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Impact of female age on concentrations of reproductive hormones and oocyte-specific growth factors in follicular fluid from human small antral follicles
No full textSTUDY QUESTIONDoes maternal age impact hormonal secretions from granulosa cells, theca cells, and the oocyte in human small antral follicles?SUMMARY ANSWERMajor hormones secreted by granulosa and theca cells, as well as the oocyte-specific TGF-β members—GDF9, BMP15, and the GDF9/BMP15 heterodimer cumulin—maintain a consistent concentration within the follicular fluid of human small antral follicles, regardless of maternal age.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYIt is well established that female fertility declines with increasing age. However, it is not known whether this decline is exclusively due to a reduction in oocyte quality and quantity or also involves a decline in the hormone-secreting capabilities of granulosa cells, theca cells, and the oocyte itself.STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATIONThis is a retrospective study of follicular fluid obtained from human small antral follicles collected in connection with cryopreservation of ovarian tissue at the Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, University Hospital Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Denmark, between 2010 and 2020 as part of the hospital’s fertility preservation program.PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODSFollicular fluid samples from human small antral follicles measuring 3–13 mm in diameter from macroscopically normal ovaries of 381 patients aged 5–43 years were included in the study, provided that at least one of the following parameters was measured: AMH, Inhibin A, Inhibin B, oestradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), androstenedione, testosterone, and/or the oocyte-specific TGF-β members GDF9, BMP15, or cumulin.MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCEIn a linear regression analysis adjusted for follicular volume, female age did not predict the follicular fluid concentrations of AMH, Inhibin B, Inhibin A, E2, androstenedione, testosterone, GDF9, BMP15, or cumulin. Although a significant association was observed between female age and follicular fluid P4 levels, the predictive value of age was poor, accounting for at most 5% of the variation in P4.LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTIONHormonal levels may vary with the degree of atresia in each follicle; however, the health status of the small antral follicles in this study was not characterized. Additionally, we cannot exclude possible age-related differences in human follicles larger than 10 mm, as very few of these were included. Furthermore, we did not include women above the age of 43, despite the potential for more pronounced age-related effects in these patients.WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGSOur results support the idea that the age-related decline in female fertility is primarily due to a reduction in oocyte quality and quantity, but further research is needed to confirm this.</div
Quality assurance and validity of AI-generated single best answer questions
No full textBackground Recent advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have opened new avenues in educational methodologies, particularly in medical education. This study seeks to assess whether generative AI might be useful in addressing the depletion of assessment question banks, a challenge intensified during the Covid-era due to the prevalence of open-book examinations, and to augment the pool of formative assessment opportunities available to students. While many recent publications have sought to ascertain whether AI can achieve a passing standard in existing examinations, this study investigates the potential for AI to generate the exam itself.Summary of work This research utilized a commercially available AI large language model (LLM), OpenAI GPT-4, to generate 220 single best answer (SBA) questions, adhering to Medical Schools Council Assessment Alliance guidelines the and a selection of Learning Outcomes (LOs) of the Scottish Graduate-Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) program. All questions were assessed by an expert panel for accuracy and quality. A total of 50 AI-generated and 50 human-authored questions were used to create two 50-item formative SBA examinations for Year 1 and Year 2 ScotGEM students. Each exam, delivered via the Speedwell eSystem, comprised 25 AI-generated and 25 human-authored questions presented in random order. Students completed the online, closed-book exams on personal devices under exam conditions that reflected summative examinations. The performance of both AI-generated and human-authored questions was evaluated, focusing on facility and discrimination index as key metrics.Summary of results The screening process revealed that 69% of AI-generated SBAs were fit for inclusion in the examinations with little or no modifications required. Modifications, when necessary, were predominantly due to reasons such as the inclusion of "all of the above" options, usage of American English spellings, and non-alphabetized answer choices. 31% of questions were rejected for inclusion in the examinations, due to factual inaccuracies and non-alignment with students’ learning. When included in an examination, post hoc statistical analysis indicated no significant difference in performance between the AI- and human- authored questions in terms of facility and discrimination index.Discussion and conclusion The outcomes of this study suggest that AI LLMs can generate SBA questions that are in line with best-practice guidelines and specific LOs. However, a robust quality assurance process is necessary to ensure that erroneous questions are identified and rejected. The insights gained from this research provide a foundation for further investigation into refining AI prompts, aiming for a more reliable generation of curriculum-aligned questions. LLMs show significant potential in supplementing traditional methods of question generation in medical education. This approach offers a viable solution to rapidly replenish and diversify assessment resources in medical curricula, marking a step forward in the intersection of AI and education
Social identities, norms, and context in student feedback literacy in higher education
No full textThe role of social identity and social norms has been largely overlooked in the feedback process. In the current chapter, we explain the potential role we feel social identity (with one’s academic discipline, for example) could play in the development of students’ feedback literacy and how students engage with feedback. To put this in context, we examine historical and contemporary models of feedback literacy to consider how social identities, peer norms and social context feature in those models, implicitly or explicitly. We also review the growing literature on academic discipline social identity and approaches tolearning, as a framework for the role of identities in the development of student approaches to feedback. We argue that student identity plays a role in determining students’ engagement with feedback as a part of a deep approach to learning, and argue for a new recognition of this vital aspects of the feedback process
Desire, sex and surveillance:queer methods and the Stasi's files on the East German military
No full textTowards a flexible approach for understanding and comparing traces
No full textWe assume given a set of behavioural models of computation (event structures) that can be extracted from specifications, processes, code and/or data depending on the application, and have labels containing additional information of interest (e.g., an integer variable representing a measure in the context of the computation). In this paper we present our vision towards a formal flexible approach to search for optimal traces of execution with respect to different parameters of interest (e.g., time, efficacy, cost and/or concurrency), enriched with a mechanism to understand the difference between (sub-optimal) traces and their formalisation as explanations. The underlying idea of the approach is to be generalisable and hence suited to tackle practical problems in a variety of domains from aerospace, automotive and automation industries, as well as systems and applications developed for healthcare. Our examples here come from a healthcare based context
Alkaline attack of boro-alumino-silicate glass:new insights of the molecular mechanism of cold consolidation and new applications
No full textAlkali activation is of interest for the development of sustainable construction materials, especially those produced from waste-derived reactive alumino-silicate feedstock. Fine powders suspended in concentrated alkaline aqueous solutions undergo gelation during drying by condensation reactions that involve the products of glass dissolution. Boro-alumino-silicate glasses from discarded pharmaceutical containers can be activated under ‘mild’ conditions (2.5 M NaOH/KOH), upon drying at 40 °C for 7 days. This work focuses on the study of specific molecular mechanism of glass hardening after the alkali activation. Contrary to what has been reported for geopolymers, hardening does not result from an extensive dissolution phase. Condensation reactions occur in hydrated surface layers, leading to formation of strong bonds (Si-O-Si, Al-O-Si, etc.) between individual glass particles. Silicates, borates, and aluminates from glass dissolution combine with alkaline ions, yielding additional soluble phases. The proposed mechanism is supported by the results of solid-state NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis using ICP OES. Stable matrices prepared by direct foaming or by the inclusion of cenospheres or commercial expanded glass (Poraver®) can be exploited for the fabrication of lightweight components
Proposer of the vote of thanks and contribution to the discussion of the 'discussion meeting on analysis of citizen science data'
No full textReview of <i>Walter Kühn: Von Hesiod bis Brecht. Eine Literaturgeschichte der Widmung</i>
No full text'Mine the volume':excess and the voluminous ecological politics of capitalist frontiers
No full textMining frontiers are moving ever further beyond Earth's surface, as new subterranean realms, the seafloor, the atmosphere and outer space increasingly come into the purview of entrepreneurial activity. In this paper, we deploy an environmental governmentality analytic to examine mining as a site-specific, intervening activity that brings the relationship between these different material spaces into view. We recognise that as mining expands through technological advancement ever further beyond its previous terrestrial foundations, it builds on and deepens colonial environmental governance strategies. We argue that as it does so, efforts to govern mining are likely to be increasingly challenged by its ‘excess’, by which we mean the matter that surpasses surficial enclosures and goes on to produce unintended physical and social consequences for other spaces and places. We construct our argument by examining secondary data on mining at three resource frontiers at varying stages of exploitation and associated governance: (i) surface mining during European colonialisation of the Amazon Basin; (ii) ongoing preparations for deep-sea mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone of the Pacific Ocean; and (iii) the prospect of asteroid mining in outer space. Overall, the paper draws attention to the overlapping nature of the planet's voluminous, material spaces and its ability to frustrate environmental governance efforts. It offers a voluminous analysis across material spaces to burgeoning debates within political ecology
Reflections on complexity, nuclear ordering and disordering over time
No full textIntensive development of a rule-based international nuclear order, with its multiple treaties and agreements, was crowded into a thirty-year period from the early-1960 to mid-1990. A tendency towards disorder has predominated since then, leading to today’s anxiety that nuclear affairs are becoming ‘beyond ordering’. The article examines the historical experience of ordering and disordering through the lens of complexity, and considers the parts that the nuclear field’s extraordinary and ever shifting technological, politico-military, politico-economic and moral complexities—and contentions—have played in affecting outcomes. Emphasis is placed on the concerted ‘political organisation of complexity’ or its absence, as practised by the US and USSR/Russia (increasingly joined by China), the dominant nuclear powers. They have been the primary creators, guardians and disruptors of the nuclear order. The article ends with a comment, looking to the long run, on Norbert Elias’s ‘end of the road?’ for hegemonic war or human survival in the nuclear age