TERESA HILL ART 399 PORTFOLIO

Aside from the aesthetics of cartoons and video games that I was attracted to in childhood; other influences that often guide where works would go are personal experiences, our connection with nature and others, the development of the imagination, and the human eye. The pieces made from that influence contain something tied back to others, whether it is the use of various warm/cool hues, the use of nature and flowers, colorful clothing on figures, or hands and legs being slightly longer than the rest of a figure’s proportions. Artists like Yayoi Kusama, Bonnie Seeman, and Hayao Miyazaki have also impacted my creation process in unexpected yet exciting ways; especially in recent years as I continue to refine my skills. Kusama, creating disorienting bright and patterned installations in her Mirror Room pieces, allows for the viewer to become physically lost in those worlds whilst interacting with them. The use of color, lighting, and pattern in her works transforms the once ordinary rooms into a visual stimulation of a world that she sees often. Ceramicist Bonnie Seeman creates her ceramics via meshing animalistic and plant-like elements into one surreal and bizarre piece, despite there being clear elements of flesh, sinew, leaves, and seeds. The bizarre mixing and squishing of elements leave an oddly satisfying yet strange adaptation of everyday items, from cups to teapots. All the while making it seem like a single entity that is a perfect symbiosis and synthetization of both flora and fauna. Hayao Miyazaki has influenced my personal works more significantly due to his use of detailed linework, shading, and his studying of real-life people you would in everyday life. His refusal to warp the human figure outside of normal proportions whilst breaking that rule with his supernatural figures makes every character in his animations and films unique and individual in the sea of characters that are in the plot. The meticulous development of creation for figures allows for the viewers to have a much more personal connection to specific characters without other with significant importance being too close to one another in design work. With traditional drawing media, the resulting pieces often evoke the somber nostalgia of childhood through the unglossed lens of maturity. I use the grain of paper and uneven blending to mimic the aesthetic of a vintage photograph, selecting colors of varying hues calling attention to specific aspects of pieces to describe the narrative to the viewer. Some with heavier use of color abandon this common theme for a more reactionary and expressive tone in regard to heavily debated topics such as preservation of nature and euthanasia. My personal works, on the other hand, focus on character and world creation, posing, shading, and conceptual development from idea to paper. As I work on my traditional drawings, it often results in separating the focuses of personal works and public works unless I find parallels between themes and sketches. My ceramic pieces, however, focus on the shape and placement of forms that often result in resembling the scenes from childhood storybooks, warping of common elements such as eyes and plant structures, or simply call attention to themselves via color and/or patterning. Leading to much more experimentation in what looks good and what doesn’t, but also leads to more critical evaluation and more pickiness toward detail and coloration. Ceramic works consistently have a sort of plant element to them, especially with recent works due to me viewing that humanity and nature go hand-in-hand, a relationship where both affect the other in the dance of life.https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/1150/thumbnail.jp

Weighing the Details: Gender Dualisms in Lightweight Women's Rowing

The purpose of this research project was to explore how women lightweight rowers in Ontario negotiate their gender and body identity. Through a feminist post-structural lens I investigated both ‘acceptable’ and contradictory gender and sport performances that exist in the culture of rowing in order to understand how identity is constructed at the intersection of these discourses. My goal was to learn how human experiences are shaped by discourses of power, and resulting constructions of acceptable gender attributes. Seven university-aged lightweight women’s rowers were interviewed, and the following themes were uncovered: the women are constantly engaging in acts of bodily control; often body image is affected by participation in the sport; there are instances of femininity that exist within the culture of lightweight rowing; inequalities are present within the culture, as are excuse making practices; and the potential for resistance is extremely complicated

A comparative study on fertility among the descendants of immigrants in Europe

Kulu et al.[EN] This study investigates the childbearing patterns of the descendants of immigrants in selected European countries, with a focus on ethnic minority women whose parents arrived in Europe from high-fertility countries. While the fertility levels of immigrants to Europe have been examined in the recent literature, the childbearing patterns among their descendants have received little attention. Using longitudinal data from eight European countries and applying Poisson regression models, the study shows that many descendants of immigrants exhibit first-birth levels that are similar to the ‘native’ population in their respective countries; however, first-birth levels are elevated among women of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin in the UK and for those of Turkish descent in France and Belgium. Transition rates to a second child vary less across ethnic groups. Most ethnic minority women in the UK, France and Belgium show significantly higher third-birth levels than ‘natives’ in those countries. The inclusion of women’s level of education in the analysis has little effect on fertility differences across the ethnic groups. Overall, the childbearing behaviour of the descendants of immigrants falls in between the fertility pathways experienced by their parents’ generation and the respective ‘native’ populations. The analysis supports the idea that both the mainstream society and the minority subculture shape the childbearing patterns of the descendants of immigrants in Europe.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 320116 for the research project FamiliesAndSocieties.Peer reviewe

‘It’s more than a game’: Young women’s experiences with physical activity as a means for resilience throughout adolescence

