Poems by Jeffrey Wilkinson

This is a selection of eight of my best poems. I think they all pretty much speak for themselves. These particular works span the last five years or so, in no particular order. I have pretty much always written poems, but only in the last five years do I consider that any of them began to start revealing a good quality. I usually only write a poem if I feel a particular urge to do so, and it’s never premeditated. Once I start, it might take a while to finish, perhaps an hour, but once it’s done I usually don’t edit it again unless I want to change a word here or there

The Role of Firearms in Violence Scripts : The Dynamics of Gun Events among Adolescent Males

In recent years, the use and deadly consequences of gun violence among adolescents has reached epidemic proportions. At a time when national homicide rates are declining, the increasing rates of firearm deaths among teenagers is especially alarming. Deaths of adolescents due to firearm injuries are disproportionately concentrated among nonwhites, and especially among African-American teenagers and young adults. Only in times of civil war have there been higher within-group homicide rates in the United States. There appears to be a process of self-annihilation among male African-American teens in inner cities that is unprecedented in American history. Unfortunately, few studies have examined these sharp increases in gun fatalities among young males. This article attempts to contribute to the scant literature by examining the role of firearms in violent events among adolescent males. First, using an event-based approach, it suggests a framework for explaining interactions that involve adolescents and firearms. Events are analyzed as situated transactions, including rules that develop within specific contexts, the situations where weapons are used, the motivations for carrying and using weapons, and the personality sets of groups where weapons are used. There are rules that govern how disputes are settled, when and where firearms are used, and the significance of firearms within a broader adolescent culture. This approach does not deny the importance of the individual attributes that bring people to situations, but it recognizes that once in the situation, other processes shape the outcomes of these events

Guns, Youth Violence, and Social Identity in Inner Cities

While youth violence has always been a critical part of delinquency, the modern epidemic is marked by high rates of gun violence. Adolescents in cities possess and carry guns on a large scale, guns are often at the scene of youth violence, and guns often are used. Guns play a central role in initiating, sustaining, and elevating the epidemic of youth violence. The demand for guns among youth was fueled by an "ecology of danger," comprising street gangs, expanding drug markets with high intrinsic levels of violence, high rates of adult violence and fatalities, and cultural styles of gun possession and carrying. Guns became symbols of respect, power, identity, and manhood to a generation of youth, in addition to having strategic value for survival. The relationship between guns and youth violence is complex. The effects of guns are mediated by structural factors that increase the youth demand for guns, the available supply, and culture and scripts which teach kids lethal ways to use guns

The Phoenix Pluto Probe

A design proposal for an unmanned probe to Pluto is presented. The topics covered include: (1) scientific instrumentation; (2) mission management, planning, and costing; (3) power and propulsion system; (4) structural subsystem; (5) command, control, and communication; and (6) attitude and articulation control

Social Contagion of Violence

Since 1968, violence and other crimes in New York City have followed a pattern of recurring epidemics. There have been three consecutive and contiguous cycles characterized by sharp increases in homicides and assaults to an elevated rate followed by equally steep declines to levels near the previous starting point. The most recent epidemic, from 1985-96, had the sharpest rise and steepest decline of the three epidemics. Popular explanations of the current epidemic fail to account for both the rise and fall of the decline, or for the repetitive pattern of these epidemics. In this article, we use public health data to identify factors associated with the cyclical rise and fall of homicides and non-lethal injury violence in this most recent of the three epidemics. Homicides in this period were concentrated among minority males, ages 15-24, while victimization rates for females of all ages remained stable. Gun homicides and non-lethal gun assaults accounted for all the increase and decline in interpersonal violence from 1985-95; intentional injuries caused by other means also were stable or declining over this period. Next, we use hierarchical linear regression models, with a rich set of time-varying covariates and controls for both temporal and spatial autocorrelation, to identify whether the rise and fall of homicide are explained by processes of diffusion across adjacent neighborhoods. We estimate the probabilities of homicides and assaults in a neighborhood controlling for rates of homicide or assault in the surrounding neighborhoods in the preceding year, and find that gun violence diffuses across neighborhoods over time. Epidemic patterns of violence disproportionately affected African Americans as victims of gun violence, both homicides and non-lethal gun assaults. Diffusion was strongest in neighborhoods where social control was compromised by extreme poverty and concentrated racial segregation. Concentrations of immigrant households in neighborhoods were a protective factor in suppressing the violence epidemic. We then use social contagion theories to link contagion of violence across neighborhoods to individual data on social interactions that may animate the transmission and diffusion of violence. Analyses of the social contexts and interpersonal dynamics of violent events reveals how street interactions in interpersonal disputes link individuals within and across social networks in a competition for status that is skewed by the presence of firearms. Decisions to carry, show and use weapons are based on perceptions of threat and danger, which are shaped by the presence of firearms and the potential stigma associated with non-action. These events occur across multiple contexts - bars, streetcorners, drug markets - to reinforce perceptions of risk and expectations of the threat or reality of lethal violence

Ab initio calculation of hydration and proton transfer on sulfonated nata de coco

The repeating unit of sulfonated “nata de coco” is D-glucose sulfonate. This research aims to determine the most stable structures of sulfonated nata de coco polymer membrane, the energy and hydrogen bonds, in order to understand the characteristics, local hydration, and proton transfer on the membrane on the ab initio electronic structure calculation. The minimum energy structure for its monomer (two, three, four and five) are calculated by B3LYP/6-311G (d) method. The calculations show that there is no significant energy change on the structure interaction of two, three, four and five monomer of sulfonated nata de coco with one water molecule, which is about -18.82 kcal/mole. Those calculations that two monomers form of sulfonated nata de coco might be used to further calculation and research, because it can be considered as the representative for their polymer. The optimization and B3LYP/6-311G (d) calculation shows the amount of water molecule used for proton transfer is closely related to the formation of hydrogen bonding with sulfonic group. By the addition of one or two water molecule, the dissociated proton is stabilized by formation of hydronium ion. For further addition of water molecule (three to ten water molecules), the proton dissociation is also stabilized by the formation of Zundel ion and Eigen ion. The calculation of interaction energy with n water molecule (n = 1-10) shows that both energy change (∆E), and enthalpy change (∆H) are more negative. This implies that the interaction with water molecule is stronger. The bonding energy is about 14.0-16.5 kcal/mole per water molecule. On the addition of four and eight water molecules, proton dissociation forms two Zundel ion and two Eigen ions and causes lower bonding energy about 2 kcal/mole. Those optimization and energy calculations conclude that the formation of hydrogen bonding among water molecule and sulfonic group affects proton transfer on sulfonated nata de coco membrane

Quality Indicators and Outcomes of Emergency Caesarean Deliveries at a District-level Maternity Hospital

The objective of this research study is to identify quality indicators of cesarean deliveries and determine their relationship to neonatal and maternal morbidity and mortality in one high volume maternity hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi. Demographic, perioperative, and postoperative data were collected on all cesarean deliveries over three months. Indicators of quality (antibiotic administration, use of oxytocin, decision-to-incision time, and uterine incision type) were compared to maternal morbidities (postpartum hemorrhage, fistula and wound infection) and neonatal mortality. Causes of delays in decision to incision time were identified. 513 cesarean deliveries were performed during the study period, with no maternal deaths and 39 neonatal deaths. Adherence to oxytocin and antibiotic administration was high but not complete, with greater adherence to the former (97.1% vs 82.6%). The decision to incision time between women with and without neonatal deaths was similar (1.62 hours vs 1.49 hours, p=0.41). Most delays were attributed to a busy operating theatre (49.1%) and delayed transfer to the operating theatre (26.9%). Uterine rupture and cesarean hysterectomy were associated with an outcome of neonatal death (p<0.001). Infrastructure and personnel limitations are major barriers to the improvement of quality of cesarean deliveries. Future endeavors towards quality improvement must address these deficiencies. (Afr J Reprod Health 2015; 19[3]: 61-67). Keywords: obstetrics, international, quality, low resource L'objectif de cette étude est d'identifier les indicateurs de qualité de césariennes et de déterminer leur relation à la morbidité et la mortalité néonatale et maternelle dans un hôpital de la maternité de volume élevé à Lilongwe, au Malawi. Démographique, périopératoire, et les données post-opératoires ont été recueillies sur tous les accouchements par césarienne plus de trois mois. Indicateurs de qualité (l'administration d'antibiotiques, l'utilisation de l'ocytocine, l e temps de décision à l'incision, et de l'utérus de type d'incision) ont été comparés à de morbidité maternelle (hémorragie post-partum, la fistule et infection de la plaie) et la mortalité néonatale. Les causes de retards dans la prise à l'incision du temps ont été identifiés. 513 césariennes ont été effectuées au cours de la période de l'étude, aucun décès maternels et 39 décès néonatals. L'adhésion à l'ocytocine et l'administration d'antibiotiques était haute mais pas complet, avec une plus grande adhésion à l'ancien (97,1% vs 82,6%). La décision d'incision de temps entre les femmes avec et sans décès néonatals était similaire (1,62 vs 1,49 heures heures, p = 0,41). La plupart des retards ont été attribués à un théâtre chargé d'exploitation (49,1%) et le transfert retardé au théâtre d'exploitation (26,9%). La rupture utérine et l'hystérectomie césarienne ont été associées à un résultat de décès néonatal (p <0,001). Infrastructure et du personnel des limitations sont des obstacles majeurs à l'amélioration de la qualité des accouchements par césarienne. Les efforts futurs vers amélioration de la qualité doivent combler ces lacunes. (Afr J Reprod Health 2015; 19[3]: 61-67). Mots-clés: obstétrique, internationale, de qualité, à faible ressourc

Spaceflight Ground Support Equipment Reliability & System Safety Data

Presented were Reliability Analysis, consisting primarily of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and System Safety Analysis, consisting of Preliminary Hazards Analysis (PHA), performed to ensure that the CoNNeCT (Communications, Navigation, and Networking re- Configurable Testbed) Flight System was safely and reliably operated during its Assembly, Integration and Test (AI&T) phase. A tailored approach to the NASA Ground Support Equipment (GSE) standard, NASA-STD-5005C, involving the application of the appropriate Requirements, S&MA discipline expertise, and a Configuration Management system (to retain a record of the analysis and documentation) were presented. Presented were System Block Diagrams of selected GSE and the corresponding FMEA, as well as the PHAs. Also discussed are the specific examples of the FMEAs and PHAs being used during the AI&T phase to drive modifications to the GSE (via "redlining" of test procedures, and the placement of warning stickers to protect the flight hardware) before being interfaced to the Flight System. These modifications were necessary because failure modes and hazards were identified during the analysis that had not been properly mitigated. Strict Configuration Management was applied to changes (whether due to upgrades or expired calibrations) in the GSE by revisiting the FMEAs and PHAs to reflect the latest System Block Diagrams and Bill Of Material. The CoNNeCT flight system has been successfully assembled, integrated, tested, and shipped to the launch site without incident. This demonstrates that the steps taken to safeguard the flight system when it was interfaced to the various GSE were successful

Gene Function Expression Profile of Faba bean (Vicia faba) Seeds

Faba bean (Vicia faba L) is one of the important grain crops worldwide and its genome, the largest among grain legumes (approx. 13.4 Gb), has yet to be sequenced. Comprehensive knowledge of genes expressed in the crop's large seeds would not only help drive new gene c improvements in the crop but also aid its future genome characteriza on. Here, we applied high throughput RNA- Seq (Quan ca on) technology to compare gene expression pro les of seeds recovered from six faba bean varie es with divergent agronomic and seed quality a ributes. We iden ed a total of 47,621 Unigenes across all genotypes and a mean count of 38,712 per genotype, total genes length 27605508bp. Comparison between expression levels in lines possessing contras ng phenotypes allowed us to iden fy candidate genes that may be associated with key traits. In all pairwise comparisons of genotypes, pairwise up-regulated plus down-regulated di erences varied between 8,661 and 12,337 genes and co-expressed genes uctuated between 30,239 and 35,884. Overall, there was a mean of 24.2% genes that were di eren ally expressed between pairs of genotypes. They were similar of GO pro les generated between the two phenotypic traits (Hydra on Capacity and Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) pools and comparison of the GO pro les generated by all pairs of individual genotypes. This is the rst comprehensive analysis of gene expression gene c pro le on faba bean seeds.publishersversionPeer reviewe