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CLASSICAL MECHANICS SIMULATIONS WITH MOLECULAR DYNAMICS
No full textMolecular Dynamics (MD) is a method of computer simulation of atoms and molecules which involves the use of Newton\u27s equations of motion to determine trajectories of particles across small time-steps. In this thesis, the goal is to create a versatile program framework for the creation of MD simulations using the Processing programming environment and an object-oriented approach. This began with the creation of a versatile particle class meant to represent a single object in the simulation. The various ways in which particles interact were then established using conservation laws and Verlet Algorithms. To show its applicability, several sample programs using this framework were created, including of large-scale gravitational systems and of liquids experiencing a phase change from a heat increase
Costuming Welcome to Night Vale as a Demonstration of Skill
No full textThis thesis is an explanation of practical work produced for the Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies AOC, and serves as an examination of skills in the costume design field that I have developed in my academic career at New College of Florida. The designs produced for this thesis are an accurate representation of the quality of work I have been able to work up to in my academic career, as well as a demonstration of the learned skill of reading text to inform the costuming of a character. By producing this thesis I aim to expand my professional portfolio of designs and identify weaknesses in my design process. I also aim to show a clear ability to read or listen to the available information on a fictional character and based only on script content develop an understanding of the appropriate aesthetics of that character. This is a primarily practical thesis, based on work with primary sources. It serves to introduce the reasons behind this project selection, and examine the history behind the podcast Welcome to Night Vale as well as briefly introduce the plot. Each character selected for designs also receives and explanation of their role in the community of Night Vale and as it relates to the plot, to accompany their design(s). This thesis is finished with a discussion of process and a reflection
FAITH AND CONFIDENCE IN NEW AGE MARKETS: CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND STOCK BUBBLES
No full textThis paper examines how recent financial tools have impacted consumer behavior and how those tools will continue to behave. In particular, we focus on Bitcoin (BTC) as an alternative to the U.S. dollar, and do an econometric analysis of GameStop (GME) and the recent bubble it and other heavily shorted stocks displayed
A Meta-Analysis of Restorative Justice and Juvenile Recidivism Rates
No full textIn this thesis I ran a statistical analysis of various state and local programs that used restorative justice principles—typically victim-offender mediation and its variations—as a diversion tactic for juvenile offenders. I wanted to see if those restorative principles, which focus on the victim and the offender discussing the offense and coming to an agreement about how to handle the offense, had a significant effect on the recidivism rate (recidivism being defined as the tendency of a criminal to re-offend and measured by a new contact with the criminal justice system within a defined period of time, usually one to three years) of the juveniles who participated in those programs as compared to those who did not. I found that restorative justice-based programs had a significant effects on recidivism rates, reducing them by an average of 25.8%. This is consistent with the theory in the field and practical understanding from those who work to promote restorative justice. My hope for my thesis is that this verification of the theory will encourage states to consider implementing these principles into their own justice system and work to help juveniles in contact with the criminal justice system rather than default to punishment
Otherwise Than Phenomenology: Emmanuel Levinas on Performative Language, Time, and Henri Bergson
No full textContemporary philosophical research has, following Gilles Deleuze, turned toward the work of Henri Bergson with the intent of challenging phenomenology and its lingering influence. While Bergsonism has been put to anti-phenomenological use since Deleuze’s 1988 study, Bergsonism, one figure stands out for his ambiguous situation vis-à-vis the opposition between Bergsonism and phenomenology. Eight years prior to the publication of Bergsonism, Emmanuel Levinas wrote, “[i]t is important to underline the importance of Bergsonism for the entire problematic of contemporary philosophy; it is… the priority of duration over permanence—there is access to novelty, an access independent of the ontology of the Same”. Though famous for his contributions to ethics, Levinas’s status as a faithful phenomenologist has been taken for granted to the detriment of a rigorous exploration of the meaning behind his oblique but profuse praise for Bergson. This begins with a rigorous reading of Husserl’s Cartesian Meditations laying the groundwork for Levinas’s deconstructive reply and then situates this problematic within the Husserlian temporal framework. Husserlian time is demonstrated to be insufficient for explaining the passage of time, and this insufficiency becomes fully apparent when pressing Husserl on the problem of embodiment. Levinas’s theory of time is shown to be reliant instead on Bergsonian memory, and we conclude with a discussion of the political and linguistic dimension of this mnemonic temporality through the lens of J.L. Austin’s and Eve Sedgwick’s theories of performative language
KINETIC EFFICIENCY OF R252L AND D60N MUTANTS OF C. elegans GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE RELATIVE TO THE WILD TYPE
No full textGlucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is an enzyme present in all species that have thus far been tested (Vuillamy et al., 1988). G6PD is the rate limiting enzyme in the Pentose Phosphate Pathway (PPP) (Wang and Engel, 2009) and reduces NADP+ to NADPH through the oxidation of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) to 6-phospho-gluconolactone (Hirono et al. 1989). The effectiveness of the G6PD enzyme is vital to the health and survival of an organism, as the PPP is one of the major NADPH production mechanisms, and NADPH protects cells from succumbing to oxidative stress (Wang and Engel, 2009). In the present study, characterization of the C. elegans orthologs of two known deficient human G6PD variants was performed. Production of the R252L and D60N C. elegans GSPD variants was done via E. coli plasmid expression. Purification of the mutant enzymes was performed on a nickel column, and enzyme kinetics parameters of the mutant GSPD enzymes were determined and compared to the wild type enzyme. From the Michaelis-Menten kinetics assay results, it was determined that the Vmax value for the R252L mutant enzyme was 5.9 * 10-3 ± 7.5 * 10-4 μmol/min, the KM value was 1050 ± 200 μM, and the specific activity was 1.2 ± 0.15 μmol/min/mg. For the D60N enzyme variant it was determined that the Vmax value was 3.2 * 10-3 ± 2.1 * 10 -4 μmol/min, the KM value was 80 ± 22 μM, and the specific activity was 6 ± 1.3 μmol/min/mg. Lastly, the Vmax value for the wild type enzyme was 2.2 * 10-3 ± 1.4 * 10 -4 μmol/min, the KM value was 100 ± 27 μM, and the specific activity was 11 ± 5.7 μmol/min/mg. These results diverge slightly from those previously published on the human orthologs of the two mutants. A 2013 study by Bendaoud et al. in which the human ortholog of the R252L GSPD mutant was first cited, as G6PD Tunisia, found that the mutant retained an estimated 25% of normal enzymatic activity while this study found that the R252L mutant had about 11% activity compared to the wild type. A 1988 study by Vuillamy et al. found that the Metaponto variant (the human ortholog of the D60N mutant) had a KM of 47 μM relative to G6P concentration which is a little over half that observed in this study. The same study found that the enzymatic activity of the mutant within red blood cells was between 14 and 39% of the wild type while the present study found the activity of the D60N mutant to be about 59% of the wild type. This novel data presents evidence of the deficiency of the C. elegans orthologs of the Tunisia and Metaponto variants of human G6PD, thus illustrating their promise as model systems for their human counterparts
PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES AND THEORY OF ASTRONOMICAL ABSOLUTE PHOTOMETRY WITH CCDS
No full textPresented in this thesis is the theory of photometry, absolute photometry, the practical properties of CCDs, and the use of CCDs for photometry. In this thesis we concern ourselves with CCD absolute photometry in practice, and how to take into account the noise of the signal source, the extraneous signals and noises introduced through the usage of a CCD, the signal introduced from light pollution sky brightness, the signal filtered out through atmospheric extinction, and telescope/CCD system imperfections and non-uniformities. Throughout, uncertainties are propagated so that the uncertainties in eventually determined “catalog” magnitudes can be accurately determined. Finally, we provide a set of algorithms for CCD absolute photometry and the determination of associated uncertainties, generalized for use with any standard photometric system, accounting for all practicalities of observing from within Earth’s atmosphere and equipment imperfections
THE POSSIBILITY FOR SELF-DETERMINATION: FOUCAULT’S ENLIGHTENMENT ETHOS AND CARE FOR THE SELF
No full textIn this thesis, I investigate the question of whether it is possible for the self to have a form of being free from the influence of historical limits. Following Michel Foucault’s genealogical and archaeological methodology, I argue that while such a form of being is impossible, we can still exercise free self-determination as a way to reject historical limits. I begin by establishing the problem of limits upon the self’s being, drawing from Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks to show the potential harms they can cause. I then posit a form of being prior to these historical determinations, which I call Original Being, as a possible solution to this issue. I then argue that such a state of being is not possible, drawing upon Foucault’s concept of historical a priori as laid out in his book, Archaeology of Knowledge. Using this concept, I explain how historical limits come to limit the self through their role in constructing the present’s intersubjective conditions. I then use this argument to demonstrate both the necessity of some kind of historical limits as part of the constitution of the self’s being, as well as the ultimate contingency of any given limit. Following from this analysis, I propose a new conception of Original Being as a negative limit concept which can guide the project of self-determination in being. Following this consideration, I move into an analysis of Foucault’s essay, “What is Enlightenment” to show how a critical attitude rooted in genealogical and archaeological analysis can help the self find self-determination in being through the continuous and partial transgression of their limits. In order to carry out this transgression, I suggest the employment of technologies of the self, as described in Foucault’s lecture of the same name, as a way to self-produce new modes of being contrary to the limits of history. Building off of this idea of technologies of the self, I caution against the influence of Governmentality in their employment. I then distinguish Governmentality’s influence on the self from Intersubjectivity, suggesting that the latter can and must be reintegrated into the self in order to have genuinely free self-determination because of its indispensable role in the constitution of the self. In order to carry both of these goals out, I suggest the adoption of the Foucualdian concept of care of the self as a guiding principle, and highlight certain associated practices as possible tools for transgression. I then conclude with a comparison between this Foucauldian project and Existentialism, reemphasizing the nature of the subject as constituted through practices and urging the continual employment of critique and transgression as a way to expand the horizons of the self
FASHIONING THE NEW WOMAN: ELSA SCHIAPARELLI AND THE ILLUSION AND AGENCY OF FEMININE PERFORMANCE
No full textElsa Schiaparelli was an Italian fashion designer based in Paris during the interwar period of the early twentieth century. This thesis will examine her career from a feminist perspective and contextualize her unusual womenswear designs within the Surrealist movement and 1930s Paris, when “New Women” experienced increased freedom and agency, but also, as a consequence, backlash from society. As an active and independent business owner experiencing international success for her unique and “shocking” pieces, Schiaparelli herself was an exemplary New Woman. However, her triumphs did not come without a number of difficulties, and these obstacles and Schiaparelli’s complicated self-image inspired her to explore identity, vulnerability, and objectification in her work. I argue that Schiaparelli reveled in the artifice of feminine performance, using it to fashion a new, empowered image for the wearer of her designs by employing Surrealist strategies that include mirroring/doubling, shocking juxtapositions, and uncanny illusions. Her use of a layered Surrealist visual language in fashion allowed her to test the boundaries of this movement by deflecting the over-sexualization of the female body in the context of commercial fashion. In her countering of Surrealist misogyny, she contributed not only to the avant-garde group but to the zeitgeist of Parisian society in the 1930s. Though Schiaparelli’s work has often been dismissed by critics as less radical and impactful than Surrealism in the fine arts, it is my argument she introduced an entirely new and innovative expansion of the movement by extending onto the physical body in a manner that questioned and critiqued the performed identity
DETECTION OF BREVETOXINS AT LOW-CONCENTRATIONS VIA SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
No full textRed tide occurs naturally during harmful algae blooms which cause tremendous issues in ecosystems and the economy. Excess nutrients flowing into waters can feed into harmful algae blooms which increase the production of brevetoxins exponentially. Brevetoxin is a common neurotoxin that affects the respiratory systems of animals by activating their sodium channels. Although there are systems that can detect toxins at low concentrations like HPLC-MS and ELISA these are usually: not portable, very costly instruments, and their operation requires skilled labor. To target this issue, attempts were made to take the first steps at fabricating a toxin screening system that can detect brevetoxin at low concentrations using a handheld Raman spectrometer that utilizes surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), in the lab. First, silver nanoparticles were synthesized successfully, then surface modifications were conducted to create a brevetoxin targeted substrate. Secondly, the nanoparticles were tested with brevetoxins which were extracted from algae provided by Mote Marine Research Laboratory. The acquired data confirmed that the series of experimental modifications were successful between the silver nanoparticles and 4-aminothiophenol, although non-covalent interactions were observable between the target analyte and the nanoparticle rather than the expected covalent interactions. In these experiments the limit of detection (LOD) test provided that the LOD concentration for brevetoxin with our 4-ATP complex was 127 ng/mL or 127 ppb, although further studies are required to meet certain requirements such as reproducibility and accuracy. A light stability test was run which suggested that the complex synthesized may only be usable for 60 to 80 days under experimental conditions