Parsons School of Design

John Stanislav Sadar reviews the book, '24/7: late capitalism and the ends of sleep', by Jonathan Crary, published by Verso, 2013.

BACKGROUND: Federally funded evaluation research projects typically strive for an 80% survey response rate, but the increasing difficulty and expense in reaching survey respondents raises the question of whether such a threshold is necessary for reducing bias and increasing the accuracy of survey estimates. OBJECTIVES: This analysis focuses on a particular component of survey methodology: the survey response rate and its relationship to nonresponse bias. Following a review of the literature, new analysis of data from a large, multisite random assignment experiment explores the relationship between survey response rates and measured nonresponse bias. RESEARCH DESIGN: included 12,000 individuals who were fielded for 16 identical surveys as part of the Employment Retention and Advancement evaluation. RESULTS: The results suggest scant relationship between survey nonresponse bias and response rates. The results also indicate that the pursuit of high response rates lengthens the fielding period, which can create other measurement problems. CONCLUSIONS: The costly pursuit of a high response rate may offer little or no reduction of nonresponse bias. Achieving such a high rate of response requires considerable financial resources that might be better applied to methods and techniques shown to have a greater effect on the reduction of nonresponse bias.

Cities around the world are facing an ever-increasing variety of challenges that seem to make more sustainable urban futures elusive. Many of these challenges are being driven by, and exacerbated by, increases in urban populations and climate change. Novel solutions are needed today if our cities are to have any hope of more sustainable and resilient futures. Because most of the environmental impacts of any project are manifest at the point of design, we posit that this is where a real difference in urban development can be made. To this end, we present a transformative model that merges urban design and ecology into an inclusive, creative, knowledge-to-action process. This design-ecology nexus—an ecology for cities—will redefine both the process and its products. In this paper we: (1) summarize the relationships among design, infrastructure, and urban development, emphasizing the importance of joining the three to achieve urban climate resilience and enhance sustainability; (2) discuss how urban ecology can move from an ecology of cities to an ecology for cities based on a knowledge-to-action agenda; (3) detail our model for a transformational urban design-ecology nexus, and; (4) demonstrate the efficacy of our model with several case studies.

Educators and education advocates have recently acknowl-edged that the ability to think systemically is one of the nec-essary skills for success in the 21st century. Game-making is especially well-suited to encouraging meta-level refl ection on the skills and processes that designer-players use in building such systems. Membership in a community of game produc-ers means sharing thoughts and experiences with fellow play-ers. This ability to gain fl uency in specialist language and to translate thinking and talking about games into making and critiquing them (and vice versa) suggests that games not only teach literacy skills but support their ongoing use. Rather than imagining that education can be transformed by bring-ing games into the classroom, researchers should consider not only the effects of the thinking engendered by those who play, but also by those who design the play. This article of-fers an overview of the pedagogy and development process of Gamestar Mechanic, an RPG (Role Playing Game) style online game designed to teach players the fundamentals of game design. It will discuss some of the early results of the project, with an emphasis on the conceptual framework guid-ing the work, as well as the kinds of literacies and knowledge structures it is intended to support. [abstract ends]

Purpose of the Study: Older homeless adults living in shelters have high rates of geriatric conditions, which may increase their risk for acute care use and nursing home placement. However, a minority of homeless adults stay in shelters and the prevalence of geriatric conditions among homeless adults living in other environments is unknown. We determined the prevalence of common geriatric conditions in a cohort of older homeless adults, and whether the prevalence of these conditions differs across living environments. Design and Methods: We interviewed 350 homeless adults, aged 50 and older, recruited via population-based sampling in Oakland, CA. We evaluated participants for common geriatric conditions. We assessed living environment using a 6-month follow-back residential calendar, and used cluster analysis to identify participants' primary living environment over the prior 6 months. Results: Participants stayed in 4 primary environments: unsheltered locations (n = 162), multiple locations including shelters and hotels (n = 88), intermittently with family/friends (n = 57), and, in a recently homeless group, rental housing (n = 43). Overall, 38.9% of participants reported difficulty performing 1 or more activities of daily living, 33.7% reported any falls in the past 6 months, 25.8% had cognitive impairment, 45.1% had vision impairment, and 48.0% screened positive for urinary incontinence. The prevalence of geriatric conditions did not differ significantly across living environments. Implications: Geriatric conditions were common among older homeless adults living in diverse environments, and the prevalence of these conditions was higher than that seen in housed adults 20 years older. Services that address geriatric conditions are needed for older homeless adults living across varied environments.

Abstract As an emerging field of theory, research, and practice, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) has received attention for its efforts to incorporate the arts into the rubric of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning. In particular, many informal educators have embraced it as an inclusive and authentic approach to engaging young people with STEM. Yet, as with many nascent fields, the conceptualization and usage of STEAM is somewhat ambivalent and weakly theorized. On the one hand, STEAM offers significant promise through its focus on multiple ways of knowing and new pathways to equitable learning. On the other hand, it is often deployed in theory, pedagogy, and practice in ambiguous or potentially problematic ways toward varying ends. This paper attempts to disentangle some of the key tensions and contradictions of the STEAM concept as currently operationalized in educational research, policy, and practice. We pay particular attention to the transformative learning potential supported by contexts where STEAM is conceptualized as both pedagogical and mutually instrumental. That is, neither STEM nor arts are privileged over the other, but both are equally in play. We link the possibilities suggested by this approach to emerging theories for understanding how designing for and surfacing epistemic practices linked to the relevant disciplines being integrated into STEAM programs may point the way toward resolving tensions in inter‐ and transdisciplinary learning approaches.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term outcomes of a large series of patients treated with submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection (STER). BACKGROUND: STER is a newly developed treatment for upper gastrointestinal submucosal tumors originating from the muscularis propria layer. Recently, reports about STER are increasing, but a large study with long-term follow-up is little known. METHODS: In a retrospective study, a total of 180 patients with upper gastrointestinal submucosal tumors undergoing STER were included from June 2011 to May 2013. Clinicopathological, endoscopic, and follow-up data were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: The en bloc resection was achieved in 90.6% of patients and the complications rate was 8.3%. Based on statistical analysis, tumors with irregular shape and greater size were the significant contributors to piecemeal resection and long operative times. Besides tumor shape and size, tumor in deep muscularis propria and long operative time were also risk factors of complications. The median hospitalization time was 3.2 days. All of the complications were cured by conservative treatment. A median follow-up of 36 months was available and all patients were free from local recurrence or distant metastasis during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: STER is an effective and safe methodology for the resection of upper gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. Tumor size and shape impact on the piecemeal resection rate and procedural difficulty. STER for large tumors with irregular shape in the deep muscularis propria is also feasible but associated with relatively high risks of piecemeal resection and complications.

Abstract Nanozyme‐based chemodynamic therapy (CDT) for fighting bacterial infections faces several major obstacles including low hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) level, over‐expressed glutathione (GSH) in infected sites, and inevitable damage to healthy tissue with abundant nonlocalized nanozymes. Herein, a smart ultrasmall Fe 3 O 4 ‐decorated polydopamine (PDA/Fe 3 O 4 ) hybrid nanozyme is demonstrated that continuously converts oxygen into highly toxic hydroxyl radical (•OH) via GSH‐depleted cascade redox reactions for CDT‐mediated bacterial elimination and intensive wound disinfection. In this system, photonic hyperthermia of PDA/Fe 3 O 4 nanozymes can not only directly damage bacteria, but also improve the horseradish peroxidase‐like activity of Fe 3 O 4 decorated for CDT. Surprisingly, through photothermal‐enhanced cascade catalytic reactions, PDA/Fe 3 O 4 nanozymes can consume endogenous GSH for disrupting cellular redox homeostasis and simultaneously provide abundant H 2 O 2 for improving •OH generation, ultimately enhancing the antibacterial performance of CDT. Such PDA/Fe 3 O 4 can bind with bacterial cells, and reveals excellent antibacterial property against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli . Most interestingly, PDA/Fe 3 O 4 nanozymes can be strongly retained in infected sites by an external magnet for localized long‐term in vivo CDT and show minimal toxicity to healthy tissues and organs. This work presents an effective strategy to magnetically retain the therapeutic nanozymes in infected sites for highly efficient CDT with good biosafety.

A primary motivation for investing in hedge funds and commodity funds is to diversify against falling stock prices. The authors evaluate the performance of 16 different such funds during rising and falling stock markets between 1990 and 1998 both as stand–alone assets and as portfolio assets. They use the Sharpe ratio and alternative safety–first criteria to evaluate performance. The conclusion is that commodity funds generally provide more downside protection than hedge funds. Commodity funds have higher returns in bear markets than hedge funds, and generally have an inverse correlation with stock returns in bear markets. Hedge funds typically exhibit a higher positive correlation with stock returns in bear markets than in bull markets. Three hedge fund styles—market–neutral, event–driven, and global macro—provide fairly good downside protection with more attractive returns over all markets than commodity funds.

Abstract This study proposes style consumption (SC) as a way to foster sustainable apparel consumption. In doing so, we identify explanatory and outcome variables of SC and also examine gender differences in these variables. Based on an online survey with 586 consumers, we find that frugal apparel consumption (FAC), fashion consciousness (FC) and ecologically conscious consumption (ECC) enhance the likelihood of SC. SC in turn increases environmental apparel purchase (EAP) and sustainable apparel divestment (SAD). The results also suggest significant gender differences both in motivational and behavioural variables included in the model. Specifically, females are significantly higher than males in FAC, FC and ECC. The tendency of SC, EAP and SAD were also higher for females than males. In addition, we find that gender is a significant factor mediating the effect of FC and that of ECC on SC.

Abstract We examine the effect of service quality on consumer trust and commitment in the context of obtaining a financial loan and how these relationships vary across different generational cohorts. We find that the service quality offered by a loan officer has a significant effect on consumer trust towards a financial institution, which in turn influences consumer commitment to a financial institution for a future transaction. We also find that relative strengths of a few paths in the model differ across different age cohorts, indicating some generational variability in the relationship between service quality, trust and commitment.

4 382 new mothers were examined retrospectively with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for IgG activity to cytomegalovirus (CMV) during pregnancy. Some of them were also studied with the indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) test for CMV-IgM antibodies. All the infants had been studied for CMV excretion within the first week of life. Nineteen of them had been shown to be congenitally infected with CMV. 1 218 (28%) women lacked CMV-IgG activity at their first antenatal visit (usually in months III-IV). Fourteen of them seroconverted before parturition (primary infection). Thirteen of the seroconverters were shown to develop CMV-IgM activity. In 6 (43%) cases the primary infection was transmitted to the offspring. The remaining 13 congenitally infected infants were born to mothers with a positive IgM-test at their first antenatal control. Only one of these mothers had a clearly positive IgM-test. She was shown to lack CMV-antibodies before conception (primary infection during the first trimester). Preconceptional sera were obtained from further 4 of the 13 seropositive mothers of congenitally infected infants; all 4 had CMV antibodies before pregnancy (secondary infection during pregnancy). The combined studies of the mothers and infants revealed that 21-63% of the congenital infections could have been caused by secondary maternal infections. Prospectively performed, the study would only have disclosed one of the three fetal CMV infections that resulted in neurological sequelae.

As people increasingly communicate via asynchronous non-spoken modes on mobile devices, particularly text messaging (e.g., SMS), longstanding assumptions and practices of social measurement via telephone survey interviewing are being challenged. In the study reported here, 634 people who had agreed to participate in an interview on their iPhone were randomly assigned to answer 32 questions from US social surveys via text messaging or speech, administered either by a human interviewer or by an automated interviewing system. 10 interviewers from the University of Michigan Survey Research Center administered voice and text interviews; automated systems launched parallel text and voice interviews at the same time as the human interviews were launched. The key question was how the interview mode affected the quality of the response data, in particular the precision of numerical answers (how many were not rounded), variation in answers to multiple questions with the same response scale (differentiation), and disclosure of socially undesirable information. Texting led to higher quality data-fewer rounded numerical answers, more differentiated answers to a battery of questions, and more disclosure of sensitive information-than voice interviews, both with human and automated interviewers. Text respondents also reported a strong preference for future interviews by text. The findings suggest that people interviewed on mobile devices at a time and place that is convenient for them, even when they are multitasking, can give more trustworthy and accurate answers than those in more traditional spoken interviews. The findings also suggest that answers from text interviews, when aggregated across a sample, can tell a different story about a population than answers from voice interviews, potentially altering the policy implications from a survey.

Drawing on an empirical study of cryptocurrency white papers, this paper proposes an actor-based taxonomy of cryptocurrency blockchains. First, it describes the evolution of blockchain architecture with reference to the economic services that blockchains supply. Second, it discusses the socio-technical platform of blockchains as proposed in cryptocurrency white papers. Third, it analyses the socio-economic consequences of these technically diverse blockchain platforms, by proposing a taxonomy of their digital architectures in reference to two groups of actors that maintain blockchain infrastructure: transactioners and accountants. Defining cryptocurrency as data money, and locating cryptocurrency ownership as the possession of an exclusive right to move data privately in a public or private space, the paper describes a blockchain as a digital actor-network platform that makes it possible to define and distribute these data transfer rights.

Rater training and the maintenance of the consistency of ratings are critical to ensuring reliability of study measures and sensitivity to changes in the course of a clinical trial. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) has been widely used in clinical trials of schizophrenia and other disorders and is considered the "gold standard" for assessment of antipsychotic treatment efficacy. The various features associated with training and calibration of this scale are complex, reflecting the intricacy and heterogeneity of the disorders that the PANSS is used to evaluate. In this article, the authors review the methods for ensuring reliability of the PANSS as well as a proposed trajectory for its use in the future. An overview of the current principles, implementation, technologies, and strategies for the best use of the PANSS; tips for how to achieve consistency among raters; and optimal training practices of this instrument are presented.

Although we can sense someone's vocalizations with our ears, nose, and haptic sense, speech is invisible to us without the help of technical aids. In this paper, we present three interactive artworks which explore the question: "if we could see our speech, what might it look like?" The artworks we present are concerned with the aesthetic implications of making the human voice visible, and were created with a particular emphasis on interaction designs that support the perception of tight spatio-temporal relationships between sound, image, and the body. We coin the term in-situ speech visualization to describe a variety of augmented-reality techniques by which graphic representations of speech can be made to appear coincident with their apparent point of origination.

Body mass index (BMI) has been positively associated with thyroid cancer risk in several studies, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We examined the associations for waist and hip circumference and weight change during adulthood with thyroid cancer risk among 125,347 men and 72,363 women in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study who completed a second mailed questionnaire in 1996-1997. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated separately by sex and adjusted for race/ethnicity, education and smoking status. During follow-up (median = 10.1 years), 106 men and 105 women were diagnosed with a first primary thyroid cancer, as identified through linkage to state cancer registries. Having a large waist circumference (above the clinical cutpoint for normal: > 102 cm in men and > 88 cm in women) was associated with increased risk in both men (HR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.21-2.63) and women (HR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.05-2.26). Having both a large waist and BMI in the obese range (≥ 30 kg/m2) approximately doubled the risk of thyroid cancer (HR in men = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.18-3.85; HR in women = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.31-3.25) compared to having a normal waist circumference/normal BMI (18.5-24.9 kg/m2). We also observed positive association for weight gain between ages 18-35 in men (gained ≥ 10.0 kg vs. lost/gained < 5 kg, HR = 1.49, 95% CI: 0.93-2.39, p-trend = 0.03), but the association was less pronounced in women. No clear association for weight gain in later life was observed. These results support a potential role for hormonal and metabolic parameters common to central adiposity in thyroid carcinogenesis.

BACKGROUND: Mechanisms by which muscle regulates bone are poorly understood. RESULTS: Electrically stimulated muscle contraction reversed elevations in bone resorption and increased Wnt signaling in bone-derived cells after spinal cord transection. CONCLUSION: Muscle contraction reduced resorption of unloaded bone independently of the CNS, through mechanical effects and, potentially, nonmechanical signals (e.g. myokines). SIGNIFICANCE: The study provides new insights regarding muscle-bone interactions. Muscle and bone work as a functional unit. Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying effects of muscle activity on bone mass are largely unknown. Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes muscle paralysis and extensive sublesional bone loss and disrupts neural connections between the central nervous system (CNS) and bone. Muscle contraction elicited by electrical stimulation (ES) of nerves partially protects against SCI-related bone loss. Thus, application of ES after SCI provides an opportunity to study the effects of muscle activity on bone and roles of the CNS in this interaction, as well as the underlying mechanisms. Using a rat model of SCI, the effects on bone of ES-induced muscle contraction were characterized. The SCI-mediated increase in serum C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) was completely reversed by ES. In ex vivo bone marrow cell cultures, SCI increased the number of osteoclasts and their expression of mRNA for several osteoclast differentiation markers, whereas ES significantly reduced these changes; SCI decreased osteoblast numbers, but increased expression in these cells of receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) mRNA, whereas ES increased expression of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and the OPG/RANKL ratio. A microarray analysis revealed that ES partially reversed SCI-induced alterations in expression of genes involved in signaling through Wnt, FSH, parathyroid hormone (PTH), oxytocin, and calcineurin/nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) pathways. ES mitigated SCI-mediated increases in mRNA levels for the Wnt inhibitors DKK1, sFRP2, and sclerostin in ex vivo cultured osteoblasts. Our results demonstrate an anti-bone-resorptive activity of muscle contraction by ES that develops rapidly and is independent of the CNS. The pathways involved, particularly Wnt signaling, suggest future strategies to minimize bone loss after immobilization.

Conservation in urban areas typically focuses on biodiversity and large green spaces. However, opportunities exist throughout urban areas to enhance ecological functions. An important function of urban landscapes is retaining nitrogen thereby reducing nitrate pollution to streams and coastal waters. Control of nonpoint nitrate pollution in urban areas was originally based on the documented importance of riparian zones in agricultural and forested ecosystems. The watershed and boundary frameworks have been used to guide stream research and a riparian conservation strategy to reduce nitrate pollution in urban streams. But is stream restoration and riparian-zone conservation enough? Data from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and other urban stream research indicate that urban riparian zones do not necessarily prevent nitrate from entering, nor remove nitrate from, streams. Based on this insight, policy makers in Baltimore extended the conservation strategy throughout larger watersheds, attempting to restore functions that no longer took place in riparian boundaries. Two urban revitalization projects are presented as examples aimed at reducing nitrate pollution to stormwater, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay. An adaptive cycle of ecological urban design synthesizes the insights from the watershed and boundary frameworks, from new data, and from the conservation concerns of agencies and local communities. This urban example of conservation based on ameliorating nitrate water pollution extends the initial watershed-boundary approach along three dimensions: 1) from riparian to urban land-water-scapes; 2) from discrete engineering solutions to ecological design approaches; and 3) from structural solutions to inclusion of individual, household, and institutional behavior.

This paper challenges the recommendations of 1981 President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research that all jurisdictions in the United States should adopt the Uniform Determination of Death Act, which endorses a whole-brain, rather than a higher-brain, definition of death. I argue that the Commission was wrong to reject the "personhood argument" for the higher-brain definition on the grounds that there is no consensus among philosophers or the general population as to what constitutes "personhood". I claim that philosophers agree that some potential for cognitive function is necessary for personhood and that, when this is absent in cases of anencephaly and persistent vegetative state (PVS), the individual should be considered dead. I further argue that the lack of consensus among the general population is due in large measure to misunderstandings about the medical reality of PVS and beliefs influenced by feelings for a specific individual in PVS. I also examine and reject two tutorist arguments which have been used to support the Commission's position: that the higher-brain definition would threaten the severely senile and severely retarded, and that there are not currently adequate medical techniques for determining when all higher-brain activities have ceased.