The impact of fruit flavonoids on memory and cognition

There is intense interest in the studies related to the potential of phytochemical-rich foods to prevent age-related neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. Recent evidence has indicated that a group of plant-derived compounds known as flavonoids may exert particularly powerful actions on mammalian cognition and may reverse age-related declines in memory and learning. In particular, evidence suggests that foods rich in three specific flavonoid sub-groups, the flavanols, anthocyanins and/or flavanones, possess the greatest potential to act on the cognitive processes. This review will highlight the evidence for the actions of such flavonoids, found most commonly in fruits, such as apples, berries and citrus, on cognitive behaviour and the underlying cellular architecture. Although the precise mechanisms by which these flavonoids act within the brain remain unresolved, the present review focuses on their ability to protect vulnerable neurons and enhance the function of existing neuronal structures, two processes known to be influenced by flavonoids and also known to underpin neuro-cognitive function. Most notably, we discuss their selective interactions with protein kinase and lipid kinase signalling cascades (i.e. phosphoinositide-3 kinase/Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways), which regulate transcription factors and gene expression involved in both synaptic plasticity and cerebrovascular blood flow. Overall, the review attempts to provide an initial insight into the potential impact of regular flavonoid-rich fruit consumption on normal or abnormal deteriorations in cognitive performance

Naturalism and is Opponents

Ever since Descartes began his search for certainty in philosophy, many of the great philosophers have taken up this quest. One solution, proposed by W.V.O. Quine in his 1969 essay, Naturalized Epistemology, claims that we must refrain from studying epistemology in philosophy. Quine claims that our study of knowledge must only occur in the field of psychology and that we should refrain from talking about these issues in philosophy. As one can imagine, Quine’s essay was met with much criticism and anger among philosophers. Most notably, Hilary Putnam provides a devastating critique of naturalized epistemology in his essay, Why Reason Can’t be Naturalized. In this paper, I present both men’s views, and argue that Putnam’s response, while not perfect, does demolish the bases for Quine’s arguments about knowledge

Power simulator upgrade for smart grid algorithm development and testing

This thesis describes the conversion of WVU\u27s analog power simulator into a micro-grid of the future test bed by installing digital relays and intelligent electronic switches. The simulator is a hardware representation of the grid which contains traditional hardware, both digital and analog as well as the recent addition of highly connected, via Ethernet and potentially wireless communication, smart switching and monitoring devices. These new devices were chosen specifically for their cyber security capability to explore that facet of smart grid development. It is important to note that this simulator is a hardware implementation and as such is capable of testing smart grid ideas in the most realistic setting available without affecting real customers. This simulator also has the potential to have renewable resources like wind and solar as well as fuel cell and battery storage distributed resources tied in to test smart grid adaptability to these next generation ideas.;New digital relays were installed. Micro controller units and energy meter integrated circuits were investigated based on the desire to provide many modes of communication and as much processing power as was available in a small package. Solid state switches were designed and implemented for speed, compactness and reduced power consumption

An isotopic assessment of oil sands mine site waters to improve water management practices

Current oil sands mining technology requires approximately 2 m3 in the production of 1 m3 of crude oil. This water demand has resulted in massive volumes of process-affected waters being stored on-site – a volume that is currently not well quantified, though estimated to be in in the order of billions of m3. A site wide water balance must be closed at each mine in order to effectively manage the on-site storage and reuse of process-affected waters, in addition to planning for future remediation and release of this water following site closure. Oil sands mining operators have identified the constantly evolving nature of both operational water demands and the tailings management infrastructure as key challenges preventing accurate closure of a site wide water balance. Stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen (18O and 2H) have been widely used as tracers to close water balances of natural reservoirs. To date, their application to mine water containment systems, such as tailings management facilities, has not yet been implemented. This study demonstrates the use of 18O and 2H as tools to track key components of the water balance associated with the Mildred Lake mine, operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd in Northern Alberta. There, process affected waters are stored in interconnected tailings ponds referred to as the recycle water (RCW) circuit, with approximately 200 million m3 of water accessible for reuse in the extraction and transport of bitumen. This thesis characterizes the primary mechanisms of each water balance component contributing to the seasonal and inter-annual evolution of isotopic signatures of the RCW circuit and an end pit lake located at Mildred Lake mine. The thesis uses isotopic “finger-printing” of contributing water sources to characterize each part of the system. Isotope mass balance techniques were implemented to estimate evaporative loss from these systems and are compared to traditional methods of estimating evaporation (e.g., Penman combination equation and eddy covariance towers). This study found that isotopic seasonality of both the RCW circuit and the end pit lake were muted compared to natural systems within the region due to the contribution of large volumes of highly enriched pore water to tailings pond water stores as a result of tailings settlement. Samples collected from tailings ponds showed a systematic shift towards greater isotopic depletion during the ice-on period. I hypothesized that this shift occurred as a result of fractionation during ice formation in addition to mixing with process water released from tailings. Such mechanisms appeared to contribute to the observable spring depletion of the RCW circuit in addition to depleted snowmelt during the spring freshet. The seasonal variations in the isotopic signatures of individual tailings ponds were consistent with differences in water management between ponds. I then used an integrated isotopic signature as a proxy for the entire RCW circuit in isotope mass balance modelling scenarios. The proportion of inflow lost to evaporation from the RCW circuit was calculated as a decimal ratio using isotope mass balance modelling. The evaporation/inflow ranged from 0.11 to 0.22 over a five-year period, consistent with a high through-flow system with low residence time. These ratios correspond to 67–133 mm yr-1 of inflow water lost to evaporation from the RCW circuit based on estimated volumes of the water balance inputs. A simplified isotope mass balance model of the RCW circuit was used to estimate evaporative losses based on observable temporal isotopic enrichment during the open water period and assuming all other outflows of the water balance were zero. Using this model evaporation rates were found to range from 418 to 931 mm yr-1, while evaporation rates measured on-site using eddy covariance ranged from 350-520 mm yr-1. The difference between the isotope mass balance and eddy covariance results suggest a contribution of highly enriched tailings pore water to the overall enrichment of the RCW circuit in addition to open water evaporation. The isotope mass balance model was also used to simulate the evolution of the daily isotopic signature of a highly monitored demonstration end pit lake. The simulated pattern of isotope evolution was used to obtain an optimized estimate of lake evaporation. This estimate was then compared to a measured water balance over a four-year period. The model showed good agreement when 18O was used as the tracer; however, when 2H was used as the tracer the model consistently under predicted open water enrichment - likely due to evaporative fractionation effects. This thesis represents the first study that we are aware of that applies isotope mass balance techniques to an engineered system within the Alberta oil sands region. Our results highlight the potential value of using stable isotope tracers to aid in on-site water management of tailings ponds as well as helping to improve our understanding of the transport and distribution of water moving through mine closure landscapes

Script-based reading lessons and socialized language usage

This study focuses in particular on the connections students make to their reading as seen through contextualized language usage. Many educators and curriculum developers suggest that using these new script-based curriculum will help teachers systematize and close gaps in teaching and learning. If unwritten teacher questions and statements are used to redirect students\u27 comprehension about texts occur during the reading lesson, these will be described and analyzed for their effects on the lesson goals and objectives

Rancièrean Atomism: Clarifying the Debate between Jacques Rancière and Alain Badiou

In the late 1970s and the 1980s, a number of radical left political theorists focused their philosophical attention on the relevance of ancient atomism, revitalizing a tradition that went back to Karl Marx's work on his dissertation. This essay looks at the uses of atomism by two thinkers in particular, Jacques Rancière and Alain Badiou, in order to see how their discussions of and references to ancient materialism help to shed light on their fundamental disagreements about the nature of community and equality.First, this paper argues that what Badiou and Rancière most obviously share in their assessments of atomism is a negative judgment regarding the post-swerve constitution of the world, while what most obviously distinguishes their positions is their differing judgments regarding the preswerve rain of the atoms in the void (which Badiou assesses negatively and Rancière positively). Becoming clear both about how Badiou and Rancière respond to what comes before and after the atomistic swerve helps to clarify an implicit response on Rancière’s part to what has become Badiou’s chief objection to Rancière’s political theory. Second, this paper argues that the fact that Badiou assesses both what comes before and what comes after the swerve as negative, while Rancière assesses only what comes after the swerve as negative (because he assesses the pre-swerve rain of the atoms in the void positively), makes clear that their most essential point of difference concerns the status of the swerve that mediates between before and after. Working through the complexities of Badiou’s analysis of the swerve and uncovering Rancière’s extremely subtle analysis of the swerve helps to clarify a major aspect of what has become Rancière’s chief criticism of Badiou’s conception of philosophy

Chemiluminescent Tags for Tracking Insect Movement in Darkness: Application to Moth Photo-Orientation

The flight tracks of Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) flying toward a 5 watt incandescent light bulb were recorded under low light conditions with the aid of a camera-mounted photomultiplier and a glowing marker technique. Small felt pads bearing a chemiluminescent (glowi ma­erial, Cyalume®, were affixed to the abdomens of free-flying moths. insects orienting to a dim incandescent bulb were easily visible to the naked eye and were clearly captured on videotape. On their initial approach to the light source, M. sexta were found to orient at a mean angle of -0.220 ± 2.70 (mean ± SEM). The speed of the initial approach flight (OA ± 0.03 m/s) was significantly faster than the speed immediately after passing the light (0.29 ± 0.02 m/s; t =6.4, PM. sexta initially fly approximately at a light source and only after passing it, do they engage in circular flight around the source. M. sexta flight to lights does not entirely match any paths predicted by several light orientation mechanisms, including the commonly invoked light compass theory

Spectrum, Winter 1992

Spectrum was a newsletter for students, faculty, staff and alumni of the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, published from 1983-1992