Experimenting in the Material World and on Paper in sixteenth-century France

Hands-on experimentation did not begin in the natural scientific laboratory of the nineteenth century; it is instead a characteristic part of craft processes wherever and whenever they have been carried out – whether the bronze hearths of the pre-historic Near East, the furniture ateliers of the Ancien Régime, or in the kilns of the Saintonge, where Bernard Palissy labored so hard to imitate porcelain. A contemporary manuscript, BnF Ms. Fr. 640, gives remarkable insight into this constant experimentation of the artisan in the workshop. It also highlights the experimentation on paper that Palissy and other craftspeople engaged in during the sixteenth century.La démarche expérimentale ne commence pas dans les laboratoires scientifiques du xixe siècle, mais fait partie intégrante du processus de création quel que soit le lieu ou l’époque où il est mené, qu’il s’agisse des foyers de bronziers du Proche-Orient préhistorique, des ateliers d’ébénistes de l’Ancien Régime ou des fours de la Saintonge, où Bernard Palissy poursuivit ses efforts pour imiter la porcelaine. Un manuscrit de cette époque (BnF Ms. Fr. 640) apporte un remarquable éclairage sur cette expérimentation constante de l’artisan au sein de son atelier. Il souligne également l’importance de l’expérimentation sur papier dont témoignent les écrits de Palissy et d’autres artisans du xvie siècle

Advancing loneliness and social isolation as global health challenges: taking three priority actions

Loneliness and social isolation have been identified as critical global health issues in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. While there is robust scientific evidence demonstrating the impact of loneliness and social isolation on health outcomes and mortality, there are fundamental issues to resolve so that health authorities, decision makers, and practitioners worldwide are informed and aligned with the latest evidence. Three priority actions are posited to achieve a wider and more substantial impact on loneliness and social isolation. They are 1) strengthening the evidence base; 2) adopting a whole-of-systems approach; 3) developing policy support for governments worldwide. These priority actions are essential to reduce the pervasive impact of loneliness and social isolation as social determinants of health

A Digital Neuromorphic Architecture Efficiently Facilitating Complex Synaptic Response Functions Applied to Liquid State Machines

Information in neural networks is represented as weighted connections, or synapses, between neurons. This poses a problem as the primary computational bottleneck for neural networks is the vector-matrix multiply when inputs are multiplied by the neural network weights. Conventional processing architectures are not well suited for simulating neural networks, often requiring large amounts of energy and time. Additionally, synapses in biological neural networks are not binary connections, but exhibit a nonlinear response function as neurotransmitters are emitted and diffuse between neurons. Inspired by neuroscience principles, we present a digital neuromorphic architecture, the Spiking Temporal Processing Unit (STPU), capable of modeling arbitrary complex synaptic response functions without requiring additional hardware components. We consider the paradigm of spiking neurons with temporally coded information as opposed to non-spiking rate coded neurons used in most neural networks. In this paradigm we examine liquid state machines applied to speech recognition and show how a liquid state machine with temporal dynamics maps onto the STPU-demonstrating the flexibility and efficiency of the STPU for instantiating neural algorithms.Comment: 8 pages, 4 Figures, Preprint of 2017 IJCN

Takayasu arteritis presenting as cerebral aneurysms in an 18 month old: A case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Central nervous system involvement occurs in as many as twenty percent of Takayasu arteritis cases. When central nervous system disease is present, it typically manifests as cerebral ischemia or stroke. There are rare reports of intracranial aneurysms in adults with Takayasu arteritis, but none in children.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe a case of Takayasu arteritis in an 18 month old girl who presented with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Full body magnetic resonance angiography revealed bilateral iliac, pelvic and intragluteal aneurysms, irregular terminal aorta, and stenotic renal arteries. Iliac vessel biopsy showed a lymphocytic infiltrate and giant cells localized to the internal elastica.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This case highlights cerebral aneurysm as a highly unusual initial manifestation of Takayasu arteritis and demonstrates the challenges of diagnosis, treatment, and assessment of response to therapy in TA in children.</p

Integration of the CMS regional calorimeter Trigger hardware into the CMS level-1 Trigger

The electronics for the Regional Calorimeter Trigger (RCT) of the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment (CMS) have been produced and tested. The RCT hardware consists of 18 double-sided crates containing custom boards, ASICs, and backplanes. The RCT receives 8-bit energies and a data quality bit from the HCAL and ECAL Trigger Primitive Generators (TPGs) and sends it to the CMS Global Calorimeter Trigger (GCT) after processing. Before installation, integration tests were performed. Data was successfully received from the TPG electronics and read out with a RCT Jet Capture Card. These tests, other tests involving more trigger subsystems, their results, and the RCT installation will be described

Vigorous-intensity exercise as a modulator of cardiac adipose tissue in women with obesity: A cross-sectional and randomized pilot study

Cardiac adipose tissue (CAT) has become an important target for the reduction of disease risk. Supervised exercise programs have shown potential to significantly reduce CAT; however, the impact of different exercise modalities is not clear, and the relationships between CAT, physical activity (PA) levels and fitness (PFit) remain unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between CAT, PA and PFit, and to explore the effects of different exercise modalities in a group of women with obesity. A total of 26 women (age: 23.41 ± 5.78 years-old) were enrolled in the cross-sectional study. PA, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, body composition and CAT were evaluated. The pilot intervention included 16 women randomized to a control (CON, n=5), high intensity interval training (HIIT, n = 5) and high-intensity circuit training (HICT, n=6) groups. Statistical analysis showed negative correlations between CAT and vigorous PA (VPA)

Ultraviolet Signposts of Resonant Dynamics in the Starburst-Ringed Sab Galaxy, M94 (NGC 4736)

M94 (NGC 4736) is investigated using images from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (FUV-band), Hubble Space Telescope (NUV-band), Kitt Peak 0.9-m telescope (H-alpha, R, and I bands), and Palomar 5-m telescope (B-band), along with spectra from the International Ultraviolet Explorer and Lick 1-m telescopes. The wide-field UIT image shows FUV emission from (a) an elongated nucleus, (b) a diffuse inner disk, where H-alpha is observed in absorption, (c) a bright inner ring of H II regions at the perimeter of the inner disk (R = 48 arcsec. = 1.1 kpc), and (d) two 500-pc size knots of hot stars exterior to the ring on diametrically opposite sides of the nucleus (R= 130 arcsec. = 2.9 kpc). The HST/FOC image resolves the NUV emission from the nuclear region into a bright core and a faint 20 arcsec. long ``mini-bar'' at a position angle of 30 deg. Optical and IUE spectroscopy of the nucleus and diffuse inner disk indicates an approximately 10^7 or 10^8 yr-old stellar population from low-level starbirth activity blended with some LINER activity. Analysis of the H-alpha, FUV, NUV, B, R, and I-band emission along with other observed tracers of stars and gas in M94 indicates that most of the star formation is being orchestrated via ring-bar dynamics involving the nuclear mini-bar, inner ring, oval disk, and outer ring. The inner starburst ring and bi-symmetric knots at intermediate radius, in particular, argue for bar-mediated resonances as the primary drivers of evolution in M94 at the present epoch. Similar processes may be governing the evolution of the ``core-dominated'' galaxies that have been observed at high redshift. The gravitationally-lensed ``Pretzel Galaxy'' (0024+1654) at a redshift of approximately 1.5 provides an important precedent in this regard.Comment: revised figure 1 (corrected coordinate labels on declination axis); 19 pages of text + 19 figures (jpg files); accepted for publication in A

High‐Throughput Screen of Natural Product Extracts in A Yeast Model of Polyglutamine Proteotoxicity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106714/1/cbdd12259.pd

The Grizzly, January 29, 1982

Two Alumni Join Administration • So Much, POD, in College Bowl Finals • Hermann Eilts on The Middle East • College Receives $500,000 • Teachers Audition For EC/BA Positions • Honor Societies Meet to Discuss Future Plans • Union Undergoes Attractive Renovations • Evening School Expands • Spiritwood Returns for Coffeehouse • German Students Sample American College Life • Mozart Concert to Conclude Winterfest! • Myrin Exhibits Storybook Etchings • Collegeville Claustrophobia? • Schaff Plagued With Repeated Break-ins • Forums, Forums, Forums • Mens Basketball Has Good Vacation • Gymnasts\u27 Work Pays Off • Badminton Opens Season With Temple • Grapplers Impressive in Latest Victories • Hoopsters Lose to Widener • Karas Resigns; New Coach Expected Soon • Widener Drownshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1070/thumbnail.jp