Digital Commons @ Colby
Not a member yet
16478 research outputs found
Sort by
The Physicians\u27 Crusade: A Forgotten War on Abortion, Feminism, and the Diversification of the United States
Abortion in the United States was accessible and widely practiced until the mid- nineteenth century. In 1857 the physicians’ crusade, an anti-abortion political movement led by prominent medical doctors around the country, instigated the widespread criminalization of abortion by the end of the century. I argue that physicians wielded their scientific authority to validate increasingly conservative attitudes about race and gender. They appealed to national xenophobic and sexist backlash that accompanied progressive changes like industrialization and the abolition of slavery, amplifying those fears and offering politicians a source of control over female sexuality and a growing immigrant population: the criminalization of abortion. My argument is supported by a literature review of existing scholarship on this period, as well as scholarship on methods of historical and STS analysis, and most importantly a comparative historical analysis of medical journal articles published on abortion before and during the physicians’ crusade. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, understanding the factors that changed the public perception of abortion when it was first criminalized might inform our understanding of contemporary attitudes about race and gender
Multiple Lithologies in Camel Donga 003 (CK3): Implications for the CV Parent Body
Carbonaceous chondrites record primitive physical and chemical conditions of the solar nebula. In addition, samples of these meteorites provide information about secondary processing due to thermal metamorphism or aqueous alteration on the meteorite’s parent asteroid. Currently, there is debate regarding the number of parent asteroids that the Vigarano-like (CV) and the Karoonda-like (CK) chondrites originate from, which can be addressed through detailed mineralogical and petrographic analysis of samples from these groups.
In this work, we analyzed a thin section of Camel Donga 003, which is currently classified as a CK3 chondrite. Using scanning electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis, we studied the sample’s petrography and mineral chemistry to discern differences between its multiple unique lithologies and to understand its physical and chemical evolution on the parent body. We find that among three unique lithologies in the thin section, two exhibit characteristics consistent with the reduced CV chondrites, while a third lithology represents material that reached a higher metamorphic grade than is typical for CV chondrites. This suggests that the lithologies of CD 003 record a complex history involving varying metamorphic conditions, impact, and mixing on the CV parent body
Phenanthrene Jamboree
Using cyclopropanated and cyclobutanated phenanthrene precursors, our hero embarks on a mission to find as many reactive intermediates as possible. Fraught with danger, romance, and mangosteens, Anderson calls this work \u27monstrous\u27 and \u27alarming.\u2
Gratuity\u27s role in final cost: An economic assessment of tipping
Despite tipping being an extremely common economic decision for today’s consumers, little is known about how tip amounts are incorporated into conceptions of final cost. I explore how consumers think about tipping as a component of overall cost in a counter-service restaurant (CSR) setting in which tips are not based on the quality of service received. Results of an online survey indicate that even when participants are aware that they will have to tip on an item, less than half of them (47%) actually implement this knowledge into their expectation of the final cost of their purchase. Furthermore, individual differences in motivations and attitudes for leaving tips provide insight into whether consumers would tip at a CSR, with consumers who prioritize rewarding and taking care of servers being more likely to tip in this scenario. In addition, these same consumers tend to prefer being afforded the option to supply their own tip (split-cost structure) as opposed to having all costs be incorporated into the menu price for them (combined-cost structure). These results serve as a foundation for research on tipping at CSRs and provide important considerations for restaurant owners and policymakers considering the wages of workers in the service industry
Northern Shrimp in the Gulf of Maine and the Impacts of Climate Change
Northern Shrimp (Pandalus borealis) populations within the Gulf of Maine collapsed in 2011 following the first year that sea surface temperature surpassed 10ºC. The population collapse resulting in a moratorium in 2014. The waters of the Gulf of Maine have been rising at a rate of 0.045ºC per year, changing predator distribution, prey distribution, as well as Northern Shrimp biological variables. There has been very little recovery to the Northern Shrimp stock despite the fishing moratorium and the answers behind the collapse and lack of recovery remains enigmatic. Therefore, this two-chapter study includes a literature review and a research paper trying to determine the factors and mechanisms behind the Northern Shrimp population crash. The first chapter is a literature review investigating the direct and indirect impacts of increasing water temperatures on the Northern Shrimp stocks in the Gulf of Maine and Eastern Canada. The second chapter is a research paper addressing the question: Are there any patterns between SST and Northern Shrimp biological variables in either the GOM or the Scotian Shelf? The results demonstrate a possible temperature threshold of 10.1ºC for sea surface temperature and 8.1ºC for bottom temperature that above results in both biomass and spawning stock biomass collapse. Temperatures above these thresholds demonstrate high mortality rates in Northern Shrimp larvae and adults. The implications of these findings include Northern Shrimp fishery never returning to the Gulf of Maine and the Scotian Shelf in Eastern Canada possibly being the next location to experience the population collapse
Indigenous Storytelling as Decolonial Praxis, Ceremony and at Colby
This thesis seeks to amplify Indigenous lifeways, diplomacies, sciences, diplomatic relations, and the power of storytelling. This is not a piece analyzing Indigenous culture. Rather, this thesis returns the gaze to the settler colonial state, specifically its storytelling ideologies, to show that systemic practices of inequity in storytelling can be disrupted and decolonized through a recentering of Indigenous ideologies. For example, reciprocity with lands and animals, reflection on positionality and decentering colonial understandings of time and place
Testing Evolutionary Conservation of Sex Determination in Lepidoptera Using CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing
The mechanism of sex determination in Lepidoptera is largely unexplored, and limited to knowledge of only a few genes. Adult Lepidoptera have obvious sexually dimorphic qualities, such as their genitalia. However, significant sex determination genes are not imperative for the adult developmental stage. Knockouts of some sex determination genes (doublesex isoforms) are shown to be lethal in the embryonic and larval stages of development in several animals. However, it is unclear whether this is due to their respective impact on sex determination and sexual dimorphism, or the existence of another function, such as pleiotropy, within a particular gene. Moreover, Little is known about the specific impacts of sex determination gene knockouts on Lepidopteran morphology and behavior. This honors thesis explores the effects of knockouts of key sex determination gene masculinizer (masc) in Lepidopteran species Vanessa cardui. masc is thought to be an important gene in some Lepidopteran species, specifically for the persistence of masculinization during embryonic development, and for dosage compensation of chromosomal activation on the Z chromosome. masc expression was knocked out in Vanessa cardui embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing which targeted the masc gene at two different positions within the V. cardui protein-coding sequence. Surviving adult butterflies were observed in order to determine phenotypic differences in sexually dimorphic anatomy and behavior. Specifically, vestigial forelegs were collected from each injected individual and analyzed for mosaic phenotypes. It was found through statistical and morphometric analysis that knockouts of the masc gene have the potential to decrease embryonic survival probability and adult fitness in Vanessa cardui, and produce mosaic phenotypes in surviving male animals. These findings support the hypothesis that masc is conserved across Lepidoptera, including Vanessa cardui
Tracing North Atlantic Continental Erosion Events During the Mid-Pleistocene Transition
The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT), which occurred between 1.2 and 0.7 Mya, is characterized by changes in the periodicity and intensity of glacial-interglacial cycles. Early research into this event found that it was not triggered by changes in orbital forcing, but rather by internal climate processes. Previous studies have constrained a probable two-step mechanism, in which erosion of regolith under ice sheets increased glacial volumes and contributed to increased carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean. Additional research has built on this, suggesting that increased glacial erosion of cratons surrounding the North Atlantic preceded a major weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (the AMOC disruption ) between MIS-25 and MIS-21 (~950-860 ka) (Yehudai et. al., PNAS, 2021; Kim et al. QSR, 2021). To better understand the evolution of regolith erosion in the North Atlantic, we present complementary K/Ar detrital provenance ages, ice-rafted debris (IRD) census counts, and mineralogical/textural analyses of IRD from 25 sediment samples spanning MIS 38-16 (1250-627.7 ka) from DSDP site 607 (41°00\u27N, 32°58\u27W; 3,427m). Initial data show increasingly older K/Ar ages in the detritus leading up to the AMOC disruption, thus indicating increased erosion of material from older areas of the Canadian shield. This is consistent with IRD census counts, which reveal an increase in IRD deposition during glacial intervals between MIS 30-23. Comparison of our census counts and K/Ar ages shows a correlation between provenance age and IRD accrual during this interval, supporting the removal of regolith by ice sheets, leading up to the AMOC disruption. Following the AMOC disruption, our data indicate younger detrital sources during glacials in the 100-kyr world. Through SEM analyses of IRD, this work establishes a record of changes in mineral abundances and microtextures during MIS 38-16 to better constrain the progression of erosional events across the MPT interval. This in-depth detrital chronology provides further insight into the origin of the MPT
Pluralistic Ethical Personalism
In the thesis, I sketch out a general outline for a pluralistic, personalist theory of ethics. This theory intends to capture the phenomenon that our life experience is saturated with ethical and other kinds of values; and it also emphasizes the idea that each ethical agent, or human being, has a unique ethical project that is understandable in light of various ethical values
A Close Analysis into the Portrayal of Female Protagonists Through the Lens of Gendered Authorship: Specifically looking into the works of Jane Austen, Frances Burney, John Cleland, and Samuel Richardson
I explore the difference in gendered authorship in 18th century English literature. Choosing to focus on authors such as Jane Austen, Frances Burney, John Cleland, and Samuel Richardson, I aim to see if gender of the author matters in giving a realistic portrayal of eighteenth century British female protagonists, and if there actually is a difference depending on that gender (male or female, specifically). To do this, I perform case study comparisons. All chapters include a close textual analysis of the authors’ use of dialogue and narrative style for depicting their characters. Chapter 1 focuses on the comparison between Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Cleland\u27s Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. Through Austen and Cleland, I determine to what extent the actions and experiences of the protagonists are weighted by the author’s own personal background, and whether this influences the author\u27s approach to the meaning of “realism” through their portrayal of Bennet and Hill. Chapter 2 focuses on the comparison between Burney’s Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady\u27s Entrance into the World and Richardson’s Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. This comparison looks at the extent to which Evelina and Pamela can be categorized as “accurate” to the eighteenth century British-aristocratic female. In the end I find that the author with the most accurate representation of women during this time is John Cleland\u27s Fanny Hill. Then respectively followed by Frances Burney\u27s Evelina, Jane Austen\u27s Pride and Prejudice, and Samuel Richardson\u27s Pamela