Effects Peer Tutoring, Study Question-Based Instructional Strategies and Lecture Method on Students’ Academic Achievement and Attitude Towards Chemistry in Delta and Bayelsa States

This study aimed to examine the effects of peer tutoring, study question-based strategies, and lecture method on the educational achievement and attitude of chemistry students in Delta and Bayelsa States. Four hypotheses guided the study. The study will adopt a 3x2 pretest, posttest, planned variation quasi-experimental factorial design. The study's sample size consisted of 622 students enrolled in SSII chemistry across twelve public mixed senior secondary schools in Delta and Bayelsa States. The schools in question were selected through the utilization of a stratified random sampling technique. The data gathering process involved the utilization of two instruments, namely the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) and the Chemistry Attitude Scale (CAS). The assessment of the instruments' face validity was conducted by a panel of three specialists. The reliability of the CAT and CAS was determined by the utilization of statistical methods, namely the Kuder Richardson 21 and Cronbach Alpha coefficients. These coefficients produced reliability values of 0.88 and 0.79 for CAT and CAS, respectively.  The study consisted of three distinct groups, including peer tutoring, study question-based, and lecture groups. In this study, a peer tutoring instructional technique was used to provide chemistry teaching to the students in the peer tutoring group as the treatment. Similarly, study question-based instruction was used to teach the students in the study question-based group, while the students in the lecture group received instruction through the lecture method. Before  the commencement of the treatment, pre-tests were administered, followed by a post test conducted following the finalization of the six-week treatment period involving CAT and CAS. The acquired scores were collected and subjected to analysis using ANCOVA and Scheffe's post-hoc test. The results of the study indicate a notable disparity in the average scores for achievement and attitude among students who were instructed in chemistry using three different strategies: peer tutoring, study question-based, and lecture. The study question-based strategy yielded the highest scores, followed by the peer tutoring strategy, and finally the lecture method. The findings  of this research work indicate that the use of peer tutoring for studies and study question-based strategies promotes active student engagement in the process of learning, leading to enhanced academic achievement and a more positive attitude towards the subject of chemistry in Delta and Bayelsa States. These outcomes were observed to be superior to those achieved using the traditional lecture method. Study question-based strategy, more than peer tutoring, however, enables students to have a proper conceptualization of the chemistry contents taught leading to better achievement and attitude.Therefore, the study recommends that chemistry teachers at the secondary school level in Delta and Bayelsa States should consider implementing a study question-based strategy while teaching chemistry subjects. Keywords: Peer tutoring strategy, study question-based strategy, lecture method, academic achievement and attitude DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-33-03 Publication date: November 30th 202

Is the combination of immunotherapy and radiotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer a feasible and effective approach?

For many years, conventional oncologic treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy (RT) have dominated the field of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The recent introduction of immunotherapy (IT) in clinical practice, especially strategies targeting negative regulators of the immune system, so-called immune checkpoint inhibitors, has led to a paradigm shift in lung cancer as in many other solid tumors. Although antibodies against programmed death protein-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) are currently on the forefront of the immuno-oncology field, the first efforts to eradicate cancer by exploiting the host's immune system date back to several decades ago. Even then, researchers aimed to explore the addition of RT to IT strategies in NSCLC patients, attributing its potential benefit to local control of target lesions through direct and indirect DNA damage in cancer cells. However, recent pre-clinical and clinical data have shown RT may also modify antitumor immune responses through induction of immunogenic cell death and reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment. This has led many to reexamine RT as a partner therapy to immuno-oncology treatments and investigate their potential synergy in an exponentially growing number of clinical trials. Herein, the authors review the rationale of combining IT and RT across all NSCLC disease stages and summarize both historical and current clinical evidence surrounding these combination strategies. Furthermore, an overview is provided of active clinical trials exploring the IT-RT concept in different settings of NSCLC

Atrial fibrillation genetic risk differentiates cardioembolic stroke from other stroke subtypes

AbstractObjectiveWe sought to assess whether genetic risk factors for atrial fibrillation can explain cardioembolic stroke risk.MethodsWe evaluated genetic correlations between a prior genetic study of AF and AF in the presence of cardioembolic stroke using genome-wide genotypes from the Stroke Genetics Network (N = 3,190 AF cases, 3,000 cardioembolic stroke cases, and 28,026 referents). We tested whether a previously-validated AF polygenic risk score (PRS) associated with cardioembolic and other stroke subtypes after accounting for AF clinical risk factors.ResultsWe observed strong correlation between previously reported genetic risk for AF, AF in the presence of stroke, and cardioembolic stroke (Pearson’s r=0.77 and 0.76, respectively, across SNPs with p &lt; 4.4 × 10−4 in the prior AF meta-analysis). An AF PRS, adjusted for clinical AF risk factors, was associated with cardioembolic stroke (odds ratio (OR) per standard deviation (sd) = 1.40, p = 1.45×10−48), explaining ∼20% of the heritable component of cardioembolic stroke risk. The AF PRS was also associated with stroke of undetermined cause (OR per sd = 1.07, p = 0.004), but no other primary stroke subtypes (all p &gt; 0.1).ConclusionsGenetic risk for AF is associated with cardioembolic stroke, independent of clinical risk factors. Studies are warranted to determine whether AF genetic risk can serve as a biomarker for strokes caused by AF.</jats:sec

Dose-related decreases in activities of liver and serum amino-tranferases and increase in RNA concentrations following treatment of guinea-pigs with bonny light crude oil

No Abstract.Global Journal of Environmental Sciences Vol. 7 (1) 2008: pp. 9-1

Dose-related Increased Binding of Nickel to Chromatin Proteins; and Changes to DNA Concentration in the Liver of Guinea Pigs Treated with Nigerian Light Crude Oil

The alteration in nuclear DNA concentration and the concomitant binding of xenobiotics (alkylating agents, heavy metals, etc.) to chromatin constituents may adversely affect gene structure and/or function, and thus initiate carcinogenesis. Binding of nickel to chromatin DNA has been reported to cause DNA damage (cross-links, single-strand breaks), and although many soluble nickel compounds and complexes have been shown to bind to chromatin, porphyrin-complexed nickel (PCN) in crude oils has not been studied. We have determined the doserelated increases in total and chromatin DNA concentrations, and the differential distribution (binding) of PCN (crude oil nickel-CON) to chromatin constituents in livers of adult male guinea pigs treated with 1.25, 2.50 and 5.0 ml/kg bw Nigerian Bonny light crude oil (BLCO) by intraperitoneal injection. The results showed large BLCO-induced increases in total DNA concentrations of 424%, 632% and 436% at 1.25, 2.50 and 5.0 ml/kg bw BLCO respectively over the untreated controls; while it induced equally large increases in chromatin DNA concentrations of 585% and 200% at 2.50 and 5.0 ml/kg bw respectively. In both cases, maximum increases occurred at 2.50 ml/kg bw BLCO. The distribution of PCN in BLCO between chromatin DNA and chromatin proteins (histones and non-histones) showed that at 2.50 and 5.0 ml/kg bw BLCO, nickel content in chromatin DNA reduced by 25% and 12.5% respectively over the controls; while its content in chromatin proteins also reduced by 26%; but increased by 166% at 2.50 and 5.0 ml/kg bw BLCO, respectively over the untreated controls. However, in intra-chromatin comparison, 38.8% more PCN bound to chromatin DNA than to chromatin proteins at 2.50 ml/kg bw; but at 5.0 ml/kg bw BLCO, 90.4% more PCN bound to chromatin proteins than to chromatin DNA. These results show a greater affinity of PCN in BLCO for chromatin proteins over chromatin DNA which may have played a role in the increased DNA concentrations. Also, the results may add critical information to understanding the reactions of porphyrin-complexed nickel in crude oils with chromatin since this has not been studied before. Furthermore, the probable carcinogenicity of BLCO may be implied