The Scent of Change: A Case Study

Decisions about entering into a new business venture involve a variety of considerations, despite the level of experience an entrepreneur has. This case presents the story of a business owner Bennett Gage and his decisions concerning whether or not he should enter into a business where canines are used to detect bed bugs in hotels. This case study gives the reader an opportunity to wrestle with some of the many questions that are part of entering into the creation of a new service

Removing the Undesirables: A Case Study

The lodging industry has been particularly challenged by the bed bug’s resurgence. Bed bugs are primarily associated with places where people sleep and most of these places are properties associated with the lodging industry such as hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts. In the United States, this industry is massive

Classical generalized constant coupling model for geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets

A generalized constant coupling approximation for classical geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets is presented. Starting from a frustrated unit we introduce the interactions with the surrounding units in terms of an internal effective field which is fixed by a self consistency condition. Results for the magnetic susceptibility and specific heat are compared with Monte Carlo data for the classical Heisenberg model for the pyrochlore and kagome lattices. The predictions for the susceptibility are found to be essentially exact, and the corresponding predictions for the specific heat are found to be in very good agreement with the Monte Carlo results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 2 columns. Discussion about the zero T value of the pyrochlore specific heat correcte

Corticobulbar Tract Injury, Oromotor Impairment and Language Plasticity in Adolescents Born Preterm

Children born preterm are at risk of impairments in oromotor control, with implications for early feeding and speech development. In this study, we aimed to identify (a) neuroanatomical markers of persistent oromotor deficits using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) tractography and (b) evidence of compensatory neuroplasticity using functional MRI (fMRI) during a language production task. In a cross-sectional study of 36 adolescents born very preterm (<33 weeks’ gestation) we identified persistent difficulties in oromotor control in 31% of cases, but no clinical diagnoses of speech-sound disorder (e.g., dysarthria, dyspraxia). We used DWI-tractography to examine the microstructure (fractional anisotropy, FA) of the corticospinal and corticobulbar tracts. Compared to the unimpaired group, the oromotor-impaired group showed (i) reduced FA within the dorsal portion of the left corticobulbar tract (containing fibres associated with movements of the lips, tongue, and larynx) and (ii) greater recruitment of right hemisphere language regions on fMRI. We conclude that, despite the development of apparently normal everyday speech, early injury to the corticobulbar tract leads to persistent subclinical problems with voluntary control of the face, lips, jaw, and tongue. Furthermore, we speculate that early speech problems may be ameliorated by cerebral plasticity – in particular, recruitment of right hemisphere language areas

Central Nervous System Function in Youth With Type 1 Diabetes 12 Years After Disease Onset

OBJECTIVE—In this study, we used neurocognitive assessment and neuroimaging to examine brain function in youth with type 1 diabetes studied prospectively from diagnosis

Resilience in Virginia: Outlook 2021

VCPC\u27s October webinar included an update on Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the implementation of Executive Order 24; remarks from the Speaker of the House of Delegates, Eileen Filler -Corn, and a legislative panel discussed resilience issues for the upcoming 2021 Virginia General Assembly session. VCPC was honored to host Governor Ralph Northam for Closing Remarks

Resilience in Virginia: Outlook 2021

VCPC\u27s October webinar included an update on Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the implementation of Executive Order 24; remarks from the Speaker of the House of Delegates, Eileen Filler -Corn, and a legislative panel discussed resilience issues for the upcoming 2021 Virginia General Assembly session. VCPC was honored to host Governor Ralph Northam for Closing Remarks

Developmental conduction aphasia after neonatal stroke

Objective Impairment of speech repetition following injury to the dorsal language stream is a feature of conduction aphasia, a well-described “disconnection syndrome” in adults. The impact of similar lesions sustained in infancy has not been established. Methods We compared language outcomes in term-born individuals with confirmed neonatal stroke (n = 30, age = 7–18 years, left-sided lesions in 21 cases) to matched controls (n = 40). Injury to the dorsal and/or ventral language streams was assessed using T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tractography. Language lateralization was determined using functional MRI. Results At the group level, left dorsal language stream injury was associated with selective speech repetition impairment for nonwords (p = 0.021) and sentences (p < 0.0001). The majority of children with significant repetition impairment had retained left hemisphere language representation, but right hemisphere dominance was correlated with minimal or absent repetition deficits. Post hoc analysis of the repetition-impaired group revealed additional language-associated deficits, but these were more subtle and variable. Interpretation We conclude that (1) despite the considerable plasticity of the infant brain, early dorsal language stream injury can result in specific and long-lasting problems with speech repetition that are similar to the syndrome of conduction aphasia seen in adults; and (2) language reorganization to the contralateral hemisphere has a protective effect. Ann Neurol 2018;83:664–675 Ann Neurol 2018;83:664–67

Cognitive Function in Children With Type 1 Diabetes: A meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE—To quantify the magnitude and pattern of cognitive difficulties in pediatric type 1 diabetes as well as the effects associated with earlier disease onset and severe hypoglycemia