Judging Sodom: gay identity in Bowers, Romer & Lawrence

This paper presents a novel method for understanding how the Supreme Court constructs identities. Applying Michel Foucault’s concept of governmentality to pivotal Supreme Court decisions which solidified gay identity were analyzed using Bowers v. Hardwick, Romer v. Evans, and Lawrence v. Texas. The results of this investigation show that the Court’s construction of gay identity changed with each case, sculpted by what they perceived at the time as most productive for American society. The work presented here has profound implications for the future study of the Supreme Court and contributes to our understanding of the workings of institutions in the modern world

Encountering the Waterlands: Stories of Environment, Animals and Architecture in the Ahiak

In spring of 2019, I travelled through Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut to the Ahiak (Queen Maud Gulf) Migratory Bird Sanctuary for a five-week volunteer position studying populations of migratory geese. In this space of migration, I question not only how we understand our changing environment but also how we can recalibrate a relationship in it. In so doing, I approach the Karrak Lake research station as a multiplicity of landscapes, buildings, animals and climatic forces, putting forward a method of engagement and expression that engages each of these actors through photographic composites and narrative-based writing. This research is informed by a wide spectrum of cultural study, historical research, the philosophies of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Henri Bergson, and James Gibson among others as they helped to reflect upon personal encounter with the Arctic environment over the course of five weeks in the Ahiak. The narratives were composed largely in-situ and tell the story of intense interrelations between living beings, landscape, weather and architecture. The thesis reframes the research station as an integrated component in much larger environmental processes. It explores the interconnectedness of the humans and animals whose territories it sits among, as well as its unique ecological surroundings, and looks toward how we can pursue a relationship with the land in the context of Canada’s changing environmental and reconciliatory discourses

Emotional Arousal and News Readership in Social Media

Expressions of emotions are common in news posts on social media. News providers embed emotional expressions to grab users’ attention and entice them to read the full article. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support this practice. We develop a theoretical model using emotions as social information theory to explain how, when and why the arousal of emotions expressed in headlines influences news article reading in social media. Through three experiments, we provide converging evidence that the use of expressed arousal backfires and reduces news reading. We also reveal a context-dependent boundary condition (i.e., information gap) and explore underlying mechanisms. Our findings speak to the growing literature on emotional expressions in social media and challenge the assumption that expressed arousal is beneficial in increasing news readership in social media

Exploration and Exploitation Effort as Mediators between State-Level Goal Orientation and Complex Performance

Organizational success depends on a workforce that can effectively solving the problems posed by rapid changes in modern marketplaces. In this study, we use achievement goal theory and self-regulation theories to better understand the mechanisms by which people solve complex problems. We hypothesized that the effects of goal orientations on performance would be mediated by exploratory effort and exploitative effort. These hypotheses were tested using a sample of 119 undergraduate students. Participants completed multiple sessions of an experimental task –– an adaptation of the marshmallow challenge (Wujec, 2010) –– that required people to create a useful structure with a novel design. The results of this study showed that exploration effort positively related to novelty, and exploitation effort positively related to usefulness. Mastery-approach goal orientation was a significant predictor of both types of effort, while performance-approach goal orientation led to increased exploitation effort and decreased exploration effort

