The Use of Drama to Help Children Build Confidence and Self Image

The art of Theatre has been practiced for hundreds of years. It is an art form that merely imitates life. The actor is challenged mentally, physically, and emotionally in order to live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances given by the creator of the show/production that they are participating in. This requires one to flex a set of creative muscles that must be developed through constant training within the craft. Although excellent formal training would equip any Actor with the appropriate tools to excel within a performance, those tools don’t just apply to the stage. The tools given to one who trains in the Theatre are the same tools that can be used in every other facet of one\u27s life outside of the Theatre. Theatre teaches discipline, dedication, cooperation, and builds confidence. In the early stages of Theatre, participation was exclusive to only men who were of age. Thankfully, as Theatre evolved over time, women were allowed to perform as well. In this thesis I will be talking about the impact and benefits of Theatre in regards to children. Considering all of the concepts Theatre teaches, children are most impressionable in regards to learning things because children are more emotionally malleable in comparison to adults. In this paper, I will be talking about the benefits of theatre and performing in regards to children and their development. Research shows that Theatre can be helpful in regards to enriching the social and emotional development of youth. According to the National Arts Council, “Students who have arts-rich experiences in school do better across the board academically, and they also become more active and engaged citizens , voting, volunteering, and generally participating at higher rates than their peers.” Artistic engagement has cognitive benefits within kids. The concept of role-playing helps children develop positive cognitive characteristics, specifically a strong sense of confidence. Ensemble group performances creates a sense of community amongst the children and teaches them to cooperatively work with others. Theatre improvisation games help kids with developing critical thinking skills considering the level of creativity and imagination they require. Within this paper, I will dive more into how theatre boosts kid’s confidence, teaches children the importance of teamwork, and how It also helps kids with developing critical thinking

Driven pile load test data for load and resistance factor design in Missouri

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has recently migrated from allowable stress design (ASD) to load and resistance factor design (LRFD) of driven piles. This transition was initiated when the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a policy stating that all new bridge designs shall be designed in accordance with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) LRFD Bridge Design Specifications to eliminate the difference in design methodologies for bridge superstructures and bridge substructures. However, the resistance factors for driven piles specified in the AASHTO LRFD specifications are based on nationwide pile data, consisting of a wide range of different geologies, subsurface conditions, and installation procedures. For MoDOT to fully benefit from the transition from ASD to LRFD, resistance factors based on MoDOT\u27s local practices and geologic conditions must be developed. The presented research was dedicated to collecting pile load test data to allow the calibration of resistance factors for ultimate limit state design for predictive methods used by MoDOT to determine pile capacity, as well as to develop related reliability-based quality control criteria of driven pile foundations. MoDOT\u27s current state of practice was evaluated and all available pile load test data was collected. However, MoDOT has records for only 10 pile load tests. Therefore, the search was extended to Missouri\u27s eight neighboring states by distributing questionnaires to surrounding state transportation administrations in hope of gathering pile data. Surrounding states have different geologic conditions, but any collected pile data could be matched to similar soil and rock formations in Missouri\u27s geologic regions. Only five out of eight states responded to the questionnaire, and there was no pile load test data obtained from the states that responded. Therefore, the calibration of resistance factors could not be performed based on the research approaches. The deformation behavior of MoDOT bridge pile foundations was also evaluated at the serviceability limit state by modeling pile foundations in FB-MultiPier. The results indicated that pile displacement is an important factor for the development of serviceability resistance factors for pile foundations. Lastly, recommendations for future MoDOT practice and future research efforts regarding driven piles are provided --Abstract, page iii

Treatments to reduce the risk of Vibrio species in vitro and in shucked oysters

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) and Vibrio vulnificus (Vv) are halophilic bacteria naturally occurring in estuarine environments that may concentrate in filter feeding shellfish. Consumption of raw or under-cooked seafood contaminated with Vp or Vv may lead to the development of acute gastroenteritis or fatal septicemia in at-risk individuals, respectively. This research encompassed two separate but related projects: evaluation of a low temperature pasteurization (LTP) technique for the reduction of Vp and Vv in commercial quantities of shucked oysters (SO) and the investigation of the efficacy of a citrus fruit extract, BIOSECUR® F440D in reducing/eliminating Vv in vitro. Commercially available SO ( Crassostrea virginica ), artificially contaminated with pure Vibrio pathogens (3 ml) were used for evaluation of a LTP technique. Pure Vv cultures were used to test citrus extract. Vibrio vulnificus agar (VVA) with either 2% or 3% (mg/l) NaCl was used for plating Vv and Vp, respectively. The heat treatments of 40°C and 45° C reduced bacterial counts, however cultures survived even after 24 and 48 h of refrigeration (temperatures above freezing). Vv was more heat sensitive than Vp at 40°C and 45°C, with average bacterial counts of 4.9 and 6.0 log CFU/g without refrigeration, respectively. Unheated samples indicated that simple refrigeration is not adequate to reduce Vv and Vp in SO, as then was only a 0.79 and 0.61-log reduction, respectively. Both Vibrio species were reduced to non-detectable (ND) levels with and without refrigeration at treatments of 50°C and 55°C, making them the most effective treatments at 0, 24, and 48 h. BIOSECUR® F440D at 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0% concentrations were used to determine the lowest effective concentration needed to achieve a significant log reduction of Vv. The 2.0%, 1.5% and 1.0% concentrations reduced Vv levels significantly (ND, 5.45, and 3.85 log-reduction, respectively). The 0.5% concentration resulted in a 2.39-log reduction. LTP of SO meat at 50°C for 12 minutes is an effective PHP for control of Vibrio species. BIOSECUR® F440D might contribute to the development of a value added PHP technique for reduction of Vv in oysters

Topological Groupoids

A groupoid is a set G in which a single valued product ab is defined for every pair of elements a, b ε G. If G is a groupoid and at the same time a Hausdorff topological space, and, moreover, the multiplication in the groupoid G is continuous in the topological space G, then G is called a topological groupoid. Our aim in this dissertation is two-fold: (1) to study topological groupoids for their own sake; (2) to investigate the relation of certain topological properties to associativity. We note, in relation to the first motif, that many authors have dealt with non-associative algebraic structures, i.e. Albert [1]*, Frink [4], Garrison [5], Etherington [2], Hausmann and Ore [7], and Stein [22]

Designed and Developed Delivery Systems Containing Extracted Astaxanthin from Crawfish, Procambarus clarkii, Using a Novel Combined Ethanol Flaxseed Oil Ultrasound Assisted Closed Extraction System and Its Anticancer Activity in Vitro

Crustacean processing in Louisiana generates vast amounts of byproducts, including crawfish processing byproducts (CB), whose disposal can be problematic unless utilized alternatively. The objective of this investigation was to design and develop a delivery system (DS) containing extracted astaxanthin (AX) from CB using a novel combined ethanol flaxseed oil (FO) ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method and evaluate its quality characteristics. Additionally, anticancer effects of AX were evaluated. Investigations consisted of three studies. Proximate composition, oxidative stability, and antioxidant capacity of AX from CB extracted both conventionally and by UAE was determined. AX concentration conventionally extracted from CB (FOCAX) was 0.0919 mg g−1 of FO. The combined UAE ethanol FO extracted AX from CB (FOCAXUAE) was 1.9 mg g−1 of FO with antioxidant capacity (71.81±0.42) significantly greater than FOCAX (63.16±0.22). FOCAXUAE was selected for use in further studies. A pectin gelatin DSs (PGDS) for controlled release of extracted AX was developed. Releasing profiles of several formulations containing high degrees of methylation (HMP) or low degrees of methylation (LMP) pectins were evaluated. The in vitro release study investigated release of AX in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). However, desired release characteristics were obtained with the addition of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC). Swelling index of both HMP and LMP formulations with HPMC in SIF after 180 minutes were 126.46% and 90.61%, respectively. Other formulations failed to swell in SIF, with exposure to low pH SGF resulting in all formulations rapidly releasing FOCAXUAE. Anticancer properties were considered. A control (sunflower lecithin and FO in DMEM, Dulbecco’s modified Eagles medium) in the ratio (0.0025:0.005:1) on the viability of MDA-MB-231 cell lines showed RCV (relative cell viability) of 79.37±0.87 % (RCV of 97.37±0.06%, normalized to DMEM alone). RCV of MDA-MB-231 cells treated with AX (3µM, 5µM, and 7 µM) had significantly decreased (46.31±0.81%, 42.2±0.65%, and 55.51±0.19%, respectively). Cell densities decreased in some groups treated with AX, showing fewer cells with mesenchymal-like shapes, suggesting reversal of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This research indicates high amounts of AX extracted from CB by UAE has cytotoxic activity that could be incorporated into polymer-based DS

Genetic and physiological studies on Rhizobium trifolii

The aim of this study was to investigate the Rhizobium - legume symbiosis by use of mutants of R. trifolii. Attempts to demonstrate R68-45 mediated chromosomal recombination In R. trifolii were unsuccessful. However (the pathways and regulation of nitrogen and carbon metabolism in R. trifolii were studied. Rhizobium trlfolii assimilated ammonia solely by the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase (GS/GOGAT) pathway. Neither strain W19, which lacked GOGAT, nor pyruvate-carboxylase mutants of strain 7000 could utilize glutamate-yielding amino-acids to satisfy their growth requirements. It was proposed that GS regulated the synthesis of the required catabolic enzymes, and that GS was regulated by the intracellular 2-oxoglutarate to glutamine ratio. The Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway was not found in R, trifolii. By use of mutants, it was shown that glucokinase (glk) was required for glucose phosphorylation in wild-type bacteria and the Entner-Doudoroff pathway for catabolism of all six-carbon sugars except galactose. Pyruvate carboxylase was the physiologically important anaplerotlc enzyme. The effective symbiotic properties of the carbohydrate-negative mutants showed that hexoses were not the energy-substrates received by the bacteroids. The glk mutants did not grow on glucose, maltose, celloblose, trehalose, sucrose, lactose or dulcitol. The syntheses of the lactose and dulcitol transport systems were hypersensitive to repression by a second carbon source in the glk mutants. A model was proposed to explain the pleiotropic defect. The catabolism of glucose to at least glucose 6-phosphate was required for the regulation of those catabolic systems which were sensitive to catabolite repression by glucose. The utilization of the polyols sensitive to catabolite repression was inhibited by 2-deoxyglucose in both wild-type and glk strains. It was proposed that the regulation of catabolic enzyme synthesis In R. trifolii was manifested mainly at the level of Inducer exclusion

Pathway-Dependent Post-assembly Modification of an Anthracene-Edged MII^{II}4L6_4L_6 Tetrahedron

Fe$^{II}$$_4L_6$ tetrahedral cage $\textbf{1}$ undergoes post-assembly modification (PAM) via a Diels-Alder cycloaddition of the anthracene panels of the cage with tetracyanoethylene (TCNE). The modified cage $\textbf{2}$ possesses an enclosed cavity suitable for encapsulation of the fullerene C$_{60}$, whereas original cage $\textbf{1}$ forms a unique covalent adduct through a Diels-Alder cycloaddition of three of its anthracene ligands with C$_{60}$. This adduct undergoes further PAM via reaction of the remaining three ligands with TCNE, enabling the isolation of two distinct products depending on the order of addition of C$_{60}$ and TCNE. Modified cage $\textbf{2}$ was also able to bind an anionic guest, [Co(C$_2$B$_9$H$_{11}$)$_2$]$^{-}$, which was not encapsulated by the original cage, demonstrating the potential of PAM for tuning the binding properties of supramolecular hosts.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, University of Cambridge (Herchel Smith Research Fellowship), Corpus Christi College (Cambridge; Fellowship

Looking Back to Go Forward: The Ethics of Journalism in a Social Media Age.

In recent times, both journalism and who is defined as a journalist have undergone significant change. With the growth of the internet, and the subsequent ability of anyone with a smartphone camera and a web connection to publish, the business model of journalism that had remained stable for decades has been declared broken and the public service model of journalism under threat. Meanwhile, a US president communicates via Twitter; Facebook Live spreads news while the mainstream media scramble to keep up

How does chiral self-sorting take place in the formation of homochiral Pd₆L₈ capsules consisting of cyclotriveratrylene-based chiral tritopic ligands?

The chiral self-sorting process during the self-assembly of homochiral Pd6L8 capsules from cyclotriveratrylene (CTV)-based chiral tritopic ligands (L) and Image ID:c8sc01062e-t1.gif (Py*: 3-chloropyridine) was investigated by an NMR-based approach (QASAP: quantitative analysis of the self-assembly process). From the beginning to the formation of the Image ID:c8sc01062e-t2.gif immature capsules (ICs), enantiomeric ligands are distributed in the intermediates in a non-self-sorting manner, which leads to the isomers of heterochiral ICs over 99% yield. The mismatch of the chirality in the heterochiral ICs prevents intramolecular ligand exchanges in ICs to form the heterochiral capsules. The correction of the chirality in the heterochiral ICs (chiral self-sorting) takes place very slowly to finally lead to the homochiral capsules. The reason why the chiral self-sorting took place in the late stage of the self-assembly (after the formation of the heterochiral ICs) would be due to the relatively high flexibility of the CTV-based ligand