MOOCs in Higher Education

MOOCs have been the major issue in higher education worldwide since 2008. Frankly speaking, there are clear pros and cons of moving into MOOC-based education. This chapter deals with the pedagogical utilization and limitations of MOOCs in higher education. Through literature review and websites surfing related to MOOCs, expansion of MOOCs, instructional strategies in MOOCs, functions of platform for MOOCs, development of a MOOC, and future of MOOCs are summarized, analyzed, and discussed at the aspect of pedagogy. Based on the analysis, some recommendations are suggested for the success of MOOCs

Polymeric Gene Delivery for Diabetic Treatment

Several polymers were used to delivery genes to diabetic animals. Polyaminobutyl glycolic acid was utilized to deliver IL-10 plasmid DNA to prevent autoimmune insulitis of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse. Polyethylene glycol grafted polylysine was combined with antisense glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) MRNA to represent GAD autoantigene expression. GLP1 and TSTA (SP-EX4) were delivered by bioreducible polymer to stop diabetic progression. Fas siRNA delivery was carried out to treat diabetic NOD mice animal

Effect of fibronectin on the binding of antithrombin III to immobilized heparin

An objective of this research is to verify the mechanism of anticoagulant activity of surface-immobilized heparin in the presence of plasma proteins. The competition and binding interaction between immobilized heparin and antithrombin III (ATIII)/thrombin have been described in vitro. However, the strong ionic character of heparin leads to its specific and nonspecific binding with many other plasma proteins. Most notably, fibronectin contains six active binding sites for heparin which may interfere with the subsequent binding of heparin with ATIII or thrombin. \ud Heparin was covalently immobilized through polyethylene oxide (PEO) hydrophilic spacer groups onto a model surface synthesized by random copolymerization of styrene and p-aminostyrene. The binding interaction of immobilized heparin with ATIII was then determined in the presence of different fibronectin concentrations. The binding interaction was studied by first binding immobilized heparin with ATIII, followed by the introduction of fibronectin; heparin binding with fibronectin, followed by incubation with ATIII, and simultaneous incubation of surface immobilized heparin with ATIII and fibronectin. The extent of ATIII binding to heparin in each experiment was assayed using a chromogenic substrate for ATIII, S-2238. \ud The results of this study demonstrate that the displacement of ATIII from immobilized heparin was proportional to the fibronectin concentration, and was reversible. Furthermore, the binding sequence did not play a role in the final concentration of ATIII bound to immobilized heparin

Polymer-Based Delivery of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 for the Treatment of Diabetes

The incretin hormones, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and its receptor agonist (exendin-4), are well known for glucose homeostasis, insulinotropic effect, and effects on weight loss and food intake. However, due to the rapid degradation of GLP-1 by dipeptidylpeptidase-IV (DPP-IV) enzyme and renal elimination of exendin-4, their clinical applications have been restricted. Although exendin-4 has longer half-life than GLP-1, it still requires frequent injections to maintain efficacy for the treatment of diabetes. In recent decades, various polymeric delivery systems have been developed for the delivery of GLP-1 and exendin-4 genes or peptides for their long-term action and the extra production in ectopic tissues. Herein, we discuss the modification of the expression cassettes and peptides for long-term production and secretion of the native peptides. In addition, the characteristics of nonviral or viral system used for a delivery of a modified GLP-1 or exendin-4 are described. Furthermore, recent efforts to improve the biological half-life of GLP-1 or exendin-4 peptide via chemical conjugation with various smart polymers via chemical conjugation compared with native peptide are discussed

Molecular separation by thermosensitive hydrogelmembranes

A new method for separation of molecules of different size is presented. The method is a useful addition to conventional separation methods which depend mainly on gel permeation chromatography using size exclusion. In the new method, hydrogel membranes are used which swelling level can be thermally controlled. In this study, a crosslinked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide¿co-butylmethacrylate 95:5mol%) membrane is used and three solutes of distinct molecular size: two dextrans with molecular weights of 150,000 and 4,400 g/mol respectively and uranine with a molecular weight of 376 g/mol. The swelling of the membranes as function of temperature was measured as well as the influence of the swelling level on the permeability of the three solutes. the influence of the swelling level and the solute size on the permeability was as expected from the free-volume theory. Based on these permeability phenomena, separation was performed in a continuous way by varying the membrane swelling at the appropriate time. A linear relationship between inverse membrane hydration and solute diffusion was found for uranine and dextran (MW=4,400), indicating the validity of the free-volume theory

What Brings about the Success of MOOCs in the Perspective of Education Service?

MOOCs passed through ‘inflated expectation stage of Garner’s hype cycle in 2012 and has gone ‘through of disillusionment’ stage. For jumping to the slope of enlightenment, MOOCs should be considered as education service focusing on service dominant logic and co-creation of value. This chapter aims to suggest a new perspective, education service science, to cope with the crisis of MOOCs. It focuses mainly on this suggestion: the principles of education service science could be applied in order for learners with MOOCs to take optimal learning experience. Themes of this paper are service science in education and MOOCs, education service innovation in MOOCs, education service system design for educational innovation in MOOCs, and quality management of MOOCs in the perspective of education service

Heparin release from thermosensitive hydrogels

Thermosensitive hydrogels (TSH) were synthesized and investigated as heparin releasing polymers for the prevention of surface induced thrombosis. TSH were synthesized with N-isopropyl acrylamide (NiPAAm) copolymerized with butyl methacrylate (BMA) (hydrophobic) or acrylic acid (AAc) (hydrophilic) comonomers. The incorporation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic comonomers strongly influences the swelling/shrinking behavior of TSH. Upon deswelling, gels containing the hydrophobic comonomer formed a skin-type layer, which acted as a rate controlling membrane, while the hydrophilic comonomer greatly increased gel swelling, relative to NiPAAm. Equilibrium swelling in isotonic PBS and deswelling kinetics of the synthesized gels were examined at various temperatures. The loading of heparin into the different gels was studied as a function of temperature, solution concentration, and gel composition. The release kinetics of heparin was found to be influenced by gel composition and loading temperature; the release correlated with the gel deswelling kinetics. In the case of Ni-PAAm/BMA gel, the release profile of heparin was affected by temperature dependent properties of the skin-type diffusional barrier formed on the gel surface

Tonicity response element binding protein associated with neuronal cell death in the experimental diabetic retinopathy

AIM: To study the contribution of tonicity response element binding protein (TonEBP) in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death of diabetic retinopathy (DR). METHODS: Diabetes was induced in C57BL/6 mice by five consecutive intraperitoneal injections of 55 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). Control mice received vehicle (phosphate -buffered saline). All mice were killed 2mo after injections, and the extent of cell death and the protein expression levels of TonEBP and aldose reductase (AR) were examined. RESULTS: The TonEBP and AR protein levels and the death of RGC were significantly increased in the retinas of diabetic mice compared with controls 2mo after the induction of diabetes. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) -mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) -positive signals co -localized with TonEBP immunoreactive RGC. These changes were increased in the diabetic retinas compared with controls. CONCLUSION: The present data show that AR and TonEBP are upregulated in the DR and TonEBP may contribute to apoptosis of RGC in the DR.close2

Linear-Parameter-Varying Antiwindup Compensation for Enhanced Flight Control Performance

Actuator saturation is one of the major issues of flight control in the high angle-of-attack region. This paper presents a saturation control scheme for linear parameter varyjing (LPV) systems from an antiwindup control perspective. The proposed control approach is advantageous from the implementation standpoint because it can be thought of as an augmented control algorithm to the existing control system. Moreover, the synthesis condition for an antiwindup compensator is formulated as a linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization problem and can be solved efficiently. We have applied te LPV antiwindup controller to an F-16 longitudinal autopilot control system design and compared it with the thrust vectoring control scheme. The nonlinear simulations show that an LPV antiwindup controller improves flight quality and offers advantages over thrust vectoring in a high angle-of-attack region