Building pathways to academic success: a practice report

Students attending university for the first time come with a range of expectations, experiences and skills. For many these prior experiences are less than optimal for achieving academic success. This paper evaluates the academic outcomes across three cohorts of a five day enabling program offered to commencing students in the week prior to their formal university orientation program. The demographics of this sample (n=965) are such that over 50% come from low socio-economic backgrounds, about 50% are first in family to attend university, 50% are mature age students and over 50% have university entrance scores in the lower ranges of academic ability. Those who entered university with an OP1 score of 15 or less and completed the program were less likely to fail and achieved higher GPAs at the end of their first semester of studies than those who did not complete the enabling program

Influential Article Review - Connectivity as Trade Determinant For Shipping Lines

This paper examines transportation. We present insights from a highly influential paper. Here are the highlights from this paper: Transport connectivity is a crucial determinant of bilateral exports. This paper presents an empirical assessment of the relationship between bilateral maritime liner shipping connectivity and exports in containerized goods during the period 2006–2013. Making use of probed “gravity” type trade models, the paper incorporates new data on different measurements of maritime distance, as well as a unique new dataset and new bilateral connectivity indices developed by UNCTAD. The empirical investigations unequivocally show that lacking a direct maritime connection with a trade partner is associated with lower values of exports; any additional transshipment is associated with a 40% lower value of bilateral exports. Other indicators of liner shipping connectivity incorporated in the research take into consideration levels of competition and container vessel sizes. Results also indicate that the quality of bilateral connectivity as measured by several composite indices is a crucial determinant of bilateral exports. All empirical results suggest that in the absence of a bilateral connectivity indicator the impact of distance on bilateral exports in classical gravity models is likely to be overestimated. For our overseas readers, we then present the insights from this paper in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German

A Comparison of Methods for Online Lever Arm Estimation in GPS/INS Integration

A comparison of neural network, state augmentation, and multiple model-based approaches to online location of inertial sensors on a vehicle is presented that exploits dualantenna carrier-phase-differential GNSS. The best technique among these is shown to yield a significant improvement on a priori calibration with a short window of data. Estimation of Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) parameters is a mature field, with state augmentation being a strong favorite for practical implementation, to the potential detriment of other approaches. A simple modification of the standard state augmentation technique for determining IMU location is presented that determines which model of an enumerated set best fits the measurements of this IMU. A neural network is also trained on batches of IMU and GNSS data to identify the lever arm of the IMU. A comparison of these techniques is performed and it is demonstrated on simulated data that state augmentation outperforms these other methods.Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanic

Sexual and gender identity work on social media

How do sexual and gender minorities use social media to express themselves and construct their identities? We discuss findings drawn from focus groups conducted with 17 sexual and gender minority social media users who shared their experiences of online harms. They include people with gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer, asexual, non-binary, pansexual, poly, and kink (LGBTQ+) identities. We find that sexual and gender minorities face several challenges online, but that social media platforms provide important spaces for them to feel understood and accepted. We use Goffman's work to explore how sexual and gender minorities engage in ‘front region’ performances online as part of their identity work. We then turn to Hochschild's concepts of ‘feeling rules’ and ‘framing rules’ to argue that presentations of self, or front region performances, must include the role of feelings and how they are socially influenced to be understood

Sexual and gender identity work on social media

How do sexual and gender minorities use social media to express themselves and construct their identities? We discuss findings drawn from focus groups conducted with 17 sexual and gender minority social media users who shared their experiences of online harms. They include people with gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer, asexual, non-binary, pansexual, poly, and kink (LGBTQ+) identities. We find that sexual and gender minorities face several challenges online, but that social media platforms provide important spaces for them to feel understood and accepted. We use Goffman's work to explore how sexual and gender minorities engage in ‘front region’ performances online as part of their identity work. We then turn to Hochschild's concepts of ‘feeling rules’ and ‘framing rules’ to argue that presentations of self, or front region performances, must include the role of feelings and how they are socially influenced to be understood

Control of Stress-Induced Persistent Anxiety by an Extra-Amygdala Septohypothalamic Circuit

The extended amygdala has dominated research on the neural circuitry of fear and anxiety, but the septohippocampal axis also plays an important role. The lateral septum (LS) is thought to suppress fear and anxiety through its outputs to the hypothalamus. However, this structure has not yet been dissected using modern tools. The type 2 CRF receptor (Crfr2) marks a subset of LS neurons whose functional connectivity we have investigated using optogenetics. Crfr2^+ cells include GABAergic projection neurons that connect with the anterior hypothalamus. Surprisingly, we find that these LS outputs enhance stress-induced behavioral measures of anxiety. Furthermore, transient activation of Crfr2^+ neurons promotes, while inhibition suppresses, persistent anxious behaviors. LS Crfr2^+ outputs also positively regulate circulating corticosteroid levels. These data identify a subset of LS projection neurons that promote, rather than suppress, stress-induced behavioral and endocrinological dimensions of persistent anxiety states and provide a cellular point of entry to LS circuitry

CO(1-0) in z ≳ 4 Quasar Host Galaxies: No Evidence for Extended Molecular Gas Reservoirs

We present ^(12)CO(J = 1 → 0) observations of the high-redshift quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) BR 1202-0725 (z = 4.69), PSS J2322+1944 (z = 4.12), and APM 08279+5255 (z = 3.91) using the NRAO Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and the MPIfR Effelsberg 100 m telescope. We detect, for the first time, the CO ground-level transition in BR 1202-0725. For PSS J2322+1944 and APM 08279+5255, our observations result in line fluxes that are consistent with previous NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) observations, but they reveal the full line profiles. We report a typical lensing-corrected velocity-integrated intrinsic ^(12)CO(J = 1 → 0) line luminosity of L'_(CO) = 5 × 10^(10) K km s^(-1) pc^2 and a typical total H_2 mass of M(H_2) = 4 × 10^(10) M_☉ for the sources in our sample. The CO/FIR luminosity ratios of these high-z sources follow the same trend as seen for low-z galaxies, leading to a combined solution of log L_(FIR) = (1.39 ± 0.05) log L_(CO) - 1.76. It has previously been suggested that the molecular gas reservoirs in some quasar host galaxies may exhibit luminous, extended ^(12)CO(J = 1 → 0) components that are not observed in the higher J CO transitions. Using the line profiles and the total intensities of our observations and large velocity gradient (LVG) models based on previous results for higher J CO transitions, we derive that emission from all CO transitions is described well by a single gas component in which all molecular gas is concentrated in a compact nuclear region. Thus, our observations and models show no indication of a luminous extended, low surface brightness molecular gas component in any of the high-redshift QSOs in our sample. If such extended components exist, their contribution to the overall luminosity is limited to at most 30%

Hydraulic Performance and Mass Transfer Efficiency of Engineering Scale Centrifugal Contactors

Annular centrifugal contactors (ACCs) are being evaluated for process-scale solvent extraction operations in support of Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) separations goals. Process-scale annular centrifugal contactors have the potential for high stage efficiency if properly employed and optimized for the application. Hydraulic performance issues related to flow instability and classical flooding are likely unimportant, especially for units with high throughputs. However, annular mixing increases rapidly with increasing rotor diameter while maintaining a fixed g force at the rotor wall. In addition, for engineering/process-scale contactors, elevated rotor speeds and/or throughput rates, can lead to organic phase foaming at the rotor discharge collector area. Foam buildup in the upper rotor head area can aspirate additional vapor from the contactor housing resulting in a complete loss of separation equilibrium. Variable speed drives are thus desirable to optimize and balance the operating parameters to help ensure acceptable performance. Proper venting of larger contactors is required to balance pressures across individual stages and prevent vapor lock due to foam aspiration

Melt-under-cutting and buoyancy-driven calving from tidewater glaciers: new insights from discrete element and continuum model simulations

This work was funded by the ConocoPhillips Northern Area Program (CRIOS: Calving Rates and Impact on Sea Level) and the Nordic Research Council (SVALI: Stability and Variation of Arctic Land Ice and eSTICC: eScience Tools for Investigating Climate Change in northern high latitudes).The simple calving laws currently used in ice sheet models do not adequately reflect the complexity and diversity of calving processes. To be effective, calving laws must be grounded in a sound understanding of how calving actually works. Here, we develop a new strategy for formulating calving laws, using a) the Helsinki Discrete Element Model (HiDEM) to explicitly model fracture and calving processes, and b) the continuum model Elmer/Ice to identify critical stress states associated with HiDEM calving events. A range of observed calving processes emerges spontaneously from HiDEM in response to variations in ice-front buoyancy and the size of subaqueous undercuts. Calving driven by buoyancy and melt undercutting is under-predicted by existing calving laws, but we show that the location and magnitude of HiDEM calving events can be predicted in Elmer/Ice from characteristic stress patterns. Our results open the way to developing calving laws that properly reflect the diversity of calving processes, and provide a framework for a unified theory of the calving process continuum.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe