IL-15 sustains IL-7R-independent ILC2 and ILC3 development

The signals that maintain tissue-resident innate lymphoid cells (ILC) in different microenvironments are incompletely understood. Here we show that IL-7 receptor (IL-7R) is not strictly required for the development of any ILC subset, as residual cells persist in the small intestinal lamina propria (siLP) of adult and neonatal Il7ra(−/−) mice. Il7ra(−/−) ILC2 primarily express an ST2(−) phenotype, but are not inflammatory ILC2. CCR6(+) ILC3, which express higher Bcl-2 than other ILC3, are the most abundant subset in Il7ra(−/−) siLP. All ILC subsets are functionally competent in vitro, and are sufficient to provide enhanced protection to infection with C. rodentium. IL-15 equally sustains wild-type and Il7ra(−/−) ILC survival in vitro and compensates for IL-7R deficiency, as residual ILCs are depleted in mice lacking both molecules. Collectively, these data demonstrate that siLP ILCs are not completely IL-7R dependent, but can persist partially through IL-15 signalling

Early College, Early Success: Early College High School Initiative Impact Study

In 2002, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the ECHSI with the primary goal of increasing the opportunity for underserved students to earn a postsecondary credential. To achieve this goal, Early Colleges provide underserved students with exposure to, and support in, college while they are in high school. Early Colleges partner with colleges and universities to offer all students an opportunity to earn an associate's degree or up to two years of college credits toward a bachelor's degree during high school at no or low cost to the students. The underlying assumption is that engaging underrepresented students in a rigorous high school curriculum tied to the incentive of earning college credit will motivate them and increase their access to additional postsecondary education and credentials after high school. Since 2002, more than 240 Early Colleges have opened nationwideThis study focused on the impact of Early Colleges. It addressed two questions:1. Do Early College students have better outcomes than they would have had at other high schools?2. Does the impact of Early Colleges vary by student background characteristics (e.g., gender and family income)? To answer these questions, we conducted a lottery-based randomized experiment, taking advantage of the fact that some Early Colleges used lotteries in their admissions processes. By comparing the outcomes for students who participated in admissions lotteries and were offered enrollment with the outcomes for students who participated in the lotteries but were not offered enrollment, we can draw causal conclusions about the impact of Early Colleges.The primary student outcomes for this study were high school graduation, college enrollment, and college degree attainment. We also examined students' high school and college experiences. Data on student background characteristics and high school outcomes came from administrative records from schools, districts, and states; data on collegeoutcomes came from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC); and data on high school and college experiences and intermediate outcomes such as college credit accrual camefrom a student surveyWe assessed the impact of Early Colleges on these outcomes for a sample of 10 Early Colleges that did the following:-Enrolled students in grades 9 -- 12 and had high school graduates in the study years (2005 -- 2011)-Used lotteries as part of the admission processes in at least one of the study cohorts (students who entered ninth grade in 2005 -- 06, 2006 -- 07, or 2007 -- 08)-Retained the lottery recordsEight of the 10 Early Colleges in the study were included in the student survey. The overall study sample included 2,458 students and the survey sample included 1,294 students. The study extended through three years past high school

A New Cryptanalytic Method Using the Distribution Characteristics of Substitution Distances

In this paper, we suggest a new method for cryptanalysis of the basic structures of the block ciphers having SP network structure. The concept of the substitution difference is introduced and the distribution characteristics of substitution distances in an S-box is developed. This gives clues for cryptanalysis of the cipher. We then examine if this method is applicable to cryptanalysis of Rijndael. We present the method for cryptanalysis of the first round of Rijndael including the initial Round-Key addition part in order to illustrate our new method

The Sapheos Project: Transparency in Multi-image Collation, Analysis, and Representation

Our proposal for a Level II Start-Up grant for the Sapheos project seeks to develop innovative software to analyze, represent, and collate images in the humanities. While there are an array of text based digital projects underway that offer increasingly powerful tools for marking up, analyzing, and visualizing textual data in the humanities, image-based analysis has not received similar attention. From the project's inception, our aim has been to develop extensible open-source software that researchers across the humanities can use to link image to text in a discrete, granular fashion. Working with the NEH-funded Spenser Project, a multi-institutional Scholarly Editions project, we're developing two significant image-based software tools: (a) digital collation software that builds on and extends the work of optical methods, using transparency to "stack" and collate multiple copies, and (b) software for automatically sectioning and identifying (x,y) coordinate pairs for images

What Constitutes Intermarriage for Multiracial People in Britain?

Intermarriage is of great interest to analysts because a group’s tendency to partner across ethnic boundaries is usually seen as a key indicator of the social distance between groups in a multiethnic society. Theories of intermarriage as a key indicator of integration are, however, typically premised upon the union of white and nonwhite individuals, and we know very little about what happens in the unions of multiracial people, who are the children of intermarried couples. What constitutes intermarriage for multiracial people? Do multiracial individuals think that ethnic or racial ancestries are a defining aspect of their relationships with their partners? In this article, I argue that there are no conventions for how we characterize endogamous or exogamous relationships for multiracial people. I then draw on examples of how multiracial people and their partners in Britain regard their relationships with their partners and the significance of their and their partners’ ethnic and racial backgrounds. I argue that partners’ specific ancestries do not necessarily predict the ways in which multiracial individuals regard their partners’ ethnic and racial backgrounds as constituting difference or commonality within their relationships

UNDERSTANDING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING OUTCOMES: THE ROLE OF LEARNING STYLES

Despite extensive research on the influence of student engagement in the classroom on student learning outcomes, few studies have examined student learning styles and their engagement in learning activities. In this research-in-progress paper, we propose a research model to examine whether student engagement during role-play exercises will lead to better learning and satisfaction, and the role learning style plays in influencing engagement. We conducted a survey study to evaluate our research model. Preliminary results show partial support for our research model. Our research will make contributions to the theoretical understanding of the relationships between engagement, learning styles and learning outcomes. Our study will also provide practical guidance for instructors to design instructional activities that accommodate for individual learning style differences

To the Border and Back: Visualizing and Narrating Migration

As part of our Migrations and Borderlands 360° course cluster, we brought the travelling photography exhibition Del Golfo al Pacífico, which chronicles the evolution of the U.S.-Mexico border over the last three decades, to Bryn Mawr College. This exhibition was curated by El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), a research institute in Tijuana, Mexico dedicated to studying the phenomenon of migration between the two countries. Our students used this exhibition as an analytical and artistic tool to prepare for our class trip to Tucson and Nogales, Arizona and to Tijuana. While in Mexico, we had the opportunity to do a photography workshop with Alfonso Caraveo Castro, a photographer at COLEF and one of the curators of Del Golfo al Pacífico. We asked students to select one of the photographs they took during our trip to the border and put it in dialogue with one of the COLEF photographs, narrating what they learned about migration from this experience. Collected herein are our students’ images, analyses, and meditations on the U.S.-Mexico border.https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmc_books/1032/thumbnail.jp

Exploring the Relationship Among Learning Styles, Engagement, and Learning Outcomes in the Context of Role-Play Activities

This study proposes a research model to examine whether student engagement during role-play exercises leads to better learning and satisfaction, as well as the influence learning styles have on engagement. Our results confirm that engagement is a multifaceted construct, and show that learning styles affect the dimensions of engagement differently. The effects of each dimension of engagement on student learning and satisfaction also vary. Our research contributes to the theoretical understanding of the relationships among engagement, learning styles, and learning outcomes. Our study also provides practical guidance on how to design instructional activities that accommodate differences in individual learning styles

To the Border and Back: Visualizing and Narrating Migration

As part of our Migrations and Borderlands 360° course cluster, we brought the travelling photography exhibition Del Golfo al Pacífico, which chronicles the evolution of the U.S.-Mexico border over the last three decades, to Bryn Mawr College. This exhibition was curated by El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), a research institute in Tijuana, Mexico dedicated to studying the phenomenon of migration between the two countries. Our students used this exhibition as an analytical and artistic tool to prepare for our class trip to Tucson and Nogales, Arizona and to Tijuana. While in Mexico, we had the opportunity to do a photography workshop with Alfonso Caraveo Castro, a photographer at COLEF and one of the curators of Del Golfo al Pacífico. We asked students to select one of the photographs they took during our trip to the border and put it in dialogue with one of the COLEF photographs, narrating what they learned about migration from this experience. Collected herein are our students’ images, analyses, and meditations on the U.S.-Mexico border.https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmc_books/1032/thumbnail.jp