47 research outputs found

    Women Scholars, Integration, and the Marianist Tradition: Learning From Our Culture and Ourselves

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    In the fall of 1997, a group of junior tenure-track women faculty in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Dayton decided to meet regularly in order to support each others’ scholarly endeavors in the process of achieving promotion and tenure. The group of subsequently became known as the Writing ”“Writers’ Support Group (WWSG). In 2000, the group conducted a self-study of its group process to determine how the formation of women’s WWSG fit with the mission and characteristics of a Marianist university. The results suggest that, although each of the characteristics could be identified in the group processes, the group best identified with the Marianist mandate to educate in family spirit. Each member of the group considered the possible reasons for this outcome

    Women Scholars, Integration, and the Marianist Tradition: Learning from our Culture and Ourselves

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    In the fall of 1997, a group of junior tenure-track women faculty in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Dayton decided to meet regularly in order to support each other’s scholarly endeavors in the process of achieving promotion and tenure. The group of subsequently became known as the Writing-Writers’ Support Group (WWSG). In 2000, the group conducted a self-study of its group process to determine how the formation of women’s WWSG fit with the mission and characteristics of a Marianist university. The results suggest that, although each of the characteristics could be identified in the group processes, the group best identified with the Marianist mandate to educate in family spirit. Each member of the group considered the possible reasons for this outcome

    Small Water Bodies in Great Britain and Ireland: Ecosystem function, human-generated degradation, and options for restorative action

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    © 2018 Small, 1st and 2nd-order, headwater streams and ponds play essential roles in providing natural flood control, trapping sediments and contaminants, retaining nutrients, and maintaining biological diversity, which extend into downstream reaches, lakes and estuaries. However, the large geographic extent and high connectivity of these small water bodies with the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem makes them particularly vulnerable to growing land-use pressures and environmental change. The greatest pressure on the physical processes in these waters has been their extension and modification for agricultural and forestry drainage, resulting in highly modified discharge and temperature regimes that have implications for flood and drought control further downstream. The extensive length of the small stream network exposes rivers to a wide range of inputs, including nutrients, pesticides, heavy metals, sediment and emerging contaminants. Small water bodies have also been affected by invasions of non-native species, which along with the physical and chemical pressures, have affected most groups of organisms with consequent implications for the wider biodiversity within the catchment. Reducing the impacts and restoring the natural ecosystem function of these water bodies requires a three-tiered approach based on: restoration of channel hydromorphological dynamics; restoration and management of the riparian zone; and management of activities in the wider catchment that have both point-source and diffuse impacts. Such activities are expensive and so emphasis must be placed on integrated programmes that provide multiple benefits. Practical options need to be promoted through legislative regulation, financial incentives, markets for resource services and voluntary codes and actions

    The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

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    Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015

    31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

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    Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

    Glioblastoma Multiforme in the over 70's: “To treat or not to treat with radiotherapy?”

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    Abstract Background The incidence of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is increasing among the older population and is associated with poor prognosis. Management guidelines are lacking in this group. The purpose of this study was to analyze survival data and determine predictors of survival in patients aged ≄70 years treated with radiotherapy (RT) and/or Temozolomide. Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis of all GBM patients treated at our institution between January 2011 and January 2017 was carried out. Results One‐hundred and four patients were eligible. Median age was 73.8 years (70‐87). Thirty‐three patients received radical RT and 71 palliative RT. Overall median survival (MS) was 6 months. The MS was 10.6 months for radical patients and 4.9 months for palliative patients (P < 0.0005). The MS was 6.9 months in patients aged 70‐75 years and 5.2 months in those aged 76‐80 years (P = 0.004). The debulked group had a statistically significantly longer survival (8.0 months) than the biopsy only group (4.9 months). Biopsy only (hazard ratio [HR] 2.4), ECOG performance status 3 vs 0 (HR 6.4), and increasing age (HR 1.06) were associated with statistically significant shorter survival after adjustment for the effects of concurrent chemo, delay in starting RT, and RT dose. Conclusion The MS for radical patients was favorable and approaching current literature for the under 70 age group. Radical treatment should be considered for good performance patients aged 70‐75 years. Increasing age was associated with shorter MS in patients aged ≄76 years. Debulking and good performance status were associated with improved survival

    Geometallurgy of uranium deposits

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    Mineralogical controls exert significant control over the extraction of uranium from its ores. Uranium speciation, associated mineralogy, deportment and uranium mineral availability are all factors for consideration when assessing leachability. This study presents data from laboratory uranium extractions undertaken on several contrasting uranium ores from a wide range of orebodies. The results provide insight into the mineralogical factors of importance when considering uranium extraction. These results are presented within the wider context of geometallurgy and demonstrate how geometallurgical assessment, even at an early stage of mine development, can greatly assist in the design of a suitable extraction scheme

    Women Scholars, Integration, and the Marianist Tradition: Learning From Our Culture and Ourselves

    No full text
    In the fall of 1997, a group of junior tenure-track women faculty in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Dayton decided to meet regularly in order to support each others’ scholarly endeavors in the process of achieving promotion and tenure. The group of subsequently became known as the Writing ”“Writers’ Support Group (WWSG). In 2000, the group conducted a self-study of its group process to determine how the formation of women’s WWSG fit with the mission and characteristics of a Marianist university. The results suggest that, although each of the characteristics could be identified in the group processes, the group best identified with the Marianist mandate to educate in family spirit. Each member of the group considered the possible reasons for this outcome
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