P1_6 Escaping a Fire Using a Mattress

This article considers the net energy of a body jumping from a first floor window onto a mattress below, comparing it to the energy needed to break a leg bone. It is found that the final energy of the body after landing is 2738.5J, and calculations show that it takes 385.71J to break two legs. Therefore a mattress does not absorb enough energy to avoid injury

Developing a new conceptual framework of meaningful interaction for understanding social isolation and loneliness

Academic debate about social isolation and loneliness, and their adverse health and well-being implications, has resulted in many policy and programme interventions directed towards reducing both, especially among older people. However, definitions of the two concepts, their measurement, and the relationship between the two are not clearly articulated. This article redresses this and draws on theoretical constructs adapted from symbolic interactionism, together with the Good Relations Measurement Framework, developed for the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK, to challenge the way in which social isolation and loneliness are currently understood. It argues for a need to understand experiences of social relationships, particularly those which facilitate meaningful interaction, suggesting that opportunities and barriers to meaningful interaction are determined by wider societal issues. This is set out in a new conceptual framework which can be applied across the life course and facilitates a new discourse for understanding these challenging concepts

Spatial Encoding Strategy Theory: The Relationship between Spatial Skill and STEM Achievement

Learners’ spatial skill is a reliable and significant predictor of achievement in STEM, including computing, education. Spatial skill is also malleable, meaning it can be improved through training. Most cognitive skill training improves performance on only a narrow set of similar tasks, but researchers have found ample evidence that spatial training can broadly improve STEM achievement. We do not yet know the cognitive mechanisms that make spatial skill training broadly transferable when other cognitive training is not, but understanding these mechanisms is important for developing training and instruction that consistently benefits learners, especially those starting with low spatial skill. This paper proposes the spatial encoding strategy (SpES) theory to explain the cognitive mechanisms connecting spatial skill and STEM achievement. To motivate SpES theory, the paper reviews research from STEM education, learning sciences, and psychology. SpES theory provides compelling post hoc explanations for the findings from this literature and aligns with neuroscience models about the functions of brain structures. The paper concludes with a plan for testing the theory’s validity and using it to inform future research and instruction. The paper focuses on implications for computing education, but the transferability of spatial skill to STEM performance makes the proposed theory relevant to many education communities

Hypoxia regulates FGFR3 expression via HIF-1α and miR-100 and contributes to cell survival in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

Background: Non-muscle invasive (NMI) bladder cancer is characterised by increased expression and activating mutations of FGFR3. We have previously investigated the role of microRNAs in bladder cancer and have shown that FGFR3 is a target of miR-100. In this study, we investigated the effects of hypoxia on miR-100 and FGFR3 expression, and the link between miR-100 and FGFR3 in hypoxia. Methods: Bladder cancer cell lines were exposed to normoxic or hypoxic conditions and examined for the expression of FGFR3 by quantitative PCR (qPCR) and western blotting, and miR-100 by qPCR. The effect of FGFR3 and miR-100 on cell viability in twodimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) was examined by transfecting siRNA or mimic-100, respectively. Results: In NMI bladder cancer cell lines, FGFR3 expression was induced by hypoxia in a transcriptional and HIF-1a-dependent manner. Increased FGFR3 was also in part dependent on miR-100 levels, which decreased in hypoxia. Knockdown of FGFR3 led to a decrease in phosphorylation of the downstream kinases mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and protein kinase B (PKB), which was more pronounced under hypoxic conditions. Furthermore, transfection of mimic-100 also decreased phosphorylation of MAPK and PKB. Finally, knocking down FGFR3 profoundly decreased 2-D and 3-D cell growth, whereas introduction of mimic-100 decreased 3-D growth of cells. Conclusion: Hypoxia, in part via suppression of miR-100, induces FGFR3 expression in bladder cancer, both of which have an important role in maintaining cell viability under conditions of stress

Disrupting Hypoxia-Induced Bicarbonate Transport Acidifies Tumor Cells and Suppresses Tumor Growth

Tumor hypoxia is associated clinically with therapeutic resistance and poor patient outcomes. One feature of tumor hypoxia is activated expression of carbonic anhydrase IX (CA9), a regulator of pH and tumor growth. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that impeding the reuptake of bicarbonate produced extracellularly by CA9 could exacerbate the intracellular acidity produced by hypoxic conditions, perhaps compromising cell growth and viability as a result. In 8 of 10 cancer cell lines, we found that hypoxia induced the expression of at least one bicarbonate transporter. The most robust and frequent inductions were of the sodium-driven bicarbonate transporters SLC4A4 and SLC4A9, which rely upon both HIF1α and HIF2α activity for their expression. In cancer cell spheroids, SLC4A4 or SLC4A9 disruption by either genetic or pharmaceutical approaches acidified intracellular pH and reduced cell growth. Furthermore, treatment of spheroids with S0859, a small-molecule inhibitor of sodium-driven bicarbonate transporters, increased apoptosis in the cell lines tested. Finally, RNAi-mediated attenuation of SLC4A9 increased apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer spheroids and dramatically reduced growth of MDA-MB-231 breast tumors or U87 gliomas in murine xenografts. Our findings suggest that disrupting pH homeostasis by blocking bicarbonate import might broadly relieve the common resistance of hypoxic tumors to anticancer therapy

Prospective associations between loneliness and emotional intelligence

Loneliness has been linked cross-sectionally to emotional skill deficits (e.g., Zysberg, 2012), but missing from the literature is a longitudinal examination of these relationships. The present study fills that gap by examining the prospective relationships between loneliness and emotional functioning in young adolescents in England. One hundred and ninety-six adolescents aged 11-13 years (90 females) took part in the study and completed the youth version of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT-YV) and the peer-related subscale of the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LACA) at two time points, which were 10 months apart. Prospective associations were obtained for male and female adolescents separately using cross-lagged statistical techniques. Our results showed prospective links between understanding and managing emotions and loneliness for both females and males. Perceiving and using emotions were prospectively linked to loneliness in males only. Possible explanations and directions for future research are discussed

Who I Am: The Meaning of Early Adolescents’ Most Valued Activities and Relationships, and Implications for Self-Concept Research

Self-concept research in early adolescence typically measures young people’s self-perceptions of competence in specific, adult-defined domains. However, studies have rarely explored young people’s own views of valued self-concept factors and their meanings. For two major self domains, the active and the social self, this mixed-methods study identified factors valued most by 526 young people from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds in Ireland (10-12 years), and explored the meanings associated with these in a stratified subsample (n = 99). Findings indicate that self-concept scales for early adolescence omit active and social self factors and meanings valued by young people, raising questions about content validity of scales in these domains. Findings also suggest scales may under-represent girls’ active and social selves; focus too much on some school-based competencies; and, in omitting intrinsically salient self domains and meanings, may focus more on contingent (extrinsic) rather than true (intrinsic) self-esteem

"Of course I will ..." : The combined effect of certainty and level of expectancies on persistence and performance

The importance of performance expectancies for the prediction of regulation of behavior and actual performance has long been established. Building on theories from the field of social cognition, we suggest that the level of performance expectancies, as well as the certainty of the expectancy, have a joint influence on an individual’s beliefs and behavior. In two studies (one cross sectional using a sample of secondary school students and one longitudinal using a sample of university students) we found that expectancies more strongly predicted persistence, and subsequent performance, the more certain the expectancy was. This pattern was found even if prior performance was controlled, as in Study 2. The data give an indication that it may be useful to include certainty as an additional variable in expectancy models

The effects of an afterschool STEM program on students’ motivation and engagement

Background: One significant factor in facilitating students’ career intentions and persistence in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields is targeting their interests and motivation before eighth grade. To reach students at this critical stage, a design-based afterschool STEM program, titled Studio STEM, was implemented to foster motivation and engagement in STEM topics and activities. The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) to investigate how Studio STEM affected students’ beliefs about science and whether these beliefs differed from their peers who did not participate in the program, and (b) to examine a case study of one Studio STEM implementation to investigate elements of the curriculum that motivated students to engage in the program. Results: After completing two Studio STEM programs, participants’ ratings of their values for science and science competence were higher than those of non participants. In addition, the Studio STEM participants’ motivational beliefs about science and intentions to pursue a college degree were more resilient over time than their peers. We also found that students could be motivated in a voluntary afterschool program (Studio STEM) in which they grappled with STEM concepts and activities, and could verbalize specific program elements that motivated them. Conclusions: Through this study, we found that students could be motivated in Studio STEM and that the experience had a positive impact on their perceptions about science as a field. Importantly, Studio STEM appeared to halt the decline in these students’ motivational beliefs about science that typically occurs during the middle school years, indicating that after school programs can be one way to help students maintain their motivation in science. Studying the program features that the students found motivating may help educators to make connections between research and theory, and their classroom instruction to motivate their students.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun