The feminine soul: love, courage, and sacrifice in three centuries of vocal repertoire

Music is a unique form of communication. It sings from soul to soul, touching each of us in uniquely different ways. While researching the life of Clara Schumann, I became intrigued with the idea that feminine qualities, as expressed by her music, could be found in other composers work for the soprano voice. I explored this possibility in a lecture recital and followed up this work by performing two operatic roles and a recital

The Role of the Patent System in Stimulating Innovation and Technology Transfer for Climate Change

The world increasingly faces the adverse impact of climate change. What role can intellectual property play to stimulate the necessary innovation and technology transfer? Providing an inventory of patent law, policy and information, including certain private initiatives, this thesis discusses issues at the crossroads of intellectual property and climate change, such as: compulsory licensing for climate change, patent office

Influence of Two Different Light Intensities from 16:00 to 20:30 Hours on Evening Dressing Behavior in the Cold

The present experiment tested our hypothesis that the subjects will wear more clothing in the evening cold under the influence of bright light exposure in the late afternoon and evening. Nine young female adults participated in this study. Light intensity was controlled from 9:00 h to 16:00 h at 100 lx, and from 16:00 h to 20:30 h either at 3000 lx in the bright light (»Bright«) or at 10 lx in the dim light (»Dim«) conditions. Light intensity was maintained at 10 lx from 20:30 h to 23:00 h. They were instructed to wear garments to maintain themselves to feel comfortable during the fall of ambient temperature from 30 °C to 15 °C (21:00 h ~ 22:00 h) and its constant temperature at 15 °C (22:00 h ~ 23:00 h). Most subjects dressed in heavier clothing in the »Bright« than in the »Dim« conditions. The evening fall of core temperature was significantly smaller and the urinary melatonin secretion was significantly lower in the »Bright« condition, suggesting that the set-point of core temperature has been set at a higher level during the evening and at night, being influenced by the less amount of melatonin secretion. Thus, it is concluded that the late afternoon and evening bright light exposure could accelerate the dressing behavior in the evening cold

Update of FRF matrix and physical parameters of finite element model

Numerically simulated results by finite element model of a dynamic system do rarely coincide with the actual responses of the structure due to the modeling, manufacturing errors or other causes. The parameters of the finite element model should be corrected for subsequent proper analysis. Minimizing a cost function by the difference between the analytical and actual dynamic stiffness matrices along with constrained conditions of measured FRFs (Frequency Response Functions), this work provides the mathematical form on the updated FRF. The updated parameter matrices of the structure are derived from the FRF variation within the prescribed frequency range. It is shown that the exactness of the proposed method depends on the number of the measured data. The validity of the proposed method is illustrated in updating the parameter matrices of a planar truss structure

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicle Therapy for Stroke: Challenges and Progress

Stroke is the leading cause of physical disability among adults. Stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) secrete a variety of bioactive substances, including trophic factors and extracellular vesicles (EVs), into the injured brain, which may be associated with enhanced neurogenesis, angiogenesis, and neuroprotection. EVs are circular membrane fragments (30 nm−1 μm) that are shed from the cell surface and harbor proteins, microRNAs, etc. Since 2013 when it was first reported that intravenous application of MSC-derived EVs in a stroke rat model improved neurological outcomes and increased angiogenesis and neurogenesis, many preclinical studies have shown that stem cell-derived EVs can be used in stroke therapy, as an alternative approach to stem cell infusion. Although scientific research regarding MSC-derived EV therapeutics is still at an early stage, research is rapidly increasing and is demonstrating a promising approach for patients with severe stroke. MSC therapies have already been tested in preclinical studies and clinical trials, and EV-mediated therapy has unique advantages over cell therapies in stroke patients, in terms of biodistribution (overcoming the first pass effect and crossing the blood-brain-barrier), cell-free paradigm (avoidance of cell-related problems such as tumor formation and infarcts caused by vascular occlusion), whilst offering an off-the-shelf approach for acute ischemic stroke. Recently, advances have been made in the understanding of the function and biogenesis of EVs and EVs therapeutics for various diseases. This review presents the most recent advances in MSC-derived EV therapy for stroke, focusing on the application of this strategy for stroke patients

Damage detection of truss structure based on the variation in axial stress and strain energy predicted from incomplete measurements

This study derives the static equilibrium equation of a damaged system on the basis of stiffness change due to damage as well as the constraint forces at measurements required for obtaining the measured data. Based on the derived equations, this work provides an analytical method to detect damage from the stress and strain energy variations between intact and damaged truss structures. The applicability of the proposed method is evaluated in detecting multiple damages of low rate in the truss structure from measured data contaminated by external noise. It is demonstrated that it is possible to properly detect damage in an isolated substructure by partitioning the damage-expected substructure from an entire structure and using the displacements measured at the boundary of the partitioned subsystem. The partitioning method has the benefits in reducing the computational time and measured data as well as improving the effectiveness of the damage detection process

Apigenin Induces Apoptosis through a Mitochondria/Caspase-Pathway in Human Breast Cancer MDA-MB-453 Cells

In this study, we investigated the mechanistic role of the caspase cascade in extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis induced by apigenin, which has been targeted as a candidate in the development of noncytotoxic anticancer medicines. Treatment with apigenin (1–100 µM) significantly inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-453 human breast cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner with IC50 values of 59.44 and 35.15 µM at 24 and 72 h, respectively. This inhibition resulted in the induction of apoptosis and the release of cytochrome c in cells exposed to apigenin at its 72 h IC50. Subsequently, caspase-9, which acts in mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, was cleaved by apigenin. In addition, apigenin activated caspase-3, which functions downstream of caspase-9. The apigenin-induced activation of caspase-3 was accompanied by the cleavage of capases-6, -7, and -8. These results are supported by evidence showing that the activity patterns of caspases-3, -8, and -9 were similar. The present study supports the hypothesis that apigenin-induced apoptosis involves the activation of both the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways

Identification of parameter matrices using estimated FRF variation

This study presents an analytical method to predict the dynamic parameters of actual structure from measured FRF (Frequency Response Function) data. The inconsistency due to modeling errors between the actual structure and the finite element model exists. The number of measured data is less than the one of a full set of dofs and should be expanded to estimate the parameters. Considering that the stiffness and mass matrices are related with the real part of the expanded FRF data and the damping matrix with the imaginary part, the variation in the parameter matrices is evaluated. A numerical example evaluates the appropriateness of the proposed method

The Model Minority Stereotype as a Prescribed Guideline of Empire: Situating the Model Minority Research in the Postcolonial Context

It has been 50 years since the term, model minority, first appeared in the United States to describe Asian Americans as an ethnic group that overcame the image of the “yellow peril” and successfully climbed the social ladder. Scholars have tried to debunk the myth and reveal racism behind the notion. However, the “over-education” view has flourished in Asian American Studies as the most popular research direction, serving the socioeconomic self-interest of professors with highly educated Asian Americans as research subjects (Sakamoto, Takei, & Woo, 2012). To refute the “over-education” view and meet the contextual need to generate a new paradigm of research, this article reviews major themes of the MMS through the lens of postcolonialism based on the discourse of Empire by Hardt and Negri (2000). In the domain of Empire, the model minority stereotype (MMS) is defined as a strategy for imperial control that integrates, differentiates, and manages. Asian American intellectuals and professionals are analyzed from the perspective of Empire with suggestions for future research directions