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What's the temperature in tropical caves?
No full textPLoS ONE, Volume 15, Issue 12 December, December 2020, Article number e0237051.Hourly temperature was measured for approximately one year at 17 stations in three caves in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Thirteen of these stations were in the extensive twilight zones of all three caves. All seventeen stations showed seasonality in temperature with a 3C drop during the Nortes season. Two of the caves, Muévelo Sabrosito and Muévelo Rico, showed greater variability during the winter months while in Río Secreto (Tuch) variability was greatest during the rainy season. Río Secreto is less open to the surface than the other two. All sites also showed a daily temperature cycle, although it was very faint in some Río Secreto (Tuch) sites. While temperature variability is diminished relative to surface variation, its temporal pattern is worthy of further study
A queer sociology: on power, race, and decentering whiteness
No full textSociological Forum, Volume 35, Issue 4, December 2020, Pages 1272-1289.In this article, we argue for “a queer sociology” that centers race and processes of racialization, while naming and decentering Whiteness. “A queer sociology” is a field that foregrounds relations of power, particularly: race, class, empire, gender and gender identity, and sexuality, and that does not use queer in a reductionist way (or merely in reference to LGBT identity-based projects). We question the uses of queer theory in sociology and show how previous iterations miss/ignore multiple genealogies of the field, like Black feminist thought, women of color feminisms, and the queer of color critique. “A queer sociology” centers power relations beyond gender and sexuality, recognizing the invisible and overarching work of Whiteness and the US (as unnamed centers of analyses) in structuring not only the sociology of sexualities, but sociological thinking overall. We invite sociology to engage with our theorization of “a queer sociology” as a way to transform our categories of analysis and how we conceive of power
The end of AIDS?: HIV and the new landscape of illness in rural South Africa
No full textThe global HIV/AIDS scientific community has begun to hail the dawn of ‘the End of AIDS’ with widespread anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and dramatic declines in AIDS-related mortality. Drawing on community focus groups and in-depth individual interviews conducted in rural South Africa, we examine the complex unfolding of the end of AIDS in a hard-hit setting. We find that while widespread ART has led to declines in AIDS-related deaths, stigma persists and is now freshly motivated. We argue that the shifting landscape of illness in the community has produced a new interpretive lens through which to view living with HIV and dying from AIDS. Most adults have one or more chronic illnesses, and ART-managed HIV is now considered a preferred diagnosis because it is seen as easier to manage, more responsive to medication, and less dangerous compared to diseases like cancer, hypertension, and diabetes. Viewed through this comparative lens, dying from AIDS elicits stigmatising individual blame. We find that blame persists despite community acknowledgement of structural barriers to ART adherence. Setting the ending of AIDS within its wider health context sheds light on the complexities of the epidemiological and health transitions underway in much of the developing world
Priors for genotyping polyploids
No full textBioinformatics, Volume 36, Issue 6, 15 March 2020, Pages 1795–1800.Motivation: Empirical Bayes techniques to genotype polyploid organisms usually either (i) assume technical artifacts are known a priori or (ii) estimate technical artifacts simultaneously with the prior genotype distribution. Case (i) is unappealing as it places the onus on the researcher to estimate these artifacts, or to ensure that there are no systematic biases in the data. However, as we demonstrate with a few empirical examples, case (ii) makes choosing the class of prior genotype distributions extremely important. Choosing a class is either too flexible or too restrictive results in poor genotyping performance. Results: We propose two classes of prior genotype distributions that are of intermediate levels of flexibility: the class of proportional normal distributions and the class of unimodal distributions. We provide a complete characterization of and optimization details for the class of unimodal distributions. We demonstrate, using both simulated and real data that using these classes results in superior genotyping performance. Availability and implementation: Genotyping methods that use these priors are implemented in the updog R package available on the Comprehensive R Archive Network: https://cran.r-project.org/package¼updog. All code needed to reproduce the results of this article is available on GitHub: https://github.com/dcgerard/reproduce_prior_sims
Dynamic Bioflocculation Controller for Contact Stabilization Process: Respiring New Life into an Old Process
No full textThe study describes the development of a novel sludge wasting control strategy based on onlineoxygen uptake rate (OUR) measurements to automate energy use and carbon capture in high rate
activated sludge systems (HRAS). OUR-based wasting control has shown to directly manage the
energy input to the HRAS system and resulted in stable carbon redirection. However, due to the
highly dynamic conditions in HRAS systems, minimizing energy input within the HRAS system
led to the rapid washout of sludge due to sudden loading changes (i.e. rain events) and/or operation
under limited biomass inventory. Online bioflocculation limitation indicators based on the ratio of
the maximum volumetric OUR in the contactor zone and stabilizer zone were developed within
this study to optimize bioflocculation within HRAS systemEnvironmental engineeringBioflocculation, Carbon capture, Dynamic online OUR control, High rate activated sludge systemCivil EngineeringDegree Awarded: M.C.E. Civil Engineering. The Catholic University of Americ
The geometry of syntax and semantics for directed file transformations
No full textProceedings - 2020 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops, SPW 2020
May 2020, Article number 9283829, Pages 284-290
2020 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops, SPW 2020; Virtual, San Francisco; United States; 21 May 2020 through ; Category numberCFP20SPX-ART; Code 165937.We introduce a conceptual framework that associates syntax and semantics with vertical and horizontal directions in principal bundles and related constructions. This notion of geometry corresponds to a mechanism for performing goal-directed file transformations such as “eliminate unsafe syntax” and suggests various engineering practices
UDC Library Syllabus Review Project
No full textThe University of the District of Columbia Library is conducting a literature review and will undertake a syllabus review project to identify opportunities for expanding information literacy instruction and assess library collections. Meghan Kowalski, the Outreach and Reference Librarian, Cathy Meals, Assessment Librarian, and Donna Welles have investigated models for reviewing course syllabi. A syllabus analysis study might look for (1) the presence of library use, and (2) information literacy learning outcomes. The first step in any syllabus review is to determine if any library use is required. The syllabi can be scaled for more and less library use. The syllabi are coded for the presence of six themes using a three-indicator scale, not present, implied, or explicitly stated. Reviewers have options about either creating codes from the text of the syllabi, or they can create a rubric and assess each syllabus with the rubric.A poster that was presented for the Thirteenth Annual Symposium, "Bridging the Spectrum: A Symposium on Scholarship and Practice in Library and Information Science" at the Catholic University of America in 2021
Statement of best practices in fair use of dance-related materials: recommendations for librarians, archivists, curators, and other collections staff
No full textStorytelling and social justice in action: leveraging documentary films to strengthen local movement building
No full texthis research was funded by a grant from Working Films.Today, collaborations between documentaries and community organizations often happen
within a particular model—by building organizational partnerships around individual films,
whereby filmmakers and their impact teams work closely with issue advocacy groups to
reach the people most affected by the stories they are telling. A different model seeks
to empower nonprofit community organizations with the tools and training to leverage
documentary storytelling regularly and consistently in their efforts to engage publics and
constituents around social issues. In this way, the hope is for nonprofit organizations to
add the power of intimate documentary storytelling to their strategic toolboxes. This report
examines this idea through a focused year-long experiment with this model, an initiative
called Putting Films to Work
The journey to the Academy Awards: an investigation of Oscar-shortlisted and nominated documentaries (2014-2016)
No full textWhat does it take for a documentary film and its director and producer to make it to the top—the Oscars shortlist, the nomination and the win? Which film directors are recognized—in terms of race and gender? Are the shortlisted films’ stories focused on pressing social issues, or slice-of-life entertainment stories? Where can audiences see the documentaries—on PBS, HBO, iTunes, Netflix or somewhere else? How are the top documentary films distributed—by major studio distributors or smaller independent companies? What other kinds of awards can predict —or are associated with—Oscar recognition, if any? This study aimed to answer these questions through a systematic examination of the last three years (2014, 2015 and 2016) of Academy Award-shortlisted, -nominated and -winning documentary films—a total of 45 films and 56 credited directors. From this close investigation of Oscar-shortlisted documentary films, consistent patterns emerge to paint a portrait of documentary films and directors at this highest level of achievement