Cognitive development in relation to science education

Various skills have been considered quintessential to the scientific method. The need for these skills was highlighted by Armstrong at the beginning of the century and continues to be re-iterated to the present day within the criteria of the National Curriculum. Pupils as scientists are expected to make accurate and meaningful observations; record results from experiments formulated to test hypotheses, controlling all the relevant variables except the one under investigation; identify patterns within the results and recognise anomalies; draw valid conclusions from the data collected and extrapolate from the data to predict further results. These criteria were included in the list of thirty-two teacher assessed skills in domains five and six of the Northern Examination Association, NEA, GCSE Biology Syllabus. This research project endeavoured to test the acquisition of these skills in a large sample of students drawn from a variety of schools in an effort to establish the relative difficulty of the individual skills. The corollation of performance of the skills with a range of factors, including IQ, the influence of gender, school type, and associated subjects they studied was explored. In particular the effect of an exposure to the Warwick Process Science Scheme was investigated to establish whether a transferable long term enhancement resulted. The main body of the research was undertaken on Year ten (4th Year) pupils, the sample being drawn from ten schools of varying types. The work was extended to include both younger and older age groups, to identify the progress made with age in skill acquisition and to investigate whether success in the skills is of predictive value for the final GCSE grades of future 'A'Level achievement. The results indicated a wide variability in degrees of difficulty of the individual skills and a wide range of performance by individual candidates. Success in the skills corollated very closely with IQ, so to eliminate this effect samples cross-matched for IQ were investigated to establish the effect of other variables. Only the study of the three separate sciences and tuition within a selective school proved to have a significant effect on the outcome. Only skill 30 devising three separate hypotheses to explain a complex set of results, had predictive value for GCSE and none were of value for predicting capital 'A'Level success

A Model for Spheroid Versus Monolayer Response of SK-N-SH Neuroblastoma Cells to Treatment with 15-Deoxy-\u3cem\u3ePGJ\u3c/em\u3e\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e

Researchers have observed that response of tumor cells to treatment varies depending on whether the cells are grown in monolayer, as in vitro spheroids or in vivo. This study uses data from the literature on monolayer treatment of SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells with 15-deoxy-PGJ2 and couples it with data on growth rates for untreated SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells grown as multicellular spheroids. A linear model is constructed for untreated and treated monolayer data sets, which is tuned to growth, death, and cell cycle data for the monolayer case for both control and treatment with 15-deoxy-PGJ2. The monolayer model is extended to a five-dimensional nonlinear model of in vitro tumor spheroid growth and treatment that includes compartments of the cell cycle (G1,S,G2/M) as well as quiescent (Q) and necrotic (N) cells. Monolayer treatment data for 15-deoxy-PGJ2 is used to derive a prediction of spheroid response under similar treatments. For short periods of treatment, spheroid response is less pronounced than monolayer response. The simulations suggest that the difference in response to treatment of monolayer versus spheroid cultures observed in laboratory studies is a natural consequence of tumor spheroid physiology rather than any special resistance to treatment

Implications of New Zealand’s Primary Health Care Policies for Management and Leadership

Introduction: Reforms have been introduced since 2000 to make New Zealand’s health system primary care-led. A competent health management workforce is necessary to provide leadership for the goals of the reforms to be realised. Aim and objective : To review New Zealand’s key primary health care policies from 2000 to 2016 and consider their implications for management and leadership. Methods : A document analysis was undertaken using qualitative content analysis. Eligible documents were identified through the websites of relevant government and non-government agencies, World Health Organisation, and through Google Scholar. Findings :Two key policy trends relating to primary health care were identified. Firstly, a population health orientation to improve access to health care through community participation, and secondly, an integrated approach to promote collaboration within the health system, and between the health system and other sectors. The inferred management and leadership skillsets required to realise these policies included relationship management and collaboration, change management, and leadership. Conclusion: New Zealand’s primary health care sector underwent substantial reform between 2000 and 2016. Management and leadership capabilities need to be strengthened and developed for the benefits of the reforms to be realised

Outcomes and Impact of Training and Development in Health Management and Leadership in Relation to Competence in Role: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review Protocol

