2,048 research outputs found
War, Propaganda and Photography: The Chinese Photographer Sha Fei (1912-50)
Mershon Center for International Security Studies Graduate Student Research 2007-08Hoās dissertation divides Sha Fei's work into four periods:
His membership in Heibei yingshe, the largest black-and white photography society in 1930s Shanghai.
His solo exhibitions in Guangzhou and Guilin in 1936 and 1937.
His recruitment by the CCP to chronicle the life of the Eighth Route Army during the war.
His founding of Jin-Cha-Ji huaboo, a wartime pictorial magazine that later became the major propaganda magazine of the People's Republic of China.Eliza Ho's dissertation explores the growth and development of prolific war photographer Sha Fei, and how his work contributed to the rise of revolutionary, proletarian culture in
China. She contends that his work demonstrates a progressive erasure of the boundaries between art and politics
Species Identification and Profiling of Complex Microbial Communities Using Shotgun Illumina Sequencing of 16S rRNA Amplicon Sequences
The high throughput and cost-effectiveness afforded by short-read sequencing
technologies, in principle, enable researchers to perform 16S rRNA profiling of
complex microbial communities at unprecedented depth and resolution. Existing
Illumina sequencing protocols are, however, limited by the fraction of the 16S
rRNA gene that is interrogated and therefore limit the resolution and quality
of the profiling. To address this, we present the design of a novel protocol
for shotgun Illumina sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, optimized to
capture more than 90% of sequences in the Greengenes database and with nearly
twice the resolution of existing protocols. Using several in silico and
experimental datasets, we demonstrate that despite the presence of multiple
variable and conserved regions, the resulting shotgun sequences can be used to
accurately quantify the diversity of complex microbial communities. The
reconstruction of a significant fraction of the 16S rRNA gene also enabled high
precision (>90%) in species-level identification thereby opening up potential
application of this approach for clinical microbial characterization.Comment: 17 pages, 2 tables, 2 figures, supplementary materia
Improving SAR image classification in tropical region through fusion with SPOT data
This paper investigates various SAR digital filtering techniques to remove speckles for image classification using fused SAR and SPOT XS image. The fused image classification is then compared with the classified SPOT XS image. The result has shown that the use of the Enhanced Frost digital filtering technique for SAR image and the fusion with SPOT XS gives a very similar classification with comparison to the SPOT XS image classification.</p
Designing the Education Workforce
There is rising evidence that traditional ways of teaching are failing to provide adequate learning opportunities and breadth of skills for the 21st century, likely to leave millions of children and young adults behind. The challenge of meeting the demands of each student with vastly different backgrounds and abilities within todayās models of education has limited the capacity of teachers and education systems to provide the personalized learning that students need. A new approach is required. The Education Commission is partnering with select countries, higher education institutions, schools and tech thought leaders to test the applicability and adaptability of āHigh-Touch High-Tech (HTHT)ā learning in diverse contexts. The first pilot - currently in Vietnam - will incrementally expand to other select countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. HTHT learning is an opportunity for new collaborators to become part of a transformative effort to personalize learning for enhanced learner success through the application of Artificial Intelligence. Based on the report, āTransforming the Education Workforce: Learning Teams for a Learning Generationā that the Education Workforce Initiative (EWI) released during 2019 UN General Assembly, we propose new approaches for harnessing the potential of teachers and the broader education workforce to ensure HTHT learning and, more broadly, quality education for all students
Lipid anti-lipid antibody responses correlate with disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by broad clinical manifestations including cardiovascular and renal complications with periodic disease flares and significant morbidity and mortality. One of the main contributing factors to the pathology of SLE is the accumulation and impaired clearance of immune complexes of which the principle components are host auto-antigens and antibodies. The contribution of host lipids to the formation of these autoimmune complexes remains poorly defined. The aim of the present study was to identify and analyze candidate lipid autoantigens and their corresponding anti-lipid antibody responses in a well-defined SLE patient cohort using a combination of immunological and biophysical techniques. Disease monitoring in the SLE cohort was undertaken with serial British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) scoring. Correlations between specific lipid/anti-lipid responses were investigated as disease activity developed from active flares to quiescent during a follow up period. We report a significant negative correlation between anti-lipid antibodies for 24S-hydroxycholesterol, cardiolipin and phosphatidylserine with SLE disease activity. Taken together, these data suggest that lipid autoantigens represent a new family of biomarkers that can be employed to monitor disease activity plus the efficacy of therapeutic intervention in SLE
Isoflavones in Treating Watchful Waiting Benign Prostate Hyperplasia: A Double-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial
Multidisciplinary management of acromegaly: A consensus.
The 13th Acromegaly Consensus Conference was held in November 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and comprised acromegaly experts including endocrinologists and neurosurgeons who considered optimal approaches for multidisciplinary acromegaly management. Focused discussions reviewed techniques, results, and side effects of surgery, radiotherapy, and medical therapy, and how advances in technology and novel techniques have changed the way these modalities are used alone or in combination. Effects of treatment on patient outcomes were considered, along with strategies for optimizing and personalizing therapeutic approaches. Expert consensus recommendations emphasize how best to implement available treatment options as part of a multidisciplinary approach at Pituitary Tumor Centers of Excellence
Human pharyngeal microbiota in age-related macular degeneration.
BACKGROUND: While the aetiology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)-a major blinding disease-remains unknown, the disease is strongly associated with variants in the complement factor H (CFH) gene. CFH variants also confer susceptibility to invasive infection with several bacterial colonizers of the nasopharyngeal mucosa. This shared susceptibility locus implicates complement deregulation as a common disease mechanism, and suggests the possibility that microbial interactions with host complement may trigger AMD. In this study, we address this possibility by testing the hypothesis that AMD is associated with specific microbial colonization of the human nasopharynx. RESULTS: High-throughput Illumina sequencing of the V3-V6 region of the microbial 16S ribosomal RNA gene was used to comprehensively and accurately describe the human pharyngeal microbiome, at genus level, in 245 AMD patients and 386 controls. Based on mean and differential microbial abundance analyses, we determined an overview of the pharyngeal microbiota, as well as candidate genera (Prevotella and Gemella) suggesting an association towards AMD health and disease conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Utilizing an extensive study population from Singapore, our results provided an accurate description of the pharyngeal microbiota profiles in AMD health and disease conditions. Through identification of candidate genera that are different between conditions, we provide preliminary evidence for the existence of microbial triggers for AMD. Ethical approval for this study was obtained through the Singapore Health Clinical Institutional Review Board, reference numbers R799/63/2010 and 2010/585/A
Towards a global partnership model in interprofessional education for cross-sector problem-solving
Objectives
A partnership model in interprofessional education (IPE) is important in promoting a sense of global citizenship while preparing students for cross-sector problem-solving. However, the literature remains scant in providing useful guidance for the development of an IPE programme co-implemented by external partners. In this pioneering study, we describe the processes of forging global partnerships in co-implementing IPE and evaluate the programme in light of the preliminary data available.
Methods
This study is generally quantitative. We collected data from a total of 747 health and social care students from four higher education institutions. We utilized a descriptive narrative format and a quantitative design to present our experiences of running IPE with external partners and performed independent t-tests and analysis of variance to examine pretest and posttest mean differences in studentsā data.
Results
We identified factors in establishing a cross-institutional IPE programme. These factors include complementarity of expertise, mutual benefits, internet connectivity, interactivity of design, and time difference. We found significant pretestāposttest differences in studentsā readiness for interprofessional learning (teamwork and collaboration, positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities). We also found a significant decrease in studentsā social interaction anxiety after the IPE simulation.
Conclusions
The narrative of our experiences described in this manuscript could be considered by higher education institutions seeking to forge meaningful external partnerships in their effort to establish interprofessional global health education
Involvement of NMDA receptor complex in the anxiolytic-like effects of chlordiazepoxide in mice
In the present study, we demonstrated that low, ineffective doses of N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonists [competitive NMDA antagonist, CGP 37849, at 0.312Ā mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.), antagonist of the glycineB sites, L-701,324, at 2Ā mg/kg i.p., partial agonist of glycineB sites, d-cycloserine, at 2.5Ā mg/kg i.p.] administered jointly with an ineffective dose of the benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide (CDP, 2.5Ā mg/kg i.p.), significantly increased the percentage of time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus-maze (index of anxiolytic effect). Furthermore, CDP-induced anxiolytic-like activity (5Ā mg/kg i.p.) was antagonized by NMDA (75Ā mg/kg i.p.) and by an agonist of glycineB sites of the NMDA receptor complex, d-serine [100Ā nmol/mouse intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.)]. The present study showed a positive interaction between Ī³-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate neurotransmission in the anxiolytic-like activity in the elevated plus-maze test in mice and this activity seems to particularly involve the NMDA receptors
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