Community Based Entrepreneurship: An Alternative Social Enterprise Model for Small Communities in Poor Municipalities

According to theories, the economic goal is the primary consideration of entrepreneurs when embarking on new ventures. The emergence of successful business districts or social organizations brought about a surging interest in combining the network of relationships, specifically at the local level, relative to entrepreneurial activities

Bacterial Communities in Aerosols and Manure Samples from Two Different Dairies in Central and Sonoma Valleys of California

Aerosols have been suspected to transport food pathogens and contaminate fruits and vegetables grown in close proximity to concentrated animal feeding operations, but studies are lacking that substantiate such transport. To monitor the potential transport of bacteria originated from fresh or dry manure through aerosols on a dairy, we identified by 16S rRNA sequencing, bacteria in aerosols collected within 2 to 3 meters from dairy cows at two dairies. Gram-positive Firmicutes were predominant in aerosols from a dairy in Sonoma, California, and surrounded by vineyards, in contrast to sequences of Gram-negative Proteobacteria predominant in aerosols from a dairy in Modesto, California, also surrounded by other dairies. Although Firmicutes represented approximately 50% of the 10 most abundant sequences, aerosols from the Sonoma dairy also contained sequences of Bacteriodetes and Actinobacteria, identified previously with animal feces. While none of the top 10 sequences from fresh or dry manure from Modesto dairy were detected in aerosols, two of the sequences from the phylum Bacteriodetes and one from class Clostridia from fresh manure were detected in aerosols from Sonoma. Interestingly, none of the sequences from dry manure were in the top 10 sequences in aerosols from both dairies. The 10 most abundant sequences in aerosols from the Modesto dairy were all from Proteobacteria and nearly half of them were from genus Massilia, which have been isolated previously from immune-compromised people and aerosols. We conclude that the predominant bacteria in aerosols are diverse among locations and that they do not reflect the predominant species of bacteria present in cow feces and/or in close proximity to cows. These results suggest that the aerosol sequences did not originate from manure. Large volumes of aerosols would be required to determine if bacterial sequences from aerosols could be used to track bacteria in manure to crops grown in proximity

Falling Inward: Ecstatic Dance & Recording the Ephemeral

Little scholarship exists on the contemporary trance dance movement known as Ecstatic Dance. This thesis investigates the myriad of pathways dancers in the Ecstatic Dance communities of Western Oregon experience movement-induced altered states of consciousness. A secondary aim was to provide a more visually and ethnographically accessible dance annotation system to supplement written in-text ethnographic comprehension. As there are no current comparable systems in place for this purpose, anthropoetry, ethnographic fiction and an imagined invented ethnographic dance annotation system for the visual trajectory and phenomenology of trance were utilized to illustrate the ways in which phenomenological and corporeal nuance may be elevated through a combination of creative ethnographic means. Inspired by the oral histories of Ecstatic Dancers collected in 2020, emergent themes included collective anthropological communitas through concentrated individual dance done in close proximity to others in individual processes and the importance of musical rhythm in inducing a state of ecstatic trance. Other revelatory themes included issues of both gender-based safety and further marginalization of BIPOC racial and ethnic identities in homogenously white spaces. This thesis inquiry into how to bridge the fraught gap between embodied phenomenology experienced and embodied phenomenology expressed in-text without necessity for additional technology was ameliorated by creative ethnographic and visually innovative annotation. This challenge to the way in which the body in motion is traditionally recorded in ethnography is a small contribution to future more sophisticated and holistic systems of embodied visual ethnographic phenomenological data and its accommodation of broader culturally-informed definitions of dance

State-dependent alterations in cerebrospinal fluid A42 levels in cognitively intact elderly with late-life major depression

Depression has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease as either an increased risk factor for its development or as a prodromal symptom. The neurobiological basis for such an association, however, remains poorly understood. Numerous studies have examined whether changes in amyloid beta (A[beta]) metabolism, which are implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, are also found in depression. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) A[beta] indices in otherwise healthy, cognitively normal elderly with late-life major depression (LLMD) and controls using a longitudinal approach, which is a novel contribution toward the literature. Significantly lower levels of CSF A[beta]42 were observed in the LLMD group at baseline and were associated with more severe depressive symptoms. During longitudinal follow-up, the depressed group remained cognitively unchanged, but was significantly less depressed than at baseline. A greater improvement in depressive symptoms was associated with increases in CSF A[beta]42 levels in both groups. Increases in CSF A[beta]42 and A[beta]40 were also associated with increased CSF total-tau levels. Our results suggest that LLMD may be associated with state-dependent effects of CSF A[beta]42 levels. Future studies should determine whether the association reflects state-dependent changes in neuronal activity and/or brain amyloid burden in depression

Mushy Zone Morphology During Directional Solidification of Pb-5.8 Wt Pct Sb Alloy

The Pb-5.8 wt pet Sb alloy was directionally solidified with a positive thermal gradient of 140 K cm(-1) at a growth speed ranging from 0.8 to 30 mu m s(-1), and then it was quenched to retain the mushy zone morphology. The morphology of the mushy zone along its entire length has been characterized by using a serial sectioning and three-dimensional image reconstruction technique. Variation in the cellular/dendritic shape factor, hydraulic radius of the interdendritic region, and fraction solid along the mushy zone length has been studied. A comparison with predictions from theoretical models indicates that convection remarkably reduces the primary dendrite spacing while its influence on the dendrite tip radius is not as significant

Plasma BDNF Levels Vary in Relation to Body Weight in Females

Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression as well as neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent studies show a role of BDNF in energy metabolism and body weight regulation. We examined BDNF levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from age matched elderly depressed and control subjects. Also, the association of BDNF levels with age, gender, body weight, body mass index (BMI), and cognitive performance was evaluated. We did not find any significant differences in plasma and CSF BDNF levels between depressed and control subjects. Plasma BDNF levels were negatively correlated with age (but not with BMI and body weight), when analyses were performed including both depressed and control subjects. A significant reduction in plasma BDNF levels was observed in females as compared to male subjects, and the change in BDNF levels were significantly and positively related to body weight in females. Furthermore, significant increases in Total Recall and Delayed Recall values were found in females as compared to males. In conclusion, the lower BDNF levels observed in females suggest that changes in peripheral BDNF levels are likely secondary to an altered energy balance. However, further studies using larger sample size are warranted

Transcriptional Landscape of the Prenatal Human Brain

Summary The anatomical and functional architecture of the human brain is largely determined by prenatal transcriptional processes. We describe an anatomically comprehensive atlas of mid-gestational human brain, including de novo reference atlases, in situ hybridization, ultra-high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and microarray analysis on highly discrete laser microdissected brain regions. In developing cerebral cortex, transcriptional differences are found between different proliferative and postmitotic layers, wherein laminar signatures reflect cellular composition and developmental processes. Cytoarchitectural differences between human and mouse have molecular correlates, including species differences in gene expression in subplate, although surprisingly we find minimal differences between the inner and human-expanded outer subventricular zones. Both germinal and postmitotic cortical layers exhibit fronto-temporal gradients, with particular enrichment in frontal lobe. Finally, many neurodevelopmental disorder and human evolution-related genes show patterned expression, potentially underlying unique features of human cortical formation. These data provide a rich, freely-accessible resource for understanding human brain development

Experimental and Numerical Modeling of Segregation in Metallic Alloys

International audienceElectromagnetic levitation (EML) has been used as an experimental technique for investigating the effect of the nucleation and cooling rate on segregation and structure formation in metallic alloys. The technique has been applied to aluminum-copper alloys. For all samples, the primary phase nucleation has been triggered by the contact of the levitated droplet with an alumina plate at a given undercooling. Based on the recorded temperature curves, the heat extraction rate and the nucleation undercooling for the primary dendritic and the secondary eutectic structures have been determined. Metallurgical characterizations have consisted of composition measurements using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and the analysis of SEM images. The distribution maps drawn for the composition, the volume fraction of the eutectic structure, and the dendrite arm spacing (DAS) reveal strong correlations. Analysis of the measurements with the help of a cellular-automaton (CA)-finite-element (FE) model is also proposed. The model involves a new coupling scheme between the CA and FE methods and a segregation model accounting for diffusion in the solid and liquid phases. Extensive validation of the model has been carried out on a typical equiaxed grain configuration, i.e., considering the free growth of a mushy zone in an undercooled melt. It demonstrates its capability of dealing with mass exchange inside and outside the envelope of a growing primary dendritic structure. The model has been applied to predict the temperature curve, the segregation, and the eutectic volume fraction obtained upon single-grain nucleation and growth from the south pole of a spherical domain with and without triggering of the nucleation of the primary solid phase, thus simulating the solidification of a levitated droplet. Predictions permit a direct interpretation of the measurements