Research into practice : collaboration for leadership in applied health research and care (CLAHRC) for Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire (NDL)

To address the problem of translation from research-based evidence to routine healthcare practice, the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire (CLAHRC-NDL) was funded by the National Institute for Health Research as one of nine CLAHRCs across England. This paper outlines the underlying theory and its application that CLAHRC-NDL has adopted, as a case example that might be generalised to practice outside the CLAHRC, in comparison to alternative models of implementation

Curriculum Design in Special Education: Factors and Influences

The purpose of this study was to depart from theory and focus on the realities of day to day decisions special education teachers are asked to make. The chief purpose of this study was to gain insight into the factors that influence curriculum design such as high stakes testing, teacher experience, knowledge of content, teacher training, collaboration and materials. In order to do so, the researcher designed an on-line survey that focused on curriculum design. Additional information and insights were gleaned from the study. For example, were teachers using Common Core Standards (CCS) as a measuring stick when designing curriculum and choosing materials? Were teachers employing best practices when designing curriculum? Were teachers balancing priorities, such as IEP goals, high stakes tests and class pace? Were students given the opportunity to gain access to and progress in the general education curriculum? It is important to examine authentic day to day instructional decisions and activities in order to understand gaps between best practice research and legislative demands and actual classroom practices. It was the hope of the researcher that this study would determine whether there was a need for more instructional materials and/or further professional development for the special education staff members taking part in the study

Uveitis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals

Author version made available in accordance with the publisher's policy.Since the first description in 1982 of ocular involvement in individuals testing positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a large volume of work has described the spectrum of uveitis that may occur in the setting of HIV infection. In this review we describe the causes of uveitis of HIV-positive persons, considering both infectious and noninfectious entities.Support: Australian Research Council (FT130101648

Assessing the validity of the past-month, online canadian diet history questionnaire ii pre and post nutrition intervention

Dietary intake tools are used in epidemiological and interventional studies to estimate nutritional intake. The past-month Canadian Diet History Questionnaire II (CDHQII) has not yet been validated. This study aimed to assess the validity of the CDHQII in adults by comparing dietary results from the CDHQII to the same participants’ 24-h recalls consisting of two weekdays and one weekend day. The recalls were collected using the validated multiple-pass method. Participants were asked to complete both tools at baseline, and again at 3-month follow-up. The study further aimed to determine which dietary intake tool was preferred by study participants by comparing completion rates. Data collection occurred at baseline (pre-intervention) and 3-month follow-up (post-intervention). Paired sample t-tests were conducted to compare means for the following nutrients (grams and %kcal): calories, protein, carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fat, unsaturated fat and sodium. Intraclass correlation coefficients of agreement and coefficients of variation were further calculated. Chi-square tests were used to determine the dietary assessment method with the greatest participant completion rate. At baseline (n = 104), there were no significant differences between the results of the CDHQII and three 24-h recalls (averaged), with overall moderate correlation coefficients. At 3-months (n = 53), there were significant differences (p \u3c 0.05) between dietary intake collection methods for all nutrients assessed in this study, except for saturated fat (%kcal), unsaturated fat (%kcal), protein (%kcal) and sodium (mg). Correlation coefficients were moderate. A significantly greater proportion of participants completed the three 24-h recalls compared to the CDHQII after 3 months (completion rates of 67.2% vs. 50.8% of the sample, respectively). The CDHQII provided estimates of mean nutritional intake (calories, macronutrients and sodium) that were comparable to mean intake established from three 24-h recalls, at baseline and was validated in a sample of primarily middle-aged, college-educated, Caucasian female adults with overweight and obesity for mean baseline or cross-sectional measurement only but not for assessing individual/patient dietary intake in clinical practice (r = 0.30–0.68). This tool was not validated at 3-month follow-up. Additionally, participants preferred the three 24-h recalls to the online, past-month CDHQII

Behavioral correlates of the decision process in a dynamic environment: post-choice latencies reflect relative value and choice evaluation

One characteristic of natural environments is that outcomes vary across time. Animals need to adapt to these environmental changes and adjust their choices accordingly. In this experiment, we investigated the sensitivity with which rats could detect, and adapt to, multiple changes in the environment. Rats chose between two spouts which delivered 5% sucrose rewards with distinct probabilities. Across three phases, reward probabilities changed in size (large or small) and direction (increase or decrease). A discrete trial-structure was used, which allowed the choice process to be decomposed into three distinct response latency measures (choice execution latency, spout sampling duration, and trial-initiation latency). We found that a large decrease in reward probabilities rapidly produced the greatest change in choice proportions. The time taken to execute a choice reflected the differences in reward probabilities across the two spouts in some cases, but also reflected training history. By contrast, the amount of time rats spent responding at reward spouts in anticipation of reward consistently reflected the relative likelihood of reward across the two spouts and not the absolute probability of reward. The latency to initiate the subsequent trial reflected choice evaluation. These three response latencies thus indexed key behavioral correlates of the choice process as it unfolds in time. We discuss how this paradigm can be used to assess the corresponding neural correlates of decision-makin

Effects of Adolescent THC Exposure on the Prefrontal GABAergic System: Implications for Schizophrenia-Related Psychopathology.

Marijuana is the most commonly used drug of abuse among adolescents. Considerable clinical evidence supports the hypothesis that adolescent neurodevelopmental exposure to high levels of the principal psychoactive component in marijuana, -delta-9-tetrahydrocanabinol (THC), is associated with a high risk of developing psychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia later in life. This marijuana-associated risk is believed to be related to increasing levels of THC found within commonly used marijuana strains. Adolescence is a highly vulnerable period for the development of the brain, where the inhibitory GABAergic system plays a pivotal role in the maturation of regulatory control mechanisms in the central nervous system (CNS). Specifically, adolescent neurodevelopment represents a critical period wherein regulatory connectivity between higher-order cortical regions and sub-cortical emotional processing circuits such as the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system is established. Emerging preclinical evidence demonstrates that adolescent exposure to THC selectively targets schizophrenia-related molecular and neuropharmacological signaling pathways in both cortical and sub-cortical regions, including the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and mesolimbic DA pathway, comprising the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc). Prefrontal cortical GABAergic hypofunction is a key feature of schizophrenia-like neuropsychopathology. This GABAergic hypofunction may lead to the loss of control of the PFC to regulate proper sub-cortical DA neurotransmission, thereby leading to schizophrenia-like symptoms. This review summarizes preclinical evidence demonstrating that reduced prefrontal cortical GABAergic neurotransmission has a critical role in the sub-cortical DAergic dysregulation and schizophrenia-like behaviors observed following adolescent THC exposure

Position effects influence transvection in drosophila melanogaster

Transvection is an epigenetic phenomenon wherein regulatory elements communicate between different chromosomes in trans, and is thereby dependent upon the three-dimensional organization of the genome. Transvection is best understood in Drosophila, where homologous chromosomes are closely paired in most somatic nuclei, although similar phenomena have been observed in other species. Previous data have supported that the Drosophila genome is generally permissive to enhancer action in trans, a form of transvection where an enhancer on one homolog activates gene expression from a promoter on a paired homolog. However, the capacity of different genomic positions to influence the quantitative output of transvection has yet to be addressed. To investigate this question, we employed a transgenic system that assesses and compares enhancer action in cis and in trans at defined chromosomal locations. Using the strong synthetic eye-specific enhancer GMR, we show that loci supporting strong cis-expression tend to support robust enhancer action in trans, whereas locations with weaker cis-expression show reduced transvection in a fluorescent reporter assay. Our subsequent analysis is consistent with a model wherein the chromatin state of the transgenic insertion site is a primary determinant of the degree to which enhancer action in trans will be supported, whereas other factors such as locus-specific variation in somatic homolog pairing are of less importance in influencing position effects on transvection

Evaluation of a New Nutrition Education Curriculum and Factors Influencing Its Implementation

The study reported here evaluated a nutrition education curriculum through examining participant behavior change. A previously used curriculum (April - September 2005 and 2006) was compared to a new curriculum (April - September 2007) using pre- and post-program 24-hour dietary recalls and food behavior surveys. Participant, educator, and program variables were explored relative to behavior change. The new curriculum elicited behavior change similar to that elicited by the previous curriculum. Factors influencing behavior change included participant and educator race and educator experience. Participant and educator variables should be considered in future program/curriculum implementation

Comparing enhancer action in cis and in trans

Studies from diverse systems have shown that distinct interchromosomal interactions are a central component of nuclear organization. In some cases, these interactions allow an enhancer to act in trans, modulating the expression of a gene encoded on a separate chromosome held in close proximity. Despite recent advances in uncovering such phenomena, our understanding of how a regulatory element acts on another chromosome remains incomplete. Here, we describe a transgenic approach to better understand enhancer action in trans in Drosophila melanogaster. Using phiC31-based recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE), we placed transgenes carrying combinations of the simple enhancer GMR, a minimal promoter, and different fluorescent reporters at equivalent positions on homologous chromosomes so that they would pair via the endogenous somatic pairing machinery of Drosophila. Our data demonstrate that the enhancer GMR is capable of activating a promoter in trans and does so in a variegated pattern, suggesting stochastic interactions between the enhancer and the promoter when they are carried on separate chromosomes. Furthermore, we quantitatively assessed the impact of two concurrent promoter targets in cis and in trans to GMR, demonstrating that each promoter is capable of competing for the enhancer\u27s activity, with the presence of one negatively affecting expression from the other. Finally, the single-cell resolution afforded by our approach allowed us to show that promoters in cis and in trans to GMR can both be activated in the same nucleus, implying that a single enhancer can share its activity between multiple promoter targets carried on separate chromosomes. © 2012 by the Genetics Society of America