Research Resource Center Research Articles

EXPLORING SOCIAL PROTEST POTENTIAL IN MODERN ARMENIAN SOCIETY: INSTITUTIONAL TRUST AND SOCIAL-DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

This study investigates the potential of protests in contemporary Armenian society. Considering the global rise of social protests evolving into significant social movements worldwide and the ongoing movements in Armenia, it is crucial to investigate the protest potential within modern Armenian society. The article is based on secondary data analyses gathered using representative sampling for Armenia and implementing face-to-face interviews conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Center Armenia (CRRC). The article aims to understand the potential of protests and the factors influencing individuals' inclination toward protest activities. One of the article's main findings is that more than half of the respondents show a propensity for engaging in protest actions. Additionally, several key variables emerge as significant factors influencing this inclination. Among them are sex, education, and marital status play pivotal roles in the decision-making process regarding participation in anti-government protests. Furthermore, place of residence appears to be a determinant, with urban dwellers exhibiting a greater predisposition toward participation in anti-government protests compared to their rural counterparts. There are several reasons why rural inhabitants tend to participate less in protests. Geographical distance, and cultural peculiarities, such as differing social values and community dynamics, may lead to less participation. Additionally, distrust toward main state institutions contributes to the perception that individuals should participate in anti-government protests. Moreover, the study demonstrates that citizens' perceptions of state unfairness and institutional disregard are more significant drivers of potential protest activity than economic conditions.

In vitro antimalarial susceptibility profile of Plasmodium falciparum isolates in the BEI Resources repository.

BEI Resources, a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-funded program managed by the American Type Culture Collection, serves researchers worldwide through the provision of a centralized repository for the acquisition, production, characterization, preservation, storage, and distribution of standardized biological resources targeting National Institutes of Health priority pathogens including bacteria, viruses, pathogenic fungi, and parasitic protozoa. These reference materials are critical for the development of diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics and are available to qualified registered investigators and institutions worldwide. Bioresources within BEI include well-characterized malaria isolates as part of the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4). These isolates are critical for screening antimalarial compounds, conducting drug resistance studies, and for resistance surveillance and management. In our efforts to enhance the characterization of MR4 P. falciparum isolates, we measured antimalarial susceptibility of >100 isolates against a panel of standard antimalarial compounds. Our results provide valuable information to assist current and prospective users of the BEI Resources repository in making data-driven requests of isolates to meet their research needs.

Advances in Interdisciplinary Research–Electron Microscopy Core in Research Resources Center in University of Illinois Chicago

Advances in Interdisciplinary Research–Electron Microscopy Core in Research Resources Center in University of Illinois Chicago

Resource Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research (NIH)

Resource Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research (NIH)

Determining Factors of Voters’ Participation in Local Elections of Community Head in Armenia

This study attempts to determine the socio-economic factors affectingparticipation in local community head elections in Armenia.To that end, a binary logistic regression model was estimated usingthe household survey data gathered by the Caucasus ResearchResource Center’s (CRRC) regional office in Armenia, within theframework of the Civic Engagement in Local Governance (CELoG)Project. The results of the estimation showed that economiccondition, settlement type, age, awareness of local governmentpowers, and trust were statistically significant determinants of participationin local community head elections.

Learning Health Systems Research Competencies: A Survey of the Rehabilitation Research Community.

The Learning Health Systems Rehabilitation Research Network (LeaRRn), an NIH-funded rehabilitation research resource center, aims to advance the research capacity of learning health systems (LHSs) within the rehabilitation community. A needs assessment survey was administered to inform development of educational resources. The online survey included 55 items addressing interest in and knowledge of 33 LHS research core competencies in 7 domains and additional items on respondent characteristics. Recruitment targeting rehabilitation researchers and health system collaborators was conducted by LeaRRn, LeaRRn health system partners, rehabilitation professional organizations, and research university program directors using email, listservs, and social media announcements. Of the 650 people who initiated the survey, 410 respondents constituted the study sample. Respondents indicated interest in LHS research and responded to at least 1 competency item and/or demographic question. Two-thirds of the study sample had doctoral research degrees, and one-third reported research as their profession. The most common clinical disciplines were physical therapy (38%), communication sciences and disorders (22%), and occupational therapy (10%). Across all 55 competency items, 95% of respondents expressed "a lot" or "some" interest in learning more, but only 19% reported "a lot" of knowledge. Respondents reported "a lot" of interest in a range of topics, including selecting outcome measures that are meaningful to patients (78%) and implementing research evidence in health systems (75%). "None" or "some" knowledge was reported most often in Systems Science areas such as understanding the interrelationships between financing, organization, delivery, and rehabilitation outcomes (93%) and assessing the extent to which research activities will improve the equity of health systems (93%). Results from this large survey of the rehabilitation research community indicate strong interest in LHS research competencies and opportunities to advance skills and training. Competencies where respondents indicated high interest and limited knowledge can inform development of LHS educational content that is most needed.

The Use of Social Media by Young Georgians in Social and Political Activities to Support Ukraine

The aim of the paper is to diagnose the use of social media (such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) by young Georgians (understood as people aged 18-35) in social and political activities to support Ukraine in the context of the ongoing war. The authors assumed that young Georgians use social media to a large extent to support Ukraine as a kind of socio-political activity, thanks to which the attitudes of young people towards the war itself and Georgia's place in this conflict are visible. To meet the above research objective and verify the initial hypothesis, the following research methods were used: (1) the method of analysing existing data – a review of the literature representing Polish researchers was conducted regarding terminological and conceptual issues related to “social activity” and “political activity”; (2) a statistical method with the technique of analysing secondary statistical data collected by the Caucasian Research Resource Centre; (3) the method of qualitative analysis with the technique of researching new media, namely social media, which is currently an important source of information about young people. The research allowed for a preliminary analysis of the importance of this type of new media in socio-political activity undertaken by young people, especially in expressing their opinions and presenting attitudes. The article does not exhaust the selected subject; it is only a study that made the analysis of the meaning and topicality of this issue possible. Such recognition of the research area also provided the opportunity to find a number of empirical methods that can fill the research gap in the context of studying young Georgians, as well as the role of social media in their social and political life.

What causes satisfaction? A multiyear analysis of Armenian local communities

This study looks into citizen satisfaction with service delivery from the perspective of the impact of local legislation reforms come on it. We do so, based on the case of Armenia, a country with a single level of local government where all local authorities, apart from the capital city, are bound by the same law and enjoy similar authorities and responsibilities. Our aim is to understand the extent to which the reform strategy put forward by the government has contributed to increased satisfaction with the services that local authorities provide. The secondary aim is to showcase what aspect of this strategy (i.e., political components or improved service delivery) made a more visible impact on satisfaction.The analysis of citizen satisfaction is based on data from 2015 to 2019 nationwide representative surveys, conducted within the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) – Armenia “Civic Engagement in Local Governance” (CELoG) Program. Correlation was implemented between the key variables followed by Ordinary Linear Regression. The study concludes that the reform strategy put forward by the government has translated into very marginal, if any, changes in citizens' perceptions and assessment of local service delivery. One could argue that the reforms have changed the citizens' expectations and lack of immediate tangible benefits has negatively impacted their evaluation. One could also make the case for the inertia of improving the quality of services by amalgamated municipalities. The study casts doubt on a large body of literature, disconfirming the impact of environmental factors on satisfaction. Nonetheless, similar to a number of scholars, the study shows that trust and satisfaction are closely related to each other, and that higher satisfaction leads to higher trust. Based on the findings of a previous study, the paper proposes that enhanced administrative autonomy may bring upon a considerable increase in citizens’ satisfaction with services.

Homologues of octopine/vitopine synthase genes in natural GMOs

The process of horizontal gene transfer causes the appearance of natural genetically modified organisms. At the moment, it is known that over 7% of dicotyledonous plant species are naturally transgenic, i.e. nGMO [1]. These plants contain the genes of agrobacteria, which are integrated in the nuclear genome during infection. In some species of naturally transgenic plants, agrobacterial genes have been preserved for millions of years of evolution. Among these genes, genes encoding octopine/vitopine synthase (ocs/vis) can be distinguished [2].
 The study of homologues of octopin/vitopin synthase genes in naturally transgenic plants: their structures and diversity, products of encoded enzymes will allow us to establish the functions and evolutionary role of homologues in nGMO. Currently, bioinformatic and genetic engineering methods are used to solve these problems.
 ocs\vis-like were found in 7 species: Albizia julibrissin Durazz., Cenostigma pyramidale (Tul.) Gagnon G.P.Lewis, Paulownia fortunei (Seem.) Hemsl., Pterocarya stenoptera C.DC., Rehmannia glutinosa Steud., Santalum album L., Viscum album L. In total twenty one ocs/vis sequences are known in 17 nGMO species. Twenty sequences are intact. This may indicate the functional significance of these genes for nGMO.
 Phylogenetic analysis of currently known ocs/vis-like genes of Agrobacterium, Rhizobium and natural GMOs suggests that diversity of studied genes is wider, than it was estimated based on agrobacterial sequences. On the phylogenetic tree constructed by the neighbor-joining method, 6 clusters for ocs/vis can be distinguished. Three clusters contain nGMOs and agrobacteria, showing the relationship of the T-DNA sequences of nGMO with those of currently known strains of of Agrobacterium/Rhizobium. Three clusters contain only nGMOs. One of them consists of species that belong to the Cannabaceae family. Other clusters are heterogeneous. No significant ecological similarities were found among the studied species.
 The obtained results can be used to study the diversity of ancient and modern strains of agrobacteria, their host specificity and the possible role of their genes in plant evolution.
 The work was supported by the RSF, grant 21-14-00050 and Research Resource Center for molecular and cellular technologies of Saint Petersburg State University.

Իրանի նկատմամբ Հայաստանի հասարակության վերաբերմունքի փոփոխության դինամիկան 1991-2021թթ․

This article refers to the upheavals in Armenia-Iran relations and their impact on Armenian citizens. The work was made possible thanks to the numerous surveys conducted by two organizations operating in Armenia: the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) and the International Republican Institute (IRI). These surveys and the analyzes in the article clearly show the expectations in Armenian society towards the southern neighbor, as well as the extent of the impact of the failure of these expectations on the people. It is obvious that the public is influenced mainly by information flows. In the 1990s the state media was the main source of the information, and the state used to shape the news according to its policy priorities. Nowadays, due to the development of information technologies, the mushrooming of news media and especially the expansion of social networks, the information is not only impossible to control, but also very often social platforms are used to spread disinformation and cause an incorrect understanding among the public, like it happened during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war. After the 2020 war, the confidence of the Armenian society that Iran would somehow, even out of its own interests, intervene in the existing problems gradually faded. There were few official statements from the high-ranking Iranian leadership in 2021-2022 stating that Iran will not allow any violation of the territorial integrity of Armenia and emphasizing the importance of the Armenia-Iran land border. This development caused some positive dynamics in the attitude of the Armenian public, at least on an emotional level.

How the Patient-clinician Relationship Influences Treatment Experiences and Outcomes in Chronic Pain Patients: An fMRI Hyperscan Study

