The construction and evaluation of a word pronunciation test for grades four, five, and six

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

On Behalf of the I.W.W.: Helen Keller’s Involvement in the Labor Movement

The paper describes Helen Keller's role in the labor movement during the 1910s and 1920s as well as the factors that led to her deciding to cease her labor activism. The thesis of this paper is that Helen Keller was first interested in the causes of industrial blindness. Gradually, she came to believe that the greed that caused employers to balk at installing safety equipment (the cause of many blinding accidents) was inherent in the capitalist system. As she made sympathy speeches on behalf of factory workers, she became acquainted with the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) labor union. She eventually embraced the I.W.W.'s philosophy, and actively worked for its cause. Several factors appeared to influence her decision to leave the labor movement: (1) The arrest of hundreds of I.W.W. leaders during the early 1920s; (2) The reaction of the public that she was being "duped" by I.W.W. leaders; (3) The failure of LaFollette's Progressive Party to do well in the 1924 Presidential election; (4) Pressure from the American Foundation for the Blind out of fear that their chief spokesman would alienate potential donors, and (5) Pressure from motion picture producers who were seeking to make a film about her life and who did not want any adverse publicity. After this period, Helen concentrated on humanitarian work on behalf of the blind, and only rarely spoke or wrote about labor issues

Controlled functional expression of the bacteriocins pediocin PA-1 and bactofencin A in Escherichia coli

peer-reviewedThe bacteriocins bactofencin A (class IId) and pediocin PA-1 (class IIa) are encoded by operons with a similarly clustered gene organization including a structural peptide, an immunity protein, an ABC transporter and accessory bacteriocin transporter protein. Cloning of these operons in E. coli TunerTM (DE3) on a pETcoco-2 derived vector resulted in successful secretion of both bacteriocins. A corresponding approach, involving the construction of vectors containing different combinations of these genes, revealed that the structural and the transporter genes alone are sufficient to permit heterologous production and secretion in this host. Even though the accessory protein, usually associated with optimal disulfide bond formation, was not required for bacteriocin synthesis, its presence did result in greater pediocin PA-1 production. The simplicity of the system and the fact that the associated bacteriocins could be recovered from the extracellular medium provides an opportunity to facilitate protein engineering and the overproduction of biologically-active bacteriocins at industrial scale. Additionally, this system could enable the characterization of new bacteriocin operons where genetic tools are not available for the native producers

Neurofeedback Within the Scope of Occupational Therapy With Clients with Substance Use Disorder: A Scoping Review

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a problematic pattern of use of a substance or substances, leading to impairments to health, social function, and control of a substance. This negatively affects everyday activities of daily living, and occupation performance that causes a disruption to physical, mental, and social health. Now, Neurofeedback is a noninvasive biotherapy that uses audio or video feedback to reinforce healthy brain function. This type of intervention usually works by having a patient listen to music and putting electrodes on a patient’s head that pick up negative or positive brain activity or waves. And if the negative activity is identified there were be a skip in the music. Over time, the negative feedback received by the brain will train the brain to subconsciously make healthy connections. Neurofeedback literature address different types of aspects that impact individual\u27s life. This includes cognition attention in memory, learning, anxiety, depression, sleep quality, and many more psychological aspects With that being said OTs help people construct and destruct New or pre-existing habits and roles that would lead them throughout recovery. And Neurofeedback could be a beneficial intervention or conjunction intervention. However, there is no systematic understanding of how neuro-feedback therapy can be used in the substance-use population within the scope of the OT practice. This leads me to the problem which is the use of neural feedback, therapy in clients with substance use disorder has not been systematically reviewed to identify its use within the scope of OT practice, leaving it difficult for OT practitioners to integrate neurofeedback into OT for clients with substance use disorders. So the purpose of my capstone project was to conduct a scoping review of the literature to identify how Neurofeedback is utilized with clients with substance use disorder that is within the scope of OT practice.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonessummer2023/1049/thumbnail.jp

Polymorphisms in stress response genes in Lactobacillus plantarum: implications for classification and heat stress response

The polymorphism of 5 stress response genes (hrcA, ctsR, clpP, ftsH, dnaK) in 32 Lactobacillus plantarum strains was evaluated by multilocus restriction typing (MLRT) and by sequence analysis of ctsR, hrcA and clpP genes. Both these approaches allowed the discrimination of the subspecies L. plantarum ssp. plantarum and L. plantarum ssp. argentoratensis. HrcA sequence analysis also allowed discrimination at the species and subspecies level of several species of lactic acid bacteria, thus confirming that it can be used as a valuable taxonomic marker. No significant relationship was found between stress response gene polymorphism and resistance to heat treatments. The effect of temperature on growth kinetics and the protein expression were investigated for selected strains carrying different mutations in hrcA. L. plantarum ssp. argentoratensis NCIMB12120 and L. plantarum ssp. plantarum DPC2159, both of which had mutations in domains of HrcA which are important for the repressor functionality, had a reduced growth rate at all temperatures tested (25, 30, 37, 40, and 42 °C) compared to L. plantarum WCFS1. In L. plantarum DPC2159, protein expression upon temperature shifts from 25 to 40 °C or growth at 40 °C was altered compared to L. plantarum WCFS1, but further study is needed to unequivocally confirm the relationship with mutations in hrcA

Human skin microbiota is a rich source of bacteriocin-producing staphylococci that kill human pathogens

peer-reviewedThe demand for novel antimicrobial therapies due to the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance has resulted in a growing interest in the protective role of our skin bacteria and the importance of competition among bacteria on the skin. A survey of the cultivable bacteria on human skin was undertaken to identify the capacity of the skin microbiota to produce bacteriocins with activity against skin pathogens. Twenty-one bacteriocins produced by bacteria isolated from seven sites on the human body of each subject exhibited inhibition spectra ranging from broad to narrow range, inhibiting many Gram-positive bacteria, including opportunistic skin pathogens such as Propionibacterium acnes (recently renamed Cutibacterium acnes), Staphylococcus epidermidis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Sequencing indicated that the antimicrobial-producing isolates were predominately species/strains of the Staphylococcus genus. Colony mass spectrometry revealed peptide masses that do not correspond to known bacteriocins. In an era where antibiotic resistance is of major concern, the inhibitory effect of novel bacteriocins from the bacteria of skin origin demonstrates the antimicrobial potential that could be harnessed from within the human skin microbiota

The influence of shyness on the use of Facebook in an undergraduate sample

Researchers have suggested that individual differences will help to determine which online communication tools appeal to and are used by different individuals. With respect to the domain of computer-mediated communication, shyness is a particular personality trait of interest, as forums provide opportunities for social interactions that shy individuals might otherwise avoid. The present study investigated the personality trait of shyness and its relation with certain features of an online communication tool (Facebook). We hypothesized that shyness would be significantly related to the quantity of time spent on Facebook, the number of contacts added to one’s Facebook profile, and attitudes toward Facebook. Our findings supported that shyness was significantly positively correlated with the time spent on Facebook and having favorable attitudes toward the social networking site. Furthermore, shyness was significantly negatively correlated with the number of Facebook “Friends.” Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are addressed

Insights into the Mode of Action of the Sactibiotic Thuricin CD

peer-reviewedThuricin CD is a two-component bacteriocin, consisting of the peptides Trnα and Trnβ, and belongs to the newly designated sactibiotic subclass of bacteriocins. While it is clear from studies conducted thus far that it is a narrow-spectrum bacteriocin, requiring the synergistic activity of the two peptides, the precise mechanism of action of thuricin CD has not been elucidated. This study used a combination of flow cytometry and traditional culture-dependent assays to ascertain the effects of the thuricin CD peptides on the morphology, physiology and viability of sensitive Bacillus firmus DPC6349 cells. We show that both Trnα and Trnβ are membrane-acting and cause a collapse of the membrane potential, which could not be reversed even under membrane-repolarizing conditions. Furthermore, the depolarizing action of thuricin CD is accompanied by reductions in cell size and granularity, producing a pattern of physiological alterations in DPC6349 cells similar to those triggered by the pore-forming single-component bacteriocin Nisin A, and two-component lacticin 3147. Taken together, these results lead us to postulate that the lytic activity of thuricin CD involves the insertion of thuricin CD peptides into the membrane of target cells leading to permeabilization due to pore formation and consequent flux of ions across the membrane, resulting in membrane depolarization and eventual cell death.HM is a researcher in Teagasc Food Research Centre and the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre Microbiome Institute, funded by the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI)-funded Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology and the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre Microbiome Institute (APC) Grant Number SFI/12/RC/2273. Research in PC, CH, MR, VF, and RR laboratories is supported by the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI)-funded Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology and the APC Microbiome Institute

Reincarnation of Bacteriocins From the Lactobacillus Pangenomic Graveyard

peer-reviewedBacteria commonly produce narrow spectrum bacteriocins as a means of inhibiting closely related species competing for similar resources in an environment. The increasing availability of genomic data means that it is becoming easier to identify bacteriocins encoded within genomes. Often, however, the presence of bacteriocin genes in a strain does not always translate into biological antimicrobial activity. For example, when analysing the Lactobacillus pangenome we identified strains encoding ten pediocin-like bacteriocin structural genes which failed to display inhibitory activity. Nine of these bacteriocins were novel whilst one was identified as the previously characterized bacteriocin “penocin A.” The composition of these bacteriocin operons varied between strains, often with key components missing which are required for bacteriocin production, such as dedicated bacteriocin transporters and accessory proteins. In an effort to functionally express these bacteriocins, the structural genes for the ten pediocin homologs were cloned alongside the dedicated pediocin PA-1 transporter in both Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus paracasei heterologous hosts. Each bacteriocin was cloned with its native leader sequence and as a fusion protein with the pediocin PA-1 leader sequence. Several of these bacteriocins displayed a broader spectrum of inhibition than the original pediocin PA-1. We show how potentially valuable bacteriocins can easily be “reincarnated” from in silico data and produced in vitro despite often lacking the necessary accompanying machinery. Moreover, the study demonstrates how genomic datasets such as the Lactobacilus pangenome harbor a potential “arsenal” of antimicrobial activity with the possibility of being activated when expressed in more genetically amenable hosts