Actual Assignment Research Articles

Religion, Politics, and the Claims of Reason

Professor Gamwell's book presents an ambitious and sophisticated argument, and I have to say at the outset that it is a daunting assignment for me to comment on the book. My difficulty is eased somewhat, though, by the fact that this conference has a separate panel with the expertise, and the assignment, to address the philosophical questions raised by the book. The job I've been given is a little easier—it is to talk about the significance of the book for constitutional jurisprudence—and so I can leave the very tough philosophical problems to those better equipped to deal with them. Of course, my job would be easier still if I'd been asked to comment on the book from the perspective of gardening, say, or perhaps tennis; then I could report that this is an admirable book but it isn't about gardening or tennis, and leave it at that. Well, as it turns out, I want to respond to my actual assignment by making a similar sort of claim: Professor Gamwell has written an admirable book, but it isn't about constitutional jurisprudence. Gamwell is not really concerned, in other words, with the same problems that provoke debates among judges, lawyers, and litigants.

Introducing Students to the Concept of the Sociological Imagination: A Written Assignment

In our discipline, that pattern of questioning and understanding is referred to as sociological imagination.This concept is considered central to the discipline (Olzak 1981). Yet, surprisingly, in preparation for writing this article, a review of the literature revealed that very little has been written about how to teach and, therefore, how to develop in students the sociological imagination. In this paper I describe a written assignment that I introduced recently in my introductory courses, which allows students to begin to develop a framework for understanding the meaning of this concept. I present information regarding the in-class introduction to the assignment, a description of the actual assignment given to students, and a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the assignment. This assignment is not meant to teach the concept of the sociological imagination in its entirety but rather to begin to develop in each student a mind-set that will allow them, as they progress through a semester, to come to understand the importance of the intersection between personal biography and social history (Mills 1959).

Kinetic properties and regulation of GABAA receptor channels.

Single-channel recordings of GABAA receptor single-channel currents have been obtained from mouse spinal cord neurons in cell culture. Detailed kinetic analysis of single-channel main-conductance level currents has allowed development of a preliminary kinetic scheme which describes the gating of the GABAA receptor channel. The essential features of this kinetic scheme are presented in scheme 1 (see above). In this scheme, the GABAA receptor channel is envisioned to exist in multiple open and closed states. Properties can be broken into three main categories. First, the receptor can exist in a closed and nondesensitized set of states. In the kinetic model it is envisioned that there is an unbound (C13), a singly bound (C12), and two doubly bound (C11 and C10) closed states. The singly bound and doubly bound closed states are thought to open to three open states (O1, O2, O3). However, each of the open states opens to two distal closed states whose kinetic properties are similar for all three open states (C4-C9). Only one desensitized state (D0) has been incorporated into the model. While this characterization of desensitization is certainly incomplete, it is an initial step toward including the desensitization process which is clearly evident in whole-cell and single-channel recordings. This kinetic scheme should be considered only an initial working model. A number of features appear to be correct. First, all analyses of open time frequency histograms for GABA- and GABA agonist-induced single-channel openings have demonstrated the presence of at least three distinct open time constants. Furthermore, the concentration-dependent change in the relative frequency of occurrence of the three open states suggests that the open states occur from singly and doubly bound forms of the receptor. Second, the presence of two brief closed states adjacent to the open states appears fairly secure. However, it should be noted that the kinetic analysis primarily suggests that each open state opens to two brief adjacent closed states in a concentration-independent manner. While we have indicated that these two closed states are distal to the three open states, the actual assignment of the location of these states is unclear. Another interpretation of these data is that there is only a single distal closed state and that the proximal, extraburst closed states have very brief durations that are similar to each other. What appears clear, however, is that the open states can close to either brief closed state.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Reading instruction in secondary English and social studies Classrooms

Abstract While current research supports the integration of reading and study skills in content classrooms, and while many state education agencies have responded with mandated course‐work in reading for prospective teachers, there is little research to document whether this integration is actually occurring. Through the use of a systematic observation device, this study examined the amount of time devoted to three types of instruction in five English and seven social studies classrooms. Results revealed that just over 65% of the time was spent on content reading instruction. Instruction through means other than by reading accounted for 20% of the time. The remaining time involved no classroom instruction. Approximately one half of the time spent on content reading instruction was devoted to activities where there was an observable interaction between teacher and students, but only an indirect interaction with an actual reading assignment. The other half of the time was almost equally divided between acti...

Stress and Affiliation in a Hospital Setting

This study examined stress and affiliation relationships in a natural setting by assessing the preoperative roommate preferences of 70 patients facing major (coronary bypass) surgery. No support was found for the notion, derived from social comparison theory, that novel, fear-inducing situations produce selective preferences for affiliation with others who are of similar emotional status (i.e., likewise facing threat). On the contrary, patients demonstrated a strong overall preference before surgery for a roommate who was postoperative (dissimilar emotional status) rather than preoperative (similar emotional status). The preference for a postoperative roommate held regardless of patient fear level and, with slight qualification, regardless of actual roommate assignment. Theoretical implications for social comparison formulations that have been applied to stress and affiliation research are discussed.

Dynamic models for person transportation and their relationship to urban structure and change

The main task of this paper is to explore the general problem of building a dynamic transport model in the context of a broader understanding of urban structure and change. The approach explored in detail involves extensions of the entropy-maximizing method and, together with the demand side, also considers supply side dynamics. We show how to embed such a model into a dynamic urban structure model so that we can investigate secondary impacts of transport policy. The main dynamic feature of the model is given by the autonomous updating of the parameters of the transportation model following their relationship to the change of the exogenous variables, which are supposed to be influenced by the actual assignment of the demand of transportation. Such a kind of feed back in terms of travelling costs is the basic innovation introduced in the area of transportation modelling by the paper. An interactive software, called Dyna, is purposely developed and a suitable illustration of the flow-chart is presented.

