Seven exercises planned to stimulate the flow of ideas in creative composition

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Criteria for the use of omics-based predictors in clinical trials.

The US National Cancer Institute (NCI), in collaboration with scientists representing multiple areas of expertise relevant to 'omics'-based test development, has developed a checklist of criteria that can be used to determine the readiness of omics-based tests for guiding patient care in clinical trials. The checklist criteria cover issues relating to specimens, assays, mathematical modelling, clinical trial design, and ethical, legal and regulatory aspects. Funding bodies and journals are encouraged to consider the checklist, which they may find useful for assessing study quality and evidence strength. The checklist will be used to evaluate proposals for NCI-sponsored clinical trials in which omics tests will be used to guide therapy

Prospectus, September 23, 1981

CANDIDATES VOICE THEIR VIEWS; News In Brief; Parkland P adds to landscape; Editors voice opinions; Homeowners can save; WPCD to broadcast football; Football plan goes into effect; New club formed at Parkland; U of I to study special lottery; Scholarships offered to women; Free seminar offered; Vietnam vets made more; Students may still sign up for insurance; Neil Simon\u27s hit musical showing soon; PC offers 3-hour telecourse; Create your own decorations; Classifieds; Beware of Matt\u27s addiction ; McNichol, Hamill star in Georgia ; Two top bands to perform at ISU; C-U Symphony kicks off season Saturday; Assembly Hall offers ticket deals; LRC helps students and faculty; Area\u27s next cash crop?: Some farmers try sunflowers; Mark predicts election results; Drug from sea may hold new hope for cancer and herpes; Newhart to visit C-U area; Speech team needs help; Record shops may become obsolete; VB team loses opener; ...but wins 2nd game; Parkland College Basketball Schedule -- Women 1981-82; Golf team wins against Danville; Sports Notes; Cross Country team off to running start; Airsho offers good timehttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1981/1012/thumbnail.jp

The Carnegie Supernova Project: First Near-Infrared Hubble Diagram to z~0.7

The Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) is designed to measure the luminosity distance for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) as a function of redshift, and to set observational constraints on the dark energy contribution to the total energy content of the Universe. The CSP differs from other projects to date in its goal of providing an I-band {rest-frame} Hubble diagram. Here we present the first results from near-infrared (NIR) observations obtained using the Magellan Baade telescope for SNe Ia with 0.1 < z < 0.7. We combine these results with those from the low-redshift CSP at z <0.1 (Folatelli et al. 2009). We present light curves and an I-band Hubble diagram for this first sample of 35 SNe Ia and we compare these data to 21 new SNe Ia at low redshift. These data support the conclusion that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. When combined with independent results from baryon acoustic oscillations (Eisenstein et al. 2005), these data yield Omega_m = 0.27 +/- 0.0 (statistical), and Omega_DE = 0.76 +/- 0.13 (statistical) +/- 0.09 (systematic), for the matter and dark energy densities, respectively. If we parameterize the data in terms of an equation of state, w, assume a flat geometry, and combine with baryon acoustic oscillations, we find that w = -1.05 +/- 0.13 (statistical) +/- 0.09 (systematic). The largest source of systematic uncertainty on w arises from uncertainties in the photometric calibration, signaling the importance of securing more accurate photometric calibrations for future supernova cosmology programs. Finally, we conclude that either the dust affecting the luminosities of SNe Ia has a different extinction law (R_V = 1.8) than that in the Milky Way (where R_V = 3.1), or that there is an additional intrinsic color term with luminosity for SNe Ia independent of the decline rate.Comment: 44 pages, 23 figures, 9 tables; Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Disentangling a group of lensed submm galaxies at z∼ 2.9

MS0451.6−0305 is a rich galaxy cluster whose strong lensing is particularly prominent at submm wavelengths. We combine new Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA)-2 data with imaging from Herschel Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) and PACS and Hubble Space Telescope in order to try to understand the nature of the sources being lensed. In the region of the ‘giant submm arc', we uncover seven multiply imaged galaxies (up from the previously known four), of which six are found to be at a redshift of z∼2.9, and possibly constitute an interacting system. Using a novel forward-modelling approach, we are able to simultaneously deblend and fit spectral energy distributions to the individual galaxies that contribute to the giant submm arc, constraining their dust temperatures, far-infrared luminosities, and star formation rates (SFRs). The submm arc first identified by SCUBA can now be seen to be composed of at least five distinct sources, four of these within a galaxy group at z∼2.9. Only a handful of lensed galaxy groups at this redshift are expected on the sky, and thus this is a unique opportunity for studying such systems in detail. The total unlensed luminosity for this galaxy group is (3.1±0.3)×1012 L⊙, which gives an unlensed SFR of (450±50) M⊙yr−1. This finding suggests that submm source multiplicity, due to physically associated groupings as opposed to chance alignment, extends to fainter flux densities than previously discovered. Many of these systems may also host optical companions undetected in the submm, as is the case her

Genetic and Functional Assessment of the Role of the rs13431652-A and rs573225-A Alleles in the G6PC2 Promoter That Are Strongly Associated With Elevated Fasting Glucose Levels

OBJECTIVE Genome-wide association studies have identified a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs560887, located in a G6PC2 intron that is highly correlated with variations in fasting plasma glucose (FPG). G6PC2 encodes an islet-specific glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit. This study examines the contribution of two G6PC2 promoter SNPs, rs13431652 and rs573225, to the association signal. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We genotyped 9,532 normal FPG participants (FPG <6.1 mmol/l) for three G6PC2 SNPs, rs13431652 (distal promoter), rs573225 (proximal promoter), rs560887 (3rd intron). We used regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, and BMI to assess the association with FPG and haplotype analyses to assess comparative SNP contributions. Fusion gene and gel retardation analyses characterized the effect of rs13431652 and rs573225 on G6PC2 promoter activity and transcription factor binding. RESULTS Genetic analyses provide evidence for a strong contribution of the promoter SNPs to FPG variability at the G6PC2 locus (rs13431652: β = 0.075, P = 3.6 × 10−35; rs573225 β = 0.073 P = 3.6 × 10−34), in addition to rs560887 (β = 0.071, P = 1.2 × 10−31). The rs13431652-A and rs573225-A alleles promote increased NF-Y and Foxa2 binding, respectively. The rs13431652-A allele is associated with increased FPG and elevated promoter activity, consistent with the function of G6PC2 in pancreatic islets. In contrast, the rs573225-A allele is associated with elevated FPG but reduced promoter activity. CONCLUSIONS Genetic and in situ functional data support a potential role for rs13431652, but not rs573225, as a causative SNP linking G6PC2 to variations in FPG, though a causative role for rs573225 in vivo cannot be ruled out

Criteria for the use of omics-based predictors in clinical trials: explanation and elaboration

Abstract High-throughput ‘omics’ technologies that generate molecular profiles for biospecimens have been extensively used in preclinical studies to reveal molecular subtypes and elucidate the biological mechanisms of disease, and in retrospective studies on clinical specimens to develop mathematical models to predict clinical endpoints. Nevertheless, the translation of these technologies into clinical tests that are useful for guiding management decisions for patients has been relatively slow. It can be difficult to determine when the body of evidence for an omics-based test is sufficiently comprehensive and reliable to support claims that it is ready for clinical use, or even that it is ready for definitive evaluation in a clinical trial in which it may be used to direct patient therapy. Reasons for this difficulty include the exploratory and retrospective nature of many of these studies, the complexity of these assays and their application to clinical specimens, and the many potential pitfalls inherent in the development of mathematical predictor models from the very high-dimensional data generated by these omics technologies. Here we present a checklist of criteria to consider when evaluating the body of evidence supporting the clinical use of a predictor to guide patient therapy. Included are issues pertaining to specimen and assay requirements, the soundness of the process for developing predictor models, expectations regarding clinical study design and conduct, and attention to regulatory, ethical, and legal issues. The proposed checklist should serve as a useful guide to investigators preparing proposals for studies involving the use of omics-based tests. The US National Cancer Institute plans to refer to these guidelines for review of proposals for studies involving omics tests, and it is hoped that other sponsors will adopt the checklist as well.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134536/1/12916_2013_Article_1104.pd

Prospectus, February 4, 1982

WE WANT YOU FOR STUGO; News In Brief; More StuGo prospects; Letters To The Editor: She thinks StuGo should attend to other problems. Thanks to former president; Exercise your right to vote; Nautical look \u27in\u27 this spring; PC Happenings…: Improve thyself, AHT offers Sweetheart raffle, Go Western in Ski Club, Managing your money; Teleview to make debut in March; Need financial aid? Here\u27s how to get it; Teleview to make debut in March; Sheriff discusses overcrowding at jail; Increased enrollment results in overcrowding; Com Club sets election; \u27Snow\u27 chance of a heat wave: Surprise storm hits area for 3rd weekend in a row!; Sunday\u27s snow nearly sets record; Not end of candy business: Chris\u27 reopening; Low-cost trips, tours offered to college students; Keeping friends is series topic; Few in Illinois have tax problems; J. Geils is back; Storm postpones athletic events; College bowling tourney held at Arrowhead; Kinks\u27 latest gives what we want; Big Daddy: rockabilly party; Rick James leads new Punk Funk wave; Something crazy was expected, but...: Ozzy pays back Champaign; This week\u27s happenings: Clubs offer local talent; Abba\u27s new album adds to their success; Reviewer enjoys brass band; \u27Dragonriders\u27 series deals in Pem fantasy; Classifieds; \u27Roots\u27 begins Feb. 9; Euchre tourney begins tonight; Skating party is Feb. 8; Top boxing prospect appearing at Danville; PC track team places in two events; Cagers keep winning streak alive with Joliet victory; Makeever leads Cobras to victory; Lady Cobras suffer defeat; Today\u27s farmer from new era; Burnham establishes scholarship; Farm technology is tapering off; Wind and cold make bitter combinationhttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1982/1030/thumbnail.jp

Evaluation Research and Institutional Pressures: Challenges in Public-Nonprofit Contracting

This article examines the connection between program evaluation research and decision-making by public managers. Drawing on neo-institutional theory, a framework is presented for diagnosing the pressures and conditions that lead alternatively toward or away the rational use of evaluation research. Three cases of public-nonprofit contracting for the delivery of major programs are presented to clarify the way coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures interfere with a sound connection being made between research and implementation. The article concludes by considering how public managers can respond to the isomorphic pressures in their environment that make it hard to act on data relating to program performance.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 23. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers