Digital Commons Network^™

A Review Of Undergraduate Education Student Responses To The Online Component Of Blended Learning: A Cautionary Tale, Ross S. Bernay, Chris Jenkin, Tafili Utumapu-Mcbride, Adrian Schoone, Andrew Gibbons

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Calls for enhancing the digital interface for teaching and learning within tertiary institutions have played out in one School of Education, with variable results. Online learning tasks were added in 2018 to regular classes to provide more flexibility for student engagement. A team of lecturers developed a questionnaire for students to be completed after the first semester pilot. Data and findings indicated that one-third of students identified online learning as an enhancement to their learning. A second survey was conducted one year later to assess changes made and analyse the longer-term impacts. During the COVID-19 lockdown, fully online pedagogy was …

Collaborative And Traditional Practice-Models As Perceived By Preservice Teachers: The Potential Impact Of Culture, Ilana Klima Ronen, Alexandra Danial-Saad, Rachel Holsblat

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A differential cultural aspect manifested when we compared the experiences of 96-Jewish and 107-Arab PSTs who participated in a collaborative academy-class-practice- model (ACPM), or a traditional-practice-model (TPM). The attempt to implement the collaborative ACPM was hesitantly accepted by Jewish-PSTs, whereas the Arab-PSTs welcomed it warmly. This led us to question whether culture played a role in the groups’ perceptions of the ACPM\TPM. A mixed methods questionnaire has been used to examine PSTs` pedagogical knowledge, the perceived benefits they gained during the practicum, and the importance they attributed to the advice of staff members and peers. Although the PSTs from both …

Anxious, Disconnected And ‘Missing Out’, But Oh So Convenient: Tertiary Students’ Perspectives Of Remote Teaching And Learning With Covid-19, Melissah B. Thomas, Helen Widdop Quinton, Zali Yager

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The higher education sector has learnt a great deal in the online delivery shift due to Covid-19, however, student voice has been underrepresented in literature. This paper reveals 15 student perspectives, including both international and domestic students, who were studying a Master of Teaching (Secondary) at one university in Melbourne, Australia, during heightened social distancing restrictions. The inductive thematic qualitative data analysis collected through semi-structured interviews showed opportunities and challenges of learning experiences. Emergent themes found affordances of convenience and challenges of relational and structural aspects of teaching and learning. Relational aspects of learning were more challenging, including peer collaboration, …

Changes In Students’ Perceptions Of Self-Assessment In Courses With Different Approaches To Assessment, Ester Aflalo

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The importance of student self-assessment and its contribution to learning in teacher education is well documented in the research literature. However, we still need to better understand when and why self-assessment actually works. This study examines preservice teachers’ perception of self-assessment prior to and following experiencing self-assessment. The study included 135 students studying at two education colleges in Israel. The students attended courses with differing evaluation approaches. The findings show that the experience with self-assessment in the courses with formative evaluation or integrative evaluation encourages the students’ positive perception of self-assessment, in contrast to summative evaluation courses. The study expands …

Ecology Of Family Experiences: Contextualizing Family Leisure For Human Development & Family Relations, Karen K. Melton, Camilla Hodge, Mat D. Duerden

Faculty Publications

All family leisure is not equal. Yet, little is known about the mechanisms linking different types of family leisure to different human development and family relations outcomes. The Ecology of Family Experiences (EFE) framework provides a sensitizing lens for the study of the conditions under which family leisure is beneficial to individuals and families. Specifically, the framework suggests three domains—Family, Activity, and Time—iteratively interact to generate different levels of individual and family outcomes (i.e., responses, meaning, and development). The EFE necessitates research built on ecologically valid study designs that incorporate innovative measurement approaches. Scholars using such approaches can increase the …

Prevalence And Associated Risk Factors Of African Animal Trypanosomiasis In Cattle In Lambwe, Kenya, Ivy Sylvia Okello, Eliakunda Mafie, Gillian Eastwood, Jahashi Nzalawahe, Leonard E.G Mboera, Samuel Onyoyo

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Background. African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) affects livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to determine cattle AAT’s prevalence and associated risk factors in Lambwe Valley, Kenya. Methods. In a cross-sectional survey, livestock owners were recruited from four villages of Lambwe in Homa Bay, Kenya. Blood samples were collected from the jugular veins of cattle, and buffy coat smears were examined under a microscope. Parasites were further detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Using a semistructured questionnaire, livestock owners were interviewed on their knowledge of AAT and control practices. Chi-square and multilevel models were used for the analysis. Results. The …

Potential Uses Of Artisanal Gold Mine Tailings, With An Emphasis On The Role Of Centrifugal Separation Technique, Jeanne Pauline Munganyinka, Jean Baptiste Habinshuti, Jean Claude Ndayishimiye, Levie Mweene, Grace Ofori-Sarpong, Brajendra Mishra, Adelana R. Adetunji, Himanshu Tanvar

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Few investigations have focused on the potential uses of artisanal gold (Au) mine tailings, despite the fact that artisanal gold mining activity contributes to environmental issues such as greenhouse gas. Mineralogical characterizations of artisanal gold mine tailings in Miyove gold mine (Baradega and Masogwe) in Rwanda were investigated for potential utilization as a source of valuable gold, using the centrifugal separation technique. Results of X-ray diffraction analysis, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescence showed that artisanal gold mine tailings samples have significant amounts of gold to justify economical gold …

Interaction With Augmented Reality Sandbox Does Not Produce Greater Gains In Topographic Map Skills For Undergraduate Students, Celeste Kenworthy

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The augmented reality (AR) sandbox allows students to interact with topographic maps in a 3D space. Being able to understand topographic maps is important to geologists and they are taught in many introductory geology courses. Recent research has focused on whether the AR sandbox can improve students’ topographic map skills. Previous studies have found that students who interact with the AR sandbox do not score significantly better on topographic map assessments (TMAs) than their peers. One proposed reason for this is the limited time students have to interact with the AR sandbox. This study sought to address this by creating …

Can Gdp Be Predictive Of Fertility Rates In Sweden?, Hannah Coleman

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Fertility rates in a country vary and can be influenced by numerous different aspects of an individual’s life and the society in which they live. One aspect that may influence fertility rates at the national level is the gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is an indicator of a country’s economic productivity. Because fertility is linked to both economic development and individual resources, GDP may be a useful indicator of fertility rates. If so, knowing or predicting GDP could be used to project the fertility rates of a population years into the future. To determine if a reasonable connection between GDP …

Optimization And Standardization Of Dms Chemical Mapping Experiments For Probing Rna 3d Structure, Sarah Brady

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

RNA plays a significant and crucial role in biological processes. The properties of RNA are ultimately responsible for each molecule’s unique function. The configuration and structural integrity of RNA is important for its functionality. Chemical mapping detailed in this thesis can be used to analyze the 3D structure of an RNA sequence. RNA is modified via methylation of adenine and cytosine bases using dimethyl sulfate, then reverse transcribed to DNA, then sequenced. The sites where the bases were methylated become mutations in the DNA sequence, allowing for identification of these locations when analyzing sequencing data. Conditions for modification can be …

Pulsed Nuclear Space Propulsion And International Law: Some Preliminary, Glenn Reynolds, Leigh Outten

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Pulsed Nuclear Space Propulsion, researched in the 1950s and 1960s by such eminent physicists as Freeman Dyson, Ted Taylor, Theodore von Karman, and Hans Bethe, involves propelling large spacecraft using compact nuclear explosions from specialized atomic devices. This technology is often known by the name of the Air Force project in which it was developed: Orion. It has long been believed that the 1962 Limited Test Ban Treaty prohibits the use of nuclear pulse space propulsion. After a survey of the Orion project and its results and a review of the applicable law, this Article concludes that language in the …

Inequality By Unnatural Selection: The Impact Of Tax Code Bias On The Racial Wealth Gap, Phyllis C. Taite

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

A Comprehensive Review On The Decontamination Of Lead(Ii) From Water And Wastewater By Low-Cost Biosorbents, Jonas Bayuo, Mwemezi Rwiza, Kelvin Mtei

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

The disadvantages of conventional methods in water and wastewater management including the demand for high energy consumption, the creation of secondary toxic sludge, and operation cost are much too high for developing countries. However, adsorption using low-cost biosorbents is the most efficient non-conventional technique for heavy metals removal. The high adsorption capacities, cost-effectiveness, and the abundance of agricultural waste materials in nature are the important parameters that explain why these biosorbents are economical for heavy metals removal. The present investigation sought to review the biosorption of lead [Pb(II)] onto low-cost biosorbents to understand their adsorption mechanism. The review shows that …

