Testing Evolutionary Conservation of Sex Determination in Lepidoptera Using CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing

The mechanism of sex determination in Lepidoptera is largely unexplored, and limited to knowledge of only a few genes. Adult Lepidoptera have obvious sexually dimorphic qualities, such as their genitalia. However, significant sex determination genes are not imperative for the adult developmental stage. Knockouts of some sex determination genes (doublesex isoforms) are shown to be lethal in the embryonic and larval stages of development in several animals. However, it is unclear whether this is due to their respective impact on sex determination and sexual dimorphism, or the existence of another function, such as pleiotropy, within a particular gene. Moreover, Little is known about the specific impacts of sex determination gene knockouts on Lepidopteran morphology and behavior. This honors thesis explores the effects of knockouts of key sex determination gene masculinizer (masc) in Lepidopteran species Vanessa cardui. masc is thought to be an important gene in some Lepidopteran species, specifically for the persistence of masculinization during embryonic development, and for dosage compensation of chromosomal activation on the Z chromosome. masc expression was knocked out in Vanessa cardui embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing which targeted the masc gene at two different positions within the V. cardui protein-coding sequence. Surviving adult butterflies were observed in order to determine phenotypic differences in sexually dimorphic anatomy and behavior. Specifically, vestigial forelegs were collected from each injected individual and analyzed for mosaic phenotypes. It was found through statistical and morphometric analysis that knockouts of the masc gene have the potential to decrease embryonic survival probability and adult fitness in Vanessa cardui, and produce mosaic phenotypes in surviving male animals. These findings support the hypothesis that masc is conserved across Lepidoptera, including Vanessa cardui

Complexities of Community Consultation in Chile\u27s Lithium Industry

Echoed by November’s COP27 in Egypt, the climate crisis has become an increasingly pressing and global issue, with the need to move away from fossil fuels more urgent than ever. In attempts to decarbonize the global economy, many countries and companies have turned to electrification –particularly within the transportation sector, one of today’s largest contributors of greenhouse gasses. A crucial component of energy storage and batteries is lithium, now considered a “critical mineral.” Demand for lithium has skyrocketed in recent years and is only expected to continue growing. More than fifty percent of the world’s lithium supply is found within Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, located beneath the surface of salt flats, or “salares.” Extraction in this region –termed the Lithium Triangle– raises several critical questions about the global energy transition, including can extraction of these critical minerals, such as lithium, be mined in a just way? Who reaps the benefits of extraction and who pays the cost? Who gets to make the decisions surrounding mining? And how ecologically sustainable is extraction via evaporation of brine? These questions are explored within the context of the Salar de Atacama, a salt flat located in Chile’s Atacama Desert, which was the first site of lithium discovery and brine extraction. Globally and historically, Indigenous peoples have often borne the brunt of extractive industries. To ensure that extraction of a mineral, primarily utilized by consumers in the Global North, does not happen at the expense of Indigenous communities in the Global South, the right to and compliance with Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is crucial. FPIC –recognized by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and ILO Convention 169– obligates states to “obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.” Through the conceptual framing of the Just Transition, this paper analyzes how the Chilean consultation processes related to lithium mining align with four core principles of justice. Though existing literature addresses the variety of socio-environmental externalities through a range of perspectives, such as political ecology, emphasis surrounding consultation is lacking. Ultimately, through literature reviews, analysis of written policies, and interviews, Chilean consultation processes are evaluated within the framework of the Just Transition, exploring the tensions between state and corporate commitments with the lived realities of Indigenous community members

A Close Analysis into the Portrayal of Female Protagonists Through the Lens of Gendered Authorship: Specifically looking into the works of Jane Austen, Frances Burney, John Cleland, and Samuel Richardson

I explore the difference in gendered authorship in 18th century English literature. Choosing to focus on authors such as Jane Austen, Frances Burney, John Cleland, and Samuel Richardson, I aim to see if gender of the author matters in giving a realistic portrayal of eighteenth century British female protagonists, and if there actually is a difference depending on that gender (male or female, specifically). To do this, I perform case study comparisons. All chapters include a close textual analysis of the authors’ use of dialogue and narrative style for depicting their characters. Chapter 1 focuses on the comparison between Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Cleland\u27s Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. Through Austen and Cleland, I determine to what extent the actions and experiences of the protagonists are weighted by the author’s own personal background, and whether this influences the author\u27s approach to the meaning of “realism” through their portrayal of Bennet and Hill. Chapter 2 focuses on the comparison between Burney’s Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady\u27s Entrance into the World and Richardson’s Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. This comparison looks at the extent to which Evelina and Pamela can be categorized as “accurate” to the eighteenth century British-aristocratic female. In the end I find that the author with the most accurate representation of women during this time is John Cleland\u27s Fanny Hill. Then respectively followed by Frances Burney\u27s Evelina, Jane Austen\u27s Pride and Prejudice, and Samuel Richardson\u27s Pamela

A Call Away: Investigating a Solution to Healthcare Access Barriers in Remote Communities

This project focuses on the fact that there exist communities in the United States that are underserved in terms of healthcare. Whether this is due to the community’s geographical (remote) location, lack of education, or other factors, the members of these communities experience disproportionate levels of care. My focus with this project will be the idea that everyone deserves adequate healthcare, regardless of where they live. I focus specifically on one community: Jackman, Maine, which has recently implemented a telemedicine program called ‘FirstNet’ to aid its previously struggling clinic. The Jackman Community Health Center is the only health clinic in Jackman, and is not an adequate size or scope to address the needs of the community without additional assistance. FirstNet, which embodies telemedicine, connects medical professionals with patients in need of care, has served to lessen the strain felt by the few medical assistants on site at Jackman Community Health Center. The project emphasizes the problems faced by rural and remote communities in the context of inadequate healthcare and the potential solution of implementing telemedicine programs to aid its residents and decrease barriers to care. Telemedicine encompasses monitoring, consultation, diagnostic, and post-operative practices, offering the promise of improved healthcare resources to under-resourced communities. By supplying the members of these communities with remote-presence medical devices, I hypothesize they will see increased access to the professional healthcare resources that they may not otherwise have access to

When in Rome, Do as Meloni and Salvini Do: Dissecting the Potentially Extreme Nature of the Political Communication of Italy\u27s New Right-Wing Populist Duo

The fundamental question that this research project aims to answer is: what are the defining characteristics of the style and rhetoric of the communication practices of Italian right-wing populist leadership and how do they relate to those of fascism? After the Italian elections of 2022, in which a right-wing populist coalition led by Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini came to power, further research is necessary to understand the potential implications of this electoral result. Political communication has developed in recent years to shift towards direct communication from the leader to their base through social media and speeches published on YouTube. Through an analysis of this direct political communication from Salvini and Meloni, this study will add to the scholarly understanding of Italian right-wing populist leadership by investigating whether there is a slide toward a more extreme form of right-wing populism occurring. In a time where the popularity and electoral success of right-wing populists have surged, it is important to gain a more comprehensive understanding of whether these leaders are spreading extremist ideas that endanger their country’s democratic system and the rule of law

From Schleswig to Anschluss: The Plebiscites and Referendums of Interwar Germany

This paper aims to bridge the gap between the plebiscites following the First World War and the referendums of the Third Reich. To this point, the literatures on these sets of votes have remained completely separate. No scholars have considered the NSDAP’s votes in the context of the postwar votes. By comparing and contrasting these groups of plebiscites for the first time, this paper will shed light on the democratic backsliding of interwar Germany. This paper argues that when planning their referendums, the leaders of the Third Reich had the immediate postwar plebiscites in mind and were, in some cases, subtly responding to them. When searching for signs of the postwar plebiscites in the Third Reich’s referendums, it will look at three metrics: direct allusions, voting procedures, and propagandistic messaging

Does tssH deletion in Paraburkholderia bonniea affect its symbiosis with Dictyostellum discoideum?

