Exploring the Differential Impacts on Student Equity Following Rapid & Disruptive Changes in Classroom Modality for Higher Education

In the past 3 years, the world has seen the largest disruption in the worldwide education system in history (United Nations, 2020). The introduction of COVID-19 has stopped the world as we knew it. With rapid technological advancements spanning the last few decades, the world was more prepared for this disruption than it could have been when work and education shifted from the traditional, in-person experience to, online, distanced interactions. In a report by the International Association of Universities (IAU), a survey that included over 400 higher educational institutions across over 100 countries, at least 2/3 of the institutions shifted to fully distanced education (Marinoni et al., 2020). Observing the diverse history of educational equity within higher education institutes working in tandem with a global pandemic, this research aims to address the new impact on student equity following the transition to remote learning. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, personal experiences related to higher education at the time of the initial switch to distanced education and the following semesters were recorded and used in comparison. During this process, general, overarching commonalities were established and grouped into broader themes with two final aggregate dimensions becoming apparent: stress points and coping mechanisms

Oxidative Stress and Longevity in Okinawa: An Investigation of Blood Lipid Peroxidation and Tocopherol in Okinawan Centenarians

Background. The Free Radical Theory of Aging mechanistically links oxidative stress to aging. Okinawa has among the world's longest-lived populations but oxidative stress in this population has not been well characterized. Methods. We compared plasma lipid peroxide (LPO) and vitamin E—plasma and intracellular tocopherol levels (total α, β, and γ), in centenarians with younger controls. Results. Both LPO and vitamin E tocopherols were lower in centenarians, with the exception of intracellular β-tocopherol, which was significantly higher in centenarians versus younger controls. There were no significant differences between age groups for tocopherol: cholesterol and tocopherol: LPO ratios. Correlations were found between α-Tocopherol and LPO in septuagenarians but not in centenarians. Conclusions. The low plasma level of LPO in Okinawan centenarians, compared to younger controls, argues for protection against oxidative stress in the centenarian population and is consistent with the predictions of the Free Radical Theory of Aging. However, the present work does not strongly support a role for vitamin E in this phenomenon. The role of intracellular β-tocopherol deserves additional study. More research is needed on the contribution of oxidative stress and antioxidants to human longevity

A comparative analysis of the cephalic microbiome: The ocular, aural, nasal/nasopharyngeal, oral and facial dermal niches

The human face/head supports a highly diverse population of microorganisms across a diverse range of microhabitats. This biogeographical diversity has given rise to selection pressure resulting in the formation of distinct bacterial communities between sites. This review investigates the similarity and differences of microbiomes across the different biogeographies of the human face and discusses a potential pathway for microbial circulation within individuals and within a population to maintain microbiome niches and diversity

Code generation for AMReX with applications to numerical relativity

We present a new python/SymPy based code generator for producing executable numerical expressions for partial differential equations in AMReX-based applications. We demonstrate the code generator capabilities for the case of $3+1$ ADM formulations of numerical relativity for the constraint damped, conformal Z4 formulations (Z4c and CCZ4). The generated spacetime solvers are examined for stability and accuracy using a selection of checks from the standard Apples with Apples testbeds for numerical relativity applications. We also explore physically interesting vacuum spacetimes including head-on and inspiraling black hole binary collisions, and investigate the simulated gravitational waveforms from such events with the Newman-Penrose formulation of waveform extraction.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figure

Multi-output multilevel best linear unbiased estimators via semidefinite programming

Multifidelity forward uncertainty quantification (UQ) problems often involve multiple quantities of interest and heterogeneous models (e.g., different grids, equations, dimensions, physics, surrogate and reduced-order models). While computational efficiency is key in this context, multi-output strategies in multilevel/multifidelity methods are either sub-optimal or non-existent. In this paper we extend multilevel best linear unbiased estimators (MLBLUE) to multi-output forward UQ problems and we present new semidefinite programming formulations for their optimal setup. Not only do these formulations yield the optimal number of samples required, but also the optimal selection of low-fidelity models to use. While existing MLBLUE approaches are single-output only and require a non-trivial nonlinear optimization procedure, the new multi-output formulations can be solved reliably and efficiently. We demonstrate the efficacy of the new methods and formulations in practical UQ problems with model heterogeneity.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, 3 table