Establishing A Transformative Social Emotional Learning Evaluation Plan to Support All Students within a Targeted School District

Social and emotional learning (SEL) refers to the process through which individuals acquire social and emotional competencies (Geesa et al., 2022). This capstone project aimed to enhance education by developing a transformative SEL evaluation plan in a school district. The school district presented a commitment to fostering SEL but recognized the need for more targeted and transformative actions. This initiative arises from the acknowledgment that the existing SEL program did not meet the district\u27s specific needs of inclusivity and equity, potentially impacting overall student performance, participation, and well-being. To address this gap, the district incorporated insights from occupational therapy practice to emphasize the significance of purposeful activities in promoting student well-being. This collaborative endeavor involved key stakeholders, students, teachers, and staff across different educational levels to address concerns and expectations related to the SEL program collectively. The overarching goal was to realign SEL practices with the district\u27s objectives, fostering inclusivity and equity and creating an educational environment that is responsive, effective, and tailored to the unique needs of its student population.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesfall2023/1004/thumbnail.jp

Help-Seeking Experiences of African American Men With Depression

Research indicated that depression is now the leading cause of disability globally. Depression and help-seeking experiences among African American men have not been adequately studied. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the help-seeking experiences of African American men with depression. The theoretical framework was Andersen\u27s Behavioral Model of Health Services. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. Inclusion criteria were (a) African American men, (b) aged 18 through 65, (c) having a medical diagnosis of depression or symptoms of depression, (d) not currently in treatment, and English speaking. Six African American men with depression or depressive symptoms were interviewed. Coding analysis of data generated two major themes: African American men\u27s perceptions of factors that inhibit help-seeking and African American men\u27s perceptions of factors that promote help-seeking. The 6 sub-themes identified were (a) African American men with depression tend to feel misunderstood and stigmatized; (b) some African American men admit to a degree of self-stigma; (c) some African American men deny their depression or any need for help; (d) African American men who had therapy found it helpful until the therapist was changed, causing feelings of mistrust and inadequate mental health care; (e) African American men fear guilt, fear being a burden to others, and feel they should be able to handle their problems; and (f) it is difficult being depressed and Black in America, which leads to stress, frustration, and perceived racism. Findings may be used by mental health professionals seeking to improve cultural competency, mental health and support services, and treatment regiments for African American men with depression

When the Zone of Proximal Development Becomes a Virtual Zone: An Examination of Scaffolded Instruction in an Online Literacy Course

This qualitative inquiry described the scaffolding provided by the instructor and class participants in an online graduate literacy course. Participants included the instructor and 16 students. Data were 588 bulletin board messages which were analyzed using the constant-comparative method. Analysis revealed five areas in which scaffolding occurred (a) technology, (b) assignments, (c) online processes, (d) literacy concepts, and (e) educational concepts. Through on-line conversations in this course, a community was established allowing the instructor and participants to provide support by scaffolding instruction at the point of need

Effects of Environmental Factors on Candida albicans Morphology: A Focus On Estrogen and Microgravity

C. albicans is one of the commensal fungi living in the human intestinal tract in a harmless spore form. In its filamentous form, C. albicans becomes invasive and penetrates the human body, which can cause serious health issues. In vitro factors such as change in temperature or pH are known to induce morphology shift in C. albicans. Interestingly, microgravity has been reported to decrease the human immunity and increase gene virulence expression in C. albicans. During sepsis, high levels of estrogen are reported and the risk of candidiasis also increases. Within present work, we tested the effect of microgravity and estrogen on the shift of morphology (spore to filamentous). C. albicans were grown in minimum media for 3 days in presence or absence of 0.1 nM estrogen. In addition, two other groups of C. albicans were subjected to microgravity for 3 days, using a clinostat, in presence or in absence of estrogen. For each condition, 5 random pictures were taken and scored 1 for the presence and 0 for absence of filament. Experiments were conducted in duplicate. Our results show that subjecting C. albicans to microgravity significantly increase the number of filaments compared to control (9.59±2.77 versus 1.68±1.93, P\u3c0.001, unpaired t-test), whereas estrogen did not significantly affect the number of filaments compared to control (2.66±1.61 versus 1.68±1.93, p=0.6, unpaired t-test). Finally, there was no significant effect of estrogen found on the number of filament when C. albicans was exposed to microgravity plus estrogen versus microgravity alone (8.0±2.76 versus 9.59±2.77). In conclusion, we have found that simulated microgravity dramatically increases the number of filaments, and estrogen at 0.1 nM has no effect on the number of filaments in our experimental conditions

