Ghostly Glia

This article uses intriguing visuals of glial cells in the brain as an invitation for readers to consider the many crucial functions of these lesser-known partners of neurons

The Function Hub : an implementation-independent read/write function description repository

Functions are essential building blocks of any (computer) information system. However, development efforts to implement these functions are fragmented: a function has multiple implementations, each within a specific development context. Manual effort is needed handling various search interfaces and access methods to find the desired function, its metadata (if any), and associated implementations. This laborious process inhibits discovery, and thus reuse. Uniform, implementation-independent access is needed. We demo the Function Hub, available online at https://fno.io/hub: a Web application using a semantic interoperable model to map function descriptions to (multiple) implementations. The Function Hub allows editing and discovering function description metadata, and add information about alternative implementations. This way, the Function Hub enables users to discover relevant functions independently of their implementation, and to link to original published implementations

Parallels Between Down Syndrome and Alzheimer\u27s Disease

Down syndrome is caused by trisomy of human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) and often leads to Alzheimer’s disease in affected individuals. The Tc1 mouse model contains a copy of Hsa21 in its genome, and is therefore trisomic for the genes it contains to manifest as a Down syndrome mouse model. Transmission of Hsa21 to offspring generations occurs at a low frequency with fertility rates decreased in comparison to control mouse lines. This experiment has verified that presence of Hsa21 causes a significant increase from normal brain weight. Hsa21 carriers demonstrated reductions in the number and length of dendritic projections and the number spines on cortical neurons suggesting that the increase in brain size may have been due to changes in glial cell proliferation rather than an increase in gray matter. Some have reported increases in beta-amyloid plaques in affected persons which can induce gliosis. These observations have led us to begin a study to verify the presence of beta-amyloid plaques and cell density to better understand the changes Hsa21 produces in the brain. Despite relatively extreme pathological changes in the brain the behavior of Hsa21 carriers did not exhibit significant memory impairments as compared to controls. There was a trend towards memory impairment. However, some of the subjects appeared to be hypoactive (a trait associated with Down Syndrome) that may have confounded our test that was dependent on normal motor function. Studies of spontaneous activity are now underway

Alzheimer\u27s-Like Behavior and Pathology in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Down Syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is caused by trisomy of human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) and is correlated with various comorbidities, including Alzheimer’s disease in 50% of affected individuals. The Tc1 mouse model contains a copy of Hsa21, producing an animal model of DS. In an effort to understand the correlation between DS and Alzheimer’s disease, this study compared the learning and memory abilities with hippocampal and cortical brain pathology in the Tc1 mouse model. Genotyping of Tc1 mice indicated that Hsa21 was transmitted with a 25.0% frequency. Tc1 mice underwent open field, dark-light, and step down test of inhibitory avoidance tests at set timepoints. Acquisition of a hippocampal-dependent short-term memory task was intact while long-term memory trended towards impairment. Relative brain weight of Hsa21 positive subjects was significantly higher than control littermates with lateral ventricle area profoundly increased. Histological screening for Alzheimer’s-like neuropathology showed neurofibrillary tangles in the cortex of all Hsa21+ mice and a diffuse plaque in one Hsa21+ subject. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze β-amyloid 1-42 levels in control and Hsa21+ mice. This heterogeneity in pathology is consistent with the spectrum of neuropathological deficits, including Alzheimer’s, seen in patients with DS

Speculating on vacancy

Funder: National Science Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001Funder: American Council of Learned Societies/Mellon Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000962Funder: Geography Department at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007015Abstract: Property speculation has long served a role in the settler colonial appropriation of land and the racialised uneven development of contemporary cities. This future‐oriented approach to property acquisition and management is underpinned by notions of vacancy that erase past and present forms of possession and associate racialised spaces with lack and risk. Efforts to define, represent, and manage the speculative value of “vacant” properties through predictive mapping work to colonise the future in ways that erase the present and past. In this paper, I reflect on the role of speculative cartographies of property in both reifying and undermining normative urban property regimes. Specifically, I examine the city of Philadelphia's use of cartographic tools to identify “likely” property vacancy and how they relate to ongoing racialised dispossession. I then turn to consider the potential of speculative (counter) cartographies of property to contribute to new political realities, not just prevailing geographies. To do so, I engage with the work of artists and activists who are using mapmaking grounded in Afrofuturism to reclaim and reimagine the space‐times of properties deemed by city officials and developers to be “empty” or “wasted.” I suggest that while speculative cartographies of property facilitate the consolidation of liberal property regimes, they also allow for their disruption by revealing their situatedness and contingency – and by facilitating alternative visions of urban futures

A WINning Approach: Teaching Science Communication Skills through Small-Group Workshops

Objectives: Research almost always culminates in the communication of findings. Despite the necessity of grant and manuscript writing throughout academic careers, scientific trainees often receive little guided practice in written communication. To fill this gap, we designed, implemented, and evaluated a voluntary writing initiative for biomedical students at a research-intensive (R1) university in the midwestern United States called Writing Initiative in Neuroscience (WIN). Method: WIN consisted of didactic and workshop components. The didactic component included discussions with topic-specific experts on writing grants and manuscripts for the public and for non-academic scientific careers. The workshop component consisted of small group-based peer review of participant writing samples. Student self-enrollment consistently filled all available seats over three separate cohorts, including those formed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Student self-assessments were implemented to determine improvements quantitatively and qualitatively in writing and peer-review across 3 years of WIN programming. Results: Student self-assessment of writing skills before and after programming revealed improved scientific writing competency with medium or large effect sizes. Qualitative self-assessments indicated perceived improvements in writing competency and confidence. Collectively, students who participated in WIN improved their writing and communication skills and gained experience in providing and receiving feedback. Conclusions: Ultimately, peer-led writing initiatives, such as WIN, may enhance scholarly training and lay a foundation for future trainee writing success across scientific disciplines. Implications for Theory or Practice: These results support the utility of a student-centered writing workshop for biomedical students. Our study combined aspects of multiple existing resources, including peer feedback, interdisciplinary student backgrounds, and professional editing guidance. Together, these features formed a flexible and practical writing workshop, which can be used as a template for biomedical training programs

Adverse commoning: Tracing contested legal geographies of the urban commons

Funder: Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison Under threat of enclosure in rapidly gentrifying cities, some urban commoners are turning to legal tactics to ward off dispossession. In this article, I explore the contested legal geographies of urban commoning, considering some of the challenges, stakes, and opportunities that emerge in the effort to gain legal recognition. Specifically, I examine the use of the doctrine of adverse possession by Philadelphia gardeners to claim title to the community farm they cultivated as an urban commons for decades. In the context of a neoliberal settler colonial city, I argue that the gardeners’ adverse commoning, involving an il/legal counterclaim to property, facilitates consideration of the ways urban commoners are both enrolled in normative property regimes and have the potential to resist these regimes through errant performances of proprietary continuity, exclusivity, notoriety, and hostility. </jats:p

Frédérique Blaizot, Les espaces funéraires de l’habitat groupé des Ruelles, à Serris (Seine-et-Marne) du viie au ixe s.

Cet ouvrage est la publication de la thèse soutenue par Frédérique Blaizot en 2011 à l’université de Bordeaux I. Il témoigne de l’important travail de recherche effectué par l’auteur sur les espaces funéraires de l’habitat groupé du haut Moyen Âge à Serris « Les Ruelles » (Seine-et-Marne). Au-delà de la simple monographie, l’ouvrage présente un site exceptionnel par son envergure, avec plus de 16 ha de terrain fouillé entre 1989 et 1997, par son corpus funéraire, constitué de 765 sépultures e..