Assessing students' knowledge of owls from their drawings and written responses

Many children learn about and experience animals in the everyday environment where they live and attend school. One way to obtain information about children’s understanding of concepts or phenomena is by using their drawings in combination with written responses or interviews. This study assesses how much Slovenian students 10–15 years old (in sixth to ninth grade) know about owls by analysing their drawings and written responses. The study included 473 students. From assessing students’ drawings and written responses, it can be concluded that the respondents had some knowledge of owls’ appearance, their behaviours, diet and habitats. The differences between students in different grades regarding the representations of owls was not statistically significant. Some students had misconceptions about owls, such as the idea that owls can turn their heads 360 degrees, or they confused the long ear-tufts with external parts of the ears. The students’ written responses provided additional information on their ideas about owls; particularly about owls’ specific behaviours, diet, and conservational status. However, some information, such as depicting owls’ body parts and body proportions or their habitats, was more clearly depicted with drawings. One third of the students drew owls in trees and forests, which makes owls good candidates for promoting forest conservation

On the rise and fall of the apnea-hypopnea index: A historical review and critical appraisal.

The publication of "The Sleep Apnea Syndromes" by Guilleminault et al. in the 1970s hallmarked the discovery of a new disease entity involving serious health consequences. Obstructive sleep apnea was shown to be the most important disorder among the sleep apnea syndromes (SAS). In the course of time, it was found that the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea reached the proportions of a global epidemic, with a major impact on public health, safety and the economy. Early on, a metric was introduced to gauge the seriousness of obstructive sleep apnea, based on the objective measurement of respiratory events during nocturnal sleep. The apnea index and later on the apnea-hypopnea index, being the total count of overnight respiratory events divided by the total sleep time in hours, were embraced as principle measures to establish the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea and to rate its severity. The current review summarises the historical evolution of the apnea-hypopnea index, which has been subject to many changes, and has been criticised for not capturing relevant clinical features of obstructive sleep apnea. In fact, the application of the apnea-hypopnea index as a continuous exposure variable is based on assumptions that it represents a disease state of obstructive sleep apnea and that evocative clinical manifestations are invariably caused by obstructive sleep apnea if the apnea-hypopnea index is above diagnostic threshold. A critical appraisal of the extensive literature shows that both assumptions are invalid. This conclusion prompts a reconsideration of the role of the apnea-hypopnea index as the prime diagnostic metric of clinically relevant obstructive sleep apnea

On the rise and fall of the apnea-hypopnea index: A historical review and critical appraisal.

The publication of "The Sleep Apnea Syndromes" by Guilleminault et al. in the 1970s hallmarked the discovery of a new disease entity involving serious health consequences. Obstructive sleep apnea was shown to be the most important disorder among the sleep apnea syndromes (SAS). In the course of time, it was found that the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea reached the proportions of a global epidemic, with a major impact on public health, safety and the economy. Early on, a metric was introduced to gauge the seriousness of obstructive sleep apnea, based on the objective measurement of respiratory events during nocturnal sleep. The apnea index and later on the apnea-hypopnea index, being the total count of overnight respiratory events divided by the total sleep time in hours, were embraced as principle measures to establish the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea and to rate its severity. The current review summarises the historical evolution of the apnea-hypopnea index, which has been subject to many changes, and has been criticised for not capturing relevant clinical features of obstructive sleep apnea. In fact, the application of the apnea-hypopnea index as a continuous exposure variable is based on assumptions that it represents a disease state of obstructive sleep apnea and that evocative clinical manifestations are invariably caused by obstructive sleep apnea if the apnea-hypopnea index is above diagnostic threshold. A critical appraisal of the extensive literature shows that both assumptions are invalid. This conclusion prompts a reconsideration of the role of the apnea-hypopnea index as the prime diagnostic metric of clinically relevant obstructive sleep apnea

Correction to: Development and validation of a framework for the assessment of school curricula on the presence of evolutionary concepts (FACE) (Evolution: Education and Outreach, (2021), 14, 1, (3), 10.1186/s12052-021-00142-2)

In this article (Sá-Pinto et al. 2021) the statement in the Funding information section was incorrectly given as “This paper is a result of a collaborative work of researchers participating in the EuroScitizen CA17127, European Funded project (Working Group 2).” and should have read “This article/publication is based upon work from COST Action EuroScitizen (CA17127; Working Group 2), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology; www. cost. eu).” The original article has been corrected. © The Author(s) 2021

TBC1D24 genotype-phenotype correlation: Epilepsies and other neurologic features.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the phenotypic spectrum associated with mutations in TBC1D24. METHODS: We acquired new clinical, EEG, and neuroimaging data of 11 previously unreported and 37 published patients. TBC1D24 mutations, identified through various sequencing methods, can be found online (http://lovd.nl/TBC1D24). RESULTS: Forty-eight patients were included (28 men, 20 women, average age 21 years) from 30 independent families. Eighteen patients (38%) had myoclonic epilepsies. The other patients carried diagnoses of focal (25%), multifocal (2%), generalized (4%), and unclassified epilepsy (6%), and early-onset epileptic encephalopathy (25%). Most patients had drug-resistant epilepsy. We detail EEG, neuroimaging, developmental, and cognitive features, treatment responsiveness, and physical examination. In silico evaluation revealed 7 different highly conserved motifs, with the most common pathogenic mutation located in the first. Neuronal outgrowth assays showed that some TBC1D24 mutations, associated with the most severe TBC1D24-associated disorders, are not necessarily the most disruptive to this gene function. CONCLUSIONS: TBC1D24-related epilepsy syndromes show marked phenotypic pleiotropy, with multisystem involvement and severity spectrum ranging from isolated deafness (not studied here), benign myoclonic epilepsy restricted to childhood with complete seizure control and normal intellect, to early-onset epileptic encephalopathy with severe developmental delay and early death. There is no distinct correlation with mutation type or location yet, but patterns are emerging. Given the phenotypic breadth observed, TBC1D24 mutation screening is indicated in a wide variety of epilepsies. A TBC1D24 consortium was formed to develop further research on this gene and its associated phenotypes.peerReviewe