Culture on the Range: Attracting Audiences and Dollars to One of America's Most Remote Places

Illustrates how the remotely located Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada has successfully cultivated donors and members from around the country

Sentencing Reform for Nonviolent Offenses: Benefits and Estimated Savings for Illinois

Commissioned by the Developing Justice Coalition, this report examines alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenses. The report discusses the potential cost savings and the social benefits of sentencing nonviolent drug offenders to mandated substance abuse treatment and intensive community supervision instead of prison

Community Organizing in Three South Side Chicago Communities: Leadership, Activities, and Prospects

This study identifies barriers facing groups and leaders in communities on the South Side of Chicago that limit not only their capacity for organizing but also their ability to attract resources for their work. The findings also provide key data on current activities at the grassroots level, with particular attention to groups and leaders that have the potential to expand the scope of their efforts to larger, community-based initiatives

The role of cysteine residues and thiol-disulphide exchange in the expression and function of von Willebrand factor

Thiol-disulphide reactions are critical to the structure and function of von Willebrand factor (VWF). Intracellular multimerisation is catalysed by intrinsic thiol isomerase activity of CGLC motifs in its propeptide. Conserved CG(L/I)C motifs were identified in the D3, D4 and C1 domains which may possess thiol isomerase activity and contribute to intracellular synthesis of VWF or to extracellular thiol-disulphide exchange. Nine cysteine residues are unpaired in a proportion of plasma VWF molecules and are hypothesised to participate in disulphide-mediated self-association. This thesis aimed to study VWF self-association, the participating individual cysteines and the intrinsic isomerase activity of VWF. To study the unpaired cysteines, point mutants and C domain deletion mutants (where most of these cysteines are located) were made. To study the role of the conserved CG(L/I)C motifs, two complementary types of mutant were made: replacement of D2 domain (known isomerase activity) with either the D3 or D4 domain; and insertion of glycine between vicinal cysteines (known to disrupt isomerase function). Mutants were expressed in HEK293T cells. Mutants which were retained intracellularly were studied by measuring lysate pro-VWF and by EndoH digestion. Secreted mutants were studied by quantifying expression, static collagen binding activity and free thiol content. Mutant VWF function was assessed by measuring its ability to capture platelets when perfused over collagen under shear stress. The lateral self-association of VWF was studied under both static and flow conditions using plasma-derived and recombinant VWF. The results demonstrate that the individual cysteine residues and the C domains of VWF play a crucial role in the folding of VWF during synthesis. Furthermore, the CGLC motif in D3 plays a critical role in the synthesis of VWF. However, extracellular self-association of VWF does not appear to play a significant role in the capture of platelets to collagen under physiological flow conditions

The Falstaff of The Merry Wives of Windsor

Notes and Querie

The ISCIP Analyst, Volume IX, Issue 10

This repository item contains a single issue of The ISCIP Analyst, an analytical review journal published from 1996 to 2010 by the Boston University Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology, and Policy

Methodology for Sampling Women at High Maternal Risk in Administrative Data

Background: In population level studies, the conventional practice of categorizing women into low and high maternal risk samples relies upon ascertaining the presence of various comorbid conditions in administrative data. Two problems with the conventional method include variability in the recommended comorbidities to consider and inability to distinguish between maternal and fetal risks. High maternal risk sample selection may be improved by using the Obstetric Comorbidity Index (OCI), a system of risk scoring based on weighting comorbidities associated with maternal end organ damage. The purpose of this study was to compare the net benefit of using OCI risk scoring vs the conventional risk identification method to identify a sample of women at high maternal risk in administrative data. Methods: This was a net benefit analysis using linked delivery hospitalization discharge and vital records data for women experiencing singleton births in Georgia from 2008 to 2012. We compared the value identifying a sample of women at high maternal risk using the OCI score to the conventional method of dichotomous identification of any comorbidities. Value was measured by the ability to select a sample of women designated as high maternal risk who experienced severe maternal morbidity or mortality. Results: The high maternal risk sample created with the OCI had a small but positive net benefit (+ 0.6), while the conventionally derived sample had a negative net benefit indicating the sample selection performed worse than identifying no woman as high maternal risk. Conclusions: The OCI can be used to select women at high maternal risk in administrative data. The OCI provides a consistent method of identification for women at risk of maternal morbidity and mortality and avoids confounding all obstetric risk factors with specific maternal risk factors. Using the OCI may help reduce misclassification as high maternal risk and improve the consistency in identifying women at high maternal risk in administrative data