65 research outputs found

    A Case Study in ePortfolio Implementation: A Department-Wide Perspective

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    This case study documents the trials and tribulations over a 3-year span of one academic department in implementing the ePortfolio as a high-impact practice to its undergraduate students. Failures and successes will be introduced with the resulting lessons learned applied to our current efforts. Pivotal instances that allowed the project partners to gain clarity about the design and implementation of an ePortfolio will be expressed to better understand our journey. The root of our collaborative efforts was based on the product versus process conversation around ePortfolios. Once our mindset shifted, we were able to embrace a more student-centered process ePortfolio that is threaded throughout our curriculum and not sporadically addressed as an add-on assignment

    High rate of extrapair paternity in a human population demonstrates diversity in human reproductive strategies

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    Among nonhuman species, social monogamy is rarely accompanied by complete fidelity. Evolutionary theory predicts that the rate of extrapair paternity (EPP) should vary according to socioecological conditions. In humans, however, geneticists contend that EPP is negligible and relatively invariable. This conclusion is based on a limited set of studies, almost all of which describe European-descent groups. Using a novel, double-blind method designed in collaboration with a community of Himba pastoralists, we find that the rate of EPP in this population is 48%, with 70% of couples having at least one EPP child. Both men and women were very accurate at detecting cases of EPP. These data suggest that the range of variation in EPP across human populations is substantially greater than previously thought. We further show that a high rate of EPP can be accompanied by high paternity confidence, which highlights the importance of disaggregating EPP from the notion of “cuckoldry.

    Results of the 2016 Indianapolis Biodiversity Survey, Marion County, Indiana

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    Surprising biodiversity can be found in cities, but urban habitats are understudied. We report on a bioblitz conducted primarily within a 24-hr period on September 16 and 17, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The event focused on stretches of three waterways and their associated riparian habitat: Fall Creek (20.6 ha; 51 acres), Pleasant Run (23.5 ha; 58 acres), and Pogue’s Run (27.1 ha; 67 acres). Over 75 scientists, naturalists, students, and citizen volunteers comprised 14 different taxonomic teams. Five hundred ninety taxa were documented despite the rainy conditions. A brief summary of the methods and findings are presented here. Detailed maps of survey locations and inventory results are available on the Indiana Academy of Science website (https://www.indianaacademyofscience.org/)

    Re‐creating higher education pedagogy by making materiality and spatiality matter

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    This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record. DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: Research data not shared.This study marks a resting point within ongoing explorations of creativity, transdisciplinarity, materiality, and spatiality in Higher Education (HE) pedagogy. It interrogates how different materialities and spatialities shape learning to re‐create practices to better respond to societal challenges. This is situated within an imperative to move away from Western‐dominated approaches to pedagogy and research, where “Western” is characterized as onto‐epistemological rather than place‐based. The study draws on postqualitative enquiry into two creative, transdisciplinary HE courses, which entwined the arts, sciences, and entrepreneurship to facilitate responses to societal problems. Framed using posthumanizing creativity, the research aims to decenter the human and posit creativity as a dialogic, intra‐active process with the capacity to change education from within. A postqualitative approach works through three data diffractions. The first two involve glow moments used for collaging, cut through with theory. The third diffraction involves glow moments from which a short dance film was created. The study aims to stir readers/engagers to action their creativity as feeding forward into their own work in HE pedagogies, to consider how to move beyond the word, and the influences all of this can have on reimagining practices and changing structures.European Commissio

    Clinically Relevant Drug Interactions with Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors.

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    Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI) are a class of drugs that were originally developed for the treatment of depression but have since been expanded to be used in management of affective and neurological disorders, as well as stroke and aging-related neurocognitive changes. Ranging from irreversible to reversible and selective to non-selective, these drugs target the monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme and prevent the oxidative deamination of various monoamines and catecholamines such as serotonin and dopamine, respectively. Tyramine is a potent releaser of norepinephrine (NE) and is found in high concentrations in foods such as aged cheeses and meats. Under normal conditions, NE is unable to accumulate to toxic levels due to the presence of MAO-A, an enzyme that degrades neurotransmitters, including NE. When MAO-A is inhibited, the capacity to handle tyramine intake from the diet is significantly reduced causing the brain to be vulnerable to overstimulation of postsynaptic adrenergic receptors with as little as 8-10 mg of tyramine ingested and can result in life-threatening blood pressure elevations. In addition to adverse reactions with certain foods, both older and newer MAOIs can negatively interact with both sympathomimetic and serotonergic drugs. In general, patients on a MAOI want to avoid two types of medications: those that can elevate blood pressure via sympathomimetic actions (e.g., phenylephrine and oxymetazoline) and those that can increase serotonin levels via 5-HT reuptake inhibition (e.g., dextromethorphan, chlorpheniramine, and brompheniramine). Illicit drugs that stimulate the central nervous system such as ecstasy (MDMA, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) act as serotonin releasers. Patient involvement is also crucial to ensure any interaction within the healthcare setting includes making other providers aware of a MAOI prescription as well as avoiding certain OTC medications that can interact adversely with MAOIs

    In Vitro Susceptibility of Equine-Obtained Isolates of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis to Gallium Maltolate and 20 Other Antimicrobial Agents

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    This study's objective was to determine the in vitro antimicrobial activities of gallium maltolate (GaM) and 20 other antimicrobial agents against clinical equine isolates of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. The growth of cultured isolates was not inhibited by any concentration of GaM. MIC data revealed susceptibility to commonly used antimicrobials

    Fairy tale tourism: the architectural projection mapping of magically real and irreal festival lightscapes

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    This paper explores how established light festivals such as the Fête des Lumières in Lyon and Lumiere in Durham were first conceived by Robert-Houdin as illusory illuminations in the Loire in the 1950s. The research investigates the concept of spectacles as inversions of reality; re-situating light works within authenticity theory by exploring their manipulation of magical reality and irreality. The research uses the authors’ experience of event design to assess different interactions of light with the tri-dimensional architectural canvas, suggesting three classifications of animated projection mapping events: architecturally passive, architecturally physically active and architecturally metaphysically active. Each category has implications for how spectators perceive these installations. Architecturally passive events may use fairy tale content, evoking atavistic and affective responses, the ‘skinning’ of buildings with magical reality is designed to evoke perceptual duality, and the wobbling unfolding of irreality may ultimately create a state of ‘illuminated flow.

    Reproducibility of a peripheral quantitative computed tomography scan protocol to measure the material properties of the second metatarsal

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    Background: Peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) is an established technology that allows for the measurement of the material properties of bone. Alterations to bone architecture are associated with an increased risk of fracture. Further pQCT research is necessary to identify regions of interest that are prone to fracture risk in people with chronic diseases. The second metatarsal is a common site for the development of insufficiency fractures, and as such the aim of this study was to assess the reproducibility of a novel scanning protocol of the second metatarsal using pQCT. Methods. Eleven embalmed cadaveric leg specimens were scanned six times; three times with and without repositioning. Each foot was positioned on a custom-designed acrylic foot plate to permit unimpeded scans of the region of interest. Sixty-six scans were obtained at 15% (distal) and 50% (mid shaft) of the second metatarsal. Voxel size and scan speed were reduced to 0.40 mm and 25 mm.sec-1. The reference line was positioned at the most distal portion of the 2nd metatarsal. Repeated measurements of six key variables related to bone properties were subject to reproducibility testing. Data were log transformed and reproducibility of scans were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and coefficients of variation (CV%). Results: Reproducibility of the measurements without repositioning were estimated as: trabecular area (ICC 0.95; CV% 2.4), trabecular density (ICC 0.98; CV% 3.0), Strength Strain Index (SSI) - distal (ICC 0.99; CV% 5.6), cortical area (ICC 1.0; CV% 1.5), cortical density (ICC 0.99; CV% 0.1), SSI - mid shaft (ICC 1.0; CV% 2.4). Reproducibility of the measurements after repositioning were estimated as: trabecular area (ICC 0.96; CV% 2.4), trabecular density (ICC 0.98; CV% 2.8), SSI - distal (ICC 1.0; CV% 3.5), cortical area (ICC 0.99; CV%2.4), cortical density (ICC 0.98; CV% 0.8), SSI - mid shaft (ICC 0.99; CV% 3.2). Conclusions: The scanning protocol generated excellent reproducibility for key bone properties measured at the distal and mid-shaft regions of the 2 nd metatarsal. This protocol extends the capabilities of pQCT to evaluate bone quality in people who may be at an increased risk of metatarsal insufficiency fractures

    A short history of the 5-HT2C receptor: from the choroid plexus to depression, obesity and addiction treatment

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    This paper is a personal account on the discovery and characterization of the 5-HT2C receptor (first known as the 5- HT1C receptor) over 30 years ago and how it translated into a number of unsuspected features for a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and a diversity of clinical applications. The 5-HT2C receptor is one of the most intriguing members of the GPCR superfamily. Initially referred to as 5-HT1CR, the 5-HT2CR was discovered while studying the pharmacological features and the distribution of [3H]mesulergine-labelled sites, primarily in the brain using radioligand binding and slice autoradiography. Mesulergine (SDZ CU-085), was, at the time, best defined as a ligand with serotonergic and dopaminergic properties. Autoradiographic studies showed remarkably strong [3H]mesulergine-labelling to the rat choroid plexus. [3H]mesulergine-labelled sites had pharmacological properties different from, at the time, known or purported 5-HT receptors. In spite of similarities with 5-HT2 binding, the new binding site was called 5-HT1C because of its very high affinity for 5-HT itself. Within the following 10 years, the 5-HT1CR (later named 5- HT2C) was extensively characterised pharmacologically, anatomically and functionally: it was one of the first 5-HT receptors to be sequenced and cloned. The 5-HT2CR is a GPCR, with a very complex gene structure. It constitutes a rarity in theGPCR family: many 5-HT2CR variants exist, especially in humans, due to RNA editing, in addition to a few 5-HT2CR splice variants. Intense research led to therapeutically active 5-HT2C receptor ligands, both antagonists (or inverse agonists) and agonists: keeping in mind that a number of antidepressants and antipsychotics are 5- HT2CR antagonists/inverse agonists. Agomelatine, a 5-HT2CR antagonist is registered for the treatment of major depression. The agonist Lorcaserin is registered for the treatment of aspects of obesity and has further potential in addiction, especially nicotine/ smoking. There is good evidence that the 5-HT2CR is involved in spinal cord injury-induced spasms of the lower limbs, which can be treated with 5-HT2CR antagonists/inverse agonists such as cyproheptadine or SB206553. The 5-HT2CR may play a role in schizophrenia and epilepsy. Vabicaserin, a 5-HT2CR agonist has been in development for the treatment of schizophrenia and obesity, but was stopped. As is common, there is potential for further indications for 5-HT2CR ligands, as suggested by a number of preclinical and/or genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on depression, suicide, sexual dysfunction, addictions and obesity. The 5-HT2CR is clearly affected by a number of established antidepressants/antipsychotics and may be one of the culprits in antipsychotic-induced weight gain
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