Teacher Professional Development around the World : The Gap between Evidence and Practice

Teachers, like all professionals, require ongoing professional development opportunities to improve their skills. This paper provides evidence on effective professional development characteristics and how at-scale programs incorporate those characteristics. The authors propose a standard set of 70 indicators—the In-Service Teacher Training Survey Instrument—for reporting on professional development programs as a prerequisite for understanding the characteristics of those programs that improve student learning. The authors apply the instrument to rigorously evaluated professional development programs in low- and middle-income countries. Across 33 programs, those programs that link participation to career incentives, have a specific subject focus, incorporate lesson enactment in the training, and include initial face-to-face training tend to show higher student learning gains. In qualitative interviews, program implementers also report follow-up visits as among the most effective characteristics of their professional development programs. The authors then apply the instruments to a sample of 139 government-funded, at-scale professional development programs across 14 countries. This analysis uncovers a sharp gap between the characteristics of teacher professional development programs that evidence suggests are effective and the global realities of most teacher professional development programs

Geopolitics, Global Governance and Crisis Narratives

The financial crisis demonstrated a new quality of interconnected vulnerabilities across the globe. Yet, increased interdependence may lead to increased friction rather than common problem?solving or a shared outlook. This article is concerned with the prospects for future reform of global economic governance, taking as a starting point the apparent shift from the G8 to the G20 as the focal forum for reform. We show that (1) the crisis both reflects and propels important geopolitical change and that (2) interpretations of the crisis differ widely, leading to diverging ideas of different actors about each other and about future reforms. We then consider some implications, notably with regard to the utility of summit?level diplomacy and the transfer of responsibilities to controversial institutions, all within an environment marked by ongoing uncertainty

Safety and immunogenicity of a bivalent cytomegalovirus DNA vaccine in healthy adult subjects.

BACKGROUND: VCL-CB01, a candidate cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA vaccine that contains plasmids encoding CMV phosphoprotein 65 (pp65) and glycoprotein B (gB) to induce cellular and humoral immune responses and that is formulated with poloxamer CRL1005 and benzalkonium chloride to enhance immune responses, was evaluated in a phase 1 clinical trial. METHODS: VCL-CB01 was evaluated in 44 healthy adult subjects (22 CMV seronegative and 22 CMV seropositive) 18-43 years old. Thirty-two subjects received 1- or 5-mg doses of vaccine on a 0-, 2-, and 8-week schedule, and 12 subjects received 5-mg doses of vaccine on a 0-, 3-, 7-, and 28-day schedule. RESULTS: Overall, the vaccine was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events. Local reactions included mild to moderate injection site pain and tenderness, induration, and erythema. Systemic reactions included mild to moderate malaise and myalgia. All reactions resolved without sequelae. Through week 16 of the study, immunogenicity, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay and/or ex vivo interferon (IFN)-gamma enzyme-linked immunospot assay, was documented in 45.5% of CMV-seronegative subjects and in 25.0% of CMV-seropositive subjects who received the full vaccine series, and 68.1% of CMV-seronegative subjects had memory IFN-gamma T cell responses at week 32. CONCLUSION: The safety and immunogenicity data from this trial support further evaluation of VCL-CB01

A network analysis to identify mediators of germline-driven differences in breast cancer prognosis.

Identifying the underlying genetic drivers of the heritability of breast cancer prognosis remains elusive. We adapt a network-based approach to handle underpowered complex datasets to provide new insights into the potential function of germline variants in breast cancer prognosis. This network-based analysis studies ~7.3 million variants in 84,457 breast cancer patients in relation to breast cancer survival and confirms the results on 12,381 independent patients. Aggregating the prognostic effects of genetic variants across multiple genes, we identify four gene modules associated with survival in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative and one in ER-positive disease. The modules show biological enrichment for cancer-related processes such as G-alpha signaling, circadian clock, angiogenesis, and Rho-GTPases in apoptosis

Opioid receptors in GtoPdb v.2021.3

Opioid and opioid-like receptors are activated by a variety of endogenous peptides including [Met]enkephalin (met), [Leu]enkephalin (leu), β-endorphin (β-end), α-neodynorphin, dynorphin A (dynA), dynorphin B (dynB), big dynorphin (Big dyn), nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ); endomorphin-1 and endomorphin-2 are also potential endogenous peptides. The Greek letter nomenclature for the opioid receptors, μ, δ and κ, is well established, and NC-IUPHAR considers this nomenclature appropriate, along with the symbols spelled out (mu, delta, and kappa), and the acronyms, MOP, DOP, and KOP. [121, 100, 91]. The human N/OFQ receptor, NOP, is considered 'opioid-related' rather than opioid because, while it exhibits a high degree of structural homology with the conventional opioid receptors [294], it displays a distinct pharmacology. Currently there are numerous clinically used drugs, such as morphine and many other opioid analgesics, as well as antagonists such as naloxone, however only for the μ receptor

Opioid receptors in GtoPdb v.2023.1

Opioid and opioid-like receptors are activated by a variety of endogenous peptides including [Met]enkephalin (met), [Leu]enkephalin (leu), β-endorphin (β-end), α-neodynorphin, dynorphin A (dynA), dynorphin B (dynB), big dynorphin (Big dyn), nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ); endomorphin-1 and endomorphin-2 are also potential endogenous peptides. The Greek letter nomenclature for the opioid receptors, μ, δ and κ, is well established, and NC-IUPHAR considers this nomenclature appropriate, along with the symbols spelled out (mu, delta, and kappa), and the acronyms, MOP, DOP, and KOP [124, 101, 92]. However the acronyms MOR, DOR and KOR are still widely used in the literature. The human N/OFQ receptor, NOP, is considered 'opioid-related' rather than opioid because, while it exhibits a high degree of structural homology with the conventional opioid receptors [304], it displays a distinct pharmacology. Currently there are numerous clinically used drugs, such as morphine and many other opioid analgesics, as well as antagonists such as naloxone. The majority of clinically used opiates are relatively selective μ agonists or partial agonists, though there are some μ/κ compounds, such as butorphanol, in clinical use. κ opioid agonists, such as the alkaloid nalfurafine and the peripherally acting peptide difelikefalin, are in clinical use for itch

Honey bee colony winter loss rates for 35 countries participating in the COLOSS survey for winter 2018–2019, and the effects of a new queen on the risk of colony winter loss

peer-reviewedThis article presents managed honey bee colony loss rates over winter 2018/19 resulting from using the standardised COLOSS questionnaire in 35 countries (31 in Europe). In total, 28,629 beekeepers supplying valid loss data wintered 738,233 colonies, and reported 29,912 (4.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.0–4.1%) colonies with unsolvable queen problems 79,146 (10.7%, 95% CI 10.5–10.9%) dead colonies after winter and 13,895 colonies (1.9%, 95% CI 1.8–2.0%) lost through natural disaster. This gave an overall colony winter loss rate of 16.7% (95% CI 16.4–16.9%), varying greatly between countries, from 5.8% to 32. 0%. We modelled the risk of loss as a dead/empty colony or from unresolvable queen problems and found that, overall, larger beekeeping operations with more than 150 colonies experienced significantly lower losses (p<0.001), consistent with earlier studies. Additionally, beekeepers included in this survey who did not migrate their colonies at least once in 2018 had significantly lower losses than those migrating (p<0.001). The percentage of new queens from 2018 in wintered colonies was also examined as a potential risk factor. The percentage of colonies going into winter with a new queen was estimated as 55.0% over all countries. Higher percentages of young queens corresponded to lower overall losses (excluding losses from natural disaster), but also lower losses from unresolvable queen problems, and lower losses from winter mortality (p<0.001). Detailed results for each country and overall are given in a table, and a map shows relative risks of winter loss at regional level

Alcohol Consumption, Cigarette Smoking, and Risk of Breast Cancer for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers: Results from The BRCA1 and BRCA2 Cohort Consortium.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption have been intensively studied in the general population to assess their effects on the risk of breast cancer, but very few studies have examined these effects in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. Given the high breast cancer risk for mutation carriers and the importance of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in DNA repair, better evidence on the associations of these lifestyle factors with breast cancer risk is essential. METHODS: Using a large international pooled cohort of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, we conducted retrospective (5,707 BRCA1 mutation carriers and 3,525 BRCA2 mutation carriers) and prospective (2,276 BRCA1 mutation carriers and 1,610 BRCA2 mutation carriers) analyses of alcohol and tobacco consumption using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: For both BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, none of the smoking-related variables was associated with breast cancer risk, except smoking for more than 5 years before a first full-term pregnancy (FFTP) when compared with parous women who never smoked. For BRCA1 mutation carriers, the HR from retrospective analysis (HRR) was 1.19 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02-1.39] and the HR from prospective analysis (HRP) was 1.36 (95% CI, 0.99-1.87). For BRCA2 mutation carriers, smoking for more than 5 years before an FFTP showed an association of a similar magnitude, but the confidence limits were wider (HRR = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.01-1.55 and HRP = 1.30; 95% CI, 0.83-2.01). For both carrier groups, alcohol consumption was not associated with breast cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: The finding that smoking during the prereproductive years increases breast cancer risk for mutation carriers warrants further investigation. IMPACT: This is the largest prospective study of BRCA mutation carriers to assess these important risk factors

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure