The Vocabulary Notebook as Vehicle for Vocabulary Acquisition

This past semester I conducted my dissertation research at Penn Valley Community College (PVCC) in Kansas City, Missouri. PVCC is located in the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, and its academic English program serves primarily refugees and immigrants, as opposed to the international students that we work with at the Applied English Center. I chose to work with the students at PVCC because my roots as an ESL teacher are within the refugee and immigrant communities, and I enjoy maintaining my connection with these very interesting students

Distal transcriptional activators of the myelin basic protein gene in oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells

Myelin is a multilamellar sheath that wraps the axons in the Central Nervous System (CNS) and in the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). It is required for normal development, axonal health and to facilitate impulse conduction. MBP, one of the major myelin proteins, is synthesised by both oligodendrocytes (OL) in CNS and Schwann cells (SC) in PNS. Its synthesis is regulated primarily at the transcriptional level. MBP transcription is activated as a part of a program of coordinate myelin gene expression during development, overlapping but specific in OL as compared to SC. The nuclear proteins that bind to the MBP promoter are largely unidentified. In vitro and in vivo studies show that activation of the MBP proximal promoter requires different DNA binding sites and proteins in OL as compared to SC. Recently, transgenic mice studies identified a SC enhancer (SCE) located 9.0Kb upstream of the transcriptional start site of MBP. In this work, we compared MBP transcription mechanisms in OL and SC. Transient transfection analyses, in primary cultures of OL and SC, confirm the importance of SCE, and suggest that SCE is an activator in both cell types, but it is an enhancer only in SC. Biochemical analyses show that there are regions differentially protected by SC and OL nuclear extracts that can account for differential function. Analysis of internal deletions and transversion mutations of SCE suggests that multiple cis-acting elements cooperate to produce activation. Analyses of stably transfected SC show that chromatin upregulates SCE activation at least three fold. Co-culture of these stably transfected SC and dorsal root ganglia neurons reveal that axons markedly activate SCE, by at least two orders of magnitude. These results describe a model in which to analyse SCE biochemistry and function and identify trans-acting signals from axons that regulate MBP transcription in SC

The Vocabulary Notebook as Vehicle for Vocabulary Acquisition

This past semester I conducted my dissertation research at Penn Valley Community College (PVCC) in Kansas City, Missouri. PVCC is located in the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, and its academic English program serves primarily refugees and immigrants, as opposed to the international students that we work with at the Applied English Center. I chose to work with the students at PVCC because my roots as an ESL teacher are within the refugee and immigrant communities, and I enjoy maintaining my connection with these very interesting students

From General ESL to EAP: A Fall Leap

This paper is based on the presentation by the same name given in Lawrence, KS on December 7, 2018 as part of the Building Bridges for English Language Centers conference. The presenters were two instructors, Diane Taveggia and Parul Sood, who taught EAP courses for the first time after teaching general ESL classes for many years at the Applied English Center (AEC) at the University of Kansas (KU). The presentation focused on the skills taught in two English for Academic Purposes courses - EAP 101 taught by Parul Sood and EAP 102 taught by Diane Taveggia in the Academic Accelerator Program at KU. This paper expands upon the difference between the University’s IEP and the Academic Accelerator Program as well as the challenges of the transition experienced by the two instructors who made the leap from ESL to EAP for the first time

ADAPTING A VOCABULARY NOTEBOOK STRATEGY TO THE NEEDS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Vocabulary, both the number of words and the knowledge about each word, are important in the comprehension of academic text in post-secondary education, and adult English language learners often have vocabularies of low quantity (number of words) and quality (knowledge about words). Research points to the effectiveness of teaching independent vocabulary learning strategies as a path to independent vocabulary learning for ELLs, but the specifics of what to teach and how to teach it are less clear. The present study investigated an independent vocabulary learning strategy, the vocabulary notebook, with ELLs studying in a community college academic English as a second language program. The purpose of the study was to determine how to most effectively implement a vocabulary notebook intervention, and what modifications researcher, teacher, and students would need to make to the strategy to make it actually useful and feasible. A mixed methods, formative experiment was conducted. Five focal students and nine other participants used the vocabulary notebook, and then provided feedback, via surveys, interviews, focus groups, and a post-semester reflection. In addition, classroom observation data were collected, and the teacher was interviewed. Interviews were transcribed and surveys, focus groups, and classroom observations were summarized. All transcripts and summaries were then coded. Finally, a Vocabulary Levels Test was given as a pre- and post-test, and quantitatively analyzed. Results suggest that, although very interested in learning vocabulary, students had very few comprehensive and coherent strategies in place. The vocabulary notebook iv became a tool for talking about what matters in learning about words and word meanings, so as to effect a change in student strategy use in collecting information about words so as to be able to use new words correctly. In addition, learners expressed a strong need to develop their social language, and initially indicated no real understanding of the disconnect between social and academic language. Finally, no statistically significant difference was found between the pre- and post-Vocabulary Levels Test. Other findings and implications for practice are also discussed

The Complex Work of Proteases and Secretases in Wallerian Degeneration: Beyond Neuregulin-1

After damage, axons in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) regenerate and regrow following a process termed Wallerian degeneration, but the regenerative process is often incomplete and usually the system does not reach full recovery. Key steps to the creation of a permissive environment for axonal regrowth are the trans-differentiation of Schwann cells and the remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). In this review article, we will discuss how proteases and secretases promote effective regeneration and remyelination. We will detail how they control neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) activity at the post-translational level, as the concerted action of alpha, beta and gamma secretases cooperates to balance activating and inhibitory signals necessary for physiological myelination and remyelination. In addition, we will discuss the role of other proteases in nerve repair, among which A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinases (ADAMs) and gamma-secretases substrates. Moreover, we will present how matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and proteases of the blood coagulation cascade participate in forming newly synthetized myelin and in regulating axonal regeneration. Overall, we will highlight how a deeper comprehension of secretases and proteases mechanism of action in Wallerian degeneration might be useful to develop new therapies with the potential of readily and efficiently improve the regenerative process

Erythropoietin stimulation of human adipose tissue for therapeutic refilling releases protective cytokines

Apoptosis and inflammatory processes may be at the basis of reducing graft survival. Erythropoietin is a tissue-protective hormone with pleiotropic potential, and it interferes with the activities of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulates healing following injury, preventing destruction of tissue surrounding the injury site. It may represent a useful tool to increase the autograft integration. Through the use of multipanel kit cytokine analysis we have detected the cytokines secreted by human tissue adipose mass seeded in culture following withdrawal by Coleman's modified technique in three groups: control, after lipopolysaccharides stimulation and after erythropoietin stimulation. In the control group, we have observed expression of factors that may have a role in protecting the tissue homeostatic mechanism. But the same factors were secreted following stimulation with lipopolysaccharides combined with others factors that delineated the inflammatory state. Instead through erythropoietin stimulation, the factors known to exert tissue-protective action were secreted. Therefore, the use of a trophic factors such as erythropoietin may help to inhibit the potential inflammatory process development and stimulate the activation of reparative/regenerative process in the tissue graft

SuperCLEM: An accessible correlative light and electron microscopy approach for investigation of neurons and glia in vitro

The rapid evolution of super-resolution light microscopy has narrowed the gap between light and electron microscopy, allowing the imaging of molecules and cellular structures at high resolution within their normal cellular and tissue context. Multimodal imaging approaches such as correlative light electron microscopy (CLEM) combine these techniques to create a tool with unique imaging capacity. However, these approaches are typically reserved for specialists, and their application to the analysis of neural tissue is challenging. Here we present SuperCLEM, a relatively simple approach that combines super-resolution fluorescence light microscopy (FLM), 3D electron microscopy (3D-EM) and rendering into 3D models. We demonstrate our workflow using neuron-glia cultures from which we first acquire high-resolution fluorescent light images of myelinated axons. After resin embedding and re-identification of the region of interest, serially aligned EM sections are acquired and imaged using a serial block face scanning electron microscope (SBF-SEM). The FLM and 3D-EM data sets are then combined to render 3D models of the myelinated axons. Thus, the SuperCLEM imaging pipeline is a useful new tool for researchers pursuing similar questions in neuronal, as well as other complex tissue culture systems

MMP-28 as a regulator of myelination

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Matrix metalloproteinase-28 (MMP-28) is a poorly understood member of the matrix metalloproteinase family. Metalloproteinases are important mediators in the development of the nervous system and can contribute to the maturation of the neural micro-environment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MMP-28 added to myelinating rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) co-cultures reduces myelination and two antibodies targeted to MMP-28 (pAb180 and pAb183) are capable of binding MMP-28 and inhibiting its activity in a dose-dependent manner. Addition of 30 nM pAb180 or pAb183 to rat DRG cultures resulted in the 2.6 and 4.8 fold enhancement of myelination respectively while addition of MMP-28 to DRG co-cultures resulted in enhanced MAPK, ErbB2 and ErbB3 phosphorylation. MMP-28 protein expression was increased within demyelinated lesions of mouse experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) and human multiple sclerosis lesions compared to surrounding normal tissue.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MMP-28 is upregulated in conditions of demyelination in vivo, induces signaling in vitro consistent with myelination inhibition and, neutralization of MMP-28 activity can enhance myelination in vitro. These results suggest inhibition of MMP-28 may be beneficial under conditions of dysmyelination.</p

BACE1 Processing of NRG1 Type III Produces a Myelin-Inducing Signal but Is Not Essential for the Stimulation of Myelination

Myelin sheath thickness is precisely adjusted to axon caliber, and in the peripheral nervous system, neuregulin 1 (NRG1) type III is a key regulator of this process. It has been proposed that the protease BACE1 activates NRG1 dependent myelination. Here, we characterize the predicted product of BACE1-mediated NRG1 type III processing in transgenic mice. Neuronal overexpression of a NRG1 type III-variant, designed to mimic prior cleavage in the juxtamembrane stalk region, induces hypermyelination in vivo and is sufficient to restore myelination of NRG1 type III-deficient neurons. This observation implies that the NRG1 cytoplasmic domain is dispensable and that processed NRG1 type III is sufficient for all steps of myelination. Surprisingly, transgenic neuronal overexpression of full-length NRG1 type III promotes hypermyelination also in BACE1 null mutant mice. Moreover, NRG1 processing is impaired but not abolished in BACE1 null mutants. Thus, BACE1 is not essential for the activation of NRG1 type III to promote myelination. Taken together, these findings suggest that multiple neuronal proteases collectively regulate NRG1 processing. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc