IMPROVING STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND FACULTY EVALUATION: A TRANSACTIONAL RELATIONSHIP STRATEGY

As in any relationship between buyer and seller, the educational transaction between learner and teacher requires that a level of receptivity be created so that features, advantages and benefits of the transaction can be examined. Student responses to instructor efforts to create a vested covenant in the classroom were evaluated. Teaching methods were altered in two of four course sessions taught by the instructor. When efforts were made to gain student ownership of the class, both student grades and teacher evaluations improved.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

IMPROVING AGRIBUSINESS EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY INTERACTION THROUGH EDUCATIONAL COALITIONS

Students gain knowledge and skill through interaction and hands-on experimentation. The formation and development of successful educational coalitions or partnerships are examined, including diversity of membership, plan development, funding and infrastructure. Potential pitfalls and strategies for success are presented. Students learn best from those that are doing and by doing.Agribusiness,

PESTICIDE PRODUCTIVITY: WHAT ARE THE TRENDS?

Obtaining estimates of pesticides productivity is an economic response to the growing public concern about the steady increase of pesticide use in the United States. This type of research indicates the cost of limiting pesticide use in terms of foregone output. Pervious empirical studies give a "snap-shot", or "average", look at pesticide productivity. This research effort employs a random coefficient model to determine the trend of the marginal value product of pesticides in agriculture in the United States. Results show a distinct downward trend in two states, Iowa and Texas. California, however, shows no evidence of a downward trend.Pesticide productivity, Marginal value product, Random coefficients, Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis,

Assessing Information Bias and Food Safety

Imperfect information can lead to market failure and be an external factor impacting managers of agribusiness firms. A matrix method approach to content analysis was conducted by independent judges based upon established typologies. Food safety articles from consumer publications were examined, and information received by consumers was found to be biased.food safety, information bias, consumers, media, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, Q10, Q13, Q16,

Aggregate Corn Area Response Under Risk: Some Implications for Price Stabilization Programs

Investigation of the corn revenue risk of Filipino farmers indicates their vulnerability to wide variability in domestic and world prices. Given the imperfect market and heavy dependence of farmers on trader’s price information, it is important to incorporate risk in any modeling attempts on the farmers’ cultivation areas.stabilization program, rice commodities, rice farm, corn and corn products, risk

Genomic copy number alterations in radiogenic breast cancer

PhD ThesisThe aim of this study was to elucidate the underlying molecular genetic mechanisms of radiation-induced breast carcinogenesis. Younger women are more at risk of developing breast cancer than older women following radiation exposure. Circulating oestrogen levels are highest during adolescence and early adulthood and oestrogen has a known transforming effect on breast epithelial cells. One hypothesis suggests that radiation and oestrogen synergise to drive breast cell transformation. There are currently no known genetic markers of radiogenic breast cancer. In order to investigate genetic alterations associated with radiogenic breast cancer in vitro models of radiation-induced breast epithelial cell transformation was developed. The immortalised, non-transformed breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A was exposed to fractionated doses of X-rays in the presence or absence of additional oestrogen. Radiation-treated cells displayed several phenotypic changes some of which provided evidence of cell transformation, including loss of contact inhibition and change to mesenchyme cell morphology. Genomic analysis of radiation treated cells using high-density polymorphism arrays identified a gene deletion of the POU2F1 transcription factor and amplification of the c-MYC proto-oncogene. POU2F1 has a role in cellular stress response and mediates DNA damage response through interactions with BRCA1. Amplification of c-MYC has previously been identified in breast cancers of survivors of the atomic bombs during World War II. Genetic alteration in POU2F1 and c-MYC may therefore be linked to radiation-induced breast cell transformation. Changes in gene copy-number were confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) and alterations in protein expression by western analysis. Gene copy number and expression of POU2F1 and c-MYC was investigated in a cohort of radiogenic and sporadic breast cancer tissue samples by FISH analysis and immunohistochemistry. Expression of c-MYC was higher in radiation-induced breast cancers compared to sporadic breast cancers (p = 0.002), as was the mean number of copies of c-MYC (p = 0.030). Loss of expression of POU2F1 was identified in one of 18 radiation-induced breast cancers but was not observed in sporadic breast disease (0/33). In summary, a cell model of radiation-induced breast cell transformation identified POU2F1 deletion and c-MYC amplification as putative markers of transformation, which were subsequently identified in primary tissue samples, suggesting a role for these alterations in the development of radiogenic breast cancer.Medical Research Counci

Factors for Effective Facilitator Training Evaluation

This study evaluated the TQM facilitator training course at Wright-Patt Campus, Wright-Patterson AFB. One-hundred sixty-two civilian and military trainees completed a 113 item survey containing 7 outcome scales based on Kraiger\u27s (1993) cognitive, skill based and affective training outcomes. Additional criteria, including experience, training, attitudinal, personality, and organizational support factors, were evaluated for their influence on training outcomes. Results from intercorrelational and hierarchical regression analysis strongly supported the theoretical model of effective facilitator training and suggest that the Wright-Patt Campus does provide effective TQM facilitator training. This study also identified several factors that appear to contribute to improved facilitator effectiveness: experience, training, personality, attitude, and organizational support

Photonics design tool for advanced CMOS nodes

Recently, the authors have demonstrated large-scale integrated systems with several million transistors and hundreds of photonic elements. Yielding such large-scale integrated systems requires a design-for-manufacture rigour that is embodied in the 10 000 to 50 000 design rules that these designs must comply within advanced complementary metal-oxide semiconductor manufacturing. Here, the authors present a photonic design automation tool which allows automatic generation of layouts without design-rule violations. This tool is written in SKILL, the native language of the mainstream electric design automation software, Cadence. This allows seamless integration of photonic and electronic design in a single environment. The tool leverages intuitive photonic layer definitions, allowing the designer to focus on the physical properties rather than on technology-dependent details. For the first time the authors present an algorithm for removal of design-rule violations from photonic layouts based on Manhattan discretisation, Boolean and sizing operations. This algorithm is not limited to the implementation in SKILL, and can in principle be implemented in any scripting language. Connectivity is achieved with software-defined waveguide ports and low-level procedures that enable auto-routing of waveguide connections.Comment: 5 pages, 10 figure