White savior projects: An examination of the Antitrafficking Social Movement

For this dissertation, I conduct an ethnography of three antitrafficking programs; interview 38 activists and survivors of trafficking; and analyze organizational texts, websites, and social media. I examine the history of the antitrafficking movement. Among the three organizations, activists provide housing; food, clothing, and hygiene items; medical services; mental health services and counseling; mentorship; education for survivors; a 24-hour hotline; outreach; case management and referrals; training for law enforcement; a drop-in center; and education and awareness events. I examine activists’ diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing of sex trafficking, and other framing tactics, such as frame alignment, frame diffusion, frame resonance, and cycles of protest. Activists within the three organizations connect sex trafficking to the Atlantic Slave Trade, referring to human trafficking as “modern-day slavery.” Activists also frame trafficking as happening in “our own backyards;” happening primarily to girls and women; and conflate sex work and sex trafficking. Activists believe that sex trafficking is caused by childhood sexual abuse, pornography and pornography addiction, and systems of oppression. I find that evangelical Christianity influences the organizations through services for survivors, training for staff and the public, the recruitment of staff and volunteers at church, and the practice of Christianity in front of and with survivors. I also find that evangelical activists employ language and strategies that cast them as white saviors seeking to ‘rescue’ survivors. There are several factors that have contributed to the success of the antitrafficking movement, such as increased political opportunities, resource mobilization, effective leadership, strategic use of grievances, and cultural context. Activists face several challenges in their work, namely lack of funding and resources, like housing. For the future, activists would like to see increased punishment of clients and traffickers; reductions in pornography and pornography addiction; increased education and awareness about trafficking; installation of survivors in leadership; and increased funding. I conclude by recommending that sex work and sex trafficking be distinguished in research, legislation, policies, and practice; rehabilitation of traffickers and clients; and make systematic changes to lessen the factors which contribute to trafficking

SORTING OUT CONCERN: EUROPEAN ATTITUDES TOWARD HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Human trafficking is a global phenomenon, which is sometimes conflated with other cross-national social problems. While trafficking certainly occurs within countries, much of it occurs across borders. In this paper we examine one of the only available datasets that addresses individual concern about human trafficking: the Eurobarometer 2003. Individual concern about human trafficking matters, especially in democracies, because government policy is in part shaped by citizen preferences. When democratic governments are not responsive to citizens, they risk being voted out in the next election cycle. What we find is that concern for human trafficking varies by gender, age, marital status, income, political preference, distance from Africa and Asia, and percent immigrant. More interesting, we find that concern for human trafficking looks a lot like concern for illegal immigration. We discuss the multiple meanings of “concern”, the implications for public policy based on attitudinal research, the importance of asking the right questions, and the need for education on what human trafficking

Surrogate models for direct dark matter detection

In this work we introduce RAPIDD, a surrogate model that speeds up the computation of the expected spectrum of dark matter particles in direct detection experiments. RAPIDD replaces the exact calculation of the dark matter differential rate (which in general involves up to three nested integrals) with a much faster parametrization in terms of ordinary polynomials of the dark matter mass and couplings, obtained in an initial training phase. In this article, we validate our surrogate model on the multi-dimensional parameter space resulting from the effective field theory description of dark matter interactions with nuclei, including also astrophysical uncertainties in the description of the dark matter halo. As a concrete example, we use this tool to study the complementarity of different targets to discriminate simplified dark matter models. We demonstrate that RAPIDD is fast and accurate, and particularly well-suited to explore a multi-dimensional parameter space, such as the one in effective field theory approach, and scans with a large number of evaluations

Diets of Invasive Channel Catfish are Subsidized by Invasive Riparian Trees

Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is an invasive, fruit- bearing riparian tree that dominates riparian zones of the San Juan River in the southwestern United States. Previous research in this river suggests olive fruit is common in diets of invasive channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), but its energetic importance is unknown (i.e. critical for catfish fitness vs. incidental consumption). We assessed Russian olive consumption in channel catfish diets bimonthly for 1 year, hypothesizing that olive consumption would be greatest during periods of high olive availability and low benthic aquatic invertebrate availability. We found that catfish consumed olive fruit throughout the year and that olive comprised up to 44% of total stomach contents by mass, with peaks in spring and fall. Regression models revealed the presence and mass of olive fruit in catfish stomachs were positively associated with catfish total length, with a significant interaction between water temperature and river discharge. Catfish were more likely to consume olive fruit during higher flows, regardless of temperature and at low discharge with higher temperature. Contrary to our hypothesis, neither olive nor benthic invertebrate availability were associated with olive presence in channel catfish diets. Nutrition analysis indicated that olive alone was a low-quality diet item but has the potential to provide a reliable energy source. We used seasonal data to estimate the energetic contribution of olive fruit to catfish populations using a bioen-ergetic model, which estimated that olive fruit accounted for 35.6% of energy (Joules) consumed by catfish populations and satisfied 38% of their metabolic demand. Our results suggest that Russian olive fruit is a significant subsidy to channel catfish in the San Juan River. However, more research is needed to determine the indirect effects of this interaction on native fishes and ecosystem function

A Diet Containing Soybean Oil Heated for Three Hours Increases Adipose Tissue Weight but Decreases Body Weight in C57BL/6 J Mice

Background: Our previous work showed that dietary oxidized linoleic acid given, as a single fatty acid, to LDL receptor knockout mice decreased weight gain as compared to control mice. Other studies have also reported that animals fed oils heated for 24 h or greater showed reduced weight gain. These observations, while important, have limited significance since fried foods in the typical human diet do not contain the extreme levels of oxidized lipids used in these studies. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of a diet containing soybean oil heated for 3 h on weight gain and fat pad mass in mice. Additionally, because PPARγ and UCP-1 mediate adipocyte differentiation and thermogenesis, respectively, the effect of this diet on these proteins was also examined. Findings: Four to six week old male C57BL/6 J mice were randomly divided into three groups and given either a low fat diet with heated soybean oil (HSO) or unheated soybean oil (USO) or pair fed for 16 weeks. Weight and food intake were monitored and fat pads were harvested upon the study’s termination. Mice consuming the HSO diet had significantly increased fat pad mass but gained less weight as compared to mice in the USO group despite a similar caloric intake and similar levels of PPARγ and UCP1. Conclusion: This is the first study to show that a diet containing soybean oil heated for a short time increases fat mass despite a decreased weight gain in C57BL/6 J mice. The subsequent metabolic consequences of this increased fat mass merits further investigation