Module 11

This module contains materials on GIS modeling concepts and practice

Module 3

This module contains materials on vector data analysis concepts and practice, and a brief exercise reviewing Module 2 concepts

An APC Trap?: Privilege and the Perception of Reasonableness in Open Access Publishing

Introduction This article investigates funding sources reported by authors of open access (OA) articles at four R1 universities in the United States along with these authors’ perceptions of Article Processing Charges (APCs). The study suggests a cognitive dissonance among many respondents, where there appears to be a desire and willingness to participate in open access publishing which is at odds with a sense of unreasonableness and an uneven distribution of ability of researchers to participate. Literature Review Much of the literature on APCs centers on rising prices, how commercial publishers profit from this model, and the resulting inequities in OA publishing. Some information exists about resources for funding APCs, including grant funding, library programs, and fee waivers. Methods We surveyed authors who published an OA article in the calendar year 2022. The survey asked whether there was an APC, the funding source for the fee, and the author’s perception of the reasonableness of APC prices and their relative ability to pay compared with their peers. Results From 321 total respondents, grant funding was the largest source of APC funding, and authors reported fees of over US$1500 as unreasonable. Discussion This study confirms the hypothesis that external grants are the primary support for authors paying APCs, and beyond that, authors use a variety of sources to support their publishing fees. Respondents characterized APCs in general as unreasonable for less-well-resourced colleagues. Conclusion Though authors were generally able to find funding or have fees waived, they perceive a threshold of reasonableness for APCs

Polyelectrolyte–Carbon Dot Complex Coacervation

This Letter presents complex coacervation between the biopolymer diethylaminoethyl dextran hydrochloride (DEAE-Dex) and carbon dots. The formation of these coacervates was dependent on both DEAE-Dex concentration and solution ionic strength. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the blue fluorescence of the carbon dots was unaffected by coacervation. Additionally, microrheological studies were conducted to determine the viscosity of these coacervates. These complex coacervates, formed through the interaction of nanoparticles and polyelectrolytes, hold a promising role for future applications where the combination of optical properties from the carbon dots and encapsulation via coacervation can be leveraged

AI and the Philosophy of Education: A Rupture in the Making

In this perspective article, I explore the profound philosophical shifts brought about by AI in education. The integration of AI is not merely a technological advancement—it represents a rupture in the foundational principles of teaching and learning. As an educator and researcher, I have witnessed firsthand how AI disrupts our conventional understanding of learning, teaching, and knowledge construction. This field is unpredictable, evolving at a pace that forces us to reconsider fundamental philosophical assumptions about education

Module 4

This unit contains materials on projections concepts and practice, and a brief exercise reviewing Module 3 concepts

Module 9

This module contains materials on remotely-sensed (raster) data concepts

Towards Stable Biologics: Understanding Co-Excipient Effects on Hydrophobic Interactions and Solvent Network Integrity

The formulation of biologics for increased shelf life stability is a complex task that depends on the chemical composition of both the active ingredient and any excipients in solution. A large number of unique excipients are typically required to stabilize biologics. However, it is not well-known how these excipient combinations influence biologics stability. To examine these formulations at the molecular level, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of arginine -- a widely used excipient with unique properties -- in solution both alone and with equimolar concentrations of lysine or glutamate. We studied the effects of these mixtures on a hydrophobic polymer model to isolate excipient mechanisms on hydrophobic interactions relevant in both protein folding and aggregation, crucial phenomena in biologics stability. We observed that arginine is the most effective single excipient in stabilizing hydrophobic polymer folding, and its effectiveness is augmented by lysine or glutamate addition. We decomposed the free energy of polymer folding/unfolding to identify that the key source of arginine-lysine and arginine-glutamate synergy is a reduction in destabilizing polymer-excipient interactions. We additionally applied principles from network theory to characterize the local solvent network embedding the hydrophobic polymer. Through this approach, we found arginine supports a more highly connected and stable local solvent network than in water, lysine, or glutamate solutions. These network properties are preserved when lysine or glutamate are added to arginine solutions. Taken together, our results highlight important molecular features in excipient solutions that establish the foundation for rational formulation design

Structural Constraints on the Productivity of Persian Compounding

This study empirically investigates the structural constraints influencing the productivity of Persian compounding processes, using a corpus derived from the Persian Linguistic Database (PLDB). It examines phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic factors limiting the formation of new compounds. In this study, productivity refers to the degree to which a morphological process is used to create new words in a given language. The findings reveal an inverse relationship between productivity and the number of constraints applied: as constraints increase, productivity declines. Phonological factors include syllabic and phonological structure of the word, while morphological constraints relate to the category, structure, and affixation of the base. Syntactically, productivity depends on category combinations and subcategorization frames. For example, bases like /ʔāb/ (water) and /por/ (full) demonstrate higher combinatory potential compared to less flexible bases such as /pir/ (old) or /šanbe/ (Saturday). In the semantic domain, transparency and compositionality play crucial roles. Compounds with meanings derivable from their components show higher productivity, whereas opaque or metaphorical compounds stem from less productive processes. This study highlights the interaction of phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic factors in shaping Persian compound formation

Module 10

This module contains materials on geostatistics concepts and practice, and a brief exercise reviewing module 8 concepts