Scaling the Digital Divide: Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement

Assesses the effect of access to home computers and broadband Internet on students' math and reading test scores and its potential to close the achievement gap for the disadvantaged. Considers the role of parental monitoring

City Taxes and Property Tax Bases

This paper investigates the simultaneous relationship between tax rates and city property tax bases using data for 86 large U.S. cities in 1967, 1972, 1977, and 1982. We find that a 10 percent increase in the city's property tax rate decreases the city's tax base by about 1.5 percent. In addition, local income taxes and taxes levied by overlying jurisdictions (such as county and state governments) also have negative impacts on the city's property tax base. Local sales taxes, in contrast, appear to have little impact. We conclude that taxes affect local property values more than is typically implied by previous studies that have investigated the impacts of state and local taxes on firms' location decisions.

Teacher Mobility, School Segregation, and Pay-Based Policies to Level the Playing Field

Analyzes the effectiveness of using salary differentials to help schools serving disadvantaged students attract and retain highly qualified teachers. Examines teachers' responses to salary incentives and school characteristics by qualifications

Interview with James Ladd by Mike Hastings

Biographical NoteJames Loring Ladd was born February 18, 1933, in Milo, Maine, to Marianne Louise McKechnie and Vaughn Loring Ladd. He grew up in Milo and attended Foxcroft Academy. He was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1954 with a major in psychology; he and George Mitchell were classmates. Prior to the beginning of his senior year, he became married to Shirley Ladd; they have four children. He spent a year teaching, then was drafted into the Army and served in Korea for two years. He made a career in the real estate business in Milo, Maine, and is now retired. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: growing up in Milo, Maine; traveling to Boston as a child; attending Foxcroft Academy; watching baseball and playing sports; attending Bowdoin College; George Mitchell at Bowdoin; the fraternities at Bowdoin; train service in Maine; participating in ROTC at Bowdoin and serving in Korea; teaching eighth grade at Mattawamkeag and coaching basketball and baseball at Newport High School; the Milo, Maine area; seeing George Mitchell when he would visit the local high school; Ladd’s children; and the increasing cost of a Bowdoin education

Information Needs and Information Sources of Patients Diagnosed with Rare Cancers

Abstract INFORMATION NEEDS AND INFORMATION SOURCES OF PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH RARE CANCERS By Dana L. Ladd, Ph.D., MS, SLIS BACKGROUND: Approximately 25% of all cancers diagnosed are considered rare. Patients may face many significant challenges including difficulty obtaining information about their rare conditions. Patients often have high information needs and may seek desired information from a variety of informational sources including healthcare providers, media, print, government and non-profit organizations in order to meet their needs. Accessing reliable consumer-level information can be challenging and often information needs are unmet. Dissatisfaction with health information provision can result in negative health-related outcomes and factors including decreased health-related quality of life. METHOD: This cross-sectional design study used validated measures to assess the information needs, information sources, information satisfaction, and health-related quality of life of patients diagnosed with rare cancers (n=113). Adult patients at the VCU Health Massey Cancer Center who had been diagnosed with a rare cancer in the past 12 months were contacted via mail survey. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patients’ information need and information received levels. Unmet needs were analyzed using a two-sample T-test. Chi-square tests were used to analyze information needs and received by demographics for gender and race and logistic regression analysis was used for age. Descriptive statistics summarized information sources used and preferred. Finally, descriptive statistics were used to summarize information satisfaction. The relationship between information satisfaction and health-related quality of life was assessed using a two-sample T-test. RESULTS: Study participants had high information needs, particularly for information about disease, medical tests, and treatment. Though patients also reported receiving information at high levels, 21 participants (18.9%) reported being unsatisfied with information provision. Unmet needs were found for information about disease and on the item level for information about causes of cancer, whether their cancer was under control, expected benefits of treatment, and financial, insurance, and work-related information. Although participants reported preferring information from their healthcare providers, they most commonly sought information from the Internet more than any other source. CONCLUSION: By identifying patients’ information needs and sources, this study fills an important gap in the information needs and sources literature of patients diagnosed with rare cancers. Identification of these needs allows healthcare providers to tailor information provision to more effectively meet patients’ information needs

The Effects of Mortality Salience and Team Identification on Sports Fans\u27 Willingness to Consider Anonymous Acts of Aggression

The current study sought to understand if mortality salience and identification with the University of Kentucky men’s varsity basketball team (UK) would interact in such a way as to influence participants’ willingness to engage in anonymous acts of aggression toward fans, coaches and players of rival sport teams. A research question was also evaluated which asked if mortality salience might be a potential mediator between participants’ identification and their likelihood to engage in anonymous acts of aggression. Results indicated that mortality salience was not a significant predictor and there was no significant interaction between identification and mortality salience. As a result, subsequent mediation analysis also did not find mortality salience to be a mediator between identification and likelihood to engage in anonymous acts of aggression. Results did support previous research, which found identification to be a significant predictor of anonymous aggression. Participants who reported higher identification with UK were also more likely to report willingness to engage in anonymous aggression toward fans, players, and coaches of rival sport teams

Palladium-Catalyzed intramolecular sp3 C–H functionalization : studies in cyclopropyl and heterocyclic motifs

La recherche d'approches novatrices, économique en atomes et durables pour former des liaisons C–C continue de stimuler la communauté chimique. En tant qu'approche émergente, la fonctionnalisation des liens C–H est une alternative complémentaire aux couplages traditionnels et à d'autres méthodes classiques néfastes pour l’environnement. Par ailleurs, l'incorporation d'une unité cyclopropane dans une molécule peut être une stratégie bénéfique pour améliorer la stabilité métabolique et augmenter l’affinité pour un récepteur donné. En plus du profil pharmacologique diversifié, les cyclopropanes peuvent être utilisés comme précurseurs synthétiques pour préparer des architectures moléculaires plus complexes. Par rapport à d'autres centres sp3 qui sont plus difficilement fonctionnalisables, ceux du cyclopropanes sont plus réactifs et sujets à réagir dans une réaction d'insertion C–H en raison de leur acidité accrue du à la tension de cycle. Cette thèse présentera deux nouvelles méthodes de synthèse soit l'arylation intramoléculaire de liaisons C–H et l'alcénylation intramoléculaire de liaisons C–H des cyclopropanes catalysées par un complexe de palladium. Les résultats préliminaires pour des versions énantiosélectives d'insertion dans les liaisons C (sp3)–H seront également présentés. Le premier chapitre introduira les réactions de fonctionnalisation de liaisons C– H d'atomes de carbone sp3 et de dérivés cyclopropanes catalysées par un complexe de palladium. De plus, les propriétés, les applications, les méthodes de synthèse et de fonctionnalisation des aminocyclopropanes seront discutées. Les travaux antérieurs effectués lors de la maîtrise seront discutés et mis en contexte dans le cadre des objectifs de cette thèse. Le chapitre 2 décrira la fonctionnalisation intramoléculaire des liaisons C–H de cyclopropylbenzamides dérivés d'acides alpha-aminés pour accéder aux motifs tétrahydroquinolones et tétrahydroisoquinolones. Dans ce cas, une approche visant à minimiser le nombre de réactifs sera développée en explorant le rôle des additifs dans la fonctionnalisation des liaisons C–H. Notamment, ce système a servi de réaction modèle pour nos recherches initiales sur la fonctionnalisation asymétrique des liaisons C–H et sera donc revu (chapitre 4). i Le chapitre 3 visera à étendre la réaction développée au chapitre 2 aux systèmes moins plats c'est-à-dire ceux possédant un plus grand nombre d'atomes de carbone sp3. La motivation à échapper au « Flatland » a contribué à l'étude de l’alcénylation intramoléculaire de dérivés cyclopropanes catalysée par un complexe de palladium. Au cours de notre étude, une réaction d'ouverture du cycle a été observée et le potentiel synthétique de cette transformation a été mis en évidence. Ce chapitre décrira nos efforts pour découvrir un nouveau système catalytique pour la version asymétrique de la réaction. Il sera démontré que les ligands de type monoxyde de bis(phosphine) peuvent être utilisés dans la fonctionnalisation énantiosélective des liaisons C–H. Des recherches initiales sur l'alcénylation asymétrique de dérivés cyclopropaniques ont démontré qu'un ligand de type phosphoramidite ou de type (R, R)- BozPhos est efficace. Le chapitre 4 décrira que (R, R)-BozPhos peut être utilisé en combinaison avec le Pd(0) pour obtenir une induction asymétrique importante dans les réactions d'arylation et d'alcénylation d'atomes de carbone hybridés sp3. Nos résultats seront comparés avec ceux de Kagan et nous démontrerons que le ligand actif est le monoxyde de bis(phosphine) et non la bis(phosphine). Enfin, l'utilisation de la 4ème génération de palladacycles dimèriques de Buchwald nous permettra d'atteindre des énantiosélectivités supérieures aux autres systèmes décrits dans la littérature pour ce type de transformation.The search for novel, atom economical and sustainable approaches to form C–C bonds continues to stimulate the chemical community. As an emerging synthetic tool, C–H functionalization offers both alternative and complementary reactions to traditional cross- coupling and other environmentally hazardous classical methods. Cyclopropane incorporation can offer a beneficial strategy to improve both target binding and metabolic stability. In addition to the diverse pharmacological profile, cyclopropanes can be used as valuable synthetic precursors en route to highly complex molecular architectures. Compared to other more challenging sp3 centers, cyclopropanes are highly primed for C−H functionalization due to enhanced cyclopropyl C−H bond acidity and increased reactivity from ring strain. This thesis will disclose explorations towards both intramolecular palladium-catalyzed C−H arylation and alkenylation of cyclopropane systems, including recent efforts towards enantioselective C(sp3)−H functionalization. Chapter One will introduce key concepts regarding palladium-catalyzed C–H functionalization with emphasis on cyclopropanes and sp3 centers. Additionally, properties, applications, synthetic approaches and functionalization of cyclopropanes will be discussed with a focus on aminocyclopropanes. Herein, previous Masters work on C–H arylation will be summarized and a context for the work presented in this dissertation will be established. Chapter 2 will describe intramolecular palladium-catalyzed C–H functionalization of cyclopropyl α-amino acid-derived benzamides to access six-membered tetrahydroquinolones and tetrahydroisoquinolones motifs. Herein, a reductionist approach will be applied through exploring the role of additives in cyclopropyl C–H functionalization. Notably, this system served as a model reaction for our initial investigations into asymmetric C–H functionalization and will consequently be revisited (Chapter 4). Chapter 3 will address the current paucity of methodologies targeting systems with increasing Fsp3. The motivation to “escape Flatland” contributed to investigating intramolecular palladium-catalyzed cyclopropyl direct alkenylation. This chapter will also elaborate on our search for a novel asymmetric catalyst system and our discovery that bisphosphine monoxide ligands can be employed in enantioselective C–H functionalization. Initial investigations into iii asymmetric cyclopropyl alkenylation using both a BINOL-based phosphoramidite ligand and (R,R)-BozPhos will be provided. Chapter 4 will describe our discovery that (R,R)-BozPhos can be employed in combination with Pd(0) to achieve asymmetric induction of cyclopropyl and related sp3 centers. Herein, we will readdress the work of Kagan, and demonstrate that (R,R)-BozPhos, not (R,R)- MeDUPHOS is the active ligand for this system. Finally, the use of Buchwald 4th generation palladacycle dimer to achieve unprecedented enantioselectivities compared to other established literature benchmarks for sp3 asymmetric arylation will be presented

Enrichment exercises in spelling for grades two, three, and four

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit