Better exam results : how students and school leadership learn when introducing new technology such as OneNote in school

This thesis describes the project Better exam results where the software OneNote was introduced into School X with the view to better students’ exam results. Through observations, a survey and interviews we investigate how students use and collaborate with the help of OneNote. The thesis questions are twofold. They have their basis in the project “better exam results” which we were a part of. We were interested in seeing how students interact and learn with technology and we wanted to see what reflections the leadership group had upon the process of introducing a new digital tool. Our thesis questions thus became: 1) How do students see their learning situation with the use of OneNote at School X? 2) How does the leadership group at School X reflect upon the process of introducing OneNote? We have used a socio-cultural approach when it comes to analysing student data, with Vygotsky’s term Zone of Proximal Development as a starting point. We have further used the terms mediated action and cultural tools when it comes to carrying out the analysis of the student data. When analysing the leadership group reflections we have used the theory of distributed leadership as presented by Spillane. We also use Hargreaves to understand the dynamics within the leadership group. OneNote is software which is used to take notes. It belongs to the MicroSoft family but has not had massive use. We saw the software as a good tool for our students. OneNote is searchable, easy to understand and use and has the possibility to be used by students in collaboration. Hence, it seemed a good idea to give our students the opportunity to use it. When it comes to method we have decided on a cross sectional study design where we have carried out four classroom observations, a survey among our 1st year students, two group interviews with students, all with the view of finding out how students reflect upon their own learning situation with the help of the tool OneNote. To understand the reflections the leadership group expresses we have studied a transcript of a leadership conversation evaluating the introduction of the project. Both analyses is carried out to see where the participants stand at one point in time. Our main findings are that the students find the tool useful and that well over 80% use the tool daily or several times a week, but that many students are mainly unaware of the level of their own cooperation. The leadership perspective shows that projects like this needs to be firmly based within the leadership group

Neuronal Profilin Isoforms Are Addressed by Different Signalling Pathways

Profilins are prominent regulators of actin dynamics. While most mammalian cells express only one profilin, two isoforms, PFN1 and PFN2a are present in the CNS. To challenge the hypothesis that the expression of two profilin isoforms is linked to the complex shape of neurons and to the activity-dependent structural plasticity, we analysed how PFN1 and PFN2a respond to changes of neuronal activity. Simultaneous labelling of rodent embryonic neurons with isoform-specific monoclonal antibodies revealed both isoforms in the same synapse. Immunoelectron microscopy on brain sections demonstrated both profilins in synapses of the mature rodent cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum. Both isoforms were significantly more abundant in postsynaptic than in presynaptic structures. Immunofluorescence showed PFN2a associated with gephyrin clusters of the postsynaptic active zone in inhibitory synapses of embryonic neurons. When cultures were stimulated in order to change their activity level, active synapses that were identified by the uptake of synaptotagmin antibodies, displayed significantly higher amounts of both isoforms than non-stimulated controls. Specific inhibition of NMDA receptors by the antagonist APV in cultured rat hippocampal neurons resulted in a decrease of PFN2a but left PFN1 unaffected. Stimulation by the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), on the other hand, led to a significant increase in both synaptic PFN1 and PFN2a. Analogous results were obtained for neuronal nuclei: both isoforms were localized in the same nucleus, and their levels rose significantly in response to KCl stimulation, whereas BDNF caused here a higher increase in PFN1 than in PFN2a. Our results strongly support the notion of an isoform specific role for profilins as regulators of actin dynamics in different signalling pathways, in excitatory as well as in inhibitory synapses. Furthermore, they suggest a functional role for both profilins in neuronal nuclei

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Hybrid Antibodies

of the major advantages of genetic engineering is the ability to produce novel, hybrid antibodies. Hybrid antibodies can be assembled using fragments from different antibodies with the objective of assembling novel combinations of antibody-related effector functions. To efficiently achieve this goal it is necessary to have a precise understanding of the structure-function relationships within the antibody molecule. Secondly, it is possible to produce hybrids of antibodies with non-immunoglobulin proteins thereby achieving unique combination of functional properties. In this case it is necessary to consider both the desired functional properties and the means of assembling the protein components so as to maintain these properties. In all cases it is necessary to have the cloned gene segments, appropriate vectors and expression systems

A century of trends in adult human height

International audienc