Simple guide to starting a research group

Conducting cutting-edge research and scholarship becomes more complicated with each passing year; forming a collaborative research group offers a way to navigate this increasing complexity. Yet many individuals whose work might benefit from the formation of a collaborative team may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of attempting to build and maintain a research group. We propose this simple guide for starting and maintaining such an enterprise

Conflicts and configurations in a liminal space: SoTL scholars’ identity development

Although academic identity has received attention in the literature, there have been few attempts to understand the influence on identity from engagement with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). In this aper, we (a group of eight scholars from five different countries) describe how our interactions with SoTL have impacted the shaping of our academic identities. We have struggled to define the value, purpose, outcomes, and meanings of being a disciplined SoTL scholar, sometimes in addition to and sometimes in opposition to being a disciplinary scholar. Through analysis of our own 100-word reflective narratives, we identify common conflicts and configurations around our experiences of developing a SoTL identity. We describe how navigating among conflicting identities can lead us into a troublesome but deeply reflective liminal space, prompting profound realizations and the reconstruction of academic identity. Drawing on this notion of liminality helps us to understand our journeys as moving through a necessary and important transformational landscape, and allows us to suggest ways to support those engaging with SoTL to develop an integrative SoTL identity

The role of positive selection in determining the molecular cause of species differences in disease

Related species, such as humans and chimpanzees, often experience the same disease with varying degrees of pathology, as seen in the cases of Alzheimer's disease, or differing symptomatology as in AIDS. Furthermore, certain diseases such as schizophrenia, epithelial cancers and autoimmune disorders are far more frequent in humans than in other species for reasons not associated with lifestyle. Genes that have undergone positive selection during species evolution are indicative of functional adaptations that drive species differences. Thus we investigate whether biomedical disease differences between species can be attributed to positively selected genes

Imprints, Vol. 3

Imprints, Vol. 3 Laura Lundgren, Stephen F Austin State UniversitySandra L. Standley, Stephen F Austin State UniversityMelissa Miller, Stephen F Austin State UniversityCurtis Simmons, Stephen F Austin State UniversityVaughn Hamilton, Stephen F Austin State UniversitySteve Geissen, Stephen F Austin State UniversityEdward Shelton, Stephen F Austin State UniversityJames L. Choron, Stephen F Austin State UniversityAnderson Kelley, Stephen F Austin State UniversityAndrew J. Urbanus, Stephen F Austin State UniversityGordon Garrett Conner, Stephen F Austin State UniversityJames Chionsini Jr., Stephen F Austin State UniversityPaul M. Thomason, Stephen F Austin State UniversityCarol McBrayerJessica Anton, Stephen F Austin State University Download Download Full Text (5.7 MB) Description Imprints is the official publication for Sigma Tau Delta, the honorary English fraternity. The editors welcome creative works submitted by contributors and also publish winners of the annual T. E. Ferguson Writing Contest. Especially welcom are poems, fiction pieces and essays of no more than 5,000 words in length. At this time, we would like to express our gratitude to David Whitescarver, Sigma Tau Delta faculty advisor, for his unrelenting optimism and valuable help in the preparation of this journal

Reply to: New Meta- and Mega-analyses of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Schizophrenia: Do They Really Increase Our Knowledge About the Nature of the Disease Process?

This work was supported by National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Grant No. U54EB020403 (to the ENIGMA consortium)

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

The Magnetic Couples Study: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Prospective Cohort Study of HIV-serodifferent Heterosexual Couples’ Perspectives and Use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)

Introduction HIV transmission within serodifferent heterosexual couples plays a key role in sustaining the global HIV pandemic. In the USA, transmission within established mixed-status couples accounts for up to half of all new HIV infections among heterosexuals. Oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective prevention method, although underutilised among serodifferent couples. Moreover, there is a dearth of research on US HIV-serodifferent couples’ perspectives and use of PrEP, alone or in combination with other prevention methods. In this paper, we describe the study protocol for the Magnetic Couples Study, designed to fill critical knowledge gaps regarding HIV-serodifferent heterosexual couples’ perspectives, experiences and utilisation of PrEP. Methods and analysisThe Magnetic Couples Study is a mixed methods prospective cohort study designed to describe temporal patterns and identify determinants at multiple levels (individual, couple, HCF) of PrEP outcomes along the care continuum (PrEP awareness, linkage, uptake, retention and medication adherence) among HIV-serodifferent heterosexual couples residing in New York City. The study will also examine clinical management of PrEP, side effects and changes in sexual-related and substance use–related behaviour. A prospective cohort of 230 mixed-status couples already on oral PrEP was recruited, with quarterly assessments over 18 months; in addition, a cross-sectional sample of 150 mixed-status couples not currently on PrEP was recruited. In-depth semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with a subsample of 25 couples. Actor-partner interdependence modelling using multilevel analysis will be employed for the analysis of longitudinal dyadic data. Framework analysis will be used to analyse qualitative data. A parallel convergent design will be used for mixed methods integration. Ethics and dissemination The study was approved by the University of Rochester Institutional Review Board (RSRB00052766). Study findings will be disseminated to community members and providers and to researchers and policy makers