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This image provided by Brown University shows the preface page of the "Mystery Book" from the John Carter Brown Library in Providence, R.I. Lucas Mason-Brown, a senior mathematics major at Brown University, helped crack a mysterious shorthand code developed and used by religious dissident Roger Williams in the 17th century. The handwritten code surrounds the printed text on the preface page. (AP Photo/John Carter Brown Library at Brown University)
This image provided by Brown University shows the preface page of the "Mystery Book" from the John Carter Brown Library in Providence, R.I. Lucas Mason-Brown, a senior mathematics major at Brown University, helped crack a mysterious shorthand code developed and used by religious dissident Roger Williams in the 17th century. The handwritten code surrounds the printed text on the preface page. (AP Photo/John Carter Brown Library at Brown University)
In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 photo, Lucas Mason-Brown, a senior mathematics major at Brown University who helped crack a mysterious shorthand code developed and used by religious dissident Roger Williams in the 17th century, stands for a photo outside the John Carter Brown Library on the university's campus in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 photo, Lucas Mason-Brown, a senior mathematics major at Brown University who helped crack a mysterious shorthand code developed and used by religious dissident Roger Williams in the 17th century, stands for a photo outside the John Carter Brown Library on the university's campus in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 photo, Lucas Mason-Brown, a senior mathematics major at Brown University who helped crack a mysterious shorthand code developed and used by religious dissident Roger Williams in the 17th century, stands for a photo outside the John Carter Brown Library on the university's campus in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ? The obscure book's margins are virtually filled with clusters of curious foreign characters ? a mysterious shorthand used by 17th century religious dissident Roger Williams.
For centuries the scribbles went undeciphered. But a team of Brown University students has finally cracked the code.
Historians call the now-readable writings the most significant addition to Williams scholarship in a generation or more. Williams is Rhode Island's founder and best known as the first figure to argue for the principle of the separation of church and state that would later be enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
His coded writings are in the form of notes in the margins of a book at the university's John Carter Brown Library. The nearly 250-page volume, "An Essay Towards the Reconciling of Differences Among Christians," was donated in the 1800s and included a handwritten note identifying Williams as the notes' author ? though even that was uncertain at first.
A group including former library director Edward Widmer, Williams scholar and Rhode Island College history professor emeritus J. Stanley Lemons and others at Brown started trying to unravel the so-called "Mystery Book" a few years ago. But the most intense work began this year after the university opened up the challenge to undergraduates, several of whom launched an independent project.
"No one had ever looked at it systematically like this in generations," said Widmer. "I think people probably looked at it and shrugged."
Senior math major Lucas Mason-Brown, who has done the majority of the decoding, said his first instinct was to develop a statistical tool. The 21-year-old from Belmont, Mass., used frequency analysis, which looks at the frequency of letters or groups of letters in a text, but initially didn't get far.
He picked up critical clues after learning Williams had been trained in shorthand as a court stenographer in London, and built his own proprietary shorthand off an existing system. Lucas-Brown refined his analysis and came up with a rough key.
Williams' system consisted of 28 symbols that stand for a combination of English letters or sounds. How they're arranged is key to their meaning; arrange them one way and you get one word, arrange them another, you get something different. One major complication, according to Mason-Brown: Williams often improvised.
From there, Mason-Brown was able to translate scattered fragments, and the students determined there were three separate sections of notes. Two are Williams' writings on other books, a 17th century historical geography and a medical text. The third ? and most intriguing ? is 20 pages of Williams' original thoughts on one of the major theological issues of the day: infant baptism.
Williams also weighed in on the conversion of Native Americans, implying it was being achieved through treachery and coercion, said Linford Fisher, a history professor at Brown who has been working with Mason-Brown.
Fisher said the new material is important in part because it's among Williams' last work, believed to have been written after 1679 in the last four years of his life.
The new discovery is remarkable on several levels, Widmer said.
"Part of it was the excitement of a mystery being cracked, and part of it was Roger Williams is very famous in Rhode Island ? no other state has a founder as tied up with the state's identity as Rhode Island," he said. "To have a major new source, a major new document, from Roger Williams is a big deal."
