A 50-State Survey of Bicycle Crash Reporting Policies

Bicycle crashes result in many injuries and deaths in the United States each year. Bicyclists represented 2.3 percent of the total traffic crash fatalities in 2013, despite the bicycle mode share being less than 1%. Bicycle crash fatality data is collected at the federal level through FARS. However, FARS relies on state-level data that is coded by state analysts. The Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) provides guidance to the states on which elements should be reported in a crash. However, the MMUCC is currently optional, and states are very inconsistent in their bicycle crash reporting policies. Better crash reporting policies would provide more accurate and consistent data on the public health impact of bicycle crashes. A 50-state survey of bicycle crash reporting laws using Westlaw Next was conducted. The survey revealed that very few states legislate bicycle crash reporting. Only six states currently have a statute relating to bicycle crash reporting and only four states have a regulation that requires bicycle crash reporting. Of the states with a statute or regulation, only six of them have at least one law that requires reporting that exceeds what is reported by FARS. To better understand the public health impact of bicycle crash reporting, all states should follow the MMUCC guidelines. A model law should be developed that requires reporting of crashes involving a bicyclist who is injured or killed and requires that reports include specific data in a consistent format. Laws should require reporting of specific precrash data so that infrastructure can be implemented which better protects bicyclists. Each state should adopt the model law or a similar version of it. Because law is not always one-hundred percent enforced, bicycle advocacy groups and public health departments and organizations should provide education on the importance of bicycle crash reporting

The Concept of Photozymes: Short Peptides with Photoredox Catalytic Activity for Nucleophilic Additions to α-Phenyl Styrenes

Conventional photoredox catalytic additions of alcohols to olefins require additives, like thiophenol, to promote back electron transfer. The concept of “photozymes” assumes that forward and backward electron transfer steps in a photoredox catalytic cycle are controllable by substrate binding to photocatalytically active peptides. Accordingly, we synthesized a short tripeptide modified with 1,7-dicyano-perylene-3,4 : 9,10-tetracarboxylic acid bisimide as photoredox catalyst. This peptide undergoes an unconventional photoredox catalytic cycle with the radical anion and dianion of the perylene bisimide-peptide as intermediates. The photoredox catalytic reactions with α-phenyl styrenes as substrates require remarkably low catalyst loadings (0.5 mol%) and give the methoxylation products in high yields. The concept of “photozymes” for photoredox catalysis has significant potential for other photocatalytic reactions, in particular with respect to enantioselective photocatalysis

Genetic Fusions of a CFA/I/II/IV MEFA (Multiepitope Fusion Antigen) and a Toxoid Fusion of Heat-Stable Toxin (STa) and Heat-Labile Toxin (LT) of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Retain Broad Anti-CFA and Antitoxin Antigenicity

Citation: Ruan, X. S., Sack, D. A., & Zhang, W. P. (2015). Genetic Fusions of a CFA/I/II/IV MEFA (Multiepitope Fusion Antigen) and a Toxoid Fusion of Heat-Stable Toxin (STa) and Heat-Labile Toxin (LT) of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Retain Broad Anti-CFA and Antitoxin Antigenicity. Plos One, 10(3), 20. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0121623Immunological heterogeneity has long been the major challenge in developing broadly effective vaccines to protect humans and animals against bacterial and viral infections. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains, the leading bacterial cause of diarrhea in humans, express at least 23 immunologically different colonization factor antigens (CFAs) and two distinct enterotoxins [heat-labile toxin (LT) and heat-stable toxin type Ib (STa or hSTa)]. ETEC strains expressing any one or two CFAs and either toxin cause diarrhea, therefore vaccines inducing broad immunity against a majority of CFAs, if not all, and both toxins are expected to be effective against ETEC. In this study, we applied the multiepitope fusion antigen (MEFA) strategy to construct ETEC antigens and examined antigens for broad anti-CFA and antitoxin immunogenicity. CFA MEFA CFA/I/II/IV [CVI 2014, 21(2): 2439], which carried epitopes of seven CFAs [CFA/I, CFA/II (CS1, CS2, CS3), CFA/IV (CS4, CS5, CS6)] expressed by the most prevalent and virulent ETEC strains, was genetically fused to LT-STa toxoid fusion monomer 3xSTa(A14Q)-dmLT or 3xSTa(N12S)-dmLT [IAI 2014, 82(5): 1823-32] for CFA/I/II/IV-STaA14Q-dmLT and CFA/I/II/IV-STaN12S-dmLT MEFAs. Mice intraperitoneally immunized with either CFA/I/II/IV-STa-(toxoid)-dmLT MEFA developed antibodies specific to seven CFAs and both toxins, at levels equivalent or comparable to those induced from co-administration of the CFA/I/II/IV MEFA and toxoid fusion 3xSTaN12S-dmLT. Moreover, induced antibodies showed in vitro adherence inhibition activities against ETEC or E. coli strains expressing these seven CFAs and neutralization activities against both toxins. These results indicated CFA/I/II/IV-STa-(toxoid)-dmLT MEFA or CFA/I/II/IV MEFA combined with 3xSTa(N12S)-dmLT induced broadly protective anti-CFA and antitoxin immunity, suggested their potential application in broadly effective ETEC vaccine development. This MEFA strategy may be generally used in multivalent vaccine development

Crystallization and melting of bacteria colonies and Brownian Bugs

Motivated by the existence of remarkably ordered cluster arrays of bacteria colonies growing in Petri dishes and related problems, we study the spontaneous emergence of clustering and patterns in a simple nonequilibrium system: the individual-based interacting Brownian bug model. We map this discrete model into a continuous Langevin equation which is the starting point for our extensive numerical analyses. For the two-dimensional case we report on the spontaneous generation of localized clusters of activity as well as a melting/freezing transition from a disordered or isotropic phase to an ordered one characterized by hexagonal patterns. We study in detail the analogies and differences with the well-established Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young theory of equilibrium melting, as well as with another competing theory. For that, we study translational and orientational correlations and perform a careful defect analysis. We find a non standard one-stage, defect-mediated, transition whose nature is only partially elucidated.Comment: 13 Figures. 14 pages. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Territorial Tactics: The Socio-spatial Significance of Private Policing Strategies in Cape Town

This paper analyses the policing strategies of private security companies operating in urban space. An existing literature has considered the variety of ways that territory becomes of fundamental importance in the work of public police forces. However, this paper examines territory in the context of private security companies. Drawing on empirical research in Cape Town, it examines how demarcated territories become key subjects in private policing. Private security companies are responsible for a relatively small section of the city, while in contrast the public police ultimately have to see city space as a whole. Hence, private policing strategy becomes one of displacement, especially of so-called undesirables yielding a patchworked public space associated with private enclaves of consumption. The conclusions signal the historical resonances and comparative implications of these political-legal-security dynamics. © 2013 Urban Studies Journal Limited

Children of prisoners: exploring the impact of families' reappraisal of the role and status of the imprisoned parent on children's coping strategies

Qualitative data from a larger study on the impact of parental imprisonment in four countries found that children of prisoners face fundamentally similar psychological and social challenges. The ways that children cope, however, are influenced by the interpretative frame adopted by the adults around them, and by how issues of parental imprisonment are talked about in their families. This article argues that families have to reappraise their view of the imprisoned parent and then decide on their policy for how to deal with this publicly. Their approach may be based on openness and honesty or may emphasise privacy and secrecy, or a combination of these. Children are likely to be influenced by their parents'/carers' views, although these may cause conflict for them. Where parents/carers retain a positive view of the imprisoned parent, children are likely to benefit; where parents/carers feel issues of shame and stigma acutely, this is likely to be transmitted to their children. This is important for social workers and practitioners involved in supporting prisoners' families and for parenting programmes

DEFAULT MODE NETWORK AND WORKING MEMORY NETWORK DURING AN FMRI WORKING MEMORY TASK: DIFFERENCES AND CORRELATIONS WITH BEHAVIORAL PERFORMANCE

