Cultural views of life phases.

The knowledge base in the study of human development is built primarily from work with children from the modern, global, post-industrial population. This population is unrepresentative in many respects, not least in that childhood and adolescence is dominated by the experience of formal schooling—an experience missing from the lives of most of the world’s children until very recently. This entry will examine child development from the perspective of pre-modern societies as described in the ethnographic, archaeological and historic records. Specifically, we will review material indicative of cultural or indigenous models of development, phases and phase transitions, in particular

Entropy of random coverings and 4D quantum gravity

We discuss the counting of minimal geodesic ball coverings of $n$-dimensional riemannian manifolds of bounded geometry, fixed Euler characteristic and Reidemeister torsion in a given representation of the fundamental group. This counting bears relevance to the analysis of the continuum limit of discrete models of quantum gravity. We establish the conditions under which the number of coverings grows exponentially with the volume, thus allowing for the search of a continuum limit of the corresponding discretized models. The resulting entropy estimates depend on representations of the fundamental group of the manifold through the corresponding Reidemeister torsion. We discuss the sum over inequivalent representations both in the two-dimensional and in the four-dimensional case. Explicit entropy functions as well as significant bounds on the associated critical exponents are obtained in both cases.Comment: 54 pages, latex, no figure

“Getting Noticed”: Middle Childhood inCross-Cultural Perspective

Although rarely named, the majority of societies in the ethnographic record demarcate a period between early childhood and adolescence. Prominent signs of demarcation are: for the first time, pronounced gender separation in fact and in role definition; increased freedom of movement for boys while girls may be bound more tightly to their mothers; and heightened expectations for socially responsible behavior. But, above all, middle childhood is about coming out of the shadows of community life and assuming a distinct, lifetime character. Naming and other rites of passage sometimes acknowledge this transition, but it is, reliably, marked by the assumption or assignment of specific chores or duties. Because the physiological changes at puberty are so much more dramatic, the transition from middle childhood is more often marked by a rite of passage than the entrance into this period. There is also an acknowledgement at the exit from middle childhood, of near–adult levels of competence—as a herdsman or hunter or as gardener or infant-caretaker

Flexibility and intrinsic disorder are conserved features of hepatitis C virus E2 glycoprotein

The glycoproteins of hepatitis C virus, E1E2, are unlike any other viral fusion machinery yet described, and are the current focus of immunogen design in HCV vaccine development; thus, making E1E2 both scientifically and medically important. We used pre-existing, but fragmentary, structures to model a complete ectodomain of the major glycoprotein E2 from three strains of HCV. We then performed molecular dynamic simulations to explore the conformational landscape of E2, revealing a number of important features. Despite high sequence divergence, and subtle differences in the models, E2 from different strains behave similarly, possessing a stable core flanked by highly flexible regions, some of which perform essential functions such as receptor binding. Comparison with sequence data suggest that this consistent behaviour is conferred by a network of conserved residues that act as hinge and anchor points throughout E2. The variable regions (HVR-1, HVR-2 and VR-3) exhibit particularly high flexibility, and bioinformatic analysis suggests that HVR-1 is a putative intrinsically disordered protein region. Dynamic cross-correlation analyses demonstrate intramolecular communication and suggest that specific regions, such as HVR-1, can exert influence throughout E2. To support our computational approach we performed small-angle X-ray scattering with purified E2 ectodomain; this data was consistent with our MD experiments, suggesting a compact globular core with peripheral flexible regions. This work captures the dynamic behaviour of E2 and has direct relevance to the interaction of HCV with cell-surface receptors and neutralising antibodies

High-level real-time programming in Java

Real-time systems have reached a level of complexity beyond the scaling capability of the low-level or restricted languages traditionally used for real-time programming. While Metronome garbage collection has made it practical to use Java to implement real-time systems, many challenges remain for the construction of complex real-time systems, some specic to the use of Java and others simply due to the change in scale of such systems. The goal of our research is the creation of a comprehensive Java-based programming environment and methodology for the creation of complex real-time systems. Our goals include construction of a provably correct real-time garbage collec-tor capable of providing worst case latencies of 100 s, capa-ble of scaling from sensor nodes up to large multiprocessors; specialized programming constructs that retain the safety and simplicity of Java, and yet provide sub-microsecond la-tencies; the extension of Java's \write once, run anywhere" principle from functional correctness to timing behavior; on-line analysis and visualization that aids in the understanding of complex behaviors; and a principled probabilistic analy-sis methodology for bounding the behavior of the resulting systems. While much remains to be done, this paper describes the progress we have made towards these goals

How should we measure psychological resilience in sport performers?

