Factors of Educational Attainment

The following research has been conducted in order to establish both the economic and statistical significance of certain factors that affect the percentage of those who hold a bachelor’s degree by age 25. We look at what demographics are/are not important when predicting who will obtain a bachelor’s degree by age 25, and list some options we think would increase the percentage of those who hold a bachelor’s degree, based on our research. We stipulate that increasing the percent of the population holding a degree will better prepare people for success and a higher standard of living in our rapidly changing economy. To test our hypothesis, we have estimated an equation and run regressions on our data from which we can draw insight about where we ought to focus our efforts in education policy

Rate dependent rupture of solid-supported phospholipid bilayers.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 29-31).An experimental study on solid-supported phospholipid bilayers was performed in order to investigate rate-dependent behavior of force and probability of bilayer rupture. 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) solid-supported lipid bilayers were created on mica using vesicle fusion technique and then ruptured normal to the surface using a silicon nitride cantilever tip (radius#80nm). High resolution force spectroscopy was performed using the Molecular Force Probe (1D) to obtain force versus distance curves between the tip and substrate, varying the rate of penetration between a range of 250 nm/sec to 8.0 pm/sec. Statistical analysis was used to find distributions for average yield distance and yield force at different rates to find correlations in our data. Lastly, experimental data was compared to proposed theoretical models that describe rupture probability as a function of activation energy. A two yield force profile on approach was achieved with consistency at all rates. The yield forces occurred at statistical significant distances of around 4 nm and 9 nm, which are consistent with bond calculations of the phospholipid. However, no relationship was found between force and tip velocity within the range of experimentation.(cont.) Because rupture occurred even at the lowest penetration rates, activation energy for bilayer rupture appears to be quite low. Moreover, this also suggests that standard atomic force microscopy imaging stimulates perturbation of the surface, leading to imprecise characterization. Further investigation into a larger range of tip velocities, as well as the role of tip radius on rupture probability are recommended for a greater quantitative understanding of solid-supported bilayers.S.B

The E12 experience: Students’ perceptions of a widening participation scheme

Engaging students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in higher education is an ongoing issue in the tertiary education sector. Despite schemes to widen participation, low SES entry rates remain below 20% in Australia. Various factors have been posited for the low rates of success and strategies aimed at universities, high schools and individual students have been suggested. The literature on transition to university has informed a student-centred approach and the need to acknowledge dimensions of cultural capital. Resources to address difficulties in transition have been suggested. In this paper we report on qualitative research exploring the perspective of students who entered a Faculty of Health Sciences via a widening participation scheme. Our findings indicate that while transition strategies must be in place, the provision of ongoing material resources is also an integral factor in supporting student

Comparison of a new multiplex real-time PCR with the Kato Katz thick smear and copro-antigen ELISA for the detection and differentiation of Taenia spp. in human stools

Background : Taenia solium, the cause of neurocysticercosis (NCC), has significant socioeconomic impacts on communities in developing countries. This disease, along with taeniasis is estimated to infect 2.5 to 5 million people globally. Control of T. solium NCC necessitates accurate diagnosis and treatment of T. solium taeniasis carriers. In areas where all three species of Taenia tapeworms (T. solium, Taenia saginata and Taenia asiatica) occur sympatrically, conventional microscope-and copro-antigen based diagnostic methods are unable to distinguish between these three Taenia species. Molecular diagnostic tools have been developed to overcome this limitation; however, conventional PCR-based techniques remain unsuitable for large-scale deployment in community-based surveys. Moreover, a real-time PCR (qPCR) for the discrimination of all three species of Taenia in human stool does not exist. This study describes the development and validation of a new triplex Taq-Man probe-based qPCR for the detection and discrimination of all three Taenia human tapeworms in human stools collected from communities in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The diagnostic characteristics of the test are compared with conventional Kato Katz (KK) thick smear and copro-antigen ELISA (cAgELISA) method utilizing fecal samples from a community based cross-sectional study. Using this new multiplex real-time PCR we provide an estimate of the true prevalence of taeniasis in the source population for the community based cross-sectional study. Methodology/Principal findings : Primers and TaqMan probes for the specific amplification of T. solium, T. saginata and T. asiatica were designed and successfully optimized to target the internal transcribed spacer I (ITS-1) gene of T. solium and the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COX-1) gene of T. saginata and T. asiatica. The newly designed triplex qPCR (T3qPCR) was compared to KK and cAgELISA for the detection of Taenia eggs in stool samples collected from 342 individuals in Dak Lak province, Central Highlands of Vietnam. The overall apparent prevalence of taeniasis in Dak Lak province was 6.72% (95% confidence interval (CI) [3.94-9.50]) in which T. solium accounted for 1.17% (95% CI [0.37-3.17]), according to the T3qPCR. There was sympatric presence of T. solium, T. saginata and T. asiatica. The T3qPCR proved superior to KK and cAgELISA for the detection and differentiation of Taenia species in human feces. Diagnostic sensitivities of 0.94 (95% credible interval (CrI) [0.88-0.98]), 0.82 (95% CrI [0.58-0.95]) and 0.52 (95% CrI [0.07-0.94]), and diagnostic specificities of 0.98 (95% CrI [0.94-1.00]), 0.91 (95% CrI [0.85-0.96]) and 0.99 (95% CrI [0.96-1.00]) were estimated for the diagnosis of taeniasis for the T3qPCR, cAgELISA and KK thick smear in this study, respectively. Conclusions : T3qPCR is not only superior to the KK thick smear and cAgELISA in terms of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, but it also has the advantage of discriminating between species of Taenia eggs in stools. Application of this newly developed T3qPCR has identified the existence of all three human Taenia tapeworms in Dak Lak province and proves for the first time, the existence of T. asiatica in the Central Highlands and the south of Vietnam

Hacking Education in a Digital Age: teacher education, curriculum and literacies

n this collection, the authors put forth different philosophical conceptions of "hacking education" in response to the educational, societal, and technological demands of the 21st century. Teacher Educators are encouraged to draw on the collection to rethink how "hacking education" can be understood simultaneously as a "praxis" informed by desires for malice, as well as a creative site for us to reconsider the possibilities and limitations of teaching and learning in a digital era. How do we hack beyond the limits of circumscribed experiences, regulated subjective encounters with knowledge and the limits imposed by an ever constrained 21st century schooling system in the hopes of imagining better and more meaningful futures? How do we foster ingenuity and learning as the end itself (and not learning as economic imperative) in a world where technology, in part, positions individuals as zombie-like and as an economic end in itself? Can we "hack" education in such a way that helps to mitigate the black hat hacking that increasingly lays ruin to individual lives, government agencies, and places of work? How can we, as educators, facilitate the curricular and pedagogical processes of reclaiming the term hacking so as to remember and remind ourselves that hacking's humble roots are ultimately pedagogical in its very essence? As a collection of theoretical and pedagogical pieces, the chapters in the collection are of value to both scholars and practitioners who share the same passion and commitment to changing, challenging and reimagining the script that all too often constrains and prescribes particular visions of education. Those who seek to question the nature of teaching and learning and who seek to develop a richer theoretical vocabulary will benefit from the insightful and rich collection of essays presented in this collection. In this regard, the collection offers something for all who might wish to rethink the fundamental dynamics of education or, as Morpheus asks of Neo in The Matrix, bend the rules of conventional ways of knowing and being

Big Data Applications in Governance and Policy

The editorial sets the scene for this thematic issue on big data applications in governance and policy. It highlights the lack of engagement in the current literature with the application of big data at the cross-section of governance of data and its utilization in the policy process and draws out aspects related to its definition and future research agenda. The contributions highlight several aspects related to big data in different contexts, such as local and national government as well as a variety of policy areas. They converge on the idea that big data applications cannot overcome existing political and structural limitations that exist in government. This leads to a future research agenda that looks at the disconnect between data production and usage as well as identifying policy issues that are more or less suitable for data analytics