First Semester Enrollment Trends and Patterns: Who Stays? and Who leaves the Institution?

Even though Binghamton University maintains higher than average undergraduate freshmen retention rates—90% compared to the 73% national average—the administration continues to play a proactive role by seeking ways to improve student retention. While some or most of the students who did not come back for their second semester might have dropped out, there was no data to prove it. Accordingly, from the total of students who did not return, some might be stop-outs, transfers, or actual dropouts. The ultimate goal of this research is to identify small sub-groups of students who do not return to the university for their second semester to develop interventions that can be used to retain them.https://orb.binghamton.edu/mpa_capstone/1005/thumbnail.jp

On the construction of a finite Siegel space

In this note we construct a finite analogue of classical Siegel's Space. Our approach is to look at it as a non commutative Poincare's half plane. The finite Siegel Space is described as the space of Lagrangians of a $2n$ dimensional space over a quadratic extension $E$ of a finite base field $F$. The orbits of the action of the symplectic group $Sp(n,F)$ on Lagrangians are described as homogeneous spaces. Also, Siegel's Space is described as the set of anti-involutions of the symplectic group.2

Vitamin D and Immune Responses in Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Among its pleiotropic effects, vitamin D has immunoregulatory properties that help to maintain immune homeostasis. Multiple factors make haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency, and this (even prior to the stem cell infusion) can impact adversely over the course of HSCT. Owing to the lack of consensus, a cut-off to define vitamin D deficiency has not been established yet and clinical practice may vary across different HSCT units. To address this, one of the chapters of this thesis has examined the current management of vitamin D deficiency in the allogeneic HSCT setting, confirming the highly heterogeneous practice across the EBMT affiliate centres, including those from diverse geographical locations and dedicated to patients from different age. Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic HSCT. To confirm or rule out this disease, a biopsy result from the affected tissue may be delayed for several days or even weeks. GvHD biomarkers are promising diagnostic tools that can speed up this process, predict outcomes in the early post-HSCT phase and monitor response to immunosuppression, minimising the detrimental effect of this therapy on HSCT recipients. Due to this, an observational study will explore the role of three of these biomarkers (elafin, REG3α and ST2), alongside vitamin D, in the context of patients with acute and chronic GvHD on immunosuppressive therapy. The final study moves away from vitamin D and biomarkers although it is still linked to the graft-versus-host reaction. Infusion of donor lymphocytes (DLI) is an effective adoptive immunotherapy that approximately 25% of post-HSCT patients have received in the UK1. DLI enhances graft-versus-leukaemia effect but its main side effect is GvHD. This chapter describes a single-centre experience treating 100 patients with DLI after reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) HSCT for mixed chimerism (MC) or relapse of the primary disease. It aims to determine factors implicated in achieving full donor chimerism (FDC) or disease remission, as well as their impact on other outcomes post-DLI, such as survival, relapse post-DLI or GvHD, in order to improve survival and quality of life in these patients. We found that patients with younger donors were less likely to develop acute GvHD and subsequently it contributed to a greater survival, which has been previously reported in HSCT recipients but never in those receiving subsequent DLI

Soliton complexes in dissipative systems: vibrating, shaking and mixed soliton pairs

We show, numerically, that coupled soliton pairs in nonlinear dissipative systems modeled by the cubic-quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation can exist in various forms. They can be stationary, or they can pulsate periodically, quasiperiodically, or chaotically, as is the case for single solitons. In particular, we have found various types of vibrating and shaking soliton pairs. Each type is stable in the sense that a given bound state exists in the same form indefinitely. New solutions appear at special values of the equation parameters, thus bifurcating from stationary pairs. We also report the finding of mixed soliton pairs, formed by two different types of single solitons. We present regions of existence of the pair solutions and corresponding bifurcation diagrams

Lesson Study and Service Learning in Teacher Preparation

The aim of this paper is to share an teacher preparation experience that combines Lesson Study (LS) with a Service Learning methodology. This experience is interdisciplinary and includes three subjects from first-grade Childhood Education, carried out at University of Malaga since academic year 2014-2015. Within this framework, our students carry out Service Learning projects for schools in our area that are designed and developed following the LS methodology. Service Learning projects go through the following phases (Puig, J., Martín, & Batlle, 2008): 1) Preparation by the teachers involved in the project; 2) Implementation, i.e. developing the project with the students; 3) Evaluation. The implementation phase also has three sub-phases: preparation, implementation, and round-up. It is here that the LS is developed through the following phases (Soto & Pérez, 2015): 1. Define the problem; 2. Co-operatively design an experimental lesson and its observation process; 3. First experimental lesson; 4. Analyse and review the lesson; 5. Second experimental lesson; 6. Analysis and drafting of conclusions; 7. Presentation in extended context. We were able to gather evidence on how students teachers resolved different cognitive conflicts during the process. We saw how the LS process, with its phases and cooperative work, allows them to combine creativity and unique talents in a common project that acquires meaning and relevance thanks to Service Learning. This provides a framework that facilitates the construction of solid structures related to the meaning of the educational process, and which can be used to recalibrate what it means to be a Childhood School teacher: a creative, relevant, complex experience that requires recreating the knowledge and experience that students bring with them to the University about what it means to be a Childhood School teacher.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Cooperative Research As a Strategy for University Teacher Training. A Case Study of Lesson and Learning Study

This paper presents the possibilities offered by Lesson and Learning Studies for training and for improving and generating knowledge by reconstructing the practical knowledge of teachers. Firstly, we provide a summary of the concept of practical knowledge and the tradition of teachers researching their own practice. This is followed by some principles of Lesson and Learning Studies, with examples of their possibilities for university teacher training taken from a case study of our own practice during a university master's degree

El impacto de las intervenciones cambiarias en Colombia. Un estudio de eventos

Hasta la fecha, hay gran controversia sobre el modelo de tipo de cambio que se debe utilizar o el mecanismo de transmisión que debe ser considerado para medir los efectos de la política monetaria. Dado que la mayoría de la literatura se basa en modelos estructurales como estrategia de identificación, la validez de los resultados depende, en gran medida, de la validez de sus supuestos. Este artículo compara los efectos de diferentes tipos de intervenciones para el caso colombiano durante el período 2000-2012, sin imponer supuestos paramétricos restrictivos y sin la necesidad de adoptar un modelo estructural. Nuestros resultados muestran que todos los tipos de intervención cambiaria (opciones de acumulación de reservas, opciones de volatilidad e intervenciones discrecionales) han tenido éxito según el criterio de suavización en el estudio de eventos. En particular, las opciones de volatilidad parecen haber tenido el mayor efecto. Los resultados son robustos cuando se utilizan ventanas de diferentes tamaños y diferentes escenarios.To date, there is still great controversy as to which exchange rate model should be used or which monetary channel should be considered, when measuring the effects of monetary policy. Since most of the literature relies on structural models to address identification problems, the validity of results largely turn on how accurate these assumptions are in describing the full extent of the economy. In this paper we compare the effects of different types of central bank intervention for the Colombian case during 2000-2012, without imposing restrictive parametric assumptions or without the need to adopt a structural model. Using an event study approach, we find that all types of interventions (international reserve accumulation options, volatility options and discretionary) have been successful according to the smoothing criterion. In particular, volatility options had the strongest effect. Results are robust when using different windows sizes and counterfactuals

Interactions among viruses, insect vectors and the Phomopsis complex in soybean, and effects of integrated management strategies

Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV), Soybean mosaic virus (SMV), bean leaf beetles (Cerotoma trifurcata), soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) and Phomopsis spp. all affect soybean seed quality in addition to causing yield losses. However, interactions among these pests and pathogens, and the effects of combined management practices, are not well understood. Infection of soybean plants by BPMV and SMV has been reported to increase their susceptibility to seed infection by Phomopsis spp., but the mechanism of predisposition is unclear. The overall goal of this research was to better understand the interactions between these soybean viruses and Phomopsis spp., and to assess the impact of virus vector management practices on infection of soybean plants by Phomopsis spp. Effects of SMV and BPMV were studied in separate greenhouse experiments. Two soybean cultivars, Colfax (tolerant to SMV but not to BPMV) and Spansoy 201 (tolerant to BPMV but not to SMV) were mechanically inoculated with either SMV or BPMV. Cultivar 92M02 was inoculated with BPMV. Virus inoculations were followed by inoculation with P. longicolla at stages R3 or R5. Neither virus significantly increased susceptibility to stem infection by P. longicolla. In the BPMV-Phomopsis experiments, inoculation with BPMV significantly increased susceptibility of Spansoy 201 to seed infection by P. longicolla at growth stage R5, without affecting plant maturity. Susceptibility of 92M02 to P. longicolla at growth stages R3 and R5 was increased by BPMV. Plants of 92M02 displayed typical BPMV foliar symptoms, seed coat mottling and a delay in maturity. In the SMV-Phomopsis experiments, inoculation with the SMV-G2 strain did not increase the incidence of P. longicolla seed infection in either of the soybean cultivars (Colfax and Spansoy 201). These results confirm BPMV-induced predisposition to P. longicolla seed infection and indicate that the mechanism of predisposition is not due solely to prolonging seed maturation. The previously reported SMV- P. longicolla relationship was not confirmed, but this affect may be cultivar- and strain-dependent. To evaluate the effects of management strategies, four experiments were established in 6 locations in Iowa during 2008 and 2009. The impacts of bean leaf beetle management strategies on infection of seedborne BPMV and Phomopsis spp. infection were evaluated in field trials. In 2008, treatments included two soybean cultivars (BPMV tolerant and BPMV susceptible) and two insecticide treatments (treated and untreated). In 2009 treatments consisted of insecticide applications towards different bean leaf beetle generations combined with fungicide applications at growth stage R5 to control Phomopsis spp. infection. Insecticide applications reduced beetle feeding injury of leaves and pods in both years, and Phomopsis spp. stem infection in 2008. BPMV incidence was significantly reduced when a virus-tolerant genotype and insecticide applications were combined. To assess the impact of soybean aphid management tactics on seedborne SMV and Phomopsis spp. infection, stems and seeds were collected from a soybean aphid management study conducted in 2008 and 2009. None of the insecticide treatments reduced Phomopsis spp. incidence. There was no evidence of a relationship between aphid attack and Phomopsis infection. Fungicides pyraclostrobin (strobilurin) and tebuconazole (triazole) were applied at growth stages R3, R5 or R3+R5, to evaluate the effect on stem and seed infection by Phomopsis spp. Late applications of pyraclostrobin were more effective for reducing Phomopsis spp. infection of stems. In 2009, treatments including a late application of pyraclostrobin or two applications of tebuconazole (R3 and R5) were more effective for reducing Phomopsis spp. infection of seed. However, none of the treatments had a significant effect on yield, or seed quality determined by warm and cold germination tests. To assess the effects of foliar applications of fungicides and insecticides on infection by Phomopsis spp., BPMV and SMV, soybean stems and seeds were collected from field trials conducted over two years in five regions of Iowa. Treatments consisted of an untreated control and foliar applications of fungicides, insecticides or combinations at growth stage R3. In some locations fungicide applications reduced stem and seed infection, but none of the treatments reduced both stem and seed infection. Insecticide applications reduced aphid populations, and infection of seeds by SMV, Phomopsis spp. and BPMV, but in an inconsistent manner. Only the combination treatments increased yield in some locations. Results suggested that R3 applications targeted against soybean aphid and foliar diseases can have an added benefit by reducing SMV and Phomopsis spp. infection. Overall, virus incidence and beetle populations were very low in both years, and seed mottling was not observed. Although Phomopsis spp. infection of seeds was also low, it affected seed germination in some experiments. This project was the first to evaluate the effect of SMV and BPMV on susceptibility to P. longicolla infection on soybean plants under controlled conditions. This research was also the first to investigate benefits of insect management tactics for reduction of Phomopsis infection. In addition, It was shown that R3 and R5 fungicide applications targeted to control foliar and stem diseases can have some benefits on seed quality by reducing Phomopsis infection