Discovering the Gender Lens: The Influence of an Introductory Gender Studies Course on Personal Change

Thesis (PhD) - Indiana University, School of Education, 2006The discipline of gender studies, driven by the social movement of feminism, has become an established area of study on a number of university campuses. Early examinations of gender studies courses identified two specific influences of this newly formed branch of education, intellectual mastery of the course content and the less traditional goal of personal change (the effects of student connections between class materials and personal experiences). Based on existing research, feminist theory and theories of gender development, the author of the present study hypothesized a continued personal change impact of current gender studies courses. The study explored this concept of personal change through an examination of the pre-course relationships between biological sex, experiences with sexism, parental nontraditional gender roles and students' feminist perspectives. Furthermore, the study examined post-course effects related to the concept of personal change through an inquiry on the influence of an introductory gender studies course on students' feminist perspective, gender identity, and gender self-confidence. As pre-course and post-course measures, gender studies students (n = 118) from three separate sections of the same undergraduate course completed a series of questionnaires pertaining to these areas. As a control, 48 education students also completed the questionnaires. Pre-course measures revealed that experience with sexism was a significant predictor of the following feminist perspective self-reports: low acceptance of inequities, high awareness of inequities, high exploration of feminist perspective, and high consolidation of feminist perspective for female students. Post-course measures revealed that gender studies students were less accepting of gender inequities than education students. Gender studies students were also more likely to change their gender identities than education students. The present study offers support for gender studies courses as agents of personal change through influences on feminist perspective and gender identity

The role of the cytoskeleton in cell body enlargement, increased nuclear eccentricity and chromatolysis in axotomized spinal motor neurons

BACKGROUND: When spinal motor axons are injured, the nucleolus, nucleus and cell body of the injured cell transiently increase in size, the nucleus becomes more eccentrically placed, and the organization of polyribosomes into Nissl bodies is temporarily disrupted. The mechanisms for these classical morphological responses to axotomy have not been satisfactorily explained. RESULTS: In this study we address the role of the cell body cytoskeleton in these structural changes. We show that the cytoskeleton of uninjured lumbar motor neuron cell bodies maintains nucleolar, nuclear and cell body size and nuclear position. When isolated, the relatively insoluble cell body cytoskeleton contains Nissl bodies and lipofuscin granules. After axotomy, protein labeling increases markedly and the cytoskeleton enlarges, increasing nucleolar, nuclear and cell body size, as well as nuclear eccentricity. Nearly all of the protein mass that accumulates in the cell body after axotomy appears to be added to the cytoskeleton. CONCLUSION: We conclude that axotomy causes the conjugate enlargement of the nucleolus, nucleus and cell body and increases nuclear eccentricity in spinal motor neurons by adding protein to the cytoskeleton. The change in nuclear position, we propose, occurs when cytoskeletal elements of the axon cannot enter the shortened axon and "dam up" between the nucleus and axon hillock. As a consequence, we suggest that Nissl body-free axonal cytoskeleton accumulates between the nucleus and axon, displaces Nissl body-containing cytoskeleton, and produces central chromatolysis in that region of the cell

Final Report of the Cuyahoga County Election Review Panel

The Panel was charged with identifying the deficiencies in the May 2, 2006 Cuyahoga County election, ascertain the causes and contributing factors of those deficiencies and provide recommendations to remedy the deficiencies

Paired Effects of Dietary Leucine Supplementation and Overload on Protein Translational Signaling and Hypertrophy in Aged Rat Skeletal Muscle

Sarcopenia is an age-associated disorder that causes loss of skeletal muscle mass, particularly in type II (fast-twitch) muscle fibers. This loss in muscle mass can cause disability, reductions in the quality of life, and can contribute to the development of other more life-threatening morbidities and even death. Researchers have utilized muscle overloading and ergogenic aids, such as whey protein and essential amino acids (specifically leucine), in rats and humans in attempts to reduce or attenuate these losses as part of a primary prevention strategy. Unfortunately, there is also a loss of overload-induced growth capacity in aged fast-twitch skeletal muscle. However, no studies have explored the potential synergistic effect of leucine supplementation on overload-induced skeletal muscle growth in aged animals. To that end, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of dietary leucine supplementation on protein translational signaling and hypertrophy in the overloaded fast-twitch skeletal muscles of aged animals. It was hypothesized that supplementing a standard chow diet with 5% leucine would enhance muscle hypertrophy in overloaded fast-twitch plantaris muscles of aged (33-month old) rats to levels observed in young adult (8-month old) rats. It was also hypothesized that 5% dietary leucine supplementation would enhance protein translational [70 kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70s6k), ribosomal protein S6 (rpS6), eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2k), and eEF2] signaling in the overloaded fast-twitch plantaris muscles of aged rats to levels observed in young adult rats. Young adult and old male Fisher³�� x Brown Norway F1 Hybrid (FBN) rats underwent a 1-week unilateral plantaris muscle overload via tenotomy of the synergistic gastrocnemius muscle. Within each age group, animals were matched for body weight and separated into either a dietary leucine supplementation group (additional 5% leucine content in place of 5% of the carbohydrate content in normal rat chow starting 2 days prior to, and throughout, the overload intervention; n = 7/age group) or placebo group (normal rat chow; n = 6/age group). No differences in daily calorie consumption were observed between the placebo vs. leucine groups within each age group. Plantaris muscles were harvested at the end of the overload period. Dietary leucine enrichment significantly (p [equal or less than] 0.05) enhanced overload-induced fast-twitch plantaris muscle hypertrophy in old, but not in young adult, animals. Additionally, western blotting analyses revealed that phospho-p70S6k (Thr389) and phospho-rpS6 (Ser235/Ser236) were significantly lower in old vs. young overloaded muscles under placebo conditions, but leucine partially restored both phospho-p70S6k and phospho-rpS6 in old overloaded muscles to that of young adult overloaded muscles. Overload significantly increased eEF2k phosphorylation in young, but not in old animals, and leucine supplementation had no affect on eEF2k phosphorylation in either age group. Overload significantly increased total eEF2 content and decreased inhibitory eEF2 phosphorylation (Thr56; normalized to total eEF2) in young adult muscles regardless of leucine supplementation. Total eEF2 content was unaffected by overload in old placebo muscles, but leucine supplementation in old animals non-significantly (p = 0.09) restored the overload-induced increase in total eEF2 content. These novel findings indicate that a leucine-enriched diet may potentially enhance overload-induced growth of aged fast-twitch muscle, in part by enhancing pathways known to stimulate protein synthesis.M.S

Bluff Body Fuel Mixer

A combustor is provided. The combustor may include an axial fuel injection system, and a radial fuel injection system aft of the axial fuel injection system. The axial fuel injection system includes a mixer having a bluff body at an exit port of the mixer, and a fuel injector disposed within the mixer. A fuel and air mixer is also provided and comprises an outer housing with an exit port and a bluff body. The bluff body extends across the exit port of the outer housing. A fuel injection system is also provided. The systems comprise a mixer having a bluff body at an exit port of the mixer and a fuel injector disposed within the mixer

The Reproductive Seasonality and Gametogenic Cycle of Acropora cervicornis off Broward County, Florida, USA

Reproductive characters of the Caribbean reef-building coral Acropora cervicornis were investigated based on histological samples collected from April 2001 through October 2002. Oogenesis commenced in early to mid-October through November and spermatogenesis was initiated from January to March. The onset of gametogenesis was staggered, exhibiting up to approximately a 1-month delay within colonies. In the hermaphroditic polyps, the observed male-to-female gonad ratio was nearly 1:1 and ripe oocytes represented over 70% of the total gonadal volume. Fecundity estimates based on Stage IV ova ranged between 10.4 and 21.8 mm3 per square centimeter per year, comparable to A. cervicornis in Puerto Rico and other broadcasting Indo-Pacific Acropora. Fecundity estimates based on Stage III vitellogenic oocytes indicated statistically significant differences among study sites. Spawning in field conditions was observed in 2001, 2003, and 2004 from 2300 to 2330 h. Gamete release generally occurred synchronously between nights two and seven after the full moon of July or August. However in 2003, multiple, small-scale gamete release episodes occurred over more than one lunar cycle. This coincided with the full moon occurring early in the month of July. While prolific gamete production is reported in this study, low levels of recruitment have been reported for this species. Thus, the highly fragmenting A. cervicornis may rely heavily on asexual reproduction for population maintenance and expansion, and recovery after disturbance may be greatly protracted

Combustor Assembly for a Turbine Engine

A combustor assembly includes a first wall, a second wall, a bulkhead and a plurality of fuel injectors. The bulkhead forms a combustion chamber with the first and the second walls. The fuel injectors are configured with the first wall in a unique and/or a fluctuating pattern

Identifying phase synchronization clusters in spatially extended dynamical systems

We investigate two recently proposed multivariate time series analysis techniques that aim at detecting phase synchronization clusters in spatially extended, nonstationary systems with regard to field applications. The starting point of both techniques is a matrix whose entries are the mean phase coherence values measured between pairs of time series. The first method is a mean field approach which allows to define the strength of participation of a subsystem in a single synchronization cluster. The second method is based on an eigenvalue decomposition from which a participation index is derived that characterizes the degree of involvement of a subsystem within multiple synchronization clusters. Simulating multiple clusters within a lattice of coupled Lorenz oscillators we explore the limitations and pitfalls of both methods and demonstrate (a) that the mean field approach is relatively robust even in configurations where the single cluster assumption is not entirely fulfilled, and (b) that the eigenvalue decomposition approach correctly identifies the simulated clusters even for low coupling strengths. Using the eigenvalue decomposition approach we studied spatiotemporal synchronization clusters in long-lasting multichannel EEG recordings from epilepsy patients and obtained results that fully confirm findings from well established neurophysiological examination techniques. Multivariate time series analysis methods such as synchronization cluster analysis that account for nonlinearities in the data are expected to provide complementary information which allows to gain deeper insights into the collective dynamics of spatially extended complex systems

Molecular and epidemiologic analysis of dengue virus isolates from Somalia.

Nucleotide sequence analysis was performed on 14 dengue virus isolates (13 dengue-2 viruses and 1 dengue-3 virus) recovered from febrile soldiers in Somalia in 1993. The dengue-2 viruses were most closely related to dengue-2 virus recovered in Somalia in 1984. However, differences in nucleotide sequence (0.35% to 1.35%) were evident among the 1993 isolates. These differences were closely associated with the geographic location of the infection as well as with different times of infection at the same location. Genetic difference between strains was not associated with differences in clinical features. Molecular analysis of dengue viruses is a useful adjunct to epidemiologic investigation of their distribution over distance and time