Depicted identities: Image and image-makers of post-1959 Tibet.

This thesis examines the role of images and image-makers in the period after 1959, when political control of Tibet was assumed by the People's Republic of China and thousands of Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama into exile. It is based on the work of image-makers in exile communities in India and in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People's Republic. The first section of the thesis establishes the importance of images in the exile community (with emphasis on the Tibetan capital-in-exile, Dharamsala) as religious objects and as definers of identity. Image-makers' responses to the conditions of exile and their engagement with new techniques of production and subject matter are discussed. Their works are analysed in the context of Tibetan debates about what constitutes appropriate imagery for exilic conditions. The thesis demonstrates that style is invented and negotiated in different ways, with significant differences emerging between image-makers in Dharamsala and those outside the capital-in-exile. The second section of the study examines the parallel history of image production in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Here the impact of the colonial gaze is registered in a chapter on Chinese depictions of Tibet. The resulting entanglement of Chinese and Tibetan styles of image- making over the course of nearly five decades is outlined. Finally, the emergence of self-consciously Tibetan "modernist" images and image- makers is considered. A case study of one artist, who has worked in both the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the capital-in exile, draws the two sections into a problematised alignment. The contribution of this thesis rests in the analysis of Tibetan images during a period of dramatic political and social upheaval, a subject which has been largely ignored by art historians and is only beginning to be considered by anthropologists. It aims to enter into a debate about style in Tibetan painting from the perspective of post-1959 Tibetan image-makers

Photocurrent response from vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays

Vertically-aligned arrays of single walled carbon nanotubes were created on an optically transparent electrode (FTO glass) these arrays were found to exhibit a prompt current and voltage when exposed to light. These cells were then investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and found to exhibit a dampening of the recombination reaction over the first 24 hours. Symmetrical cell modeling was successful in simulating the behavior of normal cell architecture

Influence of Jail Incarceration and Homelessness Patterns on Engagement in HIV Care and HIV Viral Suppression among New York City Adults Living with HIV/AIDS

Objectives Both homelessness and incarceration are associated with housing instability, which in turn can disrupt continuity of HIV medical care. Yet, their impacts have not been systematically assessed among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Methods We studied a retrospective cohort of 1,698 New York City PLWHA with both jail incarceration and homelessness during 2001–05 to evaluate whether frequent transitions between jail incarceration and homelessness were associated with a lower likelihood of continuity of HIV care during a subsequent one-year follow-up period. Using matched jail, single-adult homeless shelter, and HIV registry data, we performed sequence analysis to identify trajectories of these events and assessed their influence on engagement in HIV care and HIV viral suppression via marginal structural modeling. Results Sequence analysis identified four trajectories; 72% of the cohort had sporadic experiences of both brief incarceration and homelessness, whereas others experienced more consistent incarceration or homelessness during early or late months. Trajectories were not associated with differential engagement in HIV care during follow-up. However, compared with PLWHA experiencing early bouts of homelessness and later minimal incarceration/homelessness events, we observed a lower prevalence of viral suppression among PLWHA with two other trajectories: those with sporadic, brief occurrences of incarceration/homelessness (0.67, 95% CI = 0.50,0.90) and those with extensive incarceration experiences (0.62, 95% CI = 0.43,0.88). Conclusions Housing instability due to frequent jail incarceration and homelessness or extensive incarceration may exert negative influences on viral suppression. Policies and services that support housing stability should be strengthened among incarcerated and sheltered PLWHA to reduce risk of adverse health conditions

Seasonal phosphorus and carbon dynamics in a temperate shelf sea (Celtic Sea)

