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Comic Creators: A Cultural Workers’ History Of The Comics Industry, 1937-2024
No full textSince it’s inception, the comic book industry struggled with creators’ rights. Corporations used legal, technological, and hiring practices to subvert creators’ organizing efforts since the 1930s. Yet, creators continue to innovate new strategies and structures to advocate for their labor rights and creative freedoms within the industry. Their greatest success comes from when they partner with fans and consumers. This study explores the American comic book industry through methods corporations have used to bust guild and union organizations and the efforts creators have to fight back. This provides insight for how gig workers might organize as well as an understanding of the changing dynamics of American pop culture
Hypothalamic Control Of Metabolism Under Stress Conditions
No full textEvidence of the brain’s ability to regulate glucose and energy metabolism, and the role of the hypothalamus as the main regulator of whole-body homeostasis has been emerging, yet our limited understanding of the physiologic systems that regulate these processes impairs the ability to design novel therapeutics for various metabolic conditions. Neuroinflammation is increasingly recognized as one of the causal factors in the pathology of metabolic diseases. Glial cells (microglia and astrocytes) have recently garnered specific attention for their role in neuroinflammatory responses in metabolic disorders including obesity and metabolic imbalance. Microglia, produce various pro-inflammatory molecules that are critical for the development of peripheral metabolic imbalance and insulin resistance via hypothalamic inflammation. The central goal of this work was to investigate the hypothalamic regulation of metabolism and neuron-glia interactions in states of obesity or exposure to environmental toxins. This goal was achieved with genetically modified mice models and a novel murine model of air pollution, combining molecular, and physiological approaches designed to manipulate the inflammatory activation state of resident microglia. As part of our long-term goal to characterize the key subsets of hypothalamic neuroendocrine neurons that respond to an obesogenic environment, first, we identified neuroanatomically-restricted sets of hypothalamic growth hormone receptor (GHR) positive neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus that are highly expressed in orexigenic agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons, while deleting GHR from AgRP neurons alters thermogenesis in the sex-specific manner. We next focused on the cellular and molecular interplay between hypothalamic neurons and microglia, in response to obesogenic environment and the induction of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. We discovered that hypothalamic microglial ER stress response driven by a high-fat diet is a critical mediator of peripheral metabolic imbalance, while loss of IRE1α, the most evolutionary conserved pathway of the unfolded protein response, protects male mice against diet-induced obesity. Finally, we reveal that exposure to environmental toxins, specifically benzene, promotes robust hypothalamic glial activation and elevation in the hypothalamic inflammatory IKKβ/NF-κB signaling pathway followed by the induction of ER stress response. Selective ablation of IKKβ in microglia alleviated benzene-induced hypothalamic inflammation, restored energy homeostasis, and protected against benzene-induced hyperglycemia. Thus, we demonstrate that the microglial NF-κB pathway plays a critical role in chemical-induced metabolic disturbances, revealing a vital pathophysiological mechanism linking exposure to airborne toxicants and the onset of metabolic diseases. Our findings emphasize the complex interplay between environmental/nutrient stressors and hypothalamic glia-neuronal interactions, demonstrating the potential mechanisms underlying central control of metabolic diseases
Unapologetically Black & Unashamedly Empowered: The Motherwork Of Low-Income Single Black Mothers During College Planning
No full textThis qualitative study focuses on the cultural knowledge of low-income single Blackmothers and their motherwork in the college planning process of their child(ren). This narrative inquiry will use Black Feminist Theory through a cultural Afrocentric lens. Black Feminist Theory explains systemic racism and other social, cultural, and political oppression towards Black women. Afrocentrism contextualizes this study within an African cultural background, offering an understanding of African-American strength-based experiences related to mothering roles, functions, and responsibilities during college planning. These conceptual devices will support understanding the motherwork of low-income single Black mothers and their involvement in the planning process of their college-bound child(ren)—countering deficit narratives rooted in Eurocentrism. Through sharing their lived experiences, the mother’s knowledge applied in the college planning process will be examined to understand contributions that go unnoticed due to oppressive societal and institutional structures
Navigating The Road: Exploring The Direct And Indirect Effects Of Economic And Occupational Conditions On The Health, Safety And Well-Being Of Long-Haul Truck Drivers
No full textThis dissertation examines the influence of working conditions and compensation on the safety and health of long-haul truck drivers through three interconnected research papers, employing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to explore both direct and indirect effects. The research offers new insights into occupational safety and health within the trucking industry.The first paper focuses on the benefits of addressing sleep disorders, particularly obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), alongside providing adequate health insurance coverage. It demonstrates that enhanced access to treatment for sleep disorders and improved health insurance significantly reduce accidents caused by drowsy driving. These health interventions not only promote driver safety but also enhance productivity and performance, linking driver health to overall safety outcomes. The second paper investigates the role of fringe benefits in reducing driver fatigue and improving safety. Using SEM, the study shows that fringe benefits have a direct positive impact on safety by decreasing the incidence of safety hazards, while also improving sleep quality, which indirectly reduces fatigue. The results clarify how fringe benefits affect driver health and safety, both directly and indirectly. The third paper explores the dual impact of company-imposed and self-imposed pressures on driver safety and health. Factors such as tight schedules, unrealistic expectations, and financial pressures are identified as key contributors to unsafe driving behaviors, including driving while fatigued and violating hours-of-service regulations. These pressures also negatively impact drivers\u27 health, exacerbating safety risks. The study underscores the need to address both external and internal pressures to improve driver safety and well-being. Collectively, the findings of these three papers emphasize the critical importance of adequate compensation and favorable working conditions in enhancing driver safety and health. The research reinforces the hypothesis that improved compensation reduces accident likelihood, in line with existing literature. Ultimately, this dissertation demonstrates the essential interplay between health, compensation, and working conditions in promoting the safety and well-being of long-haul truck drivers
