Determining the Functional Roles of Short Open Reading Frames in Mycobacterium Smegmatis

The study examines the roles of a subset of short open reading frames (sORFs) in M. smegmatis using targeted mutagenesis and the subsequent examination of phenotypes associated with sORF mutation or overexpression. sORFs are defined as stretches of nucleic acid encoding a protein with a maximum of 50 amino acids. Genome annotation pipelines overlook sORFs encoding small proteins (sproteins) and, thus, sproteins in bacteria have gone unnoticed, even those that are expressed at levels similar to larger, well-described proteins. As a result of recent advances in ribosome profiling and mass spectrometry, hundreds of previously unannotated sORFs have been identified, increasing the number of annotated genes in both the M. tuberculosis and M. smegmatis genomes. Previously studied sproteins have been found to carry out diverse functions within the cell, ranging from modulating enzymatic activity to stress response signaling. In the present study, annotated sORFs were inspected using a JBrowse genome viewer that displays RNA-seq and Ribo-seq data mapped to mycobacterial reference genomes to determine active gene boundaries. The sORFs chosen for study are thought to be physiologically relevant based on their high expression level and conservation within the M. smegmatis genome and across other mycobacterial species. Utilizing targeted mutagenesis protocols, mutant sORFs were created and then assayed for a reproducible phenotypic effect using a variety of molecular and physical assays that aim to accurately address the function of the synthesized sprotein itself, as well as examining the potential of the sprotein to participate in fundamental cellular processes. Studying sORFs and their encoded sproteins has the potential to provide insight into how they modulate biological functions, and to identify novel functions not previously considered due to their seemingly negligible size

American Indian Gang Involvement: Changes and Associated Risk Factors for Adolescents on Reservation Communities 1993-2013

American Indian reservations are among emerging communities for gang activity in the United States, in which reports of a rise in youth and/or criminal gangs began occurring after the1980s. Gang membership and activity has been found to present significant costs to the individual, community, and overall macrosystem, posing a public health risk, straining community resources, and leading to a myriad of individual negative life outcomes. The perceived increase in gang activity has been observed by law-enforcement and community stakeholders, but comparatively little empirical research has focused specifically on American Indian groups or reservation communities. Utilizing data from “Drug Use Among Young American Indians: Epidemiology and Prediction”, ANOVA and regression analysis was utilized to examine cross-sectional trends in gang involvement among 14,457 American Indian adolescents living on or near reservation communities across nineteen time points between 1993-2013. Contrary to public opinion, result of this study failed to establish a consistent pattern of either growth or decline in gang membership across time when examining all reservations communities, and suggest that consistent trends may exist only within specific communities. Gang members were found to endorse significantly more alcohol use, marijuana use, anger, depressed mood, and victimization as a whole. However, only alcohol use, marijuana use, violent behavior, and depressed mood were demonstrated a significant interaction with time and gang membership. Across domains of individual, family, peer, school, and community risk factors, adolescents who endorsed gang membership also demonstrated more cumulative risk across than those who have never been in a gang. Finally, self-reported substance use, criminal behavior/delinquency, and perpetration of violence were found to significantly increase as level of gang affiliation increase

The Role of Intimate Partnership Among Older Adults on Pain Severity and the Engagement in Preventative Health Behaviors

Bodily pain is a frequently disabling condition among older adults, which has broad biopsychosocial implications on health and wellbeing. As adults age, diminishing support systems can result in poor health outcomes and the presence of an intimate partner relationship can positively impact physical health, including influencing pain severity. The number of adults in the United States over 65 is expected to double by 2030, meaning that a significant portion of the population will be entering a stage of increased healthcare utilization. Therefore, behaviors which improve physical health will only become increasingly important over time. While previous research has pointed to the salience of intimate partner relationships on both shaping healthy behavior, as well as on pain outcomes, this project sought to bridge a gap in the current research by examining both relationship satisfaction and relationship status, and the indirect effects of health behaviors on pain outcomes in older adults. This study utilized data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging project to test a theoretical moderated mediation model. It was hypothesized that 1) relationship quality would be negatively associated with pain severity 2) healthy behaviors would mediate the negative relationship between relationship quality and pain severity; and 3) relationship status would moderate the effect of relationship quality on health behaviors and, subsequently, the extent of the mediation between relationship quality and pain severity. While analyses did not support the full model, data did show a trend effect such that those who report higher initial relationship satisfaction tended to report lower levels of physical pain. Furthermore, additional analyses found that, for female-identified individuals, relationship satisfaction significantly predicted later pain severity, with additional gendered differences in specific health behaviors. Result of this study suggest that older adulthood is a dynamic and complex stage of life, influenced by a myriad of factors which should inform both clinical practice and future research. Limitations and future directions are discussed

How Racially Diverse Schools and Classrooms Can Benefit All Students

A growing number of parents, university officials, and employers want our elementary and secondary schools to better prepare students for our increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society and the global economy. But for reasons we cannot explain, the demands of this large segment of Americans have yet to resonate with most of our federal, state, or local policymakers. Instead, over the past forty years, these policy makers have completely ignored issues of racial segregation while focusing almost exclusively on high-stakes accountability, even as our schools have become increasingly segregated and unequal.This report argues that, as our K -- 12 student population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, the time is right for our political leaders to pay more attention to the evidence, intuition, and common sense that supports the importance of racially and ethnically diverse educational settings to prepare the next generation. It highlights in particular the large body of research that demonstrates the important educational benefits -- cognitive, social, and emotional -- for all students who interact with classmates from different backgrounds, cultures, and orientations to the world. This research legitimizes the intuition of millions of Americans who recognize that, as the nation becomes more racially and ethnically complex, our schools should reflect that diversity and tap into the benefits of these more diverse schools to better educate all our students for the twenty-first century.The advocates of racially integrated schools understand that much of the recent racial tension and unrest in this nation -- from Ferguson to Baltimore to Staten Island -- may well have been avoided if more children had attended schools that taught them to address implicit biases related to racial, ethnic, and cultural differences. This report supports this argument beyond any reasonable doubt

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: The Maintenance of White Privilege and Power Amid Demographic Change in a Suburban School District

My dissertation examines racial power dynamics and whiteness in a previously all-white suburban school district that is now home to a very racially, ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse population. Specifically, I explore how white parents make sense of and respond to changing racial demographics in their community and the extent to which whites maintain privilege and power as they comprise a declining proportion of the community population overall. In light of the current political and social context in the U.S that has accompanied demographic change, there is a great need to critically examine the racial ideologies of whites as they relate ongoing structures of inequality, particularly in suburban areas that are previous centers of white isolation and modern epicenters of demographic change. Using a multi-modal case study methodology, I found that in this particular suburban context, where residents of color possessed similar or greater levels of income and education than white residents, and students of color performed at similar levels as white students in the public schools, dominant ideologies that associated whiteness with superiority and goodness persisted and led some white parents to flee the changing community and schools. Moreover, despite the increasingly small proportion of whites in the community and schools, white parents and residents were able to leverage their racial privilege and status in ways that reasserted and maintained unequal racial power relations in Parkwood through school district policies and practices. This research highlights the often invisible and under-examined ways in which white interests are continuously centered and served in ways that reproduce structures of racism in the “post-racial” era. Overall, the findings from this study contradict dominant colorblind narratives and point to the many ways in which whiteness operates, often in surreptitious ways, to maintain the racial status quo and exert social control over people of color even in contexts in which logic might imply that the power and privilege associated with whiteness would be threatened

\u3cem\u3eApparent from the Context: The Contemporaneous Objection Rule and Montana Rule of Evidence 103(a)(1)\u3c/em\u3e

