The Effects Of Social And Economic Influences On Negro High School Attendance In Navasota 1945-1950

Statement of the Problem In the swirl of social change which threatens at the present to engulf mankind, education must strive with double diligence to keep both its balance and its sense of direction. 1 Recently the Navasota public schools have striven to break away from the traditional plan of requirements for graduation based altogether upon the college entrance demands, and have offered a general or non-college course for graduation to prepare those students who are not going to college for doing better work in the field they choose. The curriculum committee has made many gestures toward offering other courses along specific lines of study that lead to a certificate of graduation or to a high school diploma. Researchers have advanced the idea that when persons delve into the study of social and economic influences on individuals they emerge with the feeling that there have been very definite epochs in the evolution of the communities. The effects of social and economic influences on Negro high school students deserve extensive investigation. As an outgrowth of the school program, the writer chose to study the effects of social and economic influences on Negro high school students in Navasota from 19^5 - 1950 and to determine, if possible, the extent to which failures and withdrawals can be traced to economic factors. The investigation is further designed to compare the records of graduates and non-graduates from various socio-economic levels and to ascertain what influences if any, the community exerts upon these individuals

Research into the practical and policy applications of soundscape concepts and techniques in urban areas

Executive Summary 1 The aim of this review was to investigate existing research into soundscape concepts and to produce recommendations for future research into the practical identification, management and enhancement of soundscapes in urban areas. 2 Existing research on soundscapes was investigated using four methods: i. a survey of more than 500 papers in the academic literature, ii. an analysis of 27 case studies of soundscape assessment, iii. an analysis of 15 case studies of soundscape design, and iv. interviews with five key soundscape experts. Analysis of this data was conducted to identify significant gaps in the knowledge base and suggest a way of obtaining a practical soundscape assessment method. 3 Soundscapes were found to be a highly multi-disciplinary topic, with many different ideas, concepts, aims and methods evident in the literature. The definition of the term soundscape is itself not settled; for the purposes of this project, we have defined it as “the totality of all sounds within a location with an emphasis on the relationship between individual’s or society’s perception of, understanding of and interaction with the sonic environment.” 4 This review highlights that a range of methodological approaches have been used to establish classifications and categorisations of sounds and soundscapes. The relationship between different categories of sounds and their interaction needs to be considered to increase the understanding of soundscape assessments and to derive soundscape classifications. 5 The different methods and tools used to assess soundscapes, in a variety of locations, each have advantages and disadvantages; using a number of methods in one case study can help to mitigate against the disadvantages of any one method. The case studies assessed in this report demonstrate the importance of individual and demographic similarities/differences, people’s behaviour, physical aspects of the soundscape, other sensory and environmental elements, and the general location and context, in understanding and assessing soundscapes. 6 Soundscape assessments involving a subjective component have highlighted a number of variables that play a part in the assessment. These include the individual’s knowledge and prior experience of the soundscape, the meaning they derive from it, their attitude towards the sound source, their behaviour, their noise sensitivity, demographic and cultural dimensions, and their sense of control over the noise. 7 Research has shown that sometimes a soundscape is perceived as a collection of the individual sounds of which it is comprised; soundscape assessments are therefore related to the assessment of those sound types. This implies that soundscape assessment relies upon the identification of the sounds, the prominence of the sounds, and potentially the ratio of certain sound types to other sound types within the soundscape. It is also highlighted that, because the soundscape varies over time, note must be taken of the fact that any soundscape assessment relates to a singular moment in time. Furthermore, research has shown that soundscape assessments can be dependent on an individual’s memory (when using subjective assessments methods) and/or the segment of the soundscape that was recorded (when playing back recorded soundscapes in a laboratory situation). 8 Multi-sensory experience is also shown to be highly relevant to soundscape assessment and must therefore be acknowledged as soundscapes are not perceived in sensory isolation; in particular audio-visual interactions have been shown to have an effect on soundscape perception. Many researchers point to the importance of understanding the full environmental and social context for soundscape assessment, the relevance of comparing similar place types, and the effect of moving between one soundscape and another on an assessment. 9 Turning to the subject of soundscape design, it is noted that there is a dearth of case studies involving the modification and design of soundscapes, both in the UK and internationally. The rationale behind many of the case studies’ focus upon or consideration of sound was the improvement of a soundscape that was negatively affected by the sound of traffic. Approaches to soundscape design varied, ranging from the use of noise control elements, such as barriers and absorbers, to the utilisation or exploitation of natural elements that already exist in the location. Some case studies introduced sounds to the soundscape, in particular water sounds, while others incorporated specific sonic art installations to alter the soundscape or detract attention from existing features of the soundscape. A number of case studies used design alterations to improve the soundscape and perception of the soundscape including altering visual aspects of the place, altering the layout of the area, pedestrianisation of the area, and providing entertainment facilities (e.g. cafes). 10 Case studies whereby design modifications or interventions have taken place, have had little or no formal evaluation of their success. The studies that were evaluated used a number of different methods involving both objective and subjective measures and included the experimental comparison of subjective ratings, observations of people’s behaviour, recognition and awards for good designs, and level of complaints about the soundscape. This demonstrates that different evaluation tools may be necessary dependent upon the type of soundscape intervention being evaluated. Additionally, by combining methods to produce an interdisciplinary evaluation, a more accurate understanding of the success of the soundscape design is possible, hence improving future interventions. 11 The relationship between environment and individual is complex, with many factors, some of which cannot currently be quantified. Important factors include: prominent individual sound sources, the interaction of sources, other sensory stimuli and contextual and individual factors such as meaning, and expectation. Some of these factors can be captured by subjective rating scales for high-level concepts like ‘calmness’, ‘vibrancy’ and ‘spaciousness’. Other factors, such as the semantic meaning of a soundscape are best characterised currently by qualitative descriptors. There are good prospects for developing objective acoustic metrics to evaluate some factors but in most cases this work is still at an early stage, and the methods developed so far have only been applied in specific contexts; to provide metrics that are more broadly applicable they would need to be evaluated in a broader range of locations and conditions. The expert interviews and case studies illustrated the diversity of views across different disciplines on the most promising soundscape methods. All the interviewees agreed on the need for an interdisciplinary approach, and on the need to retain some form of subjective rating when assessing soundscapes. 12 Ultimately, six important gaps have been identified in the soundscape knowledge base. These are areas where more research would significantly improve understanding soundscape assessments. These gaps have been identified as: i. a lack of genuinely interdisciplinary projects (characterised by a shared perspective) instead of multidisciplinary projects (where researchers work in parallel within their own disciplines). These are needed to deal with the multidimensional experience of soundscape perception. ii. a lack of basic knowledge on many aspects of soundscape cognition, perception and classification. iii.a need for large-scale robust field trials of soundscape assessment methods instead of the more common experiment of a new method in a single location. iv. a need to develop more soundscape-specific indicators and tools that could eventually be used for soundscape design. v. a need to rigorously assess deliberate soundscape interventions to understand which design aspects work and which do not. vi. a lack of a close connection between soundscape research, design and planning practice. 13 Finally, a new research project is proposed to develop a robust field assessment method. The aim of this project is to develop a method based on existing research methods but introducing greater confidence by trialling the method across many real urban soundscapes. Options are presented for developing a purely qualitative assessment tool or one that incorporates and integrates both qualitative and quantitative ratings. 14 We recommend that a first step for an assessment method, which could realistically be developed in the near future, should be based on qualitative methods. A second iteration of this soundscape assessment tool could supplement the qualitative techniques with quantitative methods, first based on subjective rating scales and eventually on objective metrics which predict the subjective ratings

A risk prediction model for the assessment and triage of women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in low-resourced settings: the miniPIERS (Pre-eclampsia Integrated Estimate of RiSk) multi-country prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia are leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). We developed the miniPIERS risk prediction model to provide a simple, evidence-based tool to identify pregnant women in LMICs at increased risk of death or major hypertensive-related complications. METHODS AND FINDINGS: From 1 July 2008 to 31 March 2012, in five LMICs, data were collected prospectively on 2,081 women with any hypertensive disorder of pregnancy admitted to a participating centre. Candidate predictors collected within 24 hours of admission were entered into a step-wise backward elimination logistic regression model to predict a composite adverse maternal outcome within 48 hours of admission. Model internal validation was accomplished by bootstrapping and external validation was completed using data from 1,300 women in the Pre-eclampsia Integrated Estimate of RiSk (fullPIERS) dataset. Predictive performance was assessed for calibration, discrimination, and stratification capacity. The final miniPIERS model included: parity (nulliparous versus multiparous); gestational age on admission; headache/visual disturbances; chest pain/dyspnoea; vaginal bleeding with abdominal pain; systolic blood pressure; and dipstick proteinuria. The miniPIERS model was well-calibrated and had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC ROC) of 0.768 (95% CI 0.735-0.801) with an average optimism of 0.037. External validation AUC ROC was 0.713 (95% CI 0.658-0.768). A predicted probability ≥25% to define a positive test classified women with 85.5% accuracy. Limitations of this study include the composite outcome and the broad inclusion criteria of any hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. This broad approach was used to optimize model generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: The miniPIERS model shows reasonable ability to identify women at increased risk of adverse maternal outcomes associated with the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. It could be used in LMICs to identify women who would benefit most from interventions such as magnesium sulphate, antihypertensives, or transportation to a higher level of care

A Global Assessment of Gold, Titanium, Strontium and Barium Pollution Using Sperm Whales (Physeter Macrocephalus) As an Indicator Species

This study provides a global baseline for barium, gold, titanium and strontium as marine pollutants using the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) as an indicator species. Barium, gold, titanium and strontium are metals that are little studied in marine environments. However, their recent emergence as nanomaterials will likely increase their presence in the marine environment. Moreover, nanosized particles are likely to exhibit toxic outcomes not seen in macrosized particles. Biopsies from free ranging sperm whales were collected from around the globe. Total barium levels were measured in 275 of 298 sperm whales tested for barium and collected from 16 regions around the globe. The global mean for barium was 0.93 +/- 0.2ug/g with a detectable range from 0.1 to 27.9ug. Total strontium levels were measurable in all 298 sperm whales producing a global mean level of 2.2 +/- 0.1ug/g and a range from 0.2 to 11.5ug/g. Total titanium levels were also measured in all 298 sperm whales producing a global mean level of 4.5 +/- 0.25ug/g with a range from 0.1 to 29.8ug/g. Total gold levels were detected in 50 of the 194 sperm whales collected from 16 regions around the globe. Detectable levels ranged from 0.1 to 2.3ug/g tissue with a global mean level equal to 0.2 +/- 0.02ug/g. Previous reports of these metals were much lower than the mean levels reported here. The likely explanation is location differences and consistent with this explanation, we found statistically significant variation among regions. These data provide an important global baseline for barium, gold, titanium and strontium pollution and will allow for important comparisons to be made over time to assess the impact of nanomaterials on whales and the marine environment

Patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria demonstrate a prothrombotic clotting phenotype which is improved by complement inhibition with eculizumab

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare hematological disorder, characterized by complement‐mediated intravascular hemolysis and thrombosis. The increased incidence of PNH‐driven thrombosis is still poorly understood, but unlike other thrombotic disorders, is thought to largely occur through complement‐mediated mechanisms. Treatment with a C5 inhibitor, eculizumab, has been shown to significantly reduce the number of thromboembolic events in these patients. Based on previously described links between changes in fibrin clot structure and thrombosis in other disorders, our aim was to investigate clot structure as a possible mechanism of thrombosis in patients with PNH and the anti‐thrombotic effects of eculizumab treatment on clot structure. Clot structure, fibrinogen levels and thrombin generation were examined in plasma samples from 82 patients from the National PNH Service in Leeds, UK. Untreated PNH patients were found to have increased levels of fibrinogen and thrombin generation, with subsequent prothrombotic changes in clot structure. No link was found between increasing disease severity and fibrinogen levels, thrombin generation, clot formation or structure. However, eculizumab treated patients showed decreased fibrinogen levels, thrombin generation and clot density, with increasing time spent on treatment augmenting these antithrombotic effects. These data suggest that PNH patients have a prothrombotic clot phenotype due to increased fibrinogen levels and thrombin generation, and that the antithrombotic effects of eculizumab are, in‐part, due to reductions in fibrinogen and thrombin generation with downstream effects on clot structure

How many is enough? Determining optimal count totals for ecological and palaeoecological studies of testate amoebae

Testate amoebae are increasingly used in ecological and palaeoecological studies of wetlands. To characterise the amoeba community a certain number of individuals need to be counted under the microscope. To date, most studies have aimed for 150 individuals, but that sample size is not based on adequate evidence. When testate amoeba concentrations are low, it can be difficult or impossible to reach this total. The impacts of lower count totals have never been seriously scrutinised. We investigated the impact of count size on number of taxa identified, quantitative inferences of environmental variables and the strength of the links between amoebae and environmental data in the context of predicting depth to water table. Low counts were simulated by random selection of individuals from four existing datasets. Results show progressively diminishing returns by all criteria as count size increases from low numbers to counts of 150. A higher count is required to identify all taxa than to adequately characterise the community for transfer function inference. We suggest that in most cases, it will be a more efficient use of time to count a greater number of samples to a lower count. While a count of 50 individuals may be sufficient for some samples from some sites we recommend that counts of 100 individuals should be sufficient for most samples. Counts need only be increased to 150 or more where the aim is to identify relatively minor, but still potentially ecologically relevant community changes. This approach will help reduce lack of replication and low resolution, which are common limitations in testate amoeba-based palaeoecological and ecological studies

Induction of Tachykinin Production in Airway Epithelia in Response to Viral Infection

The tachykinins are implicated in neurogenic inflammation and the neuropeptide substance P in particular has been shown to be a proinflammatory mediator. A role for the tachykinins in host response to lung challenge has been previously demonstrated but has been focused predominantly on the release of the tachykinins from nerves innervating the lung. We have previously demonstrated the most dramatic phenotype described for the substance P encoding gene preprotachykinin-A (PPT-A) to date in controlling the host immune response to the murine gammaherpesvirus 68, in the lung.In this study we have utilised transgenic mice engineered to co-ordinately express the beta-galactosidase marker gene along with PPT-A to facilitate the tracking of PPT-A expression. Using a combination of these mice and conventional immunohistology we now demonstrate that PPT-A gene expression and substance P peptide are induced in cells of the respiratory tract including tracheal, bronchiolar and alveolar epithelial cells and macrophages after viral infection. This induction was observed 24h post infection, prior to observable inflammation and the expression of pro-inflammatory chemokines in this model. Induced expression of the PPT-A gene and peptide persisted in the lower respiratory tract through day 7 post infection.Non-neuronal PPT-A expression early after infection may have important clinical implications for the progression or management of lung disease or infection aside from the well characterised later involvement of the tachykinins during the inflammatory response

Consultant medical trainers, modernising medical careers (MMC) and the European time directive (EWTD): tensions and challenges in a changing medical education context

Background: We analysed the learning and professional development narratives of Hospital Consultants training junior staff ('Consultant Trainers') in order to identify impediments to successful postgraduate medical training in the UK, in the context of Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) and the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). Methods: Qualitative study. Learning and continuing professional development (CPD), were discussed in the context of Consultant Trainers' personal biographies, organisational culture and medical education practices. We conducted life story interviews with 20 Hospital Consultants in six NHS Trusts in Wales in 2005. Results: Consultant Trainers felt that new working patterns resulting from the EWTD and MMC have changed the nature of medical education. Loss of continuity of care, reduced clinical exposure of medical trainees and loss of the popular apprenticeship model were seen as detrimental for the quality of medical training and patient care. Consultant Trainers' perceptions of medical education were embedded in a traditional medical education culture, which expected long hours' availability, personal sacrifices and learning without formal educational support and supervision. Over-reliance on apprenticeship in combination with lack of organisational support for Consultant Trainers' new responsibilities, resulting from the introduction of MMC, and lack of interest in pursuing training in teaching, supervision and assessment represent potentially significant barriers to progress. Conclusion: This study identifies issues with significant implications for the implementation of MMC within the context of EWTD. Postgraduate Deaneries, NHS Trusts and the new body; NHS: Medical Education England should deal with the deficiencies of MMC and challenges of ETWD and aspire to excellence. Further research is needed to investigate the views and educational practices of Consultant Medical Trainers and medical trainees