Financial Aid, Persistence, and Degree Completion in Masters Degree Programs

This article provides an overview of the research findings from a longitudinal study conducted at a large urban university on student financial aid, persistence, and degree completion of masters degree students. The purpose of the study was to determine how the types and amounts of student financial aid, along with students\u27 demographic and academic characteristics, are related to masters degree completion. Data were analyzed for a large cohort of masters degree students over a four-year period beginning in Fall, 1985 and ending in Summer, 1989

Acclimation responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to sustained phosphite treatments

Phosphite () induces a range of physiological and developmental responses in plants by disturbing the homeostasis of the macronutrient phosphate. Because of its close structural resemblance to phosphate, phosphite impairs the sensing, membrane transport, and subcellular compartmentation of phosphate. In addition, phosphite induces plant defence responses by an as yet unknown mode of action. In this study, the acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana plants to a sustained phosphite supply in the growth medium was investigated and compared with plants growing under varying phosphate supplies. Unlike phosphate, phosphite did not suppress the formation of lateral roots in several Arabidopsis accessions. In addition, the expression of well-documented phosphate-starvation-induced genes, such as miRNA399d and At4, was not repressed by phosphite accumulation, whilst the induction of PHT1;1 and PAP1 was accentuated. Thus, a mimicking of phosphate by phosphite was not observed for these classical phosphate-starvation responses. Metabolomic analysis of phosphite-treated plants showed changes in several metabolite pools, most prominently those of aspartate, asparagine, glutamate, and serine. These alterations in amino acid pools provide novel insights for the understanding of phosphite-induced pathogen resistance

Micro and Mainframe Computer Models for Improved Planning in Awarding Financial Aid to Disadvantaged Students

This article reports the development of two computer models, one mainframe the other microcomputer, which are intended to maximize financial aid awards to disadvantaged students. The models recognize the tendency of students from low-income and minority backgrounds to apply for assistance late in the funding cycle, and permit institutional aid administrators to project the amount of aid needed by such students and to plan for an adequate inventory of funds to accommodate their needs

Biologic Monitoring to Characterize Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure among Children and Workers: An Analysis of Recent Studies in Washington State

We examined findings from five organophosphorus pesticide biomonitoring studies conducted in Washington State between 1994 and 1999. We compared urinary dimethylthiophosphate (DMTP) concentrations for all study groups and composite dimethyl alkylphosphate (DMAP) concentrations for selected groups. Children of pesticide applicators had substantially higher metabolite levels than did Seattle children and farmworker children (median DMTP, 25 μg/L; p < 0.0001). Metabolite levels of children living in agricultural communities were elevated during periods of crop spraying. Median DMTP concentrations for Seattle children and farmworker children did not differ significantly (6.1 and 5.8 μg/L DMTP, respectively; p = 0.73); however, the DMAP concentrations were higher for Seattle children than for farmworker children (117 and 87 nmol/L DMAP, respectively; p = 0.007). DMTP concentrations of U.S. children 6–11 years of age (1999–2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey population) were higher than those of Seattle children and farmworker children at the 75th, 90th, and 95th percentiles. DMTP concentrations for workers actively engaged in apple thinning were 50 times higher than DMTP concentrations for farmworkers sampled outside of peak exposure periods. We conclude that workers who have direct contact with pesticides should continue to be the focus of public health interventions and that elevated child exposures in agricultural communities may occur during active crop-spraying periods and from living with a pesticide applicator. Timing of sample collection is critical for the proper interpretation of pesticide biomarkers excreted relatively soon after exposure. We surmise that differences in dietary exposure can explain the similar exposures observed among farmworker children, children living in the Seattle metropolitan area, and children sampled nationally