scholarly journals 60 YEARS OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY: The structure of the neuroendocrine hypothalamus: the neuroanatomical legacy of Geoffrey Harris

2015 ◽  
Vol 226 (2) ◽  
pp. T25-T39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G Watts

In November 1955, Geoffrey Harris published a paper based on the Christian A Herter Lecture he had given earlier that year at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, USA. The paper reviewed the contemporary research that was starting to explain how the hypothalamus controlled the pituitary gland. In the process of doing so, Harris introduced a set of properties that helped define the neuroendocrine hypothalamus. They included: i) three criteria that putative releasing factors for adenohypophysial hormones would have to fulfill; ii) an analogy between the representation of body parts in the sensory and motor cortices and the spatial localization of neuroendocrine function in the hypothalamus; and iii) the idea that neuroendocrine neurons are motor neurons and the pituitary stalk functions as a Sherringtonian final common pathway through which the impact of sensory and emotional events on neuroendocrine neurons must pass in order to control pituitary hormone release. Were these properties a sign that the major neuroscientific discoveries that were being made in the early 1950s were beginning to influence neuroendocrinology? This Thematic Review discusses two main points: the context and significance of Harris's Herter Lecture for how our understanding of neuroendocrine anatomy (particularly as it relates to the control of the adenohypophysis) has developed since 1955; and, within this framework, how novel and powerful techniques are currently taking our understanding of the structure of the neuroendocrine hypothalamus to new levels.

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-95
Author(s):  
Najam-us- Saqib

Jamaica, known in the world for her rich deposits of bauxite ore, is a small Caribbean country with an area of 10991 square kilometers and a population of just over two million individuals. This beautifu11and, which was described by Columbus as "The fairest isle that eyes have beheld" has developed a remarkably diversified manufacturing sector starting from a modest industrial base. Jamaica's manufacturing industry enjoyed a respectable growth rate of about 6 percent per annum during the good old days of the euphoric '50s and '60s. However, those bright sunny days ''when to live was bliss" were followed by the chilling winter of much subdued progress. The rise and fall of growth have aroused considerable interest among economists and policy• makers. The book under review probes the causes of this behaviour by analysing key characteristics of Jamaican manufacturing sector and tracing its path of evolution.


Author(s):  
Sara M.T. Polo

AbstractThis article examines the impact and repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on patterns of armed conflict around the world. It argues that there are two main ways in which the pandemic is likely to fuel, rather than mitigate, conflict and engender further violence in conflict-prone countries: (1) the exacerbating effect of COVID-19 on the underlying root causes of conflict and (2) the exploitation of the crisis by governments and non-state actors who have used the coronavirus to gain political advantage and territorial control. The article uses data collected in real-time by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and the Johns Hopkins University to illustrate the unfolding and spatial distribution of conflict events before and during the pandemic and combine this with three brief case studies of Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Libya. Descriptive evidence shows how levels of violence have remained unabated or even escalated during the first five months of the pandemic and how COVID-19-related social unrest has spread beyond conflict-affected countries.


Diagnosis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin B. Searns ◽  
Manon C. Williams ◽  
Christine E. MacBrayne ◽  
Ann L. Wirtz ◽  
Jan E. Leonard ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectivesFew studies describe the impact of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) on recognizing and preventing diagnostic errors. Handshake stewardship (HS-ASP) is a novel ASP model that prospectively reviews hospital-wide antimicrobial usage with recommendations made in person to treatment teams. The purpose of this study was to determine if HS-ASP could identify and intervene on potential diagnostic errors for children hospitalized at a quaternary care children’s hospital.MethodsPreviously self-identified “Great Catch” (GC) interventions by the Children’s Hospital Colorado HS-ASP team from 10/2014 through 5/2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Each GC was categorized based on the types of recommendations from HS-ASP, including if any diagnostic recommendations were made to the treatment team. Each GC was independently scored using the “Safer Dx Instrument” to determine presence of diagnostic error based on a previously determined cut-off score of ≤1.50. Interrater reliability for the instrument was measured using a randomized subset of one third of GCs.ResultsDuring the study period, there were 162 GC interventions. Of these, 65 (40%) included diagnostic recommendations by HS-ASP and 19 (12%) had a Safer Dx Score of ≤1.50, (Κ=0.44; moderate agreement). Of those GCs associated with diagnostic errors, the HS-ASP team made a diagnostic recommendation to the primary treatment team 95% of the time.ConclusionsHandshake stewardship has the potential to identify and intervene on diagnostic errors for hospitalized children.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 585
Author(s):  
Catalina Iticescu ◽  
Puiu-Lucian Georgescu ◽  
Maxim Arseni ◽  
Adrian Rosu ◽  
Mihaela Timofti ◽  
...  

The use of sewage sludge in agriculture decreases the pressure on landfills. In Romania, massive investments have been made in wastewater treatment stations, which have resulted in the accumulation of important quantities of sewage sludge. The presence of these sewage sludges coincides with large areas of degraded agricultural land. The aim of the present article is to identify the best technological combinations meant to solve these problems simultaneously. Adapting the quality and parameters of the sludge to the specificity of the land solves the possible compatibility problems, thus reducing the impact on the environment. The physico-chemical characteristics of the fermented sludge were monitored and optimal solutions for their treatment were suggested so as to allow that the sludge could be used in agriculture according to the characteristics of the soils. The content of heavy metals in the sewage sludge was closely monitored because the use of sewage sludge as a fertilizer does not allow for any increases in the concentrations of these in soils. The article identifies those agricultural areas which are suitable for the use of sludge, as well as ways of correcting some parameters (e.g., pH), which allow the improvement of soil quality and obtained higher agricultural production.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6537
Author(s):  
Marian Łupieżowiec

The article presents the concept of monitoring buildings and infrastructure elements located near large construction investments (the construction of high-rise buildings of the Oak Terraces housing estate in Katowice and the construction of a tunnel under the roundabout in Katowice along the intercity express road DTŚ). The impacts include deep excavation, lowering of the groundwater level over a large area, and dynamic influences related to the use of impact methods of soil improvement. The presented monitoring includes observation of the groundwater level with the use of piezometers, geodetic measurements of settlement and inclinations, as well as the measurement of vibration amplitudes generated during the works involving shocks and vibrations. It was also important to observe the development of cracks on the basis of a previously made inventory of damage. The results of the monitoring allow corrections to be made in the technology of works (e.g., reduction of vibration amplitudes, application of additional protections at excavations, etc.) or the use additional safety measures. Currently, there are also monitoring systems used during the operation of completed facilities.


1967 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-NP ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. RADFORD

SUMMARY Electrolytic lesions were made in the hypothalamus of 41 Merino ewes which were subsequently observed for 2–16 months. Ovarian inactivity resulted from bilateral medial and ventral lesions placed immediately posterior to the optic chiasma (four ewes) or immediately anterior to the mammillary body (five ewes). Failure to show oestrus while apparently still ovulating regularly was a feature in another four ewes in which bilateral medial and ventral lesions were placed between the sites already described. Small bilateral lesions in these ventral regions led initially to ovarian inactivity, but final re-establishment of apparently normal reproductive activity in three ewes. Bilateral lesions in regions other than those described above resulted in no apparent change in reproductive activity (eight ewes). Similarly, unilateral or asymmetrical lesions in the remaining 17 ewes failed to affect their reproductive activity. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that in sheep a region of the median eminence responsible for the production of gonadotrophin-releasing factors requires neural inputs traversing both anterior and posterior hypothalamic areas.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boy Lüthje

The article examines the development of advanced digital manufacturing (as outlined in the ‘Made-in-China 2025’ government plan) from the perspective of the changing socio-technical paradigms of production. The analysis focuses on the transformations of value chains and work, based on theories of social shaping of technology, regulation theory and regimes of production. Analytically, the author proposes to distinguish between ‘production-driven’ and ‘distribution-driven’ pathways of manufacturing digitalisation. The transformation of semi-rural industrial areas (‘Taobao villages’, named after China’s largest e-commerce platform Taobao) into mass production clusters for e-commerce is depicted as a paradigmatic model of distribution-driven transformation and as a characteristic Chinese strategy in this field. The article examines the impact on industry supply chains and work, leading to ever-more precarious conditions of employment. Policy recommendations focus on local strategies to stabilise supply chain structures and working conditions, as an alternative to the present top-down approaches to manufacturing modernisation in China.


2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 112-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brennen W. Mills ◽  
Owen B. J. Carter ◽  
Robert J. Donovan

The objective of this case study was to experimentally manipulate the impact on arousal and recall of two characteristics frequently occurring in gruesome depictions of body parts in smoking cessation advertisements: the presence or absence of an external physical insult to the body part depicted; whether or not the image contains a clear figure/ground demarcation. Three hundred participants (46% male, 54% female; mean age 27.3 years, SD = 11.4) participated in a two-stage online study wherein they viewed and responded to a series of gruesome 4-s video images. Seventy-two video clips were created to provide a sample of images across the two conditions: physical insult versus no insult and clear figure/ground demarcation versus merged or no clear figure/ground demarcation. In stage one, participants viewed a randomly ordered series of 36 video clips and rated how “confronting” they considered each to be. Seven days later (stage two), to test recall of each video image, participants viewed all 72 clips and were asked to identify those they had seen previously. Images containing a physical insult were consistently rated more confronting and were remembered more accurately than images with no physical insult. Images with a clear figure/ground demarcation were rated as no more confronting but were consistently recalled with greater accuracy than those with unclear figure/ground demarcation. Makers of gruesome health warning television advertisements should incorporate some form of physical insult and use a clear figure/ground demarcation to maximize image recall and subsequent potential advertising effectiveness.


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