Toward a Cosmopolitical Democracy: Process over Ends

“Towards a Cosmopolitical Democracy” argues that in order for cosmopolitanism to effectively challenge destructive forms of nationalism, misguided universalism, and economic globalism, it must be rearticulated conceptually and philosophically for today’s world as a cosmopolitical process rather than a set ideal or vision. This cosmopolitical process is best promoted in the realm of rhetoric and praxis, where everyday practices and values between self and collective interest are navigated using a Bakhtinian understanding of the dialogic imagination, as well as a “double process” of negotiation between the universal and the particular, both cognitively (Burke, 1970) and across cultures (Tarrow, 2005)

Identifying novel regulators of human pluripotency and embryogenesis

In preimplantation development, the pluripotent epiblast is the precursor of all foetal tissues and of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Investigating the regulatory mechanisms that underpin human pluripotency is therefore vital to understand human embryogenesis and to improve in vitro models of human pluripotency. However, our current knowledge of the transcriptional regulation of human pluripotency is incomplete. In particular, various regulators identified through studies in the mouse display non-conserved expression or function in the human embryo. To explore how such proteins might be involved in the regulation of human pluripotency, I identified a number of transcription factors that are enriched in the human epiblast and expressed specifically in hESCs cultured under naïve, but not primed, pluripotency conditions. Through analysis of expression in both naïve hESCs and the developing human blastocyst, I determined that KLF17 is a promising candidate pluripotency regulator. I therefore performed gain- and loss-of-function analyses to elucidate the function of KLF17 in hESCs. Through ectopic expression of KLF17, I found that it is sufficient to upregulate the expression of a number of naïve hESC-associated genes in primed conditions and to drive transgene-mediated resetting of primed to naïve pluripotency under appropriate culture conditions. However, a CRISPR-Cas9-mediated null mutation of KLF17 revealed that it is not required for naïve pluripotency acquisition or maintenance in vitro. By transcriptome analysis of KLF17-null mutant hESCs during resetting, I identified possible compensatory mechanisms including upregulated expression of paralogous genes and the impact of exogenous WNT inhibition. In all, this work shows a role for KLF17 in establishing naïve pluripotency, but that it is not strictly necessary for generating naïve hESCs. I therefore suggest that the function of KLF17 is to promote a naïve pluripotent phenotype but that under standard conditions, parallel mechanisms exist and are able to compensate in the absence of KLF17

Living with Trauma and Learning to Feel - An Ethnographic Approach to Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Berlin

Based on ethnographic research, this thesis analyses the lives of women living with complex forms of trauma and their experiences of the feeling-facilitating practices of Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) in Berlin. Positioning the research in psychological anthropology, the author investigates affected and marginalized perspectives by firstly, asking what women living with trauma experience in TCTSY settings, and how their actions of feeling and making choices are initiated and sustained. Secondly, by scrutinising the question of what can be learned from TCTSY and participants’ experiences regarding their everyday life with trauma more generally. The thesis enquires into healing practices and expert discourses and zeroes in on questions such as how far an ethnographic analysis of TCTSY can influence or alter dominant understandings of trauma and trauma healing. The author argues for an understanding of trauma which is more rooted in the experiences of trauma survivors and proposes the approach of “trauma-as-ongoing-lived-experience-in-context”. Moreover, the detailed analysis of the TCTSY practice and spatial emplacement as fluid and dynamic affective arrangement that considers socialities, affects, subjectivities, spaces and the arrangement of objects and feelings within them, gives indications of what healing and empowering contexts can look like in the wake of (complex) trauma

The influence of marsh edge and seagrass habitat on summer fish and macroinvertebrate recruitment to a northern Gulf of Mexico coastal system

Marshes and seagrass beds have been widely recognized as important habitat for estuarine species, but less has been done on how these habitats interact and function together, thereby limiting understanding of the variability of juvenile recruitment to coastal systems. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the interaction between fringing marsh and adjacent seagrass for the provision of habitat for juvenile nekton. Weekly seine net and benthic seagrass core sampling from June to November 2020 determine the relationship between nekton and marsh-edge and seagrass habitat. This study shows disparate results, in terms of the effects of proximity to marsh edge and seagrass biomass on nekton abundance and size, pointing to different selectivity of marsh edge versus seagrass by different species. In addition, there are no effects of proximity to marsh edge and seagrass biomass on community composition, but an interactive effect on community dispersion

