Teacher Evaluation and Reliability: Additional Insights Gathered from Inter-rater Reliability Analyses

Using a newly-created teacher evaluation instrument, Inter-rater Reliability (IRR) analyses were conducted on four teacher videos as a means to establish instrument reliability. Raters included 42 principals and assistant principals in a southern US school district. The videos used spanned the teacher quality spectrum and the IRR findings across these levels varied. Key findings suggest that while the overall IRR coefficient may be adequate to assess the validity of a classroom observation instrument, the overall coefficient may be unstable across the various teacher performance levels. Findings also strongly suggest that raters are much more likely to agree when they see high-quality teaching when compared to levels of agreement regarding low-quality teaching

Acclimatization to chronic intermittent hypoxia in mine workers: a challenge to mountain medicine in Chile

In the past two decades, Chile has developed intense mining activity in the Andes mountain range, whose altitude is over 4,000 meters above sea level. It is estimated that a workforce population of over 55,000 is exposed to high altitude hypobaric hypoxia. The miners work under shift systems which vary from 4 to 20 days at the worksite followed by rest days at sea level, in a cycle repeated for several years. This Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia (CIH) constitutes an unusual condition for workers involving a series of changes at the physiological, cellular and molecular levels attempting to compensate for the decrease in the environmental partial pressure of oxygen (PO2). The mine worker must become acclimatized to CIH, and consequently undergoes an acute acclimatization process when he reaches the worksite and an acute reverse process when he reaches sea level. We have observed that after a period of 3 to 8 years of CIH exposure workers acclimatize well, and evidence from our studies and those of others indicates that CIH induces acute and chronic multisystem adjustments which are effective in offsetting the reduced availability of oxygen at high altitudes. The aims of this review are to summarize findings of the physiological responses to CIH exposure, highlighting outstanding issues in the field

Immune protection against Trypanosoma cruzi induced by TcVac4 in a canine model

Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is endemic in southern parts of the American continent. Herein, we have tested the protective efficacy of a DNA-prime/T. rangeli-boost (TcVac4) vaccine in a dog (Canis familiaris) model. Dogs were immunized with two-doses of DNA vaccine (pcDNA3.1 encoding TcG1, TcG2, and TcG4 antigens plus IL-12- and GMCSF- encoding plasmids) followed by two doses of glutaraldehyde-inactivated T. rangeli epimastigotes (TrIE); and challenged with highly pathogenic T. cruzi (SylvioX10/4) isolate. Dogs given TrIE or empty pcDNA3.1 were used as controls. We monitored post-vaccination and post-challenge infection antibody response by an ELISA, parasitemia by blood analysis and xenodiagnosis, and heart function by electrocardiography. Post-mortem anatomic and pathologic evaluation of the heart was conducted. TcVac4 induced a strong IgG response (IgG2>IgG1) that was significantly expanded post-infection, and moved to a nearly balanced IgG2/IgG1 response in chronic phase. In comparison, dogs given TrIE or empty plasmid DNA only developed high IgG titers with IgG2 predominance in response to T. cruzi infection. Blood parasitemia, tissue parasite foci, parasite transmission to triatomines, electrocardiographic abnormalities were significantly lower in TcVac4-vaccinated dogs than was observed in dogs given TrIE or empty plasmid DNA only. Macroscopic and microscopic alterations, the hallmarks of chronic Chagas disease, were significantly decreased in the myocardium of TcVac4-vaccinated dogs.We conclude that TcVac4 induced immunity was beneficial in providing resistance to T. cruzi infection, evidenced by control of chronic pathology of the heart and preservation of cardiac function in dogs. Additionally, TcVac4 vaccination decreased the transmission of parasites from vaccinated/infected animals to triatomines.CONACYT PROY No. 156701 UAEM PROY No. 2381/2006U National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases http://www.niaid.nih.gov/Pages/ default.aspx GRANT NUMBER (AI072538) NJG; American Heart Association http://www.heart.org/ HEARTORG/ GRANT NUMBER (0855059F) to NJG

Prozone effect of serum IgE levels in a case of plasma cell leukemia

We describe a case of multiple myeloma (MM) and secondary plasma cell leukemia (PCL) secreting IgE-kappa immunoglobulin. To our knowledge, only 2 cases of IgE-producing secondary PCL have been reported in the medical literature. In our patient, the only tumor marker available for monitoring the therapeutic response to chemotherapy and allogeneic stem cell transplantation was the quantitative M component at serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP), because serum free light chains were in the normal range, Bence-Jones proteinuria was absent, and quantitative serum IgE levels provided inaccurate and erratic results, due to the prozone effect. This is a laboratory phenomenon that occurs when antigen excess interferes with antibody-based methods requiring immune complex formation for detection. It is important to recognize the presence of a prozone effect, because it can produce falsely normal results, and therefore it could lead clinicians to incorrect assessment of the response to therapy

Vanadium Inhalation in a Mouse Model for the Understanding of Air-Suspended Particle Systemic Repercussion

There is an increased concern about the health effects that air-suspended particles have on human health which have been dissected in animal models. Using CD-1 mouse, we explore the effects that vanadium inhalation produce in different tissues and organs. Our findings support the systemic effects of air pollution. In this paper, we describe our findings in different organs in our conditions and contrast our results with the literature

Early Relapse After Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Remains a Poor Prognostic Factor in Multiple Myeloma but Outcomes Have Improved Over Time

Duration of initial disease response remains a strong prognostic factor in multiple myeloma (MM) particularly for upfront autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (AHCT) recipients. We hypothesized that new drug classes and combinations employed prior to AHCT as well as after post-AHCT relapse may have changed the natural history of MM in this population. We analyzed the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research database to track overall survival (OS) of MM patients receiving single AHCT within 12 months after diagnosis (N=3256) and relapsing early post-AHCT (\u3c 24 months), and to identify factors predicting for early vs late relapses (24−48 months post-AHCT). Over three periods (2001–2004, 2005–2008, 2009–2013), patient characteristics were balanced except for lower proportion of Stage III, higher likelihood of one induction therapy with novel triplets and higher rates of planned post-AHCT maintenance over time. The proportion of patients relapsing early was stable over time at 35–38%. Factors reducing risk of early relapse included lower stage, chemosensitivity, transplant after 2008 and post-AHCT maintenance. Shorter post-relapse OS was associated with early relapse, IgA MM, Karnofsky \u3c 90, stage III, \u3e 1 line of induction and lack of maintenance. Post-AHCT early relapse remains a poor prognostic factor, even though outcomes have improved over time

Comparison of CMS measurements with predictions at NLO applying the Parton Branching Method and PYTHIA

In August 2023, more than 30 students joined the Special Remote DESY summer-school to work on projects of importance for LHC experiments. In a dedicated initiative, analyses that had not been incorporated into the RIVET package were implemented and verified. Here, a brief description of the accomplished work is given, and a comparison of the measurements with predictions obtained from matched standard parton shower Monte Carlo event generators as well as with those obtained from Parton-Branching TMDs with corresponding parton showers are presented