Teaching Peace During Multigeneration War

For the first time in U.S. history, soldiers are deploying to a war that began before they were born. Today’s youth and emerging adults have grown up in a world of endless war, fear, and resurgent nationalism. Yet they are open to new possibilities and increasingly engaged. The earliest Adventists spoke against war and bearing of arms and in favor of peace and justice. Can this generation rediscover that vision

J.N. Cork to W.L. Treadwell, 17 January 1852

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aldrichcorr_c/1035/thumbnail.jp

Implementing a Process for Integration Research: Ecosystem Services Project, Australia

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a multi-phase interactive process among a set of scientists, policy makers, land managers, and community representatives, so as to facilitate communication, mutual understanding, and participative decision making. This was part of the Ecosystem Services Project in Australia. The project sought to broaden public understanding about the natural ecosystems in Australia. The study reported here pertains to one of the project sites--the Goulburn Broken catchment, a highly productive agricultural watershed in the south-east of Australia. The paper demonstrates how, starting from a condition of diversity of ideas and interests among the participants, systematic dialogue and mutual learning could be generated, leading to identification of options for more sustainable land management practices. The concept of "ecosystem services" was used as an integrative tool across disciplines and community perspectives. The concept of scenarios was used to encourage future-focussed thinking among the participants. The idea of "stakeholder jury" was used to promote deliberation. A process of multi-criteria evaluation was used to facilitate convergence of viewpoints, through informed trade-offs and compromises. This experience led to the development of a process for integration research, which helped in harmonising across diverse understandings and values in a transparent and structured manner

Patients as researchers - innovative experiences in UK National Health Service research

Consumer involvement is an established priority in UK health and social care service development and research. To date, little has been published describing the process of consumer involvement and assessing ‘consumers’ contributions to research. This paper provides a practical account of the effective incorporation of consumers into a research team, and outlines the extent to which they can enhance the research cycle; from project development and conduct, through data analysis and interpretation, to dissemination. Salient points are illustrated using the example of their collaboration in a research project. Of particular note were consumers’ contributions to the development of an ethically enhanced, more robust project design, and enriched data interpretation, which may not have resulted had consumers not been an integral part of the research team

Overview and status of the 0.5NA EUV microfield exposure tool at Berkeley Lab

A 0.5-NA extreme ultraviolet micro-field exposure tool has been installed and commissioned at beamline 12.0.1.4 of the Advanced Light Source synchrotron facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Commissioning has demonstrated a patterning resolution of 13 nm half-pitch with annular 0.35-0.55 illumination; a patterning resolution of 8 nm half-pitch with annular 0.1-0.2 illumination; critical dimension (CD) uniformity of 0.7 nm 1σ on 16 nm nominal CD across 80% of the 200 um x 30 um aberration corrected field of view; aerial image vibration relative to the wafer of 0.75 nn RMS and focus control and focus stepping better than 15 nm

W-Curve Alignments for HIV-1 Genomic Comparisons

The W-curve was originally developed as a graphical visualization technique for viewing DNA and RNA sequences. Its ability to render features of DNA also makes it suitable for computational studies. Its main advantage in this area is utilizing a single-pass algorithm for comparing the sequences. Avoiding recursion during sequence alignments offers advantages for speed and in-process resources. The graphical technique also allows for multiple models of comparison to be used depending on the nucleotide patterns embedded in similar whole genomic sequences. The W-curve approach allows us to compare large numbers of samples quickly.We are currently tuning the algorithm to accommodate quirks specific to HIV-1 genomic sequences so that it can be used to aid in diagnostic and vaccine efforts. Tracking the molecular evolution of the virus has been greatly hampered by gap associated problems predominantly embedded within the envelope gene of the virus. Gaps and hypermutation of the virus slow conventional string based alignments of the whole genome. This paper describes the W-curve algorithm itself, and how we have adapted it for comparison of similar HIV-1 genomes. A treebuilding method is developed with the W-curve that utilizes a novel Cylindrical Coordinate distance method and gap analysis method. HIV-1 C2-V5 env sequence regions from a Mother/Infant cohort study are used in the comparison.The output distance matrix and neighbor results produced by the W-curve are functionally equivalent to those from Clustal for C2-V5 sequences in the mother/infant pairs infected with CRF01_AE.Significant potential exists for utilizing this method in place of conventional string based alignment of HIV-1 genomes, such as Clustal X. With W-curve heuristic alignment, it may be possible to obtain clinically useful results in a short time-short enough to affect clinical choices for acute treatment. A description of the W-curve generation process, including a comparison technique of aligning extremes of the curves to effectively phase-shift them past the HIV-1 gap problem, is presented. Besides yielding similar neighbor-joining phenogram topologies, most Mother and Infant C2-V5 sequences in the cohort pairs geometrically map closest to each other, indicating that W-curve heuristics overcame any gap problem

Lateral mobility of L-type calcium channels in synaptic terminals of retinal bipolar cells.

PURPOSE: Efficient and precise release of glutamate from retinal bipolar cells is ensured by the positioning of L-type Ca(2+) channels close to release sites at the base of the synaptic ribbon. We investigated whether Ca(2+) channels at bipolar cell ribbon synapses are fixed in position or capable of moving in the membrane. METHODS: We tracked the movements of individual L-type Ca(2+) channels in bipolar cell terminals after labeling channels with quantum dots (QDs) attached to α(2)δ(4) accessory Ca(2+) channel subunits via intermediary antibodies. RESULTS: We found that individual Ca(2+) channels moved within a confined domain of 0.13-0.15 μm(2) in bipolar cell terminals, similar to ultrastructural estimates of the surface area of the active zone beneath the ribbon. Disruption of actin expanded the confinement domain indicating that cytoskeletal interactions help to confine channels at the synapse, but the relatively large diffusion coefficients of 0.3-0.45 μm(2)/s suggest that channels are not directly anchored to actin. Unlike photoreceptor synapses, removing membrane cholesterol did not change domain size, indicating that lipid rafts are not required to confine Ca(2+) channels at bipolar cell ribbon synapses. CONCLUSIONS: The ability of Ca(2+) channels to move within the presynaptic active zone suggests that regulating channel mobility may affect release from bipolar cell terminals

Achieving diffraction-limited performance on the Berkeley MET5

The Berkeley MET5, funded by EUREKA, is a 0.5-NA EUV projection lithography tool located at the Advanced Light Source at Berkeley National Lab. Wavefront measurements of the MET5 optic have been performed using a custom in-situ lateral shearing interferometer suitable for high-NA interferometry. In this paper, we report on the most recent characterization of the MET5 optic demonstrating an RMS wavefront 0.31 nm, and discuss the specialized mask patterns, gratings, and illumination geometries that were employed to accommodate the many challenges associated with high-NA EUV interferometry

The effect of an emollient containing urea, ceramide NP, and lactate on skin barrier structure and function in older people with dry skin

Xerosis affects up to 75% of older people and develops as a result of a skin barrier defect. Emollients are widely used to treat xerosis; however, there is limited understanding of the differences between them and their effects on the skin barrier in older people. This study aimed to compare the effect of a commercially available emollient containing 5% urea, ceramide NP and lactate (test emollient) to an alternative emollient without these additives (control emollient) on the properties of the skin barrier in older people. Two cohorts of 21 volunteers aged 60+ years with dry skin were recruited. The first applied the test emollient to one forearm and no treatment to the other for 28-days. The second compared the test emollient to the control emollient observing the same parameters. Effects on the skin barrier were determined by measuring skin barrier function, hydration, skin surface pH and by analyzing FTIR spectra before and after treatment. A third cohort of 6 young adults was recruited to investigate the effect of a single treatment with the test emollient on the molecular structure of the skin barrier at greater depths by employing the tape-stripping technique. The test emollient hydrated the skin to a significantly greater extent and for a longer period of time compared to the control emollient, an effect associated with a significant elevation of carboxylate groups (a marker of NMF content) within the stratum corneum. Furthermore, the test emollient imparted additional benefits to the structure and function of the skin barrier not exhibited by the control emollient. In conclusion the test emollient addressed the pathological features of xerotic aged skin, supporting its use as first-line therapy for xerotic skin conditions in this population