Increasing the Educational Retention and Attainment Rates of Southeast Asian American College Students Through AANAPISIs

Since its emergence in the 1960s, the Model Minority Myth (MMM) has been pervasive in its assumption of Asian Americans as a monolithic racial group of naturally high-achieving individuals. This widely accepted stereotype has not only dismissed the educational challenges that diverse subpopulations may face within the context of higher education, but also made it hard for them to garner targeted resources and support throughout their educational journey. In particular, Southeast Asian American (SEAA) college students have suffered the runt of the consequences, as their unique challenges and experiences have been heavily erased. Unlike their Asian American peers, Southeast Asian Americans attain postsecondary degrees at significantly lower rates and also exhibit lower rates of student retention overall. However, with the rise of Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), SEAA college students are given renewed hope at a college experience that truly caters to their needs. AANAPISIs across the nation serve as an important access point to higher education for SEAA college students and play an important role in providing academic and co-curricular programming that aims to support this student population’s educational attainment. Recognizing this, I will discuss actionable steps that AANAPISI grant-seekers and stakeholders can take to ensure that their campus communities are built to welcome and support the unique experiences and challenges of SEAA student populations. However, in order to build upon the impact and potential that AANAPISIs can have on the educational experience of not only SEAA college students, but all AAPI students in general, it is important for all institutional agents and community members to take action collectively and individually

Growth of Pseudotypes of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus with N-Tropic Murine Leukemia Virus Coats in Cells Resistant to N-Tropic Viruses

Formation of pseudotypes between murine RNA tumor viruses and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) has been confirmed. Pseudotypes of VSV genomes coated by the surface envelope from an N-tropic tumor virus grew equally well in cells homozygous for either the Fv-1n or Fv-1b alleles. Therefore, the product of the Fv-1 locus, which restricts growth of murine RNA tumor viruses, must act on an intracellular aspect of tumor virus replication, a step after attachment and penetration

Optimisation hybride par colonies de fourmis pour le problème de découpe à deux dimensions

Nous nous intéressons dans cet article au problème de découpe guillotine en deux dimensions noté 2BP/O/G. Il s'agit de découper un certain nombre de pièces rectangulaires dans un ensemble de plaques de matière première, elles même rectangulaires et identiques. Celles-ci sont disponibles en quantité illimitée. L'objectif est de minimiser le nombre de plaques utilisées pour satisfaire la demande, en appliquant une succession de coupes, dites guillotines, allant de bout en bout. Nous proposons une approche de résolution combinant l'optimisation par colonies de fourmis (ACO) et l'heuristique SHF-FF de Ben Messaoud et al. [2] pour résoudre ce problème NP-difficile

Infection of human cytomegalovirus in cultured human gingival tissue.

BackgroundHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in the oral cavity plays an important role in its horizontal transmission and in causing viral-associated oral diseases such as gingivitis. However, little is currently known about HCMV pathogenesis in oral mucosa, partially because HCMV infection is primarily limited to human cells and few cultured tissue or animal models are available for studying HCMV infection.ResultsIn this report, we studied the infection of HCMV in a cultured gingival tissue model (EpiGingival, MatTek Co.) and investigated whether the cultured tissue can be used to study HCMV infection in the oral mucosa. HCMV replicated in tissues that were infected through the apical surface, achieving a titer of at least 300-fold at 10 days postinfection. Moreover, the virus spread from the apical surface to the basal region and reduced the thickness of the stratum coreum at the apical region. Viral proteins IE1, UL44, and UL99 were expressed in infected tissues, a characteristic of HCMV lytic replication in vivo. Studies of a collection of eight viral mutants provide the first direct evidence that a mutant with a deletion of open reading frame US18 is deficient in growth in the tissues, suggesting that HCMV encodes specific determinants for its infection in oral mucosa. Treatment by ganciclovir abolished viral growth in the infected tissues.ConclusionThese results suggest that the cultured gingival mucosa can be used as a tissue model for studying HCMV infection and for screening antivirals to block viral replication and transmission in the oral cavity

Sub-20 nm Core-Shell-Shell Nanoparticles for Bright Upconversion and Enhanced Förster Resonant Energy Transfer.

Upconverting nanoparticles provide valuable benefits as optical probes for bioimaging and Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) due to their high signal-to-noise ratio, photostability, and biocompatibility; yet, making nanoparticles small yields a significant decay in brightness due to increased surface quenching. Approaches to improve the brightness of UCNPs exist but often require increased nanoparticle size. Here we present a unique core-shell-shell nanoparticle architecture for small (sub-20 nm), bright upconversion with several key features: (1) maximal sensitizer concentration in the core for high near-infrared absorption, (2) efficient energy transfer between core and interior shell for strong emission, and (3) emitter localization near the nanoparticle surface for efficient FRET. This architecture consists of β-NaYbF4 (core) @NaY0.8-xErxGd0.2F4 (interior shell) @NaY0.8Gd0.2F4 (exterior shell), where sensitizer and emitter ions are partitioned into core and interior shell, respectively. Emitter concentration is varied (x = 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 80%) to investigate influence on single particle brightness, upconversion quantum yield, decay lifetimes, and FRET coupling. We compare these seven samples with the field-standard core-shell architecture of β-NaY0.58Gd0.2Yb0.2Er0.02F4 (core) @NaY0.8Gd0.2F4 (shell), with sensitizer and emitter ions codoped in the core. At a single particle level, the core-shell-shell design was up to 2-fold brighter than the standard core-shell design. Further, by coupling a fluorescent dye to the surface of the two different architectures, we demonstrated up to 8-fold improved emission enhancement with the core-shell-shell compared to the core-shell design. We show how, given proper consideration for emitter concentration, we can design a unique nanoparticle architecture to yield comparable or improved brightness and FRET coupling within a small volume

Looking back to look forward: setting future research agenda for international business in textiles and clothing industry

Since its development by Tinbergen (1962), the gravity model of international trade has widely been applied to analyse the effect of various factors on trade relationships between countries. Past studies on trade gravity vary not only in the mix of model variables but also in how they have come into the analysis. This study reviews existing literature on bilateral trade with an aim to identify influential predictors such as changes of trade policy and national development strategy and highlight important yet understudied factors such as transport and logistics infrastructure, and sustainable development. To demonstrate the needs to examine these critical factors across industry sectors, the study presents the case of textiles and clothing (T&C) production and trade between China and its trading partners as an illustration. Through the literature review, it shows how the gravity model can be applied to address current issues in international trade arena such as the potential trade war between the US and China, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and other important factors shaping global T&C trade. This study offers future research directions for analysis of global trade in the T&C industry and contributes to the wider literature of international business and trade

Exploring Cyber Harassment among Women Who Use Social Media

The number of Internet users around the word is at an all-time high. The majority of North Americans are internet users and over two-thirds participate in some kind of social network (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Social networks and mobile technology enable individuals to connect instantaneously or asynchronously, across geographic boundaries publicly or anonymously. Few studies exploring cyber harassment have been conducted, primarily because these technologies are relatively recent. The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine U.S. women\u27s experiences with and attitudes toward cyber harassment by way of an anonymous electronic survey. A total of 293 adult women (mean age 24.6) recruited from popular social networking sites participated in the research. The majority of participants (58.5%) reported being a student enrolled at a college or university. Close to 20% repeatedly received an unsolicited sexually obscene message and/or sexual solicitation (excluding Spam messages for all categories) on the Internet. More than 10% (11.5%, n = 33) repeatedly received pornographic messages from someone they did not know. More than a third of those who did experience some form of cyber harassment reported feeling anxious. One- fifth indicated they noticed changes in their sleeping and eating patterns as well as feeling helpless because of the harassment. Implications and recommended strategies for health education and personal safety in the online environment are provided

What are the opportunities for manufacturing in the “one belt one road” initiative? The case of Hong Kong’s textiles and clothing sector

The One Belt, One Road (hereafter OBOR) initiative is a development strategy launched by China in 2015. Its aim is to increase economic co-operation among countries along the China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that connect Asia, Europe and Africa. As one of China’s important economic drivers, Hong Kong’s anticipated gains taking part in this initiative are substantial. This is particularly true for companies in the textiles and clothing (T&C) sectors, as the OBOR initiative offers investment opportunities in developing low-cost production bases in developing countries and promotes global trade. The main objective of this paper is twofold. First, it investigates how Hong Kong can strengthen its “superconnector” role, facilitating sustainable trade and development in the T&C industries among some OBOR countries. Specific measures are identified so that T&C companies in Hong Kong can establish and facilitate technological upgrades and transformation to potential production facilities in some developing countries under the OBOR initiative. This would contribute to the sustainable development of the T&C sectors in Hong Kong. Second, the study extends the gravity trade model to analyze the development of T&C trade patterns between Hong Kong and OBOR countries. Especially it covered some of the key factors not considered in previous studies, such as Logistics Performance Index (LPI), demographical factors, and those related to the business environment and policies. The analysis covers the impacts of country-specific, social, economic and supply chain factors on T&C trade. Based on the results, recommendations are provided to address how Hong Kong helps to facilitate trade and development of the T&C sectors under the OBOR initiative

Rupture Heterogeneity and Directivity Effects in Back-Projection Analysis

The back projection method is a tremendously powerful technique for investigating the time dependent earthquake source, but its physical interpretation is elusive. We investigate how earthquake rupture heterogeneity and directivity can affect back-projection results (imaged location and beam power) using synthetic earthquake models. Rather than attempting to model the dynamics of any specific real earthquake, we use idealized kinematic rupture models, with constant or varying rupture velocity, peak slip rate, and fault-local strike orientation along unilateral or bilateral rupturing faults, and perform back-projection with the resultant synthetic seismograms. Our experiments show back-projection can track only heterogeneous rupture processes;homogeneous rupture is not resolved in our synthetic experiments. The amplitude of beam power does not necessarily correlate with the amplitude of any specific rupture parameter (e.g., slip rate or rupture velocity) at the back-projected location. Rather, it depends on the spatial heterogeneity around the back-projected rupture front, and is affected by the rupture directivity. A shorter characteristic wavelength of the source heterogeneity or rupture directivity toward the array results in strong beam power in higher frequency. We derive an equation based on Doppler theory to relate the wavelength of heterogeneity with synthetic seismogram frequency. This theoretical relation can explain the frequency- and array-dependent back-projection results not only in our synthetic experiments but also to analyze the 2019 M7.6 bilaterally rupturing New Ireland earthquake. Our study provides a novel perspective to physically interpret back-projection results and to retrieve information about earthquake rupture characteristics

Outcome Measures in OBPP

Traditional outcome measurement scales, such as the Medical Research Council (MRC) score, the Active Movement Scale (AMS), and Mallet score, are used by surgeons to assess outcomes in patients with obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP). The measurement scales used to evaluate patients fall under the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) domains of Body Function, Body Structure, Activity, Participation, and Environment and are used to assess function and disability of patients. Currently used outcome measures scales for OBPP are also contrasted with those used for another perinatal condition affecting the upper limb, cerebral palsy (CP)