Alejo Carpentier y Wifredo Lam: Negociaciones para un arte revolucionario

El regreso a Cuba, en la década de los 40, del escritor Alejo Carpentier y del pintor Wilfredo Lam tras casi 20 años de «exilio» les lleva a ambos a una reflexión de lo propiamente cubano, y más concretamente de lo afrocubano. Esta búsqueda de lo propio se realiza no sólo desde el sentimiento de la cubaneidad, también desde postulados europeísta y vanguardistas. Literatura y pintura cubana que nacen de artistas cosmopolitas, en los que lo «exterior» y lo «interior» se fusionan, caminando en paralelo a lo largo de su desarrollo.In the forties decade, the writer Alejo Carpentier and the painter Wilfredo Lam return to Cuba after nearly 20 years of «exile» and that leads both of them to reflect on strictly Cuban issues and, to be more precise, on Afrocuban ones. This search for their own is carried out not only from the feeling of being Cuban but also from pro-European and avant-garde postulates. Cuban literature and painting arise from cosmopolitan artists for whom the «outside» and the «inside» fuse together, walking in parallel throughout their development

La Habana, 1930: Lorca entre raza y cultura

This essay analyzes Federico Garcia Lorca’s interest in Afro-Cuban culture. It takes into account his impact in Cuba during and after his visit in 1930, and his poetry and correspondence written at that time to, in this fashion -in this way-, construct the “anthropological space” -Augé- of Havana’s culture in that period. The author then compares Lorca’s contribution to the anthropology of Fernando Ortiz and his changing approach to race and culture

Manuka Honey as a Tissue Engineering Bioactive: Effect on Neutrophil Inflammatory Behavior

The overall goal of tissue engineering research is to develop resorbable templates that induce functional regeneration in damaged tissues within the body. The insertion of these templates into the body requires the creation of a wound, triggering the tissue response continuum that occurs with any injury to vascularized tissue. Integral to this tissue response is the activity of neutrophils, the predominant immune cells which flood any wound site soon after injury and power the initial inflammatory response. While neutrophil inflammatory behavior is key to creating the acute inflammation response necessary to begin the healing process, excessive neutrophil inflammatory activity has been implicated in creating a state of chronic inflammation which impairs wound healing. In such environments, the neutrophil release of anti-bacterial superoxide and proteases causes excessive tissue degradation which prevents the wound from closing. Excessive neutrophil NETosis, a response in which a mixture of DNA and degradative proteases is ejected to trap and kill bacteria, can also lead to fibrotic capsule formation surrounding a tissue engineering template which prevents tissue-template integration. Discovering ways to mitigate this neutrophil inflammatory response will enable the design of more effective tissue engineering templates and treatments for chronic wounds and other inflammatory diseases. Manuka honey is a honey variety produced by bees from the nectar of the Leptospermum scoparium shrub of New Zealand which has potent wound healing properties. When applied to a wound, Manuka honeys high solute concentration creates an osmotic gradient which draws fluid and nutrients up from the subcutaneous tissue into the wound site and pulls debris and bacteria out of the wound. The low pH of the honey creates a favorable environment for fibroblast and macrophage activity, while floral-derived flavonoids scavenge reactive oxygen species to reduce tissue damage. Manuka honeys unique methylglyoxal content is a potent weapon against bacterial infection, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For these reasons, Manuka honey has become an increasingly predominant wound treatment, and has also become the subject of research as a tissue engineering bioactive additive to reduce inflammation and eliminate bacterial infection. However, the effect of Manuka honey on neutrophil inflammatory behavior has yet to be examined. As this phenomenon is a crucial determinant of the success or failure of tissue engineering templates, it is imperative that the response of neutrophils to Manuka honey be observed and characterized. The work contained in this dissertation characterizes the effect of Manuka honey on a variety of neutrophil activities. Chapter 1 contains an introduction into the role of neutrophils in inflammation and wound healing, and Chapter 2 gives a background explanation of the various mechanisms of Manuka honey in wound healing and a literature review of honey in tissue engineering research. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 utilize a dHL-60 cell line model of a neutrophil, which allows for more experimental reproducibility than primary human neutrophils. Chapter 3 examines the cytotoxic limit of Manuka honey on a dHL-60 neutrophil model, which was found to be in the range of 3-5% v/v, and investigates the honeys effect on several neutrophil inflammatory behaviors. A cytochrome C assay was used to measure Manuka honeys effect on superoxide release, and it was found that concentrations of 1% v/v honey and above decrease superoxide release after 24 hours. A Boyden chamber assay was used to measure Manuka honeys effect on dHL-60 chemotaxis towards fMLP, and a Western blot for the NF-B inhibitor (IB) measured the honeys effect on the activation of the NF-B pathway. These experiments demonstrated that 0.5-3% v/v honey reduce chemotaxis and IB phosphorylation in a dose-dependent fashion. Together, the work contained in Chapter 3 indicates that Manuka honey reduces several neutrophil inflammatory behaviors.Chapter 4 contains an in-depth examination of how Manuka honey affects dHL-60 cytokine, chemokine, and matrix-degrading enzyme release in the presence of various inflammatory stimuli. The results indicated that 0.5% honey decreased the release of the inflammatory signals TNF-, IL-1, MIP-1, MIP-1, and IL-12 p70, the matrix-degrading enzymes MMP-9 and MMP-1, the angiogenic growth factor FGF-13, and the anti-inflammatory signals IL-1ra and IL-4, but increased the pro-inflammatory signals MIP-3 and IL-8, the matrix-degrading enzyme Proteinase 3, and the angiogenic growth factor VEGF. However, 3% honey reduced the release of all measured analytes except TNF-, which was increased. Similarly, the work described in Chapter 5 tests the response of dHL-60 cytokine, chemokine, and matrix-degrading enzyme release to Manuka honey when in an anti-inflammatory stimulation environment. The results of this work indicate that when under anti-inflammatory stimulation, 0.5% honey increases the release of the pro-inflammatory signals IL-8, MCP-1, MIP-1, and MIP-3, the anti-inflammatory signals IL-4 and IL-1ra, and the angiogenic growth factor FGF-13 while reducing the release of the matrix-degrading enzyme Proteinase 3. However, 3% honey reduced the release of all analytes except the inflammatory signals TNF- and IL-8, which were increased. The results of these two chapters indicate the dramatic difference that a slight change in the dose of Manuka honey, from 0.5% to 3%, can elicit a completely different cytokine response in the inflammatory environment. In Chapter 6, Manuka honey is incorporated into electrospun templates with small-diameter (SD) and large-diameter (LD) fibers and its effect on porosity, the honey release rate, and the effect on the NETosis response of primary human neutrophils are examined. Honey incorporation was found to create more restrictive pore sizes within both SD and LD templates. SD templates were found to release honey at a higher rate compared to LD templates with equivalent honey loads, as expected from their higher surface-area-to-volume ratio. Fluorescence imaging and an MPO assay indicated that 0.1%-1% Manuka honey reduced neutrophil NETosis, on the surface of both SD and LD templates while also reducing MMP-9 output. Together, these results indicate a role for Manuka honey in the reduction of neutrophil inflammatory activity in the area surrounding an electrospun tissue engineering template

ValiTex -- a uniform validation framework for computational text-based measures of social science constructs

Guidance on how to validate computational text-based measures of social science constructs is fragmented. Whereas scholars are generally acknowledging the importance of validating their text-based measures, they often lack common terminology and a unified framework to do so. This paper introduces a new validation framework called ValiTex, designed to assist scholars to measure social science constructs based on textual data. The framework draws on a long-established tradition within psychometrics while extending the framework for the purpose of computational text analysis. ValiTex consists of two components, a conceptual model, and a dynamic checklist. Whereas the conceptual model provides a general structure along distinct phases on how to approach validation, the dynamic checklist defines specific validation steps and provides guidance on which steps might be considered recommendable (i.e., providing relevant and necessary validation evidence) or optional (i.e., useful for providing additional supporting validation evidence. The utility of the framework is demonstrated by applying it to a use case of detecting sexism from social media data

Policy Recommendations for Helping U.S. Households Build Emergency Savings

In households without emergency savings, an unexpected expense or financial shock can heighten stress and threaten the ability to meet basic needs. This brief, released through the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative’s network toBuild Financial Capability for All, identifies three types of policies to enable U.S. households to save for emergencies

Financial Credit Outcomes of IDA Participation: Longitudinal Findings

Financially vulnerable families often struggle with low credit scores. Thus, improved participant credit is often a goal of asset development programs, such as the Individual Development Account (IDA) program, but little is known about the long-term credit outcomes of participation. This article reports the final results of a three-year longitudinal exploratory study of credit outcomes for IDA participants. Using a convenience sample of IDA participants and non-participants (N = 164), data were analyzed using nonparametric and Chi-square for independence tests. Results indicate that participant credit scores improvements are achieved and maintained. Credit score is not a meaningful indicator of program completion, time to completion, or type of asset purchased for participants. Those who completed the IDA program within two years experienced the highest credit gains. Future research with larger samples is needed to further assess the impact of credit scores on program participation and completion

Policy Recommendations for Financial Capability and Asset Building by Increasing Access to Safe, Affordable Credit

Strong credit is a prerequisite for financial well-being, but many U.S. consumers lack access to safe and affordable credit options. This brief, released through the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative’s network toBuild Financial Capability for All, identifies policies that would enable households to build and maintain credit and that would ensure access to credit products with adequate consumer protections

Financial Capability and Asset Building in the Curricula: Student Perceptions

Although social work education competencies include economic justice, and practice includes addressing client finances and assets, social work curricula lack an emphasis on these topics. Little is known about students’ perceptions of the relevancy of this information or how well their program is preparing them for contemporary practice. This study explores the perceptions of 643 BSW and MSW students and finds a general consensus that social workers have an important role in addressing client economic issues. However, respondents perceive limited use of client financial information in practice and limited coverage of the topic in curriculum areas. Results indicate respondents’ perceptions may significantly differ based on their preferred fields of practice, level, and student program status. Curricula implications are discusse

Policy Recommendations for Expanding Access to Banking and Financial Services

Access to financial services is a necessity in the modern economy, yet many households lack such access. This brief, released through the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative’s network toBuild Financial Capability for All, identifies policies with the potential to expand access to financial services for households in the United States