Rivers of the Anthropocene, Phase 1: A Comparative Study of the Ohio and Tyne River Systems

poster abstractRivers of the Anthropocene” addresses a fundamental problem facing scholars and policy makers alike: despite important advances in our understanding of the earth as a system — one in which humans and human systems have become recognized as prime agents in effecting changes to the earth — we have yet to create an approach that brings together scholars of earth systems with scholars of human systems. This is to the detriment of our overall understanding of global ecological change and limits our ability to respond to escalating crises. Without integrating methods from the earth sciences, social sciences, and humanities, scholars of the environment lose important tools in tackling some of the biggest issues facing humanity in the 21st century. As humans continue to play an increasingly significant role in altering their planet, it is incumbent upon environmental scholars to understand the human-environment interface in all its complexities. It is not enough that scientists measure what humans have done or what they can do to shift environmental systems; it is necessary that they work hand-in-hand with specialists in human systems to understand the limits and feedback mechanisms that beliefs, practices, ideologies, social structures, and cultural norms impose on human action. A comparative study of international river systems is a good place to begin building more meaningful bridges across the science-humanities divide, and it addresses the pressing issue of global water insecurity, which 80% of the earth’s population faces. The first stage of “Rivers of the Anthropocene” will create a flexible, interdisciplinary methodological and conceptual framework for examining the human-environment interface, one in which specialists in the earth sciences can learn from the approaches of the humanities and human sciences and vice versa

Repurposing Fumaric Acid Esters to Treat Conditions of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation: A Promising Emerging Approach with Broad Potential

The medicinal benefit of salts of fumaric acid and its esters (FAE), known as fumarates (mono and dimethyl fumarate), was realized many years ago. Early on, FAE were derived from plants and mushrooms (e.g., Fumaria officinalis, Boletus fomentarius var. pseudo-igniarius). The FAE containing formulation Fumaderm® was licensed in Germany for the treatment of psoriasis in 1994. Recently, a clinical formulation of dimethyl fumarate known as BG12 (Tecfidera) was approved for use in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, European Union, Switzerland, and Canada for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Others and we have assessed the potential benefit of FAE in a number of disease conditions that are diverse with respect to etiology but unified with regard to the involvement of inflammation and oxidative stress. Hence, a FAE-based drug with robust anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects that is already US-FDA approved is a perfect contender for repurposing and rapid clinical implementation for their management. There is a burgeoning literature on the use of FAE in the prevention and treatment of diseases, other than psoriasis and MS, in which oxidative stress and/or inflammation are prominent. This chapter highlights critical information gleaned from these studies, exposes lacunae of potential importance, and provides related perspectives

Management and outcomes of traumatic hemothorax in children

Background: Adult guidelines for the management of traumatic hemothorax are well established; however, there have been no similar studies conducted in the pediatric population. The purpose of our study was to assess the management and outcomes of children with traumatic hemothorax. Materials and Methods: Following Institutional Review Board approval, we conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of all trauma patients diagnosed with a hemothorax at a Level-1 pediatric trauma center from 2007 to 2012. Results: Forty-six children with hemothorax were identified, 23 from blunt mechanism and 23 from penetrating mechanism. The majority of children injured by penetrating mechanisms were treated with tube thoracostomy while the majority of blunt injury patients were observed (91.3% vs. 30.4% tube thoracostomy, penetrating vs. blunt, P = 0.00002). Among patients suffering from blunt mechanism, children who were managed with chest tubes had a greater volume of hemothorax than those who were observed. All children who were observed underwent serial chest radiographs demonstrating no progression and required no delayed procedures. Children with a hemothorax identified only by computed tomography, after negative plain radiograph, did not require intervention. No child developed a delayed empyema or fibrothorax. Conclusion: The data suggest that a small-volume hemothorax resulting from blunt mechanism may be safely observed without mandatory tube thoracostomy and with overall low complication rates

Ten-fold enhancement of InAs nanowire photoluminescence emission with an InP passivation layer

In this letter, we demonstrate that a significant improvement of optical performance of InAs nanowires can be achieved by capping the core InAs nanowires with a thin InP shell, which successfully passivates the surface states reducing the rate of non-radiative recombination. The improvements have been confirmed by detailed photoluminescence measurements, which showed up to ten-fold increase in the intensity of room-temperature photoluminescence from the capped InAs/InP nanowires compared to the sample with core-only InAs nanowires. Moreover, the nanowires exhibit high stability of total photoluminescence emission strength across temperature range from 10 to 300 K as a result of strong quantum confinement. These findings could be the key to successful implementation of InAs nanowires into optoelectronic devices

Consumer Bankruptcy Panel: Bringing Relevance Back to Consumer Bankruptcy

Conversations on the consumer panel centered around the relevance of bankruptcy for the average consumer and how the system could be improved. The bulk of this panel discussed the notion that the Bankruptcy Code, when drafted, did not effectively cover many of issues faced by the average consumer today. The astronomical increases in student loan debt, credit card debt, mortgages, and car payments are some of the key issues discussed