Snake Eyes

A novella about a family roadtrip that takes a detour through one of the Mojave\u27s darker dimensions

Broken Up, Over Easy

Broken Up, Over Easy is a colorful, feminine coming of age comedy. The story follows a girl named Flo who is down in the dumps after a devastating break up. Her closest friend, Izzy, decides she needs to help Flo get her groove back. Izzy’s brilliant revenge plot is to egg the ex-girlfriend’s house while simultaneously breaking in to steal back Flo’s childhood stuffed animal (Mr. Brownie). It begins as a classic rom-com and abruptly turns into an absurd, girly heist movie that ends in a dance number. When writing my short film, I was interested in creating lovable characters, mixing genres, and using mise-en-scene to create a specific universe. My goal was to make a movie that captures the audience\u27s attention right off the bat, while also working hard to make something visually striking and aesthetically thoughtful. I wanted to make something that would have universal appeal while still possessing a unique, funky voice. I wanted to make something fun yet moving. My hope is that through the wildness and the action, the audience will also see the difficulties of accepting change, the struggles of dealing with the loss of relationships, and the importance of loving yourself and those who surround you. All issues that I personally have been meditating with recently. I am so incredibly proud of how it has turned out, and of all the people who helped me complete this project. I had such a wonderful team around me, and without them, I would not have been able to complete my grand vision. I think this is a funny reflection of the film itself, as it is a story of bringing people together. Although I didn’t do so with magic powers. But man, that would have been cool if I did, right

PAHs in Coal Tar Sealants: Policy Analyses and Design

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a class of organic compounds, form during the incomplete combustion of wood, fossil fuels, cooking, garbage, and tobacco (Abdel-Shafy and Mansour 2016). Empirical data has proven the toxicity of these compounds on human health and the environment due to their mutagenic, carcinogenic, persistent, bioaccumulative, and hydrophobic capabilities (Xue et al. 2015, White 2002, Abdel-Shafy and Mansour 2016). Coal tar-based emulsion is a sealant widely used throughout the United States (U.S.), particularly in the East, to protect and enhance the aesthetic appearance of pavement (Mahler et al. 2005). Coal tar sealants contain high concentrations of PAHs. Due to the toxicity of PAHs, jurisdictions across the U.S. have taken regulatory action prohibiting and/or restricting the use and/or sale of coal tar sealants. Analyses of three case studies from Washington, Minnesota and Austin, Texas, where successfully implemented regulations on the use and sale of coal tar sealants, informed a policy design for the State of Vermont. I recommend that the State of Vermont implement an incremental legislative ban against the use and sale of coal tar sealants, although two alternative regulations were considered: leaving coal tar sealants unregulated and implementing city-by-city ban

Movement, Technological Mediation and Embodied Interactions, in the Education of children with autism.

The thesis offers insight into an embodied practice informed by childhood development studies, cognitive science, and pedagogy as an iterative approach to develop creative alternatives to the application of solo engagement with technologies in the education of autistic children. Through the diverse experiences enabled by the project’s dual practice and theoretical approach, this work evidences alternative ways to reflect on the education of autistic children, and reports methods that can offer the education sector ways to support children exposed to computer technologies in education through more holistic methods. The thesis advocates for an approach, developed through the practice-research method, that works with computer technologies socially, to engage children, rather than resorting to the commonly seen isolated interactions. The concept of a hybrid offers an alternative to binary, either/or, approaches to consider the role of ICT in special needs education, and instead suggests a more productive triad of approaches premising adaptation over compromise. This triad, suggests three areas of interest; autism, education and technological advances. By applying techniques such as improvisation, somatic movement techniques and participant observation, the thesis proposes a reconsideration of existing interventions in order to promote holistic development, rather than short-term temporary solutions. The practical research of one-to-one movement interactions, with autistic children, is a method basing its approach at the intersection between traditional interventions and therapies, reliant on human interaction, and more recent technological advances developing as a result of ICT use in schools. The focus on the diagnosis of autism leads the thesis to focus on themes relating to human interaction. Empathy, mimicry and touch are developed as central concerns due to their placement in literature surrounding both childhood development and movement practices. The thesis suggests how Dance and Movement practices may offer insights into adapting such engagements with technologies within the education sector. The research advocates for a hybrid model throughout the education of autistic children. It reports a body of practice-research using movement with autistic children, as the participants, that situates and explores themes of embodiment

Neurocognitive Correlates of the Comprehensive Trail Making Test (CTMT) in Brain Injured Children

The Comprehensive Trail-Making Test (CTMT) is a commonly used assessment tool shown to be sensitive to brain dysfunction. Research has found cognitive abilities such as possessing speed, working memory, motor speed, sustained attention, and cognitive flexibility influence performance on the CTMT in non-clinical populations. However, little research has been done to examine the neurocognitive abilities that influence performance on the CTMT in clinical populations. Research has demonstrated that the factor structure of the CTMT differs between clinical and non-clinical groups, which supports the need for further validation of the CTMT in clinical populations. This study examines the neurocognitive correlates that are thought to underlie performance on factor scores of the CTMT in children that with brain dysfunction. The sample for the current study consisted of 98 children, with various sustained and developmental and neurological disorders and a subgroup of children with a TBI (n = 71) selected from the overall sample. These children completed a neuropsychological battery, which included the CTMT and measures of possessing speed, working memory, motor speed, and sustained attention. The relationship between the neurocognitive correlates and the CTMT factor scores were examined using a regression analysis. It was hypothesized that the simple sequencing factor would be predicted by tests that assess Processing Speed,Sustained Attention and Motor Function, while the complex sequencing factor would be predicted by Processing speed and Working Memory. Results indicate that Processing Speed and Motor Function were significant predictors for both the Simple and Complex Sequencing factors. In addition to Processing Speed and Motor Function, Working Memory was a significant predictor for Complex Sequencing for the overall sample. In contrast, Sustained Attention, along with Processing Speed and Motor Function, significantly predicted Complex Sequencing for the TBI subgroup. These findings provide evidence for the use of the CTMT in clinical population, and clarify the underlying mechanisms measured by the CTMT

The Nonprofit Sector and Cannabis Industry: Creating Cross-Sector Partnerships For A Sustainable and Equitable Future In New Jersey and Beyond

The Cannabis industry is currently rolling out a legal industry, medical and recreational, across the United States. While some state legislators are celebrating legalization as a success alongside Multi-State Operators (MSOs), Legacy operators, or those involved in the Cannabis industry prior to legalization, have yet to bask in the benefits of legalizations as their corporate successors. Even more so, those who have faced adversities or have been criminalized by Cannabis have yet to see the benefit of Cannabis than many MSOs do. While legislators try to reverse the wrongdoings of the War On Drugs set out by our own government, more must be done to ensure the sustainable future of the Cannabis industry

Biomechanical and genetic analysis of neural tube closure in the mouse embryo

Development of the neural tube (NT), the embryonic precursor to the brain and spinal cord, consists of bending and folding of the neural plate into a complete tube during neural tube closure (NTC). Cells and tissues undergo gross changes in position and shape throughout NTC, for which the underlying mechanism ultimately depends on integration of their biomechanics. This thesis focuses on the biomechanical role of the surface ectoderm (SE), the layer of cells that overlies the closing neural folds, in spinal NTC. Techniques which allow investigation of the biomechanical properties of cells and tissues include cell shape analysis, laser ablation and expression analysis of genes involved in force generation and detection. Throughout this thesis, these techniques are used to probe SE biomechanics in wild type mouse embryos, and in Grhl-2 and -3 mutant embryos. Grhl-2 and -3 are SE-expressed transcription factors, and mutations in these genes lead to severe neural tube defects (NTDs), making them a valuable model for studying the role of the SE in NTC. Characterisation of the wild type SE revealed an elongation of SE cells along the rostrocaudal midline. Surprisingly, functional analysis reveals this is not due to high rostrocaudal tension, challenging the classical view that cell shape can be used to predict the forces that cells are under, and raising the hypothesis that elongation may be a result of intrinsic cell behaviour. The characteristic elongated SE cell shape is lost in Grhl2 mutants, which also show significantly abnormal cell and tissue level recoil after laser ablation, and disrupted YAP and actomyosin expression. One of the most significant differentially expressed genes in Grhl2 mutants is E-cadherin. Experimental disruption of E-cadherin function supports the importance of this molecule in causing biomechanical abnormalities – together, these results suggest that cell-cell adhesion is an important player in driving normal closure of the NT. Further studies in this thesis show that NTDs in Grhl3 gain- and loss-of function mutants are not due to the same molecular mechanisms as for Grhl2. RNA sequencing suggests a novel role of desmosomes, which are also important in cell-cell adhesion. Finally, a novel mechanism which may contribute to severe NTDs in Vangl2Lp;Grhl3ct double mutants is explored. Although this thesis does not support reduced tailbud proliferation as a causative mechanism, a novel genetic interaction between Vangl2Lp and overexpression of Grhl3 is identified

Staging Soviet Ideals: The Birth of Soviet Ballet and its Reception 1927-1932

This project explores ballet’s development as a Soviet art form through the critical reviews of three early Soviet ballets: The Golden Age (Zolotoy vek, 1930), The Bolt (Bolt, 1931), and Flames of Paris (Plamya parizha, 1932). Prior to the implementation of Socialist Realism, which set parameters for all cultural production within the Soviet Union from 1934 onward, definitions of Soviet culture were often unclear. As a result, it was often difficult for ballet makers to know what to produce and given the art form’s deep aristocratic roots, pressure to innovate in order to fit into the Soviet cultural project was multiplied tenfold. Through a close analysis of critical reviews, advertisements, and personal testimonies, such as letters and memoirs, this project explores how ballet, despite its aristocratic past, became a successful Soviet art form

Save a Cow, Eat a Pedophile: Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita

Many who read Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita express negative reactions at its conclusion, such as revulsion, anger, and outright dismissal of its highly controversial plot. However, the contents of this story constitute only half of its importance. The other half is the hypnotic and slippery mode in which it is told. The dual configuration of the narrator as the protagonist allows the main character to craft his own version of the events that have taken place in his life through a demented, artistic frame. This essay argues for the interpretation of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita as a dark fairy tale. My argument draws from the fairy-tale references made in the text itself, the “othering” done by the main character to classify his sexual prey as a mythical creature, the mirroring of the two main characters, and the unreliability of the manipulative, delusional narrator. I postulate that the same distortion that makes this a fairy tale also causes the audience to sympathize with the main character despite his crimes and conclude that novels such as this are dangerous in their seductive, fantastical characteristics

Analysis of a Facebook Freakout: Rhetoric of Agency in the Places Privacy Debate

New technologies often generate fear regarding privacy threats, and social networking sites like Face book have lately experienced the brunt of the criticism. Face book users, even as they post greater amounts of information online, express concern over privacy violations. This paradox suggests that the issue is more complex than the private/public dichotomy and that the rhetoric used during these protests could yield insights regarding the competing worldviews expressed in a privacy debate. My paper examines discourse by the ACLU and Face book at the time the controversial Facebook Places application came out. I use cluster criticism to show how the two rhetors position themselves, each other, Face book users, and users' friends in terms of the degree of control each ;:igent is portrayed as having. My findings suggest that appealing to users' agency will be a key persuasive strategy as concerns over social networking privacy violations increase, and I comment on how sentence structure in corporate discourse can be used to enhance or detract from users' sense of agency when using social networking sites