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"C'était en plein Paris: Remembering the Massacre of October 17, 1961
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/18989c2d-891e-4b5d-902d-005cf4f08d5b/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis thinks through the challenges, necessities, and ways of remembering a state-perpetrated massacre through case study of the massacre of French colonial subjects from Algeria at the hands of the police in Paris on October 17, 1961. For thirty years after the massacre, the French government and media remained silent. This silence ended with the publication of numerous texts during the 1990s. This thesis analyzes three of these texts, a historical account of the massacre; a documentary film; a work of literary fiction. When taken together, these texts articulate a three-pronged approach to memorialization. Basing my analysis on close readings of these works, I argue that these efforts to remember the massacre reveals three fundamental human needs that motivate memorialization: restoring truth, promoting justice, and transmitting memory across generations. Memory, the underlying phenomenon this thesis studies, manifests in both works of history and literature, demanding an interdisciplinary analysis. The first chapter analyzes Jean-Luc Einaudi’s La Bataille de Paris (1991) through the lens of Deleuze’s and Guattari’s theory of the rhizome to understand the means by which a journalist established the concrete facts of the massacre thirty years after it occurred. The second chapter examines how, through the use of a participatory mode of filmmaking, the documentary film Le Silence du fleuve (1991) by Agnès Denis and Mehdi Lallaoui highlights the injustice ensuing from the legal impunity of those who carried out the massacre while beginning to restore justice. The third chapter analyzes the use of heteroglossia in Leïla Sebbar’s didactic novel, La Seine était rouge (1999), to both enact and think through the transmission of the memory of the massacre to younger generations of French youth, especially those of Algerian descent. While each medium analyzed is different, all are united in their polyphonic approach. The authors of these works counter the silence of the French state by foregrounding the voice of a multiplicity of speakers, including those silenced in official historical accounts
Glia Cell Dynamics in the Zebrafish Optic Tectum
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/0c4c7ea0-e7f4-4c13-bf42-d36aca9f15c6/thumb/128.jpgThe development of the brain requires countless modes of interaction between cells. Sensory systems send axon projections that connect into the brain (innervation), allowing sensory modalities to be processed. This sensory innervation also influences the development of the target regions. The zebrafish visual system is a good model to study this innervation-dependent development. Neurons in the retina called retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) transmit visual information through their axon projections which make up the optic nerve into the optic tectum (OT) . The connection between the optic nerve and the OT is important for the survival and growth of cells in the OT. However, many specifics of how this is mediated, as well as other innervation-dependent cellular dynamics, remains to be studied. In this thesis, I used time-lapse light sheet microscopy to study innervation-dependent cell dynamics of microglia and OPCs , which are both glia cells (non-neuronal CNS cells) present in the OT that are known to facilitate neuronal remodeling to some extent. I utilized exploratory methods to observe the OPC migration, localization, morphologies, and interactions with RGC axon terminals in WT larvae, and to additionally visualize microglia behavioral dynamics in the OT
Privacy Paradox: Regularized Neural Networks and Distributional Differential Privacy
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/224fd30b-93cd-47ad-8523-ec7a02cfc821/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis explores the domain of privacy-preserving machine learning, specifically focusing on the intersection of differential privacy (DP) and neural networks. While DP offers a robust framework for safeguarding sensitive information of individual data within datasets, it often presents a challenging privacy-utility tradeoff, compelling machine learning practitioners to prioritize model performance over privacy preservation. In response to this dilemma, Blanco-Justicia et al. demonstrate that standard regularization techniques can provide a comparable level of privacy protection to DP while achieving better model performance [5]. They evaluate privacy by measuring the adversarial advantage of membership inference attacks, operating under the assumption of limited adversarial knowledge. Coincidentally, distributional differential privacy (DDP), an alternative framework to DP, also relaxes adversarial assumptions to model more realistic adversaries with limited knowledge. Hence, we embark on an investigation into the influence of L2 regularization on the privacy leakage of neural networks using measures inspired by DDP. Our empirical analysis of the Adult dataset reveals a surprising phenomenon: rather than mitigating privacy leakage, L2 regularization inadvertently exacerbates it across a significant proportion of data points
The Origin of Immunity in Neonatal Epithelial Cells: A Study of the Human Interferon l in Breast Milk
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/80b8de7c-5d51-478e-ac88-cc008974b5f5/thumb/128.jpgInterferons (IFNs) are a group of signaling proteins that play a crucial role in the immune system. They are produced by cells in response to viral infections, bind to specific receptors on target cells, leading to the activation of various intracellular signaling pathways and the expression of genes that help inhibit viral replication, enhance the immune response, and modulate inflammation, known as interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). There are three types of interferons expressed in different cell types, carrying different functions, and interacting with different receptors. Among the three, type III interferons (IFN-lambda) are particularly important to epithelial cells in mucosal tissues and are thought to help maintain the balance between immune protection and tolerance to commensal organisms. In turn, Winkle et al.’s experiment on adult mice shows that commensal gut microbiota stimulates the immune functions of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) including the homeostasis of ISGs through an IFN-lambda-dependent pathway. However, this conclusion appears to be wrong in neonatal mice, as they express certain level of ISGs in the absence of gut microbiota. This raises the question of the origin of antiviral immunity immediately after birth. Breast milk is a potential external source of IFN-lambda that triggers the immune response, as numerous studies have shown that it delivers immune proteins such as immunoglobulins (IGs) to protect neonates from infection during early life. To test this hypothesis, ELISA is employed to confirm the presence of IFN-lambda in breast milk. The effect of breast milk to IECs is evaluated by incubating the cells with breast milk and quantifying the induced ISG transcripts using qPCR. ELISA confirms the presence of IFN-lambda in breast milk; however, the milk alone does not trigger ISG expression. Notably, a specific factor in the milk strengthens the IFN-lambda function but becomes ineffective after pasteurization. Future research could focus on the identification of this factor and exploring other hypotheses regarding the origin of ISG expression in neonates
Risk, Altruism & Prisoner's Dilemma
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/d07581ee-7779-4784-87d4-18cf81137d6a/thumb/128.jpgThe prisoner’s dilemma economic game has long been used to understand human decision-making. Amongst various studies, individual risk orientation (risk-seeking versus risk-averse), economic risk of matrices, social value orientation (cooperative, individualistic, etc.) and expectation of the other player’s choice (to cooperate or defect) have been found to predict prisoner’s dilemma decision-making. Motives for cooperation and evidence of altruism have been identified in prisoner’s dilemma as well. However, these factors have not been studied all together. Furthermore, it is unknown whether economic differences in matrix risk are perceptible to players, and whether individual risk orientation influences preference for one matrix over another. The present study aimed to address these gaps by studying the relationships between matrix risk, risk orientation, social value orientation, and expectations of the other player’s choice. American adult participants recruited through Prolific (N=66) were asked to choose between a high risk and low risk prisoner’s dilemma matrix, then choose to cooperate or defect, and they earned real monetary rewards based on their game outcomes. The study found that individual risk orientation and matrix risk were overall not significant predictors of game choice or play choice in prisoner’s dilemma, but social value orientation and expectation of the other player’s choice were. In contrast with previous findings, risk-seekers were not found to be significantly more altruistic than risk-avoiders. Finally, the evidence did not suggest that participants actually perceive the economically high risk matrix to be riskier than the economically low risk matrix
Step, Kick, Kick, Leap, Kick, Touch; or, Teaching Choreography to Non-Dancer Performers in Theatre Productions: A Workshop Approach
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/1a53f479-d5b2-4512-ba86-f514bba1253e/thumb/128.jpgIn part inspired by my own experience working as a choreographer, movement director, and dance captain in various theatre settings with performers of all levels of dance experience, this thesis explores inclusive and accessible pedagogy for choreographers creating and teaching dances and movement for theatrical productions. While there is ample scholarship in the field of dance education that addresses creating inclusive and accessible pedagogies sensitive to race, gender, and ability in dance studio teaching, less attention has been paid to making choreography accessible to non-dancer performers in theatre contexts. This thesis will integrate dance education scholarship with my own experiences as a movement director and choreographer for theatrical productions to create and test a more effective method for transmitting choreography that minimizes obstacles created by traditional approaches to dance instruction. These obstacles include technical terminology, rhythm and tempo, watch-and-learn teaching strategies, lack of time to address questions, and assumptions about ability and access to previous training. Through a brief review of the existing scholarship on inclusive and accessible dance education, and the process of designing and teaching a workshop, I developed and tools and practices to bridge the gap between a trained choreographer and the non-dancer performers they may work with as a movement director for theatrical performances. Through a reflection on the embodied experience of teaching, as well as the outcome of the workshop and participant feedback collected via an anonymous post-workshop survey, I will evaluate the effectiveness of the practices implemented, as well as any discoveries I make during the execution of the workshop. In order to test my pedagogical methods, I will teach the participants of the workshop an adapted version of an existing choreography I created for The Peoples Republic of Valerie by Kristen Kosmas, produced by Reed’s Theatre Department in November 2021
Blowing up the Fundamental Ideal
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/90e92218-0850-4ca7-85e2-833992fbb59b/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis intends to give a brief and straightforward introduction to some basic facts about the pullback presentation of the Milnor-Witt ring of a field. This presentation is achieved assuming the Milnor Conjecture on quadratic forms, which was proved in by Orlov, Vishik, and Voevodsky. The central goal of the project was to follow Fabien Morel's paper introducing Milnor-Witt K-theory and provide a full accounting of the proof of the major results therein. While such an accounting is not to be found here, we sketch out the shape of his argument and give some exposition on Milnor K-theory following John Milnor's foundational paper "Algebraic K-theory and Quadratic Forms.
Statistical Foraging: A Comparative Analysis of Compositional Barycentric Matching and Q-Learning for Describing Foraging Behavior in Rats
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/61e41440-49da-45a2-bddb-5124eceeb835/thumb/128.jpgWhile wild animals forage for their food, laboratory rats may never leave the comfort of their cages, leaving the question of how we can mathematically describe and predict foraging behavior without relying on naturalistic observation. Real foraging involves a landscape which contains positive reinforcement as well as terrain, creating a task with a constant cost-benefit analysis that is untapped by many traditional behavior experiments. Using an open-field apparatus fitted with three operant levers and several sets of barriers, a simulated foraging environment was designed to create several unique combinations of reward schedules and locomotive requirements that enabled a comprehensive analysis of behavior. As an exploratory comparative analysis, a simulated foraging experiment was designed to test two different model-free reinforcement learning analysis approaches: compositional barycentric matching, and Q-learning. The former, more molar view of behavior, yields a more rigid yet grounded prediction of behavior which accounts for the physical characteristics of the environment while the molecular latter provides a highly flexible but ill-fitting prediction of behavior which fails to capture the negative reinforcement and physical characteristics of the task environment
The Interaction of Salt Stress and Endopolyploidy in Brassica rapa and Vaccinium Membranaceum
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/a1b67e08-7283-4c41-9b4a-dbf982fe7a91/thumb/128.jpgIn many plant species, endopolyploidy, or the doubling of genetic content within individual cells, can be induced through subjecting plants to abiotic stressors. However, the adaptive and acclimatory roles of endopolyploidy in these stressful environments is still unclear. This thesis attempts to induce elevated endopolyploidy in salt-stressed Brassica rapa, as well as characterize the differences in acclimation and adaptation to stressful environments between plants with elevated levels of endopolyploidy and plants with baseline levels of endopolyploidy. It was found that Brassica rapa induced endopolyploidy as well as lowered cell densities and leaf areas when subjected to salinity stress, which demonstrates the idea that Brassica rapa can differentiate their organ growth when faced with stressful environmental conditions. To look for this differential organ growth in the field, Vaccinium membranaceum leaves were sampled from local environments that historically have had elevated concentrations of salt to test for differences in endopolyploidy levels. No difference in endopolyploidy was found across the Vaccinium membranaceum from salted or unsalted areas. Although endopolyploidy may form part of the range of salinity tolerance mechanisms in many plants, its role in organ development in stressful environments is most driven by species type, as natural populations of Vaccinium membranaceum perform very little endoreduplication
Out of the Woods: Land Use Allocation and Timber Regulation Changes on Oregon and California Land
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/7a1a1e35-7344-4e07-88cb-36944f45b661/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis investigates the changes made in both land use allocations and timber harvesting regulations in the Bureau of Land Management resource management plans (RMPs) for Western Oregon. The history of this land, including Oregon and California Land, has increased the political contention and social importance of the land. As a result, changes to the management of the land draw attention from several actors. Modifications made between the 1995 RMPs and the 2016 RMPs can illustrate the impact of politics on planning and bureaucratic practices. Through my coding of six 1995 RMPs and two 2016 RMPs, I find several similarities and changes in the timber regulations and the amount of land allocated for environmental protection. I argue, using the Advocacy Coalition Framework, that those changes can be explained by the state of advocacy coalitions during the time of the plans’ creations