Viral nucleoprotein complexes in cells infected with the parvovirus MVM

Virus specific deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis in BHK-21/C13 cells infected with the autonomous Parvovirus Minute Virus of Mice (MVM) can first be detected 8-10 hour post infection (hpi) and reaches a maximum rate of DM synthesis between 14-16 hpi. Viral DNA was extracted from infected cells, between 16-18 hpi, using a method which preserved protein and DNA interactions. The mechanisms of viral DNA replication and the assembly process were studied, under these conditions. A method was developed which quantitively and selectively extracted viral DNA from infected cells. This method relies on lysis of infected cells with the non-ionic detergent, NP40, followed by separation of the cells into cytoplasm and nuclei. The nuclei were then treated with various NaCl concentrations. Optimal release of viral DNA, without release of cellular DNA, occurred at a final concentration of 0.5M NaCl. The optimal pH for the extraction conditions was pH 7.0. Two nucleoprotein complexes were detected. A fast sedimenting, approximately lOOS, nucleoprotein complex, designated Cl, was present in the cytoplasmic extract. 01 had a buoyant density in CsCl slightly greater than that of mature virus and a sedimentation coefficient slightly less than mature virus. Mature MVM sediments at 110S. Cl is 20% sensitive to micrococcal nuclease digestion. The second nucleoprotein complex, designated Oil, sedimented at 22S with a leading edge towards higher sedimentation values. CII was located in the nucleus and constitutes the major viral DNA species in the infected cell. Protein was shown to be associated with the DNA by the change in sedimentation coefficient upon digestion with SDS and pronase, the increased sensitivity of the DNA to digestion with DNase I after treatment with agents which destroy protein and DNA interactions, and the association of 33-S-L-methionine labelled protein with the DNA. Reconstruction experiments have indicated that the association of protein with the DNA is not due to am artefact of the extraction procedure. The DNA components in the nucleoprotein complexes were analysed by neutral and alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis, Nal buoyant density analysis, sensitivity to digestion with SI nuclease and hybridisation analysis. Cl was shown to consist of single stranded DNA of the same molecular weight as MVM viral DNA. The DNA was demonstrated to be the viral strand and not the complementary strand by hybridisation with duplex MVM DNA synthesised vitro from MVM viral DNA using DNA polymerase I. The main band of CII consisted of a duplex DNA molecule twice the molecular weight of MVM viral DNA and therefore represents monomer replicative form (RP) DNA. When analysed under alkaline conditions the DNA contained molecules up to twice genome length. This indicated that some of the DNA in the duplex consisted of covalently linked viral and complementary strands. Confirmation of this was obtained by the observation that some of the GII DNA molecules were capable of spontaneous renaturation. The fast-sedimenting region of CII contained DNA twice and four times the length of monomer EP DNA, but, only contained DNA up to twice genome length under alkaline conditions. CII was shown to be viral in origin by displacement hybridisation. Pulse-chase experiments revealed that CII was a precursor to Cl although no replicative intermediate could be isolated. Preliminary electron microscopic studies revealed that the major DNA species was a linear double stranded DNA molecule of genome length. Potential replicative intermediates were identified by electron microscopy but no confirmatory data was obtained. In conclusion, viral DNA replication occurs in the form of nucleoprotein complexes and a putative maturation product was identified. The mechanisms of Parvovirus DNA replication and assembly are discussed

LeadLets: Towards a Pattern Language for Leadership Development of Human and AI Agents

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have inspired businesses and researchers to identify new ways in which AI can improve our way of life. One such quest lies in giving AIs complex human capabilities - like leadership. We take the first step towards that goal and propose a pattern-based approach to leadership. We argue that leadership best practices are actually a series of mini-interventions each of which results in a consistent and desired response from the followers. When codified, these repeatable interventions can serve as foundational blocks for AI algorithms. To this end, we introduce LeadLets: A pattern language that codifies named, scripted, and repeatable leadership techniques that have a predictable influence causing a purposeful effect on one or more individuals. We argue that a pattern-based approach such as LeadLets can create leadership templates that inform programing leadership behavior into AI artifacts and designing leaders development programs

Sampling based on timing: Time encoding machines on shift-invariant subspaces

Sampling information using timing is a new approach in sampling theory. The question is how to map amplitude information into the timing domain. One such encoder, called time encoding machine, was introduced by Lazar and Toth in [23] for the special case of band-limited functions. In this paper, we extend their result to the general framework of shift-invariant subspaces. We prove that time encoding machines may be considered as non-uniform sampling devices, where time locations are unknown a priori. Using this fact, we show that perfect representation and reconstruction of a signal with a time encoding machine is possible whenever this device satisfies some density property. We prove that this method is robust under timing quantization, and therefore can lead to the design of simple and energy efficient sampling devices.Comment: submitted to Applied and Computationnal Harmonic Analysi

An ongoing case-control study to evaluate the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme

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