Remediation Of Soils Contaminated By Fluoride Using A Fermentation Product Of Seaweed (Eucheuma Cottonii), Ruth Lorivi Moirana, Josephine Mkunda, Marcos Paradelo, Revocatus Machunda, Kelvin Mtei

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

This study investigated the efficacy of fermented seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii) on the remediation of fluoride-contaminated soil. The soil was amended with either 1.25, 3.0, or 5.0% (w/w) fermented seaweed (FSW), parallel with the controls (0%). The amendment improved the physicochemical properties of the soil particularly pH regulated from strong alkaline (9.3) to neutral (7.0) which is essential for germination, crop growth, and yield. The amount of water soluble-fluoride (Ws-F) dropped from 81.7 ± 3.1 mg/kg to 42.7 ± 2.4, 33.7 ± 1.2, 19.6 ± 0.9, and 12 ± 1.3 mg/kg following 0, 1.25, 3, and 5% amendment dosage, re- spectively. …

Capacitive Deionization: A Promising Technology For Water Defluoridation: A Review, Tusekile Alfredy, Joyce Elisadiki, Yusufu Abeid Chande Jande

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is among the promising technologies employed for water purification. CDI has been studied for the removal of various ionic species from water including fluoride ion (F⁻) with promising results. However, there is no comprehensive literature that summarizes the use of CDI for water defluoridation applications. Therefore, this review paper critically analyzes different electrode materials that have been studied for water defluoridation, their electrosorption capacities and F⁻ removal efficiencies. It further discussed the parameters that influence CDI efficiency during defluoridation and point out the issues of F⁻ selectivity when co-existing with other ions in …

Effects Of Polyethylene Oxide Particles On The Photo-Physical Properties And Stability Of Fa-Rich Perovskite Solar Cells, Richard Kipyegon Koech, Yusuf A. Olanrewaju, Reisya Ichwani, Moses Kigozi, Deborah O. Oyewole, Omolara V. Oyelade, Dahiru M. Sanni, Sharafadeen A. Adeniji, Erika Colin‑Ulloa, Lyubov V. Titova, Julia L. Martin, Ronald L. Grimm, Abdulhakeem Bello, Oluwaseun K. Oyewole, Esidor Ntsoenzok, Winston O. Soboyejo

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

n this paper, we use Polyethylene Oxide (PEO) particles to control the morphology of Formamidinium (FA)‑rich perovskite films and achieve large grains with improved optoelectronic properties. Consequently, a planar perovskite solar cell (PSC) is fabricated with additions of 5 wt% of PEO, and the highest PCE of 18.03% was obtained. This solar cell is also shown to retain up to 80% of its initial PCE after about 140 h of storage under the ambient conditions (average relative humidity of 62.5 ± 3.25%) in an unencapsulated state. Furthermore, the steady‑state PCE of the PEO‑modified PSC device remained stable for long (over …

African Animal Trypanosomiasis: A Systematic Review On Prevalence, Risk Factors And Drug Resistance In Sub-Saharan Africa, Ivy Sylvia Okello, Eliakunda Mafie, Jahashi Nzalawahe, Leonard E.G Mboera

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) a parasitic disease of livestock in sub-Saharan Africa causing tremendous loses. Sub-Saharan continental estimation of mean prevalence in both large and small domestic animals, risk factors, tsetse and non-tsetse prevalence and drug resistance is lacking. A review and meta-analysis was done to better comprehend changes in AAT prevalence and drug resistance. Publish/Perish software was used to search and extract peer-reviewed articles in Google scholar, PubMed and CrossRef. In addition, ResearchGate and African Journals Online (AJOL) were used. Screening and selection of articles from 2000–2021 was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses …

Glioma And The Gut-Brain Axis: Opportunities And Future Perspectives, Antonio Dono, Jack Nickles, Ana G Rodriguez-Armendariz, Braden C Mcfarland, Nadim J Ajami, Leomar Y Ballester, Jennifer A Wargo, Yoshua Esquenazi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The gut-brain axis has presented a valuable new dynamic in the treatment of cancer and central nervous system (CNS) diseases. However, little is known about the potential role of this axis in neuro-oncology. The goal of this review is to highlight potential implications of the gut-brain axis in neuro-oncology, in particular gliomas, and future areas of research. The gut-brain axis is a well-established biochemical signaling axis that has been associated with various CNS diseases. In neuro-oncology, recent studies have described gut microbiome differences in tumor-bearing mice and glioma patients compared to controls. These differences in the composition of the microbiome …

A Novel Group Of Genes That Cause Endocrine Resistance In Breast Cancer Identified By Dynamic Gene Expression Analysis, Arvand Asghari, Katherine Wall, Michael Gill, Natascha Del Vecchio, Farnaz Allahbakhsh, Jacky Wu, Nan Deng, W Jim Zheng, Hulin Wu, Michihisa Umetani, Vahed Maroufy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in women. Among female cancer deaths, BC is the second leading cause of death worldwide. For estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancers, endocrine therapy is an effective therapeutic approach. However, in many cases, an ER-positive tumor becomes unresponsive to endocrine therapy, and tumor regrowth occurs after treatment. While some genetic mutations contribute to resistance in some patients, the underlying causes of resistance to endocrine therapy are mostly undetermined. In this study, we utilized a recently developed statistical approach to investigate the dynamic behavior of gene expression during the development of …

Effects Of Tamoxifen Inducible Mercremer On Gene Expression In Cardiac Myocytes In Mice, Leila Rouhi, Siyang Fan, Sirisha M Cheedipudi, Melis Olcum, Hyun-Hwan Jeong, Zhongming Zhao, Priyatansh Gurha, Ali J Marian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The Cre-LoxP technology, including the tamoxifen (TAM) inducible MerCreMer (MCM), is increasingly used to delineate gene function, understand the disease mechanisms, and test therapeutic interventions. We set to determine the effects of TAM-MCM on cardiac myocyte transcriptome. Expression of the MCM was induced specifically in cardiac myocytes upon injection of TAM to myosin heavy chain 6-MCM (Myh6-Mcm) mice for 5 consecutive days. Cardiac function, myocardial histology, and gene expression (RNA-sequencing) were analyzed 2 weeks after TAM injection. A total of 346 protein coding genes (168 up- and 178 down-regulated) were differentially expressed. Transcript levels of 85 genes, analyzed …

A Deep Learning-Based Framework For Supporting Clinical Diagnosis Of Glioblastoma Subtypes, Sana Munquad, Tapas Si, Saurav Mallik, Asim Bikas Das, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Understanding molecular features that facilitate aggressive phenotypes in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains a major clinical challenge. Accurate diagnosis of GBM subtypes, namely classical, proneural, and mesenchymal, and identification of specific molecular features are crucial for clinicians for systematic treatment. We develop a biologically interpretable and highly efficient deep learning framework based on a convolutional neural network for subtype identification. The classifiers were generated from high-throughput data of different molecular levels, i.e., transcriptome and methylome. Furthermore, an integrated subsystem of transcriptome and methylome data was also used to build the biologically relevant model. Our results show that deep learning model outperforms …

Crucial Roles Of Microrna-16-5p And Microrna-27b-3p In Ameloblast Differentiation Through Regulation Of Genes Associated With Amelogenesis Imperfecta, Akiko Suzuki, Hiroki Yoshioka, Teng Liu, Aania Gull, Naina Singh, Thanh Le, Zhongming Zhao, Junichi Iwata

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Amelogenesis imperfecta is a congenital disorder within a heterogeneous group of conditions characterized by enamel hypoplasia. Patients suffer from early tooth loss, social embarrassment, eating difficulties, and pain due to an abnormally thin, soft, fragile, and discolored enamel with poor aesthetics and functionality. The etiology of amelogenesis imperfecta is complicated by genetic interactions. To identify mouse amelogenesis imperfecta-related genes (mAIGenes) and their respective phenotypes, we conducted a systematic literature review and database search and found and curated 70 mAIGenes across all of the databases. Our pathway enrichment analysis indicated that these genes were enriched in tooth development-associated pathways, forming four …

Dimensionality Reduction And Louvain Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering For Cluster-Specified Frequent Biomarker Discovery In Single-Cell Sequencing Data, Soumita Seth, Saurav Mallik, Tapas Bhadra, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The major interest domains of single-cell RNA sequential analysis are identification of existing and novel types of cells, depiction of cells, cell fate prediction, classification of several types of tumor, and investigation of heterogeneity in different cells. Single-cell clustering plays an important role to solve the aforementioned questions of interest. Cluster identification in high dimensional single-cell sequencing data faces some challenges due to its nature. Dimensionality reduction models can solve the problem. Here, we introduce a potential cluster specified frequent biomarkers discovery framework using dimensionality reduction and hierarchical agglomerative clustering Louvain for single-cell RNA sequencing data analysis. First, we pre-filtered …

The Wnt/Β-Catenin Pathway Regulates Expression Of The Genes Involved In Cell Cycle Progression And Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation In The Postmitotic Cardiac Myocytes, Melis Olcum, Sirisha M Cheedipudi, Leila Rouhi, Siyang Fan, Hyun-Hwan Jeong, Zhongming Zhao, Priyatansh Gurha, Ali J Marian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Aging is associated with cardiac myocyte loss, sarcopenia, and cardiac dysfunction. Adult cardiac myocytes are postmitotic cells with an insufficient proliferative capacity to compensate for myocyte loss. The canonical WNT (cWNT) pathway is involved in the regulation of cell cycle reentry in various cell types. The effects of the cWNT pathway on the expression of genes involved in cell cycle reentry in the postmitotic cardiac myocytes are unknown.

AIM: The aim of the study was to identify genes whose expression is regulated by the β-catenin, the indispensable component to the cWNT signaling, in the postmitotic myocytes.

METHODS AND RESULTS: …

Prediction Of Fluid Intelligence From T1-W Mri Images: A Precise Two-Step Deep Learning Framework, Mingliang Li, Mingfeng Jiang, Guangming Zhang, Yujun Liu, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Neurocognitive Prediction Challenge (ABCD-NP-Challenge) is a community-driven competition that challenges competitors to develop algorithms to predict fluid intelligence scores from T1-w MRI images. In this work, a two-step deep learning pipeline is proposed to improve the prediction accuracy of fluid intelligence scores. In terms of the first step, the main contributions of this study include the following: (1) the concepts of the residual network (ResNet) and the squeeze-and-excitation network (SENet) are utilized to improve the original 3D U-Net; (2) in the segmentation process, the pixels in symmetrical brain regions are assigned the same label; …

Distinguish Bipolar And Major Depressive Disorder In Adolescents Based On Multimodal Neuroimaging: Results From The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Stud, Yujun Liu, Kai Chen, Yangyang Luo, Jiqiu Wu, Qu Xiang, Li Peng, Jian Zhang, Weiling Zhao, Mingliang Li, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder in adolescents are prevalent and are associated with cognitive impairment, executive dysfunction, and increased mortality. Early intervention in the initial stages of major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder can significantly improve personal health.

METHODS: We collected 309 samples from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, including 116 adolescents with bipolar disorder, 64 adolescents with major depressive disorder, and 129 healthy adolescents, and employed a support vector machine to develop classification models for identification. We developed a multimodal model, which combined functional connectivity of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and four anatomical measures of …

Multiplexed Engineering And Precision Gene Editing In Cellular Immunotherapy, Alexander Biederstädt, Gohar Shahwar Manzar, May Daher

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The advent of cellular immunotherapy in the clinic has entirely redrawn the treatment landscape for a growing number of human cancers. Genetically reprogrammed immune cells, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified immune effector cells as well as T cell receptor (TCR) therapy, have demonstrated remarkable responses across different hard-to-treat patient populations. While these novel treatment options have had tremendous success in providing long-term remissions for a considerable fraction of treated patients, a number of challenges remain. Limited

Re-Thinking Therapeutic Development For Cns Metastatic Disease, Chantal Saberian, Michael A Davies

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There has been unprecedented progress in the development of systemic therapies for patients with metastatic melanoma over the last decade. There is now tremendous potential and momentum to further and markedly reduce the impact of this disease. However, developing more effective treatments for metastases to the CNS remains a critical challenge for patients with melanoma. Melanoma patients with active CNS metastases have largely been excluded from both early-phase and registration trials for all currently approved targeted and immune therapies for this disease. While this exclusion has generally been justified in clinical research due to concerns about poor prognosis, lack of …

Effects Of Co-Incubation Of Lps-Stimulated Raw 264.7 Macrophages On Leptin Production By 3t3-L1 Adipocytes: A Method For Co-Incubating Distinct Adipose Tissue Cell Lines, Cristina Caldari, Jordan Beck

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Both Consumptive And Non-Consumptive Effects Of Predators Impact Mosquito Populations And Have Implications For Disease Transmission, Marie C. Russell, Catherine M. Herzog, Zachary Gajewski, Chloe Ramsay, Andy Mccall

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.