Seeking ‘the New Normal’? Troubled spaces of encountering visible differences in Warsaw

In times of globalisation and super-mobility, ideas of normality are in turmoil. In different societies in, across and beyond Europe, we face the challenge of undoing specific notions of normality and creating more inclusive societies with an open culture of learning to live with differences. The scope of the paper is to introduce some findings on encounters with difference and negotiations of social values in relation to a growing visibility of difference after 1989 in Poland, on the background of a critique of normality/ normalisation and normalcy. On the basis of interviews conducted in Warsaw, we investigate how normality/ normalisation discourses of visible homosexuality and physical disability are incorporated into individual self-reflections and justifications of prejudices (homophobia and disabilism). More specifically we argue that there are moments of ‘cultural transgressions’ present in everyday practices towards ‘visible’ sexual and (dis)ability difference

Recruitment and retention of pregnant women for a behavioral intervention: lessons from the maternal adiposity, metabolism, and stress (MAMAS) study.

IntroductionRecruiting participants for research studies can be challenging. Many studies fall short of their target or must prolong recruitment to reach it. We examined recruitment and retention strategies and report lessons learned in a behavioral intervention developmental trial to encourage healthy pregnancy weight gain and stress reduction in low-income overweight pregnant women.MethodsIn the San Francisco Bay area from February 2010 through March 2011, we used direct and indirect strategies to recruit English-speaking overweight and obese pregnant women who were aged 18 to 45, were in the early stages of pregnancy, and who had an annual household income less than 500% of the federal poverty guidelines. Eligible women who consented participated in focus groups or an 8-week behavioral intervention. We identified successful recruiting strategies and sites and calculated the percentage of women who were enrolled and retained.ResultsOf 127 women screened for focus group participation, 69 were eligible and enrolled. A total of 57 women participated in 9 focus groups and 3 women completed individual interviews for a completion rate of 87%. During recruitment for the intervention, we made contact with 204 women; 135 were screened, 33% were eligible, and 69.1% of eligible women enrolled. At 1 month postpartum, 82.6% of eligible women completed an assessment. Recruiting at hospital-based prenatal clinics was the highest-yielding strategy.ConclusionThe narrow window of eligibility for enrolling early stage pregnant women in a group intervention presents obstacles. In-person recruitment was the most successful strategy; establishing close relationships with providers, clinic staff, social service providers, and study participants was essential to successful recruitment and retention

Prediction of Discharge Destination from Initial Physical Therapy Assessment using the Physical Assessment Key (PAK)

The purpose of this study was to determine if a patient’s discharge destination could be predicted by information available upon the physical therapy initial evaluation using the Physical Assessment Key (PAK). There were 141 subjects (58 male, 83 female) included in this study and their ages ranged from 19 to 89 years (mean age=57.1 years). Each subject was given a PAK score on the day of the initial physical therapy evaluation and on the day of discharge from the hospital. The PAK evaluates a patient in the areas of transfer activities, self-care activities, locomotion and excretion management. A patient was discharged to one of four discharge destinations: home independent, home with physical therapy, skilled nursing facility, or rehabilitation. A significant difference was found in the initial PAK score means of those discharged to rehabilitation and those discharged to the other three discharge destinations. The initial PAK score was the most significant predictor of a patient’s discharge destination. Key Words: Prediction, Discharge, Destination, Physical, Assessmen

Initiation of a stable convective hydroclimatic regime in Central America circa 9000 years BP

Many Holocene hydroclimate records show rainfall changes that vary with local orbital insolation. However, some tropical regions display rainfall evolution that differs from gradual precessional pacing, suggesting that direct rainfall forcing effects were predominantly driven by sea-surface temperature thresholds or inter-ocean temperature gradients. Here we present a 12,000 yr continuous U/Th-dated precipitation record from a Guatemalan speleothem showing that Central American rainfall increased within a 2000 yr period from a persistently dry state to an active convective regime at 9000 yr BP and has remained strong thereafter. Our data suggest that the Holocene evolution of Central American rainfall was driven by exceeding a temperature threshold in the nearby tropical oceans. The sensitivity of this region to slow changes in radiative forcing is thus strongly mediated by internal dynamics acting on much faster time scales

Multi-modal image segmentation based on machine learning methods

The purpose of this article is to introduce clustering algorithms and apply clustering methods to solve the problem of segmentation of medical images

Parasitic Nematodes Modulate PIN-Mediated Auxin Transport to Facilitate Infection

