Comadres among Us: The Power of Artists as Informal Mentors for Women of Color in Academe

In this article, we, colegas/colleagues of color, explore the ways in which the literary and artistic contributions of Gloria Anzaldúa, Octavia Butler, and Frida Kahlo have inspired, nurtured, and profoundly influenced our personal and professional lives as academics. We underscore the importance of mentoring for women of color in academe and educational leadership, particularly the psychosocial functions associated with informal mentoring. Further, we discuss how the lives and contributions of our “mentors” impacted our scholarly journeys, framed by third-wave and decolonial woman-of-color-feminism. In this article, we offer an alternative consideration for women of color in search of suitable mentors, concludes by sharing the lessons we learned from the artists. Thinking about mentoring from the position of alterity adds to the general mentoring discourse and serves to inspire women to consider alternatives when seeking mentorship to reach academic and professional goals.     

The role of feedback in e-assessments for engineering education

The aim of this investigation was to compare two differently designed e-assessments (formative assessments) which supported the same engineering courses for two academic years. In this investigation two group of students participated (Control Group: CG and Experimental Group: EG). The teachers followed exactly the same teaching approach using the same learning tools (apart from the e-assessments) in the same learning environment. The first group of students (CG) had the opportunity to timely receive grades along with the correct answers, when they submitted the e-assessments on-line. The teachers themselves designed these e-assessments in BlackBoard Vista© learning environment. The second group of students (EG) had the opportunity to receive feedback each on their own individual responses having unlimited attempts to participate in the e-assessments designed by PhD students. We will demonstrate that the addition of individual feedback and the unlimited attempts increased the EG group performance at the end of the courses (summative assessment) in comparison to the CG group of students.     

Not just another evaluation: a comparative study of four educational quality projects at Swedish universities

In this study, four recent self-initiated educational quality projects at Swedish universities are compared and analyzed. The article focuses on how the universities have handled the tension between external demands and internal norms. The aim is to contribute to an improved understanding of quality management in contemporary universities. On the one hand, the projects are found to be built on similar rationales associated with accountability, reputation building and strategic management. This is interpreted as a response to the shared external policy context. They are also found to mirror similar ambitions regarding raising the status of education. On the other hand, the projects are found to differ considerably in their actual design, methodology, implementation, stakeholders and outcomes. This is interpreted as an active adaptation to the unique internal academic norms and cultures that exist in each university.     

Effects of hypoxic exercise training on microRNA expression and lipid metabolism in obese rat livers

To investigate the effects of hypoxic exercise training on microRNA (miRNA) expression and the role of miRNA expression in regulating lipid metabolism, 20 dietary-induced obese SD rats were divided into a normoxic sedentary group (N, n=10) and a hypoxic exercise training group (H, n=10). After four weeks, measurements were taken of body weight, body length, fat mass, serum lipid concentration, miRNAs differentially expressed in rat liver, and gene and protein expression levels of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α (PPARα), fatty acid synthetase (FAS), and carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A (CPT1A) in rat liver. Body weight, Lee’s index, fat mass, fat/weight ratio, and serum levels of total cholesterol (TC) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were all significantly lower in the H group than in the N group (P<0.01). Six miRNAs expressed significantly differently in the liver (P<0.05). Specifically, expression levels of miR-378b were significantly lower in the H group than in the N group (P<0.05). Compared with the normoxic sedentary group, hypoxic exercise training resulted in a lower ratio of FAS mRNA to CPT1A mRNA (P<0.05), as well as lower CPT1A protein levels (P<0.01), while a higher ratio of FAS to CPT1A protein levels (P<0.01) was observed. In conclusion, hypoxic training may elevate the resistance of high fat diet induced obesity in rats by reducing the expression of miR-378b, and decrease the fatty acid mitochondrial oxidation in obese rat livers by decreasing the protein expression of CPT1A and increasing the protein expression ratio of FAS/CPT1A.     

Streptomycin inhibits electrophysiological changes induced by stretching of chronically infarcted rat hearts

Objective

To investigate stretch-induced electrophysiological changes in chronically infarcted hearts and the effect of streptomycin (SM) on these changes in vivo.

Methods

Sixty Wistar rats were divided randomly into four groups: a control group (n=15), an SM group (n=15), a myocardial infarction (MI) group (n=15), and an MI+SM group (n=15). Chronic MI was obtained by ligating the left anterior descending branch (LAD) of rat hearts for eight weeks. The in vivo blockade of stretch-activated ion channels (SACs) was achieved by intramuscular injection of SM (180 mg/(kg·d)) for seven days after operation. The hearts were stretched for 5 s by occlusion of the aortic arch. Suction electrodes were placed on the anterior wall of left ventricle to record the monophasic action potential (MAP). The effect of stretching was examined by assessing the 90% monophasic action potential duration (MAPD₉₀), premature ventricular beats (PVBs), and ventricular tachycardia (VT).

Results

The MAPD₉₀ decreased during stretching in both the control (from (50.27±5.61) ms to (46.27±4.51) ms, P<0.05) and MI groups (from (65.47±6.38) ms to (57.47±5.76 ms), P<0.01). SM inhibited the decrease in MAPD₉₀ during inflation ((46.27±4.51) ms vs. (49.53±3.52) ms, P<0.05 in normal hearts; (57.47±5.76) ms vs. (61.87±5.33) ms, P<0.05 in MI hearts). The occurrence of PVBs and VT in the MI group increased compared with that in the control group (PVB: 7.93±1.66 vs. 1.80±0.86, P<0.01; VT: 7 vs. 1, P<0.05). SM decreased the occurrence of PVBs in both normal and MI hearts (0.93±0.59 vs. 1.80±0.86 in normal hearts, P<0.05; 5.40±1.18 vs. 7.93±1.66 in MI hearts, P<0.01).

Conclusions

Stretch-induced MAPD₉₀ changes and arrhythmias were observed in chronically infarcted myocardium. The use of SM in vivo decreased the incidence of PVBs but not of VT. This suggests that SACs may be involved in mechanoelectric feedback (MEF), but that there might be other mechanisms involved in causing VT in chronic MI.     

Charlson合并症指数对2型糖尿病肾病死亡率预测作用的研究(英文)

研究目的:探讨Charlson合并症指数(CCI)对2型糖尿病肾病死亡率的预测作用。研究方法:建立2型糖尿病肾病研究队列,根据CCI评分将患者合并症的严重程度分为三度:轻度(CCI1–2分)、中度(CCI 3–4分)、重度(CCI≥5分)。将影响死亡率的因素及按CCI分层后的组间差异指标进行Logistic回归分析及方差分析(ANOVA)。Kaplan-Meier生存曲线分析CCI指数对生存时间及死亡率的影响。重要结论:533例2型糖尿病肾病患者纳入研究。所有患者的CCI评分均大于1,44.7%(238/533)的患者死亡。患者的死亡率随CCI评分增加而增加,CCI 1–2分患者的死亡率为21.0%(50/238),CCI 3–4分患者的死亡率为56.7%(135/238),CCI≥5分患者的死亡率为22.3%(53/238)。Logistic回归分析显示CCI评分、血红蛋白和血浆白蛋白水平是患者死亡率的预测因子(P0.05)。方差分析结果显示,与CCI评分相对较低的患者相比,CCI评分越高的患者其血红蛋白水平较低,而血清肌酐较高,死亡率也更高。Kaplan-Meier生存曲线显示CCI评分越高的患者生存时间越短。CCI评分是一种简单易行且实用的评估疾病合并症的方法,可用于预测2型糖尿病肾病患者的死亡率。关注2型糖尿病肾病患者的合并症将有利于早期、有效治疗及改善预后。     

Proteins induced by telomere dysfunction are associated with human IgA nephropathy

Aging is one of the contributing risk factors for kidney diseases. Accumulating evidence prompts the view that telomere length in kidney tissue cells is an indicator for organismal aging. Previously identified aging markers (cathelin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP), stathmin, elongation factor-1α (EF-1α), and chitinase) were associated not only with telomere driven aging in mice but also with human aging and chronic diseases. This study focuses on the relationship between these biomarkers and IgA nephropathy (IgAN) progression in the Chinese population. For 260 individuals, the four markers are determined in blind datasets using direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence staining. The expression levels of CRAMP and chitinase increased in blood plasma, urine, and kidney tissues during human IgAN progression. And for the other nephropathy, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), diabetic nephropathy (DN), and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), there is no protein upregulation with telomere shortening. Moreover, a combination of CRAMP and chitinase can distinguish patients with IgAN from healthy individuals with 88.2%/92.5% (plasma) and 74.3%/84.2% (urine) sensitivity/specificity. These data provide the experimental evidence that telomere shortening and related inflammatory proteins are associated with human IgAN, and it could be a new direction for the disease progression study.