Character Education Instruction Integrated Through Literature in Elementary Classrooms

This country is suffering from a values vacuum, clearly evidenced by the increase in youth violence, as revealed in this researcher\u27s review of literature in Chapter 2. The purpose of this project was to facilitate elementary school educators in their critical need for the implementation of character education in their classrooms. To address the need for positive character education and development, this researcher developed a 6 week literature based curricular unit. The project was designed to provide Grades 1-3 educators with six introductory lessons and strategies for the integration of each of six core character traits throughout core curriculum. Further, to promote parental involvement, parent letters were provided which included specific examples for character reinforcement at home. The review of literature conducted by this researcher revealed that when students are taught in a supportive environment which promotes positive character traits, maximum teaching and learning can take place

HABITATTITUDE™: GETTING A BACKBONE ABOUT THE PET RELEASE PATHWAY

Many people would not consider their family complete without a pet. Unfortunately, for some pet owners, circumstances arise that prevent them from being able to properly care for their companions and pet abandonment has become one of the most common pathways of vertebrate species introduction. It is also one of the most challenging pathways to address once the animals become established, eradication and control programs face significant public scrutiny and are often challenged by “animal rights” groups. Prevention measures are thus the key to minimizing the size and impacts of the “pet release pathway.” Habitattitude™ is a proactive campaign designed and implemented by the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council and partners to prevent the introduction of unwanted pets into natural systems. The campaign has three components: (1) educating consumers to make wise pet choices, (2) providing resources to enable high standards in animal care and maintenance, and (3) encouraging pet owners to choose among several alternatives to the release of their pets if problems do arise. Habitattitude™ messages are being promoted in pet stores, product advertisements, industry trade shows, and industry-relevant magazines

Towards a multimedia remote viewer for mobile thin clients

Be there a traditional mobile user wanting to connect to a remote multimedia server. In order to allow them to enjoy the same user experience remotely (play, interact, edit, store and share capabilities) as in a traditional fixed LAN environment, several dead-locks are to be dealt with: (1) a heavy and heterogeneous content should be sent through a bandwidth constrained network; (2) the displayed content should be of good quality; (3) user interaction should be processed in real-time and (4) the complexity of the practical solution should not exceed the features of the mobile client in terms of CPU, memory and battery. The present paper takes this challenge and presents a fully operational MPEG-4 BiFS solution

A Global Exploration of Programme Theory within Surf Therapy

Mental health problems have been estimated as the biggest challenge facing global health in recent years (Vigo et al., 2016) and has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Usher et al., 2020). One novel approach to addressing this mental health crisis is the emergent ‘surf therapy’ paradigm which combines surf instruction/surfing and structured individual and/or group activities to promote psychological and physical well-being (International Surf Therapy Organisation, 2019). While surf therapy has been associated with a positive impact on mental health across many populations, a recent scoping review prioritised empirical understanding of surf therapy programme theory as a key priority for future research (Benninger et al., 2020). To address this knowledge gap, this programme of study conducted a qualitative investigation into surf therapy programme theory for a range of populations (military veterans in the USA, youth in post conflict Liberia, and youth at-risk-of or with mental health diagnosis in Australia). Findings from these studies had practical implications for optimisation of surf therapy delivery and were then compared to identify generalisable theoretical mediators. Physical and Emotional Safe Spaces, Positive Social Connections, Respite from Negative Emotions / Symptoms, and Transferable Mastery emerged in multiple studies. The consistent identification of the importance of safe spaces within intervention structures presents a learning of significance for mental health provision both for and out with the surf therapy paradigm. Alongside this the identification of the potential symptom reliving impact of ‘flow’ states (Csikszentmihalyi, 2002) as experienced within surf therapy provide a novel research priority for the future. Subsequently a Delphi style consultation with a different population (emergency service/healthcare workers in Scotland) built upon these findings to provide a framework for a novel surf therapy intervention with this population and an example of contextual adaption of theoretical mediators. The findings from the current research programme have presented an original and significant contribution to knowledge around programme theory within surf therapy and mental health. Taken together, all these conclusions make significant contributions to surf therapy’s aim of becoming a trusted, prescribed, and standard means of care in supporting global mental health (International Surf Therapy Organisation, 2018)

Sarcospan Regulates Cardiac Isoproterenol Response and Prevents Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy-Associated Cardiomyopathy.

