Writing across curriculum: Evaluating a faculty-centered approach

This paper discusses research on a pilot study for implementing a Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program in the College of Business (CoB) at a California Public University. Data analysis focused on faculty and writing assistant satisfaction using interviews, and on student learning as measured by evaluation of progressive writing assignments. Discussion includes: 1) assumptions on which the pilot was based and its goals, 2) overview of how the program was structured and implemented, 3) outcomes of the pilot program, and 4) recommendations for future programs. Results suggest both faculty and student participants were satisfied with the pilot program implementation and student writing improvement

Now the wars are over: The past, present and future of Scottish battlefields

Battlefield archaeology has provided a new way of appreciating historic battlefields. This paper provides a summary of the long history of warfare and conflict in Scotland which has given rise to a large number of battlefield sites. Recent moves to highlight the archaeological importance of these sites, in the form of Historic Scotland’s Battlefields Inventory are discussed, along with some of the problems associated with the preservation and management of these important cultural sites

motifDiverge: a model for assessing the statistical significance of gene regulatory motif divergence between two DNA sequences

Next-generation sequencing technology enables the identification of thousands of gene regulatory sequences in many cell types and organisms. We consider the problem of testing if two such sequences differ in their number of binding site motifs for a given transcription factor (TF) protein. Binding site motifs impart regulatory function by providing TFs the opportunity to bind to genomic elements and thereby affect the expression of nearby genes. Evolutionary changes to such functional DNA are hypothesized to be major contributors to phenotypic diversity within and between species; but despite the importance of TF motifs for gene expression, no method exists to test for motif loss or gain. Assuming that motif counts are Binomially distributed, and allowing for dependencies between motif instances in evolutionarily related sequences, we derive the probability mass function of the difference in motif counts between two nucleotide sequences. We provide a method to numerically estimate this distribution from genomic data and show through simulations that our estimator is accurate. Finally, we introduce the R package {\tt motifDiverge} that implements our methodology and illustrate its application to gene regulatory enhancers identified by a mouse developmental time course experiment. While this study was motivated by analysis of regulatory motifs, our results can be applied to any problem involving two correlated Bernoulli trials

The role of mitochondria in ageing

Cognitive decline coupled with functional loss of skeletal muscle strength is a quietly devastating reality for long-lived populations. Ageing is a complex process resulting in the progressive deterioration of biological functions, however the exact mechanisms of ageing are currently unclear. Mitochondrial dysfunction is a characteristic feature of ageing and age-related disease. This thesis explored the age-related changes to biochemical profile of the mitochondrion. Firstly, mitochondrial function measured through complex I activity was examined with ageing and compared to that of neurodegenerative disease in different regions of the brain. Complex I activity is significantly reduced in aged animals and affects all brain regions similarly. In contrast, complex I activity in the neurodegenerative disease mouse model pcd5J showed region specific reductions in activity. Secondly, the mitochondrial proteome isolated from young (8 weeks) and middle-aged/old (78 weeks) mouse brain and skeletal muscle were profiled. The mitochondrial proteome exhibited specific changes with ageing. Of particular interest was carbonic anhydrase II, which showed significantly increased protein levels in aged brain mitochondria. Furthermore, elevated carbonic anhydrase II had a detrimental effect on lifespan. It could be postulated that carbonic anhydrase inhibitors could be used to modulate age-related impairments and disease. Thirdly, the lipidomic profile of young (8 weeks) and middle-aged/old (78 weeks) mouse brain and skeletal muscle were investigated. The brain mitochondrial lipidome showed reduced levels of fatty acids with ageing while skeletal muscle mitochondria exhibited a decreased abundance of phosphatidylethanolamines, but a pronounced increase of triglyceride levels. Reduced levels of phosphatidylethanolamines are associated with accelerated ageing. This study revealed possible lipid biomarkers of the ageing process that could be utilised to treat mitochondrial dysfunction. Finally, the biochemical profile of the mouse mitochondrion was also compared to that of an exceptionally long-lived mammal, the common pipstrelle bat (P.pipistrellus). This study uncovered for the first time that bats exhibit distinct mitochondrial profiles consistent with an intrinsic resistance to the ageing processes. Taken together this thesis highlights age-related changes in the mitochondrial biochemical profile that could be targeted to ameliorate functional decline and thereby maximise healthspan

The Augmented SOLOW Model And The OECD Sample

In their influential work on the augmented Solow model, Mankiw, Romer and Weil (1992) showed that cross-section evidence was reasonably consistent with the Solow growth model augmented to include human capital for a wide range of countries.  However, for the sample of OECD countries, they found that the model had low explanatory power and underestimated the output elasticity of physical capital. We revisit their seminal work using data from the recently released version 6.1 of the Penn World Table. We find that the ability of the augmented Solow model to explain the cross-country variation in income per capita in the OECD sample improves significantly. Our results highlight the importance of taking into account changes that take place over time in the collection and measurement of national accounts data in estimating and testing the augmented Solow model

The Mixture Of Distribution Hypothesis And The Russian Stock Market

According to the mixture of distributions hypothesis (MDH), a serially correlated mixture of variables measuring the rate at which information arrives to the market explains the GARCH effects in stock returns. While reasonable amount of empirical evidence supports this hypothesis for developed, highly liquid stock markets in industrial countries, the current literature does not provide much findings for stock markets in countries that have recently experienced the transition from economic planning to capitalism. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to provide a first piece of evidence for one of the newly created stock market, the Russian stock market. Examination of the relationship between risk, returns, volatility and volume existing in the Russian stock market provides evidence in support of the MDH and suggests that even in emerging and turbulent markets risk and returns are jointly integrated to the flow of information arriving to the market

Rational Expectations and Output Supply: Evidence from the Sugar Cane and Coffee Industries in Jamaica

This paper investigates the rationality and price responsiveness of sugar cane and coffee farmers in Jamaica for the period 1960-1980. The output supplied by these farmers is modeled to incorporate anticipation by farmers of commodity board actions. The structure of constraints imposed by the rationality of these anticipated responses 1s derived and tested by means of a likelihood ratio test statistic. The results support the joint hypothesis of rationality and price responsiveness. Policy implications of the anticipated response function are also identifies

Labor Allocation and Productivity of Men and Women on Thai Farms

This paper examines the efficiency at labor allocation and the productivity of labor by gender between and within farm and non-farm enterprises on Thai farms. A Cobb-Douglas production function is estimated for both types of enterprises using disaggregated data. The estimated parameters of these functions are utilized to analyze efficiency and productivity issues. The results showed that inter-enterprise efficiency can be enhanced by allocating more labor of men to non-farm enterprises and mare labor of women to farm enterprises, but cultural constraints may impede such substitution. Policy makers need to improve incentives for non-farm enterprises

Price Policy and Agricultural Export Performance in Jamaica

Exact date of working paper unknown