Increasing Safety in America's Public Schools

As the Public Education Network (PEN) and its member local education funds (LEFs) are committed to creating systems of public education that result in high achievement for every child, we believe that equal opportunity, access to quality public schools, and an informed citizenry are all critical components of a democratic society. Part of making available a high-quality public education is ensuring that students and teachers spend their days in safe schools, which are free from violence, free from fear of harassment and threatening situations, and conducive to teaching and learning.Five local education funds have helped their communities broach these difficult issues with conversations on national and local issues of safety and violence in schools. During the last part of 2000, more than 250 people participated in conversations in Buffalo, NY; Lancaster, PA; McKeesport, PA; and Paterson, NJ. In February 2001, the local education fund in Atlanta, GA hosted a conversation that included students, teachers, principals, law enforcement officials, parents, and other community leaders.These local education funds conducted their community dialogues on school safety and violence as part of an assessment of their community's readiness and capacity to address the health and well being of children in their public schools. This assessment included looking into issues of health insurance coverage, coordination of health and social services for children and their families, maintaining safe learning environments, and the level of resources devoted to children's health and social services. Participants, therefore, understood that these community dialogues are not just "one-shot" efforts at addressing school safety and violence but as a part of a more comprehensive approach to address the systemic issues affecting children in their public schools.The local education funds used The 1999 Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, Violence in America's Public Schools: Five Years Later, as a starting place for their conversations, to ground their local experiences in a national context. This Lessons from the Field provides a summary of the MetLife survey and highlights findings from the conversations in four local education fund communities. (Law enforcement officials are referred to in this publication as "officers." All teachers and students referred to here are from public schools, and all "schools" referred to are public schools.

Stabilizing distinguishable qubits against spontaneous decay by detected-jump correcting quantum codes

A new class of error-correcting quantum codes is introduced capable of stabilizing qubits against spontaneous decay arising from couplings to statistically independent reservoirs. These quantum codes are based on the idea of using an embedded quantum code and exploiting the classical information available about which qubit has been affected by the environment. They are immediately relevant for quantum computation and information processing using arrays of trapped ions or nuclear spins. Interesting relations between these quantum codes and basic notions of design theory are established

An Algorithm for constructing Hjelmslev planes

Projective Hjelmslev planes and Affine Hjelmselv planes are generalisations of projective planes and affine planes. We present an algorithm for constructing a projective Hjelmslev planes and affine Hjelsmelv planes using projective planes, affine planes and orthogonal arrays. We show that all 2-uniform projective Hjelmslev planes, and all 2-uniform affine Hjelsmelv planes can be constructed in this way. As a corollary it is shown that all 2-uniform Affine Hjelmselv planes are sub-geometries of 2-uniform projective Hjelmselv planes.Comment: 15 pages. Algebraic Design Theory and Hadamard matrices, 2014, Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics 13

Differences in cortical activation during anterior tibial translation between females with high and low laxity

Over 200,000 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur each year. Noncontact mechanisms during sport account for ~70% of these injuries. Greater anterior knee laxity (AKL) is an established independent risk factor of ACL injuries in females. While the mechanical aspects of increased AKL have been studied, relatively little is known about the neural aspects of the ACL in regard to how relates to increased AKL. The purpose of this study is to investigate differences in somatosensory cortical activity between high and low knee laxity individuals. Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to measure contralateral somatosensory cortical activation during passive anterior tibial translations (ATT) in females with high and low knee laxity across 3 joint loading phases (LP) (LP1, 0-65N; LP2, 65-130N; LP3, 130N hold for 1 second). Results indicated no difference in cortical activation between females with high and low AKL during passive loading of the knee joint across the 3 loading phases. This suggests that despite mechanical differences at the knee, sensory information traveling from the knee joint to the somatosensory cortex is similar in females with high and low laxity. While there were no between group differences there was a trend (p = .07) in the decrease of cortical activation from LP1 to LP3 within groups. With more exploration of this decrease in activity this information could better help explain the roles of the mechanoreceptors in and round the knee joint during joint loading. This study represents a primary step taken to understand the neural role of the ACL during joint loading with a long-term vision of attempting to develop brain-based interventions in effort to reduce ACL injuries. To build upon this, this data should be further investigated to look at differences in the latency of the signal from the knee to the brain to see if there is a difference in how rapidly the signal travels to the somatosensory cortex between groups

Embryonic keratin19+ progenitors generate multiple functionally distinct progeny to maintain epithelial diversity in the adult thymus medulla

The thymus medulla is a key site for immunoregulation and tolerance, and its functional specialisation is achieved through the complexity of medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTEC). While the importance of the medulla for thymus function is clear, the production and maintenance of mTEC diversity remains poorly understood. Here, using ontogenetic and inducible fate-mapping approaches, we identify mTEC-restricted progenitors as a cytokeratin19+ (K19+) TEC subset that emerges in the embryonic thymus. Importantly, labelling of a single cohort of K19+ TEC during embryogenesis sustains the production of multiple mTEC subsets into adulthood, including CCL21+ mTEClo, Aire+ mTEChi and thymic tuft cells. We show K19+ progenitors arise prior to the acquisition of multiple mTEC-defining features including RANK and CCL21 and are generated independently of the key mTEC regulator, Relb. In conclusion, we identify and define a multipotent mTEC progenitor that emerges during embryogenesis to support mTEC diversity into adult life.ISSN:2041-172

The Arctic Ocean Seasonal Cycles of Heat and Freshwater Fluxes: Observation-Based Inverse Estimates

This paper presents the first estimate of the seasonal cycle of ocean and sea ice heat and freshwater (FW) fluxes around the Arctic Ocean boundary. The ocean transports are estimated primarily using 138 moored instruments deployed in September 2005–August 2006 across the four main Arctic gateways: Davis, Fram, and Bering Straits, and the Barents Sea Opening (BSO). Sea ice transports are estimated from a sea ice assimilation product. Monthly velocity fields are calculated with a box inverse model that enforces mass and salt conservation. The volume transports in the four gateways in the period (annual mean ± 1 standard deviation) are −2.1 ± 0.7 Sv in Davis Strait, −1.1 ± 1.2 Sv in Fram Strait, 2.3 ± 1.2 Sv in the BSO, and 0.7 ± 0.7 Sv in Bering Strait (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1). The resulting ocean and sea ice heat and FW fluxes are 175 ± 48 TW and 204 ± 85 mSv, respectively. These boundary fluxes accurately represent the annual means of the relevant surface fluxes. The ocean heat transport variability derives from velocity variability in the Atlantic Water layer and temperature variability in the upper part of the water column. The ocean FW transport variability is dominated by Bering Strait velocity variability. The net water mass transformation in the Arctic entails a freshening and cooling of inflowing waters by 0.62 ± 0.23 in salinity and 3.74° ± 0.76°C in temperature, respectively, and a reduction in density by 0.23 ± 0.20 kg m−3. The boundary heat and FW fluxes provide a benchmark dataset for the validation of numerical models and atmospheric reanalysis products

Clonal differences in Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia-associated mortality.

The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen for which the emergence of antibiotic resistance is a global public health concern. Infection severity, and in particular bacteraemia-associated mortality, has been attributed to several host-related factors, such as age and the presence of comorbidities. The role of the bacterium in infection severity is less well understood, as it is complicated by the multifaceted nature of bacterial virulence, which has so far prevented a robust mapping between genotype, phenotype and infection outcome. To investigate the role of bacterial factors in contributing to bacteraemia-associated mortality, we phenotyped a collection of sequenced clinical S. aureus isolates from patients with bloodstream infections, representing two globally important clonal types, CC22 and CC30. By adopting a genome-wide association study approach we identified and functionally verified several genetic loci that affect the expression of cytolytic toxicity and biofilm formation. By analysing the pooled data comprising bacterial genotype and phenotype together with clinical metadata within a machine-learning framework, we found significant clonal differences in the determinants most predictive of poor infection outcome. Whereas elevated cytolytic toxicity in combination with low levels of biofilm formation was predictive of an increased risk of mortality in infections by strains of a CC22 background, these virulence-specific factors had little influence on mortality rates associated with CC30 infections. Our results therefore suggest that different clones may have adopted different strategies to overcome host responses and cause severe pathology. Our study further demonstrates the use of a combined genomics and data analytic approach to enhance our understanding of bacterial pathogenesis at the individual level, which will be an important step towards personalized medicine and infectious disease management

Epstein-Barr-virus-positive large B-cell lymphoma associated with breast implants: an analysis of eight patients suggesting a possible pathogenetic relationship.

Breast implant anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a T-cell neoplasm arising around textured breast implants that was recognized recently as a distinct entity by the World Health Organization. Rarely, other types of lymphoma have been reported in patients with breast implants, raising the possibility of a pathogenetic relationship between breast implants and other types of lymphoma. We report eight cases of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive large B-cell lymphoma associated with breast implants. One of these cases was invasive, and the other seven neoplasms were noninvasive and showed morphologic overlap with breast implant ALCL. All eight cases expressed B-cell markers, had a non-germinal center B-cell immunophenotype, and were EBV+ with a latency type III pattern of infection. We compared the noninvasive EBV+ large B-cell lymphoma cases with a cohort of breast implant ALCL cases matched for clinical and pathologic stage. The EBV+ large B-cell lymphoma cases more frequently showed a thicker capsule, and more often were associated with calcification and prominent lymphoid aggregates outside of the capsule. The EBV+ B-cell lymphoma cells were more often arranged within necrotic fibrinoid material in a layered pattern. We believe that this case series highlights many morphologic similarities between EBV+ large B-cell lymphoma and breast implant ALCL. The data presented suggest a pathogenetic role for breast implants (as well as EBV) in the pathogenesis of EBV+ large B-cell lymphoma. We also provide some histologic findings useful for distinguishing EBV+ large B-cell lymphoma from breast implant ALCL in this clinical setting

A randomised controlled trial of a digital intervention (Renewed) to support symptom management, wellbeing and quality of life in cancer survivors

Background: Many cancer survivors following primary treatment have prolonged poor quality of life.Aim: To determine the effectiveness of a bespoke digital intervention to support cancer survivors.Design: Pragmatic parallel open randomised trial.Setting: UK general practices.Methods: People having finished primary treatment (&lt;= 10 years previously) for colo-rectal, breast or prostate cancers, with European-Organization-for-Research-and-Treatment-of-Cancer QLQ-C30 score &lt;85, were randomised by online software to: 1) detailed ‘generic’ digital NHS support (‘LiveWell’;n=906), 2) a bespoke complex digital intervention (‘Renewed’;n=903) addressing symptom management, physical activity, diet, weight loss, distress, or 3) ‘Renewed-with-support’ (n=903): ‘Renewed’ with additional brief email and telephone support. Results: Mixed linear regression provided estimates of the differences between each intervention group and generic advice: at 6 months (primary time point: n’s respectively 806;749;705) all groups improved, with no significant between-group differences for EORTC QLQ-C30, but global health improved more in both intervention groups. By 12 months there were: small improvements in EORTC QLQ-C30 for Renewed-with-support (versus generic advice: 1.42, 95% CIs 0.33-2.51); both groups improved global health (12 months: renewed: 3.06, 1.39-4.74; renewed-with-support: 2.78, 1.08-4.48), dyspnoea, constipation, and enablement, and lower NHS costs (generic advice £265: in comparison respectively £141 (153-128) and £77 (90-65) lower); and for Renewed-with-support improvement in several other symptom subscales. No harms were identified.Conclusion: Cancer survivors quality of life improved with detailed generic online support. Robustly developed bespoke digital support provides limited additional short term benefit, but additional longer term improvement in global healthenablement and symptom management, with substantially lower NHS costs.<br/

Renewed:Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a digital intervention to support quality of life in cancer survivors

International audienceIntroduction Low quality of life is common in cancer survivors. Increasing physical activity, improving diet, supporting psychological well-being and weight loss can improve quality of life in several cancers and may limit relapse. The aim of the randomised controlled trial outlined in this protocol is to examine whether a digital intervention (Renewed), with or without human support, can improve quality of life in cancer survivors. Renewed provides support for increasing physical activity, managing difficult emotions, eating a healthier diet and weight management.Methods and analysis A randomised controlled trial is being conducted comparing usual care, access to Renewed or access to Renewed with brief human support. Cancer survivors who have had colorectal, breast or prostate cancer will be identified and invited through general practice searches and mail-outs. Participants are asked to complete baseline measures immediately after screening and will then be randomised to a study group; this is all completed on the Renewed website. The primary outcome is quality of life measured by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-c30. Secondary outcomes include anxiety and depression, fear of cancer recurrence, general well-being, enablement and items relating to costs for a health economics analysis. Process measures include perceptions of human support, intervention usage and satisfaction, and adherence to behavioural changes. Qualitative process evaluations will be conducted with patients and healthcare staff providing support.Ethics and dissemination The trial has been approved by the NHS Research Ethics Committee (Reference 18/NW/0013). The results of this trial will be published in peer-reviewed journals and through conference presentations.Trial registration number ISRCTN96374224; Pre-results