Students’ experiences with different learning pathways to higher professional bachelor programmes

Context: In the Dutch educational system, different learning pathways to higher professional bachelor (or HBO) programmes have been created: the regular VET route, the general secondary education route, and continuing learning pathways (such as the Green Lyceum or GL) that combine characteristics of these two traditional routes and that are specifically designed for students who combine a relatively high cognitive level with an affinity for practical, vocation-oriented assignments. Approach: The present study aimed to compare the experiences of students coming from these three different learning pathways to HBO. 62 former GL students, 127 former middle-management VET (or MBO) students, and 81 former regular general secondary education (or HAVO) students completed an online questionnaire on their experiences in their first HBO study year and their scores on the various scales were compared. Findings: Students from the three groups were equally satisfied with their current HBO programme. The same pattern was found for perceived study success in their HBO programme. Former GL students, however, mentioned that they had been better prepared in terms of development of study skills needed in HBO. Compared with the MBO route to HBO, former GL students felt better prepared in terms of the theoretical subjects addressed in their previous educational programme. In this regard, their level of theoretical preparation was comparable to that of former HAVO students. When the vocation-oriented aspects of education were concerned, however, the GL appeared to be comparable with the MBO route to HBO (in the HAVO curriculum, vocation-oriented preparation for HBO is absent). Moreover, former HAVO students scored lower than former GL and former MBO students with respect to the extent to which they felt that they had received support in choosing a particular HBO programme in their previous educational programme. Conclusion: The GL seems to combine the advantages of MBO and HAVO programmes for this particular group of students: theoretical preparation for HBO at HAVO level combined with practical preparation at MBO level, systematic career orientation and guidance, and development of study skills required in HBO. In other words, such continuing learning pathways can be a curriculum design solution for specific student groups to promote their transition to HBO. (DIPF/Orig.

Students’ experiences with different learning pathways to higher professional bachelor programmes

Context: In the Dutch educational system, different learning pathways to higher professional bachelor (or HBO) programmes have been created: the regular VET route, the general secondary education route, and continuing learning pathways (such as the Green Lyceum or GL) that combine characteristics of these two traditional routes and that are specifically designed for students who combine a relatively high cognitive level with an affinity for practical, vocation-oriented assignments. Approach: The present study aimed to compare the experiences of students coming from these three different learning pathways to HBO. 62 former GL students, 127 former middle-management VET (or MBO) students, and 81 former regular general secondary education (or HAVO) students completed an online questionnaire on their experiences in their first HBO study year and their scores on the various scales were compared. Findings: Students from the three groups were equally satisfied with their current HBO programme. The same pattern was found for perceived study success in their HBO programme. Former GL students, however, mentioned that they had been better prepared in terms of development of study skills needed in HBO. Compared with the MBO route to HBO, former GL students felt better prepared in terms of the theoretical subjects addressed in their previous educational programme. In this regard, their level of theoretical preparation was comparable to that of former HAVO students. When the vocation-oriented aspects of education were concerned, however, the GL appeared to be comparable with the MBO route to HBO (in the HAVO curriculum, vocation-oriented preparation for HBO is absent). Moreover, former HAVO students scored lower than former GL and former MBO students with respect to the extent to which they felt that they had received support in choosing a particular HBO programme in their previous educational programme.Conclusion: The GL seems to combine the advantages of MBO and HAVO programmes for this particular group of students: theoretical preparation for HBO at HAVO level combined with practical preparation at MBO level, systematic career orientation and guidance, and development of study skills required in HBO. In other words, such continuing learning pathways can be a curriculum design solution for specific student groups to promote their transition to HBO

Protection of rabbits against enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) using an intimin null mutant

BACKGROUND: Diarrhea and mortality resulting from infections with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) are of major economic importance in the rabbit meat industry. There is a growing need for an effective vaccine to cope with these problems and to reduce the use of antibiotics. EPEC are characterized by an attaching and effacing virulence mechanism. This is partly mediated by the intimate binding between an adhesin, called intimin, and a translocated receptor (Tir) of prokaryote origin. We constructed an intimin deletion mutant of the rabbit EPEC (REPEC) wild-type strain 97/241.6 (bio-/serogroup 3-/O15) and examined its protective capacity. RESULTS: After verifying its complete loss of virulence, we used the attenuated strain in vaccination-challenge experiments in which complete protection against a homologous, but virulent, strain was observed. The attenuated strain was able to persist in the intestinal lumen, where it elicited an immune response against EPEC-related virulence proteins, as was shown using an EspB-specific ELISA. Despite the priming of an immune response and the generation of specific antibodies, the intimin mutant was not able to fully protect rabbits against challenges with REPEC strains of other bio-/serogroups. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that protection against REPEC infections is at least partly bio-/serogroup dependent and a multivalent vaccine may be needed for protection against the full range of REPEC types. Such a combination vaccine may be developed using intimin null mutants, as the latter were clearly shown to be safe and effective against homologous infections

