The Mardi Gras Queens of New Orleans

IMPACT. 1: Interviewing queens and crafting the film provided students a deeply engaging service learning opportunity focusing on cultural preservation while expanding their skills and their knowledge of African-American and women's history. -- 2. The students received grants to pursue independent research on the Mardi Gras Indian queens, which they intend to present at conferences on campus and elsewhere, increasing their academic profiles. -- 3. The film will be screened at the downtown Newark FAMFEST and potentially at the 2016 Columbus campus film festival and elsewhere, bringing attention to a unique and overlooked culture and women's crucial role in its preservation.OSU PARTNERS: Tiyi Morris, Assistant Professor in African-American & African StudiesCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: The Mardi Gras Indian Council; The Mardi Gras Queens Council; Michael Yearling, Yearling PicturesPRIMARY CONTACT: Tiyi Morris ([email protected])Five students of African-American history traveled to New Orleans to interview Mardi Gras Indian Queens, the female leaders of an African-American parading tradition that originated in the 19th century as an alternative to mainstream Mardi Gras. They worked with a filmmaker and their professor to create a documentary that highlights the role of women in perpetuating a tradition that combats marginalization and creates community cohesiveness

Growth, Condition, and Trophic Relations of Stocked Trout in Southern Appalachian Mountain Streams

Stream trout fisheries are among the most popular and valuable in the United States, but many are dependent on hatcheries to sustain fishing and harvest. Thus, understanding the ecology of hatchery‐reared trout stocked in natural environments is fundamental to management. We evaluated the growth, condition, and trophic relations of Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis, Brown Trout Salmo trutta, and Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss that were stocked in southern Appalachian Mountain streams in western North Carolina. Stocked and wild (naturalized) trout were sampled over time (monthly; September 2012–June 2013) to compare condition and diet composition and to evaluate temporal dynamics of trophic position with stable isotope analysis. Relative weights (Wr) of stocked trout were inversely associated with their stream residence time but were consistently higher than those of wild trout. Weight loss of harvested stocked trout was similar among species and sizes, but fish stocked earlier lost more weight. Overall, 40% of 141 stomachs from stocked trout were empty compared to 15% of wild trout stomachs (N = 26). We identified a much higher rate of piscivory in wild trout (18 times that of stocked trout), and wild trout were 4.3 times more likely to consume gastropods relative to stocked trout. Hatchery‐reared trout were isotopically similar to co‐occurring wild fish for both δ13C and δ15N values but were less variable than wild trout. Differences in sulfur isotope ratios (δ34S) between wild and hatchery‐reared trout indicated that the diets of wild fish were enriched in δ34S relative to the diets of hatchery‐reared fish. Although hatcheryreared trout consumed prey items similar to those of wild fish, differences in consumption or behavior (e.g., reduced feeding) may have resulted in lower condition and negative growth. These findings provide critical insight on the trophic dynamics of stocked trout and may assist in developing and enhancing stream trout fisheries

The yin and yang of chromatin spatial organization

Chromatin interactions, both in cis and trans and between transcriptionally active and silent regions, mean that the spatial organization of the genome is non-random

Scaling of critical wave functions at topological Anderson transitions in one dimension

Topological Anderson transitions, which are direct phase transitions between topologically distinct Anderson localized phases, allow for criticality in one-dimensional disordered systems. We analyze the statistical properties of an ensemble of critical wave functions at such transitions. We find that the local moments are strongly inhomogeneous, with significant amplification towards the edges of the system. In particular, we obtain an analytic expression for the spatial profile of the local moments, which is valid at all topological Anderson transitions in one dimension, as we verify by direct comparison with numerical simulations of various lattice models

Generation of folk song melodies using Bayes transforms

The paper introduces the `Bayes transform', a mathematical procedure for putting data into a hierarchical representation. Applicable to any type of data, the procedure yields interesting results when applied to sequences. In this case, the representation obtained implicitly models the repetition hierarchy of the source. There are then natural applications to music. Derivation of Bayes transforms can be the means of determining the repetition hierarchy of note sequences (melodies) in an empirical and domain-general way. The paper investigates application of this approach to Folk Song, examining the results that can be obtained by treating such transforms as generative models

Non-neuronal, slow GABA signalling in the ventrobasal thalamus targets δ-subunit-containing GABAA receptors

The rodent ventrobasal (VB) thalamus contains a relatively uniform population of thalamocortical (TC) neurons that receive glutamatergic input from the vibrissae and the somatosensory cortex, and inhibitory input from the nucleus reticularis thalami (nRT). In this study we describe γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor-dependent slow outward currents (SOCs) in TC neurons that are distinct from fast inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) and tonic currents. SOCs occurred spontaneously or could be evoked by hypo-osmotic stimulus, and were not blocked by tetrodotoxin, removal of extracellular Ca2+ or bafilomycin A1, indicating a non-synaptic, non-vesicular GABA origin. SOCs were more common in TC neurons of the VB compared with the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, and were rarely observed in nRT neurons, whilst SOC frequency in the VB increased with age. Application of THIP, a selective agonist at δ-subunit-containing GABAA receptors, occluded SOCs, whereas the benzodiazepine site inverse agonist β-CCB had no effect, but did inhibit spontaneous and evoked IPSCs. In addition, the occurrence of SOCs was reduced in mice lacking the δ-subunit, and their kinetics were also altered. The anti-epileptic drug vigabatrin increased SOC frequency in a time-dependent manner, but this effect was not due to reversal of GABA transporters. Together, these data indicate that SOCs in TC neurons arise from astrocytic GABA release, and are mediated by δ-subunit-containing GABAA receptors. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the therapeutic action of vigabatrin may occur through the augmentation of this astrocyte–neuron interaction, and highlight the importance of glial cells in CNS (patho) physiology