Impact of online professional development in the work environment

Online distance education programs are populated by adult learners who try to continue or complete their education without having to leave their jobs or places of residence. Their work environment becomes not just their working place, but also the labs where they apply new knowledge. The general expectation is that after graduation they will make an impact in their work environment through their job and through interacting with peers and supervisors. This study explored the influence that K-12 teachers had in their work environment as they pursued and graduated from an online Masters program in Education. The study showed the impact that the participants have and how they become agents of change in their immediate workplace.publishedpeer reviewe

Elucidating Omomyc specific action in cancer: a sensitive controller of oncogenic Myc

The involvement of Myc in a wide range of molecular functions makes it, probably, the most studied transcription factor for 30 years. Myc deregulation is common in at least 70% of human tumors and gives rise to a wide variety of oncogenic phenotypes, including breast, lung, cervical, ovarian and brain cancer. Therefore, our primary interest was to interfere with Myc function in Glioblastoma Stem Cells (GSCs) and Burkitt’s lymphoma cells, using a small peptide, named Omomyc. It is a Myc-bHLH mutant with outstanding capabilities to inhibit several types of human cancers. Omomyc displayed a significant impact on tumoral behavior in both model systems. This occurs because Omomyc replaces Myc at promoters and disrupts Myc protein network (Savino et al., 2011), affecting the expression of all those key genes - Myc target and not - directly involved in tumorigenesis. Furthermore, we found that Myc and Omomyc interact with the Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) (Mongiardi et al. 2015), which catalyses the symmetrical di-methylation of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) at R1810, allowing proper termination and splicing of transcripts (Zhao et al., 2016). Myc regulates many aspects of transcription by RNAPII, as activation, pause release and elongation, but its role in termination is unknown. We found that Myc overexpression strongly increases symmetrical RNAPII arginine di-methylation (R1810me2s), while the concomitant expression of Omomyc counteracts this capacity. In addition, Omomyc expression modulates the RNAPII amount at Termination Transcription sites (TTSs) versus Transcription Start Sites (TSSs) in several genes. Altogether, these findings suggest that Myc modulates transcription termination through R1810me2s-RNAPII. Therefore, Myc overexpression may deregulate this process by influencing RNAP II arginine di-methylation levels, contributing to tumorigenesis. In this regard, Omomyc may fine-tune the expression of a variety of genes altered by Myc in cancer, affecting the PRMT5/Myc/RNAPII-R1810me2s axis

Case Study: Blended Learning Through Interuniversity Collaborative Interaction

This presentation introduces the experience of a technological innovation by ITC integration in the curriculum of the undergraduate “Educational Technology” course for education majors at the Faculty of Education Sciences in Universidad de La Plata, Argentina. The building of a knowledge society determines as necessary new relationships, based on new strategies of inter-universities collaboration in order to adapt different concepts, practical procedures and actions of technological mediated actions. One of these is the case that we are presenting of a blended-Learning proposal.Ope

Editors’ Perspective on the Use of Visual Displays in Qualitative Studies

Research indicates that visual displays in qualitative research are under-utilized and under-developed. This study aimed to reach a clearer understanding of this fact by learning from the perspective of seven editors in qualitative journals. Using a qualitative descriptive design this study explored what constitutes an appropriate and helpful use of visual displays, including examples from current practices, and recommendations in the use and creation of visual displays. This paper reveals new insights by experts and very knowledgeable personalities in the area of qualitative research. The experts’ vision provided information that favors inclusion of visuals in qualitative studies as well as reckons the need for enhancement of curricula in qualitative research education to involve teaching about and practicing alternative representations of data analysis including the use of visuals. This paper concludes with a new classification of visual displays based on their occurrence within a research report, and a list of the main criteria points used by editors for assessing the validity of visuals in qualitative research articles. Additionally, we include implications for qualitative researchers and educators interested to increase the use of visuals in qualitative articles

Uso de Internet en Clases Presenciales F.O.D.A.

El aporte de la tecnología en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje ha sido enorme, especialmente a partir de los avances en las telecomunicaciones que permitieron el fácil acceso a gran cantidad información a través de Internet. Considerando que el propósito general de la educación es desarrollar todas las capacidades del ser humano” (Burniske & Monke, 2001, p22), es importante determinar si el uso de la Web como recurso en las clases presenciales ha ayudado a desarrollar esas capacidades en la educación superior. En esta ponencia se presenta el uso de Internet en clases presenciales: fortalezas, oportunidades, debilidades y amenazas, basándose en una investigación realizada en clases presenciales en la Facultad de Educación de la Universidad de Illinois.Ope

5-Fluorouracil degradation rate as a predictive biomarker of toxicity in breast cancer patients treated with capecitabine

Capecitabine is an oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil with a relevant role in the treatment of breast cancer. Severe and unexpected toxicities related to capecitabine are not rare, and the identification of biomarkers is challenging. We evaluate the relationship between dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, thymidylate synthase enhancer region and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphisms, 5-fluorouracil degradation rate and the onset of G3–4 toxicities in breast cancer patients. Genetic polymorphisms and the 5-fluorouracil degradation rate of breast cancer patients treated with capecitabine were retrospectively studied. Genetic markers and the 5-fluorouracil degradation rate were correlated with the reported toxicities. Thirty-seven patients with a median age of 58 years old treated with capecitabine for stages II–IV breast cancer were included in this study. Overall, 34 (91.9%) patients suffered from at least an episode of any grade toxicity while nine patients had G3–4 toxicity. Homozygous methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase 677TT was found to be significantly related to haematological toxicity (OR = 6.5 [95% IC 1.1–37.5], P = 0.04). Three patients had a degradation rate less than 0.86 ng/mL/106 cells/min and three patients greater than 2.1 ng/mL/106 cells/min. At a univariate logistic regression analysis, an altered value of 5-fluorouracil degradation rate (values < 0.86 or >2.10 ng/mL/106 cells/min) increased the risk of G3–4 adverse events (OR = 10.40 [95% IC: 1.48–7.99], P = 0.02). A multivariate logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, comorbidity and CAPE-regimen, confirmed the role of 5-fluorouracil degradation rate as a predictor of G3–4 toxicity occurrence (OR = 10.9 [95% IC 1.2–96.2], P = 0.03). The pre-treatment evaluation of 5-fluorouracil degradation rate allows to identify breast cancer patients at high risk for severe 5-FU toxicity

Tomographic reconstruction of a three-dimensional magnetization vector field

Using x-ray magnetic nanotomography the internal magnetization structure within extended samples can be determined with high spatial resolution and element specificity, without the need for assumptions or prior knowledge of the magnetic properties of a sample. Here we present the details of a new algorithm for the reconstruction of a three-dimensional magnetization vector field, discussing both the mathematical description of the problem, and details of the gradient-based iterative reconstruction routine. To test the accuracy of the algorithm the method is demonstrated for a complex simulated magnetization configuration obtained from micromagnetic simulations. The reconstruction of the complex three-dimensional magnetic nanostructure, including the surroundings of magnetic singularities (or Bloch points), exhibits an excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement with the simulated magnetic structure. This method provides a robust route for the reconstruction of internal three-dimensional magnetization structures obtained from x-ray magnetic tomographic datasets, which can be acquired with either hard or soft x-rays, and can be applied to a wide variety of three-dimensional magnetic systems