I Have Not Lost Someone to Gun Violence

On Friday, April 20, 2018, Gettysburg College students organized a campus-wide walkout to protest all forms of gun violence as part of Gettysburg College’s first annual Peace and Justice Week. Over the next several days, SURGE published the poems and personal testimonies of the student speakers who participated in the event. I have not lost someone to gun violence, but When I hear the word gun… I still picture children’s bodies lying lifeless on the floor of a blue-carpeted classroom [excerpt

Short-term climate response to a freshwater pulse in the Southern Ocean

The short-term response of the climate system to a freshwater anomaly in the Southern Ocean is investigated using a coupled global climate model. As a result of the anomaly, ventilation of deep waters around Antarctica is inhibited, causing a warming of the deep ocean, and a cooling of the surface. The surface cooling causes Antarctic sea-ice to thicken and increase in extent, and this leads to a cooling of Southern Hemisphere surface air temperature. The surface cooling increases over the first 5 years, then remains constant over the next 5 years. There is a more rapid response in the Pacific Ocean, which transmits a signal to the Northern Hemisphere, ultimately causing a shift to the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation in years 5–10

Bohemianism and Urban Regeneration: A Structured Literature Review and Compte Rendu

Despite a burgeoning literature, the role of bohemians in the urban milieu and in initiatives toward regeneration remains contested. As a first step toward later modeling and application, we present a thoroughgoing literature review, a short commentary on bohemian phenomena, and suggested readings. Since qualitative sources dominate the field, the review is structured rather than fully systematic in the scientific sense. After discarding innumerable irrelevant and incidental papers, three strands remained for subsequent analysis: “bohemian,” “bohemian + creative-city,” and “smart regeneration.” The first is static or historically contextualized, situated best in the humanities. The last two strands are dynamic and dissect, descriptively or analytically, elements of bohemianism relevant to the urban scene. Wherever and whenever they emerge, radical bohemian artists test existing limits or incite transformative action

Endurance training in early life results in long‐term programming of heart mass in rats

Being born small for gestational age increases the risk of developing adult cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. This study aimed to examine if early-life exercise could increase heart mass in the adult hearts from growth restricted rats. Bilateral uterine vessel ligation to induce uteroplacental insufficiency and fetal growth restriction in the offspring (Restricted) or sham surgery (Control) was performed on day 18 of gestation in WKY rats. A separate group of sham litters had litter size reduced to five pups at birth (Reduced litter), which restricted postnatal growth. Male offspring remained sedentary or underwent treadmill running from 5 to 9 weeks (early exercise) or 20 to 24 weeks of age (later exercise). Remarkably, in Control, Restricted, and Reduced litter groups, early exercise increased (P < 0.05) absolute and relative (to body mass) heart mass in adulthood. This was despite the animals being sedentary for ~4 months after exercise. Later exercise also increased adult absolute and relative heart mass (P < 0.05). Blood pressure was not significantly altered between groups or by early or later exercise. Phosphorylation of Akt Ser(473) in adulthood was increased in the early exercise groups but not the later exercise groups. Microarray gene analysis and validation by real-time PCR did not reveal any long-term effects of early exercise on the expression of any individual genes. In summary, early exercise programs the heart for increased mass into adulthood, perhaps by an upregulation of protein synthesis based on greater phosphorylation of Akt Ser(473)

Can High-risk Older Drivers be Identified in a DMV Setting with a Brief Battery of Functional Tests?

Recent research has indicated that some laboratory measures of functional ability may discriminate between crash-involved and crash-free older adults. However, the ability of these tests to provide the same level of discriminability in a real-world setting such as a Department of Motor Vehicles remains to be established. Therefore, in conjunction with the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a brief battery of tests was developed and evaluated. The battery contained a number of cognitive tests (e.g., UFOV® subtest 2, the closure subtest of the Motor Free Visual Perception Test [MVPT], Trails A and B, etc.) and physical measures (e.g., Rapid Pace Walk, Head and Neck Rotation, etc.) that prior literature had indicated might be related to crash risk in older adults. Motor Vehicle Administration staff were trained to administer the test battery. Older adults (N=4,173, mean age =69 years) were approached by the staff after license renewal and asked to help evaluate the brief battery. Of the 4,173 older adults approached at the field sites, 2,112 individuals aged 55-96 years of age participated. The primary outcome of interest for this study was the occurrence of an at-fault Motor Vehicle Collision (MVC) following assessment. For members of this sample, the outcome period ranged from 2-3 years. Rate Ratios were determined for each functional variable based upon at-fault crashes adjusted for driving exposure over this period. Univariate analyses revealed that five variables (Age, Walk Time, MVPT, Trails A and UFOV®) were significantly related to crash frequency. These significant variables overlapped with one another to a certain degree, indicating that impaired older drivers score poorly on multiple cognitive assessments. The UFOV® subtest 2 appears to be the most strongly associated within this analysis (RR=3.78, p\u3c .05) and Rapid Pace Walk (RR=1.96, p \u3c .05) remained uniquely related to the frequency of state-reported, at-fault crashes. The role of such a screening battery in field settings such as a DMV will be discussed

The First Space-Based Gravitational-Wave Detectors

Gravitational waves provide a laboratory for general relativity and a window to energetic astrophysical phenomena invisible with electromagnetic radiation. Several terrestrial detectors are currently under construction, and a space-based interferometer is envisioned for launch early next century to detect test-mass motions induced by waves of relatively short wavelength. Very-long-wavelength gravitational waves can be detected using the plasma in the early Universe as test masses; the motion induced in the plasma by a wave is imprinted onto the cosmic microwave background (CMB). While the signature of gravitational waves on the CMB temperature fluctuations is not unique, the polarization pattern can be used to unambiguously detect gravitational radiation. Thus, forthcoming CMB polarization experiments, such as MAP and Planck, will be the first space-based gravitational-wave detectors.Comment: 5 pages, 3 postscript figure

Sickle cell trait and risk of cognitive impairment in African-Americans: The REGARDS cohort

Background: Sickle cell anemia may be associated with cognitive dysfunction, and some complications of sickle cell anemia might affect those with sickle cell trait (SCT), so we hypothesized that SCT is a risk factor for cognitive impairment. Methods: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study enrolled a national cohort of 30,239 white and black Americans from 2003 to 7, who are followed every 6 months. Baseline and annual global cognitive function testing used the Six-Item Screener (SIS), a validated instrument (scores range 0-6; ≤ 4 indicates cognitive impairment). Participants with baseline cognitive impairment and whites were excluded. Logistic regression was used to calculate the association of SCT with incident cognitive impairment, adjusted for risk factors. Linear mixed models assessed multivariable-adjusted change in test scores on a biennially administered 3-test battery measuring learning, memory, and semantic and phonemic fluency. Findings: Among 7743 participants followed for a median of 7·1 years, 85 of 583 participants with SCT (14·6%) developed incident cognitive impairment compared to 902 of 7160 (12·6%) without SCT. In univariate analysis, the odds ratio (OR) of incident cognitive impairment was 1·18 (95% CI: 0·93, 1·51) for those with SCT vs. those without. Adjustment did not impact the OR. There was no difference in change on 3-test battery scores by SCT status (all p > 0·11). Interpretation: In this prospective cohort study of black Americans, SCT was not associated with incident cognitive impairment or decline in test scores of learning, memory and executive function. Funding: National Institutes of Health, American Society of Hematology

Stage of perinatal development regulates skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and myogenic regulatory factor genes with little impact of growth restriction or cross-fostering

Foetal growth restriction impairs skeletal muscle development and adult muscle mitochondrial biogenesis. We hypothesized that key genes involved in muscle development and mitochondrial biogenesis would be altered following uteroplacental insufficiency in rat pups, and improving postnatal nutrition by cross-fostering would ameliorate these deficits. Bilateral uterine vessel ligation (Restricted) or sham (Control) surgery was performed on day 18 of gestation. Males and females were investigated at day 20 of gestation (E20), 1 (PN1), 7 (PN7) and 35 (PN35) days postnatally. A separate cohort of Control and Restricted pups were cross-fostered onto a different Control or Restricted mother and examined at PN7. In both sexes, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-&gamma; coactivator-1&alpha; (PGC-1&alpha;), cytochrome c oxidase subunits 3 and 4 (COX III and IV) and myogenic regulatory factor 4 expression increased from late gestation to postnatal life, whereas mitochondrial transcription factor A, myogenic differentiation 1 (MyoD), myogenin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) decreased. Foetal growth restriction increased MyoD mRNA in females at PN7, whereas in males IGF-I mRNA was higher at E20 and PN1. Cross-fostering Restricted pups onto a Control mother significantly increased COX III mRNA in males and COX IV mRNA in both sexes above controls with little effect on other genes. Developmental age appears to be a major factor regulating skeletal muscle mitochondrial and developmental genes, with growth restriction and cross-fostering having only subtle effects. It therefore appears that reductions in adult mitochondrial biogenesis markers likely develop after weaning.<br /