Investigating the Relationship Between Student Engagement and Transition

Failure to establish meaningful and effective transition for undergraduates can lead to academic underachievement. Student engagement represents a key component of student success. This study sought to investigate the impact of a bespoke transition programme featuring a wide range of innovative, student-centred activities on enhancing students’ engagement with educationally effective practices through examining student relations with others, learning and the discipline. For the study 104 undergraduates on a Sport Development course at a British university undertook a five-week transition programme. Data were collected via weekly questionnaires and focus groups at the end of weeks 1, 3 and 5. The investigation revealed that transition programmes require a high-intensity, novel and varied timetable supported by a student-centred staff team. Effective transition programmes can enhance students’ engagement with educationally effective practices. Future research should investigate the longer-term impact of such programmes

Lunar surface engineering properties experiment definition. Volume 1: Mechanics, properties, and stabilization of lunar soils

Lunar soil simulation and stabilization, and impact penetrometer studie

Identification and Functional Characterization of Toxoneuron nigriceps Ovarian Proteins Involved in the Early Suppression of Host Immune Response

The endophagous parasitoid Toxoneuron nigriceps (Viereck) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) of the larval stages of the tobacco budworm Heliothis virescens (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) injects the egg, the venom, the calyx fluid, which includes a Polydnavirus (T. nigriceps BracoVirus: TnBV) and the Ovarian Proteins (OPs) into the host body during oviposition. The host metabolism and immune system are disrupted prematurely shortly after parasitization by the combined action of the TnBV, venom, and OPs. OPs are involved in the early suppression of host immune response, before TnBV infects and expresses its genes in the host tissues. In this work, we evaluated the effect of HPLC fractions deriving from in toto OPs. Two fractions caused a reduction in hemocyte viability and were subsequently tested to detect changes in hemocyte morphology and functionality. The two fractions provoked severe oxidative stress and actin cytoskeleton disruption, which might explain the high rate of hemocyte mortality, loss of hemocyte functioning, and hence the host\u2019s reduced hemocyte encapsulation ability. Moreover, through a transcriptome and proteomic approach we identify the proteins of the two fractions: eight proteins were identified that might be involved in the observed host hemocyte changes. Our findings will contribute to a better understanding of the secreted ovarian components and their role in parasitoid wasp strategy for evading host immune responses

Präparation funktionalisierter, mikrostrukturierter Hydrogele zum Nachweis von pH-Änderungen und enzymatischen Reaktionen mittels beugungsoptischer Methoden

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt die Präparation funktionalisierter, mikrostrukturierter Hydrogele zum Nachweis von pH-Änderungen und enzymatischen Reaktionen mittels beugungsoptischer Methoden. Hydrogele sind dreidimensionale elastische Polymernetzwerke, die überwiegend aus einer Flüssigkeit bestehen, die vom Polymernetzwerk umschlossen wird. Hydrogele sind umgebungssensitiv, d.h. sie reagieren mit einer Änderung ihres Quellungszustan-des, wenn sich die Umgebungsbedingungen verändern. Je nach ihrer Zusammensetzung reagieren Hydrogele auf die Änderung der Lösungsmittelzusammensetzung, der Tem-peratur, der Ionenstärke oder des pH-Werts. Das in dieser Arbeit eingesetzte pH-sensitive Hydrogele wurde durch den Einbau der Enzyme Glucoseoxidase und Katalase um eine Selektivität gegenüber Glucose erweitert. Die Funktionsweise des beugungsoptischen Sensors beruht auf der Wechselwirkung eines einfallenden Laserstrahls mit der im Mikrometermaßstab regelmäßig strukturi-erten Hydrogelmatrix. Durch die Beugung des Laserlichts an dem mikrostrukturierten Hydrogel entstehen mehrere Beugungsreflexe. Im Gegensatz zur Lage variieren die Intensitäten der einzelnen Beugungsordnungen, wenn die Hydrogelmatrix ihre Form ändert. Das Quellverhalten des pH-sensitiven Hydrogels wurde vor der Verwendung im Sensor an makroskopischen Gelproben in Abhängigkeit von der Ionenstärke und des pH-Werts untersucht. Mit dem beugungsoptischen Sensor und pH-sensitiven Hydrogel wurden Messungen mit unterschiedlich konzentrierten Natriumchlorid-Lösungen und Lösungen mit ver-schiedenen pH-Werten bei konstanter Ionenstärke durchgeführt. Mit dem enzymhalti-gen Hydrogel wurden Messungen mit unterschiedlich konzentrierten Glucoselösungen durchgeführt

