Lyman G. Willcox: The Life and Lexis of the Lesser Known

In order to move closer to an understanding of the [Civil] War and its causes, this thesis will explore the life of Major Lyman George Wilcox, a soldier and citizen who lived from 29 April 1831 to 17 September 1918. Major Wilcox served in the Union Army in the Western theatre as commander of Company B, Third Michigan Cavalry. Although he was not a major figure of the American Civil War, he delivered a powerful speech during the midst of the Civil War that has the capacity to contribute significantly to an understanding of a complex and diverse era in the nation's history. The context of Major Willcox’s speech entitled “The South in War Times” will be thoroughly examined, for it is the crux of this research project. His oration was delivered to a packed crowd of Confederate soldiers and civilians at a courthouse in Lexington, Tennessee, and, according to him, it was the first and only instance where a Union officer spoke directly across the Bloody Chasm. The major’s speech lasted two and one-half hours and addressed six major points: 1) every country must establish some form of government; 2) the first New England government was a failure; 3) nationalizing the government would strengthen it; 4) the South had not prospered because it held to the institution of slavery; 5) rebellion and secession always result in negative consequences; 6) the South must stop fighting and reunite with its Northern brethren.Master'sCollege of Arts and Sciences: Liberal StudiesUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117693/1/Cramer.pd

Functional connectivity analysis in health and brain disease using in vivo widefield calcium imaging

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and its prevalence is still raising with aging society in future. Despite its major impact, only two specific therapies are approved in clinical practice, today.Thus, hundreds of possible therapies were identified in experimental research, none of them has proven efficiency on human patients. To address this loss in translation from experimental research to clinical practise, several fronts can be scrutinized. Among several options, the establishment of translational methods to assess functional clinical outcome in preclinical research is inevitable. To approach this one option is to develop modalities of functional imaging of the brain activity. Functional brain imaging not only allows to assess translational parameters for functional regeneration after stroke but also to investigate pathophysiological mechanisms in the brain. Hence, the analysis of functional brain activity in experimental stroke research could both identify new therapeutic targets and validate their effectiveness by creating a translational read-out. Functional brain imaging is a frequently used method which strongly advanced our knowledge in neuroscience and as well in human stroke research. Its aim in general is a better understanding of brain functions, identification of functionally connected brain regions and their dynamic changes under certain conditions. In stroke research, the dynamic changes of functional network and its association with regeneration is of major interest. To investigate functional brain activity, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is predominantly used in human research. fMRI faces great technical challenges and essential limitations for use in small rodents such as laboratory mice which are the most frequently used animals to study brain disease. This is why there is interest and need for alternative imaging modalities in experimental research. To benefit of the insights from human research in experimental research, we adapted and evolved the imaging modality of in vivo widefield calcium imaging. This imaging modality is based on transgenic animals who permit to investigate brain activity directly via GCaMP fluorescence. GCaMP is a genetically encoded calcium sensor which is well-known to mirror calcium fluctuations during action potential and with this neuronal activity. Via a customized imaging system, it is possible to acquire cortical neuronal activity and analyse it with comparable methods as used in human brain research. Hence, this method allows the repetitive investigation of brain activity in vivo in a translational manner. In three studies we adapted and enhanced existing protocols to establish a reliable transgenic approach to assess functional brain connectivity. In a first study, we investigated the effect of anaesthesia on brain function and characterized the relationship of different frequency-based imaging parameters, functional connectivity and depth of anaesthesia. Subsequently, we established a stringent protocol for light sedation which is easy to use and results in reproducible imaging parameters. In a second study, we identified functional brain areas by using independent vector analysis (IVA) on resting state imaging data. Therefore, we validated the identified areas with help of an anatomical atlas and stimulus-evoked brain activity. This validation justifies the usage of our unbiasedly selected cortical areas as functional seeds. Finally, we implemented the assessment of functional connectivity values after stroke. In this third study, we investigated repetitively the changes in functional connectivity up to 56 days after an ischemic lesion in the motor cortex induced by a photothrombotic model. We demonstrate both acute and chronic effects of ischemia to cortical functional connectivity. In the acute phase on the first day after stroke we demonstrate transient increase in contralateral functional connectivity. A second transient effect is the increase in contralateral motor cortex size. Third, chronic reduction in interhemispheric functional connectivity is present only in functionally but not anatomically close regions of the brain. And last, changes in both functional connectivity values and the size of contralateral motor cortex size are associated with the deficits assessed by behavioural testing. Hence, the identified parameters are of major relevance for the clinical outcome. The results establish two major facts: preclinical investigation of brain function is possible on a routinely basis and adds additional insight on pathophysiological mechanisms in brain disease which are associated with behavioural outcome. Consequently, the application of this translational imaging modality will not only be of great interest to stroke research but also to several brain diseases where pathophysiological mechanisms still need to be elucidated

The relevance of learning quantum physics from the perspective of the secondary school student: A case study

