Economic Value Added for New Ventures and Small Business

Historically,   Economic    Value  Added   (EVA)   was   a  financial    tool   reserved  for   large corporations and mature businesses. However, EVA can be particularly useful for small businesses and entrepreneurial endeavors. The value, computed from uncomplicated and available financial data, can direct the tactical and strategic  activities  of the firm  toward value producing projects, help regulate spending, and serve as an exit indicator for firms that may  never  become  successful

Multiscale patterning of nanocomposite polyelectrolyte/nanoparticle films using inkjet printing and AFM scratching

The fabrication of structured polymer/nanoparticle composite films through a combination of additive, subtractive and self-assembly methodologies is investigated. Consumer grade inkjet printing hardware is employed to deposit cationic polyelectrolytes on (i) hydrophilic and (ii) hydrophobised glass substrates. The hydrophobisation process controls the spreading of the droplets and hence the lateral size of printed features. The printed cationic polyelectrolyte regions are used as a template to direct the self-assembly of negatively charged gold nanoparticles onto the surface. Micro-scale features are created in the polyelectrolyte/nanoparticle films using AFM scratching to selectively displace material. The effect of substrate wettability on film morphology is discussed

Multiscale patterning of nanocomposite polyelectrolyte/nanoparticle films using inkjet printing and AFM scratching

The fabrication of structured polymer/nanoparticle composite films through a combination of additive, subtractive and self-assembly methodologies is investigated. Consumer grade inkjet printing hardware is employed to deposit cationic polyelectrolytes on (i) hydrophilic and (ii) hydrophobised glass substrates. The hydrophobisation process controls the spreading of the droplets and hence the lateral size of printed features. The printed cationic polyelectrolyte regions are used as a template to direct the self-assembly of negatively charged gold nanoparticles onto the surface. Micro-scale features are created in the polyelectrolyte/nanoparticle films using AFM scratching to selectively displace material. The effect of substrate wettability on film morphology is discussed

Prospective Teachers' Noticing and Naming of Students' Mathematical Strengths and Support of Students' Participation

This dissertation is a sequential qualitative case study that describes how prospective teachers begin to use strengths-based language and support students’ participation after participating in a digital learning experience on noticing and naming students’ mathematical strengths. The central research question guiding this work is: What feedback statements do prospective teachers (PTs) make before and after they receive explicit support for using strengths-based language and is there evidence of PTs’ sustained learning following this support? First, this study collected and analyzed prospective teachers’ feedback statements to students before and after a digital learning experience on noticing and naming students’ mathematical strengths (LessonSketch). The primary analysis used qualitative thematic coding to describe the type of language (strengths-based, mixed language, deficit-based, or uncommitted) used by six prospective teachers when making feedback statements and to qualify feedback statements. The secondary analysis followed two of the prospective teachers into field placements to determine if there was any evidence of sustained learning (as measured by PTs’ reflections on learning and moves in the classroom to support students’ participation). This study found that most (5 of 6) PTs moved from uncommitted or mixed language feedback statements to strengths-based feedback statements as a result of the digital learning experience. PTs went from mostly emerging strengths-based statements on the pre-assessment (20 of 28 statements) to primarily meaningful strengths-based statements on the post-assessment (22 of 28 statements). The overall finding from the secondary analysis is that while both PTs (Alicia and Marissa) showed positive shifts in their moves to support students’ participation only Marissa found the practice of noticing and naming students’ strengths as fundamental to her learning and teaching practice. On the other hand, both cases highlight examples of Marissa and Alicia, making specific and public feedback statements to position students' contributions positively and assign competence to students. Finally, tensions arise when PTs evaluate students’ responses for smartness while continuing to rank students’ responses and emphasize correctness

Mutation of CFAP57, a protein required for the asymmetric targeting of a subset of inner dynein arms in Chlamydomonas, causes primary ciliary dyskinesia

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is characterized by chronic airway disease, reduced fertility, and randomization of the left/right body axis. It is caused by defects of motile cilia and sperm flagella. We screened a cohort of affected individuals that lack an obvious axonemal defect for pathogenic variants using whole exome capture, next generation sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis assuming an autosomal recessive trait. We identified one subject with an apparently homozygous nonsense variant [(c.1762C\u3eT), p.(Arg588*)] in the uncharacterized CFAP57 gene. Interestingly, the variant results in the skipping of exon 11 (58 amino acids), which may be due to disruption of an exonic splicing enhancer. In normal human nasal epithelial cells, CFAP57 localizes throughout the ciliary axoneme. Nasal cells from the PCD patient express a shorter, mutant version of CFAP57 and the protein is not incorporated into the axoneme. The missing 58 amino acids include portions of WD repeats that may be important for loading onto the intraflagellar transport (IFT) complexes for transport or docking onto the axoneme. A reduced beat frequency and an alteration in ciliary waveform was observed. Knockdown of CFAP57 in human tracheobronchial epithelial cells (hTECs) recapitulates these findings. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CFAP57 is highly conserved in organisms that assemble motile cilia. CFAP57 is allelic with the BOP2/IDA8/FAP57 gene identified previously in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Two independent, insertional fap57 Chlamydomonas mutant strains show reduced swimming velocity and altered waveforms. Tandem mass tag (TMT) mass spectroscopy shows that FAP57 is missing, and the g inner dyneins (DHC7 and DHC3) and the d inner dynein (DHC2) are reduced, but the FAP57 paralog FBB7 is increased. Together, our data identify a homozygous variant in CFAP57 that causes PCD that is likely due to a defect in the inner dynein arm assembly process

Controlling gold nanoparticle assembly on electron beam-reduced nitrophenyl self-assembled monolayers <i>via</i> electron dose

Electron beam lithography is a well-established tool suitable for the modification of substrate surface chemistry. It therefore follows that the deposition and self-assembly of nanoparticles on a surface can be directed using this method. This work explores the effect of electron dose on the electron beam lithographic patterning of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold surfaces. Electron beam irradiation of the sample induces conversion of the SAM terminal functional aromatic nitro (NO2) moieties to aromatic amino (NH2) moieties. The cationic NH2 functionalised regions direct the site-specific assembly of anionic citrate-passivated gold nanoparticles in aqueous solution at pH 4.5. Control of nanoparticle attachment to the SAM is demonstrated over the exposure range 5000–125,000 uC/cm2. Overexposure led to significant numbers of secondary electrons reaching the surface, causing conversion of functional aromatic moieties outside of the regions irradiated, which reduced feature quality and regional selectivity of adsorption

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts