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Leading and Following: Exploring the Impact of Mentorship on Collegiate Dancers
Get PDFMentorship plays a pivotal role in student development across various disciplines, yet its specific impact on dancers within collegiate programs remains underexplored. This literature review and small pilot study investigates the hypothesis that mentorship in university dance programs positively influences students’ artistic identity, academic achievement, and career readiness. Drawing from six empirical studies, including research in arts education, peer mentorship, and emotional development, the paper analyzes how mentorship structures shape dancers’ holistic growth. While mentorship is generally associated with beneficial outcomes, findings also reveal critical nuances regarding mentorship quality, accessibility, and the risks of informal or biased systems. Through a critical synthesis of prior research and analysis of a sample pool of dance major survey responses from Chapman University, this paper concludes that while mentorship can be highly effective in supporting dancers’ artistic and professional trajectories, its effectiveness depends heavily on intentional implementation and equitable access
Facilitating Social Media Engagement of Missing Persons Posts: An Application of the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Model
No full textGuided by the crisis and emergency risk communication model (CERC), this two-part study identifies strategies law enforcement currently use to crowdsource missing person (MP) information, and experimentally tests message characteristics that facilitate MP post sharing on social media. In study one, quantitative content analysis of 600 MP posts on X (Twitter) and linear regression analyses indicated that timeliness, empathy, and respect predict MP message engagement. These characteristics informed study two, in which participants (N = 377; 18 years or older, X [Twitter] users) were randomly assigned one pilot-tested MP message (i.e. timeliness, empathy, respect, or control). Parallel multiple mediation analyses indicated mixed support for CERC model utility during MP crises. This inquiry is one of the first to experimentally investigate the recently clarified CERC model propositions and extends its application to an other-oriented crisis. Results offer law enforcement recommendations on crafting MP messages that are more likely to spread on social media
The QUIC-SP: A Spanish Language Tool Assessing Unpredictability in Early Life is Linked to Physical and Mental Health
Get PDFAccumulating evidence indicates that unpredictable signals in early life represent a unique form of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) associated with disrupted neurodevelopmental trajectories in children and adolescents. The Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC) was developed to assess early life unpredictability, encompassing social, emotional, and physical unpredictability in a child’s environment, and has been validated in three independent cohorts. However, the importance of identifying ACEs in diverse populations, including non-English speaking groups, necessitates translation of the QUIC. The current study aims to translate and validate a Spanish language version of the QUIC (QUIC-SP) and assess its associations with mental and physical health. Spanish-speaking participants (N = 285) were recruited via the online market crowdsourcing platform, Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and completed an online survey that included the QUIC-SP and validated Spanish language assessments of physical and mental health. The QUIC-SP demonstrated excellent psychometric properties and similar mean scores, endorsement rates, and internal reliability to the English language version, thus establishing its validity among Spanish-speaking adults. Higher QUIC-SP scores, indicating greater unpredictability in early life, predicted increased symptoms of anxiety, anhedonia, depression, and poorer physical health. Given significant racial and ethnic disparities in health, the QUIC-SP may serve as a valuable tool to address the public health consequences of ACEs among Spanish-speaking populations
Mutational Scanning and Binding Free Energy Computations of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Complexes with Distinct Groups of Neutralizing Antibodies: Energetic Drivers of Convergent Evolution of Binding Affinity and Immune Escape Hotspots