High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography: A New Workflow for the Analysis of Xylogenesis and Intra-Seasonal Wood Biomass Production

International audienceUnderstanding tree growth and carbon sequestration are of crucial interest to forecast the feedback of forests to climate change. To have a global understanding of the wood formation, it is necessary to develop new methodologies for xylogenesis measurements, valid across diverse wood structures and applicable to both angiosperms and gymnosperms. In this study, the authors present a new workflow to study xylogenesis using high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT), which is generic and offers high potential for automatization. The HXRCT-based approach was benchmarked with the current classical approach (microtomy) on three tree species with contrasted wood anatomy ( Pinus nigra, Fagus sylvatica , and Quercus robur ). HRXCT proved to estimate the relevant xylogenesis parameters (timing, duration, and growth rates) across species with high accuracy. HRXCT showed to be an efficient avenue to investigate tree xylogenesis for a wide range of wood anatomies, structures, and species. HRXCT also showed its potential to provide quantification of intra-annual dynamics of biomass production through high-resolution 3D mapping of wood biomass within the forming growth ring

Impaired facial emotion recognition in patients with ventromedial prefrontal hypoperfusion

This article has been accepted for publication in Neuropsychology, © 2014 American Psychological Association. doi: 0.1037/neu0000057.Empathy refers to our ability to recognize and share emotions by another human being. Impairment may underlie many of the emotional deficits commonly associated with a range of neuropsychiatric and neurological conditions. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has long been implicated in these processes, but the specific contribution of subregions of the PFC remain unclear. Studies regarding the role of subregions of the prefrontal cortex such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)-in facial emotion recognition have yielded inconsistent results. The present study aimed to investigate the capacity to recognize nonverbal emotional facial expressions in a group of patients with the following: (a) perfusion deficits in the vmPFC (vmPFC group; N = 13), (b) hypoperfusions sparing the vmPFC (nonvmPFC group; N = 12), and in (c) a control group of healthy volunteers (control group; N = 17). Regions of hypoperfusion were identified by means of Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). Participants were asked to recognize facial expressions of the 7 basic emotions (happiness, fear, surprise, anger, disgust, sadness, or neutral). Detection of facial expressions of fear, disgust, and surprise was affected after functional disruption of the vmPFC. The present study confirms the role of the vmPFC in recognizing emotional facial expressions.Peer reviewe

Selective inhibition of TGF-β1 produced by GARP-expressing Tregs overcomes resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in cancer.

TGF-β1, β2 and β3 bind a common receptor to exert vastly diverse effects in cancer, supporting either tumor progression by favoring metastases and inhibiting anti-tumor immunity, or tumor suppression by inhibiting malignant cell proliferation. Global TGF-β inhibition thus bears the risk of undesired tumor-promoting effects. We show that selective blockade of TGF-β1 production by Tregs with antibodies against GARP:TGF-β1 complexes induces regressions of mouse tumors otherwise resistant to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Effects of combined GARP:TGF-β1/PD-1 blockade are immune-mediated, do not require FcγR-dependent functions and increase effector functions of anti-tumor CD8 T cells without augmenting immune cell infiltration or depleting Tregs within tumors. We find GARP-expressing Tregs and evidence that they produce TGF-β1 in one third of human melanoma metastases. Our results suggest that anti-GARP:TGF-β1 mAbs, by selectively blocking a single TGF-β isoform emanating from a restricted cellular source exerting tumor-promoting activity, may overcome resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in patients with cancer

A multiplatform strategy for the discovery of conventional monoclonal antibodies that inhibit the voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3.

Identifying monoclonal antibodies that block human voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs) is a challenging endeavor exacerbated by difficulties in producing recombinant ion channel proteins in amounts that support drug discovery programs. We have developed a general strategy to address this challenge by combining high-level expression of recombinant VGICs in Tetrahymena thermophila with immunization of phylogenetically diverse species and unique screening tools that allow deep-mining for antibodies that could potentially bind functionally important regions of the protein. Using this approach, we targeted human Kv1.3, a voltage-gated potassium channel widely recognized as a therapeutic target for the treatment of a variety of T-cell mediated autoimmune diseases. Recombinant Kv1.3 was used to generate and recover 69 full-length anti-Kv1.3 mAbs from immunized chickens and llamas, of which 10 were able to inhibit Kv1.3 current. Select antibodies were shown to be potent (IC50<10 nM) and specific for Kv1.3 over related Kv1 family members, hERG and hNav1.5