The correlation between Self-regulated Learning Behaviors and Academic Classification for HBCU Students Participating in Online and Remote Learning Experiences

The COVID-19 pandemic placed tremendous pressures on economic, medical, and educational infrastructures and systems around the world. Educational leaders were advised to “shutdown” schools which meant teachers and students were forbidden to gather in the same physical space to deliver and receive instruction. Pressures were transferred to technology leaders to create, maintain, and sustain technology infrastructure that depended on instructional technologies to mediate interactions among students, content, and instructors to provide learners with quality environments, experiences, and services while adhering to social distancing mandates. From a social cognitive perspective, this study is concerned with the relationship between abrupt environmental alteration created by the pandemic and the behavioral implications of deploying motivational and learning strategies empirically proven to contribute to academic success in traditional and online environments. The study showed undergraduate students at an HBCU participating in remote and online learning demonstrated slightly above average self-regulatory strategy use in environmental structuring (3.85), task strategy use (3.26), and time management (3.51). There is a statistically significant correlation between environmental structuring strategy use and academic classification; and a statistically significant correlation between time management strategy use and academic classification. This study does bring attention to environmental conditions of students served by HBCUs; and the implications of these factors on learning behaviors they rely on in technology-mediated learning environments and experiences

The correlation between Self-regulated Learning Behaviors and Academic Classification for HBCU Students Participating in Online and Remote Learning Experiences

The COVID-19 pandemic placed tremendous pressures on economic, medical, and educational infrastructures and systems around the world. Educational leaders were advised to “shutdown” schools which meant teachers and students were forbidden to gather in the same physical space to deliver and receive instruction. Pressures were transferred to technology leaders to create, maintain, and sustain technology infrastructure that depended on instructional technologies to mediate interactions among students, content, and instructors to provide learners with quality environments, experiences, and services while adhering to social distancing mandates. From a social cognitive perspective, this study is concerned with the relationship between abrupt environmental alteration created by the pandemic and the behavioral implications of deploying motivational and learning strategies empirically proven to contribute to academic success in traditional and online environments. The study showed undergraduate students at an HBCU participating in remote and online learning demonstrated slightly above average self-regulatory strategy use in environmental structuring (3.85), task strategy use (3.26), and time management (3.51). There is a statistically significant correlation between environmental structuring strategy use and academic classification; and a statistically significant correlation between time management strategy use and academic classification. This study does bring attention to environmental conditions of students served by HBCUs; and the implications of these factors on learning behaviors they rely on in technology-mediated learning environments and experiences

A Mouse Model of Hyperproliferative Human Epithelium Validated by Keratin Profiling Shows an Aberrant Cytoskeletal Response to Injury.

A validated animal model would assist with research on the immunological consequences of the chronic expression of stress keratins KRT6, KRT16, and KRT17, as observed in human pre-malignant hyperproliferative epithelium. Here we examine keratin gene expression profile in skin from mice expressing the E7 oncoprotein of HPV16 (K14E7) demonstrating persistently hyperproliferative epithelium, in nontransgenic mouse skin, and in hyperproliferative actinic keratosis lesions from human skin. We demonstrate that K14E7 mouse skin overexpresses stress keratins in a similar manner to human actinic keratoses, that overexpression is a consequence of epithelial hyperproliferation induced by E7, and that overexpression further increases in response to injury. As stress keratins modify local immunity and epithelial cell function and differentiation, the K14E7 mouse model should permit study of how continued overexpression of stress keratins impacts on epithelial tumor development and on local innate and adaptive immunity

Recruitment of Antigen Presenting Cells to Skin Draining Lymph Node From HPV16E7-Expressing Skin Requires E7-Rb Interaction.

"High-risk" human papillomaviruses (HPV) infect keratinocytes of squamous epithelia. The HPV16E7 protein induces epithelial hyperplasia by binding Rb family proteins and disrupting cell cycle termination. Murine skin expressing HPV16E7 as a transgene from a keratin 14 promoter (K14.E7) demonstrates epithelial hyperplasia, dysfunctional antigen presenting cells, ineffective antigen presentation by keratinocytes, and production of immunoregulatory cytokines. Furthermore, grafted K14.E7 skin is not rejected from immunocompetent non-transgenic recipient animals. To establish the contributions of E7, of E7-Rb interaction and of epithelial hyperplasia to altered local skin immunity, K14.E7 skin was compared with skin from K14.E7 mice heterozygous for a mutant Rb unable to bind E7 (K14.E7xRbΔL/ΔL mice), that have normoplastic epithelium. Previously, we demonstrated that E7-speicfic T cells do not accumulate in K14.E7xRbΔL/ΔL skin grafts. Here, we further show that K14.E7xRbΔL/ΔL skin, like K14.E7 skin, is not rejected by immunocompetent non-transgenic animals. There were fewer CD11b+ antigen presenting cells in skin draining lymph nodes from animals recipient of K14.E7xRbΔL/ΔL grafts, when compared with animals receiving K14.E7 grafts or K5mOVA grafts. Maturation of migratory DCs derived from K14.E7xRbΔL/ΔL grafts found in the draining lymph nodes is significantly lower than that of K14.E7 grafts. Surprisingly, K14.E7xRbΔL/ΔL keratinocytes, unlike K14.E7 keratinocytes, are susceptible to E7 directed CTL-mediated lysis in vitro. We conclude that E7-Rb interaction and its associated epithelial hyperplasia partially contribute to the suppressive local immune responses in area affected by HPV16E7 expression

A low inflammatory, Langerhans cell-targeted microprojection patch to deliver ovalbumin to the epidermis of mouse skin

In a low inflammatory skin environment, Langerhans cells (LCs) - but not dermal dendritic cells (dDCs) - contribute to the pivotal process of tolerance induction. Thus LCs are a target for specific-tolerance therapies. LCs reside just below the stratum corneum, within the skin's viable epidermis. One way to precisely deliver immunotherapies to LCs while remaining minimally invasive is with a skin delivery device such as a microprojection arrays (MPA). Today's MPAs currently achieve rapid delivery (e.g. within minutes of application), but are focussed primarily at delivery of therapeutics to the dermis, deeper within the skin. Indeed, no MPA currently delivers specifically to the epidermal LCs of mouse skin. Without any convenient, pre-clinical device available, advancement of LC-targeted therapies has been limited. In this study, we designed and tested a novel MPA that delivers ovalbumin to the mouse epidermis (eMPA) while maintaining a low, local inflammatory response (as defined by low erythema after 24 h). In comparison to available dermal-targeted MPAs (dMPA), only eMPAs with larger projection tip surface areas achieved shallow epidermal penetration at a low application energy. The eMPA characterised here induced significantly less erythema after 24 h (p = 0.0004), less epidermal swelling after 72 h (p

Identification of N-benzyltetrahydroisoquinolines as novel anti-neuroinflammatory agents

A series of simplified berberine analogs was designed, synthesized, and evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity. SAR studies identified N-benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline 7d as a potent berberine analog. 7d suppressed LPS-induced inflammatory cytokine levels in both BV2 cells and primary microglia. Taken together, our results suggest that simplified BB analogs have therapeutic potential as a novel class of anti-neuroinflammatory agents

A cell-based bioluminescence assay reveals dose-dependent and contextual repression of AP-1-driven gene expression by BACH2

Abstract: Whereas effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells promote immune activation and can drive clearance of infections and cancer, CD4+ regulatory T (Treg) cells suppress their function, contributing to both immune homeostasis and cancer immunosuppression. The transcription factor BACH2 functions as a pervasive regulator of T cell differentiation, promoting development of CD4+ Treg cells and suppressing the effector functions of multiple effector T cell (Teff) lineages. Here, we report the development of a stable cell-based bioluminescence assay of the transcription factor activity of BACH2. Tetracycline-inducible BACH2 expression resulted in suppression of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)/ionomycin-driven activation of a luciferase reporter containing BACH2/AP-1 target sequences from the mouse Ifng + 18k enhancer. BACH2 expression repressed the luciferase signal in a dose-dependent manner but this activity was abolished at high levels of AP-1 signalling, suggesting contextual regulation of AP-1 driven gene expression by BACH2. Finally, using the reporter assay developed, we find that the histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3)-selective inhibitor, RGFP966, inhibits BACH2-mediated repression of signal-driven luciferase expression. In addition to enabling mechanistic studies, this cell-based reporter may enable identification of small molecule agonists or antagonists of BACH2 function for drug development

Proposition of indicators for evaluation of Emergency Care Units

This study proposes the construction of indicators as a tool to evaluate how the services of an Emergency Care Unit (UPA) can be classified about the efficiency and quality of the services provided to its users. Based on metrics such as Length of Stay (LOS), Triage Cycle Time, Reception Service Time, among others, an unsupervised machine learning technique known as Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to obtain indicators. The results were obtained using the free software R. From the proposed indicators, it can be concluded that the higher the value found, generally, the worse the quality of the service provided. This indicates that the users remain in the Emergency Care Unit (UPA) for a long time