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Rage and Glory: The Foundations of an Empire: Optimist and Pessimist Interpretations of Vergil’s Aeneid
No full textThis thesis aims to introduce the reader to the optimist and pessimist interpretations of Vergil’s Aeneid , and to analyze the arguments presented by both interpretations in order to combine the best arguments from both schools for the purposes of developing a clear and consistent interpretation of the Aeneid’s political message. The thesis is divided into an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction provides background information on Vergil, Augustus Caesar, the time period in which the epic was written, and the optimist and pessimist interpretations of the epic. Each chapter presents optimist and pessimist arguments based in certain books of the epic: Chapter 1 primarily analyzes books I and IV, Chapter 2 primarily analyzes books VI and VIII, and Chapter 3 primarily analyzes books X, XI and XII. The conclusion shows that Vergil’s moral realism allows for the glorious praise of Augustus and his empire, and also for the recognition that Rome’s empire came at a cost
ANALYZING THE EFFECT OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES ON THE CATALYTIC RATE OF C. ELEGANS CYTOPLASMIC MALATE DEHYDROGENASE
No full textThe way aerobic cells produce energy is through ATP synthesis using its mitochondria. The mitochondria synthesize ATP by using proteins on its inner membrane. These proteins make up the electron transport chain and require nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide which comes from the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and glycolysis. In the TCA cycle, malate dehydrogenase is an enzyme used to catalyze the reaction that produces NADH. Once NADH is transferred to the electron transport chain, ATP is synthesized, and molecular oxygen is reduced to water. Sometimes the oxygen isn’t fully reduced, and reactive oxygen species are formed. These species are highly reactive and cause damage to various molecules in the cell. While cells have a protection system in place, it can be overwhelmed by chronic overproduction. The purpose of this project was to observe if the catalytic rate of cMDH would decrease after treatment in hydrogen peroxide. The rate that was measured was the rate of this reaction: Malate + NAD+ oxaloacetate + NADH + H+. A small amount cMDH was treated with various concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (0-3 mM) for 30 minutes, and the catalytic rates were measured. There was no significant decrease in the rate, but there was a significant increase in the rate in one condition. The results of this project were consistent with the suggestion that cMDH acts as a ROS scavenger
MAPPING THE MILKY WAY DISK WITH STATISTICAL PHOTOMETRIC PARALLAX
No full textPrevious attempts at picturing the Milky Way disk identified substructure called galactic wiggles. Photometric data was obtained from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 14 (DR14) and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PanSTARRS) Data Release 2 (DR2) to replicate those results using new methodology and more recent experimental data. In preliminary analysis,two regions of the sky had discrepancies and were analyzed with greater detail. The abnormal star count in these regions was attributed to an overestimation of extinction that introduced stars that were not part of the stellar population being studied. The stellar density of the Milky Way disk was statistically determined and plotted using statistical photometric parallax. I identified potential structures and linked six of the seven to galactic wiggles, the Hercules Aquila Cloud, and the Hercules Halo Stream. I also identified a new structure, the far north wiggle, 40-50 kpc away in the direction of the galactic anti-center
FIXATIVES AND FIXATION PROTOCOLS: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNIQUES FOR LIGHT MICROSCOPY AND DOWNSTREAM FUNCTIONAL CONSERVATION
No full textThis thesis purports to provide a comprehensive review of fixatives and fixation techniques for the purpose of light microscopy, and for the various downstream processes that may occur during or after microscopic visualization. Fixatives preserve tissues while preventing their natural death by putrefaction, apoptosis, or other natural processes of decay, and allow the tissue to remain structurally or functionally intact for histopathology. Fixation protocols, encompassing the various procedures required to render a tissue usable for microscopy or analysis, are discussed to provide context for the necessity and analysis of chemical fixatives themselves. A “compendium of fixatives” organizes, compares and describes the various fixatives analyzed, in order to facilitate discussion of each type of fixative, spanning from historically-used solutions such as denaturing ethanol and protein cross-linking formaldehyde to modern alternatives such as molecular fixatives and microwave techniques. The downstream processes that require a fixed tissue, which include critical diagnostic tools such as immunohistochemistry and genetic sequencing techniques such as PCR, are then discussed in relation to the fixatives that facilitate them. These and other potential novel techniques in the field of histology will likely precipitate a number of innovations in fixation procedures, particularly those that move away from the traditional model of protein-based fixation
REDESIGNING NEW COLLEGE FORUM : A DATA DRIVEN APPROACH TO CREATING AN ONLINE PLATFORM FOR STUDENTS
No full textCurrently the Forum of the New College of Florida is unorganized, outdated, and lacks moderation tools. The Forum which is New College of Florida’s student online community forum is currently in need of a redesign to facilitate streamlined and accessible communication medium. This thesis project follows the prototype development of a New Forum. The features of this project are researched from existing platforms including Facebook, Reddit, 4chan, and Gmail. Various quantitative research methods are employed to customize the platform for the users such as: focus groups, interviews, surveys, and user testing. The New Forum focuses on organization, moderation tools, and usability that is lacking from the current Forum. The New Forum is made with Django, a python framework for web applications, as a backend. The frontend uses a combination of Bootstrap and Material Design Lite, two cascading style sheets made from Twitter and Google respectively
AN EXPLORATION OF CENSORSHIP RESISTANT DECENTRALIZED APPLICATIONS
No full textIn its current state, the internet is highly centralized. It is arbitrated by large government bodies and corporations. This is made evident from data publicly available from China as well as recent data breaches from Facebook and Yahoo. However, with the advent of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology, a new structure of decentralized governance was made possible using consensus algorithms and cryptographic hash functions. Using the Ethereum blockchain, decentralized applications can potentially build a new type of internet allowing for users to be fully in control of their own personal data without the need for any central authority. This paper explores the potential possibilities and uses of decentralized applications on a blockchain to fix problems of censorship and centralization. We discuss how the technology works, why it’s crucial to the future of the internet, and how a decentralized application is built using this technology. The application described allows users to post files and text permisionlessly without any central authority using a smart contract which interacts with the Ethereum blockchain and the IPFS network. The application is fully functional and has potential use cases in places where free speech rights are infringed upon
UNIENDO COMUNIDADES A TRAVÉS DEL LENGUAJE: UN MANUAL PARA DOCENTES DE INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA BASADO EN NUESTRAS EXPERIENCIAS COMO DOCENTES EN SAN JUAN CHAMELCO, GUATEMALA
No full textNew College has an internship program in collaboration with Riverside Rotary Club in which qualified Spanish students are sent to San Juan Chamelco, Guatemala to teach English for a semester. We, Kaeli Williams and Nora Flower, completed this internship in the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019, respectively. We continued to work on several projects to develop this program upon our return. One of these projects was this thesis, a handbook for future interns that provides a pedagogical framework for teaching indigenous students and students in situations of poverty and connects this to widely used teaching theories and methods that could be applied to the context of this program. This thesis also provides a 3 year curriculum plan with objectives for each year, a set of 8 sample lesson plans, an outline of our grading system, a set of tips for effective classroom habits, a section on our personal experiences and reflections as interns, and an overview of important practical and cultural considerations that will help students prepare and adjust. In writing this thesis, we hope to change the direction of English-teaching, something that has historically been used to oppress and assimilate indigenous communities. This thesis aims to instill upon the intern an appreciation of the importance of teaching based on teaching pedagogy that aims to empower indigenous people rather than oppressing them. It also aims to develop interns’ understanding of teaching theories, methods and techniques through conceptual review and relevant examples, as well as providing a practical guide to teaching and living in San Juan Chamelco. Our vision is an ambitious one, and we frame it as a source of guidance and knowledge rather than a rulebook. However, we believe it is essential to the program that our interns explore teaching pedagogy and share our overall vision in order to have a positive impact on this community and avoid contributing to oppressive practices
DIPLOMACY, STEAMSHIPS, AND JURIES: THE FAILED SUPPRESSION OF THE SLAVE TRADE DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
No full textThis thesis argues that the suppression of the illegal transatlantic slave trade in the nineteenth century failed because the policy was never pursued in good faith and had only limited support among the population of the United States. Citizens from the southern slave states continuously violated federal law over the course of the nineteenth century. The extensive role played by citizens in the northern states, and by Britain and France, in the illegal trade has been subsumed by narratives that emphasize northern anti-slavery movements and civil protests against the Fugitive Slave Acts. Chapter one traces the evolution of anti-slave trade treaties and legislation with a focus on the United States and Great Britain and attempts to explain why, after years of little success, the illegal slave trade began to face significant pressure not just from the Royal Navy but also from the U.S. Navy. Chapter two deals with the controversy of the Africans at Key West in newspapers and in the U.S. Congress in the summer of 1860. Chapter three is a study of the ways that Fugitive-Slave Cases and Slave-Ship Cases were used by judges and juries to voice their opinions about justice in a period increasingly fraught with sectional and societal tensions in the leadup to the Civil War
COMPASSIONATE GOALS AND GOAL DISENGAGEMENT: GOAL COMPASSION MODERATES THE EFFECT OF GOAL DISENGAGEMENT ON EXPECTED HAPPINESS
No full textGoal disengagement, which is when one stops trying to achieve a goal they have, has been shown to lead to positive outcomes such as increased cognitive capabilities and lower stress in some circumstances. One such circumstance is when one has goals they cannot feasibly achieve but still work towards. Compassionate goals are goals that have the purpose of helping others. This type of goal has been shown to benefit life satisfaction, social functioning, and relational outcomes. No research has been done examining the relationship between these two goal types. The current study collected an online sample of 121 participants to find if goal disengagement and goal compassion, as well as the interaction of these variables, related to participants’ expectations for emotional experiences. First, participants wrote about a goal and filled out a scale determining the level of compassion motivations they had for that goal. Participants were split up into three conditions: goal importance, goal disengagement, and control. Participants then completed a happiness and relaxation scale, which assessed how they expected to feel if they achieved their goal, and a desire mood scale asking how much overall state desire they felt at the current moment. A significant interaction between goal compassion and goal disengagement was found for happiness, but not relaxation. Goal compassion affected the degree to which goal disengagement predicted happiness expectations; a positive relationship of goal compassion with expected happiness was found in the goal disengagement condition, and this correlation was found to be significantly more positive than those for the other two conditions. The search for a happier self and personality differences, specifically the difference in the level of self- and other-interest between participants with selfish and compassionate goals, were cited as possible mechanisms to explain this result. These findings suggest that goal compassion can modify the effects of goal disengagement. For full data, code, and thesis, visit https://osf.io/hn5p6/
EFFICIENCY OF THE MIAMI SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET
No full textThis paper examines the informational efficiency of the market for single-family houses in the Miami Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Tentative evidence shows that the Miami MSA does not have an informationally efficient housing market obtained by performing unit-root testing on the S&P/Case-Shiller FL-Miami Home Price Index. More specifically, the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test and the Phillips-Perron test are conducted to evaluate the random walk hypothesis. Further, it appears that there exists a structural break in the time series during the Great Recession of 2008. A post-recession study is separately conducted to evaluate the recovery process of the Miami MSA real estate market. Finally, the data is detrended and tested for the presence of a unit root. This thesis concludes with a discussion on its limitations, and provides a direction for future research that can be done to analyze informational efficiency in the Miami MSA housing market