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Diamonds are Africa\u27s Worst Enemy
No full textDuring the birth of the diamond mining industry in South Africa, both black and white laborers in the Kimberly mines had bargaining power to increase wages and improve mine conditions. However, Cecil Rhodes’ consolidation of the diamond mining industry eliminated the power of these laborers, bringing the mines under the De Beers diamond company name. Aiding this consolidation of power was Cecil Rhodes’ political power which put into place labor laws that took away the laborers\u27 ability to fight for better working conditions. My analysis of the 19th century Kimberly diamond mining industry in South Africa and of the amalgamation of the Kimberley and De Beers mines reveals further political, social, and economic issues that originated at the mines and spread throughout Africa during the late 19th century. As seen through legislation surrounding the mines and personal accounts of visitors to the mines, the abuse and harassment of the black laborers of the South African diamond mines comes to light. The master-servant relationship between whites and blacks pushed its way into laws that were supposed to be “color-blind,” but clearly enforced harsh restrictions on every aspect of life, specifically for the black laborers. However, the indigenous population of laborers had the ability to fight against such legislation by the simple act of leaving in search of a better employer. This small but powerful ability was taken away when Rhodes held his diamond monopoly. The laborer was further suppressed into terrible working conditions as the mines were brought under one man’s power
“That God May be All in All”: Deification, Nothingness, and Creaturehood
No full textAt the close of the 19th century, Adolf Von Harnack sparked an unintentional return to interest in the doctrine of deification. In his History of Dogma, he accused the doctrine of being little more than Greek philosophy in Christian dress. In turn, a number of scholars came to the defense of deification in the early-to-mid 20th century, and currently a growing pool of scholars is taking especial interest in the doctrine. Amongst these, John Zizioulas has recently given an account of deification in his works Being in Communion and Communion and Otherness. Therein, Zizioulas argues for a doctrine of deification that creates an ontological bond between God and the world at the level of God’s hypostasis or personhood while allowing distinctiveness to remain between God and the world on the level of being. But can Christians articulate deification in this way? To what degree ought Christians to think of God’s relationship with creation as an ontological one? In my paper, I will outline Zizioulas’ account of deification before providing an analysis. For the analysis, I introduce voices from the Christian tradition and recent philosophy concerned with ontotheology. These help to show that, while Zizioulas aims to uphold an appropriate ontological difference between Creator and creation, he ultimately collapses the two in a manner inconsistent with Christian affirmations of divine transcendence. Finally, I give a positive account of deification based on the works of Maximus the Confessor and Søren Kierkegaard. These show that a Christian doctrine of deification neither should nor does it have to encroach upon divine transcendence. Ultimately, this study aims to provide the Church with an understanding of how its work partners with God’s in the world
Impact of On-Campus LGBT Resources and Campus Climate on College Students: A Two Campus Comparison
No full textCampus climate regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals can have a profound effect on the academic success and social wellbeing of these students, staff, and faculty. This study was a qualitative, mixed methods design comparing a large public university and a small liberal arts college. It examined the connection between the presence of LGBT resources and the campus climate toward LGBT persons. I predict a campus with an open, accepting policy and available resources for LGBT students, such as those at the larger university, will have a climate that makes students feel safe, protected, and open. This study found policy does have an effect on the climate. Additionally, faculty may be more aware than students of policy issues and the effects they have on the campus environment. Regardless of policy and resources, members of both campuses hope the campus climate continues to improve for all students
GMOs: Salvation for Impoverished Farmers? What Economic Effect can GMOs have on the Farmers of African Countries and India?
No full textGenetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are organisms whose genetic material has been modified to alter their functions, typically to increase crop yields. GMOs have been blindly blamed for the distress that farmers in developing countries face and viewed as detrimental to the society due to their environmental hazards and potential human health risks. This research aims to debunk myths concerning the GMOs and highlight the advantages to growing GMOs for farmers in the world fighting against poverty and starvation. GMOs have been highly successful in countries that implement genetically modified soybeans and Bt cotton. Although many African countries are against GMOs, Burkina Faso and South Africa, two of very few that have planted GM crops have witnessed a tremendous economic growth and have proved the potential of GMOs in saving people of hunger and poverty. India, a main Bt cotton grower, has also seen a dramatic increase in cotton yield. GM crops have shown to create a future for the farmers rather than destroy them, but the actual problem behind GMOs is the monopoly of multinational agribusiness corporations, full of gluttony. International acceptance of GM crops and support from global public sectors are needed to battle these companies and to further assist farmers who comprise the majority of the impoverished in the world
Isolation of 35 Mycobacteriophages and Genomic Analysis of the Novel Mycobacteriophage, Glass
No full textThirty-five new mycobacteriophages were isolated from soil samples collected on or nearby Hope College in Holland, Michigan. All were capable of infecting Mycobacterium smegmatis and produced a variety of plaque morphologies based on size, shape, and clarity, consistent with the isolation of an assortment of different phages. Both lytic and temperate phages appear represented in this collection. Purified phage stocks were used to prepare genomic DNA samples for restriction digest analysis. A comparison of those 35 digest results revealed few similarities among the group, further supporting our interpretation that most of the new phage isolates were distinct. One mycobacteriophage, Glass, was chosen for complete genome sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq platform and comparative genomic analysis. The predominant plaque produced by Glass at 32°C was turbid and 0.5-1.0mm in diameter, while plaque produced at 42°C was clear and 1.0-1.5mm in diameter. Genome sequence data for Glass revealed a relationship to a group of 12 mycobacteriophages in Cluster B2. The genome of Glass is 67.5 Kb, 69.0% GC, and contains 91 genes in agreement with the genome characteristics of closely related phage. A detailed analysis of the complete genome sequence and comparison with sequenced members of this small and unique group of mycobacteriophages is the subject of the second semester of this yearlong course and is presented
Influence of Buchnera on the Detoxification of Fungal-Toxins in Rhopalosiphum Padi
No full textThe bacteria symbiont of many aphids, Buchnera aphidicola, is instrumentally important in the survival of aphids. The bacteria supply essential amino acids, which aphids do not acquire from their diet of phloem sap. However, there is little knowledge of the symbiotic relationship beyond this and it is possible the bacteria are involved in detoxification of toxins. Aposymbiotic (without bacteria) aphids were obtained by feeding them antibiotics via barley. Disruption of bacteria was assessed with PCR and light microscopy. These aphids and symbiotic aphids (Rhopalosiphum padi) were placed on both infected (containing the endophyte, Neotyphodium coenophialum) and uninfected tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus) for a week. The number of live aphids was recorded and analyzed. Two experiments were performed and the results of the two experiments were contrary to what was expected. The aposymbiotic aphids survived significantly better than symbiotic aphids in the first experiment and both aposymbiotic and symbiotic aphids survived equally well in the second experiment. Further tests will need to be performed to confirm the disruption in the aposymbiotic aphids
A Potential Interaction Between Homocysteic Acid and Estrogen on Behavior in Rats
No full textHomocysteic acid (HCA) is a neurotoxin that can over stimulate NMDA receptors, leading to neuronal cell death. In humans, hyperhomocystemia, which can lead to elevated HCA levels, has been associated with a host of mental disorders, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson disease, and potentially Major Depressive Disorder. The purpose of the current study was to determine if estrogen altered the behavioral response to HCA or has behavioral effects on its own. Rats were treated with HCA for 2 weeks starting on day two after birth and then ovariectomized at 6.5 weeks of age. Half of the HCA treated and half of the control rats were given estrogen implants. Behavioral testing began three weeks later. There was a significant effect of estrogen in the Open Field Test, Elevated Plus Maze, Tail Flick Test, Rotarod Test, Sucrose Preference Test, Force Swim Test, and Wheel Running Test. There were significant effects of HCA in the Elevated Plus Maze and Open Field Test, Rotarod Test, and Morris Water Maze, and there were significant interactions between HCA and Estrogen in the Open Field Test. This experiment demonstrated that numerous behaviors in rats are estrogen dependent but behavioral responses to HCA are not very estrogen dependent
