Rethinking Special Education Teacher Preparation for a Post-Pandemic World

The pivot to remote teaching was a wake-up call for institutions of higher education (IHE) teacher preparation programs. This discussion will share solutions and tips for successfully building capacity in a new teacher preparation era. Many IHEs problem-solved, resulting in a myriad of solutions to keep their teacher preparation programs running and relevant during the pivot to remote teaching and learning. This presentation discussion will assist in uncovering a list of teacher preparation program practices that evolved out of the Covid-19 pandemic that seeks to increase the number of pre-service teacher candidates enrolled in IHE teacher preparation programs. The presenters also argue a collaborative, curated post-pandemic pedagogical solution will improve outcomes for teacher preparation candidates and, in turn, advance the positive results for their future students in a post-pandemic world

Pharmacokinetic Interactions between the Hormonal Emergency Contraception, Levonorgestrel (Plan B), and Efavirenz

Objectives. Compare the Plan B levonorgestrel (LNG) area under the concentration- time curve (AUC12) prior to and with efavirenz (EFV). Design. Prospective, open-label, single-arm, equivalence study. Methods. Healthy HIV-negative subjects underwent 12 hr intensive pharmacokinetic (PK) sampling following single dose LNG alone and after 14 days of EFV. Geometric means, Geometric Mean Ratios, and 90% confidence intervals (CI) are reported for PK Parameters. T-tests were utilized. Clinical parameters and liver function tests (LFTs) were assessed. Results. 24 women enrolled and 21 completed the study. With EFV, LNG AUC12 was reduced 56% (95% CI: 49%, 62%) from 42.9 to 17.8 ng∗hr/mL, and maximum concentration (Cmax⁡) was reduced 41% (95% CI: 33%, 50%) from 8.4 to 4.6 ng/mL. LNG was well tolerated with no grade 3 or 4 treatment-related toxicities. Conclusions. EFV significantly reduced LNG exposures. Higher LNG doses may be required with EFV. These results reinforce the importance of effective contraception in women taking EFV

Challenges and Outcomes of Posterior Wall Isolation for Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

BACKGROUND: The left atrial posterior wall (PW) often contains sites required for maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF). Electrical isolation of the PW is an important feature of all open surgeries for AF. This study assessed the ability of current ablation techniques to achieve PW isolation (PWI) and its effect on recurrent AF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty-seven consecutive patients with persistent or high-burden paroxysmal AF underwent catheter ablation, which was performed using an endocardial-only (30) or a hybrid endocardial-epicardial procedure (27). The catheter ablation lesion set included pulmonary vein antral isolation and a box lesion on the PW (roof and posterior lines). Success in creating the box lesion was assessed as electrical silence of the PW (voltage <0.1 mV) and exit block in the PW with electrical capture. Cox proportional hazards models were used for analysis of AF recurrence. PWI was achieved in 21 patients (36.8%), more often in patients undergoing hybrid ablation than endocardial ablation alone (51.9% versus 23.3%, P=0.05). Twelve patients underwent redo ablation. Five of 12 had a successful procedural PWI, but all had PW reconnection at the redo procedure. Over a median follow-up of 302 days, 56.1% of the patients were free of atrial arrhythmias. No parameter including procedural PWI was a statistically significant predictor of recurrent atrial arrhythmias. CONCLUSIONS: PWI during catheter ablation for AF is difficult to achieve, especially with endocardial ablation alone. Procedural achievement of PWI in this group of patients was not associated with a reduction in recurrent atrial arrhythmias, but reconnection of the PW was common

Boceprevir and Antiretroviral Pharmacokinetic Interactions in HIV/HCV Co-infected Persons: AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study A5309s

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of drug interactions between the hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor boceprevir (BOC) and antiretroviral (ARV) agents in persons with HIV/HCV co-infection. Methods: Participants taking two nucleos(t)ide analogs with either efavirenz, raltegravir, or ritonavir-boosted atazanavir, darunavir, or lopinavir underwent intensive pharmacokinetic (PK) sampling for ARV 2 weeks before (week 2) and 2 weeks after initiating BOC (week 6) and for BOC at week 6. Geometric mean ratios (GMRs) and 90% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to compare ARV PK at weeks 2 and 6 and BOC PK at week 6 to historical data (HD) in healthy volunteers and HCV mono-infected patients. Results: ARV PK was available for 55 participants. BOC reduced atazanavir and darunavir exposures by 30 and 42%, respectively. BOC increased raltegravir maximum concentration (C max) by 71%. BOC did not alter efavirenz PK. BOC PK was available for 53 participants. BOC exposures were similar in these HIV/HCV co-infected participants compared with HD in healthy volunteers, but BOC minimum concentrations (C min) were lower with all ARV agents (by 34–73%) compared with HD in HCV mono-infected patients. Conclusions: Effects of BOC on ARV PK in these HIV/HCV co-infected individuals were similar to prior studies in healthy volunteers. However, some differences in the effects of ARV on BOC PK were observed, indicating the magnitude of interactions may differ in HCV-infected individuals versus healthy volunteers. Findings highlight the need to conduct interaction studies with HCV therapies in the population likely to receive the combination

Genomic regions associated with pseudorabies virus infection status in naturally infected feral swine (Sus scrofa)

