Everything is Political Now : Teaching Politics in the Age of Trump

Many American high school government and history teachers aim to convey curriculum content without bringing in their own personal political beliefs or biases. However, in the hyperpolarized political climate of the past decade, teachers have grappled with teaching their courses when potentially controversial political or cultural issues come up in class conversations or lessons. Their teaching decisions and the classroom environment can have an impact on students’ learning, mental health, and their own views on American politics, history, and culture. This qualitative, narrative inquiry study examined ten high school teachers’ practice of teaching politics in the age of Trump. Findings revealed that although the ten teacher participants from around the country keep their personal political views to themselves, students might be able to tell their political leanings based on tone, facial expression, or course materials. Furthermore, the rise of misinformation and disinformation from social media, cable media, and word of mouth continues to be a problem in the government and history classrooms. Finally, findings also revealed that over the past decade, school political climates have moved left, and fewer students openly identify as politically conservative. At the forefront of the participants’ work is student learning—with an emphasis on teaching students to think, but not how to think or what to think. Through this research, the lived experiences of these ten government and history teachers can help to educate other teachers and school leaders how to teach and lead in divided times, and allow readers of this study to reflect on their own practices

\u3cem\u3eLawrence v. Texas\u3c/em\u3e and Judicial Hubris

The republic will no doubt survive the Supreme Court\u27s decision, in Lawrence v. Texas, to invalidate laws against private, consensual sodomy, including those limited to homosexual behavior. Such laws are almost never enforced, and the rare prosecutions for such acts are necessarily capricious. So the principal direct effect of the Court\u27s decision is likely to be extremely limited, and largely salutary: a few individuals will be spared the bad luck of getting a criminal conviction for violating laws that are manifestly out of step with prevailing sexual mores. Nor are we likely to see anything like the intense political opposition generated by this decision\u27s most important doctrinal ancestor, Roe v. Wade. Millions of Americans regard Roe as judicial authorization for mass murder, and understandably continue to oppose the Court\u27s approach to abortion. One can hardly foresee a similar passion for overturning a judicial decision that merely eliminates a few haphazard prosecutions for private conduct that has no immediate effect on any third parties. Judging at least by what we see in the general press and popular entertainment media, most of the public can be counted on to respond to the immediate consequences of Lawrence with a yawn. If the Court was looking for a case in which to flex its political muscles with impunity, it could hardly have found a better candidate

DNMT inhibitors reverse a specific signature of aberrant promoter DNA methylation and associated gene silencing in AML

<b>Background</b>. Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are neoplastic disorders of hematopoietic stem cells. DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTi), 5-azacytidine (AzaC) and 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (Decitabine), benefit some MDS/AML patients. However, the role of DNMTi-induced DNA hypomethylation in regulation of gene expression in AML is unclear.<p></p> <b>Results. </b> We compared the effects of AzaC on DNA methylation and gene expression using whole-genome single-nucleotide bisulfite-sequencing (WGBS) and RNA-sequencing in OCI-AML3 (AML3) cells. For data analysis, we used an approach recently developed for discovery of differential patterns of DNA methylation associated with changes in gene expression, that is tailored to single-nucleotide bisulfite-sequencing data (Washington University Interpolated Methylation Signatures (WIMSi)). By this approach, a subset of genes upregulated by AzaC was found to be characterized by AzaC-induced signature methylation loss flanking the transcription start site. These genes are enriched for genes increased in methylation and decreased in expression in AML3 cells compared to normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Moreover, these genes are preferentially upregulated by Decitabine in human primary AML blasts, and control cell proliferation, death and development. <p></p> <b>Conclusions.</b> Our WGBS and WIMSi data analysis approach has identified a set of genes whose is methylation and silencing in AML is reversed by DNMTi. These genes are good candidates for direct regulation by DNMTi, and their reactivation by DNMTi may contribute to therapeutic activity. This study also demonstrates the ability of WIMSi to reveal relationships between DNA methylation and gene expression, based on single-nucleotide bisulfite-sequencing and RNA-seq data.<p></p&gt

A number or a person?: perspectives on credit scoring and fair mortgage lending: article four in a five-part series

This fourth article in a five-part series on credit scoring showcases three different perspectives. Up for debate is how lenders can ensure fair treatment to all mortgage applicants and how consumers can be educated about the effect their credit score has on loan pricing.Mortgage loans