New York\u27s 1199 in 1989: Rebuilding a Troubled Union

[Excerpt] 1199\u27s contract campaign of 1989 resulted in more than a contract victory for 50,000 hospital and nursing home workers. It marked the moment when 1199 reconstituted itself. The method and form that reconstitution took had everything to with the peculiar history of the union and a fundamentally destabilizing leadership crisis, with the racial and ethnic diversity of the people in the union and the different kinds of work they do, and with the industry they work in. Ironically, some of the techniques used to achieve the victory, developed to compensate for structural weaknesses, reinforced those weaknesses. The union\u27s continuing problem is to find ways of integrating its successes with its ordinary life

Looked after children & young people: we can and must do better. Training materials DVD-ROM

The target audience includes teachers, carers, social work staff, health professionals, housing professionals and othrs involved in the lives of Scotland's looked after children and care leavers. The DVD-ROM is designed to be used flexibly. It is both a self-supporting course and also a resource for trainers

Chromosomal and other genetic polymorphisms in a County Durham population

Chromosomal polymorphisms detected with the stain quinacrine dihydrochloride have been examined in a sample of people resident in County Durham. Attempts have been made to correlate the frequencies of these polymorphisms with certain demographic variables, information about which was collected from the participants using questionnaires. Other genetic markers, detectable from blood samples, have also been studied, with a view to comparing the patterns of variability shown by these in the population, with those of the less well studied chromosome variants. Demoaraphic information was collected from each person concerning his or her age, sex, occupation and geographic origins. Parental ages and birth order data were also collected in the case of newborn infants. No consistent correlations were observed between any of the chromosome variants and any of the demographic factors. However, there were indications of an association of the total number of variants found per individual karyotype with sex and with age. The results obtained in this study have been compared with those of published reports of chromosome variability. The conclusion drawn from this comparison is that, although there is evidence that a degree of similarity of frequency exists between populations, the extent of such similarity is extremely difficult to quantify objectively. Information concerning the molecular nature of chromosomes, and their polymorphisms, has been reviewed with the intention of revealing any theoretical basis there may be for an adaptive significance of the variants. The incidence of other chromosomal variations in human populations has also been described, in order to detect any evidence that may exist for a biological or evolutionary significance of any type of chromosomal variability. NO compelling evidence has been found to indicate that Chromosomal polymorphisms have an adaptive importance in present-day human populations, nor has any information which would indicate a theoretical basis for such an observation

MINORITY REPORT – PREVENDO O FUTURO NA VIDA REAL E NA FICÇÃO

Este ensaio examina o filme Minority Report, de Steven Spielberg, como pano de fundo para uma discussão de relevantes temas, na teoria e na filosofia da pena, de especial interesse aos que se preocupam com o equilíbrio entre a eficácia da prevenção do crime e as garantias do estado democrático de direito, em meio aos clamores sociais e políticos das sociedades contemporâneas, crescentemente acuadas pelo medo e pela sensação de perigo

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) Exposure Trends, and Evidence of Adverse Health Effects in Infants and Children from Prenatal/Early-Life PAH Exposure

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are complex mixtures that form when organic matter is burned. Humans are primarily exposed to PAHs via air pollution from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass, such a motor vehicle exhaust, cigarette smoke, wood smoke, or industrial emissions; or via ingestion of PAHs bound to particles in household dust, or from grilled or smoked food. Chronic PAH exposure is linked to many adverse health outcomes, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory illness. Concern regarding the adverse health effects of PAHs prompted public health surveillance and regulatory measures to monitor and control PAH exposure. Recent air monitoring studies in the U.S. showed PAH levels in ambient air have decreased since the 1990s, but few studies have utilized biomarkers as a measure of internal dose to evaluate if decreased PAHs in ambient air equates to decreased human exposure. Recent toxicological studies in animals, and epidemiologic studies in humans, revealed that PAHs can cross the placenta, and there is a growing epidemiological evidence that prenatal and early-life PAH exposure is linked with adverse human development outcomes, such as low birth weight in infants, and lower IQ scores in children. However, there are few studies that have attempted to address these conflicting results by summarizing the available evidence. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to summarize the global weight of evidence regarding prenatal and early-life PAH exposure on infant/child health, and to evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. environmental health policies in reducing PAH exposure. The first study of this dissertation provides evidence that, while U.S. policies, such as the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments (1990, as amended), have been successful in reducing ambient PAH concentration, exposure of two semi-volatile PAHs, Naphthalene, and Pyrene, increased in non-smokers from 2001-2014. This study also provides evidence that, compared to Non-Hispanic Whites, a persistent disparity exists in PAH exposure for Non-Hispanic Blacks and Mexican Americans, suggesting these ethnic groups have not benefited to the same extent from U.S. policies to reduce PAH exposures. The second study is a systematic review and meta-analysis that evaluated prenatal PAH exposure on selected birth outcomes in infants. The results of this study indicate there is sufficient human evidence that prenatal PAH exposure adversely affects birth length, head circumference, and ponderal index. The third study is a systematic reviews and meta-analysis that evaluated prenatal and early-life PAH exposure on neurodevelopment outcomes in children. The results of this study indicate there is sufficient human evidence that prenatal and early-life PAH exposure adversely affects cognitive function, motor function, and behavioral outcomes in children. These results provide evidence that prenatal and early-life PAH exposure can influence human development, and that, while evidence that U.S. public health efforts to reduce ambient PAH exposure have been successful, the internal dose of Naphthalene and Pyrene have increased over time, especially in minority populations. A persistent disparity exists in PAH exposure for Non-Hispanic Blacks and Mexican Americans, suggesting these groups have not benefited to the same extent from U.S. policies to reduce PAH exposures. Our research also suggests that environmental sources of PAHs have changed over time. Overall, these results will guide future research and inform regulatory guidelines to help further identify sources of PAH exposure and reduce exposure, particularly during pregnancy

A Qualitative Analysis of Women's Satisfaction with Primary Care from a Panel of Focus Groups in the National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health

Health issues unique to women and differences in healthcare experiences have recently gained attention as health plans and systems seek to extend and improve health promotion and disease prevention in the population. Successful efforts focused on enhancing quality of care will require information from the patient's perspective on how to improve such services to best support women's attempts to lead healthy and productive lives. The National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health program (CoE), sponsored by the Office on Women's Health within the Department of Health and Human Services, is based on an integrated model uniting research, training, healthcare, and community education and outreach. To examine women's concept and definitions of healthcare quality, 18 focus groups comprising 137 women were conducted nationwide on experiences and attributes of healthcare that women value in primary care. Following the focus groups, a woman-focused healthcare satisfaction instrument was developed for the purpose of assessing and improving healthcare delivery. We describe the qualitative results of the focus group study.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63264/1/15246090152563515.pd

Proceedings of the 2019 Canadian Inflammatory Myopathy Study Symposium: Clinical Trial Readiness in Myositis.

The Canadian Inflammatory Myopathy Study (CIMS) is a multicenter prospective cohort recruiting in 8 centers across Canada. One of the aims of CIMS is to conduct and participate in clinical trials in autoimmune inflammatory myopathies (AIM). Conducting clinical trials in rare diseases such as AIM presents challenges. During this symposium, experts in the field presented different solutions to successfully conduct clinical trials in AIM, including the importance of collaboration and careful trial design, as well as training and mentoring of young investigators

Sisyphus Cooling of Electrically Trapped Polyatomic Molecules

The rich internal structure and long-range dipole-dipole interactions establish polar molecules as unique instruments for quantum-controlled applications and fundamental investigations. Their potential fully unfolds at ultracold temperatures, where a plethora of effects is predicted in many-body physics, quantum information science, ultracold chemistry, and physics beyond the standard model. These objectives have inspired the development of a wide range of methods to produce cold molecular ensembles. However, cooling polyatomic molecules to ultracold temperatures has until now seemed intractable. Here we report on the experimental realization of opto-electrical cooling, a paradigm-changing cooling and accumulation method for polar molecules. Its key attribute is the removal of a large fraction of a molecule's kinetic energy in each step of the cooling cycle via a Sisyphus effect, allowing cooling with only few dissipative decay processes. We demonstrate its potential by reducing the temperature of about 10^6 trapped CH_3F molecules by a factor of 13.5, with the phase-space density increased by a factor of 29 or a factor of 70 discounting trap losses. In contrast to other cooling mechanisms, our scheme proceeds in a trap, cools in all three dimensions, and works for a large variety of polar molecules. With no fundamental temperature limit anticipated down to the photon-recoil temperature in the nanokelvin range, our method eliminates the primary hurdle in producing ultracold polyatomic molecules. The low temperatures, large molecule numbers and long trapping times up to 27 s will allow an interaction-dominated regime to be attained, enabling collision studies and investigation of evaporative cooling toward a BEC of polyatomic molecules

Protein interactions in Xenopus germ plasm RNP particles

Hermes is an RNA-binding protein that we have previously reported to be found in the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particles of Xenopus germ plasm, where it is associated with various RNAs, including that encoding the germ line determinant Nanos1. To further define the composition of these RNPs, we performed a screen for Hermes-binding partners using the yeast two-hybrid system. We have identified and validated four proteins that interact with Hermes in germ plasm: two isoforms of Xvelo1 (a homologue of zebrafish Bucky ball) and Rbm24b and Rbm42b, both RNA-binding proteins containing the RRM motif. GFP-Xvelo fusion proteins and their endogenous counterparts, identified with antisera, were found to localize with Hermes in the germ plasm particles of large oocytes and eggs. Only the larger Xvelo isoform was naturally found in the Balbiani body of previtellogenic oocytes. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) experiments confirmed that Hermes and the Xvelo variants interact in germ plasm, as do Rbm24b and 42b. Depletion of the shorter Xvelo variant with antisense oligonucleotides caused a decrease in the size of germ plasm aggregates and loosening of associated mitochondria from these structures. This suggests that the short Xvelo variant, or less likely its RNA, has a role in organizing and maintaining the integrity of germ plasm in Xenopus oocytes. While GFP fusion proteins for Rbm24b and 42b did not localize into germ plasm as specifically as Hermes or Xvelo, BiFC analysis indicated that both interact with Hermes in germ plasm RNPs. They are very stable in the face of RNA depletion, but additive effects of combinations of antisense oligos suggest they may have a role in germ plasm structure and may influence the ability of Hermes protein to effectively enter RNP particles