I See You, I Feel Me: Journaling for Confidence, Value, and Collective Efficacy Among Partner Teachers

This action research sought to determine whether implementing a journaling practice that combined observation with self-reflection would improve the collective efficacy of an educational team. The research took place over one month in the single, early childhood classroom of a private Montessori school in the Midwest. Four partner teachers participated in the study: owner, director, and assistants. The project began with team-building exercises emphasizing open communication. The intervention required participants to record daily observations of partner teachers with corresponding reactions into personal I See You, I Feel Me journals. Data was collected through weekly attitude assessments, pre- and post-intervention focus group sessions, and artifacts. Using the benchmarks of confidence in roles, feelings of value, and perceptions of effectiveness, findings suggested journaling improved collective efficacy. This success recommends journaling as a useful tool for nurturing partner teaching relationships and evaluating collective efficacy. Continued research could examine widespread applicability and long-term effects

Planets Around Low-Mass Stars (PALMS). V. Age-Dating Low-Mass Companions to Members and Interlopers of Young Moving Groups

Copyright © 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.We present optical and near-infrared adaptive optics (AO) imaging and spectroscopy of 13 ultracool (>M6) companions to late-type stars (K7-M4.5), most of which have recently been identified as candidate members of nearby young moving groups (YMGs; 8-120 Myr) in the literature. The inferred masses of the companions (~10-100 Mjup) are highly sensitive to the ages of the primary stars so we critically examine the kinematic and spectroscopic properties of each system to distinguish bona fide YMG members from old field interlopers. 2MASS J02155892-0929121 C is a new M7 substellar companion (40-60 Mjup) with clear spectroscopic signs of low gravity and hence youth. The primary, possibly a member of the ~40 Myr Tuc-Hor moving group, is visually resolved into three components, making it a young low-mass quadruple system in a compact (1 Gyr) tidally-locked spectroscopic binaries without convincing kinematic associations with any known moving group. The high rate of false positives in the form of old active stars with YMG-like kinematics underscores the importance of radial velocity and parallax measurements to validate candidate young stars identified via proper motion and activity selection alone. Finally, we spectroscopically confirm the cool temperature and substellar nature of HD 23514 B, a recently discovered M8 benchmark brown dwarf orbiting the dustiest-known member of the Pleiades.NASANSFMt. Cuba Astronomical FoundationSamuel OschinAlfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Lifestyle domains as determinants of wheeze prevalence in urban and rural schoolchildren in Ecuador: cross sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND: The acquisition of a modern lifestyle may explain variations in asthma prevalence between urban and rural areas in developing countries. However, the effects of lifestyle on asthma have been investigated as individual factors with little consideration given to the effects of lifestyle as a set of attributes. The aim of the present study was to identify modern lifestyle domains and assess how these domains might explain wheeze prevalence in urban and rural areas. METHODS: We analysed data from cross-sectional studies of urban and rural schoolchildren in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador. Variables were grouped as indicators of socioeconomic factors, sedentarism, agricultural activities and household characteristics to represent the main lifestyle features of the study population. We used multiple correspondence analyses to identify common lifestyle domains and cluster analysis to allocate children to each domain. We evaluated associations between domains and recent wheeze by logistic regression. RESULTS: We identified 2-3 lifestyle domains for each variable group. Although wheeze prevalence was similar in urban (9.4%) and rural (10.3%) schoolchildren, lifestyle domains presented clear associations with wheeze prevalence. Domains relating to home infrastructure (termed transitional, rudimentary, and basic urban) had the strongest overall effect on wheeze prevalence in both urban (rudimentary vs. basic urban, OR = 2.38, 95% CI 1.12-5.05, p = 0.024) and rural areas (transitional vs. basic urban, OR = 2.02, 95% CI 1.1-3.73, p = 0.024; rudimentary vs. basic urban, OR = 1.88, 95% CI 1.02-3.47, p = 0.043). A high level of sedentarism was associated with wheeze in the rural areas only (OR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.23-2.18, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We identified lifestyle domains associated with wheeze prevalence, particularly living in substandard housing and a high level of sedentarism. Such factors could be modified through programmes of improved housing and education. The use of lifestyle domains provides an alternative methodology for the evaluation of variations in wheeze prevalence in populations with different levels of development

Risk factors for asthma and allergy associated with urban migration: background and methodology of a cross-sectional study in Afro-Ecuadorian school children in Northeastern Ecuador (Esmeraldas-SCAALA Study)

BACKGROUND: Asthma and allergic diseases are becoming increasingly frequent in children in urban centres of Latin America although the prevalence of allergic disease is still low in rural areas. Understanding better why the prevalence of asthma is greater in urban migrant populations and the role of risk factors such as life style and environmental exposures, may be key to understand what is behind this trend. METHODS/DESIGN: The Esmeraldas-SCAALA (Social Changes, Asthma and Allergy in Latin America) study consists of cross-sectional and nested case-control studies of school children in rural and urban areas of Esmeraldas Province in Ecuador. The cross-sectional study will investigate risk factors for atopy and allergic disease in rural and migrant urban Afro-Ecuadorian school children and the nested case-control study will examine environmental, biologic and social risk factors for asthma among asthma cases and non-asthmatic controls from the cross-sectional study. Data will be collected through standardised questionnaires, skin prick testing to relevant aeroallergen extracts, stool examinations for parasites, blood sampling (for measurement of IgE, interleukins and other immunological parameters), anthropometric measurements for assessment of nutritional status, exercise testing for assessment of exercise-induced bronchospasm and dust sampling for measurement of household endotoxin and allergen levels. DISCUSSION: The information will be used to identify the factors associated with an increased risk of asthma and allergies in migrant and urbanizing populations, to improve the understanding of the causes of the increase in asthma prevalence and to identify potentially modifiable factors to inform the design of prevention programmes to reduce the risk of allergy in urban populations in Latin America

Validation of epidemiological tools for eczema diagnosis in brazilian children: the isaac's and uk working party's criteria

BACKGROUND: Instruments for field diagnosis of eczema are increasingly used, and it is essential to understand specific limitations to make best use of their strengths. Our objective was to assess the validity of ISAAC and UK Working Party criteria for field diagnosis of eczema in children. METHODS: We performed a cohort study in urban Brazil. Parents/guardians of 1,419 children answered ISAAC phase II questionnaire. Children were examined for skin lesions (UKWP protocol). Two dermatologists examined most cases of eczema (according to ISAAC or UKWP), and a sample without eczema. RESULTS: Agreement between repeat questionnaires on the filter question was poor (kappa = 0.4). Agreement between the 2 dermatologists was fair (kappa = 0.6). False positive reports included scabies in 39% of ISAAC cases and 33% of UKWP cases. Sensitivity and PPV were low (ISAAC: 37.1% and 16.1%; UKWP: 28.6% and 23.8%). Specificity and NPV were high (ISAAC: 90.0% and 96.6%; UKWP: 95.3% and 96.2%). One-year prevalence of eczema was 11.3% (ISAAC), 5.9% (UKWP) and 4.9% (adjusted dermatologist diagnosis). Point prevalence of scabies (alone or not) was 43%, 33% and 18%, in eczemas according to ISAAC, to UKWP and to dermatologists. The reasons why children with eczema were not identified by ISAAC or UKWP were wrongly denying dry skin, itchy rash or personal history of atopic diseases. A limitation is that questionnaire was already validated in Brazil, but not field tested in this specific setting. CONCLUSIONS: Studies using UKWP or ISAAC criteria should include a validation arm, to contribute to the understanding of potential limitations of their use in different contexts and to explore solutions. We list specific recommendations

A Community Study of Factors Related to Poorly Controlled Asthma among Brazilian Urban Children

