Humane Metrics/Metrics Noir

That Elsevier/RELX group has now rebranded itself as a “global provider of information and analytics,” seems indicative of the way academic publishing is increasingly moving into the highly pro table data analytics market. Here the linking of journals and scholarly social networks to the data underlying them through article level metrics, citation and download gures, usage statistics, ratings and altmetrics, serves as an opportunity to further extract value from the relationalities of scholarly publishing. Connect this to the demand of neoliberal governments for bibliometrics to index and rank scholars and their universities in order to measure impact and excellence, and enable accountability and transparency as part of national research assessment exercises, and it is clear that the logic of calculation and its accompanying mechanisms of surveillance and control is now omnipresent in scholarly publishing—and this includes requirements towards researchers to measure and monitor themselves as “brands.” The texts in this pamphlet will ask, what are the implications of this state of a airs for scholarship and for the value of expertise and democratic judgement? Is it indeed the case that, as Chris Newfield argues “with indicators ascendant over judgment itself, and tied to complicated, obscure, or proprietary procedures, metrics can pacify the interpretive powers of the public and professionals alike”? Yet the authors of this pamphlet will also explore strategies for pushing back against the metrification of scholarship and publishing

One-year outcomes after transcatheter insertion of an interatrial shunt device for the management of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Background—Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction has a complex pathophysiology and remains a therapeutic challenge. Elevated left atrial pressure, particularly during exercise, is a key contributor to morbidity and mortality. Preliminary analyses have demonstrated that a novel interatrial septal shunt device that allows shunting to reduce the left atrial pressure provides clinical and hemodynamic benefit at 6 months. Given the chronicity of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, evidence of longer-term benefit is required. Methods and Results—Patients (n=64) with left ventricular ejection fraction ≥40%, New York Heart Association class II–IV, elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (≥15 mm Hg at rest or ≥25 mm Hg during supine bicycle exercise) participated in the open-label study of the interatrial septal shunt device. One year after interatrial septal shunt device implantation, there were sustained improvements in New York Heart Association class (P<0.001), quality of life (Minnesota Living with Heart Failure score, P<0.001), and 6-minute walk distance (P<0.01). Echocardiography showed a small, stable reduction in left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (P<0.001), with a concomitant small stable increase in the right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (P<0.001). Invasive hemodynamic studies performed in a subset of patients demonstrated a sustained reduction in the workload corrected exercise pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (P<0.01). Survival at 1 year was 95%, and there was no evidence of device-related complications. Conclusions—These results provide evidence of safety and sustained clinical benefit in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction patients 1 year after interatrial septal shunt device implantation. Randomized, blinded studies are underway to confirm these observations

Religious and spiritual issues in group counseling: Beliefs and preferences of university counseling center clients and therapists

Over the past three decades research on addressing religious and spiritual issues in individual counseling has blossomed, but group counseling has been virtually ignored. The main purpose of the present study was to examine the beliefs and preferences of group counseling clients and therapists regarding the discussion of religious and spiritual concerns, and the appropriateness of religious and spiritual interventions. Participants were 164 clients and 54 therapists participating in counseling groups at nine university counseling centers nationwide. The majority of clients and therapists indicated that religious concerns are an appropriate topic for group counseling, and the majority of clients reported a preference to discuss religious or spiritual concerns. Both clients and therapists rated spiritual interventions as more appropriate, overall, than religious interventions. However, most clients and therapists rated exploration of both religious and spiritual struggles as an appropriate intervention. Regression models predicting client preferences to discuss religious and spiritual issues identified religious commitment and religious struggle as significant predictors. Finally, implications for practice, limitations, and future research directions are discussed

Religious and spiritual issues in group counseling: Clients\u27 beliefs and preferences

Research on addressing religious and spiritual concerns in counseling is still in its infancy. This is especially the case in terms of addressing religious and spiritual concerns in group counseling. A study by Rose, Westefeld, and Ansley (2001) suggests that the majority of clients attending individual therapy sessions not only believe that it is appropriate to discuss religious concerns with their individual therapist, but the majority also have the preference to do so. The purpose of the present study was to expand this finding by examining client beliefs and preferences regarding the discussion of religious and spiritual issues in group counseling sessions. In the present study, the majority of clients reported that religious concerns are an appropriate topic for discussion in group counseling. However, the majority also reported that they prefer not to discuss religious and spiritual concerns with their group members. Furthermore, participants also tended to endorse spiritual interventions as more appropriate as compared to religious interventions. Finally, spirituality was identified as a potent predictor of clients\u27 preference to discuss both religious and spiritual issues

HDAC9 is implicated in atherosclerotic aortic calcification and affects vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype.

Aortic calcification is an important independent predictor of future cardiovascular events. We performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis to determine SNPs associated with the extent of abdominal aortic calcification (n = 9,417) or descending thoracic aortic calcification (n = 8,422). Two genetic loci, HDAC9 and RAP1GAP, were associated with abdominal aortic calcification at a genome-wide level (P < 5.0 × 10-8). No SNPs were associated with thoracic aortic calcification at the genome-wide threshold. Increased expression of HDAC9 in human aortic smooth muscle cells promoted calcification and reduced contractility, while inhibition of HDAC9 in human aortic smooth muscle cells inhibited calcification and enhanced cell contractility. In matrix Gla protein-deficient mice, a model of human vascular calcification, mice lacking HDAC9 had a 40% reduction in aortic calcification and improved survival. This translational genomic study identifies the first genetic risk locus associated with calcification of the abdominal aorta and describes a previously unknown role for HDAC9 in the development of vascular calcification

Enabling Broadband Data Access for the Digital Watershed with Heterogenous Wireless Networks

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

Enabling Broadband Data Access for the Digital Watershed with Heterogenous Wireless Networks

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from the CHARGE consortium identifies common variants associated with carotid intima media thickness and plaque

Carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and plaque determined by ultrasonography are established measures of subclinical atherosclerosis that each predicts future cardiovascular disease events. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in 31,211 participants of European ancestry from nine large studies in the setting of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. We then sought additional evidence to support our findings among 11,273 individuals using data from seven additional studies. In the combined meta-analysis, we identified three genomic regions associated with common carotid intima media thickness and two different regions associated with the presence of carotid plaque (P < 5 × 10 -8). The associated SNPs mapped in or near genes related to cellular signaling, lipid metabolism and blood pressure homeostasis, and two of the regions were associated with coronary artery disease (P < 0.006) in the Coronary Artery Disease Genome-Wide Replication and Meta-Analysis (CARDIoGRAM) consortium. Our findings may provide new insight into pathways leading to subclinical atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular events