The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey, 2014 and Trends 2009–2014: A Sourcebook of Community Attitudes

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey (Mat-Su Survey), conducted annually since 2006, is a cooperative research effort between the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The survey asks Mat-Su Borough residents to evaluate the quality of Borough services, provide opinions about Borough decision-making, and sum up their perceptions about a range of issues relevant to the present and future of the Mat-Su community. The 2014 survey was distributed to 2,491 adult heads-of-household in the Mat-Su Borough in the winter and spring of 2014; a total of 1,003 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 40.3%. This sourcebook presents both the results from the 2014 Mat-Su Survey and trends from 2009–2014 in five major areas: (1) evaluation of current borough services; (2) use of borough facilities; (3) life in Mat-Su neighborhoods; (4) local government access, policies, and practices; and (5) respondent background information. A set of additional questions focusing on salmon and the environment was added to the 2014 Mat-Su Survey at the request of the Nature Conservancy. Additionally, findings from a derived importance-performance analysis of the survey data are presented, as is a compilation of respondent comments.Matanuska-Susitna BoroughIntroduction / Organization of Sourcebook / Methods / Executive Summary / 2014 RESULTS AND 2009–2014 TRENDS / Part I. Evaluation of Current Borough Services / Part II. Use of Borough Facilities / Part III. Life in Matanuska-Susitna Borough Neighborhoods / Part IV. Local Government: Access, Policies and Practices / Part V. Open Space and Salmon / Part VI. Sample Characteristics / Part VII. Derived Importance-Performance Analysis / Part VIII. Respondents’ Comments / Appendix: Questionnair

Re-envisioning society: the radicalization of the student youth movement in Mexico during the 1960s

Utilizing documents from student organizations including strike committees, the National Center For Democratic Students, and the writings of young activists, official commentary, and press releases, this study provides a detailed examination of the student movement in Mexico during the 1960s. Within the historiography of the student youth movement studies tend to focus exclusively on 1968 and the movement\u27s position within the global counterculture. The product of this history is the proliferation of a homogenous understanding of the concerns mobilizing youth activists. This study however, attempts to advance previous historiography by expanding the scope of the student movement to include more broadly the 1960s. This allows for a greater understanding of the forces that radicalized students, illustrating that student activism was driven by educational, economic, social, and political concerns, including access to jobs and social mobility, demands for social welfare, and the creation of more equitable and democratic society. This gained understanding further challenges histories centered on delineating the movement as purely cultural or purely a political movement. Rather, when examining the diverse concerns radicalizing students, this study illustrates the interconnection between both political and cultural characteristics of youth activism

Discover EDS: Tales of Implementation and Use

This paper supplements the panel, which was delivered in a “Lively Lunch” format and included presentations by librarians who have employed EBSCO’s Discovery System (EDS) in their academic institutions. The panelists addressed several important aspects of launching a discovery system in an academic library, such as Implementation; Information Literacy; and Assessment, Usability and Customization. The implementation component included technical aspects, business requirements, enhancing the operability of link resolvers, launch preparation, and implementation success. The information literacy portion addressed how academic reference services and library instruction have been transformed because of EDS. Assessment, Usability and Customization focused on customizing the search box and assessing EDS using statistics and usability testing. Michael Gorrell, Executive Vice President of Technology and Chief Information Officer of EBSCO Publishing, was present, and a Q&A time was scheduled at the end of each session for audience members to ask questions, comment, and share experiences. The implementation process of a Discovery Service involves many different aspects and is a large undertaking for any library. Depending on the size of the library, its technology infrastructure, and the number of staff involved, the implementation time can vary greatly. In addition, the planning processes and the considerations made prior to implementation are also affected by the nature and needs of end-users in these institutions. Selecting the resources to include in the discovery service, resolving technical issues, developing a strategy to publicize and market to end-users, and assessing and customizing the product are all part of a continuous course of implementing Discovery Services—a process that begins long before implementation and has no fixed completion. This process involves a collaborative and consorted effort from all areas of librarian expertise, from technical services to public services. The simplicity and comprehensiveness of discovery tools redefine how libraries deliver services across the board, changing the expectations users have of the experience of searching library resources and challenging librarians to redesign instruction and teach information literacy in new ways. These considerations and our own experience with implementing EBSCO’s Discovery System (EDS) at the University of South Florida prompted us to open up a discussion across university and college libraries in the U.S. and across librarian functions, technical, and public services, in order to share, discuss, and learn from each other the lessons of Discovery Service implementation and use. We wanted to focus on the continuous nature of this process, involving the user perspective, as well as the perspective of the vendor, EBSCO. We believe that talking with our colleagues and collaborating with publishers makes us much better positioned to anticipate the changing needs of users and enhance the experience, accessibility, and discoverability of library content

Health systems performance for hypertension control using a cascade of care approach in South Africa, 2011–2017

Hypertension is a major contributor to global morbidity and mortality. In South Africa, the government has employed a whole systems approach to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. We used a novel incident care cascade approach to measure changes in the South African health system's ability to manage hypertension between 2011 and 2017. We used data from Waves 1-5 of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) to estimate trends in the hypertension care cascade and unmet treatment need across four successive cohorts with incident hypertension. We used a negative binomial regression to identify factors that may predict higher rates of hypertension control, controlling for socio-demographic and healthcare factors. In 2011, 19.6% (95%CI 14.2, 26.2) of individuals with incident hypertension were diagnosed, 15.4% (95%CI 10.8, 21.4) were on treatment and 7.1% had controlled blood pressure. By 2017, the proportion of individuals with diagnosed incident hypertension had increased to 24.4% (95%CI 15.9, 35.4). Increases in treatment (23.3%, 95%CI 15.0, 34.3) and control (22.1%, 95%CI 14.1, 33.0) were also observed, translating to a decrease in unmet need for hypertension care from 92.9% in 2011 to 77.9% in 2017. Multivariable regression showed that participants with incident hypertension in 2017 were 3.01 (95%CI 1.77, 5.13) times more likely to have a controlled blood pressure compared to those in 2011. Our data show that while substantial improvements in the hypertension care cascade occurred between 2011 and 2017, a large burden of unmet need remains. The greatest losses in the incident hypertension care cascades came before diagnosis. Nevertheless, whole system programming will be needed to sufficiently address significant morbidity and mortality related to having an elevated blood pressure

Peripheral blood biomarkers in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is the most common autoimmune disorder affecting the central nervous system. The heteroge-neity of pathophysiological processes in MS contributes to the highly variable course of the disease and unpre-dictable response to therapies. The major focus of the research on MS is the identification of biomarkers inbiologicalfluids, such as cerebrospinalfluid or blood, to guide patient management reliably. Because of the diffi-culties in obtaining spinalfluid samples and the necessity for lumbar puncture to make a diagnosis has reduced,the research of blood-based biomarkers may provide increasingly important tools for clinical practice. However,currently there are no clearly established MS blood-based biomarkers. The availability of reliable biomarkerscould radically alter the management of MS at critical phases of the disease spectrum, allowing for interventionstrategies that may prevent evolution to long-term neurological disability. This article provides an overview ofthis researchfield and focuses on recent advances in blood-based biomarker researc

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Does Information Lead to More Active Citizenship? Evidence from an Education Intervention in Rural Kenya

We study a randomized educational intervention in 550 households in 26 matched villages in two Kenyan districts. The intervention provided parents with information about their children's performance on literacy and numeracy tests, and materials about how to become more involved in improving their children's learning. We find the provision of such information had no discernible impact on either private or collective action. In discussing these findings, we articulate a framework linking information provision to changes in citizens' behavior, and assess the present intervention at each step. Future research on information provision should pay greater attention to this framework. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

Modulation of Antibody Responses to the V1V2 and V3 Regions of HIV-1 Envelope by Immune Complex Vaccines

Prophylactic HIV vaccines must elicit antibodies (Abs) against the virus envelope glycoproteins (Env) to effectively prevent HIV infection. We investigated a vaccine platform that utilizes immune complexes made of Env proteins gp120 and monoclonal Abs (mAbs) against different gp120 epitopes. We previously observed alterations in V3 antigenicity upon formation of certain gp120/mAb complexes and demonstrated the ability of these complexes to modulate the elicitation of V3 Ab responses. However, the effects on the V1V2 domain, an important target for Abs that correlate with vaccine-induced protection against HIV, have not been studied, nor have immune complex vaccines made with non-B subtype Env. This study compared subtypes B (JRFL) and CRF_01.AE (A244) Env gp120 proteins in complex with selected gp120-specific mAbs. Allosteric and antigenic changes were detected on these immune complexes, indicating that gp120/mAb interaction induces alterations on the Env surface that may modify the Env immunogenic properties. To evaluate this idea, mice were immunized with gp120/mAb complexes or their uncomplexed gp120 counterparts. The overall serum IgG titers elicited against gp120 were comparable, but a marked skewing toward V1V2 or V3 was evident and dependent on the gp120 strain and the specificity of the mAb used to form the complexes. Compared with uncomplexed gp120JRFL, gp120JRFL complexed with CD4bs or V1V2 mAbs, but not with C2 or V3 mAbs, elicited V3 Abs of greater titers and breadth, and Abs more capable of neutralizing tier 1 virus. Epitope mapping revealed a shift to a more conserved site in the V3 crown. However, the complexes did not enhance V1V2 Ab response, and the elicited V1V2 Abs were not cross-reactive. This profile contrasts with Ab responses to gp120A244/mAb complexes. Notably, gp120A244/mAb complexes induced higher levels of V1V2 Abs with some cross-reactivity, while also stimulating weak or strain-specific V3 Abs. Sera from gp120A244/mAb complex-immunized animals displayed no measurable virus neutralization but did mediate Ab-dependent cellular phagocytosis, albeit at levels similar to that induced by gp120A244 alone. These data indicate the potential utility of immune complexes as vaccines to shape Ab responses toward or away from Env sites of interest

Evaluation of individual and ensemble probabilistic forecasts of COVID-19 mortality in the United States

Short-term probabilistic forecasts of the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States have served as a visible and important communication channel between the scientific modeling community and both the general public and decision-makers. Forecasting models provide specific, quantitative, and evaluable predictions that inform short-term decisions such as healthcare staffing needs, school closures, and allocation of medical supplies. Starting in April 2020, the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub (https://covid19forecasthub.org/) collected, disseminated, and synthesized tens of millions of specific predictions from more than 90 different academic, industry, and independent research groups. A multimodel ensemble forecast that combined predictions from dozens of groups every week provided the most consistently accurate probabilistic forecasts of incident deaths due to COVID-19 at the state and national level from April 2020 through October 2021. The performance of 27 individual models that submitted complete forecasts of COVID-19 deaths consistently throughout this year showed high variability in forecast skill across time, geospatial units, and forecast horizons. Two-thirds of the models evaluated showed better accuracy than a naïve baseline model. Forecast accuracy degraded as models made predictions further into the future, with probabilistic error at a 20-wk horizon three to five times larger than when predicting at a 1-wk horizon. This project underscores the role that collaboration and active coordination between governmental public-health agencies, academic modeling teams, and industry partners can play in developing modern modeling capabilities to support local, state, and federal response to outbreaks