Insights and Lessons: Community Arts and College Arts - A Report to The Kresge Foundation

This report examines two pilot initiatives, Community Arts and College Arts, launched during the 2008 economic downturn. After the completion of the multiyear initiatives, the Kresge Foundation commissioned a report on the effort. The qualitative analysis offers lessons and insights on the theme of art-based civic dialogue and community revitalization

Vital Signs: Metro Boston's Arts and Cultural Nonprofits 1999 and 2004

Examines four "vital signs," or categories of data, to gauge the health of the area's arts and cultural nonprofit organizations in 1999-2004: a supportive environment, an innovative marketplace, an engaged audience, and the right-sized organization

Parental and Peer Influences on College Students\u27 Relationships with Food, Body Image, and Intuitive Eating Behaviors

Society is flooded with beliefs and knowledge concerning health, diet, and beauty, which all significantly impact people’s relationships with food, eating, body image, and parental and peer relationships. The present study sought to investigate parental and peer influences on college students’ relationships with food, body image, and intuitive eating behaviors by distributing a self-report survey to a sample of 197 undergraduate students at the University of Mississippi. The survey consisted of six demographic questions regarding age/undergraduate classification, gender, geographical region of hometown, relationship status, childhood living arrangements, and current living arrangement to serve as the independent variables. In addition, the survey contained four questionnaires which measured Body Appreciation (BAS-2), Body Image Flexibility and Self-Assessment (BI-AAQ), Parental and Peer Influences, Intuitive Eating Scale (IES-2) to serve as dependent variables. Data were analyzed using Statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Version 27.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp) software. The results of this study revealed that Southern, single individuals (especially women) who live alone are more likely to have negative attitudes and relationships with food, eating behaviors, and body image and/or be influenced by friends’ and peers’ eating behaviors. Findings suggest that lower levels of intuitive eating characteristics and/or higher levels of negative thoughts and attitudes towards food are predictors of negative feelings, thoughts, and attitudes towards one’s body image and a presence or lack of intimate, close relationships with friends and partners

Geography and Giving: The Culture of Philanthropy in New England and the Nation

Looks at aggregate household wealth and income at the national level and for Massachusetts as a state, and analyzes levels of charitable giving in relation to household income

Assessing the Role and Regulatory Impact of Digital Assets in Decentralizing Finance

This project will explore the development of decentralized financial (DeFi) markets since the first introduction of digital assets created through the application of a form of distributed ledger technology (DLT), known as blockchain, in 2008. More specifically, a qualitative inquiry of the role of digital assets in relation to traditional financial markets infrastructure will be conducted in order to answer the following questions: (i) can the digital asset and decentralized financial markets examined in this thesis co-exist with traditional assets and financial markets, and, if so, (ii) are traditional or novel forms of regulation (whether financial or otherwise) needed or desirable for the digital asset and decentralized financial markets examined herein? The aim of this project will be to challenge a preliminary hypothesis that traditional and decentralized finance can be compatible; provided, that governments and other centralized authorities approach market innovations as an opportunity to improve existing monetary infrastructure and delivery of financial services (both in the public and private sector), rather than as an existential threat. Thus, this thesis seeks to establish that, through collaborating with private markets to identify the public good to which DeFi markets contribute, the public sector can foster an appropriate environment which is both promotive and protective of the public interest without unduly stifling innovation and progress

Variability of ethics education in laboratory medicine training programs: Results of an international survey.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Ethical considerations are increasingly important in medicine. We aimed to determine the mode and extent of teaching of ethics in training programs in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine.We developed an on-line survey of teaching in areas of ethics relevant to laboratory medicine. Reponses were invited from directors of training programs who were recruited via email to leaders of national organizations.The survey was completed by 80 directors from 24 countries who directed 113 programs. The largest numbers of respondents directed postdoctoral training of scientists (42%) or physicians (33%), post-masters degree programs (33%), and PhD programs (29%). Most programs (82%) were 2years or longer in duration. Formal training was offered in research ethics by 39%, medical ethics by 31%, professional ethics by 24% and business ethics by 9%. The number of reported hours of formal training varied widely, e.g., from 0 to >15h/year for research ethics and from 0 to >15h for medical ethics. Ethics training was required and/or tested in 75% of programs that offered training. A majority (54%) of respondents reported plans to add or enhance training in ethics; many indicated a desire for online resources related to ethics, especially resources with self-assessment tools.Formal teaching of ethics is absent from many training programs in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine, with heterogeneity in the extent and methods of ethics training among the programs that provide the training. A perceived need exists for online training tools, especially tools with self-assessment components

Uncovering the molecular mechanisms of lignocellulose digestion in shipworms

Abstract Lignocellulose forms the structural framework of woody plant biomass and represents the most abundant carbon source in the biosphere. Turnover of woody biomass is a critical component of the global carbon cycle, and the enzymes involved are of increasing industrial importance as industry moves away from fossil fuels to renewable carbon resources. Shipworms are marine bivalve molluscs that digest wood and play a key role in global carbon cycling by processing plant biomass in the oceans. Previous studies suggest that wood digestion in shipworms is dominated by enzymes produced by endosymbiotic bacteria found in the animal’s gills, while little is known about the identity and function of endogenous enzymes produced by shipworms. Using a combination of meta-transcriptomic, proteomic, imaging and biochemical analyses, we reveal a complex digestive system dominated by uncharacterized enzymes that are secreted by a specialized digestive gland and that accumulate in the cecum, where wood digestion occurs. Using a combination of transcriptomics, proteomics, and microscopy, we show that the digestive proteome of the shipworm Lyrodus pedicellatus is mostly composed of enzymes produced by the animal itself, with a small but significant contribution from symbiotic bacteria. The digestive proteome is dominated by a novel 300 kDa multi-domain glycoside hydrolase that functions in the hydrolysis of β-1,4-glucans, the most abundant polymers in wood. These studies allow an unprecedented level of insight into an unusual and ecologically important process for wood recycling in the marine environment, and open up new biotechnological opportunities in the mobilization of sugars from lignocellulosic biomass

The Influence of Meteorology on the Spread of Influenza: Survival Analysis of an Equine Influenza (A/H3N8) Outbreak

The influences of relative humidity and ambient temperature on the transmission of influenza A viruses have recently been established under controlled laboratory conditions. The interplay of meteorological factors during an actual influenza epidemic is less clear, and research into the contribution of wind to epidemic spread is scarce. By applying geostatistics and survival analysis to data from a large outbreak of equine influenza (A/H3N8), we quantified the association between hazard of infection and air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, and wind velocity, whilst controlling for premises-level covariates. The pattern of disease spread in space and time was described using extraction mapping and instantaneous hazard curves. Meteorological conditions at each premises location were estimated by kriging daily meteorological data and analysed as time-lagged time-varying predictors using generalised Cox regression. Meteorological covariates time-lagged by three days were strongly associated with hazard of influenza infection, corresponding closely with the incubation period of equine influenza. Hazard of equine influenza infection was higher when relative humidity was <60% and lowest on days when daily maximum air temperature was 20–25°C. Wind speeds >30 km hour−1 from the direction of nearby infected premises were associated with increased hazard of infection. Through combining detailed influenza outbreak and meteorological data, we provide empirical evidence for the underlying environmental mechanisms that influenced the local spread of an outbreak of influenza A. Our analysis supports, and extends, the findings of studies into influenza A transmission conducted under laboratory conditions. The relationships described are of direct importance for managing disease risk during influenza outbreaks in horses, and more generally, advance our understanding of the transmission of influenza A viruses under field conditions

STARD 2015: An Updated List of Essential Items for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies.

Incomplete reporting has been identified as a major source of avoidable waste in biomedical research. Essential information is often not provided in study reports, impeding the identification, critical appraisal, and replication of studies. To improve the quality of reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies, the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) statement was developed. Here we present STARD 2015, an updated list of 30 essential items that should be included in every report of a diagnostic accuracy study. This update incorporates recent evidence about sources of bias and variability in diagnostic accuracy and is intended to facilitate the use of STARD. As such, STARD 2015 may help to improve completeness and transparency in reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies