From The ‘Gram to Global Intifada: The Media’s Role in Shaping Views on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This thesis investigates how media framing shapes American perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It introduces the concept of Strategic Victim Identity Activation (SVIA), a process by which identity cues—gender, ethnicity, and nationality—are used to influence emotional responses and political attitudes. Drawing on literature from media theory, social psychology, and international relations, the study explores how victimhood is not a static condition but a constructed identity designed to gain moral legitimacy. Using an original survey experiment with 1,500 Americans, participants were exposed to news excerpts framed with varying identity markers. Results show that low-familiarity respondents were most affected by layered identity frames, demonstrating increased concern and support for victimized groups. High-familiarity respondents showed more fixed attitudes, likely shaped by long-term exposure and preexisting biases. The findings reveal that cumulative identity framing can intensify polarization, especially in digital media environments where emotionally charged content is prioritized. By highlighting how victimhood is performed and perceived through media, this thesis offers new insight into the politics of sympathy, the role of narrative in foreign policy opinion, and the deeper structures driving American responses to global conflict

Activated Carbon : Synthesis, Analysis, and Industrial Applications

Activated Carbon: Synthesis, Analysis, and Industrial Applications explores the fundamentals of activated carbon production and characterization, modification techniques and applications of machine learning in the field of activated carbon synthesis and applications. The book is divided into three parts to enable readers and researchers of all levels easy access to the information herein. Section 1 is on Synthesis methods and characterization techniques. The next six chapters on Section 2 focus on diverse industrial applications of activated carbon. The last section is on machine learning applications as well as research progress in activated carbon synthesis, modification, and diverse applications.Written for researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, academics, and industry professionals in the fields of sustainable environmental science and chemical engineering, this book will be a welcomed reference for those who wish to better understand the role of activated carbon in solving sustainability challenges in the world related to energy shortage, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental issues. -- back coverhttps://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/books/1327/thumbnail.jp

A Bittersweet Experience: Language Brokering Attitudes and Experiences Among Latinx Young Adults

Objective: Language brokering, the practice of translating or interpreting, has been identified as a prevalent event among Latinx youth in the United States. This study aimed to investigate the psychological and interpersonal processes that affect the experiences of Latinx young people who serve as language brokers. Methods: Utilizing a simultaneous mixed-methods approach, this study investigated the influence of parent-child relationships, familism as a cultural value, burden attitudes, psychological well-being, and personality traits on language brokering experiences. Quantitative data was collected through a Qualtrics survey, which was analyzed using SPSS. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using NVivo. Results: Findings revealed that the quality of the relationships between broker and parent influenced attitudes of burden toward adopting and maintaining the broker role. Additionally, pre-existing psychological distress was associated with more negative attitudes toward language brokering. Personality traits did not contribute significantly to language brokering attitudes, besides a positive correlation between negative emotionality (neuroticism) and psychological distress. Conclusions: The results indicate that language brokering is a multidimensional experience, with both positive and negative effects, shaped by family relationships, cultural values, and the individual’s personality

All Wrapped Up: How Choice of Egg Wrapping Substrate During Oviposition Site Selection Affects Predation and Embryonic Growth in Eastern Newts

