Mass spectrometry imaging of 3D tissue models

A 3D cell culture is an artificially created environment in which cells are permitted to grow/interact with their surroundings in all three dimensions. Derived from 3D cell culture, organoids are generally small‐scale constructs of cells that are fabricated in the laboratory to serve as 3D representations of in vivo tissues and organs. Due to regulatory, economic and societal issues concerning the use of animals in scientific research it seems clear that the use of 3D cell culture and organoids in for example early stage studies of drug efficacy and toxicity will increase. The combination of such 3D tissue models with mass spectrometry imaging provides a label free methodology for the study of drug absorption/penetration, drug efficacy/toxicity and drug biotransformation. In this article, some of the successes achieved to date and challenges to be overcome before this methodology is more widely adopted are discussed

Evaluation of children's centres in England (ECCE) : strand 1: first survey of children's centre leaders in the most deprived areas

This report is the first output from the Evaluation of Children's Centres in England (ECCE), a six year study commissioned by the Department for Education and undertaken by NatCen Social Research, the University of Oxford and Frontier Economics. The aim of ECCE is to provide an in-depth understanding of children's centre services, including their effectiveness in relation to different management and delivery approaches and the cost of delivering different types of services. The aim of Strand 1 is to profile children’s centres in the most disadvantaged areas, providing estimates on different aspects of provision with which to select centres for subsequent stages of the evaluation and to explore different models of provision. The findings below relate to 500 children's centres that are representative of all phase 1 and 2 centres (i.e. those in the 30percent most deprived areas).</p

My Life My Choice: Preventing Child Sexual Exploitation in Kentucky, a Pilot Program

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1065/thumbnail.jp

Intensive family intervention and the problem figuration of 'troubled families'

This article examines how intensive family interventions in England since 1997, including the Coalition government's Troubled Families programme, are situated in a contemporary problem figuration of ‘anti-social’ or ‘troubled’ families that frames and justifies the utilisation of different models of intensive family intervention. The article explores how techniques of classification and estimation, combined with the controversial use of ‘research’ evidence in policy making, are situated within a ‘rational fiction’ that constructs ‘anti-social’ families in particular ways. The article illustrates how this problem figuration has evolved during the New Labour and Coalition administrations in England, identifying their similarities and differences. It then presents findings from a study of intensive family intervention strategies and mechanisms in a large English city to illustrate how this national level discourse and policy framework relates to developing localised practice, and the tensions and ambiguities that arise

Impact 2007: Personalising Learning with Technology

The Impact 2007: Personalising Learning with Technology project was commissioned by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta). This report presents the findings from Impact 2007: Phases One and Two. The findings are based on both quantitative and qualitative data collected from the 67 Impact 2007 schools. All of the schools contributed to the teacher and pupil online surveys. This provided 450 teacher and more than 1,300 primary and 2,000 secondary pupil questionnaire responses being available for analysis. In addition, senior managers and ICT co-ordinators were interviewed from 30 schools and 24 case study schools provided illuminative data from observations and researcher/teacher discussions. Quantitative analyses of the data included the use of cluster and factor analysis, analysis of variance and regression, and also multilevel modelling in orde

Impact of an Opioid Harm Reduction Consortium: Emergency and Justice Engagement

Utah State University Extension engaged first responders and law enforcement officials in a consortium to identify local needs related to opioid use disorder (OUD). To this end, the Tooele Opioid Response Network (TORN) conducted three first-responder harm reduction summits to meet local overdose prevention needs. The initiative trained over 200 personnel, which resulted in an 87.5% increase in knowledge related to harm reduction. TORN also facilitated the acquisition of $90,000 in funding for jail-based opioid medication and the disbursement of 400 naloxone kits and training to incarcerated persons at discharge

Climate Change and Utah Ski Resorts: Impacts, Perceptions, and Adaptation Strategies

Climate change is a threat to ski resorts, the ski industry, and mountain communities that rely on ski tourism. Ski resorts may be able to mitigate some of the social and economic impacts caused by climate change with proactive adaptation strategies. Using historical weather data, future climate projections, and interviews with ski resort managers in Utah (United States), this research investigates the effects of climate change on ski resorts across the state. We examine temperature change at all resorts within the state from 1980–2018 and climate projections from 2021–2100 under different climate change scenarios (RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5). We also report on semistructured interviews with resort managers to provide insights into how resort leadership perceives the impacts of climate change, is implementing adaptation strategies, and is addressing barriers to adaptation. Many resorts in Utah are warming faster than global averages, and minimum temperatures are rising faster than maximum temperatures. By the end of the century, winter (December–March) minimum daily temperatures in Utah could warm an additional 6.0°C under the RCP 8.5 scenario near northern Utah resorts and 6.6°C near southern Utah resorts. Resort managers are concerned about shorter season lengths, shifting ski seasons, less snow cover, and poorer snow quality. Many resorts are already adapting, with the most common adaptations being snowmaking and diversifying outdoor recreation offerings (particularly during the summer and shoulder seasons). Barriers to adaptation reported by managers include financial costs, adequate water availability for snowmaking, and uncertainty about climate change projections. Climate change is already impacting Utah ski resorts, but adaptation practices can reduce the negative impacts to some degree at most resorts

Direct Classification of All American English Phonemes Using Signals From Functional Speech Motor Cortex

Although brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can be used in several different ways to restore communication, communicative BCI has not approached the rate or efficiency of natural human speech. Electrocorticography (ECoG) has precise spatiotemporal resolution that enables recording of brain activity distributed over a wide area of cortex, such as during speech production. In this study, we investigated words that span the entire set of phonemes in the General American accent using ECoG with 4 subjects. We classified phonemes with up to 36% accuracy when classifying all phonemes and up to 63% accuracy for a single phoneme. Further, misclassified phonemes follow articulation organization described in phonology literature, aiding classification of whole words. Precise temporal alignment to phoneme onset was crucial for classification success. We identified specific spatiotemporal features that aid classification, which could guide future applications. Word identification was equivalent to information transfer rates as high as 3.0 bits/s (33.6 words min), supporting pursuit of speech articulation for BCI control

Systematic review and meta-analysis of intravascular temperature management vs. surface cooling in comatose patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest

Objective: To systematically review the effectiveness and safety of intravascular temperature management (IVTM) vs. surface cooling methods (SCM) for induced hypothermia (IH). Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis. English-language PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched on May 27, 2019. The quality of included observational studies was graded using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment tool. The quality of included randomized trials was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool. Random effects modeling was used to calculate risk differences for each outcome. Statistical heterogeneity and publication bias were assessed using standard methods. Eligibility: Observational or randomized studies comparing survival and/or neurologic outcomes in adults aged 18 years or greater resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest receiving IH via IVTM vs. SCM were eligible for inclusion. Results: In total, 12 studies met inclusion criteria. These enrolled 1573 patients who received IVTM; and 4008 who received SCM. Survival was 55.0% in the IVTM group and 51.2% in the SCM group [pooled risk difference 2% (95% CI - 1%, 5%)] Good neurological outcome was achieved in 40.9% in the IVTM and 29.5% in the surface group [pooled risk difference 5% (95% CI 2%, 8%)]. There was a 6% (95% CI 11%, 2%) lower risk of arrhythmia with use of IVTM and 15% (95% CI 22%, 7%) decreased risk of overcooling with use of IVTM vs. SCM. There was no significant difference in other evaluated adverse events between groups. Conclusions: IVTM was associated with improved neurological outcomes vs. SCM among survivors resuscitated following cardiac arrest. These results may have implications for care of patients in the emergency department and intensive care settings after resuscitation from cardiac arrest.Peer reviewe

Individual variation in hunger, energy intake and ghrelin responses to acute exercise

Purpose This study aimed to characterize the immediate and extended effect of acute exercise on hunger, energy intake, and circulating acylated ghrelin concentrations using a large data set of homogenous experimental trials and to describe the variation in responses between individuals. Methods Data from 17 of our group's experimental crossover trials were aggregated yielding a total sample of 192 young, healthy males. In these studies, single bouts of moderate to high-intensity aerobic exercise (69% ± 5% V˙O2 peak; mean ± SD) were completed with detailed participant assessments occurring during and for several hours postexercise. Mean hunger ratings were determined during (n = 178) and after (n = 118) exercise from visual analog scales completed at 30-min intervals, whereas ad libitum energy intake was measured within the first hour after exercise (n = 60) and at multiple meals (n = 128) during the remainder of trials. Venous concentrations of acylated ghrelin were determined at strategic time points during (n = 118) and after (n = 89) exercise. Results At group level, exercise transiently suppressed hunger (P < 0.010, Cohen's d = 0.77) but did not affect energy intake. Acylated ghrelin was suppressed during exercise (P < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.10) and remained significantly lower than control (no exercise) afterward (P < 0.024, Cohen's d = 0.61). Between participants, there were notable differences in responses; however, a large proportion of this spread lay within the boundaries of normal variation associated with biological and technical assessment error. Conclusion In young men, acute exercise suppresses hunger and circulating acylated ghrelin concentrations with notable diversity between individuals. Care must be taken to distinguish true interindividual variation from random differences within normal limits