This dissertation investigates the question, "How can the procedural rhetoric of three whole-body educational games improve the understanding of self-regulated learning with digital technology?" It explores three whole-body educational games (WBEGs) using a quantitative study, a case study, and analyses of their procedural rhetoric to better understand the roles these types of games can have in teaching digital literacy and self-regulated learning (SRL) skills. The three WBEGs, Waves, Color Mixer, and Light and Mirrors, are each intended to teach science concepts to players. These games are similarly structured in that they all invite players to immerse themselves in the game by standing on the "screen" (the games project images on the floor). The WBEGs differ from traditional console video games because they receive input from players via motion-sensing technology, requiring players to make large movements with their bodies to influence elements within the game. This study explains SRL as a complex combination of internal (mental) behavior, external (observable) behavior, and interpersonal (social) behavior, identifying within three WBEGs the presence of elements supporting the SRL behaviors of goal setting, strategy planning, collaboration, progress monitoring, feedback, and reflection. These findings inform the understanding of SRL by revealing that each game includes a different combination of SRL-supporting elements that encourage the use of SRL skills in different ways. SRL scaffolding features are those elements within a WBEG that guide players to use certain SRL strategies, helping and supporting their efforts much like construction scaffolding supports a building as it is being erected. This dissertation also utilizes analyses of procedural rhetoric to investigate the techniques reinforced by the underlying structure of these three WBEGs in an effort to further the understanding of digital literacy in education and sociocultural contexts. All three WBEGs appear to emphasize player agency and collaboration. Waves and Light and Mirrors encourage player strategy, while Color Mixer rewards speed and rote knowledge. These reinforced techniques perpetuate the underlying cultural values of accuracy, collaboration, problem-solving, autonomy, and scaffolding. This study discusses these values in the contexts of education and society.

This study investigates the effects of self-regulated strategy development (Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2009) for cognitive strategy instruction in persuasive writing (POW+TREE) using a synchronous online learning environment for special education students. Participants are four adolescent students with learning disabilities (LD) with low achievement in writing. One undergraduate research assistant delivered instruction using a synchronous online platform (e.g., Adobe Connect) in conjunction with collaborative writing software (e.g., Google Docs word processing). A multiple probe across participants design was used to demonstrate a functional relationship between instruction and number of essay elements (EE). Number of correct minus incorrect word sequences (CIWS) was used as a secondary dependent measure. A nonexperimental pre-post design was used to compare the mean performance of holistic writing quality scores and standard scores from the TOWL-3. All four participants gained EE and CIWS from baseline to treatment and demonstrated standard score changes from pre to post-test on the TOWL-3. Implications for writing instruction for students with LD using online learning environments are discussed.

This research examined the effects of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD), a cognitive strategy instructional method, on opinion writing by third grade students with learning disabilities. A video self-modeling (VSM) component was added to the SRSD method. A multiple probe across participants, single-subject design was used to determine the effectiveness of the SRSD instructional strategy, (POW + TREE), in combination with video self-modeling. Data from various components of writing, including essay elements, length of responses, time spent writing, and overall writing quality, were collected and assessed to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. All students who received the intervention improved their overall writing performance on opinion essays as measured by the number of opinion essay elements, including topic sentence, reasons, examples, and ending. During the maintenance phase of the intervention, students who received a VSM booster session increased their total number of opinion essay elements back to mastery levels.

Sammanfattning Bakgrund Hem- och konsumentkunskap är grundskolans minsta ämne. Hur reglerad arbetstid planeras påverkar lärarens arbetsbelastning. Ämnets status och motsättningar i förhållandet mellan tid och innehåll i ämnet påverkar lärarnas förutsättningar. Syfte Syftet med studien var att undersöka lärares upplevelser kring den reglerade arbetstidens påverkan på undervisningen i hem- och konsumentkunskap. Hur upplever lärare de förutsättningar den reglerade arbetstiden skapar för att bedriva undervisning i hem- och konsumentkunskap? Metod Kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer genomfördes med åtta lärare i hem- och konsumentkunskap. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes som metod för analysen. Resultat Lärare upplevde tidsbrist och behövde prioritera och delegera för att hantera sin arbetsbelastning. Lärarna upplevde att skolledningens utformning av den reglerade arbetstiden begränsade möjlighet till påverkan. Kort tid mellan lektioner skapade svårigheter. Slutsats Hem- och konsumentkunskapslärare behöver minst 15 minuters rast mellan alla sina lektioner. Skolledningens brist på förståelse för ämnet skapar begränsningar genom den reglerade arbetstiden. Årskursernas placering i schemat minskar lärarnas arbetsbelastning och kan minska användandet av lektionstid för förberedelser och efterarbete.

Regulated cell death (RCD) is indispensable for homeostasis and plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of numerous diseases. Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) represent a rare and highly malignant type of cancer. Currently, the most common therapeutic options include the complete surgical removal of the adrenal gland and/or the administration of mitotane, a derivative of the pesticide DDT. Yet patient survival remains poor and the mechanism of action of mitotane remains elusive. In this thesis it is demonstrated that the human ACC cell line NCI-H295R is sensitive to mitotane-induced cell death. In the first part, the involvement of three different RCD pathways, namely apoptosis, necroptosis and ferroptosis, in mitotane induced necrosis was investigated. To this end, different inhibitors were used, which were not able to block mitotane-induced cell death. When the medium was supplemented with insulin, transferrin, sodium selenite and linoleic acid (ITS+1) no cell death of the ACC cells was observed. This phenomenon was attributed to the presence of linoleic acid, since ITS supplementation lacking this component was not able to reverse mitotane-induced necrosis. Identification of new drug targets for alternative options of ACC treatment led to the investigation of key molecules involved in the pathways of necroptosis and ferroptosis. The receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 and 3 (RIPK1 and 3) and the mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) were considered as interesting targets given their crucial role in the execution of necroptosis. A western blot analysis of those molecules revealed the presence only of RIPK1, suggesting that the necroptosis machinery is not present in the NCI-H295R cells. Of interest, evaluation of the expression levels of glutathione peroxidase four (GPX4), one of the main inhibitory molecules of ferroptosis, showed a much higher expression in the ACC cells compared to the standard cell line used for studying ferroptosis, the human fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells. A hypothesis that the NCI-H295R cells are susceptible to ferroptosis induction was formed based on this finding. Compounds representative of all the four classes of ferroptosis inducers (FINs) were tested. Direct inhibition of GPX4 using the small compound RSL3, a type II FIN, led to high necrotic populations. Co-treatment with the ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1) completely reversed RSL3-induced ferroptosis. Type IV FIN FINO2, that causes indirect loss of the enzymatic activity of GPX4, lead also to high necrotic populations, while Fer-1 prevented FINO2-induced ferroptosis. Data from public databases concerning gene methylation or mutation status of ACC tissues and normal human adrenal tissues was used to investigate potential key players of ferroptosis that might be either mutated or silenced in ACCs. Of note, glutathione peroxidases 3 and 5 (GPX3 and 5) were highly methylated, while the enzyme cystathionine gamma-lyase (CSE) involved in the transsulfuration pathway via the break down of cystathionine into cysteine and α-ketobutyrate and ammonia was found to be highly mutated. Collectively, these data point towards a high sensitivity of ACCs to ferroptosis induction. This could provide a new chapter for the therapeutic approaches of ACCs. Additionally, these findings provide a better understanding of the biology of this type of cancer that highly mutates or silences ferroptosis-related genes. The second part of this thesis focuses on the involvement of RCD in spontaneous cell death in isolated murine tubules. Existing literature points towards an involvement of necroptosis and ferroptosis pathways in the kidney in models of acute kidney injury (AKI). Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) represents a hallmark of AKI. While the work in the Linkermann lab has shown that isolated tubules perfused with type I FIN erastin undergo cell death in a “wave-of-death” manner, no deeper insights into the propagation of tubular necrotic injury exist. A protocol for isolation of murine kidney tubules was established, providing an ex-vivo model for investigation of tubular death. The absence of potentially confounding blood cells as well as immune cells was ensured by extensive washing steps as well as the use of collagenase. Visual observation and staining of isolated tubules with the nucleic acid stain SYTOX green revealed a spontaneous cell death in a “wave-of-death” manner. This wave was running in parallel with a calcium concentration change, indicating its involvement in the spontaneous necrosis. To investigate the potential involvement of mitochondria in this process, electron microscopy images were obtained from parts of the tubules with different levels of damage which revealed highly damaged and ballooned mitochondria. These data provided with a phenotypic characterisation of the spontaneous tubular necrosis. Aiming to approach this type of death genetically, necroptosis and pyroptosis deficient mice (MLKL/GSDMDDKO) were used. Comparison of the LDH release, used as a measure of necrosis, from isolated kidney tubules of the MLKL/GSDMDDKO mice and wild type (WT) mice showed no difference. This indicated that neither necroptosis nor pyroptosis are involved in the tubular necrosis. Therefore, the next step was to investigate the effects of Fer-1 at the levels of LDH of isolated tubules from WT mice. A significantly lower LDH release was observed in tubules treated with Fer-1 compared to the ones treated with vehicle. However, this reduction in the LDH release was not complete, suggesting that ferroptosis is only partially responsible for the spontaneous death of isolated tubules. The difference of male and female mice towards AKI sensitivity has been noted in the literature in that female mice are less susceptible compared to the male mice. Therefore, the next step was to investigate whether this protection of females can be observed at the level of isolated tubules. Indeed, the LDH release from tubules isolated from female mice was significantly less compared to the LDH release of tubules isolated from male mice. Based on the data obtained from isolated tubules from WT male mice treated with Fer-1, a similar experiment was performed with tubules isolated from WT female mice. No difference in the LDH release was observed between the Fer-1-treated tubules and the vehicle-treated ones, indicating that another cell death pathway might be involved. The most obvious difference between male and female organisms is the sex hormones. Whether testosterone or β-estradiol are responsible for the higher susceptibility or protection against cell death has been a debate over the last years. To test this hypothesis, three different cell lines were utilised. A pre-treatment of 16 h with either testosterone or β-estradiol was performed. Treatment with either type I FIN erastin or type II FIN RSL3 followed, and cells were analysed via flow cytometry. Data revealed protective effects of β-estradiol against ferroptosis induction. Next, the effects of β-estradiol in a simultaneous treatment with RSL3 were investigated. Interestingly the protective effects of the hormone were still observed. Among the metabolites of β-estradiol, 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE2) has been reported to exert antioxidant effects. Therefore, 2-OHE2 was used in a simultaneous treatment with RSL3, and the obtained data showed that it was a much more potent inhibitor of necrotic cell death than β-estradiol even at lower concentrations. Collectively these data indicate that the lower susceptibility of female organisms towards cell death might be explained by the presence of β-estradiol and its more potent antioxidant metabolites. Such findings could change the way the two sexes are approached scientifically, while providing new insights on different therapeutic strategies between male and female organisms.

Recently in more or all electric vehicles, higher voltage batteries are used which employ large number of cells in series. Series connection among cells may lead to single point of failures, safety and charge equalization issues that demand complex control and costly and/or lossy battery management methods. Most present day high voltage batteries use dissipative-charge balancing methods, which result in poor efficiency, additional thermal management burden and lower overall vehicle range. Furthermore, the output voltages of such batteries remain unregulated and may widely change with load and environmental conditions, complicating the overall power pass design of the electrical power system. As a step forward to address these issues, this thesis studies a fault-tolerant regulated active high voltage electric accumulator with integrated power electronics for safe charge and discharge of the high voltage energy storage system. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Dieser Beitrag hat zum Ziel, zunächst literaturbasiert Lernprobleme im Kontext des SRLs (selbstreguliertes Lernen) zu ermitteln und darauf aufbauend in eine Taxonomie zu überführen, welche die Problemfelder dimensioniert. Die Taxonomie soll bei der Konzeption passender Lösungen für die Lernproblemfelder Orientierung geben, indem sie den Fokus auf die zu adressierenden Probleme lenkt, damit (technologiegestützte) Lernhilfen problemorientiert gestaltet werden. Dieser Aspekt fehlt in bestehenden Lern-Taxonomien, welche den Schwerpunkt eher auf die Lernziele und dahinter liegende kognitive Prozesse (Bloom, 1956) oder adaptive Variablen zur Lernerfolgssteigerung (Plass & Pawar, 2020) legen. [Aus: Einleitung]

<p>  </p> <p>Extensive evidence supports the effectiveness of retrieval practice as a powerful method for promoting long-term learning. For students to obtain the maximum benefit from retrieval practice they need to incorporate the strategy into their study routines as a learning tool that is used early and often. Unfortunately, many students avoid retrieval practice and instead rely primarily on less effective learning strategies such as rereading, and existing interventions that encourage students to practice retrieval are rare. Given this troubling gap in the literature, this dissertation sought to create and experimentally evaluate a novel intervention that attempted to improve students’ evaluations of and increase their willingness to use retrieval practice. </p> <p>In two experiments, the Pilot Study and Experiment 1, students studied a list of Lithuanian-English translations and completed two retrieval practice activities. The control retrieval practice activity prompted students to retrieve only difficult translations, whereas the high note retrieval practice activity prompted students to retrieve the same number of difficult translations but ended with additional trials that were normatively less difficult. Students preferred the high note retrieval practice activity over the shorter retrieval practice activity that had a more difficult ending, which suggests that existing retrieval practice activities can be improved by crafting endings that afford more opportunities for successful retrieval. Experiment 2 demonstrated that ending a retrieval practice activity on a high note could encourage students to choose retrieval practice over restudying for a subsequent learning activity. Experiment 3 replicated the findings from Experiment 2 and extended the results to a new type of material that is common in educational settings—general knowledge questions (i.e., fact learning). Finally, Experiment 4 investigated whether the preference for the high note retrieval practice activity found in the previous experiments was driven by the placement of the moderately difficult items at the end of the activity.</p> <p>Overall, this dissertation provides yet another demonstration that most students choose to avoid retrieval practice during learning. However, creating retrieval practice activities that had less difficult endings successfully improved students’ evaluations of and increased their willingness to use retrieval practice. These results have important implications for understanding and overcoming the barriers that prevent students from practicing retrieval.</p>

<p>Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative movement disorder involving protein misfolding, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress. The current dissertation, motivated by a lack of valid biomarkers and sustainable therapies, examined the potential application of a novel target for therapeutics and diagnostics of PD — the multifunctional, heat-shock like protein Catecholamine-Regulated Protein 40 (CRP40). The goal of this program of research was to elucidate further the implications of CRP40 in PD using a variety of molecular biology, bioinformatics, and clinical approaches through integrative collaborations with academia, government, and industry partners to translate scientific findings into real world solutions. Chapters 2 and 3 explored the potential therapeutic use and structure-function relationships of CRP40 through elucidating the smallest functional piece of this protein that was six times smaller, and validating a negative control for these experiments (Heat-Shock Protein 47). These initiatives could eventually lead to a small drug that could cross the blood-brain barrier and be targeted to the specific brain regions affected in PD. Chapter 4 examined the potential mechanisms of CRP40, and suggested that this protein may protect neurons from oxidative stress, maintain energy levels, and mitochondrial homeostasis, with important future implications for a variety of disorders. Finally, Chapter 5 presented compelling evidence for the potential use of CRP40 as a valid biomarker for early detection of PD and monitoring of disease progression. Overall, findings suggest that CRP40 may be a critical target for future breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of PD.</p> / Doctor of Science (PhD)

There is a paucity of adult professional education literature, yet there are multiple theories and models from which to extrapolate information regarding learning in this population, including self-regulated learning theory and adult learning models. The first aim of this study was to explore these bodies of literature and provide a compelling argument for how these theories and models may be considered relative to each other. The second aim of this study was to provide empirical support for the theoretical framework within the professional education population, specifically for Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students. Participants included 232 DPT students from a large, research-intensive university in the mid-Atlantic region. The Self-directed Learning Readiness Survey for Nursing Education (SDLRSNE) (Fisher, King, & Tague, 2001) was administered to five cohorts of students seven times throughout the duration of the DPT program. T-tests and ANOVAs were conducted to determine cohort differences. The data were collapsed across time in order to generate longitudinal growth curve models. Results revealed that the SDLRSNE is an internally consistent tool to utilize with DPT students and that the majority of DPT students were self-regulated learners. Results from the growth curve models indicated that self-regulated learning increased across time, was discontinuous within the DPT program, and that participation in clinical education experiences coincided with the change in slope of the model that best fit the data. Additionally, results indicated that the age of a student (traditional: age 19-24 versus nontraditional: age 25+) significantly predicted Desire For Learning subscale scores. / Educational Psychology