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“PROPHETIC PINS”: SENTIMENT AND SENSATION IN LAYETTE PINCUSHIONS, 1760-1840
No full textIn the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, layette pincushions were a common gift for expectant mothers either during pregnancy or just after the birth of the child. Created by a family member, friend, or neighbor, they would often be included as part of a layette set which is a collection of clothing and other items needed for the care of a newborn baby. Pins were heavily used by women in the eighteenth century for pinning babies’ diapers, headgear, clothing, and swaddling. These objects were typically marked with the initials and birth date of the child and included phrases such as “Welcome Little Stranger” and “God Bless the Babe and May It Live.” These words took on anticipatory and contingent significance as they would often be created before the birth of the child and would entirely shift in meaning if either the mother or the child did not survive the birth, which was a common occurrence during this era. As the messages and motifs are formed using the exposed pin heads as a design element, the aesthetic and sentimental value must be sacrificed by removing the pins to use them as fasteners.
The practice of materially marking initials and dates on domestic textile objects is rooted in the needlework practices that women would have learned at an early age, beginning with embroidery samplers. Layette pincushions exemplify the material skills and moral values that early needlework education instilled in women as well as directly representing the significance of their assigned roles as mothers. Throughout women’s history the needle has been portrayed as both an instrument of suffering and reclamation as it represents the history of women’s oppression but also their ability to transcend these prescribed roles and gain a greater degree of autonomy. Directly related to the needle, the pin also contains a multitude of dualistic qualities. Opposed to the notions of care intended by these objects, layette pincushions also retain an inherent quality of violence. In addition to their ability to join or mend, pins can also cause pain, which was unfortunately a common occurrence for babies getting stuck with their own diaper pins prior to the invention of safety pins in 1849.
Due to their unique materiality and distinct function, layette pincushions are valuable historical repositories of eighteenth-century craft, culture, and maternal identity. Women in the eighteenth century continuously crafted textile objects by hand that are imbued with sentimental value and continue to serve as mnemonic devices to fill the absence of loss. Existing at the intersection of material culture, the history of emotions, sensory history, and women’s history, this thesis seeks to draw out the relationships between the sensory experience and sentimental emotion of materially marking familial relationships with the shifting temporalities of anticipatory, commemorative, and memorial objects
A comparative study on monologic vs. dialogic technology-mediated feedback modalities: Students’ uptake and perspectives
No full textThis article was originally published in The JALT CALL Journal. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.29140/jaltcall.v21n1.1758 .
Copyright (c) 2025 Maryam Kazemi, Mahboobeh Saadat, Joshua Wilson, Mohammad Rahimi.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Investigating how learners incorporate feedback into drafts is crucial, as feedback alone does not ensure effective implementation. Writing instructors can offer technology-mediated feedback rather than traditional methods, a practice supported by current research, for managing feedback processes and improving uptake. Consequently, this study compares screencast feedback (monologic) and online one-on-one video conference feedback (dialogic) on literature reviews (LRs) of 10 students in an L2 academic writing class. Over five weeks, half the students received one-on-one video conference feedback for their first draft and screencast feedback for the second draft, while the others received feedback in reverse order and then revised their drafts. Quantitative analysis showed a significant success rate difference favoring one-on-one video conference feedback, confirmed by Chi-square tests. This feedback was especially effective in content clarity, content development, cohesion, and coherence. Qualitative student interviews revealed the usefulness of both feedback types, with one-on-one video conference feedback proving superior for communication and comprehension. Findings suggest there may be some efficiencies if instructors could incorporate both types yet save more time-consuming, effortful modalities (one-on-one) to address vital issues. Hence, language instructors should consider these approaches as complementary rather than competing technology tools
An assessment of planning for resilience in Sussex County, Delaware
