Memory, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Quilts

Quilts have been documented as artifacts of past experiences and social circumstances, but the rhetorical aspects have been largely unexplored. In this study, I establish quilting as a form of knowledge about memory, one of the canons of rhetoric. This task requires a rhetorical framework of memory to accomplish its end. In order to create a rhetorical framework for the study of memory, I examine preservative and generative memory as represented in women\u27s quilts. Previous quilt studies have not addressed these two facets of memory, and previous memory studies have paid little or no attention to quilts. Additionally, this study will link memory to identity. The dominant term discovered through Kenneth Burke\u27s pentadic analysis for identity will also be linked to memory study. Thus, this study links the concepts of memory and identity together and establishes quilts as an artifact for rhetorical study. In particular, this study demonstrates how the distinctive nature of memory generates new memories, preserves captured memories, and provides a powerful conceptual tool for the study of identity through quilts

Pesticide Exposure Risks to Chiropteran Species and the Impacts on Emerging Zoonotic Diseases

Neonicotinoids have been in the spotlight in the pollinator community as they persist in the soil, have high water solubility, and have been associated with negative health implications on insect pollinators. The risk of new novel pesticides, including neonicotinoids, to bats are largely unknown. Bats have unique physiology as they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight, and have physiological adaptations including echolocation and torpor which under current protocols for acute and chronic toxicity studies in birds and terrestrial animals are not assessed. Due to these characteristics, some have argued that bats may serve as important bioindicators for ecosystem health and pesticide use. This chapter will focus on pesticides, and discuss the increased risk of exposure, morbidity, and mortality of bats species due to their unique physiology and natural life history. Special emphasis will be on potential increased risk of zoonotic disease transmission in bats exposed to emerging contaminants that suppress their immune system or cause increased biological stress

Contact-independent exposure to Rhodococcus rhodochrous DAP96253 volatiles does not improve the survival rate of Myotis lucifugus (little brown bats) affected by White-nose Syndrome

Since the emergence of White-nose Syndrome, a fungal disease in bats, caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans, hibernating populations of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) have declined by 70–90% within P. destructans positive hibernacula. To reduce the impact of White-nose Syndrome to North American little brown bat populations we evaluated if exposure to volatile organic compounds produced by induced cells from Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain DAP96253 could improve the overwinter survival of bats infected by P. destructans. Two simultaneous field treatment trials were conducted at natural hibernacula located in Rockcastle and Breckinridge counties, Kentucky, USA. A combined total of 120 little brown bats were randomly divided into control groups (n = 60) which were not exposed to volatile organic compounds and treatment groups (n = 60) which were exposed to volatile organic compounds produced by non-growth, fermented cell paste composed of R. rhodochrous strain DAP96253 cells. Cox proportional hazard models revealed a significant decreased survival at the Rockcastle field trial site but not the Breckinridge field site. At the Breckinridge hibernacula, overwinter survival for both treatment and control groups were 60%. At the Rockcastle hibernacula, Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated significantly increased overwinter survival of bats in the control group (43% survived) compared to the treatment group (20% survived). Although complete inhibition of P. destructans by volatile organic compounds produced by induced R. rhodochrous strain DAP96253 cells was observed in vitro studies, our results suggest that these volatile organic compounds do not inhibit P. destructans in situ and may promote P. destructans growth

Multi-scale factors influencing detection, site occupancy and resource use by foraging bats in the Ozark Highlands of Missouri

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on March 23, 2009)Vita.Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.Conservation of bat populations requires understanding the associations between bats and their use of resources. We used maximum likelihood to estimate probability of site occupancy using acoustic data for ten species of bats. We evaluated a priori hypotheses for both probability of detection and site occupancy using AIC. Time, temperature, moisture, vegetative clutter, and date influenced detection probability. Response to spatial scale varied by species. Habitat, patch, and landscape characteristics influenced site occupancy and varied among species. We evaluated use of resource utilization functions (RUFs) to assess habitat and landscape factors affecting foraging resource use by red bats, Lasiurus borealis. Highest foraging use was associated with open deciduous forest on ridges and upland drainages in areas close to non-forest edge and relatively high road density. Resource selection was variable among individuals, geographic location and stage of lactation. Management strategies that provide a range of composition and structural diversity will favor foraging use by L. borealis.Includes bibliographical reference

Landscape Movements of Migratory Birds and Bats Reveal an Expanded Scale of Stopover

Many species of birds and bats undertake seasonal migrations between breeding and over-wintering sites. En-route, migrants alternate periods of flight with time spent at stopover – the time and space where individuals rest and refuel for subsequent flights. We assessed the spatial scale of movements made by migrants during stopover by using an array of automated telemetry receivers with multiple antennae to track the daily location of individuals over a geographic area ∼20×40 km. We tracked the movements of 322 individuals of seven migratory vertebrate species (5 passerines, 1 owl and 1 bat) during spring and fall migratory stopover on and adjacent to a large lake peninsula. Our results show that many individuals leaving their capture site relocate within the same landscape at some point during stopover, moving as much as 30 km distant from their site of initial capture. We show that many apparent nocturnal departures from stopover sites are not a resumption of migration in the strictest sense, but are instead relocations that represent continued stopover at a broader spatial scale

A tree-parenchyma coupled model for lung ventilation simulation

International audienceIn this article we develop a lung-ventilation model. The parenchyma is described as an elastic homogenized media. It is irrigated by a space-filling dyadic resistive pipe network, which represents the tracheo-bronchial tree. In this model the tree and the parenchyma are strongly coupled. The tree induces an extra viscous term in the system constitutive relation, which leads, in the finite element framework, to a full matrix. We consider an efficient algorithm that takes advantage of the tree dyadic structure to enable a fast matrix-vector product computation. This framework can be used to model both free and mechanically induced respiration, in health and disease. Patient-specific lung geometries acquired from CT scans are considered. Realistic Dirichlet boundary conditions can be deduced from surface registration on CT images. The model is compared to a more classical exit-compartment approach. Results illustrate the coupling between the tree and the parenchyma, at global and regional levels, and how conditions for the purely 0D model can be inferred. Different types of boundary conditions are tested, including a nonlinear Robin model of the surrounding lung structures

Évaluation d’une application web pour le rappel à J+1 des patients de chirurgie ambulatoire

Introduction : Les applications de télémédecine sur smartphone sont des outils prometteurs pour améliorer l’efficience du suivi post-opératoire en chirurgie ambulatoire. Notre objectif était d’évaluer l’efficacité du système informatique de télésurveillance Ambucare™ pour le rappel à J+1 des patients de chirurgie ambulatoire en accord avec les recommandations de la HAS.Méthodes : Étude de cohorte prospective. Tous les patients inscrits dans le système Ambucare™ entre février et juin 2016 à l’Hôpital Privé d’Antony ont été inclus. Les patients répondaient à un formulaire quotidien concernant les principaux symptômes post-opératoires depuis un smartphone ou un ordinateur connecté à Internet et pouvaient envoyer des photographies de la cicatrice opératoire. Un questionnaire de satisfaction était envoyé en fin de suivi.Résultats : 626 patients (63,2%) ont répondu à leur questionnaire à J+1. Au total le système informatique a récolté 3092 messages dont 739 messages d’alerte. Aucun message d’alerte n’est resté sans réponse de la part de l’Unité de Chirurgie Ambulatoire. Deux complications non graves ont été diagnostiquées sans hospitalisation nécessaire. Les patients étaient satisfaits de la prise en charge dans 91% des cas (234/257).Conclusion : Les applications de télémédecine sur smartphones sont efficaces pour le suivi post-opératoire des patients de chirurgie ambulatoire et bien acceptées par les patients

Contribution à la modélisation dynamique des alternateurs en vue de la simulation des réseaux embarqués ou îlotés

