sweeping the forest floor of frequencies

sweeping the forest floor of frequencies is a Master of Fine Art thesis project comprised of the dossier and the exhibition presented at the Artlab Gallery July 27 - August 11, 2023. My writing and multidisciplinary work foreground sonic, visual, and imperceptible signals as search modes for grounding and interconnectedness. The Comprehensive Artist Statement is the first chapter of the dossier and focuses on drawing, listening, and exploring forms of language as three dominant modes of my practice that reflect my fragmented life between three countries. In its form, the writing embraces fragmentation and iterative growth through refragmentation, drawing on my embodied experience and methods of creation in the studio. The second chapter of the dossier is an interview with Anna Friz at Wave Farm in Acra, NY that includes discussions on radio and transmission art, process-based iterative art practice, engagement of discarded materials and technology in installations, and interdisciplinary research. The third chapter includes selections from the documentation of the exhibition at the Artlab

Increased Rate of Hospitalization for Diabetes and Residential Proximity of Hazardous Waste Sites

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies suggest that there may be an association between environmental exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and diabetes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that residential proximity to POP-contaminated waste sites result in increased rates of hospitalization for diabetes. METHODS: We determined the number of hospitalized patients 25–74 years of age diagnosed with diabetes in New York State exclusive of New York City for the years 1993–2000. Descriptive statistics and negative binomial regression were used to compare diabetes hospitalization rates in individuals who resided in ZIP codes containing or abutting hazardous waste sites containing POPs (“POP” sites); ZIP codes containing hazardous waste sites but with wastes other than POPs (“other” sites); and ZIP codes without any identified hazardous waste sites (“clean” sites). RESULTS: Compared with the hospitalization rates for diabetes in clean sites, the rate ratios for diabetes discharges for people residing in POP sites and “other” sites, after adjustment for potential confounders were 1.23 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15–1.32] and 1.25 (95% CI, 1.16–1.34), respectively. In a subset of POP sites along the Hudson River, where there is higher income, less smoking, better diet, and more exercise, the rate ratio was 1.36 (95% CI, 1.26–1.47) compared to clean sites. CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for major confounders, we found a statistically significant increase in the rate of hospitalization for diabetes among the population residing in the ZIP codes containing toxic waste sites

Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease‐Lactate and Prediction of Inpatient Mortality in Patients With Chronic Liver Disease

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163652/3/hep31199.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163652/2/hep31199_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163652/1/hep31199-sup-0001-Supinfo.pd

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research

Effect of AGM and Fetal Liver-Derived Stromal Cell Lines on Globin Expression in Adult Baboon (P. anubis) Bone Marrow-Derived Erythroid Progenitors

This study was performed to investigate the hypothesis that the erythroid micro-environment plays a role in regulation of globin gene expression during adult erythroid differentiation. Adult baboon bone marrow and human cord blood CD34+ progenitors were grown in methylcellulose, liquid media, and in co-culture with stromal cell lines derived from different developmental stages in identical media supporting erythroid differentiation to examine the effect of the micro-environment on globin gene expression. Adult progenitors express high levels of γ-globin in liquid and methylcellulose media but low, physiological levels in stromal cell co-cultures. In contrast, γ-globin expression remained high in cord blood progenitors in stromal cell line co-cultures. Differences in γ-globin gene expression between adult progenitors in stromal cell line co-cultures and liquid media required cell-cell contact and were associated with differences in rate of differentiation and γ-globin promoter DNA methylation. We conclude that γ-globin expression in adult-derived erythroid cells can be influenced by the micro-environment, suggesting new potential targets for HbF induction

Identification of genes differentially expressed upon cocaine treatment and of new rat semaphorins

Au niveau comportmental la dépendance est définie comme un désir compulsif de prendre de la drogue avec perte de controle d’actes apparemment volontaires comme la recherche et la consommation de stupéfiants. Au niveau neuronal les stupéfiants provoquent deux types de réponses: des adaptations neuronales, c'est-à-dire des réponses homeostatiques à une stimulation excessive, et la plasticité synaptique. Au niveau moleculaire ces deux effets sont liés à des changements simultanés du mode d'expression de gènes dans le système dopaminergique mésolimbique. Les gènes différentiellement exprimés après traitement aux drogues, comprennent des facteurs de la transcription, des neurotransmetteurs, et des molecules de guidance axonale. Une image détaillée des changements d'expression genique est nécessaire pour disséquer le rôle des différentes molécules dans le développement des diverses phases temporelles et fonctionnelles associées à la dépendance. C'est pourquoi, dans l'étude présente, on a effectué la recherche des gènes différentiellement exprimés après traitement aigu à la cocaine et après retrait, dans trois régions du cerveau: le striatum, le tegmentum et l'hippocampe. Deux modifications de la méthode de display différentiel de mARN ont été introduites, permettant, premièrement, d'augmenter la reproductibilité et de faciliter le maniement de la méthode, et deuxièmement, d'effectuer une recherche spécifique de sémaphorines, une famille des molécules de guidance axonale. Les gènes exprimés différentiellement representent une large palette de candidats aux charactéristiques fonctionnelles diverses, illustrant la complexité et la variabilité des changements neuroplastiques induits par un traitement à un psychostimulant dans le cerveau. En particulier, nous avouns trouvé que le CD81, une tetraspanine, est surexprimé dans le noyau accumbens après treatment à la cocaine. Une étude par hybridisation in situ a permis de localizer le mARN de CD81 dans des régions du cerveau fonctionnellement liées à la régulation de la fonction cardiovasculaire et de l'homéostase des fluides. La plupart de ces régions expriment aussi le neuropeptide galanine. En plus, les souris déficientes pour le gène du CD81, démontraient des changements de la sensibilité à la cocaine, variables selon le sexe, ainsi que des modifications du métabolisme de la dopamine. En outre, nous avons montré qu’une proteine, liée aux processus neurodegeneratifs dans le cerveau, la g-synucleine, était sur-exprimée dans le tegmentum après traitement à la cocaine, ce qui suggère un lien entre les changements neuroplastiques liées à la neurodégénérescence et la dépendance. Finalement, un nouveau membre de la famille des sémaphorines de vertebrés et cinq orthologues de sémaphorines des classes 3,4 et 7 chez le rat, ont été identifiés, alors que l'application de la nouvelle méthode du Display Différentiel Enrichi que nous avons developpé a permis de démontrer la régulation différentielle des sémaphorines dans diverses régions du cerveau après traitement à la cocaine.At the behavioral level drug addiction is defined as compulsion to take a drug with loss of control over apparently voluntary acts of drug seeking and drug taking. At the neuronal level drugs elicit two types of responses: neuronal adaptations, i.e. homeostatic responses to excessive stimulation, and synaptic plasticity. At the molecular level both processes are paralleled by changes in gene expression pattern in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. The genes differentially expressed upon drug treatment include transcription factors, neurotransmitter and axon guidance cues. The detailed picture of gene expression changes is necessary in order to dissect the role of different molecules in the development of the distinct temporal and functional phases of drug addiction. Therefore, in the present study the screening for differentially expressed genes upon acute cocaine withdrawal was performed in three brain regions: the striatum, the tegmentum and the hippocampus. Two modifications of differential display of mRNA were introduced allowing first for increased reproducibility and easy handling of the method, and second for a gene-specific screening for the semaphorins, a family of axon guidance cues. The differentially expressed candidates displayed a high range of functional characteristics, illustrating the complexity and the variability of neuroplastic changes induced in the brain by psychostimulant treatment. In particular, CD81, a tetraspanin, was found to be overexpressed in the nucleus accumbens upon cocaine treatment. In situ hybridization studies allowed for localization of CD81 mRNA in the brain regions functionally related to the regulation of cardiovascular function and fluid homeostasis, most of them also expressing the neuropeptide galanin. In addition, CD81-deficient mice exhibited sex-dependent altered sensitivity to cocaine, as well as modified dopamine metabolism. One protein related to neurodegenerative processes in the brain, g-synuclein, was found to be overexpressed in the tegmentum upon cocaine treatment, suggesting a link between the neuroplasticity changes related to neural degeneration and drug addiction. Finally, one new vertebrate member of the semaphorin family and five novel rat orthologues of class 3, 4 and 7 semaphorins have been identified, whereas the application of newly developed method of Enriched Differential Display allowed for finding of semaphorin differential regulation in various brain regions upon cocaine treatment

hard ground / long road

My work is anchored in analog technology, found materials, field recordings, and the search for constellations of micro-narratives. In August 2021, I drove from San Francisco, California to London, Ontario. During the seventeen days on the road, I recorded radio noise (AM, FM picket-fencing) as well as my voice describing the environment surrounding the road at the times when I could not stop to take a photo. The sounds collected from the long road are recorded chronologically in an intaglio print. These recordings are the foundation of multidisciplinary sound and visual projects that coalesce as an installation exploring place/no-placeness, transience, precognition, repetition, delays, disappearance, and noise. Works selected for tba journal are pinhole photographs, a double-sided intaglio print, and a sound composition, that are all a part of the series described in my artist statement and share the title hard ground / long road. The print is reproduced at its original scale; the text is followed by the reverse side of the print, which is a line drawing. Two pinhole photographs bookend the works on paper. The sound companion to the visual works is a composition created on and with magnetic tape. The composition foregrounds incidental sounds of the process of making the work: tape splicing and rewinding. recorder fixing, road noise and tape hiss, woven with cut-up radio recordings