The Poet/Practitioner: A Paradigm for the Profession

This article explores a new paradigm or model for the professional social worker: The poet/practitioner. The training and practice of the poet are congruent with many aspects of social work practice. An examination of the practice of the poet, and the congruence of these practices to social work, reveals a paradigm with the capacity to focus social workers on the essential values of our profession. This paradigm, which highlights the humanistic, creative, and socially conscience role of the social work practitioner, may be particularly important today given the medicalization of social problems and the conservitization of society

Mitochondrial DNA Diversity and Population Structure of Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) in Coastal Waters of the Southeastern United States

Restriction-site variation in mitochondrial (mt)DNA was examined among 470 spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) sampled from eight localities in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and two localities along the southeastern (Atlantic) coast of the United States. mtDNA fragment patterns generated 81 distinct mtDNA haplotypes (genotypes), three of which were found in 64% of the individuals assayed. Nucleotide sequence divergence among mtDNA haplotypes ranged from 0.148 to 1.808% and averaged (±SD) 0.676 ± 0.296%. Significant heterogeneity in mtDNA haplotype frequencies was detected between regions (i.e., Gulf vs Atlantic) and among sample localities from the northern Gulf. The latter appears to stem primarily (but not exclusively) from heterogeneity among samples from the western Gulf. Frequency plots of two of the common mtDNA haplotypes revealed strong east-west clines across the northern Gulf, with distinctive frequency discontinuities ( steps ) between Gulf and Atlantic samples and between the westernmost sample in the Gulf (the lower Laguna Madre in Texas) and the next-most geographically proximate sample to the east. Spatial autocorrelation analysis of mtDNA haplotype frequencies among samples from the northern Gulf revealed a strong isolation-by-distance effect. These results support the hypothesis that spotted seatrout are spatially subdivided into discrete subpopulations or stocks. Divergence between Gulf and Atlantic subpopulations is likely related to historical vicariance, stemming from climatic changes occurring during glacial times. Other factors likely reduce present-day gene flow between subpopulations in the two regions. Divergence among subpopulations in the northern Gulf is more likely due to behavioral factors that limit (female) dispersal from a natal bay or estuary. The latter is consistent with studies of life history and returns from mark-and-recapture experiments. mtDNA diversity, an index of evolutionary effective (female) population size, also differed significantly among samples, with spotted seatrout from the lower Laguna Madre possessing appreciably reduced mtDNA diversity. This indicates a reduction in the effective number of females in the lower Laguna Madre and suggests that careful monitoring of spotted seatrout in the estuary may be warranted

3D-XY critical fluctuations of the thermal expansivity in detwinned YBa2Cu3O7-d single crystals near optimal doping

The strong coupling of superconductivity to the orthorhombic distortion in YBa2Cu3O7-d makes possible an analysis of the superconducting fluctuations without the necessity of subtracting any background. The present high-resolution capacitance dilatometry data unambiguously demonstrate the existence of critical, instead of Gaussian, fluctuations over a wide temperature region (+/- 10 K) around Tc. The values of the amplitude ratio A+/A-=0.9-1.1 and the leading scaling exponent |alpha|<0.018, determined via a least-squares fit of the data, are consistent with the 3D-XY universality class. Small deviations from pure 3D-XY behavior are discussed.Comment: 11 pages including three figure

The Iowa Homemaker vol.39, no.2

It’s Your Wedding, “Simply” Beautiful, Barbara Culver Van Sittert, page 3 Talk Shop With the Printer, Carol Armstrong, page 4 Hearts and Flowers, Donna Read and Gail Devens, page 5 How Much for How Little?, Mary Jean Stoddard, page 6 Today’s Bride Is “Headed” for Happiness, Pat Rigler, page 7 “You Can’t Bring It With You!”, Martha Keeney, page 8 What About This Money Matter?, Jane Furman, page 9 And Now He’s A Groom, Marlys Hedelund, page 10 What’s Going On, page 1

Mild Idiopathic Infantile Hypercalcemia—Part 1: Biochemical and Genetic Findings

Context: Idiopathic infantile hypercalcemia (IIH), an uncommon disorder characterized by elevated serum concentrations of 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) and low parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, may present with mild to severe hypercalcemia during the first months of life. Biallelic variants in the CYP24A1 or SLC34A1 genes are associated with severe IIH. Little is known about milder forms. Objective: This work aims to characterize the genetic associations and biochemical profile of mild IIH. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study including children between age 6 months and 17 years with IIH who were followed in the Calcium Clinic at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Canada. Twenty children with mild IIH on calcium-restricted diets were evaluated. We performed a dietary assessment and analyzed biochemical measures including vitamin D metabolites and performed a stepwise molecular genetic analysis. Complementary biochemical assessments and renal ultrasounds were offered to first-degree family members of positive probands. Results: The median age was 16 months. Median serum levels of calcium (2.69 mmol/L), urinary calcium:creatinine ratio (0.72 mmol/mmol), and 1,25(OH)2D (209 pmol/L) were elevated, whereas intact PTH was low normal (22.5 ng/L). Mean 1,25(OH)2D/PTH and 1,25(OH)2D/25(OH)D ratios were increased by comparison to healthy controls. Eleven individuals (55%) had renal calcification. Genetic variants were common (65%), with the majority being heterozygous variants in SLC34A1 and SLC34A3, while a minority showed variants of CYP24A1 and other genes related to hypercalciuria. Conclusion: The milder form of IIH has a distinctive vitamin D metabolite profile and is primarily associated with heterozygous SLC34A1 and SLC34A3 variants. Keywords: CYP24A1; genetic; hypercalcemia; nephrocalcinosis; nephrolithiasis; vitamin

Status of Muon Collider Research and Development and Future Plans

The status of the research on muon colliders is discussed and plans are outlined for future theoretical and experimental studies. Besides continued work on the parameters of a 3-4 and 0.5 TeV center-of-mass (CoM) energy collider, many studies are now concentrating on a machine near 0.1 TeV (CoM) that could be a factory for the s-channel production of Higgs particles. We discuss the research on the various components in such muon colliders, starting from the proton accelerator needed to generate pions from a heavy-Z target and proceeding through the phase rotation and decay ($\pi \to \mu \nu_{\mu}$) channel, muon cooling, acceleration, storage in a collider ring and the collider detector. We also present theoretical and experimental R & D plans for the next several years that should lead to a better understanding of the design and feasibility issues for all of the components. This report is an update of the progress on the R & D since the Feasibility Study of Muon Colliders presented at the Snowmass'96 Workshop [R. B. Palmer, A. Sessler and A. Tollestrup, Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on High-Energy Physics (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA, 1997)].Comment: 95 pages, 75 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Special Topics, Accelerators and Beam

The Eco-Epidemiology of Pacific Coast Tick Fever in California

Rickettsia philipii (type strain “Rickettsia 364D”), the etiologic agent of Pacific Coast tick fever (PCTF), is transmitted to people by the Pacific Coast tick, Dermacentor occidentalis. Following the first confirmed human case of PCTF in 2008, 13 additional human cases have been reported in California, more than half of which were pediatric cases. The most common features of PCTF are the presence of at least one necrotic lesion known as an eschar (100%), fever (85%), and headache (79%); four case-patients required hospitalization and four had multiple eschars. Findings presented here implicate the nymphal or larval stages of D. occidentalis as the primary vectors of R. philipii to people. Peak transmission risk from ticks to people occurs in late summer. Rickettsia philipii DNA was detected in D. occidentalis ticks from 15 of 37 California counties. Similarly, non-pathogenic Rickettsia rhipicephali DNA was detected in D. occidentalis in 29 of 38 counties with an average prevalence of 12.0% in adult ticks. In total, 5,601 ticks tested from 2009 through 2015 yielded an overall R. philipii infection prevalence of 2.1% in adults, 0.9% in nymphs and a minimum infection prevalence of 0.4% in larval pools. Although most human cases of PCTF have been reported from northern California, acarological surveillance suggests that R. philipii may occur throughout the distribution range of D. occidentalis

Identification of a Novel Class of Farnesylation Targets by Structure-Based Modeling of Binding Specificity

Farnesylation is an important post-translational modification catalyzed by farnesyltransferase (FTase). Until recently it was believed that a C-terminal CaaX motif is required for farnesylation, but recent experiments have revealed larger substrate diversity. In this study, we propose a general structural modeling scheme to account for peptide binding specificity and recapitulate the experimentally derived selectivity profile of FTase in vitro. In addition to highly accurate recovery of known FTase targets, we also identify a range of novel potential targets in the human genome, including a new substrate class with an acidic C-terminal residue (CxxD/E). In vitro experiments verified farnesylation of 26/29 tested peptides, including both novel human targets, as well as peptides predicted to tightly bind FTase. This study extends the putative range of biological farnesylation substrates. Moreover, it suggests that the ability of a peptide to bind FTase is a main determinant for the farnesylation reaction. Finally, simple adaptation of our approach can contribute to more accurate and complete elucidation of peptide-mediated interactions and modifications in the cell