Dasaran: A Medium for Grief in Bali

Coming to Bali, I knew that I wanted to understand a sliver of the experiences that people have after a loved-one dies. Of course, there is no one way that people in Bali or anywhere process the loss of a loved-one, yet I am continually fascinated by how people understand and cope with the many feelings that occur after someone dies. My interest in this topic started out of necessity my junior year of high school when I attended three funerals in ten days. The first was for an elderly friend, then one for my teammate’s father, and the last and hardest was for the sudden death of a close family friend’s six-month-old baby, Rhys. In the months following Rhys’ death, I watched the boundless empathy and care that my own parents gave to our grieving friends as the couple practically moved into our house. I learned when to cry, when not to cry, and when just to hold my friends until their exhaustion finally gave them brief rest from the nightmare they were living. My parents’ compassion and generosity throughout the experience moved me to immerse myself in emotional and academic understandings of death and dying. Although I did not know what aspect of grief to explore, I came to Bali with the intention of extending my understanding beyond my Quaker, Jewish, Spiritual, Christian, Agnostic, Atheist and Western conceptions into different religious and social spheres. I wanted to understand how to talk about grief with people coming from an entirely different mindset and background. Furthermore, I wanted to understand how spiritual healers and community members support people after a loved-one dies

The realism of William Dean Howells

Includes bibliographical references

Restoration of axon conduction and motor deficits by therapeutic treatment with glatiramer acetate.

Glatiramer acetate (GA; Copaxone) is an approved drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). The underlying multifactorial anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective effect of GA is in the induction of reactive T cells that release immunomodulatory cytokines and neurotrophic factors at the injury site. These GA-induced cytokines and growth factors may have a direct effect on axon function. Building on previous findings that suggest a neuroprotective effect of GA, we assessed the therapeutic effects of GA on brain and spinal cord pathology and functional correlates using the chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS. Therapeutic regimens were utilized based on promising prophylactic efficacy. More specifically, C57BL/6 mice were treated with 2 mg/mouse/day GA for 8 days beginning at various time points after EAE post-induction day 15, yielding a thorough, clinically relevant assessment of GA efficacy within the context of severe progressive disease. Therapeutic treatment with GA significantly decreased clinical scores and improved rotorod motor performance in EAE mice. These functional improvements were supported by an increase in myelinated axons and fewer amyloid precursor protein-positive axons in the spinal cords of GA-treated EAE mice. Furthermore, therapeutic GA decreased microglia/macrophage and T cell infiltrates and increased oligodendrocyte numbers in both the spinal cord and corpus callosum of EAE mice. Finally, GA improved callosal axon conduction and nodal protein organization in EAE. Our results demonstrate that therapeutic GA treatment has significant beneficial effects in a chronic mouse model of MS, in which its positive effects on both myelinated and non-myelinated axons results in improved axon function

An Update on the Science of Acidification in the Adirondack Park

This paper provides a review of the science pertaining to all aspects of acidification in the Adirondack Park, updating an earlier review of the science (Cook et al. 2002). The review supports an ongoing social science investigation into the willingness to pay for ecological improvements that would result from reduced acid deposition. This paper builds a bridge between the physical science and social science by providing the background that will allow researchers to accurately summarize the crucial elements of ecological status and improvement in a stated preference survey.acid rain, acidification, stated preference, willingness to pay, benefit estimation

Comparing active, passive, and combined warm-ups among junior alpine skiers in -7°C

acceptedVersio

A national survey of Australian social work field education programs: innovation with limited capacity

Social work field education programs globally are struggling to meet the demands of providing suitable placements for students and need to consider new and innovative placement models to both meet professional accreditation requirements and deliver high quality field education opportunities for social work students. This article reports on the qualitative responses of a national survey of Australian social work field education programs, which explored current challenges, innovative responses, and recommendations for the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS) review, as well as hopes for the future of field education, and their capacity to undertake research into this area. Findings suggested that field education programs have been using incremental innovation in field education, including collaboration, partnerships, and new ways of responding to the changing student body. However, it is argued that radical structural change and additional resources will be needed for innovation to be more than merely incremental

Effects of pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside and its metabolites on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated cytokine production by THP-1 monocytes and macrophages

Epidemiological evidence suggests cardioprotective effects of anthocyanin consumption. This study examined the predominant strawberry anthocyanin, pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside (Pg-3-glc), and three of its plasma metabolites (protocatechuic acid [PCA], 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and phloroglucinaldehyde [PGA]) for effects on the production of selected cytokines by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated THP-1 monocytes and macrophages. Concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 were determined using a cytometric bead array kit. PCA at 0.31, 1.25 and 20 μM and PGA at 5 and 20 μM decreased the concentration of IL-6 in the monocyte cultures, but there were no effects on TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-8 and IL-10 and there were no effects of the other compounds. In the macrophage cultures, PGA at 20 μM decreased the concentrations of IL-6 and IL-10, but there was no effect on TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-8 and there were no effects of the other compounds. In conclusion, while the effects of PGA were only observed at the higher, supraphysiological concentration and are thus considered of limited physiological relevance overall, the anti-inflammatory properties of PCA were observed at both the lower, physiologically relevant, and the higher concentrations; however, effects were modest and limited to IL-6 and monocytes. These preliminary data suggest potential for physiologically attainable PCA concentrations to modulate IL-6 production by monocytes

