1,354 research outputs found
Strategic Communications for Influence: Lessons From the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Its KIDS COUNT Initiative
No full text· This article describes how the Annie E. Casey Foundation is using the KIDS COUNT Network in a new way: as a strategic communications tool in its focused efforts toward policy change, broad social change, and improved conditions for vulnerable children and families. An outcome map illustrates links between this strategy and the intended outcomes.
· Case illustrations of KIDS COUNT grantee activities surrounding the release of the 2008 KIDS COUNT Data Book describe the efforts of grantees in six states where the quantity and quality of media coverage surrounding the national data book reflected the kind of coverage that Casey believes will help achieve its desired outcomes.
· Strategic communications approaches such as relationships with journalists, use of locally relevant information, use of locally relevant media advocacy strategies, good preparation, and a solution orientation were present in states demonstrating desirable media coverage.
· Prescribing specific communications tactics matters less than supporting the network’s general capacity to engage in year-round strategic communications approaches to create conditions (e.g., reputations, relationships) that will contribute to successful media advocacy related to a specific event such as the release of the national data book
Mapping a gene for familial situs abnormalities to human chromosome Xq24-q27.1.
No full textAmbiguous abdominal situs, asplenia/polysplenia and severe cardiac malformations characterize heterotaxy in humans. These anomalies result from the inability of the developing embryo to establish normal left-right asymmetry. We have studied an interesting family in which the heterotaxy phenotype segregates as an X-linked recessive trait. In order to map the heterotaxy locus (HTX), we have analysed 39 family members using highly-polymorphic microsatellite markers from the X chromosome. One of these markers, DXS994, shows no recombination with the disease locus in 20 informative meioses. Linkage analysis results in a maximum lod score of 6.37. Current genetic and physical mapping data assign the order of loci in Xq24-q27.1 as cen-DXS1001-(DXS994, HTX)-DXS984-tel. These results establish the first mapping assignment of situs abnormalities in humans
Dark winter: how the sun is causing a 30-year cold spell
No full textClimate change has been a perplexing problem for years. In Dark Winter, author John L. Casey, a former White House national space policy advisor, NASA headquarters consultant, and space shuttle engineer tells the truth about ominous changes taking place in the climate and the Sun. Casey's research into the Sun's activity, which began almost a decade ago, resulted in discovery of a solar cycle that is now reversing from its global warming phase to that of dangerous global cooling for the next thirty years or more. This new cold climate will dramatically impact the world's citizens. In Dark Win
Neurophysiological mechanisms of cocaine analgesia in the rat.
No full textPrevious studies have shown that cocaine (25 mg/kg, i.p.) produces a rapid onset (5 min), non-opiate, dopamine-mediated analgesia for a duration of 90 min in the rat. The present studies investigated the neurophysiological effects of systemic analgesic doses of cocaine on nociception at three levels of the nervous system: the spinal cord, the medial bulboreticular formation and the medial thalamus. Cocaine did not prevent plasma extraversion produced by the antidromic activation of C-fiber nociceptors in cutaneous nerves and did not suppress flexion reflex discharge to noxious electrical or mechanical stimuli. However, cocaine attenuated the tail-flick response in the lightly anaesthetized rat. This effect was not reversed with doses of naloxone sufficient to block morphine analgesia, but was eliminated by transection of the spinal cord at thoracic levels. In single neuron recordings, 74% of medial bulboreticular (MRF) projection neurons studied in the anaesthetized rat demonstrated immediate (5 min) and prolonged (45 to 70 minutes) increases in their level of spontaneous activity after cocaine administration. Of the cells responsive to somatic stimulation, 72% showed reductions in their evoked responsiveness relative to background activity (i.e. decrease in signal to noise) after cocaine. Chlorpromazine, but not naloxone, reversed the changes in spontaneous activity and evoked response. Cocaine also suppressed somatic noxious evoked responses of 92% of medial thalamic neurons studied, while responses of 88% of lateral thalamic neurons to innocuous stimuli were unchanged (63%) or slightly increased (25%). The responses of medial thalamic neurons to electrical MRF stimulation were also reduced. Recordings from MRF and thalamic neurons in chronic lightly anaesthetized animals, gave results similar to those in anaesthetized rats. This study shows that systemic analgesic doses of cocaine alter the nociceptive responsiveness of neurons at three levels of the nervous system; the spinal cord, the MRF, and the medial thalamus. The alterations in responsiveness are not the result of a peripheral local anesthetic action of cocaine or of a direct action on the spinal cord. The results favor the hypothesis that the analgesic effects of cocaine are mediated by one or more central, supraspinal, non-opiate, monoaminergic mechanisms.PhDAnimal PhysiologyBiological SciencesBiologyNeurosciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/128405/2/9013856.pd
Primate basal ganglia single unit activity in a precued motor task.
