Lingua Franca: An Analysis of Globalization and Language Evolution

This project details the evolution of languages and how globalization and advances in communication have effected smaller language groups. A world community in which communication is standardized by a Lingua Franca is in most cases harmful for isolated language groups without many speakers. The extinction of language is harmful for human society and culture, and there are many different ways to help prevent language extinction. This project includes an essay, an animation, six illustrations, and a coloring book that all relate to endangered languages

An Investigation of the Violation of Human Rights in Yemen

This research paper aims to investigate the persistence of human rights violations in Yemen from 2008 to 2018. It examines whether this persistence of human rights violations is related to Yemen’s regime type, external actors such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iran, and the United States, Yemen’s state of wealth and economic growth, and civil wars. This research paper uses data from various sources to examine different propositions related to the investigation of human rights in Yemen. The findings of this paper include that Yemen’s regime type, external actors such as the GCC, Iran, and the United States, Yemen’s state of wealth and economic development, and civil wars have contributed to human rights violations within Yemen’s borders

Chronic Kidney Disease from Non-Traditional Causes throughout Central America

Throughout many Central American countries, incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been on the rise. The disease mainly affects agricultural workers and differs from typical CKD. Patients in these countries often do not have preexisting conditions such as diabetes or hypertension known to be traditional causes of CKD. They also experience increased damage to the kidney tubules, rather than the glomeruli generally more heavily impacted. There has been speculation regarding the causes of CKDnT (chronic kidney disease of nontraditional causes), but no consensus has been reached. Two major hypotheses to explain the high prevalence among Central American sugarcane workers are patterns of cyclical dehydration throughout the work shift, and exposure to agrochemicals. While dehydration-induced damage is the favored hypothesis at this time, other factors cannot be eliminated without further research. In order to reduce the incidence of CKDnT among sugarcane workers, certain policies could be established. First, shaded break areas and more break time allotted throughout the work day would help lower the body temperatures of workers. Secondly, masks and protective clothing should be required or, at the least, more highly regulated in order to reduce agrochemical exposure. Programs such as that led by the Caja Costarricense Seguro Social should continue to educate all citizens about the importance of drinking water

Scanning the Digital: Using Survey Data to Support Digital Scholarship Initiatives at the University of Mississippi

Digital scholarship (the use of digital technology in research or teaching applications) is a new and growing field but many Mississippi libraries, including the University of Mississippi, are not officially supporting digital scholarship. To change this, librarians at the University of Mississippi sent out an online survey to faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students in order to gauge their interest in and experience with digital scholarship methods and tools and how the library can best support digital scholarship on campus. The results showed a wide variety of interest and expertise across several fields, mostly in the humanities, with important data and suggestions for future digital scholarship initiatives. The authors hope to use this data to improve digital scholarship support at the university library, and to offer it as a template to other libraries interested in digital scholarship that do not yet have a formal program of support

Placental glycogen stores and fetal growth: insights from genetic mouse models

The placenta performs a range of crucial functions that support fetal growth during pregnancy, including facilitating the supply of nutrients and gases to the fetus, removal of waste products from the fetus, and the endocrine modulation of maternal physiology. The placenta also stores glucose in the form of glycogen, the function of which remains unknown. Aberrant placental glycogen storage in humans is associated with maternal diabetes during pregnancy and pre-eclampsia, thus linking placental glycogen storage and metabolism to pathological pregnancies. To understand the role of placental glycogen in normal and complicated pregnancies, we must turn to animal models. Over 40 targeted mutations in mice demonstrate defects in placental cells that store glycogen and suggest that placental glycogen represents a source of readily mobilised glucose required during periods of high fetal demand. However, direct functional evidence is currently lacking. Here, we evaluate these genetic mouse models with placental phenotypes that implicate glycogen trophoblast cell differentiation and function to illuminate the common molecular pathways that emerge and to better understand the relationship between placental glycogen and fetal growth. We highlight current limitations to exploring key questions regarding placental glycogen storage and metabolism and define how to experimentally overcome these constraints.Centre for Trophoblast Research Next Generation Fellowshi

Incorporating Deeply Uncertain Factors into the Many Objective Search Process to Improve Adaptation to Environmental Change

Deep uncertainty refers to situations in which decision makers do not know, or cannot agree upon, the full suite of risks within a planning problem. This thesis reviews frameworks proposed for planning under deep uncertainty. One framework, Many Objective Robust Decision Making (MORDM), combines two techniques: evolutionary algorithm search used to optimize planning alternatives and robust decision making used to sample performance over many plausible factors and choose a robust solution.We present a methodology that modifies the uncertain input selected within the MOEA search process. Using a case study of water planning in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) in Texas, this research uses visualization techniques to assess the performance of optimized alternatives across five scenarios to answer the following: (1) How do deep uncertainties impact the tradeoffs and decisions? and (2) What is the impact of experiencing futures unlike the optimized conditions

The Future of Advertising and Publishing

The rise of digital media has fundamentally changed the relationship between marketers and publishers. As audiences increasingly move toward mobile consumption, publishers have had to adapt their business models based on new standards set by social media platforms and advertisers. They are now in competition with large tech companies to reach, and to own, the same audiences. The adtech ecosystem, which was designed by platforms and advertisers to capitalize on the growing amount of data retained about readers, has produced a mess of publishers’ main monetization strategies—leaving the entire space in dire need of evaluation and experimentation. On October 20, 2017, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, the Digital Initiative at Harvard Business School, and the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School hosted a Policy Exchange Forum (PEF) and public conference to explore these shifts in “The Future of Advertising and Publishing.” The PEF took place in the morning and comprised a closed discussion (by invitation only) built around two major questions: What is the future of the relationship between publishers and advertisers? More specifically, how can platforms, news publishers, and advertisers ensure a robust future for news publishers by shaping the quality of advertising

Autism spectrum disorders in boys at a major UK hemophilia center: prevalence and risk factors

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are diagnosed by social communication difficulties strong, narrow interests, and repetitive stereotyped behavior. An apparently-elevated prevalence of ASD at a major UK hemophilia center warranted investigation. Objectives: To screen boys with hemophilia for difficulties in social communication and executive function and identify the prevalence and risk factors for ASD. Methods: Parents of boys with hemophilia aged 5 to 16 years completed the Social Communication Questionnaire, Children’s Communication Checklist, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of executive function. Prevalence and potential risk factors for ASD were evaluated. Boys with an existing diagnosis of ASD did not complete questionnaires, but were included in the prevalence analysis. Results: Negative scores on all 3 questionnaires were observed for 60 of 79 boys. Positive scores on 1, 2, and 3 questionnaires were seen in 12 of 79, 3 of 79, and 4 of 79 boys, respectively. In addition to the 11 of 214 boys with a prior ASD diagnosis, 3 further boys were diagnosed with ASD, yielding a prevalence of 14 (6.5%) of 214, greater than that of boys in the UK general population. Premature birth was linked to having ASD, but did not fully explain the increased prevalence with more boys born <37 weeks scoring positively on the Social Communications Questionnaire and Children’s Communication Checklist compared with those born at term. Conclusion: This study identified an increased prevalence of ASD at 1 UK hemophilia center. Prematurity was identified as a risk factor but did not fully explain the higher prevalence of ASD. Further investigation in the wider national/global hemophilia communities is warranted to determine whether this is an isolated finding

Highly disordered histone H1-DNA model complexes and their condensates.

Disordered proteins play an essential role in a wide variety of biological processes, and are often posttranslationally modified. One such protein is histone H1; its highly disordered C-terminal tail (CH1) condenses internucleosomal linker DNA in chromatin in a way that is still poorly understood. Moreover, CH1 is phosphorylated in a cell cycle-dependent manner that correlates with changes in the chromatin condensation level. Here we present a model system that recapitulates key aspects of the in vivo process, and also allows a detailed structural and biophysical analysis of the stages before and after condensation. CH1 remains disordered in the DNA-bound state, despite its nanomolar affinity. Phase-separated droplets (coacervates) form, containing higher-order assemblies of CH1/DNA complexes. Phosphorylation at three serine residues, spaced along the length of the tail, has little effect on the local properties of the condensate. However, it dramatically alters higher-order structure in the coacervate and reduces partitioning to the coacervate phase. These observations show that disordered proteins can bind tightly to DNA without a disorder-to-order transition. Importantly, they also provide mechanistic insights into how higher-order structures can be exquisitely sensitive to perturbation by posttranslational modifications, thus broadening the repertoire of mechanisms that might regulate chromatin and other macromolecular assemblies