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Investigating Sex-Related Antibody Responses to a Powassan Virus-Like-Particle Vaccine in a Mouse Model
No full textMusic Education and the Shrinking Public Space: Implications of Richard Sennett\u27s Sociological Ideas for Music Education
No full textRichard Sennett’s theory that industrial capitalism triggered the gradual elimination of shared cultural symbolism and thus contributed to the impoverishment of civic involvement deserves to be revisited in light of its implications for music education in an age of global information capitalism. In 1974 Sennett produced an extensive examination of the relationship between public culture and public space, arguing that our response to large-scale social and economic forces over which we have limited control is to retreat from public cultural expressions and consequently from public life. Extending Sennett’s sociological argument, I contend that the subjectivizing of musical meaning may lead to a withdrawal of critical engagement, as opposed to mere passing acquaintance, with various musico-cultural meanings, which may in turn damage people’s sense of civic commitment. This essay explores the challenges that formal music education faces in a world in which musical creativity often seems a matter of personal expression, and in which musical ability is often described in terms of immeasurable future potential. Both of these related views stem from a tacit acceptance of musical meaning as existing primarily in a subjective or personal realm. Reducing musical meaning to the psychological by focusing primarily on subjective experience leads to an avoidance of what Sennett calls the “jolt” of rubbing up against something foreign and questioning our assurances in our foundational beliefs. Music educators are encouraged to discuss music as a social product whenever practical in response to this threat
Investigating Relationships Found in the Kidney Microenvironment to Aid in Understanding Malfunctions of Proteins in Chronic Kidney Disease
No full textThe kidneys are the filtration organ that helps filter out waste from our body. Kidney disease is an ailment that causes damage to the kidney so that it cannot filter our blood and other bodily fluids properly. It is also one of the least researched illnesses in the medical field. And with about 10-15 percent of the American population suffering from kidney disease, there is an urgency in finding more ways to help find a solution.
I examined the damaged kidney environment at the cellular level to find out what protein processes cause the malfunction of the kidneys. Methodologies employed include transgenic technology, PCR testing, western blotting, and mathematical modeling. My results are consistent with a process in which proteins in fibroblast cells - needed to heal the organ - can create excessive amounts of ECM, which may cause portions of the organ to shut down. Future research should attempt to identify which proteins drive this process. Identification of these proteins could open the door to interventions that limit the overproduction of ECM
Matter’s “Dark” Powers: Performing Objects and Racialization in Nineteenth-Century American Spiritualism
No full textIn this article, I analyze performing objects that were attributed to the agency of Black spirits within the 19th-century American spiritualist movement, exposing how white, female spirit mediums supported and tested a racial metaphysics that assumed white transcendence and Black materiality.https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/ballinst_alterity/1014/thumbnail.jp
The Western Tourist as Exotic Other: Coping with the Aggressive Ways of the Casual Stranger
No full textIn the summer of 2004, the author traveled with Prof. Barbara Hatley to see a performance by the Ludruk Karya Budaya troupe of Mojokerto in Eastern Java and while there, the author participated in the performance; this chapter reflects on the minefield of cultural issues involved in their improvised sketch.https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/ballinst_alterity/1006/thumbnail.jp
Influences on General Music Teachers\u27 Mental Health During the Collective Trauma of COVID-19
No full textThe purpose of this collective case study was to examine elementary music teachers’ mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research questions were: 1) What factors influenced music teachers’ mental health and well-being during COVID-19?; 2) How did music teachers support their own mental health and well-being during COVID-19?; 3) How might stakeholders (such as schools, administrators, and community members) better support educators during challenging times? Data included semi-structured interviews, informal observations, and a researcher journal. Participants were three elementary music educators teaching K–5 music in geographically and demographically diverse public schools throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Through “data transformation” (Glesne, 2006), I explored the essence of the teacher’s experiences as they described their mental health and well-being during the pandemic. Five themes related to mental health and well-being emerged: (1) connection, (2) support, (3) anxiety, (4) self-care, and (5) resiliency. Findings from this study revealed the negative effects of the pandemic, particularly on educators’ levels of anxiety. Also, findings revealed the influence of self-care and support which contributed to the educators’ resiliency during the pandemic. Implications for music educators, music teacher educators, and other stakeholders are discussed within the context of this study
Genetic Implications of Language Acquisition
No full textThe argument about whether language acquisition is nature or nurture has been long debated. Linguists have concluded that it requires the two, but how much does language acquisition rely on nature? Children show the capacity to learn languages quickly and without much effort. While research suggests that infants absorb many visual and verbal cues in their environment, biological structures are the underlying component of how this knowledge is gathered and organized. The genetics that code for specific neurophysiological pathways affect how people interact with their environment and where information is stored, forming the basis for these biological structures. Genetic research started with early inheritance pattern recognition and has evolved to DNA sequencing, searching for specific genes. Mendelian genetics and twin studies laid the groundwork for geneticists to find a particular gene that has substantial effects on language, known as FOXP2. Studies involving FOXP2 have allowed researchers to investigate more genetic components of language. Comparing FOXP2 in other species is also guiding researchers to the ultimate question asked about human language: are humans special, and if so, how
