Taking Root: The Route of the Broadcast Journalism Curriculum at the Missouri School of Journalism

When broadcasting emerged as a new field, it ushered in a period of exploration for industry professionals as well as journalism educators. Such was the backdrop for the Missouri School of Journalism in the 1930s when journalism educators sought to incorporate broadcast journalism into the print curriculum. The proponents of the project faced a tough journey. To legitimize education for radio and then television, they needed the expertise of the industry and the approval of the university, both of which had different goals. This study examines the role that educators at Missouri assumed in persuading these two larger institutions of the creation and development of a broadcast journalism curriculum, from 1936 to 1971. Findings are evaluated using the theory of sociological institutionalism. Theoretical significance is enriched by the introduction of the parabolic model to explain how the broadcast journalism educators presented their case for the incorporation of a new medium and why their rhetoric worked

Three Essays on Offshore Outsourcing and Labor Markets.

The practice of international trade has evolved from the purchase of final goods of foreign origin to production sharing, now commonly referred to as offshore outsourcing. Due to the nature of direct replacement of domestic tasks with foreign ones, the discussions about offshore outsourcing tend to be built around the resulting job losses. However, there are not many empirical studies on this subject due to data limitations. In this dissertation, I investigate the labor market implications of offshore outsourcing. In the first two essays, I use structural models to analyze the size of employment changes - job creation as well as job destruction. The third essay takes a closer look at the readjustment process of individual workers in the new era of globalization. In the first essay, I assume firm heterogeneity in productivity to allow firms to respond to the feasibility of offshore outsourcing. Two developed (northern) countries compete. The theoretical analysis shows that the most productive firms outsource while the least productive firms exit (the Cleansing Effect) and that the aggregate employment effect is negative. The numerical analysis, however, shows that the negativity of the aggregate effect is caused by the cleansing effect, and that the employment responses of outsourcers are ambiguous. In the second essay, firms are homogeneous and face competition from firms in developing (southern) countries. The analysis compares the competitiveness of northern firms in the world market with and without offshore outsourcing. The results show that employment in the north is generally larger with outsourcing due to improved price competitiveness of their firms which generates larger sales despite its job destruction. Finally, the third essay looks into the US Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program which provides retraining services to workers who are displaced due to import competition. I investigate how successful completion of occupational skills training – measured as a match between occupations of training and reemployment - improves the customers’ post-participation performance. The empirical analysis shows that receipt of training services alone does not guarantee superior post-participation performance; however, successful training – a match – significantly improves the trainees’ earnings and wage replacement rates.Ph.D.EconomicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64792/1/ejpark_1.pd

Spontaneous corneal melting during pregnancy: a case report

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract Introduction Biomechanical changes in the cornea during pregnancy might lead to pathological conditions such as corneal perforation or melting. Case presentation A 33-year-old Asian female who underwent penetrating keratoplasty in both eyes developed corneal melting in the right eye and marginal keratitis in the left eye in her fifth month of pregnancy. Marginal keratitis in the left eye immediately subsided with topical steroid therapy. However, spontaneous corneal melting progressed in the right eye, despite oral steroid therapy and amniotic membrane transplantation. We performed tectonic penetrating keratoplasty and corneoscleral grafting in the right eye. Conclusion We advise caution in the ophthalmologic care of pregnant patients who have preexisting corneal thinning disorders or who have undergone multiple corneal surgeries, because physiologic changes during pregnancy might contribute to corneal changes leading to spontaneous melting especially in patients with compromised cornea

A quantitative real time PCR method to analyze T cell receptor Vβ subgroup expansion by staphylococcal superantigens

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs), SE-like (SEl) toxins, and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), produced by <it>Staphylococcus aureus</it>, belong to the subgroup of microbial superantigens (SAgs). SAgs induce clonal proliferation of T cells bearing specific variable regions of the T cell receptor β chain (Vβ). Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) has become widely accepted for rapid and reproducible mRNA quantification. Although the quantification of Vβ subgroups using qRT-PCR has been reported, qRT-PCR using both primers annealing to selected Vβ nucleotide sequences and SYBR Green I reporter has not been applied to assess Vβ-dependent expansion of T cells by SAgs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with various SAgs or a monoclonal antibody specific to human CD3. Highly specific expansion of Vβ subgroups was assessed by qRT-PCR using SYBR Green I reporter and primers corresponding to selected Vβ nucleotide sequences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>qRT-PCR specificities were confirmed by sequencing amplified PCR products and melting curve analysis. To assess qRT-PCR efficiencies, standard curves were generated for each primer set. The average slope and R²of standard curves were -3.3764 ± 0.0245 and 0.99856 ± 0.000478, respectively, demonstrating that the qRT-PCR established in this study is highly efficient. With some exceptions, SAg Vβ specificities observed in this study were similar to those reported in previous studies.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The qRT-PCR method established in this study produced an accurate and reproducible assessment of Vβ-dependent expansion of human T cells by staphylococcal SAgs. This method could be a useful tool in the characterization T cell proliferation by newly discovered SAg and in the investigation of biological effects of SAgs linked to pathogenesis.</p

Development of a Conjunctivitis Outpatient Rate Prediction Model Incorporating Ambient Ozone and Meteorological Factors in South Korea

Ozone (O3) is a commonly known air pollutant that causes adverse health effects. This study developed a multi-level prediction model for conjunctivitis in outpatients due to exposure to O3 by using 3 years of ambient O3 data, meteorological data, and hospital data in Seoul, South Korea. We confirmed that the rate of conjunctivitis in outpatients (conjunctivitis outpatient rate) was highly correlated with O3 (R2 = 0.49), temperature (R2 = 0.72), and relative humidity (R2 = 0.29). A multi-level regression model for the conjunctivitis outpatient rate was well-developed, on the basis of sex and age, by adding statistical factors. This model will contribute to the prediction of conjunctivitis outpatient rate for each sex and age, using O3 and meteorological data

Diagnostic Value of Galectin-3, HBME-1, Cytokeratin 19, High Molecular Weight Cytokeratin, Cyclin D1 and p27kip1 in the Differential Diagnosis of Thyroid Nodules

The distinction between benign and malignant thyroid tumors is critical for the management of patients with thyroid nodules. We applied immunohistochemical staining for galectin-3, HBME-1, cytokeratin 19 (CK19), high molecular weight cytokeratin (HMWCK), cyclin D1 and p27kip1 in 295 thyroid lesions to determine their diagnostic accuracy. The expression of all markers was significantly associated with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC).The sensitivity for the diagnosis of DTC was 94.7% with galectin-3, 91.3% with HBME-1, and 90.3% with CK19. The specificities of these markers were 95.5%, 69.7%, and 83.1%, respectively. Combining these markers, co-expression of galectin-3 and CK19 or galectin-3 and HBME-1 was seen in 93.2% of carcinomas but in none of the benign nodules. Comparing follicular variant of papillary carcinoma (FVPC) with follicular carcinoma (FC), the expression of galectin-3, CK19, and HMWCK was significantly higher in FVPC. When comparing FC with FA, the expression of galectin-3 and HBME-1 was significantly higher in FC. These results suggest that 1) galectin-3 is a useful marker in the distinction between benign and malignant thyroid tumors, 2) the combined use of HBME-1 and CK19 can increase the diagnostic accuracy, and 3) the use of CK19 and HMWCK can aid in the differential diagnosis between PC and FC

Optical Coherence Tomographic Finding in a Case of Macular Coloboma

PURPOSE: To report the optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings in a patient with unilateral macular coloboma. METHODS: A 12-year-old male was presented with macular coloboma in the left eye. The optical coherence tomography was performed with fluorescein angiography (FA). RESULTS: The OCT revealed the crater-like depression in the macula, demonstrating atrophic neurosensory retina, and an absence of retinal pigment epithelium and choroid in the lesion. FA showed hypofluorescence corresponding to the size of the lesion in both early and late frames without leakage of dye at any stage. CONCLUSIONS: The OCT can be beneficial to confirm the diagnosis of macular coloboma