The impact of social motivation on cooperative learning and assessment preferences

This study explores the assessment preferences of 453 postgraduate business students in New Zealand, Australia, and Thailand using a survey linking motivational and educational preferences. This study compares the needs of Western students (Australian and New Zealand), Asian (Thai) and international students (predominantly Chinese and Indian students) in Australia and New Zealand (ANZAC). One major finding is that students from these three countries who are socially motivated prefer 'cooperative learning'. Further, the study specifically shows that students from Thailand are more socially motivated than students from Australia and New Zealand (ANZAC) while International ANZAC students have the greatest desire for cooperative learning. It also shows that group assessment poses quite significant challenges for local ANZAC students and therefore, remedial intervention from universities is essential if group assessments are to remain relevant and useful in achieving meaningful teaching and learning outcomes. © 2011 eContent Management

Gene expression profiling of canine osteosarcoma reveals genes associated with short and long survival times

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gene expression profiling of spontaneous tumors in the dog offers a unique translational opportunity to identify prognostic biomarkers and signaling pathways that are common to both canine and human. Osteosarcoma (OS) accounts for approximately 80% of all malignant bone tumors in the dog. Canine OS are highly comparable with their human counterpart with respect to histology, high metastatic rate and poor long-term survival. This study investigates the prognostic gene profile among thirty-two primary canine OS using canine specific cDNA microarrays representing 20,313 genes to identify genes and cellular signaling pathways associated with survival. This, the first report of its kind in dogs with OS, also demonstrates the advantages of cross-species comparison with human OS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The 32 tumors were classified into two prognostic groups based on survival time (ST). They were defined as short survivors (dogs with poor prognosis: surviving fewer than 6 months) and long survivors (dogs with better prognosis: surviving 6 months or longer). Fifty-one transcripts were found to be differentially expressed, with common upregulation of these genes in the short survivors. The overexpressed genes in short survivors are associated with possible roles in proliferation, drug resistance or metastasis. Several deregulated pathways identified in the present study, including Wnt signaling, Integrin signaling and Chemokine/cytokine signaling are comparable to the pathway analysis conducted on human OS gene profiles, emphasizing the value of the dog as an excellent model for humans.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A molecular-based method for discrimination of outcome for short and long survivors is useful for future prognostic stratification at initial diagnosis, where genes and pathways associated with cell cycle/proliferation, drug resistance and metastasis could be potential targets for diagnosis and therapy. The similarities between human and canine OS makes the dog a suitable pre-clinical model for future 'novel' therapeutic approaches where the current research has provided new insights on prognostic genes, molecular pathways and mechanisms involved in OS pathogenesis and disease progression.</p

A preliminary study of brain macrovascular reactivity in impaired glucose tolerance and type-2 diabetes: Quantitative internal carotid artery blood flow using magnetic resonance phase contrast angiography.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were (1) to examine cerebrovascular autoregulation in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes and (2) to clarify whether cardiovascular autonomic nerve function is associated with abnormal cerebrovascular autoregulation. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Totally, 46 subjects were recruited (12 = impaired glucose tolerance, 17 = type 2 diabetes and 17 = healthy volunteers). Arterial blood flow was assessed within the internal carotid artery at baseline and 20 min after intravenous pharmacological stress (1 g acetazolamide), using quantitative magnetic resonance phase-contrast angiography. Internal carotid artery vascular reactivity and pulsatility index was determined. All subjects underwent baroreceptor reflex sensitivity assessment. RESULTS: Subjects with impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes had significantly lower internal carotid artery vascular reactivity [40.2%(19.8) and 41.5%(18.7)], respectively, compared with healthy volunteers [57.0%(14.2); analysis of variance, p = 0.02]. There was no significant difference in internal carotid artery vascular reactivity between type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance groups (p = 0.84). There was a significant positive correlation between baroreceptor reflex sensitivity (low frequency:high frequency) with cardiac rhythm variability (ρ = 0.47, p = 0.04) and PI (ρ = 0.46, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated significant cerebrovascular haemodynamic abnormalities in subjects with type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. This was associated with greater sympathovagal imbalance. This may provide an important mechanistic explanation for increased risk of cerebrovascular disease in diabetes. It also highlights that these abnormalities may already be present in prediabetes

Multiple circulating cytokines are coelevated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Inflammatory biomarkers, including cytokines, are associated with COPD, but the association of particular circulating cytokines with systemic pathology remains equivocal. To investigate this, we developed a protein microarray system to detect multiple cytokines in small volumes of serum. Fourteen cytokines were measured in serum from never-smokers, ex-smokers, current smokers, and COPD patients (GOLD stages 1–3). Certain individual circulating cytokines (particularly TNFa and IL-1b) were significantly elevated in concentration in the serum of particular COPD patients (and some current/ex-smokers without COPD) and may serve as markers of particularly significant systemic inflammation. However, numerous circulating cytokines were raised such that their combined, but not individual, elevation was significantly associated with severity of disease, and these may be further indicators of, and contributors to, the systemic inflammatory manifestations of COPD. The coelevation of numerous circulating cytokines in COPD is consistent with the insidious development, chronic nature, and systemic comorbidities of the disease

Fusion Techniques in Biomedical Information Retrieval

For difficult cases clinicians usually use their experience and also the information found in textbooks to determine a diagnosis. Computer tools can help them supply the relevant information now that much medical knowledge is available in digital form. A biomedical search system such as developed in the Khresmoi project (that this chapter partially reuses) has the goal to fulfil information needs of physicians. This chapter concentrates on information needs for medical cases that contain a large variety of data, from free text, structured data to images. Fusion techniques will be compared to combine the various information sources to supply cases similar to an example case given. This can supply physicians with answers to problems similar to the one they are analyzing and can help in diagnosis and treatment planning

Prevalence and risk factors of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in livestock and companion animal in high-risk areas in Malaysia

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is vector-borne zoonotic disease which causes encephalitis in humans and horses. Clinical signs for Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection are not clearly evident in the majority of affected animals. In Malaysia, information on the prevalence of JEV infection has not been established. Thus, a cross-sectional study was conducted during two periods, December 2015 to January 2016 and March to August in 2016, to determine the prevalence and risk factors in JEV infections among animals and birds in Peninsular Malaysia. Serum samples were harvested from the 416 samples which were collected from the dogs, cats, water birds, village chicken, jungle fowls, long-tailed macaques, domestic pigs, and cattle in the states of Selangor, Perak, Perlis, Kelantan, and Pahang. The serum samples were screened for JEV antibodies by commercial IgG ELISA kits. A questionnaire was also distributed to obtain information on the animals, birds, and the environmental factors of sampling areas. The results showed that dogs had the highest seropositive rate of 80% (95% CI: ± 11.69) followed by pigs at 44.4% (95% CI: ± 1.715), cattle at 32.2% (95% CI: ± 1.058), birds at 28.9% (95% CI: ± 5.757), cats at 15.6% (95% CI: ± 7.38), and monkeys at 14.3% (95% CI: ± 1.882). The study also showed that JEV seropositivity was high in young animals and in areas where mosquito vectors and migrating birds were prevalent

Detection of Japanese Encephalitis virus in free roamer cats in Malaysia

lntroduction: Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV) is transmitted by mosquitoes of lhe Culex species and responsible of viral encephalitis in Asia and it is endemic in Malaysia since 1998. Cats and dogs are reported to be susceptible to JEV infection but high positivity was reported in the latter species. The study is conducted to determine if local cats are susceptible to infection by circulating JEV. Methods: The free roaming cats in Klang Valley were chosen since they are possibly exposed to the mosquitoes throughout their life span as compared to indoor cats. About 3ml blood were withdrawn from L2 Domestic Short Hair cats through jugular venipuncture (IACUC No. UPM/IACUC/AUP-R008/2015). Blood plasma was subjected to two steps RT-PCR assay by using non-structural protein NS3 region, and sequenced. Result: Of 12 blood samples, five were positive for JEV with PCR product of approximately 600 bps. Phylogenetic analyses of three amplicons revealed that the local strains are clade together with 97% bootstrap value with JEV strain Nakayama (HE861351); iEV isolated from Rousettus leschenaulti (JF7052S5 and FJ185036) and from Murino ouroto (FJL85037) in which both are reported in China. Conclusion: Free roamer cats are susceptible to JEV infection. More cats should be screened for iEV to determine their seropositivity. Serosurvey of companion animals may accurately reflect risk of humans since these animals are normally owned by household and cats may be one of the sentinel animals for surveillance

Germline EPHB2 Receptor Variants in Familial Colorectal Cancer

Familial clustering of colorectal cancer occurs in 15–20% of cases, however recognized cancer syndromes explain only a small fraction of this disease. Thus, the genetic basis for the majority of hereditary colorectal cancer remains unknown. EPHB2 has recently been implicated as a candidate tumor suppressor gene in colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of EPHB2 to hereditary colorectal cancer. We screened for germline EPHB2 sequence variants in 116 population-based familial colorectal cancer cases by DNA sequencing. We then estimated the population frequencies and characterized the biological activities of the EPHB2 variants identified. Three novel nonsynonymous missense alterations were detected. Two of these variants (A438T and G787R) result in significant residue changes, while the third leads to a conservative substitution in the carboxy-terminal SAM domain (V945I). The former two variants were found once in the 116 cases, while the V945I variant was present in 2 cases. Genotyping of additional patients with colorectal cancer and control subjects revealed that A438T and G787R represent rare EPHB2 alleles. In vitro functional studies show that the G787R substitution, located in the kinase domain, causes impaired receptor kinase activity and is therefore pathogenic, whereas the A438T variant retains its receptor function and likely represents a neutral polymorphism. Tumor tissue from the G787R variant case manifested loss of heterozygosity, with loss of the wild-type allele, supporting a tumor suppressor role for EPHB2 in rare colorectal cancer cases. Rare germline EPHB2 variants may contribute to a small fraction of hereditary colorectal cancer

Expression of Snail2 in long bone osteosarcomas correlates with tumour malignancy

Snail2 is a marker of malignancy in epithelial tumours; however, in sarcomas, it is not known if this protein is present. Here we examine the expression of Snail2 in one type of sarcoma, osteosarcoma, and explore its relationship to tumour grade, subtype and anatomical location in cases of long bone and cranial bone osteosarcoma. Long bone osteosarcomas typically have a much greater metastatic capability and a poorer prognosis. We find that Snail2 is expressed in the three main subtypes of long bone osteosarcoma—osteoblastic, chondroblastic and fibroblastic. Regression analysis showed that Snail 2 expression was statistically correlated with tumour grade (p = 0.014) in all of these subtypes. Snail2 was only expressed in high-grade cranial bone osteosarcomas, suggesting a link between Snail2 expression and metastasis. This is the first time Snail2 has been associated with any sarcoma, and this study shows that Snail2 may be a useful prognostic marker for this disease