This study examines a diverse set of nearly 100 private institutions that adopted test-optional undergraduate admissions policies between 2005–2006 and 2015–2016. Using comparative interrupted time ...series analysis and difference-in-differences with matching, I find that test-optional policies were associated with a 3% to 4% increase in Pell Grant recipients, a 10% to 12% increase in first-time students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds, and a 6% to 8% increase in first-time enrollment of women. Overall, I do not detect clear evidence of changes in application volume or yield rate. Subgroup analyses suggest that these patterns were generally similar for both the more selective and the less selective institutions examined. These findings provide evidence regarding the potential—and the limitations—of using test-optional policies to improve equity in admissions.
Mitochondrial energetic adaptations encompass a plethora of conserved processes that maintain cell and organismal fitness and survival in the changing environment by adjusting the respiratory ...capacity of mitochondria. These mitochondrial responses are governed by general principles of regulatory biology exemplified by changes in gene expression, protein translation, protein complex formation, transmembrane transport, enzymatic activities and metabolite levels. These changes can promote mitochondrial biogenesis and membrane dynamics that in turn support mitochondrial respiration. The main regulatory components of mitochondrial energetic adaptation include: the transcription coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) coactivator 1α (PGC1α) and associated transcription factors; mTOR and endoplasmic reticulum stress signalling; TOM70-dependent mitochondrial protein import; the cristae remodelling factors, including mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system (MICOS) and OPA1; lipid remodelling; and the assembly and metabolite-dependent regulation of respiratory complexes. These adaptive molecular and structural mechanisms increase respiration to maintain basic processes specific to cell types and tissues. Failure to execute these regulatory responses causes cell damage and inflammation or senescence, compromising cell survival and the ability to adapt to energetically demanding conditions. Thus, mitochondrial adaptive cellular processes are important for physiological responses, including to nutrient availability, temperature and physical activity, and their failure leads to diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction such as metabolic and age-associated diseases and cancer.
Master's degree enrollment and debt have increased substantially in recent years, raising important questions about the labor market value of these credentials. Using a field experiment featuring ...9,480 job applications submitted during the early months of the COVID‐19 pandemic, I examine employers’ responses to job candidates with a Master of Business Administration (MBA), which represents one‐quarter of all master's degrees in the United States. I focus on MBAs from three types of less‐selective institutions that collectively enroll the vast majority of master's students: for‐profit, online, and regional universities. Despite the substantial time and expense required for these degrees, job candidates with MBAs from all three types of institutions received positive responses from employers at the same rate as candidates who only had a bachelor's degree—even for positions that listed a preference for a master's degree. Additionally, applicants with names suggesting they were Black men received 30 percent fewer positive responses than otherwise equivalent applicants whose names suggested they were White men or women, providing further evidence of racial discrimination in hiring practices.
3D printing is a rapidly growing technology that has an enormous potential to impact a wide range of industries such as engineering, art, education, medicine, and aerospace. The flexibility in design ...provided by this technique offers many opportunities for manufacturing sophisticated 3D devices. The most widely utilized method is an extrusion‐based solid‐freeform fabrication approach, which is an extremely attractive additive manufacturing technology in both academic and industrial research communities. This method is versatile, with the ability to print a range of dimensions, multimaterial, and multifunctional 3D structures. It is also a very affordable technique in prototyping. However, the lack of variety in printable polymers with advanced material properties becomes the main bottleneck in further development of this technology. Herein, a comprehensive review is provided, focusing on material design strategies to achieve or enhance the 3D printability of a range of polymers including thermoplastics, thermosets, hydrogels, and other polymers by extrusion techniques. Moreover, diverse advanced properties exhibited by such printed polymers, such as mechanical strength, conductance, self‐healing, as well as other integrated properties are highlighted. Lastly, the stimuli responsiveness of the 3D printed polymeric materials including shape morphing, degradability, and color changing is also discussed.
3D printing is a rapidly growing technology that has an enormous potential to impact a wide range of industries. This review focuses on material design strategies to achieve or enhance the 3D printability of functional materials. Specific emphasis is on extrusion based 3D printing techniques and the functional devices that can be prepared.
