Mosaic of understanding: fusing perspectives to legitimize non-technical ways of knowing climate change, A

2012 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.The impacts and implications of climate change are as diverse as the global community faced with addressing this social-ecological issue. Expert-driven communication strategies that emphasize an abundance of scientific information laden with technical language and positivist values have insufficiently appealed to non-technical audiences. This shortcoming has widened the gap between technical and non-technical publics and fails to acknowledge the legitimacy of different forms of expertise that include social dimensions of climate change. Different ways of knowing have also been ignored, largely reducing climate change communication to static, one-way presentations of climate science information. Iterative, interactive, and tangible learning processes are underrepresented in climate change communication efforts but can better resonate and engage many non-technical audiences. The power of place-based connections and communication allows for non-technical publics to relate to global climate change through the familiarity and appreciation of local landscapes. National parks and wildlife refuges, places of public value and trust, can seed connections between non-technical visiting publics and climate change. Non-technical audiences can better relate to and understand climate change through the renegotiation of language, relevance, and resonant messages framed in a valued landscape - essentially through the lens of place. These connections, in tandem with hands-on engagement practices, can foster a network of engaged climate change citizens with the capacity to inspire others outside of parks and refuges

Botanical imaginaries

This thesis focuses on the potential of otherworldly objects, as well as the literature, photographs and objects that assist in the speculative nature of observing. To understand a specimen and its function within an ecosystem, it needs to be studied in a deep, concentrated manner. Through referencing collecting and natural history, I construct another world with seeds and fruit similar to our world yet completely foreign to us. I use readily identifiable textures and forms (e.g. coral, fruit and seeds) to influence my ceramic specimens. Some seeds are closely related and identifiable while others are more alien. Moments of recognizable natural elements connect the viewer to the objects and encourage further study. My speculative species allow me to create an alternate without the constraints of this world. My ceramic seed pods and fruit of the invented world function as artifacts. I construct otherworldly specimens in hopes of forming a deeper understanding of their purpose and function in their ecosystem. My seeds and fruit are displayed as a three-dimensional field journal. I expand upon these ideas of collection through the field journal and consider the possibilities of the natural world beyond our own.Includes bibliographical references

El Significado Cultural del Parto: Perspectivas de Mujeres Mapuche

The aim of this study is to understand the cultural meaning of childbirth within Mapuche culture, in order to promote culturally respectful childbirth practices related to intercultural programs of the public health system in Chile. This study focuses on the problem of the institutionalization and medicalization of childbirth in Chile, and how these processes have affected the childbirth experiences of Mapuche women. While there have been many studies on the cultural meaning of childbirth in distinct places of the world, very few studies focus on this theme within Mapuche culture. The few studies that have described Mapuche cultural practices regarding maternity and childbirth have noted that these practices have gradually been modified or lost throughout recent years due to the hegemonic influence of biomedicine from the Chilean state health system. These studies, along with studies on intercultural health, note the need for anthropological research in order to provide and promote cultural information regarding this topic. In order to reach the objective of promoting culturally respectful childbirth practices for Mapuche women in Chile, this study gathered information from structured interviews regarding the childbirth experiences of 11 Mapuche women from a rural territory called Truf Truf in the Araucanía region of southern Chile. The interviews were then transcribed, categorized based on common themes relating to the Mapuche model of health, and analyzed with reference to the existing literature on Mapuche culture, health, and maternity. This study found that from the perspective of Mapuche women, childbirth is a multifaceted event, with as much importance with respect to biological health as psychological, spiritual, and social health. However, the complexity of Mapuche perspectives of health is often not recognized in hospitalized births. Thus, the implementation of an intercultural health policy regarding childbirth is necessary, not only to promote culturally respectful birth practices in hospitals, but also to revitalize traditional knowledge and customs regarding this event

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment