Illuminating the Spectre

As video game streaming increases in popularity, the number of viewers spectating these streams has also increased. However, even while streaming seeks to develop more methods to include viewer participation, spectators are often viewed as passive or in the “backseat.” In this paper I focus on findings from the development and play of a software overlay that allows spectators to control what parts of the screen are visible to them. I argue that the labor of spectating not only generates valuable knowledge, but can be encouraged and highlighted without turning spectators into players

Leaching of Low- Grade Nickel Ores by Fungi Metabolic Acids

This study was designed to investigate the nature of nickel and cobalt dissolution from limonite and weathered saprolite ores. Chemical leaching was conducted using 1 to 3M of citric, lactic and malic acids. These tests aimed to mimic metal dissolution achieved using heterotrophic or fungi organism and their corresponding metabolic products. The results in this study was able to demonstrate the effect of secondary reaction or adsorption, pulp density and the potential hampering effect of acid neutralizing minerals and acid activity or strength on metal dissolution. Nickel and cobalt dissolution were also found to be dependent on the nature of the host minerals and amenability of these gangue minerals to dehydroxylate as a result of acid attack

The Digital Distribution of Public Health News Surrounding the Human Papillomavirus Vaccination: A Longitudinal Infodemiology Study

Background: New media changes the dissemination of public health information and misinformation. During a guest appearance on the Today Show, US Representative Michele Bachmann claimed that human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines could cause “mental retardation”. Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore how new media influences the type of public health information users access, as well as the impact to these platforms after a major controversy. Specifically, this study aims to examine the similarities and differences in the dissemination of news articles related to the HPV vaccination between Google News and Twitter, as well as how the content of news changed after Michele Bachmann’s controversial comment. Methods: This study used a purposive sampling to draw the first 100 news articles that appeared on Google News and the first 100 articles that appeared on Twitter from August 1-October 31, 2011. Article tone, source, topics, concerns, references, publication date, and interactive features were coded. The intercoder reliability had a total agreement of .90. Results: Results indicate that 44.0% of the articles (88/200) about the HPV vaccination had a positive tone, 32.5% (65/200) maintained a neutral tone, while 23.5% (47/200) presented a negative tone. Protection against diseases 82.0% (164/200), vaccine eligibility for females 75.5% (151/200), and side effects 59.0% (118/200) were the top three topics covered by these articles. Google News and Twitter articles significantly differed in article tone, source, topics, concerns covered, types of sources referenced in the article, and uses of interactive features. Most notably, topic focus changed from public health information towards political conversation after Bachmann’s comment. Before the comment, the HPV vaccine news talked more often about vaccine dosing (P\u3c .001), duration (P=.005), vaccine eligibility for females (P=.03), and protection against diseases (P=.04) than did the later pieces. After the controversy, the news topic shifted towards politics (P=.01) and talked more about HPV vaccine eligibility for males (P=.01). Conclusions: This longitudinal infodemiology study suggests that new media influences public health communication, knowledge transaction, and poses potential problems in the amount of misinformation disseminated during public health campaigns. In addition, the study calls for more research to adopt an infodemiology approach to explore relationships between online information supply and public health decisions

Conditional protein degradation in Yarrowia lipolytica using the auxin-inducible degron

Conditional protein degradation is a powerful tool for controlled protein knockdown. The auxin-inducible degron (AID) technology uses a plant auxin to induce depletion of degron-tagged proteins, and it has been shown to be functional in several non-plant eukaryotes. In this study, we demonstrated AID-based protein knockdown in an industrially important oleaginous yeas

Building the Democracy We Need for the Twenty-First Century

This toolkit situates collaborative governance, also known as "co-governance," within a framework for building community that sees civic education, relationship building, and leadership development as essential first steps toward an effective and sustained participatory process. It offers key takeaways and best practices from effective, ongoing collaborative governance projects between communities and decision makers. The best of these projects shift decision-making power to the hands of communities to make room for more deliberation, consensus, and lasting change. Building on the lessons of successful case studies from across the United States, including Georgia, Kentucky, New York, and Washington, this toolkit aims to support local leaders inside and outside government as they navigate and execute co-governance models in their communities

The implementation of occupational safety and health legislation and policies in Hong Kong schools

It is widely acknowledged that Hong Kong teachers are suffering from work-related health and safety problems (HKPTU, 2005). Reviews of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) research suggest that there is a wealth of scientific data on OSH to establish policy level interventions, yet the implementation of OSH legislation and policies is complex and multi-faceted. This thesis focuses on the macro level of OSH interventions in schools by studying the OSH policy implementation from the top-down and organisational perspectives. This thesis begins with a systematic narrative review of the OSH policy and interviews with key stakeholders. These qualitative studies explore the background, context and implementation of the OSH legislation and policies that govern HK teachers‟ OSH. A subsequent quantitative study is conducted to examine the framework model of climate-behaviour-outcome relationship. The results of the qualitative studies present several issues of concerns in the current policy implementation, e.g. the ambiguity of the key terms in the legislation and the communication breakdown during the policy implementation process. The findings also give a hint to the factors which may affect the effectiveness of implementation; further investigations on these factors are carried out in a quantitative study. The results of the quantitative study present the climate-behaviour-outcome framework model with knowledge as the mediator and social capital as the antecedent. The implications of these results are discussed in the final chapter with the significant issues correspondence with the implementation of OSH legislation and policies in HK schools. It also discusses some recommendations in the practice such implementation

