Looking back at slow employment growth

An analysis of slower-than-normal employment growth in the post-1991 economic recovery, examining trends at both the state and national level and finding a widespread weakness in the rate of job addition in growing industries, rather than an unusually high job deletion rate in contracting industries.Employment (Economic theory) ; Economic conditions - United States

Transformative Learning in Nicaragua: A Retrospective Analysis of University Agriculture Students’ Long-Term Changes in Perspective After a Study Abroad Course

Study abroad courses have become a priority for institutions of higher education because of a need to broaden students’ perspectives of the world. However, a dearth of knowledge existed regarding whether the reported outcomes of study abroad courses, such changes to students’ perspectives, endure over time. In response, this retrospective study explored how university agriculture students’ (n = 5) shared experiences during a one-week study abroad course to Nicaragua influenced their long-term changes in perspective after returning to the U.S. in 2018. Through our phenomenological analysis, three themes emerged: (1) dichotomous learning outcomes, (2) recognition of power and privilege, and (3) advocacy for global experiences. In the first theme, dichotomous learning outcomes, participants’ long-term changes in perspective appeared to vary based on their level of academic maturity. Meanwhile, in the second theme, as university agriculture students compared their lived experiences in Nicaragua to their existing assumptions of the U.S., it appeared to elicit powerful shifts concerning how they viewed the world. And, as a result, they reported their experiences prompted them to consider the implications of social inequities more deeply. In the final theme, participants reported that after returning home, they began to advocate for global experiences among their peers, family, and friends. Consequently, our findings supported the use of short-term study abroad courses to foster a positive transformation in students’ global perspectives and behaviors after returning to the U.S

Social cognition in schizophrenia: factor structure, clinical and functional correlates

Social cognition is consistently impaired in people with schizophrenia, separable from general neurocognition, predictive of real-world functioning, and amenable to psychosocial treatment. Few studies have empirically examined its underlying factor structure

The Effects of Continuous Improvement Practices Using State Value-Added Data for Reading Educator Program Enhancement

Louisiana’s value-added evaluation of teacher preparation programs has provided a salient impetus for program improvement; however, due to the nature of the assessment, teacher preparation programs need to use additional sources of data to identify actionable responses to the value-added results. This paper describes one teacher preparation program’s approach to continuous program improvement in reading education and describes some of the limitations and benefits of value-added assessment results for that purpose

Sertraline, Paroxetine, and Chlorpromazine Are Rapidly Acting Anthelmintic Drugs Capable of Clinical Repurposing.

Parasitic helminths infect over 1 billion people worldwide, while current treatments rely on a limited arsenal of drugs. To expedite drug discovery, we screened a small-molecule library of compounds with histories of use in human clinical trials for anthelmintic activity against the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. From this screen, we found that the neuromodulatory drugs sertraline, paroxetine, and chlorpromazine kill C. elegans at multiple life stages including embryos, developing larvae and gravid adults. These drugs act rapidly to inhibit C. elegans feeding within minutes of exposure. Sertraline, paroxetine, and chlorpromazine also decrease motility of adult Trichuris muris whipworms, prevent hatching and development of Ancylostoma caninum hookworms and kill Schistosoma mansoni flatworms, three widely divergent parasitic helminth species. C. elegans mutants with resistance to known anthelmintic drugs such as ivermectin are equally or more susceptible to these three drugs, suggesting that they may act on novel targets to kill worms. Sertraline, paroxetine, and chlorpromazine have long histories of use clinically as antidepressant or antipsychotic medicines. They may represent new classes of anthelmintic drug that could be used in combination with existing front-line drugs to boost effectiveness of anti-parasite treatment as well as offset the development of parasite drug resistance

A Microfluidic Device for Whole-Animal Drug Screening Using Electrophysiological Measures in the Nematode C. Elegans

This paper describes the fabrication and use of a microfluidic device for performing whole-animal chemical screens using non-invasive electrophysiological readouts of neuromuscular function in the nematode worm, C. elegans. The device consists of an array of microchannels to which electrodes are attached to form recording modules capable of detecting the electrical activity of the pharynx, a heart-like neuromuscular organ involved in feeding. The array is coupled to a tree-like arrangement of distribution channels that automatically delivers one nematode to each recording module. The same channels are then used to perfuse the recording modules with test solutions while recording the electropharyngeogram (EPG) from each worm with sufficient sensitivity to detect each pharyngeal contraction. The device accurately reported the acute effects of known anthelmintics (anti-nematode drugs) and also correctly distinguished a specific drug-resistant mutant strain of C. elegans from wild type. The approach described here is readily adaptable to parasitic species for the identification of novel anthelmintics. It is also applicable in toxicology and drug discovery programs for human metabolic and degenerative diseases for which C. elegans is used as a model.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

Observable Social Cognition – A Rating Scale: an interview-based assessment for schizophrenia

Individuals with schizophrenia consistently show impairments in social cognition (SC). SC has become a potential treatment target due to its association with functional outcomes. An alternative method of assessment is to administer an observer-based scale incorporating an informant’s “first hand” impressions in ratings

In vivo imaging of prodromal hippocampus CA1 subfield oxidative stress in models of Alzheimer disease and Angelman syndrome

Hippocampus oxidative stress is considered pathogenic in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease (AD), and in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Angelman syndrome (AS). Yet clinical benefits of antioxidant treatment for these diseases remain unclear because conventional imaging methods are unable to guide management of therapies in specific hippocampus subfields in vivo that underlie abnormal behavior. Excessive production of paramagnetic free radicals in nonhippocampus brain tissue can be measured in vivo as a greaterâ thanâ normal 1/T1 that is quenchable with antioxidant as measured by quenchâ assisted (Quest) MRI. Here, we further test this approach in phantoms, and we present proofâ ofâ concept data in models of ADâ like and AS hippocampus oxidative stress that also exhibit impaired spatial learning and memory. ADâ like models showed an abnormal gradient along the CA1 dorsalâ ventral axis of excessive free radical production as measured by Quest MRI, and redoxâ sensitive calcium dysregulation as measured by manganeseâ enhanced MRI and electrophysiology. In the AS model, abnormally high free radical levels were observed in dorsal and ventral CA1. Quest MRI is a promising in vivo paradigm for bridging brain subâ field oxidative stress and behavior in animal models and in human patients to better manage antioxidant therapy in devastating neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases.â Berkowitz, B. A., Lenning J., Khetarpal, N., Tran, C., Wu, J. Y., Berri, A. M., Dernay, K., Haacke, E. M., Shafieâ Khorassani, F., Podolsky, R. H., Gant, J. C., Maimaiti, S., Thibault, O., Murphy, G. G., Bennett, B. M., Roberts, R. In vivo imaging of prodromal hippocampus CA1 subfield oxidative stress in models of Alzheimer disease and Angelman syndrome. FASEB J. 31, 4179â 4186 (2017). www.fasebj.orgâ Berkowitz, Bruce A., Lenning, Jacob, Khetarpal, Nikita, Tran, Catherine, Wu, Johnny Y., Berri, Ali M., Dernay, Kristin, Haacke, E. Mark, Shafieâ Khorassani, Fatema, Podolsky, Robert H., Gant, John C., Maimaiti, Shaniya, Thibault, Olivier, Murphy, Geoffrey G., Bennett, Brian M., Roberts, Robin, In vivo imaging of prodromal hippocampus CA1 subfield oxidative stress in models of Alzheimer disease and Angelman syndrome. FASEB J. 31, 4179â 4186 (2017)Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154241/1/fsb2fj201700229r.pd