An Intensive Teacher Training Program: 1973 ICT-TEFL Module

The following paper is a report describing a TEFL teacher training program taught to the International Career Training students at the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont. It includes : a two-week detailed lesson plan of classroom activities for module participants, a description of their practice-teaching with sample lesson plans and evaluations, participants\u27 evaluations of the course, suggestions for improvement of future modules, and administrative details involved in setting up a course of this type on the SIT campus

Corporate social responsibility als Instrument der nachhaltigen Entwicklung

Durch die Aufnahme von Corporate Social Responsibility in das Unternehmensleitbild sollen Unternehmen einen Beitrag zur Nachhaltigen Entwicklung leisten. Die Idee der Nachhaltigen Entwicklung soll durch eine nachhaltige Unternehmensstrategie im Unternehmen umgesetzt werden. Diese Umsetzung bedarf geeigneter Managementinstrumente, welche alle Anforderungskriterien der Nachhaltigkeit erfüllen. Als Managemntinstrumente werden der GRI-Nachhaltigkeitsbericht und die Sustainability Balanced Scorecard vorgestellt und hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung für das Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement geprüft.Through the integration of Corporate Social responsibility into the company`s mission statement companies should provide a contribution to the sustainable development. The idea of sustainable development should be transferred through a sustainable strategy. This transformation needs suitable managemntinstruments, which fulfill all requirements of sustainability. As managementinstrument the GRI-sustainability report and the sustainability balanced scorecard are demonstrated and analysed if they are qualified for the sustainable management

Donor variability in HIV binding to peripheral blood mononuclear cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV infection of cells varies greatly between individuals, with multiple steps in the replication cycle potentially contributing to the variability. Although entry and post-entry variability of HIV infection levels in cells has been demonstrated, variability in HIV binding has not been examined. In this study, we examined variability of HIV binding to peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from different donors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HIV binding to PBMC varied up to 3.9-fold between individuals and was independent of CD4. Replication of HIV in donor PBMC required CD4 and paralleled virus binding trends of donor PBMC. To assess the stability of virus binding phenotypes over time, HIV was bound to donors with low- and high-binding phenotypes. The binding phenotypes were maintained when tested weekly over a 4-week period for 3 of 4 donors, while one high-binding donor decreased to lower binding on the 4th week. The low- and high-binding phenotypes were also preserved across different HIV strains. Experiments performed to determine if there was an association between HIV binding levels and specific cell subset levels within PBMC showed no correlation, suggesting that HIV binds to multiple cell subsets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results show that differences exist in HIV binding to donor PBMC. Our data also show that HIV binding to donor PBMC is CD4-independent and can change over time, suggesting that virus binding variability is due to differences in the expression of changeable cell-surface host factors. Taken together, this study highlights the impact of cell-surface factors in HIV binding to, and infection of, PBMC which likely represents an important step in HIV infection <it>in vivo</it>.</p

Einfluss der Lasernadelakupunktur auf die olfaktorische Sensitivität gesunder Probanden

Das Ziel dieser Studie war, in einem placebo-kontrollierten, doppelblinden und randomisierten Design die Wirkung der Lasernadelakupunktur auf die olfaktorische Sensitivität zu untersuchen, und darzustellen, ob die individuelle Einstellung der Probanden gegenüber (Lasernadel-) Akupunktur die Wirkung beeinflusst. Die olfaktorische Sensitivität wurde an zwei Tagen mittels Sniffin' Sticks Schwellentestung bei 64 gesunden Probanden (32 Skeptiker, 32 Nichtskeptiker) untersucht. Die Schwellentestung wurde hierzu dreimal am Tag 1 ohne Lasernadelakupunktur als Kontrollbedingung und am Tag 2 in randomisierten Gruppen (Stimulation/ Nicht-Stimulation) durchgeführt. Unter Lasernadelakupunktur zeigte sich eine signifikante Verbesserung der olfaktorischen Sensitivität. Wohingegen sich keine Veränderungen der Schwellen in der Kontrollbedingung am Tag 1 oder in der Placebo-Gruppe nachweisen ließen. Die Wirkung der Lasernadelakupunktur unterschied sich zu keinem Zeitpunkt zwischen Skeptikern und Nichtskeptikern. Folglich stellt Lasernadelakupunktur eine effektive Methode dar, um die olfaktorische Sensitivität zu verbessern – unabhängig von der persönlichen Einstellung gegenüber dem Verfahren

Digitalisierung im Unterricht. Individuelle Förderplanung durch die App SPLINT

Die Digitalisierung gilt in unserer heutigen Gesellschaft im Bildungsbereich als Chance des Lehrens und Lernens. Sie findet zunehmend verstärkt Einzug in den Schulalltag und bietet großes Potenzial, die Unterrichtsgestaltung zu vereinfachen sowie die individuelle Förderplanung zu optimieren. Mit der Web App SPLINT, welche im Jahr 2020 vom Sonderpädagogen Friedo Scharf entwickelt wurde, werden diese Vorstellungen in einer App vereint. Die SPLINT-App wurde aus der Praxis entwickelt und hält sowohl Beobachtungs- als auch Formulierungshilfen für Pädagog:innen aller Schulformen bereit. Innerhalb kürzester Zeit können individuelle Förderpläne erstellt und zusammen mit den Kolleg:innen bearbeitet werden. Mit Hilfe einer Fragebogenerhebung bei einer Stichprobe von 1000 Lehrer:innen an 150 Schulen in Deutschland wurden von Februar bis Juni 2021 erste Erfahrungen hinsichtlich der Effektivität und der Praxistauglichkeit der App erhoben und ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse machen deutlich, dass die Arbeit mit der App von den Befragten als gewinnbringend für den schulischen Alltag eingeschätzt wird. Insbesondere werden den Bereichen Kollaboration, Ressourcen und dem Netzwerkeffekt eine besonders hohe Relevanz zugeschrieben. Weiterhin hat sich gezeigt, dass sich durch die Anwendung der App die Förderplanung in den Kollegien deutlich verbessert hat. Die in SPLINT vorhandenen Beobachtungsbögen ermöglichen es, strukturierte Beobachtungen aller Beteiligten einzubeziehen, die als Basis der Förderplanung dienen. (DIPF/Orig.

Immunoglobulin VDJ repertoires reveal hallmarks of germinal centers in unique cell clusters isolated from zebrafish (Danio rerio) lymphoid tissues

DNA mutagenesis during antibody affinity maturation has potentially oncogenic or autoimmune outcomes if not tightly controlled as it is in mammalian germinal centers. Cold blooded vertebrates lack germinal centers, yet have a functional Ig gene mutator enzyme, Aicda. In fish there are clusters of Aicda+ cells encircled by pigmented ‘melano-macrophages’ and we test the hypothesis that these clusters are functionally analogous to germinal centers. Sequenced IgH VDJ repertoire libraries from individual isolated clusters showed evidence of B-cell clonal expansion and VDJ somatic hypermutation. Construction of Ig clonal lineage trees revealed that unlike surrounding lymphoid tissue, each cluster is dominated by a few B-cell VDJ clonotypes having hundreds of mutated variants. Recruitment of B-cells to the clusters appears to be ongoing, as there are additional Ig clones having smaller lineages. Finally, we show evidence for positive selection for replacement mutations in regions encoding the antigen contact loops, but not in the framework regions, consistent with functional antibody modification. Melano-macrophages appear to trap the Ag used for post-mutation B-cell selection, performing a role analogous to the follicular dendritic cells of mammalian germinal centers. These findings provide insights into the evolution of the affinity maturation process, the improvement of fish vaccines and possibly also the workings of atypical ectopic germinal centers generated in several human diseases

Evaluation of transduction efficiency in macrophage colony-stimulating factor differentiated human macrophages using HIV-1 based lentiviral vectors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Monocyte-derived macrophages contribute to atherosclerotic plaque formation. Therefore, manipulating macrophage function could have significant therapeutic value. The objective of this study was to determine transduction efficiency of two HIV-based lentiviral vector configurations as delivery systems for the transduction of primary human blood monocyte-derived macrophages.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Human blood monocytes were transduced using two VSV-G pseudotyped HIV-1 based lentiviral vectors containing EGFP expression driven by either native HIV-LTR (VRX494) or EF1α promoters (VRX1090). Lentiviral vectors were added to cultured macrophages at different times and multiplicities of infection (MOI). Transduction efficiency was assessed using fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Macrophages transduced between 2 and 120 hours after culturing showed the highest transduction efficiency at 2-hours transduction time. Subsequently, cells were transduced 2 hours after culturing at various vector concentrations (MOIs of 5, 10, 25 and 50) to determine the amount of lentiviral vector particles required to maximally transduce human monocyte-derived macrophages. On day 7, all transduced cultures showed EGFP-positive cells by microscopy. Flow cytometric analysis showed with all MOIs a peak shift corresponding to the presence of EGFP-positive cells. For VRX494, transduction efficiency was maximal at an MOI of 25 to 50 and ranged between 58 and 67%. For VRX1090, transduction efficiency was maximal at an MOI of 10 and ranged between 80 and 90%. Thus, transductions performed with VRX1090 showed a higher number of EGFP-positive cells than VRX494.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This report shows that VSV-G pseudotyped HIV-based lentiviral vectors can efficiently transduce human blood monocyte-derived macrophages early during differentiation using low particle numbers that do not interfere with differentiation of monocytes into macrophages.</p

Extracellular Nm23H1 stimulates neurite outgrowth from dorsal root ganglia neurons in vitro independently of nerve growth factor supplementation or its nucleoside diphosphate kinase activity

The nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase, Nm23H1, is a highly expressed during neuronal development, whilst induced over-expression in neuronal cells results in increased neurite outgrowth. Extracellular Nm23H1 affects the survival, proliferation and differentiation of non-neuronal cells. Therefore, this study has examined whether extracellular Nm23H1 regulates nerve growth. We have immobilised recombinant Nm23H1 proteins to defined locations of culture plates, which were then seeded with explants of embryonic chick dorsal root ganglia (DRG) or dissociated adult rat DRG neurons. The substratum-bound extracellular Nm23H1 was stimulatory for neurite outgrowth from chick DRG explants in a concentration-dependent manner. On high concentrations of Nm23H1, chick DRG neurite outgrowth was extensive and effectively limited to the location of the Nm23H1, i.e. neuronal growth cones turned away from adjacent collagen-coated substrata. Nm23H1-coated substrata also significantly enhanced rat DRG neuronal cell adhesion and neurite outgrowth in comparison to collagen-coated substrata. These effects were independent of NGF supplementation. Recombinant Nm23H1 (H118F), which does not possess NDP kinase activity, exhibited the same activity as the wild-type protein. Hence, a novel neuro-stimulatory activity for extracellular Nm23H1 has been identified in vitro, which may function in developing neuronal systems