Teacher Attitudes About Standardized Testing and Test Preparation: A Case Study

This study looks at how science teachers' attitudes about standardized testing affect the types of test preparation practice they choose. Interviews, both before and after state testing, classroom observations during test preparation, and documents from test preparation contributed evidence used to create case studies about two teachers. Teacher attitudes related to pressure they felt to obtain high scores, test preparation ethics, and inexperience with state testing contributed to the decisions the teachers made about test preparation. Education for teachers about what test preparation practices are appropriate and the format of the test could help other teachers make informed decisions about test preparation practices

'Truth is immortal': Balthasar Hubmaier (c.1480-1528) and the church fathers

Hubmaier's appeal to the fathers was inspired by humanist principles, especially ad fontes, restitutionism, and rejection of scholastic syllogism and glosses in favour of full, humanist editions of the fathers based on an improved focus on grammar and philology. However, Hubmaier confessionalized Humanism by commandeering its disciplines, principles, and accomplishments to advance a reforming program that centred around credobaptism and freedom of the will. This confessionalization of Humanism is reflected also in the way Hubmaier exploited a perceived Nicodemism in the disparity between Erasmus' private and public statements on baptism and appropriated his endorsement of the docete–baptizantes–docentes baptismal sequence in Mt. 28:19 and defence of free will. Further, Hubmaier's Catholic, nominalist, and humanist academic background ensured that study of the fathers was an intuitive activity as his Anabaptist convictions developed. His nominalist education under the mentorship of Johann Eck also seems to have factored into his moderate Augustinianism and use of the African bishop in defence of free will against the hyper-Augustinianism of Luther. Hubmaier used carefully selected, amenable patristic theologians and historical witnesses to verify that credobaptism was preserved by the fathers in continuity with the practice of the apostolic era, while infant baptism was introduced only later and gradually accepted in the second to fifth centuries until definitively ratified by Augustine and universally embraced by the Catholic, papal "particular church." This increasing confusion during the patristic era was thought by Hubmaier to reflect the hesitant acceptance of paedobaptism in his own day especially by Zwingli and Erasmus, which inspired his desire for a new ecumenical council to decide the correct form of baptism on the basis of Scripture and supporting patristic exegesis. Ultimately, Hubmaier not only cognitively accepted the teachings of the fathers on baptism and free will, but embraced them as co-affiliates with himself in the one, holy, apostolic ecclesia universalis in protest against the errant papal ecclesia particularis as per the composition of his ecclesiology

Science classroom activities and student situational engagement

This study examines the association between student situational engagement and classroom activities in secondary school science classrooms in Finland and the U.S. Situational engagement is conceptualised as times when students feel that a task is interesting and challenging to them and that they have the skills to complete it (see Schneider et al., 2016. Investigating optimal learning moments in U.S. and Finnish science classes. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53(3), 400-421. doi:10.1002/tea.21306). Data on situational engagement and classroom activities were obtained using the experience sampling method (ESM) from 247 Finnish students in 13 secondary science classrooms and 281 U.S. students in 18 secondary science classrooms. In both samples, the students tended to be situationally engaged only a small proportion of the time during their science classes. However, the Finnish students were more likely than the U.S. students to report being situationally engaged. To investigate when the students were most likely to report being situationally engaged, hierarchical logistic regression models were employed, which suggested that some classroom activities were associated with higher levels of student situational engagement than others. The Finnish students were more likely to report being situationally engaged when calculating and presenting scientific information. In the U.S., the students were more likely to report being situationally engaged while discussing scientific information and less likely when listening to the teacher. The results suggest that situational engagement is momentary and associated with specific science classroom activities.Peer reviewe

New insights into fetal mammary gland morphogenesis : differential effects of natural and environmental estrogens

An increased breast cancer risk during adulthood has been linked to estrogen exposure during fetal life. However, the impossibility of removing estrogens from the feto-maternal unit has hindered the testing of estrogen's direct effect on mammary gland organogenesis. To overcome this limitation, we developed an ex vivo culture method of the mammary gland where the direct action of estrogens can be tested during embryonic days (E) 14 to 19. Mouse mammary buds dissected at E14 and cultured for 5 days showed that estrogens directly altered fetal mammary gland development. Exposure to 0.1 pM, 10 pM, and 1 nM 17 beta-estradiol (E2) resulted in monotonic inhibition of mammary buds ductal growth. In contrast, Bisphenol-A (BPA) elicited a non-monotonic response. At environmentally relevant doses (1 mu M), BPA significantly increased ductal growth, as previously observed in vivo, while 1 mu M BPA significantly inhibited ductal growth. Ductal branching followed the same pattern. This effect of BPA was blocked by Fulvestrant, a full estrogen antagonist, while the effect of estradiol was not. This method may be used to study the hormonal regulation of mammary gland development, and to test newly synthesized chemicals that are released into the environment without proper assessment of their hormonal action on critical targets like the mammary gland.Peer reviewe

Introducing patient and public involvement practices to healthcare research in Austria : strategies to promote change at multiple levels

Patient and public involvement (PPI) in research is well-established in the UK. However, it can be challenging to introduce PPI to research communities where there is limited prior knowledge, experience or appreciation of PPI. We aimed to explore current PPI practices, experiences and ethical and operational challenges with PPI within our own research community in Austria, to inform strategies for supporting PPI in Austria going forward. We surveyed scientists at 21 research institutes of the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG) and representatives of 32 medical and university research ethics committees in Austria using online questionnaires. We analysed quantitative data using descriptive statistics, and we collated textual responses to open questions. We combined survey data with anecdotal evidence from our personal experience to summarise current challenges around implementing PPI in Austria. Nineteen scientists from nine research institutes indicated generally positive attitudes towards PPI. However, the majority reported they rarely or never involved patients and members of the public in roles of consultation, collaboration or control in research. Six of eight ethics committees were unfamiliar with PPI. We discern five current challenges to implementing PPI in Austria: lack of knowledge and skills for PPI among scientists, scepticism about the usefulness of PPI, conflation of PPI with qualitative research, uncertainty about ethical requirements for PPI and uncertainty about publishing PPI activities. We suggest that the provision of guidance about ethical requirements of PPI is a strategic priority. To address this, and following on from a recently introduced PPI training and grant scheme by the LBG, our surveys have initiated a dialogue with ethics committees and have informed the development of a checklist for ethical aspects of PPI. Our experiences may provide useful examples to others who seek to introduce or strengthen PPI practices within their own research communities. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Agent-based simulations for protecting nursing homes with prevention and vaccination strategies

Due to its high lethality amongst the elderly, the safety of nursing homes has been of central importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. With test procedures becoming available at scale, such as antigen or RT-LAMP tests, and increasing availability of vaccinations, nursing homes might be able to safely relax prohibitory measures while controlling the spread of infections (meaning an average of one or less secondary infections per index case). Here, we develop a detailed agent-based epidemiological model for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in nursing homes to identify optimal prevention strategies. The model is microscopically calibrated to high-resolution data from nursing homes in Austria, including detailed social contact networks and information on past outbreaks. We find that the effectiveness of mitigation testing depends critically on the timespan between test and test result, the detection threshold of the viral load for the test to give a positive result, and the screening frequencies of residents and employees. Under realistic conditions and in absence of an effective vaccine, we find that preventive screening of employees only might be sufficient to control outbreaks in nursing homes, provided that turnover times and detection thresholds of the tests are low enough. If vaccines that are moderately effective against infection and transmission are available, control is achieved if 80% or more of the inhabitants are vaccinated, even if no preventive testing is in place and residents are allowed to have visitors. Since these results strongly depend on vaccine efficacy against infection, retention of testing infrastructures, regular voluntary screening and sequencing of virus genomes is advised to enable early identification of new variants of concern.Comment: Supplementary material is included in the manuscript PD

Genetic Selection of Low Fertile Onchocerca volvulus by Ivermectin Treatment

Onchocerca volvulus is the causative agent of onchocerciasis, or “river blindness”. Ivermectin has been used for mass treatment of onchocerciasis for up to 18 years, and recently there have been reports of poor parasitological responses to the drug and evidence of drug resistance. Drug resistance has a genetic basis. In this study, genetic changes in β-tubulin, a gene associated with ivermectin resistance in nematodes, were seen in parasites obtained from the patients exposed to repeated ivermectin treatment compared with parasites obtained from the same patients before any exposure to ivermectin. Furthermore, the extent of the genetic changes was dependent on the level of ivermectin treatment exposure. This genetic selection was associated with a lower reproductive rate in the female parasites. The data indicates that this genetic selection is for a population of O. volvulus that is more tolerant to ivermectin. This selection could have implications for the development of ivermectin resistance in O. volvulus and for the ongoing onchocerciasis control programmes. Monitoring for the possible development and spread of ivermectin resistance, as part of the control programmes, should be implemented so that any foci of resistant parasites can be treated by alternative control measures