BackgroundDuchenne muscular dystrophy is a fatal cardiac and skeletal muscle disease resulting from mutations in the dystrophin gene. We have previously demonstrated that a dystrophin-associated protein, sarcospan (SSPN), ameliorated Duchenne muscular dystrophy skeletal muscle degeneration by activating compensatory pathways that regulate muscle cell adhesion (laminin-binding) to the extracellular matrix. Conversely, loss of SSPN destabilized skeletal muscle adhesion, hampered muscle regeneration, and reduced force properties. Given the importance of SSPN to skeletal muscle, we investigated the consequences of SSPN ablation in cardiac muscle and determined whether overexpression of SSPN into mdx mice ameliorates cardiac disease symptoms associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy cardiomyopathy.Methods and resultsSSPN-null mice exhibited cardiac enlargement, exacerbated cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, and increased fibrosis in response to β-adrenergic challenge (isoproterenol; 0.8 mg/day per 2 weeks). Biochemical analysis of SSPN-null cardiac muscle revealed reduced sarcolemma localization of many proteins with a known role in cardiomyopathy pathogenesis: dystrophin, the sarcoglycans (α-, δ-, and γ-subunits), and β1D integrin. Transgenic overexpression of SSPN in Duchenne muscular dystrophy mice (mdx(TG)) improved cardiomyofiber cell adhesion, sarcolemma integrity, cardiac functional parameters, as well as increased expression of compensatory transmembrane proteins that mediate attachment to the extracellular matrix.ConclusionsSSPN regulates sarcolemmal expression of laminin-binding complexes that are critical to cardiac muscle function and protects against transient and chronic injury, including inherited cardiomyopathy

Sarcospan reduces dystrophic pathology: stabilization of the utrophin–glycoprotein complex

Mutations in the dystrophin gene cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy and result in the loss of dystrophin and the entire dystrophin–glycoprotein complex (DGC) from the sarcolemma. We show that sarcospan (SSPN), a unique tetraspanin-like component of the DGC, ameliorates muscular dystrophy in dystrophin-deficient mdx mice. SSPN stabilizes the sarcolemma by increasing levels of the utrophin–glycoprotein complex (UGC) at the extrasynaptic membrane to compensate for the loss of dystrophin. Utrophin is normally restricted to the neuromuscular junction, where it replaces dystrophin to form a functionally analogous complex. SSPN directly interacts with the UGC and functions to stabilize utrophin protein without increasing utrophin transcription. These findings reveal the importance of protein stability in the prevention of muscular dystrophy and may impact the future design of therapeutics for muscular dystrophies

The crystal structure of Pneumolysin at 2.0 Å resolution reveals the molecular packing of the pre-pore complex

Pneumolysin is a cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (CDC) and virulence factor of Streptococcus pneumoniae. It kills cells by forming pores assembled from oligomeric rings in cholesterol-containing membranes. Cryo-EM has revealed the structures of the membrane-surface bound pre-pore and inserted-pore oligomers, however the molecular contacts that mediate these oligomers are unknown because high-resolution information is not available. Here we have determined the crystal structure of full-length pneumolysin at 1.98 Å resolution. In the structure, crystal contacts demonstrate the likely interactions that enable polymerisation on the cell membrane and the molecular packing of the pre-pore complex. The hemolytic activity is abrogated in mutants that disrupt these intermolecular contacts, highlighting their importance during pore formation. An additional crystal structure of the membrane-binding domain alone suggests that changes in the conformation of a tryptophan rich-loop at the base of the toxin promote monomer-monomer interactions upon membrane binding by creating new contacts. Notably, residues at the interface are conserved in other members of the CDC family, suggesting a common mechanism for pore and pre-pore assembly

