Despite a significant drop in the number of pregnant adolescents and reforms to fight gender discrimination under Title IX, teen pregnancy and risk factors including poverty, stigma, and substance abuse, which may lead to different negative outcomes, such as depression, social isolation, and lowered self-esteem remain a persistent problem in the United States. Due to these factors, pregnant and parenting teens have been noted to drop out of high school prematurely. Using incrementalism as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore and describe Title IX compliance and local policies and practices of educators as well as their role in the lives of pregnant and parenting teens pursuing secondary education. As a public policy, the purpose of Title IX is to protect students regardless of gender. Data were collected through in-depth interviews of 4 policy makers and 16 educators from public school districts across a northeastern state. To analyze the data, interviews were transcribed, inductively coded, and subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. Regardless of the existence of Title IX, the findings show it is incrementally enforced, coming into play slowly or even ignored. The themes included stigma, discriminatory segregation, funding gaps, support of programs largely outside of school, accountability for programs, denial of educators' voices on policy and practices, and recommendations of real life skills for pregnant and parenting students. This study provides relevant information to use as a basis for Title IX compliance and local educational policy modifications. This study suggests compliance and modifications may contribute to positive academic progress for pregnant and parenting adolescents.

This thesis evaluates mission scenarios using the existing Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles for delivering the Crew Exploration Vehicle to the International Space Station. The Space Shuttle is scheduled to retire in the year 2011 and the Ares I is being developed to replace it. With its current schedule, the earliest that the Ares I will become fully operational is 2016. The configurations in this thesis are presented to narrow the gap in which the USA does not have direct access to the International Space Station. They also present "buy down" options for the USA human space operations, if the current development issues of the Ares I cause it to not become operational at all. The three Launch options presented are the Atlas V HLV, the Delta IV Heavy, and the Delta IV with three common core boosters as the first stage and the Orion service module to be used as the second stage. The first configuration, the Atlas V HLV requires significant impulse from the Orion service module in order to reach the final International Space Station orbit. The second option, the Delta IV Heavy, launches the Orion as a passive payload and requires no impulsive maneuvering from the service module in order to reach the International Space Station orbit. The third configuration, the Delta IV Heavy with three common core boosters as the first stage, and the Orion spacecraft acting as the second stage, requires significant impulse from Orion's service module engine to achieve the International Space Station orbit. After final orbit insertion all three configurations still have sufficient propellent for de-orbit and re-entry.The third configuration has a certain appeal, by eliminating the second stage only the common core booster on the Delta IV Heavy system need be human-rated. Finally, reliability and development cost assessments are presented and compared to the Ares I.

<p>Den utbildningspolitiska intentionen i Sverige har länge präglats av en stark ambition att "överbrygga" klyftan mellan de teoretiska och praktiska gymnasieutbildningarna. Flertalet utredningar och gymnasiereformer har tidigare inte lyckats åstadkomma mer än organisatoriska förändringar. 1991 års gymnasiereform genomfördes med Lpf-94 och sett ur ett utbildningspolitisktperspektiv, är genomförandet rent teoretiskt den reform som kommit närmast den utbildningspolitiska intentionen. Men frågan kvarstår vad har reformen inneburit sett ur ett individperspektiv i ett utbildningssystem med en grundskola och ett gymnasium för alla. En skola för alla betyder i praktiken en skola som skall tillgodose samtliga elevers olika behov. Det låter fantastiskt men verkligheten visar ofta att detta är ett uppdrag som är svårt att genomföra och ett samhälleligt krav som kan vara svårt att uppfylla. Hur upplever eleverna på individuella programmet att deras grundskoletid har varit?</p>

