580 research outputs found
Breaking the Cycle of History: The Inherent Benefits of Improving U.S. Relations with Cuba
Professional paper for the fulfillment of the Master of Public Policy degree.In January of 2016, my airplane touched-down at Jose Marti International Airportâjust outside of Havana, Cuba. As I exited the aircraft and walked across the tarmac, I was struck with the realization that I had entered an environment of which I had no understanding. Throughout my six days on the island, through my interactions with artists, academics and everyday Cubans, this sentiment was reinforced and amplified. I was captivated. I had never been to a place that so stimulated and challenged my perceptions of the world. Of course, as a citizen of the United States, a significant aspect of my experience revolved around Cubaâs relationship with my own country and the intimate history the two have shared over the years. It is a history full of complexity and contradiction, and I struggled to comprehend its many nuances
Revolutionary War Pension application- Parsons, Nathan (Bangor)
Pension application through the Hancock County Supreme Judicial Court for Nathan Parsons for service in the Revolutionary War.https://digitalmaine.com/revolutionary_war_hancock_county/1137/thumbnail.jp
Study of the thermodynamics of chromium(III) and chromium(VI) binding to iron(II/III)oxide or magnetite or ferrite and magnanese(II) iron (III) oxide or jacobsite or manganese ferrite nanoparticles
Removal of chromium(III) or (VI) from aqueous solution was achieved using Fe3O4, and MnFe2O4 nanomaterials. The nanomaterials were synthesized using a precipitation method and characterized using XRD. The size of the nanomaterials was determined to be 22.4±0.9 nm (Fe3O4) and 15.5±0.5 nm (MnFe2O4). The optimal binding pH for chromium(III) and chromium(VI) were pH 6 and pH 3. Isotherm studies were performed, under light and dark conditions, to determine the capacity of the nanomaterials. The capacities for the light studies with MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 were determined to be 7.189 and 10.63 mg/g, respectively, for chromium(III). The capacities for the light studies with MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 were 3.21 and 3.46 mg/g, respectively, for chromium(VI). Under dark reaction conditions the binding of chromium(III) to the MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 nanomaterials were 5.74 and 15.9 mg/g, respectively. The binding capacity for the binding of chromium(VI) to MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 under dark reaction conditions were 3.87 and 8.54 mg/g, respectively. The thermodynamics for the reactions showed negative ÎG values, and positive ÎH values. The ÎS values were positive for the binding of chromium(III) and for chromium(VI) binding under dark reaction conditions. The ÎS values for chromium(VI) binding under the light reaction conditions were determined to be negative
Assessing fatigue in adults with Axial Spondyloarthritis : a systematic review of the quality and acceptability of patient-reported outcome measures
Objective
Evaluate the quality and acceptability of patient-reported outcome measures used to assess fatigue in patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis.
Methods
A two-stage systematic review of major electronic databases (1980-2017) to: 1) Identify measures; and 2) Identify evaluative studies. Study and measurement quality was evaluated following international standards. Measurement content was appraised against a conceptual model of RA-fatigue.
Results
From 387 reviewed abstracts, 23 articles provided evidence for nine fatigue-specific measures: six multi-item and three single-item. No axSpA-fatigue specific measure was identified. Evidence of reliability was limited, but acceptable for the Multi-dimensional Fatigue Inventory (internal consistency, test-retest) and Short Form 36-item Health Survey Vitality subscale (SF-36 VT) (internal consistency). Evidence of construct validity was moderate for the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue and 10cm visual analogue scale, limited for the SF-36 VT, and not available for the remaining measures. Responsiveness was rarely evaluated. Evidence of measurement error, content validity or structural validity was not identified. Most measures provide a limited reflection of fatigue; the most comprehensive were the Multi-dimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF), MFI-20, FACIT-fatigue and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).
Conclusion
The limited content and often poor quality of the reviewed measures limits any clear recommendation for fatigue-assessment in this population; assessments should be applied with caution until further robust evidence is established. Well developed, patient-derived measures can provide essential evidence of the patientâs perspective to inform clinical research and drive tailored healthcare. The collaborative engagement of key stakeholders must seek to ensure that future fatigue assessment is relevant, acceptable and of high quality
Enabling scalable clinical interpretation of ML-based phenotypes using real world data
The availability of large and deep electronic healthcare records (EHR)
datasets has the potential to enable a better understanding of real-world
patient journeys, and to identify novel subgroups of patients. ML-based
aggregation of EHR data is mostly tool-driven, i.e., building on available or
newly developed methods. However, these methods, their input requirements, and,
importantly, resulting output are frequently difficult to interpret, especially
without in-depth data science or statistical training. This endangers the final
step of analysis where an actionable and clinically meaningful interpretation
is needed.This study investigates approaches to perform patient stratification
analysis at scale using large EHR datasets and multiple clustering methods for
clinical research. We have developed several tools to facilitate the clinical
evaluation and interpretation of unsupervised patient stratification results,
namely pattern screening, meta clustering, surrogate modeling, and curation.
These tools can be used at different stages within the analysis. As compared to
a standard analysis approach, we demonstrate the ability to condense results
and optimize analysis time. In the case of meta clustering, we demonstrate that
the number of patient clusters can be reduced from 72 to 3 in one example. In
another stratification result, by using surrogate models, we could quickly
identify that heart failure patients were stratified if blood sodium
measurements were available. As this is a routine measurement performed for all
patients with heart failure, this indicated a data bias. By using further
cohort and feature curation, these patients and other irrelevant features could
be removed to increase the clinical meaningfulness. These examples show the
effectiveness of the proposed methods and we hope to encourage further research
in this field.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figure
Natural recovery of genetic diversity by gene flow in reforested areas of the endemic Canary Island pine, Pinus canariensis
The endemic pine, Pinus canariensis, forms one of the main forest ecosystems
in the Canary Islands. In this archipelago, pine forest is a mosaic of natural
stands (remnants of past forest overexploitation) and artificial stands planted
from the 1940's. The genetic makeup of the artificially regenerated forest is
of some concern. The use of reproductive material with uncontrolled origin or
from a reduced number of parental trees may produce stands ill adapted to local
conditions or unable to adapt in response to environmental change. The genetic
diversity within a transect of reforested stands connecting two natural forest
fragments has been studied with nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites. Little
genetic differentiation and similar levels of genetic diversity to the
surrounding natural stands were found for nuclear markers. However, chloroplast
microsatellites presented lower haplotype diversity in reforested stands, and
this may be a consequence of the lower effective population size of the
chloroplast genome, meaning chloroplast markers have a higher sensitivity to
bottlenecks. Understory natural regeneration within the reforestation was also
analysed to study gene flow from natural forest into artificial stands.
Estimates of immigration rate into artificially regenerated forest were high
(0.68-0.75), producing a significant increase of genetic diversity (both in
chloroplast and nuclear microsatellites), which indicates the capacity for
genetic recovery for P. canariensis reforestations surrounded by larger natural
stands
A Master equation approach to modeling an artificial protein motor
Linear bio-molecular motors move unidirectionally along a track by
coordinating several different processes, such as fuel (ATP) capture,
hydrolysis, conformational changes, binding and unbinding from a track, and
center-of-mass diffusion. A better understanding of the interdependencies
between these processes, which take place over a wide range of different time
scales, would help elucidate the general operational principles of molecular
motors. Artificial molecular motors present a unique opportunity for such a
study because motor structure and function are a priori known. Here we describe
use of a Master equation approach, integrated with input from Langevin and
molecular dynamics modeling, to stochastically model a molecular motor across
many time scales. We apply this approach to a specific concept for an
artificial protein motor, the Tumbleweed.Comment: Submitted to Chemical Physics; 9 pages, 7 figure
Comparative evaluation of enteric bacterial culture and a molecular multiplex syndromic panel in children with acute gastroenteritis
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In-situ uniaxial drawing of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA): Following the crystalline morphology development using time-resolved SAXS/WAXS
Simultaneous synchrotron small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) was used to follow the crystalline morphology evolution of poly-L- lactic acid (PLLA) during uniaxial deformation at various draw temperatures (Td). The mechanical behaviour of PLLA, was found to be strongly dependent on Td. 2D SAXS/WAXS data taken during the draw showed that at low Tds cavitation and voiding occurred and the initial crystallites underwent âoverdrawingâ where they slip and are partially destroyed. SEM confirmed that surface voiding and cavitation had occurred at Td = 60 and 65 °C but was absent at higher Tds. During the draw, no long-range macromolecular lamellar structure was seen in the SAXS, but small crystallites of the disordered αâČ crystal form of PLLA were observed in the WAXS at all Tds. The PLLA samples were then step annealed in a second processing stage (post-draw) to develop the oriented crystalline lamellar structure and increase the amount of the stable α crystalline form. SAXS/WAXS data showed that a highly oriented lamellar stack macrostructure developed on annealing, with increased crystallite size and crystallinity at all Tds. Furthermore, step annealing drove the crystalline transition in all samples from the disordered αâČ crystal form to the stable α crystal form. Therefore, varying pre- and post-processing parameters can significantly influence the mechanical properties, orientation, crystalline morphology and crystal phase transition of the final PLLA material
Depleted by Debt: âGreenâ Microfinance, Over-Indebtedness, and Social Reproduction in Climate-Vulnerable Cambodia
The operations of microfinance are exalted in mainstream development thinking as a key means of supporting smallholder farmers facing growing crises of agricultural productivity in the context of daily, ongoing, and often slow-onset climate disasters. Microfinance products and services are claimed to enhance coping and adaptative capacity by facilitating both risk recovery and reduction. Challenging the status quo, this paper brings together original and mixed-method data collected between 2020 and 2022 in Cambodia to critically examine the âgreen financeâ agenda by highlighting the ways in which microfinance contributes to reproducing and exacerbating climate precarity and harm for many. We evidence how credit-taking can lead to more dangerous and individualised efforts to cope with, and adapt to, existing conditions at home, often at the cost of emotional and bodily depletion. By doing so, we contribute to answering calls for connecting literatures and thinking on social reproduction, depletion, and climate change adaptation
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