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Structural Sensorimotor Adaptations in Young Adults with Low Back Pain
Get PDFChronic low back pain (CLBP) is the largest cause of disability worldwide. There is evidence for regional structural brain adaptation in CLBP. Most studies have investigated middle-aged adults and show decreased grey matter density in pain processing regions. It is not clear if these adaptations are evident early in the lifespan of individuals with CLBP. The purpose of the study was to compare sensorimotor gray matter density in young adults with a history of CLBP with back-healthy controls. 53 young adults with a greater than 1-year history of CLBP and 29 young adults with no history of LBP participated. Clinical characteristics of the LBP group were quantified with measures of pain duration and intensity as well as pain-related fear and disability. Gray matter density was quantified with voxel-based morphometry. Whole brain and sensorimotor region of interest (ROI) comparisons between groups were made after covarying for age, sex, and total intracranial volume. ROIs were determined a priori. Associations between clinical characteristics and average gray matter density in sensorimotor ROI comparisons were explored with Pearson\u27s correlation coefficients. Individuals with CLBP reported an average duration of pain of 4.9 (+/- 2.2 years) and average pain intensity of 5.0/10. The LBP group had greater gray matter in the right primary somatosensory cortex, right inferior parietal lobule, and right midcingulate cortex (all p \u3c 0.05 FWE corrected). There were significant positive associations between average gray matter and clinical characteristics in the anterior, mid, and posterior cingulate cortices, the supramarginal gyrus, superior parietal lobule and supplementary motor area (all p \u3c 0.05). We demonstrate that in young adults, CLBP is associated with structural neuroplasticity in regions involved in sensory processing, motor control, and the sensory and emotional aspects of pain experience. Increased grey matter density early in the lifespan of individuals with CLBP may reflect an adaptation to ongoing nociceptive input
The Contemporary Causes of Americans\u27 Fear of Illegal Immigration
Get PDFAnnually, the U.S. aspires to extend its liberality by opening its border to more than ten thousand refugees. In this paper, I examine how political party identification, census region, and internet usage influence U.S. adults\u27 fear of illegal immigration. Relying on the 2023 Chapman Survey of American Fears, a representative national sample of U.S. adults, I find that political party has remained a consistent predictor for an American’s fear of illegal immigration, with people who align themselves with the Republican Party in 2022 being more afraid of illegal immigration compared to other political parties, such as the Democrat Party. In addition, contrary to previous research findings, Xenophobia no longer significantly drives American fears of illegal immigration. Instead, the level of incorporation of immigration has become a leading determinant for Americans’ fear of immigration, with the West having the highest incorporation of immigration being the least afraid of illegal immigration, and other regions, such as the North-East, being more afraid of illegal immigration. In addition, Americans’ exposure to the news and internet sources also significantly impacts their fear of illegal immigrants, specifically with individuals who are less likely to use the internet being more afraid of illegal immigration. The exposure to immigration and immigrants, albeit in-person or online, can draw significant differences in American’s fear of illegal immigration. Differences in culture, ethnicity, and norms can drive fear and discrimination against immigration; however, increased exposure and distribution of knowledge can effectively mend American fears and promote harmonious co-existence
Echoes of Pazuzu: The Influence of a Mesopotamian Demon in World Music
Get PDFThis project delves into the intersection of Mesopotamian mythology and world music through the lens of Pazuzu, a prominent demon from ancient Mesopotamia. Pazuzu\u27s presence and malevolent attributes in Mesopotamian lore have sparked curiosity and fascination, transcending ancient civilizations to influence contemporary cultural expressions, including music. This research explores how Pazuzu\u27s imagery, symbolism, and mythology have influenced various world music genres, ranging from metal to modern electronic compositions. This study will examine how Pazuzu\u27s character is portrayed and interpreted within diverse musical traditions worldwide by analyzing musical compositions, lyrical themes, and cultural contexts. Through a comparative approach, it examines how Pazuzu\u27s archetype resonates differently across cultures, reflecting varying perceptions of evil, chaos, and spiritual forces.
Moreover, the study investigates the role of Pazuzu in shaping musical narratives and evoking emotional responses within listeners. Drawing upon methodologies, including ethnomusicology, cultural studies, and mythology, this research offers insights into the enduring significance of Pazuzu within the global musical landscape. It highlights how ancient mythological figures inspire creativity and imagination among contemporary artists—fostering a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation. Ultimately, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the cultural resonance of Pazuzu and its impact on world music
Experiences of Latine LGBTQ+ High School Students in California
No full textThroughout history, Latine LGBTQ+ students have experienced discrimination, bullying, a lack of safety, and a lack of support in United States schools. In the unique political and social climate of California, the Latine LGBTQ+ student population have encountered a variety of supports (e.g., FAIR Act), successes (e.g., increased graduation rates), and challenges (e.g., Proposition 227, tracking) to their existence in schools. The limited prior research on Latine LGBTQ+ students has demonstrated that Latine LGBTQ+ students in positive school climates earn higher grades, attend school regularly, experience positive mental health outcomes, and feel a sense of connectedness to their schools. However, when Latine LGBTQ+ students have not had a positive school environment and have faced school victimization, they have earned lower grades, missed school more, reported depressive symptoms, and felt unsafe. In order to broaden understanding of the Latine LGBTQ+ high school student population in California, the current study utilized a QuantCrit theoretical lens and secondary quantitative analysis of the 2021-2022 California Healthy Kids Survey dataset. Through descriptive statistics, the study described the overall Latine LGBTQ+ sample and six subpopulations in terms of school supports/engagement, mental health outcomes, academic outcomes, and school victimization. Latine nonbinary and Latine transgender students reported meaningful differences from the overall Latine LGBTQ+ sample, such that they experienced lower school supports/engagement, negative mental health issues, negative academic outcomes, and higher school victimization. Through seven logistic regression models, school connectedness, violence victimization, and harassment based on gender were found to be the strongest predictors for various academic outcomes and mental health outcomes among Latine LGBTQ+ students. While few findings were counterintuitive, most reaffirmed and added to the current understanding of Latine LGBTQ+ students, providing implications for school supports/engagement, mental health outcomes, academic outcomes, and school victimization
Ground-Breaking Stories in Contemporary Cinema: in a Market Full of Remakes, What Form Does Cinematic Originality Take Today?
Get PDFThis work aims to analyze the evolution of both international and American cinema as an art form, specifically in relation to the abstract concept of originality, to determine what possible future trends in cinema may look like and the potential for the manifestation of “new waves” in cinema. Emerging during the Industrial Revolution, cinema has evolved as an entertainment medium from brief moving pictures presented as novelties to lengthy feature films. With its evolution arose trends in visual storytelling, including experimental, narrative, and remakes, whose own categories comprise the retelling of old stories, remakes of films in other languages, and adaptations of animated films into live-action films. In recent years, non-original films have increasingly dominated the box offices, incentivizing filmmakers and production companies to turn to IP rather than gambling big budgets on never-before-seen storylines and characters. Using statistics on the economic success of different international and Hollywood film trends and combining them with analyses of the emergence of “new waves” in cinema, this work intends to hypothesize future breakthroughs in original cinematic stories and the socioeconomic capacities that may allow them to appear. This paper aims to motivate future studies on unfolding box-office trends and the role of originality in those trends
The New Westward Expansion: Settler Colonialism and Gentrification in Paula Fox’s \u3cem\u3eDesperate Characters\u3c/em\u3e and Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s \u3cem\u3eSabrina and Corina\u3c/em\u3e
Get PDFThis thesis explores two underexplored works of gentrification literature—Paula Fox’s novel, Desperate Characters (1970) and Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s short story collection, Sabrina & Corina (2019). Desperate Characters offers a nuanced and critical examination of characters with privilege who move into Brooklyn in the 1960s, which involves the displacement of Black and Latinx communities; Fajardo-Anstine’s collection introduces Denver as a site of dramatic gentrification in the new century, by portraying Latinx characters from older neighborhoods who must adjust to the disintegration and cohesiveness of their communities in the face of gentrification. In my discussion of these works, I draw from pre-existing scholarship as necessary to discuss how the writers use language which reframes gentrification within displacements involved in a longer history of settler colonialism in the U.S. In Fox’s novel, newly-arrived gentrifiers, the Bentwoods, engage in a new iteration of conquest in the urban frontier, often frustrated by realities which undermine their aestheticized ideal. The novel maintains an uneasy tone about those who are causing displacement of others throughout, while Fox’s language likens the endeavor to imperialist expansion of European powers. The history of Indigenous displacement is made more directly visible in Fajardo-Anstine’s narratives, which include characters who are descendants of people first shaped by the Spanish colonial expansion in North America, prior to nineteenth-century U.S. cultivation of the American West. The themes of frontier and westward expansion manifest in new ways, so that the displacement of underprivileged communities can also be seen as a form of modern-day settler colonialism. By highlighting these works, this thesis situates gentrification within a longer history of colonization, and centers the conflict of gentrification presented through opposing perspectives
Interior Chinatown: Chinatown as a Performative Space
No full textThis thesis focuses on Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown: A Novel (2020), exploring the function of Chinatown in Los Angeles within the novel as a space of creation, that of “Asia” for Hollywood and home for Taiwanese immigrants. I argue that Interior Chinatown offers a unique look at the perception or notion of Chinatown, paying attention to the way Hollywood has shaped it and used it to create a sense of China and “Asia” in the cultural imagination. Through satire and the blurring of the reel and the real, Yu is able to criticize the inner workings of Hollywood’s relationship with the neighborhood and its residents. The novel directs the readers’ gaze to the realities of Chinatown: how Hollywood exploits it for profit while perpetuating the community’s poverty, how the exoticization of Chinatown and its residents impacts the community, and how tourism money leads Chinatown to lean into the cultural dynamic. At the same time, the experimental novel’s focus on Taiwanese identity shows readers the multiplicity of Chinatown as a space of culture creation and preservation. Reading Interior Chinatown through the lens of Taiwan’s semiperipheral status–- as a nation on the brink of urbanization and as a nation whose statehood is uncertain–- ultimately deepens the readers’ understanding of the importance of home building in the United States as well as the thread of nostalgia through which the novel finds cohesion
“Pro-Woman, Pro-Life”: Framing of the Anti-Abortion Movement
Get PDFThis project on the “Pro-Woman, Pro-Life framing of the Anti-Abortion Movement uses James Paul Gee\u27s theoretical lens on discourse analysis. My research corpus is comprised of historical, legislative, news, editorial, and film data. This project focuses on when the term Pro-Woman first appeared in the anti-abortion discourse and how it has been used to reinforce the Pro-Life stance. I argue that the phrase -- Pro-Woman -- is a discoursal strategy to appeal to women who are ideologically aligned with the Pro-Choice movement. According to the Pro-Woman, Pro-Life framework, no feminist would want to support a practice, such as abortion, that could physically or mentally harm women; therefore, Pro-Choice feminists and feminists in between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice are then left with the ethical dilemma of allowing other women to access a potentially dangerous, even fatal, procedure. Gee\u27s theoretical framework insists that language is used to build in distinct ways, such as making things significant or assuming a particular identity. These methods of analysis, alongside a selection of grammatical tools, help me analyze the use of Pro-Woman and argue how it builds and contributes to the Pro-Life discourse. My project aims to investigate how the charged term Pro-Woman has been extrapolated to the Anti-Abortion Movement and argue the guilt-driven draw it has on all feminists
Optimization of Pre-Enrichment and Screening Methods for the Detection of \u3cem\u3eSalmonella enterica\u3c/em\u3e in Meat Analog Products
No full textWith the growing demand and variety of meat analogs on the commercial market, there is a need to revisit the methodology for the detection of foodborne pathogens in these products. The current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory methods for Salmonella enterica detection in meat analogs follow the Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) and are time-consuming and costly, requiring pre-enrichment using lactose broth (LB) with a surfactant (e.g., Triton X-100). Therefore, this study aimed to optimize pre-enrichment and screening methods for the detection of Salmonella in meat analogs by comparing the current FDA reference methods to updated techniques. To achieve this, meat analog samples were inoculated with Salmonella at three levels according to FDA validation guidelines: (1) fractional inoculated level (50% ± 25% of tests positive in at least one method), (2) +1 log inoculated level (100% positive results in at least one method), and (3) uninoculated control. The FDA reference method using LB with Triton X-100 (LB-T) for pre-enrichment followed by culture confirmation was compared to alternative pre-enrichment methods using LB or buffered peptone water (BPW). Additionally, the current screening method (VIDAS) was compared to rapid screening methods (LAMP and qPCR). Pre-enrichment with LB, LB-T, and BPW showed similar detection rates for culture-based confirmation, ranging from 76% (38/50) for LB-T to 86% (43/50) for BPW. Similarly, all three screening methods exhibited similar detection rates, ranging from 75% (115/150) for VIDAS to 81% (121/150) for LAMP. These results suggest that surfactants are unnecessary for the detection of Salmonella in the meat analog products tested in this study and vii that LAMP and qPCR are effective screening alternatives to VIDAS. The adoption of the modified, more efficient methods tested in this study will reduce the time and cost associated with Salmonella detection in meat analogs