Media Coverage of EPA\u27s Draft Dioxin Reassessment Report

Using content analysis, the authors examine the utility of news media in democratic decision making

Evolution of the Predominant Sequence of the Hypervariable Region in the Putative Envelope Gene E2/NS1 of Hepatitis C Virus in Patients on Haemodialysis

Follow-up studies of patients with acute HCV infection indicate that up to 50% of them develop a chronic infection. Hypervariability of the putative envelope protein E2/NS1 of HCV suggests that one mechanism by which the virus may persist in the host is by the generation of viral escape mutants. By this theory, a predominant population would evolve to which antibody is made which neutralises that viral population allowing the emergence of a new antigenically different predominant population. A characteristic clinical feature of HCV infection is the episodic fluctuating pattern of alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in which periods of elevated ALT levels are interspersed with periods of normal levels. The emergence of a new genetic variant may be expected to coincide with a period of liver dysfunction. Patients on long term renal dialysis are more likely to have elevated ALT levels than uninfected patients. To characterise the emergence of genetic variants of the hypervariable region (HVR1) of the E2/NS1 protein and correlate their appearance with periods of liver dysfunction, a retrospective study of the HVR1 amplified from multiple serum samples taken over several years from three renal dialysis patients was performed. A total of 36 serum samples serially obtained from three patients with chronic hepatitis C were studied. HCV RNA was extracted from patient serum and the E2/NS1 HVR1 was amplified by reverse transcription and nested polymerase chain reaction. The amplified cDNA was analysed by direct chain termination nucleotide sequencing using the Sanger technique. The data indicate nucleotide sequence variation of HVR1 over time in each of the three renal dialysis patients but the emergence of a new sequence variant could not be linked with to a specific peak in ALT level. However, persistently raised ALT levels did appear to be associated with increased rate of change of the HVR1. The second study presented in this thesis was undertaken to investigate the effect serum storage conditions had on the stability of HCV RNA and its detection by RT-PCR. Serum taken from a chronically infected patient was stored at

Near-IR Search for Lensed Supernovae Behind Galaxy Clusters - II. First Detection and Future Prospects

Powerful gravitational telescopes in the form of massive galaxy clusters can be used to enhance the light collecting power over a limited field of view by about an order of magnitude in flux. This effect is exploited here to increase the depth of a survey for lensed supernovae at near-IR wavelengths. A pilot SN search program conducted with the ISAAC camera at VLT is presented. Lensed galaxies behind the massive clusters A1689, A1835 and AC114 were observed for a total of 20 hours split into 2, 3 and 4 epochs respectively, separated by approximately one month to a limiting magnitude J<24 (Vega). Image subtractions including another 20 hours worth of archival ISAAC/VLT data were used to search for transients with lightcurve properties consistent with redshifted supernovae, both in the new and reference data. The feasibility of finding lensed supernovae in our survey was investigated using synthetic lightcurves of supernovae and several models of the volumetric Type Ia and core-collapse supernova rates as a function of redshift. We also estimate the number of supernova discoveries expected from the inferred star formation rate in the observed galaxies. The methods consistently predict a Poisson mean value for the expected number of SNe in the survey between N_SN=0.8 and 1.6 for all supernova types, evenly distributed between core collapse and Type Ia SN. One transient object was found behind A1689, 0.5" from a galaxy with photometric redshift z_gal=0.6 +- 0.15. The lightcurve and colors of the transient are consistent with being a reddened Type IIP SN at z_SN=0.59. The lensing model predicts 1.4 magnitudes of magnification at the location of the transient, without which this object would not have been detected in the near-IR ground based search described in this paper (unlensed magnitude J~25). (abridged)Comment: Accepted by AA, matches journal versio

Implicit and explicit pedagogical practices related to sociocultural issues and social justice in physical education teacher education programs

Background: For many years, scholars in PETE have argued for the importance of educating pre-service teachers (PSTs) about equality (e.g., Evans 1990), sociocultural perspectives and issues (e.g., Cliff, Wright and Clarke, 2009; Author 2014) and critical pedagogy (e.g., Fernandez-Balboa 1997; Philpot 2015). Despite this advocacy, we would argue that there are significant differences in how faculty teach about sociocultural issues, and for, social justice. The pedagogical actions through which Physical Education Teacher Educators (PETEs) do this work is the focus of this paper. Purpose: We investigated the pedagogical approaches and strategies used by PETE faculty to address and educate PSTs about social justice and sociocultural issues related to gender, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, socioeconomic status and religion in their individual PETE programs. In this study, we draw on transformational pedagogy (Ukpokodu 2009; Ovens 2017) as a framework for theorizing the data. Through this study, we highlight the pedagogical practices espoused as those that engender transformative learning. Data collection and analysis: Data for this interpretive qualitative research study was collected primarily through in-depth semi-structured interviews with over 70 PETEs who work in 48 PETE programs across Australia, Canada, England, Ireland New Zealand, Sweden, and the United States. Furthermore, an informational survey was used to gather demographic data of the participants. The participants, all current PETEs, had a wide range of professional experiences, which included the length of time in the profession, the type of institution employed, educational backgrounds and courses taught. Data analysis was completed using the processes of content analysis and the constant comparative method (Corbin and Strauss 2008). Findings: Three major themes represent the findings. In the first theme, ‘Intentional and Explicit Pedagogies’ we provide descriptions of the approaches and strategies used by PETEs in this study that were planned in advance of the learning experiences. In the second theme, ‘Teachable Moments’ we provide examples of how PETEs utilized ‘teachable moments’ in implicit and explicit ways to educate PSTs about sociocultural issues. The third theme, ‘Resistance and Constraints’ captures the individual challenges PETE faculty faced within their courses if, and when, they teach for equity and social justice. The findings suggest that social justice struggles to find an explicit presence within many PETE programs and that educating PSTs about sociocultural issues and social justice is lacking in many PETE programs

Challenges of using asthma admission rates as a measure of primary care quality in children : An international comparison

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.Objectives: To demonstrate the challenges of interpreting cross-country comparisons of paediatric asthma hospital admission rates as an indicator of primary care quality. Methods: We used hospital administrative data from >10 million children aged 6–15 years, resident in Austria, England, Finland, Iceland, Ontario (Canada), Sweden or Victoria (Australia) between 2008 and 2015. Asthma hospital admission and emergency department (ED) attendance rates were compared between countries using Poisson regression models, adjusted for age and sex. Results: Hospital admission rates for asthma per 1000 child-years varied eight-fold across jurisdictions. Admission rates were 3.5 times higher when admissions with asthma recorded as any diagnosis were considered, compared with admissions with asthma as the primary diagnosis. Iceland had the lowest asthma admission rates; however, when ED attendance rates were considered, Sweden had the lowest rate of asthma hospital contacts. Conclusions: The large variations in childhood hospital admission rates for asthma based on the whole child population reflect differing definitions, admission thresholds and underlying disease prevalence rather than primary care quality. Asthma hospital admissions among children diagnosed with asthma is a more meaningful indicator for inter-country comparisons of primary care quality.Peer reviewe

Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans

An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink

Reframing Digital Humanities: Conversations with Digital Humanists

Defining digital humanities is a unique academic challenge. In this volume, Julian Chambliss, Professor of English at Michigan State University, explores the meaning, practice, and implication of digital humanities by talking to scholars deeply engaged with digital methods and the promise they hold for the humanities

Welfare conditionality in lived experience : aggregating qualitative longitudinal research

Punitive welfare conditionality, combining tough sanctions with minimal self-directed support, is a defining feature of contemporary UK working age social security provision. This approach has been justified by policy makers on the basis that it will increase the numbers in paid employment, and thereby offering savings for the public purse that are also beneficial for individuals who are expected to be healthier and better off financially as a result. In this article, we aggregate two qualitative longitudinal studies (Welfare Conditionality, 2014-17; and Lived Experience, 2011-16) that document lived experiences of claiming benefits and using back-to-work support services. In both studies and over time, we find, contrary to policy expectations, that coercion, including sanctions, was usually experienced as unnecessary and harmful and that poverty was prevalent, both in and out of work, tended to worsen and pushed many close to destitution. Conditionality governed encounters with employment services and, perversely, appeared to impede, rather than support, transitions into employment for participants in both studies. In this way, we propose Combined Study Qualitative Longitudinal Research as a new methodological approach for investigating if ‘shared typical’ aspects of lived experiences of welfare conditionality can be identified

Association of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number With Brain MRI Markers and Cognitive Function: A Meta-Analysis of Community-Based Cohorts

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Previous studies suggest that lower mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number (CN) is associated with neurodegenerative diseases. However, whether mtDNA CN in whole blood is related to endophenotypes of Alzheimer disease (AD) and AD-related dementia (AD/ADRD) needs further investigation. We assessed the association of mtDNA CN with cognitive function and MRI measures in community-based samples of middle-aged to older adults. METHODS: We included dementia-free participants from 9 diverse community-based cohorts with whole-genome sequencing in the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. Circulating mtDNA CN was estimated as twice the ratio of the average coverage of mtDNA to nuclear DNA. Brain MRI markers included total brain, hippocampal, and white matter hyperintensity volumes. General cognitive function was derived from distinct cognitive domains. We performed cohort-specific association analyses of mtDNA CN with AD/ADRD endophenotypes assessed within ±5 years (i.e., cross-sectional analyses) or 5-20 years after blood draw (i.e., prospective analyses) adjusting for potential confounders. We further explored associations stratified by sex and age (≥60 years). Fixed-effects or sample size-weighted meta-analyses were performed to combine results. Finally, we performed mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess causality. RESULTS: We included up to 19,152 participants (mean age 59 years, 57% women). Higher mtDNA CN was cross-sectionally associated with better general cognitive function (β = 0.04; 95% CI 0.02-0.06) independent of age, sex, batch effects, race/ethnicity, time between blood draw and cognitive evaluation, cohort-specific variables, and education. Additional adjustment for blood cell counts or cardiometabolic traits led to slightly attenuated results. We observed similar significant associations with cognition in prospective analyses, although of reduced magnitude. We found no significant associations between mtDNA CN and brain MRI measures in meta-analyses. MR analyses did not reveal a causal relation between mtDNA CN in blood and cognition. DISCUSSION: Higher mtDNA CN in blood is associated with better current and future general cognitive function in large and diverse communities across the United States. Although MR analyses did not support a causal role, additional research is needed to assess causality. Circulating mtDNA CN could serve nevertheless as a biomarker of current and future cognitive function in the community