<p>Denna studie utgår från Judith Butlers genusteori om hur <em>kön görs</em> samt Michel Foucaults teorier om samhällsnormer och makt i förhållande till särskiljandemekanismer och vansinnesdefinitioner. Studien fokuserar på psykiatriska diagnoser ur ett genusperspektiv. Fokus har lagts på diagnoserna Aspergers syndrom och borderline personlighetsstörning då tidigare forskning visat att könsfördelningen inom dessa psykiatriska diagnoser är väldigt ojämn.</p><p> </p><p>Syftet med studien är att undersöka genusstrukturers påverkan på psykiatrisk diagnostisering utifrån DSM-IV. Utifrån syftet har följande frågeställningar utformats: Går det att benämna diagnoskriterier som könsneutrala då diagnostisering i hög grad handlar om andra människors (vars egna erfarenheter och värderingar färgar neutraliteten) bedömningar? Hur kommer det sig att könsfördelningen är så ojämn inom diagnoser som Aspergers syndrom och borderline personlighetsstörning?</p><p> </p><p>En enkätundersökning har utförts bland verksamma psykologer inom Östersunds kommun. Enkäten har utformats från de utvalda diagnosernas kriterier i DSM-IV. För att behandla enkätens svar har dataprogrammet SPSS använts. Undersökningens resultat visar på att det finns frågetecken kring DSM-IV:s könsneutralitet. Resultaten visar dock att det finns en medvetenhet kring den ojämna könsfördelningen inom de utvalda diagnoserna. Studien visar på psykiatriska diagnosers symbios med samhällsstrukturer och normer, däribland genus.</p>

<p>The subjects were 130 male prisoners in Swedish jails were examined by SCID and the diagnoses given in terms of DSM-IV. The most common mental disorder was drug abuse. On Axis II several personality disorders were diagnosed. Personality assessments were made by KSP. High scores were mainly found for e.g. impulsiveness, sensation seeking, aggression and low scores in socialisation.</p><p>MAO assays were performed in 99 male criminal offenders and in 60 non-criminal volunteers. Offenders had lower MAO activity than controls also with the confounding factor smoking under control. It is proposed that platelet MAO is linked to personality traits, which can predispose for criminality. </p><p>For testing the existence of combinations of vulnerability factors, a configuration frequency analysis (CFA) was used. The criteria which formed the basis for the subgrouping were; MAO activity below or above –0.5 SD of the mean (L and H), the presence or absence of an Axis I disorder (= drug abuse) (Y/N), the presence or absence of an Axis II disorder (Y/N), or the presence or absence of an Axis I and II disorder (Y/N). In this way eight subgroups were formed. Two significant "types" were found among the criminals: One was characterised by low platelet MAO activity, Cluster B personality diagnosis as well as Drug Abuse Disorder diagnosis (LYY); and the other by a pattern of normal platelet MAO activity, no Cluster B personality disorder, and no Drug Disorder diagnosis (HNN). Also two "antitypes", occurring less frequent than expected, were identified; LYN and LNY. Thus, the aggregation of certain risk factors in the same individual has been shown to contribute to the development of criminal behaviour.</p><p>The subgroups HNN, LYN, LNY and LYY were then analysed for a variety of criminological factors. There was a difference in mean age between the subgroups, the HNN being lowest. Economical crimes were more common at an early criminal debut and crimes involving violence at an adult debut. The HNN subgroup had a lower number of crimes and times spent in jail than the other subgroups. More than 50% of the clients in all groups had previously been sentenced to Reformatory.</p>

<p>Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasingly a major healthcare problem but very few new classes of antibiotics have been discovered or launched in recent decades. Approaches to dealing with the problem include learning how bacteria evolve to resistance and improving dosing regimens with current antibiotics so as to reduce the selection of resistant bacteria. </p><p>This thesis presents studies examining whether antibiotic dosing at high levels can prevent the selection of fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants in <i>Escherichia coli</i>. It also addresses the genetics of fluoroquinolone resistance in <i>E. coli</i> in relation to fitness costs for the resistant bacteria, and the evolution of <i>E. coli</i> to reduce the costs of resistance.</p><p>The mutant prevention concentration (MPC) of ciprofloxacin was measured for a set of clinical urinary tract infection <i>E. coli</i> strains showing that MPC could not be predicted from the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Results from an <i>in vitro</i> kinetic model showed that an AUC/MPC >22 for ciprofloxacin was the single best pharmacodynamic index that predicted prevention of resistance emergence in the wild-type. Simulating currently approved dosing regimens for three different fluoroquinolones it was found that only a few were effective in preventing the selection of a small sub-population of pre-existing mutants. </p><p>Step-wise selection of fluoroquinolone resistance showed that the accumulation of mutations usually reduced bacterial fitness<i> in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>. Systematic construction of isogenic resistant strains confirmed this result and revealed that some combinations of resistance mutations mutually compensate and increase both resistance and fitness. It was discovered that mutations altering RNA polymerase could ameliorate the fitness costs of fluoroquinolone resistance. Thus, the major fitness cost of fluoroquinolone resistance is due to defective transcription. </p><p>The finding that fluoroquinolone resistance mutations can increase resistance while mutually compensating their fitness costs, shows that resistance to fluoroquinolones can continue to evolve in the absence of antibiotic selection.</p>

Facile, one-step synthesis of self-assembling, cationic block copolymers of poly(2-N-(dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate) (pDMAEMA) and PEO-PPO-PEO (Pluronic®) is developed. The copolymers are obtained via free-radical polymerization of DMAEMA initiated by Pluronic-radicals generated by cerium (IV). The copolymers possess surface activity, are polycationic at pH<7.1, and self-assemble into micelle-like aggregates when neutralized. Potential applications of the novel copolymers for DNA transfection in gene therapy are discussed. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The domestic dog, Canis familiaris, has over 450 naturally occurring inherited diseases. Over half of these diseases are clinically similar to human diseases making the dog an excellent model in which to study human hereditary diseases. Alport syndrome (AS), a group of heterogeneous, hereditary renal diseases, is one example of such a human disease. The disease is transmitted in three fashions: X-linked, autosomal recessive, and autosomal dominant. AS is caused by mutations in COL4α3, COL4α4 or COL4α5, all members of the type IV collagen family. The proteins products of these genes along with those of the other type IV collagen family members (COL4α1, COL4α2, and COL4α6) are structural components of basement membranes throughout the body. This dissertation describes the measurement of mRNA transcripts in two canine models of AS: a mixed breed model of X-linked AS (XLAS) and the English Cocker Spaniel (ECS) model of autosomal recessive AS (ARAS). The work done revealed a decrease in COL4α4 transcripts. The similarity between the decrease of COL4α5 in the XLAS model and that for COL4α4 in the ARAS model lead to the investigation of COL4α4 as the gene harboring the mutation causative for ARAS in the ECS. Upon sequencing COL4α4, the causative mutation was determined to be an A to T transversion in exon 3. To provide an in vitro model to study type IV collagens, a protocol was designed and experimentally validated to isolate and culture canine Sertoli cells. Canine testes cells were isolated and cultured. Cells were verified as Sertoli cells through positive identification of both SOX9 and Clusterin B proteins, along with sequence verification of SOX9 transcripts. This in vitro model provides a tool to further study the type IV collagens. Overall, the research described herein lead to the identification of the mutation causative for ARAS in the ECS. With this knowledge a genetic test was developed to test for the disease. This research also provided valuable information about the transcript levels of type IV collagens in two models of AS, and provided a novel model in which to study the type IV collagens further.

In dieser Arbeit wurden die Molekülstrukturen und die elektronischen Eigenschaften von Vanadium(IV)- und Oxo-Rhenium(V)-Chelaten mit einem kombinierten molekülmechanisch-quantenchemischen Ansatz untersucht, um sterische und elektronische Effekte der Komplexierung mit einem theoretischen Modell zu quantifizieren. Es konnte gezeigt werden, daß auf diese Weise detaillierte Aussagen zu den Bindungsverhältnissen der Metallchelate getroffen werden können. Die Berechnung der Molekülstrukturen gelingt mit exzellenter Übereinstimmung mit den Kristallstrukturen der Komplexe. Die molekülmechanischen Berechnungen erfolgen auf der Grundlage des Extensible Systematic Force Field ESFF und des Consistent Force Field 91 (CFF91). Dabei konnte die hohe Flexibilität und Zuverlässigkeit des regelbasierten ESFF für eine Vielzahl verschiedenster Metallchelate nachgewiesen werden. Aufgrund der mangelhaften Ergebnisse für trigonal-prismatische Komplexgeometrien mit dem ESFF wurden eine Anpassung des CFF91 für derartige Vanadiumkomplexe vorgenommen. Auf Grundlage von theoretischen Ergebnissen wurden die alternativen Strukturen von isoelektronischen Vanadiumkomplexen berechnet und in Übereinstimmung mit experimentellen Daten, theoretischen Modellen der Komplexchemie und empirischen Fakten eine Hypothese für die Ursache der strukturellen Differenzen erarbeitet.<br> Der hier vorgestellte, kombinierte Algorithmus aus kraftfeldbasierter Geometrieoptimierung und single-point-Rechnung an diesen Strukturen ist ein zuverlässiger und relativ schneller Weg Molekülgeometrien von Metallkomplexen zu berechnen. Er kann somit zur Voraussagen von Komplexstrukturen und zur gezielten Modellierung definierter Koordinationsgeometrien verwendet werden. / In this work the molecular structures and the electronic properties of Vanadium(IV)- and Oxo-Rhenium(V)-chelates have been investigated to quantify steric and electronic effects of complexation. It has been shown, that in this way detailed insight can be gained into the bonding conditions of that metal complexes. Molecular mechanic calculations based on the Extensible Systematic Force Field (ESFF) and the Consistent Force Field 91 (CFF91) have been carried out. High flexibility and reliability of the rule based ESFF has been proven for a large variety of different metal chelates. Due to the poor ESFF-results for trigonal-prismatic complex geometries, a fit of the CFF91 for that species was done. Based on the theoretical results the alternative structure of isoelectronical vanadium(IV)- complexes have been calculated and a hypothesis on the reason for the structural differnces have been stated in accordance with experimental results, theoretical models of complex chemistry, and empirical facts. This combined approach of force field based geometry optimization and single point calculation at these structures has been proven to be a reliable and fast way to get molecular structures of metal complexes. It can be used to predict complex structures for modelling destinct coordination geometries.

The subjects were 130 male prisoners in Swedish jails were examined by SCID and the diagnoses given in terms of DSM-IV. The most common mental disorder was drug abuse. On Axis II several personality disorders were diagnosed. Personality assessments were made by KSP. High scores were mainly found for e.g. impulsiveness, sensation seeking, aggression and low scores in socialisation. MAO assays were performed in 99 male criminal offenders and in 60 non-criminal volunteers. Offenders had lower MAO activity than controls also with the confounding factor smoking under control. It is proposed that platelet MAO is linked to personality traits, which can predispose for criminality. For testing the existence of combinations of vulnerability factors, a configuration frequency analysis (CFA) was used. The criteria which formed the basis for the subgrouping were; MAO activity below or above –0.5 SD of the mean (L and H), the presence or absence of an Axis I disorder (= drug abuse) (Y/N), the presence or absence of an Axis II disorder (Y/N), or the presence or absence of an Axis I and II disorder (Y/N). In this way eight subgroups were formed. Two significant "types" were found among the criminals: One was characterised by low platelet MAO activity, Cluster B personality diagnosis as well as Drug Abuse Disorder diagnosis (LYY); and the other by a pattern of normal platelet MAO activity, no Cluster B personality disorder, and no Drug Disorder diagnosis (HNN). Also two "antitypes", occurring less frequent than expected, were identified; LYN and LNY. Thus, the aggregation of certain risk factors in the same individual has been shown to contribute to the development of criminal behaviour. The subgroups HNN, LYN, LNY and LYY were then analysed for a variety of criminological factors. There was a difference in mean age between the subgroups, the HNN being lowest. Economical crimes were more common at an early criminal debut and crimes involving violence at an adult debut. The HNN subgroup had a lower number of crimes and times spent in jail than the other subgroups. More than 50% of the clients in all groups had previously been sentenced to Reformatory.