Evaluation of a Tutorial Designed to Promote Academic Integrity

Academic integrity violations undermine principles of integrity and the quality of education.  Reducing the prevalence of dishonesty in scholarly work requires a multi-faceted approach (Stephens, 2016), which may include the implementation of e-learning tutorials.  Tutorials and other brief educational interventions increase students’ perceived knowledge and understanding of academic integrity and related topics (Stoesz & Yudintseva, 2018); however, it is unclear from the literature which students benefit most from completing them.  In two studies, secondary (i.e., middle and high) school students were recruited to complete an e-learning tutorial and surveys about academic integrity, approaches to learning, motivation for learning, and personality.  88 students participated in an online study, but only 15 participants completed the tutorial.  Knowledge and perceived seriousness of academic integrity violations increased significantly in this small sample; these changes were not evident in the remaining participants.  A follow-up study with 90 students tested in face-to-face classroom sessions confirmed the results of the first study.  Moreover, the changes in perception were larger for the youngest and oldest participants compared to the middle age group, and were correlated with use of deep learning strategies and agreeableness.  Overall, the findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of academic integrity tutorials, and suggest individual difference factors must be considered when designing and implementing brief educational interventions.  Examining behaviour change and long-term outcomes for secondary school students, and exploring the influences of learning environment and teacher characteristics on learning the values of academic integrity are important avenues for future research

Bias in Student Ratings of Instruction: A Systematic Review of Research from 2012 to 2021

Student ratings of instruction (SRI) are commonly used to evaluate courses and teaching in higher education. Much debate about their validity in evaluating teaching exists, which is due to concerns of bias by factors unrelated to teaching quality (Spooren et al., 2013). Our objective was to identify peer-reviewed original research published in English from January 1, 2012, to March 10, 2021, on potential sources of bias in SRIs. Our systematic review of 63 articles demonstrated strong support for the continued existence of gender bias, favoring male instructors and bias against faculty with minority ethnic and cultural backgrounds. These and other biases must be considered when implementing SRIs and reviewing results. Critical practices for reducing bias when using SRIs include implementing bias awareness training and avoiding use of SRIs as a singular measure of teaching quality when making decisions for teaching development or hiring and promotion

The afterglow of GW170817 from every angle: Prospects for detecting the afterglows of binary neutron star mergers

To date GW170817, produced by a binary neutron star (BNS) merger, is the only gravitational wave event with an electromagnetic (EM) counterpart. It was associated with a prompt short gamma-ray burst (GRB), an optical kilonova, and the afterglow of a structured, off-axis relativistic jet. We model the prospects for future mergers discovered in gravitational waves to produce detectable afterglows. Using a model fit to GW170817, we assume all BNS mergers produce jets with the same parameters, and model the afterglow luminosity for a full distribution of observer angles, ISM densities, and distances. We find that in the LIGO/Virgo O4 run, 30% - 50% of BNS mergers with a well-localized counterpart will have an afterglow detectable with current instrumentation in the X-ray, radio and optical. Without a previously detected counterpart, up to 18% will have an afterglow detectable by wide-area radio and optical surveys, compared to only about 5% of events expected to have bright (on-axis) gamma-ray emission. Therefore, most afterglows that are detected will be from off-axis jets. Further in the future, in the A+ era (O5), 50% - 60% of mergers will have afterglows detectable with next-generation X-ray and radio instruments. Future wide-area radio survey instruments, particularly DSA-2000, could detect 50% of afterglows, even without a kilonova counterpart. Finding and monitoring these afterglows will provide valuable insight into the structure and diversity of relativistic jets, the rate at which mergers produce jets, and constrain the angle of the mergers relative to our line of sight.Comment: Submitted to MNRA

Design and performance of the Fermilab Constant Fraction Discriminator ASIC

We present the design and performance characterization results of the novel Fermilab Constant Fraction Discriminator ASIC (FCFD) developed to readout low gain avalanche detector (LGAD) signals by directly using a constant fraction discriminator (CFD) to measure signal arrival time. Silicon detectors with time resolutions less than 30 ps will play a critical role in future collider experiments, and LGADs have been demonstrated to provide the required time resolution and radiation tolerance for many such applications. The FCFD has a specially designed discriminator that is robust against amplitude variations of the signal from the LGAD that normally requires an additional correction step when using a traditional leading edge discriminator based measurement. The application of the CFD directly in the ASIC promises to be more reliable and reduces the complication of timing detectors during their operation. We will present a summary of the measured performance of the FCFD for input signals generated by internal charge injection, LGAD signals from an infrared laser, and LGAD signals from minimum-ionizing particles. The mean time response for a wide range of LGAD signal amplitudes has been measured to vary no more than 15 ps, orders of magnitude more stable than an uncorrected leading edge discriminator based measurement, and effectively removes the need for any additional time-walk correction. The measured contribution to the time resolution from the FCFD ASIC is also found to be 10 ps for signals with charge above 20 fC

Determinants of consistent condom use among Filipino women: Results from the 2017 Philippine National Demographic and Health Survey

Background: Consistent condom use in women, defined as the self-reported usage of male condom in every sexual encounter of the respondent with her most recent partner in the last 12 months, had been perennially low in the Philippines. This is despite consistent condom use being a tested and proven public health intervention to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Considering the high fertility rate, teenage pregnancy rate, and the rapidly increasing incidence of HIV in the country, we identified the determinants of consistent condom use in the Philippines. Methods: We used data from the individual recode of the 2017 Philippine National Demographic and Health Survey. We used logistic regression for survey data to identify factors associated with consistent condom use. Results: Out of 25,074 respondents, only 261 (1.13%) have used condoms consistently with their most recent partner. Reach of information and education campaigns on contraceptive use via different media ranged from 62% via television to 7% via short messaging service. After adjusting for confounders; those who were able to ask their partners to use condoms during sexual intercourse have 6.18 times (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 6.18; 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI): 2.02. 18.94) greater odds of consistent condom use than those who were unable to ask their partners to use condoms during sexual intercourse. Meanwhile; HIV knowledge (aOR: 1.16; 95% CI: 0.98, 1.38) and hearing about contraception in television (aOR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.38) have weaker associations with consistent condom use. Conclusions: The low percentage of those who use condoms consistently, together with the low reach of information and education campaigns, highlight the need to implement multi-faceted and context-specific interventions to promote sexual agency and/or consistent condom use to address the burden of unwanted pregnancies and HIV in the Philippines

First survey of centimeter-scale AC-LGAD strip sensors with a 120 GeV proton beam

We present the first beam test results with centimeter-scale AC-LGAD strip sensors, using the Fermilab Test Beam Facility and sensors manufactured by the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Sensors of this type are envisioned for applications that require large-area precision 4D tracking coverage with economical channel counts, including timing layers for the Electron Ion Collider (EIC), and space-based particle experiments. A survey of sensor designs is presented, with the aim of optimizing the electrode geometry for spatial resolution and timing performance. Several design considerations are discussed towards maintaining desirable signal characteristics with increasingly larger electrodes. The resolutions obtained with several prototypes are presented, reaching simultaneous 18 micron and 32 ps resolutions from strips of 1 cm length and 500 micron pitch. With only slight modifications, these sensors would be ideal candidates for a 4D timing layer at the EIC

Characterization of BNL and HPK AC-LGAD sensors with a 120 GeV proton beam

We present measurements of AC-LGADs performed at the Fermilab's test beam facility using 120 GeV protons. We studied the performance of various strip and pad AC-LGAD sensors that were produced by BNL and HPK. The measurements are performed with our upgraded test beam setup that utilizes a high precision telescope tracker, and a simultaneous readout of up to 7 channels per sensor, which allows detailed studies of signal sharing characteristics. These measurements allow us to assess the differences in designs between different manufacturers, and optimize them based on experimental performance. We then study several reconstruction algorithms to optimize position and time resolutions that utilize the signal sharing properties of each sensor. We present a world's first demonstration of silicon sensors in a test beam that simultaneously achieve better than 6-10 micron position and 30 ps time resolution. This represents a substantial improvement to the spatial resolution than would be obtained with binary readout of sensors with similar pitch

MicroRNA signature from extracellular vesicles of HCV/HIV co-infected individuals differs from HCV mono-infected

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has a detrimental impact on disease progression. Increasing evidence points to extracellular vesicles (EVs) as important players of the host-viral cross-talk. The microRNAs (miRNAs), as essential components of EVs cargo, are key regulators of normal cellular processes and also promote viral replication, viral pathogenesis, and disease progression. We aimed to characterize the plasma-derived EVs miRNA signature of chronic HCV infected and HIV coinfected patients to unravel the molecular mechanisms of coinfection. EVs were purified and characterized from 50 plasma samples (21 HCV mono- and 29 HCV/HIV co-infected). EV-derived small RNAs were isolated and analyzed by massive sequencing. Known and de novo miRNAs were identified with miRDeep2. Significant differentially expressed (SDE) miRNA identification was performed with generalized linear models and their putative dysregulated biological pathways were evaluated. Study groups were similar for most clinical and epidemiological characteristics. No differences were observed in EVs size or concentration between groups. Therefore, HCV/HIV co-infection condition did not affect the concentration or size of EVs but produced a disturbance in plasma-derived EVs miRNA cargo. Thus, a total of 149 miRNAs were identified (143 known and 6 de novo) leading to 37 SDE miRNAs of which 15 were upregulated and 22 downregulated in HCV/HIV co-infected patients. SDE miRNAs regulate genes involved in inflammation, fibrosis, and cancer, modulating different biological pathways related to HCV and HIV pathogenesis. These findings may help to develop new generation biomarkers and treatment strategies, in addition to elucidate the mechanisms underlying virus-host interaction. KEY MESSAGES: HCV and HCV/HIV displayed similar plasma-EV size and concentration. EVs- derived miRNA profile was characterized by NGS. 37 SDE miRNAs between HCV and HCV/HIV were observed. SDE miRNAs regulate genes involved in inflammation, fibrosis and cancer.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work has been supported by grants from (1) Institute of Health Carlos III, Spain [PI18CIII/00020/ to AFR], (2) PID2021–126781OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”, (3) The SPANISH AIDS Research Network RD16CIII/0002/0002 - ISCIII – FEDER, (4) Centro de Investigación en Red en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC) CB21/13/00044, (5) the National Agency for Scientific and Technology Promotion (ANPCyT) (PICT 2017 Nº713), and (6) the National Research Council (CONICET, PIP 2021-2023). V.C. received funding form the Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Postgrado (AUIP) for the Academic Mobility Scholarship Program. P.V., E.D.M., and M.V.P. are members of the CONICET-Research Career Program. V.C. is a fellow from ANPCyT. The funder’s had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript.S

Macrophage fumarate hydratase restrains mtRNA-mediated interferon production

Metabolic rewiring underlies the effector functions of macrophages1-3, but the mechanisms involved remain incompletely defined. Here, using unbiased metabolomics and stable isotope-assisted tracing, we show that an inflammatory aspartate-argininosuccinate shunt is induced following lipopolysaccharide stimulation. The shunt, supported by increased argininosuccinate synthase (ASS1) expression, also leads to increased cytosolic fumarate levels and fumarate-mediated protein succination. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic ablation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme fumarate hydratase (FH) further increases intracellular fumarate levels. Mitochondrial respiration is also suppressed and mitochondrial membrane potential increased. RNA sequencing and proteomics analyses demonstrate that there are strong inflammatory effects resulting from FH inhibition. Notably, acute FH inhibition suppresses interleukin-10 expression, which leads to increased tumour necrosis factor secretion, an effect recapitulated by fumarate esters. Moreover, FH inhibition, but not fumarate esters, increases interferon-β production through mechanisms that are driven by mitochondrial RNA (mtRNA) release and activation of the RNA sensors TLR7, RIG-I and MDA5. This effect is recapitulated endogenously when FH is suppressed following prolonged lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Furthermore, cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus also exhibit FH suppression, which indicates a potential pathogenic role for this process in human disease. We therefore identify a protective role for FH in maintaining appropriate macrophage cytokine and interferon responses