Indexing: Narrating Interdisciplinary Connections in the Classroom

An integrative tool that we have piloted in two LCs, the interdisciplinary index, is an integrative template that students use to make connections between disciplines. In the learning community, “Cli-Fi: Stories and Science of the Coming Climate Apocalypse,” faculty developed the Climate-Change Stress Index (CCSI) that students used to identify evidence of climate-change impacts in the fictional setting of each novel they read. In another learning community, “All things Connect: Living with Nature in Mind,” students again used an index consisting Ecopsychology principles to describe, explain, and/or evaluate how these principles informed excerpts from environmental literature. We present a variety of student samples using Barber’s (2012) model of integrative learning and conclude with a review of the functions of interdisciplinary indexing

Stochastic Ion Channel Gating in Dendritic Neurons: Morphology Dependence and Probabilistic Synaptic Activation of Dendritic Spikes

Neuronal activity is mediated through changes in the probability of stochastic transitions between open and closed states of ion channels. While differences in morphology define neuronal cell types and may underlie neurological disorders, very little is known about influences of stochastic ion channel gating in neurons with complex morphology. We introduce and validate new computational tools that enable efficient generation and simulation of models containing stochastic ion channels distributed across dendritic and axonal membranes. Comparison of five morphologically distinct neuronal cell types reveals that when all simulated neurons contain identical densities of stochastic ion channels, the amplitude of stochastic membrane potential fluctuations differs between cell types and depends on sub-cellular location. For typical neurons, the amplitude of membrane potential fluctuations depends on channel kinetics as well as open probability. Using a detailed model of a hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron, we show that when intrinsic ion channels gate stochastically, the probability of initiation of dendritic or somatic spikes by dendritic synaptic input varies continuously between zero and one, whereas when ion channels gate deterministically, the probability is either zero or one. At physiological firing rates, stochastic gating of dendritic ion channels almost completely accounts for probabilistic somatic and dendritic spikes generated by the fully stochastic model. These results suggest that the consequences of stochastic ion channel gating differ globally between neuronal cell-types and locally between neuronal compartments. Whereas dendritic neurons are often assumed to behave deterministically, our simulations suggest that a direct consequence of stochastic gating of intrinsic ion channels is that spike output may instead be a probabilistic function of patterns of synaptic input to dendrites

Catarata subcapsular posterior em pacientes com pênfigo e penfigóide tratados com corticoterapia oral Posterior subcapsular cataract in patients with pemphigus and pemphigoid using oral corticosteroid

FUNDAMENTO: O tratamento mais utilizado para pacientes com dermatoses bolhosas crônicas é a corticoterapia oral, muitas vezes em altas doses e por períodos prolongados. Como efeitos colaterais dessa terapêutica, freqüentemente ocorrem: hipertensão arterial, diabete, osteoporose, infecções e distúrbios hidroeletrolíticos. A catarata subcapsular posterior é raramente citada na literatura como efeito colateral da corticoterapia em pacientes com doenças bolhosas. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a prevalência de catarata subcapsular posterior como efeito colateral da corticoterapia oral. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo retrospectivo incluindo 49 pacientes com dermatoses bolhosas crônicas em uso de corticoterapia acompanhados entre janeiro de 1987 e dezembro de 1997 no ambulatório de Dermatoses Bolhosas do Departamento de Dermatologia da Unifesp/EPM e regularmente submetidos à avaliação oftalmológica em busca de catarata cortisônica. RESULTADOS: No período de 1987 a 1997, 49 pacientes foram avaliados, tendo apresentado prevalência de catarata subcapsular posterior como efeito colateral da corticoterapia oral de 28,57%. CONCLUSÕES: 1) a prevalência de catarata foi de 28,57%; 2) o tempo médio de tratamento até o surgimento de catarata foi de 45,71 meses; 3) a média da dose máxima de corticosteróide utilizada pelos pacientes foi de 78,57mg/dia.<br>BACKGROUND: Oral corticosteroid is the treatment most used for patients with chronic bullous dermatosis, often at high dosages and over long periods of time. Arterial hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, infections and hydro-electrolytic disturbances frequently occur as side effects of this therapy. Posterior subcapsular cataract is rarely mentioned in the literature as a side effect of corticosteroid in patients with bullous diseases. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the incidence of posterior subcapsular cataract as a side effect of oral corticosteroid. METHODS: A retrospective study: 49 patients with chronic bullous diseases using a corticosteroid were followed-up from 1987 to 1997 at the Bullous Dermatosis Outpatient Care Unit of the Department of Dermatology, UNIFESP - EPM. The patients were regularly submitted to ophthalmologic evaluation in search for cortisone cataract. This evaluation was carried out at the beginning of the treatment and regularly during the use of the corticosteroid. RESULTS: From 1987 to 1997, the incidence of posterior subcapsular cataract as a side effect of oral corticosteroid was 28.57% in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: 1) among 49 patients, 14 (28.57%) presented with cortisone cataract. 2) the period of time of prednisone use up to the appearance of cataract varied from eight months to nine years and three months (average 45.71 months). 3) the maximum dose of oral corticosteroid required for the management of the clinical picture ranged from 60 to 120 mg daily (average of 78.57 mg daily)