630 research outputs found
Kennedy\u27s The first American Evangelical: A short life of Cotton Mather (Book Review)
A review of Kennedy, R. (2015). The first American Evangelical: A short life of Cotton Mather. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 162 pp. $17.00. ISBN 978080287211
Freezing Out Early Dark Energy
A phenomenological model of dark energy that tracks the baryonic and cold
dark matter at early times but resembles a cosmological constant at late times
is explored. In the transition between these two regimes, the dark energy
density drops rapidly as if it were a relic species that freezes out, during
which time the equation of state peaks at +1. Such an adjustment in the dark
energy density, as it shifts from scaling to potential-domination, could be the
signature of a trigger mechanism that helps explain the late-time cosmic
acceleration. We show that the non-negligible dark energy density at early
times, and the subsequent peak in the equation of state at the transition,
leave an imprint on the cosmic microwave background anisotropy pattern and the
rate of growth of large scale structure. The model introduces two new
parameters, consisting of the present-day equation of state and the redshift of
the freeze-out transition. A Monte Carlo Markov Chain analysis of a
ten-dimensional parameter space is performed to compare the model with
pre-Planck cosmic microwave background, large scale structure and supernova
data and measurements of the Hubble constant. We find that the transition
described by this model could have taken place as late as a redshift z~400. We
explore the capability of future cosmic microwave background and weak lensing
experiments to put tighter constraints on this model. The viability of this
model may suggest new directions in dark-energy model building that address the
coincidence problem.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figure
Role of arginase 2 in systemic metabolic activity and adipose tissue fatty acid metabolism in diet-induced obese mice
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) inflammation and metabolic dysregulation are key components of obesity-induced metabolic disease. Upregulated arginase, a ureahydrolase enzyme with two isoforms (A1-cytosolic and A2-mitochondrial), is implicated in pathologies associated with obesity and diabetes. This study examined A2 involvement in obesity-associated metabolic and vascular disorders. WT and globally deleted A2(−/−) or A1(+/−) mice were fed either a high fat/high sucrose (HFHS) diet or normal diet (ND) for 16 weeks. Increases in body and VAT weight of HFHS-fed WT mice were abrogated in A2−/−, but not A1+/−, mice. Additionally, A2−/− HFHS-fed mice exhibited higher energy expenditure, lower blood glucose, and insulin levels compared to WT HFHS mice. VAT and adipocytes from WT HFHS fed mice showed greater A2 expression and adipocyte size and reduced expression of PGC-1α, PPAR-γ, and adiponectin. A2 deletion blunted these effects, increased levels of active AMPK-α, and upregulated genes involved in fatty acid metabolism. A2 deletion prevented HFHS-induced VAT collagen deposition and inflammation, which are involved in adipocyte metabolic dysfunction. Endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation, impaired by HFHS diet, was significantly preserved in A2−/− mice, but more prominently maintained in A1+/− mice. In summary, A2 is critically involved in HFHS-induced VAT inflammation and metabolic dysfunction
Developing And Implementing Faculty Performance Evaluation: A Collaborative Model
The quality of education is a core property of what makes a university operate, sustain, and grow. To evaluate and measure this core property encompasses a wide range of critical aspects, but one of the control mechanisms will always involve the faculty, the deliverers of education to the primary customer, the student, but also collaboratively to other faculty, other educators, staff, and the community itself.Ā Faculty, like students constantly change, the challenge being how to inculcate a viable system of performance evaluation that provides a consistently high quality education in the ever changing and information oriented world we live in.Ā This paper illustrates the process, and problems weāve experienced and solutions we have used in implementing a new faculty performance evaluation system at our university.Ā We describe the development of the system; its components, the intended outcomes, issues and resistance encountered as the system was implemented and now, how we envision the growth of the system, and what it needs to remain viable and in tune with our overall strategic plan
Formation of Black Holes from Collapsed Cosmic String Loops
The fraction of cosmic string loops which collapse to form black holes is
estimated using a set of realistic loops generated by loop fragmentation. The
smallest radius sphere into which each cosmic string loop may fit is obtained
by monitoring the loop through one period of oscillation. For a loop with
invariant length which contracts to within a sphere of radius , the
minimum mass-per-unit length necessary for the cosmic string
loop to form a black hole according to the hoop conjecture is . Analyzing loops, we obtain the empirical estimate for the fraction of cosmic string
loops which collapse to form black holes as a function of the mass-per-unit
length in the range . We
use this power law to extrapolate to , obtaining the
fraction of physically interesting cosmic string loops which
collapse to form black holes within one oscillation period of formation.
Comparing this fraction with the observational bounds on a population of
evaporating black holes, we obtain the limit on the cosmic string mass-per-unit-length. This limit is consistent
with all other observational bounds.Comment: uuencoded, compressed postscript; 20 pages including 7 figure
What Should A BBA Graduate Be Able To Do?: These Competencies Are Essential
University Schools of Business Administration are continually responding to the demands of stakeholders concerning the quality of the education embodied in the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. This collaborative paper discusses the competencies that are considered essential from the viewpoint of four stakeholders: accrediting agencies, faculty/administration, employers, and students/graduates. The authors present and support their views on competencies—identifying, achieving, assessing, and maintaining currency—in preparing future business leaders. 
Assessing Undergraduate Business Degree Outcomes: A Comparison Of Two Universities
The importance of outcomes assessment has produced innovative course developments and resulted in enhanced Capstone educational experiences for undergraduate students at both universities.Ā This collaborative paper compares the evolution and outcomes assessment of the Capstone business course as a fundamental component of the business curriculum, discusses initiatives to provide even greater educational opportunities for students, assessing effectively over the continuum, and keeping the courses current to the university and business environments
Algorithmic Discovery of Methylation āHot Spotsā in DNA from Lymphoma Patients
The computational aspects of the problem in this paper involve, firstly, selective mapping of methylated DNA clones according to methylation level and, secondly, extracting motif information from all the mapped elements in the absence of prior probability distribution. Our novel implementation of algorithms to map and maximize expectation in this setting has generated data that appear to be distinct for each lymphoma subtype examined. A ācloneā represents a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product (on average ~500 bp) which belongs to a microarray of 8544 such sequences preserving CpG-rich islands (CGIs) [1]. Accumulating evidence indicates that cancers including lymphomas demonstrate hypermethylation of CGIs āsilencingā an increasing number of tumor suppressor (TS) genes which can lead to tumorigenesis
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