Road to Recovery: Recidivism and the McLean County Drug Court

This study explores the effectiveness of the McLean County Drug Court at reducing time to recidivism using survival analysis techniques. Data on 146 drug court participants was collected using the county’s proprietary case management systems. Findings suggest that length of drug court programming significantly reduces time to recidivism. Unfortunately, black offenders and offenders with prior criminal history were found to return to the prison system more rapidly than other groups, suggesting that drug court programming may not be addressing the greater systemic issues present in the criminal justice system. These findings collectively inform policy recommendations provided to county administrators and drug court officials

Characterisation of Rhodopsin Retinitis Pigmentosa mutants located in Intradiscal Loop 1

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic condition that results in blindness. There are several hundred RP mutations associated with rhodopsin, a photosensitive GPCR pigment found within rod cells of the retina. Previous studies have shown that many rhodopsin RP mutants fold incorrectly or affect protein stability. This study investigates the effect of three RP mutants located in Extracellular loop 1 of bovine rhodopsin. Expression levels and protein folding have been examined using HEK 293 GnTI- cells and two methods have been used in an attempt to correct protein folding. The effects of these two correction methods on three mutations have been analysed by investigating their UV-visible absorption spectral properties, photobleaching properties, active light-activated state stability kinetics and pigment thermal stability. Pharmacological chaperone rescue with 9-cis-retinal was found to enhance expression levels and folding in two of the three mutant pigments. However, these rescued pigments were unstable at high temperatures (55 °C) when purified. The second approach involved the insertion of a disulphide bridge linking the N-terminal cap to ECL 3 and is known to increase the thermostability of WT rhodopsin. The N2C/D282C bond was found to repair two of the three mutant pigments and enhance stability, signal transduction, photobleaching and Meta-II stability to near WT levels. These two methods, when deployed together, had little additive effect. The main conclusion is that the N-terminal cap of rhodopsin is prevented from either folding correctly or docking correctly to ECL 3 due to the mutations located in ECL 1. However, when the N-terminal cap of rhodopsin is tethered in place by a disulphide bridge or when the retinal binding pocket is occupied, thermal stability and active state properties are restored in some rhodopsin RP mutants

On the thermo-electric power and thermal conductivity of semi-conductivity of semi-conductors and metals

The first successful attempt to explain the electrical and thermal properties of metals was made by the Drude-Lorentz theory at the beginning of this century. According to Drude, certain electrons were free to move from atom to atom throughout the metal and it was those electrons which undertook the conduction of electricity and heat. The electrons were then treated as a “gas” and in order to apply the statistical theory of gases to such an electron cloud Lorentz postulated his well-known assumptions. The theory was immediately successful in the derivation of the Wiedemann-Franz law, relating the electrical and thermal conductivities. The major drawback to the theory lay in the evaluation of the electron specific heat. Lorentz had ascribed to the electrons a Maxwell distribution of velocities, the only reasonable choice at that time. On such a picture the electron specific heat was large and such an addition to the specific heat completely destroyed the agreement of Debye’s theory with the experimentally observed specific heats. The theory remained in this state until the discovery by Pauli, in 1925, of the Pauli Exclusion Principle. In its simplest form the principle states that in an atom not more than two electrons can have the same three quantum numbers. This allowed Dirac and Fermi, working independently, to develop the statistics of particles obeying such a principle and gave birth to the Fermi-Dirac statistics. The use of new statistics enabled the discrepancy in the specific heats to be explained. Pauli was able to account for the paramagnetism of the alkali metals and it was left to Sommerfeld to consider the problems of transport phenomena in the light of the Fermi-Dirac statistics. Such were the foundations of the modern electron theory of metals. The modern development of the theory was begun by Block, Sommerfeld, Bether, Peierls and Wilson. It is based on the quantum-mechanical analysis of the motion of an electron in the periodic field of a crystal lattice. Considered from this point of view, the electrons in a metal are distributed over a number of allowed energy bands, forbidden bands occurring in the regions between the allowed energies. Most of these allowed bands are filled completely by the electrons, and it is only the electrons which are contained in incompletely filled bands which contribute to the resultant current. It is these electrons which are regarded as “free” in conduction theory. This picture of a metal also enables us to obtain a better understanding of the “mean free path” of an electron, a quantity which is treated as an arbitrary parameter in the Sommerfeld theory

Meaningful assessment for improving writing center consultations

This thesis presents the spring 2011 assessment for the University Writing Center at UNC Asheville, a small liberal arts college in Western North Carolina. It includes the results of a study that seeks to shift the focus of assessment in the University Writing Center from operational goals to learning goals; it interprets data related to student writers’ and undergraduate consultants’ perceptions of observable cognitive development activities during typical writing center sessions. The study grew from the University Writing Center’s response to newly developed University Student Learning outcomes (USLOs) and the University Mission Statement

An exploratory study investigating the experiences of parents coping with children who are being treated for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban,2009.Aim: To explore parents’ experiences when caring for a child with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The coping mechanisms employed by the parents in such a situation were also investigated. Objectives: To gain an understanding of the parents’ experiences when their child has ADHD. The factors affecting these experiences include dealing with their child’s behaviours, receiving an ADHD diagnosis, deciding on treatment and coping resources. Research Design: Through a qualitative, phenomenological approach, this study is characterized by an interpretative style with the aim of facilitating an in-depth exploration of the participants’ experiences. Subjects: A non-probability, purposive sample was used. The sample consisted of 12 parents. The only requirements for the sample were: 1. The participant must be the primary caretaker of a child who has been diagnosed with ADHD and is being treated for ADHD. 2. The participant’s child must be 18 years old or younger. Data Collection: Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were used as an instrument for collecting the required data and were devised in order to appropriately address the objectives of this study. Data Analysis: The transcripts were analyzed thematically using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) in order to identify relevant and common parental experiences. Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Theory of Stress (TTS) and Coping was utilized as a conceptual framework to help make sense of the emergent themes. Results: Participants in the present study displayed increased levels of stress and frustration when caring for a child with ADHD. The child’s difficult behaviours frequently induced a sense of incompetence in the parents and a desire to use physical punishment on the child. The participants employed various methods of coping in order to adapt to their child’s disorder. Such efforts included modifying daily routines and utilizing social support. Most of these coping efforts helped to diminish stress and anxiety and improved parent-child relationships