The Male African American Teaching African American Male Students: Exploring Teacher Influence on Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Care and Attitudes toward Mathematics

Educational and public narratives on the achievement outcomes of Black boys in mathematics are too often negative. Contrary to these negative narratives, however, research affirms positive outcomes for students, including Black boys, when engaged in caring teacher–student relationships (see, e.g., Bartell, 2011; Roberts, 2009; Steele, 1992). Considering the growing importance of mathematics both nationally and globally, an investigation into the benefits of such caring relationship is important. But literature specific to caring teacher−student relationships, African American male students, and mathematics teaching and learning is all but nonexistent. For this reason, I sought to uncover the definition that African American male students had of teacher care, and how, if at all, an African American male teacher might influence their perceptions of teacher care. Additionally, I was intrigued with and wished to uncover any influence an African American male teacher might have on African American male students’ attitudes toward mathematics. The purpose of this qualitative study, therefore, was to explore the influence a “successful” African American male teacher had on three African American male students’ perceptions of teacher care and their attitudes toward mathematics. This critical ethnography was guided by an intersection of an eclectic array of theoretical traditions (Stinson, 2009), including care theory (e.g., Gilligan, 1982; Noddings, 1992), critical race theory (e.g., Ladson-Billings, 1998), and culturally relevant pedagogy (e.g., Ladson-Billings, 1992). This eclectic array aligned with both the philosophical foundations of the project and the methodological procedures employed. The project used ethnographic methods—specifically, participant observations and semi-structured interviews—during data collection. Data analysis identified six overarching themes that the participants used to describe teacher care: (a) motivation, (b) culture, (c) confidence, (d) discipline, (e) concern for futures, and (f) environment. The findings of this study suggest that teachers should reconsider the ways they care for African American male students, specifically, in the mathematics classroom, and that a caring teacher–student relationship has a positive influence on African American male students’ attitudes toward mathematics as well as their descriptions and perceptions of teacher care

Zephyr extensibility in small workstation oriented computer networks

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1998.Includes bibliographical references.by Jason T. Hunter.M.Eng

Involvement of TolC protein in the export of siderophore enterobactin in Escherichia coli

Abstract only availableTo acquire the necessary iron against harsh competition in the environment, iron starved bacteria synthesize, excrete and retrieve iron scavenging molecules termed siderophores, one of which is enterobactin. TolC protein may play a vital role in the secretion of enterobactin. Enterobactin molecules destined for secretion must cross both the inner (cytoplasmic) and outer membranes and the intervening periplasmic space, believed to be a distance of at least 130Å across. TolC resembles a trans-periplasmic tunnel embedded in the outer membrane of the cell. It is open to the external environment but is closed at its periplasmic entrance. In order for the cell to export enterobactin, TolC is recruited by substrate specific membrane complexes (translocases) in the periplasmic space and inner membrane. When TolC is recruited, the entrance is opened to allow substrate passage through a continuous machinery spanning the entire cell envelope, from the cytosol to the external environment. PCR primers specific for TolC were designed to amplify the TolC gene. The quality of the PCR product was confirmed using agarose gel electrophoresis. The TolC gene was cloned into a pBAD directional TOPO vector containing an N-terminal His-tag and a gene for kanamycin resistance. The recombinant vector was then transformed into One Shot TOP10 competent Escherichia coli cells. Transformants were selected for by plating on LB medium supplemented with kanamycin. Transformed colonies were analyzed using PCR and restriction digestion. Positive transformants were selected and expression was induced with arabinose. SDS-PAGE assay with His-tag In-gel stain revealed TolC expression. Furthermore, analysis of TolC-null mutations using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) reveals that the TolC mutant secretes little, if any, enterobactin. However, some levels of breakdown products 2,3-dihydroxybenzoylserine (DHBS) monomer, dimer, and trimer are observed. These data establish that TolC may be a critical component of the E. coli enterobactin secretion machinery and may represent a type of siderophore export mechanism previously undescribed. TolC family proteins are ubiquitous among gram-negative bacteria, and the conserved apertures present a possible chemotherapeutic target in multidrug-resistant pathogens.Molecular Biology Progra

Caring, male African Americans, and mathematics teaching and learning

In this paper, the authors report on a qualitative study that explored the influence a “successful” African American male mathematics teacher had on three African American male high school students’ perceptions of teacher care. This critical ethnography study was guided by an intersection of an eclectic array of theoretical traditions, including care theory, critical race theory, and culturally relevant pedagogy. The study employed ethnographic methods during data collection; data analysis identified six overarching themes that the participants used to describe teacher care. Findings suggest that teachers should reconsider the ways they care for African American male students and that a caring teacher–student relationship has a positive influence on African American male students’ descriptions and perceptions of teacher care

Taiwan Domestic Politics - Political Corruption, Cross Strait Relations, and National Identity

This thesis examines domestic politics of Taiwan with a particular focus on periods from 2000 when Chen Shui-bian was elected as president to 2007. Through better understanding the political parties, the political process, and peoples' perception of politics/national identity in Taiwan this author hopes to contribute to the on going research regarding Taiwan's identity, its political recognition/or lack there of, and predict or at least highlight key variables that may influence the future of Taiwan and cross-strait relations. Through political and social motivating factors the people of Taiwan are undergoing a gradual shift in identity. Both Taiwan and China have the potential to benefit from cross-strait relations regardless of any change in the status quo. Gradual change in status quo in either direction could mutually benefit both Taiwan and China over the long-term. Rational decisions will also ensure the security and stability of a nation over time.International Studie

Consistency Conditions for an AdS/MERA Correspondence

The Multi-scale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (MERA) is a tensor network that provides an efficient way of variationally estimating the ground state of a critical quantum system. The network geometry resembles a discretization of spatial slices of an AdS spacetime and "geodesics" in the MERA reproduce the Ryu-Takayanagi formula for the entanglement entropy of a boundary region in terms of bulk properties. It has therefore been suggested that there could be an AdS/MERA correspondence, relating states in the Hilbert space of the boundary quantum system to ones defined on the bulk lattice. Here we investigate this proposal and derive necessary conditions for it to apply, using geometric features and entropy inequalities that we expect to hold in the bulk. We show that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the MERA lattice can only describe physics on length scales larger than the AdS radius. Further, using the covariant entropy bound in the bulk, we show that there are no conventional MERA parameters that completely reproduce bulk physics even on super-AdS scales. We suggest modifications or generalizations of this kind of tensor network that may be able to provide a more robust correspondence.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figure

Exploring Rural-Urban Differences in Polygenic Associations for Health among Older Adults in the United States

A complex combination of genes and environment influence health and, as a result, both genes and environment can play a role in shaping health disparities. We consider distinctions in these influences across rural and urban settings, expanding upon work that shows lower genetic associations in rural compared to urban places by studying an older age group and examining more than the typical outcomes of alcohol/substance abuse. Using a sample of 14,994 adults from the 1992 through 2016 waves of the Health andRetirement Study, our results suggest genetic associations for BMI and heart conditions are significantly lower in rural compared to urban settings. We do not find evidence in support of this association for depression and smoking. In sum, the results suggest the gene-environment interaction may play a role in the well-documented disparities across rural and urban places within the United States, further highlighting the importance of the social, economic, and built environments for individual health

Cas Adaptor Proteins Coordinate Sensory Axon Fasciculation.

Development of complex neural circuits like the peripheral somatosensory system requires intricate mechanisms to ensure axons make proper connections. While much is known about ligand-receptor pairs required for dorsal root ganglion (DRG) axon guidance, very little is known about the cytoplasmic effectors that mediate cellular responses triggered by these guidance cues. Here we show that members of the Cas family of cytoplasmic signaling adaptors are highly phosphorylated in central projections of the DRG as they enter the spinal cord. Furthermore, we provide genetic evidence that Cas proteins regulate fasciculation of DRG sensory projections. These data establish an evolutionarily conserved requirement for Cas adaptor proteins during peripheral nervous system axon pathfinding. They also provide insight into the interplay between axonal fasciculation and adhesion to the substrate

Measurement of Sub Degree Angular Carbon Fiber Tow Misalignment

NASA is investigating the use of carbon fiber tow steering to tune aeroelastic characteristics in advanced composite structures. In support of that effort, NASA is also investigating methods of measuring the angle of carbon fiber tows as they are placed. This work presents the results of using microwave reflectometry in the approximately 2 GHz region to measure carbon fiber tow angles at 0.1deg resolution