5094 research outputs found
Sort by
Developing Techniques to Observe The Effects of Bisphenol AF on Guppy Embryo Development
Get PDFBPAF is a chemical compound that has been used to produce plastic since BPA has been more strictly regulated. The purpose of this research is to develop the techniques for examining the effects of BPAF in guppies (Poecilia reticulata). The techniques developed include isolating DNA and RNA and determining the sex of guppies in their embryonic phase
Assessing the effect of beach substrate color, size, and sex on the carapace color of common shore crabs (Hemigrapsus oregonensis) in the Puget Sound
Get PDFThe shore crab Hemigrapsus oregonensis is highly variable in the coloration of its carapace, with morphologies ranging from dark brown to yellow-green, reddish, and white. This polymorphism may serve as an asset against predation if there exists selective pressure on the crabs to select substrates based on their phenotype. We sampled crabs from multiple sites along the Puget Sound, using image analysis to quantify the “whiteness” of the carapace and the substrate. The size and sex of the crabs was also recorded. Though there was not a significant relationship between carapace whiteness and substrate whiteness (possibly due to lack of significant difference between sites), female crabs were found to be significantly smaller and whiter than male crabs; furthermore, the total number of white crabs of either sex significantly declined as body size increased. These results suggest that white crabs, and especially male white crabs, experience differential mortality as their size increases. The sex difference in whiteness could be attributed to behavioral differences between males and females that lead to higher male mortality in white crabs
Mt. Olympus, Gotham City, and Metropolis: The Power of Heroism in Shaping Cultures and Futures
Get PDFStories reflect the cultures they arise from and their heroes help direct the mindset of future generations. From ancient Greece to modern America, the human creativity behind these worlds has allowed us to promote new beliefs and virtues through the adventures of our heroes. “Mt. Olympus, Gotham City, and Metropolis” explores how mythological heroism has changed over time and now conflicts with itself as religious and secular story-tellers alike wrestle with the teleological foundation within heroism.
In America for instance, Batman and Superman are the pillars of our modern pantheon, and their recent movie Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice seeks to reconcile the ideologies of Nietzsche and Christianity that are increasingly present in society today. How should a hero handle nihilism, autonomy, and despair? Both Batman and Superman would answer differently in their imaginary worlds, but this thesis will conclude that the simple act of raising this debate in film challenges us to consider the value of hope and belief in our culture today. Heroes are the role models of the future, and how we understand them will determine where we go from here. The dialogue to promoting a better world begins with them
Spotlight Session Review: The Science of Implicit Bias
Get PDFThe following passages are student reviews and experiences of select Spotlight Sessions during the 2018 Race & Pedagogy National Conference (RPNC). Students from the African American Studies 399 Public Scholarship course attended various spotlight sessions and were given the assignment to write a review of their chosen session. This is one of those reviews
Educational Narrative: Grace Eberhardt
Get PDFAs a part of the University of Puget Sound\u27s African American Studies Public Scholarship course, students were required to review their educational experiences from pre-k to the present. The goal of this assignment was for them to assess the ways in which they were treated based on their marginalizations or their privileges. Students provided three terms for what their narrative would share — the terms were not to be included in their narrative. After reading their narratives aloud, a class discussion connected their terms to the associated experiences. There are a total of four narratives in this issue, three are also accompanied with a voice recording by the author. The following is one such narrative
Socioeconomic Status\u27s Impact on the Experience of Loneliness
Get PDFLoneliness is a feeling that is nearly universal, yet some people are more vulnerable to prolonged exposures of the experience of loneliness. Due to the subjective nature of loneliness, there is minimal literature on loneliness without the variable of social isolation (Hawkley et al. 2008, Ryan et al. 2008, Kearns et al. 2015, Lee and Ishii-Kuntz 1987) or social capital (Benner and Wang 2014, Andersson 1998, Ryan et al. 2008, Kearns et al. 2015) involved. There are numerous variables that impact loneliness. One must consider age — there has been solid gerontology research that reveals that elderly people are less mobile and therefore experience higher levels of loneliness (Lee and Ishii-Kuntz 1987, Hawkley et al. 2008) , — race, gender, social capital, employment, etc. while studying loneliness. Within this broad field, I focused on socioeconomic status as an independent variable. There is virtually no research depicting how socioeconomic status impacts the experience of loneliness in academic literature. There is research that ties socioeconomic status to social capital (Hawkley et al. 2008,) and thereon social capital impacting the experience of loneliness (Lee and Ishii-Kuntz 1987). One limitation of this research is that all the research took place in the Western world, loneliness may manifest differently across the world and have different impacts. As Andersson (1998) said: the “condition we are studying is so disturbing that we surely have some responsibility to do what we can to be helpful to those who experience it (264),” loneliness has detrimental health effects. By studying the mechanisms behind loneliness and determining who is vulnerable, more interventions can be determined and put in place to fight inequality and inequity as a cause of loneliness, and to mitigate the health consequences of loneliness.
One of the largest limitations to this study was a small sample size. With only 15 people interviewed and all people being from the same location, the sample size was not enough to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanismsthat cause loneliness nor completely understand nor observethe patterns of who is the most vulnerable to loneliness. Another limitation in this study was that, in order to understand the difference between why people of middle socioeconomic status have a larger support network than people of lower socioeconomic status yet experience higher degrees of loneliness, was that I did not ask about the frequencies of interactions within the interviews.
There is a disconnect between the empirical data and the perception of who is lonely, in my research I could not find a reason why this is and literature doesn’t address why this is. Given these findings, future research should address the question of why that disconnect exists, frequencies of interactions, and the deeper meaning behind why people of higher socioeconomic status have a lower support network yet also lower amounts of loneliness. Given these limitations, future research should conduct a wider-ranging study and interview people from a variety of places across the United States.
Access to health, healthcare, and ways of life that are considered to promote well-being are often dictated by one’s socioeconomic status. Having lower socioeconomic status can cause serious health issues based on environmental justice issues, transportation fumes, or not being able to rest one’s body because the survival of one’s family depends on attending work. This drastic inequality to accessing what should be a basic right – health – is in play because of the way society functions in the United States. One reason that this happens in the United States is because of the individualistic mindset that encapsulates and runs nearly everything including the healthcare industry. The United States lacks interdependence and collective care and survival, which further isolates people from access to health based on their socioeconomic status. This individualistic mindset that is so valued in the United States creates isolation and inability of being there for each other. Both researchers and pop journals have claimed the Western world is experiencing a loneliness epidemic (Agnew 1980, Andersson 1998, Cacioppo et al. 2009, Hawkley 2008, Lee and Ishii-Kuntz 1988, Ryan et al. 2008).
With the continued emphasis on individuality, loneliness is causing health problems. Due to physical isolation and a widespread unwillingness to help others, many people’s health problems deteriorate due to loneliness as well as many health problems are caused by extensive exposure to loneliness. Humans are a social species, which was originally a survival mechanism(Cacioppo et al. 2009). The feeling of loneliness was meant to force community and collective care for survival, and cause feelings of physical pain, sadness, and discomfort when pulling away from their community (Cacioppo et al. 2009). In a time where physical survival is not dependent on community in the same fashion, loneliness has become widespread and perplexing (Hawkley et al. 2008). Due to the subjective nature of it, loneliness is nearly impossible to define in a way that is unanimous. The purpose of this study was to bring together a collective definition of loneliness based off of 15 individual’s definitions in an attempt to continue to pursue an understanding of what loneliness is. The main objective of the study is how socioeconomic status impacts the experience of loneliness. The study looks at both the health inequalities that socioeconomic status forces upon people while seeking to uncover who is most vulnerable to the experience of loneliness. Determining who is most vulnerable to loneliness will allow for future systems to be set in place to aid with interdependence and collective care and survival
Who Owns World Heritage? The Effects of Western Based Cultural Heritage Management on the Local Populations of Angkor Wat Archaeological Park
Get PDFThe region of Angkor, Cambodia has historically been in a constant state of adjustment. From the early Angkorian Civilization, to the French colonization of 1863 to 1953; and from the Khmer Rouge era to the popular tourist destination it is today, the Angkor region has always been in flux. In 1992, Angkor Wat Archaeological Park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in response to the critical condition of the historical monuments. This declaration has caused a rapid increase in tourism, tourist accommodations, and massive implementations of Western-based cultural heritage management programs. This increase has resulted in the displacement of locals, environmental issues, and cultural heritage management plans that have ignored the voices of the local population. This thesis investigates the question: to what extent and in what ways have the consequential power structures produced by Western-centric cultural heritage management practices, and the responding tourism industry, of Angkor Wat Archaeological Park, affected the livelihoods of the local people in Angkor and Siem Reap, Cambodia? Through sociological and anthropological analysis, this thesis is analyzing what tools and methods of both historical and contemporary practices of heritage management have been effective and beneficial to local people, and which have only furthered inequality in a genocide-recovering state. This research is more important today than ever in a changing, globalized world. With the increasing access to international tourism within wealthy countries, the Angkor region, and the problems associated with it, is a key case study in understanding the roles of tourists, international actors, and the local people in evaluating a sovereign nation’s autonomy
Motor competency and physical activity in elementary school aged children who participate in nontraditional sports
Get PDFOne after school program, Youth Ambassadors of Physical Education (YA), is designed to promote physical activity in school age children to help combat the growing levels of childhood inactivity. However, this program utilizes skills that are vastly different from the locomotor and object control skills assessed with the Test of Gross Motor Development. Purpose: The purpose of this study it to determine whether the TGMD-2 can identify the children in YA as competent in their motor skills. This study also examines if there is a link between the overall physical activity level of the children in YA and their motor competency scores. Approach: 12 participants for this study were recruited from the 2017 Youth Ambassadors Program (YA) sponsored by the Tacoma public schools. Following completion of the TGMD-2, each participant was fitted with an activity monitor for a period of five days. Results: Descriptive scores on the TGMD-2 range from below average to above average, representing scores from the 25th percentile for children of the same age and gender to the 95th percentile. No correlation was found between physical activity levels and TGMD-2 scores. All participants of YA logged activity levels significantly exceeding the CDC recommendations, both during the weekday and on the weekends Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the factors of high activity levels and proficiency in complex motor skills do not correlate with average or above average scores on the test. The TGMD-2 may not be the best tool for measuring motor proficiency in specific populations of children that practice non-traditional motor skills in their activities