2,322 research outputs found
Bribing Biodiversity: Corruption, Participation, and Community-Based Management in Venezuela
Widespread alarm over the continuing decline of marine and freshwater fisheries has prompted research on the theory and practice of community-based management (CBM). Considering the suite of possible CBM benefits--including local involvement, compliance with regulations, reduced enforcement costs, and sustainable resource use--it is understandable that CBM projects are on the rise. However, there is insufficient examination of the challenges to CBM and the context-specific feasibility of grassroots stewardship. In response, we applied an assessment framework to a Venezuelan fishery to evaluate the feasibility of CBM and to identify barriers to its fruition. We used a variety of methods in concert (including observation, Rapid Rural Appraisal, a survey, and interviews) to assess the characteristics of the 1) resource, 2) user group, and 3) governing institutions. Our results show that resource and user group characteristics are CBM compatible. The negative influence of all institutional characteristics--particularly impediments to local participation and the prevalence of corruption--makes CBM unfeasible in the study site at this time. We discuss these barriers and their implications. The details of reforms necessary to facilitate CBM and prevent fish species loss are, however, beyond the scope of this study
Disrupting the Lean: Performing a 2016 Declaration of Sentiments
Inspired by the spirit of disruption, this article narrates the making of a â2016 Declaration of Sentiments,â invented in a roundtable, âDisrupting the Lean: Performing a 2016 Declaration of Sentiments,â at the fifth Biennial Seneca Falls Dialogues (SFD). We open the essay with a brief theoretical overview that informs manifestos written in a feminist theory or senior seminar course that take up questions of gender equity, labor, and acts of resistance. We follow with excerpts from these manifestos as read in the roundtable, closing the essay with a â2016 Declaration of Sentiments,â collaboratively authored and recited by roundtable participants. Looking back but thinking forward, we give you our words and our voice as we seek to bring activism and agency back to Seneca Falls
Assessment of the Nova StatSensor whole blood point-of-care creatinine analyser for the measurement of kidney function in screening for chronic kidney disease
Point-of-care testing for creatinine using a fingerprick sample and resultant estimated glomerular filtration rate has potential for screening for chronic kidney disease in
community settings. This study assessed the applicability of the Nova StatSensor creatinine analyzer for this purpose. Fingerprick samples from 100 patients (63 renal,
37 healthy volunteers; range 46â962 mmol/L) were assayed
using two StatSensor analyzers. Lithium heparin venous
plasma samples collected simultaneously were assayed in
duplicate using the isotope dilution mass spectrometryaligned
Roche Creatinine Plus enzymatic assay on a Hitachi
Modular P unit. Method comparison statistics and the ability
of the StatSensor to correctly categorise estimated glomerular
filtration rate above or below 60 mL/min were calculated
pre- and post-alignment with the laboratory method.
Isotope dilution mass spectrometry alignment
of the StatSensor will identify most patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate -60 mL/min, but there will be
many falsely low estimated glomerular filtration rate results
that require laboratory validation. Creatinine results need
improvement
Biomass and Productivity of Thalassia testudinum in Estuaries of the Florida Panhandle
Thalassia testudinum often dominates seagrass meadows of the Florida panhandle but few measurements of productivity, biomass, density, turnover or leaf area index in this region have been made. We targeted 5 estuaries located at similar latitudes, 30Ⱐ± 0.3â°N: Big Lagoon, Santa Rosa Sound, St. Andrew Bay, St. Joseph Bay, and St. George Sound. This study was one component of a collaborative partnership of state and local researchers examining factors preventing recovery in panhandle estuarine areas that had historically contained seagrass in the 1940s and 1950s. Measurements were made twice in 2016, once in June and then again in summer or fall, except in Santa Rosa Sound where measurements were made 3 times. In the estuaries sampled for the second time in July or August, aboveground productivity was greater than in June. St. Joseph Bay had the highest aboveground productivity (4.3 g/m2/d) and 1âsided leaf area index (4.2) while St. George Sound had the lowest values (0.41 g/m2/d and 1.0). Principal component analysis suggested that St. Andrew Bay, Big Lagoon and Santa Rosa Sound were the most similar, with higher values for shoot densities and leaf turnover and lower salinities and watershed:water ratios. St. Joseph Bay had high aboveground productivity and salinity, and low turbidity. St. George Sound had low aboveground productivity, high total suspended solids and the highest watershed:water ratio. These baseline productivity estimates will be useful to assess the success of restoration efforts targeting seagrasses in the Florida panhandle and evaluate impacts of climate change on seagrasses
Polymorphisms in IL12A and cockroach allergy in children with asthma
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>IL12A has been implicated in T-cell development and may thus influence the development of atopy and allergic diseases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We tested for association between four linkage disequilibrium (LD)-tagging SNPs (rs2243123, rs2243151, rs668998, and rs17826053) in <it>IL12A </it>and asthma and allergy-related (serum total and allergen-specific IgE, and skin test reactivity [STR] to two common allergens) phenotypes in two samples: 417 Costa Rican children with asthma and their parents, and 470 families of 503 white children in the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP). The analysis was conducted using the family-based association test (FBAT) statistic implemented in the PBAT program.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among Costa Rican children with asthma, homozygosity for the minor allele of each of two SNPs in <it>IL12A </it>(rs2243123 and rs2243151) was associated with increased risks of STR to American cockroach (P †0.03 for both SNPs), STR to German cockroach (P †0.01 for both SNPs), and having a positive IgE to German cockroach (P < 0.05 for both SNPs). Among children in CAMP, homozygosity for the minor allele of SNP rs2243151 in <it>IL12A </it>was inversely associated with STR to German cockroach (P = 0.03) and homozygosity for the minor allele of SNP rs17826053 in <it>IL12A </it>was associated with increased risks of STR to American cockroach (P = 0.01) and STR to German cockroach (P = 0.007). There was no significant association between any SNP in <it>IL12A </it>and asthma, STR to dust mite, or total IgE in Costa Rica or CAMP.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest that variants in <it>IL12A </it>influence cockroach allergy among children with asthma.</p
Doctoral Student Perspectives on Motivation and Persistence: Eye-Opening Insights Into the Ideas and Thoughts That Today\u27s Doctoral Students Have About Finishing the Doctoral Degree
It all comes down to this: we have an amazing team of faculty working with us who are present, supportive, intelligent, and motivated to help us succeed. They designed this program with those objectives in mind. We are in good hands, and any questions we have will be answered, so long as we ask them. Having the support system of our faculty, along with the tools we need to be successful, are major parts of the battle, already won. The rest is up to us. - A. Brooke Boultonhttps://openriver.winona.edu/educationeddbooks/1000/thumbnail.jp
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Brachial Artery Responses to Ambient Pollution, Temperature, and Humidity in People with Type 2 Diabetes: A Repeated-Measures Study
Background: Extreme weather and air pollution are associated with increased cardiovascular risk in people with diabetes. Objectives: In a population with diabetes, we conducted a novel assessment of vascular brachial artery responses both to ambient pollution and to weather (temperature and water vapor pressure, a measure of humidity). Methods: Sixty-four 49- to 85-year-old Boston residents with type 2 diabetes completed up to five study visits (279 repeated measures). Brachial artery diameter (BAD) was measured by ultrasound before and after brachial artery occlusion [i.e., flow-mediated dilation (FMD)] and before and after nitroglycerin-mediated dilation (NMD). Ambient concentrations of fine particulate mass (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon, particle number, and sulfate were measured at our monitoring site; ambient concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone were obtained from state monitors. Particle exposure in the home and during each trip to the clinic (home/trip exposure) was measured continuously and as a 5-day integrated sample. We used linear models with fixed effects for participants, adjusting for date, season, temperature, and water vapor pressure on the day of each visit, to estimate associations between our outcomes and interquartile range increases in exposure. Results: Baseline BAD was negatively associated with particle pollution, including home/tripâintegrated BC (â0.02 mm; 95% CI: â0.04, â0.003, for a 0.28 ÎŒg/m3 increase in BC), OC (â0.08 mm; 95% CI: â0.14, â0.03, for a 1.61 ÎŒg/m3 increase) as well as PM2.5, 5-day average ambient PM2.5, and BC. BAD was positively associated with ambient temperature and water vapor pressure. However, exposures were not consistently associated with FMD or NMD. Conclusion: Brachial artery diameter, a predictor of cardiovascular risk, decreased in association with particle pollution and increased in association with ambient temperature in our study population of adults with type 2 diabetes. Citation: Zanobetti A, Luttmann-Gibson H, Horton ES, Cohen A, Coull BA, Hoffmann B, Schwartz JD, Mittleman MA, Li Y, Stone PH, de Souza C, Lamparello B, Koutrakis P, Gold DR. 2014. Brachial artery responses to ambient pollution, temperature, and humidity in people with type 2 diabetes: a repeated-measures study. Environ Health Perspect 122:242â248; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.120613
Postvaccination anti-S IgG levels predict anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralising activity over 24 weeks in patients with RA
OBJECTIVES
To correlate immune responses following a two-dose regimen of mRNA anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to the development of a potent neutralising antiviral activity.
METHODS
The RECOVER study was a prospective, monocentric study including patients with RA and healthy controls (HCs). Assessments were performed before, and 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks, after the first vaccine dose, respectively, and included IgG, IgA and IgM responses (against receptor binding domain, S1, S2, N), IFN-Îł ELISpots as well as neutralisation assays.
RESULTS
In patients with RA, IgG responses developed slower with lower peak titres compared with HC. Potent neutralising activity assessed by a SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus neutralisation assay after 12 weeks was observed in all 21 HCs, and in 60.3% of 73 patients with RA. A significant correlation between peak anti-S IgG levels 2âweeks after the second vaccine dose and potent neutralising activity against SARS-CoV-2 was observed at weeks 12 and 24. The analysis of IgG, IgA and IgM isotype responses to different viral proteins demonstrated a delay in IgG but not in IgA and IgM responses. T cell responses were comparable in HC and patients with RA but declined earlier in patients with RA.
CONCLUSION
In patients with RA, vaccine-induced IgG antibody levels were diminished, while IgA and IgM responses persisted, indicating a delayed isotype switch. Anti-S IgG levels 2âweeks after the second vaccine dose correlate with the development of a potent neutralising activity after 12 and 24 weeks and may allow to identify patients who might benefit from additional vaccine doses or prophylactic regimen
Communicating with providers about racial healthcare disparities: The role of providersâ prior beliefs on their receptivity to different narrative frames
Objective
Evaluate narratives aimed at motivating providers with different pre-existing beliefs to address racial healthcare disparities.
Methods
Survey experiment with 280 providers. Providers were classified as high or low in attributing disparities to providers (HPA versus LPA) and were randomly assigned to a non-narrative control or 1 of 2 narratives: âProvider Successâ (provider successfully resolved problem involving Black patient) and âProvider Biasâ (Black patient experienced racial bias, which remained unresolved). Participants' reactions to narratives (including identification with narrative) and likelihood of participating in disparities-reduction activities were immediately assessed. Four weeks later, participation in those activities was assessed, including self-reported participation in a disparities-reduction training course (primary outcome).
Results
Participation in training was higher among providers randomized to the Provider Success narrative compared to Provider Bias or Control. LPA participants had higher identification with Provider Success than Provider Bias narratives, whereas among HPA participants, differences in identification between the narratives were not significant.
Conclusions
Provider Success narratives led to greater participation in training than Provider Bias narratives, although providersâ pre-existing beliefs influenced the narrative they identified with.
Practice implications
Provider Success narratives may be more effective at motivating providers to address disparities than Provider Bias narratives, though more research is needed
Direct measurement of antiferromagnetic domain fluctuations
Measurements of magnetic noise emanating from ferromagnets due to domain
motion were first carried out nearly 100 years ago and have underpinned much
science and technology. Antiferromagnets, which carry no net external magnetic
dipole moment, yet have a periodic arrangement of the electron spins extending
over macroscopic distances, should also display magnetic noise, but this must
be sampled at spatial wavelengths of order several interatomic spacings, rather
than the macroscopic scales characteristic of ferromagnets. Here we present the
first direct measurement of the fluctuations in the nanometre-scale spin-
(charge-) density wave superstructure associated with antiferromagnetism in
elemental Chromium. The technique used is X-ray Photon Correlation
Spectroscopy, where coherent x-ray diffraction produces a speckle pattern that
serves as a "fingerprint" of a particular magnetic domain configuration. The
temporal evolution of the patterns corresponds to domain walls advancing and
retreating over micron distances. While the domain wall motion is thermally
activated at temperatures above 100K, it is not so at lower temperatures, and
indeed has a rate which saturates at a finite value - consistent with quantum
fluctuations - on cooling below 40K. Our work is important because it provides
an important new measurement tool for antiferromagnetic domain engineering as
well as revealing a fundamental new fact about spin dynamics in the simplest
antiferromagnet.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure
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