Guest Editorial

This special issue, Volume 14, Issue 2, features both new essays and reprints of pieces from past issues that are relevant to the theme of preparing teacher candidates to work effectively with families and communities. It offers each of us the opportunity to re-imagine the way we prepare our pre-service candidates for the challenges of today’s classrooms

A Visit to The Kilns: A Formative Experience for Two Christian Teacher Educators

The C.S. Lewis Study Centre at the Kilns is located near Oxford, England in the previous home of C.S. Lewis, the highly influential 20th century Christian intellectual and apologist. Two professors, who coupled a brief stay at the Kilns with an inquiry into the life of Lewis and his writings, present insights into their work as teacher educators. Three main areas are explored. The first area is the nature of our work, including a discussion of the distinct roles associated with Christian teacher educators and the importance of professional community. Next is a discussion on the quality of our work, including insights into the themes of excellence and authentic learning. The third area is what we bring to our work and includes a consideration of integrity and faithfulness. The essay closes with insights from Lewis’ concept of a supposal

Relationships with Families: Have Educators Overlooked a Critical Piece of the Puzzle?

While the importance of a professional teacher’s collaboration with diverse families is clearly highlighted in the US Department of Education’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and in US teaching standards, research consistently reports that teachers feel unprepared to do this aspect of their work. The failure of the teaching profession to grow in partnering with families is a persistent and puzzling challenge in education. In this article, we argue that educators often overlook a critical piece of that puzzle. A foundational step in building effective partnerships with families is the development of relationships with parents. A careful review of the literature indicates that these relationships require intentional development. We offer specific strategies around six key concepts, drawn from the literature, for use by in-service and pre-service teachers. These strategies hold promise to improve professional practice through the building of meaningful relationships with families

CaV channels and cancer: canonical functions indicate benefits of repurposed drugs as cancer therapeutics

The importance of ion channels in the hallmarks of many cancers is increasingly recognised. This article reviews current knowledge of the expression of members of the voltage-gated calcium channel family (Ca(V)) in cancer at the gene and protein level and discusses their potential functional roles. The ten members of the Ca(V) channel family are classified according to expression of their pore-forming α-subunit; moreover, co-expression of accessory α2δ, β and γ confers a spectrum of biophysical characteristics including voltage dependence of activation and inactivation, current amplitude and activation/inactivation kinetics. Ca(V) channels have traditionally been studied in excitable cells including neurones, smooth muscle, skeletal muscle and cardiac cells, and drugs targeting the channels are used in the treatment of hypertension and epilepsy. There is emerging evidence that several Ca(V) channels are differentially expressed in cancer cells compared to their normal counterparts. Interestingly, a number of Ca(V) channels also have non-canonical functions and are involved in transcriptional regulation of the expression of other proteins including potassium channels. Pharmacological studies show that Ca(V) canonical function contributes to the fundamental biology of proliferation, cell-cycle progression and apoptosis. This raises the intriguing possibility that calcium channel blockers, approved for the treatment of other conditions, could be repurposed to treat particular cancers. Further research will reveal the full extent of both the canonical and non-canonical functions of Ca(V) channels in cancer and whether calcium channel blockers are beneficial in cancer treatment

PDXScholar Annual Report 2019

This report details the ninth year of operation for PDXScholar, Portland State University\u27s institutional repository, as well as the growth of Portland State University Library\u27s publishing services. The report covers the period between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019

Nutritional status, growth and disease management in children with single and dual diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus and coeliac disease

Background: The consequences of subclinical coeliac disease (CD) in Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) remain unclear. We looked at growth, anthropometry and disease management in children with dual diagnosis (T1DM + CD) before and after CD diagnosis.<p></p> Methods: Anthropometry, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and IgA tissue transglutaminase (tTg) were collected prior to, and following CD diagnosis in 23 children with T1DM + CD. This group was matched for demographics, T1DM duration, age at CD diagnosis and at T1DM onset with 23 CD and 44 T1DM controls.<p></p> Results: No differences in growth or anthropometry were found between children with T1DM + CD and controls at any time point. Children with T1DM + CD, had higher BMI z-score two years prior to, than at CD diagnosis (p <0.001). BMI z-score change one year prior to CD diagnosis was lower in the T1DM + CD than the T1DM group (p = 0.009). At two years, height velocity and change in BMI z-scores were similar in all groups. No differences were observed in HbA1c between the T1DM + CD and T1DM groups before or after CD diagnosis. More children with T1DM + CD had raised tTg levels one year after CD diagnosis than CD controls (CDx to CDx + 1 yr; T1DM + CD: 100% to 71%, p = 0.180 and CD: 100% to 45%, p < 0.001); by two years there was no difference.<p></p> Conclusions: No major nutrition or growth deficits were observed in children with T1DM + CD. CD diagnosis does not impact on T1DM glycaemic control. CD specific serology was comparable to children with single CD, but those with dual diagnosis may need more time to adjust to gluten free diet