The Effect of Relevance Strategies on Student Perceptions of Introductory Courses

The purpose of this study was to test whether increasing the relevancy of course assignments in a large multi-section introductory public speaking course would lead to improvements in student perceptions of course outcomes. Survey responses from 1,878 students were analyzed to test whether differences exist between students enrolled in classes held during the Spring 2015 semester and those enrolled in classes held in Fall 2015 during which the more relevant course assignments were incorporated. Results reveal that increasing the relevancy of assignments is associated with greater perceived course relevance, motivation for participating in the class, and perceptions of learning. This course redesign demonstrates that simply altering course assignments can positively impact student perceptions and motivation for participating in the class in multi-section introductory courses

Treatment trends in allergic rhinitis and asthma: a British ENT survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Allergic Rhinitis is a common Ear, Nose and Throat disorder. Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis are diseases with similar underlying mechanism and pathogenesis. The aim of this survey was to highlight current treatment trends for Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>A questionnaire was emailed to all registered consultant members of the British Association of Otorhinolaryngologists - Head and Neck Surgeons regarding the management of patients with Allergic Rhinitis and related disorders.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Survey response rate was 56%. The results indicate a various approach in the investigation and management of Allergic Rhinitis compatible with recommendations from the Allergic Rhinitis and Its Impact on Asthma guidelines in collaboration with the World Health Organisation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A combined management approach for patients with Allergic Rhinitis and concomitant Asthma may reduce medical treatment costs for these conditions and improve symptom control and quality of life.</p

HHomp—prediction and classification of outer membrane proteins

Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) are the transmembrane proteins found in the outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, mitochondria and plastids. Most prediction methods have focused on analogous features, such as alternating hydrophobicity patterns. Here, we start from the observation that almost all β-barrel OMPs are related by common ancestry. We identify proteins as OMPs by detecting their homologous relationships to known OMPs using sequence similarity. Given an input sequence, HHomp builds a profile hidden Markov model (HMM) and compares it with an OMP database by pairwise HMM comparison, integrating OMP predictions by PROFtmb. A crucial ingredient is the OMP database, which contains profile HMMs for over 20 000 putative OMP sequences. These were collected with the exhaustive, transitive homology detection method HHsenser, starting from 23 representative OMPs in the PDB database. In a benchmark on TransportDB, HHomp detects 63.5% of the true positives before including the first false positive. This is 70% more than PROFtmb, four times more than BOMP and 10 times more than TMB-Hunt. In Escherichia coli, HHomp identifies 57 out of 59 known OMPs and correctly assigns them to their functional subgroups. HHomp can be accessed at http://toolkit.tuebingen.mpg.de/hhomp

Contribution of copy number variants (CNVs) to congenital, unexplained intellectual and developmental disabilities in Lebanese patients

International audienceBackground: Chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) is currently the most widely adopted clinical test for patients with unexplained intellectual disability (ID), developmental delay (DD), and congenital anomalies. Its use has revealed the capacity to detect copy number variants (CNVs), as well as regions of homozygosity, that, based on their distribution on chromosomes, indicate uniparental disomy or parental consanguinity that is suggestive of an increased probability of recessive disease. Results: We screened 149 Lebanese probands with ID/DD and 99 healthy controls using the Affymetrix Cyto 2.7 M and SNP6.0 arrays. We report all identified CNVs, which we divided into groups. Pathogenic CNVs were identified in 12.1% of the patients. We review the genotype/phenotype correlation in a patient with a 1q44 microdeletion and refine the minimal critical regions responsible for the 10q26 and 16q monosomy syndromes. Several likely causative CNVs were also detected, including new homozygous microdeletions (9p23p24.1, 10q25.2, and 8p23.1) in 3 patients born to consanguineous parents, involving potential candidate genes. However, the clinical interpretation of several other CNVs remains uncertain, including a microdeletion affecting ATRNL1. This CNV of unknown significance was inherited from the patient's unaffected-mother; therefore, additional ethnically matched controls must be screened to obtain enough evidence for classification of this CNV. Conclusion: This study has provided supporting evidence that whole-genome analysis is a powerful method for uncovering chromosomal imbalances, regardless of consanguinity in the parents of patients and despite the challenge presented by analyzing some CNVs

Elevated Pontine and Putamenal GABA Levels in Mild-Moderate Parkinson Disease Detected by 7 Tesla Proton MRS

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by the degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. However, postmortem evidence indicates that the pathology of lower brainstem regions, such as the pons and medulla, precedes nigral involvement. Consistently, pontomedullary damage was implicated by structural and PET imaging in early PD. Neurochemical correlates of this early pathological involvement in PD are unknown. Methodology/Principal Finding: To map biochemical alterations in the brains of individuals with mild-moderate PD we quantified neurochemical profiles of the pons, putamen and substantia nigra by 7 tesla (T) proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Thirteen individuals with idiopathic PD (Hoehn &amp; Yahr stage 2) and 12 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers participated in the study. c-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations in the pons and putamen were significantly higher in patients (N = 11, off medications) than controls (N = 11, p,0.001 for pons and p,0.05 for putamen). The GABA elevation was more pronounced in the pons (64%) than in the putamen (32%). No other neurochemical differences were observed between patients and controls. Conclusion/Significance: The GABA elevation in the putamen is consistent with prior postmortem findings in patients with PD, as well as with in vivo observations in a rodent model of PD, while the GABA finding in the pons is novel. The more significant GABA elevation in the pons relative to the putamen is consistent with earlier pathological involvement of th

Differential profiling of lacrimal cytokines in patients suffering from thyroid-associated orbitopathy.

The aim was to investigate the levels of cytokines and soluble IL-6R in the tears of patients with thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO) disease. Schirmer's test was adopted to collect tears from TAO patients (N = 20, 17 women, mean age (±SD): 46.0 years (±13.4)) and healthy subjects (N = 18, 10 women, 45.4 years (±18.7)). Lacrimal cytokines and soluble IL-6R (sIL-6R) were measured using a 10-plex panel (Meso Scale Discovery Company) and Invitrogen Human sIL-6R Elisa kit, respectively. Tear levels of IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-6 and TNF-α appeared significantly higher in TAO patients than in healthy subjects. Interestingly, IL-10, IL-12p70 and IL-8 levels increased in tears whatever the form of TAO whereas IL-13, IL-6 and TNF-α levels were significantly elevated in inflammatory TAO patients, meaning with a clinical score activity (CAS) ≥ 3, compared to controls. Furthermore, only 3 cytokines were strongly positively correlated with CAS (IL-13 Spearman coeff. r: 0.703, p = 0.0005; IL-6 r: 0.553, p = 0.011; IL-8 r: 0.618, p = 0.004, respectively). Finally, tobacco use disturbed the levels of several cytokines, especially in patient suffering of TAO. The differential profile of lacrimal cytokines could be useful for the diagnosis of TAO patients. Nevertheless, the tobacco use of these patients should be taken into account in the interpretation of the cytokine levels