Evaluating Alternative Instructional Strategies to Improve Sixth Graders\u27 Reading Comprehension.

Although little empirical evidence supporting various instructional strategies for teaching reading comprehension exists, many educators utilize particular strategies assuming their effectiveness. Because difficulties with comprehension are intensified as students reach the intermediate grades, it is necessary that middle school educators instruct using strategies empirically supported through research. This mixed-method study examined the effectiveness of the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (Stauffer, 1969), the PreP technique (Langer, 1981), and graphic organizers (Barron, 1969), three popular strategies among middle school teachers. Six teachers participated in the two-group design, pretest/posttest study; over a seven-week period, three of the teachers instructed their sixth-grade students using lessons constructed with the strategies (n = 103). Results indicate a significant difference (p \u3c .05) between the groups according to an informal procedure; a formal test indicated no significant difference between the groups. Qualitative observational data in the form of fieldnotes and interview data indicate motivational differences between the groups and suggest areas for revision and extension of the lessons

Defective phagocytic corpse processing results in neurodegeneration and can be rescued by TORC1 activation

This work was supported by NIH Grants R01 GM094452 (K.M.) and F31 GM099425 (J.I.E.), BU Alzheimer's Disease Core Center NIH Grant P30 AG13846, Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program grants (J.A.T., V.S.), and NIH Grant R01 AG044113 to M.B.F. We thank the Bloomington Stock Center, TRiP at Harvard Medical School, the Kyoto Drosophila Genetic Resource Center, Estee Kurant, Eric Baehrecke, Marc Freeman, and Mary Logan for fly strains. We thank Todd Blute for assistance with electron microscopy and the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank for antibodies. (R01 GM094452 - NIH; F31 GM099425 - NIH; R01 AG044113 - NIH; P30 AG13846 - BU Alzheimer's Disease Core Center NIH Grant; Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program)https://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/11/3170.longPublished versionPublished versio

Renegotiating father’s identity following stillbirth: what and who am I?

This study examines the experiences of men following stillbirth in particular the challenges they face in claiming their identity as a father of an absent child. Fathers felt diminished when concerns about how they were coping were directed only to the women. Contrary to the notion that father’s experience suggests men suffer less distress, this research shows that men also deal with loss at an emotional level. This investigation into men’s accounts of loss forms part of a larger study in which 28 men and women participated in interviews and focus groups about their experiences of perinatal death. By listening to narrative accounts of loss, the passage to parenthood for bereaved men represents a disruption and re-evaluation of who they are, what they knew about the world as they negotiate the incomprehensibility of the death itself. Narratives by bereaved men also reveal how their sense of self and identity is mediated by the social and cultural milieu to which they belong and are largely disenfranchising experiences when friends, family and others, at times, fail to acknowledge the enormity of their loss. The findings suggest that recognition of the death of baby who is stillborn as well as the impact of the death for father’s is intertwined with personal identity. Men in this study needed to receive recognition as fathers, both at the time of their loss and after. In examining the reproductive and bereavement journey of men, several domains occurred to illuminate the experience of men including; men as support partners; the impact of the death; parenting an absent child [advocate, protector]. The findings from this study will offer insight into the experiences of men that will resonate for others including practitioners who support individuals going through similar experiences. Ethical approval for the study was granted by the University of Bristol Ethics Committee as part of doctoral research. Written informed consent was obtained by all study participants. No formal recruitment was obtained through the National Health Service or Government Institution and was entirely voluntary

Mechanistic Study of the Effect of Endothelin SNPs in Microvascular Angina – protocol of the PRIZE Endothelin Sub-Study

Introduction Microvascular angina (MVA) is a common cause of ischemia with non-obstructive coronary arteries (INOCA) and limited therapeutic options are available to those affected. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor implicated in the pathophysiology of MVA. A large randomised, double blinded, placebo controlled crossover trial, the PRecIsion medicine with ZibotEntan in microvascular angina (PRIZE) trial is currently underway, investigating an endothelin receptor antagonist – Zibotentan, as a new drug treatment for microvascular angina. The trial uses a 'precision medicine' approach by preferential selection of those with higher ET-1 expression conferred by the PHACTR1 minor G allele single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). The incidence of this SNP occurs in approximately one third of the population therefore a considerable number of screened patients will be ineligible for randomisation and the treatment phase of the trial. Methods In the PRIZE Endothelin (ET) Sub-Study, patients screened out of the PRIZE trial will be genotyped for other genetic variants in the ET-1 pathway. These will be correlated with phenotypic characteristics including exercise tolerance, angina severity and quantitative measures of microvascular function on cardiovascular MRI as well as mechanistic data on endothelin pathway signalling. Conclusions The study will provide a comprehensive genotype and phenotype bio-resource identifying novel ET-1 genotypes to inform the potential wider use of endothelin receptor antagonists for this indication.Wellcome Trust [WT107715/Z/15/Z, APD], British Heart Foundation [CB, RE/18/6134217], Medical Research Council [CB, MR/S018905/1], ].Jon Moulton Charity Trust [GRA, SPH

Housing and Ageing:Let’s get serious-“how do you plan for the future while addressing immediate chaos?"

This article presents findings from the Housing and Ageing programme conducted in 2018 that investigated how the housing sector can effectively plan for an ageing population. The project took a transdisciplinary approach to focus on new, critical insights into the process of decision making concerning housing and ageing across Scotland, England and Wales. A ‘Serious Game’ methodology was developed that explored over 200 policy maker, practitioner and service user perspectives. This was used as a framework to capture priorities, decisions, negotiations and processes that indicate how a ‘sense of place’ and ‘place belonging’ can influence the development of suitable housing for older people. Key housing provision challenges identified were tackling inequality, preserving autonomy, in(ter)dependence, empowerment and accessibility. Such challenges need consideration when strategically planning for the future. The findings recommend placing housing at the heart of service integration to support the co-production of decisions that emphasise the importance of working together across boundaries within social policy, service and stakeholder groups. A place-based approach can support the perception that we are all stakeholders in ageing

The TREAT-NMD advisory committee for therapeutics (TACT): an innovative de-risking model to foster orphan drug development.

Despite multiple publications on potential therapies for neuromuscular diseases (NMD) in cell and animal models only a handful reach clinical trials. The ability to prioritise drug development according to objective criteria is particularly critical in rare diseases with large unmet needs and a limited numbers of patients who can be enrolled into clinical trials. TREAT-NMD Advisory Committee for Therapeutics (TACT) was established to provide independent and objective guidance on the preclinical and development pathway of potential therapies (whether novel or repurposed) for NMD.We present our experience in the establishment and operation of the TACT. TACT provides a unique resource of recognized experts from multiple disciplines. The goal of each TACT review is to help the sponsor to position the candidate compound along a realistic and well-informed plan to clinical trials, and eventual registration. The reviews and subsequent recommendations are focused on generating meaningful and rigorous data that can enable clear go/no-go decisions and facilitate longer term funding or partnering opportunities. The review process thereby acts to comment on viability, de-risking the process of proceeding on a development programme.To date TACT has held 10 review meeting and reviewed 29 program applications in several rare neuromuscular diseases: Of the 29 programs reviewed, 19 were from industry and 10 were from academia; 15 were for novel compounds and 14 were for repurposed drugs; 16 were small molecules and 13 were biologics; 14 were preclinical stage applications and 15were clinical stage applications. 3 had received Orphan drug designation from European Medicines Agency and 3 from Food and Drug Administration. A number of recurrent themes emerged over the course of the reviews and we found that applicants frequently require advice and education on issues concerned with preclinical standard operating procedures, interactions with regulatory agencies, formulation, repurposing, clinical trial design, manufacturing and ethics.Over the 5 years since its establishment TACT has amassed a body of experience that can be extrapolated to other groups of rare diseases to improve the community\u27s chances of successfully bringing new rare disease drugs to registration and ultimately to market

The TREAT-NMD advisory committee for therapeutics (TACT): an innovative de-risking model to foster orphan drug development

Despite multiple publications on potential therapies for neuromuscular diseases (NMD) in cell and animal models only a handful reach clinical trials. The ability to prioritise drug development according to objective criteria is particularly critical in rare diseases with large unmet needs and a limited numbers of patients who can be enrolled into clinical trials. TREAT-NMD Advisory Committee for Therapeutics (TACT) was established to provide independent and objective guidance on the preclinical and development pathway of potential therapies (whether novel or repurposed) for NMD. We present our experience in the establishment and operation of the TACT. TACT provides a unique resource of recognized experts from multiple disciplines. The goal of each TACT review is to help the sponsor to position the candidate compound along a realistic and well-informed plan to clinical trials, and eventual registration. The reviews and subsequent recommendations are focused on generating meaningful and rigorous data that can enable clear go/no-go decisions and facilitate longer term funding or partnering opportunities. The review process thereby acts to comment on viability, de-risking the process of proceeding on a development programme. To date TACT has held 10 review meeting and reviewed 29 program applications in several rare neuromuscular diseases: Of the 29 programs reviewed, 19 were from industry and 10 were from academia; 15 were for novel compounds and 14 were for repurposed drugs; 16 were small molecules and 13 were biologics; 14 were preclinical stage applications and 15 were clinical stage applications. 3 had received Orphan drug designation from European Medicines Agency and 3 from Food and Drug Administration. A number of recurrent themes emerged over the course of the reviews and we found that applicants frequently require advice and education on issues concerned with preclinical standard operating procedures, interactions with regulatory agencies, formulation, repurposing, clinical trial design, manufacturing and ethics. Over the 5 years since its establishment TACT has amassed a body of experience that can be extrapolated to other groups of rare diseases to improve the community's chances of successfully bringing new rare disease drugs to registration and ultimately to marke

Comparison of pharmaceutical, illicit drug, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine levels in wastewater with sale, seizure and consumption data for 8 European cities

Background: Monitoring the scale of pharmaceuticals, illicit and licit drugs consumption is important to assess the needs of law enforcement and public health, and provides more information about the different trends within different countries. Community drug use patterns are usually described by national surveys, sales and seizure data. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been shown to be a reliable approach complementing such surveys. Method: This study aims to compare and correlate the consumption estimates of pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine from wastewater analysis and other sources of information. Wastewater samples were collected in 2015 from 8 different European cities over a one week period, representing a population of approximately 5 million people. Published pharmaceutical sale, illicit drug seizure and alcohol, tobacco and caffeine use data were used for the comparison. Results: High agreement was found between wastewater and other data sources for pharmaceuticals and cocaine, whereas amphetamines, alcohol and caffeine showed a moderate correlation. methamphetamine and 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and nicotine did not correlate with other sources of data. Most of the poor correlations were explained as part of the uncertainties related with the use estimates and were improved with other complementary sources of data. Conclusions: This work confirms the promising future of WBE as a complementary approach to obtain a more accurate picture of substance use situation within different communities. Our findings suggest further improvements to reduce the uncertainties associated with both sources of information in order to make the data more comparable.Jose Antonio Baz Lomba, Stefania Salvatore, Richard Bade, Erika Castrignanò, Ana Causanilles, Juliet Kinyua, Ann-Kathrin McCall, Pedram Ramin, Nikolaos I. Rousis, and Yeonsuk Ryu acknowledge the EU Marie-Skłodowska Curie Initial Training Network SEWPROF (Marie Curie-FP7-PEOPLE, grant number 317205) for their Early Stage Researcher grant and Emma Gracia-Lor for her Experienced Researcher grant. We thank the people and agencies who assisted in the collection of the wastewater samples, in particular Pia Ryrfors and colleagues at Vestfjorden Avløpselskap (VEAS, Oslo, Norway)

Enantiomeric profiling of chiral illicit drugs in a pan-European study

The aim of this paper is to present the first study on spatial and temporal variation in the enantiomeric profile of chiral drugs in eight European cities. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and enantioselective analysis were combined to evaluate trends in illicit drug use in the context of their consumption vs direct disposal as well as their synthetic production routes. Spatial variations in amphetamine loads were observed with higher use in Northern European cities. Enantioselective analysis showed a general enrichment of amphetamine with the R-(−)-enantiomer in wastewater indicating its abuse. High loads of racemic methamphetamine were detected in Oslo (EF = 0.49 ± 0.02). This is in contrast to other European cities where S-(+)-methamphetamine was the predominant enantiomer. This indicates different methods of methamphetamine synthesis and/or trafficking routes in Oslo, compared with the other cities tested. An enrichment of MDMA with the R-(−)-enantiomer was observed in European wastewaters indicating MDMA consumption rather than disposal of unused drug. MDA's chiral signature indicated its enrichment with the S-(+)-enantiomer, which confirms its origin from MDMA metabolism in humans. HMMA was also detected at quantifiable concentrations in wastewater and was found to be a suitable biomarker for MDMA consumption. Mephedrone was only detected in wastewater from the United Kingdom with population-normalised loads up to 47.7 mg 1000 people−1 day−1. The enrichment of mephedrone in the R-(+)-enantiomer in wastewater suggests stereoselective metabolism in humans, hence consumption, rather than direct disposal of the drug. The investigation of drug precursors, such as ephedrine, showed that their presence was reasonably ascribed to their medical use

Practitioners' Perceptions of the Soccer Extra-Time Period: Implications for Future Research

Qualitative research investigating soccer practitioners’ perceptions can allow researchers to create practical research investigations. The extra-time period of soccer is understudied compared to other areas of soccer research. Using an open-ended online survey containing eleven main and nine sub questions, we gathered the perceptions of extra-time from 46 soccer practitioners, all working for different professional soccer clubs. Questions related to current practices, views on extra-time regulations, and ideas for future research. Using inductive content analysis, the following general dimensions were identified: ‘importance of extra-time’, ‘rule changes’, ‘efficacy of extra-time hydro-nutritional provision’, ‘nutritional timing’, ‘future research directions’, ‘preparatory modulations’ and ‘recovery’. The majority of practitioners (63%) either agreed or strongly agreed that extra-time is an important period for determining success in knockout football match-play. When asked if a fourth substitution should be permitted in extra-time, 67% agreed. The use of hydro-nutritional strategies prior to extra-time was predominately considered important or very important. However; only 41% of practitioners felt that it was the most important time point for the use of nutritional products. A similar number of practitioners account (50%) and do not (50%) account for the potential of extra-time when training and preparing players and 89% of practitioners stated that extra-time influences recovery practices following matches. In the five minute break prior to extra-time, the following practices (in order of priority) were advocated to players: hydration, energy provision, massage, and tactical preparations. Additionally, 87% of practitioners advocate a particular nutritional supplementation strategy prior to extra-time. In order of importance, practitioners see the following as future research areas: nutritional interventions, fatigue responses, acute injury risk, recovery modalities, training paradigms, injury epidemiology, and environmental considerations. This study presents novel insight into the practitioner perceptions of extra-time and provides information to readers about current applied practices and potential future research opportunities