7424 research outputs found
Sort by
Land of the Blues
Get PDFIn this reflection essay and subsequent documentation, the creation of my thesis film will be detailed from inception through completion. I will discuss my educational and filmmaking experiences at the University of New Orleans with an emphasis on documentary filmmaking. Production forms will provide an understanding of the work which has gone into this production
SLICE
Get PDFThroughout this submission, I will discuss the overall process of creating my short thesis film, Slice. An overall summary of my production approach and a detailed account of the specifics of how each production element occurred will also be provided along with production documents and visuals from the set. I will also discuss my education and experiences from my time at the University of New Orleans
Early-Life Acetaminophen Exposure Alters Sex-Specific Social and Mate Preference Behaviors in Adolescent and Adult Rats
Get PDFEpidemiological studies reported associations between early-life exposure Acetaminophen (APAP) exposure and increased risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Rodent studies parallel epidemiological reports, with APAP-exposed animals showing more abnormal social and increased repetitive behaviors. However, mechanisms underlying sex-specific behavioral responses to APAP remain unclear. Here, a rat model was developed to examine possible interactions between APAP and early-life hormonal milieus during the neonatal period of brain sexual differentiation. Subcutaneous (s.c.) injections of either 17�-Estradiol (E2; masculinized) or Letrozole (LTZ; feminized) were administered from Postnatal Days (PD) 1-11 followed by either APAP or saline 45 min after the first injection on PD 5, 8, and 11. Behavioral assays of play, social conditioned place preference, mate preference, and motor/anxiety behaviors were assessed. Results revealed interactions between sex, APAP, and E2 (and LTZ) on all behavioral outcomes. These results indicate that APAP may produce sex-specific behavioral responses by interacting with early-life hormonal milieus
Doing More With Less: Racial Diversity in Nonprofit Leadership and Organizational Resilience
Get PDFRacial diversity in nonprofit leadership presents a variety of benefits crucial for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, leadership remains predominately white. Practitioner-oriented studies decry racial disparities in nonprofit funding, but academic literature offers mixed conclusions on how diversity influences resource acquisition. This article examines associations between racial composition of nonprofit leadership and organizational resilience to the pandemic, based on a survey of New Orleans-based nonprofits in winter 2021. Logistic regressions assess whether leadership diversity increases the likelihood of organizational resilience in both service delivery and financial health, finding that greater board diversity is associated with targeted programming and advocacy to support racially diverse communities, and expanded service delivery. However, greater Black board representation is associated with lack of reserves, threatening financial sustainability. The analysis uncovers disparate effects of racial diversity on resilience for service delivery versus finances, suggesting diverse nonprofits are “doing more with less” in response to the pandemic
\u27The Street Scene Prologue\u27: Holocaust Survivors, the American Nazi Party, and Exodus
Get PDFDuring the early 1960s when the American Civil Rights movement was beginning to gain momentum, another movement across the world was taking place to solidify the newly formed country of Israel as a sovereign state. To commemorate the foundation of Israel, American director Otto Preminger created the film Exodus, adapted from a book of the same name by Leon Uris. George Lincoln Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi Party, decided to take action by traveling throughout the country with his closest members to protest the film. Rockwell and his group of Nazis were outraged by the pro-Zionist depictions and the use of previously blacklisted screenwriters of Hollywood that were accused of being communist. This thesis will discuss the struggles of interpreting the First Amendment to the US Constitution, the conflict among American Jews on how to handle the rise of Nazism in America, and how the counter-protests gave a sense of validation to Holocaust survivors who faced their deepest fears. This thesis will also cover recent affairs and their relationship with the events that occurred in the early 1960s
Crimp
Get PDFThroughout this submission, I look into the stigma of not dealing with mental health amongst black men and the surreal consequences of not actively maintaining it as a rock climber prepares for a climb that triggered a panic attack in him
Internal Communication within an Institution of Higher Education During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Case Study
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to understand the role internal communication played in shaping perceptions among stakeholders during a major crisis event happening on a university campus. The main question that this study sought to answer was: how did formal and informal communication during the COVID-19 pandemic affect the perception and adoption of changes related to the pandemic? This case study utilized interviews and document analysis to understand both the change process and its accompanying communication. Workplace Social Network Exchange was the guiding theoretical framework utilized to fully understand the professional lives of participants. Four major themes were identified in this study; these themes highlight the perception of preparedness for the crisis, the rigid structure for communication, the disconnection associated with technology while working remotely, and the organizational saga around communication. The implications of this study provide actionable considerations for future crisis events. Practitioners in higher education should consider updating their crisis plans to reflect the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans should include protocols for conducting regular drills to assess the campus’s readiness for moving to remote operations. Additionally, planning activities should include considerations for fostering informal communication during remote operations to lessen feelings of disconnection among faculty and staff. This study contributes to literature focused on crisis management, communication, and organizational theory in higher education. As one of the few studies on internal communication within higher education during a crisis event, this study begins to build a foundation for future research
Characterization of sch9D Suppressor Mutations and the Role of Sch9 in Nitrogen Catabolite Repression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Get PDFThe budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a pioneering model organism for studies on the regulation of eukaryotic metabolism. Yeast cells can import and metabolize a variety of carbon and nitrogen compounds and possess complex and overlapping regulatory networks to coordinate responses to nutrient availability. Metabolic control is exerted at transcriptional and translational levels through large-scale changes in gene expression and through allosteric regulation of enzymes in key pathways. These pathways are regulated upstream by nutrient sensing kinases, which play important roles in growth control and development. The focus of this dissertation is on the characterization of the functions of a major nutrient sensing kinase, Sch9.
Deletion of SCH9 causes the rapid accumulation of spontaneous suppressor mutations, which skew observations of sch9D phenotypes. I isolated recessive sch9D suppressor mutants in two commonly used laboratory strain backgrounds and show that all carried mutations in either IRA1 or IRA2. Suppressor mutations in ira1 and ira2 reverse several phenotypes in sch9D strains, including the induction of HAP4 expression and the inability to grow on non-fermentable carbon sources. Mutations in genes that lead to activation of the Protein Kinase A (PKA) pathway also suppress sch9D mutant phenotypes.
RNA-sequencing analysis of wild type versus sch9D mutant strains suggests that Sch9 has a role in regulating the expression of genes in mitochondrial biogenesis, nitrogen catabolite repression (NCR), phosphate metabolism, and purine biosynthesis as well as the expression of ribosomal protein-encoding genes, tRNAs, and small nuclear RNAs. Using genetic and molecular techniques, I was able to experimentally validate a role for Sch9 in regulating NCR-responsive gene expression.
To further investigate the connection between Sch9 and the NCR pathway, I investigated a potential interaction with the transcriptional activator, GLN3. Deletion of GLN3 leads to glutamine starvation and, consequently, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) loss. gln3D mutant strains also exhibit adenine-induced cell lethality, which can be suppressed by loss of mitochondrial DNA and deletion of SCH9. I propose that decreased flux through the purine nucleotide biosynthesis pathway, either due to an sch9D mutation or loss of mtDNA, reduces glutamine consumption and prevents adenine toxicity in gln3D mutants
Denoising and Deconvolving Sperm Whale Data in the Northern Gulf of Mexico using Fourier and Wavelet Techniques
Get PDFThe use of underwater acoustics can be an important component in obtaining information from the oceans of the world. It is desirable (but difficult) to compile an acoustic catalog of sounds emitted by various underwater objects to complement optical catalogs. For example, the current visual catalog for whale tail flukes of large marine mammals (whales) can identify even individual whales from their individual fluke characteristics. However, since sperm whales, Physeter microcephalus, do not fluke up when they dive, they cannot be identified in this manner. A corresponding acoustic catalog for sperm whale clicks could be compiled to identify individual sperm whales. A first step for recorded underwater acoustic data is usually noise removal. In this paper we will be using both Fourier and wavelet methods to remove undesirable noise in our attempt to identify unique sperm whale signals.
The Fourier wavelet based regularized deconvolution (ForWaRD) algorithm is a combination of Fourier deconvolution and wavelet denoising. This computational algorithm uses wavelet thresholding; Weiner Fourier deconvolution; and wavelet decomposition with two different wavelet choices. The methods used in the ForWaRD algorithm have been modified and/or changed in our research to better achieve the goal of identifying individual sperm whales for an acoustic catalog.
The research described here modifies the ForWaRD algorithm to be used with recently acquired broadband underwater acoustic data from sperm whales (primarily females and calves) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Several additional modifications were needed for the algorithm to yield the best results. Applying wavelet denoising and Fourier deconvolution allows smoothing of the data and separating the signal from the impulse response. Results indicate that the modification of using other methods of Fourier deconvolution improves the percent error in data reconstruction with our underwater acoustic data. Other modifications were made to the type of wavelet thresholding, the wavelet choice improves the quality of the results. The exact modifications to the ForWaRD algorithm and the results will be outlined and described. It will be shown how our proposed modifications produce superior results by comparing methods and producing a percent error for each