An exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis of the student online learning readiness (SOLR) instrument

The purpose of this study was to develop an effective instrument to measure student readiness in online learning with reliable predictors of online learning success factors such as learning outcomes and learner satisfaction. The validity and reliability of the Student Online Learning Readiness (SOLR) instrument were tested using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and reliability analysis. Twenty items from three competencies, i.e. social competencies, communication competencies, and technical competencies, were designated for the initial instrument based on the Student Online Learning Readiness (SOLR) Model as a new conceptual model. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed that four factor-structures of the instrument of student readiness in online learning explained 66.69% of the variance in the pattern of relationships among the items. All four factors had high reliabilities (all at or above Cronbach\u27s alpha\u3e .823). Twenty items remained in the final questionnaire after deleting one item which cross-loaded on multiple factors (social competencies with classmates: five items, social competencies with instructor: five items, communication competencies: four items, and technical competencies: six items). The four-factor structure of the Student Online Learning Readiness (SOLR) has been confirmed through this study. Educators can use the Student Online Learning Readiness (SOLR) instrument in order to discover a better understanding of the level of freshmen college students\u27 online learning readiness by measuring their social, communication, and technical competencies. In addition, this study was looking at two factors of social integration in Tinto\u27s SIM and has introduced the Student Online Learning Readiness (SOLR) conceptual model with the purpose to extend Tinto\u27s social integration to online learning environmen

Real-time observation of a coherent lattice transformation into a high-symmetry phase

Excursions far from their equilibrium structures can bring crystalline solids through collective transformations including transitions into new phases that may be transient or long-lived. Direct spectroscopic observation of far-from-equilibrium rearrangements provides fundamental mechanistic insight into chemical and structural transformations, and a potential route to practical applications, including ultrafast optical control over material structure and properties. However, in many cases photoinduced transitions are irreversible or only slowly reversible, or the light fluence required exceeds material damage thresholds. This precludes conventional ultrafast spectroscopy in which optical excitation and probe pulses irradiate the sample many times, each measurement providing information about the sample response at just one probe delay time following excitation, with each measurement at a high repetition rate and with the sample fully recovering its initial state in between measurements. Using a single-shot, real-time measurement method, we were able to observe the photoinduced phase transition from the semimetallic, low-symmetry phase of crystalline bismuth into a high-symmetry phase whose existence at high electronic excitation densities was predicted based on earlier measurements at moderate excitation densities below the damage threshold. Our observations indicate that coherent lattice vibrational motion launched upon photoexcitation with an incident fluence above 10 mJ/cm2 in bulk bismuth brings the lattice structure directly into the high-symmetry configuration for tens of picoseconds, after which carrier relaxation and diffusion restore the equilibrium lattice configuration.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure

Technical note: Institutional solution of clinical cine MRI for tumor motion evaluation in radiotherapy

PURPOSE: Since 4D-MRI is inadequate to capture dynamic respiratory variations, real-time cinematographic (cine) MRI is actively used in MR-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) for tumor motion evaluation, delineation, and tracking. However, most radiotherapy imaging platforms do not support the format of cine MRI from clinical MRI systems. This study developed an institutional solution of clinical cine MRI for tumor motion evaluation in radiotherapy applications. METHODS: Cine MRI manipulation software (called Cine Viewer) was developed within a commercial Treatment Planning System (TPS). It consists of (1) single/orthogonal viewers, (2) display controllers, (3) measurement grids/markers, and (4) manual contouring tools. RESULTS: The institutional solution of clinical cine MRI incorporated with radiotherapy application was assessed through case presentations (liver cancer). Cine Viewer loaded cine MRIs from 1.5T Philips Ingenia MRI, handling MRI DICOM format. The measurement grids and markers were used to quantify the displacement of anatomical structures in addition to the tumor. The contouring tool was utilized to localize the tumor and surrogates on the designated frame. The stacks of the contours were exhibited to present the ranges of tumor and surrogate motions. For example, the stacks of the tumor contours from case-1 were used to determine the ranges of tumor motions (∼8.17 mm on the x-direction [AP-direction] and ∼14 mm on the y-direction [SI-direction]). In addition, the patterns of the displacement of the contours over frames were analyzed and reported using in-house software. In the case-1 review, the tumor was displaced from +146.0 mm on the x-direction and +125.0 mm on the y-direction from the ROI of the abdominal surface. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated the institutional solution of clinical cine MRI in radiotherapy. The proposed tools can streamline the utilization of cine MRI for tumor motion evaluation using Eclipse for treatment planning

A pathogen-derived metabolite induces microglial activation via odorant receptors

Microglia (MG), the principal neuroimmune sentinels in the brain, continuously sense changes in their environment and respond to invading pathogens, toxins, and cellular debris, thereby affecting neuroinflammation. Microbial pathogens produce small metabolites that influence neuroinflammation, but the molecular mechanisms that determine whether pathogen-derived small metabolites affect microglial activation of neuroinflammation remain to be elucidated. We hypothesized that odorant receptors (ORs), the largest subfamily of G protein-coupled receptors, are involved in microglial activation by pathogen-derived small metabolites. We found that MG express high levels of two mouse ORs, Olfr110 and Olfr111, which recognize a pathogenic metabolite, 2-pentylfuran, secreted by Streptococcus pneumoniae. These interactions activate MG to engage in chemotaxis, cytokine production, phagocytosis, and reactive oxygen species generation. These effects were mediated through the G(alpha s)-cyclic adenosine monophosphate-protein kinase A-extracellular signal-regulated kinase and G(beta gamma)-phospholipase C-Ca2+ pathways. Taken together, our results reveal a novel interplay between the pathogen-derived metabolite and ORs, which has major implications for our understanding of microglial activation by pathogen recognition. Database Model data are available in the PMDB database under the accession number PM0082389.N

Power Generation and Microbial Community Shift According to Applied Anodic Potential in Electroactive Biofilm Reactors Treating Synthetic and Domestic Wastewater

This study investigated the effect of initially set anodic potentials (−0.3, −0.2, −0.1 and +0.1 V) on voltage production and microbial community in electroactive biofilm reactors (EBRs) treating synthetic and domestic wastewater (WW). In phase 1, EBRs were acclimated with different anodic potentials for synthetic and domestic WW. EBR (SE4) poised with +0.1 V showed the highest maximum power density (420 mW/m2) for synthetic WW, while EBR (DE3) poised with −0.1 V showed the highest maximum power density (235 mW/m2) for domestic WW. In phase 2, the EBRs were operated with a fixed external resistance (100 Ω for synthetic WW and 500 Ω for domestic WW) after the applied potentials were stopped. The EBRs showed slightly different voltage productions depending on the WW type and the initial anodic potential, but both EBRs applied with +0.1 V for synthetic (SE4) and domestic (DE4) WW showed the highest voltage production. Principal component analysis results based on denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis band profiles showed that the microbial community was completely different depending on the WW type. Nevertheless, it was found that the microbial community of EBRs applied with a negative potential (−0.3, −0.2, and −0.1 V) seemed to shift to those of EBRs applied with a positive potential (+0.1 V) regardless of WW type. Therefore, positive anodic potential is an important operating factor in electroactive biofilm development and voltage generation for rapid start-up

A Survey of Security Mechanisms with Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Signals

Security has long been a challenging problem in wireless networks mainly due to its broadcast nature of the communication. It opens up simple and yet effective measures to thwart useful communications between legitimate radios. Spread spectrum technologies such as direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) have been developed as effective countermeasures against, for example, jamming attacks. This paper surveys previous research on securing a DSSS channel even further using physical layer attributes - Keyless DSSS mechanisms and Watermarked DSSS (WDSSS) schemes. The former has been motivated by the fact that it is still an open question to establish and share the secret spread sequence between the transmitter and the receiver without being noticed by adversaries. The basic idea of the latter is to exploit the redundancy inherent in DSSS’s spreading process to embed watermark information. It can be considered a counter measure (authentication) for an intelligent attacker who obtains the spread sequence to generate fake messages. This paper also presents and evaluates an adaptive DSSS scheme that takes both jam resistance and communication efficiency into accoun

Power Generation and Microbial Community Shift According to Applied Anodic Potential in Electroactive Biofilm Reactors Treating Synthetic and Domestic Wastewater

This study investigated the effect of initially set anodic potentials (−0.3, −0.2, −0.1 and +0.1 V) on voltage production and microbial community in electroactive biofilm reactors (EBRs) treating synthetic and domestic wastewater (WW). In phase 1, EBRs were acclimated with different anodic potentials for synthetic and domestic WW. EBR (SE4) poised with +0.1 V showed the highest maximum power density (420 mW/m2) for synthetic WW, while EBR (DE3) poised with −0.1 V showed the highest maximum power density (235 mW/m2) for domestic WW. In phase 2, the EBRs were operated with a fixed external resistance (100 Ω for synthetic WW and 500 Ω for domestic WW) after the applied potentials were stopped. The EBRs showed slightly different voltage productions depending on the WW type and the initial anodic potential, but both EBRs applied with +0.1 V for synthetic (SE4) and domestic (DE4) WW showed the highest voltage production. Principal component analysis results based on denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis band profiles showed that the microbial community was completely different depending on the WW type. Nevertheless, it was found that the microbial community of EBRs applied with a negative potential (−0.3, −0.2, and −0.1 V) seemed to shift to those of EBRs applied with a positive potential (+0.1 V) regardless of WW type. Therefore, positive anodic potential is an important operating factor in electroactive biofilm development and voltage generation for rapid start-up

A Survey of Security Mechanisms with Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Signals

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