Alternative Archaeological Representations within Virtual Worlds

Traditional VR methods allow the user to tour and view the virtual world from different perspectives. Increasingly, more interactive and adaptive worlds are being generated, potentially allowing the user to interact with and affect objects in the virtual world. We describe and compare four models of operation that allow the publisher to generate views, with the client manipulating and affecting specific objects in the world. We demonstrate these approaches through a problem in archaeological visualization

GM-CSF Inhibits Breast Cancer Growth and Metastases in Mice and Induces Hypoxia in the Tumor Proper

Professional Biological Sciences: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)Background: Scientists have begun to appreciate the important role that normal body tissues play in cancer development and progression. Recent studies demonstrate that cancer cells can trick blood vessels and other cells into helping tumors grow and spread. In 2001, Lin, et al, showed that mice unable to produce M-CSF (a growth factor which stimulates a certain type of immune cell called a macrophage) can still get breast tumors, but these tumors don't spread. We later proved that those findings could be explained, at least in part, by the fact that M-CSF makes macrophages produce and secrete VEGF, a powerful stimulator of blood vessel growth. During these studies, we discovered that another macrophage growth factor, GM-CSF, reduced levels of VEGF by causing these macrophages to release a soluble VEGF receptor (sVEGFR), which binds to VEGF and prevents it from stimulating blood vessel growth. This led us to speculate that treating actual breast tumors with GM-CSF might reduce blood vessel formation and limit tumor growth and spread. The work presented here focuses on characterizing the effects of GM-CSF on tumors and evaluating its therapeutic potential for the treatment of breast cancer. Methods: To test our hypothesis, we injected breast cancer cells into a single mammary gland of normal female mice. After a noticeable breast tumors formed, we began to treat these mice with injections of PBS or GM-CSF into the tumor three times a week. The diameter or the breast tumors was recorded weekly. In a subset of these mice, we also followed oxygen concentration in the tumor using novel imaging methods. At euthanasia, we collected tumor and lung tissues for further analysis. Results: GM-CSF slows the growth of breast tumors and prevents them from spreading in our mouse model. Such effects coincide with reduced oxygen levels and increased cell death within the tumor. PBS-treated tumors demonstrate a single focus of necrosis at the point most distant to the blood supply, near the skin. In contrast, GM-CSF treatment resulted in a multifocal pattern of necrosis with foci distributed across the tumor mass. Co-administration of antibodies directed against sVEGFR with GM-CSF in the same tumor model demonstrated rates of growth similar to vehicle control injections, while isotype antibodies had no effect. Implications: Our data suggest that GM-CSF treatment reduces tumor growth and spread. The mechanism behind this effect includes reduction of available oxygen within the tumor environment, presumably due to release of sVEGFR and subsequent insensitivity to blood vessel growth signals. Importantly, these data show that it may be possible to alter the behavior of normal cells that have been manipulated by cancers to facilitate tumor growth and spread. Not only does this observation present new ideas about ways we might treat tumors, but it also provides new models for studying the mechanisms that underlie blood vessel invasion and the spread of tumors to distant sites.A two-year embargo was granted for this item

Marketing Reimagined: The Effect of TikTok’s Success On Social Media Advertisement

In 2021, the average TikTok user spent 19.6 hours a month on the platform, equivalent to the time spent by users on the leader of Social Media, Facebook (Sweeney, 2022). This year, TikTok is projected to triple its global advertisement revenues to 11.6 billion dollars, surpassing the 10.44 billion dollars global advertisement take of Snapchat and Twitter combined (Sweeney, 2022). TikTok is one of the most recent and successful social media platforms. It has gained worldwide renown for its unique, rapid presentation of content and addictive structure that has engaged a large audience in a short time. With attention increasing on the platform, many business analysts and social media managers have been debating the potential role of TikTok in the realm of social media marketing in the near future. As the discussion continues, the questions arise: “Is TikTok the next big social media marketing platform? How will TikTok’s development affect how other social media platforms interact with their consumers in the future?” In a short period of time, TikTok has demonstrated large-scale influencer-consumer relationships, lucrative marketing methods and strategies, and is affecting the way other social media platforms address their consumers and each other. The success of TikTok indicates that it will be a major platform for social media marketing and the unorthodox setup of the app will inspire other social media platforms to adopt similar structures of advertising. This will in turn cause TikTok and other social media platforms to place a heavier focus on brand advertisement and less emphasis on content creation causing social media influencers to tailor their interactions with their audience to aid in brand advertising. This may lead to an overall less pleasurable experience for users

Theatre and the law: a dramaturgical analysis of Comcare v PVYW

The law and theatre are uniquely entwined. The traditionalist notion of the law being an entirely intellectual exercise has, in some ways, limited its application. The law consistently uses techniques that explore knowledge through the use of the body, whether we realise it or not. Within the purview of Gageler J’s dissent in the case Comcare v PVYW, this article sought to explore methods that engage the use of the body to be able to understand, interpret and apply the law. This exploration used a range of dramaturgical techniques to reappraise the case. For example, it examines key legal principles by physically representing them. This included ideas such as precedent and court hierarchy. By doing so, it opened a window to explore the way in which we can understand the law and its relationship to humanness beyond the intellectual. Interestingly, this process produced a number of conclusions. It exposed that the application of dramaturgy to the law can act as a bridge to close the gap between the obscurity of the law and the people that interact with it. As practitioners of the law, sometimes it is easy to forget it’s audience – human beings. It can become so convoluted that it alienates a broad section of its audience but it is through these techniques that we can at least realise this pitfall. This process also challenged the assumptions that are made about the law and, more broadly, it has promoted the importance of legal practitioners to look beyond their own experiences to better understand the holistic effect the law

Role of scientific evidence in collective action decision-making, The

2019 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.As our world grows ever more complex, novel forms of governance arise that attempt to manage this complexity. One such governing system is collective action, where multiple stakeholders come together to solve large-scale problems for the benefit of all involved. Collective action is especially prevalent in conservation due to the increased degradation of natural resources, which are often public goods that cross administrative boundaries. Stakeholders whom make collective action decisions typically work with limited resources, and as such it is important they work with adequate information to lead to an increase in efficiency and ultimate success. The growing field of evidence-based conservation highlights this point, which urges practitioners to base their decisions on the best scientific evidence available. The literature repeatedly stresses the importance of information in collective action, yet limited studies exist as to the role of scientific evidence as a specific form of information used in collective action decisions. This dissertation set out to determine this role relative to other factors considered important for success. I drew on the rational decision-making model as a framework for assessing the role of evidence. Using a non-random sample of eight watershed partnerships as a case study, I used a mixed method approach and explored: 1) decision-makers understanding of a specific form of scientific evidence available (Chapter 1), 2) the importance of scientific evidence as a motivation to invest in these watershed partnerships (Chapter 2), and 3) the role of scientific evidence in the partnerships' internal decision-making (Chapter 3). I found that scientific evidence is primarily important to wildfire and forestry specialists regarding decision-making. I also discovered that although evidence is important to internal partnership decision-making, a variety of additional sources of information and other factors that have an equal influence on watershed management exist. The way the watershed partnerships in this study disseminate evidence via outreach strategies was also revealed as a highly important component of success. Synthesizing across these results, I adapted a framework from the literature that incorporates elements of dynamic information pathways that, in conjunction, leads to the long-term success of these eight programs. Some practical considerations for increasing the dissemination and utilization of scientific evidence include translating this type of information into an easily interpretable form and creating web-based tools to organize evidence. Broadly, these results contribute to the collective action literature on the factors necessary in decision-making for the continued endurance of these forms of governance

Re-Spatializing Gangs: An Exponential Random Graph Model of Twitter Data to Analyze the Geospatial Distribution of Gang Member Connections

Gang studies often use location-based approaches to explain gang members’ interconnectedness. Although this perspective remains consistent with the proximity principle that the smaller the geographic space, the greater the likelihood of observing connections between individuals, location-based studies limit our understanding of gang member connections to narrowly defined geographic spaces at specific points in time. The advent of social media has re-spatialized gang member interconnectedness to unbounded geographic spaces, where the preservation of online activity can extend indefinitely. Despite having an online presence, most research examining the digital footprint of gangs tends to be descriptive. This study collects Twitter data to analyze the geospatial distribution of gang member connections using an exponential random graph model (ERGM) of location homophily. An ERGM analyzes network substructures to determine the patterns of relationships between vertices. In this case, the extent to which homophily by city, state, and gang affiliation determine gang member connections. The results of this study support the proximity principle but challenge the assertion that gangs are strictly localized

Re-Spatializing Gangs in the United States: An Analysis of Macro- and Micro-Level Network Structures

Despite the significant contributions from location-based gang studies, the network structure of gangs beyond localized settings remains a neglected but important area of research to better understand the national security implications of gang interconnectivity. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the network structure of gangs at the macro- and micro-level using social network analysis. At the macro-level, some gangs have formed national alliances in perpetuity with their goals and objectives. In order to study gangs at the macro-level, this research uses open-source data to construct an adjacency matrix of gang alliances and rivalries to map the relationships between gangs and analyze their network centrality across multiple metrics. The results suggest that native gangs are highly influential when compared to immigrant gangs. Some immigrant gangs, however, derive influence by “bridging” the gap between rival gangs. Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (MDTOs) play a similar role and feature prominently in the gang network. Moreover, removing MDTOs changes the network structure in favor of ideologically-motivated gangs over profit-oriented gangs. Critics deride macro-level approaches to studying gangs for their lack of national cohesion. In response, this research includes a micro-level analysis of gang member connections by mining Twitter data to analyze the geospatial distribution of gang members and, by proxy, gangs, using an exponential random graph model (ERGM) to test location homophily and better understand the extent to which gang members are localized. The findings show a positive correlation between location and shared gang member connections which is conceptually consistent with the proximity principle. According to the proximity principle, interpersonal relationships are more likely to occur in localized geographic spaces. However, gang member connections appear to be more diffuse than is captured in current location-based gang studies. This dissertation demonstrates that macro- and micro-level gang networks exist in unbounded geographic spaces where the interconnectivity of gangs transpose local issues onto the national security consciousness which challenges law and order, weakens institutions, and negatively impacts the structural integrity of the state