Mina Benson Hubbard (1870-1956)

In July, 1905, a young widow embarked upon a 576-mile journey through a relatively unexplored region of central Labrador. This trip was to complete the work left unfinished by her late husband, Leonidas Hubbard, Jr. He had conceived the idea of finding and mapping a navigable water route from North West River on Lake Melville to the George River post. ... Mina Benson Hubbard became the first white woman to travel over the territory; she was preceded by only two white men. In 1838 John McLean, a Hudson's Bay Company employee, had passed through much of the region, and in 1875-76 Pêre Lacasse, a Roman Catholic missionary, travelled over the area. Mina, however, produced the first reliable maps of the Nascaupee and George River watersheds. Her book A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador and her diaries provide descriptions of her encounters with the Naskaupi and Montagnais Indians, and of the last great herds of Labrador's barrenland caribou. She was one of the last people to view the life of central Labrador in its pristine state. ..

Collagen Crosslinking Reagent Utilized to Modify the Mechanical Properties of the Soft Palate in Equine Snoring and Apnea Applications

Snoring is a sleep disruption that can lead to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which interrupts breathing by obstructing the airway. Injecting a protein crosslinker, such as genipin, into the soft palate could decrease the severity of snoring and OSA by stiffening the soft palate. Equine soft palates modeled human palates due to a high incidence of awake snoring and apnea. The pilot in vivo study treated six horses with two 100 mM injections of the buffered genipin reagent. The efficacy phase horses underwent respiratory audio recordings to document snoring changes using Matlab and ImageJ in the time and frequency domains. Histological analysis was completed on the safety phase palates post treatment. All horses were successfully treated with the genipin injections. At least one horse showed high frequency amplitude reductions, and all horses had low frequency amplitude reductions, correlating to a reduction in palatal displacement and snoring loudness. One efficacy horse appears to have been completely cured. The histological analysis presented tissue damage, mucosal tissue damage, and mild inflammation due to palate expansion and errant injections. Different injection volumes and techniques should be investigated next. Applying this treatment to human studies for snoring and OSA applications is the ultimate goal

As If I Could Do Anything Except Just Sit and Stare : A Gaze of a Viewer/Reader in \u3ci\u3ePsycho\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eTo The Lighthouse\u3c/i\u3e

At the end of Alfred Hitchcock\u27s film Psycho, the figure of Norman Bates (or maybe the figure of his mother--at this point, the distinction is fogged) hugs a blanket around him as he sits in his prison cell, staring, perfectly still except for the movements of his eyes, the expressions on his face, the slight movement of his head. He stares directly at the camera, the audience, while the phantom voice of Mother explains her trouble with her son ( he was always--bad ). The camera does not shift angles during this scene to relieve us of this penetrating gaze, but this also means that our viewer\u27s gaze continues to focus on Norman; like Mother/Norman, we sit and stare ; the cinematic screen acts as a window through which we see a reflection of our own viewing action. As readers and viewers, our image remains absent from the novel we read or the film we watch, because the plane of the paper or the screen acts as a divider between the realm of the text and the realm of the reader. We can never see the camera that does the shooting, since it belongs neither to the scene of the film frame nor to the outside world of the viewer; instead, it has an invisible presence upon which nothing and everything rests; it is an unseen necessity, without which the image cannot be projected or transformed to film. But the filming of a view that appears free of the apparatus of the camera and the viewer can be accomplished only through the technical achievement of the apparatus itself. In taking a photograph, for example, I am always present as the person behind the camera, behind that already extra pane of glass, even if my camera and I do not throw a reflection or shadow on the text of the photograph. However, when watching Psycho, I am highly aware of my own viewing presence. I am interested in exploring how this awareness comes about--how do texts cause a reflection of me as viewer? Along with Psycho, I want to examine Virginia Woolf\u27s novel To The Lighthouse. I realize that this is rather an odd mix of genre and cultural class, but both works prompt in me a window-like reflection of my own role as reader and viewer because of self references to seeing through what I will call an extra pane of glass, but that can take the form of a painting or a peephole, a mirror or an alien voice. Both texts share the characteristic of displaying multiple viewpoints within their narrative structures; To The Lighthouse relies almost exclusively on the points of view established in the thoughts of several different characters. Psycho allows us to see both through the eyes of Marion and through the eyes of Norman--a dramatic contrast of subject and object of the gaze, of victim and murderer. A shot/reverse shot sequence often works in theory to establish point of view in cinema. If a shot shows a view (the camera must not revolve more than 1800 in order for this to work), the next shot reverses that view by 1800 to show a figure looking. This inscribes that the view we are shown in the first shot belongs to the viewer pictured in its reverse shot. This denies the presence of the camera and of the audience because we can never be imaged in that second shot. Both Psycho and To The Lighthouse incorporate elements of this technique into the creation of multiple points of view, but I believe that there are moments in both works that defy suture by leaving the second shot open, by showing a view without a viewpoint from which to anchor it. In the final scenes of Psycho, for example, when the camera focuses on Norman--who stares back out of it and at whom we stare, the camera does not show the reverse shot of him--it does not show either a guard watching him or the blank wall of his cell. What this does, I think, is create the possibility for the incomplete shot/reverse shot sequence to reflect my own point of view

Recognizing and Addressing the Oral Health Needs of Georgia

Background: The intent of this report is to provide an assessment of oral health needs for Georgia and to highlight the efforts underway at the Dental College of Georgia (DCG) at Augusta University to address these needs. In underserved areas of Georgia, the burden of untreated oral disease remains high. Because of in-migration and the inadequate availability of educational programs, the population continues to grow faster than the number of health care providers. Methods: An overview of the oral health needs in Georgia is provided, along with a review of the ongoing outreach by the DCG to address those oral health needs. The data presented are derived from a variety of reports on oral health care workforce issues in Georgia between 2004 and 2014. Results: By partnering with dental clinics across the state of Georgia, the DCG continues to improve the provision of primary oral health care in underserved communities. This effort expands the clinical outreach through year-round student rotations and by fostering collaboration between dental and medical students within these clinics with the integration of primary care and public health prevention strategies. Recruitment to address the shortage and maldistribution of dentists and admissions policies to increase class size and to enhance diversity are also discussed. Conclusions: The DCG will continue to collaborate with Dental Public Health, private dental clinics, and Area Health Education Centers to treat the underserved in a network of statewide clinics. Additionally, they will provide a larger and more diverse cohort of dentists. The goal is to expand overall activities for a greater statewide impact on oral health during these difficult economic times

The use of solution-oriented coaching to facilitate teacher’s applications of education technology in a primary school

A vision for education redesigned with technology to equip pupils to succeed in the 21st century has been espoused internationally. Technology is reported to enhance learning outcomes, however, applications of technology in schools is varied and complex. This study sought to investigate how solution-oriented coaching could facilitate technology applications, with the aim of promoting teaching and learning. There were two research questions. Firstly, how can a solution-oriented coaching framework be applied with a primary school setting to facilitate change with education technology? Secondly, how can a solution-oriented coaching framework help teachers to develop their knowledge, confidence, and skills in applying education technology? An action research solution-oriented framework was employed to capture the practicalities, challenges, and solutions around technology application. The research involved ten members of staff from a single form entry mainstream primary school. The staff were invited to participate in group and individual solution-oriented coaching sessions. Self-ratings of knowledge, confidence, skills, and goals were taken before, during and after the coaching and were analysed to capture individual and group change. Data was also analysed using a SWOT framework (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). The research suggested that solution-oriented coaching is a helpful and effective approach to facilitate change in teacher’s confidence, knowledge, and applications of education technology. Limitations of the research are considered. Further research is needed to explore the influence of coaching on teacher’s applications of technology and learning outcomes. Implications and recommendations for education technology policy, school improvement, and educational psychologists are offered. Conclusions drawn emphasise that the solution-oriented coaching framework can be successful in creating change in education technology applications because it considers individual and systemic influences, and this in turn amplifies strengths and the construction of personalised goals, implementation planning and solutions

A Data Cube Extraction Pipeline for a Coronagraphic Integral Field Spectrograph

Project 1640 is a high contrast near-infrared instrument probing the vicinities of nearby stars through the unique combination of an integral field spectrograph with a Lyot coronagraph and a high-order adaptive optics system. The extraordinary data reduction demands, similar those which several new exoplanet imaging instruments will face in the near future, have been met by the novel software algorithms described herein. The Project 1640 Data Cube Extraction Pipeline (PCXP) automates the translation of 3.8*10^4 closely packed, coarsely sampled spectra to a data cube. We implement a robust empirical model of the spectrograph focal plane geometry to register the detector image at sub-pixel precision, and map the cube extraction. We demonstrate our ability to accurately retrieve source spectra based on an observation of Saturn's moon Titan.Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures; accepted for publication in PAS

The use of solution-oriented coaching to facilitate teacher’s applications of education technology in a primary school

A vision for education redesigned with technology to equip pupils to succeed in the 21st century has been espoused internationally. Technology is reported to enhance learning outcomes, however, applications of technology in schools is varied and complex. This study sought to investigate how solution-oriented coaching could facilitate technology applications, with the aim of promoting teaching and learning. There were two research questions. Firstly, how can a solution-oriented coaching framework be applied with a primary school setting to facilitate change with education technology? Secondly, how can a solution-oriented coaching framework help teachers to develop their knowledge, confidence, and skills in applying education technology? An action research solution-oriented framework was employed to capture the practicalities, challenges, and solutions around technology application. The research involved ten members of staff from a single form entry mainstream primary school. The staff were invited to participate in group and individual solution-oriented coaching sessions. Self-ratings of knowledge, confidence, skills, and goals were taken before, during and after the coaching and were analysed to capture individual and group change. Data was also analysed using a SWOT framework (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). The research suggested that solution-oriented coaching is a helpful and effective approach to facilitate change in teacher’s confidence, knowledge, and applications of education technology. Limitations of the research are considered. Further research is needed to explore the influence of coaching on teacher’s applications of technology and learning outcomes. Implications and recommendations for education technology policy, school improvement, and educational psychologists are offered. Conclusions drawn emphasise that the solution-oriented coaching framework can be successful in creating change in education technology applications because it considers individual and systemic influences, and this in turn amplifies strengths and the construction of personalised goals, implementation planning and solutions

Soft Palate Modification Using a Collagen Crosslinking Reagent for Equine Dorsal Displacement of the Soft Palate and Other Upper Airway Breathing Disorders

The mechanical properties of the soft palate can be associated with breathing abnormalities. Dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) is a naturally occurring equine soft palate disorder caused by displacement of the caudal edge of the soft palate. Snoring and a more serious, sometimes life-threatening, condition called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are forms of sleep-related breathing disorders in humans which may involve the soft palate. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of injecting the protein crosslinker genipin into the soft palate to modify its mechanical properties for the treatment of equine DDSP with potential implications for the treatment of snoring and OSA in humans. Ex vivo experiments consisted of mechanical testing and a wind tunnel study to examine the effect of genipin on the mechanical properties, displacement, and vibration of equine soft palates. A pilot in vivo study was completed using DDSP and control horses to test the safety and effectiveness of injecting a genipin reagent into the soft palate. The wind tunnel testing demonstrated a greater than 50% decrease in transient deformation and a greater than 33% decrease in steady-state vibrations for all doses of genipin tested. Ultimate tensile stress, yield stress, and Young’s modulus were higher in the genipin-treated distal soft palate specimens by 52%, 53%, and 63%, respectively. The pilot in vivo study showed a reduction of snoring loudness in all DDSP horses and elimination of DDSP in at least one of three horses. The difficulty of using a 1-meter-long endoscopic injection needle contributed to a consistent overinjection of the equine soft palates, causing excessive stretching (pillowing) and related degradation of the tissue. These ex vivo and in vivo results demonstrated reduced vibration amplitude and flaccidity and increased strength of genipin-treated soft palates, suggesting that genipin crosslinking could become an effective and safe treatment for soft palate related breathing abnormalities

Effects of aging on the relationship between cognitive demand and step variability during dual-task walking

A U-shaped relationship between cognitive demand and gait control may exist in dual-task situations, reflecting opposing effects of external focus of attention and attentional resource competition. The purpose of the study was twofold: to examine whether gait control, as evaluated from step-to-step variability, is related to cognitive task difficulty in a U-shaped manner and to determine whether age modifies this relationship. Young and older adults walked on a treadmill without attentional requirement and while performing a dichotic listening task under three attention conditions: non-forced (NF), forced-right (FR), and forced-left (FL). The conditions increased in their attentional demand and requirement for inhibitory control. Gait control was evaluated by the variability of step parameters related to balance control (step width) and rhythmic stepping pattern (step length and step time). A U-shaped relationship was found for step width variability in both young and older adults and for step time variability in older adults only. Cognitive performance during dual tasking was maintained in both young and older adults. The U-shaped relationship, which presumably results from a trade-off between an external focus of attention and competition for attentional resources, implies that higher-level cognitive processes are involved in walking in young and older adults. Specifically, while these processes are initially involved only in the control of (lateral) balance during gait, they become necessary for the control of (fore-aft) rhythmic stepping pattern in older adults, suggesting that attentional resources turn out to be needed in all facets of walking with aging. Finally, despite the cognitive resources required by walking, both young and older adults spontaneously adopted a “posture second” strategy, prioritizing the cognitive task over the gait task