26 research outputs found
Hyaluronic acid-based bioinks for cell-friendly bioprinting
No full textExtracellular matrix (ECM) is an intricate network of proteins, sugars, and proteoglycans that provides critical signaling context to resident cells through mechanical and bioactive properties. As such, the independent control of these features is a frequent target in the development of biomaterials. This research investigates the development of a bioink system based on thiol-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-S) and polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) for 3D bioprinting. The objectives of this work were to (1) develop a versatile approach to independently control the mechanical and bioadhesive features of HAS-PEGDA across multiple time scales and (2) adapt the system to be amenable to 3D extrusion bioprinting.
To this end, we leveraged the distinct dual-crosslinking mechanism of HAS-PEGDA to control the mechanical properties at different time points. Rheological studies confirmed that two crosslinking reactions occur in HAS-PEGDA: (1) rapid crosslinking between HA-thiols and PEG-acrylates resulting in gelation in minutes and (2) prolonged disulfide crosslinking, which dramatically stiffens the network over a period of days-to-weeks. Like native HA, HAS-PEGDA does not support the adhesion of most healthy adult human cells, but the thiol modification provides a convenient target to introduce bioactive ligands. We demonstrated that the steady-state stiffness of the network can be manipulated independently of the initial crosslinking reaction by targeting a percentage of HA-thiols with peptide-ligands or inert spacers. Moreover, we identified ranges in which the mechanical and bioactive properties can be co-modulated in HAS-PEGDA, and we validated the biological functionality in vitro using human mesenchymal stem cells and rat dermal fibroblasts.
To adapt the formulation for 3D cell culture, reaction templates were developed to prioritize bioactive peptide-grafting, initial gelation, latent crosslinking, and network degradation, across time scales of seconds, minutes-to-hours, days, and weeks, respectively. Finally, we demonstrated that the time-dependent rheological features of HAS-PEGDA can be leveraged to formulate printable bioinks for extrusion-based 3D bioprinting. By harnessing the inherent viscoelastic features of HA, we identified a window of printing conditions that resulted in excellent cell viability, mechanical recovery, resolution, and bioink tunability. Taken together, the results presented in this thesis establish a customizable bioink system based on thiol-modified hyaluronic acid for extrusion-based bioprinting.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Evasive Steering: Left vs. Right Directional Preference in Automated Vehicles
No full textSince its first debut in the 20th century, self-driving technology has seen an increase in demand. Accessibility to control has proven to be a principal influence on driver’s comfortability in self-driving vehicles. In response to this need for control, our study focused on the steering direction exhibited by drivers during takeover for self-driving vehicles approaching a potential risk of crashing. More specifically, we investigated which direction—left or right—people are greater likely to steer when they do not have their hands on the wheel prior to taking control. We expected that more people will steer the vehicle right than left when approaching an obstacle, due to driving rules and regulations in the United States, such as right–side driving of the road and the stability of the right–hand turn. To test this hypothesis, participants watched a series of prerecorded driving simulation videos that portrayed various instances in which the driver would need to take over control to avoid a collision. We are currently collecting the data
Iconic Sports Venues: Persuasion in Public Spaces
No full textJason McEntee is a contributing author, The Last Palace Standing: Mitchell\u27s Corn Palace and the Rise of an Iconic Sports Venue. , pp.41-65.
From the Colosseum of Rome to Wrigley Field and Madison Square Garden, iconic sports venues are larger than life. They often exist in a seemingly sacred space, outside the hustle and bustle of the everyday. At their most basic level, iconic sports venues are revered and idolized. They emanate a sense of persuasion that contributes to how they become meaningful for those who come into contact with them.
This book examines how and why iconic sports venues acquire meaning. Looking at different venues, chapters address how the material features of a site participate in the construction of messages and meanings, and how they influence those messages and meanings. Each chapter includes a description of the venue in question; an interpretation of its mystique; and a discussion of the implications of the interpretation.
A unique and timely contribution to the fields of composition, persuasion, sport management, sport rhetoric, and communication, the goal of this book is to inspire more scholarly research, essays, and projects focused on the persuasive qualities of sports venues. More broadly, scholars, students, and professionals can use the chapters in this book as models for investigating iconic structures both locally and globally.https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/english_book/1012/thumbnail.jp
Island living reduces ornamental plumage colouration in passerines
No full textIsland systems provide unique opportunities to explore patterns of plumage evolution. The few studies that have examined colour on islands have indicated a general pattern of reduced brightness, but this research is limited to restricted geographic areas and relatively few species.Here, I tested the hypothesis that island living results in a reduction in bird colouration across the order Passeriformes. To do so,I performed a phylogenetic comparative analysis with 5810 passerine species. Compared to mainland passerines, island females had higher overall plumage colouration scores, while island males showed had no difference in overall plumage colouration. There was no apparent change in the extent of sexual dichromatism.When I focussed on red and blue colour scores independent of the other colours, I found that both red and blue plumage colours were reduced in island passerines when compared to mainland species. These results may demonstrate a reduction in carotenoid and structural-based plumage in island birds, suggesting a relaxation in sexual selection pressures in island species
Author Correction: A multi-modal single-cell and spatial expression map of metastatic breast cancer biopsies across clinicopathological features
No full textThe Christian Right and US Foreign Policy in the Twenty-first Century
No full textThe thesis discusses the role of the Christian Right in the US foreign policy decision making process. The research revealed that the Christian Right has long been fascinated with some international issues in general and US foreign policy in particular. The Christian Right’s interest in international issues increased markedly during years of the George W. Bush presidency. It successfully widened its activities from domestic social conservative issues to foreign policy issues by participating in, articulating and lobbying for its religious version of American foreign policy. In assessing the role of the Christian Right in US foreign policy making, this dissertation examines three aspects of US foreign policy, namely Israel, international religious freedom and global humanitarianism. Based on these aspects, the Christian Right is seen as skilled in framing and defining issues. The Christian Right seems effective in selecting and prioritizing international issues that have a reasonable chance of being selected by foreign policy decision makers, especially in Congress. Moreover, the Christian Right has shown its maturity in seeking engagement and cooperation with other organizations, secular and religious, in order to advance its international goals. Finally, in pursuing and conveying its international agenda, the Christian Right has adopted a more moderate and less overtly religious approach. Instead of using its traditional religious rhetoric, the Christian Right has successfully projected its foreign policy preferences into the conventional realist discourse of American foreign policy that is largely based on the objective of national interest and national security. Nevertheless, this study does not, in any way, conclude that the Christian Right was able to influence or determine the direction of US foreign policy and its outcomes; however, it does suggest that the Christian Right did contribute and have an impact on the formulation of some US foreign policy. As such, the research contends that the role of the Christian Right is similar to other interest group lobbies and that its perceived influence on US foreign policy should not be exaggerated. Finally, the research suggests that the emergence of the Christian Right as an actor in asserting its global agenda through US foreign policy can possibly provide an example of how religious beliefs and values can become a potential source of “soft power”. Together with the “climate of opinion” of the American public during the Bush administration, the “soft power” at domestic level could serve as a valuable new explanatory variable in understanding how the US foreign policy was formulated in the early 21st century
Interprofessional mock code simulation promotes collaboration and competency in Parkinson\u27s medication safety during transition in care
No full textAn interprofessional mock code simulation was designed to educate students from four healthcare disciplines on the care of a patient with Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) during a care transition. This interprofessional education initiative facilitated students learning about, from, and with each other. The simulation consisted of an unfolding patient with Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) that involved an incomplete medication reconciliation and an omission of time-sensitive PD medication, resulting in a full code. The simulation explored quality improvement strategies for safe and timely medication administration and reconciliation during a care transition for a patient with PD. The simulation was conducted in the Learning Resource Simulation Center with small groups of students from two separate institutions and four separate schools or college programs rotating throughout the semester. The student participants consisted of the following: Baccalaureate Degree Senior Nursing Students; Master\u27s level Senior Nurse Anesthesia Students; Fourth-Year Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Students; and Fourth-Year Doctor of Psychology Students. The objectives of the interprofessional mock code simulation were as follows: 1) learners shall understand the roles and responsibilities of members of a healthcare team by participating in an interprofessional simulation of a patient with Parkinson\u27s disease during a mock code scenario; 2) learners shall recognize the harm that occurs from incomplete medication reconciliation specific to Parkinson\u27s disease during care transitions such as disorientation, garbled speech, severely limited breathing capacity and even death; and 3) learners from four different healthcare disciplines will evaluate their comfort and competence specific to working as part of an interprofessional healthcare team during a mock code simulation. The simulation demonstrated an increase in knowledge among all the interprofessional healthcare team members regarding PD medication safety. This PD unfolding case study simulation training also helped students and future professionals feel comfortable and competent while working together during a patient code situation in the acute care setting. This simulation holds great potential for dissemination among all faculty disciplines to improve the quality and safety of the PD population during care transitions. A complete copy of the IPE simulation is available upon request from the primary author
THE PLACE FROM WHICH I SEE: a practice-led investigation into the role of vision in understanding solo performance improvisation as a form of composition.
No full textThe Place From Which I See is a practice-led investigation into performance improvisation in which I have asked the question: ‘What is the role of vision in understanding solo performance improvisation as a form of composition?’ The research is encompassed and presented in two different, but interwoven, modalities, which function as a total thesis. These are: (1) a written thesis, which is divided into the four main chapters outlined in the Introduction and (2) a sharing of studio-based investigations and performances - included on the accompanying DVD - and a live performance. This sharing of practical work is designed to illuminate how the practice has functioned as a methodology for research and as a means of embodying and making public the research outcomes. Together, it is intended that these different articulations form a clear and useful prism through which the practical and theoretical terrain of the project can be distilled.
