Theoretical Approaches, Societal Issues, and Practical Implications for School-Based and Extracurricular Talent Development: Outcomes of the Inaugural European–North American Summit on Talent Development (Part I)

Gifted Child Quarterly and High Ability Studies collaborated on this pair of special issues resulting from the Inaugural European–North American Summit on Talent Development. The summit, held in Washington, D.C., in April 2016, had two main goals. The summit aimed, first, to increase researchers’ awareness of work on talent development being carried out in different countries by bringing together scholars working in Europe and the United States. The summit’s second aim was to initiate a new format for small, collaborative conferences at which participants present ideas they are working on—in medias res, so to speak—to all the other participants in order to receive feedback before they have completed their research. The event was made possible through the generous financial support of the American Psychological Association, the Belin-Blank Center at the University of Iowa, the Center for Talent Development of Northwestern University, and the Academic Talent Development Program at the University of California, Berkeley. The 2-day event consisted of clusters of presentations on eight topics. In each cluster, three researchers (two from American institutions and one from a European institution) presented their work and discussed future directions and possible implementations. Thanks to editors Betsy McCoach, Del Siegle, and Albert Ziegler, all participants were invited to submit articles for publication based on their presentation. The resulting articles on work presented in the first four talent development clusters (theoretical perspectives, societal participation, the context of school, and outside of school) make up the special issue of Gifted Child Quarterly. Articles arising from presentations in the final four talent development clusters (outcomes, psychosocial factors, adaptive and maladaptive learning, and high achievement and performance) comprise the special issue of High Ability Studies

Energy Gap of the Even-Denominator Fractional Quantum Hall State in Bilayer Graphene

Bernal bilayer graphene hosts even-denominator fractional quantum Hall states thought to be described by a Pfaffian wave function with non-Abelian quasiparticle excitations. Here, we report the quantitative determination of fractional quantum Hall energy gaps in bilayer graphene using both thermally activated transport and by direct measurement of the chemical potential. We find a transport activation gap of 5.1 K at B=12  T for a half filled N=1 Landau level, consistent with density matrix renormalization group calculations for the Pfaffian state. However, the measured thermodynamic gap of 11.6 K is smaller than theoretical expectations for the clean limit by approximately a factor of 2. We analyze the chemical potential data near fractional filling within a simplified model of a Wigner crystal of fractional quasiparticles with long-wavelength disorder, explaining this discrepancy. Our results quantitatively establish bilayer graphene as a robust platform for probing the non-Abelian anyons expected to arise as the elementary excitations of the even-denominator state

Evaporation from a small water reservoir: Direct measurements and estimates

Summary Knowing the rate of evaporation from surface water resources such as chan¬nels and reservoirs is essential for precise management of the water balance. However, evaporation is difficult to measure experimentally over water surfaces and several tech¬niques and models have been suggested and used in the past for its determination. In this research, evaporation from a small water reservoir in northern Israel was measured and estimated using several experimental techniques and models during the rainless summer. Evaporation was measured with an eddy covariance (EC) system consisting of a three-dimensional sonic anemometer and a Krypton hygrometer. Measurements of net radia¬tion, air temperature and humidity, and water temperature enabled estimation of other energy balance components. Several models and energy balance closure were evaluated. In addition, evaporation from a class-A pan was measured at the site. EC evaporation measurements for 21 days averaged 5.48 mm day�1. Best model predictions were obtained with two combined flux-gradient and energy balance models (Penman–Mon¬teith–Unsworth and Penman–Brutsaert), which with the water heat flux term, gave sim¬ilar daily average evaporation rates, that were up to 3% smaller than the corresponding EC values. The ratio between daily pan and EC evaporation varied from 0.96 to 1.94. The bulk mass transfer coefficient was estimated using a model based on measurements of water surface temperature, evaporation rate and absolute humidity at 0.9 and 2.9 m above the water surface, and using two theoretical approaches. The bulk transfer coefficient

Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development: Synthesis Report, Mobile Learning Week 2019

(First paragraph) 2019’s Mobile Learning Week (MLW), UNESCO’s flagship event for information and communication technology (ICT) in education, focused on the theme ‘Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development’. Held over five days in Paris, it comprised a sequence of high-profile events (a global conference, a policy forum and workshops, a symposium and strategy labs), and involved more than 1,500 participants from 140 countries (including Ministers of Education and ICT, other representatives from Member States, the private sector, academia and international organizations)

Parallel Retention of Pdx2 Genes in Cartilaginous Fish and Coelacanths

The Pdx1 or Ipf1 gene encodes an important homeodomain-containing protein with key roles in pancreas development and function. Mutations in human PDX1 are implicated in developmental defects and disease of the pancreas. Extensive research, including genome sequencing, has indicated that Pdx1 is the only member of its gene family in mammals, birds, amphibians, and ray-finned fish, and with the exception of teleost fish, this gene forms part of the ParaHox gene cluster along with Gsx1 and Cdx2. The ParaHox cluster, however, is a remnant of a 4-fold genome duplication; the three other ParaHox paralogues lack a Pdx-like gene in all vertebrate genomes examined to date. We have used bacterial artificial chromosome cloning and synteny analysis to show that the ancestor of living jawed vertebrates in fact had more ParaHox genes, including two Pdx genes (Pdx1 and Pdx2). Surprisingly, the two Pdx genes have been retained in parallel in two quite distantly related lineages, the cartilaginous fish (sharks, skates, and chimeras) and the Indonesian coelacanth, Latimeria menadoensis. The Pdx2 gene has been lost independently in ray-finned fish and in tetrapods

Polatuzumab vedotin plus bendamustine and rituximab or obinutuzumab in relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma: a phase Ib/II study

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common type of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Despite treatment advances that have improved outcomes for patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) FL, many patients still die from progressive disease or treatment-related toxicities. In the phase Ib/II GO29365 study (clinicaltrials.gov 02257567), the safety and efficacy of polatuzumab vedotin plus bendamustine and rituximab (Pola-BR) versus bendamustine and rituximab (BR) alone, and polatuzumab vedotin plus bendamustine and obinutuzumab (Pola-BG) as a single-arm cohort were evaluated in patients with R/R FL. Following the phase Ib safety run-in, patients were randomized 1:1 to receive Pola-BR or BR alone in the phase II stage; a separate non-randomized Pola-BG cohort was examined in the phase Ib/II expansion stage. Primary endpoints included safety and tolerability (phase Ib) and positron emission tomography complete response (PET-CR) rate by independent review committee (phase II). Overall, 112 patients were enrolled (phase Ib safety run-in: Pola-BR, N=6; phase II randomized cohort: Pola-BR, N=39; BR, N=41; phase Ib/II expansion cohort: Pola-BG, N=26). PET-CR rates were 66.7% (phase Ib safety run-in, Pola-BR); 69.2% (phase II randomized, Pola-BR); 63.4% (phase II randomized, BR); and 65.4% (phase Ib/II expansion Pola-BG). There was a higher occurrence of cytopenias with Pola-BR and Pola-BG than with BR; serious adverse events were more frequent with Pola-BR (61.4%) and Pola-BG (46.2%) than with BR (29.3%). Overall, this analysis does not demonstrate a benefit of adding Pola to BR or BG regimens for patients with R/R FL

Expression of phosphorylated eIF4E-binding protein 1, but not of eIF4E itself, predicts survival in male breast cancer

Background: Male breast cancer is rare and treatment is based on data from females. High expression/activity of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) denotes a poor prognosis in female breast cancer, and the eIF4E pathway has been targeted therapeutically. eIF4E activity in female breast cancer is deregulated by eIF4E over-expression and by phosphorylation of its binding protein, 4E-BP1, which relieves inhibitory association between eIF4E and 4E-BP1. The relevance of the eIF4E pathway in male breast cancer is unknown. Methods: We have assessed expression levels of eIF4E, 4E-BP1, 4E-BP2 and phosphorylated 4E-BP1 (p4E-BP1) using immunohistochemistry in a large cohort of male breast cancers (n=337) and have examined correlations with prognostic factors and survival. Results: Neither eIF4E expression or estimated eIF4E activity were associated with prognosis. However, a highly significant correlation was found between p4E-BP1 expression and disease-free survival, linking any detectable p4E-BP1 with poor survival (univariate log rank p=0.001; multivariate HR 8.8, p=0.0001). Conclusions: Our data provide no support for direct therapeutic targeting of eIF4E in male breast cancer, unlike in females. However, as p4E-BP1 gives powerful prognostic insights that are unrelated to eIF4E function, p4E-BP1 may identify male breast cancers potentially suitable for therapies directed at the upstream kinase, mTOR