Get PDFThe rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the emergence of variants with increased immune evasion capabilities, posing significant challenges to antibody-based therapeutics and vaccines. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive structural and energetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) complexes with neutralizing antibodies from four distinct groups (A–D), including group A LY-CoV016, group B AZD8895 and REGN10933, group C LY-CoV555, and group D antibodies AZD1061, REGN10987, and LY-CoV1404. Using coarse-grained simplified simulation models, rapid energy-based mutational scanning, and rigorous MM-GBSA binding free energy calculations, we elucidated the molecular mechanisms of antibody binding and escape mechanisms, identified key binding hotspots, and explored the evolutionary strategies employed by the virus to evade neutralization. The residue-based decomposition analysis revealed energetic mechanisms and thermodynamic factors underlying the effect of mutations on antibody binding. The results demonstrate excellent qualitative agreement between the predicted binding hotspots and the latest experiments on antibody escape. These findings provide valuable insights into the molecular determinants of antibody binding and viral escape, highlighting the importance of targeting conserved epitopes and leveraging combination therapies to mitigate the risk of immune evasion
Therapy Combining Sorafenib and Natural Killer Cells for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Insights from Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Histological Analyses
Get PDFBackground/Objectives: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a significant global health issue due to its high mortality rate and resistance to standard treatments. Sorafenib, the first-line systemic therapy for unresectable HCC, shows limited effectiveness due to resistance and severe side effects. Recent studies suggest that combining sorafenib with immunotherapy, particularly natural killer (NK) cells, may improve treatment outcomes. Methods: This study examined the effectiveness of sorafenib combined with NK cells pretreated with interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in a rat HCC model. Tumor progression and treatment outcomes were assessed using MRI and histological analysis. Results: The results show that combination therapy significantly reduced tumor growth, increased tumor cell density, and inhibited angiogenesis and fibrosis in the tumor microenvironment. The sorafenib- and IL-12/IL-18-pretreated NK cell combination enhanced tumor inhibition by overcoming drug resistance and modulating the immune response. Conclusions: This study suggests that this combination therapy could be a promising strategy for treating HCC, offering both direct antitumor effects and modification of the tumor microenvironment for better clinical outcomes
Joint Angular Kinematics and Gross Motor Function in Typically Developing Healthy Children
Get PDFObjective: The aim of this study was to establish the interactions between joint angular kinematics and gross motor function in typically developing healthy Ghanaian children. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 150 (69 (46.0%), 3.25 ± 0.08-year-old boys and 81 (54.0%), 3.25 ± 0.06-year-old girls) 2–4-year-old children were recruited. Joint angular kinematic variables [left hip flexion (LHF), left hip extension (LHE), right hip flexion (RHF), left knee flexion (LKF), right hip extension (RHE), left knee extension (LKE), right knee flexion (RKF), left ankle dorsi-flexion (LADF), right knee extension (RKE), right ankle plantar flexion (RAPF), left ankle plantar flexion (LAPF), and right ankle dorsi-flexion (RADF)] and gross motor function (lying and rolling, sitting, crawling and kneeling, standing, and walking, running, and jumping) were measured with standard scales. Results: The correlations between lying and rolling vs. RHE (r = 0.221; p-value \u3c 0.01), LKE (r = −0.267; p-value \u3c 0.01), LAPF (r = 0.264; p-value \u3c 0.01), and RADF (r = 0.240; p-value \u3c 0.01); crawling and kneeling vs. LKE (r = 0.196; p-value \u3c 0.05) and RADF (r = 0.188; p-value \u3c 0.05); and walking, running, and jumping vs. LKE (r = −0.214; p-value \u3c 0.01) and RADF (r = −0.207; p-value \u3c 0.05) were significant. Conclusions: There was a negative correlation between joint angular kinematics and total gross motor function in this sampled population. Typically, developing healthy children should be exposed to a range of motion, flexibility, and active transportation programs for optimal active lifestyles and improvements in gross motor skills
From λ-hollow Frames to λ-repletions in W: II. λ-repletions in W
Get PDFIn this article we analyze the fine structure of the essential extensions of an object of W, the category of divisible archimedean lattice ordered groups with designated weak units. In particular, we show that an object Ghas an ordinally indexed sequence {ταG}δG of essential extensions with the following features. τ0G is (isomorphic to) the identity function on G.
• For every α\u3e0, ταG is an essential extension of G into a W-object which is of the form RLfor some frame L, and which is λ-replete for some λ.
• Every such extension is (isomorphic to) ταG for a unique α.
• τδGG is (isomorphic to) the maximal essential extension of G.
• If λ≤ν≤δG then τνG factors through τλG.
Here a W-object is said to be λ-replete if it has the following equivalent properties.
• Every λ-generated W-kernel is a polar.
• Every proper λ-generated W-kernel of Gis contained in a proper polar.
• For λ-generated W-kernels Ki, if K1 K2then there exists K3 such that 0=K3⊆K1and K3∩K2=0.
• For W-kernels K1⊆K2, if K1is λ-generated then K⊥⊥1⊆K2.
• Every W-kernel of Gis λ-closed, i.e., closed under λ-joins.
• Every W-homomorphism out of Gis λ-complete
