Indigenous University Student Persistence: : Supports, Obstacles, and Recommendations

The tumultuous history of Indigenous education in Canada has negatively affected the persistence of Indigenous peoples at university. The research goals of this study were to identify the key supports and obstacles related to Indigenous university student persistence and to make recommendations as to how to improve levels of persistence. Combining interview, survey, and database information with 527 Indigenous students revealed that the strongest factors related to persistence were (a) social engagement, including good relationships with faculty and students, and support services provided by the Indigenous gathering place for Indigenous students on campus; (b) cognitive, such as academic support at university, learning effectively on their own, and hands-on teaching; (c) physical, including insufficient financial support and availability of affordable housing and child care; and (d) cultural, including connections with Indigenous faculty and culture. Age, home location, and parental education were not found to be related to persistence. Keywords: Indigenous, Aboriginal, persistence, university, graduation, Indigenous student experience, CanadaL’histoire tumultueuse de l’éducation des Autochtones au Canada a eu un impact négatif sur la persistance des populations autochtones à l’université. Cette recherche avait pour but d’identifier les principaux soutiens et obstacles liés à la persévérance des étudiants autochtones à l’université et de formuler des recommandations. Des entretiens, des enquêtes et des bases de données convergentes de 527 étudiants autochtones révèlent que les facteurs les plus importants liés à la persévérance sont : a) sociaux – notamment les bonnes relations avec le corps enseignant et les étudiants ainsi que les services fournis par le lieu de rassemblement des Autochtones sur le campus ; b) cognitifs – comme le soutien scolaire à l’université, l’apprentissage efficace personnel et l’enseignement pratique ; c) physiques – dont l’insuffisance de soutien financier, de logement abordable et de services de garde d’enfants ; et d) culturels – principalement en lien avec le nombre d’enseignants autochtones et la culture. L’âge, le lieu de résidence et le niveau d’éducation des parents ne semblent pas associés à la persistance. Mots-clés : autochtones, premières nations, persistance, université, diplomation, expérience des étudiants autochtones, Canad

Improved asymmetry prediction for short interfering RNA s

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102096/1/febs12599.pd

First evidence of coherent K+K^{+} meson production in neutrino-nucleus scattering

Neutrino-induced charged-current coherent kaon production, $\nu_{\mu}A\rightarrow\mu^{-}K^{+}A$, is a rare, inelastic electroweak process that brings a $K^+$ on shell and leaves the target nucleus intact in its ground state. This process is significantly lower in rate than neutrino-induced charged-current coherent pion production, because of Cabibbo suppression and a kinematic suppression due to the larger kaon mass. We search for such events in the scintillator tracker of MINERvA by observing the final state $K^+$, $\mu^-$ and no other detector activity, and by using the kinematics of the final state particles to reconstruct the small momentum transfer to the nucleus, which is a model-independent characteristic of coherent scattering. We find the first experimental evidence for the process at $3\sigma$ significance.Comment: added ancillary file with information about the six kaon candidate

Electric field-controlled synthesis and characterisation of single metal-organic-framework nanoparticles

Achieving control over the size distribution of metal organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles is key to biomedical applications and seeding techniques. Electrochemical control over the nanoparticle synthesis of the MOF, HKUST‐1, is achieved using a nanopipette injection method to locally mix Cu 2+ salt precursor and benzene tricarboxylate (BTC 3‐ ) ligand reagents, form MOF nanocrystals, and collect and characterise them on a TEM grid. In situ analysis of the size and translocation frequency of HKUST‐1 nanoparticles is demonstrated, using the nanopipette to detect resistive pulses as nanoparticles form. Complementary modelling of mass transport in the electric field, enables particle size to be estimated and explains the feasibility of particular reaction conditions, including inhibitory effects of excess BTC 3‐ . These new methods should be applicable to a variety of MOFs, and scaling up synthesis possible via arrays of nanoscale reaction centres, for example using nanopore membranes

Direct Measurement of Nuclear Dependence of Charged Current Quasielastic-like Neutrino Interactions using MINERvA

Charged-current $\nu_{\mu}$ interactions on carbon, iron, and lead with a final state hadronic system of one or more protons with zero mesons are used to investigate the influence of the nuclear environment on quasielastic-like interactions. The transfered four-momentum squared to the target nucleus, $Q^2$, is reconstructed based on the kinematics of the leading proton, and differential cross sections versus $Q^2$ and the cross-section ratios of iron, lead and carbon to scintillator are measured for the first time in a single experiment. The measurements show a dependence on atomic number. While the quasielastic-like scattering on carbon is compatible with predictions, the trends exhibited by scattering on iron and lead favor a prediction with intranuclear rescattering of hadrons accounted for by a conventional particle cascade treatment. These measurements help discriminate between different models of both initial state nucleons and final state interactions used in the neutrino oscillation experiments

Single neutral pion production by charged-current νˉμ\bar{\nu}_\mu interactions on hydrocarbon at ⟨Eν⟩=\langle E_\nu \rangle = 3.6 GeV

Single neutral pion production via muon antineutrino charged-current interactions in plastic scintillator (CH) is studied using the \minerva detector exposed to the NuMI low-energy, wideband antineutrino beam at Fermilab. Measurement of this process constrains models of neutral pion production in nuclei, which is important because the neutral-current analog is a background for $\bar{\nu}_e$ appearance oscillation experiments. The differential cross sections for $\pi^0$ momentum and production angle, for events with a single observed $\pi^0$ and no charged pions, are presented and compared to model predictions. These results comprise the first measurement of the $\pi^0$ kinematics for this process.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physics Letters

MINERvA neutrino detector response measured with test beam data

The MINERvA collaboration operated a scaled-down replica of the solid scintillator tracking and sampling calorimeter regions of the MINERvA detector in a hadron test beam at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility. This article reports measurements with samples of protons, pions, and electrons from 0.35 to 2.0 GeV/c momentum. The calorimetric response to protons, pions, and electrons are obtained from these data. A measurement of the parameter in Birks' law and an estimate of the tracking efficiency are extracted from the proton sample. Overall the data are well described by a Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation of the detector and particle interactions with agreements better than 4%, though some features of the data are not precisely modeled. These measurements are used to tune the MINERvA detector simulation and evaluate systematic uncertainties in support of the MINERvA neutrino cross section measurement program.Comment: as accepted by NIM