Journey

The nature of the author’s culminating experience is a collaborative EP titled “Journey”. Journey includes 5 songs that draw inspiration from different musical genres which are sometimes blended seamlessly. Collaborations include peers from Berklee Valencia, and other artists/musicians from the United States. The author will also produce a music video for his song “Euphoria”. This project aims to rebrand the author and put everything learned throughout the last 10 years by creating a portfolio as an Artist/Producer/Engineer.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-production-technology/1191/thumbnail.jp

OUR PARENTS MATTER: PARENTAL PERSPECTIVES VS. SCHOOL PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES

The purpose of this research study is to examine parental perspectives and its relation to school performance outcomes. It examines whether there is an alignment between parental perspective and school performance outcomes. A purposeful sample of 7,762 parents, whom self-identify as having an ethnic background of Black or Hispanic, having a low socio-economic status (SES), as well as a student whom attends one of 42 of the public schools within District 7 in the borough of the Bronx in New York City, perspectives were examined. District 7 in the Bronx houses 42 schools in which educate 20,197 students. School entities in the study are those schools located in the Bronx, New York, in which have been identified by the New York City Department of Education Performance Evaluation System, The Quality Review, as being an Underdeveloped, Developing, Proficient, or Well-Developed school. Joyce Epstein’s theoretical framework was used as the basis for this quantitative study. Utilizing Joyce Epstein’s Conceptual Framework for parent involvement as a conceptual framework for analysis, quantitative data were gathered on parental perspective and school performance outcomes. These instruments include the 2018 New York City School Survey and the 2017-2018 Quality Review Report. Studies have been conducted in which the effects of parental perspectives are examined in its relation to school performance outcomes. However, there is limited research with parental perspectives on school entities and its relation to school performance. This research builds upon and extends previous studies, determining the relation of parental perspectives on school performance outcomes. The findings may guide school districts, building, leaders and teachers in improving the relationships between parents and teachers, create the capacity for parents to be deeply engaged in their children’s learning and investment in their children’s school. It can best inform schools with the relation between parental perspectives and school performance, assisting in their action plans in addressing such

Développement et évaluation d'un système multipositions pour les chirurgies du rachis

RÉSUMÉ Dans le cas de pathologies sévères de la colonne vertébrale telles la scoliose, fractures, tumeurs, etc., une intervention chirurgicale d’instrumentation peut être considérée. Le positionnement du patient sur la table d’opération est important afin d’assurer ses fonctions physiologiques et de le maintenir stable pendant l’intervention. Par ailleurs, le positionnement permet d’améliorer et faciliter l’exécution des manoeuvres chirurgicales et l’instrumentation du rachis. À cet effet, un système de positionnement a été développé à l’École Polytechnique et au CHU Sainte-Justine pour les chirurgies de la colonne vertébrale scoliotique pratiquées dans la position en décubitus ventral le « MultiFunctional Positionning Frame » (MFPF). Ce système comporte plusieurs composantes permettant de manipuler et positionner les membres du patient afin de corriger les déformations du rachis et/ou de le manipuler pour modifier la position relative des vertèbres. Le présent projet de maîtrise avait pour objectif principal de réingénier le système MFPF pour permettre le positionnement et le transfert dans deux positions opératoires, à savoir en décubitus ventral et latéral, et d’étudier les performances de ce nouveau système. Ainsi, les objectifs spécifiques du projet étaient de:- Modifier le design du système de positionnement MFPF afin d’améliorer la cinématique des mouvements des membres inférieurs en décubitus ventral, l’adapter aux chirurgies par abord antérieur et permettre le retournement d’une position à l’autre;- Adapter le design afin de permettre des manipulations du rachis par l’entremise de déplacements des membres inférieurs, soit la flexion en position ventrale et l’inflexion latérale en décubitus latéral; - Modéliser le positionnement et les manipulations du nouveau système de positionnement afin d’évaluer la biomécanique de paramètres de positionnement.----------ABSTRACT In the case of severe pathologies of the spine such as scoliosis, fractures, tumors, etc., instrumentation surgery may be considered. Patient positioning on the operating table is important to ensure physiological functions and conserve stability during surgery. Furthermore, the surgical position can improve and facilitate the execution of surgical manoeuvres and instrumentation of the spine. To this end, a positioning system was developed at École Polytechnique and Sainte-Justine University Hospital for surgery of the scoliotic spine performed in the ventral decubitus position—the "Multi-Functional Positioning Frame" (MFPF). This system has several components that can be used to manipulate and position the patient's limbs in order to correct spinal deformations and/or manipulate the spine in order to change the relative position of the vertebrae. The main objective of this thesis project was to re-engineer the MFPF to allow for positioning and transfer in two operating positions, namely in the ventral and lateral decubitus positions, and to study the performance of this new system. Thus, the specific objectives of the project were to:- Modify the design of the MFPF positioning system in order to improve the kinematics of the lower limbs in the ventral decubitus position, adapt the system for anterior approach surgeries and allow for the transfer from one position to the other;- Adapt the design to allow manipulation of the spine through movement of the lower limbs: flexion in the ventral decubitus position and lateral bending in the lateral decubitus position; - Model the positioning and manipulation of the new positioning system to assess the biomechanics of various positioning parameters;- Experimentally test the functionality of the new design

Importancia del frijol en Haití

Programa Cooperativo Regional de Frijol para Centroamérica, México y el Caribe (PROFRIJOL)Cooperación Suiza para el Desarrollo (COSUDE)Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Estación Experimental Agrícola Fabio Baudrit Moreno (EEAFBM

Graphene & Graphene Oxide and amyloid peptide binding and its implications in Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the incorrect cleaving of the transmembrane Amyloid Precursor Protein into the neurotoxic Aβ40 and Aβ42 fragments2. These fragments are soluble oligomers with a random coil conformation that can impair synapses or neurotransmission; they may also aggregate into parallel and antiparallel beta sheets to form amyloid plaques, which can block or distort signaling between neuronal pathways7. Aβ fibrils self-assemble into parallel and antiparallel beta sheets on hydrophobic graphite, but not on hydrophilic mica5,6. Aβ fibrils also assemble on graphene, which irreversibly captures fibrils3, suggesting grapheme might have a role in the study of Alzheimer’s amyloid plaque. These studies characterize binding between amyloid beta peptide fibrils and graphene using Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and circular dichroism (CD). The goal is to provide evidence that graphene can attract free floating Aβ fibrils and Aβ plaque. Both studies currently use diphenylalanine peptide, a self-assembling model peptide for Aβ fibrils

Effects of Metal Compounds with Distinct Physicochemical Properties on Iron Homeostasis and Antibacterial Activity in the Lungs: Chromium and Vanadium

In situ reactions of metal ions or their compounds are important mechanisms by which particles alter lung immune responses. The authors hypothesized that major determinants of the immunomodulatory effect of any metal include its redox behavior/properties, oxidation state, and/or solubility, and that the toxicities arising from differences in physicochemical parameters are manifest, in part, via differential shifts in lung iron (Fe) homeostasis. To test the hypotheses, immunomodulatory potentials for both pentavalent vanadium (V(V); as soluble metavanadate or insoluble vanadium pentoxide) and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI); as soluble sodium chromate or insoluble calcium chromate) were quantified in rats after inhalation (5 h/day for 5 days) of each at 100 mu g metal/m(3). Differences in effects on local bacterial resistance between the two V(V), and between each Cr(VI), agents suggested that solubility might be a determinant of in situ immunotoxicity. For the soluble forms, V(V) had a greater impact on resistance than Cr(VI), indicating that redox behavior/properties was likely also a determinant. The soluble V(V) agent was the strongest immunomodulant. Regarding Fe homeostasis, both V(V) agents had dramatic effects on airway Fe levels. Both also impacted local immune/airway epithelial cell Fe levels in that there were significant increases in production of select cytokines/chemokines whose genes are subject to regulation by HIF-1 (whose intracellular longevity is related to cell Fe status). Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the role that metal compound properties play in respiratory disease pathogenesis and provide a rationale for differing pulmonary immunotoxicities of commonly encountered ambient metal pollutants

Bone marrow CD169+ macrophages promote the retention of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in the mesenchymal stem cell niche

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reside in specialized bone marrow (BM) niches regulated by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Here, we have examined whether mononuclear phagocytes modulate the HSC niche. We defined three populations of BM mononuclear phagocytes that include Gr-1hi monocytes (MOs), Gr-1lo MOs, and macrophages (MΦ) based on differential expression of Gr-1, CD115, F4/80, and CD169. Using MO and MΦ conditional depletion models, we found that reductions in BM mononuclear phagocytes led to reduced BM CXCL12 levels, the selective down-regulation of HSC retention genes in Nestin+ niche cells, and egress of HSCs/progenitors to the bloodstream. Furthermore, specific depletion of CD169+ MΦ, which spares BM MOs, was sufficient to induce HSC/progenitor egress. MΦ depletion also enhanced mobilization induced by a CXCR4 antagonist or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. These results highlight two antagonistic, tightly balanced pathways that regulate maintenance of HSCs/progenitors in the niche during homeostasis, in which MΦ cross talk with the Nestin+ niche cell promotes retention, and in contrast, SNS signals enhance egress. Thus, strategies that target BM MΦ hold the potential to augment stem cell yields in patients that mobilize HSCs/progenitors poorly