Search results

Title: #MeToo: What Urged Users to Post?
Creator: Hirsh, Rachel Anna
Date: 2023
Description: In this dissertation, I explore the motivations that compelled individuals to share their stories during the #MeToo movement, an unprecedented...
Show moreIn this dissertation, I explore the motivations that compelled individuals to share their stories during the #MeToo movement, an unprecedented digital phenomenon that thrust discussions of sexual harassment and assault into the public sphere. The central research question guiding this study was, "What urged users to post during the #MeToo movement?," which worked to uncover why and how the movement became so widespread.. Research demonstrates that when people are sexually harassed or assaulted, often times they do not come forward (Hlavka, 2014). Spencer et al. shares some of the common reasons women do not come forward are that they don’t classify their harassment or assault as a big enough deal, they do not know who or how to report it, they are afraid, they were drunk, they are ashamed, they don’t want to get their assailant in trouble, or they blame themselves (2017). However, those reasons fell by the wayside, as so many people came forward during the #MeToo movement. This paper aims to figure out why that was and how we can continuously get survivors to come forward. This paper also asks the question, did people come forward to share testimony, be part of a movement, or both?Two distinct hypotheses were formulated to unpack the complex dynamics at play The first hypothesis posited that users who engaged with central nodes, encompassing key figures within the #MeToo movement, original contributors, celebrities, and influencers, were more inclined to hold a positive outlook on the movement as a progressive step for women. This data was collected through a quantitative survey, and the analysis yielded inconclusive results, with 79.15% of the sample population expressing support for the movement while only 54.17% reported following central nodes. Qualitative interviews further underscored the multifaceted nature of motivations.The second hypothesis posited that individuals were more inclined to share their personal experiences of harassment or assault online when they observed weak ties within their social networks, such as acquaintances or friends of friends, sharing their own stories. The findings from survey data revealed that 68.87% of participants witnessed weak ties sharing personal experiences or using the #MeToo hashtag on their social media platforms. Qualitative interviews unanimously highlighted the significant influence of observing friends or weak ties posting about their experiences, further underscoring the diversity of motivators behind #MeToo participation.These findings shed light on the multifaceted nature of online activism and the pivotal role of personal networks in shaping the movement's trajectory. In essence, this research demonstrates that while the motivations for user participation in the #MeToo movement are diverse and complex, the presence of weak ties, or distant social relationships or relationships with infrequent interactions, within social networks emerges as a critical influence.
Show less

Title: Modeling and Optimization of Embedded Active Flow Control Systems
Creator: Henry, James M.
Date: 2024
Description: This thesis presents research focused on the aerodynamic performance of circulation control on two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional wings...
Show moreThis thesis presents research focused on the aerodynamic performance of circulation control on two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional wings. Aerodynamic loads, namely lift, drag, and moment coefficients, are measured through Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) modeling and wind tunnel experiment. A simplified and parameterized RANS model is presented as a rapidly iterable approach to estimating the performance of trailing-edge circulation control on two dimensional airfoils, with the hypothesis that an optimized airfoil shape can be found which maximizes the lift coefficient increment generated by circulation control, through modification of the wing profile. The simplified modeling setup is compared with more conventional approaches to numerical simulation of circulation control. The performance of the simplified modeling scheme is then compared with wind tunnel studies, for both steady-state and dynamic performance, as functions of both momentum coefficient dCμ and chord-based Reynolds number Re_c. The dynamic performance for the model is studied to find an analog to the theoretical unsteady models of Wagner and Theodorsen. An adjoint optimization framework is used to find an optimal airfoil profile for circulation control. The optimized profile is then compared in both a simulation and a wind tunnel test study against a NACA0015 airfoil. In simulation, improvement between 12% and 15% is seen for the lift control authority for all values of dCμ and Re_c tested. In experiment, the optimized profile demonstrated improvements of up to 28% in lift control authority, dCL/dCμfor values of Cμ, and decreased performance for higher values of Cμ.
Show less

