Mosaic of understanding: fusing perspectives to legitimize non-technical ways of knowing climate change, A

2012 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.The impacts and implications of climate change are as diverse as the global community faced with addressing this social-ecological issue. Expert-driven communication strategies that emphasize an abundance of scientific information laden with technical language and positivist values have insufficiently appealed to non-technical audiences. This shortcoming has widened the gap between technical and non-technical publics and fails to acknowledge the legitimacy of different forms of expertise that include social dimensions of climate change. Different ways of knowing have also been ignored, largely reducing climate change communication to static, one-way presentations of climate science information. Iterative, interactive, and tangible learning processes are underrepresented in climate change communication efforts but can better resonate and engage many non-technical audiences. The power of place-based connections and communication allows for non-technical publics to relate to global climate change through the familiarity and appreciation of local landscapes. National parks and wildlife refuges, places of public value and trust, can seed connections between non-technical visiting publics and climate change. Non-technical audiences can better relate to and understand climate change through the renegotiation of language, relevance, and resonant messages framed in a valued landscape - essentially through the lens of place. These connections, in tandem with hands-on engagement practices, can foster a network of engaged climate change citizens with the capacity to inspire others outside of parks and refuges

Demystification: An Identity Focused Revision to Logic-based Therapy

This project aims to contribute to Logic-Based Therapy, the only fully formed methodology in the area of philosophical counseling. It proposes an identity-focused approach to this model of talk-therapy based on the philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir, which is equipped to address gender specific issues. The various approaches to philosophical counseling aim to facilitate the recipient in gaining a deeper understanding of his or her own existence, and in taking responsibility for him or herself. The value of this style is that rather than treating the source of ‘depression,’ or ‘mental disturbance’ as a psychological abnormality or disease, entirely out of the control of the individual, it helps identify the ways in which we cause our own unhappiness through our patterns of thinking. Although implying causality in this way may appear as a strong claim, it provides the individual with a greater sense of agency. To the degree that one can redirect one’s thoughts, he or she can begin to work her way out of self-destruction. Developed by Dr. Eliot D. Cohen in the mid-1980’s, Logic-Based Therapy aims to help the recipient identify one or more of eleven fallacies, or irrational thought patterns operating in his or her reasoning, formulate them into practical syllogisms and then refute them by offering philosophical antidotes. The structure of this approach is comprehensive, however Beauvoir’s account of existential freedom and responsibility in terms of identity-formation, particularly her discussion of bad faith or the failure to assume freedom, reveal a lack. When we fail to properly assume responsibility for our freedom, we become vulnerable to the will of others, or susceptible to imposing our will on others. As psychanalyst Jessica Benjamin’s critical appropriation of Beauvoir’s work nicely demonstrates, this failure has a gendered element. While this distinction is not absolute, women tend towards the former and men tend towards the latter. Beauvoir concludes in her Second Sex that woman, the historical other to man, must assert herself if she desires to overcome her position as the inessential. Benjamin explores the psychology behind this claim and suggests that generally speaking, women tend not to assert themselves while men tend toward the refusal to give adequate recognition. This project concludes that the development of a framework for adequately addressing these phenomena associated with bad faith would improve the effectiveness of Logic-Based Therapy

Regional perspective of ancient Maya burial patterns in northwest Belize, Central America

In this dissertation I address common trends in ancient Maya burials recovered through excavations of the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP) in northwest Belize. The scope of this research includes 123 individuals (of the approximately 150 individuals that have been recovered through PfBAP excavations) from 12 different archaeological sites and 1,200 years of prehistoric Maya society (spanning from 400 B.C. until A.D. 900). My examination combines osteological and contextual information from these human burials in a bioarchaeological analysis of Maya mortuary practices. Biological sex, age at death, grave type, body positioning, grave goods, and other characteristics are compared across three main categories represented in the data: Site Type, Time Period, and Geographic Region. Additional data comparisons included in this dissertation consider the various burial characteristics mentioned above by sex and age at death of the decedents. By collecting and compiling 25 years’ worth of PfBAP burial data, this analysis successfully identified various trends in Maya burial practices in northwest Belize, many of which present opportunities for further research in the regard for life and death among these prehistoric peoples of Central America.Anthropolog

The legacy of African American teachers in Jim Crow Mississippi

This study examines the educational philosophies and classroom practices of African American teachers in Mississippi prior to desegregation. The author collected the oral histories of fifteen former teachers and students from rural and urban districts across the state of Mississippi. Their responses were analyzed through the lenses of womanist pedagogy, educational capital, and the ideals of prominent early 20th century African American education scholars. In many ways, the archetypes for African American set by famous intellectuals were rarely met within the schools represented in this study. The responses of the participants, however, revealed a number of ways in which teachers created positive learning environments for their students despite the lack of resources and the hostile environments in which they taught.  African and African Diaspora Studie

Language as an indicator of integration in educational attainment and political participation of immigrants in Germany and the United States

Advanced countries are continually grappling with the necessity of integration and the best practices for advancing minority groups within its borders. Germany and the United States are amongst these seeking to accommodate large groups of labor immigrants from foreign countries. Several factors facilitate the integration of these minority groups, especially important is language acquisition. In 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tested 15 year old students around the world and one of the major revelations was the discrepancy between native speakers and non-native speakers, especially in Germany and the United States. This essay will explore the importance of language in integration by comparing two example countries with vastly different citizenship laws, based on the premises of jus sanguinis or jus soli, and the role language plays in two different intermediaries of integration, education and political participation, within these citizenship frameworks

The cat stalked ?wilily around the house: Morphological dissimilation in deadjectival adverbs

The adverbial suffix -ly[1] and the adjectival suffix -ly[2] typically do not combine (e.g., *ghost+-ly[1]+-ly[2] 'in a ghostlike manner'). However, phonologically similar strings are attested when one /li/ string is part of the word stem (jollily, compared to: ?smellily, *lovelily). Does morphological structure modulate the acceptability of these words independently from the impact of phonological or usage-based constraints? In two experiments, jolly-type stems are rated more acceptable than smell- and love-type stems, which did not significantly differ from each other. A combination of phonological constraints and increased morphological complexity can account for the observed pattern

Null alleles are ubiquitous at microsatellite loci in the Wedge Clam (Donax trunculus)

Recent studies have reported an unusually high frequency of nonamplifying alleles at microsatellite loci in bivalves. Null alleles have been associated with heterozygous deficits in many studies. While several studies have tested for its presence using different analytical tools, few have empirically tested for its consequences in estimating population structure and differentiation. We characterised 16 newly developed microsatellite loci and show that null alleles are ubiquitous in the wedge clam, Donax trunculus. We carried out several tests to demonstrate that the large heterozygous deficits observed in the newly characterised loci were most likely due to null alleles. We tested the robustness of microsatellite genotyping for population assignment by showing that well-recognised biogeographic regions of the south Atlantic and south Mediterranean coast of Spain harbour genetically different populations

Effect of androgen treatment during foetal and/or neonatal life on ovarian function in prepubertal and adult rats

We investigated the effects of different windows of testosterone propionate (TP) treatment during foetal and neonatal life in female rats to determine whether and when excess androgen exposure would cause disruption of adult reproductive function. Animals were killed prepubertally at d25 and as adults at d90. Plasma samples were taken for hormone analysis and ovaries serial sectioned for morphometric analyses. In prepubertal animals, only foetal+postnatal and late postnatal TP resulted in increased body weights, and an increase in transitory, but reduced antral follicle numbers without affecting total follicle populations. Treatment with TP during both foetal+postnatal life resulted in the development of streak ovaries with activated follicles containing oocytes that only progressed to a small antral (smA) stage and inactive uteri. TP exposure during foetal or late postnatal life had no effect upon adult reproductive function or the total follicle population, although there was a reduction in the primordial follicle pool. In contrast, TP treatment during full postnatal life (d1-25) resulted in anovulation in adults (d90). These animals were heavier, had a greater ovarian stromal compartment, no differences in follicle thecal cell area, but reduced numbers of anti-Mullerian hormone-positive smA follicles when compared with controls. Significantly reduced uterine weights lead reduced follicle oestradiol production. These results support the concept that androgen programming of adult female reproductive function occurs only during specific time windows in foetal and neonatal life with implications for the development of polycystic ovary syndrome in women

A pulmonary mass with invasion into the heart

We describe the case of a 58 year old woman who presented with bronchial atypical carcinoid found at surgery to invade the left atrium along the pulmonary veins. A right pneumonectomy and removal of a portion of the left atrium was performed. The patient made an excellent post operative recovery. Three years later she presented in acute respiratory failure secondary to local recurrence. This is first case described in which recurrence after resection of bronchial carcinoid metastatic to the heart is described