vemod

Portraits of time, space, and psyche; wrought with history, each structure merges psychological manifestations with architectural environments. vemod was approached as a reflection of the past and presented as a memorial to what was before. Each structure is a tactile representation, meant to create a visceral experience that ties the viewer to them by tapping into their empathetic bonds. The following is a written thesis of the concepts and visual aspects of Jessie Montgomery's Master of Fine Art, thesis exhibition. The work was installed in the Art and Design Gallery at the University of Kansas

The Inheritance of Inequality: \u3ci\u3eHukou\u3c.i\u3e and Related Barriers to Compulsory Education for China\u27s Migrant Children

The hukou system in China uses residency permits to divide Chinese citizens into urban and rural dwellers. A person’s hukou status determines his or her access to state services. Under normal circumstances, a person with a rural hukou status is not eligible for state services in urban areas, and vice versa. Because hukou is primarily inherited from one’s parents at the time of birth, children born in urban areas to parents with rural hukou are similarly designated as rural hukou holders. As a result, children living in cities with rural hukou are ineligible for enrollment in urban public schools even if they were born within the district. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that a massive number of people are engaged in rural-urban migration in China each year. The central government has promulgated numerous laws and regulations in an attempt to grant these migrant children free access to urban public schools, but most local governments have been hesitant to implement the changes. Further, as a prerequisite to enrollment, urban public schools commonly require excessive amounts of documentation and charge expensive fees that make public education inaccessible to migrant families. This comment argues that to fix the current problems with hukou and educational access, the central government needs to clarify the responsibilities of local governments in administrating public education and should devote more funding to urban and rural schools. Both of these measures would encourage local officials to comply with existing education laws regarding migrant children. Additionally, the central government must encourage stricter enforcement of relevant laws in order to incentivize local compliance. Making these changes will have long-term political and economic benefits for China because educating this large group of children can soothe social tensions in cities, lessen income inequality, and facilitate China’s transition to a service-based economy

Optimization of Graphene Parameters for the Development of Supercapacitors

In the growing market of evolving electronic devices and the sustainable goals of the energy industry, better sources of energy dense storage devices are needed. Carbon based supercapacitors have attracted the attention of research due to the natural properties of high electrical conductivity, chemical and electrochemical stability, and high surface area. The object of this thesis is to expand upon current knowledge of reduced graphene oxide to better understand the effectiveness of the material as electrode in supercapacitors. This thesis will focus on the physical orientation of supercapacitors to further develop a device that will allow a set of supercapacitors to release a steady flow of charge from the device. Supercapacitors were tested individually, in series, and in parallel. The goal is to eventually create a device that has the same, or more, voltage as a conventional battery that will discharge energy at a comparable rate while retaining their ability to charge quickly

Recovery-Informed Education as a Means of Institutional Sustainability for CRPs

CRPs are uniquely positioned to be valuable assets for universities to address substance-related issues in the collegiate environment. Utilizing the experience of students and staff members engaged in recovery support services empowers CRPs to implement alcohol and other drug (AOD) programming for the general student population. This presentation will outline how CRPs can implement education programs within their university in order to provide wider support and resources as well as challenge injunctive norms on campus. By employing various education initiatives, CRPs can reach a broader range of students while also attaining sustainability within the university structure

Innate painting : investigating of origins of artistic production through connections between curiosity experimentation and creativity

There is no doubt that culture and art history have shaped art practice over time. Much contemporary art theory and contemporary anthropology would argue that artwork and human art-making behaviour is a culmination of culture, the sharing of ideas, and other “...non-genetic means” (Dutton, 2010, p. 4). However, what if we examined the art-making process from a more basal, even primordial viewpoint? If we focus on and examine the artistic process as stemming from innate, evolved characteristics, what is the result? This exploratory study focuses on a selected series of universal characteristics, and the connections between them, proposed to be crucial in the development of art-making behaviour: curiosity, experimentation, and creativity. This study posits that art-making behaviour is a resulting product of innate, human adaptations and intends to create a body of work representative of both this universal and intimate scope. This study will begin with exploring the universal determinants and origins of art-making in Volume I and will culminate with comparative, subjective accounts and experiences of this universal act through a body of practical artwork in Volume II1. This study is hinged upon this body of artwork and is documented and examined thoroughly in Volume II: Catalogue & Findings: A Personal Journey from Curiosity to Creation of this dissertation, which should be read in parallel with this initial, Volume I document. While parts of this proposed, art-making system (curiosity, experimentation, and creativity) inform the general behaviour of humankind, this study and its resulting, practical artworks (Volume II) attempt to review and observe these traits on an intimate scale as part of a greater, behavioural whole. This study attempts to do this by creating a resulting body of artwork that is both a symbol of this universal process as well as a vehicle for its personal investigation. The purpose of this study is to examine the origins of creative, artistic behaviour as a product of evolution through connections between curiosity, experimentation and creativity.Dissertation (MA Fine Arts)--University of Pretoria, 2019.Visual ArtsMA Fine ArtsUnrestricte

Evaluating the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System scales in acute intermittent porphyria.

