Rutgers University Research Experience For Teachers In Engineering: Preliminary Findings

In addressing the nation’s need for a more technologically-literate society, the Rutgers University Research Experience for Teachers in Engineering (RU RET-E) is designed to: (1) engage middle and high school math and science teachers in innovative “green” engineering research during the summer, and (2) support teachers in integrating their research experiences into their academic year, precollege classrooms. The current paper addresses the following two questions: (1) To what extent did RU RET-E impact participants? and (2) To what extent did participants implement resulting lesson plans? During the 2011 summer, seventeen math and science teachers (RU RET-E Fellows) engaged in “green” research alongside faculty and graduate students. Teachers were required to apply to the program in pairs as one math and one science teacher from the same school. The rationale was that the team would develop interdisciplinary lessons and that teachers would have a colleague at their school who shared the same experience as supports during the school year. The paper provides an overview of the summer experiences and the academic year follow-up activities. Data from the pre- and post-surveys and follow-up questionnaire about lesson implementation are presented. Preliminary data evidences that RU RET-E was successful in enhancing teachers’ understanding of engineering and supporting them as they designed lessons for their precollege classrooms. Most notably, teachers’ confidence in their ability to define engineering, describe what engineers do, generate challenging problems for advanced students and integrate engineering into their curriculum increased significantly.

The Writing on the Wall: Celebrating National Day on Writing at Hostos Community College

Since its participation in the 1999 CUNY Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) Initiative, Hostos has sought to foster a campus-wide recognition of the value of writing and its place in the academic, professional and personal lives of both faculty and students. Today, with over 75 Writing Intensive (WI) sections, an appreciation of the connection between reading and writing, ongoing professional development, and WAC principles and practices incorporated into both Englishlanguage and Spanish-language courses across a wide range of disciplines, Hostos has made great strides in fulfilling the CUNY Board of Trustees mandate to provide students with frequent and meaningful opportunities to write. As we move forward, the Hostos WAC Initiative is guided by the views outlined in the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) report, “Writing in the 21st Century,” by Kathleen Yancey. This pivotal report recognizes the shifting roles and demands of writing in the 21st century and points to the prevalence of blogs, wikis, text messages and social networking sites such as Facebook which have changed the ways students learn to write and the ways in which they use writing both inside and outside of the academic setting

Feeling the Temperature of the Room: Unobtrusive Thermal Display of Engagement during Group Communication

Thermal signals have been explored in HCI for emotion-elicitation and enhancing two-person communication, showing that temperature invokes social and emotional signals in individuals. Yet, extending these findings to group communication is missing. We investigated how thermal signals can be used to communicate group affective states in a hybrid meeting scenario to help people feel connected over a distance. We conducted a lab study (N=20 participants) and explored wrist-worn thermal feedback to communicate audience emotions. Our results show that thermal feedback is an effective method of conveying audience engagement without increasing workload and can help a presenter feel more in tune with the audience. We outline design implications for real-world wearable social thermal feedback systems for both virtual and in-person communication that support group affect communication and social connectedness. Thermal feedback has the potential to connect people across distances and facilitate more effective and dynamic communication in multiple contexts.Comment: In IMWUT 202

Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist knockout mice show enhanced microglial activation and neuronal damage induced by intracerebroventricular infusion of human β-amyloid

BACKGROUND: Interleukin 1 (IL-1) is a key mediator of immune responses in health and disease. Although classically the function of IL-1 has been studied in the systemic immune system, research in the past decade has revealed analogous roles in the CNS where the cytokine can contribute to the neuroinflammation and neuropathology seen in a number of neurodegenerative diseases. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), for example, pre-clinical and clinical studies have implicated IL-1 in the progression of a pathologic, glia-mediated pro-inflammatory state in the CNS. The glia-driven neuroinflammation can lead to neuronal damage, which, in turn, stimulates further glia activation, potentially propagating a detrimental cycle that contributes to progression of pathology. A prediction of this neuroinflammation hypothesis is that increased IL-1 signaling in vivo would correlate with increased severity of AD-relevant neuroinflammation and neuronal damage. METHODS: To test the hypothesis that increased IL-1 signaling predisposes animals to beta-amyloid (Aβ)-induced damage, we used IL-1 receptor antagonist Knock-Out (IL1raKO) and wild-type (WT) littermate mice in a model that involves intracerebroventricular infusion of human oligomeric Aβ1–42. This model mimics many features of AD, including robust neuroinflammation, Aβ plaques, synaptic damage and neuronal loss in the hippocampus. IL1raKO and WT mice were infused with Aβ for 28 days, sacrificed at 42 days, and hippocampal endpoints analyzed. RESULTS: IL1raKO mice showed increased vulnerability to Aβ-induced neuropathology relative to their WT counterparts. Specifically, IL1raKO mice exhibited increased mortality, enhanced microglial activation and neuroinflammation, and more pronounced loss of synaptic markers. Interestingly, Aβ-induced astrocyte responses were not significantly different between WT and IL1raKO mice, suggesting that enhanced IL-1 signaling predominately affects microglia. CONCLUSION: Our data are consistent with the neuroinflammation hypothesis whereby increased IL-1 signaling in AD enhances glia activation and leads to an augmented neuroinflammatory process that increases the severity of neuropathologic sequelae

