A Mixed Method Study of Prospective Teachers\u27 Epistemic Beliefs and Web Evaluation Strategies Concerning Hoax Websites

Teachers need to be equipped with the tools necessary to evaluate content on the Internet and determine if it is a credible source, or a hoax website since they are expected to instruct and prepare students on how to evaluate the sites which is now a relevant phenomenon. The purpose of the mixed‑method study was to obtain an understanding of the web evaluation strategies of prospective teachers regarding the evaluation of hoax websites and how their epistemic beliefs may influence their evaluation. Another aspect of this study was to find out what outcomes resulted from providing guidance, or not to prospective teachers before evaluating the hoax websites. Seventy‑two prospective teachers from undergraduate education courses completed an online questionnaire, where they evaluated four websites (two hoaxes and two credible) and completed questions regarding their epistemic beliefs. Two groups of prospective teachers were selected. Group A was the control group and Group B was the experiment group. Group A simply took the online questionnaire. However, Group B was provided with an overview of a specific web evaluation strategy, the WWWDOT Framework, before taking the online questionnaire. Sixteen participants were interviewed. Interestingly, almost half of the participants (48.6%), trusted at least one of the hoax websites. The study concluded that teaching the WWWDOT Framework helped to increase the number of people that did not trust the aesthetically appealing hoax website in Group B. Regarding epistemic beliefs, prospective teachers, who displayed feeling‑based epistemic beliefs, tended to trust the hoax website that was aesthetically appealing in Group A. The qualitative results provided additional insights and supported the quantitative data. The qualitative research suggests that lateral reading, spending sufficient time to read and evaluate and knowing the definition of a hoax website as being the most important web evaluation strategies displayed by those that did not trust the hoax websites

Antimicrobial activity in cheese whey as an indicator of antibiotic drug transfer from goat milk

[EN] Raw goat milk spiked with antibiotics was coagulated with rennet, the whey separated and the transfer of 18 antibiotics from the milk to the whey was evaluated by estimating antimicrobial activity of the whey using microbial inhibitor tests. Antibiotic-free whey (negative whey) spiked with different antibiotics was used as a reference. The antimicrobial activity in whey from milk spiked with most b-lactam drugs was lower (0e40%) than that of the reference whey, suggesting that these antibiotics are mostly released from curd and transferred to the whey. However, for most non-b-lactam drugs, an 84e100% reduction in the relative antimicrobial activity in whey was obtained, indicating the higher susceptibility for retention in curd. The traceability of antibiotics through the cheese-making process will make it possible to determine whether control systems are required to prevent the negative implications of the presence of antibiotic drug residues in cheese and whey products.This work is part of the AGL-2013-45147-R funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Madrid. Spain). The authors are grateful to Zeulab, S. L. (Zaragoza, Spain) for their support.Giraldo-Gómez, J.; Althaus, RL.; Beltrán Martínez, MC.; Molina Pons, MP. (2017). Antimicrobial activity in cheese whey as an indicator of antibiotic drug transfer from goat milk. International Dairy Journal. 69:40-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2017.02.003S40446

Chemical Interactions in Antarctic Marine Benthic Ecosystems

Antarctic marine ecosystems are immersed in an isolated, relatively constant environment where the organisms inhabiting their benthos are mainly sessile suspension feeders. For these reasons, physical and chemical biotic interactions play an essential role in structuring these marine benthic communities (Dayton et al., 1974; Orejas et al., 2000). These interactions may include diverse strategies to avoid predation (e.g. Iken et al., 2002), competition for space or food (e.g. Bowden et al., 2006) and avoiding fouling (e.g. Rittschof, 2001; Peters et al., 2010). For instance, in the marine benthos, one of the most extended effective strategies among sessile soft-bodied organisms is chemical defense, mediated by several bioactive natural products mostly considered secondary metabolites (e.g. Paul et al., 2011). The study of the “chemical network” (chemical ecology interactions) structuring the communities provides information about the ecology and biology of the involved species, the function and the structure of the community and, simultaneously, it may lead to the discovery of new compounds useful to humans for their pharmacological potential (e.g. Avila, 1995; Bhakuni, 1998; Munro et al., 1999; Faulkner, 2000; Lebar et al., 2007; Avila et al., 2008). In the last three decades, the study of marine chemical ecology has experienced great progress, thanks to the new technological advances for collecting and studying marine samples, and the possibility of identification of molecules with smaller amounts of compounds (e.g. Paul et al., 2006, 2011; Blunt et al., 2011)

The International Working Group on Neurotransmitter related Disorders (iNTD): A worldwide research project focused on primary and secondary neurotransmitter disorders

INTRODUCTION: Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that enable communication between the neurons in the synaptic cleft. Inborn errors of neurotransmitter biosynthesis, breakdown and transport are a group of very rare neurometabolic diseases resulting in neurological impairment at any age from newborn to adulthood. METHODS AND RESULTS: The International Working Group on Neurotransmitter related Disorders (iNTD) is the first international network focusing on the study of primary and secondary neurotransmitter disorders. It was founded with the aim to foster exchange and improve knowledge in the field of these rare diseases. The newly established iNTD patient registry for neurotransmitter related diseases collects longitudinal data on the natural disease course, approach to diagnosis, therapeutic strategies, and quality of life of affected patients. The registry forms the evidence base for the development of consensus guidelines for patients with neurotransmitter related disorders. CONCLUSION: The iNTD network and registry will improve knowledge and strengthen research capacities in the field of inborn neurotransmitter disorders. The evidence-based guidelines will facilitate standardized diagnostic procedures and treatment approaches

Ecología química en el bentos antártico

El estudio de las interacciones entre los organismos mediadas por sustancias químicas, lo que se denomina ecología química, nos da información sobre la biología de las especies implicadas, el funcionamiento de la comunidad en que viven y nos puede proporcionar además el conocimiento de nuevas sustancias que pueden ser útiles para el ser humano. En el marco de nuestros estudios sobre la ecología química de los invertebrados antárticos, en el proyecto ECOQUIM (2003-2006) se recolectaron numerosas muestras biológicas a partir de las cuales se obtuvieron extractos y sustancias naturales de invertebrados antárticos. En el proyecto ACTIQUIM (2007-actualidad), se ha evaluado el papel ecológico de estos extractos y sustancias naturales mediante experimentos de ecología química in situ (repelencia, defensa ante distintos tipos de macro y micro-depredadores, toxicidad, citotoxicidad y actividad antifouling) y también se ha analizado la actividad antitumoral de algunos compuestos obtenidos recientemente. Nuestros resultados demuestran, entre otras cuestiones, que las defensas químicas en los organismos antárticos son elevadas en las esponjas, los cnidarios, los tunicados, los briozoos, los equinodermos y los moluscos y que por lo tanto, estos grupos pueden ser una fuente rica en metabolitos secundarios con bioactividad, tanto a nivel ecológico como farmacológico

Should 16-Year-Olds Be Allowed to Donate Blood? A Vermont Perspective

Introduction: Supplying adequate blood for transfusions is an ongoing challenge for blood collection agencies. One potential source of increased Whole Blood (WB) supply is among 16-17 year-olds, whose donation rates are still quite low. In 2010, donors aged 16-18 years-old provided 14% of all WB collected by the American Red Cross. Young donors may represent an opportunity to establish a committed, long-term blood donation base as they are more likely to return after first donation and donate at a higher yield rate than older donors. However, younger donors also have higher rates of adverse events during donation. Currently, 38 states allow 16 year-olds to donate blood with parental consent but Vermont is not among them. Our study examines the public’s comfort with 16 year-olds donating blood. As blood donation is a voluntary system, ascertaining the perspective of the general population regarding this issue could contribute to a policy debate surrounding the minimum age of donation.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1065/thumbnail.jp

Alcopops Disproportionately Consumed by Minors in Sexual Assault Cases

Alcohol is present in a large proportion of sexual assault cases. However, research largely overlooks the role that providing alcoholic beverages – particularly those with high-alcohol- content and/or whose flavors mask the taste of alcohol – may have in making young people more vulnerable to being assaulted. This research is especially important given the rise in the availability of sugar-sweetened alcopops and their high-alcohol-content counterparts “supersized alcopops,” which contain up to 5.5 standard alcoholic drinks. In the current study, we examined whether alcopops and supersized alcopops, relative to beer, were involved in disproportionately more sexual assault cases involving victims who were minors (\u3c 18 years old) rather than adults. In this secondary data analysis, we used Nexis Uni to search legal documents for the brands of supersized alcopop (Four Loko), alcopop (Smirnoff Ice), and beer (Bud Light) most commonly consumed by underage drinkers. Inclusion criteria were U.S. sexual assault cases occurring from 2010 to 2019 and involving victims who consumed one of these three alcohol brands. Two researchers coded information from the case facts, compared coding, and reaching consensus. Thirty-six cases were included for analyses. Compared to victims of sexual assault who consumed beer, victims who consumed supersized alcopops or alcopops were significantly more likely to be minors. Similar results were observed after adjusting for the victim being given the alcohol by the perpetrator, which was strongly associated with the victim being a minor. This study provides initial evidence that sexual assault perpetrators may disproportionately use alcopops and supersized alcopops for the sexual victimization of minors

Theory of mind and emotion understanding predict moral development in early childhood

The current study utilized longitudinal data to investigate how theory of mind (ToM) and emotion understanding (EU) concurrently and prospectively predicted young children's moral reasoning and decision making. One hundred twenty-eight children were assessed on measures of ToM and EU at 3.5 and 5.5 years of age. At 5.5 years, children were also assessed on the quality of moral reasoning and decision making they used to negotiate prosocial moral dilemmas, in which the needs of a story protagonist conflict with the needs of another story character. More sophisticated EU predicted greater use of physical- and material-needs reasoning, and a more advanced ToM predicted greater use of psychological-needs reasoning. Most intriguing, ToM and EU jointly predicted greater use of higher-level acceptance-authority reasoning, which is likely a product of children's increasing appreciation for the knowledge held by trusted adults and children's desire to behave in accordance with social expectations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79217/1/026151009X483056.pd

Genetically determined Amerindian ancestry correlates with increased frequency of risk alleles for systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective To assess whether genetically determined Amerindian ancestry predicts increased presence of risk alleles of known susceptibility genes for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 16 confirmed genetic susceptibility loci for SLE were genotyped in a set of 804 Mestizo lupus patients and 667 Mestizo healthy controls. In addition, 347 admixture informative markers were genotyped. Individual ancestry proportions were determined using STRUCTURE. Association analysis was performed using PLINK, and correlation between ancestry and the presence of risk alleles was analyzed using linear regression. Results A meta-analysis of the genetic association of the 16 SNPs across populations showed that TNFSF4 , STAT4 , ITGAM , and IRF5 were associated with lupus in a Hispanic Mestizo cohort enriched for European and Amerindian ancestry. In addition, 2 SNPs within the major histocompatibility complex region, previously shown to be associated in a genome-wide association study in Europeans, were also associated in Mestizos. Using linear regression, we predicted an average increase of 2.34 risk alleles when comparing an SLE patient with 100% Amerindian ancestry versus an SLE patient with 0% Amerindian ancestry ( P < 0.0001). SLE patients with 43% more Amerindian ancestry were predicted to carry 1 additional risk allele. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that Amerindian ancestry is associated with an increased number of risk alleles for SLE.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78480/1/27753_ftp.pd