Dynamic changes in synaptic plasticity genes in ipsilateral and contralateral inferior colliculus following unilateral noise-induced hearing loss

Unilateral noise-induced hearing loss reduces the input to the central auditory pathway disrupting the excitatory and inhibitory inputs to the inferior colliculus (IC), an important binaural processing center. Little is known about the compensatory synaptic changes that occur in the IC as a consequence of unilateral noise-induced hearing loss. To address this issue, Sprague–Dawley rats underwent unilateral noise exposure resulting in severe unilateral hearing loss. IC tissues from the contralateral and ipsilateral IC were evaluated for acute (2-d) and chronic (28-d) changes in the expression of 84 synaptic plasticity genes on a PCR array. Arc and Egr1 genes were further visualized by in situ hybridization to validate the PCR results. None of the genes were upregulated, but many were downregulated post-exposure. At 2-d post-exposure, more than 75% of the genes were significantly downregulated in the contralateral IC, while only two were downregulated in the ipsilateral IC. Many of the downregulated genes were related to long-term depression, long-term potentiation, cell adhesion, immediate early genes, neural receptors and postsynaptic density. At 28-d post-exposure, the gene expression pattern was reversed with more than 85% of genes in the ipsilateral IC now downregulated. Most genes previously downregulated in the contralateral IC 2-d post-exposure had recovered; less than 15% remained downregulated. These time-dependent, asymmetric changes in synaptic plasticity gene expression could shed new light on the perceptual deficits associated with unilateral hearing loss and the dynamic structural and functional changes that occur in the IC days and months following unilateral noise-induced hearing loss

Self dual models and mass generation in planar field theory

We analyse in three space-time dimensions, the connection between abelian self dual vector doublets and their counterparts containing both an explicit mass and a topological mass. Their correspondence is established in the lagrangian formalism using an operator approach as well as a path integral approach. A canonical hamiltonian analysis is presented, which also shows the equivalence with the lagrangian formalism. The implications of our results for bosonisation in three dimensions are discussed.Comment: 15 pages,Revtex, No figures; several changes; revised version to appear in Physical Review

Evidence for the multiple hits genetic theory for inherited language impairment: a case study

Communication disorders have complex genetic origins, with constellations of relevant gene markers that vary across individuals. Some genetic variants are present in healthy individuals as well as those affected by developmental disorders. Growing evidence suggests that some variants may increase susceptibility to these disorders in the presence of other pathogenic gene mutations. In the current study, we describe eight children with specific language impairment and four of these children had a copy number variant in one of these potential susceptibility regions on chromosome 15. Three of these four children also had variants in other genes previously associated with language impairment. Our data support the theory that 15q11.2 is a susceptibility region for developmental disorders, specifically language impairment.University of Nebraska. Health Research ConsortiumBarkley Memorial Trus

A simple method for production of slides of CT images from multiformat radiographs

Sixteen on 1 multiformat images of CT scans can be mounted directly into special "super slide" 2 by 2 in. mounts. Use of special photographic equipment is thus avoided.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22705/1/0000259.pd

Speech Inconsistency in Children With Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Language Impairment, and Speech Delay: Depends on the Stimuli

The current research sought to determine (a) if speech inconsistency is a core feature of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) or if it is driven by comorbid language impairment that affects a large subset of children with CAS and (b) if speech inconsistency is a sensitive and specific diagnostic marker that can differentiate between CAS and speech delay

DREDed Anomaly Mediation

We offer a guide to dimensional reduction (DRED) in theories with anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking. Evanescent operators proportional to epsilon arise in the bare Lagrangian when it is reduced from d=4 to d= (4-2 epsilon) dimensions. In the course of a detailed diagrammatic calculation, we show that inclusion of these operators is crucial. The evanescent operators conspire to drive the supersymmetry-breaking parameters along anomaly-mediation trajectories across heavy particle thresholds, guaranteeing the ultraviolet insensitivity.Comment: 24 pages. 10 figures. Uses Axodraw. Reference adde

Weaving Academic Grace into the Fabric of Online Courses and Faculty Training: First-Year Engineering Student Advice for Online Faculty During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Faculty Responses

Background: In the spring of 2020, COVID-19 forced the majority of higher education online, resulting in a wave of new online students uniquely positioned to offer fresh perspectives and advice to faculty. Purpose: This study investigated the advice offered to online faculty by first-year engineering (FYE) students who were forced online during the pandemic and faculty ideas to address the student advice. Methods: This multi-methods study included qualitative data from 233 FYE students (in 67 teams across four class offerings) who provided advice for online faculty through an end-of-year team assignment, leveraging analytic induction methods for analysis. The Quality Matters Online Instructor Skill Set was used as the theoretical framework for viewing the student results (Quality Matters, 2016). After being presented with the student results, 41 faculty participants within two workshops brainstormed ways to respond to FYEs’ advice. Faculty workshop participants organized their own brainstorming/discussion results by themes within community documents. Results: Students forced online expressed the following needs/desires: instructional design practices appropriate for the online environment; understanding, flexibility, and patience from their faculty (which we defined as Academic Grace); instructor social presence; appropriate pedagogy for online learning environments; effective assessment; technologically capable instructors; and instructor understanding of their institutional context. Faculty advised responding to online students with more Academic Grace. Conclusions: This work reveals a new competency missing from traditional online instructor skills, that of Academic Grace. To embed Academic Grace within online courses, we propose that faculty consider a flexible bichronous model for online courses, in which students can choose to attend synchronous live lectures/classes or cover the material asynchronously at their own convenience. In this model, lecture/class recordings and supplemental asynchronous materials should be provided to foster fluid student movement between the learning modes. We also recommend online faculty training efforts include the components of Academic Grace: understanding, flexibility, and patience

Batch and column studies of adsorption of Li, Ni and Br by a reference sand for contaminant transport experiments

A processed quartz sand (Wedron 510), mined from the St. Peter sandstone, has been characterized by a variety of chemical and physical methods for use as a reference porous media in transport model validation experiments. Wedron 510 sand was used in an intermediate-scale experiment involving migration of Ni, Li and Br through a 6-m high x 3-m diameter caisson. Ni and Li adsorption/desorption, and Li/Ni site-competition experiments yielded information on the importance of the trace mineral phases to adsorption of Li and Ni by the sand. The presence of an iron hydroxide coating similar to goethite on the sand grains is suggested by visual observation and leaching experiments. Kaolinite was identified by SEM and XRD as a significant trace mineral phase in the sand and occurs as small particles coating the sand grains. Quartz, the predominant constituent of the sand by weight, does not appear to contribute significantly to the adsorption properties of the sand. Qualitatively, the adsorption properties of the sand can be adequately modeled as a two-mineral system (goethite and kaolinite). The studies described in this report should provide a basis for understanding transport of Ni, Li and Br through porous media similar to the reference sand. Techniques were developed for obtaining parameter values for surface complexation and kinetic adsorption models for the sand and its mineral components. These constants can be used directly in coupled hydrogeochemical transport codes. The techniques should be useful for characterization of other natural materials and elements in high-level nuclear waste in support of coupled hydrogeochemical transport calculations for Yucca Mountain

Zeta function regularization for a scalar field in a compact domain

We express the zeta function associated to the Laplacian operator on $S^1_r\times M$ in terms of the zeta function associated to the Laplacian on $M$, where $M$ is a compact connected Riemannian manifold. This gives formulas for the partition function of the associated physical model at low and high temperature for any compact domain $M$. Furthermore, we provide an exact formula for the zeta function at any value of $r$ when $M$ is a $D$-dimensional box or a $D$-dimensional torus; this allows a rigorous calculation of the zeta invariants and the analysis of the main thermodynamic functions associated to the physical models at finite temperature.Comment: 19 pages, no figures, to appear in J. Phys.

Personal identity (de)formation among lifestyle travellers: A double-edged sword?

This article explores the personal identity work of lifestyle travellers – individuals for whom extended leisure travel is a preferred lifestyle that they return to repeatedly. Qualitative findings from in-depth semi-structured interviews with lifestyle travellers in northern India and southern Thailand are interpreted in light of theories on identity formation in late modernity that position identity as problematic. It is suggested that extended leisure travel can provide exposure to varied cultural praxes that may contribute to a sense of social saturation. Whilst a minority of the respondents embraced a saturation of personal identity in the subjective formation of a cosmopolitan cultural identity, several of the respondents were paradoxically left with more identity questions than answers as the result of their travels