Teaching Speculative Fiction in College: A Pedagogy for Making English Studies Relevant

ABSTRACT Speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, and horror) has steadily gained popularity both in culture and as a subject for study in college. While many helpful resources on teaching a particular genre or teaching particular texts within a genre exist, college teachers who have not previously taught science fiction, fantasy, or horror will benefit from a broader pedagogical overview of speculative fiction, and that is what this resource provides. Teachers who have previously taught speculative fiction may also benefit from the selection of alternative texts presented here. This resource includes an argument for the consideration of more speculative fiction in college English classes, whether in composition, literature, or creative writing, as well as overviews of the main theoretical discussions and definitions of each genre. In addition, this work includes a short history of speculative fiction, bibliographies of suggested sample themes for each genre, sample course syllabi and assignment/activity suggestions, and strategies for obtaining and using hard-to-find texts for prospective teachers

Muscle Plasticity and Repeatability to Alterations in Mechanical Loading Conditions

The breadth and depth of muscle biology research has consistently demonstrated the ability for skeletal muscle to adapt quickly and specifically to stimuli placed upon it, often regarded as plasticity. Changes in muscle mass are often tied to losses, recoveries, and gains in muscle function during mechanical unloading, reloading, or overloading (respectively). While a cadre of research has studied the impacts of disuse or exercise training on muscle, few efforts have detailed the capacity for muscle to fully recover after chronic disuse, which we define as an example of biological resilience. Furthermore, there are no known works that have characterized the effects of multiple bouts of long-duration unloading and recovery, which we propose as biological repeatability. To determine if resilience and repeatability should be considered facets of muscle plasticity, a cross-sectional study design was created to assess muscle protein turnover throughout several changes in mechanoloading. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 108) were placed in one of the following groups: 28 d unloading (HU), 28 d unloading with 56 d recovery with either passive ambulation reloading (HU+REC) or chronic resistance training (HU+EX), groups exposed to 28 d unloading, one of the recovery strategies, and then a second 28 d unweighting period (HU+REC+HU & HU+EX+HU), animals undergoing two unloading and two passive recovery cycles (HU+REC+HU+REC), or control (CON). At the end of the study, muscle mass, rates of synthesis, and markers of anabolism/catabolism were assessed in the lower limbs. Results included muscle mass being highly coupled to anabolic signaling and subsequent protein synthesis. Muscle mass was significantly and consistently lower during unloading, but fully recovered with each reloading period. Our moderate-intensity, moderate-volume resistance exercise was insufficient to further improve recovery. And finally, the anabolic regulator DEPTOR was proven to correlate inversely with muscle mass. This study provides the first known evidence that repeatability is a component of muscle plasticity. The value in this work adds immediate benefits to manned space travel, clinical populations affected by serial unloading, as well as expands our general understanding of muscle biology

Aspects of King MacLain in Eudora Welty\u27s The Golden Apples

ASPECTS OF KING MACLAIN IN EUDORA WELTY’S THE GOLDEN APPLES by James Shimkus Under the Direction of Pearl A. McHaney ABSTRACT Much of the scholarship on Eudora Welty’s The Golden Apples focuses on Welty’s use of folklore and myth, particularly as presented in several of W. B. Yeats’s poems. The character King MacLain is most often associated with Zeus, Perseus, and Aengus. A close examination of King MacLain’s development during Welty’s composition and revision of The Golden Apples reveals associations between King and other figures from myth and folklore, including Odin, Loki, Finn MacCool, Brer Rabbit, the King of the Wood from James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough, and several types of Irish fairies. The many layers of allusion revealed by studying King MacLain suggest that close studies of other characters in The Golden Apples will illustrate the complexity and scope of Welty’s story-cycle. INDEX WORDS: Eudora Welty, The Golden Apples, King MacLain, Celtic myth, Finn MacCool, Brer Rabbit, The Golden Boug

Muscle Plasticity and Repeatability to Alterations in Mechanical Loading Conditions

The breadth and depth of muscle biology research has consistently demonstrated the ability for skeletal muscle to adapt quickly and specifically to stimuli placed upon it, often regarded as plasticity. Changes in muscle mass are often tied to losses, recoveries, and gains in muscle function during mechanical unloading, reloading, or overloading (respectively). While a cadre of research has studied the impacts of disuse or exercise training on muscle, few efforts have detailed the capacity for muscle to fully recover after chronic disuse, which we define as an example of biological resilience. Furthermore, there are no known works that have characterized the effects of multiple bouts of long-duration unloading and recovery, which we propose as biological repeatability. To determine if resilience and repeatability should be considered facets of muscle plasticity, a cross-sectional study design was created to assess muscle protein turnover throughout several changes in mechanoloading. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 108) were placed in one of the following groups: 28 d unloading (HU), 28 d unloading with 56 d recovery with either passive ambulation reloading (HU+REC) or chronic resistance training (HU+EX), groups exposed to 28 d unloading, one of the recovery strategies, and then a second 28 d unweighting period (HU+REC+HU & HU+EX+HU), animals undergoing two unloading and two passive recovery cycles (HU+REC+HU+REC), or control (CON). At the end of the study, muscle mass, rates of synthesis, and markers of anabolism/catabolism were assessed in the lower limbs. Results included muscle mass being highly coupled to anabolic signaling and subsequent protein synthesis. Muscle mass was significantly and consistently lower during unloading, but fully recovered with each reloading period. Our moderate-intensity, moderate-volume resistance exercise was insufficient to further improve recovery. And finally, the anabolic regulator DEPTOR was proven to correlate inversely with muscle mass. This study provides the first known evidence that repeatability is a component of muscle plasticity. The value in this work adds immediate benefits to manned space travel, clinical populations affected by serial unloading, as well as expands our general understanding of muscle biology

Assignment Pentagon: How to Excel in a Bureaucracy, 4th ed.

For this, the fourth edition of his well received book, Major General Perry M. Smith, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), has added a coauthor, Colonel Daniel M. Gerstein, U.S. Army (Ret.). Colonel Gerstein served for twenty-six years in combat, peace, and humanitarian operations. He also served in the Pentagon for al- most ten years in senior advisory and leadership roles. This edition has been expanded into sixteen chapters, each adding consider- able value to the publication. One of the more interesting and vital chapters for properly grasping the workings of “the building” is devoted to “under- standing the process.

Symmetric topological complexity of projective and lens spaces

For real projective spaces, (a) the Euclidean immersion dimension, (b) the existence of axial maps, and (c) the topological complexity are known to be three facets of the same problem. But when it comes to embedding dimension, the classical work of Berrick, Feder and Gitler leaves a small indeterminacy when trying to identify the existence of Euclidean embeddings of these manifolds with the existence of symmetric axial maps. As an alternative we show that the symmetrized version of (c) captures, in a sharp way, the embedding problem. Extensions to the case of even torsion lens spaces and complex projective spaces are discussed.Comment: Paper reorganized for clarity in expositio

The underrepresentation of women as cinematographers : a sociological exploration

"Since film's inception, over a hundred years ago, women have been underrepresented as cinematographers. Affirmative action, feminist movements and governmental equal opportunity acts have managed to make little impact on this male-dominated occupation. By exploring the experiences of twenty-seven camerawomen from Canada and the United States, this research looks for answers. There are many factors involved in women's underrepresentation behind the camera. Power within the Hollywood film industry certainly contributes to the difficulties women face as they attempt to find work. Women in the early days of cinema had more opportunities and were more successful at creating films due to the fact that the structure of the industry had not been "masculinized" yet. Once the industry's economic worth became evident, men assumed positions of power and forced women out of the system. Another emergent theme is that women who have attempted to break into these technical positions behind the camera, experienced sexism, harassment and discrimination. Some camerawomen attempted to gain footing in the industry by taking on masculine characteristics. These women changed their appearance and dispositions in order to fit in with their male peers; however, they still experienced discrimination."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

Effects of Multiple Bouts of Long-duration Hindlimb Unloading and Recovery on Rat Plantaris Muscle

Exposure to microgravity results in a rapid reduction of muscle mass. However, few studies exist designed to examine the effects of multiple long-term exposures to microgravity with alternating recovery periods on skeletal muscle. To determine what happens to the recovery of skeletal muscle when faced with subsequent unloading and recovery periods. Male Sprague-Dawley (6 mo) were assigned to the following groups as shown in figure 1 below: 28d hindlimb unloading (1HU), 28d HU session followed by a 56d recovery bout of normal cage ambulation at 1g (1HU+REC), 2 cycles of 28d HU with a 56d recovery period between unloadings (2HU), 2 cycles of 28d HU as in the 2HU group, but followed by an additional 56d recovery at 1g (2HU+REC), and an age- and housing-matched control group (CON). On the final day of the experimental period, plantaris muscles were excised and weighed. The 1HU+REC (0.548 ± 0.012), 2HU+REC (0.562 ± 0.015), and CON (0.550 ± 0.013) showed no statistical difference (p\u3e0.05) between each other. The 1 HU (0.442 ± 0.020) and 2 HU (0.431 ± 0.011) groups were significantly less (p\u3c0.001) than recovery and aged control animals but were not significantly different from each other. The results show that the plantaris muscle presented reduction of muscle mass with initial and subsequent exposures to microgravity. However, with the recovery period, animals were able to regain lost muscle mass, similar to age-matched controls. These findings would be relevant for astronauts participating in multiple long-duration missions throughout their career