Genome-Wide Analysis of Fundamental Transcription Factors in Giardia lamblia
No full textGiardia lamblia is a unicellular parasite of the mammalian intestinal tract and is the most common parasitic intestinal disease in the United States. Giardia is an early-diverging eukaryote characterized by a two-stage life cycle. Giardia lacks the canonical RNA polymerase II transcription apparatus of eukaryotes and Archaea; its genome lacks TFIIB and has a highly degenerate TBP, raising questions as to how Giardia initiates RNA polymerase II transcription. We hypothesize that giardial BRF (TFIIB-related factor) could be substituting for TFIIB by playing a dual role in RNAP II and III initiation. Gene expression data from three time points in the giardial life cycle were generated using RNA-seq. Only a small subset of genes showed significantly different expression. Comparison with recent proteomic studies suggests limited regulation at the transcriptional level, giving way to post-transcriptional regulation as the primary control of gene expression, though continued study is necessary to test this hypothesis. Investigating transcription in Giardia will provide insight into the evolution of complex transcription systems in eukaryotes
Developing Ion Parameters Using Shared GPU Accelerator Hardware
No full textMolecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to model the structure and movement of macromolecules. The motion of finite particles is modeled by twice numerically integrating the forces on the atoms such as charge-charge interactions, van der Waals interactions using Lennard-Jones (LJ) potentials, Hookian bond length and angle interactions, and sinusoidal bond torsion interactions. Periodic boundary conditions (PBC) are used to approximate an infinite system of particles even though only a finite number are described. In many MD simulations water is simulated using a model with single van der Waals potential and mass. Additional detail is added through mass-less point charges that simulate the electrostatic properties (ESP) of the water molecule. TIP3P is the most popular simple water model. It includes a charge on the oxygen and the two hydrogens to give it a dipole moment. TIP4P-Ew is a popular water model that is similar to TIP3P but instead of having a charge on the oxygen atom it places a charge where the lone pairs would be. Another style includes TIP5P which has a charge for each lone pair, and a charge for each hydrogen atom. Recently, a new water model, OPC, has been developed that uses the same style of charge distribution as TIP4P-Ew and has results that compare better to experiment than the TIP4P-Ew model. For this new water model to be useful, LJ parameters must be developed for at least a few monovalent ions. This study looks into developing these parameters using MD simulations running on a time sharing computer cluster and GPU accelerator hardware. MD simulations running on entry level GPU hardware run around 1.5 times faster than on high end traditional computing hardware. This has allowed us to produce preliminary results that show first peaks of RDFs for a variety of Na+ and Cl- LJ parameters within the OPC water model
Design and Characterization of Test Bed for Structural Control of Civil Infrastructure
No full textCivil infrastructure experiences heavy environmental impacts every day that can lead to failure. Earthquakes and high wind loads are especially detrimental to infrastructure and if not properly accounted for can lead to death and injury to anyone in use of the infrastructure. One way to help prevent failure is through structural control. Structural control uses dampers to provide a counteracting force to mitigate the effects of extreme weather loads and prevent failure. The damper is controlled by a microcontroller that processes information, such as velocity and displacement, from a wireless sensor that is attached to the infrastructure. A four-story shear structure and an Active Mass Damper (AMD) system were designed for use on a shake table that would simulate an earthquake. Experimental data was then collected from the structure by simulating an earthquake on a shake table and using accelerometers to measure the acceleration at each floor. A theoretical model was then fine-tuned to match the experimental characterization of the structure. Once the computer model was finalized, a control scenario using the AMD was simulated using a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) algorithm, to ensure the parameters were correctly defined before the experimental testing. The results from the simulation indicate that the control from the AMD reduces the interstory displacement by a factor of 0.5 to 0.75 at each floor, which can reduce the chance of failure in civil infrastructure