The Disparate Americans: A Qualitative Analysis of Appalachians, Character, and Character Education in Appalachia

This thesis evaluates and critiques a federal research grant on character education initiatives in Appalachia. In order to do so, 1) This thesis addresses the evolution of the term “character” from Classical times to contemporary applications, while building toward the definitions, validity and current practices in character education and how it relates to Appalachians, 2) This thesis presents the challenges and upsides of developing character education curricula in Appalachia and how outside perceptions and stereotypes impact the people within, and 3) This thesis examines and interacts with original qualitative and quantitative data from the research grant

A Strategic Approach to Public Health Workforce Development and Capacity Building

In February 2010, CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), and Tuberculosis (TB) Prevention (NCHHSTP) formally institutionalized workforce development and capacity building (WDCB) as one of six overarching goals in its 2010–2015 Strategic Plan. Annually, workforce team members finalize an action plan that lays the foundation for programs to be implemented for NCHHSTP’s workforce that year. This paper describes selected WDCB programs implemented by NCHHSTP during the last 4 years in the three strategic goal areas: (1) attracting, recruiting, and retaining a diverse and sustainable workforce; (2) providing staff with development opportunities to ensure the effective and innovative delivery of NCHHSTP programs; and (3) continuously recognizing performance and achievements of staff and creating an atmosphere that promotes a healthy work–life balance. Programs have included but are not limited to an Ambassador Program for new hires, career development training for all staff, leadership and coaching for mid-level managers, and a Laboratory Workforce Development Initiative for laboratory scientists. Additionally, the paper discusses three overarching areas—employee communication, evaluation and continuous review to guide program development, and the implementation of key organizational and leadership structures to ensure accountability and continuity of programs. Since 2010, many lessons have been learned regarding strategic approaches to scaling up organization-wide public health workforce development and capacity building. Perhaps the most important is the value of ensuring the high-level strategic prioritization of this issue, demonstrating to staff and partners the importance of this imperative in achieving NCHHSTP’s mission

Von Willebrand factor delays liver repair after acetaminophen-induced acute liver injury in mice

Background &amp; Aim: Acetaminophen (APAP)-induced acute liver failure is associated with substantial alterations in the hemostatic system. In mice, platelets accumulate in the liver after APAP overdose and appear to promote liver injury. Interestingly, patients with acute liver injury have highly elevated levels of the platelet-adhesive protein von Willebrand factor (VWF), but a mechanistic connection between VWF and progression of liver injury has not been established. We tested the hypothesis that VWF contributes directly to experimental APAP-induced acute liver injury. Methods: Wild-type mice and VWF-deficient (Vwf−/−) mice were given a hepatotoxic dose of APAP (300 mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle (saline). VWF plasma levels were measured by ELISA, and liver necrosis or hepatocyte proliferation was measured by immunohistochemistry. Platelet and VWF deposition were measured by immunofluorescence. Results: In wild-type mice, VWF plasma levels, high molecular weight (HMW) VWF multimers, and VWF activity decreased 24 h after APAP challenge. These changes coupled to robust hepatic VWF and platelet deposition, although VWF deficiency had minimal effect on peak hepatic platelet accumulation or liver injury. VWF plasma levels were elevated 48 h after APAP challenge, but with relative reductions in HMW multimers and VWF activity. Whereas hepatic platelet aggregates persisted in livers of APAP-challenged wild-type mice, platelets were nearly absent in Vwf−/− mice 48 h after APAP challenge. The absence of platelet aggregates was linked to dramatically accelerated repair of the injured liver. Complementing observations in Vwf−/− mice, blocking VWF or the platelet integrin αIIbβ3 during development of injury significantly reduced hepatic platelet aggregation and accelerated liver repair in APAP-challenged wild-type mice. Conclusion: These studies are the first to suggest a mechanistic link between VWF, hepatic platelet accumulation, and liver repair. Targeting VWF might provide a novel therapeutic approach to improve repair of the APAP-injured liver. Lay summary: Patients with acute liver injury due to acetaminophen overdose have highly elevated levels of the platelet-adhesive protein von Willebrand factor. It is not known whether von Willebrand factor plays a direct role in the progression of acute liver injury. We discovered that von Willebrand factor delays repair of the acetaminophen-injured liver in mice and that targeting von Willebrand factor, even in mice with established liver injury, accelerates liver repair.</p

Status of Muon Collider Research and Development and Future Plans

The status of the research on muon colliders is discussed and plans are outlined for future theoretical and experimental studies. Besides continued work on the parameters of a 3-4 and 0.5 TeV center-of-mass (CoM) energy collider, many studies are now concentrating on a machine near 0.1 TeV (CoM) that could be a factory for the s-channel production of Higgs particles. We discuss the research on the various components in such muon colliders, starting from the proton accelerator needed to generate pions from a heavy-Z target and proceeding through the phase rotation and decay ($\pi \to \mu \nu_{\mu}$) channel, muon cooling, acceleration, storage in a collider ring and the collider detector. We also present theoretical and experimental R & D plans for the next several years that should lead to a better understanding of the design and feasibility issues for all of the components. This report is an update of the progress on the R & D since the Feasibility Study of Muon Colliders presented at the Snowmass'96 Workshop [R. B. Palmer, A. Sessler and A. Tollestrup, Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on High-Energy Physics (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA, 1997)].Comment: 95 pages, 75 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Special Topics, Accelerators and Beam

