Gender and Participating in Capturing Kids’ Hearts on Social Emotional Learning of Ninth-Grade Students in Arkansas

The purpose of this study was to understand gender differences in the Social Emotional Learning of students participating in the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program at a high school in Central Arkansas. In this quantitative, causal-comparative strategy study, there were 271 ninth-grade students who participated in a presurvey of social emotional learning outcomes and 476 ninth-grade students who participated in a postsurvey of the same outcomes a year after implementation of the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program. Both samples were drawn using a convenience sampling technique. The Hanover Social Emotional Learning Student Survey instrument was used to obtain data on students’ perception of their social emotional learning before participating in the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program, and after participating in the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program. The students’ survey consisted of nine constructs developed around the five CASEL competencies: self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision-making, selfmanagement, and relationship skills. A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to explore differences by gender on the social emotional learning competencies among the students before and after participation in the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program. Additionally, descriptive analyses were conducted between the two data sets to compare the mean scores for males and females. The findings in this study revealed meaningful differences between male and female ninth-grade students on specific CASEL competencies before they participated in the program as well as gender differences on certain competencies after one year of participating in the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program. After a year of participating in the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program, ninth-grade male students benefited more in responsible decision-making and self-management than females. However, females benefited more in self-awareness and social awareness than males. The implications for educators regarding social emotional learning for males and females based on the inferential and descriptive analysis may indicate that males and females need differentiated instruction for social emotional learning to maximize their skill development

Chemical genetic analysis of the regulatory role of Cdc2p in the S. pombe septation initiation network

The protein kinase Cdc2p is the master regulator of cell cycle progression in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. It is required both for entry into mitosis and for onset of DNA replication. Cdc2p must be inactivated to permit exit from mitosis, licensing of replication origins and cytokinesis. To study the role of Cdc2p in greater detail, we generated a cdc2 allele that is sensitive to an inhibitory ATP analogue. We show that the inhibitor-induced cell cycle arrest is reversible and examine the effect of inhibiting Cdc2p on the regulation of the septation initiation network (SIN), which controls the initiation of cytokinesis in S. pombe. We found that specific inactivation of Cdc2p in a mitotically arrested cell promotes the asymmetrical recruitment of SIN proteins to the spindle poles and the recruitment of the most downstream SIN components and beta-(1,3) glucan synthase to the contractile ring. Thus, we conclude that inactivation of Cdc2p is sufficient to activate the SIN and promote cytokinesis

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe septation initiation network (SIN) is required for spore formation in meiosis

When nutrients are abundant, S. pombe cells grow as rods, dividing by fission after formation of a medially placed cell wall or division septum. Septum formation is triggered by a group of proteins, called the septation initiation network or SIN, that trigger contraction of the acto-myosin contractile ring at the end of mitosis. Ectopic activation of the SIN can uncouple septum formation from other cell-cycle events, whereas loss of SIN signalling gives rise to multinucleated cells due to the failure of cytokinesis. When starved, S. pombe cells of opposite mating types fuse to form a diploid zygote that undergoes meiosis and produces four spores. No septa or contractile rings are formed during meiosis. In this study, we have investigated the role of the SIN in meiosis. Our data show that, whereas the meiotic divisions appear normal, SIN mutants cannot form spores. Forespore membrane formation is initiated, but the nuclei are not encapsulated properly. The SIN proteins localise to the spindle pole body in meiosis. The protein kinases Sid1p and Cdc7p do not associate with the spindle pole body until meiosis II, when forespore membrane deposition begins. These data indicate a role for the SIN in regulating spore formation during meiosis

Network Neutrality Inference

When can we reason about the neutrality of a network based on external observations? We prove conditions under which it is possible to (a) detect neutrality violations and (b) localize them to specific links, based on external observations. Our insight is that, when we make external observations from different vantage points, these will most likely be inconsistent with each other if the network is not neutral. Where existing tomographic techniques try to form solvable systems of equations to infer network properties, we try to form unsolvable systems that reveal neutrality violations. We present an algorithm that relies on this idea to identify sets of non-neutral links based on external observations, and we show, through network emulation, that it achieves good accuracy for a variety of network conditions

Measuring track vertical stiffness through dynamic monitoring

[EN] This paper proposes a methodology for the evaluation of the track condition by means of the measurement of the track stiffness. This magnitude is calculated from vertical acceleration data measured at the axle box of trains during their normal operation. From the corresponding vertical acceleration spectra, the dominant vibration frequencies for each track stretch are identified and the combined stiffness is then determined. Then the stiffness without the contribution of the rail is calculated. The results obtained for a High Speed ballasted track in several track stretches are within the range 120-130 kN/mm, a result consistent with direct stiffness measurements taken during previous studies. Therefore, the proposed methodology may be used to obtain a first insight to the track condition by means of a continuous measurement of the track combined stiffness. This offers an alternative to traditional stationary stiffness measuring devices and might be a useful complement to dedicated continuous monitoring vehicles.Cano, MJ.; Martínez Fernández, P.; Insa Franco, R. (2016). Measuring track vertical stiffness through dynamic monitoring. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Transport. 169(1). doi:10.1680/jtran.14.00081S169

Expression of the Lantibiotic Mersacidin in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42

Lantibiotics are small peptide antibiotics that contain the characteristic thioether amino acids lanthionine and methyllanthionine. As ribosomally synthesized peptides, lantibiotics possess biosynthetic gene clusters which contain the structural gene (lanA) as well as the other genes which are involved in lantibiotic modification (lanM, lanB, lanC, lanP), regulation (lanR, lanK), export (lanT(P)) and immunity (lanEFG). The lantibiotic mersacidin is produced by Bacillus sp. HIL Y-85,54728, which is not naturally competent