Adoption of mobile devices in teaching: changes in teacher beliefs, attitudes and anxiety

postprin

Learner expertise and mathematics different order thinking skills in multimedia learning

This experimental study used an instructional visual aid for algebra to investigate whether different order thinking skills – remembering, understanding and analyzing – affect the expertise reversal effect. One hundred and twenty-three secondary school students were assigned to an experimental condition, either with or without the aid. In the experiment, an aid that was designed for novice learners, and the materials were developed using multimedia learning principles to maximize the use of learner cognitive capacity. The results showed that the expertise reversal effect occurred in understanding (retention, more-structured), but not in remembering (transfer, more-structured) and analyzing skills (transfer, less-structured). A plausible explanation is less-structured environments that require heavier process of searching and/or selecting increased demand of cognitive load imposed. We suggest that designing adaptive environments should take order thinking skill, instructional format and learner expertise into account

Improving argumentative writing: Effects of a blended learning approach and gamification

This study investigated the effectiveness of a blended learning approach - involving the Thesis-Analysis-Synthesis Key (TASK) procedural strategy, online Edmodo discussion, online message labels and writing models - on student argumentative writing in a Hong Kong secondary school. It also examined whether the application of digital game mechanics increased student online contribution and writing performance. Three classes of Secondary 4 students (16 to 17 year-old) participated in the seven-week study. The first experimental group (n=22) utilized the blended learning + gamification approach. The second experimental group (n=30) utilized only the blended learning approach. In the control group (n=20), a teacher-led direct instruction approach on the components of argumentation was employed. Data sources included students’ pre- and post-test written essays, students’ online Edmodo postings, and students’ interviews. We found a significant improvement in students’ writing using the blended learning approach. On-topic online contributions were significantly higher when gamification was adopted. Students’ and teacher’s opinions on the blended learning approach were also examined.published_or_final_versio

Digital Literacy Learning In Higher Education Through Digital Storytelling Approach

It is necessary to develop digital literacy skills with which students can communicate and express their ideas effectively using digital media. The educational sectors around the world are beginning to incorporate digital literacy into the curriculum. Digital storytelling, one of the possible classroom activities, is an approach which may help engage and motivate students to learn digital literacy skills. To investigate this approach, the present small-scale study employs the methods including interviewing and analysing the artefacts of three students selected from a purposive sample on a multimedia course. The findings indicate that the three students have improved in terms of three aspects of digital literacy skills, namely, digital competence, digital usage and digital transformation regardless of their prior knowledge and levels of digital literacy.postprin

Glycodelin-A primes zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction of human spermatozoa via downregulation of extracellular signal regulated kinases and enhancement of zona pellucida-induced calcium influx

Conference Theme: The Intersection Between Genetics, Genomics, and Reproductive BiologypostprintThe 43rd Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR), Milwaukee, WI., 30 July-3 August 2010. In Meeting Abstracts, 2010, p. 38, abstract no. 17

The Embryotrophic Activity of Oviductal Cell-derived Complement C3b and iC3b, a Novel Function of Complement Protein in Reproduction

The oviduct-derived embryotrophic factor, ETF-3, enhances the development of trophectoderm and the hatching process of treated embryos. Monoclonal anti-ETF-3 antibody that abolishes the embryotrophic activity of ETF-3 recognized a 115-kDa protein from the conditioned medium of immortalized human oviductal cells. Mass spectrometry analysis showed that the protein was complement C3. Western blot analysis using an antibody against C3 confirmed the cross-reactivities between anti-C3 antibody with ETF-3 and anti-ETF-3 antibody with C3 and its derivatives, C3b and iC3b. Both derivatives, but not C3, were embryotrophic. iC3b was most efficient in enhancing the development of blastocysts with larger size and higher hatching rate, consistent with the previous reported embryotrophic activity of ETF-3. Embryos treated with iC3b contained iC3b immunoreactivity. The oviductal epithelium produced C3 as evidenced by the presence of C3 immunoreactivity and mRNA in the human oviduct and cultured oviductal cells. Cyclical changes in the expression of C3 immunoreactivity and mRNA were also found in the mouse oviduct with the highest expression at the estrus stage. Molecules involving in the conversion of C3b to iC3b and binding of iC3b were present in the human oviduct (factor I) and mouse preimplantation embryo (Crry and CR3), respectively. In conclusion, the present data showed that the oviduct produced C3/C3b, which was converted to iC3b to stimulate embryo development.postprin

Glycodelin-A interacts with fucosyltransferase on human sperm plasma membrane to inhibit spermatozoa-zona pellucida binding

Fertilization depends on successful binding of the spermatozoa to the zona pellucida of the oocyte. Glycodelin-A inhibits spermatozoa-zona pellucida binding. Previous data showed that glycodelin-A receptor(s) and zona pellucida protein receptor(s) on human spermatozoa are closely related. Using a chemical cross-linking approach, the glycodelin-A-sperm receptor complex was isolated. The receptor was identified to be fucosyltransferase-5 (FUT5) by mass spectrometry and confirmed with the use of anti-FUT5 antibodies. Sperm FUT5 was an externally oriented integral membrane protein in the acrosomal region of human spermatozoa. Biologically active FUT5 was purified from spermatozoa. Co-immunoprecipitation confirmed the interaction between glycodelin-A and sperm FUT5. Solubilized zona pellucida reduced the binding of glycodelin-A to sperm FUT5. An anti-FUT5 antibody and FUT5 acceptor blocked the binding of glycodelin-A to spermatozoa and the zona binding inhibitory activity of glycodelin-A. Sperm FUT5 bound strongly to intact and solubilized human zona pellucida. The equilibrium dissociation constant of sperm FUT5 binding to solubilized zona pellucida was 42.82 pmol/ml. These observations suggest that human sperm FUT5 is a receptor of glycodelin-A and zona pellucida proteins, and that glycodelin-A inhibits spermatozoa-zona binding by blocking the binding of sperm FUT5 to the zona pellucida.published_or_final_versio

Using electrical stimulation to enhance the efficacy of cell transplantation therapies for neurodegenerative retinal diseases: Concepts, challenges, and future perspectives

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International experience of public infrastructure delivery in support of housing growth

This paper compares planning and funding arrangements for public infrastructure delivery in support of new housing development in the UK, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the US, and Hong Kong/Mainland China. It examines the roles and responsibilities of different levels of government, the extraction of financial contributions from the development process (mainly funded through increases in land value), and the level of involvement of private and public actors in infrastructure delivery and land value capture (LVC). Three linked questions provide a basis for comparison of the cases: first, what arrangements are in place, in terms of planning hierarchy and responsibility, for coordinating infrastructure delivery (and how do these relate to funding arrangements); second, how are local contributions extracted from the development process or through the acquisition and sale of land; and lastly, what inferences can be drawn regarding the relative power of public and private actors in this process and to what extent is public interest prioritized/served through prevailing approaches to value extraction. The paper contributes international experience to debates on optimizing planning approaches for infrastructure delivery while maximizing public benefit from land value

Study of transforming growth factor alpha for the maintenance of human embryonic stem cells

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have great potential for regenerative medicine as they have selfregenerative and pluripotent properties. Feeder cells or their conditioned medium are required for the maintenance of hESC in the undifferentiated state. Feeder cells have been postulated to produce growth factors and extracellular molecules for maintaining hESC in culture. The present study has aimed at identifying these molecules. The gene expression of supportive feeder cells, namely human foreskin fibroblast (hFF-1) and non-supportive human lung fibroblast (WI-38) was analyzed by microarray and 445 genes were found to be differentially expressed. Gene ontology analysis showed that 20.9% and 15.5% of the products of these genes belonged to the extracellular region and regulation of transcription activity, respectively. After validation of selected differentially expressed genes in both human and mouse feeder cells, transforming growth factor a (TGFa) was chosen for functional study. The results demonstrated that knockdown or protein neutralization of TGFa in hFF-1 led to increased expression of early differentiation markers and lower attachment rates of hESC. More importantly, TGFa maintained pluripotent gene expression levels, attachment rates and pluripotency by the in vitro differentiation of H9 under non-supportive conditions. TGFa treatment activated the p44/42MAPK pathway but not the PI3K/Akt pathway. In addition, TGFa treatment increased the expression of pluripotent markers, NANOG and SSEA-3 but had no effects on the proliferation of hESCs. This study of the functional role of TGFa provides insights for the development of clinical grade hESCs for therapeutic applications. © The Author(s) 2012. © Springer-Verlag 2012.published_or_final_versio