Imitative or Iconoclastic? How young children use ready-made images in digital art

Digital art-making tends to foreground the inclusion of ready-made images in children’s art. While some lament children’s use of such images, suggesting that they constrain creativity and expression (McLennan, 2007; Szyba, 1999), others have argued that ready-made digital materials offer children the opportunity to create innovative and potentially iconoclastic artefacts through processes of ‘remix’ (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006) and ‘mash-up’ (Lamb, 2007). In order to further this debate, observations are needed to explore the different ways that children use ready-made images in their digital art and the various purposes that these images can serve. Adopting a social semiotic perspective, this paper offers an in-depth examination of five episodes of 4-5 year olds’ digital art-making that collectively demonstrate the diversity of approaches that young children take towards the inclusion of ready-made images in their digital art-making. The paper discusses these findings in relation to suggestions for what adults can do to support children to adopt a playful and critically aware approach to the use of ready-made images in digital art-making

Impact of a passive social marketing intervention in community pharmacies on oral contraceptive and condom sales: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract Background Almost 50% of pregnancies in the United States are unwanted or mistimed. Notably, just over one-half of unintended pregnancies occurred when birth control was being used, suggesting inappropriate or poor use or contraceptive failure. About two-thirds of all women who are of reproductive age use contraceptives, and oral hormonal contraceptives remain the most common contraceptive method. Often, contraceptive products are obtained in community pharmacies. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a pharmacy-based intervention would impact sales of contraceptive products in pharmacies. Methods This study was conducted in Iowa and used a quasi-experimental design including 55 community pharmacies (independent and grocery) in 12 counties as the intervention and 32 grocery pharmacies in 10 counties as a comparison group. The passive intervention was focused towards 18–30 year old women who visited community pharmacies and prompted those of childbearing age to “plan your pregnancy” and “consider using birth control”. The intervention was delivered via educational tri-fold brochures, posters and ‘shelf talkers.’ Data sources for evaluation were contraceptive sales from intervention and comparison pharmacies, and a mixed negative binomial regression was used with study group*time interactions to examine the impact of the intervention on oral contraceptive and condom sales. Data from 2009 were considered baseline sales. Results From 2009 to 2011, condom sales decreased over time and oral contraceptives sales showed no change. Overall, the units sold were significantly higher in grocery pharmacies than in independent pharmacies for both contraceptive types. In the negative binomial regression for condoms, there was an overall significant interaction between the study group and time variables (p = 0.003), indicating an effect of the intervention, and there was a significant slowing in the drop of sales at time 3 in comparison with time 1 (p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant association between pharmacy type and study group, where the independent intervention pharmacies had a higher proportion of stores with increases in condom sales compared to grocery pharmacies in the intervention or comparison group. Conclusions A passive community pharmacy-based public health intervention appeared to reduce the decrease in condom sales from baseline, particularly in independent pharmacies, but it did not impact oral contraceptive sales.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110681/1/12889_2015_Article_1495.pd

Legionella pneumophila strain 130b evades macrophage cell death independent of the effector SidF in the absence of flagellin

International audienceThe human pathogen Legionella pneumophila must evade host cell death signaling to enable replication in lung macrophages and to cause disease. After bacterial growth, however, L. pneumophila is thought to induce apoptosis during egress from macrophages. The bacterial effector protein, SidF, has been shown to control host cell survival and death by inhibiting pro-apoptotic BNIP3 and BCL-RAMBO signaling. Using live-cell imaging to follow the L. pneumophila-macrophage interaction, we now demonstrate that L. pneumophila evades host cell apoptosis independent of SidF. In the absence of SidF, L. pneumophila was able to replicate, cause loss of mitochondria membrane potential, kill macrophages, and establish infections in lungs of mice. Consistent with this, deletion of BNIP3 and BCL-RAMBO did not affect intracellular L. pneumophila replication, macrophage death rates, and in vivo bacterial virulence. Abrogating mitochondrial cell death by genetic deletion of the effectors of intrinsic apoptosis, BAX, and BAK, or the regulator of mitochondrial permeability transition pore formation, cyclophilin-D, did not affect bacterial growth or the initial killing of macrophages. Loss of BAX and BAK only marginally limited the ability of L. pneumophila to efficiently kill all macrophages over extended periods. L. pneumophila induced killing of macrophages was delayed in the absence of capsase-11 mediated pyroptosis. Together, our data demonstrate that L. pneumophila evades host cell death responses independently of SidF during replication and can induce pyroptosis to kill macrophages in a timely manner

HLA Class I and KIR Genes Do Not Protect Against HIV Type 1 Infection in Highly Exposed Uninfected Individuals With Hemophilia A

A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving patients with hemophilia A who were exposed to but uninfected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) did not reveal genetic variants associated with resistance to HIV-1 infection, beyond homozygosity for CCR5-Δ32. Since variation in HLA class I and KIR genes is not well interrogated by standard GWAS techniques, we tested whether these 2 loci were involved in protection from HIV-1 infection in the same hemophilia cohort, using controls from the general population. Our data indicate that HLA class I alleles, presence or absence of KIR genes, and functionally relevant combinations of the HLA/KIR genotypes are not involved in resistance to parenterally transmitted HIV-1 infectio