Ce mémoire propose des approches de modélisation dynamique d alternateur en vue de construire des simulateurs de réseaux embarqués ou îlotés en tenant compte des fortes interactions des constituants du réseau et en respectant les contraintes de précision et de rapidité. Les modèles établis sont validés par comparaison des résultats de simulation à des mesures issues des bancs d essai logiciels et expérimentaux réalisés. Le modèle dynamique d un alternateur prenant en considération les contraintes d accès pour l identification des paramètres physiques du rotor est élaboré. Il se base sur la représentation du rotor par une boîte noire. Les paramètres sont identifiés par essaims de particules en exploitant les résultats des tests SSFR. Grâce à l utilisation de matrices de passage du repère d une machine vers une autre, la méthodologie de modélisation est généralisée au cas d un système multi-alternateurs. En se basant sur la modélisation à topologie variable des convertisseurs statiques, l approche est étendue au cas des charges non linéaires. La réduction du temps de calcul des simulateurs est obtenue par la systématisation de l inversion de la matrice inductance et la proposition d approches de modélisation en fonction de l objectif de l étude. Un modèle à ordre réduit et un autre de type continu équivalent sont proposés. La modélisation d un alternateur auto-excité et des exemples de réseaux embarqués illustrent la démarche. En se basant sur les approches et la méthodologie proposées, le modèle global d un réseau îloté multisources constitué d un panneau solaire associé à un ensemble alternateur redresseur est établi. Il montre l interaction entre les sources d énergieThis thesis proposes dynamic modeling approaches of a synchronous generator in order to build simulators of embedded network. The strong interactions of the network components, as well as the accuracy and speed constraints are taken into account. Tests benches and simulators are made to validate the developed approach. A dynamic generator model that simplifies the accessibility constraints to identify the rotor physical parameters is elaborated. This model is based on the representation of the rotor by a black box. The parameters are identified by a particle swarm optimization algorithm using the results of SSFR tests. The modeling methodology is extended to a multi alternators system through transformation matrices that express a machine in an arbitrary reference frame. The approach is then applied to non linear loads. The developed simulators are based on the variable topology modeling of static converters. The reduction of the simulator computation time is achieved with a systematic inversion procedure of the inductance matrix and by proposing a modeling approach based on the study objective. In this context, a reduced-order model and an average value model are proposed. Models of brushless synchronous machine and embedded networks are presented to illustrate the approach.On the basis of the proposed methodology, the model of a multi sources network composed of a solar panel and a synchronous generator with its diode rectifier is established. It shows the interaction between the different energy sourcesNANTES-BU Sciences (441092104) / SudocSudocFranceF

Development of an LC-MS/MS Method for Non-Invasive Biomonitoring of Neonicotinoid and Systemic Herbicide Pesticide Residues in Bat Hair

With over a quarter of the world’s bats species facing extinction, there is a need for ecotoxicological studies to assess if acute and sublethal exposure to newer pesticides such as neonicotinoids and carbonates contribute to population declines. Pesticide exposure studies in bats have been limited to terminal sampling methods, therefore we developed a non-invasive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method utilizing hair trimmings. The hair of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) was collected and pooled by county to assess the best extraction solvent and solid-phase-extraction (SPE) clean-up cartridges. Using the best performing extraction solvent, methanol, and the best performing SPE cartridge, Chromabond HR-X, we developed an optimized multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of 3 neonicotinoids, clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam; 1 carbonate, carbaryl; and 4 systemic herbicides, 2,4-D, atrazine, dicamba, and glyphosate. The optimized protocol yielded the detection of 3–8 of the compounds in the county-level bat hair pools. 2,4-D, glyphosate, and imidacloprid were found in all samples with two of the county-level hair samples having glyphosate concentrations of over 3500 pg/mg of hair. This approach has great potential to facilitate non-terminal ecotoxicological studies assessing the effects of subacute (chronic) pesticide exposure in threatened and endangered bat species and other species experiencing population declines

Validation de l’aspect et du contenu d’un simulateur immersif pour la formation des opérateurs en anesthésie locorégionale échoguidée

International audienceVirtual reality is a promising technology for training healthcare professionals in a safe simulation environment. In this work, we present the design and evaluation of an immersive simulator for training ultrasound-guided locoregional anesthesia operators. Eighteen anesthesiologists participated in a face and content validation study of the first prototype of the system. Responses to seven of the eleven questions on face validity were predominantly positive. The main raised issue concerns the fidelity of the needle haptic feedback, suggesting the use of a six degrees of freedom haptic feedback arm in the future prototypes. Responses to all six questions on content validity were predominantly positive. Participants find that the simulator is a promising training tool particularly suited for developing hand-eye coordination skills. These results support our design choices and suggest improvements for our simulator before its validation as a training tool.La réalité virtuelle est une technologie prometteuse pour former les professionnels de santé dans un environnement de simulation sécurisé. Dans ce travail, nous présentons la conception et l'évaluation d'un simulateur immersif pour la formation de l’anesthésie locorégionale échoguidée. Dix-huit anesthésistes ont participé à la validation de l’aspect et du contenu du premier prototype du système. Les réponses à sept des onze questions sur la validité de l’aspect étaient positives. La problématique soulevée concerne la fidélité du rendu haptique de l'aiguille, suggérant l'utilisation d'un bras haptique à six degrés de liberté dans les futurs prototypes. Les réponses aux six questions sur la validité du contenu étaient positives. Les participants trouvent que le simulateur est un outil de formation prometteur particulièrement adapté pour développer les compétences de coordination œil-main. Ces résultats confortent nos choix de conception et suggèrent des améliorations pour notre simulateur avant sa validation comme outil de formation