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DIFFICULTY IN AMERICAN DRAMATIC LITERATURE
No full textSpeaking broadly, this dissertation explores the marginalization of American drama within the field of literary studies. In attempting to account for this marginalization, theater scholars have tended to invoke the genre’s supposed lack of “difficulty,” meaning its failure to pose meaningful interpretive challenges to its readers. However, this dissertation takes an alternative view of the matter, contending that if American drama has indeed been marginalized, it is not because literary studies departments have regarded it as intrinsically “simpler” than other literary genres; in fact, it is theater scholars who have been more likely to read the genre as simple, or more specifically, as middlebrow. Departing from this line of thinking, this dissertation’s most general claim is that American drama in fact resists being read for simplicity. Through advancing readings of individual plays by four of America’s most eminent dramatists — Arthur Miller’s After the Fall, Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night — it aims to demonstrate that the genre is wary of the middlebrow reading strategies through which it has often been approached. Put more exactly, the genre dramatizes its own inability to provide the kind of unambiguous practical and moral guidance that its readers have been apt to expect from it; it thereby reminds us that to read or see a play is not in itself an act of self-improvement
COMPARATIVE PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF THREE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED AMAZONIAN POISON FROGS
No full textAmazonia has gone through extensive changes in its climates, geology, hydrology and drainage systems over the past 10 mya; these processes have been postulated as key drivers of diversification. Contrary to the trend where species once broadly distributed are subdivided into several species with restricted distributions, many taxa span the Amazon basin without noticeable genetic differentiation. In my thesis, I studied the phylogenetic and phylogeographic patterns of three widely distributed Amazonian poison frogs: Ameerega hahneli, Ameerega trivittata and Ranitomeya variabilis. I examined phylogenetic relationships based on two different types of genomic data—nuclear and mitochondrial—and I carried out population structure analyses. I investigated the historical biogeography of these species to determine how they have colonized the Amazon Basin over time. Comparative analyses of these three widespread species uncovered complex evolutionary and biogeographic histories. The ancestral distribution of each lineage was in western Amazonia. All three lineages also possess two deeply diverging clades, with one of the clades having a relatively restricted distribution, which seems to be a coincidence rather than the result of a single biogeographic phenomena. In all three species, vicariant events appear to have played important roles, but the vicariant mechanisms varied among taxa. Dispersion across western and into eastern Amazonia was likely affected by the dynamics of the Amazonia during the late Pliocene and Pleistocene, including the altering of hydrological and drainage patterns caused by uplift of the Andes. However, each species seems to be differently affected due to differences in behavior and reproductive ecology. Two species show some evidence of ‘rafting’, a surprising finding that needs to be further investigated. My phylogenetic results revealed a deeply divergent lineage in A. hahneli that needs to be evaluated as a potential species. Comprehensive evaluation of the R. variabilis-amazonica species complex suggests that these taxa came into extensive historical contact and introgressed extensively. Discordances between the mtDNA and nDNA demonstrate the need to perform analysis on both types of data before making taxonomic conclusions and biogeographic inferences. The inclusion of both dramatically improved our understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns of genetic diversity, particularly for widespread species with mixed signatures of historical contact and recent secondary contact
Population Dynamics of Feral Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Across Illinois
No full textHemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is an historically cultivated species re-emerging in modern agriculture due to its utility as a fiber, grain, and cannabinoid crop. While industrial hemp refers to cultivated varieties bred for specific agronomic traits and legally defined by low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, feral hemp, often called ditch weed , represents escaped or naturalized populations descended from historical cultivation. These unmanaged populations persist and spread in disturbed habitats across North America, particularly in the Midwestern U.S., raising ecological and agronomic concerns due to their potential for genetic contamination, invasive behavior, and interactions with native species and agricultural systems. The overall goals of this research were to 1) characterize the population dynamics and demographic drivers of feral hemp populations across diverse environmental gradients, identifying the biotic and abiotic factors that regulate persistence and spread in disturbed habitats within Illinois, 2) assess the impacts of feral hemp on native plant community composition, functional trait structure, and phylogenetic diversity, while evaluating how landscape features and climate influence habitat suitability and potential future distribution, 3) To evaluate the effectiveness of industrial hemp as a cover crop for weed suppression, focusing on the roles of fertility, seeding rate, cultivar type, and cover crop integration in shaping weed communities and hemp performance, and 4) investigate how weed competition and cultivar variation affect the physical and chemical traits of hemp, including biomass production, morphology, and cannabinoid concentrations, under variable competitive conditions. Feral hemp populations across Illinois exhibited complex demographic responses to both biotic and abiotic factors. Density-dependent processes such as herbivory and competition significantly influenced individual performance and population growth, while environmental variables including soil fertility, moisture, temperature, and topography shaped survivorship and reproductive success. Populations displayed diverse life history strategies, with both Type I and Type II survivorship patterns and strong size-dependence in survival, growth, and fecundity. Seed trait analyses confirmed high initial germination and viability but a rapid decline in seedbank potential, emphasizing a reliance of populations on continual annual recruitment. Feral hemp also significantly altered native weed community structure, reducing species richness and promoting trait convergence toward tall, fast-growing competitors with high specific leaf area and nutrient-acquisitive strategies. Phylogenetic and functional trait analyses supported the role of feral hemp as a driver of community assembly through both competition and environmental filtering. Despite this dominance aboveground, soil seedbanks retained high species diversity, suggesting legacy resilience in native communities. Habitat suitability models revealed that soil texture, organic matter, and climate variables, rather than topographic relief, are primary filters determining feral hemp distribution, with projections indicating potential range expansion under future climate scenarios. Industrial cultivars of hemp were found to suppress weed emergence effectively under favorable soil conditions, particularly when planted at intermediate densities or in conjunction with nitrogen inputs. However, performance was highly site- and cultivar-dependent, with poor soil conditions limiting hemp\u27s establishment and competitive effect. Cover crops such as Trifolium repens and Secale cereale improved hemp establishment in marginal soils, suggesting synergy between hemp and other species in integrated weed management strategies. Further experimentation demonstrated that cultivated hemp cultivars outperform feral accessions in biomass, stem diameter, and fiber yield, with temperature and plant gender also significantly influencing performance. Weed competition reduced growth across all cultivars, but cannabinoid concentrations remained stable, indicating that chemical composition may be governed more by genetics and abiotic factors than by competition intensity. Collectively, these findings provide a comprehensive assessment of hemp\u27s ecological behavior and management potential in both natural and agricultural settings. They highlight the nuanced roles of feral hemp as both a potentially disruptive colonizer and a component of novel ecosystems, while also revealing how industrial hemp may contribute to sustainable agriculture through competitive weed suppression and fiber production. This work informs policy, conservation, and cultivation practices at a time when hemp is once again becoming widespread across the U.S. landscape
The (Dis)Continuity of Meaning in John Dewey’s Experience and Nature
No full textExperience and Nature proposes a naturalistic empiricism emphasizing continuity. This paper will argue that this continuity is threatened by Dewey’s anthropocentric in its account of meaning, which is only found in humans but is necessary for the perception of objects, communication, and social existence. Given contemporary research in ethology, Dewey’s denotative method requires a modification of this account. I will propose Merleau-Ponty’s notion of sense or the neuroscientific theory of enactivism as supplements preserving embodiment and social communication while being more continuous. Finally, I examine some recent applications of Dewey’s naturalism and show how they modify this account of meaning
Royal Canin v. Wullschleger: A Sea Change in Supplemental Jurisdiction?
No full textOn January 15, 2025, a unanimous Supreme Court announced a decision about the nature and scope of supplemental jurisdiction that some commentators claim ran contrary to decades of precent from the Supreme Court itself, as well as from every federal appellate circuit to have considered the issue presented in the case, declaring how a federal district court can be forfeited of subject matter jurisdiction by a voluntary amendment to a plaintiff’s pleadings in a properlyremoved complaint.
Royal Canin U.S.A., Inc. v. Wullschleger had been through the district court twice, though the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on the same number of occasions, each time with widely different results, before finally reaching the Supreme Court for resolution of what the Court termed as a “split” among the federal circuit courts.
It is proposed by the author that a “split” is hardly an accurate description of the state of the circuit court decisions, since prior to Royal Canin every federal appellate circuit that had considered the question of the effect of post-removal changes to the plaintiff’s pleadings, be it for the amount in controversy, the domicile of adverse parties, or an abandonment of the federal claims that had supported the case’s removal, had no impact on the federal courts’ retention of valid subject matter jurisdiction.
This paper begins by reviewing the foundations of ancillary, pendant and supplemental jurisdiction, the incorporation of those concepts in revisions to Title 28 of the United States Code and continues with a review of the decisions of the various federal appellate circuits that preceded Royal Canin, reaching opposite conclusions from that case on the effect of postremoval activity upon the federal courts’ jurisdiction. In doing so, the author will opine that Royal Canin represents a sea change in the concept of subject matter jurisdiction, the full impact of which is yet to be seen
Characterization of Novel Site 3 Modulators to Explore Inactivation of the VGSC Isoform Nav1.7
No full textPain is a condition that ultimately affects all people throughout the course of their lifetime. It is attributed to a wide variety of causes and becomes an all-encompassing focus for those who suffer disproportionally from neuropathic and chronic forms of pain. Some treatment options are available, but many fail to provide sufficient support to a variety of pain conditions. Opioids account for a large portion of pain management treatment with some success but have a variety of unwanted side effects and limited efficacy in certain cases. Additionally, opioid abuse continues to increase in our modern culture and leads to premature death of thousands in the United States. The voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) isoform Nav1.7 has emerged as a promising target for a novel class of analgesics that may lessen or replace the need for opioids. VGSCs are responsible for the initiation and propagation of action potentials in excitable cells and Nav1.7 are directly linked to nociception in the periphery. Venoms comprise a large library of