, polarization-sensitive microwave telescopes expressly optimized for observing the degree-angular scale CMB where the B-mode signal is predicted to peak. Continuous mapping since 2010 of ~1% of the low-foreground sky from the South Pole has produced maps in multiple frequencies bands which result in the tightest constraint on Inflationary gravitational waves to date: r < 0.072 using data through the end of 2015. In this dissertation we review the end-to-end analysis of the BICEP/Keck Array data, from timestreams to cosmological parameter estimation. Along the way, we will detail two specific contributions the author has made for the upcoming analysis results. The first concerns a correction made to the low-level timestream processing, discovered while analyzing the data from the newest telescope for the first time. The second topic is the introduction of new algorithms and parameter choices for the E/B purification process that improves the purification quality. Finally, we conclude by previewing the anticipated result of including three additional years of previously unreported data which has the potential to improve current cosmological parameter constraints on r by a factor of two.Willmert, Justin. (2019). Constraining Inflationary B-modes with the BICEP/Keck Array Telescopes. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/211821
XLBlocks: a Block-based Formula Editor for Spreadsheet Formulas
No full textSpreadsheets are frequently used in industry to support critical business decisions. Unfortunately, they also suffer from error-proneness, which sometimes results in costly consequences. Experiments in the field of program education have shown that programmers tend to make fewer errors and can better focus on the logic of a program if they use a block-based language instead of a textual one. We hypothesize that a block-based formula editor could support spreadsheet users in a similar way. Therefore, we develop XLBlocks and conduct a think-aloud study with 13 experienced spreadsheet users from industry. Participants are asked to create and edit several formulas, using our block-based language. We then ask them to evaluate this editor using the Cognitive Dimensions of Notations framework. We found that for all dimensions the block-based formula editor received a better evaluation than the default text-based formula editor.Accepted author manuscriptSoftware Engineerin
Arctic Anti-Radio
No full text"Arctic Anti-Radio" is an essay which focuses on a series of field recordings made by the author that combine conventional microphones with sensor systems designed to capture the energies and dynamic properties of electro-magnetic radiation. These recordings were made in North Norway / Sápmi, a region where Norwegian energy infrastructure projects relating to hydro-electric and wind power are presented as part of a green transition away from a fossil fuel economy and yet have been met by resistance from Sámi and others who believe these structures pose threats to indigenous lives and places and to more-than-human populations such as birds (affected by wind turbines) and reindeer (affected by underground cables and acces routeways).
The essay describes these conflicts, the processes involved in recording the electro-magnetic energies of infrastructure and considers how an audio essay might develop that is beholden neither to the 'musical' as form nor to the voice as interpretative authority and nor to the sleeve or programme note as textual support. Is there an audio essay that can be lead by sound that has not been processed according to conventions of audibility? What kinds of expectation would such an approach place on its listeners? As the volume's introduction has it "Carlyle uses this as an opportunity to ask whether the audio essay continues to bow too much to the didacticism of the traditional essay form, clinging to insistently to fragments of the textual archive as anchors from which sound can take off".
The wider edited volume seeks to explore ideas of the 'audio essay,' a relatively new coining but a concept that resonates not just with cognate notions such as the video essay or film essay but with earlier forms of reflective thought in sonic form.
Other contributors, artists, philosophers, curators, include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Lendl Barcelos, Justin Barton, Ben Borthwick, Matt Colquhoun, Jessica Edwards, Kodwo Eshun, Steve Goodman, Ayesha Hameed, Eleni Ikoniadou, Lawrence Lek, Robin Mackay, Paul Nataraj, Emily Pethick, Iain Sinclair and Shelley Trower
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