W.E.B. Du Bois and the Rhetoric of Social Change, 1897-1907: Attitude as Incipient Action

This study examines the social change rhetoric of scholar and civic activist W.E.B. Du Bois to understand the role, motivations, influences, and shortcomings of his message upon a shifting current of black thought during the late ninetieth and early twentieth-century. In this study, I focus upon Du Bois\u27 rhetorical aptitude in the building of his character, the emotional appeals made to his immediate audience, and the logical arguments and counter arguments that he publicly advanced in developing his program of parallel development. I contend that in providing an alternate narrative to the competing opinions of accommodation as a solution to the Negro problem, Du Bois\u27 social change rhetoric was more congruent to black\u27s and liberal white\u27s inclination of mutual social progress and provided a vision in which education and political resistance, in terms of both attitude and action drove blacks to seek to improve themselves as an ethnic group not merely a race. The study relies heavily on a strict neo-Aristotelian analysis with Burkeian undertones to explicate widely read and significant Du Boisian speeches, written publications, and rhetorical artifacts such as the 1897 speech and later converted pamphlet The Conservation of the Races, the American Negro Exhibit at the 1900 Paris Exposition, the published 1901 review of Washington\u27s autobiography Up From Slavery On Booker T. Washington and Others, and the Souls of Black Folk published in 1903. Ultimately, the study argues that DuBois\u27 approach was rhetorically superior to others, namely Washington, insofar as Du Bois\u27 rhetoric exemplified a greater congruity between the message and his own life, the way in which the message was implemented, the degree to which he embodied it; and its appeal and deference to the opinions of a broader audience

Vortex lattice melting in an anisotropic type II superconductor

The flux line lattice in superconducting single crystals of YBa [subscript]2Cu[subscript]3O[subscript]7-[delta] is shown to undergo a very abrupt melting transition as the temperature and field approach the normal state. The sharpest transitions from the vortex solid to liquid phase, as seen in resistivity measurements, are of the order of 10mK in a temperature of 85K and of the order of 10 Oe in a field of 6T. The discontinuity in the resistivity associated with vortex lattice melting is asymmetrically hysteretic with applied field in clean crystals. The melting transition width for decreasing applied magnetic field through the melting field H[subscript]m is only 10 Oe, much sharper than for increasing the field through H[subscript]m, about 300 Oe, at fixed temperature. For moderately defect-free crystals and for high current densities in cleaner crystals, the hysteresis becomes symmetric and broader. In samples with moderate amounts of disorder the vortex melting transition width is typically wider. Resistive measurements show hysteresis with applied field upon ramping the magnetic field partially through the melting transition. The resistivity data indicate a first order vortex lattice melting transition in low defect density crystals. At fixed field and temperature, the V-I character changes from ohmic to non-ohmic as the chosen temperature crosses the melting temperature T[subscript]m. Further evidence of flux line lattice melting is a peak in a critical current J[subscript]c seen just below the melting transition. A maximum in the optimization of the lattice softening and of the lattice adjustments to pinning sites occurs at the peak in J[subscript]c. Induced point defects from electron irradiation smears out the first order melting transition. The sharp melting discontinuity becomes a continuous curve without any non-ohmic behavior. The resistivity data taken in the vortex liquid state shows indications of being viscous. The indications of a first order melting transition are returned by subsequent annealing of the irradiated sample. Further work on the exact nature of the vortex viscosity in the vortex liquid state and experiments to study the plastic and elastic behavior of the vortex solid state should be considered

Student Resiliency Post Hurricane Katrina

While there is research pertaining to resiliency traits for people who experience natural disasters, there is little information about how these resiliency traits might help someone succeed in an academic setting. Through this study, I analyzed what kinds of qualities help students be resilient and successful academically post natural disaster. Five Louisiana State University students were selected to participate in this study and shared their narratives about their personal experiences during Katrina and how those experiences shaped their lives

Temperature dependence of the energy dissipation in dynamic force microscopy

The dissipation of energy in dynamic force microscopy is usually described in terms of an adhesion hysteresis mechanism. This mechanism should become less efficient with increasing temperature. To verify this prediction we have measured topography and dissipation data with dynamic force microscopy in the temperature range from 100 K up to 300 K. We used 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic-dianhydride (PTCDA) grown on KBr(001), both materials exhibiting a strong dissipation signal at large frequency shifts. At room temperature, the energy dissipated into the sample (or tip) is 1.9 eV/cycle for PTCDA and 2.7 eV/cycle for KBr, respectively, and is in good agreement with an adhesion hysteresis mechanism. The energy dissipation over the PTCDA surface decreases with increasing temperature yielding a negative temperature coefficient. For the KBr substrate, we find the opposite behaviour: an increase of dissipated energy with increasing temperature. While the negative temperature coefficient in case of PTCDA agrees rather well with the adhesion hysteresis model, the positive slope found for KBr points to a hitherto unknown dissipation mechanism

The Reagan Election and Mandate: Their Fiscal Policy Implications for the Welfare State

This paper has three main thrusts. The first searches the Reagan campaign, the 1980 Republican Platform, the election and survey results to determine whether or not Reagan can creditably lay claim to a mandate for his social policies. The second thrust investigates the 1982 Reagan spending and taxing programs. Our purpose here is to ascertain if those policies denote major new directions in U.S. social policy. Our third purpose involves an assessment of the Reagan fiscal policies upon the U.S. economy. This study concludes: (1) Reagan can claim a mandate for much of his social policies, (2) the Reagan fiscal policies are a significant departure from the national policy of the recent past, and (3) the consequences of the Reagan policies of the future are so negative that his policies will require reversal -- either by his administration or a new administration following his defeat or retreat

Modulation of PKM alternative splicing by PTBP1 promotes gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive and incurable disease. Poor prognosis is due to multiple reasons, including acquisition of resistance to gemcitabine, the first-line chemotherapeutic approach. Thus, there is a strong need for novel therapies, targeting more directly the molecular aberrations of this disease. We found that chronic exposure of PDAC cells to gemcitabine selected a subpopulation of cells that are drug-resistant (DR-PDAC cells). Importantly, alternative splicing (AS) of the pyruvate kinase gene (PKM) was differentially modulated in DR-PDAC cells, resulting in promotion of the cancer-related PKM2 isoform, whose high expression also correlated with shorter recurrence-free survival in PDAC patients. Switching PKM splicing by antisense oligonucleotides to favor the alternative PKM1 variant rescued sensitivity of DR-PDAC cells to gemcitabine and cisplatin, suggesting that PKM2 expression is required to withstand drug-induced genotoxic stress. Mechanistically, upregulation of the polypyrimidine-tract binding protein (PTBP1), a key modulator of PKM splicing, correlated with PKM2 expression in DR-PDAC cell lines. PTBP1 was recruited more efficiently to PKM pre-mRNA in DR- than in parental PDAC cells. Accordingly, knockdown of PTBP1 in DR-PDAC cells reduced its recruitment to the PKM pre-mRNA, promoted splicing of the PKM1 variant and abolished drug resistance. Thus, chronic exposure to gemcitabine leads to upregulation of PTBP1 and modulation of PKM AS in PDAC cells, conferring resistance to the drug. These findings point to PKM2 and PTBP1 as new potential therapeutic targets to improve response of PDAC to chemotherapy.Oncogene advance online publication, 3 August 2015; doi:10.1038/onc.2015.270

It\u27s the Budget, Stupid: A Policy Analysis of Clinton\u27s First Budget

This paper analyzes President Clinton\u27s first budget. Clinton\u27s budget is his public policy. The budget is compared to Clinton\u27s three stated objectives of stimulating the economy, investing in the future and reducing the deficit. His proposed budget and subsequent modifications are also compared to the budgets of previous administrations. In contrast to Reagan\u27s first budget, which was a radical modification of public policy, Clinton\u27s budget is only an incremental change from the public policies of the Reagan/Bush years