A survey of methods and an annotated bibliography of materials available for character education in the elementary school

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Restoration of Young Ovarian Function in Post-reproductive Female Mice Significantly Improves Quality of Life and Lifespan

These studies were designed to elucidate the role of ovarian senescence in the increased susceptibility for postmenopausal females to become subject to disease when compared to premenopausal females. Current dogma hypothesizes that the inability of the senescent ovaries to produce hormones for the reproductively senescent female is responsible for the increase in disease. Preliminary lab work has shown that depletion of germ cells from the ovaries of a young mouse, then a transplanting the germ cell depleted ovaries to a postreproductive mouse produced improved health shown through increased life span and decreased cardiovascular and orthopedic diseases

Forest deadwood in Europe

This dataset considers information from 3,243 ICP-Forests Level I plots collected between 2006 and 2008 in 19 European Countries: France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Austria, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Latvia, Cyprus. The dataset provides standardized estimates of deadwood volume distinguished in five different deadwood components: standing and lying dead trees, snags, coarse woody debris, and stumps. The data allowed a traditional set of forest parameters to be extracted and that may be used to build relationship with other forest attributes, both quantitative and qualitative, to strength the knowledge of forest structure, diversity and species interactions naturally occurring in European forests. To the best of our knowledge it is the first dataset reporting measurements on deadwood at such large spatial scale in forest stands in Europe

The Effects of Ovarian Somatic Cells on Post-Menopausal Health

The Effects of Ovarian Somatic Cells on Post-Menopausal Healt Tracy L. Habermehl, Kyleigh A. Tyler, McKenna R. Walters, Steven T. Gawrys, Jeffrey B. Maso Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Utah State University, Logan, Utah Reproductively cycling females have a significant health advantage over similarly aged males. At menopause, their ovaries become senescent and the risk of health-related diseases increases. Transplantation of young, intact ovaries into aged mice increased longevity. Germ cell-depleted ovarian transplants displayed a further extension of life and health span. Replacement of young, ovarian somatic cells allows the ovaries to support increased health in aged females. In the current experiments, controls had their original ovaries and included mice at: 1) 850 days old (n=5), 2) 600 days old (n=6), 3) 250 days old (n=6) and 4) 150-day old mice (n=19). Treated mice (600 days old) all received transplanted ovaries and included: 1) mice with young, intact ovaries (n=9), 2) mice with young germ cell-depleted ovaries (n=10), and 3) mice with young ovarian somatic cell injected ovaries (n=5). Each mouse will participate in several health span assays associated with post-menopausal parameters that decline with age. We expect to see changes in metabolism, immune, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular function and cognition within and between treatment and control groups. The suggested expectations arise from the well-established enhancement of health in germ cell-depleted primitive species. The upregulation of FOXO signaling and the preservation of the somatic cells are critical for the improvement of health in those organisms. The FOXO gene plays a role in several cellular pathways, and in the absence of the germ line, FOXO upregulates the pathways needed for survival, thus improving health. Therefore, in the absence of the germ cells in the ovaries or with the addition of young ovarian somatic cells, FOXO signaling should help to improve those aspects of health influenced by aging. Understanding the communication between the somatic and germ cells with the FOXO signaling, is hoped to restore and improve the health aspects of post-menopausal women in the future

Trimethylamine, a gut bacteria metabolite and air pollutant, increases blood pressure and markers of kidney damage including proteinuria and KIM-1 in rats

BACKGROUND: Trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) is a biomarker in cardiovascular and renal diseases. TMAO originates from the oxidation of trimethylamine (TMA), a product of gut microbiota and manufacturing industries-derived pollutant, by flavin monooxygenases (FMOs). The effect of chronic exposure to TMA on cardiovascular and renal systems is undetermined. METHODS: Metabolic, hemodynamic, echocardiographic, biochemical and histopathological evaluations were performed in 12-week-old male SPRD rats receiving water (controls) or TMA (200 or 500 µM/day) in water for 18 weeks. TMA and TMAO levels, the expression of FMOs and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) genes were evaluated in various tissues. RESULTS: In comparison to controls, rats receiving high dose of TMA had significantly increased arterial systolic blood pressure (126.3 ± 11.4 vs 151.2 ± 19.9 mmHg; P = 0.01), urine protein to creatinine ratio (1.6 (1.5; 2.8) vs 3.4 (3.3; 4.2); P = 0.01), urine KIM-1 levels (2338.3 ± 732.0 vs. 3519.0 ± 953.0 pg/mL; P = 0.01), and hypertrophy of the tunica media of arteries and arterioles (36.61 ± 0.15 vs 45.05 ± 2.90 µm, P = 0.001 and 18.44 ± 0.62 vs 23.79 ± 2.60 µm, P = 0.006; respectively). Mild degeneration of renal bodies with glomerulosclerosis was also observed. There was no significant difference between the three groups in body weight, water-electrolyte balance, echocardiographic parameters and RAS expression. TMA groups had marginally increased 24 h TMA urine excretion, whereas serum levels and 24 h TMAO urine excretion were increased up to 24-fold, and significantly increased TMAO levels in the liver, kidneys and heart. TMA groups had lower FMOs expression in the kidneys. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic exposure to TMA increases blood pressure and increases markers of kidney damage, including proteinuria and KIM-1. TMA is rapidly oxidized to TMAO in rats, which may limit the toxic effects of TMA on other organs. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03687-y

(Photo)physical properties of new molecular glasses end-capped with thiophene rings composed of diimide and imine units

New symmetrical arylene bisimide derivatives formed by using electron-donating-electron-accepting systems were synthesized. They consist of a phthalic diimide or naphthalenediimide core and imine linkages and are end-capped with thiophene, bithiophene, and (ethylenedioxy)thiophene units. Moreover, polymers were obtained from a new diamine, N,N′-bis(5- aminonaphthalenyl)naphthalene-1,4,5,8-dicarboximide and 2,5- thiophenedicarboxaldehyde or 2,2′-bithiophene-5,5′-dicarboxaldehyde. The prepared azomethine diimides exhibited glass-forming properties. The obtained compounds emitted blue light with the emission maximum at 470 nm. The value of the absorption coefficient was determined as a function of the photon energy using spectroscopic ellipsometry. All compounds are electrochemically active and undergo reversible electrochemical reduction and irreversible oxidation processes as was found in cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) studies. They exhibited a low electrochemically (DPV) calculated energy band gap (Eg) from 1.14 to 1.70 eV. The highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital levels and Eg were additionally calculated theoretically by density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level. The photovoltaic properties of two model compounds as the active layer in organic solar cells in the configuration indium tin oxide/poly(3,4-(ethylenedioxy)thiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)/active layer/Al under an illumination of 1.3 mW/cm2 were studied. The device comprising poly(3-hexylthiophene) with the compound end-capped with bithiophene rings showed the highest value of Voc (above 1 V). The conversion efficiency of the fabricated solar cell was in the range of 0.69-0.90%

Antimicrobial consumption and resistance in adult hospital inpatients in 53 countries:results of an internet-based global point prevalence survey

Summary: Background: The Global Point Prevalence Survey (Global-PPS) established an international network of hospitals to measure antimicrobial prescribing and resistance worldwide. We aimed to assess antimicrobial prescribing and resistance in hospital inpatients. Methods: We used a standardised surveillance method to collect detailed data about antimicrobial prescribing and resistance from hospitals worldwide, which were grouped by UN region. The internet-based survey included all inpatients (adults, children, and neonates) receiving an antimicrobial who were on the ward at 0800 h on one specific day between January and September, 2015. Hospitals were classified as primary, secondary, tertiary (including infectious diseases hospitals), and paediatric hospitals. Five main ward types were defined: medical wards, surgical wards, intensive-care units, haematology oncology wards, and medical transplantation (bone marrow or solid transplants) wards. Data recorded included patient characteristics, antimicrobials received, diagnosis, therapeutic indication according to predefined lists, and markers of prescribing quality (eg, whether a stop or review date were recorded, and whether local prescribing guidelines existed and were adhered to). We report findings for adult inpatients. Findings: The Global-PPS for 2015 included adult data from 303 hospitals in 53 countries, including eight lower-middle-income and 17 upper-middle-income countries. 86 776 inpatients were admitted to 3315 adult wards, of whom 29 891 (34·4%) received at least one antimicrobial. 41 213 antimicrobial prescriptions were issued, of which 36 792 (89·3%) were antibacterial agents for systemic use. The top three antibiotics prescribed worldwide were penicillins with β-lactamase inhibitors, third-generation cephalosporins, and fluoroquinolones. Carbapenems were most frequently prescribed in Latin America and west and central Asia. Of patients who received at least one antimicrobial, 5926 (19·8%) received a targeted antibacterial treatment for systemic use, and 1769 (5·9%) received a treatment targeting at least one multidrug-resistant organism. The frequency of health-care-associated infections was highest in Latin America (1518 [11·9%]) and east and south Asia (5363 [10·1%]). Overall, the reason for treatment was recorded in 31 694 (76·9%) of antimicrobial prescriptions, and a stop or review date in 15 778 (38·3%). Local antibiotic guidelines were missing for 7050 (19·2%) of the 36 792 antibiotic prescriptions, and guideline compliance was 77·4%. Interpretation: The Global-PPS showed that worldwide surveillance can be accomplished with voluntary participation. It provided quantifiable measures to assess and compare the quantity and quality of antibiotic prescribing and resistance in hospital patients worldwide. These data will help to improve the quality of antibiotic prescribing through education and practice changes, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries that have no tools to monitor antibiotic prescribing in hospitals. Funding: bioMérieux