A Scenic Design for \u3cem\u3eTalley\u27s Folly\u3c/em\u3e

This poster showcases a scenic design for Talley’s Folly by Lanford Wilson. The play takes place in a riverside boathouse located near a farm in Lebanon, Missouri, on July 4, 1944. In developing the design concept, I pursued the Victorian and Gothic revival gingerbread imagery and romantic aesthetic Wilson created within the script. During my early research, I found Thomas W. Schaller’s paintings Evening in Spring and Fishing in Central Park. Schaller’s blending of watercolors inspired the romantic aesthetic and unification of the landscape’s colors, textures, and inorganic and organic structures. The way in which Schaller conveys peace, seclusion, and nature very much influenced the design. Evening skies and earthy tones determined the color scheme. The gazebo’s hexagonal shape influenced the symmetrical, central, and simple layout of scenery, with the riverside open to the audience in thrust formation. The turntable provides a unique element in the design. Moving very slowly throughout Matt’s opening monologue, the physical change mirrors the movement of the text and facilitates the transition from the exterior of the boathouse to an interior view that focuses the fourth-wall staging of the rest of the play. Presented at the 2017 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VII Conference in Denver, Colorado, the design model and associated poster received a Meritorious Achievement Award in the Non-Realized Scenic Design division

Development of a Scenic Design for \u3cem\u3eBus Stop\u3c/em\u3e by William Inge

A warm and cozy visual sensation and early 1900s architecture provided the basis for this design. It features an intimate space with a comfortable interior where all the characters gather to tell their stories. This approach was shaped by repeated references to bitter cold, blizzard-like weather outside the building in which the play Bus Stop takes place, with the interior providing a safe haven from the ferocious weather and the lonesomeness felt by the characters who find themselves at this bus stop. The visual approach was pursued through a warm color palette and use of William Inge\u27s description of Grace\u27s Diner as a “dingy, street-corner building in a small Kansas town” with a “few antique set dressings and a few modern improvements. Since the play takes place during the early 1950s, the modern improvements Inge references were based on that era. Warm and cozy spaces are usually ones that have been heavily lived in. Therefore, in Grace\u27s establishment the history of the building and its users is noticeable throughout the space with obvious modern improvements added only when absolutely necessary. This design was created for Linfield\u27s Scene Design course. At the 2016 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VII Conference in Denver, Colorado, the design and associated poster presentation received a Meritorious Achievement Award in the Non-Realized Scenic Design division

Information in vertical blanking interval of video sync signal

In a television sync signal one or more of the post-equalizing pulses of the vertical blanking interval is/are altered in duration to provide information to a receiving circuit

A Scenic Design for \u3cem\u3eAda and the Engine\u3c/em\u3e

This poster showcases a scenic design for Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson, which was presented by Linfield Theatre in November 2017. Ada and the Engine tells the story of Ada Lovelace as the British Industrial Revolution dawns in England. Ada meets Charles Babbage, a noted mathematician, inventor, and mechanical engineer, and together they invent the Analytical Machine. This machine is the world’s first functional computer using punch cards for programming. Lauren Gunderson notes that the action takes place during the Victorian Era in the houses of intellectual elites. Keeping Gunderson’s notes in mind, the design took a modernist approach. In thinking about how the evolution of the machine mirrored the ebb of the characters’ relationships and served as both focus of and metaphor for the play, the design concept placed the action of the play within the analytical machine itself. At the end of the script, the machine comes to life, engulfing Ada and her reality in music and machinery. Ada begins to command the machine by singing. To visualize the operation of the Analytical Machine, mechanical pulleys and cranks were incorporated within the design. The large columns upstage rotated 360 degrees, the vertical stacks behind the columns moved up and down, the burgundy gear centered upstage turned on a motorized turntable, and the grey-toned crank placed downstage left was cranked manually. Black light and glow paint were used to add to the visual spectacle effect at the very end of the play. Ms. Hurst received a Meritorious Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for the scenic design for Ada and the Engine. The ½” scale model and associated poster conveying research images and concepts were presented at the 2018 Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival Region VII Conference in Spokane, Washington. The presentation received a Meritorious Achievement Award in the Realized Scenic Design competition

Growth to early adulthood following extremely preterm birth: the EPICure study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate growth trajectories from age 2.5 to 19 years in individuals born before 26 weeks of gestation (extremely preterm; EP) compared with term-born controls. METHODS: Multilevel modelling of growth data from the EPICure study, a prospective 1995 birth cohort of 315 EP participants born in the UK and Ireland and 160 term-born controls recruited at school age. Height, weight, head circumference and body mass index (BMI) z-scores were derived from UK standards at ages 2.5, 6, 11 and 19 years. RESULTS: 129 (42%) EP children were assessed at 19 years. EP individuals were on average 4.0 cm shorter and 6.8 kg lighter with a 1.5 cm smaller head circumference relative to controls at 19 years. Relative to controls, EP participants grew faster in weight by 0.06 SD per year (95% CI 0.05 to 0.07), in head circumference by 0.04 SD (95% CI 0.03 to 0.05), but with no catch-up in height. For the EP group, because of weight catch-up between 6 and 19 years, BMI was significantly elevated at 19 years to +0.32 SD; 23.4% had BMI >25 kg/m2 and 6.3% >30 kg/m2 but these proportions were similar to those in control subjects. EP and control participants showed similar pubertal development in early adolescence, which was not associated with height at 19 years in either study group. Growth through childhood was related to birth characteristics and to neonatal feeding practices. CONCLUSIONS: EP participants remained shorter and lighter and had smaller head circumferences than reference data or controls in adulthood but had elevated BMI

Two-Dimensional Fluorescence Difference Spectroscopy to Characterize Nanoparticles and their Interactions

Citation: Hurst, M. N., & DeLong, R. K. (2016). Two-Dimensional Fluorescence Difference Spectroscopy to Characterize Nanoparticles and their Interactions. Scientific Reports, 6, 9. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep33287Two dimensional fluorescence difference spectroscopy (2D FDS) detects nanoparticle interactions following surface functionalization and biomolecule loading by generating a spectral signature of the fluorescent intensity per excitation and emission wavelengths. Comparing metal oxide nanoparticles revealed a unique spectral signature per material composition. 2D FDS showed to be sensitive to changes in surface properties between ZnO NPs synthesized by different methods. ZnO NP loaded with glycol chitosan, polyacrylic acid (PAA), or methoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG) exhibited a distinct spectral signature shift. ZnO NP loaded with Torula Yeast RNA (TYRNA)(640 nm), polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid (pIC)(680 nm), or splice switching oligonucleotide (SSO)(650 nm) each revealed a shift in emission. Ras-Binding domain (RBD) at three concentrations (25, 37.5, 50 mu g/mL) showed that fluorescent intensity was inversely related to the concentration of protein loaded. These data support 2D FDS as a novel technique in identifying nanoparticles and their surface interactions as a quality assurance tool

Coaches\u27 Liability for Athletes\u27 Injuries and Deaths

In the brutally hot summer of 2001, three prominent athletes lost their lives on playing fields across the country. Football players Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings,\u27 Rashidi Wheeler of Northwestern University, and Eraste Autin of the University Florida collapsed and died in summer practices. These practices are an annual rite that has preceded each football season since the sport was conceived approximately ninety years ago. While these deaths are tragic, they are certainly not uncommon. Since 1995, eighteen high school and collegiate football players have died while participating in practices or games. In America\u27s litigious society, these deaths raise important questions regarding a coach\u27s responsibility to the team and his players. Specifically, should a coach be held personally liable when his athlete is injured or dies while participating in an athletic event? On its face, the behavior of such coaches seems barbaric and outrageous, but society seems to condone or ignore it because it forges football champions. In a strictly legal sense, where does society draw the line between forging champions and committing a tort? When does a coach\u27s behavior constitute a tort and what standard should be applied? This article analyzes the liability of a coach for an athlete\u27s injury or death while participating in an athletic event. In particular, the article describes the theory of negligence as applied to an athletic coach, as well as other theories of liability and legal defenses a coach may employ. The article concludes by applying these theories to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Stringer, Wheeler, and Autin

The development of a menthol solution for use during sport and exercise

Menthol mouth-swilling has been shown to improve performance across differing exercise modalities, yet no work has been conducted to ascertain the preferred concentration of menthol within a swill. Colour has also been shown to influence psychophysiological outcomes, and may influence the efficacy of ergogenic aids. We conducted two experiments: one to ascertain preferred menthol concentration (0.005–0.105% menthol), the second to assess colour preference (Light Blue,Dark Blue, Light Green, Dark Green, Red). Participants rated swills for Smell, Taste, Freshness, Mouth Feel and Irritation (plus Appearance in the second trial) via 15 cm Visual Analogue Scales (VAS), having swilled and expectorated 25 mL of fluid. Both trials employed a crossover design, with tasting order assigned by Latin squares. Differences were assessed for statistical significance (p < 0.05) using one-way repeated measures ANOVAs. Standardised mean differences �90% confidence intervals were calculated to assess the magnitude of any observed differences. No significant differences were found between concentrations for total VAS score, but higher concentrations demonstrated a greater number of small effects. Similarly, no significant differences between colours were found. Small effects were found when Light Green was compared to Dark Green and Red. Effects were trivial when Light Green was compared to Light Blue (0.05 � 0.20) and Dark Blue (0.19 � 0.32). We recommend athletes employ a Light Green or Light Blue 0.1% menthol mouth-swill

Coaches\u27 Liability for Athletes\u27 Injuries and Deaths

In the brutally hot summer of 2001, three prominent athletes lost their lives on playing fields across the country. Football players Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings,\u27 Rashidi Wheeler of Northwestern University, and Eraste Autin of the University Florida collapsed and died in summer practices. These practices are an annual rite that has preceded each football season since the sport was conceived approximately ninety years ago. While these deaths are tragic, they are certainly not uncommon. Since 1995, eighteen high school and collegiate football players have died while participating in practices or games. In America\u27s litigious society, these deaths raise important questions regarding a coach\u27s responsibility to the team and his players. Specifically, should a coach be held personally liable when his athlete is injured or dies while participating in an athletic event? On its face, the behavior of such coaches seems barbaric and outrageous, but society seems to condone or ignore it because it forges football champions. In a strictly legal sense, where does society draw the line between forging champions and committing a tort? When does a coach\u27s behavior constitute a tort and what standard should be applied? This article analyzes the liability of a coach for an athlete\u27s injury or death while participating in an athletic event. In particular, the article describes the theory of negligence as applied to an athletic coach, as well as other theories of liability and legal defenses a coach may employ. The article concludes by applying these theories to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Stringer, Wheeler, and Autin