Radical change and dietary conservatism: Mixing model estimates of human diets along the Inner Asia and China’s mountain corridors

Recent research has demonstrated that a series of mountains from the eastern Iranian Plateau to eastern Kazakhstan and to western China played a significant role in trans-Eurasian exchange during the third and second millennia BC. In close association with these mountain corridors, a number of southwestern Asian cereals, notably free threshing wheat and barley, moved eastward, and broomcorn millet, among other plant foods originating in China, moved westward. In this paper, we apply Bayesian stable isotope mixing models to published and newly obtained isotopic data in order to quantitatively estimate the contribution of different food resources to human diets, and we consider the complexity of human food strategies at both ends of these mountain corridors: southern Kazakhstan and the Hexi Corridor in western China. Our results contrast the rapid adoption of wheat and/or barley in the Hexi Corridor with the gradual, incremental adoption of millet in southern Kazakhstan during the second millennium BC.The authors are grateful to European Research Council, under grant 24964 (FOGLIP), Washington University Deanery Office Grant, American Association of University Women (AAUW), International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) for financial support. We are thankful to Catherine Kneale and James Rolfe from Cambridge for assistance with isotopic analysis. We are also grateful to Pavel Tarasov for helps to the manuscript; and to Professors Mayke Wagner and Pavel Tarasov and Dr Robert Spengler for organizing the workshop, entitled ‘The Introduction and Intensification of Agriculture in Central Eurasia’, Berlin in 2015

An abnormality in glucocorticoid receptor expression differentiates steroid responders from nonresponders in keloid disease

Background: Glucocorticoids (GCs) are first-line treatment for keloid disease (KD) but are limited by high incidence of resistance, recurrence and undesirable sideeffects. Identifying patient responsiveness early could guide therapy. Methods: Nineteen patients with KD were recruited at week 0 (before treatment) and received intralesional steroids. At weeks 0, 2 and 4, noninvasive imaging and biopsies were performed. Responsiveness was determined by clinical response and a significant reduction in vascular perfusion following steroid treatment, using full-field laser perfusion imaging (FLPI). Responsiveness was also evaluated using (i) spectrophotometric intracutaneous analysis to quantify changes in collagen and melanin and (ii) histology to identify changes in epidermal thickness and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) expression. Biopsies were used to quantify changes in glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression using quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Results: At week 2, the FLPI was used to separate patients into steroid responsive (n = 12) and nonresponsive groups (n = 7). All patients demonstrated a signifccant decrease in GAG at week 2 (P < 0 05). At week 4, responsive patients exhibited significant reduction in melanin, GAG, epidermal thickness (all P < 0 05) and a continued reduction in perfusion (P < 0 001) compared with nonresponders. Steroid-responsive patients had increased GR expression at baseline and showed autoregulation of GR compared with nonresponders, who showed no change in GR transcription or protein. Conclusions: This is the first demonstration that keloid response to steroids can be measured objectively using noninvasive imaging. FLPI is a potentially reliable tool to stratify KD responsiveness. Altered GR expression may be the mechanism gating therapeutic response

Atraumatic Back Pain Due to Quadratus Lumborum Spasm Treated by Physical Therapy with Manual Trigger Point Therapy in the Emergency Department

Manual trigger point therapy is effective for treating myofascial pain, yet it is not frequently used in emergency department (ED) settings. A 42-year-old female presented to the ED with atraumatic back pain. Her pain was thought to be myofascial, and we obtained a physical therapy consultation. Diagnosing the patient with quadratus lumborum spasm, the physical therapist treated her in the ED using manual trigger point therapy, and completely relieved her pain without requiring any medications. Manual trigger point therapy can provide non-opioid pain relief in ED patients, and physical therapists can apply this technique effectively in the ED

High Prevalence of Obesity and Female Gender Among Patients With Concomitant Tibialis Posterior Tendonitis and Plantar Fasciitis.

UNLABELLED: The link between increased body weight and hindfoot complaints is largely based on correlation to single foot pathology. We retrospectively reviewed 6879 patients with tibialis posterior tendonitis (TPT), plantar fasciitis (PF), or both. Among patients with either TPT or PF, 1 in 11 (9%) had both. We then compared age, gender, and body mass index among these groups. Patients with both diagnoses were neither statistically older nor more obese than patients with single diagnoses. However, they were statistically more female. Given the overall high prevalence of obesity in the study population, we feel these data support the link between obesity and multiple foot pathology. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic, Level IV: Case series

Morphological characterisation of unstained and intact tissue microarchitecture by x-ray computed micro- and nano-tomography

Characterisation and quantification of tissue structures is limited by sectioning-induced artefacts and by the difficulties of visualising and segmenting 3D volumes. Here we demonstrate that, even in the absence of X-ray contrast agents, X-ray computed microtomography (microCT) and nanotomography (nanoCT) can circumvent these problems by rapidly resolving compositionally discrete 3D tissue regions (such as the collagen-rich adventitia and elastin-rich lamellae in intact rat arteries) which in turn can be segmented due to their different X-ray opacities and morphologies. We then establish, using X-ray tomograms of both unpressurised and pressurised arteries that intra-luminal pressure not only increases lumen cross-sectional area and straightens medial elastic lamellae but also induces profound remodelling of the adventitial layer. Finally we apply microCT to another human organ (skin) to visualise the cell-rich epidermis and extracellular matrix-rich dermis and to show that conventional histological and immunohistochemical staining protocols are compatible with prior X-ray exposure. As a consequence we suggest that microCT could be combined with optical microscopy to characterise the 3D structure and composition of archival paraffin embedded biological materials and of mechanically stressed dynamic tissues such as the heart, lungs and tendons

