Search

Framed by the notion of Learning Beyond the Classroom (LBC), the study reported here examines the underexplored area of learners’ perceived obstacles to LBC and their locus of control when autonomously engaging in learning or practicing English beyond the classroom. One hundred and seventy-three EFL students from a mandatory General English programme in a Taiwanese university participated in the study by completing a written reflection on their autonomous-learning experiences which included details about the learning affordances they made use of, their successes and struggles, their attitudes, and their motivation. This paper focuses on the obstacles they encountered. Findings show that there were broadly eight types of obstacles reported by the participants, with language difficulties, affect and motivation most frequently mentioned. Although there is no clear-cut pattern of associations between the obstacles participants reported encountering and the language learning affordances they reported using, it is apparent that certain obstacles were more closely related to particular limited uses of affordances.

Background: Evidence on the role of pharmacy teams in suicide prevention is growing. To support pharmacy teams, a video e-learning was produced by the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) involving an ‘on-the-sofa’ style group interview with people with personal and professional experience of suicide and suicide research. Objective: The objective was to measure any change in attitudes and preparedness for suicide prevention, following a video e-learning produced for pharmacy staff. Methods: People working in any sector of pharmacy in England and who accessed the training video were invited to complete a pre- and post- training questionnaire, between September 2019 and March 2021. Question types included demographics, experiences, attitudes as measured by the Attitudes to Suicide Prevention (ASP) scale, and preparedness. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographics and experience and paired t-tests were used to compare pre- and post- questionnaire responses. Results: Both questionnaires were completed by 147 people. Most worked in community pharmacy (88%) and were pharmacists (64%) or pharmacy technicians (20%). Attitudes to suicide prevention improved significantly (pre:31.20 (SD 6.04); post:28.40 (SD 6.50), p

Background and Aims: Data are lacking regarding the optimal time interval between human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration and ovum pick-up (hCG-OPU interval), and its impact on blastocyst euploidy. Our aim was to compare the blastocyst euploidy rate between IVF cycles with hCG-OPU interval of 36 and 37 h. Method: In this historic cohort study, we reviewed all hCG-triggered, PGT-A, IVF cycles performed in a single clinic, between 2018 and 2022. Commencing in September 2021, clinicians gradually changed the hCG-OPU interval from 37 to 36 h. We compared the outcomes of cycles with hCG-OPU interval of 36 h (35.5-36.5) to 37 h (36.6-37.5). The primary outcome was the number of euploid embryos. Cycles with oocyte donation, and cycles utilized GnRH-agonist triggers or dual-triggers were excluded. Results: The euploidy rates were similar between the 36-h group (n=2,584) and 37 h group (n=5,575; 39.7% vs. 38.8%, respectively, p=0.42). Compared to the 36-h group, patients in the 37-h group were characterized by higher numbers of total oocytes collected (15.9±8.9 vs. 17.3±9.8, respectively, p

Background and Aims: One of the most skilled procedures performed by embryologists is intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which takes significant experience to master. Conducting the procedure requires a high level of concentration with training a significant burden on clinical laboratory efficiency. Advancement of a micro 3D printed device to hold oocytes has removed the requirement for a holding pipette, reducing the complexity of the ICSI procedure. This study shows that the microICSIÔ device reduces the technical difficulty of ICSI, improving the speed and precision of the procedure. Method: ICSI was performed conventionally (C-ICSI) and within the microICSIÔ device on abattoir derived porcine denuded oocytes matured in vitro for 39-44 h in NCSU-23 medium containing eCG, hCG, porcine follicular fluid, EGF and insulin. Timing data was captured by video recording for pipette setup and injection time per oocyte for two embryologists and compared between each technique. Oocyte injection time was taken from when a sperm loaded injection pipette was in focus with the oocyte until the injection pipette was removed from the oocyte. Results: Results were compared between C-ICSI and microICSIÔ (Mean ± SD). Pipette setup time was reduced from 278 ± 21 seconds to 109 ± 3 seconds by removing the holding pipette. During the procedure, absence of a holding pipette resulted in embryologists adjusting their hands on average only 3 times during oocyte injection compared to 10 times for C-ICSI when moving between microinjector, pipette and microscope controllers. Oocyte traceability was also improved due to the microICSIÔ device’s numbered array. Embryologist’s injection time was reduced from 42 ± 12 seconds for C-ICSI to 14 ± 5 seconds for microICSIÔ per oocyte. Conclusion: The microICSIÔ device reduces pipette set-up time and the complexity of the ICSI procedure, reducing the time required for oocyte injection by half.

Background: There has been much debate and concern about whether the dose of exogenous gonadotrophins used for controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) adversely affects the selection of leading follicles and potentially impacts the quality of the eggs retrieved and the embryos created. The ploidy status of the embryo, as assessed by pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT), is used as a measure of embryo quality.

In this paper, we discuss the utilization of an innovative learning tool, the Sphero BOLT robot, in a 10-day algebra-based mathematics education course for graduate students. Students created routes for their BOLTs to travel and determined ways to measure the distance, rate, and time of their robots’ movements. The student prompt, sample student work, class time considerations, and sample student-written reflections about the activity are detailed, in addition to implications and suggestions for teacher educators

This article describes a hands-on geometric tiling art activity used in two third-grade classes and four fifth-grade classes in a rural public elementary school with class sizes of around 20 students each. The lesson investigates concepts in geometry, number sense, and probability. Examples of student work and takeaways for other teachers interested in implementing the tasks in their own classrooms are also shared.

Abstract Despite their diversity and abundance, the importance of native, forest bee communities to pollination services and inherent biological diversity conservation is often overlooked. We studied forest bee communities in Delaware and Pennsylvania, USA, to better understand how forest bee community structure varies with changing land use and microhabitat quality among small, urban and suburban forest fragments in the mid‐Atlantic United States. Our hypotheses were that (1) microhabitat quality would affect relative abundance of bee taxa, (2) surrounding landscape composition would drive local patch colonization–extinction dynamics, and (3) forest patch size would not affect community structure and composition. We found a lack of spatial autocorrelation among forest patches, indicating the importance of individual fragments in the autonomous generation and/or maintenance of bee communities. Community analyses revealed the importance of both landscape context and microhabitat quality in defining forest bee communities. By partitioning beta diversity into its constituent components, we also found that landscape composition drove changes in the relative abundance of taxa, while both landscape and microhabitat characteristics significantly influenced species turnover. Neither landscape composition nor quality of the microhabitat influenced initial site occupancy or colonization–extinction dynamics. Bisected by highways, suburban neighborhoods, agricultural lands, and urban development, many urban and suburban forest patches in the eastern United States are similar in composition to our study sites. As many native forest bees have limited capacity for long‐range movement between forest patches, these remaining forest fragments are critical to the conservation of unique and speciose forest bee communities.

Physical chemical characterization of nanomaterials is critical to assessing quality control during production, evaluating the impact of material properties on human health and the environment, and developing regulatory frameworks for their use. We have investigated a set of 29 nanomaterials from four metal oxide families (aluminum, copper, titanium and zinc) with a focus on the measurands that are important for the basic characterization of dry nanomaterials and the determination of the dose metrics for nanotoxicology. These include crystalline phase and crystallite size, measured by powder X-ray diffraction, particle shape and size distributions from transmission electron microscopy, and specific surface area, measured by gas adsorption. The results are compared to the nominal data provided by the manufacturer, where available. While the crystalline phase data are generally reliable, data on minor components that may impact toxicity is often lacking. The crystal and particle size data highlight the issues in obtaining size measurements of materials with broad size distributions and significant levels of aggregation, and indicate that reliance on nominal values provided by the manufacturer is frequently inadequate for toxicological studies aimed at identifying differences between nanoforms. The data will be used for the development of models and strategies for grouping and read-across to support regulatory human health and environmental assessments of metal oxide nanomaterials.