Les onze mille verges o il nuovo Sade. Guillaume Apollinaire éditeur del Divin Marchese.

L'elaborato mira a ripercorrere la storia della ricezione sadiana presso i surrealisti soffermandosi sul ruolo centrale che ebbe in tale ricezione la critica di Guillaume Apollinaire. Attraverso l'analisi de L'œuvre du Marquis de Sade sarà mostrato un Sade così come lo propose Apollinaire al pubblico surrealista. L'analisi si focalizzerà inoltre sulle opere erotiche in prosa di Apollinaire e sulle influenze sadiane nella sua opera

Project RISE: Recognizing Industrial Smoke Emissions

Industrial smoke emissions pose a significant concern to human health. Prior works have shown that using Computer Vision (CV) techniques to identify smoke as visual evidence can influence the attitude of regulators and empower citizens to pursue environmental justice. However, existing datasets are not of sufficient quality nor quantity to train the robust CV models needed to support air quality advocacy. We introduce RISE, the first large-scale video dataset for Recognizing Industrial Smoke Emissions. We adopted a citizen science approach to collaborate with local community members to annotate whether a video clip has smoke emissions. Our dataset contains 12,567 clips from 19 distinct views from cameras that monitored three industrial facilities. These daytime clips span 30 days over two years, including all four seasons. We ran experiments using deep neural networks to establish a strong performance baseline and reveal smoke recognition challenges. Our survey study discussed community feedback, and our data analysis displayed opportunities for integrating citizen scientists and crowd workers into the application of Artificial Intelligence for social good.Comment: Technical repor

Cortical and subcortical coordination of visual spatial attention revealed by simultaneous EEG-fMRI recording

Visual spatial attention has been studied in humans with both electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) individually. However, due to the intrinsic limitations of each of these methods used alone, our understanding of the systems-level mechanisms underlying attentional control remains limited. Here, we examined trial-to-trial covariations of concurrently recorded EEG and fMRI in a cued visual spatial attention task in humans, which allowed delineation of both the generators and modulators of the cue-triggered event-related oscillatory brain activity underlying attentional control function. The fMRI activity in visual cortical regions contralateral to the cued direction of attention covaried positively with occipital gamma-band EEG, consistent with activation of cortical regions representing attended locations in space. In contrast, fMRI activity in ipsilateral visual cortical regions covaried inversely with occipital alpha-band oscillations, consistent with attention-related suppression of the irrelevant hemispace. Moreover, the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus covaried with both of these spatially specific, attention-related, oscillatory EEG modulations. Because the pulvinar's neuroanatomical geometry makes it unlikely to be a direct generator of the scalp-recorded EEG, these covariational patterns appear to reflect the pulvinar's role as a regulatory control structure, sending spatially specific signals to modulate visual cortex excitability proactively. Together, these combined EEG/fMRI results illuminate the dynamically interacting cortical and subcortical processes underlying spatial attention, providing important insight not realizable using either method alone

Benefits of Matching Domain Structure for Planning Software: The Right Stuff

We investigated the role of domain structure in software design. We compared 2 planning applications, for a Mission Control group (International Space Station), and measured users speed and accuracy. Based on our needs analysis, we identified domain structure and used this to develop new prototype software that matched domain structure better than the legacy system. We took a high-fidelity analog of the natural task into the laboratory and found (large) periformance differences, favoring the system that matched domain structure. Our task design enabled us to attribute better periormance to better match of domain structure. We ran through the whole development cycle, in miniature, from needs analysis through design, development, and evaluation. Doing so enabled inferences not just about the particular systems compared, but also provided evidence for the viability of the design process (particularly needs analysis) that we are exploring

Formation of star clusters and enrichment by massive stars in simulations of low-metallicity galaxies with a fully sampled initial stellar mass function

We present new GRIFFIN project hydrodynamical simulations that model the formation of galactic star cluster populations in low-metallicity ($Z=0.00021$) dwarf galaxies, including radiation, supernova and stellar wind feedback of individual massive stars. In the simulations, stars are sampled from the stellar initial mass function (IMF) down to the hydrogen burning limit of $0.08$ M$_\odot$. Mass conservation is enforced within a radius of $1$ pc for the formation of massive stars. We find that massive stars are preferentially found in star clusters and follow a correlation set at birth between the highest initial stellar mass and the star cluster mass that differs from pure stochastic IMF sampling. With a fully sampled IMF, star clusters lose mass in the galactic tidal field according to mass-loss rates observed in nearby galaxies. Of the released stellar feedback, $60\%$ of the supernova material and up to $35\%$ of the wind material reside either in the hot interstellar medium (ISM) or in gaseous, metal enriched outflows. While stellar winds (instantaneously) and supernovae (delayed) start enriching the ISM right after the first massive stars form, the formation of supernova-enriched stars and star clusters is significantly delayed (by $>50$ Myr) compared to the formation of stars and star clusters enriched by stellar winds. Overall, supernova ejecta dominate the enrichment by mass, while the number of enriched stars is determined by continuous stellar winds. These results present a concept for the formation of chemically distinct populations of stars in bound star clusters, reminiscent of multiple populations in globular clusters.Comment: 26 pages, 23 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Antipsychotic Prescribing Pathways, Polypharmacy, and Clozapine Use in Treatment of Schizophrenia

Objective To ensure optimal care for patients with schizophrenia, antipsychotic medications must be appropriately prescribed and used. Therefore, the primary objectives of this study were to identify and describe pathways for antipsychotic prescribing, assess the consistency of observed pathways with treatment guidelines, and describe variability across facilities. Methods Data from Veterans Affairs administrative data sets from fiscal year (FY) 2003 to FY 2007 were gathered for analysis in this retrospective cohort study of antipsychotic prescribing pathways among 13 facilities across two regional networks. Patients with a new episode of care for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in FY 2005 were identified, and antipsychotic prescribing history was obtained for two years before and after the index diagnosis. Demographic characteristics and distribution of comorbidities were assessed. Median medical center rates of polypharmacy were calculated and compared with Fisher’s exact test. Results Of 1,923 patients with a new episode of schizophrenia care, 1,003 (52%) had complete data on prescribing pathways. A majority (74%) of patients were prescribed antipsychotic monotherapy, and 19% received antipsychotic polypharmacy. Of patients receiving antipsychotic polypharmacy, 65% began polypharmacy within 90 days of starting any antipsychotic treatment. There was a fourfold difference in polypharmacy across facilities. Antipsychotic polypharmacy was not associated with geographic location or medical center patient volume. Clozapine utilization was low (0%–2%). Conclusions Retrospective examination of longitudinal prescribing patterns identified multiple antipsychotic prescribing pathways. Although most patients received guideline-concordant care, antipsychotic polypharmacy was commonly used as initial treatment, and there was substantial variability among facilities. Study findings suggest the utility of secondary data to assess treatment adaptation or switching for practical clinical trials

2023: Assessment Mini-Grant Lightning Talks 1

During this learning session, recipients of Assessment Mini Grants will share their projects and findings. Christopher McMahan & Jun Park Evaluating the Effectiveness of Teaching Modalities on Student Academic Performance across Ethnicities Tina Farrell Advancing Clinical Skills in Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Students with Underserved Populations Chia-Lin Tsai, Gabriel Owusu, & Sidney Bonser Students\u27 Perceptions of Teaching and Learning in the STAT150 Course: Preliminary Findings from Online and Face-to-Face Sessions Jenni Harding & Michelle Holmes Ensuring Validity, Reliability, and Effectiveness of Teacher Candidate Field Observations Emily Holt & Jessica Duke Biology Students See Local Climate Change: A Classroom Intervention Melissa Hoffner & Claire Landrieu Measuring the Effectiveness of Supplemental Instruction Services at Tutorial Services: A Correlation Study Between Student Use of Supplemental Instruction and End-of-Semester Grade

Mu Opioid Receptor Modulation of Dopamine Neurons in the Periaqueductal Gray/Dorsal Raphe: A Role in Regulation of Pain

The periaqueductal gray (PAG) is a brain region involved in nociception modulation, and an important relay center for the descending nociceptive pathway through the rostral ventral lateral medulla. Given the dense expression of mu opioid receptors and the role of dopamine in pain, the recently characterized dopamine neurons in the ventral PAG (vPAG)/dorsal raphe (DR) region are a potentially critical site for the antinociceptive actions of opioids. The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate synaptic modulation of the vPAG/DR dopamine neurons by mu opioid receptors and to (2) dissect the anatomy and neurochemistry of these neurons, in order to assess the downstream loci and functions of their activation. Using a mouse line that expresses eGFP under control of the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) promoter, we found that mu opioid receptor activation led to a decrease in inhibitory inputs onto the vPAG/DR dopamine neurons. Furthermore, combining immunohistochemistry, optogenetics, electrophysiology, and fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in a TH-cre mouse line, we demonstrated that these neurons also express the vesicular glutamate type 2 transporter and co-release dopamine and glutamate in a major downstream projection structure—the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Finally, activation of TH-positive neurons in the vPAG/DR using Gq designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs displayed a supraspinal, but not spinal, antinociceptive effect. These results indicate that vPAG/DR dopamine neurons likely play a key role in opiate antinociception, potentially via the activation of downstream structures through dopamine and glutamate release

Estimating survival in patients with gastrointestinal cancers and brain metastases: An update of the graded prognostic assessment for gastrointestinal cancers (GI-GPA).

BackgroundPatients with gastrointestinal cancers and brain metastases (BM) represent a unique and heterogeneous population. Our group previously published the Diagnosis-Specific Graded Prognostic Assessment (DS-GPA) for patients with GI cancers (GI-GPA) (1985-2007, n = 209). The purpose of this study is to update the GI-GPA based on a larger contemporary database.MethodsAn IRB-approved consortium database analysis was performed using a multi-institutional (18), multi-national (3) cohort of 792 patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, with newly-diagnosed BM diagnosed between 1/1/2006 and 12/31/2017. Survival was measured from date of first treatment for BM. Multiple Cox regression was used to select and weight prognostic factors in proportion to their hazard ratios. These factors were incorporated into the updated GI-GPA.ResultsMedian survival (MS) varied widely by primary site and other prognostic factors. Four significant factors (KPS, age, extracranial metastases and number of BM) were used to formulate the updated GI-GPA. Overall MS for this cohort remains poor; 8 months. MS by GPA was 3, 7, 11 and 17 months for GPA 0-1, 1.5-2, 2.5-3.0 and 3.5-4.0, respectively. >30% present in the worst prognostic group (GI-GPA of ≤1.0).ConclusionsBrain metastases are not uncommon in GI cancer patients and MS varies widely among them. This updated GI-GPA index improves our ability to estimate survival for these patients and will be useful for therapy selection, end-of-life decision-making and stratification for future clinical trials. A user-friendly, free, on-line app to calculate the GPA score and estimate survival for an individual patient is available at brainmetgpa.com

Using the gut microbiota as a novel tool for examining colobine primate GI health

Primates of the Colobinae subfamily are highly folivorous. They possess a sacculated foregut and are believed to rely on a specialized gut microbiota to extract sufficient energy from their hard-to-digest diet. Although many colobines are endangered and would benefit from captive breeding programs, maintaining healthy captive populations of colobines can be difficult since they commonly suffer from morbidity and mortality due to gastrointestinal (GI) distress of unknown cause. While there is speculation that this GI distress may be associated with a dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, no study has directly examined the role of the gut microbiota in colobine GI health. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing to examine the gut microbiota of three genera of colobines housed at the San Diego Zoo: doucs (Pygathrix) (N=7), colobus monkeys (Colobus) (N=4), and langurs (Trachypithecus) (N=5). Our data indicated that GI-healthy doucs, langurs, and colobus monkeys possess a distinct gut microbiota. In addition, GI-unhealthy doucs exhibited a different gut microbiota compared to GI-healthy individuals, including reduced relative abundances of anti-inflammatory Akkermansia. Finally, by comparing samples from wild and captive Asian colobines, we found that captive colobines generally exhibited higher relative abundances of potential pathogens such as Desulfovibrio and Methanobrevibacter compared to wild colobines, implying an increased risk of gut microbial dysbiosis. Together, these results suggest an association between the gut microbiota and GI illness of unknown cause in doucs. Further studies are necessary to corroborate these findings and determine cause-and-effect relationships. Additionally, we found minimal variation in the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota along the colobine GI tract, suggesting that fecal samples may be sufficient for describing the colobine gut microbiota. If these findings can be validated in wild individuals, it will facilitate the rapid expansion of colobine gut microbiome research