Challenging Misconceptions about Race in Undergraduate Genetics.

Racial biases, which harm marginalized and excluded communities, may be combatted by clarifying misconceptions about race during biology lessons. We developed a human genetics laboratory activity that challenges the misconception that race is biological (biological essentialism). We assessed the relationship between this activity and student outcomes using a survey of students' attitudes about biological essentialism and color-evasive ideology and a concept inventory about phylogeny and human diversity. Students in the human genetics laboratory activity showed a significant decrease in their acceptance of biological essentialism compared with a control group, but did not show changes in color-evasive ideology. Students in both groups exhibited increased knowledge in both areas of the concept inventory, but the gains were larger in the human genetics laboratory. In the second iteration of this activity, we found that only white students' decreases in biological essentialist beliefs were significant and the activity failed to decrease color-evasive ideologies for all students. Concept inventory gains were similar and significant for both white and non-white students in this iteration. Our findings underscore the effectiveness of addressing misconceptions about the biological origins of race and encourage more research on ways to effectively change damaging student attitudes about race in undergraduate genetics education.

Exploring the pre-instruction gender gap in physics.

There is a substantial body of work in physics education looking at gender disparities in physics. Recent work has linked gender disparities in college physics course performance to disparities in high school physics preparation, but to our knowledge, the origin of the disparity in high school physics preparation is still underexplored. In a select sample, we found that women on average had lower force and motion conceptual evaluation (FMCE) pre-scores (the FMCE is a short conceptual assessment of Newton's laws), and FMCE pre-score entirely mediated the effects of high school preparation and social-psychological factors on exam performance. The gender gap in FMCE pre-scores could not be explained by differences in the number of physics courses taken in high school. Instead, we find that the gender gap in the FMCE is partially explained by female students' higher levels of general test anxiety. We hypothesize that the format of the FMCE, a timed assessment, triggers stereotype threat in female students despite being a low-stakes assessment. Therefore, instructors and researchers should take care in interpreting the results of such concept inventory scores and should re-think the way they assess understanding of physics concepts. Results of this work aligned with previous findings on gender disparity in timed exams call upon investigating gender equitable assessment formats for evaluating physics knowledge to replace timed assessments, either high or low stakes.

A Detailed Characterization of the Expert Problem-Solving Process in Science and Engineering: Guidance for Teaching and Assessment.

A primary goal of science and engineering (S&E) education is to produce good problem solvers, but how to best teach and measure the quality of problem solving remains unclear. The process is complex, multifaceted, and not fully characterized. Here, we present a detailed characterization of the S&E problem-solving process as a set of specific interlinked decisions. This framework of decisions is empirically grounded and describes the entire process. To develop this, we interviewed 52 successful scientists and engineers ("experts") spanning different disciplines, including biology and medicine. They described how they solved a typical but important problem in their work, and we analyzed the interviews in terms of decisions made. Surprisingly, we found that across all experts and fields, the solution process was framed around making a set of just 29 specific decisions. We also found that the process of making those discipline-general decisions (selecting between alternative actions) relied heavily on domain-specific predictive models that embodied the relevant disciplinary knowledge. This set of decisions provides a guide for the detailed measurement and teaching of S&E problem solving. This decision framework also provides a more specific, complete, and empirically based description of the "practices" of science.

Mixed results from a multiple regression analysis of supplemental instruction courses in introductory physics.

Providing less prepared students with supplemental instruction (SI) in introductory STEM courses has long been used as a model in math, chemistry, and biology education to improve student performance, but this model has received little attention in physics education research. We analyzed the course performance of students enrolled in SI courses for introductory mechanics and electricity and magnetism (E&M) at Stanford University compared with those not enrolled in the SI courses over a two-year period. We calculated the benefit of the SI course using multiple linear regression to control for students' level of high school physics and math preparation. We found that the SI course had a significant positive effect on student performance in E&M, but that an SI course with a nearly identical format had no effect on student performance in mechanics. We explored several different potential explanations for why this might be the case and were unable to find any that could explain this difference. This suggests that there are complexities in the design of SI courses that are not fully understood or captured by existing theories as to how they work.

What factors impact student performance in introductory physics?

In a previous study, we found that students' incoming preparation in physics-crudely measured by concept inventory prescores and math SAT or ACT scores-explains 34% of the variation in Physics 1 final exam scores at Stanford University. In this study, we sought to understand the large variation in exam scores not explained by these measures of incoming preparation. Why are some students' successful in physics 1 independent of their preparation? To answer this question, we interviewed 34 students with particularly low concept inventory prescores and math SAT/ACT scores about their experiences in the course. We unexpectedly found a set of common practices and attitudes. We found that students' use of instructional resources had relatively little impact on course performance, while student characteristics, student attitudes, and students' interactions outside the classroom all had a more substantial impact on course performance. These results offer some guidance as to how instructors might help all students succeed in introductory physics courses.

