Preference of Students on the Format of Options in a Multiple-Choice Test

Schools in the Philippines, especially those that are offering teacher education programs, are advised to construct examinations that are Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET)-like test items. This is because “if any aspect of a test is unfamiliar to candidates, they are likely to perform less well than they would do otherwise on subsequently taking a parallel version, for example.” Using the education students of Leyte Normal University, Southern Leyte State University-Tomas Oppus Campus, and Visayas State University, this study determined the students’ preference on the arrangements/format of options in a multiple-choice test through a survey questionnaire. Moreover, it tried to find out the reasons behind the preferences. Mean, frequency and Chi-square tests were used in the analysis of data. Results revealed that the cascading arrangement is the most preferred arrangement of options and the one-line horizontal arrangement is the least preferred arrangement of options in a multiple-choice test. The reasons identified were organized and easy to read, less confusing and easier to distinguish and vertically arranged thus require less eye movement. Moreover, the reasons for the lower case preference were it is usual and commonly used in a multiple-choice test, clear and gives less eye and mental pressure and easier to read and write.And lastly, the relationship between the students’ preference of the arrangement of options in a multiplechoice test and the letter case options were tested using the Chi-square test. Hence, it is argued that in constructing a multiple-choice test, one has to consider using the cascading arrangement

Calcitonin receptor N-glycosylation enhances peptide hormone affinity by controlling receptor dynamics

The class B G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) calcitonin receptor (CTR) is a drug target for osteoporosis and diabetes. N-glycosylation of asparagine 130 in its extracellular domain (ECD) enhances calcitonin hormone affinity with the proximal GlcNAc residue mediating this effect through an unknown mechanism. Here, we present two crystal structures of salmon calcitonin-bound, GlcNAc-bearing CTR ECD at 1.78 and 2.85 Å resolutions and analyze the mechanism of the glycan effect. The N130 GlcNAc does not contact the hormone. Surprisingly, the structures are nearly identical to a structure of hormone-bound, N-glycan-free ECD, which suggested that the GlcNAc might affect CTR dynamics not observed in the static crystallographic snapshots. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry and molecular dynamics simulations revealed that glycosylation stabilized a β-sheet adjacent to the N130 GlcNAc and the N-terminal α-helix near the peptide-binding site, while increasing flexibility of the peptide-binding site turret loop. These changes due to N-glycosylation increased the ligand on-rate and decreased its off rate. The glycan effect extended to RAMP-CTR amylin receptor complexes and was also conserved in the related CGRP receptor. These results reveal that N-glycosylation can modulate GPCR function by altering receptor dynamics

Complex associations between cross‐kingdom microbial endophytes and host genotype in ash dieback disease dynamics

Tree pathogens are a major threat to forest ecosystems. Conservation management strategies can exploit natural mechanisms of resistance, such as tree genotype and host‐associated microbial communities. However, fungal and bacterial communities are rarely looked at in the same framework, particularly in conjunction with host genotype. Here, we explore these relationships and their influence on ash dieback disease, caused by the pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, in European common ash trees. We collected leaves from UK ash trees and used microsatellite markers to genotype trees, qPCR to quantify H. fraxineus infection load, and ITS and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to identify fungal and bacterial communities, respectively. There was a significant association between H. fraxineus infection intensity and ash leaf fungal and bacterial community composition. Higher infection levels were positively correlated with fungal community alpha diversity, and a number of fungal and bacterial genera were significantly associated with infection presence and intensity. Under higher infection loads, leaf microbial networks were characterised by stronger associations between fewer members than those associated with lower infection levels. Together these results suggest that H. fraxineus disrupts stable endophyte communities after a particular infection threshold is reached, and may enable proliferation of opportunistic microbes. We identified three microbial genera associated with an absence of infection, potentially indicating an antagonistic relationship with H. fraxineus that could be utilised in the development of anti‐pathogen treatments. Host genotype did not directly affect infection, but did significantly affect leaf fungal community composition. Thus, host genotype could have the potential to indirectly affect disease susceptibility through genotype x microbiome interactions, and should be considered when selectively breeding trees. Synthesis. We show the diversity, composition and network structure of ash leaf microbial communities are associated with the severity of infection from ash dieback disease, with evidence of disease‐induced dysbiosis. We also show that host genotype influences leaf fungal community composition, but does not directly influence tree infection. These findings help to elucidate relationships between host genetics, the microbiome, and a tree pathogen, highlighting potential resistance mechanisms and possible co‐infection concerns that could inform ash tree manage ment

Harnessing phytomicrobiome signaling for rhizosphere microbiome engineering

The goal of microbiome engineering is to manipulate the microbiome toward a certain type of community that will optimize plant functions of interest. For instance, in crop production the goal is to reduce disease susceptibility, increase nutrient availability increase abiotic stress tolerance and increase crop yields. Various approaches can be devised to engineer the plant\u2013microbiome, but one particularly promising approach is to take advantage of naturally evolved plant\u2013microbiome communication channels. This is, however, very challenging as the understanding of the plant\u2013microbiome communication is still mostly rudimentary and plant\u2013microbiome interactions varies between crops species (and even cultivars), between individual members of the microbiome and with environmental conditions. In each individual case, many aspects of the plant\u2013microorganisms relationship should be thoroughly scrutinized. In this article we summarize some of the existing plant\u2013microbiome engineering studies and point out potential avenues for further research.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Preference of Students on the Format of Options in a Multiple-Choice Test

Schools in the Philippines, especially those that are offering teacher education programs, are advised to construct examinations that are Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET)-like test items. This is because “if any aspect of a test is unfamiliar to candidates, they are likely to perform less well than they would do otherwise on subsequently taking a parallel version, for example.” Using the education students of Leyte Normal University, Southern Leyte State University-Tomas Oppus Campus, and Visayas State University, this study determined the students’ preference on the arrangements/format of options in a multiple-choice test through a survey questionnaire. Moreover, it tried to find out the reasons behind the preferences. Mean, frequency and Chi-square tests were used in the analysis of data. Results revealed that the cascading arrangement is the most preferred arrangement of options and the one-line horizontal arrangement is the least preferred arrangement of options in a multiple-choice test. The reasons identified were organized and easy to read, less confusing and easier to distinguish and vertically arranged thus require less eye movement. Moreover, the reasons for the lower case preference were it is usual and commonly used in a multiple-choice test, clear and gives less eye and mental pressure and easier to read and write.And lastly, the relationship between the students’ preference of the arrangement of options in a multiplechoice test and the letter case options were tested using the Chi-square test. Hence, it is argued that in constructing a multiple-choice test, one has to consider using the cascading arrangement

System dynamics baseline model for determining a multivariable objective function optimization in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are dedicated networks used in applications where environmental information must be collected, such as temperature, humidity, level, flow, pressure, rain, radiation, among others. These kinds of networks are constrained regarding power, bandwidth, number of nodes per area unit, etc. It is desirable that they operate without supervision and can work steadily in time, because they are normally located in difficult or far places. Nonetheless, some of these metrics are conflicting with others, so if one improves, some of the others get worse. So, it is mandatory to know what is the best combination of metrics that in conjunction can fit an application the best. Literature reports works where \neg optimization is used as a mathematical scheme to solve this problem, and two scenarios are provided: First, where a single objective function is proposed regarding one metric, and the other metrics are restricted via constraints, and second, where multi-objective optimization (MOOP) approaches are proposed, but without considering the whole set of significant metrics involved in WSN, so there is not a definitive solution that finds a real optimal set of metrics. System Dynamics (SD) is a computer-aided approach to design and analyze (mostly) social, economic and enterprise systems, that allows proposing a mathematical framework to analyze such complex systems, by using relationships of interdependence, mutual interaction, feedback and causality. This work aims to show a first dynamic hypothesis of a model that considers important metrics ofWSN, in order to find a set of equations that serve as objective functions in a MOOP context. By applying this methodology is possible to find some difficult relations between metrics, that are not clearly reported by previous work so far. © 2020 AISTI

Internet of things electromechanical method and device for new or installed gas stoves: Making home safier

Electronic devices have been dabbled into houses to perform automatic tasks and fulfill different needs such as illumination, cooking, air conditioning, surveillance, among others. Furthermore, those elements can collect data from the environment in order to be processed and give better products and services, so, Internet of Things capabilities arises to home, highly cohesive with domotics. However, for developing countries, smart appliances are expensive, and old fridges, washing machines, etc., are still operative, so they must not to be discarded. Other very used appliances are stoves, which work with heating methods like electrical resistances, electrical induction or natural gas. The last one is the most used in a plenty of countries, due to its advantages regarding cost, for instance. Nonetheless, bad manipulation can cause gas leakages, and furthermore, injuries to people and conflagrations, affecting human lives and assets. Thus, a need has been identified regarding gas safety of gas stoves, conserving the installed base. This work shows the results of the main research and design considerations of a new cutting-edge technology that protects people of bad manipulation of already installed or new gas stoves, including the Internet of Things in order to monitor in real-time possible gas leakages and take actions. © 2019 AISTI