Gamification: Game-based Learning / Serious Games and 21st Century Soft Skill Development in Nursing Education

This study examined the development of 21st century skills through gamification, game-based learning (GBL), and serious games in nursing education in institutions of higher education in the United States. This paper reviews the history of gamification in nursing pedagogy through three domains of research. It includes an overview of research related to the development and implementation of gamification, GBL, and serious games in nursing education as well as the impact on the development of 21st century skills in digital natives. The focus was on the historical literature related to gamification, GBL, and serious games at institutions of higher education in nursing education to identify and analysis occurrences of 21st century skill development in historical research. Results were obtained through qualitative content analysis through the MAXQAD qualitative software program. Overall, the findings supported the use of gamification, GBL, and serious games in nursing education contributed to the development of 21st century skills among nursing students at institutions of higher education in the United States

17 β-Estradiol and Phytoestrogens Attenuate Apoptotic Cell Death in HIV-1 Tat Exposed Primary Cortical Cultures

Despite the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), neurological disorders develop in most people infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The poor CNS delivery of anti-retrovirals allows continued virus production and renders neurons susceptible to the toxic effects of released viral proteins. The neurotoxic potential of HIV-1 viral protein Tat has been shown to include excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction leading to subsequent cell death. Thus, Tat is thought to have a key role in the pathogenesis of HIV-associated neurodegeneration. Estrogens are universally considered to be neuroprotective, as such; estrogens have positive implications in the treatment of neurodegenerative disease, as well as acute neuronal death. Estrogen neuroprotective mechanisms may include a direct neuronal anti-apoptotic effect as estrogen modulates actions of key regulators of the mitochondrial/intrinsic apoptotic cascade. However, estrogen therapy is associated with increased risk of breast and uterine cancers. Estrogen receptors (ERs) are present in the brain and are thought to mediate estrogen protective actions. Compounds that selectively target estrogens protective effects without eliciting its negative side effects may serve as viable therapeutic options. In the present study, we tested the ability of estrogen and phytoestrogens (genistein and daidzein) to protect against apoptotic signaling in cortical cell cultures exposed to Tat 1-86 (50 nM), and additionally, whether the beneficial actions of estrogen and phytoestrogens involved an estrogen receptor sensitive mechanism. We demonstrated that estrogen pretreatment significantly delayed Tat-induced cell death in primary cortical cultures. Pretreatment with 17β-estradiol or phytoestrogens attenuated the increased expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, pro-apoptotic protein Bax and activation of caspases linked to mitochondrial apoptotic pathway following Tat exposure. In addition, select components of apoptotic pathway signaling appear more sensitive to estrogen receptor (ER) activation, as the addition of ER antagonist ICI182,780 reversed downregulation of Bax and caspase 3, while effects on Tat-induced Bcl-2 and caspase 9 expression were maintained. Moreover, the addition of preferential ERα and ERβ antagonists (MPP dihydrochloride and PHTPP) indicated that 17β-estradiol and phytoestrogen effects on caspase 3 may be mediated by both receptor subtypes, while ERβ was more involved in effects on Bax. Our data suggest that 17β-estradiol and phytoestrogen are able to intervene against HIV Tat-induced cortical neuronal dysfunction via intersecting mitochondrial apoptotic pathway signaling in an ER-sensitive manner

Interactions of the Triaquatricarbonylrhenium(I) Cation with Nucleotides and Other N-Donor Ligands

Transition metal centers possessing an octahedral geometry are useful for understanding the natural role of metal ions in biology. Complexes based on such metals might improve upon the widely used square planar Pt(II) anticancer drug cisplatin, cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2]. The octahedral triaquatricarbonylrhenium(I) cation, fac-[Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+, has been shown to possess anticancer activity. Furthermore, Re(I) complexes containing unstable rhenium isotopes have found utility as radiodiagnostic and radiotherapeutic agents. Thus, this work focuses on elucidating the fundamental coordination chemistry of fac-[Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+. Adducts formed in reactions of nucleoside mono-, di-, and triphosphates with fac-[Re(CO)3(H2O)3]OTf are examined by using a combination of 1D and 2D multinuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, and molecular modeling techniques. Mixtures containing fac-[Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+ and nucleotides attain equilibrium, in contrast to cisplatin, and the nature of the adduct formed depends on the number of phosphate groups and the base present. Nucleoside di- and triphosphate adducts consist of diastereomers having distinct, sharp NMR signals, thus allowing accurate measurement of 1H and 31P NMR chemical shifts and coupling constants. Re(I) coordination at N7 is observed for all adducts with guanine bases, and the reactions proceed to near completion. {N7,Pb} and {N7,Pb,Pg} macrochelates are formed for 5¢-GDP and 5¢-GTP, respectively, but only N7 binding is observed for 5¢-GMP. The lack of Pa binding for 5¢-GTP indicates that formation of an N7–Re–Pa chelate ring is sterically unfavorable. When methionine and 5¢-GMP are allowed to compete for fac-[Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+, the N7-bound Re/5¢-GMP 1:1 adduct is the kinetic product, while the S-bound Re/methionine adduct is thermodynamically favored, a result opposite to that typically found for cisplatin. No base interaction was noted for adducts with uridine bases, and these reactions were incomplete at equilibrium. fac-[Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+ forms {Pa,Pb} and {Pa,Pb,Pg} phosphato chelates with 5¢-UDP and 5¢-UTP, respectively, but no significant reaction occurred with 5¢-UMP. Notably, fac-[Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+ forms both an {N7,Pb,Pg} macrochelate and a {Pa,Pb,Pg} phosphato chelate with 5¢-ATP, suggesting that the fac-[Re(CO)3]+ core could provide a model for the kinetically labile biorelevant [Mg(ATP)] complex. These results offer hope that (radio)pharmaceuticals based on Re(I) could be developed with lower toxicity than drugs based on Pt(II)

Naming and Re(claiming) Feminism in Orthodoxy: Voicing the Gender and Religious Identities of Greek Orthodox Women

This dissertation is a qualitative study of the effects of Greek Orthodoxy on the gender and religious identity meaning-making of five Greek-American women. The emergent themes from this study indicate that participants’ gender and religious identities were heavily influenced by the dueling tensions and contradictions between patriarchy and feminism, conservative traditionalism and modernity, and secular life and the religious community (i.e., family and church). Underpinning this study are Narrative Identity Theory and Feminist Standpoint Theory. Portraiture methodology was employed across three semi-structured interviews, as well as three written/video reflection journals to reveal how women, as articulated through their own perspectives, made meaning of their lived experiences at the intersection of their gendered and religious identity constructions. The results of this study suggest that these participants (un)consciously navigate the impact of patriarchal ideology, power, privilege, and oppression by finding goodness in small acts and feelings of connectedness as a basis for the development of their personal agency, voice, and womanhood. Implications for research, Orthodoxy, and practice are discussed

Degenerative joint disease and changing subsistence activities in the Arkansas River Valley

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oklahoma, 1993.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-149

MODULATION OF THE ADRENAL MEDULLARY RESPONSE TO STRESS BY ESTRADIOL IN THE FEMALE RAT

The present study has established that physiological concentrations of estradiol can modulate stress-induced increases in plasma epinephrine (EPI). In anesthetized female rats, insulin-induced hypoglycemia (0.25 U/kg) increased plasma EPI concentration to a significantly greater extent in 14-day ovariectomized (OVEX) rats compared to sham-operated controls. In 17-estradiol (E2)-replaced OVEX rats, the hypoglycemia-induced rise in plasma EPI was significantly reduced compared to OVEX rats. This suppression was due to both decreased adrenal medullary output and increased clearance of EPI. Adrenal venous EPI concentration was significantly reduced in OVEX+E2 rats, suggesting that EPI secretion from the adrenalmedulla was decreased by E2 replacement. The underlying mechanism(s) of this apparent E2-mediated reduction in secretion could not be established since 1) the expression levels of the biosynthetic enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase were not affected in OVEX+E2 rats, suggesting that EPI biosynthesis is similar in these and OVEX rats; and 2) agonist-induced increases in intracellular CaP2+P were identical in isolated adrenal medullary chromaffin cells exposed to E2 (10 nM) or vehicle for 48 hr, suggesting that stimulus secretion coupling is unaffected by E2 treatment. In contrast, plasma clearance of EPI was significantly increased in OVEX+E2 rats. Although 48 hr exposure to E2 had no effect on intracellular signaling in chromaffin cells, acute (3 min) exposure to micromolar concentrations of E2 dose-dependently and reversibly inhibited agonist-induced CaP 2+Ptransients. Consistent with this observation, acute (30 min) infusions of E2 also significantly reduced the insulin-induced increase in plasma EPI in OVEX rats. These data demonstrate that physiological levels of circulating E2 can modulate hypoglycemia-induced increases in plasma EPI. This effect appears to be mediated by the steroids influence on adrenal medullary EPI output and plasma EPI clearance; however the mechanism(s) underlying these E2-mediated modulations remain undetermined. This study has also established that acute exposure to supra-physiological levels of E2 can suppress hypoglycemia-induced increases in plasma EPI, due at least in part to inhibition of stimulus-secretion coupling

HYFLEX: A LEADERSHIPS’ PERSPECTIVE OF SELF-EFFICACY POST-PANDEMIC

The HyFlex model for instruction allows for a student to choose if they will attend class in person, online synchronicity, or asynchronously. The aim of this mixed-method study was to answer the central question “to the central question, “How does the HyFlex delivery method impact faculty self-efficacy regarding teaching?” at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC). Sixteen members of the leadership at KBOCC completed a Likert scale survey and six participants agreed to be interviewed. Based on the results of this study, the leadership at KBOCC are open to the idea of implementing the HyFlex model. The faculty and administration reported high self-efficacy regarding student learning, performance, and satisfaction regarding their ability to deliver online materials and the use of the HyFlex model. They are forward thinking and consider the needs of not only current students but of future students. Leadership at KBOCC feels that providing online classes and HyFlex opportunities is a way to expand not only the student population, but to diversify the courses that are offered. Given the need to increase education opportunities in healthcare programs, the use of the HyFlex model may create the opportunity for Native American students to gain access to courses and expertise, which may not have otherwise been possible. It is imperative that traditionally underrepresented groups enter the healthcare fields to improve their personal situation and break the cycle of poverty that they have endured for generations and to improve healthcare and healthcare outcomes for members of their communities

Virtual Education in Kansas: 1998-2014

K-12 virtual education is a growing trend in American education. Virtual education is defined as K-12 online learning experiences led by district-affiliated teachers as part of a structured public school learning program that occur across a distance between the teacher and student in either synchronous or asynchronous modes. Since the first virtual program began in Kansas in 1998, program offerings have spread at a swift rate and now eighty-five districts, approximately thirty percent of all Kansas districts, currently operate virtual programs. As districts in Kansas continue to adopt or consider adopting virtual education as an alternative or supplement to traditional instruction, there is a need to understand the influencing factors surrounding adoption of this educational innovation as well as the pros and cons of this model. This case study exploration of virtual education in Kansas collected data from four sources. First, demographic data for districts utilizing virtual education were compiled from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and Kansas Department of Education (KSDE) to examine district-level characteristics, such as urbanicity, socioeconomic status, and region in the state. Second, Kansas superintendents were surveyed to explore their perceptions about the educational quality of virtual education and the adoption or non-adoption in their districts. Third, virtual education program directors across the state were also surveyed to examine their perceptions of this model, and fourth, six follow-up interviews were carried out with program directors to understand their beliefs about the strengths and weaknesses of K-12 virtual education in Kansas. This study found that perceptions about the quality and merit of virtual education vary drastically by superintendents across the state of Kansas. Districts chose to adopt virtual education to access the perceived benefits of the model and other districts refrain from adopting virtual education in order to avoid the noted limitations of this model. Isomorphic mimicry is an underlying motivating factor influencing some districts to adopt virtual education in order to be like other districts and join the proverbial bandwagon of this growing trend. The major finding of this study is that virtual education is not a one-size-fits-all educational alternative for the majority of students; program directors clearly articulated that this is not the way in which most students will be successful. Thus, this study contributes to the overall understanding of K-12 virtual education nationwide and specifically articulates, through the voices of district leaders and program directors, the perceived challenges, limitations, and benefits of this model for students and districts in Kansas

A comparison of floristic diversity in old-growth versus mid-successional secondary-growth hardwood forests of the White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, United States

There is currently debate over whether managed forests will ever regain the species diversity of old-growth stands. While succession and response to disturbance of tree species has been extensively researched, little similar effort has focused on understory herbaceous communities. This study conducted large-scale, comprehensive botanical inventories of three old-growth and three mid-successional (80--100 year old) secondary forest stands in New Hampshire\u27s White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). Cluster analysis and TWINSPAN grouped the secondary sites within two steps. Old-growth floras were significantly richer in total, total herbaceous, woodland herbaceous, and unique herbaceous species. Abundance distributions of the two treatment groups were significantly different according to Chit results: more woodland herbaceous species of rare, infrequent, or dominant abundance rank occurred in old-growth sites. Floristic similarities were analyzed using Sorensen\u27s Index of Similarity. Tree community data did not reflect differences in floristic diversity, suggesting that reliance on tree data alone to infer system recovery from disturbance would be misleading