The contemporary world is motivated by data-driven decision-making. Small 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations are often limited in their reach due to their size, lack of funding, and a lack of data analysis expertise. In an effort to increase accessibility to data analysis for such organizations, a Founders Lab team designed a product to help them understand and utilize geographic information systems (GIS) software. This product – You Got GIS – strikes the balance between highly technical documentation and general overviews, benefiting 501(c)3 nonprofits in their pursuit of data-driven decision-making. Through the product’s use of case studies and methodologies, You Got GIS serves as a thought experiment platform to start answering questions regarding GIS. The product aims to continuously build partnerships in an effort to improve curriculum and user engagement.
Cancer is a disease acquired through mutations which leads to uncontrolled cell division and destruction of normal tissue within the body. Recent increases in available cross-species data of cancer in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates has revealed that the prevalence of cancers varies widely across species. Life-history theory suggests that there could be traits that potentially explain some of that variation. We are particularly interested in species that get very little cancer. How are they preventing cancer and can we learn from them how to prevent cancer in humans? Comparative oncology focuses on the analysis of cancer prevalence and traits in different non-human species and allows researchers to apply their findings to humans with the goal of improving and advancing cancer treatment. We incorporate the predictions that animals with larger bodies have evolved better cancer suppression mechanisms than animals with small bodies. Ruminants in the past were larger in size than modern day ruminants and they may have retained cancer defenses from their large ancestors. The strong cancer defenses and small body size combined may explain the low prevalence of cancer in Ruminants. This paper aims to evaluate the presence of benign and malignant neoplasia prevalence across multiple ruminant species following a time of dramatic decrease in body size across the clade. Our aim is to illuminate the potential impact that these shifts in body size had on their cancer prevalence as well as test the statistical power of other key life history variables to predict cancer prevalence.
My thesis, titled Female Agency in the Canterbury Tales and Telling Tales, compares Geoffrey Chaucer’s fourteenth century work and Patience Agbabi’s modern adaptation in regards to their portrayal of female agency. While each work contained a whole selection of tales, I focus on four tales, which were The Miller’s Tale, The Clerk’s Tale, The Physician’s Tale, and The Wife of Bath’s Tale. I also include relevant historical information to support and assist in the analysis of the literary texts, and secondary sources were also used supplementarily to enhance the analysis. I argue that female agency is irrationally believed to be dangerous, and the consequent attempts at protection manifest as limitations, which are themselves damaging. The paper is divided into two main sections, which are themselves separated into three smaller categories. The first of the two main sections concerns what actions and options are available to women influenced by a distinction of gender; this section is divided into female gender ideals, marriage, and occupation. The second of the two main sections addresses the entities or individuals enacting the limitations upon female agency, and its three subsections are society, men, and women. I ultimately conclude that not only is it irrational to believe that female agency is dangerous, but also that making gender-based judgment on the capacity of a group of people or an individual is inherently flawed.