Go Big or Go Home

My work embodies my response to the American Dream. Big houses, flashy cars and glamorous lifestyles are what many of us work for. Coming from a military family, I grew up moving often without an idealized connection to a single structure. In response to this, I use artwork to create translucent, ephemeral sculptures of these items, revealing them as tangible, hollow shells of their former selves. Clear plastic and packing tape sculptures leave a ghostlike reflection of what was. These shells of inanimate objects are personified through their creation, a process similar to what I compare to mummification or embalming. The semi-transparent, milky appearance of these sculptures is meant to give audiences a chill as one reflects on the life, death, and the plastic shell of objects’ remains. Some days I feel like a creator, other days I feel like a mortician. It is a circumcised epitaph of glimmering glorious sanctimonious art, repulsed, re-examined, all knowing yet unknown, an engineered re-fabrication of an already existing entity, basking in the glory of its former self. The fortuitous juncture of unlikely materials in an entirely new setting confers new meaning upon the object. I become a shaman, endowing new status, functionality and beauty upon an unlikely marriage of objects and images

Optimization of a portable NIR device for the optical supervision of milk coagulation process

The coagulation of milk is the fundamental process in cheese-making, which is based on a gel formation as consequence of physicochemical changes taking place in the casein micelles. Monitoring the whole process of milk curd formation is a dedicated process for dairy researchers and cheese companies. In addition to advances in composition-based applications by means of NIR spectroscopy, researchers are pursuing dynamic applications that show promise especially with regard to tracking a sample in situ during processing The objective of this work is to propose an original portable NIR equipment to supervise the milk coagulation process. The experiments have been carried out on sheep and goat milk, by immersion of the probe directly in the liquid and acquiring spectrum each 1 minute during the 30 minutes of coagulation process. The increasing values of transflected light registered allow identifying, based on PCA analysis, the different kinetics that occur along the gel formation and the time to reach the optimal gel firmness to cut the cur

Reactivity of monolayer V\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e films on TiO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e(110) produced via the oxidation of vapor-deposited vanadium

The growth, and reactivity of monolayer V2O5 films supported on TiO2(110) produced via the oxidation of vapor-deposited vanadium were studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). Oxidation of vapor-deposited vanadium in 10-7 Torr of O2 at 600 K produced vanadia films that contained primarily V+3, while oxidation in 10-3 Torr at 400 K produced films that contained primarily V+5. The reactivity of the supported vanadia layers for the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde was studied using TPD. The activity for this reaction was found to be a function of the oxidation state of the vanadium cations in the film

Filipino Women in Cooperative Management

In response to the twin policies aligned towards cooperative development and the empowerment of women, this study was conducted to assess the competency of women in cooperative management. The data was drawn from 24 registered cooperatives in La Union Province, Philippines, using complete enumeration and analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, and weighted mean. Results revealed that more women than men were involved in cooperative management. The women were perceived to be better than men in managerial, interpersonal, and intellectual competencies. Men on the other hand, were perceived to be better than women in organization and leadership. The women were extremely competent along interpersonal and managerial competencies, and highly competent along leadership, entrepreneurial, intellectual and organizational aspects. With the management competencies, the women therefore are to be accorded with privileges and opportunities to assume positions along managerial and entrepreneurial positions in cooperative, government and nongovernment organizations

Differential medial temporal lobe morphometric predictors of item- and relational-encoded memories in healthy individuals and in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

INTRODUCTION:Episodic memory processes are supported by different subregions of the medial temporal lobe (MTL). In contrast to a unitary model of memory recognition supported solely by the hippocampus, a current model suggests that item encoding engages perirhinal cortex, whereas relational encoding engages parahippocampal cortex and the hippocampus. However, this model has not been examined in the context of aging, neurodegeneration, and MTL morphometrics. METHODS:Forty-four healthy subjects (HSs) and 18 cognitively impaired subjects (nine mild cognitive impairment [MCI] and nine Alzheimer's disease [AD] patients) were assessed with the relational and item-specific encoding task (RISE) and underwent 3T magnetic resonance imaging. The RISE assessed the differential contribution of relational and item-specific memory. FreeSurfer was used to obtain measures of cortical thickness of MTL regions and hippocampus volume. RESULTS:Memory accuracies for both item and relational memory were significantly better in the HS group than in the MCI/AD group. In MCI/AD group, relational memory was disproportionately impaired. In HSs, hierarchical regressions demonstrated that memory was predicted by perirhinal thickness after item encoding, and by hippocampus volume after relational encoding (both at trend level) and significantly by parahippocampal thickness at associative recognition. The same brain morphometry profiles predicted memory accuracy in MCI/AD, although more robustly perirhinal thickness for item encoding (R2 = 0.31) and hippocampal volume and parahippocampal thickness for relational encoding (R2 = 0.31). DISCUSSION:Our results supported a model of episodic memory in which item-specific encoding was associated with greater perirhinal cortical thickness, while relational encoding was associated with parahippocampal thickness and hippocampus volume. We identified these relationships not only in HSs but also in individuals with MCI and AD. In the subjects with cognitive impairment, reductions in hippocampal volume and impairments in relational memory were especially prominent

A Correlational Study of Manager-Employee Relationship, Employee Rewards, and Employee Engagement

Organizational leaders are challenged with loss of productivity due to lack of employee engagement, making employee engagement a top priority for organizational executives worldwide. Grounded in Emerson’s social exchange theory, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between manager-employee relationship and employee rewards and employee engagement. Employees (N = 31) of a U.S. organization completed the Intrinsic Work Rewards Survey, Extrinsic Rewards on Creativity Measure, and the Work and Well-being Survey. The results of the multiple linear regression indicated a statistically significant relationship, F(2, 28) = 32.875, p \u3c .001, R2 = .701. Employee rewards was the only statistically significant predictor of employee engagement (t = 6.074, p \u3c .001). A recommendation is for organizational leaders to establish reward programs that address employee needs for compensation, achievement, and development. This implications for positive social change include the potential for employees to benefit from financial stability and well-being. The organization may achieve higher performance and profitability, enabling the organization to invest in job creation and community economic development

Zika virus infection in pregnant women in Honduras: study protocol

Background: Although there is increasing evidence for a relationship between symptomatic Zika virus (ZIKV) maternal infection, and microcephaly, a firm causal relation has yet to be established by epidemiologic studies. Studies also need to be conducted in recently infected settings. Our objectives are to assess the frequency of ZIKV infection during pregnancy in Honduras and the association of microcephaly with ZIKV infection. Methods/Design: We will perform a prospective study enrolling pregnant women at their first antenatal visit and following them up until delivery. At the time of enrollment, women will be interviewed to collect socio-demographic data, data needed to locate them for potential additional follow-up, and data about ZIKV symptoms during pregnancy. We will also collect maternal blood as soon as possible after enrollment. A probable maternal ZIKV infection will be defined as positive for maternal ZIKV IgM. A confirmed maternal ZIKV infection will be defined as positive for ZIKV IgM confirmed by plaque reduction neutralization test. Microcephaly at birth will be defined as an occipito-frontal circumference <2SD for sex and gestational age. Our objective is to enroll 2000 pregnant women. In a first step, we will follow a case cohort design and only analyze blood samples for cases and a sub-cohort of 200 women randomly selected. Blood samples for the entire population will be analyzed at a later stage if funds are available. Discussion: This protocol was designed to be implemented with minimal resources. It allows a cohort to be built, which could be a foundation for future in-depth and follow-up studies.Fil: Buekens, Pierre. University of Tulane; Estados UnidosFil: Alger, Jackeline. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras; HondurasFil: Althabe, Fernando. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bergel, Eduardo. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Berrueta, Amanda Mabel. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Bustillo, Carolina. Hospital Escuela. Departamento de Ginecología y Obstetricia; HondurasFil: Cafferata, Maria Luisa. Hospital de Clínicas. Unidad de Investigación Clínica y Epidemiológica Montevideo; UruguayFil: Harville, Emily. University of Tulane; Estados UnidosFil: Rosales, Karla. Región Sanitaria Metropolitana Distrito Central de Francisco Morazán; HondurasFil: Wesson, Dawn M.. University of Tulane; Estados UnidosFil: Zuniga, Concepcion. Hospital Escuela Universitario. Instituto de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Parasitología Antonio Vidal; Hondura

Synthesis and antiproliferative study of phosphorescent multimetallic Re(I)/Au(I) complexes containing fused imidazo[4, 5-f]-1, 10-phenanthroline core

Five heterobimetallic Re-I/Au-I and a tri-metallic Re-I/Au-I/Re-I species following the formulas fac-ReCl (CO)(3)(NNCAuR)](0/+) and (fac-ReCl (CO)(3)(NNC)])(2)Au](+), where R is an iodide (1), phenylacetylene (2), dodecanethiol (3), 2, 3, 4, 6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranose (4) and JohnPhos (5) and NNC is the fused imidazo4, 5-f]-1, 10-phenanthroline heterotopic ligand, were synthesised and fully characterised by a variety of spectroscopic and analytical techniques. The resultant complexes are luminescent in the orange region, revealing classical metal-to-ligand charge transfer ((MLCT)-M-3) ((Re (d pi) -> (NNC)(pi*)) emission in aerated DMSO solution. The red shifted emission observed on going from 3 to 4 suggests that the electronic properties of the gold ancillary ligand are implicated in the emissive properties. Antiproliferative activity in tumour cell lines, lung (A549) and cervix (HeLa) cells revealed that only complex 4 containing a 2, 3, 4, 6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranose as gold ancillary ligand possesses certain cytotoxicity in both cell lines

Exploring the institutional market for fresh vegetables in the Southern Philippines

Given the many different ways the product may be used, the institutional market for fresh vegetables in the Southern Philippines can be segmented on the basis of the role market intermediaries perform in the supply chain, where they are, what customers they serve, the range of products required, the volume of product required and the quality specifications. Potential market opportunities are identified and the various constraints smallholder farmers face in endeavouring to meet the needs of institutional buyers are highlighted