Parental care behaviors have a significant impact on the survivorship of offspring and therefore the inclusive fitness of the parent. These behaviors are broad and varied and include defending against predators, acquiring food, and choosing where to lay their eggs. The latter, oviposition site selection, has significant impact on embryo survivorship in oviparous animals, as the chosen sight can impact factors such as incubation temperature, predation risk, and resource availability. For amphibians, oviposition site selection is particularly crucial as their eggs lack a calcareous shell, leaving them more susceptible to environmental conditions and predation. In response to this, amphibians have evolved diverse and adaptive oviposition site selection behaviors to keep their aquatic embryos and larvae protected and hydrated. Though most oviparous amphibians lay their eggs in large masses, many newt species in the family Salamandridae lay individual eggs that they then wrap in materials found in the water. This unique behavior likely has a higher parental cost compared to laying in masses, but may offer some benefits, such as predator defense. With this oviposition site selection behavior comes a distinct choice: female newts wrap their eggs in either live aquatic vegetation or dead leaf litter, and each material chosen may confer unique benefits to the embryos. While some benefits of egg-wrapping have been studied, the effects of different wrapping materials on embryo development and predation rates remain undocumented. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the benefits and mechanisms of the unique egg-wrapping behavior by female newts. Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) were chosen as a model species because they wrap their eggs in two 6 different materials: aquatic vegetation and dead leaves. Aquatic vegetation might supply additional oxygen to developing embryos while dead leaves may offer enhanced predator protection. We hypothesized that these two different wrapping materials would result in differing impacts on egg predation and embryonic development, and that predator presence would influence oviposition material choice in female newts. In the case of material choice, we hypothesized that females’ oviposition site selection would be influenced by the presence of egg predators, and that they would choose to lay eggs in either dead leaves or aquatic vegetation at differing rates depending on predator exposure. In the case of predation, we hypothesized that the predation rate would change depending on the material the eggs were wrapped in, if any. And in the case of development, we hypothesized that the two different egg wrapping materials used by newts would impact embryonic growth and development. To test these hypotheses, we ran three experiments in the springs of 2023 and 2024. The first laboratory experiment, outlined in Chapter 1, investigated whether the presence of an egg predator - Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) tadpoles - would affect females’ oviposition site choice of dead leaves or live aquatic vegetation. To do this, we utilized growth chambers and individual aquariums to provide controlled conditions that would allow the females to be exposed to visual and chemical cues from the tadpoles without the tadpoles able to access the eggs laid. We predicted that females housed with tadpoles (N = 10) would choose to wrap their eggs in dead leaves presumably because of enhanced predator protection by deal leaves, and females housed without tadpoles (N = 10) would choose to wrap their eggs in live aquatic vegetation presumably because of 7 additional oxygen provision to the embryo. I ran this experiment twice, and both times there were not enough eggs laid to test these predictions. Chapter 2 outlines a laboratory predation experiment to investigate whether different egg-wrapping materials affected predation rates using Wood Frog tadpoles and Eastern Newt eggs. I collected Eastern Newt eggs that were wrapped in either dead leaves or aquatic vegetation, a portion of which I then unwrapped. I then exposed groups of these eggs (N = 25 per treatment) to Wood Frog tadpoles for them to predate. We predicted that eggs wrapped in dead leaves would be eaten at the lowest rate, unwrapped eggs at the highest rate, and eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation between the two. Eggs wrapped in dead leaves were eaten significantly less than eggs with no wrapping, but there was no significant difference between eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation and eggs with no wrapping, and no significant difference between eggs wrapped in dead leaves and eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation. Finally, Chapter 3 outlines a laboratory experiment investigating whether the two different egg-wrapping materials - dead leaves or live aquatic vegetation - impact newt embryo development. We collected Eastern Newt eggs wrapped with the two different materials from mesocosms, in which gravid female newts were kept, and placed them in individual containers in growth chambers programmed to mimic outdoor conditions (N= 20 per treatment), then measured body size and larval period of the hatchlings. We predicted that eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation would hatch faster and larger than eggs wrapped in dead leaves. Embryos from eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation hatched on average three days earlier than those wrapped in dead leaves. However, the embryos from eggs 8 wrapped in live aquatic vegetation had shorter body length compared to those from eggs wrapped in dead leaves. Despite their smaller body sizes, the growth rate for eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation was significantly higher than that of eggs wrapped in dead leaves. The results from the studies outlined above suggest that the types of wrapping materials, dead leaves and live aquatic vegetation, have varying effects on larval development and predation rates. The results indicate that live aquatic vegetation confers developmental benefits to the embryos such as increased growth rate and shorter hatching time, while dead leaves are likely to provide improved protection from aquatic predators. We also found that larvae from live aquatic vegetation hatched smaller than larvae from eggs wrapped in dead leaves, and the predation rates between eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation and dead leaves were similar. These findings underscore the need for further research with increased sample sizes into the mechanisms underlying the unique oviposition site selection behaviors of Eastern Newts

WORLDS BUILT AND BORROWED: A PARACOSMIC EXPLORATION OF THE METATEXTUAL UNCONSCIOUS

This thesis explores literary phenomenology through the lens of fictional world-building and borrowing, integrating psychoanalytic play theories and reader response criticism, primarily through the works of D.W. Winnicott, Stanley Fish, and Wolfgang Iser. In applying this theoretical approach, the thesis investigates how fictional worlds function as intermediary phenomena through which creators can externalize and process their individual or collective experiences of being. Employing a comprehensive literary survey framework, the project spans a diverse range of texts, from canonical literature, such as the Brontës’ juvenilia and Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, to contemporary works like Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight and E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey. By establishing literary worlds as externally preserved phenomenological expressions, the thesis reveals a transauthorial relationship between author, reader, and researcher, in which interpretation and recreative engagement facilitate narrative continuation. Through this process, a literary metatext, once unconscious, begins to emerge and gradually revives the functionality of fiction as a dynamic, imaginative play space where the full range of human experience can be explored and expressed

A Complete Inference System for Probabilistic Infinite Trace Equivalence

We present the first sound and complete axiomatization of infinite trace semantics for generative probabilistic transition systems. Our approach is categorical, and we build on recent results on proper functors over convex sets. At the core of our proof is a characterization of infinite traces as the final coalgebra of a functor over convex algebras. Somewhat surprisingly, our axiomatization of infinite trace semantics coincides with that of finite trace semantics, even though the techniques used in the completeness proof are significantly different

INVESTIGATING SUBERIC ACID POLYMORPHISM AND CAFFEINE–GLUTARIC ACID CO-CRYSTAL FORMATION VIA DROPLET EVAPORATION TECHNIQUES

The control of solid-state properties is central to advancing pharmaceutical and industrial processes. In industries such as pharmaceuticals and food science, the solid-state form, including polymorphic structure, plays a critical role in determining solubility, stability, bioavailability, and product performance. The molecular arrangement within a crystal, as well as transitions between polymorphs, can significantly influence the effectiveness of the final product. This thesis advances the understanding of solid-state behavior by (1) investigating the polymorphism of suberic acid and (2) studying the formation and stability of caffeine–glutaric acid co-crystals, both produced using droplet evaporation at ambient conditions. This study reports the first isolation of a metastable polymorph of suberic acid. In the caffeine–glutaric acid system, Form I was consistently obtained across multiple solvents, contrasting with previous reports in which solvent-assisted grinding predominantly yielded Form II. Structural and thermal analyses were conducted using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and variable-temperature X-ray diffraction (VTXRD). Overall, the results demonstrate that droplet evaporation under ambient conditions is an effective method for controlling polymorphic outcomes and accessing metastable solid forms, offering a promising approach for polymorph screening and co-crystal development in pharmaceutical applications

Medbh McGuckian

This wide-ranging study of one of the most innovative, daring, and important poetic voices in contemporary Ireland analyzes Mebdh McGuckian’s entire corpus, offering both an original contribution to the field of contemporary Irish literary studies and a readable synthesis of existing criticism that will be useful to academics and students. Thematically and methodologically unique, the book examines previously neglected subjects in McGuckian’s work, in particular the poet’s exploration of creativity and performativity, while also emphasizing the cohesiveness of individual volumes in light of the poet’s constant change and development. This critical investigation allows readers a deeper understanding of McGuckian’s topical preoccupations and the evolution of her distinctive poetic voice.https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/bucknell-press/1117/thumbnail.jp