diverse compounds, i.e. small molecules, peptides, and proteins, that nature has evolved to modulate ion channels potently and often selectively for purposes that vary depending on the species. Venom peptides that target Nav1.7 channels can be studied to highlight the structure-function relationship that underpins the protein-protein interactions (PPI) involved in their modulation. While there are three physical state changes that a single VGSC undergoes throughout an action potential, many venom compounds have been shown to affect inactivation when binding to site 3 of the Nav1.7 channels. To further understand this type of modulation, the venoms of Heteroctenus junceus and Poecilotheria regalis have been screened to search for novel peptides that are suspected to bind to site 3 of Nav1.7 and affect inactivation. Venoms were collected by electrostimulation from specimens under anesthesia. Lyophilized venom was then separated into fractions using size exclusion and reverse phase chromatography methods. By conventional, whole-cell patch clamping methods, venom fractions were tested on Nav1.7 channels, predominately expressed in catecholamine A differentiated (CAD) cells utilizing a variety of voltage protocols. Fractions containing peptides that displayed Nav1.7, site 3 modulatory effects were purified further using reverse phase chromatography. The detailed structure of these peptides was determined by de novo sequencing using UPLC-HRMS. In this study, the venoms of two arachnid venoms, Heteroctenus junceus and Poecilotheria regalis, were investigated to assess their effects on inactivation with two peptides, HtsTX-1 and PcaTX-2, being isolated from each respectively. These peptides were selected due to their similarity to previously described site 3 modulators, with both causing a significant delay in inactivation. They were also shown to enhance the recovery from steady-state fast inactivation. Closed-state inactivation (CSI) is a physiologically relevant mechanism that VGSC may undergo that allows channels to inactivate without first opening. The effect venom toxins have on CSI has not been heavily studied. Both HtsTX-1 and PcaTX-2 here are shown to decrease VGSC’s ability to undergo CSI. This begins to provide an understanding of how CSI can be modulated. This knowledge could assist in further studies to enhance CSI, which would place VGSC in a refractory position without being activated. Thus, enhancing CSI could be used to treat a variety of disease states that are caused by underlying neuronal hyperexcitability
COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR MARTIAN LASER INDUCED SPECTROSCOPY AND SOLAR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY
No full textDemonstrating the diversity of computational methods in applied physics, this dissertation examines multiple computational techniques applied to three different research projects. These techniques span multiple programming languages to accomplish the tasks required for each research project.In the first study, standard Python automated curve fitting is applied to laser induced spectroscopy (LIBS) emission spectra from Mars laboratory standards before machine learning (ML) clustering is used to analyze the LIBS continuum. Following clustering, ML classification and dimension reduction are introduced to correlate the continuum behavior to the hardness of rocks on Mars. The second study presents a software suite built for the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast (DEB) Initiative to allow citizen scientists to collect scientific quality images of the Sun’s inner corona during a total solar eclipse. This work integrated IronPython scripting with both Python 3 and Batch scripts from the proprietary SharpCap IronPython interface. Solar image post-processing is accomplished with a software patch for the Python version of the open-source Planetary System Stacker. Also included in this study is website design for https://debra.physics.siu.edu/ with HTML, CSS, and Bash as well as image analysis with ML clustering. Finally, as DEB transitioned to daily observations of the solar photosphere to study X-class flares, additional scripts were required to meet the new experimental requirements. Those scripts and a more in-depth Python image processing program are covered. The image processing includes ML clustering to identify and crop the region of interest associated with flare activity out of solar images. Upgrading the website HTML code to PHP to provide additional features is also addressed. All the software developed for the DEB Initiative, as part of this work, is available under a GNU license from Mandrell et al. 2025, including the Planetary System Stacker software patch that allows automated post-processing
HARDNESS AND FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF CALCIUM-DOPED MEDIUM- ENTROPY PEROVSKITE OXIDES
No full textAdvanced ceramic materials exhibit superior mechanical properties for a range of technological applications. However, the mechanical properties, particularly hardness and fracture toughness, of perovskite materials, which are crucial for various applications, remain largely unexplored. In this research, the macro-indentation Vickers hardness testing of a series of calcium- doped medium-entropy perovskite oxides (ABO3) with lanthanum as A site cation and iron, chromium, nickel, and cobalt as four different B site cations in various combinations, is carried out. Through macro-indentation with a load of 49 N and a dwell time of 10 sec, the hardness of sixteen medium entropy perovskite oxide (MEPO) samples with calcium doping ranging from 0-30 mol%, was evaluated. The fracture toughness was calculated by analyzing the crack length emanating from Vickers indentations using optical microscope. The mechanical properties varied significantly as per the transition metal combinations and calcium doping levels. Amongst the four MEPO systems, System 1 (Cr-Fe-Ni) exhibited the highest hardness of 9.66 GPa at 10 mol% Ca doping and the peak fracture toughness of 2.51 MPa·m¹/² at 20 mol% Ca doping. In contrast, System 4 (Fe-Ni-Co) revealed the lowest hardness of 6.10 GPa for the undoped sample and the lowest fracture toughness of 1.81 MPa·m¹/² for 20 mol% Ca doping. Several factors like densification, grain size change, oxygen vacancy concentration, and secondary phase formation led to variation in the mechanical properties among the systems. The Cr-containing perovskite systems generally outperformed others, highlighting its importance in applications requiring mechanical robustness and integrity