Pseudorabies virus (PRV)—the causative agent of Aujeszky’s disease—was eliminated from commercial pig production herds in the United States (US) in 2004; however, PRV remains endemic among invasive feral swine (Sus scrofa). The circulation of PRV among abundant, widespread feral swine populations poses a sustained risk for disease spillover to production herds. Risk–based surveillance has been successfully implemented for PRV in feral swine populations in the US. However, understanding the role of host genetics in infection status may offer new insights into the epidemiology and disease dynamics of PRV that can be applied to management strategies. Genetic mechanisms underlying host susceptibility to PRV are relatively unknown; therefore, we sought to identify genomic regions associated with PRV infection status among naturally infected feral swine using genome–wide association studies (GWAS) and gene set enrichment analysis of single nucleotide polymorphism data (GSEA–SNP). Paired serological and genotypic data were collected from 6,081 feral swine distributed across the invaded range within the contiguous US. Three complementary study populations were developed for GWAS: 1) comprehensive population consisting of feral swine throughout the invaded range within the contiguous US; 2) population of feral swine under high, but temporally variable PRV infection pressure; and 3) population of feral swine under temporally stable, high PRV infection pressure. We identified one intronic SNP associated with PRV infection status within candidate gene AKAP6 on autosome 7. Various gene sets linked to metabolic pathways were enriched in the GSEA–SNP. Ultimately, improving disease surveillance efforts in feral swine will be critical to further understanding of the role host genetics play in PRV infection status, helping secure the health of commercial pork production

Susceptibility loci revealed for bovine respiratory disease complex in pre-weaned holstein calves

BACKGROUND: Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is an infectious disease of cattle that is caused by a combination of viral and/or bacterial pathogens. Selection for cattle with reduced susceptibility to respiratory disease would provide a permanent tool for reducing the prevalence of BRDC. The objective of this study was to identify BRDC susceptibility loci in pre-weaned Holstein calves as a prerequisite to using genetic improvement as a tool for decreasing the prevalence of BRDC. High density SNP genotyping with the Illumina BovineHD BeadChip was conducted on 1257 male and 757 female Holstein calves from California (CA), and 767 calves identified as female from New Mexico (NM). Of these, 1382 were classified as BRDC cases, and 1396 were classified as controls, with all phenotypes assigned using the McGuirk health scoring system. During the acquisition of blood for DNA isolation, two deep pharyngeal and one mid-nasal diagnostic swab were obtained from each calf for the identification of bacterial and viral pathogens. Genome-wide association analyses were conducted using four analytical approaches (EIGENSTRAT, EMMAX-GRM, GBLUP and FvR). The most strongly associated SNPs from each individual analysis were ranked and evaluated for concordance. The heritability of susceptibility to BRDC in pre-weaned Holstein calves was estimated. RESULTS: The four statistical approaches produced highly concordant results for 373 top ranked SNPs that defined 126 chromosomal regions for the CA population. Similarly, in NM, 370 SNPs defined 138 genomic regions that were identified by all four approaches. When the two populations were combined (i.e., CA + NM) and analyzed, 324 SNPs defined 116 genomic regions that were associated with BRDC across all analytical methods. Heritability estimates for BRDC were 21% for both CA and NM as individual populations, but declined to 13% when the populations were combined. CONCLUSIONS: Four analytical approaches utilizing both single and multi-marker association methods revealed common genomic regions associated with BRDC susceptibility that can be further characterized and used for genomic selection. Moderate heritability estimates were observed for BRDC susceptibility in pre-weaned Holstein calves, thereby supporting the application of genomic selection to reduce the prevalence of BRDC in U.S. Holsteins. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-1164) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Defining Natural History: Assessment of the Ability of College Students to Aid in Characterizing Clinical Progression of Niemann-Pick Disease, Type C

Niemann-Pick Disease, type C (NPC) is a fatal, neurodegenerative, lysosomal storage disorder. It is a rare disease with broad phenotypic spectrum and variable age of onset. These issues make it difficult to develop a universally accepted clinical outcome measure to assess urgently needed therapies. To this end, clinical investigators have defined emerging, disease severity scales. The average time from initial symptom to diagnosis is approximately 4 years. Further, some patients may not travel to specialized clinical centers even after diagnosis. We were therefore interested in investigating whether appropriately trained, community-based assessment of patient records could assist in defining disease progression using clinical severity scores. In this study we evolved a secure, step wise process to show that pre-existing medical records may be correctly assessed by non-clinical practitioners trained to quantify disease progression. Sixty-four undergraduate students at the University of Notre Dame were expertly trained in clinical disease assessment and recognition of major and minor symptoms of NPC. Seven clinical records, randomly selected from a total of thirty seven used to establish a leading clinical severity scale, were correctly assessed to show expected characteristics of linear disease progression. Student assessment of two new records donated by NPC families to our study also revealed linear progression of disease, but both showed accelerated disease progression, relative to the current severity scale, especially at the later stages. Together, these data suggest that college students may be trained in assessment of patient records, and thus provide insight into the natural history of a disease

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Maximizing Effective Technology Use in Teacher Preparation Programs Post-Pandemic

The pivot to remote teaching was a wake-up call for teacher preparation programs in institutes of higher education. Since that time, the need to maximize technology use in the most effective ways continues to evolve. In this presentation, discussion will focus on leveraging best practices for successfully building capacity in a new teacher preparation era