(Non)cognitive Dissonance? A Stakeholder-based Exploration of the Consideration of Graduate Admissions Applicants\u27 Personal Skills and Qualities

Prospective graduate students’ noncognitive attributes are commonly evaluated as a part of a holistic review of their admission applications. Yet it is difficult to determine which noncognitive attributes are considered by those who evaluate graduate admissions applications and what approaches they take to measure applicants’ noncognitive attributes. It is even less clear to what degree prospective graduate students understand how they are evaluated for graduate admissions and how the evaluation of their noncognitive attributes factor into admissions decisions. Drawing on surveys of graduate enrollment management (GEM) professionals and prospective graduate students in the United States, our study investigates the noncognitive attributes prospective graduate students and GEM professionals deem important to success in graduate school and the application components each group believes demonstrate those attributes. Results suggest that some alignment exists between the perspectives of prospective graduate students and GEM professionals on the noncognitive attributes most important for completing a graduate program of study. We share recommendations for improving the agreement between prospective graduate students and GEM professionals including the need for more explicit and transparent communication about how graduate admissions applications are evaluated, which is of particular importance as admissions processes forgo the consideration of applicants’ race

Stimulated stromal cells induce gamma-globin gene expression in erythroid cells via nitric oxide production

Objective. We have previously shown that nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the hydroxyurea-induced increase of gamma-globin gene expression in cultured human erythroid progenitor cells and that hydroxyurea increases NO production in endothelial cells via endothelial NO synthase (NOS). We have now expanded those studies to demonstrate that stimulation of gamma-globin gene expression is also mediated by NOS induction in stromal cells within the bone marrow microenvironment. Materials and Methods. Using NO analyzer, we measured NO production in endothelial and macrophage cell cultures. In coculture studies of erythroid and stromal cells, we measured globin gene expression during stimulation by NO induers. Results. Hydroxyurea (30 - 100 mu M) induced NOS-dependent production of NO in human macrophages (up to 1.2 mu M). Coculture studies of human macrophages with erythroid progenitor cells also resulted in induction of gamma-globin mRNA expression (up to threefold) in the presence of hydroxyurea. NOS-dependent stimulation of NO by lipopolysaccharide (up to 0.6 mu M) has been observed in human macrophages. We found that lipopolysaccharide and interferon-gamma together increased gamma-globin gene expression (up to twofold) in human macrophage/erythroid cell cocultures. Coculture of human bone marrow endothelial cells with erythroid progenitor cells also induced gamma-globin mRNA expression (2.4-fold) in the presence of hydroxyurea (40 mu M). Conclusion. These results demonstrate an arrangement by which NO and fetal hemoglobin inducers may stimulate globin genes in erythroid cells via the common paracrine effect of bone marrow stromal cells

Definition of the interacting interfaces of Apobec3G and HIV-1 Vif using MAPPIT mutagenesis analysis

The host restriction factor Apobec3G is a cytidine deaminase that incorporates into HIV-1 virions and interferes with viral replication. The HIV-1 accessory protein Vif subverts Apobec3G by targeting it for proteasomal degradation. We propose a model in which Apobec3G N-terminal domains symmetrically interact via a head-to-head interface containing residues 122 RLYYFW 127. To validate this model and to characterize the Apobec3G–Apobec3G and the Apobec3G–Vif interactions, the mammalian protein–protein interaction trap two-hybrid technique was used. Mutations in the head-to-head interface abrogate the Apobec3G–Apobec3G interaction. All mutations that inhibit Apobec3G–Apobec3G binding also inhibit the Apobec3G–Vif interaction, indicating that the head-to head interface plays an important role in the interaction with Vif. Only the D128K, P129A and T32Q mutations specifically affect the Apobec3G–Vif association. In our model, D128, P129 and T32 cluster at the edge of the head-to-head interface, possibly forming a Vif binding site composed of two Apobec3G molecules. We propose that Vif either binds at the Apobec3G head-to-head interface or associates with an RNA-stabilized Apobec3G oligomer

Teaching English /r/ to Korean adult efl learners: the role of corrective feedback type in phonological ffi

Ever since the decline of audio-lingual language pedagogy, phonological teaching has been a neglected area in applied linguistics. Building on the work of Saito (2013a), this study helped to address this neglect by integrating pronunciation teaching into a communicative classroom through the use of form-focused instruction (FFI). Additionally, the study investigated the effects of three different feedback conditions on perception and production of the problematic English sound, /r/. Twenty-two Korean learners of English as a foreign language were divided into three groups: prompts (n=6), recasts (n=7) and control (n=9). Each group received four hours of instruction, distributed over two weeks, in which they were taught how to structure an argument in English through activities designed to simultaneously focus their attention on /r/, including explicit articulatory instruction. Lessons were video-recorded, which allowed all instances of feedback and individual learner responses occurring during the instruction to be identified and coded. Perception of /r/ was measured using a two-alternative forced-choice identification test. Production was measured through both spontaneous and controlled tests and judged by 5 English native-speaker listeners. Results from this study suggest that recasts were helpful in the improvement of controlled production of /r/ for untrained items, and that prompts were helpful not only in this area, but also in spontaneous production of /r/. Patterns of learner response suggest that students were pushed by prompts to improve intelligibility through the adjustment of interlanguage strategies.Depuis le déclin de l’approche audio-linguale, l’enseignement phonologique se fait négliger en didactique des langues. Les recherches de Saito (2013a) ont toutefois mis fin à cette négligence et c’est en s’appuyant sur celles-ci que la présente enquête se propose d’intégrer l’enseignement de la prononciation dans une classe communicative. L’enquête avait pour but d’examiner les effets des reformulations et des incitations ainsi que leur absence sur la perception et la production du phonème anglais /r/. Vingt-deux participants coréens étudiant l’anglais comme langue étrangère en Corée du Sud ont formé trois groupes : groupe-reformulation (n = 7), groupe-incitation (n = 6) et groupe-témoin (n = 9). Une intervention de quatre heures échelonnées sur deux semaines a servi à enseigner à chaque groupe comment structurer un argument en anglais au moyen d’activités conçues de manière à attirer, par la même occasion, leur attention sur le son /r/. L’intervention comprenait également un enseignement explicite portant sur l’articulation. Comme toutes les leçons ont été filmées, il était alors possible d’identifier et de coder toutes les instances de rétroaction ainsi que les réponses immédiates des participants. La perception de /r/ a été mesurée en utilisant un test d’identification forcée à deux choix, alors que la production a été mesurée par des tests de production contrôlée et spontanée dont les résultats ont été jugés ensuite par 5 juges anglophones. Les résultats indiquent que les reformulations semblent efficaces pour aider les apprenants à améliorer leur production contrôlée des items ne paraissant pas durant l’intervention. De leur côté, les incitations se sont avérées efficaces non seulement pour la production contrôlée mais aussi pour la production spontanée du /r/. L’analyse des réponses suite à la rétroaction suggère que les incitations ont permis aux apprenants de restructurer leur interlangue et donc d’améliorer leur compréhensibilité

Test-Optional Policies: Impacts to Date and Recommendations for Equity in Admissions

Many institutions were forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to change admissions policies as a response to logistical challenges around testing. However, even as logistical challenges have resolved, pandemic-era changes to higher education testing policies which reduced or eliminated testing requirements have remained in place in many schools. Now, research evidence is beginning to emerge which looks at the effects that reductions to testing requirements are having on undergraduate admissions, making it possible to determine whether those policies are meeting their goals. This review examines the empirical evidence that has been gathered to date to identify trends in the effects of these testing policies and to make recommendations for increasing equity in admissions that institutions may wish to consider as they grapple with another change in higher education admissions: the striking down of race-conscious admissions. We find that test-optional admissions do not benefit equity in all cases, but that some contexts show more promise than others

Report of the Commission on United States Relations with Russia

Created as part of the 2009 Jackson School for International Studies SIS 495: Task Force. Robert T. Huber, Task Force Advisor; David Kramer, Evaluator; Michael Jussaume, Coordinator