Affordable Housing in Reston Virginia

Reston was one of the first planned cities in America and was planned to be inclusive and accessible for people of all ages, incomes, and backgrounds. Reston lies within Fairfax County, Virginia, which is currently re-evaluating its comprehensive plan. As a region under Fairfax County’s governance Reston’s 2017 Comprehensive Plan is also being re-evaluating, in effort to assess how it is meeting community needs today. As a part of the re-evaluation the housing market in Reston will be reviewed, including affordable housing. This plan aims to assess the stock of affordable housing in Reston, understand any unmet needs of the area, predict the future need for affordable housing, and to create a strategy to address those needs, both current and future. This plan will be created for the office of the Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn in coordination with Commissioner John Carter and Supervisor Alcorn’s staff, including Gwenn Minton and Jose Delcid

A summary of research of illustrations related to reading

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

‘“Breathing for a while on our earth”: Re-reading S. T. Coleridge’s ‘Dejection: An Ode’ and ‘Letter To Asra’ in light of his severe rheumatic fever.’

Hitherto overlooked medical sources ascribing Coleridge’s ill health to a deadly strain of rheumatic fever should prompt us not only to reinterpret ‘Dejection: An Ode’ as an empirical narrative of respiratory distress as much as a lament for lost or lessened imaginative power, but also to reconsider its long-standing classification as a ‘conversation poem’ and to reassess the relation of the ode to the letter from which it derives. Whereas discussion of air and breathing in Romantic literature tends to be metaphysical, this thesis addresses the question of what happens when we place the physiology and pathology of respiration at the centre of an analysis of a major Romantic poem. Analysing Coleridge’s response to his rheumatic fever as a case study of respiratory writing, I trace the ways in which the poet’s facility for literary osmosis transforms daily management and mismanagement of his bodily ailments into poetic legacy. Coleridge’s rheumatic fever inextricably knots together his body and imagination, such that breathlessness figures in his writing as both a conventional poetic trope and a frightening lived experience. Coleridge’s acute awareness of sensation and relationship with pain led him to understand breathing within material and ethereal spaces. His rheumatic reflections in letters and notebooks play a large part in shaping his literary identity, and respiratory dysfunction, especially the sense of smothering oppression, is crucial to an understanding, his own as much as ours, of his deeply dejected state. This thesis examines papers published by physicians close to Coleridge, such as William Cullen, David Dundas, and William Charles Wells; records pertaining to Coleridge’s autopsy; and an editorial from the London Times reflecting on his death, in order to identify rheumatic fever as Coleridge’s primary ailment, against countervailing diagnoses of opioid addiction, scrofula and lassitude. The scientific investigation of breathing was familiar to Coleridge from his youth, during which the study of pneumatic chemistry and pneumatic medicine flourished. He immersed himself in a world of ‘new airs’ including Joseph Priestley’s Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air. Engagement with a pneumatic zeitgeist that deconstructed elemental air saw him act on medical advice from Thomas Beddoes’ Pneumatic Institute. With his close friend, Humphry Davy, he experimentally inhaled nitrous oxide and to Davy confided his rheumatic grief. Yet the alarm Coleridge felt about the spiritual consequences of such novel scientific enquiries must inform any exegesis of ‘Dejection: An Ode’ even as we must also look beyond his nostalgia for an older vitalist response to breath to affirm the centrality of the physical body in his ode’s deeper poetic truth. I find all the ode’s motifs invite respiratory comment, from the lost screaming child and trampled men to the suffocating nightmares and crushing vipers. (499 words

Giving in Dictator Games: Factors of Generosity

Because perceptions of luck, hard work, and the idea of a “me vs. you” mindset often influence people’s ideas of fairness, it is important to understand these perceptions and how they can affect giving and support for redistributive policies. To better understand the factors that influence people to give or not give to others, I created two modified dictator games to answer the research questions, “How does the generation of initial allocation in a dictator game affect perceptions of deservingness?” and “How does competitive and cooperative priming affect dictator allocation choices between efficiency and inefficiency?” By varying the way the initial budget is generated (based on chance, effort-based earnings, or a combination) and analyzing participants’ dictator allocations and survey responses regarding redistributive preferences and fairness views, I find that the Combination treatment creates a significant increase in giving percentage, a stronger belief in luck affecting poverty and failure, a stronger belief that taxing high-income families is efficient, and support for redistribution and fairness. The Effort treatment surprisingly does not affect the amount given, but produces an increase in the likelihood of giving a nonzero sum and an increased score in the survey efficiency index. By varying a competitive, cooperative, or neutral priming stage before the second dictator game, I find that no effect of these treatments on basic giving and mixed results of these treatments on prioritizing self-interest versus efficiency. The results of this research will provide illumination into the factors affecting how we think about generosity to others, perhaps lending insight into how we may more effectively think about welfare and redistribution programs, but also highlight the factors that need further research and investigation

Perceptions of Midwestern MSN NPs of the DNP Degree

Strong professional forces have emerged within healthcare with expectations for a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree for nurse practitioner (NP) practice. While NP contribution to societal healthcare is evident, most of these frontline workers are still only masters’ prepared nurses (MSN). A problem exists in that their views of the DNP have been minimally studied. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of Midwestern MSN NPs of the DNP. The study was supported by the self-determination theory (SDT) proposing that motivation for goal achievement was driven by perceptions of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, which set priorities and directed goals. Nine MSN NPs’ evaluation of the personal and professional worth of the degree of DNP, their perceptions DNP impact on the future of nursing and societal healthcare, and the obstacles and facilitating factors for DNP achievement were identified via semistructured interviews in this qualitative study. Their views of DNP attainment were value coded by repetitive phrases and recurring responses, then thematically organized per tenets of the SDT. Most had a positive view of the DNP impact on nursing and societal healthcare, but most agreed that the DNP would not result in increased pay or practice authority. While the DNP was not an impending priority, most believed that it would eventually be required for practice and that they were able to achieve the degree if necessary. They further discussed time, money, and family constraints as obstacles to the DNP but that assistance with tuition, time off for study, and motivation for rewards of the finished degree would facilitate DNP achievement. The implications of NP presence and DNP influence suggest positive changes in the healthcare landscape, thereby benefiting society

Rapid detection of the CYP2A6*12 hybrid allele by Pyrosequencing® technology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Identification of <it>CYP2A6 </it>alleles associated with reduced enzyme activity is important in the study of inter-individual differences in drug metabolism. <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>is a hybrid allele that results from unequal crossover between <it>CYP2A6 </it>and <it>CYP2A7 </it>genes. The 5' regulatory region and exons 1–2 are derived from <it>CYP2A7</it>, and exons 3–9 are derived from <it>CYP2A6</it>. Conventional methods for detection of <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>consist of two-step PCR protocols that are laborious and unsuitable for high-throughput genotyping. We developed a rapid and accurate method to detect the <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>allele by Pyrosequencing technology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A single set of PCR primers was designed to specifically amplify both the <it>CYP2A6*1 </it>wild-type allele and the <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>hybrid allele. An internal Pyrosequencing primer was used to generate allele-specific sequence information, which detected homozygous wild-type, heterozygous hybrid, and homozygous hybrid alleles. We first validated the assay on 104 DNA samples that were also genotyped by conventional two-step PCR and by cycle sequencing. <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>allele frequencies were then determined using the Pyrosequencing assay on 181 multi-ethnic DNA samples from subjects of African American, European Caucasian, Pacific Rim, and Hispanic descent. Finally, we streamlined the Pyrosequencing assay by integrating liquid handling robotics into the workflow.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Pyrosequencing results demonstrated 100% concordance with conventional two-step PCR and cycle sequencing methods. Allele frequency data showed slightly higher prevalence of the <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>allele in European Caucasians and Hispanics.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This Pyrosequencing assay proved to be a simple, rapid, and accurate alternative to conventional methods, which can be easily adapted to the needs of higher-throughput studies.</p

Late-time Light Curves of Type II Supernovae: Physical Properties of SNe and Their Environment

We present BVRIJHK band photometry of 6 core-collapse supernovae, SNe 1999bw, 2002hh, 2003gd, 2004et, 2005cs, and 2006bc measured at late epochs (>2 yrs) based on Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Gemini north, and WIYN telescopes. We also show the JHK lightcurves of a supernova impostor SN 2008S up to day 575. Of our 43 HST observations in total, 36 observations are successful in detecting the light from the SNe alone and measuring magnitudes of all the targets. HST observations show a resolved scattered light echo around SN 2003gd at day 1520 and around SN 2002hh at day 1717. Our Gemini and WIYN observations detected SNe 2002hh and 2004et, as well. Combining our data with previously published data, we show VRIJHK-band lightcurves and estimate decline magnitude rates at each band in 4 different phases. Our prior work on these lightcurves and other data indicate that dust is forming in our targets from day ~300-400, supporting SN dust formation theory. In this paper we focus on other physical properties derived from the late time light curves. We estimate 56Ni masses for our targets (0.5-14 x 10^{-2} Msun) from the bolometric lightcurve of each for days ~150-300 using SN 1987A as a standard (7.5 x 10^{-2} Msun). The flattening or sometimes increasing fluxes in the late time light curves of SNe 2002hh, 2003gd, 2004et and 2006bc indicate the presence of light echos. We estimate the circumstellar hydrogen density of the material causing the light echo and find that SN 2002hh is surrounded by relatively dense materials (n(H) >400 cm^{-3}) and SNe 2003gd and 2004et have densities more typical of the interstellar medium (~1 cm^{-3}). The 56Ni mass appears well correlated with progenitor mass with a slope of 0.31 x 10^{-2}, supporting the previous work by Maeda et al. (2010), who focus on more massive Type II SNe. The dust mass does not appear to be correlated with progenitor mass.Comment: We corrected the 56Ni mass of SN2005cs and Figures 8 (a) and 8 (c

Severity of spatial learning impairment in aging: Development of a learning index for performance in the Morris water maze.

The Morris water maze task was originally designed to assess the rat’s ability to learn to navigate to a specific location in a relatively large spatial environment. This article describes new measures that provide information about the spatial distribution of the rat’s search during both training and probe trial performance. The basic new measure optimizes the use of computer tracking to identify the rat’s position with respect to the target location. This proximity measure was found to be highly sensitive to age-related impairment in an assessment of young and aged male Long-Evans rats. Also described is the development of a learning index that provides a continuous, graded measure of the severity of age-related impairment in the task. An index of this type should be useful in correlational analyses with other neurobiological or behavioral measures for the study of individual differences in functional/biological decline in aging