Short Takes : State and local governments curtail spending

Federal Reserve District, 5th ; Budget ; Cities and towns

Climate, Conflict and Society: Changing Responses to Weather Extremes in Nineteenth Century Zululand

Changing climates affect human societies differently depending on societal structures, cultural perceptions and their relative vulnerability and resilience. In this study, we explore the complex relationship between climate, conflict and society in nineteenth century Zululand. The paper first reviews current debates surrounding the links between climatic change, societal transformation and the rise of the Zulu Kingdom from the late-eighteenth to early-nineteenth centuries. It then considers new empirical evidence relating to conflict and socio-economic changes at a local scale in Zululand from the early-mid-nineteenth century onwards, using a combination of unpublished archival materials written by missionaries and other observers, together with oral histories and traditions. Our analysis highlights how changing precipitation patterns, especially towards drier conditions, may have contributed to changes in societal responses, including dominant narratives about rain-control, the migration and dissolution of society, and conflicts and unrest. We suggest that temporal differences in these responses were contingent upon the role of leaders, power structures, and the willingness and ability of leaders to yield this power. The case of nineteenth century Zululand exemplifies the complexity of environment-society interactions, and strengthens the call for a thorough scrutiny of the narratives of social unrest in specific socio-cultural contexts

The Hypanis Valles delta: The last highstand of a sea on early Mars?

One of the most contentious hypotheses in the geological history of Mars is whether the northern lowlands ever contained an oceanic water body. Arguably, the best evidence for an ocean comes from the presence of sedimentary fans around Mars' dichotomy boundary, which separates the northern lowlands from the southern highlands. Here we describe the palaeogeomorphology of the Hypanis Valles sediment fan, the largest sediment fan complex reported on Mars (area >970 km2). This has an extensive catchment (4.6 x 105 km2) incorporating Hypanis and Nanedi Valles, that we show was active during the late-Noachian/early-Hesperian period (∼3.7 Ga). The fan comprises a series of lobe-shaped sediment bodies, connected by multiple bifurcating flat-topped ridges. We interpret the latter as former fluvial channel belts now preserved in inverted relief. Meter-scale-thick, sub-horizontal layers that are continuous over tens of kilometres are visible in scarps and the inverted channel margins. The inverted channel branches and lobes are observed to occur up to at least 140 km from the outlet of Hypanis Valles and descend ∼500 m in elevation. The progressive basinward advance of the channellobe transition records deposition and avulsion at the margin of a retreating standing body of water, assuming the elevation of the northern plains basin floor is stable. We interpret the Hypanis sediment fan to represent an ancient delta as opposed to a fluvial fan system. At its location at the dichotomy boundary, the Hypanis Valles fan system is topographically open to Chryse Planitia – an extensive plain that opens in turn into the larger northern lowlands basin. We conclude that the observed progradation of fan bodies was due to basinward shoreline retreat of an ancient body of water which extended across at least Chryse Planitia. Given the open topography, it is plausible that the Hypanis fan system records the existence, last highstand, and retreat of a large sea in Chryse Planitia and perhaps even an ocean that filled the northern plains of Mars

Multidirectional In Vivo Characterization of Skin Using Wiener Nonlinear Stochastic System Identification Techniques

A triaxial force-sensitive microrobot was developed to dynamically perturb skin in multiple deformation modes, in vivo. Wiener static nonlinear identification was used to extract the linear dynamics and static nonlinearity of the force–displacement behavior of skin. Stochastic input forces were applied to the volar forearm and thenar eminence of the hand, producing probe tip perturbations in indentation and tangential extension. Wiener static nonlinear approaches reproduced the resulting displacements with variances accounted for (VAF) ranging 94–97%, indicating a good fit to the data. These approaches provided VAF improvements of 0.1–3.4% over linear models. Thenar eminence stiffness measures were approximately twice those measured on the forearm. Damping was shown to be significantly higher on the palm, whereas the perturbed mass typically was lower. Coefficients of variation (CVs) for nonlinear parameters were assessed within and across individuals. Individual CVs ranged from 2% to 11% for indentation and from 2% to 19% for extension. Stochastic perturbations with incrementally increasing mean amplitudes were applied to the same test areas. Differences between full-scale and incremental reduced-scale perturbations were investigated. Different incremental preloading schemes were investigated. However, no significant difference in parameters was found between different incremental preloading schemes. Incremental schemes provided depth-dependent estimates of stiffness and damping, ranging from 300 N/m and 2 Ns/m, respectively, at the surface to 5 kN/m and 50 Ns/m at greater depths. The device and techniques used in this research have potential applications in areas, such as evaluating skincare products, assessing skin hydration, or analyzing wound healing.Foundation for Research, Science & Technology (N.Z.) (Grants UOA21647.001 and NERF 9077/3608892)Tertiary Education Commission of New Zealand (Medical Technologies Centre of Research Excellence (MedTech CoRE)

K. Alan Snyder and Jamin Metcalf, Many Times and Many Places: C. S. Lewis and the Value of History

K. Alan Snyder and Jamin Metcalf, Many Times and Many Places: C. S. Lewis and the Value of History (Hamden, CT: Winged Lion Press, 2023). 191 pages. $18.99. ISBN: 9781935688525

Everybody Says Don\u27t: An Examination of Works by Stephen Sondheim in High School Theatre Programs

The works of Stephen Sondheim are some of the most complex in the musical theatre canon. The storylines are often about adults in tumultuous relationships and the music contains indiscernible melodies and abnormal rhythms. These are works often difficult for even the most experienced performers, let alone any high school student. As a high school theatre teacher, it is important my students are challenged and prepared to tackle any and all theatrical works. I have dissected a number of Sondheim\u27s works in order to find ways to make them more accessible to high school students. While the characters and their experiences may be well beyond their high school years, these works are still relevant to them. Navigating this complicated material is one of the many ways I challenge my students, and in my thesis, I intend to explain how I guide them through this text and music. I utilized research for my classroom teachings to explore three different works by Stephen Sondheim (Into the Woods, Company, and Merrily We Roll Along). Each of these musicals presents different challenges student performers must overcome. I used my musical theatre class as my lab to delve into in-depth script and score analysis and discussion of how to master the challenges of each musical into a full production

Commentary on "The Perception and Cognition of Time in Balinese Music" by Andrew Clay McGraw

We review the paper by Andrew Clay McGraw, noting that it represents an interesting and valuable contribution to the study of music in cognition in its informed exploration of non-western musical perceptions. We raise a number of concerns about the methods used, and make suggestions as to how the issues that were empirically addressed in the paper might have been tackled in ways that would have enhanced the interpretability of its findings

MiR-219a-5p Enriched Extracellular Vesicles Induce OPC Differentiation and EAE Improvement More Efficiently Than Liposomes and Polymeric Nanoparticles

Remyelination is a key aspect in multiple sclerosis pathology and a special effort is being made to promote it. However, there is still no available treatment to regenerate myelin and several strategies are being scrutinized. Myelination is naturally performed by oligodendrocytes and microRNAs have been postulated as a promising tool to induce oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation and therefore remyelination. Herein, DSPC liposomes and PLGA nanoparticles were studied for miR-219a-5p encapsulation, release and remyelination promotion. In parallel, they were compared with biologically engineered extracellular vesicles overexpressing miR-219a-5p. Interestingly, extracellular vesicles showed the highest oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation levels and were more effective than liposomes and polymeric nanoparticles crossing the blood–brain barrier. Finally, extracellular vesicles were able to improve EAE animal model clinical evolution. Our results indicate that the use of extracellular vesicles as miR-219a-5p delivery system can be a feasible and promising strategy to induce remyelination in multiple sclerosis patients.This work was supported by Carlos III Institute, (PI17/00189 and DTS15/00069), by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional—FEDER, by the Gipuzkoa Regional Council (DFG 15/006), by grant from the Basque Government (RIS3/DTS/2018222025), by the Department of Industry of the Basque Country (ELKARTEK 16/014), and the Spanish State Research Agency (SAF2017-87670-R) and Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Program Grant MDM-2017-0720). I.O.-Q., A.A. and L.I. were supported by the Department of Education of the Basque Government. IOQ and LAN were supported by EMBO short Term Fellowship Programme. LAN was supported by a Canadian graduate scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CGS-D CIHR).PRC was supported by Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science

Cotranslational Folding Stimulates Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting in the Alphavirus Structural Polyprotein

Viruses maximize their genetic coding capacity through a variety of biochemical mechanisms, including programmed ribosomal frameshifting (PRF), which facilitates the production of multiple proteins from a single mRNA transcript. PRF is typically stimulated by structural elements within the mRNA that generate mechanical tension between the transcript and ribosome. However, in this work, we show that the forces generated by the cotranslational folding of the nascent polypeptide chain can also enhance PRF. Using an array of biochemical, cellular, and computational techniques, we first demonstrate that the Sindbis virus structural polyprotein forms two competing topological isomers during its biosynthesis at the ribosome-translocon complex. We then show that the formation of one of these topological isomers is linked to PRF. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the translocon-mediated membrane integration of a transmembrane domain upstream from the ribosomal slip site generates a force on the nascent polypeptide chain that scales with observed frameshifting. Together, our results indicate that cotranslational folding of this viral protein generates a tension that stimulates PRF. To our knowledge, this constitutes the first example in which the conformational state of the nascent polypeptide chain has been linked to PRF. These findings raise the possibility that, in addition to RNA-mediated translational recoding, a variety of cotranslational folding or binding events may also stimulate PRF

Congestive Heart Failure Patient Education Intervention to Address 30 Day CHF Readmission

Introduction. The ACA Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program recently cut reimbursement for 30 day readmissions. Risk-adjusted congestive heart failure (CHF) 30-day readmission rate at Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC) in 2012 approached 22.2% among Medicare patients.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1203/thumbnail.jp