Review of Curricula and Curricular Frameworks : report to inform the update of the UNESCO International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education

In 2009, UNESCO published the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education (ITGSE): An evidence-informed approach for schools, teachers and health educators. The purpose of the ITGSE is to assist education, health and other relevant authorities in the development and implementation of school-based sexuality education programmes and materials (UNESCO, 2009). The publication was released in two volumes: Volume I, which focuses on the rationale for sexuality education and provides sound technical advice on the characteristics of effective programmes; and Volume II, which focuses on the topics and learning objectives to be covered in a ‘basic minimum package’ on sexuality education for children and young people from 5 to 18+ years of age, and includes a bibliography of useful resources. In 2016, UNESCO began a process to update the ITGSE, consisting of a literature review of the evidence and lessons learned since the release of the original publication; a stakeholder consultation on sexuality education held in October of 2016; an online user survey; and an expert, Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Advisory Group established to inform the process and its findings. This report summarizes evidence-informed conclusions, expert recommendations and current practice for curriculum based sexuality education for ages 5-18+ and provides preliminary, overarching changes to Volume II of the ITGSE for consideration by the UNESCO CSE Advisory Group. Process To inform recommendations for updating Volume II, a broad range of publications and documentation was reviewed and in-depth interviews were conducted with a small group of stakeholders, including primary and secondary school students, teachers, and other experts. The desk review included first and foremost materials and recommendations generated to date through the ITGSE review process, including: PowerPoint presentations providing feedback gathered by stakeholders from numerous regions through a variety of methods, including focus groups, surveys, and written inputs; outcome recommendations from the UNESCO stakeholder consultation on updating the ITGSE, held in October of 2016; and, a review of the evidence on sexuality education commissioned by UNESCO for informing the update of the ITGSE, conducted in 2016 by Paul Montgomery and Wendy Knerr of the University of Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention. In addition, grey literature and journal articles addressing school-based sexuality education complementary to those reviewed by Montgomery and Knerr and which were published since 2008 were sought out through searches using a variety of terms for sexuality education (including sexuality education, sex education, life skills education, health and family life education, sexual and reproductive health education , life planning education), as well as more specific terms often in combination with “education” or “life skills” such as HIV, pregnancy prevention, gender, puberty, lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans-gender (LGBT), gender-based violence, and cyber-bullying, among others. Further, emphasis was placed on securing global, regional, or country frameworks and expert recommendations for school-based sexuality education for ages 5-18 published since 2008. Web sites searched included United Nations agency websites, including the UNESCO HIV and Health Education Clearinghouse, websites of UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNICEF and WHO; bilateral and multi-lateral organizations including USAID; and, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or initiatives, such as International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Population Council, Plan International, International Women’s Health Coalition, among others. In total, 55 documents were reviewed in three languages (English, French and Spanish) from Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific

The inner junction protein CFAP20 functions in motile and non-motile cilia and is critical for vision

Motile and non-motile cilia are associated with mutually-exclusive genetic disorders. Motile cilia propel sperm or extracellular fluids, and their dysfunction causes primary ciliary dyskinesia. Non-motile cilia serve as sensory/signalling antennae on most cell types, and their disruption causes single-organ ciliopathies such as retinopathies or multi-system syndromes. CFAP20 is a ciliopathy candidate known to modulate motile cilia in unicellular eukaryotes. We demonstrate that in zebrafish, cfap20 is required for motile cilia function, and in C. elegans, CFAP-20 maintains the structural integrity of non-motile cilia inner junctions, influencing sensory-dependent signalling and development. Human patients and zebrafish with CFAP20 mutations both exhibit retinal dystrophy. Hence, CFAP20 functions within a structural/functional hub centered on the inner junction that is shared between motile and non-motile cilia, and is distinct from other ciliopathy-associated domains or macromolecular complexes. Our findings suggest an uncharacterised pathomechanism for retinal dystrophy, and potentially for motile and non-motile ciliopathies in general

Experimental Inoculation of Juvenile Rhesus Macaques with Primate Enteric Caliciviruses

Tissue culture-adapted Tulane virus (TV), a GI.1 rhesus enteric calicivirus (ReCV), and a mixture of GII.2 and GII.4 human norovirus (NoV)-containing stool sample were used to intrastomacheally inoculate juvenile rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in order to evaluate infection caused by these viruses. METHODOLOGY & FINDINGS: Two of the three TV-inoculated macaques developed diarrhea, fever, virus-shedding in stools, inflammation of duodenum and 16-fold increase of TV-neutralizing (VN) serum antibodies but no vomiting or viremia. No VN-antibody responses could be detected against a GI.2 ReCV strain FT285, suggesting that TV and FT285 represent different ReCV serotypes. Both NoV-inoculated macaques remained asymptomatic but with demonstrable virus shedding in one animal. Examination of duodenum biopsies of the TV-inoculated macaques showed lymphocytic infiltration of the lamina propria and villous blunting. TV antigen-positive (TV+) cells were detected in the lamina propria. In most of the TV+ cells TV co-localized perinuclearly with calnexin--an endoplasmic reticulum protein. A few CD20+TV+ double-positive B cells were also identified in duodenum. To corroborate the authenticity of CD20+TV+ B cells, in vitro cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy macaques were inoculated with TV. Multicolor flow cytometry confirmed the presence of TV antigen-containing B cells of predominantly CD20+HLA-DR+ phenotype. A 2-log increase of viral RNA by 6 days post inoculation (p<0.05) suggested active TV replication in cultured lymphocytes.Taken together, our results show that ReCVs represent an alternative cell culture and animal model to study enteric calicivirus replication, pathogenesis and immunity

An Examination of Clinician Responses to Problem Gambling in Community Mental Health Services

Gambling problems commonly co-occur with other mental health problems. However, screening for problem gambling (PG) rarely takes place within mental health treatment settings. The aim of the current study was to examine the way in which mental health clinicians respond to PG issues. Participants (n = 281) were recruited from a range of mental health services in Victoria, Australia. The majority of clinicians reported that at least some of their caseload was affected by gambling problems. Clinicians displayed moderate levels of knowledge about the reciprocal impact of gambling problems and mental health but had limited knowledge of screening tools to detect PG. Whilst 77% reported that they screened for PG, only 16% did so &ldquo;often&rdquo; or &ldquo;always&rdquo; and few expressed confidence in their ability to treat PG. However, only 12.5% reported receiving previous training in PG, and those that had, reported higher levels of knowledge about gambling in the context of mental illness, more positive attitudes about responding to gambling issues, and more confidence in detecting/screening for PG. In conclusion, the findings highlight the need to upskill mental health clinicians so they can better identify and manage PG and point towards opportunities for enhanced integrated working with gambling services.</jats:p

Postoperative opioid use as an early indication of total hip arthroplasty failure

Background and purpose — A criticism of total hip arthroplasty (THA) survivorship analysis is that revisions are a late and rare outcome. We investigated whether prolonged opioid use is a possible indicator of early THA failure. Patients and methods — We conducted a cohort study of THAs registered in a total joint replacement registry from January 2008 to December 2011. 12,859 patients were evaluated. The median age was 67 years and 58% were women. Opioid use in the year after surgery was the exposure of interest, and the cumulative daily amounts of oral morphine equivalents (OMEs) were calculated. Post-THA OMEs per 90 day periods were categorized into quartiles. The endpoints were 1- and 5-year revisions. Results — After the first 90 days, 27% continued to use opioids. The revision rate was 0.9% within a year and 1.7% within 5 years. Use of medium-low (100–219 mg), medium-high (220–533 mg), and high (≥ 534 mg) amounts of OMEs in days 91–180 after surgery was associated with a 6 times (95% confidence interval (CI): 3–15), 5 times (CI: 2–13), and 11 times (CI: 2.9–44) higher adjusted risk of 1 year revision, respectively. The use of medium-low and medium-high amounts of OMEs in days 181–270 after surgery was associated with a 17 times (CI: 6–44) and 14 times (95% CI: 4–46) higher adjusted risk of 1-year revision. There was a similar higher risk of 5-year revision. Interpretation — Persistent postoperative use of opioids was associated with revision THA surgery in this cohort, and it may be an early indicator of potential surgical failures

GaAsSbN for Multi-Junction Solar Cells

Multi-junction solar cells, according to the detailed balance limit, should be able to achieve efficiencies above 50 percent. Work on new materials is necessary for improvements beyond the current state of the art. In this work, we evaluate the use of GaAsSbN, which has shown promise for multi-junction solar cells, particularly targeting the 1eV cell. Epitaxial growth of this material in this work has been achieved via liquid phase epitaxy, as it can produce high quality crystalline layers. We present our initial growth and characterization results of a GaAsSbN layer. Also presented are results showing the incorporation of this material in a solar cell

An alternative route to molybdenum disulfide nanotubes

Molybdenum disulfide ((MoS2)n) nanotubes are generated when polycrystalline MoS2 powder, covered by Mo foil, is heated to ca. 1300 °C in the presence of H2S. Electron diffraction reveals the presence of zigzag arrangements within the tube walls