A Research Paper Investigating A Selected Number Of Printed Materials Concerning The Value, Economy And Accessibility And Durability Of The Paperback Book; As Discussed By Librarians And Teachers

The first paperbacks were similar to the development of the inexpensive book and most of all the cheap reprint. After certain technical discoveries, special types of bindings have been made and commercially utilized. Through modern methods of mass distribution, the number and variety of the paperback has increased tremendously. The purpose of the first book, whether written by hand or printed, was to record thought. These written records were begun with inscriptions on the walls of caves and have progressed with time to the newest photo-mechanical methods. It has always been the problem of the generation to produce writing in quantity. Mass production of copies were based on the economy of cheap slave labor handled by ancient Rome. Many of these manuscripts were written in monasteries, during the Middle Ages, where there were fewer economic problems, or by individual scribes; a procedure that cost more. The beauty of the medieval manuscripts were made possible by the patient work of the trained organizers and the monks. They were also responsible for the frequent misreadings and the progressive corruption of texts by compounding old mistakes with the new ones. Reprints have always served the purpose of producing and filling out the demand for a book and supplying the same book at a lower price and less expensive binding, increasing the sale of books. The backbone of the inexpensive paperback has always been the reprint and even today the original paperback is rather the exception than the rule. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM It was the purpose of this paper to make an investigative study concerning the: (1) value of the paperback book to readers, (2) economy and accessibility to libraries and the reading public, and (3) durability of the paperback book

Understanding Sleep Patterns in the Brazilian Community in Lowell, MA: Perspectives from Community Health Workers and Healthcare Consumers

Introduction The purpose of this study was to collect pilot data on the sleep and medical/psychiatric health of immigrants from the Brazilian community in Lowell, Massachusetts. Studies on Brazilian immigrants are rare in the United States. The first objective was to seek information related to sleep, sleep dysregulation and medical/psychiatric health from consumers of healthcare services within the Brazilian immigrant community in Lowell. The second objective was to solicit information from Brazilian community lay health workers (Promotoras) regarding their impressions of factors related to sleep dysregulation with members of the Brazilian immigrant community in Lowell. Both groups participated in focus groups. In addition, the immigrant healthcare consumers completed a Health Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. The study was supported by a seed grant from the University of Massachusetts Lowell School of Health & Environment with additional funding from the Office of the Provost. Methods We conducted three focus groups with Brazilian healthcare consumers with the participation of 25 Brazilian immigrants, and one with 8 Brazilian lay health workers or Promotoras. Promotoras are specially trained members of the Brazilian community who serve as liaisons between their community and health, human, and social service organizations in Lowell, such as the Lowell Community Health Center and the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS). They work formally and informally with individuals, families, and local organizations to bring health-related information to their communities. Twenty two of the focus groups participants were females, while 10 were males. The focus groups lasted 1.5 hours and were conducted in the Lowell office of MAPS in the spring and summer of 2010. The topics addressed in the focus groups included: quality and duration of sleep; problems associated with sleep; sleepiness during the day; safety concerns related to sleepiness; relationship between work schedule and sleep; use of medications to assist sleep; amount of daily use of stimulants to combat sleepiness; knowledge and perceptions of the relationship between sleep and diseases such as diabetes and psychiatric disorders; and suggestions for informing the community about sleep-related issues. All focus group sessions were conducted in Portuguese by bilingual facilitators and audio recorded. The recordings were transcribed in Portuguese and translated into English by the same bilingual transcriber. Transcripts were analyzed for themes related to sleep dysregulation amongst Brazilian immigrants in Lowell. Conclusions Most participants in the focus groups agreed that sleep deprivation is a common problem in the Brazilian community. According to several participants, many Brazilians sleep 4 or 5 hours a day, noting long work hours, irregular work schedules, high levels of stress and financial pressures. Common daily work schedules are in excess of 17 hours a day. While it seems that the regular use of drugs to induce sleep does not seem to be common, high consumption of caffeinated beverages, such as Red Bull and coffee are common to combat excessive daytime sleepiness. Drowsy driving or falling asleep at the wheel were commonly reported. Impaired work performance due to sleep deprivation was widespread. Many participants reported that they or their spouses had poor sleep quality. They viewed sleep apnea, obesity, irritability, and excessive snoring to be associated with poor sleep quality. A few participants also reported depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders as the reasons for their insomnia. Combined, these factors point to significant sleep-related morbidity. The experience of participants with health care providers suggests that most providers, especially physicians, do not ask Brazilian patients about sleep-related issues during regular visits, unless the patients themselves voice complaints such as insomnia

Towards Operationalizing Driver Distraction

Driver distraction has been the subject of much research interest and scientific inquiry. Operationalizing driver distraction is a complex task—one that is necessary for advancing both science and public policy in this domain. While many operational definitions can be gathered from the literature, gaps are common. In order to fill such gaps, 21 experts reviewed 55 driver distraction definitions in the literature. Aided by the results of a pre-workshop questionnaire the experts narrowed these definitions. The Regan et al. (2011) definition of driver distraction was agreed to at a workshop. Subsidiary terms related to this definition were defined to improve clarity and applicability of the definition. It is hoped that a consistent and agreed definition of driver distraction and its associated terms will advance scientific progress in understanding and measuring driver distraction

