Bridging the Gap between Food Insecurity and Subsequent Child Body Mass: Mediating Effects of Dietary Quality and Feeding Styles in Low-Income Hispanic Preschoolers

Background: Low-income Hispanic preschoolers face disproportionately high prevalence of food insecurity (FI) and obesity. Consumption of low-cost, energy-dense foods to compensate for FI leads to excess body-mass. FI parents may adopt feeding styles that contribute to decline in children’s dietary quality. Feeding style describes the amount of demandingness (i.e., control of children’s eating) and responsiveness (i.e., warmth used to express demandingness). FI may indirectly contribute to obesity through dietary quality and feeding style. Purpose: This study investigated: 1. if dietary quality mediated the relationship between food security status (FSS) at Time 1 (T1) and child body-mass at Time 2 (T2), 2. if feeding demandingness (PFD) and/or responsiveness (PFR) mediated the relationship between FSS at T1 and child dietary quality at T2, 3. explored if gender and/or parental acculturation moderated the mediation. Method: The current study was a secondary analysis of an observational study (R01 HD06257, PI: Hughes). Hispanic parent-preschooler dyads (n=137) provided data through the 6-item Household Food Security Survey, Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI), Caregiver’s Feeding Style Questionnaire, Bidmensional Acculturation Scale, and body-mass-index z-score (BMIz) at two timepoints 18 months apart. Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were conducted using regression models while controlling co-variates. Bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals estimated indirect effects. Outcomes: FSST1 did not indirectly influence child BMIzT2 through HEIT1 (ab= -0.00, bootstrap CI [-0.15, 0.03]). FSST1 also did not indirectly influence HEIT2 through PFDT1 (ab= -0.01, bootstrap CI [-0.15, 0.03]) or PFRT1 (ab= 0.01, bootstrap CI [-0.04, 0.14]). However, as FSST1 worsened, HEI-2015T2 improved (c= 1.06, 95% CI [0.43, 1.69]). As a co-variate, higher baseline English acculturationT1 predicted lower HEI-2015T2 (β= -3.44, 95% CI [-5.62, -1.26]) and higher BMIzT2 (β= 0.13, 95% CI [0.05, 0.21]); however, it did not have significant conditional effects in moderated mediation models. Gender (pFSSxGender= .04) moderated the direct effect of FSST1 on BMIzT2; however, effect size ((β= 0.05, 95% CI [0.002, 0.09]) was too small to be clinically relevant. Conclusion: FI did not affect body-mass through dietary quality, nor did it affect dietary quality through PFD or PFR. However, an unexpected positive direct relationship between FI and subsequent dietary quality warrants further exploration

Tracking the path of a mobile radioactive source using a wireless sensor network

This report describes several experiments used to characterize and test a network of radiation sensors. The purpose of these tests is to assess the feasibility of using these sensors to detect and track radioactive sources in a large field, as in a battlefield or on a military campus. Simulated radiation measurements are used to compare the result of radiation detection accuracy in tracking the moving target and to find its path as early as possible. This is done via changing the number of sensing nodes deployed (deployment density), as well as the models of the detectors. This thesis describes algorithms for both detecting the presence and tracking the position of radioactive sources. It formulates the detection problem as a nonparametric hypothesis-testing problem that is solved by comparing a statistic computed over some window of observation of the data to a threshold value. If this threshold is exceeded then it is decided that a source is present. The tracking results thus found are compared with the actual chosen path within the implemented experiment. Detection delay has been measured while trading off battery consumption and accuracy

Neural Field Theory of Nonlinear Wave-Wave and Wave-Neuron Processes

Biophysical processes related to the modulation of cellular mechanisms occur due to either presynaptic or postsynaptic effects. These processes involve some physiological phenomena whose different dynamics can potentially be distinguished via traces they leave in the power spectra of brain activity and/or connectivity fluctuations. Systematic expansion of NFT equations in terms of nonlinear response functions is formulated in Chapter 2 to enable a wide variety of nonlinear wave-wave and wave-neuron processes. This theory helps to handle neural quantities such as firing rates, neural field, soma voltage, threshold, and coupling strength, along with their steady state values and perturbations. Many physiological processes such as facilitation, habituation, and refractoriness can be interpreted as the consequences of neural feedbacks that allow presynaptic and postsynaptic firing rates to modulate firing thresholds or synaptic strengths at a given location. NFT is used to analyze such feedback processes to determine their signatures, which are measurable through fluctuations in the power spectra of brain activity in Chapter 3. Depending on the feedback processes, these signatures include either enhancement or reduction of low-frequency activities, effects near the alpha resonance (enhancements and/or resonance splitting), and the appearance of new resonances. Physiological phenomena related to nonlinear feedback processes can potentially be identified and distinguished by means of these different spectral signatures. The spatiotemporal power spectra of connectivity fluctuations are also analyzed via NFT in Chapter 4, which also show distinctive features. Some spectral signatures result from the contributions from discrete spatial modes to the frequency power spectra depending on feedbacks. Some of these appear to be characteristic of just one feedback type and can potentially be used as diagnostics in experiments. Some ideas for future work are mentioned in Chapter 5

The Role of Market Orientation in accelerating Innovation for startups and established small businesses

Master of Science in Business (Siviløkonom) - Nord universitet 202

In Richard Wright's native soon, the gaze of the white eye ironically selfblinding works as panopticon and makes the black go blind

In Native Son Richard Wright explains the causes of the psychological blindness of the Blacks and of the Whites, along with their results. Wright illustrates how the white gaze and ideology work as panopticon and force the Blacks into a pressured and dangerous state of mind while the media constantly portrays them as animalistic brutes. This conditioning bounds the Black to react violently or to become blind towards own existence. Unknowingly the Whites also get conditioned by their deep-seated racial prejudices, despite some rare good intentions. Mrs. Dalton’s blindness represents White inability to see Blacks as anything other than the White media-enforced-stereotypes. Richard Wright deliberately suggests that America is self blinding, seeking to address the symptoms of racism while remaining incognizant of reality. In Bigger’s blindness, like Sophocles, Wright connects the idea of ‘excessive pride’ and anger. Bigger is as blind to his potentials as of the duality of the reality. This blindness, of which all the Biggers are the victims, results from the constant attack of racist propaganda and racial oppression. The Whites willingly created this dual blindness by using their ideological gaze as panopticon in order to condition Black life accordingly and to negate Black existence totally

Recurring issues and concerns in wind energy project Environmental Assessments: analysis of western Canada

Investment in renewable energy is essential to a low carbon future. Wind energy is Canada’s fastest growing renewable energy sector. Although not as disputed as fossil fuel-based energy projects, such as oil sands mines or pipelines, wind energy projects can be controversial. Understanding the typical issues and concerns that emerge when wind energy projects are proposed is important to manage the transaction costs for renewable energy projects. This research examined 16 environmental assessments (EAs) for wind energy projects in western Canada to determine the recurring issues and concerns raised by government reviewers, project interveners, and other affected interests when projects are tabled. A total of 50 different issues were identified. These were raised 848 times in EA comments and submissions. Although variability existed in the number and diversity of issues by jurisdiction and by project, depending on location and size, concerns about land use, impacts on human well-being, impacts on natural ecosystems, and economic opportunity and impact, represented 79% of all issues and concerns. The majority of issues reflect project-specific impacts and concerns, but many issues including impacts to other land tenure holders or licensees (such as other utilities and industries) are issues that are beyond the scope and scale of what can be resolved at the time wind energy projects are proposed. Understanding and addressing the recurrent issues and concerns raised when wind energy projects are proposed and identifying and off-ramping the bigger issues to the planning and strategic process, are important conditions for energy transition

Study of solar activity and its impact on terrestrial environment

Not availabl

The Role of Autophagy and Senescence in the Responses of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells to Chemotherapy and Radiation

Cancer-associated deaths account for the second-highest mortality rates in the United States. Primary modalities of treatment often include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, and may also incorporate targeted therapy and immunotherapy. However, resistance to these treatments remains high, resulting in disease reoccurrence and poor survival rates. While apoptosis or cell death of tumor cells is the ideal outcome for anti-cancer therapy, this is often not the case, and in fact cancer cells may upregulate several pathways, such as autophagy and senescence, as a means to undergo alternative cell fate and evade apoptotic cell death. An essential tumor suppressor gene, TP53, regulates all three of these processes, apoptosis, autophagy, and senescence, and loss of function or mutated TP53 is often implicated in early tumorigenesis and reduced sensitivity to antineoplastic therapy. To assess the effects of p53 status on the functionality of autophagy and cellular responses to radiation and chemotherapy, we utilized a pair of isogenic non-small cell lung cancer cells (NSCLC) expressing wild type p53 (H460wt) or lacking p53 expression generated using CRISPR/Cas9 editing (H460crp53). Exposure to the DNA-damaging agents, cisplatin and radiotherapy, revealed differential sensitivity between H460wt and H460crp53 cells, in which H460crp53 cells were significantly less sensitive to cisplatin and radiation exposure compared to their wild-type counterpart. In response to radiotherapy, apoptosis was induced to similar extents in both cell lines, while autophagy interference identified a nonprotective function of autophagy in response in both cell lines, regardless of p53 status. Rather, the differential radiosensitivity exhibited between H460wt and H460crp53 cells was attributed to differences in senescence induction, where H460wt cells demonstrated a significantly greater extent of senescence induction. Of particular interest was the finding that when the same set of isogenic cell lines was exposed to cisplatin, the cells exhibited a similar extent of senescence induction over time; however, autophagy inhibition revealed two different functional forms of autophagy: nonprotective autophagy in H460wt cells and cytoprotective autophagy in H460crp53 cells. Blockade of cytoprotective autophagy in H460crp53 exposed to cisplatin was sufficient to restore sensitivity and apoptosis induction to a similar extent as in the H460wt cells, further confirming the existence of an autophagic switch and the role of cytoprotective autophagy in the initial resistance to cytotoxic therapy. Finally, given concomitant activation of both autophagy and senescence in response to chemotherapy and radiation, we also examined the relationship between these two processes. At least in the case of nonprotective autophagy, autophagy inhibition did not interfere with senescence induction or proliferative recovery from growth arrest, indicating these two processes may be dissociated when autophagy is nonprotective in function. Taken together, cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy activate a number of cellular mechanisms, such as autophagy and senescence, and not solely apoptotic cell death; consequently, further analysis and screening are warranted prior to therapeutic administration of autophagy inhibitors to patients. While autophagy seems to be an attractive therapeutic target under its cytoprotective function, autophagy can in fact play multiple functions and switch functional responses. These studies demonstrate that autophagy is contextual in nature and may, in part, depend on the therapeutic modality utilized and the p53 status of the tumor cells

U-Net Based Multiclass Semantic Segmentation for Natural Disaster Based Satellite Imagery

Satellite image analysis of natural disasters is critical for effective emergency response, relief planning, and disaster prevention. Semantic segmentation is believed to be on of the best techniques to capture pixelwise information in computer vision. In this work we will be using a U-Net architecture to do a three class semantic segmentation for the Xview2 dataset to capture the level of damage caused by different natural disaster which is beyond the visual scope of human eyes

Sistem Pakar Penentuan Hak Waris Berdasarkan Hukum Islam yang Sesuai Dengan Al-Qur’an dan As-Sunnah yang Shahih

Abstrak— Seiring berkembangnya teknologi, banyak teknologiyang dapat digunakan untuk mempermudah urusan manusia.Masyarakat yang ingin mengamalkan hukum Islam dapatmemanfaatkan teknologi untuk membantu mereka mengetahuisolusi dari suatu permasalahan dalam masalah agama, salahsatunya adalah permasalahan yang berkaitan dengan ilmu waris.Sistem pakar merupakan salah satu teknologi yang meniru carakerja seorang pakar waris dalam menyelesaikan permasalahanwarisan. Sistem pakar ini sangat berguna khususnya saatmasyarakat yang ingin mengamalkan hukum Islam yang satu initidak menemui ustadz, kiayi, dan sebagainya untuk bertanyatentang masalah pembagian waris. Oleh karena itu, dibuatlahsebuah aplikasi sistem pakar yang dapat menyelesaikanpermasalahan berkaitan pembagian harta warisan dan jugadapat menampilkan dasar hukum dari hasil perhitungan waris,serta memiliki fitur untuk mempelajari tentang ilmu waris didalamnya. Aplikasi sistem pakar ini dibuat dengan metodeinferensi forward chaining. Cara kerja aplikasi sistem pakar inipada perhitungan warisan adalah dengan memilih jenis kelaminmayit, memasukkan jumlah harta mayit yang sudah dikurangidengan biaya pengurusan jenazah, hutang dan wasiat, kemudianmemilih siapa saja ahli waris yang masih hidup serta berapajumlahnya, kemudian keluaran yang dihasilkan adalah ahliwaris yang mendapat warisan beserta jumlah harta yangdidapatkan dan landasan hukum dari perhitungan tersebut.Hasil dari tugas akhir ini diharapkan dapat membantu kaummuslimin untuk dapat menyelesaikan permasalahan warisdengan merujuk kepada Al-Qur’an dan As-Sunnah yang shohih