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The middle level years (ages 9-15) are particularly critical for young adolescent students as they explore who they are, and how they fit into the world (AMLE, 2020). Developing an awareness and understanding of how genders are sometimes treated inequitably can have a significant impact on young adolescents' self-perceptions and developing sense of academic competency (Parker, 2010; Steensma et al., 2013). This investigation sought to incorporate student voice into the conversation by considering perspectives from both teachers and students, as well as documenting observable behaviors during regular classes. By intersecting these three data sources and analyzing for commonalities and disconnects, a more accurate picture of gender bias in middle level classrooms may result. Observational findings support existing research that teachers interact significantly more often with boys than with girls in general in both positive and negative ways. Teachers are aware and report that they do treat students of different genders differently but tend to focus on behavior/discipline as opposed to academic success. Student responses indicate that they perceive teachers to have a very stereotypical view of the content areas in which boys and girls excel, but this is not reflected in data collected from teachers about their own self-perceptions. Implications for classroom practice and further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited research explores the experiences of disability resource professionals who support students with disabilities in accessing experiential learning outside the classroom environment. This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to investigate whether and how accommodations are provided to and used by students with disabilities (SWDs) during experiential learning outside the classroom. Findings suggest that many higher education institutions focus on the classroom needs of SWDs to the exclusion of other, equally critical academic needs. Themes identified in both a national survey and qualitative interviews highlight the need to provide additional support for SWDs outside the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data-driven methods for developing new structural materials require large databases to identify new materials from known process routes, the resulting microstructures, and their properties. Due to the high number of parameters for such process chains, this can only be achieved with methods that allow high sample throughputs. This paper presents the experimental approach of the "Farbige Zustände" method through a case study. Our approach features a high-temperature drop-on-demand droplet generator to produce spherical micro-samples, which are then heat-treated and subjected to various short-time characterizations, which yield a large number of physical, mechanical, technological, and electrochemical descriptors. In this work, we evaluate achievable throughput rates of this method resulting in material property descriptions per time unit. More than 6000 individual samples could be generated from different steels, heat-treated and characterized within 1 week. More than 90,000 descriptors were determined to specify the material profiles of the different alloys during this time. These descriptors are used to determine the material properties at macro-scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce the concept of Semantic Neutral Drift (SND) for genetic programming (GP), where we exploit equivalence laws to design semantics preserving mutations guaranteed to preserve individuals' fitness scores. A number of digital circuit benchmark problems have been implemented with rule-based graph programs and empirically evaluated, demonstrating quantitative improvements in evolutionary performance. Analysis reveals that the benefits of the designed SND reside in more complex processes than simple growth of individuals, and that there are circumstances where it is beneficial to choose otherwise detrimental parameters for a GP system if that facilitates the inclusion of SND. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a form of neutral horizontal gene transfer (HGT) to evolving graphs by graph programming (EGGP). We introduce the μ × λ evolutionary algorithm (EA), where μ parents each produce λ children who compete only with their parents. HGT events then copy the entire active component of one surviving parent into the inactive component of another parent, exchanging genetic information without reproduction. Experimental results from symbolic regression problems show that the introduction of the μ × λ EA and HGT events improve the performance of EGGP. Comparisons with genetic programming and Cartesian genetic programming strongly favour our proposed approach. We also investigate the effect of using HGT events in neuroevolution tasks. We again find that the introduction of HGT improves the performance of EGGP, demonstrating that HGT is an effective cross-domain mechanism for recombining graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Side-channel attacks enable powerful adversarial strategies against cryptographic devices and encounter an ever-growing attack surface in today's world of digitalization and the internet of things. While the employment of provably secure side-channel countermeasures like masking have become increasingly popular in recent years, great care must be taken when implementing these in actual devices. The reasons for this are two-fold: The models on which these countermeasures rely do not fully capture the physical reality and compliance with the requirements of the countermeasures is non-trivial in complex implementations. Therefore, it is imperative to validate the SCA-security of concrete instantiations of cryptographic devices using measurements on the actual device. In this article we propose a side-channel evaluation framework that combines an efficient data acquisition process with state-of-the-art confidence interval based leakage assessment. Our approach allows a sound assessment of the potential susceptibility of cryptographic implementations to side-channel attacks and is robust against noise in the evaluation system. We illustrate the steps in the evaluation process by applying them to a protected implementation of AES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional management education has been widely criticized for an overemphasis on rational, analytic, arms-length approaches to the detriment of softer, more intuitive capacities. Most critics agree that today's management students are overdrilled in the routines of calculation and analysis, but underprepared for the dynamic and turbulent settings in which managers often find themselves. The arts-based movement has emerged as a corrective to these tendencies. The core of this work involves the transformation of the classroom into an "aesthetic workspace" in which student learning is enhanced through dynamic encounters with art-objects. This article extends the notion of aesthetic workspace to the realm of language itself. It describes a "poetic workspace" in which metaphor is leveraged to create holistic connections between personal insights, appreciation of others, and the content of the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A shift has occurred in the provision of health care to include a focus not just on biology and disease but also on the whole person, preventative care, and an array of healing modalities based on systems of beliefs and values not typically included within biomedical practice. This approach to health care, termed integrative medicine (IM), blends biomedicine with a broader understanding of patients and their illnesses, including elements of mind, body, and spirit that may be contributing to an ailment. While the use of integrative medicine has increased and centers for integrative medicine have proliferated within conventional health care organizations, distinct tensions arise from this amalgamation. The tensions between IM and biomedical clinicians often center on their differing training and philosophies, as well as on a larger system of health care that privileges biomedicine. As a result, this research is designed to explore the challenges IM clinicians face in collaborating with conventional practitioners to provide patient care. Analysis of interviews with 14 clinicians at one center for integrative medicine revealed four specific challenges they face in their attempt to co-practice IM with conventional medicine. The four challenges include (a) challenges to collaboration, (b) challenges to legitimacy, (c) challenges to consistency, and (d) challenges to unification. Future research should investigate the ways in which these challenges can be addressed so that collaboration throughout the system is facilitated. The professional training of clinicians, the structuring and institutionalization of integrative medicine, and enhanced systems for communicating patient information all play a significant role in this transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Gene expression genetic studies in human tissues and cells identify cis- and trans-acting expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs). These eQTLs provide insights into regulatory mechanisms underlying disease risk. However, few studies systematically characterized eQTL results across cell and tissues types. We synthesized eQTL results from >50 datasets, including new primary data from human brain, peripheral plaque and kidney samples, in order to discover features of human eQTLs. Results We find a substantial number of robust cis-eQTLs and far fewer trans-eQTLs consistent across tissues. Analysis of 45 full human GWAS scans indicates eQTLs are enriched overall, and above nSNPs, among positive statistical signals in genetic mapping studies, and account for a significant fraction of the strongest human trait effects. Expression QTLs are enriched for gene centricity, higher population allele frequencies, in housekeeping genes, and for coincidence with regulatory features, though there is little evidence of 5' or 3' positional bias. Several regulatory categories are not enriched including microRNAs and their predicted binding sites and long, intergenic non-coding RNAs. Among the most tissue-ubiquitous ciseQTLs, there is enrichment for genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism and mitochondrial function, suggesting these eQTLs may have adaptive origins. Several strong eQTLs (CDK5RAP2, NBPFs) coincide with regions of reported human lineage selection. The intersection of new kidney and plaque eQTLs with related GWAS suggest possible gene