This phenomenological study explored how physical activity is experienced as a means for resilience as well as the defining characteristics and meaning of that experience. Four paticipants were interviewed, aged 18 to 21 years; all of which were recieving a university education at the time of the interviews. Physical activity has been connected to various physical. intellectual, psychological, and social benefits duing adolesence. The participants in this study described their journeys to achieving wellness depite growing up with adversities collectively deemed as adverse.Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was the methodology utilized to investigate the data generated through several semi-structured in depth interviews with the participants. The analyzed data formed the overarching theme of self development in the face of adversity, which was evident throughout the three superordinate themes: channeling energy, nurturing relationships, and challenging the self. The participants explained their passages through adolesence amidst adversities to be ones full of ups and downs, but ultimately progress towards their current accomplishments, goals, dreams, and personal growth. The themes are discussed within the context of the current literature and then followed by recommendations for future research, considerations for professionals, and a conclusion including a list of desireable attributes of program initiatives as suggested by the participants

Incidence and risk factors for tuberculosis among people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy in the UK

Objective: The United Kingdom has a low tuberculosis incidence and earlier combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is expected to have reduced incidence among people with HIV. Epidemiological patterns and risk factors for active tuberculosis were analysed over a 20-year period among people accessing HIV care at sites participating in the UK CHIC observational study. Design: Cohort analysis. Methods: Data were included for individuals over 15 years old attending for HIV care between 1996 and 2017 inclusive, with at least 3 months follow-up recorded. Incidence rates of new tuberculosis events were calculated and stratified by ethnicity (white/Black/other) as a proxy for tuberculosis exposure. Poisson regression models were used to determine the associations of calendar year, ethnicity and other potential risk factors after cART initiation. Results: Fifty-eight thousand seven hundred and seventy-six participants (26.3% women; 54.5% white, 32.0% Black, 13.5% other/unknown ethnicity; median (interquartile range) age 34 (29–42) years) were followed for 546 617 person-years. Seven hundred and four were treated for active tuberculosis [rate 1.3; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–1.4/1000 person-years). Tuberculosis incidence decreased from 1.3 (1.2–1.5) to 0.6 (0.4–0.9)/1000 person-years from pre-2004 to 2011–2017. The decline among people of Black ethnicity was less steep than among those of white/other ethnicities, with incidence remaining high among Black participants in the latest period [2.1 (1.4–3.1)/1000 person-years]. Two hundred and eighty-three participants [191 (67%) Black African] had tuberculosis with viral load less than 50 copies/ml. Conclusion: Despite the known protective effect of cART against tuberculosis, a continuing disproportionately high incidence is seen among Black African people. Results support further interventions to prevent tuberculosis in this group

Lower Nurse-to-Patient Ratio: Higher Patient Satisfaction

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1105/thumbnail.jp

Make Art Real

The Make Art Real project aims to introduce new audiences to the arts. It supports Theme II of VCU’s Quest for Distinction by promoting and fostering creative expression through innovative collaborations. The project involves displaying existing connections between art and non-art disciplines, as well as making new connections. These unusual pairings are then placed on exhibition through a lunch-time lecture series named “Unexpected_Connections,” which allow faculty, staff, and students to lead and participate in discussions about the reality of art. The lecture series is the first sustainable and reoccurring program to be held in the Depot building, a multidisciplinary facility which is intended to foster interdisciplinary collaborations. The targeted audience includes faculty, staff, students, and members of the greater VCU community

Health Disparities for Adults with Developmental Disabilities: Exploration of Health Promotion Services, Systems and Strategies.

Using a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach, the project partners worked to clarify the health promotion needs of adults with developmental disabilities, identify strengths and weaknesses of the current system, and develop an action plan. Through this action plan, community agencies and therapists would become empowered to address needs, build ongoing community capacity to respond to emergent health/wellness needs, and advocate for appropriate systems of care

N-Cadherin and Integrin Blockade Inhibit Arteriolar Myogenic Reactivity but not Pressure-Induced Increases in Intracellular Ca2+

The vascular myogenic response is characterized by arterial constriction in response to an increase in intraluminal pressure and dilatation to a decrease in pressure. This mechanism is important for the regulation of blood flow, capillary pressure, and arterial pressure. The identity of the mechanosensory mechanism(s) for this response is incompletely understood but has been shown to include the integrins as cell–extracellular matrix receptors. The possibility that a cell–cell adhesion receptor is involved has not been studied. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that N-cadherin, a cell–cell adhesion molecule in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), was important for myogenic responsiveness. The purpose of this study was to investigate: (1) whether cadherin inhibition blocks myogenic responses to increases in intraluminal pressure and (2) the effect of the cadherin or integrin blockade on pressure-induced changes in [Ca2+]i. Cadherin blockade was tested in isolated rat cremaster arterioles on myogenic responses to acute pressure steps from 60 to 100 mmHg and changes in VSMC Ca2+ were measured using fura-2. In the presence of a synthetic cadherin inhibitory peptide or a function-blocking antibody, myogenic responses were inhibited. In contrast, during N-cadherin blockade, pressure-induced changes in [Ca2+]i were not altered. Similarly, vessels treated with function-blocking β1- or β3-integrin antibodies maintained pressure-induced [Ca2+]i responses despite inhibition of myogenic constriction. Collectively, these data suggest that both cadherins and integrins play a fundamental role in mediating myogenic constriction but argue against their direct involvement in mediating pressure-induced [Ca2+]i increases