45 research outputs found
Attention All Students: Please Deposit Your Constitutional Rights at the Door
This Note argues that the Court should return to the fact-specific balancing test utilized in Vernonia and close the door to the further expansion of suspicionless drug testing in public schools. Part II of this Note will discuss the steady erosion of Fourth Amendment protections in the school context, as well as the expansion of drug testing outside the school setting. Part III will discuss the factual and procedural background of Pottawatomie and will focus on the Supreme Court\u27s analysis and the dissent\u27s application of the Vernonia standard to Pottawatomie\u27s facts. Part IV will explore the problems and ramifications of the Pottawatomie decision. Part V will offer recommendations for what the Court should do in the future to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of students and prevent the further expansion of drug testing in schools. Part VI will summarize and conclude
âDAM Becky, Look at That Assetâ: Digital Asset Management in Cultural Heritage Institutions
This study explores the role of the Digital Asset Management system within Cultural Heritage Institutions, and acts as a needs assessment for institutions with DAM systems in place. The study was conducted to understand how Digital Asset Management systems are being used in institutions and what the potential roadblocks are for implementation at smaller institutions.
Before delving into research, the paper outlines both the history of Digital Asset Management systems in museums, as well as its potential futures. The research is based on a survey and telephone interviews of industry professionals that occurred in the Spring of 2019. Despite a growing interest in DAM systems, Cultural Heritage Institutions are still in need of more nuanced features specific to their workflows.Master of Science in Information Scienc
Veronese's Bathing Women: Susanna, Diana, and Bathsheba
In a 200-year period roughly corresponding to the early and late Renaissance in Italy from 1450-1650, paintings of the stories of Susanna and the Elders, Diana and Actaeon, and David and Bathsheba, were popular across artistic expression. This thesis examines the work of Venetian Renaissance painter, Paolo Caliari, known as Veronese, by comparing his depictions of these three subjects with established artistic iconography. Through this context it can be argued that he has used the themes of the vulnerable woman, the gaze of males, and the bath, in order to challenge early modern judgement of Susanna, Diana, and Bathsheba. By embracing ambiguity and ambivalence in his paintings, Veronese has highlighted the deliberate role and responsibility of the male characters, thus absolving the women of culpability in the disastrous consequences following the moments that he has painted. In interrogating these images, this thesis seeks to advance a more nuanced understanding of Veroneseâs oeuvre.Master of Art
Divergent neural and endocrine responses in wild-caught and laboratory-bred Rattus norvegicus
Although rodents have represented the most intensely studied animals in neurobiological investigations for more than a century, few studies have systematically compared neural and endocrine differences between wild rodents in their natural habitats and laboratory strains raised in traditional laboratory environments. In the current study, male and female Rattus norvegicus rats were trapped in an urban setting and compared to weight-and sex-matched conspecifics living in standard laboratory housing conditions. Brains were extracted for neural assessments and fecal boli were collected for endocrine [corticosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)] assays. Additionally, given their role in immune and stress functions, spleen and adrenal weights were recorded. A separate set of wild rats was trapped at a dairy farm and held in captivity for one month prior to assessments; in these animals, brains were processed but no hormone data were available. The results indicated that wild-trapped rats exhibited 31% heavier brains, including higher densities of cerebellar neurons and glial cells in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. The wild rats also had approximately 300% greater spleen and adrenal weights, and more than a six-fold increase in corticosterone levels than observed in laboratory rats. Further research on neurobiological variables in wild vs. lab animals will inform the extensive neurobiological knowledge base derived from laboratory investigations using selectively bred rodents in laboratory environments, knowledge that will enhance the translational value of preclinical laboratory rodent studies
Red Supergiants in the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
Red supergiants are a short-lived stage in the evolution of moderately
massive stars (10-25Mo), and as such their location in the H-R diagram provides
an exacting test of stellar evolutionary models. Since massive star evolution
is strongly affected by the amount of mass-loss a star suffers, and since the
mass-loss rates depend upon metallicity, it is highly desirable to study the
physical properties of these stars in galaxies of various metallicities. Here
we identify a sample of red supergiants in M31 (the most metal-rich of the
Local Group galaxies) and derive their physical properties by fitting MARCS
atmosphere models to moderate resolution optical spectroscopy, and from V-K
photometry.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Performance of a proteomic preterm delivery predictor in a large independent prospective cohort
Background
Preterm birth remains a common and devastating complication of pregnancy. There remains a need for effective and accurate screening methods for preterm birth. Using a proteomic approach, we previously discovered and validated (Proteomic Assessment of Preterm Risk study, NCT01371019) a preterm birth predictor comprising a ratio of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 to sex hormone-binding globulin.
Objective
To determine the performance of the ratio of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 to sex hormone-binding globulin to predict both spontaneous and medically indicated very preterm births, in an independent cohort distinct from the one in which it was developed.
Study Design
This was a prospective observational study (Multicenter Assessment of a Spontaneous Preterm Birth Risk Predictor, NCT02787213) at 18 sites in the United States. Women had blood drawn at 170/7 to 216/7 weeksâ gestation. For confirmation, we planned to analyze a randomly selected subgroup of women having blood drawn between 191/7 and 206/7 weeksâ gestation, with the results of the remaining study participants blinded for future validation studies. Serum from participants was analyzed by mass spectrometry. Neonatal morbidity and mortality were analyzed using a composite score by a method from the PREGNANT trial (NCT00615550, Hassan et al). Scores of 0â3 reflect increasing numbers of morbidities or length of neonatal intensive care unit stay, and 4 represents perinatal mortality.
Results
A total of 5011 women were enrolled, with 847 included in this planned substudy analysis. There were 9 preterm birth cases at <320/7 weeksâ gestation and 838 noncases at â„320/7 weeksâ gestation; 21 of 847 infants had neonatal composite morbidity and mortality index scores of â„3, and 4 of 21 had a score of 4. The ratio of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 to sex hormone-binding globulin ratio was substantially higher in both preterm births at <320/7 weeksâ gestation and there were more severe neonatal outcomes. The ratio of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 to sex hormone-binding globulin ratio was significantly predictive of birth at <320/7 weeksâ gestation (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.55â0.87; P=.016). Stratification by body mass index, optimized in the previous validation study (22<body mass indexâ€37 kg/m2), resulted in an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.76 (95% confidence interval, 0.59â0.93; P=.023). The ratio of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 to sex hormone-binding globulin ratio predicted neonatal outcomes with respective area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.67 (95% confidence interval, 0.57â0.77; P=.005) and 0.78 (95% confidence interval, 0.63â0.93; P=.026) for neonatal composite morbidity and mortality scores of â„3 or 4. In addition, the ratio of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 to sex hormone binding globulin significantly stratified neonates with increased length of hospital stay (log rank P=.023).
Conclusion
We confirmed in an independent cohort the ratio of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 to sex hormone-binding globulin ratio as a predictor of very preterm birth, with additional prediction of increased length of neonatal hospital stay and increased severity of adverse neonatal outcomes. Potential uses of the ratio of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 to sex hormone-binding globulin predictor may be to risk stratify patients for implementation of preterm birth preventive strategies and direct patients to appropriate levels of care
The stigma turbine:A theoretical framework for conceptualizing and contextualizing marketplace stigma
Stigmas, or discredited personal attributes, emanate from social perceptions of physical characteristics, aspects of character, and âtribalâ associations (e.g., race; Goffman 1963). Extant research emphasizes the perspective of the stigma target, with some scholars exploring how social institutions shape stigma. Yet the ways stakeholders within the socio-commercial sphere create, perpetuate, or resist stigma remain overlooked. We introduce and define marketplace stigma as the labeling, stereotyping, and devaluation by and of commercial stakeholders (consumers, companies and their employees, stockholders, institutions) and their offerings (products, services, experiences). We offer the Stigma Turbine (ST) as a unifying conceptual framework that locates marketplace stigma within the broader sociocultural context, and illuminates its relationship to forces that exacerbate or blunt stigma. In unpacking the ST, we reveal the critical role market stakeholders can play in (de)stigmatization, explore implications for marketing practice and public policy, and offer a research agenda to further our understanding of marketplace stigma and stakeholder welfare
The IDENTIFY study: the investigation and detection of urological neoplasia in patients referred with suspected urinary tract cancer - a multicentre observational study
Objective
To evaluate the contemporary prevalence of urinary tract cancer (bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer [UTUC] and renal cancer) in patients referred to secondary care with haematuria, adjusted for established patient risk markers and geographical variation.
Patients and Methods
This was an international multicentre prospective observational study. We included patients aged â„16 years, referred to secondary care with suspected urinary tract cancer. Patients with a known or previous urological malignancy were excluded. We estimated the prevalence of bladder cancer, UTUC, renal cancer and prostate cancer; stratified by age, type of haematuria, sex, and smoking. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust cancer prevalence for age, type of haematuria, sex, smoking, hospitals, and countries.
Results
Of the 11 059 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 896 were included from 110 hospitals across 26 countries. The overall adjusted cancer prevalence (n = 2257) was 28.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.3â34.1), bladder cancer (n = 1951) 24.7% (95% CI 19.1â30.2), UTUC (n = 128) 1.14% (95% CI 0.77â1.52), renal cancer (n = 107) 1.05% (95% CI 0.80â1.29), and prostate cancer (n = 124) 1.75% (95% CI 1.32â2.18). The odds ratios for patient risk markers in the model for all cancers were: age 1.04 (95% CI 1.03â1.05; P < 0.001), visible haematuria 3.47 (95% CI 2.90â4.15; P < 0.001), male sex 1.30 (95% CI 1.14â1.50; P < 0.001), and smoking 2.70 (95% CI 2.30â3.18; P < 0.001).
Conclusions
A better understanding of cancer prevalence across an international population is required to inform clinical guidelines. We are the first to report urinary tract cancer prevalence across an international population in patients referred to secondary care, adjusted for patient risk markers and geographical variation. Bladder cancer was the most prevalent disease. Visible haematuria was the strongest predictor for urinary tract cancer