Communal Singing as Political Act: A Chorus of Women Resistants in La Petite Roquette, 1943–1944

During World War II, any women arrested in Paris for political reasons were incarcerated in La Petite Roquette prison. While there, some of the women formed an ad hoc chorus that sang a repertoire comprised of French and Soviet songs. Though they were prevented from taking direct, physical action against the Nazi occupiers, they turned to song as a means of proclaiming their identity and demonstrating their political beliefs

The Design and Testing of Information Aggregation Mechanisms: A Two-Stage Parimutuel IAM

The research reported here is focused on the design of new information aggregation mechanisms. These are competitive processes designed for collecting and aggregating dispersed information held in the form of impression and belief, that might otherwise be impossible to get. The research explores alternative institutional forms of IAMs and how they work. That specially designed markets can aggregate information is well documented in the literature as are the problems encountered when parimutuel-type systems are employed in an information aggregation capacity. This research is focused on new mechanisms, unlike any found evolving naturally, which mitigate these problems. These new mechanisms speed the process through which information is revealed, reduce deceptive behavior and reduce the instances of substantially incorrect aggregation (i.e., bubbles). The paper finds that a special, “two-stage” parimutuel mechanism is an improvement over previously studied parimutuel mechanisms. The two-stage parimutuel, on average, makes a prediction closer to that predicted using all available information. The mechanism suffers from fewer mirages (bubbles) than do previous parimutuel structures and it produces indicators for assessing the reliability of the information produced

Design Improved Parimutuel-type Information Aggregation Mechanisms: Inaccuracies and the Long-Shot Bias as Disequilibrium Phenomena

Information Aggregation Mechanisms (IAMs) based on parimutuel-type betting systems can aggregate information from complex environments. However, the performance of previously studied systems leaves something to be desired due to possible bluffing, strategic timing of decisions and a so called long shot bias. This paper demonstrates that two modifications of parimutuel systems improve information aggregation performance by removing disinformation due to strategic behavior and by removing misleading disequilibrium behavior. The experiments also demonstrate that the so called long shot bias results from disequilibrium behavior as opposed to having roots in the psychology of the individuals

Neurological, Psychiatric, and Biochemical Aspects of Thiamine Deficiency in Children and Adults.

Thiamine (vitamin B1) is an essential nutrient that serves as a cofactor for a number of enzymes, mostly with mitochondrial localization. Some thiamine-dependent enzymes are involved in energy metabolism and biosynthesis of nucleic acids whereas others are part of the antioxidant machinery. The brain is highly vulnerable to thiamine deficiency due to its heavy reliance on mitochondrial ATP production. This is more evident during rapid growth (i.e., perinatal periods and children) in which thiamine deficiency is commonly associated with either malnutrition or genetic defects. Thiamine deficiency contributes to a number of conditions spanning from mild neurological and psychiatric symptoms (confusion, reduced memory, and sleep disturbances) to severe encephalopathy, ataxia, congestive heart failure, muscle atrophy, and even death. This review discusses the current knowledge on thiamine deficiency and associated morbidity of neurological and psychiatric disorders, with special emphasis on the pediatric population, as well as the putative beneficial effect of thiamine supplementation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurological conditions

Increased Postprandial Nonesterified Fatty Acid Appearance and Oxidation in Type 2 Diabetes Is Not Fully Established in Offspring of Diabetic Subjects

BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that abnormal postprandial plasma nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) metabolism may participate in the development of tissue lipotoxicity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). We previously found that non-diabetic offspring of two parents with T2D display increased plasma NEFA appearance and oxidation rates during intravenous administration of a fat emulsion. However, it is currently unknown whether plasma NEFA appearance and oxidation are abnormal during the postprandial state in these subjects at high-risk of developing T2D. METHODOLOGY: Palmitate appearance and oxidation rates and glycerol appearance rate were determined in eleven healthy offspring of two parents with T2D (positive family history, FH+), 13 healthy subjects without first-degree relatives with T2D (FH-) and 12 subjects with T2D at fasting, during normoglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp and during continuous oral intake of a standard liquid meal to achieve steady postprandial NEFA and triacylglycerols (TG) without and with insulin infusion to maintain similar glycemia in all three groups. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Plasma palmitate appearance and oxidation were higher at fasting and during the clamp conditions in the T2D group (all P<0.05). In the postprandial state, palmitate appearance, oxidative and non oxidative rates were all elevated in T2D (all P<0.05) but not in FH+. Both T2D and FH+ displayed elevated postprandial TG vs. FH- (P<0.001). Acute correction of hyperglycemia during the postprandial state did not affect these group differences. Increased waist circumference and BMI were positively associated with elevated postprandial plasma palmitate appearance and oxidation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Postprandial plasma NEFA intolerance observed in subjects with T2D is not fully established in non-diabetic offspring of both parents with T2D, despite the presence of increased postprandial plasma TG in the later. Elevated postprandial plasma NEFA appearance and oxidation in T2D is observed despite acute correction of the exaggerated glycemic excursion in this group