Boston School Research Articles

Christina Fanola MD MSc.

Recipient of the Young Investigator Award at ESC Congress 2016 and now first author for A Novel Risk Prediction Score in Atrial Fibrillation in this EHJ issue ![Graphic][1] Dr Fanola is a practicing vascular cardiologist and current clinical trials Research Fellow with the TIMI Study Group, an academic research organization affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Prior to initiating work with the TIMI Group, Christina completed clinical and research training in both vascular medicine and cardiology at Boston University, and received a … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif

An Túr Gloine (Tower of Glass) at the Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart

In 1925, the Religious of the Sacred Heart transferred their Boston school for girls to the former Tudor-Revival style estate of Loren D. Towle in Newton, Massachusetts [Fig.1]. The Boston architectural firm of Maginnis & Walsh (founded in 1898 as Maginnis, Walsh, & Sullivan) built the chapel and a four-story school wing between 1926 and 1928. Irish artists associated with the An Tur Gloine (Tower of Glass) Dublin collective produced the eight window program installed in 1929. The chapel’s im...

Lexicographic Choice Under Variable Capacity Constraints

A (capacity-constrained) choice problem consists of a set of alternatives and a capacity. A (capacity-constrained) choice rule, at each choice problem, chooses from the alternatives without exceeding the capacity. A choice rule is lexicographic if there exists a list of priority orderings over potential alternatives such that at each choice problem, the set of chosen alternatives is obtainable by choosing the highest ranked alternative according to the first priority, then choosing the highest ranked alternative among the remaining alternatives according to the second priority, and proceeding similarly until the capacity is full or no alternative is left. Lexicographic choice rules have been useful in designing allocation mechanisms for school choice to accommodate diversity. We provide a characterization of lexicographic choice rules. We discuss some implications for the Boston school choice system. We also provide a characterization of deferred acceptance mechanisms that operate based on a lexicographic choice structure, instead of a priority structure.

Visualizing Bacteria as They Develop Antibiotic Resistance in Vitro

The development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria depends on a dynamic growth process, involving a program that is far more complex than mere emergence of mutants with higher resistance than their predecessor strains, according to Roy Kishony of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., and his collaborators. This conclusion is based on viewing how cells change while growing on “microbial evolution and growth arena (MEGA)” plates, following those cells as they spread along large plates containing antibiotics as well as nutrients. Details appeared 9 September 2016 in Science (doi:10.1126/science.aag0822).

Piecing together a different picture: A host of new studies on autism have begun decoding the longstanding puzzle of its causes.

“A developmental disability that hinders the normal functioning of the brain, affecting, in varying degrees, communication skills and social interaction. Repetitive behaviours, and different ways of learning, paying attention, or reacting to things are often distinctive signs”. This standard definition of autism fails to describe the complexity of a condition that ranges in its manifestations from severe intellectual impairment to superior cognitive skills, like in the Asperger syndrome. To comprise such diversity, autism disorders are now covered under the umbrella term “autism spectrum disorder” (ASD). In most cases, ASD manifests during the first 5 years of life, with boys significantly more likely to be diagnosed than girls. ASD usually goes together with several other problems that frequently include anxiety, sleep disorders, or epilepsy. No cure exists; treatment, such as speech therapy, just attempts to alleviate specific deficits of autistic patients. > Nothing is simple in autism. Even the real number of people affected is uncertain. Nothing is simple in autism. Even the real number of people affected is uncertain. The US CDC estimates that about 1 in 68 (or 1.5%) of children in the USA are living with ASD (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html). The WHO has a more conservative estimate, last revised in January this year, of 1 in 160 children, based on a larger set of epidemiological surveys (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/autism-spectrum-disorders/en/). Needless to say, most studies were conducted in developed countries, and the prevalence of ASD in many low‐ and middle‐income countries remains largely unknown. > Along the years, many potential causes have been indicated, including genetic and environmental factors, exposure to toxins during pregnancy, wide gaps between parent ages, and so on Although the general consensus is that prevalence rates are increasing globally, this point is debated too. Some analyses indicate that a large percentage of the increase in ASD owes to improved awareness and …

M.C. Chang as a Mentor: A Memoir.

M.C. Chang as a Mentor: A Memoir.

New axioms for immediate acceptance

Following Kojima and Unver (Econ Theory 55(3):515–544, 2014) and Afacan (Math Soc Sci 66(2):176–179, 2013), this paper provides two characterizations of the Boston school choice mechanism determined by the student-proposing immediate acceptance algorithm. A mechanism is the Boston mechanism if and only if it satisfies one of the following two groups of axioms: favoring higher ranks and weak fairness; favoring higher ranks, rank monotonicity, and rank rationality.

Editorial introductions

Current Opinion in Endocrinology and Diabetes was launched in 1994, with Obesity added to the title in 2007. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The fields of endocrinology and diabetes are divided into 12 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce one of the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Peter A. GottliebPeter A. GottliebDr Peter A. Gottlieb was born in Havana, Cuba, but at age 2 moved to New Jersey, USA, where he grew up. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, he attended UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, USA from which he graduated in 1984. Dr Gottlieb completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA and then continued his fellowship training in endocrinology and metabolism there as well. In 1990, after completing his fellowship, he moved to the Weizmann Institute in Israel to do post-doctoral training in T cell immunology. After surviving Gulf War I, he returned to UMass, USA and joined the staff as Clinical Director of Diabetes. He subsequently joined the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, Aurora, USA in 1995, where he is now a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine and the Director of the Translational Research Unit at the Barbara Davis Center. He has authored, co-authored and collaborated on more than 140 publications, reviews and book chapters and served as section editor for several journal editions. His research areas of interest include the immunology of type 1 diabetes, intervention trials to prevent or reverse type 1 diabetes, and the genetics of autoimmune disease. He had led several multi-center trials in new onset type 1 diabetes and is an active member of the Steering Committee for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet. Whitney WoodmanseeWhitney WoodmanseeDr Whitney Woodmansee is Director of the Clinical Neuroendocrine Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, USA. Dr Woodmansee received her medical degree and completed her clinical training in internal medicine and endocrinology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) in Denver, CO, USA. After completing her training, she joined the faculty at UCHSC in 1999 where she performed basic science research in the neuroendocrine field, as well as directed the Pituitary Disorders Program. She currently manages an active clinical practice caring for patients with pituitary disorders as a member of the Brigham and Women's Hospital's multi-disciplinary Pituitary/Neuroendocrine Center. She also directs the Dynamic Endocrine Testing Unit at her hospital. Dr Woodmansee has more recently shifted her research efforts from understanding the molecular biology of the pituitary to more clinical studies, and has a particular interest in the management of hypopituitarism.

Summary of the 9th international conference on human herpesviruses 6 and 7 (HHV-6A, HHV-6B, and HHV-7).

The 9th International Conference on Human herpesviruses 6 and 7 (HHV-6A, HHV-6B, and HHV-7) was held at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts from November 9 to 11, 2015. Important new information was presented regarding: the biology of these viruses, particularly HHV-6A and HHV-6B; the biology and epidemiology of inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6A/B; improved diagnostic tests; animal models for studying HHV-6 and HHV-7, and animal viruses with similarities to HHV-6 and HHV-7; established and possible disease associations; and new approaches to treatment. Here, we summarize work of particular interest. J. Med. Virol. 88:2038-2043, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

UCSF study: E‐cigarettes are not helping smokers quit

Adult smokers of electronic cigarettes, which have been touted as a method to help smokers quit traditional cigarettes, are actually 28% less likely to stop smoking cigarettes according to a new study by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).1 The study involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data. It is the largest to quantify whether e-cigarettes assist smokers in quitting cigarettes. First author Sara Kalkhoran, MD, now at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, says that the way e-cigarettes are currently being used is associated with significantly lower rates of quitting among smokers. As a result, she says, they should not be recommended as effective smoking cessation aids until there is evidence that they can actually help smokers quit cigarettes. In 2015, the US Preventive Services Task Force concluded that there was insufficient evidence to recommend the devices to help adults quit smoking. No e-cigarette company has submitted an application to the FDA to approve e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, nor has the FDA taken any action against companies claiming that the devices can help people quit smoking regular cigarettes. The UCSF researchers reviewed 38 studies assessing the association between e-cigarette use and cigarette cessation among adult smokers. They then combined the results of the 20 studies with control groups of smokers who were not using e-cigarettes in a meta-analysis. From their analysis, they found that the odds of quitting smoking were 28% lower in smokers who used e-cigarettes versus those who did not. The studies included both smokers who were interested in smoking and those who were not. Some of the smokers were as young as 15 years of age. The studies also controlled for variables such as demographics, past attempts to quit, and levels of nicotine dependence. The authors suggest that including e-cigarettes in smokefree laws and voluntary smoke-free policies could help decrease their use as cigarette substitutes and possibly increase their effectiveness for smoking cessation as part of a monitored clinical trial.

Second Annual Moffitt Anatomic Pathology Symposium.

Dr Magliocco, chair of the Department of Anatomic Pathology, welcomed a near-capacity audience made up of pathologists, histotechnologists, researchers, and pathology residents and medical students at the 2nd Annual Moffitt Anatomic Pathology Symposium: Practicing Pathology in a Changing World that took place in Clearwater Beach, Florida, on September 26, 2015. Th focus of the symposium was on the updates of contemporary and emerging information and technology that impact practicing pathologists in an ever-changing world.Invited speakers included Drs Odze and Schnitt, both from Harvard Medical School in Boston, who shared their expert knowledge in gastrointestinal (GI) and breast pathology, as well as Theresa B. Burchette, Lawrence Patton Jr, John J. Shelley, and Steven Westra. Experts from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute included Drs Magliocco, Bui, Centeno, Coppola, Hussaini, Khalil, Khazia, and Rosa, as well as Mr Hicks and Ms Balasi, Molina, and Snyder. Drs Minton and Malafa also presented topics in molecular pathology, digital pathology, and GI and breast cancers. The Ask the Expert Digital Pathology session was an interactive discussion of real breast and GI pathology cases among the experts and the audience.A total of 22 scientific abstracts were proffered by students, residents, fellows, and staff. Dr Altiok, chair of the research section of the Department of Anatomic Pathology, presented awards to the 3 best submissions.Dr Ryzhova and colleagues earned the Best Poster award for their work titled “Mutation Profiling of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Adenocarcinomas Suggests STK11 and NOTCH1 as Candidate Biomarkers.” This paper reported identification of STK11 mutations as possible biomarkers for platinum-therapy response and detailed actionable mutations in several patients with ovarian cancer.The Best Research Project prize was awarded to Dr Dettloff and colleagues for their work “Utility of a microRNA-Based Assay for Diagnosing Tumor Origin in Soft Tissue Sarcomas.” The investigators examined the recent experience at Moffitt Cancer Center with noncoding microRNA tumor profiling of tumors of uncertain origin. They listed several situations in which the technique can be particularly useful, such as the identification of germ-cell tumors. They also recognized pitfalls of the technique, such as a bias toward sarcoma, possibly representing a biological shift in recurrent or previously treated tumors. The Best Clinicopathologic Correlation award was won by Dr Liu and colleagues for their poster titled “Spindle Cell/Sclerosing Rhabdomyosarcoma Is a New and Underdiagnosed Entity: A Clinical and Tissue Microarray Immunohistochemical Study With Literature Review.” This work emphasized the utility of using tissue microarray to screen previously encountered cases with antibodies directed against emerging biomarkers.

Root and Gut Microbiomes Are Strikingly Similar

Plant root systems, which absorb nutrients and are directly exposed to soil microbes, are “functionally analogous to the animal gut,” according to Cara Haney of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and Frederick Ausubel of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. Both plants and animals rely on well-configured microbiomes to help retrieve nutrients and to defend against pathogens. However, nurturing beneficial microbes while warding off those that might harm their hosts is no easy task.

Analytic Approach Sheds Light on Microbial Growth in “Dark Place” of the Gut

Distributed cell division counting (DCDC), an analytic tool developed using synthetic biology, enables researchers to tag cells of Escherichia coli, follow their passage through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a mouse—or, presumably, a human—as they divide, and determine bacterial cell population dynamics within this otherwise inaccessible anatomic system, according to Cameron Myhrvold, Pamela Silver, and their collaborators at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. This analytic approach can be adapted to “study microbial growth during infection, gut dysbiosis, antibiotic therapy, or other situations relevant to human health,” they note. Details appeared 30 November 2015 in Nature Communications (doi:10.1038/ncomms10039).

Racial difference seen in outcomes for older patients with prostate cancer

A recent article published in JAMA Oncology found that older black men with localized prostate cancer were more likely to receive poorer-quality care, incur higher costs, and have worse postoperative outcomes than their white male counterparts.1 Nevertheless, those results did not translate to worse overall or cancer-specific survival. Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD, a urologist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and his colleagues examined the effect of race on quality of care and survival in men undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP), radiotherapy, or a combination of both. Th ey used surveillance data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database for 26,482 men aged 65 years and older with localized prostate cancer who underwent RP, including 2020 black men (7.6%) and 24,462 non-Hispanic white men (92.4%). The study was comprised only of Medicare enrollees aged 65 years and older, and the authors note that the majority of men who are treated with RP are younger and have private health insurance. As a result, they say the findings may not be generalizable to the general population of men who undergo RP. The authors add that public and professional awareness should be increased in an effort to address these issues and their underlying causes. Black men were more likely to have postoperative visits to the emergency department compared with white men.

Lessons Learned From a Partnership to Evaluate a School Food Program.

In 2013, leadership at a Boston school approached academic investigators for help with assessing their new school food program. The community-academic partnership implemented a two-phase community-based participatory research (CBPR) assessment. The qualitative phase involved key stakeholder focus groups. The quantitative assessment involved height/weight measurement and dietary recalls at the beginning and end of the year. The qualitative assessment revealed low stakeholder engagement in the food program and resulted in substantive changes. In the quantitative phase, the partnership terminated the study after recruitment goals were not met. The quantitative assessment faced administrative hurdles to conducting school-based research and obtaining institutional review board (IRB) approval of CBPR projects, low recruitment, and diminished partnership strength. The constant effort to sustain partnerships, IRB processes mal adapted for CBPR, and training needs for community investigators are challenges and opportunities for success. CBPR can be useful for school-based research, but key process changes could increase its effectiveness.

Effect on Physical Activity of a Randomized Afterschool Intervention for Inner City Children in 3rd to 5th Grade.

BackgroundLess than 45% of U.S. children meet the 60 min.d-1 physical activity (PA) guideline. Structured after-school PA programing is one approach to help increase activity levels. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and short-term impact of a supervised after-school PA and nutrition education program on activity levels.MethodsForty-two 3rd-5th graders from an inner-city school in Boston, MA were randomly assigned to a 10-wk after-school program of either: 1) weekly nutrition education, or 2) weekly nutrition education plus supervised PA 3 d.wk-1 at a community-based center. At baseline and follow-up, PA was measured using accelerometry and fitness (VO2max) was estimated using the PACER 15-m shuttle run. Additional measures obtained were non-fasting finger stick total cholesterol (TC) and glucose levels, waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (%BF), and blood pressure (BP). Values are presented as mean±SE, unless noted otherwise.ResultsThirty-six participants completed the study (mean±SD; age 9.7±0.9 years). Participants attended >80% of the sessions. After adjusting for accelerometer wear time and other design factors, light and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) increased in the nutrition+PA group (+21.5±14.5 and +8.6±8.0 min.d-1, respectively) and decreased in the nutrition only group (-35.2±16.3 and -16.0±9.0 min.d-1, respectively); mean difference between groups of 56.8±21.7 min.d-1 (light PA, p = 0.01) and 24.5±12.0 min.d-1 (MVPA, p = 0.04). Time spent in sedentary behaviors declined in the nutrition+PA group (-14.8±20.7 min.d-1) and increased in the nutrition only group (+55.4±23.2 min.d-1); mean difference between groups of -70.2±30.9 min.d-1 (p = 0.02). Neither group showed changes in TC, BP, WC, %BF, BMI percentile, or fitness (p>0.05).ConclusionsThe supervised afterschool community-based nutrition and PA program was well accepted and had high attendance. The changes in light PA and MVPA has potential to promote weight maintenance in inner-city elementary school children, however longer term studies with larger samples are needed.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01104038

