Influence of guided drawing curriculum on drawing development in children

This paper presents a case study of three first grade visual art classes over the course of one school year. In order to gauge the effectiveness and degree to which a visual art curriculum that embeds guided drawing experiences will accelerate the natural developmental stages of drawing, all classes engaged in various guided drawing experiences as well as three independent self-portrait drawing experiences. The study also examined the opinions of art educators regarding the effectiveness of such instruction. The study showed that although guided drawing can be an influential factor in children’s artistic development, there is not a causal relationship between guided drawing instruction and drawing development. There are also many other influential factors in the artistic development of children

Are 3D printed models acceptable in assessment?

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional (3D) printed models are increasingly used in undergraduate anatomy teaching. However, their role and value in anatomy assessment remains under consideration. The aim of this study was to evaluate student and educator perspectives on acceptability of using novel 3D printed heart models for assessment. METHODS: We used printed 3D models of the heart for first-year medical students, in small group teaching, formative assessment and revision at home. We adopted a mixed methods approach involving questionnaires, then focus groups to collect student and educator views. We used QSR Nvivo to manage thematic analysis of responses, carried out by student and educators, respectively. FINDINGS: Overall, students 89% (n = 75/84) and educators 91% (n = 10/11) found the assessment acceptable. Thematic analysis of focus groups (n = 4 students, n = 5 educators) identified five key perceptions shared across student and educator groups: 3D models are the future, realism is valued, models appear feasible, consistent and provide a potential for a range of applications in assessment. DISCUSSION: There was agreement between educators and students that the use of 3D heart models was acceptable. Key recognised benefits include accessibility and consistency across settings, made more relevant in the current COVID-19 pandemic. We recommend integration of 3D models into teaching and assessment for educational alignment and careful selection of anatomy to model. Further research is required to explore the use of models in summative assessments

X-ray Surface Brightness Profiles of Active Galactic Nuclei in the Extended Groth Strip: Implications for AGN Feedback

Using data from the All Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS) we statistically detect the extended X-ray emission in the interstellar medium (ISM)/intra-cluster medium (ICM) in both active and normal galaxies at 0.3 <= z <= 1.3. For both active galactic nuclei (AGN) host galaxy and normal galaxy samples that are matched in restframe color, luminosity, and redshift distribution, we tentatively detect excess X-ray emission at scales of 1--10 arcsec at a few sigma significance in the surface brightness profiles. The exact significance of this detection is sensitive to the true characterization of Chandra's point spread function. The observed excess in the surface brightness profiles is suggestive of lower extended emission in AGN hosts compared to normal galaxies. This is qualitatively similar to theoretical predictions of the X-ray surface brightness profile from AGN feedback models, where feedback from AGN is likely to evacuate the gas from the center of the galaxy/cluster. We propose that AGN that are intrinsically under-luminous in X-rays, but have equivalent bolometric luminosities to our sources will be the ideal sample to study more robustly the effect of AGN feedback on diffuse ISM/ICM gas.Comment: Accepted in PAS

Genetic heterogeneity in infantile spasms

Infantile spasms (IS) is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy with heterogeneous etiologies including many genetic causes. Genetic studies have identified pathogenic variants in over 30 genes as causes of IS. Many of these genetic causes are extremely rare, with only one reported incidence in an individual with IS. To better understand the genetic landscape of IS, we used targeted sequencing to screen 42 candidate IS genes and 53 established developmental and epileptic encephalopathy genes in 92 individual with IS. We identified a genetic diagnosis for 7.6% of our cohort, including pathogenic variants in KCNB1 (n = 2), GNA01 (n = 1), STXBP1 (n = 1), SLC35A2 (n = 1), TBLIXR1 (n = 1), and K1F1A (n = 1). Our data emphasize the genetic heterogeneity of IS and will inform the diagnosis and management of individuals with this devastating disorder.Peer reviewe

Genome-wide association of familial late-onset alzheimer's disease replicates BIN1 and CLU and nominates CUGBP2 in interaction with APOE

Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is the most common form of dementia in the elderly. The National Institute of Aging-Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease Family Study and the National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease conducted a joint genome-wide association study (GWAS) of multiplex LOAD families (3,839 affected and unaffected individuals from 992 families plus additional unrelated neurologically evaluated normal subjects) using the 610 IlluminaQuad panel. This cohort represents the largest family-based GWAS of LOAD to date, with analyses limited here to the European-American subjects. SNPs near APOE gave highly significant results (e.g., rs2075650, p = 3.2×10-81), but no other genome-wide significant evidence for association was obtained in the full sample. Analyses that stratified on APOE genotypes identified SNPs on chromosome 10p14 in CUGBP2 with genome-wide significant evidence for association within APOE ε4 homozygotes (e.g., rs201119, p = 1.5×10-8). Association in this gene was replicated in an independent sample consisting of three cohorts. There was evidence of association for recently-reported LOAD risk loci, including BIN1 (rs7561528, p = 0.009 with, and p = 0.03 without, APOE adjustment) and CLU (rs11136000, p = 0.023 with, and p = 0.008 without, APOE adjustment), with weaker support for CR1. However, our results provide strong evidence that association with PICALM (rs3851179, p = 0.69 with, and p = 0.039 without, APOE adjustment) and EXOC3L2 is affected by correlation with APOE, and thus may represent spurious association. Our results indicate that genetic structure coupled with ascertainment bias resulting from the strong APOE association affect genome-wide results and interpretation of some recently reported associations. We show that a locus such as APOE, with large effects and strong association with disease, can lead to samples that require appropriate adjustment for this locus to avoid both false positive and false negative evidence of association. We suggest that similar adjustments may also be needed for many other large multi-site studies. © 2011 Wijsman et al

The Practitioner\u27s Guide to Global Health: an interactive, online, open-access curriculum preparing medical learners for global health experiences

BACKGROUND: Short-term experiences in global health (STEGH) are increasingly common in medical education, as they can provide learners with opportunities for service, learning, and sharing perspectives. Academic institutions need high-quality preparatory curricula and mentorship to prepare learners for potential challenges in ethics, cultural sensitivity, and personal safety; however, availability and quality of these are variable. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to create and evaluate an open-access, interactive massive open online course (MOOC) that prepares learners to safely and effectively participate in STEGH, permits flexible and asynchronous learning, is free of charge, and provides a certificate upon successful completion. METHODS: Global health experts from 8 countries, 42 institutions, and 7 specialties collaborated to create The Practitioner\u27s Guide to Global Health (PGGH): the first course of this kind on the edX platform. Demographic data, pre- and posttests, and course evaluations were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Within its first year, PGGH enrolled 5935 learners from 163 countries. In a limited sample of 109 learners, mean posttest scores were significantly improved (p \u3c 0.01). In the course\u27s second year, 213 sampled learners had significant improvement (p \u3c 0.001). CONCLUSION: We created and evaluated the first interactive, asynchronous, free-of-charge global health preparation MOOC. The course has had significant interest from US-based and international learners, and posttest scores have shown significant improvement

Environmental heterogeneity and not vicariant biogeographic barriers generate community-wide population structure in desert-adapted snakes

Genetic structure can be influenced by local adaptation to environmental heterogeneity and biogeographic barriers, resulting in discrete population clusters. Geographic distance among populations, however, can result in continuous clines of genetic divergence that appear as structured populations. Here, we evaluate the relevant importance of these three factors over a landscape characterized by environmental heterogeneity and the presence of a hypothesized biogeographic barrier in producing population genetic structure within 13 codistributed snake species using a genomic data set. We demonstrate that geographic distance and environmental heterogeneity across western North America contribute to population genomic divergence. Surprisingly, landscape features long thought to contribute to biogeographic barriers play little role in divergence community wide. Our results suggest that isolation by environment is the most important contributor to genomic divergence. Furthermore, we show that models of population clustering that incorporate spatial information consistently outperform nonspatial models, demonstrating the importance of considering geographic distances in population clustering. We argue that environmental and geographic distances as drivers of community-wide divergence should be explored before assuming the role of biogeographic barriers.see also the Perspective by Alencar and QuentalPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/1/mec15182-sup-0004-AppendixS4.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/2/mec15182_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/3/mec15182-sup-0005-AppendixS5.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/4/mec15182-sup-0002-AppendixS2.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/5/mec15182-sup-0010-AppendixS10.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/6/mec15182.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/7/mec15182-sup-0003-AppendixS3.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/8/mec15182-sup-0006-AppendixS6.pd

Environmental heterogeneity and not vicariant biogeographic barriers generate community-wide population structure in desert-adapted snakes

Genetic structure can be influenced by local adaptation to environmental heterogeneity and biogeographic barriers, resulting in discrete population clusters. Geographic distance among populations, however, can result in continuous clines of genetic divergence that appear as structured populations. Here, we evaluate the relevant importance of these three factors over a landscape characterized by environmental heterogeneity and the presence of a hypothesized biogeographic barrier in producing population genetic structure within 13 codistributed snake species using a genomic data set. We demonstrate that geographic distance and environmental heterogeneity across western North America contribute to population genomic divergence. Surprisingly, landscape features long thought to contribute to biogeographic barriers play little role in divergence community wide. Our results suggest that isolation by environment is the most important contributor to genomic divergence. Furthermore, we show that models of population clustering that incorporate spatial information consistently outperform nonspatial models, demonstrating the importance of considering geographic distances in population clustering. We argue that environmental and geographic distances as drivers of community-wide divergence should be explored before assuming the role of biogeographic barriers.see also the Perspective by Alencar and QuentalPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/1/mec15182-sup-0004-AppendixS4.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/2/mec15182_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/3/mec15182-sup-0005-AppendixS5.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/4/mec15182-sup-0002-AppendixS2.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/5/mec15182-sup-0010-AppendixS10.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/6/mec15182.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/7/mec15182-sup-0003-AppendixS3.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152024/8/mec15182-sup-0006-AppendixS6.pd