Fanning the Flame: Investigating Guided Inquiry-Based Learning in the Secondary Science Classroom

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.There is growing concern regarding school students developing increasingly negative attitudes to science during their secondary school experiences and disengaging with senior secondary and tertiary science subjects. The implementation of guided inquiry-based learning (IBL) to deliver science curriculum is believed to be an effective method to increase attitude, engagement and participation in science. In this study, guided IBL is defined as a level of science inquiry in which students investigate scientific questions given to them by teachers, using a procedure of their own design to collect data that they analyse to create their own answers. This study investigated the frequency of use of guided IBL in science classrooms and teacher perceptions about factors that affect the implementation of guided IBL pedagogy in the delivery of the NSW science curriculum. Thirty nine participants volunteered to complete an online survey. The survey consisted of both open and closed questions and data was analysed using descriptive analysis. Findings indicate that guided IBL may currently be used more often than expected with more than half of the participants reporting that they utilise guided IBL at least once per topic per class. Participants indicate that many factors enable guided IBL including teacher professional development, teachers’ positive personal beliefs toward guided IBL and available laboratory resources and equipment. And surprisingly, despite the language of inquiry permeating the new NSW science syllabuses for the Australian curriculum, these new syllabuses as well as preparation for external exams are perceived as barriers to guided IBL implementation

Persistent Organic Pollutants in Neotropic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) Nesting along the Trinity River, Texas

The Trinity River is a historically polluted river with records of various contaminants including organochlorine pesticides and their metabolites (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and Mercury (Hg) detected in contaminant studies of the Trinity River and its watershed. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) are a persistent contaminant group that has been shown to cause endocrinological changes, and some of its congeners have been banned in the US and in the whole EU. Fish eating birds are good indicators of contaminant accumulation in aquatic environments, as they accumulate lipophilic contaminants from eating fish and are typically top predators of their food web. Neotropic cormorants (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) are good indicators for local contamination and accumulate OCPs, PCBs, Hg, and PBDEs efficiently as the base levels of their food webs include aquatic invertebrates which regularly uptake lipophilic compounds from ambient water and sediment. The objectives of this research are to measure the persistent contaminant burden in Neotropic cormorants, a top piscivore, and to determine contaminant accumulation and potential impacts to the species, as well as if there is any correlation between sex, location of colony, or mass of Neotropic cormorant and contaminant burden. Cormorants were sampled in 2014 and 2015 from two sites on the Trinity River Watershed: Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area, and Lake Livingston. A liver section, spleen, kidneys, and gonads were sampled for histopathology, and a liver section was sampled for GC-MS analysis of OCPs, PCBs, and PBDEs, and breast feathers were sampled for Hg analysis by CVAAS. Results show total PCBs in liver sections of cormorants average 338±12 ng/g ww, total OCPs detected in liver sections average 235±9.5 ng/g ww with 4, 4’ DDE as the most commonly detected at 184±4.2 ng/g ww, the average total PBDE content per liver is 10±0.8 ng/g ww and the average Hg detected in central breast feathers was 3±0.2 µg/g dw. None of the contaminants measured were present in concentrations indicative of adverse effects; however, altered structure, composition and function, or histopathology were detected in the livers and kidneys of most samples. A novel coccidian Eimeria sp. was also detected in the kidneys of several cormorants. There was no significant difference in contaminants between sexes or location. Neotropic cormorants along the Trinity River do not display contaminant levels indicative of hazardous conditions for PCBs, PBDEs, DDE, and Hg; however, liver and kidney lesions are present in more than half of the individuals. Lesions along the glomeruli, tubules, and interstitial tissues of the kidney were the main findings observed in kidneys, while in the liver, chronic granulomatous cholangiohepatitis with intralesional trematodes were the main histopathologic finding. Our results indicate that Neotropic cormorants roosting in two colonies along the Trinity River are not at risk for adverse effects due to OCPs, PCBs, PBDEs, and Hg

Long non-coding RNA profiling of human lymphoid progenitor cells reveals transcriptional divergence of B cell and T cell lineages.

To elucidate the transcriptional 'landscape' that regulates human lymphoid commitment during postnatal life, we used RNA sequencing to assemble the long non-coding transcriptome across human bone marrow and thymic progenitor cells spanning the earliest stages of B lymphoid and T lymphoid specification. Over 3,000 genes encoding previously unknown long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were revealed through the analysis of these rare populations. Lymphoid commitment was characterized by lncRNA expression patterns that were highly stage specific and were more lineage specific than those of protein-coding genes. Protein-coding genes co-expressed with neighboring lncRNA genes showed enrichment for ontologies related to lymphoid differentiation. The exquisite cell-type specificity of global lncRNA expression patterns independently revealed new developmental relationships among the earliest progenitor cells in the human bone marrow and thymus

Reeducción motriz por medio de la actividad física en el adulto mayor de la Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes

El acelerado envejecimiento poblacional que se experimenta a nivel mundial desde hace 30 años, ha llevado a un creciente interés por conocer las repercusiones de este fenómeno tanto a nivel físico, como psicológico, social y económico. Los ancianos se han convertido, en las últimas décadas, en un grupo etario de alto crecimiento demográfico. Se ha estimado que, hacia el año 2050, el 15% de la población de América latina será́ anciana (Borrelli, 2011). Según el Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI), en 1930 en México la población de adultos mayores era inferior al millón de personas, lo que es equivalente al 5.3% de la población total conforme a la fecha antes mencionada. Pero para el Censo de Población y Vivienda llevado a cabo en 2010 se contabilizó un total de 10.1 millones de adultos mayores lo que representa 9.0% de la población total de ese año (INEGI, 2010) La actividad física es un elemento que, por su elevada importancia, es recomendada en todas las instancias de la vida, en mayor o menor medida dependiendo de la condición de salud en la que se encuentre el individuo, su edad cronología y algunos otros factores que pueden limitar dicha práctica, esto está supeditado por las condiciones personales del sujeto

Persistent Organic Pollutants in Neotropic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) Nesting along the Trinity River, Texas

The Trinity River is a historically polluted river with records of various contaminants including organochlorine pesticides and their metabolites (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and Mercury (Hg) detected in contaminant studies of the Trinity River and its watershed. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) are a persistent contaminant group that has been shown to cause endocrinological changes, and some of its congeners have been banned in the US and in the whole EU. Fish eating birds are good indicators of contaminant accumulation in aquatic environments, as they accumulate lipophilic contaminants from eating fish and are typically top predators of their food web. Neotropic cormorants (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) are good indicators for local contamination and accumulate OCPs, PCBs, Hg, and PBDEs efficiently as the base levels of their food webs include aquatic invertebrates which regularly uptake lipophilic compounds from ambient water and sediment. The objectives of this research are to measure the persistent contaminant burden in Neotropic cormorants, a top piscivore, and to determine contaminant accumulation and potential impacts to the species, as well as if there is any correlation between sex, location of colony, or mass of Neotropic cormorant and contaminant burden. Cormorants were sampled in 2014 and 2015 from two sites on the Trinity River Watershed: Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area, and Lake Livingston. A liver section, spleen, kidneys, and gonads were sampled for histopathology, and a liver section was sampled for GC-MS analysis of OCPs, PCBs, and PBDEs, and breast feathers were sampled for Hg analysis by CVAAS. Results show total PCBs in liver sections of cormorants average 338±12 ng/g ww, total OCPs detected in liver sections average 235±9.5 ng/g ww with 4, 4’ DDE as the most commonly detected at 184±4.2 ng/g ww, the average total PBDE content per liver is 10±0.8 ng/g ww and the average Hg detected in central breast feathers was 3±0.2 µg/g dw. None of the contaminants measured were present in concentrations indicative of adverse effects; however, altered structure, composition and function, or histopathology were detected in the livers and kidneys of most samples. A novel coccidian Eimeria sp. was also detected in the kidneys of several cormorants. There was no significant difference in contaminants between sexes or location. Neotropic cormorants along the Trinity River do not display contaminant levels indicative of hazardous conditions for PCBs, PBDEs, DDE, and Hg; however, liver and kidney lesions are present in more than half of the individuals. Lesions along the glomeruli, tubules, and interstitial tissues of the kidney were the main findings observed in kidneys, while in the liver, chronic granulomatous cholangiohepatitis with intralesional trematodes were the main histopathologic finding. Our results indicate that Neotropic cormorants roosting in two colonies along the Trinity River are not at risk for adverse effects due to OCPs, PCBs, PBDEs, and Hg

Nivel de pensamiento computacional en los estudiantes de primer semestre de la Universidad del Pacífico

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo primordial diagnosticar el Nivel de Pensamiento Computacional de los estudiantes de primer semestre de la Universidad del Pacífico sede Buenaventura, dado la importancia que actualmente tiene este enfoque en todos los aspectos del ser humano, especialmente en el campo de la educación superior. Como parte primordial de este proyecto, se puede mencionar la creación y validación de un instrumento de evaluación orientado a la temática propuesta, una vez realizado esto se procede a la aplicación, recolección y análisis de la información que gracias a los resultados obtenidos se determina el Nivel de Pensamiento Computacional de los estudiantes de primer semestre de la Universidad del Pacífico. Por otra parte, cabe mencionar que a pesar de no estar planteados en los objetivos del proyecto, se propone como dato agregado, determinar el Nivel de Pensamiento Computacional por programas. Finalmente, para llevar a cabo un desarrollo satisfactorio del proyecto, se contó con la participación y colaboración de varios agentes en los diferentes estamentos de la Universidad de Nariño y la Universidad del Pacifico, quienes contribuyeron a la consolidación del documento que servirá como base para futuras investigaciones

Limitación de la apertura bucal por hiperplasia de apófisis coronoides: reporte de un caso.

La hiperplasia de los procesos coronoideos es una afección muy rara, caracterizada por la elongación de las coronoides en donde se produce un contacto prematuro con la superficie posterior del hueso cigomático. Esto dará como resultado la restricción mecánica de la apertura bucal. El tratamiento de elección es la coronoidectomia intraoral de forma bilateral. En este artículo reportamos el caso de un paciente de 15 años con una marcada limitación de la apertura bucal, donde se le realizó resección bilateral de los procesos coronoideos de forma intra oral

Mechanically transduced immunosorbent assay to measure protein-protein interactions

Measuring protein-protein interaction (PPI) affinities is fundamental to biochemistry. Yet, conventional methods rely upon the law of mass action and cannot measure many PPIs due to a scarcity of reagents and limitations in the measurable affinity ranges. Here, we present a novel technique that leverages the fundamental concept of friction to produce a mechanical signal that correlates to binding potential. The mechanically transduced immunosorbent (METRIS) assay utilizes rolling magnetic probes to measure PPI interaction affinities. METRIS measures the translational displacement of protein-coated particles on a protein-functionalized substrate. The translational displacement scales with the effective friction induced by a PPI, thus producing a mechanical signal when a binding event occurs. The METRIS assay uses as little as 20 pmols of reagents to measure a wide range of affinities while exhibiting a high resolution and sensitivity. We use METRIS to measure several PPIs that were previously inaccessible using traditional methods, providing new insights into epigenetic recognition

Effects of Human Apolipoprotein E3 and E4 Genotypes on Cardiometabolic Disease Risk

Apolipoprotein (apo) E isoforms have specific effects on the etiology of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but data is limited on the effects of these genotypes for the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and related cardiometabolic alterations. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of human apoE3 and E4 genotypes on risk factors for T2DM and cardiac metabolism. Cardiac tissue from human apoE3 (n=8) and E4 (n=8) knock-in (KI) mice were compared to lean (n=11) and diet-induced obese (n=12) B6D2F1 mice to characterize the cardiac metabolic activity of AMPK, as well as for lipid and glycogen levels. Plasma was analyzed for lipid and lipoprotein concentrations, as well as glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR. An ANOVA was used to identify differences between groups. Statistical significance was set at a P\u3c0.05. ApoE3 and E4 mice displayed mild insulin resistance (Table 1) despite for having a body mass similar to the lean mice. In addition, apoE3 mice had a 1.5 fold greater HOMA-IR than apoE4 mice. Interestingly, apoE3 and E4 mice had significantly lower TC, Tg and HDL-C than both lean and obese mice. In apoE3 mice, nonHDL-C was significantly lower than both the lean and obese mice and the apoE4 mice. In apoE3 mice, cardiac cholesterol was greater than both lean and obese controls and apoE4 mice. In contrast, apoE4 mice had 2.5 and 2.9 fold greater cardiac triglyceride levels than the lean and obese mice, respectively. In the absence of an obesogenic diet, apoE3 and E4 mice displayed an insulin resistant metabolic state combined with altered lipid and lipoprotein metabolism that paralleled an increase in cardiac lipid deposition. These alterations in cardiac metabolism may contribute to the increased risk of CVD observed in apoE3 and E4 genotypes

Population History and Gene Divergence in Native Mexicans Inferred from 76 Human Exomes.

Native American genetic variation remains underrepresented in most catalogs of human genome sequencing data. Previous genotyping efforts have revealed that Mexico's Indigenous population is highly differentiated and substructured, thus potentially harboring higher proportions of private genetic variants of functional and biomedical relevance. Here we have targeted the coding fraction of the genome and characterized its full site frequency spectrum by sequencing 76 exomes from five Indigenous populations across Mexico. Using diffusion approximations, we modeled the demographic history of Indigenous populations from Mexico with northern and southern ethnic groups splitting 7.2 KYA and subsequently diverging locally 6.5 and 5.7 KYA, respectively. Selection scans for positive selection revealed BCL2L13 and KBTBD8 genes as potential candidates for adaptive evolution in Rarámuris and Triquis, respectively. BCL2L13 is highly expressed in skeletal muscle and could be related to physical endurance, a well-known phenotype of the northern Mexico Rarámuri. The KBTBD8 gene has been associated with idiopathic short stature and we found it to be highly differentiated in Triqui, a southern Indigenous group from Oaxaca whose height is extremely low compared to other Native populations