Developing Civic-Mindedness in Middle- and High-School Students Using Service-Learning

Education is not only about teaching students in academic domains, but also teaching them about the application of those domains in society as civic-minded, engaged citizens. Service learning projects can be effective at fostering a sense of civic-mindedness in students, at least in college (e.g., Weber & Weber, 2010). During the 2017-2018 school year, we conducted a case study with 73 middle school students from two rural schools in the Arkansas Delta to examine, in part, the impact of one service-learning initiative (EAST). Participating students researched authentic problems in their communities and developed projects aimed at addressing those problems. Based on data from the case study, students appeared to become more aware of problems in their communities and believed they could help to solve those problems. Using the EAST model, this proposed session will examine how service-learning projects can help secondary educators develop civic-mindedness in students

Understanding How Users Engage in an Immersive Virtual Reality-Based Live Event

Virtual Reality combined with social functioning is a lucrative business direction. Due to COVID-19, a need for better social interaction is identified urgently both in education institutes and the business sector. In this paper, we will show two business cases where social functioning is needed. The first one illustrates how the business sector can use Virtual Reality Social Platform (VRSP) in remote events. As a case study, we have selected Spinverse’s Summer Day organized in Microsoft AltspaceVR. The second business case, in turn, classifies requirements for Virtual Reality Social platforms. This has been studied in close cooperation with XR Presence. Results show that current technologies offer many features to be used, but at the same time, there are needs for further development. In addition, more studies are needed in technology acceptance, usability, user experience, and business impact

Human tumour-associated cell adhesion protein MN/CA IX: identification of M75 epitope and of the region mediating cell adhesion

MN/CA IX is a cell surface protein, strongly associated with several types of human carcinomas. It exerts activity of carbonic anhydrase and capacity of binding to cell surface receptors. In the present work, we used affinity purified MN/CA IX protein to demonstrate that the cells adhere to immobilized MN/CA IX and that the monoclonal antibody M75 abrogates cell attachment to MN/CA IX. Using synthetic oligopeptides, we identified M75 epitope and located it in the proteoglycan domain, which contains a sixfold tandem repeat of six amino acids GEEDLP. From phage display library of random heptapeptides we identified and chemically synthesized those which compete for the epitope with M75 and inhibit adhesion of cells to MN/CA IX. These heptapeptides might serve as lead compounds for drug design. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Expression of a novel carbonic anhydrase, CA XIII, in normal and neoplastic colorectal mucosa

BACKGROUND: Carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozymes may have an important role in cancer development. Some isozymes control pH homeostasis in tumors that appears to modulate the behaviour of cancer cells. CA XIII is the newest member of the CA gene family. It is a cytosolic isozyme which is expressed in a number of normal tissues. The present study was designed to investigate CA XIII expression in prospectively collected colorectal tumor samples. METHODS: Both neoplastic and normal tissue specimens were obtained from the same patients. The analyses were performed using CA XIII-specific antibodies and an immunohistochemical staining method. For comparison, the tissue sections were immunostained for other cytosolic isozymes, CA I and II. RESULTS: The results indicated that the expression of CA XIII is down-regulated in tumor cells compared to the normal tissue. The lowest signal was detected in carcinoma samples. This pattern of expression was quite parallel for CA I and II. CONCLUSION: The down-regulation of cytosolic CA I, II and XIII in colorectal cancer may result from reduced levels of a common transcription factor or loss of closely linked CA1, CA2 and CA13 alleles on chromosome 8. Their possible role as tumor suppressors should be further evaluated

Effects of elevated CO2 and N deposition on CH4 emissions from European mires

[1] Methane fluxes were measured at five sites representing oligotrophic peatlands along a European transect. Five study plots were subjected to elevated CO2 concentration (560 ppm), and five plots to NH4NO3 (3 or 5 g N yr(-1)). The CH4 emissions from the control plots correlated in most cases with the soil temperatures. The depth of the water table, the pH, and the DOC, N and SO4 concentrations were only weakly correlated with the CH4 emissions. The elevated CO2 treatment gave nonsignificantly higher CH4 emissions at three sites and lower at two sites. The N treatment resulted in higher methane emissions at three sites (nonsignificant). At one site, the CH4 fluxes of the N-treatment plots were significantly lower than those of the control plots. These results were not in agreement with our hypotheses, nor with the results obtained in some earlier studies. However, the results are consistent with the results of the vegetation analyses, which showed no significant treatment effects on species relationships or biomass production