A Learning Management System-Based Early Warning System for Academic Advising in Undergraduate Engineering

This chapter describes a design-based research project that developed an early warning system for an undergraduate engineering mentoring program. Using near real-time data from a university’s learning management system, we provided academic advisors with timely and targeted data on students’ academic progress. We discuss the development of the early warning system and detail how academic advisors used it. Our findings point to the value of providing academic advisors with performance data that can be used to direct students to appropriate sources of support.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107974/1/Krumm_etal_2014_LA.pd

Vascular responses of the extremities to transdermal application of vasoactive agents in Caucasian and African descent individuals

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in European Journal of Applied Physiology on 04/04/2015, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3164-2 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Purpose: Individuals of African descent (AFD) are more susceptible to non-freezing cold injury than Caucasians (CAU) which may be due, in part, to differences in the control of skin blood flow. We investigated the skin blood flow responses to transdermal application of vasoactive agents. Methods: Twenty-four young males (12 CAU and 12 AFD) undertook three tests in which iontophoresis was used to apply acetylcholine (ACh 1 w/v %), sodium nitroprusside (SNP 0.01 w/v %) and noradrenaline (NA 0.5 mM) to the skin. The skin sites tested were: volar forearm, non-glabrous finger and toe, and glabrous finger (pad) and toe (pad). Results: In response to SNP on the forearm, AFD had less vasodilatation for a given current application than CAU (P = 0.027–0.004). ACh evoked less vasodilatation in AFD for a given application current in the non-glabrous finger and toe compared with CAU (P = 0.043–0.014) with a lower maximum vasodilatation in the non-glabrous finger (median [interquartile], AFD n = 11, 41[234] %, CAU n = 12, 351[451] %, P = 0.011) and non-glabrous toe (median [interquartile], AFD n = 9, 116[318] %, CAU n = 12, 484[720] %, P = 0.018). ACh and SNP did not elicit vasodilatation in the glabrous skin sites of either group. There were no ethnic differences in response to NA. Conclusion: AFD have an attenuated endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in non-glabrous sites of the fingers and toes compared with CAU. This may contribute to lower skin temperature following cold exposure and the increased risk of cold injuries experienced by AFD.Published versio

Attitudinal and Demographic Predictors of Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine (MMR) Uptake during the UK Catch-Up Campaign 2008–09: Cross-Sectional Survey

Background and Objective Continued suboptimal measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine uptake has re-established measles epidemic risk, prompting a UK catch-up campaign in 2008–09 for children who missed MMR doses at scheduled age. Predictors of vaccine uptake during catch-ups are poorly understood, however evidence from routine schedule uptake suggests demographics and attitudes may be central. This work explored this hypothesis using a robust evidence-based measure. Design Cross-sectional self-administered questionnaire with objective behavioural outcome. Setting and Participants 365 UK parents, whose children were aged 5–18 years and had received <2 MMR doses before the 2008–09 UK catch-up started. Main Outcome Measures Parents' attitudes and demographics, parent-reported receipt of invitation to receive catch-up MMR dose(s), and catch-up MMR uptake according to child's medical record (receipt of MMR doses during year 1 of the catch-up). Results Perceived social desirability/benefit of MMR uptake (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.09–2.87) and younger child age (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.68–0.89) were the only independent predictors of catch-up MMR uptake in the sample overall. Uptake predictors differed by whether the child had received 0 MMR doses or 1 MMR dose before the catch-up. Receipt of catch-up invitation predicted uptake only in the 0 dose group (OR = 3.45, 95% CI = 1.18–10.05), whilst perceived social desirability/benefit of MMR uptake predicted uptake only in the 1 dose group (OR = 9.61, 95% CI = 2.57–35.97). Attitudes and demographics explained only 28% of MMR uptake in the 0 dose group compared with 61% in the 1 dose group. Conclusions Catch-up MMR invitations may effectively move children from 0 to 1 MMR doses (unimmunised to partially immunised), whilst attitudinal interventions highlighting social benefits of MMR may effectively move children from 1 to 2 MMR doses (partially to fully immunised). Older children may be best targeted through school-based programmes. A formal evaluation element should be incorporated into future catch-up campaigns to inform their continuing improvement

Influence of Comorbidities on Therapeutic Progression of Diabetes Treatment in Australian Veterans: A Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: This study assessed whether the number of comorbid conditions unrelated to diabetes was associated with a delay in therapeutic progression of diabetes treatment in Australian veterans. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A retrospective cohort study was undertaken using data from the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) claims database between July 2000 and June 2008. The study included new users of metformin or sulfonylurea medicines. The outcome was the time to addition or switch to another antidiabetic treatment. The total number of comorbid conditions unrelated to diabetes was identified using the pharmaceutical-based comorbidity index, Rx-Risk-V. Competing risk regression analyses were conducted, with adjustments for a number of covariates that included age, gender, residential status, use of endocrinology service, number of hospitalisation episodes and adherence to diabetes medicines. Overall, 20134 veterans were included in the study. At one year, 23.5% of patients with diabetes had a second medicine added or had switched to another medicine, with 41.4% progressing by 4 years. The number of unrelated comorbidities was significantly associated with the time to addition of an antidiabetic medicine or switch to insulin (subhazard ratio [SHR] 0.87 [95% CI 0.84–0.91], P<0.001). Depression, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, and Parkinson's disease were individually associated with a decreased likelihood of therapeutic progression. Age, residential status, number of hospitalisations and adherence to anti-diabetic medicines delayed therapeutic progression. CONCLUSIONS / SIGNIFICANCE: Increasing numbers of unrelated conditions decreased the likelihood of therapeutic progression in veterans with diabetes. These results have implications for the development of quality measures, clinical guidelines and the construction of models of care for management of diabetes in elderly people with comorbidities.Agnes I. Vitry, Elizabeth E. Roughead, Adrian K. Preiss, Philip Ryan, Emmae N. Ramsay, Andrew L. Gilbert, Gillian E. Caughey, Sepehr Shakib, Adrian Esterman, Ying Zhang and Robyn A. McDermot

Cognitive and social functioning correlates of employment among people with severe mental illness

We assess how social and cognitive functioning is associated to gaining employment for 213 people diagnosed with severe mental illness taking part in employment programs in Andalusia (Spain). We used the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status and the Social Functioning Scale and conducted two binary logistical regression analyses. Response variables were: having a job or not, in ordinary companies (OCs) and social enterprises (SEs), and working in and OC or not. There were two variables with significant adjusted odds ratios for having a job: “attention” and “Educational level”. There were five variables with significant odds ratios for having a job in an OC: “Sex”, “Educational level”, “Attention”, “Communication”, and “Independence-competence”. The study looks at the possible benefits of combining employment with support and social enterprises in employment programs for these people and underlines how both social and cognitive functioning are central to developing employment models

Gene and QTL detection in a three-way barley cross under selection by a mixed model with kinship information using SNPs

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) detection is commonly performed by analysis of designed segregating populations derived from two inbred parental lines, where absence of selection, mutation and genetic drift is assumed. Even for designed populations, selection cannot always be avoided, with as consequence varying correlation between genotypes instead of uniform correlation. Akin to linkage disequilibrium mapping, ignoring this type of genetic relatedness will increase the rate of false-positives. In this paper, we advocate using mixed models including genetic relatedness, or ‘kinship’ information for QTL detection in populations where selection forces operated. We demonstrate our case with a three-way barley cross, designed to segregate for dwarfing, vernalization and spike morphology genes, in which selection occurred. The population of 161 inbred lines was screened with 1,536 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and used for gene and QTL detection. The coefficient of coancestry matrix was estimated based on the SNPs and imposed to structure the distribution of random genotypic effects. The model incorporating kinship, coancestry, information was consistently superior to the one without kinship (according to the Akaike information criterion). We show, for three traits, that ignoring the coancestry information results in an unrealistically high number of marker–trait associations, without providing clear conclusions about QTL locations. We used a number of widely recognized dwarfing and vernalization genes known to segregate in the studied population as landmarks or references to assess the agreement of the mapping results with a priori candidate gene expectations. Additional QTLs to the major genes were detected for all traits as well

Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptom profiles and concurrent problems with alcohol and cannabis: Sex differences in a representative, population survey

