The taste for the particular: A logic of discernment in an age of omnivorousness

This article provides an analysis of two leading specialist wine magazines, Decanter and Wine Spectator, and the codification and legitimation of a ‘taste for the particular.’ Such media of connoisseurship are key institutions of evaluation and legitimation in an age of omnivorousness, but are often overlooked in research that foregrounds the agency of tasters and neglects the conventionalization of tasting norms and devices. The wine field has undergone a process of democratization typical of omnivorousness more broadly: former elite/low boundaries (operationalized in the paper through the Old/New World dichotomy) are ignored, and a discerning attitude is encouraged for wines from a diversity of regions. Drawing on the magazines’ audience profile and market position data, and a content analysis of advertising and editorial content from 2008 and 2010, I examine the differences in the use of four legitimation frames (transparency, heritage, genuineness and external validation) for the provenance elements of Old and New World wines. The analysis suggests that the Old World—typically French—notion of terroir, on which the traditional Old/New World boundary rested, has been democratized through the particularities of provenance. Yet, the analysis also reveals continuing differences between the two categories (including greater emphasis on the heritage and external validation of Old World context of production, and on the transparency and genuineness of New World producers), and the preservation of established hierarchies of taste through the application of terroir to New World wines, which retain the Old World and France as their master referent

Therapeutic DNA vaccine induces broad T cell responses in the gut and sustained protection from viral rebound and AIDS in SIV-infected rhesus macaques.

Immunotherapies that induce durable immune control of chronic HIV infection may eliminate the need for life-long dependence on drugs. We investigated a DNA vaccine formulated with a novel genetic adjuvant that stimulates immune responses in the blood and gut for the ability to improve therapy in rhesus macaques chronically infected with SIV. Using the SIV-macaque model for AIDS, we show that epidermal co-delivery of plasmids expressing SIV Gag, RT, Nef and Env, and the mucosal adjuvant, heat-labile E. coli enterotoxin (LT), during antiretroviral therapy (ART) induced a substantial 2-4-log fold reduction in mean virus burden in both the gut and blood when compared to unvaccinated controls and provided durable protection from viral rebound and disease progression after the drug was discontinued. This effect was associated with significant increases in IFN-γ T cell responses in both the blood and gut and SIV-specific CD8+ T cells with dual TNF-α and cytolytic effector functions in the blood. Importantly, a broader specificity in the T cell response seen in the gut, but not the blood, significantly correlated with a reduction in virus production in mucosal tissues and a lower virus burden in plasma. We conclude that immunizing with vaccines that induce immune responses in mucosal gut tissue could reduce residual viral reservoirs during drug therapy and improve long-term treatment of HIV infection in humans

Smoking during pregnancy and risk of abnormal glucose tolerance: a prospective cohort study

Background: Disturbances in glucose metabolism during pregnancy are associated with negative sequalae for both mother and infant. The association between smoking and abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT) remains controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between smoking prior to and during pregnancy and risk of AGT. Methods: We utilized data from a prospective cohort of 1,006 Hispanic (predominantly Puerto Rican) prenatal care patients in Western Massachusetts. Women reported pre- and early pregnancy smoking at recruitment (mean = 15 weeks) and mid pregnancy smoking at a second interview (mean = 28 weeks). AGT was defined as \u3e 135 mg/dL on the routine 1-hour glucose tolerance test (1-hr OGTT). We used multivariable regression to assess the effect of pre, early, and mid-pregnancy smoking on risk of AGT and screening plasma glucose value from the 1-hr OGTT. Results: In age-adjusted models, women who smoked \u3e 0-9 cigarettes/day in pre-pregnancy had an increased risk of AGT (OR = 1.90; 95% CI 1.02-3.55) compared to non-smokers; this was attenuated in multivariable models. Smoking in early (OR = 0.48; 95% CI 0.21-1.10) and mid pregnancy (OR = 0.38; 95% CI 0.13-1.11) were not associated with AGT in multivariable models. Smoking during early and mid pregnancy were independently associated with lower glucose screening values, while smoking in pre-pregnancy was not. Conclusions: In this prospective cohort of Hispanic women, we did not observe an association between smoking prior to or during pregnancy and risk of AGT. Findings from this study, although based on small numbers of cases, extend prior research to the Hispanic population

A model for the compressible, viscoelastic behavior of human amnion addressing tissue variability through a single parameter

A viscoelastic, compressible model is proposed to rationalize the recently reported response of human amnion in multiaxial relaxation and creep experiments. The theory includes two viscoelastic contributions responsible for the short- and long-term time- dependent response of the material. These two contributions can be related to physical processes: water flow through the tissue and dissipative characteristics of the collagen fibers, respectively. An accurate agreement of the model with the mean tension and kinematic response of amnion in uniaxial relaxation tests was achieved. By variation of a single linear factor that accounts for the variability among tissue samples, the model provides very sound predictions not only of the uniaxial relaxation but also of the uniaxial creep and strip-biaxial relaxation behavior of individual samples. This suggests that a wide range of viscoelastic behaviors due to patient-specific variations in tissue composition

The cost of community-managed viral respiratory illnesses in a cohort of healthy preschool-aged children

Background : Acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) during childhood are often caused by respiratory viruses, result in significant morbidity, and have associated costs for families and society. Despite their ubiquity, there is a lack of interdisciplinary epidemiologic and economic research that has collected primary impact data, particularly associated with indirect costs, from families during ARIs in children.Methods : We conducted a 12-month cohort study in 234 preschool children with impact diary recording and PCR testing of nose-throat swabs for viruses during an ARI. We used applied values to estimate a virus-specific mean cost of ARIs.Results : Impact diaries were available for 72% (523/725) of community-managed illnesses between January 2003 and January 2004. The mean cost of ARIs was AU$309 (95$263 to $354). Influenza illnesses had a mean cost of$904, compared with RSV, $304, the next most expensive single-virus illness, although confidence intervals overlapped. Mean carer time away from usual activity per day was two hours for influenza ARIs and between 30 and 45 minutes for all other ARI categories.Conclusion : From a societal perspective, community-managed ARIs are a significant cost burden on families and society. The point estimate of the mean cost of community-managed influenza illnesses in healthy preschool aged children is three times greater than those illnesses caused by RSV and other respiratory viruses. Indirect costs, particularly carer time away from usual activity, are the key cost drivers for ARIs in children. The use of parent-collected specimens may enhance ARI surveillance and reduce any potential Hawthorne effect caused by compliance with study procedures. These findings reinforce the need for further integrated epidemiologic and economic research of ARIs in children to allow for comprehensive cost-effectiveness assessments of preventive and therapeutic options.<br /

Surprisingly Simple Mechanical Behavior of a Complex Embryonic Tissue

Background: Previous studies suggest that mechanical feedback could coordinate morphogenetic events in embryos. Furthermore, embryonic tissues have complex structure and composition and undergo large deformations during morphogenesis. Hence we expect highly non-linear and loading-rate dependent tissue mechanical properties in embryos. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used micro-aspiration to test whether a simple linear viscoelastic model was sufficient to describe the mechanical behavior of gastrula stage Xenopus laevis embryonic tissue in vivo. We tested whether these embryonic tissues change their mechanical properties in response to mechanical stimuli but found no evidence of changes in the viscoelastic properties of the tissue in response to stress or stress application rate. We used this model to test hypotheses about the pattern of force generation during electrically induced tissue contractions. The dependence of contractions on suction pressure was most consistent with apical tension, and was inconsistent with isotropic contraction. Finally, stiffer clutches generated stronger contractions, suggesting that force generation and stiffness may be coupled in the embryo. Conclusions/Significance: The mechanical behavior of a complex, active embryonic tissue can be surprisingly well described by a simple linear viscoelastic model with power law creep compliance, even at high deformations. We found no evidence of mechanical feedback in this system. Together these results show that very simple mechanical models can be useful in describing embryo mechanics. © 2010 von Dassow et al

Growth-induced buckling of an epithelial layer

We use a proof-of-concept experiment and two mathematical models to explore growth-induced tissue buckling, as may occur in colorectal crypt formation. Our experiment reveals how growth of a cultured epithelial monolayer on a thin flexible substrate can cause out-of-plane substrate deflections. We describe this system theoretically using a 'bilayer' model in which a growing cell layer adheres to a thin compressible elastic beam. We compare this with the 'supported-monolayer' model due to Edwards and Chapman (Bull Math Biol 69:1927-1942, 2007) for an incompressible expanding beam (representing crypt epithelium), which incorporates viscoelastic tethering to underlying stroma. We show that the bilayer model can exhibit buckling via parametric growth (in which the system passes through a sequence of equilibrium states, parameterised by the total beam length); in this case, non-uniformities in cell growth and variations in cell-substrate adhesion are predicted to have minimal effect on the shape of resulting buckled states. The supported-monolayer model reveals how competition between lateral supports and stromal adhesion influences the wavelength of buckled states (in parametric growth), and how non-equilibrium relaxation of tethering forces influences post-buckled shapes. This model also predicts that non-uniformities in growth patterns have a much weaker influence on buckled shapes than non-uniformities in material properties. Together, the experiment and models support the concept of patterning by growth-induced buckling and suggest that targeted softening of a growing cell layer provides greater control in shaping tissues than non-uniform growth

Optimal foraging and community structure: implications for a guild of generalist grassland herbivores

A particular linear programming model is constructed to predict the diets of each of 14 species of generalist herbivores at the National Bison Range, Montana. The herbivores have body masses ranging over seven orders of magnitude and belonging to two major taxa: insects and mammals. The linear programming model has three feeding constraints: digestive capacity, feeding time and energy requirements. A foraging strategy that maximizes daily energy intake agrees very well with the observed diets. Body size appears to be an underlying determinant of the foraging parameters leading to diet selection. Species that possess digestive capacity and feeding time constraints which approach each other in magnitude have the most generalized diets. The degree that the linear programming models change their diet predictions with a given percent change in parameter values (sensitivity) may reflect the observed ability of the species to vary their diets. In particular, the species which show the most diet variability are those whose diets tend to be balanced between monocots and dicots. The community-ecological parameters of herbivore body-size ranges and species number can possibly be related to foraging behavior.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47765/1/442_2004_Article_BF00377109.pd