LGBTQ music majors’ experiences of social climates and developing identities in music education settings

The purpose of this study was to identify roles that music education plays in the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) music majors. Using a collective case study design, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with five undergraduate LGBTQ music majors. Participants spoke about their experiences in music education settings, the social atmosphere associated with such settings and their identities as LGBTQ persons and musicians. Music education settings may include high school and college ensembles as well as extracurricular ensembles and private lessons. The researcher sought to explore: a) ways in which peers and teachers in music ensembles create a social climate for LGBTQ students, b) effects of such climates on LGBTQ students, c) developing musical and sexual identities of LGBTQ college music majors and d) possible interaction or disconnection of those identities. Results show that participants negotiated musical and sexual identities in order to reflect the social values of their music ensemble. They described ways in which peers and teachers created climates of acceptance, silence or homonegativity. Overall, participants viewed high schools as places of varying levels of acceptance, while college musical environments were seen as welcoming places for LGBTQ people. Participants drew connections between their developing sexual identities and quality of musicianship, especially in regard to musical expression

Nature’s Eden? The Production and Effects of ‘Pristine’ Nature in the Galápagos Islands

Best known for inspiring Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the Galápagos Islands are often referred to as an “evolutionary Eden” and celebrated as one of the world’s few remaining bastions of “pristine” nature. However, recent concerns of a crisis of over-development prompted UNESCO to put the Galápagos on its list of World Heritage Sites “In Danger.” In this paper, we interrogate the conception of pristine nature which undergirds the recent crisis discourse and argue that such understandings of nature are not in fact natural, but are social productions that reflect particular ways of understanding island space. We then explore the material and political effects of understandings of “pristine” nature by showing how they work to structure the tourism industry and investment in public infrastructure in ways that have created social inequalities as well as negative environmental impacts. We then briefly discuss measures taken so far to address the crisis situation, arguing that they would benefit from critical attention to the complexity of social-environmental relations in the Galápagos and a re-thinking of the nature of the islands

Crisis in Nature’s Eden: Conserving Nature and Culture in the Galápagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands are often referred to as a natural laboratory or evolutionary Eden--one of the world's few remaining bastions of pristine nature. Yet the images such depictions evoke stand in stark contrast to recent declarations of a crisis brought on by increases in tourism, migration, and invasive species that threaten the archipelago's unusual biodiversity and the very isolation that allowed for its evolution. In popular presentations, this crisis is framed as a classic battle of Man against Nature. However, drawing on research conducted in the islands over the past three summers, I challenge such framings of the crisis, arguing that frameworks that purify Nature and Culture are not only poor descriptions of the current crisis in the Galápagos Islands, but are themselves productive of the crisis

Anthropocene in Friction. Dis-Encounters Between Geology and History

This article brings attention to the need to introduce social sciences to the Global Environmental Change conversation in order to discuss the notion of the “Anthropocene” postulated by prominent natural scientists (Crutzen & Stoermer 2000; Crutzen 2002). The focus of analysis concentrates on and the way the local and the global are put into friction (Tsing 2005). If natural scientists have achieved to show the dangers Earth currently confronts, what is not yet clear is if they understand how human societies, the main driver of this geological era, work. They tend to consider humans as a specie, so they make a reductionist idea of humans as a compact unity, taking away our knowledge that teaches that they are “social” (Moore 2015). This article starts with a discussion about the apparent common understanding on the “global,” by natural and social sciences. This article poses important challenges to social scientists, is critical toward the Anthropocene concept, and aspires to suggest critical thinking contributions on the global and its friction with the local. This article illustrates how, through the idea of the Anthropocene, Geology meets History in ways that are not easy to accept for social scientists because, they are right when they argue that the “anthropos” of the Anthropocene cannot be reduced to a “specie” because he/she is a socio-ecological entity.Este artigo chama a atenção para a necessidade de introduzir "ciências sociais" na conversa sobre Mudança Ambiental Global com o propósito de discutir a noção de "Antropoceno", como postulado por notáveis cientistas naturais (Crutzen & Stoermer 2000; Crutzen 2002). O foco dessa análise está no modo como o local e o global são colocados em atrito (Tsing, 2005). Se as ciências naturais conseguiram mostrar os perigos que a Terra está enfrentando atualmente, o que ainda não está claro é se eles entendem como as sociedades humanas (o motor principal desta era geológica) operam. Eles tendem a considerar os humanos como uma espécie, então eles redutivamente concebem o humano e o privam de seu caráter social (Moore 2015). Este artigo começa com uma discussão sobre o aparente entendimento comum em torno do global a partir de ciências naturais e ciências sociais. Propõe desafios importantes para as ciências sociais, critica o conceito de Antropoceno e pretende sugerir contribuições críticas para a forma como o global interage com o local. Através da ideia do Antropoceno, a Geologia encontra a História de maneiras que não são aceitáveis para as ciências sociais e argumenta que o Antropoceno "anthropos" não pode ser reduzido a uma "espécie" porque é uma entidade socio-ecológica

On the Backs of Tortoises: Conserving Evolution in the Galápagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands are today considered a world-renown natural laboratory of evolution and one of the best-preserved ecosystems on earth. Yet even this remote archipelago is not immune from global environmental crises: in 2007, UNESCO put the Galápagos on its list of World Heritage Sites In Danger because of booming tourism development. Most analyses explain this crisis as a Malthusian problem of over-development on fragile islands. However, I argue that adequately understanding current problems in the Galápagos requires a return to the annals of evolutionary science to analyze how that history shaped the islands. This dissertation traces this history on the backs of the islands' most iconic species, giant tortoises, to show how the development of evolutionary science has reshaped understandings of island nature and how it is managed. The dissertation traces a history of the present through detailed archival and ethnographic attention to shifting human engagements with giant tortoises over the past century. Chapters chart the shifting biopolitical strategies through which endangered nonhuman life has been managed, from natural history and zoological collection to in situ conservation breeding. They analyze how changing methods of biological science--from morphological taxonomy to phylogenetics--articulate with different modes of valuing and saving nonhuman life. In particular, they track how scientific valuations of the islands as a natural laboratory justified both conservation work and tourism development. By detailing the relationship between conservation and tourism through which giant tortoises became charismatic icons, the dissertation reframes the recent crisis not as the intrusion of globalization into a space of pristine nature, but as produced through an alliance between scientific conservation and global capitalism. By engaging with the science and nature of evolution, the dissertation returns to the disciplinary history of geography. To avoid re-inscribing determinist interpretations that marked early twentieth century disciplinary engagements with evolutionary theory, the dissertation uses the Galápagos case to elaborate a critical geography of evolution. This perspective foregrounds the contingent, politicized processes through which nature and society co-evolve. It demonstrates how the circulation of evolutionary science orders relationships between nature and society and shapes the discursive and material production of landscapes.Doctor of Philosoph

An investigation of the molecular interactions between statins and bacterial pathogens, and their combined impact on the human immune system

Statins are a class of drug that inhibits cholesterol biosynthesis, and are used to treat patients with high serum cholesterol levels. They exert this function by competitively binding to the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoenzymeA reductase (HMGR), which catalyses the formation of mevalonate, a rate-limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis. In addition, statins have what are called “pleiotropic effects”, which include the reduction of inflammation, immunomodulation, and antimicrobial effects. Statins can also improve survival of patients with sepsis and pneumonia. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common recessive inherited disease in the Caucasian population, which is characterised by factors including, but not limited to, excessive lung inflammation and increased susceptibility to infection. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to examine the effects of statins on CFassociated bacterial pathogens and the host response. In this work, the prevalence of HMGR was examined in respiratory pathogens, and several CF-associated pathogens were found to possess homologues of this enzyme. HMGR homology was analysed in Staphylococcus aureus, Burkholderia cenocepacia and Streptococcus pneumoniae, and the HMGR of B. cenocepacia was found to have significant conservation to that of Pseudomonas mevalonii, which is the most widely-characterised bacterial HMGR. However, in silico analysis revealed that, unlike S. aureus and S. pneumoniae, B. cenocepacia did not possess homologues of other mevalonate pathway proteins, and that the HMGR of B. cenocepacia appeared to be involved in an alternative metabolic pathway. The effect of simvastatin was subsequently tested on the growth and virulence of S. aureus, B. cenocepacia and S. pneumoniae. Simvastatin inhibited the growth of all 3 species in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, statin treatment also attenuated biofilm formation of all 3 species, and reduced in vitro motility of S. aureus. Interestingly, simvastatin also increased the potency of the aminoglycoside antibiotic gentamicin against B. cenocepacia. The impact of statins was subsequently tested on the predominant CF-associated pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which does not possess a HMGR homologue. Mevastatin, lovastatin and simvastatin did not influence the growth of this species. However, sub-inhibitory statin concentrations reduced the swarming motility and biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa. The influence of statins was also examined on Type 3 toxin secretion, quorum sensing and chemotaxis, and no statin effect was observed on any of these phenotypes. Statins did not appear to have a characteristic effect on the P. aeruginosa transcriptome. However, a mutant library screen revealed that the effect of statins on P. aeruginosa biofilm was mediated through the PvrR regulator and the Cup fimbrial biosynthesis genes. Furthermore, proteomic analysis demonstrated that 6 proteins were reproducibly induced by simvastatin in the P. aeruginosa swarming cells. The effect of statins on the regulation of the host-P. aeruginosa immune response was also investigated. Statin treatment increased expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-8 and CCL20 in lung epithelial cells, but did not attenuate P. aeruginosa-mediated inflammatory gene induction. In fact, simvastatin and P. aeruginosa caused a synergistic effect on CCL20 expression. The expression of the transcriptional regulators KLF2 and KLF6 was also increased by statins and P. aeruginosa, with the induction of KLF6 by simvastatin proving to be a novel effect. Interestingly, both statins and P. aeruginosa were capable of inducing alternative splicing of KLF6. P. aeruginosa was found to induce KLF6 alternative splicing by way of the type 3 secreted toxin ExoS. In addition, a mechanistic role was elucidated for KLF6 in the lung, as it was determined that statin-mediated induction of this protein was responsible for the induction of the host response genes CCL20 and iNOS. Moreover, statin treatment caused a slight increase in infection-related cytotoxicity, and increased bacterial adhesion to cells. Taken together, these data demonstrate that statins can reduce the virulence of CFassociated bacterial pathogens and alter host response effectors. Furthermore, novel statin effectors were identified in both bacterial and host cells

