Teachers’ beliefs and practices of ICT use in Secondary schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Ethiopian government policy is committed to integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into education to improve educational quality and equity. As teachers are the fundamental element for the success of this objective, the government has included an ICT module within teacher training to realise ICT practices inside the classroom. However, the actual ICT implementation in education lags behind government expectations. This research investigates how Ethiopian secondary school teachers’ beliefs and practices in Addis Ababa about the use of ICT are constructed. With a symmetrical perspective of Sociomateriality and Actor-Network Theory, the research explores the human and nonhuman factors which facilitate or inhibit teachers’ ICT implementation from teacher training to secondary school classrooms. It also investigates teachers’ beliefs that shape individuals’ perspectives and attitudes to ICT. The analysis of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge is employed to ascertain other potential factors that affect teachers’ ICT practices such as the pedagogical design of using technology and contextual characteristics. The findings show that secondary school teachers possess positive general and pedagogical beliefs with regards to ICT implementation. However, those beliefs face strong barriers when it comes to their translation into pedagogical practices inside of the classroom. In teacher training institutes, trainees are not satisfied with their instructors’ pedagogical practices. Trainees argue that the assessment and practicum as a part of teacher training are not designed to encourage ICT practices. In relation to ICT materials, trainees are held back by the institutes in terms of their ICT material access. In secondary schools in the Addis Ababa area, although ICT implementation is compulsory, the level of ICT practices is very limited. There are multiple reasons for this. Some teachers perceive that ICT itself infringes on teachers’ autonomy of pedagogical design – despite them stating that they are in favour of using ICT. Others lack confidence with the use of ICT and are afraid of making mistakes in front of the students. When it comes to ICT materials, frequent system failure makes teachers lose their motivation to use ICT in the classroom. In addition, ICT is found to be associated with being intellectual and upper class. This research also investigates the perspectives of the development stakeholders involved in Ethiopia’s ICT and education. They identify three fields that affect low level of ICT practices in the country: 1) teacher training; 2) teachers’ beliefs; 3) materiality, fields which align with the focus of my research. In addition to those commonalities, this research also documents the heterogeneity in stakeholders’ objectives and the inequitable character of the school selection process for the distribution of materials - which could jeopardise the ICT implementation at national level. This is the first study that examines and represents the voice of Ethiopian teachers in their adoption and use of ICT in teaching. This thesis contributes to synthesise theories and concepts on the adoption and use of ICT in teaching. In particular, it draws attention to the role of materiality, and how it affects teachers’ ICT beliefs and practices. Therefore, this study serves as a reference or a first step that will hopefully encourage similar research in other Ethiopian contexts or similar countries, where ICT adoption is promoted within education policy but faces crucial challenges

Selectively enhanced expression of prophenoloxidase activating enzyme 1 (PPAE1) at a bacteria clearance site in the white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prophenoloxidase-activating (PO activating) system plays an important role in the crustacean innate immunity, particularly in wound healing and pathogen defense. A key member of this system is prophenoloxidase-activating enzyme (PPAE), which is the direct activator of prophenoloxidase (proPO). Despite their importance in crustacean PO activating system, the studies on them remain limited.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we report on a PPAE of white shrimp, <it>Litopenaeus vannamei </it>(lvPPAE1), which showed 94% similarity to PPAE1 of <it>Penaeus monodon</it>. We found that lvPPAE1 in fluid hemocytes was down regulated after challenge by <it>Vibrio harveyi </it>but was enhanced when shrimps were exposed to a bacteria-rich environment for long-term. In <it>vivo </it>gene silence of lvPPAE1 by RNAi can significantly reduce the phenoloxidase activity (PO) and increase the susceptibility of shrimps to <it>V. harveyi</it>. Although lvPPAE1 was down-regulated in fluid hemocytes by <it>Vibrio </it>challenge, its expression increased significantly in gill after bacteria injection, which is the primary bacteria-clearance tissue.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Suppressed expression in fluid hemocytes and enhanced expression in gill indicates selectively enhanced expression at the bacterial clearance site. This is a novel feature for PPAE expression. The results will contribute to our understanding of the PO activating system in crustaceans.</p

Effect of regional medical disparities on complications in patients with hypertension: Cox’s proportional hazard models

ObjectiveComplications associated with hypertension can be alleviated by providing necessary medical services. However, there may be disparities in their provision depending on regional differences. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effects of regional healthcare disparities on complications in patients with hypertension in South Korea.MethodsData from the National Health Insurance Service National Sample Cohort (2004–2019) were analyzed. The position value for the relative composite index was used to identify medically vulnerable regions. The diagnosis of hypertension within the region was also considered. The risk of complications associated with hypertension included cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and kidney diseases. Cox proportional hazards models were used for statistical analysis.ResultsA total of 246,490 patients were included in this study. Patients who lived in medically vulnerable regions and were diagnosed outside their residential area had a higher risk of complications than those living in non-vulnerable regions and were diagnosed outside the residential area (hazard ratio: 1.156, 95% confidence interval: 1.119–1.195).ConclusionPatients living in medically vulnerable regions who were diagnosed outside their residential areas were more likely to have hypertension complications regardless of the type of complication. Necessary policies should be implemented to reduce regional healthcare disparities

Insulin Facilitates the Recovery of Myocardial Contractility and Conduction during Cardiac Compression in Rabbits with Bupivacaine-Induced Cardiovascular Collapse

Bupivacaine inhibits cardiac conduction and contractility. Insulin enhances cardiac repolarization and myocardial contractility. We hypothesizes that insulin therapy would be effective in resuscitating bupivacaine-induced cardiac toxicity in rabbits. Twelve rabbits were tracheally intubated and midline sternotomy was performed under general anesthesia. Cardiovascular collapse (CVC) was induced by an IV bolus injection of bupivacaine 10 mg/kg. The rabbits were treated with either saline (control) or insulin injection, administered as a 2 U/kg bolus. Internal cardiac massage was performed until the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and the time to the return of sinus rhythm (ROSR) was also noted in both groups. Arterial blood pressure, and electrocardiography were continuously monitored for 30 min and plasma bupivacaine concentrations at every 5 min. The ROSC, ROSR and normalization of QRS duration were attained faster in the insulin-treated group than in the control group. At the ROSC, there was a significant difference in bupivacaine concentration between two groups. Insulin facilitates the return of myocardial contractility and conduction from bupivacaine-induced CVC in rabbits. However, recovery of cardiac conduction is dependent mainly on the change of plasma bupivacaine concentrations

Analysis of Nociceptive Information Encoded in the Temporal Discharge Patterns of Cutaneous C-Fibers

The generation of pain signals from primary afferent neurons is explained by a labeled-line code. However, this notion cannot apply in a simple way to cutaneous C-fibers, which carry signals from a variety of receptors that respond to various stimuli including agonist chemicals. To represent the discharge patterns of C-fibers according to different agonist chemicals, we have developed a quantitative approach using three consecutive spikes. By using this method, the generation of pain in response to chemical stimuli is shown to be dependent on the temporal aspect of the spike trains. Furthermore, under pathological conditions, gamma-aminobutyric acid resulted in pain behavior without change of spike number but with an altered discharge pattern. Our results suggest that information about the agonist chemicals may be encoded in specific temporal patterns of signals in C-fibers, and nociceptive sensation may be influenced by the extent of temporal summation originating from the temporal patterns.open0

Direct Synthesis of Molybdenum Phosphide Nanorods on Silicon Using Graphene at the Heterointerface for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction

MoP nanorod-array catalysts were directly synthesized on graphene passivated silicon photocathodes without secondary phase. Mo-O-C covalent bondings and energy band bending at heterointerfaces facilitate the electron transfer to the reaction sites. Numerous catalytic sites and drastically enhanced anti-reflectance of MoP nanorods contribute to the high solar energy conversion efficiency. Abstract Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been widely investigated as photoelectrochemical (PEC) catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Using high-temperature processes to get crystallized compounds with large-area uniformity, it is still challenging to directly synthesize these catalysts on silicon photocathodes due to chemical incompatibility at the heterointerface. Here, a graphene interlayer is applied between p-Si and MoP nanorods to enable fully engineered interfaces without forming a metallic secondary compound that absorbs a parasitic light and provides an inefficient electron path for hydrogen evolution. Furthermore, the graphene facilitates the photogenerated electrons to rapidly transfer by creating Mo-O-C covalent bondings and energetically favorable band bending. With a bridging role of graphene, numerous active sites and anti-reflectance of MoP nanorods lead to significantly improved PEC-HER performance with a high photocurrent density of 21.8 mA cm−2 at 0 V versus RHE and high stability. Besides, low dependence on pH and temperature is observed with MoP nanorods incorporated photocathodes, which is desirable for practical use as a part of PEC cells. These results indicate that the direct synthesis of TMPs and TMDs enabled by graphene interlayer is a new promising way to fabricate Si-based photocathodes with high-quality interfaces and superior HER performance. Graphic Abstrac