English Studies as a Site for Healing: A Conversation about Place-Based and Indigenous Pedagogies in the English Classroom

This article summarizes a roundtable discussion from the 2016 Alaska Native Studies Conference among professors and students from two English Studies courses at the University of Alaska Anchorage: History of the English Language and History of Rhetoric. Jennifer and Heather discuss how the courses are traditionally taught and how they redesigned the courses to incorporate place-based and indigenous pedagogies. Then, Tayler, Samantha, Hailey, and Arlo--students from a range of backgrounds who took one or both of the classes--describe how the courses encouraged them to develop critical perspectives, build new knowledge through undergraduate research, and experience personal and professional transformations that led to advocacy. The dialogue provides a range of pedagogical perspectives and considers English Studies as a potential site for cultural and historical healing.Ye

Size-exclusion chromatographic NMR of polymer mixtures

The use of chromatographic stationary phases or solvent modifiers to modulate diffusion properties in NMR experiments is now well established. Their use can be to improve resolution in the diffusion domain or to provide an insight into analyte–modifier interactions and, hence, the chromatography process. Here, we extend previous work using size-exclusion chromatographic sta- tionary phases to the investigation of polymer mixtures. We demonstrate that similar diffusion modulation behaviour is observed with a size-exclusion chromatographic stationary phase that can be understood in terms of size-exclusion behaviour

Long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution and the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a national English cohort.

OBJECTIVES: The role of outdoor air pollution in the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains unclear. We investigated this question using a large, nationally representative cohort based on primary care records linked to hospital admissions. METHODS: A cohort of 812 063 patients aged 40-89 years registered with 205 English general practices in 2002 without a COPD diagnosis was followed from 2003 to 2007. First COPD diagnoses recorded either by a general practitioner (GP) or on admission to hospital were identified. Annual average concentrations in 2002 for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <10 µm (PM10) and <2.5 µm (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone and sulfur dioxide (SO2) at 1 km(2) resolution were estimated from emission-based dispersion models. Hazard ratios (HRs) per interquartile range change were estimated from Cox models adjusting for age, sex, smoking, body mass index and area-level deprivation. RESULTS: 16 034 participants (1.92%) received a COPD diagnosis from their GP and 2910 participants (0.35%) were admitted to hospital for COPD. After adjustment, HRs for GP recorded COPD and PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 were close to unity, positive for SO2 (HR=1.07 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.11) per 2.2 µg/m(3)) and negative for ozone (HR=0.94 (0.89 to 1.00) per 3 µg/m(3)). For admissions HRs for PM2.5 and NO2 remained positive (HRs=1.05 (0.98 to 1.13) and 1.06 (0.98 to 1.15) per 1.9 µg/m(3) and 10.7 µg/m(3), respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This large population-based cohort study found limited, inconclusive evidence for associations between air pollution and COPD incidence. Further work, utilising improved estimates of air pollution over time and enhanced socioeconomic indicators, is required to clarify the association between air pollution and COPD incidence

Making the future together: Shaping autism research through meaningful participation

Participatory research methods connect researchers with relevant communities to achieve shared goals. These methods can deliver results that are relevant to people’s lives and thus likely to have a positive impact. In the context of a large and growing body of autism research, with continued poor implementation, and some evidence of community dissatisfaction, there is a powerful case for participatory autism research. In order to develop a framework for such collaborative working, a UK seminar series was organised and co-produced by autistic and non-autistic people with academic, practitioner and lived expertise. This article reports on the outcomes from the series, identifying five topics relevant to building a community of practice in participatory research: Respect, Authenticity, Assumptions, Infrastructure and Empathy. Each topic is connected to a specific example from within and beyond research, to inspire new practices in the field. We call for the development of participatory research skills among the autism research community and the facilitation of greater autistic leadership of, and partnership in, research. Such work, if delivered to a high standard, is likely to lead to better translation into practice and improved outcomes for autistic people and those who support them

A Longitudinal Analysis of Adolescent Substance Use and School Motivation Among African American Youth

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72421/1/1532-7795.1302003.pd

Meningitis due to Fusobacterium necrophorum in an adult

BACKGROUND: Fusobacterium necrophorum may cause a number of clinical syndromes, collectively known as necrobacillosis. Meningitis is a significant cause of mortality, rarely reported in the adult population. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a fatal case of meningitis, caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum, secondary to otitis media in an alcoholic male. Diagnosis was delayed due to the typical slow growth of the organism. The clinical course was complicated by encephalitis and by hydrocephalus. The patient failed to respond to metronidazole and penicillin. The patient died on day 12 from increased intracranial pressure and brain stem infarction. CONCLUSIONS: This case emphasizes the need for a high index of clinical suspicion to make the diagnosis of Fusobacterium necrophorum meningitis. We recommend the use of appropriate anaerobic culture techniques and antimicrobial coverage for anaerobic organisms when the gram stain shows gram negative bacilli

The Maestro (Mro) Gene Is Dispensable for Normal Sexual Development and Fertility in Mice

The mammalian gonad arises as a bipotential primordium from which a testis or ovary develops depending on the chromosomal sex of the individual. We have previously used DNA microarrays to screen for novel genes controlling the developmental fate of the indifferent embryonic mouse gonad. Maestro (Mro), which encodes a HEAT-repeat protein, was originally identified as a gene exhibiting sexually dimorphic expression during mouse gonad development. Wholemount in situ hybridisation analysis revealed Mro to be expressed in the embryonic male gonad from approximately 11.5 days post coitum, prior to overt sexual differentiation. No significant expression was detected in female gonads at the same developmental stage. In order to address its physiological function, we have generated mice lacking Maestro using gene targeting. Male and female mice homozygous for a Mro null allele are viable and fertile. We examined gonad development in homozygous male embryos in detail and observed no differences when compared to wild-type controls. Immunohistochemical analysis of homozygous mutant testes of adult mice revealed no overt abnormalities. Expression profiling using DNA microarrays also indicated no significant differences between homozygote embryonic male gonads and controls. We conclude that Maestro is dispensable for normal male sexual development and fertility in laboratory mice; however, the Mro locus itself does have utility as a site for insertion of transgenes for future studies in the fields of sexual development and Sertoli cell function

Impact of deploying multiple point-of-care tests with a 'sample first' approach on a sexual health clinical care pathway. A service evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: To assess clinical service value of STI point-of-care test (POCT) use in a 'sample first' clinical pathway (patients providing samples on arrival at clinic, before clinician consultation). Specific outcomes were: patient acceptability; whether a rapid nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) for Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae (CT/NG) could be used as a POCT in practice; feasibility of non-NAAT POCT implementation for Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) and bacterial vaginosis (BV); impact on patient diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: Service evaluation in a south London sexual health clinic. Symptomatic female and male patients and sexual contacts of CT/NG-positive individuals provided samples for diagnostic testing on clinic arrival, prior to clinical consultation. Tests included routine culture and microscopy; CT/NG (GeneXpert) NAAT; non-NAAT POCTs for TV and BV. RESULTS: All 70 (35 males, 35 females) patients approached participated. The 'sample first' pathway was acceptable, with >90% reporting they were happy to give samples on arrival and receive results in the same visit. Non-NAAT POCT results were available for all patients prior to leaving clinic; rapid CT/NG results were available for only 21.4% (15/70; 5 males, 10 females) of patients prior to leaving clinic. Known negative CT/NG results led to two females avoiding presumptive treatment, and one male receiving treatment directed at possible Mycoplasma genitalium infection causing non-gonococcal urethritis. Non-NAAT POCTs detected more positives than routine microscopy (TV 3 vs 2; BV 24 vs 7), resulting in more patients receiving treatment. CONCLUSIONS: A 'sample first' clinical pathway to enable multiple POCT use was acceptable to patients and feasible in a busy sexual health clinic, but rapid CT/NG processing time was too long to enable POCT use. There is need for further development to improve test processing times to enable POC use of rapid NAATs

Cuspy No More: How Outflows Affect the Central Dark Matter and Baryon Distribution in Lambda CDM Galaxies

We examine the evolution of the inner dark matter (DM) and baryonic density profile of a new sample of simulated field galaxies using fully cosmological, Lambda CDM, high resolution SPH + N-Body simulations. These simulations include explicit H2 and metal cooling, star formation (SF) and supernovae (SNe) driven gas outflows. Starting at high redshift, rapid, repeated gas outflows following bursty SF transfer energy to the DM component and significantly flatten the originally `cuspy' central DM mass profile of galaxies with present day stellar masses in the 10^4.5 -- 10^9.8 Msolar range. At z=0, the central slope of the DM density profile of our galaxies (measured between 0.3 and 0.7 kpc from their centre) is well fitted by rhoDM propto r^alpha with alpha \simeq -0.5 + 0.35 log_10(Mstar/10^8Msolar) where Mstar is the stellar mass of the galaxy and 4 < log_10 Mstar < 9.4. These values imply DM profiles flatter than those obtained in DM--only simulations and in close agreement with those inferred in galaxies from the THINGS and LITTLE THINGS survey. Only in very small halos, where by z=0 star formation has converted less than ~ 0.03% of the original baryon abundance into stars, outflows do not flatten the original cuspy DM profile out to radii resolved by our simulations. The mass (DM and baryonic) measured within the inner 500 pc of each simulated galaxy remains nearly constant over four orders of magnitudes in stellar mass for Mstar 10^9 Msolar. This finding is consistent with estimates for faint Local Group dwarfs and field galaxies. These results address one of the outstanding problems faced by the CDM model, namely the strong discrepancy between the original predictions of cuspy DM profiles and the shallower central DM distribution observed in galaxies.Comment: MNRAS in press. Accepted version, a few references added. 12 pages. Animation at http://youtu.be/FbcgEovabDI?hd=