Via Sapientiae: The Institutional Repository at DePaul University
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Rethinking Resident Perceptions of Tourism in British Columbia, Canada
Get PDFThis joint academic/practitioner report segments British Columbia, Canada residents to provide destination managers with new ways to better understand resident perceptions of tourism. The data collection was conducted in April and May of 2022 and had a total of 2,265 valid responses. It was also a practical objective to conduct this research in a manner that is repeatable in jurisdictions beyond British Columbia. This report has confirmed five distinct categories of residents’ perceptions toward tourism, including socio-cultural, economic, environmental, job/career, and Indigenous impacts. In addition to the categories of impacts, a cluster analysis has revealed six clusters of residents based on the five categories: Tourism Ambassadors, Tourism Supporters, Socio-cultural and Tourism Economic Supporters, Neutrals, Concerns about Careers and Environment, and Tourism Adversaries. Managerial implications and opportunities for future destination management and governance are discussed
Crisis and Revitalization of Rural Tourism in the Appalachian Region Amidst The Pandemic: The Perspective of Key Stakeholders
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has forced everyone to rethink their business activities. Due to being distant from crowded cities, rural tourism destinations have become getaway places, with some counties in rural Ohio experiencing an influx of tourists. This study addresses responses from key stakeholders of tourism and tourism development activities in two counties in southeastern Ohio, part of the Appalachian region. Their perceptions of the impacts of the pandemic on local tourism and tourism activities were examined using a qualitative approach. Findings suggested both positive and negative impacts of COVID-19, showing the challenges faced, and the strategies used during the pandemic. The study suggests that community support and partnerships are essential in leveraging the growth opportunities presented by the pandemic to rural tourism
OBSERVATIONS OF 25 GHz METHANOL MASERS IN W51A
Get PDFHigh mass stars are important because they alone are responsible for creating the heavy elements in the Universe. The observation of high mass star formation remains a challenging problem in astronomy because high mass stars form in densely clustered environments at large distances from us. Therefore, high angular resolution observations are required to unravel the action taking place in these dense environments. Masers can be used to observe distant regions with high angular resolution because masers are compact and bright sources. Class I methanol masers are believed to form in outflows from protostars where the shock generated by the outflowing material impacts ambient interstellar material. W51A is one of the brightest infrared sources in our Galaxy and is known to host several sites of high mass star formation. This thesis presents spectral line observations at 25 GHz toward W51A. Only one Class I methanol maser was observed at 24.959 GHz; it has a counterpart at 25.018 GHz with which it is coincident in position and velocity. Significantly, even though there is 44 GHz methanol emission very close to this position which could be a maser or thermal emission or a combination of both, it is at a different center velocity and does not share the same velocity extent as the 25 GHz masers. We interpret this to mean that the 44 GHz emission is from a different parcel of gas. There is also 36 GHz methanol emission with the same velocity extent as the 44 GHz emission. The 36 GHz emission is likely thermal but could also have weak maser emission superimposed on it. Comparison to archival data for 88 known Class I CH3OH masers at 24.959 and 25.018 GHz reveals that the 25 GHz masers observed for this thesis are comparatively lower in intensity; 38 out of the 88 in the archival data have intensities lower than 0.5 Jy beam−1. The 25 GHz masers in W51A are located in a relatively uncrowded region with no known infrared counterparts. There is no H2O or 1720 MHz OH maser coincident with the 25 GHz CH3OH maser position; both of these are known to be collisionally excited like the 25 GHz masers. The nearest water maser is 0.14 pc to the north, and the closest 1720 MHz OH maser is 0.3 pc to the north and east. The nearest 6.67 GHz Class II CH3OH maser is located 0.24 pc to the north and east of the 25 GHz CH3OH maser position. This leads us to propose two scenarios. In the first, the 25 GHz CH3OH masers are pumped in an outflow arising from a protostar located near the 6.67 GHz Class II CH3OH maser position; there are two radio continuum sources e1 and e3 in the immediate vicinity of the 6.67 GHz Class II maser that could be the location of the protostar. This would imply that 25 GHz CH3OH masers occur later in the star formation process, after the high mass protostar has formed an ionized hydrogen region. In the second scenario, the 25 GHz CH3OH masers form very early in the star formation process and are being excited in the outflow from a hitherto unrevealed high mass protostar
Targeting S. maltophilia Biofilms with Phage Bfi2
Get PDFStenotrophomonas maltophilia is a multidrug resistant bacterium which can cause severe infections of the respiratory tract, soft tissue, and bloodstream, and its ability to form biofilms on medical implants and devices contributes to its role as a hospital-acquired pathogen (Brooke, 2021; Flores-Treviño et al., 2019). The rise of antibiotic resistance has prompted the search for new treatments against bacteria. Bacteriophages, or phages, are a promising alternative to antibiotics because they infect and kill bacteria (Ling et al., 2022). Phage therapy has gained recent attention as a life-saving treatment for antibiotic resistant infections (Racenis et al., 2023; Schooley et al., 2017). Phage Bfi2 (Biofilm formation inhibitor 2) is a novel virus that infects S. maltophilia. This thesis characterizes Bfi2, its life cycle, its activity against biofilm, and effectiveness when combined with antibiotics. Transmission electron microscopy revealed a virus with an icosahedral head and long, flexible non-contractile tail, classifying Bfi2 as a siphovirus within the Caudoviricetes class. Bfi2 is a virulent phage that forms clear plaques on lawns of S. maltophilia, and a one-step growth curve depicted a latent period of 60 minutes and a burst size of ~33 virions/cell. The phage inhibits the formation of S. maltophilia biofilm biomass and reduces the metabolic activity of 24-hour preformed biofilms. When testing its ability to inhibit planktonic growth and biofilm formation in combination with antibiotics, the activity of Bfi2 was not enhanced with any one of the five antibiotics chosen. Further work is needed to characterize the phage, but these results demonstrate its potential for phage therapy against S. maltophilia infections
The Challenges of Catholic Identity in American Catholic University A Case Study of DePaul University
Get PDFThis research paper examines the challenges of Catholic identity in American universities using DePaul University as a case study. Carrying out the research, two research questions were posited: 1. What is the perception of Catholic identity presently at DePaul University? 2. What are the challenges of Catholic identity at DePaul? To answer the questions an interview and survey were conducted among a selected group of faculty and students at the university. The interview and survey centered on the experience of Catholic identity, elements of Catholic identity, and the challenges of Catholic identity at DePaul. Five challenges of Catholic identity were reviewed in the literature review. These five challenges were used in the survey to understand the challenges of Catholic identity at DePaul.
The results from the interview and survey showed that Catholic identity at DePaul University is stronger in extracurricular affairs (outside the classroom) than in curricular affairs (inside the classroom). The interview and survey also showed that out of the five challenges mentioned in the literature review, three are present at DePaul. These include fewer Catholic faculty, research interests (Catholic curriculum), and finance. The results suggested that more attention is given to Catholic identity outside of the classroom than in the classroom. This can be attributed to the effect of the work of the mission and ministry department. However, though the figures of the presence of Catholic identity in the classroom are good, they can be made stronger
Black Digital Spaces: Theorizing Resistance in the Wake of Racist Technology
Get PDFIn the wake of major technological advancement, social media has increasingly become a communal space of daily congregation, particularly for Black people. This paper specifically explores how the Black Diaspora navigates these spaces at a complex intersection of social media and transnational Black histories. I draw from critical Internet studies, Black Diaspora studies, Black feminisms, and media studies to investigate how new technology allows Black folk to engage in conversations about our identity, community, and resistance. Employing a critical ethnographic approach, this paper analyzes online discourse within the Black community about Marvel\u27s Black Panther (2018). This analysis emphasizes the parallels between maroon communities and digital Black spaces, as they both serve as a transnational and multi-ethnic communities that challenge oppressive systems
Her organs were a question of the state reading Adriana Cavarero from the Latin American post-colony
No full textThis dissertation explores the place of the body in the history of philosophy to argue that despite the fact that the history of Western philosophy is well known for repudiating the body, in philosophy, the body nevertheless does a lot of work. Yet, the body of which philosophy speaks of is a universal body that does not find itself in any singular physical body, thus, the dissertation argues, in order to properly think the body, a mode of philosophical inquiry that does not aim for universality and instead values singularity is necessary. The work of Adriana Cavarero is at the center of the project whose ouvre has argued for the need for a philosophy of singularity as well as for a re-thinking of bodies in philosophy. Yet, as the author of this dissertation is committed to the project of singularity as the only way to think bodies philosophically, it is fundamental that she situate herself as a writer. In doing so, she places this project within the Latin American Post-colony and asks what a re-thinking of the body can contribute to understand the present state of Latin America by putting the work of Cavarero in conversation with Cristina Rivera Garza, María Lugones, Santiago Castro-Gómez, among other Latin American thinkers as well as postcolonial thinkers like Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Sara Ahmed
