Implications of self-esteem in case studies of re-entry non-traditional women students.

During the past two decades there has been a dramatic increase in adult women\u27s participation in higher education. Women re-entering college face a number of obstacles, including both psychological barriers and practical problems to be solved. Many researchers, educators, and administrators have attempted to design and conduct programs to assist re-entry women in making this transition with varying degrees of success. Although there is a substantial body of literature on factors affecting academic achievement, including motivation and locus of control, little work has been done on the relationship between self-esteem and academic success in the non-traditional, re-entry woman. Research concerning self-esteem and academic performance has focused largely on populations such as traditional aged college students, school children of various ages and minority groups, handicapped students, or comparative groups of male and female students. In this study, ten non-traditional women students entering a re-entry program at Quinsigamond Community College were examined. The subjects had approximately the same English and math placement scores, and similar backgrounds and life situations. Through examination and analysis of self-esteem inventory results, in-depth interviews, and academic transcripts, the study examined the correlation between their perceived sense of self and their academic achievement, irrespective of their academic ability. Self-esteem did not appear to be the issue in predicting academic success for these women. All of the students achieved success academically as indicated by their transcripts; and this is what seemed to determine their increased level of self-esteem. Further, it was the positive environment, feedback, and support, throughout their school careers, from people and from programs such as the Health Certificate, that seemed to make the difference in endurance, motivation, and ability to tough it out when the going got rough. For most of these women, their positive re-entry experiences appear to have raised their levels of self-esteem. In addition, I assessed the impact of the re-entry program on these participants. Every one of the ten re-entry women credited the Health Certificate Program for her success

Sonographic Evaluation of Early‐Stage Breast Cancers That Undergo Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135555/1/jum2005247885.pd

The macrophage F4/80 receptor is required for the induction of antigen-specific efferent regulatory T cells in peripheral tolerance

We show that the mouse macrophage-restricted F4/80 protein is not required for the development and distribution of tissue macrophages but is involved in the generation of antigen-specific efferent regulatory T (T reg) cells that suppress antigen-specific immunity. In the in vivo anterior chamber (a.c.)–associated immune deviation (ACAID) model of peripheral tolerance, a.c. inoculation of antigen into F4/80−/− mice was unable to induce efferent T reg cells and suppress delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses. Moreover, the use of anti-F4/80 mAb and F4/80−/− APCs in an in vitro ACAID model showed that all APC cells in the culture must be able to express F4/80 protein if efferent T reg cells were to be generated. In a low-dose oral tolerance model, WT but not F4/80−/− mice generated an efferent CD8+ T reg cell population that suppressed an antigen-specific DTH response. Peripheral tolerance was restored in F4/80−/− mice by adoptive transfer of F4/80+ APCs in both peripheral tolerance models, indicating a central role for the F4/80 molecule in the generation of efferent CD8+ T reg cells

A Catalog of Chandra X-ray Sources in the Carina Nebula

We present a catalog of ~14,000 X-ray sources observed by the ACIS instrument on the Chandra X-ray Observatory within a 1.42 square degree survey of the Great Nebula in Carina, known as the Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP). This study appears in a Special Issue of the ApJS devoted to the CCCP. Here, we describe the data reduction and analysis procedures performed on the X-ray observations, including calibration and cleaning of the X-ray event data, point source detection, and source extraction. The catalog appears to be complete across most of the field to an absorption-corrected total-band luminosity of ~10^{30.7} erg/s for a typical low-mass pre-main sequence star. Counterparts to the X-ray sources are identified in a variety of visual, near-infrared, and mid-infrared surveys. The X-ray and infrared source properties presented here form the basis of many CCCP studies of the young stellar populations in Carina.Comment: Accepted for the ApJS Special Issue on the Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP), scheduled for publication in May 2011. All 16 CCCP Special Issue papers are available at http://cochise.astro.psu.edu/Carina_public/special_issue.html through 2011 at least. 29 pages, 11 figure

Dust Production and Mass Loss in the Galactic Globular Cluster NGC 362

We investigate dust production and stellar mass loss in the Galactic globular cluster NGC 362. Due to its close proximity to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), NGC 362 was imaged with the IRAC and MIPS cameras onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope as part of the Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE-SMC) Spitzer Legacy program. We detect several cluster members near the tip of the Red Giant Branch that exhibit infrared excesses indicative of circumstellar dust and find that dust is not present in measurable quantities in stars below the tip of the Red Giant Branch. We modeled the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the stars with the strongest IR excess and find a total cluster dust mass-loss rate of 3.0(+2.0/-1.2) x 10^-9 solar masses per year, corresponding to a gas mass-loss rate of 8.6(+5.6/-3.4) x 10^-6 solar masses per year, assuming [Fe/H] = -1.16. This mass loss is in addition to any dust-less mass loss that is certainly occurring within the cluster. The two most extreme stars, variables V2 and V16, contribute up to 45% of the total cluster dust-traced mass loss. The SEDs of the more moderate stars indicate the presence of silicate dust, as expected for low-mass, low-metallicity stars. Surprisingly, the SED shapes of the stars with the strongest mass-loss rates appear to require the presence of amorphous carbon dust, possibly in combination with silicate dust, despite their oxygen-rich nature. These results corroborate our previous findings in omega Centauri.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Accepted to Ap

Spitzer Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud, Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE) I: Overview and Initial Results

We are performing a uniform and unbiased, ~7x7 degrees imaging survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using the IRAC and MIPS instruments on board the Spitzer Space Telescope in order to survey the agents of a galaxy's evolution (SAGE), the interstellar medium (ISM) and stars in the LMC. The detection of diffuse ISM with column densities >1.2x10^21 H cm^-2 permits detailed studies of dust processes in the ISM. SAGE's point source sensitivity enables a complete census of newly formed stars with masses >3 solar masses that will determine the current star formation rate in the LMC. SAGE's detection of evolved stars with mass loss rates >1x10^-8 solar masses per year will quantify the rate at which evolved stars inject mass into the ISM of the LMC. The observing strategy includes two epochs in 2005, separated by three months, that both mitigate instrumental artifacts and constrain source variability. The SAGE data are non-proprietary. The data processing includes IRAC and MIPS pipelines and a database for mining the point source catalogs, which will be released to the community in support of Spitzer proposal cycles 4 and 5. We present initial results on the epoch 1 data with a special focus on the N79 and N83 region. The SAGE epoch 1 point source catalog has ~4 million sources. The point source counts are highest for the IRAC 3.6 microns band and decrease dramatically towards longer wavelengths consistent with the fact that stars dominate the point source catalogs and that the dusty objects, e.g. young stellar objects and dusty evolved stars that detected at the longer wavelengths, are rare in comparison. We outline a strategy for identifying foreground MW stars, that may comprise as much as 18% of the source list, and background galaxies, that may comprise ~12% of the source list.Comment: Accepted by the Astronomical Journa

Spitzer survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud, surveying the agents of a galaxy's evolution (SAGE). IV. Dust properties in the interstellar medium

The goal of this paper is to present the results of a preliminary analysis of the extended infrared (IR) emission by dust in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We combine Spitzer Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE) and Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) data and correlate the infrared emission with gas tracers of H I, CO, and Hα. We present a global analysis of the infrared emission as well as detailed modeling of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a few selected regions. Extended emission by dust associated with the neutral, molecular, and diffuse ionized phases of the ISM is detected at all IR bands from 3.6 μm to 160 μm. The relative abundance of the various dust species appears quite similar to that in the Milky Way (MW) in all the regions we have modeled. We construct maps of the temperature of large dust grains. The temperature map shows variations in the range 12.1-34.7 K, with a systematic gradient from the inner to outer regions, tracing the general distribution of massive stars and individual H II regions as well as showing warmer dust in the stellar bar. This map is used to derive the far-infrared (FIR) optical depth of large dust grains. We find two main departures in the LMC with respect to expectations based on the MW: (1) excess mid-infrared (MIR) emission near 70 μm, referred to as the 70 μm excess, and (2) departures from linear correlation between the FIR optical depth and the gas column density, which we refer to as FIR excess emission. The 70 μm excess increases gradually from the MW to the LMC to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), suggesting evolution with decreasing metallicity. The excess is associated with the neutral and diffuse ionized gas, with the strongest excess region located in a loop structure next to 30 Dor. We show that the 70 μm excess can be explained by a modification of the size distribution of very small grains with respect to that in the MW, and a corresponding mass increase of ≃13% of the total dust mass in selected regions. The most likely explanation is that the 70 μm excess is due to the production of large very small grains (VSG) through erosion of larger grains in the diffuse medium. This FIR excess could be due to intrinsic variations of the dust/gas ratio, which would then vary from 4.6 to 2.3 times lower than the MW values across the LMC, but X_(CO) values derived from the IR emission would then be about three times lower than those derived from the Virial analysis of the CO data. We also investigate the possibility that the FIR excess is associated with an additional gas component undetected in the available gas tracers. Assuming a constant dust abundance in all ISM phases, the additional gas component would have twice the known H I mass. We show that it is plausible that the FIR excess is due to cold atomic gas that is optically thick in the 21 cm line, while the contribution by a pure H_2 phase with no CO emission remains a possible explanation

Spatial variations of dust abundances across the Large Magellanic Cloud

Using the data obtained with the Spitzer Space telescope as part of the Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE) legacy survey, we have studied the variations of the dust composition and abundance across the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Such variations are expected, as the explosive events which have lead to the formation of the many HI shells observed should have affected the dust properties. Using a model and comparing with a reference spectral energy distribution from our Galaxy, we deduce the relative abundance variations of small dust grains across the LMC. We examined the infrared color ratios as well as the relative abundances of very small grains (VSGs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) relative to the big grain (BG) abundance. Results show that each dust component could have different origins or evolution in the interstellar medium (ISM). The VSG abundance traces the star formation activity and could result from shattering of larger grains, whereas the PAH abundance increases around molecular clouds as well as in the stellar bar, where they could have been injected into the ISM during mass loss from old stars.Comment: Received 2009 February 13; Accepted 2009 April 2

The Influence of Obesity-Related Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on BMI Across the Life Course: The PAGE Study

Evidence is limited as to whether heritable risk of obesity varies throughout adulthood. Among >34,000 European Americans, aged 18–100 years, from multiple U.S. studies in the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Consortium, we examined evidence for heterogeneity in the associations of five established obesity risk variants (near FTO, GNPDA2, MTCH2, TMEM18, and NEGR1) with BMI across four distinct epochs of adulthood: 1) young adulthood (ages 18–25 years), adulthood (ages 26–49 years), middle-age adulthood (ages 50–69 years), and older adulthood (ages ≥70 years); or 2) by menopausal status in women and stratification by age 50 years in men. Summary-effect estimates from each meta-analysis were compared for heterogeneity across the life epochs. We found heterogeneity in the association of the FTO (rs8050136) variant with BMI across the four adulthood epochs (P = 0.0006), with larger effects in young adults relative to older adults (β [SE] = 1.17 [0.45] vs. 0.09 [0.09] kg/m2, respectively, per A allele) and smaller intermediate effects. We found no evidence for heterogeneity in the association of GNPDA2, MTCH2, TMEM18, and NEGR1 with BMI across adulthood. Genetic predisposition to obesity may have greater effects on body weight in young compared with older adulthood for FTO, suggesting changes by age, generation, or secular trends. Future research should compare and contrast our findings with results using longitudinal data