J.E. McPherson – A Career of Exemplary Service and Contributions to the Entomological Society of America

(excerpt) Scientific societies are a vital component of the infrastructure that fosters progress in science. They play a vital role in the exchange of information through the publication of scientific journals and by organizing scientific meetings and symposia at which results and ideas are shared and discussed, professional contacts are made, and networks established and maintained. Scientific societies provide a plethora of professional development opportunities for both young and established scientists. They are volunteer organizations comprised of and led by practicing scientists, teachers, and practitioners who provide the vision, leadership, governance, scientific and ethical standards, scientific programming, and educational training opportunities that lie at the core of their mission. Exceptional service to scientific societies is often a hallmark of outstanding scientists and educators. It is therefore no surprise that outstanding service to the Entomological Society of America (ESA) spanning over 30 years is a hallmark of J. E. (Jay) McPherson’s career (Fig. 1)

Detecting flat normal cones using Segre classes

Given a flat, projective morphism $Y \to T$ from an equidimensional scheme to a nonsingular curve and a subscheme $Z$ of $Y$, we give conditions under which specialization of the Segre class $s(N_{Z}Y)$ of the normal cone of $Z$ in $Y$ implies flatness of the normal cone. We apply this result to study when the relative tangent star cone of a flat family is flat.Comment: LaTeX, 11 pages, no figure

Tangential Quantum Cohomology of Arbitrary Order

J. Kock has previously defined a tangency quantum product on formal power series with coefficients in the cohomology ring of any smooth projective variety, and thus a ring that generalizes the quantum cohomology ring. We further generalize Kock's construction by defining a dth-order contact product and establishing its associativity.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX. We correct our paper to work in the correct context, viz., using numerical equivalence (rather than rational equivalence) and explicitly mentioning the Novikov rin

Modulation of human corticospinal excitability by paired associative stimulation

Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) has come to prominence as a potential therapeutic intervention for the treatment of brain injury/disease, and as an experimental method with which to investigate Hebbian principles of neural plasticity in humans. Prototypically, a single electrical stimulus is directed to a peripheral nerve in advance of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) delivered to the contralateral primary motor cortex (M1). Repeated pairing of the stimuli (i.e., association) over an extended period may increase or decrease the excitability of corticospinal projections from M1, in manner that depends on the interstimulus interval (ISI). It has been suggested that these effects represent a form of associative long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) that bears resemblance to spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) as it has been elaborated in animal models. With a large body of empirical evidence having emerged since the cardinal features of PAS were first described, and in light of the variations from the original protocols that have been implemented, it is opportune to consider whether the phenomenology of PAS remains consistent with the characteristic features that were initially disclosed. This assessment necessarily has bearing upon interpretation of the effects of PAS in relation to the specific cellular pathways that are putatively engaged, including those that adhere to the rules of STDP. The balance of evidence suggests that the mechanisms that contribute to the LTP- and LTD-type responses to PAS differ depending on the precise nature of the induction protocol that is used. In addition to emphasizing the requirement for additional explanatory models, in the present analysis we highlight the key features of the PAS phenomenology that require interpretation

UV detector monitors organic contamination of optical surfaces

Silicon carbide, insensitive to visible light, is used in photodetectors. System contamination can be monitored during the normal operation without interference to the operator, and without shielding from ambient light

Mammalian Septins Nomenclature

There are 10 known mammalian septin genes, some of which produce multiple splice variants. The current nomenclature for the genes and gene products is very confusing, with several different names having been given to the same gene product and distinct names given to splice variants of the same gene. Moreover, some names are based on those of yeast or Drosophila septins that are not the closest homologues. Therefore, we suggest that the mammalian septin field adopt a common nomenclature system, based on that adopted by the Mouse Genomic Nomenclature Committee and accepted by the Human Genome Organization Gene Nomenclature Committee. The human and mouse septin genes will be named SEPT1–SEPT10 and Sept1–Sept10, respectively. Splice variants will be designated by an underscore followed by a lowercase “v” and a number, e.g., SEPT4_v1

Practical Strategies for Pharmacist Integration with Primary Care: A Workbook.

This workbook is a practical set of tips and resources to assist pharmacists in providing clinical pharmacy services to primary care providers and their patients. The content was written based on experiences in Vermont in 2014, however the topics should generalize to pharmacists in other areas