Background: The need for competence training and development in health management and leadership workforces has been emphasised. However, evidence of the outcomes and impact of such training and development has not been systematically assessed. The aim of this review is to synthesise the available evidence of the outcomes and impact of training and development in relation to the competence of health management and leadership workforces. This is with a view to enhancing the development of evidence-informed programmes to improve competence. Methods and Analysis: A systematic review will be undertaken using a mixed-methods research synthesis to identify, assess and synthesise relevant empirical studies. We will search relevant electronic databases and other sources for eligible studies. The eligibility of studies for inclusion will be assessed independently by two review authors. Similarly, the methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed independently by two review authors using appropriate validated instruments. Data from qualitative studies will be synthesised using thematic analysis. For quantitative studies, appropriate effect size estimate will be calculated for each of the interventions. Where studies are sufficiently similar, their findings will be combined in meta-analyses or meta-syntheses. Findings from quantitative syntheses will be converted into textual descriptions (qualitative themes) using Bayesian method. Textual descriptions and results of the initial qualitative syntheses that are mutually compatible will be combined in mixed-methods syntheses. Discussion: The outcome of data collection and analysis will lead, first, to a descriptive account of training and development programmes used to improve the competence of health management and leadership workforces and the acceptability of such programmes to participants. Secondly, the outcomes and impact of such programmes in relation to participants’ competence as well as individual and organisational performance will be identified. If possible, the relationship between health contexts and the interventions required to improve management and leadership competence will be examined

A Model for Spheroid Versus Monolayer Response of SK-N-SH Neuroblastoma Cells to Treatment with 15-Deoxy-PGJ 2

Researchers have observed that response of tumor cells to treatment varies depending on whether the cells are grown in monolayer, as in vitro spheroids or in vivo. This study uses data from the literature on monolayer treatment of SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells with 15-deoxy-PGJ 2 and couples it with data on growth rates for untreated SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells grown as multicellular spheroids. A linear model is constructed for untreated and treated monolayer data sets, which is tuned to growth, death, and cell cycle data for the monolayer case for both control and treatment with 15-deoxy-PGJ 2. The monolayer model is extended to a five-dimensional nonlinear model of in vitro tumor spheroid growth and treatment that includes compartments of the cell cycle (G 1, S, G 2/M) as well as quiescent (Q) and necrotic (N) cells. Monolayer treatment data for 15-deoxy-PGJ 2 is used to derive a prediction of spheroid response under similar treatments. For short periods of treatment, spheroid response is less pronounced than monolayer response. The simulations suggest that the difference in response to treatment of monolayer versus spheroid cultures observed in laboratory studies is a natural consequence of tumor spheroid physiology rather than any special resistance to treatment

A Model for Spheroid versus Monolayer Response of SK-N-SH Neuroblastoma Cells to Treatment with 15-Deoxy- PGJ

Researchers have observed that response of tumor cells to treatment varies depending on whether the cells are grown in monolayer, as in vitro spheroids or in vivo. This study uses data from the literature on monolayer treatment of SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells with 15-deoxy-PGJ2 and couples it with data on growth rates for untreated SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells grown as multicellular spheroids. A linear model is constructed for untreated and treated monolayer data sets, which is tuned to growth, death, and cell cycle data for the monolayer case for both control and treatment with 15-deoxy-PGJ2. The monolayer model is extended to a five-dimensional nonlinear model of in vitro tumor spheroid growth and treatment that includes compartments of the cell cycle (G1,S,G2/M) as well as quiescent (Q) and necrotic (N) cells. Monolayer treatment data for 15-deoxy-PGJ2 is used to derive a prediction of spheroid response under similar treatments. For short periods of treatment, spheroid response is less pronounced than monolayer response. The simulations suggest that the difference in response to treatment of monolayer versus spheroid cultures observed in laboratory studies is a natural consequence of tumor spheroid physiology rather than any special resistance to treatment

A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

A Many-analysts Approach to the Relation Between Religiosity and Well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N = 10, 535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β = 0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β = 0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

Systemic HIV and SIV latency reversal via non-canonical NF-κB signalling in vivo

Long-lasting, latently infected resting CD4+ T cells are the greatest obstacle to obtaining a cure for HIV infection, as these cells can persist despite decades of treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Estimates indicate that more than 70 years of continuous, fully suppressive ART are needed to eliminate the HIV reservoir1. Alternatively, induction of HIV from its latent state could accelerate the decrease in the reservoir, thus reducing the time to eradication. Previous attempts to reactivate latent HIV in preclinical animal models and in clinical trials have measured HIV induction in the peripheral blood with minimal focus on tissue reservoirs and have had limited effect2–9. Here we show that activation of the non-canonical NF-κB signalling pathway by AZD5582 results in the induction of HIV and SIV RNA expression in the blood and tissues of ART-suppressed bone-marrow–liver–thymus (BLT) humanized mice and rhesus macaques infected with HIV and SIV, respectively. Analysis of resting CD4+ T cells from tissues after AZD5582 treatment revealed increased SIV RNA expression in the lymph nodes of macaques and robust induction of HIV in almost all tissues analysed in humanized mice, including the lymph nodes, thymus, bone marrow, liver and lung. This promising approach to latency reversal—in combination with appropriate tools for systemic clearance of persistent HIV infection—greatly increases opportunities for HIV eradication