Contributions of the medial etorhinal and postrhinal cortices to spatial and contextual processing

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityThe medial entorhinal and the postrhinal cortices are regions thought to critically mediate spatial and contextual processing in the medial temporal lobe. However, the manner by which these cortices contribute to spatial processing is not unequivocally established. In the first study, the entorhinal cortex was periodically disrupted utilizing the optogenetic inhibitory opsin, archaerhodopsin (ArchT) while the spatial firing of hippocampal neurons were recorded in adult rats. If the medial entorhinal cortex is an essential driver of spatial responses in the hippocampus, it would be expected that changes in hippocampal neuron firing would be specifically time-locked to when the inactivating laser is on. Instead, entorhinal disruption causes a subset of cells to remap only once during the repeated inactivations; once altered, the remapped cells maintain their new firing patterns irrespective of whether the laser is on or not. This remapping, however, does not lead to a net change in the spatial information coded across the hippocampal neuron population. This suggests that disrupting medial entorhinal inputs does not change the resolution of the spatial representation, but instead changes which hippocampal ensemble represents the environment. The participation of the postrhinal cortex in processing spatial contexts was examined in two experiments. The first experiment examined whether the spatial context of an object influences its perceived familiarity, and whether lesions of the postrhinal cortex diminish this effect. The second experiment of this study investigated whether animals with postrhinal ablations can use spatial context to conditionally discriminate which item contains a reward. No deficit was observed on either experiment, suggesting that the postrhinal cortex is not critical for processing spatial contexts. Though these results suggest that spatial processing is not the essential function of these cortices, they do not eliminate the possibility that spatial information may be one of several sources contributing to their computations. Overall, these studies suggest that the entorhinal and postrhinal cortices use multidimensional information to bias which ensembles are active in the medial temporal lobe, thereby dictating how objects and their relationships are processed

Alternative Seafood - Exploring Pathways for Norway in the Protein Transition

Our global food system is facing major challenges. The growing global population and demand for animal proteins are driving resource pressures, environmental impacts, and hazardous health effects for humans and animals. If we are to feed the world without further destabilizing our planet, major transformations in our food systems are called for. This requires shifts towards sustainable and healthy diets, coupled with transitions to sustainable and equitable production systems. Meat and livestock production is gaining increased attention for being an environmental and health hazard. Seafood on the other hand has a reputation for being a healthy and sustainable alternative. However, seafood supply chains and fish farming systems are currently far from innocent. Industrial wild capture, fish farming and feed production are harming marine and terrestrial ecosystems alike, and the health and wellbeing of animals and humans. Along with the transition to renewable energy and a circular economy, a sustainable civilization calls for transitions toward alternative proteins and regenerative food systems – including a shift in seafood production. New technologies are opening possibilities for a phase-shift in how we produce food. Innovation in plant-based proteins, microbial fermentation and cellular agriculture are providing alternative ways of making the seafood and animal products we know and love – without any animals involved. These alternative proteins are accelerated by the convergence of biotechnology, information technologies, nanotechnologies, 3D-printing, sensors and the like. The fourth industrial revolution has reached the agro-food industry, with sustainable innovations disrupting the incumbent system, and opening up an ocean of opportunity. Megatrends such as the sustainability imperative and flexitarian movement are creating ripe conditions for change. In this research, we explore how Norway can contribute to the protein transition by leading the way in alternative seafood. Despite scarce activity in the space, Norway has an abundance of resources that could be leveraged for alternative proteins, ranging from natural resources to financial and cultural capital. We investigate opportunities, barriers, and strategies to drive forward value chains for this emerging industry, while ensuring a sustainable and just transition. The intended outcomes are foundations for a shared vision and strategy – a roadmap for building an innovation system that can enable new value chains and the protein transition in Norway. We apply pragmatic tools and theoretical frameworks to address this complex challenge - such as systems innovation, value chains, and sustainability transitions. Keywords: alternative proteins, alternative seafood, aquaculture, food systems, bioeconomy, sustainability transitions, socio-technical systems, multi-level perspective, value chains, technological innovation systems, innovation ecosystems, strategy, Norwa

Incorporating Environmental Justice into Second Generation Indices of Multiple Deprivation: Lessons from the UK and Progress Internationally

Second generation area-based indices of multiple deprivation have been extensively used in the UK over the last 15 years. They resulted from significant developments in political, technical, and conceptual spheres for deprivation data. We review the parallel development of environmental justice research and how and when environmental data was incorporated into these indices. We explain the transfer of these methods from the UK to Germany and assess the progress internationally in developing such indices. Finally, we illustrate how billions of pounds in the UK was allocated by using these tools to tackle neighbourhood deprivation and environmental justice to address the determinants of health

Do alternative weighting approaches for an Index of Multiple Deprivation change the association with mortality? A sensitivity analysis from Germany

Objectives This study aimed to assess the impact of using different weighting procedures for the German Index of Multiple Deprivation (GIMD) investigating their link to mortality rates. Design and setting In addition to the original (normative) weighting of the GIMD domains, four alternative weighting approaches were applied: equal weighting, linear regression, maximization algorithm and factor analysis. Correlation analyses to quantify the association between the differently weighted GIMD versions and mortality based on district-level official data from Germany in 2010 were applied (n=412 districts). Outcome measures Total mortality (all age groups) and premature mortality (<65 years). Results All correlations of the GIMD versions with both total and premature mortality were highly significant (p<0.001). The comparison of these associations using Williams's t-test for paired correlations showed significant differences, which proved to be small in respect to absolute values of Spearman's rho (total mortality: between 0.535 and 0.615;premature mortality: between 0.699 and 0.832). Conclusions The association between area deprivation and mortality proved to be stable, regardless of different weighting of the GIMD domains. The theory-based weighting of the GIMD should be maintained, due to the stability of the GIMD scores and the relationship to mortality

Long-term reliability of the figaro TGS 2600 solid-state methane sensor under low-Arctic conditions at Toolik Lake, Alaska

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Eugster, W., Laundre, J., Eugster, J., & Kling, G. W. Long-term reliability of the figaro TGS 2600 solid-state methane sensor under low-Arctic conditions at Toolik Lake, Alaska. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 13(5), (2020): 2681-2695, doi:10.5194/amt-13-2681-2020.The TGS 2600 was the first low-cost solid-state sensor that shows a response to ambient levels of CH4 (e.g., range ≈1.8–2.7 µmol mol−1). Here we present an empirical function to correct the TGS 2600 signal for temperature and (absolute) humidity effects and address the long-term reliability of two identical sensors deployed from 2012 to 2018. We assess the performance of the sensors at 30 min resolution and aggregated to weekly medians. Over the entire period the agreement between TGS-derived and reference CH4 mole fractions measured by a high-precision Los Gatos Research instrument was R2=0.42, with better results during summer (R2=0.65 in summer 2012). Using absolute instead of relative humidity for the correction of the TGS 2600 sensor signals reduced the typical deviation from the reference to less than ±0.1 µmol mol−1 over the full range of temperatures from −41 to 27 ∘C. At weekly resolution the two sensors showed a downward drift of signal voltages indicating that after 10–13 years a TGS 2600 may have reached its end of life. While the true trend in CH4 mole fractions measured by the high-quality reference instrument was 10.1 nmolmol−1yr−1 (2012–2018), part of the downward trend in sensor signal (ca. 40 %–60 %) may be due to the increase in CH4 mole fraction because the sensor voltage decreases with increasing CH4 mole fraction. Weekly median diel cycles tend to agree surprisingly well between the TGS 2600 and reference measurements during the snow-free season, but in winter the agreement is lower. We suggest developing separate functions for deducing CH4 mole fractions from TGS 2600 measurements under cold and warm conditions. We conclude that the TGS 2600 sensor can provide data of research-grade quality if it is adequately calibrated and placed in a suitable environment where cross-sensitivities to gases other than CH4 are of no concern.We acknowledge support received from Arctic LTER grants (grant nos. NSF-DEB-1637459, 1026843, 1754835, and NSF-PLR 1504006) and supplemental funding from the NSF-NEON and OPP-AON programs. Gaius R. Shaver (MBL) is acknowledged for initiating the study and supporting our activities in all aspects. ETH is acknowledge for supporting the purchase of the Fast Greenhouse Gas Analyzer that replaced the older Fast Methane Analyzer in 2016 (grant no. 0-43683-11)

Managerial Ratings of in‐Role Behaviors, Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, and Overall Performance: Testing Different Models of Their Relationship

We utilized confirmatory factor analysis to test several of the assumptions behind this new direction for OCB research. First, in support of prior research, we found that in-role behaviors (IRBs) and two dimensions of OCB (altruism and conscientiousness) were empirically distinct. Next, we found that overall performance ratings were predicted by ratings given concerning IRB and altruism, though not by ratings of the OCB dimension of conscientiousness. Third, a second-order factor analysis that specified four first-order factors loading on one general factor of performance was found to be consistent with the data. This is presented as support for including OCB dimensions within current definitions of employee performance. Finally, to address possible halo in the data, a second causal model was evaluated, where overall performance was viewed as causally prior to the other three measures. Implications are discussed. D 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: In-role behavior; Organizational citizenship behavior; Overall performance; Halo The past decade has seen a large amount of research and conceptual development concerning organizational citizenship behavior, or OCB (Smith et a

What Will the HRDQ Future Be: When One Turns Into Three?

Editorial regarding second issue of 2016 Human Resource Development Quarterl

Prospects for photon blockade in four level systems in the N configuration with more than one atom

We show that for appropriate choices of parameters it is possible to achieve photon blockade in idealised one, two and three atom systems. We also include realistic parameter ranges for rubidium as the atomic species. Our results circumvent the doubts cast by recent discussion in the literature (Grangier et al Phys. Rev Lett. 81, 2833 (1998), Imamoglu et al Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 2836 (1998)) on the possibility of photon blockade in multi-atom systems.Comment: 8 page, revtex, 7 figures, gif. Submitted to Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optic

Adapted vs. conventional cattle genotypes: sustainability for organic and low input dairy production systems

Dairy cow strains arising from conventional breeding programmes are frequently perceived as unsuitable for organic and low input milk production systems. While farmers have identified a number of breeds and strains as being ‘adapted’ to organic and low input systems, there is often little scientific evidence to indicate that these breeds are more appropriate than conventional genotypes. Thus the purpose of this study is to examine the response of different dairy genotypes (i.e. "conventional" versus "adapted") to an undersupply with nutrients and energy, which is a characteristic of low input systems with limited dietary supplementation and to provide information on the metabolic response of dairy cows to such dietary restrictions