At the Edges of Queer: Navigating Ambiguity in Identity, Community, and Politics

When queer took the world of AIDS activism and the academy by storm in the late 20th century, activists and academics leapt to understand and define this reclaimed word and predict its trajectory. Some academics claimed that queer would avoid obsolescence, remaining an anti-assimilationist beacon for activists, while others worried that lumping anyone with non-normative sexualities or lifestyle practices under the same umbrella would inaccurately homogenize disparate groups and detract from specific causes. This study aims to understand the meanings of the word queer among students at Oberlin College today, over a quarter century after the beginning of the word’s reclamation. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews, I asked 17 non-heterosexual or non-cisgender students to describe their relationships with and perceptions of the word queer at their college and in other places they’ve lived, keeping this question at the core of my research: How are Oberlin College students using queer today, and how do uses of this word impact and interact with the ways in which Oberlin students conceive of identity, community, and politics? I interviewed several Case Western Reserve University students to better understand how current uses of queer in Oberlin are particular to this time and place. My findings indicate that queer’s multiple meanings as an identity term and a synonym of non-normative cause it to occupy a position of tension as a simultaneously fixed and relational term. Queer’s ambiguity can render it both hopeful and ineffective as a community unifier or political beacon, but the contradictions people encounter at the boundaries of the word allow queer to remain salient as a term that embodies the ever-shifting challenges of people marginalized because of gender and sexuality

Insulin-based Nanowire Structures: Production, Characterization and Catalysis Potential.

Use of proteins as bio-templates for production of nanowires and materials is a burgeoning field of research making use of intrinsic protein characteristics and tendencies to self-assemble nanostructures for use in a variety of applications. Proteins are known to self-associate into a variety of aggregate structures with interesting qualities including high aspect ratios and large effective surface areas that can be coated with metals. These protein-based nanowires are of potential interest as high surface area catalytic surfaces. Here we have developed a protocol for producing insulin-based protein-fibrils by heating and applying oscillatory strain to the proteins. Using this method we reliably produce numerous high aspect ratio fibrils that are characterized using TEM. The fibril structures and 2-D networks formed by deposition of the structures onto a substrate have been analyzed and a regime of appropriate applied strain has been identified for production of a large number of fibrils and highly connected networks upon deposition. Aggregate development is explored using sigmoidal analysis of rheological data tracking initial stages of growth during the heating and deforming protocol. Use of the sigmoidal model allows for extraction of kinetic constants associated with aggregate production in the solution resulting in increased viscosity. The sigmoidal model may be applied to a variety of experimental techniques tracking fibril development, although they measure different aspects of the denaturing, nucleation and fibril growth process. The sigmoidal model is applied to ThT assay data compiled from the literature and used to point to possible techniques for increased uniformity and better comparison amongst ThT assay tests. A protocol for metallizing insulin fibrils is developed for coating the produced insulin fibrils with platinum using an electroless plating technique. The platinum completely covers the fibrils and is well-adhered, forming a metallic nanowire based on the insulin template. Dispersions of nanowires are used as efficient catalysts in reducing 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol. This reduction is tracked by UV-Visible Spectroscopy, and associated reaction constants compares favorably with reaction constants of similar platinum-coated substrates used in the literature. Subsequently, the immobilization of the protein-based nanowires onto textile substrates has been demonstrated for potential use as retrievable catalysts.PhDMaterials Science and EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111617/1/kbatzli_1.pd

Intraclonal variation in defence substances and palatability: a study on Carex and lemmings

Clonal sedges consist of integrated ramets at different development stages. Many of these sedges are important food for herbivores, yet differences in herbivore preferences and defence allocation between ramet development stages have not previously been evaluated. In this study we investigated intraclonal ramet variation in level of plant defence and nutrient compounds and intraclonal ramet preferences by lemmings (Lemmus trimucronatus) in field samples of a rhizomatous sedge (Carex stans). Plant defence was measured as the level of proteinase inhibitor activity (PIA) and the ratio of PIA to soluble plant proteins (SPP), whereas plant nutrients were measured as the level of soluble plant sugars (SPS) and SPP. Flowering ramets generally had a higher content of defence compared to vegetative ramets, which is consistent with the optimal defence theory predicting that defence compounds are allocated to the ramet stage of the highest fitness value. Compared to vegetative ramets, the flowering ramets had a lower content of SPP and a higher content of SPS. The lemmings showed preference differences between the ramet development stages, and to a large extent the ramet content of defence compounds and nutrient compounds covaried with these preferences in the predicted way. This study shows that defence allocation between ramet development stages of the clonal sedge Carex conforms to predictions of the optimal defence theory

Isotopic partitioning by small mammals in the subnivium

In the Arctic, food limitation is one of the driving factors behind small mammal population fluctuations. Active throughout the year, voles and lemmings (arvicoline rodents) are central prey in arctic food webs. Snow cover, however, makes the estimation of their winter diet challenging. We analyzed the isotopic composition of ever-growing incisors from species of voles and lemmings in northern Finland trapped in the spring and autumn. We found that resources appear to be reasonably partitioned and largely congruent with phylogeny. Our results reveal that winter resource use can be inferred from the tooth isotopic composition of rodents sampled in the spring, when trapping can be conducted, and that resources appear to be partitioned via competition under the snow.Peer reviewe