Co-teaching a Grand Challenge Course: Using Digital Media and Collaborative Teaching Strategies for Effective Online Learning and Transliteracy Skills

The presentation illustrates the partnership between an education librarian, a School of Education faculty member, and a graduate student in the School of Library and Information Science, and their use of multiple media platforms for teaching a web-enhanced Grand Challenge course about social justice issues in education. As a first-year course, Grand Challenge is designed for students to discuss and find creative solutions to global issues while addressing general education learning outcomes such as examining human differences and developing effective writing and information literacy skills. The presentation provides an example of an innovative teaching partnership based on the backward design of instruction method and experiments with the use of the Digital Information Fluency (DIF) model for teaching transliteracy. In addition, the presentation addresses the use of Writing Across the Curriculum principles, including the use of peer review and assistive technologies such as Inspiration to address writing challenges. Best practices for the use of digital technology, to include Sakai features such as Forums, Blogger, Glossary, and the Discussion Board for collaborative teaching and learning, and ScreenR for tutorial creation are discussed. The conclusion of the presentation provides a description of assessment and evaluation tools that were used and data analysis of student learning outcomes that will inform future teaching and collaboration

Anabolic steroids after total knee arthroplasty. A double blinded prospective pilot study

Background: Total knee arthroplasty is reported to improve the patient’s quality of life and mobility. However loss of mobility and pain prior to surgery often results in disuse atrophy of muscle. As a consequence the baseline functional state prior to surgery may result in poorer outcome “post surgery” and extended rehabilitation may be required. The use of anabolic steroids for performance enhancement and to influence muscle mass is well established. The positive effects of such treatment on bone and muscle could therefore be beneficial in the rehabilitation of elderly patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of small doses of Nandrolone decanoate on recovery and muscle strength after total knee replacement and to establish the safety of this drug in multimorbid patients. Methods: This study was designed as a prospective double blind randomized investigation. Five patients (treatment group) with a mean age of 66.2 (58-72), average BMI of 30.76 (24.3-35.3) received 50 mg nandrolone decanoate intramuscular bi-weekly for 6 months. The control group (five patients; mean age 65.2, range 59-72; average BMI 31.7, range 21.2-35.2) was injected with saline solution. “Pre-operatively” and “post-operatively” (6 weeks, 3,6,9 and 12 months) all patients were assessed using the knee society score (KSS), isokinetic strength testing and functional tests (a sit-to-stand and timed walking tests). In addition, a bone density scan was used preoperatively and 6 month postoperatively to assess bone mineral density. Results: Whilst the steroid group generally performed better than the placebo group for all of the functional tests, ANOVA failed to reveal any significant differences. The steroid group demonstrated higher levels of quadriceps muscle strength across the postoperative period which reached significance at 3 (p = 0.02), 6 (p = 0.01), and 12 months (p = 0.02). There was a significant difference for the KSS at 6 weeks (p = 0.02), 6 (p = 0.02) and 12 month (p = 0.01). The steroid group demonstrated a reduction in the amount of bone mineral density at both the femur and lumbar spine from “pre-” to “post-surgery”, however, these results did not reach significance (p < 0.05) using one-way ANOVA. Conclusions: This project strongly suggests that the use of anabolic steroids result in an improved outcome as assessed by the KSS and significantly increases extensor strength. No side effects were seen in either the study or control group. Trial Registration Number: Regional Health District: Register No. 03.05 Human Research Ethics Committee University: Clearance Number: 04/03-1

Parlamentswahlen in Belarus 2012: Wähler ohne Wahl - Wahl ohne Wähler

Am 23. September 2012 fanden in Belarus Parlamentswahlen statt. Die Wahlen, die Beobachter als die langweiligsten und düstersten der Lukaschenka-Zeit bezeichneten, offenbarten die tiefe Krise, in der sich sowohl das Regime als auch die belarussische Opposition befinden. Nachdem eine Woche vor dem Wahltag Teile der Opposition den Rückzug ihrer Kandidaten erklärten und zum Boykott der Wahlen aufriefen, beteiligten sich nur noch 313 Kandidaten an der Wahl um die 110 Sitze des weitgehend einflusslosen Repräsentantenhauses. Einheimische und internationale Wahlbeobachter belegen Verstöße gegen das belarussische Wahlgesetz sowie gegen internationale Verpflichtungen bei allen zentralen Etappen des Wahlprozesses - von der Zusammenstellung der Wahlkommissionen bis zur Stimmauszählung am Wahltag. Die Wahlbeteiligung, die offiziell mit 74,2% angegeben wird, dürfte nach Schätzungen von Wahlbeobachtern real um 10-15% niedriger gewesen sein. Geringe Wahlbeteiligung und soziologische Umfrageergebnisse lassen auf sinkendes Vertrauen der Bevölkerung in die Regierung und eine wachsende Isolation der illegitimen staatlichen Elite von der Gesellschaft schließen

Using Augmented Reality Toward Improving Social Skills:Scoping Review

BackgroundAugmented reality (AR) has emerged as a promising technology in educational settings owing to its engaging nature. However, apart from applications aimed at the autism spectrum disorder population, the potential of AR in social-emotional learning has received less attention. ObjectiveThis scoping review aims to map the range of AR applications that improve social skills and map the characteristics of such applications. MethodsIn total, 2 independent researchers screened 2748 records derived from 3 databases in December 2021—PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Guide to Computing Literature. In addition, the reference lists of all the included records and existing reviews were screened. Records that had developed a prototype with the main outcome of improving social skills were included in the scoping review. Included records were narratively described for their content regarding AR and social skills, their target populations, and their outcomes. Evaluation studies were assessed for methodological quality. ResultsA total of 17 records met the inclusion criteria for this study. Overall, 10 records describe applications for children with autism, primarily teaching about reading emotions in facial expressions; 7 records describe applications for a general population, targeting both children and adults, with a diverse range of outcome goals. The methodological quality of evaluation studies was found to be weak. ConclusionsMost applications are designed to be used alone, although AR is well suited to facilitating real-world interactions during a digital experience, including interactions with other people. Therefore, future AR applications could endorse social skills in a general population in more complex group settings

