A comparative analysis of leadership skills development in Marine Corps training and education programs

This thesis analyzes the perceptions of a non-random sample of 210 officers and enlisted Marines in two locations. A researcher-developed survey and semi-structured interviews were administered to ascertain opinions of Marines concerning leadership development. An analysis of the content of leadership training and education courses was also conducted. This information was compared to contemporary leadership theory and relevant models of leadership. In general, leadership development provided is adequate, but is lacking in some areas of skill development, application of skills and values, and relevancy to contemporary leadership issues. Professional Military Education (PME) ge nerally provides relevant leadership training and education to enlisted personnel, but falls short of meeting the expectations of many officers.http://archive.org/details/acomparativenaly109453482Major, United States Marine CorpsCaptain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Hydrolysis of Dihydrouridine and Related Compounds

Dihydrouridine is absent from the tRNA of almost all hyperthermophiles and most Archaea but is ubiquitous in the tRNA of Eubacteria and Eukaryotes. In order to investigate whether this could be due to instability, the rate of ring opening of dihydrouridine was measured between 25 and 120 C. The dihydrouridine ring is stable at 25 C, but the half-life at 100 C and pH 7 is 9.1 h, which is comparable to the doubling time of hyperthermophiles. This suggests an explanation for the absence of dihydrouridine from the tRNA of hyperthermophiles. The rates of ring opening of dihydrouracil, dihydrothymine, and 1-N-methyldihydrouracil were measured at 100 C and pH 6-9, as were the equilibrium constants for ring closure of the ureido acids to the dihydrouracils. The pH rate profiles for ring opening and ring closing were calculated from the data. Possible roles for dihydrouracils in the pre-RNA world are discussed