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The Black Garden
Get PDF“The Black Garden” is a novel-length fantasy fiction work. It follows the narrative of Ryan, an 18-year-old girl, who has great expectations for what her first year at university will hold. Her entire world view is tilted when she attends a party with her new roommate, Blair, and wakes up in an unfamiliar place. Ryan must fight to keep her sanity as she is thrust into the world of faeries, witches, and far worse creatures than she could have ever imagined: including her parents
A Literary Callithump: A Short Story Collection
No full textA Literary Callithump collects five short-story-length pieces of speculative fiction. All five deal with extremes: humans pushed to the brink and doing what they must to try and survive.
“Ball Drop” shows a United States in need. An otherworldly overseer shows the way out, but the cost is steep.
“A Wolf Hunter” is an adaptation of the story of “Peter and the Wolf,” where an intrepid young man ventures out to hunt a scourge to their community. With the end of the threat, however, Peter discovers his story isn’t quite over.
“Troilus and Cressida: Ulcer of His Heart” takes an historic Shakespeare play and adds a horror twist. After years of waging the Trojan War with no end in sight, a bug bite offers the key to bringing the war to a close.
“The Completely Destructible Woman” follows a graduate student and a touring magical duo whose tricks cross the boundary from illusion to actual magic. When the protagonist learns the secret to their act, it turns his world on its head.
“God Therapy” rounds out the collection. As the title suggests, men and women use the abilities of the gods to grapple with trauma and psychosis.
All five pieces deal with trauma, power struggles, and how to make it in a world that constantly refuses to make sense.
Note: This thesis is under a author requested embargo until 2223, after which it will become available in accordance with end of expected copyright protection. This embargo year is intentional and not an error
Seeing Me: Influential Queer Black Men in Entertainment
Get PDFQueer black men have had an incredible impact on society in many areas, from politics, fashion, and especially entertainment. However, they are often overlooked or disregarded. In recent years, there have been more who have gained the attention and recognition that they deserve. Jay Gaskin celebrates several influential queer black men in entertainment through a paper and presentation. And will discuss their backgrounds and why their representation matters for him and others within the LGBTQ community, particularly queer black men
How the West Was Stolen: A Closer Look at the St.Louis Treaty of 1804
Get PDFLand back is a social movement of indigenous groups in North America. Land justice is a high-priority topic in current society. Exploring the indignities of indigenous removal from their tribal land in the United States implores us to open our minds and look closer at the methodology of westward expansion. Aggressive tactics for acquiring ownership of land from non-cooperative tribes and land trade clauses in treaty language allowed the United states government to lay the foundation for The Indian Removal Act of 1830. The St. Louis Treaty of 1804 ceded 50 million acres of Sauk and Fox tribal land to the United States government on November 3, 1804. An alleged murder of three white settlers just two months prior to the signing of The Treaty of St. Louis, provided the means for which the United States brought an uncooperative tribe to treaty negotiations in St. Louis. In my research, I primarily focused on establishing the credibility of the murder claims as an entity to be either proved or disproved. Then, I focused on the creditability of the persons involved in reporting the alleged murder based their financial benefits from Pierre Chouteau and how each person benefitted from the St. Louis Treaty of 1804. It is clear that without this alleged murder, there would not of been any treaty negotiations on November 3,1804 and this alleged murder was a means for coercion by the United States government to acquire the land of the Sauk and Fox tribes
Binding Interactions of Biologically Relevant Molecules Studied Using Surface-Modified and Nanostructured Surfaces
Get PDFThis research focuses on the field of surface nanobioscience, wherein different nanosurfaces that will be used as working electrodes in the electrochemical cell are manufactured and surface modified to understand the critical binding interactions between biologically significant molecules like proteins, carbohydrates, small drug molecules, and glycoproteins. This research is essential if we are to determine whether a synthetic molecule can serve as a therapeutic candidate or diagnose a disease in its early stages. In order to fully understand the binding interactions, the study begins with defining some of the fundamental concepts, principles, and analytical tools for biosensing.
Afterwards, we addressed a crucial issue in material chemistry: integrating a large surface area with easy molecular movement in the same material. The problem was successfully resolved by developing a hierarchical nanoporous gold (hb-NPG) electrode using the fundamental principles of electrochemistry. An important biomarker for osteoporosis called fetuin A was monitored using square wave voltammetry technique by employing surface-modified hb-NPG as working electrode. The project was advanced by creating a monolith, which has a wide range of industrial applications. The material was created by using the approach of templating and dealloying and was characterized using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy techniques.
The surface modification process was extended to include other materials like indium tin oxide and Au coated quartz crystal in addition to NPG and hb-NPG. It was critical to comprehend the affinities of synthetically produced compounds with membrane proteins implicated in the transmission of the disease to investigate their potential as therapeutic candidates against a particular disease. Lipopolysaccharide antagonists (such as AM12 and compounds with a lactone structure) and curcumin analogs are examples of synthetic compounds used in this investigation. Lipid binding protein (LBP), Cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14), and Myeloid Differentiation factor 2 (MD-2) are the key proteins in sepsis, and in this study, we examine how well they attach to the LPS antagonists. Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) are another set of proteins that are investigated that are important in covid and explored for their binding affinity towards curcumin analogs.
