Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and its effect on the fluid dynamic and epithelia of the cervix

Cervical remodeling (CR) is a complex process, among other things, associated with collagen dissociation, increase in edema and tissue mass, and is loosely categorized in four overlapping, but uniquely regulated stages. Our knowledge on the role of the microvasculature and the underlying mechanisms in this process (CR) is incomplete. VEGF, a potent vascular permeability factor, mitogen and key angiogenic architect, has been shown to mediate edema and cellular proliferation in several tissue types. Our lab has previously characterized expression of VEGF and its receptors in the cervix, and identified VEGF-regulated genes during CR using DNA microarray. Here, we use various techniques, serum protein tracking dye (Evans Blue), VEGF agents and rodents and show that VEGF likely plays a role in CR, in part, by inducing expression of tight junction genes, vascular permeability, serum protein tissue infiltration, edema and epithelial cell growth

The end of the wor(l)d as we know it? : language in postapocalyptic

In recent times, the idea of apocalypse has consumed the public consciousness. Naturally, this preoccupation with the end of the world has been a frequent subject for literary exploration. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake are two recent novels that are set in the aftermath of global destruction. In The Road, an unnamed cataclysmic event has left the world in ruins, while in Oryx and Crake, the human race has been nearly annihilated by a man-made pandemic. As a result of these apocalyptic events, the postapocalyptic landscapes of the novels have been radically changed and rendered unspeakable for many of the characters that have survived. These characters are equipped only with the signifiers of the old world, and these signifiers no longer hold meaning in the new, postapocalyptic world. Therefore, as a result of the cataclysmic events, the postapocalyptic worlds of The Road and Oryx and Crake become sites for linguistic transformation. Both novels feature protagonists, in the father and Snowman, who represent the pre-apocalyptic world. These characters struggle to find their place in the new world, since they are burdened by the signifiers of the old world. Ultimately, their existences prove anachronistic, as they are unable to fully define themselves in the new world. Both novels also feature characters, in the boy and the Crakers, who represent the postapocalyptic world. These characters are charged with determining the linguistic transformation that will take place in the postapocalyptic world. Both the boy and the Crakers employ a simple, pared-down language that stands in stark contrast to the language of the pre-apocalyptic world. As a result of the apocalyptic events in the novels, language has been restored to its essential elements. Ultimately, both The Road and Oryx and Crake affirm language as a redemptive and inextricable part of human existence. They also suggest, however, that if language is to exist after an apocalyptic event, it must be radically re-imagined

Educational practices of administrators and teachers in a high performing Title I school that improves student performance

The purpose of this study was to determine what a successful Title I school is doing to ensure all students’ educational needs are being met, according to the goals of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), which holds schools accountable for ensuring all students show progress. The study investigated the school’s role in meeting the challenges associated with educating students from high-poverty environments. Specifically, the study focused on what administrators did to ensure teachers were successful in their roles, what teachers did instructionally, how teachers motivated and provided high expectations for all students, how teachers collaborated and the impact it had on student achievement, and what instructional programs were used and proven successful in enhancing teaching and learning. A qualitative methodology was utilized in conducting the research. The school was selected based on its work as a consistently high-performing Title I school. A sampling of participants was used from various classifications/positions within the school: administrators, school leadership team, teachers, and PTA members. The perspectives of participants on how the school continues to be successful in meeting the educational needs of all students were paramount to understanding and identifying specific practices, policies, and programs that contribute to the school’s continued success. The results of the study may assist other Title I schools that struggle to meet the challenges of high-poverty students

Examining the association between gratitude and sexual communal strength

Maintaining sexual satisfaction is a critical, yet challenging, aspect of most romantic relationships. Sexual communal strength (SCS)—i.e., the extent to which people are motivated to be non-contingently responsive to their partners’ sexual needs—accounts for why some couples are able to maintain sexual and relationship satisfaction despite such challenges. However, research has yet to identify what factors promote SCS. Given that feeling and expressing gratitude function to motivate intimates to maintain valuable relationships, expressing gratitude should increase intimates’ motivation to meet their partners’ sexual needs. Further, given that receiving expressions of gratitude should increase liking, and people are motivated to maintain relationships with others they like, receiving gratitude should similarly increase intimates’ motivation to meet their partners’ sexual needs. Two studies of romantic partners demonstrated that both expressing and receiving gratitude is associated with SCS. A third experiment of couples failed to successfully manipulate gratitude and thus was unable to test the causal association between gratitude and SCS. Results from Studies 1-2 further understanding about what qualities or behaviors promote SCS. Future research would benefit by developing a more successful manipulation of gratitude to better understand the causal association between gratitude and SCS

Negotiating European Security: Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR)

This article has four objectives. The first is simply to indicate where the MBFR talks are and from whence they have come. The second is to summarize the negotiating principles that underlie the positions of East and West. The third is to outline the major outstanding issues that continue to block agreement in Vienna. And the fourth is to assess future prospects for MBFR, the relative merits of alternative forums for serious discussions about arms control in Europe, and the pressing need for an MBFR strategy

Planning for Foreign Policy: A Framework for Analysis

`Avoid trivia.' Such was the advice given to George F. Kennan, first director of the Policy Planning Staff (s/P)1 of the United States Department of State by the Secretary of State, George C. Marshall. The staff was created by Marshall in April 1947 in response to perceived threats of economic collapse and political chaos in postwar Europe. Kennan and his five-man staff assumed active roles in the formulation of the Marshall Plan, attesting to their acceptance of Marshall's advice. The effects of the plan were not only to speed immediate European economic recovery, but also to lay the foundation for future European economic prosperity.2 In this situation the Policy Planning Staff had a dramatic impact on the direction of American foreign policy. The powerlessness of the staff in the formulation of United States policy in Vietnam during the early and mid-1960s provides a striking contrast. Although Director Walt Rostow instituted the National Policy Papers as strategies for developing innovative policy guidelines, his efforts went unheeded by the Secretary of State, Dean Rusk. According to many observers, the influence of the Policy Planning Staff dropped to the lowest point in its history during the 1961-6 period, and particularly with respect to Vietnam policy.3 What has made the difference between success and failure for the Policy Planning Staff over time? Why has it had an impact on policy in some situations but not in others? More generally, what does the staff's experience tell us about the conditions under which planners can influence the direction of foreign policy

Bureaucratic Determinants of Foreign Policy: Some Empirical Evidence

A recent development in the study of foreign policy is the growing attention being given to bureaucratic politics explanations of national foreign policy behavior.' In fact, it would be no exaggeration to characterize the bureaucratic politics approach or bureaucratic paradigm as a major research thrust in contemporary international relations theory. Foreign policy behavior, the bureaucratic perspective contends, can be accounted for best in terms of the bargaining dynamics among representatives of large-scale organizations. More specifically, the approach assumes that a nation's behavior is derived primarily from the organizations and individuals comprising the foreign policy elite who act to maximize their diverse interests and goals; thus, rather than interpreting national actions as reactions to foreign stimuli or systemic factors (Singer, 1961), advocates of the bureaucratic politics paradigm view foreign policy behavior as the consequence of decision-makers' efforts to enhance their parochial interests. Thus a researcher adopting this approach would agree with Kissinger's view "that if one wants to understand what the government is likely to do, one has to understand the bureaucratics of the problems" (Kissinger, 1973: 84). Such an explanatory framework analyzes a particular nation's foreign policy by "holding constant" domestic politics and international contextual variables as sources of national behavior and by concentrating instead on the activities of those individuals responsible for formulating the external policies of the nation. According to this perspective foreign policy decisions are not made; rather policy develops as the outcomes of bureaucratic interaction. Participating bureaucrats act to protect their personal and organizational interests, and identify national interests with these interests. Popularized by Graham Allison, the bureaucratic paradigm's influence on international relations theory can be assessed as well by the emergence of numerous critiques of that approach (Allison, 1971; Art, 1973; Allison and Halperin, 1972; Halperin and Kanter, 1973; Krasner, 1972). In short, the objectives of the present study are (1) to confront a major analytic framework with data in order to estimate its ability to explain the external behavior of nations, (2) to develop several prescriptions concerning appropriate research strategies for the construction of positive foreign policy theory, and (3) to raise some methodological questions regarding the use of event/interaction data in comparative foreign policy research

A survey of protectionism from import quotas

It is the purpose of this paper to analyze the contributions to the theory of protectionism from import quotas and to compare quota protection with tariff protection. Partial and general equilibrium analysis are used to compare the effects of quotas on consumption, production, and income distribution with tariffs and free trade. Edgeworth boxes are used to determine the effects of quotas on trade in a pure exchange model. Tariffs and quotas are found 'equivalent' in the static context of both partial and general equilibrium analysis. By 'equivalent' we mean both can be used to produce identical results with respect to prices, production, consumption and income distribution. The 'equivalence' breaks down in the dynamic context due to the different adjustment mechanisms of the two systems. Quotas are shown to adjust to shifting markets through changes in relative prices while adjustment under the tariff takes place through changes in the quantities traded. In the dynamic partial equilibrium model we find the quota more protective than the tariff in the 'tightening' market and less protective in the 'softening' market. Our findings in the 'tightening' market contradict the historical reliance on tariffs in markets with inelastic demand. In the 'softening' market context the use of tariffs is found valid

Identifying Improved Sites for Heterologous Gene Integration Using ATAC-seq

Constructing efficient cellular factories often requires integration of heterologous pathways for synthesis of novel compounds and improved cellular productivity. Few genomic sites are routinely used, however, for efficient integration and expression of heterologous genes, especially in nonmodel hosts. Here, a data-guided framework for informing suitable integration sites for heterologous genes based on ATAC-seq was developed in the nonmodel yeast Komagataella phaffii. Single-copy GFP constructs were integrated using CRISPR/Cas9 into 38 intergenic regions (IGRs) to evaluate the effects of IGR size, intensity of ATAC-seq peaks, and orientation and expression of adjacent genes. Only the intensity of accessibility peaks was observed to have a significant effect, with higher expression observed from IGRs with low- to moderate-intensity peaks than from high-intensity peaks. This effect diminished for tandem, multicopy integrations, suggesting that the additional copies of exogenous sequence buffered the transcriptional unit of the transgene against effects from endogenous sequence context. The approach developed from these results should provide a basis for nominating suitable IGRs in other eukaryotic hosts from an annotated genome and ATAC-seq data

Navigating sexual challenges across relationship development

A satisfying sexual relationship is critical for maintaining individual and relationship well-being, yet is difficult to maintain over time. Indeed, many people will inevitably face sexual challenges over the course of a relationship that threaten the well-being and stability of the relationship. However, some people are more successful at navigating these sexual challenges to maintain well-being over time, suggesting that it is possible to maintain a satisfying sexual relationship despite common obstacles that people face. To this end, this dissertation discussed three types of sexual challenges—sexual incompatibility, avoiding infidelity, and mate selection—that people are especially likely to encounter over the course of a romantic relationship, and how those sexual challenges inform individual and relational outcomes. Further, this dissertation introduced my program of research, which seeks to identify how people can successfully navigate these sexual challenges to maintain satisfying sexual relationships over time. Ultimately, these findings contribute to literature on how people can maintain sexual and relationship satisfaction over time, and thus promote individual and relational well-being