What Students Do While You Are Teaching – Computer and Smartphone Use in Class and Its Implication on Learning

The presence of mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets and computers) in the classroom gives students the possibility of doing off-task activities during lectures. The purpose of this mixed-method field study was to learn more about students' behaviors, reasons, and opinions regarding such activities and their consequences on learning. This study is one of few to take a holistic view on this topic by taking the use of all technical devices in class into account and assessing its con-sequences on learning objectively. This is important to gain a full picture concerning the conse-quences of off-task activities in class. Right after a lecture, bachelor students (N = 125) answered a survey containing questions on their usage of mobile devices during this last class. Further-more, they took a test on the content of that lecture. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of data revealed that students spent an average of more than 19% of their time using a digital device for non-class purposes. Interestingly, this was not significantly linked with learning, although many students reported being aware of this behavior's potential negative consequences. But there was a significant negative link between the number of received notifications and learning. These results suggest that external interruptions have a stronger negative effect than internal interruptions, allowing us to make better recommendations on how to use electronic devices in the classroom

Corporate Sustainability Performance Management: Conception of a practice-oriented model for companies

Ein bekannter Satz von Milton Friedman lautet: „Social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” Dass in marktwirtschaftlichen Systemen Unternehmen Profite realisieren müssen, ist unbestritten, jedoch verlangen hohe Umweltbelastungen, wachsende Rohstoffverbräuche und ein zunehmendes Umweltbewusstsein der Konsumenten, den Einbezug von ökologischen Aspekten in die Unternehmensentscheidungen. Gleichermaßen werden Diskussionen über Mindestlöhne, Fachkräftemangel und soziale Mindeststandards geführt, um die menschlichen Bedürfnisse in das soziale Bewusstsein der Unternehmen zu rufen. Diese ökono-mischen, ökologischen und sozialen Anforderungen sind an Unternehmen zu stellen und in einem unternehmensweiten, nachhaltig orientierten Managementsystem zu integrieren. Die zugrundeliegenden Konzepte werden allgemein mit den Begriffen Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) bzw. Corporate Sustainability Performance Management (CSPM) bezeichnet, die als moralisches, verantwortliches Verhalten von Unternehmen gegenüber Gesellschaft und Umwelt definiert werden können. Im Vordergrund steht dabei nicht eine karitative Unternehmensethik, sondern eine Ausweitung ethischer Fragen auf das Kerngeschäft der Unterneh-men. Diese Definition zeigt, dass die Verfolgung von Nachhaltigkeitsaspekten nicht nur eine weitere Kostenbelastung für Unternehmen bedeutet, sondern eine Reihe von Potenzialen bereitstellt, die sich direkt z. B. anhand von Ressourcenein-sparungen im Produktionsbereich oder indirekt über das Unternehmensimage auswirken. Entscheidend ist jedoch, dass Nachhaltigkeitsanforderungen nicht nur strategischer Natur sind, sondern in allen Unternehmensbereichen und -ebenen implementiert werden. Dies erfordert ein integratives CSPM-Modell, das alle Aspekte von der Planung, über das Reporting, bis hin zur Analyse beinhaltet, um bestmögliche Entscheidungsunterstützung zu liefern. Das Rückgrat eines solchen CSPM-Modells bildet ein Datenmodell, das alle entscheidungsrelevanten Daten enthält, Prozesse abbildet und monetäre, sowie nicht monetäre Kennzahlen berechnet, damit nicht nur ökonomische Entscheidungen getroffen werden können, sondern zusätzlich auch ökologische und soziale Ziele in die Entscheidungen einbezogen werden

What are the effects of IMF agreements on government health expenditure in low- and middle-income countries? A quantitative cross-country study across income groups and agreement types

Introduction The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international financial institution that acts as a lender of the last resort for countries experiencing balance of payments problems. Its loans to national authorities come with conditions, which typically include tighter control of public spending, though the nature and extent of conditions as well as the emphasis on social protection may vary according to the type of lending agreement. A subject of intense debate has been the effects of these loans on the capacity of health systems to meet health need. This study investigates the effects of IMF agreements on one crucial determinant of that capacity: government health expenditure (GHE). To do so, it evaluates: (i) the effects of IMF agreements on GHE across low- and middle-income countries; (ii) how these effects vary across different country income groups; and (iii) how these effects vary according to the type of agreement. Methods The study employs a dataset that includes GHE for 127 countries for the years 1995-2012, estimates the effects of IMF agreements using the Fixed Effects estimator, controls for determinants of GHE and accounts for endogeneity using a Heckman-style selection model. Results When controlling for endogeneity and important determinants of government health expenditure, the results suggest that, across all countries, agreements do not have a statistically significant effect on GHE. However, the effect differs according to country income group, with low-income countries experiencing increases in spending during agreement, lower-middle income countries seeing decreases in expenditure, for upper-middle income countries no effect on spending are observed. In addition, the effect differs according to agreement type: agreements with a social protection component are associated with increases in spending in low-income countries but have no statistically significant effects among middle-income countries. Agreement types with no social protection component are associated with decreases in spending among lower-middle income countries; and there is no statistically significant effect among low-income and upper-middle income countries. Conclusions The results indicate that, contrary to claims in the existing literature, IMF agreements do not have a statistically significant effect on GHE (positive or negative). However, this aggregate finding obscures the effect of particular agreement types in particular contexts. In low-income countries, agreements with an emphasis on social protection are associated with increases in GHE. When agreements have no social protection component they are associated with decreases in GHE for lower-middle-income countries, but not in other countries. In such contexts, IMF agreements either fail to enhance, or actually reduce, the capacity of health systems to meet health need

Humidity's influence on visible region refractive index structure parameter Cn2C_n^2

In the infrared and visible bandpass, optical propagation theory conventionally assumes that humidity does not contribute to the effects of atmospheric turbulence on optical beams. While this assumption may be reasonable for dry locations, we demonstrate in this paper that there is an unequivocal effect due to the pre sence of humidity upon the strength of turbulence parameter, $C_n^2$, from data collected in the Chesapeake Bay area over 100-m length horizontal propagation paths. We describe and apply a novel technique, Hilbert Phase Analysis, to the relative humidity, temperature and $C_n^2$ data to show the contribution of the re levant climate variable to $C_n^2$ as a function of time.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Applied Optic

MALDI mass spectrometry imaging workflow for the aquatic model organisms Danio rerio and Daphnia magna

Lipids play various essential roles in the physiology of animals. They are also highly dependent on cellular metabolism or status. It is therefore crucial to understand to which extent animals can stabilize their lipid composition in the presence of external stressors, such as chemicals that are released into the environment. We developed a MALDI MS imaging workflow for two important aquatic model organisms, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) and water flea (Daphnia magna). Owing to the heterogeneous structure of these organisms, developing a suitable sample preparation workflow is a highly non-trivial but crucial part of this work and needs to be established first. Relevant parameters and practical considerations in order to preserve tissue structure and composition in tissue sections are discussed for each application. All measurements were based on high mass accuracy enabling reliable identification of imaged compounds. In zebrafish we demonstrate that a detailed mapping between histology and simultaneously determined lipid composition is possible at various scales, from extended structures such as the brain or gills down to subcellular structures such as a single axon in the central nervous system. For D. magna we present for the first time a MALDI MSI workflow, that demonstrably maintains tissue integrity during cryosectioning of non-preserved samples, and allows the mapping of lipids in the entire body and the brood chamber inside the carapace. In conclusion, the lipid signatures that we were able to detect with our method provide an ideal basis to analyze changes caused by pollutants in two key aquatic model organisms

Overexpression of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) increases gemcitabine sensitivity in pancreatic cancer cells through S-phase arrest and apoptosis

We previously established a role for HSP27 as a predictive marker for therapeutic response towards gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer. Here, we investigate the underlying mechanisms of HSP27-mediated gemcitabine sensitivity. Utilizing a pancreatic cancer cell model with stable HSP27 overexpression, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction were analysed by flow cytometry, nuclear staining, immunoblotting and mitochondrial staining. Drug sensitivity studies were performed by proliferation assays. Hyperthermia was simulated using mild heat shock at 41.8 degrees C. Upon gemcitabine treatment, HSP27-overexpressing cells displayed an early S-phase arrest subsequently followed by a strongly increased sub-G1 fraction. Apoptosis was characterized by PARP-, CASPASE 3-, CASPASE 8-, CASPASE 9- and BIM- activation along with a mitochondrial membrane potential loss. It was reversible through chemical caspase inhibition. Importantly, gemcitabine sensitivity and PARP cleavage were also elicited by heat shock-induced HSP27 overexpression, although to a smaller extent, in a panel of pancreatic cancer cell lines. Finally, HSP27-overexpressing pancreatic cancer cells displayed an increased sensitivity also towards death receptor-targeting agents, suggesting another pro-apoptotic role of HSP27 along the extrinsic apoptosis pathway. Taken together, in contrast to the well-established anti-apoptotic properties of HSP27 in cancer, our study reveals novel pro-apoptotic functions of HSP27mediated through both the intrinsic and the extrinsic apoptotic pathwaysat least in pancreatic cancer cells. HSP27 could represent a predictive marker of therapeutic response towards specific drug classes in pancreatic cancer and provides a novel molecular rationale for current clinical trials applying the combination of gemcitabine with regional hyperthermia in pancreatic cancer patients

Use of personalised risk-based screening schedules to optimise workload and sojourn time in screening programmes for diabetic retinopathy:A retrospective cohort study

Background: National guidelines in most countries set screening intervals for diabetic retinopathy (DR) that are insufficiently informed by contemporary incidence rates. This has unspecified implications for interval disease risks (IDs) of referable DR, disparities in ID between groups or individuals, time spent in referable state before screening (sojourn time), and workload. We explored the effect of various screening schedules on these outcomes and developed an open-access interactive policy tool informed by contemporary DR incidence rates. Methods and findings: Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Programme data from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2016 were linked to diabetes registry data. This yielded 128,606 screening examinations in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and 1,384,360 examinations in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Among those with T1D, 47% of those without and 44% of those with referable DR were female, mean diabetes duration was 21 and 23 years, respectively, and mean age was 26 and 24 years, respectively. Among those with T2D, 44% of those without and 42% of those with referable DR were female, mean diabetes duration was 9 and 14 years, respectively, and mean age was 58 and 52 years, respectively. Individual probability of developing referable DR was estimated using a generalised linear model and was used to calculate the intervals needed to achieve various IDs across prior grade strata, or at the individual level, and the resultant workload and sojourn time. The current policy in Scotland—screening people with no or mild disease annually and moderate disease every 6 months—yielded large differences in ID by prior grade (13.2%, 3.6%, and 0.6% annually for moderate, mild, and no prior DR strata, respectively, in T1D) and diabetes type (2.4% in T1D and 0.6% in T2D overall). Maintaining these overall risks but equalising risk across prior grade strata would require extremely short intervals in those with moderate DR (1–2 months) and very long intervals in those with no prior DR (35–47 months), with little change in workload or average sojourn time. Changing to intervals of 12, 9, and 3 months in T1D and to 24, 9, and 3 months in T2D for no, mild, and moderate DR strata, respectively, would substantially reduce disparity in ID across strata and between diabetes types whilst reducing workload by 26% and increasing sojourn time by 2.3 months. Including clinical risk factor data gave a small but significant increment in prediction of referable DR beyond grade (increase in C-statistic of 0.013 in T1D and 0.016 in T2D, both p < 0.001). However, using this model to derive personalised intervals did not have substantial workload or sojourn time benefits over stratum-specific intervals. The main limitation is that the results are pertinent only to countries that share broadly similar rates of retinal disease and risk factor distributions to Scotland. Conclusions: Changing current policies could reduce disparities in ID and achieve substantial reductions in workload within the range of IDs likely to be deemed acceptable. Our tool s

Genetic inactivation of the Fanconi anemia gene FANCC identified in the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HuH-7 confers sensitivity towards DNA-interstrand crosslinking agents

Background: Inactivation of the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway through defects in one of 13 FA genes occurs at low frequency in various solid cancer entities among the general population. As FA pathway inactivation confers a distinct hypersensitivity towards DNA interstrand-crosslinking (ICL)-agents, FA defects represent rational targets for individualized therapeutic strategies. Except for pancreatic cancer, however, the prevalence of FA defects in gastrointestinal (GI) tumors has not yet been systematically explored. Results: A panel of GI cancer cell lines was screened for FA pathway inactivation applying FANCD2 monoubiquitination and FANCD2/RAD51 nuclear focus formation and a newly identified FA pathway-deficient cell line was functionally characterized. The hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) line HuH-7 was defective in FANCD2 monoubiquitination and FANCD2 nuclear focus formation but proficient in RAD51 focus formation. Gene complementation studies revealed that this proximal FA pathway inactivation was attributable to defective FANCC function in HuH-7 cells. Accordingly, a homozygous inactivating FANCC nonsense mutation (c.553C > T, p.R185X) was identified in HuH-7, resulting in partial transcriptional skipping of exon 6 and leading to the classic cellular FA hypersensitivity phenotype; HuH-7 cells exhibited a strongly reduced proliferation rate and a pronounced G2 cell cycle arrest at distinctly lower concentrations of ICL-agents than a panel of non-isogenic, FA pathway-proficient HCC cell lines. Upon retroviral transduction of HuH-7 cells with FANCC cDNA, FA pathway functions were restored and ICL-hypersensitivity abrogated. Analyses of 18 surgical HCC specimens yielded no further examples for genetic or epigenetic inactivation of FANCC, FANCF, or FANCG in HCC, suggesting a low prevalence of proximal FA pathway inactivation in this tumor type. Conclusions: As the majority of HCC are chemoresistant, assessment of FA pathway function in HCC could identify small subpopulations of patients expected to predictably benefit from individualized treatment protocols using ICL-agents

Common variants in FOXP1 are associated with generalized vitiligo

In a recent genome-wide association study of generalized vitiligo, we identified ten confirmed susceptibility loci. By testing additional loci that showed suggestive association in the genome-wide study, using two replication cohorts of European descent, we observed replicated association of generalized vitiligo with variants at 3p13 encompassing FOXP1 (rs17008723, combined P = 1.04 × 10−8) and with variants at 6q27 encompassing CCR6 (rs6902119, combined P = 3.94 × 10−7)