Native footprints: Photographs and stories written on the land

This essay examines the work of Native photographers and artists and the ways their work addresses the decolonizing practice of the study of visual images, as well as stimulating anomalous and unexpected interpretations. It situates representations from a starting point of power, oppression and hegemony as central components of visual imagery, and also as an opportunity to promote dialogue and encourage new interpretations and narratives. This manner of investigation may function as a way to stimulate what wa Thiong’o has conceptualized as “decolonizing the mind” as it applies to images, and to re-imagine Native life as integral and continuous on this land. The goal is to present a variety of “readings” of photographs that highlight conceptions, interpretations and understandings and grapples with the enduring presence or “footprints” of Native and First Nations Peoples upon the land. Capturing and explicating footprints through images and stories may work to dispel and decolonize notions of the “vanishing Indian”. These social and contextual dimensions consider perspectives that illuminate the land we live on and the footprints we leave, not ones that historicize peoples and events as ongoing stereotypic constructions, but rather as part of an active interpreted present. Examining the work of First Nation/Native visual artists may help to unpack ideas of the hegemonic power of visual imagery that challenges representations through an array of ironic, sardonic and poignant displays

Criminal Law and Procedure

This article aims to give the criminal law practitioner a succinct review of significant cases regarding criminal law and procedure decided by the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court ofAppeals of Virginia during the past year. The authors have focused their discussion of the cases on cogent points found in the holdings. The article also briefly summarizes recent legislative enactments pertaining to criminal law

Regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) differentiation is an essential component of vascular development. These cells perform biosynthetic, proliferative, and contractile roles in the vessel wall. VSMCs are not terminally differentiated and are able to modulate their phenotype in response to changing local environmental cues. There is clear evidence that alterations in the differentiated state of the VSMC play a critical role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and intimal hyperplasia, as well as in a variety of other major human diseases, including hypertension, asthma, and vascular aneurysms. The focus of this review is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of molecular mechanisms involved in controlling phenotypic switching of SMCs, with particular focus on examination of signaling pathway that regulate this process

The effects of actuator selection on non-volitional postural responses to torso-based vibrotactile stimulation

Abstract Background Torso-based vibrotactile feedback may significantly reduce postural sway in balance-compromised adults during quiet standing or in response to perturbations. However, natural non-volitional postural responses to vibrotactile stimulation applied to the torso remain unknown. Methods The primary goal of this study was to determine, for two types of actuators (tactors) and in the absence of instruction, whether vibrotactile stimulation induces a directional postural shift as a function of stimulation location. Eleven healthy young adults (20 – 29 years old) were asked to maintain an upright erect posture with feet hip-width apart and eyes closed. Two types of tactors, Tactaid and C2, which differ in design and stimulation strength, were placed on the skin over the right and left external oblique, internal oblique, and erector spinae muscles in a horizontal plane corresponding approximately to the L4/L5 level. Each tactor of the same type was activated twice randomly for each individual location and twice simultaneously for all locations at a frequency of 250 Hz for a period of 5 s. Results Vibration applied over the internal oblique and erector spinae muscle locations induced a postural shift in the direction of the stimulation regardless of the tactor type. For the aforementioned four locations, the root-mean-square (RMS) and power spectral density (PSD) of the body sway in both the A/P and M/L directions were also significantly greater during the vibration than before or after, and were greater for the C2 tactors than for the Tactaid tactors. However, simultaneous activation of all tactors or those over the external oblique muscle locations did not produce significant postural responses regardless of the tactor type. Conclusion The results suggest that the use of a torso-based vibrotactile sensory augmentation display should carefully consider the tactor type as well as the instruction of corrective movements. Attractive instructional cues (“move in the direction of the vibration”) are compatible with the observed non-volitional response to stimulation and may facilitate postural adjustments during vibrotactile biofeedback balance applications.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112652/1/12984_2012_Article_451.pd

Patient-reported outcomes and therapeutic affordances of social media findings from a global online survey of people with chronic pain

BACKGROUND: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from social media use in chronic disease management continue to emerge. While many published articles suggest the potential for social media is positive, there is a lack of robust examination into mediating mechanisms that might help explain social media’s therapeutic value. This study presents findings from a global online survey of people with chronic pain (PWCP) to better understand how they use social media as part of self-management. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to improve understanding of the various health outcomes reported by PWCP by paying close attention to therapeutic affordances of social media. We wish to examine if demographics of participants underpin health outcomes and whether the concept of therapeutic affordances explains links between social media use and PROs. The goal is for this to help tailor future recommendations for use of social media to meet individuals’ health needs and improve clinical practice of social media use. METHODS: A total of 231 PWCP took part in a global online survey investigating PROs from social media use. Recruited through various chronic disease entities and social networks, participants provided information on demographics, health/pain status, social media use, therapeutic affordances, and PROs from use. Quantitative analysis was performed on the data using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and cluster analysis. RESULTS: The total dataset represented 218 completed surveys. The majority of participants were university educated (67.0%, 146/218) and female (83.9%, 183/218). More than half (58.7%, 128/218) were married/partnered and not working for pay (75.9%, 88/116 of these due to ill health). Fibromyalgia (46.6%, 55/118) and arthritis (27.1%, 32/118) were the most commonly reported conditions causing pain. Participants showed a clear affinity for social network site use (90.0%, 189/210), followed by discussion forums and blogs. PROs were consistent, suggesting that social media positively impact psychological, social, and cognitive health. Analysis also highlighted two strong correlations linking platform used and health outcomes (particularly psychological, social, and cognitive) to (1) the narrative affordance of social media and (2) frequency of use of the platforms. CONCLUSIONS: Results did not uncover definitive demographics or characteristics of PWCP for which health outcomes are impacted. However, findings corroborate literature within this domain suggesting that there is a typical profile of people who use social media for health and that social media are more suited to particular health outcomes. Exploration of the relationship between social media’s therapeutic affordances and health outcomes, in particular the narration affordance, warrants further attention by patients and clinicians

A Firefly-inspired method for protein structure prediction in lattice models

We introduce a Firefly-inspired algorithmic approach for protein structure prediction over two different lattice models in three-dimensional space. In particular, we consider three-dimensional cubic and three-dimensional face-centred-cubic (FCC) lattices. The underlying energy models are the Hydrophobic-Polar (H-P) model, the Miyazawa–Jernigan (M-J) model and a related matrix model. The implementation of our approach is tested on ten H-P benchmark problems of a length of 48 and ten M-J benchmark problems of a length ranging from 48 until 61. The key complexity parameter we investigate is the total number of objective function valuations required to achieve the optimum energy values for the H-P model or competitive results in comparison to published values for the M-J model. For H-P instances and cubic lattices, where data for comparison are available, we obtain an average speed-up over eight instances of 2.1, leaving out two extreme values (otherwise, 8.8). For six M-J instances, data for comparison are available for cubic lattices and runs with a population size of 100, where, a priori, the minimum free energy is a termination criterion. The average speed-up over four instances is 1.2 (leaving out two extreme values, otherwise 1.1), which is achieved for a population size of only eight instances. The present study is a test case with initial results for ad hoc parameter settings, with the aim of justifying future research on larger instances within lattice model settings, eventually leading to the ultimate goal of implementations for off-lattice models

Kinetic mechanism of ornithine hydroxylase (PvdA) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa: substrate triggering of O2 addition but not flavin reduction

This publication was made possible by NIH Grant P20 RR-17708-05 from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health. K.M.M. was a recipient of a National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Training Grant Fellowship (GM08545).PvdA catalyzes the hydroxylation of the sidechain primary amine of ornithine in the initial step of the biosynthesis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa siderophore pyoverdin. The reaction requires FAD, NADPH, and O2. PvdA uses the same co-substrates as several flavin-dependent hydroxylases that differ one from another in the kinetic mechanisms of their oxidative and reductive half-reactions. Therefore, the mechanism of PvdA was determined by absorption stopped-flow experiments. By contrast to some flavin-dependent hydroxylases (notably, p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase), binding of the hydroxylation target is not required to trigger reduction of the flavin by NADPH: the reductive half-reaction is equally facile in the presence and absence of ornithine. Reaction of O2 with FADH2 in the oxidative half-reaction is accelerated by ornithine 80-fold, providing a mechanism by which PvdA can ensure coupling of NADPH and ornithine oxidation. In the presence of ornithine, the expected C(4a)-hydroperoxyflavin intermediate with 390-nm absorption accumulates and decays to the C(4a)-hydroxyflavin in a kinetically competent fashion. The slower oxidative half-reaction that occurs in the absence of ornithine involves accumulation of an oxygenated flavin species and two subsequent states that are tentatively assigned as C(4a)-peroxy- and -hydroperoxyflavin intermediates and the oxidized flavin. The enzyme generates stoichiometric hydrogen peroxide in lieu of hydroxyornithine. The data suggest that PvdA employs a kinetic mechanism that is a hybrid of those previously documented for other flavin-dependent hydroxylases

Associations between Advanced Cancer Patients\u27 Survival and Family Caregiver Presence and Burden

We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an early palliative care intervention (ENABLE: Educate, Nurture, Advise, Before Life Ends) for persons with advanced cancer and their family caregivers. Not all patient participants had a caregiver coparticipant; hence, we explored whether there were relation- ships between patient survival, having an enrolled caregiver, and caregiver out- comes prior to death. One hundred and twenty-three patient-caregiver dyads and 84 patients without a caregiver coparticipant participated in the ENABLE early versus delayed (12 weeks later) RCT. We collected caregiver quality-of-life (QOL), depression, and burden (objective, stress, and demand) measures every 6 weeks for 24 weeks and every 3 months thereafter until the patient’s death or study completion. We conducted survival analyses using log-rank and Cox proportional hazards models. Patients with a caregiver coparticipant had sig- nificantly shorter survival (Wald = 4.31, HR = 1.52, CI: 1.02–2.25, P = 0.04). After including caregiver status, marital status (married/unmarried), their interaction, and relevant covariates, caregiver status (Wald = 6.25, HR = 2.62, CI: 1.23–5.59, P = 0.01), being married (Wald = 8.79, HR = 2.92, CI: 1.44–5.91, P = 0.003), and their interaction (Wald = 5.18, HR = 0.35, CI: 0.14–0.87, P = 0.02) were significant predictors of lower patient survival. Lower survival in patients with a caregiver was significantly related to higher caregiver demand burden (Wald = 4.87, CI: 1.01–1.20, P = 0.03) but not caregiver QOL, depres- sion, and objective and stress burden. Advanced cancer patients with caregivers enrolled in a clinical trial had lower survival than patients without caregivers; however, this mortality risk was mostly attributable to higher survival by unmarried patients without caregivers. Higher caregiver demand burden was also associated with decreased patient survival