The patient-clinician therapeutic alliance is a powerful modulator shaping patients' treatment experience and clinical outcomes. Before and after a 3-week electro-acupuncture intervention (6 sessions), fMRI hyper-scanning was applied to investigate the influence of either an Augmented (warm/attentive) or a Limited (neutral/business-like) clinician interaction style. Eighteen women with fibromyalgia (mean age=41.41, SD=12.20, each group N=9), randomly assigned to an Augmented or Limited patient-clinician dyadic interaction style (trained acupuncturists), underwent a simultaneously recorded fMRI hyper-scanning procedure with a video connection between two scanners and an evoked cuff pressure pain/treatment paradigm. Questionnaires were used to assess the patients' experience by targeting treatment-related changes such as clinical pain levels, therapeutic alliance, trust, the clinician's warmth and competence, and the probability of continuing the treatment with this clinician after study participation. As rated by patients, pooled therapeutic alliance and clinicians' warmth in the Augmented (mean_alliance=43.21, SD=2.40; mean_warmth=4.00, SD=0.0) were significantly higher than in the Limited group (mean_alliance=22.79, SD=13.15; mean_warmth=2.54, SD=1.10; t_alliance(16)=4.31, p<0.001; t_warmth(16)=3.74; p=0.002). Additionally, over the course of all 6 acupuncture treatment sessions, most patients experienced immediate clinical pain relief after each treatment session (p<0.001), irrespective of augmented or limited group assignment. Pain catastrophizing was significantly reduced after the intervention (t(16)=3.79; p=0.002) in the Augmented (∆-7.88) but not the Limited group (∆1.44). Importantly, only the Augmented group reported a high probability to continue with the treatment after the study as well as a high pain relief expectation for future acupuncture treatments even though both groups experienced similar pain relief treatment outcomes over the course of the study intervention. Brain imaging data analysis focused on social mirroring areas such as the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). In summary, this study highlights the importance of investigating variable interaction quality during longitudinal clinical therapies and its influence on clinical outcomes, treatment compliance, and brain processing of nociceptive signaling. Grant support from NIH - National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH: R61-AT009306, R33-AT009306), Neuroimaging Pilot Funding Initiative at the Martinos Center for Biomedical imaging (MGH R90DA023427), Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), Foundation for the Science of the Therapeutic Encounter, National Center for Research Resources (P41RR14075; CRC 1 UL1 RR025758), Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center, Martinos Computing facilities, and National Institutes of Health (Grant Nos. S10RR023401, S10RR019307, S10RR019254, and S10RR023043). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and/or interpretation of the results. Also, all authors declare no existence of competing conflicts of interest.

The impact of the lung EDRN-CVC on Phase 1, 2, & 3 biomarker validation studies.

The Early Detection Research Network's (EDRN) purpose is to discover, develop and validate biomarkers and imaging methods to detect early-stage cancers or at-risk individuals. The EDRN is composed of sites that fall into four categories: Biomarker Developmental Laboratories (BDL), Biomarker Reference Laboratories (BRL), Clinical Validation Centers (CVC) and Data Management and Coordinating Centers. Each component has a crucial role to play within the mission of the EDRN. The primary role of the CVCs is to support biomarker developers through validation trials on promising biomarkers discovered by both EDRN and non-EDRN investigators. The second round of funding for the EDRN Lung CVC at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) was funded in October 2016 and we intended to accomplish the three missions of the CVCs: To conduct innovative research on the validation of candidate biomarkers for early cancer detection and risk assessment of lung cancer in an observational study; to compare biomarker performance; and to serve as a resource center for collaborative research within the Network and partner with established EDRN BDLs and BRLs, new laboratories and industry partners. This report outlines the impact of the VUMC EDRN Lung CVC and describes the role in promoting and validating biological and imaging biomarkers.

Generational Specificity of Socio-Political Transformation in Georgia: Between Tradition and Modernity

The article’s purpose is to analyse the generational transformation and outline the characteristics of individual generations. Moreover, the concept of V. Papava indicating generational trends was juxtaposed. The analysis characterises the young generation of Georgians in relation to other generations. I used research methods to solve this research problem based partly on secondary sources. The basic research methods used in the article are the method of analysing existing data and the comparative method, which allowed for juxtaposing the division into generations proposed by V. Papava with the general characteristics of global generation trends. Secondary statistical data studies from the Caucasus Research Resource Center completed the other methods, allowing for a more in-depth analysis of the generations. This article is a snapshot of studies on the generational transformation of Georgian society and is part of a series of articles on the young generation of Georgians and their opinions about democracy and democratisation.

Causal dynamics of patient/clinician facial expression transfer are associated with insula cortex brain-to-brain concordance

While patient/clinician relationships significantly impact pain outcomes, the behavioral and neural mechanisms supporting this phenomenon are unknown. Specifically, the precise role of facial expressions in contributing to analgesia and brain-to-brain communication has not been investigated. In this Hyperscan fMRI study, we explored how pain-related, directional facial communication between patient and clinician engaging in interactive pain treatment is associated with brain concordance. Dyads comprising 20 patients with fibromyalgia and 19 acupuncturists completed two synchronous fMRI scans (two different partners per participant). During fMRI, dyad members saw each other's face through closed-circuit video while interacting. The fMRI scan included a series of moderately painful and minimally/non-painful leg cuff pressure stimuli to the patient while the clinician observed. A separate fMRI scan included clinician-applied and remotely-activated electroacupuncture treatment to the patient while they received moderate cuff pressure pain. In-scanner videos were used for automated individual facial muscle unit (FMU) timeseries extraction. FMU data from pain/observation scans was fed into an interpretable machine learning classifier to determine which FMU's dynamics was most associated with pain. FMUs from the pain/treatment scans were used in conjunction with neural-network causality estimation to investigate directional non-verbal communication and their association with brain-to-brain dynamic fMRI concordance (as reported in Ellingsen et al., 2020). Causality analysis indicated a strong asymmetry in which the patients’ facial expressions elicited a range of facial expressions in clinicians, but not vice-versa. Patient lip movement FMUs were most associated with pain. Interestingly, patient-to-clinician causal influence of these FMUs on similar clinicians’ FMUs was associated with dynamic insula cortex brain-to-brain concordance, demonstrating the key role of this social mirroring and salience processing brain region with respect to facial expression mirroring between patients and clinicians. Supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (R61-AT009306), Norwegian Research Council /Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (FRICON/COFUND-240553/F20), Neuroimaging Pilot Funding Initiative at the Martinos Center for Biomedical imaging, MGH (R90DA023427), Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), Foundation for the Science of the Therapeutic Encounter, National Center for Research Resources (P41RR14075; CRC 1 UL1 RR025758), Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center, Martinos Computing facilities, and National Institutes of Health (Grant Nos. S10RR023401, S10RR019307, S10RR019254, and S10RR023043).

SDS-Page characterization of some elite cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) varieties

The shortcomings of genotype x environment interaction necessitated the use of molecular methods in characterizing many plant species and in determining their phylogenetic relationships. In this study, some selected cowpea lines (27 varieties) from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife, the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Samaru, Kaduna and Genetic Resource Centre, IITA, Ibadan were characterized using sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) profiling. The protein banding profiles of the 27 cowpea varieties were scored and subjected to cluster analysis using Ward's minimum-variance method (WMVM) for dendrogram grouping. The dendrogram generated from the SDS-PAGE profiles grouped the varieties into seven clusters at 52% similarity coefficient. Hence, the biochemical characterization revealed more precise discrimination among the 27 cowpea varieties studied.&#x0D; Keywords: Cowpea, electrophoretic banding profiles, dendrogram grouping, total proteins

Employment vs. Homestay and the Happiness of Women in the South Caucasus

Modern women often face an uneasy choice: dedicating their time to reproductive household work, or joining the workforce and spending time away from home and household duties. Both choices are associated with benefits, as well as non-trivial costs, and necessarily involve some trade-offs, influencing the general feeling of happiness women experience given their decision. The trade-offs are especially pronounced in traditional developing countries, where both the pressure for women to stay at home and the need to earn additional income are strong, making the choice even more controversial. To understand the implications of this choice on the happiness of women in these types of countries we compare housewives and working women of the South Caucasus region. The rich data collected annually by the Caucasus Research Resource Center allows us to match working women with their housewife counterparts and to compare the level of happiness across the two groups – separately for each country as well as for Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities residing in Georgia. We find a significant negative happiness gap for working women in Armenia and in Azerbaijan, but not in Georgia. The absence of such a gap among the Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities of Georgia indicates that the gap is mostly a country- rather than an ethnicity-specific effect.

Stuart E. Scheppele

Stuart E. Scheppele, 80, died on Dec. 18, 2018, in Naperville, Illinois. “Dr. Scheppele was a chemistry professor at Oklahoma State University. He also worked at the US Department of Energy and at Amoco Research Center. He retired as head of the mass spectrometry laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Scheppele was a member of ACS for 58 years. He was an author on numerous research articles and papers. He was also an accomplished woodworker, lover of classical music, and Civil War buff.”—Peggy J. Scheppele, wife Most recent title: Director of the Research Resources Center and adjunct professor, University of Illinois at Chicago Education: BS, chemistry and mathematics, University of Dubuque; PhD, Michigan State University, 1964 Survivors: Wife, Peggy; daughters, Carolyn Swafford and Susan; five grandchildren To recognize your late loved one or colleague, submit obituary information at cenm.ag/obits.

Detection of mammagloblin by RT-PCR as a biomarker for lymph node metastasis in breast cancer patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BackgroundThis meta-analysis presents evidence regarding the diagnostic accuracy of mammaglobin detected using the RT-PCR technique, related to the presence of sentinel node metastasis in breast cancer patients.MethodsThe following databases were consulted: Cochrane, Lilacs, Scielo, Hinary, PubMed, Elsevier, Embase, ProQuest, the Universidad del Rosario´s Centro de Recursos Para el Aprendizaje y la Investigación (CRAI-UR) [Resource Center for Learning and Research], and the Google Scholar search engine. The quality of the studies was assessed using the QUADAS-2 and CASpe tools. The selected studies presented the necessary data to calculate diagnostic validity index of mammaglobin detection using RT-PCR, compared with the reference standard test. Global values for the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, probability ratios, diagnostic ORs, and summary ROC curves of this meta-analysis were obtained using the Meta-DiSc 1.4 program.ResultsInitially, 731 articles were obtained; but only 25 were included in the meta-analysis. Sensitivity was 84% (95% CI: 83% - 86%), and specificity was 92% (95% CI: 91% - 93%). Positive and negative predictive values were 9.26 (95% CI: 6.47–13.26) and 0.17 (95% CI: 0.13–0.23), respectively. The diagnostic OR was 66.34 (95% CI: 42.52–103.52). The predictive area under the sROC curve was 94.78 (Q = 0.8876).ConclusionsThe evaluated diagnostic index showed that the expression of the mammaglobin biomarker has diagnostic prediction for detecting lymph node metastasis in breast cancer patients, when analyzed using RT-PCR, although more than 50% heterogeneity was found.

Niveles para el desarrollo de habilidades en la alfabetización informacional desde el Centro de Recursos para el Aprendizaje y la Investigación

In this paper theoretical-conceptual aspects related to Information Literacy are addressed from the Resource Center for Learning and Research, which has been of great importance and necessity with the advent of Information and Communication Technologies. Elements are required relative to its denomination and conceptualization in the Resource Center for Learning and Research; as well as information skills by levels to consider a user literate in information.

Building Mental Health Research Capacity in Kenya: A South - North Collaboration.

This paper describes a mental health capacity-building partnership between the University of Nairobi (UON) and the University of Washington (UW) that was built upon a foundational 30-year HIV/AIDS research training collaboration between the two institutions. With funding from the US National Institute of Mental Health Medical Education Program Initiative (MEPI), UW and UON faculty collaborated to develop and offer a series of workshops in research methods, grant writing, and manuscript publication for UON faculty and post-graduate students committed to mental health research. UON and UW scientists provided ongoing mentorship to UON trainees through Skype and email. Three active thematic research groups emerged that focused on maternal and child mental health, gender-based violence, and HIV-related substance abuse. Challenges to conducting mental health research in Kenya included limited resources to support research activities, heavy teaching responsibilities, clinical duties, and administrative demands on senior faculty, and stigmatization of mental health conditions, treatment, and research within Kenyan society. The partnership yielded a number of accomplishments: a body of published papers and presentations at national and international meetings on Kenyan mental health topics, the institution of systematic mental health data collection in rural clinics, funded research proposals, and a mental health research resource centre. We highlight lessons learned for future mental health research capacity-building initiatives.