June 4th: Memory and Ethics

In this essay I look first at some general problems of memory and of how events are retold from memory. Then I focus on memory of June Fourth and divide the question by asking how three categories of people—perpetrators, victims, and bystanders—have remembered, failed to remember, or tried to alter memory. The tripartite division of “perpetrators, victims, and bystanders” is not perfect but I find it illuminating. Nearly all the questions that come up have moral implications, so I call the essay “memory and ethics”. I draw upon examples from literature, memoir, journalism, film, and personal acquaintance

Misalignment of Career and Educational Aspirations in Middle School: Differences Across Race, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status

Misalignment of educational and career goals (i.e., educational aspirations expressed are inadequate for attaining one’s desired occupation) is associated with lower educational attainment and a lack of college readiness, and may contribute to persistent educational and employment disparities. Drawing on data from 249 sixth graders in low-income schools, this research examines misalignment between educational and career aspirations across racial and ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Findings indicate that students in low-income schools aspire to middle and upper middle class careers, but sometimes lack an understanding of the educational degrees required to achieve their goals. Latinos are significantly more likely than other groups to report misaligned aspirations, as are students in the free and reduced lunch program and those without a college-educated parent. Consequently, early gaps in misaligned career and educational goals for disadvantaged students may set them on a trajectory that perpetuates educational and occupational inequalities in this population. We discuss the programmatic implications of these findings in light of the elevated college and career planning needs of students traditionally underrepresented in higher education

Trigeminal Nerve Schwannoma of the Cerebellopontine Angle.

Introduction  Large and even moderate sized, extra-axial cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors may fill this restricted space and distort the regional anatomy. It may be difficult to determine even with high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) if the tumor is dural-based, or what the nerve of origin is if a schwannoma. While clinical history and exam are helpful, they are not unequivocal, particularly since many patients present with a myriad of symptoms, or conversely an incidental finding. We present an atypical appearing, asymptomatic CPA tumor, ultimately identified at surgery to be a trigeminal schwannoma. Case History  A 40-year-old man presented with new-onset seizure. MRI identified an incidental heterogeneously contrast-enhancing CPA lesion ( Fig. 1A - D ). The tumor was centered on the internal auditory canal (IAC) with no tumor extension into Meckel's cave, IAC or jugular foramen. Audiometry demonstrated 10db of relative left-sided hearing loss with 100% word recognition. Physical examination was negative for focal neurologic deficits. A retrosigmoid craniotomy was performed and an extra-axial, yellow-hued mass was encountered and resected, which was ultimately confirmed to originate from the trigeminal nerve ( Video 1 ). Gross total resection was achieved, and the patient recovered from surgery with partial ipsilateral trigeminal sensory loss and no other new neurologic deficits. Conclusion  Pure CPA trigeminal schwannomas are rare, but should be considered in the differential for enhancing CPA lesions. Although, Meckel's cave involvement is frequently observed, it is not universal, and pure CPA schwannomas of all cranial nerves IV-XII have been reported in the literature. The link to the video can be found at: https://youtu.be/AlodYCu70F8

The impact of histopathology and NAB2-STAT6 fusion subtype in classification and grading of meningeal solitary fibrous tumor/hemangiopericytoma.

Meningeal solitary fibrous tumor (SFT)/hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a rare tumor with propensity for recurrence and metastasis. Although multiple classification schemes have been proposed, optimal risk stratification remains unclear, and the prognostic impact of fusion status is uncertain. We compared the 2016 WHO CNS tumor grading scheme (CNS-G), a three-tier system based on histopathologic phenotype and mitotic count, to the 2013 WHO soft-tissue counterpart (ST-G), a two-tier system based on mitotic count alone, in a cohort of 133 patients [59 female, 74 male; mean age 54 years (range 20-87)] with meningeal SFT/HPC. Tumors were pathologically confirmed through review of the first tumor resection (n = 97), local recurrence (n = 35), or distant metastasis (n = 1). A STAT6 immunostain showed nuclear expression in 132 cases. NAB2-STAT6 fusion was detected in 99 of 111 successfully tested tumors (89%) including the single STAT6 immunonegative tumor. Tumors were classified by CNS-G as grade 1 (n = 43), 2 (n = 41), or 3 (n = 49), and by ST-G as SFT (n = 84) or malignant SFT (n = 49). Necrosis was present in 16 cases (12%). On follow-up, 42 patients had at least one subsequent recurrence or metastasis (7 metastasis only, 33 recurrence only, 2 patients had both). Twenty-nine patients died. On univariate analysis, necrosis (p = 0.002), CNS-G (p = 0.01), and ST-G (p = 0.004) were associated with recurrence-free (RFS) but not overall survival (OS). NAB2-STAT6 fusion type was not significantly associated with RFS or OS, but was associated with phenotype. A modified ST-G incorporating necrosis showed higher correlation with RFS (p = 0.0006) and remained significant (p = 0.02) when considering only the primary tumors. From our data, mitotic rate and necrosis appear to stratify this family of tumors most accurately and could be incorporated in a future grading scheme

Amenamevir: Studies of Potential CYP3A-Mediated Pharmacokinetic Interactions With Midazolam, Cyclosporine, and Ritonavir in Healthy Volunteers.

Amenamevir (formerly ASP2151) is a helicase-primase inhibitor being developed for the treatment of herpesvirus infection. Amenamevir is both a substrate and inducer of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4. Three studies were done in healthy volunteers to investigate potential CYP3A pharmacokinetic interactions with the following drugs: (1) Midazolam (probe substrate for CYP3A): After 10 days' pretreatment with amenamevir 400 mg daily, geometric mean maximum concentration of drug in blood plasma (Cmax ) and area under the plasma drug concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity (AUC0-∞ ) of midazolam 7.5 mg were about 68% and 51%, respectively, of those after midazolam alone. (2) Cyclosporine (substrate and inhibitor of CYP3A): After 5 days' pretreatment with cyclosporine 100 mg twice daily, geometric mean Cmax of amenamevir after 400-mg and 1200-mg single doses was, respectively, about 66% and 69%, and AUC0-∞ about 82% and 79%, of those after amenamevir alone. (3) Ritonavir (inhibitor of CYP3A): When given with single doses of ritonavir 600 mg, geometric mean Cmax of amenamevir after 400-mg and 1200-mg single doses was, respectively, about 1.4 and 1.6 times higher, and geometric mean AUC0-∞ about 2.6 and 3.3 times higher, than after amenamevir alone. Amenamevir has the potential to be involved in CYP3A-mediated pharmacokinetic interactions in clinical practice.Maruh

Antibiotic mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticles with potent antimicrobial activity and their application in antimicrobial coatings

We report a one-pot synthesis of spherical gold nanoparticles (52-22 nm) and their capping with cefaclor, a second-generation antibiotic, without use of other chemicals. The differently sized gold nanoparticles were fabricated by controlling the rate of reduction of gold ions in aqueous solution by varying the reaction temperature (20-70 C). The primary amine group of cefaclor acted as both the reducing and capping agent for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles leaving the b-lactam ring of cefaclor available for activity against microbes. Antimicrobial testing showed that cefaclor reduced gold nanoparticles have potent antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria as compared to cefaclor or gold nanoparticles alone. The minimum inhibition concentrations (MICs) of cefaclor reduced gold nanoparticles were 10m gmL1 and 100m gmL1 for S. aureus and E. coli respectively. The cefaclor reduced gold nanoparticles were further coated onto poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) modified glass surfaces to obtain antimicrobial coatings suitable for biomedical applications and were tested against E. coli as an exemplar of activity. The antimicrobial coatings were very robust under adverse conditions (pH 3 and 10), inhibited the growth of E. coli on their surfaces, and could be used many times with retained activity. Results from a combined spectroscopic (FTIR) and microscopic study (AFM) suggest that the action of these novel particles is through the combined action of cefaclor inhibiting the synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer and gold nanoparticles generating "holes" in bacterial cell walls thereby increasing the permeability of the cell wall, resulting in the leakage of cell contents and eventually cell death

The functional response of a generalist predator

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Construction kits or virtual worlds; management applications of E2E models

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Marine Systems 109/110 (2013): 103-108, doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2011.10.016.We review briefly the diversity of modeling activity that comes under the rubric of end-to-end (E2E) models, but the focus of this paper – of joint concern to researchers and to managers - is on applications to management and decision making. The models and applications span a range from “construction kits” that identify particular management issues and use comparisons across ecosystems; to “virtual worlds” that immerse managers in the details of strategic evaluations for particular systems. The general conclusion is that “application” is not a straightforward transition from theory to practice but a complex interactive process.This review is based on the proceedings of a workshop, held at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 19-22 April 2010, as part of CAMEO (Comparative Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization), a program supported jointly by NOAA (U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency) and NSF (U.S. National Science Foundation)

Collusion through Joint R&D: An Empirical Assessment

This paper tests whether upstream R&D cooperation leads to downstream collusion. We consider an oligopolistic setting where firms enter in research joint ventures (RJVs) to lower production costs or coordinate on collusion in the product market. We show that a sufficient condition for identifying collusive behavior is a decline in the market share of RJV-participating firms, which is also necessary and sufficient for a decrease in consumer welfare. Using information from the US National Cooperation Research Act, we estimate a market share equation correcting for the endogeneity of RJV participation and R&D expenditures. We find robust evidence that large networks between direct competitors – created through firms being members in several RJVs at the same time – are conducive to collusive outcomes in the product market which reduce consumer welfare. By contrast, RJVs among non-competitors are efficiency enhancing