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Dark Money examines one of the greatest present threats to American democracy: the influence of untraceable corporate money on our elections and elected officials. The film takes viewers to Montana - a frontline in the fight to preserve fair elections nationwide - to follow a local journalist working to expose the real-life impacts of the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.

The rising numbers of special education referrals have resulted in national debate and subsequent new legislation regarding the methods school districts have traditionally used to identify specific learning disabilities. The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) now allows the use of a student's response to scientifically based instruction and intervention, known as Response to Intervention (RtI) as part of the eligibility process. This study examined the change process that occurred in relation to the first-year implementation of RtI in a suburban Illinois school district. Two major research questions guided this study: (1) What factors enhanced the implementation and what were the inhibiters to the process? (2) In what ways, if any, did procedures, leadership practices, teaching practices and beliefs, change as a result of an RtI initiative? Change theories, first presented by sociologist Karl Lewin and then expanded by Edgar Schein, served as the framework against which change was examined. The results of this study suggested that mandated changes in educational initiatives such as RtI require several \"pre-planning\" or \"refreezing\" activities before actual implementation can take place. The findings suggested that as teachers and administrators move through the implementation process, changes will occur in daily practices and thus, as staff see the results of change, previously held beliefs regarding teaching and learning will then be \"unfrozen.\" Several considerations for implementation and practice were developed from this study and are geared toward district leaders who wish to implement RtI in their schools.

Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS, OMIM# 300623) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disorder with reduced penetrance that appears in adult premutation carriers (55-200 CGGs). Clinical symptoms in FXTAS patients usually begin with an action tremor. After that, different findings including ataxia, and more variably, loss of sensation in the distal lower extremities and autonomic dysfunction, may occur, and gradually progress. Cognitive deficits are also observed, and include memory problems and executive function deficits, with a gradual progression to dementia in some individuals. Aquaporin 4 (AQP4) is a commonly distributed water channel in astrocytes of the central nervous system. Changes in AQP4 activity and expression have been implicated in several central nervous system disorders. Previous studies have suggested the associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with brain-water homeostasis, and neurodegeneration disease. To date, this association has not been studied in FXTAS. To investigate the association of SNPs with the risk of presenting FXTAS, a total of seven common SNPs were selected and genotyped in 95 premutation carriers with FXTAS and in 65 premutation carriers without FXTAS. The frequency of -haplotype was compared between groups, denoting 26 heterozygous individuals and 5 homozygotes as carriers of the minor allele in the FXTAS group and 25 heterozygous and 2 homozygotes in the no-FXTAS group. Statistical analyses showed no significant associations between SNPs/haplotypes and development of FXTAS. Although has been implicated in a wide range of brain disorders, its involvement in FXTAS remains unclear. The identification of novel genetic markers predisposing to FXTAS or modulating disease progression is critical for future research involving predictors and treatments.

Background Myzus persicae is a globally important aphid pest with a history of developing resistance to insecticides. Unusually, neonicotinoids have remained highly effective as control agents despite nearly two decades of steadily increasing use. In this study, a clone of M. persicae collected from southern France was found, for the first time, to exhibit sufficiently strong resistance to result in loss of the field effectiveness of neonicotinoids. Results Bioassays, metabolism and gene expression studies implied the presence of two resistance mechanisms in the resistant clone, one based on enhanced detoxification by cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, and another unaffected by a synergist that inhibits detoxifying enzymes. Binding of radiolabeled imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid) to whole body membrane preparations showed that the high affinity [3H]-imidacloprid binding site present in susceptible M. persicae is lost in the resistant clone and the remaining lower affinity site is altered compared to susceptible clones. This confers a significant overall reduction in binding affinity to the neonicotinoid target: the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of six nAChR subunit (Mpα1-5 and Mpβ1) genes from resistant and susceptible aphid clones revealed a single point mutation in the loop D region of the nAChR β1 subunit of the resistant clone, causing an arginine to threonine substitution (R81T). Conclusion Previous studies have shown that the amino acid at this position within loop D is a key determinant of neonicotinoid binding to nAChRs and this amino acid change confers a vertebrate-like character to the insect nAChR receptor and results in reduced sensitivity to neonicotinoids. The discovery of the mutation at this position and its association with the reduced affinity of the nAChR for imidacloprid is the first example of field-evolved target-site resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides and also provides further validation of exisiting models of neonicotinoid binding and selectivity for insect nAChRs.

Disseminated candidiasis is the third leading nosocomial blood stream infection in the United States and is often fatal. We previously showed that disseminated candidiasis was preventable in normal mice by immunization with either a glycopeptide or a peptide synthetic vaccine, both of which were Candida albicans cell wall derived. A weakness of these studies is that, unlike humans, mice do not have a C. albicans GI flora and they lack Candida serum antibodies. We examined the influence of C. albicans GI tract colonization and serum antibodies on mouse vaccination responses to the peptide, Fba, derived from fructose bisphosphate aldolase which has cytosolic and cell wall distributions in the fungus. We evaluated the effect of live C. albicans in drinking water and antimicrobial agents on establishment of Candida colonization of the mouse GI tract. Body mass, C. albicans in feces, and fungal-specific serum antibodies were monitored longitudinally. Unexpectedly, C. albicans colonization occurred in mice that received only antibiotics in their drinking water, provided that the mice were housed in the same room as intentionally colonized mice. The fungal strain in unintentionally colonized mice appeared identical to the strain used for intentional GI-tract colonization. This is the first report of horizontal transmission and spontaneous C. albicans colonization in mice. Importantly, many Candida-colonized mice developed serum fungal-specific antibodies. Despite the GI-tract colonization and presence of serum antibodies, the animals made antibodies in response to the Fba immunogen. This mouse model has potential for elucidating C. albicans horizontal transmission and for exploring factors that induce host defense against disseminated candidiasis. Furthermore, a combined protracted GI-tract colonization with Candida and the possibility of serum antibody responses to the presence of the fungus makes this an attractive mouse model for testing the efficacy of vaccines designed to prevent human disseminated candidiasis.

Sir, - I should have thought that the majority of Israelis would feel the presence of what Kofi Annan represents reprehensible, both at Yad Vashem and in Israel (\"At Yad Vashem, world leaders pledge to fight anti- Semitism,\" March 16). The UN's track record with regard to Israel has been viciously anti-Israel, with virtually no exceptions. Anything that could be conceived as condemnation of Palestinian terror attacks against Israel by the organization has been scant, reluctant and decidedly muted. Sir, - It was with a great deal of trepidation that I read about a whole group of Americans who identify strongly with Israel and Gush Katif being delayed at Ben-Gurion Airport. We have been hearing constantly about the indifference to Israel that pervades American Jewry. Now we have a group that will be the forerunner of many others dedicated to the welfare of the people of Israel. The article mentioned as an allegation that PM adviser Dov Weisglass has a financial interest in the Jericho Casino. Dov Weisglass's own statement to the PM Comptroller in August 2004 acknowledged that his firm did indeed represent the casino's owners. The source for how we uncovered the fact that Weisglass never divested himself from his law firm during his tenure as director of the Prime Minister's Office, 2002-2004, was from the publicly available records of the Israel Corporate Registrar.

Myzus persicae is a globally important aphid pest with a history of developing resistance to insecticides. Unusually, neonicotinoids have remained highly effective as control agents despite nearly two decades of steadily increasing use. In this study, a clone of M. persicae collected from southern France was found, for the first time, to exhibit sufficiently strong resistance to result in loss of the field effectiveness of neonicotinoids. Bioassays, metabolism and gene expression studies implied the presence of two resistance mechanisms in the resistant clone, one based on enhanced detoxification by cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, and another unaffected by a synergist that inhibits detoxifying enzymes. Binding of radiolabeled imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid) to whole body membrane preparations showed that the high affinity [3H]-imidacloprid binding site present in susceptible M. persicae is lost in the resistant clone and the remaining lower affinity site is altered compared to susceptible clones. This confers a significant overall reduction in binding affinity to the neonicotinoid target: the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of six nAChR subunit (Mp[alpha]1-5 and Mp[beta]1) genes from resistant and susceptible aphid clones revealed a single point mutation in the loop D region of the nAChR [beta]1 subunit of the resistant clone, causing an arginine to threonine substitution (R81T). Previous studies have shown that the amino acid at this position within loop D is a key determinant of neonicotinoid binding to nAChRs and this amino acid change confers a vertebrate-like character to the insect nAChR receptor and results in reduced sensitivity to neonicotinoids. The discovery of the mutation at this position and its association with the reduced affinity of the nAChR for imidacloprid is the first example of field-evolved target-site resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides and also provides further validation of exisiting models of neonicotinoid binding and selectivity for insect nAChRs.

This Work-In-Progress paper highlights the work being done as part of an NSF grant to explore the field of Engineering Education Research (EER) through the perspective of the peer review process. The research objective of this project is to identify what kinds of scholarship are readily accepted into the field of engineering education research through peer review processes, and what kinds are not. By identifying what approaches, topics, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies are accepted and not accepted through the peer review process, the field can be more open to discussion of the advancement of EER. More broadly, identifying such boundary knowledge can facilitate new understanding of how the social construction of knowledge occurs in interdisciplinary fields beyond engineering education. To meet the objectives of this project, the project team is focused on the peer review process for JEE: The Research Journal of Engineering Education. JEE was selected for its status as a top journal for EER and its function as a research “gate keeper” within the community. Participants were initially recruited from multiple national and international engineering education listservs and the distribution of flyers at the 2018 ASEE Annual Conference. Participants completed a screening survey that asked about their experiences submitting and publishing with JEE. The data from the survey was used to select participants for interviews. Thirty-four authors were interviewed about their experience in Fall 2018. Initial findings from this work will be presented for discussion as part of the presentation of this WIP.