Coding Success through Math Intervention in an Elementary School in Rural Amish Country

Coding in the elementary classroom is a relatively new movement in K-12 education that intends to engage young people in computer science and technology-related study. Coding initiatives focus on introducing young learners to coding and developing their computational thinking abilities. Coding helps enhance problem solving, mathematics skills, and higher-order thinking. Nevertheless, educators face many challenges with teaching coding at the elementary school level, because of the newness of computer science concepts and programming languages, gaps in student mathematics knowledge, use of technology, a relatively short attention span of young students and not fully developed reasoning, logic, and inferential skills among many others. This report describes how math interventions helped elementary school students in rural Amish Country become more successful with their coding activities

A test of the automaticity assumption of compliance tactics: discouraging undergraduate binge drinking by appealing to consistency and reciprocity

The mindfulness of compliance with requests making use of the commitment/consistency or the reciprocity principle was investigated. Participants (N = 129) received a foot-in-the-door (FITD) request (commitment/consistency application), a door-in-the-face (DITF) request (reciprocity application), or no request. Next, participants read either a weak or neutral message about the importance of moderate alcohol consumption then reported the likelihood of not drinking excessively for one week (target request). When accompanied by a weak message, the target request elicited less compliance if preceded by the DITF or FITD requests than by no initial request, suggesting compliance tactics sometimes increase thoughtfulness

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Determination of the most suitable technology system for virtual touring at the National Museum of Denmark

This report documents the process by which a virtual touring system was designed for the National Museum of Denmark. The selection of the most suitable solution was made based on background research of various types of imaging technology as well as the specific desires and characteristics of the museum. The solutions consists of panoramic images, still images and relevant text to be presented on the museum's website. A prototype website was created on CD-ROM to demonstrate the system

Delta-tocotrienol and simvastatin induces differential cytotoxicity and synergy in BRAF wild-type SK-MEL-2 and mutant BRAF SK-MEL-28 melanoma cancer cells

Targeting the mutant BRAF and immunotherapy are new approaches to the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma that has significantly improved survival but is associated with significant toxicity and cost. Potent and specific BRAF inhibitors like vemurafenib and dabrafenib are superior to chemotherapy in treatment of BRAF mutant melanomas which represent nearly 50% of all melanomas. A less toxic approach to treatment of malignant melanoma is hence appealing. Delta-tocotrienol (DT3), an unsaturated vitamin E isoform, and simvastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor have been shown to have anti-neoplastic properties. We studied the effects of these chemicals in both BRAF-mutated SK-MEL-28 and BRAF-wild type SK-MEL-2 melanoma cells. MTS assays were used to analyze cytotoxicity. SK-MEL-28 and SK-MEL-2 cells were cultured in MEM media containing 10% serum and plated in 96-well culture plates for 48 hours then treated with DT3 (0-80 µM), simvastatin (0-10 µM), or a combination and dosed again at 72 hours. SK-MEL-28 and SK-MEL-2 cells were grown in 60 mm plates and treated with DT3 at concentrations of 30 µM, simvastatin at concentrations of 10 µM and combination of DT3 and simvastatin at concentrations of 10 µM and 2 µM. Cell were lysed with RIPPA buffer with protease and phosphatase inhibitor after 6 hours of treatment. Protein concentration of cell lysates was measured spectrophotometrically (GLO Max Multi+, Promega), using a BCA protein assay kit. The samples were run in SDS PAGE and blotted onto nitrocellulose membranes. Membranes were incubated with antibodies against Hsp 70 (Enzo Life Sciences, Farmingdale, NY), Hsp 90 (Santa Cruz, Dallas, TX), pS6 and pERK (Cell Signaling, Danvers, MA) and pAKT. Using MTS assay, we found that DT3 (IC50 75.2 μM) and simvastatin (IC50 8.3μM) have cytotoxic effects on melanoma cell line SK-MEL-2, but not on the SK-MEL-28 cells DT3 and simvastatin at the concentrations studied (10-80 μM DT3) and (0.625- 10 μM simvastatin). Further studies determined that simvastatin decreased expression of pS6, pERK on SK-MEL-2 and not DT3. However, these effects are different in SK-MEL-28 cells where there is only decrease in expression of pS6; treated SK-MEL-2 cells also show over-expression of Hsp70 suggestive of a rescue effect leading to lesser cytotoxic activity. The selective cytotoxicity observed in wild type BRAF melanoma cell lines by DT3 and simvastatin warrants further research into the potential therapeutic use of these drugs. A differential cytotoxicity is shown by DT3 and simvastatin in malignant melanoma cells with selective more potency in wild type BRAF melanoma compared to mutant BRAF melanoma cells. Further studies will be undertaken to dissect the mechanistic basis of this differential response

Interprofessional Student Hotspotting Learning Collaborative: A Student Initiative to Together Help Patients in Tangible and Intangible Ways

The Interprofessional Student Hotspotting Learning Collaborative brings together a team of students who work closely with individual patients with complex medical histories who are “super-utilizers” of health care resources. Our goals: Provide a targeted, patient-centered approach to patient care Learn about our patient’s health from their perspective and develop a plan based on the patient’s goals and perceived needs Minimize misuse and miscommunication that had previously hindered the patient healthcare experience. Bring unique perspectives from each of our respective disciplines to improve upon inefficiencies in care Our team consisted of students from the colleges of Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Medicinehttps://jdc.jefferson.edu/jcipeposters/1006/thumbnail.jp