An evaluation of a group of exercises in reading prepared for slow learning children in the primary grades

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Boston Universit

Materials science experiments in space

The criteria for the selection of the experimental areas and individual experiments were that the experiment or area must make a meaningful contribution to the field of material science and that the space environment was either an absolute requirement for the successful execution of the experiment or that the experiment can be more economically or more conveniently performed in space. A number of experimental areas and individual experiments were recommended for further consideration as space experiments. Areas not considered to be fruitful and others needing additional analysis in order to determine their suitability for conduct in space are also listed. Recommendations were made concerning the manner in which these materials science experiments are carried out and the related studies that should be pursued

The effects of the spontaneous presence of a spouse/partner and others on cardiovascular reactions to an acute psychological challenge

The presence of supportive others has been associated with attenuated cardiovascular reactivity in the laboratory. The effects of the presence of a spouse and others in a more naturalistic setting have received little attention. Blood pressure and heart rate reactions to mental stress were recorded at home in 1028 married/partnered individuals. For 112 participants, their spouse/partner was present; for 78, at least one other person was present. Women tested with a spouse/partner present showed lower magnitude systolic blood pressure and heart rate reactivity than those tested without. Individuals tested with at least one nonspousal other present also displayed attenuated reactivity. This extends the results of laboratory studies and indicates that the spontaneous presence of others is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular reactivity in an everyday environment; spouse/partner presence would appear to be especially effective for women.\ud \u

BCC vs. HCP - The Effect of Crystal Symmetry on the High Temperature Mobility of Solid 4^4He

We report results of torsional oscillator (TO) experiments on solid $^4$He at temperatures above 1K. We have previously found that single crystals, once disordered, show some mobility (decoupled mass) even at these rather high temperatures. The decoupled mass fraction with single crystals is typically 20- 30%. In the present work we performed similar measurements on polycrystalline solid samples. The decoupled mass with polycrystals is much smaller, $\sim$ 1%, similar to what is observed by other groups. In particular, we compared the properties of samples grown with the TO's rotation axis at different orientations with respect to gravity. We found that the decoupled mass fraction of bcc samples is independent of the angle between the rotation axis and gravity. In contrast, hcp samples showed a significant difference in the fraction of decoupled mass as the angle between the rotation axis and gravity was varied between zero and 85 degrees. Dislocation dynamics in the solid offers one possible explanation of this anisotropy.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Journal of Low Temperature Physics - special issue on Supersolidit

Life events and hemodynamic stress reactivity in the middle-aged and elderly

Recent versions of the reactivity hypothesis, which consider it to be the product of stress exposure and exaggerated haemodynamic reactions to stress that confers cardiovascular disease risk, assume that reactivity is independent of the experience of stressful life events. This assumption was tested in two substantial cohorts, one middle-aged and one elderly. Participants had to indicate from a list of major stressful life events up to six they had experienced in the previous two years. They were also asked to rate how disruptive and stressful they were, at the time of occurrence and now. Blood pressure and pulse rate were measured at rest and in response to acute mental stress. Those who rated the events as highly disruptive at the time of exposure and currently exhibited blunted systolic blood pressure reactions to acute stress. The present results suggest that acute stress reactivity may not be independent of stressful life events experience

DEK Regulates Hematopoietic Stem Engraftment and Progenitor Cell Proliferation

DEK is a biochemically distinct protein that is generally found in the nucleus, where it is vital to global heterochromatin integrity. However, DEK is also secreted by cells (eg, macrophages) and influences other adjacent cells (eg, acts as a chemoattractant for certain mature blood cells). We hypothesized that DEK may modulate functions of hematopoietic stem (HSCs) and progenitor (HPCs) cells. C57Bl/6 mice were used to demonstrate that absolute numbers and cycling status of HPCs (colony forming unit-granulocyte macrophage [CFU-GM], burst forming unit-erythroid [BFU-E], and colony forming unit-granulocyte erythroid macrophage megakaryocyte [CFU-GEMM]) in bone marrow (BM) and spleen were significantly enhanced in DEK -/- as compared with wild-type (WT) control mice. Moreover, purified recombinant DEK protein inhibited colony formation in vitro by CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM from WT BM cells and human cord blood (CB) cells in a dose-dependent fashion, demonstrating that DEK plays a negative role in HPC proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Suppression was direct acting as determined by inhibition of proliferation of single isolated CD34+ CB cells in vitro. In contrast, DEK -/- BM cells significantly demonstrated reduced long term competitive and secondary mouse repopulating HSC capacity compared with WT BM cells, demonstrating that DEK positively regulates engrafting capability of self-renewing HSCs. This demonstrates that DEK has potent effects on HSCs, HPCs, and hematopoiesis, information of biological and potential clinical interest.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90478/1/scd-2E2011-2E0451.pd

Metabolically exaggerated cardiac reactions to acute psychological stress: The effects of resting blood pressure status and possible underlying mechanisms

The study aimed to: confirm that acute stress elicits metabolically exaggerated increases in cardiac activity; test whether individuals with elevated resting blood pressure show more exaggerated cardiac reactions to stress than those who are clearly normotensive; and explore the underlying mechanisms. Cardiovascular activity and oxygen consumption were measured pre-, during, and post- mental stress, and during graded submaximal cycling exercise in 11 young men with moderately elevated resting blood pressure and 11 normotensives. Stress provoked increases in cardiac output that were much greater than would be expected from contemporary levels of oxygen consumption. Exaggerated cardiac reactions were larger in the relatively elevated blood pressure group. They also had greater reductions in total peripheral resistance, but not heart rate variability, implying that their more exaggerated cardiac reactions reflected greater β-adrenergic activation

Expansion of a novel endogenous retrovirus throughout the pericentromeres of modern humans

Abstract Background Approximately 8% of the human genome consists of sequences of retroviral origin, a result of ancestral infections of the germ line over millions of years of evolution. The most recent of these infections is attributed to members of the human endogenous retrovirus type-K (HERV-K) (HML-2) family. We recently reported that a previously undetected, large group of HERV-K (HML-2) proviruses, which are descendants of the ancestral K111 infection, are spread throughout human centromeres. Results Studying the genomes of certain cell lines and the DNA of healthy individuals that seemingly lack K111, we discover new HERV-K (HML-2) members hidden in pericentromeres of several human chromosomes. All are related through a common ancestor, termed K222, which is a virus that infected the germ line approximately 25 million years ago. K222 exists as a single copy in the genomes of baboons and high order primates, but not New World monkeys, suggesting that progenitor K222 infected the primate germ line after the split between New and Old World monkeys. K222 exists in modern humans at multiple loci spread across the pericentromeres of nine chromosomes, indicating it was amplified during the evolution of modern humans. Conclusions Copying of K222 may have occurred through recombination of the pericentromeres of different chromosomes during human evolution. Evidence of recombination between K111 and K222 suggests that these retroviral sequences have been templates for frequent cross-over events during the process of centromere recombination in humans.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111301/1/13059_2015_Article_641.pd

On The Mobile Behavior of Solid 4^4He at High Temperatures

We report studies of solid helium contained inside a torsional oscillator, at temperatures between 1.07K and 1.87K. We grew single crystals inside the oscillator using commercially pure $^4$He and $^3$He-$^4$He mixtures containing 100 ppm $^3$He. Crystals were grown at constant temperature and pressure on the melting curve. At the end of the growth, the crystals were disordered, following which they partially decoupled from the oscillator. The fraction of the decoupled He mass was temperature and velocity dependent. Around 1K, the decoupled mass fraction for crystals grown from the mixture reached a limiting value of around 35%. In the case of crystals grown using commercially pure $^4$He at temperatures below 1.3K, this fraction was much smaller. This difference could possibly be associated with the roughening transition at the solid-liquid interface.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

‘Race’ Talk! Tensions and Contradictions in Sport and PE

Background: The universal sport discourses of inclusion, belonging, meritocracy, agency, and equality are so widespread that few challenge them. It is clear from the most cursory interest in sport, PE and society that the lived reality is quite different and ambiguous. Racial disparities in the leadership and administration of sport are commonplace world wide; yet from research into ‘race’ in sport and PE the public awareness of these issues is widespread, where many know that racism takes place it is always elsewhere For many this racism is part of the game and something that enables an advantage to be stolen, for others it is trivial and not worthy of deeper thought. This paper explores the contradictions and tensions of the author’s experience of how sport and PE students talk about ‘race’. ‘Race’ talk is considered here in the context of passive everyday ‘race’ talk, dominant discourses in sporting cultures, and colour-blindness. This paper focuses on the pernicious yet persistent nature of ‘race’ talk while demystifying its multifarious, spurious, and more persuasive daily iterations. Theoretical framework: Drawing on Guinier and Torres’ (2003) ideas of resistance through political race consciousness and Bonilla-Silva’s (2010) notion of colour-blindness the semantics of ‘race’ and racialisation in sport and PE are interrogated through the prism of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Critical race scholarship has been used in sport and PE to articulate a political application of ‘race’ as a starting point for critical activism, to disrupt whiteness, and to explore the implications of ‘race’ and racism. CRT is used here to centre ‘race’ and racialised relations where disciplines have consciously or otherwise excluded them. Importantly, the centreing of ‘race’ by critical race scholars has advanced a strategic and pragmatic engagement with this slippery concept that recognises its paradoxical but symbolic location in social relations. Discussion: Before exploring ‘race’ talk in the classroom, using images from the sport media as a pedagogical tool, the paper considers how effortlessly ‘race’ is recreated and renewed. The paper then turns to explore how the effortless turn to everyday ‘race’ talk in the classroom can be viewed as an opportunity to disrupt common racialised assumptions with the potential to implicate those that passively engage in it. Further the diagnostic, aspirational and activist goals of political race consciousness are established as vehicles for a positive sociological experience in the classroom. Conclusion: The work concludes with a pragmatic consideration of the uses and dangers of passive everyday ‘race’ talk and the value of a political race consciousness in sport and PE. Part of the explanation for the perpetuation of ‘race’ talk and the relative lack of concern with its impact in education and wider society is focused on how the sovereignty of sport and PE trumps wider social concerns of ‘race’ and racism because of at least four factors 1) the liberal left discourses of sporting utopianism 2) the ‘race’ logic that pervades sport, based upon the perceived equal access and fairness of sport as it coalesces with the, 3) 'incontrovertible facts' of black and white superiority [and inferiority] in certain sports, ergo the racial justifications for patterns of activity in sport and PE 4) the racist logic of the Right perpetuated through a biological reductionism in sport and PE discourses. Keywords: ‘Race’ Talk; Critical Race Theory; Political Race Consciousnes