Preparing tomorrow’s teachers to use technology (PT3) at Boston university through faculty development

Boston University School of Education received a grant for Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to use Technology from U.S. Department of Education. The project focused on faculty development in learning the Web and digital tools and reflecting on technology’s value for teacher preparation. Qualitative data showed gains in understanding and using technology but little radically new pedagogy. Trained educational technologists facilitated faculty learning and production. Recommendations include: learn by doing; provide “just in time” expert help; focus on the pedagogical advantages of technology, not on technology itself, and use formative evaluation to guide planning. The project proposes to sustain faculty’s new skills in developing a web-based curriculum

The Shigella Type III Secretion System: An Overview from Top to Bottom

Shigella comprises four species of human-restricted pathogens causing bacillary dysentery. While Shigella possesses multiple genetic loci contributing to virulence, a type III secretion system (T3SS) is its primary virulence factor. The Shigella T3SS nanomachine consists of four major assemblies: the cytoplasmic sorting platform; the envelope-spanning core/basal body; an exposed needle; and a needle-associated tip complex with associated translocon that is inserted into host cell membranes. The initial subversion of host cell activities is carried out by the effector functions of the invasion plasmid antigen (Ipa) translocator proteins, with the cell ultimately being controlled by dedicated effector proteins that are injected into the host cytoplasm though the translocon. Much of the information now available on the T3SS injectisome has been accumulated through collective studies on the T3SS from three systems, those of Shigella flexneri, Salmonella typhimurium and Yersinia enterocolitica/Yersinia pestis. In this review, we will touch upon the important features of the T3SS injectisome that have come to light because of research in the Shigella and closely related systems. We will also briefly highlight some of the strategies being considered to target the Shigella T3SS for disease prevention

Teaching Complex, In-Depth Programs

Changing demographics of rural Extension audiences create challenges to program delivery, and multiple delivery methods may be needed to effectively improve skills and knowledge of clients. We examined the effectiveness of different delivery methods and changes in client skills, knowledge and abilities as a result of a complex, in-depth program, the Virginia Cow/Calf Management Course. Almost 500 producers took the 5-month course. Changes were measured from pre- and post-course surveys. Skills easily employed by the producers were readily adopted. Experiential learning opportunities and written materials had the greatest impact on producers, while Web-based information and discussion groups were marginally effective

An optical coherence microscope for 3-dimensional imaging in developmental biology

An optical coherence microscope (OCM) has been designed and constructed to acquire 3-dimensional images of highly scattering biological tissue. Volume-rendering software is used to enhance 3-D visualization of the data sets. Lateral resolution of the OCM is 5 mm (FWHM), and the depth resolution is 10 mm (FWHM) in tissue. The design trade-offs for a 3-D OCM are discussed, and the fundamental photon noise limitation is measured and compared with theory. A rotating 3-D image of a frog embryo is presented to illustrate the capabilities of the instrument

Microarray analysis of replicative senescence

AbstractBackground: Limited replicative capacity is a defining characteristic of most normal human cells and culminates in senescence, an arrested state in which cells remain viable but display an altered pattern of gene and protein expression. To survey widely the alterations in gene expression, we have developed a DNA microarray analysis system that contains genes previously reported to be involved in aging, as well as those involved in many of the major biochemical signaling pathways.Results: Senescence-associated gene expression was assessed in three cell types: dermal fibroblasts, retinal pigment epithelial cells, and vascular endothelial cells. Fibroblasts demonstrated a strong inflammatory-type response, but shared limited overlap in senescent gene expression patterns with the other two cell types. The characteristics of the senescence response were highly cell-type specific. A comparison of early- and late-passage cells stimulated with serum showed specific deficits in the early and mid G1 response of senescent cells. Several genes that are constitutively overexpressed in senescent fibroblasts are regulated during the cell cycle in early-passage cells, suggesting that senescent cells are locked in an activated state that mimics the early remodeling phase of wound repair.Conclusions: Replicative senescence triggers mRNA expression patterns that vary widely and cell lineage strongly influences these patterns. In fibroblasts, the senescent state mimics inflammatory wound repair processes and, as such, senescent cells may contribute to chronic wound pathologies

Preparing teachers, student teachers, and schools for the 21st century: review of recent reports in the U.S.

The year 1996 marked the initiation of Getting America’s Students Ready for the 21st Century: Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge. The grant program aimed to integrate technology in the field of education in the 21st century. This grant program generated many reports in an attempt to measure its success as well as to comment on the state of schools, teachers, and teacher preparation in Schools of Education in utilizing technology to improve teaching and learning. This brief paper endeavors to create a synthesis of the recent research and opinions about the introduction of technology into the classroom as proposed by this plan, and will, in some cases, call for revisions. At the same time, the writing assesses, from a perspective enriched by time, exactly how much of what was suggested by the educational experts was actually put into effect

Oestradiol and prostaglandin F2 alpha regulate sexual displays in females of a sex-role reversed fish

The mechanisms regulating sexual behaviours in female vertebrates are still poorly understood, mainly because in most species sexual displays in females are more subtle and less frequent than displays in males. In a sex-role reversed population of a teleost fish, the peacock blenny Salaria pavo, an external fertilizer, females are the courting sex and their sexual displays are conspicuous and unambiguous. We took advantage of this to investigate the role of ovarian-synthesized hormones in the induction of sexual displays in females. In particular, the effects of the sex steroids oestradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) and of the prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) were tested. Females were ovariectomized and their sexual behaviour tested 7 days (sex steroids and PGF2 alpha) and 14 days (sex steroids) after ovariectomy by presenting females to an established nesting male. Ovariectomy reduced the expression of sexual behaviours, although a significant proportion of females still courted the male 14 days after the ovary removal. Administration of PGF2 alpha to ovariectomized females recovered the frequency of approaches to the male's nest and of courtship displays towards the nesting male. However, E2 also had a positive effect on sexual behaviour, particularly on the frequency of approaches to the male's nest. T administration failed to recover sexual behaviours in ovariectomized females. These results suggest that the increase in E2 levels postulated to occur during the breeding season facilitates female mate-searching and assessment behaviours, whereas PGF2 alpha acts as a short-latency endogenous signal informing the brain that oocytes are mature and ready to be spawned. In the light of these results, the classical view for female fishes, that sex steroids maintain sexual behaviour in internal fertilizers and that prostaglandins activate spawning behaviours in external fertilizers, needs to be reviewed.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [POCTI/BSE/38395/2001, PTDC/MAR/69749/2006, 331/2001]; Macao Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) [012/2012/A1]; FCT [SFRH/BPD/30367/2006

Preparing tomorrow's teachers to use technology (PT3) at Boston University through faculty development: assessment of three years of the project

The Boston University PT3 grant project proposed first to train faculty to use technology and then to sustain the gained expertise in a curriculum development project. Education faculty gains in integrating technology into their teaching and their modeling of that use were clearly demonstrated in phase one of the project (the initial two years of the project). In phase two (the third year), faculty were challenged to produce innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum development projects investigating judgment in their discipline. Prototypes of the Judgment Curriculum produced in phase two of the project demonstrate an intersection of technology competence and innovative, question‐driven instruction. Preliminary data show strong gains in faculty use of technology in their teaching and in faculty requirements that their students use technology in education coursework. However, continued development of the Judgment Curriculum lessons remains a challenge