The Basic Communication Course: Options for Accommodating Non-native Speakers of Mainstream North American English

This article outlines the various options for basic speech communication classes for non-native speakers of mainstream North American English (NNSMNAE), focusing on the introductory class in public speaking in the U.S. A series of interviews were conducted with twelve NNSMNAE students who had enrolled in mainstream public speaking courses. When NNSMNAE students enter U.S. English as a second language (ESL) programs, their initial oral communication needs are usually associated with everyday world communications tasks like navigating the campus or the supermarket. It appears that the norm for NNSMNAE will be to approach a basic course in speech communication with little experience in formal public speaking in their native language. They may have had some ESL class activities in giving reports, but most of their oral instruction in ESL will have related to speaking and listening in nonacademic interpersonal contexts

Contrasts and Correlations in Effect-size Estimation

This article describes procedures for presenting standardized measures of effect size when contrasts are used to ask focused questions of data. The simplest contrasts consist of comparisons of two samples (e.g., based on the independent t statistic). Useful effect-size indices in this situation are members of the g family (e.g., Hedges's g and Cohen's d) and the Pearson r. We review expressions for calculating these measures and for transforming them back and forth, and describe how to adjust formulas for obtaining g or d from t, or r from g, when the sample sizes are unequal. The real-life implications of d or g calculated from t become problematic when there are more than two groups, but the correlational approach is adaptable and interpretable, although more complex than in the case of two groups. We describe a family of four conceptually related correlation indices: the alerting correlation, the contrast correlation, the effect-size con-elation, and the BESD (binomial effect-size display) correlation. These last three correlations are identical in the simple setting of only two groups, but differ when there are move than two groups.Psycholog

Need-Based Aid, Participation in Education Abroad, and Program Type Choice

Although education abroad in the US offers participants demonstrable benefits, direct and opportunity costs are cited as primary barriers to broader participation. Yet the degree to which low-income status deters studying abroad and whether additional need-based aid beyond Pell Grants encourages participation remain uncertain. Moreover, not all education abroad programs are equivalent in terms of costs. This study is the first to examine whether need-based aid recipients differentially choose programs of varying duration or programs offered by various provider types. The sample consisted of 221,981 students from 36 institutions of the Consortium for Analysis of Student Success through International Education (CASSIE). Within that sample, 60,477 received Pell grants. Of those recipients, 39% received additional need-based aid. Regression models controlling for student background and context indicated that Pell grant recipients were 3% less likely to study abroad than peers receiving no such aid, and receipt of additional aid increased likelihood by 1% relative to Pell-only recipients. While aid was unrelated to study abroad duration, low-income students were less likely to study with third-party providers. The findings invite financial aid officers to determine thresholds of additional aid necessary to increase participation and to collaborate more systematically with counterparts in international education

Discovery of mammalian genes that participate in virus infection

BACKGROUND: Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites that rely upon the host cell for different steps in their life cycles. The characterization of cellular genes required for virus infection and/or cell killing will be essential for understanding viral life cycles, and may provide cellular targets for new antiviral therapies. RESULTS: Candidate genes required for lytic reovirus infection were identified by tagged sequence mutagenesis, a process that permits rapid identification of genes disrupted by gene entrapment. One hundred fifty-one reovirus resistant clones were selected from cell libraries containing 2 × 10(5 )independently disrupted genes, of which 111 contained mutations in previously characterized genes and functionally anonymous transcription units. Collectively, the genes associated with reovirus resistance differed from genes targeted by random gene entrapment in that known mutational hot spots were under represented, and a number of mutations appeared to cluster around specific cellular processes, including: IGF-II expression/signalling, vesicular transport/cytoskeletal trafficking and apoptosis. Notably, several of the genes have been directly implicated in the replication of reovirus and other viruses at different steps in the viral lifecycle. CONCLUSIONS: Tagged sequence mutagenesis provides a rapid, genome-wide strategy to identify candidate cellular genes required for virus infection. The candidate genes provide a starting point for mechanistic studies of cellular processes that participate in the virus lifecycle and may provide targets for novel anti-viral therapies

Measuring Attitudes Toward the Rights of Indigenous People: An Index of Global Citizenship

Global citizenship has emerged as a key objective of liberal education.  Because the status of indigenous persons world-wide is inextricably linked to globalization and imperialism, mainstream culture students’ attitudes toward the rights of indigenous persons can be taken as an index of global citizenship.  The items comprising the Measure of Attitudes Toward the Rights of Indigenous Persons (MATRIP) draw directly from the United Nations’ 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  Twenty-three statements about indigenous peoples’ rights--as explicated in the UN Declaration--were transformed into Likert-type items measuring five dimensions: Preservation of Culture, Lands & Resources, Self-Governance, Restitution, and Services and Representation.  Questionnaires were administered to 226 undergraduates. MATRIP measurement properties were tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Results indicate that a final scale consisting of 20 items adequately measures the hypothesized dimensions. Potential uses for the scale are discussed in the context of education abroad

Mutations in the IGF-II pathway that confer resistance to lytic reovirus infection

BACKGROUND: Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites and rely upon the host cell for different steps in their life cycles. The characterization of cellular genes required for virus infection and/or cell killing will be essential for understanding viral life cycles, and may provide cellular targets for new antiviral therapies. RESULTS: A gene entrapment approach was used to identify candidate cellular genes that affect reovirus infection or virus induced cell lysis. Four of the 111 genes disrupted in clones selected for resistance to infection by reovirus type 1 involved the insulin growth factor-2 (IGF-II) pathway, including: the mannose-6-phosphate/IGF2 receptor (Igf2r), a protease associated with insulin growth factor binding protein 5 (Prss11), and the CTCF transcriptional regulator (Ctcf). The disruption of Ctcf, which encodes a repressor of Igf2, was associated with enhanced Igf2 gene expression. Plasmids expressing either the IGF-II pro-hormone or IGF-II without the carboxy terminal extension (E)-peptide sequence independently conferred high levels of cellular resistance to reovirus infection. Forced IGF-II expression results in a block in virus disassembly. In addition, Ctcf disruption and forced Igf2 expression both enabled cells to proliferate in soft agar, a phenotype associated with malignant growth in vivo. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that IGF-II, and by inference other components of the IGF-II signalling pathway, can confer resistance to lytic reovirus infection. This report represents the first use of gene entrapment to identify host factors affecting virus infection. Concomitant transformation observed in some virus resistant cells illustrates a potential mechanism of carcinogenesis associated with chronic virus infection

Hydrogeological Characterization of the South Oyster Bacterial Transport Site Using Geophysical Data

A multidisciplinary research team has conducted a field-scale bacterial transport study within an uncontaminated sandy Pleistocene aquifer near Oyster, Virginia. The overall goal of the project was to evaluate the importance of heterogeneities in controlling the field-scale transport of bacteria that are injected into the ground for remediation purposes. Geochemical, hydrological, geological, and geophysical data were collected to characterize the site prior to conducting chemical and bacterial injection experiments. In this paper we focus on results of a hydrogeological characterization effort using geophysical data collected across a range of spatial scales. The geophysical data employed include surface ground-penetrating radar, radar cross-hole tomography, seismic cross-hole tomography, cone penetrometer, and borehole electromagnetic flowmeter. These data were used to interpret the subregional and local stratigraphy, to provide high-resolution hydraulic conductivity estimates, and to provide information about the log conductivity spatial correlation function. The information from geophysical data was used to guide and assist the field operations and to constrain the numerical bacterial transport model. Although more field work of this nature is necessary to validate the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of including geophysical data in the characterization effort, qualitative and quantitative comparisons between tomographically obtained flow and transport parameter estimates with hydraulic well bore and bromide breakthrough measurements suggest that geophysical data can provide valuable, high-resolution information. This information, traditionally only partially obtainable by performing extensive and intrusive well bore sampling, may help to reduce the ambiguity associated with hydrogeological heterogeneity that is often encountered when interpreting field-scale bacterial transport data

A Functional Role for ADAM10 in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 Replication

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gene trap insertional mutagenesis was used as a high-throughput approach to discover cellular genes participating in viral infection by screening libraries of cells selected for survival from lytic infection with a variety of viruses. Cells harboring a disrupted <it>ADAM10 </it>(A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease 10) allele survived reovirus infection, and subsequently ADAM10 was shown by RNA interference to be important for replication of HIV-1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Silencing ADAM10 expression with small interfering RNA (siRNA) 48 hours before infection significantly inhibited HIV-1 replication in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages and in CD4⁺cell lines. In agreement, ADAM10 over-expression significantly increased HIV-1 replication. ADAM10 down-regulation did not inhibit viral reverse transcription, indicating that viral entry and uncoating are also independent of ADAM10 expression. Integration of HIV-1 cDNA was reduced in ADAM10 down-regulated cells; however, concomitant 2-LTR circle formation was not detected, suggesting that HIV-1 does not enter the nucleus. Further, ADAM10 silencing inhibited downstream reporter gene expression and viral protein translation. Interestingly, we found that while the metalloprotease domain of ADAM10 is not required for HIV-1 replication, ADAM15 and γ-secretase (which proteolytically release the extracellular and intracellular domains of ADAM10 from the plasma membrane, respectively) do support productive infection.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We propose that ADAM10 facilitates replication at the level of nuclear trafficking. Collectively, our data support a model whereby ADAM10 is cleaved by ADAM15 and γ-secretase and that the ADAM10 intracellular domain directly facilitates HIV-1 nuclear trafficking. Thus, ADAM10 represents a novel cellular target class for development of antiretroviral drugs.</p

X-ray Structure of Gelatinase A Catalytic Domain Complexed with a Hydroxamate Inhibitor

Gelatinase A is a key enzyme in the family of matrix metalloproteinases (matrixins) that are involved in the degradation of the extracellular matrix. As this process is an integral part of tumour cell metastasis and angiogenesis, gelatinase is an important target for therapeutic intervention. The X-ray crystal structure of the gelatinase A catalytic domain (GaCD) complexed with batimastat (BB94), a hydroxamate inhibitor, shows an active site with a large S1\u27 specificity pocket. The structure is similar to previously solved structures of stromelysin catalytic domain (SCD) but with differences in VR1 and VR2, two surface-exposed loops on either side of the entrance to the active site. Comparison of GaCD with other members of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family highlights the conservation of key secondary structural elements and the significant differences in the specificity pockets, knowledge of which should enhance our ability to design specific inhibitors for this important anticancer target

X-ray Structure of Gelatinase A Catalytic Domain Complexed with a Hydroxamate Inhibitor

Gelatinase A is a key enzyme in the family of matrix metalloproteinases (matrixins) that are involved in the degradation of the extracellular matrix. As this process is an integral part of tumour cell metastasis and angiogenesis, gelatinase is an important target for therapeutic intervention. The X-ray crystal structure of the gelatinase A catalytic domain (GaCD) complexed with batimastat (BB94), a hydroxamate inhibitor, shows an active site with a large S1\u27 specificity pocket. The structure is similar to previously solved structures of stromelysin catalytic domain (SCD) but with differences in VR1 and VR2, two surface-exposed loops on either side of the entrance to the active site. Comparison of GaCD with other members of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family highlights the conservation of key secondary structural elements and the significant differences in the specificity pockets, knowledge of which should enhance our ability to design specific inhibitors for this important anticancer target