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Genres of Nineteenth-Century Single Women and the Global Anglophone World
No full textThis project places an unlikely figure at the center of the international order: the single woman. Unmarried women in nineteenth-century literature were often denigrated as hapless “spinsters,” unfortunate by-products of old-fashioned and patriarchal expectations for women’s lives. Paradoxically, the character of the spinster is also privileged: she is assumed to be middle-class, white, and tenuously respectable. In this project, I expand the archive of the single woman beyond the white spinster to encompass a more globally diverse range of authors, characters, and national experiences. If the “proper” female subject was meant to secure the future of the nation through the children she bore, then the authors I study explored alternative paths for women to participate in national and global communities from beyond the patriarchal family unit. Rather than consign the single woman to the abject margins of her social world, I emphasize how the unmarried women of global Anglophone literature consolidate new models of national femininity and global community, allowing their texts to reimagine the relationship between a nation, a community, a world, and its women – between the public and the private
Essays in LGBTQ+ Economics
No full textThis dissertation explores the intersections of gender identity, sexual orientation, and economic outcomes through three empirical essays that examine the effects of policy and identity on labor markets, household dynamics, and well-being. Using large-scale, nationally representative data from the United States and Latin America, each chapter offers new evidence on the economic experiences of sexual and gender minorities—populations historically underrepresented in economic research. The first chapter investigates the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) and its impact on same-sex partnership formation and economic outcomes among U.S. military personnel and their families. Leveraging the exogenous policy change and using a difference-in-differences framework, the analysis reveals that the repeal significantly increased partnership formation among women in the military and improved health insurance coverage for their civilian partners. The second chapter shifts focus to Latin America and provides the first nationally representative estimates of labor market and socioeconomic disparities for non-cisgender individuals in the region. Using Chilean survey data, the paper documents significant employment gaps and poverty disparities by gender identity, highlighting the economic marginalization faced by gender minorities in developing country contexts. The third chapter turns to the U.S. and uses new data from the Household Pulse Survey to quantify the economic vulnerabilities of transgender and gender-diverse individuals. The findings show marked disparities in employment, poverty, health insurance coverage, and food insecurity—especially for non-cisgender Black individuals—underscoring the compounded effects of gender identity and race. Together, these essays provide new evidence on the role of policy, identity, and structural inequality in shaping the economic lives of LGBTQ+ populations. The findings contribute to ongoing debates in labor economics, public policy, and the economics of discrimination, and offer empirical foundations for more inclusive policy design
With the Time We Have Left: Stories
No full textA collection of eight literary short stories exploring the ways time is constructed, organized, measured, and experienced in the context of characters’ relationships with each other and with the changing environment around them. Through first-person and third-person modes, the stories use recurring imagery, compression of plot and character development, temporal jumps, and sectional narrative structures to destabilize typical chronologies and engender a reading experience that reflects reality’s dynamic velocities. New York’s Hudson River features prominently in the collection, serving as a portrait and a product of development, dilapidation, destruction, and renewal. Images of the shifting natural and man-made world mirror the similarly volatile dynamics that exist within characters’ interior lives. Several stories feature children and young people as they develop an awareness of cultural norms and fundamental truths—including the unceasing passage of time and the accumulation of loss that accompanies growing up. Growing old, too, is a frequent subject in these stories, as is disease, decrepitude, and death. Characters nearing the end of their lives are forced to confront the body’s weakness, memory’s subjectivity, nostalgia’s ability to shroud progress, and the stark but permeable boundaries between generations. The final and longest story in the collection follows the life of an educator from his first day of kindergarten until his granddaughter’s; in its swift, swooping structure and attention to the experience of Jewish immigrants in twentieth-century New York, it serves as an anchor for a collection interested in themes of displacement, transformation, learning, and legacy
Perspectives on Magma Mush Deformation: Textural and Geochemical Constraints on Compaction and Melt Extraction in a Granitic Magma Body
No full textMagmatic textures and compositions illuminate magma dynamics, such as compaction and melt extraction. Preserved textures in plutons (crystallized magma bodies) or magma mush fragments (crystal-rich, melt bearing clasts potentially genetically related to the erupted magmas) can provide important perspective on mush processes in both inactive and active magmatic systems respectively. The emplacement of a large (2 m diameter) felsic enclave (LFE) within granitic mush in Aztec Wash pluton (15.7 Ma, NV-USA) is preserved within a granitic body. The LFE is an ellipsoidal microgranite mass inferred to have been nearly solid when it settled at the top of a crystal-rich zone of the magma body. Backscattered Electron (BSE) imaging, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), and X-ray Fluorescence whole-rock data for samples from the granite surrounding the LFE show key textural and compositional differences between granite immediately beneath the LFE and granite located more distant and to the side (“far-field”). Alkali feldspar crystals beneath the enclave have well-defined euhedral rims, while those in the far-field have irregular overgrowths, suggesting continuing growth into larger melt pools. The samples underneath the enclave (69.6-70.0% SiO2, 1100-1170 ppm Ba, 400-430 ppm Sr) are less felsic than the far-field sample (72.1% SiO2, 750 ppm Ba, 330 ppm Sr), also suggesting less retained melt. We conclude that impingement of the LFE led to enhanced melt extraction. The composition of the far-field sample is typical of Aztec Wash pluton samples interpreted to represent cumulate mush (70.0-72.4% SiO2, 640-1100 ppm Ba, 250-440 ppm Sr; Harper et al. 2004 and our new data). For comparison, “non-cumulate” Aztec Wash samples that may represent input magma are distinctly more felsic (72.3-73.9% SiO2, 570-690 ppm Ba, 170-270 ppm Sr). Our beneath-LFE compositions indicate the greatest melt depletion identified among Aztec Wash granites, substantially more than in the typical cumulates. We calculate that emplacement of the LFE in a magma mush enhanced melt extraction, segregating 10-20% melt from the crystal-rich framework.
Magma mush fragments – crystal-rich, glass bearing clasts potentially genetically related to the erupted magmas – can provide important perspective on mush processes in active magmatic systems. Granitoid clasts from the Rotoiti Ignimbrite, Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ), include magma mush fragments that can provide insights on magmatic systems of one of the most active areas of rhyolitic volcanism in the world. This study focuses on a large (35 cm) clast found within a lag-breccia of the 64 ka Rotoiti Ignimbrite, one of the largest eruptions from the Ōkataina Volcanic Center (TVZ). This fragment is layered and can be divided into 5 zones based on compositions and textures. Backscattered Electron (BSE), Cathodoluminescence (CL), and Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) techniques highlight the textural and mineralogical differences between the zones. In this study, we focus on a fine-grained, biotite granite zone with microcrystalline patches and sparse granophyric texture. Quartz grains range from euhedral to subhedral, with complex zoning patterns that are visible in both BSE and CL. Some feldspar grains are zoned, others are not. The microcrystalline patches make up less than 10% of the sample and they are surrounded by subhedral grains (both quartz and feldspar). The interstitial texture and distribution of the microcrystalline patches indicate that this fragment is representative of a magma mush with <10% trapped melt. The average compositions of this microcrystalline material range from 72-77% SiO2 and 4-6% K2O and yield rhyolite-MELTS model pressures of ~100 MPa. This melt composition does not correspond with Rotoiti eruptive products; this mush fragment may illuminate non-eruptive sequences of the TVZ. Tying textures and compositions in both active and inactive magmatic systems can provide key perspective on the generation of eruptible magma bodies
Neuromodulation of Cognitive Flexibility in the Frontal-Striatal Network
No full textCognitive flexibility, a pivotal component of learning and decision-making, enables human and nonhuman primates to adapt their behavior in response to changing environmental conditions. Neuromodulation techniques provide insights into how stimulation causally influence and facilitate adaptive behavior during complex learning tasks. Microstimulation studies in nonhuman primates (NHPs) have contributed substantially to the advancement of our understanding of the functional organization and behaviorally roles of neuronal circuits pertinent to attention and decision-making. This modality holds immense potential for augmenting cognitive performance, particularly in complex cognitive tasks. However, it has remained unclear if microstimulation can facilitate quick, flexible adjustments during learning. Here, we present the development and application of a gaze-contingent stimulation protocol targeting the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior striatum (aSTR), areas implicated to support fast learning of rewarded stimuli and attentional control, in the frontal-striatal network. The protocol is designed to achieve pro-cognitive neuromodulation during adaptive goal-directed behavior. Furthermore, we investigate the role of oscillatory burst events in mediating cognitive flexibility and assess the feasibility of using transient periods with oscillatory bursting events to improve behavioral performance. These methods hold clinical significance as such techniques could provide critical insights in establishing stimulation parameters for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that hold promise to be versatile treatment tools for subjects with neuropsychiatric disorders suffering from reduced cognitive flexibility including Parkinson’s disease, severe major depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. This research aims to make a transformative contribution to our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility. In conclusion, this thesis provides fundamental insights to our understanding how neuromodulation of the frontal-striatal network affects cognitive flexibility
With the Time We Have Left: Stories
No full textA collection of eight literary short stories exploring the ways time is constructed, organized, measured, and experienced in the context of characters’ relationships with each other and with the changing environment around them. Through first-person and third-person modes, the stories use recurring imagery, compression of plot and character development, temporal jumps, and sectional narrative structures to destabilize typical chronologies and engender a reading experience that reflects reality’s dynamic velocities. New York’s Hudson River features prominently in the collection, serving as a portrait and a product of development, dilapidation, destruction, and renewal. Images of the shifting natural and man-made world mirror the similarly volatile dynamics that exist within characters’ interior lives. Several stories feature children and young people as they develop an awareness of cultural norms and fundamental truths—including the unceasing passage of time and the accumulation of loss that accompanies growing up. Growing old, too, is a frequent subject in these stories, as is disease, decrepitude, and death. Characters nearing the end of their lives are forced to confront the body’s weakness, memory’s subjectivity, nostalgia’s ability to shroud progress, and the stark but permeable boundaries between generations. The final and longest story in the collection follows the life of an educator from his first day of kindergarten until his granddaughter’s; in its swift, swooping structure and attention to the experience of Jewish immigrants in twentieth-century New York, it serves as an anchor for a collection interested in themes of displacement, transformation, learning, and legacy
RSK2 in Homeostasis
No full textThe p90 ribosomal S6 kinase 2 (RSK2) is a serine/threonine protein kinase activated by extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) whose physiological functions are not fully understood. We found that loss of RSK2 results in decreased litter size and underweight pups. In an effort to understand these fertility issues serum lipid levels were analyzed and serum triacylglyceride (TAG) levels were found to be decreased in female RSK2 knockout (RSK2KO) mice compared to wild type (WT). TAG levels are important regulators of fertility with the liver being the major organ involved in TAG metabolism. In support of a defect in liver lipid metabolism, TAG levels were also found to be reduced in the livers of female RSK2KO mice. Transcriptomic analysis of livers from female RSK2KO mice, staged during high estrogen levels, showed decreased expression of genes involved in de novo lipogenesis (DNL). These results were validated by qrtPCR. DNL is regulated by the transcription factor sterol response element binding protein 1c (SREBP1c), whose mRNA expression levels did not change. SREBP1c activity is tightly regulated and studies on the mechanism of RSK2 regulation of DNL are ongoing. DNL is regulated in an estrogen-dependent manner and interestingly, loss of RSK2 eliminated the increase in DNL that occurs in response to estrogen signaling. Transcriptomic and qrtPCR analysis showed that RSK2 increases the expression of ESR1, the gene encoding estrogen receptor alpha (ER), during high estrogen levels. We propose that RSK2 drives estrogen signaling in the liver through regulation of ER mRNA levels by a mechanism that is currently being investigated. TAG levels are essential for fertility and we hypothesize that RSK2 regulates fertility through control of DNL in the liver
Utilizing Plasma Proteomics to Identify Novel Biomarkers of Cognitive Aging
No full textAlzheimer’s disease causes significant cognitive impairment, but current therapeutic approaches targeting core Alzheimer’s disease pathology have not provided clinically meaningful improvements in cognition. There is strong evidence suggesting parallel or ‘concomitant’ pathologies, such as vascular dysfunction, contribute to cognitive decline. To achieve clinically meaningful improvement in cognition, there is a dire need to develop multi-faceted approaches to prevention and treatment of cognitive decline to target concomitant risk pathways alongside efforts targeting core AD pathology. Identifying novel plasma biomarkers predictive of adverse cognitive aging would greatly aid in these efforts by identifying novel therapeutic targets. This dissertation project was designed to contribute to biomarker discovery efforts with a two-pronged approach to (1) perform hypothesis-driven candidate protein analyses, based on prior literature, to characterize associations the VWF-ADAMTS13 axis and cognition, and (2) perform hypothesis-generating discovery analyses to identify novel biomarkers for adverse cognitive aging. Lower baseline levels of ADAMTS13 were found to relate to faster rates of cognitive decline globally over longitudinal follow-up, and several promising plasma proteins and biological networks were identified through discovery analyses as relating to longitudinal cognitive trajectory
Progress Towards Understanding the Role of Clostridioides difficile Transferase Toxin in C. difficile Induced Inflammation and Pathogenesis
No full textClostridioides difficile is an anaerobic pathogen and the most common cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea and colitis in the United States. The symptoms of the infection arise due to production of toxin A and toxin B. These toxins disrupt the intestinal barrier and cause an acute host inflammatory response, a major hallmark of pathophysiology in C. difficile infection. Epidemic C. difficile strains additionally produce the C. difficile transferase toxin (CDT, a binary toxin consisting of enzymatic CDTa subunit and pore forming CDTb subunit) suggesting that it may be important for the severity of CDI. However, the role of CDT during C. difficile pathogenesis is unclear because of limited understanding of its contribution to host inflammation and limited research tools for knowing how much CDT is produced during infection. In this dissertation, I showed that the pore forming subunit, CDTb, activates the NLRP3 inflammasome in myeloid-derived murine cells. The activation was attenuated in the presence of CDTa. While I found that CDT contributes to weight loss and edema in an acute C. difficile mouse infection model, this was independent of the inflammasome function. As a result, I discussed why translating toxin-specific cellular responses into a physiological context may present several challenges. In addition, I utilized a CDTb-specific nanobody clone library and chose to express and purify five with promising CDTb-binding properties. I discovered that selected nanobodies have high affinity binding interactions and potent neutralizing properties in vitro. Finally, I developed a nanobody-based sandwich ELISA assay and quantified CDTb levels produced over the time course of an in vivo murine infection. In summary, my dissertation work presented a significant advance toward appreciating the complexity of the role of CDT in host inflammation and reported physiological toxin concentrations beneficial for designing in vitro experiments and toxin monitoring strategies
Expanding the Scope of Advance Care Planning: Investigating the Relationship between End-of-Life Planning and Bereaved Partners’ Mental Health
No full textEnd-of-life is as salient a time for dying individuals as it is for their loved ones, especially those serving as surrogate decisionmakers or caregivers. There is extensive research on the association between advance care planning and EOL quality, but a gap persists in our understanding of how ACP is associated with family health outcomes. I used high-quality, nationally representative data from biennial waves of the Health and Retirement Study, from 2000 to 2020, to investigate the association between a decedent’s use of ACP and their spouse or partner’s depression outcomes post-bereavement and any racial/ethnic or gender differences in these outcomes (n=3,555). I estimated ordinary least squares and logistic regression models to predict partners’ CES-D scores and odds ratios of experiencing clinical depression with adjustment for sociodemographic, EOL, and health characteristics. Having a partner who completed any form of EOLP is not associated with depression outcomes post-bereavement, but decedents’ completion of formal ACP — including creating a living will and/or appointing a durable power of attorney for healthcare — was associated with lower spousal CES-D scores compared to having informal-only or combined ACP, as well as lower odds of clinical depression compared to informal-only ACP. Decedents’ use of only informal ACP was associated with higher CES-D scores and odds of depression among their bereaved partners compared to formal, combined, and no ACP. These findings support calls for more widespread usage of formal ACP, greater attention toward bereaved family, and an expansion in evaluations of ACP’s effectiveness to include bereaved family health outcomes