The One-Child Policy, Gay Rights, and Social Reorganization in China

China’s youth are becoming adults in an unprecedented era. The Chinese have achieved rapid, sustained economic growth under a Communist government that has simultaneously been initiating a wide range of social planning initiatives

The impact of a first -year learning community on student persistence: Perceptions of community college students

This descriptive case study explored the perceptions of former community college first year learning community participants on aspects of their learning community experience that affected their persistence in college using Astin\u27s student involvement theory and Tinto\u27s student persistence model as a conceptual framework. Learning communities have been shown to increase student persistence, but little is known about how they do so. A better understanding of how learning communities contribute to increased student persistence would improve learning community practice and gain administrative support for learning communities. This study used a mixed methods research design utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected from interviews with former participants and analyzed by identifying emergent themes within the responses. Quantitative data were collected by querying the studied institution\u27s data warehouse and analyzed to determine if they matched the predicted pattern of increased persistence and confirmed the interview data themes. Three themes emerged from the qualitative data: connecting with others, acquiring and applying knowledge and skills, and making the transition to college. The quantitative data revealed higher rates of persistence for learning community students than for a comparison group. These findings confirmed the predicted pattern of student involvement leading to persistence. Further research is needed to explore other factors that may explain how learning communities impact persistence, especially in community colleges. The study contributes to positive social change by providing support for learning communities to help students persist in achieving a college education, attain their goals, and become more productive members of society

Synaptic Plasticity and Hebbian Cell Assemblies

Synaptic dynamics are critical to the function of neuronal circuits on multiple timescales. In the first part of this dissertation, I tested the roles of action potential timing and NMDA receptor composition in long-term modifications to synaptic efficacy. In a computational model I showed that the dynamics of the postsynaptic [Ca2+] time course can be used to map the timing of pre- and postsynaptic action potentials onto experimentally observed changes in synaptic strength. Using dual patch-clamp recordings from cultured hippocampal neurons, I found that NMDAR subtypes can map combinations of pre- and postsynaptic action potentials onto either long-term potentiation (LTP) or depression (LTD). LTP and LTD could even be evoked by the same stimuli, and in such cases the plasticity outcome was determined by the availability of NMDAR subtypes. The expression of LTD was increasingly presynaptic as synaptic connections became more developed. Finally, I found that spike-timing-dependent potentiability is history-dependent, with a non-linear relationship to the number of pre- and postsynaptic action potentials. After LTP induction, subsequent potentiability recovered on a timescale of minutes, and was dependent on the duration of the previous induction. While activity-dependent plasticity is putatively involved in circuit development, I found that it was not required to produce small networks capable of exhibiting rhythmic persistent activity patterns called reverberations. However, positive synaptic scaling produced by network inactivity yielded increased quantal synaptic amplitudes, connectivity, and potentiability, all favoring reverberation. These data suggest that chronic inactivity upregulates synaptic efficacy by both quantal amplification and by the addition of silent synapses, the latter of which are rapidly activated by reverberation. Reverberation in previously inactivated networks also resulted in activity-dependent outbreaks of spontaneous network activity. Applying a model of short-term synaptic dynamics to the network level, I argue that these experimental observations can be explained by the interaction between presynaptic calcium dynamics and short-term synaptic depression on multiple timescales. Together, the experiments and modeling indicate that ongoing activity, synaptic scaling and metaplasticity are required to endow networks with a level of synaptic connectivity and potentiability that supports stimulus-evoked persistent activity patterns but avoids spontaneous activity

Veishea

The theme of the 1985 Forestry Veishea display was What is Forestry? It attempted to explain the major aspects of Forestry in an interesting and uncomplicated way

Implementing Restorative Justice under the Retributive Paradigm: A Pilot Program Case Study

This article explores the implementation of a pilot program in restorative justice in a medium-sized Midwestern city. Through an examination of meeting minutes, interviews, and the personal reflections of the authors, this article examines the implementation of a victim–offender mediation program, referred to throughout the article as the Fast Track Accountability Program (FTAP). Presented as a case study, the authors describe the key stakeholders, the process, the obstacles, as well as lessons learned along the way. Particular attention is given to the essential role of strong leadership and to the challenges faced when implementing such a program within the bureaucracy of the current, retributive, criminal justice system

Morphological Analysis of Activity-Reduced Adult-Born Neurons in the Mouse Olfactory Bulb

Adult-born neurons (ABNs) are added to the olfactory bulb (OB) throughout life in rodents. While many factors have been identified as regulating the survival and integration of ABNs into existing circuitry, the understanding of how these factors affect ABN morphology and connectivity is limited. Here we compare how cell intrinsic [small interfering RNA (siRNA) knock-down of voltage gated sodium channels NaV1.1–1.3] and circuit level (naris occlusion) reductions in activity affect ABN morphology during integration into the OB. We found that both manipulations reduce the number of dendritic spines (and thus likely the number of reciprocal synaptic connections) formed with the surrounding circuitry and inhibited dendritic ramification of ABNs. Further, we identified regions of ABN apical dendrites where the largest and most significant decreases occur following siRNA knock-down or naris occlusion. In siRNA knock-down cells, reduction of spines is observed in proximal regions of the apical dendrite. This suggests that distal regions of the dendrite may remain active independent of NaV1.1–1.3 channel expression, perhaps facilitated by activation of T-type calcium channels and NMDA receptors. By contrast, circuit level reduction of activity by naris occlusion resulted in a global depression of spine number. Together, these results indicate that ABNs retain the ability to develop their typical overall morphological features regardless of experienced activity, and activity modulates the number and location of formed connections

A comparison between hospital rankings and outcomes data

Hospital rankings have become common but the agreement between the rankings and correlation with patient-centered outcomes remains unknown. We examined the ratings of Joint Commission on Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), Leapfrog, and US News and World Report (USNews), and outcomes from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Hospital Compare (CMS) for agreement and correlation. There was some correlation among the three “best hospitals” ratings. There was also some correlation between “best hospitals” and CMS outcomes, but often in a negative direction. These data suggest that no one “best hospital” list identifies hospitals that consistently attain better outcomes

The effect of cyclosporine A on survival time in salicylate-poisoned rats.

Salicylate (SAL) produces mitochondrial membrane permeability transition (MPT) with resultant oxidative phosphorylation uncoupling. Cyclosporine A (CSA) inhibits SAL-induced MPT. This study determined if CSA pretreatment prolonged survival time in SAL-poisoned rats. Twenty-nine rats were randomized to receive pre-treatment with either 30 mg/kg CSA or equal volume of control diluent intraperitoneally (i.p.). Four hours later, all rats received 1700 mg/kg sodium salicylate i.p. Survival time, whole blood CSA ([CSA]), and serum sodium ([Na]), glucose and SAL ([SAL]) concentrations were determined. The results showed median survival time for controls was 18 min (95% CI 14-22 min) and for CSA animals was 14 min (95% CI 13-15 min). Univariate and multivariate analyses and Cox proportional hazard regression revealed CSA treatment was associated with higher [SAL], which was associated with shortened survival times. The CSA group also demonstrated shorter survival times for a given [SAL]. In conclusion, CSA pre-treatment shortened survival in SAL-poisoned rats