Session C-4: Mary Lincoln’s Journey

Lincoln\u27s Journey will detail in an interesting and objective manner the pivotal points in her life: early feelings about slavery, the decision to leave Lexington and settle in Springfield, IL, being a single mother while her husband was riding the circuit , her continued support of Lincoln as a national politician, restoration of the White House, and her inability to make positive decisions after Lincoln\u27s assassination. In the end she was able to live on a budget and died with dignity. The presentation follows the book Mary Lincoln\u27s Journey by Kerr and Kerr in which primary sources are emphasized

Human Trafficking: Physical and Non-Physical Force Factors and Their Links to Victim Industry

This paper examines the occurrence of different types of physical and non-physical force factors with two distinct human trafficking industries: sex trafficking and labor trafficking. This research’s main goal is to identify if there are specific uses of force that are more likely to be used in either sex or labor trafficking. The Human Trafficking Study, a database housed at the University of Arkansas, is used as a sample for this study. Two-sided, two sample proportion tests were conducted to establish if there is a statistical significance between the amount of physical force used in sex trafficking and the amount of physical force used in labor trafficking. The same test was conducted for non-physical force. Then, two-sided, two sample proportion tests were run on each individual type of physical and non-physical force factors to see if there are variables that are more likely to occur in a specific industry of human trafficking. It was found that out of the total 808 sex trafficking cases within the database, 50.37% of the cases included some sort of physical force. Out of the 126 labor trafficking cases, 43.65% of cases had an act of physical force occur. Several variables where a significant difference was found between sex and labor trafficking cases were the occurrence of Beating/Assault/Physical Abuse, Forced Sex, Physical abuse of a family member, and Sexual assault, Torture, and others. Overall, the findings of this study can have many great implications for the future of human trafficking detection and intervention by helping aid law enforcement, health professionals, and individuals within society in discovering victims

Gods, ghosts and newlyweds: exploring the uses of the threshold in Greek and Roman superstition and folklore

This is the first reappraisal of the supernatural symbolism of the threshold in over a century. This thesis will challenge the notion that this liminal location was significant in Greek and Roman superstition and folklore – from apotropaic devices applied to the door, to lifting the bride over the threshold – because it was believed to be haunted by ghosts. In Part One, this thesis examines the evidence of prophylactic devices and magic spells used at the threshold, along with the potential for human burial under the doorway, and concludes that there is no evidence for such a belief. However, this thesis does find evidence for a belief in the haunting of ghosts at the equally liminal location of the crossroads. Part Two analyses threshold rituals pertaining to the Roman marriage ceremony and uses van Gennep’s tripartite framework of the rite of passage to argue that the threshold can be seen as symbolising the bride’s transition to a new household. This thesis argues that this rite of passage did not only apply to virgin brides, but was also applicable to those remarrying, as the goal behind many of the rituals was to safely ensconce the bride into her new house and family

The general anti-avoidance rule

Although a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) being enacted within a country is becoming increasingly more common, the presence of a GAAR is generally overlooked and thus its effect left unstudied. In this paper we provide an initial investigation by studying the effect that the presence of a GAAR within a country has on corporate tax avoidance behaviors. Using an indicator for the enactment of a GAAR within a specific country, we find a statistically and economically significant increase in aggregate tax collections and a statistically and economically significant decrease in firm-level tax avoidance. Additional analyses show that the firm-level results are strongest for firms with higher levels of tax avoidance, for countries with lower levels of tax enforcement prior to the implementation of a GAAR, and for countries where the burden of proof lies, at least partially, with the taxpayer. In final analyses, we find that the GAAR is associated with a decrease in the volatility of reported ETRs

A feasibility study on 3D modelling of cardiac implants in children to improve outcomes in surgery

Objectives: It is both cost effective and practical to computationally model and simulate cardiac implants in a non-invasive environment to identify failure modes and optimise design. This will ultimately improve surgical outcomes faced by children from early implant failure. Methods: The geometries of 3 cardiac implants with increasingly complex features were captured using Agisoft Metashape, a photogrammetric processing software and converted to a 3D model. Anatomical geometries were segmented from a heart DICOM file using Mimics 22.0 and models generated to house the implants. Results: Preliminary surface capturing and modelling was carried out with a 33 mm mitral annuloplasty Dacron ring. Point clouds were successfully generated with high precision and tessellated to generate a 3D model. This was housed in an anatomical model of the mitral annulus and left ventricular outflow tract and computational fluid dynamics carried out using ANSYS 19R2. Blood was modelled during a systolic cardiac cycle as pulsatile and K-epsilon turbulent and Carreau models applied for non-Newtonian blood flow. Discussions: Through high resolution image capturing of the annuloplasty ring, surface features such as ribbing were possible to model. Work is ongoing to assess the feasibility of geometry capturing and computational analysis with a tilting disc and transcatheter aortic valve. Success in the use of these methods in this study will ensure transferability when modelling explanted cardiac implants to determine failure modes. Conclusions: The application of photogammetry to medical devices provides a cost effective and non-invasive method of analysing critical failure modes of implants that can be missed in patient scans. This will lead to device optimisation and will improve outcomes in paediatric cardiac surgery. Acknowledgements: This research was awarded funding through the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity Research Fund

Letters between Mary E. Polk and W. J. Kerr

Letters concerning a position at Utah Agricultural College

Letters between W. J. Kerr and Mary E. Polk

Letters concerning a position at Utah Agricultural College

A Study of Premature Births in Hospital

There is an excessive perinatal mortality associated with prematurity which is reflected in the national stillbirth and neonatal death rates. In an attempt to clarify some of the problems related to prematurity, an analysis has been made of the 1,955 premature infants born in the Glasgow Royal Maternity and Women's Hospital during the four-year period, 1949 to 1952. It has been shown that the perinatal mortality rate for this series of infants was 37.7 per cent. When the infants were grouped according to weight, the numbers in each group and the chance of survival were greater with increasing weight. In 42.5 per cent of the cases studied, there was no apparent cause for the onset of premature labour. The effect of social and economic factors on this group has been discussed. The commonest complications of pregnancy associated with the birth of premature infants were found to be the toxaemias of pregnancy and multiple pregnancy. The necessity of prevention of anoxia during labour and at delivery has been discussed. It has been shown that particular care is required with breech deliveries. The importance of as hyxia as a cause of death has been demonstrated. The high percentage of deaths occurring/ occurring within 48 hours of birth is evidence of this. Also, the importance of the prevention of infection should always be borne in mind. It is suggested that there are three distinct aspects to the problem of prematurity: 1. The prevention of premature labour. 2. The management of premature labour, particularly with a view to the prevention of anoxia. 3. The care of the premature infant. Of these aspects the most important obviously is prevention and there is therefore an urgent need for much more information on the aetiology of premature birth