Postcard: Spanish Lucerne Stock Farm, Long Island, Kansas

This black and white photographic postcard features a stock yard with cattle and hogs. Cows are in a group in the foreground by a fence. Pigs are in the background and are more spread out. A man stands in the background with a horse by a fence. There is written text on the bottom right of the card. There is handwriting on the back of the card.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/tj_postcards/1431/thumbnail.jp

Desirability of State-Adopted Textbooks for New Mexico High Schools

It is possible that uniformity of textbooks might tend to simplify the matter of supervision but there are other educational factors which should be attempted. It appears reasonable, therefore, to attempt to answer this question: Would uniform state-adopted textbooks for high schools of New Mexico be desirable from an educational and practical point of view? To present an answer to the above question is the main purpose of the present investigation. Answers to the following three specific questions would seem to furnish a substantial basis for answering the principal question indicated: (1) What is the opinion of leaders in the field of education with regard to state-adopted textbook for high schools? (2) What are the practices among the states as to state adoption of high school textbooks? (3) Are the superintendents of the public schools of New Mexico in favor of state-adopted high school textbooks, and, if so, under what conditions

Simulation and Characterization of a Dense Plasma Focus Device

Electron temperatures have been measured in a 1 kJ Mather-type dense plasma focus device (UofS-I DPF) with a hollow copper anode at the University of Saskatchewan (UofS) Plasma Physics Lab (PPL). The UofS-I DPF device is powered by a 5 F capacitor bank charged up to 20 kV with an optimum operating pressure of 100 - 200 mTorr argon gas. The features of the plasma dynamics in the UofS-I DPF device have been studied by analyzing signals of the discharge current, the anode voltage, the intensities of electron and ion beams, and the soft x-ray (SXR) and hard x-ray (HXR) radiations. The peak times of signals have been compared with the pinch time. A negatively-biased BPX-65 Si-PIN photodiode array has been used to measure SXR emissions from the UofS-I DPF. The double- lter technique and the ratio method have been used to determine the electron temperature based on the measured SXR intensities. An electron temperature of 5.7 0.7 keV has been obtained for the argon plasma. Moreover, linear correlations of the current dip, the peaks of the electron beam and the SXR and HXR emissions with the peak of the anode voltage have been observed. Linear correlations of the same signals with the electron temperature have also been observed. The Lee model code has been used to determine the optimum capacitor bank voltage and operating pressure for the UofS-I DPF. The Lee code has also been used for tting the experimental current waveform to the computed waveform in order to obtain the mass and current factors. These factors allow the computations of the radial positions and the speeds of the focusing plasma

A self-regulation model of leader authenticity based on mindful self-regulated attention and political skill

Despite much research on leader authenticity, its antecedents remain poorly understood. We develop a self-regulatory model of leader authenticity. The model explains how both mindful self-regulated attention and political skill, as well as their interaction, are important for leaders to be authentic, and ultimately effective. Mindful self-regulated attention—a core dimension of mindfulness defined as sustained attention centered on the present moment—helps leaders stay connected to their core self amid the busyness of their (work) lives, allowing leaders to feel authentic. And, particularly in combination with political skill—a social effectiveness construct—it helps leaders interact with their employees in a way that is experienced as authentic and effective. In an experimental study (Study 1), we found that leaders who mindfully self-regulate their attention feel more authentic. In a two-wave multi-source field study (Study 2), we found that leader self-regulated attention was positively associated with employee perceptions of leader authenticity and effectiveness. Further, this relation was stronger when leader political skill was high. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of this research

Ecological rationality: Fast-and-frugal heuristics for managerial decision making under uncertainty

Heuristics are often viewed as inferior to "rational" strategies that exhaustively search and process information. Introducing the theoretical perspective of ecological rationality, we challenge this view and argue that, under conditions of uncertainty common to managerial decision making, managers can actually make better decisions using fast-and-frugal heuristics. Within the context of personnel selection, we show that a heuristic called D-inference can more accurately predict which of two job applicants would perform better in the future than can logistic regression, a prototypical rational strategy. Using data from 236 applicants at an airline company, we demonstrate, in Study 1, that, despite searching less than half of the cues, D-inference leads to more accurate selection decisions than logistic regression. After this existence proof, we examine, in Study 2, the ecological conditions under which the heuristic predicts more accurately than logistic regression using 1,728 simulated task environments. Finally, in Study 3, we show in an experiment that participants adapted their strategies to the characteristics of a task-and increasingly so the greater their previous experience in selection decisions. The aim of this article is to propose ecological rationality as an alternative to current views about the nature of heuristics in managerial decisions