International Students and Autonomy in Service-Learning English for Academic Purposes Courses

Learner autonomy, defined most frequently as the “ability to take charge of one’s own learning” (Holec, 1981, p. 3), plays an important role in learning generally speaking and language acquisition in particular (Thomas & Rose, 2019). Enabling learners to function independently is an important, if not the ultimate, goal of teaching. In Service Learning (SL), learners can operate autonomously, and likely become more autonomous as a result of practicing autonomy. Thus, autonomy can be a means as well as a goal. Studies, however, have not paid sufficient attention to the role that learner autonomy may play, especially when it comes to SL performed by international students. An important theoretical and practical question is whether increasing learners’ autonomy leads to better learning outcomes than other-/teacher-directed SL. If students learned as much or more when given more autonomy, teachers could better use the time they invest in the logistical overload that comes with coordinating every aspect of SL (as also noted by Kwenani & Yu, 2018); for example, teachers could focus on designing tasks that would benefit students and community partners alike and preparing their students for operating autonomously without losing focus or doing harm (Tryon et al., 2008). Thus, it is important to finetune our understanding of whether learner autonomy supports learning, and which aspects of learning it can support most productively

Graphic design research: a cause for the concerned

There is an immediate need to clarify and develop the role of graphic design research for the theoretical underpinning of graphic design education. A report that accompanied the 2014 UK Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) described ‘the intellectual and theoretical underpinning of graphic and communication design’ as ‘generically weak’. We report on progress about a project designed to identify and map graphic design outputs from REF2014, involving both a data analysis of the ‘Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory’ submissions, and focus group research with graphic design academics designed to elicit feedback on the emergent themes being addressed by the data analysis exercise as well as broader concerns. The aim has been to identify the nature of graphic design outputs submitted to the REF audit. In this paper, we provide a response to this state of affairs from a community of graphic design educators concerned about the perception of research in the discipline. Keywords: Graphic design research, Graphic design education, Research Excellence Framework, Graphic Design Educators’ Networ

Nonlinear Transient Field Problems with Phase Change using the Boundary Element Method

Peer reviewe

A distributed algorithm for European options with nonlinear volatility

A distributed algorithm is developed to solve nonlinear Black-Scholes equations in the hedging of portfolios. The algorithm is based on an approximate inverse Laplace transform and is particularly suitable for problems that do not require detailed knowledge of each intermediate time steps

Microtubule organization within mitotic spindles revealed by serial block face scanning electron microscopy and image analysis

Serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) is a powerful method to analyze cells in 3D. Here, working at the resolution limit of the method, we describe a correlative light-SBF-SEM workflow to resolve microtubules of the mitotic spindle in human cells. We present four examples of uses for this workflow that are not practical by light microscopy and/or transmission electron microscopy. First, distinguishing closely associated microtubules within K-fibers; second, resolving bridging fibers in the mitotic spindle; third, visualizing membranes in mitotic cells, relative to the spindle apparatus; and fourth, volumetric analysis of kinetochores. Our workflow also includes new computational tools for exploring the spatial arrangement of microtubules within the mitotic spindle. We use these tools to show that microtubule order in mitotic spindles is sensitive to the level of TACC3 on the spindle

The challenges for graphic design in establishing an academic research culture: lessons from the Research Excellence Framework 2014

This paper examines why graphic design has struggled to establish an academic research culture, despite significant gains in design research over the last 20 years. It considers the criticisms levelled against graphic design research submitted to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014). Through analysis of publicly available data, we identify a low volume of graphic design research adhering to traditional academic, non-practice-based forms, and concentrated amongst few institutions. Results confirm graphic design is yet to establish an academic research culture that accords with its widespread standing in higher education. We identify the absence of consensual nomenclature, lack of confidence and exemplars with practice-based graphic design research, the uncertain expectations of research audits, lack of venues for dissemination, heavy teaching loads and few established career pathways for research. In response we make a series of recommendations towards a sustainable graphic design research change agenda

Polymerase I and Transcript Release Factor Regulates Lipolysis via a Phosphorylation-Dependent Mechanism

OBJECTIVE: Polymerase I and transcript release factor (PTRF) is a protein highly expressed in adipose tissue and is an integral structural component of caveolae. Here, we report on a novel role of PTRF in lipid mobilization. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: PTRF expression was examined in different adipose depots of mice during fasting, refeeding, and after administration of catecholamines and insulin. Involvement of PTRF during lipolysis was studied upon PTRF knockdown and overexpression and mutation of PTRF phosphorylation sites in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. RESULTS: PTRF expression in mouse white adipose tissue (WAT) is regulated by nutritional status, increasing during fasting and decreasing to baseline after refeeding. Expression of PTRF also is hormonally regulated because treatment of mice with insulin leads to a decrease in expression, whereas isoproterenol increases expression in WAT. Manipulation of PTRF levels revealed a role of PTRF in lipolysis. Lentiviral-mediated knockdown of PTRF resulted in a marked attenuation of glycerol release in response to isoproterenol. Conversely, overexpressing PTRF enhanced isoproterenol-stimulated glycerol release. Mass-spectrometric analysis revealed that PTRF is phosphorylated at multiple sites in WAT. Mutation of serine 42, threonine 304, or serine 368 to alanine reduced isoproterenol-stimulated glycerol release in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first direct demonstration for a novel adipose tissue–specific function of PTRF as a mediator of lipolysis and also shows that phosphorylation of PTRF is required for efficient fat mobilization

Leptin-induced lipolysis opposes the tonic inhibition of endogenous adenosine in white adipocytes

The aim of the present study was to gain insight into the signaling pathway used by leptin to stimulate lipolysis. The lipolytic rate of white adipocytes from sex- and age-matched lean (+/+) and fa/fa rats was determined in the absence or presence of leptin together with a number of agents acting at different levels of the signaling cascade. Leptin did not modify FSK-, dbcAMP-, and IBMX-stimulated lipolysis. Lipolysis can also be maximally stimulated by lowering media adenosine levels with adenosine deaminase (ADA), i.e., in the ligand-free state. Although ADA produced near maximal lipolysis in adipocytes of lean animals, only half of the maximal lipolytic rate (50.9+/-3.2%) was achieved in fat cells from fa/fa rats (P=0.0034). In adipocytes from lean animals preincubated with ADA, leptin caused a concentration-related stimulation of lipolysis (P=0.0001). However, leptin had no effect on the lipolytic activity of adipocytes in the ligand-free state from fa/fa rats. The adenosine A1 receptor agonist CPA effectively inhibited basal lipolysis in both lean and obese adipocytes (P=0.0001 and P=0.0090, respectively). Leptin had no effect on the lipolytic rate of adipocytes isolated from fa/fa rats and preincubated with CPA. When adipocytes were incubated with the A1 receptor antagonist DPCPX, a significant increase in glycerol release was observed in fa/fa fat cells (P=0.009), whereas cells isolated from lean rats showed no differences to ADA-stimulated lipolysis. After pretreatment with PTX, which inactivates receptor-mediated Gi function, adipocytes of obese rats became as responsive to the stimulatory actions of ISO as cells from lean rats (P=0.0090 vs. ISO in fa/fa rats; P=0.2416 vs. lean rats, respectively). PTX treatment of lean cells, however, did not alter their response to this lipolytic agent. It can be concluded that the lipolytic effect of leptin is located at the adenylate cyclase/Gi proteins level and that leptin-induced lipolysis opposes the tonic inhibition of endogenous adenosine in white adipocytes

Stimulation of glucose utilization in 3T3 adipocytes and rat diaphragm in vitro by the sulphonylureas, glimepiride and glibenclamide, is correlated with modulations of the cAMP regulatory cascade

The long-term hypoglycemic activity of sulphonylurea drugs has been attributed, in part at least, to the stimulation of glucose utilization in extra-pancreatic tissues. The novel sulphonylurea, glimepiride, gives rise to a longer lasting reduction in the blood sugar level in dogs and rabbits compared to glibenclamide (Geisen K, Drug Res38: 1120–1130, 1988). This cannot be explained adequately by elevated plasma insulin levels. This study investigated whether this prolonged hypoglycemic phase was based on the drug's abilities to stimulate glucose utilization and affect the underlying regulatory mechanisms in insulin-sensitive cells in vitro. It was found that in the absence of added insulin, glimepiride and glibenclamide (1–50 μM) stimulated lipogenesis (3T3 adipocytes) and glycogenesis (isolated rat diaphragm) not, vert, similar4.5- and 2.5-fold, respectively, and reduced the isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis (rat adipocytes) up to 40–60%. The increased glucose utilization was correlated with a 3–4-fold higher 2-deoxyglucose transport rate and amount of GLUT4 at the plasma membrane, as well as with increased activities of key metabolic enzymes (glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, glycogen synthase) within the same concentration range. Furthermore, the low Km cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase was activated 1.8-fold, whereas the cytosolic cAMP level and protein kinase A activity ratios were significantly lowered after incubation of isoproterenol-stimulated rat adipocytes with the sulphonylureas. In many of the aspects studied the novel sulphonylurea, glimepiride, exhibited slightly lower ed50-values than glibenclamide. This study demonstrates correlations existing between drug-induced stimulation of glucose transport/metabolism and cAMP degradation/protein kinase A inhibition as well as between the relative efficiencies of glimepiride and glibenclamide in inducing thse extra-pancreatic processes. Therefore, it is suggested that the stimulation of glucose utilization by sulphonylureas is mediated by a decrease of cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of GLUT4 and glucose metabolizing enzymes. The therapeutic relevance of extra-pancreatic effects of sulphonylureas, in general, and of the differences between glimepiride and glibenclamide as observed in vitro in this work, in particular, remain to be elucidated