Supporting Learning Engagement with Online Students

University students are increasingly demanding that traditionally taught courses are converted to an online platform. While quality standards are in place for the format and organization of online courses, professors often are left wondering what activities contribute to learning engagement for their online students. The research question driving this study was, what activities contribute to learning engagement for online students? To investigate this question, an online survey was conducted in one state university of all students taking an online course during the spring semester. With responses from 417 students and using three standardized scale variables for learning engagement, as well as two open-ended questions, course components related to strong learning engagement were identified and examined. Initial findings indicated a statistically significant moderate correlation of learning engagement with the use of higher-order learning and reflective and integrative learning techniques. Specifically, students who reported being highly engaged connected ideas from other courses, changed their understanding of a topic or concept, found connections between their learning and societal problems, and had fun. A regression model using these variables, along with control variables of student age, gender, and out-of-school work, resulted in an R2 of 0.484, suggesting that almost half of the variance in learning engagement can be explained via this model. Further analysis of the qualitative data identified certain aspects of online discussions and assignments as engaging, such as discussions and interactive assignments that are not merely “fun” from a student perspective but also integrate previous learning and connect to current social issues. This includes prompting students with thought-provoking questions that relate to “real-world” situations and inviting students to share diverse opinions as well as develop personal perspectives

Mock Certification Basis for an Unmanned Rotorcraft for Precision Agricultural Spraying

This technical report presents the results of a case study using a hazard-based approach to develop preliminary design and performance criteria for an unmanned agricultural rotorcraft requiring airworthiness certification. This case study is one of the first in the public domain to examine design and performance criteria for an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in tandem with its concept of operations. The case study results are intended to support development of airworthiness standards that could form a minimum safety baseline for midsize unmanned rotorcraft performing precision agricultural spraying operations under beyond visual line-of-sight conditions in a rural environment. This study investigates the applicability of current methods, processes, and standards for assuring airworthiness of conventionally piloted (manned) aircraft to assuring the airworthiness of UAS. The study started with the development of a detailed concept of operations for precision agricultural spraying with an unmanned rotorcraft (pp. 5-18). The concept of operations in conjunction with a specimen unmanned rotorcraft were used to develop an operational context and a list of relevant hazards (p. 22). Minimum design and performance requirements necessary to mitigate the hazards provide the foundation of a proposed (or mock) type certification basis. A type certification basis specifies the applicable standards an applicant must show compliance with to receive regulatory approval. A detailed analysis of the current airworthiness regulations for normal-category rotorcraft (14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 27) was performed. Each Part 27 regulation was evaluated to determine whether it mitigated one of the relevant hazards for the specimen UAS. Those regulations that did were included in the initial core of the type certification basis (pp. 26-31) as written or with some simple modifications. Those regulations that did not mitigate a recognized hazard were excluded from the certification basis. The remaining regulations were applicable in intent, but the text could not be easily tailored. Those regulations were addressed in separate issue papers. Exploiting established regulations avoids the difficult task of generating and interpreting novel requirements, through the use of acceptable, standardized language. The rationale for the disposition of the regulations was assessed and captured (pp. 58-115). The core basis was then augmented by generating additional requirements (pp. 38-47) to mitigate hazards for an unmanned sprayer that are not covered in Part 27

2ʹ-Deoxyadenosine 5ʹ-diphosphoribose is an endogenous TRPM2 superagonist

Transient receptor potential melastatin 2 (TRPM2) is a ligand-gated Ca2+-permeable nonselective cation channel. Whereas physiological stimuli, such as chemotactic agents, evoke controlled Ca2+ signals via TRPM2, pathophysiological stimuli such as reactive oxygen species and genotoxic stress result in prolonged TRPM2-mediated Ca2+ entry and, consequently, apoptosis. To date, adenosine 5'-diphosphoribose (ADPR) has been assumed to be the main agonist for TRPM2. Here we show that 2'-deoxy-ADPR was a significantly better TRPM2 agonist, inducing 10.4-fold higher whole-cell currents at saturation. Mechanistically, this increased activity was caused by a decreased rate of inactivation and higher average open probability. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry, we detected endogenous 2'-deoxy-ADPR in Jurkat T lymphocytes. Consistently, cytosolic nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase 2 (NMNAT-2) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-glycohydrolase CD38 sequentially catalyzed the synthesis of 2'-deoxy-ADPR from nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and 2'-deoxy-ATP in vitro. Thus, 2'-deoxy-ADPR is an endogenous TRPM2 superagonist that may act as a cell signaling molecule

Lessons in Engagement from Online Students

Engagement in the classroom is essential for student learning. In a virtual setting, however, engagement can be challenging, and professors might not know what activities contribute to learning engagement in the online environment. To investigate this, a survey of students taking at least one online course at a state university during a spring semester was conducted. Analysis of responses to the survey’s open-ended questions revealed that students found certain aspects of online discussions and interactive assignments engaging, especially those that prompted students with thought-provoking questions related to “real-world” situations and invited students to share diverse opinions and develop personal perspectives

Ex vivo efficacy of BCMA‐bispecific antibody TNB‐383B in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma

Abstract TNB‐383B is a fully human BCMA‐targeting T‐cell engaging bispecific monoclonal antibody (T‐BsAb). We assessed ex vivo efficacy of this drug to mediate killing of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMCs) freshly isolated from 10 patients with relapsed multiple myeloma (MM). BMMC were treated ex vivo with TNB‐383B at doses ranging from 0.001‐1 μg. Plasma cell (PC) lysis, viability, BCMA expression, CTL distribution, and degranulation were assessed by flow cytometry. Cytokine response to TNB‐383B was quantified by multiplex protein assay. Dose‐dependent PC lysis was triggered in all cases by TNB‐383B at doses as low as 0.001 μg (P = .0102). Primary MM cells varied in BCMA expression. High BCMA+ PC count correlated with increased PC lysis (P = .005) and significant CTL degranulation specific to TNB‐383B treatment (P = .0153 at 1 μg). High E:T ratio in bone marrow specimens led to lower viable and higher apoptotic PC compared with low E:T ratio (P < .001). Three cytokines were significantly modulated by TNB‐383B: IL‐2/TNFα increased by ∼4 ± 3.5‐fold average (P < .005 at 1 μg) and IP10 increased by ∼50 ± 15‐fold (P < .001 at 1 μg). We conclude that TNB‐383B triggers primary PC lysis and CTL degranulation in a dose‐dependent fashion ex vivo with no T cell expansion and mild increase of CRS‐associated cytokines