1524 research outputs found
Sort by
THE EFFECTS OF EXOSOMES IN LEAD AND LPS INDUCED INFLAMMATION IN MICROGLIA
Get PDFExosomes are membrane bound subcellular vesicles formed through membrane budding of a cell and play important roles in cell-cell communication. Studies have demonstrated inflammatory changes in various cell types depending on the etiology of the exosomes such as exosomes from cancer cells or exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells. The purpose of this study was to determine the inflammatory consequences of exosomes in microglial cells following exposure to lead, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and lead+LPS. The cultured mouse microglial cells were treated at 0.01 μM, 0.1 μM and 1 μM of lead,- three environmentally relevant levels and LPS was used at 10 pg/mL in all LPS samples. Inflammation was assessed by determining the levels of inflammatory markers of interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 10 (IL-10) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4). Analysis was conducted with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods. Exosomes derived from healthy microglia cells were grown and split. Each biological sample had exosomes generated from an individual flask. 20 ng/mL of exosomes were added to microglia with lead and LPS. Cell lysate and supernatant from immortalized microglia were exposed for eighteen hours to 0.01 μM of lead simultaneously exposed to LPS led to apparent lower levels of cytokines compared to LPS alone, while 1 μM of lead with LPS showed higher cytokine levels than microglia at 0.01 μM of lead with LPS
PANOPTICON FARMING: THE USE OF SATELLITE IMAGERY FOR SUPERVISION IN BULGARIAN AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDY MANAGEMENT
Get PDFWith the widespread availability of affordable satellite imagery on demand and enhanced image analytics, satellite technology has gradually entered various public and private sectors in Eastern Europe. In particular, it has been implemented to streamline some outdated assessment processes in the agriculture sector, largely decreasing the cost, time, and effort associated with in-person compliance checks for subsidy funds. While in theory this substitution is an enhancement, consistent with the ongoing digitalization of farming in this region of Europe, certain aspects of this transition could be problematic for the individuals observed. This form of satellite supervision has granted governing institutions an almost instant access to information about agricultural parcels for assurance purposes, with the observed farmers having little awareness about when and how these assessments are conducted. This model of remote assurance echoes Foucault’s panopticism but in a modern context that connects it to the tenets of surveillance capitalism. Through a media ecology lens, derived from McLuhan’s understanding of each medium of communication’s effects on society, this research analyzes the use of satellite imagery in the agriculture subsidy sector in Bulgaria. To reveal the areas of tension where the application of the modern technology is problematic, it explores digitalized court decision documents from legal disputes about the use of satellite imagery for subsidies distributed under the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) process in Bulgaria. This work identifies and addresses a gap in understanding the larger implications of adding a modern technology to traditional processes without fully considering how that might affect the power dynamics within. It concludes with a proposal of a model which lays out the ways information from various sources is used to make decisions within CAP and a number of recommendations for making the program’s supervision component more efficient and transparent. By looking at a series of research questions posed to closely examine the dispute resolution mechanism, this study seeks to understand how satellite imagery is implemented by the macrostructure of the European Union - as a tool of innovation, control, or something else entirely
AFRICAN AMERICAN EXECUTIVE LEADERS AND POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: EXPLORING THE NEXUS OF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP AND AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
Get PDFThe purpose of this narrative study was to explore the experiences that African Americans have in executive leadership positions within higher education. The participants in this study identified as African Americans, with a doctorate, who held an executive leadership position in higher education. The colleges and universities where the participants were employed were predominantly White institutions on the East and West Coast regions of the United States. A narrative research model was utilized to collect stories of the participants’ lived experiences as executive leaders who used positive psychology to overcome barriers within their positions. In addition, the executive leaders made connections to the leadership found in African American literature. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The implications of the findings were that African American executive leaders who identified their use of positive psychology recognized that it helped other individuals within their institutions to flourish in their roles. Reading and discussing the leadership in African American literature helped the executive leaders to reflect on and guide their own leadership practices
NANI, AJI, & MY MEMORY: POEMS FROM A GUYANESEAMERICAN GRANDDAUGHTER
Get PDFThis thesis is an autoethnography reflecting the generations who came before me from Guyana, as well as my own identity as a Guyanese-American writer in the present day, contributing to the growing creative scholarship available on our Motherland and the descendants of its broader diaspora. Alongside the knowledge that can only derive out of lived experience, I begin with a Critical Preface that draws from imaginative literature of enslavement before exploring indenture literature, queer poetry, and, finally, Guyanese poetry, in my Critical Preface. A Poetic Statement follows thereafter, sharing insight into my mindset during my writing process. The next section contains a variety of my poetry and concludes with my Parting Thoughts. Above all, it serves as a reminder that creative writing is personal writing is academic writing. This work belongs to my communities and those who see themselves in it
CO-TEACHING IN A SECONDARY ENL SETTING
Get PDFAs the schools in New York State increase in terms of the number of English as a New Language (ENL) co-taught classes in proportion to the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) enrolled, there is a greater need to understand the dynamics between co-teachers to identify best strategies to support this growing population of sensitive learners. In most schools, English language learners (ELLs), a subgroup of Multilingual Learners, are placed in an English language arts (ELA) class that is taught by a content area teacher along with an ENL teacher. The expectation is that the two teachers will work together to support language acquisition by building language and content skills simultaneously. In this qualitative study, I aimed to better understand the experiences of both teachers in a co-teaching setting through interviews and identify strengths and areas of growth that can be used to create a more successful co-teaching environment. I interviewed ELA content area teachers and ENL teachers to determine the challenges associated with co-teaching from their perspectives and experiences. The interviews showcased the need for more teacher planning time and preparation programs to help teachers build a collaborative relationship. The study builds upon the need for more consistency in terms of ENL co-teaching, either maintaining co-teaching pairs or keeping ENL teachers within the same content area
POETICS OF RELIGIOSITY: T.S. ELIOT’S POETRY AND RELIGIOUS SENSE
No full textThis dissertation examines some of the major poems of T.S. Eliot, including The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash-Wednesday, “Journey of the Magi,” “A Song for Simeon,” Choruses from ‘The Rock’, and Four Quartets. The poetry is examined against the background of the poet’s life and through the theological lens of Luigi Giussani’s The Religious Sense. Put in a biographical and theological context, this study attempts to exhume and bring alive some of the most burning and pulsating questions that the poetry raises for the poet and us through his religious sense. Also, seen as a poetic pilgrimage, or a journey of faith, Eliot’s life and poetry during his middle and late periods is examined in the region where his religious sense gains a poetic perspective and expression, which I term as a poetics of religiosity. This study attempts to supplement T.S. Eliot studies in religion and literature and understand some of the poetry from a new theological perspective in order to approach classic works of literature in new and fresh ways. Far from being exhaustive of its subject, this study, while building on previous knowledge of Eliot and his work, carves out new paths at looking at his poetry in the 21st century. The entire aim of the project is to deepen the mystery of the poetry and the poet and bring us closer to living lives of poetic fulfillment through our own religious sense. Like T.S. Eliot’s life in poetry, our lives may crisscross in poetry and theology in the space that might be called religious experience. We go back to the poetry not only to study literary classics, but to feel more alive in the poetic realm that responds to our religious sense and corresponds with the needs of our heart
Should we clear the cobwebs in our minds or dismantle racial structures? Reflections on the lack of critical thinking of higher education staff in the UK
Get PDFHigher education in the UK constantly emphasises critical thinking for students. However, analysis of comments made about *Black students and staff indicate that some academic staff fail to critically analyse their thoughts, words, and deeds. This paper sets out to analyse these utterances of HE staff and to investigate whether they actively reproduce and are intended to reproduce racist practices in HE, which could affect the experience, performance, and confidence of some of these students and staff who identify as Black and Global Majorities. Applying critical race theory and socio-ideological analysis of language (Bakhtin 1981 and Voloshinov 1973) to analyse these utterances, which seem to be thoughts trapped in cobwebs, I seek to understand whether some HE staff fail to practise critical thinking and what this absence reveals about their ideological position and beliefs. I further explore whether critical reflection is required for those of us working within the university sector to become aware of our uncritical habits of mind (King 1991), i.e., the cobwebs in our minds. This paper discusses why one-off workshops such as unconscious bias training may be ineffective in tackling these deeply ingrained false assumptions and in dismantling racial structures
A PLAN-DO-STUDY-ACT TO DECREASE TIME SPENT ON BILEVEL POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE
Get PDFBilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) is a form of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) typically employed as a bridging treatment in hospital settings. Research shows that prolonged BIPAP use can be associated with reduced patient satisfaction and adverse consequences. The purpose of this study was to reduce days spent on BiPAP to improve the quality of patient care. To address the issue of the length of time (LOT) patients spend on BiPAP at New York Presbyterian-Queens (NYP-Q), a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) intervention was implemented. The intervention involved repeated PDSA cycles with modifications from 2015 to 2019. The results of the intervention indicated that interprofessional empowerment interventions led to a notable decline in LOT on BiPAP from an average of 5.5 days to the goal of 3.54 days. Achieving the goals of 3.5 days or less on BiPAP required 4 different PDSA cycles: education-based intervention, adoption and dissemination of guidelines as policy, consultation, and interprofessional empowerment. Future research should evaluate the sustainability of the implementation of these interventions
IN SUPPORT OF A READ-ALOUD ACCOMMODATION: A META ANALYSIS STUDY
Get PDFThis study examined the read-aloud accommodation benefits for students with disabilities (SWD) and students without disabilities (SWOD). In this study, researchers recommend ways in which to remove encumbrances faced by SWD in reading comprehension. In general, research has shown that both SWD and SWOD have met some degree of success from the read-aloud accommodations. Further, this meta-analysis will attempt to reveal important factors that influence the effects of read-aloud accommodations. For example, how the accommodation effect size influences the subject area of reading versus that of math. This study will also show that the effect of read-aloud accommodations is significantly stronger when the test is read by human proctors than when it was read by video/audio players or computers. Student, parent, and teacher perceptions will also be examined regarding the use of the read-aloud testing accommodation and the relationship between student self-efficacy of testing accommodations and their disability status as well as their grade level. Research has found that most parents and teachers perceived testing accommodations to be fair and valid for SWD. The consequential aspects of testing are also discussed as playing an important part of validity evidence for large-scale assessment systems. This study will further investigate the perceived positive consequences of testing accommodations by providing further evidence of their continued use as well as their role in facilitating valid test scores
IMPLEMENTING INQUIRY: A CASE STUDY OF SECONDARY SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM CHANGE
Get PDFWith the constant strive for higher standards in education, New York State has joined with other states in the nation to develop a new strategy to teach science and 21st-century learning skills to ensure that our children are ready to compete in the global economy. This study sought to determine the current knowledge and perceptions of in-service teachers in New York State regarding the shift in standards from the 1996-based standards to the recently adopted New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS) and their implementation in the classroom. The study aims to help identify the shifts in classroom practices resulting from the new standards and determine possible barriers to implementing the NYSSLS in New York State. Participants in the study were in-service teachers and administrators in New York State