No full textThe relationship of single neuronal unit discharges in the basal ganglia to sensory cues, movement preparation, and movement execution was examined to assess the role of basal ganglia activity in the processing of a motor task. Single unit activity was recorded from the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus with multiwire electrodes from two monkeys trained to perform task requiring a reaching movement. In each behavioral trial the monkeys were given a visual precue, which provided advance information about the amplitude and/or direction of the movement. A variable delay period was inserted between this precue and the following go-cue, after which the animals initiated the movement. A reaction time analysis showed that the monkeys initiated the movement faster when more information was provided by the precue. This indicates that the monkeys used the precue to prepare movement direction and amplitude before the go-cue. Reaction times were further significantly decreased when the delay period before the go-cue was progressively lengthened. This indicates that the monkeys increased their motor-readiness as the delay time grew longer. In 20% of the basal ganglia units, a change in discharge rate followed the precue, lasting at least until movement initiation. These responses were not modulated by the amount of information present in the precue, and therefore are unlikely to have been involved in the preparation of movement amplitude or direction. Involvement in the processing of motor-readiness is more likely since more and more units changed their discharge rate as the delay period following the precue grew longer. In addition to responses during movement preparation large populations of basal ganglia units showed activity changes in relation to the presentation of sensory cues, or following movement initiation. Cue-related responses often began before the presentation of the cue, indicating involvement of the basal ganglia in anticipation of the cue. Each response type was present throughout striatum and globus pallidus. Responses in the striatum were generally better aligned to cue presentations and movement initiation than responses in globus pallidus. These results suggest that information processing in the basal ganglia is concerned with the integrative aspects of movement control at a high level.PhDNeurosciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/103661/1/9034445.pdfDescription of 9034445.pdf : Restricted to UM users only
Master planned communities and the re-formation of cities for health and wellbeing
No full textMaster planned estates are a common feature of modern cities. This paper explores residents’ social practices to reveal connections between spatial and social features, daily routines and health and wellbeing.
AbstractMaster planned communities (MPCs) are designed to give residents a ‘complete living experience’ including access to educational facilities, shopping centres and parks. Although MPCs aspire to be suburban utopias much research focuses on identifying negative outcomes to reinforce notions that dreams of utopian futures are rarely realised. However, as a dynamic form of city re-formation, MPCs create an opportunity to ‘get it right’ by putting into practice lessons learnt from the past and principles of best practice planning. Selandra Rise is an MPC in Melbourne, Australia that has been designed to maximise the health and wellbeing of residents. Key elements incorporate access to nature, open space for physical activity, diverse housing, access to education, public transport, a local town centre and a focus on generating employment.
This paper presents the details of a study designed to measure the role of built, natural, social and economic environments in the health and wellbeing of residents, taking account of the key design features listed. Using a social practice approach rather than taking an individual behavioural stance, the research focuses on households as a unit of study to reveal the connection between spatial and social features, daily routines and health and wellbeing. The paper presents the methods, outlines findings to date, and reflects on potential policy implications for creating neighbourhoods and cities to improve social and physical health.
Presented at the International Making Cities Livable Conference –20-24 May, 2012, Portland, Oregon US
"A Symbol of the New African": Drum magazine, popular culture and the formation of black urban subjectivity in 1950s South Africa.
No full textPhDThis thesis examines the emergence of black urban subjectivity in South Africa
during the 1950s, focussing on the ways in which popular American genres were
utilised in the construction of black urban identities that served as a means of
resistance to apartheid. At the centre of this process was Drum magazine:
founded in South Africa in 1951 , it became the largest selling magazine on the
African continent in 1956. Drum's success was due to the way in which it
enabled the relocation of black identity from the "traditional" towards the
"modern'. The 1940s gave rise to widespread migration of black South Africans
from rural to urban areas and this newly urbanised community was seeking
models of black urban identity. Yet the Nationalist government was attempting
to curtail the emergence of a black urban proletariat, which posed a threat to
white political supremacy. Through apartheid legislation black identity was
constructed as essentially tribal and rural. As a means of resisting this, urbanised
black South Africans turned to, and appropriated, readily available forms of
American culture. Drum published Americanised images and stories: gangsters,
black detectives, black comic heroes, and pulp romances. This popular material
appeared alongside some of the finest investigative journalism ever published.
While Drum magazine is widely acknowledged as having provided a platform
for the emergence of black South African writing in English, its popular content
has been dismissed by critics as apolitical escapism, imitation and capitulation to
American culture. This thesis challenges the dismissal of the popular that has
dominated analyses of Drum since the 1960s, arguing that such a position denies
the agency of local writers and audiences. My analysis reveals that American
forms were adopted in critically discerning ways and chosen for their ability to
convey local meaning and create positions from which to resist aparthei
1972 Jay-Cee-An BJC -- Page [120b]
No full textPhotographs of BJC vocational and technical studentsPaul, Gerald G.
Peterson, J r. Ervin
Peterson, Kenneth
Peterson, Larry W.
Pfau, Lawrence A.
Pforr, Randell
Powers, ewman K.
Quinn, Michael R.
Rasmussen, Gerald A.
Retterath, Jerome
Roller, David L.
Saathoff, Casey
Schnaidt, Larry
Schoonover, James A.
Schroeder, Kevin
Schwingler, Joseph J.
Skaley, Jack D.
Sorenson, Roger
Sorenson, Tom
Sprenger, Curtis E.
Steele, LeRoy K.
Telega, Keith E.
Terras, Clyde D.
Thurlby, Michael
Tracy, Byron J.
Tschaekofske, LeRoy C.
Turnbow, Sam W.
Unrweawhwe, Arvid J.
Van Vleat, Robert P.
Voeller, Frank J.
Volk, Raymond G.
Wall, Larry D.
Wallace, Brian A.
Wallenvein, Ronald L.
Whethan, Martin E.
Wiege, Richard F.
Wutzke, Gordon L.
Zeller, Newell C
1972 Jay-Cee-An BJC -- Page [120]
No full textPhotographs of BJC vocational and technical studentsPaul, Gerald G.
Peterson, Jr. Ervin
Peterson, Kenneth
Peterson, Larry W.
Pfau, La wrence A.
Pforr, Randell
Powers, ewman K.
Quinn, Michael R.
Rasmussen, Gerald A.
Retterath, Jerome
Roller, David L.
Saathoff, Casey
Schnaidt, Larry
Schoonover, James A.
Schroeder, Kevin
Schwingler, Joseph J.
Skaley, Jack D.
Sorenson, Roger
Sorenson, Tom
Sprenger, Curtis E.
Steele, LeRoy K.
Telega, Keith E.
Terras, Clyde D.
Thurlby, Michael
Tracy, Byron J.
Tschaekofske, LeRoy C.
Turnbow,Sam W.
Unrweawhwe, Arvid J.
Van Vleat, Robert P.
Voeller, Frank J.
Volk, Raymond G.
Wall, Larry D.
Wallace, Brian A.
Wallenvein, Ronald L.
Whethan, Martin E.
Wiege, Richard F.
Wutzke, Gordon L.
Zeller, Newell C
Cerebral processing of acute skin and muscle pain in humans
No full text Svensson, Peter, Satoshi Minoshima, Ahmad Beydoun, Thomas J. Morrow, and Kenneth L. Casey. Cerebral processing of acute skin and muscle pain in humans. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 450–460, 1997. The human cerebral processing of noxious input from skin and muscle was compared with the use of positron emission tomography with intravenous H2 15O to detect changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) as an indicator of neuronal activity. During each of eight scans, 11 normal subjects rated the intensity of stimuli delivered to the nondominant (left) forearm on a scale ranging from 0 to 100 with 70 as pain threshold. Cutaneous pain was produced with a high-energy CO2 laser stimulator. Muscle pain was elicited with high-intensity intramuscular electrical stimulation. The mean ratings of perceived intensity for innocuous and noxious stimulation were32.6 ± 4.5 (SE) and 78.4 ± 1.7 for cutaneous stimulation and 15.4 ± 4.2 and 73.5 ± 1.4 for intramuscular stimulation. The pain intensity ratings and the differences between noxious and innocuous ratings were similar for cutaneous and intramuscular stimuli ( P > 0.05). After stereotactic registration, statistical pixel-by-pixel summation ( Z score) and volumes-of-interest (VOI) analyses of subtraction images were performed. Significant increases in rCBF to both noxious cutaneous and intramuscular stimulation were found in the contralateral secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) and inferior parietal lobule [Brodmann area (BA) 40]. Comparable levels of rCBF increase were found in the contralateral anterior insular cortex, thalamus, and ipsilateral cerebellum. Noxious cutaneous stimulation caused significant activation in the contralateral lateral prefrontal cortex (BA 10/46) and ipsilateral premotor cortex (BA 4/6). Noxious intramuscular stimulation evoked rCBF increases in the contralateral anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24) and subsignificant responses in the contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex (MI/SI) and lenticular nucleus. These activated cerebral structures may represent those recruited early in nociceptive processing because both forms of stimuli were near pain threshold. Correlation analyses showed a negative relationship between changes in rCBF for thalamus and MI/SI for cutaneous stimulation, and positive relationships between thalamus and anterior insula for both stimulus modalities. Direct statistical comparisons between innocuous cutaneous and intramuscular stimulation with the use of Z scores and VOI analyses showed no reliable differences between these two forms of noxious stimulation, indicating a substantial overlap in brain activation pattern. The comparison of noxious cutaneous and intramuscular stimulation indicated more activation in the premotor cortex, SII, and prefrontal cortex with cutaneous stimulation, but these differences did not reach statistical significance. The similar cerebral activation patterns suggest that the perceived differences between acute skin and muscle pain are mediated by differences in the intensity and temporospatial pattern of neuronal activity within similar sets of forebrain structures. </jats:p
- …
