Child\u27s play the developmental benefits of the play choices of modern children: Implications for school curricula

This paper presents data from the Irish Neighbourhood Play Study. The Irish Neighbourhood Play Study explored the play choices of children from 0 to 15 years of age. This paper reports the findings on the play choices of children and these are presented alongside the levels of engagement within each play type. Construction Play, Motor Play, Fantasy (Imaginative) Play and Social Play are all applied as broad categories with detailed data presented that drills down into what elements of play children are choosing within each category. The developmental benefits of each play type are then explored and discussed. These findings are viewed through an educational lens and contextualised within a curricular context. The critical questions arising from the findings concern the developmental benefits inherent to the types of play children choose for themselves and how these developmental benefits translate to the school context. This paper discusses these critical questions and suggests possible implications for school curricula when adopting play-based approaches

Scaffolding for Cognitive Overload Using Pre-lecture E-Resources (SCOPE) for First Year Chemistry Undergraduates

The aims of this project were: to develop additional online pre-lecture resources for first year chemistry undergraduates at level 7 and 8 to complement those prepared in the 2010/2911 academic year for level 8 students by Dr. Michael Seery as part of his teaching fellowship, and to evaluate the effect of implementing the resources with this year by analysing quantitative (test and exam results) and qualitative (pre-and post-implementation surveys and focus group interviews) data. Ten pre-lecture activities on organic chemistry were prepared and used with 87 level 8 students in Semester 2 and ten more on general chemistry topics have been developed and will be implemented with level 7 students in September 2012. Analysis of the mid-semester test and examination results of the students with whom the resources were used in semester 2 showed that, among groups with similar CAO points level, the gap in performance between those who had and had not studied chemistry at Leaving Cert was eliminated. The surveys and focus groups undertaken revealed that learners felt more confident and they could focus more in the lecture when they had completed a pre-lecture activity

Cryo-electron tomography of Kaposi\u27s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus capsids reveals dynamic scaffolding structures essential to capsid assembly and maturation.

Kaposi\u27s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a recently discovered DNA tumor virus that belongs to the gamma-herpesvirus subfamily. Though numerous studies on KSHV and other herpesviruses, in general, have revealed much about their multilayered organization and capsid structure, the herpesvirus capsid assembly and maturation pathway remains poorly understood. Structural variability or irregularity of the capsid internal scaffolding core and the lack of adequate tools to study such structures have presented major hurdles to earlier investigations employing more traditional cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) single particle reconstruction. In this study, we used cryo-electron tomography (cryoET) to obtain 3D reconstructions of individual KSHV capsids, allowing direct visualization of the capsid internal structures and systematic comparison of the scaffolding cores for the first time. We show that B-capsids are not a structurally homogenous group; rather, they represent an ensemble of B-capsid-like particles whose inner scaffolding is highly variable, possibly representing different intermediates existing during the KSHV capsid assembly and maturation. This information, taken together with previous observations, has allowed us to propose a detailed pathway of herpesvirus capsid assembly and maturation

SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in households with and without asthmatic/allergic children: The Human Epidemiology and Response to SARS-CoV-2 study (HEROS)

Rationale: Whether children and people with asthma and allergic diseases are at increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection is not known. Neither is their role in household transmission. Methods: Biweekly nasal sample collections and weekly surveys were conducted to identify incident SARS-CoV-2 infections among children (\u3c13 \u3eyears) and teenagers (13-21 years) enrolled in asthma/allergic disease focused cohorts, and their household members, from May 2020-February 2021. Probability of subject/household infections and household transmissions were calculated using time-to-event analyses, and factors associated with infection and transmission risk using regression analyses. Results: Household (N=1,394) and subject (N=4,142) SARS-CoV-2 infection probability was 25.8% and 14.0%, respectively, and was similar for children (14.0%,CI:8.0-19.6%), teenagers (12.1%,CI:8.2-15.9%), and adults (14.0%,CI:9.5-18.4%). Infections were symptomatic in 24.5% of children, 41.2% of teenagers, and 62.5% of adults. Exposure to both symptomatic (aHR=87.39,CI:58.02-131.63) and asymptomatic (aHR=27.80,CI:17.16–45.03) infected household members was a risk factor for infection. Food allergy was associated with decreased infection risk (aHR=0.50,CI:0.32-0.81), but asthma was not (aHR=1.04,CI:0.73-1.46). Household infection risk was associated with attending in-person school (aHR=1.67,CI:1.09-2.57). Household secondary attack rate was 57.7%. Decreased risk of household transmission was associated with teen age, lower BMI, and lower viral load. Conclusions: Asthma does not increase risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while food allergy is protective. SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in children is similar to that of teenagers and adults. SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk and secondary attack rate is much higher than previously estimated in households with children, likely driven by the high frequency of asymptomatic childhood infections

Continuous Improvement in e-Learning: Investigating the Effect and Impact of Our WebCT Chemistry Support Initiative (CSI) and Implications for Further Enhancement of the Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) Developed

A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) was developed using WebCT software and was piloted in 2004 in the School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in DIT by the authors. This was one of a number of measures introduced with the aim of supporting and retaining first year undergraduates on the Science ordinary degree programme and was designed as a Chemistry Support Initiative (CSI) for first year Chemistry learning and teaching (O’Connor, 2005). This work was supported through funding from the DIT Learning and Teaching Centre which allowed a summer research assistant to be taken on. Since the launch of the first WebCT VLE in our School in September 2004, a VLE has been created for each year of each programme we deliver. This was facilitated by the fact that the first WebCT template design could be adapted quite easily and that first year students expected to continue to have a VLE available as they progressed. Currently, VLEs are used to support undergraduate Chemistry students from their first to their final year. WebCT has also proven to be very effective in the support of taught postgraduate programmes (both full and part-time) and as a tool for the administration and management of our School through the use of a WebCT site for staff. Now in the third year of use, the level of integration of WebCT VLEs in our School has been evaluated to assess the current (i) use by staff and (ii) use by students. The research is aimed at providing guidelines for the development and utilisation to their full extent of the existing VLEs and optimising their pedagogical application in a ‘blended approach’ to learning and teaching chemistry. An investigation has also been carried out to discover what other applications of the VLE have been developed by individual members of staff and what affects staff participation in e-Learning. As part of the evaluation process, the types of VLE developed in our school will be examined as will their impact on learning and teaching. This paper seeks to examine the development and integration of VLEs in our school and to identify pedagogical applications of this learning tool for future learning enhancement

Chemistry Crosswords: Learning Activities to Support Non-Taditional Students in Third Level Education.

Diversity of students entering third level science education has been widely discussed and attributed to the government policy on widening of participation in education. This has led to an enhanced number of “non traditional” students entering third level courses in Ireland. The diversity of the current third level student body may be attributed to the raised awareness of students with learning difficulties and also to the increase in multi cultural students in Irish third level colleges. One learning strategy that has been introduced into the teaching practice of first year chemistry courses in the Technological University Dublin has been the use of Chemistry Crosswords. There are many advantages of the Crosswords as a support tool as they; engage students in a “fun” learning activity are designed to revise course work helps students with learning difficulties and students in which English is not their first language to spell chemistry terms correctly in the assigned boxes can be designed to engage the students cognitive skills the crossword design software is free from the web and extremely user friendly may be printed as hard copies and/or may be hosted as an interactive webpage in a Virtual learning environment (VLE) e.g. WebCT for multiple attempts as part of the students formative assessment. This paper is to illustrate the ease of design for the academic staff, show examples of chemistry crosswords and to view student feedback on the use of the chemistry crosswords as a learning activit

Targeted Drug Delivery Systems for Cancer Therapy

The role of cyclodextrin’s (CD) in drug delivery has advanced in recent years and this may be attributed to its biocompatibility and well established synthesis. Chemical modification of CDs has shown to extend the physicochemical properties and the host capacity for a variety of drugs. β-CD has been widely used in the early stages of pharmaceutical applications because of its ready availability and its cavity size suitability for a wide range of drugs. Chemical modification of β-CD has proven to enhance aqueous solubilisation, microbiological stability and reduced toxicity in previous studies.1 Folate Receptors are over-expressed in several human cancers including ovarian, breast and renal carcinomas. This property has been utilised to develop tumour-selective anti-neoplastic drugs. Folate has been bound to chemotherapeutic drugs and since tumour cells have a huge appetite for folate, their folate receptors ‘pull’ the drug-folate conjugate towards the tumour site. However the direct conjugation of folate to the bioactive drug can lead to loss of targeting or alter the function of the conjugate. Folate-cyclodextrin bioconjugates have been prepared with polyethylene glycol (PEG) linkers; however this conjugate partially prevents drug degradation.2,3 This study describes the synthesis and characterisation (UV-Vis, Emission, IR, Raman, NMR, MALDI-MS and ESI-MS) of a novel folate-cyclodextrin bioconjugate (CDEn-FA). As mentioned previously it was found that direct conjugation of folate to the bioactive molecules led to loss of targeting or an alteration of the function of the conjugate and most of the conjugates to date cannot be further modified to improve targeting or anti-tumour activity.4-8 Preliminary biological evaluation of the tumour targeting device will be discussed

Obstruction phenotype as a predictor of asthma severity and instability in children

BACKGROUND: Small-airways instability resulting in premature airway closure has been recognized as a risk for asthma severity and poor control. Although spirometry has limited sensitivity for detecting small-airways dysfunction, a focus on the air-trapping component of obstruction might identify a risk factor for asthma instability. OBJECTIVE: We sought to use spirometric measurements to identify patterns of airway obstruction in children and define obstruction phenotypes that relate to asthma instability. METHODS: Prebronchodilation and postbronchodilation spirometric data were obtained from 560 children in the Asthma Phenotypes in the Inner City study. An air-trapping obstruction phenotype (A Trpg) was defined as a forced vital capacity (FVC) z score of less than -1.64 or an increase in FVC of 10% of predicted value or greater with bronchodilation. The airflow limitation phenotype (A Limit) had an FEV RESULTS: Patients with the A Trpg phenotype (14% of the cohort) had more exacerbations during the 12-month study compared with those with the A Limit (P \u3c .03) and None (P \u3c .001) phenotypes. Patients with the A Trpg phenotype also had the highest Composite Asthma Severity Index score, the highest asthma treatment step, the greatest variability in FEV CONCLUSIONS: A Trpg and A Limit patterns of obstruction, as defined by using routine spirometric measurements, can identify obstruction phenotypes that are indicators of risk for asthma severity and instability