Crafting a Masterpiece: The Genre Mosaic of Harry Potter

Harry\u27s story is a global phenomenon, with the seven books in the series selling 400 million copies in sixty-seven languages and leading to the production of eight blockbuster movies. In a time when newspapers and other forms of print media are losing their readership, Harry Potter\u27s enduring popularity would seem surprising if not for the array of genres that appeal to the series\u27 diverse audience. Emily Keller is majoring in Justice Studies and pursuing a minor in Creative Writing at James Madison University. Although she aspires to become a lawyer, her dream is to write and publish novels. A particular passion of hers is experimenting with different genres to maximize audience appeal, so having the opportunity to research and write about such rich material for an assignment helped feed her passion. Harry Potter\u27s extensive generic range makes it the perfect model for aspiring writers who wish to appeal to diverse audiences. While J. K. Rowling\u27s Harry Potter is uniquely appealing, Emily hopes that deepening awareness of its strengths will improve the writing skills of others as well as her own

A call to violence: Trends in violent content of video games

Violent content in video games has come under increasing scrutiny as the media highlights the potential involvement of violent games in deadly crimes. In addition, internet gaming disorder has been identified as a subject in need of further research in the DSM-V. The current study investigates whether year, genre, platform type, and victim and perpetrator identity influence the total amount of violent actions in 280 video game trailers. The hypothesis was that year, genre, and platform type would produce the most variance in total violence, but victim identity and perpetrator identity were significantly more influential. Thus, there is a tendency for the presence of certain types of perpetrators and victims in game trailers to be associated with higher counts of violent instances. Research implications are discussed, including the suggestion that future studies should measure the intensity of violent actions and sexuality in video game trailers and limitations stemming from lack of inter-rater reliability, overlap of genre categories, and the nature of trailer content

Traditional Rural Values, Posttraumatic Stress, and Posttraumatic Growth among Rural and Urban Undergraduates

Although rurality is often treated as an aspect of diversity, disagreement appears in the literature regarding whether the traditionally rural values of self-reliance, distrust of outsiders, religiosity, centrality of family, and fatalism continue to differentiate rural versus urban residents. The present study examined whether differences in these values exist between rural and urban residents and whether these values may predict posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) severity and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Undergraduates who reported experiencing traumatic and stressful events (N = 213) completed measures of these constructs through an online survey. Over a quarter (n = 56) of participants classified their permanent residences as located in rural areas, primarily in the Southeast. T-test results indicated that rural respondents had significantly higher levels of PTSS severity and distrust of outsiders and significantly lower levels of organized religiosity when compared with urban participants. In predicting stress-related outcomes, a greater emphasis on family, higher distrust toward outsiders, lower levels of intrinsic religious beliefs, and higher levels of fatalism were associated with more severe PTSS. Higher intrinsic religiosity predicted higher levels of PTG. Thus, results suggest that rural and urban undergraduates are becoming more similar with regard to traditionally rural values. Further research is needed to determine if these values continue to apply to rural residents in other generations or regions of the United States, as these values may be important to consider in the context of therapy

Corporate Cooperation in Criminal Investigations: Waiving Privileges Without Coercion

Part I of this comment explains the attorney-client privilege and the waiver doctrine and demonstrates the important role the privilege plays in our legal system. It shows why, according to the DOJ charging policy, waiver of the privilege is often needed during corporate investigations. It also addresses how the charging policy erodes the privilege in the corporate context, thereby creating governance problems for corporations. Part II provides legal definitions and standards for coerced waivers to show that the choice corporations must make between waiving the privilege or increasing their risk of indictment does not meet any legal test for coercion. Part III concludes that although the waiver policy is problematic, it does not legally coerce corporations into compliance

Probing the Role of Hot Carriers and Photothermal Effects in Plasmonic Photocatalysis with Ultrafast Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2018. Major: Chemistry. Advisor: Renee Frontiera. 1 computer file (PDF); xxiv, 207 pages.Plasmonic materials convert light into chemical energy, which is used to drive chemical reactions with greater efficiency and selectivity than traditional catalysts. To enhance the efficacy of these plasmon-driven processes, it is critical to determine the underlying mechanisms that occur once plasmons are excited by light. However, the manner in which these materials convert light into chemical energy is poorly understood due to the fast time scales of energy partitioning into various plasmon decay pathways, including hot carrier generation, localized heating, and enhanced electromagnetic fields. To that end, I have developed ultrafast surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a technique to probe the fundamental interactions between plasmons and molecules to elucidate a possible mechanism for plasmon-driven photochemistry. Initial studies using ultrafast SERS examined plasmon-molecule interactions to probe how hot electron generation upon plasmon decay affects adsorbed molecules. The observed photophysical response of 4-nitrobenzenethiol (4-NBT) adsorbed to aggregated gold nanoparticles allowed for the quantification of charge delocalization across the plasmonic substrate. The surprisingly large number of charges available is promising for hot electron driven plasmonic processes. Later studies focus on the modification of the ultrafast SERS instrument for ultrafast nanoscale Raman thermometry measurements. The ability to measure the localized heating of adsorbates on plasmonic materials is essential for understanding the contribution of localized heating in plasmonic photocatalysis. Follow-up studies examine the effect of the local environment upon plasmonic heating of adsorbed molecules. The local environment is an important consideration as catalysts are commonly stabilized by various catalytic support materials. Finally, I characterize the plasmonic properties of a new non-noble plasmonic material, consisting of copper selenide nanoparticles, by measuring their SERS enhancement factor. Additionally, copper selenide nanoparticles are promising photocatalysts as shown by their ability to dimerize 4-NBT in the presence of light. New plasmonic materials, like copper selenide nanoparticles, are exciting earth-abundant and cost-effective alternatives to the more traditional noble metal photocatalysts. Herein, I show that ultrafast SERS provides a unique approach to examine plasmon-molecule interactions on the picosecond time scale of chemical reactivity. This technique has the potential to determine the underlying processes that directly influence plasmon-mediated catalysis and to provide insights for the development of more efficient plasmonic photocatalysts