Impact of #PsychTwitter in promoting global psychiatry: A hashtag analysis study

Introduction: Multiple studies have shown how valuable Twitter hashtags can be for promoting content related to different themes in the online community. This arena has grown into a rich data source for public health observation and understanding key trends in healthcare on a global scale. In the field of mental health in particular, it would be of benefit to understand and report the key stakeholders' (individual mental health professionals, academic organizations and their countries) trends and patterns of psychiatric knowledge and information dissemination using #PsychTwitter. Objective(s): In this study, we aim to evaluate the achieved outreach of psychiatry-related tweets using the hashtag #PsychTwitter. Method(s): We utilized the Symplur Signals research analytics tool to characterize tweets containing #PsychTwitter from the 20th of August, 2019, to the 20th of August, 2022. Result(s): The #PsychTwitter movement resulted in 125,297 tweets that were shared by 40,058 Twitter users and generated a total of 492,565,230 impressions (views). The three largest identified groups of contributors were Doctors (13.8 of all tweets), Org. Advocacy (6.2 of all tweets), and Researcher/Academic (4 of all tweets) stakeholders. The top influential accounts consisted of 55 psychiatrists and 16 institutional or organizational accounts. The top 5 countries from where most of the tweets containing #PsychTwitter were shared include the United States (54.3 of all users), the United Kingdom (10.4 of all users), Canada (4.9 of all users), India (2 of all users), and Australia (1.8 of all users). Conclusion(s): This is the first of its kind study featuring the influence and usage of #PsychTwitter and covering its global impact in the field of psychiatry using the Twitter platform. Our results indicate that Twitter represents a broadly used platform for mental health-related discussions

Bibliometric analysis and evidence of clinical efficacy and safety of digital pills

Objectives: Digital pills are new technologies that aim to improve healthcare by increasing medication adherence. The aim of the work was a bibliometric analysis of clinical studies of digital pills and an assessment of the level of evidence of their effectiveness, safety, and prospects for the future.Materials and Methods: The studies were conducted using online databases such as ClinicalTrials.gov, Dimensions, and Web of Science for the period January 2012 to July 2022. The VOSviewer tool for building and visualizing bibliometric networks was used.Results: Bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature revealed that over the past 10 years, the number of publications about digital pills has noticeably increased, which indicates the increasing importance of this field of knowledge. The leading positions in this area are occupied by scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. Sources of financial support for authors of publications in the field of digital pills are funds from leading developer companies, budget allocations, and funds from non-commercial organizations. Public-private partnerships are an important path to develop and implement digital pills. The four main clusters of digital pill studies were highlighted and visualized: efficacy and safety analysis for serious mental disorders; treatment and costs of tuberculosis therapy; features of the treatment of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and AIDS; and usage monitoring. Available publications demonstrate the efficacy potential and safety of digital pills. Nevertheless, the effects of digital pills have not yet been fully studied.Conclusion: Priority areas for future research are further randomized controlled clinical trials and meta-analyses, which are necessary for a high level (I level) of evidence for therapeutic applications of digital pills, as well as pharmacoeconomic studies

Macrofilaricidal Activity after Doxycycline Only Treatment of Onchocerca volvulus in an Area of Loa loa Co-Endemicity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The control of onchocerciasis in Africa relies on the sustained delivery of ivermectin. In certain areas, annual treatments delivered with high population coverage for at least 15–17 years can break transmission. In other endemic settings this strategy alone is thought to be insufficient to eradicate the disease. One of the major limitations occurs in areas that are co-endemic with another filarial infection caused by Loa loa, due to the risk of a rare severe adverse event associated with the rapid killing of L. loa microfilariae in heavily parasitized individuals. There are also concerns over recent evidence of reduced efficacy of ivermectin and the possible development of resistance. An alternative approach is to target the Wolbachia bacterial endosymbionts of Onchocerca volvulus with the antibiotic, doxycycline. In an area of Cameroon co-endemic for onchocerciasis and loiasis we conducted a trial comparing doxycycline with or without ivermectin treatment to ivermectin treatment alone. A six-week course of doxycycline delivers macrofilaricidal and sterilizing activities, which is not dependent upon co-administration of ivermectin. Doxycycline is well tolerated in patients co-infected with moderate intensities of L. loa microfilariae. The trial indicates that anti-wolbachial therapy is a feasible alternative to ivermectin in communities co-endemic for onchocerciasis and loiasis