Comment on: The Vitamin D⁻Folate Hypothesis as an Evolutionary Model for Skin Pigmentation: An Update and Integration of Current Ideas, Nutrients 2018, 10, 554.

In response to a recent article by Jones et al. (Nutrients 10: 554⁻568, 2018) [1], we agree that three distinctive features evolved in Homo erectus prior to the emergence of modern humans.[...]

Teaching And Designing Culturally Responsive Experiences Using Cross-Media Film in Higher Education

This paper examined the pedagogical use of cross-media film in higher education, as it highlighted cross-media in implementing a Culturally Responsive approach to enhance social justice learning in the classroom. The findings demonstrated the potential of cross-media film to engage learners through cultural relevance for the 21st century. The findings also considered that the Culturally Responsive approach may constitute a fourth pillar of the three epistemologies through research and suggestions for culturally responsive teaching practices

The Use of Film to Motivate Interest in Students with Learning Differences through Imagination and Diverse Thinking in Higher Education

This article examined the use of film in higher education to inspire imagination and motivate learning in students with learning differences. It highlighted the benefits of film in enhancing education and fostering imagination and diverse, critical thinking. The findings demonstrated that film is a pedagogical instrument that may assist students with learning differences to access the curriculum better, provide alternative forms of creative and meaningful expression, and develop self-awareness, empathy, and social justice

Functional Genomics of Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease: Focus on Selective Neuronal Vulnerability

Pivotal brain functions, such as neurotransmission, cognition, and memory, decline with advancing age and, especially, in neurodegenerative conditions associated with aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Yet, deterioration in structure and function of the nervous system during aging or in AD is not uniform throughout the brain. Selective neuronal vulnerability (SNV) is a general but sometimes overlooked characteristic of brain aging and AD. There is little known at the molecular level to account for the phenomenon of SNV. Functional genomic analyses, through unbiased whole genome expression studies, could lead to new insights into a complex process such as SNV. Genomic data generated using both human brain tissue and brains from animal models of aging and AD were analyzed in this review. Convergent trends that have emerged from these data sets were considered in identifying possible molecular and cellular pathways involved in SNV. It appears that during normal brain aging and in AD, neurons vulnerable to injury or cell death are characterized by significant decreases in the expression of genes related to mitochondrial metabolism and energy production. In AD, vulnerable neurons also exhibit down-regulation of genes related to synaptic neurotransmission and vesicular transport, cytoskeletal structure and function, and neurotrophic factor activity. A prominent category of genes that are up-regulated in AD are those related to inflammatory response and some components of calcium signaling. These genomic differences between sensitive and resistant neurons can now be used to explore the molecular underpinnings of previously suggested mechanisms of cell injury in aging and AD

Moral panic and social theory: Beyond the heuristic

Copyright @ 2011 by International Sociological Association.Critcher has recently conceptualized moral panic as a heuristic device, or 'ideal type'. While he argues that one still has to look beyond the heuristic, despite a few exceptional studies there has been little utilization of recent developments in social theory in order to look 'beyond moral panic'. Explicating two current critical contributions - the first, drawing from the sociologies of governance and risk; the second, from the process/figurational sociology of Norbert Elias - this article highlights the necessity for the continuous theoretical development of the moral panic concept and illustrates how such development is essential to overcome some of the substantial problems with moral panic research: normativity, temporality and (un) intentionality

Needs Assessment of Suicide Prevention in Vermont Middle and High Schools

Introduction. Adolescent suicide is epidemic. 17% of high school students con- sidered suicide and 8% attempting to take their lives in 2015 nationwide. Vermont has seen a 2% increase within the last two years according to the VT Youth Risk Behavior Survey. School is one of several settings where effective suicide interventions could take place. Previous studies have identified means prevention as an effective way to combat adolescent suicide. This study aims to identify training levels and comfort of school staff in dealing with suicidality. Methods. A survey was emailed to all schools in Vermont covering grades 6-12. The survey addressed employee demographics, training, perception of suicide in their school, and concern regarding lethal means. Questions were multiple choice, scaled and free responses. Data was analyzed using SPSS and free responses were organized using thematic content analysis. Results. 126 responses represented 46% of Vermont middle and high schools. 77% agreed or strongly agreed that they felt confident in recognizing a student with suicidality. Respondents were not comfortable implementing lethal means prevention. Respondents identified early intervention and trusting communicative relationships as key to prevention, and identified lack of time, protocols, and resources as obstacles. Discussion. Respondents identified suicidality in 2.2% of their students, com- pared to the YRBS that recognized 12% of adolescents. Survey technique may con- tribute to this discrepancy, but it is also likely that schools are failing to identify students at risk. A lack of comfort recognizing suicidality and implementing prevention techniques warrants standardized training, screening and response protocols.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1265/thumbnail.jp

Application of chemometry for optimization of liquid chromatographic parameters

Liquid chromatography is one of the most common separation techniques. Optimization of the experimental conditions is a complicated process due to the large number of the variables, which must be simultaneously treated. This mini review summarizes some of the chemometric approaches used in the literature to separate mixtures

Two spectrophotometric methods for the determination of azithromycin and roxithromycin in pharmaceutical preparations

Two new and simple spectrophotometric procedures have been proposed and validated for estimation of two important macrolide antibiotics namely, azithromycin dihydrate and roxithromycin. Method I depends on complex formation between any of the two drugs and copper in acidic medium where the absorbances of the produced complexes are measured at 250 and 264 nm with linearity ranges of 1.0-100.0 and 2.0-130.0 µg/mL for the two drugs, respectively. Method II depends on the reaction of these drugs with N-bromosuccinimide forming a product which is yellow colored, measured at 264 and 278 nm, with linearity ranges of 2.0-140.0 and 3.0-160.0 µg/mL for azithromycin dihydrate and roxithromycin, respectively. The proposed methods were subjected to detailed validation procedure; moreover they were used for the estimation of the concerned drugs in their different dosage forms. Study of the reactions stoichiometry was carried out; furthermore, a reaction mechanism proposal was presented

THE INDISPENSABILITY OF CRITICAL THINKING AND MORAL-LEADERSHIP IN MANAGEMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Among the disheartening experiences in management of higher education in Nigeria are lack of critical thinking and moral-leadership. Higher education in Nigeria has been characterissed by gross neglect on the part of government and their educational agencies. This has often triggered incessant strikes by various academic and non-teaching unions thereby leading to untold hardship on the part of lecturers, non-teaching staff and students, and often result in graduation of some of the students ‘half-baked’. It is no longer news that some of the graduates from various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria can hardly make a correct statement devoid of error literally or colloquially. This paper, which employs the method of critical analysis, suggests that, in order to achieve the desired transformation in the education sector, all the stakeholders in education and various agencies of government, management and leadership of higher institutions, and students themselves must acquaint themselves with critical thinking skills and good moral conduct. Some scholars have added their voices for the enhancement of educational management and leadership in Nigeria, but this study goes much further to show that without moral-leadership that is symbolically embedded in critical thinking, the Nigerian higher education will remain in ‘limbo’ in perpetuity. It is on that basis that this research suggests critireligiously-moral-leadership among the criteria that must be met by those that are appointed as administrators and stakeholders in education sector in Nigeria either as minister of education or heads of various higher institutions of learning and their collaborators

Calorimetric and Electron Spin Resonance Examination of Lipid Phase Transitions in Human Stratum Corneum: Molecular Basis for Normal Cohesion and Abnormal Desquamation in Recessive X-Linke Ichthyosis

Lipids appear to play a critical role as regulators of stratum corneum desquamation. In this study, we observed discrete lipid phase transitions at physiologic temperatures in both normal human scale (NHS) and in lipid extracts of NHS by differential scanning calorimetry. In contrast, such thermal transitions were not observed in recessive x-linked ichthyosis scale (RXLIS). To gain further insight into the molecular basis of the lipid phase transitions in NHS vs. RXLIS, comparable samples were evaluated by electron spin resonance, utilizing the perdeuterated probe, di-t-butyl nitroxide. Upon electron spin resonance analysis, both NHS and RXLIS demonstrated thermal phase transitions in the physiologic range; however, the nature of the lipid environments in each type varied. Whereas the environment of the spin probe was more polar in NHS than in RXLIS, the spin probe partitioned into a more “fluid” environment in RXLIS; i.e., the spin probe was more mobile in RXLIS titan in NHS lipid matrices. Because an alteration in the cholesteryl sulfate : cholesterol ratio is the primary lipid abnormality in RXLIS, model cholesterol-fatty acid-cholesteryl sulfate mixtures were prepared in proportion to the lipid composition of NHS and RXLIS. Differences were observed in both thermal transitions and in lipid microenvironments in these mixtures that paralleled those observed in scale samples. Based on these results, a model is proposed that invokes abnormal hydrogen bonding, due to increased cholesteryl sulfate, as the mechanism for the abnormal desquamation in recessive X-linked ichthyosis