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Zoroastrian Responses to the Problem of Evil: Seven Approaches Discussing Dualism and Monotheism
No full text“Is Zoroastrianism Dualist or Monotheistic?” is an article in which Boyd and Crosby present two dualist and four monotheist responses to that question. The authors submit these six versions to philosophical scrutiny according to the way they manage the problem of evil. Ultimately, the authors opt for a seventh response – their response, which they find more plausible than the previous six other options and meets their criterion of philosophical scrutiny to a better extent.
In this paper, I will present the seven versions the authors describe and ask which one responds better to Epicurus’ formulation of the abovementioned problem of evil. I am subjecting the seven versions to Epicurus’ formulation because it is formulated as questions that demand answers. Thus, Epicurus’ formulation provokes an active engagement with its questions. I argue that although Boyd and Crosby’s version does have a philosophical advantage over the others, it cannot guarantee the salvation of humankind given that their view makes it possible to think of the world as an increasingly better place, which humankind might not want to let go of altogether.Author's Origina
Predictors of Response to Prolonged Exposure, Sertraline, and Their Combination for the Treatment of Military PTSD
No full textObjective: The current study is an analysis of predictors of PTSD treatment response in a clinical trial comparing: 1) prolonged exposure plus placebo (PE + PLB); 2) PE + sertraline (PE + SERT); and 3) SERT + enhanced medication management (SERT + EMM) with predictors including time since trauma (TST), self-report of pain, alcohol use, baseline symptoms, and demographics.
Methods: Participants (N = 196) were veterans with combat-related PTSD of at least three months duration recruited between 2011 and 2016 from 4 sites in the 24-week PROlonGed ExpoSure and Sertraline (PROGrESS) clinical trial [assessments at weeks 0 (intake), 6, 12, 24, 36, and 52]
Results: Across treatment conditions – (i) Longer TST was predictive of greater week 24 PTSD symptom improvement after adjusting for baseline; (ii) Higher baseline pain severity was predictive of smaller symptom improvement and; (iii) Hispanics showed greater improvement than non-Hispanics. No other baseline characteristics, including alcohol consumption, were significantly predictive of week 24 improvement. Comparison of TST by treatment condition revealed a significant relationship only in those randomized to PE+SERT condition. Longitudinal analyses showed similar results.
Conclusions: The finding that longer TST shows larger symptom reductions is promising for PTSD patients who might not seek help for years following trauma. Higher baseline pain severity robustly predicted attenuated and slower response to all treatment conditions suggesting a common neuropathological substrate. Finally, in the current study alcohol use did not impede the effectiveness pharmacotherapy for PTSD.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01524133Accepted Manuscrip
Manatees and Margaritas: Toward a Strange New Paradise
No full textFlorida manatees gather in the warm water discharged from power plants, which they have come to rely on during cold winters. The “55 and better” also seek warmth - and a life of leisure - at the state’s booming “active adult” communities. As populations increase, human waste leaks into the lagoon and seagrass dies. Manatees starve in record numbers and are fed romaine lettuce in a last-ditch effort to keep them alive.
This project probes the strange ecologies of Eden in the Anthropocene – that of romaine lettuce and power plants, manatees and margaritas. It finds, in landscapes of paradise, spaces where one can love nature, while killing it at the same time, where the “obscene” realities of the body – waste, aging, death – are kept concealed outside the figurative garden wall - to deleterious effects. This thesis proposes new visions of paradise for a world where this separation can no longer stand, where no ‘elsewhere’ remains and entanglement is unavoidable. A series of gardens – or, more accurately, anti-gardens – serve as prototypes for a strange new Florida paradise, where the obscene enters and new forms of coexistence – between the retiree and manatee, the human and the nonhuman – emerge
Poisoned Lives
No full textAnna Edwacer has been arrested for poisoning her neighbors, including several children, at a block party. Her husband, a one-star general, is battling for their marriage, while Anna seems to be outshining him for the first time in their lives. The crime gripping the nation is nothing short of a miracle for documentary filmmaker, Ryan. He’s landed the exclusive of a lifetime: access to Anna while she awaits trial, and he’s sold his true-crime project to Netflix. As his star rises, his partner Claire wants to share his joy, but she’s just scaled back her therapy practice to get serious about her own desires to start a family, and this feels like another roadblock that threatens to tear apart their fragile relationship. Plus, for better or worse, Ryan has hired Jessa, Claire’s best friend, to play Anna in his re-enactment scenes, and Jessa has a secret that threatens to blow up his whole project, and his own secrets are beginning to be more burdensome than he realizes. Meanwhile, Jessa’s research into playing Anna will lead her to answers about her own past that she has long sought answers for.
This is a novel about a hub, Anna’s crime, around which a wheel of lives turn, and ultimately change. It’s a novel about how one action, even of a stranger, can be a catalyst for infinite possibility. It illustrates the interconnectedness of life. At its core, this is a story about marriage, innocence, guilt and redemption, and mostly about women. It’s about how women can draw strength from one another and how independence can be defined by a single act, or by finding one another
The Relationship between Acculturative Stress and Gender Roles Attitudes in Immigrants to the United States from Sub-Saharan African Countries
No full textThe study asks three questions about recent immigrants to the U.S. from 46 Sub-Saharan African countries: (a) what is the magnitude of the gender-based differences in acculturative stress, (b) what is the link between the gender-based differences in acculturative stress and gender roles attitudes, (c) what factors explain the most the gender-based variation in acculturative stress? The study utilized a quantitative, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based Internet survey research design with multiple fixed-effects between-group comparisons, a homogeneous purposive sample (N = 221), ANOVA tests and a WLS regression. Three conclusions were made: (a) the magnitude of the gender-based differences in acculturative stress is negligibly small and statistically insignificant; (b) there is no statistically significant relationship between the gender-based differences in acculturative stress and gender roles attitudes; (c) personal income, degree of familiarity with western culture prior to immigration, and the level of educational attainment explain the most the gender-based variation in acculturative stress. The findings suggest that the effects of gender on acculturative stress and gender roles attitudes are not as strong as previously thought and highlights the importance of income, familiarity with western culture and education as predictors of gender-based variation in acculturation stress
Spatial Paradigm of Sentiment
No full textHow space brings emotional impacts? This question is often answered in ambiguous way. “Vast space creates loneliness and small, cozy space is much more acceptable for human’s psychological well-being”, empirically described by designers. However, this loosely defined relationship has produced unexpected user experience, in which a neuro-architectural framework needs to be involved.
This thesis project will be delivered in two parts—a research to set up design framework and a proof-of-concept design prototype on chosen site. The research part of this thesis introduces a new framework to evaluate the relationship between human emotions and architectural space with a focus on spatial sequence. It presents how the reaction of emotional states onto spatial qualities can be respectively and collectively measured through qualitative and
quantitative methods. Through the technology of electroencephalography and establishment of virtual environment, we can collect emotional and behavioral data,
specifically in relation to arousal of positive emotion and neurocognitive ability to concentrate, from participants immersed in virtual environments that vary in lighting, furniture layouts, and spatial partitioning. The findings will suggest that these criteria draw crucial impacts on emotional states and propose a design project that can implement this framework of space-sentiment paradigm to boost spatial design for architects.
The design part of this thesis creates a building prototype for the new space-production relation of work-from-home to rethink spatial adaptability on supporting mood and productivity. The chosen sites will be vacant pier lands along the Boston waterfront, which will be retrofitted as new affordable apartments for home workers
Development of high-throughput imaging-based single cell genotype-phenotype mapping platforms
No full textThis thesis proposes a novel screening method for genotype-phenotype mapping that combines
microfluidic chips with chemical or molecular biology assays, enabling accurate and high-throughput
time-lapse phenotype-genotype mapping at the single-cell level. The work is divided into three chapters.
The first chapter discusses various computational tools developed for image analysis. The second
chapter details the development of the barcoding system, including its concept, challenges, solutions,
current state, future improvement directions, and advantages and limitations. The third chapter
presents experiments using dye-based barcodes for proof-of-concept applications, demonstrating
the potential of this innovative approach to overcome limitations in existing methods for genotypephenotype
mapping
Tunnel Attachments Paired with Invisalign® for Orthodontic Leveling and Aligning – A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
No full textBackground: Clear aligner therapy has yet to overcome limitations in achieving certain orthodontic tooth movements, more specifically rotations of conical teeth, vertical movements, correcting angulation and inclination. A novel hybrid approach which incorporates a wire into computer-designed Tunnel Attachments used in conjunction with clear aligners to achieve their predicted goal. Specific Aims: 1) Formally describe the novel computer-generated Tunnel Attachments for the purpose of utilizing archwires in conjunction with clear aligner therapy. 2) Characterize and compare the percent accuracy of predicted over achieved outcome of this approach in overcoming non-tracking tooth movements in predicted Invisalign® outcomes as compared to a traditional Invisalign® refinement as a control. Materials & Methods: 1) A description of the evolvement of the approach while testing its validity to refine the developed software, geometry and size of Tunnel Attachments, transfer method as well as materials and archwires used. 2) A parallel-arm prospective randomized controlled clinical trial. Twenty-six non-tracking segments were included. The amount of predicted tooth movement was superimposed and compared to the amount achieved utilizing Dental Compare SoftwareTM (VisionX, LLC). Types of tooth movement studied were mesial-distal tip, buccal-lingual tip, extrusion, intrusion, and mesial-distal rotation. Results: 1) A case report describing the proposed method on a non-tracking tipped lower second premolar after extraction treatment with Invisalign®. 2) The percent accuracy was higher for Tunnel Attachment group compared to the control group for mesial-distal crown tip (56.5% vs. 42%, p = 0.004), buccal crown tip (62% vs. 52%, p = 0.012), extrusion (59% vs. 42%, p 0.001), intrusion (60% vs. 43%, p 0.001), rotation (59% vs. 47%, p = 0.001), while no difference was found between the two groups in lingual crown tip. Conclusion: Despite the design not allowing the wires to fully express, pairing Tunnel Attachments with clear aligner therapy is effective in improving their achieved outcome. The full potential of this hybrid approach is yet to be explored
Estimating the Causal Effects of Interventions for Covid-19 Prevention
No full textThe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) global pandemic has led to 6.9 million deaths worldwide as of May 3, 2023. It is caused by coronavirus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. In the US, the first case of Covid-19 unrelated to travel was reported in February 2020, and by May 8, 2023, there has been 1.1 million reported Covid-19 deaths and over 104.6 million total cases. In this dissertation, we present three research projects in estimating the causal effects of antivirals and vaccine interventions for Covid-19 prevention, using nationwide data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the largest integrated health care system in the U.S.
In Chapter 1, we explore the repurposing potential of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for prevention of Covid-19 outcomes in men with HIV. We find TDF/FTC is associated with a 35% lower risk for documented SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 57% lower risk for Covid-19 hospitalization in over 20,000 men with HIV, which suggests that in men living with HIV, TDF/FTC may provide protection against Covid-19-related events.
In Chapter 2, we use Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness as an example to quantitatively compare the test-negative design and cohort design with explicit target trial emulation. We find similar estimated effectiveness under a cohort design with explicit emulation of target trial, case-control sampling of the cohort, case-control sampling with restriction to person-days with a test, and after applying additional features of a test-negative design in this particular context, where unmeasured confounding may be limited.
In Chapter 3, we apply the methodological framework developed in Chapter 2 to a new question of seasonal influenza vaccination and Covid-19, to explore the reported lower Covid-19 risks among influenza vaccinated individuals in the literature. Our findings under a cohort design with explicit target trial emulation suggest that influenza vaccination does not influence Covid-19 outcomes, and the previously reported implausible estimates may be attributed to deviations from an adequate target trial emulation
