Alienation, Modernization, and Animal Welfare: Human-Animal Relationships at the Farm, State, and Country Levels

Our relationships with animals are important for us as humans, for the environment, and for the animals themselves. In this dissertation I look at the relationships between humans and animals at three scales: farm, U.S. state, and country. Specifically, I address how factors like economic growth, technological innovation, and globalization affect human relationships with animals. Understanding how these factors influence human-animal relationships is important for improving these relationships and deciding which directions will most contribute to sustainable outcomes. I address the social factors that influence human-animal relationships in three studies. In the first study I surveyed and interviewed dairy farmers in Washington. I asked them how farm size and the technologies and practices they used on their farm influenced their relationship with their work and with their cows. I then analyzed how these relationships influenced their overall life satisfaction. Farmers reported that farm size made it difficult to stay connected with their cows but that new technologies helped farmers connect in new ways with their cows while avoiding conventional negative interactions. Both relationships with work and cows were related to life satisfaction, which is important for farmers, who as a population face high levels of stress. In the second study I used data from government sources and the Humane Society of the United States to assess how economic growth influenced farm animal protection in the United States. The results of my analyses suggest that economic growth may have a positive effect on farm animal protection. This is encouraging news for policymakers hoping for win-win scenarios to improve animal welfare – though more research on direct animal welfare is needed. Lastly, in the third study I used data from Voiceless: The Animal Protection Institute and the World Bank to see how economic growth influenced farm animal cruelty on a global scale. The results suggest that economic growth reduces some types of farm animal cruelty but increases others. Trade with high-income countries may have a spillover effect with lower-income countries that reduces farm animal cruelty in those countries

Physics Opportunities with Meson Beams

Over the past two decades, meson photo- and electro-production data of unprecedented quality and quantity have been measured at electromagnetic facilities worldwide. By contrast, the meson-beam data for the same hadronic final states are mostly outdated and largely of poor quality, or even nonexistent, and thus provide inadequate input to help interpret, analyze, and exploit the full potential of the new electromagnetic data. To reap the full benefit of the high-precision electromagnetic data, new high-statistics data from measurements with meson beams, with good angle and energy coverage for a wide range of reactions, are critically needed to advance our knowledge in baryon and meson spectroscopy and other related areas of hadron physics. To address this situation, a state of-the-art meson-beam facility needs to be constructed. The present paper summarizes unresolved issues in hadron physics and outlines the vast opportunities and advances that only become possible with such a facility.Comment: 46 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

Considerations for Antiracist Practices in Sorority and Fraternity Life: A Critical Race Theory Perspective

This conceptual piece uses Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a way to recognize systemic inequities within sorority and fraternity life (SFL) communities, and to advance meaningful change on college campuses. We engage histories, literature, and current events to aid practitioners and scholars in deeper considerations around antiracist education in action. Further, we provide an accompanying case study to offer practical considerations for SFL practitioners, campus administrators, and scholars seeking to engage antiracist work within these communities

Compton Scattering from the Deuteron Above Pion-Production Threshold

The electromagnetic polarizabilities of the nucleon are fundamental nucleon-structure observables that characterize its response to external electromagnetic fields. The neutron polarizabilities can be accessed from Compton-scattering data on light nuclear targets. Recent measurements of the differential cross section for Compton scattering on the deuteron below the pion-production threshold have decreased the uncertainties in the neutron polarizabilities, yet the proton polarizabilities remain known substantially more accurately. As the sensitivity of the cross section to the polarizabilities increases with incident photon energy, measurements above the pion threshold may offer a way for an improved determination of the neutron polarizabilities. In this Rapid Communiciation, the first measurement of the cross section for coherent Compton scattering on the deuteron above the pion-production threshold is presented

Compton Scattering from \u3csup\u3e12\u3c/sup\u3eC Using Tagged Photons in the Energy Range 65–115 MeV

