Inside, Outside, In-Between.

The artist discusses her Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Inside, Outside, In-Between, held at the Carroll Reece Museum on the campus of East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, from February 26 through March 13, 2008. The works included in this exhibition are a collection of paintings that employ the use of traditional and non-traditional materials to explore the connections between place and memory. These pieces are investigations into materiality and process, combining local beeswax, sticks, garden soil, charcoal, and ashes together with oil, shellac, oil pastel, pencil, and other traditional artist\u27s materials. Ideas discussed include materiality, process, composition, cropping, collective and selective memory, landmarks, archaeology, gardening, borders and boundaries, parietal Paleolithic art and the art of the Abstract Expressionists, ritual, alchemy, time, liminality, and the influences of Michelle Stuart, Mary Frank, and Cai Guo-Qiang

The contribution of cooking appliances and residential traffic proximity to aerosol personal exposure

Purpose Indoor and outdoor factors affect personal exposure to air pollutants. Type of cooking appliance (i.e. gas, electricity), and residential location related to traffic are such factors. This research aims to investigate the effect of cooking with gas and electric appliances, as an indoor source of aerosols, and residential traffic as outdoor sources, on personal exposures to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter lower than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), and ultrafine particles (UFP). Methods Forty subjects were sampled for four consecutive days measuring personal exposures to three aerosol pollutants, namely PM2.5, BC, and UFP, which were measured using personal sensors. Subjects were equally distributed into four categories according to the use of gas or electric stoves for cooking, and to residential traffic (i.e. houses located near or away from busy roads). Results/conclusion Cooking was identified as an indoor activity affecting exposure to aerosols, with mean concentrations during cooking ranging 24.7–50.0 μg/m3 (PM2.5), 1.8–4.9 μg/m3 (BC), and 1.4 × 104 –4.1 × 104 particles/cm3 (UFP). This study also suggest that traffic is a dominant source of exposure to BC, since people living near busy roads are exposed to higher BC concentrations than those living further away from traffic. In contrast, the contribution of indoor sources to personal exposure to PM2.5 and UFP seems to be greater than from outdoor traffic sources. This is probably related to a combination of the type of building construction and a varying range of activities conducted indoors. It is recommended to ensure a good ventilation during cooking to minimize exposure to cooking aerosols

Characterization of wetland, forest, and agricultural ecosystems in Belize with airborne radar (AIRSAR)

The Shuttle Imaging Radar-C/X-SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) Experiment includes the study of wetland dynamics in the seasonal tropics. In preparation for these wetland studies, airborne P, L, and C band radar (AIRSAR) data of Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico acquired by NASA and JPL in March 1990 were analyzed. The first phase of our study focuses on AIRSAR data from the Gallon Jug test site in northwestern Belize, for which ground data were also collected during the three days prior to the overflight. One of the main objectives of the Gallon Jug study is to develop a method for characterizing wetland vegetation types and their flooding status with multifrequency polarimetric radar data

Square-wave switching in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with polarization-rotated optical feedback: Experiments and simulations

We study experimentally the dynamics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with polarization-rotated (PR) optical feedback, such that the natural lasing polarization of a VCSEL is rotated by 90 deg and then is reinjected into the laser. We observe noisy, square-wave-like polarization switchings with periodicity slightly longer than twice the delay time, which degrade to (or alternate with) bursts of irregular oscillations. We present results of simulations that are in good agreement with the observations. The simulations demonstrate that close to threshold the regular switching is very sensitive to noise, while well above threshold is less affected by the noise strength. The frequency splitting between the two polarizations plays a key role in the switching regularity, and we identify wide parameter regions where deterministic and robust switching can be observed.Postprint (published version

Risk factors for falls among adults with intellectual disabilities: A narrative review

