Predicting Student Loan Default for the University of Texas at Austin

During spring 2001, Noel-Levitz created a student loan default model for the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). The goal of this project was to identify students most likely to default, to identify as risk elements those characteristics that contributed to student loan default, and to use these risk elements to plan and implement targeted, pro-active interventions to prevent student loan default. UT Austin supplied academic data for the project, and the student loan guarantor Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation (TG) provided the data about borrowers from UT Austin who entered repayment between 1996 and 1999. Results showed that student program completion, persistence, and success were strong predictors of student loan default, as were race/ ethnicity, gender, and the school of enrollment at UT Austin. These results emphasize the role of student success and graduation in eventual loan repayment. Interventions that focus on student persistence and academic success were seen as the primary actions needed to help prevent student loan default

A Legal and Theoretical Exploration of How to Regulate Unoriginal Database Contents and Possible Suggestions for Reform

Controversial from its inception, the European Database Directive protects unoriginal contents in contrast to the United States where there is no statutory protection. Despite this extra incentive, empirical evidence seems to indicate that database production in the European Community remains largely unchanged while that in the United States is increasing, at least in the short term. Dissatisfaction with the Directive has sparked efforts to revise database protection policy, including by the European Commission. In order to determine the best method of regulation, three factors are explored in this Ph.D. thesis: the nature of the database industry, regulatory theories emanating from economic analysis of the law and the evidence offered by the US and EC protection regimes. A major insight that emerges is that the productive potential of secondary producers, what the author terms re-users, is being undervalued in Europe. A greater emphasis on access could harness their economic potential. However, this conclusion comes with a twist based upon the American experience. A reduction in statutory protection could result in a switch to production models that emphasize access. But it could also result in models that reduce access even more than at present. In order to ensure a productive future, rigorous monitoring and regulatory adjustment is in order

Healthy Heart Africa-Kenya: A 12-Month Prospective Evaluation of Program Impact on Health Care Providers\u27 Knowledge and Treatment of Hypertension

Background: Given the rising burden of hypertension in Africa, the Healthy Heart Africa program was developed to improve access to quality hypertension care in the primary care setting. The Healthy Heart Africa program provides a comprehensive, coordinated intervention directed at health care providers (HCPs) and the general public. Objective: The impact of Healthy Heart Africa on HCPs\u27 knowledge of hypertension and facility-level services in Kenya was evaluated by a 12-month prospective study. Methods: Intervention facilities were selected by stratified random sampling and matched to similar control facilities. Intervention facilities received a hypertension treatment protocol, equipment, training and patient education materials, and improved medical supply chain, whereas control facilities did not. HCPs responsible for hypertension care were surveyed at baseline and 12 months later. Hypertension screening and treatment data were abstracted from service delivery registers. A differences-in-differences analysis estimated the impact of Healthy Heart Africa on HCPs\u27 knowledge, hypertension services, and the number of patients diagnosed with and seeking treatment for hypertension. Results: Sixty-six intervention and 66 control facilities were surveyed. Healthy Heart Africa improved HCPs\u27 knowledge of ≥5 hypertension risk factors and ≥5 methods for reducing/managing hypertension but not hypertension consequences. At end line, more intervention than control facilities measured blood pressure more than once during the same visit to diagnose hypertension, dedicated days to hypertension care, used posters to increase hypertension awareness, and provided access to hypertension medications. The number of patients diagnosed with hypertension and those seeking treatment for hypertension increased with intervention, but the change was not significant relative to control subjects. Conclusions: HCP-directed hypertension education and provision of basic resources positively influenced hypertension care in Kenya in the first 12 months of implementation

An Intersectional Approach to Equity, Inequity, and Archaeology

The year 2020 was an awakening for some. For others, it reiterated the persistent social injustice in the United States. Compelled by these events, 30 diverse individuals came together from January to May 2021 for a semester-long seminar exploring inequity in archaeological practice. The seminar's discussions spotlighted the inequity and social injustices that are deeply embedded within the discipline. However, inequity in archaeology is often ignored or treated narrowly as discrete, if loosely bound, problems. A broad approach to inequity in archaeology revealed injustice to be intersectional, with compounding effects. Through the overarching themes of individual, community, theory, and practice, we (a subset of the seminar's participants) explore inequity and its role in various facets of archaeology, including North-South relations, publication, resource distribution, class differences, accessibility, inclusive theories, service to nonarchaeological communities, fieldwork, mentorship, and more. We focus on creating a roadmap for understanding the intersectionality of issues of inequity and suggesting avenues for continued education and direct engagement. We argue that community-building - by providing mutual support and building alliances - provides a pathway for realizing greater equity in our discipline.Fil: Rivera Prince, Jordi A.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Blackwood, Emily M.. University of Maine; Estados UnidosFil: Brough, Jason A.. University of Maine; Estados UnidosFil: Landázuri, Heather A.. University of Maine; Estados UnidosFil: Leclerc, Elizabeth L.. University of Maine; Estados UnidosFil: Barnes, Monica. American Museum of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Brasil, Kareen Kristina. Columbia University; Estados UnidosFil: Gutierrez, Maria Amelia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; ArgentinaFil: Herr, Sarah. Desert Archaeology, Inc.; MéxicoFil: Maasch, Kirk A.. University of Maine; Estados UnidosFil: Sandweiss, Daniel H.. University of Maine; Estados Unido

Tissue registration and exploration user interfaces in support of a human reference atlas

Seventeen international consortia are collaborating on a human reference atlas (HRA), a comprehensive, high-resolution, three-dimensional atlas of all the cells in the healthy human body. Laboratories around the world are collecting tissue specimens from donors varying in sex, age, ethnicity, and body mass index. However, harmonizing tissue data across 25 organs and more than 15 bulk and spatial single-cell assay types poses challenges. Here, we present software tools and user interfaces developed to spatially and semantically annotate ( register ) and explore the tissue data and the evolving HRA. A key part of these tools is a common coordinate framework, providing standard terminologies and data structures for describing specimen, biological structure, and spatial data linked to existing ontologies. As of April 22, 2022, the registration user interface has been used to harmonize and publish data on 5,909 tissue blocks collected by the Human Biomolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP), the Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions program (SPARC), the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP), and the Genotype Tissue Expression project (GTEx). Further, 5,856 tissue sections were derived from 506 HuBMAP tissue blocks. The second exploration user interface enables consortia to evaluate data quality, explore tissue data spatially within the context of the HRA, and guide data acquisition. A companion website is at https://cns-iu.github.io/HRA-supporting-information/

First insights into the vertical habitat use of the whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari revealed by pop‐up satellite archival tags

The whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari is a tropical to warm‐temperate benthopelagic batoid that ranges widely throughout the western Atlantic Ocean. Despite conservation concerns for the species, its vertical habitat use and diving behaviour remain unknown. Patterns and drivers in the depth distribution of A. narinari were investigated at two separate locations, the western North Atlantic (Islands of Bermuda) and the eastern Gulf of Mexico (Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.). Between 2010 and 2014, seven pop‐up satellite archival tags were attached to A. narinari using three methods: a through‐tail suture, an external tail‐band and through‐wing attachment. Retention time ranged from 0 to 180 days, with tags attached via the through‐tail method retained longest. Tagged rays spent the majority of time (82.85 ± 12.17% S.D.) within the upper 10 m of the water column and, with one exception, no rays travelled deeper than ~26 m. One Bermuda ray recorded a maximum depth of 50.5 m, suggesting that these animals make excursions off the fore‐reef slope of the Bermuda Platform. Individuals occupied deeper depths (7.42 ± 3.99 m S.D.) during the day versus night (4.90 ± 2.89 m S.D.), which may be explained by foraging and/or predator avoidance. Each individual experienced a significant difference in depth and temperature distributions over the diel cycle. There was evidence that mean hourly depth was best described by location and individual variation using a generalized additive mixed model approach. This is the first study to compare depth distributions of A. narinari from different locations and describe the thermal habitat for this species. Our study highlights the importance of region in describing A. narinari depth use, which may be relevant when developing management plans, whilst demonstrating that diel patterns appear to hold across individuals

HIV-associated bladder cancer: a case series evaluating difficulties in diagnosis and management

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with an increased incidence of Non-Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (non-AIDS) defining cancers. To date, only a limited number of cases of bladder cancer have been linked with HIV infection. We sought to describe the clinical characteristics of HIV-associated bladder cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective study was performed involving HIV-positive patients with bladder cancer, combining cases from multiple institutions with published case reports. Data regarding patient demographics, HIV status, clinical presentation, pathology, cancer treatment, and outcome were analyzed using descriptive statistics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eleven patients were identified with a median age of 55 years (range, 33 - 67). The median CD4+ count at cancer diagnosis was 280 cells/mm³(range, 106 - 572 cells/mm³). Six patients (55%) had a known risk factor for bladder cancer, and nine (82%) presented with hematuria. Ten patients had transitional cell carcinoma, and most had superficial disease at presentation. Treatment included mainly transurethral resection of bladder tumor followed by a combination of local and systemic therapies. One patient received intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guèrin (BCG) without complication. Several patients (55%) were alive following therapy, although many (64%) suffered from local relapse and metastatic disease.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Bladder cancer is part of the growing list of cancers that may be encountered in patients living longer with chronic HIV-infection. Our patients presented at a younger age and with only mild immunosuppression, however, they experienced an expected course for their bladder cancer. Hematuria in an HIV-infected patient warrants a complete evaluation.</p

Crystal Structure of the HSV-1 Fc Receptor Bound to Fc Reveals a Mechanism for Antibody Bipolar Bridging

Herpes simplex virus type-1 expresses a heterodimeric Fc receptor, gE-gI, on the surfaces of virions and infected cells that binds the Fc region of host immunoglobulin G and is implicated in the cell-to-cell spread of virus. gE-gI binds immunoglobulin G at the basic pH of the cell surface and releases it at the acidic pH of lysosomes, consistent with a role in facilitating the degradation of antiviral antibodies. Here we identify the C-terminal domain of the gE ectodomain (CgE) as the minimal Fc-binding domain and present a 1.78-Å CgE structure. A 5-Å gE-gI/Fc crystal structure, which was independently verified by a theoretical prediction method, reveals that CgE binds Fc at the C (H)2-C (H)3 interface, the binding site for several mammalian and bacterial Fc-binding proteins. The structure identifies interface histidines that may confer pH-dependent binding and regions of CgE implicated in cell-to-cell spread of virus. The ternary organization of the gE-gI/Fc complex is compatible with antibody bipolar bridging, which can interfere with the antiviral immune response