Is law school worth it? (with transcript)

Penn Law’s Heather Frattone and Bloomberg Law’s Casey Sullivan discuss law school and careers in the legal market

Prevention of Cutaneous Tissue Contracture During Removal of Craniofacial Implant Superstructures for CT and MRI Studies

Objectives: Head and neck cancer patients who have lost facial parts following surgical intervention frequently require craniofacial implant retained facial prostheses for restoration. Many craniofacial implant patients require computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans as part of their long-term follow-up care. Consequently removal of implant superstructures and peri-abutment tissue management is required for those studies. The purpose of the present paper was to describe a method for eliminating cranial imaging artifacts in patients with craniofacial implants.Material and Methods: Three patients wearing extraoral implant retained facial prostheses needing either computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging studies were discussed. Peri-implant soft tissues contracture after removal of percutaneous craniofacial implant abutments during computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies was prevented using a method proposed by authors. The procedure involves temporary removal of the supra-implant components prior to imaging and filling of the tissue openings with polyvinyl siloxane dental impression material.Results: Immediately after filling of the tissue openings with polyvinyl siloxane dental impression material patients were sent for the imaging studies, and were asked to return for removal of the silicone plugs and reconnection of all superstructure hardware after imaging procedures were complete. The silicone plugs were easily removed with a dental explorer. The percutaneous abutments were immediately replaced and screwed into the implants which were at the bone level.Conclusions: Presented herein method eliminates the source of artifacts and prevents contracture of percutaneous tissues upon removal of the implant abutments during imaging

Stabilizing Constructs through Collaboration across Different Research Fields as a Way to Foster the Integrative Approach of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project

In this article, I explain why stabilizing constructs is important to the success of the Research Domain Criteria Project and identify one measure for facilitating such stability

Transforming Teaching and Learning Practices in After School Time Focusing on the Teaching of Science

Thesis advisor: Irwin BlumerOver the past decade, demands and expectations placed on after school programming have changed dramatically. In the new standards based culture of accountability, after school time is seen as an opportunity to provide additional time to learn and demonstrate learning to standards. Professional development opportunities offered has not kept pace with demands being placed on after school programs. After school programs must have protocols in place to evaluate and implement professional development plans in the most effective manner possible. This study was conducted to support programs with planning professional development by assessing the impact of prevalent forms of professional development available on teaching practice and perception. The research questions were: What are teachers' perceptions of how involvement in teaching a new science program affected teaching practice in the after school program? How do teachers' perceive the three models of professional development - intervention, self-initiated, and district directed - contributed to teacher learning? Data was collected in the form of journals, interviews and observations utilizing a pool of five teachers who implemented a new set of science classes during after school time. Findings included a positive increase in perceptions of practice and teacher learning. The level of increase was a function of accurately identifying teacher needs and mapping the best forms of professional development while taking into account teacher's learning/working style. The literature review stated clearly the impact of properly aligned professional development. It underscored the need for professional learning to take place in the context of a collaborative environment that supports teacher change. The study indicates that, irrespective of the form, professional development completed in the context of a collaborative learning community has the ability to create sustainable change. It is the collaborative discussion that serves as the basis for the ongoing professional development. Each form has a particular audience for whom the impact will be the most direct, however, professional development in any form will have an impact on teacher perception and practice.Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2012.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education

Show-Me Resilience: Assessing And Reconciling Rural Leaders’ Perceptions Of Climate Resilience In Missouri

Rural areas of the United States play a vital role in coping with, adapting to and mitigating climate change, yet they often lag urban areas in climate planning and action. Rural leaders—e.g., policymakers, state/federal agency professionals, non-profit organization leadership, and scholars – are pivotal for driving the programs and policies that support resilient practices, but our understanding of their perspectives on climate resilience writ large is limited. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 23 rural leaders in Missouri to elucidate their conceptualizations of climate resilience and identify catalysts and constraints for climate adaptation planning and action across rural landscapes. We investigated participants\u27 perceptions of the major vulnerabilities of rural communities and landscapes, threats to rural areas, and potential steps for making rural Missouri more resilient in the face of climate change. We found that most rural leaders conceptualized climate resilience as responding to hazardous events rather than anticipating or planning for hazardous trends. The predominant threats identified were flooding and drought, which aligns with climate projections for the Midwest. Participants proposed a wide variety of specific steps to enhance resilience but had the highest agreement about the utility of expanding existing programs. The most comprehensive suite of solutions was offered by participants who conceptualized resilience as involving social, ecological, and economic systems, underscoring the importance of broad thinking for developing more holistic solutions to climate-associated threats and the potential impact of greater collaboration across domains. We highlight and discuss a Missouri-based levee setback project that was identified by participants as a showcase of collaborative resilience-building

Testing Multiple Hypotheses through IMP weighted FDR Based on a Genetic Functional Network with Application to a New Zebrafish Transcriptome Study

In genome-wide studies, hundreds of thousands of hypothesis tests are performed simultaneously. Bonferroni correction and False Discovery Rate (FDR) can effectively control type I error but often yield a high false negative rate. We aim to develop a more powerful method to detect differentially expressed genes. We present a Weighted False Discovery Rate (WFDR) method that incorporate biological knowledge from genetic networks. We first identify weights using Integrative Multi-species Prediction (IMP) and then apply the weights in WFDR to identify differentially expressed genes through an IMP-WFDR algorithm. We performed a gene expression experiment to identify zebrafish genes that change expression in the presence of arsenic during a systemic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Zebrafish were exposed to arsenic at 10 parts per billion and/or infected with P. aeruginosa. Appropriate controls were included. We then applied IMP-WFDR during the analysis of differentially expressed genes. We compared the mRNA expression for each group and found over 200 differentially expressed genes and several enriched pathways including defense response pathways, arsenic response pathways, and the Notch signaling pathway