Location tracking: views from the older adult population

Background: there has been a rise in the use of social media applications that allow people to see where friends, family and nearby services are located. Yet while uptake has been high for younger people, adoption by older adults is relatively slow, despite the potential health and social benefits. In this paper, we explore the barriers to acceptance of location-based services (LBS) in a community of older adults. Objective: to understand attitudes to LBS technologies in older adults. Methods: eighty-six older adults used LBS for 1-week and completed pre- and post-use questionnaires. Twenty available volunteers from the first study also completed in-depth interviews after their experience using the LBS technology. Results: the pre-use questionnaire identified perceptions of usefulness, individual privacy and visibility as predictive of intentions to use a location-tracking service. Post-use, perceived risk was the only factor to predict intention to use LBS. Interviews with participants revealed that LBS was primarily seen as an assistive technology and that issues of trust and privacy were important. Conclusion: the findings from this study suggest older adults struggle to see the benefits of LBS and have a number of privacy concerns likely to inhibit future uptake of location-tracking services and devices

Criminal Justice and Suicide Outcomes with Indiana's Risk-Based Gun Seizure Law

This article examines the application and effectiveness of a 2006 Indiana law designed to prevent gun violence by authorizing police officers to separate firearms from persons who present imminent or future risk of injury to self or others, or display a propensity for violent or emotionally unstable conduct. A court hearing is held to determine ongoing risk in these cases; a judge decides whether to return the seized firearms or retain them for up to five years. The study examines the frequency of criminal arrest as well as suicide outcomes for 395 gun-removal actions in Indiana. Fourteen individuals (3.5%) died from suicide, seven (1.8%) using a firearm. The study population's annualized suicide rate was about 31 times higher than that of the general adult population in Indiana, demonstrating that the law is being applied to a population genuinely at high risk. By extrapolating information on the case fatality rate for different methods of suicide, we calculated that one life was saved for every 10 gun-removal actions, similar to results of a previous study in Connecticut. Perspectives from key stakeholders are also presented along with implications for gun policy reform and implementation

In the Supreme Court of the United States Barbara Grutter, Petitioner, v. Lee Bollinger, et al., Respondents. On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Brief of the University of Michigan Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, the University of Michigan Black Law Students\u27 Alliance, the University of Michigan Latino Law Students Association, and the University of Michigan Native American Law Students Association as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondent

In the Supreme Court of the United States Barbara Grutter, Petitioner, v. Lee Bollinger, et al., Respondents. On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Brief of the University of Michigan Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, the University of Michigan Black Law Students\u27 Alliance, the University of Michigan Latino Law Students Association, and the University of Michigan Native American Law Students Association as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondent

Advancing Pharmacist Collaborative Care within Academic Health Systems.

INTRODUCTION:The scope of pharmacy practice has evolved over the last few decades to focus on the optimization of medication therapy. Despite this positive impact, the lack of reimbursement remains a significant barrier to the implementation of innovative pharmacist practice models. SUMMARY:We describe the successful development, implementation and outcomes of three types of pharmacist collaborative care models: (1) a pharmacist with physician oversight, (2) pharmacist-interprofessional teams and (3) physician-pharmacist teams. The outcome measurement of these pharmacist care models varied from the design phase to patient volume measurement and to comprehensive quality dashboards. All of these practice models have been successfully funded by affiliated health systems or grants. CONCLUSIONS:The expansion of pharmacist services delivered by clinical faculty has several benefits to affiliated health systems: (1) significant improvements in patient care quality, (2) access to experts in specialty areas, and (3) the dissemination of outcomes with national and international recognition, increasing the visibility of the health system