University of Illinois at Chicago
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Green-LIT: Shipping Containers in Your Backyard
No full textThe Port of New Orleans and Governor Jeff Landry are moving forward with plans to build the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) shipping container port facility and yard in Violet, LA (down river from New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish) despite a great deal of local opposition. The Save Our St. Bernard (SOStbernard.org) local preservation movement, largely funded by prominent Isleño attorney Sidney Torres III, has launched several petitions and legal actions to interrupt the project. Of note is the fact that this terminal will be built within the colloquial borders of the St. Bernard Port Authority, effectively ceding it to the Port of New Orleans. Additionally the site that both St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish residents have suggested as an alternative would almost certainly create a conflict of jurisdiction with the Louisiana Gateway Port of Plaquemines Parish. Mirroring the fracture of Southeast Louisiana’s competing port authorities the members of the “Stop the Grain Train”(Lower 9th/Holy Cross/Arabi) and “The Canal Will Kill”(lower and upper 9th ward) grassroots campaigns were not present at the public hearing held on May 27th at Val Riess Recreation Complex in Chalmette, LA despite the hopes of several members of SOStBernard that activists from New
Orleans would be attending. Different notions of belonging and mobility create dynamic geographic relationships that alternatively embrace or challenge material interdependence through trade in different real and imaginary commodities. In the case of these competing port authorities their respective specializations would likely ensure no redundancies if they were consolidated under one authority, but the invisible commodity of their prestige and by extension credit and financial autonomy would clearly erode over time. Similarly, where older residents in historic ethnic enclaves could
openly embrace new residents - from wherever so long as they fight alongside them to preserve a way of life dependent on place as much as space - instead cling to their trade in the invisible commodity of cultural heritage bound to a decaying notion of nativism. This intransigence in ceding market share of invisible commodities is a result of a historical-material process that has forced humans to value themselves solely on whatever aspect of their identity can be clearly defined as private property and thus given corporeal rights and exchange value. This virtual market further abstracts the metabolic processes of the economy from the metabolisms of nature, creating a metabolic rift that is resolved through “natural disasters” and forced migrations
Cataloging the Precontact Andes: A Comprehensive Material Study of Spondylus, the Sacred Shell
No full textPrecontact Andean societies have used the vibrant mollusk, Spondylus, for over 5,000 years. Although the shell originated in Ecuador and northern Peru, it was widely employed in offerings, jewelry, and elite iconography throughout the central Andes. Despite extensive archaeological research on Spondylus shells in the Andes, no comprehensive database existed for these unique bivalves. In this dissertation, I analyzed archaeological publications to compile a dataset of Spondylus from various periods and regions, including Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. This project applied assemblage theory to map both individual Spondylus deposits and their broader context, in order to examine how these shells were used in the past. The study has three main findings: Spondylus exchange and use were linked to broader socio-political events, leading to regional differences in shell utilization. Second, Spondylus played a key role in the consecration and closure of precontact architecture. Lastly, the shell continued to be used during the early colonial period. This study consolidates data on Spondylus artifacts and provides a current repository for shell data. It also demonstrates the usefulness of assemblage theory for studying material culture across time and space
Program Director Description of Morbidity and Mortality Conference: A Grounded Theory Interview Study
No full textABSTRACT
Background: M&MC has a variable effect on participants based on level of experience and role. In surgical disciplines M&MC is frequent, required and reflects a program’s culture. Context is created by interactions. Four different populations participate: surgical attending faculty, surgical residents, medical students, and program administrators including the residency program director (PD). A program’s PD offers a point of view centered on their responsibility for resident development. The goal of this project is a rich description of the current state of M&MC in US surgical education from a program director’s point of view.
Focused Research Question: How do surgical residency leaders understand M&MC’s current context, social conditions, and potential for developing professional accountability in modern trainees?
Design/Methods: This research employed a constructivist paradigm guided by the work of Charmaz (2014). Purposive sampling identified fifty program directors (PDs) diverse in location, structure, and years of experience in the role. Five specialties in North American universities were included: general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopaedics, otolaryngology, and neurosurgery. PDs engaged in interviews that emphasized their experiences in M&MC. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded by the PI.
Theoretical sampling was used to organize the focused codes and their subcodes into four themes: changing perspectives and the evolution of M&MC over time, optimizing M&MC in the current climate, specific content of the meeting and peer-based assessment, and its role in identify formation. The overall content fell under human relationships within M&MC consistent with program director (PD) role with respect to the conference. The primary investigator built a grounded theory through iterative analysis.
Results: 44 agreed to participate (88%). Study completion was 100%. Interview recordings ranged from 58 to 84 minutes (average 71 minutes). There was variation in residency size, proportion of acute versus elective cases, and degree of sub-specialization. The year of graduation from residency and the length of time in the role for the program directors interviewed was consistent across specialties and represented all levels of both surgeon and educator experience.
Coding revealed seven major themes:
•It is clear M&MC is evolving away from the traditional shame and blame culture and that program directors (PDs) are invested in that process.
•It is clear the structure of both the conference and the departmental system around it has evolved in response to external needs and threats.
•Through the eyes of PDs, it is clear social conditions highlight the potential for developing accountability within the meeting itself.
•The current shift to hybrid or virtual format separates the community if not done well. PDs are attentive to this threat.
•PDs do not report consistent combined learner and faculty involvement in case selection, presentation or analysis. There are limits to current case reporting standards.
•PDs reflect a sense of responsibility to contribute to collective learning but a sense of isolation in that effort.
•Interviews demonstrate no significant evidence for conference-related faculty development despite its recognized importance.
Conclusions: This study revealed that exploring the tensions around, evolution of, and communal value intrinsic to M&MC are key to understanding its utility in today’s surgical education. The author theorizes that faculty development is important to optimizing the role of M&MC in the professional development of a surgeon
Simulation of a Singular Cough Event in an Enclosed Breakroom
No full textIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased interest in the behavior of infectious aerosols and droplets, with the goal of better understanding transmission events in various situations of prolonged personal exposure. This study simulates the evolution of a singular cough event in a computer modeled breakroom. In addition, another model is created to simulate the inlet conditions. This model is a detailed simulation of the inlet flow through a perforated plate covering the vent, using a k-omega SST model. This model serves as the inlet boundary conditions for the primary breakroom model. The breakroom's continuous phase is simulated using k-epsilon realizable, which accurately models boundary layers as well as open sections of the breakroom. After this, a discrete phase injection, which serves as a virtual human cough, is tracked throughout the room for 10 minutes. The discrete phase injection uses a distribution of droplets with different diameters to capture the physical behavior of a singular cough event. Four cases are analyzed, with different computational manikin positions in each case. The results are analyzed to determine important particle behavior in the breakroom. It was found that the position of the initial cough with respect to the vents was significant. In particular, when the cough was nearer to the inlet vent, where turbulence was higher, the particles dispersed throughout the room quicker, but the amount of particles left in the room after ten minutes was also lower. In contrast, coughing near the outlet vent did not correspond to less particles in the domain after ten minutes as the turbulence was lower in this region of the breakroom. This study demonstrates that the dominant factor in particle dispersion and particle residence time is air turbulence in the area of a cough. Hence, higher air intake flow rates may lead to faster particle dispersion but also to lower amounts of infectious particles in a room
From Flare to Repair: Commensal Bacteria's Influence on Inflammation and Wound Healing
No full textExtensive crosstalk between the microbiome and the immune system is well established, and the gut microbiota has been recognized as a critical contributor to various diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), cancer, and even extra-intestinal inflammatory manifestations. Disruptions of the microbiome, known as dysbiosis, can affect the host by releasing specific metabolites, stimulating inflammatory responses, and disrupting homeostasis. However, it remains unclear how bacterial dysbiosis drives inflammation beyond the gut, how the microbiota influences the central nervous system (CNS) where microbes are absent, and if there are specific commensals that may attenuate inflammation. To that end, Chapter 3 demonstrates that IL-10 deficiency leads to both lung and gut inflammation, which was dependent on commensal bacteria. Two candidate bacteria, Delftia acidovorans and Rhodococcus erythropolis were sufficient to initiate the lung inflammation in the IL-10 deficient mice. Transplantation of human fecal microbiota also induced gut inflammation followed by lung inflammation in the IL-10 deficient mice. In Chapter 4 we demonstrate that gut commensal CD4+ T cells specific for an ileum-colonizing microbe, segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB), drive neuroinflammation in the absence of regulatory T cell control. These T cells become dysregulated in the gut, gain a license to cross the blood brain barrier, and are re-stimulated by host proteins in the CNS to cause neuroinflammation. Chapter 5 explores the microbiota’s capacity to promote epithelial repair and protect against inflammation. We show that antibiotic treatment can enrich for commensals that activate group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) to produce the epithelial regenerating cytokine IL-22. From this enriched microbial community, we isolated Klebsiella oxytoca, which alone, significantly enhanced survival in a model of lethal chemically induced colitis through IL-1R1 and IL-23R dependent mechanisms. Taken together these data highlight the ability of the microbiota to stimulate extra-intestinal inflammatory manifestations and offer new insights into microbial candidates that can be harnessed to mitigate intestinal inflammation
Health-Related QOL, Physical Activity, and Social Support in Saudi Patients with Cardiac Disease
No full textIschemic Heart Disease (IHD) is known as a leading cause of death and disability adjusted life years in recent decades, especially in Saudi Arabia. Higher levels of physical activity (PA) and perceived social support (PSS) were positively associated with improved outcomes like health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with IHD. Despite the established knowledge of HRQoL, PA, and PSS levels and associations globally, they have yet to be studied in Saudi patients with IHD. Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the current levels of HRQoL, PA, and PSS in Saudi patients with IHD, examine the potential associations among HRQoL, PA, and PSS, and test the potential mediating role of PA on the potential association between PSS and HRQoL. Method: Using a cross-sectional design, 208 Saudi patients with IHD were enrolled and interviewed prior to their hospital discharge. Data were collected using Demographics and Clinical Characteristics Questionnaire, Five-Dimension and Five-Level EuroQoL, Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and medical record data extraction. Results: The mean of HRQoL was 7.52 (SD= 2.78), PA intensity 2104.46 (SD= 4066.89) MET minutes/week, and duration 96.55 (SD= 156.80) minutes/week, and the PSS mean was 5.69 (SD= 0.99). Despite the improved levels of HRQoL, PA, and PSS, group differences were found in female, older, unmarried, and less educated participants. PA categorical variable (threshold ≥600 MET minutes/week) was positively significantly associated with HRQoL in the unadjusted (partial r=-0.16, p=0.02) and adjusted models for age, sex, education, and marital status (partial r=-0.17, p=0.01). PSS was significantly associated with HRQoL only in the unadjusted model (partial r = -0.16, p = 0.02). Moreover, there was no association between PSS and PA (categorical variable) in both models. The indirect effect of PA on the association between PSS and HRQoL was insignificant (r=-0.06, p=0.93), indicating no mediation effect. Conclusions: The current findings establish knowledge about HRQoL, PA, and PSS levels and associations in Saudi patients hospitalized with IHD. Further research to explore the dynamics in which PA and HRQoL are associated in a larger sample, and utilizing device-assisted measurement for PA, is needed
Investigation of Mechanical and Antibacterial Performance of Novel Polyaniline (PANI) Coatings via PLD
No full textThis dissertation presents the development and characterization of advanced
multifunctional coatings that combine conductive polymers with pulsed-laser-deposited
(PLD) metallic nanolayers to enhance adhesion, mechanical strength, and antibacterial
activity. Conductive polymers such as polyaniline (PANI) offer corrosion protection and
electrical conductivity, but their practical applications are limited by poor adhesion to
metallic substrates. To overcome this limitation, ultrathin titanium (Ti) interlayers and
silver–copper (Ag–Cu) composite top coatings were introduced to form hybrid organic
inorganic structures with improved mechanical durability and surface functionality. The
PANI coatings were chemically synthesized and heat-treated at 350 °F for three hours,
resulting in significant adhesion improvement confirmed by ASTM D 3359 tape testing
and long-term NaCl exposure analysis. The Ti/Ag–Cu multilayers deposited on glass and
silicon substrates using PLD demonstrated enhanced antibacterial activity against
Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, while maintaining structural integrity under
abrasion and hardness tests. Characterization techniques such as XRD, SEM, EDX, and
contact-angle measurements confirmed the influence of deposition parameters, oxygen
environment, and post-heat treatment on coating performance. The results establish a
scalable strategy for producing thin, adherent, and multifunctional PANI/Ti/Ag–Cu
coatings suitable for corrosion-resistant, biomedical, and energy applications
A Host Regulatory Circuit of HSV Gene Expression
No full textHSV-1 is a persistent pathogen within society due to its ability to establish a lifelong infection within the host, causing severe symptoms in a cohort of those infected. HSV-1 alternates intermittently between productive and latent cycles, where the immediate-early protein ICP0 plays a critical role in driving lytic replication and reactivation from latency. During this complex process, HSV-1 triggers STING, a host factor that inhibits viral infection. It is well established that STING mediates antiviral immunity by inducing type I IFN. Additionally, STING activates autophagy to regulate HSV-1 replication. While poorly understood, STING is also reported to limit HSV-1 replication independently of IFN. However, exactly how STING inhibits HSV-1 remains unresolved. This thesis intends to address this fundamental question. This research revealed that STING downregulates the expression of ICP0, leading to the inhibition of viral production. Through genetic analysis, it was observed that STING facilitates proteasomal degradation of ICP0 via K11- and K48-linked ubiquitination. Furthermore, TBK1 mirrors the results of STING, independently of IFN, upon viral infection. As such, ablation of STING or TBK1 rescues viral production. Mechanistically, STING acts with TBK1 and the E3 ligase TRIM23. This model supports the idea that STING serves as a scaffold protein, recruiting TBK1 and TRIM23. This complex targets ICP0 for polyubiquitination and subsequent proteasomal degradation. Therefore, in addition to inducing IFN and promoting autophagy, STING directly regulates HSV immediate-early gene expression. These data indicate that a previously unrecognized regulatory circuit exists, which may control not only lytic but also latent HSV infection
Digital microaggressions and LGBTQ+ youth: exploring potential impacts and opportunities for educational intervention
No full textLGBTQ+ youth frequently leverage the affordances of internet-enabled information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support their identity development, mental health, and well-being. Yet, anti-LGBTQ+intolerance simultaneously persists in their digitally mediated contexts—including in the form of digital microaggressions. Data from an online survey of LGBTQ+ youth (age 14–24) residing across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada were used to explore the relationships between six types of digital microaggressions, perceived stress, mental health, and psychological well-being through structural equation modelling. Findings suggest that exposure to some types of digital microaggressions may produce direct, incremental, and negative impacts on LGBTQ+ youth. Experiencing and witnessing discriminatory digital microaggressions had the most consistently significant relationships. Opportunities for future scholarship and insights for supportive intervention by caregivers, educators, and other professionals are discussed.</p
Uniform bounds in excellent -algebras and applications to semi-continuity
No full textNo description supplied</p
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