41 research outputs found
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The psychology of containment: mis/representing emotional and behavioural difficulties in Australian schools
The number of students in special schools has increased at a rapid rate in some Australian states, due in part to increased enrolment under the categories of emotional disturbance (ED) and behaviour disorder (BD). Nonetheless, diagnostic distinctions between ED and BD are unclear. Moreover, despite international findings that students with particular backgrounds are over-represented in special schools, little is known about the backgrounds of students entering such settings in Australia. This study examined the government school enrolment data from New South Wales, the most populous of the Australian states. Linear and quadratic trends were used to describe the numbers and ages of students enrolled in special schools in the ED and BD categories. Changes between 1997 and 2007 were observed. Results showed an over-representation of boys that increased across the decade and a different pattern across age for boys and girls. Consistent with international findings, these results indicate that trends in special school placements are unrelated to disability prevalence in the population. Rather, it is suggested that schools act to preserve time and resources for others by removing their more challenging students: most typically, boys
The James Webb Space Telescope Mission
Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies,
expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling
for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least .
With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000
people realized that vision as the James Webb Space Telescope. A
generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of
the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the
scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000
team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image
quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief
history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing
program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite
detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space
Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure
Detection of a novel, integrative aging process suggests complex physiological integration
Abstract: Many studies of aging examine biomarkers one at a time, but complex systems theory and
network theory suggest that interpretations of individual markers may be context-dependent.
Here, we attempted to detect underlying processes governing the levels ofmany biomarkers
simultaneously by applying principal components analysis to 43 common clinical biomarkers
measured longitudinally in 3694 humans from three longitudinal cohort studies on two continents
(Womenâs Health and Aging I & II, InCHIANTI, and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on
Aging). The first axis was associated with anemia, inflammation, and low levels of calcium
and albumin. The axis structure was precisely reproduced in all three populations and in all
demographic sub-populations (by sex, race, etc.); we call the process represented by the
axis âintegrated albunemia.â Integrated albunemia increases and accelerates with age in all
populations, and predicts mortality and frailty â but not chronic disease â even after controlling
for age. This suggests a role in the aging process, though causality is not yet clear.
Integrated albunemia behaves more stably across populations than its component biomarkers,
and thus appears to represent a higher-order physiological process emerging from the
structure of underlying regulatory networks. If this is correct, detection of this process has
substantial implications for physiological organizationmore generally
Bad girls and sick boys: fantasies in contemporary art and culture
Linda S. Kauffman turns the pornography debate on its head with this audacious analysis of recent taboo-shattering fiction, film, and performance art. Investigating the role of fantasy in art, politics, and popular culture, she shows how technological advances in medicine and science (magnetic resonance imaging, computers, and telecommunications) have profoundly altered our concepts of the human body. Cyberspace is producing new forms of identity and subjectivity. The novelists, filmmakers, and performers in Bad Girls and Sick Boys are the interpreters of these brave new worlds, cartographers who are busy mapping the fin-de-millennium environment that already envelops us. Bad Girls and Sick Boys offers a vital and entertaining tour of the current cultural landscape. Kauffman boldly connects the dots between the radical artists who shatter taboos and challenge legal and aesthetic conventions. She links writers like John Hawkes and Robert Coover to Kathy Acker and William Vollmann; filmmakers like Ngozi Onwurah and Isaac Julien to Brian De Palma and Gus Van Sant; and performers like Carolee Schneemann and Annie Sprinkle to the visual arts. Kauffman's lively interviews with J. G. Ballard, David Cronenberg, Bob Flanagan, and Orlan add an extraordinary dimension to her timely and convincing argument
Evaluation of targeted versus universal prophylaxis for the prevention of invasive fungal infections following lung transplantation
BackgroundAntifungal prophylaxis to prevent invasive fungal infections (IFI) is widely used following lung transplantation, but the optimal strategy remains unclear. We compared universal with targeted antifungal prophylaxis for effectiveness in preventing IFI.MethodsAdult patients who underwent lung transplantation at the University of Michigan from /1 July 2014â31 December 2017 were studied for 18Â months postâtransplant. Universal prophylaxis consisted of itraconazole with or without inhaled liposomal amphotericin B. Using specific criteria, targeted prophylaxis was given with voriconazole for patients at risk for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and with fluconazole or micafungin for patients at risk for invasive candidiasis. Risk factors, occurrence of proven/probable IFI, and mortality were analyzed for the two prophylaxis cohorts.ResultsOf 105 lung transplant recipients, 84 (80%) received a double lung transplant, and 38 (36%) of patients underwent transplant for pulmonary fibrosis. Fiftyânine (56%) patients received universal antifungal prophylaxis, and 46 (44%), targeted antifungal prophylaxis. Among 20 proven/probable IFI, there were 14 IPA, 4 invasive candidiasis, 1 cryptococcosis, and 1 deep sternal mold infection. Six (10%) IFI occurred in the universal prophylaxis cohort and 14 (30%) in the targeted prophylaxis cohort. Five of 6 (83%) IFI in the universal prophylaxis cohort, compared with 9/14 (64%) in the targeted prophylaxis cohort, were IPA Candida infections occurred only in the targeted prophylaxis cohort. The development of IFI was more likely in the targeted prophylaxis cohort than the universal prophylaxis cohort, HRÂ =Â 4.32 (1.51â12.38), PÂ =Â .0064.ConclusionsUniversal antifungal prophylaxis appears to be more effective than targeted antifungal prophylaxis for prevention of IFI after lung transplant.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/166427/1/tid13448.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/166427/2/tid13448_am.pd