Beyond the Mortgage Meltdown: Addressing the Current Crisis, Avoiding a Future Catastrophe

Beyond the Mortgage Meltdown is a compelling analysis that distills the origins and nature of the crisis in the housing market. Senior Fellow James Lardner highlights the complicity of regulators and lawmakers in the genesis of the mortgage epidemic, and warns that bolder steps will be needed to stem the rate of foreclosures along with its broader economic impact to protect both markets and consumers against future catastrophe

Floodplain services available from the Illinois State Water Survey

Cover title.Includes bibliographical references

Exile Vol. VIIb

FICTION Himself by James Kennedy 9-30 Sardo by Joan Harrington 34-36 Doll House by Bruce Tracy 37-42 The Della Baby by Brenda Dean 47-53 Cruel White by Carolyn Colley 57-66 Almost Every Sunday by Sara Easton Curtis 69-74 A Family by William Weaver 78-86 POETRY Spring Songs by Janet Tallman 32-33 Poem by Katherine Lardner 42 Four Poems by Elizabeth Surbeck 43 Indian Pike Mask by James Funaro 44 The Windigo by James Funaro 45 Query by Barbara Purdy 53 A Taste of Eden by Barbara Purdy 53 The Passion of Jeremiah by Barbara Purdy 53 Statement and Comment by Enid Larimer 54-55 Poem by Barbara Thiele 56 Poem by Catherine Thompson 68 Drifting into a Museum Case by Catherine Thompson 68 To Judy by Tanya Shriver 76-77 Sun One by Sara Easton Curtis 86 Poem by Christine Cooper 87 GRAPHICS woodcut by Catherine Thompson 8 etching by Catherine Thompson 17 Two Models (aquatint) by Virginia Piersol 31 woodcut by Elizabeth Surbeck 46 woodcut by Virginia Piersol 67 linocut by John Hand 75 EDITORIAL Wintering by James W Kennedy 5-7 Poem 68 Drifting into a Museum Case 68 and To Judy 76 are all incorrectly attributed to Barbara Thiele in the published Table of Contents. The attributions given above are taken from the pages on which the works are published. The Contributors section of this issue confirms this interpretation. Awarded the EXILE-Denison Bookstore Writing Prize: Himself by James Kennedy 9-3

Nicotinamide provides neuroprotection in glaucoma by protecting against mitochondrial and metabolic dysfunction.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a REDOX cofactor and metabolite essential for neuronal survival. Glaucoma is a common neurodegenerative disease in which neuronal levels of NAD decline. We assess the effects of nicotinamide (a precursor to NAD) on retinal ganglion cells (the affected neuron in glaucoma) in normal physiological conditions and across a range of glaucoma relevant insults including mitochondrial stress and axon degenerative insults. We demonstrate retinal ganglion cell somal, axonal, and dendritic neuroprotection by nicotinamide in rodent models which represent isolated ocular hypertensive, axon degenerative, and mitochondrial degenerative insults. We performed metabolomics enriched for small molecular weight metabolites for the retina, optic nerve, and superior colliculus which demonstrates that ocular hypertension induces widespread metabolic disruption, including consistent changes to α-ketoglutaric acid, creatine/creatinine, homocysteine, and glycerophosphocholine. This metabolic disruption is prevented by nicotinamide. Nicotinamide provides further neuroprotective effects by increasing oxidative phosphorylation, buffering and preventing metabolic stress, and increasing mitochondrial size and motility whilst simultaneously dampening action potential firing frequency. These data support continued determination of the utility of long-term nicotinamide treatment as a neuroprotective therapy for human glaucoma

So Small, So Loud: Extremely High Sound Pressure Level from a Pygmy Aquatic Insect (Corixidae, Micronectinae)

To communicate at long range, animals have to produce intense but intelligible signals. This task might be difficult to achieve due to mechanical constraints, in particular relating to body size. Whilst the acoustic behaviour of large marine and terrestrial animals has been thoroughly studied, very little is known about the sound produced by small arthropods living in freshwater habitats. Here we analyse for the first time the calling song produced by the male of a small insect, the water boatman Micronecta scholtzi. The song is made of three distinct parts differing in their temporal and amplitude parameters, but not in their frequency content. Sound is produced at 78.9 (63.6–82.2) SPL rms re 2.10−5 Pa with a peak at 99.2 (85.7–104.6) SPL re 2.10−5 Pa estimated at a distance of one metre. This energy output is significant considering the small size of the insect. When scaled to body length and compared to 227 other acoustic species, the acoustic energy produced by M. scholtzi appears as an extreme value, outperforming marine and terrestrial mammal vocalisations. Such an extreme display may be interpreted as an exaggerated secondary sexual trait resulting from a runaway sexual selection without predation pressure

The early mathematical education of Ada Lovelace

Ada, Countess of Lovelace, is remembered for a paper published in 1843, which translated and considerably extended an article about the unbuilt Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computer designed by the mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage. Her substantial appendices, nearly twice the length of the original work, contain an account of the principles of the machine, along with a table often described as ‘the first computer program’. In this paper we look at Lovelace's education before 1840, which encompassed older traditions of practical geometry; newer textbooks influenced by continental approaches; wide reading; and a fascination with machinery. We also challenge judgements by Dorothy Stein and by Doron Swade of Lovelace's mathematical knowledge and skills before 1840, which have impacted later scholarly and popular discourse

Termite sensitivity to temperature affects global wood decay rates.

Deadwood is a large global carbon store with its store size partially determined by biotic decay. Microbial wood decay rates are known to respond to changing temperature and precipitation. Termites are also important decomposers in the tropics but are less well studied. An understanding of their climate sensitivities is needed to estimate climate change effects on wood carbon pools. Using data from 133 sites spanning six continents, we found that termite wood discovery and consumption were highly sensitive to temperature (with decay increasing >6.8 times per 10°C increase in temperature)-even more so than microbes. Termite decay effects were greatest in tropical seasonal forests, tropical savannas, and subtropical deserts. With tropicalization (i.e., warming shifts to tropical climates), termite wood decay will likely increase as termites access more of Earth's surface