Nature’s Eden? The Production and Effects of ‘Pristine’ Nature in the Galápagos Islands

Best known for inspiring Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the Galápagos Islands are often referred to as an “evolutionary Eden” and celebrated as one of the world’s few remaining bastions of “pristine” nature. However, recent concerns of a crisis of overdevelopment prompted UNESCO to put the Galápagos on its list of World Heritage Sites “In Danger.” In this paper, we interrogate the conception of pristine nature which undergirds the recent crisis discourse and argue that such understandings of nature are not in fact natural, but are social productions that reflect particular ways of understanding island space. We then explore the material and political effects of understandings of “pristine” nature by showing how they work to structure the tourism industry and investment in public infrastructure in ways that have created social inequalities as well as negative environmental impacts. We then briefly discuss measures taken so far to address the crisis situation, arguing that they would benefit from critical attention to the complexity of social-environmental relations in the Galápagos and a re-thinking of the nature of the islands

The Discovery of Data-Driven Temporal Dietary Patterns and a Validation of Their Description Using Energy and Time Cut-Offs

Objectives Data-driven methods were recently applied to create temporal dietary patterns (TDPs) incorporating timing and amount of energy intake over 24-hours; their relationships to obesity were determined. However, description of the data-driven TDPs using energy and time cut-offs were not validated against obesity. Aims were to (1) create data-driven TDPs, describe pattern characteristics using energy and time cut-offs, and determine relationships to BMI and waist circumference (WC); (2) assess the concurrent validity of TDPs derived using the cut-offs by determining relationships with BMI and WC. Methods Amount and timing of energy intake from the first day 24-hour dietary recall of 17,916 U.S. adults in NHANES 2007–2016 was used to pattern 4 TDPs. Clusters were created using data-driven methods: dynamic time warping coupled with kernel-k means clustering algorithm. Relationships with BMI and WC were assessed using multivariate regression. Heat maps plotting the cluster proportion by energy amount throughout the day were used to visualize the data and find energy and time cut-offs for mutually exclusive clusters. Next, the cut-off-based descriptions were used to create new clusters and multivariate regression determined their associations with BMI and WC. Strength to predict obesity was evaluated by comparing both inferential model results. Percent of participant overlap between data-driven and cut-off derived clusters was also calculated. Results Both cut-off and data-driven methods showed a cluster, representing a TDP with proportionally equivalent average energy consumed during three eating events throughout a day, was associated with significantly lower BMI (R2 = 0.12 for both methods) and WC (R2 = 0.17 for both methods) compared to the other 3 clusters that had one energy peak throughout a day (all P \u3c 0.0001). Participant membership of ≥ 82% overlapped between the cut-off and data-driven TDP clusters. Conclusions Four cut-off derived clusters highly overlapped with data-driven clusters and showed no differences in strength or pattern relationships with obesity. TDP discovery using a data-driven method was validated through practically interpretable descriptions of energy intake and timing cut-offs. TDPs hold promise for the prediction of obesity and translation to dietary guidance

Factors used in the detection of elder financial abuse: A judgement and decision-making study of social workers and their managers

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2011 Sage Publications Ltd.Factors social workers use in practice to detect elder financial abuse are currently unknown. A critical incident technique was applied within a judgement analysis approach to elicit cue use. Only three factors were key to decision-making: who raises concern, the elder’s mental capacity and the nature of the financial anomaly occurring.Economic and Social Research Counci