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Expression of Keratin 19 in Relation to CDK Inhibiting Treatment of Breast Cancer
No full textA presentation that was delivered in the Fifth University Research Day at the Catholic University of America in 2020.This research was collaborated with Pooja Sharm
AN IN VITRO MODEL FOR IMPLANT-RELATED INFECTIONS
No full textResearch indicates that the production of the nuclease enzyme in S. aureus cells has a positive effect on rates of biofilm dispersal in vitro. In this document, we transform that experimental design in a clinically relevant direction, utilizing silicone surfaces and human blood plasma for growth and dispersal medium. Expanding upon the design, research was done in the contexts of both dispersal and enzyme-mediated detachment. Several novel assays were developed, including a rod-based assay, a lumen assay, and a “slice” assay. Our results indicate that nuclease is not involved in the dispersal of the S. aureus biofilm in vivo, as we uncovered no significant change in dispersal rates for nuclease producers and non-producers. Though the hypothesis yielded a negative result, our research did manage to characterize different elements of biofilm composure through enzymatic detachment experimentation.BiologyMicrobiologyBiofilm, Detachment, Dispersal, Mutants, Staphylococcus aureusBiologyDegree Awarded: M.S. Biology. American Universit
At the Center of the Globe: Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's Fontaine des Quatre-Parties-du-Monde, 1867-74
No full textCommissioned in 1867 and installed in 1874, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s (1827-1875) Les Quatre parties du monde soutenant la sphère céleste (The Four Parts of the World Supporting the Celestial Sphere), also referred to as the Fontaine des Quatre-Parties-du-Monde (Fountain of the Four Parts of the World), is a public sculpture that adorns a fountain at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. The monument sits on the axis between the Luxembourg Palace and the Paris Observatory and depicts four nude female figures who support a celestial sphere, and who represent the four continents–Europe, America, Africa, and Asia–through their distinct physiognomic features. This thesis interrogates the work’s racial iconography and spatial relationship to sites that embodied French political and scientific authority during the Second French Empire. Reading the monument’s iconography in relation to its placement in the charged space of Haussmannized Paris, I suggest that Napoléon III intended Carpeaux’s work to affirm his right to govern and his need to unite a divided French nation. The Fontaine embodied the contradictions of Napoléon III’s political messaging, as his regime outwardly championed progressive ideals, while it built and sustained itself on imperial and racial conservatism and French racial and political superiority.Art historyColonialism, Haussmannization, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Napoléon III, Paris Meridian, Paris ObservatoryArtDegree Awarded: M.A. Art. American Universit
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Extended [O III] λ5007 Emission in Nearby QSO2S: Physical Properties of the Outflows
No full textA presentation that was delivered in the Fifth University Research Day at the Catholic University of America in 2020.This research was collaborated with Travis Fischer, Mitchell Revalski, Space Telescope Science Institute; Michael Crenshaw, Georgia State University; Henrique Schmitt, Naval Research Laboratory
Construction and Mechanism of High-Density Nucleic Acid Storage Device
No full textA presentation that was delivered in the Fifth University Research Day at the Catholic University of America in 2020
The Stone Statute
No full textThe Stone Statute is an original novel set in a world where contracts are physically binding. We join Rue, a member of the disenfranchised lower class, as he is about to attempt the Lititurgical Exam. This society is ostensibly meritocratic, and anyone who does well on this exam has a right to study in the capital and become a lititurge – a crafter of contracts. As Rue comes to realize, however, success on this exam is functionally impossible for him. Structural barriers keep necessary resources out of the hands of him and anyone like him, making the exam little more than a false promise meant to pacify the populace with an illusion of social advancement. With his hopes for the future shattered, Rue makes a pact with a demonic figure called a grimgrin for the knowledge that he needs to pass the exam. In doing so, he breaks the Stone Statute – the central contract that binds everyone in this society together – and becomes a grimgrin himself. After passing the exam, he goes to the capital and tries to hide his deception as well as survive in this environment that absolutely does not want him, or anyone like him, to be there.Creative writingFantasy, Fiction, Novel, SpeculativeLiteratureDegree Awarded: M.F.A. Literature. American Universit
Sign on a lamp post
No full textSign on a lamp post at 15th and A Streets SE that reads, '(Socially Distanced) Moving Sale; 121 16th St. SE; Saturday, May 23, 2020 at 9am; Furniture, Household Goods, Recording equip and more; Wear a mask!; What isn't sold by 3pm goes out back with the trash; items include: Ikea bookshelf, solid: 25; Arm chair: 10; Kitchen shelf unit and rack w/ cutting board top, super useful...; kitchen shelf unit, older: 1000; Digitech X-series wah wah pedal: 75; Tripod mic stand: 5; Many other items such as: frames, framed poster, jewelry.
People wearing masks at the Farm at Kelly Miller
No full textPeople wearing masks at the Farm at Kelly Miller Middle School, a community urban farm operated by the Dreaming Out Loud, Inc. in partnership with the Department of Parks and Recreation, and community partners. The people in this photograph are involved with the local nonprofit organizations City Blossoms and Dreaming Out Loud
A Moral Nudge? The Role of Religious Advocacy in US Foreign Policy Decision Making
No full textThe global resurgence of religion suggests that religious actors may increasingly be relevant to the decisions states make as they navigate their relations with other states, nonstate actors, and international organizations. This dissertation adds to our understanding of religious actors by answering the question: Is religious advocacy effective at changing US foreign policy, and, if so, under what conditions? The Kingdon three streams model was used to examine three cases in which religious actors advocated for US foreign policy change. Policy change did occur in two cases (the 1996-1997 North Korean famine and the Vatican’s involvement in the US-Cuba 2014 normalization of relations) and did not occur in a third (the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center and the elimination of torture and indefinite detention). The findings showed that religious actors did effect policy change in the North Korean famine and US-Cuba cases, could not effect change to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, and were not a factor in outlawing torture. Within-case and cross-case comparisons revealed three conditions that affected the potential success of religious advocacy. The first condition, appealing to an individual with the authority and opportunity to act, was necessary for religious advocacy to be successful. The likelihood of success increased if the religious actors were able to personally engage the decision makers either through interpersonal or values-based connections. Targeting broad entities such as Congress or the public appeared to be much less effective. A second condition necessary for success was agreement on what constituted moral action. Competing definitions of what was moral decreased the effectiveness of religious actors’ moral arguments. The third condition for success was a lack of competition between moral and national security arguments. When pitted against potentially significant national security concerns, the moral argument lost. Chances of failure increased the greater the disagreement about what constituted moral action and the more significant a national security threat was perceived to be. These findings extend our knowledge beyond whether religion matters to how religious actors and their moral arguments may potentially influence US foreign policy decision making.International relationsReligionPolitical scienceForeign Policy, International Relations, National Security, Religion, Religious Advocacy, US Foreign PolicySchool of International ServiceDegree Awarded: Ph.D. School of International Service. American Universit
Close-up of a person in a sequined mask
No full textA person sits seat-belted in a car wearing a mask adorned with silver sequins. The photograph is a close-up shot and the person is looking directly at the camera