Cosmic Consciousness – The Journey through Body, Mind, & Spirit

Cosmic Consciousness is an audio-visual performance exploring the philosophical subject of mortality and whether our consciousness survives bodily death. The artist’s interpretation of this paradigm is on its way to the unfolding of the spirit and the self- revelation of divinity in all things. The intention of this project is to provide the audience with a multisensory experience that will resonate on a more expansive level. The performance consists of 3 songs with the inclusion of granular vocal processing as the protagonist giving depth to the abstract visual narrative. Cosmic Consciousness combines ethereal soundscapes through pads and synthesizers combined with electronic and polyrhythmic percussion. The artist hopes her work will inspire and motivate others to actuate their freedom of expression. One of the biggest challenges during this process was pushing limited knowledge on video editing and animation with a short timeline and budget constraints while still representing each visual aspect accurately.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-production-technology/1208/thumbnail.jp

Epidermal sensors for monitoring skin physiology

Wearable sensors are revolutionizing personalised healthcare and have continuously progressed over the years in both research and commercialization. However, most efforts on wearable sensors have been focused on tracking movement, spatial position and continuous monitoring of vital signs such as heart rate or respiration rate. Recently, there is a demand to obtain biochemical information from the body using wearables. This demand stems from an individuals’ desire for improved personal health awareness as well as the drive for doctors to continuously obtain medical information for a patients’ disease management. Epidermal sensors are a sub-class of wearable sensors that can intimately integrate with skin and have the potential for monitoring physical changes as well as detecting biomarkers within skin that can be related to human health. The holy grail for these types of sensors is to achieve continuous real-time monitoring of the state of an individual and the development of these sensors are paving the way towards personalised healthcare. However, skin is highly anisotropic which makes it challenging to keep epidermal sensors in consistent contact with skin. It is important that these sensors remain in contact with skin in order to measure its electrical properties and acquire high fidelity signals. The key objective of this thesis is to develop thin conformable, stretchable epidermal sensors for tracking changes in skin physiology. The initial iteration of the screen printed epidermal sensor comprised of a flexible silver film. Impedance spectroscopy was used to understand the electrical signals generated on skin and it was used to measure relative changes due to varying water content. However, this iteration was more suited for single use. The next chapters explore different ink formulations and adherence methodologies to enhance the epidermal sensors adherence to skin. Impedance spectroscopy was used to characterise the electrical signals from these different epidermal sensor iterations, while tensile testing and on-body assessment was used to characterise its mechanical properties. The final chapter focused on investigating the use of phenyl boronic acid (PBA) functionalized hydrogels to modify the epidermal sensor with responsive hydrogel materials to enable chemical sensing of analytes relevant to skin physiology. Impedance spectroscopy was used to characterise and understand the electrical signals generated by the binding interaction of the PBA and analytes using the sensor. Overall, the work demonstrates the challenges of developing these epidermal sensors as well as presenting their potential for continuous monitoring of human skin in the future

Women Prepare More Than Men In Competitive And Non-Competitive Environments, Which Aligns With Gender Stereotypes

Gender gaps in economic outcomes persist, despite women\u27s gains in education. Various explanations have been proposed for these persistent gaps, including gender differences in competitiveness. In both lab and field studies, women tend to compete less than men, despite performing just as well. Across three studies in Chapter 1 involving over 3000 participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, we experimentally test whether variations of preparation (i.e., knowledge of an opportunity to prepare, limited opportunity to prepare, and unlimited opportunity to prepare) before performance reduce gender differences in willingness to compete. We also measure participants\u27 choice to prepare and elicit their beliefs about whether men or women will prepare more. First, we show that the preparation intervention does not increase women\u27s competitiveness across studies. Instead, we discover a novel gender difference in the choice to prepare before performance regardless of one\u27s competitiveness, risk aversion, and confidence. This finding aligns with participants\u27 incentivized beliefs - the majority of participants correctly predicted that women would practice more than men. Given this novel finding, Chapter 2 experimentally tests whether the gender difference in preparation may be exacerbated in competitive environments relative to non-competitive environments (N = 3980). Although we replicate the gender difference in preparation, we find no evidence that competitions increase preparation in men or women. This means that women prepare more than men regardless of whether they were assigned to compete. Again, this aligns with participants\u27 incentivized beliefs about gender differences in preparation. This dissertation discusses the downstream and potentially negative consequences of interventions designed to get women to compete, such as the one introduced here. It also discusses both the causes and implications of this newly discovered gender difference in preparation. Future research should explore the boundary conditions, moderators, and mediators of the newly discovered gender difference in preparation. Finally, rather than designing interventions that encourage women to compete more, we implore future research to focus on exploring interventions that change the system to be more gender-inclusive

Mass Incarceration and Its Devastating Effects

This research paper utilizes various sources from Canadian studies and firsthand accounts to identify the issues within penitentiaries and the Canadian criminal justice system. There are numerous pressing issues related to the handling, punishment, and sentencing of crime, many of which stem from racial injustice and underlying societal problems. Inmates endure harsh prison conditions and face barriers when trying to maintain connections with their families and friends. The mental well-being of prisoners is often overlooked, creating an unjust and unfavourable environment for Canadian citizens. The legal system requires reform and improvement to support individuals and promote rehabilitation effectively. Addressing these problems requires focusing on systemic injustices disproportionately affecting minorities and impoverished individuals. Studies have demonstrated that visitation and human contact contribute to law-abiding behaviour in criminals. Therefore, to enhance our criminal justice system, we must address the root causes of crime

Gestión De Inventarios E Información Financiera Del Hospital Nacional Arzobispo Loayza, Lima - 2016

La investigación desarrollada tuvo como principal objetivo determinar la relación entre la Gestión de Inventarios e Información Financiera del Hospital Nacional Arzobispo Loayza- Lima - 2016. El estudio fue Correlacional, de diseño no experimental. Con una muestra de 50 trabajadores que laboran en las áreas de Contabilidad, Almacén y Adquisición de las Oficinas Administrativas del Hospital Nacional Arzobispo Loayza, se utilizó como instrumento de recolección de datos un cuestionario diseñado por el autor, el cual consta de 42 preguntas divididas según sus dimensiones; con cinco opciones de respuesta, según la escala de Likert: (1) Nunca; (2) Casi Nunca; (3) Algunas Veces; (4) Casi Siempre y (5) Siempre. Para la confiabilidad de cada instrumento se utilizó el alfa de Crombach y se obtuvo como resultado para la variable Gestión de Inventarios 0,924; para la variable información financiera 0.878 y para ambas variables 0,939. Se concluye: existe relación debil entre las variables de estudio, con un nivel de sgificancia de0.009 que es menor que 0.05 y un coeficiente de correlación de 0.364

Spectroscopy on photografted polyethylene surfaces using a perfluorophenyl azide : evidence for covalent attachment

KTI Projekt: Kommission für Technologie und Innovation, Grant/Award Number: 17132.1 PFNM‐NMThe present study was conducted in order to confirm C-H insertion of a perfluorophenyl nitrene, produced by UV‐irradiation of a perfluorophenyl azide, to polyethylene surfaces. It was shown previously that water‐repelling, oil‐repelling, and dirt‐repelling polyethylene surfaces can be created by “grafting to” of perfluoroalkanes using a photoreactive surface modifier based on azide/nitrene chemistry. The abrasion resistance of the new surfaces was enhanced compared with a coating using a simple, long‐chain perfluoroalkane. However, covalent binding of the surface modifier was not unequivocally demonstrated. Here, spectroscopic information is presented suggesting that, indeed, a monomolecular, covalently bound grafted layer is formed from the photodecomposition of a perfluorophenyl azide on polyethylene surfaces. Infrared spectroscopy showed that the peak from the azide moiety disappeared upon UV‐irradiation, and the light dose for completion of the photo decomposition was determined to be approximately 322 mJ/cm2. A model compound mimicking the grafted nitrene species was synthesized, having a λmax of 281 nm in hexane. The photografted and washed layer had a λmax of 286 nm, indicating a good conformity with the model compound. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the nitrogen species from the photografted layer showed a peak at 400.0 eV. The model compound had a N 1s binding energy of 399.7 eV, thus being comparable

Dangers of Catcalling: Exploring the Lived Experiences of Women Catcalled in Quezon City

Despite being a women's problem for a long time, catcalling has recently attracted lawmakers' attention. In 2019, the Philippine government enacted Republic Act 11313, or the Safe Spaces Act, which prohibits and punishes gender-based sexual harassment. However, despite the existence of the law, catcalling continues to be rampant. This study aims to explore the experiences of women in Quezon City who have been subjected to catcalling and to provide answers regarding the effects of catcalling on the victims, the locations where catcalling is most prevalent, the most common perpetrators, and the victim's views on the Safe Spaces Act. This research uses a qualitative descriptive approach. Purposive sampling was used to select respondents, and respondents were interviewed using an interview guide to gather information. The findings indicate that women are most vulnerable to catcalling in public spaces, and the perpetrators are strangers or bystanders. Victims went through mental, emotional, and behavioral changes after the incident. Moreover, not all victims think that the law effectively addresses the problem because catcalling is still prevalent, and public awareness campaigns are lacking

Engineering biomolecular microenvironments for cell instructive biomaterials

Engineered cell instructive microenvironments with the ability to stimulate specific cellular responses is a topic of high interest in the fabrication and development of biomaterials for application in tissue engineering. Cells are inherently sensitive to the in vivo microenvironment that is often designed as the cell “niche”. The cell “niche” comprising the extracellular matrix and adjacent cells, influences not only cell architecture and mechanics, but also cell polarity and function. Extensive research has been performed to establish new tools to fabricate biomimetic advanced materials for tissue engineering that incorporate structural, mechanical and biochemical signals that interact with cells in a controlled manner and to recapitulate the in vivo dynamic microenvironment. Bioactive tunable microenvironments using micro and nanofabrication have been successfully developed and proven to be extremely powerful to control intracellular signaling and cell function. This review is focused in the assortment of biochemical signals that have been explored to fabricate bioactive cell microenvironments and the main technologies and chemical strategies to encode them in engineered biomaterials with biological information.The authors thank Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia for C.A.C.'s PhD grant (SFRH/BD/61390/2009). This work was carried out under the scope of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no REGPOT-CT2012-316331-POLARIS

High-resolution patterning of colloidal quantum dots via non-destructive, light-driven ligand crosslinking

Establishing multi-colour patterning technology for colloidal quantum dots is critical for realising high-resolution displays based on the material. Here, we report a solution-based processing method to form patterns of quantum dots using a light-driven ligand crosslinker, ethane-1,2-diyl bis(4-azido-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzoate). The crosslinker with two azide end groups can interlock the ligands of neighbouring quantum dots upon exposure to UV, yielding chemically robust quantum dot films. Exploiting the light-driven crosslinking process, different colour CdSe-based core-shell quantum dots can be photo-patterned; quantum dot patterns of red, green and blue primary colours with a sub-pixel size of 4 mu mx16 mu m, corresponding to a resolution of >1400 pixels per inch, are demonstrated. The process is non-destructive, such that photoluminescence and electroluminescence characteristics of quantum dot films are preserved after crosslinking. We demonstrate that red crosslinked quantum dot light-emitting diodes exhibiting an external quantum efficiency as high as 14.6% can be obtained. Designing high-resolution displays based on colloidal quantum dots remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate a photo-patterning method to develop CdSe-based core-shell quantum dots patterns of red, green and blue colours with diameters ranging from 7 to 20nm and resolution of 1400 pixels per inch