Examining teaching and research anxieties, self-efficacy, and coping in Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs): a snapshot of graduate student mental health

Graduate students report increasing levels of anxiety and depression compared to the general public, negatively impacting their overall mental health and degree attainment in graduate programs. Yet we are only beginning to understand what contributes to graduate student anxiety. Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in particular occupy an “ambiguous niche” in academia with simultaneous roles as teachers, researchers, students, and employees. Balancing these roles can contribute to anxieties, particularly in regard to teaching and research responsibilities. My dissertation investigated Biology GTA anxieties related to teaching and research roles, how these anxieties change over time, how GTAs cope with these emotions, and how career aspirations relate to these anxieties. I surveyed (n=89) and interviewed (n=23) Biology GTAs at a research-intensive university twice over one year. Results revealed that a GTA’s teaching self-efficacy is an important predictor of teaching anxiety, with greater self-efficacy related to decreased anxiety. Interviews revealed that five factors were associated with teaching and research anxieties, but in different proportions for each role. Anxiety-related to a lack of self-efficacy was most common for research roles; while anxiety related to impact on others (e.g. students) was more prevalent in teaching roles. Anxieties related to role tensions or time constraints between teaching and research also arose, though GTAs with academic career aspirations expressed these anxieties less compared to GTAs with non-academic career goals. Lastly, when examining how GTAs coped with teaching and research anxieties, GTAs overall tended to use adaptive coping strategies, despite differences between roles. Problem solving and information seeking were used in both teaching and research contexts, but support seeking strategies were used most often in research. Over time, the use of these adaptive coping strategies declined among GTAs, however, maladaptive strategies did not notably increase. This may indicate a stabilization of coping strategies over time. Given the important roles that GTAs play as instructors in introductory Biology and in the production of research at research-intensive institutions, it is important to understand how GTAs are experiencing anxieties related to teaching and research roles in order to better support their mental health through institutional resources to manage such stressors

Spirituality and Mindfulness Practices of Early Childhood and Elementary Preservice Teachers: A Snapshot

This paper describes the results of a research survey that interpreted the patterns of mindfulness and spirituality within a convenience sample of preservice teachers at a Midwest teacher education institution.  Mindfulness and spiritualty represent topics of developing interest in teacher education that serve to increase candidate focus and revision of practice.  Respondents completed a survey as part of a semester’s project that interpreted the results of a semester-long mindfulness intervention on student mindfulness and spiritual attitudes and practices. The findings determined that participants had senses of mindfulness and self the emphasized themselves, and their external worlds, let weak connection with a higher spiritual entity.  Significant differences were observed between early childhood and elementary majors

A people-oriented paradigm for smart cities

Most works in the literature agree on considering the Internet of Things (IoT) as the base technology to collect information related to smart cities. This information is usually offered as open data for its analysis, and to elaborate statistics or provide services which improve the management of the city, making it more efficient and more comfortable to live in. However, it is not possible to actually improve the quality of life of smart cities’ inhabitants if there is no direct information about them and their experiences. To address this problem, we propose using a social and mobile computation model, called the Internet of People (IoP) which empowers smartphones to recollect information about their users, analyze it to obtain knowledge about their habits, and provide this knowledge as a service creating a collaborative information network. Combining IoT and IoP, we allow the smart city to dynamically adapt its services to the needs of its citizens, promoting their welfare as the main objective of the city.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Serious Overestimation in Quantitative PCR by Circular (Supercoiled) Plasmid Standard: Microalgal pcna as the Model Gene

Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) has become a gold standard for the quantification of nucleic acids and microorganism abundances, in which plasmid DNA carrying the target genes are most commonly used as the standard. A recent study showed that supercoiled circular confirmation of DNA appeared to suppress PCR amplification. However, to what extent to which different structural types of DNA (circular versus linear) used as the standard may affect the quantification accuracy has not been evaluated. In this study, we quantitatively compared qPCR accuracies based on circular plasmid (mostly in supercoiled form) and linear DNA standards (linearized plasmid DNA or PCR amplicons), using proliferating cell nuclear gene (pcna), the ubiquitous eukaryotic gene, in five marine microalgae as a model gene. We observed that PCR using circular plasmids as template gave 2.65-4.38 more of the threshold cycle number than did equimolar linear standards. While the documented genome sequence of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana shows a single copy of pcna, qPCR using the circular plasmid as standard yielded an estimate of 7.77 copies of pcna per genome whereas that using the linear standard gave 1.02 copies per genome. We conclude that circular plasmid DNA is unsuitable as a standard, and linear DNA should be used instead, in absolute qPCR. The serious overestimation by the circular plasmid standard is likely due to the undetected lower efficiency of its amplification in the early stage of PCR when the supercoiled plasmid is the dominant template

Situational-Context for Virtually Modeling the Elderly

The generalized aging of the population is incrementing the pressure over, frequently overextended, healthcare systems. This situations is even worse in underdeveloped, sparsely populated regions like Extremadura in Spain or Alentejo in Portugal. In this paper we propose an initial approach to use the Situational-Context, a technique to seamlessly adapt Internet of Things systems to the needs and preferences of their users, for virtually modeling the elderly. These models could be used to enhance the elderly experience when using those kind of systems without raising the need for technical skills. The proposed virtual models will also be the basis for further eldercare innovations in sparsely populated regions

Concurrent Hysterectomy and Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy during Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Non-Gynecologic Cancers

Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is a key component of treatment in non-gynecologic peritoneal surface malignancies. As many as 10-15% of patients with a gastrointestinal primary malignancy will present with carcinomatosis. Maximal cytoreductive surgery directly affects the prognosis of patients. The routine inclusion of hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy during these procedures optimizes cytoreduction despite negative pre-operative imaging and findings at the time of surgery. In this case series, we review twenty non-gynecologic cancer patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery with concurrent hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and HIPEC at our institution

Pengaruh Profitabilitas,Leverage Dan Capital Intensity, Terhadap Tax Avoidance Pada Perusahaan Pertambangan Batu Bara Yang Terdaftar Di Bursa Efek Indonesia Tahun 2018-2021

Penghindaran pajak merupakan suatu hambatan yang dapat mempengaruhi penerimaan kas negara yang diakibatkan oleh wajib pajak badan yang tidak bertanggung jawab dalam membayarkan pajaknya. Riset ini bertujuan untuk  menguji seberapa besar dampak dari pengaruh profitabilitas , leverage, dan Capital Intensity terhadap penghindaran pajak pada perusahaan pertambangan batu bara yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia tahun 2018 – 2021. Metode yang digunakan dalam pengambilan ilustrasi merupakan purposive sampling dengan sampel yang berjumlah 10 industri dari 34 perusahaan pertambangan batu bara di Bursa Efek Indonesia pada tahun 2018 – 2021.  Metode analisis data yang digunakan merupakan analisis regresi linear berganda menggunakan SPPS versi 26. Berdasarkan hasil analisis yang dilakukan, penulis dapat mengambil kesimpulan bahwa Profitabilitas tidak berpengaruh terhadap penghindaran pajak, Leverage tidak berpengaruh terhadap penghindaran pajak, Capital Intensity berpengaruh terhadap penghindaran pajak. Profitabilitas, Leverage, Capital Intensity berpengaruh secara simultan terhadap Penghindaran Paja

Engagement of adolescents in a health communications program to prevent noncommunicable diseases: Multiplicadores Jóvenes, Lima, Perú, 2011.

Background: Several risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including obesity, are associated with behaviors established in infancy that persist throughout adolescence and adulthood. As such, adolescents should be engaged in the design and implementation of NCD prevention strategies.Community Context: In Lima, Peru’s capital, the proportion of adolescents aged 15 to 19 is 9.3% of the city’s population, and school enrollment rates are high. The prevalence of excess weight in Peruvian adolescents is 14.2%, and prevalence has not declined in recent years. Also recently, NCDs and their risk factors have gained more attention in public health and policy areas, with regulatory action focusing on healthful nutrition to address obesity and related NCDs. The Multiplicadores Jóvenes (Young Multipliers) project was conducted among adolescents aged 15 to 17 from 9 public secondary schools in peri-urban areas of Lima, Peru.Methods: The project provided basic communication tools and knowledge of NCD prevention and public health research to adolescents during 16 weekly participatory sessions to enable them to design and disseminate healthful lifestyle promotion messages to their school peers.Outcome: Thirty of 45 participants finished the program. Seven communications campaigns were designed and implemented in schools, reaching 1,200 students. The participants gained motivation, increased knowledge, and developed communication skills that were combined to implement healthful lifestyle promotion campaigns.Interpretation: Engaging young people in public health promotion activities was feasible and advantageous for the design of tailored prevention-related content and its dissemination among peers

Effect of sintering pressure on microstructure and mechanical properties of hot-pressed Ti6Al4V-ZrO2 materials

The development of new design approaches for biomedical applications using conventional and well accepted bio inert materials is an actual challenge. This study proposes a bilayered materials design approach obtained by hot pressing and is concerned with the influence of sintering pressure on the interface reaction between titaniumalloy (Ti6Al4V) and zirconia (ZrO2), on density and mechanical properties of the Ti6Al4V-ZrO2. For this purpose, different sintering pressureswere studied (P=5, 20 and 100MPa). Bilayered materialswere produced by hot pressing process, at T=1175 °C. Microstructural characterization showed that Ti6Al4V reacts with ZrO2 (for Pâ ¥20 MPa) and that the interface reaction is strongly dependent on pressure. Additionally, an oxygen-deficient ZrO2 â x black zirconia layer was obtained for specimens produced at P=20 and 100MPa as result of decreased O/Zr ratio due to Ti diffusion into ZrO2 side. Young's modulus and hardness properties were evaluated by nanoindentation test. The results showed that these properties are influenced by sintering pressure, increasing with an increase on sintering pressure, with the highest improvement for specimens produced at higher pressure.This work is supported by FTC through the grant SFRH/BD/112280/ 2015 and the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) with the reference project POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006941, and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000018-HAMaBICo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio