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Transformative Psychedelic Experiences at Music Events: Using Subjective Experience to Explore Chemosocial Assemblages of Culture
No full textClinical interest in psychedelic treatments in the United States started in the 1950s, but anti-drug policy and anti-social sentiments quickly thwarted future research. The last decade has renewed clinical interest in using psychedelics to treat a diversity of mental health ailments. While these studies provide essential protocols, treatments, and therapy models for patients, they are limited in understanding the role of the contextual elements that influence psychedelic experiences and outcomes. This project examines how people use psychedelic substances outside medical settings by studying transformative psychedelic experiences at music events. This inquiry into psychedelic use utilizes an integrated framework of chemoethnography from environmental studies with classic drug use literature and anthropological studies on indigenous and pharmaceutical healing practices to consider the assemblages, entanglements, and mechanisms that contribute to meaningful experiences. Additionally, this study addresses the need for information on how people use psychedelics outside medical settings and how these uses can be therapeutic. As clinical settings individualize treatment, music festivals provide a contrasting environment to identify additional contextual factors and how they contribute to creating these experiences. The results of this dissertation stem from 18 months of fieldwork consisting of 38 interviews, 523 survey responses, and over 650 hours of participant observation. This research finds that the carefully crafted spaces of music festivals featuring art, music, and community vibe are essential to initiating liminal experiences and allowing festival goers to fully embody the pleasure of the psychedelic experience. The entanglements of the music festival and the psychedelic experience give way to complex and supportive social lives that function as therapy management groups through conversations of support and care before, during, and after the experience. This unique environment has the potential to support therapy, healing, and transformation. Participants report the value of these experiences through long-term changes in their internal process of self-reflection and changes in everyday life. This research sits on the cutting edge of anthropological theory by pushing the field towards an “anthropology of the good.” It investigates these experiences to inform future treatment opportunities in addressing the needs of the suffering subject while bringing attention to the diversity of modalities in therapy and healing
Comparing Video Feedback to Video Modeling plus Video Feedback for Improving Soccer Skills
No full textThis study compared the effects of video feedback (VF) as a stand-alone intervention and the effects of a video modeling plus video feedback (VMVF) as a package intervention for improving soccer players’ static ball control skills. This study used a multiple baseline across participants with an embedded alternating treatments design to compare VF and VMVF. This study involved two 10 year-old female soccer players and one 9 year old male soccer player. The same three target behaviors were assessed across participants. The first author implemented the VF and VMVF training procedures. The results showed that VF and VMVF produced similar increases in performance for the three participants and that both interventions were effective at substantially increasing ball control skills from baseline levels and compared to a control skill
Modeling Leachate Treatment Processes in Adsorbent-amended Hybrid Constructed Wetland
No full textDue to their efficiency in removing ammonia nitrogen, Constructed Wetlands (CW) are currently considered a very useful method for on-site leachate treatment. In recent years, the use of adsorbent media in CWs, such as zeolite and biochar, to improve pollutant removal efficiency has been explored and these studies indicate that incorporating zeolite can improve the nitrification process, while the addition of biochar can enhance the denitrification process and the removal of organic compounds. However, studies on mechanistic/process models simulating performance of adsorbent-amended CWs for treating landfill leachate are limited. This study presents simulation results for both unamended and adsorbent-amended hybrid subsurface flow CW systems using a continuously-stirred-tank-reactor-in-series model for ammonia nitrogen and COD removal. The numerical process model is developed in Python 3.7 and is calibrated and validated with data collected from a pilot-scale system operated in Hillsborough County Landfill, Florida. The model considers changes in water storage, nitrogen transformations, COD removal, DO cycling, effects of temperature and enhancement effects for zeolite and biochar. Model parameters that could not be found in the literature were obtained by model optimization. A parameter sensitivity analysis was done before model calibration and normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) was used for calibration metric. The low NRMSE values (below 0.3) achieved for effluent’s Ammonia Nitrogen and COD demonstrated the model’s sufficient capacity to simulate the effluent concentrations under varying conditions. The error in predicting pollutant removal efficiency was less than 13.3% and 3% for unamended system and adsorbent-amended system respectively. In addition, the model was scaled up to evaluate the removal efficiency for a large-scale system using the Southeast Hillsborough County Landfill in Lithia, Florida as a case study. The landfill produces 118680 tons of landfill leachate per year (86,0000 gallons per day) containing high total ammonia nitrogen (average 366 mg/L) and COD concentration (average 473 mg/L). Using total VF-CW area of 98,000 m2 and HF-CW area of 294,000 m2, the removal efficiency for the adsorbent-amended full-scale system was predicted to be 99.2% for ammonia nitrogen and 35.9% for COD
Vascular and Auditory Changes after Repetitive Traumatic Brain Injury
No full textTraumatic brain injury (TBI) affects over 2.87 million people in the US each year. The large majority of these injuries can be classified as mild. However, evidence suggests that even mild TBIs can lead to long-lasting symptoms that greatly impact quality of life. This is particularly true when an individual sustains multiple TBIs (repetitive TBI, rTBI). Much of the damage caused by rTBI is due to secondary injury mechanisms that cause the initial injury site to spread and worsen over time. No therapies currently exist which can mitigate secondary injury, and monitoring this phase of rTBI is difficult. Development of therapeutic strategies for rTBI requires more research into underlying mechanisms that cause secondary injury as well as new tools for testing therapeutic efficacy. In this dissertation, we evaluate the use of a new noninvasive imaging method for monitoring rTBI and describe the effect of rTBI on the auditory system. We have previously characterized a mouse model of rTBI that recapitulates many of the pathological sequelae observed in TBI patients. We have shown that C-C motif chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20), a small chemokine which has been implicated in T cell infiltration, is upregulated after rTBI, and that reduction of CCL20 can mitigate a variety of rTBI-induced pathology and behavioral symptoms. In Chapter 2, we describe the use of multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) for monitoring neurovascular changes in this model. Using MSOT, we observed a transient increase in oxygenated hemoglobin ratio at 5 days post-injury (dpi) that returned to baseline by 7 dpi. We also detected acute blood-brain barrier disruption 24 hours post-injury using indocyanine green. Treatment with pioglitazone, an anti-inflammatory peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonist that causes reduction of CCL20, prevented the increase in oxygenated hemoglobin, suggesting that this phenomenon may be tied to rTBI-induced inflammation and showing that MSOT can be a useful tool for evaluating therapeutic intervention. In Chapter 3, we characterize auditory pathology in our rTBI model. Hearing loss is a common long-term symptom of TBI, even in the absence of direct damage to the ear or auditory pathway. The mechanisms that underlie hearing loss in these cases are unclear. We observed deficits in auditory brainstem responses and auditory temporal processing that persisted up to 60 dpi. Hearing loss was accompanied by loss of spiral ganglion neurons at timepoints as early as 14 dpi. This model has potential to be a useful tool for elucidating the causes of rTBI-induced hearing loss and developing strategies to mitigate damage to the auditory system after brain injury. We believe that these studies will help facilitate future research toward the development of new rTBI therapies
L2 Writer Identity Construction in Academic Written Discourse: A Multi-case Study
No full textWriter identity has gradually become a focus in writing scholarship in recent years. From a social constructivist lens, writer identity is not optional; it resides in all texts. And it is a construct that does not exist in a vacuum, but is shaped by the sociocultural and academic context, and simultaneously individual writers agentively selected from the socially available repertoire to construct their identities in text. Departing from social constructivism, this study adopted Ivanic’s (1998) conceptualization of writer identity, which consists of autobiographical self, discoursal self, self as author and possibilities for selfhood, and highlighted the role of agency in the construction of writer identity.
This dissertation employed a multi-case study design, and looked into how three L2 doctoral students studying in the U.S. setting constructed their identities in their academic papers of different kinds and the patterns of identity construction across their papers. Among the three participants, two came from the hard discipline background whereas the other one from soft discipline. Further, this study examined the variables, including contextual factors (autobiographical self and possibilities for selfhood) and individual agency, that contributed to the three L2 doctoral students’ identity construction in their papers. Data collected for this study included three writing samples from each of the students, and three to four rounds of interviews with the participants. Interviews encompassed background interviews, and interviews about the papers. Supplementary data were also collected to provide additional insights into the students’ identity construction that included research log, advisors’/reviewers’/co-authors’ feedback on the papers, course syllabi and so on.
This dissertation analyzed writer identity through combining Hyland’s (2018) metadiscourse model and interactional model (2005). The results revealed that the three strands of metadiscourse followed the same pattern in all the three students’ papers, showing that these three students probably attached more importance to constructing identities as writers using explicit linguistic devices to glue texts together and signal the internal relations of their text. Comparatively, they tended to project identities less prominently as writers who engaged readers directly in the texts. However, more metadiscourse markers were found in the doctoral student’ papers from the soft discipline. This demonstrated the more discursively elaborate nature of the soft discipline, where writers may need more metadiscoursal items to construct their identities as disciplinary insiders. The findings further showed that the three participants’ construction of identities through metadiscourse resources was shaped by contextual factors such as field conventions and senior researchers’ guidance. Agency, however, played a relatively minor role in the construction of their identities in the academic papers. Insights generated from the study and directions for future research are discussed
Young Adult Cancer Patients and Survivors’ Adherence to Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Guidelines
No full textMany Adolescents and Young Adult (AYA) cancer patients/survivors do not engage in healthy eating and physical activity recommendations. The present study assessed the role of race/ethnicity, health literacy, and home environmental influences and its association with adherence to healthy eating and physical activity. AYA patients/survivors from Moffitt Cancer Center (n = 273) completed an anonymous online survey. Self-reported measures about eating habits, physical activity, health literacy, and social support were used. Black/African Americans reported worse eating habits than White and Hispanic participants. Obese participants showed a similar trend compared to all other Body Mass Index groups. Adherence to physical activity was positively correlated with Friends’ Discouragement of Eating Habits and Family and Friends’ Participation in Exercise. Black/African Americans showed higher Family Encouragement of Eating Habits than White participants. Black/African Americans also reported higher Friends’ Encouragement of Eating Habits than White and Hispanic participants. Current patients reported higher Family Encouragement of Eating Habits than survivors. Compared to participants from other races (i.e., Asian American, Asian or Pacific Islander, Multi-racial), White participants showed less Family and Friends’ Discouragement of Eating Habits. Participants from other races reported higher Friends’ Discouragement of Eating Habits than White and Hispanics. Results emphasize the relationship between a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a healthy weight and highlight family and friends’ roles in eating and physical activity behaviors. Further research should focus on studies that might help explain the mechanism by which this influence takes place
Journalism After Life: Obituaries as Metajournalistic Discourse
No full textMetajournalistic discourse offers a valuable lens for understandinghow journalists think about their work, delineate the boundaries ofthefield and stabilize thefield amidst crisis. By considering theobituary as an artifact of metajournalism, this study aims toelaborate on how metajournalism reflects the lived experiencesof journalists. This study undertakes a discourse analysis of acorpus of obituaries of journalists (n= 2571), collected from theJournalist Memorial Site,finding that when journalists were notassociated with prestigious outlets, their authority tended to berooted in community contributions—contributions whichincluded journalism but did not center it within a journalist’spersonal identity. As an object of analysis, obituaries provideopportunity to understand the role of journalism across ajournalists’lifespan—as opposed to in reflection to news events—and an opportunity to consider the personal identity ofjournalists
“Survival and Salvation”: Religious Situational Crisis Communication Strategies
No full textReligious crisis communication stretches back across history with crisis communication reflected in large-scale moments tied to institutions, for example, through the Inquisition and the Catholic Counter-Reformation and through responses from American Muslim communities following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Prior research has reflected on the value of viewing organizational crisis communication through the lens of situational crisis communication theory, and indeed it would seem the most relevant framework to employ for such research given that religious organizations respond to crisis in a similar manner to other types of organizations. This chapter provides a discussion of religion and crisis communication into three broad categories, admitting failure, using a moderated response, and reinforcing dominant narratives, which roughly correlate with situational crisis communication theory\u27s (SCCT) rebuild, diminish, and deny strategies. Application of SCCT and observations of public reception are vital in crisis communication strategies both online and in more internal settings with parishioners, donors, and followers
A Study of American Response to Climate Change and the Influence of Carbon Dependency, Social Capital, and Political Orientation
No full textClimate change is one major challenge that has brought substantial costs to the United States. To implement mitigation measures and gain public support, it is critical to understand Americans’ attitudes toward this issue. Our study investigates how carbon dependency, social capital, and political orientation influence public response to climate change by perceiving its threat, changing behaviors, and supporting policies. We first build an integrative paradigm to explore the theoretical connections. Next, we employ data from different sources to measure these key concepts at individual and state levels and then estimate the relationships empirically. Multilevel regression results show that carbon dependency inhibits public response while social capital enhances such response. Democrats and liberals are motivated to respond and residents of Democratic Party controlled states are also more likely to believe in climate change and perceive the risk than their counterparts. These factors can be leveraged to mobilize public engagement in climate activism
Book Review: \u3cem\u3eChildren of the Greek Civil War: Refugees and the Politics of Memory\u3c/em\u3e
No full textThe book ‘Children of the Greek Civil War’ makes several key steps forward in analyzing the politics and emotions surrounding the 47,000 child refugees of the Greek Civil War. Although the war was between the right-wing Greek Government and the left-wing Greek Communist Party, it drew in a large portion of the ethnic Macedonian population of northern Greece who had been promised greater freedom and ethnic recognition by the communists. Among the book’s key steps forward are its side-by-side and even-handed analysis of how the war affected both the Greek and Macedonian children, its discussion and comparison of the government-backed orphanages set up by Queen Frederica and the evacuation program to Eastern bloc countries and children’s homes by the Greek Communist Party, the reliability of its statistics about the children from both sides of the conflict, and the comparison of the education, training, and lifestyle of the children in both sets of institutions. There is also a ground breaking discussion of the claims of genocide by organizations representing both sides of the war. This review also highlights areas where more work is needed to investigate potential acts of genocide by the Greek Government against the Macedonian children