Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to study substrate recognition by the family 48 exocellulase CelF from Clostridium cellulolyticum. It was hypothesized that residues around the entrance of the active site tunnel of this enzyme might serve to recognize and bind the substrate through an affinity for the cellulose monomer repeat unit, β-d-glucopyranose. Simulations were conducted of t...

Title of Thesis: DOES SENSE OF COMMUNITY MEDIATE THE EFFECTS OF NEIGHBORHOOD DISADVANTAGE ON ADOLESCENT DRUG USE? Hua Yan, Master of Arts, 2013 Directed By: Professor Terence Thornberry, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice This thesis examines the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage, sense of community, and adolescent drug use. Prior research has found that sense of commun...

Social disorganization theory posits that individuals who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior than are those who live in advantaged neighborhoods and that neighborhood disadvantage asserts this effect through its disruptive impact on social ties. Past research on this framework has been limited in two respects. First, most studies have concentrat...

One of the challenges in polymer science has been to prepare large-polymer single crystals. We demonstrate a visible light-triggered quantitative topochemical polymerization reaction based on a conjugated dye molecule. Macroscopic-size, high-quality polymer single crystals are obtained. Polymerization is not limited to single crystals, but can also be achieved in highly concentrated solution or...

Objective. The purpose of this article is to explore the additive and moderating effects of neighborhood context on substance use among youth. Methods. Using a regional sample of adolescents and matching the data to Census tracts, we use hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and neighborhood instability on alcohol and marijuana use while cont...

al contours of American social inequality have been transformed by the rapid growth in the prison and jail population.1 America’s prisons and jails have produced a new social group, a group of social outcasts who are joined by the shared experience of incarceration, crime, poverty, racial minority, and low education. As an outcast group, the men and women in our penal institutions have little a...