In this thesis I argue that working pragmatically and creatively with vision within the specificity of the immediate space and situation of performance can function as an efficacious means of understanding solo improvised performance as a form of composition, and the research offers five strategies that collectively function as a template of approaches for generating and shaping improvisational material. The strategies have been developed through instigating a practice/theory feedback loop with the phenomenology and artistic paradigm offered by French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty. I introduce his model of painterly composition as a particular rubric of what I call vision/action responsiveness against which I situate my own compositional approaches. I also outline five of the key ideas that infuse both this rubric and his phenomenology more generally - the significance of the entwining of a ‘questioning’ vision with movement; the chiasm; the visible; the ‘invisible’ and the ‘I can’ - and illuminate the way in which the practice has been developed and refined through a pragmatic interaction with these ideas. The thesis also outlines how these aspects of the phenomenological discourse have been re-framed through this interaction with the practical investigations and I situate my working of Merleau-Ponty’s ideas within the context of other treatments within both dance and theatre. More broadly, I relate this doctorate’s methodological approach and aesthetic concern with vision as a core compositional tool in and for performance to the compositional strategies, aesthetics, methodologies and philosophies of a range of other practitioners, locating the research within the wider field of improvisational performance. As an outcome, this research offers the template of strategies, layered with my particular re-framings of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, as an original contribution to the practice and discourse of solo performance improvisation
Testing a global standard for quantifying species recovery and assessing conservation impact
No full textRecognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a “Green List of Species” (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species’ progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 separate but interlinked components: a standardized method (i.e., measurement against benchmarks of species’ viability, functionality, and preimpact distribution) to determine current species recovery status (herein species recovery score) and application of that method to estimate past and potential future impacts of conservation based on 4 metrics (conservation legacy, conservation dependence, conservation gain, and recovery potential). We tested the framework with 181 species representing diverse taxa, life histories, biomes, and IUCN Red List categories (extinction risk). Based on the observed distribution of species’ recovery scores, we propose the following species recovery categories: fully recovered, slightly depleted, moderately depleted, largely depleted, critically depleted, extinct in the wild, and indeterminate. Fifty-nine percent of tested species were considered largely or critically depleted. Although there was a negative relationship between extinction risk and species recovery score, variation was considerable. Some species in lower risk categories were assessed as farther from recovery than those at higher risk. This emphasizes that species recovery is conceptually different from extinction risk and reinforces the utility of the IUCN Green Status of Species to more fully understand species conservation status. Although extinction risk did not predict conservation legacy, conservation dependence, or conservation gain, it was positively correlated with recovery potential. Only 1.7% of tested species were categorized as zero across all 4 of these conservation impact metrics, indicating that conservation has, or will, play a role in improving or maintaining species status for the vast majority of these species. Based on our results, we devised an updated assessment framework that introduces the option of using a dynamic baseline to assess future impacts of conservation over the short term to avoid misleading results which were generated in a small number of cases, and redefines short term as 10 years to better align with conservation planning. These changes are reflected in the IUCN Green Status of Species Standard.
Inclusive author list: Molly K. Grace • H. Resit Akçakaya • Elizabeth L. Bennett • Thomas M. Brooks • Anna Heath • Simon Hedges • Craig Hilton-Taylor • Michael Hoffmann • Axel Hochkirch • Richard Jenkins • David A. Keith • Barney Long • David P. Mallon • Erik Meijaard • E.J. Milner-Gulland • Jon Paul Rodriguez • P.J. Stephenson • Simon N. Stuart • Richard P. Young • Pablo Acebes • Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto • Silvia Alvarez-Clare • Raphali Rodlis Andriantsimanarilafy • Marina Arbetman • Claudio Azat • Gianluigi Bacchetta • Ruchi Badola • Luís M.D. Barcelos • Joao Pedro Barreiros • Sayanti Basak • Danielle J. Berger • Sabuj Bhattacharyya • Gilad Bino • Paulo A.V. Borges • Raoul K. Boughton • H. Jane Brockmann • Hannah L. Buckley • Ian J. Burfield • James Burton • Teresa Camacho-Badani • Luis Santiago Cano-Alonso • Ruth H. Carmichael • Christina Carrero • John P. Carroll • Giorgos Catsadorakis • David G. Chapple • Guillaume Chapron • Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury • Louw Claassens • Donatella Cogoni • Rochelle Constantine • Christie Anne Craig • Andrew A. Cunningham • Nishma Dahal • Jennifer C. Daltry • Goura Chandra Das • Niladri Dasgupta • Alexandra Davey • Katharine Davies • Pedro Develey • Vanitha Elangovan • David Fairclough • Mirko Di Febbraro • Giuseppe Fenu • Fernando Moreira Fernandes • Eduardo Pinheiro Fernandez • Brittany Finucci • Rita Földesi • Catherine M. Foley • Matthew Ford • Michael R.J. Forstner • Néstor García • Ricardo Garcia-Sandoval • Penny C. Gardner • Roberto Garibay-Orijel • Marites Gatan-Balbas • Irene Gauto • Mirza Ghazanfar Ullah Ghazi • Stephanie S. Godfrey • Matthew Gollock • Benito A. González • Tandora D. Grant • Thomas Gray • Andrew J. Gregory • Roy H.A. van Grunsven • Marieka Gryzenhout • Noelle C. Guernsey • Garima Gupta • Christina Hagen • Christian A. Hagen • Madison B. Hall • Eric Hallerman • Kelly Hare • Tom Hart • Ruston Hartdegen • Yvette Harvey-Brown • Richard Hatfield • Tahneal Hawke • Claudia Hermes • Rod Hitchmough • Pablo Melo Hoffmann • Charlie Howarth • Michael A. Hudson • Syed Ainul Hussain • Charlie Huveneers • Hélène Jacques • Dennis Jorgensen • Suyash Katdare • Lydia K.D. Katsis • Rahul Kaul • Boaz Kaunda-Arara • Lucy Keith-Diagne • Daniel T. Kraus • Thales Moreira de Lima • Ken Lindeman • Jean Linsky • Edward Louis Jr. • Anna Loy • Eimear Nic Lughadha • Jeffrey C. Mangel • Paul E. Marinari • Gabriel M. Martin • Gustavo Martinelli • Philip J.K. McGowan • Alistair McInnes • Eduardo Teles Barbosa Mendes • Michael J. Millard • Claire Mirande • Daniel Money • Joanne M. Monks • Carolina Laura Morales • Nazia Naoreen Mumu • Raquel Negrao • Anh Ha Nguyen • Md. Nazmul Hasan Niloy • Grant Leslie Norbury • Cale Nordmeyer • Darren Norris • Mark O’Brien • Gabriela Akemi Oda • Simone Orsenigo • Mark Evan Outerbridge • Stesha Pasachnik • Juan Carlos Pérez-Jiménez • Charlotte Pike • Fred Pilkington • Glenn Plumb • Rita de Cassia Quitete Portela • Ana Prohaska • Manuel G. Quintana • Eddie Fanantenana Rakotondrasoa • Dustin H. Ranglack • Hassan Rankou • Ajay Prakash Rawat • James Thomas Reardon • Marcelo Lopes Rheingantz • Stephen C. Richter • Malin C. Rivers • Luke Rollie Rogers • Patrícia da Rosa • Paul Rose • Emily Royer • Catherine Ryan • Yvonne J. Sadovy de Mitcheson • Lily Salmon • Carlos Henrique Salvador • Michael J. Samways • Tatiana Sanjuan • Amanda Souza • dos Santos • Hiroshi Sasaki • Emmanuel Schutz • Heather Ann Scott • Robert Michael Scott • Fabrizio Serena • Surya P. Sharma • John A. Shuey • Carlos Julio Polo Silva • John P. Simaika • David R. Smith • Julia L.Y. Spaet • Shanjida Sultana • Bibhab Kumar Talukdar • Vikash Tatayah • Philip Thomas • Angela Tringali • Hoang Trinh-Dinh • Chongpi Tuboi • Aftab Alam Usmani • Aída M. Vasco-Palacios • Jean-Christophe Vié • Jo Virens • Alan Walker • Bryan Wallace • Lauren J. Waller • Hongfeng Wang • Oliver R. Wearn • Merlijn van Weerd • Simon Weigmann • Daniel Willcox • John Woinarski • Jean W.H. Yong • Stuart Young
Federal Policing Structures - Mexico and Comparisons, ID: DipLab1927216
No full textThis report examines Mexico’s drug and police culture while analyzing police cultures in similarly organized countries. Drugs and cartels have a long and violent history within Mexico and the problem is spilling over the border into the United States. With corrupt and insufficiently trained police forces, the ability to effectively fight the drug war is extremely limited. Both the United States and Mexico have worked together to try to combat these connected issues, but more needs to be done. Key recommendations were found by analyzing the bipartite structures in Brazil and South Africa with a focus on Armenia. These recommendations include the following:
- Prioritize the interests of the people
- Standardized training
- Distinguish a disciplinary authority to investigate human rights violations
- Practice community-based policing using well-trained officers
- Senior National Guard positions not to be reserved for friends of political appointees
- Improve communication and information sharing
- U.S. Technology and systems recommendations
- Appoint a cabinet level Drug Czar
* Limitations to this research include the use of only online materials and database articles and journals
