Reasons for choosing a further education: the views of 700 new entrants

This article explores some reasons for choosing a further education given by 700 new entrants to 10 Scottish further education colleges. It tries to distinguish between instrumental reasons, such as those concerned with the quest for employment and what students perceive as most intrinsically worthwhile about a further education. It also tries to identify some of the methods of communication that are most effective in attracting students to further education. It seems that leaflets and mail shots are by far the most effective methods of communication before students enter college. The local reputation of the college as a place where good social relationships are fostered including those fostered in the classroom seems more important than the resources devoted to teaching. Even though many new entrants cite instrumental reasons as being very important, detail in the curriculum seems to be much less important to them. We speculate that this is because students are prepared to trust such detail to teachers they perceive to be good. Colleges therefore have an opportunity, if not a responsibility, to take students beyond instrumentalism

Biochemical investigations into problems relating to epilepsy

Investigations have been carried out in three separate areas of research related to epilepsy.I. In the first of these investigations an attempt was made to clarify a possible role of folic acid derivatives in epilepsy. This investigation took the form of two self- contained studies involving dogs.A. The first study concerned the effects of anticonvulsant treatment on (a) folate activity in cerebrospinal fluid (c.s.f.). (b) the concentrations of 5- hydroxyindol- 3- ylacetic acid (5 -HIAA) and hornovanillic acid (HVA) in c.s.f.Routine sampling of ventricular and cisternal c.s.f. in the dog was achieved by the implantation of permanent guide tubes to the lateral ventricle and the cisterna magna. 5 -HIAA and HVA in c.s.f. samples were estimated by fluorescence assay techniques. Folate activity in c.s.f. and plasma samples was estimated microbiologically with a folatedependent strain of 1. casei.In control studies the c.s.f. folate activity was found to be between 2 and 7 times higher than the plasma folate activity. A positive correlation was found between c.s.f. and plasma folate activities. HVA and 5 -HIAA studies confirmed the concentration gradient which exists for these two acids between the lateral ventricular c.s.f. and the cisternal c.s.f.Selected anticonvulsant drugs (diphenylhydantoin, 7.5 mg/kg; phenobarbitone, 15 mg/kg; sulthiame 15 mg/kg; carbamazepine 15 mg /kg) were administered daily to the dogs for a period of five weeks. During this Period no change was seen in the folate activity of either c.s.f. or plasma. The anticonvulsants were also without effect on the concentrations of HVA and 5 -HIAA in c.s.f.These findings are discussed in relation to the folate deficiency states produced in man by chronic anticonvulsant therapy.B. The second study in the folate investigations was concerned with the effect of oral folic acid administration (a) folate activity in plasma, plasma ultrafiltrate and c.s.f. (b) the concentrations of HVA and 5 -HIAA in the c.s.f.During the control period of this study no correlation was found between c.s.f. and plasma folate activity, such as was found in the first study. Possible reasons to account for this discrepancy are discussed. Estimation of folate activity in plasma and plasma ultrafiltrate confirmed that much of the folate activity in dog plasma is protein- bound.Folic acid (31 mg/kg) was administered daily to dogs over a 5 -week period. During this treatment period the mean plasma folate activity was 10 times higher than normal; plasma ultrafiltrate folate activity was 5 times higher the normal; but c.s.f. folate activity was unchanged. These findings were interpreted as evidence for an increased plasma level of a folate derivative, probably folic acid itself, which was more strongly bound to protein than normal plasma folate derivatives, and was unable to enter the c.s.f. In two experiments in the rabbit no evidence was found for the active transport of methyl -tetrahydrofolate (normally the predominant form of folate in the plasma) into the c.s.f. HVA and 5 -HIAA concentrations in the c.s.f. were unaltered during the period of folic acid treatment. It was concluded that oral folic acid administration is unlikely to have any significant effect on normal cerebral function.The implications of this study are discussed in relation to (a) the role of folic acid derivatives in epilepsy and mental illness. (b) the mechanisms responsible for the normal distribution of folate activity between c.s.f. and plasma.II. The second investigation concerned the effects of barbiturate anaesthetics and anticonvulsant drugs on the c.s.f. potassium fluxes of the conscious dog.A new technique was developed for "open" perfusion of the cerebroventricular system of the conscious dog. The dog was perfused from lateral ventricle to cisterna magna with artificial r c.s.f. containing inulin, and tracer amounts of 42K. K, total potassium and inulin assays were performed on the inflow and out - flow fluids. From this data it was possible to calculate, for each sample of outflow fluid collected, values for both the potassium efflux from, and the potassium influx into, the c.s.f. After a period of between 65 -100 minutes of perfusion a "steady - state" was reached in which the