Confronting the Cañada: Tackling Real-World Problems Through Service Learning

Latin American Studie

The Optimization of Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) for Differential Extraction of Sexual Assault Casework

A two-step protocol has been devised as a rapid and selective alternative to conventional differential extraction techniques with an increased recovery of DNA. The protocol involves pressure cycling with the Barocycler® NEP 2320 from Pressure Biosciences. Inc. in alkaline conditions for epithelial cell lysis and removal. This step is followed by alkaline lysis at 95º C for extraction of sperm cell DNA. At 1:1 or 2:1 female to male cell ratios, high selectivity and complete separation can be achieved. But at higher ratios, male allelic dropout is observed. This protocol has been modified to generate a clean male profile at a 20:1 cell ratio through optimization of NaOH concentration and inclusion of an additional pressure cycling step. Validation studies have been performed to assess the efficiency of this method under various conditions. An additional immunomagnetic cell capture pretreatment allowed for nearly complete separation at cell ratios of up to 200:1

Fearless Friday: Vanessa Martinez

In this week’s edition of Fearless Friday, Surge is pleased to honor the work of Vanessa Martinez ’19. Vanessa is an Anthropology major with a Peace and Justice Studies minor from Los Angeles, California. Though she is only a sophomore, Vanessa is already heavily involved in Gettysburg’s campus. She is the secretary of the Latin American Student Association , handles public relations for the Asian Student Alliance, and is a member of the Black Student Union. Vanessa works for the Center for Public Service as a program coordinator for the bilingual after-school program at VIDA Charter School. During Spring Break 2017, she will be a project leader for an Immersion Trip to Baltimore, Maryland, which will focus on models of urban education reform. Additionally, Vanessa works for the Department of Public Safety as an administrative assistant and also serves as a Diversity Peer Educator on campus.[excerpt

Sickle Cell Anemia: Current Treatments and Potential Advancements

Sickle cell anemia is a disease that affects red blood cells, specifically the hemoglobin protein. An amino acid mutation in the gene that encodes β-globin leads to malformation of the β subunit of hemoglobin.3, Valine becomes glutamic acid in the mutated β-globin gene.9 The mutation malformation leads to the red blood cells becoming sickle shaped, or crescent shaped.3,4 The sickle shape of red blood cells in individuals with sickle cell disease leads to vaso-occlusive crisis.9 Vaso-occlusive crisis includes complications such as blood clotting, chronic pain, organ failure, organ death, and possibly early mortality.9 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there are approximately 100,000 Americans who have sickle cell disease as of their August 2016 records.21 One of every 365 African-Americans, and one in every 16,300 Hispanic-Americans have sickle cell anemia.21 There are therapies and treatments that have already been developed based on the knowledge gained regarding the disease and its complications. Currently, hydroxyurea therapy is the most widely accepted and used treatment for individuals with sickle cell disease with proven relief of vaso-occlusive crisis complications. However, with hydroxyurea therapy there are several unwanted effects that have an impact on the patients, such as jaundice, blood clotting, and usual bleeding just to name a few.44 Studies have noted an upregulation of the glycolytic enzyme, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase (aldolase) in patients who have undergone hydroxyurea therapy. Aldolase is an important enzyme that plays a role in energy conversion. With this in mind, I propose that sickle cell disease can be treated with an increase in aldolase by myoblast treatment and/or higher fructose consumptions thereby reducing the complications that come with the disease, as well as, drastically eliminating the unwanted effects that come with hydroxyurea therapy

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF TWO CASE STUDIES HIGHLIGHTING COMMUNITY-RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS IN SPRINGFIELD, MA

This dissertation is both qualitative and collaborative. It emphasizes the participant observation and ethnographic documentation of two community-researcher partnerships on community-level health interventions in Springfield, MA. Drawing upon critical theories and reflexive methods, I explore and analyze the process of building and sustaining researcher-community partnerships in an era of limited funding. Two Springfield, MA-based projects – one on healthy cooking/eating, and the other on contingency management – serve as case studies to provide a concrete picture of the complex relationships of researcher-community collaborations. I use ethnographic storytelling to provide a multi-dimensional look at two different community-research partnerships on health disparities work. I have chosen ethnography as my primary methodology because I am interested in gaining a broad understanding of Springfield as a post-industrial city – a city with both a complex support system of public health services and a community suffering from poor health outcomes. My dissertation explores the following questions: What are the factors that contribute to successful community-research partnerships? What are the challenges to creating and sustaining good community-research collaborations? And what recommendations or strategies can build social and cultural capacity for these types of partnerships? My experience on-the-ground highlighted a gap in the literature on community-research partnerships. I discuss the need for expanding the list of collaborators to include community college faculty and students, funding agents, and grassroots community leaders – not just service agencies standing in as representatives of the community. Given my personal and professional experience over the last twelve years, I believe that, in the end, successful community-research partnerships must build on the strengths already in the community in order to create a lasting impact in the community. For Springfield, that means bringing everyone to the table, , in other words, a diverse group of people who all have a vested interest in improving the health of Springfield residents

Behavior-Profile Clustering For False Alert Reduction in Anomaly Detection Sensors

Anomaly Detection (AD) sensors compute behavior profiles to recognize malicious or anomalous activities. The behavior of a host is checked continuously by the AD sensor and an alert is raised when the behavior deviates from its behavior profile. Unfortunately, the majority of AD sensors suffer from high volumes of false alerts either maliciously crafted by the host or originating from insufficient training of the sensor. We present a cluster-based AD sensor that relies on clusters of behavior profiles to identify anomalous behavior. The behavior of a host raises an alert only when a group of host profiles with similar behavior (cluster of behavior profiles) detect the anomaly, rather than just relying on the host's own behavior profile to raise the alert (single-profile AD sensor). A cluster-based AD sensor significantly decreases the volume of false alerts by providing a more robust model of normal behavior based on clusters of behavior profiles. Additionally, we introduce an architecture designed for the deployment of cluster-based AD sensors. The behavior profile of each network host is computed by its closest switch that is also responsible for performing the anomaly detection for each of the hosts in its subnet. By placing the AD sensors at the switch, we eliminate the possibility of hosts crafting malicious alerts. Our experimental results based on wireless behavior profiles from users in the CRAWDAD dataset show that the volume of false alerts generated by cluster-based AD sensors is reduced by at least 50% compared to single-profile AD sensors

The Cumulation of Relationships

This is an approach to understand the complexities of becoming an effective educator using an ethnographic lens. This narrative outlines my first impressions of teaching, and it goes beyond to discuss the impact that community, school, and teacher relationships have on student success. The purpose of this ethnography is rooted in my progressive understanding of how to become an effective and socially just educator in Lincoln Heights. Through an impeccable experience in my very own classroom, I was able to capture the essence of quality relationships with my students and fellow teachers. A year packed with great content and strategies to strengthen my understanding of analyzing student assessments, applying classroom management, working with paraprofessionals, and much more. As I reflect on my practice, I come to understand that building relationships with your students is the key to creating a space for social-emotional learning in the classroom. In addition, the reflective component of my ethnography is crucial to my process of developing my experience in the classroom. In the midst of collecting student data and building relationships with my students, I came to the conclusion that social-emotional learning is a vital component to the configuration of a socially just educator and pedagogy

I Am Me

You say my accent is interesting It shows I’m not you I don’t understand your words even though I grew up knowing I am me and you are you I guess what I’m saying is well, what do you mean? When you say that my accent is interesting Are you trying to get to know me or assign me an identity? Is the nopal que tengo en la frente a symbol too ambiguous to fully convince you? When you’re unsure, do my words comfort you? Because they are connected to the deserts and the cacti that are linked to the roots that you use to mark Who I am to you [excerpt