Writing Instructors’ Intentional Integration of the Information Literacy Framework

This article presents an exploratory study that examines how 11 first-year writing instructors’ conceptualizations of information literacy evolved over the course of their participation in an inquiry group co-developed and co-facilitated by the Libraries’ teaching faculty and the Director of Composition & Rhetoric at a public university in the United States. The authors developed a coding schema to identify the presence of information literacy-related themes and practices in pre- and post-program course syllabi and in reflective pieces submitted by instructors. The findings revealed that instructors’ use and applications of the ACRL Framework increased after the program, showing greater personal engagement as evidenced by more preferential application of frames most relevant to their learning goals. Moreover, instructors integrated those frames more fully into their instructional practices. The authors’ analysis of instructor-created artifacts provides a unique lens into disciplinary instructors’ conceptualizations of and approaches to information literacy while examining the impact of one path for collaboration and scalability of information literacy integration within a curriculum

Simultaneous Multi-band Radio & X-ray Observations of the Galactic Center Magnetar SGR 1745−-2900

We report on multi-frequency, wideband radio observations of the Galactic Center magnetar (SGR 1745$-$2900) with the Green Bank Telescope for $\sim$100 days immediately following its initial X-ray outburst in April 2013. We made multiple simultaneous observations at 1.5, 2.0, and 8.9 GHz, allowing us to examine the magnetar's flux evolution, radio spectrum, and interstellar medium parameters (such as the dispersion measure (DM), the scattering timescale and its index). During two epochs, we have simultaneous observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which permitted the absolute alignment of the radio and X-ray profiles. As with the two other radio magnetars with published alignments, the radio profile lies within the broad peak of the X-ray profile, preceding the X-ray profile maximum by $\sim$0.2 rotations. We also find that the radio spectral index $\gamma$ is significantly negative between $\sim$2 and 9 GHz; during the final $\sim$30 days of our observations $\gamma \sim -1.4$, which is typical of canonical pulsars. The radio flux has not decreased during this outburst, whereas the long-term trends in the other radio magnetars show concomitant fading of the radio and X-ray fluxes. Finally, our wideband measurements of the DMs taken in adjacent frequency bands in tandem are stochastically inconsistent with one another. Based on recent theoretical predictions, we consider the possibility that the dispersion measure is frequency-dependent. Despite having several properties in common with the other radio magnetars, such as $L_{\textrm{X,qui}}/L_{\textrm{rot}} \lesssim 1$, an increase in the radio flux during the X-ray flux decay has not been observed thus far in other systems.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables; accepted to Ap

Can a charged ring levitate a neutral, polarizable object? Can Earnshaw's Theorem be extended to such objects?

Stable electrostatic levitation and trapping of a neutral, polarizable object by a charged ring is shown to be theoretically impossible. Earnshaw's Theorem precludes the existence of such a stable, neutral particle trap.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

Using Abrupt Changes in Magnetic Susceptibility within Type-II Superconductors to Explore Global Decoherence Phenomena

A phenomenon of a periodic staircase of macroscopic jumps in the admitted magnetic field has been observed, as the magnitude of an externally applied magnetic field is smoothly increased or decreased upon a superconducting (SC) loop of type II niobium-titanium wire which is coated with a non-superconducting layer of copper. Large temperature spikes were observed to occur simultaneously with the jumps, suggesting brief transitions to the normal state, caused by en masse motions of Abrikosov vortices. An experiment that exploits this phenomenon to explore the global decoherence of a large superconducting system will be discussed, and preliminary data will be presented. Though further experimentation is required to determine the actual decoherence rate across the superconducting system, multiple classical processes are ruled out, suggesting that jumps in magnetic flux are fully quantum mechanical processes which may correspond to large group velocities within the global Cooper pair wavefunction.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, part of proceedings for FQMT 2011 conference in Prague, Czech Republi

Differential Effects of MitoVitE, α-Tocopherol and Trolox on Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial Function and Inflammatory Signalling Pathways in Endothelial Cells Cultured under Conditions Mimicking Sepsis

Funding: This research was funded by The British Journal of Anaesthesia/Royal College of Anaesthetists (PhD studentship to Beverley Minter). Acknowledgments: We are very grateful to Professor M.P. Murphy, MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Wellcome Trust/MRC Building, Hills Road, Cambridge, UK for the generous gift of MitoVitE used in all the experiments, without which this work would not have been possible.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Using Passive Surveillance to Maintain Elimination as a Public Health Problem for Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Model-Based Exploration.

BACKGROUND: Great progress is being made toward the goal of elimination as a public health problem for neglected tropical diseases such as leprosy, human African trypanosomiasis, Buruli ulcer, and visceral leishmaniasis, which relies on intensified disease management and case finding. However, strategies for maintaining this goal are still under discussion. Passive surveillance is a core pillar of a long-term, sustainable surveillance program. METHODS: We use a generic model of disease transmission with slow epidemic growth rates and cases detected through severe symptoms and passive detection to evaluate under what circumstances passive detection alone can keep transmission under control. RESULTS: Reducing the period of infectiousness due to decreasing time to treatment has a small effect on reducing transmission. Therefore, to prevent resurgence, passive surveillance needs to be very efficient. For some diseases, the treatment time and level of passive detection needed to prevent resurgence is unlikely to be obtainable. CONCLUSIONS: The success of a passive surveillance program crucially depends on what proportion of cases are detected, how much of their infectious period is reduced, and the underlying reproduction number of the disease. Modeling suggests that relying on passive detection alone is unlikely to be enough to maintain elimination goals

A systematic review of universal, teacher-led interventions targeting anxiety in U.S. schools

Implications of anxiety symptomatology experienced among children and adolescents in the US constitute a major public health crisis, calling for promising universal mental health interventions in K-12 schools. Schools represent an ideal setting for the implementation of population based, public health interventions, as children and adolescents spend a significant proportion of time in school. Discussions within the scientific community document several advantages to utilization of universal, Tier1 interventions. However, the efficacy of universal, school-based anxiety interventions in the US are not consistently documented. The purpose of this study is to systematically review the literature to identify the efficacy of universal teacher-led school-based anxiety interventions in the US. A comprehensive literature search was conducted employing PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus, PsycINFO, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and Google Scholar databases up to December 2016. Each of the articles was independently reviewed for relevance and inclusionary criteria, with five studies meeting these criteria. Overall, the quality of the included studies was moderate. All reviewed studies found that universal teacher-led anxiety interventions in school-based programs had a positive impact on the anxiety outcomes of students when compared to control groups. However, several methodological and design concerns were identified across studies. While our findings suggest that universal teacher-led anxiety interventions have the potential to reduce anxiety symptomatology among school-aged children in the US, further research is needed.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/coph_pres/1009/thumbnail.jp

The Effects of Feeding on Hematological and Plasma Biochemical Profiles in Green (Chelonia mydas) and Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) Sea Turtles

In mammals, lipemic blood from sampling too soon after an animal feeds can have substantial effects on biochemical values. Plasma biochemical values in reptiles may be affected by species, age, season, and nutritional state. However, fasting status is not routinely considered when sampling reptile blood. In this paper, we evaluated 2-hour postprandial blood collection in two sea turtle species to investigate the effects of feeding on hematological and plasma biochemical values. Feeding had no significant effects on hematological values in either species, nor did it have an effect on plasma biochemistry values in Kemp's ridley sea turtles. In postprandial green turtles, total protein, albumin, ALP, AST, ALT, amylase, and cholesterol increased significantly, and chloride decreased significantly. Although statistically significant changes were observed, the median percent differences between pre- and postprandial values did not exceed 10% for any of these analytes and would not likely alter the clinical interpretation

A strongly magnetized pulsar within grasp of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole

The center of our Galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole, Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. Young, massive stars within 0.5 pc of SgrA* are evidence of an episode of intense star formation near the black hole a few Myr ago, which might have left behind a young neutron star traveling deep into SgrA*'s gravitational potential. On 2013 April 25, a short X-ray burst was observed from the direction of the Galactic center. Thanks to a series of observations with the Chandra and the Swift satellites, we pinpoint the associated magnetar at an angular distance of 2.4+/-0.3 arcsec from SgrA*, and refine the source spin period and its derivative (P=3.7635537(2) s and \dot{P} = 6.61(4)x10^{-12} s/s), confirmed by quasi simultaneous radio observations performed with the Green Bank (GBT) and Parkes antennas, which also constrain a Dispersion Measure of DM=1750+/-50 pc cm^{-3}, the highest ever observed for a radio pulsar. We have found that this X-ray source is a young magnetar at ~0.07-2 pc from SgrA*. Simulations of its possible motion around SgrA* show that it is likely (~90% probability) in a bound orbit around the black hole. The radiation front produced by the past activity from the magnetar passing through the molecular clouds surrounding the Galactic center region, might be responsible for a large fraction of the light echoes observed in the Fe fluorescence features.Comment: ApJ Letters in pres