The new ideal : reshaping Schererville

Schererville, Indiana could be considered a suburb of Chicago due to its proximity to major highways leading there and the number of people who live there and commute to the city. But Schererville still has an identity of its own. Nicknamed "The Crossroads of America" Schererville owns the intersections of Highways 30 and 41, once the Lincoln Highway and the Dixie Highway, the first two highways in the United States. However, the problem with starting a town around two major highways is that they divide the city into quadrants, forbidding pedestrian traffic. Schererville was built for the car. The Lincoln Highway no longer runs through the old downtown of Schererville, which has allowed some historic places to be preserved. But the downtown has no life to it, despite the recent construction of a new police station and city hall. My architecture studio design project includes the design of a recreation center in downtown Schererville, and suggestions for urban redesign of the rest of the town, with ideas from my experiences at home and from my participation in the Polyark World Tour. Careful planning could make the whole town more pedestrian-friendly. Pride exists in the town because of "The Crossroads of the Nation" claim, but it is one of the worst places to try to travel across. By celebrating the new bike path with the new recreation center and other destinations, Schererville can have a reason to be proud of its transportation again. The historic railroad lines will be celebrated by the location of the new recreation center, and a new gateway into the town will help dissolve the barrier of the massive highways. This project reflects the needs of the community, especially the young and old who are not able to drive far away from home. The new Schererville Recreation Center is a worthwhile destination for all.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?.

Mechanics of Fracture in Adhesive Joints

Interdependence of continuum mechanics and physical chemistry in failure analysis of adhesive

Acute neuroinflammation induces AIS structural plasticity in a NOX2-dependent manner

Background Chronic microglia-mediated inflammation and oxidative stress are well-characterized underlying factors in neurodegenerative disease, whereby reactive inflammatory microglia enhance ROS production and impact neuronal integrity. Recently, it has been shown that during chronic inflammation, neuronal integrity is compromised through targeted disruption of the axon initial segment (AIS), the axonal domain critical for action potential initiation. AIS disruption was associated with contact by reactive inflammatory microglia which wrap around the AIS, increasing association with disease progression. While it is clear that chronic microglial inflammation and enhanced ROS production impact neuronal integrity, little is known about how acute microglial inflammation influences AIS stability. Here, we demonstrate that acute neuroinflammation induces AIS structural plasticity in a ROS-mediated and calpain-dependent manner. Methods C57BL/6J and NOX2−/− mice were given a single injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 5 mg/kg) or vehicle (0.9% saline, 10 mL/kg) and analyzed at 6 h–2 weeks post-injection. Anti-inflammatory Didox (250 mg/kg) or vehicle (0.9% saline, 10 mL/kg) was administered beginning 24 h post-LPS injection and continued for 5 days; animals were analyzed 1 week post-injection. Microglial inflammation was assessed using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RT-qPCR, and AIS integrity was quantitatively analyzed using ankyrinG immunolabeling. Data were statistically compared by one-way or two-way ANOVA where mean differences were significant as assessed using Tukey’s post hoc analysis. Results LPS-induced neuroinflammation, characterized by enhanced microglial inflammation and increased expression of ROS-producing enzymes, altered AIS protein clustering. Importantly, inflammation-induced AIS changes were reversed following resolution of microglial inflammation. Modulation of the inflammatory response using anti-inflammatory Didox, even after significant AIS disruption occurred, increased the rate of AIS recovery. qPCR and IHC analysis revealed that expression of microglial NOX2, a ROS-producing enzyme, was significantly increased correlating with AIS disruption. Furthermore, ablation of NOX2 prevented inflammation-induced AIS plasticity, suggesting that ROS drive AIS structural plasticity. Conclusions In the presence of acute microglial inflammation, the AIS undergoes an adaptive change that is capable of spontaneous recovery. Moreover, recovery can be therapeutically accelerated. Together, these findings underscore the dynamic capabilities of this domain in the presence of a pathological insult and provide evidence that the AIS is a viable therapeutic target

A new approximation scheme in quantum mechanics

An approximation method which combines the perturbation theory with the variational calculation is constructed for quantum mechanical problems. Using the anharmonic oscillator and the He atom as examples, we show that the present method provides an efficient scheme in estimating both the ground and the excited states. We also discuss the limitations of the present method.Comment: 14pages, to be published in Eur. J. Phy

The effect of vacuum polarisation on muon-proton scattering at small energies and angles

We give a compact expression for the unpolarised differential cross section for muon-proton scattering in the one photon exchange approximation. The effect of adding the vacuum polarisation amplitude to the no-spin-flip amplitude for one photon exchange is calculated at small energies and scattering angles and is found to be negligible for present experiments.Comment: 6 pages, one figur

Age composition, growth, and reproduction of koi carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in the lower Waikato, New Zealand

A total of 566 koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) from the lower Waikato region were aged from scales and opercular bones, and growth was modelled with the von Bertalanffy growth function. There was no difference in growth rate between male and female carp. Growth of koi carp between zero and 3 years of age was lower than that of common carp in Europe and Australia. However, after 5 years of age the growth of koi carp was higher than that of common carp in Europe, but still below that of carp in Australia. Males rarely lived in excess of 8 years, whereas females lived to 12 years. Mean total fecundity calculated from 44 running-ripe females was 299 000 oocytes (±195 600 SD) (range 29 800–771 000). Relative fecundity ranged from 19 300 to 216 000 oocytes kg–1 total body weight, with a mean of 97 200 (±35 000 SD) oocytes kg–1. Feral koi carp in the Waikato are capable of multiple spawnings within their lifetimes. Within a spawning season, Waikato populations of feral koi carp contained females that spawned once, and females that had the potential to have spawned repeatedly. Female gonadosomatic index (GSI) varied with season and was negatively related to water temperature

Exploring Couples' Processes of Change in the Context of SASA!, a Violence Against Women and HIV Prevention Intervention in Uganda.

There is now a growing body of research indicating that prevention interventions can reduce intimate partner violence (IPV); much less is known, however, about how couples exposed to these interventions experience the change process, particularly in low-income countries. Understanding the dynamic process that brings about the cessation of IPV is essential for understanding how interventions work (or don't) to reduce IPV. This study aimed to provide a better understanding of how couples' involvement with SASA!-a violence against women and HIV-related community mobilisation intervention developed by Raising Voices in Uganda-influenced processes of change in relationships. Qualitative data were collected from each partner in separate in-depth interviews following the intervention. Dyadic analysis was conducted using framework analysis methods. Study findings suggest that engagement with SASA! contributed to varied experiences and degrees of change at the individual and relationship levels. Reflection around healthy relationships and communication skills learned through SASA! activities or community activists led to more positive interaction among many couples, which reduced conflict and IPV. This nurtured a growing trust and respect between many partners, facilitating change in longstanding conflicts and generating greater intimacy and love as well as increased partnership among couples to manage economic challenges. This study draws attention to the value of researching and working with both women, men and couples to prevent IPV and suggests IPV prevention interventions may benefit from the inclusion of relationship skills building and support within the context of community mobilisation interventions

Creation of Skyrmions in a Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensate

We propose a scheme for the creation of skyrmions (coreless vortices) in a Bose-Einstein condensate with hyperfine spin F=1. In this scheme, four traveling-wave laser beams, with Gaussian or Laguerre-Gaussian transverse profiles, induce Raman transitions with an anomalous dependence on the laser polarization, thereby generating the optical potential required for producing skyrmions.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTe