Unit organization of the topic formulas in intermediate algebra

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Traumatic Injuries Among Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Background Because of the high degree of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, minimizing injury occurrence is essential for preserving quality of life. Objectives By documenting the incidence of particular injuries, establishing relative risks of particular injuries in different subsets of MS patients and analyzing when the injuries occurred following diagnosis, we aim to provide information to encourage injury prevention recommendations and to provide preliminary data for further clinical research. Methods This study utilized a questionnaire consisting of 40 fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice questions. It was administered to previously diagnosed MS patients at office visits, infusion center visits, hospital stays, MS clinic visits and MS support groups. Results The years following definite MS diagnosis with the highest injury rates (injuries/people years lived) were 25 years or more (.0594 injuries/year, 95% CI [0.0771 - 0.0449]). In addition, people below the age of 40 have nearly a doubled risk of injury compared to people above the age of 40 (p= .033). Primary progressive MS patients had the greatest past incidence of fractures, 55.6% (5/9) (p=0.033). Patients reported that only 17.4% (19/109) of injuries occurred during exercise. Conclusions Overall, risk factors for injury include male gender, living longer with MS, being younger and having the diagnosis of primary progressive MS. Patient education, along with specific treatments and regimented physical activity, can lead to a more robust and injury free lifestyle in this patient population

Development and function of brain photoreceptors in the annelid Platynereis dumerilii

The aim of this thesis was the molecular, developmental and functional characterization of brain photoreceptors in the annelid Platynereis dumerilii. These results shed new light on the evolution of photoreceptors and circadian centers within Bilateria. Ciliary-type photoreceptors expressing c-opsin1 and the circadian marker bmal were previously identified in the dorsal brain of Platynereis larvae (Arendt et al., 2004), indicating that these brain photoreceptors might be involved in the entrainment of the circadian clock. To study their development, I used EdU incorporation analyses, together with time lapse imaging of embryos expressing fluorescent markers of histones and membranes. This showed that the brain circadian center (demarcated by the expression of bmal and cry1) is mostly formed by cells that belong to the same lineage. These cells are generated by asymmetric cell divisions of neural progenitors expressing the transcription factor rx (retinal homeobox), a crucial regulator of vertebrate pineal, retina and hypothalamus development. Next, I established methods to study gene function in the developing Platynereis embryos (morpholino-mediated knockdown, overexpression of mRNA, knockout with zinc finger nucleases). I applied these methods to study the role of Rx in the development of the ciliary photoreceptor lineage. Rx knockdown resulted in the loss of ciliary photoreceptors and in extensive changes in brain development, consistent with a role of Rx in the maintenance and/or multipotency of neural progenitors. The analysis of the molecular identity of these cells showed that they all express a peropsin gene, the melatonin synthesis marker hiomt and several markers of the pineal complex, the structure that in vertebrates releases the hormone melatonin. Among these cells, a new photoreceptor type was identified, which is an asymmetric serotoninergic cell expressing c-ops1 and several pineal markers. Hierarchical clustering of Platynereis and vertebrate cell types revealed that this serotoninergic cell and the “canonical” ciliary photoreceptors are the Platynereis cells more similar to the vertebrate pineal and retinal photoreceptors. To understand the function of these brain hiomt expressing cells, I investigated the expression of melatonin receptors. In the trochophore larva, the only site of ex- pression of melatonin receptors was the prototroch, a belt of ciliated cells used for locomotion. Melatonin can specifically decrease the activity of the prototroch cells. Ciliary locomotion follows a circadian rhythm (with higher speed during daytime, and lower speed at night), which can be reset by phototransduction. This suggests that melatonin is the clock output mediating nighttime decrease of locomotor activity. This study indicates that serotoninergic and melatonin releasing ciliary photoreceptors existed at the base of Bilateria. These photoreceptors have a conserved regulatory signature (rx, tbx2/3, lhx2/9, miR-7) and their ancestral function was the direct control of ciliary locomotion

Safe and sustainable by design chemicals and materials. Framework for the definition of criteria and evaluation procedure for chemicals and materials

The EU CSS action plan foresees the development of a framework to define safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) criteria for chemicals and materials. The SSbD is an approach to support the design, development, production and use of chemicals and materials that focuses on providing a desirable function (or service), while avoiding or minimising harmful impacts to human health and the environment. The SSbD concept integrates aspects for the domain of safety, circularity and functionality of chemicals and materials, with sustainability consideration throughout their lifecycle, minimising their environmental footprint. SSbD aims at facilitating the industrial transition towards a safe, zero pollution, climate-neutral and resource-efficient economy, addressing adverse effects on humans, ecosystems and biodiversity from a lifecycle perspective. To fulfil these ambitions, there is the need to develop a new framework for the definition of safe and sustainable by design criteria for chemicals and materials. To do so, several frameworks were reviewed including initiatives from research, industry, governmental agencies and NGOs. Capitalising on this information, a framework was developed and is presented in this report including a methodology for the definition of possible SSbD criteria and implementation mechanisms

Synaptic and peptidergic connectome of a neurosecretory centre in the annelid brain

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from eLife Sciences Publications via the DOI in this record.Neurosecretory centers in animal brains use peptidergic signaling to influence physiology and behavior. Understanding neurosecretory center function requires mapping cell types, synapses, and peptidergic networks. Here we use transmission electron microscopy and gene expression mapping to analyze the synaptic and peptidergic connectome of an entire neurosecretory center. We reconstructed 78 neurosecretory neurons and mapped their synaptic connectivity in the brain of larval Platynereis dumerilii, a marine annelid. These neurons form an anterior neurosecretory center expressing many neuropeptides, including hypothalamic peptide orthologs and their receptors. Analysis of peptide-receptor pairs in spatially mapped single-cell transcriptome data revealed sparsely connected networks linking specific neuronal subsets. We experimentally analyzed one peptide-receptor pair and found that a neuropeptide can couple neurosecretory and synaptic brain signaling. Our study uncovered extensive networks of peptidergic signaling within a neurosecretory center and its connection to the synaptic brain.The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ European Research Council Grant Agreement 260821. The research was supported by a grant from the DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Reference no. JE 777/1)

Elvis’ Gospel music: Between the secular and the spiritual?

Do fans sanctify their heroes? In the past, I have argued that Elvis fandom is not a neo-religious practice but that attention to a modified version of Durkheim’s theory of religion can, nevertheless, help to explain it as a form of social interaction. I take that argument further here, first by revealing the ethical and analytical advantages of neo-Durkheimian theory, then by pitting this theory against three aspects of Elvis’ sincere engagement with gospel music. Elvis Presley won three Grammy awards for his gospel albums and was the musician who did most to bring the gospel quartet tradition to the mainstream. His eclectic personal ties to spirituality and religion have become a focus of debate within his fan culture. They offer a set of discursive resources through which to explain the emotional impact and social influence of his music. If star musicians are positioned as centres of attention, what happens when they use their privileged position in the spotlight to offer a “spiritual” message

A claustrum in reptiles and its role in slow-wave sleep

The mammalian claustrum, owing to its widespread connectivity with other forebrain structures, has been hypothesized to mediate functions that range from decision-making to consciousness(1). Here we report that a homologue of the claustrum, identified by single-cell transcriptomics and viral tracing of connectivity, also exists in a reptile-the Australian bearded dragon Pogona vitticeps. In Pogona, the claustrum underlies the generation of sharp waves during slow-wave sleep. The sharp waves, together with superimposed high-frequency ripples(2), propagate to the entire neighbouring pallial dorsal ventricular ridge (DVR). Unilateral or bilateral lesions of the claustrum suppress the production of sharp-wave ripples during slow-wave sleep in a unilateral or bilateral manner, respectively, but do not affect the regular and rapidly alternating sleep rhythm that is characteristic of sleep in this species(3). The claustrum is thus not involved in the generation of the sleep rhythm itself. Tract tracing revealed that the reptilian claustrum projects widely to a variety of forebrain areas, including the cortex, and that it receives converging inputs from, among others, areas of the mid- and hindbrain that are known to be involved in wake-sleep control in mammals(4-6). Periodically modulating the concentration of serotonin in the claustrum, for example, caused a matching modulation of sharp-wave production there and in the neighbouring DVR. Using transcriptomic approaches, we also identified a claustrum in the turtle Trachemys scripta, a distant reptilian relative of lizards. The claustrum is therefore an ancient structure that was probably already present in the brain of the common vertebrate ancestor of reptiles and mammals. It may have an important role in the control of brain states owing to the ascending input it receives from the mid- and hindbrain, its widespread projections to the forebrain and its role in sharp-wave generation during slow-wave sleep

Delinquent Daughters:Hollywood's war effort and the 'juvenile delinquency picture' cycle

This paper examines a short-lived cycle of ‘juvenile delinquency pictures’ that have been almost entirely ignored in scholarship on the teen film, perhaps in part because they focus on female rather than male youth. Whilst individually unremarkable, collectively these films were central to political debates about the role of Hollywood in wartime. This paper maps the widespread discursive struggles between Hollywood, the middlebrow press, industry regulators, and various government agencies over the production of this cycle. It moves on to analyse the New York reception of these films, highlighting how this ‘cycle of sensation’ was debated in relation to the very local contexts of New York's ‘bobby soxers’ and ‘victory girls’ and the strategies to police them in and around Times Square. It demonstrates that focusing on the localized and contested terrain of discourses surrounding historically situated media cycles reveals the complexity and local specificity required of micro-historical enquiry

Sushi in the United States, 1945-1970

Sushi first achieved widespread popularity in the United States in the mid-1960s. Many accounts of sushi’s US establishment foreground the role of a small number of key actors, yet underplay the role of a complex web of large-scale factors that provided the context in which sushi was able to flourish. This article critically reviews existing literature, arguing that sushi’s US popularity arose from contingent, long-term, and gradual processes. It examines US newspaper accounts of sushi during 1945–1970, which suggest the discursive context for US acceptance of sushi was considerably more propitious than generally acknowledged. Using California as a case study, the analysis also explains conducive social and material factors, and directs attention to the interplay of supply- and demand-side forces in the favorable positioning of this “new” food. The article argues that the US establishment of sushi can be understood as part of broader public acceptance of Japanese cuisine