Community tracking in a cMOOC and nomadic learner behavior identification on a connectivist rhizomatic learning network

This article contributes to the literature on connectivism, connectivist MOOCs (cMOOCs) and rhizomatic learning by examining participant interactions, community formation and nomadic learner behavior in a particular cMOOC, #rhizo15, facilitated for 6 weeks by Dave Cormier. It further focuses on what we can learn by observing Twitter interactions particularly. As an explanatory mixed research design, Social Network Analysis and content analysis were employed for the purposes of the research. SNA is used at the macro, meso and micro levels, and content analysis of one week of the MOOC was conducted using the Community of Inquiry framework. The macro level analysis demonstrates that communities in a rhizomatic connectivist networks have chaotic relationships with other communities in different dimensions (clarified by use of hashtags of concurrent, past and future events). A key finding at the meso level was that as #rhizo15 progressed and number of active participants decreased, interaction increased in overall network. The micro level analysis further reveals that, though completely online, the nature of open online ecosystems are very convenient to facilitate the formation of community. The content analysis of week 3 tweets demonstrated that cognitive presence was the most frequently observed, while teaching presence (teaching behaviors of both facilitator and participants) was the lowest. This research recognizes the limitations of looking only at Twitter when #rhizo15 conversations occurred over multiple platforms frequented by overlapping but not identical groups of people. However, it provides a valuable partial perspective at the macro meso and micro levels that contribute to our understanding of community-building in cMOOCs

The Maine Annex, vol. 2, no. 7

The Maine Annex, covers pre-holiday celebrations and events including the Maine Masque production of the play State of the Union featuring Carol Besse, Bob Townsend, Beatrice Hanson, George Morse, Emile Genest, and George Phocas

The Maine Annex, vol. 2, no. 3

The Maine Annex covered a campus visit and presentation by Comander Donald B. MacMillan featuring his Kodachrome motion pictures

Exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals during gestation lowers energy expenditure and impairs skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in adult mice

© 2016 the American Physiological Society. We have investigated the effects of in utero exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) on growth, metabolism, energy utilization, and skeletal muscle mitochondria in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. Pregnant mice were treated with laboratory-generated, combustion derived particular matter (MCP230). The adult offspring were placed on a high-fat diet for 12 wk, after which we observed a 9.8% increase in their body weight. The increase in body size observed in the MCP230-exposed mice was not associated with increases in food intake but was associated with a reduction in physical activity and lower energy expenditure. The reduced energy expenditure in mice indirectly exposed to MCP230 was associated with reductions in skeletal muscle mitochondrial DNA copy number, lower mRNA levels of electron transport genes, and reduced citrate synthase activity. Upregulation of key genes involved in ameliorating oxidative stress was also observed in the muscle of MCP230-exposed mice. These findings suggest that gestational exposure to MCP230 leads to a reduction in energy expenditure at least in part through alterations to mitochondrial metabolism in the skeletal muscle

The Maine Annex, vol. 2, no. 10

The Maine Anne

Learning to be Human Together

This project is made possible with funding by the Government of Ontario and through eCampusOntario’s support of the Virtual Learning Strategy.I. Come On InII. The Modules (1-4)III. OutroIV. Some Things We Picked Up & Take EverythingThis resource explores what humanizing teaching and learning means: to acknowledge that our relationships are foundational to the work that we do. It means to make learning inclusive with connection, access, and meaning-making at its core. When you have something to say that you hope can empower people and encourage inclusion you yell it from the rooftops and in as many formats as possible. To that end, you will find the materials of this project in a number of formats — to meet you where you are and how YOU choose to interact with it. This is just the beginning of what we hope will be a deeply humanized experience. This material is not a book, nor a guide, nor a checklist–it’s an engagement with complex issues, with social entanglements, and with ways of doing (and not doing) things. This work also foregrounds the importance of twelve core super themes, such as trust, vulnerability, re-framing failure, and friction. These super themes are not discrete units or siloed entities, rather they are multi-layered ideas that intersect and weave together across the humanizing learning spectrum. Module 1: Unlearning & Unsettling. How do we know what we know and what is our educational value system? To move forward, we must interrogate our teaching and learning practices - the work of unlearning and unsettling. This module explores how the process is more important than the outcome, and highlights the importance of moving slowly, giving ourselves time to think, process, and reflect. Module 2: Students as Agents of the own Diverse Destiny. This module explores the importance and role of vulnerability and failure in humanizing learning. It emphasizes that we are all learning and explores how, since education is relational, power is especially present. Module 3: Co-Creating Inclusive Communities. This module acknowledges that diversity is our greatest asset, with inclusion being our most important challenge. It explores community guidelines, participation standards, ethics, social justice, co-design and co-creation, and highlights how these concepts can fundamentally challenge and disrupt power. Module 4: Sustaining Change. This module acknowledges that change is hard. How can we sustain change, complexity, and care in a system that was not designed for what our society demands of it? How do we foreground care and frame it as a reciprocal process? This module explores this apparent friction and highlights steps we can take to make this work both foundational and sustainable. This resource also includes an exploration of the co-design experience - the process of creating and nurturing a community that collectively did this work. Coming out the other side of this work are a group of people who came together to share our love for learning and our passion for education. We hope you find something here that changes even one small aspect of how you move through the world

Androgen receptor agonists increase lean mass, improve cardiopulmonary functions and extend survival in preclinical models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

© The Author 2017. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a neuromuscular disease that predominantly affects boys as a result of mutation(s) in the dystrophin gene. DMD is characterized by musculoskeletal and cardiopulmonary complications, resulting in shorter life-span. Boys afflicted by DMD typically exhibit symptoms within 3-5 years of age and declining physical functions before attaining puberty. We hypothesized that rapidly deteriorating health of pre-pubertal boys with DMD could be due to diminished anabolic actions of androgens in muscle, and that intervention with an androgen receptor (AR) agonist will reverse musculoskeletal complications and extend survival. While castration of dystrophin and utrophin double mutant (mdx-dm) mice to mimic pre-pubertal nadir androgen condition resulted in premature death, maintenance of androgen levels extended the survival. Non-steroidal selective-AR modulator, GTx-026, which selectively builds muscle and bone was tested in X-linked muscular dystrophy mice (mdx). GTx-026 significantly increased body weight, lean mass and grip strength by 60-80% over vehicle-treated mdx mice. While vehicle-treated castrated mdx mice exhibited cardiopulmonary impairment and fibrosis of heart and lungs, GTx-026 returned cardiopulmonary function and intensity of fibrosis to healthy control levels. GTx-026 elicits its musculoskeletal effects through pathways that are distinct from dystrophin-regulated pathways, making AR agonists ideal candidates for combination approaches. While castration of mdx-dm mice resulted in weaker muscle and shorter survival, GTx-026 treatment increased the muscle mass, function and survival, indicating that androgens are important for extended survival. These preclinical results support the importance of androgens and the need for intervention with AR agonists to treat DMD-affected boys

Radio studies of galaxy formation: Dense Gas History of the Universe

Line and continuum studies at centimeter through submillimeter wavelengths address probe deep into the earliest, most active and dust obscured phases of galaxy formation, and reveal the molecular and cool atomic gas. We summarize the techniques of radio astronomy to perform these studies, then review the progress on radio studies of galaxy formation. The dominant work over the last decade has focused on massive, luminous starburst galaxies (submm galaxies and AGN host galaxies). The far infrared luminosities are ~ 1e13 Lsun, implying star formation rates, SFR > 1e3 Msun/year. Molecular gas reservoirs are found with masses: M(H_2) > 1e10 (alpha/0.8}) Msun. The CO excitation in these luminous systems is much higher than in low redshift spiral galaxies. Imaging of the gas distribution and dynamics suggests strongly interacting and merging galaxies, indicating gravitationally induced, short duration (~ 1e7 year) starbursts. These systems correspond to a major star formation episode in massive galaxies in proto-clusters at intermediate to high redshift. Recently, radio observations have probed the more typical star forming galaxy population (SFR ~ 100 Msun/year), during the peak epoch of Universal star formation (z ~ 1.5 to 2.5). These observations reveal massive gas reservoirs without hyper-starbursts, and show that active star formation occurs over a wide range in galaxy stellar mass. The conditions in this gas are comparable to those found in the Milky Way disk. A key result is that the peak epoch of star formation in the Universe also corresponds to an epoch when the baryon content of star forming galaxies was dominated by molecular gas, not stars. We consider the possibility of tracing out the dense gas history of the Universe, and perform initial, admittedly gross, calculations. ABRIDGEDComment: aastex format, 21figures, Review for the Astronomische Gesellschaft to appear in Astronomische Nachrichte

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements