Young people’s civic attitudes and practices: England’s outcomes from the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) - Research Report DFE-RR060

"ICCS is a large-scale study of pupil knowledge and understanding, dispositions and attitudes, which is administered across 38 countries worldwide. The results presented in this summary are based upon England’s national dataset, with reference to international- and European-level findings, and to findings from the IEA Civic Education Study (CIVED), which took place in 1999." - Background

Hypergraph Representations and Orders of Cwatsets

We determine upper bounds on the order of cwatsets of odd order

Decarbonizing development: three steps to a zero-carbon future

This report lays out three steps for a smooth transition to a zero-carbon future and provides data, examples and policy advice to help countries makes the shift. Overview Getting to zero net emissions and stabilizing climate change starts with planning for the long-term future and not stopping at short-term goals. It means getting prices right as part of a broad policy package that can trigger changes in both investments and behaviors, and it requires smoothing the transition for those most affected. A new World Bank report walks policymakers through those three steps with data, examples and policy advice to help put countries on a path to decarbonizing their development in a smooth and orderly way. The solutions exist, and they are affordable – if governments take action today, the report says

A Basis for the Top Homology of a Generalized Partition Lattice

For a fixed positive integer k, consider the collection of all affine hyperplanes in n-space given by xi − xj = m, where i, j ∈ [n], i ≠ j, and m ∈ {0, 1,..., k}. Let Ln,k be the set of all nonempty affine subspaces (including the empty space) which can be obtained by intersecting some subset of these affine hyperplanes. Now give Ln,k a lattice structure by ordering its elements by reverse inclusion. The symmetric group Gn acts naturally on Ln,k by permuting the coordinates of the space, and this action extends to an action on the top homology of Ln,k. It is easy to show by computing the character of this action that the top homology is isomorphic as an Gn-module to a direct sum of copies of the regular representation, CGn. In this paper, we construct an explicit basis for the top homology of Ln,k, where the basis elements are indexed by all labelled, rooted, (k + 1)-ary trees on n-vertices in which the root has no 0-child. This construction gives an explicit Gn-equivariant isomorphism between the top homology of Ln,k and a direct sum of copies of CGn.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46306/1/10801_2004_Article_187203.pd

Study protocol: The Adherence and Intensification of Medications (AIM) study - a cluster randomized controlled effectiveness study

Abstract Background Many patients with diabetes have poor blood pressure (BP) control. Pharmacological therapy is the cornerstone of effective BP treatment, yet there are high rates both of poor medication adherence and failure to intensify medications. Successful medication management requires an effective partnership between providers who initiate and increase doses of effective medications and patients who adhere to the regimen. Methods In this cluster-randomized controlled effectiveness study, primary care teams within sites were randomized to a program led by a clinical pharmacist trained in motivational interviewing-based behavioral counseling approaches and authorized to make BP medication changes or to usual care. This study involved the collection of data during a 14-month intervention period in three Department of Veterans Affairs facilities and two Kaiser Permanente Northern California facilities. The clinical pharmacist was supported by clinical information systems that enabled proactive identification of, and outreach to, eligible patients identified on the basis of poor BP control and either medication refill gaps or lack of recent medication intensification. The primary outcome is the relative change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) measurements over time. Secondary outcomes are changes in Hemoglobin A1c, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), medication adherence determined from pharmacy refill data, and medication intensification rates. Discussion Integration of the three intervention elements - proactive identification, adherence counseling and medication intensification - is essential to achieve optimal levels of control for high-risk patients. Testing the effectiveness of this intervention at the team level allows us to study the program as it would typically be implemented within a clinic setting, including how it integrates with other elements of care. Trial Registration The ClinicalTrials.gov registration number is NCT00495794.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78258/1/1745-6215-11-95.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78258/2/1745-6215-11-95.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78258/3/1745-6215-11-95-S1.DOCPeer Reviewe

Lower limb MSK injuries among school-aged rugby and football players: a systematic review

Objective The objective of this systematic review was to explore the incidence of lower limb musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries sustained by rugby union, rugby league, soccer, Australian Rules and Gaelic football players under 18 years. The review sought to identify the mechanisms and types of injury sustained and to compare between sports.Design This systematic review focused on the incidence of lower limb injury in adolescent team sports that involved running and kicking a ball. A literature search of studies published prior to January 2020 was conducted using SportDiscus, Medline and PubMed databases. The Standard Quality Assessment Criteria appraisal tool was used to assess the quality of each article included in the review. Two or more authors independently reviewed all papers.Results Sixteen papers met the inclusion criteria; prospective cohort (N=14), retrospective (n=1) and longitudinal (n=1). These studies investigated injuries in rugby union and rugby league (n=10), football (soccer) (n=3), Australian Rules (n=2) and Gaelic football (n=1). There were a total of 55 882 participants, aged 7–19 years old, who reported 6525 injuries. The type, site and mechanisms of injury differed across sports.Summary Lower limb injuries were common in adolescent rugby, soccer, Gaelic football and Australian Rules football players, however these studies may not fully reflect the true injury burden where recurrent and overuse injuries have not been considered. There were differences between sports in the mechanisms, types and severity of injury

Efficient gene delivery and silencing of mouse and human pancreatic islets

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In view of the importance of beta cells in glucose homeostasis and the profound repercussions of beta cell pathology on human health, the acquisition of tools to study pancreatic islet function is essential for the design of alternative novel therapies for diabetes. One promising approach toward this goal involves the modification of gene expression profile of beta cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This study describes a new method of gene and siRNA delivery into human pancreatic islets by microporation technology. We demonstrated that mild islet distention with accutase greatly enhanced the transfection efficiency without compromising in vitro function (secretion, apoptosis and viability). As an example, the recently identified gene involved in type 2 diabetes, ZnT8, can be over-expressed or silenced by RNA interference using this technology. Microporation can also be used on rodent islets.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Taken together, our results demonstrate that microporation technology can be used to modify gene expression in whole rodent and human islets without altering their in vitro function and will be key to the elucidation of the factors responsible for proper islet function.</p