Assessment methods determining the higher education students’ academic success

It is well known that academic success of undergraduate students depends on a variety of factors; several of them are external to their higher education institution. However, it is crucial to reflect on the impact of the factors controlled by the higher education institution (e.g., faculty or college) that can influence their success and achievement, including the assessment methods. To this end, this study analyzes the extent to which the assessment methods have a substantial impact on approval rates of students. In doing so, 797 averages of course grades from a Portuguese higher education institution were collected in different academic years between 2013/2014 and 2017/2018. The significance effect of the course field, laboratories, projects, mini-tests, group work, individual work, frequencies, exercises, and presentations on the final averages of the courses was evaluated based on the modeling of structural equations. The results showed that the use of laboratories, presentations, individual and group-based works/tasks are the most explanatory elements (25%) for positive averages. The remainder is justified by other factors associated with students, such as socio-economic, previous education, and motivational factors that explain academic success. In future work, the proposed model, with different teaching strategies, could be studied and evaluated within different educational contexts.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Macroeconomic Policies Interaction & the Symmetry of Financial Markets' Responses

This concise study analyses the symmetry of financial markets` responses to macroeconomic policy interaction in the United Kingdom. Employing the Vector Auto-regression (VAR) model on monthly data of the British financial sector and macroeconomic policies from January 1985 to August 2008, this study found that the equity and sovereign debt markets showed identical symmetry in response to macroeconomic policy interaction

The Potential of Big Data Research in HealthCare for Medical Doctors’ Learning

The main goal of this article is to identify the main dimensions of a model proposal for increasing the potential of big data research in Healthcare for medical doctors’ (MDs’) learning, which appears as a major issue in continuous medical education and learning. The paper employs a systematic literature review of main scientific databases (PubMed and Google Scholar), using the VOSviewer software tool, which enables the visualization of scientific landscapes. The analysis includes a co-authorship data analysis as well as the co-occurrence of terms and keywords. The results lead to the construction of the learning model proposed, which includes four health big data key areas for MDs’ learning: 1) data transformation is related to the learning that occurs through medical systems; 2) health intelligence includes the learning regarding health innovation based on predictions and forecasting processes; 3) data leveraging regards the learning about patient information; and 4) the learning process is related to clinical decision-making, focused on disease diagnosis and methods to improve treatments. Practical models gathered from the scientific databases can boost the learning process and revolutionise the medical industry, as they store the most recent knowledge and innovative research

A cancer-associated, genome protective programme engaging PKCε

Associated with their roles as targets for tumour promoters, there has been a long-standing interest in how members of the protein kinase C (PKC) family act to modulate cell growth and division. This has generated a great deal of observational data, but has for the most part not afforded clear mechanistic insights into the control mechanisms at play. Here, we review the roles of PKCε in protecting transformed cells from non-disjunction. In this particular cell cycle context, there is a growing understanding of the pathways involved, affording biomarker and interventional insights and opportunities

Clinical and Immunomodulating Effects of Ketamine in Horses with Experimental Endotoxemia

Background:  Ketamine has immunomodulating effects both in vitro and in vivo during experimental endotoxemia in humans, rodents, and dogs. Hypothesis:  Subanesthetic doses of ketamine will attenuate the clinical and immunologic responses to experimental endotoxemia in horses. Animals:  Nineteen healthy mares of various breeds. Methods:  Experimental study. Horses were randomized into 2 groups: ketamine-treated horses (KET; n = 9) and saline-treated horses (SAL; n = 10). Both groups received 30 ng/kg of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, Escherichia coli, O55:B5) 1 hour after the start of a continuous rate infusion (CRI) of racemic ketamine (KET) or physiologic saline (SAL). Clinical and hematological responses were documented and plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and thromboxane B2 (TXB2) were quantified. Results:  All horses safely completed the study. The KET group exhibited transient excitation during the ketamine loading infusion (P \u3c .05) and 1 hour after discontinuation of administration (P \u3c .05). Neutrophilic leukocytosis was greater in the KET group 8 and 24 hours after administration of LPS (P \u3c .05). Minor perturbations of plasma biochemistry results were considered clinically insignificant. Plasma TNF-α and TXB2 production peaked 1.5 and 1 hours, respectively, after administration of LPS in both groups, but a significant difference between treatment groups was not demonstrated. Conclusions and Clinical Importance:  A subanesthetic ketamine CRI is well tolerated by horses. A significant effect on the clinical or immunologic response to LPS administration, as assessed by clinical observation, hematological parameters, and TNF-α and TXB2production, was not identified in healthy horses with the subanesthetic dose of racemic ketamine utilized in this study

Alterations in aortic elasticity in noncompaction cardiomyopathy

Background: Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) is a recently recognized disorder frequently associated with systolic and diastolic heart failures. This study was designed to examine aortic stiffness in NCCM patients and to compare these results to age- and gender-matched controls. Methods: A total of 20 patients with typical echocardiographic features of NCCM (age 38 ± 16 years, eight males) were investigated. Their results were compared to 20 age- and gender-matched controls. All subjects underwent a complete two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiographic examination. Systolic (SD) and diastolic (DD) ascending aortic diameters were recorded in M-mode at a level of 3 cm above the aortic valve from a parasternal long-axis view. Aortic stiffness index (β) was calculated as a characteristic of aortic elasticity, as ln(SBP/DBP)/[(SD - DD)/DD], where SBP and DBP are the systolic and diastolic blood pressures, respectively, and ln is the natural logarithm. Results: The number of noncompacted segments in the NCCM patients was 4.6 ± 2.0. NCCM patients had significantly increased left ventricular dimensions and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Compared to controls, aortic stiffness index (β) was significantly increased in NCCM patients (8.3 ± 5.2 vs. 3.5 ± 1.1, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Increased aortic stiffness can be observed in patients with NCCM with moderate to severe heart failure. These alterations may be due to neurohormonal changes in heart failure

Alterations in aortic elasticity in noncompaction cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) is a recently recognized disorder frequently associated with systolic and diastolic heart failures. This study was designed to examine aortic stiffness in NCCM patients and to compare these results to age- and gender-matched controls. METHODS: A total of 20 patients with typical echocardiographic features of NCCM (age 38 +/- 16 years, eight males) were investigated. Their results were compared to 20 age- and gender-matched controls. All subjects underwent a complete two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiographic examination. Systolic (SD) and diastolic (DD) ascending aortic diameters were recorded in M-mode at a level of 3 cm above the aortic valve from a parasternal long-axis view. Aortic stiffness index (beta) was calculated as a characteristic of aortic elasticity, as ln(SBP/DBP)/[(SD - DD)/DD], where SBP and DBP are the systolic and diastolic blood pressures, respectively, and ln is the natural logarithm. RESULTS: The number of noncompacted segments in the NCCM patients was 4.6 +/- 2.0. NCCM patients had significantly increased left ventricular dimensions and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Compared to controls, aortic stiffness index (beta) was significantly increased in NCCM patients (8.3 +/- 5.2 vs. 3.5 +/- 1.1, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Increased aortic stiffness can be observed in patients with NCCM with moderate to severe heart failure. These alterations may be due to neurohormonal changes in heart failure