TalentPal: A Platform for Newcomers and Locals to Integrate

Newcomers arriving to a land face barriers to integrate. This thesis aims to tackle the difficulties with integration of newcomers with locals through the use of a technological solution. Interviews were conducted to identify the solution's user groups and their main problems. Then, in two iterations, prototypes of a hypothesized solution were made and tested with the users through cognitive walkthrough usability evaluation method to determine the key useful features. The user groups are newcomers seeking opportunities to build on their skills while increasing their social capital and local organizations looking for volunteers with specific skill-sets. The solution is an online platform that enables the newcomers to showcase their talents through 10-second video profiles which are accessible by the organizations. The key features are video, skill tags, and ratings. Further work includes developing a real platform and finding concrete metrics to evaluate successful integration

Multiple supernumerary chromosomes in the pseudogamous parthenogenetic flatworm Polycelis nigra:lineage markers or remnants of genetic leakage?

Polycelis nigra is a free-living simultaneous hermaphroditic flatworm that has amphimictic and pseudogamous parthenogenetic biotypes. Sexual individuals are always diploid (2n = 16) and pseudogamous parthenogens are polyploid (usually triploid). Two types of supernumerary chromosomes are found in parthenogens, those resembling autosomes ("A-like") and typical B chromosomes, both of which reach frequencies in populations of close to 100%. Experiments measuring the transmission rates of the B chromosomes indicated that they are potentially inherited via the male line, escaping expulsion by pseudogamous parthenogenesis. This study used the C-banding technique to demonstrate (i) that there is a single morphologically distinct B chromosome (B1) and (ii) that then are two "A-like" chromosomes that can be considered B chromosomes (B2 and B3) and which are not simple polysomics of one of the eight autosomes. As there is no genetic exchange between pseudogamous parthenogenetic lineages, two different individuals carrying a similar B morph must either have received it through common ancestry (a lineage marker) or have acquired it horizontally from another parthenogenetic lineage (leakage). C-banding further revealed intra-individual heteromorphy for band regions on chromosomes 5 and 8. This supports the karyotypic observation that oogenesis is preceded by premeiotic chromosome doubling followed by pairing of replicate homologues

De novo sequencing of the Hypericum perforatum L. flower transcriptome to identify potential genes that are related to plant reproduction sensu lato

Background: St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a medicinal plant that produces important metabolites with antidepressant and anticancer activities. Recently gained biological information has shown that this species is also an attractive model system for the study of a naturally occurring form of asexual reproduction called apomixis, which allows cloning plants through seeds. In aposporic gametogenesis, one or multiple somatic cells belonging to the ovule nucellus change their fate by dividing mitotically and developing functionally unreduced embryo sacs by mimicking sexual gametogenesis. Although the introduction of apomixis into agronomically important crops could have revolutionary implications for plant breeding, the genetic control of this mechanism of seed formation is still not well understood for most of the model species investigated so far. We used Roche 454 technology to sequence the entire H. perforatum flower transcriptome of whole flower buds and single flower verticils collected from obligately sexual and unrelated highly or facultatively apomictic genotypes, which enabled us to identify RNAs that are likely exclusive to flower organs (i.e., sepals, petals, stamens and carpels) or reproductive strategies (i.e., sexual vs. apomictic). Results: Here we sequenced and annotated the flower transcriptome of H. perforatum with particular reference to reproductive organs and processes. In particular, in our study we characterized approximately 37,000 transcripts found expressed in male and/or female reproductive organs, including tissues or cells of sexual and apomictic flower buds. Ontological annotation was applied to identify major biological processes and molecular functions involved in flower development and plant reproduction. Starting from this dataset, we were able to recover and annotate a large number of transcripts related to meiosis, gametophyte/gamete formation, and embryogenesis, as well as genes that are exclusively or preferentially expressed in sexual or apomictic libraries. Real-Time RT-qPCR assays on pistils and anthers collected at different developmental stages from accessions showing alternative modes of reproduction were used to identify potential genes that are related to plant reproduction sensu lato in H. perforatum. Conclusions: Our approach of sequencing flowers from two fully obligate sexual genotypes and two unrelated highly apomictic genotypes, in addition to different flower parts dissected from a facultatively apomictic accession, enabled us to analyze the complexity of the flower transcriptome according to its main reproductive organs as well as for alternative reproductive behaviors. Both annotation and expression data provided original results supporting the hypothesis that apomixis in H. perforatum relies upon spatial or temporal mis-expression of genes acting during female sexual reproduction. The present analyses aim to pave the way toward a better understanding of the molecular basis of flower development and plant reproduction, by identifying genes or RNAs that may differentiate or regulate the sexual and apomictic reproductive pathways in H. perforatum

POOR METAPHORS: HOW LANGUAGE MAKES, AND HOW ANALYZING POPULAR STEREOTYPES CAN CHALLENGE, SOCIAL ATTITUDES THAT QUESTION THE VALUE OF THE ECONOMICALLY OPPRESSED IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

This rhetorical project analyzes the historical and contemporary prevalence of some of the popular metaphors that have come to characterize recipients of government assistance programs such as food stamps, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. By synthesizing the metaphor theory of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson with the sociological concepts of doxa, habitus, and heretical discourse posited by Pierre Bourdieu, this project not only spotlights these negative metaphors but also offers ways of disrupting their tacit influence over people’s perceptions, which otherwise are in danger of reproducing themselves. The metaphors discussed seek to reduce the poor on government assistance to the level of parasites, animals, and sinner criminals. In the American political landscape of the latter half of the twentieth century and into the early twenty-first century, these rhetorical attacks have become more frequent, and a good reason for this increase in frequency has to do with an anthropological theoretical framework known as the “culture of poverty,” which many agree was an institutionalized effort to blame the victims of poverty for their own oppression. However, despite the overall failure of the War on Poverty to lift all Americans into prosperity, some of the ideas that flourished during the late 1960s were acts of heretical discourse and can be adapted to help those on government assistance today challenge the assumptions that the wider society holds regarding the poor. Heretical discourse can be an effective way of enhancing democratic engagement in a given population, with the ultimate aim of challenging stereotypes by questioning the metaphors that undergird them

Pistil transcriptome analysis to disclose genes and gene products related to aposporous apomixis in Hypericum perforatum L.

Unlike sexual reproduction, apomixis encompasses a number of reproductive strategies,which permit maternal genome inheritance without genetic recombination and syngamy. The key biological features of apomixis are the circumvention of meiosis (i.e., apomeiosis),the differentiation of unreduced embryo sacs and egg cells, and their autonomous development in functional embryos through parthenogenesis, and the formation of viable endosperm either via fertilization-independent means or following fertilization with a sperm cell. Despite the importance of apomixis for breeding of crop plants and although much research has been conducted to study this process, the genetic control of apomixis is still not well understood. Hypericum perforatum is becoming an attractive model system for the study of aposporous apomixis. Here we report results from a global gene expression analysis of H. perforatum pistils collected from sexual and aposporous plant accessions for the purpose of identifying genes, biological processes and molecular functions associated with the aposporous apomixis pathway. Across two developmental stages corresponding to the expression of aposporous apomeiosis and parthenogenesis in ovules, a total of 224 and 973 unigenes were found to be significantly up- and down-regulated with a fold change >= 2 in at least one comparison, respectively.Differentially expressed genes were enriched for multiple gene ontology (GO) terms,including cell cycle, DNA metabolic process, and single-organism cellular process. For molecular functions, the highest scores were recorded for GO terms associated withDNA binding, DNA (cytosine-5-)-methyltransferase activity and heterocyclic compound binding. As deregulation of single components of the sexual developmental pathway is believed to be a trigger of the apomictic reproductive program, all genes involved in sporogenesis, gametogenesis and response to hormonal stimuli were analyzed in great detail. Overall, our data suggest that phenotypic expression of apospory is concomitant with the modulation of key genes involved in the sexual reproductive pathway. Furthermore, based on gene annotation and co-expression, we underline a putative role of hormones and key actors playing in the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway in regulating the developmental changes occurring during aposporous apomixis in H. perforatum

Результати використання інтегрованої програми фізичної реабілітації спортсменів після ушкоджень гомілково-ступневого суглоба

Мета роботи – покращення результатів фізичної реабілітації спортсменів-футболістів із внутрішньо- суглобовими пошкодженнями гомілково-ступневого суглоба на амбулаторному етапі за допомогою оптимізації та підвищення ефективності комплексного застосування реабілітаційних заходів, які інтегровано в тренувальний процес. Результати роботи. В основу роботи покладено результати спостереження за 36 спортсменами 18– 24 років, котрі займаються футболом й отримали внутрішньосуглобові пошкодження гомілково-ступневого суглоба та перебувають на амбулаторному етапі лікування. Дослідження проводили в клініці Медичного центру «MirMajidErslan» м. Бейрут (Ліван) на базі кабінету фізичної терапії. Травмовані спортсмени контрольної групи отримали комплекс реабілітаційних заходів за традиційною програмою фізичної реабілітації, прийнятою в цій клініці. Постраждалим основної групи запропоновано комплекс реабілітаційних заходів згідно з розробленою нами програмою, що включав використання інтегрованої в тренувальний процес лікувальної гімнастики й процедур модифікованої етнічної арабської лазні та послідовне застосування процедур з елементами етнічного арабського масажу. Методи дослідження. Для оцінки ефективності заходів фізичної реабілітації травмованих спортсменів використано 100-бальную шкалу оцінки результатів лікування NEER (Neer-Grantham-Shelton (1967) у модифікації D. Cherkes-Zade, М. Monesi, A. Causero, M. Marcolini (2003)). Для вивчення динаміки зміни якості життя травмованих спортсменів та рівня професійної реабілітації застосовано медико-соціологічні методики, а саме: візуальну аналогову шкалу (VisualAnalogScale, VAS) й анкету EuroQol-5D. Висновки. Аналіз результатів проведеної фізичної реабілітації засвідчив, що за позитивної динаміки змін функціонального стану постраждалих обох клінічних груп більш виражені та достовірно кращі результати отримано в постраждалих основної групи, яким проведено фізичну реабілітацію згідно із запропонованою нами програмою

De novo sequencing of the Hypericum perforatum L. flower transcriptome to identify potential genes that are related to plant reproduction sensu lato

BACKGROUND: St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a medicinal plant that produces important metabolites with antidepressant and anticancer activities. Recently gained biological information has shown that this species is also an attractive model system for the study of a naturally occurring form of asexual reproduction called apomixis, which allows cloning plants through seeds. In aposporic gametogenesis, one or multiple somatic cells belonging to the ovule nucellus change their fate by dividing mitotically and developing functionally unreduced embryo sacs by mimicking sexual gametogenesis. Although the introduction of apomixis into agronomically important crops could have revolutionary implications for plant breeding, the genetic control of this mechanism of seed formation is still not well understood for most of the model species investigated so far. We used Roche 454 technology to sequence the entire H. perforatum flower transcriptome of whole flower buds and single flower verticils collected from obligately sexual and unrelated highly or facultatively apomictic genotypes, which enabled us to identify RNAs that are likely exclusive to flower organs (i.e., sepals, petals, stamens and carpels) or reproductive strategies (i.e., sexual vs. apomictic). RESULTS: Here we sequenced and annotated the flower transcriptome of H. perforatum with particular reference to reproductive organs and processes. In particular, in our study we characterized approximately 37,000 transcripts found expressed in male and/or female reproductive organs, including tissues or cells of sexual and apomictic flower buds. Ontological annotation was applied to identify major biological processes and molecular functions involved in flower development and plant reproduction. Starting from this dataset, we were able to recover and annotate a large number of transcripts related to meiosis, gametophyte/gamete formation, and embryogenesis, as well as genes that are exclusively or preferentially expressed in sexual or apomictic libraries. Real-Time RT-qPCR assays on pistils and anthers collected at different developmental stages from accessions showing alternative modes of reproduction were used to identify potential genes that are related to plant reproduction sensu lato in H. perforatum. CONCLUSIONS: Our approach of sequencing flowers from two fully obligate sexual genotypes and two unrelated highly apomictic genotypes, in addition to different flower parts dissected from a facultatively apomictic accession, enabled us to analyze the complexity of the flower transcriptome according to its main reproductive organs as well as for alternative reproductive behaviors. Both annotation and expression data provided original results supporting the hypothesis that apomixis in H. perforatum relies upon spatial or temporal mis-expression of genes acting during female sexual reproduction. The present analyses aim to pave the way toward a better understanding of the molecular basis of flower development and plant reproduction, by identifying genes or RNAs that may differentiate or regulate the sexual and apomictic reproductive pathways in H. perforatum. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1439-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Overview of the potential of microRNAs and their target gene detection for cassava (Manihot esculenta) improvement

Production and utilization of cassava (Manihot esculenta) is significantly constrained by pests, diseases, poor yields and low nutritional content. Various approaches are currently being applied to mitigate these constraints. However, an aspect of plant developmental genetics little known in cassava is the role that microRNAs (miRNAs) play in gene regulation. miRNAs are 20 - 24 nucleotide long nonprotein-coding RNAs that play important roles in post-transcriptional gene silencing in many organisms. Thorough understanding of the mechanisms involved in miRNAs mediated posttranscriptional gene regulation will have implications for crop production improvement. The potential of miRNAs for cassava improvement and also some data obtained on cassava miRNAs using comparative genomics analysis have been briefly discussed. 17 miRNA families and target genes in cassava that are also conserved in other plant species have been revealed. However, the ESTs representing seven of these miRNA families produced foldbacks that show more than 3 nucleotides not involved in canonical base pairing within a loop or bulge in the mature miRNA: RNA* dimer, thus were not considered miRNA secondary structures. Consistent with previous reports, majority of the target genes identified are transcription factors. Other targets appear to play roles in diverse physiological processes. Furthermore, a detailed description and insight into some of the current bioinformatic resources and approaches applicable to cassava have been discussed. Such information will further enhance the rapid discovery and analysis of more novel miRNAs in cassava towards its improvement.Keywords: Cassava, microRNAs, target genes, improvement, characterizatio

Secondary Educator Experiences Managing Digital Resources

Secondary teachers use digital resources for teaching, yet little is known about how they find, evaluate, organize, and share these resources. This basic qualitative study was conducted to fill the gap and examine the experiences and practices of secondary educators in curating digital resources. Findings on how teachers manage digital information, strategies used, and necessary supports may aid in creating targeted professional development (PD) for teaching in face to face and blended environments. A conceptual framework based on Mishra\u27s and Kohler’s technological pedagogical content knowledge theory and Siemens’ connectivism guided the research and informed the data analysis. The experiences of secondary educators when finding, evaluating, and using digital resources in the classroom, as well as the strategies used, and supports needed were investigated. Purposeful sample size of 15 educators currently teaching for at least 1 year participated in semistructured interviews. Data analysis involved the use of a priori codes from the framework categories. Teachers need collaboration time. Quality digital resources are critical to successful teaching and learning in blended and virtual environments and can lead to engaging and effective lessons when used correctly. PD on organization and curation is needed and beneficial. This study contributes to positive social change by informing future development of PD focused on digital resource management, curation strategies, and better ways of using and sharing resources with students. Better curation strategies and sharing could lead to quality digital resource repositories designed to meet blended learning needs in situations such as the recent Covid-19 crisis. These resources could be used to provide engaging content to students in a variety of learning situations who might not otherwise have access