George Washington\u27s Mount Vernon Stable in Context: A Comparative Analysis of Early American Stables

As the Revolutionary War came to a close, George Washington sent orders from Pennsylvania to his Mount Vernon farm in Virginia to construct a new horse stable. Completed in 1782, this substantial brick building survives as one of the best representations between the planter-elite like Washington and the multiple roles horses played in the culture of eighteenth-century America. This thesis applies an investigation of surviving stables on the east coast and historical sources to explore the evolution of stable architecture in eighteenth and nineteenth-century America. Stables, like essentially everything else in early American life, represented the materialism, power, wealth, and education of those who ordered their construction. Extant stables at Mount Airy, Shirley, and Sabine Hall in Virginia, Shepherd\u27s Delight in Maryland, Woodlands in Pennsylvania, and the Aiken-Rhett House and others in Charleston, South Carolina illustrate shared patterns of stable construction and plan. These stables and information drawn from newspaper advertisements, insurance records, plats, paintings, sketches, and tax records reveal how design, materials, finish, and joinery employed in the construction of stables evolved in George Washington\u27s world and how they defined the relationships, architectural and spatial, between dwelling and stable. This thesis argues that stable fittings as expressions of wealth reflected a household\u27s aspirations and perceptions of its place in local and regional culture. Conclusions drawn from this research will support the restoration of the interior of Mount Vernon\u27s stable

Site Selection of Pyrococcus horikoshi RadA Intein

Inteins are polypeptides translated within host proteins that undergo an autocatalytic protein splicing reaction to join the flanking sequences, termed N- and C- extiens. Long considered molecular parasites, recent work has demonstrated that protein splicing can be regulated by environmental signals, representing an exciting new form of post-translational regulation. A landmark example comes from the homologous recombinase RadA of the archaeon Pyrococcus horikoshii, which splices in response to substrate single-stranded DNA. Interestingly, while the P. horikoshii RadA intein splices efficiently when inserted into foreign exteins under all conditions tested, splicing is inhibited in native exteins in absence of ssDNA. In order to better understand this intriguing observation, P. horikoshii RadA intein site preference within the native extein context was studied by artificially moving the intein to different locations throughout the native extein. Surprisingly, splicing at alternate locations within the native extein context was not able to occur. These results help us to better understand why the P. horikoshii RadA intein selects this one specific threonine when there are many others throughout the extein

Dissolved Oxygen Content in Cedar Lake

In an aquatic system, there is a balance between the production and consumption of oxygen. Oxygen is produced by photosynthetic microorganisms, and is taken directly from the atmosphere; it is consumed by the respiration of aquatic animals, decomposers, and a myriad of other chemical reactions. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of oxygen consumed by organisms and is measured as dissolved oxygen (DO). DO concentrations are dependent upon temperature, wind and other physical factors, fluctuating diurnally. In our experiment we will compare the DO concentrations at different depths in Cedar Lake. We will accomplish this by using a dissolved oxygen meter (YSI DO probe) to collect DO at depths of 1 foot intervals, starting from the surface of the water. We will also collect data on the temperature and wind speed at the same time to determine how they affect the DO concentrations at each depth, on each day. We expect to see higher levels of dissolved oxygen at the surface of the lake due to the closer proximity to the atmosphere and the churning effect of the wind. Although the water at the bottom would likely be colder, and therefore hold more oxygen, it is also being consumed by decomposers

Recommendations for Practitioners Engaged in Antitrafficking Task Forces: An Evalaution of the Enhanced Collaborative Model Task Forces to Combat Human Trafficking

The Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking Program funded task forces comprised of law enforcement officials, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels. This brief details recommendations from the Urban Institute's 10-site evaluation of ECM task forces across the United States. Recommendations were derived from the findings of our analysis and directly from task force stakeholders' responses to interview questions about task force recommendations and best practices. Respondents summarized recommendations across four categories including structure, operation, and funding of ECM task forces; collaboration among stakeholders; survivor engagement and service provision; and task force training, focus, and activities

Becoming Who We Are: A Theoretical Explanation of Gendered Social Structures and Social Networks that Shape Adolescent Interpersonal Aggression

A conceptualization of gendered interpersonal aggression that is grounded in the social ecological framework is presented to explicate factors in adolescents' gendered environments that give rise to aggression and victimization. The focus is on gendered social structures and social networks. Our framework for prevention suggests that violence prevention requires that we move our culture from one that continually recreates gendered structures that reinforce power and authority as masculine and that confer opportunities and constraints in ways that favor men over women. It will require deliberate action to legitimize the feminine in our culture and develop laws and practices that abolish gender inequities

Envisioning future directions: Conversations with leaders in domestic and sexual assault advocacy, policy, service, and research

This article delves into the views of 72 leaders in domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy, policy, service, and research to determine their vision for the future direction of the field. Through discussions with experts, we identified numerous strategies necessary to best meet the needs of domestic violence and sexual assault victims. Common themes focused on the need to (a) examine the context of victims’ and offenders’ experiences; (b) increase cultural competence to adequately provide appropriate victim services and criminal justice responses for underserved, marginalized, and culturally specific populations; (c) increase reliance on victims’ voices; (d) continue to develop partnerships at both the community and the state levels and ensure the role of local communities; (e) expand the concept of successful outcomes that can be reliably and validly assessed; (f) emphasize mixed-methods approaches to address these questions, in recognition that various methods complement each other; and (g) be open to novel or emerging approaches to intervention

Covariation in the Use of Physical and Sexual Intimate Partner Aggression Among Adolescent and College-Age Men A Longitudinal Analysis

A longitudinal examination of male perpetration of physical aggression toward a romantic partner and its covariation with sexual aggression reveals a decline from adolescence through 4 years of college. Witnessing domestic violence and experiencing parental physical punishment increased the likelihood of physical aggression in adolescence, but not thereafter. Prior perpetration best predicted subsequent perpetration. Although adolescence was the time of greatest risk, the 2nd year in college was an additional time of increased risk. Furthermore, physical and sexual aggression covaried with each other in the sample at rates significantly greater than chance, indicating that covariation may be a unique form of perpetration. Witnessing domestic violence and experiencing parental physical punishment were associated with an increased likelihood of men committing both forms of intimate partner aggression in adolescence