The Chemistry Laboratory Experience of El Camino Students While in Emergency Remote Teaching Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Future college environments, including those in chemistry, will entail flexible formats. The pandemic spurred appreciation of the need, and though it has largely passed, adaptability to multiple formats in the future has been a critical part of planning for a rapidly changing future. Experiences during the pandemic will guide pedagogical changes and practices in the future. At El Camino College in Southern California, the chemistry department provided varied laboratory instruction to students during Emergency Remote Teaching. Understanding the experience students had during this extraordinary time is essential. Students who took courses that had an online laboratory course completed a mixed-methods survey. The survey consisted of a new tool designed for the study (Inquiry Rubric Tool), one used previously in the literature (Meaningful Learning in Laboratory Instrument), and a series of qualitative questions. Results of the complete survey showed that most students experienced low levels of inquiry and lower levels of meaningful learning compared to the literature during their online laboratory assignments. In addition, levels of inquiry showed a negative correlation when compared to affective, cognitive, and cognitive/affective scores derived from the survey. Levels of confusion and frustration were high. Poor quality materials, lack of hands-on activities, and lack of instructor presence were common. Some positives were noted regarding the ability to repeat experiments online and the flexibility of performing experiments when students wished. Students indicated interaction with fellow students during ERT as important. Suggestions for policy change, including synchronous work and hands-on activities, are made to invoke policy change at El Camino College in case of future ERT or further online chemistry course curriculum development

Electron transfer rates at a metal, a semiconductor and a semimetal

PhD ThesisElectrochemical kinetic measurements were made on viologens in acetonitrile and ferrocene moieties bound to n-type silicon. A collection of hitherto unreported rate constants were obtained, and novel approaches to analysing electrochemical data proposed and demonstrated. Full abstract available online.EPSR

Improvement Rates in Aerobic and Anaerobic Training

The purpose of this research study was to determine the difference in improvement rates between anaerobic and aerobic training. Over two, four week periods VO2max test and Wingate test were administered on 11 untrained students from a Northwest College. The hypothesis was anaerobic training would facilitate greater improvement rates in both VO2max accessed through use of metabolic cart and anaerobic performance assessed through use of a Wingate test. Depending on what systems an individual wants to improve in performance they should specifically stress the desired system. Overall participants who trained aerobically had a 13.01% average improvement (p=0.275) in the VO2max test compared to 8.18% average improvement (p=0.579) in the Wingate test. Participants who trained anaerobically had a 3.77% average improvement in VO2max (p=0.744) and also a 6.39% improvement (p=0.667) anaerobic performance. In conclusion, the statistical hypothesis was rejected because anaerobic training did not produce the most beneficial results due to training. The anaerobic training only had improvement in the Wingate test while the aerobic training had the biggest effect on the VO2max test. Results from this study indicate that individuals can improve at a faster rate in both aerobic and anaerobic capacity with aerobic training

A review of ventilation opening area terminology

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.02.053The design of a natural ventilation strategy requires the establishment of the location and size of a series of purpose provided ventilation openings (PPOs). The success of the design is dependent on knowledge of the aerodynamic performance of the PPOs often described by their geometry (normally an area) and resistance to airflow. The incorrect interpretation of this information can lead inappropriate ventilation strategies and buildings that overheat and have an excessive energy demand. Many definitions of PPO area are used by standards, guidelines, text books, and software tools. Each can be assigned multiple terms and a single term can be assigned to different definitions. There is evidence that this leads to errors in practice. An effective area of a PPO, defined as the product of its discharge coefficient and its free area, is proposed as a standard description because it is unambiguous and its measurement is governed by recognised standards. It is hoped that PPO manufacturers will provide an effective area as standard and that its use will be recognised as best practice. It is intended that these steps will reduce design errors and lead to successful natural ventilation strategies and better building

Family group conferences : what do they tell us about the importance of relationships?

[no abstract available

Methods to improve recruitment to randomised controlled trials : Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Fusion of RVG or gh625 to Iduronate-2-Sulfatase for the Treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II

Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPSII) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by a mutation in the IDS gene, resulting in deficiency of the enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase (IDS) causing heparan sulfate (HS) and dermatan sulfate (DS) accumulation in all cells. This leads to skeletal and cardiorespiratory disease with severe neurodegeneration in two thirds of sufferers. Enzyme replacement therapy is ineffective at treating neurological disease, as intravenously-delivered IDS is unable to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Haematopoietic stem cell transplant is also unsuccessful, presumably due to insufficient IDS enzyme production from transplanted cells engrafting in the brain. We used two different peptide sequences (RVG and gh625), both previously published as BBB-crossing peptides, fused to IDS and delivered via haematopoietic stem cell gene therapy (HSCGT). HSCGT with LV.IDS.RVG and LV.IDS.gh625 was compared to LV.IDS.ApoEII and LV.IDS in MPSII mice at 6-months post-transplant. Levels of IDS enzyme activity in the brain and peripheral tissues were lower in LV.IDS.RVG and LV.IDS.gh625 treated mice than in LV.IDS.ApoEII and LV.IDS treated mice, despite comparable vector copy numbers. Microgliosis, astrocytosis and lysosomal swelling were partially normalised in MPSII mice treated with LV.IDS.RVG and LV.IDS.gh625. Skeletal thickening was normalised by both treatments to wild-type levels. Although reductions in skeletal abnormalities and neuropathology are encouraging, given the low levels of enzyme activity compared to control tissue from LV.IDS and LV.IDS.ApoEII transplanted mice, the RVG and gh625 peptides are unlikely to be ideal candidates for HSCGT in MPSII, and are inferior to the ApoEII peptide that we have previously demonstrated to be more effective at correcting MPSII disease than IDS alone