INTRODUCTION Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that working memory load has marked effects on regional neural activation[1-5]. However, the mechanism through which working memory load modulates brain connectivity is still unclear. During a working memory task, two of the most involved networks are the default mode network (DMN) and the working memory network (WMN)[6-7]: the selective focus on these networks can be useful in better understanding the load effects. Spatial independent component analysis (ICA)[8] has becomes a reliable technique to investigate the networks involved during an fMRI task, as it extracts spatiotemporal patterns of neural activity maximizing spatial independence. A specific study, conducted with ICA, investigating on how the load and phase of a working memory task are related with the activation and response time, is nowadays lacking. The aim of this work is to use the time course of DMN and WMN, selected by means of ICA, for studying: a) how these networks are involved with the complexity of the task and the phase; b) how, in these networks, complexity and phase are correlated with reaction times. METHODS MR Data Acquisition and preprocessing Fifteen young adult healthy and right-handed were involved. The MR protocol consisted of one anatomical sequence 3D T1-weighted MP-RAGE (Voxel size: 1 x 1 x 1 mm) and three functional acquisitions of 15 minutes each performed with a T2*-weighted EPI sequence (TR/TE: 1500/30, In- plane resolution: 3.5x3.5 mm, Thickness: 3.5 mm, Nr of slices: 24, Field of view: 64 x 64 mm). All the images were collected with a Siemens Allegra 3T MR scanner (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) and a standard head coil. During the fMRI acquisition the subjects performed a delayed spatial working memory paradigm presented with three levels of difficulty. The memory set consisted of one, three or five circles presented randomly in different locations and to the subjects were asked to judge whether or not a given target stimulus had been part of a previous memory stimulus set. Every experiment consisted of 90 working memory trials, 30 per load, divided in three runs. Data were analyzed with Brain Voyager QX. 2.4 (Brain Innovation, Maastricht, The Netherlands). FMRI preprocessing included: 3D head-motion correction, slice-scan time correction, spatial smoothing, temporal high pass filter and linear trend removal. Anatomic 3D data set was inhomogeneities corrected, filtered and transformed into Talairach coordinates and coregistered with the functional information. Independent Component Analysis This analysis was conducted using Brainvoyager QX 2.4. ICA analysis was performed on each subject\u2019s three functional acquisitions. A subsequent total ICA group analysis[9-10] was achieved by an inter- subject ICA group analysis of all the intra-subject ICA group analysis. From the obtained maps were selected two Independent Components (ICs) containing the WMN[1,2]: WMN1 defined by SPL and Precuneus, and WMN2 with DLPFC and IPS (Fig. 1b-c). Also one IC describing the DMN was considered, with PCC, IPL and MPFC (Fig. 1a)[11]. For each run of all the subjects the ICs time course was considered: three time windows of 3TR (4.5s) for each working memory task phase (encode, maintenance and retrieval) were selected taking into account the haemodynamic response by delaying the window of 5 volumes events from the start of every trial. The window time course was corrected for a baseline value. Mean values of the ICs where examined and a subsequent correlation between the mean values and the response time in every trial was estimated. A 3x3 two-way ANOVA on Fisher transformed correlation was conducted to test the variation of loads (load1=less complex, load3=more complex), phases and runs. Figure 1: Networks selected from ICA analysis (transversal view): (a) DMN, (b) WMN1 (c) WMN2. RESULTS Figure 2 exhibits window mean activities and correlations divided for phase and load. DMN mean activity is negative while WMN1-2 mean activities have opposite behaviors regarding the phase, but similar concerning with the complexity (Fig. 2a-c). DMN shows a reduction of the correlation from encode to retrieval, instead of WM1-2 where it grows (Fig. 2d-f). The ANOVA showed significant variation for the phases over all the subjects in WMN1-2, an interaction of the variation of phases and runs in WMN2 and a interaction of phases, runs and loads in DMN. DISCUSSION These findings suggest that working memory networks (WMNs), as isolated by means of IC A, display substantially opposed mean values related to a different areas specialization. WMN1 seems to be more involved in the first part of the mnemonic phase and the amount of this involvement is associated to the trial: the more complicated the task, the higher the activation with respect to baseline. On the other hand, WMN2 increases from the first to the last part of the trial and is probably more involved in the operation of retrieval. In Figure 2e-f it is also shown that in the retrieval there is a stronger correlation between WMN1-2 mean values and the response time probably because this phase is the more complex. DMN exhibits, over all the phases, smaller than zero mean values (due to the task inducted deactivation). In contrast, its correlation has a different trend and increases above zero during the maintenance, probably due to the free thought of this phase. The different behavior of load 3 is probably due to the fact that this type of complexity is totally different from the other two. In conclusion, this study shows that, by means of ICA, it is possible to isolate networks of connected regions and relate their time courses to task phases and behavioral performance. This is a promising approach to advance the understanding of connectivity modulations in several brain networks, including WMNs and DMN

Planning and Leveraging Event Portfolios: Towards a Holistic Theory

This conceptual paper seeks to advance the discourse on the leveraging and legacies of events by examining the planning, management, and leveraging of event portfolios. This examination shifts the common focus from analyzing single events towards multiple events and purposes that can enable cross-leveraging among different events in pursuit of attainment and magnification of specific ends. The following frameworks are proposed: (1) event portfolio planning and leveraging, and (2) analyzing events networks and inter-organizational linkages. These frameworks are intended to provide, at this infancy stage of event portfolios research, a solid ground for building theory on the management of different types and scales of events within the context of a portfolio aimed to obtain, optimize and sustain tourism, as well as broader community benefits

On the evaluation of some three-body variational integrals

Stable recursive relations are presented for the numerical computation of the integrals $$\int d{\bf r}_1 d{\bf r}_2 r_1^{l-1} r_2^{m-1} r_{12}^{n-1} \exp{\{-\alpha r_1 -\beta r_2 -\gamma r_{12}\}}$$ ($l$, $m$ and $n$ integer, $\alpha$, $\beta$ and $\gamma$ real) when the indices $l$, $m$ or $n$ are negative. Useful formulas are given for particular values of the parameters $\alpha$, $\beta$ and $\gamma$.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure (PS) and 3 tables. Old figures 2 and 3 replaced by Tables I and III. A further table added. Paper enlarged giving some tips on the convergence of quadrature