A Rhetorical Analysis of Mrs. Coretta Scott King\u27s Commencement Address

Coretta King, known best as Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., has been the new image of black womanhood for the black race since the days of the Montgomery bus boycott, which had its beginning on December 1, 1955. Mrs. King represents the new image of black womanhood because she is the first black woman projected into prominence by her husband. She is a follower in her husband\u27s footsteps. She has taken up her husband\u27s dream as her own and in the process has become a symbol in her own right. Statement of Purpose. The purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate a speech entitled Commencement Address given by Mrs. King on June 1, 1971 at City College in New York. Criteria and Procedure. The criteria for rhetorical analysis of the speech Commencement Address was abstracted from Thomas R. Nilsen\u27s Interpretive Function of the Critic. Nilsen stated that the critic\u27s function is to inquire into how the speaker is moving men and to what ends. He also said that the vital function of speech criticism is to state indirect implications of the speech in reference to man, ideas, and society. Therefore, three basic questions were raised by Nilsen: What is the speaker\u27s concept of man? What is the speaker\u27s concept of ideas? What is the speaker\u27s concept of society? Conclusions: The following concepts of man were discovered in Mrs. King\u27s address. Man is an individual who has power and force in the world. Man is responsible for preventing destruction in the world. Man is capable of historical action and understanding. Man is an individual who does not, at all times, face reality. Man is capable of making rational and irrational choices. Man is responsible for being honest with his fellow man. Man should not dehumanize his fellow man. Man is capable of making both wise and unwise decisions. Man is a being with a capacity for wisdom and rational choice. Man is responsible for eliminating racism, poverty, and war. Man is a being of intrinsic worth. Man is obligated to grow in understanding of himself and the world around him. The speaker\u27s concept of ideas may be expressed this way: Youth will play a major role in determining in the future the success or failure of the democratic tradition. The creative thinking of individuals has been replaced by machines. New ideas and leadership will have to emerge in order to save our society from destruction. The following were observed about the speaker\u27s concept of society: American society has failed to stand up to its democratic philosophy. American society is thing-centered instead of person-centered. Society must be rational in meeting the demands of students. Society can only be saved from destruction when students, faculty, and the older generation cooperate with each other. Because American society has allowed racism, poverty, and war to exist, she has participated in unorthodox behavior. Because students in society have fought to hold high the banner of freedom, they have participated in orthodox behavior

A Rhetorical Analysis of Mrs. Coretta Scott King\u27s Commencement Address

Coretta King, known best as Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., has been the new image of black womanhood for the black race since the days of the Montgomery bus boycott, which had its beginning on December 1, 1955. Mrs. King represents the new image of black womanhood because she is the first black woman projected into prominence by her husband. She is a follower in her husband\u27s footsteps. She has taken up her husband\u27s dream as her own and in the process has become a symbol in her own right. Statement of Purpose. The purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate a speech entitled Commencement Address given by Mrs. King on June 1, 1971 at City College in New York. Criteria and Procedure. The criteria for rhetorical analysis of the speech Commencement Address was abstracted from Thomas R. Nilsen\u27s Interpretive Function of the Critic. Nilsen stated that the critic\u27s function is to inquire into how the speaker is moving men and to what ends. He also said that the vital function of speech criticism is to state indirect implications of the speech in reference to man, ideas, and society. Therefore, three basic questions were raised by Nilsen: What is the speaker\u27s concept of man? What is the speaker\u27s concept of ideas? What is the speaker\u27s concept of society? Conclusions: The following concepts of man were discovered in Mrs. King\u27s address. Man is an individual who has power and force in the world. Man is responsible for preventing destruction in the world. Man is capable of historical action and understanding. Man is an individual who does not, at all times, face reality. Man is capable of making rational and irrational choices. Man is responsible for being honest with his fellow man. Man should not dehumanize his fellow man. Man is capable of making both wise and unwise decisions. Man is a being with a capacity for wisdom and rational choice. Man is responsible for eliminating racism, poverty, and war. Man is a being of intrinsic worth. Man is obligated to grow in understanding of himself and the world around him. The speaker\u27s concept of ideas may be expressed this way: Youth will play a major role in determining in the future the success or failure of the democratic tradition. The creative thinking of individuals has been replaced by machines. New ideas and leadership will have to emerge in order to save our society from destruction. The following were observed about the speaker\u27s concept of society: American society has failed to stand up to its democratic philosophy. American society is thing-centered instead of person-centered. Society must be rational in meeting the demands of students. Society can only be saved from destruction when students, faculty, and the older generation cooperate with each other. Because American society has allowed racism, poverty, and war to exist, she has participated in unorthodox behavior. Because students in society have fought to hold high the banner of freedom, they have participated in orthodox behavior

On the Interstellar Medium and Star Formation Demographics of Galaxies in the Local Universe

We present a demographic analysis of integrated star formation and gas properties for a sample of galaxies representative of the overall population at z~0. This research was undertaken in order to characterise the nature of star formation and interstellar medium behaviour in the local universe, and test the extent to which global star formation rates can be seen as dependent on the interstellar gas content. Archival 21 cm derived HI data are compiled from the literature, and are combined with CO (J=1-0) derived H_2 masses to calculate and characterise the total gas content for a large sample of local galaxies. The distribution in stellar mass-normalised HI content is found to exhibit the noted characteristic transition at stellar masses of ~3x10^10 M_sun, turning off towards low values, but no such transition is observed in the equivalent distribution of molecular gas. H-alpha based star formation rates and specific star formation rates are also compiled for a large (1110) sample of local galaxies. We confirm two transitions as found in previous work: a turnover towards low SFRs at high luminosities, indicative of the quenching of SF characteristic of the red sequence; and a broadening of the SF distribution in low-luminosity dwarf galaxies, again to extremely low SFRs of < 0.001 M_sun/yr. However, a new finding is that while the upper luminosity transition is mirrored by the turn over in HI content, suggesting that the low SFRs of the red sequence result from a lack of available gas supply, the transition towards a large spread of SFRs in the least luminous dwarf galaxies is not matched by a prominent increase in scatter in gas content. Possible mass-dependent quenching mechanisms are discussed, along with speculations that in low mass galaxies, the H-alpha luminosity may not faithfully trace the SFR.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA

Using structural MRI to identify bipolar disorders - 13 site machine learning study in 3020 individuals from the ENIGMA Bipolar Disorders Working Group

Bipolar disorders (BDs) are among the leading causes of morbidity and disability. Objective biological markers, such as those based on brain imaging, could aid in clinical management of BD. Machine learning (ML) brings neuroimaging analyses to individual subject level and may potentially allow for their diagnostic use. However, fair and optimal application of ML requires large, multi-site datasets. We applied ML (support vector machines) to MRI data (regional cortical thickness, surface area, subcortical volumes) from 853 BD and 2167 control participants from 13 cohorts in the ENIGMA consortium. We attempted to differentiate BD from control participants, investigated different data handling strategies and studied the neuroimaging/clinical features most important for classification. Individual site accuracies ranged from 45.23% to 81.07%. Aggregate subject-level analyses yielded the highest accuracy (65.23%, 95% CI = 63.47–67.00, ROC-AUC = 71.49%, 95% CI = 69.39–73.59), followed by leave-one-site-out cross-validation (accuracy = 58.67%, 95% CI = 56.70–60.63). Meta-analysis of individual site accuracies did not provide above chance results. There was substantial agreement between the regions that contributed to identification of BD participants in the best performing site and in the aggregate dataset (Cohen’s Kappa = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.829–0.831). Treatment with anticonvulsants and age were associated with greater odds of correct classification. Although short of the 80% clinically relevant accuracy threshold, the results are promising and provide a fair and realistic estimate of classification performance, which can be achieved in a large, ecologically valid, multi-site sample of BD participants based on regional neurostructural measures. Furthermore, the significant classification in different samples was based on plausible and similar neuroanatomical features. Future multi-site studies should move towards sharing of raw/voxelwise neuroimaging data

Effects of Phosphorus in Growth Media on Biomineralization and Cell Surface Properties of Marine Cyanobacteria Synechococcus

Through geological time, cyanobacterial picoplankton have impacted the global carbon cycle by sequestrating CO2 and forming authigenic carbonate minerals. Various studies have emphasized the cyanobacterial cell envelopes as nucleation sites for calcium carbonate formation. Little is known, however, about how environmental conditions (e.g., nutrient content) trigger a cell surface and its properties and, consequently, influence biomineralization. Our study aims to understand how phosphorus (P) concentration impacts the properties of cell surfaces and cell–mineral interactions. Changes to the surface properties of marine Synechococcus strains grown under various P conditions were characterized by potentiometric titrations, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). Biomineralization experiments were performed using cyanobacterial cells, which were grown under different P concentrations and exposed to solutions slightly oversaturated with respect to calcium carbonate. We observed the changes induced by different P conditions in the macromolecular composition of the cyanobacteria cell envelope and its consequences for biomineralization. The modified properties of cell surfaces were linked to carbonate precipitation rates and mineral morphology from biomineralization experiments. Our analysis shows that the increase of phosphoryl groups and surface charge, as well as the relative proportion of polysaccharides and proteins, can impact carbonate precipitation by picocyanobacteria

