Concert recording 2016-04-26a

[Track 01]. Il lacerato spirito from Simon Boccanegra / Giuseppe Verdi -- [Track 02]. Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni from La sonnambula / Vincenzo Bellini -- [Track 03]. Non piu andrai from Le Nozze di Figaro / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- [Track 04]. Madamina from Don Giovanni / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- [Track 05]. Lamento / Henri Duparc -- [Track 06]. Give me Jesus / anonymous ; arranged by Moses Hogan -- [Track 07]. Ol\u27 Jim / Clara Edwards

Fatigue in cerebral palsy: a critical review.

Objective: Fatigue contributes to the deterioration or cessation of walking ability in adults with cerebral palsy (CP). However, conflict exists as to its role. Studies involving functional tasks reported increased, and earlier onset of, fatigue in CP whereas laboratory studies have reported individuals with CP to be more fatigue resistant than their peers. Methods: A critical review of the literature related to fatigue in CP was conducted. Results: This review describes factors that contribute to the observed fatigue resistance in laboratory tasks and how a decreased force-production in CP can result in higher energy expenditure to perform the same amount of work as their peers. Conclusion: More research regarding the process of fatigue and recovery for individuals with CP is needed; specifically studies that focus on functional movements requiring the integration of the whole body, thereby stressing the neuromuscular system in a different way than previously explored

Designing for Networked Learning in The Third Space

The focus of the argument in this paper is first situated in an allegory based on Van Gogh’s Expressionist masterpiece, The Yellow House, in that, our argument shares Van Gogh’s theme of looking for a home for a diverse community, engaged in a shared social movement, imagined/acted upon to evoke change. Our argument is fraught with commitments, investments, hopes, debates, rifts, and conflicts involved in the tentative, emergent nature associated with social movements. Within this diverse and contested context, networked learning praxis is set apart from mainstream e-learning and educational technology theories and practices. The problem of designing learning, in general, and designing for networked learning, in particular, is critically examined through a comparison of the projects, histories, and tenets of instructional design (ID) and learning design (LD). Associated notions of teacher-centred, learner-centred, and community/context-centred approaches to design are compared. Contrasts are drawn and commonalities are identified. The shared LD/ID claims that their projects are pedagogically neutral is interrogated. We then introduce Third Space theory as a way to open a dialogue between ID/LD proponents/researcher-practitioners. Third Space theory begins with abandoning aspirations for emergence of consensus from difference, arguably a practical stance to take when dealing with wide-ranging diversities across multicultural, interdisciplinary, international contexts. Having abandoned consensus, Third Space theory is directed toward ‘multilogues’ that promote boundary crossings and hybridisations, which can result in the emergence new “presences”: newly co-constructed ways to identify and accomplish shared goals. If we conceptualise The Third Space as, (Dare we suggest, an Expressionist social movement?), then based on historical examples of earlier social movements, it is relatively safe to suggest that this space too will likely be marked by misunderstandings and incommensurabilities. Third space ‘multilogues’ will involve participants sometimes talking ‘past each other’ rather than ‘with each other.’ We can expect substantive disagreements and retreats to previously held positions prior to arriving at places of mutual recognition, and perhaps even one or more forms of reconciliation. The paper concludes with an invitation for LDs and IDs to enter The Third Space with a view to finding varied, but sustainable, hybridised conceptualisations of design theories and practices that can contribute to designing future opportunities for networked learning across multicultural, multilinguistic, international, interdisciplinary context

Opportunistic Pathogenic Bacteria Colonize Thorns of Native Rio Grande Valley Plants

Thorns serve as mechanical defenses of plants against herbivory. However, plant thorns harbor microorganisms that are potentially pathogenic. These pathogens may be transferred to herbivores and other animals and provide an additional defense for the plants. Thorns from 5 plant species native to the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas were collected and used to isolate bacteria colonizing the thorn surface. Thorns, leaves and stems of plants were visualized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to observe any bacteria on the plant surface. Isolated bacteria were tested for their ability to grow in aerobic versus anaerobic environments, to produce hemolysis, carbon source utilization, and were gram-stained. Bacteria were identified by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. A total of 69 pure cultures were obtained of which 61 were positively identified. The majority of the bacteria were gram-positive and facultative (i.e., able to grow both aerobically and anaerobically). Many (23%) were hemolytic suggesting that they were opportunistic blood-borne pathogens. All isolated organisms metabolized a collection of 31 tested organic substrates and metabolic activity was observed to be more efficient among anaerobically-isolated microorganisms compared to microorganisms isolated aerobically. SEM revealed that bacteria were found on the thorn surface but also on the stems and leaves of the plants. Identification using the 16S rRNA gene revealed the presence of 10 species representing 7 genera. The most commonly identified organisms were Bacillus cereus, Serratia marcescens, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, all of which are opportunistic pathogens

Concert recording 2016-04-22

[Track 01]. Ombra mai fu from Xerxes / George Frideric Handel -- [Track 02]. Adam and Eve duet from The creation / Joseph Haydn -- [Track 03]. Morire ; Sole e amore ; Salve Regina / Giacomo Puccini -- [Track 04]. Ó mon cher amant from La périchole ; Ah, what a feast ; You are not rich / Jacques Offenbach -- [Track 05]. Spiel auf deiner Geige from Venus in Seide / Robert Stolz -- [Track 06]. Belle nuit, ô nuit d\u27amour from Les contes d\u27Hoffmann / Jacques Offenbach -- [Track 07]. O wär ich schon from Fidelio / Ludwig van Beethoven -- [Track 08]. Orlofsky\u27s aria from Die Fledermaus / Johann Strauss II -- [Track 09]. He\u27s got the whole world in his hands / Moses Hogan -- [Track 10]. This little light of mine / Jacqueline B. Hariston -- [Track 11]. Take my hand, precious lord / Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey

Building Resilience in Social-Ecological Food Systems in Vermont

There is an expanding interest in Local Food Systems (LFSs) in Vermont, along with a growing effort to create adaptive governance to facilitate action. In this case study, we investigate how adaptive governance of LFS can provide ideas and act as a catalyst for creating resilience in other social-ecological systems (SESs). By participating in meetings and interviewing stakeholders inside and outside the Vermont LFS network, we found that consumers were highly motivated to participate by supporting environmental issues, the local economy, and interactive communities, as well as building social relationships. Farmers experienced better income and increased respect in the local community. All participants found adequate “safe space” to share new ideas and explore partnerships. Their identities and values were also place-specific, reflecting the working landscape of Vermont. Adaptive governance was built on equal partnerships, where problems were discussed and responsibilities were shared among many stakeholders across geographic areas and multiple sectors. Some skepticism was expressed towards mainstreaming local food production and sales. Challenges remain to more fully include farmers, for-profit players, and low-income consumers in the network. This might limit the resilience and sustainability of the LFS. Because SESs are held together by common culture and identities, the risk of non-adaptive social patterns exemplifies one key challenge for future adaptive management towards resilient and sustainable outcomes. There is a critical need for developing relevant theory and conducting further research on LFSs and their potential roles in local SESs

Phase II Clinical Trial of Robotic Stereotactic Body Radiosurgery for Metastatic Gynecologic Malignancies

Background: Recurrent gynecologic cancers are often difficult to manage without significant morbidity. We conducted a phase II study to assess the safety and the efficacy of ablative robotic stereotactic body radiosurgery (SBRT) in women with metastatic gynecologic cancers. Methods: A total of 50 patients with recurrent gynecologic cancer who had single or multiple (≤4) metastases underwent robotic-armed Cyberknife SBRT (24Gy/3 daily doses). Toxicities were graded prospectively by common toxicity criteria for adverse events (version 4.0). SBRT target responses were recorded following RECIST criteria (version 1.0). Rates of clinical benefit for SBRT and non-radiosurgical disease relapse were calculated. Disease-free and overall survivals were estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model was used to control for prognostic variables. Findings: SBRT was safely delivered, with 49 (98%) of 50 patients completing three prescribed fractions. The most frequent grade 2 or higher adverse events attributed to SBRT included fatigue (16%), nausea (8%), and diarrhea (4%). One (2%) grade four hyperbilirubinemia occurred. SBRT target response was 96% (48 of 50 patients). A 6-month clinical benefit was recorded in 34 [68% (95% CI, 53.2, 80.1)] patients. No SBRT targeted disease progressed. Non-radiosurgical disease relapse occurred in 31 (62%) patients. Median disease-free survival was 7.8 months (95% CI, 4.0, 11.6). Median overall survival was 20.2 months (95% CI, 10.9, 29.5). Interpretation: SBRT safely controlled metastatic gynecologic cancer targets. Given an observed high rate of non-radiosurgical disease relapse, a phase I trial assessing co-administration of SBRT and cytotoxic chemotherapy is underway. Funding: Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Individual and joint trajectories of change in bone, lean mass and physical performance in older men.

BackgroundDeclines in bone, muscle and physical performance are associated with adverse health outcomes in older adults. However, few studies have described concurrent age-related patterns of change in these factors. The purpose of this study was to characterize change in four properties of muscle, physical performance, and bone in a prospective cohort study of older men.MethodsUsing repeated longitudinal data from up to four visits across 6.9 years from up to 4681 men (mean age at baseline 72.7 yrs. ±5.3) participating in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study, we used group-based trajectory models (PROC TRAJ in SAS) to identify age-related patterns of change in four properties of muscle, physical performance, and bone: total hip bone mineral (BMD) density (g/m2) and appendicular lean mass/ht2 (kg/m2), by DXA; grip strength (kg), by hand dynamometry; and walking speed (m/s), by usual walking pace over 6 m. We also described joint trajectories in all pair-wise combinations of these measures. Mean posterior probabilities of placement in each trajectory (or joint membership in latent groups) were used to assess internal reliability of the model. The number of trajectories for each individual factor was limited to three, to ensure that the pair-wise determination of joint trajectories would yield a tractable number of groups as well as model fit considerations.ResultsThe patterns of change identified were generally similar for all measures, with three district groups declining over time at roughly similar rates; joint trajectories revealed similar patterns with no cross-over or convergence between groups. Mean posterior probabilities for all trajectories were similar and consistently above 0.8 indicating reasonable model fit to the data.ConclusionsOur description of trajectories of change with age in bone mineral density, grip strength, walking speed and appendicular lean mass found that groups identified by these methods appeared to have little crossover or convergence of change with age, even when considering joint trajectories of change in these factors

Protein complexes in cells by AI-assisted structural proteomics

Abstract Accurately modeling the structures of proteins and their complexes using artificial intelligence is revolutionizing molecular biology. Experimental data enable a candidate‐based approach to systematically model novel protein assemblies. Here, we use a combination of in‐cell crosslinking mass spectrometry and co‐fractionation mass spectrometry (CoFrac‐MS) to identify protein–protein interactions in the model Gram‐positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. We show that crosslinking interactions prior to cell lysis reveals protein interactions that are often lost upon cell lysis. We predict the structures of these protein interactions and others in the SubtiWiki database with AlphaFold‐Multimer and, after controlling for the false‐positive rate of the predictions, we propose novel structural models of 153 dimeric and 14 trimeric protein assemblies. Crosslinking MS data independently validates the AlphaFold predictions and scoring. We report and validate novel interactors of central cellular machineries that include the ribosome, RNA polymerase, and pyruvate dehydrogenase, assigning function to several uncharacterized proteins. Our approach uncovers protein–protein interactions inside intact cells, provides structural insight into their interaction interfaces, and is applicable to genetically intractable organisms, including pathogenic bacteria