Understanding How Students Use Physical Ideas in Introductory Biology Courses

The University of Maryland (UMD) Biology Education and Physics Education Research Groups are investigating students' views on the role of physics in introductory biology courses. This paper presents data from an introductory course that addresses the fundamental principles of organismal biology and that incorporates several topics directly related to physics, including thermodynamics, diffusion, and fluid flow. We examine how the instructors use mathematics and physics in this introductory biology course and look at two students' responses to this use. Our preliminary observations are intended to start a discussion about the epistemological issues resulting from the integration of the science disciplines and to motivate the need for further research.Comment: Physics Education Research Conference 2010, Portland OR, 4 page

Study of the thrombogenicity induced by the cytotoxic treatment of malignant disease

Cancer and its treatment are frequently complicated by the development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Interestingly, VTE incidence rates vary according to tumour type and the chemotherapy regimen administered. Yet, the precise mechanisms responsible for the increase in VTE in cancer patients remain unclear. Tissue factor (TF), the primary cellular initiator of the coagulation cascade, is over-expressed in many solid malignancies, particularly pancreatic cancer, and the number of circulating TF+ microparticles (MP) are increased in cancer patients. It is hypothesised that the increased risk of VTE in cancer patients generated by cytotoxic treatment may be partly attributed to the apoptotic process, involving the exposure of procoagulant phosphatidylserine (PS) on tumour cells or other chemotherapy damaged cells and increased release of TF+ MP into the circulation. The aim of this study was to explore how coagulation can be initiated in cancer cells and be potentiated by chemotherapy, with respects to the specific expression of TF and PS, and generation of MP.Flow cytometry was used to evaluate expression of cell surface TF and level of apoptosis in untreated/doxorubicin (Dox)-treated cancer cell lines, and number of MP in platelet-free plasma (PFP) from untreated pancreatic cancer patients, myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) patients, and multiple myeloma (MM) patients before, during, and after chemotherapy. The cell proliferation of untreated/Dox-treated cancer cells was assessed by an MTS assay. Procoagulant activity (PCA) of untreated/Dox-treated cancer cells and their isolated cell-free supernatants containing MP, and also MM and MPD patient PFP was measured using a prothrombin time assay. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay quantified levels of TF in unfiltered/0.1 μm filtered cell-free supernatants isolated from cancer cell lines, and serum levels of soluble cell adhesion molecules CD106 and CD54 from MM patients.Pancreatic (AsPC-1, CFPAC-1, MIA-PaCa-2), ovarian (A270, ES2, SKOV-3), colorectal (CaCo-2, LoVo), breast (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, T47D), and haematological (JJN3, U937) cancer cells were found to support coagulation in a cell number-dependent manner, defined by a logarithmic relationship that was consistent across all cell lines. Furthermore, single cell clotting time (CT) was determined for each cancer cell line from the slope and y axis intercept of a logarithmically transformed data plot. A near linear relationship was observed between TF expression and single cell CT where a higher expression of TF results in a proportionally faster CT (P = 0.01). In addition, tumour cell-derived MP were shown to be procoagulant and the majority of procoagulant potential could be removed by passing isolated cell-free supernatants through a 0.1 μm filter. A dose-dependent CT was observed with AsPC-1, CFPAC-1, ES2, SKOV-3, LoVo, and MDA-MB-231 cell-free supernatants.The cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent Dox was found to decrease the number of viable ovarian (ES2), breast (MDA-MB-231, T47D), and haematological (MM.1S, U937) cancer cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and cell death was shown to be induced by apoptosis and subsequently necrosis at higher drug concentrations. Cell surface expression of PS was found to increase following Dox treatment, while TF was not upregulated. Furthermore, Dox was shown to dose-dependently increase PCA in all cancer cells examined, although the effect of cell-free supernatants on PCA was less consistent; ES2, MDA-MB-231, and U937 cell-free supernatants isolated from Dox-treated cells demonstrated increased PCA at 0.01 and 0.1 μM concentrations. The Dox-induced increase in PCA of cancer cells and cell-free supernatants were found to correlate with tumour cell viability (r = 0.79 to 0.97, P < 0.01).Numbers of TF+ MP were significantly higher in 35 untreated pancreatic cancer patients in comparison with 15 MM patients prior to chemotherapy (P < 0.0005). Furthermore, numbers of endothelial cell-derived MP (EMP), monocyte-derived MP, plasma cell-derived MP, and PS+ MP, were significantly higher in 6 MPD patients in comparison with 15 MM patients prior to chemotherapy (P < 0.005), but not levels of platelet-derived MP (PMP) or TF+ MP. Markers of endothelial dysfunction, including EMP and soluble cell adhesion molecules CD106 and CD54, were elevated after thalidomide (Thal)- or lenalidomide (Len)-based therapies in MM patients. Furthermore, PCA was significantly increased in MM patients after treatment (P = 0.007), and also levels of PMP, plasma cell-derived MP, and PS+ MP (P < 0.05), but not monocyte-derived MP (P = 0.33) and TF+ MP (P = 0.41).In summary, this study shows that across a range of tumour sites a consistent relationship is seen between procoagulant potential and both cell number and TF cell surface expression. Dox can increase PCA of cancer cells through reduced cell viability that leads to PS exposure. Importantly, this Dox-induced procoagulant mechanism was not found to involve an upregulation of surface TF antigen on ovarian, breast, or haematological cancer cells. In MM patients treated with Thal- or Len-based therapies increased PCA was observed, which may be mediated by endothelial dysfunction and increased generation of MP

Covid-19 Creativity or Collapse

A few days before lockdown, a service user I was working with took their own life, it was the final shocking act of a long, painful, irresolvable journey for us both and I was shaken to the core of my identity as an art therapist and in many ways as a human being. Perhaps in some way this made the total shut down of ordinary life more bearable. The clocks had stopped for everyone with the collective shock of Covid, and I needed some time to think, read, reflect, and grieve

Light and Heavy Verb Productions Between Single and Sequential Picture Description Tasks in People with and without Non-fluent Aphasia

Background: Previous research has shown that persons with non-fluent aphasia (PWNFA) suffer from the inability to retrieve words, specifically more of a difficulty with verb productions. Various discourse elicitation tasks have shown to have differing effects on verb retrievals in this population. However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between single vs. sequential picture description tasks and the productions of heavy and light verbs in persons with non-fluent aphasia. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the ratios of heavy and light verbs produced in both single picture description tasks and sequential picture description tasks in persons with aphasia. Methods: Thirty persons with non-fluent aphasia and 20 healthy control group participant’s verb productions were analyzed for the two discourse tasks (single and sequential picture description tasks). The heavy verb ratio and light verb ratio were then found by counting all of the verbs and coding them as light or heavy. Two by two repeated ANOVA tests and post-hoc Bonferroni tests were then conducted in each separate group. Results: The results of this study found that the healthy control group produced a significantly higher light verb ratio in the single picture description task and non-significant results for the heavy verb ratio. On the other hand, the PWNFA group had an advantage with a higher heavy verb ration in the single picture description task. Additionally, there were no significant findings in the light verb ratios between tasks. Discussion: Results indicated that visual stimuli in the single picture description task facilitate the semantic system in PWNFA. These findings have important implications for clinicians when working on verb retrieval abilities with PWNFA. Thus, certain discourse elicitation tasks may be more beneficial for certain goals

Escapism, Oblivion, and Process in the Poetry of Charlotte Smith and John Keats.

A thematic comparison of the work of British Romantic poets Charlotte Smith and John Keats, examining their meditations on the use of poetry and the poet\u27s role, shared ambivalence toward the visionary imagination and escapism, and similar approaches to seasonal process and progression

Professional vs Non-professional Translation of Korean TV Dramas

Can non-professional subtitles be a successful replacement for professional subtitles? The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in the English subtitles of Korean TV drama series between those written by paid translators for Netflix, and those by volunteer fansubbers for Rakuten Viki. This study will explore the main differences between the two styles of subtitling, the potential reasons for these differences and the reception of both kinds of subtitles among audiences by reviewing opinions shared on online discussion forums such as Reddit and Viki Discussions. These forums will also be used to explore online public opinions about the ethics of Viki as a fansubbing platform and the implication of unpaid translation for the industry

Keats and America: Attitudes and Appropriations

While John Keats never traveled to America and only wrote a handful of admittedly hostile lines about it in his poetry, American writers and readers have consistently regarded Keats as one of the greatest and most influential poets of the past two centuries. His critical reputation in America has been stable since the 1840s, enduring throughout changing tastes and movements, and his biography and work have been utilized in manifold appropriations by American poets and writers. I examine Keats’s attitude toward the United States—which was in conflict with the general feeling regarding the country by his fellow Romantic poets—and briefly review the American reception of Keats’s poetry in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries before considering quintessential appropriations of Keats and the Keats biography in works by three American poets: Amy Clampitt, Stanley Plumly, and B.H. Fairchild

College Graduation Rates of Hispanic Students: A Review of the Literature

This literature review examines what factors cause Hispanic college students to drop out before completing their bachelor\u27s degrees. Factors include the type of college attended, financial aid, attending college part-time, enrolling in college later in life, stopping-out, taking a gap year, parents\u27 educational levels, whether students are native- or foreign-born, high school academics, SAT and standardized test scores, college academics, the peer group, multiple disadvantages can compound for Hispanic students, sense of belonging on campus, stereotype threat, and a mentoring program. Recommendations are made for how non-college-educated Hispanic parents can be better informed about the college application process, what student support services on campuses have been shown to improve graduation rates, how passing the DREAM Act could help Hispanic students, how financial aid could be better distributed to help low-income students, and specific university policies that have been shown to improve college graduation rates for Hispanic students