The Uneasy Beginnings of Public Diplomacy: Vira Whitehouse, the Committee on Public Information, and the First World War

The established methods and practices of American public diplomacy are commonly credited to the publicity agencies created during and after the Second World War, such as the Office of War Information (OWI) and the United States Information Agency (USIA). However, the Committee on Public Information (CPI) was the first practicing public diplomacy agency. Created by President Woodrow Wilson in April 1917, the CPI and its Foreign Division became a tool for winning the First World War through the dissemination of newspaper articles, films, photographs, and other media techniques. The CPI was the first of its kind to engage with the people on behalf of the US government and to shape European public opinion and promote American war aims. Although the CPI was a trailblazing organization, it met problems and challenges during its foreign mission. Resistance on behalf of the State Department, poor management from the top-down, and unpredictable circumstances for representatives are all examples that serve to illustrate the uneasy beginnings of public diplomacy. This thesis will examine the efforts of Vira B. Whitehouse, who served as the director of the CPI office in Berne, Switzerland. The case study of a New York suffragist turned public affairs officer demonstrates the setbacks and challenges of early public diplomacy, such as strife with the Legation, poor management from Washington, and working in a male-dominated field

Computational Discovery and Analysis of rDNA Sequence Heterogeneity in Yeast

Ribosomal RNA genes, known as ribosomal DNA or rDNA, are commonly found in tandem arrays of hundreds of repeating units. The sequences of each unit in an array were thought to be near-identical but it is now known that frequent mutations may occur, causing heterogeneity amongst units. Opposing these divergent mutational processes, unit sequences are homogenised through concerted evolutionary processes such as unequal sister chromatid exchange (USCE) and gene conversion (GC). In this study Perl software has been used to uncover rDNA sequence variation in the yeast Saccharomyces paradoxus, using data derived from the Saccharomyces Genome Resequencing Project. This analysis, in conjunction with a reanalysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae data from the same project, has provided detailed information regarding rDNA sequence heterogeneity in two contrasting, yet closelyrelated yeast species. Additionally, the rDNA flanking sequences of four yeast strains have been characterised via an analysis of new next generation sequencing reads, adding to our knowledge of concerted evolutionary processes in these genomic regions. Partial Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (pSNPs) within these datasets are shown to reflect genome mosaicism within a population, and to identify strains with signs of genome hybridisation undetectable by other means. This information provides further insights into the dynamics of the rDNA region in the two yeast species. In particular, examination of the percentage occupancies of pSNPs reveals U-shaped distributions which differ between the two species. Further investigations of rDNA evolutionary dynamics through the development of two Java simulation tools (SIMPLEX and CONCERTINA), which model USCE and GC events, follow the fate of both single and multiple pSNPs in one or more rDNA arrays. Initial simulations show the distribution of pSNPs varies depending upon the balance between mutations and concerted evolutionary events, and provide a framework to investigate the mechanisms involved in altered rDNA dynamics in various cellular processes

When was the Last Time that You Heard of Ian McKellen Blowing out His Knee? The Performance and Practice of Risk in British Professional Wrestling

Professional wrestling has a poor record of caring for athlete-artists’ health and wellbeing. The data gathered through the Health and Wellbeing in Professional Wrestling project aims to confront this issue. During the data collection process, we noted that interviewees’ reflections shifted the meaning of terms and ideas associated with wrestling but, until now, not fully understood. One such concept is risk. Wrestling has been criticised for being too risky by parents’ groups and teachers, and not risky enough by those who dismiss it as fake and phony. This article recognises that such miscomprehensions of wrestling risk have broader implications: an absence of suitable medical support, a lack of appreciation for its artistry, performing dangerous moves without professional training, and more. In order to comprehend wrestling risk in this deeper sense, this article reads it through the notion of edgework. Wrestling enables a reimagining of edgework more generally through the real-not-real spectrum, and as collaborative rather than competitive endeavor. There are broader implications here, then: a study of wrestling provides a model for comprehending the health and wellbeing benefits and challenges of contemporary risk. Finally, the article asks what difference this more nuanced and multifaceted version of risk makes to future innovations in wrestling health and wellbeing

Establishing the Effect of Brushing and a Day’s Diet on Tooth Tissue Loss in Vitro

To develop an in vitro model to mimic the effects of meals equivalent to a day’s diet on tooth tissue loss (TTL). To identify how diet effects tooth wear and to test the efficacy of dental products designed to reduce tooth wear in a more realistic environment. A typical Friday diet was devised comprising: Breakfast then brushing, lunch, dinner then brushing. Groups of enamel samples were exposed to one meal, or all three in series, a control group was exposed to water and brushed. The daily cycle was repeated to represent two days’ consumption; TTL was quantified by non-contact profilometry. This pilot study highlighted adaptions that could be made to the model such as human enamel and saliva to further replicate natural eating habits. The sum of the TTL measured after Breakfast, lunch and dinner (bovine enamel specimens exposed to single meals) was less than that exhibited by the group of samples exposed to the series of meals but this difference was not significant (p = 0.09).In the absence and presence of brushing, TTL caused by breakfast and dinner was similar, but significantly greater than that caused by lunch (p < 0.05). While brushing increased TTL, this increase was not significant. It is possible to model a daily diet in vitro, and the data obtained confirms that the combination of food and drink affects the degree of TTL. This supports the further development of an in vitro model that includes alternative foodstuffs. This would aid understanding of the effects different diets have on TTL and could test new products designed to prevent TTL

Associations between self-esteem and smoking and excessive alcohol consumption in the UK: a cross-sectional study using the BBC UK Lab database

Introduction There is mixed evidence regarding the associations between self-esteem and smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. This study aimed to investigate whether self-esteem is associated with smoking status and alcohol consumption in a large sample of adults in the United Kingdom after adjusting for age, sex, socio-economic status and depressed mood. Methods Design: Cross-sectional correlational study conducted under the aegis of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2009 and 2013. Participants: 187,398 respondents (67.9% female) with a mean age of 32.82 years (SD=12.41) providing complete data. Setting: UK. Measures Online self-report questionnaire. The outcomes were smoking status (current smoker, ever smoker) and alcohol consumption (current drinker, excessive drinker); the input variable was self-esteem measured using a Single Item Self-Esteem Scale; covariates were age, sex, SES, and depressed mood measured using a single item question. Results The odds of being an ever smoker and a current smoker were greater in people with lower self-esteem (AdjOR 0.97; 95% CI 0.95-0.99, Cohen’s d=-0.02; and AdjOR 0.96; 95% CI 0.94-0.99, Cohen’s d=-0.02 respectively). The odds of being a current drinker were lower in people with lower self-esteem (AdjOR 1.20, 95% CI 1.17-1.24, Cohen’s d=0.10) while being an excessive drinker was associated with lower self-esteem (β=-0.13, p<0.001, F(5,187392)=997.14, p<0.001, Cohen’s d=0.3). Conclusions Lower self-esteem appears to be positively associated with ever- and current smoking and excessive alcohol consumption and negatively associated with current alcohol consumption

Prolonged Aβ treatment leads to impairment in the ability of primary cortical neurons to maintain K+ and Ca2+ homeostasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, characterised by the formation of insoluble amyloidogenic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Beta amyloid (Aβ) peptide is one of the main constituents in Aβ plaques, and is thought to be a primary causative agent in AD. Neurons are likely to be exposed to chronic, sublethal doses of Aβ over an extended time during the pathogenesis of AD, however most studies published to date using <it>in vitro </it>models have focussed on acute studies. To experimentally model the progressive pathogenesis of AD, we exposed primary cortical neurons daily to 1 μM of Aβ_1-40over 7 days and compared their survival with age-similar untreated cells. We also investigated whether chronic Aβ exposure affects neuronal susceptibility to the subsequent acute excitotoxicity induced by 10 μM glutamate and assessed how Ca²⁺and K⁺homeostasis were affected by either treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show that continuous exposure to 1 μM Aβ_1-40for seven days decreased survival of cultured cortical neurons by 20%. This decrease in survival correlated with increased K⁺efflux from the cells. One day treatment with 1 μM Aβ followed by glutamate led to a substantially higher K⁺efflux than in the age-similar untreated control. This difference further increased with the duration of the treatment. K⁺efflux also remained higher in Aβ treated cells 20 min after glutamate application leading to 2.8-fold higher total K⁺effluxed from the cells compared to controls. Ca²⁺uptake was significantly higher only after prolonged Aβ treatment with 2.5-fold increase in total Ca²⁺uptake over 20 min post glutamate application after six days of Aβ treatment or longer (P < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data suggest that long term exposure to Aβ is detrimental because it reduces the ability of cortical neurons to maintain K⁺and Ca²⁺homeostasis in response to glutamate challenge, a response that might underlie the early symptoms of AD. The observed inability to maintain K⁺homeostasis might furthermore be useful in future studies as an early indicator of pathological changes in response to Aβ.</p

Germline MBD4 deficiency causes a multi-tumor predisposition syndrome

We report an autosomal recessive, multi-organ tumor predisposition syndrome, caused by bi-allelic loss-of-function germline variants in the base excision repair (BER) gene MBD4. We identified five individuals with bi-allelic MBD4 variants within four families and these individuals had a personal and/or family history of adenomatous colorectal polyposis, acute myeloid leukemia, and uveal melanoma. MBD4 encodes a glycosylase involved in repair of G:T mismatches resulting from deamination of 5'-methylcytosine. The colorectal adenomas from MBD4-deficient individuals showed a mutator phenotype attributable to mutational signature SBS1, consistent with the function of MBD4. MBD4-deficient polyps harbored somatic mutations in similar driver genes to sporadic colorectal tumors, although AMER1 mutations were more common and KRAS mutations less frequent. Our findings expand the role of BER deficiencies in tumor predisposition. Inclusion of MBD4 in genetic testing for polyposis and multi-tumor phenotypes is warranted to improve disease management. Keywords: 5′-methylcytosine deamination; colorectal cancer; mutational signature; mutator phenotype; polyposi

