Teaching Methods And Technologies: Aggregated Faculty Analysis, Conclusions And Recommendations Phase IV

This paper culminates three years of research on the use of various teaching technologies and methods by the faculty of Adelphi University School of Business in Garden City, New York. Previously, papers on this research were published on the development of the research instrument, the administration and data analysis for full time faculty (Part II), and most recently the analysis of data from adjunct faculty (Part III). This paper (Part IV) includes a number of new faculty additions to the data set and analyzes and interprets the aggregated data. Our overall findings suggest a wide variety of soft and hard technologies where the aggregate group expressed a statistically significant higher perceived “value of use” than a “level of use”. Newer classroom types were also valued more highly than used.    The research controlled for “department”, “status”, and “teaching experience”.  Factors tended to be non-significant with some interesting exceptions.  We note our conclusions, make policy recommendations, and suggest opportunities for expanded research

Enhanced Multi-Faceted Teaching Methods: Phase II

This paper is an extension of a previously published paper of the same name which created a matrix of soft and hard learning technologies and two evaluation scales measuring the value of use and level of use of various teaching technologies and methods for undergraduate and graduate students.  A questionnaire was subsequently developed to gather data from full time faculty on the actual classroom utilization and evaluation of sixteen “hard” and “soft” teaching technologies.  This paper represents the analysis of data from eighteen faculty members from the Adelphi University School of Business. The third phase of this research will gather data from adjunct faculty to develop comparisons between the two groups

Enhanced Multi-Faceted Teaching Methods: Phase III- Adjunct Faculty

This paper is the third in a series conducting research on teaching methods and technologies at Adelphi University School of Business. First, (Phase I) the methods and instrument were developed. Second, data from full time faculty was collected and analyzed (Phase II). Third, (Phase III) data has been collected concerning the extent of use and perceived value of use of various technologies from part-time faculty which we analyzed and compared to the results from the full-time faculty. The issues of part-time faculty attitudes toward technology and their use of technology to support teaching are important to the academic mission and emphasized under AACSB standards for business schools. In the environment studied, part-time faculty perceptions of the levels of use and their opinions of the value of use of various technologies were virtually indistinguishable from those of full-time faculty.  Neither departmental affiliation nor teaching experience was a significant factor in explaining the responses of part-time faculty.  The authors conclude that the part-time faculty cadre studied is highly socialized and consistent with the full-time faculty on the dimensions studied

Methods for Sampling of Airborne Viruses

Summary: To better understand the underlying mechanisms of aerovirology, accurate sampling of airborne viruses is fundamental. The sampling instruments commonly used in aerobiology have also been used to recover viruses suspended in the air. We reviewed over 100 papers to evaluate the methods currently used for viral aerosol sampling. Differentiating infections caused by direct contact from those caused by airborne dissemination can be a very demanding task given the wide variety of sources of viral aerosols. While epidemiological data can help to determine the source of the contamination, direct data obtained from air samples can provide very useful information for risk assessment purposes. Many types of samplers have been used over the years, including liquid impingers, solid impactors, filters, electrostatic precipitators, and many others. The efficiencies of these samplers depend on a variety of environmental and methodological factors that can affect the integrity of the virus structure. The aerodynamic size distribution of the aerosol also has a direct effect on sampler efficiency. Viral aerosols can be studied under controlled laboratory conditions, using biological or nonbiological tracers and surrogate viruses, which are also discussed in this review. Lastly, general recommendations are made regarding future studies on the sampling of airborne viruse

Airborne phages resistance to temperature and humidity

The use of aerosolized bacteriophages as surrogates to hazardous viruses could simplify and accelerate the discovery of links between viral components and their persistence in the airborne state under diverse environmental conditions. In this study, four structurally distinct lytic phages, MS2 (ssRNA), F6 (dsRNA), FX174 (ssDNA) and PR772 (dsDNA), were nebulised into a rotating chamber and exposed to various levels of relative humidity (RH) and temperature as well as to germicidal ultraviolet radiations. The aerosolized viral particles were allowed to remain airborne for up to fourteen hours before being sampled for analysis by plaque assays and quantitative PCR. Phages F6 and MS2 were most resistant at low levels of relative humidity whilst FX174 was more resistant at 80% RH. Phage F6 lost its infectivity immediately after exposure to 30°C and 80% RH. The infectivity of all tested phages rapidly declined as a function of the exposure time to UV-C radiations, phage MS2 being the most resistant. Taken altogether, our data indicate that these aerosolized phages behave differently under various environmental conditions and highlight the necessity of carefully selecting viral simulants in bioaerosols studies

Flow cytometry analysis of germinating Bacillus spores, using membrane potential dye

Germination of Bacillus anthracis spores is necessary for the transcription of plasmidic genes essential to the infection. Assessing germination potential is crucial to predict the risk associated with pathogenic Bacillus exposure. The aim of this study was to set up a viability assay based on membrane potential in order to predict the earliest germination event of spores. B. cereus and two strains of B. subtilis were used. The spores were isolated with a sodium bromide gradient. Approximately 107 spores were incubated at 37°C in tryptic soy broth (TSB). Aliquots were harvested at predetermined times and stained with 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide [DiOC6(3)] or with bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol [DiBAC4(3)]. Fluorescence characteristics were obtained using flow cytometry. The earliest detectable activation of membrane potential occurred after 15 min of incubation in TSB using DiOC6(3). Using DiBAC4(3), the earliest detectable signal was after 4 h of incubation. Control experiments using carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP)-treated spores did not show any change in the fluorescence intensity over time. Since no membrane potential and no germination were detected in CCCP-treated spores, the activation of membrane potential seems to be associated with germination. DiOC6(3) can be used as an early membrane potential indicator for spores. DiBAC4(3), by contrast, is not a early membrane potential marker

Rapid on-site detection of harmful algal blooms: real-time cyanobacteria identification using Oxford Nanopore sequencing

With the increasing occurrence and severity of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHAB) at the global scale, there is an urgent need for rapid, accurate, accessible, and cost-effective detection tools. Here, we detail the RosHAB workflow, an innovative, in-the-field applicable genomics approach for real-time, early detection of cHAB outbreaks. We present how the proposed workflow offers consistent taxonomic identification of water samples in comparison to traditional microscopic analyses in a few hours and discuss how the generated data can be used to deepen our understanding on cyanobacteria ecology and forecast HABs events. In parallel, processed water samples will be used to iteratively build the International cyanobacterial toxin database (ICYATOX; http://icyatox.ibis.ulaval.ca) containing the analysis of novel cyanobacterial genomes, including phenomics and genomics metadata. Ultimately, RosHAB will (1) improve the accuracy of on-site rapid diagnostics, (2) standardize genomic procedures in the field, (3) facilitate these genomics procedures for non-scientific personnel, and (4) identify prognostic markers for evidence-based decisions in HABs surveillance

A Barcode Screen for Epigenetic Regulators Reveals a Role for the NuB4/HAT-B Histone Acetyltransferase Complex in Histone Turnover

Dynamic modification of histone proteins plays a key role in regulating gene expression. However, histones themselves can also be dynamic, which potentially affects the stability of histone modifications. To determine the molecular mechanisms of histone turnover, we developed a parallel screening method for epigenetic regulators by analyzing chromatin states on DNA barcodes. Histone turnover was quantified by employing a genetic pulse-chase technique called RITE, which was combined with chromatin immunoprecipitation and high-throughput sequencing. In this screen, the NuB4/HAT-B complex, containing the conserved type B histone acetyltransferase Hat1, was found to promote histone turnover. Unexpectedly, the three members of this complex could be functionally separated from each other as well as from the known interacting factor and histone chaperone Asf1. Thus, systematic and direct interrogation of chromatin structure on DNA barcodes can lead to the discovery of genes and pathways involved in chromatin modification and dynamics