Pre-Service and In-Service English as a Second Language Teachers’ Beliefs about the Use of Digital Technology in the Classroom

It has been long accepted that teachers’ beliefs guide their classroom practices (Borg, 2006; Fang, 1996; Pajares, 1992; Woods, 1996). Yet, in the current high-tech age and with the push by mainstream education to incorporate technology in language teaching, little is known about what teachers think and feel about technology integration. Using Borg’s (2006) framework of language teacher cognition, this study investigated the beliefs of pre-service and in-service English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers (n = 35) about the use of digital technology in the classroom and the factors that influence those beliefs. The participants completed a three-part beliefs’ questionnaire and some (n = 10) were later met for one-on-one interviews. The results suggest that while the teachers value technology and its use in the ESL classroom, the two groups differed in their subscribed beliefs. These differences were traced back to the teachers’ age, classroom practice, experiences with digital technology, context(s) in which digital technology was used, and the amount of technology-related training the teachers received

Paired Housing or a Socially-Paired Context Decreases Ethanol Conditioned Place Preference in Male Rats

Alcohol abuse dramatically affects individuals’ lives nationwide. The 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) estimated that 10.2% of Americans suffer from alcohol use disorder. Although social support has been shown to aid in general addiction prevention and rehabilitation, the benefits of social support are not entirely understood. The present study sought to compare the benefits of social interaction on the conditioned ethanol approach behavior in rats through a conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm in which a drug is paired with one of two distinct contexts. In experiment 1A, rats were single-housed and received conditioning trials in which ethanol was paired with the less preferred context. In experiment 1B, rats underwent procedures identical to experiment 1A, but were pair-housed throughout the paradigm. In experiment 1C, rats were single-housed, but concurrently conditioned to a socially-paired context and an ethanol-paired context. By comparing the time spent between the ethanol-paired environment and the saline-paired or socially-paired environment, we extrapolated the extent of ethanol approach behavior in the pair-housed, single-housed, and concurrently conditioned rats. Our results revealed that social interaction, both in pair-housed animals or concurrently socially-conditioned animals, diminished the ethanol approach behavior, which highlights the importance of social support in addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery programs

Oxytocin Attenuates Expression, but Not Acquisition, of Sucrose Conditioned Place Preference in Rats

Maladaptation of reward processing for natural rewards, such as sucrose or sugar, may play a role in the development of diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Furthermore, uncovering mechanisms to disrupt or reverse maladaptation of reward-seeking behaviors for natural reinforcers can provide insight into treatment of such diseases, as well as disorders such as addiction. As such, studying the effects of potential pharmacotherapeutics on maladaptive sugar-seeking behavior offers valuable clinical significance. Sucrose conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigms can offer insight into aspects of reward processes as it provides a way to assess acquisition and expression of context-reward associations. The present study examined the effect of peripheral oxytocin injections on sucrose CPP in rats. Oxytocin, when administered prior to CPP test, attenuated expression of sucrose CPP. However, oxytocin, when administered during sucrose conditioning, did not affect subsequent place preference. These findings suggest oxytocin sufficiently attenuates expression of sucrose-associated place preference

A new analysis technique to measure the W Production Charge Asymmetry at the Tevatron

We propose an analysis technique to directly measure W production charge asymmetry from W leptonic decay events at the Tevatron and show the feasibility for new analysis method using Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to be published in PRD rapid communication

Development and Implementation of a Pharmacist-managed Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Program

Purpose The development and implementation of a pharmacist-managed outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) program in a county teaching hospital are described. Summary A pharmacist-managed OPAT program was developed and implemented at a county teaching hospital to provide consistent evaluation, approval, and monitoring of patients requiring OPAT for the treatment of infection. The developmental and implementation stages of the OPAT program included (1) a needs assessment, (2) the identification of resources necessary for program operation, (3) delineation of general OPAT program operations and activities of individual OPAT clinicians, (4) the development of patient selection criteria, including a plan of care algorithm, and (5) acquisition of administrative support to approve the program. In this program, the OPAT pharmacist plays an integral role in the management and oversight of OPAT patients, working under a collaborative agreement with infectious diseases physicians. The OPAT pharmacist assists with appropriate patient and regimen selection, confirmation of orders on discharge, assuring that laboratory tests for safety surveillance are performed and evaluated, performing routine monitoring for adverse events and line complications, and assuring the removal of the vascular access device upon the completion of OPAT. Conclusion: The OPAT program provides structured monitoring, patient follow-up, and led to improvements in patient outcome with minimization of treatment and line-related adverse events

Digitally Calibrated TR Modules Enabling Real-Time Beamforming SweepSAR Architectures

SweepSAR, a novel radar architecture that depends on a DBF (digital beamforming) array, requires calibration accuracies that are order(s) of magnitude greater than is possible with traditional techniques, such as a priori characterization of TR (transmit/receive) modules in thermal vacuum chambers, or simple loop-back of the calibration signal. The advantages of a SweepSAR architecture are so great that it is worth applying significant resources to calibration efforts. Due to the nature of the DBF, each channel contains a digitizer and very powerful digital processor. Each channel can independently digitize (with the digitizer) and analyze (with the processor) its channel's unique calibration signal, and extract the relevant calibration parameters, namely channel gain and channel phase delay commonly referred to as the gain (or amplitude) and phase of the channel. Using the processor, each channel's gain and phase can theoretically be estimated with arbitrary precision through averaging a sufficiently large number of samples. Systematic errors and the changing gain and phase of the channels, typically due to temperature drifts, limits how long the averaging can occur, which limits the precision of the calibration estimate. However, results indicate that calibration knowledge of both the transmit and receive chains of each TR module can be improved by one or two orders of magnitude. Due to the digital nature of the receiver data, the channel's gain and phase may be corrected by a similar amount, while the transmit chain can only be corrected in a traditional manner. To implement Sweep SAR, the order of magnitude improvement in the knowledge of the channel's gain and phase is needed, and the control of the receiver to a similar level is required. Inherent to the DBF array is the individual digitization of each of the array's receiver channels. Current systems typically combine all of the analog signals in the array into one or two analog channels, which are then digitized and processed. All signal conditioning performed prior to digitization is done using analog hardware (which is less precise than digital signal conditioning and dependent on temperature). The DBF digitizes every signal prior to combining, and can therefore analyze and correct received signals, as well as analyze signals that are being transmitted through analog hardware (by sampling a copy and digitizing). Each channel of a DBF also has a powerful processor. With this combination, one is able to digitize, analyze, and correct each channel prior to its being combined. A unique factor is the ability to digitize and analyze (in real time) each of the array's channels independently, allowing one to achieve unprecedented knowledge of each channel's performance (gain and phase), and since the combining is done digitally, each receive channel can be corrected prior to combining. This enables an unprecedented level of accuracy and control through onboard processing. SweepSAR promises significant increases in instrument capability for solid earth and biomass remote sensing, while reducing mission mass and cost. This new instrument concept requires new methods for calibrating the multiple channels, which must be combined onboard, in real time. New methods are being developed for digitally calibrating digital beam-forming arrays to reduce development time, risk, and cost of precision calibrated TR modules for array architectures by accurately tracking modules' characteristics through closed-loop digital calibration, thus tracking systematic changes regardless of temperature.

Revealing the Charge Density Wave Proximity Effect in Graphene on 1T-TaS2_2

The proximity-effect, a phenomenon whereby materials in close contact appropriate each others electronic-properties, is widely used in nano-scale devices to induce electron-correlations at heterostructure interfaces. Layered group-V transition metal dichalcogenides host charge density waves and are expected to induce CDWs in a thin proximal 2D metal such as graphene. Thus far, however, the extremely large density of states of the TMDs compared to graphene have precluded efforts to unambiguously prove such proximity induced charge density waves (CDW). Here, using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS), we report the first conclusive evidence of a CDW proximity effect between graphene and the commensurate CDW in 1T-TaS$_2$ (TaS$_2$ for brevity). We exploit the Mott gap of 1T-TaS$_2$ to scan the sample at bias voltages wherein only the graphene layer contributes to the STM topography scans. Furthermore, we observe that graphene modifies the band structure at the surface of TaS$_2$, by providing mid-gap carriers and reducing the strength of electron correlations there. We show that the mechanism underlying the proximity induced CDW is well-described by short-range exchange interactions that are distinctly different from previously observed proximity effects.Comment: 33 pages, 15 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2201.0919

Suppression of hepcidin expression and iron overload mediate Salmonella susceptibility in ankyrin 1 ENU-induced mutant.

International audienceSalmonella, a ubiquitous Gram-negative intracellular bacterium, is a food borne pathogen that infects a broad range of hosts. Infection with Salmonella Typhimurium in mice is a broadly recognized experimental model resembling typhoid fever in humans. Using a N-ethyl-N-nitrosurea (ENU) mutagenesis recessive screen, we report the identification of Ity16 (Immunity to Typhimurium locus 16), a locus responsible for increased susceptibility to infection. The position of Ity16 was refined on chromosome 8 and a nonsense mutation was identified in the ankyrin 1 (Ank1) gene. ANK1 plays an important role in the formation and stabilization of the red cell cytoskeleton. The Ank1(Ity16/Ity16) mutation causes severe hemolytic anemia in uninfected mice resulting in splenomegaly, hyperbilirubinemia, jaundice, extramedullary erythropoiesis and iron overload in liver and kidneys. Ank1(Ity16/Ity16) mutant mice demonstrated low levels of hepcidin (Hamp) expression and significant increases in the expression of the growth differentiation factor 15 (Gdf15), erythropoietin (Epo) and heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1) exacerbating extramedullary erythropoiesis, tissue iron deposition and splenomegaly. As the infection progresses in Ank1(Ity16/Ity16), the anemia worsens and bacterial load were high in liver and kidneys compared to wild type mice. Heterozygous Ank1(+/Ity16) mice were also more susceptible to Salmonella infection although to a lesser extent than Ank1(Ity16/Ity16) and they did not inherently present anemia and splenomegaly. During infection, iron accumulated in the kidneys of Ank1(+/Ity16) mice where bacterial loads were high compared to littermate controls. The critical role of HAMP in the host response to Salmonella infection was validated by showing increased susceptibility to infection in Hamp-deficient mice and significant survival benefits in Ank1(+/Ity16) heterozygous mice treated with HAMP peptide. This study illustrates that the regulation of Hamp and iron balance are crucial in the host response to Salmonella infection in Ank1 mutants

Children infected vs. uninfected with COVID-19: Differences in parent reports of the use of mobile phones to calm children, routines, parent–child relationship, and developmental outcomes

Children were suggested to be at lower risk of developing the severe form of the COVID-19. However, children infected with COVID-19 may be more likely to experience biopsychosocial stressors associated with the pandemic and display poorer developmental outcomes. The current study is among the first to compare children infected and uninfected with COVID-19 on outcomes related to parents’ use of mobile phones to calm children, routines, parent–child relationship, externalizing and internalizing problems, prosocial behavior, gratitude, and happiness. A total of 1,187 parents (88.6% mothers) of children aged 5 to 12 completed an online survey between April 2022 and May 2022 when schools were suspended during the 5th wave of resurgence in Hong Kong. Our findings showed no substantial differences in various psychological, social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes between infected and uninfected children. Our findings can be used to educate parents to reduce their fear and anxieties associated with their children’s COVID-19 infection. Our findings also suggested that support during the pandemic should be provided to children and families regardless of whether children have been infected with COVID-19