Loss of Niemann Pick type C proteins 1 and 2 greatly enhances HIV infectivity and is associated with accumulation of HIV Gag and cholesterol in late endosomes/lysosomes

Abstract Background Cholesterol pathways play an important role at multiple stages during the HIV-1 infection cycle. Here, we investigated the role of cholesterol trafficking in HIV-1 replication utilizing Niemann-Pick Type C disease (NPCD) cells as a model system. Results We used a unique NPC2-deficient cell line (NPCD55) that exhibited Gag accumulation as well as decreased NPC1 expression after HIV infection. Virus release efficiency from NPCD55 cells was similar to that from control cells. However, we observed a 3 to 4-fold enhancement in the infectivity of virus released from these cells. Fluorescence microscopy revealed accumulation and co-localization of Gag proteins with cholesterol in late endosomal/lysosomal (LE/L) compartments of these cells. Virion-associated cholesterol was 4-fold higher in virions produced in NPCD55 cells relative to virus produced in control cells. Treatment of infected NPCD55 cells with the cholesterol efflux-inducing drug TO-9013171 reduced virus infectivity to control levels. Conclusions These results suggest cholesterol trafficking and localization can profoundly affect HIV-1 infectivity by modulating the cholesterol content of the virions.</p

Characterization of the trunk neural crest in the bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum

The neural crest is a population of mesenchymal cells that after migrating from the neural tube gives rise to structure and cell types: the jaw, part of the peripheral ganglia, and melanocytes. Although much is known about neural crest development in jawed vertebrates, a clear picture of trunk neural crest development for elasmobranchs is yet to be developed. Here we present a detailed study of trunk neural crest development in the bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum. Vital labeling with dioctadecyl tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI) and in situ hybridization using cloned Sox8 and Sox9 probes demonstrated that trunk neural crest cells follow a pattern similar to the migratory paths already described in zebrafish and amphibians. We found shark trunk neural crest along the rostral side of the somites, the ventromedial pathway, the branchial arches, the gut, the sensory ganglia, and the nerves. Interestingly, C. punctatum Sox8 and Sox9 sequences aligned with vertebrate SoxE genes, but appeared to be more ancient than the corresponding vertebrate paralogs. The expression of these two SoxE genes in trunk neural crest cells, especially Sox9, matched the Sox10 migratory patterns observed in teleosts. Also of interest, we observed DiI cells and Sox9 labeling along the lateral line, suggesting that in C. punctatum, glial cells in the lateral line are likely of neural crest origin. Although this has been observed in other vertebrates, we are the first to show that the pattern is present in cartilaginous fishes. These findings demonstrate that trunk neural crest cell development in C. punctatum follows the same highly conserved migratory pattern observed in jawed vertebrates

Do cravings predict smoking cessation in smokers calling a national quit line: secondary analyses from a randomised trial for the utility of ‘urges to smoke’ measures

BACKGROUND: Single-item urges to smoke measures have been contemplated as important measures of nicotine dependence This study aimed to prospectively determine the relationships between measures of craving to smoke and smoking cessation, and compare their ability to predict cessation with the Heaviness of Smoking Index, an established measure of nicotine dependence. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the randomised controlled PORTSSS trial. Measures of nicotine dependence, ascertained before making a quit attempt, were the HSI, frequency of urges to smoke (FUTS) and strength of urges to smoke (SUTS). Self-reported abstinence at six months after quitting was the primary outcome measure. Multivariate logistic regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis were used to assess associations and abilities of the nicotine dependence measures to predict smoking cessation. RESULTS: Of 2,535 participants, 53.5% were female; the median (Interquartile range) age was 38 (28–50) years. Both FUTS and HSI were inversely associated with abstinence six months after quitting; for each point increase in HSI score, participants were 16% less likely to have stopped smoking (OR 0.84, 95% C.I 0.78-0.89, p < 0.0001). Compared to participants with the lowest possible FUTS scores, those with greater scores had generally lower odds of cessation (p across frequency of urges categories=0.0026). SUTS was not associated with smoking cessation. ROC analysis suggested the HSI and FUTS had similar predictive validity for cessation. CONCLUSIONS: Higher FUTS and HSI scores were inversely associated with successful smoking cessation six months after quit attempts began and both had similar validity for predicting cessation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13011-015-0011-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A method for comparing multiple imputation techniques: A case study on the U.S. national COVID cohort collaborative.

Healthcare datasets obtained from Electronic Health Records have proven to be extremely useful for assessing associations between patients’ predictors and outcomes of interest. However, these datasets often suffer from missing values in a high proportion of cases, whose removal may introduce severe bias. Several multiple imputation algorithms have been proposed to attempt to recover the missing information under an assumed missingness mechanism. Each algorithm presents strengths and weaknesses, and there is currently no consensus on which multiple imputation algorithm works best in a given scenario. Furthermore, the selection of each algorithm’s pa- rameters and data-related modeling choices are also both crucial and challenging

NSAID use and clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients: a 38-center retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation but have been associated with complications in community-acquired pneumonia. Observations shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 suggested that ibuprofen was associated with an increased risk of adverse events in COVID-19 patients, but subsequent observational studies failed to demonstrate increased risk and in one case showed reduced risk associated with NSAID use. METHODS: A 38-center retrospective cohort study was performed that leveraged the harmonized, high-granularity electronic health record data of the National COVID Cohort Collaborative. A propensity-matched cohort of 19,746 COVID-19 inpatients was constructed by matching cases (treated with NSAIDs at the time of admission) and 19,746 controls (not treated) from 857,061 patients with COVID-19 available for analysis. The primary outcome of interest was COVID-19 severity in hospitalized patients, which was classified as: moderate, severe, or mortality/hospice. Secondary outcomes were acute kidney injury (AKI), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), invasive ventilation, and all-cause mortality at any time following COVID-19 diagnosis. RESULTS: Logistic regression showed that NSAID use was not associated with increased COVID-19 severity (OR: 0.57 95% CI: 0.53-0.61). Analysis of secondary outcomes using logistic regression showed that NSAID use was not associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (OR 0.51 95% CI: 0.47-0.56), invasive ventilation (OR: 0.59 95% CI: 0.55-0.64), AKI (OR: 0.67 95% CI: 0.63-0.72), or ECMO (OR: 0.51 95% CI: 0.36-0.7). In contrast, the odds ratios indicate reduced risk of these outcomes, but our quantitative bias analysis showed E-values of between 1.9 and 3.3 for these associations, indicating that comparatively weak or moderate confounder associations could explain away the observed associations. CONCLUSIONS: Study interpretation is limited by the observational design. Recording of NSAID use may have been incomplete. Our study demonstrates that NSAID use is not associated with increased COVID-19 severity, all-cause mortality, invasive ventilation, AKI, or ECMO in COVID-19 inpatients. A conservative interpretation in light of the quantitative bias analysis is that there is no evidence that NSAID use is associated with risk of increased severity or the other measured outcomes. Our results confirm and extend analogous findings in previous observational studies using a large cohort of patients drawn from 38 centers in a nationally representative multicenter database