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One of the Family: The Subculture as an Alternative Queer Family in the photography of Larry Clark and Nan Goldin
No full textThe Influence of Social Identity Salience, Mood and Impulsivity During Emerging Adulthood on Object Relevant Purchase Intentions
No full textThis study examined the relationship between mood, impulsivity and social identity priming and their influence on relevant purchasing decisions among emerging adults. Participants were required to complete a survey that measured their current mood and impulsivity level. They were then randomly assigned to one of two conditions (primed and non-primed). In the primed condition, participants were asked to write about a moving experience relating to their friends and peers in order to prime their social identity. In the non-primed condition they were to write about their morning routine, so their social identity was not primed. Data was analyzed using a double moderation analysis where the influence of mood on relevant purchase decisions was measured, in addition to the influence of impulsivity on relevant purchase decisions and the influence of primed social identity on relevant purchase decisions. Furthermore, an interaction between mood and primed social identity’s influence on relevant purchase decisions was measured. An interaction between impulsivity and primed social identity’s influence on relevant purchase decisions was also measured. No significant results were gained, aside from a significant positive correlation between mood and the likelihood to purchase the focus product. These findings were not consistent with predictions. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are
discussed.Psychology & Educatio
Crowdfunding Chemotherapy: Worthiness, Reciprocity, and Community on GoFundMe
No full textIn this project, I ask how successful medical crowdfunding campaigns mobilize discourses of worth and community to imbue charitable giving with notions of reciprocity, as well as how the news media participate in such discursive processes. In addition to discourse and narrative analysis of ten medical crowdfunding campaigns on GoFundMe, I examined 130 newspaper articles pertaining to medical crowdfunding. 82 of these articles discussed (and often critiqued) medical crowdfunding as an emergent phenomenon, and the remaining 48 focused on specific (usually local or regional) campaigns. My findings suggest that campaigners shy away from explicit discussion of the political-economic context (i.e. healthcare reform and inequality) that underlies their motivations for fundraising, in favor of narratives that emphasize social support and community-building. The growing prevalence of medical crowdfunding campaigns reflects the precarity of the current moment, but such campaigns are also generative spaces in which worthy biomedical subjects and valued citizens are produced. Reciprocity between donors and beneficiaries is aspirational and facilitated by the affective labor of campaign organizers and the narratives they create.Sociology & Anthropolog
Regulate low, tax high: Development finance through informality and taxation initiatives
No full textOptimization of a genetic assay for detection of expanded RNA-Hfq interactions
No full textNon-coding small RNAs (sRNAs) contribute to bacterial biofilm formation, antibiotic
resistance, pathogenesis, and virulence by regulating gene expression. However, there is
much we do not understand about their molecular mechanisms, which often involve
facilitation by a chaperone protein. Hfq is the best-studied bacterial RNA chaperone
protein and has become the paradigmatic example for how RNA-binding proteins
facilitate sRNA-based gene regulation. An in vivo bacterial three-hybrid assay for genetic
detection of RNA-protein interactions has previously been established using interactions
using Escherichia coli Hfq and its sRNA substrates. In order to broaden the utility of the
assay to provide a deep understanding of varied RNA-protein interactions, I have focused
on expanding the B3H assay to detect mRNA-Hfq interactions and on understanding the
energetic implications of the data provided by the assay. In this work, I demonstrate that
the B3H assay is capable of detecting Hfq’s interactions with sequence elements typical
for mRNA-Hfq binding. Expansion from minimal binding elements to native sequences
has involved exploration of the impacts of translation and turnover via mRNA
surveillance pathways. While these factors complicate the detection of interactions with
5’ UTRs and coding sequences, I have refined the B3H assay to detect the interaction
between Hfq and its mRNA target sodB , demonstrating the potential of the assay to
detect a wider variety of RNA-protein interactions. Just as it is useful to detect a wide
variety of interactions using this method, it is also imperative to understand what the
assay’s data truly indicates about these interactions. I have therefore compared B3H and
in vitro binding data for a set of Hfq-interacting RNAs and Hfq variants to work toward a
model for the relationship between B3H data and binding energetics. My results suggest
that high B3H signal typically reflects strong binding affinity, and that B3H optimization
efforts have resulted in data that is increasingly consistent with binding energetics. The
work I present here represents significant steps forward in both the assay’s detection
capacity and our understanding of that capacity, developing it as a more broadly useful
and informative method for studying RNA-protein interactions.Biochemistr
"She Seemed Like Someone I Could Trust": Reimagining the First Buddhist Nuns’ Order
No full textHow do we interpret in ways that elevate justice? This is a question posed by Buddhist studies scholar Karen Derris in her article responding to recent scholarship by Reiko Ohnuma; in her book, Ohnuma uses particularly misogynistic Buddhist narrative material to make a case for Buddhism’s widespread denigration and devaluation of mothers. Derris, troubled by the conclusions and implications of this work, suggests a new style of interpretation: the feminist-ethical hermeneutic. The feminist-ethical hermeneutic holds that Buddhist narrative tradition includes a vast array of material across cultures, languages, and times. Misogynistic material does exist, but so does material which elevates women and lauds their achievements. Derris suggests scholars have an ethical responsibility to interpret in ways that elevate justice—in ways that pay attention to the current status of women in Buddhism where women in the Tibetan tradition, for example, are denied monastic ordination at the highest levels. Derris invites scholars to see the implications of their interpretive work and recognize those whom it affects. She concludes her article with an aspiration that the feminist-ethical hermeneutic will “contribute to the diminishing of suffering.”
My thesis holds as its foundation Derris’ feminist-ethical hermeneutic. I apply this hermeneutical style to my study of two collections of Buddhist verse—the Therigatha and the Theri-Apadana—preserved in the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. These texts, composed from the 6th-3rd centuries BCE and 2nd-1st centuries BCE, respectively, both claim female authorship and take as their subjects the lives of early Buddhist nuns—their past lives, their challenges, and their paths to enlightenment.
My analysis presents the founder of the women’s monastic order as a determined woman with a desire for enlightenment (nibbana). Even when she alone is offered ordination, she refuses until all women may ordain. I further suggest that these texts show the creative ways in which women firmly stake a claim for their role in Buddhism going back aeons and assert their spiritual achievements. Finally, I make a case for the lived experience of these nuns, which often includes the tragic loss of children and the threat of sexual predation. I argue that the women’s order is a community in which women learn from and teach one another, heal from trauma, and foster vital friendships—friendships that carry them all the way to enlightenment.Religio
Dehumanization-type Stereotypes as a Mediator between Generalized Racial Essentialism and Punishment
No full textThis study examined whether dehumanization-type stereotypes acted as a mediator in the relationship between essentialist thinking and punishment given to Blacks and Asians. White participants were selected for inclusion in the study primarily to understand interracial perceptions. Participants completed a three-part survey including measures assessing essentialist thinking, endorsement of stereotypes according to racial groups, and assigning punishment to racial group members. It was predicted that animalistic dehumanization would impact Blacks while mechanistic dehumanization would impact Asians in the administration of punishment. While the latter claim was supported, Blacks were impacted by neutral dehumanization. These findings were discussed using essentialism and dehumanization frameworks. Implications for the findings were discussed within the context of the criminal justice system and educational settings.Psychology & Educatio
Core-shell Colloidal Quantum Dots For Photovoltaics With Improved Open Circuit Voltage
No full textOver the past decades, research efforts have been dedicated to solution processed photovoltaics based on colloidal quantum dots (CQD). Due to its tunable band-gaps, good stability in air and earth-abundant nature, lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots have become competing materials for the production of low-cost flexible solar cells. Although the power conversion efficiency of CQD solar cell has increased rapidly in the past 10 years and reached certified efficiency of 16.6% in 2018, it is not comparable to silicon and perovskite solar cells with the power conversion efficiency of 27.6% and 25.2%.
One challenge that limits the performance of CQD solar cell is the incomplete absorption of the solar spectrum, resulting from the short diffusion length restricting the thickness of CQD layer to below 100 nm and could possibly solved by integrat- ing multiple layers into a tandem structure. Another challenge is the open circuit circuit voltage (Voc) and its deficit. High carrier recombination rates in PbS CQD photovoltaics can result in a reduction in Voc. Surface states and sub-gap states are thought to increase recombination which leads to Voc loss.
Here we present a method of forming an oxide shell on the CQD surface capped with native oleic acid ligands prior to the deposition of the CQD film and ligand swap. The core-shell QDs exhibit a narrowing in size distribution and the resulting devices yield improved Voc. In addition, films of core-shell QDs are more resilient to damage incurred during sputter deposition of overlaying films. Because the thickness and uniformity of the oxide shell can be precisely controlled, a natural balance between trap passivation and charge transport can be achieved.Physic
Do ectomycorrhizae follow market law? An analysis of functional trait distribution in response to anthropogenic environmental change
No full textEctomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are considered instrumental mediators of numerous element cycles, including carbon (C). The ectomycorrhizal guild, however, is functionally diverse, rendering C mediation community-specific. Most studies investigating the effects of environmental change on EMF to date have focused on the taxonomic rather than functional response, limiting our understanding of EMF feedbacks to global change. Studies that have included the functional response generally only frame one environmental indicator, like atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, excluding other possible environmental drivers of EMF function. I sought to address this gap by examining the distribution of functional traits represented by exploration morphotype across sites in Massachusetts experiencing anthropogenic environmental change with reference to a suite of environmental variables. I tested hypotheses borne of the biological market theory of mycorrhizal ecology and the functional trait framework. My results suggest that EMF responded both taxonomically and functionally to anthropogenic environmental change. Furthermore, trends observed between EMF and environmental variables in this study challenge the biological market theory of mycorrhizal ecology, suggesting that we broaden our framework beyond N dynamics to understand what drives EMF function. Overall, this study highlights the ecological complexity of the ectomycorrhizal guild, prompting us to develop more nuanced and empirically grounded theories in mycorrhizal ecology.Environmental Studie