Learning to Teach Negotiation

Negotiation JournalVolume 31, Issue 4 p. 477-490 Negotiation Pedagogy and the Behavioral Theory Learning to Teach Negotiation Michael Wheeler, Michael WheelerMichael Wheeler is a professor of management practice emeritus at the Harvard Business School in Boston and the editor of Negotiation Journal. His e-mail address is mwheeler@hbs.edu.Search for more papers by this author Michael Wheeler, Michael WheelerMichael Wheeler is a professor of management practice emeritus at the Harvard Business School in Boston and the editor of Negotiation Journal. His e-mail address is mwheeler@hbs.edu.Search for more papers by this author First published: 23 October 2015 https://doi.org/10.1111/nejo.12131Citations: 5 Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume31, Issue4October 2015Pages 477-490 This article also appears in:Negotiation Pedagogy RelatedInformation

Introduction

Negotiation JournalVolume 31, Issue 4 p. 353-354 “Attitudinal Structuring,” also Known as Influence and Relationship Building Introduction Max H. Bazerman, Max H. BazermanMax H. Bazerman is the Jesse Isidor Strauss Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. His e-mail address is bazerman@hbs.edu.Search for more papers by this author Max H. Bazerman, Max H. BazermanMax H. Bazerman is the Jesse Isidor Strauss Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. His e-mail address is bazerman@hbs.edu.Search for more papers by this author First published: 23 October 2015 https://doi.org/10.1111/nejo.12105 Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume31, Issue4October 2015Pages 353-354 RelatedInformation

Book Review: Managing Copyright in Higher Education: A Guidebook

The author of Managing Copyright in Higher Education is uniquely qualified to tackle this topic. With a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) degree from Suffolk University Law School in Boston and a Master of Library Science (MLS) degree from University of Maryland College Park, Ms. Ferullo is the Director of the University Copyright Office at Purdue University, where she advises the University on copyright compliance issues. This book demonstrates Ms. Ferullo’s mastery of the legal and library science aspects of copyright; the book’s organization also shows her extensive knowledge of her audience and their copyright information needs. The text begins with an “introduction to intellectual property” and “copyright basics;” “the university culture;” followed by chapters on the role and establishment of a copyright office within the university; and concludes with chapters focusing on copyright services to librarians, faculty, administration and staff, and students. The organization of the book provides a logical progression of copyright issues in higher education in a straightforward style that can be readily understood by the novice and appreciated by the expert.

Editorial introductions

Current Opinion in Endocrinology and Diabetes was launched in 1994, with Obesity added to the title in 2007. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The fields of endocrinology and diabetes are divided into 12 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce one of the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Peter A. GottliebPeter A. GottliebDr Peter A. Gottlieb was born in Havana, Cuba, but at age 2 moved to New Jersey, USA, where he grew up. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, he attended UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, USA from which he graduated in 1984. Dr Gottlieb completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA and then continued his fellowship training in endocrinology and metabolism there as well. In 1990, after completing his fellowship, he moved to the Weizmann Institute in Israel to do post-doctoral training in T cell immunology. After surviving the First Gulf War, he returned to UMass, USA and joined the staff as Clinical Director of Diabetes. He subsequently joined the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in 1995, USA where he is now a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine and the Director of the Translational Research Unit at the Barbara Davis Center. He has authored, co-authored and collaborated on more than 110 publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as several book chapters and served as section editor for several journal editions. His research areas of interest include the immunology of type 1 diabetes, intervention trials to prevent or reverse type 1 diabetes, islet transplantation and the genetics of autoimmune disease. He had led several multi-center trials in new onset type 1 diabetes and is an active member of the Steering Committee for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet. Whitney WoodmanseeWhitney WoodmanseeDr Whitney Woodmansee is Director of the Clinical Neuroendocrine Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, USA. Dr Woodmansee received her medical degree and completed her clinical training in internal medicine and endocrinology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) in Denver, CO, USA. After completing her training, she joined the faculty at UCHSC in 1999 where she performed basic science research in the neuroendocrine field, as well as directed the Pituitary Disorders Program. She currently manages an active clinical practice caring for patients with pituitary disorders as a member of the Brigham and Women's Hospital's multi-disciplinary Pituitary/Neuroendocrine Center. She also directs the Dynamic Endocrine Testing Unit at her hospital. Dr Woodmansee has more recently shifted her research efforts from understanding the molecular biology of the pituitary to more clinical studies, and has a particular interest in the management of hypopituitarism.