Wyrd Questions: Re-framing Adult/ Community Education

There is a growing body of popular literature associated with ‘new paradigm’ research, the development of the Gaia hypothesis, and the meaning of ‘spirituality’ in today’s society. This paper suggests why adult/ community education should be re-framed within this context; and looks at some implications for model-building

Towards an Understanding of What it Might Mean to Research Spiritually

This paper reports on a two-year funded seminar series in the UK. This highlighted two distinct ‘locations’ of spirituality and the need to recognise different ‘ways of knowing’ when working in this field. It also raised questions about what it might mean to research spiritually

Assessing ballast treatment standards for effect on rate of establishment using a stochastic model of the green crab

This paper describes a stochastic model used to characterize the probability/risk of NIS establishment from ships' ballast water discharges. Establishment is defined as the existence of a sufficient number of individuals of a species to provide for a sustained population of the organism. The inherent variability in population dynamics of organisms in their native or established environments is generally difficult to quantify. Muchqualitative information is known about organism life cycles and biotic and abiotic environmental pressures on the population, but generally little quantitative data exist to develop a mechanistic model of populations in such complex environments. Moreover, there is little quantitative data to characterize the stochastic fluctuations of population size over time even without accounting for systematic responses to biotic and abiotic pressures. This research applies an approach using life-stage density and fecundity measures reported in research to determine a stochastic model of an organism's population dynamics. The model is illustrated withdata from research studies on the green crab that span a range of habitats of the established organism and were collected over some years to represent a range of time-varying biotic and abiotic conditions that are expected to exist in many receiving environments. This model is applied to introductions of NIS at the IMO D-2 and the U.S. ballast water discharge standard levels designated as Phase Two in the United States Coast Guard'sNotice of Proposed Rulemaking. Under a representative range of ballast volumes discharged at U.S. ports, the average rate of establishment of green crabs for ballast waters treated to the IMO-D2 concentration standard (less than 10 organisms/m3) is predicted to be reduced to about a third the average rate from untreated ballast water discharge. The longevity of populations from the untreated ballast water discharges is expected to be reducedby about 90% by treatment to the IMO-D2 concentration standard

Modeling Underwater Visual and Filter Feeding by Planktivorous Shearwaters in Unusual Sea Conditions

Short-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) migrate between breeding areas in Australia and wintering areas in the Bering Sea. These extreme movements allow them to feed on swarms of euphausiids (krill) that occur seasonally in different regions, but they occasionally experience die-offs when availability of euphausiids or other prey is inadequate. During a coccolithophore bloom in the Bering Sea in 1997, hundreds of thousands of Short-tailed Shearwaters starved to death. One proposed explanation was that the calcareous shells of phytoplanktonic coccolithophores reduced light transmission, thus impairing visual foraging underwater. This hypothesis assumes that shearwaters feed entirely by vision (bite-feeding), but their unique bill and tongue morphology might allow nonvisual filter-feeding within euphausiid swarms. To investigate these issues, we developed simulation models of Short-tailed Shearwaters bite-feeding and filter-feeding underwater on the euphausiid Thysanoessa raschii. The visual (bite-feeding) model considered profiles of diffuse and beam attenuation of light in the Bering Sea among seasons, sites, and years with varying influence by diatom and coccolithophore blooms. The visual model indicated that over the huge range of densities in euphausiid swarms (tens to tens of thousands per cubic meter), neither light level nor prey density had appreciable effects on intake rate; instead, intake was severely limited by capture time and capture probability after prey were detected. Thus, for shearwaters there are strong advantages of feeding on dense swarms near the surface, where dive costs are low relative to fixed intake rate, and intake might be increased by filter-feeding. With minimal effects of light conditions, starvation of shearwaters during the coccolithophore bloom probably did not result from reduced visibility underwater after prey patches were found. Alternatively, turbidity from coccolithophores might have hindered detection of euphausiid swarms from the air

Implicit Gender Bias, Engagement, and Protective Factors in STEM Faculty

The present study assessed implicit gender bias and job engagement among STEM faculty at a mid-size liberal arts university. Forty-nine faculty in each of the departments of natural and social sciences were assessed for implicit gender bias and job engagement. We found that men had greater implicit gender bias than women in the natural sciences. In addition, women in natural science departments felt marginally less engaged than women in social science departments. Women’s disengagement was positively associated with imposter phenomenon and perceived lack of control in departmental decisions. However, women who actively participated in a women’s organization or had an advocate had more positive psychological outcomes. These findings suggest that although women STEM faculty, particularly in the natural sciences, experience challenges, support provided by women’s organizations or advocates may be an important strategy to reduce the effects of these challenges

Mineral processing techniques for recycling investment casting shell

The Albany Research Center of the U.S. Department of Energy used materials characterization and minerals beneficiation methods to separate and beneficially modify spent investment-mold components to identify recycling opportunities and minimize environmentally sensitive wastes. The physical and chemical characteristics of the shell materials were determined and used to guide bench-scale research to separate reusable components by mineral-beneficiation techniques. Successfully concentrated shell materials were evaluated for possible use in new markets

Genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy (ALDH7A1 deficiency)

Pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy was recently shown to be due to mutations in the ALDH7A1 gene, which encodes antiquitin, an enzyme that catalyses the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent dehydrogenation of L-{alpha}-aminoadipic semialdehyde/L-{Delta}1-piperideine 6-carboxylate. However, whilst this is a highly treatable disorder, there is general uncertainty about when to consider this diagnosis and how to test for it. This study aimed to evaluate the use of measurement of urine L-{alpha}-aminoadipic semialdehyde/creatinine ratio and mutation analysis of ALDH7A1 (antiquitin) in investigation of patients with suspected or clinically proven pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy and to characterize further the phenotypic spectrum of antiquitin deficiency. Urinary L-{alpha}-aminoadipic semialdehyde concentration was determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. When this was above the normal range, DNA sequencing of the ALDH7A1 gene was performed. Clinicians were asked to complete questionnaires on clinical, biochemical, magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography features of patients. The clinical spectrum of antiquitin deficiency extended from ventriculomegaly detected on foetal ultrasound, through abnormal foetal movements and a multisystem neonatal disorder, to the onset of seizures and autistic features after the first year of life. Our relatively large series suggested that clinical diagnosis of pyridoxine dependent epilepsy can be challenging because: (i) there may be some response to antiepileptic drugs; (ii) in infants with multisystem pathology, the response to pyridoxine may not be instant and obvious; and (iii) structural brain abnormalities may co-exist and be considered sufficient cause of epilepsy, whereas the fits may be a consequence of antiquitin deficiency and are then responsive to pyridoxine. These findings support the use of biochemical and DNA tests for antiquitin deficiency and a clinical trial of pyridoxine in infants and children with epilepsy across a broad range of clinical scenarios

Echinacea purpurea Significantly Induces Cytochrome P450 3A Activity but Does Not Alter Lopinavir‐Ritonavir Exposure in Healthy Subjects

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90291/1/phco.30.8.797.pd

Neuronal Effects of Listening to Entrainment Music Versus Preferred Music in Patients With Chronic Cancer Pain as Measured via EEG and LORETA Imaging

Previous studies examining EEG and LORETA in patients with chronic pain discovered an overactivation of high theta (6–9 Hz) and low beta (12–16 Hz) power in central regions. MEG studies with healthy subjects correlating evoked nociception ratings and source localization described delta and gamma changes according to two music interventions. Using similar music conditions with chronic pain patients, we examined EEG in response to two different music interventions for pain. To study this process in-depth we conducted a mixed-methods case study approach, based on three clinical cases. Effectiveness of personalized music therapy improvisations (entrainment music – EM) versus preferred music on chronic pain was examined with 16 participants. Three patients were randomly selected for follow-up EEG sessions three months post-intervention, where they listened to recordings of the music from the interventions provided during the research. To test the difference of EM versus preferred music, recordings were presented in a block design: silence, their own composed EM (depicting both “pain” and “healing”), preferred (commercially available) music, and a non-participant’s EM as a control. Participants rated their pain before and after the EEG on a 1–10 scale. We conducted a detailed single case analysis to compare all conditions, as well as a group comparison of entrainment-healing condition versus preferred music condition. Power spectrum and according LORETA distributions focused on expected changes in delta, theta, beta, and gamma frequencies, particularly in sensory-motor and central regions. Intentional moment-by-moment attention on the sounds/music rather than on pain and decreased awareness of pain was experienced from one participant. Corresponding EEG analysis showed accompanying power changes in sensory-motor regions and LORETA projection pointed to insula-related changes during entrainment-pain music. LORETA also indicated involvement of visual-spatial, motor, and language/music improvisation processing in response to his personalized EM which may reflect active recollection of creating the EM. Group-wide analysis showed common brain responses to personalized entrainment-healing music in theta and low beta range in right pre- and post-central gyrus. We observed somatosensory changes consistent with processing pain during entrainment-healing music that were not seen during preferred music. These results may depict top–down neural processes associated with active coping for pain