Art as Ritual: The Realm Between Identities

Ritualism is everywhere in the world and something that everyone takes part in, whether we acknowledge it or not. Rituals can be as simple as a morning routine or as monumental as memorializing a loved one. The works in this thesis are within the covenant of southern witchcraft and how it comes together in Ritual Art. Through documentation, memory-fueled found objects, and time-based installation I consider how growing up in Georgia and being a practicing witch played a role in my identity formation. Rituals are vital to the identities themselves and the history they hold. Symbolism plays a major role in deciphering these identities and allows me to display relatable emotions to a viewer unfamiliar with the in-group iconography

Creating a protein chimera to study regulation of muscle diversity

Creating a protein chimera to study regulation of muscle diversity. Body muscles are made of many individual super-cells, called muscle fibers, that have distinct properties and determine every individual’s strength and endurance. Initially all muscle fibers have identical characteristics, but become differentiated into specific types in adults. The mechanism of such transition is not well understood, despite its obvious importance for shaping human physicality. Remarkable conservation of the muscle tissue enables us to use fruit flies to study the mechanisms of muscle fiber diversity. We hypothesized that the transcription factor Mef2 acts as a molecular switch that activates structural genes in embryos, but then suppresses the very same genes in adults. To test our hypothesis, we have designed and cloned Mef2::VP16, a chimeric protein that contains the DNA-binding domain from Mef2 and the transactivation domain from Herpes Simplex Virus. We are going to test Mef2::VP16 in flies with the Act57B reporter. Act57B is ubiquitously expressed in all embryonic muscles, but then becomes restricted to a limited set of muscles in adults. If our hypothesis is correct, the flies expressing Mef2::VP16 will reactivate Act57B activity in the muscles where it is normally not expressed, confirming the repressive action of Mef2 transactivation domain and its regulatory role in adult muscles. Since Mef2 is a conserved factor that is involved in muscle regulation in vertebrates and humans, we believe that our study will uncover a new conserved mechanism that underlies muscle tissue diversification

Application of D-dimer to aid in diagnosis of acute aortic dissection

Introduction: Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is an emergent, relatively uncommon condition that typically presents with sudden onset severe chest or back pain.1 Advanced imaging, such as computerized tomography, is currently the gold standard to diagnose AAD; this can be expensive and unavailable at all health care centers. D-dimer is a blood test that has been shown in recent studies to be elevated in acute aortic dissection. This may be a more cost-effective way to help the clinician “rule-out” an acute aortic dissection.1 Objective: The purpose of this research was to determine if there is significant data regarding the sensitivity and specificity of a D-dimer in the use of diagnosing an acute aortic dissection. Methods: A PubMed search was conducted utilizing the following terms and filters: “aortic dissection” and “D-dimer.” Articles were screened and assessed for eligibility based on sample size, evaluation of sensitivity and specificity of d-dimer, and if D-dimer was the only independent factor being examined in diagnosis of an AAD. Results: Our search resulted in one retrospective observational study, one prospective observational study, and one meta-analysis. Conclusion: In a patient presenting to the Emergency Department with symptoms suspicious of an acute aortic dissection, a D-dimer level less than 500ng/ml may be a useful tool to decrease the likelihood of the disease and reduce the need for advanced imaging. The D-dimer is not shown to be specific for acute aortic dissection. The addition of a D-dimer as a first line test may be a quick tool to help a clinician adjust their differential diagnoses to determine the need for imaging.

The Four Corners - 1939 - Scarboro High School Yearbook

https://digitalmaine.com/scarborough_books/1097/thumbnail.jp

Four Corners - 1916 - Scarboro High School - Commencement Issue

https://digitalmaine.com/scarborough_books/1069/thumbnail.jp

The Four Corners - 1924 - Scarborough High School

https://digitalmaine.com/scarborough_books/1080/thumbnail.jp

The Four Corners - 1941 - Scarboro High School Yearbook

https://digitalmaine.com/scarborough_books/1102/thumbnail.jp

The Four Corners - 1945

https://digitalmaine.com/scarborough_books/1111/thumbnail.jp

The Four Corners - 1943

https://digitalmaine.com/scarborough_books/1104/thumbnail.jp