A Look at Daniel Defoe\u27s Moll Flanders: Turn the page and celebrate the new roles of women in eighteenth-century England

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. Throughout Daniel Defoe’s novel Moll Flanders, the title character devotes her entire life to achieving wealth and social status. It is clear that Moll achieves her desires of being a gentlewoman, yet her identity is constantly changing throughout the novel. She is affected by every person and experience she comes across questioning whether or not her lifestyle and decisions were the right ones, and often debate Defoe’s ambiguous description of his title character that represents a woman different than any other woman in the traditional norms of eighteenth-century England. In this society, men ran everything because they were seen as superior to women in everyday life. Women lived through their male partner, and marriage was the only way for them to hold any control in society. Comparing the illustration of Defoe’s Moll to Michèle Crampe-Casnabet’s description of women roles during the Eighteenth-Century in A History of Women in the West- Renaissance and Enlightenment Paradoxes, I argue that Defoe uses Moll’s character to celebrate a change in the traditional role women played in the society by creating her to be a rebel against the society norm. In doing this, he creates a story of an ambiguous character that struggles to understand whether she is following the traditional norms of society, or developing a model of a life for women to follow and live by. Crampe-Casnabet explains that men and women were not equal at this time even though each account for half of the human race population. She said this “is in fact ambiguous because, oddly enough, it was not reciprocal: men were never said to constitute the other half of the species. A subtle sophism was at work: women were a “half” without an “other half.” The female half existed only in relation to the male half, which was its ground and defining reference” (317-318). Ironically enough, Defoe builds Moll to be a character that holds a man’s traditional role in society. She considers herself to be superior to all, and views men as being the “other half” that women control in any way they like. Through manipulation, marriage and struggle to keep social rank Moll is depicted to control her own position in society, and never fails to fall to the superiority of male dominance

Development of a thermostable ID93 + GLA-SE vaccine using a design of experiments (DOE) approach

Next-generation rationally-designed vaccine adjuvants represent a significant breakthrough to enable development of vaccines against challenging diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, and malaria. New vaccine candidates often require maintenance of a cold-chain process to ensure long-term stability and separate vialing to enable bedside mixing of antigen and adjuvant. This presents a significant financial and technological barrier to worldwide implementation of such vaccines. Herein we describe the development of a single-vial lyophilized thermostable tuberculosis vaccine comprised of an antigen (ID93) and an oil-in water emulsion adjuvant (GLA-SE), using a design of experiment (DOE) approach. Stabilizing excipients were identified, and the effect of various factors were evaluated to determine optimized formulations that minimized GLA and ID93 degradation, particle size growth, and pH change, while optimizing cake quality. Formulations were identified that are stable at elevated temperatures. Further this vaccine retains the ability to elicit both antibody and TH1 responses against the vaccine antigen and protect against experimental challenge with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These results represent a significant breakthrough in the development of vaccine candidates that can be implemented throughout the world without being hampered by the necessity of a continuous cold chain or separate adjuvant and antigen vials

Association Between Air Pollution and Low Birth Weight: A Community-Based Study

The relationship between maternal exposure to air pollution during periods of pregnancy (entire and specific periods) and birth weight was investigated in a well-defined cohort. Between 1988 and 1991, all pregnant women living in four residential areas of Beijing were registered and followed from early pregnancy until delivery. Information on individual mothers and infants was collected. Daily air pollution data were obtained independently. The sample for analysis included 74,671 first-parity live births were gestational age 37-44 weeks. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to estimate the effects of air pollution on birth weight and low birth weight (< 2,500 g), adjusting for gestational age, residence, year of birth, maternal age, and infant gender. There was a significant exposure-response relationship between maternal exposures to sulfur dioxide (SO2) and total suspended particles (TSP) during the third trimester of pregnancy and infant birth weight. The adjusted odds ratio for low birth weight was 1.11 (95% CI, 1.06-1.16) for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in SO2 and 1.10 (95% CI, 1.05-1.14) for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in TSP. The estimated reduction in birth weight was 7.3 g and 6.9 g for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in SO2 and in TSP, respectively. The birth weight distribution of the high-exposure group was more skewed toward the left tail (i.e., with higher proportion of births < 2,500 g) than that of the low-exposure group. Although the effects of other unmeasured risk factors cannot be excluded with certainty, our data suggests that TSP and SO2, or a more complex pollution mixture associated with these pollutants, contribute to an excess risk of low birth weight in the Beijing population.National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES05947, ES08337); National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (R01 HD32505); Department of Health and Human Services (MCJ-259501, HRSA 5 T32 PE10014

Patterning of Paternal Investment in Response to Socioecological Change

Human paternal investment, and that of many other species, is facultatively expressed and dependent on a diverse array of individual, social, and ecological conditions. Well-documented are the various ways in which men invest in offspring and the household. Specifically, local ecology structures pay-offs to male investment and has been shown to be an important predictor of the sexual division of labor. However, while variability in paternal investment has been well-characterized cross-culturally, plasticity within a group in response to changing socioecological conditions remains largely unstudied. To address this, we use recent economic development and market access to explore how changes in socioecology alter behavioral options for men and their resultant investment decisions. Among the monogamous Maya, we find that, associated with the introduction of novel subsistence opportunities and incentives for intensified paternal investment, fathers spend more time in the household, more time in domestic activities and more time interacting with their children. The changes in paternal investment documented here are largely contingent on four conditions: increased efficiency in subsistence brought about by mechanized farming, limited opportunities to engage in wage labor, increased opportunities to invest in offspring quality, and a monogamous mating system. Thus, Maya fathers appear to repurpose found time by furthering investment in their families

Summer habitat use and movements of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in Canadian agro-ecosystems

