Digital Commons Network^™

Epistemology Revisited: A Feminist Critique, Anupam Yadav

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Platonic legacy of Western epistemology has been severely attacked for its dominant exclusivist and coercive rationality in the discourses of anti-foundationalism and anti-representationalism, which have also given rise to several alternative epistemologies. The feminist discourse challenges the exclusivist and appropriationist logic of Western epistemology, or science, for being highly gender-biased and oppressive. Weininger’s remark that ‘No woman is really interested in science, she may deceive herself and many good men, but bad psychologists, by thinking so’ is one of such silencing masculine diktats that have deeper roots in the sexist, racist and classist biases. The feminists’ revolts against the …

Exploring Women’S Perspectives Of Family Planning: A Qualitative Study From Rural Papua New Guinea, Sari Andajani-Sutjahjo, Zuabe Manguruc Tinning, John F. Smith

Journal of International Women's Studies

Papua New Guinea has one of the highest fertility rates and lowest usage rates of modern contraceptives in the Pacific, especially in rural areas. Provision of modern family planning services in rural indigenous communities is challenged by geographic distance, organizational logistics, sparse human service resourcing issues, and lack of integration and understanding of the diversity of PNG’s indigenous knowledge and practices around reproductive health. Face-to-face interviews followed by two focus group discussions were held with 14 purposively sampled indigenous women and two community volunteers, aiming to explore their experiences of what were termed “modern family planning practices” and the perceived …

Speaking And Silence As Means Of Resistance In Alifa Rifaat's Distant View Of A Minaret And Bahiyya's Eyes, Sumaya M. Alhaj Mohammad

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study aims at investigating the dilemma of creating a counter discourse that speaks against the dominant androcentric one in Alifa Rifaat’s fiction. The study explores the characterization of the protagonists of two short stories: “Distant View of a Minaret” and “Bahiyya’s Eyes,” culled from Rifaat’s collection Distant View of a Minaret and Other Short Stories (1983). These stories present two different paradigms of resistance that the female protagonists use, which are speaking and silence. The study argues that both speaking and silence are attempts to heal women’s cyclic trauma, as they are means of representing women’s experience and oppression …

Similarities And Contrasts Of The Culture Of Women’S “Otherness” In English And Persian Languages: Analysis Of Bhutto's Daughter Of The East, Mahboubeh Hosseini Daragheh, Vida Rahiminezhad

Journal of International Women's Studies

Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex portrayed how the concepts of Self and Other are being shaped, created or reinforced in a text. The concept of Otherness is portrayed conspicuously in Benazir Bhutto’s autobiography entitled Daughter of the East. Benazir Bhutto was the first democratically elected female leader of Pakistan and she was assassinated in December 2007. Bhutto talked about her personal life, strength and her political activity in the twentieth century. Alireza Ayari translated this autobiography into Persian in 2009. The purpose of this study is to examine the concept of women’s Otherness in Daughter of the East …

Intersectionality And An Intra-Household Analysis Of The Freedom To Make Decisions On The Use Of Household Products: Evidence From Rural Tanzania, Christina Mwivei Shitima

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study uses intra-household and intersectionality theories to analyze the relative benefit that household member’s gain from the use of goods produced by households living along the Simiyu River in Tanzania’s Meatu District. The ability to benefit from the use of goods produced by a household is defined as the freedom that a person has concerning decision-making about the goods that are produced within the household. Data were collected from different household members, including household heads, spouses and children who were 18 years and older and who were involved in the production of goods. The study findings highlight that the …

Gendered Portrayals Of Domestic Work In Indian Television, Ruby Jain, Surbhi Pareek

Journal of International Women's Studies

Despite the entry of women into the labour force in India, women still participate in paid employment at a low rate; the rate even fell recently from 31% to 24% (ILO, 2013). This represents an alarming need for change in gender roles. The present article focuses on how electronic media content portrays men’s and women’s roles in performing housework. In a study of 30 TV serials that aired from 1990-2016 and 14 old and new TV advertisements, the findings show that mostly women are depicted doing domestic work. Media demonstrates gender disparities between men and women in performing domestic work, …

Ecofeminist Therapy: From Theory To Practice, Alyson Pompeo-Fargnoli

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article establishes a basis for an ecofeminist approach to counseling and therapy by reviewing the roots, theoretical foundations, related conceptual frameworks, and context of ecofeminism. It suggests a rationale and guidelines for adopting an ecofeminist perspective in the helping professions, and describes how it can be applied in various settings with diverse client populations.

Adept, A Mechanically Deployable Re-Entry Vehicle System, Enabling Interplanetary Cubesat And Small Satellite Missions, Alan Cassell, Brandon Smith, Paul Wercinski, Shakib Ghassemieh, Kenneth Hibbard, Adam Nelessen, James Cutts

Small Satellite Conference

There is growing interest for utilizing Small Satellites beyond low Earth orbit. A number of secondary CubeSat payload missions are planned at Mars, cis-Lunar Space, near Earth objects, and moons of the Gas Giants. Use of smaller systems may enable utilization of otherwise unused capacity of larger “host” missions. Development of re-entry systems that leverage and accommodate Small Satellite technology will substantially expand the range of mission applications by offering the capability for high speed entry or aerocapture at destinations with atmospheres. Deployable entry vehicles (DEVs) offer benefits over traditional rigid aeroshells including volume, mass and payload form factor. The …

Building Integrated Wetlands For Sustainable Food Production In Cities, Shruti Khandelwal

Open Access Theses

Food deserts are a global problem of inadequate food supply in quantity and quality in under-served neighborhoods. A scalable solution to provide people with fresh, high nutritional produce might benefit from a new approach to food production. This paper explores a closed-loop system of food, energy, and water as one strategy. Building-Integrated Food-Energy-Water Model (Bi-FEW): Building-Integrated Wetland Agriculture (BIWA) is a Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) model which creates a responsive and resilient food network in urban neighborhoods to overcome local food insecurities. This model may also act as a proactive, off-grid disaster relief infrastructure in buildings vulnerable to sea-level rise. …

Personal Oral Infection Control, Low Birthweight, And Preterm Births In Appalachia West Virginia: A Cross-Sectional Study, R. Constance Wiener, Christopher Waters

Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Introduction. Appalachia West Virginia has a higher prevalence of preterm and low birthweight babies than the US national prevalence. Many factors have been studied which are known to infuence preterm births and low birthweight babies. Tere are limited interventions that are available to decrease the likelihood of preterm and low birthweight babies; however oral health and personal oral infection control may be helpful. Te purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of limited personal oral infection control among pregnant West Virginia Appalachian women and poor birth outcomes (preterm and low birthweight babies). Methods. A secondary data analysis of …

Quantitative Ultrafast Spectroscopy And Microscopy Of Traditional And Soft Condensed Matter, Adam Card, Mohammad Mokim, Feruz Ganikhanov

Physics Faculty Publications

We demonstrate and analyze a series of experiments in traditional and soft condensed matter using coherent optical spectroscopy and microscopy with ultrafast time resolution. We show the capabilities of resolving both real and imaginary parts of the third-order nonlinearity in the vicinity of Raman resonances from a medium probed within microscopic volumes with an equivalent spectral resolution of better than 0.1 cm⁻¹. We can differentiate between vibrations of various types within unit cells of crystals, as well as perform targeted probes of areas within biological tissue. Vibrations within the TiO₆ octahedron and the ones for the Ti-O-P …

Cannabis Shenanigans: Advocating For The Restoration Of An Effective Treatment Of Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury., Daniel E. Graves, Phd

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Faculty Papers

Cannabis is an effective treatment for pain following spinal cord injury that should be available to patients and researchers. The major argument against the rescheduling of cannabis is that the published research is not convincing. This argument is disingenuous at best, given that the evidence has been presented and rejected at many points during the political dialog. Moreover, the original decision to criminalize cannabis did not utilize scientific or medical data. There is tension between the needs of a society to protect the vulnerable by restricting the rights of others to live well and with less pain. It is clear …

Gwu Alumnus Pursues Graduate Degree In Osteopathic Medicine, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

Gabriel Nold’s talents as a lineman gained him a spot on the football team at Gardner-Webb University. Besides the chance to play in Division I, the 2017 alumnus from Tampa, Fla., also wanted a college with a strong science program to prepare him for medical school. He accepted the GWU athletic scholarship after visiting the campus.

Developmental Seizures And Mortality Result From Reducing Gabaa Receptor Α2-Subunit Interaction With Collybistin, Rochelle M. Hines, Hans Michael Maric, Dustin J. Hines, Amit Modgil, Patrizia Panzanelli, Yasuko Nakamura, Anna J. Nathanson, Alan Cross, Tarek Deeb, Nicholas J. Brandon, Paul Davies, Jean-Marc Fritschy, Hermann Schindelin, Stephen J. Moss

Psychology Faculty Research

Fast inhibitory synaptic transmission is mediated by γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAARs) that are enriched at functionally diverse synapses via mechanisms that remain unclear. Using isothermal titration calorimetry and complementary methods we demonstrate an exclusive low micromolar binding of collybistin to the α2-subunit of GABAARs. To explore the biological relevance of collybistin-α2-subunit selectivity, we generate mice with a mutation in the α2-subunit-collybistin binding region (Gabra2-1). The mutation results in loss of a distinct subset of inhibitory synapses and decreased amplitude of inhibitory synaptic currents. Gabra2–1 mice have a striking phenotype characterized by increased susceptibility to seizures and early mortality. …

Design And Synthesis Of Circadian Clock Modulators And The Study Of Lov Domain Protein Lkp2 In Arabidosis Thaliana And Brassica Rapa, Aditi Nagar

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Circadian rhythms are self-autonomous endogenous clocks synchronized with the rotation of the Earth. With the Earth’s rotation and revolution on its axis, the internal clock undergoes oscillation in the period of ~24 hour and governs day to day activities in most organisms. In humans, it regulates the day to day physiological activities. Today’s modern lifestyle has an impact on health: shift work, jet lag, and irregular eating habits contribute to the misalignment of the endogenous circadian oscillator, thereby, increasing the risk of many metabolic disorders including diabetes, irregular blood pressure, sleep disorders, obesity, depression, and cancer. The primary goal of …

Full Slate Of Fulbrights, Jennifer Saunders

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Meeting The Need, University Of Dayton

News Releases

The first students in a new Dreamers Program, created to fund scholarships for people affected by changing U.S. immigration laws, graduated this summer from the University of Dayton with a certificate that allows them to teach English as a foreign language.

Discovery-Based Research, Dave Larsen

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

This fall, University of Dayton assistant professor Yvonne Sun will introduce students in her microbiology lab course to the potential rewards and pitfalls of real-world research through her new partnership with the Tiny Earth network.

Hucbc Treatment Of Amyloid-Associated Disease, Jun Tan, Paul R. Sanberg

USF Patents

Administration of human umbilical cord blood cells (HUCBC) or HUCBC-derived plasma is used to treat amyloid-based diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, cerebral amyloid antigopathy, and type-II diabetes. Modulating inflammatory reactions by infusing HUCBC resulted in a marked reduction of amyloid plaques and immune-associated cellular damage. HUCBC infusion also significantly reduced cerebral amyloid angiopathy in mice models. These effects were associated with suppression of the CD40-CD40L interaction and a reduction in surface expressed CD-40 was observed on immune cells. Further, Aβ phagocytic activity was increased and soluble and insoluble Aβ protein levels were modulated by treatment. HUCBC-infused sera also …

David A. Puleo Named New Engineering Dean, Edwin B. Smith

University of Mississippi News

Former Kentucky associate dean brings years of leadership experience, vision to position

Professional Heartbreakers: Male Entertainers And The Divide Between Popular Culture And History In Japan, Meradeth Lin Edwards

Theses

While prostitution in Japan is widely studied, there are seldom specific examinations of males in these roles. This paper uses primary sources and secondary sources to study men as purchasable commodities, and how these roles have shaped the fictional world as well as the real world in Japan.

Indirect Imaging Using Heterodyne Remote Digital Holography, Muralidhar Madabhushi Balaji

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Conventional line-of-sight imaging techniques rely on detecting light paths bouncing from the object and reaching directly to the detector. Absence of any such direct light paths from object to detector results in a failure to recover any useful information using conventional techniques. The absence of direct light paths from object to detector can be observed in several real-world scenarios such as looking around a corner, imaging through turbid media, imaging through tissue etc.

The focus of this thesis is pertaining to the problem of looking around corners (or) imaging object hidden from line of sight at macroscopic scales. This thesis …

A Tissue-Based Draft Map Of The Murine Mhc Class I Immunopeptidome., Heiko Schuster, Wenguang Shao, Tobias Weiss, Patrick G A Pedrioli, Patrick Roth, Michael Weller, David S Campbell, Eric W Deutsch, Robert L Moritz, Oliver Planz, Hans-Georg Rammensee, Ruedi Aebersold, Etienne Caron

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

The large array of peptides presented to CD8+ T cells by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules is referred to as the MHC class I immunopeptidome. Although the MHC class I immunopeptidome is ubiquitous in mammals and represents a critical component of the immune system, very little is known, in any species, about its composition across most tissues and organs in vivo. We applied mass spectrometry (MS) technologies to draft the first tissue-based atlas of the murine MHC class I immunopeptidome in health. Peptides were extracted from 19 normal tissues from C57BL/6 mice and prepared for MS injections, resulting …

Climatically Driven Changes In Primary Production Propagate Through Trophic Levels, David C. Stoner, Joseph O. Sexton, David M. Choate, Jyoteshwar Nagol, Heather H. Bernales, Steven A. Sims, Kirsten E. Ironside, Kathleen M. Longshore, Thomas C. Edwards Jr.

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Climate and land‐use change are the major drivers of global biodiversity loss. Their effects are particularly acute for wide‐ranging consumers, but little is known about how these factors interact to affect the abundance of large carnivores and their herbivore prey. We analyzed population densities of a primary and secondary consumer (mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus, and mountain lion, Puma concolor) across a climatic gradient in western North America by combining satellite‐based maps of plant productivity with estimates of animal abundance and foraging area derived from Global Positioning Systems telemetry data (GPS). Mule deer density exhibited a positive, linear relationship with plant …

Influence Of Commercial Dna Extraction Kit Choice On Prokaryotic Community Metrics In Marine Sediment, Gustavo Ramirez, Dennis Graham, Steven D’Hondt

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Commercial DNA extraction kits are widely used for cultivation‐free surveys of marine sediment. However, the consequences of popular extraction‐kit choices for sequence‐based biological inferences about marine sedimentary communities have not previously been exhaustively assessed. To address this issue, we extracted DNA from multiple paired subsamples of marine sediment using two popular commercial extraction kits (MO BIO Laboratories PowerSoil® DNA isolation kit and MP Biomedicals FastDNATM Spin Kit for Soil). We report comparisons of (1) total DNA yield, (2) extract purity, (3) gene‐targeted quantification, and (4) post‐sequencing ecological inferences in near‐seafloor (< 1 meter below seafloor [mbsf]) and subsurface (> 1 mbsf) marine sediment. In near‐seafloor sediment, the MP …

Social Dimensions Of Urban Flood Experience, Exposure, And Concern, Rebecca L. Hale, Courtney Flint, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, Joanna Endter-Wada

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

With growing urban populations and climate change, urban flooding is an important global issue, even in dryland regions. Flood risk assessments are usually used to identify vulnerable locations and populations, flooding experience patterns, or levels of concern about flooding, but rarely are all of these approaches combined. Furthermore, the social dynamics of flood concerns, exposure, and experience are underexplored. We combined geographic and survey data on household‐level measures of flood experience, concern, and exposure in Utah's urbanizing Wasatch Front. We asked: (1) Are socially vulnerable groups more likely to be exposed to flood risk? (2) How common are flooding experiences …

A Population-Based Model Of The Temporal Memory In The Hippocampus, Sorinel A. Oprisan, Mona Buhusi, Catalin V. Buhusi

Psychology Faculty Publications

Spatial and temporal dimensions are fundamental for orientation, adaptation, and survival of organisms. Hippocampus has been identified as the main neuroanatomical structure involved both in space and time perception and their internal representation. Dorsal hippocampus lesions showed a leftward shift (toward shorter durations) in peak-interval procedures, whereas ventral lesions shifted the peak time toward longer durations. We previously explained hippocampus lesion experimental findings by assuming a topological map model of the hippocampus with shorter durations memorized ventrally and longer durations more dorsal. Here we suggested a possible connection between the abstract topological maps model of the hippocampus that stored reinforcement …

Wave And Tidal Controls On Embayment Circulation And Headland Bypassing For An Exposed, Macrotidal Site, Rj Mccarroll, Gerd Masselink, Nieves G. Valiente, Tim Scott, Erin V. King, Daniel Conley

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Alternative Launch Funding For Student Nanosatellite Missions, Katie Gwozdecky, Stephen Dodge

Small Satellite Conference

Amateur aerospace projects are becoming commonplace in Canada including those developing small satellites. The greatest hurdle for teams developing these is often acquiring funding to launch. Current methods include crowdfunding and high volume corporate donation. The University of Toronto Aerospace Team’s Space Systems Division succeeded with an alternative: student levy funding. UTAT-SS passed a referendum to raise over $400,000 Canadian Dollars to fund the launch of the UTAT-SS nanosatellite, HERON Mk II. These funds may kickstart a launch program at the University, the first of its kind in Canada. This levy charges students $2.77 per semester, renewable every two years. …

Tsat4: A Modular 3u Cubesat Characterizing Anabaena Cylindrica In Low Earth Orbit, Matthew Driedger, Morgan Taverner, Valorie Platero

Small Satellite Conference

TSAT4 is the fourth iteration of the University of Manitoba Space Applications and Technology Society’s 3U nanosatellite design with a decentralized modular systems architecture that supports a biological payload. The payload tests the effects of exposure to a low earth orbit (LEO) environment on the growth cycle of Anabaena cylindrica bacteria. In addition to providing a potential base tropic layer for more advanced biological experiments, Anabaena cylindrica has shown potential for use in bioreactors for spacecraft life support and food production. As such, detailed characterization of how their lifecycle is affected by the LEO environment will be an important factor …