Motivation and Education: Performance, Commitment, and Satisfaction among Pharmacy Students

This study examines the relationship between academic motivation and three different educational outcomes: academic performance, commitment, and satisfaction. This research explores these relationships by focusing on pharmacy students at The University of Montana. Pharmacy students tend to be driven by relatively high levels of external motivations (e.g., motivated by money or prestige), especially when compared to other health profession students. In contrast to previous work that simply describes the motivations of students, I uncover the links between motivation and various educational outcomes. This investigation contributes to a better understanding of motivations and their impact on education, especially among the specific population being studied. Drawing upon self-determination theory, I argue that intrinsic or internal motivations will be related to positive educational outcomes, while extrinsic or external motivations will be related to negative educational outcomes. I used a survey to collect data from the entire population of pharmacy students (from first-year pre-pharmacy students through fourth-year pharmacy students) at The University of Montana during spring semester of 2013. I use ordinary least squares regression to show the direction and extent of relationships between my variables. Results show that motivation is related to the educational outcome variables included in this study, although not in all cases and not always in the predicted direction. I found that internal motivation is positively related to both overall academic commitment and academic satisfaction. Additionally, I show that external motivation is negatively related to academic satisfaction, but positively related to commitment. Finally, results indicate that neither internal nor external motivations are significantly related to academic performance. I address the implications of these findings for pharmacy students and pharmacy schools as well as suggest directions for future research on the topic

Thermoacoustic Instability Suppression and Heat-Release Forcing of a Laminar Flame Using Ionic Wind

Advancements in combustion technologies are often impeded by complex combustion dynamics. Active control has proven effective at mitigating these dynamics in the lab, but mass adoption requires more affordable, lightweight, and reliable actuators. Here, a new actuator concept is presented which utilizes sub-breakdown electric fields, the inherent plasma nature of flames, and the electrohydrodynamic effect to create flame stabilization points. These electrically controlled stabilization points allow variable distortion of a laminar flame and bidirectional forcing of the flame heat release. The electric field-based actuator is combined with a simple feedback controller to demonstrate suppression of a thermoacoustic instability. The instability sound pressure level was reduced by 27 dB and in less than 60 ms upon enabling the controller. The use of a sub breakdown electric field requires a mere 40 mW to stabilize a 3.4 kW thermal power flame. The absence of any moving parts and low electrical power required make this a promising actuator concept for many combustion applications.Comment: Supplementary Videos here: https://dustincruise.com/flame-videos

Equiangular Tight Frames That Contain Regular Simplices

An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a type of optimal packing of lines in Euclidean space. A regular simplex is a special type of ETF in which the number of vectors is one more than the dimension of the space they span. In this paper, we consider ETFs that contain a regular simplex, that is, have the property that a subset of its vectors forms a regular simplex. As we explain, such ETFs are characterized as those that achieve equality in a certain well-known bound from the theory of compressed sensing. We then consider the so-called binder of such an ETF, namely the set of all regular simplices that it contains. We provide a new algorithm for computing this binder in terms of products of entries of the ETF\u27s Gram matrix. In certain circumstances, we show this binder can be used to produce a particularly elegant Naimark complement of the corresponding ETF. Other times, an ETF is a disjoint union of regular simplices, and we show this leads to a certain type of optimal packing of subspaces known as an equichordal tight fusion frame. We conclude by considering the extent to which these ideas can be applied to numerous known constructions of ETFs, including harmonic ETFs

Evolution of an ancient protein function involved in organized multicellularity in animals.

To form and maintain organized tissues, multicellular organisms orient their mitotic spindles relative to neighboring cells. A molecular complex scaffolded by the GK protein-interaction domain (GKPID) mediates spindle orientation in diverse animal taxa by linking microtubule motor proteins to a marker protein on the cell cortex localized by external cues. Here we illuminate how this complex evolved and commandeered control of spindle orientation from a more ancient mechanism. The complex was assembled through a series of molecular exploitation events, one of which - the evolution of GKPID's capacity to bind the cortical marker protein - can be recapitulated by reintroducing a single historical substitution into the reconstructed ancestral GKPID. This change revealed and repurposed an ancient molecular surface that previously had a radically different function. We show how the physical simplicity of this binding interface enabled the evolution of a new protein function now essential to the biological complexity of many animals

How to Make 8,1,2-closo-MC2B9 Metallacarboranes

Three examples of the rare 8,1,2-closo-MC2B9 isomeric form of an icosahedral metallacarborane have been isolated as unexpected trace products in reactions. Seeking to understand how these were formed we considered both the nature of the reactions that were being undertaken and the nature of the coproducts. This led us to propose a mechanism for the formation of the 8,1,2-closo-MC2B9 species. The mechanism was then tested, leading to the first deliberate synthesis of an example of this isomer. Thus, deboronation of 4-(η-C5H5)-4,1,8-closo-CoC2B10H12 selectively removes the B5 vertex to yield the dianion [nido-(η-C5H5)CoC2B9H11]2−, oxidative closure of which affords 8-(η-C5H5)-8,1,2-closo-CoC2B9H11 in moderate yield

Oral squamous cell carcinoma proliferative phenotype is modulated by proanthocyanidins: a potential prevention and treatment alternative for oral cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the recently reported drop in the overall death rate from cancer, the estimated survival rate and number of deaths from oral cancer remain virtually unchanged. Early detection efforts, in combination with strategies for prevention and risk-reduction, have the potential to dramatically improve clinical outcomes. The identification of non-toxic, effective treatments, including complementary and alternative therapies, is critical if the survival rate is to be improved. Epidemiologic studies have suggested a protective effect from certain plant-derived foods and extracts; however, it has been difficult to isolate and identify the compounds most responsible for these observations. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the response of human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) to proanthocyanidin (PAC), a plant-derived compound that may inhibit the progression of several other cancers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a series of <it>in vitro </it>assays, we sought to quantify the effects of PAC on OSCC, cervical carcinoma, and non-cancerous cell lines, specifically the effects of PAC on cell proliferation. Recent data suggest that infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) may also modulate the proliferative potential of OSCC; therefore, we also measured the effects of PAC administration on HPV-transfected OSCC proliferation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results demonstrated that PAC administration was sufficient to significantly suppress cellular proliferation of OSCC in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the increased proliferation of OSCC after transfection with HPV 16 was reduced by the administration of PAC, as was the proliferation of the cervical cancer and non-cancerous cell lines tested. Our results also provide preliminary evidence that PAC administration may induce apoptosis in cervical and oral cancer cell lines, while acting merely to suppress proliferation of the normal cell line control.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results signify that PAC may be a compelling candidate for testing in both animal and human models. Furthermore, these data provide adequate justification for elucidating the divergent mechanisms of PAC-induced proliferation, inhibition, and apoptosis among these and other cell lines.</p

Structural and functional insight into human O-GlcNAcase

O-GlcNAc hydrolase (OGA) removes O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) from a myriad of nucleocytoplasmic proteins. Through co-expression and assembly of OGA fragments, we determined the three-dimensional structure of human OGA, revealing an unusual helix-exchanged dimer that lays a structural foundation for an improved understanding of substrate recognition and regulation of OGA. Structures of OGA in complex with a series of inhibitors define a precise blueprint for the design of inhibitors that have clinical value