Forecasts of Doom : The Dubious Threat of Graduate Teaching Assistant Collective Bargaining to Academic Freedom

On March 29, 2000, an administrative law judge of the National Labor Relations Board approved a settlement between the NLRB and Yale University, which resolved unfair labor practices charges made against the University by its Graduate Employees and Student Organization. This decision, however, did not resolve the underlying question of whether graduate teaching assistants are employees under the National Labor Relations Act. This Note analyzes recent cases concerning the unionization of graduate student teaching assistants at. private universities and colleges. This Note argues that the NLRB\u27s application of a compensated services test to teaching assistants is correct and that the public policy arguments against collective bargaining for teaching assistants are based on flawed conceptions of the university, the work teaching assistants do, and the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act

Effects of drying methods on nutrients and organoleptic properties of dried pawpaw chips

Fruit dehydration is one of the ways of preserving fruits and supplying consumers with healthy and nutritious fruits, particularly when these fruits are in their off-seasons. Pawpaw (Carica papaya L.) is a tropical plant grown for its edible fruit, having commercial importance because of its high nutritive and medicinal value. However, it is highly perishable. Hence, its processing and preservation are important to retain the product quality and nutritional value. This study investigated the effect of drying methods on the nutrient and organoleptic qualities of pawpaw. Fresh pawpaw fruits were purchased at Oje market in Ibadan, Nigeria. The pawpaw samples were sorted, washed with clean water, peeled and sliced into chips, then the chips were dried using five techniques - solar, open sun, oven, cabinet and dehydrator. Fresh and dried samples were evaluated for physico-chemical properties, selected bioactive compounds, colour, fibre, microbial quality and organoleptic properties. Significant (p≤0.05) differences were observed in the effects of the drying techniques employed. The pawpaw samples that were dried in the dehydrator had significantly (p≤0.05) higher amounts of bioactive compounds and TSS (8.10 ± 0.00°Bx). They also had the most appealing organoleptic properties and showed the least bacterial growth (0.14 ± 0.21 x 104cfu/g) in comparison to the samples dried using other techniques and the fresh sample (91.5 ± 13.44 x 104). While the sun-dried samples had the least fungal load (0.05 ± 0.07 x 103) in comparison to the samples dried using other techniques and the fresh sample (315 ± 7.07 x 103). Results also showed that the samples dried in the dehydrator were the lightest (26.81 ± 0.01) and yellowest (11.42 ± 0.00) of all dried samples. Generally, findings from the study showed that dried fruits portray a greater nutrient density and increased shelf life compared to fresh fruits

UC-15 Malware Analysis Using Reverse Engineering

The motivation for this project is driven by evaluation of the different tools on the market that allow for breaking down executables or binary files, and understanding what the malware is doing. By reverse-engineering the malware, we can understand its impact and how to protect against it. Our focus is to understand where different tools are stronger than others, as well as understand the evolving landscape of malware and security overall. For this capstone project, we utilized two different tools and many sample malware files. The methods used to debug the malware are detailed in our milestone two report and will be expanded upon in our final presentation. At this point, we\u27ve found the tool WinDbg to be the most versatile for binary and executable debugging. We also evaluated IDA Pro, and understand the many ways in which its graphical display of data and relationships, equips a researcher with the necessary tools and information to walk through an executable. Our focus in milestone 3 is to expand our documentation and guide on malware debugging to the point that it provides a user the full breadth of information and steps needed to start from scratch and end with a broken apart piece of malware. We provided much of this as part of the milestone 2 presentation and report, but we will continue to build on it so it\u27s a useful how-to guide for anyone trying to debug a piece of malicious code.Advisors(s): Dr. Ying Xie [email protected](s): SecurityIT 498

Consumer Personality and Increase in Sales Volume

The concept of consumer personality is an important area of research for consideration because it brings to the fore, the thoughts and motives why customers make certain choice in their purchase decisions. Sales personnel have increasingly found it difficult to understand factors consumers put into consideration in their purchase decisions, hence, it is expedient to investigate this, because if salespeople are not able to connect with certain elite clientele due to personality conflicts, the resources invested in them will likely yield an undesirable return. Some studies found that consumer personality is an important factor to increase sales volume of firms. As a result of this, firms are able to attain set objectives in areas of profit maximization, employee welfare, social welfare of the community and efficiency in day to day operations. The main objective of this study is to find out how consumer personality result to increase in sales of blackberry brands in Nigeria. This study adopts a quantitative approach to data collection through a structured questionnaire design. The sample population used were 100 students randomly selected among the entire population in Covenant University. The data collected were subjected to the Statistical Product for Social Scientist (SPSS Version 16). Descriptive and Regression Analysis was carried out and Pearson’s Product Correlation used to test the hypothesis. The result of the hypothesis shows that consumer personality is an attributing factor to increase in sales volume. This study finds that consumer personality has a positive impact on sales volume of blackberry brand. This study recommends that policy designers in the manufacturing and service sector could consider personality of consumers when determining their marketing mix elements

Consumer Personality and Increase in Sales Volume

The concept of consumer personality is an important area of research for consideration because it brings to the fore, the thoughts and motives why customers make certain choice in their purchase decisions. Sales personnel have increasingly found it difficult to understand factors consumers put into consideration in their purchase decisions, hence, it is expedient to investigate this, because if salespeople are not able to connect with certain elite clientele due to personality conflicts, the resources invested in them will likely yield an undesirable return. Some studies found that consumer personality is an important factor to increase sales volume of firms. As a result of this, firms are able to attain set objectives in areas of profit maximization, employee welfare, social welfare of the community and efficiency in day to day operations. The main objective of this study is to find out how consumer personality result to increase in sales of blackberry brands in Nigeria. This study adopts a quantitative approach to data collection through a structured questionnaire design. The sample population used were 100 students randomly selected among the entire population in Covenant University. The data collected were subjected to the Statistical Product for Social Scientist (SPSS Version 16). Descriptive and Regression Analysis was carried out and Pearson’s Product Correlation used to test the hypothesis. The result of the hypothesis shows that consumer personality is an attributing factor to increase in sales volume. This study finds that consumer personality has a positive impact on sales volume of blackberry brand. This study recommends that policy designers in the manufacturing and service sector could consider personality of consumers when determining their marketing mix elements

Semi-automated segmentation of the lateral periventricular regions using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging

The lateral ventricular perimeter (LVP) of the brain is a critical region because in addition to housing neural stem cells required for brain development, it facilitates cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) bulk flow and functions as a blood-CSF barrier to protect periventricular white matter (PVWM) and other adjacent regions from injurious toxins. LVP injury is common, particularly among preterm infants who sustain intraventricular hemorrhage or post hemorrhagic hydrocephalus and has been associated with poor neurological outcomes. Assessment of the LVP with diffusion MRI has been challenging, primarily due to issues with partial volume artifacts since the LVP region is in close proximity to CSF and other structures of varying signal intensities that may be inadvertently included in LVP segmentation. This research method presents:•A novel MATLAB-based method to segment a homogenous LVP layer using high spatial resolution parameters (voxel size 1.2 × 1.2 × 1.2 m

MR diffusion changes in the perimeter of the lateral ventricles demonstrate periventricular injury in post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus of prematurity

OBJECTIVES: Injury to the preterm lateral ventricular perimeter (LVP), which contains the neural stem cells responsible for brain development, may contribute to the neurological sequelae of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus of prematurity (PHH). This study utilizes diffusion MRI (dMRI) to characterize the microstructural effects of IVH/PHH on the LVP and segmented frontal-occipital horn perimeters (FOHP). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study of 56 full-term infants, 72 very preterm infants without brain injury (VPT), 17 VPT infants with high-grade IVH without hydrocephalus (HG-IVH), and 13 VPT infants with PHH who underwent dMRI at term equivalent. LVP and FOHP dMRI measures and ventricular size-dMRI correlations were assessed. RESULTS: In the LVP, PHH had consistently lower FA and higher MD and RD than FT and VPT (p\u3c.050). However, while PHH FA was lower, and PHH RD was higher than their respective HG-IVH measures (p\u3c.050), the MD and AD values did not differ. In the FOHP, PHH infants had lower FA and higher RD than FT and VPT (p\u3c.010), and a lower FA than the HG-IVH group (p\u3c.001). While the magnitude of AD in both the LVP and FOHP were consistently less in the PHH group on pairwise comparisons to the other groups, the differences were not significant (p\u3e.050). Ventricular size correlated negatively with FA, and positively with MD and RD (p\u3c.001) in both the LVP and FOHP. In the PHH group, FA was lower in the FOHP than in the LVP, which was contrary to the observed findings in the healthy infants (p\u3c.001). Nevertheless, there were no regional differences in AD, MD, and RD in the PHH group. CONCLUSION: HG-IVH and PHH results in aberrant LVP/FOHP microstructure, with prominent abnormalities among the PHH group, most notably in the FOHP. Larger ventricular size was associated with greater magnitude of abnormality. LVP/FOHP dMRI measures may provide valuable biomarkers for future studies directed at improving the management and neurological outcomes of IVH/PHH

Social network centrality predicts dietary decisions in a wild bird population

How individuals balance costs and benefits of group living remains central to understanding sociality. In relation to diet, social foraging provides many advantages but also increases competition. Nevertheless, social individuals may offset increased competition by broadening their diet and consuming novel foods. Despite the expected relationships between social behavior and dietary decisions, how sociality shapes individuals’ novel food consumption remains largely untested in natural populations. Here, we use wild great tits to experimentally test how sociality predicts dietary decisions. We show that individuals with more social connections have higher propensity to use novel foods compared to socially peripheral individuals, and this is unrelated to neophobia, observations, and demographic factors. These findings indicate sociable individuals may offset potential costs of competition by foraging more broadly. We discuss how social environments may drive behavioral change in natural populations, and the implications for the causes and consequences of social strategies and dietary decisions

Sustaining Wildlife with Recreation on Public Lands: A Synthesis of Research Findings, Management Practices, and Research Needs

Humans and wildlife interact in multifaceted ways on public lands with both positive and negative outcomes for each group. When managed well, wildlife-based tourism and other forms of recreation can benefit conservation goals. Public lands planners and managers often must decide how to best manage recreational activities and wildlife habitats that overlap spatially and temporally. We conducted an extensive literature review and categorized recreational activity into five types based on the use of motorized equipment, season, and location (terrestrial vs. aquatic), expanding on findings summarized in prior reviews. Our findings provide a reference for public lands planners and managers who need information about how wildlife species respond to recreational activities and to associated changes in their habitats. We also describe management principles gleaned from the literature and outline priority research and administrative study areas to advance our understanding of recreation-wildlife interactions