Beyond Our Backyard: An Inquiry into International Alumni Giving at the University of Kansas

The purpose of this mixed method study was to explore the philanthropic giving behaviors of international alumni to a state public university (University of Kansas) once they graduated from the university. The primary data sample consists of degree holders from 2006 to 2015 who attended the University of Kansas as an international student (international alumni). I distinguished giving behaviors between international alumni living outside the United States and international alumni who reside in the United States (international expatriates). Additionally, giving behaviors of international alumni and domestic alumni who currently reside within the United States for the same time-period were explored for comparative purposes. Lastly, a sample of eight international alumni donors were chosen for qualitative interviews regarding their giving behavior and influences on their philanthropic decisions. Through data collection from the university registrar, endowment association, alumni association, and personal donor interviews, I explored the nature of international alumni giving and domestic alumni populations in order to better understand their varied levels of philanthropic support. Qualitative interview questions were designed to uncover answers and experiences that are difficult to collect through analytical data tables, including: (1) what inspired the participant to give a gift to their alma mater; (2) what did the experience of being a student at the university mean to the participant and their decision to give a gift; and (3) how philanthropy is viewed in the participant’s country of residence. The information gleaned from these interviews describe how these experiences and thoughts shape who they are as a donor. The quantitative portion of the study focused exclusively on giving behavior of the various alumni groups over the ten-year period from 2006 to 2015. Data on biographical demographics, degree type, country of origin, current residence and others were compiled to build a single data table for trend analysis. Patterns emerged showing what countries donors come from and currently reside, in terms of both dollars contributed and gift frequency. Trends provided aggregate data and information useful in understanding the context and overall picture of international alumni giving. The final step of this study utilized thematic analysis, exposing the similarities, patterns, trends and discrepancies within the qualitative interviews and the quantitative data gathered. Themes emerged around alumni giving domestically and from abroad, location, and gift frequency. The research resulted in five findings. First, international alumni populations grew at a higher rate than domestic alumni populations during the time period reviewed, with China replacing India as the top country of origin while KU international student populations overall became more homogeneous with less diversity. Second, comparing domestic alumni to international alumni- domestic alumni are more likely to give a gift, give larger gift amounts, and give more frequently. While international alumni gift amounts and frequency are more consistent with a smaller range. Third, former international students living in the U.S. (international expatriates) are more likely to give a gift than domestic alumni. However, domestic alumni give larger gifts and at a higher frequency than those of international origin living in the U.S. Fourth, international alumni living in the U.S. (international expatriates) are more likely to give than international alumni living abroad. However, international alumni living abroad give larger gifts. Lastly, the connection with a faculty or staff member, positive student experience and family or cultural upbringing are notable factors that influence the individual international alumni giving decision

Stability of Extemporaneously Prepared Sodium Benzoate Oral Suspension

The stability of extemporaneously prepared sodium benzoate oral suspension in cherry syrup and Ora-Sweet was studied. Oral solutions of 250-mg/mL sodium benzoate were prepared in either cherry syrup or Ora-Sweet. To a beaker, 50 grams of Sodium Benzoate Powder USP was dissolved and filtered, the solution was divided equally into two parts, and each aliquot was added into two separate calibrated 100-mL amber vials. In the first vial, cherry syrup was added to make a final volume of 100 mL. In the second vial, Ora-Sweet was added to give a final volume of 100 mL. This process was repeated to prepare three solutions of each kind and all were stored at room temperature. A 250-µL sample was withdrawn immediately after preparation and again at 7, 14, 28, 60, and 90 days for each sample. At each time point, further dilution was made to an expected concentration of 0.25 mg/mL with sample diluent, and the samples were assayed in triplicate by stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography. Stability was defined as the retention of at least 90% of the initial concentration. At least 92% of the initial concentration of sodium benzoate in cherry syrup and at least 96% of the sodium benzoate in Ora-Sweet remained throughout the 90-day study period. There were no detectable changes in color and no visible microbial growth in any sample. Extemporaneously compounded suspensions of sodium benzoate in cherry syrup or Ora-Sweet were stable for at least 90 days when stored in a 4-oz amber plastic bottle at room temperature in reduced lighting

Stability of Extemporaneously Prepared Sodium Benzoate Oral Solution

Purpose: Sodium benzoate (NaC7H5O2), a common food preservative, is the salt form of benzoic acid. It is used as an alternative treatment in patients with hepatic encephalopathy or urea cycle disorders as it is believed help stimulate ammonia removal via a non-urea cycle based pathway. Despite its use, sodium benzoate is not an FDA approved medication and has no commercially available oral formulations, although an IV formulation is available in combination with sodium phenylacetate (Ammonul®). The objectives of this study were to prepare a sodium benzoate solution and determine the stability of an extemporaneously prepared oral solution over a 90-day period. Methods: An oral solution of sodium benzoate was prepared and a 1 ml sample was withdrawn from each bottle immediately after preparation and at 7 and 14 days and assayed for drug concentration by stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatography. Stability of sodium benzoate solution will be defined as maintenance of greater than or equal to 90 percent of the initial concentration. Results: The sodium benzoate maintained 96% and 93% of the initial concentrationt at 7 and 14 days, respectively. Therefore, sodium benzoate oral solution in cherry syrup is stable for a minimum of 14 at room temperature

AN \u3ci\u3eIN VITRO\u3c/i\u3e MICRO-VOLUME PROCEDURE FOR RAPID MEASUREMENT OF ERYTHROCYTIC HEXOSE MONOPHOSPHATE SHUNT ACTIVITY

I. A radiometric micro-volume procedure for measurement of erythrocytic hexose monophosphate shunt (HMS) activity in intact cells in vitro is described. 2.The procedure is rapid, allowing 200 individual HMS determinations in a single experiment of 5 hr duration. 3. The procedure is reproducible, yielding HMS activity means insignificantly different (P \u3e 0.05) between replicate experiments. 4. A profile of sodium nitrite-induced HMS stimulation is reported: HMS was elevated 2-fold (P \u3c 0.001) between zero and 2.5mM NaN02; HMS elevation was more distinct (7-fold) between 2.5 and 5.0mM NaNO2; maximum activity (22-fold) was observed between 10 and 20mM NaN02; \u3e 20mM NaNO2 caused significant (P \u3c 0.001) diminution of HMS; glucose carbon recycling through the HMS occurred only with \u3e 2.5mM NaNO2 where this process contributed :::; 16% to total HMS activity

In planta expression of A. cellulolyticus Cel5A endocellulase reduces cell wall recalcitrance in tobacco and maize

The glycoside hydrolase family 5 endocellulase, E1 (Cel5A), from Acidothermus cellulolyticus was transformed into both Nicotiana tabacum and Zea mays with expression targeted to the cell wall under a constitutive promoter. Here we explore the possibility that in planta expression of endocellulases will allow these enzymes to access their substrates during cell wall construction, rendering cellulose more amenable to pretreatment and enzyme digestion. Tobacco and maize plants were healthy and developed normally compared with the wild type (WT). After thermochemical pretreatment and enzyme digestion, transformed plants were clearly more digestible than WT, requiring lower pretreatment severity to achieve comparable conversion levels. Furthermore, the decreased recalcitrance was not due to post-pretreatment residual E1 activity and could not be reproduced by the addition of exogenous E1 to the biomass prior to pretreatment, indicating that the expression of E1 during cell wall construction altered the inherent recalcitrance of the cell wall

A Self-Consistent Model for Positronium Formation from Helium Atoms

The differential and total cross sections for electron capture by positrons from helium atoms are calculated using a first-order distorted wave theory satisfying the Coulomb boundary conditions. In this formalism a parametric potential is used to describe the electron screening in a consistent and realistic manner. The present procedure is self consistent because (i) it satisfies the correct boundary conditions and post-prior symmetry, and (ii) the potential and the electron binding energies appearing in the transition amplitude are consistent with the wave functions describing the collision system. The results are compared with the other theories and with the available experimental measurements. At the considered range of collision energies, the results agree reasonably well with recent experiments and theories. [Note: This paper will be published on volume 42 of the Brazilian Journal of Physics

Lyapunov spectral analysis of a nonequilibrium Ising-like transition

By simulating a nonequilibrium coupled map lattice that undergoes an Ising-like phase transition, we show that the Lyapunov spectrum and related dynamical quantities such as the dimension correlation length~$\xi_\delta$ are insensitive to the onset of long-range ferromagnetic order. As a function of lattice coupling constant~$g$ and for certain lattice maps, the Lyapunov dimension density and other dynamical order parameters go through a minimum. The occurrence of this minimum as a function of~$g$ depends on the number of nearest neighbors of a lattice point but not on the lattice symmetry, on the lattice dimensionality or on the position of the Ising-like transition. In one-space dimension, the spatial correlation length associated with magnitude fluctuations and the length~$\xi_\delta$ are approximately equal, with both varying linearly with the radius of the lattice coupling.Comment: 29 pages of text plus 15 figures, uses REVTeX macros. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E

Production and calibration of the first HEFT hard x-ray optics module

Complete hard X-ray optics modules are currently being produced for the High Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT), a balloon born mission that will observe a wide range of objects including young supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei, and galaxy clusters at energies between 20 and 70 keV. Large collecting areas are achieved by tightly nesting layers of grazing incidence mirrors in a conic approximation Wolter-I design. The segmented layers are made of thermally-formed glass substrates coated with depth-graded multilayer films for enhanced reflectivity. Our novel mounting technique involves constraining these mirror segments to successive layers of precisely machined graphite spacers. We report the production and calibration of the first HEFT optics module

Compositional Analysis of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks. 2. Method Uncertainties

The most common procedures for characterizing the chemical components of lignocellulosic feedstocks use a two-stage sulfuric acid hydrolysis to fractionate biomass for gravimetric and instrumental analyses. The uncertainty (i.e., dispersion of values from repeated measurement) in the primary data is of general interest to those with technical or financial interests in biomass conversion technology. The composition of a homogenized corn stover feedstock (154 replicate samples in 13 batches, by 7 analysts in 2 laboratories) was measured along with a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reference sugar cane bagasse, as a control, using this laboratory's suite of laboratory analytical procedures (LAPs). The uncertainty was evaluated by the statistical analysis of these data and is reported as the standard deviation of each component measurement. Censored and uncensored versions of these data sets are reported, as evidence was found for intermittent instrumental and equipment problems. The censored data are believed to represent the “best case” results of these analyses, whereas the uncensored data show how small method changes can strongly affect the uncertainties of these empirical methods. Relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1−3% are reported for glucan, xylan, lignin, extractives, and total component closure with the other minor components showing 4−10% RSD. The standard deviations seen with the corn stover and NIST bagasse materials were similar, which suggests that the uncertainties reported here are due more to the analytical method used than to the specific feedstock type being analyzed

X-ray scatter measurements from thermally slumped thin glass substrates for the HEFT hard x-ray telescopes

We have performed x-ray specular reflectivity and scattering measurements of thermally slumped glass substrates on x-ray diffractometers utilizing a rotating anode x-ray source at the Danish Space Research Institute (DSRI) and synchrotron radiation at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) optics Bending Magnet beamline. In addition, we tested depth graded W/Si multilayer-coated slumped glass using x-ray specular reflectivity measurements at 8.048 keV and 28 keV and energy-dispersive measurements in the 20-50 keV rang at a double-axis diffractometer at the Orsted Laboratory, University of Copenhagen. The thermally slumped glass substrates will be used to fabricate the hard x-ray grazing incidence optics for the High-Energy Focusing Telescope. We compared the measurements to the SODART- mirrors from the SRG telescope mission program. The surface scatter measurement of the thermally slumped glass substrates yields Half Power Diameters (HPD's) of single- bounce mirrors of full-illuminated lengths of ~ 40 arcseconds for typical substrates and as low as ~ 10 arcseconds for the best substrates, whereas the SODART mirrors yields HPD's of ~ 80 arcseconds with very little variation. Both free-standing glass substrates and prototype mounted and multilayer-coated optics were tested. The result demonstrate that the surface scatter contribution, plus any contribution from the mounting procedure, to the Half Power Diameter from a telescope using the slumped glass optics will be in the subarcminute range.In addition we measured low surface microroughness, yielding high reflectivity, from the glass substrates, as well as from the depth graded W/Si multilayer-coated glass glass (interfacial width 4.2 Å)