PurposeAcute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is a rare inborn error of heme biosynthesis characterized by life-threatening acute attacks. Few studies have assessed quality of life (QoL) in AIP and those that have had small sample sizes and used tools that may not have captured important domains.MethodsBaseline data from the Porphyrias Consortium's Longitudinal Study were obtained for 259 patients, including detailed disease and medical history data, and the following Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) scales: anxiety, depression, pain interference, fatigue, sleep disturbance, physical function, and satisfaction with social roles. Relationships between PROMIS scores and clinical and biochemical AIP features were explored.ResultsPROMIS scores were significantly worse than the general population across all domains, except depression. Each domain discriminated well between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with symptomatic patients having worse scores. Many important clinical variables like symptom frequency were significantly associated with domain scores in univariate analyses, showing responsiveness of the scales, specifically pain interference and fatigue. However, most regression models only explained ~20% of the variability observed in domain scores.ConclusionPain interference and fatigue were the most responsive scales in measuring QoL in this AIP cohort. Future studies should assess whether these scales capture longitudinal disease progression and treatment response

Structure of the ATP synthase from Mycobacterium smegmatis provides targets for treating tuberculosis.

The structure has been determined by electron cryomicroscopy of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase from Mycobacterium smegmatis This analysis confirms features in a prior description of the structure of the enzyme, but it also describes other highly significant attributes not recognized before that are crucial for understanding the mechanism and regulation of the mycobacterial enzyme. First, we resolved not only the three main states in the catalytic cycle described before but also eight substates that portray structural and mechanistic changes occurring during a 360° catalytic cycle. Second, a mechanism of auto-inhibition of ATP hydrolysis involves not only the engagement of the C-terminal region of an α-subunit in a loop in the γ-subunit, as proposed before, but also a "fail-safe" mechanism involving the b'-subunit in the peripheral stalk that enhances engagement. A third unreported characteristic is that the fused bδ-subunit contains a duplicated domain in its N-terminal region where the two copies of the domain participate in similar modes of attachment of the two of three N-terminal regions of the α-subunits. The auto-inhibitory plus the associated "fail-safe" mechanisms and the modes of attachment of the α-subunits provide targets for development of innovative antitubercular drugs. The structure also provides support for an observation made in the bovine ATP synthase that the transmembrane proton-motive force that provides the energy to drive the rotary mechanism is delivered directly and tangentially to the rotor via a Grotthuss water chain in a polar L-shaped tunnel

Evaluating quality of life tools in North American patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria and X-linked protoporphyria.

BackgroundErythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) and X-linked Protoporphyria (XLP) are rare photodermatoses presenting with severe phototoxicity. Although anecdotally, providers who treat EPP patients acknowledge their life-altering effects, tools that fully capture their impact on quality of life (QoL) are lacking.MethodsAdult patients with EPP/XLP were given four validated QoL tools: the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System 57 (PROMIS-57), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Illness Perception Questionnaire Revised (IPQR), and an EPP-Specific tool. All patients received the PROMIS-57 while the HADS, IPQR, and EPP-Specific tools were introduced at a later date. Associations between responses and clinical phenotypes were explored.ResultsTwo hundred and two patients were included; 193 completed PROMIS-57, 104 completed IPQR, 103 completed HADS, and 107 completed the EPP-Specific tool. The IPQR showed that patients strongly believed EPP/XLP had a negative impact on their lives. Mean scores in anxiety and depression domains of both HADS and PROMIS-57 were normal; however, anxiety scores from HADS were borderline/abnormal in 20% of patients. The EPP-Specific tool revealed a decreased QoL in most patients. The PROMIS-57 showed that 21.8% of patients have clinically significant pain interference. Several tool domains correlated with measures of disease severity, most being from the PROMIS-57.ConclusionsImpaired QoL is an important consequence of EPP/XLP. PROMIS-57 was most sensitive in evaluating impaired QoL in EPP/XLP. Further research is needed to compare the effectiveness of it for assessing response to treatment