Plant-parasitic nematodes are destructive plant pathogens that cause significant yield losses. They induce highly specialized feeding sites (NFS) in infected plant roots from which they withdraw nutrients. In order to establish these NFS, it is thought that the nematodes manipulate the molecular and physiological pathways of their hosts. Evidence is accumulating that the plant signalling molecule auxin is involved in the initiation and development of the feeding sites of sedentary plant-parasitic nematodes. Intercellular transport of auxin is essential for various aspects of plant growth and development. Here, we analysed the spatial and temporal expression of PIN auxin transporters during the early events of NFS establishment using promoter-GUS/GFP fusion lines. Additionally, single and double pin mutants were used in infection studies to analyse the role of the different PIN proteins during cyst nematode infection. Based on our results, we postulate a model in which PIN1-mediated auxin transport is needed to deliver auxin to the initial syncytial cell, whereas PIN3 and PIN4 distribute the accumulated auxin laterally and are involved in the radial expansion of the NFS. Our data demonstrate that cyst nematodes are able to hijack the auxin distribution network in order to facilitate the infection process

Genome-wide linkage scan of antisocial behavior, depression, and impulsive substance use in the UCSF family alcoholism study

Epidemiological and clinical studies suggest that rates of antisocial behavior, depression, and impulsive substance use are increased among individuals diagnosed with alcohol dependence relative to those who are not. Thus, the present study conducted genome-wide linkage scans of antisocial behavior, depression, and impulsive substance use in the University of California at San Francisco Family Alcoholism Study

Cannabis dependence in the San Francisco Family Study: Age of onset of use, DSM-IV symptoms, withdrawal, and heritability

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States, yet the role of genetics in individual symptoms associated with cannabis use disorders has not been evaluated. The purpose of the present set of analyses was to describe the symptomatology and estimate the heritability of DSM-IV criteria/symptoms of cannabis dependence in a large sample of families. Participants were 2524 adults, participating in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Family Study of alcoholism. Seventy percent of the sample had ever used cannabis and 13.9% met DSM-IV criteria for cannabis dependence. Younger age at first cannabis use was found to be significantly associated with a shortened survival to becoming cannabis dependent. Although a greater percentage of men met criteria for cannabis dependence, women were found to demonstrate “telescoping” as indexed by a shorter survival time from initial use to dependence as compared to men. A cannabis withdrawal syndrome was identified in users, the primary symptoms of which were nervousness, appetite change, and sleep disturbance. Cannabis use (h2 = 0.31) and dependence (h2 = 0.20), age at first use, individual DSM-IV criteria for dependence, and cannabis-use associated symptoms of depression, trouble concentrating and paranoia were all found to be heritable. These findings suggest that within this population that cannabis use and dependence, as well as individual cannabis dependence symptoms have a significant heritable component, that cannabis dependence is more likely to occur when use begins during adolescence, and that the cannabis dependence syndrome includes a number of heritable untoward psychiatric side effects including withdrawal

Age at Regular Drinking, Clinical Course, and Heritability of Alcohol Dependence in the San Francisco Family Study: A Gender Analysis

We examined gender differences in age of onset, clinical course, and heritability of alcohol dependence in 2524 adults participating in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) family study of alcoholism. Men were significantly more likely than women to have initiated regular drinking during adolescence. Onset of regular drinking was not found to be heritable but was found to be significantly associated with a shorter time to onset of alcohol dependence. A high degree of similarity in the sequence of alcohol-related life events was found between men and women, however, men experienced alcohol dependence symptoms at a younger age and women had a more rapid clinical course. Women were found to have a higher heritability estimate for alcohol dependence (h2 =0.46) than men (h2 =0.32). These findings suggest that environmental factors influencing the initiation of regular drinking rather than genetic factors associated with dependence may in part underlie some of the gender differences seen in the prevalence of alcohol dependence in this population

Rays, intrusive growth, and storied cambium in the inflorescence stems of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh

Arabidopsis thaliana is a model plant used in analysis of different aspects of plant growth and development. Under suitable conditions, secondary growth takes place in the hypocotyl of Arabidopsis plants, a finding which helps in understanding many aspects of xylogenesis. However, not all developmental processes of secondary tissue can be studied here, as no secondary rays and intrusive growth have been detected in hypocotyl. However, results presented here concerning the secondary growth in inflorescence stems of Arabidopsis shows that both secondary rays and intrusive growth of cambial cells can be detected, and that, in the interfascicular regions, a storied cambium can be developed