Students' experience of the use of an online learning channel in teaching and learning: a sports therapy perspective

Aims/Background: The inclusion of blended e-learning approaches to teaching has become more prevalent in higher education. The purpose of this paper was to examine sports therapy students’ experiences of using an online learning channel designed to assist practical skills. Moreover, creating an understanding of students’ adoption of the learning channel to determine its efficacy. Method: The design was a mixed method exploratory study in which a questionnaire was designed to investigate students’ experience of using the learning channel across all undergraduate BSc Sports Therapy modules. One-hundred and sixtyfour (level four n=67, level five n=51, level six n=46) students completed the questionnaire relating to their experience of an online video-based learning channel. Findings: BSc Sports Therapy students across all levels found the learning channel useful, with the most common responses related to revision and consolidation of practical skills. Exam preparation was associated to this suggesting students’ beliefs were driven by resources which could facilitate grade improvement in practical exams. Conclusions: The sports therapy learning channel was received very positively with both the visual and practical nature of online instructional videos deemed important

Expression site attenuation mechanistically links antigenic variation and development in Trypanosoma brucei

We have discovered a new mechanism of monoallelic gene expression that links antigenic variation, cell cycle, and development in the model parasite Trypanosoma brucei. African trypanosomes possess hundreds of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes, but only one is expressed from a telomeric expression site (ES) at any given time. We found that the expression of a second VSG alone is sufficient to silence the active VSG gene and directionally attenuate the ES by disruptor of telomeric silencing-1B (DOT1B)-mediated histone methylation. Three conserved expression-site-associated genes (ESAGs) appear to serve as signal for ES attenuation. Their depletion causes G1-phase dormancy and reversible initiation of the slender-to-stumpy differentiation pathway. ES-attenuated slender bloodstream trypanosomes gain full developmental competence for transformation to the tsetse fly stage. This surprising connection between antigenic variation and developmental progression provides an unexpected point of attack against the deadly sleeping sickness

Non-parametric estimation of mixed discrete choice models

In this paper, different strands of literature are combined in order to obtain algorithms for semi-parametric estimation of discrete choice models that include the modelling of unobserved heterogeneity by using mixing distributions for the parameters defining the preferences. The models use the theory on non-parametric maximum likelihood estimation (NP-MLE) that has been developed for general mixing models. The expectation-maximization (EM) techniques used in the NP-MLE literature are combined with strategies for choosing appropriate approximating models using adaptive grid techniques. \\ Jointly this leads to techniques for specification and estimation that can be used to obtain a consistent specification of the mixing distribution. Additionally, also algorithms for the estimation are developed that help to decrease problems due to the curse of dimensionality. \\ The proposed algorithms are demonstrated in a small scale simulation study to be useful for the specification and estimation of mixture models in the discrete choice context providing some information on the specification of the mixing distribution. The simulations document that some aspects of the mixing distribution such as the expectation can be estimated reliably. They also demonstrate, however, that typically different approximations to the mixing distribution lead to similar values of the likelihood and hence are hard to discriminate. Therefore it does not appear to be possible to reliably infer the most appropriate parametric form for the estimated mixing distribution.Comment: Paper presented at the International Choice Modelling Conference (ICMC2019) in Kobe, Japa

Hochpräzisionsgrößenmessung und Bestimmung der Topologie subchromosomaler Domänen nach molekularer Markierung unter Berücksichtigung des Einflusses der Zellfixierung

Lichtoptische Untersuchungen der dynamischen Zellkernarchitektur in vivo benötigen zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt aufwendige Markierungs- und Detektionstechniken. Für einige Fragestellungen, wie zum Beispiel die Größe und Lage von Genen, sind Messungen in fixierten Präparaten sinnvoll. In dieser Arbeit wurde der Einfluss der Fixierung auf die Morphologie von Zellkernen sowie auf die Größe und Position subchromosomaler Domänen im Zellkern quantitativ untersucht. Die Quantifizierung der Größen als laterale Ausdehnung erfolgte mittels dem multi point model. Die Morphologie der Zellkerne wird durch die Art der Fixierung und die Hybridisierung nicht einheitlich beeinflusst. Die laterale Ausdehnung der untersuchten Domänen unterscheidet sich nur gering zwischen den Fixierungen. Eine unterschiedliche Sensitivität innerhalb mitotischer Chromosomen gegenüber denaturierenden Prozessen konnte ebenfalls quantifiziert werden

High-resolution analysis of multi-copy variant surface glycoprotein gene expression sites in African trypanosomes

BACKGROUND: African trypanosomes cause lethal diseases in humans and animals and escape host immune attack by switching the expression of Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) genes. The expressed VSGs are located at the ends of telomeric, polycistronic transcription units known as VSG expression sites (VSG-ESs). Each cell has many VSG-ESs but only one is transcribed in bloodstream-form parasites and all of them are inactive upon transmission to the insect vector mid-gut; a subset of monocistronic metacyclic VSG-ESs are then activated in the insect salivary gland. Deep-sequence analyses have been informative but assigning sequences to individual VSG-ESs has been challenging because they each contain closely related expression-site associated genes, or ESAGs, thought to contribute to virulence. RESULTS: We utilised ART, an in silico short read simulator to demonstrate the feasibility of accurately aligning reads to VSG-ESs. Then, using high-resolution transcriptomes from isogenic bloodstream and insect-stage Lister 427 Trypanosoma brucei, we uncover increased abundance in the insect mid-gut stage of mRNAs from metacyclic VSG-ESs and of mRNAs from the unusual ESAG, ESAG10. Further, we show that the silencing associated with allelic exclusion involves repression focussed at the ends of the VSG-ESs. We also use the approach to report relative fitness costs following ESAG RNAi from a genome-scale screen. CONCLUSIONS: By assigning sequences to individual VSG-ESs we provide new insights into VSG-ES transcription control, allelic exclusion and impacts on fitness. Thus, deeper insights into the expression and function of regulated multi-gene families are more accessible than previously anticipated. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3154-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Modelling the public health impact of MenACWY and MenC adolescent vaccination strategies in Germany

Introduction: Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) causes significant mortality and long-term sequelae. This study assesses the potential public health impact of adolescent vaccination strategies employing MenACWY and MenC vaccines in Germany, where the existing meningococcal immunisation programme predominantly involves MenC administration in toddlers. Methods: A dynamic transmission model was developed to simulate the carriage of five meningococcal serogroup compartments (AY/B/C/W/ Other) from 2019 until 2060 within 1-year age groups from 0 to 99 years of age. IMD cases were estimated based on case-carrier ratios. The model considered vaccine effectiveness against carriage acquisition and IMD. Results: The model predicts that introducing MenACWY adolescent vaccination could lead to a considerable reduction in IMD incidence, with the potential to prevent up to 65 cases per year and a cumulative total of 1467 cases by 2060. This decrease, mainly driven by herd effects, would result in a reduction of IMD incidence across all age groups, regardless of vaccination age. Furthermore, implementing MenACWY vaccination in adolescents is projected to decrease annual MenACWY-related IMD mortality by up to 64%, equating to an overall prevention of 156 IMD deaths by 2060. These protective outcomes are expected to culminate in approximately 2250 life years gained (LYG) throughout the model’s projected time horizon. In contrast, the adoption of MenC vaccination in adolescents is predicted to have minimal influence on both IMD incidence and mortality, as well as on LYG. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that implementing MenACWY vaccination for adolescents in Germany is likely to notably reduce IMD incidence and mortality across age groups. However, the introduction of MenC adolescent vaccination shows only limited impact. Considering the extensive healthcare resources typically required for IMD management, these findings suggest the potential for economic benefits associated with the adoption of MenACWY adolescent vaccination, warranting further cost-effectiveness analysis

Out-of-hospital births: A small but growing phenomenon in high income countries: A viewpoint.

This short viewpoint article raises some interesting points about freebirthing or unassisted childbirth as a growing phenomenon in high-income countrie