Exploring Faculty Use of Open Educational Resources at British Columbia Post-Secondary Institutions

This research examines the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) by post-secondary faculty in British Columbia, including their motivations and perceptions, as well as what factors help to enable or act as challenges for OER use and adaptation. Although the findings provide a snapshot of the BC post- secondary system as a whole, we also explore similarities and differences in OER use among faculty across the three institution types in British Columbia: research-intensive universities, teaching-intensive universities, and colleges/institutes (see Appendix A). This research also investigates the relationships between faculty use of OER and institutional policies, the tendency to share teaching materials, and the personality trait of openness

Electrochemical dynamics of cytochrome P450-3A4 isoenzyme biosensor for protease inhibitor antiretroviral drug

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThis thesis firstly reports on the development and characterization of reagent-less and cobalt(III) sepulchrate[Co(Sep)³⁺] mediated biosensor platforms (biosensor platform 1 and biosensor platform 2), with human recombinant heme thiolate, cytochrome P450 3A4 isoenzyme (CYP3A4), as biorecognition component. Secondly, each biosensor platform was evaluated by using an entirely different category of compound as model substrate, with the overall objective being the development of alternative analytical method for the detection and quantification of each of these substrates,by amperometric transduction method. In this regard biosensor platform 1 was evaluated for the detection of 2,4-dichlorophenol, whereas biosensor platform 2 was evaluated for the detection of protease inhibitor (PI) HAART drug, indinavir. Fourthly, this dissertation also reports on the use of genetic engineering as complimentary method during biosensor investigations, as source for continuous supply of catalytically active biological recognition component. With respect to the preparation of the biosensors in particular, biosensor platform 1 was constructed by entrapping the commercially sourced full-length, wild type CYP3A4 on a pre-formed electroactive carrier matrix, consisting of Co(Sep)³⁺–modified nafion membrane on a glassy carbon electrode. In this regard, the nafion-Co(Sep)³⁺ composite was prepared by integrating the Co(Sep)³⁺ species into a pre-formed nafion film through manual drop-coating and mixing methods

Habitat and Vegetation Variables Are Not Enough When Predicting Tick Populations in the Southeastern United States

La Crosse encephalitis (LAC) is the leading arboviral disease among children, and was previously limited to the upper Midwest. In 2012 nine pediatric cases of LAC occurred in eastern Tennessee, including one fatal case. In an attempt to identify sites near an active LACv infection and describe the abundance and distribution of potential LACv vectors near a fatal LAC case in the Appalachian region, we initiated an end of season study using a combination of questing and oviposition mosquito traps placed at forty-nine sites consisting of cemeteries and houses within 16 radial kilometers of two pediatric infections. LACv was isolated from three Aedes triseriatus pools collected from cemeteries and spatial clustering analysis identified clusters of Ae. triseriatus and Ae. albopictus populations that overlapped in the same area as the 2012 LACv cases. Results indicate cemeteries are effective sites for monitoring LACv. The role of cemeteries and specific environmental features will be the focus of future investigations

Cemeteries Are Effective Sites For Monitoring La Crosse Virus (LACv) and these Environments May Play a Role in LACv Infection

La Crosse encephalitis (LAC) is the leading arboviral disease among children, and was previously limited to the upper Midwest. In 2012 nine pediatric cases of LAC occurred in eastern Tennessee, including one fatal case. In an attempt to identify sites near an active LACv infection and describe the abundance and distribution of potential LACv vectors near a fatal LAC case in the Appalachian region, we initiated an end of season study using a combination of questing and oviposition mosquito traps placed at forty-nine sites consisting of cemeteries and houses within 16 radial kilometers of two pediatric infections. LACv was isolated from threeAedes triseriatus pools collected from cemeteries and spatial clustering analysis identified clusters of Ae. triseriatus and Ae. albopictus populations that overlapped in the same area as the 2012 LACv cases. Results indicate cemeteries are effective sites for monitoring LACv. The role of cemeteries and specific environmental features will be the focus of future investigations

Thinking with Art within Methodology

This panel provides examples of projects that combine art with methodology. The presenters will share a video installation about students’ messy data analysis interactions, illustrate methodologies through literary turns and balletic, modern, and postmodern form of dance, demonstrate Deleuze and Guattaris’ concept of rhizome with a monologue, share data interactions through visuals, and present a video re-enactment of The Best of Me: A Photographic Installation

Intrinsic and Synthetic Stable Isotope Marking of Tsetse Flies

The sterile insect technique has been successfully used to eliminate tsetse populations in a number of programs. Program monitoring in the field relies on the ability to accurately differentiate released sterile insects from wild insects so that estimates can be made of the ratio of sterile males to wild males. Typically, released flies are marked with a dye, which is not always reliable. The difference in isotopic signatures between wild and factory-reared populations could be a reliable and intrinsic secondary marker to complement existing marking methods. Isotopic signatures are natural differences in stable isotope composition of organisms due to discrimination against the heavier isotopes during some biological processes. As the isotopic signature of an organism is mainly dependent on what it eats; by feeding factory-reared flies isotopically different diets to those of the wild population it is possible to intrinsically mark the flies. To test this approach unlabeled samples of Glossina pallidipes (Austen) (Diptera: Glossinidae) from a mass rearing facility and wild populations were analyzed to determine whether there were any natural differences in signatures that could be used as markers. In addition experiments were conducted in which the blood diet was supplemented with isotopically enriched compounds and the persistence of the marker in the offspring determined. There were distinct natural isotopic differences between factory reared and wild tsetse populations that could be reliably used as population markers. It was also possible to rear artificially isotopically labeled flies using simple technology and these flies were clearly distinguishable from wild populations with greater than 95% certainty after 85 days of “release”. These techniques could be readily adopted for use in SIT programs as complimentary marking techniques

Epigraphic notes on two bilingual inscriptions in the National Museum of Banat (IDR III/1 170 and 178)

There have been six inscriptions exhibiting Palmyrene Aramaic script discovered in Romania (Roman Dacia). This article surveys all six, focusing on two fragments of bilingual inscriptions that were unearthed at the Roman period site of Tibiscum (IDR III/1 170 and 178). This article provides a line-by-line analysis of both texts, offering a detailed analysis of the scripts of both and offering a new reconstruction of IDR III/1 170. We argue that the revised reading of Aramaic line 1 as br tym[’] (“son of Taym[ē’]”) requires a reevaluation of the Latin portion of individuals named in the inscription. The deceased individual remains unnamed, but his father was named Taymē’(according to the Aramaic portion). This was not, however, the same Themhes who dedicated the inscription (according to Latin line 3′) and was the brother of the deceased. Our detailed analysis of both epigraphs’ scripts demonstrates that they belonged to two different inscriptions.Published versio

Disruption of the homeodomain transcription factor orthopedia homeobox (Otp) is associated with obesity and anxiety.

OBJECTIVE: Genetic studies in obese rodents and humans can provide novel insights into the mechanisms involved in energy homeostasis. METHODS: In this study, we genetically mapped the chromosomal region underlying the development of severe obesity in a mouse line identified as part of a dominant N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis screen. We characterized the metabolic and behavioral phenotype of obese mutant mice and examined changes in hypothalamic gene expression. In humans, we examined genetic data from people with severe early onset obesity. RESULTS: We identified an obese mouse heterozygous for a missense mutation (pR108W) in orthopedia homeobox (Otp), a homeodomain containing transcription factor required for the development of neuroendocrine cell lineages in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain important in the regulation of energy homeostasis. OtpR108W/+ mice exhibit increased food intake, weight gain, and anxiety when in novel environments or singly housed, phenotypes that may be partially explained by reduced hypothalamic expression of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin. R108W affects the highly conserved homeodomain, impairs DNA binding, and alters transcriptional activity in cells. We sequenced OTP in 2548 people with severe early-onset obesity and found a rare heterozygous loss of function variant in the homeodomain (Q153R) in a patient who also had features of attention deficit disorder. CONCLUSIONS: OTP is involved in mammalian energy homeostasis and behavior and appears to be necessary for the development of hypothalamic neural circuits. Further studies will be needed to investigate the contribution of rare variants in OTP to human energy homeostasis