Exploring creativity and progression in transition through assessment is for learning

This paper provides an overview of the aims, methods and findings of the Capability and Progression in Transition through Assessment for Learning in Design and Technology (CAPITTAL-DT) project. This project, funded by Determined to Succeed Scotland, aimed to identify useful approaches to aid progression in creativity through the current initiative entitled 'Assessment is for learning' (AifL, SEED, 2002). AifL encourages learners and teachers to engage with assessment for, as, and of learning and adopt a range of strategies and ideas. The project team gathered baseline and follow up data from teachers and learners using questionnaires to gauge attitudes towards creativity, structured conceptual design activities to assess performance, learner evaluations and teacher interviews. The team concludes that there is scope for adopting the tools explored to support formative and sustainable assessment strategies and approaches to gathering meaningful indicators that can be embedded into enterprising teaching and learning for Design and Technology Education

Building Authentic Community Through Small Group Ministry Among Young Adults of Select Churches Within the Greater New York Conference

Problem The Greater New York Conference has several churches that have begun and sustained many programs for building interpersonal relationships between young adults within their membership. These programs have produced lukewarm results. In some cases these efforts failed. Many of the young adults have either left the church because they do not feel connected to others of their peer group, or they are present with little or no intentional ministry that relates to building their relational needs. In an interview with the immediate past and present youth directors of the conference, both admitted that there is tremendous need for a ministry that pulls young people from the fringes of the church into the center of the action. They both cited the need for genuine spiritual relationships between young adults as the greatest need of youth ministries in our territory. They conceded that a connection with God and others of similar age group is imperative for the survival of the church going forward. New Yorkers are usually very busy people. Young adults who live and work in New York are likewise very busy. Connecting them with others who can aid their spiritual and interpersonal development is of critical importance to their faith development. Methodology A seminar series was implemented to outline the issues regarding the need for genuine community among young adults within these select churches here in Greater New York and produce an intervention strategy to assist in correcting these issues. The objective was to aid in the spiritual, personal, and interpersonal growth of the group members. Leaders were handpicked upon completion of the seminar training to begin the intervention plan that included selecting an assistant leader and a curriculum. The assistant leader’s role was to mentor and help in the organizing and execution of the meeting and ministry objectives. The curriculum we used was the I Am Second young adult curriculum. This study focused on young grown-ups from three churches within the Greater New York Conference. After meeting for 10 weeks we conducted exit interviews to collect and report the data from this study. It was a very well-organized and productive study concerning these young adults. They were conscious and deliberate in their responses to this experience. Results A total of 37 persons within the three churches participated in this small group approach to ministry. The data showed that 95% of the participants shared that the experience significantly increased their connectivity with God. It was interesting to see that 100% of the respondents communicated that they got to build more meaningful relationships with fellow young adults (new and old) because of their in-depth communion over the 10-week period. And 88% of those who participated conveyed their relationship to the church was tremendously impacted, and they felt more connected. The main concern of all interviewed was that the time together was too short. Conclusions This analysis indicates that small group ministry among young adults is very effective in building genuine community. Genuine community with God, fellow young adults, and the church was enhanced tremendously. This study also suggests that if it were utilized on a wider scale it would produce similar results. I also concluded that this study could provide administrators, senior pastors, youth pastors, and mentors with materials to aid ministry to and with young adults

Experiment K-6-09. Morphological and biochemical investigation of microgravity-induced nerve and muscle breakdown. Part 1: Investigation of nerve and muscle breakdown during spaceflight; Part 2: Biochemical analysis of EDL and PLT muscles

The present findings on rat hindlimb muscles suggest that skeletal muscle weakness induced by prolonged spaceflight can result from a combination of muscle fiber atrophy, muscle fiber segmental necrosis, degeneration of motor nerve terminals and destruction of microcirculatory vessels. Damage was confined to the red adductor longus (AL) and soleus muscles. The midbelly region of the AL muscle had more segmental necrosis and edema than the ends. Macrophages and neutrophils were the major mononucleated cells infiltrating and phagocytosing the cellular debris. Toluidine blue-positive mast cells were significantly decreased in Flight AL muscles compared to controls; this indicated that degranulation of mast cells contributed to tissue edema. Increased ubiquitination of disrupted myofibrils may have promoted myofilament degradation. Overall, mitochondria content and SDH activity were normal, except for a decrease in the subsarcolemmal region. The myofibrillar ATPase activity shifted toward the fast type in the Flight AL muscles. Some of the pathological changes may have occurred or been exacerbated during the 2 day postflight period of readaptation to terrestrial gravity. While simple atrophy should be reversible by exercise, restoration of pathological changes depends upon complex processes of regeneration by stem cells. Initial signs of muscle and nerve fiber regeneration were detected. Even though regeneration proceeds on Earth, the space environment may inhibit repair and cause progressive irreversible deterioration during long term missions. Muscles obtained from Flight rats sacrificed immediately (within a few hours) after landing are needed to distinguish inflight changes from postflight readaptation

Sunburn and malignant melanoma.

We investigated the relationship between cutaneous malignant melanoma and multiple sunburns in the Queensland population. Interview data were gathered from 236 case-control pairs concerning their lifetime experience of severe sunburns, their occupational and recreational sun exposure, and their skin type. Excluding the lentigo maligna melanoma subtype, an association between multiple sunburns and melanoma was evident. After controlling for other major risk factors there was a significant dose-response relationship (P less than 0.05): the estimated relative risk associated with 2-5 sunburns in life was 1.5, and with 6 or more was 2.4. This observation extends the hitherto circumstantial evidence of a causal relationship between exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation and melanoma, and suggests that precautionary measures could prevent the development of this disease in a proportion of cases in fair-skinned populations

Effect of magnetic state on the γ−α\gamma -\alpha transition in iron: First-principle calculations of the Bain transformation path

Energetics of the fcc ($\gamma$) - bcc ($\alpha$) lattice transformation by the Bain tetragonal deformation is calculated for both magnetically ordered and paramagnetic (disordered local moment) states of iron. The first-principle computational results manifest a relevance of the magnetic order in a scenario of the $\gamma$ - $\alpha$ transition and reveal a special role of the Curie temperature of $\alpha$-Fe, $T_C$, where a character of the transformation is changed. At a cooling down to the temperatures $T < T_C$ one can expect that the transformation is developed as a lattice instability whereas for $T > T_C$ it follows a standard mechanism of creation and growth of an embryo of the new phase. It explains a closeness of $T_C$ to the temperature of start of the martensitic transformation, $M_s$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted in Phys. Rev. Letter

Two-proton events in the 17F(p,2p)16O reaction

In a recent experimental study (Gomez del Campo et al, PRL 86, 43 (2001)) of the reaction 17F(p,2p)16O, two-proton events were measured from excitations near a 1-, E*=6.15 MeV state in 18Ne. We calculate by means of R-matrix theory the resonant two-proton production cross section and branching ratios. We conclude that it is unlikely that two-proton production via population of the 1- state is sufficient to explain the observed two-proton events. Alternative sources of such events are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Resubmission to Physical Review C (first received 6 March 2001

Strontium ranelate improves bone strength in ovariectomized rat by positively influencing bone resistance determinants

Summary: Treatment of adult ovariectomized (OVX) rats with strontium ranelate prevented vertebral biomechanics degradation as a result of the prevention of bone loss and micro-architecture deterioration associated to an effect on intrinsic bone material quality. Strontium ranelate influenced the determinants of bone strength by prevention of ovariectomy-induced changes which contribute to explain strontium ranelate antifracture efficacy. Introduction: Strontium ranelate effects on the determinants of bone strength in OVX rats were evaluated. Methods: Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were OVX, then treated daily for 52weeks with 125, 250, or 625mg strontium ranelate/kg. Bone strength, mass, micro-architecture, turnover, and intrinsic quality were assessed. Results: Strontium ranelate prevented ovariectomy-induced deterioration in mechanical properties with energy necessary for fracture completely maintained vs. SHAM at 625mg/kg/day, which corresponds to the clinical dose. This was related to a dose-dependent effect on bone volume, higher trabeculae number, and lower trabecular separation in strontium ranelate vs. OVX. Load and energy required to induce lamella deformation were higher with strontium ranelate than in OVX and in SHAM, indicating that the bone formed with strontium ranelate is able to withstand greater damage before fracture. Bone formation was maintained high or even increased in strontium ranelate as shown by mineralizing surfaces and alkaline phosphatase while strontium ranelate led to reductions in deoxypyridinoline. Conclusion: Strontium ranelate administered at 625mg/kg/day for 52weeks prevented OVX-induced biomechanical properties deterioration by influencing the determinants of bone strength: it prevented bone loss and micro-architecture degradation in association with an effect on intrinsic bone quality. These beneficial effects on bone contribute to explain strontium ranelate antifracture efficac

Differences in influenza virus receptors in chickens and ducks: Implications for interspecies transmission

Avian influenza viruses are considered to be key contributors to the emergence of human influenza pandemics. A major determinant of infection is the presence of virus receptors on susceptible cells to which the viral haemagglutinin is able to bind. Avian viruses preferentially bind to sialic acid α2,3-galactose (SAα2,3-Gal) linked receptors, whereas human strains bind to sialic acid α2,6-galactose (SAα2,6-Gal) linked receptors. While ducks are the major reservoir for influenza viruses, they are typically resistant to the effects of viral infection, in contrast to the frequently severe disease observed in chickens. In order to understand whether differences in receptors might contribute to this observation, we studied the distribution of influenza receptors in organs of ducks and chickens using lectin histochemistry with linkage specific lectins and receptor binding assays with swine and avian influenza viruses. Although the intestinal epithelial cells of both species expressed only SAα2,3-Gal receptors, we found widespread presence of both SAα2,6-Gal and SAα2,3-Gal receptors in many organs of both chickens and ducks. Co-expression of both receptors may allow infection of cells with both avian and human viruses and so present a route to genetic reassortment. There was a marked difference in the primary receptor type in the trachea of chickens and ducks. In chicken trachea, SAα2,6-Gal was the dominant receptor type whereas in ducks SAα2,3-Gal receptors were most abundant. This suggests that chickens could be more important as an intermediate host for the generation of influenza viruses with increased ability to bind to SAα2,6-Gal receptors and thus greater potential for infection of humans. Chicken tracheal and intestinal epithelial cells also expressed a broader range of SAα2,3-Gal receptors (both β(1-4)GlcNAc and β(1-3)GalNAc subtypes) in contrast to ducks, which suggests that they may be able to support infection with a broader range of avian influenza viruses

Systematics of String Loop Corrections in Type IIB Calabi-Yau Flux Compactifications

We study the behaviour of the string loop corrections to the N=1 4D supergravity Kaehler potential that occur in flux compactifications of IIB string theory on general Calabi-Yau three-folds. We give a low energy interpretation for the conjecture of Berg, Haack and Pajer for the form of the loop corrections to the Kaehler potential. We check the consistency of this interpretation in several examples. We show that for arbitrary Calabi-Yaus, the leading contribution of these corrections to the scalar potential is always vanishing, giving an "extended no-scale structure". This result holds as long as the corrections are homogeneous functions of degree -2 in the 2-cycle volumes. We use the Coleman-Weinberg potential to motivate this cancellation from the viewpoint of low-energy field theory. Finally we give a simple formula for the 1-loop correction to the scalar potential in terms of the tree-level Kaehler metric and the correction to the Kaehler potential. We illustrate our ideas with several examples. A companion paper will use these results in the study of Kaehler moduli stabilisation.Comment: 34 pages and 3 figures; typos corrected and references adde

Tumor site immune markers associated with risk for subsequent basal cell carcinomas.

BackgroundBasal cell carcinoma (BCC) tumors are the most common skin cancer and are highly immunogenic.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to assess how immune-cell related gene expression in an initial BCC tumor biopsy was related to the appearance of subsequent BCC tumors.Materials and methodsLevels of mRNA for CD3ε (a T-cell receptor marker), CD25 (the alpha chain of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor expressed on activated T-cells and B-cells), CD68 (a marker for monocytes/macrophages), the cell surface glycoprotein intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), the cytokine interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were measured in BCC tumor biopsies from 138 patients using real-time PCR.ResultsThe median follow-up was 26.6 months, and 61% of subjects were free of new BCCs two years post-initial biopsy. Patients with low CD3ε CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA levels had significantly shorter times before new tumors were detected (p = 0.03, p = 0.02, p = 0.003, and p = 0.08, respectively). Furthermore, older age diminished the association of mRNA levels with the appearance of subsequent tumors.ConclusionsOur results show that levels of CD3ε, CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA in BCC biopsies may predict risk for new BCC tumors