crisscrossing Science Episode 063: A Deep Dive into Sponges

In this episode, Mike Crosser (professor of physics at Linfield College) and Chad Tillberg (professor of biology at Linfield College) invite special guest Dr. Jeremy Weisz (associate professor of biology at Linfield College) into the studio to discuss sponges, including why they\u27re interesting and why they are ecologically important. It turns out sponges do more than clean your dishes

Predicting termination and continuation status in shelter programs using the Transtheoretical Model with Hispanic battered women.

This study tested the applicability of the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change in predicting early termination, appropriate termination, and ongoing treatment of Hispanic battered women residing at domestic violence shelters. Self-efficacy, decisional balance, and acculturation were examined in relation to the applicability of this model with the Hispanic women population. One hundred and eight women residing in two shelters for survivors of domestic violence, located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, were asked to provide information regarding the problems in their relationships, the pull and the strain of their relationship, their level of temptation to stay in the abusive relationship, and how confident they felt that they would not return to their abuser (The Process of Change in Abused Women Scales- PROCAWS). In addition, the women were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their level of acculturation. This study confirmed the stage of change profiles found in a population of battered women as well as in other clinical populations and the results suggest that this model is applicable to Hispanic populations. The results indicated that the women in this sample could be meaningfully grouped according to their level of involvement in different stages of change. Furthermore, this study provided support for the validity of this theory by finding significant relationships among the profiles of change and the intervening variables that moderate movement across the stages of change. The women in this study differed with regard to their level of temptation to stay in their relationships and the amount of cons they to making changes. The findings also confirmed that the Transtheoretical Model can be used to predict termination status from domestic violence shelter programs. Although there were no significant differences in termination status among the women with different stage of change profiles, a trend existed that women in earlier stages of change terminated earlier and women in later stages of change terminated appropriately. Overall, the results of this study provide evidence for the applicability of the Transtheoretical Model and the usefulness of the PROCAWS in identifying profiles of change that can potentially guide treatment interventions and predict early termination with the Hispanic population

Exploring Relationships Between Recalled Parenting and Anaclitic and Introjective Depression

This study related college students' remembered early relationships with parents to their depression symptoms and to dependent and self-critical subjective feelings. Undergraduates (N = 217, 118 female, 99 male) provided information regarding their current level of depression, overall functioning, subjective feelings of depression (Depressive Experiences Questionnaire), negative thoughts, interpersonal functioning, and recollections of their parents' behavior and attitudes. Depression symptoms were related to dependent and self-critical feelings and to recalled low parental care and high parental control. However, for women, paternal affection and, for men, paternal control, were unrelated to depression symptoms. Other results are inconclusive but, overall, provide evidence for the usefulness of Blatt's theory in assessing depression via dependent and self-critical subjective feelings

The Lattice Λ\Lambda Parameter in Domain Wall QCD

We evaluate the ratio of the scale parameter $\Lambda$ in domain wall QCD to the one in the continuum theory at one loop level incorporating the effect of massless quarks. We show that the Pauli-Villars regulator is required to subtract the unphysical massive fermion modes which emerge in the fermion loop contributions to the gluon self energy. Detailed results are presented as a function of the domain wall height $M$.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure as eps-file, some references adde

Asymptotic behavior in the scalar field theory

An asymptotic solution of the system of Schwinger-Dyson equations for four-dimensional Euclidean scalar field theory with interaction $\frac{\lambda}{2}(\phi^*\phi)^2$ is obtained. For $\lambda>\lambda_{cr}=16\pi^2$ the two-particle amplitude has the pathology-free asymptotic behavior at large momenta. For $\lambda<\lambda_{cr}$ the amplitude possesses Landau-type singularity.Comment: 16 pages; journal version; references adde

Perturbative renormalization factors in domain-wall QCD with improved gauge actions

We evaluate renormalization factors of the domain-wall fermion system with various improved gauge actions at one loop level. The renormalization factors are calculated for quark wave function, quark mass, bilinear quark operators, three- and four-quark operators in modified minimal subtraction (MS-bar) scheme with the dimensional reduction(DRED) as well as the naive dimensional regularization(NDR). We also present detailed results in the mean field improved perturbation theory.Comment: 44 page

Interaction of rat liver glucocorticoid receptor with heparin.

When rat liver cytosol containing [3H]dexamethasone-glucocorticoid receptor complex is exposed to immobilized heparin (Sepharose-heparin; Seph-hep) the steroid receptor complex binds to the substituted Sepharose avidly [Kd = 3.5 (+/- 1.7) X 10(-10) M], and 80-90% of the receptor present is adsorbed to the solid phase after 40 min at 0 degree C. The binding is enhanced by Mn2+ (10 mM) and Mg2+, whereas Ca2+ and Sr2+ are ineffective. Sodium molybdate (10 mM) does not influence the reaction but enhances receptor stability. Moreover, binding of the receptor to Seph-hep is dependent on the ionic strength of the medium, because binding is totally reversed by 300 mM KCl. The bound [3H]dexamethasone-receptor complex can be recovered from Seph-hep with solutions (4 mg/mL) of heparin (95% release), dextran sulfate (88%), and chondroitin sulfate (63%); total calf liver RNA is less effective (9%), whereas dextran, D-glucosamine, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, D-glucuronic acid, and sheared calf thymus DNA are totally ineffective (less than 3%). Both "native" and temperature "transformed" forms of the glucocorticoid receptor interact with immobilized heparin. These results strongly suggest that the receptor site that binds heparin is distinct from that binding DNA. An immediate application of this newly found ability of the glucocorticoid receptor to interact with heparin is the use of Seph-hep for affinity chromatography purification of the glucocorticoid receptor. A purification of 10-fold, with a recovery of 55-65%, can be achieved by using either 4 mg/mL heparin or 300 mM KCl to elute [3H]dexamethasone-receptor bound to the resin

The H-alpha Light Curves and Spatial Distribution of Novae in M81

We present the results of a preliminary H-alpha survey of M81 for novae conducted over a 5 month interval using the 5' field of view camera (WFCAM) on the Calypso Telescope at Kitt Peak, AZ. We observed M81 nearly every clear night during this interval, covering the entire galaxy, and discovered 12 novae. Our comprehensive time coverage allowed us to produce the most complete set of H-alpha light curves for novae in M81 to date. A raw nova rate for M81 gives 23 yr^-1 which, because of the nature of our survey, is a hard lower limit. An analysis of the completeness in our survey gives a corrected nova rate of 30 yr^-1. This agrees well with the rate of 33 (+13,-8) yr^-1, derived from Monte Carlo simulations using nova light curves and survey frame limits. The spatial distribution of the novae we discovered follows the bulge light much better than the disk or total light according to Kolmogorov - Smirnov tests of their radial distributions. The asymmetry in the distribution of novae across the major axis line of M81 implies a bulge-to-disk nova ratio of > 9 and supports the idea that novae originate primarily in older stellar populations.Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures, and 7 tables, accepted, to appear in AJ, Feb 2004, updated raw and completeness corrected nova rate