No full textDavid, Nina P.Coastal communities face increasing hazards due to climate change. Their land use choices have a considerable impact on their ability to adapt to these risks, particularly with respect to flooding and sea level rise. ☐ This project investigates whether growth management and land use policies in Delaware’s Inland Bay communities advance resilience planning. The Inland Bay region is a uniquely appropriate site for this research. First, although Delaware is often considered a “growth management” state because of state involvement in local planning, no prior research has examined the impacts of its growth management system. Second, the Inland Bays are highly susceptible to flooding and sea level rise, such that some towns may be fully inundated by the end of the century. And third, Sussex County, where the Inland Bays are located, is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, experiencing rapid development in the Bay region. This both increases the policy relevance of this research and creates an opportunity to explore the often-competing priorities of development and resilience. ☐ The project uses the Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard (PIRS) methodology (Berke et al., 2015) and longitudinal content analysis. The PIRS approach is spatial, analyzing the combined impact of multiple plans on resilience in hazard zones. It facilitates the comparison of different types of plans, such as comprehensive plans, sub-area plans, and hazard mitigation plans. This assessment includes 22 plans from 13 communities. It is highly contextual, incorporating measures for physical and social vulnerability to assess how effectively plans address the areas most exposed to natural hazards. It also considers the role of Delaware’s State Strategies, a key part of its growth management program and mechanism for implementing the state’s land use priorities. ☐ As part of Delaware’s growth management and planning oversight, the state requires communities to submit annual reports on the implementation of their comprehensive plans. The PIRS assessment is followed by a longitudinal content analysis of these reports, focusing on a smaller subset of Inland Bay municipalities. This analysis contributes to a body of research that focuses on how plans are used. ☐ This study finds that while Delaware’s policy seeks to limit sprawl and development in natural areas, it does not necessarily re-direct development away from hazardous areas and, in some cases, calls for additional development in hazard areas. The analysis of local plans indicates that communities plan reactively based on physical vulnerability to the hazard. It does not find evidence that the State Strategies impact resilience planning. It also indicates that narrow-scope adaptation and hazard mitigation plans may be the most effective way to plan for resilience, rather than relying only on the comprehensive planning process. Finally, the analysis of plan documents and updates over time reinforces the findings of the PIRS analysis. Communities act on the policies set forth in their plans but are not responsive to the State Strategies.M.E.E.P.University of Delaware, Energy and Environmental Policy Progra
Systemic assistant principal/dean of students supports for Cecil County Public Schools
No full textBailes, Lauren P.This Education Leadership Portfolio (ELP) will address the problem of too few systemic supports for newly appointed Elementary Assistant Principals (APs) and Deans of Students (DsoS) in Cecil County Public Schools (CCPS) to prepare and train for effectiveness. In CCPS, some schools employ a DoS to support the principal and this difference will be explained in further detail. Newly appointed APs and DsoS often struggle to fully grasp the AP/DoS role because its job description varies among schools and changes daily (Goldring et al, 2021; Kwan & Walker, 2012; Williams et al., 2020). The improvement goal to address this problem focuses on collecting data to understand the degree of AP and DoS preparedness and training for effectiveness and providing recommendations to support areas of need. To accomplish this goal, I gained an understanding of current strengths and weaknesses of newly appointed APs/DsoS through a survey of current APs/DsoS and current principals, conducted a literature review, and reviewed feedback from CCPS Leadership Academy participants. Next, I developed some resources aligned to the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) standards. Lastly, I communicated my findings to principals and the CCPS leadership team to better support newly appointed APs and DsoS. ☐ I learned that newly appointed APs/DsoS reported a variety of needs from their perspective as did current principals—both of these sets of perceptions became clear through surveys, an analysis of CCPS Leadership Academy feedback, and were then substantiated by a host of scholarly literature in the review I conducted. Aspiring leaders who participated in the CCPS Leadership Academy wanted to learn from current leaders in various departments because they perceived themselves as having limited knowledge about human resources, business services, and various departments which support schools. The principal and AP/DoS survey provided insight to areas of strengths and weaknesses connected to PSEL standards. This provided an idea of areas in which CCPS may provide additional professional learning. When identifying effective methods of support, all APs/DoS wanted to collaborate with or problem solve with their principal to learn more about the position. The literature review affirmed that the AP role is the most ill-defined role of all school administrative positions, primarily because it is directed by the principal and varies among school communities (Barnett et al., 2012; Goldring et al., 2021; Kwan & Walker, 2012; Williams et al., 2023). ☐ The second improvement strategy focused on creating resources that could systemically support newly appointed APs/DsoS to CCPS. First, I created a self-assessment (Artifact 5) that would guide discussion between APs/DsoS and their supervisors to identify strengths and weaknesses. When beginning a new job, it can be hard to know what to ask when one has increased responsibility or the nature of the job is ambiguous (Cohen & Schechter, 2019) Next, I created a Fieldbook (Artifact7), organized by PSEL standards, to provide resources that are easy to locate. Lastly, I created a Mentorship Initiative Toolkit (Artifact 8) that will support the conversation to have regular check-ins throughout the year. ☐ The third strategy included creating a white paper to share with current principals and the CCPS leadership team to share highlights of data collection, areas of needed professional development, and strategies to support newly appointed APs/DsoS. These improvement strategies were developed to align to the problem statement of this ELP. Each improvement strategy addresses the problem of too few systemic support for newly appointed APs/DsoS in CCPS.University of Delaware, School of EducationD.Ed
EFFECTS OF PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS ON CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN GRAND STRATEGY OBJECTIVES
No full textenterThe Wagner Group, Russia's premier private military outfit, defined Russian grand
strategy doctrine for over a decade acting on the behalf of the Kremlin. After the fiery end of the
Wagner Group as a private actor following an attempted mutiny in 2023 on the Kremlin by the
group's leader, Evgeny Prigozhin, scholars and Russia-watchers around the world documented
the vast myriad of effects that the Wagner group has had on proxies and regions of interest
abroad. However, the use of Wagner contractors has also had a remarkable impact on Russia
itself. In this paper I argue that Russia's pervasive use of the Wagner Group and semi-state
contractors has been one of the biggest weaknesses of contemporary Russian grand strategy, and
that even Wagner's marginal wins in a few of these proxies have contributed to the failure or
stalling of other Russian objectives in the same states. Despite the mutiny ending Prigozhin's
tenure as Wagner's leader, the group is still active in everything but name, and will affect how
Russia conducts grand strategy in the future.ente
Exogenous CD55 Expression on Membrane-Wrapped Nanoparticles Unexpectedly Increases Spleen Tropism and Immune Cell Uptake In Vivo
No full textThis article was originally published in ACS Nano. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnanomed.5c00059
© 2025 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
This publication is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Intravenously delivered nanoparticle (NP) therapies have the potential to cure a variety of diseases; however, their clinical use has been stunted by undesirable levels of immune cell clearance. This clearance is attributed to protein adsorption onto the outside of the NPs, leading to recognition by immune cells and subsequent accumulation in the liver and spleen. Membrane-wrapped nanoparticles (MWNPs) offer a potential solution to reducing immune clearance by incorporating immune evasion/marker-of-self-proteins, although they too exhibit protein corona-mediated clearance. While various opsonin proteins can bind to MWNPs, complement proteins are particularly problematic as they play a crucial role in innate immunity, triggering immune cell recognition and clearance and causing inflammation. We hypothesized that introducing a complement regulatory protein into the membranes of MWNPs could minimize complement-mediated clearance, but the opposite effect was observed experimentally. In this study, before membrane collection, source cells were genetically modified to express the complement regulatory protein, CD55, which inhibits C3 convertases, key enzymes in the complement cascade. We confirmed that the active protein was transferred onto MWNPs and determined that CD55-modified MWNPs incubated in mouse serum significantly reduced C3 convertase concentration by 33% compared to unmodified MWNPs. Unexpectedly, in vivo analysis of biodistribution and immune cell uptake showed that CD55-modified MWNPs exhibited 2.1× higher spleen accumulation and elevated immune cell uptake in blood and spleen, specifically in monocyte/macrophage populations, as compared to unmodified MWNPs. This may be due to nonprotein corona-mediated mechanisms, such as the secondary role of CD55 as a ligand for CD97 (expressed in monocytes, macrophages, and other immune cells). Supporting this theory, studies examining ex vivo MWNP binding to spleen cells pretreated with IgG or CD97 antibodies showed that CD55-modified MWNPs had 18% lower binding after CD97 blockade, whereas unmodified MWNP binding was not reduced by CD97 blockade. These findings highlight the importance of considering both serum protein interactions and ligand/receptor interactions when designing genetically engineered MWNPs that overexpress a protein of interest, as well as the importance of testing modified MWNPs in both ex vivo and in vivo settings. In the future, the CD55 modification described here could be utilized to promote spleen tropism of MWNPs when desired. More broadly, this work demonstrates the ability to tune MWNP cellular interactions and biodistribution through genetic engineering of source cells─a technique that can be adapted for a plethora of uses in precision medicine.The authors would like to acknowledge Yanbao Yu (University of Delaware Mass Spectrometry Facility) and Shannon Modla (Delaware Biotechnology Institute)
Influence of Pressure Holding Time on Ovalbumin Solution Behavior via Small-Angle Neutron Scattering and Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy
No full textThis article was originally published in Journal of Food Process Engineering. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.70088.
© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Food Process Engineering published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) were characterized as a function of salt concentration and applied hydrostatic pressure for hen egg ovalbumin solutions. In situ data were collected using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) at various concentrations of ammonium sulfate. The nondestructive nature of SANS allows for extended pressure holding times and the investigation of the reversibility of effects on PPIs. An empirical scaling developed previously is shown to capture the dependence of the reduced osmotic second virial coefficient on an effective pressure, combining osmotic and hydrostatic contributions. A comparison to small-angle X-ray scattering data for ovalbumin indicates enhanced net attraction at all conditions investigated with longer pressure holding times. Pressure effects on PPIs measured by SANS are shown not to be fully reversible in the presence of salt. Pressure-triggered aggregation was detected in the hours after depressurization at moderate salt concentrations, with slow recovery of pressure-induced attraction at high salt concentrations. Consistency is demonstrated between predicted solution viscosities and experimental observations from viscometry and in situ high-pressure diffusing wave spectroscopy. Furthermore, both the strength of ovalbumin PPIs and the relative solution viscosity display Barus-like scaling with effective pressure, exhibiting distinct pressure-viscosity coefficients from those of water.This work was prepared under cooperative agreement #70NANB20H133 from NIST, U.S. Department of Commerce. We acknowledge the support of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, in providing the research facilities used in this work. We acknowledge the support of the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, ANSTO and the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, in supporting the neutron research infrastructure used in this work via ACNS proposal P16562. We thank Cedric Gagnon (University of Maryland/NIST), John Barker (NIST), and Amy Shumack (Australian Center for Neutron Scattering) for assistance with preparing the high-pressure SANS sample environment for QUOKKA. This work benefitted from the use of the SasView software, which was originally developed by the DANSE project under NSF Award DMR-050547.
Certain instruments and software are identified to foster understanding. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the instruments and software identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of NIST, the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, or the U.S. Department of Commerce
Assessing Deep and Abyssal Ocean Heat Content Changes With a Dynamically Consistent Ocean State Estimate
No full textThis article was originally published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JC020925.
© 2025 The Author(s).
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.Because of the sparseness of existing observations, our understanding of deep (2,000–4,000 m) and abyssal (>4,000 m) ocean heat content (OHC) changes remains limited. Previous studies utilizing repeated hydrographic section measurements identified a global warming trend in these layers. However, studies based on a widely used ocean state estimate ECCO v4 (Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, version 4) show a contradictory cooling trend in the deep and abyssal Pacific and Indian Oceans. To examine if the sparseness of hydrographic measurements results in this contrasting conclusion, we conducted a sampling experiment with ECCO v4. Our results show that the signs of the OHC trends in the deep and abyssal oceans from the full spatial-temporal data and the sampled data are generally consistent. The largest uncertainties mainly occur in regions where the deep ocean is dominated by newly formed deep-water masses or where hydrographic sections are extremely sparse, such as the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Southern Ocean. Our findings also indicate that the discrepancies between ECCO v4 and observations in deep and abyssal OHC changes are not likely a sampling issue, and further studies are needed to determine the reasons.
Key Points
- A sampling experiment was conducted to assess possible biases of deep and abyssal ocean heat content changes due to under-sampling
- Deep and abyssal ocean heat content trends from sampled data are generally consistent with those from full spatial-temporal data
- Under-sampling does not explain the differences between ECCO and observations in the deep and abyssal ocean heat content changes
Plain Language Summary
Deep and abyssal oceans are key heat reservoirs in the Earth System. However, the limited number of available observations constrains our understanding of changes in deep and abyssal ocean heat content (OHC). In addition, studies based on limited observations and a widely used ocean state estimate display contrasting trends in deep and abyssal OHC changes in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Here, we conduct a sampling experiment with a state-of-the-art ocean synthesis product to explore if under-sampling is the reason for the contrasting results. We found that the OHC changes estimated from the repeated hydrographic sections are generally reliable, suggesting that the current sampling framework is not likely the cause of the opposite OHC trends in studies based on observational data and the ocean state estimate. Significant uncertainties do exist and primarily appear in regions such as the Northwest Atlantic and Southern Ocean. Our findings provide a valuable reference for understanding deep and abyssal ocean changes as well as for designing and implementing future global ocean observational systems.This study was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through Grant 80NSSC23K0353 and the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Grant OCE-2021274. The authors would like to thank Dr. Sarah Purkey for providing sub-basin boundaries and Dr. Damien Desbruyères for his valuable suggestions and constructive comments at an earlier stage of this study. The authors also sincerely thank the three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, which have significantly improved the manuscript