Plenum a la Mode - Augmented Reality Fashions

Inspired by ideas portrayed in science fiction, the authors sought to develop a set of augmented reality fashions that showcased scenes from a science fiction novel recently published by the principal author. The development team included artists and designers, a programmer, and the writer. Significant technical challenges needed to be overcome for success, including fabric construction and manipulation, image enhancement, robust image recognition and tracking capabilities, and the management of lighting and suitable backgrounds. Viewing geometries were also a non-trivial problem. The final solution permitted acceptable but not perfect real-time tracking of the fashion models and the visualization of both static and dynamic 3D elements overlaid onto the physical garments.

Corrigendum to "Simulation and Optimization of Lead-Based Perovskite Solar Cells with Cuprous Oxide as a P-type Inorganic Layer [J. Nig. Soc. Phys. Sci. 1 (2019) 72–81, https://doi.org/10.46481/jnsps.2019.13]"

The version in the original Article has an error in the name of the principal author Eli Danladi which was given incorrectly as D. Eli. We highly regret this.

The Question of Sharing: Thomas Jefferson and the Idea of Communal Property

Drawing from archival research, this article explores Thomas Jefferson’s understanding of property and his embrace of a political community defined by communal sharing. Tracing the evolution of Jefferson’s view on property holdings from the Anglo-Saxons to the American colonies to his speculative vision of ward republics, this paper argues that fears concerning economic and property inequities in the early republic compelled the principal author of the Declaration of Independence to endorse small, communal experiments. Importantly, this reading of Jefferson problematizes strict liberal or republican interpretations of his thought, further calling into question the philosophical heritage of the American republic. By evaluating personal letters from 1804 to 1824, this article offers an alternative reading of Jefferson, one that carefully showcases his wholly original, compelling, and radical democratic thinking. The significance of this heterodox interpretation has far-reaching implications on our understanding of the foundational principles of the early republic as well as how we address the issue of economic inequality in the modern-day United States.

ASSESSMENT OF TRIGLYCERIDE TO HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN RATIO AS AN INDICATOR OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE AND ITS SEVERITY

Objectives: To evaluate the TG/HDL ratio test as a diagnostic tool for assessing the severity of CAD. Methodology: This was a validation study conducted at the Indus Hospital, Karachi between March 2019 and March 2020. All patients irrespective of gender, aged above 18 years of age, who had chest pain or tightness radiating to the arms or shoulders, had shortness of breath, sweating or dizziness underwent an electrocardiogram (ECG) followed by coronary angiography in a catheterization lab were recruited in the study. Patients with a congenital heart disease or familial hyperlipidemia were excluded from the study. Lipid profiles were assessed by the principal author and were recorded in a predefined pro forma. Results: The mean (SD) age of the subjects was 55.12 ± 9.93 years. A significant association of increasing TG/HDL ratio was observed with the severity of the illness (p<0.0001). The mean TG/HDL ratio was considerably varied in patients with mild to moderate, moderate to severe, and very severe disease from the control group and in the mean TG/HDL ratio of patients with mild to moderate from very severe disease patients (p<0.05). Conclusion: The current study indicates a strong association of triglyceride to HDL-c ratio with severity of CAD. We recommend that TG/HDL ratio should be determined for CAD patients to assess the severity of CAD in addition to other lipoprotein products.

László Gozmány’s annotated essay on the history of Hungarian lepidopterology published in 1949

In 1949, the American Lepidopterists’ Society published an essay of nine entries on the history of Hungarian lepidopterology. The principal author of the short paper was the young, 28 years old Dr. László Gozmány. Access of the essay is difficult as early volumes of the News of the Lepidopterists’ Society are rare in libraries and not available on the world-wide-web. The original essay is reproduced here with 38 supplementary annotations giving more historical clarity. The article is a tribute to Dr. László Gozmány on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. With one figure.

Lessons Learned From Virtual Teaching and Learning in Elementary Education During C19 Disruption

This chapter sets out to present and reflect on the creative approaches implemented in teaching and learning during disruption, specifically in grades JK-5 that quickly became a reality at the American Community Schools (ACS) of Athens because of the C19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. During that time ACS Athens administration, including the schools' President, the Director of e-Learning, Dean of Academics, and the Elementary Principal (author) designed a “5-Phase Process as a disruptive intervention to transition from a traditional four-walled classroom into a virtual classroom, thus transforming learning experiences, routines, and perspectives.” This chapter will provide a framework for the details of each phase while sharing the immediate responses to virtual learning which were based on best practices and technological pedagogical framework.

Redo hypospadias repair by a single surgeon after failed hypospadias surgeries: Experience from a developing country

Background: Hypospadias surgeries are often complicated with fistulas, meatal stenosis and disruptions. We report our series of redo surgeries for failed primary repairs. Methods: We prospectively observed all the redo hypospadias repairs done by the principal author between 2013 and 2017. Thiersch-Duplayurethroplasty was done if the urethral plate was adequately wide and intact; tubularized incised plate (TIP) urethroplasty was performed if the urethral plate was intact but, narrower than 8 mm; 2 stage procedures were done with oral mucosal graft (OMG) if the urethral plate was deficient or scarred with significant chordee. Result: There was a total of 31 patients. Age ranged from 18 months to 15 years (mean 8.05 ±4.27 years). Sixteen (51.61%) patients underwent only one surgery, 10 (32.26%) patients underwent 2 surgeries, 2 patients (6.45%) underwent 3 surgeries, and 3 patients (9.68%) underwent 4 surgeries prior to presenting to us before our redo surgeries.We had performed TIP urethroplasty in 16 (51.61%) patients, meatal based flap urethroplasty in 12 (38.71%), OMG followed by urethroplasty in 2 (6.45%), and repair of urethra-cutaneous (UC) fistula in 1 (3.23%) patient. Ten (32.26%) Complications occurred in 8 (25.80%) patients. Unsuccessful repair was noted in 03 (9.67%) patients (UC fistula 1, glans dehiscence with UC fistula 1, and glans dehiscence 1). Conclusion: Thiersch-Duplay and TIP repair can be successfully performed in redo hypospadiassurgeries with acceptable complication rate. OMG graft can be reserved for cases with gross scarring of the urethral plate. Keywords: Failed hypospadias repair; Tubularized incised plate urethroplasty; Thiersch-Duplay; Outcome

Pier delle Vigne

The most powerful official in the court of Emperor Frederick II (1194–1250), Petrus de Vinea or Pier delle Vigne (b. c. 1190–d. 1240) served as judge, diplomat, chancellor, and polemicist, as well as familiaris, or personal advisor to the emperor. A master of the high style of prose, Pier and his colleagues created a political language charged with the majesty and mystery of sovereignty that would remain influential until the early 15th century. The life of Pier delle Vigne before he joined the Magna Curia is largely unknown. His presence in the imperial chancery is first documented in 1224 when he is listed as an imperial court judge (magne imperialis curie iudex), although he entered the service of the emperor in 1221 as “notarius,” an official whose duties were more similar to those of a modern lawyer. Scholars continue to debate Pier’s participation in the composition of important documents from his early years in the chancery, including the proclamation on the origins of princely power in the Proemium to the Liber Augustalis (1231), Frederick’s code of laws for the kingdom. In the 1230s, Pier served as ambassador, representing imperial interests in missions to Pope Gregory IX in 1232 and to England in 1234, where he negotiated the marriage of Frederick and Isabella, sister of King Henry III, and was made an English citizen. Between 1236 and 1248, he was the principal author of important imperial letters and propaganda manifestos, documents that served as powerful political instruments intended to sway public opinion in favor of the imperial cause. In 1243 Pier identifies himself as imperial protonotary, or head of the imperial chancery, and logothete, or spokesman of the kingdom of Sicily, and, as such, Pier’s power was second only to that of the emperor. All concessions by the emperor, negotiations, political statements, and financial matters passed through his hands. His precipitous downfall remains a mystery but is generally explained as punishment for embezzlement and corruption of justice for personal gain. Branded a traitor by the emperor, Pier was arrested in Cremona in 1249 and transported to San Miniato, where Frederick ordered that he be blinded and where he died. In a letter to Count Richard of Caserta, Frederick condemns Pier’s avarice. Today Pier is remembered as Dante’s tortured thornbush in the wood of the suicides, where his soul speaks of an illustrious and loyal career cut short by the envy of other courtiers.

Modernism and nihilism of the Constitution for the Earth

This article uses the post-modern Nietzsche affirmation as a criterion for an analysis of the philosophical concept of the Constitution for the Earth (Šmajs, 2015) and other texts by Josef Šmajs, the principal author of the theory of evolutionary ontology. The author draws the attention of the group of authors of the Constitution for the Earth to the risk of the modernist and nihilist application of evolutionary ontology and proposes that the theory be extended to include new criteria and methods to enable it to be applied in a more acceptable manner. The author places efforts aimed at the biophilic transformation of culture into the value-based and ethical framework of moderate anthropocentrism instead of the ecocentric approach preferred by the creators of evolutionary ontology. The author also underlines the risk of the application of an ecocentric approach through the application of recent analysis of media presentations of those who support and deny climate change in the work entitled Environmental Ethics and Behavioural Change (Franks, Hanscomb & Johnston, 2018).