Explore the vast range of titles available.

This paper draws on Bakhtin’s ethico-ontological vision of dialogue to theorize “relational becoming” on a micro-level. To do so, it introduces three “ethical dimensions of dialogue” (responsibility, responsiveness, and capacitation) and develops the interrelated concepts of addressability and presencing as analytical lenses. Drawing on transcript data from a series of high school and college students’ discussions about controversial political issues, the analysis examines how interlocutors made themselves addressable, addressed each other, and were “presenced” in dialogue. It also discusses the ethico-ontological potential of these interactions, identifying a problematic tendency among interlocutors to not “show up” in verbal discourse in a variety of ways, including, in particular, reliance on abstractions.

In this dissertation, I approach questions of classroom dialogue in ethico-onto-epistemological terms, that is, in terms of how interlocutors jointly co-author themselves, each other, and the world in more or less optimal ways. Drawing primarily on Bakhtin’s early ethical thought, which has been largely ignored in education research, I articulate a framework for attuning to the ethical “dimensions” of dialogue, namely answerability, responsiveness, and capacitation, which refer, respectively, to how we speak from our own unique perspective, attend and respond to the Other, and render the Other capable of further and better responses in the ongoing dialogue. I then use this framework to analyze, evaluate, and reimagine instances of classroom discussions about controversial and potentially polarizing issues which I facilitated. In the course of this analysis, I develop concepts such as “presencing,” a term that refers to the way interlocutors are not simply present but are “presenced” in particular ways in the process of responding to each other. I also consider how interlocutors’ responses are influenced by their various senses of the “genre” of classroom discussion, which can be in tension with each other. Ultimately, I argue that interlocutor’s “relational becoming” (i.e., how they presence and become presenced to each other) coevolves with their “generic becoming” (i.e., what they consider themselves to be doing together), and use these lenses to imagine how classroom discussions, teacher responses to student comments in particular, might change in order to afford more ethical relations.

On Oct. 20, there will be a prolonged drum roll, a clashing of cymbals, a gala celebration -- and a collective civic sigh of relief. Construction on the Metro bus tunnel will move underground; the Westlake project will be completed; and, if everything measures up to expectations, Seattle's downtown retail core will cease to look like downtown Beirut. A brass band will play a triumphant tune, one that contains a message -- a threat, really -- to suburban shopping malls: Downtown's back, and it's going to steal your business. (excerpt)

Diverticular disease is commonly associated with the older population in the United States. As individual’s age, diverticulae, or herniation of the mucosa through the colonic wall, develop. In 10–25% of individuals, the diverticulae become inflamed, resulting in diverticulitis. The gut ecosystem relies on the interaction of bacteria and fungi to maintain homeostasis. Although bacterial dysbiosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diverticulitis, associations between the microbial ecosystem and diverticulitis remain largely unstudied. This study investigated how the cooperative network of bacteria and fungi differ between a diseased area of the sigmoid colon chronically affected by diverticulitis and adjacent non-affected tissue. To identify mucosa-associated microbes, bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal ITS sequencing were performed on chronically diseased sigmoid colon tissue (DT) and adjacent tissue (AT) from the same colonic segment. We found that Pseudomonas and Basidiomycota OTUs were associated with AT while Microbacteriaceae and Ascomycota were enriched in DT. Bipartite co-occurrence networks were constructed for each tissue type. The DT and AT networks were distinct for each tissue type, with no microbial relationships maintained after intersection merge of the groups. Our findings indicate that the microbial ecosystem distinguishes chronically diseased tissue from adjacent tissue.

Using human fecal samples and including sequencing for both bacterial and fungal taxa, this study compared the conventional antibiotics used to treat C. difficile infection (CDI) from the perspective of the microbiome, which is particularly relevant, given the relationship between dysbiotic states and the development of CDI. Sequencing and imputed functional analyses suggest that C. difficile -directed antibiotics are associated with distinct forms of dysbiosis that may be influential in the course of CDI. Further, a role for fungal organisms in the perpetuation of the causal dysbiosis of CDI is discussed, suggesting a previously unappreciated, clinically relevant transkingdom interaction that warrants further study. Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common nosocomial infection in the United States, being associated with high recurrence and persistence rates. Though the relationship between intestinal dysbiosis and CDI is well known, it is unclear whether different forms of dysbiosis may potentially affect the course of CDI. How this is further influenced by C. difficile -directed antibiotics is virtually uninvestigated. In this study, diarrheal stool samples were collected from 20 hospitalized patients, half of whom were confirmed to have CDI. Analyzing tissue ex vivo and in duplicate, CDI and non-CDI fecal samples ( n = 176) were either not antibiotic treated or treated with metronidazole, vancomycin, or fidaxomicin, the three most common CDI therapies. The microbial community composition, interactions, and predicted metabolic functions were assessed by 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer sequencing, bipartite network analysis, and phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states. Our results demonstrate that while all C. difficile -directed antibiotics were associated with similar reductions in alpha diversity, beta diversity significantly differed on the basis of the particular antibiotic, with differentiating relative abundances of bacterial and fungal assemblages. With the exception of fidaxomicin, each antibiotic was associated with the emergence of potentially pathogenic fungal operational taxonomic units, with predicted bacterial functions enriched for xenobiotic metabolism that could perpetuate the dysbiosis driving CDI. Toxin-independent mechanisms of colitis related to the relative abundance of pathogenic bacteria and fungi were also noted. This study suggests that a transkingdom interaction between fungi and bacteria may be important in CDI pathophysiology, including being a factor in the historically high persistence and recurrence rates associated with this disease. IMPORTANCE Using human fecal samples and including sequencing for both bacterial and fungal taxa, this study compared the conventional antibiotics used to treat C. difficile infection (CDI) from the perspective of the microbiome, which is particularly relevant, given the relationship between dysbiotic states and the development of CDI. Sequencing and imputed functional analyses suggest that C. difficile -directed antibiotics are associated with distinct forms of dysbiosis that may be influential in the course of CDI. Further, a role for fungal organisms in the perpetuation of the causal dysbiosis of CDI is discussed, suggesting a previously unappreciated, clinically relevant transkingdom interaction that warrants further study.

Objective: Beryllium mine and ore extraction mill workers have low rates of beryllium sensitization and chronic beryllium disease relative to the level of beryllium exposure. The objective was to relate these rates to the solubility and composition of the mine and mill materials. Method: Medical surveillance and exposure data were summarized. Dissolution of BeO, ore materials and beryllium hydroxide, Be(OH)₂ was measured in synthetic lung fluid. Result: The ore materials were more soluble than BeO at pH 7.2 and similar at pH 4.5. Be(OH)₂ was more soluble than BeO at both pH. Aluminum dissolved along with beryllium from ore materials. Conclusion: Higher solubility of beryllium ore materials and Be(OH)₂ at pH 7.2 might shorten particle longevity in the lung. The aluminum content of the ore materials might inhibit the cellular immune response to beryllium.

Meeting abstracts - A single PDF containing all abstracts in this supplement is available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/files/pdf/1532-429X-13-S1-full.pdf.EMPTY Objective To develop and test a 3D hybrid radial(stack of stars) acquisition scheme with compressed sensing(CS) reconstruction for high resolution late gadolinium enhancement(LGE) imaging of the left ventricle(LV) and the left atrium(LA). Arrows in the images point to enhancement. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] Conclusion The 3D stack of stars acquisition in conjunction with CS offers a promising alternative for rapid high resolution LGE imaging.

Beryllium is a silver‐grey metal noted for its light weight and remarkable stiffness. Beryllium has the unique property for a metal of being virtually transparent to X‐rays. The largest end use of beryllium is in the form of alloys of copper containing less than two per cent beryllium. Commercial production of beryllium has been derived from two principal types of deposit: granitic pegmatite deposits and hydrothermal‐metasomatic deposits. The small size of most granitic pegmatite deposits makes them uneconomic to mine by mechanical methods, and so beryl extraction from pegmatites is carried out by a manual process of simultaneous extraction, cleaning and concentration. Many beryllium alloys are produced commercially, the most important of which are those of copper, nickel and aluminum. The pure beryllium metal components used in technological applications have extremely long lifetimes, and, therefore, return to the recycle stream very slowly.