The abolition of the General Teaching Council for England and the future of teacher discipline

With the abolition of the General Teaching Council for England in the 2011 Education Act, this article considers the future of teacher discipline in England. It provides a critique of the changes to the regulation of teacher misconduct and incompetence that draws on a Foucauldian framework, especially concerning the issue of public displays of discipline and the concomitant movement to more hidden forms. In addition, the external context of accountability that accompanies the reforms to teacher discipline are considered including the perfection of the panoptic metaphor presented by the changes to Ofsted practices such as the introduction of zero-notice inspections. The article concludes that the reforms will further move teachers from being occupational professionals to being organisational professionals marking them apart from comparable professions in medicine and law

A functional role for the cancer disparity-linked genes, CRYβB2 and CRYβB2P1, in the promotion of breast cancer

Background: In the USA, the breast cancer mortality rate is 41% higher for African-American women than non-Hispanic White women. While numerous gene expression studies have classified biological features that vary by race and may contribute to poorer outcomes, few studies have experimentally tested these associations. CRYβB2 gene expression has drawn particular interest because of its association with overall survival and African-American ethnicity in multiple cancers. Several reports indicate that overexpression of the CRYβB2 pseudogene, CRYβB2P1, and not CRYβB2 is linked with race and poor outcome. It remains unclear whether either or both genes are linked to breast cancer outcomes. This study investigates CRYβB2 and CRYβB2P1 expression in human breast cancers and breast cancer cell line models, with the goal of elucidating the mechanistic contribution of CRYβB2 and CRYβB2P1 to racial disparities. Methods: Custom scripts for CRYβB2 or CRYβB2P1 were generated and used to identify reads that uniquely aligned to either gene. Gene expression according to race and tumor subtype were assessed using all available TCGA breast cancer RNA sequencing alignment samples (n = 1221). In addition, triple-negative breast cancer models engineered to have each gene overexpressed or knocked out were developed and evaluated by in vitro, biochemical, and in vivo assays to identify biological functions. Results: We provide evidence that CRYβB2P1 is expressed at higher levels in breast tumors compared to CRYβB2, but only CRYβB2P1 is significantly increased in African-American tumors relative to White American tumors. We show that independent of CRYβB2, CRYβB2P1 enhances tumorigenesis in vivo via promoting cell proliferation. Our data also reveal that CRYβB2P1 may function as a non-coding RNA to regulate CRYβB2 expression. A key observation is that the combined overexpression of both genes was found to suppress cell growth. CRYβB2 overexpression in triple-negative breast cancers increases invasive cellular behaviors, tumor growth, IL6 production, immune cell chemoattraction, and the expression of metastasis-associated genes. These data underscore that both CRYβB2 and CRYβB2P1 promote tumor growth, but their mechanisms for tumor promotion are likely distinct. Conclusions: Our findings provide novel data emphasizing the need to distinguish and study the biological effects of both CRYβB2 and CRYβB2P1 as both genes independently promote tumor progression. Our data demonstrate novel molecular mechanisms of two understudied, disparity-linked molecules

An academic–practice partnership during COVID-19 pandemic: Transitioning from a clinical to virtual fellowship

Aims: Discuss the needed modifications that occurred to the academic–practice oncology partnership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: To meet the workforce needs of nurses who care for adults with cancer, an academic–practice partnership was created in 2016. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, North Carolina Cancer Hospital and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center collaborated to provide structured clinical and didactic practice experiences for undergraduate nursing students interested in oncology nursing. With COVID-19, nursing students were not permitted to be in the clinical setting. Design: Discursive paper. Method: An innovative and collaborative partnership created reflective and interactive activities. The majority of the learning activities were created at the revised Bloom's taxonomy level of application or higher, with some encompassing multiple levels. Students engaged in a variety of meaningful experiences requiring multiple learning processes that promoted professional development in the interpersonal and critical thinking domains. Conclusions: Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the delivery of oncology nurse fellowship was successful because of innovative virtual strategies. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Our academic–practice partnership allowed the nursing students to develop their interpersonal and critical thinking skills without entering the clinical site. This is an approach encouraged by the authors for other schools of nursing. This manuscript is submitted as a Special Issue Discursive Article, and thus, the authors declare that an EQUATOR Checklist has not been used

Características agronômicas e eficiência do uso da chuva em cultivares de sorgo no semiárido

Objetivou-se quantificar o rendimento forrageiro, o percentual de componentes da planta, as características morfométricas e a eficiência do uso da chuva de cinco genótipos de sorgo para silagem no semiárido paraibano. O experimento foi conduzido na Estação Experimental Pendência, no município de Soledade-PB. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi em blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições, sendo os tratamentos experimentais representados por cinco genótipos de sorgo: Ponta Negra, SF 15 IPA 1011, IPA 2502 e IPA 46742. Não foram observadas diferenças entre os genótipos para a produção de matéria natural e produção de matéria seca e para o percentual de lâmina foliar. Entretanto, para o percentual de colmo foram observados maiores valores (P<0,05) para os genótipos Ponta Negra e IPA 46742. O percentual de panícula foi superior (P<0,05) para as cultivares 'IPA 1011' e 'IPA 2502'. As cultivares 'IPA 1011' e 'IPA 2502' apresentaram percentual de panícula acima de 38% da MS. Não houve diferença (P<0,05) para eficiência no uso da água de chuva entre os genótipos estudados, com valores variando de 94,37 a 126,25kg de MS ha-1 mm-1. Os genótipos avaliados apresentam elevada eficiência no uso da chuva e produtividade. Recomenda-se o IPA 1011 pela maior participação de panícula

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe

Urolitíase: estudo comparativo em bovinos Guzerá oriundos de propriedades com e sem o problema

Diversos fatores podem contribuir para a formação de cálculos urinários, dentre estes, o desequilíbrio nutricional e a dureza da água consumida pelos ruminantes. O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar as características de propriedades que predispõem à urolitíase, através da avaliação da água, da dieta e determinações séricas e urinárias de cálcio, fósforo, magnésio, cloretos, sódio, potássio, cálculo da excreção fracionada (EF) dos eletrólitos, e da creatinina, proteína total, albumina e globulinas séricas. Foram colhidas amostras de sangue e urina de bovinos, Guzerá, criados semi intensivamente, distribuídos por dois grupos. O primeiro denominado grupo urolitíase (Gu), composto de animais com histórico, sinais clínicos e confirmação ultrassonográfica que apresentavam urolitíase; o segundo: grupo controle (Gc), sem histórico, nem sintomas da doença. Os bovinos do grupo urolitíase consumiam água com dureza total na concentração de 166,0mg CaCO3/L. A dieta dos animais do Gu apresentava maior concentração de fósforo e relação Ca:P inadequada. Os teores de fósforo sérico e urinário dos animais do Gu foram maiores do que os do Gc, assim como a concentração sérica de magnésio (p0,05), mas houve diminuição significativa nas EFs de magnésio, cloretos e de potássio do grupo urolitíase (p<0,05). A união destes fatores contribuiu para a ocorrência da urolitíase, sendo dureza total da água e a alta concentração de fósforo na dieta os principais fatores na gênese dos cálculos em bovinos

Genetic determinants of telomere length from 109,122 ancestrally diverse whole-genome sequences in TOPMed

Genetic studies on telomere length are important for understanding age-related diseases. Prior GWASs for leukocyte TL have been limited to European and Asian populations. Here, we report the first sequencing-based association study for TL across ancestrally diverse individuals (European, African, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino) from the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. We used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of whole blood for variant genotype calling and the bioinformatic estimation of telomere length in n = 109,122 individuals. We identified 59 sentinel variants (p &lt; 5 × 10−9) in 36 loci associated with telomere length, including 20 newly associated loci (13 were replicated in external datasets). There was little evidence of effect size heterogeneity across populations. Fine-mapping at OBFC1 indicated that the independent signals colocalized with cell-type-specific eQTLs for OBFC1 (STN1). Using a multi-variant gene-based approach, we identified two genes newly implicated in telomere length, DCLRE1B (SNM1B) and PARN. In PheWAS, we demonstrated that our TL polygenic trait scores (PTSs) were associated with an increased risk of cancer-related phenotypes

Novel textbook outcomes following emergency laparotomy: Delphi exercise

Background Textbook outcomes are composite outcome measures that reflect the ideal overall experience for patients. There are many of these in the elective surgery literature but no textbook outcomes have been proposed for patients following emergency laparotomy. The aim was to achieve international consensus amongst experts and patients for the best Textbook Outcomes for non-trauma and trauma emergency laparotomy. Methods A modified Delphi exercise was undertaken with three planned rounds to achieve consensus regarding the best Textbook Outcomes based on the category, number and importance (Likert scale of 1–5) of individual outcome measures. There were separate questions for non-trauma and trauma. A patient engagement exercise was undertaken after round 2 to inform the final round. Results A total of 337 participants from 53 countries participated in all three rounds of the exercise. The final Textbook Outcomes were divided into ‘early’ and ‘longer-term’. For non-trauma patients the proposed early Textbook Outcome was ‘Discharged from hospital without serious postoperative complications (Clavien–Dindo ≥ grade III; including intra-abdominal sepsis, organ failure, unplanned re-operation or death). For trauma patients it was ‘Discharged from hospital without unexpected transfusion after haemostasis, and no serious postoperative complications (adapted Clavien–Dindo for trauma ≥ grade III; including intra-abdominal sepsis, organ failure, unplanned re-operation on or death)’. The longer-term Textbook Outcome for both non-trauma and trauma was ‘Achieved the early Textbook Outcome, and restoration of baseline quality of life at 1 year’. Conclusion Early and longer-term Textbook Outcomes have been agreed by an international consensus of experts for non-trauma and trauma emergency laparotomy. These now require clinical validation with patient data