Student Veterans/Service Members' Engagement in College and University Life and Education

Since the passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, also known as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the enrollment of active-duty service members and veterans in American colleges and universities has increased substantially. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than three-quarters of a million veterans have used their earned benefit to enroll in postsecondary courses. In response to the influx of veteran student enrollment, a group of higher education associations and veterans' organizations collaborated in 2009 and 2012 on a study that asked college and university administrators whether their institutions had geared up campus programs and services specifically designed to support the unique needs of veterans.1 The results indicated that administrators had indeed increased support levels, sometimes by quite significant margins.But how do student veterans/service members perceive their experiences at higher education institutions? To date, there is little or no information to assess whether the efforts by institutions to provide targeted programs and services are helpful to the veterans and service members enrolled in colleges and universities. Similarly, not much is known about the transition to postsecondary education from military service experienced by student veterans/service members, or whether these students are engaged in both academic programs and college and university life to their fullest potential. In this context, this issue brief explores student veteran/service member engagement in postsecondary education. The brief utilizes data from the 2012 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), an annual survey of students enrolled in four-year universities, to assess how student veterans/service members perceive their integration on campus.A key finding is that student veterans/servicemembers are selective about the campus life and academic activities in which they invest their time. Student veterans/service members are morelikely to be first-generation students -- the first in their families to attend a college or university -- and older than nonveteran/civilian students; they therefore tend to have responsibilities outside of higher education that put constraints on their time.Student veterans/service members report placing greater emphasis on academic areas that they find essential for academic progress than on college and university life and activities -- academic or otherwise -- that are not essential for success in the courses in which they are enrolled. Student veterans/ service members are less likely to participate in co curricular activities, and they dedicate less time to relaxing and socializing than nonveteran/ civilian students

The palynology, palynofacies and palaeoenvironment of the early cretaceous Weald clay of Southeast England

This study attempts to show that cluster groupings of rock samples based on spore/pollen content in the Weald Clay represent particular palaeoenvironments

A prospective longitudinal study of perceived infant outcomes at 18-24 months: Neural and psychological correlates of parental thoughts and actions assessed during the first month postpartum

The first postpartum months constitute a critical period for parents to establish an emotional bond with their infants. Neural responses to infant-related stimuli have been associated with parental sensitivity. However, the associations among these neural responses, parenting, and later infant outcomes for mothers and fathers are unknown. In the current longitudinal study, we investigated the relationships between parental thoughts/actions and neural activation in mothers and fathers in the neonatal period with infant outcomes at the toddler stage. At the first month postpartum, mothers (n=21) and fathers (n=19) underwent a neuroimaging session during which they listened to their own and unfamiliar baby’s cry. Parenting-related thoughts/behaviors were assessed by interview twice at the first month and 3-4 months postpartum and infants’ socioemotional outcomes were reported by mothers and fathers at 18-24 months postpartum. In mothers, higher levels of anxious thoughts/actions about parenting at the first month postpartum, but not at 3-4 months postpartum, were associated with infant’s low socioemotional competencies at 18-24 months. Anxious thoughts/actions were also associated with heightened responses in the motor cortex and reduced responses in the substantia nigra to own infant cry sounds. On the other hand, in fathers, higher levels of positive perception of being a parent at the first month postpartum, but not at 3-4 months postpartum, were associated with higher infant socioemotional competencies at 18-24 months. Positive thoughts were associated with heightened responses in the auditory cortex and caudate to own infant cry sounds. The current study provides evidence that parental thoughts are related to concurrent neural responses to their infants at the first month postpartum as well as their infant’s future socioemotional outcome at 18-24 months. Parent differences suggest that anxious thoughts in mothers and positive thoughts in fathers may be the targets for parenting-focused interventions very early postpartum

System and method for forward error correction

A system and method are provided for transferring a packet across a data link. The packet may include a stream of data symbols which is delimited by one or more framing symbols. Corruptions of the framing symbol which result in valid data symbols may be mapped to invalid symbols. If it is desired to transfer one of the valid data symbols that has been mapped to an invalid symbol, the data symbol may be replaced with an unused symbol. At the receiving end, these unused symbols are replaced with the corresponding valid data symbols. The data stream of the packet may be encoded with forward error correction information to detect and correct errors in the data stream

System and method for transferring data on a data link

A system and method are provided for transferring a packet across a data link. The packet may include a stream of data symbols which is delimited by one or more framing symbols. Corruptions of the framing symbol which result in valid data symbols may be mapped to invalid symbols. If it is desired to transfer one of the valid data symbols that has been mapped to an invalid symbol, the data symbol may be replaced with an unused symbol. At the receiving end, these unused symbols are replaced with the corresponding valid data symbols. The data stream of the packet may be encoded with forward error correction information to detect and correct errors in the data stream

North Dakota Crop Production Economics in 1991

Production Economics,

Endogenous L- to D-amino acid residue isomerization modulates selectivity between distinct neuropeptide receptor family members

The L- to D-amino acid residue isomerization of neuropeptides is an understudied post-translational modification found in animals across several phyla. Despite its physiological importance, little information is available regarding the impact of endogenous peptide isomerization on receptor recognition and activation. As a result, the full roles peptide isomerization play in biology are not well understood. Here, we identify that the Aplysia allatotropin-related peptide (ATRP) signaling system utilizes L- to D-residue isomerization of one amino acid residue in the neuropeptide ligand to modulate selectivity between two distinct G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). We first identified a novel receptor for ATRP that is selective for the D2-ATRP form, which bears a single D-phenylalanine residue at position 2. Using cell-based receptor activation experiments, we then characterized the stereoselectivity of the two known ATRP receptors for both endogenous ATRP diastereomers, as well as for homologous toxin peptides from a carnivorous predator. We found that the ATRP system displayed dual signaling through both the Gαq and Gαs pathways, and each receptor was selectively activated by one naturally occurring ligand diastereomer over the other. Overall, our results provide insights into an unexplored mechanism by which nature regulates intercellular communication. Given the challenges in detecting L- to D-residue isomerization from complex mixtures de novo and in identifying receptors for novel neuropeptides, it is likely that other neuropeptide-receptor systems may also utilize changes in stereochemistry to modulate receptor selectivity in a manner similar to that discovered here

Simple Synchronous Detector for Spectroscopic Studies

Lock-in-amplifiers are used in many applications for signal processing and offer the ability to discriminate high levels of noise. While these instruments are very powerful and offer many features, they are not portable and are expensive. An economical and easy to use alternative circuit is presented which incorporates pre-amplification, reference, and synchronous detection on one circuit board. The design can be used in laboratory or process control situations where its small size and low cost are advantageous. The circuit was successfully applied to moderate and high level signals as seen in flame infrared emission detection and in a portable radiometer for rocket plume studies

Aspidoscelis laredoensis and A. gularis hybridization.

13 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm.Karyotypes and allozyme data for 32 genetic loci overwhelmingly support the conclusion that Aspidoscelis laredoensis is a diploid all-female species that had a hybrid origin between A. gularis x A. sexlineatus. Comparisons of allozymes in individuals representing three mother-to-daughter generations raised in the laboratory suggest that they reproduce by parthenogenetic cloning. In addition to two previously described morphotypes (pattern classes A and B) that occur in southern Texas, we report the existence of three all-female clonal lineages based on allozymes. Individuals of at least one of these lineages occasionally hybridize in nature with males of A. gularis, producing viable and healthy triploid offspring that can grow to adulthood, one of which herself produced an offspring in the laboratory and could have represented a new, clonal triploid species. The possibility exists that cloned offspring of triploid hybrids are present in South Texas and/or northern Mexico, awaiting discovery. These would represent a new species that would appear to be very similar to A. laredoensis