What does someone embarking on a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) project need to know about how students learn? And how can the SoTL novice reconcile their goals to improve teaching and ...learning with the vastness of the literature on the science of learning? In this article, we consider the complexity of this literature and its intersection with SoTL. We also review several popular books and websites that might be used by the SoTL novice as entry points for grounding their SoTL studies, informing the questions they ask and narrowing the literature they read. In these brief reviews, we offer practical tips and advice on how to use these resources effectively so that one does not have to become an expert in the science of learning to perform outstanding SoTL research.
To assess the incidence, cumulative rate, and long-term outcomes of infectious and noninfectious endophthalmitis after intravitreal injections (IVTs) of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) ...agents.
Database study, prospectively designed.
Treatment-naïve eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) tracked by the Fight Retinal Blindness! (FRB!) registry that commenced anti-VEGF therapy between January 1, 2006, and November 30, 2016.
Cumulative rate of endophthalmitis and survival curves were measured using Cox-proportional hazards models. Locally weighted scatterplot smoothing curves were used to display visual acuity (VA).
Incidence and cumulative rate of endophthalmitis, and change in VA 12 months after endophthalmitis.
Infectious endophthalmitis developed in 18 of 88 150 injections (1/4897 injections 0.020%; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.012-0.032) with no difference found between types of anti-VEGF medications (P = 0.896). The cumulative rate of infectious endophthalmitis per patient was 0.055%, 0.183%, 0.360%, 0.360%, 0.555%, and 0.843% after 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 IVTs, respectively. However, the "risk" of infectious endophthalmitis did not increase with each successive injection (P = 0.202). Noninfectious endophthalmitis developed in 11 of 88 150 injections (1/8013 injections 0.012%; 95% CI, 0.006-0.022). The cumulative rate of noninfectious endophthalmitis per patient was 0.087% and 0.228% after 10 and 20 IVTs, respectively, and then remained stable up to 60 IVTs. The incidence of noninfectious endophthalmitis was higher for bevacizumab (8/9931, 0.081%) compared with ranibizumab (3/54 776, 0.005%; P = 0.005) and aflibercept (0/23 425; P = 0.016), and no differences were observed between ranibizumab and aflibercept (P = 1.0). The 12-month VA in infectious and noninfectious endophthalmitis was within ±2 lines of before endophthalmitis in 53% and 75% of eyes, respectively; a loss >2 lines was observed in 31% and 25% of eyes, respectively.
The incidences of infectious and noninfectious endophthalmitis after IVT were low, and the risk did not increase with each successive injection. We found higher rates of noninfectious endophthalmitis with bevacizumab compared with ranibizumab or aflibercept. Three quarters of cases with infectious and two thirds of cases with noninfectious endophthalmitis retained vision within 10 letters of the pre-endophthalmitis level.
γ-Secretase is a key player in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The intramembrane-cleaving enzyme initially cleaves a C-terminal fragment of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) at the ...ɛ-site within its transmembrane domain to release the APP intracellular domain. Subsequent stepwise carboxy-terminal trimming cleavages eventually release amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides of 37-43 amino acids into the extracellular space. Aβ
as well as the much less abundant Aβ
species are highly aggregation prone and can deposit as plaques in the brains of affected patients, which are widely believed to be causative of AD. Disappointingly, due to lack of efficacy and side effects likely attributable to the inhibition of the crucial substrate Notch, inhibitors of γ-secretase that lower Aβ generation failed in clinical trials of AD. There is hope, however, that recently developed potent γ-secretase modulators (GSMs) provide a safer approach for disease modification. These compounds have the unique property of primarily shifting the generation of Aβ
toward that of shorter peptides without affecting the ɛ-site cleavage of Notch and other substrates. In this chapter, we describe methods to investigate how GSMs affect the activity of the enzyme as well as how their molecular targets are identified.
The knowledge of oxide scale growth under forced flow conditions in LBE systems is of great importance for long-term design calculations, as they have a big influence on the thermal behavior of heat ...transfer components. In the high temperature part of a reactor system there may be dissolution effects on the oxide scale increasing with temperature and flow velocity. Experimental values of oxide scale dissolution rates are rather scarce; amongst them are those of M. Machut, K. Sridharan, N. Li, S. Ukai, T. Allen, J. Nucl. Mater. 371 (2007) 134. A critical assessment of the adopted method seems necessary. An alternative method based on measurements of metal recession may help to clarify the situation.
The k nearest neighbor (kNN) approach is a simple and effective nonparametric algorithm for classification. One of the drawbacks of kNN is that the method can only give coarse estimates of class ...probabilities, particularly for low values of k. To avoid this drawback, we propose a new nonparametric classification method based on nearest neighbors conditional on each class: the proposed approach calculates the distance between a new instance and the kth nearest neighbor from each class, estimates posterior probabilities of class memberships using the distances, and assigns the instance to the class with the largest posterior. We prove that the proposed approach converges to the Bayes classifier as the size of the training data increases. Further, we extend the proposed approach to an ensemble method. Experiments on benchmark data sets show that both the proposed approach and the ensemble version of the proposed approach on average outperform kNN, weighted kNN, probabilistic kNN and two similar algorithms (LMkNN and MLM-kHNN) in terms of the error rate. A simulation shows that kCNN may be useful for estimating posterior probabilities when the class distributions overlap.
In future blanket concepts Eurofer, is foreseen as structural material which is in direct contact with flowing Pb–15.7Li at temperatures up to 550°C. In earlier compatibility tests the corrosion ...behavior was studied at high flow velocities of ca. 22cm/s in PICOLO loop and a large data base for RAFM steels was created. Dramatically high steel dissolution occurs near 400μm/year. Meanwhile, development of modeling tools was integrated to describe the corrosion/precipitation processes and to extrapolate towards DEMO conditions. However, to perform reliable extrapolation, testing at smaller flow rates towards laminar flow is absolutely necessary. Samples exposed up to 3000h at reduced 10cm/s flow velocity showed a dissolution attack of about 300μm/year. The simulation of the corrosion behavior at 10cm/s by MATLIM code and the evaluated corrosion data are consistent and fit to our results obtained earlier at 480 and 550°C at 22cm/s campaigns.
Background Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase p110δ isoform (PI3K p110δ) activity is essential for mast cell activation, suggesting that inhibition of PI3K p110δ might be useful in treating allergic ...diseases. Objective We sought to determine the effect of the PI3K p110δ–selective inhibitor idelalisib on allergic responses. Methods This phase 1 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2-period crossover study was conducted with the Vienna Challenge Chamber. Grass pollen–induced allergic symptoms were documented during screening. Eligible subjects received idelalisib (100 mg twice daily) or placebo for 7 days, with allergen challenge on day 7. After a 2-week washout period, subjects received the alternate treatment and repeated allergen challenge. Study measures included safety, nasal and nonnasal symptoms, nasal airflow, nasal secretions, basophil activation, and plasma cytokine levels. Results Forty-one patients with allergic rhinitis received idelalisib/placebo (n = 21) or placebo/idelalisib (n = 20). Idelalisib treatment was well tolerated. Mean total nasal symptom scores were lower during the combined idelalisib treatment periods compared with placebo (treatment difference idelalisib − placebo, −1.78; 95% CI, −2.53 to −1.03; P < .001). Statistically significant differences were also observed for the combined treatment periods for total symptom scores, nasal airflow, nasal secretion weight, and nasal congestion scores. The percentage of ex vivo –activated basophils (CD63+ /CCR3+ cells; after stimulation with grass pollen) was substantially lower for idelalisib-treated compared with placebo-treated subjects. Plasma CCL17 and CCL22 levels were reduced after idelalisib treatment. Conclusion Idelalisib treatment was well tolerated in patients with allergic rhinitis and appears to reduce allergic responses clinically and immunologically after an environmental allergen challenge.
Radioactive isotopes produced through cosmic muon spallation are a background for rare-event detection in nu detectors, double-beta-decay experiments, and dark-matter searches. Understanding the ...nature of cosmogenic backgrounds is particularly important for future experiments aiming to determine the pep and CNO solar neutrino fluxes, for which the background is dominated by the spallation production of {sup 11}C. Data from the Kamioka liquid-scintillator antineutrino detector (KamLAND) provides valuable information for better understanding these backgrounds, especially in liquid scintillators, and for checking estimates from current simulations based upon MUSIC, FLUKA, and GEANT4. Using the time correlation between detected muons and neutron captures, the neutron production yield in the KamLAND liquid scintillator is measured to be Y{sub n}=(2.8+-0.3)x10{sup -4} mu{sup -1} g{sup -1} cm{sup 2}. For other isotopes, the production yield is determined from the observed time correlation related to known isotope lifetimes. We find some yields are inconsistent with extrapolations based on an accelerator muon beam experiment.
Considering the status of knowledge on corrosion and corrosion protection and especially the need for long term compatibility data of structural materials in HLM a set of experiments to generate ...reliable long term data was defined and performed. The long term corrosion behaviour of the two structural materials foreseen in ADS, 316L and T91, was investigated in the design relevant temperature field, i.e. from 300 to 550
°C. The operational window of the two steels in this temperature range was identified and all oxidation data were used to develop and validate the models of oxide scale growth in PbBi. A mechanistic model capable to predict the oxidation rate applying some experimentally fitted parameters has been developed. This model assumes parabolic oxidation and might be used for design and safety relevant investigations in future. Studies on corrosion barrier development allowed to define the required Al content for the formation of thin alumina scales in LBE. These results as well as future steps and required improvements are discussed. Variation of experimental conditions clearly showed that specific care has to be taken with respect to local flow conditions and oxygen concentrations.
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