Disk Covering Methods Improve Phylogenomic Analyses

Motivation: With the rapid growth rate of newly sequenced genomes, species tree inference from multiple genes has become a basic bioinformatics task in comparative and evolutionary biology. However, accurate species tree estimation is difficult in the presence of gene tree discordance, which is often due to incomplete lineage sorting (ILS), modelled by the multi-species coalescent. Several highly accurate coalescent-based species tree estimation methods have been developed over the last decade, including MP-EST. However, the running time for MP-EST increases rapidly as the number of species grows. Results: We present divide-and-conquer techniques that improve the scalability of MP-EST so that it can run efficiently on large datasets. Surprisingly, this technique also improves the accuracy of species trees estimated by MP-EST, as our study shows on a collection of simulated and biological datasets.NSF DEB 0733029, DBI 1062335Computer Science

Gender Differences in Venture Capital Funding on ABC’s Shark Tank

ABC Network’s reality television show “Shark Tank” gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of investors for the chance to receive funding. Each season more than 35,000 entrepreneurs apply to be on the show. Whether they receive an offer for funding or not, they still stand to gain the free advertising that comes with appearing on a show with more than seven million average viewers per episode. Although there are abundant resources for knowledge on Shark Tank, women in venture capital, and behavioral gender differences, sources are lacking on gender differences in venture capital funding on Shark Tank. The purpose of this research is to determine if differences exist in how entrepreneurs receive funding based on their gender. To analyze this, I utilized two publicly available datasets containing information on the pitches aired on the show. These datasets were cleansed and merged to form one data set with thirty-five variables spanning across four seasons and 235 pitches. I found that despite having comparable or better businesses than their male counterparts, women ask for lower valuations and accept deals at a lesser percentage of what they asked for compared to men. Explanations for these differences were considered in regards to the industry, sharks, entrepreneurs, and society. This information can be applied to benefit entrepreneurs in search of venture capital, and specifically, future contestants on the show. Going forward this research can be improved by coding for more variables and including data from the rest of the seasons.No embargoAcademic Major: Financ

Sustainability and the Stage: Could Censoring in Theatre cause a Rift in Sociability?

Finalist in the Academic Category of the 2019 Emerging Writers Contest. This essay examines issues of censorship and free speech in the production of theatre plays at the high school level

New Insights Into Tenontosaurus tilletti (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) From an Exceptionally Preserved Specimen

Tenontosaurus tilletti Ostrom, 1970 is one of the most completely known Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) dinosaurs, represented by more than thirty partial skeletons. Even so, some questions remain about the morphology of this species, particularly concerning the rarely preserved manual elements. Herein, I present new observations from an exceptionally well-preserved subadult specimen from the Antlers Formation of southeastern Oklahoma. Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (OMNH) specimen number 58340 preserves nearly every bone in articulation including the rarely preserved distalmost phalanges. The preservation of these manual elements reveals a phalangeal formula count of 2-3-3-2-2. With the complete hand morphology now known, only digits I and II are shown to terminate with an arched claw-like ungual, a new autapomorphy of the species. In contrast, digits III, IV, and V are terminated by small sesamoid-like phalanges, which were mistakenly interpreted as distal carpal elements. Moreover, the unique preservation of this specimen makes possible inferences about the soft tissue structure of the wrist, providing insights into the function of the carpus. In addition to the complete manus, OMNH 58340 has five trauma and infection related skeletal pathologies. The manual phalanx I-1 and left dorsal rib 10 are fractured with signs of extensive callus formation in the later stages of healing, interpreted to be contemporaneous injuries. In addition to traumatic fractures, both elements have a morphology consistent with post-traumatic osteomyelitis. Left dorsal rib 7 and right dorsal rib 10 exhibit impacted fractures that are compressed 26 mm and 24 mm, respectively. Both lack callus formation and possess a fracture morphology consistent with pliable living bone, suggesting these fractures occurred around the time of death. Computed tomography (CT) visualizations reveal the presence of a large internal abscess in pathological metacarpal IV of OMNH 58340, with a morphology consistent with a subacute type of hematogenous osteomyelitis, termed a Brodie abscess. This is only the second report of an injury of this type in non-avian dinosaurs and the first in Ornithopoda. Based on the location and two distinct phases of healing present, I hypothesize that this individual experienced a minimum of two traumatic events (e.g., from a fall) with the injuries of the former developing chronic osseous infections

Evaluation of the DSM-5 Eating Disorder Severity Indices of Bulimic Syndromes

A major change to the DSM-5 was the integration of a new severity rating system, ranging from mild to extreme, with key parameters for each eating disorder. However, few studies have examined the clinical utility of these new severity indices. The aim of this project was to identify variables that predict psychosocial impairment in a community sample of individuals with eating disorders in order to inform future diagnostic definitions of severity. Participants were individuals with eating disorders (N=189; 19.9% men) recruited from two Midwestern communities. Participants completed the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (EPSI), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) adjusted for DSM-5 criteria, NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3), and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHO-DAS 2.0). The Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) was used to compare the fit of path models to the data. Individual model fit was assessed using overall model chi-square, comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Fit Index (TFI), and root-mean-square-error of approximation (RMSEA). Results provided some support for current DSM-5 severity indicators for BN and BED. Findings indicated limited support for DSM-5’s current severity indices. Two alternative methods for determining eating disorder severity, using binge eating and restricting frequency as predictors of psychosocial dysfunction, were identified. However, results also suggested that future evaluation of severity indices might benefit from integrating mood, anxiety, and eating disorder symptom based models of severity

A new occurrence of Dakotasuchus kingi from the Late Cretaceous of Utah, USA, and the diagnostic utility of postcranial characters in Crocodyliformes

Cenomanian mesoeucrocodylians from North America are known primarily from isolated teeth and scutes; any associated remains of this age are noteworthy and represent welcome additions to knowledge. Herein, we describe postcranial elements belonging to a single individual goniopholidid from the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation. We argue that this individual represents only the second fossil referable to Dakotasuchus kingi, based on overlapping elements, such as the coracoid, dorsal vertebrae, and scutes, which are strikingly similar to their counterparts in the holotype. The coracoid, in particular, is readily distinguished from those belonging to other closely-related crocodilian taxa; enough so to warrant detailed comparisons in the absence of diagnostic cranial material. The new D. kingi specimen is nearly 20% larger than the holotype, with body length and mass estimates comparable to modern American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), making it one of the largest aquatic predators in the Mussentuchit ecosystem

Private computation on public clouds

Public clouds offer valuable services at the expense of privacy. Since the cloud provider controls the privileged software on their machines (the operating system and the hypervisor), they enjoy access to the secrets processed by the applications they host. As a result, users must either trust public clouds or avoid them. Recently, hardware manufacturers have extended CPU designs to provide trusted execution environments (TEEs). Hardware ensures the data inside a TEE can only be accessed by the code inside that TEE, protecting secrets from all software that the provider controls. However, TEEs do not provide meaningful security for many applications on their own. In practice, many applications are proprietary or make use of accelerators like GPUs. Code inside the TEE has access to user secrets and the freedom to communicate them to the outside world; users cannot vet proprietary code to ensure it does not exercise that freedom (accidentally or intentionally). GPUs are not controlled by the CPU directly but instead by drivers under the cloud provider’s control, making it trivial for the cloud provider to extract secrets that the user offloads to a GPU for processing. GPU TEEs can prevent unauthorized access to GPU memory, but communication with the GPU can still leak information. We demonstrate system designs that leverage existing (CPU) and pro- posed (GPU) TEEs that protect users‘ data even when the application code is colluding with the cloud provider to steal it, or when the user offloads parts of the application to GPUs.Computer Science

Statistics anxiety and predictions of exam performance in UK psychology students

BackgroundStatistics anxiety is common among social science students. Despite much evidence examining statistics anxiety and test performance, little research has explored the role of student self-prediction on test performance in a higher education setting.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between statistics anxiety and both students' self-prediction of their future exam performance and actual test performance on a formal statistics assessment at undergraduate level in psychology students in the UK.MethodUsing a cross-sectional design, two hundred and two students were required to complete Statistics Anxiety Rating Scales, the Mathematical Prerequisites for Psychometrics Scale, and provided self-predicted test performance scores. Test performance data was obtained from a formal statistics assessment.ResultsAs predicted, we demonstrated statistics test anxiety to be negatively associated with self-predicted performance. Additionally, we found statistics anxiety was positively associated with test performance.ConclusionThe findings highlight the complex relationship between statistics anxiety and test performance, suggesting there may be an optimal level of anxiety for performance in statistics assessments.ImplicationsThe results we report have implications for psychology research methods and statistics instructors who may wish to incorporate the findings into statistics instruction modules in order to assuage high levels of statistics anxiety and foster student well-being

Speed and Surface Speed and Magnitude of Knee Adduction

Frontal plane knee biomechanics, in particular speed and magnitude of knee adduction motion, are implicated in knee osteoarthritis development. Although individuals are between 50% to 90% more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R), it is unknown if ACL-R individuals exhibit knee adduction biomechanics related to OA development. This study sought to quantify speed and magnitude of knee adduction for knee OA and ACL-R individuals. We hypothesize that OA will exhibit larger, faster knee adduction biomechanics than ACL-R, which will increase at great walk speed and over a challenging surface. Six individuals with ACL-R and 8 individuals with knee OA had knee adduction quantified as they walked 1.3 m/s and at a self-selected speed over a flat and an uneven surface. Peak of stance, and average and maximum velocity of knee adduction joint angle and moment between heel strike and peak of stance were submitted to repeated measures ANOVA to compare main and interaction effects between group, speed and surface. There was a walk speed by group interaction for peak knee adduction moment (p = 0.048). Walk speed impacted maximum knee adduction joint angle (p=0.004) and moment velocity (p=0.041), while surface impacted peak knee adduction joint angle (p=0.035) and maximum knee adduction joint moment velocity (p=0.007). In partial agreement with our hypothesis, speed and magnitude knee adduction biomechanics increased with walk speed and surface, but OA did not consistently exhibit larger knee adduction biomechanics than ACL-R