The correlation between Chicano theater and Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed

Abstract only available"The theater is a weapon, and it is the people who should wield it" are words that come from the Brazilian Dramatist's, Augusto Boal, commentary, The Theater of the Oppressed. What Boal is referring to is that the theater should be political and used to promote social change by allowing the spectator to not only act out roles on stage, but to carry those rehearsed actions into the world, outside of the theater. The theater created by Mexican-Americans in the Southwest United States in the Mid-1960's, referred to as Chicano theater, exemplifies Boal's method of theater, containing a similar purpose (political activism) as well as many theatrical elements: audience participation, improvisation, what Boal calls "nationalizing texts," investigation of events used as basis for plays, and variations of Boal's Joker method. The information in this investigation comes from various sources including plays, historical texts, literary criticism, journal articles, and films. To talk specifically of theater, the focus is on three authors and their works: Augusto Boal, and two of his theoretical texts; the Chicano Playwright, Luis Valdez and his Teatro Campesino; and the troupe, Teatro de la Esperanza. The purpose of this investigation is to chart the similarities between Theater of the Oppressed and Chicano theater, as well as to discuss the historical and political backgrounds and symbols and themes presented in various plays by Chicano authors.Pre-Graduate Research Experience for Students in the Humanitie

Patterns of hate crime: who, what, when and where?

In an age where hate and prejudice transfer seamlessly from online conversations to our communities, we have a duty to protect the most vulnerable among us. Part of this process involves the effective reporting and distribution of data on hate crimes in our cities and suburbs. Understanding where these crimes are taking place, who the targets are and how themes like race, religion and sexual orientation play a role is essential to creating awareness of the problems we face, and allows us to take steps towards creating safe, equitable environments. Demos’ partnership with the University of Sussex allowed us to take a look at data collected by the Metropolitan Police Service with the ultimate goal of identifying the existing targets of hate crime, and assisting the Police Service in their efforts to improve the ways in which hate crimes are recorded. Current methods enable officers to flag transgender hate crimes but do not allow them to record the gender identities of either suspects or victims as transgender or non-binary, creating a significant gap within the data. When the most at-risk members of our society are not adequately included in hate crime records, they are effectively silenced. By updating existing systems of classification, there is an opportunity to better identify and protect minority communities within the UK

The Dynamics of Germinal Centre Selection as Measured by Graph-Theoretical Analysis of Mutational Lineage Trees

We have developed a rigorous graph-theoretical algorithm for quantifying the shape properties of mutational lineage trees. We show that information about the dynamics of hypermutation and antigen-driven clonal selection during the humoral immune response is contained in the shape of mutational lineage trees deduced from the responding clones. Age and tissue related differences in the selection process can be studied using this method. Thus, tree shape analysis can be used as a means of elucidating humoral immune response dynamics in various situations

Hitting the Sweet Spot: Optimizing Camera Trapping Effort for Estimating Biodiversity in Coastal Environments

Wildlife trail cameras, or “camera traps”, have become an effective tool in ecological research and conservation management across a variety of ecosystems to monitor a wide range of taxa. Camera trapping allows for extended survey time in traditionally hard-to-survey environments and has greatly increased our ability to detect cryptic species. One question ecologists commonly face is how much sampling effort is required to accurately estimate community composition. Despite the abundant literature that uses camera trapping techniques, few studies have occurred in coastal saltmarsh ecosystems. These ecosystems are being lost at a rapid rate from land conversion, pollution, and other anthropogenic stressors, and there is a critical need to better understand the role of coastal ecosystems as wildlife habitats across the globe. Here we analyzed camera trap data from 10 local coastal study plots in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Cameras collected data two weeks a month from May 2022 to Jan 2023, 24 hours per day, taking one photo per minute throughout their deployments. A total of 2.5 million photographs were taken over the study period. Photos were examined for all bird and mammal activity, identifying animals to the species level. Across all sites, we observed 25 different species ranging from migratory shorebirds (e.g., Spotted Sandpiper) to large mammals (e.g., White-tailed Deer). We used a rarefaction analysis to evaluate the accumulated number of detected species across days deployed. Our results demonstrate that the optimum sampling effort needed to achieve 90% detection is 39.6 camera-days (95% Confidence Intervals from 6 to 73) across all sites. Our findings suggest that camera traps are an effective technique in coastal environments when targeting medium to larger-sized terrestrial vertebrates such as wading birds and mammals. These results have broader implications for coastal restoration monitoring and have the potential to inform project monitoring methodology and design.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2023_sciences/1029/thumbnail.jp

Interruptions of antiretroviral therapy in children and adolescents with HIV infection in clinical practice: a retrospective cohort study in the USA.

INTRODUCTION: Changes in combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) throughout childhood challenge the continuity of paediatric HIV treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of treatment interruption (TI), including lamivudine (3TC) monotherapy, and the relationship of TI to virologic and immunologic parameters in HIV-infected paediatric patients. METHODS: Nested within a prospective observational study of a city-wide cohort of HIV-infected persons in the District of Columbia, this sub-study collected retrospective data on antiretroviral therapy, enrolment (endpoint) and historic (lifelong) CD4 counts and HIV RNA viral load (VL) of the paediatric cohort. TI was defined as interruption of cART ≥4 consecutive weeks. Data on TI, including 3TC monotherapy TI (MTI), were collected. Descriptive statistics and univariate testing were used to compare children with TI and MTI to children on continuous treatment (CT). RESULTS: Thirty-eight (28%) out of 136 enrolled children (median age=12.9 years) experienced TI, with 14 (37%) of those placed on 3TC MTI. Significantly lower endpoint median CD4 counts (598 cells/mm(3) vs. 815 cells/mm(3); p=0.003) and CD4% (27.5% vs. 33%; p=0.006) were observed in the TI cohort as compared to the CT cohort. The median endpoint VL in the overall TI cohort was ~4 times higher than among the CT cohort (1427 copies/mL vs. 5581 copies/mL; p CONCLUSIONS: In our study, we observed high frequency of the TI in HIV in paediatric HIV clinical practice. All TIs, including 3TC MTI, were associated with significantly lower endpoint median CD4 counts and higher median VLs, as compared to CT in paediatric patients. The high frequency of TI and associated poor outcomes suggest a need for a better strategy in managing the course of the paediatric and adolescent cART

Xanthine oxidase inhibition for the improvement of long-term outcomes following ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack (XILO-FIST) - Protocol for a randomised double blind placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background: Allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, reduced progression of carotid-intima media thickness and lowered blood pressure in a small clinical trial in people with ischaemic stroke. Xanthine oxidase inhibition for improvement of long-term outcomes following ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack (XILO-FIST) aims to assess the effect of allopurinol treatment on white matter hyperintensity progression and blood pressure after stroke. This paper describes the XILO-FIST protocol. Methods: XILO-FIST is a multicentre randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group clinical trial funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association. The trial has been adopted by the Scottish Stroke Research Network and the UK Clinical Research Network. The trial is registered in clinicaltrials.gov (registration number NCT02122718). XILO-FIST will randomise 464 participants, aged greater than 50 years, with ischaemic stroke within the past month, on a 1:1 basis, to two years treatment with allopurinol 300 mg twice daily or placebo. Participants will undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging, cognitive assessment, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and blood sampling at baseline and after two years treatment. The primary outcome will be white matter hyperintensity progression, measured using the Rotterdam progression scale. Secondary outcomes will include change in white matter hyperintensity volume, mean day-time systolic blood pressure and measures of cognitive function. Up to 100 will undergo additional cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in a sub-study of left ventricular mass. Discussion: If white matter hyperintensity progression is reduced, allopurinol could be an effective preventative treatment for patients with ischaemic stroke and clinical endpoint studies would be needed. If allopurinol reduces blood pressure after stroke, then it could be used to help patients reach blood pressure targets

Paper Session III-B - The Prospector\u27s Proposal: Research Advancing Survivability Through Resource Options

As a group of nine Astronautical Engineering majors, we have identified a problem of great concern. It involves the scarcity of strategic materials and the possibility that our supply will be cut off. The Prospector\u27s Proposal is our solution. This proposal involves a prospecting mission to the asteroid belt, specifically Ceres. Using heavy lift vehicles, we will put our spacecraft into orbit where it will be assembled. A nuclear drive will provide propulsion for the unmanned probe. A landing craft will transport a mobile unit to the surface. This unit will collect samples that may contain sufficient quantities of the necessary materials to justify future mining. We have set a launch date for Spring 2001

Genotyping and population characteristics of the China Kadoorie Biobank

The China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) is a population-based prospective cohort of >512,000 adults recruited from 2004 to 2008 from 10 geographically diverse regions across China. Detailed data from questionnaires and physical measurements were collected at baseline, with additional measurements at three resurveys involving ∼5% of surviving participants. Analyses of genome-wide genotyping, for >100,000 participants using custom-designed Axiom arrays, reveal extensive relatedness, recent consanguinity, and signatures reflecting large-scale population movements from recent Chinese history. Systematic genome-wide association studies of incident disease, captured through electronic linkage to death and disease registries and to the national health insurance system, replicate established disease loci and identify 14 novel disease associations. Together with studies of candidate drug targets and disease risk factors and contributions to international genetics consortia, these demonstrate the breadth, depth, and quality of the CKB data. Ongoing high-throughput omics assays of collected biosamples and planned whole-genome sequencing will further enhance the scientific value of this biobank

Chickens, more than humans, focus the diversity of their immunoglobulin genes on the complementarity-determining region but utilise amino acids, indicative of a more cross-reactive antibody repertoire

The mechanisms of B-cell diversification differ greatly between aves and mammals, but both produce B cells and antibodies capable of supporting an effective immune response. To see how differences in the generation of diversity might affect overall repertoire diversity, we have compared the diversity characteristics of immunoglobulin genes from domestic chickens to those from humans. Both use V(D)J gene rearrangement and somatic hypermutation, but only chickens use somatic gene conversion. A range of diversity analysis tools were used to investigate multiple aspects of amino acid diversity at both the germline and repertoire levels. The effect of differing amino acid usages on antibody characteristics was assessed. At both the germline and repertoire levels, chickens exhibited lower amino acid diversity in comparison to the human immunoglobulin genes, especially outside of the complementarity-determining region (CDR). Chickens were also found to possess much larger and more hydrophilic CDR3s with a higher predicted protein binding potential, suggesting that the antigen-binding site in chicken antibodies is more flexible and more polyreactive than that seen in human antibodies