Total and Bioavailable Chromium Along a Toposequence in San Luis Obispo, CA.

The presence of large quantities of Chromium metal in soil and plants is of major concern due to its toxicity to humans. Total (USEPA 3050a) and bioavailable (USEPA 1311) levels of chromium were measured along a serpentinic Central Coast toposequence. Soil from the surface and subsurface, as well as the above ground plants of the toposequence were determined and compared to several soil chemical and physical properties using a least squares regression. The binding environments and oxidation states were found through XANES and EXAFS x-ray spectroscopies. The total and bioavailable chromium concentrations of the soil averaged 1457.1 and 1.6 mg Cr/kg respectively, and the average total plant chromium was 115.2 mg Cr/kg. The difference between chromium in the soil surface and subsurface was not statistically significant. The concentrations of total soil and plant chromium were highest in the backslope positions with a value of 2528.8 mg Cr/kg in the soil and 288.5 mg Cr/kg in the above ground plants. Though the backslope positions had slightly elevated levels of Cr, slope position did not have a large influence on soil and plant total chromium levels. The soil chemical and physical properties did not show a significant linear relationship with chromium levels. The dominant form of chromium found in both the bulk-soil and plant samples was Cr3+, this agrees with the low amount of bioavailable chromium found at the site. Sepentinitic parent materials naturally lead to high chromium levels in soils and plants, so the ability to understand how chromium interacts with soil properties is crucial in the effective landscape management of areas rich in this metal

12 Museum Theorists at Play

Introduction by Lauren Appel1. Learning by Do-weyan, by Marian Howard, with Nicole Ferrin2: Dewey Defines Himself and Education, by David Vining 3. Benjamin Ives Gilman: Arts in People’s Lives, by Katherine Hillman 4. John Cotton Dana: The Social Construction of Museums, by Marissa Corwin 5. Piaget in the Art Museum: Constructing Knowledge Through Active Engagement, by Berry Stein 6. Lev Vygotsky: The Social Aspects of Learning, by Nicole Keller 7. Paulo Freire: Literacy, Democracy, and Context, by Nicole Keller 8. Maxine Greene: Aesthetic Education, by Lauren Appel 9. Howard Gardner and Multiple Intelligence Theory: A Practical Application of Entry Points in Museum Programming, by Bill Elliston 10. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Finding the Flow, by David Bowles 11. George Hein: Metaconstructivist, by Lauren Appel 12. David Carr: A Poetics of Questions, by Tiffany Reedy 13. David Sobel: Please in My Backyard, by Kathryn Eliza Harris 14. Connecting the Dots, by Liat Olenickhttps://educate.bankstreet.edu/faculty-staff/1009/thumbnail.jp

Does the Mediterranean diet predict longevity in the elderly? A Swedish perspective

Dietary pattern analysis represents a useful improvement in the investigation of diet and health relationships. Particularly, the Mediterranean diet pattern has been associated with reduced mortality risk in several studies involving both younger and elderly population groups. In this research, relationships between dietary macronutrient composition, as well as the Mediterranean diet, and total mortality were assessed in 1,037 seventy-year-old subjects (540 females) information. Diet macronutrient composition was not associated with mortality, while a refined version of the modified Mediterranean diet index showed a significant inverse association (HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.89; 0.98). As expected, inactive subjects, smokers and those with a higher waist circumference had a higher mortality, while a reduced risk characterized married and more educated people. Sensitivity analyses (which confirmed our results) consisted of: exclusion of one food group at a time in the Mediterranean diet index, exclusion of early deaths, censoring at fixed follow-up time, adjusting for activities of daily living and main cardiovascular risk factors including weight/waist circumference changes at follow up. In conclusion, we can reasonably state that a higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet pattern, especially by consuming wholegrain cereals, foods rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and a limited amount of alcohol, predicts increased longevity in the elderly

Overall and cause-specific mortality rates among men and women with high exposure to indoor air pollution from the use of smoky and smokeless coal: a cohort study in Xuanwei, China

