PORT(f)ABLE:Berichte über die Evaluation von E-Portfolio-Arbeit mit ILIAS an der Hochschule Bremen

Dokumentation und Evaluation von Praxisbeispielen der Nutzung von E-Portfolio-Funktionalität des LMS ILIAS OpenSource in Lehr-Lern-Szenarien an der Hochschule Bremen. Eingeleitet durch einen kurzen Überblick über die Dimensionen von Portfolioarbeit sowie über die E-Portfolio-Komponenten in ILIAS v. 4.3 stellen die Autorinnen und Autoren ihre Erfahrungen mit neun Lehr-LernSzenarien an der Hochschule Bremen vor, die sie im Rahmen des hochschul- und mediendidaktischen Projekts Port(f)able evaluiert haben. Alle Vorhaben interpretieren durch ihren individuell fachdidaktisch geprägten Unterrichtsansatz Portfolio auf eigene Weise. Sie unterscheiden sich darin, welche Rolle der Portfolio-Methode und dem gewählten digitalen Medium in ihrem Studienkontext zukommt. Inwieweit sich die Erwartungen an Methoden und technische Funktionalität erfüllt haben und welche Rahmenbedingungen den Hintergrund für die getroffenen Bewertungen bildetet, spiegelt jeder Bericht für andere Hochschullehrende nachvollziehbar wider

HNF1B and Endometrial Cancer Risk: Results from the PAGE study

We examined the association between HNF1B variants identified in a recent genome-wide association study and endometrial cancer in two large case-control studies nested in prospective cohorts: the Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC) and the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) as part of the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study. A total of 1,357 incident cases of invasive endometrial cancer and 7,609 controls were included in the analysis (MEC: 426 cases/3,854 controls; WHI: 931cases/3,755 controls). The majority of women in the WHI were European American, while the MEC included sizable numbers of African Americans, Japanese and Latinos. We estimated the odds ratios (ORs) per allele and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of each SNP using unconditional logistic regression adjusting for age, body mass index, and four principal components of ancestry informative markers. The combined ORs were estimated using fixed effect models. Rs4430796 and rs7501939 were associated with endometrial cancer risk in MEC and WHI with no heterogeneity observed across racial/ethnic groups (P≥0.21) or between studies (P≥0.70). The ORper allele was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.75, 0.89; P = 5.63×10−6) for rs4430796 (G allele) and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.87; P = 3.77×10−7) for rs7501939 (A allele). The associations with the risk of Type I and Type II tumors were similar (P≥0.19). Adjustment for additional endometrial cancer risk factors such as parity, oral contraceptive use, menopausal hormone use, and smoking status had little effect on the results. In conclusion, HNF1B SNPs are associated with risk of endometrial cancer and that the associated relative risks are similar for Type I and Type II tumors

Praxisbericht aus dem mediendidaktischen Projekt FEEDBACK in der Lehre

„Was ist gute Lehre?“ Dieser Frage wollen wir auf den Grund gehen. Erneut haben wir zur Auseinandersetzung damit ein Vorhaben auf den Weg gebracht, das insbesondere auch nach dem Beitrag die digitalen Medien zur Entwicklung didaktischer Qualität fragt und die Rahmenbedingungen, unter denen sich ihr Potenzial für die Hochschullehre erschließen lässt, zu beschreiben versucht. Mit dem Projekt „FEEDBACK in der Lehre“ fokussieren wir einen wesentlichen Aspekt unseres Lehr-Lern-Handelns und machen ihn explizit zum Gegenstand der Reflexion von Unterrichtsmethoden und Mediengebrauch. Ein weiteres Mal versuchen wir Antworten auf diese Frage aus der Praxis unserer Lehre an der Hochschule Bremen zu erzeugen – nicht zuletzt als Konsequenz aus dem vorhergehenden Projekt „WELLDONE“, in dessen Evaluation einer angemessenen und konstruktiven Kommunikation über Lernerwartungen und Lernergebnissen für den Studienerfolg von der Mehrheit der Teilvorhaben eine besondere Bedeutung beigemessen wurde. Wie gute Lehre gestaltet werden kann oder als solche erfahren wird erleben wir alltäglich im Studienbetrieb – auch ohne besondere Vorhaben. Sie äußern sich in den kleinen und großen Beispielen positiver Rückmeldungen, nach einer als gelungen empfundenen Diskussion im Seminar, in der Freude eines Studierenden-Teams über einen erfolgreichen Laborversuch, in der von einer Kollegin ausgesprochenen Ermutigung, den Einsatz eines neuen Mediums weiterhin zu verfolgen, auch wenn es beim ersten Mal noch nicht optimal geklappt hat. Die in der Alltagspraxis vorgefundenen Antworten sind so unterschiedlich und mannigfaltig wie das Spektrum der Studienangebote an unserer Hochschule. Sie sind einem ständigen Wandel unterworfen, einerseits bedingt durch neue Ziele und Rahmenbedingungen, andererseits auch immer wieder gründend in der didaktischen Kreativität von Lehrenden, die mit der Freiheit der Lehre auch methodische Spielräume verbinden und sie zur Bereicherung ihres Lehrangebots nutzen. All das ist es wert, anderen zugänglich gemacht und – gern auch kontrovers – diskutiert zu werden. Dafür brauchen wir den besonderen Rahmen, den wir mittels unserer Vorhaben herstellen wollen: Eine Umgebung, in der wir aus Beispielen lernen können, in der wir im kollegialen Gespräch erfragen können, wie sich theoretisch fundierte und didaktisch sorgfältig ausgewählte Methoden und Medien in der konkreten Unterrichtspraxis bewährt haben, in der wir uns die Zeit nehmen können, anderen Lehrenden zuzuhören, auch unsere Neugier zu stillen oder den kritischen Blick auf unsere eigene Routine zu schärfen.8

Comparable cellular and humoral immunity upon homologous and heterologous COVID-19 vaccination regimens in kidney transplant recipients

BackgroundKidney transplant recipients (KTRs) are at high risk for a severe course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); thus, effective vaccination is critical. However, the achievement of protective immunogenicity is hampered by immunosuppressive therapies. We assessed cellular and humoral immunity and breakthrough infection rates in KTRs vaccinated with homologous and heterologous COVID-19 vaccination regimens.MethodWe performed a comparative in-depth analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–specific T-cell responses using multiplex Fluorospot assays and SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) between three-times homologously (n = 18) and heterologously (n = 8) vaccinated KTRs.ResultsWe detected SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells in 100% of KTRs upon third vaccination, with comparable frequencies, T-cell expression profiles, and relative interferon γ and interleukin 2 production per single cell between homologously and heterologously vaccinated KTRs. SARS-CoV-2-specific NAb positivity rates were significantly higher in heterologously (87.5%) compared to homologously vaccinated (50.0%) KTRs (P < 0.0001), whereas the magnitudes of NAb titers were comparable between both subcohorts after third vaccination. SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections occurred in equal numbers in homologously (38.9%) and heterologously (37.5%) vaccinated KTRs with mild-to-moderate courses of COVID-19.ConclusionOur data support a more comprehensive assessment of not only humoral but also cellular SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity in KTRs to provide an in-depth understanding about the COVID-19 vaccine–induced immune response in a transplant setting

A Systematic Mapping Approach of 16q12.2/FTO and BMI in More Than 20,000 African Americans Narrows in on the Underlying Functional Variation: Results from the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Study

Genetic variants in intron 1 of the fat mass- and obesity-associated (FTO) gene have been consistently associated with body mass index (BMI) in Europeans. However, follow-up studies in African Americans (AA) have shown no support for some of the most consistently BMI-associated FTO index single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This is most likely explained by different race-specific linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns and lower correlation overall in AA, which provides the opportunity to fine-map this region and narrow in on the functional variant. To comprehensively explore the 16q12.2/FTO locus and to search for second independent signals in the broader region, we fine-mapped a 646-kb region, encompassing the large FTO gene and the flanking gene RPGRIP1L by investigating a total of 3,756 variants (1,529 genotyped and 2,227 imputed variants) in 20,488 AAs across five studies. We observed associations between BMI and variants in the known FTO intron 1 locus: the SNP with the most significant p-value, rs56137030 (8.3×10-6) had not been highlighted in previous studies. While rs56137030was correlated at r2>0.5 with 103 SNPs in Europeans (including the GWAS index SNPs), this number was reduced to 28 SNPs in AA. Among rs56137030 and the 28 correlated SNPs, six were located within candidate intronic regulatory elements, including rs1421085, for which we predicted allele-specific binding affinity for the transcription factor CUX1, which has recently been implicated in the regulation of FTO. We did not find strong evidence for a second independent signal in the broader region. In summary, this large fine-mapping study in AA has substantially reduced the number of common alleles that are likely to be functional candidates of the known FTO locus. Importantly our study demonstrated that comprehensive fine-mapping in AA provides a powerful approach to narrow in on the functional candidate(s) underlying the initial GWAS findings in European populations

The Influence of Obesity-Related Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on BMI Across the Life Course: The PAGE Study

Evidence is limited as to whether heritable risk of obesity varies throughout adulthood. Among >34,000 European Americans, aged 18–100 years, from multiple U.S. studies in the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Consortium, we examined evidence for heterogeneity in the associations of five established obesity risk variants (near FTO, GNPDA2, MTCH2, TMEM18, and NEGR1) with BMI across four distinct epochs of adulthood: 1) young adulthood (ages 18–25 years), adulthood (ages 26–49 years), middle-age adulthood (ages 50–69 years), and older adulthood (ages ≥70 years); or 2) by menopausal status in women and stratification by age 50 years in men. Summary-effect estimates from each meta-analysis were compared for heterogeneity across the life epochs. We found heterogeneity in the association of the FTO (rs8050136) variant with BMI across the four adulthood epochs (P = 0.0006), with larger effects in young adults relative to older adults (β [SE] = 1.17 [0.45] vs. 0.09 [0.09] kg/m2, respectively, per A allele) and smaller intermediate effects. We found no evidence for heterogeneity in the association of GNPDA2, MTCH2, TMEM18, and NEGR1 with BMI across adulthood. Genetic predisposition to obesity may have greater effects on body weight in young compared with older adulthood for FTO, suggesting changes by age, generation, or secular trends. Future research should compare and contrast our findings with results using longitudinal data

Genetic variants associated with fasting glucose and insulin concentrations in an ethnically diverse population: results from the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study

Background: Multiple genome-wide association studies (GWAS) within European populations have implicated common genetic variants associated with insulin and glucose concentrations. In contrast, few studies have been conducted within minority groups, which carry the highest burden of impaired glucose homeostasis and type 2 diabetes in the U.S. Methods: As part of the 'Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Consortium, we investigated the association of up to 10 GWAS-identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 8 genetic regions with glucose or insulin concentrations in up to 36,579 non-diabetic subjects including 23,323 European Americans (EA) and 7,526 African Americans (AA), 3,140 Hispanics, 1,779 American Indians (AI), and 811 Asians. We estimated the association between each SNP and fasting glucose or log-transformed fasting insulin, followed by meta-analysis to combine results across PAGE sites. Results: Overall, our results show that 9/9 GWAS SNPs are associated with glucose in EA (p = 0.04 to 9 × 10-15), versus 3/9 in AA (p= 0.03 to 6 × 10-5), 3/4 SNPs in Hispanics, 2/4 SNPs in AI, and 1/2 SNPs in Asians. For insulin we observed a significant association with rs780094/GCKR in EA, Hispanics and AI only. Conclusions: Generalization of results across multiple racial/ethnic groups helps confirm the relevance of some of these loci for glucose and insulin metabolism. Lack of association in non-EA groups may be due to insufficient power, or to unique patterns of linkage disequilibrium

Consistent Directions of Effect for Established Type 2 Diabetes Risk Variants Across Populations: The Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Consortium

Common genetic risk variants for type 2 diabetes (T2D) have primarily been identified in populations of European and Asian ancestry. We tested whether the direction of association with 20 T2D risk variants generalizes across six major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. as part of the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology Consortium (16,235 diabetes case and 46,122 control subjects of European American, African American, Hispanic, East Asian, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian ancestry). The percentage of positive (odds ratio [OR] >1 for putative risk allele) associations ranged from 69% in American Indians to 100% in European Americans. Of the nine variants where we observed significant heterogeneity of effect by racial/ethnic group (Pheterogeneity 1) in at least five groups. The marked directional consistency of association observed for most genetic variants across populations implies a shared functional common variant in each region. Fine-mapping of all loci will be required to reveal markers of risk that are important within and across populations