Contextualizing Roman Honorific Monuments: Statue Groups of the Imperial Family from Olympia, Ephesus, and Leptis Magna

This dissertation contextualizes Roman sculpture within its local environment, giving particular attention to the honorific statue groups of the imperial family in the first and second centuries CE. Previous studies focus primarily on issues of style and typology, whereas this project examines how statues influenced and were influenced by surrounding architecture, topographical features, and significant landmarks. Moreover, it asks how social, political, and historical phenomena relate to a group's significance and its effect on the ancient viewer. The ultimate goal of this investigation is to explore the social and physical contexts of imperial dynastic ensembles in order to improve our understanding of how honorific monuments functioned within the local landscape. The study focuses on three ancient sites - Olympia, Ephesus, and Leptis Magna - that provide some of the best preserved imperial honorific and dynastic material as well as a broad geographical spread. Groups from Rome and the West largely are omitted since epigraphic material often is lacking. The three main chapters present imperial honors (both individual and familial) in chronological order and consider relevant architectural, historical, and topographical developments. Dynastic groups with preserved statues, display contexts, and patron(s)/dedicator(s) are discussed in separate sections that outline the group's historical background, patron(s), associated sculpture, honorands, date, arrangement, and relationship to previous honors. This study confirms that dynastic groups from the three sites are centered in four major types of architectural settings: temples, nymphaea, entertainment structures, and fora/agorai. Familial groups also coexist with individual honors and ensembles of other dynasties. This investigation further demonstrates that the Julio-Claudian and Antonine households have the most extant evidence for dynastic honors and that a correlation exists between the initial phases of a dynastic monument and the first emperor of a new dynasty. Both prominent citizens and civic groups erected representations of the imperial family in areas that were visited frequently in order to express loyalty and gratitude toward the ruling household as well as visually convey their power, wealth, and prestige. These communal areas ensured maximum visibility and interaction with the statues during everyday events and special rituals related to the city's identity.Doctor of Philosoph

Inertial gyre solutions from a primitive equation ocean model

A numerical exploration of inertial equilibrium states obtained with a primitive equation ocean model suggests that they can be described using statistical mechanics theory developed in the framework of quasi-geostrophy. The performance of the numerical model is first assessed with respect to the quasi-geostrophic model considering a series of experiments in the quasi-geostrophic range, in a closed basin with flat bottom and varying Rossby numbers. The results show that our model is consistent with the quasi-geostrophic model even in terms of dependence from boundary conditions and eddy viscosity values, and that the free surface contribution is negligible. As in the quasi-geostrophic experiments, a tendency toward Fofonoff flows is observed. This tendency remains in a second series of experiments performed outside the quasi-geostrophic range, namely with flows with higher Rossby numbers and with steep topography, characterized by sloping boundaries with an order one fractional change in the depth. It is only close to the boundaries that ageostrophic effects modify the flows. In conclusion, the fact that statistical mechanics theory, initially developed in the framework of quasi-geostrophy, holds for more realistic flows with steep topography supports development of subgrid scale parameterizations based on statistical mechanics theory, to be used in realistic general circulation models

Wired! and Visualizing Venice: Scaling up Digital Art History

This article focuses on Visualizing Venice, an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural collaboration that engages in mapping, 3-D modeling, and multimedia representations of historical change in Venice, Italy. Through a “laboratory” approach that integrates students and faculty in multi-year research teams, we ask new questions and pursue emerging lines of inquiry about architectural monuments, their relation to the larger urban setting, and the role of sculptural and painted decoration in sacred spaces. Our practice of digital art history transforms both teaching and research and provides new means for communicating knowledge to a broad public

Development and Evaluation of a Parent-Engagement Curriculum to Connect Latino Families and Schools

Parent–school engagement is a contributor to student achievement, but few relevant programs exist for immigrant Latino families. This article describes the design, pilot implementation, and evaluation of a parent-engagement Extension program, developed and implemented in Spanish. The purpose of the program is to help parents develop and/or strengthen their relationships with school staff and teachers, build skills in navigating the U.S. school system, and increase their self-efficacy for supporting their children\u27s success in school. Development of the program curriculum comprised a participatory approach that involved input from cultural guides and focus group sessions conducted in Spanish. Evaluation results indicate positive changes related to most program goals and increased parent–school engagement

Rescinding Community Mitigation Strategies in an Influenza Pandemic

Thresholds for these strategies reduced the number of days strategies were needed without increasing illness rates

Nicotine Bitartrate Reduces Falls and Freezing of Gait in Parkinson Disease: A Reanalysis

Objective: Determine if NC001, an oral formulation of nicotine that reduces levodopa-induced dyskinesias (LIDs) in MPTP-Parkinson monkeys, could reduce falls, freezing of gait (FOG), and LIDs in Parkinson disease (PD) patients. Methods: Previously collected data from a study analyzing the effects of NC001 on LIDs in PD patients were reanalyzed. Because indirect-acting cholinergic drugs are sometimes helpful in reducing falls, we hypothesized that NC001, a direct-acting cholinergic agonist, could reduce falls in PD. The original 12-center, double-blind, randomized trial enrolled 65 PD patients. NC001 or placebo was administered 4 times per day for 10 weeks, beginning at 4 mg/day and escalating to 24 mg/day. Assessments included the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDysRS) and Parts II-III of the original Unified Parkinson\u27s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Results: Randomization (1:1) resulted in 35 patients on NC001 and 30 on placebo at baseline. Thirty and 27 patients, respectively, had data available for an intent-to-treat analysis. NC001 was safe and well-tolerated. After 10 weeks, NC001 patients (14/30) had a significant reduction in falls vs. placebo patients (3/27) (p = 0.0041) as assessed by UPDRS Part II. NC001 patients (12/30) also had significantly reduced FOG vs. placebo patients (4/27) (p = 0.0043). NC001 patients, compared with placebo patients, had a significant improvement (p = 0.01) in UDysRS ambulation subtest (40% vs. 3%, respectively). Although NC001 patients had a greater reduction in dyskinesias on the UDysRS than placebo patients (30% vs. 19%, respectively), this was not significant (p = 0.09). Conclusions: NC001 significantly improved two refractory symptoms of PD, falls and FOG. The reduction in falls and FOG is attributed to selective stimulation of nicotinic receptors

Identification of a murine CD45-F4/80lo HSC-derived marrow endosteal cell associated with donor stem cell engraftment

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reside in specialized microenvironments within the marrow designated as stem cell niches, which function to support HSCs at homeostasis and promote HSC engraftment after radioablation. We previously identified marrow space remodeling after hematopoietic ablation, including osteoblast thickening, osteoblast proliferation, and megakaryocyte migration to the endosteum, which is critical for effective engraftment of donor HSCs. To further evaluate the impact of hematopoietic cells on marrow remodeling, we used a transgenic mouse model (CD45Cre/iDTR) to selectively deplete hematopoietic cells in situ. Depletion of hematopoietic cells immediately before radioablation and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation abrogated donor HSC engraftment and was associated with strikingly flattened endosteal osteoblasts with preserved osteoblast proliferation and megakaryocyte migration. Depletion of monocytes, macrophages, or megakaryocytes (the predominant hematopoietic cell populations that survive short-term after irradiation) did not lead to an alteration of osteoblast morphology, suggesting that a hematopoietic-derived cell outside these lineages regulates osteoblast morphologic adaptation after irradiation. Using 2 lineage-tracing strategies, we identified a novel CD45-F4/80lo HSC-derived cell that resides among osteoblasts along the endosteal marrow surface and, at least transiently, survives radioablation. This newly identified marrow cell may be an important regulator of HSC engraftment, possibly by influencing the shape and function of endosteal osteoblasts