Roadside sobriety tests and attitudes toward a regulated cannabis market

BACKGROUND: Many argue that prohibition creates more troubles than alternative policies, but fewer than half of American voters support a taxed and regulated market for cannabis. Some oppose a regulated market because of concerns about driving after smoking cannabis. Although a roadside sobriety test for impairment exists, few voters know about it. The widespread use of a roadside sobriety test that could detect recent cannabis use might lead some voters who currently oppose a regulated market to support it. In contrast, a question that primes respondents about the potential for driving after cannabis use might lead respondents to be less likely to support a regulated market. METHODS: Phone interviews with a national sample of 1002 registered voters asked about support for a regulated cannabis market and support for such a market if a reliable roadside sobriety test were widely available. RESULTS: In this sample of registered voters, 36% supported a regulated cannabis market. Exploratory chi-square tests revealed significantly higher support among men and Caucasians but no link to age or education. These demographic variables covaried significantly. Logistic regression revealed that gender, ethnicity, and political party were significant when all predictors were included. Support increased significantly with a reliable roadside sobriety test to 44%, but some respondents who had agreed to the regulated market no longer agreed when the sobriety test was mentioned. Logistic regression revealed that ethnicity and political affiliation were again significant predictors of support with a reliable sobriety test, but gender was no longer significant. None of these demographic variables could identify who would change their votes in response to the reliable roadside test. CONCLUSION: Increased awareness and use of roadside sobriety tests that detect recent cannabis use could increase support for a regulated cannabis market. Identifying concerns of voters who are not Caucasian or Democrats could help alter cannabis policy

AGN accretion and black hole growth across compact and extended galaxy evolution phases

The extent of black hole growth during different galaxy evolution phases and the connection between galaxy compactness and AGN activity remain poorly understood. We use Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the CANDELS fields to identify star-forming and quiescent galaxies at z=0.5-3 in both compact and extended phases and use Chandra X-ray imaging to measure the distribution of AGN accretion rates and track black hole growth within these galaxies. Accounting for the impact of AGN light changes ~20% of the X-ray sources from compact to extended galaxy classifications. We find that ~10-25% of compact star-forming galaxies host an AGN, a mild enhancement (by a factor ~2) compared to extended star-forming galaxies or compact quiescent galaxies of equivalent stellar mass and redshift. However, AGN are not ubiquitous in compact star-forming galaxies and this is not the evolutionary phase, given its relatively short timescale, where the bulk of black hole mass growth takes place. Conversely, we measure the highest AGN fractions (~10-30%) within the relatively rare population of extended quiescent galaxies. For massive galaxies that quench at early cosmic epochs, substantial black hole growth in this extended phase is crucial to produce the elevated black hole mass-to-galaxy stellar mass scaling relation observed for quiescent galaxies at z~0. We also show that AGN fraction increases with compactness in star-forming galaxies and decreases in quiescent galaxies within both the compact and extended sub-populations, demonstrating that AGN activity depends closely on the structural properties of galaxies.Comment: 29 pages, 18 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Primary results are shown in Fig 7 and summarised by Fig 12. See Fig 16 and 17 for key interpretation/conclusion

A twin study into the genetic and environmental influences on academic performance in science in 9-year-old boys and girls

We investigated for the first time the genetic and environmental aetiology behind scientific achievement in primary school children, with a special focus on possible aetiological differences for boys and girls. For a representative community sample of 2602 twin pairs assessed at 9 years, scientific achievement in school was rated by teachers based on National Curriculum criteria in three domains: Scientific Enquiry, Life Processes and Physical Processes. Results indicate that genetic influences account for over 60% of the variance in scientific achievement, with environmental influences accounting for the remaining variance. Environmental influences were mainly of the non-shared variety, suggesting that children from the same family experience school environments differently. An analysis of sex differences considering differences in means, variances and aetiology of individual differences found only differences in variance between the sexes, with boys showing greater variance in performance than girls

Matching company growth to skill adaptation levels

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-66).by Alison Dale McCaffree.S.M.M.B.A

Engaging Student Stakeholders in Developing a Learning Outcomes Assessment Framework

Learning outcomes assessment and alignment contribute to the transparency, quality, and progression of a program. We set forth a learning outcomes framework that aligns learning outcomes at the course, major, program, and university levels. Senior undergraduate students were recruited to analyze assessments from eight core courses required for Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) majors at the University of Guelph. This analysis was conducted to achieve two goals: (a) to develop tools to assess learning outcomes in the MCB Department, and (b) to incorporate insights shared by the student perspective. Almost 1,600 Individual questions and their attributes were coded, compiled, and linked into the learning outcomes framework. The students then connected the questions to course concepts and assigned a cognitive domain indicated by Bloom’s Taxonomy level. After training and calibration, two undergraduate students evaluated all questions in the eight core courses with an average of 93.2% ± 1.6% (n=8) agreement between evaluators. These data were used to generate assessment profiles for individual courses and as an aggregate to provide insights regarding the program. This work makes constructive use the learning outcomes framework and illustrates the importance of leveraging undergraduate student perspectives in discussions of learning outcomes in higher education

Collaboration between Librarians and Learning Technologists to enhance the learning of health sciences students.

Collaboration between Librarians and Learning Technologists at Bournemouth University (BU) has been stimulated and cemented by Pathfinder funding from the Higher Education Academy. This paper will consider four case studies collected as part of the eRes Project that describe the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the School of Health and Social Care at BU. The project aimed to enhance the student learning experience in an increasingly electronic environment. This was achieved by developing and disseminating innovative pedagogical frameworks, bringing together learning activities and academically led quality e-resources within the unit of study. An e-reading strategy which encompasses models for resource discovery and e-literacy was developed, drawing on the experiences and findings of the case studies. Issues considered in this paper will include accessing academic electronic reading materials and using a social bookmarking tool integrated within BU’s virtual learning environment with students studying away from the main campus. Additionally the paper will consider how technology can be used to motivate students, especially in large groups and how it can be used to engage students with a subject perceived as “dry” or “difficult”. The rich possibilities of health science materials can be exploited more fully using new technologies embedded within the curriculum

Production and Characterization of Graphene and Other 2-Dimensional Nanomaterials: An AP High School Inquiry Lab (Curriculum Exchange)

According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative, nanoscience and nanotechnology are expected to play key roles in developing solutions to some of our greatest global engineering challenges in energy, medicine, security, and scientific discovery. There is high expectation that developments in nanotechnology will lead to new job creation and become an economic driver with new direction for research and development coming from nano-enabled products. In light of the potential economic and national security implications, it is imperative that we support the development of the next generation of the high school curriculum as a way to motivate students towards pursuing education and careers in nanotechnology. Recent advances in nanomaterials processing, particularly 2-dimensional nanomaterials synthesis, present the opportunity to integrate nanotechnology curriculum into high schools in safe and relatively inexpensive manners. The multifunctional characteristics of 2-dimensional nanomaterials make them attractive for printable and flexible electronics, nanostructured thermoelectrics, photovoltaics, batteries, and biological and chemical sensors. Thus, 2-dimensional nanomaterials provide anideal context for high school students to investigate the principles of nanoscience andnanotechnology. In our work, we present an Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry Inquiry Laboratory (CIL),which is being implemented at Centennial High School in Meridian, Idaho. The CIL is aligned toNational College Board requirements for AP Chemistry courses as well as Next GenerationScience Standards. The laboratory is designed to encompass approximately five hours of time,including teacher preparation time, pre-laboratory activities, materials synthesis andcharacterization, and a field trip to a local industry partner for scanning electron microscopyanalysis of the resultant nanomaterials. Students are organized into small groups under thecontext that they are working to produce and characterize nanomaterials as part of an industryresearch team. To synthesis the 2-dimensional nanomaterials, students use cosolvent exfoliationof layered materials such as graphite, MoS2, WS2, and hBN. The students must then use opticalspectroscopy and electrical characterization techniques to determine if their material is aconductor, semiconductor, or an insulator. The students then use scanning electron microscopy to image the morphology of the 2-dimensional nanoflakes they produced, which exposes the students to advanced nanoscale characterization techniques

Breast Cancer Cell Invasion into a Three Dimensional Tumor-Stroma Microenvironment

In this study, to model 3D chemotactic tumor-stroma invasion in vitro, we developed an innovative microfluidic chip allowing side-by-side positioning of 3D hydrogel-based matrices. We were able to (1) create a dual matrix architecture that extended in a continuous manner, thus allowing invasion from one 3D matrix to another, and (2) establish distinct regions of tumor and stroma cell/ECM compositions, with a clearly demarcated tumor invasion front, thus allowing us to quantitatively analyze progression of cancer cells into the stroma at a tissue or single-cell level. We showed significantly enhanced cancer cell invasion in response to a transient gradient of epidermal growth factor (EGF). 3D tracking at the single-cell level displayed increased migration speed and persistence. Subsequently, we analyzed changes in expression of EGF receptors, cell aspect ratio, and protrusive activity. These findings show the unique ability of our model to quantitatively analyze 3D chemotactic invasion, both globally by tracking the progression of the invasion front, and at the single-cell level by examining changes in cellular behavior and morphology using high-resolution imaging. Taken together, we have shown a novel model recapitulating 3D tumor-stroma interactions for studies of real-time cell invasion and morphological changes within a single platform.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (1510700

Protein hydrolysates and recovery of muscle damage following eccentric exercise

Background: A whey protein hydrolysate (NatraBoost XR; WPHNB) has been shown to speed repair muscle damage. We sought to determine whether this benefit is specific to this hydrolysate to evaluate a marker for quality control. Methods: Three hydrolysates of the same whey protein isolate (WPI) were prepared (WPHNB, WPH1 and WPH2). Isometric knee extensor strength was measured in 39 sedentary male participants before and after 100 maximal eccentric contractions of the knee extensors to induce muscle damage. Participants were then randomised to consume 250 ml of flavoured water (FW, n=9), or 250 ml of FW containing 25 g of either NatraBoost XR (n=3), WPH1 (n=9), WPH2 (n=9) or WPI (n=9). Strength was reassessed over the next seven days while the supplements were consumed daily. Fibroblasts were cultured for 48 hr in the presence of the different hydrolysates, WPI, saline or fetal bovine serum to ascertain effects on cell proliferation. Results: Strength was reduced in all treatment groups after eccentric exercise (P<0.001). Strength recovered steadily over 7 days in the FW, WPI, WPH1 and WPH2 treatment groups (P<0.001), with no difference between treatments (P=0.87). WPHNB promoted faster strength recovery compared with the other treatments (P<0.001). Fibroblast proliferation was greater with WPHNB compared with saline, WPI or the other hydrolysates (P<0.001). Conclusions: Promoting recovery from muscle damage seems unique to WPHNB. In vitro fibroblast proliferation may be a useful marker for quality control. It is not clear whether effects on fibroblast proliferation contribute to the in vivo effect of WPHNB on muscle damage