The Impact of Visual Impairment on Perceived School Climate

The current investigation examines whether visual impairment has an impact on a student’s perception of the school climate. Using a large national sample of high school students, perceptions were examined for students with vision impairment relative to students with no visual impairments. Three factors were examined: self-reported level of happiness, perception of a positive school climate, and negative school affect.  Results revealed no differences for the seeing and visually impaired students on self-reported happiness and perception of a positive school climate factors, however significant differences were found on the negative school affect factor. Additionally, gender was significantly related to the negative school affect factor

ACADEMIC AND BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS IN ATHLETES: A COMPARISON OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AMONG ADOLESCENTS

Depression is a common post-concussion symptom. The depressive symptoms and its effects seemingly appear to be more long term, with some patients still reporting three months to nine years’ post-concussion. School apathy post head trauma can negatively influence prognosis and essentially make the condition worse. Student disruptions post head trauma will result in an inability to reason, problem-solve, set goals, self-monitor, initiate or inhibit response behavior, and effectively execute purposeful behavior. The current investigation examines the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among school-aged athletes (ages 13- to 18-years-old) compared to same-aged athletes who did not have a diagnosis/history of TBI. A Multivariate analysis and t-test are utilized to address the self-reported data in relation to students’ feelings, disruption, and school apathy with and without head trauma. It is expected that the results will show adverse effects in those student athletes who had reported head trauma when examining their feelings, disruptions, and school apathy when compared to those student athletes without head trauma.   Article visualizations

PERSPECTIVES OF THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

The low-incidence disability of visual impairment has led to many challenges in the field of education. The present study compared school related issues of adolescents with a visual impairment and their parents to adolescents who do not have a visual impairment and their parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of students with a visual impairment and their parents to determine the level of satisfaction of the education the students are receiving. A sample of n = 180 parents and 10th grade students were used to answer the questions regarding various factors of education. The predicted outcome will be that overall parents are satisfied with their child’s education but will have negative feelings regarding the quality of education. It is also predicted that the students with a visual impairment will have similar feelings regarding education.  Article visualizations

The effects of hearing deficits on student self-perceptions of social belonging, difficulty at school, and self-image

A paucity of research exists that examines how well hearing-impaired students function in the primary and secondary grades when attending a general education setting. The research that does exists to suggest that issues of poor self-perception, challenges regarding a sense of belonging, and self-image may be amplified for the non-hearing student. The current investigation examines the self-reported feelings of the hearing-impaired students relative to the student with no identified hearing difficulties. Results suggest that while social belonging may be a problem for the hearing-impaired students relative to their hearing peers, no differences were found on the responses associate with self-image or trouble at school

PERSPECTIVES OF THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

The low-incidence disability of visual impairment has led to many challenges in the field of education. The present study compared school related issues of adolescents with a visual impairment and their parents to adolescents who do not have a visual impairment and their parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of students with a visual impairment and their parents to determine the level of satisfaction of the education the students are receiving. A sample of n = 180 parents and 10th grade students were used to answer the questions regarding various factors of education. The predicted outcome will be that overall parents are satisfied with their child’s education but will have negative feelings regarding the quality of education. It is also predicted that the students with a visual impairment will have similar feelings regarding education

Adjustment and Other Factors Related to High School Aged Students Identified as Hearing Impaired

Healthy social, emotional and cognitive development of deaf children depends upon complex interactions between the many individual and environmental factors associated with deafness. Deaf children and adolescents have been reported to possess greater rates of mental health problems than hearing children and adolescents. Dysfunction in one or more systems impacts the other systems in the child’s life. Dysfunction increases the risk for maladjustment and poor mental and emotional health. Deaf youth are at greater risk for disruption in interactions between the child and their environment and therefore are also at greater risk for social and emotional problems. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult was used to gain a better understanding of deaf student’s feelings of acceptance at school, reported positive feelings, academic grades and future plans. Twelve (12) deaf students were included in a total of 456 youth participants from across the county. No significant differences were found between the two groups.

PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS WITH MULTIPLE DISABILITIES AND TYPICALLY DEVELOPING PEERS

The purpose of this study was to investigate if students with multiple disabilities perceived a lower level of feeling cared about, more difficulty in school, and decreased mental health status, when compared to their typically developing peers. Data from 244 participants was extracted from the National Survey of Adolescent Health. Of this sample, 36 participants were identified as having multiple disabilities. Independent samples t-tests and multivariate analyses of variance were used to analyze data using the sample of the population. No significant results were found, indicating that there are no differences between the perceptions of students with multiple disabilities and their typically developing peers.   Article visualizations

Multiparameter Telemetry as a Sensitive Screening Method to Detect Vaccine Reactogenicity in Mice

Refined vaccines and adjuvants are urgently needed to advance immunization against global infectious challenges such as HIV, hepatitis C, tuberculosis and malaria. Large-scale screening efforts are ongoing to identify adjuvants with improved efficacy profiles. Reactogenicity often represents a major hurdle to the clinical use of new substances. Yet, irrespective of its importance, this parameter has remained difficult to screen for, owing to a lack of sensitive small animal models with a capacity for high throughput testing. Here we report that continuous telemetric measurements of heart rate, heart rate variability, body core temperature and locomotor activity in laboratory mice readily unmasked systemic side-effects of vaccination, which went undetected by conventional observational assessment and clinical scoring. Even minor aberrations in homeostasis were readily detected, ranging from sympathetic activation over transient pyrogenic effects to reduced physical activity and apathy. Results in real-time combined with the potential of scalability and partial automation in the industrial context suggest multiparameter telemetry in laboratory mice as a first-line screen for vaccine reactogenicity. This may accelerate vaccine discovery in general and may further the success of vaccines in combating infectious disease and cancer

The anti-bacterial iron-restriction defence mechanisms of egg white; the potential role of three lipocalin-like proteins in resistance against Salmonella

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE) is the most frequently-detected Salmonella in foodborne outbreaks in the European Union. Among such outbreaks, egg and egg products were identified as the most common vehicles of infection. Possibly, the major antibacterial property of egg white is iron restriction, which results from the presence of the iron-binding protein, ovotransferrin. To circumvent iron restriction, SE synthesise catecholate siderophores (i.e. enterobactin and salmochelin) that can chelate iron from host iron-binding proteins. Here, we highlight the role of lipocalin-like proteins found in egg white that could enhance egg-white iron restriction through sequestration of certain siderophores, including enterobactin. Indeed, it is now apparent that the egg-white lipocalin, Ex-FABP, can inhibit bacterial growth via its siderophore-binding capacity in vitro. However, it remains unclear whether ex-FABP performs such a function in egg white or during bird infection. Regarding the two other lipocalins of egg white (Cal-γ and α-1-glycoprotein), there is currently no evidence to indicate that they sequester siderophores