Resource selection informs understanding of a species’ ecology and is especially pertinent for invasive species. Since introduced to Canada, wild pigs (Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1978) remain understudied despite recognized negative impacts on native and agricultural systems globally. Elsewhere in North America, pigs typically use forests and forage in agricultural crops. We hypothesized Canadian wild pigs would behave similarly, and using GPS locations from 15 individuals, we examined diel and seasonal resource selection and movement in the Canadian prairie region. Forests were predominately selected during the day, while corn (Zea mays L.), oilseeds, and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were predominately selected at night. Forests and corn were consistently selected throughout the growing season.Wetlands and forests showed greater use rates than other habitats, with evident trade-offs as crop use increased with the timing of maturation. Activity was consistent with foraging in growing crops. Results indicate diel patterns were likely a function of short-term needs to avoid daytime anthropogenic risk, while seasonal patterns demonstrate how habitats that fill multiple functional roles——food, cover, and thermoregulation——can be optimized. Understanding selection by invasive species is an important step in understanding their potential environmental impacts in novel environments and informs their management

“My Body Remembered”: Trauma, Consciousness, and Bodily Memory

In this thesis, I seek to characterize the experience of insight in incidences of individuals remembering and recognizing “bodily memories” of traumatic events. These cases, identified through published narratives, focus on individuals who assert that “their body remembered” or “their body knowing before they did.” In addition to ascribing such thought-provoking descriptions, these individuals also describe an “aha!” (or “uh-oh”) moment, also known as insight. Altogether, I am examining phenomenology of two, apparently linked, experiences: the experience of insight, and the experience of reporting something called bodily memory. I argue that the key to understanding these phenomena lies in the discussion of consciousness. Specifically, I present a conception of consciousness that emphasizes the ability of a state to serve as the basis for action and as a premise in reasoning. I then connect this to introspection and the role that introspection plays in our mental lives. Ultimately, I argue that the ability of a state to be capable of guiding action but to be not introspectable underwrites the phenomena of bodily memory and the experience of insight about thereof.Bachelor of Art

Towards a Molecular Understanding of Protein Solubility

Protein solubility is a problem for many protein chemists including structural biologists and those developing protein pharmaceuticals. Knowledge of how intrinsic factors influence solubility is limited due to the difficulty in obtaining quantitative solubility measurements. Solubility measurements in buffer alone are difficult to reproduce, as gels or supersaturated solutions often form, making the determination of solubility values impossible for many proteins. Protein precipitants can be used to obtain comparative solubility measurements, and they fall into three broad classes: salts, long-chain polymers, and organic solvents. Our group has used a model protein, RNase Sa, to create 20 variants that differ by the residues at a single surface-exposed position. We have measured the protein solubility of these variants and have generated an amino acid solubility scale, in the context of a protein, measured in ammonium sulfate. Here, we present solubility scales for these variants using PEG-8000 and isopropanol as precipitants. We find that amino acids can be divided into three groups based on their contribution to protein solubility: those that increase protein solubility, those that decrease protein solubility, and those that show little change in protein solubility as compared to our wild-type protein which has a threonine at the variable position. Of the 20 variants used here, the aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and serine variants show the greatest increases in protein solubility. Based on our results, we propose a strategy for increasing protein solubility: substitute exposed hydrophobic, asparagine, glutamine, and threonine residues with aspartic acid, glutamic acid or serine. To test this hypothesis, we utilize this strategy on a low solubility variant of RNase Sa. Here, we compare the use of representatives from two classes of precipitants, ammonium sulfate and polyethylene glycol 8000, by measuring the solubility of seven proteins. We find that increased negative surface charge correlates strongly with increased protein solubility and may be due to strong binding of water by the acidic amino acids. We also find that the solubility results obtained in the two different precipitants closely agree with each other, suggesting that the two precipitants probe similar properties that are relevant to solubility in buffer alone

Rapid Targeted Gene Disruption in Bacillus Anthracis

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease recognized to affect herbivores since Biblical times and has the widest range of susceptible host species of any known pathogen. The ease with which the bacterium can be weaponized and its recent deliberate use as an agent of terror, have highlighted the importance of gaining a deeper understanding and effective countermeasures for this important pathogen. High quality sequence data has opened the possibility of systematic dissection of how genes distributed on both the bacterial chromosome and associated plasmids have made it such a successful pathogen. However, low transformation efficiency and relatively few genetic tools for chromosomal manipulation have hampered full interrogation of its genome. Results: Group II introns have been developed into an efficient tool for site-specific gene inactivation in several organisms. We have adapted group II intron targeting technology for application in Bacillus anthracis and generated vectors that permit gene inactivation through group II intron insertion. The vectors developed permit screening for the desired insertion through PCR or direct selection of intron insertions using a selection scheme that activates a kanamycin resistance marker upon successful intron insertion. Conclusions: The design and vector construction described here provides a useful tool for high throughput experimental interrogation of the Bacillus anthracis genome and will benefit efforts to develop improved vaccines and therapeutics.Chem-Bio Diagnostics program from the Department of Defense Chemical and Biological Defense program through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) B102387MNIH GM037949Welch Foundation F-1607Cellular and Molecular Biolog

The Plethora of Science Afforded by a Lunar Swirl : A White Paper to the Planetary Science Decadal Survey Committee

Whitepaper #166 submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032. Topics: surface/geological evolution; Mercury and/or the Moon; other science themes: Physics, Heliophysics, Magnetohydrodynamics, Volcanology, ISRU, PhotometryLunar swirls should be the top priority target of the next lunar mission. The swirls are a fascinating lunar feature, as well as a laboratory to study the solar wind, space weathering, plasma weathering, and plasma kinetics. In this white paper we present examples of broad scientific interest in lunar swirls as well as some example mission types