The importance of combining MRI and large-scale digital histology in neuroimaging studies of brain connectivity and disease

One of the major issues hindering a comprehensive connectivity model for the human brain is the difficulty in linking Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) measurements to anatomical evidence produced by histological methods. In vivo and postmortem neuroimaging methodologies are still largely incompatible in terms of sample size, scale, and resolution. To help bridge the hiatus between different approaches we have established a program that characterizes the brain of individual subjects, combining MRI with postmortem neuroanatomy. The direct correlation of MRI and histological features is possible, because registered images from different modalities represent the same regions in the same brain. Comparisons are also facilitated by large-scale, digital microscopy techniques that afford images of the whole-brain sections at cellular resolution. The goal is to create a neuroimaging catalog representative of discrete age groups and specific neurological conditions. Individually, the datasets allow for investigating the relationship between different modalities; combined, they provide sufficient predictive power to inform analyses and interpretations made in the context of non-invasive studies of brain connectivity and disease

“Therefore I said to the Samaritan Woman . . . ”: Remarks on the Reception of the Gospel of John in the Pistis Sophia

This article provides some data and remarks on the reception of the Gospel of John in the Pistis Sophia (Codex Askew), with the twofold aim to shed new light on Pistis Sophia’s use of canonized Scriptures, and to contribute to the research on the Gnostic reception of the Gospel of John. Selected Johannine references in Pistis Sophia are listed and commented on, especially those in Pistis Sophia 4.141, a dense section which is key to understanding the distinctive soteriology and Christology of this text. The analysis shows that certain passages from John play an important role for Pistis Sophia. Pistis Sophia may have elaborated its soteriology in response to criticisms from “mainstream” Christianity and in parallel with certain developments that occurred in Sethianism and Valentinianism

Wearable Platform for Automatic Recognition of Parkinson Disease by Muscular Implication Monitoring

The need for diagnostic tools for the characterization of progressive movement disorders - as the Parkinson Disease (PD) - aiming to early detect and monitor the pathology is getting more and more impelling. The parallel request of wearable and wireless solutions, for the real-time monitoring in a non-controlled environment, has led to the implementation of a Quantitative Gait Analysis platform for the extraction of muscular implications features in ordinary motor action, such as gait. The here proposed platform is used for the quantification of PD symptoms. Addressing the wearable trend, the proposed architecture is able to define the real-time modulation of the muscular indexes by using 8 EMG wireless nodes positioned on lower limbs. The implemented system “translates” the acquisition in a 1-bit signal, exploiting a dynamic thresholding algorithm. The resulting 1-bit signals are used both to define muscular indexes both to drastically reduce the amount of data to be analyzed, preserving at the same time the muscular information. The overall architecture has been fully implemented on Altera Cyclone V FPGA. The system has been tested on 4 subjects: 2 affected by PD and 2 healthy subjects (control group). The experimental results highlight the validity of the proposed solution in Disease recognition and the outcomes match the clinical literature results

Predicting substance abuse treatment participation with the Personality Assessment Inventory: An investigation of how personality and interpersonal factors affect treatment

The prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse or dependence among Americans ages 12 and over is thought to be about 9.4% of the total population, or 22 million Americans (Karpiak & Norcross, 2005; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association [SAMHSA], 2003). According to Vuchinich (2002), substance use disorders (SUD) are the most common mental health problem in our society today. Additionally, estimates are that anywhere from half to 84% of all substance use disorder patients also experience a co-occurring disorder (Johnson, Brems, & Burke, 2002). Traditional treatment facilities usually are focused primarily on either substance abuse treatment or psychiatric treatment, and rarely take into account how personal and interpersonal factors associated with one\u27s mental health occur in conjunction with substance use disorders (Clement, Williams, & Waters, 1993). This confined focus of treatment to either substance use or psychiatric issues results in treatment that does not address the totality of the person, even though there has been a recent push to address the unique treatment needs of the substance abusing population (Straussner, 2004). The lack of integrated treatment for both substance and psychiatric problems may explain the high rates of relapse following treatment (Polivy & Herman, 2002). The current study examined how personality and interpersonal variables are related to behaviors exhibited during treatment in an intensive inpatient substance abuse treatment program. Personality and interpersonal variables were assessed using the Personality Assessment Inventory (Morey, 1991). Substance abuse treatment behaviors were assessed using the Treatment Process Measure (TPM), which is a brief rating scale for examining various aspects of counselor-rated treatment participation (Joe, Simpson, Greener, & Rowan-Szal, 2004). The TPM for this study was completed weekly by each participant\u27s individual therapist, and these scores were used to assess treatment participation. Pearson Correlations, Analysis of Variance, and a Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis were the statistical tests used to analyze the data. Results indicated that the Stress Scale, Treatment Rejection Scale, Antisocial Scale and Borderline Scale on the PAI are predictive of treatment participation. In-depth results and implications for future practice and research are discussed

Physiological Plasticity of Neural-Crest-Derived Stem Cells in the Adult Mammalian Carotid Body

Adult stem cell plasticity, or the ability of somatic stem cells to cross boundaries and differentiate into unrelated cell types, has been amatter of debate in the last decade. Neural-crest-derived stem cells (NCSCs) display a remarkable plasticity during development. Whether adult populations of NCSCs retain this plasticity is largely unknown. Herein, we describe that neural-crest-derived adult carotid body stem cells (CBSCs) are able to undergo endothelial differentiation in addition to their reported role in neurogenesis, contributing to both neurogenic and angiogenic processes taking place in the organ during acclimatization to hypoxia. Moreover, CBSC conversion into vascular cell types is hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) dependent and sensitive to hypoxiareleased vascular cytokines such as erythropoietin. Our data highlight a remarkable physiological plasticity in an adult population of tissue-specific stem cells and could have impact on the use of these cells for cell therapy.ERC Starting Grant: CBSCsMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad SAF2013-48535-P and SAF2016-80412-

ORGANIC WINE CONSUMERS IN SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY

This study was undertaken to determine the demographics and consumer characteristics for organic wine purchasers in San Luis Obispo. The study was performed to see who is purchasing organic wines to help wine producers, restaurants, wine bars and grocery stores create a focused target segment. This report uses important statistical techniques to analyze the data collected. Sample t-tests were performed to find the differences between certain characteristics of organic wines. Chi-squared tests were conducted to find relationships between organic wine consumers and their demographics. And frequency tests were performed for most of the survey questions to determine which answers had the largest percentages. It is concluded that the only relationship between people who have purchased organic wine and their demographics was the organic wine consumers in San Luis Obispo had an income of over $70,000. This conclusion is based on the chi-squared test performed that showed a p-value of .023 and 70.5% of the organic wine consumers had that income

An evaluation of a single group experiment with a unit of science taught by the whole method

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

The Carrying Capacity of the Environment as it relates to Human Consumerism

The authors introduce and make an attempt to describe the main problems that present and future populations of the underdeveloped world will be facing to provide enough food for themeselves.This essay describes the anachronistic situation where underdeveloped countries grow, with big deal of economical efforts, agricultural products that eventually will be used to grow and feed cattle whose meat does constitutes the principal component of the western world diet.Should this practice be reduced, underdeveloped countries will be able to provide food for themeselves in large quantities.Ironically, meat diet and overfeeding, lead to a number of disease like overweight, heart attack which may lead to death.With the abnormal and speculative increase of oil price and with the "save the world from pollution" philosophy, farmers were induced, hoping to make more profit from their work, to turn their agricultural production into product which will be used to make ecological fuel like Ethanol, retrieving, by doing so..