Performance Evaluation and Promotion Criteria: Perceptions of Faculty Evaluation in Promotion Decisions

Performance evaluation and promotion of faculty can be difficult in higher education. The evaluation of faculty performance often creates confusion as the criteria for promotion are often poorly understood. Disagreements over effective, equitable performance evaluation tools and possible biases of how faculty may get promoted have been a concern in many institutions, possibly creating legal liabilities that underlines the need for designing promotion criteria that are effective and easily understood by administrators and faculty. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the perceptions of faculty promotion practices and processes used in higher education institutions in the Midwest region of the US to identify equitable and effective performance measuring tools and promotion criteria that could be used to evaluate faculty in higher education. The survey instrument included five main categories of faculty performance evaluation: (1) teaching effectiveness and instruction, (2) student advising, (3) research and scholarship, (4) professional development, and (5) service to the profession and community. The instrument was pilot tested with faculty at various state and private universities and colleges to identify the most important promotional criteria in faculty performance evaluation as perceived by faculty. Recommendations are made to assist administrators and supervisors at American higher educational institutions to evaluate and award faculty promotions more effectively and consistently in the future

Building Learning Communities Utilizing Team-Based Learning in an On-line Environment

Colleges and universities today are finding themselves under increasing pressure to change the practices of teaching. Rapid advancements in technology and demands of a knowledge-based society quickly change expectations and standards in higher education. Technology brings alternative ways to organizing and conveying information. The paradigm of predominantly linear process of learning is shifting to set new trends in online education with applications of differing teaching and learning styles. One of the challenges is to create dynamic learning communities that are learner-centered rather than teaching-centered. This paper discusses the importance of rubrics and components of team-based learning in online education utilizing results of a survey that was administered in an undergraduate Marketing class conducted at a Midwest University’s Business Administration Program. The paper proposes strategies for building effective learning communities in online environments by utilizing rubrics and other team-based learning strategies that can improve the online experience. Our contribution is to evaluate the effectiveness of various tools and components of team-based learning to assist faculty creating student-centered learning goals and outcomes to build dynamic online learning communities. Our findings confirm that rubrics and survey results support current literature on the effectiveness of team-based and small-group learning and the importance of rubrics in online education

Dishevelled genes mediate a conserved mammalian PCP pathway to regulate convergent extension during neurulation

The planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway is conserved throughout evolution, but it mediates distinct developmental processes. In Drosophila, members of the PCP pathway localize in a polarized fashion to specify the cellular polarity within the plane of the epithelium, perpendicular to the apicobasal axis of the cell. In Xenopus and zebrafish, several homologs of the components of the fly PCP pathway control convergent extension. We have shown previously that mammalian PCP homologs regulate both cell polarity and polarized extension in the cochlea in the mouse. Here we show, using mice with null mutations in two mammalian Dishevelled homologs, Dvl1 and Dvl2, that during neurulation a homologous mammalian PCP pathway regulates concomitant lengthening and narrowing of the neural plate, a morphogenetic process defined as convergent extension. Dvl2 genetically interacts with Loop-tail, a point mutation in the mammalian PCP gene Vangl2, during neurulation. By generating Dvl2 BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) transgenes and introducing different domain deletions and a point mutation identical to the dsh1 allele in fly, we further demonstrated a high degree of conservation between Dvl function in mammalian convergent extension and the PCP pathway in fly. In the neuroepithelium of neurulating embryos, Dvl2 shows DEP domain-dependent membrane localization, a pre-requisite for its involvement in convergent extension. Intriguing, the Loop-tail mutation that disrupts both convergent extension in the neuroepithelium and PCP in the cochlea does not disrupt Dvl2 membrane distribution in the neuroepithelium, in contrast to its drastic effect on Dvl2 localization in the cochlea. These results are discussed in light of recent models on PCP and convergent extension

Roles of the Rlim-Rex1 axis during X chromosome inactivation in mice

In female mice, the gene dosage from X chromosomes is adjusted by a process called X chromosome inactivation (XCI) that occurs in two steps. An imprinted form of XCI (iXCI) that silences the paternally inherited X chromosome (Xp) is initiated at the 2-to 4-cell stages. As extraembryonic cells including trophoblasts keep the Xp silenced, epiblast cells that give rise to the embryo proper reactivate the Xp and undergo a random form of XCI (rXCI) around implantation. Both iXCI and rXCI require the lncRNA Xist, which is expressed from the X to be inactivated. The X-linked E3 ubiquitin ligase Rlim (Rnf12) in conjunction with its target protein Rex1 (Zfp42), a critical repressor of Xist, have emerged as major regulators of iXCI. However, their roles in rXCI remain controversial. Investigating early mouse development, we show that the Rlim-Rex1 axis is active in pre-implantation embryos. Upon implantation Rex1 levels are downregulated independently of Rlim specifically in epiblast cells. These results provide a conceptual framework of how the functional dynamics between Rlim and Rex1 ensures regulation of iXCI but not rXCI in female mice.</p

Deficient spermiogenesis in mice lacking Rlim

The X-linked gene Rlim plays major roles in female mouse development and reproduction, where it is crucial for the maintenance of imprinted X chromosome inactivation in extraembryonic tissues of embryos. However, while females carrying a systemic Rlim knockout (KO) die around implantation, male Rlim KO mice appear healthy and are fertile. Here, we report an important role for Rlim in testis where it is highly expressed in post-meiotic round spermatids as well as in Sertoli cells. Systemic deletion of the Rlim gene results in lower numbers of mature sperm that contains excess cytoplasm, leading to decreased sperm motility and in vitro fertilization rates. Targeting the conditional Rlim cKO specifically to the spermatogenic cell lineage largely recapitulates this phenotype. These results reveal functions of Rlim in male reproduction specifically in round spermatids during spermiogenesis

Characterization of the roles of Yy1 in early embryonic development in the mouse

One of the many ways that the ubiquitously expressed Polycomb Group protein, Yin-Yang1 (Yy1), is believed to regulate gene expression is through direct binding to DNA elements found in promoters or enhancers of target loci. Additionally, YY1 contains diverse domains that enable a plethora of protein-protein interactions, including association with the Oct4/Sox2 pluripotency complex and the Polycomb Group silencing complexes. To elucidate the in vivo role of YY1 during gastrulation, Yy1 was deleted in the epiblast of mouse embryos using Sox2-Cre. Yy1 conditional knockout (cKO) embryos initiate gastrulation, but the primitive streak fails to extend anteriorly. Migration through the streak is severely impaired, and streak descendants fail to downregulate E-Cadherin resulting in an aberrant accumulation of streak cells. Intriguingly, we find an accumulation of Nodal and a concomitant reduction of Nodal antagonists suggesting that YY1 is normally required for proper Nodal regulation. We have observed that definitive endoderm is specified but fails to properly delaminate into the outer layer and mutant embryos also fail to accumulate any axial midline structure. Although anterior neuroectoderm is clearly specified, mesoderm specification is severely restricted. Our results reveal critical requirements of YY1 in several important developmental processes, including epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), Nodal regulation and PRC2 mediated H3K27Me3 of the inactive X-chromosome. Despite the localization of Oct4 and Sox2 transcripts in the neuroectoderm of the Yy1 epiblast cKO and the presence of stable transcripts of both genes in the Yy1 RNAi knock down blastocyst, both proteins are void in these models and Oct4 protein is absent in the peri-implantion Yy1 KO mouse. We believe YY1 is required for stabilization of the Oct4/Sox2 pluripotency complex in vivo. We have identified two endogenous forms of YY1 and we believe these posttranslational modifications of YY1 permit the protein to perform the diverse activities it performs in vivo. For example, in addition to the roles in transcriptional regulation and protein complex stabilization, we have also observed a role in YY1 in epigenetic regulation in vivo, including deposition of histone 3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27Me3) on the inactive X-chromosome in female embryos and a role in imprinted gene expression of the Dlk1/Dio3 locus. Detailed analysis of the peri-implantation lethal Yy1 KO mouse in utero revealed unexpected novel developmental events. A large scale follow up examination of wildtype implantation primarily through analysis of immunohistochemical data and gene expression profiling at the cellular level. We analyzed expression patterns of important developmental genes including Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, Cdx2, Gata6 and Sox17, as well as markers of epithelial biogenesis including ZO1, E-Cadherin and Laminin. Interestingly we identified consistent variances in cell populations within the ICM as well as likely primitive endoderm progenitors that produce Laminin and first appear at the periphery of the ICM. We also identified a novel upregulation of Sox17 specifically at the site of implantation. With these data we compose a staging diagram of peri-implantation embryonic and maternal changes during the elusive window of development. These results are the first to elucidate the role of YY1 during gastrulation and peri- implantation, providing potential in vivo targets of YY1 and highlighting the diversity of function of YY1 in the early embryo. Additionally we have been able to advance molecular knowledge of peri-implantation development, in order to provide a platform from which to analyze other peri-implantation lethal KO mice, as well as to aid biomedical understanding of implantation and implantation failure in mammals

The plays of Linares Rivas

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Kansas, Romance Language and Literature, 1929

Inorganic Phosphate in the Pathogenesis of Pregnancy-Related Complications

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is an essential nutrient that fulfills critical roles in human health. It enables skeletal ossification, supports cellular structure and organelle function, and serves key biochemical roles in energetics and molecular signaling. Pi homeostasis is modulated through diet, intestinal uptake, renal reabsorption, and mobilization of stores in bone and extracellular compartments. Disrupted Pi homeostasis is associated with phosphate wasting, mineral and bone disorders, and vascular calcification. Mechanisms of Pi homeostasis in pregnancy remain incompletely understood. The study presented herein examined biological fluid Pi characteristics over the course of gestation. Correlations with gestation age, pregnancy number, preterm birth, preeclampsia, diabetes mellitus, and placental calcification were evaluated during the last trimester. The results support that maternal urinary Pi levels increased during the third trimester of pregnancy. Reduced levels were observed with previous pregnancy. Amniotic fluid Pi levels decreased with gestation while low second trimester levels associated with preterm birth. No significant difference in urinary Pi levels was observed between preeclampsia and controls (8.50 ± 2.74 vs. 11.52 ± 2.90 mmol/L). Moreover, increased maternal urinary Pi was associated with preexisting diabetes mellitus in preeclampsia. Potential confounding factors in this study are maternal age at delivery and body mass index (BMI)—information which we do not have access to for this cohort. In conclusion, Pi levels provide clinical information regarding the pathogenesis of pregnancy-related complications, supporting that phosphate should be examined more closely and in larger populations