The University of the Arts (UArts) is a university of visual and performing arts based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its campus makes up part of the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia. Dating back to the 1870s, it is one of the oldest schools of art or music in the United States. The university is composed of two colleges and two Divisions: the College of Art, Media & Design; the College of Performing Arts; the Division of Liberal Arts; and the Division of Continuing Studies. It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. In addition, the College of Art, Media & Design is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and the School of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.
This paper studies Markov perfect equilibria in a repeated duopoly model where sellers choose algorithms. An algorithm is a mapping from the competitor's price to own price. Once set, algorithms respond quickly. Customers arrive randomly and so do opportunities to revise the algorithm. In the simple game with two possible prices, monopoly outcome is the unique equilibrium for standard functional forms of the profit function. More generally, with multiple prices, exercise of market power is the rule -- in all equilibria, the expected payoff of both sellers is above the competitive outcome, and that of at least one seller is close to or above the monopoly outcome. Sustenance of such collusion seems outside the scope of standard antitrust laws for it does not involve any direct communication.
The recurrent pathogenic variant KCNC1-p.Ala421Val (A421V) is a cause of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy characterized by moderate-to-severe developmental delay/intellectual disability, and infantile-onset treatment-resistant epilepsy with multiple seizure types, including myoclonic seizures. Yet, the mechanistic basis of this disease, and of the KCNC1 disease spectrum, remains unclear. KCNC1 encodes Kv3.1, a voltage-gated potassium channel subunit that is strongly and selectively expressed in neurons capable of generating action potentials at high frequency, including parvalbumin-positive fast-spiking GABAergic inhibitory interneurons in cerebral cortex (PV-INs) that are known to be important for cognitive function and plasticity as well as control of network excitation to prevent seizures. In this study, we generate a novel transgenic mouse model with conditional expression of the A421V pathogenic missense variant (Kcnc1-A421V/+ mice) to explore the specific physiological mechanisms of KCNC1 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. Our results indicate that global heterozygous expression of the A421V variant leads to cognitive impairment, epilepsy, and premature lethality. We observe decreased PV-IN cell surface expression of Kv3.1 via immunohistochemistry, decreased voltage-gated potassium current density in PV-INs using outside-out nucleated macropatch recordings in brain slice, and profound impairments in the intrinsic excitability of cerebral cortex PV-INs (but not excitatory neurons) via current-clamp electrophysiology. In vivo two-photon calcium imaging revealed altered activity in Kcnc1-A421V/+ PV-INs and excitatory cells, as well as hypersynchronous discharges correlated with brief paroxysmal movements that were subsequently shown to be myoclonic seizures on electroencephalography. We found alterations in PV-IN-mediated inhibitory neurotransmission in young adult but not juvenile Kcnc1-A421V/+ mice relative to wild-type controls. Together, these results establish the specific impact of the recurrent Kv3.1-A421V variant on neuronal excitability and synaptic physiology across development to drive network dysfunction underlying KCNC1 epileptic encephalopathy.
This research proposes an extended value–attitude–behavior (VAB) model to explain consumers’ environmentally friendly consumption behavior (EFC) in India's emerging market. It examines how green consumption values (GCV) influence behavior through the sequential mediation of environmental and pro-environmental self-identity. The study further introduces green stigma as a moderating variable in the extended model to address the attitude–behavior gap reported in prior literature on environmentally friendly consumption. The results showed a substantial direct effect of GCV on environmentally friendly consumption behavior, thereby supporting the foundational VAB assumptions. However, when mediators were incorporated, this direct effect decreased, confirming the presence of indirect effects through both environmental attitude and pro-environmental self-identity, suggesting sequential mediation. Furthermore, the results confirm that green stigma significantly weakens the link between pro-environmental self-identity and actual behavior, thereby offering a possible explanation for the attitude–behavior gap identified in earlier studies. The moderated mediation analysis further revealed that the indirect effect of GCV on behavior via self-identity decreases as green stigma increases. Overall, these findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the role of pro-environmental self-identity in the VAB model and highlight the importance of considering green stigma in explaining the attitude–behavior gap in environmentally friendly consumption research.
This article considers the potential long term implications of university emergency responses to Covid-19. While empathetic responses are important in a time of crisis, emergency measures should not necessarily entail the infringement of or the abandonment of rights articulated in existing policies, procedures, collective agreements, or contracts. Areas of particular vulnerability include academic freedom, faculty workload, and intellectual property rights. The author also suggests that crisis responses by higher education may be seen as more of an intensification of neoliberal pressures than as signaling new pressures from the pandemic alone. Author Biography Christopher Willard, Alberta University of the Arts Christopher Willard received his MFA in Painting from Hunter College (CUNY) and his PhD in Artistic Research from the University of Calgary. Willard is a recognized artist and writer. His visual art is included in public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. His most recent published writing includes Ship of Theseus, (poetry) Crisis Chronicle Press, Sundre (novel) Vehicule Press, and Garbage Head (novel) Vehicule Press. His post-studio work includes founding the Invisible Art Collective International. Willard teaches at the Alberta University of the Arts. In his spare time he is an avid road cyclist.
The traditional electro-Fenton (EF) process is limited by the generation and activation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The electrochemical three-electron oxygen reduction reaction (3e- ORR) could directly activate molecular oxygen to form hydroxyl radicals (center dot OH), which opens up a path for the development of ecofriendly water treatment technologies. However, the main limitation of the 3e- ORR reaction at present is the lack of low-cost and high-selectivity catalytic current collectors. Herein, through coupling the 2e- active Ni sites with the common Fe and Mn sites in the Fenton reaction, the amorphous NiFeMn alloy catalytic film (A-NFM) was successfully deposited onto the current collector via a high-efficiency, reproducible, and self-developed filtering cathode vacuum arc (FCVA) codeposition system. The A-NFM could successfully selectively reduce O2 to center dot OH through the 3e- pathway, thereby avoiding the generation and activation of H2O2 in the Fenton process. The A-NFM can rapidly and completely remove ciprofloxacin within 30 min, achieving an apparent rate constant of 0.132 min-1, which is comparable to the most advanced oxidation processes currently available. Moreover, after 100 cycles, the degradation efficiency remains stable, indicating that this system has good stability in practical applications. This strategy can efficiently generate in situ center dot OH, opening up a path for the development of green water treatment technologies.
