Do-It-Yourself Information Literacy: Using LibGuides to Foster Self-Directed Learning at a Distance

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You Can Take It with You: Information Literacy from Classroom to Workplace

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Go Research! Building an Information Literacy Tool that Bridges the Gap

With the increase in online learning, identifying new ways to develop the information literacy skills of distance learners is paramount. Developing a research question, selecting resources, searching databases, refining search results, getting full text, and citing sources in the online environment can be especially challenging for nontraditional learners who may not have the same digital know-how as traditional students or digital natives. Global Campus librarians at Central Michigan University (CMU) travel to CMU’s remote centers to provide information literacy instruction for core research courses. But how do they reach everyone, including students taking classes online? Because distance students are typically expected to explore resources and manage assignments independently, Global Campus Library Services (GCLS) librarians developed a self-paced, interactive tutorial to help them develop the basic research skills needed to be successful in their coursework. All CMU students can access the LibGuides-based Go Research! tutorial online to assess what they already know, interact with multimedia tools and resources that foster specific information literacy skills, and evaluate their own learning outcomes. To promote its use, GCLS librarians incorporate the tutorial into ongoing library instruction, and work with selected faculty to integrate the tutorial into research-intensive classes. This presentation describes the collaborative planning, design, implementation and evaluation of this information literacy tutorial, and discusses how its content and use have been modified over time to facilitate flipped classroom instruction and better meet the needs of online students and faculty

Inner-City Evangelism: A Model for Reaching Gangs for Christ

This thesis will focus on the crimes and violence that have corrupted and invaded the world, in a life-threatening, devastating, and unprecedented way. Criminal gangs have made their presence in communities all around the world, which has resulted in mental corruption and spiritual and physical destruction. Regardless of how gang members are looked upon and viewed by society due to their daily ungodly activities, the author will address the importance of the church becoming dedicated to reach gangs with the gospel, which holds the power to transform the life of whoever hears it regardless of their past or present. The author will research this thesis project through surveys and interviews with gang members along with their family and friends. A model for reaching this group will be developed and give people the tools needed on how to reach inner-city gangs for Christ with the gospel

What are the benefits of Namaste Care, an intervention for people living with dementia? A review of 10 years of UK research

It is forecast that by 2050, 153.8 million people will be living with dementia worldwide. Understanding effective interventions is key to building, delivery and maintaining sustainable excellence in dementia care. First conceptualised in 2003, Namaste Care is a multimodal intervention that focuses on sensory stimulation to improve quality of life. The core principles of Namaste Care are creating a calm environment, providing loving touch and engaging the senses. This literature review was conducted to consolidate evidence for the benefits of implementing Namaste Care. Four themes were identified; behavioural benefits, improved quality of life, physical benefits and institutional benefits. This review concluded that Namaste Care can reduce agitation, increase communication, strengthen relationships, improve wellbeing, provide health benefits, influence care culture, enable respite and support organisational improvements

Antigen-specific T cell turnover and expansion in vivo during chronic immune stimulation

Effective immunity is fundamental to life on a dirty planet. Appropriate immune responses control infections and protect against cancer. Inappropriate immune responses lead to autoimmunity and allergy. A fine balance between aggression and tolerance is therefore central to effective immune function at the system level. This is a particular problem for T cells, which recognize peptide antigens bound to host major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Faced with a composite antigenic structure, the distinction between “foreign and dangerous” and “self and harmless” becomes both difficult and imperative, especially when the antigen persists. In this thesis, antigen-specific T cell responses were investigated under conditions of chronic antigenic stimulation to inform our understanding of this process. In T cell receptor transgenic mice, continuous antigenic stimulation without adjuvant lead to increased in vivo turnover of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells but “aborted” immune activation, characterized by depletion of these cells from the circulation and spleen. Full immune activation and expansion of antigen-specific memory/effector CD4+ T cells required the presence of adjuvant, in this case IL-1β, which induces an inflammatory environment. Further isotope labelling studies in human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects suggested that the surface marker CD57 demarcates a “steady state” within the CD8+ T cell memory compartment, whereby CD57+ cells have lower in vivo turnover rates compared to their CD57- counterparts. These observations provide a potential mechanistic explanation for the preferential accumulation of CD57+CD8+ cells under conditions of chronic antigenic stimulation. Another persistent pathogen, cytomegalovirus (CMV), expresses a viral interleukin (IL)-10 homologue. Memory T cell inflation and antiviral cytokine production in murine CMV(MCMV)-infected mice were suppressed by IL-10. Conversely, IL-10 blockade or deficiency lead to the inflation of certain antigenspecific T cell populations and reduced viral load, most likely as a consequence of the enhanced immune response. Reactivation of human CMV was also apparent in subjects with dasatinib-associated large granular lymphocyte expansions. Consistent with a causative association, the expanded T cell and NK cell populations in these subjects were oligoclonal and exhibited a late differentiated (CD27-CD57+) phenotype, indicative of chronic antigenic stimulation. In addition, CD8high and CD8low T cells were observed within both the total and CMV-specific CD8+ T cell compartments, consistent with CMVdriven activation. In summary, these data show that antigen alone is not sufficient to induce full immune activation, even under conditions of chronic stimulation. Additional signals, such as those provided by an inflammatory environment, are required to trigger full T cell activation and expansion. Persistent viruses attempt to undermine this process, for example by the expression of homologues that mimic host immune regulators. Even in the presence of viral reactivation and immune system perturbations, however, the T cell compartment can demonstrate remarkable resilience in its ability to generate fully differentiated and functional expansions. The persistence of certain memory T cell subsets under such conditions appears to play an important role in the immune response to chronic “dangerous” antigens

A Collaborative Approach to Systematic Marine Protected Area Network Planning in British Columbia

In British Columbia, legislated responsibilities for the protection of marine values are a shared responsibility between federal and provincial governments. Traditionally, the governments of Canada and B.C. have established marine protected areas (MPAs) independently, on an ad-hoc basis, and often in response to single species or habitat specific conservation issues. This is challenging because dual designation may be required to meet MPA objectives, and ad hoc approaches may lead to gaps in biophysical representation and greater uncertainty for marine stakeholders. Recognizing the need to partner together and move towards more systematic marine conservation planning, the governments of Canada and B.C. have completed a strategy for the design of a network of MPAs on the Pacific Coast. The strategy proposes a clear vision, identifies priority goals and objectives, and recommends a set of general operating and network design principles to guide development and implementation of a coast-wide network of MPAs. Identifying gaps in biophysical representation is a preliminary step towards future implementation. Initial GIS analyses suggest gaps in biophysical representation in existing MPAs, reinforcing the need for a more collaborative systematic approach to MPA network planning in BC. This presentation will describe how governments will work collaboratively to design an effective network of MPAs through existing integrated marine spatial planning processes

Blood Pressure and Hypertension in Adults Permanently Living at High Altitude: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Aryal, Nirmal, Mark Weatherall, Yadav Kumar Deo Bhatta, and Stewart Mann. Blood pressure and hypertension in adults permanently living at high altitude: a systematic review and meta-analysis. High Alt Med Biol. 17:185-193, 2016.-The objective of this study was to estimate the associations between altitude and mean blood pressure (BP) (or prevalence of hypertension [HT]) in adults who live permanently at high altitude. A literature search was conducted in December 2014 using PubMed, Scopus, and OvidSP (MedLine and EMBASE) databases to identify relevant observational studies. Inclusion criteria were reports of studies in populations permanently living at an altitude of ≥2400 m and in those 18 years or older. Meta-regression was used to estimate the association between average BP and HT and altitude. We identified 3375 articles and inclusion criteria were met for 21 reports, which included a total of 40,854 participants. Random-effects meta-regression estimated that for every 1000 m elevation the average systolic BP (SBP) (95% confidence interval [CI]) increased by 17 mmHg (0.2 to 33.8), p = 0.05 and diastolic BP (DBP) by 9.5 mmHg (0.6 to 18.4), p = 0.04 in participants with Tibetan origin. By contrast, in participants with non-Tibetan origin, average SBP decreased by 5.9 mmHg (-19.1 to 7.3), p = 0.38 and DBP by 4 mmHg (-13 to 5), p = 0.38. The odds ratios (95% CI) for the proportion of participants with HT per 1000 m increment in the altitude were 2.01 (0.37 to 11.02), p = 0.446 and 4.05 (0.07 to 244.69), p = 0.489 for Tibetan and non-Tibetan participants, respectively. Sensitivity analysis excluding two studies with older participants (≥60 years) reversed the direction of this effect in non-Tibetans with odds ratio (95% CI) of 0.10 (0.004 to 2.22) per 1000 m, p = 0.143. Overall, this review suggests weak association between BP and altitude in Tibetan origin populations