Analysis and prediction of the packing of α-helices against a β-sheet in the tertiary structure of globular proteins

The packing of α-helices and β-sheets in six α β proteins (e.g. flavodoxin) has been analysed. The results provide the basis for a computer algorithm to predict the tertiary structure of an α β protein from its amino acid sequence and actual assignment of secondary structure. The packing of an individual α-helix against a β-sheet generally involves two adjacent ± 4 rows of non-polar residues on the α-helix at the positions i, i + 4, i + 8, i + 1, i + 5, i + 9. The pattern of interacting β-sheet residues results from the twisted nature of the sheet surface and the attendant rotation of the side-chains. At a more detailed level, four of the α-helical residues ( i + 1, i + 4, i + 5 and i + 8) form a diamond that surrounds one particular β-sheet residue, generally isoleucine, leucine or valine. In general, the α-helix sits 10 Å above the sheet and lies parallel to the strand direction. The prediction follows a combinational approach. First, a list of possible β-sheet structures (10 6 to 10 14) is constructed by the generation of all β-sheet topologies and β-strand alignments. This list is reduced by constraints on topology and the location of non-polar residues to mediate the sheet/helix packing, and then rank-ordered on the extent of hydrogen bonding. This algorithm was uniformly applied to 16 α β domains in 13 proteins. For every structure, one member of the reduced list was close to the crystal structure; the root-mean-square deviation between equivalenced C α atoms averaged 5.6 Å for 100 residues. For the α β proteins with pure parallel β-sheets, the total number of structures comparable to or better than the native in terms of hydrogen bonds was between 1 and 148. For proteins with mixed β-sheets, the worst case is glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, where as many as 3800 structures would have to be sampled. The evolutionary significance of these results as well as the potential use of a combinatorial approach to the protein folding problem are discussed.

The Numbering of the Ten Commandments in Some Peshitta Manuscripts

and energy since 1959, not all the details in the text of the various mss. concerning qeryane, rubrics, etc. could be reproduced. Only the heading and subscription of each separate book are printed and their variant readings from the mss. up to the twelfth century are mentioned in the apparatus 1). As some of the inter-textual indications left out from the edition could be of some interest, I should like to draw attention in this note to a special kind of rubric in the book of Exodus, viz. the of the Syriac letters 'alaph toyodh as numbers to indicate the separate of the Decalogue which appear in a number of mss. One would expect that numbering the ten should not present too many difficulties to the Syrian scribes who do their utmost in their colophons to express their humble submission to the Most High. This suggests that they had some basic knowledge of such catechetical matters as the right division of the Decalogue. But-easy as it is to use one's ten commandments for memorizing purposesthe Syrian scribes had difficulties with the actual assignment of the numbers one to ten to each single commandment; and in this they were not alone. Even the order of the seems to have been liable to change, especially that of the sixth, seventh and eighth (concerning manslaughter, adultery and stealing). This can be seen by comparing their order in Hos. iv 2 (6-8-7) and Jer. vii 9 (8-6-7),2) and in Codex Vaticanus of the Septuagint in Ex. xx (7-8-6) and Deut. v (7-6-8; cf. Luke xviii 20 and Rom. xiii 9). Moreover, given their normal order, there are several possibilities

Order Quantity, Product Popularity, and The Location of Stock in a Warehouse

Abstract In the assignment of warehouse space to inventory items, the amount of space allocated to each item is traditionally determined on the basis of inventory or production cost considerations. Actual assignment of items to storage locations within the warehouse is then carried out independently, with the space requirements taken as given. Assuming an out-and-back order picking procedure and the simple economic order quantity inventory model, it is demonstrated that the quantity and location problems must be considered simultaneously in order to achieve a minimum total cost (order picking cost plus inventory cost). An iterative solution procedure, based on a gradient search, is developed and applied to a test problem.

Term Papers in Senior Courses in Physics

Term papers on wisely chosen topics take the senior student out of the narrow textbook problem and give him an opportunity to use all his background training. Properly pursued, such assignments may stimulate and reinforce his interest in physics by demonstrating the vast extent of the unknown in physical science. Criteria for proper topics are listed and an actual assignment, “Neutrino Density in the Universe,” is discussed.

Investigations of Raman spectra III-Deuterium-substituted acetic acids

Isotopic substitution of deuterium atoms for protium atoms has now been carried out successfully for a widely different variety of substances, and the influence of isotopic substitution on various physical properties has been discussed in the literature. Spectroscopic effects have been investigated in several spectral regions but mostly by Raman effect measurements. Yet in no previous investigation have result been recorded for a substance in which deuterium substitution is made in two parts of the molecule simultaneously or separately. Such substitution is possible in carboxylic acids, and has been effected for the two "heavy" acetic acids whose investigation is reported in this paper. Substitution of deuterium for all protium atoms yielded trideuteracetic deuteracid (CD 3 CO 2 D), and replacement of the carboxyl protium only by deuterium resulted in the formation of acetic deuteracid (CH 3 CO 2 C). Not only do the Raman spectra of these acids differ from the spectrum of acetic acid (CH 3 CO 2 H) due to isotopic effects but, by comparing the three spectra, the actual assignment of the frequencies is rendered easier. In addition, the spectrum of "light" acetic acid has been examined, since there is a marked lack of agreement in existing data, and, for comparison purposes, the spectrum of acetic anhydride has also been investigated.