Title: Pilgrim Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, ca. 1964
Creator: Weil, F. Peter
Date: 1964
Description: Pilgrim Baptist Church (3301 S. Indiana Ave, Chicago, IL) photographed by Institute of Design student F. Peter Weil. Date is estimated as 1964...
Show morePilgrim Baptist Church (3301 S. Indiana Ave, Chicago, IL) photographed by Institute of Design student F. Peter Weil. Date is estimated as 1964 from other evidence in the collection.
Show less
Collection: F. Peter Weil photographs, 1952-1964

Title: Correlating Microstructural Properties to Macroscopic Shear Mechanics to Improve the Understanding of Tissue Biomechanics
Creator: Cahoon, Stacey Marie
Date: 2023
Description: Understanding tissue biomechanics is of interest for modeling organ injury from external loads, development of tissue surrogate materials, and...
Show moreUnderstanding tissue biomechanics is of interest for modeling organ injury from external loads, development of tissue surrogate materials, and creating new biomarkers for disease. Probing the response of soft tissue in shear can provide information on histopathology, provided a methodology exists that connects the macroscopic mechanical properties with cell-level properties. Two of the available methods to measure the macroscopic shear viscoelastic properties of soft tissue are oscillatory shear rheometry and ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE). Due to its accuracy, rheometry is the gold standard, but it is destructive, requires excised homogeneous samples, and can only be applied ex-vivo. SWE is an emerging non-invasive imaging technique which requires validation, ostensibly by comparing with rheometry. Histology is the gold standard for providing morphological information on the cell level, which can determine tissue pathology. The challenge is to connect the macroscopic mechanical metrics derived from SWE and rheometry to the tissue microstructure. To address this challenge, mathematical models can be used that employ multiple, judiciously chosen measurements of macroscopic shear properties and histology to estimate intrinsic mechanical properties at the cell level.A class of homogeneous and composite lipid phantoms mimicking the mechanical properties of brain white matter were fabricated to test a novel stereotactic system and an optimized SWE imaging protocol. The shear stiffness measurements obtained with SWE on the whole phantom were validated with rheometry performed on a series of samples made with the same material as the phantoms. The same procedure was applied to porcine brain white matter excised from fresh whole brains (n=3). Cylindrical cores were extracted from the corpus callosum area, sliced into discs and microscopic sections were subsequently removed for histology. Good agreement was found between the SWE and rheometry measurements of shear stiffness, which generally increases with the level of compressive prestress. Immunofluorescence was used to stain separately the axon neurofilaments and myelin sheaths, and digital image analysis of the confocal microscopy images allowed the estimation of axon volume fraction and axon-to-myelin ratio in the corpus callosum. Using these metrics and a composite mechanical model, a connection between the macroscopic shear measurements and the viscoelastic properties of axon and glia matrix was made for porcine brain tissue. Similarly, rheometry was used to measure the macroscopic properties of decellularized porcine myocardium extracellular matrix (ECM) in two different fiber locations, and for three different fiber orientations. The mechanical properties were found to be dependent upon fiber location, but not on fiber orientation. Since collagen is a primary supportive structure for the ECM, several microscopic slices were probed with immunofluorescence to compute the collagen I and collagen IV volume fractions. Another mechanical model was employed to establish a connection between the macroscopic properties and the mechanical properties of the collagen matrix in decellularized porcine myocardial ECM.This dissertation highlights the use and integration of three different experimental techniques (rheometry, ultrasound SWE, and histology) to correlate key microstructural properties of soft, fibrous tissues (ex-vivo healthy porcine brain white matter and myocardium ECM) with macroscopic shear mechanics. The consideration of the effect of compressive prestress is noteworthy. The reported baseline data for the tissues under shear loading and prestress are pertinent to the physiological function of these tissues, and therefore constitute preliminary data and a necessary first step before a systematic study of the biomechanics of the same tissues in vivo is performed.
Show less

repository.iit

Search the repository

Pages

Pages

Enabled Filters

Refine Results

Type

Date

Academic status of creator

Department

Subject

Creator

Part of