4,753 research outputs found
ICT and applied linguistics – A project approach
This workshop discusses and shows examples of student-created ICT projects developed as part of Applied Linguistics coursework. A “Top 20 Site Search” asked students to select sites to recommend to other (novice) teachers of English. Besides student learning resources,
they also located resources of use to teachers for lesson planning, test development, and so on. A similar project was conducted with students in a graduate Materials Design course. Students submitted their top sites, which were compiled and made available on web CT. In class, they took turns showing the best features of their favorite sites. Perhaps the best example of learner motivation linked to IT comes from undergraduate courses in first and second language acquisition. Although not explicitly asked to use IT, the better projects integrated digital video clips so as to show samples collected during their research. Another
example is a fieldwork “scrapbook” presented via Power Point. It is clear that students went well beyond the requirements of the assignment when implementing and presenting their projects. IT was obviously a valuable tool and even a motivator for students as they explored
language learning issues, processes and concepts
Direct writing of a conducting polymer pattern in aqueous solution by using an ultrashort laser pulse
Conducting polymer (pyrrole-3-carboxylic acid; PCA) patterning in aqueous solution on a microfluidic channel using laser direct writing method.</p
Mechanisms of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy: The Role of the Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Inhibition Systems
J. A. Gray's (1975) theory distinguishes between two motivational systems, which he refers to as the behavioral activation system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). D. C. Fowles (1980) has shown that heart rate responses reflect activity of the BAS, and electrodermal responses reflect activity of the BIS. Both BAS and BIS are reliably activated during in-vivo exposure to fearful situations (F. H. Wilhelm & W. T. Roth, 1998). However, due to the constraints imposed by virtual reality (VR), we hypothesized that VR exposure to fearful situations would activate the BIS alone. To test this hypothesis, a VR free-standing elevator simulation was presented to participants selected for high and low fear of heights. As predicted, the high-anxious group strongly responded electrodermally (effect size d = 1.53), but showed only minimal HR elevations during exposure (d = 0.12), and little other cardiovascular or respiratory changes. The low-anxious control group showed little electrodermal and HR reactivity (d = 0.28 and 0.12). A comparison with data from a previous study demonstrated that this pattern was in stark contrast to the large electrodermal and cardiovascular response observed during situational in-vivo exposure outside the laboratory. We conclude that the BIS, but not BAS, is selectively activated during VR exposure, causing discordance between self-report and commonly used physiological measures of anxiety. Results are discussed within the framework of E. B. Foa & M. J. Kozak's (1986) emotional processing theory of fear modification, suggesting different mechanisms underlying VR and in-vivo exposure treatment
Lactiplantibacillusplantarum APsulloc331261 (GTB1™) promotes butyrate production to suppress mucin hypersecretion in a murine allergic airway inflammation model
IntroductionAllergic airway diseases are one of the serious health problems in worldwide and allergic airway inflammation is a prerequisite led to the exacerbated situation such as mucus hypersecretion, epithelial barrier damage and microbiota dysbiosis. Because of side effects and low efficiencies of current therapeutics, the need for novel alternatives has been urged. Probiotics in which have diverse and beneficial modulatory effects have been applied to the airway inflammation model and the underlying mechanism needs to be investigated.MethodsWe aimed to evaluate whether our target strain, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum APsulloc331261 (GTB1TM) isolated from green tea, can ameliorate allergic airway inflammation in mice and to figure out the mechanism. We induced allergic airway inflammation to mice by ovalbumin (OVA) and administered GTB1 orally and the immune and epithelial barrier markers were assessed. The gut metabolite and microbiota were also analysed, and the in vitro cell-line experiment was introduced to confirm the hypothesis of the study.ResultsGTB1 ameliorated type 2 inflammation and suppressed mucin hypersecretion with the inhibition of MUC5AC in inflamed mice. Moreover, GTB1 increased the butyrate production and the relative abundance of butyrate producer, Clostridium cluster IV. We assumed that butyrate may have a potential role and investigated the effect of butyrate in mucin regulation via human airway epithelial cell line, A549. Butyrate significantly reduced the gene expression of MUC5AC in A549 cells suggesting its regulatory role in mucus production.ConclusionTherefore, our study demonstrates that the oral administration of GTB1 can ameliorate allergic airway inflammation and mucin hypersecretion by butyrate production
Efficacy of endoscopic third ventriculostomy in old aged patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus
Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a chronic disorder caused by interrupted CSF absorption or flow. Generally, shunt placement is first option for NPH treatment. Due to complications of ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) shunt placement, endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) can be considered as an alternative treatment option. Here we report the efficacy of ETV especially in old aged patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus.
Total 21 old aged patients with communicating hydrocephalus with opening pressure, measured via lumbar puncture, less than 20cm H2O underwent ETV. 15 patients had primary/idiopathic NPH and 6 patients had secondary NPH. All patients were studied with a MRI to observe the flow void at aqueduct and the fourth ventricle outflow. And all of them underwent ETV. In a group with peak velocity was higher than 5cm/s, nine patients (75%) were evaluated was ‘favorable’ and three of them (25%) was scored ‘poor’. In another group with peak velocity less than 5cm/s, three of them were scored ‘poor’ and two of them were scored ‘stable’. None of them was evaluated as ‘favorable’. We also evaluated the outcomes according to etiology: 12 patients (80% of the patients with primary NPH) were evaluated with ‘favorable’ after ETV treatment. Two patients (13.3%) were as ‘stable’. And one patient was as ‘poor’ evaluated. Five patients (83.3%) among patients with secondary NPH were as ‘poor’ evaluated and one of them was stable and no patient was as ‘favorable’ evaluated. 4 patients, which was as ‘poor’ evaluated in the group with the secondary NPH, underwent additional VP shunt implantation. Overall, the outcomes of the group with the idiopathic NPH after ETV treatment were more favorable than of the group with the secondary NPH.
Our study suggest that ETV can be effective for selected elderly patients with primary/idiopathic NPH, when they satisfy criteria including positive aqueduct flow void on T2 Sagittal MRI and the aqueductal peak velocity, which is greater than 5cm/s on cine MRI
Complexity of Networks (reprise)
Network or graph structures are ubiquitous in the study of complex systems.
Often, we are interested in complexity trends of these system as it evolves
under some dynamic. An example might be looking at the complexity of a food web
as species enter an ecosystem via migration or speciation, and leave via
extinction.
In a previous paper, a complexity measure of networks was proposed based on
the {\em complexity is information content} paradigm. To apply this paradigm to
any object, one must fix two things: a representation language, in which
strings of symbols from some alphabet describe, or stand for the objects being
considered; and a means of determining when two such descriptions refer to the
same object. With these two things set, the information content of an object
can be computed in principle from the number of equivalent descriptions
describing a particular object.
The previously proposed representation language had the deficiency that the
fully connected and empty networks were the most complex for a given number of
nodes. A variation of this measure, called zcomplexity, applied a compression
algorithm to the resulting bitstring representation, to solve this problem.
Unfortunately, zcomplexity proved too computationally expensive to be
practical.
In this paper, I propose a new representation language that encodes the
number of links along with the number of nodes and a representation of the
linklist. This, like zcomplexity, exhibits minimal complexity for fully
connected and empty networks, but is as tractable as the original measure.
...Comment: Accepted in Complexit
Observations of a rotating macrospicule associated with an X-ray jet
We attempt to understand the driving mechanism of a macrospicule and its
relationship with a coronal jet. We study the dynamics of a macrospicule and an
associated coronal jet captured by multi-spacecraft observations. Doppler
velocities both in the macrospicule and the coronal jet are determined by EIS
and SUMER spectra. Their temporal evolution is studied using X-ray and He II
304 images. A blueshift of -120+/-15 km/s is detected on one side of the
macrospicule, while a redshift of 50+/-6 km/s is found at the base of the other
side. The inclination angle of the macrospicule inferred from a stereoscopic
analysis with STEREO suggests that the measured Doppler velocities can be
attributed to a rotating motion of the macrospicule rather than a radial flow
or an expansion. The macrospicule is driven by the unfolding motion of a
twisted magnetic flux rope, while the associated X-ray jet is a radial outflow.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Stepwise bending of DNA by a single TATA-box Binding Protein
The TATA-box Binding Protein (TBP) is required by all three eukaryotic RNA
polymerases for the initiation of transcription from most promoters. TBP
recognizes, binds to, and bends promoter sequences called ``TATA-boxes'' in the
DNA. We present results from the study of individual Saccharomyces cerevisia
TBPs interacting with single DNA molecules containing a TATA-box. Using video
microscopy, we observed the Brownian motion of beads tethered by short
surface-bound DNA. When TBP binds to and bends the DNA, the conformation of the
DNA changes and the amplitude of Brownian motion of the tethered bead is
reduced compared to that of unbent DNA. We detected individual binding and
dissociation events and derived kinetic parameters for the process.
Dissociation was induced by increasing the salt concentration or by directly
pulling on the tethered bead using optical tweezers. In addition to the
well-defined free and bound classes of Brownian motion, we observed another two
classes of motion. These extra classes were identified with intermediate states
on a three-step, linear binding pathway. Biological implications of the
intermediate states are discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in: Biophysical Journa
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