Strengthening Identities and Involvement of Aboriginal Children through Learning On Country.

Djarlgarra Koolunger (Canning River kids) is a culturally centred outdoor learning project referred to as ‘On Country Learning’ or OCL. The project explores Aboriginal connectedness to the spiritual, social, cultural, environmental and geographic dimensions of particular outdoor spaces. This allows Indigenous and non- Indigenous students and their educators to connect at what Nakata (2007) terms the ‘cultural interface’. OCL offers opportunities to transform the ways in which schools engage with Aboriginal perspectives whilst facilitating deep learning through what we describe as culturally responsive pedagogies. This paper stories the journey of Aboriginal students and their teachers, engaging in learning that is situated on Country. We examine the involvement of children when learning on Country and provide analysis using the Leuven Involvement Scales (1994). The analysis compares this group of children in a classroom context and an on Country context over a period of six months and provides preliminary evidence of the efficacy of this approach

From Pink Floyd to Pink Hill: Transforming Education From the Bricks in the Wall to the Connections of Country in Remote Aboriginal education.

In this paper, we present findings from an eighteen-month research project conducted in a remote community school in Western Australia. The data from this project includes documentation pertaining to the practices of educators engaging with Aboriginal Elders and children on Country. The aim of the project was to document the transformative potential of learning on Country for young Aboriginal children (4-8 years). We discuss our findings in the context of Pink Floyd’s metaphor of formal education being built and maintained as a Wall in which children are ‘just another brick’. We argue that education is an institution that produces and reproduces inequalities for Aboriginal children through conforming and colonial pedagogical practices. To support our analysis and framing of this research we draw on Habermas’ knowledge interests (1978) and MacNaughton’s curriculum positions (2003). Using this framework, we propose that transformative pedagogies necessitate the school and the community to be ‘ready, willing and able’ to engage in an approach to learning and teaching that is grounded in ‘Country’. We juxtapose the conforming pedagogies of the Wall with the transforming pedagogies represented by Pink Hill, a sacred feature of the landscape alongside the community where the research took place

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Dysregulated miRNA biogenesis downstream of cellular stress and ALS-causing mutations: a new mechanism for ALS

Interest in RNA dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) recently aroused upon discovering causative mutations in RNA-binding protein genes. Here, we show that extensive down-regulation of miRNA levels is a common molecular denominator for multiple forms of human ALS. We further demonstrate that pathogenic ALS-causing mutations are sufficient to inhibit miRNA biogenesis at the Dicing step. Abnormalities of the stress response are involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration, including ALS. Accordingly, we describe a novel mechanism for modulating microRNA biogenesis under stress, involving stress granule formation and re-organization of DICER and AGO2 protein interactions with their partners. In line with this observation, enhancing DICER activity by a small molecule, enoxacin, is beneficial for neuromuscular function in two independent ALS mouse models. Characterizing miRNA biogenesis downstream of the stress response ties seemingly disparate pathways in neurodegeneration and further suggests that DICER and miRNAs affect neuronal integrity and are possible therapeutic targets

Improvement of downstream processing of recombinant proteins by means of genetic engineering

Flaschel E, Friehs K. Improvement of downstream processing of recombinant proteins by means of genetic engineering. Biotechnology Advances. 1993;11(1):31-77.The rapid advancement of genetic engineering has allowed to produce an impressive number of proteins on a scale which would not have been achieved by classical biotechnology. At the beginning of this development research was focussed on elucidating the mechanisms of protein overexpression. The appearance of inclusion bodies may illustrate the success. In the meantime, genetic engineering is not only expected to achieve overexpression, but to improve the whole process of protein production. For downstream processing of recombinant proteins, the synthesis of fusion proteins is of primary importance. Fusion with certain proteins or peptides may protect the target protein from proteolytic degradation and may alter its solubility. Intracellular proteins may be translocated by means of fusions with signal peptides. Affinity tags as fusion complements may render protein separation and purification highly selective. These methods as well as similar ones for improving the downstream processing of proteins will be discussed on the basis of recent literature

A Cultural–Historical model to inform culturally responsive Pedagogies: Case studies of educational practices in Solomon Islands and Australia

The goal of education is often considered to be emancipation and empowerment. Yet, the capacity for education to emancipate and empower can be hindered when approaches and assumptions are not shared by all the participants in an education context. This is particularly true in contexts where one set of cultural assumptions and traditions have been forced onto another, such as in the process of colonisation. This chapter provides case studies of two contexts where colonisation has had an impact on the approaches to education: in an Indigenous community in Yamatji Country in Western Australia and another in Temotu Province in Solomon Islands. In both contexts, European-heritage approaches to learning have been forced onto Indigenous cultures with little understanding of, or cultural responsiveness to, the Indigenous communities themselves. These case studies are presented through the lens of Hedegaard’s (2009) model of perspectives, with the aim of illustrating why the approach used in one context has been achieved in a more culturally responsive manner than the other. Through adaptations to the model itself, this chapter seeks to explain how two educational approaches may be successful or unsuccessful in incorporating Indigenous traditions and knowledge. The descriptive power of the model also allows us to reconceptualise these existing tensions and reimagine more responsive future adaptations. We explore the utility of the adapted model for articulating the assumptions and approaches at play, and for providing potential ways forward. These ways forward facilitate a re-imagination of education as something more than mere preparation of children for workforce participation. We argue that the model proffers ways to provide equal respect for, and emphasis on, different cultures and traditions. It also provides ways to document and understand different cultures, with scope to learn from them in our endeavour to improve educational provision. In a world where the functionalist push to improve education is globalising and frequently silences or overlooks local knowledge, the authors contend that local communities should be central rather than peripheral to the curriculum. When this occurs, it is possible to reimagine ways in which pedagogy can emancipate and empower all members of the society