Urban Inspiration Can Come from Unlikely Sources: What Boston Can Learn from Cities in Transition Around the World

Boston is a city in transition, with power passing to a new mayor for the first time in a generation. The capital of New England should consider the examples of cities around the world in defining its next agenda. The urban centers that make up the Forum for Cities in Transition have all endured years of conflict and yet each continues to plan for a better future. Belfast, Nicosia, and Kaduna might not be role models for Boston; but three consensus points came out of the group’s recent summit: (1) it is hard to move forward without confronting the past; (2) collaboration is a necessity, not a choice; and (3) success requires that women be in position to lead. If Boston meets these challenges it will be better prepared to tackle intergenerational problems created by the exclusion of women and communities of color from equal social and economic opportunity; and to confront what is perhaps the most profound divide it has ever faced: the massive gap between rich and poor

Soil Heating at High Temperatures and Different Water Content: Effects on the Soil Microorganisms

Soil properties determining the thermal transmissivity, the heat duration and temperatures reached during soil heating are key factors driving the fire-induced changes in soil microbial communities. The aim of the present study is to analyze, under laboratory conditions, the impact of the thermal shock (infrared lamps reaching temperatures of 100 °C, 200 °C and 400 °C) and moisture level (0%, 25% and 50% per soil volume) on the microbial properties of three soil mixtures from different sites. The results demonstrated that the initial water content was a determinant factor in the response of the microbial communities to soil heating treatments. Measures of fire impact included intensity and severity (temperature, duration), using the degree-hours method. Heating temperatures produced varying thermal shock and impacts on biomass, bacterial activity and microbial community structureThis research was funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (AGL2012-39686-C02-01) and for the for the MAPFRE foundation. A. Barreiro and A. Lombao are recipients of FPU grant from Spanish Ministry of EducationS

Análisis técnico-económico entre pernos helicoidales y cuadros de madera para determinar el sostenimiento óptimo en la mina Los Andes – Ancash

La presente investigación tuvo por finalidad el reemplazo del actual sostenimiento con cuadros de madera, mediante la aplicación de pernos helicoidales, siendo estos un sistema eficiente para la estabilidad de las labores en dicha unidad de producción. La investigación surgió por la observación de la problemática, la misma que se encuentra vinculada con la inestabilidad de las labores de desarrollo en la unidad de producción Pallasca. Para dicha investigación se trabajó como muestra a la galería 700 SW, haciendo uso de un enfoque cuantitativo y un diseño de investigación no experimental transversal explicativo. Cabe mencionar, que en las etapas de procesamiento de datos se tomó los métodos analíticos, las técnicas de observación y análisis documental que fueron validados; además, se realizó un análisis de laboratorio a la muestra extraída para poder obtener los datos geomecánicos de la labor. Dichos procedimientos utilizan esta metodología como un respaldo a la investigación, teniendo un sustento verídico y seriedad respectiva. Finalmente, como resultados en la investigación se obtuvo que los pernos helicoidales presentan una ventaja técnica- económica superior a los cuadros de madera, con lo cual se puedo concluir que el tipo de sostenimiento óptimo en la mina los Andes son los pernos helicoidales

A computational system for the Heuristic Forecasting of Fire Risk

5 pages, 5 figures.-- Communication presented at the 6th World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics and 8th International Conference on Information System Analysis and Synthesis (SCI/ISAS 2002, Orlando, Florida, Jul 14-18, 2002).This article describes a computational system which forecasts the potential risk of forest fires, by processing a set of meteorological variables so as to produce a fire weather risk index. The system also studies a set of area characteristics, which provides us with long-term static information on potential fire risk. This area-specific information constitutes the interpretation context and can be used to refine the results computed from the weather index

No Association between PAWR Gene Polymorphisms and Tardive Dyskinesia in Schizophrenia Patients

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a hyperkinetic movement disorder associated with the prolonged use of antipsychotic drugs. Since prostate apoptosis response 4 (Par-4) is a key ligand of the dopamine D2 receptor, the Par-4 gene (PAWR) is a good candidate gene to study in the context of TD susceptibility. We examined the association between PAWR gene polymorphisms and TD. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms of PAWR were selected for the analysis: rs7979987, rs4842318, and rs17005769. Two hundred and eighty unrelated Korean schizophrenic patients participated in this study (105 TD and 175 non-TD patients). Genotype/allele-wise and haplotype-wise analyses were performed. There were no significant differences in genotype and allele frequencies between the two groups. Haplotype analysis also did not reveal a difference between the two groups. Within the limitations imposed by the size of the clinical sample, these findings suggest that PAWR gene variants do not significantly contribute to an increased risk of TD

Spatial and Temporal High Processing of Visual and Auditory Stimuli in Cervical Dystonia.

