Closing the Cloud Skills Gap with Learner-Centric Performance Support Experiences: Case Study: IBM Center for Cloud Training

Spurred by the urgent need to respond to a growing worldwide technology skills gap, the IBM Cloud Skills Initiative, launched in 2019, today plays an important role in supporting IBM’s commitment to provide people with the skills needed to fill the jobs of tomorrow. The IBM Center for Cloud Training (ICCT) serves as a critical learning resource for helping achieve the initiative’s goal of closing the global cloud skills gap. Through an innovative training program launched in October 2020, ICCT offers Performance Support Experiences (PSEs) designed to motivate and support learners and facilitate their achievement of program credentials and their pursuit of IBM Cloud certification. With PSEs that include online, real-time, and customized study support, ICCT surpassed its stated goal of credentialing participants by the end of 2022. The primary purpose of this article is to describe the components of the program and outcomes achieved and in so doing demonstrate the value of the center’s PSE-based approach to learning

The impact of ionic liquids on amyloid fibrilization of AB16-22 : tuning the rate of fibrilization using a reverse Hofmeister strategy

We have shown that the amyloid fibrilization of A&szlig;16-22 follows a reverse hofmeister trend in pILs. Fast fibrilization rates of seconds can be achieved.<br /

Parental cognitions, stress and coping in parents of children with developmental disabilities

The review examines the literature in relation to parental cognitions and their relationship to child behaviour in parents of children with intellectual disability. It is generally recognised that mental health difficulties are at least partly influenced and maintained by cognitive differences and style. A literature search was carried out to identify articles relevant to parental locus of control, self-efficacy and attributions of behaviours in people with intellectual disability. It is argued that there is a need to develop a multidimensional model of parental cognition to fully describe parental cognitions and their relations to child behaviour and parental mental health. Within the empirical paper, parental perceptions of their child’s genetic syndrome were explored using the Common Sense Model of Illness Representations (Leventhal et al., 1980). Associations between parental perceptions, coping behaviours, affect and mental health were explored. Participants completed the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire Revised for Genetic Syndromes, measures of positive and negative affect, anxiety and depression and coping behaviours. Findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that the Common Sense Model of Illness Representations can be applied to the caregivers of children with rare genetic syndromes. Findings suggest that illness representations may have important implications for coping strategies and caregiver wellbeing

Cytosolic recognition of flagellin by mouse macrophages restricts Legionella pneumophila infection.

To restrict infection by Legionella pneumophila, mouse macrophages require Naip5, a member of the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain leucine-rich repeat family of pattern recognition receptors, which detect cytoplasmic microbial products. We report that mouse macrophages restricted L. pneumophila replication and initiated a proinflammatory program of cell death when flagellin contaminated their cytosol. Nuclear condensation, membrane permeability, and interleukin-1beta secretion were triggered by type IV secretion-competent bacteria that encode flagellin. The macrophage response to L. pneumophila was independent of Toll-like receptor signaling but correlated with Naip5 function and required caspase 1 activity. The L. pneumophila type IV secretion system provided only pore-forming activity because listeriolysin O of Listeria monocytogenes could substitute for its contribution. Flagellin monomers appeared to trigger the macrophage response from perforated phagosomes: once heated to disassemble filaments, flagellin triggered cell death but native flagellar preparations did not. Flagellin made L. pneumophila vulnerable to innate immune mechanisms because Naip5+ macrophages restricted the growth of virulent microbes, but flagellin mutants replicated freely. Likewise, after intratracheal inoculation of Naip5+ mice, the yield of L. pneumophila in the lungs declined, whereas the burden of flagellin mutants increased. Accordingly, macrophages respond to cytosolic flagellin by a mechanism that requires Naip5 and caspase 1 to restrict bacterial replication and release proinflammatory cytokines that control L. pneumophila infection

Multilevel modelling approach to analysing life course socioeconomic status and understanding missingness

This paper investigated the extent to which parental socioeconomic status was associated with life course socioeconomic status heterogeneity between adult cohort members of the 1958 National Child Development Study and how this association differed depending on methods used to address longitudinal missing data. We compared three variants of the full information maximum likelihood approach, namely available case, complete case and partially observed case and two methods designed to compensate for missing at random data, namely multilevel multiple imputation and multiple imputation chained equations. Our results highlighted the important contribution of parental socioeconomic status in explaining the divergence in achieved socioeconomic status over the adult life course, how the available case approach increasingly overestimated socioeconomic attainment as age increased and survey sample size decreased and how the complete case approach downwardly biased the effect of parental socioeconomic status on adult socioeconomic status

Reactions of (-)-sparteine with alkali metal HMDS complexes : conventional meets the unconventional

Conventional (-)-sparteine adducts of lithium and sodium 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazide (HMDS) were prepared and characterised, along with an unexpected and unconventional hydroxyl-incorporated sodium sodiate, [(-)-sparteine·Na(-HMDS)Na·(-)-sparteine]+[Na4(-HMDS)4(OH)]--the complex anion of which is the first inverse crown ether anion

Circulating tumor DNA reflects uveal melanoma responses to protein kinase C inhibition

The prognosis for patients with UM is poor, and recent clinical trials have failed to prolong overall survival (OS) of these patients. Over 95% of UM harbor activating driver mutations, and this allows for the investigation of ctDNA. In this study, we investigated the value of ctDNA for adaptive clinical trial design in metastatic UM. Longitudinal plasma samples were analyzed for ctDNA in 17 metastatic UM patients treated with PKCi-based therapy in a phase 1 clinical trial setting. Plasma ctDNA was assessed using digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) and a custom melanoma gene panel for targeted next generation sequencing (NGS). Baseline ctDNA strongly correlated with baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (p \u3c 0.001) and baseline disease burden (p = 0.002). Early during treatment (EDT) ctDNA accurately predicted patients with clinical benefit to PKCi using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves (AUC 0.84, [95% confidence interval 0.65–1.0, p = 0.026]). Longitudinal ctDNA assessment was informative for establishing clinical benefit and detecting disease progression with 7/8 (88%) of patients showing a rise in ctDNA and targeted NGS of ctDNA revealed putative resistance mechanisms prior to radiological progression. The inclusion of longitudinal ctDNA monitoring in metastatic UM can advance adaptive clinical trial design

Etiology and management of hospitalized and outpatient diarrhea among children less than 5 years of age in Lambaréné, Gabon

Objectives: Diarrhea remains a significant cause of global under-5 mortality, particularly in SubSaharan Africa (SSA). To reduce morbidity and mortality, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends oral rehydration salts (ORS), zinc supplementation, and continued feeding or breastfeeding for all children with diarrhea to prevent dehydration and malnutrition; antibiotics only for bloody diarrhea (i.e. probable shigellosis), suspected cholera, or severe non-intestinal infections (e.g. pneumonia or sepsis); and avoidance of antidiarrheals and antiemetics owing to lack of benefit and potential for harm in young children. Gabon is an upper-middle income country in SSA for which there is a lack of recent, high quality data on the etiology and management of childhood diarrhea. This prospective study aimed to describe the etiology and management of hospitalized and outpatient cases of diarrhea in Gabonese children under five years of age. Methods: Children ≤ 59 months presenting to the Albert Schweitzer or George Rawiri Regional hospitals (February-July 2017) in Lambaréné, Gabon were included if they had ≥ 3 liquid stools per day within the past 3 days. Data was obtained via medical records and standardized questionnaires with caregivers. Diarrheaogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, and Shigella spp. were detected using conventional culture techniques. Rotavirus, adenovirus, and Cryptosporidium spp. antigens were detected with commercial rapid immunoassays. Multiplex PCR was used for Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia intestinalis, and Cyclospora cayetanensis detection. Results: Forty-five children were included, 34 of whom were hospitalized. Mean age was 12.2 months; 58% were female. 49% were infected with one or more sought-for pathogens, most commonly with Giardia intestinalis (28.9%) or Cryptosporidium spp. (24.4%). 33% and 36% of hospitalized and outpatient children, respectively, received ORS. Zinc was given to one (3%) hospitalized patient and zero outpatients. Antidiarrheals were frequently given to hospitalized (48%) and outpatient (73%) children. Antibiotics were prescribed in 85% and 36% of hospitalized and outpatient cases, respectively, while only 8 children (18%) presented with bloody stools. 79% of children presented with severe acute malnutrition; 21% had never been breastfed. Conclusions: Ongoing education of healthcare workers and communities regarding WHO-recommended management of childhood diarrhea is needed. The overuse of antibiotics observed in this study is consistent with previous reports and is concerning given high levels of antimicrobial resistance in SSA. Strategies to increase provider awareness of indicated uses of antimicrobials in the setting of childhood diarrhea may help limit the spread of resistance