IDENTIFICATION OF GENES INVOLVED IN THE ANTIVIRAL RESPONSE THROUGH GENETIC SCREENS IN DROSOPHILA

Innate immunity is essential for the host to defend against invading pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria. To identify novel genes or molecules that are involved in innate immunity, we carried out two genetic screens in Drosophila. From a forward screen of flies mutagenized with Ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS), four mutants with increased susceptibility to Drosophila X virus (DXV) were found. In this study, we focused on the rogue mutant and identified a novel antiviral gene rogue. The rogue mutant is highly susceptible to DXV infection and is unable to control viral replication during infection. The expression of rogue in either the hemocytes or the fat body is required for flies to control viral accumulation and to survive a viral infection. At an early stage of infection, rogue is induced and the amount of Rogue protein that locates to the nucleus increases. In addition, we confirm that the Rogue protein interacts with the polyA binding protein (PABP), and we propose that rogue restricts viral replication via translation regulation in Drosophila. The rogue mutant also has a phagosome maturation defect, which may contribute to its susceptibility to Staphylococcus aureus infection. RNAi knockdown of rogue in the fat body or the hemocytes in wild type flies results in high bacterial susceptibility. Introducing the rogue transgene in the hemocytes of the rogue mutant can rescue the mutant survival to both DXV and S. aureus. Together, our results demonstrate that rogue plays a critical role in defending against DXV and S. aureus infections. We performed another genetic screen on wild derived inbred flies from the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP). From a genome wide association study (GWAS) in these flies, we found four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with susceptibility of flies to DXV. One allele contributed most to the susceptibility is located in the intron of Socs36E, a negative regulator of the JAK-STAT pathway, implicating that the JAK-STAT pathway plays a role in the immune responses against DXV. Our study also shows that natural genetic variation can be used as a tool for identifying novel genes or pathways involved in antiviral immunity

Family communication predicts the decisions of adolescents to engage in sexual behaviors

This study investigated whether family communication predicted adolescent decision-making about sexual behaviors, as well as gender differences in whether adolescents prefer talking with their mother or father about sex. Male and female college students (n =148) retrospectively answered questions on a survey pertaining to their family communication about sex when they were going through puberty. Results demonstrated that females reported better communication with their mothers about sex than males, and males reported better communication with their fathers about sex than females. It also was found that the better the communication with mothers, the more informed about sex the adolescents reported to be, the more likely the adolescents reported their relationship with their parents to have an effect on their decision to have sex, and the greater the likelihood of the adolescents to inform their parent if they hypothetically had been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection

Selective killing of HIV-1-positive macrophages and T cells by the Rev-dependent lentivirus carrying anthrolysin O from Bacillus anthracis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The ability of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to persist in the body has proven to be a long-standing challenge to virus eradication. Current antiretroviral therapy cannot selectively destroy infected cells; it only halts active viral replication. With therapeutic cessation or interruption, viral rebound occurs, and invariably, viral loads return to pre-treatment levels. The natural reservoirs harboring replication-competent HIV-1 include CD4 T cells and macrophages. In particular, cells from the macrophage lineage resist HIV-1-mediated killing and support sustained viral production. To develop a complementary strategy to target persistently infected cells, this proof-of-concept study explores an HIV-1 Rev-dependent lentiviral vector carrying a bacterial hemolysin, <it>anthrolysin O </it>(<it>anlO</it>) from <it>Bacillus anthracis</it>, to achieve selective killing of HIV-1- infected cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We demonstrate that in the Rev-dependent lentiviral vector, <it>anlO </it>expression is exclusively dependent on Rev, a unique HIV-1 protein present only in infected cells. Intracellular expression and oligomerization of AnlO result in membrane pore formation and cytolysis. We have further overcome a technical hurdle in producing a Revdependent AnlO lentivirus, through the use of β-cyclodextrin derivatives to inhibit direct killing of producer cells by AnlO. Using HIV-1-infected macrophages and T cells as a model, we demonstrate that this Rev-dependent AnlO lentivirus diminishes HIV-1- positive cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Rev-dependent lentiviral vector has demonstrated its specificity in targeting persistently infected cells. The choice of <it>anlO </it>as the first suicidal gene tested in this vector is based on its cytolytic activity in macrophages and T cells. We conclude that Rev-regulated expression of suicidal genes in HIV-1-positive cells is possible, although future <it>in vivo </it>delivery of this system needs to address numerous safety issues.</p

Sex tourism among Chinese men who have sex with men: a cross-sectional observational study.

BACKGROUND: Sex tourism among men who have sex with men (MSM) may exacerbate transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Sex tourism is defined as purchasing sex with gifts or money outside of one's hometown. Our objective was to characterize the frequency, socio-demographic characteristics, and sexual risk behaviors among Chinese MSM sex tourists. METHODS: An online, cross-sectional survey for high-risk MSM throughout China was conducted in November 2015 covering sociodemographic characteristics, sexual risk behaviors, and sex tourism. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were performed to identify correlates of sex tourism. The mean MSM HIV prevalence of sex tourism journey origins and destinations were compared. RESULTS: Of 1189 MSM who completed the survey, 62 (5%) men identified as sex tourists; among these sex tourists, twenty (32%) traveled primarily to purchase sex and the remainder purchased sex while traveling for another purpose. There was minimal socio-demographic and behavioral difference between the two groups. In multivariable analyses, adjusting for age and income, sex tourism was correlated with high-risk sexual behaviors, higher income (aOR 4.44, 95%CI 1.77-11.18) and living with HIV (aOR 2.79, 95%CI 1.03-7.55). Sex tourism was more often from locations with lower to higher MSM HIV prevalence (mean = 4.47, SD = 2.01 versus mean = 6.86, SD = 5.24). CONCLUSION: MSM sex tourists were more likely to have risky sexual behaviors and travel to locations with a higher HIV prevalence. MSM sex tourists may be part of core groups that are disproportionately responsible for MSM HIV transmission. Enhanced surveillance and interventions tailored to MSM sex tourists should be considered