School size and academic performance

The population of students housed in each school building, otherwise referred to as school size, has increased tremendously over the last 50 years in the United States (Robertson, 2001). The purpose of this literature review was to look at school size and the effect that it has on students\u27 academic performance to help K-12 advocates determine whether small schools or large schools are better for students academically. The literature examined for this study includes research done within the last 25 years pertaining to school size and academic performance. This literature review defines small schools and large schools and provides recommendations for ways to effectively decrease school size, since the literature indicates that students in schools with small student populations. small schools,\u27\u27 academically outperform or perform as well as students in schools with large student populations, large schools. This literature review revealed that school size reduction and schools-within-schools were effective ways to reduce school size to help students achieve better academically

Intelligent Monitoring System for Bird Behavior Study

Until now, the best way to obtain relevant information about the behaviour of animals is capturing them. However, the procedure to capture individuals cause them stress and introduces an effect on the measurement that can affect the behaviour of the animals. To solve this problems this paper describes a novel intelligent motoring system for birds breeding in nest boxes. This system is based in a network of smart-nest boxes that allows access to the acquired data all over the world through internet. A prototype of the proposed system has been implemented for the evaluation of a lesser kestrel breeding colony in Southern Spain. This prototype has offered in a short time more valuable information that several years of manual captures. This prototype has demonstrated that the proposed system allows short and log time animal behaviour evaluation without interferences or causing stress.Junta de Andalucía P06-RNM-01712Junta de Andalucía P06-RNM-04588Junta de Andalucía P07-TIC-02476Junta de Andalucía TIC-570

Chronic psychosocial and financial burden accelerates 5-year telomere shortening: findings from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.

Leukocyte telomere length, a marker of immune system function, is sensitive to exposures such as psychosocial stressors and health-maintaining behaviors. Past research has determined that stress experienced in adulthood is associated with shorter telomere length, but is limited to mostly cross-sectional reports. We test whether repeated reports of chronic psychosocial and financial burden is associated with telomere length change over a 5-year period (years 15 and 20) from 969 participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study, a longitudinal, population-based cohort, ages 18-30 at time of recruitment in 1985. We further examine whether multisystem resiliency, comprised of social connections, health-maintaining behaviors, and psychological resources, mitigates the effects of repeated burden on telomere attrition over 5 years. Our results indicate that adults with high chronic burden do not show decreased telomere length over the 5-year period. However, these effects do vary by level of resiliency, as regression results revealed a significant interaction between chronic burden and multisystem resiliency. For individuals with high repeated chronic burden and low multisystem resiliency (1 SD below the mean), there was a significant 5-year shortening in telomere length, whereas no significant relationships between chronic burden and attrition were evident for those at moderate and higher levels of resiliency. These effects apply similarly across the three components of resiliency. Results imply that interventions should focus on establishing strong social connections, psychological resources, and health-maintaining behaviors when attempting to ameliorate stress-related decline in telomere length among at-risk individuals

Pharmacokinetic evaluation of the PNC disassembler metarrestin in wild-type and Pdx1-Cre;LSL-KrasG12D/+;Tp53R172H/+ (KPC) mice, a genetically engineered model of pancreatic cancer

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Purpose Metarrestin is a first-in-class small molecule clinical candidate capable of disrupting the perinucleolar compartment, a subnuclear structure unique to metastatic cancer cells. This study aims to define the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of metarrestin and the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationship of metarrestin-regulated markers. Methods PK studies included the administration of single or multiple dose of metarrestin at 3, 10, or 25 mg/kg via intravenous (IV) injection, gavage (PO) or with chow to wild-type C57BL/6 mice and KPC mice bearing autochthonous pancreatic tumors. Metarrestin concentrations were analyzed by UPLC–MS/MS. Pharmacodynamic assays included mRNA expression profiling by RNA-seq and qRT-PCR for KPC mice. Results Metarrestin had a moderate plasma clearance of 48 mL/min/kg and a large volume of distribution of 17 L/kg at 3 mg/kg IV in C57BL/6 mice. The oral bioavailability after single-dose (SD) treatment was > 80%. In KPC mice treated with SD 25 mg/kg PO, plasma AUC0–∞ of 14400 ng h/mL, Cmax of 810 ng/mL and half-life (t1/2) of 8.5 h were observed. At 24 h after SD of 25 mg/kg PO, the intratumor concentration of metarrestin was high with a mean value of 6.2 µg/g tissue (or 13 µM), well above the cell-based IC50 of 0.4 µM. At multiple dose (MD) 25 mg/kg/day PO in KPC mice, mean tissue/plasma AUC0–24h ratio for tumor, spleen and liver was 37, 30 and 31, respectively. There was a good linear relationship of dosage to AUC0–24h and C24h. AUC0–24h MD to AUC0–24h SD ratios ranged from two for liver to five for tumor indicating additional accumulation in tumors. Dose-dependent normalization of FOXA1 and FOXO6 mRNA expression was observed in KPC tumors. Conclusions Metarrestin is an effective therapeutic candidate with a favorable PK profile achieving excellent intratumor tissue levels in a disease with known poor drug delivery.Intramural Research Program (IRP) of the NIHNational Cancer InstituteCenter for Cancer Research (ZIA BC 011267

Psychometric properties of three measures of “Facebook engagement and/or addiction” among a sample of English speaking Pakistani university students

For researchers interested in measuring the construct of “Facebook engagement and/or addiction,” there are a number of existing measures including the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, the Facebook Intensity Scale, and the Addictive Tendencies Scale. Currently, there is limited data on the psychometric properties of these three scales, especially among South Asian samples. The present aim was to address this shortfall. A sample of 308 English-speaking Pakistani university students completed the scales, in their original English versions, on two occasions separated by four weeks. Results demonstrated that for each of the scales, across both administrations, satisfactory psychometric properties were found, including internal reliability, temporal stability, and construct validity. Moreover, for these three scales, using confirmatory factor analysis, a one-factor structure was generally found to be a good description of the data for both male and female samples. These data provide further evidence for the reliability and validity of three scales concerned with “Facebook engagement and/or addiction.

Association between perceived built environmental attributes and physical activity among adults in South Africa

Background: To investigate the association between perceived environmental attributes and leisure-time and transport-related physical activity. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey involving 671 South Africans aged ?35 years from urban and rural settings. International Physical Activity Questionnaire and Neighbourhood Walkability Scale were used to collect data. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to investigate the associations. Results: Significant urban vs. rural differences were apparent in the distribution of most attributes of neighborhood environment. After adjusting for gender, age, setting and relevant interaction terms, proximity to local stores was significantly associated with leisure-time physical activity (OR: 4.26; 95% CI, 1.00-18.08); while proximity to transit stops (2.44; 1.48-4.02), pleasant scenery (1.93; 1.07-3.46), sidewalks (2.36; 1.25-4.44), shade from trees (2.14; 1.19-3.85), traffic (2.17; 91.21-3.91) and well-lit streets (2.01; 1.04-3.89) were significantly associated with walking for leisure. Four-way intersections (4.54; 1.54-13.43), pleasant scenery (3.84; 1.35-10.99), traffic (0.28; 0.09-0.89), sidewalks (3.75; 1.06-13.27) and crosswalks were associated with transport related physical activity. Proximity to transit stops (2.12; 1.17-3.84) and well maintained sidewalks (2.69; 2.20-10.02) were significantly associated with total physical activity. Significant interactions by setting were apparent in some of the associations. Conclusion: Some, but not all attributes of a neighborhood environment were significantly associated in expected directions with the three physical activity domains in this mixed urban and rural population. This study highlights the need for policy strategies aimed at improving or maintaining these perceived environmental attributes to promote physical activity.IS

Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of physical activity levels among South African adults in Cape Town and Mount Frere communities in 2008-2009

BACKGROUND: Physical activity has been linked to reduced risk of various cardiometabolic disease, cancer, and premature mortality. We investigated the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of physical activity among adults in urban and rural communities in South Africa. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey comprising 1733 adults aged ?35 years from the Cape Town (urban) and Mount Frere (rural) sites of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology study. Physical activity was assessed using the validated International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to relate physical activity with socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Overall, 74% of participants engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. In the adjusted regression models, women were 34% less likely to engage in vigorous physical activity (OR =0.66, 95%-CI = 0.47-0.93). Physical activity decreased with age, varied with marital status, education and occupation, always in differential ways between urban and rural participants (all interactions p ? 0.047). For instance, in urban settings, those with secondary education were more likely to engage in moderate physical activity (OR = 2.06, 95%-CI = 1.08-3.92) than those with tertiary education. Single people were more likely to engage in high physical activity (OR = 2.10, 95%-CI = 1.03-4.28) than divorced. Overall, skilled participants were more likely to engage in vigorous physical activity (OR = 2.07, 95%-CI = 1.41-3.05) driven by significant effect in rural area (OR = 2.70, 95%-CI = 1.51-4.83). Urban participants were more likely to engage in moderate physical activity (OR = 1.67, 95%-CI = 1.31-2.13) than rural participants. CONCLUSIONS: To prevent chronic diseases among South Africans, attention should be paid to specific policies and interventions aimed at promoting PA among young adults in rural and urban setting, and across the social-economic diversity

Perturbation of Rb, p53, and Brca1 or Brca2 Cooperate in Inducing Metastatic Serous Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

The majority of human high grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer (SEOC) is characterized by frequent mutations in p53 and alterations in the RB and FOXM1 pathways. A subset of human SEOC harbors a combination of germline and somatic mutations as well as epigenetic dysfunction for BRCA1/2. Using Cre-conditional alleles and intrabursal induction by Cre-expressing adenovirus in genetically engineered mice, we analyzed the roles of pathway perturbations in epithelial ovarian cancer initiation and progression. Inactivation of RB-mediated tumor suppression induced surface epithelial proliferation with progression to stage I carcinoma. Additional biallelic inactivation and/or missense p53 mutation in the presence or absence of Brca1/2 caused progression to stage IV disease. As in human SEOC, mice developed peritoneal carcinomatosis, ascites, and distant metastases. Unbiased gene expression and metabolomic profiling confirmed that Rb, p53, and Brca1/2-triple mutant tumors aligned with human SEOC, and not with other intraperitoneal cancers. Together, our findings provide a novel resource for evaluating disease etiology and biomarkers, therapeutic evaluation, and improved imaging strategies in epithelial ovarian cancer

Discrepancy between radiological and pathological size of renal masses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tumor size is a critical variable in staging for renal cell carcinoma. Clinicians rely on radiological estimates of pathological tumor size to guide patient counseling regarding prognosis, choice of treatment strategy and entry into clinical trials. If there is a discrepancy between radiological and pathological measurements of renal tumor size, this could have implications for clinical practice. Our study aimed to compare the radiological size of solid renal tumors on computed tomography (CT) to the pathological size in an Australian population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We identified 157 patients in the Westmead Renal Tumor Database, for whom data was available for both radiological tumor size on CT and pathological tumor size. The paired Student's <it>t</it>-test was used to compare the mean radiological tumor size and the mean pathological tumor size. Statistical significance was defined as <it>P </it>< 0.05. We also identified all cases in which post-operative down-staging or up-staging occurred due to discrepancy between radiological and pathological tumor sizes. Additionally, we examined the relationship between Fuhrman grade and radiological tumor size and pathological T stage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, the mean radiological tumor size on CT was 58.3 mm and the mean pathological size was 55.2 mm. On average, CT overestimated pathological size by 3.1 mm (<it>P </it>= 0.012). CT overestimated pathological tumor size in 92 (58.6%) patients, underestimated in 44 (28.0%) patients and equaled pathological size in 21 (31.4%) patients. Among the 122 patients with pT1 or pT2 tumors, there was a discrepancy between clinical and pathological staging in 35 (29%) patients. Of these, 21 (17%) patients were down-staged post-operatively and 14 (11.5%) were up-staged. Fuhrman grade correlated positively with radiological tumor size (<it>P </it>= 0.039) and pathological tumor stage (<it>P </it>= 0.003).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There was a statistically significant but small difference (3.1 mm) between mean radiological and mean pathological tumor size, but this is of uncertain clinical significance. For some patients, the difference leads to a discrepancy between clinical and pathological staging, which may have implications for pre-operative patient counseling regarding prognosis and management.</p