Development and Phenotypic Screening of an Ethyl Methane Sulfonate Mutant Population in Soybean

Soybean is an important oil-producing crop in the Fabaceae family and there are increasing demands for soybean oil and other soybean products. Genetic improvement of soybean is needed to increase its production. In order to provide genetic diversity and resources for identifying important genes, a new ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) mutagenized soybean population was generated using the newly released germplasm, JTN-5203 (maturity group V). Treatment of soybean seeds with 60 mM EMS concentration was found to be suitable for inducing mutation. A total of 1,820 M1 individuals were produced from 15,000 treated seeds. The resulting M2 population was planted in the field for phenotyping. After harvest, seed traits including total oil, protein, starch, moisture content, fatty acid and amino acid compositions were measured by NIR. Phenotypic variations observed in this population include changes in leaf morphology, plant architecture, seed compositions, and yield. Of most interest, we identified plants with increased amounts of total protein (50% vs. 41% for control) and plants with higher amounts of total oil (25% vs. 21.2% control). Similarly, we identified plants with increases in oleic acid content and decreases in linoleic acid and linolenic acid. This EMS mutant population will be used for further studies including screening for various traits such as amino acid pathways, allergens, phytic acids, and other important soybean agronomic traits. In addition, these mutant individuals will be evaluated in the next generation to assess the heritability. Beneficial traits from these mutants can be exploited for future soybean breeding programs. This germplasm can also be used for discovering novel mutant alleles and for functional gene expression analysis using reverse genetics tools such as TILLING

Comparison of Phenology and Pathogen Prevalence, Including Infection With the Ehrlichia muris-Like (EML) Agent, of Ixodes Scapularis Removed from Soldiers in the Midwestern and Northeastern United States Over a 15 Year Period (1997-2012)

Background: Since 1997, human-biting ticks submitted to the Department of Defense Human Tick Test Kit Program (HTTKP) of the US Army Public Health Command have been tested for pathogens by PCR. We noted differences in the phenology and infection prevalence among Ixodes scapularis ticks submitted from military installations in different geographic regions. The aim of this study was to characterize these observed differences, comparing the phenology and pathogen infection rates of I. scapularis submitted from soldiers at two sites in the upper Midwest ( Camp Ripley, MN, and Ft. McCoy, WI) and one site in the northeastern US (Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA). Methods: From 1997 through 2012, the HTTKP received 1,981 I. scapularis from the three installations and tested them for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Borrelia burgdorferi and the Ehrlichia muris-like (EML) agent using PCR; pathogen presence was confirmed via sequencing or amplification of a second gene target. Pathogen and co-infection prevalence, tick engorgement status, and phenology were compared among installations. Results: Greater rates of A. phagocytophilum and Ba. microti infections were detected in ticks submitted from installations in Minnesota than in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, and the EML agent was only detected in ticks from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Midwestern ticks were also more likely to be co-infected than those from Pennsylvania. Both adult and nymphal ticks showed evidence of feeding on people, although nymphs were more often submitted engorged. Adult I. scapularis were received more frequently in June from Minnesota than from either of the other sites. Minnesota adult and nymphal peaks overlapped in June, and submissions of adults exceeded nymphs in that month. Conclusions: There were clear differences in I. scapularis phenology, pathogen prevalence and rates of co-infection among the three military installations. Seasonal and temperature differences between the three sites and length of time a population had been established in each region may contribute to the observed differences. The synchrony of adults and nymphs observed in the upper Midwest has implications for pathogen infection prevalence. The EML agent was only detected in Minnesota and Wisconsin, supporting the previous assertion that this pathogen is currently limited to the upper Midwest

Information-Seeking Behavior (ISB) of IAMSLIC Members in Response to a Query

Using a three-part survey instrument, a quantitative study was conducted to determine the information-seeking behavior of the members of the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers (IAMSLIC) in response to queries. Specifically, the study aimed to determine if aquatic science librarians, like other professionals, would opt to go to the Internet first rather than library databases when searching for information (Jamali & Asadi, 2010; Niu et al., 2010; and Superio et al., 2018). Likewise, the study documented the most commonly used websites, open access databases, and repositories used by the respondents. All of the IAMSLIC members were included in the study. An online survey instrument was used. After 40 days, 76 valid responses had been received. Findings of the study revealed that regardless of the librarians’ gender, age, educational attainment, position or designation, regional group affiliation, and library type, they would prefer to use their library’s online public access catalog (OPAC) first when searching for information. Moreover, Aquatic Commons, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Statistics (FAO Stat), and OceanDocs were the most commonly accessed open access databases and repositories. IAMSLIC established the Aquatic Commons, so it was no surprise that it was the most frequently accessed repository by the IAMSLIC member librarians. The results also suggest that academic social-networking sites (SNS), specifically ResearchGate and Google Scholar, were essential search tools for some of the respondents. Google Scholar has made searching and retrieval of scholarly articles easy

Skunk River Review Fall 2005, vol 17

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