Submersion as rhetorical tactic for women of color at the 1893 Columbian Exposition

The 1893 Columbian Exposition of the Chicago World’s Fair was a moment meant to showcase the best of the American experience, and many women of color saw this event as an opportunity to voice their message of suffrage for all women that had up until that point been sidelined. Several Black suffragists petitioned for the opportunity to speak at the Columbian Exposition on the issue of women’s suffrage, but the power establishment that controlled access to the Women’s Building declined or ignored all petitions. This flagrant injustice prompted women of color to take matters into their hands and employ a rhetorical tactic that would get them to the podium. Women’s Studies scholars Kimberlé Crenshaw and Laura Behling are both influential to this thesis. Crenshaw’s work with intersectionality and Behling’s insights into the 1893 World’s Fair and its marginalization of women of color created the backbone for this thesis. This thesis argues that due to systematic and unrelenting oppression from the white leadership of the Women’s Building, women of color flooded the media using the rhetorical tactic of submersion. Submersion is a three-component tool that utilizes amplification, circulation, and multimodality. Ultimately women of color were able to speak at a podium in 1893, though it was in the Pavilion of Haiti and not the Women’s Building. It was their successful use of submersion that enabled them in their argument. Rhetorical analysis of speeches and pamphlets from the 1893 World’s Fair were primarily used to conduct this research. Through analysis of previous moments in history, it was found that when submersion was used piecemeal, it was not successful. The 1893 World’s Fair example was successful because submersion was utilized in its full form. This thesis also looks at contemporary examples of successful submersion. Suggestions for future research include further analysis of the Women’s Suffrage Movement for evidence of submersion outside the 1893 Columbian Exposition

MCMC-ODPR : primer design optimization using Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling

Background Next generation sequencing technologies often require numerous primer designs that require good target coverage that can be financially costly. We aimed to develop a system that would implement primer reuse to design degenerate primers that could be designed around SNPs, thus find the fewest necessary primers and the lowest cost whilst maintaining an acceptable coverage and provide a cost effective solution. We have implemented Metropolis-Hastings Markov Chain Monte Carlo for optimizing primer reuse. We call it the Markov Chain Monte Carlo Optimized Degenerate Primer Reuse (MCMC-ODPR) algorithm. Results After repeating the program 1020 times to assess the variance, an average of 17.14% fewer primers were found to be necessary using MCMC-ODPR for an equivalent coverage without implementing primer reuse. The algorithm was able to reuse primers up to five times. We compared MCMC-ODPR with single sequence primer design programs Primer3 and Primer-BLAST and achieved a lower primer cost per amplicon base covered of 0.21 and 0.19 and 0.18 primer nucleotides on three separate gene sequences, respectively. With multiple sequences, MCMC-ODPR achieved a lower cost per base covered of 0.19 than programs BatchPrimer3 and PAMPS, which achieved 0.25 and 0.64 primer nucleotides, respectively. Conclusions MCMC-ODPR is a useful tool for designing primers at various melting temperatures at good target coverage. By combining degeneracy with optimal primer reuse the user may increase coverage of sequences amplified by the designed primers at significantly lower costs. Our analyses showed that overall MCMC-ODPR outperformed the other primer-design programs in our study in terms of cost per covered base

Teaching an intensive core course for medical students in the era of Covid-19: Mindful Medical Practice on Zoom

Background The COVID19 pandemic brought many challenges, including delivering interactive courses such as the Mindful Medical Practice (MMP) program to medical students. It also provided opportunities to trial online teaching of the program using technologies such as Zoom. Approach Medical educators from McGill University in Montreal and The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia in Busselton collaborated via Zoom to adapt the MMP program to an online format. This involved weekly meetings to adapt each class and debrief following its delivery. A number of adaptations were required which were implemented with ease while maintaining the program’s integrity. Evaluation The facilitator found the course relatively straightforward to teach with Zoom. In their essays at the end of the coursethe students reported that the MMP program was a valuable experience that they found to be “enjoyable”, “positive”, “interesting”, “beneficial” and “refreshing”. They reported that the online experience offered benefits over face-to-face delivery and was particularly helpful during the COVID19 pandemic. Reflection There were a number of potential limitations: this was a relatively small group of students; the students were already well acquainted with the facilitator; the students and the facilitator were experienced in using Zoom for teaching. The major strength was a clear demonstration of the feasibility of delivering the entire program online that is particularly relevant during this time of stress and uncertainty and also expands the potential to provide this teaching to students and universities across the world

Advocating for Increased Safe Injection Sites: Role of the Nursing Profession

The nursing profession in Canada has a vital role in advocating for the increased implementation of safe injection sites (SIS) due to the nursing role in reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with opioid use. Harm reduction approaches like SIS, have proven to decrease drug overdoses, infectious diseases, and health-care burdens. Common arguments in opposition to the implementation of SIS including economic burden, community safety, and promotion of drug use are refuted in this paper. It is the nursing professional’s ethical responsibility to advocate for better health care for all members of society, including those who use drugs. We conclude that the role of nurses must include the provision of care for marginalised groups and advocacy for increased implementation of SIS in Canada

Interferometric studies of a piano soundboard

Electronic speckle pattern interferometry has been used to study the deflection shapes of a piano soundboard. A design for an interferometer that can image such an unstable object is introduced, and interferograms of a piano soundboard obtained using this interferometer are presented. Deflection shapes are analyzed and compared to a finite element model, and it is shown that the force the strings exert on the soundboard is important in determining the mode shapes and resonant frequencies. Measurements of resonance frequencies and driving point impedance made using the interferometer are also presented

Archaeogenetic evidence of ancient Nubian barley evolution from six to two-row indicates local adaptation

Background Archaeobotanical samples of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) found at Qasr Ibrim display a two-row phenotype that is unique to the region of archaeological sites upriver of the first cataract of the Nile, characterised by the development of distinctive lateral bracts. The phenotype occurs throughout all strata at Qasr Ibrim, which range in age from 3000 to a few hundred years. Methodology and Findings We extracted ancient DNA from barley samples from the entire range of occupancy of the site, and studied the Vrs1 gene responsible for row number in extant barley. Surprisingly, we found a discord between the genotype and phenotype in all samples; all the barley had a genotype consistent with the six-row condition. These results indicate a six-row ancestry for the Qasr Ibrim barley, followed by a reassertion of the two-row condition. Modelling demonstrates that this sequence of evolutionary events requires a strong selection pressure. Conclusions The two-row phenotype at Qasr Ibrim is caused by a different mechanism to that in extant barley. The strength of selection required for this mechanism to prevail indicates that the barley became locally adapted in the region in response to a local selection pressure. The consistency of the genotype/phenotype discord over time supports a scenario of adoption of this barley type by successive cultures, rather than the importation of new barley varieties associated with individual cultures

Effects of Community Exercise Therapy on Metabolic, Brain, Physical, and Cognitive Function Following Stroke : A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

© The Author(s) 2014.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Fit-for-Purpose Institutions? An Evaluation of Biodiversity Conservation in the Agricultural Landscape of the Tasmanian Midlands, Australia

Biodiversity loss is a globally significant problem. Institutional failure to halt this loss suggests current arrangements are not fit for the purpose of conserving biodiversity. The objective of this paper is to diagnose institutional fitness for conserving biodiversity in the Tasmanian Midlands of Australia, a highly modified agricultural landscape with critically endangered biodiversity values. This paper presents and applies a novel diagnostic framework that adopts a broad view of institutional fit, drawing on concepts from adaptive governance, institutional theory, and public administration, and finds four areas of poor fit that can guide reform efforts. The first is a narrow framing of biodiversity objectives, leading to neglect of key social and ecological concerns. Second, the interplay of current arrangements fails to buffer key economic and political drivers, and compromises adaptive capacity. Third, limited government authority and embedded power relations raise questions about the effectiveness and fairness of current approaches. Finally, the reluctance of governments to devolve authority and decision-making powers to self-organizing networks constrains adaptation. This suite of fit problems constrains achievement of biodiversity conservation, particularly in dealing with landscape multifunctionality, the need to balance private landholder rights and responsibilities, and the need to consider how to respond to emerging novel and hybrid ecosystems