The seasonal cycle of resource availability in shelf seas has a strong selective pressure on phytoplankton diversity and the biogeochemical cycling of key elements, such as carbon (C) and phosphorus (P). Shifts in carbon consumption relative to P availability, via changes in cellular stoichiometry for example, can lead to an apparent ‘excess’ of carbon production. We made measurements of inorganic P (Pi) uptake, in parallel to C-fixation, by plankton communities in the Celtic Sea (NW European Shelf) in spring (April 2015), summer (July 2015) and autumn (November 2014). Short-term (<8 h) Pi-uptake coupled with dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) release, in parallel to net (24 h) primary production (NPP), were all measured across an irradiance gradient designed to typify vertically and seasonally varying light conditions. Rates of Pi-uptake were highest during spring and lowest in the low light conditions of autumn, although biomass-normalised Pi-uptake was highest in the summer. The release of DOP was highest in November and declined to low levels in July, indicative of efficient utilization and recycling of the low levels of Pi available. Examination of daily turnover times of the different particulate pools, including estimates of phytoplankton and bacterial carbon, indicated a differing seasonal influence of autotrophs and heterotrophs in P-dynamics, with summer conditions associated with a strong bacterial influence and the early spring period with fast growing phytoplankton. These seasonal changes in autotrophic and heterotrophic influence, coupled with changes in resource availability (Pi, light) resulted in seasonal changes in the stoichiometry of NPP to daily Pi-uptake (C:P ratio); from relatively C-rich uptake in November and late April, to P-rich uptake in early April and July. Overall, these results highlight the seasonally varying influence of both autotrophic and heterotrophic components of shelf sea ecosystems on the relative uptake of C and P

Kyanite petrogenesis in migmatites: resolving melting and metamorphic signatures

Aluminosilicates (kyanite, sillimanite and andalusite) are useful pressure–temperature (P–T) indicators that can form in a range of rock types through different mineral reactions, including those that involve partial melting. However, the presence of xenocrystic or inherited grains may lead to spurious P–T interpretations. The morphologies, microtextural positions, cathodoluminescence responses and trace element compositions of migmatite-hosted kyanite from Eastern Bhutan were investigated to determine whether sub-solidus kyanite could be distinguished from kyanite that crystallised directly from partial melt, or from kyanite that grew peritectically during muscovite dehydration reactions. Morphology and cathodoluminescence response were found to be the most reliable petrogenetic indicators. Trace element abundances generally support petrographic evidence, but protolith bulk composition exerts a strong control over absolute element abundance in kyanite. Sample-normalised concentrations show distinctive differences between petrogenetic types, particularly for Mg, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ge. LA-ICP-MS element maps, particularly combined to show Cr/V, provide additional information about changing geochemical environments during kyanite growth. Most kyanite in the studied migmatitic leucosomes is of sub-solidus origin, with less widespread evidence for peritectic crystallisation. Where present, grain rims commonly crystallised directly from the melt; however, entire grains crystallised exclusively from melt are rare. The presence of kyanite in leucosomes does not, therefore, necessarily constrain the P–T conditions of melting, and the mechanism of growth should be determined before using kyanite as a P–T indicator. This finding has significant implications for the interpretation of kyanite-bearing migmatites as representing early stages of melting during Himalayan evolution

VCU/Monroe Park Fall Festival: Celebrating the Heart of VCU

The “VCU/Monroe Park Fall Festival” seeks to create a unifying comprehensive fall festival tradition for both VCU campuses. Our proposal responds to the VCU2020 strategic plan by creating a festival designed to highlight VCU/community partnerships and promote “One VCU”. Theme V of the strategic plan emphasizes “maintain[ing] VCU as a model for university-community partnerships” and “develop[ing] collaborations between businesses, government agencies, [and] communities …”. Individual units across the university will respond to these initiatives in countless ways, but unless we promote our community partnerships in a unified, centrally located, vibrant and celebratory way, much of what we do will remain invisible to our larger audience

Effect of Menstrual Cycle Phase and Hormonal Contraceptives on Resting Metabolic Rate and Body Composition

The cyclical changes in sex hormones across the menstrual cycle (MC) are associated with various biological changes that may alter resting metabolic rate (RMR) and body composition estimates. Hormonal contraceptive (HC) use must also be considered given their impact on endogenous sex hormone concentrations and synchronous exogenous profiles. The purpose of this study was to determine if RMR and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry body composition estimates change across the MC and differ compared with HC users. This was accomplished during a 5-week training camp involving naturally cycling athletes (n = 11) and HC users (n = 7 subdermal progestin implant, n = 4 combined monophasic oral contraceptive pill, n = 1 injection) from the National Rugby League Indigenous Women's Academy. MC phase was retrospectively confirmed via serum estradiol and progesterone concentrations and a positive ovulation test. HC users had serum estradiol and progesterone concentrations assessed at the time point of testing. Results were analyzed using general linear mixed model. There was no effect of MC phase on absolute RMR (p = .877), relative RMR (p = .957), or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry body composition estimates (p > .05). There was no effect of HC use on absolute RMR (p = .069), relative RMR (p = .679), or fat mass estimates (p = .766), but HC users had a greater fat-free mass and lean body mass than naturally cycling athletes (p = .028). Our findings suggest that RMR and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry body composition estimates do not significantly differ due to changes in sex hormones in a group of athletes, and measurements can be compared between MC phases or with HC usage without variations in sex hormones causing additional noise

Development of the Reporting Infographics and Visual Abstracts of Comparative studies (RIVA-C) checklist and guide

People often use infographics (also called visual or graphical abstracts) as a substitute for reading the full text of an article. This is a concern because most infographics do not present sufficient information to interpret the research appropriately and guide wise health decisions. The Reporting Infographics and Visual Abstracts of Comparative studies (RIVA-C) checklist and guide aims to improve the completeness with which research findings of comparative studies are communicated and avoid research findings being misinterpreted if readers do not refer to the full text. The primary audience for the RIVA-C checklist and guide is developers of infographics that summarise comparative studies of health and medical interventions. The need for the RIVA-C checklist and guide was identified by a survey of how people use infographics. Possible checklist items were informed by a systematic review of how infographics report research. We then conducted a two-round, modified Delphi survey of 92 infographic developers/designers, researchers, health professionals and other key stakeholders. The final checklist includes 10 items. Accompanying explanation and both text and graphical examples linked to the items were developed and pilot tested over a 6-month period. The RIVA-C checklist and guide was designed to facilitate the creation of clear, transparent and sufficiently detailed infographics which summarise comparative studies of health and medical interventions. Accurate infographics can ensure research findings are communicated appropriately and not misinterpreted. By capturing the perspectives of a wide range of end users (eg, authors, informatics editors, journal editors, consumers), we are hopeful of rapid endorsement and implementation of RIVA-C.</p

Hadronic freeze-out following a first order hadronization phase transition in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

We analyze the hadronic freeze-out in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC in a transport approach which combines hydrodynamics for the early, dense, deconfined stage of the reaction with a microscopic non-equilibrium model for the later hadronic stage at which the hydrodynamic equilibrium assumptions are not valid. With this ansatz we are able to self-consistently calculate the freeze-out of the system and determine space-time hypersurfaces for individual hadron species. The space-time domains of the freeze-out for several hadron species are found to be actually four-dimensional, and differ drastically for the individual hadrons species. Freeze-out radii distributions are similar in width for most hadron species, even though the Omega-baryon is found to be emitted rather close to the phase boundary and shows the smallest freeze-out radii and times among all baryon species. The total lifetime of the system does not change by more than 10% when going from SPS to RHIC energies.Comment: 11 pages, 4 eps-figures included, revised versio

Dynamics of Hot Bulk QCD Matter: from the Quark-Gluon Plasma to Hadronic Freeze-Out

We introduce a combined macroscopic/microscopic transport approach employing relativistic hydrodynamics for the early, dense, deconfined stage of the reaction and a microscopic non-equilibrium model for the later hadronic stage where the equilibrium assumptions are not valid anymore. Within this approach we study the dynamics of hot, bulk QCD matter, which is expected to be created in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions at the SPS, the RHIC and the LHC. Our approach is capable of self-consistently calculating the freeze-out of the hadronic system, while accounting for the collective flow on the hadronization hypersurface generated by the QGP expansion. In particular, we perform a detailed analysis of the reaction dynamics, hadronic freeze-out, and transverse flow.Comment: 55 pages, 15 figure