Take the Short Way Home

After an odyssey of self-discovery along the Appalachian Trail, an alumnus decides to re-enter the civilized world by hitchhiking home. Here\u27s his tale of the return trip

Deformation Energies and Collective Properties of Heavy Nuclei

Physic

Improving water supply and sanitation programme effectiveness: lessons from WaterAid's outcome evaluation studies

Many low income countries are off-track to reach the Millennium Development Goals for water supply and sanitation. This paper develops a theoretical framework and methodology to improve the evaluation of water and sanitation programme outcomes, focusing on relevance, effectiveness and sustainability. The resulting set of evaluation questions are applied to seven independent evaluations of WaterAid's country programmes. Results are synthesised by assigning an ordinal ranking to the findings which are aggregated to assess overall outcome status that has validity at an organisational level, rather than just at country programme level. Strong areas of performance are partnership development, policy advocacy, equity and inclusion. Areas requiring attention are organisational learning, programme structure and government partner capacity for sustainability. The findings will be used to prioritise future programme management and are clustered into seven outcome areas that are of generic interest and significance to other organisations managing water supply and sanitation programmes

TEACHING MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT TO AN EXTENSION AUDIENCE IN AN INTER-DISCIPLINARY SETTING

This paper discusses how economists utilize an inter-disciplinary workshop to teach marketing and management concepts to beef cattle producers and beef industry advisors. Range and animal scientists along with economists teach concepts in the classroom and then demonstrate these concepts with hands-on field activities in an 8-day Ranch Practicum, spread over an 8-month period.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Symmetry and Measuring: Ways to Teach the Foundations of Mathematics Inspired by Yupiaq Elders

Evident in human prehistory and across immense cultural variation in human activities, symmetry has been perceived and utilized as an integrative and guiding principle. In our long-term collaborative work with Indigenous Knowledge holders, particularly Yupiaq Eskimos of Alaska and Carolinian Islanders in Micronesia, we were struck by the centrality of symmetry and measuring as a comparison-of-quantities, and the practical and conceptual role of qukaq [center] and ayagneq [a place to begin]. They applied fundamental mathematical principles associated with symmetry and measuring in their everyday activities and in making artifacts. Inspired by their example, this paper explores the question: Could symmetry and measuring provide a systematic and integrative way to teach the foundations of mathematical thinking? We illustrate how the fundamental structures of symmetry, measuring, and comparison-of-quantities, starting with the embodied orthogonal axes, form a basis for properties of equality, aspects of numbers and operations (including place value), geometry and number line representations, functions, algebraic reasoning, and measurement. We conclude by embedding the earlier geometric constructions of triangles and squares within the unit circle and making explicit connections to trigonometric functions

Coney Island Washboard

Photograph of Guy Lombardohttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/9086/thumbnail.jp

FAS Ligand, Bcl-2, Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor, and p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase: Regulators of Distinct Cell Death and Survival Pathways in Granulocytes

The short life span of granulocytes, which limits many inflammatory responses, is thought to be influenced by the Bcl-2 protein family, death receptors such as CD95 (Fas/APO-1), stress-activated protein kinases such as p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and proinflammatory cytokines like granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). To clarify the roles of these various regulators in granulocyte survival, we have investigated the spontaneous apoptosis of granulocytes in culture and that induced by Fas ligand or chemotherapeutic drugs, using cells from normal, CD95-deficient lpr, or vav-bcl-2 transgenic mice. CD95-induced apoptosis, which required receptor aggregation by recombinant Fas ligand or the membrane-bound ligand, was unaffected by G-CSF treatment or Bcl-2 overexpression. Conversely, spontaneous and drug-induced apoptosis occurred normally in lpr granulocytes but were suppressed by G-CSF treatment or Bcl-2 overexpression. Although activation of p38 MAPK has been implicated in granulocyte death, their apoptosis actually was markedly accelerated by specific inhibitors of this kinase. These results suggest that G-CSF promotes granulocyte survival largely through the Bcl-2–controlled pathway, whereas CD95 regulates a distinct pathway to apoptosis that is not required for either their spontaneous or drug-induced death. Moreover, p38 MAPK signaling contributes to granulocyte survival rather than their apoptosis