Educators' motivation on integration of ICTs into pedagogy: case of disadvantaged areas

This paper investigates factors that motivate educators to use Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in schools in disadvantaged areas. The study employed Herzberg’ Motivation–Hygiene theory to guide the process of understanding the factors that motivate or demotivate educators when using the technology for teaching and learning. Qualitative research approach was used to gather and analyse information from educators from randomly sampled schools located in disadvantaged areas in the Western Cape. The study has shown that educators’ motivation to use technology for curriculum delivery could be impacted by satisfaction derived from using the ICTs, individual expectations, responsibility and a sense of achievement experienced when using the technologies

MEASUREMENT OF ENTRAINED ORGANIC DROPLET SIZES AND TOTAL CONCENTRATION FOR AQUEOUS STREAMS FROM THE CAUSTIC-SIDE SOLVENT EXTRACTION PROCESS

The Modular Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) and the Salt Waste Processing Facility will remove radioactive cesium from Savannah River Site supernate wastes using an organic solvent system. Both designs include decanters and coalescers to reduce carryover of organic solvent droplets. Savannah River National Laboratory personnel conducted experimental demonstrations using a series of four 2-cm centrifugal contactors. They also examined organic carryover during operation of a CINC (Costner Industries Nevada Corporation) V-5 contactor under prototypical conditions covering the range of expected MCU operation. This report details the findings from those studies and the implications on design for the MCU

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Surfers of southern California : structures of identity

This thesis analyzes the structure of identity among surfers in Southern California, who constitute a subculture of American society. Surfer identity is shown to be derived from the act and the setting of surfing itself, from the individual's personal background and motivation for surfing, and from the social interaction among surfers on and off the water.Influences on the identity of surfers as a group include the surfers' own feeling of separateness from American society, surfer communication via the surf economy, the strong association of surfing with adolescence, and the portrayal of surfer symbols in the national media. The outward form of the "surf culture" changes in response to these influences, but the basic identity of surfers remains the same over time

Educators' motivation on integration of ICTs into pedagogy: case of disadvantaged areas

This paper investigates factors that motivate educators to use Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in schools in disadvantaged areas. The study employed Herzberg' Motivation-Hygiene theory to guide the process of understanding the factors that motivate or demotivate educators when using the technology for teaching and learning. Qualitative research approach was used to gather and analyse information from educators from randomly sampled schools located in disadvantaged areas in the Western Cape. The study has shown that educators' motivation to use technology for curriculum delivery could be impacted by satisfaction derived from using the ICTs, individual expectations, responsibility and a sense of achievement experienced when using the technologies

Microtubules are necessary for proper Reticulon localization during mitosis.

During mitosis, the structure of the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) displays a dramatic reorganization and remodeling, however, the mechanism driving these changes is poorly understood. Hairpin-containing ER transmembrane proteins that stabilize ER tubules have been identified as possible factors to promote these drastic changes in ER morphology. Recently, the Reticulon and REEP family of ER shaping proteins have been shown to heavily influence ER morphology by driving the formation of ER tubules, which are known for their close proximity with microtubules. Here, we examine the role of microtubules and other cytoskeletal factors in the dynamics of a Drosophila Reticulon, Reticulon-like 1 (Rtnl1), localization to spindle poles during mitosis in the early embryo. At prometaphase, Rtnl1 is enriched to spindle poles just prior to the ER retention motif KDEL, suggesting a possible recruitment role for Rtnl1 in the bulk localization of ER to spindle poles. Using image analysis-based methods and precise temporal injections of cytoskeletal inhibitors in the early syncytial Drosophila embryo, we show that microtubules are necessary for proper Rtnl1 localization to spindles during mitosis. Lastly, we show that astral microtubules, not microfilaments, are necessary for proper Rtnl1 localization to spindle poles, and is largely independent of the minus-end directed motor protein dynein. This work highlights the role of the microtubule cytoskeleton in Rtnl1 localization to spindles during mitosis and sheds light on a pathway towards inheritance of this major organelle