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Response: Let This Be an Example: Three Remarks on a Thematic Cluster about Climate Change Exemplarity
No full textThis thematic section of Culture Unbound brings together five articles which in very different ways invite us to reflect on the importance of examples in the discourse on climate change. At first glance, such an invitation might be surprising, if not puzzling. Anthropogenic climate change is something radically unprecedented, so it would seem counter-intuitive to approach it through the discussion of prior examples. Furthermore, the analytical vocabulary which is already mobilized in the title of the section (exemplarity) and the introduction (exemplification) may seem alien to most readers. Do these terms actually serve as precise conceptual tools in the analysis? Indeed, is there really something like an operative theory of examples? To my mind, the five articles gathered here are very successful in dispelling such an initial reticence. Each piece is rich and thought-provoking on its own terms. Moreover, taken together, these articles help us appreciate the extent to which the use of examples is an unexpected and promising index for mapping how climate change discourse navigates between effect and affect, between illustration and ideal, between facts and values, between science and politics. In so doing, this thematic section also provides tools for better grasping the power of examples as such, which should be of methodological interest for other fields of study
MicroRNA-509-3p inhibits cellular migration, invasion, and proliferation, and sensitizes osteosarcoma to cisplatin
No full textOsteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary pediatric malignancy of the bone having poor prognosis and long-term survival rates of less than 30% in patients with metastasis. MicroRNA-509 was reported to be downregulated in OS. We and others previously published that miR-509-3p can strongly attenuate cellular migration/invasion and sensitize ovarian cancer to cisplatin. Here, we show that overexpression of miR-509-3p inhibited migration of primary OS cell lines U2OS, HOS, and SaOS2 as well as metastatic derivatives 143B and LM7. miR-509-3p overexpression also inhibited proliferation and invasion of HOS and 143B cells and sensitized cells to cisplatin. Luciferase reporter assays using 3′-UTRs of predicted miR-509-3p targets associated with metastatic phenotypes revealed ARHGAP1 could be one of the downstream effectors of miR-509-3p in HOS. To find the global impact of miR-509-3p overexpression and cisplatin treatment we performed Reverse Phase Protein Analysis (RPPA). AXL, which has been reported to play a critical role in cisplatin resistance and confirmed as direct target of miR-509-3p was downregulated upon miR-509-3p treatment and further down-regulated upon miR-509-3p + cisplatin treatment. We propose that the miR-509-3p/AXL and miR-509-3p/ARHGAP1 axes have the potential to uncover new druggable targets for the treatment of drug resistant metastatic osteosarcoma
Goal Setting and MOOC Completion
No full textDespite providing advanced coursework online to learners around the world, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have had notoriously low completion rates. Self-regulated learning (SRL) frames strategies that students can use to enhance motivation and promote their engagement, persistence, and performance self-monitoring. Understanding which SRL subprocesses are most relevant to the MOOC learning context can guide course designers and instructors on how to incorporate key SRL aspects into the design and delivery of MOOCs. Through surveying 643 MOOC students using the Online Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire (OSLQ), the present study sought to understand the differences in the use of SRL between those who completed their course and those who did not. MOOC completers were found to have significantly higher applications of one SRL specific subprocess, namely goal setting. Additional SRL subprocesses of task interest/values, causal attribution, time management, self-efficacy, and goal-orientation also emerged from an analysis of open-ended responses as key contributors to course completion. The findings from this study provide further support regarding the role of SRL in MOOC student performance and offer insight into learners’ perceptions on the importance of SRL subprocesses in reaching course completion
Does exclusion of extreme reporters of energy intake (the "Goldberg cutoffs") reliably reduce or eliminate bias in nutrition studies? Analysis with illustrative associations of energy intake with health outcomes
No full textBackground: The Goldberg cutoffs are used to decrease bias in self-reported estimates of energy intake (EI). Whether the cutoffs reduce and eliminate bias when used in regressions of health outcomes has not been assessed. Objective We examined whether applying the Goldberg cutoffs to data used in nutrition studies could reliably reduce or eliminate bias. Methods We used data from the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE), the Interactive Diet and Activity Tracking in American Association of Retired Persons (IDATA) study, and the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS). Each data set included EI, energy intake estimated from doubly labeled water (EI) as a reference method, and health outcomes including baseline anthropometric, biomarker, and behavioral measures and fitness test results. We conducted 3 linear regression analyses using EI, a plausible EI based on the Goldberg cutoffs (EI), and EI as an explanatory variable for each analysis. Regression coefficients were denoted , , and , respectively. Using the jackknife method, bias from compared with and remaining bias from compared with were estimated. Analyses were repeated using Pearson correlation coefficients. Results The analyses from CALERIE, IDATA, and NDNS included 218, 349, and 317 individuals, respectively. Using EIG significantly decreased the bias only for a subset of those variables with significant bias: weight (56.1%; 95% CI: 28.5%, 83.7%) and waist circumference (WC) (59.8%; 95% CI: 33.2%, 86.5%) with CALERIE, weight (20.8%; 95% CI: −6.4%, 48.1%) and WC (17.3%; 95% CI: −20.8%, 55.4%) with IDATA, and WC (−9.5%; 95% CI: −72.2%, 53.1%) with NDNS. Furthermore, bias significantly remained even after excluding implausible data for various outcomes. Results obtained with Pearson correlation coefficient analyses were qualitatively consistent. Conclusions Some associations between EI and outcomes remained biased compared with associations between EI and outcomes. Use of the Goldberg cutoffs was not a reliable method for eliminating bias
Lessons in Strain and Stability: Enantioselective Synthesis of (+)-[5]-Ladderanoic Acid
No full textThe synthesis of structurally complex and highly strained natural products provides unique challenges and unexpected opportunities for the development of new reactions and strategies. Herein, the synthesis of (+)‐[5]‐ladderanoic acid is reported. En route to the target, unusual and unexpected strain release driven transformations were uncovered. This occurrence required a drastic revision of the synthetic design that ultimately led to the development of a novel stepwise cyclobutane assembly by an allylboration/Zweifel olefination sequence
Tuning infrared plasmon resonances in doped metal-oxide nanocrystals through cation-exchange reactions
No full textMetal-oxide nanocrystals doped with aliovalent atoms can exhibit tunable infrared localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs). Yet, the range of dopant types and concentrations remains limited for many metal-oxide hosts, largely because of the difficulty in establishing reaction kinetics that favors dopant incorporation by using the co-thermolysis method. Here we develop cation-exchange reactions to introduce p-type dopants (Cu, Ag, etc.) into n-type metal-oxide nanocrystals, producing programmable LSPR redshifts due to dopant compensation. We further demonstrate that enhanced n-type doping can be realized via sequential cation-exchange reactions mediated by the Cu ions. Cation-exchange transformations add a new dimension to the design of plasmonic nanocrystals, allowing preformed nanocrystals to be used as templates to create compositionally diverse nanocrystals with well-defined LSPR characteristics. The ability to tailor the doping profile postsynthetically opens the door to a multitude of opportunities to deepen our understanding of the relationship between local structure and LSPR properties
Pitch-pattern Diffusion of Generational Tone Change in North Kyungsang Korean English Loanwords
No full textNorth Kyungsang (NK) Korean is a pitch accent language that uses both high and low tones. NK Korean permits only one accented syllable in a single prosodic word; therefore, if an accented stem is combined with an accented suffix, one of the underlying accents must be deleted. According to traditional observations, NK English loanwords always maintain their stem accent, unlike NK native words. However, our recent observations reveal that this unique loanword pattern seems to be changing, especially among the younger generations. To determine the existence of this suffixal tonal change, a production task was conducted with younger and older speakers of NK Korean. The results reveal that a pitch-pattern diffusion is in progress across the board in final accented NK English loanwords when combined with an accented suffix. Such loanwords seem to be losing their unique tone patterns and nativizing their suffixal accent. Although the diffusion is occurring in both younger and older speakers, the degree of diffusion differs and is quite patterned, based on the speakers’ age as well as the number of syllables and syllable structure of the words
Hunting for Vectorlike Quarks
No full textWe analyze decays of vectorlike quarks in extensions of the standard model and a two Higgs doublet model. We identify several typical patterns of branching ratios of the lightest new up-type quark, , and down-type quark, , depending on the structure of Yukawa couplings that mix the vectorlike and standard model quarks (we assume only mixing with the third generation) and also on their doublet or singlet nature. We find that decays into heavy neutral or charged Higgs bosons, when kinematically open, can easily dominate and even be close to 100%: at medium to large , at small and , at both large and small . The pair production of vectorlike quarks leads to , , and final states. The decay modes into , and follow the pattern expected from the Goldstone boson equivalence limit that we generalize to scenarios with all possible couplings. We also discuss in detail the structure of Yukawa couplings required to significantly deviate from the pattern characteristic of the Goldstone boson equivalence limit that can result in essentially arbitrary branching ratios
Global Teaching in Indiana: A Quantitative Case Study of K-12 Public School Teachers
No full textStriving to educate globally competent, multiliterate citizens has been at the forefront of many initiatives in the U.S. In Indiana, the Department of Education and higher education institutions have taken steps to internationalize teacher education. However, previous research in Indiana has shown that even teachers who believe that global education is important may not be teaching it. The purpose of this study was to describe current K-12 Indiana public school teachers’ description of their practices that promote students’ global readiness using the Teaching for Global Readiness Scale. The conceptual framework Teaching for Global Readiness is an empirically validated model of four dimensions: situated practice in the local context, integrated global learning with the standard course of study, instruction from a critical frame, and transactional experiences where students engage in active learning through intercultural collaboration. Overall, teachers scored highest on the subscale of situated practice (e.g., valuing diversity, breaking down stereotypes), and lowest on transactional experiences that involved technology for cross-cultural collaboration. Teaching experience and travel abroad were not found to be a determining factor for being able to teach for global competence
Intelligence moderates the relationship between delay discounting rate and problematic alcohol use.
No full textIndividuals with problematic alcohol use discount larger delayed rewards at higher rates relative to smaller immediate rewards compared with healthy controls. Lower executive function ability, including lower general intelligence quotient (IQ), is associated with both high delay discounting rates and more lifetime alcohol-related problems. Although problematic alcohol use, delay discounting rates, and IQ are all significantly associated, we know little about the nature of their interrelationships. This study tests the hypothesis that IQ moderates the association between delay discounting rates and measures of problematic alcohol use. Lifetime alcohol-related problems, drinking levels over the past 2 weeks, IQ, and delay discounting were assessed in a sample of 617 young adults (303 female). Higher delay discounting rates were associated with more lifetime alcohol problems, more recent alcohol use, and lower IQ. However, analyses also revealed that IQ moderated the association between delay discounting rates and lifetime alcohol problems as well as high levels of recent alcohol use. Delay discounting rates were more strongly associated with both lifetime alcohol problems and higher levels of recent alcohol consumption for those with higher IQ compared with those with lower IQ. Results indicate that discounting rewards at higher rates may indicate an important risk factor for problematic alcohol use in individuals with high IQ, whereas this association may be blunted in individuals with low IQ because of their uniformly elevated discounting rates and higher problematic alcohol use