Associations Of Blood Gas And Acid-Base Values With Motor And Language Outcomes In Preterm-Born Preschoolers
Get PDFHypoxia and ischemia are of the most common causes of acquired brain injury in preterm infants and often results in damage to the periventricular areas of the preterm brain. Several biochemical indices are commonly associated with hypoxic-ischemic injury, including blood pH, base deficit (BD), oxygen, and carbon dioxide (pCO2). The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of early biochemical indexes of hypoxic-ischemic risk, particularly blood gas measures and acid-base balance measures, to neuropsychological outcome in preterm preschool-age children. I was particularly interested in the link between measures obtained either at birth, immediately after birth, or within the first week of life and motor and language functioning at preschool age.Preterm children were assessed at 3-4 years of age, with 88 to 163 of the evaluated children qualifying for this investigation. Umbilical cord and neonatal blood-gas and acid-base measurements were collected retrospectively from medical records. The biochemical measures were the predictors of interest. Socioeconomic status, sex, sum of antenatal complications, and standardized birthweight served as covariates in linear mixed models. The dependent variables were performance scores on direct motor (gross and fine) and language (expressive and receptive) measures. Children with a history of moderate to severe intracranial pathology or cerebral palsy were excluded. The results showed that lower cord pH (p = .038) and higher cord pCO2 (p = .029) values were associated with lower gross motor, but not fine motor, skills in a sample of high-risk preschoolers. None of the associations between blood-gas or acid-base values and language outcomes were significant when an oral-motor subtest score was included as a covariate to exclude the motor component underpinning expressive language. In contrast, without this covariate, lower cord pH (p = .027) was associated with lower expressive language performance. These discrepant results suggest that the oromotor skills involved in expressive language may be the primary mechanism driving the observed relationship between early blood biochemical indices of risk and expressive language. Together, these findings suggest that severity of acidosis and hypercapnia are linearly associated with preschool-age gross motor and expressive language functioning in a preterm-born sample
Scenario Analysis of Drinking Water Infrastructure Rightsizing in Flint, Michigan: Model Pipe Conditions
No full textSustainable urban systems require appropriately sized infrastructure. However, when cities face economic and population decline, hardened infrastructure - such as drinking water distribution systems – is difficult and costly to modify. This dataset provides the results of a modeling exercise performed using EPANET (Version 2.2) to examine potential scenarios for rightsizing water infrastructure in a shrinking city. The modeling was performed utilizing a full-scale, calibrated hydraulic model of the drinking water distribution system in Flint, Michigan obtained through a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Flint and Wayne State University.
For this analysis, in addition to a base model, we evaluate six scenarios involving either only decommissioning of pipes alone or both decommissioning and downscaling replacement of pipes. Model scenarios were run for three weeks (504 hours). The first two weeks (335 hours) were used to stabilize the system. System conditions (e.g., pressure in pounds per square inch (psi) and water age (hours)) at 15,936 locations in the system were recorded every hour, resulting in 168 measurements for each location in the system, a total of 2,677,248 measurements per hour. The minimum and maximum pressure, maximum water age (95th percentile), average pressure, and average water age (50th percentile) are computed during the third week of simulation.
This dataset describes general pipe conditions in the distribution systems, both as a base and for each model scenario, and is paired with a second dataset available at https://doi.org/10.22237/waynestaterepo/data/1729036800/b.
17,616 record dataset
Data Dictionary:
PipeID: Pipe Identification Number; Length: Length of pipe (feet); Roughness: Hazen-Williams Coefficient; Change1: Model 1 - Change in pipe from base model (No Change, Abandoned, Downsized, Upsized); Change2: Model 2 - Change in pipe from base model (No Change, Abandoned, Downsized, Upsized); Change3: Model 3 - Change in pipe from base model (No Change, Abandoned, Downsized, Upsized); Change4: Model 4 - Change in pipe from base model (No Change, Abandoned, Downsized, Upsized); Change5: Model 5 - Change in pipe from base model (No Change, Abandoned, Downsized, Upsized); Change6: Model 6 - Change in pipe from base model (No Change, Abandoned, Downsized, Upsized); Diameter0: Model 0 (Base Model) - Pipe diameter (inches); Diameter1: Model 1 - Pipe diameter (inches); Diameter2: Model 2 - Pipe diameter (inches); Diameter3: Model 3 - Pipe diameter (inches); Diameter4: Model 4 - Pipe diameter (inches); Diameter5: Model 5 - Pipe diameter (inches); Diameter6: Model 6 - Pipe diameter (inches); Status0: Model 0 (Base Model) - Pipe status during EPANET modeling; Status1: Model 1 - Pipe status during EPANET modeling; Status2: Model 2 - Pipe status during EPANET modeling; Status3: Model 3 - Pipe status during EPANET modeling; Status4: Model 4 - Pipe status during EPANET modeling; Status5: Model 5 - Pipe status during EPANET modeling; Status6: Model 6: Pipe status during EPANET modelin
Jennifer Packer’s Unique Employment of Color: How the Artist Uses Hue to Mystify and Politicize Simultaneously
Get PDFJennifer Packer has immensely impacted the art world since her emergence a decade ago. An African American woman, Packer uses her art to depict, analyze, and complicate the intricacies of living in the United States as a Black person. Packer’s singular style of intimate portraits bordering on the abstract makes her work both intellectually and visually engaging. This essay argues that Packer uses color, through various techniques, to address the socio-political dilemmas she wants to get at in her work. At the same time, she uses these hues in abstraction to lift her paintings away from reality
