No / GENOVATE presents a mid-term workshop on gender and science - advancements and resistance in fighting structural inequality. / FP7

The purpose of this research was to document the ways in which the pedagogical approaches of technology/engineering design-based learning (T/E DBL) were shown to promote change in concept knowledge of eighth grade mathematics students. A mixed method, sequential explanatory multiple embedded case study was used to determine the significance between the T/E DBL intervention and bivariate measurement data concept knowledge. Whole Group quantitative data analysis indicated a statistical significance between pretest and posttest scores. Qualitative data (Interactive Engineering Journals and semi-structured interviews) analyses for the Sub-Group confirmed that students did possess the bivariate data concept knowledge as documented through quantitative results and those gains were directly related to experiences students had while engaged in the T/E DBL intervention. This research demonstrated that the utilization of T/E DBL in an eighth-grade mathematics classroom has the potential to foster a change in concept knowledge of bivariate measurement data through informed design decision-making in a 21st century problem context. This study can be used as a guide for mathematics educators and curriculum developers implementing T/E DBL pedagogy allowing students to learn through contextual experiences. Future research should explore the utilization of T/E DBL to teach additional mathematical concepts at different grade levels. / Doctor of Philosophy / This research demonstrated that the utilization of technology/engineering design-based learning (T/E DBL) in an eighth-grade mathematics classroom has the potential to increase mathematical concept knowledge through informed design decision-making in a 21st century problem context. Participants were asked to design a solution to a real-world problem which required mathematics concept knowledge in order for students to make decisions about their design. Participants also kept an Interactive Engineering Journal (IEJ) throughout the design challenge. The results of the mathematics pre/posttest taken before and after the design challenge indicated that students increased their mathematical concept knowledge through their experiences during the design challenge. A small group of participants were selected to participate in IEJ analysis and individual interviews. These data confirmed that students did gain mathematical concept knowledge in connection to their experiences during the design challenge. This study can be used as a guide for mathematics educators and curriculum developers implementing T/E DBL pedagogy allowing students to learn through contextual experiences. Future research should explore the utilization of T/E DBL to teach additional mathematical concepts at different grade levels.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / U.S. women have obtained advanced science and engineering degrees with increasing frequency, yet have not achieved promotions at rates comparable to men's. Men may advance more expeditiously than women due to more supportive professional networks, which can improve access to information and opportunities. Few studies have examined social networks in the context of advanced graduate programs, yet graduate programs are where many scientists develop important relationships helpful in advancing careers. This study addressed the extent to which graduate students' networks (primary advisors, mentors, peers, and family) are associated with academic indicators (i.e., grade-point average, academic progress, student satisfaction, and career commitment); the extent to which these network and academic variables vary by gender; the extent to which network characteristics mediate associations between gender and academic variables; and the extent to which gender match or mismatch of the student and primary advisor is associated with network characteristics and academic variables. Two hundred and thirty-nine doctoral students (58% women, 42% male; mean age 28 years; 29% non-Caucasian) from 18 science and engineering departments at a large research university completed a brief internet survey about their network relationships and academic indicators. Graduate women reported significantly less satisfaction and more negative perceptions of academic progress than did graduate men. Female students with female primary advisors were significantly less satisfied with their graduate experience than were students in other gender pairings. Male students were more likely than female students to have primary advisors who had significant funding, directed a graduate program, and directed a research center. Male students also reported greater satisfaction overall with their mentors. Female students reported larger mentor networks and more emotional support resources received from mentors and peers. Gender differences in overall student satisfaction were partially explained by male students feeling significantly more overall satisfaction with their mentors and a sense of apprenticeship with their advisors as compared to female students. These findings illuminate some important differences between male and female student networks, especially in advising and mentoring relationships, which may be contributing to dissatisfaction and the perception of less academic progress among female students. / 2031-01-01

The ability for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to regenerate the vascular and blood systems following injury suggests great potential for future therapies. Unfortunately, the various signaling pathways that regulate the regeneration of the adult HSC population in the bone marrow are not clearly understood. One of the proposed regulators for the regeneration of the hematopoietic system is an extracellular secreted protein R Spondin-2 (Rspo2), also known as roof plate-specific spondin-2. The novel interaction between the Rspo2 protein and c-kit+sca-1+lineage– (KSL) HSCs shows an increased number of KSL and of more differentiated hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) in vivo during both the steady and injured states. To determine the most efficient concentration of Rspo2 for such an interaction to occur, various doses of Rspo2 recombinant protein are plated with the KSL cells. They are then examined through flow cytometry and colony forming cell (CFC) assay. Rspo2 is widely known to interact with the canonical Wnt3a protein to activate the beta-catenin pathway. However, when various concentrations of Rspo2 recombinant proteins are plated with the Wnt3a protein, the results show the opposite effect of plating the cells only with the Rspo2 protein. The overall increase in the total number of cells and KSL cells was concluded to be not significant. This study nonetheless provides the scientific community with a greater foundation for the usage of Rspo2 concentration for future experiments.

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Wnt signaling regulates critical cellular interactions throughout normal development and directs cell fate decisions of stem cells. Previous work by our lab implicates -catenin as an essential modulator of embryonic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Genetic studies in mice have demonstrated broad functional redundancies between the most downstream effectors of the Wnt signaling cascade, the T-cell factor / Lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) family of transcription factors. Despite this, loss-of-function experiments suggest that -catenin reinforces the pluripotent state by mediating a TCF switch in which repressive TCF7L1 is replaced with activating TCF7. However, these experiments do not account for potential confounding functional compensation by other TCF/LEF factors. As such, I hypothesized that TCF7 and TCF7L1 are functionally redundant in mouse embryonic stem cells and bind a largely overlapping set of target genes and interacting proteins. In support of this notion, we demonstrated that both TCF7 and TCF7L1 were similarly able to restore the altered transcriptomic profile and differentiation deficits observed in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) lacking all full-length TCF/LEFs. With the expectation that TCF7 and TCF7L1 recruit similar transcriptional co-regulators to a broadly overlapping set of target genes, we employed the unbiased techniques, ChIP-seq and BioID to test our hypothesis. We observed that regardless of the degree of Wnt signaling activity, TCF7L1 was more abundantly associated with chromatin than TCF7, and TCF7 and TCF7L1 regulate distinct target genes. We demonstrated that Wnt stimulation, simulated by GSK-3 inhibition, facilitates TCF7L1 interactions with transcriptional modulators such as the BAF and nuclear receptor co-repressor complexes, despite a reduction in TCF7L1 levels. Taken together, the work in this thesis provides new insights into the mechanisms of Wnt target gene regulation by the TCF/LEF factors. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Stem cells are capable of giving rise to multiple different cell types and thus are able to generate all adult tissues. The identity of a cell is controlled by external signals that regulate internal programs encoded by our genes. The execution of the instructions in genetic programs is conducted by proteins called transcription factors that can turn different genes on or off, giving rise to distinct cell types. The T-Cell Factors and Lymphoid Enhancer Factor (TCF/LEFs) are a family of four transcription factors regulated by external signaling molecules called Wnts. By using the TCF/LEFs, Wnts establish gene outputs that determine the identity of cells throughout embryonic development and in adult tissues. However, the mechanisms used by this family of transcription factors to establish the programs controlling cellular identity remain poorly understood. Using genetically engineered mouse embryonic stem cells, we have uncovered new information about the mechanisms TCF/LEFs use to regulate gene function, identified programs controlled by TCF/LEFs, and discovered potential protein partners that work with TCF/LEFs to implement genetic programs. This thesis provides novel insights into the control of cell identity by the TCF/LEFs, which has implications for the numerous human diseases linked to abnormal Wnt-mediated signaling.

Skeletal muscle stem cells, known as satellite cells (SC), are essential for skeletal muscle regeneration/repair and have been linked to muscle hypertrophy in humans. There is a consensus within the literature that SC activate and proliferate in response to external stimuli, such as mechanical damage or exercise. However, the effect of nutritional supplementation in conjunction with exercise on SC function is not fully understood. This may, in part, be due to varying responses of individuals to specific nutritional ingredients. Therefore, this study examined the efficacy of a multicomponent supplement containing whey protein isolate, leucine, creatine monohydrate, calcium citrate, and vitamin D, all of which have independently been shown to confer beneficial effects to skeletal muscle mass or function. Accordingly, when considering individual variability, a multicomponent nutritional strategy, when combined with resistance exercise, may be more likely to produce an augmented response compared to isolated supplements. Healthy, young males and females (18-26 y; ± 0.55) were randomly assigned to a multi-ingredient supplement (MIS)(n=13, 7M) or collagen peptide (CP)(n = 13, 6M) group. Participants performed a whole-body linear resistance-training program 4 times a week for 10-weeks. Skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis pre and post 10 weeks of resistance training. Additionally, biopsies were obtained following an acute bout of damaging eccentric exercise prior to and following the 10 weeks of training. Thus, this design provided a resting and an acute damage response (48-hours post damage) before and after 10-weeks of resistance exercise and supplementation. Training resulted in an 83% and 40% increase in the basal SC population for mixed fibres in the MIS and CP group (P < 0.05), respectively, with no group differences. No effect of time or group was found for acute SC proliferation. However, when collapsing groups, a 635% increase was observed in the relative delta SC activation following 10 weeks (P < 0.05). Also, similar increases were observed in both groups for myonuclear accretion and myonuclear domain (P < 0.05). The MIS group had a 16% larger increase in type II CSA compared to the CP group (P < 0.05). Irrespective of supplementation, our findings suggest 10-weeks of resistance exercise is capable of increasing the basal SC population, SC activation, myonuclear accretion, and myonuclear domain. Furthermore, consuming a MIS lead to superior increases in type II CSA, compared to the CP group. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Skeletal muscle stem cells, known as satellite cells (SC), are essential for skeletal muscle regeneration/repair and have been linked to muscle hypertrophy in humans. SC activate and proliferate in response to external stimuli, such as mechanical damage or exercise. However, the effect of nutritional supplementation in conjunction with exercise on SC biology is not fully understood. This may, in part, be due to varying responses by individuals to specific nutritional ingredients. In this regard, multi-ingredient supplementation (MIS) has been implemented with the intention of eliciting a maximal adaptive response across all participants. Therefore, this study examined the efficacy of a multicomponent supplement containing whey protein isolate, leucine, creatine monohydrate, calcium citrate, and vitamin D, all of which have independently been shown to confer beneficial effects for skeletal muscle mass or function. Our findings suggest 10-weeks of resistance exercise is capable of increasing the basal SC population, SC activation, myonuclear accretion, and myonuclear domain. Nutritional Supplementation had no further effect. Importantly, however, consuming a MIS lead to greater increases in type II CSA, when compared to a control supplement.