Digital Commons Network^™

The Social Sinthome, Ryan Engley

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Much of the critical discourse on social media misidentifies its problematic features as bugs, or problems to solve. Supposed solutions to these problems tend to focus on individual actions. We should delete the apps, own our own data, never click on recommended videos, and realize that we are the product. But if predatory algorithms succeed by individuating people—selling people “choice” and “options” as it harvests user data—then an entire online ecosystem arranged through the logic of that design can neither be meaningfully challenged nor effectively understood at the level of the individual alone. Transformative action addressing social media can only …

#Emotional: Exploitation & Burnout In Creator Culture, Sarah Thorne

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In recent years, a growing list of content creators have published videos announcing that they are leaving YouTube, taking a break, or reducing their upload schedule (Alexander). Many of these young creators state that their decision resulted from burnout, caused by a relentless schedule and obsession with YouTube’s algorithm and analytics— tools essential to success on this highly competitive creative platform (Srnicek). Its opaque algorithm, however, induces anxiety; an affect described as that which “arises when the subject is confronted by the desire of the Other and does not know what object he is for that desire” (Evans 12). Here, …

“There Is No Pandemic”: On Memes, Algorithms And Other Interpassive Forms Of Right-Wing Disbelief, Scott Krzych

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This essay examines several prominent memes that have circulated on Right-wing social media during the Covid-19 pandemic. The memes coordinate what I describe as a mode of interpassive humor, which positions those who “believe” in the crisis as naïve dupes, infantilizing those subjects who have fallen prey to the idea that they should take the pandemic seriously, and thereby delegating fearfulness to the other so that reactionary Covid-19 denialists may continue with their lives unaffected. The essay thereby seeks to draw suggestive lines of affiliation between studies of digital memes, evolutionary mimetics, and psychoanalytic theory, pointing to the algorithmic …

“Love Thy Social Media!”: Hysteria And The Interpassive Subject, Jack Black

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

According to the 2020 docudrama, The Social Dilemma, our very addiction to “social media” has, today, become encapsulated in the tensions between its facilitation as a mode of interpersonal communication and as an insidious conduit for machine learning, surveillance capitalism and manipulation. Amidst a variety of interviewees – many of whom are former employees of social media companies – the documentary finishes on a unanimous conclusion: something must change. By using the docudrama as a pertinent example of our “social media malaise,” and while remaining aware of the problems and unethical practices encompassing international digital/social media companies, this paper …

Stalking Oneself: The Fantasmatic Intersubjectivity Of Google, Alois Sieben

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This essay reads fictional and non-fictional accounts of digital stalking as signals of larger changes in intersubjectivity itself caused by Google. Most social media platforms trap users in imaginary relations, in which the other is encountered as a complete profile, but Google allows the searcher to locate an absence in the other in the form of a missing search result. As will be shown in an analysis of two contemporary novels whose first-person narrations center around Google-stalking, Caroline Kepnes’s You (2014) and Olivia Sudjic’s Sympathy (2017), Google’s mode of intersubjectivity amounts to an endless tunnel with no light at its …

Lacan And The Algorithm, Clint Burnham

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Exploring the development of algorithms in Lacanian theory, specifically the "R schema" in the 1950s, I argue that psychoanalysis, read through contemporary debates about the "algorithmic cult" of Netflix and other avatars of popular culture, can be said to reveal the inhuman, machinic essence of subjectivity. The etiology of algorithms, mathemes, and other formulae and diagrams in Lacan’s oeuvre has been under-studied, in part because for some readers they are not as attractive as his more bravura flourishes of word play as exegetical excess, and in part because they derive largely from the ‘hard’ structuralist moment of his work in …

Practicum Student Counselor Identity Development Through The Covid-19 Pandemic, Joy Teles Oliveira, Sarah A. Silveus

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

The process of developing a counselor identity is a complex task, and it starts as early as when a student first enrolls in a Master’s program. Within the events surrounding COVID-19, limited information is known about how that experience might have affected counseling students' professional identity development. Through Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, we explored the counselor identity development process of Master’s-level counseling practicum students (n=6) during the events of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging themes indicated that students' experiences throughout the pandemic had a unique influence on their conceptualization of the practicum experience. Findings illustrated that these events slowed some aspects of …

Amicus Brief - Eggers V. Evnen, No. 22-2268, 8th Circuit, August 2, 2022, Anthony Schutz

Nebraska State Constitution

Because Nebraska’s constitutional provision for direct democracy involves voting and the exercise of the People’s legislative authority, it is subject to the principles of Reynolds v. Sims and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This understanding of the People’s power of initiative and referendum as legislative is supported by Nebraska history, as is the severability of the two-fifths, county-distribution requirement from Article III, § 2 of the Nebraska Constitution. The county-distribution requirement fails the one-person-one-vote constraint placed upon States by the federal constitution. As a matter of statistical analysis, that requirement gives more power to voters in counties with …

Malum In Se: La Famine Comme Crime De Guerre Dans Le Droit International, Laura K. Graham

The International Journal of Ethical Leadership Special Volumes

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence As Clinician: An Argument For Ethical Use Of Future Technology In A Medical Setting, Sara Gaines

The International Journal of Ethical Leadership Special Volumes

No abstract provided.

Malum In Se: Starvation Crimes In International Law, Laura K. Graham

The International Journal of Ethical Leadership Special Volumes

No abstract provided.

On Video Games And Freedom, Warren Sexson

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Past, Present, And Future Of Anti-Angiogenic Therapy In Glioblastoma., Ashley B. Zhang, Khashayar Mozaffari, Brian Aguirre, Victor Li, Rohan Kubba, Nilay C Desai, Darren Wei, Isaac Yang, Madhuri Wadehra

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Glioblastoma, a WHO grade IV astrocytoma, constitutes approximately half of malignant tumors of the central nervous system. Despite technological advancements and aggressive multimodal treatment, prognosis remains dismal. The highly vascularized nature of glioblastoma enables the tumor cells to grow and invade the surrounding tissue, and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is a critical mediator of this process. Therefore, over the past decade, angiogenesis, and more specifically, the VEGF signaling pathway, has emerged as a therapeutic target for glioblastoma therapy. This led to the FDA approval of bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody designed against VEGF-A, for treatment of recurrent glioblastoma. Despite the …

Building Foundations For Friendship: Preventing Bullying Behavior In Preschool, Kara M. Mcgoey, Allison Aberson, Bridget Green, Seana Bandi Stewart

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

Early childhood is an essential time for social-emotional learning and the development of appropriate peer interactions. Preschool children also begin to use more physical and verbal forms of aggression and bullying within their relationships with peers. The Building Foundations for Friendship (BFF) curriculum was designed to teach preschool-aged children appropriate social skills to prevent bullying. The topics discussed in this curriculum include developing friendship skills, identifying various peer interactions, and learning how to appropriately respond to a peer’s aggressive behavior. It was hypothesized that preschool students’ social skills and social behavior would improve after implementation of the BFF curriculum. The …

Strategies To Promote Positive Mealtime Behavior In Early Childhood, Hailey E. Ripple, Hallie M. Smith, Kayla Bates-Brantley

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

Picky eating and problem behavior during meals are commonly reported issues among young children, particularly toddlers (Manikam & Perman, 2000). It is estimated that up to 50% of children under the age of 5 experience difficulties during mealtimes (Benjasuwantep et al., 2013). These difficulties may include tantrums when nonpreferred foods are presented, turning their head away from bites, pushing food away, crying, spitting out bites of nonpreferred food, and holding bites in the mouth. Over time, these behaviors can lead to significant limitations in the variety and amount of foods that children consume, thus compromising their growth and development. While …

Non-Aggressive Competition Between Males Of Srilankametrus Yaleensis (Kovařík Et Al., 2019) (Scorpionidae), And Other Types Of Agonistic Behavior Observed In Scorpions, Victoria Tang

Euscorpius

A peculiar intraspecific agonistic behavior involving a non-aggressive physical combat is reported between the adult males of Srilankametrus yaleensis (Kovařík et al., 2019) (Scorpionidae: Heterometrinae). The adult males were observed to resort to a ritualized and relatively gentle way for strength demonstration. The combat is characterized by lateral spreading of pedipalps, chelicerae-to-chelicerae collision, and entanglement of metasomal segments. This behavior is hereby considered a form of an intrasexual combat defined as the “arm-span competition”. It is hypothesized to be beneficial for solving territorial and/ or sexual competitions while avoiding unnecessary mortality which could pose adverse impact to the natural populations. …

A Phenomenological Study Of How Exemplary Elementary Principals Perceive The Five Practices Of The Infinite Mindset Inspire The Achievement Of Extraordinary Results, Jeff Heilig

Dissertations

Purpose. This phenomenological study aimed to explore and describe the perceived impact of the infinite mindset and its five essential practices on exemplary elementary principals to inspire the achievement of extraordinary results. A further purpose was to understand the organizational supports and barriers exemplary leaders perceive affect the development of an infinite mindset.

Methodology. This study explored and described the perceived impact of the infinite mindset on inspiring extraordinary results as perceived by exemplary elementary principals in south Los Angeles County. A thematic team of eight peer researchers and four faculty advisors collaboratively developed the semistructured interview protocol used in …

Brivaracetam To Treat Partial Onset Seizures In Adults., Dustin Latimer, David Le, Evan P. Falgoust, Patrick Ingraffia, Alaa Abd-Elsayed, Elyse M. Cornett, Rupin Singh, Joohee Choi, Giustino Varrassi, Adam M. Kaye, Alan D. Kaye, Latha Ganti

School of Pharmacy Faculty Articles

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Seizures are a hyperexcitable, and hypersynchronous imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory factors (E/I imbalance) in neurotransmission, and epilepsy is the recurrent manifestation of seizures within a reasonable time frame and without being attributable to a reversible cause. Brivaracetam is a derivative of the antiepileptic agent, levetiracetam, that is used as adjuvant therapy for focal onset seizures. It was approved by the FDA in 2016 and has shown promising results with minimal adverse effect reactions in clinical trials.

RECENT FINDINGS: Brivaracetam has been used in multiple clinical trials at various dosages in adults that have partial-onset seizures refractory …

Modelling Strong Lenses From Wide-Field Ground-Based Observations In Kids And Gama, Shawn Knabel, Benne Holwerda, J Nightingale, T Treu, M Bilicki, S Brough, S Driver, L Finnerty, L Haberzettl, S Hegde, A M. Hopkins, K Kuijken, J Liske, A K. Pimblett, R C. Steele, A H. Wright

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Despite the success of galaxy-scale strong gravitational lens studies with Hubble-quality imaging, a number of well-studied strong lenses remains small. As a result, robust comparisons of the lens models to theoretical predictions are difficult. This motivates our application of automated Bayesian lens modelling methods to observations from public data releases of overlapping large ground-based imaging and spectroscopic surveys: Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) and Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA), respectively. We use the open-source lens modelling software PYAUTOLENS to perform our analysis. We demonstrate the feasibility of strong lens modelling with large-survey data at lower resolution as a complementary avenue to studies …

Glycolysis Regulates Kras Plasma Membrane Localization And Function Through Defined Glycosphingolipids, Junchen Liu, Ransome Van Der Hoeven, Walaa E Kattan, Jeffrey T Chang, Dina Montufar-Solis, Wei Chen, Maurice Wong, Yong Zhou, Carlito B Lebrilla, John F Hancock

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Oncogenic KRAS expression generates a metabolic dependency on aerobic glycolysis, known as the Warburg effect. We report an effect of increased glycolytic flux that feeds into glycosphingolipid biosynthesis and is directly linked to KRAS oncogenic function. High resolution imaging and genetic approaches show that a defined subset of outer leaflet glycosphingolipids, including GM3 and SM4, is required to maintain KRAS plasma membrane localization, with GM3 engaging in cross-bilayer coupling to maintain inner leaflet phosphatidylserine content. Thus, glycolysis is critical for KRAS plasma membrane localization and nanoscale spatial organization. Reciprocally oncogenic KRAS selectively upregulates cellular content of these same glycosphingolipids, whose …

Supplementation Of Sulfide Or Acetate And 2-Mercaptoethane Sulfonate Restores Growth Of The Methanosarcina Acetivorans Δhdrabc Deletion Mutant During Methylotrophic Methanogenesis, Alicia M. Salvi, Niaz Bahar Chowdhury, Rajib Saha, Nicole R. Buan

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Methanogenic archaea are important organisms in the global carbon cycle that grow by producing methane gas. Methanosarcina acetivorans is a methanogenic archaeum that can grow using methylated compounds, carbon monoxide, or acetate and produces renewable methane as a byproduct. However, there is limited knowledge of how combinations of substrates may affect metabolic fluxes in methanogens. Previous studies have shown that heterodisulfide reductase, the terminal oxidase in the electron transport system, is an essential enzyme in all methanogens. Deletion of genes encoding the nonessential methylotrophic heterodisulfide reductase enzyme (HdrABC) results in slower growth rate but increased metabolic efficiency. We hypothesized that …

Plan C, Dereck Daschke

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of PLAN C (2023), directed by Tracy Droz Tragos.

Control Of Cultural And Bodily Reproduction: The Denial Of Autonomy In The United States, Peru And Globally, Anna M. Schloerb

Tapestries: Interwoven voices of local and global identities

Statement of Purpose:

This project seeks to look at the ways the state and hegemonic devices of power control cultural and bodily reproduction. It asks the question of how this control inhibits people's reproductive autonomy, cultural identity, language, and generational knowledge transmission. I offer specific examples of how this control has functioned in the US, with immigrants, Indigenous, Black people and other marginalized groups. My grandmother is from Lima, Peru and because of that connection, and the inspiration of this piece, I wanted to use the 1990s-2000s Sterilization in Peru as a case study of hegemonic control happening more globally. …

Toward An Afrofuturist Landscape: A Refutation Of The Deceptive Aesthetics Of Spatial Violence In Wynberg, Cape Town, Benjamin Perry Levy

Tapestries: Interwoven voices of local and global identities

Statement of Purpose: This essay represents a continuation of work that I was fortunate enough to be able to begin while I was studying abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa during the spring 2022 semester. Beyond this, however, this paper represents an exploratory dive into the spatial humanities, particularly with regard to architecture, history, and landscape–an interest of mine that has developed (and which I hope to pursue more [in/ex]tensively in my graduate studies) as I have had the opportunity to learn from Professor Walter Greason, one of my mentors here at Macalester College. Throughout this …

Who’S Really The Imposter Here? An Examination Of The Relationship Between First-Generation College Students And Institutions Of Higher Education Through A Collection Of Oral Histories, Abby Green

Tapestries: Interwoven voices of local and global identities

Statement of Purpose:

Navigating an elite higher education institution has ignited a reaction of rage, a desire for change, and a hope for liberation for me and my peers. My last four years have been clouded by the exhausting cycles of struggling through college, drowning in imposter syndrome, and feeling the cold absence of honest conversation on the adverse layered realities of first-generation college students embedded in these institutions. These cycles left in a puddle of rage with no outlet. This paper is that outlet, grown from my efforts to speak up and bring awareness of the silenced students forced …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Hor Book Of Breathings Analyzed In New Study

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary, by Michael D. Rhodes, was recently published by FARJv1S. This landmark volume is a full publication of the Hor Book of Breathings ( the extant portions of the roll from which Facsimiles 1 and 3 of the Book of Abraham also derive) and includes a transliteration, translation, and philological commentary; a complete glossary of all Egyptian words in the surviving text; and both color and grayscale digital images of the papyri.

New Book Enriches Nt Study

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

A new book from FARMS offers a world of information about the New Testament and its background. Charting the New Testament contains scores of charts, tables, and graphs, each with helpful explanatory and reference materials in a reader-friendly format. Covering a wide array of topics-from the ancient Jewish setting of the New Testament and the world of the Greeks and Romans in which the activities of Jesus and his apostles took place to detailed analysis of the scriptural text itself-the book offers an extensive overview of matters doctrinal, literary, and historical. A companion volume to Charting the Book of Mormon, …

Archiving Blackness: Reimagining And Recreating The Archive(S) As Literary And Information Wake Work, Jamillah R. Gabriel

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

“…we, Black people everywhere and anywhere we are, still produce in, into, and through the wake an insistence on existing: we insist Black being into the wake.”

– Christina Sharpe, In the Wake (2016)

In this paper, I introduce Christina Sharpe’s conceptualizations of wake and wake work, as they pertain to archiving the experiences of Blackness to better understand how the archive and archives are vital for those living and working in the wake of slavery. I am particularly interested in the wake work conducted both in literary works (speculative fiction) and at information sites (archives). To that end, …

Community Oral History To Widen The Path: The Jewish Mobile Oral History Project, Deborah Gurt

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

This article presents the case study of the Jewish Mobile Oral History Project of the McCall Library at the University of South Alabama as an example of a participatory archival practice. With goals to build a collection centered on a minority experience, to engage with community members, and to foster inter-communal dialogue, the project highlights affect as one vital consideration for archival record keepers, users, and subjects.