Selective Bias: Asian Americans, Test Scores, and Holistic Admissions

Selective Bias: Asian Americans, Test Scores, and Holistic Admissions evaluates the common arguments made by affirmative action critics and Students for Fair Admissions, which is suing Harvard University and has lawsuits pending against the University of North Carolina and the University of Texas at Austin over their admissions practices. The report finds no strong evidence of discrimination against Asian American applicants in admissions to highly selective colleges

Mission Not Accomplished: Unequal Opportunities and Outcomes for Black and Latinx Engineers

Engineering occupations are some of the highest-paying and most prestigious in the US labor market, but they are also some of the least diverse. Mission Not Accomplished: Unequal Opportunities and Outcomes for Black and Latinx Engineers finds that of the nearly 1.7 million prime-age engineering workers in the United States in 2019, 81% were either White or Asian, and 84% were men. A mere 3% of engineers working in the field in 2019 were either Black or Latinx women

The Overlooked Value Of Certificates And Associate's Degrees: What Students Need to Know Before They Go to College

This report examines the labor-market value of associate's degrees and certificate programs, finding that field of study especially influences future earnings for these programs since they are tightly linked with specific occupations. The Overlooked Value of Certificates and Associate's Degrees: What Students Need to Know Before They Go to College also reveals that the combined number of certificates and associate's degrees awarded by colleges is similar to the number of bachelor's degrees awarded—around 2 million per year—with certificates and associate's degrees each accounting for about 1 million

Astro2020 Science White Paper: Toward Finding Earth 2.0: Masses and Orbits of Small Planets with Extreme Radial Velocity Precision

Having discovered that Earth-sized planets are common, we are now embarking on a journey to determine if Earth-like planets are also common. Finding Earth-like planets is one of the most compelling endeavors of the 21st century - leading us toward finally answering the question: Are we alone? To achieve this forward-looking goal, we must determine the masses of the planets; the sizes of the planets, by themselves, are not sufficient for the determination of the bulk and atmospheric compositions. Masses, coupled with the radii, are crucial constraints on the bulk composition and interior structure of the planets and the composition of their atmospheres, including the search for biosignatures. Precision radial velocity is the most viable technique for providing essential mass and orbit information for spectroscopy of other Earths. The development of high quality precision radial velocity instruments coupled to the building of the large telescope facilities like TMT and GMT or space-based platforms like EarthFinder can enable very high spectral resolution observations with extremely precise radial velocities on minute timescales to allow for the modeling and removal of radial velocity jitter. Over the next decade, the legacy of exoplanet astrophysics can be cemented firmly as part of humankind's quest in finding the next Earth - but only if we can measure the masses and orbits of Earth-sized planets in habitable zone orbits around Sun-like stars.Comment: Science White Paper Submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey (35 co-signers in addition to co-authors

The Dollars and Sense of Free College

The Dollars and Sense of Free College measures the costs of three major free-college models as well as the cost of a plan put forth by 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, which shows the likely costs in the first year range from $27.8 billion to$75 billion. The report finds that the annual benefits of Biden's free college plan would exceed the annual costs of the program within a decad

Novel lines of Pax6-/- embryonic stem cells exhibit reduced neurogenic capacity without loss of viability

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Embryonic stem (ES) cells can differentiate into all cell types and have been used extensively to study factors affecting neuronal differentiation. ES cells containing mutations in known genes have the potential to provide useful in vitro models for the study of gene function during neuronal differentiation. Recently, mouse ES cell lines lacking the neurogenic transcription factor Pax6 were reported; neurons derived from these <it>Pax6</it>^-/-ES cells died rapidly after neuronal differentiation in vitro.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we report the derivation of new lines of <it>Pax6</it>^-/-ES cells and the assessment of their ability to survive and differentiate both in vitro and in vivo. Neurons derived from our new <it>Pax6</it>^-/-lines were viable and continued to elaborate processes in culture under conditions that resulted in the death of neurons derived from previously reported <it>Pax6</it>^-/-ES cell lines. The new lines of <it>Pax6</it>^-/-ES cells showed reduced neurogenic potential, mimicking the effects of loss of Pax6 in vivo. We used our new lines to generate <it>Pax6</it>^-/-↔ <it>Pax6</it>^+/+chimeras in which the mutant cells survived and displayed the same phenotypes as <it>Pax6</it>^-/-cells in <it>Pax6</it>^-/-↔ <it>Pax6</it>^+/+chimeras made by embryo aggregation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We suggest that loss of Pax6 from ES cells reduces their neurogenic capacity but does not necessarily result in the death of derived neurons. We offer these new lines as additional tools for those interested in the generation of chimeras and the analysis of in vitro ES cell models of Pax6 function during neuronal differentiation, embryonic and postnatal development.</p

Fourier-transform electrospray instrumentation for tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry of large molecules

AbstractMass spectrometry instrumentation providing unit resolution and 10-ppm mass accuracy for molecules larger than 10 kDa was first reported in 1991. This instrumentation has now been improved with a 6.2-T magnet replacing that of 2.8 T, a more efficient vacuum system, ion injection with controlled ion kinetic energies, accumulated ion trapping with an open-cylindrical ion cell, acquisition of 2M data points, and updated electrospray apparatus. The resulting capabilities include resolving power of 5 × 105 for a 29-kDa protein, less than 1-ppm mass measuring error, and dissociation of protein molecular ions to produce dozens of fragment ions whose exact masses can be identified from their mass-to-charge ratio values and isotopic peak spacing

Population Genetic Structure of Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) in a Marine Archipelago Suggests Island-Mainland Differentiation Consistent with Dietary Niche

Background: Emerging evidence suggests that ecological heterogeneity across space can influence the genetic structure of populations, including that of long-distance dispersers such as large carnivores. On the central coast of British Columbia, Canada, wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758) dietary niche and parasite prevalence data indicate strong ecological divergence between marine-oriented wolves inhabiting islands and individuals on the coastal mainland that interact primarily with terrestrial prey. Local holders of traditional ecological knowledge, who distinguish between mainland and island wolf forms, also informed our hypothesis that genetic differentiation might occur between wolves from these adjacent environments. Results: We used microsatellite genetic markers to examine data obtained from wolf faecal samples. Our results from 116 individuals suggest the presence of a genetic cline between mainland and island wolves. This pattern occurs despite field observations that individuals easily traverse the 30 km wide study area and swim up to 13 km among landmasses in the region. Conclusions: Natal habitat-biased dispersal (i.e., the preference for dispersal into familiar ecological environments) might contribute to genetic differentiation. Accordingly, this working hypothesis presents an exciting avenue for future research where marine resources or other components of ecological heterogeneity are present