Baker Center Journal of Applied Public Policy, Vol. I No. I

Welcome to the first issue of the Baker Center Journal of Applied Public Policy. Throughout my many years of service, I always have been impressed with the tremendous good that can be accomplished through the creation and implementation of sound public policy. I hope that, along the way, I have contributed to the body of policies that help our nation function in a strong, effective, compassionate, and prosperous fashion. As we launch this new Journal, under the auspices of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennnnessee, I wanted to briefly expand on some of the reasons I believe that this journal is necessary and why I believe that research on public policy is so vitally important. This Journal aims to discuss applied public policy. The goal is not to engage in theoretical discussions, though I believe those are important. Instead, we hope that the Baker Journal will focus on the most current issues that directly affect our nation and our world on the operational, or mechanical level. We intend to engage a wide variety of contributors. Scholars, of course, will be asked to write on critical topics of research. We also aim to include contributions from those who draft, approve and execute public policy at the local, state, and national levels. Additionally, at least one article in each issue will be reserved for the work of a university-level student. Our approach is varied, and I know that the result will be an intellectually sound and extraordinarily interesting presentation of experiences and ideas.I am especially pleased that so many University of Tennnnessee students are involved in the formulation and operation of the Journal. Our editorial board is comprised of some of the University of Tennnnessee’s most promising undergraduate, graduate, and law school students. With dedicated assistance and oversight from faculty and from the Baker Center, this board of extraordinarily intelligent and committed students has worked very hard to make this Journal a reality. The Center has also formed a national advisory panel for the Journal. I am a member of that panel, and I must note that I am grateful for the involvement and support of my colleagues who have agreed to serve with me: Ms. Emily Reynolds, former Secretary of the United States Senate; Congressman Bob Clement, former Tennnnessee Congressman; Mr. Glennnn Reynolds, noted author and professor of law at the University of Tennnnessee; Dr. Joseph Cooper, an accomplished professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University; and Mr. John Seigenthaler, distinguished journalist and founder and director of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. I believe it is critical that we think deeply about the issues that are confronting us today. Our representative system of governance is based on an informed citizenry and informed public servants. From international issues such as the war on terror and energy challenges to more local but equally important topics such as sustainable development and education, we must commit ourselves to understanding all challenges free of partisan rhetoric. Only then can we confront them together. It is my hope that this Journal will add to that understanding and will speak to many audiences. From the classroom to the boardroom, from city hall to the halls of our legislatures, I believe the work put forward in our journal will be useful for everyone who wants to be informed and engaged. It is an exciting undertaking, and I thank you for your support

Floquet-Markov description of the parametrically driven, dissipative harmonic quantum oscillator

Using the parametrically driven harmonic oscillator as a working example, we study two different Markovian approaches to the quantum dynamics of a periodically driven system with dissipation. In the simpler approach, the driving enters the master equation for the reduced density operator only in the Hamiltonian term. An improved master equation is achieved by treating the entire driven system within the Floquet formalism and coupling it to the reservoir as a whole. The different ensuing evolution equations are compared in various representations, particularly as Fokker-Planck equations for the Wigner function. On all levels of approximation, these evolution equations retain the periodicity of the driving, so that their solutions have Floquet form and represent eigenfunctions of a non-unitary propagator over a single period of the driving. We discuss asymptotic states in the long-time limit as well as the conservative and the high-temperature limits. Numerical results obtained within the different Markov approximations are compared with the exact path-integral solution. The application of the improved Floquet-Markov scheme becomes increasingly important when considering stronger driving and lower temperatures.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figure

Epidemiology of fractures and their treatment in Malawi: Results of a multicentre prospective registry study to guide orthopaedic care planning

IMPORTANCE: Injuries cause 30% more deaths than HIV, TB and malaria combined, and a prospective fracture care registry was established to investigate the fracture burden and treatment in Malawi to inform evidence-based improvements. OBJECTIVE: To use the analysis of prospectively-collected fracture data to develop evidence-based strategies to improve fracture care in Malawi and other similar settings. DESIGN: Multicentre prospective registry study. SETTING: Two large referral centres and two district hospitals in Malawi. PARTICIPANTS: All patients with a fracture (confirmed by radiographs)—including patients with multiple fractures—were eligible to be included in the registry. EXPOSURE: All fractures that presented to two urban central and two rural district hospitals in Malawi over a 3.5-year period (September 2016 to March 2020). MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASURE(S): Demographics, characteristics of injuries, and treatment outcomes were collected on all eligible participants. RESULTS: Between September 2016 and March 2020, 23,734 patients were enrolled with a median age of 15 years (interquartile range: 10–35 years); 68.7% were male. The most common injuries were radius/ulna fractures (n = 8,682, 36.8%), tibia/fibula fractures (n = 4,036, 17.0%), humerus fractures (n = 3,527, 14.9%) and femoral fractures (n = 2,355, 9.9%). The majority of fractures (n = 21,729, 91.6%) were treated by orthopaedic clinical officers; 88% (20,885/2,849) of fractures were treated non-operatively, and 62.7% were treated and sent home on the same day. Open fractures (OR:53.19, CI:39.68–72.09), distal femoral fractures (OR:2.59, CI:1.78–3.78), patella (OR:10.31, CI:7.04–15.07), supracondylar humeral fractures (OR:3.10, CI:2.38–4.05), ankle fractures (OR:2.97, CI:2.26–3.92) and tibial plateau fractures (OR:2.08, CI:1.47–2.95) were more likely to be treated operatively compared to distal radius fractures. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The current model of fracture care in Malawi is such that trained orthopaedic surgeons manage fractures operatively in urban referral centres whereas orthopaedic clinical officers mainly manage fractures non-operatively in both district and referral centres. We recommend that orthopaedic surgeons should supervise orthopaedic clinical officers to manage non operative injuries in central and district hospitals. There is need for further studies to assess the clinical and patient reported outcomes of these fracture cases, managed both operatively and non-operatively

The Typical Flight Performance of Blowflies: Measuring the Normal Performance Envelope of Calliphora vicina Using a Novel Corner-Cube Arena

Despite a wealth of evidence demonstrating extraordinary maximal performance, little is known about the routine flight performance of insects. We present a set of techniques for benchmarking performance characteristics of insects in free flight, demonstrated using a model species, and comment on the significance of the performance observed. Free-flying blowflies (Calliphora vicina) were filmed inside a novel mirrored arena comprising a large (1.6 m1.6 m1.6 m) corner-cube reflector using a single high-speed digital video camera (250 or 500 fps). This arrangement permitted accurate reconstruction of the flies' 3-dimensional trajectories without the need for synchronisation hardware, by virtue of the multiple reflections of a subject within the arena. Image sequences were analysed using custom-written automated tracking software, and processed using a self-calibrating bundle adjustment procedure to determine the subject's instantaneous 3-dimensional position. We illustrate our method by using these trajectory data to benchmark the routine flight performance envelope of our flies. Flight speeds were most commonly observed between 1.2 ms−1 and 2.3 ms−1, with a maximum of 2.5 ms−1. Our flies tended to dive faster than they climbed, with a maximum descent rate (−2.4 ms−1) almost double the maximum climb rate (1.2 ms−1). Modal turn rate was around 240°s−1, with maximal rates in excess of 1700°s−1. We used the maximal flight performance we observed during normal flight to construct notional physical limits on the blowfly flight envelope, and used the distribution of observations within that notional envelope to postulate behavioural preferences or physiological and anatomical constraints. The flight trajectories we recorded were never steady: rather they were constantly accelerating or decelerating, with maximum tangential accelerations and maximum centripetal accelerations on the order of 3 g

I-TRAP: A method to identify transcriptional regulator activated promoters

BACKGROUND: The differential expression of virulence genes is often used by microbial pathogens in adapting to the environment of their host. The differential expression of such sets of genes can be regulated by RNA polymerase sigma factors. Some sigma factors are differentially expressed, which can provide a means to identifying other differentially expressed genes such as those whose expression are controlled by the sigma factor. METHODS: To identify sigma factor-regulated genes, we developed a method, termed I-TRAP, for the identification of transcriptional regulator activated promoters. The I-TRAP method is based on the fact that some genes will be differentially expressed in the presence and absence of a transcriptional regulator. I-TRAP uses a DNA library in a promoter-trap vector that contains two reporter genes, one to allow the selection of active promoters in the presence of the transcriptional regulator and a second to allow screening for promoter activity in the absence of the transcriptional regulator. RESULTS: To illustrate the development and use of the I-TRAP approach, the construction of the vectors, host strains, and library necessary to identify SigmaE-regulated genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is described. CONCLUSION: The I-TRAP method should be a versatile and useful method for identifying and characterizing promoter activity under a variety of conditions and in response to various regulatory proteins. In our study, we isolated 360 clones that may contain plasmids carrying SigmaE-regulated promoters genes of M. tuberculosis

Macrophage-derived human resistin is induced in multiple helminth infections and promotes inflammatory monocytes and increased parasite burden.

Parasitic helminth infections can be associated with lifelong morbidity such as immune-mediated organ failure. A better understanding of the host immune response to helminths could provide new avenues to promote parasite clearance and/or alleviate infection-associated morbidity. Murine resistin-like molecules (RELM) exhibit pleiotropic functions following helminth infection including modulating the host immune response; however, the relevance of human RELM proteins in helminth infection is unknown. To examine the function of human resistin (hResistin), we utilized transgenic mice expressing the human resistin gene (hRetnTg+). Following infection with the helminth Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Nb), hResistin expression was significantly upregulated in infected tissue. Compared to control hRetnTg- mice, hRetnTg+ mice suffered from exacerbated Nb-induced inflammation characterized by weight loss and increased infiltration of inflammatory monocytes in the lung, along with elevated Nb egg burdens and delayed parasite expulsion. Genome-wide transcriptional profiling of the infected tissue revealed that hResistin promoted expression of proinflammatory cytokines and genes downstream of toll-like receptor signaling. Moreover, hResistin preferentially bound lung monocytes, and exogenous treatment of mice with recombinant hResistin promoted monocyte recruitment and proinflammatory cytokine expression. In human studies, increased serum resistin was associated with higher parasite load in individuals infected with soil-transmitted helminths or filarial nematode Wuchereria bancrofti, and was positively correlated with proinflammatory cytokines. Together, these studies identify human resistin as a detrimental factor induced by multiple helminth infections, where it promotes proinflammatory cytokines and impedes parasite clearance. Targeting the resistin/proinflammatory cytokine immune axis may provide new diagnostic or treatment strategies for helminth infection and associated immune-mediated pathology

Ovine pedomics : the first study of the ovine foot 16S rRNA-based microbiome

We report the first study of the bacterial microbiome of ovine interdigital skin based on 16S rRNA by pyrosequencing and conventional cloning with Sanger-sequencing. Three flocks were selected, one a flock with no signs of footrot or interdigital dermatitis, a second flock with interdigital dermatitis alone and a third flock with both interdigital dermatitis and footrot. The sheep were classified as having either healthy interdigital skin (H), interdigital dermatitis (ID) or virulent footrot (VFR). The ovine interdigital skin bacterial community varied significantly by flock and clinical condition. The diversity and richness of operational taxonomic units was greater in tissue from sheep with ID than H or VFR affected sheep. Actinobacteria, Bacteriodetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the most abundant phyla comprising 25 genera. Peptostreptococcus, Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus were associated with H, ID and VFR respectively. Sequences of Dichelobacter nodosus, the causal agent of ovine footrot, were not amplified due to mismatches in the 16S rRNA universal forward primer (27F). A specific real time PCR assay was used to demonstrate the presence of D. nodosus which was detected in all samples including the flock with no signs of ID or VFR. Sheep with ID had significantly higher numbers of D. nodosus (104-109 cells/g tissue) than those with H or VFR feet