108 research outputs found
Communication Apprehension in the Basic Course: Learning Styles and Preferred Instructional Strategies of High and Low Apprehensive Students
Students who experience high levels of communication apprehension are at a distinct disadvantage in school when compared to those who do not. This is particularly true in basic courses in public speaking and interpersonal communication which students may be required to take to satisfy general education requirements. This study examines the relationship between communication apprehension, learning style, and preferred instructional strategies for students enrolled in a basic course in interpersonal communication. The results indicate that communication-apprehensive students are more passive than active in their learning styles. Both low and high communication-apprehensive students prefer instructional strategies which are consistent with their learning style
Examining Undergraduate Communication Degree Programs: Mission Statements, Assessment Plans, and Assessment Evaluations
One hundred undergraduate communication programs listed in the NCA directory were examined in this investigation. The process involved gathering the university mission statement, departmental mission statement, program assessment plan, and program assessment evaluations. Results demonstrate that 98 institutions utilized mission statements, 81 departments provided mission statements, 18 departments made assessment plans available and the researchers obtained 4 assessment evaluations
Evaluation Communication of Master\u27s Program On the Basis of Google Citations
This paper provides an assessment of Master’s degree programs and faculty research in Communication departments using citations available in Google Scholar. Identification of the Master’s degree programs relied on the National Communication Association website. Individual faculty were identified from the web page of the department for the institution. The combined number of citations to faculty publications identifies the top five departments (University of Alabama-Birmingham, California State University-Fullerton, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Cleveland State University, and California State University- Long Beach) and the top five most cited faculty members (Stella Ting-Toomey, Virginia Richmond, George Cheney, Kimberly Neuendorf, and Brian Spitzberg). The overall set of information provides useful insights for the expectations for Master’s program faculty productivity
Next-to-leading order predictions for Z gamma+jet and Z gamma gamma final states at the LHC
We present next-to-leading order predictions for final states containing
leptons produced through the decay of a Z boson in association with either a
photon and a jet, or a pair of photons. The effect of photon radiation from the
final state leptons is included and we also allow for contributions arising
from fragmentation processes. Phenomenological studies are presented for the
LHC in the case of final states containing charged leptons and in the case of
neutrinos. We also use the procedure introduced by Stewart and Tackmann to
provide a reliable estimate of the scale uncertainty inherent in our
theoretical calculations of jet-binned Z gamma cross sections. These
computations have been implemented in the public code MCFM.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure
Comparing Communication Doctoral Programs, Alumni, and Faculty: The Use of Google Scholar
This paper examines three aspects of doctoral programs in Communication: (a) how doctoral department faculty compare using combined citations to published work using Google Scholar, (b) the contribution in quantity and quality (measured by citations) of alumni teaching in doctoral programs, and (c) identifying the top 25 most cited communication doctoral faculty in Google Scholar. The goal is to provide a series of additional alternatives for faculty and program evaluation beyond simply counting the number of published journal articles
Vector boson pair production at the LHC
We present phenomenological results for vector boson pair production at the
LHC, obtained using the parton-level next-to-leading order program MCFM. We
include the implementation of a new process in the code, pp -> \gamma\gamma,
and important updates to existing processes. We incorporate fragmentation
contributions in order to allow for the experimental isolation of photons in
\gamma\gamma, W\gamma, and Z\gamma production and also account for gluon-gluon
initial state contributions for all relevant processes. We present results for
a variety of phenomenological scenarios, at the current operating energy of
\sqrt{s} = 7 TeV and for the ultimate machine goal, \sqrt{s} = 14 TeV. We
investigate the impact of our predictions on several important distributions
that enter into searches for new physics at the LHC.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figure
Ultra-Sharp Nanowire Arrays Natively Permeate, Record, and Stimulate Intracellular Activity in Neuronal and Cardiac Networks
Intracellular access with high spatiotemporal resolution can enhance our
understanding of how neurons or cardiomyocytes regulate and orchestrate network
activity, and how this activity can be affected with pharmacology or other
interventional modalities. Nanoscale devices often employ electroporation to
transiently permeate the cell membrane and record intracellular potentials,
which tend to decrease rapidly to extracellular potential amplitudes with time.
Here, we report innovative scalable, vertical, ultra-sharp nanowire arrays that
are individually addressable to enable long-term, native recordings of
intracellular potentials. We report large action potential amplitudes that are
indicative of intracellular access from 3D tissue-like networks of neurons and
cardiomyocytes across recording days and that do not decrease to extracellular
amplitudes for the duration of the recording of several minutes. Our findings
are validated with cross-sectional microscopy, pharmacology, and electrical
interventions. Our experiments and simulations demonstrate that individual
electrical addressability of nanowires is necessary for high-fidelity
intracellular electrophysiological recordings. This study advances our
understanding of and control over high-quality multi-channel intracellular
recordings, and paves the way toward predictive, high-throughput, and low-cost
electrophysiological drug screening platforms.Comment: Main manuscript: 33 pages, 4 figures, Supporting information: 43
pages, 27 figures, Submitted to Advanced Material
Delineation of the primary tumour Clinical Target Volumes (CTV-P) in laryngeal, hypopharyngeal, oropharyngeal and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma : AIRO, CACA, DAHANCA, EORTC, GEORCC, GORTEC, HKNPCSG, HNCIG, IAG-KHT, LPRHHT, NCIC CTG, NCRI, NRG Oncology, PHNS, SBRT, SOMERA, SRO, SSHNO, TROG consensus guidelines
Purpose: Few studies have reported large inter-observer variations in target volume selection and delineation in patients treated with radiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Consensus guidelines have been published for the neck nodes (see Gregoire et al., 2003, 2014), but such recommendations are lacking for primary tumour delineation. For the latter, two main schools of thoughts are prevailing, one based on geometric expansion of the Gross Tumour Volume (GTV) as promoted by DAHANCA, and the other one based on anatomical expansion of the GTV using compartmentalization of head and neck anatomy. Method: For each anatomic location within the larynx, hypopharynx, oropharynx and oral cavity, and for each T-stage, the DAHANCA proposal has been comprehensively reviewed and edited to include anatomic knowledge into the geometric Clinical Target Volume (CTV) delineation concept. A first proposal was put forward by the leading authors of this publication (VG and CG) and discussed with opinion leaders in head and neck radiation oncology from Europe, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, North America and South America to reach a worldwide consensus. Results: This consensus proposes two CTVs for the primary tumour, the so called CTV-P1 and CVT-P2, corresponding to a high and lower tumour burden, and which should be associated with a high and a lower dose prescription, respectively. Conclusion: Implementation of these guidelines in the daily practice of radiation oncology should contribute to reduce treatment variations from clinicians to clinicians, facilitate the conduct of multi institutional clinical trials, and contribute to improved care of patients with head and neck carcinoma. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe
[(18)F]FDG-PET/CT metabolic parameters as useful prognostic factors in cervical cancer patients treated with chemo-radiotherapy.
To compare the prognostic value of different anatomical and functional metabolic parameters determined using [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT with other clinical and pathological prognostic parameters in cervical cancer (CC).
Thirty-eight patients treated with standard curative doses of chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) underwent pre- and post-therapy [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT. [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT parameters including mean tumor standardized uptake values (SUV), metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and tumor glycolytic volume (TGV) were measured before the start of CRT. The post-treatment tumor metabolic response was evaluated. These parameters were compared to other clinical prognostic factors. Survival curves were estimated by using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression analysis was performed to determine the independent contribution of each prognostic factor.
After 37 months of median follow-up (range, 12-106), overall survival (OS) was 71 % [95 % confidence interval (CI), 54-88], disease-free survival (DFS) 61 % [95 % CI, 44-78] and loco-regional control (LRC) 76 % [95 % CI, 62-90]. In univariate analyses the [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT parameters unfavorably influencing OS, DFS and LRC were pre-treatment TGV-cutoff ≥562 (37 vs. 76 %, p = 0.01; 33 vs. 70 %, p = 0.002; and 55 vs. 83 %, p = 0.005, respectively), mean pre-treatment tumor SUV cutoff ≥5 (57 vs. 86 %, p = 0.03; 36 vs. 88 %, p = 0.004; 65 vs. 88 %, p = 0.04, respectively) and a partial tumor metabolic response after treatment (9 vs. 29 %, p = 0.0008; 0 vs. 83 %, p < 0.0001; 22 vs. 96 %, p < 0.0001, respectively). After multivariate analyses a partial tumor metabolic response after treatment remained as an independent prognostic factor unfavorably influencing DFS and LRC (RR 1:7.7, p < 0.0001, and RR 1:22.6, p = 0.0003, respectively) while the pre-treatment TGV-cutoff ≥562 negatively influenced OS and DFS (RR 1:2, p = 0.03, and RR 1:2.75, p = 0.05).
Parameters capturing the pre-treatment glycolytic volume and metabolic activity of [(18)F]FDG-positive disease provide important prognostic information in patients with CC treated with CRT. The post-therapy [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT uptake (partial tumor metabolic response) is predictive of disease outcome
Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV
Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead
collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the
pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80
GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be
in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The
ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the
number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for
all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
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