Anomalous scaling behavior in Takens-Bogdanov bifurcations

A general algorithm is presented for estimating the nonlinear instability threshold, $\sigma_c$, for subcritical transitions in systems where the linearized dynamics is significantly non-normal (i.e. subcritical bifurcations of {\em Takens-Bogdanov} type). The $N$-dimensional degenerate node is presented as an example. The predictions are then compared to numerical studies with excellent agreement.Comment: 6 page

Synthesis of 4-Thiazolidinone Small Molecules as Potential Inhibitors of the Arp2/3 Complex

Life-essential cellular processes such as endocytosis, motility, and division rely on a cell’s ability to precisely regulate construction of actin filaments in response to external factors and signals. Intrinsically involved in this process is the Actin Related Protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) Complex, a seven-subunit ATPase that functions by nucleating a daughter branch of actin from the side of a pre-existing microfilament. Active Arp2/3 complex is necessary for the proliferation of certain metastatic cancers, and inhibition of Arp2/3 complex is emerging as a potentially useful treatment strategy for such cancers. We describe synthesis and in vitro assays of 4-thiazolidinones predicted by computational methods to inhibit of Arp2/3 Complex strongly, and therefore serve as potential lead compounds for drug development. Known Arp2/3 inhibitor CK-869 serves as the starting point for derivative synthesis. We discuss the efforts towards the synthesis of new compounds and the biochemical data collected about their potency

Characterizing the expression pattern and function of Tartan during Drosophila development

The development of complex structures and organs by multicellular organisms relies on the ability of epithelial cells to self-organize. Epithelia are sheets of connected cells, and compartment boundaries are formed between certain epithelial cells to create distinct tissue compartments. Compartment boundaries are specialized cell-cell interfaces that are enriched for the cytoskeletal proteins actin and myosin, leading to straight cell edges under relatively high tension that act as fences keep cells from moving between compartments. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly), compartment boundaries in the early embryo are established in response to the non-uniform striped expression of the cell-surface receptor Tartan. However, it is poorly understood whether Tartan plays any similar roles during epithelial remodeling during late embryogenesis. I am investigating the hypothesis that Tartan is expressed in non-uniform patterns at other stages of development. To accomplish this, I used immunofluorescence techniques with a Tartan-specific antibody in fixed embryos to reveal Tartan protein localization in later-stage embryos. I found that Tartan protein is indeed present in late-stage embryos, and I show representative images of stage 11-14 Drosophila embryos. These results will serve as the basis for future functional studies of the role of Tartan during later stages of Drosophila development

Gendered Resistance: Women, Slavery, and the Legacy of Margaret Garner

A Far Reaching Look at Slavery Through the Eyes of One Who Lived It In 1856, an enslaved woman named Margaret Garner attempted to obtain freedom by running away with her family. Their quest quickly ended after being discovered by slave catchers. In a last ditch effort to resist her master ...

Strike Me If You Dare : Intimate-Partner Violence, Gender, and Reform, 1865-1920

Between 1865 and 1920, new gender expectations in the postbellum period, as well as the willingness to use the state to intervene in marriages led to social and legal reform that provided a mechanism to empower women and enforce their right to be free from violence. Women emerged from the Civil War more aware about the drawbacks of dependency. The postbellum period also witnessed massive changes with industrialization, which enabled women to participate in what were previously considered male pursuits. With their new awareness and the changes of industrialization, women negotiated a new definition of womanhood, which included the right to be free from intimate-partner violence. Reform organizations also reflected this change and pushed for recognition of this right. Courts, in turn, started to decide cases in favor of abused women, depriving men of the antiquated right of chastisement. After the 1890s, however, the issue of race in the South perverted intimate-partner violence into a method of disenfranchising African Americans. In the North, the rise of scientific experts by the 1920s helped conservative gender expectations to change public policies for abused women. These changes washed away progress towards addressing the problem of intimate-partner violence. This dissertation applies the lens of gender to intimate-partner violence from 1865 to 1920 and offers insight to the history of gender and the law. It shows not only that gender is a process, created and recreated by the public depending on the historical context, but also that the social construction of gender has real consequences for men and women. Moreover, this dissertation complicates the view that history is necessarily progressive. Rather than a straight line, the path towards ending intimate-partner violence appears more like a wave with advancements and major setbacks. Change was not steady, and the social problem of abuse did not become incrementally better over time. This perhaps does not offer solace to the modern-day movement against intimate-partner violence, promising things will get better over time, but it does encourage more critical analysis of the multifaceted problem of intimate-partner violence and the way evolving beliefs about gender have shaped American society’s reactions and responses to gender based violence

The Merit of Inclusion: A Policy Review Examining the Convergence of Special Education and Inclusions Policies with Compensatory Medicaid Policies in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally recognized the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as a global pandemic. This global issue compelled governments to announce careful virus containing policies in order to prevent further spread and control of the disease. Although it has been proven that measures like social isolation could aid in scaling the spread of illness, the resulting extended school closures that occurred in response to an increased number of COVID-19 outbreaks posed significant challenges for all students, but especially those students with special needs. The unpredictable nature of COVID-19 at the outset of the pandemic presented didactic stakeholders with several hurdles stemming from uncertainty concerning how to guarantee student safety and account for continuing modifications to instructional delivery and, most importantly for this study, services to special needs students

The rise of the surgical age in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis: a case study of the Mississippi State Sanatorium

The historiography of tuberculosis, “TB,” covers four periods in the United States. During the Victorian Age, TB was classified as consumption. After Robert Koch’s discovery of the tubercle bacillus in the 1882, the germ theory took precedence. The early 1900s saw the rise of the Sanatorium Age, and finally, the antibiotic revolution of the 1940s and 1950s began the current understanding of the disease. Missing from this periodization is an era in which surgery took precedence as the preferred treatment for tuberculosis. This study corrects the historiography by arguing for a recognizable Surgical Age in the 1930s and 1940s. With the benefits of hindsight, historians have dismissed the Surgical Age. Many fail to make any mention of it at all. Those scholars who do tend to lump surgery in with the Sanatorium Age, assuming surgical treatment was simply an extension of the rest cure. The few who do recognize the Surgical Age as a distinct era mistakenly dismiss it as a negligible “blip” before the discovery of antibiotics. All of these scholars miss the crucial importance of the Surgical Age and the interplay of politics, medicine, and the public in shaping it. This study examines the Mississippi State Sanatorium as a case study of the Surgical Age. In hindsight, we can see that surgery did not produce the most favorable results in treating tuberculosis, but the fact is, surgeons and physicians at the time thought that it did. Politicians promoted it to their constituents. And the public, in turn, demanded it. For two decades, surgical therapy dominated the pioneering techniques for pulmonary tuberculosis treatment. To correct the historical narrative, the Surgical Age needs to be recognized as a separate era that rose out of the sanatorium’s search for legitimacy during the Great Depression. As this thesis shows, this legitimacy was contingent upon the ongoing support of the public, politicians, physicians, and patients