Resurgence In Efforts Research Articles

Neighborhood Social Ties and Informal Social Control: When do Neighbors Call the Police or Directly Intervene?

Social disorganization theory posits that neighborhood social ties facilitate residents’ engagement in distinct forms of informal social control important for crime reduction, including private, parochial, and public controls (Bursik & Grasmik, 1993). Yet research examining how social ties contribute to various forms of informal social control is rare, despite a recent resurgence in efforts to clarify these measures (see Warner, 2014). The present study examines whether neighborhood social ties influence direct informal social control (i.e., residents’ perceptions that their neighbors will stop a crime themselves or will get another neighbor to help) and indirect informal social control (i.e., residents’ perceptions that their neighbors will call the police) within ordinary least squares regression. Findings indicate that previous studies, which have relied on global measures of informal social control, have concealed more nuanced relationships regarding social ties and forms of informal social control. More specifically, neighborhood social ties were positively related to direct informal social control at low levels of disadvantage, but were negatively related to direct informal social control in neighborhoods with high concentrated disadvantage, while social ties were positively related to indirect informal social control regardless of disadvantaged context. Findings point to the importance of including more specific measures of informal social control in current and future residential surveys.

Spatial Organization of Chromatin: Emergence of Chromatin Structure During Development.

Nuclei are central hubs for information processing in eukaryotic cells. The need to fit large genomes into small nuclei imposes severe restrictions on genome organization and the mechanisms that drive genome-wide regulatory processes. How a disordered polymer such as chromatin, which has vast heterogeneity in its DNA and histone modification profiles, folds into discernibly consistent patterns is a fundamental question in biology. Outstanding questions include how genomes are spatially and temporally organized to regulate cellular processes with high precision and whether genome organization is causally linked to transcription regulation. The advent of next-generation sequencing, super-resolution imaging, multiplexed fluorescent in situ hybridization, and single-molecule imaging in individual living cells has caused a resurgence in efforts to understand the spatiotemporal organization of the genome. In this review, we discuss structural and mechanistic properties of genome organization at different length scales and examine changes in higher-order chromatin organization during important developmental transitions.

Recent Advances in the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease.

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) was first described in the Western literature more than 100 years ago. Elucidation of its molecular basis prompted numerous biochemical and genetic studies that have contributed to a better understanding of its pathophysiology. Unfortunately, the translation of such knowledge into developing treatments has been disproportionately slow and elusive. In the last 10 years, discovery of BCL11A, a major γ-globin gene repressor, has led to a better understanding of the switch from fetal to adult hemoglobin and a resurgence of efforts on exploring pharmacological and genetic/genomic approaches for reactivating fetal hemoglobin as possible therapeutic options. Alongside therapeutic reactivation of fetal hemoglobin, further understanding of stem cell transplantation and mixed chimerism as well as gene editing, and genomics have yielded very encouraging outcomes. Other advances have contributed to the FDA approval of three new medications in 2017 and 2019 for management of sickle cell disease, with several other drugs currently under development. In this review, we will focus on the most important advances in the last decade.

Seizure prediction - ready for a new era.

Epilepsy is a common disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. An overwhelming majority of people with epilepsy regard the unpredictability of seizures as a major issue. More than 30 years of international effort have been devoted to the prediction of seizures, aiming to remove the burden of unpredictability and to couple novel, time-specific treatment to seizure prediction technology. A highly influential review published in 2007 concluded that insufficient evidence indicated that seizures could be predicted. Since then, several advances have been made, including successful prospective seizure prediction using intracranial EEG in a small number of people in a trial of a real-time seizure prediction device. In this Review, we examine advances in the field, including EEG databases, seizure prediction competitions, the prospective trial mentioned and advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of seizures. We argue that these advances, together with statistical evaluations, set the stage for a resurgence in efforts towards the development of seizure prediction methodologies. We propose new avenues of investigation involving a synergy between mechanisms, models, data, devices and algorithms and refine the existing guidelines for the development of seizure prediction technology to instigate development of a solution that removes the burden of the unpredictability of seizures.

Direct inhibition of RAS: Quest for the Holy Grail?

RAS GTPases (H-, K-, and N-RAS) are the most frequently mutated oncoprotein family in human cancer. However, the relatively smooth surface architecture of RAS and its picomolar affinity for nucleotide have given rise to the assumption that RAS is an "undruggable" target. Recent advancements in drug screening, molecular modeling, and a greater understanding of RAS function have led to a resurgence in efforts to pharmacologically target this challenging foe. This review focuses on the state of the art of RAS inhibition, the approaches taken to achieve this goal, and the challenges of translating these discoveries into viable therapeutics.

First‐principles theory of acceptors in nitride semiconductors

AbstractAcceptor defects and impurities play a critical role in the performance of GaN‐based devices. Mg is the only acceptor impurity that gives rise to p‐type conductivity, while other acceptors (such as C impurities and defects) act as sources of compensation and trapping. From the point of view of theory, understanding the physics of acceptor species in GaN has long been a challenge. In the past, limitations of computational techniques made it difficult to quantitatively predict crucial quantities such as thermodynamic and optical transition levels. However, advances in first‐principles calculations, including the use of hybrid functionals in density functional theory, have led to a resurgence in efforts to understand properties of acceptors in nitrides. After briefly discussing advances in theoretical techniques, we review recent computational work on acceptor impurities in GaN and compare theoretical results with the available experimental data. We also present new hybrid density functional calculations on the transition levels of and its complexes with O and H impurities. The results indicate that donor impurities significantly lower transition levels, and that and complexes give rise to yellow luminescence. We also discuss the properties of acceptor impurities in AlN and InN.

The Australian monsoonal tropics: An opportunity to protect unique biodiversity and secure benefits for Aboriginal communities.

The Australian monsoonal tropics region contains one of the planet’s largest, relatively intact tropical savannas and has been continually occupied by humans for at least 50,000 years. The region, spanning Cape York Peninsula, the Top End and the Kimberley of northern Australia has long been known to host high biodiversity, but only now is the true extent of locally unique (endemic) species and genetic diversity within each of these areas becoming apparent. Though some critical regions have been included in the national reserve system, including the iconic Kakadu National Park, the ecological and evolutionary dynamics are such that large interconnected swathes of the region need to be actively managed to sustain this unique diversity in the face of escalating anthropogenic impacts and species decline. The growth in Indigenous Protected Areas and Indigenous-owned land where Traditional Owners aspire to “care for their Country” offers an opportunity to contribute to the broader conservation effort in the region. The conservation imperative is also entwined with Aboriginal cultural aspirations. Over the last few decades there has been a resurgence of effort by Aboriginal landowners to maintain their cultural responsibilities and knowledge, pursue socio-economic development opportunities, as well as to protect the bio-cultural values of their ancestral country. In the Australian monsoonal tropics, over 40% of the landscape is under some form of Aboriginal ownership or control and emerging initiatives such as the Indigenous Protected Area programme, representing a partnership of community, government and sometimes NGOs offer one (though not the only) constructive way forward. As the biological uniqueness of the landscape is uncovered, this should bolster the perceived biodiversity value and encourage further investment in protecting it, especially through programmes that promote engagement with, and employment of, Aboriginal communities. For this to be sustainable, the discovery and management of the region’s biodiversity needs to be driven increasingly by Aboriginal land owners with clear cultural and community, as well as biodiversity, benefits. This

Polio: Eradicated, But Can It Return?

th is World Polio Day. This communicable disease spreads through human-to-human contact, usually entering the body through the mouth due to faecally contaminated water or food, causing paralysis of essential muscles, such as those controlling swallowing, heartbeat, and respiration. Sixty years ago, the largest number of polio victims was reported in the United States. In 1952, there were 57,879 cases reported with 3,145 deaths. In a weeklong special son National Public Radio (NPR) News, McCarthy [1] reported that India has been free of polio that has afflicted it for millennia. India has 175 million children aged 5 years and younger and all of them are the target for the massive campaign that has nearly enabled India to claim a polio-free status. With this success, the world has never been closer to eradicating polio. Since World Polio Day in 2011, India is able to claim no new cases since January 11, 2011. This is historic and offers hope and a resurgence of effort to eradicate this crippling disease in the few active regions of remaining endemic countries. NPR reports that a decade ago, Nigeria perceived the war on polio to be a “Western plot to sterilize Muslim children” [2]. Conversely, the countries of India and Pakistan may find polio to be the ultimate exercise in diplomacy in that polio may knit program strategies together as they seize this historic moment for global health [1]. Since the 2011 World Polio Day, the number of new cases of polio has declined from 467 at this time last year to 171 this year. In the developing world, children are given an oral vaccine made of a live, no paralytic polio virus. The vaccination entails two drops for partial immunity, making mass vaccination campaigns achievable in poor countries [3]. The vaccine causes an infection that usually lasts a few weeks. The infection can spread to others and immunize them, too. However, but if the virus spreads too far among previously unvaccinated people, its genes will change and the virus will regain its ability to cripple and kill such as the outbreak of paralytic polio in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2000 and 2001, crippling 21. The World Health Organization reported more than 1,300 cases of the disease in 16 countries in 2005, with cases in Indonesia, South Asia and West Africa. Our strongest motive for writing this editorial was to take this opportunity to thank the medical professionals who worked during the polio epidemic and to recognize the efforts of the health staff of the time whose names never made it to print. The health professionals of the day not only rose to the challenge, but learned from it; their robust and optimistic response has ultimately eradicated the disease hopefully.

Understanding B-type supergiants in the low metallicity environment of the SMC II

Despite a resurgence of effort over the last decade in the area of massive stars there is still ambiguity over their evolutionary path, contamination of their surface abundances and the behaviour of their stellar winds. Here 10 SMC B-type supergiants are analysed applying a unified model atmosphere code FASTWIND to intermediate resolution spectra from the ESO Multi Mode Instrument (EMMI) on the NTT telescope. Combined with the 8 targets analysed in paper 1, this work provides observational results on the properties of the winds and chemical compositions of B-type supergiants in the SMC. This paper emphasizes and substantiates the implications for stellar evolution from paper 1; that current theoretical models need to produce larger degrees of surface nitrogen enhancements at lower rotational velocities. In addition a significant discrepancy between theoretical and observed mass-loss rates is discussed which will have important implications for the rotational velocities obtained from stellar evolution calculations. Furthermore, an initial calibration of the wind-momentum luminosity relationship for B-type supergiants in a low metallicity environment (Z = 0.004) is presented.

HUMAN BODY COMPOSITION

Although it is self-evident that the study of human nutrition has as its goal the optimal nutrition of man, the nutritional status of the body best suited to optimal performance, i.e., optimal nutrition, has unfortunately not yet been satisfactorily defined. Body composition of animals may be measured by direct chemical analysis and correlated with dietary intake and with the various aspects of performance; studies of body composition of living man, on the other hand, must rely on indirect measure ments. The following two reports, which give an account of the current status of the attack on the difficult task of measuring body composition in living man, are sponsored by the Committee on Nutrition to call attention to the resurgence of effort in this field during recent years. A fuller knowledge of the gross composition of the human body and its relation to preceding diet will constitute a significant step towards realization of the ultimate goal of nutritional science. Even then, a particular body composition will be of importance primarily in terms of functional performance. The availability of newer techniques should do much to stimulate physicians and nutritionists in defining body composition as an essential step in arriving at a more exact definition of optimal nutrition.

The Library World Volume 50 Issue 10

FROM everywhere there are reports of increased issues of books from libraries. The famine in copies no doubt accounts in part for it and, probably, there is also what is almost a resurgence of effort after knowledge amongst young men and women who are endeavouring in many fields of work to recover some of the losses of the war years. We cannot recall at any time when so much hard grinding study was being done as now. Pessimists about youth and juvenile delinquency (which however is incidental to a much younger age than that we are contemplating) would do well to reflect upon this fact. Whatever the cause, the immediate prospects for libraries in universities, works, and social institutions of every sort were never brighter. We know that certain types of “economist” of the faded “retrenchment and reform” type say the situation is temporary and artificial but, even if it is, and we are by no means acquiescent in this opinion, much ground may be won and held from any temporary good period. We think librarianship, under the present leadership of the Library Association, may be able to consolidate the position both for public and for other kinds of libraries. The Association was never better led than since the war; it has had remarkably statesmenlike presidents, an active council and an Honorary Secretary who for constructive capacity, vision, literary skill and fearlessness, combined with an energy and industry that leaves most of his contemporaries breathless, has not been surpassed; and he is backed by a Staff that rises to the ever‐increasing demands of the service. We are glad to write this last sentence, for Secretary Welsford has to cover many duties and serve many causes: receive and entertain the Association's guests from overseas; look after meetings; the educational services which now are very great; attend to the troubles of librarians everywhere and advise in them about matters ranging from salaries to ethics; our publications, accounts, catering, interviewing, negotiating with public departments and other bodies. As for the meetings of the Council and its committees, we are told, not by Mr. Welsford who knows nothing of this note, that its reports and papers ran in March alone to 200 foolscap typed pages! Of course Mr. Welsford has an excellent staff which assists him with real live interest. The time has come, however, as our readers now know, when special senior officers to deal with Membership and Education respectively are to be appointed to work side by side with the Librarian, the excellent Mr. Henrik Jones (who never fails the searcher, even the youngest, and seems to know what we are all doing) to carry “at a high level” some of the burdens. Annual Reports are not always read but we were drawn to these reflections by the recently issued Report of the Library Association for the year. We commend it to those who are inclined to leave it unread.