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Art Experience, Art Enjoyment, and Fixed/Growth Mindset: Clues in the Case for Art Therapy
Full text linkExisting research into the Creative Arts Therapies (or CAT), though still growing and not quite widely recognized across the field of Psychology, points toward the use of art related interventions to decrease stress levels and create a high sense of enjoyment, but little research has been done to examine the impact of particular components of said intervention. This includes how the role of the instructor of such an intervention would impact stress levels and enjoyment, if art experience of the participant has a role in the outcome of either variable, or if a particular mindset about creativity could impact one’s willingness to engage with the arts overall. The current study consisted of two studies, each exploring these possibilities as a means of broadening the acceptance of CAT. The first examined the impacts of both a high stress instruction type and a low stress instruction type of art intervention carried out on two randomized groups. Results showed that instruction type did not influence either group of participants, but instead found that stress levels decreased significantly, and that reported enjoyment was high across groups. Regardless of instruction type or art experience, a simple art intervention can have a positive impact on mental health and well-being. The second study collected data regarding participants’ opinions on and experience with the arts and compared with their mindset type regarding creativity: a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Results found that those reporting a higher growth mindset type had more willingness to engage in the Creative Arts Therapies, along with higher enjoyment of the arts overall. This could indicate the need to work on increasing a growth mindset towards creativity and the arts to have more participants willing to engage in CAT. The findings of both studies call for more attention and validity to be given to the fields of CAT and for continued work at bringing art to more people both in the therapy setting and in their own free time
Higher Education Professors Adapting to Online Teaching
Full text linkAdaptation factors such as experience, personality and social support may be predictive in professors’ self-perceived adaptability scores to online teaching. Data from forty-four Elizabethtown College professors and forty-six Lebanon Valley College professors, collected using an online forum, was analyzed in a correlational analysis, regression analysis and t-tests. When combining the results from Elizabethtown College professors and Lebanon Valley College professors, significant relationships were detected between self-perceived adaptability scores and three personality types (proactive, extroversion, agreeableness) and workplace support. The regression analyses showed workplace and school to be predictive of self-perceived adaptability scores to online teaching. These findings represent the importance of inspiring and promoting certain personalities and workplace support to decrease the negative impact that uncertain situations can elicit
Supporting Students with Disabilities at Elizabethtown College Through Universal Design
Full text linkThis study will tackle the issues surrounding the transition to post-secondary education for students with disabilities. Transition for any individual is often challenging. For students with disabilities, transition can be even more stressful. When students with disabilities transition to post-secondary education, they may no longer receive the accommodations they had in high school (Abreu et al.,2016). While it is important for students to be educated of the disability services offered at their institution, it is equally important that students are comfortable communicating their disability related needs. When students are accommodated through Universal Design, a proactive approach to planning that addresses the diverse needs and preferences of a wide range of individuals, retention and graduation rates improve
Characterizing Ferroptosis in the Model Invertebrate Hydra Vulgaris
Full text linkFerroptosis is a form of regulated cell death distinct from apoptosis. It occurs in diverse animals and in plants, but has not been documented in Hydra vulgaris, a cnidarian species used for studies of stem cell biology and regeneration. Treatment with the ferroptosis-inducing chemicals diethyl maleate and Erastin caused cell death, suggesting that ferroptosis can be induced in H. vulgaris. The phenotypes are unlike those of apoptosis in H. vulgaris, and each inducer resulted in a different phenotypic response. Combining the ferroptosis inducers with ferroptosis inhibitors (Liproxstatin-1, Ferrostatin-1, and Β-mercaptoethanol) was expected to decrease cell death, however this was not observed. This research begins to characterize ferroptosis in Hydra vulgaris using ferroptosis-inducing and ferroptosis-blocking compounds
Increased Expression of SAM68 in SV40 Transformed Human Diploid Fibroblast Cells and the Effect on Downstream Splicing Targets
Full text linkAlternative splicing has emerged as a major player in cancer initiation and progression. The altered splicing factor profiles and the effect on their subsequent targets have been reported in several cancers. Comparing tumor samples and tumor cell lines to build protein profiles of specific isoforms has elucidated common alterations that may indicate the important drivers of tumorigenesis. However, when using primary tumors and tumor cell lines there is often not a matched control to directly compare the results. But by employing the simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA tumor virus model, studies can be designed to investigate the isoform profiles before and after cellular transformation. For this study, human diploid fibroblasts immortalized with telomerase (HDF(tert)) were stably transfected with plasmid encoding the early region SV40 (HDF(tert+T)). The two created clones were compared to the parental line through RT-PCR and Western Blotting. It was found that the level of T-antigen was directly correlated to increased levels of the splicing factor SAM68. To elucidate the possible role of SAM68 in viral transformation, downstream splicing targets were also assessed using RT-PCR and Western Blotting. The results show that the SAM68 target, SRSF1, has an increased expression of only the specific SRSF1-208 isoform in the transformed lines. To further investigate SRSF1 expression and modifications, an immunofluorescence assay was performed. Preliminary results suggest that SRSF1 is located in the cytoplasm and that there are no phosphorylation pattern differences between SRSF1 isoforms, but studies are still ongoing to solidify this finding. Overall, this data suggests that increased SAM68 expression could contribute to the aggressive growth of SV40 T-antigen transformed human diploid fibroblasts, and this could be through the preferential splicing of the SRSF1-208 isoform. These findings are significant as they could indicate that SAM68 could potentially be a chemotherapeutic target for virally-induced cancers, and they expand the literature on SAM68 as increased levels of SAM68 and the subsequent downstream altered proteins have been implicated as a driver of tumorigenesis in other cancers
No preferred reference frame at the foundation of quantum mechanics
No full textQuantum information theorists have created axiomatic reconstructions of quantum mechanics (QM) that are very successful at identifying precisely what distinguishes quantum probability theory from classical and more general probability theories in terms of information-theoretic principles. Herein, we show how one such principle, Information Invariance and Continuity, at the foundation of those axiomatic reconstructions, maps to “no preferred reference frame” (NPRF, aka “the relativity principle”) as it pertains to the invariant measurement of Planck’s constant h for Stern-Gerlach (SG) spin measurements. This is in exact analogy to the relativity principle as it pertains to the invariant measurement of the speed of light c at the foundation of special relativity (SR). Essentially, quantum information theorists have extended Einstein’s use of NPRF from the boost invariance of measurements of c to include the SO(3) invariance of measurements of h between different reference frames of mutually complementary spin measurements via the principle of Information Invariance and Continuity. Consequently, the “mystery” of the Bell states is understood to result from conservation per Information Invariance and Continuity between different reference frames of mutually complementary qubit measurements, and this maps to conservation per NPRF in spacetime. If one falsely conflates the relativity principle with the classical theory of SR, then it may seem impossible that the relativity principle resides at the foundation of non-relativisitic QM. In fact, there is nothing inherently classical or quantum about NPRF. Thus, the axiomatic reconstructions of QM have succeeded in producing a principle account of QM that reveals as much about Nature as the postulates of SR
Development of Sensitive and Fast Immunoassay for Lyme Disease
Full text linkTesting for Lyme disease has proven to be time consuming and inaccurate, especially in its early stages. The goal of this project is to develop a new diagnostic that has improved timeliness, sensitivity, and selectivity. This test is based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or ELISA. To improve on what is currently in place, magnetic beads will be used. Unlike a normal ELISA, these magnetic beads are the binding site of the capture antibody instead of the microplate surface. With greatly increased surface area from the beads, the process can be much faster and detect far lesser concentrations of protein with greater accuracy. This test will allow for more reliable diagnosis, reducing progression of the disease and chronic affects. Through this research a magnetic bead assay for detection of the human response to Lyme disease was successfully developed and results were achieved in 90 minutes
Benefits of Equine Therapy Within Occupational Therapy
Full text linkThe main goal of occupational therapy is to help the patient gain confidence in their ability to function and perform life skills outside of their therapist (Abu Tariah et al, 2020, p.1). By incorporating horses during therapy sessions, it can assist in strengthening the therapist/patient relationship and provide more productive therapy sessions, which would ultimately improve the patient’s ability to learn, grow, and to continue functioning once therapy is completed. The use of equine therapy in occupational therapy is beneficial to patients diagnosed with different types of neurological and psychological disorders
NetSec: Real-time and Scalable Malware Traffic Detection within IoT Networks
Full text linkDetecting malicious network traffic in real time has become a crucial requirement at smart communities for elderly care and medical facilities with the prevalence of Internet-of-things (IoT) devices. Existing machine learning based solutions for network traffic malware detection often fail to scale with the exponential increase of IoT devices at the facility and to detect malicious traffic with desirable low latency. In this paper we seek to fill the gap by designing a scalable end-to-end network traffic analyzing system that permits real-time malware detection. By leveraging distributed systems such as Apache Kafka and Apache Spark, the system has demonstrated scalable performance as the number of IoT devices grow. Using Intel’s oneAPI software stack for both machine learning and deep learning models, the model inference speed is boosted by three-fold