VE-cadherin in arachnoid and pia mater cells serves as a suitable landmark for in vivo imaging of CNS immune surveillance and inflammation.

Meninges cover the surface of the brain and spinal cord and contribute to protection and immune surveillance of the central nervous system (CNS). How the meningeal layers establish CNS compartments with different accessibility to immune cells and immune mediators is, however, not well understood. Here, using 2-photon imaging in female transgenic reporter mice, we describe VE-cadherin at intercellular junctions of arachnoid and pia mater cells that form the leptomeninges and border the subarachnoid space (SAS) filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). VE-cadherin expression also marked a layer of Prox1+ cells located within the arachnoid beneath and separate from E-cadherin+ arachnoid barrier cells. In vivo imaging of the spinal cord and brain in female VE-cadherin-GFP reporter mice allowed for direct observation of accessibility of CSF derived tracers and T cells into the SAS bordered by the arachnoid and pia mater during health and neuroinflammation, and detection of volume changes of the SAS during CNS pathology. Together, the findings identified VE-cadherin as an informative landmark for in vivo imaging of the leptomeninges that can be used to visualize the borders of the SAS and thus potential barrier properties of the leptomeninges in controlling access of immune mediators and immune cells into the CNS during health and neuroinflammation

Simulating crowd evacuation with socio-cultural, cognitive, and emotional elements

In this research, the effects of culture, cognitions, and emotions on crisis management and prevention are analysed. An agent-based crowd evacuation simulation model was created, named IMPACT, to study the evacuation process from a transport hub. To extend previous research, various socio-cultural, cognitive, and emotional factors were modelled, including: language, gender, familiarity with the environment, emotional contagion, prosocial behaviour, falls, group decision making, and compliance. The IMPACT model was validated against data from an evacuation drill using the existing EXODUS evacuation model. Results show that on all measures, the IMPACT model is within or close to the prescribed boundaries, thereby establishing its validity. Structured simulations with the validated model revealed important findings, including: the effect of doors as bottlenecks, social contagion speeding up evacuation time, falling behaviour not affecting evacuation time significantly, and travelling in groups being more beneficial for evacuation time than travelling alone. This research has important practical applications for crowd management professionals, including transport hub operators, first responders, and risk assessors

Molecular anatomy of adult mouse leptomeninges.

Leptomeninges, consisting of the pia mater and arachnoid, form a connective tissue investment and barrier enclosure of the brain. The exact nature of leptomeningeal cells has long been debated. In this study, we identify five molecularly distinct fibroblast-like transcriptomes in cerebral leptomeninges; link them to anatomically distinct cell types of the pia, inner arachnoid, outer arachnoid barrier, and dural border layer; and contrast them to a sixth fibroblast-like transcriptome present in the choroid plexus and median eminence. Newly identified transcriptional markers enabled molecular characterization of cell types responsible for adherence of arachnoid layers to one another and for the arachnoid barrier. These markers also proved useful in identifying the molecular features of leptomeningeal development, injury, and repair that were preserved or changed after traumatic brain injury. Together, the findings highlight the value of identifying fibroblast transcriptional subsets and their cellular locations toward advancing the understanding of leptomeningeal physiology and pathology

NASCA Gravelots in the Uhle Collection from the Ica Valley, Peru

This monograph is an outgrowth of research begun in 1962 when I was a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley. At that time I began an analysis of the Nasca grave lots in the Uhle Collection under the able supervision of Dr. John H. Rowe. He and Mr. Lawrence E. Dawson of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology introduced me to seriational techniques and ceramic analysis and taught me much about the Nasca style. Dr. Dorothy Menzel also gave freely of her time. I am very grateful to all three of these individuals for the training and insight with which they provided me. My research at Berkeley centered around a seriation of the Nasca gravelots which eventually allowed me to subdivide Phase 3 of the style and provide time dimension to Phase 4. This has been published (Proulx, 1968) along with an analysis of the local differences in the style between the Ica and Nasca Valleys. As a by-product of this work, I accumulated a great amount of detailed information on the individual vessels in the gravelots which may be of value to scholars working with similar collections. I also felt it unfortunate that the gravelots had never been published and illustrated in their entirety. I had taken color slides of all of the vessels while I was in Berkeley, and the plates accompanying this study are derived from these. The introductory chapter on Uhle\u27s work in the valley and the discovery of the style was researched and written sporadically between the years 1966 and 1970. Although John H. Rowe has provided an excellent summary of Uhle\u27s fieldwork (Rowe, 1954), he did not give a detailed account of Uhle\u27s work in each valley or site that he excavated. I had been exposed to Uhle\u27s facinating letters and field notes while at Berkeley, and I had copies made of them before I left. It was mainly from these sources that I was able to piece together Uhle\u27s day by day activities