OBJECTIVES: Never-smoking women in Xuanwei (XW), China, have some of the highest lung cancer rates in the country. This has been attributed to the combustion of smoky coal used for indoor cooking and heating. The aim of this study was to evaluate the spectrum of cause-specific mortality in this unique population, including among those who use smokeless coal, considered 'cleaner' coal in XW, as this has not been well-characterised. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: XW, a rural region of China where residents routinely burn coal for indoor cooking and heating. PARTICIPANTS: Age-adjusted, cause-specific mortality rates between 1976 and 2011 were calculated and compared among lifetime smoky and smokeless coal users in a cohort of 42 420 men and women from XW. Mortality rates for XW women were compared with those for a cohort of predominately never-smoking women in Shanghai. RESULTS: Mortality in smoky coal users was driven by cancer (41%), with lung cancer accounting for 88% of cancer deaths. In contrast, cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounted for 32% of deaths among smokeless coal users, with 7% of deaths from cancer. Total cancer mortality was four times higher among smoky coal users relative to smokeless coal users, particularly for lung cancer (standardised rate ratio (SRR)=17.6). Smokeless coal users had higher mortality rates of CVD (SRR=2.9) and pneumonia (SRR=2.5) compared with smoky coal users. These patterns were similar in men and women, even though XW women rarely smoked cigarettes. Women in XW, regardless of coal type used, had over a threefold higher rate of overall mortality, and most cause-specific outcomes were elevated compared with women in Shanghai. CONCLUSIONS: Cause-specific mortality burden differs in XW based on the lifetime use of different coal types. These observations provide evidence that eliminating all coal use for indoor cooking and heating is an important next step in improving public health particularly in developing countries

Genome-wide Analyses Identify KIF5A as a Novel ALS Gene

To identify novel genes associated with ALS, we undertook two lines of investigation. We carried out a genome-wide association study comparing 20,806 ALS cases and 59,804 controls. Independently, we performed a rare variant burden analysis comparing 1,138 index familial ALS cases and 19,494 controls. Through both approaches, we identified kinesin family member 5A (KIF5A) as a novel gene associated with ALS. Interestingly, mutations predominantly in the N-terminal motor domain of KIF5A are causative for two neurodegenerative diseases: hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG10) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2). In contrast, ALS-associated mutations are primarily located at the C-terminal cargo-binding tail domain and patients harboring loss-of-function mutations displayed an extended survival relative to typical ALS cases. Taken together, these results broaden the phenotype spectrum resulting from mutations in KIF5A and strengthen the role of cytoskeletal defects in the pathogenesis of ALS.Peer reviewe

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Larger Than Life: Institutionalizing the Radical

How do community artists mediate competing interests? Is there a contradiction between working for an institution and creating meaningful community art? The author argues that there are drawbacks to institutionalization because it provides a unique means for creating social ties both within and among distinct urban communities. While social scientists often think of inner city communities as lacking social capital, this thesis argues that muralists devise strategies to tap into and expose deep social networks that do exist. There are more than 2,300 murals in Philadelphia, and only two have ever been vandalized. This signifies not only that Philadelphians support the murals, but also that they act consciously and collectively to bring them about. While murals do not speak for a community, they and other community arts can provide a new means for communicating within and between urban neighborhoods. Methodology includes examination of the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia to explore the intersection of community arts and urban policy. The author interviewed community artists

Influence of sacroiliac bracing on muscle activation strategies during 2 functional tasks in standing-tolerant and standing-intolerant individuals

People who develop low back pain during standing (standing-intolerant) are a subclinical group at risk for clinical low back pain. Standing-intolerant individuals respond favorably to stabilization exercise and may be similar to people with sacroiliac joint dysfunction that respond to stabilization approaches including sacroiliac joint (SIJ) bracing. The purpose was to characterize muscle activation and response to SIJ bracing in standing-tolerant and standing-intolerant individuals during forward flexion and unilateral stance. Trunk and hip electromyography data were collected from 31 participants (17 standing-tolerant and 14 standing-intolerant) while performing these tasks with and without SIJ bracing. Kinematics were captured concurrently and used for movement phase identification. Cross-correlation quantified trunk coactivation and extensor timing during return-to-stand from forward flexion; root mean square amplitude quantified gluteal activity during unilateral stance. The standing-intolerant group had elevated erector spinae–external oblique coactivation without bracing, and erector spinae–internal oblique coactivation with bracing during return-to-stand compared with standing-tolerant individuals. Both groups reversed extensor sequencing during return-to-stand with bracing. Standing-tolerant individuals had higher hip abductor activity in nondominant unilateral stance and increased hip extensor activity with bracing. SIJ bracing could be a useful adjunct to other interventions targeted toward facilitating appropriate muscle activation in standing-intolerant individuals