Gabriel Bizen Akigawa Interview

Artist Bio: Gabriel Bizen Akagawa is the Assistant Director of Academic Advising and recently former Academic Advisor in the Office of Student Affairs and Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Sculpture department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He exhibits regularly as a Chicago-based artist. He has been awarded Artist-in-Residencies at the Alternator Gallery for Contemporary Art in Kelowna, British Columbia, at Crabtree Farm in Lake Bluff, Illinois, and at Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, Michigan. His curatorial projects include an ongoing and changing series he initiated in 2005 called “Faketure” (fake nature), which lead to founding the Faketure Consortium of Artists. He situates his art and curatorial practices as medicinal activities to investigate humanity\u27s complex relationship with nature. Artist Bio taken from http://www.gabrielakagawa.com/home/biograph

The Role of Central Metabolism and Electron Transport in Biofilm Formation by Vibrio fischeri

Biofilms protect bacteria from environmental threats, including antibiotics; thus, biofilms formed during infections pose an increasing threat to human health. A natural model used to study biofilm formation in the context of a host is the symbiosis between Vibrio fischeri and its host, the squid Euprymna scolopes. Successful colonization depends on the formation of a biofilm and genes involved in making the polysaccharide matrix component, syp. In culture, biofilm phenotypes, including the formation of wrinkled colonies, similarly depend on syp. However, little is known about other factors that contribute to this phenotype. To expand the utility of currently available genetic tools, I developed a Tn5 transposon containing an outward facing lac promoter and a V. fischeri strain expressing lacI with which to control that promoter. To search for genes with previously uncharacterized roles in biofilm formation, I mutagenized the lacI-expressing biofilm-forming strain, and screened for mutants that failed to form wrinkled colonies. As expected, my screen for biofilm-defective smooth colonies yielded mutants of syp genes as well as other genes known to be required for biofilm formation. Several other mutants with disruptions in genes involved in central metabolism and electron transport we also isolated. Next, I shifted my attention to characterizing these mutant strains. Mutants lacking glnA, which encodes glutamine synthetase, exhibited a severe biofilm defect that could be rescued by the addition of glutamine, its product. A mutant defective for mdh (malate dehydrogenase) displayed an intermediate (diminished wrinkling) biofilm phenotype which could also be rescued by the addition of glutamine. Mutants lacking pck, which encodes PEP carboxykinase, also exhibited a severe biofilm defect, displaying not only a smooth colony phenotype but also adhering to the agar surface. I was unable to identify conditions that fully rescued the biofilm defect, but the addition of gluconeogenic carbon sources such as glucose abrogated the adherence phenotype. An sdhE mutant formed smooth colonies with small divots after prolonged growth, and an independently isolated sdhC mutant was similarly biofilm-defective; both mutants have defects in production of the succinate dehydrogenase complex. Of note was the phenotypes of three electron transport system mutants with insertions within two nqr (Na+-translocating NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) genes and the ubiG (ubiquinone biosynthesis) gene: these mutants exhibited an extreme ability to strongly adhere attach to each other and/or the agar surface under biofilm-inducing conditions. The nqr phenotype required the production of Syp polysaccharide. Together, my work indicates a link between the metabolic state of the cell and biofilm formation

Load partitioning and evidence of deformation twinning in dual-phase fine-grained zr-2.5%Nb alloy.

In situ neutron diffraction loading experiments were carried out on a cold-rolled dual-phase (a-phase, '"' 10% b-phase) Zr–2.5%Nb alloy at room temperature. The specimens were cut at different angles from the rolling direction (RD) towards the transverse direction (TD), thus the loading axis changes gradually from the rolling to transverse direction. Due to the strong texture of the studied alloy, and unidirectional nature of deformation twinning, the changing loading direction with respect to initial texture has a significant impact on the collaborative slip-twinning deformation mode in the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) a-phase. The present neutron diffraction results provide direct evidence of {1 - 1.2}/1 - 1. - 1S ‘‘tensile’’ twins in the a-phase of dual-phase Zr–2.5%Nb alloy at room temperature. Additionally, TEM analysis was employed to confirm the presence of ‘‘tensile’’ twins, and determine if other type of twins were present. It is further clear from the neutron diffraction results that applied load is gradually transferred from the plastically softer a-phase to the plastically harder b-phase which acts as a reinforcing phase having a yield strength in the range 750–900 MPa depending on the loading direction

Th1/Th2 Cytokine Ratio in Tissue Transudates from Patients with Oral Lichen Planus

Objective. The characteristics of oral lichen planus (OLP) provoke investigators to explore possible biomarkers by which to monitor disease activity and therapeutic efficacy. Oral fluids may provide an accessible medium for analysis of such biomarkers. Previous studies have shown that activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κ B) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus (OLP), which is a chronic inflammatory disorder mediated by T cells. Prior to the present investigation, reports of the levels of NF-κ B and its dependent cytokines in oral fluids have not been forthcoming. The purpose of this study was to detect the level of NF-κ B dependent cytokines, TNF-alpha, IL-1-alpha, IL-6, and IL-8 in tissue transudates directly from lesions of OLP, and explore the feasibility of the data for clinical application. Study design. Thirteen definitively diagnosed OLP subjects were enrolled in the study as were 13 age-sex matched controls. In each subject, lesion tissue transudates (TTs) were collected by a novel collection technique with a filter paper. The level of cytokines, TNF-alpha, IL-1-alpha, IL-6, and IL-8 in three types of oral fluids were determined by ELISA. Results. In the tissue transudate(TT), there were significantly higher level of cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1-alpha, IL-6, and IL-8 detected in OLP patients than in controls: (TT: 40.0 ± 9.8 versus 4.5 ± 0.7, 710 ± 114 versus 305 ± 78, 150 ± 25 versus 1.7 ± 0.5, 2800 ± 260 versus 1450 ± 130, P < .0001; unit: pg/mL). Conclusions. These results indicate that NF-κ B dependent inflammatory cytokines may be detected at increased levels in oral lesion tissue transudates which may have diagnostic and prognostic potentials for monitoring disease activity and making therapeutic decisions in patients with OLP

ERP system implementation in small and medium-sized enterprises

This thesis presents a study of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Compared to large enterprises, SMEs represent fundamentally different environments, with a number of characteristics typifying the SME context. Because of these distinguishing differences, the findings from studies of ERP implementation in large enterprises cannot be fully applied to SMEs. The purpose of this research project is to explore the influences of the SME context on the ERP system implementation, addressing the following overall research question: How does the SME context affect ERP system implementation? The implementation term in this thesis refers to the entire ERP life-cycle, denoting the complete implementation process. A qualitative exploratory research approach is applied to answer the research question. The research is conducted through a combination of literature review and case study research. The empirical part comprises a multiple case study of ERP implementation in four SMEs. All four case organizations are privately owned SMEs in the Czech Republic. The research strategy applied is to investigate influences of the contextual factors on various activities across the ERP life-cycle. A list of characteristics, which typify the SME context and could potentially influence on ERP implementation, is synthesized from relevant literature. The SME characteristics are grouped into three contextual dimensions: organizational, environmental, and technological. Then, the influences of the SME characteristics on various activities across the ERP life-cycle are explored. To organize the findings, a six stage model of the ERP-life cycle is adopted. A detailed cross-case analysis is conducted, identifying similar and contrasting findings between the cases. The research results are presented in five articles published in international conference proceedings and journals. The purpose of this thesis summary is to integrate and discuss the results presented in the publications in a coherent way. The thesis contributes to four research areas. First, the study contributes to the research stream on contextual influences on ERP system implementation, with particular focus on the influence of the SME context. The ownership type and limited resources were identified as the most influential characteristics of the SME context. Furthermore, an early stage of organizational growth and obsolete legacy systems influenced several issues

African American Males and Education: A Study of Successes and Failures

This study investigated the educational and social experiences of African American males reared in poverty. The focus of this study was on a particular low- income neighborhood in Columbus, Georgia. I was interested in this neighborhood because I, an African American male, lived there for 7 years. I researched and recorded the lives of eight African American males, including myself, who were raised in this low- income neighborhood. The study investigated our life experiences, with emphasis on those issues related to education and race. With the neighborhood context as the frame, emphasis was placed on understanding why some of my African American male peers succeeded in school and life, while others did not. The study involved conducting life history interviews, and the data collected were used to construct first-person narratives of each participant. The narratives were analyzed to determine themes within and across the life histories. The four principle themes were: personal success, fatherly support/relationship, fair treatment, and better lifestyle. I found that all of the African American male participants had aspirations and dreams. They yearned for quality relationships with their fathers. The participants spoke out vehemently against racism, desiring to be treated fairly. All of the participants wanted something better in life than what they experienced as children and teenagers in the projects, and they worked towards the fulfillment of that dream. Resilience was also a common characteristic and was discussed in detail.ii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 The Problem ............................................................................................................ 1 The Research Project .............................................................................................. 5 Research Goals........................................................................................................ 6 Research Questions ................................................................................................. 7 Significance of Study .............................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE........................................................... 10 Structuralist Perspective........................................................................................ 10 Culturalist Perspective .......................................................................................... 12 Teacher Issues ....................................................................................................... 13 Racism................................................................................................................... 14 School Structure .................................................................................................... 16 Resilience .............................................................................................................. 20 Local Context ........................................................................................................ 23 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY .................................................................................. 43 Participants ............................................................................................................ 54 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 56 Validity and the Construction of Themes ............................................................. 58 Within Case/Cross Case Analysis ........................................................................ 61 Subjectivity ........................................................................................................... 63 Limitations of this Study ....................................................................................... 75 CHAPTER IV THE NARRATIVES ............................................................................... 77 iii Johnny the Optimist .............................................................................................. 77 Jeremy The Promising Athlete.............................................................................. 96 Orlando the Ball Player ....................................................................................... 110 Patrick the Talented Singer ................................................................................. 134 Randy the Penny Pincher .................................................................................... 151 Victor the Comedian ........................................................................................... 169 Jonathon the Hustler ........................................................................................... 184 Darrell the Underdog .......................................................................................... 216 CHAPTER V CASE ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 235 Individual Traits (Within Case Analysis) ........................................................... 235 Analysis of Johnny .................................................................................. 235 Analysis of Jeremy .................................................................................. 241 Analysis of Orlando ................................................................................ 248 Analysis of Patrick .................................................................................. 254 Analysis of Randy ................................................................................... 262 Analysis of Victor ................................................................................... 267 Analysis of Jonathon ............................................................................... 272 Analysis of Darrell .................................................................................. 281 Collective Traits (Cross Case Analysis) ............................................................. 289 Emergent Themes ................................................................................... 289 Longing for Personal Success (I Wanna Be Somebody!) ........... 290 Longing for Fatherly Support/Relationship (I Need My Dad!) .. 304 Longing for Fair Treatment (Dont Treat Me Like That!) .......... 314 Longing for Better Life (I Want Something Better Than This!) 322 Other Thematic Discussions ................................................................... 328 Resilience .................................................................................... 328 Playing the Dozens ..................................................................... 340 CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION. .................................................................................... 343 Summary of Findings .......................................................................................... 343 Application of Findings ...................................................................................... 347 Literature Applications ....................................................................................... 351 Future Research .................................................................................................. 367 Final Thoughts .................................................................................................... 370 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 373 APPENDIX A: CONCEPTUALIZATION MEMOS .................................................... 387 APPENDIX B: CONCEPTUALIZATION EMAILS .................................................... 395 APPENDIX C: IRB APPROVAL .................................................................................. 415 APPENDIX D: INFORMED CONSENT FORM .......................................................... 417 APPENDIX E: INTERVIEW GUIDE............................................................................ 419 APPENDIX F: CATEGORY OCCURRENCE CHART ............................................... 422Schmertzing, Richard W.Richard, MatthewMyers-Jennings, CorineSchmertzing, Lorraine C.Ed.D.Educatio

GLAS Spacecraft Pointing Study

Science requirements for the GLAS mission demand that the laser altimeter be pointed to within 50 m of the location of the previous repeat ground track. The satellite will be flown in a repeat orbit of 182 days. Operationally, the required pointing information will be determined on the ground using the nominal ground track, to which pointing is desired, and the current propagated orbit of the satellite as inputs to the roll computation algorithm developed by CCAR. The roll profile will be used to generate a set of fit coefficients which can be uploaded on a daily basis and used by the on-board attitude control system. In addition, an algorithm has been developed for computation of the associated command quaternions which will be necessary when pointing at targets of opportunity. It may be desirable in the future to perform the roll calculation in an autonomous real-time mode on-board the spacecraft. GPS can provide near real-time tracking of the satellite, and the nominal ground track can be stored in the on-board computer. It will be necessary to choose the spacing of this nominal ground track to meet storage requirements in the on-board environment. Several methods for generating the roll profile from a sparse reference ground track are presented

Event- , politics-, and audience-driven news: a comparison of populism in European media coverage in 2016 and 2017

This chapter focuses on trends in reporting over time. It examines the presence of populist key messages in “news coverage of immigration” and “commentaries on current political events” in European newspapers at two points in time, namely spring 2016 and spring 2017. The chapter has a twofold aim. First, it will explore similarities and differences in the populist content of European newspapers between the two periods. Second, it identifies a set of extra-media and intra-media explanatory factors contributing to the understanding of the emerging differences in a year-to-year comparison. The chapter by Blassnig et al. in this volume provides more detailed information about the newspaper stories we content-analyzed. Two types of stories are analyzed: ‘news articles on immigration’, and ‘editorials commenting on current political events’ irrespective of the topic. While the chapter by Blassnig et al. pooled and jointly investigated the data from 2016 and 2017, and the chapter by Maurer et al. in this volume, used only content data from 2017, this chapter will evaluate and compare the data from 2016 and 2017. These two periods are seen as two phases of a news and policy cycle that responds to real world cues. The two phases are understood as stages of a crisis, which offer more or less favorable opportunity structures for populist discourse (Moffitt, 2015). As stated in the introduction to this volume, a whole range of contextual factors influence the populist worldview of crises and, subsequently, the use of populist communication in news reports and commentaries about theses crises

Exons 19 and 21 of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Are Highly Conserved in Squamous Cell Cancer of the Head and Neck

Objective. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibition (TKI) is a promising treatment in upper aerodigestive malignancies. EGFR inhibitors might be more effective in patients whose tumors harbor specific EGFR mutations. The presence of specific EFGR mutations is predictive of over a 75% response rate to TKI therapies as compared to 10% in wild type cases of non-small cell lung cancer. Our objective was to examine whether these mutations might occur in upper aerodigestive cancers. Design. DNA was extracted from 20 head and neck squamous cell tumors and 4 squamous cell carcinoma cell lines and sequenced the receptor using published primer pairs. We then compared the results against published mutations. Results. No exon 19 or 21 mutations were found in any of the 20 tumors and 0 of 4 cell lines. Based on the tumor data we would predict that no greater than 8% of head and neck tumors (CI 97.5%) would be likely to harbor either of these mutations. Conclusions. Our findings are comparable to results recently published of Korean, Austrian, and Spanish patient populations and we conclude that exon 19 and 21 EGFR mutations are not more common in head and neck cancer than in nonsmall-cell carcinoma