Survival is not an Academic Skill : Exploring How African American Female Graduates of a Private Boarding School Craft an Identity

ABSTRACT “SURVIVAL IS NOT AN ACADEMIC SKILL”: EXPLORING HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE GRADUATES OF A PRIVATE BOARDING SCHOOL CRAFT AN IDENTITY by Tiffany Simpkins Russell This qualitative study explores the private boarding school experiences of eight African American female graduates, the forms of identity they crafted and the survival skills they developed while navigating this unique terrain. A life history methodology grounded in the womanist tradition was used to develop a portrait of the women’s experiences using their personal narratives as well as integrating my own. Data collection methods included archival research of historical documents related to the private school, Personal History Interview of the primary researcher, Individual Life History interviews of each of the women, and a Group Conversation with the participants. Narrative analysis (Labov, 1997) and Brown and Gilligan’s Listener’s Guide (1992) were used to analyze the women’s narratives and revealed a set of four significant “creative essences.” A “creative essence” is defined as “a proactive, unique, and individual path to inner fulfillment” (Davis, 1998, p. 493). These essences elucidate the survival skills the women employed at various times in their academic careers to cope with sexism, racism, marginalization and invisibility in an injurious environment. The emergent “creative essences” are: 1) Asserting Blackness; 2) Creating Safe Spaces; 3) Finding Voice and Embracing Loudness; 4) Relying on Sistafriends. These “creative essences” are explored in detail using examples from the female respondents’ narratives, the scholarship on African American women’s strength and resilience and African American literature. Implications for educational practice and future research endeavors are discussed

Transformational Leadership Principles within Small Businesses

Small businesses in the United States experience a high rate of failure. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and explore consistent strategies small business owners in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania used to lead successful companies. Transformational leadership theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A mixed purposive sample of 20 small business owners participated in semistructured face- to-face and telephone interviews. Each of the participants possessed a minimum of 3 years of successful business operation and employed fewer than 500 individuals. Using Moustakas\u27 modified van Kaam analyses, 6 main themes emerged: characteristics and experiences, leadership behaviors, managing operations, managing employees, employee behaviors, and achieving success. The study findings highlighted the need for small business owners to nurture the leader-follower relationship to inspire and motivate employees. Further, the results indicated the importance of utilizing integrated business practices to influence employee and business performance. The findings in this study promote positive social change by identifying strategies to empower nascent and existing entrepreneurs. Small business owners can apply these results to improve the leader- follower relationship within their organizations, and boost overall business success

Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Conceptual Design and Mission Analysis

No abstract availabl

Strikingly poor CD8+ T-cell immunogenicity of vaccinia virus strain MVA in BALB/c mice

Vaccinia virus (VACV) strain MVA is a highly attenuated vector for vaccines that is being explored in clinical trials. We compared the CD8(+) T-cell immunogenicity of MVA with that of a virulent laboratory strain of VACV (strain WR) in BALB/c mice by examining epitope-specific responses as well as estimating the total number of activated CD8(+) T cells, irrespective of specificity. We found that MVA elicited total CD8(+) T-cell responses that were reduced by at least 20-fold compared with strain WR in BALB/c mice. In C57Bl/6 mice, we also found a substantial difference in immunogenicity between these VACV strains, but it was more modest at around fivefold. Of note, the size of responses to the virulent WR virus was similar in both strains of mice suggesting that BALB/c mice can mount robust CD8(+) T-cell responses to VACV. Although the data for total responses clearly showed that MVA overall is poorly immunogenic in BALB/c mice, we found one epitope for which strong responses were made irrespective of virus strain. Therefore, in the context of a vaccine, some recombinant epitopes may have similar immunogenicity when expressed from MVA and other strains of VACV, but we would expect these to be exceptions. These data show clearly the substantial difference in immunogenicity between MVA and virulent VACV strains and suggest that the impact of host genetics on responses to attenuated vaccine vectors like MVA requires more consideration.This work was funded by grants from the NIH (R01AI067401), NHMRC (APP1023141) and an ARC Future Fellowship (FT110100310) to DCT

DEPLOYTECH: Mars Sample Return Concept Study Delta Results

Agenda for this presentation is Exhaust options to reduce the launch numbers from 3 to 2: (1) Mass Reduction of Max-C Rover, ACO Orbiter, and or ACO ERS (2) Eliminate Max-C Rover (3) Launch vehicle options (4) Solar Sail for all interplanetary propulsion, chemical for maneuvering Goal would be to: (1) Brainstorm any other alternatives we have not considered (2) Eliminate any of the options listed above (3) Go forward with a possible viable option that is identified

DEPLOYTECH: Mars Sample Return Concept Study

No abstract availabl

Design and Development of NEA Scout Solar Sail Deployer Mechanism

The 6U (approximately10cm x 20cm x 30cm) cubesat Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout, projected for launch in September 2018 aboard the maiden voyage of the Space Launch System (SLS), will utilize a solar sail as its main method of propulsion throughout its approximately 3 year mission to a near earth asteroid. Due to the extreme volume constraints levied onto the mission, an acutely compact solar sail deployment mechanism has been designed to meet the volume and mass constraints, as well as provide enough propulsive solar sail area and quality in order to achieve mission success. The design of such a compact system required the development of approximately half a dozen prototypes in order to identify unforeseen problems and advance solutions. Though finite element analysis was performed during this process in an attempt to quantify forces present within the mechanism during deployment, both the boom and the sail materials do not lend themselves to achieving high-confidence results. This paper focuses on the obstacles of developing a solar sail deployment mechanism for such an application and the lessons learned from a thorough development process. The lessons presented here will have significant applications beyond the NEA Scout mission, such as the development of other deployable boom mechanisms and uses for gossamer-thin films in space

Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Conceptual Design and Mission Analysis

The Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (NCPS) is an in-space transportation vehicle, comprised of three main elements, designed to support a long-stay human Mars mission architecture beginning in 2035. The stage conceptual design and the mission analysis discussed here support the current nuclear thermal propulsion going on within partnership activity of NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE). The transportation system consists of three elements: 1) the Core Stage, 2) the In-line Tank, and 3) the Drop Tank. The driving mission case is the piloted flight to Mars in 2037 and will be the main point design shown and discussed. The corresponding Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle (LV) is also presented due to it being a very critical aspect of the NCPS Human Mars Mission architecture due to the strong relationship between LV lift capability and LV volume capacity