To examine changes in U.S. medical school basic science faculty over the last 20 years (1998-2018), we undertook an observational study utilizing data from the American Association of Medical ...Colleges Faculty Roster. Rank (Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor), sex (Female), and race/ethnicity (Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic, Latino, Spanish Origin, or Multiple Race-Hispanic, and White) were analyzed; this reflected a population of 14,047 (1998) to 18,601 (2018) faculty. Summary percent of faculty in various gender, race/ethnicity origin categories were analyzed across years of the study using regression models. We found that females (24.47% to 35.32%) were underrepresented at all timepoints and a minority of faculty identified as Black or African American (1.57% to 1.99%), Hispanic, Latino, Spanish Origin, or Multiple Race-Hispanic (3.03% to 4.44%), or Asian (10.90% to 20.41%). The largest population at all time points was White Male Professors (30.53% to 20.85%), followed by White Male Associate Professors (15.67% to 9.34%), and White Male Assistant Professors (13.22% to 9.75%). Small statistically significant increases were observed among female faculty and faculty at multiple ranks who identified as Black or African American or Hispanic, Latino, Spanish Origin, or Multiple Race-Hispanic. We then completed secondary analyses looking at the interaction of race/ethnicity and Gender. We found: (1) a significant increase (p<0.0001) in both genders who identify as Asian although males had a higher rate of increase (6 point difference, p<0.0001); (2) a significant increase for Black or African American females (P<0.01) not found among males; (3) significant increases (p<0.0001) among both genders of faculty who identify as Hispanic, Latino, Spanish Origin, or Multiple Race-Hispanic although females had an approximately 1% higher rate of increase; and (4) among faculty who identify as White, males had a significant decrease (p<0.0001) while females demonstrated an increase (p<0.0001).
Christopher Bennett presents a theory of punishment grounded in the practice of apology, and in particular in reactions such as feeling sorry and making amends. He argues that offenders have a 'right ...to be punished' - that it is part of taking an offender seriously as a member of a normatively demanding relationship (such as friendship or collegiality or citizenship) that she is subject to retributive attitudes when she violates the demands of that relationship. However, while he claims that punishment and the retributive attitudes are the necessary expression of moral condemnation, his account of these reactions has more in common with restorative justice than traditional retributivism. He argues that the most appropriate way to react to crime is to require the offender to make proportionate amends. His book is a rich and intriguing contribution to the debate over punishment and restorative justice.
This study examines unionization efforts among contingent faculty members, who now account for the majority of the academic workforce. Drawing on data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ...and other sources, this article uses an event history analysis to identify factors associated with efforts to establish a contingent faculty union at private, 4-year institutions. Even after accounting for other state and institution characteristics, this study finds increased odds of contingent faculty unionization at institutions located in states where the legislature is more liberal and where more contingent faculty union certification elections have been held previously.
The Gender Gap in Surgical Residencies Bennett, Christopher L; Baker, Olesya; Rangel, Erika L ...
JAMA surgery,
09/2020, Volume:
155, Issue:
9
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This cross-sectional study identifies surgical specialties with the greatest gender inequities among resident physicians and examines how long it will take for women in these specialties to reach ...parity with the overall resident and US population.
A series of 12 contiguous caudal vertebrae of an ichthyodectiform fish from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation is described. The vertebral centra exhibit extensive overgrowth of ...pathological bone and there is additional pathological bone within the centra and intervertebral spaces, which together resulted in the coossification of most centra. The extent of the pathology is greatest on preural vertebrae 1-3 and decreases anteriorly, which suggests that the pathology began posteriorly and progressed anteriorly. In addition to the pathological overgrowth on bones, the specimen preserves features interpreted as calcified and/or ossified soft tissues associated with the neural and haemal canals. The pathologies are unlike previously described examples of bony pathologies in fish, and it is suggested that they resulted from combined bacterial and fungal infections. As the pathologies developed, they would have adversely impacted the fish's swimming and feeding abilities, and presumably eventually led to the fish's death.
Enzymes, as nature’s catalysts, speed up the very reactions that make life possible. Hydrolytic enzymes are a particularly important enzyme class responsible for the catalytic breakdown of lipids, ...starches, and proteins in nature, and they are displaying increasing industrial relevance. While the unrivalled catalytic effect of enzymes continues to be unmatched by synthetic systems, recent progress has been made in the design of hydrolase-inspired catalysts by imitating and incorporating specific features observed in native enzyme protein structures. The development of such enzyme-inspired materials holds promise for more robust and industrially relevant alternatives to enzymatic catalysis, as well as deeper insights into the function of native enzymes. This Review will explore recent research in the development of synthetic catalysts based on the chemistry of hydrolytic enzymes. A focus on the key aspects of hydrolytic enzyme structure and catalytic mechanism will be exploredincluding active-site chemistry, tuning transition-state interactions, and establishing reactive nanoenvironments conducive to attracting, binding, and releasing target molecules. A key focus is to highlight the progress toward an effective, versatile hydrolase-inspired catalyst by incorporating the molecular design principles laid down by nature.
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