When Business Gets Involved: A case study of business community involvement in Illinois' early childhood education policy

As the first state to offer universal preschool to three?year?olds, Illinois' experience with early childhood education (ECE) policy reform efforts offers valuable lessons about how such change takes shape. The confluence of factors includes well?organized advocacy groups, the endurance to continue efforts over decades, a supportive governor, and an engaged business community. The description below details Illinois' ECE activities from 1992 to the present, with a particular focus on the business role in ECE policy. Chicago Metropolis 2020 was the main business group involved in ECE efforts, but, significantly, advocates and politicians also continuously cast the issues in language that would motivate economic and business interests

Big Lake Business Retention and Expansion: Summary Report

1 electronic resource (PDF). This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu.This program is sponsored locally by the following entities: Connexus Energy, Xcel Energy, First Federal Bank of Big Lake, Connections Etc., Big Lake Chamber of Commerce, Big Lake Economic Development Authority, City of Big Lake, Great River Energy, Big Lake Township, West Sherburne Tribune, First Financial Bank of Elk River, Coborns, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), and University of Minnesota Extension

Moving the Goal Posts: The Shift from Child Care Supply to Child Care Quality

Our latest report on early childhood education finds the original goals of 90s-era welfare reform produced state child care policies that had detrimental impacts on child care quality in Wisconsin and that may be difficult to reverse under the state's new quality ratings system.We find that as the child care subsidy system became operational, certain policy decisions produced results -- many of which were unintended -- that ended up boosting child care costs for the state while reducing child care quality. Those include: Creating a new, less regulated category of care provider, which was intended to allow parents broader choices in providers, quickly create jobs, and keep child care costs low for parents and the state.Sharing costs with parents by basing co-payments on the cost of care, as opposed to the parents' income, which would have allowed parents to opt for more costly care only if they wished to pay more out of pocket but which, ultimately, could not be implemented.Creating a more restrictive definition of "low-income," in order to serve the working poor in general, and not just those obtaining or seeking jobs as part of the W-2 program.Tying subsidy rates to prices in the private market, which was intended to provide low-income parents with access to the entire market while also relying on competition to keep the state's costs in check. Each of these four policies helped the state achieve its primary goal of providing a sufficient child care supply that would allow low-income parents to move from welfare to work, but at a high cost to the state and at the expense of quality within the child care market

Mora Business Retention and Expansion Strategies Program Summary Report

This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu.Initiative Foundation, City of Mora, Mora Economic Development Authority, Kanabec Area Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, University of Minnesota Extensio

Detestable or marvelous? Neuroanatomical correlates of character judgments

As we learn new information about the social and moral behaviors of other people, we form and update character judgments of them, and this can profoundly influence how we regard and act towards others. In the study reported here, we capitalized on two interesting neurological patient populations where this process of complex “moral updating” may go awry: patients with bilateral damage to ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and patients with bilateral damage to hippocampus (HC). We predicted that vmPFC patients, who have impaired emotion processing, would exhibit reduced moral updating, and we also investigated how moral updating might be affected by severe declarative memory impairment in HC patients. The vmPFC, HC, and brain-damaged comparison (BDC) participants made moral judgments about unfamiliar persons before and after exposure to social scenarios depicting the persons engaged in morally good, bad, or neutral behaviors. In line with our prediction, the vmPFC group showed the least amount of change in moral judgments, and interestingly, the HC group showed the most amount of change. These results suggest that the vmPFC and hippocampus play critical but complementary roles in updating moral character judgments about others: the vmPFC may attribute emotional salience to moral information, whereas the hippocampus may provide necessary contextual information from which to make appropriate character judgments

Correction. "The 5th edition of The World Health Organization Classification of Haematolymphoid Tumours: Lymphoid Neoplasms" Leukemia. 2022 Jul;36(7):1720-1748

We herein present an overview of the upcoming 5th edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Haematolymphoid Tumours focussing on lymphoid neoplasms. Myeloid and histiocytic neoplasms will be presented in a separate accompanying article. Besides listing the entities of the classification, we highlight and explain changes from the revised 4th edition. These include reorganization of entities by a hierarchical system as is adopted throughout the 5th edition of the WHO classification of tumours of all organ systems, modification of nomenclature for some entities, revision of diagnostic criteria or subtypes, deletion of certain entities, and introduction of new entities, as well as inclusion of tumour-like lesions, mesenchymal lesions specific to lymph node and spleen, and germline predisposition syndromes associated with the lymphoid neoplasms

Microarray analysis identifies IL-1 receptor type 2 as a novel candidate biomarker in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome

Abstract Background Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a disease associated with a high mortality rate. The initial phase is characterized by induction of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and influx of circulating inflammatory cells, including macrophages which play a pivotal role in the innate and adaptive immune responses to injury. Growing evidence points to phenotypic heterogeneity and plasticity between various macrophage activation states. Methods In this study, gene expression in alveolar macrophages and circulating leukocytes from healthy control subjects and patients with ARDS was assessed by mRNA microarray analysis. Results Both alveolar macrophages and circulating leukocytes demonstrated up-regulation of genes encoding chemotactic factors, antimicrobial peptides, chemokine receptors, and matrix metalloproteinases. Two genes, the pro-inflammatory S100A12 and the anti-inflammatory IL-1 decoy receptor IL-1R2 were significantly induced in both cell populations in ARDS patients, which was confirmed by protein quantification. Although S100A12 levels did not correlate with disease severity, there was a significant association between early plasma levels of IL-1R2 and APACHE III scores at presentation. Moreover, higher levels of IL-1R2 in plasma were observed in non-survivors as compared to survivors at later stages of ARDS. Conclusions These results suggest a hybrid state of alveolar macrophage activation in ARDS, with features of both alternative activation and immune tolerance/deactivation.. Furthermore, we have identified a novel plasma biomarker candidate in ARDS that correlates with the severity of systemic illness and mortality.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110660/1/12931_2015_Article_190.pd

Investigating Threats of Small Mammal Populations and Associated Predation in Captive Breeding Pens of New England Cottontail

The New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) is a shrubland habitat specialist, endangered in New Hampshire and Maine. Recovery efforts for this species include captive breeding programs, like outdoor captive breeding pens in Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Newington, NH. As with similar programs, there have been challenges with successfully breeding New England cottontails. The fencing and supplemental feeder in the outdoor breeding pen may impact the predators and small mammal communities, with potential negative consequences for cottontails. We hypothesized that the fenced enclosure would attract small mammals inside the pens, in turn attracting predators. We tested this hypothesis with live trapping of small mammals in three separate locations in and around the pen, including at and away from supplemental feeders. Camera traps were also placed at feeders and along the fence to monitor predators. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that small mammal captures and abundance estimated by the Schnabel method were the highest outside the pen; captures were lower near the feeder than away, while abundance estimates had the opposite pattern. Predators were primarily observed at supplemental feeders. This will inform decisions for captive breeding success

Kousseff syndrome caused by deletion of chromosome 22q11-13.

Kousseff syndrome was originally described by Boris Kousseff in 1984: Pediatrics 74:395-398 in three siblings whose main features were conotruncal heart defects, neural tube defects, and dysmorphic features. The proband is a white male who has spina bifida, shunted hydrocephalus, cleft palate, short stature, cognitive impairment, and the typical craniofacial features of velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS), including low-set and dysplastic ears, broad base of the nose, narrow alae nasi, and retrognathia. The family history is significant for a brother who died at 2 weeks of age with myelomeningocele, hydrocephalus, transposition of the great vessels, and unilateral renal agenesis, and a sister who died at 11 days of age with myelomeningocele, truncus arteriosus, hypocalcemia, and autopsy findings of absent thymus and parathyroid glands, consistent with DiGeorge anomaly. Given the clinical findings, family history, and recent knowledge that open neural tube defects can occur in VCFS/DiGeorge anomaly, FISH analysis for 22q11-13 deletion was performed on the proband. A deletion was detected in him and subsequently confirmed in his father. Molecular analysis on autopsy material confirmed the deletion in the proband's deceased brother. We suggest that individuals with neural tube defects associated with other anomalies such as congenital heart defects or cleft palate be evaluated for 22q deletions

Linezolid has unique immunomodulatory effects in post-influenza community acquired MRSA pneumonia.

INTRODUCTION:Post influenza pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity, with mortality rates approaching 60% when bacterial infections are secondary to multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens. Staphylococcus aureus, in particular community acquired MRSA (cMRSA), has emerged as a leading cause of post influenza pneumonia. HYPOTHESIS:Linezolid (LZD) prevents acute lung injury in murine model of post influenza bacterial pneumonia. METHODS:Mice were infected with HINI strain of influenza and then challenged with cMRSA at day 7, treated with antibiotics (LZD or Vanco) or vehicle 6 hours post bacterial challenge and lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) harvested at 24 hours for bacterial clearance, inflammatory cell influx, cytokine/chemokine analysis and assessment of lung injury. RESULTS:Mice treated with LZD or Vanco had lower bacterial burden in the lung and no systemic dissemination, as compared to the control (no antibiotic) group at 24 hours post bacterial challenge. As compared to animals receiving Vanco, LZD group had significantly lower numbers of neutrophils in the BAL (9×10(3) vs. 2.3×10(4), p < 0.01), which was associated with reduced levels of chemotactic chemokines and inflammatory cytokines KC, MIP-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-1β in the BAL. Interestingly, LZD treatment also protected mice from lung injury, as assessed by albumin concentration in the BAL post treatment with H1N1 and cMRSA when compared to vanco treatment. Moreover, treatment with LZD was associated with significantly lower levels of PVL toxin in lungs. CONCLUSION:Linezolid has unique immunomodulatory effects on host inflammatory response and lung injury in a murine model of post-viral cMRSA pneumonia