Objects of Desire: Mimetic Theory in Middle-earth

Twentieth century author J. R. R. Tolkien permanently impacted the world of fantasy with his work in Middle-earth. Countless aspects of his legendarium have been examined by readers, scholars, and critics, who view them through widely-varying lenses of literary theory and criticism in an attempt to interpret the ideas central to Tolkien’s universe. However, few scholars have explored the relationship between Tolkien’s works and literary theorist René Girard’s concepts of mimetic desire and scapegoating, leaving this relatively untraversed field ripe for study. Girard’s mimetic theory offers insight into Tolkien’s understanding and portrayal of power by providing a method of interpreting his use of objects of power to demonstrate the corruptive nature of such items and the rivalry they incite. This research examines Girard’s theories, applying his ideas of triangular, imitative desire for an Object to the texts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

Nursing Department Newsletters 2001-2009

Regularly updated newsletters from the Department of Nursing at Messiah College. It especially highlights the Integrative classroom and Clinical-based learning. Some issues are missing from 2001 to 2009

DEVELOPMENT OF A PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR TASTE AND ODOR EPISODES IN REGIONAL DRINKING WATER RESERVOIRS

Taste-and-odor episodes affect water quality in reservoirs throughout the world, and utilities including the City of Auburn Water Resources Department, Opelika Utilities, and Columbus Water Works have each identified having taste and odor issues in recent years and consider them high priority for resolution. These episodes are caused by high concentrations of odorous compounds, predominantly 2-methylisoborneal (MIB) and geosmin, in drinking water reservoirs. MIB and geosmin are volatile compounds that are produced by microorganisms, primarily cyanobacteria and actinobacteria, in natural water bodies. Though these compounds are not harmful, they produce musty odors in drinking water supplies that lead to distrust and complaints from consumers because humans are highly sensitive to these compounds. Both compounds are recalcitrant in traditional water treatment processes, thus activated carbon is typically used for advanced temporary treatment. The high cost of advanced treatment makes continuous treatment of raw water unreasonable for most facilities, leaving a short period between an episode and consumer complaints. To determine when these T&O episodes are most likely to occur, predictive models are needed for better water-quality management. We developed CART and multiple linear regression models for geosmin using R. One of the key advances of this work was the integration of geosmin synthase gene abundance which was determined by qPCR. Modeling of the data revealed the best model fits were built when the datasets had high (>30 ng/L) geosmin peaks shown with Auburn, whereas the current Opelika and Columbus datasets gave us limitations, display low- moderate peaks and variability, having models with lower predictive power. The inclusion of the qPCR data proves to be most effective at predicting the high geosmin levels. Sequencing of the qPCR products revealed Anabaena and Planktothrix as likely producers. Another component of this work was the evaluation of PCR primers for the MIB synthase gene in cyanobacteria and actinobacteria. Specific and efficient primers are needed for accurate quantification of the MIB synthase gene which can be incorporated into models, similar to what was done for geosmin. In evaluating MIB primers, we discovered good efficiency for 4 primer sets and good specificity for one of them. Results from select samples sent for sequencing helped in discovering the primary MIB producers for reservoir in our region

Housing Justice in Unequal Cities

Housing Justice in Unequal Cities is a global research network funded by the National Science Foundation (BCS 1758774) and housed at the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin. This open-access volume, co-edited by Ananya Roy and Hilary Malson, brings together movement-based and university-based scholars to build a shared field of inquiry focused on housing justice. Based on a convening that took place in Los Angeles in January 2019, at the LA Community Action Network and at the University of California, Los Angeles, the essays and interventions situate housing justice in the long struggle for freedom on stolen land. Embedded in the stark inequalities of Los Angeles, our work is necessarily global, connecting the city’s Skid Row to the indebted and evicted in Spain and Greece, to black women’s resistance in Brazil, to the rights asserted by squatters in India and South Africa. Learning from radical social movements, we argue that housing justice also requires a commitment to research justice. With this in mind, our effort to build a field of inquiry is also necessarily an endeavor to build epistemologies and methodologies that are accountable to communities that are on the frontlines of banishment and displacement

Civic Engagement 2.0: A Blended Pedagogy of Multiliteracies and Activism

This study looks at the practice of teaching civic engagement through digital and Web 2.0 tools and examines the impact on agency and self-efficacy of first-year writing students. The primary focus is studying student attitudes toward use of these tools, civic engagement in general, and the perceived value of engaging civically through use of these tools with the hopes of better understanding the value of this work and the impact it will have on future civic, community, and political engagement. Based on the findings of a triad of studies published in 2012 – a CIRCLE study (“That’s Not Democracy”), Giovanna Mascheroni’s study of Italian youth and political uses of the web, and a study conducted by DoSomething.org – the researcher designed a first-year composition course that asked students to choose a cause or issue for the duration of the semester and take on roles of informer, reformer, advocate, and activist on three fronts: Twitter (microblogging), Wordpress (blogging), and YouTube (digital advocacy videos). A feminist methodology was used for this study, understanding that the participatory nature of the research was an essential part of the ethos of the researcher. Qualitative data was collected through analysis of student work, reflection essays, and semi-structured focus group conversations. Through the focus group discussions, the student participants and the researcher worked collaboratively to create knowledge. The findings of this study echoed those of the three studies mentioned above. In addition to showing that instruction and experience with digital civic engagement are linked to an increased likelihood to engage in the future, the study showed that there are numerous benefits to teaching new media, civic, and academic literacies through an activist lens in writing studies. Students acquire a host of academic and professional skills that will help them succeed in the classroom and their future careers. Beyond acquisition of research and 21st century writing skills, teaching digital activism empowers students, increases agency, and helps them grasp the value of disrupting existing, outdated, or oppressive power dynamics in effective ways. Finally, it helps develop lifelong learners who are self-motivated

Distinct Sources of Law and Distinct Doctrines: Federal Jurisdiction and Prudential Standing

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. Their jurisdiction is limited by subject-matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, and, to an uncertain extent, standing. While it is well established that Article III standing is jurisdictional, the federal circuit courts are divided on whether judge-made prudential standing is jurisdictional, and the Supreme Court has not directly weighed in. The jurisdictional status of a doctrine has two important procedural consequences. First, litigants cannot forfeit a defense for lack of jurisdiction, meaning that such a defense can be raised for the first time on appeal. Second, federal courts have a sua sponte obligation to ensure that jurisdiction is proper. This Comment contends that prudential standing should not be considered jurisdictional but that federal courts should nevertheless have the discretion to raise the issue sua sponte. Prudential standing should not be considered jurisdictional because considering a court-created doctrine as jurisdictional violates the basic principle that only the Constitution and Congress hold the power to set federal courts’ jurisdiction, because a recent line of Supreme Court cases reinforces that court-created doctrines cannot be jurisdictional, and because prudential standing concerns litigants’ lack of rights on the merits, not federal courts’ adjudicatory authority. Federal courts, however, should have a discretionary sua sponte ability to raise the issue because prudential standing is an inherently flexible doctrine, and because federal courts raise in their discretion three other non-jurisdictional doctrines—the requirement that habeas corpus petitioners exhaust state remedies, Pullman abstention doctrine, and prudential ripeness doctrine—that, like prudential standing, originated as judge-made doctrines designed to protect interests beyond the litigants’ individual interests

A Study of the Relationship between Well Cuttings, Geophysical Logs, and Production Data for Select Wells from the Utica Shale, Eastern Ohio

The Utica Shale has been classified as an “unconventional” shale play. In eastern Ohio the Utica Shale play encompasses both the Utica Shale and Point Pleasant Formations. Significant oil and gas reserves have been identified as being present in the Utica Shale play, leading to an increase in exploration and production activity. As of late 2013, numerous horizontal wells have been drilled in eastern Ohio. Drilling, completion, and production records for these wells are required to be submitted to the Ohio DNR, and within a specified period of time are released to the public. To conduct this current study, ODNR information was acquired for seven Utica Shale wells in eastern Ohio, and the relationship between well cuttings, geophysical logs, and production data was examined. A multi-step procedure was taken in selecting and studying the materials and data available through the ODNR. The selection of the specific wells for this project occurred after close examination of the entire body of available Utica Shale data. Next, well cuttings for the selected wells were petrographically examined and described. The well cuttings were also subjected to a TCE solvent test to help verify the presence of hydrocarbons. X-ray diffractometry was conducted on the cuttings by a third party lab for the purpose of determining the presence of clay type within the well’s production interval. Geophysical logs for each of the seven wells were obtained for corroboration with the well cuttings analysis. The wells’ production data and completion records were also pulled from the ODNR’s database. After compiling all the data from these various tests, records, and examinations, a comparative table was produced which allowed for the determination of relationships between the geologic conditions and the completion and production information of all the wells. The findings indicate that in certain cases clear-cut relationships can be found between geologic and man-induced characteristics and in other cases no relationship is found

An Incremental Approach to Improving Evaluation Response Rates for Multiday Events

Online survey systems have improved evaluation costs and efficiencies but tend to result in lower response rates. We developed an incremental approach for online evaluation of multiday events. The incremental approach splits a complete evaluation into smaller sections and provides respondents access to both current and past sections. We selected two annual events (one national and one state-level) at which to evaluate the approach. Overall, evaluation response rates with the incremental approach averaged 45.9%, nearly double the 25.3% response rate that is typical with traditional online evaluations. Use of this incremental approach for online evaluation resulted in improved assessment of the respective events, suggesting its usefulness for future event evaluations

Exploring the Outdoors: A Multiple Case Study Examining Teacher Beliefs and Practices in Preschool Outdoor Play

he purpose of this multiple case study was to discover the beliefs and practices regarding preschool outdoor play for early care and education teachers at three diverse school locations. Each site, located in central Pennsylvania, represented a different playground environment: manufactured, natural, and a mixed environment. Using purposeful, maximum variation sampling, three teachers from each of the three centers were selected as participants, based on age, number of years teaching, and educational background. Data collection methods consisted of observations, using the Preschool Outdoor Environment Measurement Scale (DeBord, Hestenes, Moore, Cosco & McGinnis, 2005), semi-structured interviews and a document review to gain an overall understanding of the goals for each center regarding children’s use of the playground and to achieve triangulation of data. Cross-case analysis was based on the following a priori themes: teacher beliefs, teacher planning, teacher behaviors, and playground affordances. Findings from the study demonstrated that although all teachers valued scheduled outdoor play, and viewed their overarching role as supervisory, a disparity existed in how teachers engaged with children and utilized the playground environment to optimize children’s learning. Teachers’ practices ranged from supervising independent play to planning activities and interacting with children to scaffold learning. According to this study, the affordances of the playground do influence teacher interactions with children. The teachers with more convenient access to loose parts were more likely to include loose parts on the playground environment, and were observed as more engaged in meaningful interactions with children. Recommendations are provided for directors of early care and education programs, professional development providers, higher education faculty, parents and regulatory organizations

An Optimized Method for Protein Extraction from OCT-Embedded Human Kidney Tissue for Protein Quantification by LC-MS/MS Proteomics

The existing biobanks of remnant tissue from clinically indicated kidney biopsies are attractive potential reservoirs for quantification of clinically relevant human tissue proteins by quantitative proteomics. However, a significant caveat of this strategy is that the tissues are often preserved in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) medium. Although OCT is an effective method of preserving the morphologic and immunohistological characteristics of tissues for later study, it significantly impacts efforts to quantify protein expression by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods. We report here a simple, reproducible, and cost-effective procedure to extract proteins from OCT-embedded tissue samples. Briefly, the excess frozen OCT medium was scraped before thawing from the tissue specimens stored at -80°C for ∼3 months. The tissue samples were homogenized and diethyl ether/methanol extraction was performed to remove the remaining OCT medium. The recovered protein was denatured, reduced, and alkylated. The second step of protein extraction and desalting was performed by chloroform/methanol/water extraction of denatured proteins. The resultant protein pellet was trypsin-digested and the marker proteins of various kidney cellular compartments were quantified by targeted selective reaction monitoring proteomics. Upon comparison of peptide signals from OCT-embedded tissue and flash-frozen tissue from the same donors, both individual protein quantities, and their interindividual variabilities, were similar. Therefore, the approach reported here can be applied to clinical reservoirs of OCT-preserved kidney tissue to be used for quantitative proteomics studies of clinically relevant proteins expressed in different parts of the kidney (including drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes)