Scratching the surface or digging deeper: an exploration of students\u27 attitudes toward their ethnic identity and cultural proficiency among undergraduate students at Rowan University

The purpose of this study was to gauge the attitudes of selected undergraduate students toward their ethnic identity, cultural knowledge, and cultural accountability at Rowan University. This study was conducted in the spring 2015 semester; freshmen residing in the Chestnut residence hall and seniors residing in the Rowan Boulevard apartment complex were surveyed. There was a total of 260 subjects surveyed over the course of three weeks. The subjects reported generally positive attitudes regarding their ethnic identity, cultural knowledge, and cultural accountability. The findings of this study revealed that Rowan University students indicated positive attitudes regarding their ethnic identity, cultural knowledge, and cultural accountability. Mean scores were lowest in the cultural accountability factor grouping and highest in the cultural knowledge factor grouping. Statistically significant correlations were not found among the demographic variables class rank and race and the three factor groupings ethnic identity, cultural knowledge, and cultural accountability; however, the results of this study suggest that the subjects have a generally positive attitude toward their ethnic identity, cultural knowledge, and cultural accountability

Influence of supplementary cementitious materials on hydration, microstructure development, and durability of concrete

In recent years the use of supplementary cementitious materials in the production of concrete has become an ever more frequent trend, since such use contributes to a sustainable concrete industry. The main reason for this lies in the reduction of the specific energy requirement and of carbon dioxide emissions in the production of cement (OPC). One such environmentally friendly product is fly ash (FA), which occurs as a by-product of coal-fired thermal power plants. In the first part of the thesis the hydration of OPC and FA at early ages, as well as at later ages, was monitored by means of calorimetry and thermogravimetry. During the first hours the FA retarded the hydration of OPC, particularly the belite hydration. Up to an age of 28 days, the FA exerted a physical nucleation effect on the OPC hydration, which did not compensate for the dilution effect. Furthermore, between 21 and 28 days, a decrease was observed in the amount of calcium hydroxide (CH), and a corresponding increase in the amount of bound water relative to the OPC content, due to a pozzolanic reaction, indicating a change in the hydration products that are formed in the FA blended cement, i.e. less CH and more C-S-H and AFm phases relative to the OPC content. Comparing the two investigated types of FA, siliceous and calcareous FA, no clear difference can be observed with regard to the decrease in the amount of CH. On the other hand, the amount of hydrated products increased significantly up to 28 days, and then not changed much up to one year in the case of the cement paste with siliceous FA. In contrast, in cement paste made by using calcareous FA, the amount of hydrated products increased gradually up to one year. Over a period of one year the consumption of CH was 50% greater in the case of cement pastes containing 30% FA than in the case of cement paste without such an addition. This phenomenon was reflected over time in the observed increase in the mechanical strength of the binder. After 90 days, the compressive strength of concrete in which 20% of the OPC was replaced by FA exceeded the compressive strength of the unmodified concrete. Furthermore, when the replacement level was 50%, the 90 day compressive strengths were almost comparable. When characterizing the mechanical properties of two concrete mixtures made with different types of carbonate aggregate but with identical mix designs, it was found that, in the case of concrete made by using dolostone aggregate, there was a considerable increase in the compressive strength (24%) and modulus of elasticity (13%), compared with the values which corresponded to concrete made by using limestone aggregate. These differences initiated a further investigation into the alkali-carbonate reaction (ACR) which occurs when carbonate minerals react in an alkaline environment. The first process of the mechanisms of ACR is called dedolomitization. In contrast to statements which can be found in the literature, in the case of the used high-purity dolostone aggregate, which did not contain any reactive silica, the dedolomitization was observed after a 6-month exposure period in water. That means that no accelerators in the form of highly alkaline solutions or reactive components are needed to initiate the reaction. Moreover, a new phase which was rich in Si, Al and Mg atoms, was observed between the dedolomitizated aggregate and the secondary calcite. It is supposed that this phenomenon may be responsible for the improvement in the mechanical characteristics of the concrete made by using dolostone aggregate, due to the denser interfacial transition zone and better interlocking of the cement binder and the aggregate grains. The behaviour of the FA modified concrete in aggressive environments was also investigated, and compared to that of unmodified concrete. The study of chloride ingress showed that the FA modified concretes achieved smaller penetration depths, and thus required smaller cover depths. The test results indicated a beneficial effect of FA modified concrete, even when 50% of the OPC was replaced by FA. The results correspond well with measured porosity by means of mercury porosimetry. A higher percentage of ink-bottle porosity was confirmed experimentally in the case of the FA modified concrete. This leads to a lower effective porosity, which means that a higher resistance of the concrete to chloride penetration was achieved. Not only the porosity but also the chemical composition of the FA plays an important role in chloride diffusion in concrete. The concrete with siliceous FA, which had a lower content of calcium, showed better resistance to chloride penetration up to 90 days than the concrete with calcareous FA. On the other hand, after 126 days the concrete with -vicalcareous FA showed better chloride resistance characteristics than the concrete with siliceous FA. This phenomenon seemed to correlate with experimentally observed compressive strength results. The chloride binding was also tested by means of the differences between the amount of water and total-soluble chloride content. The effect of the replacement of OPC by FA on chloride binding capacity was not particularly pronounced. However, the assumption that FA blended cements containing higher amounts of AFm phases relative to the OPC content, which are favourable for chloride binding, was confirmed by calorimetry. The performance of FA modified concrete was poorer in the case of carbonation and frost/salt attack by de-icing salts. With regard to carbonation, the carbonation depth increased with increasing FA content in the concrete mixture that was exposed for 18 weeks to a 10 vol% CO2 environment. Nevertheless, the depth of carbonation at the end of the FA modified concrete’s life could still be acceptable in normal environments in the cases when 20% of the OPC is replaced by FA. In the case of concrete structures that are exposed to the combined action of frost and de-icing salts, the addition of FA should not be greater than 20%. Although FA modified concrete mixtures can achieve a high compressive strength class, the concrete mixture containing 50% of FA proved to have poorer resistance to frost/salt attack. Also the impact of the type of chloride salts on frost/salt scaling was discussed. The test results indicated that sodium, magnesium, and calcium chloride at solution concentrations of 3% showed no significant differences of the unmodified concrete mixture. Otherwise, more rapid scaling rate was observed in the case when the solution concentration of CaCl2 was increased to 24%

Modelling postharvest quality behaviour as affected by preharvest conditions

Some hundred years ago, wise men decided that preharvest research and applications had to be regarded separated from the postharvest handling and behaviour. Over the years, both areas developed completely separated. Control over both areas was obtained by different companies and advisory boards, with mostly not too good means of communication between them. This decision hampered seriously the consistent and integral development of knowledge on food production and usage. Bridging the gap between all the knowledge and expertise available in the preharvest area of growing food and the postharvest area of storing and processing food, has become and is still becoming more and more important over the last couple of years. In this paper, based on theoretical considerations, on plausible (but unproven) mechanisms and applying the fundamental rules of chemical kinetics, a pathway to deduce general and generic models is developed towards a possible approach to integrate all available knowledge. Still the validity of this approach is not proven. However, a number of examples from both the applied as well as the fundamental point of view are elaborated to indicate such an interaction exists, and to indicate how to tackle the modelling problem. The examples range from physiological disorders like core brown, internal brown, chilling injury and the biological age of individual tomatoes in truss tomatoes as related to the maturity at harves

Consumers and Food Choice: Quality, Nutrition and Genes

The quantity and quality of food needed for reproduction differs from nutritional needs for health and longevity. The choice of food type and amount is driven by our genetic need for growth and reproduction, not for long term health. So, fast digestible food, rich in energy is searched for. We humans share that drive with almost all animals. The energy carrying nutrients in processed food are more accessible than in the same unprocessed food. That leads to an ever increasing level of processing, and an ever decreasing consumption of raw fruits/vegetables and home cooked meals. In the past, with alternating conditions of food shortage and food abundance, overeating in times of prosperity was a reproductive advantage. However, high energy food becomes a severe nuisance in the age of permanent food abundance. Obesity and heart diseases spread through the developed world. That behaviour is rooted in our genetic instincts. Cultural based sensorial preferences, induced mostly in childhood by an epigenetic mechanism, present a variation around the instinctive rooted preferences. Food choice based on reflective decisions appears of minor importance. Nevertheless, all government campaigns against over-eating appeal to reason, not to instinct. We are faced with a permanent dichotomy between what is good for reproduction and what is good for health. This occurs not only in what and how we eat, but also in all neighbouring areas on the edges of food science, biology, social science, medicine and ethics

Measurement and Calculation of Absolute Single and Multiple Charge Exchange Cross Sections for Fe^(q+) Ions Impacting H_2O

Charge exchange (CE) plays a fundamental role in the collisions of solar- and stellar-wind ions with lunar and planetary exospheres, comets, and circumstellar clouds. Reported herein are absolute cross sections for single, double, triple, and quadruple CE of Fe^(q+) (q = 5-13) ions with H_2O at a collision energy of 7q keV. One measured value of the pentuple CE is also given for Fe^(9+) ions. An electron cyclotron resonance ion source is used to provide currents of the highly charged Fe ions. Absolute data are derived from knowledge of the target gas pressure, target path length, and incident and charge-exchanged ion currents. Experimental cross sections are compared with new results of the n-electron classical trajectory Monte Carlo approximation. The radiative and non-radiative cascades following electron transfers are approximated using scaled hydrogenic transition probabilities and scaled Auger rates. Also given are estimates of cross sections for single capture, and multiple capture followed by autoionization, as derived from the extended overbarrier model. These estimates are based on new theoretical calculations of the vertical ionization potentials of H_2O up to H_2O^(10+)

Genetska struktura regionalnih prekograničnih populacija istarske ovce u Hrvatskoj i Sloveniji utvrđena mikrosatelitskim markerima

Istrian dairy sheep is a local breed essential for the identity and development of the Northern- Adriatic karstic region through high-quality products, primarily the hard sheep artisanal cheese. Border changes fragmented the initial Istrian dairy sheep population in three genetically isolated sub-populations in Italy (1000 animals), Slovenia (1150 animals) and Croatia (2500 animals). Due to the drastic reduction of their population sizes and fragmentation, the populations in Croatia and Slovenia are included in governmentally supported conservation programs. The initial subpopulation in Italy was restored after near extinction with stock from Slovenia, and is used today in meat production. The aim of this study was to provide an initial understanding of the current genetic structure and distribution of the genetic variability that exists in Istrian sheep by analysing individuals sampled in two regional groups of Istrian sheep from Croatia and Slovenia. Cres island sheep and Lika pramenka sheep were used as out-groups for comparison. Genetic differentiation was analysed using factorial correspondence analysis and structure clustering over 26 microsatellite loci for a total of 104 sheep belonging to three breeds from Croatia and Slovenia. Factorial correspondence analysis and clustering-based structure analysis both showed three distinct populations: Lika pramenka sheep, Cres island sheep and Istrian sheep. We did not find a marked genetic divergence of the regional groups of Istrian sheep. Istrian sheep regional group from Slovenia showed lower genetic variability compared to the one from Croatia. Variability and structure information obtained in this study considered alongside with socio-cultural-contexts and economic goals for the Istrian sheep reared in Croatia and Slovenia indicate that the cross-border exchange of genetic material of animals carrying private alleles among populations would maintain these alleles at low frequencies and minimize the inbreeding rate.Istarska ovca je autohtona pasmina ključna za identitet i razvoj sjevernojadranske regije zbog visokokvalitetnih mliječnih proizvoda. Promjenama granica inicijalna populacija istarske ovce je fragmentirana u tri genetski izolirane sub-populacije u Italiji (1000 životinja), Sloveniji (1150 životinja) i Hrvatskoj (2500 životinja). Zbog fragmentacije i smanjenja veličine populacija, istarske ovce su u Sloveniji i Hrvatskoj uključene u konzervacijske programe državnih potpora. Talijanska populacija je nakon inicijalnog drastičnog smanjenja broja danas obnovljena isključivo iz slovenskih stada. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je omogućiti razumijevanje današnje genetske strukture i raspodijele genetske raznolikosti istarske ovce istraživanjem slovenske i hrvatske sub-populacije. Creska i lička pramenka korištene su kao grupe za usporedbu. Genetska diferencijacija istražena je faktorijalnom analizom korespondencije i strukturnim klasteriranjem na temelju 26 mikrosatelitskih lokusa genotipiziranih kod 104 ovce. Obje analize pokazale su tri distinktne populacije: lička i creska pramenka, te istarska ovca. Genetička divergencija istarske ovce iz Slovenije i Hrvatske nije izražena. Istarska ovca iz Slovenije pokazala je nižu genetsku varijabilnost od sub-populacije iz Hrvatske. Temeljem informacija o varijabilnosti i strukturi iz ovog istraživanja, kao i društveno-kulturalnog konteksta te ekonomskih ciljeva za slovensku i hrvatsku sub-populaciju istarskih ovaca, može se reći da bi izmjena genetskog materijala životinja s privatnim alelima omogućila održavanje tih alela u niskoj učestalosti, te smanjila genetske posljedice parenja u srodstvu

Similarities between quality and health promoting compounds as a result to stress

Antioxidants are produce by plants as a defence mechanism against stress. It is not unlikely that quality related properties are related to that stress induced production system (secondary metabolites). Based on purely theoretical considerations and on scarce information from literature and experts, a highly speculative model was developed to investigate the possible importance of stress levels on the production of health promoting compounds and quality related properties. Simulations with that model, using completely arbitrary parameter values showed that a relation exist between applied stress and production of these beneficiary compounds

Green mathematics: Benefits of including biological variation in your data analysis

Biological variation is omnipresent in nature. It contains useful information that is neglected by the usually applied statistical procedures. To extract this information special procedures have to be applied. Biological variation is seen in properties (e.g. size, colour, firmness), but the underlying issue is almost always to the variation in development or maturity in a batch of individuals generated by small scale environmental differences. The principles of assessing biological variation in batches of individuals are explained without putting emphasis on mathematical details. Obtained explained parts increase from about 60 to 80 % for the usual approach to 95 when the biological variation is taken into account. When technical variation or measuring error is small even 99 % can be achieved. The benefit of the presented technology is highlighted based on a number of already published studies covering the colour of apples during growth and storage and the firmness of cut tomatoes during storage

Evaluation of Clinico-Pathological Alterations Including Some Leukocyte Ratios and Survival Rate in Dogs with IMHA Transfused and Not Transfused: A Retrospective Study

Immune-mediated hemolytic anaemia (IMHA) is a common hematological disorder in dogs. It can be primary or secondary and it is characterized by anti-RBC antibodies production. IMHA requires a detailed diagnostic pathway as well as a complex therapeutic approach that can include blood transfusion. Unfortunately, IMHA presents a high mortality rate, especially within 15 days after onset. This retrospective study evaluated: a) the clinical and clinico-pathological alterations that influenced the choice to perform a blood transfusion in an IMHA patient; b) if blood transfusion could be an additional therapeutic approach; c) application of leukocyte ratios in the prognosis. Sixty-seven cases of IMHA, both primary and secondary, admitted to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital between May 2010 and July 2018, were included. Signalment, history, clinical signs, clinico-pathological parameters and survival rate were collected. Patients were divided in two groups: 44 patients (IMHAnt) treated with immunosuppressive therapy alone (primary n=36, secondary n=8) and 23 patients (IMHAt), which received also a blood transfusion (primarily packed RBC) (primary n=16, secondary n=6). For all collected parameters, both groups were statistically compared. The IMHAt patients compared to IMHAnt patients (un-regarding to primary or secondary cause) presented: worse marks according to Tokyo Score System (TSS) (Chi Squared, p=0.003); a lower erythrocyte count (T-test, p=0.039), hemoglobin concentration (T-test, p=0.029) and platelet count (Mann-Withney, M-W, p=0.008); a higher value of band neutrophils (M-W, p=0.022), band neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (M-W, p=0.005), (band neutrophil/neutrophil) to lymphocyte ratio (M-W, p=0.006) and a lower value of lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (M-W, p=0.013); a higher value of C-reactive protein (M-W, p=0.011) and activated partial thromboplastin time (M-W, p=0.014); and a lower survival rate at day 120 (Kaplan-Meyer, logrank, p=0.004) and not at 7, 15 and 30 days. Blood transfusions were performed based on the severity of clinical and clinico-pathological signs. IMHAt patients showed a more severe disease (according to TSS), a greater acute inflammatory condition and more coagulative defects. The high death rate among IMHAt patients at 120 days was related to their critical condition, which is probably why the desired benefit of blood transfusion wasn’t reached. However, a link between blood transfusions and the related worse clinical signs in IMHAt patients could not be ruled-out. Finally, the leukocyte ratios in dogs affected by IMHA were assessed for the first time so far and they were proven to be useful markers of acute inflammation and could have a prognostic value