Evaluation of the East Lothian Tutoring Initiative (ELTI)

The East Lothian Tutoring Initiative (ELTI) was developed in rapid response to growing concerns about the widening achievement gap amongst pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, who had been disproportionately disadvantaged as a result of COVID-related school lockdowns and associated interruptions to their learning. The initiative was informed by evidence that tutoring can substantially improve learning outcomes for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and can help to close "the poverty-related attainment gap"

Speaking out about gender imbalance in invited speakers improves diversity.

Omissions of qualified women scientists from major meeting programs continue to occur despite a surge in articles indicating persistent gender-discriminatory practices in hiring and promotion, and calls for gender balance in conference organizing committees

Radiographic manifestations of experimental aluminum toxicity in growing bone

To evaluate the effect of aluminum on growing bone in the presence of normal renal function, the following experiment was performed. Eight littermate pair-fed pigs (5 weeks old) were randomly assigned to one of two study groups: control C, n =4, or aluminum treated Al, n =4. Daily intravenous injections of either aluminum 1.5 mg/kg/day (Al group) or vehicle only (C group) were given during the 8-week duration of the study. The radiographic findings which appeared in the aluminum-treated group and not in the controls consisted of areas of sclerosis in the submetaphyseal regions and the periphery of epiphyses. In addition there was separation of the anterior tibial tubercle. The growth plates did not increase in width despite the presence of osteomalacia and histologic evidence of extensive deposition of aluminum in bone. The area of sclerosis visualized in the radiographs correlated histologically with thickened bony trabeculae. The increased width of these trabeculae is attributable to an increase in primary spongiosum and broadened seams of osteoid.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46782/1/256_2004_Article_BF00356955.pd

Association Between Statin Use and Uveitis: Results From the Pacific Ocular Inflammation Study

PURPOSE: To assess whether there is a protective association between statin use and uveitis diagnosis DESIGN: Retrospective, population-based case-control study METHODS: Medical records of all patients in the Kaiser Permanente Hawaii health plan between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2007 (N=217,061) were searched electronically for International Classification of Diseases, 9(th) Revision, diagnosis codes related to uveitis. Chart review was done to confirm incident uveitis diagnosis during the study period. Two control groups were each randomly selected at a 5:1 ratio to cases, and controls were assigned an index date to match their respective case diagnosis date. One control group was selected from the general Kaiser Permanente Hawaii population that had at least one healthcare visit during the study period. Another control group was selected from the population of Kaiser Permanente Hawaii members who had at least one visit to the ophthalmology clinic during the study period. Statin use was defined as filling a prescription for statin medication in the year prior to the diagnosis or index date based on an electronic search of the Kaiser Permanente Hawaii pharmacy database for Generic Product Identification codes. A conditional logistic regression model with clinical diagnosis of uveitis as the outcome was used to assess the relationship between statin use and uveitis. RESULTS: One hundred eight incident cases of uveitis were identified. Nineteen percent of uveitis patients had used statin medication in the year prior to diagnosis compared to 30% of patients in the general Kaiser population control (p=0.03) and 38% of patients in the ophthalmology clinic control (p<0.001). Using the general Kaiser population control and adjusting for age, gender, race, and autoimmune diseases, the odds of a statin user developing uveitis were 48% less than the odds of a non-statin user developing uveitis (OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.29 to 0.94, p=0.03). Similarly, the odds of developing uveitis were 33% less for statin users compared to non-statin users (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.38 to 1.19, p=0.17) when adjusting for these factors and using the ophthalmology clinic control group. CONCLUSIONS: Statin use may be protective against the development of uveitis. Several anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory mechanisms may explain this association

A guanine nucleobase important for catalysis by the VS ribozyme

A guanine (G638) within the substrate loop of the VS ribozyme plays a critical role in the cleavage reaction. Replacement by any other nucleotide results in severe impairment of cleavage, yet folding of the substrate is not perturbed, and the variant substrates bind the ribozyme with similar affinity, acting as competitive inhibitors. Functional group substitution shows that the imino proton on the N1 is critical, suggesting a possible role in general acid–base catalysis, and this in accord with the pH dependence of the reaction rate for the natural and modified substrates. We propose a chemical mechanism for the ribozyme that involves general acid–base catalysis by the combination of the nucleobases of guanine 638 and adenine 756. This is closely similar to the probable mechanism of the hairpin ribozyme, and the active site arrangements for the two ribozymes appear topologically equivalent. This has probably arisen by convergent evolution