The Need and Emergence of Political Power for \u27Asian American\u27 or AAPI and Its Impacts Today: Comparison Between the Black Power Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Rise of Asians

The first known Asians arrived in the United States in the 16th century. By the mid-19th century, major waves of Asian immigrants traveled to the United States. During this time, early Asian immigrants faced racist stereotypes, discrimination, and exclusionary legislations. Inspired by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, early Asian activists created political coalitions, redefined their identity, and gained political power. Gaining political power ensures they are incorporated into society, their needs are addressed, resources are shared equally, and meaningful influence over government policies were obtained. Through this, early Asians created their self-determined label and political coalition: ‘Asian American’. Yet this label today creates issues with aggregation and the model minority myth. From this, my thesis aims to analyze how early Asian activism worked in solidarity with African American activist, how early Asian activists used similar tactics from the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements to achieve political power, analyze the unique struggles early Asians faced in pursuit for political power, and analyze the issues of the ‘Asian American’ label and model minority myth today. With this, this thesis will argue that despite the achievements gained early Asian activists, Asians today still face issues with integration due to lack of visibility, the model minority myth, and the evolving issues with the label ‘Asian American’. This thesis will argue how the population of ‘Asian American’ has increased and diversified so much today that the ‘Asian American’ label no longer suffice and thus must evolve to reflect what that population is today

The Animal in the Wild in \u3cem\u3eHwang Sun-mi’s The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly\u3c/em\u3e

Hwang Sun-mi’s The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly has become a contemporary classic children’s story in Korea since its original publication in 2000. Since then, the story has been translated and redesigned with new illustrations in almost thirty different countries (Y. Kim). The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly centers on a hen that raises a duckling as her “baby,” with the story drawing upon a rich reservoir of cultural associations between humans and nature in East Asian traditions. In this story, the hen leaves the human-dominated barnyard, based on profit, exploitation, and competition, for a reconnection with moral virtues in the natural world. By leaving the human-organized society, the hen Sprout realizes her name’s potential for vitality and growth. This paper explores cultural connections between the animal and nature in Hwang’s story within a Korean context, inviting comparisons between Western and Eastern environmental perspectives

Cladding the Mid-Century Modern: Thin Stone Veneer-Faced Precast Concrete

With significant advancements in building technology at the turn of the twentieth century, new building materials and innovative systems changed the conventions of construction and design. New materials were introduced and old materials continued to be transformed for new uses. With growing demand after WWII forcing further modernization and standardization and greater experimentation; adequate research and testing was not always pursued. Focusing on this specific composite cladding material consisting of thin stone veneer-faced precast concrete – the official name given at the time – this research aims to identify what drove the design and how did the initial design change over time. Design decisions and changes are evident from and identified by closely studying the industry and trade literature in the form of articles, handbooks/manuals, and guide specifications. For this cladding material, there are two major industries that came together: the precast concrete industry and the stone industry. Literature from both industries provide a comprehensive understanding of their exchange and collaboration. From the information in the trade literature, case studies using early forms of thin stone veneer-faced precast concrete are identified, and the performance of the material over time is discussed. This cladding material seems to appear on the US market generally in the 1960s and 1970s. Three fundamental questions were asked: 1) What were the designs and how did they evolve over time; 2) what kind of issues or failures came about; and 3) what measures were taken to address them; 4) what changes were made to mitigate future failures? Technical design decisions are dependent on physical performance of the individual materials and the interaction between the two. Other conditions such as economy, client demand, and architectural trends influence those decisions. As the architecture from this era now enters into the realm of preservation, it is important to understand and assess the historical and technical context and background of this composite material and system in order to allow for informed choices to be made regarding preservation strategies

Differential Diagnostic Considerations in a Patient With New Onset Apathy: A Case Study on Frontal Lobe Glioblastoma Multiforme

This case study involves a 50 year-old previously healthy female presenting with a two-week history of clinically significant apathy. The patient and her family assume her symptoms are due to a potential underlying psychiatric condition; however, neurologic and systemic disorders should also be considered when evaluating a patient with sudden personality change. After a thorough history and physical exam, further evaluation with neuroimaging is performed due to suspicion of neurological etiology. A sizable ring-enhancing lesion in the frontal lobe is noted on MRI, and a diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is confirmed with biopsy. GBM, or grade 4 astrocytoma, is an aggressive primary brain tumor with a poor prognosis. Neurological deficits can develop quickly over days to weeks, and may vary depending on tumor location. Most GBMs are located supratentorial, with the majority in the frontal or temporal lobes. Sudden personality or mood changes are highly indicative of GBM located in the frontal lobe due to its role in managing executive functions, such as initiating and focusing on tasks, emotional control, and organization. After maximal surgical resection of the tumor, radiation, and chemotherapy, a patient with GBM may prolong their survival from 3-months to 15-months; therefore prompt diagnosis and early initiation of treatment is imperative. Working with a highly skilled multidisciplinary care team is also important in coordinating an individualized treatment plan for patients with GBM

A background correction method to compensate illumination variation in hyperspectral imaging.

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) can measure both spatial (morphological) and spectral (biochemical) information from biological tissues. While HSI appears promising for biomedical applications, interpretation of hyperspectral images can be challenging when data is acquired in complex biological environments. Variations in surface topology or optical power distribution at the sample, encountered for example during endoscopy, can lead to errors in post-processing of the HSI data, compromising disease diagnostic capabilities. Here, we propose a background correction method to compensate for such variations, which estimates the optical properties of illumination at the target based on the normalised spectral profile of the light source and the measured HSI intensity values at a fixed wavelength where the absorption characteristics of the sample are relatively low (in this case, 800 nm). We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method by imaging blood samples, tissue-mimicking phantoms, and ex vivo chicken tissue. Moreover, using synthetic HSI data composed from experimentally measured spectra, we show the proposed method would improve statistical analysis of HSI data. The proposed method could help the implementation of HSI techniques in practical clinical applications, where controlling the illumination pattern and power is difficult

Myosin IIA-mediated forces regulate multicellular integrity during vascular sprouting

Angiogenic sprouting is a critical process involved in vascular network formation within tissues. During sprouting, tip cells and ensuing stalk cells migrate collectively into the extracellular matrix while preserving cell-cell junctions, forming patent structures that support blood flow. Although several signaling pathways have been identified as controlling sprouting, it remains unclear to what extent this process is mechanoregulated. To address this question, we investigated the role of cellular contractility in sprout morphogenesis, using a biomimetic model of angiogenesis. Three-dimensional maps of mechanical deformations generated by sprouts revealed that mainly leader cells, not stalk cells, exert contractile forces on the surrounding matrix. Surprisingly, inhibiting cellular contractility with blebbistatin did not affect the extent of cellular invasion but resulted in cell-cell dissociation primarily between tip and stalk cells. Closer examination of cell-cell junctions revealed that blebbistatin impaired adherens-junction organization, particularly between tip and stalk cells. Using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing, we further identified NMIIA as the major isoform responsible for regulating multicellularity and cell contractility during sprouting. Together, these studies reveal a critical role for NMIIA-mediated contractile forces in maintaining multicellularity during sprouting and highlight the central role of forces in regulating cell-cell adhesions during collective motility.R01 EB000262 - NIBIB NIH HHS; R01 HL115553 - NHLBI NIH HHSPublished versio

Organic Chemistry: A Call to Action for Diversity and Inclusion

By now, most of us in the field of organic chemistry have become aware of the recent Perspective Article by Hudlicky published on the Angewandte Chemie, International Edition website(1) and then quickly removed as a result of rapid and strong denunciation on social media and in other forums. We have had complex emotional responses to the opinions expressed in this piece regarding the effects of diversity and inclusion efforts in chemistry: anger, that such regressive views were provided a platform in one of our leading chemistry journals; surprise, that the piece made it through the peer review process; and disappointment, that these views continue to persist, despite our hope that the climate for researchers in organic chemistry had improved since we were all trainees