Evaluation of quality of life of students

© 2016, International Journal for Quality Research. Quality of life is a theme that is becoming more and more prominent. Every man can express his opinion about the quality of their life, which allows a realistic assessment of the quality of life of a particular population on the basis of subjective feelings of its members. Therefore, in this study through surveys and questionnaires with more than 80 questions from 11 subject areas is attempted to form a picture of the quality of life of the student population of the University of Montenegro (UM). The survey covered 14 units and 60 university students and the results of this survey have provided answers to some key questions by which the guidelines for raising the quality of life of students were obtained

Constructivist beliefs and teaching practices in different school environments

The goals of this paper are: a) to identify dominant teachers’ practices (teaching and co-operation with colleagues) as well as constructivist beliefs and b) to analyze the differences in the school environment where different groups of teachers work (more precisely, the school climate and feedback teachers receive in school). The secondary analysis (cluster analysis and ANOVA) of TALIS 2013 data enabled attaining the research goals. Four groups of teachers were identified with varying patterns of scores on three variables – constructivist beliefs (about teaching and learning), co-operation with colleagues, and teaching practices – through cluster analysis: one group with all three highly positive scores, one with all three highly negative scores, and two groups of teachers with moderately developed teaching practices but with varying beliefs and co-operation practices. All groups differ significantly in the extent to which teachers find the feedback they receive in schools important. Also, the majority of the groups significantly differ in teachers’ assessment of the school climate (that is based on respect and mutual trust). A trustful and supportive school climate and frequent feedback are the characteristics of the schools where the teachers work using structured, student-centered, and enhanced teaching practices and frequently cooperate with their colleagues. The results suggest that systematic practices of co-operation with other teachers and a system of receiving and giving feedback on various aspects of professional practices, in a supportive school climate, possibly strengthen effective teaching practices regardless of the teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning. From the policy perspective, strengthening the school climate that is based on mutual respect and support and developing a system of teacher feedback is considered as possible ways of teacher professional development for meaningful and effective teaching practices.peer-reviewe

Searching For Empirical Evidence Of Complex Hydrological Behavior In Urbanizing Basins

Urban living accounts for approximately 50% of the worldwide population and this percentage will continue to rise in the decades to come. Urbanizing landscapes and their associated processes represent key aspects of coupled natural and human systems. Additionally, they can influence and cause impacts on regional broad-scale basin hydrology, stream and riparian ecosystems, and water quality. For this research, it is hypothesized that streamflow and water quality time series data for urbanizing basins may exhibit signs of complexity such as long range correlations, state transitions, and chaotic dynamics. To explore this hypothesis, we will use tools from statistical physics and ecology such as multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis, critical slowing down, and chaos-based time series analysis. We will apply these tools to streamflow, rainfall, and water quality data for nearly 40 stream gauges located in the metropolitan areas of cities across the US. It is expected that this analysis will reveal signs of complex behavior different from that already observed in natural basins, as well as new and unique behavior. The results from this research could help support and provide empirical evidence for developing improved data-driven models

Integrated Modelling to Support Analysis of COVID-19 Impacts on London's Water System and In-river Water Quality

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens of the United Kingdom were required to stay at home for many months in 2020. In the weeks before and months following lockdown, including when it was not being enforced, citizens were advised to stay at home where possible. As a result, in a megacity such as London, where long-distance commuting is common, spatial and temporal changes to patterns of water demand are inevitable. This, in turn, may change where people's waste is treated and ultimately impact the in-river quality of effluent receiving waters. To assess large scale impacts, such as COVID-19, at the city scale, an integrated modelling approach that captures everything between households and rivers is needed. A framework to achieve this is presented in this study and used to explore changes in water use and the associated impacts on wastewater treatment and in-river quality as a result of government and societal responses to COVID-19. Our modelling results revealed significant changes to household water consumption under a range of impact scenarios, however, they only showed significant impacts on pollutant concentrations in household wastewater in central London. Pollutant concentrations in rivers simulated by the model were most sensitive in the tributaries of the River Thames, highlighting the vulnerability of smaller rivers and the important role that they play in diluting pollution. Modelled ammonia and phosphates were found to be the pollutants that rivers were most sensitive to because their main source in urban rivers is domestic wastewater that was significantly altered during the imposed mobility restrictions. A model evaluation showed that we can accurately validate individual model components (i.e., water demand generator) and emphasised need for continuous water quality measurements. Ultimatly, the work provides a basis for further developments of water systems integration approaches to project changes under never-before seen scenarios

Using quantitative single molecule localization microscopy to optimize multivalent HER2-targeting ligands

IntroductionThe progression-free survival of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer is significantly extended by a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, trastuzumab and pertuzumab, which target independent epitopes of the extracellular domain of HER2. The improved efficacy of the combination over individual antibody therapies targeting HER2 is still being investigated, and several molecular mechanisms may be in play: the combination downregulates HER2, improves antibody-dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity, and/or affects the organization of surface-expressed antigens, which may attenuate downstream signaling.MethodsBy combining protein engineering and quantitative single molecule localization microscopy (qSMLM), here we both assessed and optimized clustering of HER2 in cultured breast cancer cells.ResultsWe detected marked changes to the cellular membrane organization of HER2 when cells were treated with therapeutic antibodies. When we compared untreated samples to four treatment scenarios, we observed the following HER2 membrane features: (1) the monovalent Fab domain of trastuzumab did not significantly affect HER2 clustering; (2) individual therapy with either trastuzumab or (3) pertuzumab produced significantly higher levels of HER2 clustering; (4) a combination of trastuzumab plus pertuzumab produced the highest level of HER2 clustering. To further enhance this last effect, we created multivalent ligands using meditope technology. Treatment with a tetravalent meditope ligand combined with meditope-enabled trastuzumab resulted in pronounced HER2 clustering. Moreover, compared to pertuzumab plus trastuzumab, at early time points this meditope-based combination was more effective at inhibiting epidermal growth factor (EGF) dependent activation of several downstream protein kinases.DiscussionCollectively, mAbs and multivalent ligands can efficiently alter the organization and activation of the HER2 receptors. We expect this approach could be used in the future to develop new therapeutics