Understanding, knowing, and telling transgender identities.

Previous psychological research has pathologized transgendered people. Reconceptualizing gender from a postmodern perspective and theory and research from within the transgender community leads to a very different view of gender and transgender identities. However, the transgender community\u27s thoughts on this reconstruction of gender has been mostly unexplored. Therefore, I engaged 17 male-born and one female-born members of southwestern Ontario\u27s transgender community in a dialogue. We spoke about how they understand gender, came to know their transgenderness, and tell the story of their gender. Then, I analyzed the interviews using a four part coding strategy focused on direct responses to specific issues, common patterns and metaphors across participant accounts, different positions amongst all respondents, and the functions of these accounts. On the question of the nature of gender, participants were split between integrationist or social constructionist views of gender. Moreover, most participants agreed that society supports a dichotomous view of sex and gender, but the majority of this sample did not see their own gender this way. They stressed the complexity, diversity, and plurality of gender categories, transcending gender dichotomization by personalizing and individualizing gender expressions. In addition, most participants disrupted the standard sex/gender semiotic code: some agreed that gender signified sex, but privileged gender over sex and switched from one code system to another; others privileged sex over gender, but disrupted the assumptions of gender signifying sex or presented mixed signifiers. With respect to knowing their gender, participants came to know their transgenderedness through a variety of experiences: cross-dressing, explorations of their own sexuality, gendered positioning by others, and connecting with others in the transgendered community. Communication, information, and medical technologies also played a significant role in respondents\u27 self-knowledge, but a majority of informants were critical of these technologies and the effects they have on transgender subjectivities. Most participants chose to identify as transgendered and not to edit their biography. Those who did change the story they told others did so mostly to ensure safe and respectful responses from others. Also, the majority of respondents\u27 narratives were innovative in both form and content. Their life stories differed from other, more traditional, life stories. Moreover, most respondents saw the development of their gender identity as a life-long task. Their concerns for the future centered on developing relationships with others, political action and education, and optimism about the future of the transgender community. A discussion of these results suggests that informant positions on the nature of gender, knowing transgenderedness, and gender narratives serve previously unexplored personal, political, and moral functions. Moreover, I contend that in order to adequately respect transgender knowledges and subjectivities, psychologists must alter both their theories of gender and transgender identities and methods. To better respect the diversity of gender experiences in our society, psychologists must reconceptualize sex and gender. One of the more promising ways to re-examine the fundamental assumptions underlying traditional psychological gender theory and research is to actively involve people previously marginalized by sex and gender theory, such as those who identify as transgendered, in the research process.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1997 .H545. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 59-08, Section: B, page: 4537. Adviser: Henry Minton. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1997

Forecasting Country Conflict Using Statistical Learning Methods

Purpose — This paper aims to examine whether changing the clustering of countries within a United States Combatant Command (COCOM) area of responsibility promotes improved forecasting of conflict. Design/methodology/approach — In this paper statistical learning methods are used to create new country clusters that are then used in a comparative analysis of model-based conflict prediction. Findings — In this study a reorganization of the countries assigned to specific areas of responsibility are shown to provide improvements in the ability of models to predict conflict. Research limitations/implications — The study is based on actual historical data and is purely data driven. Practical implications — The study demonstrates the utility of the analytical methodology but carries not implementation recommendations. Originality/value — This is the first study to use the statistical methods employed to not only investigate the re-clustering of countries but more importantly the impact of that change on analytical predictions

An interpolation tool for aircraft surface pressure data

Airbus UK are concerned with designing efficient wings for aircraft. In the design process, the aerodynamic load on the wing is calculated for various configurations including different Mach numbers and angles of attack. The aerodynamic load is calculated from the pressure profile around the wing. Airbus use a number of different methods to calculate the pressure, primarily CFD calculations and wind tunnel experiments. However, experiments and calculations cannot be performed for all configurations. Airbus asked the Study Group to investigate interpolation methods which incorporate wind tunnel and CFD data to calculate the aerodynamic load for many different configurations

Identification of integrative and conjugative elements in pathogenic and commensal Neisseriaceae spp. via genomic distributions of DNA uptake sequence dialects

Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) are key factors responsible for dissemination of virulence determinants and antimicrobial-resistance genes amongst pathogenic bacteria. Conjugative MGEs are notable for their high gene loads donated per transfer event, broad host ranges and phylogenetic ubiquity amongst prokaryotes, with the subclass of chromosomally inserted integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) being particularly abundant. The focus on a small number of model systems has biased the study of ICEs towards those conferring readily selectable phenotypes to host cells, whereas the identification and characterization of integrated cryptic elements remains challenging. Even though antimicrobial resistance and horizontally acquired virulence genes are major factors aggravating neisserial infection, conjugative MGEs of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis remain poorly characterized. Using a phenotype-independent approach based on atypical distributions of DNA uptake sequences (DUSs) in MGEs relative to the chromosomal background, we have identified two groups of chromosomally integrated conjugative elements in Neisseria: one found almost exclusively in pathogenic species possibly deriving from the genus Kingella, the other belonging to a group of Neisseria mucosa-like commensals. The former element appears to enable transfer of traditionally gonococcal-specific loci such as the virulence-associated toxin–antitoxin system fitAB to N. meningitidis chromosomes, whilst the circular form of the latter possesses a unique attachment site (attP) sequence seemingly adapted to exploit DUS motifs as chromosomal integration sites. In addition to validating the use of DUS distributions in Neisseriaceae MGE identification, the >170 identified ICE sequences provide a valuable resource for future studies of ICE evolution and host adaptation

Improved Routing on the Delaunay Triangulation

A geometric graph G=(P,E) is a set of points in the plane and edges between pairs of points, where the weight of an edge is equal to the Euclidean distance between its two endpoints. In local routing we find a path through G from a source vertex s to a destination vertex t, using only knowledge of the current vertex, its incident edges, and the locations of s and t. We present an algorithm for local routing on the Delaunay triangulation, and show that it finds a path between a source vertex s and a target vertex t that is not longer than 3.56|st|, improving the previous bound of 5.9|st|

Middle School Math Acceleration and Equitable Access to 8th Grade Algebra: Evidence from the Wake County Public School System

School districts across the country have struggled to increase the proportion of students taking algebra by 8th grade, thought to be an important milestone on the pathway to college preparedness. We highlight key features of a research collaboration between the Wake County Public School System and Harvard University that have enabled investigation of one such effort to solve this problem. In 2010, the district began assigning middle school students to accelerated math coursework leading to 8th grade algebra on the basis of a clearly defined measured of prior academic skill. We document two important facts. First, use of this new rule greatly reduced the relationship between course assignment and student factors such as income and race while increasing the relationship between course assignment and academic skill. Second, using a regression discontinuity analytic strategy, we show that the assignment rule had strong impacts on the fraction of students on track to complete algebra by 8th grade. Students placed in accelerated math were exposed to higher-skilled peers but larger class sizes. We describe future plans for assessing impacts on achievement and high school course-taking outcomes.Other Research Uni

Bioinformatic analysis of meningococcal Msf and Opc to inform vaccine antigen design

<div><p><i>Neisseria meningitidis</i> is an antigenically and genetically variable Gram-negative bacterium and a causative agent of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia. Meningococci encode many outer membrane proteins, including Opa, Opc, Msf, fHbp and NadA, identified as being involved in colonisation of the host and evasion of the immune response. Although vaccines are available for the prevention of some types of meningococcal disease, none currently offer universal protection. We have used sequences within the <i>Neisseria</i> PubMLST database to determine the variability of <i>msf</i> and <i>opc</i> in 6,500 isolates. <i>In-silico</i> analysis revealed that although <i>opc</i> is highly conserved, it is not present in all isolates, with most isolates in clonal complex ST-11 lacking a functional <i>opc</i>. In comparison, <i>msf</i> is found in all meningococcal isolates, and displays diversity in the N-terminal domain. We identified 20 distinct Msf sequence variants (Msf SV), associated with differences in number of residues within the putative Vn binding motifs. Moreover, we showed distinct correlations with certain Msf SVs and isolates associated with either hyperinvasive lineages or those clonal complexes associated with a carriage state. We have demonstrated differences in Vn binding between three Msf SVs and generated a cross reactive Msf polyclonal antibody. Our study has highlighted the importance of using large datasets to inform vaccine development and provide further information on the antigenic diversity exhibited by <i>N</i>. <i>meningitidis</i>.</p></div

Bioinformatic analysis of meningococcal Msf and Opc to inform vaccine antigen design

<p>A) A large proportion of isolates from clonal complexes (cc) associated with invasive meningococcal disease (cc ST-5–144 isolates; ST-11–1520 isolates; ST-32–414 isolates; ST-41/44–984 isolates; and ST-269–670 isolates) show a predominance for Msf SV-1 (yellow), SV-2 (orange) or SV-5 (light blue). See supplementary information <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0193940#pone.0193940.s002" target="_blank">S2 Table</a> for confidence intervals. B) In comparison those isolates falling into cc ST-23 (535 isolates) and ST-35 (81 isolates), which positively associate with carriage primarily encode either Msf SV-11 (grey) or Msf SV-12 (dark blue). C) Prevalence of the most common Msf SVs in invasive <i>N</i>. <i>meningitidis</i> isolates from serogroups A (blue), B (orange), C (green), W (red), and Y (green). Data shows results of a bioinformatic analysis on 6,500 meningococcal isolates, showing only those Msf SV’s that appear in more than 100 different isolates.</p

Hygric properties of hemp bio-insulations with differing compositions

The paper presents the results of a laboratory investigation on the hygric properties of five hemp insulation materials commercially available in the UK. The hemp fibre content varies between 30% and 95% in the total fibre content of the insulation materials examined. The adsorption–desorption isotherm, moisture buffer value, vapour diffusion resistance factor and water absorption coefficient were determined for the insulation materials investigated. The results showed that the hygric properties of the hemp insulation materials could vary widely depending on the constituents and fibrous structure. The considerable differences noted in the hygric properties of the insulation materials examined could potentially influence their hygrothermal performance as part of a building thermal envelope