Self-assembled aggregates in the gravitational field: growth and nematic order

The influence of the gravitational field on the reversible process of assembly and disassembly of linear aggregates is focus of this paper. Even the earth gravitational field can affect the equilibrium properties of heavy biological aggregates such as microtubules or actin filaments. The gravity gives rise to the concentration gradient which results in the distribution of aggregates of different lengths with height. Strong enough gravitational field induces the overall growth of the aggregates. The gravitational field facilitates the isotropic to nematic phase transition reflecting in a broader transition region. Coexisting phases have notedly different length distributions and the phase transition represent the interplay between the growth in the isotropic phase and the precipitation into nematic phase. The fields in an ultracentrifuge can only reinforce the effect of gravity, so the present description can be applied to a wider range of systems

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationA significant percentage of clients entering counseling or psychotherapy unilaterally discontinue after the first or second session. In the clinical and research literature these former clients are referred to as "early premature terminators" (EPTs) and are often presumed to be treatment failures. While considerable research has been performed regarding EPTs, very few studies have actually contacted this difficult- to-reach population. A group of former clients from The University of Utah Counseling Center (UCC) who met EPT criteria participated in this study. A semistructured interview was employed to examine the participants' perceptions of various aspects of their termination. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for themes using a qualitative verbal data analysis process called the Constant Comparison Method. Emergent themes from the data concerned participants' perceptions and evaluations of UCC and their overall counseling experience, including perceptions of their counselor. Additional themes from the data included factors related to early termination and the processes associated with ending counseling. Most participants reported generally favorable counseling experiences and indicated they made progress and felt a diminished need to continue counseling. Some identified personality variables they believed were also associated with ending counseling when and how they did. The researcher incorporated these major themes into a data-based grounded theory of early termination. This theory holds that people who meet EPT criteria may actually perceive greater early progress in counseling (with an attendant sense of diminished counseling need) relative to the perceived "costs" of counseling than do clients who persist in counseling for a longer period. The findings and conclusions of the study, as distilled in the grounded theory, provide a new and different data-generated conceptual framework to guide and shape subsequent inquiry and practice in this area

Metaphors for doctoral research: Fundamental tenets & creative courage

Doctoral research candidates navigate a unique path and sustain a rigorous program of study as they make an original contribution to knowledge. The complex and challenging nature of doctoral research is evidenced by high rates of anxiety and depression among candidates (Evans et al., 2018). Metaphors are one tool used by candidates and supervisors to facilitate communication and the candidate’s understanding of the research process. In this article, we argue that the existing range of metaphors have limitations, firstly in cases where they imply an ongoing process with no clear end, and secondly when presented in text or through oral communication without a pictorial representation. We aim to enrich current offerings of metaphors by contributing a new metaphor, which we present as The Moon Diagram. This combined pictorial and textual representation points to two areas of endeavour encountered in the research process, Fundamental Tenets and Creative Courage, and their correlation. The moon is depicted during a half-moon phase to symbolically differentiate the two regions, while overlaid text indicates the skills and experiences associated with each. The whole moon symbolises doctoral completion, and a separate celestial body represents post-doctoral employment. The Moon Diagram may be a useful mnemonic device for potential and confirmed candidates and printed as a larger-scale chart for supervisors to reference when mentoring candidates to doctoral completion

PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS AFFECTING CONSUMERS' FRESH BEEF CUT PURCHASING DECISIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, JAPAN, AND AUSTRALIA

The effects of product and economic characteristics on consumers who purchase six cuts of fresh beef (blocks/parts, steak, thinly sliced, diced, chopped, and ground) in urban areas of the United States, Japan, and Australia will be examined in this paper. Certain product characteristics (such as product freshness and display case cleanliness) were important to consumers of beef in all three countries while other product characteristics (such as price considerations for ground beef consumers) were important for consumers of different beef cuts in all three countries. Some product characteristics varied in importance across consumers from different countries and consumers of different beef cuts.Consumer/Household Economics,

Collision induced spatial organization of microtubules

The dynamic behavior of microtubules in solution can be strongly modified by interactions with walls or other structures. We examine here a microtubule growth model where the increase in size of the plus-end is perturbed by collisions with other microtubules. We show that such a simple mechanism of constrained growth can induce ordered structures and patterns from an initially isotropic and homogeneous suspension. First, microtubules self-organize locally in randomly oriented domains that grow and compete with each other. By imposing even a weak orientation bias, external forces like gravity or cellular boundaries may bias the domain distribution eventually leading to a macroscopic sample orientation.Comment: Submitted to Biophysical Journa

A multi-risk methodology for the assessment of climate change impacts in coastal zones

Climate change threatens coastal areas, posing significant risks to natural and human systems, including coastal erosion and inundation. This paper presents a multi-risk approach integrating multiple climate-related hazards and exposure and vulnerability factors across different spatial units and temporal scales. The multi-hazard assessment employs an influence matrix to analyze the relationships among hazards (sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and storm surge) and their disjoint probability. The multi-vulnerability considers the susceptibility of the exposed receptors (wetlands, beaches, and urban areas) to different hazards based on multiple indicators (dunes, shoreline evolution, and urbanization rate). The methodology was applied in the North Adriatic coast, producing a ranking of multi-hazard risks by means of GIS maps and statistics. The results highlight that the higher multi-hazard score (meaning presence of all investigated hazards) is near the coastline while multi-vulnerability is relatively high in the whole case study, especially for beaches, wetlands, protected areas, and river mouths. The overall multi-risk score presents a trend similar to multi-hazard and shows that beaches is the receptor most affected by multiple risks (60% of surface in the higher multi-risk classes). Risk statistics were developed for coastal municipalities and local stakeholders to support the setting of adaptation priorities and coastal zone management plans

Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Screening/Diagnosis Outcomes

Purpose We reviewed how Social Determinants of Health relate to health inequities and disparities for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs. Then, we examine links between specific sociodemographic factors (maternal age, maternal education, ‘race’/ethnicity) and hearing screening and diagnostic audiology follow-up for newborns in the U.S. and its territories. Methods Maternal demographic, hearing screening and diagnostic data extracted from publicly available Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) records were reported to CDC by personnel responsible for EHDI programs. Data were subjected to statistical analysis using analysis of variance and multiple regression techniques. Results Results showed no significant differences in screening follow-up outcomes for maternal age, education, or ‘race’/ethnicity. There was a significant difference for maternal education and \u27race\u27/ethnicity for diagnostic follow-up outcomes, but not for age. Conclusion Results of this study are consistent with the findings of previous studies regarding hearing screening follow-up and diagnostic audiologic follow-up outcomes. Maternal education and ‘race’/ethnicity were linked to hearing diagnostic audiologic follow-up for newborns in the US and its territories. Suggestions for future research, policy, and practice to improve the effectiveness of EHDI efforts are provided

New records of Burgess Shale-type taxa from the middle Cambrian of Utah

Cambrian strata of the Laurentian craton contain numerous examples of Burgess Shale-type faunas. Although displaying a more or less concentric distribution around the cratonal margin, most faunal occurrences are in present-day western North America, extending from the Northwest Territories to California. Nevertheless, the soft-bodied and lightly skeletalized fossils in most of these Lagerstätten are highly sporadic. Here, we extend knowledge of such Middle Cambrian occurrences in Utah with reports of four taxa. An arthropod from the Marjum Formation, Dytikosicula desmatae gen. et sp. nov., is a putative megacheiran. It is most similar to Dicranocaris guntherorum, best known from the younger Wheeler Formation, but differs primarily in the arrangement of pleurae and overall size. Along with a specimen of ?Yohoia sp, a new species of Yohoia, Y. utahana sp. nov., is described. It differs from the type and only known species, Y. tenuis, principally in its larger size and shorter exopods; it is the first description of this genus from outside the Burgess Shale. A new species of a stem-group lophotrochozoan from the Spence Shale, Wiwaxia herka sp. nov., possesses a palisade of dorso-lateral spines that are more robust and numerous than the type species of Wiwaxia, W. corrugata. Another notable taxon is Eldonia ludwigi from the Marjum Formation, which is interpreted as a primitive ambulacrarian (assigned to the cambroernids) and a new specimen of the ?cnidarian Cambrorhytium from the Wheeler Shale is illustrated