Class Struggle and Social Change in the United States in Historical Perspective: The Case of the Industrial Workers of the World in the Twentieth Century

Abstract In this thesis project, I trace the historical rise and development of capitalism from its origin in Europe to its contemporary form in the United States through the historical method utilizing class analysis. I explain that the social relations of production under capitalism is an exploitative relationship in which the capitalists exploit wage-labor. I follow this up with a discussion of the functions of the capitalist state from a classical Marxist perspective. During the early years of the United States, the capitalist state facilitated the expansion of capitalism throughout the national territory and subsequently to the rest of the world. This included the state's protection of capitalist interests that facilitated the exploitation of labor. However, labor rose up to oppose capital for long hours, low wages, and poor working conditions by organizing into labor unions. Many long and bloody battles have been fought by labor and won on the picket line and on the shop floor for the advancement of working class interests. I include in this thesis an historical case study of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) as the ideal model of a successful labor union. I trace the postwar rise of the United States as the premiere global capitalist superpower in its pursuit of super profits, surplus value, and greater control of the world through its military presence. However, this proved to be detrimental to millions of working people in the United States once the U.S. economy entered into an irreversible decline and stagnation beginning in the early 1970s. This culminated in the decline of real wages, increase in inflation, and the erosion of the standard of living of millions of working people in the United States. Due to these internal contradictions of capitalism, the United States has experienced periodical economics crises. In the wake of the Great Recession of 2008, millions of working people lost their jobs, income, and 40-hour workweeks that resulted in greater levels of unemployment, underemployment and poverty. Finally, I argue that the only alternative out of this economic crisis is for labor to organized under the IWW by declaring a nationwide general strike, take state power, smash capitalism, eliminate counterrevolutionaries, and take control of the means of production. In this way, working people can truly advance their class interests and live in harmony in an egalitarian society that promotes equity, prosperity, and justice for all

Sds22 regulates aurora B activity and microtubule-kinetochore interactions at mitosis

Sds22 defines protein phosphatase 1 location and function at kinetochores and subsequent activity of aurora B in mitosis

Integration of Consumer-Based Activity Monitors into Clinical Practice for Children with Type 1 Diabetes: A Feasibility Study

Current technology commonly utilized in diabetes care includes continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and insulin pumps. One often overlooked critical component to the human glucose response is daily physical activity habits. Consumer-based activity monitors may be a valid way for clinics to collect physical activity data, but whether or not children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) would wear them or use the associated mobile application is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of implementing a consumer-based accelerometer directly into ongoing care for adolescents managing T1D. Methods: Adolescents with T1D were invited to participate in this study and instructed to wear a mobile physical activity monitor while also completing a diet log for a minimum of 3 days. Clinical compliance was defined as the number of participants who were compliant with all measures while also having adequate glucose recordings using either a CGM, insulin pump, or on the diet log. Feasibility was defined as \u3e50% of the total sample reaching clinical compliance. Results: A total of 57 children and teenagers between the ages of 7 and 19 agreed to participate in this study and were included in the final analysis. Chi-square results indicated significant compliance for activity tracking (p \u3c 0.001), diet logs (p = 0.04), and overall clinical compliance (p = 0.04). Conclusion: More than half the children in this study were compliant for both activity monitoring and diet logs. This indicates that it is feasible for children with T1D to wear a consumer-based activity monitor while also recording their diet for a minimum of three days

Dietary Plant Lectins Appear to Be Transported from the Gut to Gain Access to and Alter Dopaminergic Neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans, a Potential Etiology of Parkinson’s Disease

© Copyright © 2016 Zheng, Wang, Wei, Keller, Adhikari, King, King, Peng and Laine. Lectins from dietary plants have been shown to enhance drug absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of rats, be transported trans-synaptically as shown by tracing of axonal and dendritic paths, and enhance gene delivery. Other carbohydrate-binding protein toxins are known to traverse the gut intact in dogs. Post-feeding rhodamine- or TRITC-tagged dietary lectins, the lectins were tracked from gut to dopaminergic neurons (DAergic-N) in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) [egIs1(Pdat-1:GFP)] where the mutant has the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene fused to a dopamine transport protein gene labeling DAergic-N. The lectins were supplemented along with the food organism Escherichia coli (OP50). Among nine tested rhodamine/TRITC-tagged lectins, four, including Phaseolus vulgaris erythroagglutinin (PHA-E), Bandeiraea simplicifolia (BS-I), Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA), and Arachis hypogaea agglutinin (PNA), appeared to be transported from gut to the GFP-DAergic-N. Griffonia Simplicifolia and PHA-E, reduced the number of GFP-DAergic-N, suggesting a toxic activity. PHA-E, BS-I, Pisum sativum (PSA), and Triticum vulgaris agglutinin (Succinylated) reduced fluorescent intensity of GFP-DAergic-N. PHA-E, PSA, Concanavalin A, and Triticum vulgaris agglutinin decreased the size of GFP-DAergic-N, while BS-I increased neuron size. These observations suggest that dietary plant lectins are transported to and affect DAergic-N in C. elegans, which support Braak and Hawkes’ hypothesis, suggesting one alternate potential dietary etiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). A recent Danish study showed that vagotomy resulted in 40% lower incidence of PD over 20 years. Differences in inherited sugar structures of gut and neuronal cell surfaces may make some individuals more susceptible in this conceptual disease etiology model

Lightweight Bulldozer Attachment for Construction and Excavation on the Lunar Surface

A lightweight bulldozer blade prototype has been designed and built to be used as an excavation implement in conjunction with the NASA Chariot lunar mobility platform prototype. The combined system was then used in a variety of field tests in order to characterize structural loads, excavation performance and learn about the operational behavior of lunar excavation in geotechnical lunar simulants. The purpose of this effort was to evaluate the feasibility of lunar excavation for site preparation at a planned NASA lunar outpost. Once the feasibility has been determined then the technology will become available as a candidate element in the NASA Lunar Surface Systems Architecture. In addition to NASA experimental testing of the LANCE blade, NASA engineers completed analytical work on the expected draft forces using classical soil mechanics methods. The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) team utilized finite element analysis (FEA) to study the interaction between the cutting edge of the LANCE blade and the surface of soil. FEA was also used to examine various load cases and their effect on the lightweight structure of the LANCE blade. Overall it has been determined that a lunar bulldozer blade is a viable technology for lunar outpost site preparation, but further work is required to characterize the behavior in 1/6th G and actual lunar regolith in a vacuum lunar environment

Computed tomography metrological examination of additive manufactured acetabular hip prosthesis cups

Additive manufacturing (AM) is uniquely suitable for healthcare applications due to its design flexibility and cost effectiveness for creating complex geometries. Successful arthroplasty requires integration of the prosthetic implant with the bone to replace the damaged joint. Bone-mimetic biomaterials are utilised due to their mechanical properties and porous structure that allows bone ingrowth and implant fixation. The predictability of predetermined interconnected porous structures produced by AM ensures the required shape, size and properties that are suitable for tissue ingrowth and prevention of the implant loosening. The quality of the manufacturing process needs to be established before the utilisation of the parts in healthcare. This paper demonstrates a novel examination method of acetabular hip prosthesis cups based on X-ray computed tomography (CT) and image processing. The method was developed based on an innovative hip prosthesis acetabular cup prototype with a prescribed non-uniform lattice structure forming struts over the surface, with the interconnected porosity encouraging bone adhesion. This non-destructive, non-contact examination method can provide information of the interconnectivity of the porous structure, the standard deviation of the size of the pores and struts, the local thickness of the lattice structure in its size and spatial distribution. In particular, this leads to easier identification of weak regions that could inhibit a successful bond with the bone

The White Dwarf Cooling Sequence of NGC6397

We present the results of a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) exposure of the nearby globular cluster NGC6397, focussing attention on the cluster's white dwarf cooling sequence. This sequence is shown to extend over 5 magnitudes in depth, with an apparent cutoff at magnitude F814W=27.6. We demonstrate, using both artificial star tests and the detectability of background galaxies at fainter magnitudes, that the cutoff is real and represents the truncation of the white dwarf luminosity function in this cluster. We perform a detailed comparison between cooling models and the observed distribution of white dwarfs in colour and magnitude, taking into account uncertainties in distance, extinction, white dwarf mass, progenitor lifetimes, binarity and cooling model uncertainties. After marginalising over these variables, we obtain values for the cluster distance modulus and age of \mu_0 = 12.02 \pm 0.06 and T_c = 11.47 \pm 0.47Gyr (95% confidence limits). Our inferred distance and white dwarf initial-final mass relations are in good agreement with other independent determinations, and the cluster age is consistent with, but more precise than, prior determinations made using the main sequence turnoff method. In particular, within the context of the currently accepted \Lambda CDM cosmological model, this age places the formation of NGC6397 at a redshift z=3, at a time when the cosmological star formation rate was approaching its peak.Comment: 56 pages, 30 figure