Spillovers from the Gridiron: Evidence from Women’s Collegiate Basketball

This paper empirically investigates whether schools with an intercollegiate football team experience greater attendance at women’s basketball games. The empirical question is important because if football increases attendance and hence revenue to other sports then these benefits should be included when considering the net benefits of football. Using a cross-section of 329 Division IA women’s basketball programs from 2005-2006, we find that having a football program corresponds with an increase in per-game attendance of approximately 500 people. This spill-over benefit of having a football team should be credited against the costs of starting and maintaining a football team.NCAA, college sports, positive externalities

Knowledge Development in Undergraduate Clinical Nursing Education

ABSTRACT KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY FEBRUARY 2016 NANCY A. CRAIG-WILLIAMS B.S. ELMS COLLEGE, CHICOPEE, MA M.S. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST Ph. D. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST Directed by Genevieve Chandler ABSTRACT The changes in the healthcare environment, safety concerns of the practice setting and patient acuity has supported reform and research to identify areas for improvement (IOM, 2001, 2003). The Carnegie Foundation’s Educating Nurses, A Call for Radical Transformation (Benner, P., Sutphen, M., Leonard, V. & Day, L., 2010) explored the state of American nursing education. Among the findings are: patient safety issues, higher patient acuity, the increased complexity of nurse’s work, shortages of nursing faculty and clinical learning sites, the current and predicted shortages of registered nurses, and the chaotic, fragmented hospital work environment. The call to action is to improve patient care through transforming the education of undergraduate nursing students. This study is a qualitative exploration of how nursing students develop practice knowledge in their undergraduate clinical experience. Clinical practice knowledge development is explored using the epistemological concepts of the discipline of nursing- empirics, aesthetics, ethics and personal knowing as described by Carper (1978), unknowing by Munhall (1984) and sociopolitical knowing as described by White (1995). The study utilized individual interviews exploring the learning processes of developing nursing practice knowledge by undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students from UMASS at Amherst who have had clinical experiences in both a Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) and non-DEU clinical settings. Change in the education of nurses must be guided by research to support best practices. Clinical education is a crucial aspect of the practice development of student nurses. The development of nursing knowledge comes together in a model of Synergistic Clinical Education, incorporating the identified attributes supporting learning: the student, learning environments and relationships. This study supports the utilization of Dedicated Education Units as a clinical education model providing an optimal learning environment in which the development of nursing knowledge and clinical practice is more likely to happen than in any other clinical experience setting. Keywords: knowledge development, nursing students, clinical learnin

Time-resolved velocity map imaging of methyl elimination from photoexcited anisole

To date, H-atom elimination from heteroaromatic molecules following UV excitation has been extensively studied, with the focus on key biological molecules such as chromophores of DNA bases and amino acids. Extending these studies to look at elimination of other non-hydride photoproducts is essential in creating a more complete picture of the photochemistry of these biomolecules in the gas-phase. To this effect, CH3 elimination in anisole has been studied using time resolved velocity map imaging (TR-VMI) for the first time, providing both time and energy information on the dynamics following photoexcitation at 200 nm. The extra dimension of energy afforded by these measurements has enabled us to address the role of πσ* states in the excited state dynamics of anisole as compared to the hydride counterpart (phenol), providing strong evidence to suggest that only CH3 fragments eliminated with high kinetic energy are due to direct dissociation involving a 1πσ* state. These measurements also suggest that indirect mechanisms such as statistical unimolecular decay could be contributing to the dynamics at much longer times

Targeting colorectal cancer with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibodies: focus on panitumumab

The tumor biology targeted therapies have improved outcomes in colorectal cancer (CRC). The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors represent one of these successful strategies. EGFR is frequently overexpressed in CRCs and associated with a malignant phenotype. Two EGFR inhibitors have shown efficacy in metastatic CRC, cetuximab and panitumumab. Cetuximab is a human–mouse chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds to the extracellular domain of the EGF-receptor. Similarly, panitumumab is a fully humanized monoclonal IgG2 antibody, directed against EGFR. Being fully humanized, panitumumab does not contain mouse protein reducing the risk of hypersensitivity. In a pivotal clinical trial, panitumumab was well tolerated and effective, demonstrating an objective response rate of 10% vs best supportive care (ORR = 0%; P < 0.0001). Panitumumab was approved for the treatment of mCRC by the FDA in 2006. Studies combining panitumumab with cytotoxic chemotherapy and other targeted therapies have been completed while others are ongoing to further evaluate the clinical utility of this agent. Recently it has been demonstrated that mutations in KRAS predict the efficacy of panitumumab and cetuximab, limiting their use to CRC patients with wild-type KRAS, and moving the clinical field towards personalized cancer care

Mutation of Arabidopsis SPLICEOSOMAL TIMEKEEPER LOCUS1 Causes Circadian Clock Defects

The circadian clock plays a crucial role in coordinating plant metabolic and physiological functions with predictable environmental variables, such as dusk and dawn, while also modulating responses to biotic and abiotic challenges. Much of the initial characterization of the circadian system has focused on transcriptional initiation, but it is now apparent that considerable regulation is exerted after this key regulatory step. Transcript processing, protein stability, and cofactor availability have all been reported to influence circadian rhythms in a variety of species. We used a genetic screen to identify a mutation within a putative RNA binding protein (SPLICEOSOMAL TIMEKEEPER LOCUS1 [STIPL1]) that induces a long circadian period phenotype under constant conditions. STIPL1 is a homolog of the spliceosomal proteins TFP11 (Homo sapiens) and Ntr1p (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) involved in spliceosome disassembly. Analysis of general and alternative splicing using a high-resolution RT-PCR system revealed that mutation of this protein causes less efficient splicing of most but not all of the introns analyzed. In particular, the altered accumulation of circadian-associated transcripts may contribute to the observed mutant phenotype. Interestingly, mutation of a close homolog of STIPL1, STIP-LIKE2, does not cause a circadian phenotype, which suggests divergence in function between these family members. Our work highlights the importance of posttranscriptional control within the clock mechanism. © 2012 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved

Synthesis of Zeolite A from Iraqi Natural Kaolin Using a Conventional Hydrothermal Synthesis Technique

The synthesis of zeolite materials by hydrothermal transformation of kaolin using a conventional hydrothermal method was investigated. Different analytical techniques were used to characterize the starting kaolin and produced zeolite A samples, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The synthetic zeolite type A was obtained after activation of kaolin and metakaolin followed by different thermal and chemical treatments. The metakaolinization phase was achieved by calcining the kaolin in air at 600°C for 3 hours, a much lower temperature than previously reported in the literature. Metakaolin was treated with 3 M sodium hydroxide solution at a ratio of 1:5 and, using stainless steel autoclaves with teflon liners, heated the mixture to 200°C in a microwave for 24 hours. The results from this synthesis route showed that zeolite A with a cubic crystal habit has been successfully synthesized

Kinetic study of metal ion adsorption from wastewater onto coal industry by-products

Se llevó a cabo un estudio comparativo sobre el uso de cenizas volantes y clinker natural como adsorbentes de metales pesados de agua contaminada a partir de experimentos de adsorción a temperatura ambiente. Las concentraciones de metales pesados en los filtrados se determinaron por espectrometría de emisión atómica por plasma inductivamente acoplado. En los estudios de adsorción en batch, la retención aumento con el aumento del tiempo de contacto, la cantidad de adsorbente y el pH de la solución. La adsorción de los metales a partir de la solución contaminada artificialmente fue Cr>Cu>Pb>Ni>Zn, mientras que a partir de drenaje ácido de mina fue Pb>Zn>As>Fe>Cr>Cu>Ni. Las constantes de primer orden de Lagergren se calcularon para concentraciones iniciales de iones metálicos específicas, dando un excelente ajuste como lo indica el coeficiente de correlación (R2), con valores próximos o iguales a 1 para el tratamiento de la solución contaminada artificialmente y de 0.25 a 0.99 para el tratamiento del drenaje ácido de mina. Los datos de este estudio revelan que los cationes metálicos en solución acuosa pueden ser adsorbidos exitosamente en cantidades significativas por los adsorbentes usados

Mapping Low-Density Intergalactic Gas: a Third Helium Lyman-alpha Forest

We present a new HST/STIS spectrum of the z=3.18 quasar PKS 1935-692 and summarize the spectral features shortwards of 304A in the rest frame likely to be caused by foreground HeII Lyman-alpha absorption. In accord with previous results on two other quasars at similar redshifts, we demonstrate a correlation with the HI Lyman-alpha forest absorption, and show that much of the helium absorption is caused by a comparable quantity of more diffuse gas with Omega~0.01, that is not detected in HI. The helium ionization zone around the quasar is detected as well as a void seen in both HI and HeII. The properties of the absorption are in broad agreement with those of the other quasars and with models of the protogalactic gas distribution and ionization at this redshift.Comment: 17 pages including 5 figures. As accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (minor revisions

The Evolution of Mentorship Capacity Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Case Studies from Peru, Kenya, India, and Mozambique.

Following the Fogarty International Center-supported "Mentoring the Mentors" workshops in South America, Africa, and Asia, approaches and guidelines for mentorship at institutions within these low- and middle-income country (LMIC) contexts, appropriate for the respective regional resources and culture, were implemented. Through the presentation of case studies from these three geographic regions, this article illustrates the institutional mentorship infrastructure before the workshop and the identified gaps used to implement strategies to build mentorship capacity at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Peru), Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kenya), Saint John's Research Institute (India), and Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique). These case studies illustrate three findings: first, that mentorship programs in LMICs have made uneven progress, and institutions with existing programs have exhibited greater advancement to their mentoring capacity than institutions without formal programs before the workshops. Second, mentoring needs assessments help garner the support of institutional leadership and create local ownership. Third, developing a culture of mentorship that includes group mentoring activities at LMIC institutions can help overcome the shortage of trained mentors. Regardless of the stage of mentoring programs, LMIC institutions can work toward developing sustainable, culturally effective mentorship models that further the partnership of early career scientists and global health