Prevention of MS Requires Intervention on the Causes of the Disease: Reconciling Genes, Epigenetics, and Epstein Barr Virus

Prevention of multiple sclerosis requires intervention on modifiable causes of the condition making it necessary to establish what those causes are. MS is often stated to be a polygenic disease, with causal contributions from environmental factors and gene-environment interactions, implying an additive and independent relationship of these factors. Mechanistically there are no independent contributions of genes or environmental factors to traits. This model is unrealistic but still useful and underlies the concept of heritability, a foundational parameter in population genetics. However, it perpetuates a debate on an irreconcilable dichotomy about whether MS is primarily genetic or environmental. In particular, epidemiological evidence now exists for a causal, possibly even necessary, role for Epstein Barr Virus in MS. The additive model makes it unintuitive to reconcile MS as a genetic disease but also independently a viral illness. In this perspective it is argued that starting from a realistic interaction only model, based on broadly accepted biological premises, and working forward to explain why the classical additive model gives useful results, there is actually no paradox. An integrated approach using population genetic studies, immunology and molecular virology offers a particularly promising route to establish the elusive role of EBV in MS pathology, as EBV is a large and complex virus and its latency, dysregulated in most EBV-related pathologies, is hard to study in vivo. This approach may offer a route to prevention of MS altogether

Writing, Developing, and Publishing Your Aviation Book

As the aviation industry faces a projected shortage of aviation professionals internationally, it is increasingly important to guide and support the next generation on their path towards competence. Part of this support will require skilled teachers and researchers to contribute to aviation education through the publication of their knowledge and expertise within books. A challenge is that, through their educational journey, most aviation academics are taught the process of writing and publishing their research within academic journals. Very little direct guidance on the process, types, and publication venues of books is available. The purpose of this presentation is to outline the different pathways to book publication for aviation academics and educators: vanity publishers, academic monographs (solely authored or edited volumes), and textbooks. Each will be discussed, along with pitfalls to be avoided along the path to publication. In addition, as a significant body of research exists which outlines the features of books that best support student learning and engagement, a discussion of how to develop the structure, flow, and instructional design elements of a high-quality book will be included

A randomised, controlled, double blind, non-inferiority trial of ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block vs. spinal morphine for analgesia after primary hip arthroplasty

We performed a single centre, double blind, randomised, controlled, non-inferiority study comparing ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block with spinal morphine for the primary outcome of 24-h postoperative morphine consumption in patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty under spinal anaesthesia with levobupivacaine. One hundred and eight patients were randomly allocated to receive either ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block with 2 mg.kg−1 levobupivacaine (fascia iliaca group) or spinal morphine 100 μg plus a sham ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block using saline (spinal morphine group). The pre-defined non-inferiority margin was a median difference between the groups of 10 mg in cumulative intravenous morphine use in the first 24 h postoperatively. Patients in the fascia iliaca group received 25 mg more intravenous morphine than patients in the spinal morphine group (95% CI 9.0–30.5 mg, p < 0.001). Ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block was significantly worse than spinal morphine in the provision of analgesia in the first 24 h after total hip arthroplasty. No increase in side-effects was noted in the spinal morphine group but the study was not powered to investigate all secondary outcomes

OER adoption: Moving beyond early adopters and empowering everyone else to use the OER, too

This session will explore Stage 2 of the OER adoption process. If Stage 1 is that joyful moment when you have selected an OER that is on topic and relevant for your students’ learning, then Stage 2 is when you figure out how to actually implement the OER. As partners in creating the New Literacies Alliance (NLA) suite of online tutorials, we have been there and done that. NLA tutorials are freely available under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. We know that the transition between deciding to use an OER and widely incorporating it into classes is a challenge. You tried it. You liked it. And now you want all your colleagues to realize the benefits too. Except, sometimes they don’t seem to feel the love the same way you did. Part of the challenge can be described using the technology adoption curve. The small percentage of early adopters will readily accept and begin using the OER with little support. However, many librarians and course instructors will fall into the majority group - those who need more support. The majority adopt technology and OERs later for a variety of logistical and pedagogical reasons. They are not necessarily opposed to new learning opportunities, but need more support. Additionally, they may not be able to articulate what that support should be, and it can vary from person to person. For instance, one librarian may not be fluent enough in the campus learning management system to know how to embed an OER into an online course. Another librarian may be unsure of how to discuss the learning benefits of an OER with their course faculty. Some librarians may wonder if the OER displaces them from a course. Using examples from NLA, we will share resources we developed or are experimenting with to increase our adoption rate. These will include: Primers (or pre-packaged language) that help librarians discuss the OERs with course instructors. “How to do it” guides to help librarians and course instructors figure out the logistics of inserting OERs into a website, course management system, or classroom environment. Pedagogical approaches for inserting OERs into a course (e.g. online only, blended, in-person). This session will be appropriate for the individual librarian looking for ideas for experimenting with their instruction plan; instruction coordinators or departments heads looking for tips on broadly implementing OERs; and instructional designers and instruction design librarians needing resources to balance the joy of a fabulous OER with the mundanity of implementation. We also welcome those who have successfully implemented OERs past the early adoption phase because we want to steal your ideas

Type II Seesaw Dominance in Non-supersymmetric and Split Susy SO(10) and Proton Life Time

Recently type II seesaw dominance in a supersymmetric SO(10) framework has been found useful in explaining large solar and atmospheric mixing angles as well as larger values of $theta_{13}$ while unifying quark and lepton masses. An important question in these models is whether there exists consistency between coupling unification and type II seesaw dominance. Scenarios where this consistency can be demonstrated have been given in a SUSY framework. In this paper we give examples where type II dominance occurs in SO(10) models without supersymmetry but with additional TeV scale particles and also in models with split-supersummetry. Grand unification is realized in a two-step process via breaking of SO(10) to SU(5) and then to a TeV scale standard model supplemented by extra fields and an SU(5) Higgs multiplet ${15}_H$ at a scale about $10^{12}$ GeV to give type-II seesaw. The predictions for proton lifetime in these models are in the range $\tau_p^0 = 2\times 10^{35}$ yrs. to $\tau_p^0 = 6\times 10^{35}$ yrs.. A number of recent numerical fits to GUT-scale fermion masses can be accommodated within this model.Comment: 7 pages LaTeX, 3 figures, related areas: hep-ex, hep-th, astro-ph; Reference added, typo corrected, version to appear in Physical Review

Empirical Challenges to Studying Terrorism and Homicide

The study of terrorism has bridged multiple scholarly domains. Terrorism is discussed within political science as a form of political violence (Crenshaw 1981) related to civil conflict (Findley and Young 2012) and interstate war (Findley, Piazza, and Young 2012). Terrorism is studied within criminology as a form of criminal violence along with homicide and assault, and under political crime as a form of oppositional action put alongside sedition and treason (J.I. Ross 2006). In scholarly work, it is becoming increasingly more common to see works on terrorism connected to political violence (e.g., Thomas 2014) or political crimes (e.g., Chermak, Freilich, and Suttmoeller 2013), but less so with other forms of crime (e.g., Mullins and Young 2012). How is studying homicide different from studying terrorism? And how is it similar? The term terrorism evokes images of 9/11, the Boston Bombing, or other grizzly attacks committed for an ideological reason. Conversely, the term homicide brings to mind shootings on the streets or in one’s home, generally for personal reasons. At first glance, these two concepts may not appear connected to one another. LaFree and Dugan (2004), for instance, explore the relationship between terrorism and crime, including homicide, and suggest a long list of affinities and differences. While their investigation is theoretical, this chapter provides an empirical approach. We use standard modeling approaches from the homicide and terrorism literatures to predict each outcome cross‐nationally. Potentially surprising to some who feel these are wholly distinct phenomena, we find more similarities than differences between the factors that predict each. In what follows, we discuss the issues with defining, operationalizing, and measuring both terrorism and homicide, and challenges with finding valid and reliable cross‐national data on both. We discuss the cross‐national study of both terrorism and homicide, including their similarities, differences, and what lessons could be learned from the study of other cross‐national forms of political violence. We then use cross‐national data to see if models of homicide can predict terrorist attacks and vice versa. We conclude with a discussion of the replication results, research that blends violence types, and future research directions

Contents Full Article Content List Abstract Introduction How Media Affects Attitudes Media and Law Enforcement Public Perception of and Support for Torture Linking Public Opinion and Policy Experimental Design Participants Results Discussion Future Directions Policy Implications Acknowledgements Notes References Did you struggle to get access to this article? This product could help you Lean Library Figures & Tables Article Metrics Related Articles Cite Share Request Permissions Explore More Download PDF Open EPUB “If Torture Is Wrong, What About 24?” Torture and the Hollywood Effect

Since 9/11, entertainment media has focused on depictions of terrorism and counterterrorism. How do dramatic depictions of counterterrorism practices—specifically torture—affect public opinion and policy? Using a mixed within-subjects and between-subjects experimental design, we examine how framing affects support for torture. Participants (n = 150) were randomly assigned to a condition for dramatic depictions showing torture as (a) effective, (b) ineffective, or (c) not present (control). Participants who saw torture as effective increased their stated support for it. Participants who saw torture—regardless of whether or not it was effective—were more likely to sign a petition on torture. We discuss the policy implications of our findings on how framing affects opinion and action regarding torture

It takes a village: Collaborating to teach new literacies online

Citation: Pitts, J., Kearns, S.K., and Collins, H. "It takes a village: Collaborating to teach new literacies online." Association of College and Research Libraries 2015 National Conference. (2015, Portland, OR). Poster