A Perfect Match: Partnering with Education Faculty for Pedagogical Professional Development

A persistent challenge for many librarians is a lack of formal training in pedagogical techniques. In addition to lacking academic coursework in this area, librarians seldom look beyond their professional community for opportunities to develop these vital skills. Given the obvious parallels in mission and responsibilities, the field of education seems a natural fit. This chapter explores the benefits of crossdisciplinary professional development in the context of a collaboration between a librarian and an educational studies professor. Through alternating points of view, it presents the motivation for the partnership, the challenges it presented, and the positive outcomes for each participant. It also offers an in-depth look at the instructional development itself

Besitzt die Galle Lyssavirus schädigende Eigenschaften?: Kritische Bemerkungen zu den Aufsätzen von E. J. Frantzius u. H. Valée

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Razvoj in preizkus nove kokile vrste 8k za ulivanje ingotov iz orodnega jekla

The traditional production of machinery and tools at ŽĎAS, a. s., and the increasing requirements placed on the final product, particularly those related to the internal quality of forgings, requires new technological measures for the ingot’s casting and solidification. The development and use of the new mould type 8K9.2 for tool-steel ingot casting has reduced the share of forgings with unacceptable quality. A substantial improvement has been achieved, especially in terms of the occurrence of defects, such as cavities and cracks in the ingot body.Tradicionalna proizvodnja strojev in orodij v podjetju ŽĎAS, a. s., in naraščajoče zahteve pri lastnostih končnega proizvoda, ki so povezane z notranjo kakovostjo izkovkov, so zahtevale nove tehnološke ukrepe pri litju in strjevanju ingotov. Razvoj in uporaba nove kokile vrste 8K9.2 za litje jeklenih ingotov sta zmanjšala delež ingotov nesprejemljive kakovosti. Pomembno izboljšanje je bilo doseženo pri pogostosti napak, razpok in votlin v notranjosti ingota

Luteolin triggers global changes in the microglial transcriptome leading to a unique anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective phenotype

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Luteolin, a plant derived flavonoid, exerts a variety of pharmacological activities and anti-oxidant properties associated with its capacity to scavenge oxygen and nitrogen species. Luteolin also shows potent anti-inflammatory activities by inhibiting nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB) signaling in immune cells. To better understand the immuno-modulatory effects of this important flavonoid, we performed a genome-wide expression analysis in pro-inflammatory challenged microglia treated with luteolin and conducted a phenotypic and functional characterization.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Resting and LPS-activated BV-2 microglia were treated with luteolin in various concentrations and mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory markers were determined. DNA microarray experiments and bioinformatic data mining were performed to capture global transcriptomic changes following luteolin stimulation of microglia. Extensive qRT-PCR analyses were carried out for an independent confirmation of newly identified luteolin-regulated transcripts. The activation state of luteolin-treated microglia was assessed by morphological characterization. Microglia-mediated neurotoxicity was assessed by quantifying secreted nitric oxide levels and apoptosis of 661W photoreceptors cultured in microglia-conditioned medium.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Luteolin dose-dependently suppressed pro-inflammatory marker expression in LPS-activated microglia and triggered global changes in the microglial transcriptome with more than 50 differentially expressed transcripts. Pro-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic gene expression was effectively blocked by luteolin. In contrast, mRNA levels of genes related to anti-oxidant metabolism, phagocytic uptake, ramification, and chemotaxis were significantly induced. Luteolin treatment had a major effect on microglial morphology leading to ramification of formerly amoeboid cells associated with the formation of long filopodia. When co-incubated with luteolin, LPS-activated microglia showed strongly reduced NO secretion and significantly decreased neurotoxicity on 661W photoreceptor cultures.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings confirm the inhibitory effects of luteolin on pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in microglia. Moreover, our transcriptomic data suggest that this flavonoid is a potent modulator of microglial activation and affects several signaling pathways leading to a unique phenotype with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and neuroprotective characteristics. With the identification of several novel luteolin-regulated genes, our findings provide a molecular basis to understand the versatile effects of luteolin on microglial homeostasis. The data also suggest that luteolin could be a promising candidate to develop immuno-modulatory and neuroprotective therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.</p

Which conditions should be considered as disorders in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) designation of “other specified disorders due to addictive behaviors”?

© 2020 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial purposes, provided the original author and source are credited, a link to the CC License is provided, and changes – if any – are indicated.Background: Gambling and gaming disorders have been included as “disorders due to addictive behaviors” in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Other problematic behaviors may be considered as “other specified disorders due to addictive behaviors (6C5Y).” Methods: Narrative review, experts’ opinions. Results: We suggest the following meta-level criteria for considering potential addictive behaviors as fulfilling the category of “other specified disorders due to addictive behaviors”:1. Clinical relevance: Empirical evidence from multiple scientific studies demonstrates that the specific potential addictive behavior is clinically relevant and individuals experience negative consequences and functional impairments in daily life due to the problematic and potentially addictive behavior.2. Theoretical embedding: Current theories and theoretical models belonging to the field of research on addictive behaviors describe and explain most appropriately the candidate phenomenon of a potential addictive behavior.3. Empirical evidence: Data based on self-reports, clinical interviews, surveys, behavioral experiments, and, if available, biological investigations (neural, physiological, genetic) suggest that psychological (and neurobiological) mechanisms involved in other addictive behaviors are also valid for the candidate phenomenon.Varying degrees of support for problematic forms of pornography use, buying and shopping, and use of social networks are available.These conditions may fit the category of “other specified disorders due to addictive behaviors”. Conclusion: It is important not to overpathologize everyday-life behavior while concurrently not trivializing conditions that are of clinical importance and that deserve public health considerations. The proposed meta-level-criteria mayhelp guide both research efforts and clinical practice.Peer reviewe

Reduced splenic uptake on 68Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT imaging in multiple myeloma - a potential imaging biomarker for disease prognosis

Beyond being a key factor for tumor growth and metastasis in human cancer, C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is also highly expressed by a number of immune cells, allowing for non-invasive read-out of inflammatory activity. With two recent studies reporting on prognostic implications of the spleen signal in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in patients with plasma cell dyscrasias, the aim of this study was to correlate splenic (68)Ga-Pentixafor uptake in multiple myeloma (MM) with clinical parameters and to evaluate its prognostic impact. METHODS: Eighty-seven MM patients underwent molecular imaging with (68)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT. Splenic CXCR4 expression was semi-quantitatively assessed by peak standardized uptake values (SUV(peak)) and corresponding spleen-to-bloodpool ratios (TBR) and correlated with clinical and prognostic features as well as survival parameters. RESULTS: (68)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT was visually positive in all MM patients with markedly heterogeneous tracer uptake in the spleen. CXCR4 expression determined by (68)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT corresponded with advanced disease and was inversely associated with the number of previous treatment lines as compared to controls or untreated smouldering multiple myeloma patients (SUV(peak)Spleen 4.06 ± 1.43 vs. 6.02 ± 1.16 vs. 7.33 ± 1.40; (P5.79 ((P<) 0.001). Multivariate Cox analysis confirmed SUV(peak)Spleen as an independent predictor of survival (HR 0.75;P= 0.009). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that splenic (68)Ga-Pentixafor uptake might provide prognostic information in pre-treated MM patients similar to what was reported for diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Further research to elucidate the underlying biologic implications is warranted

“It's like giving him a piece of me.”: Exploring UK and Israeli women's accounts of motherhood and feeding

Objective The present study explored how Israeli and UK mothers integrate feeding into their conceptualisations of mothering 2–6 months post-partum. Background The nature and importance of motherhood is subject to differential contextual, cultural, political and historical influences. We set out to compare experiences of motherhood and feeding between these two countries using a qualitative approach. Methods Forty one women (mean age 36.4 ± 2.7 years) from Israel and the UK, mostly married or in a committed relationship were interviewed about their experience of pregnancy, motherhood and feeding. Data were analysed thematically. Results The experience of motherhood in the early postnatal period was dominated, for all mothers, by the experience of breastfeeding and clustered around three representations of mothering, namely; 1) a devoted mother who ignores her own needs; 2) a mother who is available for her infant but acknowledges her needs as well; and 3) a struggling mother for whom motherhood is a burden. Such representations existed within both cultural groups and sometimes coexisted within the same mothers. UK women described more struggles within motherhood whereas a tendency towards idealising motherhood was observed for Israeli women. Conclusion There are similarities in the ways that UK and Israeli women experienced motherhood and feeding. Where family life is strongly emphasized, mothers reported extremes of idealism and burden and associated an “ideal” mother with a breastfeeding mother. Where motherhood is represented as just one of many roles women take up, they are more likely to represent a “good enough” approach to mothering. Understanding the experience of motherhood and feeding in different cultural settings is important to provide the context for postnatal care specifically where mothers are reluctant to share problems or difficulties encountered

An extreme-mass ratio, short-period eclipsing binary consisting of a B dwarf primary and a pre-main-sequence M star companion discovered by KELT

We present the discovery of KELT J072709 + 072007 (HD 58730), a very low mass ratio (q ≡ M2/M1 ≈ 0.07) eclipsing binary (EB) identified by the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) survey. We present the discovery light curve and perform a global analysis of four high-precision ground-based light curves, the Transiting Exoplanets Survey Satellite (TESS) light curve, radial velocity (RV) measurements, Doppler Tomography (DT) measurements, and the broad-band spectral energy distribution. Results from the global analysis are consistent with a fully convective (M2 = 0.22 ± 0.02 M☉) M star transiting a late-B primary (M1 = 3.34+−000709 M☉ and Teff,1 = 11960+−430520 K). We infer that the primary star is 183+−3330 Myr old and that the companion star's radius is inflated by 26 ± 8 per cent relative to the predicted value from a low-mass isochrone of similar age. We separately and analytically fit for the variability in the out-of-eclipse TESS phase curve, finding good agreement between the resulting stellar parameters and those from the global fit. Such systems are valuable for testing theories of binary star formation and understanding how the environment of a star in a close-but-detached binary affects its physical properties. In particular, we examine how a star's properties in such a binary might differ from the properties it would have in isolation