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Colonial Entanglements: Nahua Women, Abortion, And Reproductive Work From The Sixteenth To The Early Nineteenth Centuries
No full textThis thesis discusses the subject of abortion among Nahua women, covering the period between the sixteenth and the early nineteenth centuries in the geographical region known as New Spain. Using European sources and the aid of decolonial theory to perform a "reading between the lines", I argue that abortion was an existing and socially allowed practice among Nahua Indigenous women, which slowly changed with the arrival of European men and the institutionalization of the colonial territory of New Spain. Historical evidence such as medicine works on midwifery, confessional manuals, and court cases point to a joint effort between science, religion, and the Spanish state to exterminate Indigenous women\u27s knowledge, including that on abortion, and persecute its practitioners—whether they were Indigenous people or not. By analyzing colonial Mexico\u27s abortion practices and progressive prohibition tackling these three pillars of Western society (science, religion, and the state) and working with demographic studies and Marxist scholars, this work also contributes to the understanding of how the reproductive work of Indigenous women was used to build capitalist wealth in the Americas. Lastly, as a result of being a capitalistic critique, my thesis also dialogues with the reality of Nahua descents living in present-days in Mexico and Mexican women\u27s general struggles to recover their reproductive autonomy
Susan Eckert Shea, Shelly Ciuciak Schiff, Suzanne Taylor Thompson, Marian Nalitt, Elaine Gebhard, Mary Stewart, Patty Burke Savage (group of seven) Oral History
No full textLight Sheet Generation for a Multi-Region Optical Trap for Ultracold Atomic Gases
No full textBy cooling down lithium-6 atoms to nano-Kelvin temperatures and tuning the magnetic field to Feshbach resonance, we can effectively create a strongly correlated quantum degenerate Fermi gas system that is then trapped in our multi-region optical trap. As the atoms are loaded into the trap, we separate the spin states and shine light sheets to divide the different regions so we can study the thermodynamic and spin transport evolution once the light sheet is removed. We showcase the design of the optical set up that images four light sheets onto the atoms to create three regions within the trap. We also describe the functionality of the digital micromirror device (DMD) that is used to shape the intensity profile of the light sheets created. Additionally, we present a method for improving the efficiency of the DMD by preshaping the light. Finally, we introduce our work on half-toning the light sheets in an effort to create a uniform intensity distribution of the light sheets by turning certain mirrors off on the DMD in an algorithmic fashion
Maternal mental health and child self regulation across ethnicity
No full textThe study investigates the relationship between maternal mental health, encompassing maternal depression and general distress, and child self-regulation and externalization behaviors at grade 5, across three ethnic groups: European American, African American, and US-Mexican American. The research employs regression models to explore potential cultural differences in this relationship. The findings highlight the importance of considering cultural backgrounds when designing preventions and interventions targeting maternal mental health and its impact on child development. Specifically, the study reveals that the association between maternal mental health and child outcomes varies across the three ethnic groups examined
Topological Obstructions to the Existence of Compact Shrinking Ricci Solitons in Dimension Four
No full textThis undergraduate thesis is focused on introducing the reader to concepts related to the search for topological obstructions to the existence of compact gradient shrinking Ricci soliton metrics in dimension four. It contains a discussion of the relevant background material for this subject. Furthermore, it introduces the problem of extending the Hitchin-Thorpe inequality to gradient shrinking Ricci soliton metrics and explores the limitations of current results in that direction. At last, the topic of compact Kaehler gradient shrinking Ricci solitons is introduced and the classification of these spaces is outlined in literature-study fashion
Of Rule, Write, and Right: The Production of Absolutist Political Writings by King James I of England
No full textThe context of the source of The Trew Law of Free Monarchies needs to be examined and critically and thoroughly analyzed in order to answer the research question of "in what methods and ways did King James I of England produce ideas of divine right along with absolutist measures?" The central argument of this paper is to prove the position of the post-revisionist interpretation that James I was indeed an absolutist monarch who utilized and referenced the power of religion to support his political ideologies of the monarchy. King James I of England utilized his vernacular, power, and scholarly talents in writing to protrude his ideals of the theory of divine right. The work by James will allow for a distinct outlook on how he supported his role as king. Dissimilar historical lenses and interpretations by different historians with divergent approaches to historical thinking perceived the methods and ways James produced ideas of absolute monarchy and on what basis. This source will look at three different viewpoints in the historiography, the Whig interpretation, the Revisionist interpretation, and the Post-Revisionist interpretation. The research on this subject debates the definition of absolutism in the Stuart monarchy and if it existed due to limitations of the monarchy. Historians also disagree on what drove James Creation of political ideas centered around the theory of divine right as well as an absolutist monarchy that complemented the political writings to promote the implementation of the theory of the divine right of kings and absolutism
Mechanisms that Mediate Tradeoffs Between Reproduction and Survival in the Fruit Fly, Drosophila melanogaster
No full textIn most species studied, energy deficits inhibit female reproductive behavior, but the location and nature of energy sensors and how they affect behavior are unknown. Progress might be facilitated by using Drosophila melanogaster, a species with a rich behavioral repertoire and a relatively simple nervous system. I used this species to (1) characterize the sex differences in the reproductive responses to food deprivation (FD), (2) determine at least one anatomic location of the sex difference, and (3) explore the nature of the metabolic stimulus that inhibits reproduction in female, but not male adults. First, adult males and females were either fed or FD for either 24 or 48 h and tested in an arena with a fed, opposite-sex conspecific (no food in the testing arena). FD females but not FD males showed a significant decrease in copulation rate and an increase in latency to copulate, and fed males showed levels of courtship toward FD females that were not significantly different from the levels of courtship they showed toward fed females. Next, in other experiments with food in the testing arena, females showed significantly longer feeding bouts in response to FD than did males. I used these sex differences in sex and ingestive behavior to examine the loci of these responses to FD. In genetic female flies, I used RNA interference to masculinize only the cells of the nervous system, and in another experiment, I masculinized only the cells of a peripheral organ known as the fat body, an ortholog of the vertebrate liver. I then asked whether selective masculinization of each of these tissues would masculinize the ingestive and reproductive response to FD. Both the FD-induced decreases in sex behavior, and FD-induced increases in ingestive behavior were reversed by masculinization of the fat body, but not by masculinization of the nervous system. Finally, I examined the nature of the metabolic stimulus that decreases copulation and increases ingestive behavior in FD females. When present in the agar medium 48 h prior to testing, yeast alone, a critical component of the natural and laboratory diet, was sufficient but not necessary for normal female copulation rate. Whereas yeast is composed of all of the macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates), neither amino acids alone nor cholesterol alone were sufficient for normal levels of copulation. Glucose alone, however, was sufficient for normal levels of copulation, and oxidizable glucose was necessary, since the inhibition of glucose oxidation mimicked the effect of FD on copulation rate in females fed standard medium or in females fed yeast alone. The effects of inhibition of free fatty acid (FFA) oxidation differed with energetic status. Unlike inhibition of glucose oxidation, inhibition of FFA oxidation failed to decrease copulation rate in fed females and slightly decreased copulation rate in FD females and in females treated simultaneously with an inhibitor of glycolysis. Together these results suggest that female copulation rate is primarily sensitive to the availability of oxidizable glucose, and that the sex difference in the tradeoff between reproduction and food intake is likely linked to the genetic sex of the fat body and its response to lack of glucose or the substrates of glycolysis. It was striking that the source of the behavioral sex differences in response to FD were not located in the CNS. Thus, D. melanogaster is a useful model system for studying the mechanisms underlying behavioral responses to internal energy deficit.</p
Parental Use of Comparison in Conversations with their Toddlers about Categories
No full textAcquiring category knowledge is an important yet complex task of early childhood. Previous research has shown that parent-child interaction is a key context for learning about categories. However, less is known about the strategies parents use to promote children\u27s category learning. Here we consider one potentially useful strategy: parents\u27 use of comparison to draw connections between known and unknown information. Across two studies, we systematically examined parents\u27 use of comparison in conversation with their toddlers about categories. In Study 1, we analyzed data reported in Gelman et al. (1998) to investigate how often parents of 20- and 35-month-olds use comparisons in parent-child interactions and what characterizes the comparisons parents make. In Study 2, we aimed to replicate the findings from Study 1 in a new and larger sample. In addition, Study 2 aimed to further investigate the conditions under which parents might be more likely to use comparisons with their toddlers. Across both studies, results showed that comparisons were commonly used by parents to convey categorical information. Furthermore, the patterns of comparison use varied across parents. Additionally, parents preferentially used comparisons when it was most beneficial for promoting children\u27s category knowledge, namely when connecting familiar and unfamiliar areas of knowledge and in the context of highly similar items that can be aligned to identify commonalities and differences. These findings lend support to the hypothesis that parents use comparison as a communicative tool to convey important categorical information to their children. </p
The Jersey shore is haunted by ghost forests: Vegetation and soils record altered forest functionality in the wake of sea level rise and storm inundation
No full textCoastal forests provide numerous ecosystem services, such as providing habitat for diverse species, maintaining water quality, serving as a carbon sink, and buffering wind and tide energy from storms. These ecosystems are in decline, due to both sea level rise (SLR) and an increase in storm surge intensity and frequency. Saltwater that infiltrates from SLR and storm surge can impose stress on vegetation, which can eventually lead to mortality. These coastal forests transform into "ghost forests" or stands of dead and decaying trees that appear within the ecotone of healthy coastal forests and salt marshes. The long-term effects on community composition and structure of ghost forests are not well understood. This study aimed to locate and characterize ghost forests of varying formation years along the New Jersey coast. Vegetation surveys, topsoil microbial community composition, and soil biogeochemistry were analyzed across 10 sites to describe and compare the environmental conditions of ghost forests of various ages. Results indicate that older ghost forest sites resemble healthy salt marshes, whereas younger sites still retain some similar characteristics to healthy coastal forests. However, ghost forests maintain some degree of uniqueness from their parental coastal forest ecosystem and transitional salt marsh ecosystems. Ghost forests appear to be susceptible to plant invasion, specifically by Phragmites australis. Microbial communities of these ecosystems also appear to initially resist stress, but eventually convert to more marsh-resembling communities as succession occurs. Salinity and pH appear to influence the microbial and vegetative communities respectively, thus indicating how SLR and storm surge will continue to create challenges for these ecosystems in the future. The overall trend indicates that ghost forests represent the transitional stage from a healthy coastal forest ecosystem to a fully functioning salt marsh. Land managers and planners may find that directing salt marsh transgression into ghost forest ecosystems post-formation is the best approach to managing these ecosystems.</p