609 research outputs found

    A Student Evaluation of Graduate Education Courses at South Dakota State College by 1956 Summer Session Graduate Students Who had Taken Work Prior to January 1, 1956

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    According to the Office of Admissions and Records, the enrollment in Graduate Education has greatly increased in the past few years. The number of students receiving their Masters Degree in Education has greatly increased since the first one was granted in 1930. A sampling of some of the years revealed that one student received his Masters Degree in 1948, two in 1949 and five in 1951. In 1955 the number of graduates had risen to nine. By the end of the 1956 Summer Session, twenty-six students will have been granted a Masters Degree in Education and it is likely that the trend will continue in future years. The importance of the Graduate Education Program is not concerned only with the graduate students, but also those who are the recipients of their instruction. It was felt that a student evaluation of the courses would present a satisfactory basis for judging the success of the Graduate Education Program. It would appear that the best method of evaluating a Graduate Program in Education would be by an examination of the ultimate production the student in the elementary or secondary school. Such a study is so involved and time-consuming as to be impractical. This study was based on the opinions of mature adults who have had opportunities to test the value of these courses under actual school situations. After all, who is more competent to judge the practical value of a course than the individual who makes use of it? Finally, it must be emphasized that this study represents the opinions of people. The fact that it is based on judgment does not detract from its value. Graduate students will continue to influence others and to be influenced themselves by the opinions which they have formed. This study is an attempt to discover those opinions, with hope that the Graduate Program in Education and Psychology may continue to be of the greatest possible value in meeting the needs of teachers and administrators. The purpose of this study of the Graduate Program in Education and Psychology at South Dakota State College is four-fold: To serve as a guide in future curriculum development. To enable graduate students to select those courses that are most likely to meet their needs. To encourage the use of material in graduate courses that will meet the needs of teachers and administrators in the school. To show the relationship between some of the factors involved in this study and the number of graduate courses taken. It is important that the administration and faculty know how the needs of the graduate students have been met. The criticism or praise of a few individuals would shed little light upon the total situation. It is the author’s desire to obtain enough information so that the perspective of the graduate student can be seen. This study is not an attempt to rate the efficiency of the faculty. It is merely an attempt to discover how practical these courses have been in actual school situations. It is conceivable that a course with an excellent job of instruction might rate low in the opinion of some students, when judged by its practical value in the classroom. The curriculum of the Graduate Education Division, like those of the elementary school, the high school, and the college has been developed for the purpose of meeting the needs of the students. The problem lies in determining when these needs have been met. The degree of satisfaction that the graduate students express will help to serve as an index in determining the success of the Graduate Program in Education and Psychology. Many students who begin taking graduate work have little understanding of the graduate program. The courses he pursues should contribute to fulfilling his needs. These needs will vary according to the individual and the end that he has in view. It is hoped that the opinions of the students who have taken these courses and have applied them in their schools will help to serve as a guidepost in choosing courses which are most likely to be of value to him

    Glucose Metabolism in CD4+ T cell Subsets Modulates Inflammation and Autoimmunity

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    <p>Understanding the mechanisms that control T cell function and differentiation is crucial to develop new strategies to modulate immune function and prevent autoimmune and inflammatory disease. The balance between effector (Teff; Th1, Th2 and Th17) and regulatory (Treg) T cells is critical to provide an appropriate, but not excessive, immune response and therapies to induce Treg or inhibit Teff are likely promising treatment strategies. It has recently become clear that T cell metabolism is important in both T cell activation and differentiation. T cells undergo a metabolic reprogramming upon activation and not all differentiated T cell subsets utilize the same metabolic fuels or programs.</p><p>These metabolic differences are not trivial, as T cell metabolism is tightly</p><p>regulated and dysregulation can lead to cell death or reduced immunity. An</p><p>understanding of the metabolic differences between Teff and Treg may lead to a new direction for treating inflammatory diseases by modulating the Teff:Treg balance through metabolic inhibition. Previous studies have shown that Teff express higher levels of the glucose transporter Glut1 than Treg, however the role of Glut1, and importantly, the cell-intrinsic role of glucose metabolism in T cell differentiation and inflammation was not previously examined. The work presented here examines the role of Glut1 in T cell differentiation. We show that effector CD4 T cells were dependent on Glut1 for proliferation and function both in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, Treg were Glut1-independent and capable of suppressing colitis in the absence of Glut1 expression.</p><p>Additionally, previous studies have shown broad metabolic differences between Teff and Treg, however the specific metabolic profiles of Teff and Treg are poorly understood. Here, Teff and Treg metabolism is examined to test if dependence on distinct metabolic pathways will allow selective targeting of different T cell populations. We show that pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDHK1) is differentially expressed in the T cell subsets and inhibition of PDHK1 selectively suppresses Th17 and promotes Treg differentiation and function. Because Teff and Treg have distinct metabolic profiles, we hypothesized that the Treg-­specific transcription factor FoxP3 may drive the Treg oxidative metabolic program. We therefore examined the role of FoxP3 in T cell metabolism and determined that FoxP3 promotes glucose and lipid oxidation and suppresses glycolytic metabolism. Importantly, we show that promoting glycolysis with transgenic expression of Glut1 inhibits Treg suppressive capacity. Together, these data suggest that FoxP3 drives an oxidative metabolic program that is critical to Treg function. Overall, this work examines the metabolic phenotypes and regulation of Teff and Treg and potential metabolic targets that could be used to treat autoimmune and inflammatory disease.</p>Dissertatio

    Consensus recommendations for transcranial color-coded duplex sonography for the assessment of intracranial arteries in clinical trials on acute stroke

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    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Transcranial color-coded duplex sonography has become a standard diagnostic technique to assess the intracranial arterial status in acute stroke. It is increasingly used for the evaluation of prognosis and the success of revascularization in multicenter trials. The aim of this international consensus procedure was to develop recommendations on the methodology and documentation to be used for assessment of intracranial occlusion and for monitoring of recanalization. METHODS: Thirty-five experts participated in the consensus process. The presented recommendations were approved during a meeting of the consensus group in October 2008 in Giessen, Germany. The project was an initiative of the German Competence Network Stroke and performed under the auspices of the Neurosonology Research Group of the World Federation of Neurology. RESULTS: Recommendations are given on how examinations should be performed in the time-limited situation of acute stroke, including criteria to assess the quality of the acoustic bone window, the use of echo contrast agents, and the evaluation of intracranial vessel status. The important issues of the examiners' training and experience, the documentation, and analysis of study results are addressed. One central aspect was the development of standardized criteria for diagnosis of arterial occlusion. A transcranial color-coded duplex sonography recanalization score based on objective hemodynamic criteria is introduced (consensus on grading intracranial flow obstruction [COGIF] score). CONCLUSIONS: This work presents consensus statements in an attempt to standardize the application of transcranial color-coded duplex sonography in the setting of acute stroke research, aiming to improve the reliability and reproducibility of the results of future stroke studies

    Numerical modeling of microplastic interaction with fine sediment under estuarine conditions

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    Microplastic (MP) pollution is an important challenge for human life which has consequently affected the natural system of other organisms. Mismanagement and also careless handling of plastics in daily life has led to an accelerating contamination of air, water and soil compartments with MP. Under estuarine conditions, interactions with suspended particulate matter (SPM) like fine sediment in the water column play an important role on the fate of MP. Further studies to better understand the corresponding transport and accumulation mechanisms are required. This paper aims at providing a new modeling approach improving the MP settling velocity formulation based on higher suspended fine sediment concentrations, as i.e. existent in estuarine turbidity zones (ETZ). The capability of the suggested approach is examined through the modeling of released MP transport in water and their interactions with fine sediment (cohesive sediment/fluid mud). The model results suggest higher concentrations of MP in ETZ, both in the water column as well as the bed sediment, which is also supported by measurements. The key process in the modeling approach is the integration of small MP particles into estuarine fine sediment aggregates. This is realized by means of a threshold sediment concentration, above which the effective MP settling velocity increasingly approaches that of the sediment aggregates. The model results are in good agreement with measured MP mass concentrations. Moreover, the model results also show that lighter small MP particles can easier escape the ETZ towards the open sea

    Facilitation of oral sensitivity by electrical stimulation of the faucial pillars

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    Dysphagia is common in neurological disease. However, our understanding of swallowing and its central nervous control is limited. Sensory information plays a vital role in the initiation of the swallowing reflex and is often reduced in stroke patients. We hypothesized that the sensitivity threshold of the anterior faucial pillar could be facilitated by either electrical stimulation (ES) or taste and smell information. The sensitivity threshold was measured by ES in the anterior faucial pillar region. The measurement was repeated 5 min after baseline. Thirty minutes after baseline, the participants underwent a test for taste and smell. Immediately after the test, the ES was repeated. Thirty healthy volunteers with a mean age of 275.1 participated in the trial. Mean sensitivity threshold at baseline was 1.9 +/- 0.59 mA. The values 5 min after baseline (1.74 +/- 0.56 mA, p=0.027) and 30 min after baseline (1.67 +/- 0.58 mA, p=0.011) were significantly lower compared to the baseline, but there was no difference between the latter (p=0.321). After 5 min, a potentially facilitating effect was found on oral sensitivity by ES of the faucial pillar area. Thirty minutes later, this effect was still present. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03240965. Registered 7th August 2017-https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03240965

    Pretreatment with a novel aquaporin 4 inhibitor, TGN-020, significantly reduces ischemic cerebral edema

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    We investigated the in vivo effects of a novel aquaporin 4 (AQP4) inhibitor 2-(nicotinamide)-1,3,4-thiadiazole, TGN-020, in a mouse model of focal cerebral ischemia using 7.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Pretreatment with TGN-020 significantly reduced brain edema associated with brain ischemia, as reflected by percentage of brain swelling volume (%BSV), 12.1 ± 6.3% in the treated group, compared to (20.8 ± 5.9%) in the control group (p < 0.05), and in the size of cortical infarction as reflected by the percentage of hemispheric lesion volume (%HLV), 20.0 ± 7.6% in the treated group, compared to 30.0 ± 9.1% in the control group (p < 0.05). The study indicated the potential pharmacological use of AQP4 inhibition in reducing brain edema associated with focal ischemia
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