Flourishing Through Contemplative Practices

Our project involves outlining walking, running, and biking routes inside and around Farmville that people can use to not only get more active physically but mentally as well. How this might work is that people can pick up a brochure at the gym, along with possibly a bike, and then choose a route and a contemplative prompt to think about while going along that route. Additionally, we plan to mark good places to stop along the routes to read or just to take a break and continue contemplating the prompt. We will also encourage people to try to do this without their devices so that they are free of distractions and can focus their attention on contemplation. Our goal in doing this is to contribute to the individual flourishing of people within the Farmville community which might cause Farmville as a whole to flourish just a bit more

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln District Solar Photovoltaic Technical And Economic Feasibility Analysis

This research evaluates the installation of a variety of photovoltaic systems throughout the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to offset the energy consumption of the campus. These systems include roof-mount, ground-mount, carport and agrivoltaic structures. Previous studies have been performed for the feasibility of commercial solar, but they have lacked focus on campus-wide integrations that can be replicated. Using this research other universities, colleges, or campus-based businesses can follow this process to achieve their own sustainability goals. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has a master plan to achieve net zero energy for the campus as well as providing educational opportunities to students, faculty, and the community. We conducted design and site analyses to determine which buildings on campus would offset the most energy while being financially enticing to investors. To accomplish this, we look to achieve an internal rate of return of at least 10% and have all the systems be completely covered by power purchase agreements to eliminate the upfront equipment investment from the university. Additionally, we evaluated the legitimacy of our system designs by performing a distribution analysis. A battery storage solution is designed and evaluated for the roof mount system proposed to be installed on the Animal Science building which will store 30% of the system’s energy production. Our results are expected to show the benefits of integrating several solar photovoltaic solutions throughout a college campus or large district. It will not only offset the energy cost of the university, but also serve as an educational opportunity for replicable solutions and inspiration within the commercial solar industry.https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/urs2021tec/1005/thumbnail.jp

Twenty questions about design behavior for sustainability, report of the International Expert Panel on behavioral science for design

How behavioral scientists, engineers, and architects can work together to advance how we all understand and practice design—in order to enhance sustainability in the built environment, and beyond.https://www.nature.com/documents/design_behavior_for_sustainability.pdfPublished versio

Germinal center B cells recognize antigen through a specialized immune synapse architecture

B cell activation is regulated by B cell antigen receptor (BCR) signaling and antigen internalization in immune synapses. Using large-scale imaging across B cell subsets, we show that in contrast to naive and memory B cells, which gathered antigen towards the synapse center before internalization, germinal center (GC) B cells extracted antigen by a distinct pathway using small peripheral clusters. Both naive and GC B cell synapses required proximal BCR signaling, but GC cells signaled less through the protein kinase C-β (PKC-β)–NF-κB pathway and produced stronger tugging forces on the BCR, thereby more stringently regulating antigen binding. Consequently, GC B cells extracted antigen with better affinity discrimination than naive B cells, suggesting that specialized biomechanical patterns in B cell synapses regulate T-cell dependent selection of high-affinity B cells in GCs

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Museums and Visitor Photography: Redefining the Visitor Experience

Linda Henkel is a contributing author (with Katelyn Parisi and Carey Mack Weber), “The Museum as Psychology Lab: Research on Photography and Memory in Museums”, pp. 152-83. Book description: Museums and Visitor Photography: Redefining the Visitor Experience addresses some of the most fundamental issues relating to the burgeoning phenomenon of visitor photography - in a format which is attractive, approachable and actionable. Based on new research, and on innovative practice in leading museums (including the British Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, Rijksmuseum and Wellcome Collection), this lavishly-illustrated, 500 page handbook will help you understand, connect with, and sympathetically manage visitors’ participation - both in the museum and online. -- Publisher description.https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/psychology-books/1012/thumbnail.jp