BackgroundThe prevalence of falls involving people with intellectual disabilities (ID) is high in comparison with the general population. There has been little evidence to date on the contributing risk factors. The objective of this review was to identify risk factors for people with intellectual disabilities.MethodLiterature searches were conducted using electronic databases to explore evidence on the subject, and narrative synthesis was employed to analyse the results.ResultsSeven risk factors were identified: decreasing physical ability, epilepsy, paretic conditions, impulsiveness, previous falls, incontinence and non?use of assistive equipment. Thematic analysis identified factors across the four concepts: the person, the situation, ongoing and protective factors.ConclusionFactors for falls involving people with intellectual disabilities are dynamic and multifactorial. Some are specific to the population; however, further research is required to develop the understanding of the possible reasons. The findings have implications across policy, education, practice and research

The serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dipropyltryptamine alters information-processing dynamics in cortical neural circuits

Most of the recent work in psychedelic neuroscience has been done using non-invasive neuroimaging, with data recorded from the brains of adult volunteers under the influence of a variety of drugs. While this data provides holistic insights into the effects of psychedelics on whole-brain dynamics, the effects of psychedelics on the meso-scale dynamics of cortical circuits remains much less explored. Here, we report the effects of the serotonergic psychedelic N,N-diproptyltryptamine (DPT) on information-processing dynamics in a sample of in vitro organotypic cultures made from rat cortical tissue. Three hours of spontaneous activity were recorded: an hour of pre-drug control, and hour of exposure to 10$\mu$M DPT solution, and a final hour of washout, once again under control conditions. We found that DPT reversibly alters information dynamics in multiple ways: first, the DPT condition was associated with higher entropy of spontaneous firing activity and reduced the amount of time information was stored in individual neurons. Second, DPT also reduced the reversibility of neural activity, increasing the entropy produced and suggesting a drive away from equilibrium. Third, DPT altered the structure of neuronal circuits, decreasing the overall information flow coming into each neuron, but increasing the number of weak connections, creating a dynamic that combines elements of integration and disintegration. Finally, DPT decreased the higher-order statistical synergy present in sets of three neurons. Collectively, these results paint a complex picture of how psychedelics regulate information processing in meso-scale cortical tissue. Implications for existing hypotheses of psychedelic action, such as the Entropic Brain Hypothesis, are discussed.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure

Unsteady flow simulation of a vertical axis augmented wind turbine: a two-dimensional study

As the integration of vertical axis wind turbines in the built environment is a promising alternative to horizontal axis wind turbines, a 2D computational investigation of an augmented wind turbine is proposed and analysed. In the initial CFD analysis, three parameters are carefully investigated: mesh resolution; turbulence model; and time step size. It appears that the mesh resolution and the turbulence model affect result accuracy; while the time step size examined, for the unsteady nature of the flow, has small impact on the numerical results. In the CFD validation of the open rotor with secondary data, the numerical results are in good agreement in terms of shape. It is, however, observed a discrepancy factor of 2 between numerical and experimental data. Successively, the introduction of an omnidirectional stator around the wind turbine increases the power and torque coefficients by around 30–35% when compared to the open case; but attention needs to be given to the orientation of the stator blades for optimum performance. It is found that the power and torque coefficients of the augmented wind turbine are independent of the incident wind speed considered

Stroke in children with posterior fossa brain malformations, hemangiomas, arterial anomalies, coarctation of the aorta and cardiac defects, and eye abnormalities (PHACE) syndrome: a systematic review of the literature.

Background and purposePHACE is an acronym for posterior fossa brain malformations, hemangiomas, arterial anomalies, coarctation of the aorta and cardiac defects, and eye abnormalities. Several case reports of arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) in individuals with PHACE have been published, but risk factors for AIS in PHACE have not been clearly defined. The objective of this article is to review all cases of stroke in PHACE in children and describe clinical characteristics that may be associated with an increased risk of AIS.MethodsA literature and registry search was conducted to identify patients with PHACE who had experienced AIS. Data were analyzed to determine age of onset, presenting signs and symptoms, and clinical features among this cohort compared with PHACE without AIS.ResultsTwenty-two individuals with PHACE and AIS were identified. Imaging of the arteries of the head and neck was reported in 20 of 22. Narrowing or nonvisualization of at least 1 great cerebral vessel was present in 19 of 20 and of those, 15 had ≥ 2 vessels involved. Aortic arch anomalies were reported in 13 of 22 individuals.ConclusionsAplasia, hypoplasia, or occlusion of a major cerebral artery appears to be a significant risk factor for AIS in children with PHACE, especially when >1 vessel is involved or if there is coarctation of the aorta

Itraconazole inhibits nuclear delivery of extracellular vesicle cargo by disrupting the entry of late endosomes into the nucleoplasmic reticulum

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are mediators of intercellular communication under bothhealthy and pathological conditions, including the induction of pro-metastatic traits,but it is not yet known how and where functional cargoes of EVs are delivered to theirtargets in host cell compartments. We have described that after endocytosis, EVsreach Rab+late endosomes and a fraction of these enter the nucleoplasmic reticu-lum and transport EV biomaterials to the host cell nucleoplasm. Their entry thereinand docking to outer nuclear membrane occur through a tripartite complex formedby the proteins VAP-A, ORP and Rab (VOR complex). Here, we report that theantifungal compound itraconazole (ICZ), but not its main metabolite hydroxy-ICZor ketoconazole, disrupts the binding of Rab to ORP–VAP-A complexes, leadingto inhibition of EV-mediated pro-metastatic morphological changes including cellmigration behaviour of colon cancer cells. With novel, smaller chemical drugs, inhi-bition of the VOR complex was maintained, although the ICZ moieties responsiblefor antifungal activity and interference with intracellular cholesterol distributionwere removed. Knowing that cancer cells hijack their microenvironment and thatEVs derived from them determine the pre-metastatic niche, small-sized inhibitors ofnuclear transfer of EV cargo into host cells could nd cancer therapeutic applications,particularly in combination with direct targeting of cancer cell

MAMBO 1.2mm observations of luminous starbursts at z~2 in the SWIRE fields

We report on--off pointed MAMBO observations at 1.2 mm of 61 Spitzer-selected star-forming galaxies from the SWIRE survey. The sources are selected on the basis of bright 24um fluxes (f_24um>0.4mJy) and of stellar dominated near-infrared spectral energy distributions in order to favor z~2 starburst galaxies. The average 1.2mm flux for the whole sample is 1.5+/-0.2 mJy. Our analysis focuses on 29 sources in the Lockman Hole field where the average 1.2mm flux (1.9+/-0.3 mJy) is higher than in other fields (1.1+/-0.2 mJy). The analysis of the sources multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions indicates that they are starburst galaxies with far-infrared luminosities ~10^12-10^13.3 Lsun, and stellar masses of ~0.2-6 x10^11 M_sun. Compared to sub-millimeter selected galaxies (SMGs), the SWIRE-MAMBO sources are among those with the largest 24um/millimeter flux ratios. The origin of such large ratios is investigated by comparing the average mid-infrared spectra and the stacked far-infrared spectral energy distributions of the SWIRE-MAMBO sources and of SMGs. The mid-infrared spectra exhibit strong PAH features, and a warm dust continuum. The warm dust continuum contributes to ~34% of the mid-infrared emission, and is likely associated with an AGN component. This constribution is consistent with what is found in SMGs. The large 24um/1.2mm flux ratios are thus not due to AGN emission, but rather to enhanced PAH emission compared to SMGs. The analysis of the stacked far-infrared fluxes yields warmer dust temperatures than typically observed in SMGs. Our selection favors warm ultra-luminous infrared sources at high-z, a class of objects that is rarely found in SMG samples. Our sample is the largest Spitzer-selected sample detected at millimeter wavelengths currently available.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (51 pages; 16 figures). The quality of some figures has been degraded for arXiv purposes. Full resolution version available at this http://www.iasf-milano.inaf.it/~polletta/mambo_swire/lonsdale08_ApJ_accepted.pd