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Studying the Potential for Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy on Polymer Surfaces with Embedded Nanostructures
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/a10d8cef-97f2-46fc-8d66-5daef7371bff/thumb/128.jpgThis project studied the use of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) to measure the work function of a PEDOT:PSS polymer sample with embedded gold nanoparticles. By taking an image with KPFM on the surface of a graphite test sample while applying a voltage bias to the sample, taking another image on the surface of PEDOT:PSS, and comparing the two, the work function of PEDOT:PSS was measured as 4.45±0.08 V, which is below the work function of 5.10 V obtained from the literature from a different sample of PEDOT:PSS. Efforts to measure the difference in work function between the polymer surface and gold produced mixed results. The work function of gold was expected to be 5.28 V from the literature, and some regions with approximately 0.2 V greater work function were observed. However, the work functions of most nanoparticles could not be measured accurately due to interference with the measurement. A major factor in this issue was the sharp topography at the base of the visible nanoparticles, which interrupted the imaging process when the tip passed over these regions. However, tuning the imaging parameters was sufficient to partly alleviate these issues and reduce the size of regions in which the work function could not be measured
I Like Us but You Might Not: Local Partial Coreference in Mexican Spanish
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/9884213e-eb69-4123-b393-c414f77e4276/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis investigates local partial coreference in Mexican Spanish and presents an internal structure of pronouns and a relativized view of Principle B. Local partial coreference is the syntactic phenomenon where two pronouns (or a pronoun and a clitic) in a local domain share person features but not number features. The thesis discusses past literature on the topic, including a set indexation notation system to more precisely describe reference, novel data from Mexican Spanish, and Béjar’s (2003) phi-syntax with the primitive Speaker, Participant, and Person features rather than the traditional First, Second, and Third person features. I walk through the four main asymmetries present in my data and make several major claims: 1) there is a Tense Head Disjointness Requirement that restricts partial coreference in an extremely local relationship, 2) the lexical gap of a dedicated partially coreferent pronominal leads to certain Principle B ‘preferences,’ 3) Principle B is sensitive to the amount of internal structure of a pronoun, and 4) ustedes is a second person pronoun, despite triggering third person verbal agreement. This analysis of local partial coreference in Spanish combines elements from Binding Theory and nanosyntax to present an intuitive account of my data from Mexican Spanish
A Complex Situation: Towards Structural Characterization of MntR-DNA-RNAP
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/1b3ee1cd-45e9-4826-abad-cb79b96d1fd5/thumb/128.jpgManganese is a transition metal necessary for both bacterial survival and pathogenesis. However, since excess manganese is toxic to bacteria, a complex system of transporter proteins and transcription regulators work to maintain healthy intracellular manganese levels. Metalloregulator protein, MntR, is a 16.7 kDa transcription factors that maintain manganese homeostasis in Bacillus subtilis bacteria. A recent cryo-EM structure elucidated a four MntR dimer binding stoichiometry to the MneP exporter promoter sequence (Shi et al, 2025). While this structure illuminates specific residue interactions between MntR and DNA, MntR’s mechanism of transcriptional activation remains unknown. This thesis aims to elucidate MntR’s mechanism of transcriptional activation by creating the MntR-DNA-RNAP complex (MDR). Visualization of this complex by cryo-EM will establish MntR’s mechanism of RNA polymerase (RNAP) recruitment. Both mass photometry (MP) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) techniques aimed to confirm MDR complex formation in this thesis. While major challenges were faced with MP, complex formation was validated using size exclusion chromatography and grids were prepared for cryo-EM structural analysis of the MDR complex
Moduli Space of Polygons
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/08bd28ec-2988-459a-aa04-736b3aa11903/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis gives an introduction of moduli spaces of polygons and fixed side lengths. We explore the structure and geometry of the moduli space , considered up to translation and rotation. After introducing the general theory of moduli spaces, we focus on the projection from polygon space to side length spaces. We study how this space is divided, corresponding to degenerate configurations and classify the resulting spaces using Kapovich and Millson's framework. Using both analytical and visual methods we illustrate how the topology of the moduli space changes across walls and explore the relationship between chamber type and moduli space connectedness
Conspiracy Theory and Umberto Eco's Hermetic Semiosis
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/1a455abb-25b1-4426-84ad-601e31687bc3/thumb/128.jpgIn his theoretical work Umberto Eco addresses a societal trend towards overinterpretation. By overinterpretation Eco is referring to a set of interpretive criteria he calls Hermetic semiosis that encourages claims far beyond the scope of the evidence used to support these claims. In his novel Foucault's Pendulum, Eco addresses the conditions that allow for the belief and creation of conspiracy theories. This thesis finds that conspiracy in the novel operates according to Eco's concept of Hermetic semiosis. Furthermore, Eco's proposed solution to Hermetic semiosis, a return to communal conceptions of truth and more rigid interpretive criteria are also expressed in Foucault's Pendulum through the character of Lia whose arguments against conspiratorial thought focus meaning as originating from the body. Although Foucault's Pendulum was written in 1988 and deals with contemporary conspiracies, through analysis of current internet conspiracies this thesis finds Eco's Hermetic semiosis is still a good working model for understanding as well as dismantling conspiracy
The Cyborg at the End of the World: A Theory of the Gendered Grotesque, from Female Oppression to Queer Liberation
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/33a11cf5-cd1a-41e6-8632-0d4df86b041a/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis explores a definition of the grotesque which involves amorphous or transient states of being, represented by the Other. Specifically, I analyze the grotesque as based in gender relations, for gender is a primary mode of Othering that occurs in Western society. Othering creates a hierarchical structure which is essential to support societal norms and enforce the place of the dominant class in society. The grotesque, depicting the gendered Other, can either promote or challenge a gender-based hierarchy of existence in the world. The first chapter discusses the basis for misogyny in theories of feminine contamination and dissolution, then proposes a mechanism by which this misogyny occurs: the degradation of feminine bodies and idealization of controllable forms of femininity. Focusing on Rabelais and Bakhtin, the second chapter proposes a definition and analysis of the Misogynist Grotesque. In an analysis of Angela Carter’s Passion of New Eve, the third chapter originates the concept of the Cyborg Grotesque, imagining a new world that transcends binary delineations
The Sacred Fetters of Land and Blood: Monstrous Imagination, Sublime Landscape, and Irish Femininity in Edna O'Brien's Fiction
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/4449442c-4eb6-47ac-b694-5be275416d79/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis examines how, particularly in the mid to late works of Irish writer Edna O‘Brien, excessive emotion, or ‘insanity’, represents the refusal to adhere to the passified model of femininity the Irish Constitution and Catholic church set forth. I argue that O’Brien’s movement away from the comic realism that established her as a bestselling author in the 1960s towards a feminist gothic mode in the 1970s and onwards reflects her growing awareness of the efficacy of the Gothic genre in depicting emotional excess. By examining three short stories, a novella, and a novel, I claim that the female protagonists in “Paradise” (1968), “The Mouth of the Cave” (1968), “Storm” (1985), Night (1972), and Wild Decembers (1999) represent a monstrous intrusion of the female perspective onto cyclical patterns of male violence and subjugation. In chapter one, which examines three short stories and their portrayal of the feminine sublime, I argue that the protagonists’ confrontation with terror in the wilderness empowers them to fight back against restrictive patriarchal organization. In chapter two, which examines the shorter novel Night, I argue that O’Brien parodies Catholic paradigms of femininity through the novel’s ‘hysterical’ stream-of-consciousness narrative. Finally, in chapter three, which analyzes the longer novel Wild Decembers, I propose that the hybridization of narrative perspective, which alternates between third-person omniscient and first-person, represents an authorial disruption of the female perspective onto a historically doomed cycle of mythic, patriarchal brutality
Perceptual learning of sine-wave speech: Exploring, generalization, efficiency, and individual differences
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/f653a789-45e9-41f2-b23a-007f465b7d44/thumb/128.jpgPast research in the field of speech perception has implemented a degraded-speech tool called sine-wave speech (SWS) to quickly modify perception using the same stimuli, from only hearing noise to perceiving speech. In these studies, stark differences in people’s ability to perceive SWS as speech have been observed. Some people spontaneously perceive speech even without training, while others are never able to perceive speech at all. This study sought to examine learning, generalization, and potential sources of individual differences that have been previously demonstrated in the perception of SWS. In this study, participants were trained to perceive 3 different types of SWS: that derived from real English words (standard SWS), that derived from English language sounds but have no real meaning (pseudowords), and that which were so heavily degraded such to never be perceivable (flipped-frequency). Participants were assessed on their perceptual abilities before, throughout, and after training, including on untrained words to examine generalization to novel stimuli. Results raised some questions regarding traditional SWS experimental paradigms, but largely demonstrated learning of trained stimuli for both pseudowords and standard SWS tokens, while only learning of standard SWS tokens generalized to novel stimuli. In context of sensory perception theories, such as Reverse Hierarchy Theory, this experiment suggests that top-down associations are important for generalization of learning, but not for stimuli-specific learning, which can rely more heavily on bottom-up acoustic features
An Unstoppable Labor Force Meets an Immovable Political Machine: The 1886 Electoral Battle Between Organized Labor and the Tammany Hall Machine in New York City
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/6309e40c-9064-4c0d-99ac-0fd91e761f7d/thumb/128.jpgThis project aims to put two major historical forces, the Tammany Hall political machine and organized labor, into conversation in Gilded Age (1865-1902) New York City (NYC). This sustained historical conversation is best enabled by studying the 1886 mayoral election in the city. Since both groups had a candidate, this election was a rare and incredibly consequential interaction between the two organizations. The history and organization of the Tammany Hall machine, mostly in the preceding Gilded Age years, will be expanded upon in the first chapter. The nature of their political appeal to immigrants is worthy of specific note. In the subsequent chapter, the broader historical context of labor, especially in the summer of 1886, will be detailed. The consequences of that summer led to Henry George running for mayor of NYC under labor’s banner. The strength of the labor party was revealed during this election by the magnitude of the response from Tammany Hall and other forces in the city. George did not win but the labor party proved themselves to be a hugely powerful political faction. Despite the desperation the machine felt in dealing with the labor threat, the organization was able to further its hold over the city in its wake. This newfound power was in a consequence of the competency of their leader who had recently taken power, Richard Croker. Without this election, the true political power of labor would not have been revealed, and Tammany Hall’s hold over New York City would not have reached the heights that it did. Although there are exceptions, the historiography of organized labor and the Tammany machine has not fully focused on their contingent interactions. Rather, most historians have focused on one group or another. This thesis’ novel addition to the historiography is the welding of these historians’ works together to evaluate the effects that Tammany and organized labor in New York City had on one another in the context of the mayoral election of 1886
Expanding Majesty: Exploring Bacterial Control Over Endoreduplication in the Soybean-Bradyrhizobium Endosymbiosis
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/b3212b41-74ca-484d-bd3d-a6f035013d0f/thumb/128.jpgLegumes are able to form a nitrogen-fixing endosymbiosis with rhizobial bacteria that results in the formation of small organs called "nodules" on their roots. Within the nodules, rhizobia live in dedicated organelle-like compartments called symbiosomes wherein they fix atmospheric nitrogen for their host and receive carbon-based nourishment in exchange. The cells in the nodule in which the bacteria live go through several rounds of DNA replication without mitosis, leading to the formation of endopolyploid cells with many times the ordinary quantity of DNA. This process, called endoreduplication, is thought to facilitate cell growth and/or increased transcriptional ability of the cell. However, the genetic mechanisms which control the onset of endoreduplication in legume nodules remain unclear. We used the Glycine max and Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens symbiosis to investigate the potential of a bacterial signal being necessary for triggering endoreduplication in legumes. We performed Reverse Transcription quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) at several time points in the development of endopolyploidy for CCS52A, a plant gene associated with triggering endoreduplication in legumes, and BAC46773, a bacterial gene the product of which had been predicted to interact with CCS52A by a previously published interactome. We find an inverse correlation between CCS52A and BAC46773 such that the latter decreases as the former increases, and predict that the latter might function as a negative regulator of the former, suppressing endoreduplication onset and promoting the mitotic cell cycle crucial to the developing nodule meristem