Finding Common Ground: Morton Coleman: My Life as a Mediator in Neighborhoods, Communities, Government, and Politics

In his memoir, Morton Coleman illustrates the importance of mediating influences and finding common ground, especially "as our political environment has become increasingly polarized, with both conservative and liberal perspectives becoming hardened by the echo chambers of ideologically skewed media outlets." The memoir covers Mr. Coleman's: 1. Work as a community organizer at two Pittsburgh settlement houses amidst upheaval due to urban development and major changes in the racial makeup of the neighborhoods served (approximately 1954–61, 2. Involvement in neighborhood development issues, first at the Kingsley settlement house and the Pittsburgh Department of City Planning (1959–64) and then through interaction with community development organizations and as a consultant to Henry Ford II in Detroit, Mich., 3. Time as an aide to Pittsburgh Mayor Joseph Barr (1964–69)—years dominated by Great Society programs, the civil rights movement, desegregation, and Vietnam War protests, and 4. Attempts at community consensus building, first as executive of the Hartford Process in Hartford, Conn., (1977–1980), and then at the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics, which he founded in 1989 and with which he remains active as director emeritus

Does ISIS Satisfy the Criteria of an Apocalyptic Islamic Cult? An Evidence-Based Historical Qualitative Meta-Analysis

The U.S. has been battling ISIS and its forerunners for over two decades; however, ISIS continues to endure and expand. While described as a death cult by some political leaders and other key stakeholders, this assertion received little consideration in the scholarly literature. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether ISIS satisfied the criteria of an apocalyptic Islamic cult through the application of a historical qualitative research design and meta-analysis. Based on the results, the null hypothesis that ISIS does not satisfy the criteria of an apocalyptic Islamic cult was rejected, and the hypothesis that ISIS satisfies the criteria of an apocalyptic Islamic cult was accepted. This outcome has significant implications regarding U.S. policy and how practitioners develop effective strategies to neutralize the threat

What to Do about Municipal Pensions?

Even before the precipitous market decline of late 2008, pension obligations were threatening the long-term fiscal stability of many municipalities. Urban centers with declining populations and unfavorable retiree-to-employee ratios— such as Pittsburgh, where pension fund liabilities represent a big chunk of the city’s financial woes—have the most serious problems, but underfunded pension plans can be found in dozens of Pennsylvania municipalities of all sizes. In response to the growing awareness of municipal pension problems in Pennsylvania, the Fiscal Policy and Governance Committee of the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics formed the Pensions Subcommittee to gather information and consider policy options

STUDIES ON THE LEUKOCYTOSIS AND LYMPHOCYTOSIS INDUCED BY BORDETELLA PERTUSSIS : III. THE DISTRIBUTION OF TRANSFUSED LYMPHOCYTES IN PERTUSSIS-TREATED AND NORMAL MICE

Peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated from normal mice and mice undergoing pertussis-induced lymphocytosis. After labeling in vitro with tritiated uridine the cells were transfused into normal or pertussis-treated mice. It was found that the lymphocytes from pertussis-treated mice entered the lymph nodes of both normal mice and pertussis-treated mice to a significantly lesser extent than did normal lymphocytes which had been transfused into either class of recipient. In addition, an interdependence of changes in the various body compartments examined was found when normal lymphocytes were injected into either type of recipient. However, when pertussis lymphocytes were injected into normal mice there was no interrelationship between the changes in the node with those in the blood, liver, lung, or spleen. In the case of pertussis lymphocytes transfused into pertussis-treated mice no interrelationship between any two compartments was observed. It was concluded that in pertussis-treated mice there is an inhibition of lymphocyte emigration which is primarily the consequence of an effect on the cell

The role of host PrP in Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

AbstractPrP has a central role in the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), and mutations and polymorphisms in host PrP can profoundly alter the host's susceptibility to a TSE agent. However, precisely how host PrP influences the outcome of disease has not been established. To investigate this we have produced by gene targeting a series of inbred lines of transgenic mice expressing different PrP genes. This allows us to study directly the influence of the host PrP gene in TSEs. We have examined the role of glycosylation, point mutations, polymorphisms and PrP from different species on host susceptibility and the disease process both within the murine species and across species barriers

Abelian varieties isogenous to a power of an elliptic curve

Let $E$ be an elliptic curve over a field $k$. Let $R:= \text{End}\, E$. There is a functor $\mathscr{H}\!\!\mathit{om}_R(-,E)$ from the category of finitely presented torsion-free left $R$-modules to the category of abelian varieties isogenous to a power of $E$, and a functor $\text{Hom}(-,E)$ in the opposite direction. We prove necessary and sufficient conditions on $E$ for these functors to be equivalences of categories.Comment: 21 pages, comments welcom

Does colon cancer ever metastasize to bone first? a temporal analysis of colorectal cancer progression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is well recognized that colorectal cancer does not frequently metastasize to bone. The aim of this retrospective study was to establish whether colorectal cancer ever bypasses other organs and metastasizes directly to bone and whether the presence of lung lesions is superior to liver as a better predictor of the likelihood and timing of bone metastasis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a retrospective analysis on patients with a clinical diagnosis of colon cancer referred for staging using whole-body ¹⁸F-FDG PET and CT or PET/CT. We combined PET and CT reports from 252 individuals with information concerning patient history, other imaging modalities, and treatments to analyze disease progression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No patient had isolated osseous metastasis at the time of diagnosis, and none developed isolated bone metastasis without other organ involvement during our survey period. It took significantly longer for colorectal cancer patients to develop metastasis to the lungs (23.3 months) or to bone (21.2 months) than to the liver (9.8 months). Conclusion: Metastasis only to bone without other organ involvement in colorectal cancer patients is extremely rare, perhaps more rare than we previously thought. Our findings suggest that resistant metastasis to the lungs predicts potential disease progression to bone in the colorectal cancer population better than liver metastasis does.</p

Characteristics of 263K Scrapie Agent in Multiple Hamster Species

Characteristics correlated better with host factors than with agent strain

No Major Change in vCJD Agent Strain after Secondary Transmission via Blood Transfusion

The identification of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) by blood transfusion has prompted investigation to establish whether there has been any alteration in the vCJD agent following this route of secondary transmission. Any increase in virulence or host adaptation would require a reassessment of the risk analyses relating to the possibility of a significant secondary outbreak of vCJD. Since there are likely to be carriers of the vCJD agent in the general population, there is a potential for further infection by routes such as blood transfusion or contaminated surgical instruments.We inoculated both wild-type and transgenic mice with material from the first case of transfusion associated vCJD infection.The strain transmission properties of blood transfusion associated vCJD infection show remarkable similarities to the strain of vCJD associated with transmission from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).Although it has been hypothesized that adaptation of the BSE agent through secondary passage in humans may result in a greater risk of onward transmission due to an increased virulence of the agent for humans, our data presented here in two murine models suggest no significant alterations to transmission efficiency of the agent following human-to-human transmission of vCJD