276 research outputs found
“A Battle for Hearts and Minds”: U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Cold War Middle East
This paper analyzes the development of American public diplomacy in the Middle East region from 1945-1961. The purpose of the paper is to situate the public diplomacy effort within existing histories of the Middle East and Cold War propaganda and to analyze the methods used by the U. S. to shape foreign opinion. Analysis reveals that the U.S. felt the need to implement a foreign information program under President Truman, which was later expanded and corrected under Eisenhower, and included a switch from short-term objective seeking to long-term goodwill fostering. The methods were primarily focused on two target audiences: educated community leaders on one hand, and the masses on the other. This research highlights the successes of the previous U.S. public diplomacy program which was later revived post-9/11, but has struggled to reduce anti-Americanism
Review: Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA in cystic fibrosis
BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the earliest bacteria detected in infants and children with cystic fibrosis (CF). The rise of methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in the last 10 years has caused a lot of attention to this organism. RESULTS: The aim of this review is to provide a general overview of methicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA, discuss special aspects of S. aureus in cystic fibrosis, and to review treatment concepts. Microbiology of the organism will be reviewed along with data regarding the epidemiology of both MSSA and MRSA. Antibiotic treatments both in regards to acute management and eradication of MSSA and MRSA will be reviewed. Prophylaxis of MSSA in CF remains controversial. Treatment with anti-staphylococcal agents reduces the infection rate with MSSA but may lead to a higher rate of infection with P. aeruginosa. In regards to MRSA, there is a paucity of clinical data regarding approaches to eradication. CONCLUSIONS: To advance the care of CF patients, controlled clinical trials are urgently needed to find the optimal approach to treating CF patients who are infected with either MSSA or MRSA
The Radio Recovery of SN 1970G: The Continuing Radio Evolution of SN 1970G
Using the Very Large Array, we have detected radio emission from the site of
SN 1970G in the Sc galaxy M101. These observations are 31 years after the
supernova event, making SN 1970G the longest monitored radio supernova. With
flux densities of 0.12 +/- 0.020 mJy at 6 cm and 0.16 +/- 0.015 mJy at 20 cm,
the spectral index of -0.24 +/- 0.20 appears to have flattened somewhat when
compared with the previously reported value of -0.56 +/- 0.11, taken in 1990.
The radio emission at 20 cm has decayed since the 1990 observations with a
power-law index of beta_20cm = -0.28 +/- 0.13. We discuss the radio properties
of this source and compare them to those of other Type II radio supernovae.Comment: 11 pages, 1 table and 2 figures; To appear in Astrophysical Journal
Letter
Public Impact-Focused Research Survey Results
The Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) Council on Research (COR) led an initiative to define, identify, and develop a recommended path forward for public impact research (PIR). A survey was conducted of APLU institution in order to: To characterize the extent of public impact research (PIR) occurring at APLU institutions. To understand how institutions (or leaders within institutions) think about, define, and communicate about this type of work. To provide perspectives about the challenges, opportunities, and rewards that may be associated with this type of scholarship.
Responses were received from a diverse set of seventy public and land grant universities (APLU total membership was 239 universities at the time of this survey). Research expenditures at responding institutions ranged from 1 billion in FY 2017, and respondents included Hispanic-serving institutions, historically black universities, IEP-designated universities, and were received from 26 US states and one Canadian province.
This document contains the complete set of de-identified responses to the survey. The intent is to make this broadly available and accessible to individuals or groups who may want to further analyze or use these results
Why Local Party Leaders Don't Support Nominating Centrists
Would giving party leaders more influence in primary elections in the United States decrease elite polarization? Some scholars have argued that political party leaders tend to support centrist candidates in the hopes of winning general elections. In contrast, the authors argue that many local party leaders - especially Republicans - may not believe that centrists perform better in elections and therefore may not support nominating them. They test this argument using data from an original survey of 1,118 county-level party leaders. In experiments, they find that local party leaders most prefer nominating candidates who are similar to typical co-partisans, not centrists. Moreover, given the choice between a more centrist and more extreme candidate, they strongly prefer extremists: Democrats do so by about 2 to 1 and Republicans by 10 to 1. Likewise, in open-ended questions, Democratic Party leaders are twice as likely to say they look for extreme candidates relative to centrists; Republican Party leaders are five times as likely. Potentially driving these partisan differences, Republican leaders are especially likely to believe that extremists can win general elections and overestimate the electorate's conservatism by double digits
Research Protocol - Effect of anti-staphylococcal antibiotic prophylaxis upon isolation and colonisation with Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and their resistant variants in cystic fibrosis
Bisphosphonates and avascular necrosis of the jaw: a possible association
The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Glen Carter, Alastair N Goss and Chris Doeck
Factors associated with mortality in patients with tuberculosis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Known risk factors for death following a diagnosis of tuberculosis may not be applicable to current U.S. cases. We evaluated the factors associated with all-cause mortality in patients with tuberculosis in Washington State.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using data from the Tuberculosis Information Management System of Washington State, we conducted a cohort study of all residents diagnosed with tuberculosis from 1993 through 2005. Death from any cause was ascertained through the Washington State Death Certificate Data Files. Proportional hazards models were used to estimate the independent effect on all-cause mortality of demographic, clinical, and behavioral characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During a median follow-up of 6 years in 3451 patients treated for tuberculosis, there were 417 deaths. Mortality was independently associated with increasing age, male gender, HIV-coinfection, and U.S. birth. Within 1 year of tuberculosis diagnosis, treatment by a private provider and the use of directly observed therapy were also independently associated with increased mortality. In addition, an interaction term of private provider times directly observed therapy was also significantly associated with mortality.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We identified factors independently associated with increased all-cause mortality following a diagnosis of tuberculosis. The associations between mortality and provider type should be evaluated with more thorough adjustment for severity of illness, but suggest important directions for future research.</p
Ripple edge engineering of graphene nanoribbons
It is now possible to produce graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with atomically
defined widths. GNRs offer many opportunities for electronic devices and
composites, if it is possible to establish the link between edge structure and
functionalisation, and resultant GNR properties. Switching hydrogen edge
termination to larger more complex functional groups such as hydroxyls or
thiols induces strain at the ribbon edge. However we show that this strain is
then relieved via the formation of static out-of-plane ripples. The resultant
ribbons have a significantly reduced Young's Modulus which varies as a function
of ribbon width, modified band gaps, as well as heterogeneous chemical
reactivity along the edge. Rather than being the exception, such static edge
ripples are likely on the majority of functionalized graphene ribbon edges.Comment: Supplementary Materials availabl
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