There is a plethora of reasons that cause teens to suffer low self-esteem. Factors such as their appearance, conforming to the crowd and even talent are big contributors. Now more than ever, fame is a highly valued trait and it seems that fame can be easily achieved. The assumed simplicity in achieving fame quickly can make a teenager feel like there is something wrong with his or her self if they are not being recognized in this fashion.
Many other factors contribute to low self-esteem as well as the above mentioned. It is important for you to help increase your teen?s self-esteem. There are different ways to do so, so these are tips to help you do it successfully.
Compliment Specific Activities
Many parents compliment teens on vague premises. For example, just telling your teen that he is helpful is vague. The teen will not attach the compliment to an action and the comment will be forgotten. Instead, when your teen carries heavy items inside for you say, ?You are so helpful. Thank you for carrying all of that heavy stuff for me.? To compliment specific activities, be diligent. Watch for actions that are specific and compliment when completed. Complimenting the teen?s character traits will carry more value in the mind of the teen than vague compliments.
Detail Successes
It is okay to tell your teen that he or she did a great job on an essay, or a good job on a math test. To help increase the teen?s self-esteem, describe aspects of the essay or test and tell the teen why they did well. For example, in a research essay, describe an aspect of the essay that you truly believe your teen did well on, ?You used excellent grammar and punctuation, and you really nailed the topic. I understood your point of view.? This will be a lasting compliment.
Give Them Something To Complete
Teenagers frequently complain about chores, however, doing a job around the house and doing it well holds a lot of value. Teenagers derive a great deal of confidence from completing meaningful tasks that help others. Finding community activities for your teen to participate in is an excellent avenue to boost self-esteem. They can even do something kind and simple like taking the elderly neighbor?s dogs for walks.
Be Mindful Of What You Say
Are there things that your parents told you that hurt feelings and you have never forgotten them? No matter how many nice things they said afterwards, you are still haunted by the negative comments. Be mindful so that you do not do the same thing to your teen.
Another important thing to keep in mind is how critical you are and how you verbalize your criticism. If you constantly criticize, your teen will learn to be critical of others, the world, and self. If you slip and make a hurtful statement, ask your teen if it hurt his or her feelings. If it did, apologize to your teen. A sincere apology can help your teen let go of the hurt and learn to cope with hurtful comments in the future.
Midwest Academy, one of the countries top boarding schools, is a therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens, boys and girls, ages 12-18. Providing Solutions for families, parents and teens since 2003. Available 24/7 Call Toll-Free Now 877-945.6777.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) ? How does "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" squeeze even more fun out of our porous little hero and the Bikini Bottom gang? By turning the animated characters three-dimensional for their holiday special.
In a tribute to classic fare such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," the "SpongeBob SquarePants" crew has been re-imagined as puppets and put through their comedy paces for stop-motion photography.
The story line as dreamed up by Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob, and his musical collaborator Andy Paley: The denizens of Bikini Bottom are suddenly rude because of exposure to jerktonium, a plot by naughty Plankton to get on Santa's (voiced by guest star John Goodman) nice list.
Plankton "wants to put everyone on their worst behavior when they should be on their best behavior, and zany mayhem ensues," Kenny said.
"It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" debuts 9:30 p.m. EST Friday on CBS, followed by an encore on the show's home network, Nickelodeon, at 7:30 p.m. EST Sunday, Dec. 9.
The first-time foray into stop-motion is a welcome change for the 13-year-old "SpongeBob," Kenny said.
"It's fun that after all these years we can still do stuff that's a little different. It's like reinventing the wheel a little bit ? if you can refer to a square character as a wheel," he added, unable to resist the quip.
The actor looks back fondly on childhood memories of "Rudolph" from the Rankin-Bass studio and other stop-action projects. Even the TV commercial that put Santa on an electric razor subbing for a sleigh gets a Kenny shoutout.
Asked if young viewers might be fazed by seeing the familiar characters in a new guise, Kenny mulled the question before rebutting it.
"The characters act the same, the recording process is exactly the same. Our job is exactly the same. ... There's still plenty of the animated mayhem and anarchy that happens in the 2-D version of the show."
