Educating Belize: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future

Report on the current state of the Belizean educational system and recommendations for reforms. Written under the auspices of the Bridging Disciplines Programs at The University of Texas at Austin with mentor David V. Gibson of the IC² Institute.IC2 Institut

Nitric oxide and synaptic function

The free radical gas nitric oxide (NO) is a recently identified neuronal messenger that carries out diverse signaling tasks in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Whereas most neurotransmitters are packaged in synaptic vesicles and secreted in a Ca2+-dependent manner from specialized nerve endings, NO is an unconventional transmitter which is not packaged in vesicles, but rather diffuses from its site of production in the absence of any specialized release machinery. The lack of a requirement for release apparatus raises the possibility that NO can be released from both pre- and postsynaptic neuronal elements. In addition, because NO is gaseous and extremely membrane permeant, it can bypass normal signal transduction routes involving interactions with synaptic membrane receptors. Although the targets of NO have not yet been completely described, it is known that NO can bind to the iron contained in heine groups, leading to conformational changes in associated proteins, such as guanylyl cyclase

Feshbach resonances in ultracold 85Rb-87Rb and 6Li-87Rb mixtures

We present an analysis of experimentally accessible magnetic Feshbach resonances in ultra-cold hetero-nuclear 85Rb-87Rb and 6Li-87Rb mixtures. Using recent experimental measurements of the triplet scattering lengths for 6Li-87Rb and 7Li-87Rb mixtures and Feshbach resonances for one combination of atomic states, we create model potential curves and fine tune them to reproduce the measured resonances and to predict the location of several experimentally relevant resonances in Li-Rb collisions. To model 85Rb-87Rb collisions, we use accurate Rb_2 potentials obtained previously from the analysis of experiments on 87Rb-87Rb collisions. We find resonances that occur at very low magnetic fields, below 10 G, which may be useful for entanglement generation in optical lattices or atom chip magnetic traps.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

A Half-Built House: The Substantial Similarity Analysis Split in Architectural Copyright Infringement Cases

The path to extending copyright protection to architectural works in the United States has not come without its challenges, especially as the federal courts continue to muddle through complicated and varying case law to determine whether architectural works infringement has occurred in a given dispute. Applying a uniform approach to analyze substantial similarity in a way that effectively protects architectural works across the federal circuits is necessary to fulfill the legislative intent and the constitutional intent of copyright protection. Likewise, a uniform approach will clarify the level of copyright protection that architectural works are permitted to receive in the United States. This note argues that courts should implement a “look and feel” test to determine the overall similarity of the architectural works, then separate out unprotectable elements through traditional copyright mechanisms, and compare again to ensure that enough original, copyrightable elements are present to declare the works substantially similar. Applying this multistep approach with an inverse ratio fulfills the legislative intent of the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act as well as the constitutional purposes of copyright protection, and it provides architects with a uniform understanding of how the law will be applied should they need to initiate an infringement actio

“See Ourselves as Others See Us”: Empathy Across Gender Boundaries in James Joyce’s Ulysses

Many critics originally attacked James Joyce’s Ulysses for its dark representation of gender relations. Today, many scholars consider this criticism prematurely formed and recognize that these early critics responded more to Stephen Dedalus’s antagonistic, misogynistic views in the novel’s opening chapters than to the rest of the epic and the views of the novel’s main protagonist, Leopold Bloom, who displays a much more receptive, appreciative attitude toward women. These scholars now believe that gender relations as portrayed in Ulysses actually undermine preconceived notions of a gendered hierarchy. However, this difference in character perspective is not the only or even the most important way that the novel challenges gender hierarchies. In addition to the shift in character perspective, Joyce’s epic also includes a narrative arc that uses sexuality as a metaphor, transforming Bloom’s various sexual encounters–namely those with Gerty MacDowell, Bella Cohen, and Molly Bloom–into a commentary on how intimate sexual interactions between genders can not only potentially help men and women transcend structures and preconceived notions of separation but can also enable greater depth of perception, both empathetically and artistically

Coming out after coming out : the changing trajectory of the coming-out narrative in twenty-first century young adult and new adult texts

LGBTQ+ literature of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has been preoccupied with the personalised politics of coming out of the homosexual closet. Beginning with David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy in 2003, Young Adult and New Adult texts have begun to approach the coming-out narrative with greater scepticism. This thesis seeks to understand the ways in which the coming-out narrative of the twentieth century has changed in the twenty-first century, focusing on Young Adult and New Adult texts. Through an analysis of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda (2015) by Becky Albertalli, Carry On (2015) and Wayward Son (2019) by Rainbow Rowell, Boy Meets Boy (2003) by David Levithan, the Captive Prince trilogy (2015–2016) by C. S. Pacat and Welcome to Night Vale (2012–present) by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, this thesis addresses the changing nature of the coming-out narrative, its diminishing significance, and some of the ways in which the coming- out narrative’s endurance can be seen as having a deleterious effect on LGBTQ+ people. These contemporary texts examine often displace elements of the coming-out narrative structure onto other categories of difference and propose alternatives to the coming-out narrative. In exploring the possibility of the post-coming-out narrative, this thesis establishes an understanding of the three key elements of any coming-out narrative: secrecy and disclosure, a navigation of a dual insider/outsider status, and the initiator figure. Rather than pose legitimate challenges to the heteronormativity that necessitates LGBTQ+ characters’ comings out, however, contemporary texts such as Carry On and Wayward Son bury their heteronormative assumptions in subtextual elements or displace them onto another category of difference such as vampirism. In leaving heteronormativity and, in some cases, homophobia intact, these texts are ultimately not transformative of the coming-out narrative. Moreover, by sublimating these phobic elements in otherwise anti-phobic texts, this thesis argues that stereotypical and homophobic assumptions about LGBTQ+ people and youth prevail in contemporary fiction

Acute Effect of Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (ipc) on Inflammation, Circulation And Glucose Regualtion In

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine whether Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) acutely improves inflammation and glucose regulation in Type 2 diabetics. It was hypothesized that acute use of pneumatic compression will improve circulation and glucose levels and decrease inflammation in Type 2 diabetics. Methods: Subjects included 10 individuals clinically diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Plasma and serum were obtained intravenously to analyze insulin, Interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP) and nitric oxide (NO). An HbA1C was obtained at the beginning of testing via a finger stick. Subjects came into the laboratory a total of 2 times (on a Monday and Friday in the same week) to measure the variables previously listed and receive treatment. The subjects completed a total of 5 days (3 at home) of IPC treatments using the NormaTec recovery system. Results: There were no significant differences found within the inflammation values. Blood glucose levels decreased more in the laboratory setting than at home or on the subjects control days. Ten minute recovery blood glucose levels (-2.60 ± 3.01) decreased significantly (p \u3c 0.05) in the laboratory setting. Conclusion: The hypothesis was supported because of the significant decrease of blood glucose in the recovery phase and the slight, non significant decreases in Nitrate levels. There were also small, nonsignificant decreases in IL-6 and CRP levels observed over 5 iv days of treatment. Five days of treatment led to a decrease of basal levels of inflammation