A Study of the Audio-Visual Program in the Greece Central School District Number 1

School programs must be evaluated to gauge their effectiveness and provide insight for future direction. This study seeks to evaluate the Audio-Visual program in a public school in Western New York and includes a brief history of the community. The researcher uses a modified Schwartz questionnaire to survey teachers, grade K-11, where employed by the school district during the 1960-61 school year. Results showed that the schools either met or exceeded standards for sufficient equipment, and that over 70% of teachers believed that schools’ audio-visual program was adequate. The researcher suggests further analysis of the schools’ audio-visual philosophy and the development of in-service training programs to improve teacher participation in/perception of the program

The impact of temporal synchronisation imprecision on TRF analyses

Human sensory perception requires our brains to extract, encode, and process multiple properties of the sensory input. In the context of continuous sensory signals, such as speech and music, the measured electrical neural activity synchronises to properties such as the acoustic envelope, a phenomenon referred to as neural tracking. The ability of measuring neural tracking with non-invasive neurophysiology constitutes an exciting new opportunity for applied research. For example, it enables the objective assessment of cognitive functions in challenging cohorts and environments by using pleasant, everyday tasks, such as watching videos. However, neural tracking has been mostly studied in controlled, laboratory environments guaranteeing precise synchronisation between the neural signal and the corresponding labels (e.g., speech envelope). There exist various challenges that could impact such a temporal precision in, for instance, out-of-lab scenarios, such as technology (e.g., wireless data acquisition), mobility requirements (e.g., clinical scenarios), and the task (e.g., imagery). Aiming to address this type of challenge, we focus on the predominant scenario of continuous sensory experiments involving listening to speech and music. First a temporal response function analysis is presented on two different datasets to assess the impact of trigger imprecision. Second, a proof-of-concept re-alignment methodology is proposed to determine potential issues with the temporal synchronisation. Finally, a use-case study is presented that demonstrates neural tracking measurements in a challenging scenario involving older individuals with neurocognitive decline in care homes. Significance Statement Human cognitive functions can be studied by measuring neural tracking with non-invasive neurophysiology as participants perform pleasant, everyday tasks, such as listening to music. However, while recent work has encouraged the use of this approach in applied research, it remains unclear how robust neural tracking measurements can be when considering the methodological constraints of applied scenarios. This study determines the impact of a key factor for the measurement of neural tracking: the temporal precision of the neural recording. The results provide clear guidelines for future research, indicating what level of imprecision can be tolerated for measuring neural tracking with speech and music listening tasks in both laboratory and applied settings. Furthermore, the study provides a strategy to assess the impact of imprecision in the synchronisation of the neural recording, thus developing new tools for applied neuroscience

On the evolution of decoys in plant immune systems

The Guard-Guardee model for plant immunity describes how resistance proteins (guards) in host cells monitor host target proteins (guardees) that are manipulated by pathogen effector proteins. A recently suggested extension of this model includes decoys, which are duplicated copies of guardee proteins, and which have the sole function to attract the effector and, when modified by the effector, trigger the plant immune response. Here we present a proof-of-principle model for the functioning of decoys in plant immunity, quantitatively developing this experimentally-derived concept. Our model links the basic cellular chemistry to the outcomes of pathogen infection and resulting fitness costs for the host. In particular, the model allows identification of conditions under which it is optimal for decoys to act as triggers for the plant immune response, and of conditions under which it is optimal for decoys to act as sinks that bind the pathogen effectors but do not trigger an immune response.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Connexin36 (Cx36) expression and protein detection in the mouse carotid body and myenteric plexus

Although connexin36 (Cx36) has been studied in several tissues, it is notable that no data are available on Cx36 expression in the carotid body and the intestine. The present study was undertaken to evaluate using immunohistochemistry, PCR and Western blotting procedures, whether Cx36 was expressed in the mouse carotid body and in the intestine at ileum and colon level. In the carotid body, Cx36 was detected as diffuse punctate immunostaining and as protein by Western blotting and mRNA by RT-PCR. Cx36 punctate immunostaining was also evident in the intestine with localization restricted to the myenteric plexus of both the ileum and the colon, and this detection was also confirmed by Western blotting and RT-PCR. All the data obtained were validated using Cx36 knockout mice. Taken together the present data on localization of Cx36 gap-junctions in two tissues of neural crest-derived neuroendocrine organs may provide an anatomical basis for future functional investigations

Interfacing single-atom catalysis with continuous-flow organic electrosynthesis

The global warming crisis has sparked a series of environmentally cautious trends in chemistry, allowing us to rethink the way we conduct our synthesis, and to incorporate more earth-abundant materials in our catalyst design. “Single-atom catalysis” has recently appeared on the catalytic spectrum, and has truly merged the benefits that homogeneous and heterogeneous analogues have to offer. Further still, the possibility to activate these catalysts by means of a suitable electric potential could pave the way for a true integration of diverse synthetic methodologies and renewable electricity. Despite their esteemed benefits, single-atom electrocatalysts are still limited to the energy sector (hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen reduction, etc.) and numerous examples in the literature still invoke the use of precious metals (Pd, Pt, Ir, etc.). Additionally, batch electroreactors are employed, which limit the intensification of such processes. It is of paramount importance that the field continues to grow in a more sustainable direction, seeking new ventures into the space of organic electrosynthesis and flow electroreactor technologies. In this piece, we discuss some of the progress being made with earth abundant homogeneous and heterogeneous electrocatalysts and flow electrochemistry, within the context of organic electrosynthesis, and highlight the prospects of alternatively utilizing single-atom catalysts for such applications