Automated Microraft Array Platform for Immune Cell Assays and Cell Sorting

Immunology research and cell therapies have provided great advancements in recent years and have highlighted the need to understand the effects of single cell heterogeneity within immune cell populations. Single cell platforms currently used in immune cell analysis often include tedious manual work, are not able to measure immune cell function in a time-dependent manner, or are not selective. The following work describes the development of an automated microraft array platform for analyzing the function of individual immune cells, including helper T cells and chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells), and for the sorting of cells of interest. In this dissertation, an automated microraft array platform was developed and adapted to address the challenges seen in immune cell research. In Chapter 2, an automated microraft array platform was developed to assay thousands of single cells in parallel and sort individual cells of interest. The platform was used to assay single CD4+ T cells, isolate cells displaying proliferation in response to allogeneic cell stimulation, and sequence their T cell receptor genes. In Chapter 3, a next-generation magnetic microbead-based microraft array was developed as an alternative to nanoparticle-based microraft arrays. The microbead-based arrays were shown to substantially reduce fabrication time compared to nanoparticle-based microraft arrays and improve performance in imaging of fluorescently labeled cells. Chapter 4 focused on the development and application of the automated microraft array platform to assay CD19 CAR-T cells for cell-mediated cytotoxicity and isolate T cells of interest for gene expression analysis. CAR-T cells were shown to participate in serial-killing of target cells and T cells demonstrating high cytotoxicity were isolated for future gene expression analysis using single-cell multiplex qPCR. The findings presented in this dissertation demonstrate the capabilities of an automated microraft array platform and its uses in immunology research. The studies described in each chapter provided valuable insight into the behavior and phenotype of immune cells at the single cell level.Doctor of Philosoph

Gender differences in college students’ achievement in teaching English as a foreign language using inquiry-based learning

Gender becomes one of the essential factors that are always considered in the various relationships among variables in the educational field. The purpose of this study is to examine the involvement of gender differences in the enhancement of college students’ English achievement using inquiry-based learning.  A quasi-experimental two-way factorial design among groups was applied to carry out this study.  300 Indonesian EFL (English for Foreign Language) college students were randomly   allocated to one of two groups. The experimental group (N = 150) consisted of 85 females and 65 males who were given inquiry-based learning. Meanwhile, the control group (N = 150) contained 75 males and 75 females who were given direct learning. An achievement English test containing 50 multiple choice problems was administered to them before and after their involvement.  The data was analyzed using some tests such as the independent sample t-test, paired sample t-test and factorial between two groups ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) and SPSS v.29 was used to promote these analyses. The results of this recent study showed that the intervention of inquiry-based learning has a significant and positive effect on enhancing college students’ EFL achievement. Moreover, there is significant evidence that gender differences are involved in the enhancement of college students’ English achievement in inquiry-based learning. There is a statistically significant relationship between gender and inquiry-based learning. This study implies that inquiry-based learning can be applied to enhance students’ achievement in Indonesian EFL colleges

Las estrategias didácticas y la enseñanza de los procesos de soldadura en los estudiantes del cuarto año de secundaria de la Institución Educativa Pedro E. Paulet, en el año 2022

Esta investigación se propuso como objetivo establecer la relación entre las estrategias didácticas y la enseñanza de los procesos de soldadura en los estudiantes del cuarto año de secundaria de la institución educativa Pedro E. Paulet, en el año 2022. Su diseño no experimental, de tipo de investigación es básico, se ha considerado un enfoque cuantitativo. La población fue los estudiantes del cuarto año de secundaria de la Institución Educativa Pedro E. Paulet una institución caracterizada por ser eminente variante técnica, la muestra empleada fue de 53 estudiantes, la técnica empleada para recolectar datos fue la encuesta y el instrumento empleado el cuestionario. En esta investigación se arribó a la conclusión que, si existe relación entre las estrategias didácticas y la enseñanza de los procesos de soldadura en los estudiantes del cuarto año de secundaria de la institución educativa Pedro E. Paulet, en el año, debido a que el valor p del Chi- cuadrado es menor a la prueba de significancia (p=0.000<0.05). A mejores estrategias que se empleen con los estudiantes, será posible que comprendan, mejoren sus habilidades en el proceso de soldadura

Reduced Graphene Oxide on Nickel Foam for Supercapacitor Electrodes

The focus of this paper is the investigation of reduced graphene oxide (GO)/nickel foam (RGON) samples for use as supercapacitor electrodes. Nickel foam samples were soaked in a GO suspension and dried before being subjected to two different methods to remove oxygen. Atmospheric pressure annealed (APA) samples were treated with a varying number (10–18) of nitrogen plasma jet scans, where sample temperatures did not exceed 280 °C. Furnace annealed (FA) samples were processed in an atmosphere of hydrogen and argon, at temperatures ranging from 600 °C to 900 °C. Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) data indicated that the carbon to oxygen (C:O) ratio for APA samples was minimized at an intermediate number of plasma scans. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopic data supported this finding. ESEM analysis from FA samples showed that with increasing temperatures of annealing, GO is transformed to reduced graphene oxide (RGO), with C:O ratios exceeding 35:1. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) data indicated the formation of RGO with an increasing annealing temperature until 800 °C, when oxygen reincorporation in the surface atomic layers becomes an issue. Supercapacitors, constructed using the FA samples, demonstrated performances that correlated with surface atomic layer optimization of the C:O ratio

Redesign of English basic course program based on educative software to health professional

Se presenta un rediseño del programa del curso intensivo básico de inglés apoyado del software educativo VISION con el objetivo de desarrollar la competencia comunicativa en inglés general de los profesionales de la salud. El mismo se impartió durante tres meses en el Policlínico Universitario ¨Omar Ranedo Pubillones¨. La muestra estuvo formada por 20 profesionales de la salud que recibieron el curso de postgrado de inglés básico. Este sugiere la distribución de los contenidos en 6 unidades y una modalidad semipresencial con una duración de 12 semanas con un total de 96 horas y 2 frecuencias semanales. El software está conformado por módulos que contienen aspectos del sistema de contenidos del inglés general, medios audiovisuales para desarrollar las habilidades comunicativas, así como ejercicios y un juego interactivos. El Software Educativo VISION fue validado por docentes o especialistas de la Enseñanza Superior en Guantánamo.This paper presents a redesign of the intensive basic course program in English based on the educative software VISION with the objective to develop the communicative competence of Health professionals in general English. It was developed during 3 months in ¨Omar Ranedo Pubillones¨ clinic. The sample was formed by 20 Health professionals who received the Basic English postgraduate course. It suggets the distribution of the contents into 6 units, and a semi-present modality with 12 weeks of duration , 96 hours in general and 2 weekly frequencies. The software is formed by modules that contain aspects from the system of contents, audiovisual means to develop the communicative skills, as well as interactive exercises and a game. The educative software VISION was validated by professors or specialists from the Higher Teaching level in Guantanamo province as effective

Questions of presence

This article considers some of the ways in which ‘the black woman’ as both representation and embodied, sentient being is rendered visible and invisible and to link these to the multiple and competing ways in which she is ‘present’. The issues are engaged through three distinct but overlapping conceptualisations of ‘presence’. ‘Presence’ as conceived (and highly contested) in performance studies; ‘presence’ as conceived and worked with in psychoanalysis; and ‘presence’ as decolonising political praxis among indigenous communities. I use these conceptualisations of presence to consider the various ways in which the black woman as figure and as embodied/sentient subject has been made present/absent in different discursive registers. I also explore what is foreclosed and how this is itself linked to legacies of colonial ‘worlding’. I end with consideration of alternative modes of black women’s presence and how this offers a resource for new modes of sociality. Keywords Black women; presence; colonial violence; de-gendering; psychosocial; triangular spac