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Optical Tweezers Explorations: DNA-Mitoxantrone Interactions at 20pN
Get PDFMitoxantrone is a chemotherapy drug that treats a variety of cancers by inhibiting cancer cell replication through intercalation with DNA. Intercalation is the process by which certain small molecules slide flat planar regions in their structure between the base pairs of DNA. This increases the stacking force in the DNA double helix, preventing DNA replication by increasing the force required to separate the two strands that compose the helix. In this study, dual-beam optical tweezers were used to determine the binding kinetics and dissociation constant of Mitoxantrone to single molecules of DNA at 20 pN of force. This study utilized a method known as constant force experiments. During these experiments, a single DNA molecule was trapped and stretched to a specified force. The DNA molecule was held at this force, with the assistance of a force feedback program, while Mitoxantrone was introduced to the system and allowed to reach equilibrium binding with DNA. We found an off rate of 0.132 ± 0.018 s-1, an association rate of 10.5 ± 0.7 μM-1s-1, and the dissociation constant of 11.3 ± 0.8 nM for MTX. Our results show that MTX binds to DNA in the nanomolar range, in contrast to the micromolar range reported in the literature. This may prompt further studies on MTX dosage in the future
Continuing Bonds Experiences of Bereaved Adults Within the Context of the Pandemic
Get PDFCOVID-19 has impacted the lives of countless people and has resulted in the death of millions. Due to this, there is a need to understand how individuals coped with the losses that came with this uniquely difficult circumstance. With this in mind, my project investigates how the COVID-related death of a loved one influences the continuing bonds relationship of bereaved adults within the context of the pandemic. Ten participants who lost a loved one to a COVID-related death during the pandemic were interviewed about their grief experiences and audio recorded. Using qualitative thematic analysis, themes in the data were constructed based on the responses. Continuing Bonds Expressions was one of the themes found. The two subthemes within this theme were (a) Holding On vs. Letting Go and (b) Positive Bond vs. Negative Bond. Another theme found throughout was Continuing Bonds Development. The two subthemes within this theme were (a) Guilt, Anger, and Grief and (b) Acceptance and Hope. These findings add to the literature finding continuing bonds to be beneficial to bereavement adjustment in most individuals, but harmful to a small few. Factors that need to continue to be researched regarding continuing bonds include the context surrounding the loss and the role of religious beliefs. Clinical and cultural implications are also considered
Human Rights in the News
Get PDFThis honors thesis contains thirteen hard news stories that focus on human rights issues in the United States. The United Nations defines Human rights as including, but not limited to, “the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more.” Human rights, the U.N. continues, “are essential for making life worth living and are the basis for a just and fair society.
Book Review: Women’s Activist Theatre in Jamaica and South Africa: Gender, Race and Performance Space
Get PDFBook Review: The Gendered War: Evaluating Feminist Ethnographic Narratives of the 1971 War of Bangladesh
Get PDFCommunication Strategy Evaluation of the Empowerment Program for Women Ex-Migrant Workers in Indonesia
Get PDFDomestic migrant workers living with their employers is one of the major causes of cases of high inequality globally. To ease this problem, the Indonesian government has attempted to empower women ex-migrant workers by prohibiting them from returning to work in the domestic sector abroad. This empowerment program was implemented through the sustainability training program of the Community of Migrant Worker’s Families (KKBM) from 2017 to 2019. The government hoped that by focusing on entrepreneurship, former migrant laborers would be able to achieve financial independence. Most of them, however, decided to return to their previous jobs or to work overseas after completing the training. By using a qualitative case study method, this study sought to assess communication strategies and offer solutions; it was focused on the period from March 2019 to October 2019, after the program had ended. The results showed that the bottom-up communication strategy for the empowerment program through KKBM did not work well because the government’s communication in the program implementation was conducted vertically and one-way without fully involving women ex-migrant workers or emphasizing the program goals. In addition, the sustainability of the program was not carried out appropriately. Instead, it was only focused on low-power community organizers
Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes Towards Marriage of Persons with Disabilities in the United Arab Emirates: Recommendations for a Gendered Approach
Get PDFThis study aimed to investigate the attitudes of university students in the United Arab Emirates towards the marriage of people with disabilities. To achieve this goal, a sample of 396 students, consisting of 222 women and 174 men, was selected. All participants were administered a scale of 15 items built according to the closed-ended Likert. The results indicated a high level of positive attitudes towards this type of marriage. Furthermore, the results showed no statistically significant differences in attitudes attributed to variables such as gender and academic year, while there were statistically significant differences favoring students in scientific colleges over those in humanities colleges regarding academic specialization. The study also reflects a wider gendered analysis based on the field of Arab women with disabilities studies. This might help us to understand how the cultural and societal nature of these norms could impact ways in which students view marriage amongst people with disabilities thus providing more insights into an intersection between gender and disability within UAE. The study concluded with several recommendations, including that the UAE law on the rights of persons with disabilities must emphasize the right to marriage for persons with disabilities