Background: Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows a robust association with alcohol and cannabis misuse, and these relationships are expressed differently in males and females. Manifestation of specific ADHD symptom profiles, even in the absence of the full disorder, may also be related to problems with alcohol and cannabis, although these relationships have not been investigated in epidemiological studies. To address this question, we studied the sex-specific associations of ADHD symptomatology with problematic alcohol and cannabis use in a representative sample of adults aged 18 years and older residing in Ontario, Canada. Methods: Data were obtained from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional telephone survey, between January 2011 and December 2013. Respondents (n = 5080) reported on current ADHD symptomatology, measured using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Version 1.1 Screener (ASRS-V1.1) and four additional items, and alcohol and cannabis use, which were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), respectively. Logistic regression analyses were conducted in men and women to test the association of each ADHD symptom cluster (hyperactivity, inattentiveness, impulsivity) with problematic alcohol and cannabis use. Results: After controlling for age, education, and comorbid internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, hyperactive symptoms were associated with problematic alcohol use in both men and women and with problematic cannabis use in men. Impulsive symptoms were independently associated with problematic cannabis use in men. By contrast, inattentive symptomatology predicted problems with alcohol and cannabis only in women. In all models, age was negatively associated with substance misuse and externalizing behavior was positively correlated and the strongest predictor of hazardous alcohol and cannabis use. Conclusions: ADHD symptom expression in adulthood is related to concurrent hazardous use of alcohol and cannabis. Distinctive ADHD symptom profiles may confer increased risk for substance misuse in a sex-specific manner

A Machine Learning Approach for Identifying Novel Cell Type–Specific Transcriptional Regulators of Myogenesis

Transcriptional enhancers integrate the contributions of multiple classes of transcription factors (TFs) to orchestrate the myriad spatio-temporal gene expression programs that occur during development. A molecular understanding of enhancers with similar activities requires the identification of both their unique and their shared sequence features. To address this problem, we combined phylogenetic profiling with a DNA–based enhancer sequence classifier that analyzes the TF binding sites (TFBSs) governing the transcription of a co-expressed gene set. We first assembled a small number of enhancers that are active in Drosophila melanogaster muscle founder cells (FCs) and other mesodermal cell types. Using phylogenetic profiling, we increased the number of enhancers by incorporating orthologous but divergent sequences from other Drosophila species. Functional assays revealed that the diverged enhancer orthologs were active in largely similar patterns as their D. melanogaster counterparts, although there was extensive evolutionary shuffling of known TFBSs. We then built and trained a classifier using this enhancer set and identified additional related enhancers based on the presence or absence of known and putative TFBSs. Predicted FC enhancers were over-represented in proximity to known FC genes; and many of the TFBSs learned by the classifier were found to be critical for enhancer activity, including POU homeodomain, Myb, Ets, Forkhead, and T-box motifs. Empirical testing also revealed that the T-box TF encoded by org-1 is a previously uncharacterized regulator of muscle cell identity. Finally, we found extensive diversity in the composition of TFBSs within known FC enhancers, suggesting that motif combinatorics plays an essential role in the cellular specificity exhibited by such enhancers. In summary, machine learning combined with evolutionary sequence analysis is useful for recognizing novel TFBSs and for facilitating the identification of cognate TFs that coordinate cell type–specific developmental gene expression patterns

Expression and function of G-protein-coupled receptorsin the male reproductive tract

This review focuses on the expression and function of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs), α1-adrenoceptors and relaxin receptors in the male reproductive tract. The localization and differential expression of mAChR and α1-adrenoceptor subtypes in specific compartments of the efferent ductules, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicle and prostate of various species indicate a role for these receptors in the modulation of luminal fluid composition and smooth muscle contraction, including effects on male fertility. Furthermore, the activation of mAChRs induces transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the Sertoli cell proliferation. The relaxin receptors are present in the testis, RXFP1 in elongated spermatids and Sertoli cells from rat, and RXFP2 in Leydig and germ cells from rat and human, suggesting a role for these receptors in the spermatogenic process. The localization of both receptors in the apical portion of epithelial cells and smooth muscle layers of the vas deferens suggests an involvement of these receptors in the contraction and regulation of secretion.Esta revisão enfatiza a expressão e a função dos receptores muscarínicos, adrenoceptores α1 e receptores para relaxina no sistema reprodutor masculino. A expressão dos receptores muscarínicos e adrenoceptores α1 em compartimentos específicos de dúctulos eferentes, epidídimo, ductos deferentes, vesícula seminal e próstata de várias espécies indica o envolvimento destes receptores na modulação da composição do fluido luminal e na contração do músculo liso, incluindo efeitos na fertilidade masculina. Além disso, a ativação dos receptores muscarínicos leva à transativação do receptor para o fator crescimento epidermal e proliferação das células de Sertoli. Os receptores para relaxina estão presentes no testículo, RXFP1 nas espermátides alongadas e células de Sertoli de rato e RXFP2 nas células de Leydig e germinativas de ratos e humano, sugerindo o envolvimento destes receptores no processo espermatogênico. A localização de ambos os receptores na porção apical das células epiteliais e no músculo liso dos ductos deferentes de rato sugere um papel na contração e na regulação da secreção.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de FarmacologiaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de FarmacologiaSciEL