Thinking Style Differences of Female College and University Presidents: A National Study

The purpose of this study was to identify thinking style preferences of female college and university presidents and determine if differences in thinking style exist with regard to the independent variables of Carnegie classification, institutional control, highest academic degree earned, academic background/specialty, age, and total years of presidential experience. The Inquiry Mode Questionnaire (InQ) and a demographic data form were distributed to all 595 female presidents with institutions classified as Associate’s or higher by the Carnegie system. Responses were received from 369 (62.02%), with 328 (55.13%) utilized for data analysis. Descriptive statistics, MANOVA and ANOVA tests were used to address the seven primary queries, with significance noted at

Low-temperature plasma technology as part of a closed-loop resource management system

The results of this testing indicate that the agitated low-temperature plasma reactor system successfully converted carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen into gaseous products at residence times that were about ten times shorter than those achieved by stationary processing. The inorganic matrix present was virtually unchanged by the processing technique. It was concluded that this processing technique is feasible for use as part of a close-looped processing resource management system

Plug and Play Distributed Model Predictive Control Based on Distributed Invariance and Optimization

Abstract—This paper presents a method for plug-and-play distributed MPC of a network of interacting linear systems. The previously introduced idea of plug and play control addresses the challenge of performing network changes in the form of subsystems that are joining or leaving the network during closed-loop operation, while maintaining stability and constraint satisfaction. This work extends these ideas to an iterative distributed MPC scheme for systems with strong coupling by employing a recently proposed method for distributed MPC that takes the coupling dynamics into account in the form of time-varying terminal sets and distributed optimization. A distributed synthesis procedure for the update of the local control laws is proposed together with a transition scheme preparing the system for the upcoming modifications. This enables automatic plug-and-play operation, including rejection if the new network topology is infeasible. Both the synthesis and online control are entirely distributed and are only based on local information on the subsystems and their coupled neighbors. Finally, the proposed scheme is applied to the problem of frequency control in a power network

Different cultures, different values: The role of cultural variation in public’s WTP for marine species conservation

Understanding the cultural variation in public preference for marine species is a necessary pre-requisite if conservation objectives are to include societal preferences in addition to scientific considerations. We report the results of a contingent study undertaken at three case-study sites: Azores islands (Portugal), Gulf of Gdansk (Poland) and Isles of Scilly (UK). The study considered species richness of five specific marine taxa (mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates and algae) as proxies of marine biodiversity and the aim of analysis was to estimate from a multi-site perspective public’s willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid increased levels of species loss (reduction of species richness) for different marine taxa. Results, based on 1502 face-to-face interviews, showed that income, education and environmental awareness of the respondents were significant predictors of WTP for marine species conservation. Results also indicated that respondents in each of the European locations had different preferences for marine taxa. In the Azores, although mammals and fish were valued highly, small differences occurred in the WTP among different taxa. Respondents in the Isles of Scilly put a relatively low value on fish while algae and marine mammals were highly valued. In Gdansk, respondents defined a clear order of preference for marine mammals>fish>birds>invertebrates and algae. These findings suggested that cultural differences may be important drivers of valuation and undermines the commonly held premise that charismatic/likeable taxa consistently have a disproportionately strong influence on WTP for biodiversity conservation. We conclude that conservation policy must take account of cultural diversity alongside biological diversity

The writing on the wall: the concealed communities of the East Yorkshire horselads

This paper examines the graffiti found within late nineteenth and early-twentieth century farm buildings in the Wolds of East Yorkshire. It suggests that the graffiti were created by a group of young men at the bottom of the social hierarchy - the horselads – and was one of the ways in which they constructed a distinctive sense of communal identity, at a particular stage in their lives. Whilst it tells us much about changing agricultural regimes and social structures, it also informs us about experiences and attitudes often hidden from official histories and biographies. In this way, the graffiti are argued to inform our understanding, not only of a concealed community, but also about their hidden histor

Perceived barriers and facilitators of exercise and healthy dietary choices : a study of employees and managers within a large transport organisation

Objective. The objective of the research was to examine employees’ perceived barriers and facilitators of physical activity and healthy dietary choices, and managers’ perceptions of how to facilitate physical activity and healthy dietary choices among their team members. Design. A cross-sectional and qualitative design was used. Setting. Participants were employees from a large public sector organisation (N= 121), who were asked about the barriers to and facilitators of maintaining regular exercise and healthy dietary choices. Managers were additionally asked about methods for facilitating physical activity and healthy dietary choices among their team members. Methods. The research used both quantitative and qualitative methodology, with categorical and open ended survey questions. Results. Thematic analysis revealed similar themes for both physical activity and healthy dietary choices, with participants citing working patterns, commuting times, family commitments, job characteristics, and lack of motivation as barriers to exercise and healthy dietary choices. Both employees and managers identified similar facilitators of exercise and healthy dietary choices, such as improved information, facilities, and working routines. Conclusion. The results provide an insight into the perceived barriers and facilitators to adopting a healthy lifestyle among a sample of employees with differing shift patterns and job roles. The results are discussed in relation to suggested methods for promoting physical activity and healthy dietary choices at work

Post-stroke inhibition of induced NADPH oxidase type 4 prevents oxidative stress and neurodegeneration

Ischemic stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Only one moderately effective therapy exists, albeit with contraindications that exclude 90% of the patients. This medical need contrasts with a high failure rate of more than 1,000 pre-clinical drug candidates for stroke therapies. Thus, there is a need for translatable mechanisms of neuroprotection and more rigid thresholds of relevance in pre-clinical stroke models. One such candidate mechanism is oxidative stress. However, antioxidant approaches have failed in clinical trials, and the significant sources of oxidative stress in stroke are unknown. We here identify NADPH oxidase type 4 (NOX4) as a major source of oxidative stress and an effective therapeutic target in acute stroke. Upon ischemia, NOX4 was induced in human and mouse brain. Mice deficient in NOX4 (Nox4(-/-)) of either sex, but not those deficient for NOX1 or NOX2, were largely protected from oxidative stress, blood-brain-barrier leakage, and neuronal apoptosis, after both transient and permanent cerebral ischemia. This effect was independent of age, as elderly mice were equally protected. Restoration of oxidative stress reversed the stroke-protective phenotype in Nox4(-/-) mice. Application of the only validated low-molecular-weight pharmacological NADPH oxidase inhibitor, VAS2870, several hours after ischemia was as protective as deleting NOX4. The extent of neuroprotection was exceptional, resulting in significantly improved long-term neurological functions and reduced mortality. NOX4 therefore represents a major source of oxidative stress and novel class of drug target for stroke therapy

Clinical, radiologic, pathologic, and molecular characteristics of long-term survivors of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG): a collaborative report from the International and European Society for Pediatric Oncology DIPG registries

Purpose Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a brainstem malignancy with a median survival of < 1 year. The International and European Society for Pediatric Oncology DIPG Registries collaborated to compare clinical, radiologic, and histomolecular characteristics between short-term survivors (STSs) and long-term survivors (LTSs). Materials and Methods Data abstracted from registry databases included patients from North America, Australia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Croatia. Results Among 1,130 pediatric and young adults with radiographically confirmed DIPG, 122 (11%) were excluded. Of the 1,008 remaining patients, 101 (10%) were LTSs (survival ≥ 2 years). Median survival time was 11 months (interquartile range, 7.5 to 16 months), and 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year survival rates were 42.3% (95% CI, 38.1% to 44.1%), 9.6% (95% CI, 7.8% to 11.3%), 4.3% (95% CI, 3.2% to 5.8%), 3.2% (95% CI, 2.4% to 4.6%), and 2.2% (95% CI, 1.4% to 3.4%), respectively. LTSs, compared with STSs, more commonly presented at age < 3 or > 10 years (11% v 3% and 33% v 23%, respectively; P < .001) and with longer symptom duration ( P < .001). STSs, compared with LTSs, more commonly presented with cranial nerve palsy (83% v 73%, respectively; P = .008), ring enhancement (38% v 23%, respectively; P = .007), necrosis (42% v 26%, respectively; P = .009), and extrapontine extension (92% v 86%, respectively; P = .04). LTSs more commonly received systemic therapy at diagnosis (88% v 75% for STSs; P = .005). Biopsies and autopsies were performed in 299 patients (30%) and 77 patients (10%), respectively; 181 tumors (48%) were molecularly characterized. LTSs were more likely to harbor a HIST1H3B mutation (odds ratio, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.5; P = .002). Conclusion We report clinical, radiologic, and molecular factors that correlate with survival in children and young adults with DIPG, which are important for risk stratification in future clinical trials

Interpretation of ambiguous situations: evidence for a dissociation between social and physical threat in Williams syndrome

There is increasing evidence that Williams syndrome (WS) is associated with elevated anxiety that is non-social in nature, including generalised anxiety and fears. To date very little research has examined the cognitive processes associated with this anxiety. In the present research, attentional bias for non-social threatening images in WS was examined using a dot-probe paradigm. Participants were 16 individuals with WS aged between 13 and 34 years and two groups of typically developing controls matched to the WS group on chronological age and attentional control ability respectively. The WS group exhibited a significant attention bias towards threatening images. In contrast, no bias was found for group matched on attentional control and a slight bias away from threat was found in the chronological age matched group. The results are contrasted with recent findings suggesting that individuals with WS do not show an attention bias for threatening faces and discussed in relation to neuroimaging research showing elevated amygdala activation in response to threatening non-social scenes in WS

Nasopharyngeal carriage of pneumococcus in children in England up to 10 years after 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction: persistence of serotypes 3 and 19A and emergence of 7C

Background: Monitoring changes in pharyngeal carriage of pneumococcus in children following 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) introduction in the United Kingdom in 2010 informs understanding of patterns of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) incidence. Methods: Nasopharyngeal swabs from healthy children vaccinated with PCV13 according to schedule (2, 4, and 12 months) were cultured and serotyped. Results for children aged 13–48 months were compared between 2014–2015 and 2017–2019 and with children aged 6–12 months (2017–2020). Blood was obtained from a subset of children for pneumococcal serotype-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG). Results: Total pneumococcal carriage at 13–48 months was 47.9% (473/988) in 2014–2015 and 51.8% (412/795) in 2017–2019 (P = .10); at age 6–12 months this value was 44.6% (274/615). In 2017–2019, 2.9% (95% confidence interval, 1.8%–4.3%) of children aged 13–48 months carried PCV13 serotypes (mainly 3 [1.5%] and 19A [0.8%]) and >20% carried the additional 20-valent PCV (PCV20) serotypes. Similar proportions of children had IgG ≥0.35 IU/mL for each serotype in 2014–2015 and 2017–2019. Serotype 7C carriage increased significantly (P < .01) between 2014–2015 and 2017–2019. Carriage of PCV20 serotypes 8 and 12F, both major causes of IPD, was rare. Conclusions: Introduction of PCV20, if licensed for children, could significantly change the composition of pneumococcal serotypes carried in the pharynx of UK children. Clinical Trials Registration: NCT03102840