Creative high school dropouts\u27 experiences of learning : a phenomenological study

This study examined descriptions of learning experiences and the meaning that learning has for 11 creative high school dropouts who had just completed a one-on-one computer assisted multi-media learning experience. For these individuals learning is an active experience full of challenge and rich complexity which is grounded in resilient self reliance. Personal experience is regarded as the most desired and effective way of learning by these individuals.The 11 creative high school dropouts were selected from a population of120 high school dropouts who were enrolled in GED or similar classes at five research sites in 3 East Tennessee counties. For selection purposes assessments of creativity and perceptual modality learning style were administered to ail 120 high school dropouts, and from these, 11 were chosen for participation in a computer assisted multi-media learning experience and in depth,phenomenological interviews based on 3 criteria. The 3 criteria were that the individual had: (a) Scored at the 84th National Percentile or above on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Figural Form A., (b) exhibited strengths in perceptual modality learning styles not rewarded in traditional school settings,based on scores obtained from the Multi-Modal Paired Associates LearningTest - Revised, and (c) volunteered to be interviewed.The rich interview protocols were analyzed for meaning units and emergent themes by the researcher and a phenomenological research group.Themes are presented in three categories using the actual wording of the 11co-participants. Categories are: (a) “How I learn”, (b) “Why I learn”, and(c). “What learning is to me”.The “How I learn” category includes descriptions of conditions and processes present during optimal learning; desired personal, social, and environmental resources; and feelings during learning. The “Why I learn”category describes the creative individual’s motivation for learning and includes learning in order to understand yourself and your place in the world; todo, make, or survive; and to care for, or understand, others. “What learning is to me” describes the meaning that learning has for these co-participants and was described succinctly by one co-participant, “ Learning is making the best of use of my instincts and experiences to understand myself and others, and to succeed in the world.

International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10(-8)) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine-cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist

X Chromosome Contribution to the Genetic Architecture of Primary Biliary Cholangitis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Genome-wide association studies in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) have failed to find X chromosome (chrX) variants associated with the disease. Here, we specifically explore the chrX contribution to PBC, a sexually dimorphic complex autoimmune disease. METHODS: We performed a chrX-wide association study, including genotype data from 5 genome-wide association studies (from Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, China, and Japan; 5244 case patients and 11,875 control individuals). RESULTS: Single-marker association analyses found approximately 100 loci displaying P < 5 × 10(-4), with the most significant being a signal within the OTUD5 gene (rs3027490; P = 4.80 × 10(-6); odds ratio [OR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.028-1.88; Japanese cohort). Although the transethnic meta-analysis evidenced only a suggestive signal (rs2239452, mapping within the PIM2 gene; OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.09-1.26; P = 9.93 × 10(-8)), the population-specific meta-analysis showed a genome-wide significant locus in East Asian individuals pointing to the same region (rs7059064, mapping within the GRIPAP1 gene; P = 6.2 × 10(-9); OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.21-1.46). Indeed, rs7059064 tags a unique linkage disequilibrium block including 7 genes: TIMM17B, PQBP1, PIM2, SLC35A2, OTUD5, KCND1, and GRIPAP1, as well as a superenhancer (GH0XJ048933 within OTUD5) targeting all these genes. GH0XJ048933 is also predicted to target FOXP3, the main T-regulatory cell lineage specification factor. Consistently, OTUD5 and FOXP3 RNA levels were up-regulated in PBC case patients (1.75- and 1.64-fold, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This work represents the first comprehensive study, to our knowledge, of the chrX contribution to the genetics of an autoimmune liver disease and shows a novel PBC-related genome-wide significant locus.The article is available via Open Access. Click on the 'Additional link' above to access the full-text.Published version, accepted versio