KinImmerse: Macromolecular VR for NMR ensembles

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In molecular applications, virtual reality (VR) and immersive virtual environments have generally been used and valued for the visual and interactive experience – to enhance intuition and communicate excitement – rather than as part of the actual research process. In contrast, this work develops a software infrastructure for research use and illustrates such use on a specific case.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Syzygy open-source toolkit for VR software was used to write the KinImmerse program, which translates the molecular capabilities of the kinemage graphics format into software for display and manipulation in the DiVE (Duke immersive Virtual Environment) or other VR system. KinImmerse is supported by the flexible display construction and editing features in the KiNG kinemage viewer and it implements new forms of user interaction in the DiVE.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In addition to molecular visualizations and navigation, KinImmerse provides a set of research tools for manipulation, identification, co-centering of multiple models, free-form 3D annotation, and output of results. The molecular research test case analyzes the local neighborhood around an individual atom within an ensemble of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) models, enabling immersive visual comparison of the local conformation with the local NMR experimental data, including target curves for residual dipolar couplings (RDCs).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The promise of KinImmerse for production-level molecular research in the DiVE is shown by the locally co-centered RDC visualization developed there, which gave new insights now being pursued in wider data analysis.</p

A role for core planar polarity proteins in cell contact-mediated orientation of planar cell division across the mammalian embryonic skin

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2017. Supplementary information accompanies this paper at doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01971-2.The question of how cell division orientation is determined is fundamentally important for understanding tissue and organ shape in both healthy or disease conditions. Here we provide evidence for cell contact-dependent orientation of planar cell division in the mammalian embryonic skin. We propose a model where the core planar polarity proteins Celsr1 and Frizzled-6 (Fz6) communicate the long axis orientation of interphase basal cells to neighbouring basal mitoses so that they align their horizontal division plane along the same axis. The underlying mechanism requires a direct, cell surface, planar polarised cue, which we posit depends upon variant post-translational forms of Celsr1 protein coupled to Fz6. Our hypothesis has parallels with contact-mediated division orientation in early C. elegans embryos suggesting functional conservation between the adhesion-GPCRs Celsr1 and Latrophilin-1. We propose that linking planar cell division plane with interphase neighbour long axis geometry reinforces axial bias in skin spreading around the mouse embryo body.Peer reviewe

Placenta-Like Structure of the Aphid Endoparasitic Wasp Aphidius ervi: A Strategy of Optimal Resources Acquisition

Aphidius ervi (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an entomophagous parasitoid known to be an effective parasitoid of several aphid species of economic importance. A reduction of its production cost during mass rearing for inundative release is needed to improve its use in biological control of pests. In these contexts, a careful analysis of its entire development phases within its host is needed. This paper shows that this parasitoid has some characteristics in its embryological development rather complex and different from most other reported insects, which can be phylogenetically very close. First, its yolkless egg allows a high fecundity of the female but force them to hatch from the egg shell rapidly to the host hemocoel. An early cellularisation allowing a rapid differentiation of a serosa membrane seems to confirm this hypothesis. The serosa wraps the developing embryo until the first instar larva stage and invades the host tissues by microvilli projections and form a placenta like structure able to divert host resources and allowing nutrition and respiration of embryo. Such interspecific invasion, at the cellular level, recalls mammal's trophoblasts that anchors maternal uterine wall and underlines the high adaptation of A. ervi to develop in the host body

Localisation of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) components in breast

Angiotensin II has mitogenic and angiogenic effects and its receptors are widespread, particularly in epithelial tissue. Tissue renin angiotensin systems (tRASs) may be a local source of angiotensin II that has specific paracrine functions. To investigate the presence of a tRAS in normal human breast and tumours. Immunocytochemistry, and quantitative RT–PCR was used to establish: (i) the presence and localisation of RAS components, (ii) the possibility of their involvement in cancer. (1) mRNA coding for angiotensinogen, prorenin, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), and both AT1 and AT2 receptors was demonstrated in normal and diseased breast tissues. (2) (pro)renin was identified in epithelial cells in both normal and diseased tissue, but in invasive carcinoma, its distribution was mostly confined to fibroblasts or could not be detected at all. (3) Angiotensin converting enzyme was shown in epithelial cells in both normal and malignant tissue. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that a tRAS is present in the breast, and is disrupted in invasive cancer

Lifetime determination of excited states in Cd-106

Two separate experiments using the Differential Decay Curve Method have been performed to extract mean lifetimes of excited states in 106 Cd. The inedium-spin states of interest were populated by the Mo-98(C-12, 4n) Cd-106 reaction performed at the Wright Nuclear Structure Lab., Yale University. From this experiment, two isomeric state mean lifetimes have been deduced. The low-lying states were populated by the Mo-96(C-13, 3n)Cd-106 reaction performed at the Institut fur Kernphysik, Universitat zu Koln. The mean lifetime of the I-pi = 2(1)(+) state was deduced, tentatively, as 16.4(9) ps. This value differs from the previously accepted literature value from Coulomb excitation of 10.43(9) ps