It’s a rare millennial who is not familiar with “Legally Blonde,” a movie about an unlikely law school candidate attending Harvard Law School. In her application video, Elle Woods, click-clacking along in her high heels and pink sundress, tells the camera that she “feel[s] comfortable using legal jargon in everyday life.” The audience hears a wolf whistle, and a shirtless man runs up, pats her on the backside, then runs on. She says, “I object!”, gives the camera a big smile, and continues on her way. Although this scene is clearly a comedic Hollywood creation, the legal jargon Ms. Woods introduces is familiar to most people in the audience, and specifically to the legal community: the preservation of errors for appeal through timely and specific objections. It is less clear when an objection was not timely, not specific, or did not occur at all. The waters grow murky when a clear “I object” statement is not utilized, and issues on appeal fall to the discretion of the court. This piece explores the conditions under which an objection is sufficiently apparent from the context to satisfy the rules of evidence. The Montana Supreme Court has traditionally observed the precedent of prohibiting unpreserved and unargued issues on appeal unless they affect a substantial right of a party. But through recent, more flexible application of the Montana Rules of Evidence, the Court has opened the door to departing from the purpose behind the rules of evidence by expanding the interpretation of context-based objections. Recent cases suggest the Court is divided: three justices demonstrate a flexible application and broad interpretation of the rules in a divergence from precedent; the other three justices favor a strict application of the rule’s plain language in accordance with existing case law. This paper contends that across federal and state jurisdictions, the rules of evidence were designed to prevent unpreserved issues to be raised on appeal for purposes of efficiency, equity, utility, and stability. Although it is difficult to create a general rule due to the fact-specific nature of context- based inquiries, this paper also asserts that the precedent behind the rules of evidence indicate that if an objection is to qualify as sufficiently context- based, the specific grounds for the objection must be abundantly clear; the record must reflect the use of the specific wording from the requisite rule of evidence; and the record must reflect that the trial court judge understood the specific grounds. The plain error doctrine serves as a safety net to protect a party’s rights if their counsel fails to make a timely and specific objection and makes modifications of the Contemporaneous Objection Rule unnecessar

Can you hear me now? : possibilities of an engaged citizenry by way of Izwi IoMzansi FM community radio and mobile phone convergence.

M. Soc. Sc. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.Radio and mobile phones have existed in developing countries for years, however the diversity and pace with which these innovations have grown has made it difficult for researchers to effectively explore their effects. Community radio came into being after the shift to democracy in 1994 and community radio became a “third voice” between state public radio and commercial radio in South Africa (NCRF 1999; Servaes 1999:260). While community radio is attributed with this potential it is also critiqued for its failure in this regard. In particular, the presumed interactive and expressive ‘community’ of several community radio stations in the greater Durban area has been argued to be more mythic than real (Dalene 2007; Teer-Tomaselli 2001). By the same token, the South African communications landscape has changed and expanded significantly since the onset of mobile phone networks and mobile Internet. The dual ubiquity, versatility and affordability of radio and mobile phones demonstrate the complementary potential of their convergence towards participatory citizenship. This research investigates this understudied link between new and old media, particularly focusing on community radio in terms of its mandate for community participation and citizenship (ICASA 2011). Using a network ethnography and mixed methods approach, this study explores interactivity by means of mobile phone functions (calls, Short Message System [SMS] and Facebook) in Durban’s Izwi loMzansi FM’s knowledge community. Additionally, the study employs du Gay et al.’s (1997) Circuit of Culture model and examines possible hegemonic discourses in the media public sphere (Gitlin 1998; Habermas 1989; Hall 1980; Tomaselli 1987). It is revealed that, in general, availability and accessibility of mobile phones and social media platforms create more possibilities for diverse dialogue and active participation in community radio programming. However, the biggest hindrance for active citizenry lies not in regulation protocol but with the presenter’s comfort and resourcefulness in integrating new media technologies into their programmes