We created platforms with immobilized proteins to test these drugs\u27 binding affinities for membrane proteins. To observe the outcome of the interaction, various sensing techniques including Quartz Crystal Microbalance, Electron Impedance Spectroscopy, and fluorescence have been employed. The solubility and stability of curcumin analogs were also explored before exploring their binding potential. As seen using UV-vis spectrophotometry, the presence of sugar units in the side chain boosted their hydrophilicity and stability
For the Good of the People: an interpretive analysis of Chinese volunteerism in the critical matter of care at the start of the pandemic
Get PDFPurpose: China employed a unique volunteerism system where health care providers outside of Hubei Province, the epicentre, travelled to reverse the devastation wrought by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at its global onset. The aim is to study the unique circumstances of Chinese volunteerism in the context of continuing pandemic threats, specifically exploring the experiences of 20 Chinese nurse and physician volunteers fighting COVID-19 during the outbreak. Methods: Interviews were done through video calling. Results: Using content analysis with a hermeneutic perspective, emerging patterns showed the ways in which China’s particular manifestation of volunteerism teaches us how to engage global threats of this nature. The overarching lesson, For the Good of the People, was manifested in several dynamic and overlapping themes: 1) Reaching for Professional Standards Even in Crisis; 2) Constantly Caring Through Failures and Successes; and 3) Holding Fast to the Common Good. The devastation was met by the resilience of volunteers, who overcame profound challenges managing patient care. Conclusions: Volunteerism required sacrifice and tremendous support in the form of training and administrative direction, family support, and peer collaboration. Volunteers’ physical and psychosocial wellbeing was a priority. Recognizing the representative themes can help societies plan for continuing and future events
Herpetofauna and Tarantula Avoidance: a Missouri Glades Location Survey
Get PDFMissouri glades are home to a variety of herpetofauna and one species of tarantula: Aphonopelma hentzi (Texas brown tarantula). These animals traverse through their environment very differently. Herpetofauna tend to travel in search of food, while tarantulas are usually restricted to foraging in areas very close to their burrows. Due to this contrast, and because of potential predator-prey relationships, I wanted to see if there was a pattern in the distances between these two groupings. To do this I conducted a location survey to determine how far each individual was from the nearest spider. After analyzing the data, it was discovered that the further someone was from a tarantula, the more likely they were to find herpetofauna. This indicates that there is a potential avoidance between herpetofauna and tarantulas
Don\u27t Be Afraid, Just Take It Easy : Genocide and Destruction in Bosnia
Get PDFDuring the twilight hours of the Cold War, Yugoslavia was thrown into a full-blown political and economic crisis that resulted in its dissolution. Long-simmering ethnic tensions boiled over as former Yugoslav republics began declaring independence. After its secession from Yugoslavia in 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina rapidly descended into a brutal war between Bosnian Muslim, Croat, and Serb ethnic groups. Serb troops engaged in widespread atrocities against Bosnian Muslims and Croats including mass murder, rape, and forced expulsion, which collectively amount to genocide. While UN peacekeepers were dispatched to establish safety zones in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their efforts were stymied by strict rules of engagement and a lack of air power. Most notably, at Srebrenica, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 unarmed Bosnian men and boys, many of whom were handed over by Dutch peacekeepers. The genocide was ultimately ended after a vigorous air campaign led by the United States and its NATO allies in 1995 gave way to peace negotiations in Dayton, Ohio. The Bosnian war reflects how international efforts to prevent and end genocide are often hobbled by bureaucracy, a lack of political will, and poorly supported peacekeepers
Does a bumblebee’s size influence foraging behavior?
Get PDFCurrent studies of Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) have shown that they prefer plants that have a higher concentration of sugar over those that are of a lower concentration. However, there is little research analyzing the impact of the size difference amongst bumblebee foragers. During our experiment, we tested if larger bumblebees demonstrate a propensity to pursue nectar rewards more frequently compared to smaller bees. We hypothesized that the smaller bumblebees would forage less than the larger ones under a fixed ratio and three different sugar concentrations. We found that our hypothesis was partly correct: smaller bees initially earned fewer rewards, but they began to consume the same amount as large bees as sugar concentration increased. This discovery will be a crucial starting point for further research into factors contributing to small & large bees performing the same amount of foraging activities
Understanding the impact of social-environmental context on the relationship between drinking motives and drinking frequency
Get PDFSeveral studies have shown that drinking motives are a common and proximal pathway to alcohol use, which is in turn linked to long-term health risks such as chronic disease and cancer. The present study builds on earlier research by examining how drinking alone modifies the relationship between drinking motives and frequency of alcohol consumption. Cross-sectional data were collected from undergraduate students (n = 153) at the University of Missouri - St. Louis through an online Qualtrics survey. Participants (mage = 24.42) were largely female (71.9%) and white (71.9%). Linear regression was conducted in RStudio 4.2. RESULTS: In univariate models coping-anxiety, coping-depression, and enhancement motives were associated with more frequent weekly drinking. When accounting for the effects of all other drinking motives, only coping-depression motives were associated with more frequent weekly drinking. Drinking alone did not increase the strength of the relationship between coping-depression and drinking frequency. Findings indicate that college students who more often drink to cope with feelings of depression are also more likely to drinking at greater frequencies. Increased student happiness monitoring and short interventions targeting depressive symptoms could be an efficacious way of identifying and reducing high frequency student drinking