Howards End: Margaret, Henry, and the Situational Performance of Gender

Howards End by E.M. Forster is based in the year 1910 and is set in England. The novel portrays the expected traits of men and women. Using Gender Theory and, more specifically, Judith Butler’s idea of “performing gender”, one can better understand the actions of two of the main characters, Henry and Margaret, based on their performance of gender. For example, Margaret allows Henry to take over her affairs when they are engaged, and Henry suppresses all emotions, each performing gender specific attributes. However, the qualities performed by these characters are continuously changing and are not always specific to one gender. For example, when Margaret is head of her household, she performs masculine traits such as making decisions about houses. This continuous transition of repressed and displayed behaviors suggest that gender qualities are on a relative continuum that ranges from masculine to feminine qualities in each individual “performed” in different situations or when not in control, such as in the event of a major crisis. Using this relative continuum and the idea of situational gender performance, this essay attempts to better understand the personalities of these two characters and what implications their gender performance has on society

From Practice to Theory: An Exploratory Research Study of the Relevance of Museum Studies Curriculum to Museum Professionals

This exploratory study provides a comprehensive description of the museum profession and focuses particularly on museum studies curriculum. The purpose of this research is to investigate museum studies curriculum and its relevance to the museum profession in order to determine whether or not museum studies curriculum is capable of providing the foundation of a standard academic discipline for museum professionals. A survey of museum professionals assessed their attitudes about museum studies curriculum and the extent to which museum studies curriculum matters to continuing education for current museum professionals and as an academic discipline for prospective museum professionals

The Orphan Train Adventures Series: The Kelly Siblings’ Trek to Responsibility

The Orphan Train Adventures, a series of historical novels by Joan Lowery Nixon (1927-2003), is concerned with the responsibility exercised by its child characters during the antebellum and Civil War periods. This thesis examines how Nixon, by illustrating the positive effects of responsibility through her child characters, suggests the value of cultivating responsibility in children of the contemporary period. Nixon’s use of the mid-nineteenth-century setting and the rearing practices associated with this time allows her to demonstrate positive acts of responsibility in her main characters—six siblings sent west from New York City on the “orphan trains.” This study finds that children are capable of exercising responsibility and that a sense of responsibility is necessary for children to develop into successful adults. Through her characterizations Nixon suggests that familial relationships actually have a strong effect on one’s development of responsibility and that family members are essentially accountable for the development of responsibility among each other. Nixon thereby suggests that even as the American family has undergone many changes in the contemporary period, children and parents should combat these changes to successfully develop responsibility. In fact, this study works to understand the characterization of responsible siblings in children’s and young adult literature and offers new ways to understand responsibility and the contemporary child

Waterjet injection of powdered activated carbon for sediment remediation

In situ sediment remediation through waterjet-activated carbon amendment delivery is an innovative means to mitigate the dangers posed by hydrophobic organic compounds. Ease of use and applicability to inundated environments makes this technique valuable. This work made feasible low-pressure injections of a 15% (by dry weight) carbon/water slurry through a pulsating piston pump waterjet. The project fabricated nozzle tips and a unique injection apparatus comprising a quantitative system for the evaluation of bench scale models. Based on a series of iterative processes, injections of carbon were analyzed for depth and concentration. Injections varied in duration and they were made into a white kaolinite surrogate sediment. The carbon concentration throughout the target area was analyzed using a spectroradiometer that plotted wavelength against the reflectance of each sample. To confirm the impact of carbon placement, soil contaminated with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was used during testing to quantify the reduction in the bioavailable portion of the contaminant. The performance of carbon liquid injections into the sediment was evaluated using solid phase microextraction fibers and high-performance liquid chromatography. Testing showed that, when used in a kaolinite sediment the customized waterjet is capable of delivering a carbon/water slurry at depths up to 30 cm with a uniform concentration averaging 3.0%. Further testing in the contaminated sediment showed reductions of over 90% in the bioavailable portion of PAHs at depths of 30 cm or greater. The unique features of waterjets and their proven performance make them a viable remedial technique in subaqueous applications --Abstract, page iv

Traumatic brain injury stimulates hippocampal catechol-O-methyl transferase expression in microglia.

Outcome following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is in large part determined by the combined action of multiple processes. In order to better understand the response of the central nervous system to injury, we utilized an antibody array to simultaneously screen 507 proteins for altered expression in the injured hippocampus, a structure critical for memory formation. Array analysis indicated 41 candidate proteins have altered expression levels 24h after TBI. Of particular interest was catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), an enzyme involved in metabolizing catecholamines released following neuronal activity. Altered catecholamine signaling has been observed after brain injury, and may contribute to the cognitive dysfunctions and behavioral deficits often experienced after TBI. Our data shows that COMT expression in the injured ipsilateral hippocampus was elevated for at least 14 d after controlled cortical impact injury. We found strong co-localization of COMT immunoreactivity with the microglia marker Iba1 near the injury site. Since dopamine transporter expression has been reported to be down-regulated after brain injury, COMT-mediated catecholamine metabolism may play a more prominent role in terminating catecholamine signaling in injured areas

Tools for Real-Time Control Systems Co-Design : A Survey

This report presents a survey of current simulation tools in the area of integrated control and real-time systems design. Each tool is presented with a quick overview followed by a more detailed section describing comparative aspects of the tool. These aspects describe the context and purpose of the tool (scenarios, development stages, activities, and qualities/constraints being addressed) and the actual tool technology (tool architecture, inputs, outputs, modeling content, extensibility and availability). The tools presented in the survey are the following; Jitterbug and TrueTime from the Department of Automatic Control at Lund University, Sweden, AIDA and XILO from the Department of Machine Design at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, Ptolemy II from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at Berkeley, California, RTSIM from the RETIS Laboratory, Pisa, Italy, and Syndex and Orccad from INRIA, France. The survey also briefly describes some existing commercial tools related to the area of real-time control systems

Physical Impact of Waterjet-Based Sediment Remediation on Benthic Organisms

Adding Activated Carbon to Sediments Has Been Shown to Be an Effective Means of Reducing the Bioavailability of Certain Contaminants. the Current State of the Practice is to Mechanically Mix Activated Carbon to a Target Concentration of 3 Percent at Depths of Approximately 30 Cm using a Rotovator or Similar Construction Equipment. Waterjets Have Been Used to Cut Hard Material using a Mixture of Water and an Abrasive. If Activated Carbon is Substituted for the Abrasive, Waterjets Have the Potential to Use Surface Injection as a Replacement for Mechanical Mixing during Sediment Remediation. a Perceived Benefit of Waterjet-Based Sediment Remediation is that There May Be a Reduced Potential for Benthic Organism Mortality Related to Amendment Delivery. a Set of Waterjet Parameters Were Identified that Have the Potential to Achieve Amendment Placement Goals, and a Series of Waterjet Tests Were Conducted to Evaluate the Potential Impact on the Benthic Community. the Tests Included Mortality Testing using a Swimming Macroinvertebrate and a Burrowing Invertebrate, Benthic Artifacts Such as Shells, and Craft Foam as a Surrogate for Living Organisms. the Results Indicated that the Immediate Survivability Was Typically Greater Than 50 Percent, and that Empirical Relationships between Two Variables (Waterjet Nozzle Diameter and the Water Column Height between the Nozzle and the Target) and the Depth of Cut in the Foam Could Be Established. Data Are Not Available in the Literature for Direct Comparison of Organism Survivability Immediately after Mechanical Mixing, But the Results of This Study Provide Motivation for the Further Evaluation of Waterjets on the Basis of the Low Observed Mortality Rates. Future Waterjet Work May Address Field-Scale Characterization of Mixing Effectiveness, Resuspension Potential, Technical Feasibility, and Cost. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Traumatic brain injury-associated epigenetic changes and the risk for neurodegenerative diseases

Epidemiological studies have shown that traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases the risk for developing neurodegenerative diseases (NDs). However, molecular mechanisms that underlie this risk are largely unidentified. TBI triggers widespread epigenetic modifications. Similarly, NDs such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s are associated with numerous epigenetic changes. Although epigenetic changes can persist after TBI, it is unresolved if these modifications increase the risk of later ND development and/or dementia. We briefly review TBI-related epigenetic changes, and point out putative feedback loops that might contribute to long-term persistence of some modifications. We then focus on evidence suggesting persistent TBI-associated epigenetic changes may contribute to pathological processes (e.g., neuroinflammation) which may facilitate the development of specific NDs – Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Finally, we discuss possible directions for TBI therapies that may help prevent or delay development of NDs