Status Passage of the Science Fiction Fan: Becoming a Member of the Science Fiction Fan Subculture

In the 1930\u27s a middle class subculture developed around the popular culture genre literature known as science fiction. This subculture calls itself Fandom (Sanders, 1994; Bloch, 1962). I have chosen to investigate the status passage of the science fiction fan (Glaser and Strauss, 1971); or to phrase this as a question: What is the process of becoming a member of the subculture of science fiction fandom? Throughout this monograph, I refer to the members of the science fiction fan subculture as SF Fandom to distinguish them from other “fandoms” that have grown and branched off from the original group. In examining the status passage of the science fiction fan (Glaser and Strauss, 1971; Hart, 1976), I used a phenomenological theoretical perspective and qualitative analytical methods to work from concepts to theory formation. Two methods were used to collect data on rhe status passage of the subcult are member of science fiction fandom: examination of ethnographies and biographies of subculture participants; and in-depth interviews with subculture participants analyzed using qualitative analysis methods. Participant observation enabled me to make contact with other subculture participants ani identify potential interview subjects. The process of discovering and becoming part of the science fiction fan subculture is detailed as a status passage as defined by Glaser and Strauss (1971). This study contributes to the body of knowledge about subculture participation and the status passage of becoming a subculture member. It provides a basis for further sociological research inquiries into the formation of avocational subcultures and subculture participation as a status passage

T-cell derived acetylcholine aids host defenses during enteric bacterial infection with Citrobacter rodentium.

The regulation of mucosal immune function is critical to host protection from enteric pathogens but is incompletely understood. The nervous system and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine play an integral part in host defense against enteric bacterial pathogens. Here we report that acetylcholine producing-T-cells, as a non-neuronal source of ACh, were recruited to the colon during infection with the mouse pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. These ChAT+ T-cells did not exclusively belong to one Th subset and were able to produce IFNγ, IL-17A and IL-22. To interrogate the possible protective effect of acetylcholine released from these cells during enteric infection, T-cells were rendered deficient in their ability to produce acetylcholine through a conditional gene knockout approach. Significantly increased C. rodentium burden was observed in the colon from conditional KO (cKO) compared to WT mice at 10 days post-infection. This increased bacterial burden in cKO mice was associated with increased expression of the cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα, but without significant changes in T-cell and ILC associated IL-17A, IL-22, and IFNγ, or epithelial expression of antimicrobial peptides, compared to WT mice. Despite the increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines during C. rodentium infection, inducible nitric oxide synthase (Nos2) expression was significantly reduced in intestinal epithelial cells of ChAT T-cell cKO mice 10 days post-infection. Additionally, a cholinergic agonist enhanced IFNγ-induced Nos2 expression in intestinal epithelial cell in vitro. These findings demonstrated that acetylcholine, produced by specialized T-cells that are recruited during C. rodentium infection, are a key mediator in host-microbe interactions and mucosal defenses

The Potential Trajectory of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, an Emerging Threat to Health-Care Facilities, and the Impact of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Toolkit.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a group of pathogens resistant to most antibiotics and associated with high mortality, are a rising emerging public health threat. Current approaches to infection control and prevention have not been adequate to prevent spread. An important but unproven approach is to have hospitals in a region coordinate surveillance and infection control measures. Using our Regional Healthcare Ecosystem Analyst (RHEA) simulation model and detailed Orange County, California, patient-level data on adult inpatient hospital and nursing home admissions (2011-2012), we simulated the spread of CRE throughout Orange County health-care facilities under 3 scenarios: no specific control measures, facility-level infection control efforts (uncoordinated control measures), and a coordinated regional effort. Aggressive uncoordinated and coordinated approaches were highly similar, averting 2,976 and 2,789 CRE transmission events, respectively (72.2% and 77.0% of transmission events), by year 5. With moderate control measures, coordinated regional control resulted in 21.3% more averted cases (n = 408) than did uncoordinated control at year 5. Our model suggests that without increased infection control approaches, CRE would become endemic in nearly all Orange County health-care facilities within 10 years. While implementing the interventions in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's CRE toolkit would not completely stop the spread of CRE, it would cut its spread substantially, by half

Acceleration of the Meckel Syndrome by Near-Infrared Light Therapy

www.karger.com/nne This is an Open Access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License (www.karger.com/OA-license), applicable to the online version of the article only. Distribution for non-commercial purposes only

Recycling bins, garbage cans or think tanks? Three myths regarding policy analysis institutes

The phrase 'think tank' has become ubiquitous – overworked and underspecified – in the political lexicon. It is entrenched in scholarly discussions of public policy as well as in the 'policy wonk' of journalists, lobbyists and spin-doctors. This does not mean that there is an agreed definition of think tank or consensual understanding of their roles and functions. Nevertheless, the majority of organizations with this label undertake policy research of some kind. The idea of think tanks as a research communication 'bridge' presupposes that there are discernible boundaries between (social) science and policy. This paper will investigate some of these boundaries. The frontiers are not only organizational and legal; they also exist in how the 'public interest' is conceived by these bodies and their financiers. Moreover, the social interactions and exchanges involved in 'bridging', themselves muddy the conception of 'boundary', allowing for analysis to go beyond the dualism imposed in seeing science on one side of the bridge, and the state on the other, to address the complex relations between experts and public policy

Impact of chronic Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) on health-related quality of life: a conceptual model starting with the patient perspective

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a condition characterized by autoimmune-mediated platelet destruction and suboptimal platelet production, is associated with symptoms such as bruising, epistaxis, menorrhagia, mucosal bleeding from the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts and, rarely central nervous system bleeding. The aim of this research is to develop a conceptual model to describe the impact of ITP and its treatment on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A literature search and focus groups with adult ITP patients were conducted to identify areas of HRQoL affected by ITP. Published literature was reviewed to identify key HRQoL issues and existing questionnaires used to assess HRQoL. Focus group transcripts were reviewed, and common themes were extracted by grouping conceptual categories that described the impact on HRQoL.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The literature synthesis and themes from the focus group data suggest that decreased platelet counts, disease symptoms, and treatment side effects influence multiple domains of HRQoL for ITP patients. Key areas affected by ITP and its treatments include emotional and functional health, work life, social and leisure activities, and reproductive health.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ITP affects various areas of HRQoL. This conceptual model will help inform the evaluation of therapeutic strategies for ITP.</p

Aligning Practice to Policies: Changing the Culture to Recognize and Reward Teaching at Research Universities

Recent calls for improvement in undergraduate education within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines are hampered by the methods used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Faculty members at research universities are commonly assessed and promoted mainly on the basis of research success. To improve the quality of undergraduate teaching across all disciplines, not only STEM fields, requires creating an environment wherein continuous improvement of teaching is valued, assessed, and rewarded at various stages of a faculty member’s career. This requires consistent application of policies that reflect well-established best practices for evaluating teaching at the department, college, and university levels. Evidence shows most teaching evaluation practices do not reflect stated policies, even when the policies specifically espouse teaching as a value. Thus, alignment of practice to policy is a major barrier to establishing a culture in which teaching is valued. Situated in the context of current national efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education, including the Association of American Universities Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative, this essay discusses four guiding principles for aligning practice with stated priorities in formal policies: 1) enhancing the role of deans and chairs; 2) effectively using the hiring process; 3) improving communication; and 4) improving the understanding of teaching as a scholarly activity. In addition, three specific examples of efforts to improve the practice of evaluating teaching are presented as examples: 1) Three Bucket Model of merit review at the University of California, Irvine; (2) Evaluation of Teaching Rubric, University of Kansas; and (3) Teaching Quality Framework, University of Colorado, Boulder. These examples provide flexible criteria to holistically evaluate and improve the quality of teaching across the diverse institutions comprising modern higher education

The Chandra Source Catalog

The Chandra Source Catalog (CSC) is a general purpose virtual X-ray astrophysics facility that provides access to a carefully selected set of generally useful quantities for individual X-ray sources, and is designed to satisfy the needs of a broad-based group of scientists, including those who may be less familiar with astronomical data analysis in the X-ray regime. The first release of the CSC includes information about 94,676 distinct X-ray sources detected in a subset of public ACIS imaging observations from roughly the first eight years of the Chandra mission. This release of the catalog includes point and compact sources with observed spatial extents <~ 30''. The catalog (1) provides access to the best estimates of the X-ray source properties for detected sources, with good scientific fidelity, and directly supports scientific analysis using the individual source data; (2) facilitates analysis of a wide range of statistical properties for classes of X-ray sources; and (3) provides efficient access to calibrated observational data and ancillary data products for individual X-ray sources, so that users can perform detailed further analysis using existing tools. The catalog includes real X-ray sources detected with flux estimates that are at least 3 times their estimated 1 sigma uncertainties in at least one energy band, while maintaining the number of spurious sources at a level of <~ 1 false source per field for a 100 ks observation. For each detected source, the CSC provides commonly tabulated quantities, including source position, extent, multi-band fluxes, hardness ratios, and variability statistics, derived from the observations in which the source is detected. In addition to these traditional catalog elements, for each X-ray source the CSC includes an extensive set of file-based data products that can be manipulated interactively.Comment: To appear in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 53 pages, 27 figure

Memories from VII World Congress of Music Therapy, Vitoria Gasteiz, 1993

Some of the participants share their memories and photos from the VII World Congress of Music Therapy, held in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain in 1993