Write What You Know: The Process of Writing a Young Adult Novella

One tragedy, two lives changed forever. This novella follows the paths of two characters coping with the death of loved ones. It examines the themes of grief, friendship, family, self-discovery and inner strength. Specifically, how these things manifest and change after experiencing extreme loss. The dual narrative compares and contrasts the varying ways people react to grief. This project on creative writing followed the writing process from brainstorming to final draft

From Print Propaganda to Meme Activism: The Evolution of Graphic Communication and its Effect on Socio-Political Climates and Methods of Activism

This project will assess mediums of communication used to create and spread political propaganda, namely from print to digital. The development of graphic communication may provide interesting correlation of how values and ideas are visually represented in society and how the people have reacted to shifting politics. This project is inspired by the recent political climate in the United States, and the continuous impact the media has on the public throughout the many visual forms of communication. Inspiration is also drawn from the advancement of technology in the graphic communication industry. This allows for greater ease of access for the public to create a variety of content—leading to the birth of the internet meme. Thus, people may be more likely to engage in the phenomenon of participatory media, in which individuals engage in political discourse through their desired means of communication on social media. The purpose of this study is to consider the methods that socio-political discourse is extended through social media, and how these means contribute to the reaction to social issues and political alignment which results in activism

The Good, the Bad and the Useless: The Perception of Books in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, and Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story

Literature acts as a thought experiment that allows authors to test out theoretical concepts. In dystopian literature, authors test their theories on what leads to a dystopian society, and therefore how to avoid it. In this thesis, I examine three dystopian novels, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, and Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story as well as the theories the authors engage with on how to avoid dystopian futures. All three of the novels suggest that wisdom is the way to avoid a dystopian future, but the ways they define wisdom are different. By examining how books are portrayed in each of these texts, I show how wisdom is being represented. I then connect the different portrayals of books in each of these three novels to three different philosophical theories. Fahrenheit 451 is a retelling of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, and books are an allegory for the guide out of the cave. Books in The Book Thief are pragmatic and are therefore tools. In Super Sad True Love Story, books are not portrayed as the key to wisdom, but, instead, Zusak uses an Aristotelian concept of wisdom. I then compare the three theories and show the strengths and weaknesses of each. Ultimately, elements of each the three philosophical theories contained within the books that I have identified are required to avoid a dystopian future

Chemical tools for the study of N-glycosylation in protozoan parasites

Glycosylation is the most abundant post translational modification in eukaryotic cells and can be accredited to an enormous variety of functions. Yet the tools used to study rare or unusual glycosylations are limited. N-Glycosylation, glycosylation of an asparagine residue, begins in the endoplasmic reticulum where a glycan precursor is synthesised by glycosyltransferases before it is transferred to a protein by an oligosaccharide transferase. The protein is then transferred to the Golgi where the glycan is further modified by glycosidases or glycosyltransferases. During this process, the array of glycosyltransferases present in each organism serves to produce a range of glycans, many of which are organism specific. Their formation and functions provide valuable information as to how certain parasites proliferate and cause disease. Therefore, new tools to study glycans and glycan processing enzymes could pave the way towards new therapeutics. Within this thesis, three chemical methods to explore glycosylation in Trypanosoma brucei and Plasmodium falciparum are described. Although UDP-agarose serves to enrich glycosyltransferases from complex mixtures, it is not specific towards UDP-galactosyltransferases. This particular family of enzymes forms linkages in many unique glycans of T. brucei and represent interesting drug targets due to their absence in humans. Due to their unusual nature, no homologues have been identified. The majority of this PhD project was aimed at synthesising an activity based probe to selectively enrich galactosyltransferases from T. brucei using analogues of the donor sugar nucleotide, UDP-galactose. In a newly developed synthetic route, UDP-galactose and UDP-(4F)-galactose were attached to tentagel resin. To our knowledge, these are the first resin bound sugar-nucleotides. After initial method development with a commercially available galactosyltranferase along with other proteins, the resins were proven to bind with the desired selectivity. They were then used in an assay to enrich galactosyltransferases from T. brucei lysates. UDP-Galactose was unable to enrich galactosyltransferases from this complicated mixture, most likely due to a low affinity and the complexity of the proteins it was submitted to. UDP-(4F)-Galactose showed a higher affinity but was only able to enrich one galactosyltransferase: TbGT3. The assay was only performed once, therefore with repeated experiments this result may improve. The second tool described in this thesis is the use of the small molecule inhibiter of N-glycosylation, NGI-1. From published data, this small molecule was predicted to only inhibit the transfer of high mannose glycans in T. brucei. In doing so, the effect of reduced glycosylation could be studied without the need for RNAi knock down of STT3B. NGI-1 was toxic to T. brucei but had a very high IC50 of 75.73 μM. Therefore, at lower concentrations the effect of the drug could be observed. By lectin blots, there appeared to be an effect of the drug on N-glycosylation with an increase in complex glycans and a decrease in high mannose. However, the results were not clear so mass spectrometry analysis of T. brucei’s variant surface glycoprotein were sought to determine the exact N-glycosylation profile. The third tool described is to enrich glycoproteins from Plasmodium falciparum lysates using various lectin based methods and mass spectrometry analysis. Initially, glycoproteins were enriched using the FASP FACE protocol and lectins GLS II and WGA. Although the mass spectrometry results indicated the presence of glycoproteins, the method used was not accurate enough to determine their nature. An Orbitrap mass analyser was then used, which improved the accuracy so that the presence of glycopeptides was confirmed. Unfortunately, these peptides were not of high enough resolution to be identified. Magnetic bead bound GSL II and WGA enrichment was tested, but there were difficulties in conjugating the lectin to the beads. Chemically modifying the glycoproteins with a galactoslytransferase so that they could be enriched with ricin (instead of GSL II and WGA) was also tested. Mass spectrometry showed that the enrichment was not successful and alternate methods must be investigated. These new methods to study N-glycosylation in T. brucei and P. falciparum require some optimisation. However, since both parasites synthesise unique (and in the case of P. falciparum, disputed) N-glycans, tools such as the ones described will be the most effective way to profile their N-glycosylation.Part of the Marie Curie ITN funded by the EU Commission (GA. 608295

