Afro-Caribbean Immigrant Faculty Experiences in the American Academy: Voices of an Invisible Black Population

Afro-Caribbean immigrants have been an integral part of the history and shaping of the United States since the early 1900s. This current study explores the experiences of five Afro-Caribbean faculty members at traditionally White institutions of higher education. Despite the historical presence and influence of Afro-Caribbean communities and the efforts within education systems to address the needs of Afro-Caribbean constituents, Afro-Caribbean faculty members continue to be rendered indiscernible in higher education and to be frequently and erroneously perceived as African–Americans. The study examines the lived experiences of these individuals in the hegemonic White spaces they occupy at their institutions with both White and Black populations. Through their narratives, issues of stereotyping, microaggression, and isolation are addressed. The participants also offer solutions to address these issues by university administrators, department heads, faculty development professionals, diversity officers, policy makers, and other stakeholders. The voices in this study shed light on an overlooked, misunderstood, and under-researched population within our faculty ranks in the American Academy

Critical properties of Heider balance on multiplex networks

Heider's structural balance theory has proven invaluable in comprehending the dynamics of social groups characterized by both friendly and hostile relationships. Since people's relations are rarely single-faceted, we investigate Heider balance dynamics on a multiplex network, consisting of several copies of the same agent displaying correlated relations at different layers building the multiplex. Intralayer interactions in our model adhere to Heider dynamics, while interlayer correlations stem from Ising interactions, with the heat bath dynamics of link signs. The investigations uncover a multifaceted system with a diverse equilibrium landscape contingent on the coexistence of distinct phases across layers. We observe that starting from a paradise state with positive links in all layers, an increase in temperature triggers a discontinuous transition to a disordered state akin to single-layer scenarios. The critical temperature surpasses that of the single-layer case, a fact verified through extended mean-field analysis and agent-based simulations. Furthermore, the scenario shifts when one layer exhibits a two-clique configuration instead of a paradise state. This change introduces additional transitions: synchronization of inter-layer relations and a transition to the disorder, appearing at a different, lower temperature compared to matching paradise states. This exploration shows the intricate interplay of Heider balance and multiplex interactions.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure

A nearest level control technique for an asymmetric source configuration of multi-level inverter topology

In this paper, an asymmetric source configuration of Multilevel Inverter (MLI) topology has been proposed. It consists of eight unidirectional switches, two bidirectional switches and four isolated DC sources. By considering 1:5 and 1:4 source configurations, the inverter produces 25-level and 21-level outputs respectively with the same switching action. For producing negative voltage levels, there is no requirement of separate backend H-bridge and inherently produces both positive and negative voltage levels. The main advantage of this topology is that in every state, only four switches are in ON mode and else are in OFF state. It also gives less per unit Total Standing Voltage (TSV) and thereby cost requirement of semiconductor devices can become decreases. For generating gate pulses, the simple Nearest Level Control (NLC) has been used by considering the round function. This technique is basically a fundamental switching frequency technique thereby switching losses are greatly reduces as compared with high switching frequency Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) techniques and it is particularly suitable for large number of levels. With this control technique, there is no inrush current has been developed at the input of DC sources. Finally, with step change in Modulation Index (MI) values the proposed topology with two different source configurations have been validated through MATLAB/Simulink platform

Boreal summer sub-seasonal variability of the South Asian monsoon in the Met Office GloSea5 initialized coupled model

Boreal summer sub-seasonal variability in the Asian monsoon, otherwise known as the monsoon intra-seasonal oscillation (MISO), is one of the dominant modes of intraseasonal variability in the tropics, with large impacts on total monsoon rainfall and India’s agricultural production. However, our understanding of the mechanisms involved in MISO is incomplete and its simulation in various numerical models is often flawed. In this study, we focus on the objective evaluation of the fidelity of MISO simulation in the Met Office Global Seasonal forecast system version 5 (GloSea5), an initialized coupled model. We analyze a series of nine-member hindcasts from GloSea5 over 1996-2009 during the peak monsoon period (July-August) over the South-Asian monsoon domain focusing on aspects of the time-mean background state and air-sea interaction processes pertinent to MISO. Dominant modes during this period are evident in power spectrum analysis, but propagation and evolution characteristics of the MISO are not realistic. We find that simulated air-sea interactions in the central Indian Ocean are not supportive of MISO initiation in that region, likely a result of the low surface wind variance there. As a consequence, the expected near-quadrature phase relationship between SST and convection is not represented properly over the central equatorial Indian Ocean, and northward propagation from the equator is poorly simulated. This may reinforce the equatorial rainfall mean state bias in GloSea5

Comparative Analysis of Regression Models for Remote Sensing-based Water Quality Assessment

The 80-kilometer-long Vembanad Lake in Kerala, India, is a Ramsar site. Eutrophication is deteriorating its water quality and threatening its biodiversity. In this study, satellite imageries of Sentinel 2A and Landsat 8 OLI were utilized to determine its water quality. Various data sets of the water quality parameters viz. pH, Electrical conductivity, TSS, TDS, BOD, DO, chloride etc. are analyzed and interpreted. Regression models were developed on the parameters taken up for water quality analysis. The empirical R2 values of the developed models evidenced the accuracy of the developed mdoels. The findings show that remote sensing images are reliable for analyzing surface water quality characteristics. The comparative analysis of the model developed illustrated the effectiveness of using the imaging systems mentioned above for water quality index estimation through remote sensing

Ayurvedic understanding of Central Pontine Myelinolysis - A Case Report

A 56 year old male patient was admitted to S.D.M Ayurveda Hospital, Hassan, Karnataka with the confirmed diagnosis of Central Pontine Myelinolysis (CPM) on 11/12/17. The chief complaints were weakness of both hands and legs, stiffness in both hands and legs, pain in both shoulder joints, slurred speech, difficulty in walking with gait changes. H/O chronic alcoholism. MRI brain showed pontine and basal ganglia diffusion restriction - Acute Pontine Myelinolysis. The serum electrolyte showed serum sodium level as 128 mmol/litre. This disease can be understood as Samana Avruta Vyana in hyponatremic encephalopathy stage and the stage of myelinolysis can be understood as Sarvanga Vata with Kapha Avruta Udana and Vyana. After clinical evaluation, Avarana Chikitsa was started followed by Kevala Vatika Chikitsa and significant improvement was seen. Significant result was observed in subjective and objective parameters after the treatment. The patient was discharged with oral medications for 1 month

Johnson-Kendall-Roberts theory applied to living cells

Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) theory is an accurate model for strong adhesion energies of soft slightly deformable material. Little is known about the validity of this theory on complex systems such as living cells. We have addressed this problem using a depletion controlled cell adhesion and measured the force necessary to separate the cells with a micropipette technique. We show that the cytoskeleton can provide the cells with a 3D structure that is sufficiently elastic and has a sufficiently low deformability for JKR theory to be valid. When the cytoskeleton is disrupted, JKR theory is no longer applicable

The “Spot 14” Gene Resides on the Telomeric End of the 11q13 Amplicon and is Expressed in Lipogenic Breast Cancers: Implications for Control of Tumor Metabolism

Enhanced long chain fatty acid synthesis may occur in breast cancer, where it is necessary for tumor growth and predicts a poor prognosis. “Spot 14” (S14) is a carbohydrate- and thyroid hormone-inducible nuclear protein specific to liver, adipose, and lactating mammary tissues that functions to activate genes encoding the enzymes of fatty acid synthesis. Amplification of chromosome region 11q13, where the S14 gene (THRSP) resides, also predicts a poor prognosis in breast tumors. We localized the S14 gene between markers D11S906 and D11S937, at the telomeric end of the amplified region at 11q13, and found that it was amplified and expressed in breast cancer-derived cell lines. Moreover, concordant expression of S14 and a key lipogenic enzyme (acetyl-CoA carboxylase) in a panel of primary breast cancer specimens strongly supported a role for S14 as a determinant of tumor lipid metabolism. S14 expression provides a pathophysiological link between two prognostic indicators in breast cancer: enhanced lipogenesis and 11q13 amplification