A Quality Improvement Project: Adopting the Standards of Best Practice in Simulation: Debriefing with PEARLS

Background There is evidence the best practices of simulation, specifically, the use of debriefing, will assist the new graduate nurse’s transition into the profession by increasing their clinical judgment. This quality improvement (QI) project explored the pedagogy of High Fidelity Simulation and Debriefing as a solution for the lag in New Graduate Nurse (NGN) practice readiness. The specific aims of this project were: 1) to teach the NGN residency educators how to implement Standard: Debriefing of the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) Standards of Best Practices: SimulationSM by focusing on the role of the debriefer; 2) to teach NGN residency educators to use the Promoting Excellence and Reflective Learning in Simulation (PEARLS) (Eppich & Cheng, 2015) methodology of debriefing; and 3) to assess if the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) is applicable for measuring NGNs’ clinical judgment development. Project Design This QI project examined the use of simulation and reflective debriefing on two groups: the residency educators and the NGN. The project employed two, single-comparison group pre/post testing to evaluate: 1) the effect PEARLS on educators’ debriefing effectiveness; 2) the use of PEARLS on NGN clinical judgment; 3) the applicability of the LCJR for evaluating the NGN development of clinical judgment. Eight NGN residency educators were taught to use PEARLS as a method to implement the INACSL Standard: Debriefing. The DASH instrument was used to for pre/post teaching comparison of educators’ debriefing efficiency and the LCJR was used to compare NGN clinical judgment. Results Overall, when compared to baseline scores, the summative DASH scores were higher. Eighty-eight percent of the residency educators advanced in every DASH subscale with two exceptions: two different educators stayed the same on elements five and six, respectively. The LCJR was used to evaluate the NGN’s development of clinical judgment at beginning and end of their residency program. One hundred percent (n = 6) of the summative LCJR scores were higher than baseline. Of the eleven subscales, 33% of the NGN demonstrated progression on all eleven subscales. Fifty percent demonstrated progression on 10 of the 11 subscales. One hundred percent of the NGNs demonstrated progress on four subscales. A questionnaire using a Likert scale found all residency educators strongly agreed the LCJR was applicable for evaluating NGNs’ development of clinical judgment and should be adopted as the standard measurement of NGN readiness for independent practice. Additionally, all strongly agreed the PEARLS method of debriefing should be adopted as the standard measurement of the residency educator’s debriefing efficiency. Conclusions & Recommendations The residency educators’ effectiveness at reflective debriefing improved when they used the PEARLS method of debriefing. Based on this improvement, it is recommended that they adopt the PEARLS method as the standard method used in their NGN residency program. Additionally, because all educators strongly agreed in the LCJR’s applicability for measuring NGN clinical judgment, they should adopt and use it as a determinant for NGN readiness for practice

Vegetation thresholds for the occurrence of millipedes (Diplopoda) in different tropical forest types in Andasibe, Madagascar

Forest clearance, especially in the tropics, leads to habitat loss for many organisms including litter-dwelling arthropods. Among other invertebrates, millipedes (Diplopoda) provide important ecosystem services like decomposition and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. Despite their importance, little is known about litter invertebrates’ response to tropical forest degradation and their role in reforestation. The present article should rather be regarded as a review of millipedes’ occurrence in tropical forests with a pilot study from Madagascar, because the sample size is small and results need to be confirmed. This pilot study investigated the relationship between millipedes and vegetation characteristics in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar, in the region of Andasibe, parts of which are undergoing reforestation. Vegetation characteristics were measured in ten different forests encompassing different types: remnant rainforest, secondary forest, old Eucalyptus plantations, recently enriched with indigenous tree species, and degraded sites. Millipede species were searched by hand, identified and their occurrence in relation to the environmental characteristics was described.Vegetation characteristics differed between forest types. Old Eucalyptus plantations, secondary forest, and primary rainforest were associated with higher litter depth and more native millipede species than degraded sites and forests afforested with native tree species since 2007. Non-native millipedes occurred in all vegetation formations except the primary rainforest site and did not show any relationship with vegetation characteristics. In contrast, native millipedes’ occurrence was related to conditions associated with mature forest, such as high litter depth and high foliage cover. Logistic regression revealed a threshold of litter depth above which native millipedes are likely to occur. The results indicate that native millipedes are affected by forest degradation and are incompletely restored even when the afforested forest might approach the original state. Special care should be taken during reforestation efforts, as non-native soil arthropods can be introduced, completely replacing the indigenous biota. RésuméLes conséquences de la déforestation globale sont multiples. Pour la plupart des organismes, la déforestation est la cause principale de la destruction des habitats. Les arthropodes qui vivent sur le sol forestier ou dans le feuillage sont ainsi menacés, surtout dans les forêts tropicales. Ces organismes sont pourtant indispensables au maintien de la résilience de la forêt. Dans l’écosystème forestier, les millepattes et autres arthropodes sont très importants pour la mise à disposition de différents services écosystémiques, par exemple pour leur rôle dans le cycle des éléments nutritifs, la formation des sols et la décomposition. Malgré leur importance, peu d’informations sont disponibles sur la réaction des invertébrés suite à la dégradation des forêts et leur rôle dans la reforestation.Cette étude tient surtout lieu de révision de l’occurrence des millepattes dans les forêts tropicales avec une étude pilote menée à Madagascar, dans la mesure où l'échantillonnage est réduit et que les résultats restent partiels. Cette étude pilote analyse les relations entre les millepattes et les caractéristiques végétales dans les forêts de l’Est de Madagascar, dans la région d’Andasibe. Ces forêts sont très diverses et dix types de forêt ont été considérés, à savoir une forêt récemment dégradée et une forêt dégradée, une forêt dégradée et reboisée avec des espèces arborées indigènes en 2007, 2012 ou 2015, des plantations d’Eucalyptus abandonnées depuis 1930 ou 1909, deux forêts secondaires, une forêt primaire. Dans ces différents types de forêt, les caractéristiques de la végétation ont été enregistrées et des millepattes ont été récoltés à la main. Les espèces de millepattes ont été identifiées et leur occurrence ont été analysées par rapport aux caractéristiques de la végétation. Les vieilles plantations d’Eucalyptus et les forêts secondaire et primaire étaient caractérisées par une couche plus épaisse de feuilles et davantage d’espèces de millepattes indigènes par rapport aux forêts dégradée et replantée. Les espèces allogènes étaient présentes dans tous les types de forêt à l’exception de la forêt primaire. La présence de ces espèces n’était pas liée aux caractéristiques de la végétation. En revanche, l’occurrence des espèces indigènes était associée à des conditions qui sont caractéristiques des forêts matures, par exemple une couche de feuilles épaisse et une couverture foliaire dense. L’analyse de régression logistique a révélé une valeur seuil pour la hauteur de la couche de feuilles mortes. Au-delà de ce seuil, il est probable que les millepattes indigènes soient présents. L’étude a montré que les millepattes indigènes sont impactés par la déforestation et qu’ils ne sont pas facilement restaurés même si la restauration semble permettre à la forêt de se rapprocher de son état initial

Independent and combined effects of diethylhexyl phthalate and polychlorinated biphenyl 153 on sperm quality in the human and dog

A temporal decline in human and dog sperm quality is thought to reflect a common environmental aetiology. This may reflect direct effects of seminal chemicals on sperm function and quality. Here we report the effects of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and polychlorinated biphenyl 153 (PCB153) on DNA fragmentation and motility in human and dog sperm. Human and dog semen was collected from registered donors (n = 9) and from stud dogs (n = 11) and incubated with PCB153 and DEHP, independently and combined, at 0x, 2x, 10x and 100x dog testis concentrations. A total of 16 treatments reflected a 4 × 4 factorial experimental design. Although exposure to DEHP and/or PCB153 alone increased DNA fragmentation and decreased motility, the scale of dose-related effects varied with the presence and relative concentrations of each chemical (DEHP.PCB interaction for: DNA fragmentation; human p < 0.001, dog p < 0.001; Motility; human p < 0.001, dog p < 0.05). In both human and dog sperm, progressive motility negatively correlated with DNA fragmentation regardless of chemical presence (Human: P < 0.0001, r = −0.36; dog P < 0.0001, r = −0.29). We conclude that DEHP and PCB153, at known tissue concentrations, induce similar effects on human and dog sperm supporting the contention of the dog as a sentinel species for human exposure