BACKGROUND: Asthma constitutes a serious public health problem in many regions of the world, including the city of Salvador, State of Bahia-Brazil. The purpose of this study was to analyse the factors associated with poor asthma control. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Two definitions were used for asthma: 1) wheezing in the last 12 months; 2) wheezing in the last 12 months plus other asthma symptoms or asthma diagnosis ever. The definition of poorly controlled asthma was: at least one reported hospitalisation due to asthma and/or high frequency of symptoms, in the last year. Children with poorly controlled asthma (N = 187/374) were compared with wheezing children with controlled asthma regarding age, gender, atopy, parental asthma, rhinitis, eczema, exposure to second hand tobacco smoke, presence of moulds, pets and pests in the house, helminth infections and body mass index. Crude and logistic regression adjusted odds ratios were used as measures of association. There was a higher proportion of poorly controlled asthma among children with eczema (OR = 1.55; 95% CI 1.02; 2.37). The strength of the association was greater among children with eczema and rhinitis (42.6%, 53.4% and 57.7%, respectively, in children who had no rhinitis nor eczema, had only one of those, and had both (p = 0.02 for trend test). The presence of mould in the houses was inversely associated with poorly controlled asthma (OR = 0.54; 95% CI 0.34; 0.87). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results indicate an association between eczema and poor asthma control in this environment, but emphasize the role of various other individual and environmental factors as determinants of poor control

Kepler-21b: A Rocky Planet Around a V = 8.25 Magnitude Star

HD 179070, aka Kepler-21, is a V = 8.25 F6IV star and the brightest exoplanet host discovered by Kepler. An early detailed analysis by Howell et al. (2012) of the first thirteen months (Q0 - Q5) of Kepler light curves revealed transits of a planetary companion, Kepler-21b, with a radius of about 1.60 ± 0.04 R⊕ and an orbital period of about 2.7857 days. However, they could not determine the mass of the planet from the initial radial velocity observations with Keck-HIRES, and were only able to impose a 2σ upper limit of 10 M⊕. Here we present results from the analysis of 82 new radial velocity observations of this system obtained with HARPS-N, together with the existing 14 HIRES data points. We detect the Doppler signal of Kepler-21b with a radial velocity semi-amplitude K = 2.00 ± 0.65 m s-1, which corresponds to a planetary mass of 5.1 ± 1.7 M⊕. We also measure an improved radius for the planet of 1.639 +0.019/-0.015 R⊕, in agreement with the radius reported by Howell et al. (2012). We conclude that Kepler-21b, with a density of 6.4 ± 2.1 g cm-3, belongs to the population of small, ≤6 M⊕ planets with iron and magnesium silicate interiors, which have lost the majority of their envelope volatiles via stellar winds or gravitational escape. The RV analysis presented in this paper serves as example of the type of analysis that will be necessary to confirm the masses of TESS small planet candidates.PostprintPeer reviewe

A 1.9 Earth Radius Rocky Planet and the Discovery of a Non-Transiting Planet in the Kepler-20 System*

Kepler-20 is a solar-type star (V = 12.5) hosting a compact system of five transiting planets, all packed within the orbital distance of Mercury in our own Solar System. A transition from rocky to gaseous planets with a planetary transition radius of ∼ 1.6 R⊕ has recently been proposed by several publications in the literature (Rogers 2015; Weiss& Marcy 2014). Kepler-20b (Rp ∼ 1.9 R⊕) has a size beyond this transition radius, however previous mass measurements were not sufficiently precise to allow definite conclusions to be drawn regarding its composition. We present new mass measurements of Kepler-20 three of the planets in the Kepler-20 system facilitated by 104 radial velocity measurements from the HARPS-N spectrograph and 30 archival Keck/HIRES observations, as well as an updated photometric analysis of the Kepler data and an asteroseismic analysis of the host star (M* = 0.948 ± 0.051 M☉ and R* = 0.964 ± 0.018 R☉).Kepler-20b is a 1.868+0.066 −0.034 R⊕ planet in a 3.7 day period with amass of 9.70+1.41 −1.44 M⊕ resulting in a mean density of 8.2 +1.5 −1.3 g cm−3 indicating a rocky composition with an iron to silicate ratio consistent with that of the Earth. This makes Kepler-20b the most massive planet with a rocky composition found to date. Furthermore, we report the discovery of an additional non-transiting planet with a minimum mass of 19.96+3.08 −3.61 M⊕ and an orbital period of ∼ 34 days in the gap between Kepler-20f (P ∼ 11 days) and Kepler-20d (P ∼78 days).PostprintPeer reviewe

ATBF1 and NQO1 as candidate targets for allelic loss at chromosome arm 16q in breast cancer: Absence of somatic ATBF1 mutations and no role for the C609T NQO1 polymorphism

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at chromosome arm 16q is frequently observed in human breast cancer, suggesting that one or more target tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) are located there. However, detailed mapping of the smallest region of LOH has not yet resulted in the identification of a TSG at 16q. Therefore, the present study attempted to identify TSGs using an approach based on mRNA expression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cDNA microarray for the 16q region was constructed and analyzed using RNA samples from 39 breast tumors with known LOH status at 16q.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five genes were identified to show lower expression in tumors with LOH at 16q compared to tumors without LOH. The genes for NAD(P)H dehydrogenase quinone (<it>NQO1</it>) and AT-binding transcription factor 1 (<it>ATBF1</it>) were further investigated given their functions as potential TSGs. <it>NQO1 </it>has been implicated in carcinogenesis due to its role in quinone detoxification and in stabilization of p53. One inactive polymorphic variant of <it>NQO1 </it>encodes a product showing reduced enzymatic activity. However, we did not find preferential targeting of the active <it>NQO1 </it>allele in tumors with LOH at 16q. Immunohistochemical analysis of 354 invasive breast tumors revealed that NQO1 protein expression in a subset of breast tumors is higher than in normal epithelium, which contradicts its proposed role as a tumor suppressor gene.</p> <p><it>ATBF1 </it>has been suggested as a target for LOH at 16q in prostate cancer. We analyzed the entire coding sequence in 48 breast tumors, but did not identify somatic sequence changes. We did find several in-frame insertions and deletions, two variants of which were reported to be somatic pathogenic mutations in prostate cancer. Here, we show that these variants are also present in the germline in 2.5% of 550 breast cancer patients and 2.9% of 175 healthy controls. This indicates that the frequency of these variants is not increased in breast cancer patients. Moreover, there is no preferential LOH of the wildtype allele in breast tumors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Two likely candidate TSGs at 16q in breast cancer, <it>NQO1 </it>and <it>ATBF1</it>, were identified here as showing reduced expression in tumors with 16q LOH, but further analysis indicated that they are not target genes of LOH. Furthermore, our results call into question the validity of the previously reported pathogenic variants of the <it>ATBF1 </it>gene.</p

An Ultra-short Period Rocky Super-Earth with a Secondary Eclipse and a Neptune-like Companion around K2-141

Ultra-short period (USP) planets are a class of low mass planets with periods shorter than one day. Their origin is still unknown, with photo-evaporation of mini-Neptunes and in-situ formation being the most credited hypotheses. Formation scenarios differ radically in the predicted composition of USP planets, it is therefore extremely important to increase the still limited sample of USP planets with precise and accurate mass and density measurements. We report here the characterization of an USP planet with a period of 0.28 days around K2-141 (EPIC 246393474), and the validation of an outer planet with a period of 7.7 days in a grazing transit configuration. We derived the radii of the planets from the K2 light curve and used high-precision radial velocities gathered with the HARPS-N spectrograph for mass measurements. For K2-141b we thus inferred a radius of $1.51\pm0.05~R_\oplus$ and a mass of $5.08\pm0.41~M_\oplus$, consistent with a rocky composition and lack of a thick atmosphere. K2-141c is likely a Neptune-like planet, although due to the grazing transits and the non-detection in the RV dataset, we were not able to put a strong constraint on its density. We also report the detection of secondary eclipses and phase curve variations for K2-141b. The phase variation can be modeled either by a planet with a geometric albedo of $0.30 \pm 0.06$ in the Kepler bandpass, or by thermal emission from the surface of the planet at $\sim$3000K. Only follow-up observations at longer wavelengths will allow us to distinguish between these two scenarios.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures., accepted for publication in A