Project i-Spy : A project to support the development of student information skills (i-skills)

This project aimed to make a step change in the university's support for student development of information skills (i-skills) after significant i-skills challenges for students had been identified in the university’s digital study environment. A coherent framework to support the development of student i-skills was identified and implemented, incorporating specified learning outcomes and support for different skills levels. The framework is populated with i-skills tutorials in 'bite-size chunks' for students to use in conjunction with timetabled skills sessions and their academic programmes, and also to support independent study. Ease of use is of great importance. The project outcomes were achieved through a successful partnership between LIS Consultants and external experts, selected through a formal tender process in December 2005. Project i-Spy was funded by a university learning and teaching development fund award 2005/6.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Keynote Address - Promising Practices in Undergraduate Science Education: Why Don’t We Implement Them?

Improving undergraduate science education for all students is a national imperative in the US, called out in many recent reports, including the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s (PCAST) Engage to Excel. Globally, we face profound challenges to provide adequate resources to a growing human population in the face of climate change, pollution, and loss of biodiversity that can be addressed, in part, by scientists, engineers, and a scientifically literate society. Undergraduate science education serves a range of purposes from providing foundational knowledge for all students, to preparing the future teachers, to preparing a STEM workforce. A shortage of STEM workers is predicted in the coming decade and improving retention of undergraduate STEM majors through improved STEM education in the first two years of university is a solution called out in the PCAST report. The National Research Council’s Discipline-based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering report provides the evidence base for effective teaching practices in undergraduate programs. This presentation will explore what is known about improving students’ problem solving skills and conceptual understanding in science through more effective teaching and then unpack the challenges to widespread uptake of these practices

The Begetting of Information Literacy Tutorials: Third-Wave Tutorials for the iPod Generation

Two southern Indiana instruction librarians will share their collaborative efforts to incorporate some of the latest technologies in the creation of online tutorials for their users. The tools and technologies to be discussed will range from free to expensive, low tech to high tech, and easy-to-use to relatively complex. The first part of the presentation will include a brief discussion of Camtasia and Flash, but focus primarily on Macromedia\u27s Breeze Presenter software, which works in conjunction with Microsoft PowerPoint. The content and design of Pennsylvania State University\u27s tutorial, The Information Cycle, will be used to measure the success of employing the more user-friendly Breeze software in place of Macromedia\u27s more sophisticated and expensive suite, including Flash, Fireworks and Dreamweaver. The second part of the presentation will trace the succeeding generations of online library instruction tutorials (TILT to Searchpath to inflite) and focus on how each tutorial has responded to evolving web standards, research on learning styles, and HTML editing shortcuts. The presenters will discuss issues of design, content, length, and interactivity, while highlighting accessibility, customization, assessment and usability issues. Librarians face a challenge in determining which technologies to learn and which technologies to disregard, because technology is a moving target that is constantly changing. After attending this session, you will be inspired by the tools and tutorials available to help non-techies (or tech-lites) reach students, wherever they are

From Observers to Participants: Joining the Scientific Community

In this essay, we have integrated the voices of our mentors and students to explore 45 years of undergraduate research experiences and their role in shaping our scientific community. In considering our collective experiences, we see undergraduate involvement in research as a rich source of community development, one that has both touched our lives and influenced our teaching

Nonequivalent effects of PKC activation by PMA on murine CD4 and CD8 cell‐surface expression

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154260/1/fsb2002012010.pd

In Vitro Evidence That Cytokine Receptor Signals Are Required for Differentiation of Double Positive Thymocytes into Functionally Mature CD8+ T Cells

CD4+8+ double positive (DP) thymocytes differentiate into CD4+ and CD8+ mature T cells in response to TCR signals. However, TCR signals that are initiated in DP thymocytes are unlikely to persist throughout all subsequent differentiation steps, suggesting that other signals must sustain thymocyte differentiation after TCR signaling has ceased. Using an in vitro experimental system, we now demonstrate that cytokine receptor signals, such as those transduced by IL-7 receptors, are required for differentiation of signaled DP thymocytes into functionally mature CD8+ T cells as they: (a) up-regulate Bcl-2 expression to maintain thymocyte viability; (b) enhance CD4 gene silencing; (c) promote functional maturation;and (d) up-regulate surface expression of glucose transporter molecules, which improve nutrient uptake and increase metabolic activity. IL-7Rs appear to be unique among cytokine receptors in maintaining the viability of newly generated CD4−8+ thymocytes, whereas several different cytokine receptors can provide the trophic/differentiative signals for subsequent CD8+ thymocyte differentiation and maturation. Thus, cytokine receptors provide both survival and trophic/differentiative signals with varying degrees of redundancy that are required for differentiation of signaled DP thymocytes into functionally mature CD8+ T cells

Lineage Commitment in the Thymus: Only the Most Differentiated (TCRhibcl-2hi) Subset of CD4+CD8+Thymocytes Has Selectively Terminated CD4 or CD8 Synthesis

Lineage commitment is a developmental process by which individual CD4+CD8+ (double positive, DP) thymocytes make a decision to differentiate into either CD4+ or CD8+ T cells. However, the molecular event(s) that defines lineage commitment is controversial. We have previously proposed that lineage commitment in DP thymocytes can be molecularly defined as the selective termination of CD4 or CD8 coreceptor synthesis. The present study supports such a molecular definition by showing that termination of either CD4 or CD8 synthesis is a highly regulated event that is only evident within the most differentiated DP subset (CD5hiCD69hiTCRhibcl-2hi). In fact, essentially all cells within this DP subset actively synthesize only one coreceptor molecule. In addition, the present results identify three distinct subpopulations of DP thymocytes that define the developmental progression of the lineage commitment process and demonstrate that lineage commitment is coincident with upregulation of TCR and bcl-2. Thus, this study supports a molecular definition of lineage commitment and uniquely identifies TCRhibcl-2hi DP thymocytes as cells that are already committed to either the CD4 or CD8 T cell lineage

Can a "good death" be made better?: A preliminary evaluation of a patient-centred quality improvement strategy for severely ill in-patients

BACKGROUND: Prior studies attempting to improve end-of-life care have focused on specific outcomes deemed important to healthcare providers, with disappointing results. Improvement may be best achieved by identifying concerns important to individual patients, communicating the patients' concerns to the treating medical team, and repeating the process frequently until all concerns are addressed. Our objective was to conduct a preliminary evaluation of this innovative patient-centred quality improvement strategy. METHODS: Initial interviews elicited participants' ideas for improvement, which were then fed back to health care providers by the study investigator. A rapid-cycle change model ensured frequent reassessment and continued feedback. The study involved 36 seriously ill, hospitalized patients on teaching general medical inpatient units of a tertiary care hospital. The main outcome measure was participants' ratings of satisfaction within different domains of care on follow-up interviews. RESULTS: The proportion of participants who rated various aspects of their care as "excellent" or "very good" on initial interview was 72% for overall care, 64% for symptom control, 66% for level of support, and 75% for discussions about life sustaining treatments. Patients and families identified many actionable steps for improvement such as; better control of pain and shortness of breath, better access to physicians and medical information, more help with activities of daily living, improving the patient's environment, and shorter waits for nursing care, diagnosis, and treatment. Following feedback to the clinical team, participants reported improvement in overall care (32%), symptom control (44%), and support (40%). Only a minority had further discussions about life sustaining treatments. CONCLUSION: A patient-centred approach using rapid-cycle change was feasible and shows promise for improving the quality of end-of-life care. It should be evaluated on a larger sample in a controlled trial

Genetic diversity of Chamaecrista fasciculata (Fabaceae) from the USDA germplasm collection

Objective: Chamaecrista fasciculata is a widespread annual legume across Eastern North America, with potential as a restoration planting, biofuel crop, and genetic model for non-papillinoid legumes. As a non-Papilinoid, C. fasciculata, belongs to the Caesalpiniod group in which nodulation likely arose independently of the nodulation in Papilinoid and Mimosoid legumes. Thus, C. fasciculata is an attractive model system for legume evolution. In this study, we describe population structure and genetic diversity among 32 USDA germplasm accessions of C. fasciculata using 317 AFLP markers developed from 12 primer pairs, to assess where geographically there is the most genetic variation. Results: We found that the C. fasciculata germplasm collection fall into four clusters with admixture among them. After correcting for outliers, our analysis shows two primary groups across Eastern and Central North America. To better understand the population biology of this species, further sampling of the full range of this widespread species is needed across North America, as well as the development of a larger set of markers providing denser coverage of the genome. Further sampling will help clarify geographical relationships in this widespread temperate species