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Writing and directing the short film "To write the ending".
No full textThis thesis outlines the conception, production, and analysis of my thesis film, 'to write the ending.' Focused on a street poet who finds a typewriter that enables him to write the future and uses this typewriter in an attempt to find a romantic relationship, the film concerns itself with questions regarding the existential nature of being, the relation between mimesis, reality, and forms, along with the implications of a controlled future on free will. To examine these questions, this thesis first covers philosophical foundations based on Søren Kierkegaard, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin, and Immanuel Kant. After establishing this basis, the thesis turns to discuss films of related genres, particularly focused on romance, films concerned with mimesis, and wish fulfillment narratives. Following the literature review, the thesis details the methodology that will go into the production of the film. To conclude, the thesis reflects upon the filmmaking process from preproduction through production to post-production
Oncomodulin regulates calcium signaling in cochlear outer hair cells and protects hearing from noise.
No full textHearing loss is one of the most common impairments that can be caused by many factors, such as loud noise, aging, disease, and genetic defects. In the mammalian cochlea, two specialized sensory cell types, inner hair cells (IHCs) and outer hair cells (OHCs), are involved in the transduction of sound into electrical responses. Calcium (Ca2+) plays an essential role in the process of mechanotransduction, amplification, and synaptic transmission in cochlear sensory hair cells. Tight regulation and control of Ca2+ are fundamentally important to the function of the cochlea during development and in adults. The maintenance of Ca2+ homeostasis in OHCs involves a multitude of calcium-binding proteins (CaBPs) and Ca2+ transporters. Oncomodulin (OCM), a small EF-hand CaBP, is expressed predominantly by OHCs. A recent study showed that Ocm knockout (Ocm-/-) mice exhibit progressive hearing loss starting at 1-2 months and are deaf by 4 months. However, the role of OCM in cochlear development and the maintenance of normal hair cell function remains unclear. Here, we hypothesize that the absence of OCM alters calcium signaling in both immature and mature OHCs. We first investigated the changes in Ca2+ signaling that begin early in the postnatal development of Ocm-/- mice in CBA/CaH background. At postnatal day 3 (P3), the lack of OCM decreased the Ca2+ transients in OHCs induced by KCl. Using both OHCs and transfected HEK293T cells, we found that OCM slowed Ca2+ kinetics more so than other CaBPs such as α-parvalbumin or sorcin. To measure the Ca2+ signaling in the cochlea, we endogenously expressed a genetically encoded Ca2+ sensor (Atoh1-GCaMP6s) in wild-type (Ocm+/+) and Ocm-/- mice. We observed an increased spontaneous Ca2+ activity and upregulation of purinergic receptors, such as P2X2 in Ocm-/- OHCs immediately following birth. The afferent synaptic maturation was delayed in the Ocm-/- cochlea during development. In adult mice, the lack of OCM increased the susceptibility to noise and altered ATP-induced Ca2+ activity by upregulating P2X2 expression. We conclude that OCM modulates the Ca2+ signaling network in both neonatal and mature OHCs, changes the maturation of OHC afferent innervation, and leads to deleterious consequences such as progressive hearing loss and increased vulnerability to noise
A single case study exploring how social identity affects the intergroup relations of younger workers, women, and people of color in transportation.
No full textThe transportation industry struggles with building a robust and diverse workforce. Despite efforts to improve outcomes for underrepresented groups, the industry experiences a shortage in the number of younger workers, women, and people of color employed at many carriers. Complex social and cultural environments create challenges with inclusion and belonging, which exacerbate disparities for underrepresented employees. Social identity theory was selected as the theoretical framework to explore how identity affects the intergroup relations of younger workers, women, and people of color. This study used multiple data sources to identify the relationships and interactions employees have with their colleagues and the impact work group behavior has on the job-related experiences of underrepresented employees. Three themes emerged from the study and provided insight into the real-life experiences of younger workers, women, and people of color. The first finding revealed that trust, support, respect, and openness to change between leadership and operations teams are critical for solving problems and providing feedback to work group members. The second finding highlighted inclusion concerns based on age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and physical appearance. The third finding indicated that underrepresented employees' job satisfaction, belonging, and commitment to work aligned with perceived value in their role, position, or department. Based on these findings, implications from this study suggest that to develop more positive intergroup relationships and interactions, a culture that emphasizes trust, support, respect, and openness is imperative. The second implication is that to recruit and retain younger workers, women, and people of color, leaders and human resource professionals need to identify, address, and remove organizational barriers impacting the employment of underrepresented groups. The final implication is that further research is required to determine workplace identification's impact on job commitment. In this study, the findings only partially supported the idea that employees' perceptions of themselves at work impact their commitment to their jobs
High-degree polynomial noise subtraction and Multipolynomial Monte Carlo trace estimation in Lattice QCD.
No full textIn lattice Quantum Chromodynamics, the determination of physical quantities containing disconnected loop effects is very computationally expensive. For this reason, the trace of the inverted Wilson-Dirac matrix required for such measurements are performed stochastically through Monte Carlo methods. These trace estimators, however, are generally flooded with noise and require the use of noise subtraction methods to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. In this work, we examine the variance reduction effects of using high-degree GMRES polynomials. We work in the quenched approximation near κcrit for multiple lattice volumes as a demonstration of the methods. We observe a significant reduction in the variance of the scalar operator for such high-degree polynomials. Performing the full trace estimation using these high-degree subtraction polynomials, however, requires computing the trace of these same high-degree polynomials. To make the noise subtracted trace estimator more cost effective, we additionally outline our new Multipolynomial Monte Carlo method and demonstrate several ways that it can be made more efficient. Some of these improvements include the use of double polynomials, polynomial preconditioning, and several novel applications of deflation. In order to demonstrate the performance of our Multipolynomial Monte Carlo method, we have simultaneously developed a very efficient form of Hutchinson's trace estimator and show that our multi-polynomial approach successfully outperforms it
Feasibility of the psychological distress profile for evaluating distress among cancer patients.
No full textCancer patients experience psychological distress due to various factors including length of time since diagnosis, demographic characteristics, and type of cancer (Cutillo et al., 2017; Zabora et al., 2001). The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) standards of care for distress management for cancer patients include effective screening for psychological distress (2020b). While the NCCN recommends using the Distress Thermometer (DT) and Problem List due to their brief nature (2020a), it has been shown that "ultra-short methods," such as the DT, have high rates of false positives (Mitchell, 2007). Thus, the field needs a brief screening measure of distress that provides more detail about the features of the distress than does the DT. This study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, reliability, and validity of the Psychological Distress Profile (PDP; Elkins & Johnson, 2015) for evaluating distress among cancer patients. Two hundred forty-one participants were recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and administered the PDP; Distress Thermometer (DT); Problem List; and standard measures of depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and anger. Results demonstrated that participants were able to complete the PDP in an online format and reported high ratings of acceptability, ease of completion, and willingness to complete the PDP. The PDP also demonstrated high internal consistency when used among cancer patients (Cronbach's α = .92). Furthermore, the PDP demonstrated a small positive correlation with the DT (r = .16, p = .012). The subscales of the PDP significantly correlated with established measures of depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and depression (correlations ranging from r = .14 to r = .77), but the PDP risk factor questions did not significantly correlate with the established measures of depression and hopelessness. Additionally, incremental validity of the PDP was supported for all established measures except the HADS-D. Lastly, both male and female participants reported higher ratings of distress in this study compared to participants from a previous study of the PDP with the general population (Elkins & Johnson, 2015). Overall, the results establish the PDP to be a theory-driven, easily completed, and comprehensive assessment of psychological distress among cancer patients
Development of a generalized fatigue assessment approach for steel castings.
No full textThe objective of this project was to develop a generalized fatigue assessment approach for steel castings for a range of internal casting quality details. In particular, this project examined the effect of quality details on the fatigue performance of steel castings using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) analysis. This is a research effort to address issues common in the casting industry, as current fatigue assessment approaches can be too conservative leading to overdesigned parts and the use of computationally expensive methods. The model was shown to conservatively capture experimental data in the high cycle fatigue regime using Murakami's effective area method for quality details and LEFM estimated crack growth constants. A main outcome of this study found that the minimum indication size using an industry accessible non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique, such as phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT), correlated to the proposed lower limits of the LEFM fatigue design approach
Dismantling Lost Cause fables : a content analysis examining narrative and visual representations of slavery in U.S. history textbooks.
No full textLost Cause revisionism obscures racialized chattel slavery's foundational position in antebellum society and its significance as the cause of the American Civil War. Misperceptions about enslavement and the social construction of race abound in modern classrooms due to vague coverage and Eurocentric perspectives in U.S. history textbooks. Thus, slavery is simultaneously decontextualized and normalized in narrative descriptions and visual imagery. Lost Cause fables embedded in the explicit curricula persuaded generations of students that slavery was an economic inevitability legally and politically sanctioned in the British colonies of North America and the United States of America. This content analysis study examined visual imagery and narrative descriptions of enslavement in six primary- and secondary-level U.S. history textbooks. Textbook inclusion criteria drew from national and state-adopted texts to assess horizontal and vertical alignment across U.S. history curricula. Critical race theory informed the data collection and analysis procedures focusing on the centrality and social construction of race particularly relating to racialized enslavement in British North America. Analysis centered on textbook representations of racialized slavery and developmentally-appropriate lessons about America's racial, social, and gender hierarchies. The findings indicated that current U.S. history textbooks reproduce nineteenth-century Lost Cause ideology by justifying enslavement and normalizing Whiteness. Narrative descriptions of enslavement used sanitized language echoing Lost Cause fables about fair treatment and benevolent patriarchal enslavers. Visual representations illustrated antebellum contrasts from moonlight and magnolia imagery of plantation homes and heroic portraits of Confederate generals to distressing images lash-scarred backs of enslaved people and Ku Klux Klan members threatening Black families in their homes. The findings illustrated the defense of antebellum culture and the Confederacy, which have considerable consequences for 21st-century society. The study's findings have implications for key decision-makers regarding the current and future framing of race-based chattel slavery in U.S. history textbooks and explicit social studies curricula
The impact of multiple acute turkesterone doses on indirect hypertrophy and metabolic measures : a preliminary investigation.
No full textTurkesterone is a naturally occurring plant steroid touted for its medicinal, pharmacological, and biological properties with no reported adverse side effects compared to traditional anabolic androgenic steroids. However, this ostensible enhancement to increase muscle protein synthesis (MPS) remains hitherto undescribed. To investigate whether turkesterone enhances insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and resting metabolic rate (RMR), eleven apparently healthy males volunteered to participate in the present study with samples collected pre-, 3H post-, and 24H post-ingestion. The aforementioned dependent variables were assessed using separate two-way (condition x time) mixed model ANOVAs with repeated measures (α=0.05). Analyses failed to reveal any significant main condition, time, or interaction main effects for serum IGF-1, RMR, lipid, and carbohydrate metabolism. Although non-significant serum IGF-1 concentrations increased with both turkesterone conditions and remained elevated when compared to placebo. Similarly, RMR remained elevated above baseline across the 3 hours assessed. Although these data fail to fully support turkesterone as a potent anabolic supplement, nevertheless, our findings are foundational to persistently tease apart this supplements purported ergogenic effects. Future investigations should, therein, aim to assess turkesterone-mediated IGF-1 increases on long-term whole-muscle growth across several training sessions to further substantiate its efficacy on anabolism when considering the significant gaps in the literature
Quantum Ergodicity on Circulant Graphs.
No full textQuantum ergodicity is a fundamental property of the quantum mechanics of systems where the corresponding classical dynamics is chaotic. These systems are described as exhibiting quantum chaos. In quantum mechanics, wave functions express the probability of finding a particle in a region. Quantum ergodicity refers to a situation where typical wave functions that are energy eigenfunctions (wave functions with a fixed value of energy) become evenly distributed as the energy of the wave function increases. Some quantized chaotic systems exhibit a stronger form of this behavior where all energy eigenfunctions become evenly distributed as the energy increases, rather than this being a feature of most of the eigenfunctions, a property known as quantum unique ergodicity. Recent work by Magee, Thomas, and Zhao introduced a notion of quantum unique ergodicity on graphs (networks). In this thesis, we describe quantum ergodicity and quantum unique ergodicity, explain this recent definition of a discrete quantum unique ergodicity for networks, and prove new results relating to quantum unique ergodicity for families of circulant graphs (networks with a rotational symmetry). In particular, we find families of circulant graphs that do not display discrete quantum unique ergodicity. However, when the definition of discrete quantum ergodicity is relaxed to allow complex bases of eigenfunctions such circulant graph families display discrete quantum unique ergodicity. This was not observed by Magee, Thomas, and Zhao, where discrete quantum unique ergodicity was proved for real or complex orthonormal bases of eigenfunctions for Cayley graphs of quasirandom groups
Writing and directing the short film, "Bloody tears".
No full textThis thesis outlines the process of writing and directing the short film, Bloody Tears. It will also examine many of the underlying theoretical and filmic influences that have informed the director's creative decisions and methodological approach. Their personal goals and thematic content are discussed, and a full script analysis is also provided