prioritization. For example, butyrophilins are now linked to arterial pathogenesis via multiple genetic and expression studies. Expression QTL and GWAS results are made available as a community resource through the NHLBI GRASP database [http://apps.nhlbi.nih.gov/grasp/]. Conclusions Expression QTLs inform the interpretation of human trait variability, and may account for a greater fraction of phenotypic variability than protein-coding variants. The synthesis of available tissue eQTL data highlights many strong cis-eQTLs that may have important biologic roles and could serve as positive controls in future studies. Our results indicate some strong tissue-ubiquitous eQTLs may have adaptive origins in humans. Efforts to expand the genetic, splicing and tissue coverage of known eQTLs will provide further insights into human gene regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Franchising is a relationship wherein one organization (i.e., the franchisor) allows other organizations (i.e., franchisees) to use its brand name, products, and processes in exchange for fees. Because franchising offers franchisors the opportunity to build their brands quickly, it is perhaps not surprising that many firms rely on franchising as a key tool for organization design. One caution about franchising is that its use brings a complex array of legal issues into play. As franchising increases in popularity, so too does the scrutiny paid to this organizational form by the legal system. Indeed, the courts appear to be demanding increased accountability from franchisors. The goal of this Point of View article is to explain how organizations can avoid problems associated with increased accountability and even benefit from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual teams are an increasingly popular element of organizational designs. While virtual teams offer important advantages - including increased collaboration, greater lexibility, and cost savings - they may also create legal issues. Speciically, using virtual teams may lead executives to unwittingly violate labor and personnel laws. The results can be costly, including the loss of key personnel, damage to a company's reputation, and inancial harm. Viewing virtual teams from a legal point of view, we identify pitfalls that virtual teams may encounter and offer ways to avoid them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) is implicated in the etiology of metabolic syndrome. We previously showed that pharmacological inhibition of 11β-HSD1 ameliorated multiple facets of metabolic syndrome and attenuated atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the atheroprotective effect was not clear. In this study, we tested whether and how 11β-HSD1 inhibition affects vascular inflammation, a major culprit for atherosclerosis and its associated complications. ApoE-/- mice were treated with an 11β-HSD1 inhibitor for various periods of time. Plasma lipids and aortic cholesterol accumulation were quantified. Several microarray studies were carried out to examine the effect of 11β-HSD1 inhibition on gene expression in atherosclerotic tissues. Our data suggest 11β-HSD1 inhibition can directly modulate atherosclerotic plaques and attenuate atherosclerosis independently of lipid lowering effects. We identified immune response genes as the category of mRNA most significantly suppressed by 11β-HSD1 inhibition. This anti-inflammatory effect was further confirmed in plaque macrophages and smooth muscle cells procured by laser capture microdissection. These findings in the vascular wall were corroborated by reduction in circulating MCP1 levels after 11β-HSD1 inhibition. Taken together, our data suggest 11β-HSD1 inhibition regulates proinflammatory gene expression in atherosclerotic tissues of ApoE-/- mice, and this effect may contribute to the attenuation of atherosclerosis in these animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) is implicated in the etiology of metabolic syndrome. We previously showed that pharmacological inhibition of 11β-HSD1 ameliorated multiple facets of metabolic syndrome and attenuated atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the atheroprotective effect was not clear. In this study, we tested whether and how 11β-HSD1 inhibition affects vascular inflammation, a major culprit for atherosclerosis and its associated complications. ApoE−/− mice were treated with an 11β-HSD1 inhibitor for various periods of time. Plasma lipids and aortic cholesterol accumulation were quantified. Several microarray studies were carried out to examine the effect of 11β-HSD1 inhibition on gene expression in atherosclerotic tissues. Our data suggest 11β-HSD1 inhibition can directly modulate atherosclerotic plaques and attenuate atherosclerosis independently of lipid lowering effects. We identified immune response genes as the category of mRNA most significantly suppressed by 11β-HSD1 inhibition. This anti-inflammatory effect was further confirmed in plaque macrophages and smooth muscle cells procured by laser capture microdissection. These findings in the vascular wall were corroborated by reduction in circulating MCP1 levels after 11β-HSD1 inhibition. Taken together, our data suggest 11β-HSD1 inhibition regulates proinflammatory gene expression in atherosclerotic tissues of ApoE−/− mice, and this effect may contribute to the attenuation of atherosclerosis in these animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GP (for Graph Programs) is an experimental nondeterministic programming language for solving problems on graphs and graph-like structures. The language is based on graph transformation rules, allowing visual programming at a high level of abstraction. In particular, GP frees programmers from dealing with low-level data structures. In this paper, we present a Hoare-style proof system for verifying the partial correctness of (a subset of) graph programs. The pre- and post-conditions of the calculus are nested graph conditions with expressions, a formalism for specifying both structural graph properties and properties of labels. We show that our proof system is sound with respect to GP's operational semantics and give examples of its use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) is the key circulating enzyme responsible for high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol esterification, HDL maturation, and potentially reverse cholesterol transport. To further explore LCAT's mechanism of action on lipoprotein metabolism, we employed adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) serotype 8 to achieve long-term (32-week) high level expression of human LCAT in hCETP;Ldlr mice, and characterized the lipid profiles in detail. The mice had a marked increase in HDL cholesterol, HDL particle size, and significant reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, plasma triglycerides, and plasma apoB. Plasma LCAT activity significantly increased with humanized substrate specificity. HDL cholesteryl esters increased in a fashion that fits human LCAT specificity. HDL phosphatidylcholines trended toward decrease, with no change observed for HDL lysophosphatidylcholines. Triglycerides reduction appeared to reside in all lipoprotein particles (very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), LDL, and HDL), with HDL triglycerides composition highly reflective of VLDL, suggesting that changes in HDL triglycerides were primarily driven by the altered triglycerides metabolism in VLDL. In summary, in this human-like model for lipoprotein metabolism, AAV8-mediated overexpression of human LCAT resulted in profound changes in plasma lipid profiles. Detailed lipid analyses in the lipoprotein particles suggest that LCAT's beneficial effect on lipid metabolism includes not only enhanced HDL cholesterol esterification but also improved metabolism of apoB-containing particles and triglycerides. Our findings thus shed new light on LCAT's mechanism of action and lend support to its therapeutic potential in treating dyslipidemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cholesterol deposition in arterial wall drives atherosclerosis. The key goal of this study was to examine the relationship between plaque cholesterol content and patient characteristics that typically associate with disease state and lesion vulnerability. Quantitative assays for free cholesterol, cholesteryl ester, triglyceride, and protein markers in atherosclerotic plaque were established and applied to plaque samples from multiple patients and arterial beds (Carotid and peripheral arteries; 98 lesions in total). Results: We observed a lower cholesterol level in restenotic than primary peripheral plaque. We observed a trend toward a higher level in symptomatic than asymptomatic carotid plaque. Peripheral plaque from a group of wellmanaged diabetic patients displayed a weak trend of more free cholesterol deposition than plaque from non-diabetic patients. Plaque triglyceride content exhibited less difference in the same comparisons. We also measured cholesterol in multiple segments within one carotid plaque sample, and found that cholesterol content positively correlated with markers of plaque vulnerability, and negatively correlated with stability markers. Conclusions: Our results offer important biological validation of cholesterol as a key lipid marker for plaque severity. Results also suggest cholesterol is a more sensitive plaque marker than routine histological staining for neutral lipids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A powerful tool for postgenomic analysis of mammalian gene function is gene targeting in mouse ES cells. We report that homologous recombination using a promoterless gene trap vector ("targeting trapping") yields targeting frequencies averaging above 50%, a significant increase compared with current approaches. These high frequencies appear to be due to the stringency of selection with promoterless constructs, because most random insertions are silent and eliminated by drug selection. The promoterless design requires that the targeted gene be expressed in ES cells at levels exceeding a certain threshold (which we estimate to be ≈1 % of the transferrin receptor gene expression level, for the secretory trap vector used here). Analysis of 127 genes that had been trapped by random (nontargeted) gene trapping with the same vector shows that virtually all are expressed in ES cells above this threshold, suggesting that targeted and random trapping share similar requirements for expression levels. In a random sampling of 130 genes encoding secretory proteins, about half were expressed above threshold, suggesting that about half of all secretory genes are accessible by either targeted or random gene trappings The simplicity and high efficiency of the method facilitate systematic targeting of a large fraction of the genome by individual investigators and large-scale consortia alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In budding yeast, one of three G cyclins is required for progression though START, when cells commit to a further round of cell division. We have identified mutations in ALG1 ( ERC14), a gene required for N-glycosylation, which are inviable in a cln1 cln2 background but are rescued by over-expression of CLNs. CLN1 and CLN2 are much more efficient than CLN3 in rescuing the erc14-1 allele. The erc14-1 allele results in a significant N-glycosylation defect, and no rescue of this defect by CLN1 over-expression was detected. These data suggest that CLN over-expression could be allowing cells to live with lower levels of N-glycosylation, possibly by overcoming a checkpoint sensitive to N-glycosylation capacity. A plasmid suppressor of alg1, PSA1, encodes a 361 amino-acid protein with homology to NDP-hexose pyrophosphorylases, the enzymes that catalyze the formation of activated sugar nucleotides. PSA1 is an essential gene, and PSA1 transcription is nearly co-ordinately regulated with CLN2 transcription, peaking near START. Co-ordinate regulation of glycosylation, sugar nucleotide metabolism, and cell-cycle progression through G may be a feature that ensures adequate cell-wall precursors are present before bud emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In budding yeast, one of three G cyclins is required for progression though START, when cells commit to a further round of cell division. We have identified mutations in ALG1 ( ERC14), a gene required for N-glycosylation, which are inviable in a cln1 cln2 background but are rescued by over-expression of CLNs. CLN1 and CLN2 are much more efficient than CLN3 in rescuing the erc14-1 allele. The erc14-1 allele results in a significant N-glycosylation defect, and no rescue of this defect by CLN1 over-expression was detected. These data suggest that CLN over-expression could be allowing cells to live with lower levels of N-glycosylation, possibly by overcoming a checkpoint sensitive to N-glycosylation capacity. A plasmidsuppressor of alg1, PSA1, encodes a 361 amino-acid protein with homology to NDP-hexose pyrophosphorylases, the enzymes that catalyze the formation of activated sugar nucleotides. PSA1 is an essential gene, and PSA1 transcription is nearly co-ordinately regulated with CLN2 transcription, peaking near START. Co-ordinate regulation of glycosylation, sugar nucleotide metabolism, and cell-cycle progression through G may be a feature that ensures adequate cell-wall precursors are present before bud emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A novel method for evolutionary material development by using high-throughput processing is established. For the purpose of this high-throughput approach, spherical micro samples are used, which have to be characterized, up-scaled to macro level and valued. For the evaluation of the microstructural state of the micro samples and the associated micro-properties, fast characterization methods based on physical testing methods such as calorimetry and universal microhardness measurements are developed. Those measurements result in so-called descriptors. The increase in throughput during calorimetric characterization using differential scanning calorimetry is achieved by accelerating the heating rate. Consequently, descriptors are basically measured in a non-equilibrium state. The maximum heating rate is limited by the possibility to infer the microstructural state from the calorimetric results. The substantial quality of the measured descriptors for micro samples has to be quantified and analyzed depending on the heating rate. In this work, the first results of the measurements of calorimetric descriptors with increased heating rates for 100Cr6 will be presented and discussed. The results of low and high heating rates will be compared and analyzed using additional microhardness measurements. Furthermore, the validation of the method regarding the suitability for the evolutionary material development includes up-scaling to macro level and therefore different sample masses will be investigated using micro and macro samples during calorimetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewed commitment to cardiovascular drug development is needed to combat what is likely to be the leading cause of death for the next two decades. How might this be achieved? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is an English translation of the immediately previous introductory remarks on the history and mission of this periodical to deliver contributions on international business history and business research.

Term graph rewriting is concerned with the representation of functional expressions as graphs and the evaluation of these expressions by rule-based graph transformation. The advantage of computing with graphs rather than terms is that common subexpressions can be shared, improving the efficiency of computations in space and time. Sharing is ubiquitous in implementations of programming languages: many functional, logic, object-oriented and concurrent calculi are implemented using term graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]