What is Colorism?

Analyze any advertising campaign colorism, dark-skinned, skin lightening, skin bleaching or notice the types of people represented in the media and on television and one major conclusion will be made clear -- Colorism is a prevalent issue worldwide. When the complexity of colorism transpires within a race it causes an even greater societal struggle, making it almost impossible to eliminate

An electromyographic evaluation of dual role breathing and upper body muscles in response to front crawl swimming

The upper body trunk musculature is key in supporting breathing, propulsion, and stabilization during front crawl swimming. The aim of this study was to determine if the latissimus dorsi, pectoralis major, and serratus anterior contributed to the development of inspiratory muscle fatigue observed following front crawl swimming. Fourteen trained swimmers completed a 200-m front crawl swim at 90% of race pace. Maximal inspiratory and expiratory mouth pressures (PImax and PEmax) were assessed before (baseline) and after each swim, and electromyography was recorded from the three muscles. Post-swim PImax fell by 11% (P < 0.001, d = 0.57) and the median frequency (MDF: a measure of fatigue) of the latissimus dorsi, pectoralis major, and serratus anterior fell to 90% (P = 0.001, d = 1.57), 87% (P = 0.001, r = −0.60) and 89% (P = 0.018, d = 1.04) of baseline, respectively. The fall in serratus anterior MDF was correlated with breathing frequency (r = 0.675, P = 0.008) and stroke rate (r = 0.639, P = 0.014). The results suggest that the occurrence of inspiratory muscle fatigue was partly caused by fatigue of these muscles, and that breathing frequency and stroke rate particularly affect the serratus anterior

Simulating Star Formation and Feedback in Galactic Disk Models

We use a high-resolution grid-based hydrodynamics method to simulate the multi-phase interstellar medium in a Milky Way-size quiescent disk galaxy. The models are global and three-dimensional, and include a treatment of star formation and feedback. We examine the formation of gravitational instabilities and show that a form of the Toomre instability criterion can successfully predict where star formation will occur. Two common prescriptions for star formation are investigated. The first is based on cosmological simulations and has a relatively low threshold for star formation, but also enforces a comparatively low efficiency. The second only permits star formation above a number density of 1000 cm^-3 but adopts a high efficiency. We show that both methods can reproduce the observed slope of the relationship between star formation and gas surface density (although at too high a rate for our adopted parameters). A run which includes feedback from type II supernovae is successful at driving gas out of the plane, most of which falls back onto the disk. This feedback also substantially reduces the star formation rate. Finally, we examine the density and pressure distribution of the ISM, and show that there is a rough pressure equilibrium in the disk, but with a wide range of pressures at a given location (and even wider for the case including feedbackComment: 14 pages, 12 figures, accepted to Astrophysical Journa

Amino acid changes in the spike protein of feline coronavirus correlate with systemic spread of virus from the intestine and not with feline infectious peritonitis

Recent evidence suggests that a mutation in the spike protein gene of feline coronavirus (FCoV), which results in an amino acid change from methionine to leucine at position 1058, may be associated with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Tissue and faecal samples collected post mortem from cats diagnosed with or without FIP were subjected to RNA extraction and quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to detect FCoV RNA. In cats with FIP, 95% of tissue, and 81% of faecal samples were PCR-positive, as opposed to 22% of tissue, and 60% of faecal samples in cats without FIP. Relative FCoV copy numbers were significantly higher in the cats with FIP, both in tissues (P < 0.001) and faeces (P = 0.02). PCR-positive samples underwent pyrosequencing encompassing position 1058 of the FCoV spike protein. This identified a methionine codon at position 1058, consistent with the shedding of an enteric form of FCoV, in 77% of the faecal samples from cats with FIP, and in 100% of the samples from cats without FIP. In contrast, 91% of the tissue samples from cats with FIP and 89% from cats without FIP had a leucine codon at position 1058, consistent with a systemic form of FCoV. These results suggest that the methionine to leucine substitution at position 1058 in the FCoV spike protein is indicative of systemic spread of FCoV from the intestine, rather than a virus with the potential to cause FIP

Gas Stripping in Simulated Galaxies with a Multiphase ISM

Cluster galaxies moving through the intracluster medium (ICM) are expected to lose some of their interstellar medium (ISM) through ISM-ICM interactions. We perform high resolution (40 pc) three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of a galaxy undergoing ram pressure stripping including radiative cooling in order to investigate stripping of a multiphase medium. The clumpy, multiphase ISM is self-consistently produced by the inclusion of radiative cooling, and spans six orders of magnitude in gas density. We find no large variations in the amount of gas lost whether or not cooling is involved, although the gas in the multiphase galaxy is stripped more quickly and to a smaller radius. We also see significant differences in the morphology of the stripped disks. This occurs because the multiphase medium naturally includes high density clouds set inside regions of lower density. We find that the lower density gas is stripped quickly from any radius of the galaxy, and the higher density gas can then be ablated. If high density clouds survive, through interaction with the ICM they lose enough angular momentum to drift towards the center of the galaxy where they are no longer stripped. Finally, we find that low ram pressure values compress gas into high density clouds that could lead to enhanced star formation, while high ram pressure leads to a smaller amount of high-density gas.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted in Ap

Value co-creation in the delivery of outcome-based contracts for business-to-business service

Working paperThis study introduces the concept of outcome-based contracting (OBC) as the mechanism for firms to focus on delivering value-in-use, and as the driver for value co-creation as the firm would need to jointly deliver outcomes with the customer. The paper analyses two OBC-type contracts between the UK Ministry of Defence and two of its industrial partners. We find that in delivering to outcomes and achieving value-in-use, the state-dependent nature of value in usage „pushes back‟ into the organization, requiring the firm to re-evaluate the way they are structured to receive changes from customer state-dependencies so as to deliver a better service. Our analysis presents seven generic attributes of value co-creation (AVCs) essential for the capability to deliver value-in-use. These are behavioral alignment, process alignment, congruence in customer expectations, congruence in firm expectations, empowerment and perceived control, behavioral transformation, and complementary competencies. The attributes discovered through qualitative data were matched with previous academic literature and operationalized and a measurement instrument was developed. The instrument was then validated by performing an exploratory and second order confirmatory factor analysis.This research was made possible through the joint funding of the Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (UK) and BAE Systems on the Support Service Solutions: Strategy & Transition (S4T) project consortium led by the University of Cambridge. The authors gratefully acknowledge the staff of BAE Systems and MBDA as well as members of the ADAPT IPT, 16th Regiment, ATTAC IPT, MoD and the RAF who have all contributed substantially towards this research