Undergraduate and Graduate Students’ Retrospective Perception of Flipped Learning in Dietetics Curricula

Most studies investigating flipped learning fail to assess how student perceptions of flipped learning may change once the class is complete, and students have a chance to reflect on the experience. Follow-up studies are needed to evaluate the sustainability of the benefits from flipped learning among students and how they feel it prepares them, if at all, for future classes and/or their professional lives. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore how graduate and undergraduate dietetics students retrospectively perceive a course that used flipped learning 2 years after they completed the course. Two focus groups with undergraduate (n=5) and graduate (n=6) students were conducted regarding their perception and experience in a flipped advanced metabolism class with the same instructor. Content analysis was applied to the focus group transcripts by two investigators. Six themes were discovered from the focus group transcripts: 1) metacognition and the learning process, 2) roles and responsibility for learning, 3) collaborative learning, 4) class experience, 5) adjustment to flipped learning, and 6) flipped learning is conditional. Overall, students felt that the flipped class helped them learn how they learn and they have to put in work to achieve deeper learning. Students thought that the class activities used in a flipped class were engaging, added variety, and allowed them to apply their knowledge. Students reflected that using flipped learning helped them build relationships in their class, created a safe space for questions, and there was more time and opportunities to ask questions vs. traditional lecture

Introduction: Early Childhood Symposium - Early Childhood Matters

Early childhood is a critical time in development when equality can be sustained, or inequality can take root. As a developmental period, it is marked by rapid neurological development, and thus the period from birth to three is a foundation for all future development. In early childhood, children’s critical need is developmental support through nurturing and responsive interactions in everyday activities and routines. Differences commonly emerge linked to the differences in children’s immediate ecologies. As the contributions to this symposium underscore, one of the major impacts on ecologies is income inequality, and in particular, poverty. While it is not the only factor contributing to early inequalities among children, it is certainly a major one. In addition, some children are subject to various traumas in their early years that create additional developmental hurdles. This symposium is an effort to break ground on these critical issues. Early childhood has been an area largely neglected by law. Here, we start the conversation about the role of law, as well as the intersecting roles of other disciplines, in developing new policies, whether designed to remove barriers and stumbling blocks, or to embrace a level of support and insure its provision to every child. The contributions by legal scholars as well as medical, public health, and early education scholars, demonstrate the broad questions that must be addressed—they provide a starting point that we hope others will follow

Experiences with the Streptococcus mutans in Lakota Sioux (SMILeS) Study: Risk Factors for Caries in American Indian Children 0-3 Years

Severe Early Childhood Caries (S-ECC) is a terribly aggressive and devastating disease that is all too common in lower socio-economic children, but none more so that what is encountered in American Indian Tribes. Nationwide, approximately 27% of 2-5 year olds have decay while 62% percent of American Indian/Alaska Native children in the same age group have a history of decay (IHS 2010, NHANES 1999-2002). We have conducted a study of children from birth to 36 months of age on Pine Reservation to gain a better understanding of the variables that come into play in the development of this disease, from transmission and acquisition of Streptococcus mutans genotypes from mother to child to multiple dietary and behavioral components. This article describes how we established a direct partnership with the Tribe and the many opportunities and challenges we faced in performing this 5-year field study

Unfolding kinetics of beta-lactoglobulin induced by surfactant and denaturant: a stopped-flow/fluorescence study

The beta ->alpha transition of beta-lactoglobulin, a globular protein abundant in the milk of several mammals, is investigated in this work. This transition, induced by the cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC), is accompanied by partial unfolding of the protein. In this work, unfolding of bovine beta-lactoglobulin in DTAC is compared with its unfolding induced by the chemical denaturant guanidine hydrochloride (GnHCl). The final protein states attained in the two media have quite different secondary structure: in DTAC the alpha-helical content increases, leading to the so-called alpha-state; in GnHCl the amount of ordered secondary-structure decreases, resulting in a random coil-rich final state (denatured, or D, state). To obtain information on both mechanistic routes, in DTAC and GnHCl, and to characterize intermediates, the kinetics of unfolding were investigated in the two media. Equilibrium and kinetic data show the partial accumulation of an on-pathway intermediate in each unfolding route: in DTAC, an intermediate (I-1) with mostly native secondary structure but loose tertiary structure appears between the native (beta) and alpha-states; in GnHCl, another intermediate (I-2) appears between states beta and D. Kinetic rate constants follow a linear Chevron-plot representation in GnHCl, but show a more complex mechanism in DTAC, which acts like a stronger binding species.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Frequently Identified Gaps in Antibiotic Stewardship Programs in Critical Access Hospitals

Background: Nebraska (NE) Infection Control Assessment and Promotion Program (ICAP) is a CDC funded project. ICAP team works in collaboration with NE Department of Health and Human Services (NEDHHS) to assess and improve infection prevention and control programs (IPCP) in various health care settings including resource limited settings like critical access hospitals (CAH). Little is known about the existing gaps in antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) of CAH. Hence, we decided to study the current level of ASP activities and factors associated with these activities in CAH. Methods: NE ICAP conducted on-site surveys in 36 CAH from October 2015 to February 2017. ASP activities related to the 7 CDC recommended core elements (CE) including leadership support (LS), accountability, drug expertise (DE), action, tracking, reporting, and education were assessed using a CDC Infection Control Assessment Tool for acute care hospitals. Descriptive analyses evaluated CAH characteristics and frequency of CE implementation. Fisher’s exact, Mann–Whitney, and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used for statistical analyses examining the association of various factors with level of ASP activities. Results: The 36 surveyed CAH had a median of 20 (range 10–25) beds and employed a median of 0.4 (range 0.1–1.6) infection preventionist (IP) full-time equivalent (FTE)/25-bed. Frequency of CE implementation varied among CAH with action and LS as the most (69%) and least (28%) frequently implemented elements, respectively. Close to half (47%) of surveyed CAH had implemented ≥4 CE but only 14% of facilities had all 7 CE. Median bed size and IP FTE/25-bed were similar among CAH with 0–2, 3-5, or ≥6 CE in place. CAH with LS or accountability for ASP implemented higher median numbers of the remaining CE compared with CAH without LS or accountability (5 vs. 2, P \u3c 0.01 and 4 vs. 2, P \u3c 0.01, respectively). Facilities with The presence of LS, accountability and drug expertise were more likely to have all 4 remaining CE implemented than others (56% vs. 8%, P \u3c 0.01). Conclusion: LS, accountability, and DE are important factors for the implementation of the remaining 4 CE in CAH. Although LS was the least frequently implemented CE, when present was associated with implementation of most of the other CE. Acquiring LS will facilitate implementation of additional ASP efforts in CAH.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/asap_pres/1000/thumbnail.jp

Methylseleninic acid promotes antitumour effects via nuclear FOXO3a translocation through Akt inhibition

Selenium supplement has been shown in clinical trials to reduce the risk of different cancers including lung carcinoma. Previous studies reported that the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic activities of methylseleninic acid (MSA) in cancer cells could be mediated by inhibition of the PI3K pathway. A better understanding of the downstream cellular targets of MSA will provide information on its mechanism of action and will help to optimize its use in combination therapies with PI3K inhibitors. For this study, the effects of MSA on viability, cell cycle, metabolism, apoptosis, protein and mRNA expression, and reactive oxygen species production were analysed in A549 cells. FOXO3a subcellular localization was examined in A549 cells and in stably transfected human osteosarcoma U2foxRELOC cells. Our results demonstrate that MSA induces FOXO3a nuclear translocation in A549 cells and in U2OS cells that stably express GFP-FOXO3a. Interestingly, sodium selenite, another selenium compound, did not induce any significant effects on FOXO3a translocation despite inducing apoptosis. Single strand break of DNA, disruption of tumour cell metabolic adaptations, decrease in ROS production, and cell cycle arrest in G1 accompanied by induction of apoptosis are late events occurring after 24h of MSA treatment in A549 cells. Our findings suggest that FOXO3a is a relevant mediator of the antiproliferative effects of MSA. This new evidence on the mechanistic action of MSA can open new avenues in exploiting its antitumour properties and in the optimal design of novel combination therapies. We present MSA as a promising chemotherapeutic agent with synergistic antiproliferative effects with cisplatin. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spain [SAF2011-25726]; Agencia de Gestio d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR)-Generalitat de Catalunya [2014SGR1017]; Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Spain [SAF2014-56059-R]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) Research Center [UID/BIM/04773/2013CBMR 1334]; National Institute of Health, USA [1R01CA118434-01A2, 1P01CA163223-01A1]; National Science Foundation, USA [EPS-0447479]; FCT [SFRH/BPD/84634/2012]; prize ICREA Academia for excellence in research; ICREA Foundation-Generalitat de Cataluny

Neonatal Administration of Thimerosal Causes Persistent Changes in Mu Opioid Receptors in the Rat Brain

Thimerosal added to some pediatric vaccines is suspected in pathogenesis of several neurodevelopmental disorders. Our previous study showed that thimerosal administered to suckling rats causes persistent, endogenous opioid-mediated hypoalgesia. Here we examined, using immunohistochemical staining technique, the density of μ-opioid receptors (MORs) in the brains of rats, which in the second postnatal week received four i.m. injections of thimerosal at doses 12, 240, 1,440 or 3,000 μg Hg/kg. The periaqueductal gray, caudate putamen and hippocampus were examined. Thimerosal administration caused dose-dependent statistically significant increase in MOR densities in the periaqueductal gray and caudate putamen, but decrease in the dentate gyrus, where it was accompanied by the presence of degenerating neurons and loss of synaptic vesicle marker (synaptophysin). These data document that exposure to thimerosal during early postnatal life produces lasting alterations in the densities of brain opioid receptors along with other neuropathological changes, which may disturb brain development

Intracellular coexpression of CXC- and CC– chemokine receptors and their ligands in human melanoma cell lines and dynamic variations after xenotransplantation

BackgroundChemokines have been implicated in tumor progression and metastasis. In melanoma, chemokine receptors have been implicated in organ selective metastasis by regulating processes such as chemoattraction, adhesion and survival.MethodsIn this study we have analyzed, using flow cytometry, the systems formed by the chemokine receptors CXCR3, CXCR4, CXCR7, CCR7 and CCR10 and their ligands in thirteen human melanoma cell lines (five established from primary tumors and eight established from metastasis from different tissues). WM-115 and WM-266.4 melanoma cell lines (obtained from a primary and a metastatic melanoma respectively) were xenografted in nude mice and the tumors and cell lines derived from them were also analyzed.ResultsOur results show that the melanoma cell lines do not express or express in a low degree the chemokine receptors on their cell surface. However, melanoma cell lines show intracellular expression of all the aforementioned receptors and most of their respective ligands. When analyzing the xenografts and the cell lines obtained from them we found variations in the intracellular expression of chemokines and chemokine receptors that differed between the primary and metastatic cell lines. However, as well as in the original cell lines, minute or no expression of the chemokine receptors was observed at the cell surface.ConclusionsCoexpression of chemokine receptors and their ligands was found in human melanoma cell lines. However, this expression is intracellular and receptors are not found at the cell membrane nor chemokines are secreted to the cell medium. The levels of expressed chemokine receptors and their ligands show dynamic variations after xenotransplantation that differ depending on the origin of the cell line (from primary tumor or from metastasis)

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE: Survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

© 2023 The Author(s) . Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366$-$959\,nm at $R\sim5000$, or two shorter ranges at $R\sim20\,000$. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for $\sim$3 million stars and detailed abundances for $\sim1.5$ million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey $\sim0.4$ million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey $\sim400$ neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in $z1$ million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at $z>2$. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator.Peer reviewe