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Accelerating Fermentation in Brewer’s Yeast
Get PDFDomestication of organisms was one of the key strategies that led to the dominance of humans on the planet. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, brewer’s yeast, was one of the first organisms to be deliberately cultivated. This organism has been used in the production of alcohol since before written history(White, 2010). When S. cerevisiae runs out of oxygen, it undergoes anaerobic fermentation, which generates alcohol as a byproduct. Currently, various strains of this yeast are used in the production of the multi-billion dollar beer industry. The goal of this project is to generate a strain of yeast that has an accelerated fermentation rate without compromising the flavor profile of the resulting beer. Using conventional chemical mutagenesis, hundreds of independent strains of yeast have been developed and tested. We describe the methodology utilized to generate and characterize rapid fermentation strains and provide an approach to ultimately reduce production time in the brewing process
Biting Back: Racism, Homophobia and Vampires in Bram Stoker, Anne Rice and Alan Ball
Get PDFBiting Back: Racism, Homophobia and Vampires in Bram Stoker, Anne Rice and Alan Ball will seek to expose the various metaphors hidden within the world of vampires. Specifically, my analysis will focus on how vampires have been used to critique and explain the social fears that plague any given age, with a specific focus on racial and sexual fear. In each of these popular-culture phenomena, vampires critique the way the masses fear what they do not know, and what is foreign to them. Thus, through vampires, they are able to act on their fear of transgressive sexuality and ethnic others. The masses transform their hatred for the unknown into a hatred of vampires. These chapters are featured chronologically, in order to show how monstrous vampires will adapt and transform as time goes on. The first chapter will discuss Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which is, in many regards, the most influential and important vampire story to date. This chapter will feature two parts, one devoted to sexuality within the text and one devoted to race/ethnicity. The sexuality section will focus heavily on women: the vampire brides, Mina Murray, and Lucy Westenra. Stoker juxtaposes the punishment the vampire brides and Lucy faced for their prevalent sexuality with the rewards bestowed on Mina for being a chaste female. Stoker also makes sexuality a central concern in his depiction of men. Homosexual undertones permeate the relationship between Harker and Dracula that point to contemporary anxieties about transgressive sexuality, the onset of the twentieth century, and the obscenity laws that persecuted figures such as Oscar Wilde, someone who was once a friend of Stoker’s. After this discussion of sexuality, the chapter examines race and ethnicity in Dracula, and how the oriental or ethnic other was feared and ostracized within 8 Victorian Britain and beyond. From the start of the novel, readers bear witness to Harker’s Victorian sense of superiority, as he sneers at most everything he encounters while visiting Dracula’s home country. The section also examines the difference between the eccentric Dr. Van Helsing and charming, American-as-apple pie Quincey Morris, juxtaposed against the frightening Count Dracula. Overall, the entire chapter is devoted to proving the way Stoker critiques the stringent and usually harmful morals and ideas in Europe during the Victorian period. The second chapter focuses on sexuality and race in Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. Much of the sexuality section focuses on the complicated and painful relationship between Louis and Lestat, and how it replicates a homosexual relationship. In the novel, Rice presents same-sex desire a natural part of life, and something that comes naturally to vampires with ample opportunity and time for experimentation, as well as disregard for cultural norms. Through the normalcy in which she depicts the relationships, she is criticizing those that would view same-sex desire negatively. Within Rice’s depiction of the abnormal family, she is critiquing the stringent society-regulated family unit, one that defines a family as a female mother, a male father and children. Rice’s vampiric family twists these notions, offering instead two men who fulfill the roles of mother and father, and more. The race section focuses primarily on slavery, as the novel begins within the American south, and Rice uses Louis’s plantation and slave ownership to remind readers of America’s inescapable racist past. This theme of slavery is prevalent throughout the entire work, as readers watch Louis become enslaved to his affliction, his master and his bloodlust. Furthermore, the race and ethnicity section also explore how slavery can be represented within vampirism itself, creating an important parallel between the two that furthers Rice’s idea. 9 The third and final chapter focuses on the first season of Alan Ball’s television adaption of True Blood for HBO. Throughout the series, Ball sheds light on the rampant racism and homophobia that plagues America, especially the American South, in modern times. Ball uses the hatred of vampires in the show to examine the difficulties of contemporary civil rights, including the ongoing struggle for black rights and gay rights. Specifically, he depicts the exploitation of African Americans through the way they are consistently undermined and persecuted throughout the show. Tara, best friend of protagonist Sookie, is an intelligent black female in the American South. She is aware of the racial hatred surrounding her, yet she seems to be the only one. She receives no sympathy from her lovers, her coworkers or even her best friend. The primary black male character and her cousin, Lafayette, is a homosexual, and his life in the South is plagued by discomfort and hatred as well, from both homophobes and racists. These brutal truths are paired with the fictional struggle of vampires, from their fight for vampire marriage to having to constantly defend themselves from those that seek to use them for their valuable blood. In these depictions, Ball is forcing viewers to understand and condemn the racism, misogyny and homophobia that overwhelms modern America. Through the treatment of vampires and vampire-human relationships, as well as the depiction of a black homosexual in the American south, Ball is able to condemn this bigotry. These different depictions of vampires act in different ways, and despite being set in different time periods, they all share a similar argument: vampires act as vessels to condemn and critique harmful and prevalent social and cultural fears. In each example, vampires are used to critique the way transgressive sexuality and racial otherness has been targeted and persecuted in Western culture, and they challenge white, heteronormative, patriarchal values that promote inequity and harmful divisiveness
Southern Splash: Indoor Aquatic Facility Business Plan
Get PDFThe purpose of this project was to develop a feasible business plan for a swim school, which would offer various aquatic activities with the care product being youth swimming lessons. The initial portion of this thesis discusses in detail what a business plan is, the purpose of a business plan, and the components of a business plan. This business plan will also include a market research analysis
Project 2746
Get PDFIn the 1990s, the world was introduced to the economic threat known as Internet piracy. It affects the copyright owners because they end up losing money that should have been spent on their product. This led to a long battle of online piracy between the pirates themselves, copyright owners, and governments around the world. Some even began to have a moral debate on piracy, asking themselves if it is really as heinous as people make it out to be or if it could help boost that product’s popularity and revenue. All of this information was taken and composed into a short narrative film which questions the history and ethics of Internet piracy
Branding Factors that Influence Impulse Buying
Get PDFIn my thesis paper, I begin by discussing research on branding, such as research on brand personalities, factors that make for a powerful brand, and effects of strong brands. I then discuss research on impulse buying, such as research on internal factors within consumers that can affect impulse buying, external/situational influences that can affect impulse buying, and the effects of product category on impulse buying. I then discuss an original study I ran that explores the relationship between branding and impulse buying. My research suggests that there is indeed a relationship between branding and impulse buying. For instance, the results of my original study showed that respondents thought they are more likely to impulsively buy a product when it is a brand they simply know or when it is a brand they love even if they do not know much about the specific product itself
The Influence of Media in the Digital Age on Millennials
Get PDFThis paper will be paired with a magazine to convey the thoughts and detailed expression of the correlation to the presence of mass media and the society we have now. The magazine serves two main purposes. The first is to contribute a visual aspect to thoughtfully convey each example and how these issues are reflected in our society. It is done by showing you real life examples while also showcasing my craft as a graphic designer and working within my major. I believe that the visual experience is absolutely necessary and will help audiences take in the information on a different level. The artwork, is supposed to act as a visual reference to show the correlation between media and our perceptions and in order to highlight all my research. The second reason I am creating a magazine, is to make a satirical comment towards my thesis topic. This paper, is all about media and technology and the influence of it in our lives, and magazines are a large part of that world and have had a lot of influence in how we perceive certain aspects of who we are. To have my magazine portray all the information that has been researched, alongside current day examples of how mass media infiltrates our minds and takes over our lives, would be ironic. Magazines are an accepted vehicle for delivering imagery, opinion, and current events which is just another reason I chose a magazine as a accompanying project to this thesis. Today the need for validation of the press has become the ultimate source of truth in our society. This thesis will be examining the influence of mass media and the surge of technology in our society in the topics related to body image, race, gender and communication. It will not be delving into just the positive or negative effects,’but the effects on society in general as well as the pressures it has had in our lives. I will specifically be focusing on how technology and mass media has influenced individuals who are known as “iGen” or millennials. “A generation shaped by the smartphone and by the concomitant rise of social media. I call them iGen.” (Twenge). It is a generation cultivated by the smartphone
Art Therapy Interventions that Facilitate Improved Self-Esteem for an Adult with Depression and Substance Abuse
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to bring awareness to the need for creative holistic approaches to interventions and treatments for depression and substance abuse. The literature review section covers the topics of depression, substance abuse, the effects of low self-esteem in these disorders, and how art therapy is suited to address these topics. The research methodology utilized is historical case studies. In support of this topic, case studies gained from literature in the field will be analyzed. Case studies were obtained by thoroughly researching numerous databases to find the most relevant information that demonstrates how art therapy can be utilized with this population to enhance self-esteem and healthy coping skills. Art therapy that was utilized within the framework of Motivational Interviewing and Stages of Change is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of using art therapy in conjunction with an alternative approach to substance abuse. Specifically, this paper seeks to answer the question of how can art therapy interventions that are designed to improve self-esteem and coping skills help an adult with Depression and Substance Abuse
GreenTech LIU: A Roadmap for a Collaborative, SDG Campus
Get PDFFor universities, sustainability is an essential literacy for the 21st century. LIU Post’s Center for Sustainability wants faculty and students to have powerful and effective digital tools for bringing sustainability frameworks into classrooms, campus research, and learning experiences. GreenTech LIU (GTLIU) will provide an integrated digital platform for faculty and students to collaborate on global citizenship research and education projects. We believe that global citizenship education (GCE) serves as a center axis that can help to integrate sustainability activities across the LIU Post campus. Sustainability and global citizenship are essential skills for 21st century students, regardless of students’ academic majors
Coping and Meaning Making in Teachers Affected by Hurricane Sandy
Get PDFSchool staff play a momentous role in the recovery of students following a disaster. Students spend a generous portion of their school years interacting with teachers that set a path for psychological and mental growth. When teachers struggle with coping, meaning making and wellness, they may not be adequately able to model resiliency skills for their students. A sample of 39 teachers completed an anonymous online survey about their experiences four years after Hurricane Sandy. The results of this sample of teachers was compared with responses by 25 teachers about their coping who responded to a similar survey immediately after the disaster occurred. How teachers engaged in wellness, coping and meaning making in terms of activities selected and amount of time devoted during the different time periods will be presented. Gender and previous exposure to trauma as notable predictors on resiliency were also examined. Implications for the support of teachers following disasters will be discussed
Personal Digital Archiving for Journalists: A “Private” Solution to a Public Problem
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to encourage librarians to teach digital archiving practices to journalists a) as a way of giving journalists the skills they need to save their work for future use and b) to facilitate the preservation of journalism for posterity. While personal digital archiving advocates have generally interpreted the word “personal” to be synonymous with “private,” this paper points to the need to expand the concept to include professional activities, particularly in light of the prevalence of telecommuting and freelance work arrangements, and the lack of support and training received by remote workers and independent contractor