Wayne State College

About: Wayne State College is a education organization based out in Wayne, Nebraska, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Electron transfer & Instructional design. The organization has 116 authors who have published 213 publications receiving 5683 citations. The organization is also known as: WSC & Nebraska State Teachers College at Wayne.

Shift work sleep disorder: prevalence and consequences beyond that of symptomatic day workers.

Abstract: Study Objectives: Although there are considerable data demonstrating the impact of shift work on sleep and alertness, little research has examined the prevalence and consequences of shift work sleep disorder in comparison to the difficulties with insomnia and excessive sleepiness experienced by day workers. The present study was designed to determine the relative prevalence and negative consequences associated with shift work sleep disorder in a representative sample drawn from the working population of metropolitan Detroit. Design: Random-digit dialing techniques were used to assess individuals regarding their current work schedules and a variety of sleep- and non-sleep-related outcomes. Setting: Detroit tricounty population. Participants: A total of 2,570 individuals aged 18 to 65 years from a representative community-based sample including 360 people working rotating shifts, 174 people working nights, and 2036 working days. Measurements and Results: Using standardized techniques, individuals were assessed for the presence of insomnia and excessive sleepiness, based on DSM-IV and ICSD criteria. Those individuals with either insomnia or excessive sleepiness and who were currently working rotating or night schedules were classified as having shift work sleep disorder. Occupational, behavioral, and health-related outcomes were also measured. Individuals who met criteria for shift work sleep disorder had significantly higher rates of ulcers (odds ratio = 4.18, 95% confidence interval = 2.00-8.72), sleepiness-related accidents, absenteeism, depression, and missed family and social activities more frequently compared to those shift workers who did not meet criteria (P <.05). Importantly, in most cases, the morbidity associated with shift work sleep disorder was significantly greater than that experienced by day workers with identical symptoms. Conclusion: These findings suggest that individuals with shift work sleep disorder are at risk for significant behavioral and health-related morbidity associated with their sleep-wake symptomatology. Further, it suggests that the prevalence of shift work sleep disorder is approximately 10% of the night and rotating shift work population.

Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms Prevent Macrophage Phagocytosis and Attenuate Inflammation In Vivo

Abstract: Biofilms are complex communities of bacteria encased in a matrix composed primarily of polysaccharides, extracellular DNA, and protein. Staphylococcus aureus can form biofilm infections, which are often debilitating due to their chronicity and recalcitrance to antibiotic therapy. Currently, the immune mechanisms elicited during biofilm growth and their impact on bacterial clearance remain to be defined. We used a mouse model of catheter-associated biofilm infection to assess the functional importance of TLR2 and TLR9 in the host immune response during biofilm formation, because ligands for both receptors are present within the biofilm. Interestingly, neither TLR2 nor TLR9 impacted bacterial density or inflammatory mediator secretion during biofilm growth in vivo, suggesting that S. aureus biofilms circumvent these traditional bacterial recognition pathways. Several potential mechanisms were identified to account for biofilm evasion of innate immunity, including significant reductions in IL-1β, TNF-α, CXCL2, and CCL2 expression during biofilm infection compared with the wound healing response elicited by sterile catheters, limited macrophage invasion into biofilms in vivo, and a skewing of the immune response away from a microbicidal phenotype as evidenced by decreases in inducible NO synthase expression concomitant with robust arginase-1 induction. Coculture studies of macrophages with S. aureus biofilms in vitro revealed that macrophages successful at biofilm invasion displayed limited phagocytosis and gene expression patterns reminiscent of alternatively activated M2 macrophages. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that S. aureus biofilms are capable of attenuating traditional host proinflammatory responses, which may explain why biofilm infections persist in an immunocompetent host.

Using the Flipped Classroom to Enhance EFL Learning.

Abstract: Instruction in English is a priority around the globe, but instructional methodologies have not always kept pace with the changing needs of students. To explore the benefits of the flipped classroom model for learners of English as a Foreign Language, the researchers used flipped learning and Wen's Output-driven/Input-enabled model to design a holistic oral training course that included extensive online written and verbal communication for the learning of a wide range of English idioms. The participants were 48 sophomore English majors in two required English oral training classes. A within-subjects research design exposed all participants to learning English idioms by flipped learning, using the LINE smartphone app, and by conventional instruction. A mixed research method was employed, using multiple sources of data collection, including pre- and post-tests on idioms, two questionnaires (“Perception of Flipped Learning Experience” and “Technology Acceptance Model”), the teachers' in-class observations, a...

On multiple questions and multiple wh fronting

Abstract: My goals in this article have been to describe two types of multiple-Wh-fronting languages and to integrate them into a general typology of Wh-movement and multiple-Wh-constructions. In the first part of the article I demonstrated that in spite of their superficial similarity, the East European languages which normally place all Wh-words at the beginning of the clause fall into two distinct groups with different structures for multiple-Wh-constructions. One group, which includes Bulgarian and Romanian, places all of the Wh-words of a multiple question in SpecCP at S-structure, while the second group, including Polish, Czech, and Serbo-Croatian, has only one Wh-word in SpecCP. I have referred to these two groups as the [+MFS] (Multiply Filled Specifier) and [−MFS] languages, respectively. The difference in S-structure accounts for systematic differences in extraction possibilities for multiple Wh-words, island effects, clitic position and occurrence of parentheticals and other material within the fronted Wh-word sequence, and strictness of word order in multiple-Wh-constructions in the two types of languages. The second part of the article attempts to locate the two types of multiple-Wh-fronting languages within the broader range of possible structures for multiple questions and to provide some account of this range. As a preliminary to this discussion, the two multiple-fronting structures are spelled out in more detail. For the [+MFS] languages I argue for a hierarchical structure within SpecCP, such that noninitial WHs are adjoined to the right of the specifier position, while the initial one is the head of SpecCP. For the [−MFS] languages, I argue for a structure in which each noninitial WH is adjoined to IP. Among other advantages, these structures make it possible to bring the word order differences between the two types of languages under a version of the split ECP, specifically a requirement that Wh-traces be locally bound at LF. Sections 2.4 and 2.5 present several factors which, taken together, account for much of the crosslinguistic variation in Wh-constructions. One of these, the Condition of SpecCP Adjunction, holds that languages differ in the levels at which they permit adjunction to SpecCP. Other factors considered are the level(s) at which Wh-movement applies, whether Comp can be intrinsically [+WH], and whether LF Wh-movement is from A or A' positions. Further work may well show some of these to be derivable from more basic parameters. In closing, I would like to touch briefly on the important issue of learnability. How does a child learning a multiple-Wh-fronting language come to know whether it is a [+MFS] or a [−MFS] language? More generally, how does any child know where its language fits in the range of types available for Wh-constructions, particularly multiple questions? Following Adams (1984), I assume that the unmarked value for the CSA is that it applies at all levels. The child thus needs positive evidence in the form of multiple-Wh-questions to conclude that a language allows adjunction to SpecCP at LF, and in the form of Wh-island violations or multiple extraction to conclude that it does so at S-structure. Evidence for SpecCP adjunction at PF could include multiple Wh-phrases preceding a complementizer, or perhaps second position clitics following multiple WHs, if cliticization is sensitive to PF. Without such evidence at each level, the language learner assumes adjunction to SpecCP is impossible. This part of the system is thus definitely learnable, and a child presented with evidence for SpecCP adjunction at all three levels would have all the information necessary to know he or she was learning a [+MFS] language. Similarly, positive evidence is available for the level at which Wh-movement operates. In the absence of overtly moved Wh-phrases the learner assumes no syntactic Wh-movement. In the absence of WH in situ the learner assumes no LF Wh-movement from A positions. And in the absence of a [−MFS] pattern (see below) the learner assumes no LF movement from A' positions. If both moved and in situ or [−MFS] pattern Wh-phrases are found, the learner concludes that Wh-movement applies at both levels. By a [−MFS] pattern I mean multiple Wh-fronting with no subject/object word order asymmetry, second position clitics and parentheticals following the first Wh-word, and no multiple extraction. Any evidence from clitics would be especially useful for a learner, since clitics are found in short, high-frequency sentence types. This [−MFS] pattern allows the child to conclude that he or she is learning a language with LF movement from A' positions, i.e. a [−MFS] language.

The effects of teacher self‐disclosure via Facebook on teacher credibility

Abstract: Research suggests that teachers who personalize their teaching through the use of humor, stories, enthusiasm, and self‐disclosure are perceived by their students to be effective in explaining course content. This experimental study examined the effects of computer‐mediated teacher self‐disclosure on perceptions of teacher credibility. Participants who accessed the Facebook website of a teacher high in self‐disclosure reported higher levels of teacher credibility than participants who viewed a low self‐disclosure Facebook website. Implications for classroom pedagogy, technology use, and areas for future research are discussed.