Mapping Past Land Use Changes and Modeling Future Urbanization Patterns in a Mid-Sized American City

On a global scale, humans have been moving from rural to urban areas at an increasingly fast rate in a process called urbanization. It is crucial to understand and predict the impacts of urbanization because city expansion encroaches on farmland and woodland, reducing regional ecosystem services. Therefore, urbanization must be well planned in a forecasting manner. The objective of this study is to map the land use change in Knox County, Tennessee, from 2001-2019 to identify the urbanization trends and understand the dynamic geospatial relationships between the urban and rural areas. The geospatial mapping was done using USGS land use data by classifying land into urban, agricultural, non-agricultural, and waterbody areas. Then, geographic information system (GIS) software was used to analyze the change of each land area in relation to infrastructure change. The results show a decrease in agricultural and non-agricultural land area and an increase in urban use. In addition, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and elevation data, which were collected from the USGS Landsat database, were used to analyze the changes in vegetation, impervious surface area, and surface reflectance during the urban growth. The results were used to create a suitability index model from an environmental view in order to predict the areas in Knox County that are suitable for urban development. Finally, a machine learning model was implemented to compare areas identified as suitable with areas of predicted urbanization. These two models can enable urban planners to develop policies that geospatially optimize urban infrastructure while minimizing environmental footprints

Collaborative Musical Expression and Creativity Among Academics: When Intellectualism Meets Twelve Bar Blues

The Professors are a blues, rock, and sometime heavy metal band made up of communication professors from a number of New Jersey schools. Formed in 1995, the band has played in clubs in New York City as well as a number of academic venues, including the annual conference of the International Communication Association in Chicago in 1996 and the annual conference of the National Communication Association in New York City in 1998. The Professors have been featured in both local and national press, including the Chronicle of Higher Education. When we learned of the call for papers for this special issue of the American Communication Journal addressing the creative endeavors of Communication scholars beyond their regular research agendas, we were delighted to have the opportunity to reflect upon the place of musical creativity within our lives as working academics. What follows in this paper are the thoughts of a number of band members, past and present, who trace the relationship of the musical, the creative, and the intellectual in terms of their own personal histories and academic interests

Alemtuzumab induction and tacrolimus monotherapy in pancreas transplantation: One- and two-year outcomes

BACKGROUND. Alemtuzumab (Campath-1H) induction with tacrolimus monotherapy has been shown to provide effective immunosuppression for kidney, liver, lung, and small bowel transplantation. This drug combination was evaluated in pancreas transplant recipients. METHODS. Sixty consecutive pancreas transplants (30 simultaneous pancreas-kidney, 20 pancreas after kidney, and 10 pancreas alone) were carried out under this protocol between July 2003 to January 2005. The mean follow-up was 22 months (range 17-33). RESULTS. One-year patient, pancreas, and kidney allograft survival were 95%, 93%, and 90%, respectively. With 22 months follow-up, patient, pancreas, and kidney survival were 94%, 89%, and 87%, respectively. The rejection rate was 30% (18/60), with four patients (7%) experiencing steroid-resistant rejection. Major infection occurred in three (5%) patients resulting in two (3.3%) deaths from disseminated histoplasmosis and a herpes virus infection. One patient with cryptococcal meningitis was successfully treated. Seven (11.7%) patients experienced cytomegalovirus infection, all of whom responded to treatment with ganciclovir. One (1.7%) case of polymorphic posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease was seen, which regressed with a temporary discontinuation of tacrolimus and high-dose ganciclovir. The mean serum creatinine of the 30 simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants at one year posttransplant was 1.37±0.33 mg/ml. The preexisting creatinine in pancreas after kidney transplants was not adversely affected by this immunosuppressive protocol. CONCLUSION. A single dose of perioperative alemtuzumab followed by daily tacrolimus monotherapy provides effective immunosuppression for pancreas transplantation, but the optimal use of this drug combination is not yet clear. © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc

Insulin Responsiveness in Metabolic Syndrome after Eight Weeks of Cycle Training

Introduction Insulin resistance in obesity is decreased after successful diet and exercise. Aerobic exercise training alone was evaluated as an intervention in subjects with the metabolic syndrome. Methods Eighteen nondiabetic, sedentary subjects, 11 with the metabolic syndrome, participated in 8 wk of increasing intensity stationary cycle training. Results Cycle training without weight loss did not change insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome subjects or sedentary control subjects. Maximal oxygen consumption (V˙O2max), activated muscle AMP-dependent kinase, and muscle mitochondrial marker ATP synthase all increased. Strength, lean body mass, and fat mass did not change. The activated mammalian target of rapamycin was not different after training. Training induced a shift in muscle fiber composition in both groups but in opposite directions. The proportion of type 2x fibers decreased with a concomitant increase in type 2a mixed fibers in the control subjects, but in metabolic syndrome, type 2x fiber proportion increased and type 1 fibers decreased. Muscle fiber diameters increased in all three fiber types in metabolic syndrome subjects. Muscle insulin receptor expression increased in both groups, and GLUT4 expression increased in the metabolic syndrome subjects. The excess phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) at Ser337 in metabolic syndrome muscle tended to increase further after training in spite of a decrease in total IRS-1. Conclusions In the absence of weight loss, the cycle training of metabolic syndrome subjects resulted in enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis and increased the expression of insulin receptors and GLUT4 in muscle but did not decrease the insulin resistance. The failure for the insulin signal to proceed past IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation may be related to excess serine phosphorylation at IRS-1 Ser337, and this is not ameliorated by 8 wk of endurance exercise training

Kidney after nonrenal transplantation-the impact of alemtuzumab induction

BACKGROUND.: Calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity in nonrenal allograft recipients can lead to end-stage renal disease and the need for kidney transplantation. We sought to evaluate the role of alemtuzumab induction in this population. PATIENTS AND METHODS.: We evaluated 144 patients undergoing kidney transplantation after nonrenal transplantation between May 18, 1998, and October 8, 2007. Seventy-two patients transplanted between January 15, 2003, and October 8, 2007, received alemtuzumab induction and continued their pretransplant immunosuppression. Seventy-two patients transplanted between May 18, 1998, and July 21, 2007, did not receive alemtuzumab induction, but received additional steroids and maintenance immunosuppression. Donor and recipient demographics were comparable. RESULTS.: Overall, 1-and 3-year patient survival and renal function were comparable between the two groups. One-and 3-year graft survival was 93.0% and 75.3% in the alemtuzumab group and 83.3% and 68.7% in the no alemtuzumab group, respectively (P=0.051). The incidence of acute rejection was lower in the alemtuzumab group, 15.3%, than in the no alemtuzumab group, 41.7% (P=0.0001). The incidence of delayed graft function was lower in the alemtuzumab group, 9.7%, than in the no alemtuzumab group, 25.0% (P=0.003). The incidence of viral complications was comparable. CONCLUSION.: Alemtuzumab induction with simple resumption of baseline immunosuppression in patients undergoing kidney transplantation after nonrenal transplantation represents a reasonable immunosuppressive strategy. Copyright © 2009 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Metabolomics Identifies Metabolic Markers of Maturation in Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide. Human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) hold immense clinical potential and recent studies have enabled generation of virtually pure hPSC-CMs with high efficiency in chemically defined and xeno-free conditions. Despite these advances, hPSC-CMs exhibit an immature phenotype and are arrhythmogenic in vivo, necessitating development of strategies to mature these cells. hPSC-CMs undergo significant metabolic alterations during differentiation and maturation. A detailed analysis of the metabolic changes accompanying maturation of hPSC-CMs may prove useful in identifying new strategies to expedite hPSC-CM maturation and also may provide biomarkers for testing or validating hPSC-CM maturation. In this study we identified global metabolic changes which take place during long-term culture and maturation of hPSC-CMs derived from three different hPSC lines. We have identified several metabolic pathways, including phospholipid metabolism and pantothenate and Coenzyme A metabolism, which showed significant enrichment upon maturation in addition to fatty acid oxidation and metabolism. We also identified increases in glycerophosphocholine and the glycerophosphocholine:phosphocholine ratio as potential metabolic biomarkers of maturation. These biomarkers were also affected in a similar manner during murine heart development in vivo. These results support that hPSC-CM maturation is associated with extensive metabolic changes in metabolic network utilization and understanding the roles of these metabolic changes has the potential to develop novel approaches to monitor and expedite hPSC-CM maturation

Net neutrality discourses: comparing advocacy and regulatory arguments in the United States and the United Kingdom