Nonlinear microrheology of active Brownian suspensions.

The rheological properties of active suspensions are studied via microrheology: tracking the motion of a colloidal probe particle in order to measure the viscoelastic response of the embedding material. The passive probe particle with size R is pulled through the suspension by an external force Fext, which causes it to translate at some speed Uprobe. The bath is comprised of a Newtonian solvent with viscosity ηs and a dilute dispersion of active Brownian particles (ABPs) with size a, characteristic swim speed U0, and a reorientation time τR. The motion of the probe distorts the suspension microstructure, so the bath exerts a reactive force on the probe. In a passive suspension, the degree of distortion is governed by the Péclet number, Pe = Fext/(kBT/a), the ratio of the external force to the thermodynamic restoring force of the suspension. In active suspensions, however, the relevant parameter is Ladv/l = UprobeτR/U0τR∼Fext/Fswim, where Fswim = ζU0 is the swim force that propels the ABPs (ζ is the Stokes drag on a swimmer). When the external forces are weak, Ladv≪l, the autonomous motion of the bath particles leads to "swim-thinning," though the effective suspension viscosity is always greater than ηs. When advection dominates, Ladv≫l, we recover the familiar behavior of the microrheology of passive suspensions. The non-Newtonian behavior for intermediate values of Ladv/l is determined by l/Rc = U0τR/Rc-the ratio of the swimmer's run length l to the geometric length scale associated with interparticle interactions Rc = R + a. The results in this manuscript are approximate as they are based on numerical solutions to mean-field equations that describe the motion of the active bath particles.

Fluctuation-dissipation in active matter.

In a colloidal suspension at equilibrium, the diffusive motion of a tracer particle due to random thermal fluctuations from the solvent is related to the particle's response to an applied external force, provided this force is weak compared to the thermal restoring forces in the solvent. This is known as the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) and is expressed via the Stokes-Einstein-Sutherland (SES) relation D = kBT/ζ, where D is the particle's self-diffusivity (fluctuation), ζ is the drag on the particle (dissipation), and kBT is the thermal Boltzmann energy. Active suspensions are widely studied precisely because they are far from equilibrium-they can generate significant nonthermal internal stresses, which can break the detailed balance and time-reversal symmetry-and thus cannot be assumed to obey the FDT a priori. We derive a general relationship between diffusivity and mobility in generic colloidal suspensions (not restricted to near equilibrium) using generalized Taylor dispersion theory and derive specific conditions on particle motion required for the FDT to hold. Even in the simplest system of active Brownian particles (ABPs), these conditions may not be satisfied. Nevertheless, it is still possible to quantify deviations from the FDT and express them in terms of an effective SES relation that accounts for the ABPs conversion of chemical into kinetic energy.

Do hydrodynamic interactions affect the swim pressure?

We study the motion of a spherical active Brownian particle (ABP) of size a, moving with a fixed speed U0, and reorienting on a time scale τR in the presence of a confining boundary. Because momentum is conserved in the embedding fluid, we show that the average force per unit area on the boundary equals the bulk mechanical pressure P∞ = p∞f + Π∞, where p∞f is the fluid pressure and Π∞ is the particle pressure; this is true for active and passive particles alike regardless of how the particles interact with the boundary. As an example, we investigate how hydrodynamic interactions (HI) change the particle-phase pressure at the wall, and find that Πwall = n∞(kBT + ζ(Δ)U0l(Δ)/6), where ζ is the (Stokes) drag on the swimmer, l = U0τR is the run length, and Δ is the minimum gap size between the particle and the wall; as Δ â†’ ∞ this is the familiar swim pressure [Takatori et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2014, 113, 1-5].

Tracer diffusion in active suspensions.

We study the diffusion of a Brownian probe particle of size R in a dilute dispersion of active Brownian particles of size a, characteristic swim speed U_{0}, reorientation time τ_{R}, and mechanical energy k_{s}T_{s}=ζ_{a}U_{0}^{2}τ_{R}/6, where ζ_{a} is the Stokes drag coefficient of a swimmer. The probe has a thermal diffusivity D_{P}=k_{B}T/ζ_{P}, where k_{B}T is the thermal energy of the solvent and ζ_{P} is the Stokes drag coefficient for the probe. When the swimmers are inactive, collisions between the probe and the swimmers sterically hinder the probe's diffusive motion. In competition with this steric hindrance is an enhancement driven by the activity of the swimmers. The strength of swimming relative to thermal diffusion is set by Pe_{s}=U_{0}a/D_{P}. The active contribution to the diffusivity scales as Pe_{s}^{2} for weak swimming and Pe_{s} for strong swimming, but the transition between these two regimes is nonmonotonic. When fluctuations in the probe motion decay on the time scale τ_{R}, the active diffusivity scales as k_{s}T_{s}/ζ_{P}: the probe moves as if it were immersed in a solvent with energy k_{s}T_{s} rather than k_{B}T.

Modeling enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates using fluorescent confocal microscopy II: pretreated biomass.

In this study, we extend imaging and modeling work that was done in Part I of this report for a pure cellulose substrate (filter paper) to more industrially relevant substrates (untreated and pretreated hardwood and switchgrass). Using confocal fluorescence microscopy, we are able to track both the structure of the biomass particle via its autofluorescence, and bound enzyme from a commercial cellulase cocktail supplemented with a small fraction of fluorescently labeled Trichoderma reseii Cel7A. Imaging was performed throughout hydrolysis at temperatures relevant to industrial processing (50°C). Enzyme bound predominantly to areas with low autofluorescence, where structure loss and lignin removal had occurred during pretreatment; this confirms the importance of these processes for successful hydrolysis. The overall shape of both untreated and pretreated hardwood and switchgrass particles showed little change during enzymatic hydrolysis beyond a drop in autofluorescence intensity. The permanence of shape along with a relatively constant bound enzyme signal throughout hydrolysis was similar to observations previously made for filter paper, and was consistent with a modeling geometry of a hollowing out cylinder with widening pores represented as infinite slits. Modeling estimates of available surface areas for pretreated biomass were consistent with previously reported experimental results.

Modeling enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates using confocal fluorescence microscopy I: filter paper cellulose.

Enzymatic hydrolysis is one of the critical steps in depolymerizing lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars for further upgrading into fuels and/or chemicals. However, many studies still rely on empirical trends to optimize enzymatic reactions. An improved understanding of enzymatic hydrolysis could allow research efforts to follow a rational design guided by an appropriate theoretical framework. In this study, we present a method to image cellulosic substrates with complex three-dimensional structure, such as filter paper, undergoing hydrolysis under conditions relevant to industrial saccharification processes (i.e., temperature of 50°C, using commercial cellulolytic cocktails). Fluorescence intensities resulting from confocal images were used to estimate parameters for a diffusion and reaction model. Furthermore, the observation of a relatively constant bound enzyme fluorescence signal throughout hydrolysis supported our modeling assumption regarding the structure of biomass during hydrolysis. The observed behavior suggests that pore evolution can be modeled as widening of infinitely long slits. The resulting model accurately predicts the concentrations of soluble carbohydrates obtained from independent saccharification experiments conducted in bulk, demonstrating its relevance to biomass conversion work.

Exploiting the multifunctionality of organocations in the assembly of hybrid polyoxometalate clusters and networks.

Assembly of an unprecedented [(P(V)Mn(II)W(VI)(11)O(39))2{P(V)O(4)}](13-) and a [P(2)Mn(4)W(18)O(68)](10-) cluster have been observed and structurally characterised and cryospray mass spectroscopic ionization (CSI) has been used to observe one of the very reactive building blocks linking solid state with solution studies.

Polyoxometalate clusters, nanostructures and materials: from self assembly to designer materials and devices.

Polyoxometalates represent a diverse range of molecular clusters with an almost unmatched range of physical properties and the ability to form structures that can bridge several length scales. The new building block principles that have been discovered are beginning to allow the design of complex clusters with desired properties and structures and several structural types and novel physical properties are examined. In this critical review the synthetic and design approaches to the many polyoxometalate cluster types are presented encompassing all the sub-types of polyoxometalates including, isopolyoxometalates, heteropolyoxometalates, and reduced molybdenum blue systems. As well as the fundamental structure and bonding aspects, the final section is devoted to discussing these clusters in the context of contemporary and emerging interdisciplinary interests from areas as diverse as anti-viral agents, biological ion transport models, and materials science.

Discovery of an imidazo-phenanthridine synthon produced in a 'five-step one-pot reaction' leading to a new family of heterocycles with novel physical properties.

A new class of heterocyclic aromatic cation with novel physical properties has been constructed by an unprecedented reaction pathway that proceeds via five spontaneous steps to yield a 'synthon' that can be further derivatised by a final nucleophilic substitution step.

Unsymmetrical surface modification of a heteropolyoxotungstate via in-situ generation of monomeric and dimeric copper(II) species.

Unsymmetrical functionalization of a discrete alpha-{SiW12O40} Keggin with two heterometallic building blocks, a Cu(II) dimer and a Cu(II) monomer, results in the formation of [{Cu2(O2CMe)2(5,5'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipy)2}{Cu(5,5'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipy)2}SiW12O40] that displays interesting physical properties.

Solid-state coordination chemistry of the oxomolybdate-organodiphosphonate/nickel-organoimine system: structural influences of the secondary metal coordination cation and diphosphonate tether lengths.

The hydrothermal reactions of a molybdate source, a nickel(II) salt, tetra-2-pyridylpyrazine (tpyprz), and organodiphosphonic acids H(2)O(3)P(CH(2))(n)()PO(3)H(2) (n = 1-5) of varying tether lengths yielded a series of organic-inorganic hybrid materials of the nickel-molybdophosphonate family. A persistent characteristic of the structural chemistry is the presence of the [Mo(5)O(15)(O(3)PR)(2)](4)(-) cluster as a molecular building block, as noted for the one-dimensional materials [[Ni(2)(tpyprz)(2)]Mo(5)O(15)[O(3)P(CH(2))(4)PO(3)]]x6.65H(2)O (6x6.65H(2)O) and [[Ni(2)(tpyprz)(2)]Mo(5)O(15)[O(3)P(CH(2))(5)PO(3)]]x3.75H(2)O (8x3.75H(2)O), the two-dimensional phases [[Ni(4)(tpyprz)(3)][Mo(5)O(15)(O(3)PCH(2)CH(2)PO(3))](2)]x23H(2)O (3x23H(2)O) and [[Ni(3)(tpyprz)(2)(H(2)O)(2)](Mo(5)O(15))(Mo(2)O(4)F(2))[O(3)P(CH(2))(3)PO(3)](2)]x8H(2)O (5x8H(2)O), and the three-dimensional structures [[Ni(2)(tpyprz)(H(2)O)(3)]Mo(5)O(15)[O(3)P(CH(2))(3)PO(3))]]xH(2)O (4xH(2)O) and [[Ni(2)(tpyprz)(H(2)O)(2)]Mo(5)O(15) [O(3)P(CH(2))(4)PO(3)]]x2.25H(2)O (7x2.25H(2)O). In the case of methylenediphosphonic acid, the inability of this ligand to tether adjacent pentanuclear clusters precludes the formation of the common molybdophosphonate building block, manifesting in contrast a second structural motif, the trinuclear [(Mo(3)O(8))(x)(O(3)PCH(2)PO(3))(y)] subunit of [[Ni(tpyprz)(H(2)O)(2)](Mo(3)O(8))(2) (O(3)PCH(2)PO(3))(2)] (1) which had been previously observed in the corresponding methylenediphosphonate phases of the copper-molybdophosphonate family. Methylenediphosphonic acid also provides a second phase, [Ni(2)(tpyprz)(2)][Mo(7)O(21)(O(3)PCH(2)PO(3))]x3.5H(2)O (9x5H(2)O), which contains a new heptamolybdate cluster [Mo(7)O(21)(O(3)PCH(2)PO(3))](4)(-) and a cationic linear chain [Ni(tpyprz)](n)(4n+) substructure. The structural chemistry of the nickel-molybdophosphonate series contrasts with that of the corresponding copper-molybdophosphonate materials, reflecting in general the different coordination preferences of Ni(II) and Cu(II). Consequently, while the Cu(II)-organic complex building block of the copper family is invariably the binuclear [Cu(2)(tpyprz)](4+) subunit, the Ni(II) chemistry with tpyprz exhibits a distinct tendency toward catenation to provide [Ni(3)(tpyprz)(2)](6+), [Ni(4)(tpyprz)(3)](8+), and [Ni(tpyprz)](n)(4n+) building blocks as well as the common [Ni(2)(tpyprz)](4+) moiety. This results in a distinct structural chemistry for the nickel(II)-molybdophosphonate series with the exception of the methylenediphosphonate derivative 1 which is isostructural with the corresponding copper compound [[Cu(2)(tpyprz)(H(2)O)(2)](Mo(3)O(8))(2)(O(3)PCH(2)PO(3))] (2). The structural chemistry of the nickel(II) series also reflects variability in the number of attachment sites at the molybdophosphonate clusters, in the extent of aqua ligation to the Ni(II) tpyprz subunit, and in the participation of phosphate oxygen atoms as well as molybdate oxo groups in linking to the nickel sites.

Solid state coordination chemistry: structural consequences of variations in tether length in the oxovanadium-copper-bisterpy-[O3P(CH2)nPO3]4- system, n= 1-6 (bisterpy = 2,2':4',4'':2'',2'''-quarterpyridyl-6',6''-di-2-pyridine).

Hydrothermal reactions of Na3VO4, an appropriate Cu(II) source, bisterpy and an organodiphosphonate, H2O3P(CH2)nPO3H2 (n = 1-6) yielded a family of materials of the type [Cu2(bisterpy)]4+/VxOy(n-)/[O3P(CH2)nPO3]4-. This family of bimetallic oxides is characterized by an unusual structural diversity. The oxides [[Cu2(bisterpy)]V2O4[O3PCH2PO3H]2] (1), [[Cu2(bisterpy)(H2O)]VO2[O3P(CH2)3PO3][HO3P(CH2)3PO3H2]] (4) and [[Cu2(bisterpy)]V2O4[O3P(CH2)6PO3H]2].2H2O (7.2H2O) are one-dimensional, while [[Cu2(bisterpy)(H2O)2]V2O4[O3P(CH2)2PO3][HO3P(CH2)2PO3H]2] (2), [[Cu2(bisterpy)]V4O8[O3P(CH23PO3]2].4H2O (3.4H2O) and [[Cu2(bisterpy)]V2O4(OH)2[O3P(CH2)4PO3]].4H2O (5.4H2O) are two-dimensional. The V(IV) oxide [[Cu2(bisterpy)]V4O4[O3P(CH2)5PO3H]4].7.3H2O (6.7.3H2O) provides a relatively unusual example of a three-dimensional bimetallic oxide phosphonate. The structures reveal a variety of V/P/O substructures as building blocks.

Non-merohedrally twinned crystals of N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N'-diphenyl-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine: an excellent triphenylamine-based hole transporter.

N,N'-Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N'-diphenyl-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine (TPD), C(38)H(32)N(2), crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1) with a pseudo-orthogonal lattice, rather than the previously reported orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) [Kennedy, Smith, Tackley, David, Shankland, Brown & Teat (2002). J. Mater. Chem. 12, 168-172]. The asymmetric unit consists of two independent molecules, A and B, which are arranged along the [100] direction to form vertical layers of alternately stacked A and B molecules. Molecule A shows a great deal of rotational movement in the four terminal aryl rings, resulting in two disordered tolyl groups split over two sites, while molecule B exhibits an almost cis configuration of the two terminal tolyl groups with respect to these ring planes.

Solid state coordination chemistry of oxomolybdenum organoarsonate materials.

The oxomolybdenum-arsonate system was investigated under hydrothermal conditions in the presence of charge-compensating copper(II)-organonitrogen complex cations as secondary building blocks. A series of materials of the Mo/O/As/Cu/ligand family has been prepared and structurally characterized. The architectures of the products reflect the identity of the arsonate component and the organonitrogen ligand, as well as the reaction conditions. The structural versatility of this emerging class of compounds is manifested by the one-dimensional structures of [[Cu(o-phen)(H(2)O)(2)](2)Mo(6)O(18)(O(3)AsOH)(2)] (1), [[Cu(terpy)](2)Mo(4)O(13)H(AsO(4))(2)].2H(2)O (2.2H(2)O), [[Cu(2,2'-bpy)(H(2)O)](2)Mo(6)O(18)(O(3)AsC(6)H(5))(2)].2H(2)O (4.2H(2)O), and [[Cu(o-phen)(H(2)O)](2)[Mo(6)O(18)(O(3)AsC(6)H(5))(2)]].4H(2)O (5.4H(2)O), by the two-dimensional materials [[Cu(2)(tpyprz)(H(2)O)(2)]Mo(6)O(18)(O(3)AsOH)(2)].2H(2)O (3.2H(2)O), [[Cu(terpy)](2)Mo(6)O(18)(O(3)AsC(6)H(5))(2)].H(2)O (6.H(2)O), and [[Cu(2)(tpyprz)]Mo(6)O(18)(O(3)AsC(6)H(5))(2)].2H(2)O (7.2H(2)O), and the molecular clusters [[Cu(2,2'-bpy)(2)](2)Mo(12)O(34)(O(3)AsC(6)H(5))(4)].2.35H(2)O (8.2.35H(2)O) and [Cu(o-phen)(H(2)O)(3)][Cu(o-phen)(2)Mo(12)O(34) (O(3)AsC(6)H(5))(4)].3H(2)O (9.3H(2)O).