Ribosomal DNA sequence heterogeneity reflects intraspecies phylogenies and predicts genome structure in two contrasting yeast species

The ribosomal RNA encapsulates a wealth of evolutionary information, including genetic variation that can be used to discriminate between organisms at a wide range of taxonomic levels. For example, the prokaryotic 16S rDNA sequence is very widely used both in phylogenetic studies and as a marker in metagenomic surveys and the internal transcribed spacer region, frequently used in plant phylogenetics, is now recognized as a fungal DNA barcode. However, this widespread use does not escape criticism, principally due to issues such as difficulties in classification of paralogous versus orthologous rDNA units and intragenomic variation, both of which may be significant barriers to accurate phylogenetic inference. We recently analyzed data sets from the Saccharomyces Genome Resequencing Project, characterizing rDNA sequence variation within multiple strains of the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its nearest wild relative Saccharomyces paradoxus in unprecedented detail. Notably, both species possess single locus rDNA systems. Here, we use these new variation datasets to assess whether a more detailed characterization of the rDNA locus can alleviate the second of these phylogenetic issues, sequence heterogeneity, while controlling for the first. We demonstrate that a strong phylogenetic signal exists within both datasets and illustrate how they can be used, with existing methodology, to estimate intraspecies phylogenies of yeast strains consistent with those derived from whole-genome approaches. We also describe the use of partial Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, a type of sequence variation found only in repetitive genomic regions, in identifying key evolutionary features such as genome hybridization events and show their consistency with whole-genome Structure analyses. We conclude that our approach can transform rDNA sequence heterogeneity from a problem to a useful source of evolutionary information, enabling the estimation of highly accurate phylogenies of closely related organisms, and discuss how it could be extended to future studies of multilocus rDNA systems. [concerted evolution; genome hydridisation; phylogenetic analysis; ribosomal DNA; whole genome sequencing; yeast]

Assessing the psychometric properties of the digital behavior change intervention engagement scale in users of an app for reducing alcohol consumption:Evaluation study

Background: The level and type of engagement with digital behavior change interventions (DBCIs) are likely to influence their effectiveness, but validated self-report measures of engagement are lacking. The DBCI Engagement Scale was designed to assess behavioral (ie, amount, depth of use) and experiential (ie, attention, interest, enjoyment) dimensions of engagement. Objective: We aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the DBCI Engagement Scale in users of a smartphone app for reducing alcohol consumption. Methods: Participants (N=147) were UK-based, adult, excessive drinkers recruited via an online research platform. Participants downloaded the Drink Less app and completed the scale immediately after their first login in exchange for a financial reward. Criterion variables included the objectively recorded amount of use, depth of use, and subsequent login. Five types of validity (ie, construct, criterion, predictive, incremental, divergent) were examined in exploratory factor, correlational, and regression analyses. The Cronbach alpha was calculated to assess the scale’s internal reliability. Covariates included motivation to reduce alcohol consumption. Results: Responses on the DBCI Engagement Scale could be characterized in terms of two largely independent subscales related to experience and behavior. The experiential and behavioral subscales showed high (α=.78) and moderate (α=.45) internal reliability, respectively. Total scale scores predicted future behavioral engagement (ie, subsequent login) with and without adjusting for users’ motivation to reduce alcohol consumption (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj]=1.14; 95% CI 1.03-1.27; P=.01), which was driven by the experiential (ORadj=1.19; 95% CI 1.05-1.34; P=.006) but not the behavioral subscale. Conclusions: The DBCI Engagement Scale assesses behavioral and experiential aspects of engagement. The behavioral subscale may not be a valid indicator of behavioral engagement. The experiential subscale can predict subsequent behavioral engagement with an app for reducing alcohol consumption. Further refinements and validation of the scale in larger samples and across different DBCIs are needed

Climate change, crops and commodity traders : subnational trade analysis highlights differentiated risk exposure

The global food system is increasingly interconnected and under pressure to support growing demand. At the same time, crop production is facing new and uncertain impacts from climate change. To date, understanding how downstream supply chain actors, such as commodity traders, are exposed to climate change risks has been difficult due to a lack of high-resolution climate and trade data. However, the recent availability of supply chain data linking subnational production to downstream actors, and gridded projections of crop yield under climate change, allows us to assess individual commodity trader exposure to long-term climate change risk. We apply such an analysis to soy production in Brazil, the world’s largest soy exporter. Whilst uncertainty across crop models’ yield projections means it remains difficult to accurately predict how production across the region will be affected by climate change, we demonstrate that the risk exposure of trading actors differs substantially due to the heterogeneity in their sourcing. Our study offers a first attempt to analyze subnational climate risk to individual trading actors operating across an entire production landscape, leading to more precise risk exposure analysis. With sufficient subnational data, this method can be applied to any crop and country combination, and in the context of wider food security issues, it will be pertinent to apply these methods across other production systems and downstream actors in the food system. Introductio