potassium fluxes, as measured by this technique, were relatively constant. Drugs actions were studied by administering the drug during the "steady- state" period and ascertaining the effect upon the "steady- state" potassium fluxes.It was shown that - (1) The barbiturate anaesthetics, sodium pentobarbitone and o sodium thipentone, in doses sufficient to induce light anaesthesia, may depress both potassium influx into, and potassium efflux from c.s.f. Both fluxes were affected equally on any one occasion. Flux alterations of up to 50% were observed. (2) Diazepam has a consistent depressant effect on the potassium fluxes of the c.s.f. This effect was less marked, but more consistently observed, than in the case of the barbiturate anaesthetics. - v - (3) Diphenylhydantoin has no significant effect on potassium efflux from the c.s.f. but may have a slight depressant effect on potassium influx into the c.s.f. (4) Paraldehyde in a dose sufficient to induce light anaesthesia slightly increases the c.s.f. potassium fluxes. These results are discussed in relation to (a) previously published studies on c.s.f. potassium fluxes in anaesthetised animals (b) possible mechanisms of action of these drugs.The effects of the barbiturate anaesthetics and diazepam were interpreted as being secondary to a decrease in potassium exchange between brain intracellular and entracellular compartments.It was concluded that the anaesthetic or anticonvulsant action of a drug is not related to the drug's effect on c.s.f. potassium fluxes.III. The third investigation concerned the development and preliminary application of a method for the analysis of GABA and associated amino acids in small areas of tissue from the primary and secondary epileptic foci of rats with a cobalt- induced epileptogenic lesion.The existing specific enzymic methods for GABA analysis were examined and found to be either too insensitive or too complex to act as suitable micro- methods. The standard techniques for amino acid analysis, involving column separation and colorimetric estimation were also considered to be too insensitive.Reaction of the amino group of amino acids with 1- dimethyl- amnonapthalene-5- sulphonyl chloride (dansyl chloride) produces stable, highly- fluorescent derivatives which can be readily separated by thin -layer chromatography.A highly sensitive isotope dilution assay, based on the preparation of dansyl derivatives, was evolved for the estimation of free amino acids in brain tissue.The tissue was homogenised in perchloric acid and known amounts of ¹⁴C -amino acid standards were added to an aliquot of the perchlorate extract to act as internal standards for recovery of amino acid through the method. The extract was then taken to pH 9.3 - 9.8 with potassium carbonate solution, precipitating perchlorate as its insoluble potassium salt. An aliquot of the alkaline extract was dansylated with an equal volume of H³-dansyl chloride in acetone. After a 30 minute reaction period the dansylation mixture was taken to dryness and extracted with acetone: glacial acetic acid solution (3:2). An aliquot of this extract was applied to a polyamide micro- chromatography plate which was then developed in two dimensions. Under u.v. light specific dansyl -amino acid spots were identified by their characteristic position on the developed plate. These spots were cut from the plate and counted for ³H and ¹⁴C activity in a liquid scintillation counter.The total amount of dansyl-amino acid in a spot was calculated from its ³H activity. Combining this figure with the ¹⁴C activity of the spot allowed calculation of the specific activity (w.r.t. ¹⁴C) of the dansyl-amino acid in the spot. Comparison of this specific activity with the specific activity of the ¹⁴C -amino acid standard which had been added as a recovery standard gave a measure of the dilution of exogenous radioactive amino acid by endogenous non-radioactive amino acid. From this dilution factor it was possible to calculate the concentration of endogenous amino acid in the original perchlorate extract of brain tissue. Determination of the weight of protein precipitated from the tissue sample by the perchloric acid extraction allowed calculation of the amino acid content of tissue in terms of }moles amino acid per 100 mg protein.The two dimensional chromatography did not achieve a separation of dansyl glutamine and dansyl -threonine; as a result glutamine and threonine were estimated as the sum total of their two concentrations.The method was applied to the estimation of control values for GABA, glutamate, glutamine/threonine, glycine, aspartate and hydroxyproline levels in rat cortex. The values obtained for GABA, glutamate, glutamine /threonine and glycine were highly reproducible and in good agreement with previously published values. Aspartate was not satisfactorily estimated. Hyroxyproline was not detected in rat cortex.The dansylation method was applied to the analysis of brain tissue from three rats with 11 day-old cobalt-induced epileptogenic lesions in the frontal cortex. There was evidence that GABA and glutamate levels were lowered, and glutamine/threonine and glycine levels raised, in the region of the secondary epileptogenic ( "mirror ") focus. This was the site from which epileptiform spike discharges were most frequent.The significance of these findings have been discussed along with general comments on the problems of amino acid studies in brain. It was concluded that disorders in amino acid metabolism may be involved in epileptic processes

Selecting patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy for ICDs

No abstract available

The Ethics of Capitalism: An Introduction

The textbook covers longstanding problems that are as old as the discussion of capitalism itself, such as wage inequality, global trade, and the connection between paid labor and human flourishing. It also addresses new challenges, such as climate change, the welfare state, and competitive consumption, and provides topical global case studies. Additionally, it includes study questions at the end of each chapter and an author-created companion website to help guide classroom discussion.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/philosophy_books/1024/thumbnail.jp

Single-trial multiwavelet coherence in application to neurophysiological time series

A method of single-trial coherence analysis is presented, through the application of continuous muldwavelets. Multiwavelets allow the construction of spectra and bivariate statistics such as coherence within single trials. Spectral estimates are made consistent through optimal time-frequency localization and smoothing. The use of multiwavelets is considered along with an alternative single-trial method prevalent in the literature, with the focus being on statistical, interpretive and computational aspects. The multiwavelet approach is shown to possess many desirable properties, including optimal conditioning, statistical descriptions and computational efficiency. The methods. are then applied to bivariate surrogate and neurophysiological data for calibration and comparative study. Neurophysiological data were recorded intracellularly from two spinal motoneurones innervating the posterior,biceps muscle during fictive locomotion in the decerebrated cat

Terra incognita—cerebellar contributions to neuropsychiatric and cognitive dysfunction in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

Although converging evidence has positioned the human cerebellum as an important relay for intact cognitive and neuropsychiatric processing, changes in this large structure remain mostly overlooked in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), a disease which is characterized by cognitive and neuropsychiatric deficits. The present study assessed whether degeneration in specific cerebellar subregions associate with indices of cognition and neuropsychiatric performance in bvFTD. Our results demonstrate a relationship between cognitive and neuropsychiatric decline across various domains of memory, language, emotion, executive, visuospatial function, and motivation and the degree of gray matter degeneration in cerebellar lobules V–VII. Most notably, bilateral cerebellar lobule VII and the posterior vermis emerged as distinct for memory processes, the right cerebellar hemisphere underpinned emotion, and the posterior vermis was highlighted in language dysfunction in bvFTD. Based on cortico-cerebellar connectivity maps, these findings in the cerebellum are consistent with the neural connections with the cortices involved in these domains in patients with bvFTD. Overall, the present study underscores the significance of cortical-cerebellar networks associated with cognition and neuropsychiatric dysfunction in bvFTD

Phasor analysis of atom diffraction from a rotated material grating

The strength of an atom-surface interaction is determined by studying atom diffraction from a rotated material grating. A phasor diagram is developed to interpret why diffraction orders are never completely suppressed when a complex transmission function due to the van der Waals interaction is present. We also show that atom-surface interactions can produce asymmetric diffraction patterns. Our conceptual discussion is supported by experimental observations with a sodium atom beam.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR