The \u3cem\u3eMadres de la Plaza de Mayo\u3c/em\u3e: Asserting Motherhood; Rejecting Feminism?

This paper analyses the relevance of the ‘motherist’ politics of Argentina’s Madres de la Plaza de Mayo to Latin American feminism. The Madres were one of the most visible and outspoken opponents of the military regime that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, staging weekly demonstrations in the city’s main square in the name of reclaiming their children who had been ‘disappeared’ by the regime as terrorists and subversives. The Madres adopted a strongly maternalist role, focusing their opposition to the regime through their role as mothers, and the rights and responsibilities inherent to motherhood. This paper aims to assess how such an approach can be related to movements in Latin American feminism at this time. The Madres undoubtedly proved the capacity and power of women as activists, yet faced criticism for inhabiting, emphasising and exploiting the traditional role of women which feminists were striving to deconstruct. The paper discusses the ways in which the Madres reinterpreted the traditional role of motherhood, subverting it from a restrictive label to a positive force, asserting the rights of mothers and transforming motherhood into a positive and politicised force. However, the paper also assesses the extent to which such a reassertion can be considered feminist, given the seeming incompatibility of the Madres’ identity with the equality and freedom from traditional roles as sought by feminism. It is acknowledged that the Madres themselves have rejected the feminist label, seeking to distance themselves from what they consider bourgeois thinking that neglects real issues. Even so, the paper also discusses how the Madres can be seen to have contributed to feminist aims, especially within the increasing acceptance of diversity witnessed in feminism since the 1980s. The paper concludes by relating these questions of motherist versus feminist to the overall political and ethical objectives of the Madres

A study to determine the amount of retention of first grade reading achievement following summer vacation

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1949. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

iBBiG: iterative binary bi-clustering of gene sets

Motivation: Meta-analysis of genomics data seeks to identify genes associated with a biological phenotype across multiple datasets; however, merging data from different platforms by their features (genes) is challenging. Meta-analysis using functionally or biologically characterized gene sets simplifies data integration is biologically intuitive and is seen as having great potential, but is an emerging field with few established statistical methods. Results: We transform gene expression profiles into binary gene set profiles by discretizing results of gene set enrichment analyses and apply a new iterative bi-clustering algorithm (iBBiG) to identify groups of gene sets that are coordinately associated with groups of phenotypes across multiple studies. iBBiG is optimized for meta-analysis of large numbers of diverse genomics data that may have unmatched samples. It does not require prior knowledge of the number or size of clusters. When applied to simulated data, it outperforms commonly used clustering methods, discovers overlapping clusters of diverse sizes and is robust in the presence of noise. We apply it to meta-analysis of breast cancer studies, where iBBiG extracted novel gene set—phenotype association that predicted tumor metastases within tumor subtypes

The SmithVent Experience and a Framework for Collaborative Distributed Design and Fabrication

This paper addresses the collaborative journey of the SmithVent team, a 30-person distributed group of volunteers, who designed, fabricated, and tested a simplified and cost-efficient ventilator over a three-month period, and won the CoVent19 Challenge in July 2020. The paper first presents the SmithVent experience through a co-constructed narrative that describes the team’s approaches to collaborative distributed design and fabrication. The paper next reviews frameworks from five theoretical lenses and then details the process of extracting, synthesizing, and organizing relevant factors to create a new and emergent framework reflective of the SmithVent experience. Lastly, the paper discusses educational implications of the SmithVent experience and proposed framework, emphasizing that the team’s strategies provide a model for educational and industry settings for future collaborative and distributed design and fabrication

Mendelian randomisation for mediation analysis: current methods and challenges for implementation

Mediation analysis seeks to explain the pathway(s) through which an exposure affects an outcome. Traditional, non-instrumental variable methods for mediation analysis experience a number of methodological difficulties, including bias due to confounding between an exposure, mediator and outcome and measurement error. Mendelian randomisation (MR) can be used to improve causal inference for mediation analysis. We describe two approaches that can be used for estimating mediation analysis with MR: multivariable MR (MVMR) and two-step MR. We outline the approaches and provide code to demonstrate how they can be used in mediation analysis. We review issues that can affect analyses, including confounding, measurement error, weak instrument bias, interactions between exposures and mediators and analysis of multiple mediators. Description of the methods is supplemented by simulated and real data examples. Although MR relies on large sample sizes and strong assumptions, such as having strong instruments and no horizontally pleiotropic pathways, our simulations demonstrate that these methods are unaffected by confounders of the exposure or mediator and the outcome and non-differential measurement error of the exposure or mediator. Both MVMR and two-step MR can be implemented in both individual-level MR and summary data MR. MR mediation methods require different assumptions to be made, compared with non-instrumental variable mediation methods. Where these assumptions are more plausible, MR can be used to improve causal inference in mediation analysis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10654-021-00757-1

Early adulthood socioeconomic trajectories contribute to inequalities in adult cardiovascular health, independently of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position

Background: Cardiovascular health shows significant socioeconomic inequalities, however there is little understanding of the role of early adulthood in generation of these inequalities. We assessed the contribution of socioeconomic trajectories during early adulthood (16–24 years) to cardiovascular health in mid-adulthood (46 years). Methods: Participants from the 1970 British Cohort Study with socioeconomic data available in early adulthood were included (n=12 423). Longitudinal latent class analysis identified socioeconomic trajectories, based on patterns of economic activity throughout early adulthood. Cardiometabolic risk factors (46 years) were regressed on socioeconomic trajectory class (16–24 years), testing mediation by adult socioeconomic position (46 years). Models were stratified by sex and adjusted for childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) and adolescent health. Results: Six early adulthood socioeconomic trajectories were identified: (1) Continued Education (20.2%), (2) Managerial Employment (16.0%), (3) Skilled Non-manual Employment (20.9%), (4) Skilled Manual Employment (18.9%), (5) Partly Skilled Employment (15.8%) and (6) Economically Inactive (8.1%). The ‘Continued Education’ trajectory class showed the best cardiovascular health at age 46 years, with the lowest levels of cardiometabolic risk factors. For example, systolic blood pressure was 128.9 mm Hg (95% CI 127.8 to 130.0) among men in the ‘Continued Education’ class, compared with 131.3 mm Hg (95% CI 130.4 to 132.2) among men in the ‘Skilled Manual’ class. Patterns across classes 2–6 differed by risk factor and sex. The observed associations were largely not mediated by SEP at age 46 years. Conclusion: Findings suggest an independent contribution of early adulthood socioeconomic trajectories to development of later life cardiovascular inequalities. Further work is needed to understand mediators of this relationship and potential for interventions to mitigate these pathways

Is genetic liability to ADHD and ASD causally linked to educational attainment?

Background The association patterns of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with educational attainment (EA) are complex; children with ADHD and ASD are at risk of poor academic outcomes, and parental EA has been associated with risk of ADHD/ASD in the offspring. Little is known on the causal links between ADHD, ASD, EA and the potential contribution of cognitive ability. Methods Using the latest genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary data on ADHD, ASD and EA, we applied two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess the effects of genetic liability to ADHD and ASD on EA. Reverse direction analyses were additionally performed. Multivariable MR was performed to estimate any effects independent of cognitive ability. Results Genetic liability to ADHD had a negative effect on EA, independently of cognitive ability (MVMRIVW: -1.7 months of education per doubling of genetic liability to ADHD; 95% CI: -2.8 to -0.7), whereas genetic liability to ASD a positive effect (MVMRIVW: 30 days per doubling of the genetic liability to ASD; 95% CI: 2 to 53). Reverse direction analyses suggested that genetic liability to higher EA had an effect on lower risk of ADHD, independently of cognitive ability (MVMRIVWOR: 0.33 per SD increase; 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.43) and increased risk of ASD (MRIVWOR: 1.51 per SD increase; 95% CI: 1.29 to 1.77), which was partly explained by cognitive ability (MVMRIVWOR per SD increase: 1.24; 95%CI: 0.96 to 1.60). Conclusions Genetic liability to ADHD and ASD is likely to affect educational attainment, independently of underlying cognitive ability