4,818 research outputs found

    Beam scanning by liquid-crystal biasing in a modified SIW structure

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    A fixed-frequency beam-scanning 1D antenna based on Liquid Crystals (LCs) is designed for application in 2D scanning with lateral alignment. The 2D array environment imposes full decoupling of adjacent 1D antennas, which often conflicts with the LC requirement of DC biasing: the proposed design accommodates both. The LC medium is placed inside a Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) modified to work as a Groove Gap Waveguide, with radiating slots etched on the upper broad wall, that radiates as a Leaky-Wave Antenna (LWA). This allows effective application of the DC bias voltage needed for tuning the LCs. At the same time, the RF field remains laterally confined, enabling the possibility to lay several antennas in parallel and achieve 2D beam scanning. The design is validated by simulation employing the actual properties of a commercial LC medium

    Program and Proceedings: The Nebraska Academy of Sciences 1880-2023. 142th Anniversary Year. One Hundred-Thirty-Third Annual Meeting April 21, 2023. Hybrid Meeting: Nebraska Wesleyan University & Online, Lincoln, Nebraska

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    AERONAUTICS & SPACE SCIENCE Chairperson(s): Dr. Scott Tarry & Michaela Lucas HUMANS PAST AND PRESENT Chairperson(s): Phil R. Geib & Allegra Ward APPLIED SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SECTION Chairperson(s): Mary Ettel BIOLOGY Chairpersons: Lauren Gillespie, Steve Heinisch, and Paul Davis BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES Chairperson(s): Annemarie Shibata, Kimberly Carlson, Joseph Dolence, Alexis Hobbs, James Fletcher, Paul Denton CHEM Section Chairperson(s): Nathanael Fackler EARTH SCIENCES Chairpersons: Irina Filina, Jon Schueth, Ross Dixon, Michael Leite ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Chairperson: Mark Hammer PHYSICS Chairperson(s): Dr. Adam Davis SCIENCE EDUCATION Chairperson: Christine Gustafson 2023 Maiben Lecturer: Jason Bartz 2023 FRIEND OF SCIENCE AWARD TO: Ray Ward and Jim Lewi

    The Mediterranean Sea as border space: a geo-literary analysis

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    Der Schwerpunkt meiner Dissertation liegt auf der Analyse der Art und Weise, wie das Mittelmeer als Grenzraum in fĂŒnf literarischen Werken, die von 2005 bis heute erschienen sind, dargestellt und wiedergegeben wird. Indem ich das Mittelmeer sowohl als Gegenstand der Ă€sthetischen Darstellung behandle, analysiere ich diese Werke, um die Symbolik der maritimen Grenzen zu untersuchen. Auf diese Weise versuche ich, ein Paradigma fĂŒr das VerstĂ€ndnis der Mittelmeer-Grenze als dynamisches, vielschichtiges, allgegenwĂ€rtiges, (un)sichtbares und performatives Konstrukt zu entwickeln. Der Korpus der Analyse umfasst literarische Werke, die im Mittelmeerraum veröffentlicht wurden, und sich mit dem Thema der clandestine migration, der Transmigration und der Abwanderung befasst. Die fĂŒnf Grenzromane umfassen verschiedene Genres, darunter die bio-fiktionale ErzĂ€hlung von Catozzella Non dirmi che hai paura (2014) [Sag nicht, dass du Angst hast (2016)], die spekulativ Fiktion von Charfi Le Baiser de Lampedusa (2011), die composite novel von Lalami Hope and other dangerous pursuits (2005) [Hoffnung und andere gefĂ€hrliche Bestrebungen], der Kriminalroman von Pajares Aguas de venganza (2016) [GewĂ€sser der Rache] und der realistische, teilweise volksmĂ€rchenhafte Roman, von Khaal African Titanics (2008, Englische Übersetzung. 2014), die zur Inszenierung kritischer Untersuchungen ĂŒber die maritime Grenze werden. Die Dissertation schlĂ€gt eine geo-literarische Lesart der Grenzliteratur vor, die sich aus einem breiten Korpus theoretischer Schriften ĂŒber Grenzen aus den Sozial und Geisteswissenschaften – Kultur und Literaturwissenschaften – herausarbeitet. Das Projekt richtet sich darauf aus, diese beiden Disziplinen miteinander ins GesprĂ€ch zu bringen, indem der soziokulturelle, literarische und politische Beitrag der Grenzliteratur berĂŒcksichtigt wird. In diesem Sinne ist meine Dissertation ein Beitrag zu Border Studies, Border Aesthetics und Mediterranean Studies.The primary focus of my dissertation is the analysis of the ways in which the Mediterranean Sea is rendered and modeled as a border space in five border literary works published from 2005 to the present. Treating the Mediterranean Sea as both the topic of literary analysis and the element of aesthetic representation, I investigate these works to examine the imageries of the maritime border as they transpire in literature. In so doing, I am seeking to provide a paradigm for comprehending the Mediterranean border as a dynamic, multi-scaled, ubiquitous, (in)visible and performative construct. The corpus of analysis comprises of literary works published in different languages and countries, notably from around the Mediterranean Sea, that address the theme of clandestine migration, transmigration, relocation and the social and cultural challenges they bring forth. The five border novels span genres, including bio-fictional narrative, Catozzella's Non dirmi che hai paura (2014) [Don't tell me you are afraid (2016)], speculative fiction, Charfi's Le Baiser de Lampedusa (2011), composite novel, Lalami's Hope and other dangerous pursuits (2005), detective fiction, Pajares' Aguas de venganza (2016) [Waters of revenge] and realist one interlaid with folktales, Khaal's African Titanics (2008 English transl. 2014), becoming the staging of critical investigations about the maritime border. The dissertation proposes a geo-literary reading of border fiction, working its way out from a large body of theoretical writing on borders born of the social sciences and the humanities — cultural studies and literary criticism. The project aims to put these two larger disciplines into conversation with one another by taking into consideration the socio-cultural, literary and political contribution of border fiction. In this line, my dissertation is a contribution to Border Studies, Border Aesthetics, and Mediterranean Studies

