New development: Directly elected mayors in Italy: creating a strong leader doesn’t mean creating strong leadership

More than 20 years after their introduction, directly elected mayors are key players in Italian urban governance. This article explains the main effects of this reform on local government systems and provides lessons for other countries considering directly elected mayors

Medial Temporal Lobe BOLD Activity at Rest Predicts Individual Differences in Memory Ability in Hhealthy Young Adults

Human beings differ in their ability to form and retrieve lasting long-term memories. To explore the source of these individual differences, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activity in healthy young adults (n = 50) during periods of resting fixation that were interleaved with periods of simple cognitive tasks. We report that medial temporal lobe BOLD activity during periods of rest predicts individual differences in memory ability. Specifically, individuals who exhibited greater magnitudes of task-induced deactivations in medial temporal lobe BOLD signal (as compared to periods of rest) demonstrated superior memory during offline testing. This relationship was independent of differences in general cognitive function and persisted across different control tasks (i.e., number judgment versus checkerboard detection) and experimental designs (i.e., blocked versus event-related). These results offer a neurophysiological basis for the variability in mnemonic ability that is present amongst healthy young adults and may help to guide strategies aimed at early detection and intervention of neurological and mnemonic impairment

Medial Temporal Lobe BOLD Activity at Rest Predicts Individual Differences in Memory Ability in Hhealthy Young Adults

Human beings differ in their ability to form and retrieve lasting long-term memories. To explore the source of these individual differences, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activity in healthy young adults (n = 50) during periods of resting fixation that were interleaved with periods of simple cognitive tasks. We report that medial temporal lobe BOLD activity during periods of rest predicts individual differences in memory ability. Specifically, individuals who exhibited greater magnitudes of task-induced deactivations in medial temporal lobe BOLD signal (as compared to periods of rest) demonstrated superior memory during offline testing. This relationship was independent of differences in general cognitive function and persisted across different control tasks (i.e., number judgment versus checkerboard detection) and experimental designs (i.e., blocked versus event-related). These results offer a neurophysiological basis for the variability in mnemonic ability that is present amongst healthy young adults and may help to guide strategies aimed at early detection and intervention of neurological and mnemonic impairment

Time-Resolved Studies of Laser Damage Processes in DKDP Crystals

The authors have used a 3-color imaging technique to obtain time-resolved series of images during nanosecond laser damage in bulk DKDP crystals. In contrast to single-pump, single-probe time-resolved imaging techniques, they are able to correlate behavior during single damage events. This enables us to observe a range of morphological dynamics that is otherwise difficult to study, including: the propagation of elastic sound waves and the liquid/solid melt front from the damage nucleation site and the dynamics of crack formation and propagation

Histone deacetylase adaptation in single ventricle heart disease and a young animal model of right ventricular hypertrophy.

BackgroundHistone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are promising therapeutics for various forms of cardiac diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess cardiac HDAC catalytic activity and expression in children with single ventricle (SV) heart disease of right ventricular morphology, as well as in a rodent model of right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH).MethodsHomogenates of right ventricle (RV) explants from non-failing controls and children born with a SV were assayed for HDAC catalytic activity and HDAC isoform expression. Postnatal 1-day-old rat pups were placed in hypoxic conditions, and echocardiographic analysis, gene expression, HDAC catalytic activity, and isoform expression studies of the RV were performed.ResultsClass I, IIa, and IIb HDAC catalytic activity and protein expression were elevated in the hearts of children born with a SV. Hypoxic neonatal rats demonstrated RVH, abnormal gene expression, elevated class I and class IIb HDAC catalytic activity, and protein expression in the RV compared with those in the control.ConclusionsThese data suggest that myocardial HDAC adaptations occur in the SV heart and could represent a novel therapeutic target. Although further characterization of the hypoxic neonatal rat is needed, this animal model may be suitable for preclinical investigations of pediatric RV disease and could serve as a useful model for future mechanistic studies

Observation of photoexcited emission clusters in the bulk of KDP and laser conditioning under 355-nm irradiation

Defect clusters in the bulk of large KDP crystals are revealed using a microscopic fluorescence imaging system and CW laser illumination. Exposure of the crystal to high power 355-nm, 3-ns laser irradiation leads to a significant reduction of the number of observed optically active centers. The initially observed defect cluster concentration is approximately 104-106 per mm3 depending on the crystal growth method and sector of the crystal. The number of defect clusters can be reduced by a factor of 102 or more under exposure to 355-nm laser irradiation while their average intensities also decreases. Spectroscopic measurements provide information on the electronic structure of the defects

Thermal imaging investigation of modified fused silica at surface damage sites for understanding the underlying mechanisms of damage growth

We use an infrared thermal imaging system in combination with a fluorescence microscope to map the dynamics of the local surface temperature and fluorescence intensity under cw, UV excitation of laser-modified fused silica within a damage site. Based on a thermal diffusion model, we estimate the energy deposited via linear absorption mechanisms and derive the linear absorption coefficient of the modified material. The results indicate that the damage growth mechanism is not entirely based on linear absorption. Specifically, the absorption cross-section derived above would prove insufficient to cause a significant increase in the temperature of the modified material under nanosecond, pulsed excitation (via linear absorption at ICF laser fluences). In addition, irreversible changes in the absorption cross-section following extended cw, UV laser exposure were observed

Evaluation of UV absorption coefficient in laser-modified fused silica

Laser-induced damage in transparent dielectrics leads to the formation of laser-modified material as a result of exposure to extreme localized temperatures and pressures. In this work, we used an infrared thermal imaging system in combination with a fluorescence microscope to map the dynamics of the local surface temperature and fluorescence intensity under cw, UV excitation of laser-modified fused silica within a damage site. Based on a thermal diffusion model, we estimate the energy deposited via linear absorption mechanisms and derive the absorption coefficient of the modified material. In addition, irreversible changes in the absorption following extended laser exposure were observed