The Role of Programming in Interpreting LGBTQ Identities in Contemporary Art Museums

This thesis focuses on the methods through which art museums represent LGBTQ identities, facilitate discourse about diverse sexualities through programming, and address targeted media controversy. Through the analysis of the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture (November 2010 – February 2011) in comparison to the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition (November 2011 – February 2012), I discuss effective methods of engaging diverse communities when faced with opposing voices or perspectives. Hide/Seek was a ground-breaking exhibition which publicly interpreted LGBTQ identities through the lens of artwork, spanning from the late 19th century to the post-modern period. I analyze the curatorial choice of works included in the exhibition, methods of representation, and successes in highlighting LGBTQ identities and histories that had not been previously acknowledged at the museum. I evaluate the effectiveness of programming used to support the exhibition and engage both museums’ communities and examine how each museum responded to media backlash. In doing so, I highlight the importance of programming when addressing topics of identity, human rights, and social activism and provide recommendations for contemporary institutions when developing programming for exhibitions about these subjects. Such programming is vital to reaching diverse communities and facilitating discussion that helps to further the equality and human rights of all

Marine Biological Monitoring in Broward County, Florida: Year 3 Annual Report

A study has been undertaken to monitor Broward County, Florida (southeast Florida) coral communities, reef fish assemblages and sedimentation rates in relation to possible effects from a proposed extensive beach renourishment (restoration) project. Coral communities and reef fish assemblages will be monitored at a total of 23 stations distributed offshore Broward County. This monitoring effort will characterize and quantify populations of scleractinian (stony) corals, octocorallian (gorgonian) corals, sponges, and reef fishes. In addition, sediment traps located at each station will be sampled and analyzed. This document reports the data collected during the third year of this project. Coral communities and fish assemblages were monitored at each of the 23 sites between September and October 2002. In addition, sedimentation analysis for the November 2001, January 200-, March 2002, May 2002, July 2002 and September 2002 collections are reported. For September/October 2002 (=Year 3), mean (± 1 S.D.) stony coral density for the 23 sites was 2.84 + 1.30 colonies/m2. Mean stony coral coverage was 2.16 ± 3.53%. Mean octocoral density was 8.93 ± 10.17 colonies/m2 and mean sponge density was 13.47 ± 5.90 colonies/m2. Although no significant difference was found between the three reef tracts for stony coral cover, stony coral density, and octocoral density, First Reef sites had greater mean stony coral coverage but lower octocoral density than Second and Third Reef sites. First Reef coral cover was much lower than the Third Reef when the First Reet site, FTL4, was removed from the analysis. FTL4 had much greater stony coral cover than the mean cover for the remaining First Reef sites (17.40% compared to 1.65%). Sponge density was significantly greater on the Third Reef sites than the First or Second Reef sites, which did not significantly differ. Shannon-Weaver Diversity Indices performed on the overall transect data resulted in values of 1.49 ± 0.48 and 1.71 ± 0.46 for cover and number of species respectively. Overall evenness was 0.67 ± 0.20 for number of species and 0.76 ± 0.14 for cover. Examining the 23 total sites, mean stony coral density has not significantly changed from the Year 1 (January/February 2001) Year 2 (September/October 2001) and Year 3 (September/October 2002) monitoring events. Mean stony coral cover at these 23 sites was found to be significantly greater in Year 2 than in Year 1 or 3, which did not significantly differ. At these 23 sites, mean octocoral density did not significantly differ between Years while mean sponge density was found to be significantly greater in Year 1 than in Year 2 or 3, which did not significantly differ. Stony coral density, stony coral coverage, octocoral density and sponge density data collected from the 18 monitoring sites established in 1997 and visited yearly from 1997 to 2002 were analyzed. There has been no significant difference in stony coral density from 1998 to 2002. The density of stony corals in 1997 was found to be significantly less than what was found in 1998 and 2002. Mean stony coral cover increased from 1997 to 2001 but decreased slightly in 2002. Statistically, stony coral cover did not differ from 1998 to 2002, but 1997 was found to have significantly less cover than in 2000 and 2001. The mean density of octocorals did not differ statistically between 1998 and 2002. Mean sponge density was found to be greatest in 1998 and has decrease each year with a low in density found in 2002. Statistically 1998 and 1999 had the greatest sponge density compared to 2001 and 2002, which had the lowest sponge density. The results of a multivariate statistical procedure indicate that the stony coral assemblages off Broward County have changed little from 1997 to 2002. This procedure has also shown that the stony coral assemblages on the Third and Second Reef sites have gieater similarity and that either have with most of the First Reef sites. Trends in fish density were similar to those trends identified within the coral community transects. The greatest density of fishes occurs on the Third Reef followed by the Second and First. A difference in richness was seen amongst the three Reefs with the First Reef having the lowest number of species. The differences noted in abundance, density, and richness between the data collected in January/February 2001 and in September/October 2001 and September/October 2002 confirm previous reports of temporal differences in the fish assemblage offshore Broward County (Spieler 1998). The First Reef had a statistically higher rate of sedimentation than both the Second and Third Reefs for the period from November 2001 to September 2002. The November 2001 samples had the greatest sedimentation rates. Sedimentation analysis indicates that the average grain size was significantly highest on First Reef sites, with Second and Third Reel sites lacking significant difference from one another. Average sediment rates for the three reefs since August 1997 indicate that the First Reef typically has the highest rate of sedimentation followed by the Second, then Third Reefs. Both sedimentation rate and average grain size from November 2001 to September 2002 appear to be consistent with data collected from previous years during these same sampling intervals. A comparison of sedimentation rate and wind speed revealed a similar pattern: when wind speed is low, sedimentation rates are low, and vise versa. This relationship is logical considering winddriven waves may cause sediment resuspension. Data collected and analyses completed during this monitoring project will be used to help evaluate effects from the proposed beach renourishment project

Xylitol Syrup for the Prevention of Acute Otitis Media

Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common childhood illness and the leading indication for antibiotic prescriptions for US children. Xylitol, a naturally occurring sugar alcohol, can reduce AOM when given 5 times per day as a gum or syrup, but a more convenient dosing regimen is needed for widespread adoption

Temporal Patterns of Medications Dispensed to Children and Adolescents in a National Insured Population

This study aimed to comprehensively describe prevalence and temporal dispensing patterns for medications prescribed to children and adolescents in the United States. Participants were 1.6 million children (49% female) under 18 years old enrolled in a nation-wide, employer-provided insurance plan. All medication claims from 1999–2006 were reviewed retrospectively. Drugs were assigned to 16 broad therapeutic categories. Effects of trend over time, seasonality, age and gender on overall and within category prevalence were examined. Results: Mean monthly prevalence for dispensed medications was 23.5% (range 19.4–27.5), with highest rates in winter and lowest in July. The age group with the highest prevalence was one-year-old children. On average each month, 17.1% of all children were dispensed a single drug and 6.4% were dispensed two or more. Over time, prevalence for two or more drugs did not change, but the proportion of children dispensed a single drug decreased (slope -.02%, p = .001). Overall, boys had higher monthly rates than girls (average difference 0.9%, p = .002). However, differences by gender were greatest during middle childhood, especially for respiratory and central nervous system agents. Contraceptives accounted for a large proportion of dispensed medication to older teenage girls. Rates for the drugs with the highest prevalence in this study were moderately correlated (average Pearson r.66) with those from a previously published national survey. Conclusion: On average, nearly one quarter of a population of insured children in the United States was dispensed medication each month. This rate decreased somewhat over time, primarily because proportionally fewer children were dispensed a single medication. The rate for two or more drugs dispensed simultaneously remained steady

Prevalence of Dietary Supplement Use in Korean Children and Adolescents: Insights from Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2009

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of dietary supplement (DS) use in Korean children and adolescents and to examine the related factors associated with DS use from the 4th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Total 6,131 participants aged between 2 and 18 yr were included in the analysis. We estimated the prevalence of DS use mainly from the DS questionnaire data of the Nutrition Survey. Reported supplements were classified according to the Health Functional Food Code. We also assessed the relationship between DS use and anthropometry, socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, and chronic diseases. Approximately 34% of Korean children and adolescent was taking DS. Younger age (P = 0.003), higher household income (P < 0.001), presence of chronic diseases (P = 0.05), regular meal consumption (P = 0.002), frequent snack consumption (P = 0.001), and normal body mass index rather than overweight (P = 0.10) or obesity (P = 0.03) were associated with the DS use after adjustment for related factors. Vitamin/mineral supplements (343.5/103 persons) were the most commonly taken DS in Korean children and adolescents, followed by Omega-3 (28.8), ginseng (18.3), colostrums (14.1) and chlorella/spirulina (10.0). In conclusion, DS use is common as much as in 34% of Korean children and adolescents and is associated with age, household income level, chronic diseases, meal regularity, and obesity status

Evaluation of pseudoephedrine pharmacy sales before and after mandatory recording requirements in Western Australia: a case study

Background: A community pharmacy real-time electronic recording program, ProjectSTOP, enables Australian community pharmacists to verify pseudoephedrine requests. In Western Australia the program was available for voluntary use from April 2007 and became mandatory November 2010. This case study explores the effectiveness of the program by reviewing the total requests for pseudoephedrine products, and the proportion of requests which were classified as ‘denied sales’ before and after mandatory implementation. Seasonal and annual trends in these measures are also evaluated. Methods: ProjectSTOP data recordings for Western Australia pharmacies between 1 December 2007 and 28 February 2014 were analysed. Data included a de-identified pharmacy number and date of each pseudoephedrine product request. The total number of requests and sale classification (allowed, denied, safety, or not recorded) were calculated for each month/pharmacy. The potential influence of mandatory reporting using ProjectSTOP was investigated using a Regression Discontinuity Design. Correlations between sales from the same pharmacy were taken into account by classifying the pharmacy number as a random effect. The main effects of year (continuous variable), and season (categorical variable) were also included in the model. Results: There was a small but steady decline in the total requests for pseudoephedrine per month per 100,000 population (per pharmacy) from the time of mandatory reporting. The number of denied sales showed a steady increase up until mandatory reporting, after which it showed a significant decline over time. Total sales were heavily influenced by season, as expected (highest in winter, least in summer). The seasonal pattern was less pronounced for denied sales, which were highest in winter and similar across other seasons. The pattern over time for safety sales was similar to that for denied sales, with a clear change occurring around the time of mandatory reporting. Conclusion: Results indicate a decrease in pseudoephedrine product requests in Western Australia community pharmacies. Findings suggest ProjectSTOP has been successful in addressing suspicious sales and potential diversion however ongoing data review is recommended

