UNSETTLING AUTHENTICITY, QUEERING LANDSCAPES: THE ROLE OF NATURE AT THREE STATE HISTORIC SITES IN DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

Today, the outdoor landscapes of Durham's three state historic sites resemble each other closely. Historic Stagville, Bennett Place, and Duke Homestead all have mown grass lawns, large stands of trees, and nature trails. However, none of these sites would have looked this way during the historical periods they represent. In fact, certain aspects of these landscapes actually obscure vital historical truths, and the attention to authenticity inside the buildings of these public historic sites differs considerably from the management and interpretation of the physical landscapes outside. Drawing on scholarship in cultural landscape and authenticity, as well as queer theory, I investigate how site staff manage landscapes around preserved buildings and how visitors experience these managed spaces. Through a queer landscape analytic, I seek to unsettle the constructed natural landscapes in which we learn about the past and deepen our understandings of how articulations of the past act in our present.Master of Art

Playing in a Painful Past: Interpreting Slavery in Leisure Landscapes at Plantation Museums in North Carolina

As more plantation museums across the US work to incorporate slavery into their historic interpretation, the position of plantation museums within landscapes of leisure and tourism is increasingly problematized. Heritage scholarship identifies numerous challenges to placing full and complex narratives of enslavement alongside and within the spaces of outdoor recreation and leisure that intersect with plantation museums, but few studies thus far directly address such spatial tensions. This study draws on archival research, interviews with staff and visitors, participant observation, and a novel application of emotion mapping founded in feminist geography and participatory counter-cartographies to examine historical, embodied, and landscape-level relationships between outdoor recreation and interpretations of slavery at three public plantation museums in North Carolina. After tracing the historic conditions of the relationship between plantation museums and outdoor leisure to the segregated post-WWII tourism boom, the study focuses on the present day by bringing visitor and staff perspectives together to examine how these two diverse groups experience and manage leisure and landscape in the context of racially-just public history. Findings reveal that outdoor recreation and leisure can both undermine and support ongoing public history interpretations of enslavement, depending on the positionality of the visitor, the site’s relationship to outdoor recreational facilities, and the flexibility of site interpretive materials. The study further aims to crack open the concept of leisure, positioning both recreation and reparative memory work as vital co-creators of plantation museum spaces and offering the concept of reparative leisure to think through the transformative possibilities of place-based history education.Doctor of Philosoph

Osteogenic lineage restriction by osteoprogenitors cultured on nanometric grooved surfaces – the role of focal adhesion maturation

The differentiation of progenitor cells is dependent on more than biochemical signalling. Topographical cues in natural bone extracellular matrix guide cellular differentiation through the formation of focal adhesions, contact guidance, cytoskeletal rearrangement and ultimately gene expression. Osteoarthritis and a number of bone disorders present as growing challenges for our society. Hence, there is a need for next generation implantable devices to substitute for, or guide, bone repair in vivo. Cellular responses to nanometric topographical cues need to be better understood in vitro in order to ensure the effective and efficient integration and performance of these orthopaedic devices. In this study, the FDA approved plastic polycaprolactone, was embossed with nanometric grooves and the response of primary and immortalised osteoprogenitor cells observed. Nanometric groove dimensions were 240 nm or 540 nm deep and 12.5 μm wide. Cells cultured on test surfaces followed contact guidance along the length of groove edges, elongated along their major axis and showed nuclear distortion, they formed more focal complexes and a lower proportions of mature adhesions relative to planar controls. Down-regulation of the osteoblast marker genes RUNX2 and BMPR2 in primary and immortalised cells was observed on grooved substrates. Down-regulation appeared to directly correlate with focal adhesion maturation, indicating the involvement of ERK 1/2 negative feedback pathways following integrin mediated FAK activation

Effects of the anger expression and hostility components of the type A personality behavior pattern : on physiological recovery from a psychosocial stressor / by Mary-Beth Minthorn-Biggs.

The present study re-examined the relationship of the Type A Behavior Pattern to heart rate and finger temperature recovery from a psychosocial stressor. It also investigated the role of anger expression, hostility and rehearsal as predictors of delayed heart rate and finger temperature recovery. 30 male and 29 female students were given questions of multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, with a few geography and general knowledge questions also included. Heart rate and finger temperature were measured before, during, and after the stressor presentation. Results showed that heart rate recovery was significantly slower for those individuals who scored high on Angerin and Rehearsal scales. No heart differences in recovery were found between Type A and Type B individuals. Evidence was presented that the Rehearsal scale has an anger component which may be responsible for its relationship to slower heart rate recovery. In contrast to the rapid recovery of heart rate, finger temperature did not recover over the 10 minute recovery period. There were no significant correlations between finger temperature recovery and personality

Sleep Disturbances and Glucose Metabolism in Older Adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

ObjectiveWe examined the associations of symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), which was defined as loud snoring, stopping breathing for a while during sleep, and daytime sleepiness, and insomnia with glucose metabolism and incident type 2 diabetes in older adults.Research design and methodsBetween 1989 and 1993, the Cardiovascular Health Study recruited 5,888 participants ≥65 years of age from four U.S. communities. Participants reported SDB and insomnia symptoms yearly through 1989-1994. In 1989-1990, participants underwent an oral glucose tolerance test, from which insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity were estimated. Fasting glucose levels were measured in 1989-1990 and again in 1992-1993, 1994-1995, 1996-1997, and 1998-1999, and medication use was ascertained yearly. We determined the cross-sectional associations of sleep symptoms with fasting glucose levels, 2-h glucose levels, insulin sensitivity, and insulin secretion using generalized estimated equations and linear regression models. We determined the associations of updated and averaged sleep symptoms with incident diabetes in Cox proportional hazards models. We adjusted for sociodemographics, lifestyle factors, and medical history.ResultsObserved apnea, snoring, and daytime sleepiness were associated with higher fasting glucose levels, higher 2-h glucose levels, lower insulin sensitivity, and higher insulin secretion. The risk of the development of type 2 diabetes was positively associated with observed apnea (hazard ratio [HR] 1.84 [95% CI 1.19-2.86]), snoring (HR 1.27 [95% CI 0.95-1.71]), and daytime sleepiness (HR 1.54 [95% CI 1.13-2.12]). In contrast, we did not find consistent associations between insomnia symptoms and glucose metabolism or incident type 2 diabetes.ConclusionsEasily collected symptoms of SDB are strongly associated with insulin resistance and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in older adults. Monitoring glucose metabolism in such patients may prove useful in identifying candidates for lifestyle or pharmacological therapy. Further studies are needed to determine whether insomnia symptoms affect the risk of diabetes in younger adults

G. A. Kohut's letter to Ignaz Goldziher

Extrait du corpus d'Orléans, réalisé dans le cadre de l'Enquête SocioLinguistique à Orléans à la fin des années 1960. Le sous-corpus "omelette" représente les 96 réponses à la question sur la recette de l'omelette posée au cours des entretiens en face-à-face

Evaluation of Handheld Assays for the Detection of Ricin and Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B in Disinfected Waters

Development of a rapid field test is needed capable of determining if field supplies of water are safe to drink by the warfighter during a military operation. The present study sought to assess the effectiveness of handheld assays (HHAs) in detecting ricin and Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B (SEB) in water. Performance of HHAs was evaluated in formulated tap water with and without chlorine, reverse osmosis water (RO) with chlorine, and RO with bromine. Each matrix was prepared, spiked with ricin or SEB at multiple concentrations, and then loaded onto HHAs. HHAs were allowed to develop and then read visually. Limits of detection (LOD) were determined for all HHAs in each water type. Both ricin and SEB were detected by HHAs in formulated tap water at or below the suggested health effect levels of 455 ng/mL and 4.55 ng/mL, respectively. However, in brominated or chlorinated waters, LODs for SEB increased to approximately 2,500 ng/mL. LODs for ricin increased in chlorinated water, but still remained below the suggested health effect level. In brominated water, the LOD for ricin increased to approximately 2,500 ng/mL. In conclusion, the HHAs tested were less effective at detecting ricin and SEB in disinfected water, as currently configured

Hemoglobin A1c and Arterial and Ventricular Stiffness in Older Adults

Objective: Arterial and ventricular stiffening are characteristics of diabetes and aging which confer significant morbidity and mortality; advanced glycation endproducts (AGE) are implicated in this stiffening pathophysiology. We examined the association between HbA1c, an AGE, with arterial and ventricular stiffness measures in older individuals without diabetes. Research Design & Methods: Baseline HbA1c was measured in 830 participants free of diabetes defined by fasting glucose or medication use in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a population-based cohort study of adults aged ≥65 years. We performed cross-sectional analyses using baseline exam data including echocardiography, ankle and brachial blood pressure measurement, and carotid ultrasonography. We examined the adjusted associations between HbA1c and multiple arterial and ventricular stiffness measures by linear regression models and compared these results to the association of fasting glucose (FG) with like measures. Results: HbA1c was correlated with fasting and 2-hour postload glucose levels (r = 0.21; p<0.001 for both) and positively associated with greater body-mass index and black race. In adjusted models, HbA1c was not associated with any measure of arterial or ventricular stiffness, including pulse pressure (PP), carotid intima-media thickness, ankle-brachial index, end-arterial elastance, or left ventricular mass (LVM). FG levels were positively associated with systolic, diastolic and PP and LVM. Conclusions: In this sample of older adults without diabetes, HbA1c was not associated with arterial or ventricular stiffness measures, whereas FG levels were. The role of AGE in arterial and ventricular stiffness in older adults may be better assessed using alternate AGE markers

Genome-wide meta-analysis of muscle weakness identifies 15 susceptibility loci in older men and women

© 2021, The Author(s). Low muscle strength is an important heritable indicator of poor health linked to morbidity and mortality in older people. In a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of 256, 523 Europeans aged 60 years and over from 22 cohorts we identify 15 loci associated with muscle weakness (European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People definition: n = 48,596 cases, 18.9% of total), including 12 loci not implicated in previous analyses of continuous measures of grip strength. Loci include genes reportedly involved in autoimmune disease (HLA-DQA1p = 4 × 10−17), arthritis (GDF5p = 4 × 10−13), cell cycle control and cancer protection, regulation of transcription, and others involved in the development and maintenance of the musculoskeletal system. Using Mendelian randomization we report possible overlapping causal pathways, including diabetes susceptibility, haematological parameters, and the immune system. We conclude that muscle weakness in older adults has distinct mechanisms from continuous strength, including several pathways considered to be hallmarks of ageing

Power estimation of tests in log-linear non-uniform association models for ordinal agreement

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Log-linear association models have been extensively used to investigate the pattern of agreement between ordinal ratings. In 2007, log-linear non-uniform association models were introduced to estimate, from a cross-classification of two independent raters using an ordinal scale, varying degrees of distinguishability between distant and adjacent categories of the scale.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this paper, a simple method based on simulations was proposed to estimate the power of non-uniform association models to detect heterogeneities across distinguishabilities between adjacent categories of an ordinal scale, illustrating some possible scale defects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Different scenarios of distinguishability patterns were investigated, as well as different scenarios of marginal heterogeneity within rater. For sample size of N = 50, the probabilities of detecting heterogeneities within the tables are lower than .80, whatever the number of categories. In additition, even for large samples, marginal heterogeneities within raters led to a decrease in power estimates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This paper provided some issues about how many objects had to be classified by two independent observers (or by the same observer at two different times) to be able to detect a given scale structure defect. Our results also highlighted the importance of marginal homogeneity within raters, to ensure optimal power when using non-uniform association models.</p