The Ras-Erk-ETS-signaling pathway is a drug target for longevity

Summary Identifying the molecular mechanisms that underlie aging and their pharmacological manipulation are key aims for improving lifelong human health. Here, we identify a critical role for Ras-Erk-ETS signaling in aging in Drosophila. We show that inhibition of Ras is sufficient for lifespan extension downstream of reduced insulin/IGF-1 (IIS) signaling. Moreover, direct reduction of Ras or Erk activity leads to increased lifespan. We identify the E-twenty six (ETS) transcriptional repressor, Anterior open (Aop), as central to lifespan extension caused by reduced IIS or Ras attenuation. Importantly, we demonstrate that adult-onset administration of the drug trametinib, a highly specific inhibitor of Ras-Erk-ETS signaling, can extend lifespan. This discovery of the Ras-Erk-ETS pathway as a pharmacological target for animal aging, together with the high degree of evolutionary conservation of the pathway, suggests that inhibition of Ras-Erk-ETS signaling may provide an effective target for anti-aging interventions in mammals. Video Abstrac

Retention of Indigenous pre-service teachers enrolled in an Australian regional university

Retention of Indigenous pre-service teachers is critical to increasing the number of Indigenous teachers in Australian schools. The aim of this research was to identify factors impacting on retention within one regional university in Queensland. Using a narrative inquiry research design, interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of Aboriginal students (n ¼ 14) over a two year period. Issues and themes impacting on decisions to exit prior to completion were identified that are being used to enhance op-erations within the university as well as broader systemic issues which contribute to higher education evidence and understanding for policy discussion and development

Detrimental effects of RNAi: a cautionary note on its use in Drosophila ageing studies

RNA interference (RNAi) provides an important tool for gene function discovery. It has been widely exploited in Caenorhabditis elegans ageing research because it does not appear to have any non-specific effects on ageing-related traits in that model organism. We show here that ubiquitous, adult-onset activation of the RNAi machinery, achieved by expressing a double stranded RNA targeting GFP or lacZ for degradation, or by increasing expression of Dicer substantially reduces lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster. Induction of GFPRNAi construct also alters the response of lifespan to nutrition, exacerbating the lifespan-shortening effects of food containing a high quantity of yeast. Our study indicates that activation of the RNAi machinery may have sequence-independent side-effects on lifespan, and that caution needs to be exercised when employing ubiquitous RNAi in Drosophila ageing studies. However, we also show that RNAi restricted to certain tissues may not be detrimental to lifespan

The Role of Multiple Sclerosis as a Risk Factor for the Development of Osteoporosis

Background: Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease in the United States, and it is particularly common among women with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, despite this association, the temporal relationship between these two conditions has not been previously studied. Data from the Women’s Health Initiative provides a unique opportunity to examine the risk of developing osteoporosis over time in individuals diagnosed with MS. Objective: The purpose of this study is to refine the relationship between MS and osteoporosis, clarifying the impact of environmental and pharmacologic factors on each condition, as well as addressing treatment and preventative efforts for a patient population at a greater potential risk for osteoporosis. Methods: The study sample, derived from the Women’s Health Initiative, included 449 women who reported an MS diagnosis at baseline and 161,359 women without MS who comprised a control group. Baseline measures of self-reported osteoporosis, age, smoking status, steroid and anti-inflammatory use, and supplementary as well as dietary calcium and vitamin D were compared. MS patients reporting osteoporosis at baseline were removed, resulting in 355 women with MS to monitor for time to incident osteoporosis. Survival analyses were performed on follow-up data gathered annually between 1993 and 2005 to factor out significant associations of additional factors. Proportions of participants on osteoporosis-related medications as well as latency to use were compared between the multiple sclerosis and control cohorts. Results: At baseline, women with MS are nearly three times as likely to report osteoporosis (p Conclusions: A higher prevalence of osteoporosis at baseline suggests MS may significantly increase the risk of osteoporosis in premenopausal women. In contrast, environmental and pharmacologic variables appear to have a more significant role in the post-menopausal population. While osteoporosis was treated similarly between both groups, the point for intervention or prevention of osteoporosis in MS patients may be earlier in the disease course

Activation of AMPK by the putative dietary restriction mimetic metformin is insufficient to extend lifespan in Drosophila

The biguanide drug, metformin, commonly used to treat type-2 diabetes, has been shown to extend lifespan and reduce fecundity in C. elegans through a dietary restriction-like mechanism via the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and the AMPK-activating kinase, LKB1. We have investigated whether the longevity-promoting effects of metformin are evolutionarily conserved using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We show here that while feeding metformin to adult Drosophila resulted in a robust activation of AMPK and reduced lipid stores, it did not increase lifespan in either male or female flies. In fact, we found that when administered at high concentrations, metformin is toxic to flies. Furthermore, no decreases in female fecundity were observed except at the most toxic dose. Analysis of intestinal physiology after metformin treatment suggests that these deleterious effects may result from disruptions to intestinal fluid homeostasis. Thus, metformin appears to have evolutionarily conserved effects on metabolism but not on fecundity or lifespan

Activation of AMPK by the putative dietary restriction mimetic metformin is insufficient to extend lifespan in Drosophila.

The biguanide drug, metformin, commonly used to treat type-2 diabetes, has been shown to extend lifespan and reduce fecundity in C. elegans through a dietary restriction-like mechanism via the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and the AMPK-activating kinase, LKB1. We have investigated whether the longevity-promoting effects of metformin are evolutionarily conserved using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We show here that while feeding metformin to adult Drosophila resulted in a robust activation of AMPK and reduced lipid stores, it did not increase lifespan in either male or female flies. In fact, we found that when administered at high concentrations, metformin is toxic to flies. Furthermore, no decreases in female fecundity were observed except at the most toxic dose. Analysis of intestinal physiology after metformin treatment suggests that these deleterious effects may result from disruptions to intestinal fluid homeostasis. Thus, metformin appears to have evolutionarily conserved effects on metabolism but not on fecundity or lifespan