Idiopathic AIDS enteropathy and treatment of gastrointestinal opportunistic pathogens.

Diarrhea in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has proven to be both a diagnostic and treatment challenge since the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) virus more than 30 years ago. Among the main etiologies of diarrhea in this group of patients are infectious agents that span the array of viruses, bacteria, protozoa, parasites, and fungal organisms. In many instances, highly active antiretroviral therapy remains the cornerstone of therapy for both AIDS and AIDS-related diarrhea, but other targeted therapies have been developed as new pathogens are identified; however, some infections remain treatment challenges. Once identifiable infections as well as other causes of diarrhea are investigated and excluded, a unique entity known as AIDS enteropathy can be diagnosed. Known as an idiopathic, pathogen-negative diarrhea, this disease has been investigated extensively. Atypical viral pathogens, including HIV itself, as well as inflammatory and immunologic responses are potential leading causes of it. Although AIDS enteropathy can pose a diagnostic challenge so too does the treatment of it. Highly active antiretroviral therapy, nutritional supplementation, electrolyte replacements, targeted therapy for infection if indicated, and medications for symptom control all are key elements in the treatment regimen. Importantly, a multidisciplinary approach among the gastroenterologist, infectious disease physician, HIV specialists, oncology, and surgery is necessary for many patients

Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert Go to Washington: Television Satirists Outside the Box

The political satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are largely celebrated for their nightly television programs, which use humor to offer useful political information, provide important forums for deliberation and debate, and serve as sites for alternative interpretations of political reality. Yet, when the two satirists more directly intervene in the field of politics—which they increasingly do—they are often met by a chorus of criticism that suggests they have improperly crossed normative boundaries. This article explores Stewart and Colbert’s “out of the box” political performances, which include, among others, the 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity, Colbert’s testimony before Congress in the same year, and his on-going efforts to run an actual Super PAC that raises and spends money to influence (and critique) the political process. Examining these and other examples of non-traditional, and clearly border-crossing political satire, we consider the ways in which such multi-modal performances--in and off the television screen--work together to provide information, critique, and commentary, as well as a significant form of moral voice and ethical imperative. In turn, we examine the responses from the political and journalistic establishment, which more often than not, constitutes a form of boundary maintenance that seeks to delegitimize such alternative modes of political engagement. Finally, we discuss the significance of the developing relationship between television entertainment and political performance for our understanding of contemporary political practice

Effective classroom practice: a mixed-method study of influences and outcomes: a research paper

This brief paper reports findings from a two-year research project, funded by the ESRC, which identified, described and analyzed variation in effective primary and secondary school teachers’ classroom practice. The study also explored these practices in relation to different school contexts and teachers’ professional life phases in order to draw out relevant implications for policy and practice

Sensorimotor processing for balance in spinocerebellar ataxia type 6.

We investigated whether balance impairments caused by cerebellar disease are associated with specific sensorimotor processing deficits that generalize across all sensory modalities. Experiments focused on the putative cerebellar functions of scaling and coordinate transformation of balance responses evoked by stimulation of single sensory channels. Vestibular, visual, and proprioceptive sensory channels were stimulated in isolation using galvanic vestibular stimulation, moving visual scenery, and muscle vibration, respectively, in 16 subjects with spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6) and 16 matched healthy controls. Two polarities of each stimulus type evoked postural responses of similar form in the forward and backward directions. Disease severity was assessed using the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia. Impaired balance of SCA6 subjects during unperturbed stance was reflected in faster than normal body sway (P = 0.009), which correlated with disease severity (r = 0.705, P < 0.001). Sensory perturbations revealed a sensorimotor processing abnormality that was specific to response scaling for the visual channel. This manifested as visually evoked postural responses that were approximately three times larger than normal (backward, P < 0.001; forward P = 0.005) and correlated with disease severity (r = 0.543, P = 0.03). Response direction and habituation properties were no different from controls for all three sensory modalities. Cerebellar degeneration disturbs the scaling of postural responses evoked by visual motion, possibly through disinhibition of extracerebellar visuomotor centers. The excessively high gain of the visuomotor channel without compensatory decreases in gains of other sensorimotor channels provides a potential mechanism for instability of the balance control system in cerebellar disease. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Is simultaneous yy and ξ\xi--scaling in the quasi-elastic region accidental?

We study the $y$ and $\xi$--scaling of the nuclear response at large momentum transfer in order to understand how scaling based on very different descriptions of the elementary interaction can occur simultaneously. We find that the approximate validity of $\xi$-scaling at low energy loss arises from the coincidental behavior of the quasielastic and deep inelastic cross sections.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figure