"Reconsidering Dignity Relationally"

I reconsider the concept of dignity in several ways in this article. My primary aim is to move dignity in a more relational direction, drawing on care ethics to do so. After analyzing the power and perils of dignity and tracing its rhetorical, academic, and historical influence, I discuss three interventions that care ethics can make into the dignity discourse. The first intervention involves an understanding of the ways in which care can be dignifying. The second intervention examines whether the capacity to care should be considered a distinguishing moral power – as rationality often is – in light of which humans have dignity. In the third intervention, I cast dignity as a fundamentally relational concept and argue that relationality is constitutive not only of dignity but also of the wider enterprise of normativity. I understand relationality as the condition of connection in which all human beings stand with some other human beings. A thought experiment involving the last person on earth helps to reframe the normative significance of human relatedness. Dignity emerges as fundamentally grounded in relationality

Evasion of host recognition by phase variation in Haemophilus influenzae

Haemophilus influenzae colonizes the human respiratory tract, and is a major source of disease. Antibody and complement contribute to the limitation of H. influenzae colonization. This work explores bacterial factors that aid in the evasion of antibody recognition and subsequent complement-mediated lysis. Antibody recognition of H. influenzae is affected by the phase variation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structures. Phase variation refers to the stochastic, high frequency on/off switching in gene expression. One phase variable gene, lic1A, controls the attachment of the small molecule phosphorylcholine (ChoP) to the LPS. We found that ChoP-expressing bacteria had reduced antibody binding and increased survival in the presence of complement. Also, ChoP attachment to the LPS increased the stability of the outer membrane, reducing accessibility to host molecules including antibodies. Next, we conducted a screen of genes required for complement resistance in H. influenzae. We found that several LPS phase variable biosynthesis genes are critical for survival in the presence of human antibody and complement. In addition to these, we identified vacJ and the associated yrb genes, which encode an ABC transporter that increases membrane stability and reduces antibody binding. These findings present two different examples of how alterations in outer membrane stability can affect antibody binding to bacterial surface structures. Finally, we examined the dynamics of the contributions of multiple phase variable LPS biosynthesis genes to bacterial survival. We found that exposure to antibody and complement drives selection for phase variants expressing ChoP, di-galactoside (galα1-4gal), and an alternative glucose structure. Each of these LPS structures, in addition to the phase variable molecule sialic acid, had an independent effect on bacterial survival, and these effects were additive in combination. Bacteria with the maximum number of LPS modifications had the greatest survival, and this correlated with reduced recognition of conserved inner core LPS structures. In summary, LPS phase variation in H. influenzae contributes to bacterial evasion of antibody binding and complement-mediated killing. The expression of several LPS phase variable modifications shields conserved surface structures on H. influenzae from host recognition to contribute to the successful colonization of this extracellular pathogen

Investigating Brain Networks Associated with Insight in Adolescents at Ultra High-Risk for Schizophrenia

Background. Impaired insight, or unawareness of illness, is a common symptom of schizophrenia. Clinical insight is awareness of having a mental disorder; cognitive insight is ability to self-reflect (self­reflectiveness) and certainty in cognitions (self­certainty). In schizophrenia insight is associated with brain function and improving insight is a potential early intervention point. This study investigated whether insight is impaired in youth at ultra high-risk (UHR) for psychosis, and if it is related to major brain networks. Methods. Data from a larger UHR study was used, including 55 UHR adolescents and 55 controls assessed with the Structured Interview of Prodromal Symptoms, MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder, and Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, as well as resting state functional MRI scans. UHR and control groups were tested for differences in self-reflectiveness and self-certainty, and correlations between insight dimensions and clinical and cognitive measures. Functional connectivity was calculated for the default mode, the cingulo-opercular, and central executive networks and regressed on participants’ reported clinical and cognitive insight, while covarying for head motion. Results. Self-reflectiveness was higher in the UHR group (d = 1.28), but the groups did not differ in self-certainty (d = 0.28). Among UHR, poorer clinical insight was related to greater symptom severity. Default mode connectivity was negatively correlated with self-reflectiveness (R2 = .091) and clinical insight (R2 = .399) in UHR, but no such correlations were found in controls. Cerebello-prefrontal cortex connectivity was negatively associated with self-certainty in the UHR group (R2 = .089 - .138). Conclusions. Default mode connectivity appears to be associated with the facets of insight concerning self-awareness, whereas cerebello-prefrontal connectivity appears to be associated specifically with self-certainty. This is the first study to relate major brain networks to insight before the onset of psychosis, and is consistent with models proposing that different facets of insight are related to self-awareness and executive functioning through networks associated with these processes

The Popular Images Of John Brown And Thomas stonewall Jackson

This study examines the evolution of the popular images of John Brown and Thomas Stonewall Jackson. It begins by analyzing the historiography of each man. The second and third chapters are biographies of each man. The fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters examine the popular images of the two men in print media, visual media, and monuments. This thesis concludes with appendices which contain reproductions of songs, photographs, and paintings referred to in the chapters. This study finds that the myth of the Lost Cause has kept Thomas Jackson\u27s popular image consistently positive and heroic since his death in 1863. At the same time, this myth has contributed to an ever-changing image of Brown, though other issues, such as race and terrorism, have played significant roles as well. Brown has at various times been considered a madman, a saint, and merely a product of his times. Because the Lost Cause continues to pervade popular memory of the Civil War, Jackson\u27s image is unlikely to change quickly. Because race and the fear of terrorism continue to pervade American society, Brown\u27s image is likely to remain controversial

REMOVED FROM THE COCKPIT: THE PILOT IDENTITY CRISIS AND THE RISE OF UNCREWED AIRCRAFT IN NAVAL AVIATION

In the transition from crewed to uncrewed aircraft, naval aviation has focused on the technical instead of the human aspects of the change. The transition challenges the traditional pilot identity, based on sitting in a cockpit and physically operating an aircraft, because pilots of uncrewed aircraft control them remotely or manage the battlefield rather than the cockpit. This thesis uses identity theory and social identity theory to analyze similar cultural factors in the Navy’s transition from sail-to-steam power in the 1800s to identify how and why some line officers resisted and rejected steam technology, inhibiting the transition. In this case study, naval leadership encouraged resistance through orders mandating sail over steam power and failed to direct the needed change in line officer identity when engineers took away propulsion control and replaced the symbols associated with the line officer identity. To avoid repeating this failure, the Navy must oversee the pilot identity transition in order to leverage the full potential of both technology and humans. Instead of creating division, naval leaders should emphasize unity by creating an inclusive pilot identity, using terms that do not focus on human occupants when referring to aircraft categories, and creating viable career paths for all.Outstanding ThesisEnsign, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

A Comparative Analysis of Elementary Education Preservice and Novice Teachers\u27 Perceptions of Preparedness and Teacher Efficacy

The focus of this study was threefold. First, the study sought to determine the validity and reliability of an instrument being used to measure teacher efficacy. After psychometric analysis, the Utah Teacher Efficacy Scale (UTES) was deemed as both a valid and reliable instrument for the purpose of measuring preservice and novice elementary school teacher efficacy. Second, this study analyzed teacher self-efficacy of preservice and novice elementary school teachers at two different points in a time - once at the end of their teacher preparation program, and again after they had taught for one academic year. The sample (N = 123) for this study was created from graduates of teacher preparation programs throughout the state of Utah. A two-factor repeated measures ANOVA design was used to measure one between-subjects factor (Factor A) and one within-subjects factor (Factor B). Factor A involved a comparison between two independent groups of prospective teachers based on the type of student teaching assignment, number of student teaching placements, and the number of literacy methods courses completed. The two levels of Factor B consisted of two different UTES measurement occasions. Results of this analysis indicated that preservice teachers in this study reported high teacher efficacy. As these individuals became teachers, their teacher efficacy fell, indicating there is room for improvement in presenting the realities of teaching. Additionally, teacher preparation program characteristics such as the type of student teaching experience (student teaching or internship), and the number of student teaching placements (one or two) do not seem to provide statistically significant advantages over time. The number of literacy methods courses, however, does seem to provide statistically significant advantages in securing and maintaining high teacher efficacy over time in the areas of global and reading teacher efficacy. Third, the study also analyzed how school context variables affect teacher efficacy. Novice teachers (N = 136) were asked to rate the usefulness of professional development and the helpfulness of the mentoring support they received. Results of this analysis showed that professional development and mentoring support, if perceived as useful and helpful, had a positive and statistically significant correlation with teacher efficacy