objects of shifting imaginations, spaces of self-construction, and spaces of memory

UID/EAT/00472/2013This presentation describes an empirical study of interpretative itineraries used by visitors to a curated collection of sound art works part of the unplace, a museum without a place exhibition, July-November 2015, Lisbon, Portugal. Results of this case study will be valuable to theorists and artists of electronic literature seeking to engage readers with virtual, online, or curated installations of electronic literature, especially as to how they might foster narrative and storytelling.authorsversionpublishe

Radio Nouspace: Sound, Radio, Digital Humanities

Background: The author describes curating sound(s) in a radio context and how this practice prompts creative Digital Humanities research, scholarship, and presentation. The author describes his Radio Nouspace project as a site, focus, and methodology. A particular endeavor is curation by re-creation of vintage radio dramas before live audiences in order to prompt listeners to consider the ability of sounds to convey appreciation, emotion, experience, information, and meaning(s). Analysis: Curating sound in a radio context provides a unique and rewarding opportunity to consider sound as an important component of Digital Humanities. Despite their ephemerality, both sound and radio are immersive and inclusive, and prompt engagement from listeners through their imaginations.Conclusion and Implications: Provides an introduction to sound and radio in the realm of Digital Humanities research and practice. Making sound tangible with curatorial information demonstrates interesting and rewarding opportunities for Digital Humanities research and creative practice.   Contexte: L’auteur décrit la conservation des sons dans le contexte radiophonique et comment cette pratique invite la recherche créative en humanités numériques, en érudition et en présentation. L’auteur décrit son projet Radio Nouspace comme un site, un objectif et une méthodologie. L’une des initiatives en particulier consiste à conserver les sons en reconstituant d’anciens feuilletons radiophoniques devant un public, afin d’inviter les auditeurs à considérer la capacité des sons à transmettre l’appréciation, les émotions, l’expérience, l’information et la signification. Analyse: La conservation du son dans un contexte radiophonique fournit une occasion unique et enrichissante de considérer le son comme un élément important des humanités numériques. Malgré leur caractère éphémère, le son et la radio sont tous deux immersifs et inclusifs, et invitent les auditeurs à s’engager par l’entremise de leur imagination. Conclusion et implications: Fournit une introduction au son et à la radio dans le domaine de la recherche et de la pratique en humanités numériques. Le fait de rendre le son tangible au moyen de renseignements de conservation permet de démontrer des possibilités intéressantes et enrichissantes pour la recherche et la pratique créative en humanités numériques.     Mots-clés: Humanités numériques; Radio; Feuilleton radiophonique; Création radiophonique; Feuilleton audio; Son; Art sonore; Conservation; Recherche-action; Pratique créative; Narration; Narration sonore; Art de conter; Écout

Administrative Withdrawal Policies: ‘Good’ Policies or ‘Bad’ Ethics

Many universities have adopted Administrative Withdrawal Policies that allow administrators to remove students from classes without the student’s permission. These policies potentially protect students but also provide a means of artificially improving key funding metrics. This study uses Agency Theory to examine over 1,100 Division I, II, and III U.S. universities and compares the usage of Administrative Withdrawal Policies to state and federal funding. Results show Division II schools receiving less state funding have adopted these policies at a higher rate than Division II schools receiving more. Recommendations for future use of these policies is provided

Does the Robotic Platform Reduce Morbidity Associated With Combined Radical Surgery and Adjuvant Radiation for Early Cervical Cancers?

Open radical hysterectomy followed by adjuvant radiation for cervical cancer has been associated with significant rates of morbidity. Radical hysterectomy is now often performed robotically. We sought to examine if the robotic platform decreased the morbidity associated with radical hysterectomy followed by adjuvant radiation

Final state rescattering as a contribution to B→ργB \to \rho \gamma

We provide a new estimate of the long-distance component to the radiative transition $B \to \rho \gamma$. Our mechanism involves the soft-scattering of on-shell hadronic products of nonleptonic $B$ decay, as in the chain $B \to \rho\rho \to \rho\gamma$. We employ a phenomenological fit to scattering data to estimate the effect. The specific intermediate states considered here modify the $B \to \rho \gamma$ decay rate at roughly the $5 \to 8$ level, although the underlying effect has the potential to be larger. Contrary to other mechanisms of long distance physics which have been discussed in the literature, this yields a non-negligible modification of the $B^0 \to \rho^0 \gamma$ channel and hence will provide an uncertainty in the extraction of $V_{td}$. This mechanism also affects the isospin relation between the rates for $B^- \to \rho^-\gamma$ and $B^0 \to \rho^0 \gamma$ and may generate CP asymmetries at experimentally observable levels.Comment: 15 pages, RevTex, 3 figure

Structurally diverse hamigerans from the New Zealand marine sponge Hamigera tarangaensis: NMR-directed isolation, structure elucidation and antifungal activity

The NMR-directed investigation of the New Zealand marine sponge Hamigera tarangaensis has afforded ten new compounds of the hamigeran family, and a new 13-epi-verrucosane congener. Notably, hamigeran F (6) possesses an unusual carbon–carbon bond between C-12 and C-13, creating an unprecedented skeleton within this class. In particular, the structural features of 6, hamigeran H (10) and hamigeran J (12) imply a diterpenoid origin, which has allowed the putative biogenesis of three hamigeran carbon skeletons to be proposed based on geranyl geranyl pyrophosphate. All new hamigerans exhibited micromolar activity towards the HL-60 promyelocytic leukaemic cell line, and hamigeran G also selectively displayed antifungal activity in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Homozygous deletion profiling (HOP) analysis suggests Golgi apparatus function as a potential target of this unusual class of sponge-derived terpenoids

Nationally Representative Estimates of Serum Testosterone Concentration in Never-Smoking, Lean Men Without Aging-Associated Comorbidities

Context Testosterone deficiency prevalence increases with age, comorbidities, and obesity. Objective To inform clinical guidelines for testosterone deficiency management and development of targets for nonpharmacologic intervention trials for these men, we determined serum testosterone in never-smoking, lean men without select comorbidities in nationally representative surveys. Design Setting Participants We used cross-sectional data for never-smoking, lean men ≥20 years without diabetes, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, stroke, or cancer, without use of hormone-influencing medications, and participated in morning sessions of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (phase I 1988-1991) or continuous NHANES (1999-2004). By age, we determined median total testosterone (ng/mL) measured previously by a Food and Drug Administration-approved immunoassay and median estimated free testosterone concentration. Results In NHANES III, in never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, median (25th, 75th percentile) testosterone was 4% to 9% higher than all men-20 to 39 years: 6.24 (5.16, 7.51), 40 to 59: 5.37 (3.83, 6.49), and ≥60: 4.61 (4.01, 5.18). In continuous NHANES, in never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, levels were 13% to 24% higher than all men-20 to 39 years: 6.26 (5.32, 7.27), 40 to 59: 5.86 (4.91, 6.55), and ≥60: 4.22 (3.74, 5.73). In never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, median estimated free testosterone was similar to (NHANES III) or slightly higher than (continuous NHANES) in all men. Conclusions These nationally representative data document testosterone levels (immunoassay) in never-smoking, lean men without select comorbidities 30 and 15 to 20 years ago. This information can be incorporated into guidelines for testosterone deficiency management and used to develop targets for nonpharmacologic intervention trials for testosterone deficiency

Aperture Valve for the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA)

NASA's participation in the multi-nation ExoMars 2018 Rover mission includes a critical astrobiology Mass Spectrometer Instrument on the Rover called the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA). The Aperture Valve is a critical electromechanical valve used by the Mass Spectrometer to facilitate the transfer of ions from Martian soil to the Mass Spectrometer for analysis. The MOMA Aperture Valve development program will be discussed in terms of the Initial valve design and subsequent improvements that resulted from prototype testing. The Initial Aperture Valve concept seemed promising, based on calculations and perceived merits. However, performance results of this design were disappointing, due to delamination of TiN and DLC coatings applied to the Titanium base metals, causing debris from the coatings to seize the valve. While peer reviews and design trade studies are important forums to vet a concept design, results from testing should not be underestimated.Despite the lack of development progress to meet requirements, valuable information from weakness discovered in the Initial Valve design was used to develop a second, more robust Aperture valve. Based on a check-ball design, the ETU flight valve design resulted in significantly less surface area to create the seal. Moreover, PVD coatings were eliminated in favor of hardened, nonmagnetic corrosion resistant alloys. Test results were impressive, with the valve achieving five orders of magnitude better sealing leak rate over end of life requirements. Cycle life was equally impressive, achieving 280,000 cycles without failure

Identification of Multiple Subsets of Ventral Interneurons and Differential Distribution along the Rostrocaudal Axis of the Developing Spinal Cord

The spinal cord contains neuronal circuits termed Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) that coordinate rhythmic motor activities. CPG circuits consist of motor neurons and multiple interneuron cell types, many of which are derived from four distinct cardinal classes of ventral interneurons, called V0, V1, V2 and V3. While significant progress has been made on elucidating the molecular and genetic mechanisms that control ventral interneuron differentiation, little is known about their distribution along the antero-posterior axis of the spinal cord and their diversification. Here, we report that V0, V1 and V2 interneurons exhibit distinct organizational patterns at brachial, thoracic and lumbar levels of the developing spinal cord. In addition, we demonstrate that each cardinal class of ventral interneurons can be subdivided into several subsets according to the combinatorial expression of different sets of transcription factors, and that these subsets are differentially distributed along the rostrocaudal axis of the spinal cord. This comprehensive molecular profiling of ventral interneurons provides an important resource for investigating neuronal diversification in the developing spinal cord and for understanding the contribution of specific interneuron subsets on CPG circuits and motor control

Velocity Selection for Propagating Fronts in Superconductors

Using the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations we study the propagation of planar fronts in superconductors, which would appear after a quench to zero applied magnetic field. Our numerical solutions show that the fronts propagate at a unique speed which is controlled by the amount of magnetic flux trapped in the front. For small flux the speed can be determined from the linear marginal stability hypothesis, while for large flux the speed may be calculated using matched asymptotic expansions. At a special point the order parameter and vector potential are dual, leading to an exact solution which is used as the starting point for a perturbative analysis.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter