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Examining the Risks: The Impact of Alcohol Advertising on Vulnerable Populations and the Need for Enhanced Regulation
Get PDFThis study examines the potential risks associated with modern alcohol advertising strategies, with a specific focus on their influence on vulnerable populations such as adolescents and those with alcohol use disorders. It investigates the degree to which advertising content in the United States may appeal to these groups and explores how differing regulatory systems across the United States, the United Kingdom, and France impact advertising practices.
Utilizing a comparative content analysis, this research analyzes television and social media advertisements from leading alcohol brands in each country, analyzing elements such as language, imagery, themes, and messaging that may resonate with vulnerable populations. Additionally, this study conducts a quantitative analysis of alcohol advertising spending and consumption rates across six U.S. states to assess any correlation between advertising expenditures and alcohol consumption.
The findings suggest that while stricter regulations in the United Kingdom and France appear to influence the content and presentation of alcohol advertisements, a clear and consistent correlation between advertising and alcohol consumption patterns remains inconclusive due to various external social and cultural factors. Notably, France reported having the highest consumption rates despite having the strictest regulations, while the United States, with lenient policies, continues to have the highest rates of alcoholism.
Ultimately, while this study does not provide definitive evidence linking alcohol advertising and consumption across vulnerable audiences, it highlights the need for further research. Adopting more holistic industry practices that balance creative freedom with efforts to reduce harm to at-risk individuals could be beneficial.
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Sandra Calderé Mejías - Reflections on Events Attended for the 2024-25 Latiné/x Cultural and Scholarly Engagement Recognition Badge
Get PDFThis document includes reflections about the 10 hours of events related to Latine/x culture in the U.S. that I attended during academic year 2024-25 at the University of Colorado Boulder. My reflections center on the events I attended and include the most salient points for me personally.</p
Cloning and Imaging RNA-Based Biosensors
Get PDFGenetically encoded fluorescent biosensors are essential tools in modern biological research. These sensors transform otherwise transparent, bland images of cells into vivid, detail rich images that reveal intricate cellular processes. While traditional genetically encoded biosensors often use fluorescent proteins and small molecules, RNA-based biosensors are emerging as a highly customizable alternative. This thesis explores the principles behind genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors, as well as experiments involving the molecular cloning and imaging of three RNA-based biosensors designed by the Palmer and Batey labs. Three RNA-based biosensors were tested in this project, they varied in the composition of the base pairs in the communication modules. We hypothesized that the GCGC sensor would fluoresce independently of SAM, and that AC and UG fluorescence would be SAM dependent, as previously observed by the lab in vitro.</p
Assessing the Role of Pseudocyphellae and Thallus Traits in Modulating Water Relations of Crocodia aurata (Peltigeraceae) Across a Moisture Gradient in the Premontane Tropical Forest of Costa Rica
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In this study I investigated how functional traits of the tropical lichen Crocodia aurata varied in response to microclimate factors along a moisture gradient in the premontane tropical forest of Costa Rica. Specifically, I asked how variations in functional traits modulate water relations, focusing on pseudocyphellae, and other thallus functional traits. I hypothesized that the drying rate (k) of Crocodia aurata would be modulated by water regimes along this natural wetness gradient such that populations collected from wetter environments would lose water faster to maintain favorable internal water statuses. I also hypothesized that pseudocyphellae size, density, and proportion, along with traditional thallus traits, would drive differences in k between wet and dry habitats. Specimens were collected across an elevational gradient, with their corresponding moisture regime. Following saturation, lichens at each site were weighed periodically to determine drying rate (k) using Page’s model. Functional traits were then measured and assessed for their ability to predict k. Consistent with ecophysiological theory, samples of Crocodia aurata from wetter sites dried significantly faster than those from drier sites. Thallus thickness, Specific Thallus Mass (STM), Water Holding Capacity (WHC), and thallus area predicted drying rate while pseudocyphellae did not significantly impact drying rate. This suggests that pseudocyphellae may not play a primary role in regulating the drying process in Crocodia aurata at this scale. Instead, traditional thallus traits remain the dominant drivers of water relations. These findings contribute to understanding the ecological adaptations of lichens to microclimatic conditions and emphasize the complex interaction between environmental factors and morphological traits. Studying water relations and corresponding functional traits of these poikilohydric organisms is critical for assessing environmental microclimate shifts in our changing climate.
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Horror Beyond the Screen: Video Game Metafiction Through the Lens of Alan Wake 2
Get PDFThe concept of metafiction is a polarizing form of storytelling that requires ambitious refusal of conventions on the part of the creator. This self-reflexive genre not only acknowledges its fictionality, but at times relies on it in order to create this meta feeling. Metafiction is primarily known for its examples in literary fiction, but is also present in other visual media such as film and television, and the majority of critical discourse focuses on these mediums. However, metafictional storytelling is having a sort of reinvention through the medium of video games. As opposed to the former mediums, video games offer a unique and novel type of active engagement on the part of the audience, leading to a kind of immersion specific to this medium. This can best be seen in Remedy Entertainment’s 2023 survival horror game Alan Wake 2, as it is known for its complex metanarrative that is enforced by the game’s mechanics. In this thesis I argue that Alan Wake 2 is an exemplary example of the metafictional power that video games can portray, as well as showcasing the narrative and storytelling power that video games have. I focus on the intentional way that Remedy utilizes and manipulates common video game mechanics and features such as diegesis, the magic circle, and cutscenes in order to subvert conventions to add to its metafictionality; I discuss Remedy’s “connected universe” throughout its catalogue and how this creates intertextuality within and outside of the text; and I analyze the ways in which Remedy takes inspiration from and aligns their work with other pieces of metafiction, comparing it to other examples of transmedial game endeavors. Through all of these points, Remedy showcases their dedication and commitment to this kind of ambitious metafictional endeavor, and lays the groundwork for the discussion of how video games operate as works of art and genuine vehicles for important storytelling.</p
From Old to New: The Evolution of Comedy in the Ancient Greek World
Get PDFThere are three distinct genres of Greek comedy that modern scholars continue to study.Of these three genres, categorized first by the Alexandrine grammarians, only two waves havebeen preserved enough to generalize about what constituted that style. The first genre has beendubbed “Old Comedy,” and its conventions were popular in the 5th century BCE. Exact dates forthe eras of comedy are hard to define, as the genres likely evolved gradually over time. However,in this thesis, I choose to define the eras of Old Comedy around the most prolific playwright thatsurvives from the general era: Aristophanes. It is important to note that Aristophanes was notnecessarily the first or the last poet to represent the genre of Old Comedy. But given that he wasdefined by ancient scholars as one of the three greatest Old Comedy playwrights, and he is ouronly surviving example of the genre, defining the genre by the dates of his lifetime is notfarfetched. Therefore, when using the term Old Comedy in this thesis, the general dates will beplays written from 450-388 BCE.
The second genre that this thesis will focus on is New Comedy. Again, the exact dates ofNew Comedy are hazy, as it likely developed and morphed from the conventions of Old Comedyover time. Our only surviving playwright of this genre (aside from sporadic and fairlyindiscernible fragments from his contemporaries) is Menander. Menander's surviving works arelimited to just two plays, which are mostly intact, and three other plays that have significantlacunae. Menander, like Aristophanes, was likely not the first or the last playwright to writewithin the genre of New Comedy. However, since he is also our only surviving example of thegenre, this thesis will reference New Comedy's timeframe within his life which was from 342-290 BCE.</p
Rutherford B. Hayes and Civil Service Reform: How Internal Party Divisions Tied The President To Big Business Interests
Get PDFIn 1876, as The United States of America was celebrating its centennial anniversary, Rutherford B. Hayes rose to national prominence in the Republican Party as a champion of civil service reform. During the Republican Nominating Convention, Hayes was nominated as an outsider, compromise candidate meant to bridge the gap between reformist and Stalwart Republicans. After winning the nomination, he was unwilling to concede his reformist position in order to accommodate Stalwarts. The divide between Hayes and the faction of Stalwart Republicans was exacerbated by the contested nature of the 1876 election; when Hayes became reliant on Congress to assume the Presidency, Stalwarts threatened Hayes’ election chances if he continued to refuse policy compromise. By the time Hayes entered office in March of 1877, the feud between Hayes and the Stalwart wing left Hayes with little political support for his civil service reform agenda. This lack of support pushed Hayes into an alliance with big business interests. The actualization of Hayes' relationship with big business can be seen through his actions in the Great Strike of 1877 and in opposing the Bland-Allison Act. Hayes’ stances on these two issues both personally troubled the president and were widely unpopular, yet Hayes pursued them at the behest of his business connections. Once civil service reform became a political impossibility due to Democratic control of congress in 1879, Hayes reneged business interests by championing tariffs and a protectionist economic policy, revealing how the relationship between Hayes and America’s financial elite was in service of his reformist agenda. Ultimately, Hayes’ unwillingness to accommodate Stalwarts within his own party made his administration beholden to the interests of America’s most wealthy to attain support for civil service reform.</p
Taste Shocks & Migration Modeling
Get PDFThis paper explores the use of machine learning techniques to improve migration modeling. Most existing migration models rely on a set of assumptions about the optimal agent choice policy and use those assumptions to define a tractable, analytically derived model. This paper proposes a new methodology using machine learning and neural networks to compute an optimal choice agent policy function capable of predicting per-period transition matrices from complex state spaces. This methodological shift moves from analytical to numerical computation. The proposed methodology is able to replicate existing agent optimal choice policy for migration models and demonstrates the potential effects of differing taste shock distributions on migration decisions. </p
Smallholders in a Cowboy’s World: Settlement Ecology of Late 19th-Century Farmers in Flatland Boulder County
Get PDFThe western American frontier has long been considered a place where people had unique socioeconomic and cultural experiences. In scholarly writing, the frontier has been imagined as a forge of American culture and identity, while popular media often portrays it as wildly different than the eastern United States, being populated by cowboys and bandits. In this study, I analyze these assumptions and perceptions by studying a narrow spatiotemporal setting on the western American frontier: Boulder County, Colorado in 1885. I apply settlement ecology theory to understand what influences the cultural and environmental landscapes had on how and where people farmed, in addition to what this can tell us about greater socioeconomic and cultural relations. This was accomplished by transcribing the 1885 Colorado state census for Boulder County along with collecting landscape variables for each farm in ArcGIS Pro, based on a late 19th-century map of the area. This data was then analyzed statistically using k-means, discriminant function, and principal components analyses. The results primarily demonstrate patterns reflecting associations of wealth with farm location and activity. Wealth especially was found to differentiate groups, including immigrant and US-born farmers; homesteaders and cash purchasers of land; and smallholder and other farmers. The intensive and focused growing of wheat or raising of cattle, the most lucrative agricultural activities at the time, seemed to have the prerequisite requirement of existing wealth. I conclude by arguing that unlike some scholarly and popular perceptions, the western American frontier, as represented by Boulder County, was primarily occupied by smallholder farmers striving to create a good life for their families, in similar ways to all of American agricultural history.</p
The Role of Perceived Stress in HPA Axis Dysregulation
Get PDFThe purpose of this research thesis is to predict cortisol reactivity based on prior chronic and acute self-reported stress using the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test (SECPT) as the stressor. Chronic stress is known to impact HPA axis regulation, as well as cortisol secretion. While acute stressors typically elicit a significant cortisol response, chronic stress exposure can result in HPA axis dysregulation, often characterized by blunted cortisol reactivity. This study investigates how self-reported chronic and acute stress predict cortisol reactivity in the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test (SECPT), a standardized stress test that combines a physical stressor and social evaluation. Perceived stress levels were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to measure an individual's recent stress exposure. It is hypothesized that individuals with higher chronic stress scores will exhibit blunted cortisol responses, whereas individuals with lower chronic stress scores will exhibit regular or heightened cortisol responses. Findings from this study will further our understanding of the body’s physiological responses to stress and health related outcomes that are a result of chronic stress.</p
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