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#IVFgotyou: Instagram IVF Influencers as Social (Media) Support Systems
Full text linkThis paper details the ways in which IVF and infertility influencers on Instagram use their platforms to resist the silence surrounding reproductive difficulties. The analysis draws upon a thematic analysis of posts tagged with IVF-related hashtags and a semi-structured ethnographic interview with one influencer. Through these methods, I found that influencers build intimate publics through their platforms by sharing their journeys, interacting with followers, and reciprocal support. Within the context of the intimate publics, influencers are able to connect with others who understand their experiences, allowing them to break through the silence they may feel in their offline social groups
Songs for Birds: An Exploration of Climate Change and the Changing Soundscape
No full textThis three-movement composition, written for SATB choir, soprano and baritone soloists, flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, violin, and cello, uses music to explore the expected temperature driven changes in New England bird species populations. After a 3 degree Celsius increase in average global temperatures, the geographical ranges of many bird species are expected to shift, resulting in many species becoming locally extinct in New England. In this work, much of the musical material is derived from the birdsongs of several local species, including the American Goldfinch, Baltimore Oriole, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Least Flycatcher, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, and Mourning Dove. Each of these birdsong motifs are used less and less frequently through the three movements according to how severely their geographical ranges are expected to be affected by the changes in temperature. This shift is also reflected in the overarching structure of the piece, which moves through the day-to-night cycle with the most birds active in “Dawn,” then the next for “Midday,” and the fewest for “Dusk.
Surfing the Kali Yuga: Tracking the Alt-Right on Twitter
Full text linkThe alt-right is a hyper-extreme, decentralized network of far-right pundits and their doggish supporters that exists almost entirely online. Consumed by conspiracy and identity, the myths of bigoted ideologies like racism, antisemitism, and transphobia are taken for granted, and their ideology calls for violent ends by violent means. In the physical world, members of the alt-right often keep their rhetoric to themselves; Online, however, they find solace in a vast, international network of websites and forums that together form one giant echo chamber into which they can dump their darkest thoughts. Though any individual member of the alt-right may operate uniquely within the context of their home country, together they form a collective, international voice whose strongest claims often transcend borders and resist state-level analysis. Unspeakable acts of violence like mass shootings, senseless killings, and acts of terrorism are unpredictable but become significantly more likely when the rhetorical atmosphere breeds hostility. By demonizing minority groups and spreading ideologies of hate, the alt-right makes these acts of violence more likely. On massive platforms like Twitter, the alt-right’s rhetoric can seep into mainstream conversations; their framing of concepts like race, gender, sexuality, and national identity are forced into relevance. Their rhetoric is euphemistic, but their message is clear, and their hate poses a real threat to people’s lives. This honors project explores the ideological and geographic features of the alt-right and their international implications, concluding that the alt-right is a globally interconnected group of actors whose conspiracies motivate lone-wolf terrorists worldwide
Liberty and Its Legacy An Analysis of Freedom and Liberty in American Political Rhetoric
Full text linkThe concept of freedom has always been central to the American identity, but its meaning has never been agreed on by all and has long been the subject of debate. An abridged explanation of the evolution of liberty’s meaning in political thought and American history is presented in the first chapter of this project. It demonstrates the long-standing importance of individual freedom in America and highlights some historical moments when liberty has come into conflict with other societal values. When used in American political rhetoric today, “freedom” and “liberty” typically take on a “negative” meaning that is focused mostly on individual freedom from government intervention. This is especially clear with regard to issues each party claims to “own” in the context of freedom, including abortion for the Democrats and the covid-19 pandemic response for the Republicans. To verify this partisan ownership of freedom and compare how each party uses freedom in political rhetoric, an empirical analysis was conducted of the uses of “freedom” and “liberty” in candidate tweets and campaign ads from the 2022 midterm elections. The analysis found some support for partisan ownership of freedom rhetoric surrounding these and other issues, but the most interesting finding was that Democrats and Republicans invoked “freedom” and “liberty” in their rhetoric at virtually identical rates. This shows that neither party can lay an exclusive claim to be the “party of freedom.
An Analysis of Tidal Mixing Front Dynamics and Frontal Biophysical Interaction in the Harpswell Sound Shelf Sea
Full text linkTidal Mixing Fronts (TMFs) are prominent hydrographic features of tidally energetic shallow shelf seas, representing the transition from mixed to stratified waters. These frontal boundaries often host enhanced phytoplankton primary productivity, as complete vertical mixing exhumes nutrients from depth to the light-lit surface. Existing observational programs for locating TMFs include infra-red satellite imagery of sea surface temperature (SST) and vertical profiling of temperature and density. However, challenges in observationally distinguishing mixed from mixing using only conservatively mixed hydrographic properties persist. A novel approach based on phytoplankton in-situ oxygen production response to light is proposed in this paper to distinguish stable mixed from actively mixing regimes, and thus to identify remnant versus active TMFs.
This project focuses on Harpswell Sound, a shallow (\u3c 40m) coastal reverse estuary, as a case study of TMF dynamics. Our data unambiguously reveal the cross-shelf structure of active, mixed, and stratified regimes. Competition between wind mixing and buoyancy due to solar heating and river plumes were found to be the primary drivers of the active and remnant front locations, while tidal currents were a secondary driver. Such dynamism explains both the temporally variable and spatially patchy phytoplankton blooms observed in the shallow shelf sea environment of Harpswell Sound
An unbiased glimpse into the sex-specific effects of ketamine treatment on rats who have experienced early life adversity.
No full text[Abstract restricted
Synthesis and Metalation of a Bifunctional Ligand for Hydrogen Activation
No full text[Abstract embargoed
The role of modulation on the pyloric neurons and the neuromuscular junction in a pattern generator-effector system
Full text linkNeuromodulation, the process of altering the electrical outputs of a neuron or neural circuit, allows an organism to control its physiological processes to meet the needs of both its internal and external environments. Previous work shows that the pyloric pattern of the kelp crab (Pugettia producta) stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) neurons responded to fewer neuromodulators than the Jonah crab (Cancer borealis). Since the kelp crab diet primarily eats kelp, it is possible that the movements of the foregut that control digestion may require less flexibility in functional output compared to an opportunistic feeder. To determine whether a reduced flexibility is correlated with diet, this study compared the modulatory responses in Pugettia to two other species of majoid crabs: Chionoecetes opilio and Libinia emarginata, which are both opportunistic feeders. Pooled data for this study found that Libinia and Chionoecetes responded to all twelve modulators tested.
When considering the effect of modulators on stomatogastric ganglion (STG) motor outputs, we must consider whether these modulators also alter the excitatory junction potentials (EJPs) at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), and whether there are differences in responses across species. To test this, the dorsal gastric nerve (dgn) was stimulated while recording intracellularly from the muscle fibers of the associated gm4 muscles. The NMJ of the gm4 in Cancer borealis did not appear to be broadly modulated, as only RPCH and CabTRP showed increases in amplitude, and RPCH decreased facilitation at 5 Hz