Paraburkholderia are amoeba resistant, gram negative bacteria that form facultative symbiotic relationships with D. discoideum, a soil dwelling amoeba host. Three species of Paraburkholderia, P. agricolaris, P. hayleyella, and P. bonniea are able to persistently infect nonnative, or symbiont free, D. discoideum. These three species share a type III secretion system (T3SS) and type VI secretion system (T6SS) that is absent in other close relatives We hypothesized that the ability to persistently infect D. discoideum may be partially attributed to the T3SS and T6SS shared across the three species of Paraburkholderia. The goal was to test the phenotypic effect of a P. bonniea tssH ATPase gene knockout within the shared T6SS complex. We hypothesized that the ability of the mutant ∆tssH to infect and influence host fitness compared to the wild type would be significantly reduced. To compare the wildtype versus mutant variants of P. bonniea, we performed two assays. In each, D. discoideum hosts were paired with wildtype P. bonniea bb859 and bb433 strains, along with their respective mutant strains. These assays assessed differences between mutant and wildtype strains in changes in host fitness as infection prevalence increases and how host fitness was affected. We also generated and analyzed RNA sequencing data to understand the molecular impact of T6SS perturbation in this amoeba-bacteria symbiosis. Although some phenotypic differences were observed between ∆tssH variants with the tssH-ATPase gene knockout within the T6SS and wildtype P. bonniea infected D. discoideum hosts, their impact on how host fitness changed as infection prevalence increased was not different between the ∆tssH mutant and wildtype. This observation was also reflected in our RNA-sequencing data, where there were no statistically-significant differentially expressed genes between them. However, significant differences were observed between the variants during horizontal transmission, where infection was spread from host to host. Thus, the T6SS may be closely involved with virulence after the bacteria has entered the cell, rather than immediately upon encountering the host

Elliptic Curves Over Finite Fields

The goal of this thesis is to give an expository report on elliptic curves over finite fields. We begin by giving an overview of the necessary background in algebraic geometry to understand the definition of an elliptic curve. We then explore the general theory of elliptic curves over arbitrary fields, such as the group structure, isogenies, and the endomorphism ring. We then study elliptic curves over finite fields. We focus on the number of Fq-rational solutions, Tate modules, supersingular curves, and applications to elliptic curves over Q. In particular, we approach the topic largely through the use of the Frobenius endomorphism. While the earlier sections are written so that the material is applicable to arbitrary fields, much of the presented information was chosen because of its utility to the theory of elliptic curves over finite fields

When Welfare Bites Back: The Consequences of State Intervention on the Future Attitudes and Participation of Children

Over the course of their childhood, 37 percent of children in the United States will be reported to child protective services. This large group of children experienced not only potential abuse or neglect, but also a coercive and discretionary intervention by the state. This paper addresses the understudied policy attitudes and participatory behavior of children who interact with the child welfare system. I argue that children who perceive their interaction with the child welfare system as less justified- in terms of investigations, service provision, and removal from the home- will be less supportive of government spending on welfare programs. While factors such as poverty and educational attainment are correlated with interactions with the child welfare system, they are insufficient on their own to explain variations in support for welfare programs. The interaction with the criminal legal system through the punitive rather than preventative programs of child welfare also increase the likelihood that these children are later arrested, especially among those who perceive their investigation as justified. These interactions with the child welfare state and attitudes towards welfare spending were investigated through an original national online survey of 2,500 respondents aged 18 to 24. Ultimately this paper aims to contribute to work at the intersection of the welfare state and criminal legal system by better understanding the attitudes, values, and political behavior of children after contact with the child welfare system

I versus We: Social Regulations Exacerbated Tension Between Individualism and Collectivism during China’s Twenty-first Century Public Health Emergencies

Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a global public health problem, which stimulated restrictions like lockdowns, public service closures, and strict border controls that disrupted individuals\u27 life patterns to mitigate the potential transmission within communities. Intriguingly, with its adherence to the “zero-COVID tolerance” policy, China represented a unique case in the overall global reopening trend after three years of the pandemic. Such an unwavering, uncompromising stance reflected conflicts between individuals and the Chinese government regarding COVID regulations, which exposed the tension between individualism and government-proposed collectivism. This thesis investigates strict social regulations and the exacerbated tension between individualism and collectivism in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. To examine this topic, I research the dynamics between technology and society in the context of the STS field and Chinese society. The concepts of individualism and collectivism are also explored. Then the thesis analyzes such dynamics with China\u27s twenty-first-century public health emergencies as case studies, which are the 2003 SARS epidemic, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic. For the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, surveillance technologies and public health sciences were applied as the instrument and authorizations for authoritarian social control measures. Such a novel application galvanized the public to express critiques and enact protests against the collective ideology and associated impingement on individual civil liberties. Thus, the strict social regulations unveil the exacerbated tension between individualism and collectivism, which also hint at the adverse implications on China’s social stability and democratic humanity