“When I Go There, I Feel Like I Can Be Myself.” Exploring Programme Theory within the Wave Project Surf Therapy Intervention

Mental health issues in young people are a priority for health and social care. Surf therapy is an innovative intervention that may help address this health burden globally. While increasing evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of surf therapy, there has been limited exploration as to how it achieves its outcomes. Such theoretical exploration is important for service optimisation, monitoring and proliferation. This research aimed to adopt, for the first time, a rigorous grounded theory approach to explore underlying programme theory within the Wave Project surf therapy intervention. Participants (n = 22, 14 males and 8 females; mean age = 14 years, SD = 3.5, range 8–23) were interviewed about their intervention experiences. Data were analysed through constant comparative analysis and memo writing. Two core categories reflected mediators by which surf therapy may achieve its outcomes: “Self-Selected Pacing and Progression While Surfing” and “Creation of Emotional and Physical Safe Space at Beach”. Three antecedent (linking known inputs to core categories) and three consequent categories (linking core categories to associated outputs) were also identified. These demonstrate theorised pathways from known inputs to associated outcomes within the intervention. These important findings provide plausible evidence on how to optimise the Wave Project’s delivery in tackling mental health burden

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Using Quadripolar Versus Non‐Quadripolar Left Ventricular Leads Programmed to Biventricular Pacing With Single‐Site Left Ventricular Pacing:Impact on Survival and Heart Failure Hospitalization

Background: In cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), quadripolar (QUAD) left ventricular (LV) leads are less prone to postoperative complications than non‐QUAD leads. Some studies have suggested better clinical outcomes. Methods and Results: Clinical events were assessed in 847 patients after CRT‐pacing or CRT‐defibrillation using either QUAD (n=287) or non‐QUAD (n=560), programmed to single‐site site LV pacing. Over a follow‐up period of 3.2 years (median [interquartile range, 1.90–5.0]), QUAD was associated with a lower total mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.20–0.52), cardiac mortality (aHR: 0.36, 95% CI, 0.20–0.65), and heart failure (HF) hospitalization (aHR: 0.62, 95% CI, 0.39–0.99), after adjustment for age, sex, New York Heart Association class, HF etiology, device type (CRT‐pacing or CRT‐defibrillation), comorbidities, atrial rhythm, medication, left ventricular ejection fraction, and creatinine. Death from pump failure was lower with QUAD (aHR: 0.33; 95% CI, 0.18–0.62), but no group differences emerged with respect to sudden cardiac death. There were no differences in implant‐related complications. Re‐interventions for LV displacement or phrenic nerve stimulation, which were lower with QUAD, predicted total mortality (aHR: 1.68, 95% CI, 1.11–2.54), cardiac mortality (aHR: 2.61, 95% CI, 1.66–4.11) and HF hospitalization (aHR: 2.09, 95% CI, 1.22–3.58). Conclusions: CRT using QUAD, programmed to biventricular pacing with single‐site LV pacing, is associated with a lower total mortality, cardiac mortality, and HF hospitalization. These trends were observed for both CRT‐defibrillation and CRT‐pacing, after adjustment for HF cause and other confounders. Re‐intervention for LV lead displacement or phrenic nerve stimulation was associated with worse outcomes

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Amidinourea and Triazine Congeners as Inhibitors of MDA-MB-231 Human Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation

A series of novel amidinourea derivatives has been synthesised and the new compounds have been evaluated as inhibitors of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell proliferation. In addition, a second series of triazine derivatives designed as rigid congeners of the amidinoureas was synthesised as well and the compounds were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity. Among the two series, the amidinourea 3d emerged as a potent anticancer hit compound with IC50 = 0.76 micormolar comparable to tamoxifen