Psychological resilience is important in sport because athletes must constantly withstand a wide range of pressures to attain and sustain high performance. To advance psychologists’ understanding of this area, there exists an urgent need to develop a sport-specific measure of resilience. The purpose of this paper is to review psychometric issues in resilience research and to discuss the implications for sport psychology. Drawing on the wider general psychology literature to inform the discussion, the narrative is divided into three main sections relating to resilience and its assessment: adversity, positive adaptation, and protective factors. The first section reviews the different ways that adversity has been measured and considers the potential problems of using items with varying degrees of controllability and risk. The second section discusses the different approaches to assessing positive adaptation and examines the issue of circularity pervasive in resilience research. The final section explores the various issues related to the assessment of protective factors drawing directly from current measures of resilience in other psychology sub-disciplines. The commentary concludes with key recommendations for sport psychology researchers seeking to develop a measure of psychological resilience in athletes

Multiple effects of silymarin on the hepatitis C virus lifecycle

Silymarin, an extract from milk thistle (Silybum marianum), and its purified flavonolignans have been recently shown to inhibit hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, both in vitro and in vivo. In the current study, we further characterized silymarin's antiviral actions. Silymarin had antiviral effects against hepatitis C virus cell culture (HCVcc) infection that included inhibition of virus entry, RNA and protein expression, and infectious virus production. Silymarin did not block HCVcc binding to cells but inhibited the entry of several viral pseudoparticles (pp), and fusion of HCVpp with liposomes. Silymarin but not silibinin inhibited genotype 2a NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity at concentrations 5 to 10 times higher than required for anti-HCVcc effects. Furthermore, silymarin had inefficient activity on the genotype 1b BK and four 1b RDRPs derived from HCV-infected patients. Moreover, silymarin did not inhibit HCV replication in five independent genotype 1a, 1b, and 2a replicon cell lines that did not produce infectious virus. Silymarin inhibited microsomal triglyceride transfer protein activity, apolipoprotein B secretion, and infectious virion production into culture supernatants. Silymarin also blocked cell-to-cell spread of virus. CONCLUSION: Although inhibition of in vitro NS5B polymerase activity is demonstrable, the mechanisms of silymarin's antiviral action appear to include blocking of virus entry and transmission, possibly by targeting the host cell

Adenosine has two faces: Regionally dichotomous adenosine tone in a model of epilepsy with comorbid sleep disorders

Objective: Adenosine participates in maintaining the excitatory/inhibitory balance in neuronal circuits. Studies indicate that adenosine levels in the cortex and hippocampus increase and exert sleep pressure in sleep-deprived and control animals, whereas in epilepsy reduced adenosine tone promotes hyperexcitability. To date, the role of adenosine in pathological conditions that result in both seizures and sleep disorders is unknown. Here, we determined adenosine tone in sleep and seizure regulating brain regions of Kv1.1 knockout (KO) mice, a model of temporal epilepsy with comorbid sleep disorders. Methods: 1) Reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was performed on brain tissue to determine levels of adenosine and adenine nucleotides. 2) Multi-electrode array extracellular electrophysiology was used to determine adenosine tone in the hippocampal CA1 region and the lateral hypothalamus (LH). Results: RP-HPLC indicated a non-significant decrease in adenosine (~50%, p = 0.23) in whole brain homogenates of KO mice. Regional examination of relative levels of adenine nucleotides indicated decreased ATP and increased AMP in the cortex and hippocampus and increased adenosine in cortical tissue. Using electrophysiological and pharmacological techniques, estimated adenosine levels were ~35% lower in the KO hippocampal CA1 region, and 1–2 fold higher in the KO LH. Moreover, the increased adenosine in KO LH contributed to lower spontaneous firing rates of putative wake-promoting orexin/hypocretin neurons. Interpretation: This is the first study to demonstrate a direct correlation of regionally distinct dichotomous adenosine levels in a single model with both epilepsy and comorbid sleep disorders. The weaker inhibitory tone in the dorsal hippocampus is consistent with lower seizure threshold, whereas increased adenosine in the LH is consistent with chronic partial sleep deprivation. This work furthers our understanding of how adenosine may contribute to pathological conditions that underlie sleep disorders within the epileptic brain