Pediatric health literacy

Abstract Background: Unless you are a healthcare provider or licensed healthcare professional, understanding the United States healthcare system and its accompanying medical jargon can be confusing and overwhelming to try to navigate. Even more difficult is comprehending what resources are available to specific populations and how to gain the most benefit from these offered resources. Limited health literacy skills have been identified as the largest barrier in identifying an individual’s health outcomes. Health affects every stage of life. The purpose of this paper is to analyze what health literacy implementations look like as well as the age and developmental stage that is most effective for individuals to begin learning about health literacy, and how continued education for nurses can be centered around improving health literacy. By identifying these important components, the question of the importance of health literacy, where disparities exist, and what assessment tools are the most valuable in collecting data to create interventions can be further understood. Methods: The method for answering this question includes a literature synthesis of academic resources. The sample size for this project is forty total sources, found through James Madison University’s library database including PubMed, CINAHL, and EBSCO host. These sources define health literacy literature and related topics; the studies analyzed are interventions for pediatric health literacy. The collection of research was in an effort to answer our primary research question of what pediatric health literacy is and how interventions can be effective. There was a total of 8 sources involved in the literature review of Pediatric Interventions. Sources were chosen based on peer-reviewed status, relevancy and date. PEDIATRIC HEALTH LITERACY 4 Results: Our findings indicate the importance of health literacy, the individual\u27s understanding of their healthcare needs and being able to communicate this with healthcare professionals in order to set them up for lifelong well-being. Findings also indicate that it is important to begin education about health, wellbeing, and autonomy in childhood, defined as ages school-aged (age 5-12) interventions, and adolescent interventions (age 13-17). Discussion: The research findings support the thesis of early intervention. Health literacy education as early as school-aged and into adolescence allows children to continue to grow in understanding their health as they age; thus, becoming individuals who can make sound judgments and take control of their own health later in adulthood. Health literacy is of great importance for physical well-being and the foundations for this need to be laid in childhood. Key words: health literacy, pediatrics, childhood intervention, health, comprehensio

Determining the Prevalence and Seasonality of Fasciola hepatica in Pasture-based Dairy herds in Ireland using a Bulk Tank Milk ELISA

This study was financed by both the Irish dairy levy and Merial.peer-reviewedBackground Fasciola hepatica is a helminth parasite of global importance in livestock, with major economic impact. However information on F. hepatica infections in Irish pasture-based dairy herds is limited. Therefore this study was conducted in order to determine the prevalence, seasonality and management factors associated with F. hepatica. A total of 319 Irish dairy herds were selected for this study. Bulk tank milk (BTM) samples were collected from 290 dairy farms on a quarter year basis, while from a further 29 dairy farms BTM samples were collected on a monthly basis to provide a more detailed pattern of F. hepatica exposure in Irish herds. BTM samples were analysed using a commercially available F. hepatica antibody detection ELISA. Furthermore, within-herd prevalence of F. hepatica was assessed in a subset of these 29 herds (n = 17); both individual serum samples and bulk tank milk samples were collected. Results A within-herd prevalence of ≤ 50 % was found for herds with negative bulk tank milk samples. The mean prevalence of the 290 study herds was 75.4 % (Range 52 %–75.1 %), with the highest prevalence being observed in November (75.1 %). The seasonal pattern of F. hepatica shows elevated antibodies as the grazing season progressed, reaching a peak in January. A significant association was found between F. hepatica and age at first calving. Conclusion This study demonstrates that F. hepatica is present in a large proportion of Irish dairy herds and provides a basis on which control practices, particularly in adult dairy cows, can be reviewed.MerialIrish Dairy Lev

El papel de la familia real en la promoción del turismo en Londres

El siguiente trabajo de carácter descriptivo tiene como objetivo principal analizar el papel de la familia real británica en la promoción del turismo en Londres. Este análisis se basa en una revisión sistemática de fuentes teóricas relacionadas con los conceptos clave del turismo, la promoción turística y, en concreto, del turismo real, centrándose en el papel de la familia real británica como elemento singular en la promoción del sector en el país. Se ha desarrollado un marco teórico sobre los conceptos relacionados con el turismo para, posteriormente, delimitar las estrategias metodológicas que se exponen en este trabajo. A continuación, se ha analizado el corpus, llegando a la conclusión que los principales miembros de la familia real han tenido a lo largo de la historia, y tienen en la actualidad, una gran influencia en la promoción turística de su país