xMAP Technology: Applications in Detection of Pathogens

xMAP technology is applicable for high-throughput, multiplex and simultaneous detection of different analytes within a single complex sample. xMAP multiplex assays are currently available in various nucleic acid and immunoassay formats, enabling simultaneous detection and typing of pathogenic viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi and also antigen or antibody interception. As an open architecture platform, the xMAP technology is beneficial to end users and therefore it is used in various pharmaceutical, clinical and research laboratories. The main aim of this review is to summarize the latest findings and applications in the field of pathogen detection using microsphere-based multiplex assays.xMAP technology is applicable for high-throughput, multiplex and simultaneous detection of different analytes within a single complex sample. xMAP multiplex assays are currently available in various nucleic acid and immunoassay formats, enabling simultaneous detection and typing of pathogenic viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi and also antigen or antibody interception. As an open architecture platform, the xMAP technology is beneficial to end users and therefore it is used in various pharmaceutical, clinical and research laboratories. The main aim of this review is to summarize the latest findings and applications in the field of pathogen detection using microsphere-based multiplex assays

Otitis Media in a New Mouse Model for CHARGE Syndrome with a Deletion in the Chd7 Gene

Otitis media is a middle ear disease common in children under three years old. Otitis media can occur in normal individuals with no other symptoms or syndromes, but it is often seen in individuals clinically diagnosed with genetic diseases such as CHARGE syndrome, a complex genetic disease caused by mutation in the Chd7 gene and characterized by multiple birth defects. Although otitis media is common in human CHARGE syndrome patients, it has not been reported in mouse models of CHARGE syndrome. In this study, we report a mouse model with a spontaneous deletion mutation in the Chd7 gene and with chronic otitis media of early onset age accompanied by hearing loss. These mice also exhibit morphological alteration in the Eustachian tubes, dysregulation of epithelial proliferation, and decreased density of middle ear cilia. Gene expression profiling revealed up-regulation of Muc5ac, Muc5b and Tgf-β1 transcripts, the products of which are involved in mucin production and TGF pathway regulation. This is the first mouse model of CHARGE syndrome reported to show otitis media with effusion and it will be valuable for studying the etiology of otitis media and other symptoms in CHARGE syndrome

Evaluation of a toolkit to improve cardiovascular disease screening and treatment for people with type 2 diabetes: protocol for a cluster-randomized pragmatic trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The gap between the level of care recommended by evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and the actual care delivered to patients in practice has been well established. The Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) created an implementation strategy to improve the implementation of its 2008 guidelines. This study will evaluate the impact of the strategy to improve cardiovascular disease (CVD) screening, prevention and treatment for people with diabetes.</p> <p>Design</p> <p>A pragmatic cluster-randomized trial will be conducted to evaluate the CDA's CVD Toolkit. All family physicians in Ontario, Canada were randomly allocated to receive the Toolkit, which includes several printed educational materials targeting CVD screening, prevention and treatment, either in spring 2009 (intervention arm) or in spring 2010 (control arm). Randomization occurred at the level of the practice. Forty family physicians from each arm will be recruited to participate, and the medical records for 20 of their diabetic patients at high risk for CVD will be retrospectively reviewed. Outcome measures will be assessed for each patient between July 2009 and March 2010. The primary outcome will be that the patient is receiving a statin. Secondary outcomes will include 1) the receipt of an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker, 2) various intermediate measures (A1c, blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol, total-/HDL-cholesterol ratio, body mass index and waist circumference), and 3) clinical inertia (the failure to change therapy in response to an abnormal A1c, blood pressure or cholesterol reading). The analysis will be carried out using multilevel hierarchical logistic regression models to account for the clustered nature of the data. The group assignment will be a physician-level variable. In addition, a process evaluation study with six focus groups of family physicians will assess the acceptability of the CDA's Toolkit and will explore factors contributing to any change or lack of change in behaviour, from the perspectives of family physicians.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Printed educational materials for physicians have been shown to exert small-to-moderate changes in patient care. The CDA's CVD Toolkit is an example of a practice guideline implementation strategy that can be disseminated to a wide audience relatively inexpensively, and so demonstrating its effectiveness at improving diabetes care could have important consequences for guideline developers, policy makers and clinicians.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>The trial is registered with <url>http://www.clinicaltrials.gov</url>, ID # NCT01026688</p