Momentary Eddies

Our lives are in a constant state of change, from the most intimate scale physically and emotionally to the world surrounding us externally. The relationships we build with ourselves, others, and the world surrounding us are important structures we carry with us throughout life. Momentary Eddies is a visual poem about the interconnectedness of our inner and outer landscapes. I have created a hauntingly dreamlike space that explores a landscape of emotions that are an entangled part of personal intimate relationships and how the emotional and physical topographies of these relationships connect to the environment surrounding us. These paper sculptures and layered sounds represent a personal narrative, which illustrates the tender beauty of vulnerability and the ephemerality of everything

Impact of Heat Stress on Germinal Vesicle Breakdown and Lipolytic Changes during In Vitro Maturation of Bovine Oocytes

The main objective of this research was to examine the lipolytic changes in triglyceride and phospholipid as well as the incidence of germinal vesicle breakdown during IVM of heat-stressed oocytes compared to non-stressed oocytes. To this end, cumulus-oocyte complexes were matured for 0, 2, 4, 6 or 24 hIVM at 38.5 or 41.0°C (first 12 h only, then transferred to 38.5°C). Triglyceride and phospholipid levels decreased by 2 hIVM (P = 0.0009 and P = 0.0005, respectively) but remained fairly constant to 24 hIVM; lipid decline was not affected by maturation temperature. Elevated maturation temperature hastened meiotic progression by 4 hIVM (P \u3c 0.0001). Incidence of germinal vesicle breakdown was associated, though not directly related, to lipolytic changes in oocyte triglyceride and phospholipid content (R2 [R-squared] = 0.2123 and P = 0.0030; R2 = 0.2243 and P = 0.0026, respectively). Oocyte ATP content was measured as an indirect indicator of lipolysis (i.e., mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation [beta-oxidation] of fatty acids freed during lipolysis of triglyceride/phospholipid for ATP production). The ATP content of oocytes increased during IVM and was greater in heat-stressed oocytes at 24 hIVM compared to controls (P = 0.0082). Levels of ATP were associated, though not directly related, to changes in oocyte triglyceride and phospholipid content (R2 = 0.1086 and P = 0.0184; R2 = 0.1252 and P = 0.0096, respectively). In summary, heat stress-induced hastening of oocyte germinal vesicle breakdown was not directly explained by lipolytic changes in triglycerides and phospholipids nor the oocyte ATP content

OT VetSet: a clinician's manual to working with veterans as clients

OT VetSet: A Clinician’s Manual to Working with Veterans as Clients is designed to educate occupational therapy providers on unique client factors of veterans as well as provide resources to occupational therapy providers for the effective evaluation and treatment of veterans as clients. Using descriptive evidence of veterans as a population in conjunction with literary evidence on how to create effective learning for adults, OT VetSet can be truly considered an evidence-based tool. The tool is split into six lessons which range from introductory information including military terminology, conditions by service era, and considerations for mental health, to two case studies on fictional veterans (that were based on demographic information) as well as a list of resources for both providers and veterans. Each lesson is published in three sections including the introduction, content, and sample administration techniques. This doctoral project presents the evidence behind this design, funding plan, evaluation plan, and dissemination plan as well as a sample manual (via appendices) for future users to be able to replicate OT VetSet in their own facility

Hidden kisses, walled gardens, and angel-kinder: A Study of the Victorian and Edwardian conceptions of motherhood and childhood in Little Women, The Secret Garden, and Peter Pan

In this paper, I explore the evolving conceptions of childhood and motherhood as expressed in Victorian and Edwardian children’s literature generally, and specifically in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Frances Hodgeson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. An overview of the history of children’s literature and its development with relation to the changing cultural concept of childhood, as well as a discussion of social, economic, and creative factors impacting the ideological position of women at the turn of the 20th century provide the necessary background for said exploration. A variety of primary and secondary sources relating to relevant social history, artistic and literary movements, and the specific authors were consulted to ascertain the prevalent and emerging attitudes about women and children, and to determine how these were manifested in the books mentioned above. The woman as the “Angel of the House” and the child as innocent were prevailing ideologies embraced in both America and Britain at the time. All three authors incorporate these ideas into their work, but each appropriates them uniquely, revealing personal biases. For Alcott and Burnett, the mother characters function as spokespersons for the metaphysical beliefs of the authors. Little Women retains traces of the Puritanical preoccupation with sin while simultaneously reflecting Alcott’s progressive social attitudes resulting from her Transcendental roots. Marmee March embodies this duality by both advocating and challenging conventional femininity. Influenced by New Thought, Spiritualism, and Theosophy, Burnet adopts a hopeful view in which mothers, represented chiefly by the Madonna-like Mrs. Sowerby, and children are collaborators in bringing about physical and mental healing. Barrie’s approach to the mother-child relation, rather than metaphysical, is gendered and semi-erotic. He depicts a sustained tension between innocence (the child) and experience (the mother). Wendy Darling functions as the girl-mother through which Barrie probes the schisms between child and adult, male and female. Together, the three highlighted works provide a fairly comprehensive representation of the cults of childhood and the household angel as manifested in The Golden Age of children’s literature

An Evaluation of the Sustainability of the Palm Oil Industry

The goal of this thesis is to critically analyze the sustainability of the rapidly growing palm oil industry in order to diagnose whether the benefits of production outweigh the varied costs incurred by stakeholders, how the industry can be improved, and what analytical tools consumers can use to make better purchasing decisions. The body of the thesis begins with a discussion on sustainability definitions and determines that for this paper, sustainability will be defined as analyzing the socioeconomic and environmental effects of palm oil and how they affect different actors of the value chain in order to allow for prescriptions of improvement. The next section identifies the main stakeholders of the industry as larger plantations/companies, smallholder farmers, the communities in producing countries, governments, certifying boards, and consumers. It is determined that although there are uneven power shares among the value chain, the actors are all influenced by the decisions and pressures of the others. Next, preexisting literature including case studies and scientific studies are analyzed in order to explain both the positive and negative socioeconomic and environmental effects that palm oil has. It is determined that the harms discussed are not unique to palm oil and are often less detrimental than that of alternative industries. Therefore, external and internal stakeholders need to work together to influence positive change versus denouncing the industry altogether. I suggest that the focus should be on encouraging more sustainability certification and regulation, supporting smallholders with education and resources, and demanding more accountability from the industry. To conclude, I discuss how this research and analysis can be applied to better understand complex industries and sustainability labels to make informed consumer and activist decisions

Planning decision for vacant lots in the context of shrinking cities : a survey and comparison of practices in the United States

textPlanning theory and practice in the United States has been dominated by a paradigm of growth; however, since the 1980s, many cities have faced prolonged population decline, prompting questions about how shrinkage is engaged as planners attempt to provide for health, safety, and welfare. This investigation surveys and compares lines of thought being used to make decisions regarding these properties, with particular emphasis on planners located within cities having dissimilar experiences of “shrinking.” Principally, it is focused on vacant and abandoned lots, which are the most immediately visible symptom of population decline and offer the greatest opportunity to reimagine urban form-and-function relationships. The investigation begins with a literature review of the causes and effects of shrinking as well as an investigation into historical research and contemporary thought on vacant land in the United States. Current reasoning supporting decisions about vacant and abandoned lots is identified through a national survey of planning professionals in fifteen cities with either stable-to-growing or shrinking populations. These are augmented by selected follow-up interviews. Both stratified sampling and matching were used to achieve a range of city characteristics and control for them across growth orientation. This approach is new in that while case studies of one or two shrinking cities have been undertaken, there has not been a national survey focused on shrinking cities and vacancy. The goal is to understand regional trends, tools, and obstacles to progress. The results indicate a range in which methods and techniques predicated on the dominant and normative growth paradigm have been both adopted or adapted for use in shrinking cities. Results suggest that concepts regarding quality of life, intentions for the future, and community goals have been reprioritized and redefined in shrinking cities. Finally, results indicate ways in which ideas regarding the built environment and the discontinuities of the urban fabric are being reconceptualized in the face of massive economic and demographic upheaval.Community and Regional Plannin

Samsāra to Nirvāna: What Would It Mean to Actually Free Tibet?

For Mahayana Buddhists, samsara literally means “wandering-on,” but in theory, it refers to the cyclical nature of birth and re-birth characterized by suffering that a Buddhist must break out of in order to achieve nirvana, a state free of suffering. Since the occupation and incorporation of Tibet into the People’s Republic of China (“China”) in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Tibetan people have experienced a far more intense form of metaphorical samsara at the hands of the Chinese administration. The term “genocide,” coined by Raphael Lemkin in the wake of the Holocaust, combines the ancient Greek word “genos” meaning race or tribe, and “cide,” derived from the Latin infinitive “to kill.” He defined it as the execution of a plan with the objective of disintegrating political and social institutions, culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the destruction of personal security, liberty, health, dignity and even the lives of the individuals belonging to the target group. The term genocide was intended to describe what Nazi Germany had done to the Jewish people; however, scholars have since used the term to describe an array of different atrocities intended to destroy a people or a culture. Since the incorporation of Tibet, many have been claimed that China has been systematically attempting to destroy Tibetan culture, and the Dalai Lama stated in no uncertain terms that Tibet is the victim of cultural genocide. The oppression of the Tibetan people by China has led to protests, violence, and even self-immolation. The Chinese oppression of the Tibetan people entreats the questions: does the law offer Tibet a remedy for the destruction of its culture? Can justice be brought to the Tibetan people through the channels of current international law? How can the cycle be stopped

Pre-sorting and pen size effects on the stress responses at loading and unloading and transport losses in market weight pigs

The management and facility design strategies of pre-sorting prior to loading and grow to finish pen size were studied to determine their individual effects on stress responses at loading and unloading and transport losses in market weight pigs. Each trial was conducted on three commercial wean to finish sites in the Midwest. Pre-sorting market weight pigs prior to loading reduced (P \u3c 0.01) the incidence of open mouth breathing (OMB) and skin discoloration (SD) at loading, however; there were no differences (P \u3c 0.05) between pre-sorted and not pre-sorted pigs for the incidence of muscle tremors (MT) at loading, OMB, SD, or MT at unloading, or any transport loss measures at the harvest facility. Pigs raised in small pens throughout the grow to finish period had reduced (P \u3c 0.01) incidences of OMB and SD at loading compared to pigs raised in large pens. At unloading, however; pigs from large pens had a lower incidence (P \u3c 0.01) of SD and no differences (P \u3c 0.05) existed between treatments for OMB or MT. Finally, there were no differences (P \u3c 0.05) between pen size treatments for any transport loss measures at the harvest facility