Reducing Hardships: Student Motivations, Educational Workflows, and Technology Choices in Academic Settings

Objective – This study examines The University of Manitoba student attitudes toward technology’s role in University study spaces and in their own educational workflows. Methods - A series of semi-structured group interviews were conducted with current undergraduate and graduate students at The University of Manitoba. Three group interviews were conducted with questions about individual technology and space use while studying in the library, and three group interviews were conducted with questions about group collaboration using technologies and tools in group study spaces. Transcripts were coded iteratively and separately by the researchers, analyzed for interrater reliability, categorized, and reviewed using axial coding to identify major themes. Through continued examination of these themes, a single theory emerged. Results - The participants expressed a strong need for independence and feelings of control over their workflows, technological tools, and environments. They discussed how interpersonal concerns and anxieties motivated their workflow choices and acknowledged the (often conflicting) motivational forces of personal necessity and personal preference. When examining the motivations behind the selection of technologies and work practices, it became clear that the respondents make technology and workflow decisions in an attempt to minimize their experience of perceived hardships. These perceived hardships could be social, emotional, educational, environmental, or temporal in nature, and the weight of any one hardship on decision making varied according to the individual. Conclusions - Libraries should be aware of this foundational user motivation and make choices accordingly - identifying and minimizing hardships whenever possible, unless they are necessary to achieve learning or service-specific goals. Additional research is required to help articulate the nuances experienced by particular student demographics. Librarians and future researchers should also consider investigating the potential disconnect between librarian and user attitudes toward technology, the prioritization of user-centered decision-making, and whether or not systematically disadvantaged social groups have different attitudes toward technology and its place in library spaces and academic work.https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/545

Screening risk assessment tools for assessing the environmental impact in an abandoned pyritic mine in Spain

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of the Total Environment 409.4 (2011): 692-703 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.10.056This paper describes a new methodology for assessing site-specific environmental impact of contaminants. The proposed method integrates traditional risk assessment approaches with real and variable environmental characteristics at a local scale. Environmental impact on selected receptors was classified for each environmental compartment into 5 categories derived from the whole (chronic and acute) risk assessment using 8 risk levels. Risk levels were established according to three hazard quotients (HQs) which represented the ratio of exposure to acute and chronic toxicity values. This tool allowed integrating in only one impact category all the elements involved in the standard risk assessment. The methodology was applied to an abandoned metal mine in Spain, where high levels of As, Cd, Zn and Cu were detected. Risk affecting potential receptors such as aquatic and soil organisms and terrestrial vertebrates were assessed. Whole results showed that impact to the ecosystem is likely high and further investigation or remedial actions are necessary. Some proposals to refine the risk assessment for a more realistic diagnostic are included.This work has been financed by Madrid Community through EIADES Project S-505/AMB/0296, and by Spanish MinistryfEducation and Science, project CTM-2007-66401-CO2/TECN

An Innovative Collaboration Of An Academic Institution With A Community Recovery Center

Research poster documenting the following project: The University of New England (UNE) collaborated with local recovery centers to create an interdisciplinary service learning partnership. Students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program explored the role of PT in Substance Use Disorder (SUD) recovery in an elective course. Three interactive PT related sessions were developed for the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) at Pinetree Recovery Center with the purpose of providing tools for physical activity to aid in the SUD recovery process.https://dune.une.edu/cecespring2020/1009/thumbnail.jp

A review of the distribution of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments and its application to considerations of risk

We review the evolution, state of the art and future lines of research on the sources, transport pathways, and sinks of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments to include the atmosphere, soils, and street and indoor dusts. Such studies reveal reductions in the emissions of some elements of historical concern such as Pb, with interest consequently focusing on other toxic trace elements such as As, Cd, Hg, Zn, and Cu. While establishment of levels of these elements is important in assessing the potential impacts of human society on the urban environment, it is also necessary to apply this knowledge in conjunction with information on the toxicity of those trace elements and the degree of exposure of human receptors to an assessment of whether such contamination represents a real risk to the city’s inhabitants and therefore how this risk can be addressed

Zero-G Operable Interplanetary Delivery Based Ergonomics Grabber (ZOIDBERG)

The collection and storage of float samples without cross contamination is one of many challenges facing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The proposed tool will be able to retrieve rock samples with a series of sample collection clamshells attached to a rotating belt positioned on a shaft. There will be one clamshell per sample collection sight. The tool will meet all safety requirements and be able to retrieve the samples without compromising the integrity of the surrounding area. After thorough design review, a prototype will be tested at the Neutral Buoyance Lab (NBL) at NASA’s Johnson Spaceflight Center in Houston, TX the first week of June. Feedback from the test will provide a foundation for future improvements to the design and operation of the device. Prior and post testing to the NBL tests will be key for precise design, fabrication, and operation. In the future, NASA may be able to use this tool to collect rock samples during asteroid missions

Variant-specific vulnerability in metabolic connectivity and resting-state networks in behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia.

Brain connectivity measures represent candidate biomarkers of neuronal dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. Previous findings suggest that the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and its variants (i.e., frontal and temporo-limbic) may be related to the vulnerability of distinct functional connectivity networks. In this study, 82 bvFTD patients were included, and two patient groups were identified as frontal and temporo-limbic bvFTD variants. Two advanced multivariate analytical approaches were applied to FDG-PET data, i.e., sparse inverse covariance estimation (SICE) method and seed-based interregional correlation analysis (IRCA). These advanced methods allowed the assessment of (i) the whole-brain metabolic connectivity, without any a priori assumption, and (ii) the main brain resting-state networks of crucial relevance for cognitive and behavioural functions. In the whole bvFTD group, we found dysfunctional connectivity patterns in frontal and limbic regions and in all major brain resting-state networks as compared to healthy controls (HC N = 82). In the two bvFTD variants, SICE and IRCA analyses identified variant-specific reconfigurations of whole-brain connectivity and resting-state networks. Specifically, the frontal bvFTD variant was characterised by metabolic connectivity alterations in orbitofrontal regions and anterior resting-state networks, while the temporo-limbic bvFTD variant was characterised by connectivity alterations in the limbic and salience networks. These results highlight different neural vulnerabilities in the two bvFTD variants, as shown by the dysfunctional connectivity patterns, with relevance for the different neuropsychological profiles. This new evidence provides further insight in the variability of bvFTD and may contribute to a more accurate classification of these patients

A Phase II study of neoadjuvant axitinib for reducing the extent of venous tumour thrombus in clear cell renal cell cancer with venous invasion (NAXIVA)

BackgroundSurgery for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with venous tumour thrombus (VTT) extension into the renal vein (RV) and/or inferior vena cava (IVC) has high peri-surgical morbidity/mortality. NAXIVA assessed the response of VTT to axitinib, a potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor.MethodsNAXIVA was a single-arm, multi-centre, Phase 2 study. In total, 20 patients with resectable clear cell RCC and VTT received upto 8 weeks of pre-surgical axitinib. The primary endpoint was percentage of evaluable patients with VTT improvement by Mayo level on MRI. Secondary endpoints were percentage change in surgical approach and VTT length, response rate (RECISTv1.1) and surgical morbidity.ResultsIn all, 35% (7/20) patients with VTT had a reduction in Mayo level with axitinib: 37.5% (6/16) with IVC VTT and 25% (1/4) with RV-only VTT. No patients had an increase in Mayo level. In total, 75% (15/20) of patients had a reduction in VTT length. Overall, 41.2% (7/17) of patients who underwent surgery had less invasive surgery than originally planned. Non-responders exhibited lower baseline microvessel density (CD31), higher Ki67 and exhausted or regulatory T-cell phenotype.ConclusionsNAXIVA provides the first Level II evidence that axitinib downstages VTT in a significant proportion of patients leading to reduction in the extent of surgery.Clinical trial registrationNCT03494816

Open science discovery of potent noncovalent SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors

We report the results of the COVID Moonshot, a fully open-science, crowdsourced, and structure-enabled drug discovery campaign targeting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease. We discovered a noncovalent, nonpeptidic inhibitor scaffold with lead-like properties that is differentiated from current main protease inhibitors. Our approach leveraged crowdsourcing, machine learning, exascale molecular simulations, and high-throughput structural biology and chemistry. We generated a detailed map of the structural plasticity of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, extensive structure-activity relationships for multiple chemotypes, and a wealth of biochemical activity data. All compound designs (>18,000 designs), crystallographic data (>490 ligand-bound x-ray structures), assay data (>10,000 measurements), and synthesized molecules (>2400 compounds) for this campaign were shared rapidly and openly, creating a rich, open, and intellectual property–free knowledge base for future anticoronavirus drug discovery