Item and Person Characteristics as Predictors of Faking

Applicants may be more motivated to fake than incumbents and may fake more on some items than others. The present study investigated both item and person characteristics as predictors of faking. At the item level, both item transparency and job-relevance were hypothesized to be associated with higher levels of faking. In contrast, item verifiability was hypothesized to be associated with lower levels of faking. At the person level, applicants were expected to have a higher prevalence of faking than incumbents. Data was taken from an existing pool of applicants (n = 507) and incumbents (n = 302) at a customer calling center. The study was performed using a multilevel-logistic regression (MLR) approach to estimating person response curve (PRC) for results for Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Openness items. None of the item-level results were significant for Conscientiousness, but the analyses found significant item-level effects for Extraversion and Openness. First, item transparency was related to higher levels of faking. Also, individuals were more likely to fake for items of low verifiability than items of high verifiability. Unexpectedly, individuals were more likely to fake for items of low job-relevance than items of high job-relevance. The results for person-level effects showed that applicants exhibited substantial model fit over incumbents, although incumbents appeared to have higher levels of faking than incumbents. The results and implications are discussed

Synthesis and Electrochemiluminescence of Thiophene Substituted Benzosiloles

There has been increasing interest in the synthesis of siloles over the past 20 years due to their applications as chemoselective sensors and light emitting diodes. The standard synthesis of siloles involves a one-pot reductive cyclization followed by Negishi cross-coupling, which was modified by the Pagenkopf group to allow the synthesis of dissymmetric siloles. This modified synthesis allows siloles to be tuned to improve their fluorescent properties via varying substituents on the silole. This culminated in the synthesis of a series of 2,5-bis(thiophene)siloles with bulky silyl substituents that displayed excellent electrochemiluminescent properties. In the past decade there has been a large push for effective synthetic methods for making benzosiloles. The synthetic method developed by the Chatani group is particularly interesting because of the large variety of benzosiloles that could be synthesized in high yields. Combining the Chatani benzosilole synthesis with the Pagenkopf group’s knowledge in tuning siloles should result in new benzosilole chromophores that might have applications as biosensors or in solar cells. This work describes the synthesis of benzosiloles containing oligothiophenes substituted at the C2 and C3 positions. Benzosiloles are formed in a cycloaddition reaction from 2-silylphenylborates and thiophene-acetylenes with a rhodium catalyst. In total seven benzosiloles were synthesized including those with electron donating and electron withdrawing groups. Their ECL properties were then tested to discover that both highly conjugated bis(2,3-terthiophene)benzosilole and 6-cyano-bis(2,3-terthiophene)benzosilole displayed the best ECL properties of those synthesized

The Utility of Participatory Family Diagramming in Qualitative Research: Multidisciplinary Applications and Practical Advice

Graphic elicitation and diagramming are useful for qualitative researchers. Diagrams of families have been used in clinical, education, and other applied settings as tools for description and analysis of family relationships since the 1950s. Despite the potential utility of family diagrams to qualitative researchers who seek to understand and theorize the complexities of family structures and relationships, participatory family diagramming, where diagrams of family relationships are co-created by researcher(s) and participant(s) and used as a foundation for interviewing, has largely remained an untapped resource. We describe how we used participatory family diagrams as design elements of multidisciplinary qualitative interview study projects and highlight the benefits of this practice. Our experiences demonstrate how participatory family diagramming enhances rapport with research participants, improves rigor, and aids in analysis of qualitative interview data. We offer practical suggestions for how to incorporate participatory family diagramming as a methodological tool into cross-disciplinary qualitative interview research

Development of Optically Transparent Patch Antennas for Solar Panel Integration on CubeSats

Satellite design faces the challenge of optimizing external surface area to accommodate various components, such as solar panels, antennas, sensors, and technology demonstrations. For small satellites, solar cells occupy most of the external faces, offering little surface area for other functions. To solve this problem, researchers and developers have attempted to create an S-band patch antenna that can integrate with a solar cell, providing higher gain and maximizing solar panel power generation. The most common option is to create a meshed patch antenna on a transparent substrate, increasing optical transparency. Often, this involves using conductive ink printed onto a transparent material such as glass or thick plastic. This transparent patch antenna (TPA) allows satellites to use a patch antenna without losing a solar panel. The TPA is designed to function at 2.425 GHz

Mapping Complex Land Use Histories and Urban Renewal Using Ground Penetrating Radar: A Case Study from Fort Stanwix

Fort Stanwix National Monument, located in Rome, NY, is a historic park with a complex use history dating back to the early Colonial period and through the urban expansion and recent economic revitalization of the City of Rome. The goal of this study was to conduct a GPR investigation over an area approximately 1 acre in size to identify buried historic features (particularly buildings) so park management can preserve these resources and develop appropriate educational programming and management plans. The GPR recorded reflection events consistent with our expectations of historic structures. Differences in size, shape, orientation, and depth suggest that these responses likely date to different time periods in the site’s history. The GPR recorded other reflection anomalies that are difficult to interpret without any additional information, which suggests that pairing high-density geophysical data with limited excavations is critical to elaborate a complex site’s intricate history

UC-12 Comprehensive Security Solution for small E-commerce Business

Project Description: Create an e-commerce server and a comprehensive security program to protect a web server for a simulated small business. This server will include security tools such as intrusion detection, firewall, and network monitoring. The installation and maintenance of this solution will be documented as part of the final documentation package. The server will be reviewed for exploitation from other teams while we attempt the exploitation of their server(s). Research/Motivation: How to research, install, configure, and integrate various open-source software packages for information security, e-commerce, web hosting, and database. Our motivation for this project was to create and secure an e-commerce website that allows the team to explore, learn, and gain knowledge to become better real world IT professionals. Materials/Methods Our team leveraged the use of their own virtual machines and online documentation to test various software packages on the Ubuntu operating system. We leveraged the NIST cybersecurity framework to integrate industry standards and best practices to create risk assessment and information security documents. Preliminary Results: We have created a secure Internet facing e-commerce solution with supporting documentation. We are currently awaiting other teams to begin penetration testing and results from of our server. Intellectual or business merits of our project: Our team gained real world knowledge and skills during the research and implementation of the server and security project. Our documentation details the steps taken throughout the implementation of the project and allows us to hand off the ongoing maintenance to an e-commerce business. Actions that we\u27ll take to enhance the potential of the project to benefit society: Our documentation of the project could be published to allow e-commerce businesses to create a low cost, secure e-commerce store.Advisors(s): Project Sponsor: Dr. Lei Li Professor: Dr. Ying XieTopic(s): SecurityIT 498

Potent Adjuvantic Activity of a CCR1-agonistic Bis-Quinoline

A bis-quinoline compound, (7-chloro-N-(4-(7-chloroquinolin-4-ylamino)butyl)quinolin-4-amine; RE-660) was found to have C-C chemokine receptor type 1 (CCR1)-agonistic properties.RE-660 displayed strong adjuvantic activity in mice when co-administered with bovine α-lactalbumin used as a model subunit protein antigen. RE-660 evoked a balanced Th1 (IgG2)/Th2 (IgG1) antibody profile, and the quality of antibodies elicited by the bis-quinoline was found to be superior to that evoked by glucopyranosyl lipid A by surface plasmon resonance experiments. No evidence of proinflammatory activity was observed in human blood ex vivo models. In preliminary acute toxicity studies, the compound was found to be of lower toxicity than chloroquine in mice, and was non-mutagenic in an Ames screen

Structure-Activity Relationships in Toll-like Receptor 2-Agonists Leading to Simplified Monoacyl Lipopeptides

Toll-like receptor 2-agonistic lipopeptides typified by S-[2,3-bis(palmitoyloxy)-(2RS)-propyl]-R-cysteinyl-S-serine (PAM2CS) compounds are potential vaccine adjuvants. In continuation of previously reported structure-activity relationships on this chemotype, we have determined that at least one acyl group of optimal length (C16) and an appropriately orientated ester carbonyl group is essential for TLR2-agonistic activity. The spacing between one of the palmitoyl ester carbonyl and the thioether is crucial to allow for an important H-bond, which observed in the crystal structure of the lipopeptide:TLR2 complex; consequently, activity is lost in homologated compounds. Penicillamine-derived analogues are also inactive, likely due to unfavorable steric interactions with the carbonyl of Ser 12 in TLR2. The thioether in this chemotype can be replaced with a selenoether. Importantly, the thioglycerol motif can be dispensed with altogether, and can be replaced with a thioethanol bridge. These results have led to a structurally simpler, synthetically more accessible, and water-soluble analogue possessing strong TLR2-agonistic activities in human blood