A reality check: Taking authentic e-learning from design to implemntation

Tampere University of Applied Sciences has developed a postgraduate certificate program for teaching in higher education that is currently being implemented at Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates. In the design of the program, the principles of authentic e-learning (Herrington, Reeves, & Oliver 2010) have been used as a guideline. This paper examines how the design principles have been transferred into practice and how the elements of authentic learning have been realized from the student perspective. The experiences of the students have been mapped in a survey conducted after the first semester of the program. The data was analyzed with the help of the authentic e-learning framework in order to identify the challenges and successes regarding the implementation of the elements of authentic e-learning and thus draw guidelines for future development

IMPLIKASI PERALIHAN KEWENANGAN PENYELESAIAN SENGKETA HASIL PEMILIHAN KEPALA DAERAH DARI MAHKAMAH KONSTITUSI REPUBLIK INDONESIAKEPADA MAHKAMAH AGUNG REPUBLIK INDONESIA

Abstrak Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah Untuk mengkaji dan mendeskripsikan secara lebih mendalam tentang pertimbangan yuridis kewenangan penyelesaian sengketa Hasil Pemilihan Kepala Daerah oleh Mahkamah Agung.Untuk mengkaji dan mendeskripsikan secara lebih mendalam tentang implikasi dari peralihan kewenangan penyelesaian sengketa hasil Kepala Daerah dari Mahkamah Konstitusi kepada Mahkamah Agung. Jenis penelitian pada tesis ini, digunakan jenis penelitian yuridis normatif. Penelitian yuridis normatif adalah penelitian yang menguraikan permasalah-permasalahan yang ada, untuk selanjutnya dibahas dengan kajian yang berdasarkan teori–teori hukum kemudian dikaitkan dengan peraturan perundang–undangan yang berlaku dalam praktek hokum. Beralihnya kewenanganan penyelesaian sengketa hasil pilkada dari MK ke MA telah menjamin kepastian hukum dalam pelaksanaan demokrasi di Indonesia. Hal ini terbukti setelah sengketa pilkada ditangani MA, penyelesaiannya relatif berjalan dengan baik dengan menghasilkan putusan- putusan yang memuaskan para pihak yang bersengketa. Proses penyelesaian sengketa hasil pemilu di MA memiliki prosedur yang lebih ketat dan rinci sehingga meminimalisasi prosedur pengambilan keputusan yang bias terhadap salah satu pihak. Hal ini menandakan MA merupakan lembaga peradilan yang dipercaya dalam menegakkan hukum.Kata Kunci: Peralihan Kewenangan Penyelesaian, Sengketa Hasil Pemilihan    Kepala Daera

Circulating resistin levels and risk of multiple myeloma in three prospective cohorts

BACKGROUND: Resistin is a polypeptide hormone secreted by adipose tissue. A prior hospital-based case-control study reported serum resistin levels to be inversely associated with risk of multiple myeloma (MM). To date, this association has not been investigated prospectively. METHODS: We measured resistin concentrations for pre-diagnosis peripheral blood samples from 178 MM cases and 358 individually matched controls from three cohorts participating in the MM cohort consortium. RESULTS: In overall analyses, higher resistin levels were weakly associated with reduced MM risk. For men, we observed a statistically significant inverse association between resistin levels and MM (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.24-0.83 and 0.54; 95% CI 0.29-0.99, for the third and fourth quartiles, respectively, vs the lowest quartile; Ptrend=0.03). No association was observed for women. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first prospective evidence that low circulating resistin levels may be associated with an increased risk of MM, particularly for men

Improved Imputation of Common and Uncommon Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) with a New Reference Set

Statistical imputation of genotype data is an important technique for analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We have built a reference dataset to improve imputation accuracy for studies of individuals of primarily European descent using genotype data from the Hap1, Omni1, and Omni2.5 human SNP arrays (Illumina). Our dataset contains 2.5-3.1 million variants for 930 European, 157 Asian, and 162 African/African-American individuals. Imputation accuracy of European data from Hap660 or OmniExpress array content, measured by the proportion of variants imputed with R^2^>0.8, improved by 34%, 23% and 12% for variants with MAF of 3%, 5% and 10%, respectively, compared to imputation using publicly available data from 1,000 Genomes and International HapMap projects. The improved accuracy with the use of the new dataset could increase the power for GWAS by as much as 8% relative to genotyping all variants. This reference dataset is available to the scientific community through the NCBI dbGaP portal. Future versions will include additional genotype data as well as non-European populations

Gyrocardiography: A New Non-invasive Monitoring Method for the Assessment of Cardiac Mechanics and the Estimation of Hemodynamic Variables

