Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Development And Evaluation Of A Model For Secondary Evolution Educators’ Professional Development Needs, William L. Romine, Ellen Barnett, Patricia J. Friedrichsen, Aaron J. Sickel

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Professional development (PD) efforts have improved acceptance and pedagogical practice related to the theory of evolution in high school biology teachers. However, these teachers express need for more PD related to evolution. It therefore becomes necessary to understand teachers’ PD needs prior to structuring PD efforts.

Methods

We formulated and validated a model to explain secondary teachers’ PD needs using data from a survey of 276 secondary biology teachers who reported teaching evolution.

Results

In addition to reliable subscales, we found that obstacles to teaching evolution, school and community support for evolution instruction, confidence in evolution instruction, and prior …

Discovery And Elucidation Of The Fgfr3-Tacc3 Recurrent Fusion In Glioblastoma, Brittany C. Parker Kerrigan

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Fusion genes occur due to chromosomal instability where two previously separate genes rearrange and fuse together, forming a hybrid gene. The first fusions were reported in leukemias; however, with the advent of more powerful sequencing technologies, fusions have recently been reported in several solid tumors. Using next-generation deep sequencing approaches, we discovered a fusion gene connecting the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene to the transforming coiled-coil containing protein 3 (TACC3) gene in glioblastoma multiforme. The fusion occurred in 8.3% of patient samples, but not in low grade or normal samples. FGFR3-TACC3 produced an in-frame …

Cardiovascular Health Among Us And Argentine University Students: A Comparative Study Of Behaviors And Risk Factors, Gina Fitzgerald, Gabriella Smith

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Cardiovascular disease for some time has been the leading cause of death in the Western world. Primary prevention is the only way to halt the onset of cardiovascular disease, yet there is little information on the prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in young adults. This study seeks to evaluate students from the Catholic University of Argentina and Pepperdine University of America for the prevalence of CVD risk factors, as well as knowledge of CVD and daily habits that contribute to heart health. Thus we compared two cultures with very different lifestyles and prevalence of risk factors. We hypothesized …

The Effect Of Shear Stress, Potassium, And Adenosine On Α-1 Adrenergic Vasoconstriction Of Rat Soleus Feed Arteries, Tanner J. Heckle

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

During exercise, sympathetic nerve activity increases, augmenting the release of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) at the arterial wall and into the blood. NE binds to arterial adrenergic receptors to cause vasoconstriction, yet arteries in contracting skeletal muscle dilate during exercise. Previous evidence from Ives et al. suggests that heat and acidosis may partially inhibit constriction resulting from α-1 adrenergic receptors (termed sympatholysis). Our lab has previously demonstrated that rat soleus feed arteries respond to sympathetic signaling solely by α-1 adrenoceptors. We hypothesized that increased levels of arterial wall shear stress, potassium, or adenosine also contribute to sympatholysis, thereby reducing sympathetic …