Wichita State University

About: Wichita State University is a education organization based out in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 4988 authors who have published 9563 publications receiving 253824 citations. The organization is also known as: WSU & Fairmount College.

Broad-Spectrum Antivirals against 3C or 3C-Like Proteases of Picornaviruses, Noroviruses, and Coronaviruses

Abstract: Phylogenetic analysis has demonstrated that some positive-sense RNA viruses can be classified into the picornavirus-like supercluster, which includes picornaviruses, caliciviruses, and coronaviruses. These viruses possess 3C or 3C-like proteases (3Cpro or 3CLpro, respectively), which contain a typical chymotrypsin-like fold and a catalytic triad (or dyad) with a Cys residue as a nucleophile. The conserved key sites of 3Cpro or 3CLpro may serve as attractive targets for the design of broad-spectrum antivirals for multiple viruses in the supercluster. We previously reported the structure-based design and synthesis of potent protease inhibitors of Norwalk virus (NV), a member of the Caliciviridae family. We report herein the broad-spectrum antiviral activities of three compounds possessing a common dipeptidyl residue with different warheads, i.e., an aldehyde (GC373), a bisulfite adduct (GC376), and an α-ketoamide (GC375), against viruses that belong to the supercluster. All compounds were highly effective against the majority of tested viruses, with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations in the high nanomolar or low micromolar range in enzyme- and/or cell-based assays and with high therapeutic indices. We also report the high-resolution X-ray cocrystal structures of NV 3CLpro-, poliovirus 3Cpro-, and transmissible gastroenteritis virus 3CLpro- GC376 inhibitor complexes, which show the compound covalently bound to a nucleophilic Cys residue in the catalytic site of the corresponding protease. We conclude that these compounds have the potential to be developed as antiviral therapeutics aimed at a single virus or multiple viruses in the picornavirus-like supercluster by targeting 3Cpro or 3CLpro.

Children's inference generation across different media

Abstract: In the present study, we investigated the degree to which children's inference generation ability generalises across different media and predicts narrative comprehension over and above basic language skills and vocabulary. To address both aims, we followed two cohorts of children aged 4 and 6 as they turned 6 and 8 years old, respectively. At each time point we assessed their inference and narrative comprehension skills using aural, televised and written stories. We also assessed their basic language skills and vocabulary. The findings demonstrated that children's inference generation skills were highly inter-related across different media for both cohorts and at both time points. Also, children's inference generation had a significant contribution to children's narrative comprehension over and above basic language skills, vocabulary and media factors. The current set of findings has important theoretical and practical implications for early diagnosis and intervention in young children's high-order comprehension skills.

The Costs and Risks of Social Activism: A Study of Sanctuary Movement Activism

Abstract: This study challenges thefrequent characterization of social movements as homogeneous webs of activity. Such a view distorts the activist experience and blinds scholars to the daily realities of activism. We use the concepts of "cost" and "risk" to distinguish activist experiences within a single social movement. Data obtained from 141 participants in the sanctuary movement show: (1) individuals engage in a variety of movement activities; (2) cost and risk are empirically distinguishable, along with their personal correlates; and (3) of the varables drawn from two dominant explanations of movement participation, biographical availability factors best predict high-cost activism (more hours devoted to the movement), while socialization factors best differentiate highrisk (direct contact with Central American refugees) from low-risk activists (no refugee contact). Two research questions have long dominated the sociological study of social movements: the macroquestion of movement emergence: Why do movements emerge in the first place?, and the microquestion of movement recruitment: Why do some individuals, but not others, join social movements? Our research is concerned with the latter question of social movement recruitment. In some ways, our study is concerned with issues preliminary to the question of recruitment. We ask, What are individuals being recruited to do? While this question may appear to be an obvious one to ask about movement recruitment, social movement scholars have paid minimal attention to it. We approach the study of social activism in several ways. First, we depart from the usual approach of studying recruitment. Rather than searching for factors that differentiate activists from nonactivists, we investigate variation between activists in the same movement. Next, we call into question a view often implied in the sociological study of social movements, a view that distorts the activist experience by depicting social movements as homogeneous webs of