Reconstructing and understanding the impacts of storms and surges, southern North Sea

Coastal barriers are ubiquitous globally and provide a vital protective role to valuable landforms, habitats and communities located to landward. They are, however, vulnerable to extreme water levels and storm wave impacts. A detailed record of sub-annual to annual; decadal; and centennial rates of shoreline retreat in frontages characterized by both high (> 3 m) and low (< 1 m) dunes is established for a barrier island on the UK east coast. For four storms (2006–2013) we match still water levels and peak significant wave heights against shoreline change at high levels of spatial densification. The results suggest that, at least in the short-term, shoreline retreat, of typically 5–8 m, is primarily driven by individual events, separated by varying periods of barrier stasis. Over decadal timescales, significant inter-decadal changes can be seen in both barrier onshore retreat rates and in barrier extension rates alongshore. Whilst the alongshore variability in barrier migration seen in the short-term remains at the decadal scale, shoreline change at the centennial stage shows little alongshore variability between a region of barrier retreat (at 1.15 m a$^{−1}$) and one of barrier extension. A data-mining approach, synchronizing all the variables that drive shoreline change (still water level, timing of high spring tides and peak significant wave heights), is an essential requirement for validating models that predict future shoreline responses under changing sea level and storminess.This paper was completed while the first author (SB) was a recipient of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (RF-2015-045) for a project entitled Development and Application of a shoreline response model. This paper is a contribution to NERC BESS Consortium grant A hierarchical approach to the examination of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem service flows across coastal margins (grant reference NE/J015423/1). Table 1 reports information gathered as part of an EU FP7 Collaborative Project (grant agreement no: 603458) Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – toolkit (http://www.risckit.eu).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.390

Personality Types and Passwords

People often create passwords for their accounts that are insecure and then reused across multiple platforms. This leaves users vulnerable to hackers. This research tries to discover what personality types choose stronger passwords and whether people agree if strong passwords are necessary

Hippocampal neuronal cells that accumulate α-synuclein fragments are more vulnerable to Aβ oligomer toxicity via mGluR5--implications for dementia with Lewy bodies.

BackgroundIn dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) abnormal interactions between α-synuclein (α-syn) and beta amyloid (Aβ) result in selective degeneration of neurons in the neocortex, limbic system and striatum. However, factors rendering these neurons selectively vulnerable have not been fully investigated. The metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) has been shown to be up regulated in DLB and might play a role as a mediator of the neurotoxic effects of Aβ and α-syn in vulnerable neuronal populations. In this context, the main objective of the present study was to investigate the role of mGluR5 as a mediator of the neurotoxic effects of α-syn and Aβ in the hippocampus.ResultsWe generated double transgenic mice over-expressing amyloid precursor protein (APP) and α-syn under the mThy1 cassette and investigated the relationship between α-syn cleavage, Aβ, mGluR5 and neurodegeneration in the hippocampus. We found that compared to the single tg mice, the α-syn/APP tg mice displayed greater accumulation of α-syn and mGluR5 in the CA3 region of the hippocampus compared to the CA1 and other regions. This was accompanied by loss of CA3 (but not CA1) neurons in the single and α-syn/APP tg mice and greater loss of MAP 2 and synaptophysin in the CA3 in the α-syn/APP tg. mGluR5 gene transfer using a lentiviral vector into the hippocampus CA1 region resulted in greater α-syn accumulation and neurodegeneration in the single and α-syn/APP tg mice. In contrast, silencing mGluR5 with a lenti-shRNA protected neurons in the CA3 region of tg mice. In vitro, greater toxicity was observed in primary hippocampal neuronal cultures treated with Aβ oligomers and over-expressing α-syn; this effect was attenuated by down-regulating mGluR5 with an shRNA lentiviral vector. In α-syn-expressing neuronal cells lines, Aβ oligomers promoted increased intracellular calcium levels, calpain activation and α-syn cleavage resulting in caspase-3-dependent cell death. Treatment with pharmacological mGluR5 inhibitors such as 2-Methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP) and 3-((2-Methyl-4-thiazolyl)ethynyl)pyridine (MTEP) attenuated the toxic effects of Aβ in α-syn-expressing neuronal cells.ConclusionsTogether, these results support the possibility that vulnerability of hippocampal neurons to α-syn and Aβ might be mediated via mGluR5. Moreover, therapeutical interventions targeting mGluR5 might have a role in DLB