bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Groundbreaking Contributions to Downburst Monitoring, Modeling, and Detection
Authors: Burlando Massimiliano , Romanic Djordje
Published: September 2020

Severe winds produced by thunderstorm outflows cause damage to structures and properties worldwide. Due to their high frequency of occurrence, these winds can be considered one of the most high-risk phenomena in the plethora of the dangerous manifestations of the weather in the troposphere. Through the analysis of experimental data that initiated with visual observations and followed with quantitative measurements, the downburst phenomenon was first discovered and measured in the second half of the last century. Since then, the physical processes responsible for downburst formation have been identified thanks to the advances in observing systems, numerical modeling techniques, as well as smaller scale physical experiments carried out under well-controlled and confined conditions. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize what has been learned about kinematics, dynamics, and thermodynamics of downbursts and unveil the physics behind this phenomenon, running through the most relevant discoveries over the last half century in this research field.
Characteristics of Downslope Wind Storms in the View of the Typical Atmospheric Boundary Layer
Authors: Kozmar Hrvoje , Grisogono Branko
Published: September 2020

There is a clear need to learn more about the exact characteristics of downslope wind storms in order to accurately address relevant topics in environmental aerodynamics and wind engineering. In particular, the characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer are well known and provided in international standards and textbooks; however, further work is required to elucidate characteristics of downslope wind storms and make these characteristics available in a form suitable for engineering applications. While downslope wind storms have been successfully addressed in the meteorology, climatology, and geophysics communities, the focus of those groups is quite different from the focus in wind engineering; that is, the existing data on characteristics of downslope wind storms are of marginal relevance for engineering applications. It is therefore the scope of this chapter to provide a critical review of the state of the art on characteristics of those local and unique winds in comparison with the typical atmospheric boundary layer. It is expected that this work will encourage a more detailed codification of those winds. Another important goal is to enhance an interdisciplinary collaboration among the meteorology, geophysics, and engineering communities because it is shown in this chapter that the current wind engineering standards do not entirely keep up with the atmospheric physics of downslope wind storms.
RNA Modifications in the Central Nervous System
Authors: Wang Dan Ohtan
Published: September 2020

Epitranscriptomics, a recently emerged field to investigate post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression through enzyme-mediated RNA modifications, is rapidly evolving and integrating with neuroscience. Using a rich repertoire of modified nucleosides and strategically positioning them to the functionally important and evolutionarily conserved regions of the RNA, epitranscriptomics dictates RNA-mediated cell function. The new field is quickly changing our view of the genetic geography in the brain during development and plasticity, impacting major functions from cortical neurogenesis, circadian rhythm, learning and memory, to reward, addiction, stress, stroke, and spinal injury, etc. Thus understanding the molecular components and operational rules of this pathway is becoming a key for us to decipher the genetic code for brain development, function, and disease. What RNA modifications are expressed in the brain? What RNAs carry them and rely on them for function? Are they dynamically regulated? How are they regulated and how do they contribute to gene expression regulation and brain function? This chapter summarizes recent advances that are beginning to answer these questions.
Multiple Roles of RNA Regulatory Factors in Neuronal Development and Function in C. elegans
Authors: Andrusiak Matthew G. , Jin Yishi
Published: September 2020

Recent evidence has highlighted the dynamic nature of mRNA regulation, particularly in the nervous system, from complex pre-mRNA processing to long-range transport and long-term storage of mature mRNAs. In accordance with the importance for mRNA-mediated regulation of nervous system development and maintenance, various mutations in RNA-binding proteins are associated with a range of human disorders. C. elegans express many RNA-binding factors that have human orthologs and perform similar biochemical functions. This chapter focuses on the research using C. elegans to dissect molecular mechanisms involving mRNA-mediated pathways. It highlights the key approaches and findings that integrate genetic and genomic studies in the nervous system. The analyses of genetic mutants, primarily using forward genetics, offer functional insights for genes important for neuronal development, synaptic transmission, and neuronal repair. In combination with single-neuron cell biology and cell-type genomics, the knowledge learned from this model organism has continued to lead to ground-breaking discoveries.
Duoethnography: A Polytheoretical Approach to (Re)Storing, (Re)Storying the Meanings That One Gives
Authors: Norris John Joseph , Sawyer Richard D.
Published: September 2020

This chapter summarizes the advancement of duoethnography throughout its fifteen-year history, employing examples from a variety of topics in education and social justice to provide a wide range of approaches that one may take when conducting a duoethnography. A checklist articulates what its cofounders consider the core elements of duoethnographies, additional features that may or may not be employed and how some studies purporting to be duoethnographies may not be so. The chapter indicates connections between duoethnography and a number of methodological concepts including the third space, the problematics of representation, feminist inquiry, and critical theory using published examples by several duoethnographers.
Historical Overview of Qualitative Research in the Social Sciences
Authors: Brinkmann Svend , Jacobsen Michael Hviid , Kristiansen Søren
Published: September 2020

Qualitative research does not represent a monolithic, agreed-on approach to research but is a vibrant and contested field with many contradictions and different perspectives. To respect the multivoicedness of qualitative research, this chapter will approach its history in the plural—as a variety of histories. The chapter will work polyvocally and focus on six histories of qualitative research, which are sometimes overlapping, sometimes in conflict, and sometimes even incommensurable. They can be considered articulations of different discourses about the history of the field, which compete for researchers’ attention. The six histories are: (a) the conceptual history of qualitative research, (b) the internal history of qualitative research, (c) the marginalizing history of qualitative research, (d) the repressed history of qualitative research, (e) the social history of qualitative research, and (f) the technological history of qualitative research.
Practicing Narrative Inquiry II
Authors: Bochner Arthur P. , Herrmann Andrew F.
Published: September 2020

Narrative inquiry provides an opportunity to humanize the human sciences, placing people, meaning, and personal identity at the center of research, inviting the development of reflexive, relational, dialogic, and interpretive methodologies, and drawing attention to the need to focus not only on the actual but also on the possible and the good. In this chapter, we focus on the intellectual, existential, empirical, and pragmatic development of the turn toward narrative. We trace the rise of narrative inquiry as it evolved in the aftermath of the crisis of representation in the social sciences. The chapter synthesizes the changing methodological orientations of qualitative researchers associated with narrative inquiry as well as their ethical commitments. In the second half of the chapter, our focus shifts to the divergent standpoints of small-story and big-story researchers; the differences between narrative analysis and narratives under analysis; and narrative practices that seek to help people form better relationships, overcome oppressive canonical identities, amplify or reclaim moral agency, and cope better with contingencies and difficulties experienced over the life course. We anticipate that narrative inquiry will continue to situate itself within an intermediate zone between art and science, healing and research, self and others, subjectivity and objectivity, and theories and stories.
Ethnography
Authors: Harrison Anthony Kwame
Published: September 2020

This chapter introduces ethnography as a distinct research and writing tradition. It opens with a discussion of ethnography’s current fashionability within transdisciplinary academic spaces and some of the associated challenges. The next section provides a historical overview of ethnography’s emergence as a professionalized research practice within the fields of anthropology and sociology. Focusing on ethnography as a research methodology, the chapter outlines several key attributes that distinguish it from other forms of participant observation–oriented research; provides a general overview of the central paradigms that ethnographers claim and/or move between; and spotlights three principal research methods that most ethnographers utilize—namely, participant observation, field-note writing, and ethnographic interviewing. The final section of the chapter introduces a research disposition called ethnographic comportment, defined as a politics of positionality that reflects both ethnographers’ awarenesses of and their accountabilities to the research tradition they participate in.
Oral History Interviewing with Purpose and Critical Awareness
Authors: Janesick Valerie J.
Published: September 2020

Oral history interviewing is a viable qualitative research orientation for many qualitative researchers in various disciplines. Oral history is the collection of stories, statements, and reminiscences of a person or persons who have firsthand knowledge of any number of experiences. It offers qualitative researchers a way to capture the lived experiences of participants. The techniques of oral history are those of the qualitative researcher, including interviews, document analysis, photographs, and video. The current digital era offers many opportunities to address critical issues and possibilities for the oral historian as qualitative researcher. Major issues that emerge are those of understanding the purpose of power structures in participants’ lives, arts-based approaches to oral history aware of transdisciplinarity, and developing critical consciousness or awareness of one’s place in societal structures. Possibilities are endless in terms of using digital techniques and arts-based techniques for data presentation, data analysis, and dissemination. The power of oral history is the power of storytelling. By using current technology and working in a transdisciplinary context, oral history may now be more readily accessible and available to a wider population, thus moving toward a critical social consciousness.
Content Analysis
Authors: Prior Lindsay
Published: September 2020

In this chapter, the focus is on ways in which content analysis can be used to investigate and describe interview and textual data. The chapter opens with a contextualization of the method and then proceeds to an examination of the role of content analysis in relation to both quantitative and qualitative modes of social research. Following the introductory sections, four kinds of data are subjected to content analysis. These include data derived from a sample of qualitative interviews (N = 54), textual data derived from a sample of health policy documents (N = 6), data derived from a single interview relating to a “case” of traumatic brain injury, and data gathered from fifty-four abstracts of academic papers on the topic of “well-being.” Using a distinctive and somewhat novel style of content analysis that calls on the notion of semantic networks, the chapter shows how the method can be used either independently or in conjunction with other forms of inquiry (including various styles of discourse analysis) to analyze data and also how it can be used to verify and underpin claims that arise from analysis. The chapter ends with an overview of the different ways in which the study of “content”—especially the study of document content—can be positioned in social scientific research projects.
Lifelong Learning
Authors: London Manuel
Published: September 2020

This chapter examines the scope of the field of lifelong learning, covering definitions, environmental pressures, principal theories of development and learning, and environmental resources and structures that support lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is a dynamic process that varies depending on individual skills and motivation for self-regulated, generative learning and life events that impose challenges that sometimes demand incremental/adaptive change and at other times require frame-breaking change and transformational learning. This can occur at any stage of life and can be related to career and nonwork experiences and goals. The chapter previews the major sections of this handbook, including theoretical perspectives, organizational programs and support for lifelong learning, learning technologies, international perspectives, emerging issues and challenges, and future perspectives.
Robert Nozick,Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Authors: Schmidtz David
Published: September 2020

Anarchy, State, and Utopia is arguably the twentieth century’s most influential work of political philosophy after Rawls’s Theory of Justice. It substantially responds to Rawls, despite ranging over many topics. The Experience Machine, discussed in Part I, engagingly articulates Nozick’s discomfort with utilitarianism, and with Rawls’s way of modeling separate personhood. That is, Rawls depicts bargainers as separate consumers, entitled to separate shares, while dismissing the separateness of what they do as arbitrary. Part II continues to pound on the incongruousness of respecting our separateness as consumers (see his discussions of distributing grades and mates) while implicitly denigrating and even denying our separateness as producers. Part III argues that true utopia would not impose a favored vision of utopia while silencing incompatible rivals. It would instead be a cooperative society for mutual advantage, premised on everyone coming to the table with a robust right to say no to unattractive offers.
Aesthetic Responses to the Characters, Plots, Worlds, and Style of Stories
Authors: Maslej Marta M. , Quinlan Joshua A. , Mar Raymond A.
Published: September 2020

This chapter reviews empirical research on aesthetic responses to stories, organizing our review around characters, plots, worlds or setting, and stylistic choices. We begin by outlining various responses to characters and how they influence us. Next, we discuss emotional, cognitive, and physiological reactions to plot events. We also touch on the confusing appeal of stories that elicit negative emotions, suggesting that they inspire insight. Next, we focus on the worlds in which stories take place, outlining how engagement in story worlds affects enjoyment and story-related beliefs. We also review our tendencies to revisit narrative worlds, and how different worlds map onto different genres. Finally, we discuss how characters, plots, and settings can be portrayed in different ways, based on stylistic choices. We explain how adopting a unique style of presenting stories captures attention and invites reflection and engagement. Lastly, we discuss future challenges and goals facing this field.
The Influence of Personality on Aesthetic Preferences
Authors: Swami Viren , Furnham Adrian
Published: September 2020

It is now widely agreed that, alongside stimulus and situational factors, person-centered factors can provide a fuller understanding of aesthetic preferences and experiences. Such person-centered factors are wide-ranging, but in this chapter we present an overview of the influence of personality on aesthetic preferences. In particular, we focus on Eysenck’s early studies on the K factor (which distinguishes between preferences for complex versus simple art forms) and more recent studies indicating that the Big Five personality facet of openness to experience is a core component of what has been described as an “artistic personality,” at least in terms of the visual arts. However, we highlight limiting issues with this research, such as the lack of focus on potentially mediating variables. Later in this chapter, we review the evidence of associations between the Big Five personality facets and nonvisual artistic preferences, i.e., related to musical preferences, reading preferences, and film and television preferences. To conclude, we assess the major challenges facing differential psychologists studying aesthetics and present some suggestions for future research directions.
The Scottish Conservative Party
Authors: Convery Alan
Published: September 2020

The relative autonomy of the Scottish Conservative Party within the British Conservative Party can be traced to its beginnings as a separate entity that only merged with the UK party in the 1960s. The decline of the Scottish Conservatives since the high point of 1955 has been striking and was at its most marked during the Conservative Governments (1979–1997) when Margaret Thatcher became a potent symbol of a foreign Englishness. Scottish conservatism and, especially, Unionism is ideologically flexible, but it took its cue from the economically liberal direction of the British Conservative Party at the end of the twentieth century. Attitudes towards devolution have in general caused much more discord than its approach to economic policy. These debates pose fundamental questions about the Union and became intertwined in the 1990s with issues of Scottish distinctiveness and identity in a manner that was damaging for the Conservatives. The Scottish Conservatives’ recent revival under Ruth Davidson’s leadership poses the question of how far the party has changed its policies and approach since 1997.
The Scottish Parliament
Authors: Denny Emily St
Published: September 2020

Advocates of Scottish devolution believed that it would usher in a new era of governance, one which would contrast starkly with the putatively antiquated centralism and adversarial politics associated with ‘Old’ Westminster practices. Electing representatives with the power to design ‘Scotland-specific’ policies was also intended to reinvigorate political participation and renew the public’s faith in institutions, helping to redress a perceived ‘democratic deficit’. The new Parliament was placed at the heart of this vision of a ‘new Scottish politics’. Since 1999, the Scottish Parliament has met some, but not all, of the public and policymakers’ original expectations. This chapter presents a critical introduction to the Scottish Parliament as a now-mature legislature, by retracing and assessing its historical and operational development.
The Politics of Scotland’s Public Finances
Authors: Heald David
Published: September 2020

Politics and fiscal mechanics play interwoven roles in the public finances of devolved Scotland. Asymmetric devolution, in the context of divergent economic performance and relative population size and growth rates, has contributed to the longevity of the Barnett formula. Though criticized for either overfunding or underfunding Scotland, its resilience stems from its role as political convention in reducing overt conflict, and from maintaining the expenditure autonomy of the Scottish Parliament. The low level of self-financing from devolved taxes stimulated allegations that the Parliament lacked accountability and fiscal responsibility. Extended taxation powers advanced through the cautious Calman Commission to the rushed Smith Commission, and were driven by imperatives for a ‘counter-offer’ after the 2014 Independence Referendum. The early operation of the 2016 Scottish Fiscal Framework and the divergence of UK and Scottish income tax rates highlights the practical issues of devolved tax policy in the context of UK fiscal centralization. These developments have been driven by changes in Scottish political circumstances rather than by changes in fiscal fundamentals.
The Scottish Union in Historic Perspective
Authors: Jackson Alvin
Published: September 2020

The union between Scotland and England in 1707 was forged out of political necessity at the time with next to no recourse about how it would maintain itself in the future. Indeed, the union that came to be was but one of a number of potential ‘imagined’ unions underpinned by different political, dynastic, and religious philosophies. This chapter examines the union in historic terms, assessing the reasons that brought it into being, the structure of the union and the profound impact later union with Ireland had on the 1707 settlement, and the reasons why the union has endured. The chapter concludes by assessing the state of the union today and outlining the reasons why its continued existence is more unsure than it has ever been.
Women, Gender, and Politics in Scotland
Authors: Kenny Meryl , Mackay Fiona
Published: September 2020

What progress has been made for women’s representation and gender equality in post-devolution Scotland? Scottish devolution opened up new institutional, political, and discursive spaces for actors to gender mainstream debates and shape broader processes of institutional and constitutional restructuring. Yet, whilst in many respects Scotland has been a successful case of feminist constitutional activism, there have also been setbacks, reversals, and stagnation in both the descriptive and substantive representation of women. This chapter explores these dynamics through several key dimensions of representation and power over time, focusing on opportunities for change, but also highlighting underlying continuities and resistances. We conclude by reflecting on the uneven progress made for women as political actors and for gender as an issue in post-devolution Scottish politics.
Chaucer as Image-Maker
Authors: Despres Denise
Published: September 2020

Chaucer chose to explore the power of images in the contested framework of medieval pilgrimage. In acknowledging the variety and multiplicity of holy objects and images at the centre of pilgrimage controversy, he deliberately entered a debate that ranged from approval of images as books for the laity to the necessary destruction of idols. His dramatic representation of religious images as objects of devotion as well as their problematic reception is informed by a traditional code of image response learned early in life in the parish. Representing image creation, devotion, and reception within the context of individual tales, Chaucer demonstrates that devotional images, like any other image, are inherently polymorphous and regenerative, as essential to cultic religion as to poetry in stimulating the power of imagination and memorial recollection; whether the feelings of devotion they stimulate are holy, however, is an issue he leaves for his reader to contemplate.
The Rule of Law and Economic Growth in Ancient Greece
Authors: Harris Edward M.
Published: September 2020

The rule of law was very important for the expansion of markets and economic growth in Classical and Hellenistic Greece. The Greek city-state enforced regulations about weights and measures, ensured peace and order, built infrastructure (agoras, roads and ports), granted foreigners access to courts, gave honours, privileges and protection from seizure (asylia), and concluded treaties with other communities. The state also protected the property rights of individuals and created records to ensure title and to resolve disputes about ownership. Finally, the state created third-party enforcement of contracts, such as lease, sale, lending and borrowing and the accessory contracts of personal security and real security. This allowed economic transactions to expand beyond the narrow confines of family, friends, and neighbours and to expand markets.
Women Rebels/Terrorists in Postcolonial Conflicts
Authors: Rajan V. G. Julie
Published: September 2020

In the postcolonial era, women have participated in numerous domestic and international conflicts globally. They are executing acts of resistance/terrorism that challenge the security of the nation-states in which they live. Yet despite the fear they can affect and the degree to which they have contributed to their rebel/terrorism movements, women rebels/terrorists are nevertheless projected by international media, cultural, academic, and governmental venues, as well as by the men-led rebel/terrorist movements they have joined, through simplistic patriarchal images of femininity marking the marginalized status of women in patriarchy—such as mothers, daughters, and virgin brides. Projecting women rebels/terrorists in these familiar images assuages social anxieties about their potential violence. Familiar images of femininity remind society that, despite their excessive violent potential, women rebels/terrorists are, after all, only women. These representations dissuade comprehensive investigations into women rebels’/terrorists’ agencies as guided by their experiences as political actors and as women in conflict situations. The purpose is to stress the activities of women rebels/terrorists as significant and serious due to the violence they affect, as well as to validate their impact on the security of their local spaces, the regions in which they live, and on geopolitics internationally.
Fascism and Terrorism
Authors: Iordachi Constantin
Published: September 2020

This chapter explores terrorism as a strategy of political militancy by the fascist Iron Guard in interwar Romania. It argues that the Iron Guard was a mass movement promoting a new political faith that was based on a mythical form of apocalyptic politics with roots in Romantic theories of social palingenesis. The essence of this theological ideology was the idea of salvation through violent self-sacrifice. The chapter analyzes the Iron Guard’s political violence, with an emphasis on its terrorism. A main function of fascist terrorist actions was that of manufacturing martyrdom: as such, violent self-sacrifice was the engine of the fascist political religion, providing fascists with means of objectifying their claims to rebirth and regeneration. The importance of violent self-sacrifice for fascism must be reevaluated as being not just a strategy of political struggle, but a way of bestowing sacrality on the charismatic community of redemption through martyrdom.
Newton in the Pool Hall: Subtleties of the Third Law
Authors: Wilson Mark
Published: September 2020

In order to apply the Third Law of Motion to widely separated celestial bodies, Newton must confront the experimental behaviors of colliding billiard balls, despite the fact that such objects otherwise play little role within the Principia’s formal developments. This challenge forces Newton to confront the fraught question of the sources of their elastic rebound and to postulate implausible “hard atoms” as a result. Leibniz’s surprising opinions on this same topic are presented by way of contrast.
State Preemption of Local Laws: Origins and Modern Trends
Authors: Goodman Christopher B , Hatch Megan E , McDonald Bruce D
Published: September 2020

American cities are creatures of their states, with states both granting and limiting the power of their cities. This relationship is characterized by how cooperative or competitive states are with cities in their legislation. Despite the recent attention given to state preemption of local laws, this is not a new phenomenon. Part of the confusion surrounding preemption is that there is no shared definition or understanding of its forms. The purpose of this article is to begin to create that shared conception. In doing so, we define preemption according to its historic origins as the use of coercive methods to substitute state priorities for local policymaking. We argue modern state preemption of local laws can be divided into four phases, each with their own policies and mechanisms. We show how preemption has changed over time, shifting the functional, legal, and political relationship between states and their cities. Together, these phases help assist policymakers and administrators in understanding the nature of state preemption, and thus how to create and implement local policies in an environment where the distribution of power between governments is competitive and changing.
The Impact of Level of Physical Therapist Assistant Involvement on Patient Outcomes Following Stroke
Authors: Biggs Jennifer
Published: September 2020

Objective

This study investigates if higher utilization of physical therapist assistants adversely affects patient outcomes in the acute rehabilitation setting for patients following a cerebrovascular accident (CVA).

Methods

Participants were admitted to 1 of 5 inpatient rehabilitation facilities following a CVA from 2008 to 2010. High physical therapist assistant use was defined as ≥20% of the physical therapist visits being provided by the physical therapist assistant for an episode of care. Multivariable regression techniques examined differences in functional outcome, discharge location, and length of stay between high and low physical therapist assistant use groups. Propensity scoring methods supplemented findings of the regression analyses.

Results

Of the 1561 participants, 496 (32%) had high physical therapist assistant involvement. Baseline participant characteristics such as age, sex, baseline motor function, and comorbidities did not differ between high and low physical therapist assistant use groups. After adjusting for patient characteristics, rehabilitation facility, and year, higher physical therapist assistant use did not adversely affect functional outcome or length of stay. Fewer conclusions can be drawn regarding discharge location, although there was no significant difference in discharge location between groups with high and low physical therapist assistant utilization. Propensity scoring methods supported the findings of the regression analyses.

Conclusions

Higher physical therapist assistant involvement in the rehabilitation of patients following CVA did not adversely affect functional outcome, increase length of stay, or reduce the likelihood of discharge to home from an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Impact

The results demonstrate the value of the physical therapist assistant in the provision of physical therapy for patients with stroke in the inpatient rehabilitation setting. Higher involvement of the physical therapist assistant may provide cost savings while maintaining patient outcomes for this setting and population.
Interferon activation status underlies higher antibody response to viral antigens in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus receiving no or light treatment
Authors: Björk Albin , Da Silva Rodrigues Rui , Richardsdotter Andersson Elina , Ramírez Sepúlveda Jorge I , Mofors Johannes , Kvarnström Marika , Oke Vilija , Svenungsson Elisabet , Gunnarsson Iva , Wahren-Herlenius Marie
Published: September 2020

Objectives

Infections have been proposed as an environmental risk factor for autoimmune disease. Responses to microbial antigens may be studied in vivo during vaccination. We therefore followed patients with SLE and controls during split-virion influenza vaccination to quantify antibody responses against viral antigens and associated cellular and proteome parameters.

Methods

Blood samples and clinical data were collected from female patients with SLE with no or HCQ and/or low-dose prednisolone treatment (n = 29) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 17). Vaccine-specific antibody titres were measured by ELISA and IFN-induced gene expression in monocytes by quantitative PCR. Serum proteins were measured by proximity extension assay and disease-associated symptoms were followed by questionnaires.

Results

The vaccine-specific antibody response was significantly higher in patients compared with controls and titres of IgG targeting the viral proteins were higher in patients than controls at both 1 and 3 months after immunization. Clinical disease symptoms and autoantibody titres remained unchanged throughout the study. Notably, a positive pre-vaccination mRNA-based IFN score was associated with a significantly higher vaccine-specific antibody response and with a broader profile of autoantibody specificities. Screening of serum protein biomarkers revealed higher levels of IFN-regulated proteins in patients compared with controls and that levels of such proteins correlated with the vaccine-specific IgG response, with C-C motif chemokine ligand 3 exhibiting the strongest association.

Conclusion

Augmented antibody responses to viral antigens develop in patients with SLE on no or light treatment and associate with markers of type I IFN system activation at the RNA and protein levels.
Facing stereotypes: ERP responses to male and female faces after gender-stereotyped statements
Authors: Rodríguez-Gómez Pablo , Romero-Ferreiro Verónica , Pozo Miguel A , Hinojosa José Antonio , Moreno Eva M
Published: September 2020

Despite gender is a salient feature in face recognition, the question of whether stereotyping modulates face processing remains unexplored. Event-related potentials from 40 participants (20 female) was recorded as male and female faces matched or mismatched previous gender-stereotyped statements and were compared with those elicited by faces preceded by gender-unbiased statements. We conducted linear mixed-effects models to account for possible random effects from both participants and the strength of the gender bias. The amplitude of the N170 to faces was larger following stereotyped relative to gender-unbiased statements in both male and female participants, although the effect was larger for males. This result reveals that stereotyping exerts an early effect in face processing and that the impact is higher in men. In later time windows, male faces after female-stereotyped statements elicited large late positivity potential (LPP) responses in both men and women, indicating that the violation of male stereotypes induces a post-perceptual reevaluation of a salient or conflicting event. Besides, the largest LPP amplitude in women was elicited when they encountered a female face after a female-stereotyped statement. The later result is discussed from the perspective of recent claims on the evolution of women self-identification with traditionally held female roles.
Racializing Emasculation: An Intersectional Analysis of Queer Men’s Evaluations of Sexual Assault
Authors: Meyer Doug
Published: September 2020

This article focuses on how 60 queer men perceived emasculation in relation to their experiences of sexual assault, drawing particular attention to racial and ethnic differences. While previous scholarship has focused primarily on gender, the author of this article uses an intersectional approach to explore queer men’s narratives. Results demonstrate that queer men of color with intra-racial experiences of assault typically denied feelings of emasculation, emphasizing instead other emotions that were intimately related to challenges they faced due to their social position. Most White participants with intra-racial experiences felt emasculated after the assault. Racial and ethnic differences appeared even more pronounced with interracial forms of violence, as Black queer men drew attention to racialized concerns, such as fear over being perceived as a “troublemaker” for reporting a White assailant, while White and Latino participants described feeling emasculated, in large part due to masculinizing stereotypes of Black men. The implications of this research suggest that emasculation is a racialized, as well as a gendered, process for queer men – one that does not arise automatically from simply being a man who has been sexually violated but one that springs disproportionately from whiteness and that generally involves particular racialized gender dynamics.
Automatic Segmentation of the Dorsal Claustrum in Humans Using in vivo High-Resolution MRI
Authors: Berman Shai , Schurr Roey , Atlan Gal , Citri Ami , Mezer Aviv A
Published: September 2020

The claustrum is a thin sheet of neurons enclosed by white matter and situated between the insula and the putamen. It is highly interconnected with sensory, frontal, and subcortical regions. The deep location of the claustrum, with its fine structure, has limited the degree to which it could be studied in vivo. Particularly in humans, identifying the claustrum using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is extremely challenging, even manually. Therefore, automatic segmentation of the claustrum is an invaluable step toward enabling extensive and reproducible research of the anatomy and function of the human claustrum. In this study, we developed an automatic algorithm for segmenting the human dorsal claustrum in vivo using high-resolution MRI. Using this algorithm, we segmented the dorsal claustrum bilaterally in 1068 subjects of the Human Connectome Project Young Adult dataset, a publicly available high-resolution MRI dataset. We found good agreement between the automatic and manual segmentations performed by 2 observers in 10 subjects. We demonstrate the use of the segmentation in analyzing the covariation of the dorsal claustrum with other brain regions, in terms of macro- and microstructure. We identified several covariance networks associated with the dorsal claustrum. We provide an online repository of 1068 bilateral dorsal claustrum segmentations.
The intervention of valproic acid on the tumorigenesis induced by an environmental carcinogen of PAHs
Authors: Peng Junxuan , Cai Zuchao , Zhao Ruixue , Chen Jiahao , Liu Guochao , Dong Chao , Lim David , Feng Zhihui
Published: September 2020

This study investigated whether valproic acid (VPA, a histone deacetylase inhibitor) can interfere with the carcinogenicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A typical representative compound of PAHs, 7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), was used to induce rat breast cancer. The results showed that therapeutic concentration of VPA (50 and 100 mg/kg) delayed the occurrence of tumors, reduced tumor formation rate and attenuated tumors growth, and have a protective effect on normal tissues. The macrophage-mediated inflammatory response was found to be associated with the observed effect of VPA. In addition, we screened and validated a possible gene, Sema3c, which was involved in DMBA-induced breast cancer development and can be inhibited by VPA.
The Psychological Consequences of the COVID-19 on Residents and Staff in Nursing Homes
Authors: Mo Shenjiang , Shi Junqi
Published: September 2020

In this commentary, we overview the existing research on psychological consequences caused by COVID-19 for both residents and staff in the nursing homes. We identify loneliness and emotional anxiety as main psychological consequences for nursing home residents, whereas uncertainty, hopelessness, work overload, and role conflicts are the most salient psychological challenges for the staff in the nursing homes during the pandemic. We then summarize the existing strategies and interventions responsive to the above challenges. We suggest that this overview may help nursing home managers understand what are the key psychological challenges and how to deal with them during a crisis period. Finally, we also encourage future research to pay more attention to exploring interventions specifically designed for vulnerable older people, understanding the role of the nursing home leader team in managing emotional and ethical challenges in organizations, and developing community-wide collaboration with multiple external stakeholders.
SclerotiniasclerotiorumInfection Triggers Changes in Primary and Secondary Metabolism inArabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Chen J. , Ullah C. , Giddings Vassão D. , Reichelt M. , Gershenzon J. , Hammerbacher A.
Published: September 2020

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a devastating plant pathogen that causes substantial losses in various agricultural crops. Although plants have developed some well-known defense mechanisms against invasive fungi, much remains to be learned about plant responses to fungal pathogens. In this study, we investigated how S. sclerotiorum infection affects plant primary and secondary metabolism in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results showed that soluble sugar and amino acid content changed significantly in A. thaliana leaves upon fungal colonization, with a decrease in sucrose and an increase in mannitol, attributed to fungal biosynthesis. Furthermore, the jasmonate signaling pathway was rapidly activated by S. sclerotiorum infection, and there was a striking accumulation of antifungal metabolites such as camalexin, p-coumaroyl agmatine, feruloyl agmatine, and Nδ-acetylornithine. On the other hand, the characteristic defense compounds of the Brassicaceae, the glucosinolates, were not induced in A. thaliana infected by S. sclerotiorum. Our study provides a better understanding of how A. thaliana primary and secondary metabolism is modified during infection by a fungal pathogen like S. sclerotiorum that has both hemibiotrophic and necrotrophic stages.
Morehouse School of Medicine Case Study: Teacher–Learner Relationships Free of Bias and Discrimination
Authors: Elks Martha L. , Johnson Khadeja , Anachebe Ngozi F.
Published: September 2020

Bias can impact all aspects of human interactions and have major impacts on the education and evaluation of health care professionals. Health care and health professions education, being very dependent on interpersonal interactions and learning as well as on the assessment of interpersonal behaviors and skills, are particularly susceptible to the positive and negative effects of bias. Even trained and experienced evaluators can be affected by biases based on appearance, attractiveness, charm, accent, speech impediment, and other factors that should not play a role in the assessment of a skill. At the Morehouse School of Medicine, elements in the curriculum and the milieu help decrease the burden of bias experienced by learners. In addition, many of the learners develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes that appear to assist them with navigating bias in other learning or practice environments. In this case study, the authors reflect on these elements and how they can be replicated in other settings. According to the authors, modifying the learning environment to enhance and sustain relationships is key in addressing toxic bias.
An Assessment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health Competencies Among Bachelors-Prepared Registered Nurses in Graduate-Level Study
Authors: Qureshi Rubab , Zha Peijia , Porter Sallie
Published: September 2020

Purpose

To assess graduate nursing students’ lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-specific health competencies.

Method

Using a cross-sectional design, a 13-item multiple response survey, derived from The Joint Commission guidelines and LGBT health competencies proposed by the Association of American Medical Colleges, was administered online to 116 registered nurses enrolled in graduate study. Survey items assessed nurses’ knowledge of LGBT health, professionalism, provision of patient care, communication skills, care environment, gaps in learning, and systems-based practice. Descriptive analyses were used to summarize frequencies and proportions of study variables.

Results

Respondent nurses’ knowledge about health, prevalent conditions, and social factors that influence LGBT health was somewhat limited. Respondents did not rate their knowledge about LGBT health high (µ = 3.11 [1.1], median = 3) and did not feel qualified to educate other colleagues about LGBT health issues (µ = 2.43 [1.26], median = 2). But 58% (n = 65) indicated that they felt comfortable performing prostate exams on transgender female patients (born with male genitalia); 62% (n = 70) felt comfortable doing pap smears for transgender male patients (born with female genitalia). Sixty nurses (52%) stated that they would advocate reforms within existing health care institutions to improve the care of LGBT patients. Cultural competency training was offered in some health care settings and environmental indications of inclusivity were inconsistent.

Conclusions

LGBT health competence among graduate nursing students was limited. There is a need to reevaluate LGBT health–related content in nursing curricula as well as robust assessment of competence in LGBT health.
How Medical Educators Can Foster Equity and Inclusion in Their Teaching: A Faculty Development Workshop Series
Authors: Lupton Katherine L. , O’Sullivan Patricia S.
Published: September 2020

Problem

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are increasingly highlighted in medical education, but bias continues to disproportionately impact learners from racial and ethnic groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine. Many faculty struggle to engage with these concepts in their teaching and fear making mistakes, but few opportunities exist for faculty to develop their skills.

Approach

To advance the goal of fostering an equitable educational environment, the authors envisioned a series of faculty development workshops to cultivate faculty skills and comfort with incorporating equity and inclusion in their teaching, assessment, and curriculum development work. The authors conducted a needs assessment and followed Kern’s 6-step process for curriculum development to build the workshop series.

Outcomes

Using local resources and expertise, the authors built a workshop series that culminated in a certificate in Teaching for Equity and Inclusion. The development process took 24 months; 22 faculty volunteered to design and teach 7 new workshops. Initial workshop offerings have reached 101 participants, and 120 faculty members have enrolled in the certificate. The workshops have been well received and are rated on par with or more highly than other faculty development offerings at the University of California, San Francisco.

Next Steps

Future directions include assessing the impact of the certificate on participants and workshop faculty, creating opportunities for workshop faculty to share best practices, and exploring alternative models for participation. The authors’ experience demonstrates the feasibility of creating a self-sustaining program that will advance faculty competence in the critical areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Let’s Talk About Racism: Strategies for Building Structural Competency in Nursing
Authors: Davis Sandra , O’Brien Anne-Marie
Published: September 2020

A major goal of Healthy People 2020 is healthy equity, or the attainment of the highest level of health for all groups of people. Yet, disparities based on race remain the most persistent and difficult to address. Getting at the root causes of disparities, inequities, and injustices is essential for health equity to become a reality. The authors elucidate the urgent need for the nursing profession (and all health care professions) to push beyond cultural humility to structural competency and shift the focus from individuals to institutions, systems, practices, and policies to address racism, bias, and discrimination as root causes of disparities and inequities in health, health care delivery, and health care outcomes.

Through a case study approach, the authors demonstrate the need for faculty to contextualize learning to help integrate the necessary historic and contemporary drivers of racism, bias, and discrimination into health care. They discuss strategies for faculty to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to teach about the importance of addressing structural racism and discrimination in health care. Through a “no shame, no blame” approach, the authors encourage faculty to develop the courage to engage with students, colleagues, other health care professionals, and communities in conversations about racism, bias, and discrimination.