Testing the association of growth mindset and grades across a challenging transition: Is growth mindset associated with grades?

Mindset theory predicts that whether students believe basic ability is greatly malleable exerts a major influence on their own educational attainment (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007). We tested this prediction in two near-replication studies (total n = 832). In study 1 we tested the association of mindset with university grades in a cross-sectional design involving self-reported grades for 246 undergraduates. Growth mindset showed no association with grades (β = −0.02 CI95 [−0.16, 0.12], t = −0.26, p = .792). In study 2, we implemented a longitudinal design, testing the association of mindset with grade transcript scores across a series of challenging transitions: from high school to university entry, and then across all years of an undergraduate degree (n = 586). Contrary to prediction, mindset was not associated with grades across the challenging transition from high-school to the first year of university (β = −0.05 CI95 [−0.14, 0.05], t = −0.95, p = .345). In addition, mindset was unrelated to entry grades (p = .808). And no support was found for a predicted interaction of mindset with academic disadvantage across the transition (β = −0.03 CI95 [−0.12, 0.07], t = −0.54, p = .592). Follow-up analyses showed no association of mindset with improvement in grades at any subsequent year of the degree (minimum p-value 0.591). Jointly, these two near-replication studies suggest that, even across challenging transitions, growth mindset is either unrelated to educational attainment or has a very small negative influence

Circulating levels of matrix proteases and their inhibitors in pregnant women with and without a history of recurrent pregnancy loss

Background: We have recently shown that serum relaxin-2 levels are attenuated in women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). We sought to determine whether a history of RPL is also associated with changes in serum matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteases (TIMP) -1 and -2. Methods: We obtained serum from 20 pregnant women with a history of RPL and 20 age-matched pregnant women with no history of RPL (NRPL) at 6-8, 10-12, 20, and 34 weeks gestation, and from cord blood. We quantified total serum concentrations of MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 by ELISA. We determined whether these serum marker levels were associated with a history of RPL and delivery before 37 weeks gestation. Results: There was no difference in the rates of miscarriage, preterm birth or prelabour rupture of fetal membranes between RPL and NRPL. However babies born to RPL were lighter than those born to NRPL. Serum MMP-1, 9, and TIMP-1 did not differ between RPL and NRPL but MMP-3 was higher in RPL vs. NRPL at 6-8 weeks (P < 0.05). Serum TIMP-2 levels were higher in RPL women at all gestations (P < 0.01). The ratio of RLX-2 (reported previously) to TIMP-2 at 10-12 weeks gestation was more strongly associated with a history of RPL than either peptide separately - area under the ROC curves for RLX-2 0.79 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.92), TIMP-2 0.83 (95% CI 0.63 to 0.95), and for RLX-2: TIMP-2 ratio 0.92 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.99). Conclusions: Women with a history of RPL demonstrate increased serum TIMP-2 and reduced RLX-2 during a subsequent viable pregnancy. Determination of both markers in early pregnancy enhances the discrimination of women with a history of RPL. These observations suggest roles for these two peptides in early implantation and placental development. Whether these may prove to be reliable early predictive markers for subsequent pregnancy loss in the index pregnancy is unknown and will require further studies

Allergies Related to Mosquitoes, Repellents, and Insecticides

Man\u27s skin response to the mosquito bite exhibits great individual variability. The everyday immediate reaction consists o f a red, or erythematous wheal that lasts only one or two hours. Twenty to 24 hours after the mosquito bite, a delayed reaction of erythema, swelling, and itching may also occur. An individual may exhibit an immediate reaction, delayed reaction, both reactions, or neither reaction. Studies suggest that sensitization to mosquito saliva may be responsible for the inflammatory response. This hypothesis is supported by histologic studies which demonstrate striking infiltration of inflammatory cells at the site of mosquito bites. Severe local reactions can occur in areas of compromised circulation. Severe systemic reactions, on the other hand, are extremely rare. Although allergy or hypersensitivity to mosquito saliva is thought to cause both the ordinary and systemic bite reactions, this has not been investigated by modern immunologic methods. The use of insect repellents is a safe, effective method for avoiding insect bites. However, these agents can cause allergic contact dermatitis or hives. Aerosol insecticides are also effective, but respiratory allergic symptoms can occur in susceptible or asthmatic individuals

Detection of eight different tospovirus species by a monoclonal antibody against the common epitope of NSs protein

Rabbit antisera against the nucleocapsid protein (NP) have been commonly used for detection of tospoviruses and classification into serogroups or serotypes. Mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) with high specificity to the NPs have also been widely used to identify tospovirus species. Recently, a serogroup-specific MAb against the NSs protein of Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) was produced by our laboratory to react with five members of WSMoV serogroup, i.e., WSMoV, Capsicum chlorosis virus (CaCV), Calla lily chlorotic spot virus (CCSV), Peanut bud necrosis virus (PBNV) and Watermelon bud necrosis virus (WBNV). The epitope recognized by the NSs MAb was determined and the comparison with the reported sequences of tospoviral NSs proteins revealed that the epitope is highly conserved at the N-terminal region of NSs proteins among members of WSMoV and Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV) serogroups, and Melon yellow spot virus (MYSV) serotype. When the NSs MAb was further used to react with the crude antigens of MYSV serotype, IYSV and Tomato yellow ring virus (TYRV) of IYSV serogroup, strong serological reactions, both in ELISA and western blotting, were observed. Thus, our results indicated that the NSs MAb is a useful and convenient tool for detection of the eight tospovirus species. It is also suggested that these eight Asian-type tospoviruses, i.e., WSMoV, CaCV, CCSV, PBNV, WBNV, MYSV, IYSV and TYRV, may share a common evolutionary ancesto

Modelling the Linkage Between Landscape Metrics and Water Quality Indices of Hydrological Units in Sihu Basin, Hubei Province, China: An Allometric Model

AbstractStudying quantitative relationships between landscape pattern and water quality is a fundamental step to assess the impacts of non-point source pollution. Many hydrological models with multi-functionality have been developed as useful tools to study several key mechanisms in non-point source pollution. In landscape ecological studies, however, the empirical modelling approaches have been dominated with emphasis on the relationships between the landscape metrics and water quality indices. The main techniques for developing those models of landscape-water quality are statistical regression analysis based on linear models. In this article, Allometric models and the traditional multiple linear regression models for estimating the linkage between landscape metrics and water quality were tested in Sihu Basin, Hubei Province, China. The models at patch class level were established in 24 hydrological units of the basin, which took nine water quality indices (EC, pH, SS, DO, COD, TN, TP, NO3--N, NH4+-N) as the dependent variables and eighteen landscape metrics calculated in FRAGSTATS 3.3 as independent variables. The results suggested that, compared with the traditional multiple linear regression models, Allometric models were more suitable for SS, DO, TP, TN, NH4+-N, in which landscape pattern metrics could explain the 80.5%, 77.7%, 58.2%, 43.9%, 67.6% of total variation, respectively. There had little difference between multiple linear regression models and Allometric models for EC and NO3--N. The coefficients of determination in Allometric models were not as strong as that obtained in the multiple linear regression models for pH and COD. The above results indicated that using Allometric model may potentially provide a new way to study the linkage between landscape metrics and water quality indices, which will help protect our regional water resources

On fiber dispersion models: exclusion of compressed fibers and spurious model comparisons

Fiber dispersion in collagenous soft tissues has an important influence on the mechanical response, and the modeling of the collagen fiber architecture and its mechanics has developed significantly over the last few years. The purpose of this paper is twofold, first to develop a method for excluding compressed fibers within a dispersion for the generalized structure tensor (GST) model, which several times in the literature has been claimed not to be possible, and second to draw attention to several erroneous and misleading statements in the literature concerning the relative values of the GST and the angular integration (AI) models. For the GST model we develop a rather simple method involving a deformation dependent dispersion parameter that allows the mechanical influence of compressed fibers within a dispersion to be excluded. The theory is illustrated by application to simple extension and simple shear in order to highlight the effect of exclusion. By means of two examples we also show that the GST and the AI models have equivalent predictive power, contrary to some claims in the literature. We conclude that from the theoretical point of view neither of these two models is superior to the other. However, as is well known and as we now emphasize, the GST model has proved to be very successful in modeling the data from experiments on a wide range of tissues, and it is easier to analyze and simpler to implement than the AI approach, and the related computational effort is much lower

First Report of Alternaria Black Spot Disease Caused by Alternaria alternata on the Invasive Weed Solanum rostratum in Xinjiang, China

Solanum rostratum is a noxious weed, native to Mexico and the USA, which has invaded Liaoning, Jilin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Xinjiang and Beijing, China (Eminniya et al., 2013). In August 2015, foliar symptoms of yellowish to black spots were observed on plants of S. rostratum nearby an agricultural plantation in Changji, Xinjiang. The following year, about 17% of the 206 plants surveyed on about 0.2 ha of deserted farmland were infected from July-September (at 19-35°C under 29-97% RH)

Pharmacogenetic variants influence tamoxifen's estrogenic effect on bone density

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109849/1/cptclpt200586.pd

Frustrated two-dimensional Josephson junction array near incommensurability

To study the properties of frustrated two-dimensional Josephson junction arrays near incommensurability, we examine the current-voltage characteristics of a square proximity-coupled Josephson junction array at a sequence of frustrations f=3/8, 8/21, 0.382 $(\approx (3-\sqrt{5})/2)$, 2/5, and 5/12. Detailed scaling analyses of the current-voltage characteristics reveal approximately universal scaling behaviors for f=3/8, 8/21, 0.382, and 2/5. The approximately universal scaling behaviors and high superconducting transition temperatures indicate that both the nature of the superconducting transition and the vortex configuration near the transition at the high-order rational frustrations f=3/8, 8/21, and 0.382 are similar to those at the nearby simple frustration f=2/5. This finding suggests that the behaviors of Josephson junction arrays in the wide range of frustrations might be understood from those of a few simple rational frustrations.Comment: RevTex4, 4 pages, 4 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Restoration of kTk_T factorization for low pTp_T hadron hadroproduction

We discuss the applicability of the $k_T$ factorization theorem to low-$p_T$ hadron production in hadron-hadron collision in a simple toy model, which involves only scalar particles and gluons. It has been shown that the $k_T$ factorization for high-$p_T$ hadron hadroproduction is broken by soft gluons in the Glauber region, which are exchanged among a transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) parton density and other subprocesses of the collision. We explain that the contour of a loop momentum can be deformed away from the Glauber region at low $p_T$, so the above residual infrared divergence is factorized by means of the standard eikonal approximation. The $k_T$ factorization is then restored in the sense that a TMD parton density maintains its universality. Because the resultant Glauber factor is independent of hadron flavors, experimental constraints on its behavior are possible. The $k_T$ factorization can also be restored for the transverse single-spin asymmetry in hadron-hadron collision at low $p_T$ in a similar way, with the residual infrared divergence being factorized into the same Glauber factor.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, version to appear in EPJ