Job Satisfaction Among TANF Leavers

Using means tests, ANOVA, contingency methods and polytomous logistic regression techniques, I analyze job satisfaction survey data provided by former welfare recipients in Illinois. Mean job satisfaction in the sample is high. Wages, work hours, professional status, having employer sponsored health care and being in good health have sign ficant positive effects on job satisfaction. Contrary to popular assumptions regarding welfare dependency, time on welfare positively affects post- TANF job satisfaction. I discuss implications of these findings in the context of policy debates regarding TANF reauthorization

Mobility and transverse flow visualization using phase variance contrast with spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Phase variance-based motion contrast is demonstrated using two phase analysis methods in a spectral domain optical coherence tomography system. Mobility contrast is demonstrated for an intensity matched Intralipid solution placed without flow within agarose wells. Vasculature oriented transversely to the imaging direction has been imaged for 3-4 dpf in vivo zebrafish using the phase variance contrast methods. 2D phase variance contrast images are demonstrated with imaging times only 25% higher than a Doppler flow image with comparable statistics. En face images created by integrating depth regions of 3D zebrafish intensity and phase variance contrast data demonstrate vasculature consistent with expected images

Cursing Kṛṣṇa : gender, theodicy, and time in the Mahābhārata

In this paper, I will discuss the doctrines of theodicy and time in the Mahābhārata, with particular attention to the concept of gender in the epic milieu. I argue that the parallel narratives of Draupadī and Gāndhārī play a central role in establishing what Emily T. Hudson refers to as “the aesthetics of suffering.” Draupadī and Gāndhārī’s respective arguments against Kṛṣṇa, especially, raise a number of crucial theodicean questions that ultimately contribute to the overall argument of the text in regards to the necessity of detachment (vairāgya) and the ravages of Time (kāla). As such, this paper endeavors to provide a reading of the text that contextualizes Draupadī and Gāndhārī’s theodicean arguments in terms of Kṛṣṇa’s identification with the epic’s concept of Time, the interplay of gender and ethics that inform these arguments, and finally, a possible answer to these arguments that incorporates the above insights. In the end, I hope to provide a fitting testament to both the moral and theological depth of the epic as a whole.Asian Studie

Jesus’s Subversive Reading of the Isaian Jubilee: Luke 4:16–30 in Theological-Historiographical Perspective

A growing number of scholars have proposed that Luke, or his sources, fabricated the story of Jesus reading a text in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:14–30) in order to appeal to the literate sensibilities of Luke’s Greek audience. The thesis of this dissertation is that Luke’s portrayal of Jesus as a capable public reader and expositor of the Scripture is historically credible and Christologically significant. Rather than implying that Jesus was a scribal-literate reader, Luke’s synagogue narrative signals that Jesus was a capable and a welcomed lay-reader of the Prophets, and a capable yet unwelcomed expositor who appeared to have interpreted the Isaian Jubilee with divine authority. The historical issue of Jewish education and Luke\u27s Christological aims require an explicitly theological-historiographical approach to the subject. The hypothesis of this dissertation is first supported by the existence of non-specialized education through first-century synagogues. This general education likely produced lay-readers who were less than scribal-literate but able to handle and read certain texts in public. The thesis is further supported by Luke’s Christological focus of the unit and Jesus’s exposition of Isaiah 61:1–2 and 58:6, whereby he unilaterally subverts a well-established Jewish liberation tradition that envisioned God’s favor on Israel and vengeance for Gentiles (Luke 4:18–19). This Christological perspective and its implications for the Nazarenes best explains the furious response to Jesus in the Nazareth synagogue, resulting in his expulsion from their town and the escalating tensions between him and the scribal-literate class

Killing for Trophies: An Analysis of Global Trophy Hunting Trade

As the trophy hunting industry has grown over the last few decades, governments, conservationists, and animal welfare advocates are keen to understand its global economic and conservation impacts with data as supporting evidence. Unfortunately, little credible research had been done to understand the global trophy industry's extent and impact..This report is a result of a comprehensive analysis of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Trade Database. This analysis can serve as a baseline for more study on how trophy hunting is changing and how the global industry ultimately affects animals and their populations, both regionally and globally

TRPV1 agonist, capsaicin, induces axon outgrowth after injury via Ca2+/PKA signaling

AbstractPreconditioning nerve injuries activate a pro-regenerative program that enhances axon regeneration for most classes of sensory neurons. However, nociceptive sensory neurons and central nervous system neurons regenerate poorly. In hopes of identifying novel mechanisms that promote regeneration, we screened for drugs that mimicked the preconditioning response and identified a nociceptive ligand that activates a preconditioning-like response to promote axon outgrowth. We show that activating the ion channel TRPV1 with capsaicin induces axon outgrowth of cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons, and that this effect is blocked in TRPV1 knockout neurons. Regeneration occurs only in NF200-negative nociceptive neurons, consistent with a cell-autonomous mechanism. Moreover, we identify a signaling pathway in which TRPV1 activation leads to calcium influx and protein kinase A (PKA) activation to induce a preconditioning-like response. Finally, capsaicin administration to the mouse sciatic nerve activates a similar preconditioning-like response and induces enhanced axonal outgrowth, indicating that this pathway can be inducedin vivo. These findings highlight the use of local ligands to induce regeneration and suggest that it may be possible to target selective neuronal populations for repair, including cell types that often fail to regenerate.</jats:p