Scheduling methods for effective school library media centers in K-8 school districts

School library media centers should have a program that serves all students in the community, as well as meet the needs of a diverse population. In order to develop information literacy skills and create a life-long enjoyment of reading, students must have open access to the LMC. It is the role of the library media specialist to make sure that these needs are being met. The purpose of this study was to examine the library media programming methods used in K-8 school districts throughout the state of New Jersey. The results of this study were used to develop a library media center program that would bring the Absecon Public Schools into the 21st century. Surveys were mailed to 101 library media specialists in 51 K-8 school districts throughout New Jersey. A response rate of 51% (52 out of 101) was obtained. The results showed that 96% of the media centers were professionally staffed. The most commonly used scheduling system utilized in the media centers was fixed scheduling which restricted services to patrons. The role of the LMS which ranked the lowest in importance by the school districts was that of program administrator

In vivo evaluation the efficiency of nitazoxanide with cationic Gemini surfactant on Cryptosporidiosis

تُعرض الإصابة بداء خفيات الأبواغ حياة العديد من الأشخاص للخطر وخصوصا المصابين بنقص المناعة، تحديدا مرضى فيروس نقص المناعة البشرية.  يُعد النيتازوكسانيد أحد الأدوية العلاجية الرئيسية المستخدمة في علاج داء الكريبتوسبوريديوسس. ومع ذلك، فهو ضعيف الذوبان في الماء ، مما يحد من فائدته وفعاليته في المرضى الذين يعانون من نقص المناعة. يحتوي الفاعل بالسطح على طابع برمائي وهذا يشير إلى قدرتها على تحسين قابلية الذوبان في الماء للعقار المضاد للماء. يتعلق بحثنا بتركيب مواد خافضة للتوتر السطحي من الجوزاء الموجبة الجديدة والتي لديها القدرة على تحسين قابلية ذوبان عقار نانازوكسيد. لذلك قمنا بتوليف مواد خافضة للتوتر السطحي توأمية موجبة.  N1,N1,N3,N3-tetramethyl-N1,N3-bis(2-octadecanamidoethyl)propane-1,3-diaminium bromide (CGSPS18) و  2,2‘-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(oxy))bis(N-(2-octadecanamidoethyl)-N,N-dimethyl-2-oxoethane-1-aminium) dichloride (CGSES18)   وتأكيد تركيبها الكيميائي بالطرق الطيفية المختلفة وكذلك دراسة خصائص السطح والسمية لها. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، تمت دراسة فعالية نيتازوكسانيد في الفئران المصابة بإضافة ثلاث جرعات مختلفة من المواد الخافضة للتوتر السطحي. لمعرفة تأثير النيتازوكسانيد والمواد الخافضة للتوتر السطحي معا، تم حساب العدوى بالطفيليات قبل العلاج وبعده ، كما تم فحص الأنسجة المعوية والكبدية والرئوية. في هذه الدراسة وجد أن الجمع بين عقار نيتازوكسانيد مع المواد الخافضة للتوتر السطحي وخاصة المركب (CGSPS18) بتركيز 25٪ زاد من الفعالية وأدى إلى انخفاض بنسبة 90.8٪. أظهر فحص الأنسجة المرضية أن المجموعة التي عولجت بعقار نيتازوكسانيد مع CGSPS18 أظهرت أفضل النتائج التي أظهرت نمطًا زغبيًا طبيعيًا تقريبًا. أظهرت هذه الدراسة زيادة في فعالية النيتازوكسانيد عند دمجه مع المواد الخافضة للتوتر السطحي ، وهذا يشير إلى مستقبل واعد لاستخدام المواد الخافضة للتوتر السطحي كعامل مساعد لتعزيز فعالية النيتازوكسانيد في علاج داء خفيات الأبواغ في المرضى الذين يعانون من نقص المناعة ، وخاصة مرضى فيروس نقص المناعة البشرية.Infection with cryptosporidiosis endangers the lives of many people with immunodeficiency, especially HIV patients. Nitazoxanide is one of the main therapeutic drugs used to treat cryptosporidiosis. However, it is poorly soluble in water, which restricts its usefulness and efficacy in immunocompromised patients. Surfactants have an amphiphilic character which indicates their ability to improve the water solubility of the hydrophobic drugs. Our research concerns the synthesis of new cationic Gemini surfactants that have the ability to improve the solubility of the drug Nanazoxide. So, we synthesized cationic Gemini surfactants. N1,N1,N3,N3-tetramethyl-N1,N3-bis(2-octadecanamidoethyl)propane-1,3-diaminium bromide (CGSPS18) and 2,2‘-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(oxy))bis(N-(2-octadecanamidoethyl)-N,N-dimethyl-2-oxoethane-1-aminium) dichloride (CGSES18) and the detection of their chemical composition by spectroscopic methods, as well as studying the properties of their surfaces and their toxicity. Furthermore, the efficacy of nitazoxanide in infected mice was studied in conjunction with three different doses of surfactants. To assess the effect of nitazoxanide and surfactants, the infection was parasitologically counted before and after treatment, and the intestinal, liver, and lung tissues were also examined histopathologically. In this study, it was found that the combination of the drug nitazoxanide with surfactants, especially the compound (CGSPS18) at a concentration of 25% increased the efficacy and resulted in a percentage reduction of 90.8%. Histopathological examination revealed that the group treated with the drug nitazoxanide in combination with CGSPS18 showed the best results exhibiting an almost normal villous pattern. This study demonstrated an increase in the effectiveness of nitazoxanide when combined with surfactants, and this suggests a promising future for the use of surfactants as an adjunct to enhance the effectiveness of nitazoxanide for the treatment of cryptosporidiosis in immunocompromised patients, particularly HIV patients

June 1967 in Personal Stories of Palestinians and Israelis

The clash of June 1967, called by Israelis the Six-Day War and by Palestinians the Naksa (setback), is a critical milestone within the longstanding Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Despite all the scholarly attention ever since, there remain unheard voices and untold stories. It is the personal stories of people in the region that are at the center of this book. How do they remember 1967? How were their lives affected, even changed dramatically as a result of that short war? Listening to their stories as told some 50 years later, an incomplete tapestry of memories and understandings emerge. This book is the product of a re- search collaboration among Palestinian, Israeli and European folklorists, cultural anthropologists and sociologists. The personal stories were collected in the framework of interviews with men and women from all walks of life, on the days before, during and after this dramatic confrontation. The book is comprised of eleven chapters based on a corpus of several hundred conversations, as well as eight representative interviews. Together they afford insight into differential memories and sensations, visions of euphoria and despair, newly revived hopes, pain and disappointment, disillusionment and repentance

June 1967 in Personal Stories of Palestinians and Israelis

The clash of June 1967, called by Israelis the Six-Day War and by Palestinians the Naksa (setback), is a critical milestone within the longstanding Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Despite all the scholarly attention ever since, there remain unheard voices and untold stories. It is the personal stories of people in the region that are at the center of this book. How do they remember 1967? How were their lives affected, even changed dramatically as a result of that short war? Listening to their stories as told some 50 years later, an incomplete tapestry of memories and understandings emerge. This book is the product of a re- search collaboration among Palestinian, Israeli and European folklorists, cultural anthropologists and sociologists. The personal stories were collected in the framework of interviews with men and women from all walks of life, on the days before, during and after this dramatic confrontation. The book is comprised of eleven chapters based on a corpus of several hundred conversations, as well as eight representative interviews. Together they afford insight into differential memories and sensations, visions of euphoria and despair, newly revived hopes, pain and disappointment, disillusionment and repentance

Non-local Realistic Theories and the Scope of the Bell Theorem

According to a widespread view, the Bell theorem establishes the untenability of so-called 'local realism'. On the basis of this view, recent proposals by Leggett, Zeilinger and others have been developed according to which it can be proved that even some non-local realistic theories have to be ruled out. As a consequence, within this view the Bell theorem allows one to establish that no reasonable form of realism, be it local or non-local, can be made compatible with the (experimentally tested) predictions of quantum mechanics. In the present paper it is argued that the Bell theorem has demonstrably nothing to do with the 'realism' as defined by these authors and that, as a consequence, their conclusions about the foundational significance of the Bell theorem are unjustified.Comment: Forthcoming in Foundations of Physic

Canonical PRC1 controls sequence-independent propagation of Polycomb-mediated gene silencing

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins play critical roles in the epigenetic inheritance of cell fate. The Polycomb Repressive Complexes PRC1 and PRC2 catalyse distinct chromatin modifications to enforce gene silencing, but how transcriptional repression is propagated through mitotic cell divisions remains a key unresolved question. Using reversible tethering of PcG proteins to ectopic sites in mouse embryonic stem cells, here we show that PRC1 can trigger transcriptional repression and Polycomb-dependent chromatin modifications. We find that canonical PRC1 (cPRC1), but not variant PRC1, maintains gene silencing through cell division upon reversal of tethering. Propagation of gene repression is sustained by cis-acting histone modifications, PRC2-mediated H3K27me3 and cPRC1-mediated H2AK119ub1, promoting a sequence-independent feedback mechanism for PcG protein recruitment. Thus, the distinct PRC1 complexes present in vertebrates can differentially regulate epigenetic maintenance of gene silencing, potentially enabling dynamic heritable responses to complex stimuli. Our findings reveal how PcG repression is potentially inherited in vertebrates

Abnormal spatial diffusion of Ca2+ in F508del-CFTR airway epithelial cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In airway epithelial cells, calcium mobilization can be elicited by selective autocrine and/or paracrine activation of apical or basolateral membrane heterotrimeric G protein-coupled receptors linked to phospholipase C (PLC) stimulation, which generates inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP₃) and 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG) and induces Ca²⁺release from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stores.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the present study, we monitored the cytosolic Ca²⁺transients using the UV light photolysis technique to uncage caged Ca²⁺or caged IP₃into the cytosol of loaded airway epithelial cells of cystic fibrosis (CF) and non-CF origin. We compared in these cells the types of Ca²⁺receptors present in the ER, and measured their Ca²⁺dependent activity before and after correction of F508del-CFTR abnormal trafficking either by low temperature or by the pharmacological corrector miglustat (N-butyldeoxynojirimycin).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We showed reduction of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP₃R) dependent-Ca²⁺response following both correcting treatments compared to uncorrected cells in such a way that Ca²⁺responses (CF+treatment <it>vs </it>wild-type cells) were normalized. This normalization of the Ca²⁺rate does not affect the activity of Ca²⁺-dependent chloride channel in miglustat-treated CF cells. Using two inhibitors of IP₃R1, we observed a decrease of the implication of IP₃R1 in the Ca²⁺response in CF corrected cells. We observed a similar Ca²⁺mobilization between CF-KM4 cells and CFTR-cDNA transfected CF cells (CF-KM4-reverted). When we restored the F508del-CFTR trafficking in CFTR-reverted cells, the specific IP₃R activity was also reduced to a similar level as in non CF cells. At the structural level, the ER morphology of CF cells was highly condensed around the nucleus while in non CF cells or corrected CF cells the ER was extended at the totality of cell.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest reversal of the IP₃R dysfunction in F508del-CFTR epithelial cells by correction of the abnormal trafficking of F508del-CFTR in cystic fibrosis cells. Moreover, using CFTR cDNA-transfected CF cells, we demonstrated that abnormal increase of IP₃R Ca²⁺release in CF human epithelial cells could be the consequence of F508del-CFTR retention in ER compartment.</p

Caspase-11 Protects Against Bacteria That Escape the Vacuole

Caspases are either apoptotic or inflammatory. The inflammatory Caspases-1 and -11 trigger pyroptosis, a form of programmed cell death. Whereas both can be detrimental in inflammatory disease, only Caspase-1 has an established protective role during infection. Herein, we report that Caspase-11 is required for innate immunity to cytosolic, but not vacuolar, bacteria. While Salmonella typhimurium and Legionella pneumophila normally reside in the vacuole, specific mutants (sifA and sdhA, respectively) that aberrantly enter the cytosol triggered Caspase-11, enhancing clearance of S. typhimurium sifA in vivo. This response did not require NLRP3, NLRC4, or ASC inflammasome pathways. Burkholderia species that naturally invade the cytosol also triggered Caspase-11, protecting mice from lethal challenge with B. thailandensis and B. pseudomallei. Thus, Caspase-11 is critical for surviving exposure to ubiquitous environmental pathogens

Higher Rates of Hemolysis Are Not Associated with Albuminuria in Jamaicans with Sickle Cell Disease

BACKGROUND: Albuminuria is a marker of glomerular damage in Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). In this study, we sought to determine the possible predictors of albuminuria in the two more prevalent genotypes of SCD among the Jamaica Sickle Cell Cohort Study participants. METHODS: An age-matched cohort of 122 patients with HbSS or HbSC genotypes had measurements of their morning urine albumin concentration, blood pressure, body mass index, haematology and certain biochemistry parameters done. Associations of albuminuria with possible predictors including hematological parameters, reticulocyte counts, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were examined using multiple regression models. RESULTS: A total of 122 participants were recruited (mean age 28.6 years ±2.5 years; 85 HbSS, 37 HbSC). 25.9% with HbSS and 10.8% with HbSC disease had microalbuminuria (urine albumin/creatinine ratio  =  30-300 mg/g of creatinine) whereas 16.5% of HbSS and 2.7% of HbSC disease had macroalbuminuria (urine albumin/creatinine ratio>300 mg/g of creatinine). Mean arterial pressure, hemoglobin levels, serum creatinine, reticulocyte counts and white blood cell counts were statistically significant predictors of albuminuria in HbSS, whereas white blood cell counts and serum creatinine predicted albuminuria in HbSC disease. Both markers of chronic hemolysis, i.e. AST and LDH levels, showed no associations with albuminuria in either genotype. CONCLUSIONS: Renal disease, as evidenced by excretion of increased amounts of albumin in urine due to a glomerulopathy, is a common end-organ complication in SCD. It is shown to be more severe in those with HbSS disease than in HbSC disease. Rising blood pressure, lower hemoglobin levels and higher white blood cell counts are hints to the clinician of impending renal disease, whereas higher rates of hemolysis do not appear to play a role in this complication of SCD

CHARITY: Chagas cardiomyopathy bisoprolol intervention study: a randomized double-blind placebo force-titration controlled study with Bisoprolol in patients with chronic heart failure secondary to Chagas cardiomyopathy [NCT00323973]

BACKGROUND: Chagas' disease is the major cause of disability secondary to tropical diseases in young adults from Latin America, and around 20 million people are currently infected by T. cruzi. Heart failure due to Chagas cardiomyopathy is the main clinical presenation in Colombia. Heart failure due to Chagas' disease may respond to digoxin, diuretics and vasodilator therapy. Beta-adrenoreceptor antagonism seems to protect against the increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death due to chronic sympathetic stimulation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of the selective beta-adrenergic receptor blocker Bisoprolol on cardiovascular mortality, hospital readmission due to progressive heart failure and functional status in patients with heart failure secondary to Chagas' cardiomyopathy. METHODS/DESIGN: A cohort of 500 T. cruzi seropositive patients (250 per arm) will be selected from several institutions in Colombia. During the pretreatment period an initial evaluation visit will be scheduled in which participants will sign consent forms and baseline measurements and tests will be conducted including blood pressure measurements, twelve-lead ECG and left ventricular ejection fraction assessment by 2D echocardiography. Quality of life questionnaire will be performed two weeks apart during baseline examination using the "Minnesota living with heart failure" questionnaire. A minimum of two 6 minutes corridor walk test once a week over a two-week period will be performed to measure functional class. During the treatment period patients will be randomly assigned to receive Bisoprolol or placebo, initially taking a total daily dose of 2.5 mgrs qd. The dose will be increased every two weeks to 5, 7.5 and 10 mgrs qd (maximum maintenance dose). Follow-up assessment will include clinical check-up, and blood collection for future measurements of inflammatory reactants and markers. Quality of life measurements will be obtained at six months. This study will allow us to explore the effect of beta-blockers in chagas' cardiomyopathy