The Sanctuary in Polish Hill

The Sanctuary in Polish Hill, a short story cycle set in the late 1900s to 2008, surrounds a women’s shelter in Polish Hill, Pittsburgh, PA. Ruta Laksa, a second-generation Polish immigrant, moves to the neighborhood named for the influx of Polish immigrants in the late 1800s. Through vignettes of her life, Ruta finds solace in food and community as she struggles with her mental illness. Scattered throughout her own story are vignettes of other women struggling with their own mental illness and those who seek solace and safety. These women build community with each other through food, conversation, and relationship, allowing these characters to be understood and seen as human without the strain of mental illness stigma. The Sanctuary welcomes all and the characters’ humanity shines through their mental illness while the Sanctuary offers each character a respite and the chance to heal

2016-2017 English language placement test (ELIPT) revision project

The main purpose of the research project was to analyze and revise the English Language Institute Placement Test (ELIPT) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM). All international students admitted to UHM are required to take the ELIPT before they register for courses at the beginning of their first semester of study (unless they meet the university’s criteria for automatic exemption from the ELI). These students had previously reported their scores on standardized English proficiency tests (like the TOEFL or IELTS) as part of their application for admission to UHM. However, for placement purposes the ELI needs more detailed evidence of the students’ language abilities in order to determine how the ELI could best meet their needs for support in English for academic purposes

A Deep Learning Algorithm for Prediction of Age-Related Eye Disease Study Severity Scale for Age-Related Macular Degeneration from Color Fundus Photography

Acknowledgments The authors thank the Age-Related Eye Disease Study participants and the Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group for their valuable contribution to this research, and all study participants for contributing to the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Ursinus Weekly, March 1, 1973

New USGA officers initiate programs • Ursinus Union apparently an instant, smash success • 1973 Arts Festival begins Friday, March 2 • Ursinus affiliates with United Student Aid Funds • Editorial: The Union • First Union concert presents blend of folk, blues, jazz • New Ruby to be different from former edition • English department will show Oedipus the King • Ursinus beats West Chester in last minute of play • Bears upset LVC • U.C. volleyball clinic features Canadians • Rambo sets record as intercollegiate champ • Letterhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1098/thumbnail.jp

Solubilization and Humanization of Paraoxonase-1

Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is a serum protein, the activity of which is related to susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and intoxication by organophosphorus (OP) compounds. It may also be involved in innate immunity, and it is a possible lead molecule in the development of a catalytic bioscavenger of OP pesticides and nerve agents. Human PON1 expressed in E. coli is mostly found in the insoluble fraction, which motivated the engineering of soluble variants, such as G2E6, with more than 50 mutations from huPON1. We examined the effect on the solubility, activity, and stability of three sets of mutations designed to solubilize huPON1 with fewer overall changes: deletion of the N-terminal leader, polar mutations in the putative HDL binding site, and selection of the subset of residues that became more polar in going from huPON1 to G2E6. All three sets of mutations increase the solubility of huPON1; the HDL-binding mutant has the largest effect on solubility, but it also decreases the activity and stability the most. Based on the G2E6 polar mutations, we “humanized” an engineered variant of PON1 with high activity against cyclosarin (GF) and found that it was still very active against GF with much greater similarity to the human sequence

Consistency and diversity of spike dynamics in the neurons of bed nucleus of Stria Terminalis of the rat: a dynamic clamp study

Neurons display a high degree of variability and diversity in the expression and regulation of their voltage-dependent ionic channels. Under low level of synaptic background a number of physiologically distinct cell types can be identified in most brain areas that display different responses to standard forms of intracellular current stimulation. Nevertheless, it is not well understood how biophysically different neurons process synaptic inputs in natural conditions, i.e., when experiencing intense synaptic bombardment in vivo. While distinct cell types might process synaptic inputs into different patterns of action potentials representing specific "motifs'' of network activity, standard methods of electrophysiology are not well suited to resolve such questions. In the current paper we performed dynamic clamp experiments with simulated synaptic inputs that were presented to three types of neurons in the juxtacapsular bed nucleus of stria terminalis (jcBNST) of the rat. Our analysis on the temporal structure of firing showed that the three types of jcBNST neurons did not produce qualitatively different spike responses under identical patterns of input. However, we observed consistent, cell type dependent variations in the fine structure of firing, at the level of single spikes. At the millisecond resolution structure of firing we found high degree of diversity across the entire spectrum of neurons irrespective of their type. Additionally, we identified a new cell type with intrinsic oscillatory properties that produced a rhythmic and regular firing under synaptic stimulation that distinguishes it from the previously described jcBNST cell types. Our findings suggest a sophisticated, cell type dependent regulation of spike dynamics of neurons when experiencing a complex synaptic background. The high degree of their dynamical diversity has implications to their cooperative dynamics and synchronization

Weight and metabolic effects of cpap in obstructive sleep apnea patients with obesity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with obesity, insulin resistance (IR) and diabetes. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) rapidly mitigates OSA in obese subjects but its metabolic effects are not well-characterized. We postulated that CPAP will decrease IR, ghrelin and resistin and increase adiponectin levels in this setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a pre- and post-treatment, within-subject design, insulin and appetite-regulating hormones were assayed in 20 obese subjects with OSA before and after 6 months of CPAP use. Primary outcome measures included glucose, insulin, and IR levels. Other measures included ghrelin, leptin, adiponectin and resistin levels. Body weight change were recorded and used to examine the relationship between glucose regulation and appetite-regulating hormones.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CPAP effectively improved hypoxia. However, subjects had increased insulin and IR. Fasting ghrelin decreased significantly while leptin, adiponectin and resistin remained unchanged. Forty percent of patients gained weight significantly. Changes in body weight directly correlated with changes in insulin and IR. Ghrelin changes inversely correlated with changes in IR but did not change as a function of weight.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Weight change rather than elimination of hypoxia modulated alterations in IR in obese patients with OSA during the first six months of CPAP therapy.</p