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Town-gown relations can have far-reaching impacts on a community. This qualitative case study examines the relationship between Utah Valley University and Orem, Utah, and how that relationship impacts the quality of life of residents as well as regional economic development. Through the use of interviews of 11 city and university administration members and the Optimal College Town Assessment (OCTA) survey questions sent to approximately 400 community leaders and neighbors of the university, information was gathered about the state of the relationship and the impacts the relationship has on the broader community. The findings of this study support research conducted in the field of town-gown relations, while examining more in depth the impact that the relationship has on the community, rather than the relationship itself. The findings show the various impacts that the city and university have on the quality of life of residents who live near the university as well as the economic impacts on the region.|Keywords: Town-gown relations, university, city, college town, quality of life, communication, master planning, economic development, student housing.

Numerous studies have found that stereotype threat can negatively affect academic performance, especially for Black students. However, studies have also shown that many African Americans have used the threat to enhance motivation and achievement. McGee & Martin (2011) used stereotype management to explain how Black mathematic students handled racial stereotypes and exhibited high achievement and resilience within an environment where stereotypes threatened performance. This study was designed to apply and extend research on stereotype threat and stereotype management to non-experimental, real-world accounts of Black music students. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Black music students identify and respond to identity stereotypes throughout their music education . The focus was on the issues of motivation and resilience. The study was designed to elicit the current and past experiences of Black doctoral music students and graduates, within the sociocultural context of their music programs and communities. This study was grounded in a phenomenological theoretical framework and employed narrative inquiry methods. The following questions framed the study: How do Black doctoral music students and graduates report their experiences in music education classrooms and related activities? What types of stereotypes do Black doctoral music students and graduates encounter? The findings reveal that the major experiences were related to gender and SES stereotypes in earlier years, and almost exclusively racial stereotyping in college years. However the participants’ strengthening racial identity directly affected their responses to racial stimuli in their experiences. In addition, pride in Black identity not only served as motivation in the presence of racial stereotyping but also had debilitating effects. Finally, stereotype management manifested in determination to prove naysayers wrong, adamant defiance of stereotypes, and the desire to give back to future Black music students. Implications include suggestions on how music programs can build agency and resilience, and support the success of minority students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Findings from this study corroborate findings on the experiences of Black doctoral students in other disciplines. The results encourage further research on the effects of identity on the success of music students.

Existing treatment programs and procedures are incapable of addressing the complications encountered with patients who experience spasticity and hypertonia related joint contractures. Current passive therapy procedures and devices are only capable of managing the extent of joint contractures on patients with chronic and acute onset severe neurological disorders. The project was conceived as a means to develop an active device that is capable of adapting to the state of the joint to mange the extent of contractures and to permit consideration for the prevalence of spastic activity episodes and hypertonia. The project focused on the design of the physical prototype and the controller software in order to regulate the operation of such a device. Additionally, the signal conditioning and sensor package was developed as determined to be appropriate for the requirements of the device. The operation of the device was verified in the bench-top environment in the laboratory and on human subjects in order to qualify, verify, and tune the position tracking capability of the device, spastic activity detection and rejection capability of the device, and the operation of patient controlled devices. The overall operation of the device was evaluated on a group of human subjects. Using simulated contractures and spastic activity episodes, the validity of the preliminary deterministic test data was confirmed as was the appropriate operation of the device. The end prototype devices are capable of responding to a spastic activity episode by maintaining a constant load in addition to mimicking the passive extension behavior of conventional commercial devices.

Recognition that peroxisome proliferator chemicals are potent hepatic mitogens and carcinogens in rats and mice has generated concern about possible human health risks associated with exposure to several of these chemicals, many of which have medical or commercial utility. Our broad objective was to improve the estimation of human health risk following peroxisome proliferator exposure by defining a subset of the molecular events associated with the rodent tumors. Our working hypothesis was that peroxisome proliferator-induced tumors in rodents result from specific, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-a(Ppara)-modulated changes in gene expression. The research was directed toward three specific aims. First, we sought to identify genes associated with hepatocarcinogenesis induced by the peroxisome proliferator, Wy-14, 643, in the rat. The principle conclusion of these studies - that peroxisome proliferators dysregulate expression of hepatic acute-phase protein genes - suggested possible perturbations in cytokine signaling networks that also regulate cell growth. Second, although Ppara is necessary for the rodent hepatocarcinogenesis induced by peroxisome proliferators, we were interested in identifying more proximate mediators of the increased cell proliferation. Thus, we examined cytokine signaling in mice treated with peroxisome proliferators. We found that peroxisome proliferator-induced increases in cell proliferation is not mediated via Tnfasignaling, but instead may be mediated through interleukin-1b or interleukin-6. Third, because Ppara is necessary for the cell proliferation that follows peroxisome proliferator exposure, we hypothesized that the receptor may play a role in hepatocellular proliferation induced by other stimuli. Following partial hepatectomy, liver regeneration in Ppara-null mice is transiently impaired, and may result from altered expression of genes regulating the G1/S cell cycle checkpoint in hepatocytes from these mice. Overall, our studies suggest that hepatic Ppara activation (1) alters inflammatory mediators, (2) modulates several potentially mitogenic cytokines, and (3) is necessary for normal liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy. Our data, compared with data from similar experiments on human hepatocytes, may provide further clues about the differences and similarities between peroxisome proliferator exposure in humans and laboratory animals.

This study sought to improve a measure of the sources of social self-efficacy (the Social Sources Scale (SSS)), which was developed as a part of Anderson (1996). The internal consistency reliability of the original SSS was inadequate (.79). By revising that scale in this study the alpha was increased to .94. Also, Anderson (1996) tested only a portion of Bandura’s (1977) theory of self-efficacy as it pertains to the social domain. While that study only measured the sources of social self-efficacy, this study sought to see how the SSS related to given outcomes of social self-efficacy (i.e., depression, social anxiety, shyness, and social risk-taking), as well as two criterion measures of social self-efficacy. Results of this study supported Bandura’s theory. Results also provide evidence that the instrument revised as a part of this study (the SSS) shows promise for use in counseling and research settings to measure the antecedents of an individual’s sense of social self-efficacy.

This study analyzed such assumptions about recipient knowledge by determining how well a sample of welfare recipients understood work incentives designed both to stimulate welfare-work combination and the exit of welfare for work. Incentives studied included the Earned Income Credit, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Food Stamp earnings disregards, Transitional Medicaid and child care, and several others. To determine knowledge levels, personal interviews were conducted in Lansing, Michigan with 60 AFDC unmarried mothers, 30 of whom had a recent connection to the work force. Respondents were asked if they had heard of a wide array of work incentives, and if so, to explain how the incentives worked and to estimate incentive values. Study findings revealed widespread misunderstanding and confusion about most work incentives. While respondents often had heard about particular incentives, more specific knowledge about incentive eligibility requirements or values generally was lacking. Underestimates of incentive values were fare more common than overestimates, suggesting that recipients often underestimate the total income packages that may be available through working. Although respondents demonstrated a poor understanding of incentives, they typically viewed work incentives as important and believed that the financial incentives for working were inadequate. Most respondents viewed the decision to leave welfare for work as being very risky, with the risk perceptions based both on immediate concerns of making ends meet and more contingent worries about future job loss. In addition, concerns frequently were expressed about bureaucratic delays in getting back on welfare if the work situation failed. In the absence of sound knowledge about incentives, respondents typically referenced prior experiences with work incentives or the experiences of family members and friends. While such experiences sometimes served as useful decision-making shortcuts, they also sometimes became quickly updated in a changing welfare environment or else were based on past sub-optimum utilization of incentives. Relying on the experiences of family members and friends also introduced possibilities of miscommunication or dissemination of irrelevant information.

The nitrate and nitrite uptake and excretion characteristics of Chaetoceros curvisetus Cleve, STX-200, when grown in batch culture under simulated natural environmental conditions and then subjected to constant illumination or abrupt variations in illumination, were investigated. The cultures were grown in a medium containing 30 μM nitrite as the only nitrogen source and with the other essential nutrients in excess. Light intensities of 0, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 5000 μein/m²/sec were generated with a 1000-watt tungsten-halogen lamp in combination with copper sulfate and heat filters. The cultures were spiked with nitrate and the nitrate and nitrite concentrations were monitored simultaneously and continuously with a Technicon Autoanalyzer II interfaced with a Hewlett-Packard 9825A computer programmed to take voltage readings from the Autoanalyzer colorimeters at 30 second intervals. Michaelis-Menten uptake kinetics were observed which allowed the use of linearized Michaelis-Menten equations to generate V [subscript max] , K [subscript s], and K [subscript I] values for nitrate uptake and light intensity in nitrate uptake. The uptake of nitrate by Chaetoceros curvisetus, STX-200, when grown in batch culture, is light-limited over a relatively small range of light intensities. At constant light intensities of between 200 and 2000 μein/m²/sec , the maximum rate of nitrate uptake was approximately 0.30 μg-at NO₃-N/μg-at Protein-N/hr. Below 200 μein/m²/sec, the maximum rate of nitrate uptake declined to a minimum of 0.16 μg-at NO₃-N/μg-at Protein-N/hr in the dark. Above 2000 μein/m²/sec, nitrate uptake fell significantly to a rate of 0.22 μg-at NO₃-N/μg-at Protein-N/hr. The V [subscript max] and K [subscript I] for light intensity in nitrate uptake for the natural light intensity range of 0-2000 μein/m²/sec were 0.343 μg-at NO₃-N/μg-at Protein-N/hr and 26 μein/m²/sec with a correlation coefficient of 1.000. The K [subscript s] value for nitrate uptake did not fluctuate as a function of light intensity remaining relatively constant at 0.62 μg-at NO₃-N/1. Intermittent periods of light and dark produced rapid fluctuations in nitrate uptake rates with reduced uptake occurring in the dark. The calculated V [subscript max] for light intensity in nitrate uptake of 0.341 μg-at NO₃-N/μg-at Protein-N/hr was almost identical to that calculated for the constant light studies. In contrast with the constant light studies, no reduction in nitrate uptake rate was observed at light intensities greater than 2000 μein/m²/sec with the intermittent light regime. The K [subscript I] for light intensity in nitrate uptake was 187 μein/m²/sec in the variable light studies. Nitrite was excreted at almost all light intensities and conditions and was highly correlated with the rate of nitrate uptake. Chaetoceros curvisetus, STX-200, is capable of rapid nitrate uptake over a wide range of light intensities ranging from 0-5000 μein/m²/sec and will probably never experience light-inhibition of nitrate uptake under natural conditions