Zeitgeist

Cover ar

Analysis of the Shinnery Oak Shrub Using High Resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Imagery

The Shinnery Oak (Quercus havardii) is a low clonal deciduous shrub native to the Great Plains of North America. Little research has been done on the disappearing specie’s ecology as the Shinnery Oak undesirably dominates the vegetation growing in its environment. Nonetheless, the species’ restoration is vital to biodiversity, the well being of endangered species in the community, and livestock production. We used the DJI Phantom 4 drone to photograph the study site set in Western Texas. Photos of the area were taken over three different time periods: June, January, and March, depicting three clones of varying size and shape. Three clones were analyzed to compare differences in canopy size, color, and height resulting from seasonal changes. The dense cloud, 3D model, and orthomosaic were created after alignment and optimization of the photos. The orthomosaic was used to analyze distances between motts, sizes, and shapes of motts through R packages. Furthermore, error points and point density were compared to assess the accuracy of each data set

Hadron

Pg 4 : Anxiety and Evolution Pg 5 : Prescription Fires Pg 7 : The New Uber? Pg 8 : Changing Society Pg 10 : The Rare and Elusive Spirit Bear Pg 12 : How Lasers Could Solve the World Energy Crisis Pg 14 : The Physics of Water Wakes Pg 17 : Schwarzschild Cosmology and Black Hole-ception! Pg 19 : The Future of Space Tourism Pg 20 : Not Just Bitcoin Pg 21 : The Evolving Medical Power of Psychedelics Pg 24 : Usage of Hydrogels in Wound Healing Pg 26 : New COVID-19 Variant Spreading Across South America and the United Stateshttps://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/hadron_magazine/1004/thumbnail.jp

Hippocampal Neuronal Polarity Specified by Spatially Localized mPar3/mPar6 and PI 3-Kinase Activity

AbstractHow a neuron becomes polarized remains an outstanding question. Here, we report that selection of the future axon among neurites of a cultured hippocampal neuron requires the activity of growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase), as well as atypical protein kinase C (aPKC). The PI 3-kinase activity, highly localized to the tip of the newly specified axon of stage 3 neurons, is essential for the proper subcellular localization of mPar3, the mammalian homolog of C. elegans polarity protein Par3. Polarized distribution of not only mPar3 but also mPar6 is important for axon formation; ectopic expression of mPar6 or mPar3, or just the N terminus of mPar3, leaves neurons with no axon specified. Thus, neuronal polarity is likely to be controlled by the mPar3/mPar6/aPKC complex and the PI 3-kinase signaling pathway, both serving evolutionarily conserved roles in specifying cell polarity

Green collar jobs and the movement for economic democracy in Los Angeles and Cleveland

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-269).Faced with the problem of growing economic inequality in America and the threat posed to democracy, a number of planning scholars have put forth the idea of building progressive civil society capacity in the economic sphere to broaden stakeholder control and accountability of capitalist markets. Yet actual empirical accounts of community and civic organizations spearheading the task of framing and carrying out prescriptive economic programs, complete with alternative modes of production and exchange, have sparsely materialized. Moreover, the dominant planning perspective on the topic of building civil society to strengthen economic democracy views race as a secondary issue that may have cultural and political significance but is essentially a divisive mechanism that stymies the more important economic programs of class-based movements. In contrast, the theoretical framework underlying this study incorporates W.E.B. DuBois' notion of double consciousness along with Mikhail Bakhtin's formulations on dialogic exchange to explore how centralizing the perspectives and experiences of "racial others" might enhance critical reflection and dialogic exchange in civil society- led economic planning projects as to fortify progressive coalitions and direct their policy visions towards the deepest problems hindering democratic society. Focusing on the emerging energy efficiency sector and the green economy more generally within the context of the contemporary American city, I use two critical and emblematic cases-the Evergreen Cooperative Initiative in Cleveland and the Los Angeles Green Retrofit and Workforce Program- to build theory at the intersection of race, place, and economic democracy. Each case study is grounded in historical analysis that explores to what extent, in what ways, and how race played a role in managing the tensions and contradictions between capitalism and democracy at the local level. In turn, the case studies investigate the process by which progressive coalitions incorporated the experiences and perspectives of low-income inner city communities of color into their respective green economic and workforce development programs. At the substantive and normative level, my findings indicate that creating inclusive, transparent, but also flexible spaces for critical reflection and dialogic exchange are essential to building strong coalitions and forging policy visions that get at some of the core problems arising from privatistic urban policy and local economic development and form the stuff of economic democracy. Whether the initiation of such processes and ensuing economic projects occurs in a manner that is "top down" or "bottom up" might be less important to their transformative potential than the depth of critical analysis, reflective thinking, and mutual engagement in policy design and planning discourse. Where economic democracy is a perpetual process of becoming, it entails actors balancing the use of external resources with principles of self-determination and the achievement of project deliverables with leadership development and movement building goals. At the descriptive level, the cases demonstrate the limits of neoclassical economic theory along with its premises of rational choice theory and methodological individualism in explaining observed modes of economic action and local economic development. I incorporate insights from recent multidisciplinary studies on cooperative human behavior along with pragmatist action theory in posing an alternative analytical framework for explaining economic action.by Lily K. Song.Ph.D

EquiTect: Solving the Lack of Internet and Computer Access During Online Learning

Around the world, nearly 1.3 billion children are unable to access the internet, hindering their ability to engage with digital learning and converse with one another (US Census Bureau, 2020). This problem has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, where most students were forced to move online to learn. The problem presents itself in three ways. First, a lack of accessible connection — traditional internet connections are far too expensive, costing thousands of dollars on average. Second, a lack of internet access — certain locations, specifically rural entities, do not have reliable internet access available, and even if they do, connections are oftentimes weak and lackluster. Students are often provided with computers from schools, but not with access to the internet. This problem is also a problem in equity, with the need for internet and computer access varying greatly amongst different family incomes. Families making under $10,000 in income have the greatest need for computer and internet access (about 45$100,000 or more have about 8 times less need for internet and computer access. In addition, around 35% of American Indian/Native Alaskan individuals and 20-30% of African Americans lack access to computers and reliable internet, while around 1/3 of White individuals lack access. EquiTect works to battle these imbalances and create equity in the online learning environment by providing all students, especially those who cannot afford their own internet or computer, proper internet and computer access. Our idea utilizes white space technology, social enterprise, and philanthropy. We plan to balance both our business goals and our social ones, pursue partnerships with internet service providers as well as other companies who specialize in white space connectivity, and hold fundraisers for schools or areas that could not otherwise afford our product/services. White space is essential the radio band that lays in between the unused frequencies normally used by Television providers. These frequencies are long-range, stable, and also almost never obstructed as there is very little activity happening in those frequencies. The novel technology provides promise in solving the equity problem in internet and computer access. Compared to MiFi, both MiFi and Equitect are accessible because they easily allow users to access the internet cheaply and efficiently. EquiTect will work similarly to Mifi in the sense that it will allow multiple users to access the internet. This will be very efficient since oftentimes, an entire family with multiple students needs internet and computer access. At the moment, most MiFi mobile broadband provides standard 3G or 4G connection speeds, depending upon network coverage, with 5G options just entering the market. On 3G and 4G connections, there can be a considerable slowdown when sharing MiFi connections across multiple devices and users. In contrast, white space relies on stable, long-range frequencies which is far more reliable. Finally, with MiFi, when more devices connect, the speed gets reduced and the battery drains faster, which causes the frequency of the wifi to get poor. This is a disadvantage that EquiTect must also battle. In the future, we plan to branch out to adult remote workers, satellite connectivity, and optimizing our devices

Hadron

Pg 4 : The Impact of a Sip of Coffee Pg 8 : Any Ideas About Sonoluminesence? Pg 11 : Memory, Memory, and the Brain Pg 13 : Climate Change Soon to Be a Thing of the Past? Pg 15 : Non Fungible Tokenshttps://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/hadron_magazine/1007/thumbnail.jp

\u3ci\u3eIn vitro\u3c/i\u3e assembly of apophytochrome and apophytochrome deletion mutants expressed in yeast with phycocyanobilin

Recombinant pea type I phytochrome apoprotein expressed in yeast is shown to assemble in vitro with phycocyanobilin to produce a photoreversible phytochromelike adduct. As an initial investigation of the amino acid sequence requirements for chromophore incorporation, three phyA gene product deletion mutants were produced in yeast. Truncation of the N-terminal tail to residue 46 demonstrates that this region is not critical to bilin attachment, but a deletion mutant lacking 222 amino acids from the N terminus failed to yield holophytochrome in vitro, under the same conditions. A mutant comprising a deletion of the C terminus to residue 548 showed bilin incorporation and red/far-red photoreversibility, indicating that bilin-apophytochrome assembly still occurred even when the entire C-terminal domain was truncated

Common Molecular Pathways Mediate Long-Term Potentiation of Synaptic Excitation and Slow Synaptic Inhibition

SummarySynaptic plasticity, the cellular correlate for learning and memory, involves signaling cascades in the dendritic spine. Extensive studies have shown that long-term potentiation (LTP) of the excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) through glutamate receptors is induced by activation of N-methyl-D-asparate receptor (NMDA-R)—the coincidence detector—and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Here we report that the same signaling pathway in the postsynaptic CA1 pyramidal neuron also causes LTP of the slow inhibitory postsynaptic current (sIPSC) mediated by metabotropic GABAB receptors (GABAB-Rs) and G protein-activated inwardly rectifying K+ (GIRK) channels, both residing in dendritic spines as well as shafts. Indicative of intriguing differences in the regulatory mechanisms for excitatory and inhibitory synaptic plasticity, LTP of sIPSC but not EPSC was abolished in mice lacking Nova-2, a neuronal-specific RNA binding protein that is an autoimmune target in paraneoplastic opsoclonus myoclonus ataxia (POMA) patients with latent cancer, reduced inhibitory control of movements, and dementia

Cluster-randomized, crossover trial of head positioning in acute stroke

The role of supine positioning after acute stroke in improving cerebral blood flow and the countervailing risk of aspiration pneumonia have led to variation in head positioning in clinical practice. We wanted to determine whether outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke could be improved by positioning the patient to be lying flat (i.e., fully supine with the back horizontal and the face upwards) during treatment to increase cerebral perfusion. METHODS In a pragmatic, cluster-randomized, crossover trial conducted in nine countries, we assigned 11,093 patients with acute stroke (85% of the strokes were ischemic) to receive care in either a lying-flat position or a sitting-up position with the head elevated to at least 30 degrees, according to the randomization assignment of the hospital to which they were admitted; the designated position was initiated soon after hospital admission and was maintained for 24 hours. The primary outcome was degree of disability at 90 days, as assessed with the use of the modified Rankin scale (scores range from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater disability and a score of 6 indicating death). RESULTS The median interval between the onset of stroke symptoms and the initiation of the assigned position was 14 hours (interquartile range, 5 to 35). Patients in the lying-flat group were less likely than patients in the sitting-up group to maintain the position for 24 hours (87% vs. 95%, P\u3c0.001). In a proportional-odds model, there was no significant shift in the distribution of 90-day disability outcomes on the global modified Rankin scale between patients in the lying-flat group and patients in the sitting-up group (unadjusted odds ratio for a difference in the distribution of scores on the modified Rankin scale in the lying-flat group, 1.01; 95% confidence interval, 0.92 to 1.10; P = 0.84). Mortality within 90 days was 7.3% among the patients in the lying-flat group and 7.4% among the patients in the sitting-up group (P = 0.83). There were no significant betweengroup differences in the rates of serious adverse events, including pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS Disability outcomes after acute stroke did not differ significantly between patients assigned to a lying-flat position for 24 hours and patients assigned to a sitting-up position with the head elevated to at least 30 degrees for 24 hours