Higher Education Industry Consolidation: Where Does it Leave Students?

Mount Ida College, operating as a private non-profit higher education institution, permanently closed on May 17, 2018 after giving six weeks of notice to its existing and recently accepted students. Mount Ida College had two campuses, a small one in Foxboro, Massachusetts and its main campus in Newton, Massachusetts. The Newton campus was sold to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and students in good standing were offered automatic acceptance to UMass Dartmouth. Soon afterwards a class action lawsuit was filed by students against Mount Ida College, the Board of Trustees, and seven college administrators based on seven legal claims: breach of fiduciary duty, violation of privacy, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, fraud in the inducement, breach of contract, and violation of Massachusetts General Laws Ch. 93A (law that protects and defends consumers and prohibits a business or individual from taking part in deceptive, devious, or unfair acts or practices). Contract law and fiduciary duty in the United States arise from what is called common law and is a carryover from old English law. Does a non-profit college or university owe a contractual and/or a fiduciary duty to its students? The case was dismissed at the trial level stating that the students did not have any valid cause of action in this case. The appellate court affirmed the lower court decision. In so affirming, the U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit ruled that students have no contractual claim and that the College and Board of Trustees owes no fiduciary duty to the students. This case raises an interesting question. What duties does an academic institution of higher learning have to its students? The 1st Circuit was clear in affirming the lower court decision to dismiss this case, affirming that students are not owed an actionable fiduciary duty and have no contract or tort claims against the school. In addition, the case also lays out the possible strategic options for Mount Ida College and discusses if selling the campus was the best choice for the institution

Excitation of Neutron, Proton and Neutron-Hole States in the (p,p') Reaction at 160 MeV and 96 MeV

This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant PHY 76-84033 and Indiana Universit

Core Polarization Amplitudes for Single-Neutron-Hole Transitions Excited in the 207-Pb(p,p') Reaction at 135 MeV and 61 MeV

This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grants PHY 76-84033A01, PHY 78-22774, and Indiana Universit

Transitions to Proton States in the 90-Zr(p,p') Reaction at 160 MeV

This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant PHY 76-84033 and Indiana Universit

Surprising sequential effects on MMN

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is conceptualised as a confidence-weighted error signal elicited when a deviation violates the predicted next-state based on regularity. The mechanisms underpinning its generation remain contentious. Smaller MMN response is a robust finding in schizophrenia and reduced amplitude may implicate impairment in prediction-error signalling. An enriched understanding of factors that influence MMN size in healthy people is a prerequisite for translating the relevance of reduced MMN in schizophrenia. This paper features two studies designed to explore factors that impact MMN in healthy individuals. Study 1 confirms that MMN amplitude does not faithfully reflect transition statistics and is susceptible to order-driven bias. In Study 2, we demonstrate that an order-driven bias remains despite repeated encounters with sound sequences. These data demonstrate that factors that impact on MMN size in non-clinical groups are not fully understood and that some mechanisms driving relevance filtering are likely influenced by ‘top-down’ expectations

Spin-Orbit Effects in the Excitation of Proton and Neutron States in the (p,p') Reaction at 160 MeV, 120 MeV, and 95 MeV

Supported by the National Science Foundation and Indiana Universit

Bradyrhizobium japonicum senses iron through the status of haem to regulate iron homeostasis and metabolism

The Irr protein from the bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum is expressed under iron limitation to mediate iron control of haem biosynthesis. The regulatory input to Irr is the status of haem and its precursors iron and protoporphyrin at the site of haem synthesis. Here, we show that Irr controls the expression of iron transport genes and many other iron-regulated genes not directly involved in haem synthesis. Irr is both a positive and negative effector of gene expression, and in at least some cases the control is direct. Loss of normal iron responsiveness of those genes in an irr mutant, as well as a lower total cellular iron content, suggests that Irr is required for the correct perception of the cellular iron status. Degradation of Irr in iron replete cells requires haem. Accordingly, control of Irr-regulated genes by iron was aberrant in a haem-defective strain, and iron replete mutant cells behave as if they are iron-limited. In addition, the haem mutant had an abnormally high cellular iron content. The findings indicate that B. japonicum senses iron via the status of haem biosynthesis in an Irr-dependent manner to regulate iron homeostasis and metabolism

Scientific Preparations for Lunar Exploration with the European Lunar Lander

This paper discusses the scientific objectives for the ESA Lunar Lander Mission, which emphasise human exploration preparatory science and introduces the model scientific payload considered as part of the on-going mission studies, in advance of a formal instrument selection.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Planetary and Space Science 51 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl

Disrupted Peyer’s Patch Microanatomy in COVID-19 Including Germinal Centre Atrophy Independent of Local Virus

Confirmed SARS-coronavirus-2 infection with gastrointestinal symptoms and changes in microbiota associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity have been previously reported, but the disease impact on the architecture and cellularity of ileal Peyer’s patches (PP) remains unknown. Here we analysed post-mortem tissues from throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of patients who died with COVID-19. When virus was detected by PCR in the GI tract, immunohistochemistry identified virus in epithelium and lamina propria macrophages, but not in lymphoid tissues. Immunohistochemistry and imaging mass cytometry (IMC) analysis of ileal PP revealed depletion of germinal centres (GC), disruption of B cell/T cell zonation and decreased potential B and T cell interaction and lower nuclear density in COVID-19 patients. This occurred independent of the local viral levels. The changes in PP demonstrate that the ability to mount an intestinal immune response is compromised in severe COVID-19, which could contribute to observed dysbiosis