The Efficacy of Classroom Management Software on Parent-Teacher Communication

This action research was conducted with the parents of a private Montessori preschool kindergarten class. The study implemented the use of Montessori Compass software and measured its effectiveness to improve parent-teacher communication. The use of messaging, daily activity reports, and photo albums were implemented within the Montessori Compass classroom management software. The study compared the response times between when the information was sent and accessed by traditional email, messaging, and daily activity reports. Other traditional methods of communication such as person interactions, phone conversation, and paper transmission were studied and compared. Survey responses provided feedback on the effectiveness of the different forms of communication prior to the study and after the study. The common theme that emerged from the research was that communication must be convenient and viewed across various devices. The result shows the positive impact of the use of Montessori Compass as an effective parent-teacher communication tool. Increased communication of the children’s daily activities through Montessori Compass software helped to increase parents’ feelings of connectedness with their young children. Additionally, the positive impact of the increased effective communication could benefit the students, the parents, the teacher, the school, and the community

Volunteer contributions in the emergency department: A scoping review

The objective of this scoping review was to identify published and unpublished reports that described volunteer programs in the emergency department (ED) and determine how these programs impacted patient experiences or outcomes. Electronic searches of Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and CINAHL were conducted and reference lists were hand-searched. A grey literature search was also conducted. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts, reviewed full text articles, and extracted data. The search strategy yielded 4,589 potentially relevant citations; 87 reports were included in the review. Volunteer activities were categorized as non-clinical tasks (e.g., provision of meals/snacks, comfort items and mobility assistance), navigation, emotional support/communication, and administrative duties. 52 (59.8%) programs had general volunteers in the ED and 35 (40.2%) had volunteers targeting a specific patient population, including pediatrics, geriatrics, patients with mental health and addiction issues and other vulnerable populations. 18 (20.6%) programs included an evaluative component describing how ED volunteers affected patient experiences and outcomes. Patient satisfaction, follow-up and referral rates, ED hospital costs and length of stay, subsequent ED visits, medical complications, and malnutrition in the hospital were all reported to be positively affected by volunteers in the ED. These findings demonstrate the important role volunteers play in enhancing patient and caregiver experience in the ED. Future volunteer engagement programs should be formally described and evaluated to share their success and experience with others interested in implementing similar programs in the ED. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Infrastructure & Governance lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Analysis of cathepsin and furin proteolytic enzymes involved in viral fusion protein activation in cells of the bat reservoir host

10.1371/journal.pone.0115736PLoS ONE102e011573

The risk of secondary traumatic stress in the qualitative transcription process: A research note.

Kiyimba, N. & O'Reilly, M., The risk of secondary traumatic stress in the qualitative transcription process: a research note, Qualitative Research (16:4) pp. 468-476. Copyright © Nikki Kiyimba & Michelle O'Reilly, 2015. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.It is recognised that transcribing is not merely a neutral and mechanical process, but is active and requires careful engagement with the qualitative data. Whether the researcher transcribes their own data or employs professional transcriptionists the process requires repeated listening to participants’ personal narratives. This repetition has a cumulative effect on the transcriptionist and hearing the participants’ personal narratives of a sensitive or distressing nature, can have an emotional impact. However, this potential emotional impact is often not something which is accounted for in the planning stages of research. In this article we critically discuss the importance of considering the effects on transcriptionists who engage with qualitative data

Childhood IQ and marriage by mid-life: the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan Studies

The study examined the influence of IQ at age 11 years on marital status by mid-adulthood. The combined databases of the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan studies provided data from 883 subjects. With regard to IQ at age 11, there was an interaction between sex and marital status by mid-adulthood (p = 0.0001). Women who had ever-married achieved mean lower childhood IQ scores than women who had never-married (p < 0.001). Conversely, there was a trend for men who had ever-married to achieve higher childhood IQ scores than men who had never-married (p = 0.07). In men, the odds ratio of ever marrying was 1.35 (95% CI 0.98–1.86&#59; p = 0.07) for each standard deviation increase in childhood IQ. Among women, the odds ratio of ever marrying by mid-life was 0.42 (95% CI 0.27–0.64; p = 0.0001) for each standard deviation increase in childhood IQ. Mid-life social class had a similar association with marriage, with women in more professional jobs and men in more manual jobs being less likely to have ever-married by mid-life. Adjustment for the effects of mid-life social class and height on the association between childhood IQ and later marriage, and vice versa, attenuated the effects somewhat, but suggested that IQ, height and social class acted partly independently

Pyrin Modulates the Intracellular Distribution of PSTPIP1

PSTPIP1 is a cytoskeleton-associated adaptor protein that links PEST-type phosphatases to their substrates. Mutations in PSTPIP1 cause PAPA syndrome (Pyogenic sterile Arthritis, Pyoderma gangrenosum, and Acne), an autoinflammatory disease. PSTPIP1 binds to pyrin and mutations in pyrin result in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), a related autoinflammatory disorder. Since disease-associated mutations in PSTPIP1 enhance pyrin binding, PAPA syndrome and FMF are thought to share a common pathoetiology. The studies outlined here describe several new aspects of PSTPIP1 and pyrin biology. We document that PSTPIP1, which has homology to membrane-deforming BAR proteins, forms homodimers and generates membrane-associated filaments in native and transfected cells. An extended FCH (Fes-Cip4 homology) domain in PSTPIP1 is necessary and sufficient for its self-aggregation. We further show that the PSTPIP1 filament network is dependent upon an intact tubulin cytoskeleton and that the distribution of this network can be modulated by pyrin, indicating that this is a dynamic structure. Finally, we demonstrate that pyrin can recruit PSTPIP1 into aggregations (specks) of ASC, another pyrin binding protein. ASC specks are associated with inflammasome activity. PSTPIP1 molecules with PAPA-associated mutations are recruited by pyrin to ASC specks with particularly high efficiency, suggesting a unique mechanism underlying the robust inflammatory phenotype of PAPA syndrome

Language and social/emotional problems identified at a universal developmental assessment at 30 months

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Alterations in dorsal and ventral posterior cingulate connectivity in APOE ε4 carriers at risk of Alzheimer's disease

Background Recent evidence suggests that exercise plays a role in cognition and that the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) can be divided into dorsal and ventral subregions based on distinct connectivity patterns. Aims To examine the effect of physical activity and division of the PCC on brain functional connectivity measures in subjective memory complainers (SMC) carrying the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE 4) allele. Method Participants were 22 SMC carrying the APOE ɛ4 allele (ɛ4+; mean age 72.18 years) and 58 SMC non-carriers (ɛ4–; mean age 72.79 years). Connectivity of four dorsal and ventral seeds was examined. Relationships between PCC connectivity and physical activity measures were explored. Results ɛ4+ individuals showed increased connectivity between the dorsal PCC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the ventral PCC and supplementary motor area (SMA). Greater levels of physical activity correlated with the magnitude of ventral PCC–SMA connectivity. Conclusions The results provide the first evidence that ɛ4+ individuals at increased risk of cognitive decline show distinct alterations in dorsal and ventral PCC functional connectivity

Protein disulfide-isomerase interacts with a substrate protein at all stages along its folding pathway

In contrast to molecular chaperones that couple protein folding to ATP hydrolysis, protein disulfide-isomerase (PDI) catalyzes protein folding coupled to formation of disulfide bonds (oxidative folding). However, we do not know how PDI distinguishes folded, partly-folded and unfolded protein substrates. As a model intermediate in an oxidative folding pathway, we prepared a two-disulfide mutant of basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and showed by NMR that it is partly-folded and highly dynamic. NMR studies show that it binds to PDI at the same site that binds peptide ligands, with rapid binding and dissociation kinetics; surface plasmon resonance shows its interaction with PDI has a Kd of ca. 10−5 M. For comparison, we characterized the interactions of PDI with native BPTI and fully-unfolded BPTI. Interestingly, PDI does bind native BPTI, but binding is quantitatively weaker than with partly-folded and unfolded BPTI. Hence PDI recognizes and binds substrates via permanently or transiently unfolded regions. This is the first study of PDI's interaction with a partly-folded protein, and the first to analyze this folding catalyst's changing interactions with substrates along an oxidative folding pathway. We have identified key features that make PDI an effective catalyst of oxidative protein folding – differential affinity, rapid ligand exchange and conformational flexibility