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YORUBA Culture Of Arts West African ethnic group that mainly inhabits parts of Nigeria, Benin and Togo that constitute Yorubaland - (Earth Mother Man & Woman)
No full textThe traditional wood carvings are about parenthood between a father and children. The father is holding his hands on the child\u27s head. Their artworks reflect the history that their people have kept throughout the centuries, preserving their story for future generations.https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/african-sculptures-and-masks/1050/thumbnail.jp
IDOMA Culture of Arts from western area of Benue State in Nigeria, with kindred groups found in Enugu State, Cross River State and Nasarawa State. Nigeria - (Seated Matrnity Figure)
No full textThe sculpture seated Maternity is depicting a male seating on what seems to be a royal stool. Seated statues are believed to incarnate fertility, a frequent theme in the region. They help cure illness and help in reproduction, and fertility. The male figure must have been a royal, a merchant, or a trader.https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/african-sculptures-and-masks/1071/thumbnail.jp
Optimizing sustainability of infrastructure projects through the integration of building information modeling and envision rating system at the design stage
No full textWith infrastructure services demand rising, a significant contributor to sustainable development goals, infrastructure systems have to evolve and adapt effectively, efficiently, and sustainably. The broad set of decision variables coupled with the trade-off among the economic, social, and environmental aspects complicate sustainability assessment and optimization during the design stage. Thus, this paper presents a Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based automated framework for real-time evaluation and optimization of sustainability in infrastructure projects. The proposed framework benefits from infrastructure sustainability rating systems that provide a systemic and balanced set of indicators for careful consideration of sustainability. On the other hand, to automate the process, BIM, with its 3D shared environment, is used as an integrated platform for dynamic sustainability analysis. The proposed framework integrates both novelties in real-time during the early design stages, which helps designers to select the most sustainable alternative. A prototype and a hypothetical case study are conducted to validate the framework\u27s applicability through Infraworks 360 as the operating BIM platform and Envision as the baseline rating system. The results confirm that adopting the suggested method simplifies the inclusion of sustainability into design decisions while facilitating documentation of compliance with credit assessment for both project teams and verification agencies
Creating a Collaborative Trauma-Informed Interdisciplinary Citywide Victim Services Model Focused on Health Care for Survivors of Human Trafficking
No full textAlthough human trafficking is recognized as a public health issue, research on the health effects of human trafficking and best intervention practices is limited. We describe 2 citywide collaborative victim services models, the THRIVE (Trafficking, Healthcare, Resources, and Interdisciplinary Victim Services and Education) Clinic at the University of Miami and Jackson Health System in Miami, Florida, and the Greater Houston Area Pathways for Advocacy-based, Trauma-Informed Healthcare (PATH) Collaborative at Baylor College of Medicine, CommonSpirit Health, and San Jose Clinic in Houston, Texas, funded in part by the Office for Victims of Crime, which focus on trauma-informed health care delivery for victims of human trafficking. From June 2015 through September 2021, the THRIVE Clinic served 214 patients with an average age of 28.7 years at the time of their first visit. From October 2017 through September 2021, the PATH Collaborative received 560 suspected trafficking referrals, 400 of which screened positive for labor or sex trafficking. These models serve as a framework for replication of interdisciplinary practices to provide health care for this unique population and preliminary information about the strategies put in place to assist victims during their recovery. Key lessons include the importance of a citywide needs assessment, patient navigators, interdisciplinary care, and building community partnerships to ensure safe housing, transportation, identification, health insurance, vocation services, input from survivors, peer-to-peer mentorship, and medical–legal services. Further research is needed to understand the detrimental health effects of trafficking and the health care needs of victims. In addition, a need exists to develop optimal models of care for recovery and reintegration for this patient population and to address public health, legal, and medical policies to ensure access to and sustainability of comprehensive, trauma-informed, interdisciplinary victim services
Digital training in the wake of a pandemic: Using technology to train health care professionals in the identification of human trafficking victims
No full textHuman trafficking training is crucial for victim identification and appropriate service provision in health care settings. Over the past decade, the health care profession has made significant strides in the education and training of health professionals. However, access to quality training is still varied, and a unified education program has not been established. At best, educational programs are uneven in their goals and standards. Further complicating matters, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing regulations, in-person training has been less optimal. To provide all health care professionals with much-needed education on human trafficking identification and service provision, the authors recommend that human trafficking trainings incorporate online platforms and provide justification from the literature for this recommendation. The authors contend that virtual training programs provide easy access and provide a convenient platform for health care professionals to broaden their knowledge and awareness of the unique demands and challenges that trafficked persons encounter
Criminal Justice Students’ Perceptions of Human Trafficking Victims: Assessing Bias and Helping Behavior
No full textThe current study used a vignette study design to determine if criminal justice students hold biases about human trafficking victims based on demographic variables (i.e. age, gender, immigrant status) and forms of trafficking (i.e. sex and labor trafficking). For this study, 190 criminal justice students were recruited. Due to stereotypes and biased views of who victims are (formed largely by biased media coverage), we hypothesized that criminal justice students would show higher mean scores on their ability to correctly identify, and lower mean scores on their willingness to help male, domestic, adult, and labor trafficked individuals as compared to female, foreign, young, and sex trafficked individuals. The results show that criminal justice students had lower mean scores on accuracy in identifying male and labor trafficked victims than female and sex trafficked victims, and lower mean scores in their willingness to help labor trafficked victims relative to sex trafficked victims. Implications and future directions are discussed
(SI10-068) Performance Analysis of Cosine Window Function
Get PDFThis paper reviews the mathematical functions called the window functions which are employed in the Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter design applications as well as spectral analysis for the detection of weak signals. The characteristic properties of the window functions are analyzed and parameters are compared among the known conventional cosine window (CW) functions (Rectangular, Hamming, Hanning, and Blackman) and the variable Kaiser window function. The window function expressed in the time domain can be transformed into the frequency domain by taking the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) of the time domain window function. The frequency response of the window function so obtained has main lobe, side lobes, and roll-off rate of side lobes. The main lobe width (MLW) expressed in 3dB bandwidth (BW), highest side lobe level (HSLL), and side lobe roll-off rate (SLROR) of the conventional window function and variable Kaiser window is then evaluated from the frequency response and compared to find out the appropriate window for employed applications
Somaesthetics of Discomfort and Wayfinding: Encouraging Inclusive Architectural Design
No full textSomaesthetics of discomfort facilitates intentionally inclusive designed spaces for wayfinding by accounting for individuals’ distinct navigational experiences. Following the work of Richard Shusterman, somaesthetics of discomfort is a combination of somatic awareness and somaesthetic reflection centered around feeling ill-at-ease or out of place. The increased awareness of discomfort and reciprocal reflection upon feelings of discomfort enhances how activities and places are experienced, recognized, and categorized. How people experience difficult wayfinding is an element that is often missing from architectural planning and development. Considering uncomfortable somatic experiences of navigation would provide designers with tools to conceptualize and create wayfinding affordances within various spaces. Discomfort may be understood as a somatic affordance during wayfinding because it indicates that there is something problematic about the intersection of soma and environment. This paper describes wayfinding and somaesthetics as they pertain to architectural design. By using the examples of hospitals and parking garages, somaesthetics of discomfort is introduced as a tool that uses somatic appreciation and individual reflection about wayfinding experiences for improving how spaces are designed
High-efficiency CNT-Si solar cells based on a collaborative system enabled by oxide penetration
No full textCarbon nanotube-silicon (CNT-Si) solar cells represent one of the alternative photovoltaic techniques with potential for low cost and high efficiency. Here, we report a method to improve solar cell performance by depositing conventional transitional metal oxides such as WO3 and establishing a collaborative system, in which CNTs are well-embedded within the WO3 layer and both of them are in close contact to Si substrate. This unique collaborative system optimizes the overall energy conversion process including the light absorption (antireflection by WO3), carrier separation (forming quasi p-n junction) and charge collection (CNT conductive network throughout the oxide layer). Combining with our previous TiO2-coating and HNO3-doping techniques, a solar cell efficiency of \u3e18% at an active area of 0.09 cm2 (air mass 1.5, 100 mW/cm2) was achieved. The oxide-enhanced CNT-Si solar cells which integrate the advantages of traditional semiconductors and novel nanostructures represent a promising route toward next-generation high-performance silicon-based photovoltaics. [Figure not available: see fulltext.
Pharmacokinetics of tulathromycin on plasma and semen of beef bulls
No full textThe objective of this investigation was to evaluate the pharmacokinetic parameters of tulathromycin in plasma and semen of beef bulls after administering a single sc dose at two different sites in the neck. Four Simmental bulls with excellent temperament received a comprehensive physical exam that included breeding soundness examination. In addition, blood was collected and analyzed for CBC and chemical panel in order to rule out any subclinical liver or kidney disease. All bulls were diagnosed as healthy and satisfactory potential breeders. The mean plasma levels of tulathromycin for the two neck sites of sc administration were not different between posterior aspect of the ear where it attaches to the head (RP; regio parotidea; 77.9 ± 43.3 ng/mL; X ± SD) and to the middle of the neck (RC; regio collis lateralis; 73.7 ± 39.7 ng/mL; P = 0.84). The mean seminal plasma levels of tulathromycin after administration in the RP was 608 ± 374 ng/mL and for RC was 867 ± 599 ng/mL without differences between both sites (P = 0.29). The mean level of tulathromycin in plasma was 75.8 ± 40.2 ng/mL, which was lower than mean seminal plasma levels of 781 ± 482 ng/mL (P = 0.001). The plasma peak tulathromycin concentration (C) was 160 ± 27 ng/mL at 21 ± 6 h (T) post-administration. The seminal plasma C was 1539 ± 44.4 ng/mL at 33.00 ± 18.00 h (T) post-administration. The C between plasma and seminal plasma were different (P = 0.008) without any differences in T between plasma and seminal plasma (P = 0.35). The terminal half-life for plasma tulathromycin (81.4 ± 27.6 h) showed a tendency to be shorter than in seminal plasma (114.7 ± 21.7; P = 0.10). The plasma area under the curve concentration time from the first to the last sample (AUC) was 15,440 ± 1717 ng/mL/h, which was significatively smaller compared with 171,071 ± 58,556 ng/mL/h for seminal plasma AUC (P = 0.01). The plasma means residence time from the first to the last sample (MRT) was 89.3 ± 5.1 h and it was shorter than for seminal plasma of 96.6 ± 5.0 h (P = 0.05). From the present investigation, it was concluded that tulathromycin is a suitable antibiotic based in its pharmacokinetic properties that could be used for treatment of bull genital infections when its application is indicated