Costs of Early Childhood Home Visiting: An Analysis of Programs Implemented in the Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment Initiative

The Cost Study of Evidence-Based Home Visiting Programs applied a uniform approach and common time frame to analyze costs among agencies implementing five different home visiting program models. The study assessed (1) the total cost of providing home visiting programs during a year of steady-state operation, (2) the allocation of annual costs among cost categories and program activities or components, (3) the cost to serve a participating family, and (4) variation in average costs across program models and other agency characteristics.Mathematica Policy Research and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago conducted the study with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and in collaboration with Casey Family Programs. It included agencies that participated in the Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment (EBHV) initiative, a five-year grant program launched in 2008 by the Children's Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families at HHS. In 2011, the EBHV grant program was formally incorporated into the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) State Formula Grant Program administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration of HHS

Learning Trajectories in Mathematics: A Foundation for Standards, Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction

Learning Trajectories in Mathematics: A Foundation for Standards, Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction aims to provide: A useful introduction to current work and thinking about learning trajectories for mathematics education An explanation for why we should care about these questions A strategy for how to think about what is being attempted in the field, casting some light on the varying, and perhaps confusing, ways in which the terms trajectory, progression, learning, teaching, and so on, are being used by the education community. Specifically, the report builds on arguments published elsewhere to offer a working definition of the concept of learning trajectories in mathematics and to reflect on the intellectual status of the concept and its usefulness for policy and practice. It considers the potential of trajectories and progressions for informing the development of more useful assessments and supporting more effective formative assessment practices, for informing the on-going redesign of mathematics content and performance standards, and for supporting teachers’ understanding of students’ learning in ways that can strengthen their capability for providing adaptive instruction. The authors conclude with a set of recommended next steps for research and development, and for policy

Early endosomes and endosomal coatomer are required for autophagy

Autophagy, an intracellular degradative pathway, maintains cell homeostasis under normal and stress conditions. Nascent double-membrane autophagosomes sequester and enclose cytosolic components and organelles, and subsequently fuse with the endosomal pathway allowing content degradation. Autophagy requires fusion of autophagosomes with late endosomes, but it is not known if fusion with early endosomes is essential. We show that fusion of AVs with functional early endosomes is required for autophagy. Inhibition of early endosome function by loss of COPI subunits (β′, β, or α) results in accumulation of autophagosomes, but not an increased autophagic flux. COPI is required for ER-Golgi transport and early endosome maturation. Although loss of COPI results in the fragmentation of the Golgi, this does not induce the formation of autophagosomes. Loss of COPI causes defects in early endosome function, as both transferrin recycling and EGF internalization and degradation are impaired, and this loss of function causes an inhibition of autophagy, an accumulation of p62/SQSTM-1, and ubiquitinated proteins in autophagosomes

Cellubrevin/Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein-3–Mediated Endocytosis and Trafficking Regulate Platelet Functions

Endocytosis is key to fibrinogen (Fg) uptake, trafficking of integrins (αIIbβ3, αvβ3), and purinergic receptors (P2Y1, P2Y12), and thus normal platelet function. However, the molecular machinery required and possible trafficking routes are still ill-defined. To further identify elements of the platelet endocytic machinery, we examined the role of a vesicle-residing, soluble N-ethylmaleimide factor attachment protein receptor (v-SNARE) called cellubrevin/vesicle-associated membrane protein-3 (VAMP-3) in platelet function. Although not required for normal platelet exocytosis or hemostasis, VAMP-3−/− mice had less platelet-associated Fg, indicating a defect in Fg uptake/storage. Other granule markers were unaffected. Direct experiments, both in vitro and in vivo, showed that loss of VAMP-3 led to a robust defect in uptake/storage of Fg in platelets and cultured megakaryocytes. Uptake of the fluid-phase marker, dextran, was only modestly affected. Time-dependent uptake and endocytic trafficking of Fg and dextran were followed using 3-dimensional–structured illumination microscopy. Dextran uptake was rapid compared with Fg, but both cargoes progressed through Rab4+, Rab11+, and von Willebrand factor (VWF)+ compartments in wild-type platelets in a time-dependent manner. In VAMP-3−/− platelets, the 2 cargoes showed limited colocalization with Rab4, Rab11, or VWF. Loss of VAMP-3 also affected some acute platelet functions, causing enhanced spreading on Fg and fibronectin and faster clot retraction compared with wild-type. In addition, the rate of Janus kinase 2 phosphorylation, initiated through the thrombopoietin receptor (TPOR/Mpl) activation, was affected in VAMP-3−/− platelets. Collectively, our studies show that platelets are capable of a range of endocytosis steps, with VAMP-3 being pivotal in these processes

Coordination of membrane events during autophagy by multiple class III PI3-kinase complexes

Autophagy or “self-eating” is a highly conserved pathway that enables cells to degrade pieces of themselves in autolysosomes to enable their survival in times of stress, including nutrient deprivation. The formation of these degradative compartments requires cytosolic proteins, some of which are autophagy specific, as well as intracellular organelles, such as the ER and Golgi, and the endosome–lysosome system. Here we discuss the cross talk between autophagy and intracellular compartments, highlighting recent exciting data about the role and regulation of the Vps34 class III phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase in autophagy