Lecture capture: An effective tool for universal instructional design?

Student enrolment and instructional accommodation requests are rising in higher education. Universities lack the capacity to meet increasing accommodation needs, thus research in this area is required. In Ontario, new provincial legislation requires that all public institutions, including universities, make their services accessible to persons with disabilities. The objective of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is to provide universal access for students with disabilities. The purpose of this case study is to understand the experiences of students regarding the ability of a lecture capture technology to align with the principles of Universal Instructional Design (UID). Data were collected using a mixed-method research design: (a) an online questionnaire, and (b) individual face-to-face interviews. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) literature provides a useful background to explore AODA legislation and universal accessibility vis-à-vis lecture capture technologies. Results indicate that lecture capture can align both with the principles of UID and AODA.  Il existe une recrudescence des inscriptions étudiantes et des demandes d’adaptations éducatives en enseignement supérieur. Les universités n’ayant pas la capacité de répondre aux besoins d’adaptations croissants, il y a un besoin de recherche dans ce domaine. La nouvelle législation provinciale de l’Ontario, au Canada, exige que toutes les institutions publiques, y compris les universités, rendent leurs services accessibles aux personnes handicapées. L’objectif de la Loi sur l’accessibilité pour les personnes handicapées de l’Ontario (LAPHO) est de fournir un accès universel aux étudiants en situation de handicap. La présente étude de cas vise à comprendre, à partir des expériences des étudiants, la capacité de la technologie d’enregistrement de cours magistraux à s’aligner avec les principes de Conception universelle de l’apprentissage (CUA). Les données ont été colligées par des méthodes de recherche mixtes : 1) un questionnaire en ligne; et 2) des entretiens individuels. La littérature sur l’avancement des connaissances en enseignement et en apprentissage (ACEA) fournit le contexte de cette étude et permet d’explorer la LAPHO et l’accessibilité universelle en regard des technologies d’enregistrement de cours magistraux. Les résultats indiquent que l’enregistrement de cours magistraux peut être conforme aux principes de la CUA et de la LAPHO

Resolving the so-called "probabilistic paradoxes in legal reasoning" with Bayesian networks

Examples of reasoning problems such as the twins problem and poison paradox have been proposed by legal scholars to demonstrate the limitations of probability theory in legal reasoning. Specifically, such problems are intended to show that use of probability theory results in legal paradoxes. As such, these problems have been a powerful detriment to the use of probability theory – and particularly Bayes theorem – in the law. However, the examples only lead to ‘paradoxes’ under an artificially constrained view of probability theory and the use of the so-called likelihood ratio, in which multiple related hypotheses and pieces of evidence are squeezed into a single hypothesis variable and a single evidence variable. When the distinct relevant hypotheses and evidence are described properly in a causal model (a Bayesian network), the paradoxes vanish. In addition to the twins problem and poison paradox, we demonstrate this for the food tray example, the abuse paradox and the small town murder problem. Moreover, the resulting Bayesian networks provide a powerful framework for legal reasoning

Potential for modulation of the hydrophobic effect inside chaperonins

Despite the spontaneity of some in vitro protein folding reactions, native folding in vivo often requires the participation of barrel-shaped multimeric complexes known as chaperonins. Although it has long been known that chaperonin substrates fold upon sequestration inside the chaperonin barrel, the precise mechanism by which confinement within this space facilitates folding remains unknown. In this study, we examine the possibility that the chaperonin mediates a favorable reorganization of the solvent for the folding reaction. We begin by discussing the effect of electrostatic charge on solvent-mediated hydrophobic forces in an aqueous environment. Based on these initial physical arguments, we construct a simple, phenomenological theory for the thermodynamics of density and hydrogen bond order fluctuations in liquid water. Within the framework of this model, we investigate the effect of confinement within a chaperonin-like cavity on the configurational free energy of water by calculating solvent free energies for cavities corresponding to the different conformational states in the ATP- driven catalytic cycle of the prokaryotic chaperonin GroEL. Our findings suggest that one function of chaperonins may be to trap unfolded proteins and subsequently expose them to a micro-environment in which the hydrophobic effect, a crucial thermodynamic driving force for folding, is enhanced

Cyclin D2-knock-out mice with attenuated dentate gyrus neurogenesis have robust deficits in long-term memory formation.

Neurobehavioral studies have produced contradictory findings concerning the function of neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus. Previous studies have proved inconsistent across several behavioral endpoints thought to be dependent on dentate neurogenesis, including memory acquisition, short-term and long-term retention of memory, pattern separation, and reversal learning. We hypothesized that the main function of dentate neurogenesis is long-term memory formation because we assumed that a newly formed and integrated neuron would have a long-term impact on the local neural network. We used a cyclin D2-knock-out (cyclin D2-/-) mouse model of endogenously deficient dentate neurogenesis to test this hypothesis. We found that cyclin D2-/- mice had robust and sustained loss of long-term memory in two separate behavioral tasks, Morris water maze (MWM) and touchscreen intermediate pattern separation. Moreover, after adjusting for differences in brain volumes determined by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, reduced dentate neurogenesis moderately correlated with deficits in memory retention after 24 hours. Importantly, cyclin D2-/- mice did not show deficits in learning acquisition in a touchscreen paradigm of intermediate pattern separation or MWM platform location, indicating intact short-term memory. Further evaluation of cyclin D2-/- mice is necessary to confirm that deficits are specifically linked to dentate gyrus neurogenesis since cyclin D2-/- mice also have a reduced size of the olfactory bulb, hippocampus, cerebellum and cortex besides reduced dentate gyrus neurogenesis

Testing implementation facilitation of a primary care-based collaborative care clinical program using a hybrid type III interrupted time series design: a study protocol

Abstract Background Dissemination of evidence-based practices that can reduce morbidity and mortality is important to combat the growing opioid overdose crisis in the USA. Research and expert consensus support reducing high-dose opioid therapy, avoiding risky opioid-benzodiazepine combination therapy, and promoting multi-modal, collaborative models of pain care. Collaborative care interventions that support primary care providers have been effective in medication tapering. We developed a patient-centered Primary Care-Integrated Pain Support (PIPS) collaborative care clinical program based on effective components of previous collaborative care interventions. Implementation facilitation, a multi-faceted and dynamic strategy involving the provision of interactive problem-solving and support during implementation of a new program, is used to support key organizational staff throughout PIPS implementation. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation facilitation strategy for implementing and sustaining PIPS in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The secondary aim is to examine the effect of the program on key patient-level clinical outcomes—transitioning to safer regimens and enhancing access to complementary and integrative health treatments. The tertiary aim is to determine the categorical costs and ultimate budget impact of PIPS implementation. Methods This multi-site study employs an interrupted time series, hybrid type III design to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation facilitation for a collaborative care clinical program—PIPS—in primary care clinics in three geographically diverse VHA health care systems (sites). Participants include pharmacists and allied staff involved in the delivery of clinical pain management services as well as patients. Eligible patients are prescribed either an outpatient opioid prescription greater than or equal to 90 mg morphine equivalent daily dose or a combination opioid-benzodiazepine regimen. They must also have an upcoming appointment in primary care. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research will guide the mixed methods work across the formative evaluation phases and informs the selection of activities included in implementation facilitation. The RE-AIM framework will be used to assess Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance of PIPS. Discussion This implementation study will provide important insight into the effectiveness of implementation facilitation to enhance uptake of a collaborative care program in primary care, which targets unsafe opioid prescribing practices.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146542/1/13012_2018_Article_838.pd

Drosophila Neurotrophins Reveal a Common Mechanism for Nervous System Formation

Neurotrophic interactions occur in Drosophila, but to date, no neurotrophic factor had been found. Neurotrophins are the main vertebrate secreted signalling molecules that link nervous system structure and function: they regulate neuronal survival, targeting, synaptic plasticity, memory and cognition. We have identified a neurotrophic factor in flies, Drosophila Neurotrophin (DNT1), structurally related to all known neurotrophins and highly conserved in insects.By investigating with genetics the consequences of removing DNT1 or adding it in excess, we show that DNT1 maintains neuronal survival, as more neurons die in DNT1 mutants and expression of DNT1 rescues naturally occurring cell death, and it enables targeting by motor neurons. We show that Spa¨ tzle and a further fly neurotrophin superfamily member, DNT2, also have neurotrophic functions in flies. Our findings imply that most likely a neurotrophin was present in the common ancestor of all bilateral organisms, giving rise to invertebrate and vertebrate neurotrophins through gene or whole-genome duplications. This work provides a missing link between aspects of neuronal function in flies and vertebrates, and it opens the opportunity to use Drosophila to investigate further aspects of neurotrophin function and to model related diseases

The influence of genotype information on psychiatrists’ treatment recommendations: more experienced clinicians know better what to ignore

Background This study applies attribute nonattendance to medical decision making. We aimed to demonstrate how this type of analysis can be used in medical decision making to assess whether psychiatrists were influenced in their treatment recommendations by information on the genotype of a patient, despite knowing the patient’s response to treatment as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. A patient’s genetic information may be used to predict their response to therapy; such information, however, becomes redundant, and should not influence decisions, once a clinician knows the patient’s actual response to treatment. Methods Sixty-seven psychiatrists were presented with patients’ pre- or post-treatment scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for two hypothetical treatments for schizophrenia. Psychiatrists were also informed whether the patient possessed a genotype linked to hyper-responsiveness to one of the treatments, and were asked to recommend one of these two treatments. Attribute nonattendance assessed whether the information on genotype influenced psychiatrists’ treatment recommendations. Results Years of experience predicted whether psychiatrists were influenced by the genetic information. Psychiatrists with 1 year or less of experience had a 46% probability of considering genetic information, whereas psychiatrists with at least 15 years of experience had a lower probability (7%). Conclusions Psychiatrists and other clinicians should be cautious about allowing a patient’s genetic information to carry unnecessary weight in their clinical decision making

Silencing of Renal DNaseI in Murine Lupus Nephritis Imposes Exposure of Large Chromatin Fragments and Activation of Toll Like Receptors and the Clec4e

Recent studies demonstrate that transformation of mild lupus nephritis into end-stage disease is imposed by silencing of renal DNaseI gene expression in (NZBxNZW)F1 mice. Down-regulation of DNaseI results in reduced chromatin fragmentation, and in deposition of extracellular chromatin-IgG complexes in glomerular basement membranes in individuals that produce IgG anti-chromatin antibodies. The main focus of the present study is to describe the biological consequences of renal DNaseI shut-down and reduced chromatin fragmentation with a particular focus on whether exposed large chromatin fragments activate Toll like receptors and the necrosis-related Clec4e receptor in murine and human lupus nephritis. Furthermore, analyses where performed to determine if matrix metalloproteases are up-regulated as a consequence of chromatin-mediated Toll like receptors/Clec4e stimulation. Mouse and human mRNA expression levels of DNaseI, Toll like receptors 7–9, Clec4e, pro-inflammatory cytokines and MMP2/MMP9 were determined and compared with in situ protein expression profiles and clinical data. We demonstrate that exposure of chromatin significantly up-regulate Toll like receptors and Clec4e in mice, and also but less pronounced in patients with lupus nephritis treated with immunosuppresants. In conclusion, silencing of renal DNaseI gene expression initiates a cascade of inflammatory signals leading to progression of both murine and human lupus nephritis. Principal component analyses biplot of data from murine and human lupus nephrits demonstrate the importance of DNaseI gene shut down for progression of the organ disease

A structure filter for the Eukaryotic Linear Motif Resource

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many proteins are highly modular, being assembled from globular domains and segments of natively disordered polypeptides. Linear motifs, short sequence modules functioning independently of protein tertiary structure, are most abundant in natively disordered polypeptides but are also found in accessible parts of globular domains, such as exposed loops. The prediction of novel occurrences of known linear motifs attempts the difficult task of distinguishing functional matches from stochastically occurring non-functional matches. Although functionality can only be confirmed experimentally, confidence in a putative motif is increased if a motif exhibits attributes associated with functional instances such as occurrence in the correct taxonomic range, cellular compartment, conservation in homologues and accessibility to interacting partners. Several tools now use these attributes to classify putative motifs based on confidence of functionality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Current methods assessing motif accessibility do not consider much of the information available, either predicting accessibility from primary sequence or regarding any motif occurring in a globular region as low confidence. We present a method considering accessibility and secondary structural context derived from experimentally solved protein structures to rectify this situation. Putatively functional motif occurrences are mapped onto a representative domain, given that a high quality reference SCOP domain structure is available for the protein itself or a close relative. Candidate motifs can then be scored for solvent-accessibility and secondary structure context. The scores are calibrated on a benchmark set of experimentally verified motif instances compared with a set of random matches. A combined score yields 3-fold enrichment for functional motifs assigned to high confidence classifications and 2.5-fold enrichment for random motifs assigned to low confidence classifications. The structure filter is implemented as a pipeline with both a graphical interface via the ELM resource <url>http://elm.eu.org/</url> and through a Web Service protocol.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>New occurrences of known linear motifs require experimental validation as the bioinformatics tools currently have limited reliability. The ELM structure filter will aid users assessing candidate motifs presenting in globular structural regions. Most importantly, it will help users to decide whether to expend their valuable time and resources on experimental testing of interesting motif candidates.</p