Hubble Space Telescope STIS Observations of GRB 000301C: CCD Imaging and Near-Ultraviolet MAMA Spectroscopy

We present Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations of the optical transient (OT) counterpart of the γ-ray burster GRB 000301C obtained 5 days after the burst, on 2000 March 6. CCD clear-aperture imaging reveals a R ≃ 21.50 ± 0.15 source with no apparent host galaxy. An 8000 s, 1150 Å 18 on the line of sight to the OT. This measured redshift is conservatively a lower limit to the GRB redshift. However, as all other GRBs that have deep Hubble Space Telescope images appear to lie on the stellar field of a host galaxy, and as the large H I column density measured here and in later ground-based observations is unlikely on a random line of sight, we believe we are probably seeing absorption from H I in the host galaxy. In any case, this represents the largest direct redshift determination of a γ-ray burster to date. Our data are compatible with an OT spectrum represented by a power law with an intrinsic index α = 1.2 (f_ν ∝ ν^(-α)) and no extinction in the host galaxy, or with α = 0.5 and extinction by SMC-like dust in the OT rest frame with A_V = 0.15. The large N_(H I) and the lack of a detected host are similar to the situation for damped Lyα absorbers at z > 2

HST/STIS observations of GRB000301C: CCD imaging and NUV MAMA spectroscopy

We present HST/STIS observations of the optical counterpart (OT) of the gamma-ray burster GRB 000301C obtained on 2000 March 6, five days after the burst. CCD clear aperture imaging reveals a R ~ 21.50+/-0.15 source with no apparent host galaxy. An 8000 s, 1150 < lambda/A < 3300 NUV-MAMA prism spectrum shows a relatively flat continuum (in f_lambda) between 2800 and 3300 A, with a mean flux 8.7 (+0.8,-1.6)+/- 2.6 10^(-18) ergs/s/cm^2/A, and a sharp break centered at 2797+/-25 A. We interpret it as HI Lyman break at z = 2.067+/-0.025 indicating the presence of a cloud with a HI column density log(HI) > 18 on the line-of-sight to the OT. This value is conservatively a lower limit to the GRB redshift. However, the facts that large N(HI) system are usually considered as progenitors of present day galaxies and that other OTs are found associated with star forming galaxies strongly suggest that it is the GRB redshift. In any case, this represents the largest direct redshift determination of a gamma-ray burster to date. Our data are compatible with an OT spectrum represented by a power-law with an intrinsic index \alpha = 1.2((f_nu \propto nu^-alpha) and no extinction in the host galaxy or with alpha = 0.5 and extinction by a SMC-like dust in the OT rest-frame with A_V = 0.15. The large N(HI) and the lack of detected host is similar to the situation for damped Ly-alpha absorbers at z > 2.Comment: Replaced by final version. 10 p., 2 fig. Scheduled to appear in ApJ 555 n2 Jul 10, 2001. Minor changes, both redshift and mean near UV flux are revised with slightly larger values, due to a wrong offset sign in the wavelength calibratio

The Methodology of Modern Macroeconomics and the Descriptive Approach to Discounting

Critics of modern macroeconomics often raise concerns about unwarranted welfare conclusions and data mining. This paper illustrates these concerns with a thought experiment, based on the debate in environmental economics about the appropriate discount rate in climate change analyses: I set up an economy where a social evaluator wants to determine the optimal time path of emission levels, and seeks advice for this from an old-style neo-classical macroeconomist and a new neo-classical (modern) macroeconomist; I then describe how both economists analyze the economy, their policy advice, and their mistakes. I then use the insights from this thought experiment to point out some pitfalls of the modern macroeconomic methodology

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

A MISSING-LINK IN THE SUPERNOVA-GRB CONNECTION: THE CASE OF SN 2012ap

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are characterized by ultra-relativistic outflows, while supernovae are generally characterized by non-relativistic ejecta. GRB afterglows decelerate rapidly usually within days, because their low-mass ejecta rapidly sweep up a comparatively larger mass of circumstellar material. However supernovae, with heavy ejecta, can be in nearly free expansion for centuries. Supernovae were thought to have non-relativistic outflows except for few relativistic ones accompanied by GRBs. This clear division was blurred by SN 2009bb, the first supernova with a relativistic outflow without an observed GRB. Yet the ejecta from SN 2009bb was baryon loaded, and in nearly-free expansion for a year, unlike GRBs. We report the first supernova discovered without a GRB, but with rapidly decelerating mildly relativistic ejecta, SN 2012ap. We discovered a bright and rapidly evolving radio counterpart driven by the circumstellar interaction of the relativistic ejecta. However, we did not find any coincident GRB with an isotropic fluence of more than a sixth of the fluence from GRB 980425. This shows for the first time that central engines in type Ic supernovae, even without an observed GRB, can produce both relativistic and rapidly decelerating outflows like GRBs.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Ap