Desorption mechanisms of phosphate from ferrihydrite and goethite surfaces

The fate of phosphate in the environment is governed by reactions at particle surfaces. These adsorption and desorption reactions display biphasic kinetics involving an initial rapid reaction followed by a substantially slower one extending over long time periods. In this study we have investigated the molecular mechanisms of desorption kinetics of phosphate from ferrihydrite and goethite nanoparticles in the absence of competing ligands. Desorption was studied by means of in-situ infrared (IR) spectroscopy over a wide pH range and a time period of 24 h. The spectroscopic data sets were subjected to multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS), which enabled the resolution of surface species characterized by unique IR spectra together with their corresponding kinetic profiles. The desorption results showed the typical biphasic behavior and that increasing positive surface charge of ferrihydrite and goethite slowed down desorption of the negatively charged phosphate ions. Moreover, diprotonated phosphate desorbed faster than monoprotonated phosphate at a given pH. At circumneutral pH values desorption from ferrihydrite was substantially faster as compared to goethite, and this could be ascribed to electrostatic effects and differences in charging between ferrihydrite and goethite. The collective desorption results were explained by a model, consisting of a series monodentate phosphate surface complexes in different protonation states, in conjunction with a description that accounts for the electrostatic effects on desorption kinetics at charged mineral-water interfaces. The fast and slow desorption followed directly from this model and indicated that biphasic kinetics can be caused by a single phosphate surface complex as a result of decreasing surface coverage along with the lateral repulsive interactions between adsorbed phosphate groups. Hence, in contrast to previous models our study has shown that biphasic desorption kinetics do not have to involve several different structural complexes related to either weak and strong sites or a distribution of phosphate between external surfaces and mineral pores

Using a novel approach to characterize the surface reactivities of silica-rich ferrihydrite and biogenic cyanobacteria-ferrihydrite aggregates and the implications for Archean ocean geochemistry

Precambrian banded iron formations (BIF) are iron- and silica-rich chemical sedimentary rocks that are commonly used as paleo-redox proxies for Archean and Paleoproterozoic seawater geochemistry. At the onset of the Great Oxidation Event (herein GOE) around 2.4 Ga, cyanobacteria flourished with increasing nutrient fluxes due to oxidative weathering on land. In turn, this led to increased primary productivity that facilitated the permanent shift from a reducing Earth atmosphere to an oxidizing one. Interestingly, the duration of GOE also overlapped with one of the most prolific periods of BIF deposition.It is widely accepted that cyanobacteria were likely responsible for BIF formation during the GOE. Oxidation of dissolved Fe(II) by oxygen produced from cyanobacteria forms a metastable and amorphous mineral phase ferrihydrite, Fe(OH)3. As an essential component in both ancient BIF deposits and various modern ecosystems, the surface reactivity of ferrihydrite has been extensively studied under different conditions (i.e., pH and ionic strengths). Not only are the highly reactive surfaces of ferrihydrite particles important shuttles for trace element transport from the water column to the sediment pile, but previous studies have also demonstrated that cyanobacterial cells and ferrihydrite tend to aggregate at seawater pH. This means that ferrihydrite was also a vector for the transport of organic carbon to the seafloor. However, a complicating issue is how co-ions affect the surface reactivity of ferrihydrite, specifically dissolved silica which was abundant in ancient seawater. Although previous studies have demonstrated that silica can passivate the surface reactivity of ferrihydrite, what remains unclear is how silica impacts ferrihydrite-biomass aggregation.To fill this knowledge gap, we formed both silica-spiked ferrihydrite and cyanobacteria-ferrihydrite aggregates in situ and subsequently conducted empirical potentiometric acid-base titrations and Cd adsorption experiments on the fresh aggregate samples at three different ionic strengths (0.56 M, 0.1 M and 0.01 M). We minimized sample processing (i.e., drying and powdering) to a simple washing step, in which the aggregate pellets remained hydrated to avoid any mineral transformation thus altering their true surface reactivity in seawater. Experimental results were then fitted with non-electrostatic model to predict both surface charges and metal-adsorption behavior of ferrihydrite aggregates. Different from previous surface-complexation modelling studies, here we used a novel and more powerful modelling program called Phreefit. It utilizes the global optimization algorithms instead of more commonly used Newton-Raphson method in FITEQL program, which is often too limited for precisely modelling complex systems such as the two samples in this study. Furthermore, we also measured the surface charges of both samples over the pH range from 3 to 9 on a Malvern Zetasizer and characterized the surface functional groups through Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to help with our interpretation of the experimental data.Preliminary results show that cyanobacteria-ferrihydrite aggregates formed primarily due to ionic bridging. Cyanobacterial cells likely facilitated the precipitation of dissolved silica. Findings from titration and Cd adsorption experiments indicate that the surface reactivity and capacity of both silica-rich ferrihydrite cyanobacteria-ferrihydrite aggregates to adsorb trace elements differ from their individual components, likely due to site blockage. This distinction is particularly prominent when considering the expected Archean seawater pH from 6 to 8. This disparity implies that the biogenic ferrihydrite aggregates do not exhibit an additive surface reactivity, which is in agreement with similar previous studies. Our combined results are crucial to accurately predict the adsorption of trace elements onto the aggregate surface and, ultimately, comprehend the archive of trace elements in sedimentary rocks used to reconstruct Precambrian ocean chemistry

