A multiple case study of an interorganizational collaboration: Exploring the first year of an industry partnership focused on middle school engineering education

Background: Calls to improve learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and particularly engineering, present significant challenges for school systems. Partnerships among engineering industry, universities, and school systems to support learning appear promising, but current work is limited in its conclusions because it lacks a strong connection to theoretical work in interorganizational collaboration. Purpose/Hypothesis: This study aims to reflect more critically on the process of how organizations build relationships to address the following research question: In a public–private partnership to integrate engineering into middle school science curriculum, how do stakeholder characterizations of the collaborative process align with existing frameworks of interorganizational collaboration?. Design/Method: This qualitative, embedded multiple case study considered in-depth pre- and post-year interviews with teachers, administrators, industry, and university personnel during the first year of the Partnering with Educators and Engineers in Rural Schools (PEERS) program. Transcripts were analyzed using a framework of interorganizational collaboration operationalized for our context. Results: Results provide insights into stakeholder perceptions of collaborative processes in the first year of the PEERS program across dimensions of collaboration. These dimensions mapped to three central discussion points with relevance for school–university–industry partnerships: school collaboration as an emergent and negotiated process, tension in collaborating across organizations, and fair share in collaborating toward a social goal. Conclusions: Taking a macro-level look at the collaborative processes involved enabled us to develop implications for collaborative stakeholders to be intentional about designing for future success. By systematically applying a framework of collaboration and capitalizing on the rich situational findings possible through a qualitative approach, we shift our understanding of collaborative processes in school–university–industry partnerships for engineering education and contribute to the development of collaboration theory

Building Community Capacity for Integrating Engineering in Rural Middle School Science Classrooms

: Broadening participation in engineering is an important national priority and has led to increasing demands for engineering content to be integrated into traditional K-12 curriculum. However, expecting teachers to incorporate engineering into their classrooms without additional training or resources is unreasonable. Partnering teachers with industry partners is one promising way to prioritize integrated science and engineering content while also introducing youth to possible career paths. In this programmatic article, we introduce the Partnering with Educators and Engineers in Rural Schools (PEERS) project that focuses on the collaborative design, implementation, and study of recurrent hands-on engineering activities with middle school youth in three rural communities in or near Appalachia. We discuss the curricular priorities of the program as well as preliminary findings on both student-focused and capacity-building metrics across the partnerships. Key discussion points include (1) a need to distill goals for engineering outreach by wrestling with what success might really look like for middle-school youth engagement with engineering and (2) cultivating community capacity to better support education systems and the simultaneous potential for and challenges of collaborating to build such infrastructure

Student Outcomes from the Collective Design and Delivery of Culturally Relevant Engineering Outreach Curricula in Rural and Appalachian Middle Schools

Middle school is a pivotal time for career choice, and research is rich with studies on how students perceive engineering, as well as corresponding intervention strategies to introduce younger students to engineering and inform their conceptions of engineering. Unfortunately, such interventions are typically not designed in culturally relevant ways. Consequently, there continues to be a lack of students entering engineering and a low level of diverse candidates for this profession. The purpose of this study was to explore how students in rural and Appalachian Virginia conceive of engineering before and after engagement with culturally relevant hands-on activities in the classroom. We used student responses to the Draw an Engineer Test (DAET), consisting of a drawing and several open-ended prompts administered before and after the set of engagements, to answer our research questions related to changes in students’ conceptions of engineering. We used this study to develop recommendations for teachers for the use of such engineering engagement practices and how to best assess their outcomes, including looking at the practicality of the DAET. Overall, we found evidence that our classroom engagements positively influenced students’ conceptions of engineering in these settings

Publishing and sharing multi-dimensional image data with OMERO

Imaging data are used in the life and biomedical sciences to measure the molecular and structural composition and dynamics of cells, tissues, and organisms. Datasets range in size from megabytes to terabytes and usually contain a combination of binary pixel data and metadata that describe the acquisition process and any derived results. The OMERO image data management platform allows users to securely share image datasets according to specific permissions levels: data can be held privately, shared with a set of colleagues, or made available via a public URL. Users control access by assigning data to specific Groups with defined membership and access rights. OMERO’s Permission system supports simple data sharing in a lab, collaborative data analysis, and even teaching environments. OMERO software is open source and released by the OME Consortium at www.openmicroscopy.org

2nd Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute

Materials from the 2nd Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute held by UK/CLE in March 2000

Research into the Health Benefits of Sprint Interval Training Should Focus on Protocols with Fewer and Shorter Sprints

Over the past decade, it has been convincingly shown that regularly performing repeated brief supramaximal cycle sprints (sprint interval training [SIT]) is associated with aerobic adaptations and health benefits similar to or greater than with moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT). SIT is often promoted as a time-efficient exercise strategy, but the most commonly studied SIT protocol (4–6 repeated 30-s Wingate sprints with 4 min recovery, here referred to as ‘classic’ SIT) takes up to approximately 30 min per session. Combined with high associated perceived exertion, this makes classic SIT unsuitable as an alternative/adjunct to current exercise recommendations involving MICT. However, there are no indications that the design of the classic SIT protocol has been based on considerations regarding the lowest number or shortest duration of sprints to optimise time efficiency while retaining the associated health benefits. In recent years, studies have shown that novel SIT protocols with both fewer and shorter sprints are efficacious at improving important risk factors of noncommunicable diseases in sedentary individuals, and provide health benefits that are no worse than those associated with classic SIT. These shorter/easier protocols have the potential to remove many of the common barriers to exercise in the general population. Thus, based on the evidence summarised in this current opinion paper, we propose that there is a need for a fundamental change in focus in SIT research in order to move away from further characterising the classic SIT protocol and towards establishing acceptable and effective protocols that involve minimal sprint durations and repetitions

Using clinical risk factors and bone mineral density to determine who among patients undergoing bone densitometry should have vertebral fracture assessment

Vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) is a new method for imaging thoracolumbar spine on bone densitometer. Among patients referred for bone densitometry, the selection of patients for VFA testing can be optimized using an index derived from clinical risk factors and bone density measurement. VFA, a method for imaging thoracolumbar spine on bone densitometer, was developed because vertebral fractures, although common and predictive of future fractures, are often not clinically diagnosed. The study objective was to develop a strategy for selecting patients for VFA. A convenience sample from a university hospital bone densitometry center included 892 subjects (795 women) referred for bone mineral density (BMD) testing. We used questionnaires to capture clinical risk factors and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to obtain BMD and VFA. Prevalence of vertebral fractures was 18% in women and 31% in men (p = 0.003 for gender difference). In women, age, height loss, glucocorticoid use, history of vertebral and other fractures, and BMD T-score were significantly and independently associated with vertebral fractures. A multivariate model which included above predictors had an area under the receiver operating curve of 0.85 with 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.81 to 0.89. A risk factor index was derived from the above multivariate model. Using a level of 2 as a cut-off yielded 93% sensitivity (95% CI 87, 96) and 48% specificity (95% CI 69, 83). Assuming a 15% prevalence of vertebral fractures, this cut-off value had a 24% positive and 97% negative predictive value and required VFA scanning of three women at a cost of $60 (assuming a$20 cost/VFA scan) to detect one with vertebral fracture(s). Selecting patients for VFA can be optimized using an index derived from BMD measurement and easily obtained clinical risk factors

Inhibition of gastric H,K-ATPase activity and gastric epithelial cell IL-8 secretion by the pyrrolizine derivative ML 3000

BACKGROUND: ML 3000 ([2,2-dimethyl-6-(4-chlorophenyl)-7-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolizine-5-yl]-acetic acid) is an inhibitor of both cyclooxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase in vitro, and shows promise as a novel non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Unlike conventional NSAIDs which are associated with gastric ulcerogenic effects, ML 3000 causes little or no damage to the gastric mucosa, even though it significantly depresses gastric prostaglandin synthesis. METHODS: As part of an effort to clarify mechanisms underlying the gastric sparing properties of ML 3000, we studied the effects of ML 3000 on H,K-ATPase activity in vitro, on acid accumulation in isolated gastric parietal cells, and on IL-8 secretion by gastric epithelial cells in culture. RESULTS: SCH28080-sensitive H,K-ATPase activity in highly-purified pig gastric microsomes was dose-dependently inhibited by ML 3000 (IC(50) = 16.4 μM). Inhibition was reversible, and insensitive to ML 3000 acidification in the pH range 2.0–8.0. In rabbit gastric parietal cells, ML 3000 dose-dependently inhibited histamine-stimulated acid accumulation (IC(50) = 40 μM) and forskolin-stimulated acid accumulation (IC(50) = 45 μM). Lastly, in human gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells, ML 3000 dose-dependently inhibited both baseline and IL-1β-stimulated (20 ng/ml) IL-8 secretion with IC(50)s of 0.46 μM and 1.1 μM respectively. CONCLUSION: The data indicate that ML 3000 affects acid-secretory mechanisms downstream of cAMP mobilization induced by histamine H(2) receptor activation, that it directly inhibits H,K-ATPase specific activity, and that baseline gastric epithelial cell IL-8 secretory inhibition may be mediated by ML 3000 inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase activity. We conclude that these gastric function inhibitory data may underlie the gastric sparing properties of ML 3000

Low-Volume High-Intensity Interval Training in a Gym Setting Improves Cardio-Metabolic and Psychological Health.

BACKGROUND: Within a controlled laboratory environment, high-intensity interval training (HIT) elicits similar cardiovascular and metabolic benefits as traditional moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT). It is currently unclear how HIT can be applied effectively in a real-world environment. PURPOSE: To investigate the hypothesis that 10 weeks of HIT, performed in an instructor-led, group-based gym setting, elicits improvements in aerobic capacity (VO2max), cardio-metabolic risk and psychological health which are comparable to MICT. METHODS: Ninety physically inactive volunteers (42±11 y, 27.7±4.8 kg.m-2) were randomly assigned to HIT or MICT group exercise classes. HIT consisted of repeated sprints (15-60 seconds, >90% HRmax) interspersed with periods of recovery cycling (≤25 min.session-1, 3 sessions.week-1). MICT participants performed continuous cycling (~70% HRmax, 30-45 min.session-1, 5 sessions.week-1). VO2max, markers of cardio-metabolic risk, and psychological health were assessed pre and post-intervention. RESULTS: Mean weekly training time was 55±10 (HIT) and 128±44 min (MICT) (p<0.05), with greater adherence to HIT (83±14% vs. 61±15% prescribed sessions attended, respectively; p<0.05). HIT improved VO2max, insulin sensitivity, reduced abdominal fat mass, and induced favourable changes in blood lipids (p<0.05). HIT also induced beneficial effects on health perceptions, positive and negative affect, and subjective vitality (p<0.05). No difference between HIT and MICT was seen for any of these variables. CONCLUSIONS: HIT performed in a real-world gym setting improves cardio-metabolic risk factors and psychological health in physically inactive adults. With a reduced time commitment and greater adherence than MICT, HIT offers a viable and effective exercise strategy to target the growing incidence of metabolic disease and psychological ill-being associated with physical inactivity