OBJECTIVE: Investigation of spatial and temporal cognitive processing in idiopathic cervical dystonia (CD) by means of specific tasks based on perception in time and space domains of visual and auditory stimuli. BACKGROUND: Previous psychophysiological studies have investigated temporal and spatial characteristics of neural processing of sensory stimuli (mainly somatosensorial and visual), whereas the definition of such processing at higher cognitive level has not been sufficiently addressed. The impairment of time and space processing is likely driven by basal ganglia dysfunction. However, other cortical and subcortical areas, including cerebellum, may also be involved. METHODS: We tested 21 subjects with CD and 22 age-matched healthy controls with 4 recognition tasks exploring visuo-spatial, audio-spatial, visuo-temporal, and audio-temporal processing. Dystonic subjects were subdivided in three groups according to the head movement pattern type (lateral: Laterocollis, rotation: Torticollis) as well as the presence of tremor (Tremor). RESULTS: We found significant alteration of spatial processing in Laterocollis subgroup compared to controls, whereas impairment of temporal processing was observed in Torticollis subgroup compared to controls. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that dystonia is associated with a dysfunction of temporal and spatial processing for visual and auditory stimuli that could underlie the well-known abnormalities in sequence learning. Moreover, we suggest that different movement pattern type might lead to different dysfunctions at cognitive level within dystonic population

Drug-Induced Parkinsonism

Drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) is the second-most-common etiology of parkinsonism in the elderly after Parkinson's disease (PD). Many patients with DIP may be misdiagnosed with PD because the clinical features of these two conditions are indistinguishable. Moreover, neurological deficits in patients with DIP may be severe enough to affect daily activities and may persist for long periods of time after the cessation of drug taking. In addition to typical antipsychotics, DIP may be caused by gastrointestinal prokinetics, calcium channel blockers, atypical antipsychotics, and antiepileptic drugs. The clinical manifestations of DIP are classically described as bilateral and symmetric parkinsonism without tremor at rest. However, about half of DIP patients show asymmetrical parkinsonism and tremor at rest, making it difficult to differentiate DIP from PD. The pathophysiology of DIP is related to drug-induced changes in the basal ganglia motor circuit secondary to dopaminergic receptor blockade. Since these effects are limited to postsynaptic dopaminergic receptors, it is expected that presynaptic dopaminergic neurons in the striatum will be intact. Dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging is useful for diagnosing presynaptic parkinsonism. DAT uptake in the striatum is significantly decreased even in the early stage of PD, and this characteristic may help in differentiating PD from DIP. DIP may have a significant and longstanding effect on patients' daily lives, and so physicians should be cautious when prescribing dopaminergic receptor blockers and should monitor patients' neurological signs, especially for parkinsonism and other movement disorders

The intermuscular 3–7 Hz drive is not affected by distal proprioceptive input in myoclonus-dystonia

In dystonia, both sensory malfunctioning and an abnormal intermuscular low-frequency drive of 3–7 Hz have been found, although cause and effect are unknown. It is hypothesized that sensory processing is primarily disturbed and induces this drive. Accordingly, experimenter-controlled sensory input should be able to influence the frequency of the drive. In six genetically confirmed myoclonus-dystonia (MD) patients and six matched controls, the low-frequency drive was studied with intermuscular coherence analysis. External perturbations were applied mechanically to the wrist joint in small frequency bands (0–4, 4–8 and 8–12 Hz; ‘angle protocol) and at single frequencies (1, 5, 7 and 9 Hz; ‘torque’ protocol). The low-frequency drive was found in the neck muscles of 4 MD patients. In these patients, its frequency did not shift due to the perturbation. In the torque protocol, the externally applied frequencies could be detected in all controls and in the two patients without the common drive. The common low-frequency drive was not be affected by external perturbations in MD patients. Furthermore, the torque protocol did not induce intermuscular coherences at the applied frequencies in these patients, as was the case in healthy controls and in patients without the drive. This suggests that the dystonic 3–7 Hz drive is caused by a sensory-independent motor drive and sensory malfunctioning in MD might rather be a consequence than a cause of dystonia