Surface reactivity of the iron and manganese-oxidizing bacterium Leptothrix cholodnii SP-6

Surfaces of prokaryotic cells play a significant role in the adsorption of metals from aqueous solution and the formation of authigenic minerals (Konhauser 2006). Although most studies focus on the cell wall, it is known that many bacteria synthesise an extracellular layer of polysaccharides and proteins, including what are known as sheaths. It has been shown that the cyanobacterium Calothrix sp. produces as sheath which is neutrally charged at circumneutral pH values, and it was hypothesized that such a sheath might allow the cyanobacterium to survive in geothermal settings with high silicification rates (Phoenix et al. 2002). Specifically, the dominance of hydroxyl sites on Calothrix’s sheath surface facilitates hydrogen bonding with aqueous silica species, inducing the precipitation of amorphous silica on the sheath and thus protecting the underlying cell (Phoenix et al. 2002). Leptothrix cholodnii is a sheathed, iron and manganese-oxidizing bacterium that frequently inhabits minerals seeps, where Fe2+ and Mn2+ discharge into oxygenated surface waters (Spring et al. 1996). As a result, the sheath becomes encrusted with Fe(III) and Mn(IV) oxyhydroxides while the underlying cells are protected from mineralization (Emerson and Ghiorse 1992, Emerson et al. 2010). However, unlike Calothrix, Leptothrix’s sheath composition suggests that it might behave differently at circumneutral pH (Emerson and Ghiorse 1993). To investigate the surface reactivity of Leptothrix's sheath and cell wall we analyzed isolated sheaths, sheathless cells, and intact filaments of L. cholodnii SP-6. We studied these components using potentiometric titration, zeta-potential, Cd-adsorption, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to elucidate changes in surface charge between the cell wall and sheath. For the isolated sheaths and intact filaments, titration data were fit using a two-site protonation model, resulting in the following pKa values: 6.05 (±0.29) and 9.34 (±0.11); and 7.77 (±0.17) and 10.50 (±0.20), respectively. For the sheathless cells, the best fit was obtained by using a three-site protonation model, resulting in the following pKa values: 5.40 (±0.59), 8.11 (±1.64) and 10.73 (±0.45). Total proton-active site concentrations were lower in isolated sheaths compared to intact filaments. Additionally, at circumneutral pH, net negative charge was lower for sheathless cells compared to intact filaments and isolated sheaths (Fig. 1). This information agrees with the Cd adsorption behaviour found for the three materials (Fig. 2). Thus, our preliminary results suggest that Leptothrix’s sheath is less reactive than the intact filaments at circumneutral pH, leading us to hypothesize that the outermost layer would sequester relatively lower amounts of cations, including Mn2+, from solution and potentially would protect the underlaying cell from deleterious mineralization. In addition to that, the less reactive sheath’s surface would also contribute to cell attachment, which is important for a species commonly found in streams (Phoenix et al. 2002, Emerson et al. 2010).