Research priorities of women at risk for preterm birth: findings and a call to action.

BACKGROUND:Traditional hierarchical approaches to research give privilege to small groups with decision-making power, without direct input from those with lived experience of illness who bear the burden of disease. A Research Justice framework values the expertise of patients and communities as well as their power in creating knowledge and in decisions about what research is conducted. Preterm birth has persisted at epidemic levels in the United States for decades and disproportionately affects women of color, especially Black women. Women of color have not been included in setting the agenda regarding preterm birth research. METHODS:We used the Research Priorities of Affected Communities protocol to elicit and prioritize potential research questions and topics directly from women of color living in three communities that experience disproportionately high rates of preterm birth. Women participated in two focus group sessions, first describing their healthcare experiences and generating lists of uncertainties about their health and/or healthcare during pregnancy. Women then participated in consensus activities to achieve 'top-priority' research questions and topic lists. The priority research questions and topics produced by each group were examined within and across the three regions for similarities and differences. RESULTS:Fifty-four women participated in seven groups (14 sessions) and generated 375 researchable questions, clustered within 22 topics and four overarching themes: Maternal Health and Care Before, During, and After Pregnancy; Newborn Health and Care of the Preterm Baby; Understanding Stress and Interventions to Prevent or Reduce Stress; and Interpersonal and Structural Health Inequities. The questions and topics represent a wide range of research domains, from basic science, translational, clinical, health and social care delivery to policy and economic research. There were many similarities and some unique differences in the questions, topics and priorities across the regions. CONCLUSIONS:These findings can be used to design and fund research addressing unanswered questions that matter most to women at high risk for preterm birth. Investigators and funders are strongly encouraged to incorporate women at the front lines of the preterm birth epidemic in research design and funding decisions, and more broadly, to advance methods to deepen healthcare research partnerships with affected communities

Editor\u27s Special Section-Larry Schnoor: A Celebration of His Impact on Intercollegiate Forensics

This panel is honoring Professor Larry Schnoor for his lifelong contribu-tions to Intercollegiate Forensics. National Individual Events Tournaments have continued to flourish under his direction. In addition, his constant mentoring has guaranteed the life of this activity. Panelists will describe Professor Schnoor‘s impact on the AFA-NIET, NFA, IOC and both his mentoring of forensic coaches and programs. Professor Schnoor will help to clarify and add to this oral history

The Mathematics of a Successful Deconvolution: A Quantitative Assessment of Mixture-Based Combinatorial Libraries Screened Against Two Formylpeptide Receptors

In the past 20 years, synthetic combinatorial methods have fundamentally advanced the ability to synthesize and screen large numbers of compounds for drug discovery and basic research. Mixture-based libraries and positional scanning deconvolution combine two approaches for the rapid identification of specific scaffolds and active ligands. Here we present a quantitative assessment of the screening of 32 positional scanning libraries in the identification of highly specific and selective ligands for two formylpeptide receptors. We also compare and contrast two mixture-based library approaches using a mathematical model to facilitate the selection of active scaffolds and libraries to be pursued for further evaluation. The flexibility demonstrated in the differently formatted mixture-based libraries allows for their screening in a wide range of assays

Association Between Pain Sensitization and Disease Activity in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141868/1/acr23266.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141868/2/acr23266_am.pd

Geochronology of late Pleistocene to Holocene speleothems from central Texas: Implications for regional paleoclimate

from a southward deflection of the jet steam due to the presence of a continental ice sheet in central North America. This mechanism also may have governed the two earlier intervals of fast growth in the speleothems (and inferred wetter climate). Ice volumes were lower and temperatures in central North America were higher during these two earlier glacial intervals than during the Last Glacial Maximum, however. The potential effects of temporal variations in precession of Earth's orbit on regional effective moisture may provide an additional mechanism for increased effective moisture coincident with the observed intervals of increased speleothem growth. The stalagmites all exhibit a large drop in growth rate between 15 and 12 ka, and they show very slow growth up to the present, consistent with drier climate during the Holocene. These results illustrate that speleothem growth rates can reflect the regional response of a hydrologic system to regional and global climate variability

IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0-50,000 years cal BP

The IntCal04 and Marine04 radiocarbon calibration curves have been updated from 12 cal kBP (cal kBP is here defined as thousands of calibrated years before AD 1950), and extended to 50 cal kBP, utilizing newly available data sets that meet the IntCal Working Group criteria for pristine corals and other carbonates and for quantification of uncertainty in both the 14C and calendar timescales as established in 2002. No change was made to the curves from 0-12 cal kBP. The curves were constructed using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) implementation of the random walk model used for IntCal04 and Marine04. The new curves were ratified at the 20th International Radiocarbon Conference in June 2009 and are available in the Supplemental Material at www.radiocarbon.org.Additional co-authors: TJ Heaton, AG Hogg, KA Hughen, KF Kaiser, B Kromer, SW Manning, RW Reimer, DA Richards, JR Southon, S Talamo, CSM Turney, J van der Plicht, CE Weyhenmeye

Physics Opportunities with the 12 GeV Upgrade at Jefferson Lab

This white paper summarizes the scientific opportunities for utilization of the upgraded 12 GeV Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) and associated experimental equipment at Jefferson Lab. It is based on the 52 proposals recommended for approval by the Jefferson Lab Program Advisory Committee.The upgraded facility will enable a new experimental program with substantial discovery potential to address important topics in nuclear, hadronic, and electroweak physics.Comment: 64 page

Identification of a small molecule yeast TORC1 inhibitor with a flow cytometry-based multiplex screen

TOR (target of rapamycin) is a serine/threonine kinase, evolutionarily conserved from yeast to human, which functions as a fundamental controller of cell growth. The moderate clinical benefit of rapamycin in mTOR-based therapy of many cancers favors the development of new TOR inhibitors. Here we report a high throughput flow cytometry multiplexed screen using five GFPtagged yeast clones that represent the readouts of four branches of the TORC1 signaling pathway in budding yeast. Each GFP-tagged clone was differentially color-coded and the GFP signal of each clone was measured simultaneously by flow cytometry, which allows rapid prioritization of compounds that likely act through direct modulation of TORC1 or proximal signaling components. A total of 255 compounds were confirmed in dose-response analysis to alter GFP expression in one or more clones. To validate the concept of the high throughput screen, we have characterized CID 3528206, a small molecule most likely to act on TORC1 as it alters GFP expression in all five GFP clones in an analogous manner to rapamycin. We have shown that CID 3528206 inhibited yeast cell growth, and that CID 3528206 inhibited TORC1 activity both in vitro and in vivo with EC50s of 150 nM and 3.9 μM, respectively. The results of microarray analysis and yeast GFP collection screen further support the notion that CID 3528206 and rapamycin modulate similar cellular pathways. Together, these results indicate that the HTS has identified a potentially useful small molecule for further development of TOR inhibitors

Does Sex Trade with Violence among Genotypes in Drosophila melanogaster?

The evolutionary forces shaping the ability to win competitive interactions, such as aggressive encounters, are still poorly understood. Given a fitness advantage for competitive success, variance in aggressive and sexual display traits should be depleted, but a great deal of variation in these traits is consistently found. While life history tradeoffs have been commonly cited as a mechanism for the maintenance of variation, the variability of competing strategies of conspecifics may mean there is no single optimum strategy. We measured the genetically determined outcomes of aggressive interactions, and the resulting effects on mating success, in a panel of diverse inbred lines representing both natural variation and artificially selected genotypes. Males of one genotype which consistently lost territorial encounters with other genotypes were nonetheless successful against males that were artificially selected for supernormal aggression and dominated all other lines. Intransitive patterns of territorial success could maintain variation in aggressive strategies if there is a preference for territorial males. Territorial success was not always associated with male mating success however and females preferred ‘winners’ among some male genotypes, and ‘losers’ among other male genotypes. This suggests that studying behaviour from the perspective of population means may provide limited evolutionary and genetic insight. Overall patterns of competitive success among males and mating transactions between the sexes are consistent with mechanisms proposed for the maintenance of genetic variation due to nonlinear outcomes of competitive interactions

Dimensions of Liberal Education at Brockport

Editor: H. Larry Humm (College at Brockport emeritus). Editorial board: Robert W. Strayer (professor emeritus, College at Brockport) ; W. Bruce Leslie, (College at Brockport faculty member) ; Robert S. Getz (professor emeritus, College at Brockport) ; J. Douglas Hickerson (former Director of Student Affairs, College at Brockport), Kenneth L. Jones (former College at Brockport faculty member) ; Charles R. Edwards (professor emeritus, College at Brockport). Also includes chapters by the following emeriti and former faculty members and professionals of The College at Brockport: Donald S. Douglas (former provost), Harold L. Rakov (emeritus), Roger M. Weir (emeritus), Owen S. Ireland (current), Edward J. Gucker (emeritus), Warren Fraleigh (emeritus), Lynn H. Parsons (emeritus), Ian H. Henderson (emeritus), Robert J. Gemmett (emeritus), J. Emory Morris (emeritus), Beth E. VanFossen (former faculty member), Peter L. Marchant (emeritus), Gladdys W. Church (former Director of the Learning Skills Center). An instructional development project of the Educational Communications Center, State University College at Brockport, Brockport, New York. Contents: On coming to college for the first time : Great expectations, yours and ours / Donald S. Douglas -- High school and college, what’s the difference? / Harold L. Rakov -- Living in a college community / Roger M. Weir -- A liberal arts education: what, why and how: The liberating arts and personal freedom / J. Douglas Hickerson -- The liberal arts, preparation for a career / Roger M. Weir -- Liberally educated people, knowing them when you see them: Perspective 1, Gaining knowledge, discipline, and values / Owen S. Ireland -- Perspective 2, Nurturing curiosity, creativity, and commitment / Edward J. Gucker -- Perspective 3, Cultivating freedom / Warren Fraleigh -- Democracy and the liberal arts, Is there a connection? / Lynn H. Parsons -- From Socrates to Brockport, your place in a long tradition / W. Bruce Leslie -- Why study the fine arts? / Ian H. Henderson -- Why study the humanities? / Robert J. Gemmett -- Why study the sciences? / J. Emory Morris -- Why study the social sciences? / Beth E. VanFossen -- More than making it: getting the most out of college : Where am I going? How do I get there? Some thoughts on academic planning / Robert S. Getz -- Thinking about thinking / H. Larry Humm -- How not to be a victim of time, a first letter to an anxious student / Peter L. Marchant -- Reading in college, more than turning pages / Charles R. Edwards -- Going to class-- being there is not enough / H. Larry Humm -- How not to be a victim of essay assignments, a second letter to an anxious student / Peter L. Marchant -- Making the most of tests / Gladdys W. Church.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/bookshelf/1328/thumbnail.jp