Seeing faces: evidence suggesting cortical disinhibition in the genesis of visual hallucinations.

The neural mechanisms responsible for triggering visual hallucinations are poorly understood. Here, we report a unique patient whose hallucinations consist exclusively of faces, and which could be reliably precipitated by looking at trees. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we found that, while face hallucinations was associated with increased neural activity in a number of cortical regions, including low-level visual areas, there was significant decreased activity in the right fusiform face area, a region that is empirically defined by increase activity during veridical perception of faces. These findings indicate key differences in how hallucinatory and veridical perceptions lead to the same phenomenological experience of seeing faces, and are consistent with the hypothesis that hallucinations may be generated by decreased inhibitory inputs to key cortical regions, in contrast to the excitatory synaptic inputs underlying veridical perception

Evaluation of the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of the broad spectrum antiviral lectin Griffithsin.

Carbohydrate binding agents that target viral envelope glycans are being studied for their potential use as microbicides and antiviral therapeutics. Griffithsin is a lectin originally identified in a red alga Griffithisia sp. Multiple studies have shown that GRFT inhibits HIV-1, Coronaviruses, Hepatitis C, influenza and Ebola virus replication in vitro. This antiviral activity suggests potential uses in chemoprophylaxis and disease treatment. However, safety of GRFT administration has not been extensively studied. In vivo testing--chronic subcutaneous treatment as well as single dose subcutaneous, oral, and intravenous administrations of Griffithsin in Sprague Dawley Rats (Rattus Norvegicus)--was used to assess Griffithsin’s pharmacokinetic properties and to predict whether use of Griffithsin for antiviral treatment might be safe and effective. Based on histological, serological, and biochemical data derived from these experiments, Griffithsin is generally well tolerated. However, protein binding assays revealed interactions with complement and apolipoproteins and calorimetric assays revealed changes in serum thermograms that may require further study

Profile of systemic treatment with the antiviral lectin Griffithsin in guinea pigs.

Griffithsin (GRFT) is a carbohydrate binding protein derived from the red alga Griffithisia sp. that has been shown to effectively interfere with the cellular attachment and infectivity of a number of viruses, including HIV-1. However, it is currently unknown what impact systemic GRFT administration may have upon a biological system. For initial in vivo testing, we introduced GRFT into guinea pigs (Cavia Parcel/us) via subcutaneous injection. Based on histological, serological, and biochemical data derived from these experiments, GRFT is well tolerated and maintained at physiologically relevant concentrations while retaining its potent antiviral activity. Follow up in vitro testing included a number of assays to assess GRFT\u27s interaction with serum proteins and proteases. The results confirm that GRFT is well tolerated by animals and maintains its antiviral activity while simultaneously displaying a strong resistance to proteolytic cleavage. Accordingly, GRFT is a strong candidate for further development as a systemic anti-viral therapy

Sets and Sensibilities: The Excavation of Ideology in Upstate New York

A growing literature on the archaeology of farmsteads and rural domestic sites has examined commodity consumption as the means by which rural families created and maintained social networks and identities. During the nineteenth century, rural areas were increasingly influenced by the practices and values of the urban middle classes, although not every farmstead would, or could, participate in the same way. This paper examines a matching teacup and saucer recovered from the Spring House, a former commercial farmstead and hotel located southeastern Monroe County, Western New York State. The tea set is decorated with transfer print depictions of Faith, Hope, and Charity, the Three Virtues forming the basis of Christianity, and a motif popular in Victorian America. This paper considers how the tea set, recovered from a rural context, reflects social and genteel identity, and how the occupants of the Spring House used the set to create a sense of respectability through consumption and display

Direct Inversion Method of Fault Slip Analysis to Determine the Orientation of Principal Stresses and Relative Chronology for Tectonic Events in Southwestern White Mountain Region of New Hampshire, USA

The orientation and relative magnitudes of paleo tectonic stresses in the western central region of the White Mountains of New Hampshire is reconstructed using the direct inversion method of fault slip analysis on 1–10-m long fractures exposed on a series of road cuts along Interstate 93, just east of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in North Woodstock, NH, USA. The inversion yields nine stress regimes which identify five tectonic events that impacted the White Mountain region over the last 410 Ma. The inversion method has potential application in basin analysi