Telecommunications policy issues rarely make news, much less mobilize thousands of people. Yet this has been occurring in the United States around efforts to introduce "Net neutrality" regulation. A similar grassroots mobilization has not developed in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in Europe. We develop a comparative analysis of U.S. and UK Net neutrality debates with an eye toward identifying the arguments for and against regulation, how those arguments differ between the countries, and what the implications of those differences are for the Internet. Drawing on mass media, advocacy, and regulatory discourses, we find that local regulatory precedents as well as cultural factors contribute to both agenda setting and framing of Net neutrality. The differences between national discourses provide a way to understand both the structural differences between regulatory cultures and the substantive differences between policy interpretations, both of which must be reconciled for the Internet to continue to thrive as a global medium

Net neutrality discourses: comparing advocacy and regulatory arguments in the United States and the United Kingdom

Telecommunications policy issues rarely make news, much less mobilize thousands of people. Yet this has been occurring in the United States around efforts to introduce "Net neutrality" regulation. A similar grassroots mobilization has not developed in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in Europe. We develop a comparative analysis of U.S. and UK Net neutrality debates with an eye toward identifying the arguments for and against regulation, how those arguments differ between the countries, and what the implications of those differences are for the Internet. Drawing on mass media, advocacy, and regulatory discourses, we find that local regulatory precedents as well as cultural factors contribute to both agenda setting and framing of Net neutrality. The differences between national discourses provide a way to understand both the structural differences between regulatory cultures and the substantive differences between policy interpretations, both of which must be reconciled for the Internet to continue to thrive as a global medium

Pretransplant gastroesophageal reflux compromises early outcomes after lung transplantation

ObjectivesGastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is implicated as a risk factor for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after lung transplantation, but its effects on acute rejection, early allograft function, and survival are unclear. Therefore, we sought to systematically understand the time-related impact of pretransplant GERD on graft function (spirometry), mortality, and acute rejection early after lung transplantation.MethodsFrom January 2005 to July 2008, 215 patients underwent lung transplantation; 114 had preoperative pH testing, and 32 (28%) had objective evidence of GERD. Lung function was assessed by forced 1-second expiratory volume (FEV1; percent of predicted) in 97 patients, mortality by follow-up (median, 2.2 years), and acute rejection by transbronchial biopsy.ResultsPretransplant GERD was associated with decreased FEV1 early after lung transplantation (P = .01) such that by 18 months, FEV1 was 70% of predicted in double lung transplant patients with GERD versus 83% among non-GERD patients (P = .05). A similar decrease was observed in single lung transplantation (50% vs 60%, respectively; P = .09). GERD patients had lower survival early after transplant ( P = .02)—75% versus 90%. Presence of GERD did not affect acute rejection (P = .6).ConclusionsFor lung transplant recipients, pretransplant GERD is associated with worse early allograft function and survival, but not increased acute rejection. The compromise in lung function is substantial, such that FEV1 after double lung transplant in GERD patients approaches that of single lung transplant in non-GERD patients. We advocate thorough testing for GERD before lung transplantation; if identified, aggressive therapy early after transplant, including fundoplication, may prove efficacious

Antilymphoid antibody preconditioning and tacrolimus monotherapy for pediatric kidney transplantation

Objective: Heavy post-transplant immunosuppression may contribute to long-term immunosuppression dependence by subverting tolerogenic mechanisms; thus, we sought to determine if this undesirable consequence could be mitigated by pretransplant lymphoid depletion and minimalistic post-transplant monotherapy. Study design: Lymphoid depletion in 17 unselected pediatric recipients of live (n = 14) or deceased donor kidneys (n = 3) was accomplished with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) (n = 8) or alemtuzumab (n = 9). Tacrolimus was begun post-transplantation with subsequent lengthening of intervals between doses (spaced weaning). Maintenance immunosuppression, morbidity, graft function, and patient/graft survival were collated. Results: Steroids were added temporarily to treat rejection in two patients (both ATG subgroup) or to treat hemolytic anemia in two others. After 16 to 31 months (mean 22), patient and graft survival was 100% and 94%, respectively. The only graft loss was in a nonweaned noncompliant recipient. In the other 16, serum creatinine was 0.85 ± 0.35 mg/dL and creatinine clearance was 90.8 ± 22.1 mL/1.73 m2. All 16 patients are on monotherapy (15 tacrolimus, one sirolimus), and 14 receive every other day or 3 times per week doses. There were no wound or other infections. Two patients developed insulin-dependent diabetes. Conclusion: The strategy of lymphoid depletion and minimum post-transplant immunosuppression appears safe and effective for pediatric kidney recipients. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved