Metropolitan Contexts for Community Initiatives: Contrasts in a Turbulent Decade

Analyzes demographic, social, and poverty data and 2000-10 changes in the economies and housing markets of fourteen metropolitan areas to inform Casey's strategies for reinvesting in initiatives including rehabilitation and minimizing vacancies

The HI Chronicles of LITTLE THINGS BCDs: Evidence for External Perturbations in the Morphology and Kinematics of Haro 29 and Haro 36

We analyze high angular and velocity resolution HI-line data of two LITTLE THINGS (1) blue compact dwarfs (BCDs): Haro 29 and Haro 36. Both of these BCDs are disturbed morphologically and kinematically. Haro 29's HI data reveal a kinematic major axis that is offset from the optical major axis, and a disturbed outer HI component, indicating that Haro 29 may have had a past interaction. Position-velocity diagrams of Haro 36 indicate that it has two kinematically separate components at its center and a likely tidal tail in front of the galaxy. We find that Haro 36 most likely had an interaction in the past, is currently interacting with an unknown companion, or is a merger remnant. (1) "Local Irregulars That Trace Luminosity Extremes The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey" http://www2.lowell.edu/users/dah/littlethings/index.htmlComment: To be published in The Astronomical Journa

Overexpression of Sox11 Promotes Corticospinal Tract Regeneration after Spinal Injury While Interfering with Functional Recovery

Embryonic neurons, peripheral neurons, and CNS neurons in zebrafish respond to axon injury by initiating pro-regenerative transcriptional programs that enable axons to extend, locate appropriate targets, and ultimately contribute to behavioral recovery. In contrast, many long-distance projection neurons in the adult mammalian CNS, notably corticospinal tract (CST) neurons, display a much lower regenerative capacity. To promote CNS repair, a long-standing goal has been to activate pro-regenerative mechanisms that are normally missing from injured CNS neurons. Sox11 is a transcription factor whose expression is common to a many types of regenerating neurons, but it is unknown whether suboptimal Sox11 expression contributes to low regenerative capacity in the adult mammalian CNS. Here we show in adult mice that dorsal root ganglion neurons (DRGs) and CST neurons fail to upregulate Sox11 after spinal axon injury. Furthermore, forced viral expression of Sox11 reduces axonal dieback of DRG axons, and promotes CST sprouting and regenerative axon growth in both acute and chronic injury paradigms. In tests of forelimb dexterity, however, Sox11 overexpression in the cortex caused a modest but consistent behavioral impairment. These data identify Sox11 as a key transcription factor that can confer an elevated innate regenerative capacity to CNS neurons. The results also demonstrate an unexpected dissociation between axon growth and behavioral outcome, highlighting the need for additional strategies to optimize the functional output of stimulated neurons

The History of Aspartame

These two opposing tensions, the market desire for low-calorie foods including sugar substitutes, and the fear of consumer manipulation by a burgeoning industry and a collusive FDA, drive the fascinating history of aspartame. This paper follows the important hurdles in aspartame's past, including the attempts of its promoters to gain regulatory acceptance, several safety scares, botched scientific research, scandals, lawsuits and investigations. It also seeks to illuminate how FDA has dealt with, and participated in the tenacious struggle surrounding aspartame's regulation, use and safety. Finally, this paper looks to the future in order to determine if the aspartame debate will soon come to a final end

Patient and community nurse perspectives on recruitment to a randomized controlled trial of urinary catheter washout solutions

Aims To provide evidence around the acceptability of a proposed randomised controlled trial (RCT) of catheter washout solutions. Design: A sample of senior community nursing staff (n=7) were interviewed and four focus groups with a sample of community nurses were conducted. Eleven semi-structured face-to-face interviews were undertaken with patients using a long-term catheter. Methods: An in-depth qualitative study using a phenomenological approach was employed. This approach was suitable to explore the lived experiences of subjects and gain their viewpoints and experiences. Results: Nurse participants raised concerns regarding the removal of treatment or increased risk of infection in relation to which arm of the trial patients were randomised to. There was concern that patients could get used to the increased contact with nursing staff. Six patients who agreed to participate cited personal benefit, benefiting others, and a sense of indifference. Four patients were unsure about taking part and one declined

A new robust diagnostic polymerase chain reaction for determining the mating status of female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.

The principal malaria vector in Africa, Anopheles gambiae, contains two pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes. The Y chromosome is only associated with males and other Y chromosome-specific DNA sequences, which are transferred to women during mating. A reliable tool to determine the mating status of dried wild An. gambiae females is currently lacking. DNA was extracted from dried virgin and mated females and used to test whether Y chromosome-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers can be successfully amplified and used as a predictor of mating. Here we report a new PCR-based method to determine the mating status among successfully inseminated and virgin wild An. gambiae females, using three male-specific primers. This dissection-free method has the potential to facilitate studies of both population demographics and gene flow from dried mosquito samples routinely collected in epidemiologic monitoring and aid existing and new malaria-vector control approaches

Silenced imbalances

Awkwardness and vulnerability through continuous public display and criticism this and these inhibiting, defeating a person’s ability to be able to function to the fullest extent. Disabling. Through literal and metaphorical ciphering I blend original poetry with my artwork in order to address misperceptions about gender, sexuality, mental illness, and ableism within American society. My undergraduate thesis work is an expression of my personal experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), major panic disorder, depression and dermatillomania