Rachel Boulay

Introduction to the Ultrasound Targeted Microbubble Destruction Technique

In UTMD, bioactive molecules, such as negatively charged plasmid DNA vectors encoding a gene of interest, are added to the cationic shells of lipid microbubble contrast agents. In mice these vector-carrying microbubbles can be administered intravenously or directly to the left ventricle of the heart. In larger animals they can also be infused through an intracoronary catheter. The subsequent delivery from the circulation to a target organ occurs by acoustic cavitation at a resonant frequency of the microbubbles. It seems likely that the mechanical energy generated by the microbubble destruction results in transient pore formation in or between the endothelial cells of the microvasculature of the targeted region. As a result of this sonoporation effect, the transfection efficiency into and across the endothelial cells is enhanced, and transgene-encoding vectors are deposited into the surrounding tissue. Plasmid DNA remaining in the circulation is rapidly degraded by nucleases in the blood, which further reduces the likelihood of delivery to non-sonicated tissues and leads to highly specific target-organ transfection.

Technology Mentoring: Research Results across Seven Campuses

Representatives from seven community college campuses throughout Hawaii were designated to coordinate the creation of Technology Intensive (TI) courses using a model developed at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Data collection focused on qualitative measures: written narratives, pre and post surveys, and samples of technology products and curriculum changes. This approach allowed for the detection of subtle changes in faculty growth with regard to technology. Findings suggest that a strong mentoring program promoted substantial progress among study participants to model technology for students. Many faculty members quickly incorporated technologies into courses and promoted student use of technology in a short period of time. Participants transferred the technologies they learned with their mentor into classroom instruction and modeled the use of these technologies for their students. Technology mentoring transformed faculty into able technology users, diversifying their use of technology to accomplish specific teaching objectives.

Validating Common Measures of Self-Efficacy and Career Attitudes within Informal Health Education for Middle and High School Students.

A common challenge in the evaluation of K–12 science education is identifying valid scales that are an appropriate fit for both a student’s age and the educational outcomes of interest. Though many new scales have been validated in recent years, there is much to learn about the appropriate educational contexts and audiences for these measures. This study investigated two such scales, the DEVISE Self-Efficacy for Science scale and the Career Interest Questionnaire (CIQ), within the context of two related health sciences projects. Consistent patterns were found in the reliability of each scale across three age groups (middle school, high school, early college) and within the context of each project. As expected, self-efficacy and career interest, as measured through these scales, were found to be correlated. The pattern of results for CIQ scores was also similar to that reported in other literature. This study provides examples of how practitioners can validate established measures for new and specific contexts and provides some evidence to support the use of the scales studied in health science education contexts.