Girls in IT: How to develop talent and leverage support

The objectives of this panel are to inform the audience about national and regional initiatives developed by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) to reach out to middle and high school girls; learn from promising experiences in which the panelists have been directly involved; and discuss venues to scale and sustain efforts to increase women\u27s participation in technology careers. Panelists will describe their particular experiences, and discuss ways to utilize the Aspirations in Computing program to increase enrollment and retention of females in computing. A minimum of 30 minutes will be set aside for question and answer

Panel 1: Prison Reform in the United States and Abroad

Professor Emeritus Herman Schwartz’s distinguished career has focused attention on the cause of human rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law. From the UN to Helsinki Watch, and from Israel and Eastern Europe to the United States, his work on emerging democracies, constitutional reform, and rule of law has inspired a generation of students, scholars, and practitioners to engage in this important work. Join us for a symposium on prison reform, comparative constitutionalism, voting rights, and human rights in Israel, with experts, activists, and academics in celebration of his contributions

The Impact of Bispectral Index (BIS) Monitoring in Critical Care

The bispectral index (BIS) monitor is a processed two channel electroencephalograph (EEG) for tracking changes in brain wave activity. Bispectral index monitoring was designed to correlate with “hypnotic” clinical endpoints including state of consciousness, lack of awareness and memory during the administration of anesthetics. The BIS also indirectly measures pain, by noting increased arousal states in response to painful stimuli, however it does not quantify pain. Currently, there are no other practical methods for determining the level of sedation in heavily sedated and neuromuscularly blocked patients in the critical care setting. The purpose of this study was to determine if continuous BIS monitoring in neuromuscularly blocked or heavily sedated patients with mechanical ventilation in critical care, optimized the level of sedation, improved outcomes and decreased costs. We hypothesized that there would be a significant correlation between BIS monitoring and optimal sedation, outcomes, and cost. This prospective blinded correlational study included 41 patients on mechanical ventilators in the critical care units. These patients ranged in age from 25 to 81 years old with and mean age of 51 (±17). The first 20 patients were entered into phase I and the next 21 were entered into phase II. Phase I consisted of monitoring neuromuscular blocked or heavily sedated patients with the BIS monitor values blinded to providers and phase II allowed care providers to use the BIS monitor values to evaluate sedation levels. The mean BIS numbers were compared with the amount of sedation, neuromuscular blocking agent and analgesic used, plus the number of ventilator and critical care hours. The results of our study indicate that the mean BIS number was not statistically different between phase I and II. In phase II, the mean BIS number was significantly decreased in patients that received neuromuscular blocking agents and those that did not. Also, significantly more patients received analgesics in phase II. In phase I, nine patients (45%) were receiving an analgesic and in phase II there were 17 (90%). When comparing dosages of medications used there was no significance found, however the mean Morphine dose was four times higher in phase II compared to phase I. The mean Ativan dose showed a 54% reduction in phase II. Overall, our results indicate a negative correlation(r=-0.3) between the mean BIS number with ventilator and critical care hours. Also, a strong negative correlation (r=-0.7) in the neuromuscular blocked patients between the mean BIS number with ventilator and critical care hours. In summary, our results suggest that the BIS is a useful adjunct as an objective measure of sedation in neuromuscularly blocked or heavily sedated mechanically ventilated patients in critical care. Clinically, use of the BIS enhanced patient care by improving regulation of sedation, analgesia, and decreasing ventilator and critical care hours.Master of ScienceAnesthesia ProgramUniversity of Michigan-Flinthttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143300/1/CompeauEtal.pd

Best practices in teaching information technology development

Programming is one of the most fundamental and central topics in the information technology curriculum. Because of its importance it is crucial to understand how to effectively teach development students. In this panel we share best practices for teaching programming to a variety of populations, including freshman, non-majors, and community college students. Various pedagogical approaches including pair programming, studiobased instruction, peer instruction, active learning, cooperative learning, project-based pedagogy, high-impact education practices, and CS Unplugged type activities are included

Panel 1: Prison Reform in the United States and Abroad

Professor Emeritus Herman Schwartz’s distinguished career has focused attention on the cause of human rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law. From the UN to Helsinki Watch, and from Israel and Eastern Europe to the United States, his work on emerging democracies, constitutional reform, and rule of law has inspired a generation of students, scholars, and practitioners to engage in this important work. Join us for a symposium on prison reform, comparative constitutionalism, voting rights, and human rights in Israel, with experts, activists, and academics in celebration of his contributions

Platelet-derived Transforming Growth Factor-β1 promotes keratinocyte proliferation in cutaneous wound healing

Platelets are a recognised potent source of Transforming Growth Factor-1 (TGF1), a cytokine known to promote wound healingand regenerationby stimulating dermal fibroblast proliferation and extracellular matrix deposition. Platelet lysate has been advocated as a novel personalised therapeutic to treat persistent wounds, although the precise platelet-derived growth factors responsible for these beneficial effects have not been fully elucidated. The aim of thisstudy was to investigate the specific role of platelet-derived TGF1in cutaneous wound healing.Using a transgenic mouse with a targeted deletion of TGF1in megakaryocytes and platelets (TGFβ1fl/fl.PF4-Cre), we show for the first-time platelet-derived TGF1 contributes to epidermal and dermal thickening and cellular turnover after excisional skin wounding. In vitrostudies demonstrate human dermal fibroblasts stimulated with platelet lysate containing high levels of platelet-derived TGF1 did not exhibit enhanced collagen deposition or proliferation, suggestingthat platelet-derived TGF1 is not a key promoter of these wound healing processes.Interestingly, human keratinocytes displayed enhanced TGF1-driven proliferation in response to platelet lysate, reminiscent of our in vivofindings. In summary, our novel findings define andemphasiseanimportant roleof platelet-derived TGF1in epidermal remodellingand regenerationprocessesduring cutaneous wound healing