A Synopsis of Synthesis: A Review of Major and Savin-Baden\u27s An Introduction to Qualitative Research Synthesis

This review looks at the book An Introduction to Qualitative Research Synthesis: Managing the Information Explosion in Social Science Research, by Claire Howell Major and Maggi Savin-Baden. Following the format for reviewing a book presented by the University of Alberta (2010), this review analyzes the book by audience, point by point, and then gives a general overview of the reviewer\u27s opinion of the book. The book has several strong features, such as the procedural explanations and the clear defense of criticisms of synthesis, few failings, and presents a strong introduction for several audiences. Overall, this is a book well worth reading due to the strong content and the valuable procedures which Major and Savin-Baden provide

New York Sons of Erin: Nativism, Identity, and the Importance of Irish Ethnicity in the Civil War Era

Nineteenth-century Irish Americans were bound together by a shared ethnic identity that was shaped by a strong attachment to Ireland, a closeness enhanced by their devotion to the Catholic faith, and an American population that held a deep prejudice against the ethnic group. This was especially the case in New York, which had the largest population of Irish Americans in the United States during this time. While many Sons of Erin enlisted into New York regiments, their most famous unit was the Irish Brigade. Therefore, the actions and treatment of the Irish Brigade greatly influenced the way immigrant service in the Civil War is remembered. This was similarly the case for their family and friends on the home front in New York. These individuals united behind their loved ones fighting in the Union Army and showed their support for them through ethnic festivities and religious ties. Through their service to the Union, Irish Americans in New York embraced their ethnicity and created a shared loyalty to one another that united the group amidst rampant nativism. This diasporic identity found in New York’s Irish-American population was only reinforced and heightened by military service to the Union during the Civil War. Rather than relinquish their ethnic bonds and become “Americanized,” their identity as workers, Democrats, soldiers, Americans, or as an ethnic group was prevalent throughout their lives. This fluidity of identities allowed the Irish in New York to push for greater rights while building their ethnic culture in America. Their hard-fought efforts led to the emergence of cultural diversity in the United States, which countered the Anglo-American Protestantism of the nineteenth century

Is It Bad to Be Good? An Exploration of Aggressive and Prosocial Behavior Subtypes in Adolescence

Research in aggressive behavior development has distinguished between proactive (i.e., intended to achieve an instrumental goal) and reactive (i.e., emitted as an emotional response to provocation) subtypes of aggression. A similar distinction has not been made with regard to prosocial behavior. In this study, subtypes of both aggressive and prosocial behavior and their relation to aggression-supporting social cognitions were examined in a sample of 250 early and middle adolescents. Adolescents completed behavior rating scales and a measure of their beliefs about the acceptability of responding aggressively. Principal components analysis identified 3 subtypes of aggressive and prosocial behavior: aggressive, prosocial, and proactive prosocial. Proactive prosocial behavior was positively correlated with aggression and aggression-supporting beliefs, while other prosocial behavior was negatively correlated with these constructs. Findings are discussed in the context of aggressive behavior development and with regard to traditional views of prosocial behavior as altruistic.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45296/1/10964_2004_Article_478822.pd

Investigating fibroblast activation in response to extracellular cues using synthetic hydrogels

Kloxin, April M.Fibrosis is a common and frequently life-threatening condition characterized by a buildup of stiff scar-like tissue that affects a variety of organs throughout the body and impacts millions of people every year. Fibroblast activation is a key event in fibrosis progression and is the subject of widespread study in vivo and in vitro. In healthy tissues, fibroblasts are responsible for tissue maintenance through protein secretion and matrix remodeling. In fibrotic tissues, fibroblasts are persistently activated, meaning they respond to changes in the microenvironment including the extracellular matrix (ECM) through overactive protein secretion and adoption of a contractile phenotype, disrupting matrix architecture, and causing stiff scar-like tissue to form. Fibrosis is understood to be the result of a feedback loop in which fibroblasts activate and create a fibrotic environment, and signals from that environment, like increased tissue stiffness, cause fibroblasts to persist in an activated state. If it were possible to disrupt this maladaptive feedback loop, it may be possible to halt the progression of fibrosis or even reverse its effects. ☐ Toward this goal, a variety of in vitro cell culture models have been developed to study cell-matrix interactions that contribute to fibroblast activation. These models are formed from a wide range of materials, use different methods of promoting fibroblast adhesion and promoting integrin binding, and culture fibroblasts in different cell culture geometries. Given this diversity, approaches are needed for comparison of different integrin-binding motifs and culture geometries for further insights into the drivers of fibroblast activation and improved designs of materials systems for studying and regulating these processes. In this thesis, I first review different types of hydrogel in vitro cell culture models that have been essential for understanding fibroblast activation. I then present new strategies for probing fibroblast response to different integrin binding motifs (whole proteins and integrin binding peptides) and different cell culture geometries (2D, 2.5D, and 3D geometries). I also present work investigating the use of a new boronic acid-based dynamic covalent material to enable fibroblast co-culture with other cell types. Throughout this work, pulmonary fibroblasts are used as a model fibroblast cell type and are of particular relevance for insights into lung fibrosis. The overall goals of this work are to understand how cell matrix interactions affect fibroblast activation and how the design of in vitro cell culture models affects fibroblast phenotype to enable comparisons of results among different models. ☐ First, for comparing fibroblast activation in response to different integrin binding motifs, I developed a technique for conjugating whole proteins to step growth hydrogel surfaces. This method enabled a side-by-side comparison of two protein peptide pairs commonly used in hydrogel in vitro models and relevant to fibroblast activation: collagen I and GFOGER, and fibronectin and PHSRN RGDS. Interestingly, significant differences were observed between collagen I and GFOGER, where the peptide promoted increased fibroblast activation and the formation of clusters reminiscent of activated foci observed in fibrotic tissue. ☐ Next, towards bridging the gap between traditional 2D culture and multidimensional in vivo microenvironments, I developed a technique for culturing fibroblasts in a layered hydrogel geometry referred to as 2.5D cell culture. This geometry mimics aspects of two common cell culture geometries, cells on top of hydrogels (2D culture) and cells encapsulated within hydrogels (3D culture), by allowing cells to initially spread without the requirement of matrix degradation while also reducing asymmetric cell polarization. Cell activation (alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA) positive cells) was high and similar between the 2D and 2.5D geometry but less in the 3D geometry. Further, gene expression levels of CDH11, ITGB1, and Serpine 1, genes associated with cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, were similar in 2D and 2.5D but lower in 3D culture. Interestingly, differences were observed in YAP nuclear localization between fibroblasts cultured in 2D and 2.5D cell culture. These results highlight the important role hydrogel geometry plays in directing fibroblast activation and mechanotransduction. ☐ Given the complicated interplay between matrix modulus, cell confinement, and cell polarization in multidimensional cell culture, new materials that allow for dynamic cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions would be useful and complement more traditional materials for 3D cell culture (e.g. cell-degradable, covalently-crosslinked hydrogels). To achieve this, I established approaches for using boronic acid-based hydrogels formed using dynamic covalent chemistry for 3D culture of fibroblasts and other cells of interest in the lung microenvironment, such as disseminated tumor cells. Good cell viability was observed in these materials over time, and the self-healing nature of these hydrogels was utilized for the construction of more complex geometries for dynamic co-culture of fibroblasts and breast cancer cells. ☐ Collectively, this work provides context for the interpretation of fibroblast behavior in common in vitro cell culture models by demonstrating the effects of integrin binding motifs and cell culture geometry on fibroblast activation. These studies lay the groundwork for future investigations into the mechanisms by which extracellular cues regulate fibroblast behavior, towards a better understanding fibroblast activation in vivo. Additionally, dynamic-covalent materials, such as the boronic acid-based hydrogels established here, could be useful for investigating the role of network structure on fibroblast behavior in 3D cell culture.University of Delaware, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringPh.D