The Cultural Hegemony of Fashion: What Jeans Advertisements Portray as Normal

The foundation of a society rests in the existence of power dynamics which allow for the dictation of specific cultural norms by the ruling class upon the nondominant class. This imposition creates cultural hegemony, or a relation between a leader who benefits from dominating a consenting subordinate (Artz and Ortega Murphy, 2000). Advertisements impact a society as a whole and serve as a representation of cultural hegemony. They project a certain norm and ideal for consumers to achieve. When consumers buy an advertised product, they consent to and accept the projected norm determined by the company. Americans often choose their clothing based off what is collectively considered to be “normal” by adhering to popular trends or styles. Through the process of clothing selection, the consumer conforms to society’s expectations of normality, which are dictated by the ruling class (Fiske, 1989). This act of conforming also occurs when one wears denim jeans. Jean wearers consent to the norms imposed by the companies that are portrayed through advertisements. These ideals (fashion norms) are based on factors such as one’s body type, race, and gender (Fiske, 1989). Consumers conform to the imposed ideals by purchasing and wearing what the fashion industry presents as normal; thus, enabling corporations to continue dictating societal norms

Anyone know where I can cash in my white privilege points?

What does white privilege look like? This interactive session will allow audience members to voice their opinions of what it means to be White. While many White people do not have a clear understanding of their privilege, White privilege is prevalent in our everyday lives. This misunderstanding leads us towards systematic racism and to institutions where White Power is encouraged. This session will work towards helping audience members understand White privilege, gain an understanding of how white supremacy affects the perception of White privilege, and most importantly, what they should do with this privilege

The Problem of Erasure: Indigenous Organizing Beyond the Zapatistas

I explore the concept of erasure in social movements by using the various groups and histories of Mexican indigenous organizing to critique the gaps in social movement theory that do not recognize the links between social movements that target similar issues. I look at how indigenous movements in Mexico, as well as other prominent movements in North America, have been simplified and in turn historically mislabeled. Ultimately, I argue that our academic understanding of indigenous liberation in Mexico is limited by the omission of hundreds of years of resistance by indigenous people previous to the rise of the Zapatistas. I argue for an academic understanding that portrays one ongoing indigenous movement that encompasses the Zapatistas as well as the many other groups that have worked previous to and alongside of them.Bachelor of Art

Athletic Trainers’ Hand Hygiene Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose: Hand hygiene (HH) is a cost-effective public health intervention to prevent infectious disease transmission, including COVID-19. Health care professionals have shown poor adherence to HH best practices, and little is known about athletic trainer (AT) HH. ATs typically work in dynamic, unpredictable environments, creating barriers to HH compliance. The purpose of this study was to understand the self-reported behaviors and challenges with adherence to HH of secondary school ATs, particularly related to mitigating infection transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this qualitative study, we conducted 11 semi-structured interviews with secondary school ATs actively engaged in direct patient care (age=31±9 years; experience=9±8 years). A 2-person data analysis team used a multi-phase inductive coding process to identify emerging domains and themes to create a codebook. Trustworthiness and credibility were established with member checking, multi-researcher analysis, and internal auditing. Results: We identified four themes: 1) best practices awareness, 2) impact of COVID-19, 3) resources, and 4) community-based prevention. Participants indicated HH training was included during on-boarding, but lacked contextual knowledge for HH in clinical practice, despite identifying ATs as health care providers. Participants expressed increased HH frequency due to the COVID-19 pandemic and concern for transmission. Participants noted an overall positive perception of access to physical resources, like hand sanitizer, sinks, and soap, as well as financial support to provide those resources. Participants noted decreased perceived risk and lack of formal policy or enforcement of HH expectations for facility users. Conclusion: ATs have general knowledge and resources but lack contextual knowledge and behaviors to employ HH best practices. The COVID-19 pandemic increased awareness, but HH by athletic training facility users remains poor. ATs should engage in HH based on best practice recommendations consistent with a traditional healthcare facility. Policies should be developed and enforced to limit disease transmission

Vector competence of Aedes aegypti, Culex tarsalis, and Culex quinquefasciatus from California for Zika virus.

Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged since 2013 as a significant global human health threat following outbreaks in the Pacific Islands and rapid spread throughout South and Central America. Severe congenital and neurological sequelae have been linked to ZIKV infections. Assessing the ability of common mosquito species to transmit ZIKV and characterizing variation in mosquito transmission of different ZIKV strains is important for estimating regional outbreak potential and for prioritizing local mosquito control strategies for Aedes and Culex species. In this study, we evaluated the laboratory vector competence of Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Culex tarsalis that originated in areas of California where ZIKV cases in travelers since 2015 were frequent. We compared infection, dissemination, and transmission rates by measuring ZIKV RNA levels in cohorts of mosquitoes that ingested blood meals from type I interferon-deficient mice infected with either a Puerto Rican ZIKV strain from 2015 (PR15), a Brazilian ZIKV strain from 2015 (BR15), or an ancestral Asian-lineage Malaysian ZIKV strain from 1966 (MA66). With PR15, Cx. quinquefasciatus was refractory to infection (0%, N = 42) and Cx. tarsalis was infected at 4% (N = 46). No ZIKV RNA was detected in saliva from either Culex species 14 or 21 days post feeding (dpf). In contrast, Ae. aegypti developed infection rates of 85% (PR15; N = 46), 90% (BR15; N = 20), and 81% (MA66; N = 85) 14 or 15 dpf. Although MA66-infected Ae. aegypti showed higher levels of ZIKV RNA in mosquito bodies and legs, transmission rates were not significantly different across virus strains (P = 0.13, Fisher's exact test). To confirm infectivity and measure the transmitted ZIKV dose, we enumerated infectious ZIKV in Ae. aegypti saliva using Vero cell plaque assays. The expectorated plaque forming units PFU varied by viral strain: MA66-infected expectorated 13±4 PFU (mean±SE, N = 13) compared to 29±6 PFU for PR15-infected (N = 13) and 35±8 PFU for BR15-infected (N = 6; ANOVA, df = 2, F = 3.8, P = 0.035). These laboratory vector competence results support an emerging consensus that Cx. tarsalis and Cx. quinquefasciatus are not vectors of ZIKV. These results also indicate that Ae. aegypti from California are efficient laboratory vectors of ancestral and contemporary Asian lineage ZIKV

A Synchrotron Mössbauer Spectroscopy Study of a Hydrated Iron-Sulfate at High Pressures

Szomolnokite is a monohydrated ferrous iron sulfate mineral, FeSO₄·H₂O, where the ferrous iron atoms are in octahedral coordination with four corners shared with SO4 and two with H₂O groups. While somewhat rare on Earth, szomolnokite has been detected on the surface of Mars along with several other hydrated sulfates and is suggested to occur near the surface of Venus. Previous measurements have characterized the local environment of the iron atoms in szomolnokite using Mössbauer spectroscopy at a range of temperatures and 1 bar. Our study represents a step towards understanding the electronic environment of iron in szomolnokite under compression at 300 K. Using a hydrostatic helium pressure-transmitting medium, we explored the pressure dependence of iron’s site-specific behavior in a synthetic szomolnokite powdered sample up to 95 GPa with time-domain synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy. At 1 bar, the Mössbauer spectrum is well described by two Fe²⁺-like sites and no ferric iron, consistent with select conventional Mössbauer spectra evaluations. At pressures below 19 GPa, steep gradients in the hyperfine parameters are most likely due to a structural phase transition. At 19 GPa, a fourth site is required to explain the time spectrum with increasing fractions of a low quadrupole splitting site, which could indicate the onset of another transition. Above 19 GPa we present three different models, including those with a high- to low-spin transition, that provide reasonable scenarios of electronic environment changes of the iron in szomolnokite with pressure. We summarize the complex range of Fe²⁺ spin transition characteristics at high-pressures by comparing szomolnokite with previous studies on ferrous-iron bearing phases

Argumentation, relevance theory and persuasion: an analysis of onomatopoeia in Japanese publications using manga stylistics

This paper presents an application of Relevance Theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1995) to pictures by studying the role that weak implicatures may play in the persuasiveness of multimodal argumentative discourse. We take a relevance-theoretic approach to the discussion of visual and multimodal argumentation with a particular focus on the role of onomatopoeia. To examine the possible mechanism by which persuasion operates through onomatopoeia, we analyse a corpus of Japanese-style comics (manga), where visuals and verbal text interact to convey onomatopoeia. We argue that the use of onomatopoeia in manga contributes to the recovery of weak implicatures which, in turn, helps to reinforce the persuasiveness of the communicated messages in the examples analysed