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Evaluating Molecular Xenomonitoring as a Tool for Lymphatic Filariasis Surveillance in Samoa, 2018–2019
Get PDFMolecular xenomonitoring (MX), the detection of filarial DNA in mosquitoes using molecular methods (PCR), is a potentially useful surveillance strategy for lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination programs. Delay in filarial antigen (Ag) clearance post-treatment is a limitation of using human surveys to provide an early indicator of the impact of mass drug administration (MDA), and MX may be more useful in this setting. We compared prevalence of infected mosquitoes pre- and post-MDA (2018 and 2019) in 35 primary sampling units (PSUs) in Samoa, and investigated associations between the presence of PCR-positive mosquitoes and Ag-positive humans. We observed a statistically significant decline in estimated mosquito infection prevalence post-MDA at the national level (from 0.9% to 0.3%, OR 0.4) but no change in human Ag prevalence during this time. Ag prevalence in 2019 was higher in randomly selected PSUs where PCR-positive pools were detected (1.4% in ages 5–9; 4.8% in ages ≥10), compared to those where PCR-positive pools were not detected (0.2% in ages 5–9; 3.2% in ages ≥10). Our study provides promising evidence for MX as a complement to human surveys in post-MDA surveillance
Frobenius Objects in the Category of Spans
Get PDFWe consider Frobenius objects in the category Span, where the objects are sets and the morphisms are isomorphism classes of spans of sets. We show that such structures are in correspondence with data that can be characterized in terms of simplicial sets. An interesting class of examples comes from groupoids.
Our primary motivation is that Span can be viewed as a set-theoretic model for the symplectic category, and thus Frobenius objects in Span provide set-theoretic models for classical topological field theories. The paper includes an explanation of this relationship.
Given a finite commutative Frobenius object in Span, one can obtain invariants of closed surfaces with values in the natural numbers. We explicitly compute these invariants in several examples, including examples arising from abelian groups
A Theory of Crime and Vigilance
Get PDFThis paper develops a theory of crime in which potential victims elect their vigilance levels. When vigilance expenses are greater than expected property losses, an increase in penalties raises crime, namely, a criminal Laffer curve emerges. This curve is higher and peaks earlier when victims face higher costs. Thus, the government may wish to subsidize vigilance rather than increase penalties. Indeed, an increase in penalties may shift the vigilance levels further away from their socially optimal ones. Finally, the crime rate first rises and then falls in the property value at stake, which is consistent with the empirical evidence
The Mineral and the Visual: Precious Stones in Secular Medieval Culture
No full textOpulent jeweled objects ranked among the most highly valued works of art in the European Middle Ages. At the same time, precious stones prompted sophisticated reflections on the power of nature and the experience of mineralized beings. Beyond a visual regime that put a premium on brilliant materiality, how can we account for the ubiquity of gems in medieval thought?
In The Mineral and the Visual, art historian Brigitte Buettner examines the social roles, cultural meanings, and active agency of precious stones in secular medieval art. Exploring the layered roles played by gems in aesthetic, ideological, intellectual, and economic practices, Buettner focuses on three significant categories of art: the jeweled crown, the pictorialized lapidary, and the illustrated travel account. The global gem trade brought coveted jewels from the Indies to goldsmiths\u27 workshops in Paris, fashionable bodies in London, and the crowns of kings across Europe, and Buettner shows that Europe\u27s literal and metaphorical enrichment was predicated on the importation of gems and ideas from Byzantium, the Islamic world, Persia, and India.
Original, transhistorical, and cross-disciplinary, The Mineral and the Visual engages important methodological questions about the work of culture in its material dimension. It will be especially useful to scholars and students interested in medieval art history, material culture, and medieval history.https://scholarworks.smith.edu/art_books/1006/thumbnail.jp
A Divide & Concur Approach to Collaborative Goal Modeling with Merge in Early-RE
No full textGoal modeling enables the elicitation of stakeholders’ intentionality in the earlier stages of a project. Often, approaches are limited by the effort required to create an initial goal model. In this paper, we investigate the problem of model merging for Tropos goal models. Specifically, we propose a formal approach to the problem of automatically merging the attributes of intentions and actors, once these elements have been matched. Additionally, recent approaches have investigated answering questions about future evolutions of stakeholders’ projects with goal models. In this work we consider both static models, as well as those with timing information, using the principles of gullibility, contradiction, and consensus. We study our implementation and validate the merge operation on a variety of models from the literature
Human-Centered Design, Culture Within Everyone’s Reach
Get PDFMore information about Hispanic Issues is found online
“Kind and Firm:” Assessing Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices for Children with Autism in a Rehabilitation Center in China
No full textOver the past 15 years, there has been a substantial increase in Chinese governmental support, addressing the needs of children with disabilities, especially children with autism. However, educational opportunities remain limited for the children. This paper describes the confluence of policy and societal/cultural beliefs on teaching Chinese children with autism. Utilizing a case study approach of a rehabilitation center in Shenzhen, China, the paper examines the teachers’ personal beliefs as influenced by socio-cultural factors in teaching children with autism who enrolled in the transition to mainstream elementary schools program. This paper then investigates how these beliefs affect the teaching of the children both in applying ABA-based interventions and in classroom design through the triangulation of observation, artifacts, official documents, and teacher interviews. Results acknowledged that the program needs improvement to prepare mainstream education for children with autism due to inadequate teacher training, insufficient professional knowledge on ABA-based interventions, and classroom design, underlying the long-existing socio-cultural beliefs on children with autism. The paper concludes with recommendations for areas to be addressed and improved when supporting children with autism transit to mainstream schools, such as extending professional training, enhancing public knowledge on autism, rethinking traditional values in creative ways, and improving support systems for educators
Saturation and Periodic Self-Stress in Geometric Auxetics
Get PDFThe auxetic structures considered in this paper are three-dimensional periodic bar-and-joint frameworks. We start with the specific purpose of obtaining an auxetic design with underlying periodic graph of low valency. Adapting a general methodology, we produce an initial framework with valency seven and one degree of freedom. Then, we describe a saturation process, whereby edge orbits are added up to valency 16, with no alteration of the deformation path. This is reflected in a large dimension for the space of periodic self-stresses. The saturated version has higher crystallographic symmetry and allows a precise description of the deformation trajectory. Reducing saturation by adequate removal of edge orbits results in vast numbers of distinct auxetic designs which obey the same kinematics
Canine Assisted Therapy and its Role in the Development of Therapeutic Alliance in Working with Early Attachment Trauma: an Intersubjective Lens
No full textThis paper examines Canine Assisted Therapy (CAT) and its role in the development of the therapeutic alliance in working with early attachment trauma, through an intersubjective lens. To address this, I collected data from an anonymous survey (n=130) and conducted in depth interviews (n=4) with eligible therapists who provided CAT, to generate insights from their experiences of CAT and their work with clients with early attachment trauma. My results showed that CAT does have a positive impact on the therapeutic alliance, in areas such as pacing, rapport building, and strengthening the relationship in terms of trust, and depth. and resilience It was also found that CAT brought joy and laughter into the therapeutic alliance which facilitated the deepening of the relationship between therapist, client, and dog. From a trauma informed, intersubjective perspective these findings have potential implications for therapists’ ability to provide more effective interventions to those who struggle to engage in the therapeutic alliance as a result of attachment trauma. Additional research into CAT’s creation of joy and laughter in the therapy room is warranted