Fast recognition of alternating groups of unknown degree

We present a constructive recognition algorithm to decide whether a given black-box group is isomorphic to an alternating or a symmetric group without prior knowledge of the degree. This eliminates the major gap in known algorithms, as they require the degree as additional input. Our methods are probabilistic and rely on results about proportions of elements with certain properties in alternating and symmetric groups. These results are of independent interest; for instance, we establish a lower bound for the proportion of involutions with small support.Comment: 31 pages, submitted to Journal of Algebr

Lavender oil-potent anxiolytic properties via modulating voltage dependent calcium channels

Recent clinical data support the clinical use of oral lavender oil in patients suffering from subsyndromal anxiety. We identified the molecular mechanism of action that will alter the perception of lavender oil as a nonspecific ingredient of aromatherapy to a potent anxiolytic inhibiting voltage dependent calcium channels (VOCCs) as highly selective drug target. In contrast to previous publications where exorbitant high concentrations were used, the effects of lavender oil in behavioral, biochemical, and electrophysiological experiments were investigated in physiological concentrations in the nanomolar range, which correlate to a single dosage of 80 mg/d in humans that was used in clinical trials. We show for the first time that lavender oil bears some similarities with the established anxiolytic pregabalin. Lavender oil inhibits VOCCs in synaptosomes, primary hippocampal neurons and stably overexpressing cell lines in the same range such as pregabalin. Interestingly, Silexan does not primarily bind to P/Q type calcium channels such as pregabalin and does not interact with the binding site of pregabalin, the α2δ subunit of VOCCs. Lavender oil reduces non-selectively the calcium influx through several different types of VOCCs such as the N-type, P/Q-type and T-type VOCCs. In the hippocampus, one brain region important for anxiety disorders, we show that inhibition by lavender oil is mainly mediated via N-type and P/Q-type VOCCs. Taken together, we provide a pharmacological and molecular rationale for the clinical use of the oral application of lavender oil in patients suffering from anxiety

Sexual Experience Promotes Adult Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus Despite an Initial Elevation in Stress Hormones

Aversive stressful experiences are typically associated with increased anxiety and a predisposition to develop mood disorders. Negative stress also suppresses adult neurogenesis and restricts dendritic architecture in the hippocampus, a brain region associated with anxiety regulation. The effects of aversive stress on hippocampal structure and function have been linked to stress-induced elevations in glucocorticoids. Normalizing corticosterone levels prevents some of the deleterious consequences of stress, including increased anxiety and suppressed structural plasticity in the hippocampus. Here we examined whether a rewarding stressor, namely sexual experience, also adversely affects hippocampal structure and function in adult rats. Adult male rats were exposed to a sexually-receptive female once (acute) or once daily for 14 consecutive days (chronic) and levels of circulating glucocorticoids were measured. Separate cohorts of sexually experienced rats were injected with the thymidine analog bromodeoxyuridine in order to measure cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the hippocampus. In addition, brains were processed using Golgi impregnation to assess the effects of sexual experience on dendritic spines and dendritic complexity in the hippocampus. Finally, to evaluate whether sexual experience alters hippocampal function, rats were tested on two tests of anxiety-like behavior: novelty suppressed feeding and the elevated plus maze. We found that acute sexual experience increased circulating corticosterone levels and the number of new neurons in the hippocampus. Chronic sexual experience no longer produced an increase in corticosterone levels but continued to promote adult neurogenesis and stimulate the growth of dendritic spines and dendritic architecture. Chronic sexual experience also reduced anxiety-like behavior. These findings suggest that a rewarding experience not only buffers against the deleterious actions of early elevated glucocorticoids but actually promotes neuronal growth and reduces anxiety

Mitochondriale Dysfunktion bei Alzheimer-Demenz : das Zusammenspiel von Hirnalterung und genetischen Risikofaktoren

Typische neuropathologische Befunde bei der Alzheimer-Demenz (AD) sind die Bildung von Beta-Amyloid-Plaques, die Akkumulation von intrazellulären neurofibrillären Bündeln (Tangles) und ein ausgeprägter Verlust der Nervenzellen im Gehirn (siehe Estifanos Ghebremedhin und Thomas Deller »Risikofaktoren der Alzheimer-Krankheit. Was verraten uns die Gene?«, Seite 90). Insbesondere die Anhäufung von Beta-Amyloid-Peptid (Aß) scheint eine zentrale Rolle in der in der in der Pathogenese zu spielen und kausal für den Zelluntergang verantwortlich zu sein. Befunde unserer Arbeitsgruppe deuten darauf hin, das Aß zu mitochondrialer Dysfunktion in den Nervenzellen führt. Wir untersuchen die Kaskade der Mechanismen, die von der Bildung von Aß über mitochondriale Dysfunktion letztlich zu Synapsenverlust und Zelltod führen, mithilfe von Zelllinien und Mäusestämmen mit Alzheimer-typischen Merkmalen. Ziel ist, einen Angriffspunkt für die medikamentöse Behandlung der Alzheimer-Demenz zu finden. Als vielversprechend hat sich die Wirkung von Statinen erwiesen, die als Cholesterinhemmer eingesetzt werden. ..

Activist Bibliography as Abolitionist Pedagogy in the American Prison Writing Archive

This article describes how undergraduate coursework performs activist bibliography for the largest and first fully searchable digital archive of testimony writing by currently incarcerated people, the American Prison Writing Archive (APWA). The authors argue that when teachers invite students to participate as citizen archivists for the APWA as coursework, through contributing crowdsourced metadata such as transcription and subject tagging, the incarcerated writers whose manuscripts they edit become the epistemological center of the course. Through this pedagogy, APWA authors create and disseminate knowledge about the emotional and physical tolls of incarceration and the need for prison abolition. The article features two case studies in undergraduate teaching assignments: (a) students performing subject tagging of APWA testimony in a literature course, and (b) students transcribing APWA manuscripts in a literacy studies course. Both engage students in activist bibliographical work and digital humanities for a public audience that increases the functionality and content in the archive, defies carceral censorship, and demystifies broad public and political misinformation about prisons and imprisoned people. By detailing two possibilities for incorporating APWA editing into literature and literacy curricula, and its potential to ideologically transform student citizen archivists, the authors hope to attract more instructors to include this editorial work in their syllabi and extend our call for critical action within and beyond the archive. (In the issue section Rethinking Catalogs and Archives

Multilingualism Management at Work: Language Policies, Practices, and Perceptions in German Multinational Corporations. A Case Study.

Workplaces are crucial sites for language use within society, where language is linked to economic matters and specific organizational frames. When it comes to multinational businesses, communication is often embedded into multilingual contexts. Against this backdrop, it is very remarkable that the “multilingual workplace” has been considered an “underresearched strategic site” (see Roberts, 2007). This thesis accounts for multilingualism as a societal phenomenon and considers the mechanisms of multilingualism and language choice in a particular organizational setting. It is examined how the phenomenon of multilingualism can affect the domain of workplace interaction, and how multilingualism is reflected in the language practices occurring in multinational corporations. From this perspective, an exploratory case study is conducted with employees of four Germany-based multinationals. The semi-structured interviews resulted in a collection of employees’ personal accounts and experiences with multilingualism in the workplace. A qualitative analysis of the data collected revealed employees’ degree of awareness toward language use, their reports on their language practices, their perceptions towards language(s), which functions they ascribe to language, and how multilingualism affects employees’ working lives. The results of this study include a survey on dominant expressions of multilingualism in the workplace that have emerged from the data, particularly the themes of multilingualism and its interplay with migration, group dynamics, motivation, intercultural encounters, and English as a lingua franca. As the study was conducted within Germany-based multinationals, the role of German for professional life within specific corporate contexts is discussed in greater detail. This thesis emphasizes the prominence of current multilingualism in society in order to further the understanding of language in our ever-globalizing world

A change in focus to stakeholder engagement and reputation management aligned to King III recommendations

As the King III code has been described as the future of corporate governance the question has to be asked whether corporate South Africa is able to translate this international best practice document into best practice implementation. The purpose of this research was to assess how companies and industry experts have interpreted the requirements of King III – Governing Stakeholder Relationships – and to see if there was a change in focus by companies and their boards ‘to stakeholder engagement and reputation management’. Through qualitative interviews the objective of the research was to: • find out to what extent companies had adopted the recommendations on governing stakeholder relationship (King III); • confer with industry experts as to what companies are expected to report on when they adopt King III principles on governing stakeholder relationships; and • ascertain if there was a common understanding of the adoption of King III – Governing Stakeholder Relationships – from a company and industry perspective? For business leaders who have accepted that the sustainability of the system depends on delivering wealth creation and economic return for shareholders and stakeholders, sustainably and responsibly and who have placed stakeholder trust at the heart of their companies’ strategy adopting governing stakeholder relationship – governance element eight – recommendations is in synch. CopyrightDissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)unrestricte