Sympathetic involvement in peripheral nerve injury

The aim of this study was to investigate the response of noradrenergic sympathetic efferent fibres to Injury In a peripheral nerve, and to attempt to elucidate the cytochemical basis for the abnormal Interaction between sympathetic efferent and sensory afferent fibres which develops in experimental neuromas. The painful nerve Injury model used throughout was the experimental neuroma. The numbers, distribution and morphological relationships of sympathetic efferent fibres in normal and injured rat sciatic nerve were studied. Noradrenaline (NA) was localized in fluorescence studies by a glyoxylic acid technique. Ultrastructural localization Involved treatment of animals with a monoamine oxidase Inhibitor, nialamide, followed by a 'false' transmitter, 5 - hydroxy dopamine (5-OH DA); or alternatively, cytochemical reaction according to a modified chromaffin technique, followed by x-ray microanalysis. Two pharmacological manipulations were employed. The first Involved treatment with guanethidine, a sympathetic blocking agent, and secondly, neonatally administered capsaicin, which selectively destroys afferent C fibres. The development of alpha adrenoreceptors and opiate receptors in the spinal cord, normal and transected sciatic nerves was studied, using autoradiography with tritiated para amino clonidine, an alpha-2 adrenoreceptor ligand and tritiated diprenorphine, an opiate receptor ligand. The fluorescence studies showed an accumulation of fluorescent material, NA, at the distal end of the proximal stump of the sectioned nerves, which was maximal 3 days after section. The number of sympathetic axons fell to below normal 14 days after section and returned towards normal by 8 weeks. NA could also be seen ultrastructurally, following pretreatment with nialamide and 5-OH DA, localized to electron-dense cored vesicles within sympathetic axons. Optimal localization of NA followed subsequent fixation in chromate containing fixative and electron probe x-ray microanalysis. Guanethidine treatment caused NA depletion, which was more marked in neuromas than normal nerves, especially at the distal tip of the proximal stumps, and varied between animals. Capsaicin treatment resulted in a loss of unmyelinated afferent axons, the effect being more obvious in the normal nerves. Autoradiographic studies showed a depletion of opiate receptors on the lesioned side of the spinal cord, but a slight Increase in the number of alpha adrenergic receptors on this side. The neuromas appeared to have increased numbers of both types of receptors when compared to the normal sciatic nerves, which were not labelled

A Cognitive-Motivational Model of Group Member Decision Satisfaction

A theoretic model of group member decision satisfaction based on a cognitive-motivational view of information- processing in inferential contexts is presented. Unlike normative-rational theorists, we acknowledge that information-processing is biased by the decision-maker\u27s motivations which are assumed to derive from situation- specific goals. Information processing is assumed to be more extensive when judgmental accuracy is the salient goal and less extensive when other goals (e.g., self-esteem) are relatively more salient. The model analyzes the implications of this view for the relationship between confidence and satisfaction. Research propositions are advanced

Quality Websites: An Application of the Kano Model to Website Design

In the emerging global electronic market, the creation of customer centered websites will become increasingly important. This paper uses Kano\u27s Model of Quality to develop a conceptual framework for investigating features in the web environment that satisfy basic, performance, and excitement needs of potential customers. The researchers classify features commonly used in the web environment according to Kano’ s three quality dimensions for products and services. Plans to empirically test this conceptually based classification are forthcoming. Among the possible implications and contributions of this research are the differentiation of web design features that customers take for granted from those that add value in the performance of web specific tasks and those that generate delight, motivation, and loyalty of website users

Supporting Inquiry by Identifying Gaps in Student Confidence: Development of a Measure of Perceived Competence

Critical to inquiry-based learning is information literacy. Educators can enhance students’ experiences during the inquiry process if they are aware of the skill areas in which students either have or lack confidence. This article describes the development and psychometric properties of the Perceived Competence in Information Skills (PCIS) measure. Educators can use the measure to support student inquiry by identifying and addressing gaps in student confidence. The measure is freely available through Syracuse University’s Center for Digital Literacy

Using the Cross-Match Test to Appraise Covariate Balance in Matched Pairs

Having created a tentative matched design for an observational study, diagnostic checks are performed to see whether observed covariates exhibit reasonable balance, or alternatively whether further effort is required to improve the match. We illustrate the use of the cross-match test as an aid to appraising balance on high-dimensional covariates, and we discuss its close logical connections to the techniques used to construct matched samples. In particular, in addition to a significance level, the cross-match test provides an interpretable measure of high-dimensional covariate balance, specifically a measure defined in terms of the propensity score. An example from the economics of education is used to illustrate. In the example, imbalances in an initial match guide the construction of a better match. The better match uses a recently proposed technique, optimal tapered matching, that leaves certain possibly innocuous covariates imbalanced in one match but not in another, and yields a test of whether the imbalances are actually innocuous

Mapping cropping intensity of smallholder farms: A comparison of methods using multiple sensors

The food security of smallholder farmers is vulnerable to climate change and climate variability. Cropping intensity, the number of crops planted annually, can be used as a measure of food security for smallholder farmers given that it can greatly affect net production. Current techniques for quantifying cropping intensity may not accurately map smallholder farms where the size of one field is typically smaller than the spatial resolution of readily available satellite data. We evaluated four methods that use multi-scalar datasets and are commonly used in the literature to assess cropping intensity of smallholder farms: 1) the Landsat threshold method, which identifies if a Landsat pixel is cropped or uncropped during each growing season, 2) the MODIS peak method, which determines if there is a phenological peak in the MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index time series during each growing season, 3) the MODIS temporal mixture analysis, which quantifies the sub-pixel heterogeneity of cropping intensity using phenological MODIS data, and 4) the MODIS hierarchical training method, which quantifies the sub-pixel heterogeneity of cropping intensity using hierarchical training techniques. Each method was assessed using four criteria: 1) data availability, 2) accuracy across different spatial scales (at aggregate scales 250 × 250 m, 1 × 1 km, 5 × 5 km, and 10 × 10 km), 3) ease of implementation, and 4) ability to use the method over large spatial and temporal scales. We applied our methods to two regions in India (Gujarat and southeastern Madhya Pradesh) that represented diversity in crop type, soils, climatology, irrigation access, cropping intensity, and field size. We found that the Landsat threshold method is the most accurate (R2 greater than or equal to 0.71 and RMSE less than or equal to 0.14), particularly at smaller scales of analysis. Yet given the limited availability of Landsat data, we find that the MODIS hierarchical training method meets multiple criteria for mapping cropping intensity over large spatial and temporal scales. Furthermore, the adjusted R2 between predicted and validation data generally increased and the RMSE decreased with spatial aggregation greater than or equal to 5 × 5 km (R2 up to 0.97 and RMSE as low as 0.00). Our model accuracy varied based on the region and season of analysis and was lowest during the summer season in Gujarat when there was high sub-pixel heterogeneity due to sparsely cropped agricultural land-cover. While our results specifically apply to our study regions in India, they most likely also apply to smallholder agriculture in other locations across the globe where the same types of satellite data are readily available

Sensitivity of crop cover to climate variability: Insights from two Indian agro-ecoregions

Crop productivity in India varies greatly with inter-annual climate variability and is highly dependent on monsoon rainfall and temperature. The sensitivity of yields to future climate variability varies with crop type, access to irrigation and other biophysical and socio-economic factors. To better understand sensitivities to future climate, this study focuses on agro-ecological subregions in Central and Western India that span a range of crops, irrigation, biophysical conditions and socioeconomic characteristics. Climate variability is derived from remotely-sensed data products, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM – precipitation) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS – temperature). We examined green-leaf phenologies as proxy for crop productivity using the MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from 2000 to 2012. Using both monsoon and winter growing seasons, we assessed phenological sensitivity to inter-annual variability in precipitation and temperature patterns. Inter-annual EVI phenology anomalies ranged from −25% to 25%, with some highly anomalous values up to 200%. Monsoon crop phenology in the Central India site is highly sensitive to climate, especially the timing of the start and end of the monsoon and intensity of precipitation. In the Western India site, monsoon crop phenology is less sensitive to precipitation variability, yet shows considerable fluctuations in monsoon crop productivity across the years. Temperature is critically important for winter productivity across a range of crop and management types, such that irrigation might not provide a sufficient buffer against projected temperature increases. Better access to weather information and usage of climate-resilient crop types would play pivotal role in maintaining future productivity. Effective strategies to adapt to projected climate changes in the coming decades would also need to be tailored to regional biophysical and socio-economic conditions

Igniting talk on digital literacy

New technologies and developments in media are transforming the way that individuals, groups and societies communicate, learn, work and govern. This new socio-technical reality requires participants to possess not only skills and abilities related to the use of technological tools, but also knowledge regarding the norms and practices of appropriate usage. To be ‘digitally literate’ in this way encompasses issues of cognitive authority, safety and privacy, creative, ethical, and responsible use and reuse of digital media, among other topics (Meyers, 2009; Arnone, et al., 2011). A lack of digital literacy increasingly implicates one’s full potential of being a competent student, an empowered employee, or an engaged citizen. Digital literacy is often considered a school-based competency, but it is introduced and developed in informal learning contexts such as libraries, museums, social groups, affinity spaces online, not to mention the home environment. This community-building event will recognize and connect the ways and places we conceptualize and realize digital literacy.10.9776/13413published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Lifelong Learning for Information Systems Professionals

A quarter century ago, Toffler (1970) speculated that the rate at which changes took place was increasing at an ever-faster pace. He surmised that this was creating a more complex environment with greater uncertainty for individuals and organizations. Since his prediction, the business world has surely experienced immense changes that have seemed to occur with increasing frequency. Product life cycles have been drastically shortened in many industries. Globalization of the marketplace has taken place in a very short time span. Fluctuating prices for raw materials and energy, currency volatility, industry deregulation, and a host of other transformations have all contributed to an increasingly complex competitive environment. These changes havehad a major impact on the practice of information systems and on the careers of professionals. We will argue in this paper that the changes necessitate a complete reengineering of information systems curricula and teaching method