    Proceedings of FORM 2022. Construction The Formation of Living Environment

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    This study examines the integration of building information modelling (BIM) technologies in operation & maintenance stage in the system of managing real estate that helps to reduce transaction costs. The approach and method are based on Digital Twin technology and Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) approach. The results of the development of a service for digital facility management and digital expertise are presented. The connection between physical and digital objects is conceptualized

    Towards personalized immunotherapy : development of in vitro models for imaging natural killer cell behavior in the tumor microenvironment

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    Tremendous advances in the tumor immunology field have transformed immunotherapy from a promising approach to a standard clinical practice. However, a subset of cancer patients is non-responsive to immunotherapy. More research is therefore needed to understand the mechanisms underlying tumor resistance to immunotherapeutic treatments. The aim of this doctoral work was to develop new tools to study the mechanisms of cancer immunosurveillance and to test immunotherapeutic treatments in vitro. In this thesis, I describe the methods developed, and I discuss the main biological findings obtained by using these methods. The thesis is organized as follows. A short historical background of immunotherapy is provided in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 describes the principles of NK cell-mediated cancer immunosurveillance, and provides an overview on rare cancers, mainly focusing on sarcoma. The research aims are listed in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, I describe the cell culture methods and cell analysis techniques relevant for my doctoral work. In Chapter 5, I describe the methods we developed to culture tumor spheroids in vitro using ultrasonic standing waves in microwell chips, focusing on the theory, design, and applications. Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 focus on the biological findings obtained using our platform in combination with traditional immunological methods, followed by future implementations discussed in Chapter 8. The constituent papers are provided at the end of the thesis. In Paper I, we combined the use of the microwell chip, ultrasonic standing waves and a protein-repellent polymer coating to enable the production of spheroids from multiple cell types. In absence of cell adhesion to the chip, spheroids could be collected and further analyzed by off-the-chip techniques. In Paper II, we designed a novel multichambered microwell chip to perform multiplexed fluorescence screening of two- or three-dimensional cell cultures. The platform allows the direct assessment of drug or immune cell cytotoxic efficacy, making it a promising tool for individualized cytotoxicity tests for personalized medicine. In Paper III, we investigate the function of PVR receptors in NK cells interacting with renal carcinoma spheroids, and the impact of PVR in NK cell-based cellular immunotherapy. We demonstrated that variations in PVR expression are primarily recognized by the inhibitory receptor TIGIT, while DNAM-1 strongly contributes to NK cell activation mainly through PVR-independent mechanisms. We performed NK cell-based cytotoxicity assays against renal carcinoma spheroids in the microwell chip. Anti-TIGIT treatment was effective only for TIGIThigh NK cells both when used as monotherapy or in combination with other drugs, suggesting that only a fraction of patients might respond to anti-TIGIT therapy. In Paper IV, a similar approach was used with primary sarcomas. We cultured patient-derived sarcoma spheroids and tested NK cell-based immunotherapy in the microwell chip, either alone or in combination with antibody therapy, and we identified promising treatment combinations. In Paper V, we applied the use of expansion microscopy to visualize NK cells infiltrating renal carcinoma spheroids. In conclusion, our multi-disciplinary work shows the development of new imaging-based platform and its use to study the mechanisms of NK cell-mediated tumor surveillance and for personalized therapy

    Science and corporeal religion: a feminist materialist reconsideration of gender/sex diversity in religiosity

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    This dissertation develops a feminist materialist interpretation of the role the neuroendocrine system plays in the development of gender/sex differences in religion. Data emerging from psychology, sociology, and cognitive science have continually indicated that women are more religious than men, in various senses of those contested terms, but the factors contributing to these findings are little understood and disciplinary perspectives are often unhelpfully siloed. Previous scholarship has tended to highlight socio-cultural factors while ignoring biological factors or to focus on biological factors while relying on problematic and unsubstantiated gender stereotypes. Addressing gender/sex difference is vital for understanding religion and how we study it. This dissertation interprets this difference by means of a multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological approach. This approach builds upon insights from the cognitive and evolutionary science of religion, affect theory and affective neuroscience, and social neuroendocrinology, and it is rooted in the foundational insights of feminist materialism, including that cultural and micro-sociological forces are inseparable from biological materiality. The dissertation shows how a better way of understanding gender/sex differences in religion emerges through focusing on the co-construction of biological materiality and cultural meanings. This includes deploying a gene-culture co-evolutionary explanation of ultrasociality and an understanding of the biology of performativity to argue that religious behavior and temperaments emerge from the enactment and hormonal underpinnings of six affective adaptive desires: the desires for (1) bonding and attachment, (2) communal mythos, (3) deliverance from suffering, (4) purpose, (5) understanding, and (6) reliable leadership. By hypothesizing the patterns of hormonal release and activation associated with ritualized affects—primarily considering oxytocin, testosterone, vasopressin, estrogen, dopamine, and serotonin—the dissertation theorizes four dimensions of religious temperament: (1) nurturant religiosity, (2) ecstatic religiosity, (3) protective/hierarchical religiosity, and (4) antagonistic religiosity. This dissertation conceptualizes hormones as chemical messengers that enable the diversity emerging from the imbrication of physical materiality and socio-cultural forces. In doing so, it demonstrates how hormonal aspects of gender/sex and culturally constructed aspects of gender/sex are always already intertwined in their influence on religiosity. This theoretical framework sheds light on both the diversity and the noticeable patterns observed in gender/sex differences in religious behaviors and affects. This problematizes the terms of the “women are more religious than men” while putting in place a more adequate framework for interpreting the variety of ways it appears in human lives

    Technologies and Applications for Big Data Value

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    This open access book explores cutting-edge solutions and best practices for big data and data-driven AI applications for the data-driven economy. It provides the reader with a basis for understanding how technical issues can be overcome to offer real-world solutions to major industrial areas. The book starts with an introductory chapter that provides an overview of the book by positioning the following chapters in terms of their contributions to technology frameworks which are key elements of the Big Data Value Public-Private Partnership and the upcoming Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics. The remainder of the book is then arranged in two parts. The first part “Technologies and Methods” contains horizontal contributions of technologies and methods that enable data value chains to be applied in any sector. The second part “Processes and Applications” details experience reports and lessons from using big data and data-driven approaches in processes and applications. Its chapters are co-authored with industry experts and cover domains including health, law, finance, retail, manufacturing, mobility, and smart cities. Contributions emanate from the Big Data Value Public-Private Partnership and the Big Data Value Association, which have acted as the European data community's nucleus to bring together businesses with leading researchers to harness the value of data to benefit society, business, science, and industry. The book is of interest to two primary audiences, first, undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in various fields, including big data, data science, data engineering, and machine learning and AI. Second, practitioners and industry experts engaged in data-driven systems, software design and deployment projects who are interested in employing these advanced methods to address real-world problems

    Democracy, Decolonization and the Politics of Reconciliation in Canada

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    Using Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools (IRS TRC) as an occasion and a lens, this dissertation aims to critically assess the capacity of the Canadian state to make good on the promise of transformation that the politics of reconciliation harbours. Canada’s IRS TRC is an opportunity to renew reflection on the sort of transformations that might bring about post-settler-colonial forms of commonality that do not presuppose the impossibility of decolonization and Indigenous self-determination. Using the topic of collective memory and methods drawn from emergent anti-imperialist sub-traditions in Western political thought, this dissertation forwards the claim that the realization of political reconciliation’s transformative potential entails both democratic and decolonial elements. This, in turn, grounds an attempt to bring radical democratic thought (with a focus on Sheldon S. Wolin) and Indigenous resurgence theory (with an emphasis on Glen S. Coulthard) into a conversation based on the assumption that not only are these two traditions of political thought not mutually exclusive but can be brought together in ways that can contribute towards the realization of political reconciliation’s transformative potential. This, however, entails a systematic decolonization of those elements of the foundations of Western democratic thought that render it amenable to imperial projects as a condition for freeing it up as a resource in the struggle for decolonization. This approach resulted in a twofold conclusion. First, the politics of reconciliation in liberal-democratic, settler-colonial contexts can be broadly divided into two contrasting and diametrically opposed models of political reconciliation: reconciliation ‘from above’ and reconciliation ‘from below.’ The second conclusion is that the form that the politics of reconciliation assumed in Canada is a form of reconciliation ‘from above,’ which, amongst other things, might be characterized by its selective social amnesia, its non-participatory and elitist decision-making processes and an incapacity to make good on the promise of change that the politics of reconciliation harbours. The liberal-democratic settler state’s inability to facilitate political reconciliation’s transformative potential is due to an enduring structural predisposition to promote the opposite of a decolonizing transformation in Indigenous-state relations in settler-colonial contexts such as Canada
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