3 Existential Threats to Our Elections

This report underscores three existential threats facing U.S. elections:  an exodus of election officials due to threats and harassment, the potential of election manipulation by partisan actors, and inadequate funding of our critical election infrastructure. It calls for federal action to address these troubling trends, including combatting election disinformation, preventing efforts to subvert future elections, increasing federal and state funding for elections, and protecting election workers from threats of violence

Fair Pay: Why Congress Needs to Invest in Junior Staff

Legislative staff are crucial to the daily operations of Congress, both on Capitol Hill and in district offices. Congressional staffers help craft policy, advance legislation, and handle inquiries from constituents and the press. But despite their responsibilities, staffers in lawmakers' personal offices, congressional policy committees, and district offices are widely and consistently undercompensated for their work, especially in entry-level positions.While significant progress has been made recently to address inadequate staff pay in the House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), further steps are needed to ensure that entry-level staffers from all socioeconomic backgrounds are able to thrive in both chambers of Congress.Fairly compensating congressional staff, especially junior-level staffers, will help Congress attract and retain a diverse and capable workforce. Giving staff both the financial incentive and ability to stay in their roles and advance upward means that members of Congress won't need to keep retraining employees and that valuable institutional knowledge will be retained. In these ways, better financial compensation for staff will both help curb the brain drain from Capitol Hill to K Street and guard against the undue influence of special-interest lobbyists

Extreme Gerrymanderers

Gerrymandering is the intentional practice of manipulating the boundaries of congressional districts to provide an unfair advantage for a specific party or group. The practice has increasingly created barriers to representative democracy and allows politicians to select their voters, rather than allowing voters to pick their politicians.New maps that create the boundaries between congressional districts are drawn every 10 years, following each decennial census. In the wake of the 2020 Census, state legislators crafted a number of hyperpartisan and discriminatory gerrymanders. This report highlights a dozen of the worst

The Road to Fair Pay

Experienced congressional staffers are vital for the functioning of Congress, but for too long, Americans from all social and economic backgrounds haven't been able to equally serve in these key roles.Washington, D.C., is among the most expensive cities in the country, and cash-strapped congressional staffers frequently share horror stories about their economic distress and tips for stretching their dollars — from living with multiple roommates to working multiple side hustles to relying on free food at receptions on Capitol Hill to racking up credit card debt between paychecks. Providing fair salaries would make it possible for people from all social and economic backgrounds to work for Congress and live in the nation's capital. Indeed, fair salaries are a critical step in ensuring that the federal legislature can be a place where congressional staffers are as diverse as the country itself. Staffers play crucial roles in the daily operations of Congress. They are responsible for handling inquiries from the public and the press, crafting policy, conducting investigations, and advancing legislation. Providing staff with adequate financial incentives and opportunities for advancement reduces turnover, preserves valuable institutional knowledge, and reduces the influence of lobbyists and special interests.In recent years, congressional leaders have implemented changes designed to boost congressional staff pay and retention. This report illuminates how these changes are, in fact, making meaningful differences for congressional staffers and strengthening the economic well-being of junior staffers on Capitol Hill. It also outlines additional measures that can be adopted to further ensure that Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds are able to thrive in these roles in the legislative branch of government

Complex Skill Learning and ATC: Examining Stress Response and Distress Mitigation With EEG and ECG

Air Traffic Control (ATC) trainees at the FAA Academy and developmentalcontrollers in the field often face dynamic and unexpected events in training,which may impact safe and effective human performance if certain vulnerabilitiesare not properly managed or mitigated. We integrate theory on self-regulatedworkplace training with a cognitive neuroscience perspective on attention touniquely examine the effects of surprise and stress on performance. Our near-termgoal is to demonstrate the viability of using physiological measures to predictperformance changes in a laboratory study of young adults learning a complexvideogame. We use a novel, event-marked and person-centric longitudinalapproach to the analysis of physiological variables to distinguish shifts in effortfulperformance in terms of exploration (discovering new possibilities) andexploitation (refining skill) to predict changes in performance in response to asurprise event. Preliminary findings are presented

Open-label add-on treatment trial of minocycline in fragile X syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a disorder characterized by a variety of disabilities, including cognitive deficits, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and other socio-emotional problems. It is hypothesized that the absence of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) leads to higher levels of matrix metallo-proteinase-9 activity (MMP-9) in the brain. Minocycline inhibits MMP-9 activity, and alleviates behavioural and synapse abnormalities in <it>fmr1 </it>knockout mice, an established model for FXS. This open-label add-on pilot trial was conducted to evaluate safety and efficacy of minocycline in treating behavioural abnormalities that occur in humans with FXS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty individuals with FXS, ages 13-32, were randomly assigned to receive 100 mg or 200 mg of minocycline daily. Behavioural evaluations were made prior to treatment (baseline) and again 8 weeks after daily minocycline treatment. The primary outcome measure was the Aberrant Behaviour Checklist-Community Edition (ABC-C) Irritability Subscale, and the secondary outcome measures were the other ABC-C subscales, clinical global improvement scale (CGI), and the visual analog scale for behaviour (VAS). Side effects were assessed using an adverse events checklist, a complete blood count (CBC), hepatic and renal function tests, and antinuclear antibody screen (ANA), done at baseline and at 8 weeks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ABC-C Irritability Subscale scores showed significant improvement (p < 0.001), as did the VAS (p = 0.003) and the CGI (p < 0.001). The only significant treatment-related side effects were minor diarrhea (n = 3) and seroconversion to a positive ANA (n = 2).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Results from this study demonstrate that minocycline provides significant functional benefits to FXS patients and that it is well-tolerated. These findings are consistent with the <it>fmr1 </it>knockout mouse model results, suggesting that minocycline modifies underlying neural defects that account for behavioural abnormalities. A placebo-controlled trial of minocycline in FXS is warranted.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov Open-Label Trial NCT00858689.</p

The PsychENCODE project

Recent research on disparate psychiatric disorders has implicated rare variants in genes involved in global gene regulation and chromatin modification, as well as many common variants located primarily in regulatory regions of the genome. Understanding precisely how these variants contribute to disease will require a deeper appreciation for the mechanisms of gene regulation in the developing and adult human brain. The PsychENCODE project aims to produce a public resource of multidimensional genomic data using tissue- and cell type–specific samples from approximately 1,000 phenotypically well-characterized, high-quality healthy and disease-affected human post-mortem brains, as well as functionally characterize disease-associated regulatory elements and variants in model systems. We are beginning with a focus on autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and expect that this knowledge will apply to a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. This paper outlines the motivation and design of PsychENCODE

Blocking microglial pannexin-1 channels alleviates morphine withdrawal in rodents

Opiates are essential for treating pain, but termination of opiate therapy can cause a debilitating withdrawal syndrome in chronic users. To alleviate or avoid the aversive symptoms of withdrawal, many of these individuals continue to use opiates. Withdrawal is therefore a key determinant of opiate use in dependent individuals, yet its underlying mechanisms are poorly understood and effective therapies are lacking. Here, we identify the pannexin-1 (Panx1) channel as a therapeutic target in opiate withdrawal. We show that withdrawal from morphine induces long-term synaptic facilitation in lamina I and II neurons within the rodent spinal dorsal horn, a principal site of action for opiate analgesia. Genetic ablation of Panx1 in microglia abolished the spinal synaptic facilitation and ameliorated the sequelae of morphine withdrawal. Panx1 is unique in its permeability to molecules up to 1 kDa in size and its release of ATP. We show that Panx1 activation drives ATP release from microglia during morphine withdrawal and that degrading endogenous spinal ATP by administering apyrase produces a reduction in withdrawal behaviors. Conversely, we found that pharmacological inhibition of ATP breakdown exacerbates withdrawal. Treatment with a Panx1-blocking peptide (10panx) or the clinically used broad-spectrum Panx1 blockers, mefloquine or probenecid, suppressed ATP release and reduced withdrawal severity. Our results demonstrate that Panx1-mediated ATP release from microglia is required for morphine withdrawal in rodents and that blocking Panx1 alleviates the severity of withdrawal without affecting opiate analgesia

DESIGN OF RESIDENTAL SOLAR POWER MOUNTING SYSTEM

Small, residential solar power can be part of the solution to the energy crisis. However, there are very few options for a homeowner to purchase household solar mounting systems. To meet this need, a single solar panel ground mounting system has been designed that is functional, economical and easy to install. The design includes a base with a detachable center square pole and an angle adjuster allowing residential use throughout the US. The retail price is less than $1,500 and has easy to follow instructions for installation

Recommendations to Enhance the Residency Interview Experience for Programs, Applicants, and Clinical Education Sites

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Many physical therapist students seek to continue their education through residency programs. The application process for residency programs frequently requires an interview that often coincides with the timing of terminal clinical education experiences (CEEs). Because the interview process may impact clinical education, a work group was established comprising directors of clinical education and residency program directors from across the country. The intent of this group was to provide concrete recommendations to facilitate post-professional physical therapy education while decreasing any negative impacts related to the residency interview process. POSITION AND RATIONALE: Based on a survey conducted by the work group among residency program directors, student applicants for residency education will most likely be pulled away from their CEEs for up to 3 days to participate in interviews, missing critical opportunities for CEEs. The work group provided recommendations for specialty academies, academic programs, residency programs, and students that would support residency education while minimizing the impact of interviews on terminal CEEs. Recommendations include improving access to centralized information, promoting intentional application practices, and encouraging proactive communication among all groups. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The residency application process often requires an interview, which poses several implications for the applicant, one of which is time away from CEEs. Adherence to the work group\u27s recommendations has the potential to minimize the impact of residency interviews on CEEs while still supporting the pursuit of residency training