Elastic scattering of photons from 12C has been investigated using quasimonoenergetic tagged photons with energies in the range 65–115 MeV at laboratory angles of 60∘, 120∘, and 150∘ at the Tagged-Photon Facility at the MAX IV Laboratory in Lund, Sweden. A phenomenological model was employed to provide an estimate of the sensitivity of the 12C(γ,γ)12C cross section to the bound-nucleon polarizabilities

Genome-wide scans for footprints of natural selection

Detecting recent selected ‘genomic footprints’ applies directly to the discovery of disease genes and in the imputation of the formative events that molded modern population genetic structure. The imprints of historic selection/adaptation episodes left in human and animal genomes allow one to interpret modern and ancestral gene origins and modifications. Current approaches to reveal selected regions applied in genome-wide selection scans (GWSSs) fall into eight principal categories: (I) phylogenetic footprinting, (II) detecting increased rates of functional mutations, (III) evaluating divergence versus polymorphism, (IV) detecting extended segments of linkage disequilibrium, (V) evaluating local reduction in genetic variation, (VI) detecting changes in the shape of the frequency distribution (spectrum) of genetic variation, (VII) assessing differentiating between populations (FST), and (VIII) detecting excess or decrease in admixture contribution from one population. Here, we review and compare these approaches using available human genome-wide datasets to provide independent verification (or not) of regions found by different methods and using different populations. The lessons learned from GWSSs will be applied to identify genome signatures of historic selective pressures on genes and gene regions in other species with emerging genome sequences. This would offer considerable potential for genome annotation in functional, developmental and evolutionary contexts

Reduced Serotonin Reuptake Transporter (SERT) Function Causes Insulin Resistance and Hepatic Steatosis Independent of Food Intake

Serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) is a key regulator of serotonin neurotransmission and a major target of antidepressants. Antidepressants, such as selectively serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), that block SERT function are known to affect food intake and body weight. Here, we provide genetic evidence that food intake and metabolism are regulated by separable mechanisms of SERT function. SERT-deficient mice ate less during both normal diet and high fat diet feeding. The reduced food intake was accompanied with markedly elevated plasma leptin levels. Despite reduced food intake, SERT-deficient mice exhibited glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, and progressively developed obesity and hepatic steatosis. Several lines of evidence indicate that the metabolic deficits of SERT-deficient mice are attributable to reduced insulin-sensitivity in peripheral tissues. First, SERT-deficient mice exhibited beta-cell hyperplasia and islet-mass expansion. Second, biochemical analyses revealed constitutively elevated JNK activity and diminished insulin-induced AKT activation in the liver of SERT-deficient mice. SERT-deficient mice exhibited hyper-JNK activity and hyperinsulinemia prior to the development of obesity. Third, enhancing AKT signaling by PTEN deficiency corrected glucose tolerance in SERT-deficient mice. These findings have potential implications for designing selective SERT drugs for weight control and the treatment of metabolic syndromes

Careers in context: An international study of career goals as mesostructure between societies’ career-related human potential and proactive career behavior

Careers exist in a societal context that offers both constraints and opportunities for career actors. Whereas most studies focus on proximal individual and/or organisational‐level variables, we provide insights into how career goals and behaviours are understood and embedded in the more distal societal context. More specifically, we operationalise societal context using the career‐related human potential composite and aim to understand if and why career goals and behaviours vary between countries. Drawing on a model of career structuration and using multilevel mediation modelling, we draw on a survey of 17,986 employees from 27 countries, covering nine of GLOBE's 10 cultural clusters, and national statistical data to examine the relationship between societal context (macrostructure building the career‐opportunity structure) and actors' career goals (career mesostructure) and career behaviour (actions). We show that societal context in terms of societies' career‐related human potential composite is negatively associated with the importance given to financial achievements as a specific career mesostructure in a society that is positively related to individuals' proactive career behaviour. Our career mesostructure fully mediates the relationship between societal context and individuals' proactive career behaviour. In this way, we expand career theory's scope beyond occupation‐ and organisation‐related factors