Independent resolutions for totally disconnected dynamical systems I: Algebraic case

This is the first out of two papers on independent resolutions for totally disconnected dynamical systems. In the present paper, we discuss independent resolutions from an algebraic point of view. We also present applications to group homology and cohomology. This first paper sets the stage for our second paper, where we explain how to use independent resolutions in K-theory computations for crossed products attached to totally disconnected dynamical systems.Comment: 26 pages; minor changes improving the expositio

Dax Chizum

Dax David Chisum was born in 1968 in Redondo Beach, California. Dax identifies as a gay, Caucasian, male and sees himself as belonging to the working class. He moved to Idaho at the age of one and was raised in the Wood River Valley, which helped to expose him to a great deal of diversity due to the high volume of tourism in the area. He didn’t have strong religious roots growing up, however when he came out at around the age of 20, his mother had a nervous breakdown and claimed that Dax had “broken her heart.” Now things have changed and Dax is an advocate for human rights at the Idaho Human Rights Education Center. During this interview, Dax touches on his life after coming out, how coming out affected his work for the Idaho Human Rights Education Center, he discusses where he feels most comfortable and uncomfortable as a gay man in Boise, what he feels are the biggest issues facing the Boise LGBTQ community as well as what are some of the biggest obstacles facing the Humans Rights Center in Boise.https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/idlgbtq_oral_histories/1004/thumbnail.jp

Video Recording as a Method for Swedish Preschool Teachers to Analyze Multilingual Strategies

This participatory action research study draws attention to how fifteen preschool teachers develop didactic strategies by using video recording as a method for performing critical and didactic analyses. The overall aim is to develop didactic strategies and knowledge to support multilingual children’s emergent literacy development in Swedish preschools. The starting point for a participatory action research, is action learning and a pragmatic orientation. The approach focuses on human development in an organization where action research is a tool for learning. This study employs a mixed-methods design where qualitative data were analyzed and derived from the preschool teachers’ written reflections related to their video-recorded activities and support of the analysis tool Social Language Environment-Domain, SLE-D (Norling, 2015a). The results show didactic strategies that are related to multilingual children’s interests, strategies that support multilingual children’s empowerment and strategies that challenge multilingual children’s reading and writing processes.Continuing research suggests paying attention to the conditions of multilingual children in preschool education. This entails a long-term effort where action research engages preschool teachers to develop their beliefs into sustainable knowledge, in which video recording can serve as a method for preschool teachers to analyze multilingual strategies

Liposomes for mucosal vaccine delivery: physicochemical characterization and biological application

Liposomes are attractive vaccine carriers due to their potential to act as adjuvants, and to the fact that their composition and characteristics are virtually endlessly customizable. However, the precise physicochemical profile of an ideal carrier liposome for mucosal vaccines is still widely unknown, and how different properties affect key steps in the acquisition of protective immunity remains to be elucidated. Additionally, there is no consensus in the field regarding characterization of vaccine formulations, often with incomplete reporting of properties as a result. The focus of this work is therefore twofold: i) to contribute to a better understanding of how the physicochemical profile of vaccine carrier liposomes impacts the development of protective immunity using models at different levels of complexity, and ii) to improve and simplify the physicochemical characterization of liposomes through development and use of new analytical methods. The work in the first area consists of, firstly, an in vivo characterization of the biological response to vaccine liposomes carrying a vaccine protein and characterized by varying surface hydrophilicity (PEGylation). This study showed that non-PEGylated vaccine liposomes more efficiently induced local cell- and antibody-mediated immune responses, as well as better protection against a lethal virus challenge than both PEGylated liposomes and free vaccine protein. Secondly, in vitro studies focused on how liposome stiffness influences dendritic cells, investigating effects on uptake, antigen presentation and cellular activation. These investigations demonstrated that stiff, gel phase liposomes were able to more efficiently activate dendritic cells and induce significantly higher levels of antigen presentation and co-stimulatory signaling compared to both soft, fluid phase liposomes, and free vaccine protein. The work in the second part comprises two studies: a surface plasmon resonance-based method to characterize the influence on liposome deformation from specific multivalent interactions with supported cell membrane mimics, and a waveguide microscopy technique for characterization of optical properties of individual liposomes. While the latter method might become valuable in the context of quantifying the efficiency of dye labelling of liposomes, the surface plasmon resonance study offered information on how liposome deformation depends on membrane stiffness and ligand-receptor pair density. Taken together, the work presented in this thesis demonstrate the value of multidisciplinary approaches to complex biological and medical challenges

Finding Common Ground: Defining and Measuring Provider-Patient Rapport

Rapport, an important factor in provider-patient communication and a key component of relational communication, has been inconsistently defined in the literature. Additionally, researchers have found it difficult to measure to its complex and often ambiguous nature. This project provides a conceptual and operational definition of rapport, as well, as identifies some of the measurable components of rapport

Finding Bix: The Life and Afterlife of a Jazz Legend

Review of: "Finding Bix: The Life and Afterlife of a Jazz Legend," by Brendan Wolfe

Finding Bix: The Life and Afterlife of a Jazz Legend

Review of: Finding Bix: The Life and Afterlife of a Jazz Legend, by Brendan Wolfe