Gyrocardiography (GCG) is a new non-invasive technique for assessing heart motions by using a sensor of angular motion - gyroscope - attached to the skin of the chest. In this study, we conducted simultaneous recordings of electrocardiography (ECG), GCG, and echocardiography in a group of subjects consisting of nine healthy volunteer men. Annotation of underlying fiducial points in GCG is presented and compared to opening and closing points of heart valves measured by a pulse wave Doppler. Comparison between GCG and synchronized tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) data shows that the GCG signal is also capable of providing temporal information on the systolic and early diastolic peak velocities of the myocardium. Furthermore, time intervals from the ECG Q-wave to the maximum of the integrated GCG (angular displacement) signal and maximal myocardial strain curves obtained by 3D speckle tracking are correlated. We see GCG as a promising mechanical cardiac monitoring tool that enables quantification of beat-by-beat dynamics of systolic time intervals (STI) related to hemodynamic variables and myocardial contractility

Accuracy of echocardiographic area-length method in chronic myocardial infarction: comparison with cardiac CT in pigs

Background: We evaluated echocardiographic area-length methods to measure left ventricle (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) in parasternal short axis views in comparison with cardiac computed tomography (CT) in pigs with chronic myocardial infarction (MI).Methods: Male farm pigs with surgical occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (n = 9) or sham operation (n = 5) had transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac-CT 3 months after surgery. We measured length of the LV in parasternal long axis view, and both systolic and diastolic LV areas in parasternal short axis views at the level of mitral valve, papillary muscles and apex. Volumes and EF of the LV were calculated using Simpson's method of discs (tri-plane area) or Cylinder-hemiellipsoid method (single plane area).Results: The pigs with coronary occlusion had anterior MI scars and reduced EF (average EF 42 +/- 10%) by CT. Measurements of LV volumes and EF were reproducible by echocardiography. Compared with CT, end-diastolic volume (EDV) measured by echocardiography showed good correlation and agreement using either Simpson's method (r = 0.90; mean difference -2, 95% CI -47 to 43 mL) or Cylinder-hemiellipsoid method (r = 0.94; mean difference 3, 95% CI -44 to 49 mL). Furthermore, End-systolic volume (ESV) measured by echocardiography showed also good correlation and agreement using either Simpson's method (r = 0.94; mean difference 12 ml, 95% CI: -16 to 40) or Cylinder-hemiellipsoid method (r = 0.97; mean difference: 13 ml, 95% CI: -8 to 33). EF was underestimated using either Simpson's method (r = 0.78; mean difference -6, 95% CI -11 to 1%) or Cylinder-hemiellipsoid method (r = 0.74; mean difference -4, 95% CI-10 to 2%).Conclusion: Our results indicate that measurement of LV volumes may be accurate, but EF is underestimated using either three or single parasternal short axis planes by echocardiography in a large animal model of chronic MI

Surveillance of Sentinel Node-Positive Melanoma Patients with Reasons for Exclusion from MSLT-II:Multi-Institutional Propensity Score Matched Analysis

BACKGROUND: In sentinel lymph node (SLN)-positive melanoma, two randomized trials demonstrated equivalent melanoma-specific survival with nodal surveillance vs completion lymph node dissection (CLND). Patients with microsatellites, extranodal extension (ENE) in the SLN, or >3 positive SLNs constitute a high-risk group largely excluded from the randomized trials, for whom appropriate management remains unknown. STUDY DESIGN: SLN-positive patients with any of the three high-risk features were identified from an international cohort. CLND patients were matched 1:1 with surveillance patients using propensity scores. Risk of any-site recurrence, SLN-basin-only recurrence, and melanoma-specific mortality were compared. RESULTS: Among 1,154 SLN-positive patients, 166 had ENE, microsatellites, and/or >3 positive SLN. At 18.5 months median follow-up, 49% had recurrence (vs 26% in patients without high-risk features, p 3 positive SLN constitute a high-risk group with a 2-fold greater recurrence risk. For those managed with nodal surveillance, SLN-basin recurrences were more frequent, but all-site recurrence and melanoma-specific mortality were comparable to patients treated with CLND. Most recurrences were outside the SLN-basin, supporting use of nodal surveillance for SLN-positive patients with microsatellites, ENE, and/ or >3 positive SLN

Active surveillance of patients who have sentinel node positive melanoma:An international, multi-institution evaluation of adoption and early outcomes after the Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy trial II (MSLT-2)

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/168248/1/cncr33483.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/168248/2/cncr33483_am.pd