Metagenomics meets Electrochemistry: utilizing the huge catalytic potential from the uncultured microbial majority for energy-storage

Hydrogen can in the future serve as an advantageous carrier of renewable energy if its production via water electrolysis and utilization in fuel cells are realized with high energy efficiency and non-precious electrocatalysts. In an unprecedented novel combination of structured electrodes with hydrogen converting enzymes from the uncultured and thus largely inaccessible microbial majority (>99 %) we address this challenge. The geometrically defined electrodes with large specific surface area allow for low overpotentials and high energy efficiencies to be achieved. Enzymatic hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts are used as alternatives to noble metals. The enzymes are harnessed from the environmental microbial DNA (metagenomes) of hydrothermal vents exhibiting dynamic hydrogen and oxygen concentrations and are recovered via a recently developed novel activity-based screening tool. The screen enables us to target currently unrecognized hydrogenase enzymes from metagenomes via direct expression in a surrogate host microorganism. This circumvents the need for cultivation of the source organisms, the primary bottleneck when harnessing enzymes from microbes. One hydrogen converting metagenome-derived enzyme exhibited high activity and unusually high stability when dispersed on a TiO2-coated polyacrylonitrile fiber electrode. Our results highlight the tremendous potential of enzymes derived from uncultured microorganisms for applications in energy conversion and storage technologies

A Polyclonal Immune Function Assay Allows Dose-Dependent Characterization of Immunosuppressive Drug Effects but Has Limited Clinical Utility for Predicting Infection on an Individual Basis

Dosage of immunosuppressive drugs after transplantation critically determines rejection and infection episodes. In this study, a global immune function assay was characterized among controls, dialysis-patients, and transplant-recipients to evaluate its utility for pharmacodynamic monitoring of immunosuppressive drugs and for predicting infections. Whole-blood samples were stimulated with anti-CD3/toll-like-receptor (TLR7/8)-agonist in the presence or absence of drugs and IFN-γ secretion was measured by ELISA. Additional stimulation-induced cytokines were characterized among T-, B-, and NK-cells using flow-cytometry. Cytokine-secretion was dominated by IFN-γ, and mainly observed in CD4, CD8, and NK-cells. Intra-assay variability was low (CV = 10.4 ± 6.2%), whereas variability over time was high, even in the absence of clinical events (CV = 65.0 ± 35.7%). Cyclosporine A, tacrolimus and steroids dose-dependently inhibited IFN-γ secretion, and reactivity was further reduced when calcineurin inhibitors were combined with steroids. Moreover, IFN-γ levels significantly differed between controls, dialysis-patients, and transplant-recipients, with lowest IFN-γ levels early after transplantation (p < 0.001). However, a single test had limited ability to predict infectious episodes. In conclusion, the assay may have potential for basic pharmacodynamic characterization of immunosuppressive drugs and their combinations, and for assessing loss of global immunocompetence after transplantation, but its application to guide drug-dosing and to predict infectious on an individual basis is limited

Primary and Secondary Rewards Differentially Modulate Neural Activity Dynamics during Working Memory

Background: Cognitive control and working memory processes have been found to be influenced by changes in motivational state. Nevertheless, the impact of different motivational variables on behavior and brain activity remains unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings: The current study examined the impact of incentive category by varying on a withinsubjects basis whether performance during a working memory task was reinforced with either secondary (monetary) or primary (liquid) rewards. The temporal dynamics of motivation-cognition interactions were investigated by employing an experimental design that enabled isolation of sustained and transient effects. Performance was dramatically and equivalently enhanced in each incentive condition, whereas neural activity dynamics differed between incentive categories. The monetary reward condition was associated with a tonic activation increase in primarily right-lateralized cognitive control regions including anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsolateral PFC, and parietal cortex. In the liquid condition, the identical regions instead showed a shift in transient activation from a reactive control pattern (primary probe-based activation) during no-incentive trials to proactive control (primary cue-based activation) during rewarded trials. Additionally, liquid-specific tonic activation increases were found in subcortical regions (amygdala, dorsal striatum, nucleus accumbens), indicating an anatomical double dissociation in the locus of sustained activation

A comprehensive evaluation of the activity and selectivity profile of ligands for RGD-binding integrins

Integrins, a diverse class of heterodimeric cell surface receptors, are key regulators of cell structure and behaviour, affecting cell morphology, proliferation, survival and differentiation. Consequently, mutations in specific integrins, or their deregulated expression, are associated with a variety of diseases. In the last decades, many integrin-specific ligands have been developed and used for modulation of integrin function in medical as well as biophysical studies. The IC50-values reported for these ligands strongly vary and are measured using different cell-based and cell-free systems. A systematic comparison of these values is of high importance for selecting the optimal ligands for given applications. In this study, we evaluate a wide range of ligands for their binding affinity towards the RGD-binding integrins avß3, avß5, avß6, avß8, a5ß1, aIIbß3, using homogenous ELISA-like solid phase binding assay.Postprint (published version