Studying quantum physics in upper secondary school is now a standard practice (Stadermann et al., 2019). But given the context of science education, with low recruitment numbers in higher education and poor attitudes towards science, it remains a question whether students find the learning of quantum physics relevant. In this study, we explore how students perceive the importance of quantum physics and technology and whether their perception changes after an intervention, namely the "Quantum Rules!" visit. We also aim to understand if they overall feel that learning quantum is relevant or not. In order to answer these questions, we followed a mixed-methods approach, combining both questionnaires and interviews. The quantitative analysis showed that the "Quantum Rules!" intervention has a positive effect on students' perception of the relevance of quantum physics and technology, especially regarding how important they feel quantum science is for society. Nevertheless, the qualitative information revealed that although students may find quantum physics and technology important for society, that does not necessarily mean that they find learning quantum physics relevant. We found that students believe the latter is relevant to them only if they find it interesting. We therefore rediscover the common expression "important, but not for me," and we further propose that this perception derives from students not seeing the societal relevance of learning quantum physics.Comment: Published in http://scimath.net/articles/81/814.pd

One-second coherence for a single electron spin coupled to a multi-qubit nuclear-spin environment

Single electron spins coupled to multiple nuclear spins provide promising multi-qubit registers for quantum sensing and quantum networks. The obtainable level of control is determined by how well the electron spin can be selectively coupled to, and decoupled from, the surrounding nuclear spins. Here we realize a coherence time exceeding a second for a single electron spin through decoupling sequences tailored to its microscopic nuclear-spin environment. We first use the electron spin to probe the environment, which is accurately described by seven individual and six pairs of coupled carbon-13 spins. We develop initialization, control and readout of the carbon-13 pairs in order to directly reveal their atomic structure. We then exploit this knowledge to store quantum states for over a second by carefully avoiding unwanted interactions. These results provide a proof-of-principle for quantum sensing of complex multi-spin systems and an opportunity for multi-qubit quantum registers with long coherence times

Zebrafish hhex, nk2.1a, and pax2.1 regulate thyroid growth and differentiation downstream of Nodal-dependent transcription factors

AbstractDuring zebrafish development, the thyroid primordium initiates expression of molecular markers such as hhex and nk2.1a in the endoderm prior to pharynx formation. As expected for an endodermally derived organ, initiation of thyroid development depends on Nodal signalling. We find that it also depends on three downstream effectors of Nodal activity, casanova (cas), bonnie and clyde (bon), and faust (fau)/gata5. Despite their early Nodal-dependent expression in the endoderm, both hhex and nk2.1a are only required relatively late during thyroid development. In hhex and nk2.1a loss-of-function phenotypes, thyroid development is initiated and arrests only after the primordium has evaginated from the pharyngeal epithelium. Thus, like pax2.1, both hhex and nk2.1a have similarly late roles in differentiation or growth of thyroid follicular cells, and here, we show that all three genes act in parallel rather than in a single pathway. Our functional analysis suggests that these genes have similar roles as in mammalian thyroid development, albeit in a different temporal mode of organogenesis

Is everything quantum spooky and weird? An exploration of popular communication about quantum science and technology in TEDx talks

Researchers point to four potential issues related to the popularisation of quantum science and technology. These include a lack of explaining underlying quantum concepts of quantum 2.0 technology, framing quantum science and technology as spooky and enigmatic, framing quantum technology narrowly in terms of public good and having a strong focus on quantum computing. To date, no research has yet assessed whether these potential issues are actually present in popular communication about quantum science. In this content analysis, we have examined the presence of these potential issues in 501 TEDx talks with quantum science and technology content. Results show that while most experts (70%) explained at least one underlying quantum concept (superposition, entanglement or contextuality) of quantum 2.0 technology, only 28% of the non-experts did so. Secondly, the spooky/enigmatic frame was present in about a quarter of the talks. Thirdly, a narrow public good frame was found, predominantly by highlighting the benefits of quantum science and technology (found in over 6 times more talks than risks). Finally, the main focus was on quantum computing at the expense of other quantum technologies. In conclusion, the proposed frames are indeed found in TEDx talks, there is indeed a focus on quantum computing, but at least experts explain underlying quantum concepts often.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figure

Wenn der Nachwuchs flügge wird – Angebote durch die Nachwuchsvertretung der GDM

Die deutschsprachige Community der Mathematikdidaktik ist zahlreich und höchst unterschiedlich. Ebenso ist es deren Nachwuchs, darunter viele Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden, die in ganz Deutschland an ihrer Promotion und meist zusätzlichen Projekten arbeiten. Die GDM zeigt seit Jahren ein besonders großes Interesse an der Nachwuchsförderung und veranstaltet substanzielle Angebote wie die Summerschool oder das Doktorandenkolloquium der GDM, in denen Forschungsmethoden und Inhalte der individuellen Dissertationsprojekte diskutiert werden. Zur Unterstützung dieser Bemühungen organisiert die Gruppe der Nachwuchsvertretung im Rahmen der Jahrestagung der GDM ein Fortbildungsangebot, das sich an ihre Peers richtet: Das entstehende Vertrauensverhältnis der Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden untereinander wird für ein substanzielles, bedarfsorientiertes Arbeiten in verschiedenen Workshops zum wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten in der Mathematikdidaktik genutzt