Our Journeys: A Narrative Inquiry into the Experiences of Students from Working Class Backgrounds as They Pursue Higher Education

Abstract Students from working class backgrounds are less likely to graduate from college than their middle class peers. This narrative inquiry explores the personal stories of four graduate students from working class backgrounds who recently earned masters' degrees at a large public online university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. By considering themes in the participants' narratives in juxtaposition to those found in the grand narrative of working class students found in the literature, the author reveals elements in the participants' experiences that conform to, challenge, and stand outside of the grand narrative the informs current understanding of the inhibiting and facilitating factors that influence the success of working class students in higher education. Themes related to economic disadvantage, poor academic preparation, lack of moral support and financial stressors illustrate concepts of the grand narrative. Themes related to family structure, self-regulation, and deference to authority challenge the dominant discourse of the grand narrative. Emergent themes of individualism, individualization, self-determination and perseverance stand outside the grand narrative, countering its story of deficit, and illustrating the power of narratives in providing insights into the multiple realities of working class students

Worldsheet Form Factors in AdS/CFT

We formulate a set of consistency conditions appropriate to worldsheet form factors in the massive, integrable but non-relativistic, light-cone gauge fixed AdS(5) x S**5 string theory. We then perturbatively verify that these conditions hold, at tree level in the near-plane-wave limit and to one loop in the near-flat (Maldacena-Swanson) limit, for a number of specific cases. We further study the form factors in the weakly coupled dual description, verifying that the relevant conditions naturally hold for the one-loop Heisenberg spin-chain. Finally, we note that the near-plane-wave expressions for the form factors, when further expanded in small momentum or, equivalently, large charge density, reproduce the thermodynamic limit of the spin-chain results at leading order.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, v3: typos fixed, improved discussion of bound states and bound state axio

Genetic Manipulation of Francisella Tularensis

Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular pathogen that causes the disease tularemia. F. tularensis subsp. tularensis causes the most severe disease in humans and has been classified as a Category A select agent and potential bioweapon. There is currently no vaccine approved for human use, making genetic manipulation of this organism critical to unraveling the genetic basis of pathogenesis and developing countermeasures against tularemia. The development of genetic techniques applicable to F. tularensis have lagged behind those routinely used for other bacteria, primarily due to lack of research and the restricted nature of the biocontainment required for studying this pathogen. However, in recent years, genetic techniques, such as transposon mutagenesis and targeted gene disruption, have been developed, that have had a dramatic impact on our understanding of the genetic basis of F. tularensis virulence. In this review, we describe some of the methods developed for genetic manipulation of F. tularensis

World-sheet scattering in AdS_5 x S^5 at two loops

We study the AdS_5 x S^5 sigma-model truncated to the near-flat-space limit to two-loops in perturbation theory. In addition to extending previously known one-loop results to the full SU(2|2)^2 S-matrix we calculate the two-loop correction to the dispersion relation and then compute the complete two-loop S-matrix. The result of the perturbative calculation can be compared with the appropriate limit of the conjectured S-matrix for the full theory and complete agreement is found.Comment: 26pages, 3 figure

Higher charges and regularized quantum trace identities in su(1,1) Landau-Lifshitz model

We solve the operator ordering problem for the quantum continuous integrable su(1,1) Landau-Lifshitz model, and give a prescription to obtain the quantum trace identities, and the spectrum for the higher-order local charges. We also show that this method, based on operator regularization and renormalization, which guarantees quantum integrability, as well as the construction of self-adjoint extensions, can be used as an alternative to the discretization procedure, and unlike the latter, is based only on integrable representations.Comment: 27 pages; misprints corrected, references adde

GRB afterglow light curves in the pre-Swift era - a statistical study

We present the results of a systematic analysis of the world sample of optical/near-infrared afterglow light curves observed in the pre-Swift era by the end of 2004. After selecting the best observed 16 afterglows with well-sampled light curves that can be described by a Beuermann equation, we explore the parameter space of the light curve parameters and physical quantities related to them. In addition, we search for correlations between these parameters and the corresponding gamma-ray data, and we use our data set to look for a fine structure in the light curves.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ; Version 2: minor changes, one figure adde

Strong gametocytocidal effect of methylene blue-based combination therapy against falciparum malaria

With the availability of new preventive and curative interventions, global malaria control has been strengthened significantly in recent years. Drugs effective in reducing malaria gametocytaemia might contribute to local elimination and possible long-term eradication. We here report on the effects of methylene blue (MB)-based malaria combination therapy on gametocytaemia during a randomised-controlled trial in Burkina Faso. An open-label randomised controlled phase II study in 180 children aged 6-10 years with uncomplicated falciparum malaria was conducted in Nouna, north-western Burkina Faso. Children were randomised to MB-artesunate (AS), MB-amodiaquine (AQ), and AS-AQ (local standard of care). Overall follow-up was for 28 days, follow-up for gametocytaemia was for 14 days. The treatment groups were similar in baseline characteristics and there was only one loss to follow-up. Compared to AS-AQ, both MB-containing regimens were associated with significantly reduced gametocyte carrier rates during follow-up days 3, 7, and 14. This effect was seen both in patients with and without P. falciparum gametocytaemia at baseline. MB reveals pronounced gametocytocidal activity which appears to act against both existing and developing P. falciparum gametocytes. MB-based combination therapy thus has the potential to reduce transmission of P. falciparum malaria in endemic regions, which has important implications for future elimination and eradication strategies