Oscillatory double diffusive convection (ODDC) is a double diffusive instability that occurs in fluids that are unstably stratified in temperature and stably stratified in chemical composition. Regions unstable to ODDC are common in the interiors of stars and giant planets, and knowing thermal and compositional transport through these regions is important for stellar and planetary evolution models. Using 3D direct numerical simulations, Rosenblum et al. 2011 first showed that ODDC can either lead to the spontaneous formation of convective layers, or remain in a state dominated by large scale gravity waves. Subsequent studies focused on identifying the conditions for layer formation (Mirouh et al. 2012), and quantifying transport through layered systems (Wood et al. 2013). This document includes 3 works that build on the results of these earlier studies. The subject of the first is transport through non-layered ODDC and shows that in the absence of layered convection, ODDC is dominated by large scale gravity waves that grow to the size of the domain. We find that while these gravity waves induce small amounts of turbulent mixing, turbulent transport through non-layered systems is not significant for the purposes of astrophysical modeling (unlike in layered convection). The second study pertains to ODDC in the presence of Coriolis forces, and shows that rotating systems can be categorized depending on the strength of the rotation. We find that in the slowly rotating regime, the presence of rotation does not significantly affect qualitative behavior, but leads to modest reductions in thermal and compositional transport, while in the fast rotation regime qualitative behaviors are radically different, and systems are dominated by vortices that affect thermal and compositional transport in complex ways. In the final work we study simulations of ODDC at non-layered parameters that are forced into a layered configuration by initial conditions. Our results show that measurements of thermal and compositional transport deviate from values predicted by oft-cited geophysical transport laws.

This master’s thesis explores the stability and ramifications of two emergent categories of pornography: namely, feminist pornography and queer pornography. Though these terms—feminist and queer—have histories that connote resistance and disruption, they have been controlled and institutionalized in pornography to create a broader visibility and a deeper impact. These terms are analyzed in relation to two institutions that seek to control their meanings—the Feminist Porn Awards (FPAs) and PinkLabel.tv—and fourteen pornography studios that identify with either or both labels. I collected data from preexisting documents by implementing a content analysis. Two crucial findings suggest that 1) despite the foundational tenets of feminist and queer porn, as outlined by the FPAs and PinkLabel.tv, the studios did not always abide by them, and 2) strategic essentialism is a mode of temporarily fixing these categories to wield power in resistance to the naturalized mainstream power. Since this thesis is about categories and queering, two seemingly opposed ideologies, it is concerned with how categories are queered, and how the queer can be temporarily stabilized to render itself visible and potent, ultimately leaving a trace that can be analyzed and contextualized historically, leaving room for catalogers to amend and alter content to fit categories prone to transformation.