A Comparison of Bird Diversity and Water Quality Within Aquatic Ecosystems

Undergraduate Theoretical Proposa

The Differential Effects of Mental Fatigue and Alcohol on Selective Attention

Decrements in selective attention are a commonly experienced phenomenon that has practical implications for many industries. Two causes of such deficits are mental fatigue and alcohol intoxication, which impair selective attention by decreasing the efficiency of inhibitory processes. The present research examined the effects of these two factors on the selective attention subtest of the Useful Field of View test in both a baseline and an experimental session. Participants in the mental fatigue condition (n = 14) were tested while performing a divided attention task for two hours to induce mental fatigue. Those in the alcohol condition (n = 10) were tested while achieving a peak blood alcohol content of 0.05%. No differences between the two groups were observed, nor was a significant decline in selective attention observed as a result of either manipulation. The results indicate three possible explanations for this lack of a difference including a floor effect on the selective attention task, a pop-out effect in switching from the divided to the selective attention task, and an increase in attentional effort regulation due to the contrast in difficulty of the divided and selective attention tasks

Death-Associated Protein Kinase Regulates Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Signaling and Migration

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death for Americans. New treatments are needed for serious conditions like atherosclerosis, as it can lead to stroke and heart attack. Many types of cells contribute to the progression of cardiovascular disease, including smooth muscle cells that comprise the middle layers of arteries. Inappropriate growth and migration of smooth muscle cells into the lumen of arteries has been implicated in vascular diseases. Death associated protein kinase (DAPK) is a protein that has been found to regulate the survival and migration of cancer cells, but has not been well characterized in vascular cells. The objective of this work was to determine the signaling pathways that DAPK regulates in smooth muscle cells. These studies have focused on smooth muscle cells isolated from human coronary arteries (HCASM cells). We have determined that HCASM cells depleted of DAPK exhibit more rapid migration, showing that DAPK negatively regulates migration of vascular cells. Results from a focused RT-PCR array identified matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) as a gene that is increased in cells depleted of DAPK. MMP9 is an important enzyme that degrades collagen, a component of the extracellular matrix through which smooth muscle cells migrate during atherosclerosis. We found that DAPK regulates phosphorylation of the NF-kappa B transcription factor p65 at serine 536, a modification previously found to correlate with increased nuclear levels and activity of p65. In DAPK-depleted HCASM cells, there was more phosphorylation of p65, which causes increased MMP9 promoter activity. Additional experiments were conducted using transgenic mice in which the DAPK gene has been deleted. By studying these mice, we have determined that under some circumstances DAPK augments maximal MMP9 levels in mouse carotid arteries which have been injured by ligation surgery via other signaling pathways. MMP9 has been previously implicated as a protein that promotes vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. Our research in identifying DAPK as a regulator of MMP9 expression identifies a new target for treatment of vascular diseases like atherosclerosis

Single institution implementation of permanent 131Cs interstitial brachytherapy for previously irradiated patients with resectable recurrent head and neck carcinoma

Purpose: Permanent interstitial brachytherapy is an appealing treatment modality for patients with locoregional recurrent, resectable head and neck carcinoma (HNC), having previously received radiation. Cesium-131 (131Cs) is a permanent implant brachytherapy isotope, with a low average photon energy of 30 keV and a short half-life of 9.7 days. Exposure to medical staff and family members is low; patient isolation and patient room shielding are not required. This work presents a single institution’s implementation process of utilizing an intraoperative, permanent 131Cs implant for patients with completely resected recurrent HNC. Materials & Methods: Fifteen patients receiving 131Cs permanent seed brachytherapy were included in this analysis. The process of pre-planning, selecting the dose prescription, seed ordering, intraoperative procedures, post-implant planning, and radiation safety protocols are described. Results: Tumor volumes were contoured on the available preoperative PET/CT scans and a pre-implant treatment plan was created using uniform source strength and uniform 1 cm seed spacing. Implants were performed intraoperatively, following tumor resection. In five of the fifteen cases, intraoperative findings necessitated a change from the planned number of seeds and recalculation of the pre-implant plan. The average prescription dose was 56.1 ±6.6 Gy (range, 40-60 Gy). The average seed strength used was 2.2 ±0.2 U (3.5 ±0.3 mCi). Patients returned to a recovery room on a standard surgical floor and remained inpatients, without radiation safety restrictions, based on standard surgical recovery protocols. A post-implant treatment plan was generated based on immediate post-operative CT imaging to verify the seed distribution and confirm delivery of the prescription dose. Patients were provided educational information regarding radiation safety recommendations. Conclusions: Cesium-131 interstitial brachytherapy is feasible and does not pose major radiation safety concerns; it should be considered as a treatment option for previously irradiated patients with recurrent, resectable HNC