Screen Novelties, the Los Angeles studio that produced the Christmas special, made a feast out of the job. In just one of their inventive approaches, filmmakers used fruit-flavored cereal to create a coral reef.
"I came to the studio and they had hundreds of boxes of cereal open and were hot-gluing it together," Kenny recalled.
The Patrick Star puppet was covered in wool-like material and SpongeBob "wasn't a sponge but some kind of weird material they found somewhere," he said. "They're like 'MacGyver,' always repurposing something."
The TV special has a small element of recycling. Kenny calls it a testament to "a goofy little song" he and Paley wrote three years ago ? "Don't Be a Jerk, (It's Christmas)."
"Bring joy to the world, it's the thing to do. But the world does not revolve around you. Don't be a jerk, it's Christmas" is among its bouncy yet cautionary verses.
The tune is among a dozen included on the digital release "It's a SpongeBob Christmas! Album," most written by Kenny and Paley (a songwriter-producer who's worked with artists including Brian Wilson and Blondie). Four songs are part of the special.
Music fans might want to check out the album for its craftsmanship. The veterans who play on it include harpist Corky Hale and harmonica player Tommy Morgan, both of whom have backed a roster of big stars, including Billie Holliday and Frank Sinatra.
The recording sessions proved an early holiday gift for Kenny.
"We'd spend a half-hour working and then make the musicians tell stories about who they played with," he said.
A 3-D light switch for the brainPublic release date: 19-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Angela Stark astark@osa.org 202-416-1443 Optical Society of America
New device for delivering light to individual neurons could one day help treat Parkinson's disease, epilepsy; aid understanding of consciousness, how memories form
A new tool for neuroscientists delivers a thousand pinpricks of light to a chunk of gray matter smaller than a sugar cube. The new fiber-optic device, created by biologists and engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, is the first tool that can deliver precise points of light to a 3-D section of living brain tissue. The work is a step forward for a relatively new but promising technique that uses gene therapy to turn individual brain cells on and off with light.
Scientists can use the new 3-D "light switch" to better understand how the brain works. It might also be used one day to create neural prostheses that could treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. The researchers describe their device in a paper published today in the Optical Society's (OSA) journal Optics Letters.
The technique of manipulating neurons with light is only a few years old, but the authors estimate that thousands of scientists are already using this technology, called optogenetics, to study the brain. In optogenetics, researchers first sensitize select cells in the brain to a particular color of light. Then, by illuminating precise areas of the brain, they are able to selectively activate or deactivate the individual neurons that have been sensitized.
Ed Boyden, a synthetic biologist at MIT and co-lead researcher on the paper, is a pioneer of this emerging field, which he says offers the ability to probe connections in the brain.
"You can see neural activity in the brain that is associated with specific behaviors," Boyden says, "but is it important? Or is it a passive copy of important activity located elsewhere in the brain? There's no way to know for sure if you just watch." Optogenetics allows scientists to play a more active role in probing the brain's connections, to fire up one type of cell or deactivate another and then observe the effect on a behavior, such as quieting a seizure.
Unlike the previous, 1-D versions of this light-emitting device, the new tool delivers light to the brain in three dimensions, opening the potential to explore entire circuits within the brain. So far, the 3-D version has been tested in mice, although Boyden and colleagues have used earlier optogenetic technologies with non-human primates as well.
Targeting neurons with light
One of the advantages of optogenetics is that this technology allows scientists to focus on one particular type of neuron without affecting other types of neurons in the same area of cortex. Probes that deliver electricity to the brain can manipulate neurons, but they cannot target individual kinds of cell, Boyden says. Drugs can turn neurons on or off as well, he continues, but not on such a quick time scale or with such a high degree of control. In contrast, the new 3-D array is precise enough to activate a single kind of neuron, at a precise location, with a single beam of light.
In an earlier incarnation, Boyden's device looked like a needle-thin probe with light-emitting ports along its length; this setup allowed scientists to manipulate neurons along a single line. The new tool contains up to a hundred of these probes in a square grid, which makes the device look like a series of fine-toothed combs laid next to each other with their teeth pointing in the same direction.
Each probe is just 150 microns across a little thicker than a human hair, and thin enough so that the device can be implanted at any depth in the cortex without damaging it. The brain lacks pain receptors, so the implants do not cause any discomfort to the brain itself. As in the earlier model, several light-emitting ports are located along the length of each probe. Scientists can illuminate and change the color of each light port independently from the others.
Adding a third dimension to the probe's light-delivery capabilities has allowed researchers to make any pattern of light they want within the volume of a cubic centimeter of brain tissue, using a few hundred independently controllable illumination points.
"It's turning out to be a very powerful and convenient tool," says MIT professor of electrical engineering Clifton Fonstad, co-lead author of the paper.
Blue for on, yellow for off
Neurons in the brain are not naturally responsive to light, so scientists sensitize these cells with molecules called opsins, light-detecting proteins naturally found in algae and bacteria. Genes for an opsin are transferred to the neurons in a mouse's brain using gene therapy, a process in which DNA is ferried into a cell via a carrier such as a harmless virus. The carrier can be instructed to deliver the DNA package only to certain types of cells.
Different colors of light turn different flavors of opsin on blue might cause one opsin to activate a cell, while yellow might cause another opsin to silence it. Neurons that are sensitized with opsins gain these abilities to respond to light.
The response of an individual neuron whether to turn on or turn off depends on the type of opsin it was sensitized with, and the color of light used to illuminate it. In this way, the tool gives neuroscientists an unprecedented level of control over individual neurons in the brain.
Teams from around the world are currently using the technology developed by Boyden's group to study some of the most profound questions neuroscience tries to answer, such as how memory works, the connections between memory and emotion, and the difference between being awake and being asleep.
"I'm really excited about how the brain computes the ebb and flow of consciousness," Boyden says. "We know so little about the brain."
A better understanding of the brain may lead to another benefit of this technology: therapy. If a particular type of cell malfunctions in a particular disease, scientists may be able to use a modified 3-D array as a neural prosthesis that could help to treat neurological conditions. Using light to stop overactive cells from firing might alleviate the uncontrollable muscle action of Parkinson's disease. Cells that cause seizures in the brain could be quieted optically without the side effects of anti-seizure medications. Implants that correct hearing deficiencies are also being explored with this technology.
Although the new device is effective in bringing light to the brain, other challenges remain before optogenetics can be used for medical therapy, Boyden says. Scientists do not yet know for certain whether the body will detect the opsin proteins as foreign molecules and reject them. Gene therapy will also have to prove itself if neurons are to be sensitized with opsin effectively.
"It's a long road," Boyden admits.
Meanwhile, he continues, the demand for the tool is currently higher than his team can supply. Boyden says his group is excited about the possibility of commercializing the new 3-D array, as one potential route that would make the devices available as quickly as possible to the neuroscience community.
###
Paper: "3-Dimensional Multiwaveguide Probe Array for Light Delivery to Distributed Brain Circuits," Optics Letters, Vol. 37, Issue 23, pp. 4841-4843 (2012). (link: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-37-23-4841)
EDITOR'S NOTE: High-resolution images are available to members of the media upon request. Contact Angela Stark, astark@osa.org.
About Optics Letters
Published by the Optical Society (OSA), Optics Letters offers rapid dissemination of new results in all areas of optics with short, original, peer-reviewed communications. Optics Letters covers the latest research in optical science, including optical measurements, optical components and devices, atmospheric optics, biomedical optics, Fourier optics, integrated optics, optical processing, optoelectronics, lasers, nonlinear optics, optical storage and holography, optical coherence, polarization, quantum electronics, ultrafast optical phenomena, photonic crystals, and fiber optics. This journal, edited by Alan E. Willner of the University of Southern California and published twice each month, is where readers look for the latest discoveries in optics. Visit www.OpticsInfoBase.org/OL.
About OSA
Uniting more than 180,000 professionals from 175 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A 3-D light switch for the brainPublic release date: 19-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Angela Stark astark@osa.org 202-416-1443 Optical Society of America
New device for delivering light to individual neurons could one day help treat Parkinson's disease, epilepsy; aid understanding of consciousness, how memories form
A new tool for neuroscientists delivers a thousand pinpricks of light to a chunk of gray matter smaller than a sugar cube. The new fiber-optic device, created by biologists and engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, is the first tool that can deliver precise points of light to a 3-D section of living brain tissue. The work is a step forward for a relatively new but promising technique that uses gene therapy to turn individual brain cells on and off with light.
Scientists can use the new 3-D "light switch" to better understand how the brain works. It might also be used one day to create neural prostheses that could treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. The researchers describe their device in a paper published today in the Optical Society's (OSA) journal Optics Letters.
The technique of manipulating neurons with light is only a few years old, but the authors estimate that thousands of scientists are already using this technology, called optogenetics, to study the brain. In optogenetics, researchers first sensitize select cells in the brain to a particular color of light. Then, by illuminating precise areas of the brain, they are able to selectively activate or deactivate the individual neurons that have been sensitized.
Ed Boyden, a synthetic biologist at MIT and co-lead researcher on the paper, is a pioneer of this emerging field, which he says offers the ability to probe connections in the brain.
"You can see neural activity in the brain that is associated with specific behaviors," Boyden says, "but is it important? Or is it a passive copy of important activity located elsewhere in the brain? There's no way to know for sure if you just watch." Optogenetics allows scientists to play a more active role in probing the brain's connections, to fire up one type of cell or deactivate another and then observe the effect on a behavior, such as quieting a seizure.
Unlike the previous, 1-D versions of this light-emitting device, the new tool delivers light to the brain in three dimensions, opening the potential to explore entire circuits within the brain. So far, the 3-D version has been tested in mice, although Boyden and colleagues have used earlier optogenetic technologies with non-human primates as well.
Targeting neurons with light
One of the advantages of optogenetics is that this technology allows scientists to focus on one particular type of neuron without affecting other types of neurons in the same area of cortex. Probes that deliver electricity to the brain can manipulate neurons, but they cannot target individual kinds of cell, Boyden says. Drugs can turn neurons on or off as well, he continues, but not on such a quick time scale or with such a high degree of control. In contrast, the new 3-D array is precise enough to activate a single kind of neuron, at a precise location, with a single beam of light.
In an earlier incarnation, Boyden's device looked like a needle-thin probe with light-emitting ports along its length; this setup allowed scientists to manipulate neurons along a single line. The new tool contains up to a hundred of these probes in a square grid, which makes the device look like a series of fine-toothed combs laid next to each other with their teeth pointing in the same direction.
Each probe is just 150 microns across a little thicker than a human hair, and thin enough so that the device can be implanted at any depth in the cortex without damaging it. The brain lacks pain receptors, so the implants do not cause any discomfort to the brain itself. As in the earlier model, several light-emitting ports are located along the length of each probe. Scientists can illuminate and change the color of each light port independently from the others.
Adding a third dimension to the probe's light-delivery capabilities has allowed researchers to make any pattern of light they want within the volume of a cubic centimeter of brain tissue, using a few hundred independently controllable illumination points.
"It's turning out to be a very powerful and convenient tool," says MIT professor of electrical engineering Clifton Fonstad, co-lead author of the paper.
Blue for on, yellow for off
Neurons in the brain are not naturally responsive to light, so scientists sensitize these cells with molecules called opsins, light-detecting proteins naturally found in algae and bacteria. Genes for an opsin are transferred to the neurons in a mouse's brain using gene therapy, a process in which DNA is ferried into a cell via a carrier such as a harmless virus. The carrier can be instructed to deliver the DNA package only to certain types of cells.
Different colors of light turn different flavors of opsin on blue might cause one opsin to activate a cell, while yellow might cause another opsin to silence it. Neurons that are sensitized with opsins gain these abilities to respond to light.
The response of an individual neuron whether to turn on or turn off depends on the type of opsin it was sensitized with, and the color of light used to illuminate it. In this way, the tool gives neuroscientists an unprecedented level of control over individual neurons in the brain.
Teams from around the world are currently using the technology developed by Boyden's group to study some of the most profound questions neuroscience tries to answer, such as how memory works, the connections between memory and emotion, and the difference between being awake and being asleep.
"I'm really excited about how the brain computes the ebb and flow of consciousness," Boyden says. "We know so little about the brain."
A better understanding of the brain may lead to another benefit of this technology: therapy. If a particular type of cell malfunctions in a particular disease, scientists may be able to use a modified 3-D array as a neural prosthesis that could help to treat neurological conditions. Using light to stop overactive cells from firing might alleviate the uncontrollable muscle action of Parkinson's disease. Cells that cause seizures in the brain could be quieted optically without the side effects of anti-seizure medications. Implants that correct hearing deficiencies are also being explored with this technology.
Although the new device is effective in bringing light to the brain, other challenges remain before optogenetics can be used for medical therapy, Boyden says. Scientists do not yet know for certain whether the body will detect the opsin proteins as foreign molecules and reject them. Gene therapy will also have to prove itself if neurons are to be sensitized with opsin effectively.
"It's a long road," Boyden admits.
Meanwhile, he continues, the demand for the tool is currently higher than his team can supply. Boyden says his group is excited about the possibility of commercializing the new 3-D array, as one potential route that would make the devices available as quickly as possible to the neuroscience community.
###
Paper: "3-Dimensional Multiwaveguide Probe Array for Light Delivery to Distributed Brain Circuits," Optics Letters, Vol. 37, Issue 23, pp. 4841-4843 (2012). (link: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-37-23-4841)
EDITOR'S NOTE: High-resolution images are available to members of the media upon request. Contact Angela Stark, astark@osa.org.
About Optics Letters
Published by the Optical Society (OSA), Optics Letters offers rapid dissemination of new results in all areas of optics with short, original, peer-reviewed communications. Optics Letters covers the latest research in optical science, including optical measurements, optical components and devices, atmospheric optics, biomedical optics, Fourier optics, integrated optics, optical processing, optoelectronics, lasers, nonlinear optics, optical storage and holography, optical coherence, polarization, quantum electronics, ultrafast optical phenomena, photonic crystals, and fiber optics. This journal, edited by Alan E. Willner of the University of Southern California and published twice each month, is where readers look for the latest discoveries in optics. Visit www.OpticsInfoBase.org/OL.
About OSA
Uniting more than 180,000 professionals from 175 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Indiana is still a runaway No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll and Louisville is again a solid second. Then come the changes, with Kentucky dropping five spots to eighth.
The Hoosiers (3-0) receive 46 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel. The Cardinals (5-0) get the other 19 No. 1 votes.
Ohio State and Michigan both move up one place to third and fourth, while Duke, which beat Kentucky, jumps from ninth to fifth. Syracuse, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and Arizona round out the Top Ten.
Oklahoma State, at No. 20, and Colorado, at 23, are the week's newcomers, replacing Notre Dame and Wisconsin. The Cowboys (4-0) were last ranked during the 2006-07 season. Colorado (4-0) was last in the Top 25 when the Buffaloes were ranked for the final eight polls of 1996-97.
Sometimes, revenge may be a dish eaten hot and dusty. India, of course, have denied that it is even on the menu. From the way events panned out in the First Test today, it is safe to assume that they would not mind having it for starters, main course and dessert.
Having batted for more than five sessions in two uneven parts, the second of which was graced by a perfectly tailored double century from their new number three, Cheteshwar Pujara, India declared their first innings at 521 for 8. By the time the second day was done at Motera Stadium, they had reduced England to 41 for 3, still 281 short of averting the follow on.
To sound remotely attainable, it needed to be said as quickly as the wickets fell. Any dwelling on it and the gap seemed ominous and daunting beyond degree. The suggestion that England had learned the lessons of the recent past and were now some kind of post-modern experts in playing spin bowling in sub-continental conditions, the impression given in the three weeks before the match, looked slightly askew.
All three wickets went to the India spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, in the space of 13 balls, taking their joint tally of wickets in only their sixth Test together to 76. Batsmen may be advised to worry that they are both still only 26 years old.
Ashwin bowled the poor debutant Nick Compton, who had faced 53 balls with painstaking application, through the gap between bat and pad with a sizzling off break. He then had an indeterminate Jonathan Trott caught off bat and pad at short leg. Ojha removed the hapless Jimmy Anderson, also held at short leg, begging the question why Anderson was there in the first place.
India?s spinners were in voracious mood with so little of the day left, fielders were crowding greedily round the bat like reporters doorstepping BBC director generals, and the England dressing room thought it a good idea to send in Anderson, presumably because George Entwistle was unavailable. If the state of play was insufficient to persuade them otherwise, the fact that Anderson had recently bowled 27 overs in searing hear might have done the trick. He lasted six balls, the only wonder that it was so long.
This conclusion to the day was probably predictable after England had spent 10 hours 40 minutes in the field and bowled 160 overs. They had seen nothing like it since The Oval last summer when South Africa detained them for 189 overs and they lost by an innings.
Back in 2005 England made the mistake of winning the Ashes. They might not have thought it was an error at the time given that it ended 16 years (and 42 days, never forget the 42 days) of misery against Australia, the open-topped bus rides, the gongs they bagged and the general outpouring of jubilation.
Ricky Ponting, Australia?s captain, brooded and plotted for 18 months. Australia won the return series 5-0. Ponting always declined to say but this was revenge pure and simple.
Only last year in England ? it seems a light year ago ? India were pushed from pillar to post and capitulated to a 4-0 defeat. On the back of it, England became the top ranked side in the world and how we rejoiced. Like Ponting before him, MS Dhoni, the captain of India, will not have forgotten that and he will know of what his team are capable in their own conditions
The latter part of India?s innings was dominated by Pujara. He completed his century in the sixth over of the day, which he started on 98, and never looked like doing anything other than making it a double. He faced 389 balls and hit 21 fours.
Pujara will face greater challenges in less familiar conditions but in its way this was a perfect construction. There had been one false shot early on, which Anderson misjudged but blemishes thereafter were few. He defended well, he attacked intermittently, doubtless following the game plan.
India had started at a lick and their first 250 runs came from 60 overs. It took another 110 overs to make the next 321, partly because they were happy to drop the tempo, partly because England defended well with defensive fields.
But the scheme to have three seam bowlers and one specialist spinner took another battering. For most of the day it seemed that England would fail to take a wicket with seam in an opponent?s first innings for the first time since 1974 in Trinidad. Three overs before the declaration, Anderson struck to render that null and void.
Graeme Swann took five wickets for the 14th time in a Test innings when he bowled Dhoni sweeping. He bowled four of his victims in all, the first spinner to do so for England in an innings since the Lancashire off spinner Roy Tattersall in 1952, also in India.
Swann will have a lot more bowling to do before this series is out and whatever happens he can expect the company of Monty Panesar. India have set out their stall, as they demonstrated by opening the bowling with Ashwin, a ploy they may well use throughout. Last night they were thinking only of taking a lead in the series but it can be taken as read that Dhoni and his troops have big plans beyond that.
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Osteoarthritis of the knee is a major cause of disability in adults and nonsurgical treatments, such as physical therapy (PT), are important interventions for pain care. However, a recent systematic review and data meta-analysis found disappointing results suggesting that few PT approaches are consistently effective for this painful condition.
Shi-Yi Wang, MD ? from the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health ? and colleagues conducted an extensive literature search for all randomized controlled trials (RCT) examining PT therapies for painful knee osteoarthritis (OA) in community-dwelling adults [Wang et al. 2012]. Eligible interventions included any of those within the scope of PT practice, and comparators included usual care, sham therapy of some sort, or no active treatment.
Writing in the November 6, 2012 edition of Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers report that, from 4,266 retrieved articles, 193 RCTs published in English and spanning 1970 through February 2012 were selected as qualifying for review. Adequate data were available from 84 RCTs for meta-analyses, providing evidence for 13 PT interventions in terms of their impact on pain, physical function, and disability.
The analyses provided low-strength evidence that aerobic and aquatic exercise improved disability, and that aerobic exercise, strengthening exercises, and ultrasonography (high-frequency sound wave therapy) reduced pain and improved physical function. None of the other individual PT interventions demonstrated sustained benefits on all three of the key efficacy measures. With the exception of wedged shoe inserts, adverse events were uncommon and did not deter participants from continuing any PT treatments.
Overall, the researchers conclude that the strength of evidence was low; although, consistently high adherence to aerobic exercise and strengthening programs appeared to be somewhat advantageous for managing OA knee pain. Wang and colleagues acknowledge that their meta-analyses were hampered by the poor quality of many RCTs and variability in PT interventions and outcome measurements. Future studies should compare combined PT interventions, which is more typical of how PT is generally administered for pain associated with knee OA.
COMMENTARY: A major mission of these Pain-Topics UPDATES articles has been to advocate for more reliable and valid evidence that can foster better pain management. This present study, funded by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, demonstrates just how difficult that quest may be, given the present state of research in the pain field and the general paucity of high-quality evidence.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses, themselves, represent the highest level of evidence [as explained most recently in Part 13here of our ?Making Sense of Pain Research? series]. However, in their ambitious review of physical therapies for knee OA, Wang et al. ran into many obstacles.
For one thing, there was a diverse constellation of individual PT interventions to consider. The review included RCTs examining 1) education programs, 2) aerobic exercise, 3) aquatic exercise, 4) strength training, 5) tai chi, 6) therapeutic massage, 7) orthotics (eg, shoe inserts, braces), 8) taping, 9) electrical stimulation, 10) pulsed electromagnetic fields, 11) ultrasonography, 12) diathermy (electrically induced heat), and 13) proprioception exercises (addressing balance, stability, agility). None of these were compared head-to-head with each other or in combination.
Of greatest concern, the researchers acknowledge that clinical trials of individual PT interventions are inconsistent with practice guidelines recommending that a combination of PT modalities should be delivered for treating knee OA. For example, they note that taping or bracing would not be used alone, but in combination with exercise and possibly other PT interventions. So, contrary to the results that Wang et al. discovered, it probably should not be assumed that any of the PT approaches examined could not be of some value as a component of a multimodal approach.
Further confounding of the evidence was possibly due to the fact that most, if not all, patients in the trials examined were taking concomitant pharmacotherapy for pain. It is usually presumed that potential influences of this would be equally distributed across groups in randomized trials and cancel each other out; however, this may not always be the case in small trials. Wang and colleagues note that many of the RCTs in their study did not even include information on other treatments that subjects may have received concurrently during the respective trials.
A few other limitations of this report are worth noting?
The literature search included only studies published in English and certain databases (eg, Embase) were not searched, so there is a possibility that some RCTs were not discovered. In fact, Wang et al. conceded that there was likely publication bias, without doing formal statistical tests or a sensitivity analysis (eg, Funnel Plot) to assess the extent of this.
Within each PT modality, most available RCTs were of small size and substantially heterogeneous; that is, they inconsistently measured outcomes or significantly differed from each other in ways that made aggregating their data in a meta-analysis less precise and reliable. The researchers appropriately used random-effects modeling for their meta-analyses; however, they do not provide Forest Plots of the data, so readers cannot more easily assess the extent of this concern for themselves.
The researchers acknowledge that many trials did not adequately describe the quality and/or intensity of PT interventions or the involvement of therapists, which further impeded a valid data meta-analysis.
Wang et al. also concede that most RCT reports discussed outcomes as average scores for patients within groups, but did not evaluate how many patients had clinically important or meaningful improvements in pain, function, or quality of life.
In sum, the value of this review and meta-analysis for guiding clinical decision making in recommending specific PT approaches for patients with knee OA is questionable. Unfortunately, more naturalistic studies examining multimodal PT interventions in combination with other therapies (eg, pharmacotherapy), as occurs in everyday practice, pose some formidable obstacles and inherent limitations for producing valid outcomes and strong evidence.
REFERENCE: Wang S-Y, Olson-Kellogg BO, Shamliyan TA, et al. Physical Therapy Interventions for Knee Pain Secondary to Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review. Ann Intern Med. 2012(Nov 6);157(9):632-644 [article here].
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Public release date: 19-Nov-2012
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Osteoarthritis of the knee is a major cause of disability in adults and nonsurgical treatments, such as physical therapy (PT), are important interventions for pain care. However, a recent systematic review and data meta-analysis found disappointing results suggesting that few PT approaches are consistently effective for this painful condition.