Abjection as a Means of Social and Political Dominance in Tacitus’s The Annals

In Book 13 of The Annals, Roman author and historian Tacitus narrates the murder of Britannicus by his step-brother and then-Emperor of Rome, Nero, as a result of the latter’s fears that the life of his step-brother is a threat to the legitimacy of his claim to the throne. The language used in this account alludes to the abject, a term which refers to something which has been cast off from oneself or something which transgresses boundaries or the order of law or the natural world. It also refers the human reaction that occurs as a result of any of the previous definitions of the abject. Furthermore, the means and description of execution involve forms of penetration. Consequently, by applying Jonathan Walters’ “Invading the Roman Body: Manliness and Impenetrability in Roman Thought” and Julie Kristeva’s “Approaching Abjection,” I find that this story of murder transforms into one of emasculation and political usurpation via the manipulation of the societal unease elicited by the abject and the confusion it causes. I argue that this confusion impacts the boundaries which separate male from female within the book as well as that which dictates what is right and wrong, or lawful and chaotic. I conclude by examining the utilization of the abject – or the state of being the cause of or the originator of abjection – as one of the ultimate forms of power, both politically and socially, in addition to exploring the Roman idea of “impenetrability” as it relates to the abject

A Visit to Thirteen Asylums for the Insane: Pliny Earle, European Asylums and American Psychiatry

On March 25, 1837, a recent medical school graduate boarded a ship which, unbeknownst to him, would carry him into his future career. The ship was the Virginian, a sailing-vessel, traveling across the Atlantic Ocean from New Yark to Liverpool.1 The graduate was Pliny Earle, a twenty-seven year old Quaker from rural Massachusetts, who would become one of the most well-known and well-respected psychiatrists of the nineteenth century, as well as a prolific writer on the subject

Copper-Cobalt Catalysts for Conversion of Syngas to Ethanol and Higher Alcohols

Higher alcohols produced by catalytic conversion of synthesis gas are potential octane enhancers for transportation fuels. Copper-cobalt catalysts have emerged as alternatives to the ethanol-selective, but expensive, rhodium-based ones. The reducibility of the catalyst and the CO adsorption mode are important factors in directing the selectivity of CO hydrogenation toward methanol, hydrocarbons, or higher alcohols. In this study, Cu/SiO2, Co/SiO2, and bimetallic CuCo/SiO2 catalysts, as well as their tin-promoted analogues, were synthesized and characterized by TPR, in situ XRD, in situ XANES, and in situ DRIFTS. Cobalt addition to Cu/SiO2 created an amorphous fraction of CuO that was more easily reducible than crystalline CuO. CO adsorption on copper sites, in terms of adsorption frequency and stability, was similar regardless of the presence or absence of cobalt. CO adsorbed on copper was thermally unstable, desorbing below typical CO hydrogenation temperatures. Copper addition to Co/SiO2 increased reducibility of Co3O4, and to greater extent of the intermediate CoO, which in Co/SiO2 was less readily reduced due to interaction with the support. In general, linearly adsorbed CO bound more strongly to the cobalt sites of CuCo/SiO2 than of Co/SiO2. Thus, on CuCo/SiO2, CO could dissociate at the same sites where it also linearly adsorbed, leading to increased probability of CO insertion and ethanol formation. A second type of site on Co/SiO2 was responsible for direct CO dissociation, leading to high activity and hydrocarbon selectivity on this catalyst, as well as faster deactivation. The main effect of Sn addition was to increase dispersion of copper and cobalt on all the catalysts. This increased the reducibility of copper species and decreased that of cobalt species. On CuCoSn/SiO2, copper promoted cobalt reduction, such that this catalyst was both well reduced and highly dispersed. Sn addition increased the amount and stability of CO adsorbed on copper and cobalt sites of CuCoSn/SiO2 and on copper sites of CuSn/SiO2. However, the CO hydrogenation activity of the Sn-promoted catalysts decreased relative to the Sn-free catalysts. Fischer-Tropsch type chain growth became less favorable upon Sn addition, but CO insertion was still favored on CuCoSn/SiO2, making this catalyst more ethanol-selective than CuCo/SiO2

WETLAND POLICY DESIGN IN THE UPPER GREAT LAKES STATES: CASES OF POLICY SUCCESS AND FAILURE

The national goal of “no net loss” of wetlands in the United States has significantly lowered the rate of wetland loss, but wetlands are still being impacted in some areas. Many states have their own policies in place to protect wetlands aside from the main federal policy, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and those policies are implemented in different ways by different levels of government. This research focuses on wetland policy in the Upper Great Lakes states comparing Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Wetland policy and implementation practices vary from state to state, with wetland approval being more devolved to the local county level within the state of Minnesota. This thesis aims to describe the extent to which wetland loss is still occurring in the Upper Great Lakes states, and then to understand how wetland policy design and implementation contribute to policy failure in Minnesota. First, calculating wetland area change at the county-level using NLCD data, shows that there was greater wetland loss in Minnesota from 2001 to 2011 than in Wisconsin or Michigan. A Moran’s I test showed a hotspot where wetland loss is clustered in the southeast part of Minnesota, especially in the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) metropolitan area and surrounding counties. Seeing such spatial differences in wetland area change raises the question of whether and how state and local-level policies impact wetland loss. The bulk of this thesis takes a nested comparative analysis of wetland policy levels of implementation in each state followed by related factors that impact whether counties lose wetlands in Minnesota using Mill’s Methods to understand wetland policy failure. The county-level comparative analysis compared wetland loss to oversight, political pressure, agricultural pressure, and population pressure between counties in the hotspot near the MSP metropolitan area. Four interviews with wetland-permitting decision-makers in four of the counties informed the analysis with factors to consider. The results indicated that some counties outside the seven-county MSP planning region lost more wetlands than those within it, despite the population and development pressure within the metro area. The Watershed Management Organizations required of the seven counties provide oversight on wetland-permitting decisions and reduce wetland loss. Political pressure exerted on elected officials was shown to cause wetland loss outside the seven-county MSP planning/oversight region. The politicized decision-making process for elected officials increases the likelihood of conflicting goals with wetland policy, which can result in wetland loss. These findings suggest that wetland policy is a failure in Minnesota because of the design of the Wetland Conservation Act. It is an intervention and institutional failure, because the wetland policies are not properly integrated, resulting in policy inconsistencies across counties and negative wetland impacts. There is insufficient monitoring in places, particularly outside the seven-county planning region where Watershed Management Organizations are not required. This suggests that designing policy for multi-agency involvement could minimize local conflict and issues with oversight, and, therefore, may be a more effective way to implement wetland policy

Smallpox Infectious Disease

Smallpox is a disease similar to chicken pox, but not exactly the same. Smallpox is caused by a virus called Variola and is a member of the genus orthopoxvirus. The virus is a large brick shaped DNA virus. Smallpox spreads by direct, face to face contact with an infected person or by contact with infected body fluids or contaminated objects such as clothing. Smallpox is rarely spread through airborne transmission and is not known to be transmitted by animals or insects. The incubation period lasts from 7 to 17 days, during which infected individuals often show no symptoms and are not contagious. The lifecycle of poxviruses is complicated by having multiple infectious forms, with differing mechanisms of cell entry. Smallpox reproduces in a unique way among DNA viruses in that they replicate in the cytoplasm of the cell rather than in the nucleus. In order to replicate smallpox produce a variety of specialized proteins not produced by other DNA viruses, the most important of which is a viral-associated DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (CDC, 2004)

A plug-and-play approach to antibody-based therapeutics via a chemoselective dual click strategy.

Although recent methods for the engineering of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have gone some way to addressing the challenging issues of ADC construction, significant hurdles still remain. There is clear demand for the construction of novel ADC platforms that offer greater stability, homogeneity and flexibility. Here we describe a significant step towards a platform for next-generation antibody-based therapeutics by providing constructs that combine site-specific modification, exceptional versatility and high stability, with retention of antibody binding and structure post-modification. The relevance of the work in a biological context is also demonstrated in a cytotoxicity assay and a cell internalization study with HER2-positive and -negative breast cancer cell lines

Planning & Partnerships: Obtainable Opportunities for Increasing the Intercultural Competencies of All Library Employees

To expand the inclusivity and diversity of the library’s environment, Musselman Library offers a variety of training and educational opportunities for staff and student employees. Using a variety of formats and partnerships with other departments, these efforts have led to intentional changes in library space, services and equipment available, and hiring practices. Practical examples include highlighting events on campus, hosting short film and reading discussions, and utilizing campus speakers

The Unusual Distributions of Ionized Material and Molecular Hydrogen in NGC 6881: Signposts of Multiple Events of Bipolar Ejection in a Planetary Nebula

The planetary nebula NGC 6881 displays in the optical a quadrupolar morphology consisting of two pairs of highly collimated bipolar lobes aligned along different directions. An additional bipolar ejection is revealed by the hydrogen molecular emission, but its wide hourglass morphology is very different from that of the ionized material. To investigate in detail the spatial distribution of molecular hydrogen and ionized material within NGC 6881, and to determine the prevalent excitation mechanism of the H2 emission, we have obtained new near-IR Br-gamma and H2 and optical H-alpha and [N II] images, as well as intermediate resolution JHK spectra. These observations confirm the association of the H2 bipolar lobes to NGC 6881 and find that the prevalent excitation mechanism is collisional. The detailed morphology and very different collimation degree of the H2 and ionized bipolar lobes of NGC 6881 not only imply that multiple bipolar ejections have occurred in this nebula, but also that the dominant shaping agent is different for each bipolar ejection: a bipolar stellar wind most likely produced the H2 lobes, while highly collimated outflows are carving out the ionized lobes into the thick circumstellar envelope. The asymmetry between the southeast and northwest H2 bipolar lobes suggests the interaction of the nebula with an inhomogeneous interstellar medium. We find evidence that places NGC 6881 in the H II region Sh 2-109 along the Orion local spiral arm.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 4 table