Blogging While Untenured and Other Extreme Sports

According to Dan Solove’s March 2006 Law Professor Blogger Census (Version 4.3), roughly twenty-one percent of law professor bloggers in tenure-eligible positions are untenured, or as the authors here prefer, “pretenured.” The percentage of professors blogging who are pretenured, as opposed to tenured, is higher than the percentage of pretenured professors in the profession, so one might argue that the pretenured are overrepresented in the blogosphere. Pretenured academics may gravitate easily toward blogging for many reasons. Junior professors are likely to be younger and, as such, likely to be more familiar with and willing to embrace new technologies. New professors, fresh out of clerkships and degree programs, may be used to living their lives in the vicinity of a laptop and an Internet feed. In addition, because the market for entry-level law professors has become so competitive, new professors are almost by definition writers. In order to secure their placements, these overachievers have used most of their free time researching and writing; therefore, continuing to do so in a blog format, once teaching and scholarship becomes a day job, may seem only natural. Although this infusion of energy in the blogosphere from the junior faculty may seem laudable, well-meaning mentors may caution pretenured faculty to refrain from blogging. In fact, conventional wisdom seems to warn that blogging may be a risky venture for those academic bloggers who have not been awarded tenure and the liberating academic freedom that comes with that status. Most agree that pretenured blogging involves inherent risks, such as inadvertently (or purposefully) being offensive, insulting, misunderstood, insensitive, or just wrong. In this view, a pretenured faculty member has little to gain from blogging and has much to lose. Blogging does not seem to fall into any of the three primary categories used to assess tenure candidates (scholarship, teaching, and service), although it will take time away from all three. However, if blogging while pretenured is such an unwarranted risk, then we must find an explanation for the high number of pretenured bloggers. Although the risks to pretenured bloggers are real, the benefits may far outweigh the risks for many junior professors. Depending on the kind of exposure and support available to a junior professor at her home school, blogging may be the best way to gain exposure for one’s work, find mentors, and engage in iterative discussions on relevant topics. However, pretenured professors should be aware of the risks of blogging and develop strategies to avoid or mitigate the pitfalls of blogging without a tenure net

Blogging While Untenured and Other Extreme Sports

According to Dan Solove’s March 2006 Law Professor Blogger Census (Version 4.3), roughly twenty-one percent of law professor bloggers in tenure-eligible positions are untenured, or as the authors here prefer, “pretenured.” The percentage of professors blogging who are pretenured, as opposed to tenured, is higher than the percentage of pretenured professors in the profession, so one might argue that the pretenured are overrepresented in the blogosphere. Pretenured academics may gravitate easily toward blogging for many reasons. Junior professors are likely to be younger and, as such, likely to be more familiar with and willing to embrace new technologies. New professors, fresh out of clerkships and degree programs, may be used to living their lives in the vicinity of a laptop and an Internet feed. In addition, because the market for entry-level law professors has become so competitive, new professors are almost by definition writers. In order to secure their placements, these overachievers have used most of their free time researching and writing; therefore, continuing to do so in a blog format, once teaching and scholarship becomes a day job, may seem only natural. Although this infusion of energy in the blogosphere from the junior faculty may seem laudable, well-meaning mentors may caution pretenured faculty to refrain from blogging. In fact, conventional wisdom seems to warn that blogging may be a risky venture for those academic bloggers who have not been awarded tenure and the liberating academic freedom that comes with that status. Most agree that pretenured blogging involves inherent risks, such as inadvertently (or purposefully) being offensive, insulting, misunderstood, insensitive, or just wrong. In this view, a pretenured faculty member has little to gain from blogging and has much to lose. Blogging does not seem to fall into any of the three primary categories used to assess tenure candidates (scholarship, teaching, and service), although it will take time away from all three. However, if blogging while pretenured is such an unwarranted risk, then we must find an explanation for the high number of pretenured bloggers. Although the risks to pretenured bloggers are real, the benefits may far outweigh the risks for many junior professors. Depending on the kind of exposure and support available to a junior professor at her home school, blogging may be the best way to gain exposure for one’s work, find mentors, and engage in iterative discussions on relevant topics. However, pretenured professors should be aware of the risks of blogging and develop strategies to avoid or mitigate the pitfalls of blogging without a tenure net

MINKOWSKI PRODUCT OF CONVEX SETS AND PRODUCT NUMERICAL RANGE

Let K-1, K-2 be two compact convex sets in C. Their Minkowski product is the set K1K2 = {ab : a is an element of K-1, b is an element of K-2}. We show that the set K1K2 is star-haped if K-1 is a line segment or a circular disk. Examples for K-1 and K-2 are given so that K-1 and K-2 are triangles (including interior) and K1K2 is not star-shaped. This gives a negative answer to a conjecture by Puchala et. al concerning the product numerical range in the study of quantum information science. Additional results and open problems are presented

Predictors of Comorbid Eating Disorders and Association with Other Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders in Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania (TTM) and eating disorders (ED) share many phenomenological similarities, including ritualized compulsive behaviors. Given this, and that comorbid EDs may represent additional functional burden to hair pullers, we sought to identify factors that predict diagnosis of an ED in a TTM population. Subjects included 555 adult females (age range 18–65) with DSM-IV-TR TTM or chronic hair pullers recruited from multiple sites. 7.2% (N = 40) of our TTM subjects met criteria for an ED in their lifetime. In univariable regression analysis, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) worst-ever compulsion and total scores, certain obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, anxiety disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and substance disorder all met the pre-specified criteria for inclusion in the multivariable analysis. In the final multivariable model, diagnosis of OCD (OR: 5.68, 95% CI: 2.2–15.0) and diagnosis of an additional body-focused repetitive behavior disorder (BFRB) (OR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.1–6.8) were both associated with increased risk of ED in TTM. Overall, our results provide further support of the relatedness between ED and TTM. This finding highlights the importance of assessing for comorbid OCD and additional BFRBs in those with TTM. Future research is needed to identify additional predictors of comorbid disorders and to better understand the complex relationships between BFRBs, OCD and EDs

The effect of humour usage on customer’s service experiences

Cross-disciplinary research recognises humour as an effective communication tool for fostering engagement and positive interpersonal relationships, although inappropriate use can create negative outcomes. Drawing on positive psychology, this study aims to empirically examine the extent to which frontline employee’s (FLE’s) humour usage can influence customers’ service encounter evaluations. Findings from 252 retail service customers indicate that their sense of humour drives humour perceptions and facilitates positive encounter evaluations. In particular, FLEs’ other-directed humour, rather than self-directed humour, leads to more enjoyable interactions for customers. This effect is moderated by pre-encounter mood, in that customers react more positively to other-directed humour when they are in a bad mood. This study contributes empirical support for the importance of appropriate humour usage to the service encounter literature. From a managerial perspective, the outcomes highlight that service encounters benefit from other-directed humour

Chemoprevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer: experience with a polyphenol from green tea.

Nonmelanoma skin cancer is extremely common and is increasing in incidence. It would be very useful to have forms of therapy that would prevent precancerous changes from going on to form cancer, or to reverse the precancerous changes. Epidemiologic evidence in humans, in vitro studies on human cells, and clinical experiments in animals have identified polyphenol compounds found in tea to be possibly useful in reducing the incidence of various cancers, including skin cancer. To examine the potential for a polyphenol from green tea, epigallocatechin gallate, to act as a chemopreventive agent for nonmelanoma skin cancer, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II clinical trial of topical epigallocatechin gallate in the prevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer was performed

The Impact of multimorbidity burden, frailty risk scoring, and 3-directional morphological indices vs. testing for CSF responsiveness in normal pressure hydrocephalus

Objective: Multimorbidity burden across disease cohorts and variations in clinico-radiographic presentations within normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) confound its diagnosis, and the assessment of its amenability to interventions. We hypothesized that novel imaging techniques such as 3-directional linear morphological indices could help in distinguishing between hydrocephalus vs. non-hydrocephalus and correlate with responsiveness to external lumbar drainage (CSF responsiveness) within NPH subtypes.Methodology: Twenty-one participants with NPH were recruited and age-matched to 21 patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and 21 healthy controls (HC) selected from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Patients with NPH underwent testing via the NPH programme with external lumbar drainage (ELD); pre- and post-ELD MRI scans were obtained. The modified Frailty Index (mFI-11) was used to stratify the NPH cohort, including Classic and Complex subtypes, by their comorbidity and frailty risks. The quantitative imaging network tool 3D Slicer was used to derive traditional 2-dimensional (2d) linear measures; Evans Index (EI), Bicaudate Index (BCI) and Callosal Angle (CA), along with novel 3-directional (3d) linear measures; z-Evans Index and Brain per Ventricle Ratio (BVR). 3-Dimensional (3D) ventricular volumetry was performed as an independent correlate of ventriculomegaly to CSF responsiveness.Results: Mean age for study participants was 71.14 ± 6.3 years (18, 85.7% males). The majority (15/21, 71.4%) of participants with NPH comprised the Complex subtype (overlay from vascular risk burden and AD); 12/21 (57.1%) were Non-Responders to ELD. Frailty alone was insufficient in distinguishing between NPH subtypes. By contrast, 3d linear measures distinguished NPH from both AD and HC cohorts, but also correlated to CSF responsiveness. The z-Evans Index was the most sensitive volumetric measure of CSF responsiveness (p = 0.012). Changes in 3d morphological indices across timepoints distinguished between Responders vs. Non-Responders to lumbar testing. There was a significant reduction of indices, only in Non-Responders and across multiple measures (z-Evans Index; p = 0.001, BVR at PC; p = 0.024). This was due to a significant decrease in ventricular measurement (p = 0.005) that correlated to independent 3D volumetry (p = 0.008).Conclusion. In the context of multimorbidity burden, frailty risks and overlay from neurodegenerative disease, 3d morphological indices demonstrated utility in distinguishing hydrocephalus vs. non-hydrocephalus and degree of CSF responsiveness. Further work may support the characterization of patients with Complex NPH who would best benefit from the risks of interventions

The divergent DSL ligand Dll3 does not activate Notch signaling but cell autonomously attenuates signaling induced by other DSL ligands

Mutations in the DSL (Delta, Serrate, Lag2) Notch (N) ligand Delta-like (Dll) 3 cause skeletal abnormalities in spondylocostal dysostosis, which is consistent with a critical role for N signaling during somitogenesis. Understanding how Dll3 functions is complicated by reports that DSL ligands both activate and inhibit N signaling. In contrast to other DSL ligands, we show that Dll3 does not activate N signaling in multiple assays. Consistent with these findings, Dll3 does not bind to cells expressing any of the four N receptors, and N1 does not bind Dll3-expressing cells. However, in a cell-autonomous manner, Dll3 suppressed N signaling, as was found for other DSL ligands. Therefore, Dll3 functions not as an activator as previously reported but rather as a dedicated inhibitor of N signaling. As an N antagonist, Dll3 promoted Xenopus laevis neurogenesis and inhibited glial differentiation of mouse neural progenitors. Finally, together with the modulator lunatic fringe, Dll3 altered N signaling levels that were induced by other DSL ligands