Dr Lynette Pretorius

Dr Lynette Pretorius

@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Senior Lecturer in Higher Education Doctoral Education, AI Literacy, Research Literacy, Academic Identity, Autoethnography Huskies ๐Ÿบ Books ๐Ÿ“š Food๐ŸดSci Fi ๐Ÿ––๐Ÿผ Inclusion ๐ŸŒป She/Her, Views My Own

429 followers366 following545 posts

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

A colleague suggested that Dr. should stand for "desk rejection" in academia. We laughed, but it got me thinking about how normalised academic rejection is. A reminder that an editorial decision never defines your worth as a scholar. And yes - my paper got rejected today ๐Ÿ˜ข #AcademicSky #ScienceSky

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Was at our Faculty graduations today, celebrating with several PhD graduates. Got us wondering - is there a collective noun for doctors of philosophy? If not, I would like to propose 'library' ๐Ÿ“š #AcademicSky #ScienceSky

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Article I'm reading today: โ€˜Think Twice Before Doing a PhDโ€™: an autoethnography of doctoral affect through songwriting #AcademicSky #ScienceSky #CreativeMethods

doi.orgโ€˜Think Twice Before Doing a PhDโ€™: an autoethnography of doctoral affect through songwritingDoctoral distress is produced through institutional, economic, linguistic, and cultural conditions and is often individualized. This creative autoethnography examines how temporally layered songwri...
Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Excited to be appointed the Chief Examiner for the autoethnography unit next year ๐ŸŽ‰ I'll be in charge of the overall design, delivery, and quality assurance of the unit. I look forward to getting more students interested in autoethnography as a research method ๐Ÿคฉ #AcademicSky #ScienceSky

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Important read for the day โคต "In 2024, Larry Richardson had built a Google Scholar h-index of 11 over a short stretch of time, highlighting his promising trajectory as an up-and-coming scholar. The only problem was that Larry turned out to actually be a cat" #AcademicSky #ScienceSky

futurecampus.com.auWhy Citations Are MoribundIts hard to see how citations can continue to be used as an indicator of research performance, Peter Woelert writes.
Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Trainwreck of an interview Angus Taylor IMO. Classic migrant tropes as an attempt to disguise blatant racist ideology. No capacity to explain the economics of their plans. Just a slogan of "lower numbers higher standards" which doesn't make any logical sense. #auspol

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

I guess the influx of spam comments on my niche academic blog indicates it is getting more popular, right? Also, spammers - if you want your posts to pass the spam filters and for people to actually click on your dodgy crypto links, at least make the post sound remotely plausible...

Dr Lynette Pretorius reposted

Anna H
@athenepallas.bsky.social

One thing that I think would change politics/policy discourse for the better is if young people & their interests were treated with the same concern and respect as pensioners.

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Was one of the keynote speakers at today's symposium on AI in the scholarship of teaching and learning research process. It was a great session with some great ideas from all the panelists! #AILiteracy #research #AcademicLife #AcademicSky #ScienceSky

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

I've finished marking assignment 1, and yet again, some students don't seem to have even read the examples and instructions. Le sigh! On the upside, though, there were quite a few excellent assignments this time! #AcademicSky

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

I got to reference my own PhD thesis from more than a decade ago in this video! ๐Ÿ˜Ž If you want to check out my thesis, it is available here (open access) doi.org/10.26180/455...

doi.orgProtective actions of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (p110ฮฑ) in a setting of cardiomyopathyHeart failure affects approximately 1-3% of Western society. There is currently no cure and treatments largely delay disease progression. Consequently, there is great interest in identifying strategies that can improve cardiac function and reverse some of the negative consequences associated with heart failure. This thesis investigates the cardioprotective properties of a gene activated in the athleteโ€™s heart [phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), p110ฮฑ] in a setting of heart failure. Two double-transgenic mouse models were generated to assess the role of PI3K in a setting of cardiac stress (dilated cardiomyopathy, DCM). Mice either expressing a constitutively active mutant of PI3K (p110ฮฑ) (caPI3K) or a dominant negative mutant of PI3K (p110ฮฑ) (dnPI3K) were crossed with a transgenic mouse model of DCM [due to over-expression of mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1 (Mst1)]. Increasing PI3K activity in the DCM model (caPI3K-Mst1) improved lifespan and cardiac function, whereas decreasing PI3K activity in the DCM model (dnPI3K-Mst1) had an adverse effect. The cardioprotective properties of PI3K (p110ฮฑ) were mediated, at least in part, by the kinase Akt. Using the dnPI3K-Mst1 model, I was able to show that reduced PI3K (p110ฮฑ) activity increases the heartโ€™s susceptibility to atrial fibrillation (AF, the most common arrhythmia in cardiology departments worldwide). dnPI3K-Mst1 mice displayed overt atrial remodelling, varying degrees of conduction blockade and developed spontaneous AF. To assess a possible link between PI3K activity and AF in humans, PI3K (p110ฮฑ) activity was measured in atrial appendages of patients with AF (acute or chronic) and compared to patients without AF. PI3K (p110ฮฑ) activity was lower in patients with AF compared to patients in sinus rhythm. These results suggest that reduced PI3K (p110ฮฑ) makes the heart more susceptible to the development of AF. Thus, strategies or agents that can activate PI3K (p110ฮฑ) specifically in the heart may represent a useful therapeutic approach for AF. An unanticipated but novel finding was the observation that female dnPI3K-Mst1 mice showed faster disease progression than males. Prior to menopause, females are normally protected against cardiovascular disease compared with males. In contrast, in settings of aging, diabetes or hypertension [associated with depressed or defective PI3K (p110ฮฑ) activity] females are more prone to cardiac disease than males. Taken together with my results, this suggests that there may be an interaction between PI3K (p110ฮฑ) and estrogen, and that this interaction is essential for the cardioprotection seen in pre-menopausal women. Data obtained from dnPI3K-Mst1 mice suggests that PI3K (p110ฮฑ) plays an important role in mediating cardioprotection in females. Unexpectedly, ovariectomy had a beneficial effect on the cardiac phenotype of Mst1 mice, but no significant effect in caPI3K-Mst1 or dnPI3K-Mst1 mice. The mechanisms responsible for these phenotypes will require further investigation. In summary, this thesis presents compelling evidence to support investigation into therapeutics that activate components of the PI3K (p110ฮฑ) signalling pathway in a setting of cardiac stress. Author requested conversion to open access 29 Oct 2022
Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Another reason why research literacy should be taught: So that you don't become this Reviewer 2. โคต๏ธ For a paper that explores individuals' lived experiences: The authors' study is relativist. Why would the authors expect people to read their research? ๐Ÿคฆ #AcademicSky #Reviewer2MustBeStopped

Dr Lynette Pretorius reposted

Retraction Watch
@retractionwatch.com

"We estimate that $15.08 billion (in 2025 USD) was spent globally on APCs between 2019 and 2025. Adjusted for inflation, annual spending quadrupled from $0.9 billion in 2019 to $3.7 billion in 2025, with >85% concentrated among a few large publishers."

arxiv.orgEstimating global article processing charges paid to 14 publishers for open access between 2019 and 2025This study presents estimates of the global expenditure on article processing charges (APCs) paid to 14 publishers for open access (OA) between 2019 and 2025. APCs are charged for publishing in fully ...

Dr Lynette Pretorius reposted

Prof Sam Illingworth
@samillingworth.com

๐Ÿšจ AI detectors are not reliable. According to this AI detector, Moby Dick used AI for around 44% of the introduction. Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick in 1851...

Dr Lynette Pretorius reposted

Louise, Prof/Dr
@louiselocock.bsky.social

The review 'was not conducted from a position of detached neutrality; rather, our prior experiences ... acted as an interpretive and sensitizing lens... We invite readers to evaluate our arguments not as an inevitable summary of all available literature, but as a purposefully situated reframing.'

Dr Lynette Pretorius@drlpretorius.bsky.social

About 1.5 years after we wrote the first version of this paper, it is officially published! This paper reviews the interconnected web of factors that influence doctoral student wellbeing. We also propose a more relational approach to developing narrative literature reviews. Check it out! Link below.

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

About 1.5 years after we wrote the first version of this paper, it is officially published! This paper reviews the interconnected web of factors that influence doctoral student wellbeing. We also propose a more relational approach to developing narrative literature reviews. Check it out! Link below.

Dr Lynette Pretorius
@drlpretorius.bsky.social

Hi to my new followers ๐Ÿ‘‹ A quick introduction - I'm an education-focused senior lecturer with a particular interest in doctoral education, AI literacy, research literacy, academic identity, and autoethnography. I also post about my dogs (two Siberian Huskies), books, sci-fi, cooking, and gardening.