Gender in Children’s Picture Books: A 21st Century Update

Prior research on representations of gender and gender roles in twentieth century award winning children’s picture books has found notable disparities in representation of male and female characters as well as in the number of roles and behaviors that were prescribed to characters. My research seeks to build on prior literature by providing a twenty first century update. I explore a sample of 100 children’s picture books and analyze the following: numerical representation of gender, number of speaking lines given to characters, number of pages characters were shown on and lastly, the number of behaviors that were prescribed to characters. I find that representation of male and female characters as a whole has changed little since prior research was done however, representation in number of pages shown on and speaking lines given has become more even as male and female characters had very similar averages for both. Additionally, most behaviors prescribed to male and female characters remain consistent by gender, meaning that male characters were given stereotypical male traits while female characters were given more stereotypical female traits. Complexity in behaviors is also discussed as male characters were provided opportunities to show a more complex set of behaviors. Though representation in books has change in some aspects there is work still to be done as books are powerful in shaping what children think about what gender is and what it means

Mocarts: a lightweight radiation transport simulator for easy handling of complex sensing geometries

In functional neuroimaging (fNIRS), elaborated sensing geometries pairing multiple light sources and detectors arranged over the tissue surface are needed. A variety of software tools for probing forward models of radiation transport in tissue exist, but their handling of sensing geometries and specification of complex tissue architectures is, most times, cumbersome. In this work, we introduce a lightweight simulator, Monte Carlo Radiation Transport Simulator (MOCARTS) that attends these demands for simplifying specification of tissue architectures and complex sensing geometries. An object-oriented architecture facilitates such goal. The simulator core is evolved from the Monte Carlo Multi-Layer (mcml) tool but extended to support multi-channel simulations. Verification against mcml yields negligible error (RMSE~4-10e-9) over a photon trajectory. Full simulations show concurrent validity of the proposed tool. Finally, the ability of the new software to simulate multi-channel sensing geometries and to define biological tissue models in an intuitive nested-hierarchy way are exemplified

The Cosmos is Not Finished

The “Final Frontier” is the Cosmic Order of Coloniality. The frontier, the final frontier, the new frontier, the endless frontier, all oft-used analogies for outer space. This cosmic order, hegemonically superior since the late 1960s, even while losing popular and political power, orders the very essence of Western space exploration, its future, and possibilities. The Final Frontier is a totalizing and finalizing conception of Man and his future. Such an order reduces ways of knowing and being to colonial and capitalist modes, where all things are reduced to exploitation. In this, the future of the final frontier is hardly a future; it is a death march masked as salvation. Part of this appearance of salvation and actuality of death comes from the Puritan values that have stayed within the American cultural landscape, transformed into its secular counterpart: Survival, another aspect is that of the glorification of What Has Been, which is death. This glorification of death is itself concealed by the valuation of control and power, the expansion of the State and land. While the Final Frontier as a cosmic order is one of exploitation and control, this does not mean there is no Hope for a future. Indeed, while this work looks at the ways in which coloniality manifests in the American cosmic order in different forms (the values and norms of space advocates, the use of frontierism in space policy and the public perceptions of the goals of space exploration), there is another way—it is not hegemonic, nor an easy road, but through the decolonization of the American narrative of space exploration lies a way forward: Hope, Cosmic Awe and Cosmic Revolution, the engagement with the unique material conditions of outer space that can impact socio-economic and political forms as well as the oft mentioned feeling of connection with the cosmos. It is through this that humanity can move away from space, as a frontier—a place to be conquered, but to space as an already existing part of the ecological system of which humanity already belongs

System Engineering of Autonomous Space Vehicles

Human exploration of the solar system requires fully autonomous systems when travelling more than 5 light minutes from Earth. This autonomy is necessary to manage a large, complex spacecraft with limited crew members and skills available. The communication latency requires the vehicle to deal with events with only limited crew interaction in most cases. The engineering of these systems requires an extensive knowledge of the spacecraft systems, information theory, and autonomous algorithm characteristics. The characteristics of the spacecraft systems must be matched with the autonomous algorithm characteristics to reliably monitor and control the system. This presents a large system engineering problem. Recent work on product-focused, elegant system engineering will be applied to this application, looking at the full autonomy stack, the matching of autonomous systems to spacecraft systems, and the integration of different types of algorithms. Each of these areas will be outlined and a general approach defined for system engineering to provide the optimal solution to the given application context

Mitochondrial dysfunction generates aggregates that resist lysosomal degradation in human breast cancer cells

Disrupting functional protein homeostasis is an established therapeutic strategy for certain tumors. Ongoing studies are evaluating autophagy inhibition for overcoming chemotherapeutic resistance to such therapies by neutralizing lysosomal pH. New and sensitive methods to monitor autophagy in patients are needed to improve trial design and interpretation. We report that mitochondrial-damaged breast cancer cells and rat breast tumors accumulate p53-positive protein aggregates that resist lysosomal degradation. These aggregates were localized to enzymatically-active autolysosomes that were degrading autophagosomes and the autophagic receptor proteins TAX1BP1 and NDP52. NDP52 was identified to associate with aggregated proteins and knocking down NDP52 led to the accumulation of protein aggregates. TAX1BP1 was identified to partly localize with aggregates, and knocking down TAX1BP1 enhanced aggregate formation, suppressed autophagy, impaired NDP52 autophagic degradation and induced cell death. We propose that quantifying aggregates and autophagic receptors are two potential methods to evaluate autophagy and lysosomal degradation, as confirmed using primary human tumor samples. Collectively, this report establishes protein aggregates and autophagy receptors, TAX1BP1 and NDP52, as potential endpoints for monitoring autophagy during drug development and clinical studies

Antenatal Care Practice and the Chance of Having Nurse/midwife Birth Attendant: a Study in Central Mountain of Papua

Background: Papua has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Indonesia. Nurse/midwife birth attendants and regular antenatal care (ANC) are important factors in decreasing maternal mortality rate. This study aimed to identify the association of ANC to nurse/midwife-assisted birth in Papua.Methods: The subjects of this cross-sectional study and purposive sampling consisted of females with toddlers in the family visiting the integrated community center on 15-30 January 2014 in 24 villages in Central Mountain of Jayawijaya, Papua. Several demographic characteristics, ANC practices, and labor practices were collected by interview. Analysis was carried out by Cox regression with constant time.Results: There were 469 subjects, but only 391 subjects were available for analysis which consisted of 280 subjects with self/family-assisted births and 111 with nurse/midwife-assistedbirths. There were only 3 subjects that gave birth in the forest or stable (“kandang hina”). Compared with those who never had ANC, those who had ANC in the integrated community center had 5.6-fold possibility to have a nurse/ midwife-assisted birth [adjusted relative risk (RRa) = 5.60; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.99-10.47]. In addition, compared with those who never had ANC, those who had ANC by midwife and 4 ANC visits had higher possibility to have nurse/midwife-assisted birth, 4.9-fold (RRa = 4.89; 95% CI = 2.70-8.86) and 6.9-fold (RRa = 6.90; 95% CI = 3.59-13.27) respectively.Conclusion: Antenatal care service is a possible way to increase the proportion of deliveries by nurse/midwife in Central Mountain of Jayawijaya, Papua. (Health Science Indones 2014;2:60-6

The Impact of Aquatic Based Plyometric Training on Jump Performance: A Critical Review

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(6): 815-828, 2021. There is evidence to suggest that aquatic plyometric training (APT) may be an effective and safer alternative to traditional land-based plyometric training (LPT) when training to increase jump performance. The aim of this review was to critically examine the current literature regarding the effects of APT vs. LPT on jump performance in athletic populations. Key terms were employed in five separate databases to complete the current review. Available articles were screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria to determine which studies were deemed eligible for review. Outcome measure in these studies included those assessing lower extremity power and jump performance (i.e., drop jumps, broad jumps, sergeant jumps, repeated countermovement jumps, and vertical jumps). All but one of the studies included in this critical review showed significant improvements in jump performance after LPT and APT interventions. Both LPT and APT groups experienced similar increases in jump performance and lower-body power, pre- to post-test, in the majority of the studies examined in this review. LPT and APT have the ability to improve lower extremity explosive strength and jump performance within athletic populations. Improvements in lower body power may improve overall athletic performance. Observations from this review may be used by sport coaches, strength coaches, and athletes alike to weigh the pros and cons of both forms of plyometric training. Observations from this review may also be used to weigh the pros and cons of APT over LPT in terms of reducing risk of injury

Application of Volcano Plots in Analyses of mRNA Differential Expressions with Microarrays

Volcano plot displays unstandardized signal (e.g. log-fold-change) against noise-adjusted/standardized signal (e.g. t-statistic or -log10(p-value) from the t test). We review the basic and an interactive use of the volcano plot, and its crucial role in understanding the regularized t-statistic. The joint filtering gene selection criterion based on regularized statistics has a curved discriminant line in the volcano plot, as compared to the two perpendicular lines for the "double filtering" criterion. This review attempts to provide an unifying framework for discussions on alternative measures of differential expression, improved methods for estimating variance, and visual display of a microarray analysis result. We also discuss the possibility to apply volcano plots to other fields beyond microarray.Comment: 8 figure

Liver Perilipin 5 Expression Worsens Hepatosteatosis But Not Insulin Resistance in High Fat-Fed Mice

Perilipin 5 (PLIN5) is a lipid droplet (LD) protein highly expressed in oxidative tissues, including the fasted liver. However, its expression also increases in nonalcoholic fatty liver. To determine whether PLIN5 regulates metabolic phenotypes of hepatosteatosis under nutritional excess, liver targeted overexpression of PLIN5 was achieved using adenoviral vector (Ad-PLIN5) in male C57BL/6J mice fed high-fat diet. Mice treated with adenovirus expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) (Ad-GFP) served as control. Ad-PLIN5 livers increased LD in the liver section, and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry revealed increases in lipid classes associated with LD, including triacylglycerol, cholesterol ester, and phospholipid classes, compared with Ad-GFP liver. Lipids commonly associated with hepatic lipotoxicity, diacylglycerol, and ceramides, were also increased in Ad-PLIN5 liver. The expression of genes in lipid metabolism regulated by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha was reduced suggestive of slower mobilization of stored lipids in Ad-PLIN5 mice. However, the increase of hepatosteatosis by PLIN5 overexpression did not worsen glucose homeostasis. Rather, serum insulin levels were decreased, indicating better insulin sensitivity in Ad-PLIN5 mice. Moreover, genes associated with liver injury were unaltered in Ad-PLIN5 steatotic liver compared with Ad-GFP control. Phosphorylation of protein kinase B was increased in Ad-PLIN5-transduced AML12 hepatocyte despite of the promotion of fatty acid incorporation to triacylglycerol as well. Collectively, our data indicates that the increase in liver PLIN5 during hepatosteatosis drives further lipid accumulation but does not adversely affect hepatic health or insulin sensitivity

System Engineering of Autonomous Space Vehicles

No abstract availabl